"Bye Maman! Bye Papa!" Marinette sped down the stairs and was almost out of the bakery when she ran into Tom.
"Slow down there kiddo, what's the rush?"
"Big announcement at school today and I do not want to be late," Marinette answered while jogging in place.
"Marinette!" Sabine came rushing after his daughter from the apartment, lunch bag in hand.
"You almost forgot your lunch."
"Thanks Maman," Marinette grabbed the lunch, preparing to dash off again when she was stopped by her papa.
"And this came in this morning, from Nino it looks like," Tom handed over a box with Nino's terrible scrawl writing on the top "For Marinette."
"Thanks, love you, bye!" Marinette took the box and dashed off towards the school, skipping her locker in favor of her seat in homeroom, the classroom still empty.
"Made it," she whispered in relief as she put her lunch away and proceed to open the box. Inside was a note, a pair of green shaded sunglasses, and a smaller box.
"Marinette, I was bored. Don't worry, my step-mom sterilized them before sending." Marinette chuckled at Nino's step-mother who took much pride in how clean she kept their home despite living with three sons.
She put on the pair of sunglasses, finding the only thing different was the room looked greener.
"First up, thermal imaging sunglasses. Wear 'em after dark. Night vision," continued Nino's note.
"Functional and stylish," commented Marinette as she removed the glasses.
"What are those," Marinette jumped in her seat, not noticing Adrien had slipped in while she was distracted.
"Why are you so much like a cat sometimes," she grumbled as she set the glasses down.
"There was a reason I went with Chat Noir as my secret identity," Adrien answered as he set down his bag.
"And here I thought it was because of Plagg."
"That too. What's that?" Adrien asked, head nodding towards the sunglasses.
"Night vision glasses," Marinette handed the glasses over to Adrien who tried them on, "Maybe you'd better hold onto them. Goes with the whole cat thing."
Adrien smiled as he removed the glasses and tucked them safely into his bag alongside his Chat Noir mask.
Marinette opened the next box, finding a senior class ring inside. Marinette could feel herself turning pink as she glanced at Adrien, no emotion other than anticipation of what was in the ring box shown on his face. Marinette hastily put down the box and picked back up the letter to hide her embarrassment of opening a ring box from Nino in front of Adrien.
Adrien plucked out the ring to examine it.
"Class ring, serves as mini-communicator, and"
A sharp burning sizzle was heard, Marinette perked up to see Max and Kim in the doorway, Kim with a slight bit of his fauxhawk seared off. Marinette looked down to Adrien, only to see him sitting nicely in his seat with his school tablet out, and the class ring back in the box.
That boy truly was a sneaky cat at times.
"Oops, sorry," Marinette offered, shutting the box as she did, "Guess it also serves a laser."
"No sweat Marinette, those from Nino?"asked Max as he and Kim proceeded into the class, Kim ruffling his hair to hide the damage.
"Yep, new gear for my missions."
"Nice, anything else in the box or just that," continued Kim as the boys took a seat in their row. Marinette looked in the box to see nothing else. The remainder of the letter said "see you soon".
"Nothing else."
"Alright," Kim nodded, content with the answer as he pulled out his school tablet. Marinette shrugged and hid the ring box in her bag. Normally Kim wasn't too curious about her gizmos unless it was going to help him win a bet.
The remaining students trickled in one by one into the classroom, Nino remaining the only absent student.
Ms. Bustier entered the classroom last, followed by Principal Damocles.
"Good Morning Students," the principal began as Ms. Bustier summoned down the projector screen with a tap on her tablet.
The students answered in kind, as a picture appeared behind the principal.
"I would like to announce our first ever fashion contest. It is not necessary to participate but for those with below average grades," Principal Damocles looked over at Kim, "it will help serve as extra credit on one of your finals."
A couple of students stood straighter, some needing the extra credit, while Marinette sat forward to learn more. A fashion contest should be no problem for her.
"You only have twenty four hours to work on your fashion piece, and it must be your own design. At the end of those 24 hours, your fittest presentation will be judged by none other than the great fashion designer Gabriel Agreste, the father of our very own student Adrien Agreste." Adrien turned a hue of pink as other students looked at him, some very thankful for this extra credit, Marinette for the chance to impress her fashion idol, Gabriel Agreste.
