"Pound it!" Marinette gave her partner, Chat Noir a fist bump after their solid victory. Their opponent however, was left in shambles at his loss.
"Again? Alright Chat, you and me this time against Marinette," Tom Dupain clicked back to the home screen on their home TV, another round of Ultimate Mecha-Strike 3 ready to go.
"I would love to, but I should head home," Chat, dressed in normal clothes, minus the mask set down the controller on the coffee table as he stood up to go. Marinette and Tom both set down their controllers and stood with him.
"Alright, maybe next time we can take her down," Tom took the boy under his arm and ruffled his hair. After Chat had met the Dupain-Chengs on his birthday, he was more than comfortable with the family, even coming over some nights for dinner at Sabine's insistence of "Team Bonding". And once Tom found out Chat played Ultimate Mecha-Strike 3, the gloves were off to take down the current victor, Marinette.
"Will do. Thanks so much for dinner Sabine."
"No problem dear."
"I'll see Chat out," offered Marinette as she moved Chat towards the door.
"Goodnight Chat!" "Goodnight Chat." Marinette's parents waved as Marinette and Chat went out of the apartment and down the stairs.
"Tonight was fun," commented Marinette.
"Yeah, glad I was able to get some practice. Did you know about the Super Mecha-Strike 4 Beta Tournament?"
"No, I mean I knew there was a new release coming out this Christmas, but not the Beta Tournament."
"Yeah, they are having schools send their two best players to compete in the beta as a tournament. Publicity you know."
"Fun. And you are going to compete," Marinette opened the door to the sidewalk outside the bakery. Chat stepped out while Marinette remained partially inside.
"Hopefully, my school is holding trials tomorrow, so hopefully I'll make it."
"Let us know, we'd love to cheer you on."
"Ah, but then you'll discover my secret identity my lady." Marinette was sure Chat was waggling his eyebrows under his mask as he kissed her hand. Instead, Marinette pushed him upright with her finger to the tip of his nose.
"And would that be such a bad thing?"
"Maybe," Chat shuffled nervously. Marinette smiled. Even though the rest of the world knew her identity, she was fine with the world not knowing who Chat was. But that didn't mean she wanted to know who he was any less. At least Alya had learned her lesson and wasn't prying Marinette to find out about the mysterious Chat Noir.
"Well, whoever you are, we'll be cheering for you," Marinette pulled Chat Noir in for a hug, which he hesitantly returned.
"Thanks bugaboo," Chat pulled away and waved before walking down the street. Marinette returned the wave before returning inside.
A Super Mecha-Strike 4 Beta Tournament? She wondered if her school was participating.
Marinette raced into school, barely making it into her seat just as the bell rang.
"Nice girl," Alya sent Marinette a message via her school tablet.
"Thanks." Marinette opened the e-book on her tablet before she remembered what she wanted to ask Alya.
"Is FDC doing the Super Mecha-Strike 4 BetaTournament?"
"Yeah, do you ever read the school blog? I posted about it last Friday." Marinette gave her friend an apologetic smile. The reason she asked Alya in the first place was because she ran the school blog, but she never thought to check.
"Sorry. Did they already hold tryouts?"
"Tryouts are today during lunch in the library."
"What are you girls talking about?" Nino messaged both Marinette and Alya.
"The Super Mecha-Strike 4 Beta Tournament. Man that is a mouthful," answered Alya.
"Dude, Marinette, you going to play?"
"Thinking about it. Chat said he was going to enter so it would be fun to play against him."
"CHAT NOIR IS PLAYING?!" Alya asked, in all caps.
"That's what he told me last night."
"LAST NIGHT? Girl, when are you going to let me meet him?"
"You have, he recorded Nino's video."
"I mean in person."
"Didn't you learn your lesson about prying into super hero's secret lives?" Marinette rolled her eyes. While Alya and the rest of the world knowing might not be a good thing, nothing was wrong if Marinette did a little snooping on her own.
