The weeks just flew by after school had started and Marinette felt herself struggling to keep up with everything. Before she knew it, the twenty-first of September dawned and she giddily jumped out of bed. It was Adrien and Félix's birthday and while it had been hard to get their presents done in between homework, helping in the bakery, hanging out with her friends and most especially training with Chat Noir, she had eventually done it! Both presents lay neatly wrapped on her desk and she intended to give them to the twins before school. This led to the rare occasion of Marinette being up early.

"Have a nice day, sweetie," her mother said as Marinette hurried down her stairs and through the living room, clutching the two presents to her chest.

"Have a nice day!" She quickly called back before rushing out the door and doing her best not to trip while running down the stairs. A few key choices of baked goods and a kiss on her father's cheek later and she was out the door.

The actual birthday cakes would have to wait until later since it would no doubt draw unwanted attention if she brought them to school. Also, knowing her clumsiness, she'd probably drop them at some point and then all her work would be ruined. Marinette just hoped that the twins could sneak away after school so she could give them their cakes in person and maybe even celebrate a bit like they had done the previous year.

And so she was early, sitting on the steps of the school and waiting. Nino was already there as well, sitting beside her and blowing bubbles to pass time. It had been an 'I'm sorry I was such a jerk, please don't hate me' gift to him from Alya. Adrien and Félix had gotten the same bubble wands, which had been received with mixed reactions. Adrien, who had for some reason never seen one before, had been ecstatic while Félix had looked at his as if it would explode at any second.

"Hey, I was thinking," Nino said, "Since we now officially—" he made air quotes at the word, "—know the dudes, do you think we could throw them a birthday party at their place?"

Marinette tapped her chin in thought. It was a good idea in theory, but when she recalled all the things Adrien and especially Félix had told her about their father, she realised that their chances of success were basically zero.

"It would be nice to finally see their house," she admitted instead of voicing her thoughts.

"Yeah! Remember the pictures they showed us of their room? We could fit the entire class in there and still have room to dance!"

Marinette chuckled. "I don't think Félix would appreciate that much. But maybe we can go over with them at lunch and go ask their father personally."

"You really think that could work?" Nino asked excitedly and Marinette could see that he was already putting together a song selection in his head.

She sighed. "Here's hoping for a miracle."

As if on cue, a silver car stopped in front of the school.

"—last thing we need is for her to make father even more unbearable," Félix was saying as he climbed out.

"Maybe she'll be able to convince him about the herbs at least." Marinette didn't know why anyone would need convincing about herbs of all things, but her confusion quickly lifted as Adrien looked at her and her treacherous heart skipped a beat. Being in love with her best friend was indeed a complicated mess.

Knowing that the twins were not likely to get swarmed by fangirls when there was still half an hour until class started, Marinette dared to jump up from the stairs and skip over to them. Nino followed.

"Happy Birthday!" She said in a sing-song voice and wrapped both of them in a hug. Well, as best as was possible while still holding a present in each hand. When she ended the quick hug, Adrien's smile was so bright that it could rival the sun and even Félix had a smile on his face—his equivalent of a big grin.

"Thank you, Marinette!" Marinette could practically sense Adrien vibrating with joy. Félix gave her a polite nod, which coming from him, was high praise.

"Welcome to the old socks club, my dudes!" Nino jovially joined in and hugged each of them separately.

"I do not think that fifteen qualifies any of us as 'old' quite yet," Félix threw in, but it was obvious that he was amused.

"Well, we are fifteen years old, so I think it qualifies," Adrien snickered.

"Old or not, I come bearing gifts!" Marinette said and finally held out the two wrapped packages to each twin. Even though they really should have expected it, Adrien's eyes grew big as saucers as he stared at the blue gift box in awe.

"And also, a little something from me," Nino said and placed two small rectangular gifts on each of Marinette's.

"Oh my god, thank you!" Adrien said and hugged both of them while being careful not to crush his presents. Félix didn't go for a hug, but his grateful look was more than enough.

"Let's go to the classroom to open them in case the devil with designer sunglasses shows up," Félix said. Everyone more than willingly followed his suggestion.

