The heroes race down the stairs, finding themselves in the lobby of a hotel… that of André Bourgeois, to be exact.
"Ah! Ladybug! Mr. Noir! What can we do to help you rid us of these pesky pigeons?"
The kid folds her arms, frowning.
Gabriel cuts in. "Mr. Bourgeois, I'm afraid I'm currently running low on power. I'd like to request some Camembert to charge my stone, and a private room. No cameras."
André cocks his head, brow furrowing. "Ah… yes, right away Mr. Noir… forgive me, do I know you?"
"I am not at liberty to say," Gabriel frowns. "May I please recharge now?"
"Yes, yes, of course! Escort this man to a room, and bring him some of our finest Camembert!"
Gabriel is brought up to a room, and just manages to slam the door before detransforming.
Plagg drops into his hands. "You better have some really good cheese after Cataclysm-ing an entire iron cage, Gabe."
"Yep," the man grins, lifting the lid off the dish. "Eat up, the fight's far from over."
The kwami is very quick to do so.
"By the way… about what you said earlier…"
"Figures you're being calm about this. You never were one to have ordinary human emotions," Plagg sneers.
"You're trying to get a rise out of me. I recognize that, and don't appreciate it," Gabriel frowns.
"Anyway, yeah. Tikki and I feel when a user dies. She hasn't yet. I don't know where she is or why the girl who stalked you for several years and finally married you left, but her heart's still beating, I can promise."
Gabriel tries to keep his face blank. "She's alive."
"That's what I just said."
"But… Adrien saw…"
"Don't you have an akuma to catch? I don't have answers to everything, Gabe."
"Of course," he nods. "Plagg! Transforme moi!"
…
Adrien isn't really paying attention to the akuma. He's connected, of course, but this one doesn't seem to be that dangerous. The emotions clearly weren't as strong as some of the others.
So he stands in an alley, just out of the way of the public eye, bored. Eventually, he finds himself tapping his foot… which becomes a moonwalk… and then a Gangnam Style dance…
"… Papillon?"
He turns, and his eyes go very wide. "Lady Luck?"
"Are you… dancing?"
He grins. "Indeed I am. I didn't realize I was being watched. You stalking me, Lucky?"
She actually blushes. "N-no! It's just not what I imagine a psychotic evil super villain doing!"
Well, that's actually a little offensive.
"First off, not psychotic," he says, striding up to her, and holding up one finger. "Second, not evil, just desperate." He raises another finger.
Her face is nearly as red as her costume, and Adrien grins, recalling what Nuru said about Papillon's appearance. Clearly, it affects Ladybug.
"Third," he grins, "even if I was, you don't seem to mind. Nice costume, but it certainly doesn't hide much… and I know it isn't cold out."
She begins stammering, and he can't help but laugh a bit. "That's disgusting! Y-you're insane! And even if you're pretty, you're not a good guy! And… um…" He moves closer, and she stops talking, obviously attracted. "Y-you can't dance!" she finishes, pushing him away.
He can't help but laugh. Okay, maybe that last comment was pushing it. A lot. Actually, yeah, that last comment is not something he should ever say again, because it was really bad. But she's making it so easy!
"I can dance just fine. Now, Lady Luck, if you're here to give me those earrings…"
"You don't even have pierced ears!"
"I do, actually," he grins. "My dad works in fashion, so…"
She frowns. "I'm out. And I'm not into you." With those words, she grapples the building next to her, and flies off.
Adrien is left with the incredibly interesting knowledge that Lady Luck had a crush on him.
…
Marinette is still reeling from the moment with Papillon when Mr. Noir shows up next to her.
"I know that look," he mutters. "Which one of your boyfriends gave it to you this time?"
"The one you hate," she says, embarrassed. "He… um… commented on my chest. I think."
"He WHAT?"
"I think he commented on my chest."
"That's…" Mr. Noir is left speechless. "That's really not okay."
"I think he figured that out after he said it. He was kinda blushing a lot after it."
"Great. I'm going to get this guy sent to jail, you know that?"
"Yeah. Anyway, I think I figured out where Mr. Pigeon is," she tells him, pointing to a domed roof as pigeons enter through the windows.
Her partner/mentor nods, and they race up to the widow, bursting in… and who knew a window opening could echo so much?
Mr. Pigeon's head jerks up, and the fight begins.
The pigeons attack quickly, and send the heroes crashing to the ground. Swarming around in a circle, Mr. Noir looks over his shoulder. "Hey, Little Lady? You've got a Lucky Charm, right?"
She nods, activating Lucky Charm quickly, and a coin lands in her hand. "A coin…" she glances around, and smiles. "I got this."
She wraps her yo-yo around a support beam, and breaks through the pigeons, vaulting up towards a vending machine, and with a lucky throw, she sends the coin in, buying a bag of popcorn.
Seeing the bag tossed in the air, Mr. Noir realizes the plan, and swings his baton, breaking the bag open, and spilling the popcorn over Mr. Pigeon.
The pigeons swarm.
"Nice hit, Mr. Noir!"
"Thanks, kid!"
Swinging her yo-yo around his leg, Marinette yanks Mr. Pigeon down, grabbing and breaking his whistle.
…
Adrien sighs, detransforming. Nuru is giving him a very annoyed look.
"What part are you mad about?"
"That comment you made."
"She called me psychotic and evil!"
"… Still."
"I'm not going to do it again, okay?" he sighs. "I'm going to go see how Marinette's doing with that Derby hat."
He runs into her just outside the alley.
"Adrien!"
"Princess! What are you doing here?"
"Oh! Um… I was kinda caught up in the akuma attack, you?"
What?
He knows she can't have been hurt by the akumas… What's more, this akuma couldn't even hurt anyone! Well, except a few rangers. Even the heroes were only mildly threatened…
"So… you need a hand finishing the hat?"
She looks up, surprised. "You'd be willing to help me?"
"I'd love to," he smiles.
Making a hat turns out to be harder work than he anticipated, but seeing Marinette designing is an experience that more than pays off the work.
Walking her to the competition isn't too bad either.
…
Gabriel strides into the room, and looks over the hats, exhausted. None of these stand out…
And then, he finds one made of pigeon feathers.
"This is very well made," he comments. "Which one of you made this?"
"That's Marinette's!" his son speaks up, gently pushing her up toward him. "You remember her from the museum, right?"
"Ah, of course. You certainly have talent, Miss Marinette. I'd say this is worthy of being worn on the runway."
The girl's eyes widen, and she beams. "Really?"
"Of course. In any case, I have an appointment. But good luck, I'm sure you have a promising career ahead of you."
"Thank you, Mr. Agreste!"
As he walks out the door, Gabriel sees her hugging his son, and can't help a small smile.