. . . . . . . . . . . .

The early morning sun was already casting intense heat upon Paris, waking it up in the promise of a hot but beautiful day. Birds of all kinds sang their songs of blissfulness. Happy the sun rose.

Marinetre had not been so grateful to see the early morning sun because it meant morning had arrived and school would be starting soon.

In truth she didn't mind going but after her stunt with Chloe yesterday she was sure she would get an earful of everything the blonde could throw in her direction. She'd just have to put her big girl pants on again and do as she did yesterday.. Stand her ground.

She was also exhausted. Her body ached from yesterday's events. She thought that perhaps she had been dreaming, that she would wake up today and everything that had occurred was nothing more than a strange dream. Her hope of that had been crushed when she located the Red creature, nestled into her pillow.

As she readied for the school day she had decided she would skip breakfast, after all she wasn't hungry and plus she didn't want to face Chloe with a full stomach. Though she couldn't help but find a bit of humor in the chaos it could create.

She laced the sachet over her bag and watched as Tiki slipped inside without hesitation. She had wondered why the creature had to come with her but she supposed it was just in case something had happened and she had to fight one of those things again.

Though she was still unsure of how she could have been chosen for such a role by a person she didn't know she had started to like the company of the creature. She almost felt at ease with it.

After kissing her mother and fathers cheek, she headed out the door, beginning her stroll to the school.

Since yesterday's attack and the debut of ChatNoir and LadyBug it was all everyone was talking about. The news crew were surfing the streets often more now than usual. They wanted details about the duo that'd been there the day of that fire. People all around the city were talking about them-about her! She felt like a celebrity, of course not every conversation was as nice as others. Some of them had doubts and found foolishness in it all. Some simply thought it was untrue.

She herself wanted to believe that too.

She wanted to share this new role with her most trusted friend Alya but the Kwami had begged her no to as it would place everyone, including herself in danger if someone had known who she was.

That man, HawkMoth could also never know.

She didn't know about such things, not until yesterday. Not the Miraculous, not the villain nor the responsibilities bestowed upon her.

She could see the school, see the people outside, waiting and buying their time until the first period began. Alya had been one of the few outside, waving to the bluenette when she'd caught sight of her.

Marinette returned the wave before fully making it to Alya's side, sitting beside her.

"Girl, did you see what the news showed yesterday?" Alya asked, glints of excitement in her voice. She'd always had a thing for superheroes and learning that they existed must have made her even more excited.

"About the hero duo? Yeah, a little." She said, slapping a hand to the back of her neck. It felt wrong hiding this from Alya but it wasn't like there was a choice.

"I think I'm gonna start a web page about them. I'm thinking about calling it 'the ladyblog' but I'm not sure yet."

"LadyBlog sounds good but what about including that hero..ChatNoir's name into it?"

"I've tried but nothing fits. He chose a complicated name." Alya huffed out a breath, watching as two fancy looking cars rolled up to the school.

Marinette had also caught sight of the two cars and groaned upon their sight. One was for sure Chloe the other? Adrien.

She watched as the two opened their doors in union, stepping out in union. Unlike Chloe, Adrien didn't go bursting in her direction as she did with him and it almost looked as if he didn't want to offer her the same embrace she gave him. He looked almost uneasy about her touching him.

She sighed as the blonde spotted her once she released the boy, she could feel Chloe's eyes practically digging into her. As she stepped closer, she could feel the raw and bitter tension.

"Baker girl, I still am not over what you did yesterday."

"Save it Chloe, you had it coming." Marinette hissed with the same amount of venom that Chloe spat at her every day.

The blonde curled a brow and Marinette noticed amusement creeping onto her face. "You know, your cocky bitch attitude you have this year will get you in trouble."

"Wouldn't be the first time." Marinette raised her shoulders before dropping them.

"Shouldn't you be flaunting your boy toy? Not here pestering Marinette." Alya chimed in, catching Chloe's attention which grew more amusement.

"My boy toy? You mean my future husband? We are both rich and I AM the only one here who is at his standards."

"Congratulations, no one cares or wants him." Marinette muttered, rolling her eyes. She had low respect for Adrien Agreste, despite him being her favorite fashion designer's son. After all, he had pulled the whole gum trick yesterday.

Speaking of the devil.

She watched Adrien make his way towards them and wondered why someone as rich and as famous as Adrien Agreste wanted to be in a public school where there were nothing more than nobodies. And yes she was including Chloe in that category.

"Chloe, seriously? Why are you harassing people?" Adrien asked, almost sounding irritated towards the girl who was quick to lace an arm around his own.

"You're right. I shouldn't snoop to peasant level."

"That is NOT what I meant." He huffed, yanking his arm free from her before stepping past her and the two sitting girls who watched him, followed by the little rich bitch who thought her shit didn't stink.

"That girl is something else." Alya muttered, checking the time with a sigh.

"Time for class?" Marinette asked, watching her friend's eyes. She never said anything about the Chloe comment, she didn't want to talk about the girl anymore.

Alya stood from where she stood, followed by Marinette, the two girls slowly made their way up the stairs of the school, slowly headed to the classroom, where they were forced to listen to Chloe's rambling about how Adrien and her would be married.

