Chapter Four

A/N: Shout out to DarqueDeath4444, pjolover0917, and TrimusicaDrag00n90! First followers for Mixed Signals!

The Evillustrator


Nico doodles in his notebook while he's supposed to be taking notes. Help! screams the drawn Annabeth on his paper, being pursued by the sketched Lord Wifi and Stormy Weather. Quickly, a sketched Nico jumps in front of her, but he's not just regular Nico. He's Super Nico! The villains are put behind bars and Annabeth is drawn in a different panel, one where she's turning to him with stars in her eyes. You're my hero, he imagines her saying. Then he would say, It was nothing. She would lean into him. I love you, she'd breathe. Even though I'm different? he'd ask shyly. Yes, she'd say, and then their faces would get closer and closer until-

"Nico! What are you drawing?" barks Mr. Dionysus, their science teacher.

"Wha-" he mumbles, disoriented. Mr. Dionysus scoffs.

"And that is why you are failing science. March yourself down to the principal's office and show him whatever thing you consider to be more important than the higher art of science." Nico flushes.

"I'm sorry," he mumbles.

"You'll be really sorry after he's through with you," Dionysus says. Nico hangs his head and starts walking. He means to do it nobly, like a wrongfully accused prisoner on the way to his execution, but he trips on Silena's bag and the sketchbook tumbles out of his hands. He tries to get it before anyone else can, but Luke snatches it. Nononono. This is not how it's supposed to go, it's his birthday! Can't karma or whatever give him a break? Luke starts flipping through the pages, holding it out of Nico's reach. Even though Nico is tall for his age, Luke is taller.

"Oh, look, Ethan! Nico's a superhero. As if. And who's that he's rescuing? It's….Annabeth?" Annabeth pales, Nico's just a friend to her and she wants to let him down easy. Luke's eyes flash with anger but he masks it with a smirk/sneer combo. Works every time. "Pathetic. Like Annabeth would ever date you. It's ridiculous! It's be like a dwarf with Snow White, or an ogre with a princess!" he says. Nico's heart starts to break, because everything Luke is say is true. And that's the hardest thng about hearing it. Percy scoffs.

"Hey, stupid, ever heard of Shrek?" he asks. Luke opens his mouth to retort, but Mr. Dionysus beats him to it.

"Lucius! Peter! Enough! Now get out of here, di Angles!" Nico grabs his sketchbook and goes, unaware of Annabeth's eyes following him out. He drags his feet in the hallway, not wanting to get to Mrs. Dodds anytime soon.


"Artists. So..emotional. Ah, well. Good for me, I suppose," Kronas says, catching a pure white butterfly. She surrounds it with dark energy and releases it, letting it fly out of her lair. "Draw him into my web, little akuma."


Nico drops his pencil. Before he can pick it up, an akuma lands on it. He pick it up, and his face is covered in the signature purple mask Kronas uses on all her victims.

"Evillustrator, I am Kronas. Are you tired of having your spirit crushed? Want to win the heart of your lady love? I'm your friend, Evillustrator, and I'm here to offer you support. All I ask is that you give me some trinkets in return."

"You sound like a telemarketer," Nico mutters, but he smiles menacingly. "Just tell me what you want." Kronas laughs and bubbles cover Nico's form, giving him a black suit patterned with white stripes over his chest, and in the center three glowing dots in primary colors. Evillustrator ispects his updatred sketchpad and pencil and grins. "Wicked."


"The next particle physics presentation group is Apollo, Percy, and Thalia," Mr. Dionysus announces.

"So lucky," Annabeth whispers. Thalia grins.

"And then, Luke, Ethan, and Annabeth." Luke winks at her and she blushes. Still, she turns to Thalia.

"Any chance you could trade?" she asks. Thalia shakes her head.

"And deal with them? No way. But I do promise to exalt you in between particles and their physics!" Annabeth hugs her and pulls away very quickly, as if it's painful.

"You're the best! And Luke and Ethan aren't that bad," she says. Thalia raises an eyebrow but says nothing.


Annabeth walks into the locker room, grabbing her bag. She sees Luke and Ethan, walking closer to them to discuss the project, but stops when she hears their conversation.

