A/N - Hey guys! Welcome back! This chapter and the next chapter will be relatively short, but I didn't want to combine them and make it too long so... you'll just have to deal with it! The next one should be coming fairly soon though, don't worry.

rubius - Glad you're enjoying it so far! And the thought did cross my mind to have Marinette as Tikki when I first was brainstorming this story, but it wouldn't have worked with what I have planned.

Guest - I know, right? I love both shows so much! I'm happy you're enjoying my combo!

Ester Shadow - Here's the team bonding! I hope you enjoy it since you were looking forward to it!

Ugly-Duckling123 - As always, thanks for catching my mistakes! Hope it doesn't lessen your enjoyment of the story!

GuardianAngel1234567 - You asked and I delivered! Here's the next chapter!


The paladins stood nervously on the training deck, all five circled up and facing outwards. They didn't know what kind of training this would be, but after the stunt Tikki pulled with the castle's defenses they were nervous.

Plagg stood at the balcony above the training deck, fiddling with a headset. He tapped the mic, testing it.

"Two, two, one, two. Okay, listen up guys," He ordered. "The paladin code demands that you put your team members' safety above your own. "A swarm of drones is about to attack."

"Huh?" Adrien stared as small, gray, ball-shaped drones emerged from compartments and surrounded the group, one for each of them.

"It's up to each of you to do everything you can to protect the other members of your team."

"Wait, wait, wait. What's going on?" Nino asked. He gasped as a shield emerged from the band on his wrist. "Whoa. Did you guys get one of these?"

Glancing at his teammates, he found that they did indeed have similar shields.

"Get ready," Marinette warned them.

All of a sudden, the drones started firing lasers at them.

Immediately, Nino ducked, leading a shot to hit Alya in the back. As soon as she was hit, a hole opened up in the floor and she fell through.

"Protect your teammates or there will be no one there to protect you!" Plagg chided.

In his attempt to dodge another shot, Nino dropped his shield, taking a hit directly to the chest and plunging through a new hole in the floor.

Marinette, Adrien, and Chloe were the only ones left, and they slowly retreated into the center of the circle until they were back to back, each working to block the shots from the five drones.

"Increase intensity!" Plagg called out, and suddenly the shots were coming faster and faster and it became much harder to block.

"You keeping up over there, Marinette?" Chloe taunted, even as she struggled to defend herself.

"Just concentrate on keeping us safe." Marinette replied, too focused on the drones to even roll her eyes.

"Me?" Chloe scoffed. "I own this drill. You're the one who needs to concentrate."

"Guys-" Adrien started, but was cut off. A hole had opened up and swallowed, one of the blasts slipping past Chloe's guard and hitting him in the back.

"Oh, f-" She started, before being nailed in the head with a blast and dropping through a new hole.

With everyone else gone, Marinette didn't stand a chance, and was quickly taken out.

From his place on the balcony, Plagg facepalmed.


When they returned to the training deck, it now contained a holographic maze. The paladins looked at it from the balcony in awe, examining the detail. Only Chloe remained on the floor, in the very center of the maze.

"To form Miraculous, you must trust in each other," Plagg explained. "This ancient paladin maze will teach you that trust. Your teammate can see the walls, but you cannot. So, listen carefully. If you touch the walls, you'll get a slight shock."

As if on cue, the maze vanished. Those in the balcony could see a diagram of the layout, but Chloe couldn't see a thing. To her, it looked like there was no maze at all.

She frowned.

"Wait, who's guiding me through?"

"Take two steps forward." Came Marinette's voice over the microphone. Chloe groaned.

"Oh, no. Not Marinette. Why does she get to be the girl on the mic?"

"Now, just sit tight," Plagg told her. "You'll get your turn."

"Like I said," Marinette continued, unfazed by Chloe's remarks. "Take two steps forward, turn right, and take three steps in that direction."

Chloe turned and began to walk, and almost immediately felt the electric shock hit her as she ran into the maze.

"Ow!" She complained. "You did that on purpose!"

"You're not listening." Marinette replied, trying to keep her cool.

"You said, "Turn right"."

"But before that, I said "Take two steps forward"."

Chloe fumed, but took two steps forward… right into the maze.

"Ugh! We are switching places right now!"


Secure in their mechas, the paladins floated high above the ground. Marinette smiled as she gazed out of the window, taking in the unique view of the planet. The sky was beautiful - almost Earth-like, but with a variety of colors swirled in - and she couldn't even see the ground from here.

"You'll never be able to form Miraculous unless each of you has a strong bond with their mecha," Plagg told them over the coms.

"No problem," Chloe bragged. "Me and Bee are best friends for life, for real."

"Perfect! Then you won't have any issues with this next exercise. Everyone, put your mechas into a nosedive!"

The paladins complied, nervous as they were, each of them directing their mechas towards the ground below and continuing to fly.

"This is an expert-level drill that you really shouldn't attempt until you've been flying for years, but uh, we're in a bit of a rush, so here we go. Activating training helmets!"

On Plagg's command, the masks of all of the paladins became entirely black, preventing any of them from seeing a thing.

Chloe grabbed at her mask, trying to pull it off, to no avail.

"Plagg, what's happening? I can't see!"

"You must learn to see through your mecha's eyes. The goal is to pull up right before you hit the ground. Feel what the mecha feels!"

"Mine feels scared!" Chloe declared after a moment's hesitation, stopping the bee in midair and abandoning the exercise.

The other four kept going.

Adrien was grinning. He wouldn't deny that he loved this kind of thrill. It reminded him of when he and Nino used to race in his backyard.