"Open mine first. Nette's gifts are definitely better," Nino said once they entered the classroom, which prompted Marinette to elbow him in the side.

"Don't devalue your gifts! You put thought into them!"

"I'm sure we'll love—woah!" Adrien said as he tore away the wrapping paper and uncovered the CD below.

"This band was one of the opening bands at a Jagged Stone concert and their sound is similar. Thought you'd like them," Nino explained with a grin.

"I can't wait to listen to it!"

"It was tricky to find something for you," Nino continued, this time addressing Félix, "You really have a difficult taste, but I found this one band that was totally your style, dude."

When Félix unwrapped his own CD, it turned out to be a Scott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox album. Nino had burst into Marinette's room a few weeks ago and excitedly told her about it, saying he found the perfect gift for Félix. Now she watched as a small smile appeared on Fèlix's face.

"That is very thoughtful of you. Thank you," he said and Nino beamed.

"Now mine!" Marinette said and bit her lip in anxious anticipation. She wanted them to open her gifts before Chloé had a chance to arrive and at the same time she was irrationally worried that they wouldn't like them. After all, she had given them much better, bigger things in the past, but due to the very little time she had, she had only managed to knit two scarves. Granted, they were fabulous scarves and probably the best she had ever made, but they paled in comparison to the photo album.

Her worries were unfounded, as she was almost tackled by Adrien when he unwrapped the sky-blue scarf she had made for him.

"Oh my god, thank you Marinette! It's so soft! And my favourite colour!" Adrien exclaimed and immediately buried his face in it.

"This is quite detailed work," Félix said in what she interpreted as awe—it was sometimes hard to tell with him. His scarf was knitted with a warm dark grey wool and had lighter grey specks sewn into it. He had once lamented the fact that a green scarf would not go well with his regular attire—he still very much loved the green scarf she had gifted him for Christmas though—so she had taken it upon herself to knit one that would fit.

"I'm never going to take this off!" Adrien said as he wrapped the blue scarf around his neck. Marinette beamed.

"Maybe you should, unless you want to have crumbs stuck in it," she said and smugly dangled the bag with baked goods in front of him.

"You're the best!" He squealed as he snatched the bag from her and scavenged through it.

"Leave some for us too, dude." Nino chuckled and tried to take the bag away from Adrien.

"No! My precious!" Her silly crush hissed protectively.

It was at that moment that Alya entered the otherwise empty classroom. They must have looked odd, with Nino on Alya's seat and half hanging over the table to get the bag of pastries away from Adrien. Félix was half out his seat—originally Nino's seat—as he leaned away from Nino while Marinette just grinned in amusement at the scene.

"Good morning and happy birthday! What did I miss?" She asked thoroughly amused.

"They won't get my precious!" Adrien supplied and Marinette rolled her eyes.

"I brought pastries and Adrien thinks they all belong to him."

Adrien suddenly squeaked when Nino put his hat on him and pulled it over his face. The momentary distraction was enough for him to grab the bag.

"Hey, not fair!" Adrien said as he threw Nino's hat back at him.

"All is fair in love and war, Sunshine," Alya grinned. "And I'm pretty sure that a war will eventually be fought over Marinette's parents' baked goods."

Adrien pouted until he found a chocolate croissant and an éclair placed in front of him on a napkin—his favourites.

"What the hell?! It's your birthday and your father scheduled a photoshoot?!"

Marinette was furious.

"It is how it is," Adrien said with a shrug and a dejected sigh.

"Dude, that's just…wrong," Nino said.

"You know what? No. We'll march to your house now and have a word with that douchebag!" Alya declared with the same determination she had when she had biked after an Akuma to catch the best footage.

"Be our guest. You'll just waste your time," Félix said as the silver car stopped in front of the school.

"Come on, dude, you've rebelled against your dad before!" Nino tried one last time.

"Yeah, but now he actually lets us go to school. I don't want to risk it." Adrien frowned.

