Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug, Cat Noir and Steel Butterfly.

Chapter 22: Kung Food Averted.

(Author's notes: Let's see how well Marinette is able to speak Mandarin with her great-uncle.

Enjoy chapter 22.)

(Quantic Universe Earth 139, Paris, France, May 10th, 2015, third person POV...)

Marinette is in her bedroom with Tikki as she practices speaking Mandarin with Steel Butterfly on the telepathy version of speaker phone.

Marinette starts in English, "Welcome to my home. My name is Marinette."

Steel Butterfly repeats for Marinette in Mandarin, "Huānyíng lái dào wǒjiā. Wǒ de míngzì shì mǎlì nèi tè."

Marinette repeats after SB and manages to get the pronunciations right on the first try.

Steel Butterfly and Tikki say in unison, "Great job, Marinette!" "Great job, Marinette!"

Marinette replies while taking flowers off the coffee table, "Thanks! But do you think he'll like the flowers?"

Steel Butterfly replies, "Of course, he'll like them! I don't understand why they need to be perfect, though; not everyone or everything is perfect. And nobody is perfect no matter how much they envision themselves as perfectionists."

Marinette sighs as she replies, "All right, I'll try to loosen up a bit."

The doorbell rings to signify that Wang Cheng has arrived.

Marinette says quietly, "It's him! Hide, Tikki!"

Tikki hides in Marinette's purse.

Marinette opens the door to see her great-uncle Wang Cheng.

He bows sensei-style and says, "Nǐ hǎo./Hello."

Marinette replies, "Nǐ hǎo.Huānyíng lái dào wǒjiā. Wǒ de míngzì shì mǎlì nèi tè."

Wang had a bit of a shocked expression on his face, as he didn't know that one of his relatives could easily speak in his native tongue.

Wang remarks, "Wa. Wǒ bù zhīdào nǐ duì pǔtōnghuà zhème liǎojiě, mǎlì nèi tè./Wow. I didn't know you knew Mandarin so well, Marinette."

Marinette replies, "Wǒ yīzhí zài xiàng zuì hǎo de Wáng shū xuéxí./I've been learning from the best, Uncle Wang."

Wang then asks, "Nàme, wǒ kěyǐ cānguān yīxià nǐ de jiā ma?/So, shall I have a tour of sorts of your home?"

Marinette replies, "Dāngrán shì Wáng shūshu. Jìnlái./Of course, Uncle Wang. Come on in."

Later on, in the car on the way to the contest, Marinette asks her great-uncle, "Wáng shūshu, nǐ shì dì yī cì lái bālí ma?/Uncle Wang, is this the first time you visited Paris?"

Wang replies, "Bù, shíjì shang. Wǒ láiguò zhèlǐ yīcì, dàn nà shì 30 nián qián de shìle. Wǒ bù zhīdào nǐ huì shuō liúlì de zhōngwén./No, actually. I have been here once, but that was 30 years ago. I didn't know you spoke Chinese fluently."

Marinette replies, "Wǒ yī kāishǐ bìng bù shàncháng, dàn wǒ tōngguò zúgòu de liànxí xuéhuìle./I wasn't good at first, but I learned with enough practice."

Wang replies back, "Wǒ xīwàng wǒ néng duō liànxí shuō yīngyǔ. Wǒ de yīngyǔ bùshì hěn hǎo./I wish I had more practice speaking English. My English is not that good."

Outside the Grand Paris Hotel, the logo for The World's Greatest Chef flashes as it turns out to be TVs showing the filming on scene.

Alec Cataldi says, "Since our "'World's Greatest Chef"' contest kicked off, the best culinary masters from around the globe have been blowing our minds with their gastronomic creations."

As Wang and Marinette exit the car, Mayor Andre Bourgeois comes over and says, "Cheng Shifu, I am delighted and honored to have you on our final show, where you will have the chance to defeat all of the chefs who have competed thus far."

Wang smiles, and he and Marinette walk into the Grand Paris Hotel.

Alec announces, "Only one chef will be awarded the title of "'The World's Greatest Chef."' The winner's dish will become the new Mayor's Special on the Grand Paris Hotel's restaurant menu!"

The camera switches to the inside of the hotel and Alec interviews Wang.

Alec asks, "Tell us, Cheng Shifu, what dish will you be honoring our panel with today?"

Marinette translates for her uncle, "Nín jiāng tígōng de càiyáo./The dish you will be offering."

Wang answers, "My dish is: Celestial Soup."

Alec remarks, "Wow! I've heard so much about your legendary Celestial Soup, but today, we will actually get to taste it!"

The television broadcast ends.