"In fact, Adrien will model the winning design in his next photoshoot."
Marinette almost died, now she couldn't mess up no matter what.
"And now, to announce this year's theme: derby hats."
"Derby hat, derby hat, derby hat, derby hat...!" Marinette paced in front of Alya and Adrien who sat on a bench during their break, Marinette growing more and more frustrated with every page she turned. "I don't have any derby hat designs. I've got top hats, caps, even two-horned hats! Need a beret? I'm your girl. A sombrero? No problem-o. But a derby! You know what? It won't even matter, 'cause I'm probably going to make a total fool of myself at the event. Most likely trip over my stupid derby and collapse on Mr. Agreste; give him a full-blown concussion and Adrien will hate me! I'll never be a world-renowned fashion designer." Marinette fell to her knees, her face landing on Alya's lap. "MY LIFE IS OVER!"
"I won't hate you," Adrien looked at Marinette in confusement then up to Alya. He would never have any reason to hate Marinette, even if she did give his dad a concussion. Adrien knew that Marinette was accident prone and wouldn't abandon him even if worse came to worse. She didn't abandon him when he was stranded at the North Pole on Christmas, he didn't see a reason to abandon his friend now.
Marinette groaned. She was still used to having these rants with Alya alone, with no Adrien around. But with no Nino to hang with Adrien, he had stuck to her side in fear of being dragged away by Chloe.
"Good to know," came the muffled reply.
"All this over a derby hat? Let me see your sketchpad, girl. There must be something in here."
Alya picked up the sketchbook Marinette had still in her hand, and began to flip through it. Adrien moved closer to look at the designs.
"Forget it, I'm a disaster zone. I'll probably mess everything up in the end."
"Are you kidding? You're super talented, Marinette. You seriously have a good chance of winning," complemented Adrien, his eyes widening in amazement with every design. Just then her watch beeped.
"Hey Nino, feeling better," Marinette asked, finding Nino at his desk dressed as normal.
"Yeah."
"Glad to hear, when do you think you'll be back to school," asked Alya?
"Shouldn't be too long now."
"Great, what's the sitch?" continued Marinette.
"Trouble. Dr. Deranger has stolen a top-secret experimental teleportation module." Marinette frowned. Next to Hawkmoth, Dr. Deranger was another annoying scientist villain. The two scientists were well known for their rivalry in the evil science community.
"Teleportation? As in the ability to transport stuff through the air?"
"Not necessarily, the word teleport comes primarily from science fiction as a reference to the ability to transport or be transported across space and distance instantly. So not necessarily through air, but space and matter, yes," came Adrien's educated answer.
"Nerd," teased Marinette.
"I think I've got a lead on Dr. Deranger's hideout. Check out these satellites scans."
"On our way."
"Thanks for the lift, MC Honey," Marinette secured her backpack while Chat Noir did the same, Marinette adding the class ring under her glove. At the speed they were going, they should hopefully make it back to class after lunch, with Adrien under the excuse of a photoshoot.
"Ain't no thing, LB. If you hadn't been there when my demo tape got jacked, I would never blown up like I did," answered the American rap artist, who had already switched recording companies to sign under Jagged Stone's new company. As far as Marinette knew, MC Honey had been a long time fan of the rockstar.
"No big." Marinette and Chat pulled the strings on their bags, the wind catching their sails and sending them into the air.
They directed themselves onto the roof of Dr. Deranger's lair.
"So you figured out what you are going to do for the derby hat yet?" asked Chat as they landed, Marinette already readying her yoyo to launch them into the window of the nearby tower.
"No Chat, I need to sit down and think about this before rushing into anything. Inspiration doesn't come when trying to fight Dr. Deranger," Marinette flung the yoyo, successfully reaching its mark. Chat extended his baton, vaulting to other side as she swung.
"What about a cat themed derby hat?"
"You would suggest that."
"I would also vote for it as my favorite."
Marinette entered the window, jumping, rolling, and flipping to avoid the sensor beams, eventually reaching the end of the hallway, disarming the sensors for Chat to walk through.
"You are also biased," answered Marinette.