"Don't worry, we'll fix this for you," Marinette chimed in confidently, which drew a small smile from him. Then he and Félix climbed into the car. The vehicle had barely sped away when Alya stepped up and raised a fist as if she was about to make a war declaration.

"Alright, squad. Let's save this birthday!"

"Monsieur Agreste will see you shortly," Nathalie said as the three friends waited in…the lobby? Marinette still couldn't believe that they were let in at all, though the view that presented itself was absolutely not what she had expected. The mansion might be big, but it was also cold and empty. Neither of the twins had ever gone into detail about it, but now she finally saw what they meant. The depressing painting of their father and the twins that hung above the stairs did not help either. She immediately had the urge to steal it and burn it down. A picture where her friends looked that sad and hopeless shouldn't be allowed to exist!

Beside her, Nino nervously played with his bubble wand while Alya looked like she was ready to get into a fistfight. Tikki meanwhile poked Marinette encouragingly through the bag, which helped, although not as much as Marinette would have liked.

A few minutes later, Gabriel Agreste himself walked down the stairs and stopped on the landing. He was therefore towering above them even more than he already would have. It was probably on purpose, as he regarded them sceptically.

"My sons are not home yet," he said, obviously annoyed.

"We actually came to talk to you dude—err…sir," Nino said and all of them cringed when Gabriel's eyes narrowed.

"Me?"

"Yes, you see, it's Adrien's and Félix's birthday today and we wanted to throw them a birthday party," Marinette continued.

"And what good would that do?" Gabriel scoffed.

"Uh, to have some fun?" Alya said as if it would be the most obvious thing in the world. Marinette elbowed her friend in the side. Antagonizing Gabriel Agreste was not a good idea.

"They are always busy with piano, Chinese, basketball, fencing, photoshoots and all the other stuff you have them do. It's only fair that they should let loose once in a while and have fun! Especially on their birthday," Nino continued.

In that moment the door opened and in came the twins. The photoshoot must have been cancelled for them to be back already.

"Marinette? Nino? Alya? What are you doing here?" Adrien asked utterly confused as he came to stand next to them. Félix had meanwhile frozen in the doorway and was glaring daggers at his father.

"Trying to secure your birthday party," Alya said exasperated. "Though it doesn't seem to be working."

Marinette elbowed her again.

"Indeed," Gabriel Agreste said, his voice cold as ice.

"Monsieur Agreste, it would be just a small party and we can go somewhere else if you think we would disturb you here," Marinette tried after another encouraging poke from Tikki. It was like talking to an iceberg though.

"Yeah du—sir! Only the best of the best!" Nino threw in, though that seemed to be the wrong thing to say.

"I decide what is best for my sons," Gabriel said with a voice that left a shiver running down Marinette's spine. She heard Félix scoff behind her. "In fact, I have just decided that you are bad influences. Leave this house. Now!"

Marinette cringed.

"Why you—" Alya started, but it was Adrien who held her back this time.

"Don't. It won't do any good," he said dejectedly.

"I'm so sorry, you two. We only tried to help," Marinette said.

When the three of them turned around, they saw that Félix's previous death glare had changed to something even more murderous. Marinette had never seen him this angry.

"So, do you two want to come to my place and think of a plan B there?" Marinette suggested once the heavy gates of the mansion fell closed behind them.

"You bet, girl!" Alya said, a grin once again on her face. Nino, though, just sighed.

"Sorry, Nette, but I just…need a moment to think."

Marinette, who knew this side of Nino, immediately grew worried. While he was generally the more introverted and silent one of the two of them, he tended to really take it a little far with his brooding. One time he had been in a bad mood for over a week because a trip he had very much been looking forward to had been cancelled at the last minute.

"Alright," she therefore said. "But come by later, okay?"

Nino sighed.

"Dunno. This whole thing just makes me so angry, you know? And it's not just the birthday! That douchebag went on a business trip over Christmas and also left them alone for weeks back in May! That's just not okay!"

"I know, Nino. I know," Marinette said and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. She very much sympathized with him on that point, but there was little they could do about it.