And that was how it was ALL day. Marinette was stuck to listen to Chloe's blabbing all day, Adrien this and Adrien that. She wondered if the boy even liked her as much as she made it sound. She caught glances at him every now and then. He seemed distant from her and even had rolled his eyes a few times.

But she couldn't blame him, after all Chloe was a leech that was rather annoying. She tried to make herself look like a main character, even if there wasn't anything grand about her. There was nothing grand about anything she did and no one would shed a spotlight on her. Not with the arrival of the duo hero.

The very thought made her smile.

Despite Chloe blabbing, the day had been pleasant. She was grateful that Chloe kept her focus mostly on Adrien who looked more irritated than he did this morning. But unlike most of the rich kind he kept it hidden away, rather than bursting out at the girl. Marinette found that odd.

For a guy who could play a horrid prank on her-why didn't he snap at Chloe? And for some reason, he'd been trying to come her way most of the day.

She spotted him coming towards her at several points of the day but was always dragged away when Chloe caught sight of it.

Maybe she'd been wrong about him?

No.. he was friends with Chloe.

Marinette shook the thoughts from her head and sighed in happiness when the final bell rang.

Stepping out of the school had been a breath of fresh air, Marinette didn't even mind how hot the day was. She felt a slight refresher from being in a stuffy school.

When Alya showed up beside her, Marinette was even more thrilled.

"Want to catch a movie today? They're showing several new ones." Alya suggested.

"Sure. Depends on what's playing?"

"Transformers, Rise of Megatron, Avengers: Malika, Into the Bushes…" Alya began, as she shifted through her phone, looking for one that sounded decent enough to watch.

"How about Guardian of the Miracle?" Marinette suggested she'd seen the trailer. A young boy, stumbling upon a small box that constraints powers which he is granted and entrusted to protect with his life. It seemed interesting enough.

"A movie about a superhero? You really want me to be intrigued or gather inspiration for our new heroes"

Marinette laughed. That wasn't the intention but if Alya wanted it to be she would allow it.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

The movie hadn't been as great as the duo thought. The movie was considered to be one of the top ten to come out this month but for the duo it didn't reach their top twenty list. However the girls had enjoyed spending the time together and agreed to do more of it throughout the school year.

Alya's house was the closest to the theater and she protested to walk Marinette to her house. She'd just call her older sister to pick her up. However Marinette assured Alya she was fine, despite the creeps out on the streets there wasn't much to fear with two heroes walking among the people.

After an embrace, a rather tight one and a five minute lecture to be called when Marinette got home, she left.

The streets were busy with life, people walking up and down the streets to their own destinations, shops open and serving meals and offering drinks to those who passed by. Marinette decided it would be best to not stop. She wanted to go home and get ready for the next day of school and spend time with her parents. Maybe today she'd play video games with them.

Upon strolling the streets she heard a slight commotion, a bitter argument between two lovers. A feeling twinged inside her, she could feel Tiki moving around uneasy in her sachet. Perhaps she should stick around and make sure that this fight doesn't lead up to an akuma or whatever it was.

"I don't understand what you're so angry about! It was just a car." A woman had said, softly.

"It was my fathers car and you sold it!" The man-she assumed her boyfriend or husband screeched back, loud enough to bring the attention of everyone around them..

And the attention of someone from afar.

Marinette could see it, black wings quickly making its arrival.

An akuma.

She needed to stop this before it plagued the man-turn him into a monster.

Slipping into a dark alleyway wasn't an ideal but it was good enough for her to transform. As she whispered, spots on she watched as the little butterfly hovered above the man, ready to infect him with the evil of the man who created them.

LadyBug was quick to escape the alleyway once she fully transformed, she flung her yo-yo at the couple, making them both jump in startlement. Their attention turned to her, puzzled and dazed but not free of their argument which caused the Akuma to stop its attempt.

"You are.." The man began.

"LadyBug and I'm here to stop you from being akumatized." She said, averting her eyes upwards, inviting them to follow her gaze.

They quivered in fear, neither of them wanting to be manipulated by such a cruel human being who sought to harm innocent people to achieve his gain.

LadyBug captured the creature, purifying it before it could do anything troubling.

She had to admit, this wasn't as hard as she thought-the fight yesterday was of course but she was getting the hang of it. The doubt she had was still present but little by little it was fading. The couple had thanked her and she told them it was silly to get heated over a car that was replaceable. What wasn't replaceable was the love they had for one another.

LadyBug left the two and watched from afar as they embraced and kissed, she smiled at the sight of them making up before strolling away to rekindle their romance.

As she dropped her transformation, she slipped from the same alley she'd entered before strolling towards her home.

She wasn't far now-she had one more block to walk then she'd be home. She could work on the school work that had been piled on her and work on some new designs with the fabric she had just gotten.

As she turned on the street that led to the bakery she was met by a line of police cars, four of them all parked on the opposite side of the road she was on. Four officers were standing beside a truck that looked as if a tornado had gotten to it.

Upon a closer look which she tried not to make look obvious she noticed that there was a white sheet on the ground, hiding something. An officer had been kneeling beside it with one corner lifted, away from sight of anyone.

