"Marinette come out."
"Yeah. We just want to talk."
"And not interrogate you about the secret super star uncle you never told us about."
Alix slapped Kim while the others continued looking for Marinette inside Chloe's room. Man. Was that girl good, and fast at hiding.
"You know that would explain why Fang was so happy to see her." Sabrina pointed out as she checked the closet.
"And why she was so against us spying on Jag." Adrien added.
"I have to agree with her though;" Flint checked behind the curtains, "You can't just use your Miraculous personas for your own personal gain."
"Even if you saved a lot of people." Mulan added.
"Oh great. I just realized that I'm going to be related to Marinette if I marry Jag." Chloe remarked.
"Hey you're too young for him!"
The group searched for the source of the voice. They soon heard a phone ring from under Chloe's bed. But when they checked, noone was there.
Instead, Marinette was... preparing to jump off the balcony?!
"Yeah. I didn't think this through."
Her friends pulled her away, only to pin her back against the floor.
"Why?!" Alya demanded, "Why didn't you tell us you were related to JAGGED STONE?!"
"That!" Marinette pointed to Alya's hand which was holding her phone.
Alya was surprised that she was about to post Marinette's relationship with Jagged Stone online, "Wait. When did I do this?"
"During your moment of shock." Marinette grabs her phone and deletes the post before tossing it back to the owner, "After you guys found out."
"Why didn't you tell us?" Alya complained, "Why didn't you tell me? Why didn't Tikki tell us?"
"Uh... I didn't even know." Tikki feigned innocence.
"Oh please." Chloe scoffed, "You guys are so small, we can't hide anything from you."
Her other teammates raised their hands in confirmation.
Marinette sighed, "It's not that I don't trust you guys..."
Marinette whispered something to Alya, causing her eyes to widen in surprise. She storms over to Nino, ignoring her friend's protests.
"Claria Monet?!"
"Surprise!" Kim emerged from his hiding place, causing Sabrina to drop her books in surprise.
"Her birthday's on Friday." Max scolded. Marinette slapped her face in disbelief.
"Yeah!" Alix exclaimed after Marinette explained the plan to the girls, "Those boys will never know what hit them tomorrow morning!"
Unknown to her, one of the boys heard everything.
"Yeah. We're untrustworthy." Alix remarked after reminiscing.
"Wait. Isn't it a well-known fact that Jagged Stone is an only child?" Max pointed out.
Chloe gasped, "You brain-washed him!"
"No." Marinette groaned, "Look; My dad and Jagged were best friends in high school and they kept in touch with the family that he's basically part of the family."
"That's legal?" Kim asked.
"Why couldn't Daddy befriend Jagged Stone in high school?" Chloe complained.
"Oh he did." Marinette pointed out, surprising the blond, "But I'm not suppose to tell."
Chloe grabbed Marinette by the shoulders, "Tell me!"
Pollen had to pull her away from the bluenette.
"You guys have got to keep this to yourselves." Marinette pleaded, "This is one of those rare times I get to hang out with my uncle, and Fang, without some crazed fan asking for a souvenir, and/or any part of his body."
"So... You don't need bodyguards?" Rose asked with a twinkle in her eyes.
"Isn't there a time you guys just want to be alone with your family without their work following them around where ever they go?" Marinette countered.
The group sighed.
She was right; Their parents' work, along with their school-work and superhero duties, can take up valuable family-fun-quality time.
Sometimes, they just want to go hero, alarm their parents with a fake Akuma Attack, and advise them to stay with their kids at home where they will be safe.
Marinette suddenly felt her head aching and reached out a hand to touch and sooth the pain away.
"What a sweet torturous melody."
"Marinette?" Adrien looked at his classmate in surprise and worry when she suddenly spoke in an eerie tone. Their classmates and the Kwamis shared the same expression.
"Marinette? Marinette!" Tikki attempted to nudge her Holder awake when she noticed the blank expression on her face.
"Such conflicted notes will bring the Miraculous Team to their knees." Marinette continued, freaking the others out even more.
Suddenly, Marinette woke up with a gasp and grabbed Max' tablet. She scowled at the man arguing with her uncle.
"Forget it, Bob." Jag turned away from the man and crossed his arms, "There's no way I'm doing a duet with that baby."
"XY is one of the toppest pop stars in the country." Bob argued.
"XY?" Chloe excitedly held Marinette as she watched the scene before her, much to the bluenette's annoyance.