"Wait, he did what?!" Alya asked and suddenly looked like she was about to turn around and storm right back into the mansion.

"Guys," Marinette said and grabbed Alya's arm out of precaution. "I know this is frustrating, but there really isn't a whole lot we can do about it. Besides, it's just lunch break. Maybe we can steal Adrien and Félix away for half an hour after school and bring them to my place to have a small party."

Alya sighed. "Yeah, let's do that! We can even decorate your place now so that it's finished for later!"

Marinette smiled. It wasn't a perfect plan, but it was at least a rough plan B.

When they arrived at her house, Marinette wasn't surprised that Nino just kept walking in the direction of the park. Just as she liked to go to her balcony (or lately various Parisian rooftops), Nino liked to go to parks when he needed to think. Alya was about to call out to him, but a hand on her arm and a shake of the head from Marinette made her close her mouth again.

"He'll follow soon, don't worry," she explained as the two girls walked up the steps.

"Oh, so he does that often?" Alya asked.

"Not exactly often, but I've known him long enough to know how he acts in certain situations."

"Right, you're childhood friends."

Marinette turned around to Alya with a raised eyebrow at the bitter tone of the statement.

"Sorry," the bespectacled girl said with an apologetic grin. "You all just already know each other so well and I'm the newbie. Kinda feels like I'm disturbing the peace."

Marinette couldn't help but snort at the latter statement.

"Are you kidding? I'm thrilled to finally have a girl friend! And I'm sure we'll all get to know each other better with time. You're part of the squad now!"

She lightly boxed Alya on the arm.

"Ouch! It shows that you've been hanging out with guys a lot."

All Marinette could offer was an unapologetic shrug.

"I'll take that as a compliment."

Eating lunch and preparing the living room for a small birthday party went by without a hitch. Marinette was glad that her mother had already started those preparations beforehand, seemingly guessing what the plans would be before even they knew them. Marinette and Alya meanwhile turned the whole thing into a game of twenty questions. Or rather, one hundred questions.

"Favourite animal?" Alya asked and Marinette had to think for a moment.

"I really like hamsters, but cats are slowly growing on me too."

A sly grin appeared on Alya's face at that. "Cats are growing on you, huh? Is it because they happen to be Adrien's favourite animal?" The suggestive tone of the question made Marinette blush.

"N-no! T-that's not it. Besides, it's my turn to ask a question!" She said defensively.

"Oh, come on! Just when we were getting to the interesting stuff."

"What's your favourite animal?" Marinette asked and put much more concentration than was usually needed into smoothing out a tablecloth.

"Foxes!" Alya said without hesitation. "Did you know that you can have a fox for a pet? I really want to own one when I have my own place someday. What about you? Do you want a cat once you move out?"

Marinette groaned. How did her friend manage to loop the question back to the previous topic?

"Technically, I already have a cat. I don't own him, but there's a stray who visits me from time to time."

"Are you talking about Adrien?" Alya asked and waggled her eyebrows. It seemed like she wouldn't let that topic go.

"No, I mean a real cat! You know: small furry animal with a tail?"

"Oh, that's so cute! What does he look like? Do you have pictures?" Alya asked eagerly and Marinette grinned.

"My turn to ask questions," she said smugly.

"Oh, please, Mari!"

She rolled her eyes.

"Okay, okay. It's a black shorthair cat with a white spot on his chest and green eyes. He's very cuddly, too. Sadly, I don't have pictures since he's camera-shy."

"What's his name?" Alya asked, and Marinette eventually accepted that their game was over and that this had turned into an interrogation. Albeit a friendly one.

"I just call him 'kitty'. Giving him a name at this point seems weird, so I'll just keep calling him that."

"Aww, that's boring," Alya pouted, but then her eyes lit up again. "Hey, when he's a black cat, then why don't you call him Chat Noir? You know, in honour of the real Chat Noir!"

Marinette giggled. After all, she already had a Chat Noir in her life. Not that Alya should know that.

"I think I'll just stick with 'kitty'."

Alya opened her mouth, probably to argue, but at that moment Sabine came in.

