Author's Notes: So I am getting close to bringing this story to a close, there will probably be two maybe three more chapters after this. I want to thank the reviewer who corrected some of my spelling, as I finished up this story I will be going back through and editing it to the best of my ability. Since I don't have someone to proofread I appreciate my mistakes being pointed out. I hope you all enjoy.
"I hope you had a good birthday, despite all the problems that accured." Marinette said as she hugged Alya goodnight. After about 2 hours of playing games Marlena declared bedtime for the twins, and Marinette noted that she should probably get home as well.
"Are you kidding me girl, problems and all I would not have traded today for anything. Well except maybe to see you and Adrian finally hook up." Alya teased causing Marinette to become extremely flustered.
"Alya!" Marinette exclaimed her face bright red in embarrassment. That got both Alya and Nino laughing.
"Relax dude, we're just teasing." Nino said scratching the back of his neck nervously as Marinette glared at them.
"Um, so. Listen, girl I uhh. Are you free at all tomorrow? I think we need to sit down and talk." Alya said in an unsure tone. She knew she needed to apologize sooner rather than later, but was simply not able to right that moment.
Marinette smiled kindly at her friends. "I should be able to tomorrow evening, but I will text you after helping my parents with the Sunday morning rush to let you know." She said and both Alya and Nino nodded.
"Good night dude." Nino said waving.
"Night Marinette, thanks again for everything." Alya added also waving.
"Night guys, be safe." Marinette replied waving back before taking off for home.
Alya and Nino went back inside. Nora was cleaning up the kitchen while Otis was putting the games away. They could hear the twins arguing with Marlena from their bedroom.
"Do you need us for anything, I have some blog stuff Nino was going to help me with before his dad comes to pick him up around 9:00?" Alya asked.
"No go ahead, just keep it age appropriate." Otis replied looking pointedly at Nino.
"Yes sir." Nino stated getting the fatherly hint before being dragged away by his embarrassed girlfriend.
The moment Alya and Nino were in Alya's bedroom behind a closed door Trixx flew out of Alya's purse.
"So how are we going to get this interview underway?" Trixx asked excitedly.
Alya smiled at her kwami before grabbing Nino's gift off her bed and began reading the instructions. "Well the idea was to transform into Rena Rouge, have one of you film me while playing that recording of me asking questions we made this morning that way we can video record Rena Rouge's answers as the interview." Alya said feeling slightly weird referring to herself in third person.
"Um, dude don't you want to be part of the interview as Alya as well?" Nino asked confused by Alya's plan.
"I'd love to and while I could do a 2nd recording of me asking the questions then video editing the recording of Rena Rouge answering them together; if anyone ever tries to check my videos for anything other than quality software editing, it could totally ruin my reputation." Alya replied as she grabbed some batteries out of her desk drawer and sat down on her bed to put them and a memory chip into the new video camera, but was startled by a sudden high pitched laugh.
Both Nino and Alya looked at Trixx who was laughing so hard she had to clutch her stomach and float down onto Alya's desk so she could properly roll around, as tears filled her purple eyes.
"You have been spending way too much time with Ladybug." Trixx stated out of breath as she struggled to rein in her amusement.
"What do you mean?" Alya asked, as far as she was concerned there was no such thing as too much time with Ladybug.
Trixx smile was huge as she looked at her bewildered holder. "You are trying to over complicate things the way Ladybug does. If you want an interview with both Alya and Rena Rouge together in it, than have Nino record an illusion of you doing just that." She said simply.
"Oh!" Alya said turning as red as Marinette had earlier. She had not thought of that, but could not deny that it was both an easier and more effective option.
Nino chuckled. "I think that may actually be more of Marinette rubbing off on her than Ladybug." He said thinking of all the complicated plans Marinette had talked Alya into helping her with in an attempt to make Adrian a little less oblivious.
"It could be a mixture of both of them. But that's besides the point, and if we want to get this interview underway; we better get started. " Trixx said quickly trying to move the subject past the similarities between Marinette and Ladybug.
"Agreed, but why did you not suggest the illusion this morning, we could have spent that time doing the actual interview instead of that recording?" Alya asked.
Trixx simply shrugged. "Honestly I had no idea what you were trying to do this morning. But I assumed that you knew what you were doing better than I, especially since technology did not exist the last time I had a holder." Trixx explained making Ayla feel even more stupid. It seems Trixx has a very subtle way of pointing out Alya's flaws to her in a way that actually makes it into Alya's thick skull.
"Right, so I was thinking of doing the interview in front of my balcony, its to short to really do it on the balcony and the windows would be in the way. But if we put two chairs in front of the window with the balcony as background so to speak..." Alya said looking at her balcony and windows. The middle window is technically a sliding glass door but that's not really important.
Nino nodded. "I will go grab the chairs from the dining room." He said exiting the room.
Alya nodded then pulled out her camera tripod from her closet. She normally uses it to hold her phone when she is doing informative video recordings of herself. She got it after Prime Queen and had to clarify to Paris Ladybug and Chat Noir's relationship status. She began setting up the video camera turning it on so she could begin adjusting the distance and angle.
