"Alright. Let's go." With a nod, Chat enters first by bursting through, getting his claws ready in a martial arts stance as an alternative for his missing weapon. He waited until nothing appeared and motioned Nino to enter inside. Nino slowly enters in while Chat scouts the room more.
"Nothing?"
"No, it's weird. It's too quiet here."
"C-Chaton?!" a voice cries out later. Nino and Chat Noir turn to see Ladybug and Alya on a spider web behind them. They couldn't see them because of the walls that covered the sides when they entered in.
"My lady!/Ladybug!" Chat and Nino say at the same time.
"Get out of here! Now, before it's too late!" Alya yells
"No, I'm not leaving you like that! Hang on you two, we're coming!"
"No! Stop Chat Noir! Don't- WATCH OUT!" She yells, but it was too late. As Chat and Nino tried to run towards the girls, they turn back when they hear a familiar laugh until they were hit by spider silk shots, forcing them back to the same spider web as Ladybug and Alya. Getting rid of the stunning feeling from the surprise attack, Chat was the first to notice it was because of Lady Araneae as she walks towards them while skillfully twirling his staff and her mic in both hands.
"Well well well, if it isn't the boys now. Congratulations Ladybug, Chat Noir, you both won the bet! Good job on finding this room!"
"Shut up" Alya yells. "You planned this all along didn't you?! Me and Ladybug just had a straight line to here while you had your minions hurry our pace by chasing us!"
"Huh- explains why all the rooms we opened except for the last door were all dead ends" Chat Noir follows up.
"Oh ho-ho-ho- I have no idea what you're talking about there girly. I would have won if both of your heroes here didn't make it in 3 minutes, but it's not like any of that matter. Wasn't that fun?"
"What do you mean it doesn't matter?! You mean you were never going to give up your mic at all?!" Nino yells.
"Of course not! What kind of a dumb-bell do you think I am?! I ain't some 'chivalrous' wannabees like Ugly-bug or Doggy here, or all the other helpless loser like you two Mr. Stu and Ms. Pid."
"Uh, you may want to get your eyes check there o' evil hag. I'm suppose to be a cat. It's in the name after all."
"I DON'T CARE WHAT YOUR NAME IS! WHAT MATTERs NOW IS THAT BOTH OF YOUR MIRACULOUS,' AND THIS STUDIO, ARE MINE NOW! YOU LOST!"
"You'll never get away with this" Ladybug retorts. "Are you even sure you want to do this?! Will you be happy like this?"
"Hmph, happiness. As if that ever mattered in this world" Lady Araneae answers with a serious tone for once.
"In this world, there's only the strong and the weak. The strong will always trample the weak; that's the natural law of this world." She adds, slowly walking near the spider web as her minions rush to her with a commanding word on her mic. They lift her up around her feet until her face was inches away from Ladybug. "How does it feel being the weakling here, disappointing everyone, including those two, when you failed to catch the akuma right before your eyes?"
"Am I? Am I really?" Ladybug confidently says, unfazed by Lady Araneae's words, who gave her a dangerous stare back.
"Even if I'm the one stuck here, I didn't make it here through someone else's help alone. I was able to make it here with my own strength."
"Hmph, so what? You still depended on your companion there for help."
"Of course, because I trust her. Because I know and admit, unlike you, that I am a weakling."
"What?"
"You should probably get your ears checked as well. I. AM. A WEAKLING. AND I'M PROUD OF THAT!" Ladybug yells. "I never made it all this way alone, and I am ok with that. I trust in the faith of the citizens! I trust in my trust with my friends and family! I trust in the power and strength of my partner! No matter what, even when I thought I shouldn't be Ladybug because of my mistakes, they believed in me!"
Ladybug! All three of them thought. Chat, in particular, felt very worried about what Lady Araneae is about to do as he struggles to give his one hand more freedom.
"Don't you get it already! It's over! IT'S ALL OVER FOR YOU!" Lady Araneae screeches. "YOU'RE DONE FOR! YOU WILL FROM HERE ON OUT LOSE EVERYTHING FOREVER BECAUSE OF ME!"
"No. It still isn't over yet until I am no longer able to be Ladybug, and even then I'll still fight because I'm not alone. But you," Ladybug remarks, looking over Lady Araneae and her shocked and angry face one last time, "You're just depending on someone else in the end."
"Shut it."