"Oh, this looks wonderful, you two,"

She had been in the bakery for the rush hour while the two of them had decorated everything to the best of their abilities. Her presence upstairs meant that the stream of customers had calmed down enough for Tom to handle it for a few minutes while she could eat lunch.

"Thanks, Maman," Marinette said with a grin. "I just hope that Adrien and Félix can make it after school since their dad didn't seem very…supportive of a birthday party when we went to ask."

"That's the understatement of the year, girl! He threw us out of the house permanently!" Alya said, her rage with the situation fuelled again.

"Oh dear, that doesn't sound good," Sabine said worriedly as she opened a window. Marinette knew that her mother was as concerned as she was—if not, even more—about the twins' wellbeing and their difficult family situation. Maybe she would even go to the mansion herself and talk to Gabriel Agreste. Perhaps he would be more willing to listen to another adult and parent.

Marinette's thoughts were disrupted when her mother suddenly let out a distressed cry as she was wrapped inside a bubble and carried out the window.

"Maman!" Marinette cried and ran to the open window, trying to grab onto the bubble or her mother, but she was already too far away. She then saw that her father had also been trapped in a bubble, as had apparently every adult in Paris. All of them floated up into the sky now.

"Maman! Papa!" She cried, even though it was no use. "Do you think it's another Akuma?" Marinette asked. The question, in her panic, had been directed at Tikki, but it was Alya who replied.

"Must be, right? What else could do this!?" Her tone was a mixture of worried and excited.

Marinette knew that she needed to transform, but not with Alya right there. She needed to shake her off somehow, but she couldn't do that while in the house.

"Let's go and see if we can do something to help," Marinette said as she dashed to the door and nearly fell over when she hastily put on her ballet flats. Not the best shoes to run from supervillains in. She might have to invest in some roman-style sandals or something else that was fitting for summer and didn't easily fall off.

"Right behind you, girl! I can also get footage for the Ladyblog!"

Making sure one last time that she wore her purse and that Tikki was inside said purse, she ran down the flights of stairs and burst through the door. She abruptly stopped in front of the bakery as bubbles with the face of what was no doubt the Akuma appeared. This caused Alya to run into her and for the both of them to fall. Ouch.

"Today's your lucky day, dudes. The adults are taking the day off, so make the most of it. No chores, no homework, no more nagging, just fun, fun, fun. This is the Bubbler's gift to you."

Marinette didn't make an effort to get up as she lay frozen on the street. She knew that voice and when she looked closely into the twisted face reflected in the many bubbles, she could also see Nino.

Her fault.

This was all her fault!

While she knew it was best for Nino to brood undisturbed, she had totally forgotten that negative emotions would make him a target for Hawkmoth! The whole magic supervillain thing was just too new for her to have considered it. But had she just thought for more than a second, she would have remembered and been able to prevent it!

Did that mean that she had to fight the person who was basically her brother? She didn't know if she could do that.

"Come on, get up girl," Alya said as she pulled on Marinette's arms. Beside them, two small kids cried and car alarms could be heard from various streets where vehicles had no doubt been abandoned mid-drive. The atmosphere reminded her of her previous battle where Alya had gotten stuck behind a car and it gave her the strength to snap out of her shock.

That's right, I'm a hero. I can handle this!

She let herself be pulled back to her feet by Alya and then walked over to the crying children.

"Don't worry, your parents will come back. I'm sure Ladybug and Chat Noir will set things right in no time," she said, which luckily calmed the two children. For that promise to be fulfilled though, she had to go to the source and she'd rather not leave two small kids all alone. Luckily, there was a boy her age beside them.

"Please keep an eye on them, yes?" Marinette said and started running before the black-haired boy could protest.

"Hey, where are you going?" Alya asked, running after her.

Damn it.

"That was Nino," Marinette said bitterly. "Which means he'll be heading to the Agreste mansion. So that's where I'm going too."

She had barely known anything about Ivan except that he liked Mylène, but she did know basically everything about Nino. Maybe it was possible to talk him out of it and come to a peaceful solution rather than having to fight him.

