CHAPTER 5
After hundreds and hundreds of questions, (after around a third through it, Adrien was ready to transform and jump out of there).
Nino was calmer but looked tired and Alya still looked enthused, but her voice was a bit hoarse.
"So, anything else?" Adrien asked praying.
Alya and Nino exchanged a look and to his relief they both shook their heads. "For now," Alya said a second later with a look that said, 'You're not done yet'.
Adrien sighed but didn't argue. "So, the most important part is please don't tell anyone, I already could have my miraculous taken away because you know" he said desperately.
"Relax my dude" said Nino "We both had a miraculous too, remember? We know how this works" he said, throwing an arm around Alya.
"Hang on, we need to talk" she said dragging Nino downstairs.
"Oh, hey guys, Alya can we-" Marinette began before Alya cut her off.
"Sorry Mari, me and Nino have something important to discuss" said Alya before dragging Nino down the stairwell.
Once they reached the break in the stairs, Nino stared at Alya questioningly and asked, "What's up, Alya?"
Alya checked her surroundings one last time and said "What's up!? Let's see, our two closest friends are secret superheroes and never noticed!" she whisper/yelled.
Nino just blinked and said "So… what do we do about it?" He asked hesitantly.
Alya stared at the ceiling and said "Well, I…I'm not sure" she replied. "But we need to do something!" she continued. "They save the city while all we do is pile them with more work!" she ranted.
Nino thought for a second before saying "Well, you're going help them defeat Hawkmoth" he reminded her.
"So are you" she said pulling out the bracelet and explaining to him what Marinette had decided. "But that's still not enough" she continued "They had always defeated him, and we just put them on a bigger risk" she said.
Nino fiddled with the bracelet then hid it under his sweatbands (or are they elastics?). "Well, I guess we could do more but what?" he asked
Alya paced a bit before looking up with an idea. "Well, we know Mari has a huge crush on Adrien and based on my footage and interviews Chat Noir seems to like Ladybug" she said slowly "So what if we help them with their little love square?" Alya finished with a mischievous glint in her eye.
Nino had the same glint, but it faded when he asked "How?"
Alya stared at him "The Dance!" she exclaimed
"The dance?" Nino repeated confused.
"Yeah! If we manage to finish all their work, they can focus on the dance! Then you can get Adrien to ask Marinette!" She said excitedly.
Nino looked unsure "but if I tell him to ask Mari, he's going to assume it's just as friends" he argued.
Alya paused "That would make Mari feel worse" she agreed "but what if it wasn't as a date?" she said slyly
"What if Adrien just asked her to dance?" Alya suggested
"He might think she'll say no" Nino replied.
"So, don't tell him it's her!" said Alya exasperated.
"What do you mean?" Asked Nino "Won't he know it's her?"
Trixx flew out and said, "Not if you give her a disguise." She spoke.
"See, Trixx knows what I'm talking about" said Alya giving her kwami a fist bump.
"Fine" Nino agreed. "But-" Alya sighed, "How will you keep akumas from them?" Nino asked.
"I'm not keeping akumas from them, I'm just going to buy them more time to do other things. Plus, it will help our case if we get akumatised" She finished with a smirk.
"What do you mean?" asked Nino "Let's just say, we're having a couple of stunt doubles" She answered slyly.
For the next couple of days Nino and Alya would use illusions against Hawkmoth.
One of them would steer Marinette and Adrien away or make sure they're seen with the illusions Rena Rouge would make to throw off suspicion. When they see the villain tired, they call on Ladybug and Chat noir to de-evilise the akuma. They also make sure the villain doesn't see Rena otherwise he will be clued in on their act.
"Whew! Is it just me or are things finally getting easier?" said Marinette falling onto her bed.
Tikki, knowing about the trick said "I don't know but at least you have time to finish your designs" she remarked.
Just then Marinette flew up with wide eyes "My mask!" she cried "I forgot to hem my mask!" she continued running over to her desk.
WITH ADRIEN
"Hey Plagg" said Adrien two days before the dance. "Is it me or do the villains look…tired. Like when we get there, they don't look surprised, or they don't give us a chance to speak" he asked.
Plagg just tried to act natural because he too knew about the act. "Kid, I think it's just you. Or Hawkmoth is giving us a break." He said shrugging. Adrien thought for a second
"Well, whatever is going on, I still need my costume for the dance." He said making a mental note to ask if his father could make one later.
"Well kid, you're missing one thing" Plagg began.
"What?" said Adrien.
"A date" said Plagg slyly.
"Huh, I'm just going with Nino" he said decidedly.
Plagg only sighed in exasperation.
MEANWHILE
Alya had Nino over so they could finish their homework and discuss what to do at the dance.
"Okay so far, phase one is a success" said Alya excitedly. "Now we need to plan for what you're going to say to Adrien" she continued.
"Well, I… I could just try to lead him to you guys" he said slowly.
"That could work" agreed Alya "But" she paused.
"What is it?" asked Nino.
"You better only ask ME to dance" she said slyly.
Nino blinked then chuckled a little before saying "Wouldn't dream of asking someone else" then they burst out laughing.
