Marinette, Alya, and Nino did not expect a horde of crazed fans. The plaza outside the Louvre was completely filled.
"Dang..." Nino said, dazed. "Always knew my boy was popular... but"
"Not this popular" Alya agreed. Marinette just stood, speechless. Her shoulders sank. I'll never have a chance. Alya noticed the look of disappointment on her face and elbowed her.
"Relax girl! How many of these fans know him personally?" Marinette nodded, but she was still clearly down. Nino scratched his head, oblivious to Marinette's troubles.
"How are we gonna get through?" Alya shrugged hopelessly.
"Maybe we should come back later." She suggested. Marinette nodded.
"That would probably be best." They turned around to leave. Nino pulled out his phone.

"I'll call him and let him know we'll see him later."
"Ex-cuse me!" A harsh, grating voice cut through the noise. Marinette cringed. She knew who that voice being too. They turned around to see Chloe shoving her way through the crowd, dragging poor Sabrina behind her.

"Hey Chloe..." They said in unison. Chloe humphed, apparently something she loved to do.

"Why is everyone greeting me like that? Why aren't you throwing yourselves at me?" Marinette and Alya exchanged glances.
"Hey, did you see Adrien?" Nino asked. Chloe folded her arms.
"Maybe. What's it to you?" Alya sighed.
"Whatever. Lets just go guys." She grabbed Marinette's hand, and they turned to leave.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Cautioned Chloe.
"And why not?"

"I told Adrien that you guys were going to see a movie without him. He seemed pretty depressed." Alya's jaw dropped open.
"Why would you do that?!" Chloe shrugged.
"I was sparing him. Who would want to hang out with you? Especially Marinette, always stuttering around him." Marinette blushed.
"I don't-" she started to protest.
"Oh, h-h-hi Ad-d-drien." Chloe mocked dramatically. Alya swore and stomped over to Chloe.
"Yeah go get her babe!" cheered Nino. Marinette looked at him.

"I didn't know you too were a thing." She said suspiciously. Nino shrugged.
"We're not, but..." Marinette laughed, her embarrassment forgotten. She reached out to grab Alya.
"As much as I would love for you to beat up Chloe, we probably shouldn't be doing anything here." She gestured to the cameras around them. Alya huffed.
"Fine." She muttered. As the group turned to leave for the /third/ time, a scream pierced the crowd.

"What was that?!" exclaimed Nino. Marinette shook her head. Alya pulled out her camera.
"I bet it's another akuma-villain!" She started to push through the crowd, and more screams hangout. Quickly everyone was turning around and running away. Chloe grabbed Sabrina.
"I'm out of here!" Marinette was glad to see her go. She looked around for an empty place to transform, but the whole square was covered in people. She struggled to not get trampled over. A person bumped into her. She hit the ground, but pushed herself up. Nino was gone.
"Nino?" She called, but she couldn't even hear her own voice over the screams. She wanted to look for him, but she had to transform into Ladybug. She pushed through a crowd and headed toward an empty side street. She leaned up against a wall, breathing hard. She opened her clutch and Tikki smiled up at her.
"Alright Tikki, time to transform." She said.
"Tikki! Spots on!"

Ladybug ran into the plaza. Most of the people had cleared out, and she helped a few people find shelter. But shelter from what? So far she hadn't seen any villain. She walked around cautiously, her hand on her yo-yo. She entered the museum and froze. There were people there, but they were frozen. Some had looks of horror on their face, some of them were surprised. Ladybug cautiously went over to one and waved her hand in front of their eyes. Nothing happened. She touched their skin, and withdrew her hand immediately. They were cold as stone. A breeze picked up, blowing through the open door, and a signed picture fluttered by. She snatched it and picked it up. Adrien. She hoped he was okay. She flipped the flyer over and gasped. A note read.
"If you want them back, come to the base of the eiffel tower." She was certain the note was for her. She looked around at all the people, but she didn't see Adrien. She sighed. She did have a duty to all of Paris, not just her crush. She walked out the doors, and grabbed her yo-yo, flying through the city.

