"So you heard Nino's gonna be on 'The Challenge', right?"

"Yeah- I really hope he wins and gets to keep going."

"I'm gonna meet him at the studio and cheer for him. You wanna come?"

"Sure!"

Adrien smiled at the girl, watching her run her fingers through her hair. The pair were sitting in the park on one of the benches, a picnic lunch between them. Granted, they weren't technically alone- the Gorilla was in the car watching them. But Adrien was over the moon- so happy to be able to finally be on a "date" with his crush. Finally they were able to be alone and just spend time together.

"Did you finish the music assignment?"

"The three part one? Yeah, last night."

"I can't believe we might have to perform the songs... that's my worst nightmare."

"You'll be fine- I'm sure Mrs. Archambault will let you make a digital copy and turn it in that way."

Ella sighed, her fingers playing with her skirt fabric. Adrien placed his hand over hers, drawing her gaze upwards to meet his.

"It'll be fine, trust me. Have I been wrong yet?"

"No... but there is a first time for everything." Adrien pretended to be offended, Ella laughing at his reaction. The teen couldn't keep that look on his face, as Ella's laughter got to him, and soon the pair were laughing together... as if they had been together forever.

After a few minutes and multiple attempts to catch their breath and failing, Adrien's phone dings.

"It-it's N-Nino..." Adrien pants, wiping tears from the corners of his eyes. Ella nods, doing the same while trying to breathe.

"Ready to go?"

"Yeah, we should go."

Heading to the car, Adrien asked Gorilla to take the pair to the studio with minimal grunts from the man about the extra passenger; though Adrien assumed the older man would be texting or calling either his father or Nathalie because of Ella. With a sigh, Adrien just turned his attention back to Ella and smiled, just happy to be with the girl.

"Hey dude, dudette! Thanks for coming!"

"No problem, man!"

"Of course!"

Adrien and Ella met with Nino on the set, catching him just before he was scheduled to go on. They gave their good lucks and cheers, as he goes and hears his challenge: make Mayor Bourgeois dance.

"Go Nino!" Ella cheered as their friend put on his headphones, Adrien cheering beside her.

The pair watched Nino begin, their cheers turning silent, as Adrien's gaze kept dancing between his friend and Ella, his smile noticeably softer every time he looked at his crush.

The teen jumped a little, his phone buzzing in his pocket. Pulling it out and opening the message, he saw it was from his father.

'Nathalie informed me you were accompanied by Miss Maunt. Bring her with you when you return home.'

Adrien sighed, hesitant to respond. How would Ella answer his father's request?

"Hey Ella?"

"Hm?" She pulled her eyes from Nino to meet Adrien's green gaze.

"My dad... you know how he still wants to meet you?"

"Huh? Again?" The girl asked, confused.

"Again?" This time was Adrien's turn to be puzzled.

"Umm... when I went with you to that interview... I kinda met him on the tablet Nathalie had."

"He never mentioned that." Adrien frowned; why hadn't his father mentioned talking to Ella back then?

"I'm sure he didn't think it was a big deal! But what were you saying about him-"

Ella was cut off by a young man suddenly coming up beside her. The girl flinched into Adrien, prompting the teen to gently move her to his other side. This movement also alerted the Gorilla's attention- who had been behind the teens- and the giant of a man immediately stood protectively in front of his charge and his friend.

"No it's okay!" Adrien was quick to defend the poor guy, his bodyguard moving back only slightly. Once he did, Adrien turned to Ella, but the girl was already calming her breathing and loosening her grip on Adrien's hand.

"Sorry..."

"No need to be sorry- you don't ever have to apologize okay?" Adrien smiled, lightly squeezing her hand.

"Okay..!" Ella mirrored his smile before they turned back to Nino, who succeeded in making the mayor dance.

"Nino, congratulations! You'll return next week for a new challenge!" Alec the host spoke as Nino walked off stage.

"Awesome dude!" Adrien congratulated, fist bumping his friend.

"Congrats Nino!" Ella smiled from Adrien's other side before she turned her attention to the next act.

"Thanks guys!" Nino nodded as his gaze moved down. Adrien followed it, seeing that Nino had spotted his and Ella's hands still together.

"Don't say anything."

"Hey- you hold hands with your girl."

"She's not my girl!" Adrien hissed, his voice low enough for Ella not to hear, while his cheeks and ears burned red.

"Not yet she isn't, dude." Nino winked, making Adrien groan.

"Mr. Grimault, you are a hypnotist. You use cards to hypnotize people to get what you want from them!"

"Well, yes, I'm a hypnotist. But, uh, I don't use my skills to get anything."

"So, your challenge today, Simon, is to use your talents to bring a very elusive celebrity to this very TV set! Give it up for the king of fashion, Gabriel Agreste!"

At his name, Gabriel turned in his chair, expecting something serious regarding his work, but was annoyed at the sight of a tv studio.