"Any idea what caused this?" One of them asks.

"No, but it looks like this guy was mauled to death by an animal." The one kneeling replied, his eyes narrowing upon the sight.

"An animal? What kind of animal can do this?"

"Not sure but we will send a message to the chief."

Someone was attacked? Someone died? An animal did that?

Marinette highly doubted any animal capable of such things. The truck was absolutely destroyed and missing pieces. The entire front end was crushed into itself, large marks that looked like claws were left on the side Marinette could see. She also noticed the smashed driver side window and the blood..

There was so much of it.

"Marinette?" A little voice called out to her, causing her to jump. She took her gaze from the scene to Tiki. She was still getting used to having some sort of living creature with her all hours of the day.

"Hm?"

"You okay?" The creature asked, clearly filled with concern.

Marinette nodded before returning her gaze to the scene.

"We should let the authorities handle that for now. If it's related to..HawkMoth then we get involved. For now it is best we keep out." Tiki suggested and Marinette wasted no time agreeing.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

She'd hoped for a relaxing day with no trouble but clearly HawkMoth had other plans to spend his evening so now here she was, gliding through the midnight sky through the streets of Paris. She was tired, she hadn't expected to be woken so soon and by a new alert the system had made.

They were called Akuma alerts and every phone inside of Paris would receive one. In one way it was convenient, another it was an absolute night bust. This would dampen her alarm clock tomorrow and most likely she would be late for school. She'd been doing so good this year.

When she found out who this HawkMoth was she was going to FLATTEN him.

The akuma had very little details about it. The only thing she knew from the notification was that it seemed to be a giant pool of muck. She didn't know what to expect but from the sounds of it-it would be an easy fight.

She'd leap through four blocks of Paris until she reached the location where it had been seen last and where it still remained.

She'd knelt on the ledge of the rooftop. She wanted to take a second to observe it and locate any weak points. It wasn't doing anything. It just walked along the road as if it was lost. It was tall, eight maybe nine feet with no physical detail about it, besides it being made entirely out of muck and grime.

She almost jumped off the roof in fright when a figure landed beside her but it caught her and twirled her around to face it.

Cat-like irises illuminated in the dark.

"I didn't mean to frighten you M'lady but you should be more aware of alley cats during the night hours."

She rolled her eyes. "You sure are a joker huh?"

"So…" He began while letting her go. "What do you think about our friend down there?" He turned to face the akuma which had begun to attract the local law enforcement.

"I think finding the akuma on him is going to be a challenge."

"Plan?"

"Subdue him. Maybe we can find something." LadyBug spoke, twirling her yo-yo.

"Purfect plan, m'lady!" ChatNoir grinned, reaching for his baton.

"He seems almost oblivious, like he doesn't know where he is or what he's doing. Maybe we could trip him up a bit?" She gave him a wary look.

"Pleasure to do it if you wish." ChatNoir said with a humble bow before leaping down onto the street below. He reached for his baton, bringing it infront of him. It extended outwards, right under the muck's feet. The creature grumbled as it struck the ground with a splat.

"Good work, Chat." LadyBug leaped to his side, staring at this monstrous form.

"Where do you think the Akuma is?" He asked, eyeing the creature.

"I'm not sure, it has no clothing on it, no way of knowing where it could be.." LadyBug mutters.

The hero duo hadn't noticed the muck had slowly made way towards them, slowly coating the bottom of their feet in its trap until its mouth opened, releasing a laugh that made them both jump.

"Fools! Fell into trap!" It bellowed.

"What!?" LadyBug eyes widened as she gazed to her feet, finding them trapped in this disgustingly foul smelling muck.

"Nothing my Cataclysm couldn't get us out of." ChatNoir gloats, raising his hand to call for it.

"Wait! We can't use your power on it, he is still a person." She says.

In Front of them the muck had begun to grow.

"Trap….trap….t..r.a..p" It repeated.

"What is wrong with this thing?" Chat asked.

"I'm not sure but it doesn't seem to be stable."

"T….." The muck mustered up one last letter before falling, pooling all over the ground. The trap it had set had failed and the creature dissolved, leaving nothing of its existence but a blackish/purple feather that drifted off.

"Did…did we win?" ChatNoir asked, gazing from what was once the muck to the sky.

Dumbfounded LadyBug wasn't sure how to answer. She guessed they could call this a win-even if they did absolutely nothing. The creature hadn't even made a mess of the city.

"I'm not sure but I'm gonna assume so…" LadyBug mutters under her breath. "Doesn't hurt my feelings any."

"Shame, I was hoping to spend some more time with you." ChatNoir teased, nudging her side, ignoring her eye roll.

"There will be plenty of other times, kitty cat-" She said, flinging her yo-yo. "Goodnight ChatNoir."

"Until next time M'lady."

….

Heyo. So this chapter sucks. You can hate it. I wanted to put something out for this story too and TBH I forgot where I was gonna go with this chapter.

Oh well. Until next time.

Please let me know in the comments if I wrote ChatBlanc instead of ChatNoir. I been writting for the other sotry for the past few days and switching can be confusing plus it's 1AM