The villain had obviously been there. Everywhere she looked, there were people frozen in time, looks of fear on their face. Ladybug gripped her yo-yo. /Where was Chat Noir?/ She walked to the base of the tower.
"Okay!" She called. "I'm here! Come on out!" Nothing happened for a beat, then she sensed some movement in the crowd of statutes. "Who's there?"
"Ladybug!" A girl burst through the crowd. Ladybug recognized her immediately.

"Alya?" Alya ran at her and into her arms.

"Oh my gosh, Ladybug can I get your picture?"
"What-" Alya smiled up at her "Please!" Ladybug sighed.
"Really quick, but you're in danger." Alya nodded.
"Got it."

"Smile!" Ladybug awkwardly smiled. Alya smiled, and as Ladybug watched, her brown hair started to turn blonde and get shorter.
"Gotcha" She said. A trap! Ladybug tried to jump out of the camera's frame, but it was too late.
Click

Darkness. That was all Ladybug could see. Tikki? She cried to call out for her little friend, but she couldn't make her voice work. She tried to walk around, and found out she couldn't move either. She was frozen, probably just like those people. She cursed herself. She knew she would get caught eventually. She just hoped Chat Noir would make it in time.

She was frozen for what felt like hours. She started to get scared. What if she were trapped like this forever? A tear rolled down her cheek, but she couldn't wipe it away. She cursed herself. I should have waited for Chat. I should have never agreed to take a picture. I should have never... A sharp crack interrupted her thoughts. What was that? Something shifted in the darkness. Ladybug had never wanted to scream so badly.
There's something here with me.

Finally, light pierced the darkness. Marinette felt life returning to her limbs. She collapsed to the ground and started to cry. Shivers racked her body. She retched and hiccuped. In short, she was a mess. She took a few seconds, and then started to calm herself down. She took a few deep breaths and looked around.
"Where am I?" She asked with a raspy voice.
"You're safe." A familiar voice replied. Marinette blinked hazily and searched for the source of the voice. A blonde boy stood in front of her.
"Adrien?" He nodded, and helped her up.

"It's alright." He reassured her. "I've got you."
"But..." Marinette gasped, and her hand flew to her ears. She searched desperately, but she felt nothing. My miraculous is gone! Adrien noticed her desperation.
"What's wrong?" Marinette laughed uneasily.
"Um... it's just.. my earrings are gone!" Adrien looked concerned.
"Are they important? Yes! Marinette thought.
"Um, no not really." Adrien nodded.
"Why don't you come sit down?" He led her to the couch and sat her down. Marinettes mind was still foggy, she hadn't yet processed she was with Adrien. But she was still in 'Ladybug mode', and was slowly working out what happened.
"Adrien." She started. He turned toward her with a smile.
"Yeah?"

"What happened to the akuma villain?" I never did catch his name. Adrien frowned.
"Turns out the villain was able to snap a photo of people and freeze them in time. Then he could transform into whoever he took a picture of." Marinette nodded. This villain seemed more powerful than the others. Was Hawkmoth getting stronger? She looked up.
"Did Chat Noir ever stop him?" Adrien shook his head.
"Neither Ladybug nor Chat Noir showed up." Marionette's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. She stood up and walked to the window.
"So then Cameravillian must still be out there." She reached out to pull aside the curtain. Adrien stood up and joined her.
"He is. In fact, he froze most of Paris." Whoosh. The curtains were pulled aside to reveal a silent Paris. Marinette gasped.
Cars were stopped on the highway, people were frozen doing everyday things- walking the dog, playing ball, eating. Hundreds of quiet houses with the lights still on and front doors open. Marinette stepped back in horror. I've got to get my miraculous back. Another thought occurred to her. She whirled toward Adrien.
"How did you escape?" He frowned and his face darkened.
"I didn't." What? He reached into his pocket and started to pull something out. The gesture reminded her off something... Alya! At the base of the Eiffel tower! A flash went off and Marinette jumped to the side.
"You're Cameravillian!" She gasped, rolling behind the couch as another flash went off. Adrien laughed.
"Is it that obvious?" He walked slowly around the couch, as if he had all the time in the world, and Marinette ran again.
"Where's my miraculous?" She shouted. Adrien shrugged and laughed.
Marinette looked wildly around the room. The door! She leapt at it and threw open. Adrien sighed behind her.
"I don't enjoy this either. Just let me get a picture of you!" Marinette ran down the long hallways and into a big office. She closed the door and locked it behind her. Immediately, Adrien started banging on it. Marinette backed away and grabbed the nearest chair. She pushed it against the door, and then started stacking more. Finally, when she was satisfied, she took a look around the room. She clawed through desks and drawers. Finding nothing she started to panic.
"What do I do?" She cried. "I'm not Ladybug anymore. I'm just my clumsy old self. I can't do anything!" She took a deep breath. She envisioned her little spotted kwami friend. What would Tikki say? Probably something along the lines of: 'It doesn't matter if you're Ladybug or not, you're still Marinette! You can do anything.' Marinette nodded, taking another deep breath.
"You're right Tikki. I can do this." Now think Marinette. Where would her miraculous be? There was still a chance Adrien- no, Cameravillain- hadn't given it to Hawkmoth yet. Cameravillain would want to keep it close by to keep it safe... He must be holding on to it! Marinette would have to fight him. Just then the banging on the door stopped. Marinette jerked her head up and cautiously approached the doors.
"Adrien?" She called. Silence. Marinette began to move the chairs away, one by one. As she got to the last chair, the doors flew open and a person came flying at her. She screamed, and was knocked to the floor. Adrien was on top of her. He pinned her arms down to the floor and grinned. He reached for his camera.