"Forget it, Ethan. I just don't have enough time for some dumb project. besides, you have Annabeth to help you," Luke says, stuffing his schoolbooks into his bag.

"Okay, that's fine Luke. We'll do the work, don't worry about it." Annabeth decides it's time to speak up.

"Everything okay, Luke?" she asks. Luke looks up with a blinding smile.

"Just fine, Annie." Annabeth decides to press more. She wants to get to the bottom of this.

"Then why can't you help with the project?" she asks. Luke fumbles with his words.

"Well-uh, you know, Dad's trying to train me to take over Hermes Express. It's taking up alot of time, you know?" Annabeth smiles and nods, relieved.

"Oh! Of course."

"Plus, Luke will present," Ethan adds.

"Ok!" she says. She turns around and blushes immediately as Percy approaches, having heard their conversation.

"You sure about that, Ethan? You don't have to do everything for Luke, you know. Be your own person," he tells Ethan. Luke stalks up to him, blocking Ethan and Annabeth.

"What do you know? Get out of here, Jackson!" Percy raises his hands.

"Yeah, okay. But, Ethan, think about it. You too, Annabeth. Would hate for you to fall in the same pit as Ethan." He strolls out, leaving a seething Luke, a confused Annabeth, and a thoughtful Ethan.

"Let's head to the library," Ethan says, still thinking. "You can come for a few minutes, right Luke?"

"Yeah, I guess," Luke agrees.


"What do you mean you're not doing my homework?" Luke says angrily. Ethan flinches but stays strong. Percy looks up from a different table and Annabeth stares at the two, wide-eyed. She didn't think they were talking about physics.

"Percy's right, I'm not your slave," Ethan tells him. Annabeth purses her lips.

"Luke, don't you think you should do your own homework?" she asks.

"Yeah, Luke," Percy chimes in, getting up and sitting next to Annabeth, who struggles not to blush or anything like that. Luke scoffs.

"I pay him well," he says. He pulls out tickets to a Jagged Stone concert. "Only have two tickets…perhaps I might let you come."

"That's not really the point, is it?" Annabeth says. Luke sighs.

"Stop being such a rule-follower, Annie. Live a little!"

"You're bribing him with tickets?" Percy says, incredulous.

"Really nice front-row tickets," Ethan says, staring at them.

"You're trying to confuse him!" Luke replies. Annabeth senses a brewing confrontation and stays silent, even though Luke's comment about being a rule-follower hurt her. The Evillustrator peers out from a bookshelf. Laughing queitly to himself, he draws a shower of metal tickets falling on Luke.

"Ow!" he yelps. "I'm gonna bruise!" The Evillustrator replaces the tickets with streams of bandages. Yelling, Luke is chased from the room. "Help!" he shrieks. Percy and Annabeth jump up and run out of the library, heading in opposite directions.

"Tikki, spots on!" Percy calls.

"Plagg, claws out!" Annabeth says. The red and green lights of transformation flash, and Luckybug and Lady Jinx take off running.

"Stop!" Luke is saying as the bandages approach him. Jinx slashes her staff through them, breaking them and taking away their magic. Luckybug runs in right after, but Jinx is just leaning on her staff.

"Glad you could make it," she says. Luckybug blows her a kiss.

"Who's the bad guy?" he asks. Jinx extends her staff, knocking over a bookshelf, revealing the Evillustrator.

"That guy looks pretty sketchy," she says, running towards him. Luckybug stops for a moment to ponder the absolute unfairness of the girl he loves loving puns like that, but soon jumps into the fray. He throws his yoyo but the Evillustrator draws a brick wall which the yoyo clangs uselessly against.

"Where'd he go?" Luckybug asks Jinx, circling around the wall. Jinx shrugs, but has a michseveous glint in her eye.

"I don't know, but-"

"Stop."

"He sure has a way of illustrating his point," she finishes. Luckybug shakes his head.

"I think we should check the victim out, m'lady." He kisses her hand and swings out of the library, leaving her surprised and annoyed.


