Miraculous: Tales of Blaze and Artemis
PokemonFreak90: Time to continue the story! How will Allen and Bianca fare this time?
MDM: We'll see! Here we go, with Chapter 4! Roll it!
Chapter 4
To Disconnect the Lady WiFi
It had been a couple of weeks since Allen and Bianca had moved to Paris and things seemed to be going well for them. On one particular day, they were walking to school as they normally did. Currently, they were talking about Bianca's music blog that she had started a week earlier, and how it was already blowing up. Bianca was showing Allen some of the comments on her phone.
"Most of these comments are actually really positive, saying that I have real talent." Bianca said, scrolling through them. "But there are a couple of naysayers."
"Ah, don't pay attention to those." Allen said with a wave of his hand. "They obviously wouldn't recognize talent if it hit them right in the face."
Bianca smiled at him and then showed him one particular comment. "Apparently, Chloe leaves a few rude comments on here." She said.
Allen made a face. "Seriously? She doesn't even bother using a username?" He asked. "She'll get hacked one of these days."
Bianca just rolled her eyes. "Well, I know not to take her seriously. She's just a rotten bully who can't find any good use of her time."
"Enough said." Allen said, nodding in agreement.
Then, he noticed a particular username. The comment that the person left had said, 'Your singing voice is like an angel's.'
"Hey, what about that one user?" he asked, pointing to the comment. "BlueHairedGuitarPlayer?"
Bianca saw that comment and lightly blushed when she saw it, making Allen raise a curious brow at her. "Oh, um, yeah. He's definitely one of the more nicer ones."
She pressed on the comment to reveal another one. It said, 'Your music is just like your eyes: beautiful and alluring.'
Allen smirked after he read it. "Seems like someone has a crush on you." He teased.
"Knock it off." Bianca muttered, her blush increasing and turning off her phone, stuffing it into her pocket.
Just then, they arrived at the school, just as Marinette was coming to them, trying her best to be on time for once. "Hey, guys!" She greeted them with her usual sunny smile.
"Hey, Marinette!" Allen returned the greeting while Bianca just smiled and waved at her.
Marinette then turned to her attention over to Bianca as they walked into the school. "I saw your music blog, Bianca. And it's really great!"
"Thanks, Marinette." Bianca said gratefully.
Marinette beamed brighter and then tucked a loose strand of blue hair behind her ear. That was when Bianca noticed something.
"I like your earrings, by the way." She said, carefully pointing to the small black stud in her ear. "Where did you get them?"
The Chinese-French girl froze for a second, her finger lightly pressing against the smooth stud in her ear lobe. "Um, they were a gift." She replied, sounding a little nervous.
Then she changed the subject by taking notice in Bianca's pendant. "And your pendant is really pretty. Where did you get it?" She asked.
Both Bianca and Allen slightly tensed up at the question. "Well, it's a family heirloom." The Canadian girl answered, lightly playing with it in between her fingers.
Just then, Rose came over to them. "Bianca!" She greeted the auburn-haired girl cheerily with a little wave. "Juleka told me that she shared some of our band's songs with you, and that you gave her some of your own."
Bianca nodded at the chipper blonde girl. "Yeah, and I did the same for the songs that Juleka gave me."
"Well, the band tried out some of your songs, and all of us really think that you have what it takes to fit in, so why not join our group?" Rose asked her. "We're even willing to compromise, to work within your comfort zone while staying true to the band's style, if you want to join in."
Bianca slightly smiled at the blonde girl. "Well, I might not like the metal songs, but I do like the hard rock ones." She said.
"And I think that you should know that the band is starting to like some of those pop songs that you gave to Juleka." Rose added. "We might be willing to try them out and perform some of them."
Bianca could feel the excited grin threatening to split her face into two. Her musical styles were really making an influence, including the band that Rose and Juleka were in, which were making them more willing to try some pop songs to make her more comfortable while performing with them if she wanted to join their band.
That could really help her not only break her out of her shell more, but also to help her become more trusting of others. The band really seemed like they wanted her to join their ranks, especially if they were willing to try some songs that seemed to be a little out of their styles just so that she could feel more comfortable while playing with them. She thought that maybe she should consider their offer.
Finally, she answered Rose. "I'll have to wait and see, but I'm really considering joining you guys." Bianca said with a smile.
Rose smiled widely. "That's great!" She squealed with excitement. "Well, a spot on Kitty Section will always be open for you, whenever you make up your mind."
Allen placed a hand on his best friend's shoulder. He was proud of her for handling that so well. Now that she had started that music blog, Bianca slowly seemed to be getting more and more out of her shell. She had proved that she was talented enough to join a band, making her feel like she could do whatever she put her mind to; unafraid of anything. She really was making some progress.
Just then, the bell rang and all four of them began to hurry over to their first class of the day. When they entered the classroom and took their seats, Ms. Bustier began handing out the graded tests from the week before.
"To start off today, I would like to congratulate both Allen Flint and Bianca Snow, our two newest students, for receiving the highest grades on this test in this class." She said proudly.
Some of the students looked over at the two Canadians with wide eyes, who just smiled bashfully at the class before looking at each other and sharing a confident high-five.
Before they knew it, the end of the school day was nearing. "I'm very pleased with how you all did on your last assignment." Ms. Bustier said to them. "Some of you have really stepped up and I do appreciate it. Now it's time to move on to our next assignment."
While she was speaking to the class, Alya had a Ladybug cut-out in her hand, the superheroine's face removed, as she tried to match it up with the other girls in the classroom. When she got to Chloe, the prissy blonde just pointed over at Ms. Bustier when she saw Alya looking at her. Alya then noticed her teacher looking at her and then quickly put the cutout away in her notebook.
Then, the red-haired teacher noticed the empty spot next to Alya. "Is Marinette still in the girls' room?" She asked her.