"Damn, we shouldn't have left him alone after all," Alya winced. "But Ladybug will definitely show up and save him! And when I'm there, I'll get front seats to the fight this time and the best footage for the Ladyblog!"

Marinette didn't need to look at her friend to know that her eyes sparkled excitedly. And since Alya couldn't see her face either, she rolled her eyes. She only hoped that she'd find a place to transform so Ladybug could actually show up.

The Agreste mansion was just as intimidating and cold as before. In comparison to earlier, though, there was now a DJ booth in the front court and her very frightened looking classmates. Well, everyone except for Chloé. She was strutting around like she owned the place despite there being an Akuma.

"Nino, you don't have to do this," Marinette said when she approached the Akuma. "I understand that you're angry at Monsieur Agreste, but the other adults haven't done anything wrong."

Her heart broke a little when she saw Bubbler's face contort in anger. This wasn't her friend. The boy she knew had once saved a puppy from dying in a trash can where it had cruelly been dumped. He had fought to keep it alive, staying awake all night to give it medicine and pet it. No, Nino would have never taken away parents from the children that needed them.

"Wrong! Adults always ruin all the fun and tell kids what to do," Bubbler said and raised his bubble wand. "If you want to be like that too, telling me what to do, then you can join them up in the sky," he blanched. Her plan of talking Nino out of this had thoroughly failed.

"N-no need for that. I'm here to party," she said with a too-wide grin. It seemed to satisfy the Akuma though since he put the bubble wand away.

"Then do so, dudette," he said, which gave her another painful reminder that this was indeed Nino.

Marinette looked around and eventually spotted Félix who intentionally held himself at the edge of the crowd. Adrien was nowhere to be seen. Since it looked like she wouldn't get away any time soon anyway, she grabbed Alya by the hand and made her way over to him.

"This is ludicrous," Félix muttered as they reached him.

"Where's Adrien?" Marinette asked as she looked around again. Félix nodded towards the mansion's entrance.

"He locked himself inside and is biding his time."

"But wait, it's your birthday too, so why aren't you the focus of all this if Nino wants to throw you a party?" Alya asked. Marinette, meanwhile made a side-step to the snack table and shovelled as many cookies as she could into her purse. Better safe than sorry.

Félix shrugged. "Adrien is more interested in this kind of party than I am. Perhaps, even under the influence of corrupted magic, Nino remembers this and lets me be."

"Alright everyone, DJ Bubbler is in the house! Let's get this party started! Now dance unless you want to end up like the adults!"

Félix sighed. "Or not."

Before either of the three could follow the Akuma's orders, the music suddenly stopped and a furious hiss was heard from above. Marinette looked up to see Chat Noir perched on the mansion's wall and glaring at Nino—or rather Bubbler, as he called himself.

"I'll have you know that this is one of my favourite songs. Do me a favor and don't ruin it for me!" her partner said. She noticed a slight shiver in his voice and saw that his claws were digging into the stone wall. Something had unsettled him.

She didn't waste another second and snuck towards the mansion while everyone else was focused on Chat Noir. Only Félix sent her a glance and nodded. He probably thought she wanted to go and find Adrien, which she really ought to do once all of this was over, but saving Nino was more important at the moment.

"Don't worry Marinette, you can do this!" Tikki said once they were inside the mansion. Marinette nodded.

"I really hope so, Tikki."

This Akuma was a lot more personal than the last one had been. After all, not only was the Akuma itself her childhood friend, but also her own parents were at risk. Losing wouldn't be an option.

A paw touched her cheek and patted her reassuringly. "You trained for this with Chat Noir, so you're a lot better now than you were when you fought Stoneheart. I'm certain you can win. Just remember what you know and use every advantage you can think of."

She gave her kwami a small smile. "I will, Tikki. Thank you. Spots on!"

Ladybug took a moment to take a deep breath. She was scared of fighting her childhood friend, but then again, this wasn't Nino. She had to save Nino from this dark magic. Could she really do it though? Could she be the hero everyone needed and depended on?