Of all days Marinette originally decided to eat home, she regretted it being today. After powering through lunch, she raced back to the school, taking the steps two at a time, nearly crashing into Principal Damocles' office door, then up the stairs before bursting into the library, causing everyone who had been watching the current match to turn their attention towards the bluenette. The only peoples who concentration did not break were the two competitors, Max and Adrien
"What'd I miss," Marinette whispered to Alya who was filming the event.
"So far Max has been unbeatable this whole tryout," answered Kim for Alya.
"Kim is currently in second, but Adrien may take that spot," seconded Rose.
At the mention of Adrien, Marinette turned her attention to the duo, Adrien grimacing as he battled while Max smirked at the screen. At the last moment, Adrien managed to pull off a combo, advancing his level and declaring him victor and beating Max's score.
The students in the library cheered, despite the librarian's attempted shushing. Max and Adrien high fived.
In Marinette's mind though, an Adrien plot was hatching.
"So let me get this straight. If someone manages to beat Max's score, they'll team up with Adrien at the tournament?"
"No one can beat Max. Or rather Max and Adrien. It's a slam dunk. They're our school's dream team!" answered Kim. If Kim and Rose didn't notice the all too innocent look in Marinette's eyes, Alya certainly did. Alya stopped recording before dragging her friend over to a bookcase.
"I see where you're going with this, Little lady."
"Just imagine, teaming with Adrien!" Marinette ignored her friend, happily enjoying her dreamland of her and Adrien, imagine, being a team.
"Are you out of your mind, girl? This is about stepping up and representing! Not snuggling up and snogging! This is serious business!"
"And I am taking it seriously. One I actually can play so I wouldn't be letting down the school if I won, Two I get to play against Chat, and Three I get to be on a team with Adrien." Marinette did a small little jump, just thinking of all the positive outcomes.
"Well, I think we have our two representatives lined up for the Paris tournament," started Principal Damocles before Marinette rushed back over to where everyone else stood.
"Wait! Uh, Is it too late... to try out?" Everyone gasping at her question.
"Well, the library is closing up in five minutes, but…"
Marinette marched over to the seats in front of the screen, Adrien offering her his controller.
"Adrien's controller! Ohhh...!" If Marinette didn't have a tryout to win, she would have died on the spot. After Nino's film, Marinette hadn't found a chance to talk to Adrien, so this was the next best thing.
Max took the seat beside her.
"The rules are elementary, You battle each other's robots with your own and…"
"Please... Every time you win, you loot its items and gain XP, which upgrades your mech. I'm not a newb, thank you very much," Marinette selected the LB-03 bot.
"Ah, sounds like you have a sufficient amount of knowledge. Let's see if it's enough to beat me," Max selected the MX-01 bot.
The opponents shook hands and so their battle commenced.
"Come on, Max, you can do it," cheered Kim from behind the players, but shortly after the match began, Marinette already began to take the lead. Everyone's jaw dropped in amazement as Marinette performed her combos flawlessly.
"And now, a quarter super plus heavy kick, and Flying Hyper Storm! Triple head combo, Marinette style! Booyah!" Marinette's LB-03 leveled up, declaring Marinette victor and even topping Adrien's score.
"Woo! Yeah! Woo hoo! I win! Uh-huh!" Marinette stood up and danced in her victory while others cheered. Max slouched in his seat, despondent over his loss before standing.
"I accept this defeat. I relinquish my position at the tournament. Congratulations, Marinette. And Adrien," Max began walking out of the library, his controller still in hand.
"Max, wait," Adrien called out after. Marinette looked between the faces of her friends, Kim going after Max. Marinette went numb as Principal Damocles announced her and Adrien as winners. Sure she had won, but at what cost for her friends.
Marinette kept brooding until she got home, eventually falling on her chaise. She pulled up her phone, hoping messaging Chat would help.
"Hey Chat."
"Hey Bugaboo. What's up?"
"I won my school's tryout for the Super Mecha-Strike 4 Beta Tournament. Alya is right, that is a mouth full."
