Chapter 13: Halloween Mood

Manon was having the time of her life. Never she had expected the costume Marinette had done for her to be such a success. While she was going on the street, accompanied by Marinette's parents, there were people who thought she looked adorable and asked to take a photo of her. Manon did not mind people taking photos of her. In fact, she loved having people photographing her, because it made her feel like she was important. And, on every house they knocked to get some candy, people praised her on her costume and on her painted face.

"Trick or treat!" -Manon exclaimed, as an old lady opened the door. She was carrying a bag of candy in her hands.

"Oh, hello there, little one. You have such a beautiful costume. What are you supposed to be? A fairy or maybe a princess?"

"No, I'm an Akuma sent by Hawk Moth to destroy Ladybug!" -Manon said with an evil voice.

This statement made the old woman giggle a little. Every year the kids managed to surprise her with their costumes, and Manon had certainly surprised her, when she told her what her costume really was.

"Oh, that's cute, honey. Here's some candy for you." -the old lady placed two pieces of candy inside Manon's bag of treats.

They had been on that routine for almost an hour now, and Manon had already collected a ton of candy. From simple pieces of butterscotch to salt-water taffy and strings of black liquorish, she had amassed quite the booty. But, her favourites were the chocolates. She knew that the best part of the candy were the chocolates, and she had managed to get several Snickers bars, as well as Twix bars, Almond Joys, and her favourite Three Musketeers. On one of the houses, a lady had given her 2 Three Musketeers because of her costume. After a couple of more houses, and a few more photos taken, Sabine and Tom asked Manon if she was not ready to go home.

"Just a few more houses, please!"

"Oh, but honey, don't you think you already have enough candy?" -Sabine asked her.

"No!" -Manon protested.

"Come on, Manon. Don't you want to go back home and help us give out candy to the other kids? It'll be fun." -Tom said in a playful voice.

"No!" -Manon said. –"Just a few more houses, please!" -she begged to Marinette's parents. She wanted a little more candy, and she knew that with that costume of hers, she was going to get it easily. –"Please, just a few more, and then we can go home."

Worried that the two of them were not going to let her trick or treating a little bit more, she decided to use her secret weapon… her baby-doll eyes. Putting them on, as if she was on the brink of tears, she hoped to convince both Tom and Sabine to take her to a couple of more houses. Usually, that trick did not work with either Tom nor Sabine, but on that night, it worked. Kneeling in front of Manon, Sabine looked her in the eyes and said:

"If we go to a couple of more houses, can we then go home?"

"Yes!" -Manon exclaimed.

"Alright. But just a few more." -Sabine said. –"We wouldn't want the other kids to think that we got all the candy, would we?" -she chuckled.

"No, we wouldn't." -Manon also chuckled, as two police cars passed by them at high speed, with the sirens on.

"I wonder what's going on?"

"I don't know. Probably it's an accident or something of the sorts." -Tom answered. –"But, let's not worry about that. That's the police's job. Out job is to make sure this little girl here gets a few more candy, before calling it a night, isn't that right, Manon?"

"Yeah!" -Manon laughed, as she held hands with Tom.

Going to a few more houses to get candy, Manon got exactly what she wanted, more chocolate bars and candy. She alone had managed to get enough candy in her bag of treats for months to come. And like all kids, she said that she was going to eat all the candy that night, even if that meant getting a huge stomach ache. Of course, Tom and Sabine convinced her to not only eat a piece of candy that night, and save the rest for another occasion. As she checked the bag to see how much candy Manon had amassed, Sabine was shocked to see how many candy bars she had gotten, mostly because of her costume, while lamenting that not one person had given her something a little healthier, like an apple or an orange. When she commented this with Tom, he could not help but to chuckle.

"What did you expect, honey? It's Halloween. Kids don't want fruit, they want candy. I think if anyone tried to hand apples that weren't covered in caramel to the kids, they would tell them to keep them, and then, they would egg the house." -Tom told her.

"Don't be so dramatic. This isn't the United States. Kids don't egg people's houses on Halloween around here." -Sabine told him. –"Plus, it would be nice if people would actually give kids some fruit, and who knows, maybe even a toothbrush? At least, that way they would remember to brush their teeth after eating so much candy." -she said.

"You sound just like a dentist now, honey." -Tom told his wife, making her giggle.

"Hey, look! Skeletons!" -Manon said, as she pointed at a group of skeletons that approached them.