Allen and Bianca both shared a wary glance between each other. Marinette had been absent for almost the entire second half of the school day. She had said earlier that she was going to the girls' bathroom right after class had restarted when everyone came back from lunch, but even then, no one should take that long in the restroom. Where was she?
"Uh, I don't know, Miss." Alya answered the teacher right before the bell rang to signal the end of the day.
"Tonight, I want you all to read chapter three of the breathtaking 'France, the First Thousand Years'." Ms. Bustier said to them, handing the students their homework. "Then, answer this simple questionnaire."
She gave two sheets to Alya. "See to it that Marinette receives her homework." She said.
Alya nodded and put both sheets in her backpack. Then, she left the room.
Allen and Bianca were the last to leave. As they headed outside the building, Allen had a thought, remembering how Alya seemed to be obsessed with finding out Ladybug's secret identity, if that little mishap from earlier was any indication.
"Maybe if I tell Alya who I really am, it would satisfy her curiosity and she'd give up on trying to unmask Ladybug." He suggested.
Bianca's eyes widened in shock for a second before she narrowed them at him. "Or that would make her more determined to find out Ladybug's identity AND Cat Noir's AND Artemis's." She said, crossing her arms against her chest firmly. "Sorry, lover boy. But that is out of the question."
Allen slightly huffed. "But what if I could make her prove to you that she can keep a secret? What would you say then?"
"Then I would say maybe." Bianca said, getting in front of her best friend, stopping him. "But until then, and when you get her to love you for you as a civilian, you are not to breathe a SINGLE WORD about your identity."
She then sighed heavily to calm herself down as she placed a gentle hand on his right shoulder. "It's for the good of everyone we love if we want to protect them. We already took a risk with us knowing our identities."
Allen was silent for a few seconds, thinking deeply about her words before he finally nodded mutely in understanding. Bianca smiled softly at him, patted his shoulder, and continued walking towards the entrance of the school, Allen a couple of paces behind her.
He knew that she did have a point of revealing identities and maybe he was acting a little hasty just so that his crush could finally notice him in a different light. But she was a reporter and she wouldn't be able to resist sharing a good story with the world, even if that meant exposing them to the public and making it easier for their enemies to find them.
Maybe the only way for Alya to understand how valuable it is to keep our identities a secret...is if she had a Miraculous for herself. Then she'd understand the risks and why the secret is so important. Allen thought to himself.
While this was happening, Alya had been searching for Marinette. She had already checked the girls' room, and she wasn't there.
"Uh, have you guys seen Marinette anywhere?" She asked Rose and Juleka, but both of them shook their heads.
Alya next checked the locker room, where she only saw Chloe taking something from her locker. It was a Ladybug costume and a yo-yo. The sight of them shocked her.
"Chloe's Ladybug?" She whispered to herself in disbelief. The thought was swirling around in her mind as she quickly headed over to the front of the school.
Just then, she saw Allen and Bianca exiting the building. "Allen, wait!" She called out to the Canadian boy, grabbing his wrist.
Allen spun around to see his crush holding his wrist and quickly began to resist the urge to blush. "Yeah?" He asked her.
"Come with me, I need your help!" Alya said, dragging him behind her.
Allen looked back over at Bianca, who blinked at the sudden turn of events. She then shrugged at him before giving him a quick and confident wink before heading back home by herself.
Minutes later, Allen and Alya were sitting on one of the benches that was near the Seine river, which was only a couple of blocks away from the school. Alya had tried to call Marinette twice, but she wasn't picking up.
"Ugh. I hate it when she goes AWOL." She complained with a groan. "She's not calling me back! Where is that girl?!"
Just then, her phone rang again with another news update. She shared her screen with Allen as they both watched it.
"Once again, Ladybug and Cat Noir have saved Paris from the clutches of a menacing villain." Nadja reported, showing a bit of news footage. People had gathered around, cheering for Ladybug as she waved to them with her yo-yo in hand.
Alya's eyes zeroed in on the yo-yo in her hand, pausing the video. "Hey! I think I've just sniffed out who the real Ladybug is!" She exclaimed, writing something down on a sticky note and placing it on Marinette's tablet.
Then, she leaned in close to whisper in Allen's ear. "It's Chloe."
There were a lot of weird things that Allen had heard in his life. But this? This easily took the cake! He laughed in disbelief.
"Are you kidding me?" He questioned. "Chloe and Ladybug don't even have the same hair color! Plus, she's too self-absorbed to think of anyone but herself, much less save the world. You need to have your head examined."
"I do not! You'll see!" Alya said, remaining quite adamant in her pretty crazy theory.
Allen just lightly scoffed while rolling his eyes. "If Chloe's Ladybug, then I'm Blaze!" He joked. But he knew that if Bianca were to hear that, then she would most likely pound him into the ground for saying something like that so easily.
"I'm telling you, she's Ladybug!" Alya insisted.
"Can you prove it?" Allen asked, challenging her.
The sly smile that slowly came on her face immediately got Allen to regret saying that. He feared what she was planning.
The next day, right when Allen and Bianca had arrived at school, Alya had grabbed the former's arm and began dragging him towards the locker rooms. Bianca raised a curious brow, a little confused as to what they might be doing and then headed over to class, not thinking much about it. Allen will tell her about it later in the school day.
Alya and Allen then saw Chloe over by her locker with Sabrina and Kim. The former grabbed the latter's shoulder, narrowing her brown eyes at him sternly.
"Now don't mess this up. Just distract her." She then pushed him in Chloe's direction.
Allen couldn't believe that he was about to do this. He lightly gulped and then said the first thing that popped into his head that he was absolutely sure could get Chloe's attention.
"Oh, uhhh...Ladybug! Look over there!" He exclaimed, pointing out the window.
