Who Needs You?

Episode 05

Troublemaker: Asking for Trouble

"Welcome to Fill My Shoes! This is your host, Alec Cataldi, and you're joining us live in an all-new special episode! Our guest today is the one and only Jagged Stone!"

Jagged Stone jumps into the frame, singing a few lyrics from his latest single all the while strumming his invisible electric guitar. They're currently filming in Paris' most beloved shop for sweets, the Dupain-Cheng Bakery, where hundreds of fans are outside chanting the singer's name non-stop while holding up fan-made signs and wearing expensive Jagged Stone merchandise.

"Today, we're filling the shoes of a baker!" Alec exclaims, clapping his hands together. "Big thanks to Tom Dupain for allowing us to film at the famous Dupain-Cheng Bakery! If you haven't given it a try, you are sorely missing out! Come say a few words, Tom!"

Tom slowly creeps up into view, and awkwardly raises up a hand to wave at the camera. "Hello," he says nervously.

"He'll be giving us a few baking tips, and he'll be teaching us how to make his signature baguettes! Stay tuned!" Alec grins.

"And… we're on break," the cameraman says, giving the host and the celebrity and thumbs up.

"Great start!" Jagged Stone's assistant, Penny Rolling, exclaims as she approaches the duo.

"I'll say!" Jagged Stone's producer, Bob Roth, exclaims, slapping a hand on Alec's shoulder. "The views are sky-rocketing!"

Sabine approaches Alec and Jagged Stone with a tray of freshly-baked croissants, with Marinette following two steps behind.

"Would any of you like a croissant? Fresh from the oven," Sabine offers.

"No, thank you," Penny replies politely. Bob barely spares her a glance as he plucks a croissant from the tray before walking off.

"I'm not sure it was such a good idea to let them film the show here, Marinette," Sabine says worriedly.

"Of course it was, Mom," Marinette says. "It'll bring lots of attention to the bakery! And Jagged Stone asked to come here specifically! We're really lucky that someone as famous as him chose to film at our humble little shop."

"I guess you're right," Sabine says.

"No, no!" Tom suddenly cries.

Marinette and Sabine look over behind the counter to find Jagged Stone fiercely chopping a slab of dough with his hands. Tom is waving his hands with a flustered look on his face as he tries to get the celebrity to stop.

"You have the right energy, Jagged. You just need to be a little more gentle—uh, h-hello!" Tom exclaims when the camera pans over to him. Tom waves at the camera, the smile on his face a little too wide. He continues, "Um, a-as I was saying—this is how you should do it."

The baker then takes the dough and kneads it gently to demonstrate, while Jagged Stone watches in awe. While Sabine laughs at how nervous her husband looks, Marinette makes her way over to a jittery Penny Rolling.

Jagged Stone's assistant watches the scene unfold nervously, her thumb clicking her ballpoint pen noisily. The crocodile she has on a leash won't stop making a fuss, the schedule in her arms is nothing but an indicator of just how exhausted she's going to be by the end of the day, and her work phone has been vibrating nonstop most likely from other artists begging for collaborations or nosy reporters asking for the latest news on their favorite rockstar. She's just about to tear all her hair out from the stress.

"Penny? Are you all right?" Marinette asks, making the woman jump.

"Marinette, you startled me," Penny sighs, placing a hand on her chest. "I'm fine, thank you for asking. I just have a lot to take care of today, and this show was my idea, so Jagged's putting all his trust in me. I just hope everything goes well today."

Marinette and Penny look over at the filming corner to see Tom awkwardly waving at the camera, and Jagged putting together different loaves of bread. The student and assistant exchange confused glances upon seeing the latter.

"So Jagged, how does it feel to fill the baker's shoes today?" Alec asks as he walks into the scene.

"It's awesome! Check out this edible guitar I made!" Jagged exclaims as he lifts up his masterpiece to show off to the viewers. Two butter croissants, a fresh baguette, and a lump of sourdough bread come together to form a guitar. Jagged excitedly strums at the sourdough, singing a ridiculous, improvised song about baked goods.

Penny laughs into her palm at the sight, and Marinette grins at her reaction. She looks like she's in love.

"So, what's it like working with a star like Jagged?" Sabine asks after putting the tray of croissants on the nearby counter. "He seems like a good person."

"He's amazing," Penny replies dreamily. She suddenly freezes before frantically clicking her pen and scribbling nonsense all over her clipboard. She clears her throat and answers monotonously, "I-I mean, he's—yes. He's a good person. Very nice."

Sabine and Marinette give each other a knowing look before chuckling between themselves.


"Oh, come on! Are you going to finally put cheese on that bread or what? Since when do you have any interest in this show?"

