The story below is based on the characters from Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir. I own nothing of the show. This is purely fictitious and written for the enjoyment of my readers and myself. All rights go to the proper parties.
Horrificator is still one of my favorite episodes. I love the horror movie feel that it gives. I also adore Mylène and Ivan. They're so cute!
Adrien and the rest of Miss Bustier's class are working on a film for a competition. Nino directs as Adrien and Mylène act.
"Agent Smith, it's too dangerous! We must evacuate!" Adrien yells.
Mylène looks at him and responds, "You're suggesting we run, Officer Jones? After it devoured my family, my friends, even my beloved dog, Sniffles? Never! I won't run! I no longer fear it, I'm going to face it, then I'll-" Ivan looms over her in a monster costume. "Waaaaah!" She yells.
Nino sighs, "Cut!"
Mylène hides under the desk, scared of Ivan and his costume.
Ivan apologizes, "Sorry Mylène." He takes off his monster mask and moves to comfort Mylène.
"Mylène! That's like, the tenth take, and we're only on the first scene!" Nino calls, annoyed.
Alix speaks up, holding the film clacker, "Fourteenth actually. But who's counting."
Nino groans, "Ughhh..."
Mylène sheepishly apologizes, "I'm... sorry. I'm gonna do better on the next take, I promise."
"Anyone want some tea?" Rose offers.
Nino ignores her, "You're playing a hero from the special forces. You're not supposed to get all freaked out!"
Mylène explains, "I know, but... that monster mask he's wearing is so... realistic and scary!"
Ivan reassures her, "Just big ol' me, Mylène. Nothing to be scared of!"
Chloé scoffs, "You ask me, he doesn't even need a mask!" She and Sabrina laugh together.
Marinette butts in, annoyed with Chloé, "What a bratty snob!"
Nino speaks once again, "Ivan, put the mask back on, you're playing the monster! And Mylène, we need you to stay in character!"
Ivan puts the monster mask on, but Mylène continues to be scared. "I need to sing my happy song, it always makes me feel better..." She says as she starts to sing, "smelly wolf, smelly wolf, stinky breath and slimy--" she bumps into Adrien. "Ahh!" She yells.
Chloé laughs, "And the Oscar for best pathetic scaredy-cat afraid of its own shadow goes to... Mylène!"
Adrien sighs, "Chloé, seriously?"
Chloé rolls her eyes, "Yeah, so what?"
Mylène runs away, crying and Marinette speaks up, "Mylène! Anyone gonna go after her?"
Ivan takes off his mask and runs after her, "Mylenè, wait!"
The others stay in the classroom as Nino scolds Chloé. "Epic, Chloé! Just epic! What are we supposed to do now without our leading actress?"
Chloé scoffs, "Who needs her, anyway? She was totally lame!"
Ivan returns and yells at her, "You're lame! Mylène is crying her eyes out on the bathroom thanks to you!"
Chloé looks appalled, "Me, lame?"
Marinette cuts in, "Hey, hey! Everyone chill out! You're right, Chloé is lame. But fighting isn't gonna bring Mylène back. I'm the producer, and I'm gonna do everything in my power to finish filming tonight!"
Max intervenes, "The deadline for the Parisian Student Short Film Festival is tomorrow evening, precisely 26 hours, 15 minutes and 14, 13 seconds from now."
Marinette sighs, "Thank you, Max! And we still have editing, post-sound, soundtrack...
Adrien asks, "And who's gonna take Mylene's part?"
Chloé smiles, "Um, me of course!"
Alya rolls her eyes and yells, "You haven't even read the script!"
"Of course I have! The first scene anyway. I can even tell you that it ends with a kiss between Agent Smith and Officer Jones!" Chloé says suggestively.
Adrien and Marinette wince. Marinette whisper screams at Alya, "You wrote that?!"
Alya pauses, "Hold up!" She looks at the script. "I didn't write that!"
Nino speaks up, "Uh... I wrote it. It was just a little tweak. You know, to move the story forward."
Alya groans, "What! You edited my script without even telling me? That's low!"
"Wait a minute! You mean our script!" Nino retorts as Adrien sighs.
"Juice?" Rose offers to Adrien.
"Thanks Rose." He says.
Chloé rolls her eyes, "Oh, who cares who wrote what? We've got to film this thing, right?"
Max responds, "She's right. Principal Damocles is only allowing us to use school until 6 p.m. sharp. Which leaves us 9 hours, 12 minutes and 12 seconds. 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6..."
Marinette grabs Alya and whispers, "Adrien and Chloé kissing cannot happen! No way!"
Alya agrees, "It makes no sense story wise anyway. The main character's emotional journey..."
Marinette gives a determined look, "Hold on!" She runs to where Adrien is. "We can't let Mylène just leave just like that, it's... wrong! We all chose her to play the leading female role! And... we're all in this movie together! She needs our support. I'm gonna go find her and bring her back." She says confidently.
Adrien smiles at her confidence, it's rare that he gets to see it, and he loves every second that he does.
Chloé scoffs, "Always trying to save the day, aren't you, Marinette? Good luck finding the filthy hole that scaredy-cat's hiding in!"
Marinette arrives at the bathroom and sees the mirror covered in goo, "Mylène? Mylène?"