Chloe looked out the window and then narrowed her eyes at Allen. "Uh, what kind of lame joke is this?" She asked with a cold gaze.
Allen quickly backpedaled. "Uh, well, that was... Did you see Ladybug yesterday? I wonder who she really is?"
Chloe just scoffed in annoyance. "Obviously, you didn't get your beauty sleep, Canada boy. You still adjusting to this time zone?" She asked him rudely.
As she was talking, Alya had snuck around the back and then quickly took a picture of Chloe's locker. But before she could sneak away, Sabrina caught her.
"Chloe! Alya's looking in your locker!" She quickly pointed out.
The prissy blonde spun around to see the ombre-haired girl right behind her. Immediately, Alya backed away from the locker, her phone behind her back. "Uh...that's a lie!" She quickly covered up. "I so was not!"
But then, Kim came behind her and took her phone. Alya tried to grab it, but the much taller teenage boy held it high above her head, out of her reach.
"Hey! Give it back!" Alya demanded.
But Kim only handed it over to Chloe, who soon found the picture that she'd taken of her locker. She then smirked. "Who's the little liar now?" She challenged the ombre-haired girl snootily.
Allen had a bad feeling go down his spine. He knew that this wasn't going to end very well.
And a few minutes later, he was proven right. When Allen came into class right before the bell rang, he quickly saw that Alya, Chloe, and Sabrina weren't present. Right after Ms. Bustier began writing down the lesson plan for the day, asking for the students to copy down notes, he tapped Bianca on the shoulder, getting her attention, and giving her a sticky note.
'Cover for me. I'll be right back.'
Bianca was a little confused as to why Allen would be sneaking out of class, but she just nodded mutely at him, trusting that he knew what he was doing. Allen nodded back at her in thanks and then quietly slipped out of the classroom, carefully crawling along the floor and keeping a low profile until he had reached the classroom door.
Soon, he found himself standing outside the principal's office, hearing Chloe's loud, annoying voice ring out from inside. "She's guilty of invasion of privacy! I have proof!" She proclaimed.
"What?! Seriously? All I did was take a measly photo!" Alya defended herself.
"I'm sorry, Chloe. But there's no school policy on invasion of privacy." Mr. Damocles said to the prissy blonde.
"Then...then breaking and entering!" Chloe quickly came up with an alternative.
"I didn't break into her locker!" Alya denied the overdramatic claim. "It was already open!"
"And nothing was stolen?" Mr. Damocles asked the girls.
"Only my very soul!" Chloe cried out. "My locker is my secret garden! He who enters uninvited burglarizes my inner being and steals my life force!"
She began to cry fake tears, which made Allen roll his eyes from behind the other side of the door. Of course she would pull something like that just to get whatever she wants. That was typical queen bee behavior.
Then, he noticed that the office door was still slightly ajar. He gently pushed it open a little further, just enough for him to see the whole debacle with his own eyes. Alya and Chloe were seated in front of Mr. Damocles while Sabrina was standing behind Chloe.
"Right. An hour of detention for you, Alya." Mr. Damocles said to the ombre-haired girl in an attempt to soothe the snooty blonde girl.
For some reason, something inside Allen was telling him that maybe he should record what was happening for evidence. He had been having a really bad feeling all morning, ever since Chloe had caught Alya taking that picture of her locker. Maybe he should get it on tape. Plus, he knew that what Alya had done wasn't suspension-worthy, so she was being unfairly punished, which was something that he couldn't stand to see!
He reached into his pocket and pulled out his own phone. He unlocked it, turned on the camera, and began to silently record.
"Are my ears failing me?" Chloe asked in disbelief, standing up from her seat. "Did I hear you're only giving one miserable hour of detention to a...a heinous criminal? Sabrina!" She turned to her faithful follower, snapping her fingers.
The red-haired lackey came to stand next to her "mistress", a clipboard in her hands. "The school rules clearly state that any student guilty of theft should be suspended for one full week."
"Yes, but she's hardly stolen anything." Mr. Damocles said.
"I'm not sure that my father would share your point of view." Chloe said as she took out her phone.
The owlish-looking principal visibly paled by that. "Uh, well now, Chloe, let's not bother your father- I mean, the honorable mayor with a minor locker situation…"
Chloe just gave him a frowny face while pressing a button on her phone, immediately speed dialing for her father. "Uh...what I mean is...you're suspended for a week, Alya." Mr. Damocles said, turning to the ombre-haired girl.
"What?!" Alya exclaimed, her jaw dropped in disbelief. Then she stood up from her chair. "That is so unfair! I am so gonna protest this on the school blog!"
The principal looked back over at Chloe, who shook her now silent phone in her hand. "The school blog is hereby suspended as well." He said to her.
Allen couldn't believe what he was seeing! Mr. Damocles was basically giving Chloe the power to rule the school, just because she was daddy's little princess who could do no wrong in his eyes, and who was also the most powerful politician in the city. It was just so….infuriating and unfair!
Alya glared at Chloe, her fists clenched, as she watched her put her phone away. "She's no superhero, she's super-psycho!"
With that, she swiped her own phone back from where it was on the principal's desk and stormed out of the office. Allen took that as his cue to stop recording and quickly hide behind the door. Right after Alya had left the hallway to leave the school, he looked down at his phone before quickly heading back to class. Bianca really needed to see this.
He arrived back in class without Ms. Bustier noticing that he had left. He was about to get Bianca's attention when both of them saw Marinette sneaking into class, finally present, though school had started an hour ago.
She took her spot and then noticed Alya's absence. She leaned forward and nudged Nino on the shoulder. "Where is she?" She whispered to him.
"She's been suspended." Nino whispered back.
"What?!" Marinette shrieked, making everyone jump.
Ms. Bustier turned around from the whiteboard. "Marinette, if you're going to come late, would you please do it discreetly?" She reprimanded her.