"Same here. I'm practicing with my partner this afternoon. You?" Marinette's face was of sheer panic.
She had forgotten Adrien was coming over to practice after school. She couldn't have him practice downstairs where her parents would bother them. She looked around her room to see posters and pictures of Adrien everywhere.
"Same here. GTG. Bye." Marinette threw her phone on the chaise and dashed around her room, tearing down the pictures and hurried changing her desktop background to the one of her and Chat from their first mission. That was innocent enough, right? It wouldn't give Adrien the idea she crushed on her partner, right?
"Marinette! Someone's here to see you!" Her mother called from below her room. Marinette scrambled where to put a framed picture.
"Coming," she replied before lifting the mattress on her chaise and stuffing the picture underneath. She did one glance over before opening her door. And not a moment too soon.
"...Marinette talks a lot about you, you know?"
"Mom!" Her parents and Adrien looked up at her, as she offered a weak smile. Adrien was stiff and at attention as he stood in front of her parents.
"Come up, Adrien."
"Uh, very nice to meet you," Adrien waved before following Marinette upstairs. Marinette was sure she could hear her parents cooing. She was thankful they never did that when Chat was around, as far as she knew.
"So this is what your room looks like," she heard Adrien mumble.
"What?"
"Uh, your room, Nino warned me it was very pink," Adrien offered nervously, but Marinette was took nervous herself to make a comeback like would with Chat. Had Chat seen her room?
Marinette pulled up the game on her computer as Adrien rolled over an extra seat to her desk, just missing the picture of Chat on her computer. Marinette sat down in the chair at her desk. They both reached for the controllers, their hands touching.
"Oh! Hahaha. Sorry." Marinette pulled back almost as fast as Adrien.
"No, you go," offered Adrien. They both reached again, their hands touching a second time.
"I'll use the other one," they both said at the same time. Adrien quickly grabbed the controller, and Marinette took the other one. As they both started playing, Marinette was sure Adrien had glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, but resumed looking at the screen.
"Your parents seem nice," started Adrien. Marinette knew he was just trying to make conversation, especially since their last conversation was about lip-locking. And before that was his birthday, and before that the dance where Chloe and Adrien's fan girls had tried to hog him all night. Not much progress had been either as friends or romantically.
"Oh yeah, they are. But... sometimes…" Marinette's door burst open with Tom holding a plate croissants.
"Everything going good? I thought just in case you wanted something to eat…" he began to offer.
"Uh... no thanks, Papa. We're training," Marinette paused the game and turned in her seat.
"Well then, uh, maybe you could use a few tips, you know... dad style."
"Thanks, but no thanks! Papa!" Marinette tried not to sound agitated. Her father closed the door as Marinette turned back around in her seat, noticing out of the corner of her eye Adrien's frown.
"Sometimes my parents could be a little nosey," she smiled, which Adrien returned. She heard her door creak to find her parents peeping. They quickly closed the door at being nearly discovered, Adrien turning up hearing the noise, only for Marinette to offer a weak smile.
"Where were we?" Marinette turned back to the computer, hoping there would be no more interruptions while sunshine Adrien smiled happily as they played.
Marinette smiled as they played, Adrien mashing the buttons in frustration. Their bots managed to pull off the combo, declaring victory over the CPU.
"Wow! We won again, thanks to you!" Adrien cheered.
"Yeah, um, yes we did," Marinette wasn't exactly sure how to respond. They had played well as a team, almost as good as her and Chat.
"We? That was practically all you. You're amazing, Marinette," Adrien rolled back in his seat. "I guess you wouldn't even need me. I'm so lame compared to you." Rain clouds were being to form covering Adrien's natural sunshine.
"Um, no, no, no, I... No, you're so good. I mean, I'm the one who's not good. I mean... I'm lucky, that's all," Marinette figured it would be better to stop talking. Her talking was no helping anyone.
"Anyone want cookies? They're hot from the oven," Marinette nearly jumped at her father's voice.
"Papa, we're trying to work here!" If Tom was bothered by Marinette's comment, he didn't show it. He left the room as quietly as he came.