Adrien and Plagg are in the former's bedroom, comfortably watching the live episode of Fill My Shoes on the couch. An assortment of cheese sits on the coffee table before them, practically forcing Plagg to watch the program with his holder.

"I just thought I'd support Jagged Stone, that's all," Adrien replies.

"Yo, Marinette!" Jagged Stone suddenly exclaims onscreen, making Adrien's face blanch. "Come on over and rock out with us!"

The camera pans over to Marinette, who waves nervously at the camera while making her way over to the celebrity. Adrien's face turns the slightest bit of pink at the sight of her, prompting Plagg to tease him for it.

"Oh, yeah," Plagg smirks. "You're definitely watching for Jagged Stone."

"Shut up," Adrien scowls, sinking into his seat. Plagg can only howl with laughter at his holder's not-so-subtle crush.


"It's so cool that we get to spend the day together. Marinette's really talented, Alec!" Jagged exclaims. "She's the one who did the artwork for my latest album!"

"Impressive! A true family of artists—a talented young designer and a gifted pâtissier!" Alec says, dubbing Marinette as the former, and Tom the latter. "So, what are you baking for us today, Tom?"

"How does chocolate croissants sound?" Tom asks, earning cheers of approval from Alec and Jagged. "Marinette, can you quickly grab a bag of flour for us please?"

"Of course, Dad," Marinette smiles.

Marinette turns around to grab a bag, accidentally knocking over a wooden bread peel. She lets out a yelp and dives forward to catch it, failing to see the half-filled bag of flour resting right on top of it. This causes the bag to fly up into the air and fall land on Jagged's head, covering him in white from head to toe.

"Ah! Jagged—I'm so, so sorry, I—" Marinette apologizes frantically.

"Hey!" Jagged grins as he observes the flour coating his clothing. "I look like a ghost! Too cool!"

"Making pastries is obviously no piece of cake! Stay tuned; we'll be right back after this commercial break!" Alec says, throwing an arm over Jagged.

"And… cut!" the cameraman signals.

"I'm sorry, Jagged," Marinette frowns. "I'm such a klutz." She shivers upon saying those words—hearing or saying the word klutz is enough to remind her of a certain blond-haired boy.

"No worries," the man smiles, giving her a thumbs up.

"Can you tell me where the washroom is, please?" Penny asks, dusting some flour off of Jagged's clothes.

"Right upstairs," Marinette replies.

"Thank you," Penny says, leading Jagged up the stairs.

"Come on," Tom says, placing a hand on his daughter's shoulder. He laughs, "You have some cleaning up to do."

With a laugh and a nod, Marinette makes her way over to the cleaning supplies closet in the corner of the room. She grabs a dustpan and a broom to sweep up her mess, while her parents have gone to the back of the bakery to grab the ingredients needed to make a delicious dozen of chocolate croissants.

"Alec, we're back in thirty seconds!" the cameraman exclaims in a panic.

"Already? Where's Jagged?" Alec asks.

"He's in the washroom upstairs," Marinette chimes in.

"Thank you," Alec says. "We'll just have to shoot upstairs, then. Nothing wrong with improvising."

Alec leads the Bob Roth and the camera crew up the stairs, leaving Tom and Sabine a little worried.

"We should've limited the crew to the bakery only," Sabine says regretfully. "I just don't feel comfortable with them walking around our home."

"It'll be fine, Mom," Marinette reassures. "They'll be back down before we know it! They just need Jagged in the shot before heading back down."

Marinette picks up the dustpan and broom, returning them to their rightful spots in the closet. She dusts her hands after closing it shut, making her way over to the back of the bakery to help her parents with whatever is keeping them occupied.

"It seems our baker's daughter has got a little crush—and on one half of Paris' superhero duo, no less!"

Marinette freezes at the mention of her name. She whips her head around and rushes over to the TV displaying the live stream, clutching at the sides of the monitor in a panic. The camera is pointing at the large collection of posters she has of the one and only Chat Noir.

"No, no, no, no, no!" she screams before sprinting up the stairs.

"Marinette?" Sabine asks as her daughter zips right past her.

"No, no, no, no—" Marinette cries as she rushes up the stairs two steps at a time.

"Calm down, Marinette!" Tikki exclaims as she phases through the floor above to fly by her holder's side. "It's not a big deal!"

"It is to me!" Marinette argues. "I don't care about my classmates or random strangers knowing, I care about Chat Noir knowing! He might think I'm some obsessed fan! Or worse—he might figure out I like him!"

"Isn't that what you want?" Tikki asks, following her holder up the ivory stairs to her room.