At first, both Tom and Sabine thought that they were just people in masks, but as they closed in on them, they realized they were not wearing any masks; they were real skeletons, and they were armed. Fearing for their safety, Tom told Sabine to grab Manon and follow him. He did not know how it was possible for that to be happening, but something told him that Hawk Moth was behind it. With all the crazy and insane attacks that had been ravaging that city for the past month and half, something like what they were seeing in front of them, had to be the work of that maniac, or someone working for him.

"Don't run, just walk, and maybe they will go the other way." -Tom whispered to Sabine.

But before she could answer him, the group of living skeletons began to bash things as they ran towards them. Shrieking, the one that looked like the leader of the group pointed at the three of them, as if telling them that he wanted them dead or something. Fearing them, Tom and Sabine started running, with Sabine holding Manon against her as hard as she could. They needed a place to hide and escape those monsters, and soon, other people that were on the street and saw the skeletons, started running from them as well. Still, no matter how fast they were, those monsters were faster than them, and were quickly catching up.

"Keep running!" -Tom exclaimed, as he gently grabbed Sabine by the arm and pulled her to the right, as they turned the corner.

Manon, who had her arms wrapped around Sabine knew something was wrong but did not say a word. She hoped that Marinette would just show up and save them as Ladybug. But as the seconds went by, there was no sign of her appearing, and they were running out of time. The skeletons were getting closer and as soon as they caught them, only God knew what they were going to do with them. Starting to feel tired, and seeing no other option, Tom decided there was only thing left to do. He was going to try and face them, and though he knew that he did not stand a chance against those creatures, at least he would buy his wife and Manon some time to get away.

"Keep running and don't look back!" -Tom told Sabine.

"What are you going to do?!" -Sabine asked him

"Going to try and give you a little head start!" -Tom declared.

"Don't you dare do that! I forbid you, Tom!" -Sabine snapped at her husband.

"Sorry, Sabine, but I'm going to do this."

But before Tom could try and stand up against that sinister bunch, a voice was heard, calling them.

"Over here!" -a voice called them. Manon heard that voice and recognized it. It was Master Fu's voice. –"Come on, get in here before they get you!"

Hearing the old man, Tom and Sabine entered, with Sabine holding Manon, who she thought would be terrified. In reality, she was quite calm and knowing who Master Fu really was, assured her that there was no reason to be afraid. Locking the door, Master Fu, as well as Marinette's parents and Manon could hear the skeletons bashing at the door. Still, Master Fu's magical knowledge had allowed him to place a simple, yet effective charm on the door when he locked it. Those creatures, or anyone else would be able to enter. But, Tom and Sabine did not know that, and were still shanking from what they had seen.

"What were those things?" -Sabine asked.

"What do you mean what were those things? They were skeletons, living skeletons!" -Tom told her, as he tried to catch his breath.

"But skeletons don't just rise form their graves, brandishing weapons to hunt down people, Tom!" -Sabine told him, finding it hard to believe what she had seen.

"Well, those do." -Tom told Sabine.

"I don't know what they were, but one thing is for certain. It is not safe for you or the little one to go outside, right now." -Master Fu told them both. The two of them were so stressed and frightened that for a second, they forgot the old man who had told them to come in, was standing right there, next to them.

"Oh, sorry, with all this, we didn't even have the time to thank you. You saved us." -Tom told him.

"It was the least I could do." -Master Fu said, as he extended his right hand. –"Nice to meet you both, my name is Fu." -the old man said.

"Tom Dupain, and this is my wife, Sabine."

"And I presume the little one is your daughter."

"Oh, no, Manon's not our daughter. She's the daughter of a good friend of mine. We're just babysitting her." -Sabine said, when it hit her. If those creatures attacked them, there could be more of them, and Marinette could be in trouble. –"Tom! Marinette is at the party! What if there are more of them and they try and go there?" -she said, as she placed Manon on the ground, and looked for her cell phone. –"We need to call her and tell her to get home."

Sabine was panicking. Thinking about the possibility of Marinette being attacked by one of those things, or even worse, it made her tremble with fear. Finally finding her cell phone, she was about to dial her daughter's number, when she noticed what was written on the screen: "No Signal"

"Oh no, I've got no signal." -Sabine said.

"I don't have one either." -Tom said, as he checked his cell phone.