Marinette asks, "Nǐ méishì ba, Wáng shūshu? Yǒurén de cài bèi pòhuài de shìjiàn shí yǒu fāshēng./Will you be okay, Uncle Wang? There have been incidents where someone's dish was sabotaged."

Wang replies, "I will be okay, Marinette, do not worry."

Wang and Alec walk off to the kitchens.

Chloe then sneaks up behind Marinette and shouts, "BOO!"

Marinette shrieks, "AAHH!"

Marinette whirls around to see Chloe smirking while holding her laughter in.

Marinette bemoans, "Very funny, Chloe."

Chloe states, "Sorry; just having some fun before the competition starts. Anyway, I ain't sure if you heard, but I'm part of the jury, and I've never tried soup before."

Marinette replies, "Really? Then I believe that you're going to love my uncle's Celestial Soup."

Chloe replies back, "I'm not sure how good it will taste, but I will try it, just for the sake of giving my vote on the jury."

Chloe and Marinette walk off to the area where the competition is to be judged.

In the Grand Paris Kitchen, Wang Cheng is cooking his Celestial Soup.

Eventually, he manages to finish.

In the Grand Paris Hotel dining room where the competition is being held, the competition is being filmed.

Alec Cataldi announces, "As usual, our panel of gourmets is made up of Andre Bourgeois, the mayor of Paris and the owner of this luxury hotel, his daughter Chloe representing the younger generation, the hot rock and roll star Jagged Stone and his killer crocodile Fang, and finally, the divine head chef of this very hotel, Marlena Cesaire, and yours truly – Alec!"

The logo for "The World's Greatest Chef" flashes again.

Alec continues, "And now, it's time to determine the fate of Cheng Shifu's famous Celestial Soup. Let's get tasting!"

Everyone on the jury tastes the soup, including Chloe.

Alec remarks, "Mmm! This is wonderful!"

Wang and Marinette smile in pride.

Mayor Bourgeois states, "Mmm! I think that this soup will definitely fare well with our guests! I'll give it a 10 out of 10."

Jagged Stone replies, "Mmm! It's like kissing a rockin' apple pie!

Marlena also says, "I never thought I'd say this, but not only is this soup edible, it's wonderful! I give it a ten out of ten."

Wang states, "I am happy all of you love my soup."

On the rooftop of the hotel, Steel Butterfly has his helmet removed to reveal that he has a butterfly mask on his face with Eric Draven-inspired face paint, and Steel Butterfly was smiling evilly in pride.

Now, Steel Butterfly was happy that he managed to avert yet another Akumatization. And Steel Butterfly was getting one step closer to helping his favorite heroes and current allies win against Hawk Moth/Scarlet Moth/Shadow Moth and Catalyst/Mayura. And they won't even know what'll hit them.

Back in the dining room, Alec says, "Cheng Shifu, I'm gonna say right now, I'm giving you a 10/10, which brings your score 10.10/10 – the highest so far. The Celestial Soup will therefore be featured in the hotel's menu for this year, and you are hereby named 'World's Greatest Chef!'"

The logo for "The World's Greatest Chef" flashes again, and Marinette notices Chloe tasting the soup again and smiling in delight at how good it tastes.

Marinette remarks to her great-uncle, "Kàn yàngzi shì zhǎng de nǚ'ér hěn xǐhuān nǐ de xiān tāng./It definitely looks like the Mayor's daughter loves your Celestial Soup."

Wang replies, "Wàn wàn méi xiǎngdào, shì zhǎng de nǚ'ér jūrán huì xǐhuān wǒ de tiān tāng. Xiànzài, wǒ shì shìjiè shàng zuì wěidà de chúshī./ I never would have guessed that the daughter of the Mayor would actually love my Celestial Soup. And now, I am the greatest chef in the world."

Marinette and Wang hug each other, and everyone in the jury takes a picture to capture the tender moment.

In Hawk Moth's lair, the terrorist of Paris states, "This evil dinner was almost perfect! And even if Kung Food didn't come to be, revenge is a dish best served cold, so watch out and watch yourselves – I'll be ready to strike again!"

The window to Hawk Moth's lair closes.

Later on, Marinette and Tikki met up with Steel Butterfly in her bedroom.

Marinette states, "Thank you for preventing the first Akumatization of one of my relatives, Miguel."

Marinette and Miguel hug each other.

Steel Butterfly and Marinette stay like that for a good while before the butterfly hero leaves to prepare for nightly patrol.

The End.

(Author's notes: The next chapter will feature Xaiver Ramier as Mr. Pigeon going against Albertine Friedman, also known as Ms. Raven.

See you in chapter 23: Mr. Pigeon vs. Ms. Raven.)