Chat shrugged offering no rebuttal or further affirmation for her claim.
Noticing something was off, Marinette stooped to the ground to inspect the floor.
"Sensors on the floor. Extra sensitive. Even Plagg's weight would set these off," both teens turned to Chat's pocket where the cat slept.
"Guess we're going to have to do this old school," Marinette launched her yoyo at an overhanging platform, grabbing onto Chat as she launched them above the room.
"Let's put those cat skills of yours to the test," Marinette clipped a grappling line to Chat's belt. Chat climbed over the railing.
"What about a Ladybug inspired derby," he suggested as Marinette attached the contraption to the railing.
"We'll see," she pressed a button and Chaton fell, almost hitting the floor. In the center of the room was something looking like a makeshift rotary telephone.
"The teleportation module," Chat whispered. Marinette gave a thumbs up, and Chat proceeded to grab the device. Marinette pressed another button, only for the cable to snap, and drop Chat to ground, setting off an alarm that brought a dozen guards into the room.
"I was just looking for the dressing room," and with that, Chat took off, stuffing the teleportation module into one of his pockets. The guards began chasing after him, Chat using his staff when he could to fight them.
Marinette rolled her eyes at Chat's excuse; he probably used it a lot when during modelling.
"Does kitty need a helping paw," Marinette teased.
"I could always use your assistance My Lady," came the reply.
Marinette jumped down on top of one of the guards, effectively knocking him out. Chat tossed the teleportation module over to Marinette, distracting the guards for a moment. They fought off the guards, exchanging the module multiple times to confuse their opponenets, until they found themselves once again cornered by new guards, along with Dr. Deranger.
"I'll take my invention back if you don't mind!" The scientist pried the device out of Marinette's hands.
"Your invention? As if!" snorted Marinette. Just like Hawkmoth, Dr. Deranger's inventions rarely worked.
What's that supposed to mean? You come into my lair and accuse! I invented it. I named it... the transportulator." The scientist caressed the device, weirding out both the teens.
Chat, while the scientist was having his "moment", noticed the light switch on the wall, and extended his baton to turn it off, sliding on the night vision glasses as the room darkened.
"What?! Ooh!" came Dr. Deranger's voice as Chat grabbed back the teleportation module then grabbed Marinette's hand.
"I must say My Lady, you still are as beautiful as ever, even in the dark." Chat pulled them out of the room, failing even with the night vision glasses to see Marinette's blush.
"The transportulator!" cried Dr. Deranger as they raced down the hallway, Marinette pulled ahead of Chat to toss her backpack out the window, converting into a motorized life raft.
"Ladies first," offered Chat as he handed her the module.
"Thanks Chaton," Marinette took the device and jumped, Chat following in suit.
Once their boat was clear of the scientist's lair, Marinette called Nino on her watch, "One teleportation module recovered."
"Great work, guys."
"Yeah, but why did Deranger say it was his invention?" Marinette looked at the module in her hand. Dr. Deranger stealing was nothing new, but why claim it as his own?
"So? He lied. No shocker there," responded Chat.
"I know, but he even named it. It just seems, I don't know, strange."
"Marinette, villains and lying go together like Paris and romance."
"It is what they do," echoed Nino.
"I guess so," Marinette shrugged it off. They had done a good deed today by getting back the teleportation module, and that's all that mattered.
"Here's the coordinates for the rendezvous point. The rightful owners of the transportu,... er, teleportation module will meet you there."
Marinette opened the door to a small remote hangar, Chat following behind her.
"Do you think maybe we could stop for lunch before we head back to class? I know you need to get design inspiration, but inspiration never came to anyone on an empty stomach," asked Chat as they stepped inside.
"What about those starved and tortured artists?"
Chat looked like he was about to say something, but stopped. From what Marinette had researched regarding Gabriel Agreste, he began as a starved and tortured artist as well.
"I'll have maman make you lunch," Marinette reassure, earning a smile from Chat.
"Place the item on the floor and exit the hangar," came a voice from overhead.
"Something's not right here," Marinette looked around the room, finding no identifier to the voice or where it came from. Chat nudged himself a couple steps closer to her.
"Place the item on the floor and exit the hangar."