"You don't want to believe in anybody other than yourself as you cling onto your so-called happiness!"
"Shut up."
"You'll be the one who's weak because you're all alone, AND YOU NEVER WANT TO ACCEPT THAT FACT!"
"SHUT UP! WHO CARES ABOUT OTHERS?! THEY'LL JUST DRAG YOU DOWN WHEN YOU THINK YOU CAN TRUST THEM! YOU, AND EVERYTHING ELSE YOU CARE ABOUT LIKE IT'S NOTHING - LIKE IT'S ALL JUST SOME CREEPY SPIDER IN THE CORNER THAT NO ONE WANTS!"
"...That's how you've felt then, all this time?" Ladybug softly whispers as she sees Lady Araneae gasp, "Lady Araneae, I-"
"NOOOO! NOT AGAIN! I WON'T FALL FOR IT THIS TIME AGAIN!" Lady Araneae scratches Ladybug on the cheek, enticing the rest of the the prisoners to scream in worry for the heroine. Ladybug slowly looks back, gasping when she sees the akuma raise her hand to next snatch her miraculous.
"GOODBYE LADYBUG! THIS TIME- THIS TIME, I'LL BE THE WINNER! I'LL BE THE STRONGEST OF THEM ALL!"
Alya and Nino look away, unable to watch what's happening any further. Chat keeps on moving his hand in one last attempt to turn the tables. Finally, Ladybug looks at Lady Araneae head-on despite her incoming fears, confidently standing by her beliefs. Inches away Lady Araneae's hand was until it stopped by an unknown sound in the distance. Ladybug, too focused on what's in front of her, couldn't hear it until a third time as she calmed down, listening to a man's voice calling at the other side of the big studio.
"STOP, ARIA!" Ladybug hears him. Lady Araneae surprises Ladybug by turning around, more so when she hears her whisper 'Todd' in the air.
"STOP THIS ARIA! THIS ISN'T WHO YOU ARE!"
"Q-Q-QUIET YOU! W-WHO'S ARIA?!" She responds back. "I'm… I'M THE STRONGEST OF EVERYONE HERE - LADY ARANEAE HERSELF!"
"NO YOU'RE NOT! WAKE UP ARIA! I KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE!"
"AS IF YOU KNOW ME AT ALL YOU PEASANT-"
"ARIA, YOU'RE NOT HILDA! YOU WERE NEVER HER IN THE FIRST PLACE! WHY ARE YOU TRYING TO BE LIKE HER? IT'S NOT WORTH IT!"
"OF COURSE I'M NOT HER! DIDN'T YOU HEAR ME!"
"YES, ALL OF IT! BUT NO MATTER WHAT, IT'S NO BETTER THAN WHAT HILDA DID TO YOU ARIA!" Lady Araneae flinches. Ladybug sees one of her hands twitch and looks to her with sadness, getting to understand why she turned to Hawkmoth.
"P-Please, who cares about that skank?! WHO CARES WHAT YOU WANT IN THIS?! NOW SHUT UP, OR I'LL MAKE YOU!"
"GO AHEAD, I WON'T STAY QUIET ANYMORE! WHERE'S THE GIRL WHO WANTED TO MAKE A CHANGE?! THE ONE WHO SELFLESSLY HELPED THOSE IN NEED EVEN WHEN SHE ALREADY HAD HER HANDS FULL FROM HER JOB THAT SHE WHOLEHEARTEDLY LOVED?!"
"SHUT UP!" Lady Araneae jumps down from her spider tower and runs to the one named Todd, dropping Chat's staff to prepare her claws. Though the teens couldn't see him, Todd at first hesitated to continue, but was still inspired by Ladybug's words when he woke up.
"WHERE'S THE KIND AND GENTLE GIRL I FELL FOR WHEN WE ENTERED THIS STUDIO TOGETHER?!" Midway, Lady Araneae stopped. She looked like she froze in that moment, too stunned by what Todd had just confessed.
"Wh- Wha?!" Lady Araneae suddenly blushes. Everyone awake simply stayed still and watched them except for one feline hero, who persisted through to free his hand.
"I- I love you Aria, and I'm sorry I didn't defend you earlier. I regret it all because I was just too scared at what Hilda will do, but I wanted to talk to you again when I was away from Hilda until all of this happened."
"N-No… That's- Y-You liar…"
"I'm not lying! Please trust me Aria?!"