"Seems like this guys targeting you specifically, Luke," Jinx says. They're at the Le Grande Paris hotel, Luke's home. "Any idea why?" Luke shrugs.

"Nope. Everyone adores me," he says. Luckybug rolls his eyes.

"Yeah, because you're just so awesome," he says. Luke grins.

"Yes! Luckybug said I'm awesome! I need a picture of us together for sure!" he says, fanboying. Luckybug and Jinx are both surprised- neither of them have seen Luke like this before- but Luckybug's even more surprised when Luke pulls him in for a selfie.

"That was unpleasant," Luckybug says, pulling away. Luke grabs him again.

"Your smile was way off, let's take another one!" he says. Luckybug wrestles free of his grasp.

"Sorry, I'm just…camera shy," he tells Luke, who's busy posting it on social media.

"Looks like someone has a fan," Jinx teases him. He rolls his eyes.

"Yeah, great."

"Why're you acting so weird? I'd love to have a fan!" she tells him. He smirks, taking the opportunity.

"But you do. Me," he says, gesturing towards him. She stomps her foot.

"Later, bug boy," she scowls, vaulting out, leaving him alone. Luckybug groans as he realizes that he screwed up his chance to have a pleasant, Luke-free afternoon.

"Luckybug! You should totally help me out with my project for school!" Luckybug starts his defensive yoyo twirling.

"Oh?"


Annabeth flops onto her bed, accidentally almost crushing Plagg.

"Ow!" he says indignantly.

"Sorry," she tells him. "It's just-Luckybug! Why does he always have to flirt with me?" she moans. Plagg shrugs.

"Listen, I never pretended to understand you humans. That's Tikki's thing. But simmer down, Sally. A hot head isn't gonna get you anywhere," he says, rummaging in her fridge for cheese. She stares open-mouth at him.

"Plagg! Did you just give me useful advice?" she asks, grinning. He pops his head up, holding cheese.

"…no?" She laughs.

"Careful. I might start to think that you actually care."

"Wouldn't want that," he agrees. Suddenly, he sees something and slips into the fridge, hiding. Annabeth turns towards him, confused.

"Plagg?" A rapping on the window attracts her attention, and she turns toward it. The Evillustrator is flying outside of it, using a rocket pack, and when she looks over at him he takes it as permission to fly into her window that she always keeps open.

"It's you! From the library," she says, acting surprised. Inside, however, she's cursing the way she never curses out loud. "What are you doing here?" The Evillustrator looks confused that she would even ask that, as if it was perfectly natural for him to meet her in her bedroom.

"I just wanted to see you," he says. Think, Annabeth, think! She knows she has to tread carefully, as anything can set off akuma victims in their evilized form.

"Okay," she says slowly. "But why did you attack Luke?" An ugly expression comes over his face.

"He's cruel. And selfish," he says, although clearly he wants to say more. Annabeth wants to defend the friend she's known since childhood, but keeps her mouth shut.

"Are you going to hurt me?" she asks instead. That's what's really bothering her- a hit outside her superhero form would affect her mission and her ability to help Paris. The Evillustrator widens his eyes comically, and Annabeth would have laughed if he didn't have the power to do something awful to her with a stroke of his pencil.

"You? No! You're Annabeth! You're beautiful and kind, and I think you'd accept me for who I am. I'd never hurt you!" he says, drawing tentatively closer. Annabeth feels like crying. This feels like Nico talking, not the Evillustrator. But she likes Percy.

"Wow…um, thanks," she says slowly, still formulating a plan.

"So, I came by to ask you…would you come to my party? It's my birthday today, you know," he tells her. What a rotten birthday, Annabeth thinks.

"It's not the best night," she says. "I have a project to do and my parents never let me go out, so…" she trails off awkwardly.

"Please, Annabeth? It'll just be you and me," he says. He draws a hasty invitation and offers it to her. Suddenly, Annabeth plan comes together, and she knows what she's gonna do.

"I love it!" she says, acting totally out of character, clasping her hands and bouncing on the balls of her feet.

"You like it?" he repeats, almost incredulously.