Marinette pulled up her watch, "Nino, come in."
"What up, LB?"
"We're at the rendezvous point. But somebody woke up on the weird side of the bed today."
"It's cool. I forgot to warn you. The teleportation team members are super security freaks. No personal contact allowed." Marinette raised an eyebrow and looked at Chat, who looked as dubious as she did.
"You're sure this is legit, Nino?"
"Chill, LB. I just ran a bio DNA scan on the hangar. It's them."
"Place the item on the floor and exit the hangar." Marinette looked again to Chat who shrugged.
She placed the module on the floor and ran out, with Chat on her heels.
"Thank you, Miss Ladybug."
Marinette sat on the steps of the Trocadero, surrounded by piles of scrunched up paper of scratched ideas. After spending all morning getting the transportation module, lunch with Adrien, then school, Marinette was at a loss. She began to zone out, barely noticing the man who sat down on a bench nearby.
"Well, happy day, happy day. Splendid is the afternoon day. Ah, Edgar, you fancy one. Fantastic, dazzling performance." Marinette perked up as she watched the man feeding the pigeons, giggling as he chatted with them like old friends.
"Scram, you winged brats!" came a young police officer, kicking the birds away, "How many times do you need to be told sir? NO FEEDING the pigeons! It's strictly forbidden. If everyone feeds them, they'll leave their waste everywhere!"
The newbie police officer reminded Marinette of a younger Officer Raincomprix, so stiff and by the book when she started her job as Ladybug.
"But, who's going to feed my poor pigeons?"
"All the park keepers know about you, sir. You've been banned from every park in Paris. Leave now or I'll call the authorities. Oh, wait. I'm the authorities. GET OUT!" Without a moment's hesitation, the poor man flew off his seat and dashed away, some pigeons following him.
Marinette sighed. She almost felt sorry for the pigeon man. He still did look quite comical with how he dressed, looking almost like a pigeon himself.
As if a lightbulb went off in her head, inspiration struck.
She quickly set down to draw the image forming in her mind, quite pleased with the final results. She held it up to admire when she received a call she recognized to be Adrien.
"Hey Adrien, what's up?"
"Had a break during fencing, thought I would check and see how your design is coming."
"All done with the design, now I just have to make it," answered Marinette with a relieved sigh, standing up to head back home.
"Nice, can you tell me what it is."
"Shouldn't influencing the judge be illegal?"
"I'm not the judge remember. I'm biased," came the teasing response.
"I'll give you a hint then," Marinette stooped down to pick up some feathers to complete her design. "Pigeons."
There was a pause on Adrien's end.
"You do realize I'm allergic to feathers, right?"
Marinette froze.
Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. How could she forget he was allergic. He sneezed in a villain's face because he was allergic.
"Back to the drawing board," Marinette turned to go back to her seat on the steps.
"Maybe they don't have to be real feathers? Maybe you can do fake ones?" Adrien offered.
Marinette dropped the feathers she was holding.
"Adrien! You're a genius!" Marinette jumped in the air at his brilliance, "I could kiss you right now!"
Another pause as what Marinette said registered in her mind.
"I mean not literally of course, because you're not here. I'm mean even if you were here, I wouldn't kiss you, because you'd probably be sneezing from all the feathers. Plus we're only friends. So it would be awkward. And weird. Awkweird."
Adrien still didn't say anything.
"I gotta go, see you, bye." Marinette hung up the phone, cursing that conversation.
Meanwhile Adrien looked at his phone, the battery dead. He plugged it into a spare charger he kept in his bag.
"Agreste, you ready to go?' Asked one of his teammates.
"Yeah," Adrien put away his phone, wondering if Marinette said anything after screaming his name.
After her panic, Marinette calmed down after buying the synthetic pigeon feathers and started working on the hat, only taking a break for dinner. By 11 pm, she had finished her hat. After scanning for any missed detail, she place it in a hatbox for safekeeping.
"And now for a good night's sleep." Marinette was about to head into the bathroom when she got a call on her watch from Nino.
"What's the sitch, Nino?"
"LB, you've got to go back to the Deranger's lab and get the universal teleportation adaptor you forgot!"
"An adaptor?"
"Now! It's quite urgent!"