"Actually, you know what? I've got a secret," Marinette pulled a small part of a bracelet she had made shortly before starting missions. "I take this with me on all my missions. I know I'll always win if I have it."
"Are you messing with me?" Adrien asked as he inspected the simple jewelry from where he sat.
"I made it at a camp the week before I went on my first mission. The good luck just stuck with it."
Adrien raised an eyebrow as Marinette smiled.
"Try playing a match with it." Adrien took the bracelet from her hand, Marinette sure her face was blushing at the simple contact.
Marinette heard her door open, not to only find her dad, but her mom as well, holding a freshly baked quiche.
"How about a delicious quiche? You can tell me what you think of it?" Before Marinette could say anything, Adrien turned towards her.
"Uh, Marinette. A little snack wouldn't hurt, would it?" How could Marinette turn that sunshine smile down?
Marinette sat on a bench in the park with Adrien, both eating a slice of her mom's quiche. While Adrien was savoring every bite, Marinette's feelings from before came back to haunt her. She wish she could talk to Chat about it , but he was probably busy practicing for the Tournament.
"So ready to go back and give this thing a try?" Adrien asked as he held up the bracelet. Marinette didn't respond, wallowing in her guilt for taking the tournament away from Max.
"You ok?"
"Me...um...yeah, Wouldn't I why be? I mean, why wouldn't I be?"
"You ready to practice some more?"
"I'm, not entirely sure. I noticed after the tryouts the way Max looked. And I feel bad."
"But you did win the spot fair and square."
"But he actually wanted that spot. A lot more than me." Marinette sighed, slumping her head into her hands.
"I only wanted to play in the Tournament to meet Chat," admitting a partial truth.
"Meet Chat?" Adrien asked, sounding a little too nervous at Marinette's comment.
"Chat Noir, my partner for the whole saving the world. He said he was going to try to enter and I thought if I played I would be able to meet him, like who he is behind the mask. Sounds silly, I know."
"It's not silly," Adrien defended, almost too quickly. "He's your partner, I'm sure it may be hard to trust him if he only wears a mask all the time."
"I trust Chat Noir," Marinette retorted, almost accusingly, but then scrunched back up when she realized she almost scolded Adrien.
"I just would like to know personally." Adrien looked like he was about to say something, but clammed when Marinette spoke again, "I guess when he is ready, he'll tell me. Until then I shouldn't force him to tell me."
Marinette smiled, which Adrien hesitantly returned.
"So then what are you going to do about the tournament?" asked Adrien, which earned him a mysterious smile from Marinette.
"You'll see."
Adrien waited in where all the other competitors were, looking around for Marinette. After their talk in the park, Marinette insisted she had something she needed to do, so Adrien went home to practice on his own. He fiddled with his ID badge he wore saying what school he represented
"Hey Adrien, Adrien turned to find Max standing behind him, he was wearing a similar ID badge.
"Hey Max, where's Marinette?"
"Marinette came by my house this afternoon and apologized about the tryout. She told me to take her place in the tournament," Adrien frowned before running off, Max following on his heels.
"Where are you going?" Adrien ran through the bleachers, eventually finding Marinette sitting beside Alya and Nino.
"Marinette," he called out, nearly out of breath.
"A-Adrien," Marinette turned to Adrien, her face crimson pink.
"You need to be in the tournament."
"No, Max is the better player. You guys will win for sure with him on your team."
"You're a hundred times better than me. You belong on the team. Win the tournament for the school. I know you can do it.," Adrien took off his own badge and handed it to Marinette as Max approached. Marinette hesitantly took the badge, Nino practically shoving her out of the bleacher to make room for Adrien.
"Go on, dudes! They're waiting for you!" Marinette smiled and ran with Max to the competitor's area. Alya was face palming for some reason as Adrien took the seat Marinette once occupied.
"Ladies and Gentlemen. Welcome to the Super Mecha-Strike 4 Beta Tournament!"