"Yes! So much that I will definitely be at your party. On one condition, though," she tells him, throwing the bait. Here, fishy, fishy.

"Anything," he breathes, gazing into her eyes.

"You can't hurt Luke anymore. I simply can not bear violence," she says, lying straight to his face. Sure, she doesn't like violence, but you gotta do what you gotta do sometimes, and Annabeth knows that all too well as a super-heroine. He looks uncertain, but his eagerness to be with Annabeth and have a party wins out.

"Alright. But only for you. Meet me on the left bank of the Seine, next to Notre Dame, at sunset!" He smiles at her shyly, draws himself a new rocket pack, and flies away. Plagg pops out of the fridge, mouth covered in cheese crumbs.

"What were you thinking, kid?" he says. Annabeth smirks.

"I'm thinking someone ought to invite Luckybug to this party," she tells him. Plagg smirks.

"Maybe."


Luckybug sits rigid on one of the couches in Luke's penthouse room.

"And Ethan is a stupid minion, but he works as a minion, you know? They all have to be kinda dumb," Luke says. Luckybug asked about his class, just to be polite, and Luke launched into a in-depth analysis of each of them. It took all he had not to whip Luke across the face with his yoyo when Luke started talking about his civilian identity.

"Hm," he says noncommittally. His yoyo rings and he answers it, grateful for the distraction. It's Jinx, obviously.

"You can't just vault out of here and then decided to make cat calls, Jinx!" he says. She rolls her eyes. She's sitting somewhere very dark, probably to protect her identity, and all he can see is her luminous eyes glowing in the dark.

"Well, maybe if you didn't bug me so much I wouldn't have! But you can leave Luke. I need you to protect this girl, Annabeth." She pulls up a picture of Annabeth, one of her model pics, and Luckybug acts like he's never seen her before.

"The model?" he asks. Jinx nods.

"Pretty, isn't she? Anyways, the Evillustrator is in love with her and promised not to harm Luke as long as she comes to his party." Luke tries to come closer to see Jinx, but he shoves him away without looking up. "While he's distracted, you need to take him down." Lickybug starts nodding but catches himself.

"What about you?" he asks. Technically, he doesn't need Jinx to finish the battle, but she makes his job a hell of a lot easier. It's the difference between letters and texts.

"I have a secret important mission. i'll come later, I promise, but can you handle this on your own?" Luckybug snorts.

"Please. It'll be a cinch. Catch you later!" he says, hanging up. He turns to Luke. "You're out of danger, so-uh, bye! Bug out!" He tosses his yoyo to a church spire in the distance and yanks on the string almost before it catches hold, jerking him away as Luke shouts something in the distance.


Annabeth is sketching one of her latest ideas on her bed when a bright red figure swings into her bedroom.

"Ever heard of knocking?" she says, without looking up. Luckybug snorts and she looks up, acting shocked when she sees him.

"Sorry, but a superhero's work waits for no one. I'm Luckybug," he says, spinning his yoyo absentmindedly as he smirks down at her.

"Uh, yeah, I know! You save the day and stuff all the time, right? I'm Annabeth. What're you doing here?" she asks, acting like a simpering idiot as she gapes at him. He grins, striking a pose. Obviously he likes attention. She wonders why he didn't like Luke, then.

"That birthday boy date of yours is bad news. But don't worry, you'll be safe with me," he says. I wasn't exactly worried, Annabeth thinks, but she puts on a look of amazement.

"Really? But what about Lady Jinx? Aren't you guys a duo?" she asks. He shrugs.

"She's busy tonight, so you get to be my Lady Jinx tonight," he tells her. If only he knew how true that was.

"Oh, wow! Me and Luckybug, fighting crime together? What do I do?" she asks, pretending to be a star-struck fangirl.

"Just get that drawing pencil, little lady. I'll take care of the rest," he says, sending her a confident smirk. He throws his yoyo out the window and gives her a two-fingered salute.

"Bug out!" He's whisked away and Annabeth is left to dissolve in a pile of giggles.

"Little lady? BAHAHAHAHA!"


The Evillustrator paces along the riverbank as Kronas snarls in his mind.

