Three chapters in one week, all to be finished on the morning of Halloween. Good god, this thing was its own kind of strenuous. Either way, this chapter is the long-awaited costume party, featuring a contest, amazing costumes, and maybe a reveal? Read on to find out. Enjoy!

Chapter Three

Coincidence? I Don't Think So.

"Marinette's been super quiet about her costume all week," Nino commented, waving the flute that had come with his male Rena Rouge costume. Alya nodded, her hair hidden beneath the hood of her female Carapace costume. "She was working on it all week, so it must've been pretty intensive," she replied as they made their way into the bakery.

Sabine smiled at the two of them as they came to the register. "Marinette will be down pretty soon, you two, don't worry. I made her get ready almost half an hour ago so you all could be on time." Alya smiled. "Thanks. I don't think we would have to worry about being too late, the party starts in five minutes… oh my gosh," Alya breathed, her jaw falling slack. Nino's jaw dropped, too.

Marinette had managed to sneak in from the door at the back of the bakery, leaning on the doorframe. The blue lights on her white Lady Noire costume were on, making her glow with an ethereal, almost spooky light. She was wearing the cat's eye contacts she had mentioned buying, giving her normally bluebell eyes the feline look associated with the cat heroes… but the pupils of the lenses seemed too small, like she'd gone completely crazy. Some pale makeup was applied to her cheeks, making her look more ghostly than she already did, and her lips had pure white lipstick lightly applied to them.

"This was the reason I wasn't able to hang out all week, guys," Marinette said. "Meet Lady Blanche. Do you like it?" She spun around, giving Alya and Nino a full view of the costume. "Do we?! That's awesome, girl!" Alya exclaimed. Nino nodded. "Amazing work, dudette! How'd you even get the lights to work?"

"I know a little electrical work," Marinette replied. "I thought it would be fun to try and change a costume entirely, so here's the final product! And you two don't look half bad yourselves." Alya scoffed playfully. "I don't know. I'm not sure Nino can pull off the Rena Rouge look. It took him forever to put on the wig!"

"Only because you were moping about hood hair," he replied, a playful note in his voice. All three of them started laughing, until Sabine coughed into her hand. "You guys might want to get going, you know," she said, pointing at the clock. "Have a good time!" Marinette waved a white clawed glove back at her mother. "We will! Love you, Mom!" With that, the three teenagers left the bakery.

"That's sure to win the costume contest, girl," Alya said as they walked from the crosswalk to the school. Marinette smiled a little. "Well, it was more of a pet project than a contest winner… but if the grand prize is a day off from school for the winner's homeroom, I wouldn't mind. It would be nice to get a vacation out of a costume that took me almost two months' worth of allowance to make."

As the three of them crossed the threshold of Collège Françoise Dupont, the party seemed to be picking up, even though the official invite said the party was starting at seven. As they walked to the admissions booth, manned by Ms. Mendeleiev dressed in a khaki jumpsuit with a vacuum cleaner strapped to her back, they quickly produced their tickets and handed them to her, walking into the courtyard decorated with black and orange streamers and pumpkin and witch balloons, Halloween music playing from speakers placed around the courtyard.

Marinette's eyes went everywhere as she searched for a particular person in the party. She spotted Nathaniel and Marc dressed as Mightillustrator and Reverser, Kim as a Cupid, Max and Markov as a robot and Pinocchio, Ivan and Mylene as a beast and a princess, Juleka and Rose as a pair of gangster black bears, Alix as some kind of post-apocalyptic road warrior, Zoe as a character from an anime, and Lila as what looked like a movie villain in green leather with gold horns.

There were other people milling around the crowd, but Marinette still couldn't find Adrien. She made her way through the crowd, and when people complimented her costume, she gave a polite wave of recognition, but was still too focused on finding Adrien. "He could be in the Cat Noir costume from the music video," Nino said offhandedly. Marinette instinctively went to the first person in a Cat Noir costume, who turned out to be Sabrina.

"Sabrina!" Chloe's voice rang out as she marched over, wearing a perfected version of her Queen Banana costume. "I want that punch!" Then she glanced over at Marinette. "Ugh, did you design that yourself, baker girl? Ridiculous, utterly ridiculous. It would be a shame if something stained that…" Chloe's remarks trailed off when she got a look at Marinette's face, and she immediately stepped back a few paces.

"Something the matter, Chloe?" Marinette asked, somewhat confused. Chloe wouldn't meet her eyes. "N- nothing," Chloe stammered as she grabbed Sabrina and started to storm away. "But you don't look that good in all white!"

"What was that?" Marinette asked. Alya chewed her lip a little. "Well… when Chloe started bad-mouthing you, you sneered a little. And with the way your contacts are, the pupils are all small like that… it was actually kinda spooky, girl. But still! A plus for getting Chloe to back off so easily!"