Nino came back in with the chairs and the two of them began setting the stage making small adjustments here and there till they were content with it.
"That looks really good you guys." Trixx said flying around everything, as Alya looked over her interview making a few mental changes to include today's Akuma attack.
"Thanks, alright Nino you are in charge of the camera. Trixx let's pounce!" Alya said and allowed the magical suit to wash over her.
Nino went to stand behind the camera, once ready he nodded to Rena Rouge standing just behind him who then blew into her flute calling out "Mirage!"
An illusion of Alya and Rena Rouge appeared in the seats they set up. Alya gave Nino a thumbs up and he hit the record button causing a red light on the video camera to turn on.
"Yo peeps! Alya here, with the one and only Ladyblog. Tonight I'm here with Rena Rouge to bring you an exclusive interview with one of Paris's part-time superheros." Alya said and Rena Rouge smiled waving at the camera.
"Thank you Alya, I'm glad to be here and would like to give a special thanks to Ladybug for allowing me to hold onto my miraculous long enough to do so." Rena said.
Alya nodded. "Yes I am sure all of Paris has been wondering since this afternoon why you were the first one on the scene at today's Akuma attack." She said looking at Rena Rouge who nodded in understanding.
"Its not a permanent thing at the moment, if that is what you are wondering. Ladybug had a few PRIVATE reasons to allow me to have my miraculous for a day, including this interview; but will be recollecting it tonight." Rena replied.
"I am guessing based on the way you emphasized the word private that you are not going to elaborate on any of those reasons?" Alya asked a little nosy.
Rena Rouge shook her head. "No. No I will not." She stated firmly, which Alya nodded to.
"I understand, so without going into details you can not share; why don't you tell Paris a bit about yourself." Alya suggest.
"What do you want to know?" Rena asked.
"Well alot of Parisians have wanted to know since Hero's Day if you and Carapace are in a relationship?" Alya asked, this caused Nino to blush from behind the camera.
"I am, however for his safety and mine I will not give any details on the matter." Rena admitted blushing slightly. (Or rather the Rena illusion blushed only slightly while the real one was a lot redder.)
Alya nodded a large knowing smile on her face. "I am glad to hear that you have someone special. Tell me what do you think of all your teammates? Including the ones you have not worked with yet." Alya asked.
Rena Rouge smiled at the young reporter. "Well I can tell you without a shadow of doubt that Ladybug is the best and I don't think I need to explain why. Chat Noir is the 2nd best and is very loyal to 'his lady'; though admittedly a bit annoying and childish."
"Carapace... Well after what I just admitted my thoughts on him are probably bias so I will simply say he is extremely trustworthy and will always watch your back on the battlefield."
"I can't say I am very fond of Queen Bee as I really don't like her spoiled rotten attitude in and out of the mask. And don't quite understand why she is permitted to still be Queen Bee after announcing her identity on live television. However I can say in the battlefield she is surprisingly faithful and will set aside her selfishness to get things done."
"As for Viperion, Ryuko, Pegasus, and King Monkey I personally have not worked with them and can not give specifics. But of what I know of them, they are effective." Rena Rouge explained.
Alya nodded. "Do you enjoy being one of Paris's part-time superheros?" She asked curiously.
"Absolutely, I love serving Paris and working with Ladybug to give Hawkmoth a good run for his money." Rena replied definitely.
"And what are your thoughts on the Ladyblog?" Alya asked with interest.
"I love it for the most part, the amount of effort you put into giving Paris the best videos possible is admirable. Although I am glad you finally took down that interview of Lila Rossi." Rena replied giving Alya an imploring look.
Alya flushed in embarrassment. "Yes I do sincerely apologize to you, all of Paris, and anyone who visits my blog. I should have double checked with Ladybug before posting that video, and I thank you for calling me out on that yesterday when I asked if you would do an interview." She stated looking very ashamed at the camera.
Rena Rouge smiled kindly and set a hand on Ayla's. "We all make mistakes and I know first hand how sometimes you have to have them shoved in your face to see them. But once you do you can learn from them and use them to better yourself." Rena stated.
Alya smiled gratefully. "I will, I promise. Everything from here on out will be double checked. I want to find and inform Paris of the truth and will make sure not to jump to conclusions ever again." Alya promised.
Rena Rouge nodded and opened her mouth to say something but was cut off by a loud insistent beeping. Alya, Rena Rouge and Nino all looked to the back of the room where the real Rena Rouge was looking at her miraculous. It was down to the last minute and demanding attention.
"Cut!" Nino suddenly called hitting the pause button on the video recorder.
Rena dropped the illusion of both versions of herself, before dropping her transformation.
"Not bad so far." Trixx said resting on Ayla's shoulder as Alya fished out a strip of beef jerky out of her purse.
"Thanks." Alya said handing the dry piece of meat to the kwami.
"Did not think you would add Carapace and Rena Rouge's relationship into it." Nino stated coming over to his girlfriend.
"Er... Yeah are you okay with that? I mean alot of people have already speculated it, and with Ladybug refusing to accept Chat Noir it would make a very large scoup to have at least one set of superheros together. But I still should have asked you first..." Alya was explaining only to have Nino wrap his arms around her comforting.