"Sorry…" Marinette apologized sheepishly. After the teacher turned back towards the blackboard, she began to whisper again. "What happened to her?" She asked Nino.
"The short story?" Nino asked, and Marinette nodded. "I heard that she was accused of breaking into Chloe's locker. I mean, Ladybug's locker…"
"WHAT?!" Marinette yelled in disbelief.
Ms. Bustier turned back over to narrow her eyes firmly at the Chinese-French girl. "That's it, Marinette! Go to the principal's office!" She ordered.
Marinette nodded her head mutely and then picked up her bag and walked out of the classroom. So much for not getting into trouble.
From their spots in the back, Bianca whispered over to Allen, "Did I just hear what I thought I heard?"
He nodded, placing a hand on his forehead in exasperation. "Yeah. Apparently, Alya thinks that Chloe is Ladybug."
Bianca rolled her eyes with a quiet little scoff. "Please. Chloe is the least likely person to ever be a superhero. She thinks of no one other than herself."
"Yeah, I told her that, too. Still, you have to admire her determination. She sticks to her guns." Allen said while shrugging his shoulders.
Suddenly, the projector in the room somehow turned on, and then a screen appeared on the whiteboard. A familiar face appeared, wearing an unfamiliar evil grin on her face. It was Alya, having been akumatized.
Both Allen and Bianca felt their blood running cold as they looked at their friend's new appearance. She had a black butterfly-painted mask on, a black bodysuit with white gloves and boots, and a glowing purple Wifi signal on her chest.
"I'm Lady Wifi, revealer of the truth!" She proclaimed. "For our first exposé, your principal would like to share a little tidbit with you." She then turned over to look at a frightened Mr. Damocles. "So Mr. Damocles, is it true that you wrongly suspended a student named Alya today?" She asked him.
"Uh...yes, it is." the principal admitted ashamedly.
"So you were biased? Unfair? Totally unjust?!" Lady Wifi demanded.
"Yes, I was." Mr. Damocles said, looking down at his desk.
"This is bad." Bianca said.
Allen just nodded. "Really bad."
Lady Wifi then moved around and away from Mr. Damocles to stand in front of the principal's desk. "For my next scoop, I'll be taking you to meet the girl who's been hiding behind the Ladybug mask!"
Then, with a swipe of her finger across her phone, she fired a glowing pink stop icon at Mr. Damocles, who immediately became frozen in place once it hit him. "Stay connected!" She said to the viewers with an evil smirk.
The screen then switched off and Allen looked over at Bianca, a determined glint in his eyes. She nodded at him, understanding what they had to do now.
"Everyone, for your own safety, go directly home right now!" Ms. Bustier ordered, and everyone immediately began packing up and heading back to their homes. "And don't forget to read chapters four and five!"
Allen and Bianca quickly raced out of the classroom, but they didn't go back home. Instead, they went into the empty locker room. Their Kwamis then came out of their hiding places.
"Okay." Bianca said, thinking quickly. "If Alya does suspect Chloe to be Ladybug, then her house will be the first place that she would go." She said.
"But geez!" Claaw exclaimed. "You humans do come up with the weirdest theories about everything and everyone."
Bianca just shrugged. "That's only just some people."
Then Fenixx looked over at his owner. "Are you sure you're going to be okay?" He asked him. "You're going to fight the girl you love!"
"No, I'm going to SAVE the girl I love!" Allen exclaimed, before realizing something. "Um...again." He had saved her once before, from the Pharaoh.
Bianca shook her head with a fond smile. "Like I said, you sure know how to pick 'em, Hoops."
Allen just rolled his eyes with an annoyed look. "Let's just get this done." He muttered with a blush on his face. "Fenixx, Flames Up!"
"Claaw, Let's Prowl!" Bianca called out.
At the same time, their Kwamis got sucked into their respective jewelry, Fenixx in Allen's wristband and Claaw in Bianca's pendant. With a flash of gold and silver light, Blaze and Artemis appeared and the two superheroes quickly headed towards Chloe's house as the sun began to set.
When they got to the closest roof, out of sight from the hotel that Chloe called home, they saw that Cat Noir was already there. They landed next to him as he took out his baton and activated a spy-cam feature, zooming in on Chloe's room. There was the prissy blonde, dressed in a Ladybug costume, playing and twirling with a matching yo-yo.
"What?" Cat Noir exclaimed in shock. "This can't be!"
"Who's being a sneaky kitty now?" A familiar voice asked him cheekingly.
The three superheroes immediately turned to the side and saw the real Ladybug standing next to them on the other side of Cat Noir. "Oh, Ladybug." Cat Noir acknowledged the superheroine, looking utterly relieved. "But-"
Ladybug just smirked at him. "Come on, you don't actually believe she's the real Ladybug." She said, getting out her yo-yo and activated a similar spy-cam feature. She watched Chloe continue to play around until she got herself accidentally tied up in her yo-yo's string.
"Yeah, of course not." Cat Noir said.
"Well, we knew it right from the start." Blaze said.
"The hair is pretty obvious to help differentiate the real hero from the fake." Artemis added, gesturing to Ladybug's signature pigtails.
The red and black-spotted superheroine smiled as she turned back to her partner while they both put their weapons away. "And besides, who would believe that she's the original Ladybug? She's obviously just a die-hard fan. A copycat?" She teased him, and a brow quirked up in amusement.
The black cat superhero just rolled his eyes playfully. "Right."
"So when is Lady Wifi going to show up?" Artemis asked.
"Not sure." Blaze said. "I thought she would've come by now."
"Let's just wait until she appears." Ladybug said. "Then we'll make our move."
About an hour later, she finally showed up. Chloe had answered her phone when she heard it ringing, and then Lady Wifi appeared from out of the screen. The sight of the villain scared Chloe and she fell onto the floor, backing away until she got up and started to run. But Lady Wifi fired a pink pause sign at her, making her freeze immediately.