"I-I do," Marinette says. "But I want to get him to like Ladybug, too. I'm not even near that, so I need to hide this crush as best as I can until then!"

Marinette throws open her trapdoor, face flushed with embarrassment and eyes wide with panic.

"What are you guys doing in here?!" Marinette yells.

"I'm sorry, Marinette," Penny says. "We couldn't find the washroom and ended up in here."

"Marinette, do you want me to sign this poster you have of me?" Jagged asks enthusiastically, pointing over at the cardboard cut-out standing in the corner of the room.

"No! I just need everyone to leave!" Marinette cries desperately. "And you, stop filming! Ugh, Penny, do something please!"

Penny puts on a fierce face, and nods. "You heard her," she says firmly, herding everyone out the door. While doing so, her foot gets caught between some cords, causing two cables to unplug from the camera.

"Penny, you just cut us off the air!" the cameraman says.

"S-sorry about that," Penny says, lowering herself to grab the cable.

"No, Penny, get them out of here first!" Marinette cries as she points down to her trapdoor. "This is a complete invasion of my privacy, I just want this to be over!"

"Penny, give me that cable! We're live!" Alec demands, holding out a hand.

"Penny, was that flour organic? You know I'm allergic to the non-organic flour," Jagged says, sneezing into his arm.

"Penny, do you realize we've got no picture?" Bob asks angrily. "Our ratings were soaring, too!"

The assistant can feel her entire frame shaking from all the stress. Her eyes shift from one face to the other, her mind wondering whose words she should follow. She drops the cable and clutches the sides of her head to try to block out the noise, but it seems like everyone's voices just keep getting louder.

"Penny, we—"

"Penny, I—"

"Penny, please just—"

"Penny—!"

"Stop!" Penny yells, and the whole room goes dead silent at her outburst. "That's enough! All of you, back downstairs, now!"

"But—" Jagged tries.

"I said out!" Penny says, pushing everyone out of the room.

Once everyone has exited the room, Penny forcefully slams the trapdoor shut, but not before giving Marinette an apologetic look. Marinette sinks to the ground, hands over her face as she goes over fifteen different scenarios in her head.

"What if Chat Noir was watching and saw all those posters?!" Marinette cries, curling up into a ball.

"It's not too much of a big deal, Marinette," Tikki comforts. "Paris loves Chat Noir! He'll probably just think you're another fan of his."

"Tikki, he comes by to visit sometimes, and Marinette has captured akumas with him in the past," Marinette says, burying her face in her hands. "I wouldn't be freaking out this much if we barely talked, but we've interacted enough times to make it possible for me to develop a crush on him! This live broadcast just exposed me completely! How can I face him now?!"

"There's still a slight chance that he missed it," Tikki says optimistically.

"I doubt that very much," Marinette grumbles as she pulls herself back up on her feet. She makes her way over to her desktop and presses the Power button on her monitor to watch the rest of the show.

"How dare you?!" Sabine thunders the moment the screen turns on.

Marinette's jaw drops when Sabine grabs a bread peel and performs swift, martial arts defensive maneuvers with clean twirls of her staff. She finishes by slapping the peel on the wooden floors, and pointing it at an intimidated Bob Roth.

"I demand an apology!" Sabine shouts. "This is our home—you have no right to decide what we can and can't do!"

"M-Mom?" Marinette asks in surprise.

"Darling, what are you—" Tom starts.

He's soon interrupted by the violent strum of an electric guitar, followed by Bob's cry of pain. A silver guitar suddenly falls into his hands, making Bob's look of confusion turn into one of anger.

"Hey! What's the big idea?!" Bob thunders.

"I could pretend that this isn't bothering me, but now you've gone too far!" Tom retorts, pushing his forehead against Bob's.

"Dad?" Marinette asks, leaning closer to the screen. "What's gotten into them?"

Marinette can only watch hopelessly as a mess forms in the bakery from a source unknown. A flour sack gets thrown over Jagged, cables tangle around Alec's legs causing him to fall to the floor, the doors repeatedly open and close, random baking equipment and ingredients are being tossed around, and the many stand mixers go off all at once. The bakery is in a state of complete disaster by the time it's all done, making Marinette's parents and their guests cry out for help. Their cries fall on deaf ears when the bakery's security system shuts down on all doors and windows, trapping them all inside.

A woman clad in violets, fuchsias and whites suddenly phases from the ceiling, landing right next to Jagged Stone.

"Hello, Jagged," she smirks, throwing an arm over the terrified musician.

"Who are you?! Where's Penny?!" Jagged asks in a panic, pushing her arm off of his shoulder and taking a couple of steps back.