"That's a lovely scene you're setting. But I don't want you to get distracted, boy," she says angrily.

"I just want Annabeth to love me," he whines.

"And I want the Miraculous. So get them, or else!" she threatens. The Evillustrator's hand is paralyzed and he feels a thrill of fear running through him.

"I will, I will," he says quickly. Annabeth appears and Kronas disconnects, leaving him on his own.

"Happy birthday," she says shyly.

"Annabeth!" he exclaims, brightening up. They start walking, and Annabeth hopes he doesn't try to take her hand, or worst of all put his arm around her shoulder. She knows it's out of character for a model, but lately she hasn't welcomed anyone touching her. He guides her to a boat, one he likely drew himself. She gasps, in real admiration.

"Did you draw that? It's so beautiful!" she says. His purplish skin flushes.

"You think so? Well, hold on, because I'm just getting started." He's about to draw something else when clouds float across the moon. "Damn it!" he barks. Annabeth flinches at his harsh expression and loud voice, and he noticed, immediately looking gentler. She's grateful that he lowered his tone, but she still wishes she was Lady Jinx right now. Nothing can hurt her when she's in her leather super-suit, vaulting across the rooftops of Paris, but that's not exactly true in her civilian identity. "Sorry. I didn't mean to startle you. It's just, I can't draw properly in the dark." Annabeth nods along, storing the information in her brain. He draws a moon, hovering above the boat. He leaps abourd and holds out his hand gallantly- well, about as gallant as a super-villain can be. She takes it and he pulls her aboard, leading her to a bench. Annabeth catches a glimpse of Luckybug swinging through the night and she scoots closer to the Evillustrator, trying to distract him.

"I know you said that you hated Luke because he was cruel and selfish, but is that it? Most people don't…gain powers…even though I'm sure our class would agree with you," she says, still distracting him as Luckybug swings aboard silently. He takes a breath and looks her in the eye, and for a moment she catches a glimpse of Nico shining through.

"Luke is all those things, but the one thing I can never forgive? He crushed my dream. He found it, displayed it, mocked it, and tried to kill it. Kronas gave me the chance to bring it back," he says seriously. "No one should ever crush someone else's dream." Unconsciously, Annabeth leans forward. Crouching on the cabin overlooking them, Luckybug's face tightens with annoyance. He doesn't even know why; it just does.

"What's your dream?" she breathes. His face goes closer to hers.

"You," he says. His hand reaches out, cupping her cheek, and his lips go closer to hers, until- the boat rocks, throwing them apart. The moment is broken, and Annabeth focuses on the mission. She wants The Evillustrator gone, to replace it with Nico.

"Oh! I never gave you a gift!" she says. His face flashes with something, and Luckybug swears he'll smack him with the yoyo if he asks for a kiss, but he just shakes his head and smiles.

"It's fine, really," he tells her. She shakes her head.

"No, I should! Hey, can I draw you something for your birthday? I'm a bit of an artist myself," she says, angling her face towards him again. This time, though it's on purpose.

"That would be amazing," he says. She plucks the pencil out of his hand and leans over the pad, pretending to think about what to draw. He looks over her shoulder and notices a shadowy red figure. Panicked, he shakes her shoulders.

"Annabeth! I need the pencil, now!" he tells her. She scoots away quickly.

"I'm sorry, Nico, but I'm keeping it. Luckybug, now!" she shouts. Luckybug jumps in front of them, twirling his yoyo in anticipation. The Evillustrator growls and kicks Luckybug's legs out from under him. He hits the deck hard and the Evillustrator pins Annabeth against the cabin wall. She starts struggling, trying to get away from this, the wall, his touch, this boat. He grabs the pen and pushes her down next to Luckybug. Quickly, he draws a strong glass cube that falls over them, trapping them. He creates a hole in the boat, but before he leaves, he crouches next to the box where Annabeth is staring out at him with wide eyes.

"My dream? You're more like a nightmare. I can't believe I thought a cold-hearted witch like you would ever love me. Have fun dying, bastards." He draws a jet pack and flies away. Annabeth bangs on the glass but all she gets is bruised hands. She puts her head in her hands.

