Marinette put her pillow over her head and turned over as she heard her mom call up to her.
"Marinette! You need to get up, or else you'll be late for school!" Sabine called up to her.
Marinette was about to ask if she could sleep in five more minutes, when she looked at her bedside clock and realized how late she was going to be.
"Shoot!" She exclaimed, then hurried down the stairs that led up to her bed. Quickly, she changed into her clothes and grabbed her bag, then almost tripped as she rushed down to the bakery. She grabbed a croissant as she called out, "Bye, love you!" to her parents, then ran out the door.
The bluenette dashed to school, occasionally stammering out a "sorry" when she bumped into someone. When she arrived, she shoved open the front doors and went up the stairs as fast as she could without tripping.
Marinette was just outside the classroom, almost ready to exclaim, "I'm here!" when something caught her eye through the window.
Was that Alya?
Her best friend was dressed in a black suit with a pink wifi symbol on her chest. A black mask covered her face, and she wore white gloves and boots. Her belt looked like an "on" button, she carried her phone in her hand.
"Oh no, Alya, what happened?" Marinette breathed out. She watched the video a bit longer, and realized her best friend was in the principal's office.
The bluenette dashed over to the office, wanting to find out why her best friend was akumatized, unaware of the person following her.
Marinette stumbled into Principal Damocles's office, expecting to find Alya, but was disappointed when she wasn't there.
What she did see, though, was Mr. Damocles with a 'stop' symbol in front of him.
While she was stopped, someone ran into her from behind. The girl let out a squeak of surprise as they fell to the floor, the person who bumped into her landing on top.
She looked up, ready to glare at the other person, until she saw Adrien with a sheepish look on his face.
"Sorry," he said, standing up and offering her his hand, which she accepted.
"Wha- What are you doing here?" Marinette asked him.
Adrien froze momentarily, then said, "I, I was going to see if Lady Wifi was still in here."
She frowned. "Lady Wifi?"
"Alya's been akumatized; that's her villain name," he informed her.
"What did I miss? The day only just started, how did she get so upset to the point where she was akumatized?"
"Well," Adrien hesitated. "Alya thought Chloe was Ladybug."
"What?!" Marinette exclaimed. Where had her friend come up with such a theory?
"That was my reaction too. Nino told me she was taking pictures of Chloe's locker to try and find proof of her suspicion, but Chloe caught her and demanded she was expelled."
Marinette's eyes widened in surprise. Expelled? Surely that was just an overreaction, right?
Adrien winced. "And I don't think she's too happy with you right now, either. Nino said something about never answering your phone?"
The bluenette groaned. "I slept in late! I can't answer her calls when I'm sleeping!"
Before Adrien could reply, the monitor on the principal's desk started playing a video.
There, it showed Alya- or, Lady Wifi- talking about how she was wrongfully expelled. The video ended with her telling the camera,
Now, I'll be finding out who's really behind Coccinelle's mask. Stay connected!
With that, Lady Wifi made a swiping motion on her phone, ending the recording.
Marinette frowned. She knew Alya was insistent on finding out the heroes' identities, but Marinette figured they kept it a secret for a good reason.
"We should head back to class," she told Adrien. "They're probably wondering where we are."
The blond hesitated for a second, then nodded and started leading her back to the classroom. When they got there, though, they noticed that their classmates were leaving.
Adrien caught Nino by the arm before he could leave.
"What's going on?" He asked the DJ.
"Dude, school's been let out 'cause of the akuma attack! We get the rest of the day off!" Nino answered, then continued to leave.
Marinette groaned. "I could've slept in longer if we were just going to be sent home!"
Adrien laughed, causing her to join in.
"I guess I'll see you tomorrow," she told the blond once their laughter died down, then waved goodbye to him and left.
In the middle of the chaos caused by everyone leaving the school, no one noticed the girl who slipped away from the crowd.
"You ready?" Juleka asked Tikki as the bathroom door closed.
"Just say the words!" The kwami exclaimed, flying in a little circle.
"Tikki, spots on!"
Tikki was sucked into the earrings, leaving Coccinelle in Juleka's place.
Checking the map on her yo-yo, Coccinelle spotted that her partner was near Chloe's hotel.
Smart, she thought as she started making her way there. Alya got upset at Chloe, of course she would be Lady Wifi's first target!
When she had heard Alya's theory of Chloe being Coccinelle, she had wanted to laugh. They didn't even look similar, where in the world had Alya gotten that idea from?
Coccinelle landed next to Chat Noir, causing the blond's head to turn and look at her. She noticed the image playing out on his baton, then chuckled.
"I don't even know how Alya thought I was Chloe," the noirette said. "We look nothing alike."
Chat chuckled nervously. "Just Alya and her crazy theories, that's all."
Coccinelle frowned at him. "You believed her, didn't you," she said flatly.