When they had calmed Nino brought up a subject he had almost forgotten. "What will we do about Lila?" he asked as they were writing their book reports.
Alya looked up to stare to him. "I-I'm not sure" she confessed "But we should focus on the dance and akumas" she said decidedly.
"Now time for math equations" she said tiredly.
"Aww, c'mon these are easy. You just-" began Nino but the crash of a building interrupted him.
They looked at each other and said in unison "Akuma" then scrambled up to their feet.
"Can I try the illusion?" Nino asked absently while sweeping everything under the bed.
Alya paused and stared at him "But that would mean using my miraculous" she said.
"I know" he said calmly. Alya hesitated, then pulled of her necklace and handed it to Nino but pulled back before he grabbed it.
"Awww, what's wrong? Don't trust me?" he said pretending to show his sadness.
"Not that but if I'm giving my miraculous, I demand for yours" she said in a firm but playful tone.
Nino instinctively touched his wrist and said "But…" then trailed off and gave up his miraculous knowing there was no use fighting.
Once Alya put it on, she grabbed her phone to look for the location. "Okay, the akuma is on the south side of town" she reported.
"Do you know where Adrien and Marinette are?" she asked Nino.
"I just texted my dude and he says he's at the park doing a photoshoot with Mari," said Nino.
"Alright, so if we hurry, we'll be able to delay the akuma until Adrien's photoshoot is over" Alya answered.
"Alright let's try this" she began "Wayzz, shell on!" she yelled.
She did her normal routine when transforming but got a costume that looked like Carapace except much simpler.
Nino stared at Alya in awe then put on her necklace and said "Trixx, let's pounce!" doing his regular dance moves.
Again, he had the same costume as Rena Rouge (minus the huge hair).
"Awesome!" he said scanning his new costume. Alya only shrugged trying to keep cool and said "Alright, so you distract the akum and I'll try to find what made it upset" she ordered
"Aye-aye captain" Nino saluted jokingly.
OUTSIDE
"Okay let's split up!" Alya commanded.
Nino nodded and ran off towards the direction of the akuma.
Alya stayed and checked her phone for updates before taking off towards the victim's house.
Once she got there, she de-transformed and tapped on the woman's shoulder.
"Hi, I'm Alya, reporter for the Ladyblog, If, it's not too much trouble, do you by any chance know what happened to this victim?" she asked politely, and the woman turned to tell her tale.
After she was finished Alya said "Thank you for enlightening my followers and tune in next time for more updates on the Ladyblog" she said facing the camera towards her.
She thanked the woman again and walked away calmly. Then when she walked past the corner she took off at a run into a nearby alley. She stopped to catch her breath and watched the news to see what was happening.
WITH NINO
After Alya gave her command, he sprang up on to a roof and then ducked behind a building. He peered over and saw the akuma scaring people and yelling for the miraculous.
Nino took a deep breath and started off a little farther from the akuma so that it wouldn't hear the flute playing.
Once he found somewhere deserted, he pulled out his (well technically Alya's. Actually, maybe Trixx's) flute in a swift motion then put it near his mouth.
He practiced a few notes then blew hard and swung it like a bat. "Mirage!" he yelled, and a ball of energy flew out and onto the street.
A flash of light made some people's heads turn and they saw Ladybug and Chat Noir in a fighting stance, then run off towards the akuma.
"Stop!" yelled what people thought was Ladybug.
"You don't stand a chance against our purr-fect duo" said the illusion of Chat Noir.
Nino, who was hiding close behind whispered an enthused "Yes!" at his first shot at mirages (and a little at the fact his puns were working).
BACK WITH ALYA
When Alya checked her screen, she saw, what she knew were only illusions that were fighting (more like dodging) the akuma. When she saw the akuma was tired, she ran towards the park and signaled to Marinette.
Marinette came over and listened as Alya told her about the akuma. "Good work Alya" said Marinette before dashing into a tent to transform.
After she left, Alya posted her video on her blog, knowing that Adrien had it beep to notify him of a new post. She saw Adrien check his phone, then run behind a tree.
Once she saw that, she transformed herself and took off towards Nino, careful to dodge the news crews. She jumped behind a building and landed beside Nino.
He nodded and signaled to the illusions to follow him. (That's how it works right?). The illusions jumped up and behind the real Ladybug and Chat Noir who had just met up.
Then Nino's miraculous timed out and he de-transformed making the illusions disappear and everyone who thought they saw two Ladybug and Chat Noir's assumed that they were seeing things.
AFTER DEFEATING THE AKUMA
The woman that Alya had talked with earlier was thanking Ladybug and Chat Noir. Then she pulled a small girl with a charm in her hand away.
"Pound it!" yelled Ladybug and Chat Noir before jumping in opposite directions.
From the shadows came out Alya and Nino. They exchanged their miraculous back and when they saw no one looking they fist-bumped like Ladybug and Chat Noir had just done and yelled "Pound it!" before walking off to meet their friends at the park.
Hi guys! So, I made this longer to make it up to you for the last ones. If you notice that I didn't mention what the akuma was I wanted to hear your thoughts. So, if you want to share on what your ideas of an akuma would be, put them in your review. Vivisong out!