"There's no more Penny to deal with all your problems, Jagged. From now on, there's only Troublemaker!" the akumatized victim announces. She clicks her ballpoint pen and vanishes, making everyone in the room gasp, before clicking her pen and reappearing. "With me around, your life will be filled with nothing but problems."

"Oh, no," Marinette says, eyebrows furrowed with worry and distress. "We must've stressed Penny out a little too much."

"That made her the perfect victim for Hawkmoth," Tikki gulps. "And a powerful one at that."

"We've got to bring an end to this," Marinette says, getting up from her seat. "TIKKI, TRANSFORM ME!"

A flash of pink later, Ladybug hurries up the ladder to her rooftop balcony just in time to see Chat Noir going up against Troublemaker in hand-to-hand combat. She can see the frustration on his face whenever he fails to land a punch because of the villain's famous disappearing acts. It's when Troublemaker grabs him by the collar and attempts to flip him over in hopes of smashing his head against the concrete does Ladybug step in.

She gets up onto the balcony's railings and throws her yoyo at her rival, letting out a pleased hum when her yoyo wraps around his amr. She pulls at the string with all her might, a sigh of relief escaping her lips to see him get launched into the air, just barely missing the hard concrete. Chat Noir gets pulled up onto the balcony, his arms crossed and face straight as he lands upside-down on Marinette's pink beach chair.

"Looks like I came right on time," Ladybug says, hopping off the railings.

"Always a joy to see you, My Lady," Chat Noir replies sarcastically.

Ladybug huffs before making her way over to the trapdoor and jumping right through it. Chat Noir follows her without a word, landing on Marinette's warm, plush bed. The first thing he notices is the large collection of Chat Noir posters and photographs taped to the cotton candy pink walls. A lot of them are photos ripped out of the Tout sur Chat Noir magazine, and others are stolen shots Alya must've taken and printed out for her. The famous curse-breaking class picture with Juleka in the middle is taped onto the wall as well, but the picture under that one is what sends Chat Noir's heart flying.

It's a stolen shot of Adrien and Marinette arguing in the fountain at the park, both soaking wet from head to toe. He remembers that day vividly—he had a photoshoot scheduled at the park, and his photographer, Vincent, had suggested that Marinette join the shoot for "romantic" effect. They ended up pushing each other into the fountain, arguing over who started it first.

Chat Noir laughs at the memory, catching Ladybug's attention. Her face contorts in panic as she dives forward, blocking the photos from view.

"U-uh, how about we not invade Marinette's privacy anymore than the show already has?" Ladybug says, laughing nervously.

Chat Noir opens his mouth to say something, but words never come out. He listens closely, his cat ears twitching at the slightest sound, making him turn his head to find Troublemaker one floor below looking right up at them.

Troublemaker hurls four knitting needles at them, and Chat Noir quickly raises Marinette's mattress to block the attack. With a click of her pen, Troublemaker vanishes into thin air, making the superheroes look around the room frantically. Ladybug and Chat Noir jump off the bed, landing on the main floor back to back to prepare for any incoming attacks.

Troublemaker soon reappears by the lounge chair in the corner of the room and launches its red umbrella in their direction. The two heroes effortlessly dodge the attack, angering the villain and getting her throw the lounge chair itself at them. They manage to move out of the way just in time to find themselves standing right in front of Troublemaker. They swing their weapons at her, but she disappears once more, making them cry out in frustration.

While looking around the room, Chat Noir seems Troublemaker appear right behind Ladybug, her hands outstretched, ready to rip Ladybug's earring right off her earlobes.

"Look out!" Chat Noir alerts his rival. He trips Ladybug with one foot, and then goes on to strike Troublemaker's wrist with his silver staff.

Troublemaker lets go of her pen as a result, clutching her throbbing wrist with her other hand as she watches her item fly across the room before hitting the wall and landing pathetically onto the floor.

"Get that pen!" Ladybug exclaims, scrambling to her feet to get to it.

Ladybug, Chat Noir and Troublemaker all dive forward to try to grab the pen, each throwing a hand over the item to claim ownership. Unfortunately, Troublemaker has the best grip over it, and she clicks it, laughing maniacally as she disappears once more. This action is enough to make Ladybug groan and make Chat Noir slam his fist against the floor angrily.

"Are you kidding me?!" he screams, ready to rip all his hair out.

"At least we can say her strength is also her weakness," Ladybug says. "She can't touch us while invisible."

Ladybug and Chat Noir get back up on their feet, not realizing that their hands are intertwined.

"Why are you holding my hand?!" Chat Noir yells, retreating as if burned.