"XY is the most stuck-up, irritating, so-called hotshot artist in the whole world." Jag complained, "I rather sing with my niece than play dress-up with that baby."
You said it. Marinette nodded in approval.
"Let's get to the point;" Bob pointed out, "You're old."
Oh no he didn't.
Marinette glared at the producer as he critically explained how XY's reputation would boost her uncle's. Her uncle is already awesome. He doesn't have to put up with that...
Marinette noticed the irritation on Jag's face. Images of black butterflies clouded her mind...
Marinette shoved the tablet in Chloe's arms as she dashed for the telephone in her room and began to make a call.
Bob's argument was interuppted when Penny said there was a call for him.
"Bobby!" An elderly voice spoke from the other line.
"Mother? I'm busy." Bob spoke back.
"Oh alright." The caller replied, "I just want you to know I'm having a nice chat with your friends from the studio..."
"What?!" Bob exclaimed, "Mother don't...?!"
"And there was that time he..."
Bob ended the call and quickly dashed out of the room. But not before telling Jag that they will resume the conversation.
Jag smirked in amusement, "Skipping Stone."
Marinette sighed in relief as she put the phone down.
"What are you doing?" Chloe complained, "Jagged Stone and XY? Duet?"
"Spells trouble." Marinette added scornfully, "XY is the most conceited, most unbearable, so full of himself...!"
"Aren't you a little bit exagerated?" Alya asked, calming her down a bit.
"Unless you met..." Chloe gasped, "You met XY!"
"I wouldn't say 'met'." Marinette corrected, "The first time I saw XY was when Uncle Jag sneaked me backstage during one of his concerts."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Kim interuppted, "Which concert?"
"Oh." Marinette smiled sheepishly, "Remember when I told you guys about that boring out-of-town trip a few weekends ago...? Anyway; Uncle Jag sneaked me in the back, we thought noone was there, then came in XY. Had to hide behind some props. I thought he was cute,"
"'Cute'?" Adrien echoed in surprise.
"Then I saw him for the snobby rat he truly is." Marinette finished bitterly.
"Oh come on. What happened to 'don't judge a person until you really got to know them'?" Chloe asked, "Besides; Popstars act like that just to boost their popularity."
"And their ego." Marinette added.
Suddenly, her phone rang. When she read who the caller was, she looked Chloe straight in the eye, "One 'hi Jag', and you'll find out why I gave him Fang as a gift."
Chloe gulped, "It was you?"
Marinette answered the call, "Hey Uncle."
"Hey there Skipping Stone." Jag' s voice vibrated from the other side.
Skipping Stone?
Chloe was about to scream in shock, but Rose and Juleka covered her mouth.
"Hey Uncle." Marinette greeted back, "How's it going?"
"Just checking on my little lucky charm." Jag spoke back.
Marinette giggled, trying to sound innocent, "I don't know what you're talking about."
Jagged chuckled from the other side.
As they kept talking, Marinette's friends couldn't help but just listen with envy. Some wished their parents were close friends with Jag and made him a part of the family.
It was like witnessing a teenager having a secret affair with an older man.
"Can you believe they're making me do duet with XY?" Jag remarked.
"Wow. How many headphones did you have to order?" Marinette teased, earning another chuckle from her uncle.
"You would have been great together!" Chloe regretted her mistake and covered her mouth.
Marinette glared at her just as Jag asked who that was.
"Come on... Allie." Chloe disguised her voice in an attempt to cover her mistake, "He's such a cutie."
"I can't." Mylene joined in on the act as she disguised her voice, "He's with someone else, and I have to respect his choice. No matter how anxious I am."
Marinette took a couple of steps in place before she could talk to her uncle again, "Sorry about that, Uncle."
"You didn't tell anyone about you-know-what?" Jag asked.
Marinette scoffed, "If I did, they'd lock me up in a basement just to get your autograph."
Alya wordlessly gestured as if to say, "Oh please". Behind her, the others were poorly hiding a whiteboard where they wrote their plans to use Marinette as ransom in order to blackmail Jagged Stone.
"You're cool right, Skipping Stone?" Jag asked.
"Yeah. Why?" Marinette asked, confused.
"Nothing." Jag replied, "It's just this Hawk Moth jerk."
At the mention of her enemy's name, Marinette froze momentarily.
"I don't want that old trouble-maker turn my sweet little girl bad." Jag continued.