"What is this show? I was told this was an interview." He spoke, unhappy his time was being wasted. But as the irritating host explained whatever was going on, Gabriel noticed his son in the camera shot. To his son's one side, was that troublesome boy he dismissed as a bad influence, and on the other side was Ella Maunt. And what was even more intriguing, was his son and the girl holding hands.

Adrien hadn't replied to his message, but maybe Gabriel would be seeing Miss Maunt sooner than he thought.

"How funny is that, Gabriel?"

"Hilarious." The fashion icon deadpanned, returning his attention back to the annoyance at the bottom of the screen.

"Your show is pathetic. And so is your contestant. Control me? Never."

And with that, Gabriel ended the video call- cutting off the sight of his son and the girl.

"That's my dad, all right." Adrien sighed, feeling bad for the hypnotist.

"Now I'm really terrified to meet your father in person..." Ella whispered.

"Looks like Mr. Agreste has turned down your challenge. Game over!"

"But... that's not fair! I didn't even get time to..." The poor man didn't get to finish his sentence as he's lead off the stage and out of the studio.

"I feel bad for him. He had no chance." Nino sighed, watching the man exit.

"Yeah, me too." Ella frowned, unconsciously shuffling closer to Adrien. He gently squeezed her hand, smiling when she looked up at him.

"My dad's always been like that. But he means well in the end. Just like how he hasn't pushed wanting to meet you in person. He listens when you least expect him to be."

Ella nodded and opened her mouth to respond, but the studio doors slammed open wide.

"Simon says the show is not over!"

The guy was in a purple and green suit, holding a stack of cards.

"What on earth?!"

"Silence! Silence says you're lame! As lame as a duck!" The villain throws a card at Alec, and he started acting like a duck. The Gorilla blocked the villain access to Adrien and Ella and tried to stop him.

"Simon says stop!" Simon throws a card with a pause sign at the Gorilla and freezes him.

"Simon says you are a gorilla!" Throwing the gorilla card at him, the Gorilla starts to act like an actual gorilla.

"Nino, Ella- go hide!" Adrien pushed the pair towards the hallway, hoping to at least get them out of danger so he could go transform.

"Wait- Adrien! Don't go running-" And he was gone. He felt awful making Ella worry like that, but Cat Noir was needed in order to keep her safe.

"Gabriel Agreste turned down my challenge and he will pay for it! By midnight tonight, he will entertain us in this very TV studio. Gabriel, I'm coming to get you!" Simon delivered his plan to the still broadcasting cameras, with Cat Noir eavesdropping from the ceiling attached batten.

"Dad?" He couldn't help but whisper, worried about his father. Glancing down to the left, Cat's eye widened at the sight of Nino and Ella hiding behind an equipment crate- why hadn't they run!? Ironically, Nino looked up, saw Cat and nudged Ella, pointing. The girl followed her friends finger to the superhero, her own eyes widening and a light blush creeping across her cheeks. Cat couldn't help but smirk, as he shushed them to make sure they stayed safe.

Flipping off the metal, Cat landed on top of Simon, knocking him flat.

"Cat Noir says: Zip it and gimme those cards!" At his words, Simon propelled the cards out of his hand, making Cat scramble to grab them in search of the akuma.

"My gorilla will take care of you. Simon says.. knock him out!" The villain tossed a card at the Gorilla, who knocked Cat Noir out the studio doors. The teen flipped a time or two before sticking the landing.

"I may not always land on my feet, but I always bounce back!" Cat smirked but flipped again as Gorilla punched a hole in the wall where he once stood. The hero landed feet away in a defensive stance, his eyes dancing between the giant and the door where he left his friends.

Extending his staff, Cat swings at Gorilla but the man grabs the staff and tosses it away.

"Better watch out. My sensei taught me that..." Poor Cat got cut off as the Gorilla grabbed him.

"...size doesn't matter!" The teen finished in a squeaky voice.

Meanwhile, Ladybug arrived and kicked the door, but saw nobody in the studio.

"Ladybug! Over here!"

"Oh... Hey! You two okay?" She ran over to the pair, taking in possible damage.

"I'm fine, but our boy Adrien's still here somewhere!" Nino informed the heroine, as Ella scrambled to move and search for the teen.

"Don't worry, we'll find him. You need to stay me, though."

"No I can help! Please!"

"We can't have you putting yourself in danger, Ella. I need you to stay at my side." The girl wilted under Ladybug's stare, finally nodding.

"Just please find him..."

"I will, I promise."

"I quit karate." Cat whimpered as he was slammed into the wall. Lucky, the elevator down the hallway opened, providing the perfect distraction.

"Oh, hey there, Ladybug!"

It worked; Gorilla turned his head towards the elevator, letting Cat get his legs up enough to kick the man away from him. Dodging attacks and moving backwards, Cat leads the man to the elevator and flipped him inside.

"Enough already. Cataclysm!" Using his power, the elevator malfunctioned and dropped down to the ground floor.

