A MIME'S BEEN AKUMATIZED

Marinette stared at Chloe's text, feeling the circles under her eyes deepen. What was Chole's game here? She said all she wanted was Marinette's trust, that she didn't want Ladybug's miraculous, but that was too simple. Why would she want trust of all things? Before she had only ever wanted power. A scream sounded from the ballroom and she glanced up. A man burst from the room doing a terrible breakdance and glowing pink.

"I can't stop dancing!" He cried. Behind him more dancers appeared.

Luka started to go up to him but one of the other dancers stopped him yelling, "No! If you touch one of us you'll also be forced to dance!"

He backed off and went back to Marinette. She stood up, eyes narrowing at the situation. Why would a mime force people to dance? Luka grabbed her hand.

"Let's go hide until Ladybug and Chat Noir get here." He said, starting to pull her.

Marinette shook him off. "I'm sorry Luka, but there's something I have to do."

"What?" Luka asked, waving his hands around at the people quickly crowding the area, "dance till you die? Because that's what will happen if you're touched by one of these people. Let's get out of here."

Marinette stepped back. "I'm sorry Luka, I can't."

"What do you mean you can't? What's going on Marinette? Why do you always do this?"

"What do you mean, I always do this?"

"You always, just, run off. No explanation, no nothing. And now you want to separate in the middle of a crisis? What's going on." He took off his bird mask, hoping his sincerity would shine through.

Marinette stared at him helplessly, hands open in an empty gesture. "Luka, I can't - Look, I'm sorry, I have to go." She turned and jogged off.

Luka tried going after her but the growing crowd blocked him off. He wouldn't be able to get through without being affected by the dance magic. He turned and ran out of the building, eyes burning and stomach sick. He trusted her, he loved her, so why did he feel so awful after their conversations recently? Why couldn't she trust him as well?

It wasn't hard for Adrien to slip away in the crowd, his mask kept people from recognizing him and asking for autographs. If it hadn't been so crowded he might have actually found the party relaxing. You know, aside from the colorful mime dancing around the building, forcing anyone she touched to dance without a break.

He ran out into the lobby just in time to see the dancing crowd split apart Marinette and Luka. He didn't have time to stop and make sure they were okay, if he stopped moving at all one of the dancing people might touch him. He dodged his way into the toilets hid in a stall.

Plagg flew out of his hat saying, "Seriously, that party sucked. Not a single cheese platter anywhere."

"I'll feed you when we get home," Adrien said, "for now we have to stop this masquerade, CLAWS OUT!"

Chat Noir burst out of the bathroom and extended his baton so he could jump over the guests.

"Did anyone see where," He stopped for a second, "crud, I didn't get her name. Did anyone see where the colorful mime went?"

A few people in the crowd disco pointed at the elevator.

"Purrfect," He said, "Thanks!"

He went into the stair well and stood at the center of the empty, spiraling staircase where he could nearly see up to the roof. He extended his baton slowly, listening at each floor for sound of panic. He was nearly at the top when he heard yelling. He burst through the door finding himself in the hall leading to the rooms of the extremely rich and famous. A dancing butler was quickly sashaying down the hallway, smiling desperately when he saw Chat Noir.

"Thank goodness you're here!" he cried, "A villain calling herself Mimerella has ransacked the rooms, looking for Nadia from the news station. She wants to make sure everyone see's her dance. She want's to be a better dancer than everyone!"

"Gottcha. Sounds like I don't have time to boogie with you, where is she now?"

"T-the roof I think, she's going to check and see if the news crew is down below covering the incident."

Chat zoomed past him, hopping in the opposite elevator. On the roof Mimerella stood with her back to the door, peering down at the crowds below. She turned as the door slammed open, smiling broadly.

"Well if it isn't Chat Noir," She said, glowing a faint pink, "Normally it's Cinderella who loses something at the ball, but I think you're about to part with your ring."

"Please," Chat said, twirling his baton, "it's not even made of glass."

A light clunk sounded at something hit a pole followed by a whirring sound. Ladybug leaped up onto the roof so Mimeralla was between her and Chat Noir, releasing her yoyo from the poll as it snapped back into her hand.

"You sure are colorful for a mime," Ladybug said, spinning her yoyo next to her hip.

"I'm Mimerella," the villain shrieked, stomping her foot.

"She talks a lot for a mime too," Chat said, "So what's the plan?"

"Stop ignoring me," Mimerella yelled, "everyone has to watch me dance. Including you!"

She raced forward, swiping at Chat. He leaped back. Ladybug ran up behind her, throwing out her yoyo so it wrapped around Mimerella."

"Got you." She said, pulling the string tight.

Mimerella started laughing. "big mistake Ladybug." Her pink glow shifted onto the yoyo, traveling down it to Ladybug. It reached the hero's fingers, quickly covering her. All at once Ladybug started jerking around, pulling the yoyo with her.

Mimerella started laughing again as the string around her loosened. Chat took the moment to activate his power, running at the colorful villain and leaping up, snatching off her hat. It disintegrated before the pink glow could travel to Chat, a black butterfly flying away from it.

Ladybug spun around jerkily, yoyo flying back to her. She fell into the splits, launching her weapon into the air, catching the akuma. It flew away a cleansed white. She quickly threw the yoyo back up shouting, "Miraculous Ladybug!" Millions of sparkling ladybugs flew threw the air, fixing any damage the villain had caused and stopping the terrible breakdancing that had broken out in the streets.

Chat ran over, helping Ladybug up. "Funny, I always thought milady was a better dancer than that."

"It was a curse Chat," Ladybug snapped, shaking herself, "What'd you expect. How'd you know where the akuma was anyway?"

Chat shrugged, a little perturbed by his partners harsh tone. "It was the only piece of her costume that seemed removable."

Authors Note : Hey ya'll. Guess who's laptop finally died right before Covid-19 hit so she didn't have anything to write on! It's been awhile so I apologize if the tone of this chapter is slightly different than the ones before it. So, this'll be my last chapter for a small while. I'm going to finish the entire story and then upload it chapter by chapter each day so I don't leave ya'll waiting for month on end because of a technology slip up like what just happened. The story is slowly building to the climax and I want it to be worth your guys's time to read so I'm going to start writing for all it's worth. Thank's so much for reading and keep an eye for when I start uploading again! 3