"I wasn't!" Ladybug yells back, flustered. She shakes her head and hurries out of the room in embarrassment as Chat Noir follows closely behind.

Ladybug and Chat Noir find themselves in the kitchen, back to back once more as they look around the room.

"Keep your eyes open, she can appear anywhere," Ladybug says.

"You're absolutely right!" Troublemaker's voice echoes as she appears right between them.

Troublemaker kicks Ladybug out of the way, making her tumble to floor, her yoyo's strings all tangled around her. Chat Noir throws his fist at her, aiming for her face, but the akumatized victim grabs his wrist and twists it behind his back. Fearing for the worst, Chat Noir activates his Cataclysm, smirking when he hears Troublemaker's cry of anger.

"One touch and you crumble into pieces. Want to give it a try?" Chat Noir teases.

Troublemaker lets go of his wrist out of fear, instead opting to kick him into the nearby bookshelf before charging at Ladybug. Chat Noir loses his balance and falls forward, his hand emanating the dark glow of Cataclysm coming in contact with it. The shelf turns into dust, hardcover books hitting every part of him and making him yelp in pain.

Ladybug lets out groan after groan as Troublemaker repeatedly lands successful blows at her, while she fails to hit her even once. It's practically impossible to do so with such a powerful akumatized item. Ladybug throws her hands in front of her face when Troublemaker charges right at her, but she disappears before she can slam into her. Before Ladybug can even react, Troublemaker kicks her down to the floor, pinning her arms over her head.

Ladybug's eyes widen when Troublemaker manages to rip off one of Ladybug's earrings.

"You made this too easy," Troublemaker cackles.

Ladybug panics when she feels herself de-transforming. She looks up at her wrist and her ankles to see pink sparkles slowly melting her costume away. A flash of pink appears by her mask, its bright light forcing her to squint her eyes from the brightness. All she can think of in this moment is how it's all over—Hawkmoth finally won.

Ladybug gasps when a book suddenly hits Troublemaker on the side of her head, causing her to groan and whip her head in the direction the book came from. Ladybug follows her gaze, an excited gasp escaping her lips to find Chat Noir holding an enormous hardcover cookbook in his hands.

"A hundred and forty-eight pages not painful enough, huh?" Chat Noir asks, lifting the book in his hands above his head. "Then how about five hundred and thirteen?!"

Chat Noir gathers up all his strength and hurls the book at the villain, who makes the grave mistake of clicking her pen in order to dodge.

"No!" Troublemaker cries as Ladybug's earring doesn't phase with her.

The polka-dotted earring tumbles to the floor, and a now free Ladybug hurriedly retrieves it. She puts it back on, placing a hand on her chest and sighing in relief as her transformation recompletes itself.

"Now, that was close," Chat Noir says as he approaches his rival. "I would've hated it if this was how our identity reveal went down. I don't know about you, but I'm expecting it to be pretty grand."

"I'm with you on that," Ladybug sighs. She then gives him a small smile, "Thank you for helping me out."

"It was nothing," he says nonchalantly, waving a hand. "Don't make a big deal out of it."

Ladybug just smiles even wider.

"Well, better get your Lucky Charm ready before she tries to steal your Miraculous again," Chat Noir says.

"And get my tally mark ready," Ladybug winks.

"Don't remind me," Chat Noir grumbles. "I was on a roll, too."

"LUCKY CHARM!" Ladybug exclaims, suppressing her laugh. A red and black polka-dotted plate cracked in half falls into her hands, making her ask aloud, "What am I supposed to do with… this?"

"Do you think losing an earring weakened your power?" Chat Noir suggests.

"It couldn't have," Ladybug says, looking around the room in hopes of catching a ladybug-printed pattern, but she sees nothing. Maybe her power has weakened.

"Well," Chat Noir says, clapping his hands. "While you're busy trying to figure it out, I'll try my chances at defeating Troublemaker, with or without Cataclysm. Good day."

While walking towards the white staircase to Marinette's room, Chat Noir accidentally steps on a tube of super glue that must've fallen to the floor when the bookshelf crumbled. He mutters an "oops" and picks it up, ready to place it on top of a counter, when the item is swiped right out of his hand.

"My power is working! It was a clue to the glue!" Ladybug exclaims, twisting the tube open. "Give me your hand!"

"What?" Chat Noir asks. Before he can even protest, Ladybug grabs his hand and squeezes some glue next to his black ring. "What are you doing?!"

"Sh!" she hushes, placing a finger to her lips. She lets go of his hand one her work is done, handing him the tube of glue. She points a finger to one of her earrings, asking, "Do you mind?"


Chat Noir kicks the trapdoor open and jumps into Marinette's room, Ladybug nowhere to be seen.