"I'd like to say that mine has a signal, but unfortunately, it doesn't, and I don't have any other phone in the house." -Master Fu said, as he also checked his. –"There must be something wrong with the communications."

"Oh, Tom, what if something happens to Marinette?!" -Sabine asked her husband.

"Don't worry, she's a smart girl. You know she can handle herself." -Tom assured her. He himself believed that if Marinette saw herself in trouble, she would find a way to get out of it.

While this happened, Manon remained silent, exchanging silent looks with Master Fu, who recognized her. He had seen Marinette's parents before, but this was the first time he actually met them. Knowing that what was going on was Hawk Moth's doing, he felt the best thing was to act naturally, and let Marinette and the others to deal with it, while he made sure that her parents and Manon remained safe.

"I'm sure that you daughter will be alright. From my experience, I can tell you that teenagers have a way to surpass their parents' expectations." -Master Fu said. –"She will be alright, I'm sure."

"Yeah, and Ladybug will save her and the say!" -Manon said.

"The little one might be right about it. So far, the scarlet heroine and her friends haven't left this city down yet." -Master Fu agreed. –"And since we can't go out or call the police to help us, I think the only thing we can do is wait. Would you like a cup of tea? It will always helps calm my nerves." -he told the couple.

Meanwhile, at the Halloween party in Collége François-Dupond, things were starting to heat up. The music was already playing, though the DJ still had to get behind the turn-tables. The ambience was amazing, as all the students entered the gymnasium turned ballroom. The performers that were hired by Chloé's dad were cheering up things by performing their roles of vampire hosts, inviting the students to mingle with them. Just like Marinette had predicted, there were several students wearing Ladybug costumes in the party, although you could also see many other students wearing costumes from the other members of the Miraculous Team. Some looking simpler, while others looked like exact copies to the originals. And of course, there were numerous students sporting other costumes. There were pirates, vampires, witches, devils, even soccer players and girls dressed like Kim and Chloé Kardashian. If there was a costume worth seeing at a Halloween party, it was being worn by at least one student. But the students were not the only ones dressed up for the occasion. The teachers had also chosen to bring some interesting costumes. For example, Principal Damocles had come as the Greek Philosopher Socrates. Miss Mendeleiev had come as Marie Curie, and Mr. Dagencourt had come as Dartagnan. As for Miss Bustier, she had come with a very curious, and beautiful costume, a genderbend version of Sherlock Holmes, her favourite Victorian literary character. The four of them, along with the rest of the teachers stayed at the gym's entrance for a short period, welcoming the students that arrived.

When Ladybug and the rest of her class entered the gym, almost everyone were surprised to see them, mostly because they had somehow managed to pick the outfits in order to all come together as a costumed group. Some people would call that coincidence, others would call it a well-planned idea. Whatever it was, they were impressed by the outfits and by the idea. It took them a little to understand it was them, and it was only when Carapace announced himself as that night's DJ, that everyone made the connection. One of the first to approach them was their teacher, Miss Bustier, who was surprised, to say the least with their entrance.

"Marinette?" -Miss Bustier asked Ladybug, who smiled at her.

"Yap, it's me, Miss Bustier." -Ladybug smiled.

"And… let's see… Adrien?" -Miss Bustier asked Chat, who waved his head. –"Mylene?" -she asked Doe, who also waved her head. –"Juleka?"

One by one, she managed to identify every single one of her students. She was surprised, to say the least by them showing up dressed like that. They were a tight group, but even so, she had been their teacher for more than 3 years now, Adrien being the exception, and she had never seen them doing something like that before. Still, she would be lying, if she said she did not like seeing her class behaving like that.

"I didn't know you had decided to form a costumed group and come together." -Miss Bustier told them.

"It was actually Chloé's idea… hers and Sabrina." -Ladybug said, as she winked at both Queen Bee and Louve Grise. –"They made us all promise we wouldn't tell anyone about it, so as to be a big surprise." -she said, as both girls winked back at her. It felt nice to be given the credit, even though it had not been their idea. Still, they were not going to argue about it there.

"Well, I must say that I'm surprised, and I think that even your colleagues were impressed to see you all walking in together." -Miss Bustier said. –"Your outfits look very realistic."

"We just got lucky when buying them." -Dragonfly said. –"But you also look awesome, Miss Bustier." -she complimented her on her costume.