"Chill dude, I am okay with it if you are. But we should probably get Ladybug's approval before posting it." Nino said.
Alya nodded. "I had already planned on it." She stated.
"Well I'm all charged up to finish if you both are ready." Trixx cut in, causing both teens to look at the kwami.
"Just let me rewind and play back the video a bit." Nino said walking back over to the video camera, Alya trailing behind so she can pick up the illusion right where they left off on the interview.
Marinette was sitting at her desk trying to get some of her homework done but was worried about tonight's patrol. Despite often being distracted in fights, Chat seems to actually be observant when it comes to Ladybug.
"Tikki, what do you think I should tell Chat? I mean we arrived at the same time so how do I explain that Volpina attacked me before I transformed without giving away my identity. I don't want to lie to him but need something to tell him so he will drop it." The young holder asked her kwami.
Tikki smiled at Marinette as she settled on top of the computer monitor. She loved her holder dearly she really did. Marinette has the proper complex mind set to be a good holder for the miraculous of creationas well, but sometimes she really does over think things to the point that she simply misses the least problematic solution.
"You can tell him a partial truth. Say that you were near by and got caught in the attack before you could transform. Volpina threw enough items to make it an easy story to believe and is still close enough to the truth." Tikki suggested.
Marinette thought about that for a moment. "Yeah and there were enough people at the mall today to keep from narrowing my identity down." She noted contently, then became thoughtful and apprehensive.
"Tikki, not that I am not grateful but why do you think Alya suddenly decided to take a closer look into Lila's deceptions? Did Trixx have anything to do with it?" Marinette asked.
Tikki sighed in understanding. " Marinette if you are concerned that giving Alya her miraculous for the day caused her problems you need to stop. Things happen and even if Trixx did cause Alya to actually look into things that does not make you decision wrong, you had absolutely no way of knowing how things would unfold. And besides everything worked out for the better in the end." Tikki said trying not to let her holder feel responsible for her own actions.
Marinette nodded though did not look fully convinced. " I just don't want Alya and Nino to become prey to Lila's attacks as well." She said concerned.
"I think that the both of them are strong and resourceful enough to survive if they do." Tikki stated optimistically.
Marinette nodded and returned her focus on her homework until Tikki noted the time. Putting her homework away, Marinette transformed and took off to meet up with Chat. They had arranged to meet a little earlier than usual so that they could talk before Rena joins them.
"My Lady." Chat greeted as they met up.
"Hey Chat, you said you wanted to talk." Ladybug stated, down to business as usual.
Chat became uncharacteristically serious. "I don't understand why you were dishonest earlier. You were hurt but was fixed by the cure which means it was caused by Volpina. However you seemed intent on keeping it to yourself, which bothers me. I thought we were a team and are supposed to look after one another, I can't do that if I don't know you might be vulnerable in a fight." He hissed angrily.
"Chat I wasn't trying to be dishonest, technically Ladybug wasn't hurt by Volpina in that attack. My civilian self had been at the mall with some friends when Volpina showed up and started throwing things at a young girl. I could not get out of the way fast enough and ended up getting caught in the fight while still in civilian form. And there was no way I was explaining that out in the open. " Ladybug explained going with her kwami's suggestion.
Understanding flashed across Chats face, but quickly returned to irritated. "You still should have let me know, being injured on the battlefield could have been very dangerous if things had gone differently." Chat Noir stated firmly.
"You mean like how you admitted to getting cataclysmed in the ribcage only after you failed to jump off the roof we were on during Miraculer? Or what was wrong when you yelped in pain during Riposte?" Ladybug inquired.
Chat Noir scowled at her and was about to respond but Ladybug was not finished yet.
"Or you know what, while we are on the subject. How about we talk about all those times you choose take a hit for me instead of simply trying to pull me out of the way. Or have been so busy flirting that you got us both in a tight spot. You stand here insinuating I was being reckless today, but you are reckless almost every battle!" Ladybug practically growled the accusation, causing Chat to take a step back in suprise.
Chat opened his mouth to retort but closed it again, trying to think through his response. Deep down he knew she was right, that he had no right to be upset about this one incident after all the times he had done the same or something just as bad. But he didn't like the idea of His Lady being vulnerable in any way in a fight, and he had no intention on reducing his protection over her. The fact that she had been hurt in civilian form today by an Akuma is just as bothersome.
He had seen on the Ladyblog earlier that Volpina was trying to attack Marinette because she blamed her for Alya removing her interview on the Ladyblog. Which he did not understand, he thought Marinette was going to take the high road and leave Lila alone instead of risking an akumatization. Clearly he was wrong and would need to talk to his friend, especially since today's attack had gotten Ladybug hurt. But before he could come up with a response to tell His Lady Rena Rouge jumped up beside them.
"Hey am I interrupting anything." Rena asked taking in the unhappy looks her two favorite superheros were giving each other.
"No. We just finished." Ladybug stated with finality given Chat a look that said drop it.
Chat Noir sighed in defeat for the time being and nodded. And the three of them began their patrol.