"Come out a face me, Troublemaker!" Chat Noir calls out. "Ladybug's powers went down the moment you took one of her earrings off. It's just you and me now!"

A cackle resounds from above him, and Chat Noir leaps out of the way when Troublemaker appears before him. He takes out his silver staff and tries to fight the villain as best as he can, but he soon finds himself faceplanting the floor, his arm twisted behind his back a second time.

"Since you already used up your Cataclysm, I'll have no trouble taking your ring," Troublemaker snickers, grabbing at his ring. Her face quickly turns into one of confusion when the ring doesn't move an inch. "Wh-what?!"

"Having some trouble?" Chat Noir mocks, closing his fist to make it even harder to get the ring off.

Troublemaker twists his arm even more, making Chat Noir yelp out in pain. "Alright, no more jokes!" she thunders. "You better find a way to get that ring off, or I'll break your arm!"

"You don't scare me with your bluff," Chat Noir counters.

"Want to bet I'm bluffing?" Troublemaker challenges.

Gnashing his teeth, Chat Noir uses his free hand to throw his staff at the wall, making it rebound and hit Troublemaker in the wrist holding the akumatized item. The pen falls out of her grasp, but Troublemaker barely spares it a glance as it rolls across the floor.

"Was that supposed to do something to me?" Troublemaker scoffs, feeling Chat Noir's arm throbbing under her grasp. "With Ladybug gone, I have nothing to worry about—"

"Who said I was gone?" a voice asks from above.

Troublemaker looks up, gasping to see Ladybug sitting on the rails of the loft holding the bed.

"Ladybug?! But I thought—" Troublemaker begins.

"Oh, come on, don't tell me you actually believed me," Chat Noir guffaws.

Troublemaker takes a quick glance at the pen sitting a few feet away and runs for it, kicking herself off of Chat Noir. Ladybug all but performs a flip in the air, landing right on top of the pen, breaking it into pieces.

"No!" Troublemaker cries, her entire being enveloping in a black and violet cloud.

A butterfly black as coal flies out of the broken item, and Ladybug twirls her yoyo around, catching it and painting it white as snow.

"Bye bye, little butterfly," Chat Noir says, beating her to it. Ladybug sticks her tongue out at him childishly before grabbing her Lucky Charm, which she safely places on the bed.

"MIRACULOUS LADYBUG!" Ladybug exclaims, throwing the broken plate into the air. Magical ladybugs fly around the entire bakery and home, fixing all damage and restoring everything to its former glory.

"Wh-what happened?" Penny asks, looking around the room in a confusion. "Where's everyone? Are they all right?"

"You're always so thoughtful and helpful, putting others before yourself," Ladybug says, kneeling down to place a hand on the assistant's shoulder. "Let's worry about Penny for a change. How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine. Thank you, Ladybug, Chat Noir," Penny says with a smile.

Warning beeps resound from Ladybug's earrings and Chat Noir's ring, surprising both heroes. They give each other a nod before making their way towards the balcony above them.

"Everyone should be waiting for you in the bakery. See you," Chat Noir says before disappearing beyond the trapdoor.

"Take care of yourself, too, Penny," Ladybug says, following her rival.

Ladybug finds Chat Noir waiting for her on the balcony, taking her somewhat by surprise. She figures that he wants to tease her one last time before leaving for home, when he suddenly holds up a closed fist.

"Uh, good work today," Chat Noir says awkwardly.

"What's this?" Ladybug asks in surprise, glancing down at his fist, then back up at his face.

"A fist bump," he answers.

"R-really?" she asks, clearly taken aback.

"…Yeah."

Chat Noir has never initiated a fist bump with Ladybug—it's always been her in the past. Her fist bumps were always brushed off or bluntly rejected, she never imagined the day would come that he would be the one to ask for one.

"Don't leave me hanging," Chat Noir smirks.

"O-oh!" Ladybug exclaims, making wild gestures with her arms before slowly bringing her fist up to bump his.

"Pound it!" they exclaim in unison, Ladybug's heart soaring at the smile Chat Noir shoots her afterwards.

"Better hurry before we de-transform," Chat Noir says. "See you later for patrol?"

"See you later," Ladybug nods.

Chat Noir is the first to leave; she watches as he extends his staff and vaults himself off the balcony. Once he's out of sight completely, Ladybug jumps back through the trapdoor, letting her transformation go when her feet hit the bed.

"Seems like Chat Noir's starting to get a little soft spot for Ladybug," Tikki giggles as she munches on a chocolate chip cookie in Marinette's purse.