Marinette wasn't nearly as sure. What if my costume scares off Adrien? I don't want him to be terrified of Lady Noire or me! Oh, this was a bad idea, a disaster, a disaster, a disaster!

Meanwhile, a silver sedan pulled up in front of the school. A black-and-red figure stepped out, pulling a ticket out of his pocket and spinning it between his fingers. As the figure walked up to the front entrance, Ms. Mendeleiev took the ticket, her fingers slightly trembling. That color scheme had set off an entire scarlet Akumatization once. But seeing who it was beneath the mask relaxed her a little.

The figure stepped through the threshold, his eyes flickering between each of the students, looking for a mainly green cat-themed suit. Then the emerald green irises laid on a cat figure in white and blue. Of course, Adrien mouthed to himself. Inverted colors. Black to white. Putting on a small smirk, he made his way through the crowd to the white-clad girl with her two friends.

"Awesome costume, Marinette!" Adrien commented as he came up behind her. Marinette almost jumped out of her skin, almost landing on Alya. When she saw who had complimented her, Adrien could still see the blush coming through the white makeup on her usually strawberry cheeks.

"Ah- um- thank you…" Marinette said meekly as she checked out Adrien's costume… which was a color swapped version of Mister Bug.

The gears started to click into place in her mind almost immediately. The only person she had mentioned a color swapped costume to was Cat Noir. And here was Adrien in a color swapped costume. That copycat, she said to herself. But we'll take care of that later, kitty. "Your costume looks hot, too. I mean, cool! Very cool!" Marinette yelped.

Adrien chuckled as he rubbed the back of his head. "Thanks. My father kinda made it for me after I showed him a design. I guess this could be called Lord Bug or something. But you worked on yours from scratch, right? It really looks awesome!"

Marinette started to zone out. He thinks it's awesome! I don't need to worry about scaring him at all! "Wanna get a snack? They're to die fur!" Marinette punned. Adrien smirked a little. "Of course, my Lady Blanche. That's what you're calling yourself, right?" he asked. Marinette smirked back. "Yes, my Lord Bug," she teased, running a clawed finger along his chestplate. Out of the corner of her eye, Marinette could see Alya starting to foam at the mouth with excitement.

For the next hour of the party, as she, Adrien, Alya, and Nino talked and joked, Marinette couldn't get the idea out of her head. Adrien is Cat Noir… wait, does he think I'm Ladybug?! He'd have to think I'm Ladybug! I told him about the costume idea! She glanced at Adrien a couple times, realizing that she clearly saw the similarities between the two for the first time.

Alya tapped Marinette's shoulder, pointing at three adults milling through the crowd. Principal Damocles dressed in his Owl costume, Ms. Bustier as her Zombizou self, and Mr. Monlataing as a purple cyclops, all of them holding clipboards and taking notes. "They're gonna be the judges for the contest, I bet," she whispered. "And I think you and Adrien have a pretty good chance of winning."

"You really think so?" Marinette asked absently. Alya nodded, then pursed her lips. "I know that look. You're thinking of something. Care to explain?" she asked. Marinette seemed to snap out of the trancelike state she was in. "Later. It might have to do with a certain you-know-who. Two of them, really," Marinette replied. Alya looked as if she didn't quite understand what Marinette was talking about, but she shrugged and went to get some punch.

"You know, I think Father would really appreciate the craftsmanship on your costume, Marinette," Adrien mentioned offhandedly as the judges walked closer. Marinette's eyes lit up. "Really?! I mean, he probably would- but that's not guaranteed, of course…" her voice trailed as she watched the judges walk away. Then her eyes steeled. "Listen. I think there's something we need to talk about. Meet me outside the school, by your car."

Adrien's eyes widened in surprise. "What for?" he asked. Marinette glanced around. "I- can't tell you with so many people around. But I promise, everything will be cleared up after the party… and I might have to apologize for a few things." With that cryptic remark, she slipped away.

Adrien wasn't sure what to think of that remark, but his thoughts were cut off by microphone feedback before they could bloom. Principal Damocles, standing on a small stage that had been put up for the event, winced a little as the microphone screeched.

"Thank you all for coming to the party tonight, everyone," he began, reading from notecards. "As you all know, the proceeds from ticket sales will be used for extra funds and improvements around the building. Of course, that's not the only reason we are here to celebrate this night- good lord, why did I even write a speech?"

Principal Damocles cleared his throat. "Either way, now for the main event of the evening! The results from our costume contest! All of you put a lot of work into your costumes, and it was very difficult to choose. However, there were a few notable individuals who went above and beyond with their costumes." Mr. Monlataing handed Principal Damocles his clipboard.