"Are you happy?" she chokes out. Luckybug stops whacking the glass with his yoyo and sits next to her. The boat is slowly going down, but neither notice.

"You did the right thing," he says, trying to comfort her. He reaches a hand out to her shoulder but she flinches away.

"No one should ever crush some one else's dream, and I was his. Oh, God." She starts crying and Luckybug sighs. He sucks at comforting crying girls.

"How about you talk to the real him after this, yeah? In the meantime, I have an idea. We can't get out of this, and I don't want to use Lucky Charm because I have a feeling he's heading straight for Luke and I don't think I'll have time to recharge once we escape. So. We'll wait for the boat to go down. I'll let you breathe into my yoyo, it works as an air tank, and we'll swim out from under," he says. It's a terrible plan, but really their only option. She stares into his eyes. He never noticed how grey her eyes are.

"I don't like the water," she says nervously. "Like, I really don't like it. I only swim in pools." Well, crap.

"I promise not to let you drown," he says. "Besides, even if you do, I can bring you back with Miraculous Ladybug!" he tries to joke. Her eyes turn dark.

"It doesn't erase memories. It won't take away my memories of gasping for air, my eyes closed, sinking below the surface…" She stands up, panicked as the first bits of water seep in. The moon Evillustrator drew disappears, leaving them mostly in the dark. "I can't do this," she says. She sound like she's about to have a panic attack. Acting on instinct, Luckybug tries to hug her. She pushes him away, backing against the glass. "Don't touch me!" she says hysterically.

"Ok! Okay," he tells her, trying to sound calm. "I'm going to give you my yoyo now." He puts it into her hand, putting the loop around her finger. Her finger brushes his glove, and he shivers. She opens it and puts it above her face, breathing deeply.

"Okay," she says.

"Would it make it better if you held my hand?" he asks, expecting a no. She considers it for a second.

"Maybe." Her hand finds his, and it's warm and comforting, at least to him. She relaxes and they both sit slowly. The water is around their waist sitting, and her hand tightens around his. As the water reaches their chests, they stand. The glass is lifting a bit from the floor, but not completely. They reach the top, heads bumping the smooth glass. Annabeth can see that the ship is down, the glass coming up more. The water touches her lips and she covers her face with the yoyo.

"Ready?" she asks Luckybug. He tightens his hand around her and she realizes he's under. Tugging her down, he struggles to lift the heavy glass. She assist him, but he's running out of air. The glass tips over, but suddenly all the air in his lungs expels and he panics, being dragged down by the current. Annabeth takes a deep breathe-possibly her last- and presses the yoyo to his face. He sucks in a breath and starts kicking. She kicks with him, but she's running out of air. Just before her lungs burst, they reach the surface and drag in lungfuls of air. He wraps his arm around her waist, and she's too tired to protest. Throwing his yoyo, he swings them atop a building. They sit there, shivering, for a moment, and then Luckybug stands.

"I'm sorry. But I have to go." He tosses his yoyo towards a building near the Grande Paris Hotel and jumps. "Bug out!" Annabeth follows him with her eyes. Plagg pops out of her pocket.

"I-hate-water," he spits, shivering and looking like a bedraggled rat. She laughs.

"Me too. But I think you'll be warmer transformed. Plagg, claw out!" She transforms, and suddenly, she's strong. She's confident. And if you hit her, she'll beat you up. She vaults towards the Grande Paris Hotel, praying that Luke's okay.


"I can't believe Luckybug stayed like a half hour with me!" Luke sighs, flopping onto his couch. He should call Ethan. He'll be totally jealous. Someone knocks on the door and Luke sits up in excitement.

"Luckybug? Is that you?" he asks. The door burst open and it's definitely not Luckybug- it's the Evillustrator. He shouts and runs, sprinting to his bedroom and sliding under his bed.

"Luke, where are you? Are you playing hide-and-seek? That's so cute. Come out, come out, wherever you are!" he calls. Peering out from under his bed, he sees the Evillustrator erasing his T.V., his Playstation, his laptop, his speakers, and finally his bed. Luke springs up. If he's gonna go out, he's gonna punch this bastard in the face first.