The crowds cheered as the players began to step onto the stage. Marinette and Max had seats close to the side of the stage, but there were no computers before them.
"We now present to you what we've been working on at Hyper Storm," an assistant came up to the announcer with a fancy headset that even covered the eyes.
"The future of gaming, Virtual reality." Each of the contestants was given their own headset. From where Adrien sat, the only part of Marinette's head still visible was her two ponytails.
A giant screen turned on behind them, viewing in third person a match about ready to happen. The four players picked their bots.
"3...2...1...GO!" The crowds chanted after the timer began, the match in play.
"Dude, don't you wish you could be trying that," Nino nudged Adrien while Alya recorded the match on her phone.
"Marinette is a much better player than me. Plus with this her skills as Ladybug will be handy," insisted Adrien.
"Let's hope she can beat Chat Noir with his tiger kung fu skills," commented Alya with a wink. Nino choked on the soda he was drinking, Adrien patting his friend's back.
"What?"
"What if Chat isn't playing," offered Adrien while Nino recovered.
"He is, Marinette told me."
"Of course she did," gasped Nino.
"Winner!" The screen flashed the school's name, as the students from that school cheered wildly, those neutral and opposed clapping in respect to the winners. Before the announcer would announce the next challengers, the same assistant approached the announcer and whispered something in his ear. They both retreated to the back of the stage. The crowds started to murmur.
"What do you suppose is going on?" Asked Alya.
"Probably technical error. This is the newest game of virtual reality," answered Nino, relaxing. Adrien and Alya remained on edge as the announcer did not come out for awhile, and the students were still in the virtual reality headsets.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, if you would please remain calm, I have an announcement," the announcer came back on stage.
"Due to some technical error, the students will not be able to leave during the remainder of the tournament until the final team defeats the boss. We hope you will understand that we are doing everything in our power to fix their error. Thank you."
The next match began, but no one chanted with the timer.
"Nino, did you bring your laptop?" asked Adrien.
"You know I never leave home without it bro," Nino smiled as he pulled out his backpack. Nino and Adrien jumped out of their seats and raced down to the field, passing security as they made it to backstage where technical teams began to panic.
"Kids, you need to get out of here now," a security guard yelled.
"What's going on here," asked a man who looked like he was in charge.
"Nino Lahiffe, tech guru for the Ladyblog and Ladybug," Nino whipped out his laptop and opened it to the Ladyblog. "Ladybug is on stage now competing in the tournament. I need to be patched in."
"I wish we could, but a virus is blocking us out, we can't do anything to fix this until someone beats the boss." Nino and Adrien exchanged panicked looks before Adrien dared to ask.
"And if no one beats the boss?"
Marinette and Max sat in a virtual waiting room along with the two people they would be challenging, all dressed in jumpsuits. After looking at every boy in the competitor's area and the challengers in the waiting room, she couldn't figure out who Chat was.
Aside from Chat, Marinette didn't exactly know how to start a conversation with Max.
"So, what bot will you be playing?" Started Max, feeling the awkward tension between them.
"Probably LB-03. The leaks for the new bots didn't look to interesting… to me. That is. You?"
"Probably MX-01. Nothing like the classics."
"Will Francois Dupont and Dauphin Arc please prepare your bots."
The two teams headed to the tunnels that opened. Before Marinette appeared a screen with bot selection, selecting LB-03. Max and Marinette finished their selection to find their bots in front.
"Let's show 'em whose gold," Max smiled at Marinette before they climbed into their bots. Marinette found the control pad for the bot to be similar to her controller at home.
Their bots were moved towards the playing field, the field similar to the Paris Platform 1 in Ultimate Mecha-Strike 3.
"3...2...1…Go."
Their opponents launched into an attached, each aiming for either Marinette or Max.
"Max, let's take down the R2D3."
"Affirmative." Marinette jumped into action, avoiding the other opponent's attack to land a counter after Max blocked R2D3's attack. After her counter, Max came in with one of his own, as Marinette barely managed to block an attack from the other bot, NAD03.