"Why, thank you, Alix. But don't think that flattering me is going to make me raise your grades. But of course, that's elementary, my dear." -Miss Bustier joked with the pink-haired heroine. This caused her to blush a little, and the others to laugh about it. –"Well, now that you are here, I think the party can finally start."

"Don't tell us that you were waiting for us to arrive to start the party?" -Panda Rouge asked her.

"Yes, and no, Nathaniel. The party, as you have seen, has already started, but Principal Damocles wanted your speech to truly start the festivities, and before you ask, I'm quoting him. There aren't my words." -Miss Bustier told them.

"So, we've got to go up there and give the speech?" -Flamingo asked her, to which she waved her head. –"Do we really have to, Miss Bustier? I know that only one of us is going to talk, but, you know, I'm really shy and I don't feel like standing in front of a big audience." -she lied. As Flamingo, Rose was absolutely okay with facing crowds, but right then, she was not in the mood to go up the stage and do that. She just wanted to have fun and dance with her girlfriend.

"I'm afraid not, Rose. You all came up with the idea for this party, so it's only fair that you all have to go up to the stage, together." -Miss Bustier told her. –"I know you're not a big fan of standing in front of crowds, but, think of this as one of your ballet performances."

"Okay. I understand, Miss Bustier." -Flamingo declared.

"Oh, I almost forgot to ask this. Who's going to read the speech?" -Miss Bustier asked them.

That was a good question. They had all agreed that it would be Alya who was going to write it, but they never decided who was going to deliver it. Talking between them, they asked Miss Bustier to give them a couple of seconds to decide among them. There were a couple of volunteers like Carapace, Antelope and Queen Bee, while others like Flamingo and Ladybug decided they were not the best choice for that, though almost all of them agreed that their leader was just being shy about it.

"Come on, Marinette. Go ahead." -Forest Doe told her.

"But I don't want to. Remember, Ladybug's courageous, but Marinette is super shy. Everyone in this school knows that I'm incredibly shy. If I go up there and start talking like I do whenever I put on this costume, people might get suspicious." -Ladybug told her.

"She does have a point." -Chat agreed with her. –"Whoever talks, has to be someone

"I'll do it!" -Antelope exclaimed.

"Not you! You're a sucker for glory moments. You'll turn this into something about yourself, and we don't need that, remember?" -Dragonfly told him.

"Why do you always have to pick on me?!" –Antelope shot at her, while giving her the stink eye.

"Would you two quit it?! This is not the time for you to start getting on each other's nerves." -Grizzly Bear told them both. The last thing they needed was for them to start bickering with each other.

"Look, I'll do it. Whether I'm wearing this outfit or not, I'm not scared of talking in front of an audience." -Queen Bee said. –"Alya, give me the speech, please."

For a second, the brunette was a little hesitant in handing the blonde the speech she had written for the occasion. She knew she loved to talk about herself, and most of their colleagues still regarded her as the snobbiest girl they had ever met in their lives. Only they knew she had changed, and for the most part, she did not act like her old self, most of the time. Still, she handed her the speech, but warned her not to deviate from what was written on the paper sheet.

"Here you go, Chloé. And remember, stick to what's written in there. Don't start blabbing about something that doesn't have to do with this, okay?"

"Oh, come on. Have a little faith in me, okay?" -Queen Bee told her.

"I have faith in you, just in your ego and your passion for the spotlight." –Rena Rouge thought to herself.

Telling Miss Bustier that they had decided who was going to read the speech, they accompanied her to the stage that had been assembled for the occasion, and where the turntables also were. As they went up the stairs, the music began to die off, providing a little silence. Shortly after, Principal Damocles joined them, and the spotlight was turned on and pointed at him. Grabbing the microphone, he addressed to everyone

"Well, then, first of all, good evening to all of you. Don't worry, I won't bother you with a big speech, because, let's face it, you came here to enjoy the party and that's exactly what you're going to do in just a few minutes. So, please bear the words of an old man for just a little bit okay?" -Principal Damocles told the audience. –"As principal of this fine school, over the years I've seen classes come and going, and each year they have surprised me with how imaginative they can be, when planning activities for their fellow students. And this year's Halloween party is no exception. Miss Bustier's class came up with a rather unique idea, and to tell you a little bit about the creative process and how this idea came to be." -he said, as he turned his attention Miss Bustier's class.