Alya follows soon after, "Marinette! Did you find Mylène?"
Marinette quietly responds, "No..."
Alya grabs her hand, "Well, you better come ASAP, producer! There's some serious lip puckering about get going on!" They leave the bathroom together.
Meanwhile, the class continues with their film.
"Horrificator, take 15." Ali's says.
Nino calls, "Action!"
Chloé begins her line, "I'm not scared of that Horrificator thingy, Officer Whatever-your-name-is, now kiss me!" She says as she leans close to Adrien for a kiss.
Adrien pulls back, completely against the idea of kissing Chloé, before the door opens and Marinette yells, "CUT!!"
Adrien lets out a relieved sigh as Nino speaks, "Marinette, what gives? We're in the middle of a shoot, and I'm the director, FYI. I say cut, no one else. Comprende?"
Marinette responds, "And I'm the producer! Mylène's supposed to be the star of this movie."
Nino groans, "We're out of time, and from what I can see, Mylène is MIA. Let's take it from the top, people."
Adrien sighs, "Here we go again..."
Alya complains, "This is beat! Agent Smith does not need a man in her life right now! Sniffles just got munched right now, remember!" Adrien shakes his head in agreement.
Nino sighs, "Do you wanna finish this film or not?"
Chloé intervenes, "Then let's just make Agent Smith a nurse instead! That'll fix everything." She suggests.
Alya gives her a look, "Um, I'm sorry. How, exactly?"
Chloé shrugs, "I don't know, but I'm sure I'd look amazing in a uniform."
Nino complains, "Oh, come on! We're not gonna rewrite this script again!"
Alya speaks, "I'm not putting my name on those credits."
Chloé nonchalantly says, "Nobody cares about you anyway!"
Alya seethes, "What?"
Marinette intervenes, "Everyone calm down! This movie's a team effort! (to Chloé) Your nurse idea's perfect, Chloé!"
Chloé pays right into Marinette's plan, "Of course it's a perfect idea. Because it's mine!"
Marinette continues, "But Chloé, you don't have a uniform."
Alya jumps in, "Right! Which is why that idea wasn't believable in the first place."
Marinette makes a suggestion, "I think you and your assistant should go down to the nurse's office and try out some uniforms."
Chloé contemplates the suggestion, "Hmm. Kim, Max, come with me. You've just been promoted to wardrobe and bodyguard." She says as they leave, including Sabrina.
Nino groans, "Nice going, Miss Producer! Now we have no lead again!"
Marinette smiles, "Yeah, but now we've just gotten rid of Chloé!"
Nino sighs, "And now what?"
"We go find Mylène! She's here somewhere!" Marinette says.
"I told you. Tick tock, there's no time, we need a lead now!" He complains.
Alya jumps in, "Marinette can do it!"
Adrien smiles wide as he listens to their conversation. He would love to act alongside Marinette.
Marinette startles, "What?! No! I can't act. I'm... the producer."
Alya pulls her around and whispers to her, "But you wanna kiss Adrien, don't you?" She asks.
Marinette looks to Adrien, he smiles widely at her, and she whispers back, "Yes, but not like this."
A few moments later, Marinette and Alya are preparing for the scene. Marinette speaks up, "I'm only doing this as a favor, you know? As soon as Mylène comes back, she'll have her old role back."
Alya smiles, "'Course she will, chill out, and just think. After tonight, you'll finally have kissed Adrien..." She giggles as Marinette hides behind her script.
As Adrien gets his makeup done, Marinette watches him, "Totally unbelievable..." She murmurs.
Adrien smiles at her, "What's that?"
Marinette stammers, "Uh, I said... uh, it's got to be believable!"
Adrien's smile grows bigger, "Don't worry, you'll do fine."
He turns to Marinette and pulls her close as they take their positions in front of the camera.
Nino calls, "Ready to roll? Camera!"
"Horrificator, take 16..." Alix says, bored.
Nino yells, "Action!"
Marinette begins her line, "I'm not scared of that monster, officer Jones!" She says awkwardly.
She stares up at Adrien as he pulls her closer. He places a hand on her waste and reaches his other up to cuff her cheek. This is it. They both close their eyes as they lean in. Adrien can feel Marinette's breath on his lips. His cheeks flush red as he moves to close the small gap between them.
Suddenly the door slams open and Chloé yells, "CUT!!! I knew it!"
Marinette and Adrien break apart, both trying to hide their disappointment and Nino groans, "What did I say about other people saying cut?!"
Chloé targets Marinette, "Well played, Marinette! All that speech about working together, then you stab me right in the back! Well, your stupid little movie won't make it into the festival if I'm not in it, because my daddy is one of the judges!!" She yells.
Suddenly, Adrien hears screams from inside the school, "Did you guys hear that?" He asks.
Chloé groans, "If this is another one of your silly ploys to get me out of the way, you can forget it! Besides, I—" She stops as the screams are heard again.
Marinette freezes, "I definitely heard that. We better scope this out!" She says as she leads the students out of the classroom.
"A fruity snack for the road?" Rose offers as they all leave.
Soon Cat Noir and Ladybug show up to save the day. The film is finished by Nino's recording of the akuma fight, and Adrien and Marinette return home with thoughts of their almost kiss running through their heads. What a day.