"I'll keep NAD03 off your back, you get R2D3."
"Alright, let me know if you need to switch."
"Chat Noir playing NAD03, I think I can take him. But I may need your help once you are done."
Max proceeded to knock R2D3 into the air, juggling his opponent with every move, while Marinette focused on the cat-like bot. Based on her opponent's play style, this was probably not Chat Noir, but would still be a good victory.
Max finished off R2D3 by knocking the boy into NAD03, Marinette present to get them the EX to level up, declaring Francois Dupont the victors.
The bots of both teams were retreated to separate sides of the field.
"That was amazing!" Marinette practically jumped out of her bot as Max came out of his.
"That combo you did on NAD03 was amazing," added Max.
"Are you kidding, the way you juggled R2D3 was over the top awesome. You need to teach that to me. I can never do more than three when juggling." They were all smiles until they reached the waiting room, only to find more students inside.
"Is it time for the next rounds already?" Asked Marinette?
"I though we get a break after a match," added Max.
"No break," a student finally spoke, "Winners battle winners."
"In short, we are stuck here," another female student piped up.
"For how long," asked Max. The look in the student's' eyes told Marinette and Max they were going to be here a long time.
Nino sat at one of the tech desks, scanning throw the code of one of the spare games, as the tech team watched, assisting in the search where they could.
Adrien was off to the side, watching the crowds from the wings holding tight in his hand Marinette's charm.
A lot of people had left the tournament, trusting in the people that remained to tell them the results. The police had gotten involved and were talking to some of the higher ups.
"There!" One of the tech team members pointed to a line of code.
"That shouldn't be there," Nino and the team member switched seats as the member altered the code, Adrien coming up behind Nino.
"Anything?"
"Maybe. But even then it won't help the dudes playing if we fix this."
"You can't edit the code while they are playing?"
"Not unless you want to damage the system. Who knows what will happen."
Adrien looked to where he knew Marinette sat, probably only partially aware of the situation of being trapped.
"Can we add one more person to the game?"
"Bro, if LB hasn't figured Chat isn't in the game, she'd give me hell if she found out i put you there."
"Not me necessarily, but maybe someone who could get in and let players know what's going on." Nino looked back over to the tech team.
"That might help."
Marinette lost count of how many rounds she had played.
"Four," Max counted four her as the exited their bots and rejoined the winners, those in the spot of undefeated getting smaller. Those with mixed losses and wins she wasn't sure where they went, if they joined the losers somewhere or they had their own room.
They both slumped on two seats.
"I think I'm going to take a month long break before playing Ultimate Mecha-Strike 3," Marinette yawned.
"Same, probably try a game less stressful. Like chess."
"Chess is not less stressful."
"Depends. At least you aren't trapped."
Marinette sighed in agreement. They continued to wait, but no announcement came for the next match.
"Shouldn't they have announced the next match by now?" asked a player to their partner. Marinette sat up. Normally a match was announced just as they sat down.
"More technical errors," offered someone else.
"EMERGENCY WARNING!"
A person appeared on the screen where normally players were announced.
"Hello, thank you for participating in Super Mecha-Strike 4 Beta Tournament. As you may know by now, you are unable to leave the game. This is due to a development error on Hyper Storm's part. The way this error is set is it refuses all players to leave until the boss is defeated. Those who are still undefeated have the highest chance of defeating the boss. Those who have 1 or greater losses will continue to battle. Thank you."
The person disappeared.
"At least we know what's going on now," offered Max.
Nino gave the tech team member a thumbs up as they finished the emergency announcement loop they had made in the game for sake of update errors and the like.
"At least now they can focus," Nino told Adrien, who was a pacing messing.
"Where's Marinette and Max in the leaderboard?" asked Adrien.
"Still undefeated. Two more matches and then they should be at the boss match." Adrien nodded absent mindedly.
"Come on bro, we've done all we can for now. Let's go join Alya."