Chloe coughed. 'Little girl'?
"Don't worry, Uncle." Marinette assured, her expression turning into a worried look, "It's not me he's after."
"What?"
"Nothing!" Marinette cheerfully replied.
"Well if that Hawk Goth fellow does ruin our fun time together tomorrow, those Miraculous Dudes would definitely kick his butt." Jag remarked.
"Yeah." Marinette smiled mischieviously, "Though I doubt they'd save you from utter humiliation at the ultimate hands of a little girl."
"Ouch." Jag mocked back, "Well too bad, Skipping Stone. I happen to be working on some new mad moves of my own."
"Oh that's swell. Would you like your cookies with extra bitter defeat?" Marinette shot back, "And a glass of tears?"
"Yes." Jag shot back confidently, "But it'll be your tears we'll be drinking. Savour the victory. Also Fang wants extra sea salt on his macaroons."
Marinette giggled as she sounded a little bit threatening, "We'll see about that, Uncle. And don't forget to wear a hat tomorrow. The weathergirl said it's gonna get hot."
"Sure thing. Say hello to Tommy and Sabby for me." Jag ended the call cheerfully.
Once the call ended, Marinette turned to her friends, "Not one word, or record of this."
Her teammates could only smile nervously at her while they delete a few files from their phones.
Man, can their leader get angry.
"He sounds like a swell guy." Flint complimented.
"Which is why there is no way I'm letting Bob force him to sing with XY." Marinette pointed out, "The last thing I want is to see my uncle turn into a music-themed supervillain because of that baby."
Her friends looked at each other worriedly before Adrien spoke, "You, really worried us back there."
"I know." Marinette recalled her sudden head-ache, "Normally, I'd just sense when an akuma is attacking. But suddenly knowing my uncle is going to be Hawk Moth's next prey?"
She collapsed on one of the plush sofas in the room in frustration.
"I still don't get why you're the only one of us that has that, special sense." Max wondered.
"Oh. And if that wasn't wierd enough, I heard him telepathicaly talking with Majique." Marinette added, surprising/creeping-out the others again.
"That is wierd." Mika remarked.
"And creepy." Mulan shivered.
Ever since their first Akuma Attack, Marinette was the only one who could sense when a villain was about to attack, so the group had to rely on her for akuma alert.
The Kwamis couldn't explain her uncanny ability because they never encounter something like this before. The previous Ladybugs didn't have this kind of ability either.
The Grimoire didn't even list that kind of ability in its pages.
"Remember when you told us the first time you met Hawk Moth?" Alya recalled.
How could she forget?
Marinette thought she'd take a nice relaxing walk through the the Seine. Something was telling her this new semester will be full of surprises.
Her thoughts lingered to a certain blond model. Unfortunately, she didn't focus on where she was going and she tripped.
She would have fallen directly into the water if a strong hand hadn't pulled her back to dry land.
She turned to face her saviour; A man in dark purple attire. He wore a brooch in the shape of a butterfly. What really caught her attention was his silver mask.
At first, she thought he was some kind of well-dressed criminal, but for some strange reason, she sensed that he had no intentions of harming her.
She opened her mouth to thank him, but he sealed it with his finger while gesturing for her not to tell anyone about this encounter.
Marinette just blinked for a moment, then her saviour disappeared.
The next time they met, he was controlling a monster to destroy Paris...
She still couldn't believe the man that saved her was a villain. When she told her friends about their encounter, Alya warned her not to let him catch her off-guard, reasoning that some villains act nice just to manipulate people.
"Perhaps during your first encounter, you must have been infected with his magic in some way." Max theorized.
"That could happen?" Nathaniel asked.
"Like we told you guys;" Imp explained, "The Butterfly Miraculous is new to us."
"It was created at the time of the Miraculous Warriors before you." Tamara added, "And we don't know the full extent of its abilities other than granting powers and creating villains."
"Which is also the reason why it's not listed in the Grimoire." Muria added.
If only they knew.
"Atleast now we'll know who Hawk Moth will akumatize next and stop them from getting akumatized." Rose pointed out.
The group agreed; With Marinette's new abilities, they could stop an akuma attack from even happening.
"As long as we're not the cause of the akumatization." Mylene pointed out.
Oh right. That.
Marinette rose from the sofa, "So, I can count on you guys not to stalk me and my uncle tomorrow so that he won't get akumatized?"