"Y-You…" Ladybug mumbles. Meanwhile, Chat finally freed his hand with a small 'yes.'
"...Why should I?" La… Aria asks, dropping to the ground on her knees. Tears start to drop from her face, but her expression did not match her feelings - as if she never noticed the tears at all. "All of them, including you, would just leave me again. -sniff- Everyone I care about would never want to be around someone small and insignificant like me…"
"That's not true." Todd retorts with a gentle voice. "I care about you,and I'll never leave you."
"Todd…"
"CATACLYSM!" Chat Noir shouts. He uses it on the spider web, effectively freeing himself and everyone else trapped with him. Ladybug lands on the ground and runs to the akuma with her yoyo prepped and ready.
Aria sees Ladybug running to her; she was completely aware of what's happening behind her, but instead decided to sadly look at Todd. She closed her eyes, prepared for her fate as Ladybug jumps and snatches the mic before she rolled away. The battle ends with a quick snap of the item and the shout of "Miraculous Ladybug!" thereafter. Slowly, the building and Aria reverted back to their original state, and all the victims trapped were back in their original positions except for Alya, Nino and Todd.
"Uhh… Huh?" Aria slowly comes to as she looks around in confusion. "W-Where… What happened?"
"Hi there." Ladybug says, walking towards Aria.
"Ah, Ladybug! I- Did i perhaps-"
"Aria" Todd unknowingly says outloud. Aria notices him behind Ladybug and slowly remembers what happened.
"I- I- Oh no."
"Aria." Todd walks up to them, but Aria stands up and bows before she ran away. He immediately runs after her out of the studio, calling for her again, while Ladybug watches them pass her.
"Good luck" she says. Chat, Alya and Nino run to Ladybug.
"Ladybug! Are you ok?!" Alya worriedly asks. Ladybug nods.
"Don't worry, I'm ok."
"I'm- I'm so sorry my lady" Chat says with a sullen look. "If only I got my hand out earlier, or paid more attention to my surroundings."
"Chaton." Ladybug later smiles, putting a hand on her partner. "You still managed to free us."
"But-"
"And you came. I knew you would. Thank you Chat Noir. I'm glad you're my partner."
"Wh- What?! Where did this come from?!"
"Hehe" Ladybug giggles. "Don't worry about it." She gave a wink towards Alya, who winks back. Chat didn't noticed to who though, and makes his usual smug grin.
"Ah~ I feel so loved my lady! Mew will always have my heart bugaboo." Chat tries to hug Ladybug, but she rolls her eyes and pushes him back.
"Stop with the puns Chat, and I didn't mean it like that."
"You know you love me and my puns my lady. You're my 'butter' half after all."
"Chat."
"You're so dear to my Ladybug."
"Chat!"
"You have me all spun up in your beautiful web of eyes."
"CHAT NOIR, STOP IT!" Ladybug shouts, feeling embarrassed for once since Alya and Nino were watching them. Part of her blames Alya for earlier, but it didn't stop Chat to keep on telling her love puns as she tries to stop him. Amongst the bickering, Alya and Nino start their own conversation at the side.
"You ok there Nino?"
"Yeah" he nods. "That was a close call back there."
Alya also nods back, but she soon turns back to the doors that the two people ran out through. "I hope he gets her. They seem good for each other."
"I agree. Hopefully they will." They turn back to the arguing masked partners with a smile.
"Did you find out in the end? If Adrien's that same Chat Noir in front of us?" Alya asks. Nino simply stared at the pair, but he nodded, showing he heard her.
"Nah, and I think that's for the best."
"Hmm? If Adrien is Chat Noir?"
"Well yes, but also just whoever Chat is in the end."
"Are you sure about that?"
"Yeah. You were right - all of these things reporters do for information is tough, but so is being a hero. I'll just respect not just Chat Noir, but also Ladybug's decision. They still have a lot to do in their hands, so I'll just support them whenever I can if I'm able to."
"I see. I respect that," Alya answers, "but I guess part of me still can't stay still who they are, so I guess I'll just look for that answer on my own than - starting with Ladybug."
"Hahaha- of course her first."
"I like Chat Noir; it's just that my curiosity is leaning more towards Ladybug than Chat."
"Ok, if you say so" Nino defends himself. They stay silent for a moment till Alya breaks it once again.
"Although, I think you can be certain of this one as well Nino."