"We got Wifi!" Ladybug exclaimed, and then the four superheroes quickly headed over to the hotel to confront her.
Inside Chloe's suite, Lady Wifi fired a camera icon into a corner of the large room, which immediately began live streaming. "Well, well... So my hunch was correctamundo." She said, coming over to stand next to Chloe. She then turned to look at the camera icon and her live interview appeared on all screens within the city.
"Everyone thinks that the girl beneath the Ladybug costume is a little angel. Think again, people! The real Ladybug is…" She then peeled off the mask. "Chloe Bourgeois, everyone!"
But then, the real heroes came charging in through the balcony entrance, ready to fight. However, Lady Wifi looked confused at their arrival.
"Who are you?" She demanded.
The four heroes looked between each other with awkward looks and then back over at the villain. Cat Noir even playfully flexed his arms to show her that they were the real deal.
She soon came to that conclusion, but she was enraged. "But I thought you were Ladybug!" She exclaimed angrily, turning over to the frozen Chloe.
"Sorry to bust your news story." Cat Noir teased her. "Next time, double-check your facts."
"And also remember the obvious details." Blaze piped up.
"You'll be sorry." Lady Wifi growled at them, and then she swiped an 'X' on her phone's screen, deleting the pink icons in the room, freeing Chloe, who tripped over her own feet and fell onto her bed.
"Alya?" Ladybug asked her, trying to reach out to her.
"Alya's been disconnected. I'm Lady Wifi." The super villain said with a smirk and got her phone ready. "News flash! Ladybug, let's find out who you really are!"
She fired three pink pause icons at Ladybug, who quickly managed to dodge them all, the others spreading out. "Follow me!" Ladybug said to her teammates.
The four of them jumped up and around, doding the flying pink pause icons and headed out of the suite, into the main hallway, and then down the side stairs. "So what's the plan?" Cat Noir asked his partner.
"She gets her powers from her phone, so let's lead her to the basement, where there is no service!" Ladybug suggested.
"No service, no power." Artemis realized.
"Nice one, my lady!" Cat Noir said.
Ladybug stopped for a brief moment to see if they were low enough. But then Lady Wifi fired another pause icon down at her, which she dodged in time.
"We've gotta go lower!" She shouted to her teammates.
"I've got you now, Ladybug!" The Akuma laughed. But right after she fired another pause icon, she heard her phone begin to fritz. She looked at her phone signal and saw that it was extremely low. She growled in frustration.
Down in the basement, the four heroes were waiting for her to come down, their weapons primed and poised to fight. "Get ready!" Ladybug said, her yo-yo twirling and her eyes not moving from the ceiling, waiting for Lady Wifi to appear.
"So what do you do when you're not Ladybug?" Cat Noir asked her.
Ladybug tensed up for a second while Blaze and Artemis looked at him with incredulous looks, not believing that he had asked that kind of question when they were in the middle of a battle! The red and black-spotted superheroine placed a palm on her forehead.
"Can't you see we're a little bit busy right now?" She asked him, removing her hand and staring at him exasperated.
"Uh, guys?" Blaze asked, getting everyone's attention. "I don't see Lady Wifi anymore."
With his katana, he pointed above them to show that the Akuma wasn't following them anymore. Just then, they heard the sound of a door opening, then closing.
"She's gone back into the hotel!" Ladybug exclaimed. The heroes quickly put their weapons away and raced back up the stairs, only to see that every door they came across had a pink lock icon on it.
"She locked all the doors!" Cat Noir said. But then he turned his focus back on his previous question. "Hey, you realize that we might actually know each other in normal life, right?"
"Doubt it." Ladybug said.
Artemis saw that the next door they came across also had a lock icon on it. "It's locked, too!" She said.
"Geez!" Blaze panted heavily to try and regain his breath. "Talk about…a cardio…workout!"
"You're…telling me!" Cat Noir exclaimed.
Finally, they reached the top door, which was the only one that wasn't locked. "She's left this one open." The black cat superhero said as they all quickly regained breath.
"Yeah. Like this doesn't spell 'trap' all over it." Artemis said sarcastically. "But we have no choice."
"Get ready for an ambush on three." Ladybug ordered. Everyone prepared themselves, fists up and clenched. "One, two, three!"
Ladybug kicked the door open, and the heroes charged inside, weapons ready, only to see that Lady Wifi wasn't present. The room they'd entered had to be the hotel's world-famous restaurant, with all of the dining tables stationed perfectly throughout with the white tablecloths draped over them. Strangely, there were also phones on the tables, one on each.
"So much for the ambush." Cat Noir muttered.
Ladybug stopped twirling her yo-yo, her eyes narrowed in a steely glare. "Follow me." She said, and the other three obeyed, staying close. "Where is she hiding?" Ladybug wondered aloud. "And what's up with all of these phones?"
Suddenly, a pink light appeared from one of the phones closest to them. With a pixelation effect, the light came out of the phone, and Lady Wifi appeared. She cackled briefly before firing another pause icon at the heroes, who all managed to narrowly dodge. Lady Wifi kept firing icon after icon at Ladybug, and also at the other three.
"I think that this was the ambush we were expecting!" Artemis shouted as she flipped over a table to dodge a pause icon aimed at her.
Cat Noir was also frantically dodging pause icons. "How now, brown cow?" He asked the Akuma. "I thought it was you she was after!"
He tried to block a pause icon from behind one of the tables, but the force of it sent him flying towards the other side of the room. Ladybug quickly tied her yo-yo around Lady Wifi's arm, preventing her from firing a pause icon at her downed partner.
But when she tried to get her to drop the phone with a tug, Lady Wifi vanished into thousands of pink light pixels. "Ha! You can't get me!" Her voice taunted as her form pixelated from phone to phone.