"Only for a little bit!" He defended himself.
She rolled her eyes, then spotted something on the image playing on his baton.
"Looks like Lady Wifi has arrived," she noted.
Glancing down at the video, Chat gestured for her to follow him, taking off toward the hotel.
Coccinelle soared through the air as she held a death grip on her yo-yo. She was not a fan of heights.
The heroes landed swiftly on the balcony, startling Lady Wifi, who looked to be broadcasting Chloe's "identity" to all of Paris.
"Who are you?" She asked the heroes.
"The real Coccinelle," the noirette replied with an eye roll. "Honestly, I don't even look anything like Chloe!"
Lady Wifi growled, then started shooting pink beams at them through her phone.
Chat Noir and Coccinelle rolled away, then headed for the nearest staircase to escape.
"What's the plan?" Coccinelle asked her partner as they ran.
Chat thought for a moment, then said, "Phones need service to work, right? If we go down to the basement where there's no service, she'd be powerless!"
"Good thinking!" Coccinelle exclaimed, narrowly dodging a beam aiming for her. "We need to go lower!"
They ran down the staircase until they reached the bottom. Looking up, they saw Lady Wifi frowning at her phone, then running back through one of the doors they had passed.
"Sh- She's going back into the hotel?" Questioned Coccinelle.
Chat Noir shrugged, then ran back up the stairs. Eventually, he called down to her, "She's locked most of the doors, but she left this one open."
Coccinelle dashed up the stairs, looking at the only door left unlocked. "Maybe she set up a trap?"
"Maybe," replied Chat, who looked at the door warily. "Let's go."
He quickly opened the door, his baton in his hands, prepared for a fight. Coccinelle followed behind him, swinging her yo-yo in circles, ready for Lady Wifi to attack them.
They were both expecting a fight, but were surprised to see Lady Wifi not there.
The two of them cautiously walked farther into the room, when Chat pointed out, "There's phones on all the tables."
He picked one up to inspect it, but dropped it once Lady Wifi seemingly teleported through it. The phone fell to the floor, cracking the screen. Lady Wifi disappeared the moment the phone broke.
Seeing this, Coccinelle had an idea. "Chat!" She called to her partner. "Break the phones, that's how she gets around!"
She swung her yo-yo at one of the phones on the table, breaking it completely in half, with Chat Noir following suit.
Lady Wifi, who caught onto their plan, appeared from a phone far away from them. She lept off the table and dashed into the nearest room.
Coccinelle chased after her, ducking under the beam the villain shot at her. The pink beam hit the door instead, locking it behind her. She heard Chat let out a noise of frustration before he ran away.
Lady Wifi continued to shoot at the superherione, who ducked under and dodged most of them until she was caught in a corner. The villain smirked at her, then trapped her arms by shooting a beam at each of them.
Coccinelle's eyes widened in fear as Lady Wifi shot a beam above them. The beam turned into a camera symbol, signalling that it was broadcasting to all of Paris.
"How can we know if we can trust Coccinelle if we don't even know who's behind the mask?" Lady Wifi questioned. "Is she really a superhero, or just a super-weirdo? It's time to find out!"
Lady Wifi grabbed the edge of Coccinelle's mask, trying to take it off. "What's going on? Why won't it come off?"
"I don't know... magic?" Coccinelle guessed. Just then, Chat Noir appeared through a laundry chute.
"You're out of minutes, Lady Wifi!" He told her. Lady Wifi simply rolled her eyes and started shooting beams of pink at him.
Chat rolled off to the side, but was hit into a room off to the side. With a final blast from Lady Wifi, the door locked behind him.
"Well, it's just us two now!" Lady Wifi turned back to Coccinelle. "What to do now?"
A purple butterfly appeared over her face. The villain paused for a moment, then smirked as the symbol disappeared.
"You better find a way to save your partner before he turns into a cat-sicle!" Lady Wifi told her, releasing her hands and escaping out the door.
Coccinelle frowned as she tried to figure out how to save Chat Noir.
Marinette was busy trying not to freeze to death in the kitchen's freezer when Chat Noir stumbled inside.
"C-Chat?!" She exclaimed. "Wh- What are you doing here? S-s-shouldn't you fighting L-Lady Wifi out there?"
Chat Noir looked over, surprised, at the bluenette. "Me?! What in the world are you doing here?"
"T-Turns out Alya was still a li-little upset about me not answering her c-c-calls," Marinette replied.
"Goodness, you're freezing!" Chat exclaimed. "How long have you been in here?"
"Not t-too long," she replied, wrapping her arms around herself for warmth.
Chat frowned at her, not believing what she had said. Instead of arguing with her, though, he simply wrapped his arms around her to keep her warm.
"Coccinelle will get us out soon," he assured her. "Don't worry."