"I don't get it. The important thing is that we got the transporter thingie away from the bad guys, right? What's the big about the adaptor?" Marinette sat at her desk placing the lid on the hat box.
"The big is… That I need, or rather you... it's,... look, just do it, OK?"
"Fine, Nino. Chill already."
"Sorry for the late night mission Chat," Marinette apologized as they soared over the sea towards Dr. Deranger's lab using their jetpacks, definitely breaking curfew on a school night.
"No big, I was awake anyways looking for a girlfriend for Plagg. That cat is so picky," complained Chat Noir. "Oh, did you say anything, on the phone, you know, after you yelled my name?"
"After I what?" Marinette's eyebrows raised, maybe Adrien didn't hear her whole message after saying she could kiss him.
"Yeah, my phone died, so it cut off right when you yelled my name."
"Oh, I was just excited at the idea. The hat came out well."
"So you finished it?"
"Yep, just gotta wrap this mission, then win that contest."
"I like that attitude."
The duo descended into Deranger's lair via the open point used for a telescope, lowering their thrusters as they descended, enough to hover.
"There, plugged into the phone line," Chat pointed out.
Marinette flew towards the phone and pulled out the adapter.
"Returning to the scene of the crime, hero thief?" Came Deranger's voice from an overhang.
"Chat!" The teen heroes adjusted their thrusters to full blast, flying out of the villain's laboratory as he screamed after them.
Marinette and Chat entered the hangar, as empty as the time before.
"Where are they? School starts in a couple hours."
"And I got get home before Nathalie discovers I'm gone."
"Why don't you head back and get some sleep them? I'll handle things here."
"You sure?"
"I'm a starved and tortured artist, an all-nighter won't kill me."
Chat took Marinette's face in his hands, looking her square in the eye in all seriousness.
"Don't you ever say that, no artist as pretty as you should ever starve. Especially when you live at a bakery." And with that, Chat was gone, leaving Marinette's heart in a rush and confusion.
"You're the reason why I'm tortured Chat Noir," Marinette commented under her breath.
Her watch began beeping.
"LB, they're here," came Nino voice.
"About time!"
"Same procedure. No contact."
"Uh, whatever!"
Marinette hung up then stood ready, waiting for the ominous voice.
"Place the item on the floor and exit the hangar."
Marinette was about to place the item down when she got a call on her watch. She answered the call to find Nino dressed in pajamas and looking like he was recovering from being run over by a truck.
"Hey, Marinette. Sorry I've been out of contact for the last few days," Nino paused to sneeze into a tissue, "Cold took a nasty turn."
"What?!" Marinette rose to her feet.
"Yeah," another sneeze, " Plus somebody whacked out my whole system with a virus." The screen split diagonally, with two Ninos on screen.
"You! What are you doing here?" Answered the one on the lower right of the screen, dressed in normal attire.
"This guy's a fa-ae-ah-ACHOO! Fake." Came the sickly Nino's response as he wiped his nose.
"Takes one to know one. Fraud!"
"I'm tracking you."
"Yeah? Well, then I'm tracking you as well!"
Marinette rolled her eyes. She knew something was up with this whole teleportation module.
"Miss Ladybug, place the item on the floor and exit the hangar."
Marinette scanned the room, finding a door off to the side.
"Doubt it." Marinette ran for the door.
Nino's voice came over the watch, "I've got the source of the hack."
"No you don't. You're the fake!"
"It's…"
Marinette opened the door to find Anti-bug inside with a full body tracking suit.
"Anti-bug," Marinette growled.
Anti-bug turned to see Marinette, quickly adjusting her stance for a round house to the face, knocking out Marinette.
"Ever hear of knocking?" Anti-bug snarked as a menacing looking Nino was on the screen behind her.
Adrien awoke to the sound of his phone blasting in his ear. Adrien lazily scrambled to pick up the phone, slightly annoyed by Plagg's tail swiping in front of his face as the cat slept on his head..
"I'm up Nathalie."
"Bro, I'm not Nathalie."
"Nino?" Adrien shot up, sending Plagg across the bed with a yelp.
"Yes, Marinette needs your help. Turns out Anti-bug did another hack and was using me to control you guys. She has Marinette captive."
