Gamer input, I really didn't like how it was handled in the series so here's a what if.
"Yes!" Ladybug pumped her fist in the air "that is another victory for Ladybug in Super Smash Bros!"
"I call a rematch" Chat exclaimed, "I'm getting used to this controller and you floated most of the time!"
"Aw, is kitty upset I beat him with Kirby of all characters?"
"W-what? No" he nudged her, smiling at her giggle "but the switch is hard to deal with, this is a tiny control!"
"Well if you manage to sneak around to play at my place without super hero masks we could totally plug the Melee version" Ladybug smiled "where I will also kick your butt with Kirby."
Chat laughed, the screen still waiting for them to choose new characters. Videogames were one thing he had total access to, from years of having to stay indoors. It was such a joy to hear Marinette also liked videogames, but only able to play whenever they could as civilians in each other's house (or in Adrien's case, Ladybug sneaking into his room when it was safe) and spend a while playing. He learned that while Marinette was terrible at racing games (he had a clean streak in Mario kart) and pushy in co-op games (they had a good fight against some Americans once in Left for Dead) she was almost unbeatable in fighting games.
"Puh-lease bug," he looked at her "I could totally beat you with princess Peach."
"And here I was thinking you would choose Falco," she snickered.
"Well there aren't cat characters in Melee,"
"You have one here" she hovered her icon over Incineroar, "and yet I won."
Chat picked the villager and poked his tongue out at her, waiting for Ladybug to pick Yoshi for their next round.
"Say," he spoke after they were mid battle "did you hear that tomorrow we're having the selection of representatives for Ultimate Mecha Strike tournament?"
"I did," Ladybug dashed for a pokeball in the game "but I'm not trying."
"What? Why?" Chat jumped to get the light saber "you are amazing at it, me and the saved data in my console are evidence of it."
"Chat my pal," she smiled as she kicked his character off stage "as far as I'm concerned, Max really wants to go represent and last time I mentioned any interest on videogames I got the 'look'."
"Look?" Chat turned to look at her, ignoring the screen "what do you mean?"
"You know…" she sighed, "because I'm a girl?"
"Aha?"
Ladybug remembered who she was talking with, thinking of how isolated her friend's life had been. It was both a good and bad thing in some social situations, and this one was, in her opinion, good.
"How do I put this," she frowned "some people think videogames are strictly for boys and we can't be good at them."
"That's stupid," he frowned "wait… like the time we played Left and-?"
"Exactly" she said "gender should have no claim in eye to hand and reflex skill yet here we are."
"So with more reason you should go!" Chat frowned "I believe in you LB and I'm sure you'd crush it if you tried, the idea is to send the best after all."
Ladybug hummed. She had been wanting to try and she hadn't really shared with any of her classmates her love of videogames, except Adrien, who she could have fun with even if he threw blue shells at her in Mario Kart.
"Alright" she huffed "but no long faces when I beat you."
"Oh, such confidence" he grinned "much power."
"You did not just meme spoke at me" she turned off the switch "but we shall see tomorrow."
She went with confidence to the library the next day, thinking back on what Adrien had said. She knew she was good at it, and if this event was about sending the best then damn right she had a chance to earn that spot. She arrived just in time to see Nino shaking Max's hand and leaving the seat for Adrien, who spared her a small smile before turning to the screen.
"Hey Marinette," Rose waved at her as soon as she entered the library "isn't this amazing!"
Marinette blinked, she didn't know Rose was also into videogames. Well, this couldn't be so bad.
"Are you here for the tryouts? Only two people can represent the school after all."
"Yeah," she smiled, earning a strange look from Alya and Kim who were next to her "what?"
"Well, it's more like tryout to be Max's partner" Kim said "he's unbeatable!"
Marinette raised an eyebrow at stayed silent, still sensing Alya's stare on her while she recorded. Well, that was to be proven wrong in a while.
The commotion behind her made Marinette smile, as she knew without a doubt that Adrien had won. But that meant if she went in she would take away Max's place.
"Huh, so if I go in I could take away that from him" she muttered, suddenly feeling concern over her classmate.
"Hah, no one can beat Max" Kim huffed "or rather Max and Adrien."
Marinette had to raise a critical eyebrow at that. Max had literally just been defeated by Adrien a moment ago, but Alya took that chance to pull Marinette away.
"Are you out of your mind? This is about representing the school! Not to chum up with Adrien."