"Chat?" Coccinelle called out. "Are- Are you okay in there?"
"I'm fine," he replied, "but Marinette is in here with me, and she's been in here much longer. Could you hurry to get us out?"
"I'm trying," Coccinelle said, sounding a little stressed. "but I have no clue what to do with this lucky charm!"
"What is it? Maybe I could help you out?"
"I... it's just a microwave meal!"
Chat frowned, not moving from his hug with Marinette, who was still quite cold.
It seemed like both the heroes were unsure of what to do.
Marinette's mind, though, was running a mile a minute. "C-c-could you jam the s-signal by putting it in a microwave? Then s-shove it next to the door?"
Chat Noir looked down at her in surprise while Coccinelle was quickly hurrying around in the kitchen.
"Stand back," the heroine called out to them. "I don't know how powerful this will be." The two of them shuffled as far back as they could until they hit a wall.
Moments later, Marinette and Chat Noir heard a small explosion-like noise. Coccinelle quickly opened the door, and Chat speedily ushered Marinette out of the freezer.
"How'd you even get in there?" Coccinelle asked her.
"Alya was st-still upset at me for not ans-answering her calls," Marinette replied, still shaking from the cold.
Chat was frowning, glancing back from Coccinelle's beeping earrings to the still shaky Marinette to the camera recording in the corner of the room. "We need to get Marinette out of here to safety, and you need to find a safe place to detransform and feed your kwami," he told Coccinelle.
Marinette's eyes gleamed when an idea hit her. Pointing at the camera, she whispered her plan in Chat's ear.
Nodding at her, he walked over to the camera symbol and simply put a pot over it.
Coccinelle chuckled. "Alya's gonna hate that." Marinette snickered in agreement.
Chat Noir started to climb into the laundry chute. "I'll go and destroy the wifi antenna, you stay here while your kwami recharges."
"What about Marinette?" Coccinelle asked. "She can't see me transform!"
"I can look away," Marinette offered. "Or I can stand in a corner if you feel safer. I won't look, promise."
"I think we can trust her," Chat told his partner. "After all, she's helped us out twice now in battles."
"Okay," the spotted hero agreed. "I'll meet you out there." With her confirmation, Chat started to head up the laundry chute.
Marinette went to stand in the corner as Coccinelle muttered, "Spots off." She waited patiently until the superhero told her she was safe to turn around.
They waited, eagerly, until the "locked" sign on the door disappeared, meaning Chat had destroyed the signal.
"Yes!" They exclaimed together.
Coccinelle gestured for Marinette to follow her, "Let's get you to safety, quickly."
They ran down several sets of stairs until they made it outside. Once Coccinelle was assured the bluenette was safe, she tossed her yo-yo up to the top of the hotel to help Chat Noir with the fight.
The crowd waited anxiously, but relaxed when they saw the herd of ladybugs flying through the city to fix everything back to normal. They watched as Coccinelle flew away almost immediately, not one to deal with the crowds and paparazzi, and Chat Noir setting the now de-akumatized Alya down safely nearby.
What surprised Marinette, though, was when he walked towards her afterward.
"Thanks for your help today," he told her, with a barely noticeable look of concern on his face.
"It was nothing," she said humbly.
"It wasn't nothing," he protested. "But, seriously, what is it with you and getting involved with akumas? I thought I told you a few fights ago not to put yourself in danger."
"This one wasn't my fault! Lady Wifi was upset with me, I didn't willingly put myself in danger!" Marinette defended herself.
"Okay, yeah, I guess this one's not on you," he relented. "Just, please, next time, try not to get caught in the middle of the fight."
"I'll try my best," she told him.
Chat relaxed, then waved goodbye to her as he vaulted away.
It was cute how he was so concerned for her.
I think this was the longest chapter I've written so far! It took me a while, especially since I had to keep pausing and playing Lady Wifi to make sure I was getting the plot right.
If possible, I'm going to try and update this every Tuesday. It's not a guarantee, though, because I never know how much homework and tests I'll have each week.
Also, I don't know if I was not fully paying attention or something, but couldn't Ladybug have detransformed in the kitchen since Chat had covered the camera? And then once she left the camera suddenly didn't have a pot covering it?
I was a little confused so I changed that scene a bit due to it not making complete sense.
If you haven't noticed, I'm not going to cover all the episodes, that would take too much time that I don't have. Instead, I'm only writing the ones that are the most important to the story.
In case you're curious:
At this point in the story, there have only been 5 fights, including this one and the one with Stoneheart. So far, Marinette has only actively helped in two (Stoneheart and Lady Wifi), but was close by 4 total fights (Stoneheart, Bubbler, The Pharaoh, and Lady Wifi). I might keep score of this in each author's note in case people are curious.
I think that's it for this long author's note.
Anyways, hope you enjoyed!
-Ali