Adrien jumped out of bed and race for his closet. Maybe he had a little more time before Nathalie came to wake him for school.
"Marinette and I figured something may be up. I'm on my way," Adrien stumbled around his closet, trying to put on his jeans with the phone still held up to his ear when he fell over.
"Adrien, are you alright?"
Adrien looked up to see Nathalie standing at the entrance of his room.
"I'm fine, just getting ready."
"Alright, breakfast will be ready in five minutes," and with that, Nathalie left.
"Nino, I'm stuck."
"What do you think Ladybug, like the place," Anti-bug taunted as Marinette was chained, propped up against an inclined table, a ledge beneath her feet the only thing holding her up. Anti-bug spun Marinette's watch around her finger, enjoying her triumph.
"I never pictured you as a villain settling down for one lair. Normally you were always on the move," Marinette remarked.
"Villain timeshare. The lair comes with all the necessary evils to defeat your foes. Thought it would make a good base of operations with the transportation module."
"Makes sense. So what have you got for me this time? You already know my identity, and Chat isn't here to spoil his."
"Puh-lease, so over your identity. Baker's daughter. Seamstress. Positively medieval sounding. No, I'm going to make full use of the accessories that come with this place."
Anti-bug stepped over to a box underneath Marinette's elevated feet.
"First, you'll be sealed in a reinforced titanium box."
Anti-bug then did a few steps and a twirl towards a deep hole, gesturing as she continued outline her plan, "Next, you will be dropped into this bottomless chasm. Then, the chasm will be filled with water. Then, man-eating sharks and a giant squid will then be released into the water!"
"Huh? Wait. If the chasm is bottomless, how can you fill it with water?"
Anti-bug pouted, stomping her foot as she did, "It's very, very deep, alright?! Lastly, I shall freeze over the top of the water with a six-foot layer of solid glacial ice. Any questions?"
"Yeah, as much as I would love to potentially die, I would much rather win a fashion contest first. So if I could go win the contest then can I come back and we pick up where we left off," Marinette offered as Anti-bug walked over to her, hands on the lever that adjusted who knows what on the contraption Marinette was on.
"Uh, no." Anti-bug pulled the lever, Marinette dropping into the titanium box. Anti-bug put the lid on top and proceeded to seal it in with a blowtorch.
After securing the box onto a chain hook, another lever lifted the box above the casym, the ropes snapping, and the box falling into the hole as it began to fill up with water.
Marinette struggled against her bonds, but the chains wouldn't budge. Parts of the box fell out, allowing water to seep into the box.
Adrien rushed into school with Nathalie following at a walking pace behind him, finding students setting up their hat displays. Alya waited along the wall, watching the students come in.
"I'm going to go put my stuff away, I'll be back in a minute." Before Nathalie could respond, Adrien ran over to Alya and pulled her into the locker room.
"Marinette's in trouble," said Adrien while trying to catch his breath.
"So you want me to go save her."
"Nino says he'll try to help her over the communicator. I need you to go get Marinette's hat, at least to hold her place in line. Maybe I can try stalling Nathalie , making sure Marinette goes last."
"Sounds like a plan," Alya raced out of the school towards Marinette's house, Adrien finally breathing a sigh of relief as he put his stuff away.
Ladybug would be fine.
Ladybug was not fine. The water continued to rise as she struggled in vain.
She heard a ringtone similar to her watch. But Anti-bug had her watch. She struggled to bring her hand through the chains, pulling her glove off to reveal the class ring. She tapped the jewel with her chin, which opened to reveal a tiny Nino.
"LB, you there?
Nino, you don't know how happy I am to see you. It is really you, right?"
"The one and only. I've already pinpoint your location. The authorities are on the way."
"OK. Next crisis… I need to be at school to win a fashion contest."
"Chat said he and Alya would handle it."
"Great, and Nino."
"Yeah?"
"When you give a girl a ring…"
"I meant nothing by it," Nino held up his hands in defense, "I liked the compact and functional design. It's a backup in case the watch gets broken. Or stolen."
"Fine, Now remind me, what else does this ring do?"
"Hi Tom, Hi Sabine," greeted Alya as she ran into the bakery, Tom busy in the back while Sabine manned the front counter.