A scream from outside snapped her out of her doubts and made her jump out of the nearest window. It didn't matter whether or not she could do this perfectly, since nobody else could purify the akuma. She had embraced this realisation at her last fight already, but it was still a little hard to wrap her head around it.

She arrived just in time to shield her partner from an onslaught of bubbles. Their training was already paying off. They had discovered her yo-yo could act as a shield at a training session where they had thrown tennis balls at each other and tried to block them with their weapons. She gave her partner a brief glance to see if he was alright before she focused back on the Akuma.

"You okay there, Chat?" She asked.

"Much better now that you're here, my lady," Chat Noir said and moved into a fighting stance next to her. "Looks like it was a good idea to practice for projectiles after all."

Not a second later, the bubbles were thrown at them again and their banter had to stop in favour of dodging and blocking them all. Ladybug could feel herself falling into the familiar movements they had practiced—like a dance—and could only barely contain a grin when the bubbles stopped and she and Chat were still standing without a scratch.

Turns out there was no time for victory celebrations yet, because the bubbles they had deflected suddenly turned green and surrounded them. Instead of being able to bat them away though, they stuck to them.

Before Ladybug knew what was happening, she and Chat Noir had been trapped in a bubble themselves. She instantly looked around in panic and tried to break out of the bubble. It was as solid as glass though.

"Give me your Miraculous before you run out of air," Bubbler said.

"Dream on, Bubbler," Ladybug heard herself say and only a second later realised that this had probably not been the wisest move.

"Total party poopers. Just like adults!"

"Kids need adults!" Ladybug countered, even though she had had a similar conversation with the Akuma before. One last try couldn't hurt.

"False! Kids need freedom and fun! To let loose and live it up! Adults are just controlling and bossy."

Well, she had expected that reply. There was apparently no common ground to be reached with an Akuma. A retort of adults keeping children safe and protected lay on her tongue, but she didn't dare say that while Félix was in hearing range. That didn't keep Chat Noir from saying something though.

"Not all adults are like that!" He snarled. "And freedom and fun are very subjective. Maybe not everyone wants to party like you do, ever thought of that?"

"Don't antagonize him, Chaton," Ladybug hissed at her hostile partner.

"Know what? Since you care about these adults so much, why don't you go float with them for a while?"

Having the bubble suddenly fly upwards at breakneck speed was worse than any freefall tower. Chat Noir's kicks at the bubble's wall did nothing either.

"I think you have to use Cataclysm, Chaton," she eventually said and could feel her partner freeze up. After that first time, they had also practiced Cataclysm on several other occasions on different things. But all of those times she had been at least a few metres away since Chat Noir insisted on a safety distance. They didn't have this luxury now.

"B-but what then? We'll just fall from the sky and break our everything."

His voice was shivering and his tail continuously hit her as it nervously lashed around. She took his face in her hands and looked him in the eyes.

"Walking around in a costume and a mask doesn't make you a hero. Facing your fears and overcoming them does. It's just another step, alright?" She said with a smile. "And we're in this together."

Chat Noir sighed and then gave a faint nod.

"Get behind me," he said quietly and she did as he said. Even when she gently put a hand on his back—a gesture she hoped to be reassuring—her partner still shook with nerves.

"C-cataclysm," he eventually called. "Brace yourself, my lady."

She unhooked her yo-yo from her belt and secured the ring at the end of the string around her finger. "Ready."

Chat Noir touched the wall of the bubble with his right hand. They instantly started to fall and Ladybug had to suppress another scream. Panic wouldn't help in this situation.

She remembered what Tikki had told her before transforming: remember what she knew and to use every advantage she could think of. Her eyes darted around, desperate to find something tall to throw her yo-yo at. Only the Eiffel tower next to them came to mind, but even if she could wrap her yo-yo around one of the beams, they would just end up swinging into the structure at full force. Her eyes then landed on her partner's baton.

"Chat, your baton! Throw it at the tower!" The idea was instinctual, like she just knew that it would work. Something similar had happened at the last fight where she had just known that making Stoneheart and Mylène kiss would solve the problem. She idly wondered how Chat's blunt weapon would stick in a metal beam, and how strong the two of them were while suited up. They'd have to try that out more.