With the spotlight on the class, there were some applauses, as Queen Bee made her way to the principal and took the microphone from his hand, facing the crowd.

"Good evening!" -Queen Bee said, as she looked at the speech Alya had written. –"First of all, my class and I would like to thank you all for helping us put this party together in such a short time. We know that the theme we presented for this party, and ended up being the one chosen has been made before, but what's more Halloweenesque than vampires? And I mean, real vampires, not the ones in those Twilight movies, who glow in the Sun." -she went on, making the crows chuckle with that last joke. –"Still, no matter how creepy or fantastic we had envisioned this party we would've never pull it out just by ourselves. Your help was incredible, and thanks to you, this party will be remembered by all of us, for the rest of our lives. And so, let us show our excitement to Samhain and Hecate on this night, by party all night! Happy Halloween, everyone!"

The speech was received with a bunch of applauses from everyone, though that did not surprise Queen Bee or any of the others. Looking at Rena Rouge, Ladybug smirked, signalling just how much she liked the speech.

"You aced it again, Alya." -Ladybug whispered at her.

"Well, when you spend so much time writing articles for your blog, and pretty much every discussion forum there is, you tend to catch a thing or two." -Rena Rouge told her. –"Plus, practice makes it perfect."

But, she was not the only one who was being congratulated. Queen Bee was also being praised by both her friends, and her teacher.

"You were great, Chloé!" -Louve Grise said.

"You sure were, Chloé." -Miss Bustier told her.

"Thank you, but I can't take all the credit… I mean, I could, but I won't. Alya was the one who wrote the speech. I merely read it." -Queen Bee declared.

"In that case, Alya, I also have to congratulate you." -Miss Bustier told the brunette, who smiled.

"Thank you."

"And now, I think it's time for the party to really start. Shouldn't you be in your designated place already, Nino?" -Miss Bustier asked him.

"Oh, yeah! Guess that's my cue, everyone. Wish me luck!" -Carapace told the whole gang.

"As if you needed luck to choose the right music for the occasion." -Rena Rouge told him, while winking her left eye.

"I love you too, Alya." -Carapace said, as he headed to where the turntables were.

Knowing that the music was about to start, the whole gang went down the stairs and joined the rest of the students. As for Carapace, he readied himself to make that night go from awesome, to epic. Earlier that morning, he had checked the sound system and all the equipment. Looking at the crowd, who looked like they could use a little incentive to drag their feet to the dance floor, he put on his headphones, and he was ready to rock.

"Good evening, everyone! Are you ready to party?!" -Carapace asked everyone in the gym.

"Yeah!"

"What?! I can't hear you!" -he asked them.

"Yeah!"

"Come on, even my grandmother screams louder than that!" -he said. He loved doing that with the crowd. It just made them eager for more.

"Yeah!"

"Alright! Now that's what I'm talking about." -Carapace exclaimed, as he grabbed one of the records he had brought from his private collection. –"This is DJ Nino "Carapace" Lahife, saying that this night is going to be epic! But let's start slowly, and then kick it up a notch, okay? With you, the Prince of Pop, Michael Jackson with… The Thriller!"

As soon as the record started spinning, and the song began, everyone at the gym could definitely say they were in a Halloween party. No self-respecting party on that night would be complete without that song. Everyone knew it, and everyone knew how to dance it.

"Nice choice from Nino." -Corbeau Noire told Flamingo.

"Yeah, but it's not the kind of music you want to dance hugged to another person." -Flamingo told her.

"If you want to, we can go up to the roof and slow dance all night, just the two of us." -Corbeau Noire whispered to the blonde's ear, making her giggle.

"That's a nice idea… maybe a little later, if he doesn't put on something for us to dance together." -Flamingo told her. They had agreed not to tell anyone about their relationship, but that did not mean they could not be seen dancing together; after all, it's not unusual for best-friends to be see dancing together. –"Right now, I think I'm in the mood for something sweet."

"Punch or something with chocolate in it?" -Corbeau Noire asked her.

"Let's start with the punch." -Flamingo told her.

Heading to the table where the beverages were being served, the girls had to wait their turn to get near the punch bowl. This one looked like a witch's bubbling cauldron, and the punch looked purple, like a witch's magic potion. Like in every teenager movie, there was always one prankster would try to spike the punch, by adding it a little alcohol to it, and in this party, there was also one funny guy who was attempting to do it. But, Miss Mendeleiev caught him on the act, and beside scolding him, also confiscated the flask he had brought with him, which was filled with either vodka, rum or any other alcoholic beverage. Both Corbeau Noire and Flamingo saw this, and could to help but to laugh.