Ladybug just smirked. "Yes I can."
Then, as she began to approach Lady Wifi, she swung her yo-yo around back and forth, breaking every phone she passed by, giving the Akuma fewer places to appear from. Lady Wifi then ran into the kitchen, Ladybug giving chase, while Blaze and Artemis helped Cat Noir back onto his feet.
But right as Ladybug entered the kitchen, Lady Wifi fired a lock icon at her. The ladybug superhero dodged it, but the lock icon landed on the kitchen doors, locking her inside with the Akuma, and locking her teammates out. The other three pounded on the other side of the doors.
"She must've locked it from inside." Blaze said.
"No, no, no... Hold on in there, Ladybug!" Cat Noir called out to his partner. He then got out his staff and used its screen to check if there was another way to get inside the kitchen. Soon, he did find an alternative.
"Of course! The service elevator!" He realized.
"Let's go, then!" Artemis said.
"Can't." Cat Noir said, shaking his head and putting away his staff. "It's too small for all of us. I'll go in. You two wait out here." As much as they felt a little annoyed that they couldn't do anything then, the other two heroes nodded and Cat Noir hurried out into the hallway to find the service elevator.
The other two heroes could hear the fight that was going on inside the kitchen, from loud grunts to throwing pots and pans. But then, there was nothing else other than the sounds of Ladybug struggling. Blaze and Artemis looked in the window to see that Lady Wifi had a camera icon back up and her projection was placed in the sky, as well as on every screen in the city.
"Who is Ladybug?" She asked. "Is she a superhero or a super-weirdo? How can we trust the girl when we have no idea who she really is?"
The Akuma turned to look over at Ladybug, who was bound to the wall with pink lock icons on her hands. Blaze and Artemis felt their hearts nearly stop.
"We have the right to know!" Lady Wifi then tried to pull off Ladybug's mask a few times, but it wouldn't, as if it was glued to her face. "Why doesn't it come off?" She demanded.
"Uh, because it's magic?" Ladybug said, as if it were obvious.
Blaze and Artemis gently fingered their own masks. "Well, that sure comes in handy." The former said to his own partner.
"Tell me about it." Artemis said with a sigh of relief.
Suddenly, there was a cheerful beeping noise from behind the two girls in the kitchen. The service elevator opened up and Cat Noir came through it.
"You're out of minutes, Lady Wifi!" He said to her as he got out of the service elevator and twirled his staff around to rest it across his shoulders.
"Oh, how romantic." Lady Wifi teasingly cooed. "Tomcat's come to save his love bug."
"I am not his love bug!" Ladybug denied with an exasperated glare at the villian.
"We'll come back to that later." Cat Noir said to his partner with a flirty wink.
Lady Wifi quickly attacked him with some lock icons. He managed to dodge a couple of them, but then he was knocked into the freezer room, a lock icon sealing it shut.
From where they were watching the live stream outside the kitchen, Blaze and Artemis had their eyes widened in terror. "This is bad." Blaze said.
"Well, well... What am I gonna do with both of you?" Lady Wifi pondered aloud as Ladybug struggled against the lock icons to try and get her partner out of the freezer room.
But then, a neon purple butterfly mask appeared over her face. Hawk Moth was talking to her telepathically, probably giving her a plan. After a few seconds, the mask faded away, and the Akuma smirked at Ladybug.
"If you don't get him outta there fast, your crush will soon be slush." She cackled, taunting Ladybug. She then removed the lock icons from Ladybug's hands and she dropped to the floor. "Good luck with your cat popsicle! I have other news to cover!" With that, she vanished into pixels of light again, leaving behind a confused Ladybug.
Watching from where they were, Blaze and Artemis were confused as to why Lady Wifi had left so suddenly like that. "Why would she leave when she had Ladybug right where she wanted her?" Blaze asked aloud. "Her goal is to find out Ladybug's identity."
Artemis then noticed something as she moved away from the large window and tried her best to peer in through the small window of the kitchen doors. "Um, why did she leave the camera icon in the kitchen?" She asked her partner. "We can all see Ladybug trying to free Cat Noir."
Just then, the realization hit them at the same time. "She's trying to get Ladybug to use her Lucky Charm!" Artemis exclaimed in horror.
"So that she will be forced to change back!" Blaze added.
Just then, another projection appeared in the sky, showing Lady Wifi, and Artemis ran back to stand next to Blaze to watch. "What's up, peeps? Listen, everyone!" The Akuma proclaimed. "I present you with the award-winning news story you've all been waiting for!"
From in the kitchen, Ladybug was trying her best to open the freezer door, but to no avail. "I'll get you out of there, Cat Noir!" She called out to her partner.
"Take your time!" He answered back, sounding like he was shivering, teeth lightly chattering.
"Don't blink, 'cause Ladybug will soon drop the bomb on her real identity!" Lady Wifi announced from where she was.
Both Blaze and Artemis had their eyes widened. "No, Ladybug, wait!" Blaze called out to her. But Ladybug had already tossed her yo-yo into the air.
"Lucky Charm!" She exclaimed. With a flash of pink and red ladybugs, a red and black-spotted box fell into her hands.
"This better be some lucky box…" Ladybug muttered.
With her Lucky Vision, she saw the symbol that was imprinted on the corner of the box. One that had a microwave X'd out. And then the lock icon, then the microwave itself. "Of course, the microwaves!" She realized.
Ladybug quickly unplugged the microwave, shoved the box into it, and then placed it on a serving cart. She pushed the cart towards the locked door, plugged in the microwave again, turned it on, and then pushed it towards the lock icon.
"Come on, micro-thingies, jam the signal…" She pleaded.
Just then, the lock icon melted and the microwave exploded in a burst of sparks and electricity. Ladybug tossed away the cart and hurried to open the door.