"Say cheese" he said in a singsong voice. Marionette closed her eyes. I'm sorry. She mentally apologized, and drove her knee straight up and into Caemravillian's stomach. He grunted and fell to the side. While he was curled up, Marinette knelt and searched through his pocket.
"Please please please..." She muttered. /Please be there./ Her hand knocked out a piece of paper- a photograph. That must be where the akuma was! She pocketed it and kept searching. A ha! Her hand found two tiny circle objects. She pulled them out and started to put them on.
"No!" shouted Cameravillian. He lunged for her and knocked the earring across the floor. Marinette gasped. She couldn't transform with only one earring! She started after it, but Cameravillian grabbed at her.
"Hey!" She kicked him, but he took hold of her leg and knocked to her to the floor. While she was down, he started to crawl after the earring. He got to it first, and outstretched his hand for it. Desperate, Marinette called after him.
"Adrien stop! Please!" He paused. Her voice stirred something in him. He looked back at her, sitting on the floor. Helpless.

"Marinette?" He asked, in a small weak voice. But Marinette paid no attention, and grabbed the earring in his moment of hesitation. She put it on and wasted no time.

"Tikki!" She shouted. "Spots on!" She sighed in relief back as Ladybug. This was where she felt powerful. She pulled out her yo-yo and tied up Cameraviallain, who oddly wasn't putting up much of a fight anymore. She pulled out the photo she had found earlier. It was a photo of Adrien's mom. She sighed and ripped it up. A little black butterfly flew out. She quickly caught it in her yo-yo.
"Time to de-evilize!" Once it turned to white, she released it. "Bye- bye little butterfly." Ladybug didn't use a lucky charm, so she just threw her yo-yo in the air. "Miraculous Ladybug!" A beam of red light swept out of the room and scored throughout all of Paris, freeing people from the unmoving prisons. Finally, the light came back to Adrien and swirled around him. He was back on the ground, and looked like normal- no evil glint in his eyes. Ladybug went over and helped him up. She asked if he was okay, and then worried she asked,

"Do you remember anything?" He shook his head.
"No. Nothing." She sighed in relief. Her identity was still a secret. She felt a little pang of disappointment, being Ladybug would definitely get him to notice her. But she left him to find his dad.

She walked out onto the streets of Paris. Where was that Chat? She looked all around, but she couldn't find him. That was strange... he didn't show up at all today. She looked back at Adrien's house. Was it possible...? She shook her head. No way was Adrien Chat Noir. She shrugged and pulled out her yo-yo. She couldn't wait to get home and take a shower.

(Far away, in an observatory in Paris, and man in a dark suit surrounded with butterflies cursed her out.)

Hey! Thanks for reading! Don't worry, this isn't the end. There are things set in motion that are bigger than Ladybug and Chat Noir. Can they defeat Hawkmoth, save the world and pass the school year? (I'll also add more LadyNoir and Adrienette soon! ^_^)