"Morning Alya, have you seen Marinette?" Asked Sabine.
"Marinette had an early mission, I'm here to grab her hat," answered Alya.
"Alright, I believe I saw a hat box on her desk. Must be in there. Tell her to text me her lunch plans."
"Will do." Alya went past Sabine through the door to the apartment, taking steps two at a time.
She made it up to Marinette's room to find a pink and white spotted hatbox. Alya grabbed the box and raced back down to the school.
Marinette tested the laser on the ring, and just like with Kim's hair, it seared a little of the box with a flash. She made quick work lasering through the chains on her upper body and legs.
Adrien stood alongside Nathalie, watching the students being organized into rows by the teachers. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Alya rush in, heading straight for the last of the rows.
Nathalie checked her watch and began tapping on her tablet before approaching the principal.
Marinette aimed the laser ring along the middle of the box, creating a deep cut, while allowing more water to pour through. With a firm kick, she was out of the box and in the water. She took off the ring and twisted the band around the jewel, turning the ring into a miniature mouthpiece serving as a small air tank. She began swimming towards the surface, unaware of the dangers swimming around her.
"Hello, Mr. Damocles, I'm Mr. Agreste's executive assistant Nathalie," Nathalie extended her hand to shake, while Mr. Damocles reciprocated.
"Hello, miss. Pardon me, but where is Mr. Agreste?"
Nathalie turned the tablet around, revealing Mr. Agreste.
"I'm here."
Adrien almost breathed a sigh of relief. Even though his father wasn't there in person, Gabriel Agreste would take a while examining the hats via tablet as opposed to in person.
"Ah, uh, hello Mr. Agreste. Welcome to our school," offered the Principal, seeming unsure of the situation.
Adrien, take Nathalie around."
"Yes Father," Adrien led Nathalie over to the first presenters.
Marinette continued swimming, only to notice out of the corner of her eye a shark. She dodged the animal, as in swam in circles, sizing up its prey. Marinette attempted to swim out of the circle, only for her mouthpiece to be knocked out by the shark's tail, quickly sinking to the bottom.
"As you'll see, Mr. Agreste, our students have poured their hearts and souls into their projects," Principal Damocles led Nathalie and Adrien over to Rose and Juleka's hat, a steampunk inspired design with goggles and gears.
"Interesting concept. Although going with a brown colored derby would have been a more suitable choice," commented Mr. Agreste.
The girls looked slightly disappointed.
"Keep working at your design and I'm sure you'll come up with something as eccentric as this style."
The girls brightened up at this remark and began chattering new ideas as Nathalie and Principal Damocles continued.
"Awesome hat," Adrien complimented.
"Thanks," whispered Rose.
"Adrien, come along." Adrien waved goodbye as he proceeded to slowly catch up to the group. He looked over at Alya who was staring at her phone, hatbox on a stool.
Where was Marinette?
Marinette swam as fast as she could, heading towards the surface, narrowly avoiding the shark. She glanced back up to see a giant squid approaching her, the shark coming up from behind. Marinette swam out of the way, the shark and squid engaging in a wrestling match.
She finished her swim to the top, finally able to breath, only it completely covered in ice.
Adrien almost groaned at the next hat. He knew Kim may need the extra credit, but lazily slapping a sweatband around the band of the hat was pushing it. At least Max had tried to make it work by adding a small sweat band sewn on the side, making it look like a bow sitting along the brim.
Gabriel Agreste stared at it for 5 seconds.
"Moving on."
"You tried Max," Adrien consoled Max, who was hanging his head in shame. How much Max went through for his friend Adrien would never know.
"Dude it was my idea," answered Kim.
"Adrien, hurry up," called Nathalie. Adrien proceeded to slowly walk after Nathalie.
Alya was glancing between the door and her phone.
"Where is that girl," she mumbled to herself.
Marinette continued banging against the ice, hoping it would give, but nothing happened. On a crazy whim and with nothing to lose, Marinette belted out the highest note she could, effectively breaking the ice. Marinette crawled out of the water and ran to find Anti-bug.