She grabbed Chat Noir's hand and threw her yo-yo. It obediently wrapped around the baton and the effect was immediate. Her shoulder ached for a few seconds while the string went taut—under normal circumstances that would have torn off her entire arm—and then she pulled, making the baton come loose and letting the two of them fall to the street below. By some miracle, they landed on their feet, safe and sound.

"I'm glad cats aren't afraid of heights," Chat Noir said as she threw him his baton. She was still too shaken from their fall to really appreciate his joke though.

"We've got to get his weapon. That's probably where the Akuma is," she said. Nino's headphones would have been the more obvious choice, since he basically never took them off, but she hadn't seen any headphones on Bubbler. And even if the bubble wand didn't hold his Akuma, it was still his main weapon and without it he would be much easier to beat.

The beeping of Chat Noir's ring drew her out of her contemplations.

"We'd better hurry."

"I can say with absolute certainty that this was the most exciting birthday I have ever had," Félix deadpanned as he, Adrien, Nino, Alya, Marinette and her parents sat in the living room of the Dupain-Cheng bakery. After detransforming, Marinette had been quick to snatch both twins from the mansion before their father, Nathalie, and their bodyguard could fully come back to their senses. School had been cancelled for the rest of the day and a lot of businesses had been closed as well, including the bakery, though that had been for a different reason.

Now all of them sat in the decorated living room around two birthday cakes and talked about the events of the day.

"I'm sorry, dude. I don't even remember what happened. One moment I was in the park, being angry at your dad, and the next thing I know I'm sitting on the Eiffel tower," Nino said as he poked at his generously large piece of chocolate cake.

"It's not your fault, Nino," Adrien said.

"Exactly. It's Hawkmoth's fault. And technically Monsieur Agreste's too for being an asshole," Marinette added and then ducked under the reproving look her mother threw her. Right, they might agree that Monsieur Agreste wasn't the nicest person—a strong understatement—but curse words were still forbidden in their household.

"Maybe being in a bubble for an hour and missing all his appointments has taught him a lesson at least," Alya muttered which made Félix grin in return. Well, his version of a grin at least. "And I got amazing footage of Ladybug and Chat Noir in action!" Alya continued, this time squealing in glee.

"Glad to see that I could do a little bit of good after all," Nino said. His grin was not as bright as it usually was, but it was still better than the absolutely devastated expression he had worn when she had dragged him to the bakery with the twins and Alya earlier.

"Now eat up, son. You know you'll feel better afterwards," Tom said with a smile and Nino complied. The result was a slightly brighter smile on his face after the first bite. Her father beamed at that.

"Let's look at it this way," Adrien then said. "If all of this wouldn't have happened, then Marinette couldn't have kidnapped us to bring us to our real birthday party. So, in a way your plan worked out after all."

"And I'll gladly kidnap you again if it's necessary," Marinette added without thinking and only registered what she had said when Alya threw her a suggestive grin and Félix poked her in the side. She poked him back. Adrien remained oblivious and just snickered.

"Just don't let the police hear that," he said, which drew a round of laughter from the table.

Marinette smiled when she lay in her bed that evening and thought back on the entire day. She had not only managed to give Adrien and Félix a small but still great birthday party, but she had also saved Paris for a second time. Chat Noir had even used Cataclysm while he was close to her, which had been a first.

The both of them still held a lot of fears and insecurities, but she felt like they were slowly getting somewhere. They already were heroes; they would just become even better ones in time.

"You did a very good job today, Marinette. And not just with the Akuma," Tikki said as if reading her thoughts.

"Thanks, Tikki. I think so too."

"I'm proud of you," the kwami said and gave her a kiss on the forehead. "And now go to sleep or you'll sleep through your alarm again."

Marinette chuckled at how well Tikki had gotten to know her already in these past few weeks. "Alright, alright. Goodnight Tikki," she said as she turned off the light.

"Fair dreams, Marinette."