Doing a backflip to retrieve his staff, Cat spins his staff to defend himself as he turned but he sees it's just Ladybug, Nino and Ella.

"Nice seeing you too, Cat Noir."

"Oh, sorry. I thought you were Simon Says."

"Elle and I saw him! He's got a whole army together!"

"He's looking for Gabriel Agreste!" Ella chimed in.

"We better get to him faster than they can!" As the words left this mouth, his ring beeped.

"Cat Noir, you're about to change back. I'll take one last look around for Nino and Ella's friend."

"Uh... Forget it. He's probably hypnotized."

"We can't!"

"But he's my buddy!"

"Ladybug- please let me go look for him!" Ella pleaded.

"Ella- I want you to go home."

"What? Why, Cat?"

"The last thing I want is you getting in the middle of all this. So go home. Ladybug will look for your friend."

"Cat that's not fair!"

Ella couldn't have actually planned this better. She had hoped to go off in the pretense of looking for Adrien, but at the same time, changing into Raven. So Cat's demand she go home worked in her favor. Now she just had to make it believable... even though this was gonna upset Cat.

"Ella, go."

"Fine- if you don't want me around, I'll go!" She cried, turning tail and running off. She ignored the calls of her name, as she darted around the corner and into a closet.

"Are you gonna make it up to Cat Noir later? He looked really hurt."

"Yes Kiisy, I promise I will. But god forbid, if he keeps trying- him and Ladybug- to keep me from anything, just because of my akumatization and everything that day, they have another thing coming."

Kiismet studied Ella a moment, drawing a puzzled look from the girl.

"What?"

"You're changing. Three months ago, you wouldn't have even thought those words, much less say them. You're coming out of your shell and I'm so happy!"

Ella blushed at her kwami's words. It was true, though; she had been branching out and speaking her mind more...

"I guess I have Adrien to thank for all that... which is why I can't just leave and not try to find him! Kiismet, touch the sky!"

Cat almost missed the final warning beeps of his ring, as he stared distraught after Ella. He hadn't meant it like that- he just didn't want her to get hurt.

"Cat Noir, you'd better go before you de-transform. I'll look for Adrien and try and talk to Ella."

"Huh? Oh uh... you're right. Let's meet up at Gabriel Agreste's place later." Cat moved to the stairwell, shutting the door behind him.

"Finding Adrien will be a piece of cake!" Hitting the ground a few floors down, the transformation ended, turning Cat Noir back into Adrien.

"Plagg, hide!"

Exiting the stairwell to the catwalk in the lobby, Adrien managed to quickly find Ladybug and Nino.

"Nino! Where's Ella?"

"Cat Noir sent her home- like totally harsh, man!"

"Kitty just wanted her to be safe. She's upset but she'll live."

The trio turned to the newcomer; Raven flying in the open door below them.

"Raven- perfect time."

"No problem, LB. Saw all this on the tv. Some celebrity's the target?"

"Adrien's dad, Raven! Dude- Alya'll kill me if I don't get a pic of you for her blog!"

"Not the time, Nino." Adrien nudged his friend as Raven landed on the catwalk between them and Ladybug.

"Hi..." The blond waved, feeling oddly timid around the heroine.

"Nice to see you again, Adrien." Raven smiled, making the blond blush.

"You too..."

"We should get going. If you father's the target, he's in trouble."

"Let's go. Cat Noir's gonna meet us there."

"Dude! You didn't tell me you knew Raven!" Nino whisper-yelled as the two males followed after the city's heroes.

"Shut up! I only met her twice and talked to her once before..."

"Adrien, my dude! You can only have one girl! Pick one!"

"Nino!"

After a few minutes, the four arrived at the Agreste mansion.

"Nathalie, where's my father? He's in danger!" Adrien asked the second he pushed open the front door, Nino, Ladybug and Raven following behind.

"He knows already."

"Good evening, Raven. Ladybug." The heroines looked up to see the man standing on the stairs.

"This guy is intimidating..." Raven muttered to Ladybug, who nodded in return, as the man descended the stairs towards them.

"Father, you've gotta get outta here. The hypnotist Simon Says is coming after you!"

"What? And be dictated by a madman? Certainly not."

"But father, he's dangerous! Who knows what he'll do?"

"Head up to your room now. You've had enough excitement for today. Nathalie, make sure they stay there." The woman nodded, placing her hand on Adrien's shoulder and leading him to his room. Nino followed.

"I have to apologize for my son Raven, Ladybug. He's like his mother. Way too overly dramatic."

"But your son has a point, sir. This villain is a real threat. And the person who gave him these powers is even worse."

"You're in a lot of danger!" Ladybug finished.

"What could possibly happen with you two here to protect me?" Gabriel rested a hand on Raven's shoulder, since she was closer to him.

"Who says it's you I'm protecting..." Raven mumbled under her breath, trying to resist the urge to shrug his hand off her shoulder.