There was Cat Noir. His skin was looking a bit pale and he was shivering visibly, his arms wrapped around himself in an attempt to keep warm, looking very weak from standing there in the frigid cold. He then fell down towards the floor, Ladybug quickly catching him and holding him close to warm him up.
"You okay, Cat Noir?" She gently asked her partner.
The black cat superhero just shuddered, itching for warmth. But then, they both heard a frantic beeping noise. Ladybug's earrings had just lost a spot.
"You used your Lucky Charm." Cat Noir realized. "There's not much time left."
"That was her plan!" Artemis called out to the other two from the other side of the kitchen doors.
"She left the camera on in there!" Blaze added.
The two heroes looked over in the corner of the kitchen and saw that it was true. Their eyes widened, realizing the situation they'd suddenly found themselves in. Both of them then got back to business, Cat Noir feeling much better.
"Zap open the kitchen door!" He told Ladybug.
"We can't, the microwave's busted." Ladybug said, looking over at the destroyed and smoking microwave. She then looked up over at the camera icon, forming a plan. "I've got an idea. Here's what we'll do."
Cat Noir drew closer and Ladybug whispered to him her plan. "Got it." He said, once she was done explaining.
He grabbed a nearby pan and placed it over the camera icon with a giggle, blocking Lady Wifi's screen. Once he made sure that it was secure, he headed towards the service elevator.
"Artemis and I will go and jam the Wifi antenna." He said.
"Good luck!" Ladybug called after them. Then she turned towards the door. "You two heard that?"
"We got it!" Artemis answered, before heading over towards the hallway where the service elevator was. "Blaze will stay and help recharge your Miraculous."
"How?" Ladybug asked.
"You'll see." Blaze said. "But don't worry. I won't know who you really are."
Artemis soon met up with Cat Noir over at the service elevator, just in time for both of them to dodge a flying pause icon. Lady Wifi had found them. She fired icon after icon, with both of them quickly dodging, and then heading up the staircase.
Soon, they reached the top of the building and found the Wifi antenna. "There you are!" Cat Noir grinned as he jumped up towards it. "Cataclysm!"
Black bubbles and specks of power enveloped his right hand, which had his Miraculous. He was about to touch it when pink crackles of energy appeared around the post. Then, Lady Wifi appeared again, standing on top of the antenna.
"Nice idea, kitty cat." She said to him. "But I'm not gonna let you cut me off so easily!"
She then began firing pause icons at him and Artemis. Both of them dodged them, Cat Noir being careful to not touch anything with his right hand.
"I'll give you an opening!" Artemis said to him, and began firing ice arrows at the Akuma.
Lady Wifi quickly destroyed them with her locks icons, creating bits of snow and frost, briefly clouding her vision. When she regained her bearings, she saw that Artemis was still there, but not Cat Noir. When she looked down, she saw him right beneath her.
"Nooooo!" She screamed.
Cat Noir placed his right hand on the antenna, and it immediately began to rust and break apart. Lady Wifi fell off as the antenna continued to malfunction until it finally shorted out, and the video projection in the sky vanished.
Back inside the hotel, all of the pink icons vanished and Ladybug quickly pushed open the kitchen doors, finally free. "Let's go." She said to Blaze.
"Hang on a second." Blaze said, stopping her, noticing that she only had two spots left. "Let me recharge your earrings."
He gently placed a finger on each of Ladybug's earrings and said, "Heal Flame."
Little delicate wisps of fire started crawling up his arms from where his wristband was on his right arm and where it would be on the left one, gently encircling them until they had reached Ladybug's earrings. There was no heat coming from the little flames as they came close to her skin, but Ladybug did feel her earrings slowly getting hot.
Then, the little flames vanished and Blaze carefully removed his fingertips, seeing that her earrings had regained all five spots. It was the first time that he had ever used that power. Ladybug listened, and didn't hear another beep from them.
"Thanks." She said to him gratefully.
"No problem." Blaze said. But then, they heard a different beeping noise coming from Blaze's wristband. A section of the golden flame emblem had turned silver. "But we'd better hurry."
Ladybug nodded in agreement and both of them headed up towards the roof of the building.
Back up on the rooftop, Lady Wifi looked over at her phone and saw that she had no more bars, which meant no more WiFi connection. "Lost the signal!" She exclaimed.
Cat Noir jumped down from where the antenna was. "Gimme that phone!" He demanded. He charged towards her to grab it, but Lady Wifi proved to be pretty good in hand-to-hand combat as well.
Artemis readied another ice arrow. "Try to get her to hold still!" She shouted.
Cat Noir tried to grab her arm, but Lady Wifi instead kicked him in the chest and pinned him down, holding her phone above her head. She laughed victoriously.
"Not what I had in mind, but it will do." Artemis said, and fired the arrow. It hit the top of the phone, barely missing Lady Wifi's hand, and forced it out of her grip. The ice blue arrowhead hit the floor, having gone through the phone, and the top of it cracked into little pieces.
Ladybug and Blaze arrived just in time to see a black and purple butterfly squeeze out of the phone and begin to fly away. "No more evildoing for you, little Akuma." Ladybug said as she opened up her yo-yo and began to swing it around. With one good swing, she caught the Akuma. When the yo-yo came back into her hand, she opened it again, and a pure white butterfly fluttered away into the night sky.
"Bye bye, little butterfly." Ladybug said to the retreating insect.
Blaze then handed her a burnt little box. "Need this?" He asked her.
Ladybug smiled and took it from him. "Miraculous Ladybug!" She exclaimed, tossing the box into the air as it began to glow a bright pink. When it reached its peak, swarms of magical red ladybugs appeared and quickly repaired all of the damage that had been done, including repairing Alya's phone.
The powerless Lady Wifi was down on her knees as black and purple ooze and bubbles enveloped her body. When they vanished, Alya was back to normal. "What?" She asked, wondering where she was.