"Um, hi Mr. Agreste. I'm Chloé Bourgeois. You know my father, André Bourgeois, the mayor?" Chloe began her whole speal on how she had made the hat, Adrien imagining she probably hired someone else to make the hat. After closer inspection he noticed fake feathers along the side.
Wasn't Marinette's design about pigeons?
"Thanks for showing up Captain,"
Marinette ran alongside the local authorities through Anti-bug's lair, searching for the villain.
"No problem Ladybug, it's the least we could do after you helped us stop that shoplifting incident."
"No big, the guy didn't even realise the item was in his bag."
"Mom, not now, I'm very busy!" Came Anti-bug's voice at the end of the hall.
"She'll call you back," Marinette finished for Anti-bug as the officials surrounded her.
"But... how did...? I mean…" the captain handcuffed Anti-bug before leading her away,"The titanium, then the shark and, then squid and, the ice wall... I thought…"
"Which part of she can do anything do you not comprehend?" Marinette chided before turning to the teleportation module.
"Huh? Just like a phone."
Alya looked over down the aisle as Mr. Agreste made his way over. Adrien had done what he could to stall the group, but Mr. Agreste began to push on ahead without waiting for Adrien.
He was on the final student before Marinette's hat when her cell phone rang. Alya hit answer only to have Marinette appear in a flash of green.
"What just happened?" Alya looked at Marinette, hair and clothes wet, and in her Ladybug uniform, as she removed her hat from the box.
"I'll explain later. I'm not late yet am I?" Marinette set her hat on the stand.
"Almost," Alya's expression darkens.
"What?"
Before Alya could answer, Nathalie, Principal Damocles and Adrien approached. Adrien raised an eyebrow but said nothing.
"Hm, turn the tablet back to Ms. Bourgeois' hat." Nathalie turned the tablet, Marinette seeing Chloe had a hat exactly like hers. The kniving little…
"Is this a joke?"
"No fair! Marinette copied my design! It's scandalous, how could you do that?" Chloe began to "cry", using the stool to hide her face.
"I apologize for the situation Mr. Agreste, but I can prove that this derby hat is MY original design," Marinette stepped forward, Nathalie turning the tablet back around to face her.
"Go ahead."
Marinette picked up her hat, gesturing as she explained.
"Um, everything on my derby hat is hand-made. From the embroidery, to the weaving of the band, to the stitching of the brim. All done by myself. And last there's a special design element, that only the true designer knows about." Marinette turned the hat upside down, revealing a hidden inscription on the band, "I signed mine."
Everyone looked over to Chloe, who fled in a panic, knocking over her hat. Mr. Damocles picked up the hat to reveal, as Marinette said, her name on the band.
"Very exquisite creation. You definitely have the laboring hands of a hat maker, Ladybug."
"Marinette," Adrien corrected, stepping forward to stand beside her.
"Congratulations on your demonstration, Miss Marinette. You're the winner."
Marinette's eyes lit up, slightly bowing as she rambled her thank yous.
"Adrien will wear your derby on our next advertising campaign."
Nathalie and Principal Damocles walked away, leaving Alya, Adrien and Marinette.
"Awesome job Marinette," complemented Adrien as he took the hat, their hands touching as she did.
"Hold up, I want to get a picture! The Designer and the Model," Alya held up her phone, probably already snapping a picture of when Adrien took the hat.
"Alya, I don't think you can take pictures until after it's released," chided Marinette.
"I won't post it right away," Alya pushed Adrien next to Marinette.
"You're cold," Adrien put the hat on as he looked down at Marinette, smiling once he realized he wasn't going to sneeze.
"Yeah, Anti-bug had this whole elaborate trap set up with titanium boxes, holes filled with water, a shark, and a squid, plus covered in ice. It was a long morning."
The teens smiled for the camera.
"Great!" Alya giggled to herself as she walked over to where she set down her school bags.
Once Alya was gone, Adrien pulled Marinette in for a hug.
"I'm glad your safe."
"Me too."
I went with Anti-Bug for this one as opposed to Hawkmoth because I wanted to see more of Anti-bug than her cameo in the last episode. Plus if she could teleport anywhere in the world, stealing stuff would be a piece of cake.
How Anti-bug was able to do the instructional voice as well as be Nino? Pre-recorded.