"Guess our punch isn't going to get spiked this evening." -Flamingo giggled.

"Too bad, I actually like my punch with a little kick to it." -Corbeau Noire giggled.

While this happened, on the opposite side of the gym, Antelope was practically showing off in front of a group of girls. Arachnid, who was tagging along his best friend, was surprised to see just how the girls seemed to be interested in him. As the class nerd, he was never the one girls were interested in. And one of the girls, who was wearing a Batgirl costume, was really flirting with him.

"You know, without the glasses, you don't look so nerdy, you know?"

"Really?" -Arachnid asked her. He was not used to seeing girls flirting with him.

"Yeah. I mean, don't take this the wrong way, but those glasses you usually wear, they're just so late 90's. You should really start wearing contacts, like you're doing tonight." -she told him, not realizing that he was not wearing any contact lenses.

Antelope, who was watching the whole thing, could not help but to chuckle to himself.

"Well, well, who would have thought that Max would be such a success with girls, just by removing his glasses?" -Antelope thought to himself. –"Of course, I'm not doing so bad myself."

"Your costume looks so cool. You look like the real deal. Where did you buy it?" -a girl who was wearing a nurse outfit asked him.

"I bought it online." -Antelope answered her.

Though most people were impressed with the gang's costumes, there also some who were not. Jealousy is a very powerful thing, as well as envy and on a school, those two sentiments were the main dish of the day, for those who sought them. Both boys and girls began to say that their costumes were not that good, or that theirs were better. Queen Bee and Louve Grise wo were passing by one of those people heard them, and did not like what they heard, especially the bee heroine.

"Can you believe that, Sabrina?!" -Queen Bee asked her. –"How can they say that my costume doesn't even look like Queen Bee's?! I'm the real deal, for crying out loud!"

"Chloé, don't say that out loud!" -Louve Grise begged her. Though the music was loud, she feared that someone could hear them.

"But it's true, Sabrina!" -Queen Bee insisted on the matter.

"I know it's true, Chloé, but you can't say that without revealing that you are Queen Bee, remember?" -Louve Grise pointed out.

Louve was right, and the bee heroine knew it. If she started an argument about the insults they had heard, she might accidently reveal that she was Queen Bee, or the people could put two and two together, and figure out the truth. She would just have to listen to any insult or affront people threw at her, and pretend she did not care. Still, a small part of her, just wanted to go to where those people were and slap them in the face.

"I know, I know… but that doesn't make it any less easy." -Queen Bee declared.

"Come on, your Chloé Bourgeois, remember? You're superior to them, just by being yourself." -Louve told her. –"Just ignore them and have fun." -she smiled

Once again, her best-friend was right. She just had to ignore those remarks. She was superior to them, not only because she was who she was, but because she was also the one and only Queen Bee. Who cared if they thought her outfit did not look like the real one? She knew her outfit was the real one, and that was that.

"I know I keep telling you this, but I'm really lucky to have you as my best-friend, and most of the time, I don't deserve such honour." -Bee told her, being honest about every word she said.

"Oh, forget about it. Come on, I want to dance. Come and dance with me, Chloé!" -Louve told her, as she grabbed the blonde by the wrist and dragged her to the dance floor.

"Sabrina, forget it! I don't want to dance, right now, and not to this song." -Queen Bee chuckled. Carapace had just put on Possum Kingdom from the Toadies, and she was not a big fan of the song.

"Come on, don't be like that, Chloé! You know I love this song! I'm always listening to it with my dad at home." -Louve said, as she started to dance to the rhythm of the music. –"Come on, dance with me!" -she giggled.

"Oh, alright, but just this dance." -Bee started to dance.

While things in the dance floor were heating up, on the lounging area where several tables and chairs had been placed, things were a little calmer. Ladybug had just gone get something to eat, and took a seat at one of the vacant tables. She had told herself that was going to invite Chat, or better, yet, Adrien to dance with her, right after eating. She was just about to take a bite out of the slice of chocolate cake she had brought with her, when she was interrupted.

"Marinette?" -a voice called her.

"Yes?" -Ladybug said, as she turned her head to the right.