"I think Adrien needs to go to a convenient photo shoot," Adrien pulled a mask out of his pocket and put it over his face, Chat Noir replacing Adrien with a single mess up of his hair and removal of his white outer shirt.
"Dude, you know Marinette will be fine if just Adrien is there once it's all done."
"She played the game because she wanted to find Chat. And now because of both Chat and Adrien, she's stuck in the game. More Adrien's fault than Chat. She'll be happier to know Chat's fine."
Nino shrugged, long ignoring his friend's logic since he found out his best bud was LB's partner. A secret Adrien insisted, but Nino wasn't sure why if Adrien just wanted to be better friends with Marinette.
Nino lead the way out of the back, Chat Noir following as they made their way back to the stands, where Alya was sleeping on Sabine's lap, Tom sitting beside Sabine.
"Chat? Are you not playing?" Asked Sabine.
"No, a friend of mine wanted to play more than me, so I let them," Chat sat beside Sabine, not daring to look either of the two adults in the eye.
"Don't blame yourself for this Chat, I'm sure your friend doesn't either," offered Tom as Nino sat beside Chat. Chat didn't offer much in response, only watching as the next match began.
"Eight," Max called out as they entered the winner's lobby as he collapsed on the first available chair.. Marinette fell on the floor.
"You alright Marinette?"
"Yeah. Just taking a nap," Marinette rolled over. "I'm glad neither Chat nor Adrien are in this."
"You think Chat backed out."
"Not sure, but nobody plays like Chat does. He adds weird tiger kicks to his attacks."
Max chuckled.
"I'm glad Kim isn't here either. He was almost going to play if you or Adrien hadn't beat him," added Max.
"I'm glad then our friends are safe."
"And I'm glad you're my partner. Because you are a good player, not anything weird or…"
"I get it. How long until our next battle?" Max slightly sat up to look around the room to find they were the only two in the room.
"I think we are the only undefeated one."
"So when's the boss battle," asked Marinette.
"Francois Dupont, please prepare your bots." Marinette slowly stood up, eventually helping Max out.
"Let's show 'em whose gold," Max said as they selected their bots.
Marinette smiled and nodded as they entered into their bots.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, now presenting the finalists from Francois Dupont, Max Kante in MX-01 and Marinette Dupain-Cheng in LB-03!" The spotlights shined on Max and Marinette's corner of the stage. The announcement startled Alya awake.
"What'd I miss."
"It's Max and Marinette against the boss," answered Chat leaning forward in his seat. Alya's eyes went wide as she looked over to see Nino next to Chat.
"Where'd Adrien go?"
"Photoshoot," answered Nino as he too leaned forward as the match to begin.
Marinette and Max stood side by side in their bots as the Boss was announced. A new bot named ADM-00 that had never been released before in the leaks. It was taller than any other bot, taking a more humanoid appearance with the exception of the face the had a horn and the jaw of some ancient animal. At the base of one elbow was a gun instead of a lower arm and hand.
"Find it's weak spot. I'll distract it," Marinette ordered.
"Alright, good luck!"
"3...2...1… GO!"
Marinette immediately ran for the right, shooting at the boss a couple times to draw it's attention. Luckily, the boss following after her left Max an opponent to watch as the boss chased.
"Marinette, there's a cable connecting the boss to the back. That might be it's power supply."
"Go for it then."
Max charged while Marinette blocked the boss's blows. Max made a grab for the connector only to be blocked by the boss bending its arm back, grabbing Max's fist. Marinette shot the arm at its elbow, dropping the decapitated arm for Max to gather the XP. Using its one good arm, the boss grabbed Marinette and tossed her and her bot away to focus on Max.
Alya grimaced while recording the fight on her phone. That was a nasty hit Marinette took, which had lowered her health considerably. Max though may have enough to get them through.
Tom and Sabine held each other tight, watching in anticipation.
Nino was practically ready to fall out of his seat as the boss turned towards Max, Max blocking every one of the boss's moves.
Chat nervously rocked back and forth, holding tight in his hand Marinette's bracelet, praying for good luck.