"I win, Luke. I found you!" he cackles.

"You're a monster! Do you know how much those cost, peasant?" The Evillustrator laughs.

"You like playing video games, Luke? My favorite's Call of Duty." He draws something and a machine gun falls into his hands. He aims at Luke, who ducks, cowering. Forget what he said about going out brave. Luckybug appears in the doorway, to his relief, and the Evillustrator's disgust. His yoyo whips hte gun out of his hands and Luckybug tosses it through a window, breaking it in the process. Not a minute later, Lady Jinx jumps through.

"Well, well, well. Look what the cat dragged in," she says.

"You could drag me anywhere, Jinx," Luckybug says, winking at her. She wrinkles her nose. "What was this secret mission?" he asks.

She strolls in front of Luke and spins one of her staffs, using the other like a spear, poking it threateningly in the villain's direction. "If I told you, it wouldn't be secret, lucky boy."

"If I were lucky you'd like me back," he mutters, but dutifully starts tossing his yoyo in the Evillustrator's direction.

"If you knew her, you would be more reluctant to protect her," he snarls. Luckybug sighs.

"I agree, but alas. A hero's work is never done." The Evillustrator scowls and draws three boxing gloves, shooting them in Jinx's, Luckybug's, and Luke's directions. Jinx parries away Luke's but is too distracted to get her own. Luckybug throws his yoyo, forcing the one headed for her away, but as a consequence gets punched in the chest by the one headed for him. He grunts, but takes the hit, instead throwing his yoyo at the Evillustrator again. The villain draws a wall to protect himself and then a buzzsaw, aiming it for Luke. Jinx blocks it with one staff, then hits it with the other. She then throws both at the Evillustrator. He dodges them, and one hits a lamp, making it go dark. Lady Jinx presses a small button on the inside of her wrist and the staffs return to their original position on her back, forming an x. She draws them and holds them up, waiting for the next hit. Luckybug gasps.

"Jinx! The light, he need it to draw!" Oh yeah.

"Cataclysm!" she shouts. Sheathing one of her staffs, she sprints forward, gunning for the light switch. Before she can reach it, the Evillustrator erases it, making her break the wall instead.

"Here you go, kitty. A little ball and chain to play with," he smirks. One appears around her ankle and she huffs in frustration. He draws a hole under her and she gets out just in time, teetering over the edge. The hole covers the floor and Luckybug is having trouble too. To add to the disadvantages, her ring beeps, signaling her countdown.

"No,no,no!" she says.

"Take the Miraculous!" snarls Kronas. The Evillustrator smirks.

"Before you fall, I'm gonna need something from you, little lady," he says, flying close to her. Luckybug growls and attaches his yoyo to a lamp. He swings across the chasm and kicks him in the chest. The Evillustrator falters.

"Don't call her kitty. Or lady, scum," Luckybug says angrily. The Evillustrator laughs.

"Touchy, are we?"

"Lucky charm!" Luckybug shouts. A bouncy ball falls into his hands.

"Try to stop me with that," the Evillustrator mocks.

"Gladly," Luckybug replies. He throws the ball, breaking all the lamps and turning them dark. He lassoes the Evillustrator's legs and pulls, felling him. He snatches the pencil and breaks it. An akuma flutters out.

"Hurry!" Jinx says. Her Miraculous beeps.

"Time to de-evilize!" he says. He catches the akuma and releases it, turning it white. "Bye bye, little-" He looks at Jinx. "Do I have to say it?" he whines. She nods, a devilish smirk on her face telling him she's enjoying this just as much as he's not. "Butterfly. Bye, bye, little butterfly. Miraculous ladybug!" he shouts throwing the ball into the air. It dissolves into thousands of sparkling red ladybugs, swarming around all the damage caused and returning Nico to normal.

"Where am I?" he asks, confused.

"Pound it?" Luckybug asks, extending his fist hopefully. Lady Jinx looks at it and rolls her eyes.

"Pound it," she says, bumping it. His face splits into a grin.