Cat Noir and Artemis joined their partners as Alya came up to them. "Pound it!" They all said, doing their group fist bump.
"Ladybug! Wow!" Alya was fangirling like crazy. "And Cat Noir! Blaze and Artemis, too! Awesome! Can I get a quick interview? Just let me grab my phone!" She turned around to find her repaired phone.
As she was doing that, the superheroes were looking at each other with knowing looks. They knew that they were all thinking the same thing. It was probably best that they left now. After all, Alya might start peppering them with too many questions, some of which might be a little too close. With a simple nod, they all headed off into the night, right when Alya had found her phone.
"So- Oh no!" She exclaimed when she saw that she was all alone on the rooftop. "Where did they go?" So much for that quick interview.
The next day, after school, Allen and Bianca were about to walk home together when they saw Marinette meet up with Alya at the front. The latter must've been waiting so that she could have some time with her best friend.
Bianca lightly nudged Allen towards the ombre-haired girl, nodding her head. He nodded back, took a deep breath, and then began to walk over to her as Bianca headed back home on her own.
"Hey, Alya?" Allen asked, getting her attention. "Um, I have a little something that I want to show you. You wanna stop by my place for a few minutes?"
Alya smiled at him and nodded. "Sure, Allen. What is it that you want to show me?"
Feeling a little surge of confidence that she'd accepted his offer, he just smiled mischievously at her. "It's a surprise." He said with a knowing glimmer in his brown eyes.
Alya raised a brow, curious as to what he meant by that, and then shrugged. "Okay. At least I like surprises."
A few minutes later, Allen and Alya were in his house. Allen turned on his computer, logged in, and then opened up a video file from a disc that he had inserted into it. It was the recording that he'd taken yesterday about her unjust suspension.
Alya was indeed surprised. "Wow. How did you...?"
"I have my ways." Allen said with a little smirk. "What's more, I showed this to Mr. Damocles and, with a little persuasion so that this doesn't get leaked out to the public, he agreed to lift your suspension and let you come back to school tomorrow."
Allen didn't mention that he had threatened to release it to the news if the principal didn't let her come back to school. Lady Wifi had already gotten him to admit that he'd wrongly suspended her, so he knew that if the public knew about the corruption within the school, and that it would result in lawsuits, he agreed to rescind Alya's suspension.
Suddenly, Alya threw her arms around him, squeezing him into a tight and grateful embrace. "Thank you!" She said. Allen was surprised by the gesture, but then he happily returned the hug.
When they released each other, Alya asked him something. "But...how did you get this footage?"
Allen just shrugged with a little smile. "I learned from the best when it comes to gathering evidence like that." He said with a teasing wink, hinting towards her.
Alya smiled a little wider at him. "I'm glad that you moved to Paris. Otherwise, I would never have met a cool guy like you."
Allen returned the smile, trying his best to not blush in front of her. "Well, I'm glad that I moved here, too. Or I wouldn't have met you, either. You're a great friend, Alya."
Alya suddenly had an idea. "Hey, how about you come and see a movie with me sometime?" She offered. "There's this new sci-fi movie that I've been dying to see, but Marinette isn't really big on those kinds of movies. So, do you wanna come?"
Allen blinked with surprise, finding it a little harder to recede his growing blush. "Um…sure."
Alya smiled at him. "Great!" She said, grabbing her bag. "I'll see you tomorrow!" She briefly waved at him before she headed out of the house.
Right after he couldn't hear her footsteps anymore, Fenixx flew out his fanny pack to face his owner, who had a bright red blush on his face, but a smitten smile as well. "Well done, Romeo." He said to him with a little teasing grin. "You finally got your first date with Alya, and you didn't even have to ask her out. She did that for you."
Allen felt like he was on cloud nine, floating on air. This had to be the best day of his life! He HAD to tell Bianca about this! He grabbed his phone and immediately speed dialed her.
"Hey, Allen." Her voice came on the line.
"Bea, your advice really paid off." He said, the smile on his face stretching from ear to ear. "I did something nice for Alya by getting her suspension lifted, and just now, she invited me to hang out with her at the movies tomorrow!"
Bianca just laughed, happy for her best friend. "What did I tell you, Hoops?" She asked him with a teasing lilt in her voice. "When did I ever let you down?"
"But...it sounded more like she invited me as just a friend, not as a date." Allen said, realizing that one little detail that he'd missed because of his surprise and euphoria from her invitation.
"At least it's a start." Bianca assured him. "Just remember to take things slow until she tells you how she really feels about you. Until then, just keep being yourself, and be a friend to her. That might be all that she needs for now."
Allen had a little smile come on his face at her comforting words. "Thanks, Bea."
"Hey, what would you do without me?" She asked him, her voice back into teasing him. He could easily picture her playfully quirking a brow up at him.
He just playfully scoffed at her while rolling his eyes with the same teasing demeanor. "Yeah, I know. I'll be completely hopeless." He answered back in the same mischievous tone, which got him and Bianca laughing together.
Yep. This was definitely the best day ever.
PokemonFreak90: We hope that you enjoyed this Lady Wifi chapter!
Allen gets to use his special power for the first time to save Ladybug from changing back, and even gets to have his first date with Alya! Unfortunately, it seems they're still in the friend zone.
As for Bianca, she's begun her music blog and people are impressed by her musical talents and she's been recognized and liked by Rose's band. So much so, that they've offered a place in the band! Will she accept? And who is the mysterious user "BlueHairedGuitarPlayer", who has been leaving Bianca some especially nice feedback?
MDM: All of those answers will be revealed in due time. Even if some of those answers might seem pretty obvious to some of you.
Until next time, readers! Please leave a review about what you think. They are highly appreciated. And remember to stay healthy!
Got to fly! ;)