Speaking of…

"You still going, Adrien?" Nino challenged him playfully.

"You know it." Adrien shot back with a smile. "You?"

"Going? I'm speeding up!" Nino bragged, doing so as he uttered the words. The danger of hitting the ground was long forgotten as both boys got into the race.

"Oh, yeah?" Adrien copied him, and the black cat let out a growl as they matched Nino's pace.

"Must be getting close." Nino added after a moment of silence.

"Must be."

"You getting scared?" He teased.

"I'm not scared." Adrien declared…

...moments before they both crashed into the ground.

"...Ow."

"...I totally win."

Meanwhile, Alya and Marinette were still hurtling through the sky.

"What was that noise?" Alya asked nervously. "Did they crash?"

Receiving no response from her best friend, Alya gave into her fear and pulled away, slowing the fox so that she floated in midair.

Marinette was the only one left, her eyes closed beneath her mask as she focused on being one with the ladybug.

Let me in, she pleaded silently.

As if on cue, the ladybug let out a low hum, and Marinette's eyes shot open.

What she saw made her gasp aloud… because she could see. Her vision was sharp and tainted red, and she witnessed the landscape flying by as she soared closer to the ground.

These weren't her own eyes she was seeing through. They were the ladybug's.

With a grin spreading across her face and a newfound sense of determination, Marinette focused on the task at hand. She approached the ground at lightning speed… and pulled up right before she hit it.

"I think I'm getting this." She breathed in amazement.

"Excellent, Marinette!"


Back in the castle, the five teammates sat cross-legged in a circle in the center of the training deck. Eyes closed, each of them wore a headset that would allow them to project their thoughts into images for the others to see.

"Now the most important part of paladin training is being able to meld your minds and focus on one thing: Miraculous," Plagg explained quietly. "Everything else has to fade away."

Images flickered to life in front of each of the paladins as their thoughts became open and their minds came together.

From Adrien's headset came an image of a house; not any house, but the cabin he had escorted them to in the desert. In the window there was silhouette of a person, a figure who hadn't stepped foot in that cabin for many years. And yet Adrien thought of them still.

From Chloe came an image that the team might not have expected. Knowing Chloe, they figured her thoughts would revolve around shopping or her rivalries or something shallow. Instead, her mind brought forth a portrait of a wealthy family - her own family. All together, posed for the picture, they were smiling and happy. She sighed instinctively, a wistful expression on her face.

From Alya, there came an image similar to Chloe's. It was her own family huddled together in front of the fireplace at during the holiday season, Marinette present as well, as they exchanged gifts and listened to music. She wondered when she would get to see them again, and if they would be back in time for the holidays.

From Nino, a brief image of Alya flickered to life. His face turned red and he quickly refocused his attention, filling his mind with meaningless things. The new image projected displayed a variety of food, with Bob Marley playing in the background.

Then there was Marinette. From her came an image they all would have expected; her parents.

"This technique will be essential every time you form Miraculous. So, relax and open your mind. No walls, no secrets between paladins." As Plagg spoke, each of the images transformed into the paladins' respective mechas, and the animals drifted towards the center of the circle - towards each other.

All except Marinette, whose image still displayed her parents, refusing to shift into the ladybug.

"Come on, everyone, clear everything," Plagg encouraged them. "Now focus on forming your mecha. Bring your mechas together and… and form Miraculous." He glanced worriedly at Marinette, who was still struggling. "Keep your minds open, work together. One to go!"

"Marinette, stop thinking of your parents!" Chloe finally snapped, opening her eyes to glare at the other girl. Marinette's eyes shot open, fury evident in her features.

"I wasn't! You people keep rooting around in my head hole!" She retorted angrily.

"I thought we were open," Nino spoke up. "You can look in my head hole."

"Everyone has to be able to look in everyone's head holes! Clear your minds!" Plagg commanded. The paladins reluctantly closed their eyes, each forming their mechas once again. This time, Marinette successfully projected a ladybug, sending it towards the center of the circle with the rest of the paladins. "Good! Almost there! Now form Miraculous! Yes!"

The mechas met in the center of the circle, connecting with each other to form Miraculous. The ladybug was just about to settle on top, completely the figure… when it flickered back into an image of Marinette's parents.

"Marinette!" Chloe groaned.

Marinette yanked the headset off her head, uncaring that her hair had become extremely ruffled by the action.

"I'm done with this," She declared angrily. "Look, I don't like everyone grubbing around in my head."

"Oh, come on, Marinette," Nino said. "We're starting to get the hang of this." Marinette glanced towards Alya, who remained silent. She was glad that her best friend, at least, wouldn't speak against her.

"I'm just… "I'm just tired, okay?"

"Okay," Marinette looked up to find Adrien gazing at her with understanding and sympathy. "Let's take a break."

Plagg nodded, fetching water bottles to bring down to the paladins. They took them gratefully, immediately taking long sips.

"You have been working hard," He noted. "Maybe it's time to relax a little."

The doors open, and all six looked up as Tikki entered the room. She stopped short when she saw the paladins sitting on the floor.

"What are you doing lying around?" She demanded. "You're supposed to be training!"

"Just resting a bit," Plagg explained. "You know, you can't push too hard."

"What do you mean, "can't push too hard"? Get up, you lazy lumps! It's time you faced the Gladiator!"


A/N - Hope you enjoyed this chapter! It was actually a bit difficult to write, as I had to describe so many scenes and actions of the characters (not my strong suit). Anyway, the next one should be coming very soon!

As always, please leave a review with your thoughts, suggestions, and predictions, and I'll see you in the next chapter!

~ Elizabeth (FanOfDeliciousFlavour)