"Bye, m'lady! Bug out!" he shouts, running out the door, up the stairs, and jumping off the roof, swinging away. Jinx checks her ring.

"Shoot. Gotta run. Catch you later!" she says to Nico and Luke. She runs to the balcony Luckybug missed and leaps, totally unafraid of the drop.


"What happened when Luckybug and Jinx arrived on the scene?" Apollo asks Luke. Usually, he would avoid him like the plague, but he can make an exception for details about last night's fight, one he forgot to record for the Luckyblog. Well, more like was asleep during...

"To be honest, they just showed up, hit stuff, and threw plastic balls around my room," Luke says, acting nonchalant, even annoyed, about the whole affair.

"Plastic balls?" Apollo asks, quirking an eyebrow. In front the row in front of him, Annabeth laughs. Acting out of character, Apollo flushes. Percy comes into the classroom and slides into the seat right behind Annabeth, causing her to shrink into her seat. Oh, God, did she put deodorant on today?

"Hey!" he says. Annabeth waves at him, twisting around, and squeaks something that could be 'hello'. "I heard about your adventures with Luckybug last night! Were you scared?" he asks, leaning on his hand and staring at her as if she holds the answers to the world. At least, that's how she interprets it. That remind her of something...

"Oh! I almost forgot!" she says, plunging her hand into her bag and pulling out a box. She jumps up and passes Percy, who stares after her, very confused. She walks up to where Nico is deep in his own world, sketching something. She taps him on the shoulder and he jerks up.

"Oh! Hi, Annabeth!" he says nervously.

"I heard it was your birthday yesterday, so i got you a little something," she says, placing the gift next to him. He stares at it, speechless. "Open it!" she encourages. He opens the box slowly and smiles widely when he sees the gift.

"Oh, my God! Annabeth, these are super nice pens! Thanks!" he says. She got him pens that were apparently really good for coloring comics.

"Glad you like them!" she beams. SHe goes back to her seat and blushes as she realizes that she kinda forgot to answer Percy.

"Back to your question! Yeah, I was a little scared, but I knew I would be fine," she tells Percy, who has a strange look in his eye.

"You're pretty brave if you were scared but faced it anyways. What's you think of Luckybug? Was he awesome?" he asks her. He looks…mischievous, but Annabeth figures that's part of his usual charm.

"Uh, yeah, he was pretty awesome…but not as awesome as you! He's a different kind of awesome!" she babbles, mentally facepalming.

"So that's a yes?" he asks, patting her shoulder. Usually, she would flinch or knock his hand off, but she leans into his touch until he pulls away, standing up. The bell must have rung and she didn't notice, because her classmates are doing the same. Plagg pops up as everyone leaves the classroom, leaving her as a puddle of happy goo.

"You do realize that you called him awesome to his face, right?" he says, poking her to make sure she's still functioning.

"He touched my over shirt…I'm never washing it again," she sighs.

"Humans," Plagg sniffs. Still, even he has a slight smile as he watches Annabeth giggling to herself.


A/N: Before anyone roasts me in the comments about 'why doesn't Nico have a crush on Percy? Blah blah blah blah,' hear me out. I love Marichat. I don't like Ladrien. Ladybug and Adrien are the best version of Adrien and Marinette, the ones that everyone adores. But Marinette not as Ladybug is clumsy, shy, and insecure. Adrien as Chat Noir is truly himself: a pun dropping, flirtatious, cocky, average teenage boy. He's not the perfect person his father pressures him to be. I think for the love square to really work, Marinette and Adrien have to love the parts of each other that not everyone does. For Marinette, that's Marinette, and for Adrien that's Chat Noir. Using Pernico as Nathinette(I think that's the ship?) would have lead to Ladrien essentially. Well, actually Jinercy. Using Nicobeth allowed for Marichat, or Luckybeth. And I also think it's important in Nathaniel's development as a character to realize that he doesn't like just girls, and that's okay. Rest assured, Will as Marc will be coming in soon-ish.

LadyNoir: LuckyJinx

Ladrien: Jinercy

Adrientte: Percabeth(our favorite!)

Marichat: Luckybeth

Thanks for reading!