"You think so?" Marinette asks as she climbs down the ladder to get to the lower level. Her kwami merely chuckles as she continues eating her snack.

Marinette rushes down the stairs to get back to the bakery, leaping into her parents' arms.

"Mom! Dad!" she exclaims, hugging them.

"Marinette, thank goodness you're all right," Sabine says, placing a hand over her chest as she sighs in relief.

"Were you hiding?" Tom asks.

Marinette nods. "In the washroom," she answers. "I got out once I heard Ladybug performed Miraculous Ladybug."

"We were so worried," Tom says.

The creaking of the entrance door catches their attention, and a nervous Penny walks right through, words of apology just barely at the edge of her lips. However, before she can even utter a word, Jagged Stone runs over to her and traps her in a tight hug, causing her to drop the pen and clipboard in her hands.

"Penny!" Jagged exclaims, hugging her tighter. "I'm so glad you're all right!"

"J-Jagged?" Penny stammers.

"What would I do without you?" Jagged asks, letting her go to look into her eyes. "Next time, let me know when something's troubling you. We'll get through it together, okay?"

"Okay," Penny smiles, closing her eyes and pulling him in for another hug.

Penny opens her eyes for a moment to send Marinette a smile, who can only smile back and give her a thumbs up.


Later that evening finds Marinette leaning over the railings of her rooftop balcony, head drooped, with nothing but heavy sighs escaping her lips into the crisp nighttime air.

Marinette screams internally knowing that there's a slight chance that Chat Noir tuned in to watch the Fill My Shoes Special, and yet, thinking about that one chance is enough to make her lose her mind. If he did tune in, he must have seen all the posters of him displayed around her bedroom.

She didn't mind that her classmates saw; all of Paris loved the hero. To them, it's just a teenage girl with a big celebrity crush. But she's close to Chat Noir as both Ladybug and Marinette—it's going to be hard trying to keep her cool knowing that he's found out about her crush on him.

"Now, I know never to have a tv show filmed at our house again," she whispers to herself. "I should've known that agreeing to it was just asking for trouble."

"I don't know, it was a fun watch, if I do say so myself."

Marinette's eyes widen at the voice, and she whips her head around to find Chat Noir standing on her chimney. He performs a graceful flip in the air, landing right in front of her.

"Ch-Chat Noir," Marinette says with a nervous laugh, her back bumping into the railings when she took a step back out of surprise. "What brings you here?"

"I saw you in the distance, thought I'd stop by to check up on you," Chat Noir replies simply.

"Check up on me?" Marinette asks.

"You looked a little frustrated? Embarrassed?" Chat Noir asks with uncertainty. "I got a little worried."

"O-oh, that's kind of you," Marinette says with pink cheeks.

"So, what's on your mind?" Chat Noir asks, walking over to her.

"U-uh…!" Marinette panics, backing up, which turns out to be a big mistake. Clumsy as she is, she nearly flips over the balcony's railings, a scream escaping her lips as she flails her arms in hopes of catching her balance.

Chat Noir grabs one of her wrists and pulls her forward, making her slam into his chest. Marinette can only look up at him pathetically as her face burns bright red.

"You really should be careful," Chat Noir says, helping her stand straight, while hoping that she didn't feel the rapid beating of his heart.

Marinette yelps and jumps back as if burned, making the superhero raise an eyebrow.

"Are you all right?" Chat Noir asks.

"Of course, why wouldn't I be?" Marinette answers with a smile that's a little too wide.

"Oh, I don't know," Chat Noir says. He then smirks, "Maybe it has a little something to do with that Fill My Shoes Special?"

Marinette blanches.

"You saw that?" she asks, wanting so much to sink into the ground.

"I did," Chat Noir laughs. "I've got to say—I'm quite flattered."

"Really?" Marinette asks. "You're not making fun of me, are you?"

"I'm not," he replies honestly. Chat Noir laughs, "May I ask why you have all those posters, though?"

Marinette freezes. "Uh—"

"You don't have a little crush on me, do you?" Chat Noir teases, moving close to her face until he's only a few inches away.

"Chat!" Marinette exclaims while flustered, pushing him away.

"I'm just messing with you," Chat Noir laughs.

"The posters aren't what you think! U-um, well, you see," Marinette says quietly with pink cheeks. "I'm on Team Chat."

"Are you?" Chat Noir asks with a smile. Adrien's known that Marinette's been on Team Chat for a while now, but hearing it directly from her makes him feel all the more happier.

"I am," Marinette nods. "There are plenty of things about you that I admire."

"What might those things be?" Chat Noir pokes.

"That's something I'd rather keep to myself," she laughs. "But just so you leave a little satisfied, part of the reason why is because I really like talking you. Your visits always make my night."