"In third place, with two original costumes drawn from their own original comic book, Nathaniel Kurtzberg and Marc Anciel!" he declared. The two boys high fived as the crowd clapped for them politely. Ms. Bustier handed her clipboard to Principal Damocles.

"In second place, with a classic costume for a classic anime, Zoe Lee!" he said. The students clapped again, with Zoe giving everyone a big smile and two thumbs up. Then Principal Damocles glanced at his own clipboard.

"And finally, in first place, with costumes fit for a couple and worthy of these crowns and a day off from school," he paused as the other two teachers produced orange and black paper crowns. "Marinette Dupain-Cheng and Adrien Agreste!"

The crowd, with the exceptions of Chloe and Lila, went wild, herding Marinette and Adrien towards the stage. The two teachers placed the two Halloween crowns on the winners' heads, with Marinette and Adrien beaming all the while. Principal Damocles cleared his throat again. "That means Ms. Bustier's homeroom class will be getting a day off from school on any week of their collective choosing!"

The crowd started cheering again, then went silent as a long pole with a little sprig of some kind of plant dangled over Marinette and Adrien's crowned heads. The two confused teens glanced up, seeing Nino holding the pole over the two of them. Marinette glanced at Alya, who was sure to have come up with that idea.

"It's a pumpkin vine cutting!" Alya yelled over the crowd. "It's Halloween mistletoe!"

Marinette and Adrien, both realizing what Alya had planned, blushed. "Well, I'm cool with it if you are, Mari-" he was cut off by Marinette pushing herself up on her toes and kissing him. "Happy Halloween, kitty," she whispered against his cheek, only able to be heard by Adrien. "Or should I say bugaboy?"

Adrien smiled softly. "Happy Halloween, m'lady," he whispered back, then he kissed her back. The sound of the crowd of students cheering was so loud, it drowned out Chloe's whining that she lost the contest.

The rest of the party seemed to slip by so quickly as Marinette and Adrien found themselves in front of the Agreste sedan. They gazed longingly in each other's eyes.

"Maybe telling you what my costume was going to be was too big of a giveaway, huh?" Marinette asked. Adrien smirked. "Maybe a little. But hey, we won the contest, m'lady," he whispered. Marinette nodded and took Adrien's hand. "We can't let Shadow Moth know about any of this," she said.

Adrien nodded sadly. "But we can try and throw him off our tail for now, m'lady. We could meet under the cover of night. Never tell anyone about this. And we could pretend to have partner problems…" he smirked a little. "He wouldn't think of it twice."

Marinette slowly realized what he was saying. "That could work, kitty. Of course, it does have to look convincing. So… I'm sorry in advance if it hurts if I throw you in a trash can." Adrien shrugged. "I can live with that. Especially since I know you'd never hurt me, Bugaboo."

The two leaned closer, their bodies warming the other's as their lips met in the middle for one last kiss goodnight. Then Adrien got in the sedan, which drove off into the night.

Tikki poked her head out of a pocket in Marinette's costume. "That was beautiful… and don't you need to tell Alya about what you learned?" she asked. Marinette shook her head. "Not yet. Who knows, maybe I can mess with her a little before finally coming clean?" she suggested before Alya and Nino slid up beside her.

The three of them walked back to the Dupain-Cheng bakery, Alya slightly pestering Marinette about the kiss and what she was going to say earlier. Marinette threw her a look. "Later, on all of that. I promise. For now, I would like to enjoy the memory of Adrien kissing me," she replied. Alya promptly nodded and closed her mouth.

"You're not going to say anything about me and Marinette to Father, are you?" Adrien asked the Gorilla warily. The Gorilla shook his head, then made a gesture with his hand. My lips are sealed.

Adrien sighed with relief. Now all he had to do before getting into a full relationship with Ladybug - Marinette - was wait until Shadow Moth was defeated. And that couldn't be too terribly long, now could it?

Awww, they're so cute together! Fun times for all, it seems. For anyone wondering about the costumes, yes, Ivan and Mylene are the Beast and Belle, Juleka and Rose are twin Kurokumas, Zoe is Sailor Moon, and Lila is Loki (or would it be Sylvie, since female Loki? IDK, I just gave her a good dose of Tom Hiddleston mischief god). Oh, and the art teacher (who was the third judge) is dressed up as the Decepticon Shockwave bc his VA did WFC Shockers. Same reason Juleka and Rose are Kurokuma. Just thought it would be fun ;)

Anyway, that's the end of this little drabble, and my little break from my ongoing storyline haha. Tell me whatcha think, leave a review, questions, comments, and as always, stay safe, healthy, and have a safe and happy Halloween! (I'm dressing up as Sans lol)