"Oh come on now." Chloe waved her off, "What makes you say that?"
Marinette cocked an eyebrow at her.
"Why not?!" Chloe protested.
"Quality Fun-Time." Marinette replied firmly before heading for the door, "And don't even think of asking him to sing with XY."
Chloe growled in frustration but then calmed down a bit, "So if we don't tell anyone about your secret uncle,"
"I'll give you guys one of his jackets." Marinette finished.
"Deal!" The girls excitedly accepted.
A one-of-a-kind Jagged Stone jacket!
"Here you go." Marinette brought out a black jacket from her purse and offered it to the group, much to their surprise.
"How long have you been carrying that?" Alix asked.
"Do you guys want the jacket or not?" Marinette retaliated.
Chloe responded first by snatching the jacket and sniffing it, sighing blissfully, "It is Jagged Stone's."
"Hey, what about ours?" Kim complained.
"You guys didn't say if I should get each of you a jacket." Marinette smiled mischieviously before she left the room.
Alya pouted at her friend's unfairness. The group turned to Chloe who was still hugging Jag's jacket.
"Fine. We take turns."
Now that her friends found out about her biggest secret...
Well... One of her biggest secrets...
She has to make sure that Uncle Jag doesn't find out that she broke her promise.
Then again, they knew this day would come.
Still...
Marinette suddenly bumped into someone. When she looked up, she groaned internally.
Lila Rossi.
"Oh Marinette." The italian girl flashed the bluenette her signature faux smile, "I guess you just got your little surprise from Chloe."
"Yeah." Marinette didn't have time for this, "Jagged Stone. So cool."
"I know." Lila stopped Marinette from leaving, much to her displeasure, "You know he once dragged me to sing with him onstage."
He rarely does that in his concerts.
Lila continued, "He said that I had such a voice of a goddess, that he was going to dedicate a song to me."
Oh really?
As Lila kept boasting about how Jag was going to make her a star someday, the very subject of her conversation appeared behind her.
And she doesn't even notice.
"He even promised me one day to introduce me to Clara Nightingale."
"Wow. That's awesome, Mr. Stone."
...?
Lila turned around and flinched; Jagged Stone. Heard everything.
"Hey I remember you." Jag pointed with a finger.
"You do?" Lila asked in surprise.
"You nearly blew my ears off." Jag emphasized with a little bit exxageration, "It's a good thing I didn't go to the hospital. That would've had ruined my entire career. And my fans' lives."
Marinette silently giggled to herself. If only she could see the mortified look on Lila's face.
"I... got to go." Lila quickly turned around and left, muttering angrily to herself.
Once she was gone, Marinette turned to Jag, "She's gonna be a great apprentice."
Jag chuckled in amusement.
Fang wagged his tail and leaped to give Marinette an affectionate lick once again. Luckily, she didn't fall this time.
"You know he licked Ladybug a little while ago." Jag mentioned.
"No way." Marinette feigned surprise as she petted Fang, "I get to be slobbered by Jagged Stone's crocodile, and get covered in Ladybug-infected crocodile drool."
Okay. You know what? Ew.
After one final lick, Fang crawled back to his owner's side.
"I guess we'll be seeing you rocking tonight, Little Miss Fangirl." Jag winked.
Marinette giggled at her uncle's acting. Just as he and Fang turned around and left, she turned to the opposite direction.
Only to discover her friends who witnessed the entire event.
"No." Marinette narrowed her eyes before Chloe could ask.
"I thought we had something!"The blonde cried as she left.
"Chloe, don't be weird." Adrien scolded.
As Marinette stared at her reflection on her mirror and combed her hair, she couldn't stop thinking about her recent black-out.
Why was she the only one who could sense the akumas? Why was she the only one in the team who could sense who Hawk Moth was going to akumatize next?
Max theorized that she could sense the akumas because she was infected by Hawk Moth's magic. Many times Hawk Moth would send his butterflies at the group, and after that, not one of them, minus Marinette, would get headaches.
Now that she thought about it, her special sense appeared before they became heroes. She doesn't even recall Hawk Moth using magic during their first encounter.
So why just her?
She decided to worry for another day. Besides, she has a big day planned tomorrow, and there's no way Hawk Moth is ruining that.
Once she was done combing her hair, Marinette laid on her bed, closed her eyes, and began dreaming of an akuma-free day tomorrow.