"Hmm? Certain of what?"
"If Ladybug and Chat Noir can possibly care each other in 'that' way."
"That… Oh~" They see Ladybug wave goodbye to Chat Noir, both of them smiling at each other, before Chat NOir turns to them and waves at them. They wave back as he leaves to transform back while Ladybug walks to them.
"Sorry about him. Seems like he has something he has to get back to quickly."
"No worries Ladybug, we understand" Nino answer back.
"You going as well Ladybug?" Alya asks. Ladybug nods.
"I also have something I need to do. You two take care ok?" They say yes to her before she left. They watch her leave with her yoyo to who-knows-where with a smile on their faces.
"Oh yeah, totally" Nino casually answers back. "They certainly will make a good couple if they realize it's mutual."
"Yeah hopefully soon. Now Marinette sure has a chance with Adrien!"
"Don't be certain yet there Alya. That's another mystery to solve, especially with the fact that my pal's dense around love."
"Hmph, he just has to realize my best friend likes him. If I can deal being chased by minion spiders, I can deal with them as well."
"...Really? Ladybug didn't just carry you here?" Nino skeptically asks. Alya knew it was true (at least in the near end), but nevertheless punches Nino's arm before going back to Adrien and Marinette.
Around a week or so passes by since that incident. Marinette walks around Paris and relaxes as she takes in the sights with her mind's camera. Tikki opens the purse and talks to her.
"Today's a nice day, isn't it Marinette?"
"Yeah! It sure is beautiful today." Marinette turns a corner and keeps on walking causally.
"...Did you ever hear about what happened to Lady Araneae?" Tikki asks.
"You mean Ms. Aria?" Marinette asks, getting a nod as a response through the corner of her eyes. "No, although it seemed like Mr. Todd never caught up to her when I saw him while Adrien was on stage."
"I see… It's just, seeing them like that, I hoped they finally understood each other."
"I hoped so as well Tikki" Marinette agrees. "It just, I think Ms. Aria was just too much regret about turning into an akuma that she couldn't face him anymore."
"Guess only time will be able to heal a wounded heart." Both of them nod with small sad looks when Marinette feels herself suddenly getting bumped out to the side. Marinette falls and rubs her head, checking Tikki in her purse soon after to see she was ok as well. She looks in front of her to recognize Aria with a new haircut getting out of shock, as well as some flyers on the floor which Marinette picks up..
"Oh I'm so sorry there. Here, let me help you there." Aria stands up, dusting herself before helping Marinette up and taking the flyers afterwards.
"Thank you so much. Are you hurt?" She asks.
"No, I'm ok."
"I see. That's good to hear. Here, take this" Aria says while handing out one of the flyers she dropped. "This is a flyer with discounts to the makeup boutique I work at. I work around 3-8 pm on weekdays except Wednesdays, so if you find me I'll give some free makeup in return."
"Oh no, I couldn't possibly-"
"No I insist" Aria shakes her head as well.
"But-"
""It's the least I can do. Really"
"Well… Sure. Why not, I guess." Marinette shrugs.
"Great! I hope I'll see you then. Have a good day." Aria bows and walks past Marinette. Marinette, on the other hand, watches her go while Tikki opens the bag again.
"She sure is different than she was as Lady Araneae" Marinette remarks.
"Yeah" Tikki nods. "But at least she's seems happy at least."
Marinette continues to watch with a sigh until she looks down to Tikki. "Hey Tikki, do you think they'll ever meet each other again?"
"...I think so." Tikki replies with a smile. "They're fated to be together."
"Really? That sounds a bit lame though, like from a romance show."
"Tikki, the protector of love and justice!" She teases.
Marinette laughs when something catches her attention behind her. She turns back to see Todd once again meeting Aria as he grabs her from escaping. Marinette gasps as she watches the two reconcile with a hug and tears, smiling after seeing Aria smile after all that had happened to her.
"See?" Tikki remarks while giggling. Marinette joins her while walking away.
"I guess so. Hey protector of love and justice, you think I'll also have my chance too with Adrien?"
"If you try hard enough of course." The two laugh along the way, relishing in the ending of the happy couple, and unaware of another pair, a boy and his kwami (though he was asleep for all of it), watching the couple as well.
"Always believe in yourself. Do this, and no matter where you are, you will have nothing to fear."
- Baron from Studio Ghibli's "The Cat Returns"