Chum up? What?
"Alya, what makes you think I can't do this?"
"The fact that you are just mentioning now about wanting to participate in videogames?"
"I happen to like videogames," she crossed her arms "and hey, if I lose then nothing happens, Max and Adrien get to represent."
"I mean…you do have a point there,"
Marinette didn't wait for Alya to continue, instead marching towards the principal to get her chance. The disbelief was enough fuel for her to show how good she could really be.
"The rules are elementary, you battle each other with your robots- "Max started to explain the game to her, with a tone that irked Marinette. For sure she had to know about the game if she was trying out. She cut him off, wanting to play rather than hearing more about that.
The fight was fun, Marinette had to admit, ignoring everyone else in the room and focusing solely on the screen in front of her. Max was a good player indeed but she could tell he was trying by the book of combos and a plan rather than breaching options.
It took less than five minutes for her to crush it, her score climbing to the number one slot.
"Oh yeah!" she whooped, thrilled to hear her classmates also cheering on her.
"I accept this defeat," Max stood up, his eyes downcast as he gave up his position to her and Adrien for the tournament. She did feel bad for him, albeit just a little, since she was still ticked off by the attitude, but Adrien had placed a hand on her shoulder, offering a reassuring smile.
"Guess we are going to represent partner,"
Marinette had to admit it was a little odd to hear him say that when there were no masks in between them but smiled back, eager to get some practice.
"Don't you think it was unfair to Max? He's been training for this for a whole year," Tikki said once they were on their way to Marinette's home.
"Apparently not enough" Plagg mumbled from Adrien's side "tough luck."
Marinette and Adrien glanced at each other.
"It is sad he doesn't get to go but neither Marinette or I cheated to win" he said "but you know it's more likely I'll end up pulling out if my father tries to rearrange my schedule or something."
Marinette winced, that was always a wild card in Adrien's case, even after months of him attending school with the others like a regular teen.
"Oh Adrien!" Sabine smiled once they reached Marinette's home, "what a surprise, coming for lunch?"
"Actually, we are going to practice for the Mecha Strike tournament," Adrien smiled back, "there were tryouts at school and Marinette and I got the first and second place."
"Oh that's wonderful! But be sure to stay for lunch dear, it's always a pleasure to have you around."
"Thanks Mme. Cheng" he said as he was pulled to Marinette's room.
"Come on, or they will never let go of you until you gain a pound or two."
"Can't blame them, I do love their cooking" Adrien smiled as they grabbed their controllers and started playing.
It didn't take long for Adrien to realize this game was not like the other co-ops they had played. He wasn't that savvy in Ultimate Mecha Strike and most of the rounds were won thanks to Marinette's skill.
"Wow you really are amazing in this one," he sighed "I don't think I'll be much help for you in the tournament."
"What? No," she paused the game "Adrien you're not bad."
"Ok, let me rephrase, I'm bad at this particular game" he gave her a small smile "racing games and first person shoot I am good but this one? Maybe not my strong suit."
Marinette placed a hand on his knee and squeezed. Then her eyes lit up as she fiddled around the drawers on her desk to pull out a lucky charm bracelet she had made years ago.
"Try with this" she grabbed his wrist and tied it on him, smiling at Adrien's confused expression "it is infused with good luck."
"Miraculous luck?" he quirked an eyebrow, earning a giggle from Marinette and a stare from Tikki.
"Of course not, just good luck" she stood up "but we also need fuel for the stomach and I can tell you are hungry by the sound of yours."
As if on cue Adrien's stomach began to rumble, both teens laughing and walking downstairs to get some salmon and spinach pie, sneaking out of the house to eat at the park since they had been hours indoors.
"You know what we should play?" Adrien said once he devoured his last bite of pie "I have this app where you can have cats coming over and leaving you gifts and fish."
"Of course you do," Marinette leaned to see the screen, "oh look that one is you!"
"Because it's black?"
"No, because its' sleeping" she rolled her eyes, both laughing until the sound of screaming called their attention. Who knew, an akuma of all days. Marinette had a vague feeling of who was behind the attack of the day.
What they saw was an exact replica of a mecha from the game, albeit a little too tacky for both their tastes.
"Isn't this great," they stood up, avoiding a laser beam just in time "we have to transform!"
"Not here," Adrien grabbed her hand and started to run "there should be an alley somewhere close come on!"