"Oh, finally, it's you. Sorry, I already bumped into four other Ladybugs thinking it was you, and I ended up finding they weren't." -the girl said. –"I don't know if you're recognizing me."

The girl had pale skin and light purple-grey eyes. Her hair was two tones with dark purple base and periwinkle bangs, while her large, pointed, low-angled twintails were striped with dark purple and periwinkle spirals. On her face, she had jagged black face paint that surrounded her eyes, coming down to her cheeks as lightning bolts. As for her costume, she was wearing a tight, muted-colour purple and blue two-piece dress that poofed into a curved bell-shape around her waist, with small shoulder puffs with a narrow-ended-tube-shaped collar. The sleeves were white gloves with two lightning bolts above her elbows. She was wearing muted purple tights that became small-heeled white boots that were angled at the "opening" near the calf, with two lightning bolts coming of the boots around the outsides of her legs near her knees. She was also holding a dark purple striped parasol. No matter how much she tried, the scarlet heroine just could not see who she was talking to.

"Sorry, but I'm not seeing who you are." -Ladybug told the girl. Her voice was not strange to her, but right then she did not know from where she had heard it before.

"It's me, Aurore Beauréal, from Miss Mendeleiev's class." -she told the heroine.

"Oh, Aurore! I thought your voice looked familiar." -Ladybug told her. She and Aurore had once gone up against one another in a design and sewing competition the school did to find out who would have the honour of designing the school's new soccer equipment. Being a cosplayer in her spare time, Aurore was used to sew her own outfits. She was a fierce rival, but in the end, Marinette ended up winning the competition. Though a little upset, Aurore congratulated Marinette and from then on, every time they bumped into one another in school, they would exchange a friendly hello between them. –"You look incredible. What are you supposed to be?"

"Me? Well, you could say I'm an akuma." -Aurore told her. –"Ever since Ladybug and the others showed up, including Hawk Moth that for some reason in the cosplay community, everyone has been coming up with original designs for Akumas and then creating the suits. This one is mine." -she told her. –"And believe me, I spent a whole week working on it, just to bring it to the party."

"It's very interesting." -Ladybug told her. The idea that anyone would thought that creating fictional akumas and then making their outfits sounded both awesome and creepy at the same time. –"And what's the name of your akuma?"

"Stormy Weather. I'm a weather controlling akuma." -Aurore told her.

"We still haven't had one of those… I mean, we had one that had ice powers, but that was it." -Ladybug thought to herself. –"I like the name, and I like your outfit."

"Thanks. I like yours too, especially the details. Did you make it?" -Aurore asked her, as she examined the outfit.

"No, I bought it. I wanted to make it, but I had to make a Halloween outfit for a very special little girl, and ended up running out of time." -Ladybug told her.

"I understand. Still, it looks really great." -Aurore declared. –"Do you mind if I take a selfie with you?"

"Sure, I'd love that." -Ladybug asked her. –"But, with so many other Ladybugs around, why me?" -she asked her, curious.

"Well, the other Ladybugs look good, but you're the only one I know personally. Plus, your outfit is the one that looks the most accurate." -Aurore told her, as she took her cell phone from her pocket.

"If you say so." -Ladybug told her, as they positioned themselves for the selfie. Aurore was not the first one to tell her that. Other kids at the party had commended her outfit on the details. But there was one person who had praised her, without even knowing, and that was her crush. Hearing him say that he would recognize her among thousands of Ladybugs, was so sweet, that if her heart could melt, it would be nothing more than a puddle of water right then.

Alright, here I am apologizing to you, for taking so long to write this update. Still, it hasn't been easy writing, because of my lack of time lately. I'll try to be a faster this time. I wanted to have the kids havinga great time in this chapter, just before the big battle begins, but also showing that the threat has already , and I also decided to make a little reference to the first villain who showed up on the series, Stormy Weather (though Ivan as Stoneheart was the first akuma Ladybug and Chat Noir faced chronologicaly, Stormy Weather was the akuma they first faced on the very first episode of the series).

Oh, and I would like to thank "yellow 14" for pointing out a writing mistake, which has already been corrected. Plus, I would like to state that although I know that Aurore is not exactly the nicest girl, and a sore loser in the series, I decided that in my AU she will be a little nicer, as well as a cosplayer. I think it's nice twist to her character.

Hope you all like it, and I'll see you next time.