"Glad to hear that," Chat Noir says. "I was starting to worry that you were getting annoyed with me stopping by all the time."

"I would never," Marinette says.

Chat Noir and Marinette eventually find themselves wrapped in a comfortable silence. It wasn't as awkward as she thought it was going to be, she thinks, and that's when she remembers why she liked Chat Noir so much; no matter the situation, things could never be awkward with him. He's playful and easy-going, with high emotional intelligence. He knows when he's gone too far, and he knows what to say and how to act so that the other person doesn't feel bad or embarrassed after a certain situation. Sure, how he acts with Ladybug can be up for debate, but he's never afraid to admit when he's wrong, and he always has an apology ready and laid out for her to accept.

"Do you have patrol with Ladybug tonight?" Marinette asks, breaking the silence.

"I do," Chat Noir nods, looking off in the direction of the Eiffel Tower. "Every night, unless an akuma attack happens that same evening. Hawkmoth needs some sleep, too."

"Can you imagine having an akuma attacks at two in the morning? That'd be a nightmare," Marinette laughs. She hesitates before continuing, "So… you and Ladybug still have this rivalry thing going on, huh?"

"We'll always be rivals," Chat Noir says, making her shoulders droop ever so slightly. "But that doesn't mean I can't be a little nicer to her."

Marinette jumps at his words, turning her head to look at him. "H-huh?" she bumbles.

"Let's just say I haven't been the nicest person to her," Chat Noir says, scratching the back of his head. "And let's just say I felt a little bad when she brought it up. I thought I'd try my hand at being a little less mean. She's a good person; she deserves it."

Marinette's thoughts go back to that one night—it was during the events of Despair Bear, where Ladybug felt jealous of Chat Noir's unexpected kindness towards Chloe. She never would have thought that he would take her words seriously.

"I think Ladybug would appreciate that very much," Marinette smiles, and he shoots her a smile of his own.

"I should head out for patrol now," Chat Noir says, stretching his arms. "Try to get some rest. It must've been a hectic day for you."

"Tell me about it," Marinette sighs. "Good night, Chat Noir. It was nice talking to you as usual."

"Likewise," he nods.

Before taking his leave, Chat Noir looks back at Marinette and gives her his best smile.

"Oh, and just so you know… I'm happy to know that you're on Team Chat."

With that, he jumps off her balcony and onto a nearby rooftop, his figure disappearing into the darkness as he runs across buildings and townhouses to get to his and Ladybug's usual meet-up spot.

But all Marinette knows is that she'll be thinking about their conversation for the next few days because he's said wonderful things about both Ladybug and Marinette. She soon realizes that she doesn't know which topic filled her with more excitement—the fact that he said he'd be nicer to Ladybug, or the fact that he said that he's glad to have Marinette on his side.

"And you were so scared," Tikki giggles, poking her head out of her holder's purse. "Told you there was nothing to worry about."

"Yeah… you were right," Marinette smiles. "Ready to meet him for patrol, Tikki?"

"Ready," the kwami nods.

There's a flash of pink amidst the midnight darkness that lasts no more than a few seconds, the familiar whirring of a yoyo resounding as Ladybug swings through the night. She hurries to the Eiffel Tower, an excited grin on face, knowing that someone waits for her at the very top.

"Hey, Ladybug," Chat Noir says upon her arrival.

Ladybug takes the seat next to him, oblivious to the fact that she's sitting a little closer than usual. Chat Noir does notice this, and while he would normally tease her for it, he laughs to himself and lets it go.

Just for tonight.

end card


A/N: I just had to add that last LadyNoir scene in there. I began Chat Noir's relationship development with Ladybug in Glaciator, so I hope enough time has passed for his development to feel natural!

This episode was a bit of a pain to write because I wasn't a fan of the Troublemaker episode in the original show, but I am quite excited to write about Gigantitan next! I didn't like that episode all too much either, but it'll be reversed this time, meaning that Adrien is the one hoping to plan out a lovely afternoon with Marinette. The original show always portrayed the adorable friendship between Marinette and the girls, while it seemed like the boys didn't really have that much between them. I'm hoping to write a nice episode with great interactions between Adrien and a few select boys from the class.

Thank you once again for the favorites and alerts, and of course the kind reviews! I recognized a few familiar pen names from Who Needs Love? and I just have to let you guys know that I'm so, so happy that you're here to read the sequel, too! I poured so much love into rewriting Season 1, I hope you can feel the same for Season 2's rewrite. :)

Thank you for reading!

Akuma Capture:
Ladybug: 2
Chat Noir: 4

Next Episode: Gigantitan