They ran out of the park, avoiding another laser beam but forcing them to split up, Adrien taking the left while Marinette the right. It was just her luck that the akuma decided to chase after her; of course, it was going to do that, a part of Marinette groaned, the vendetta was most likely directed at her.
"Game over Marinette!" the akuma called and shot more laser beams, making Marinette to turn around and try to avoid them.
"Oh yeah, good loser of course" she gritted her teeth, trying to find a way out to transform safely but she was right on the open, with no way to evade the akuma's vision.
"Not yet! Here comes a new challenger!" she heard her partner call from one rooftop, relieved he had got the chance to transform and letting herself be swooped by him and carried away through rooftops until it was safe for her to transform.
"Spots on!" she called her transformation, "right so that one is clearly Max."
"Hm, hm" Chat twirled his baton "we should really get in motion an action plan for people under stress, or else everyone will start feeling guilty of having negative emotions."
"Let's pin that down for later but I like that idea" she looked around until she spotted the big mecha "for now, the classic plan?"
"You mean I bait and you attack from behind?"
"We agreed not to use the word bait Chaton," she flicked his bell.
"Fine, where I distract him with my dashing looks" he wiggled his eyebrows, Ladybug rolling her eyes and jumping off the rooftop to catch up to the akuma.
The plan worked at first, but it was soon to be changed when they realized how similar to the game mechanics this akuma worked. It didn't take away the grin in both their faces when they saw it allowed them to actually pilot a mecha.
"Get in the robot Shinji," Chat snickered as he jumped inside the cockpit "or Ladybug will have to go again."
"I still refuse to watch Evangelion Chat."
The fight was already timed, with Chat having used his Cataclysm a minute ago, but Ladybug had confidence in him, soon their synchronization working out against Gamer, but she had to admit Max was giving them a good fight, way too good since he didn't seem to be relying on square combos unlike at the tryouts.
"The only way to defeat him is to get inside his cockpit" she grunted, "take the lead Chat, I'll be right back!"
"Ok, hurry up!"
A can of spray paint and a pair of broken glasses Ladybug was glad she finally caught and purified the akuma.
"What am I doing here?" they heard Max coming back to his senses. Chat turned to look at Ladybug but the beep was more insistent on his side.
"You go, I'll handle it" she smiled and went towards her classmate "you got akumatized, here," she handled him his glasses.
"Ah… yes I remember" Max took them but kept looking down "that was wrong of me, I should have shown more ethical approach, Marinette and Adrien won fair and square after all."
Ladybug fiddled with the question in her mind, she could ask right now, not like Max knew who she was behind the mask and it would clear out a decision she had to make in mind.
"I couldn't help but notice you targeted Marinette even if both, as you said, won."
Max fiddled with his glasses, finally putting them on and looking straight at Ladybug.
"You are right Ladybug" Max said "that wasn't right of me, Marinette is a more than capable player and she earned her place in the tournament, if anything I should practice even more and apologize to her for my attitude."
Ladybug gave him a small shoulder squeeze and left.
Truth to his word, the next night at the tournament Marinette was held back by Max.
"Marinette, listen I wanted to apologize" he said "I showed a disrespectful behavior and prejudice, if I want to be able to participate in official gaming tournaments I must also work against my biased views on competitors, and it would be an honor to play with you another time, you really are amazing at this game."
Marinette blinked, that was, definitely more than she thought she'd get from Max, but she couldn't help to smile and accept the apology.
"You could play with her now," Adrien said, handling Max his controller "seems to me I'm not that good in co-op for this game unlike you."
"Adrien, are you sure?"
Marinette had to bite back the grin forming on her face when he insisted, pushing her and Max to the gates so they could play.
"Oh word of advice Max?" she turned to him "don't be so stiff, have fun too."
"That is good advice Marinette" he offered a small smile "are you ready to defeat them?"
"Oh, you bet."
Winning the tournament was even better afterwards, with her and Max holding each one side of the –quite tacky- trophy that would end up in the principal's cabinet but they didn't care about that.
And if gaming night was a new event added to the class group activities, well, Marinette and Adrien could finally have a chance to play Mario Party with more people, even if it resulted in shouting and riots when Rose stole everyone's stars.
Spot the hint of feeling realization number something because I'll use a season 2 episode next so I can finally roll this ball of feelings down the slope~