Marinette got up from the ground to survey the situation. This bot was programmed to be difficult, it was the boss, but there had to be some way to weaken it. Marinette scanned the controls for some way to help win. A combo she hadn't come up with. Unless she didn't need a combo.
She clicked the button for target lock, her bot's head following the target. She adjusted the seat forward before pressing her intercom to Max.
"Max, cover me."
She brought the chair all the way forward, smashing the controls for combos before making a jump out of the LB-03.
The ADM-00 noticed the LB-03 firing repeatedly and changed it target from MX-01 to the ladybug bot. It charged towards the bot while Max grabbed hold of the cable that trailed behind. Marinette had though been charging towards the boss, and slid underneath as it continued its charge. Marinette gave Max a thumbs up sign before grabbing onto the cord. MX-01 nodded and whipped the cord, launching Marinette into the air. With a graceful flip, she landed on the back of the boss as it began to tear her LB-03 apart, dropping XP as it was destroyed. On the back the cord was connected by a lock that needed to be pressed down to release. Marinette pushed down with all her might while Max come up alongside the bot to battle it, ripping off the gun arm, and dropping the XP the boss had gained from defeating LB-03.
Using the XP boost to his advantage, Max began to press the boss back into a corner, Marinette continuing to push against the lock until the boss tripped over its own cord, crashing to the ground.
The crowd gasped in horror, witness MX-01 pushing the boss and his partner into a forced win. Chat was sure the bracelet was embedded to his hand at this point with how tight he gripped it.
Out of the chaos of the boss, an arm raised up carrying the cord detached.
"Winner Francois Dupont."
The crowds couldn't have cheered more widely as medics ran onto the stage to help the players who had been trapped. Families and friends rushed to greet the students as the began to make their way off the stage.
Marinette dropped the cord in the heap before it disappeared, leaving her and Max.
"We showed them whose gold," Marinette said with a smile, raising her fist to Max, who reciprocated the fist bump before disappearing.
"We sure did."
Marinette found herself back in the stadium, paramedics checking her pulse and pupil dilation. When the small lights were out of her eyes she could see the stadium emptying, but the announcer and his assistant approaching her and Max who was still beside her.
"We are very sorry for the turn of events Mr. Kante and Miss Dupain-Cheng. We hope that your experience today didn't ruin your future experience with Hyper Storm.
"It wasn't that bad," Marinette offered.
"Just exhausting," added Max with a smile.
"Understandable. We will be make corrections to the code right away, even if it may postpone the release.
"Although being the winners of this unfortunate event, your school will still receive the trophy as well as a donation to your school's technology department."
"Thank you sir," Max extended his hand for a shake, which the announcer did, then the announcer shook Marinette's hand.
"Best of luck with your future gaming." Marinette and Max were both helped to stand by medics, who gently eased them off the stage to be greeted by the remaining classmates and parents.
"Oh Marinette, we were so worried about you!" Sabine was bawling as she crushed her daughter in a hug.
"I'm fine mom."
"I have every right to worry about you. You're my daughter." Tom looked like he had done some crying but was trying to be strong for his wife.
"I knew you could do it baby girl," Tom brought the full family in for a group.
"Girl, don't you do crazy stuff like that again. My heart can't take it," Alya charged in for a hug after Marinette's parents stepped aside to let her breathe. Marinette felt a cap being placed on her head.
"Yeah, and we're too young for heart problems LB," Nino came up from behind, grabbing Marinette in a headlock.
Marinette laughed before she noticed Chat standing to the side, looking almost nervous and definitely frightened. Marinette raced over and gave Chat a ginormous hug.
"You're alright," she whispered into his chest, Chat eventually reciprocating the hug.
"I actually didn't play. I let another friend play in my stead," he offered nervously.
"Are they alright?" Marinette looked up at him.
"They are now," Chat crushed Marinette in a hug. "Don't do something crazy like that without me my lady."
Marinette nodded and smiled. Sabine, Tom, Alya, and Nino all joined in on the hug. There was no place Marinette would rather be right then.