"The next group is Ivan, Juleka, and Nathaniel," Professor Mendeleiev read over her list before looking up to the students whose name she called. Marinette turned in her seat to notice Ivan and Juleka paying polite attention, but Nathanael was focused on his drawing. Professor Mendeleiev frowned as she marched towards the boy.
"Nathanael," she tried one more time before finally reaching his desk, receiving no acknowledgement from the student.
"Nathanael! What are you drawing?" A hand slammed against his desk brought Nathanael out of his concentration. He looked up at the professor, panicking that he had been caught.
"And these artistic endeavours are clearly why you are failing science," Professor Mendeleiev waved one of his loose drawing pages in his face, while Nathanael avoided her gaze, probably hoping not to have his drawing taken away.
"I'm sorry…," he mumbled,his frightened expression softening when she laid the page back down.
"You go march yourself down to the principal's office and show him that chicken scratch! Then you'll be really sorry!"
Professor Mendeleiev stood back as she allowed Nathanael to pack up his things, all eyes on him as he proceeded down the center row. Nathanael thoughts still must have been elsewhere as he tripped over Mylene's bag lying in the aisle, the contents of his own personal bag scattering.
Those nearby sat up to try and get a better look of the contents, but Chloe decided to pick up the sketchbook before Marinette could see what he had been doodling. Professor Mendeleiev picked Nathanael up by the collar of his jacket before he could retrieve any other item.
"Oh! Look, Sabrina! It's him as a superhero! And look who he's saving! It's Marinette!" Chloe cackled, while Nathael turned as red as his hair, avoiding Marinette's gaze once the professor set him down, quickly scrambling to pick up anything else that had fallen out of his bag.
"He's so totally crushing on you, Marinette," announced Chloe, turning to look at Marinette with a sneer. Marinette glared back, channeling all Ladybug intimidation she could. Who Nathanael was crushing on was none of Chloe's business.
"Gimme that," Nathanael quickly pulled the book away from Chloe, a page accidentally ripping out that Chloe tucked under her tablet.
"Enough! Nathaniel, go," Professor Mendeleiev ordered, Nathanael scampering out of the room.
Marinette frowned. She knew Nathanael was a good artist. But his crushing on her was something she didn't know. He may have been the one to write her the Valentine's Day card with the drawing of her. Marinette would just need to see if he signed his drawings with a rectangle with an exclamation point inside.
"And then, Sabrina, Chloé and Marinette."
Marinette considered it her ladybug luck that she heard that last part. Her and Chloe's eyes met in surprise, then their faces turned immediately into a scowl.
"Uh, Miss, can't you add her to another group? Sabrina and I work much better on our own," protested Chloe as she turned her attention back to Professor Mendeleiev.
"This is a group presentation, not pairs! Deal with it," the professor retorted as the class bell rang.
"This will be a nightmare," whined Marinette as she packed up her bag. "Whose in your group," Marinette turned to follow Alya out of the class.
"Me, Nino, and Adrien," responded Alya.
"Oh! So lucky! You wouldn't be willing to trade groups, would ya?"
Alya laughed as they headed down the stairs towards the locker room.
"And deal with that twosome terror? Sorry. Besides, so one has to make sure these two actually concentrate on the project rather than check the Ladyblog for some new sitch to save," Alya poked the back of Nino's head, drawing the two boys attention.
"Checking the Ladyblog periodically is part of my job description," retorted Nino.
"A job you are not paid for."
"Technically speaking this counts as volunteer work, which looks great on resumes."
Nino and Alya continued to teasingly bicker, even though Marinette knew Alya was just as guilty for checking the blog as often as Nino did. Marinette looked to Adrien who only smiled at his friends.
After Gabriel had talked with him, Marinette, and even her parents; he had agreed to let Adrien continue being Chat Noir. And with Gabriel having no qualms about it, neither did his company. Press had died down quickly and everything was back to normal for the crime fighting duo.
"I'm sure things will work out with Chloe and Sabrina. Chloe is pretty smart," offered Adrien, noticing Marinette spacing out as they entered the locker hall. Marinette rolled her eyes as she looked over to Adrien, whose smile slightly faltered.
"When she wants to be that is," he amended.
Speak of the devil, Chloe was talking to Sabrina in the locker hall, blocking Marinette from her locker. While her friends departed for their own lockers, Marinette headed towards her, catching the tail of Chloe and Sabrina's conversation.
"Okay, that's fine, Chloé. We'll do the work. Don't worry," Sabrina reassured her friend.
Marinette approached the two girls, "Um, is everything okay?"
"It's fine, Marinette," Chloe attempted to brush off.
"Well then, why can't you help us with the project?"
"None of your business, Miss Nosy," Chloe turned up her nose, pointedly avoiding eye contact.
"Uh, actually, since I'm part of this group, it is," Marinette stepped into the group, crossing her arms.
"It's okay, Marinette," Sabrina tried to pacify, "You and I will do all the research, and the writing for our project, and then, Chloé can present it! That way it's equal."
"That's not equal at all! Is that how you two work?!" Marinette looked between the two girls.
"Yeah," Sabrina smiled at this, "We've been doing this ever since grade school, when I started doing Chloé's homework! And we've been BFF's ever since!"
Marinette blinked a few times, grateful her friends did not act like that with her and vice-versa. Sure they could get side tracked, but they always aimed to divide school projects evenly as best as they could.
"You got a problem with that? Come on, Sabrina," Chloe attempted to leave, Sabrina ready to follow after when Marinette stopped Sabrina by a hand on her shoulder.
"Sabrina, Chloé's totally taking advantage of you. You don't have to do what she says. That's not how a real best friend acts!"
"Ugh, not only am I Sabrina's best friend," Chloe pulled Sabrina away from Marinette's hold, "I'm her only friend, so she better do what I say, cause without me, she has nothing."
Marinette frowned, "Well, I'd rather have no friends than be friends with you."
"Whatever. I've got more important things to worry about. My hair is a hot mess and Jean-Claude promised to work his magic. Later!" Chloe walked off, Sabrina lingering a little longer.
"I can't believe you stood up to Chloé like that! It was so amazing," Sabrina looked at Marinette in awe.
"Uhh, well...Yeah, what are friends for?"
"You are my friend, and I'm really super excited to hang out with you, and have a new best friend who actually helps with the project! We're going to have the absolute best time together! Then, we'll do the presentation, and tell Ms. Mendeleiev the truth about Chloé! Sound good," Sabrina rambled, Marinette certain Sabrina sounded like her around/about Adrien this time last year. She was thankful for her friends' patience with her rambling.
"Sounds...great?"
"Yaay! Then I'll see you in the library after school, bestie!" Sabrina skipped off, leaving Alya in her place.
"Bestie," asked Alya, as Marinette headed over to her locker.
"I'm just trying to be nice to Sabrina. She's a hard worker and Chloe shouldn't use her like that. She needs real friends," Marinette sighed as she shoved her books into her locker, replacing them with ones she would need for her next class.
"I know girl, I was just teasing you."
"I figured that."
"So, what are you going to do?"
"Be nice to Sabrina."
"No, I mean about Nathanael's crush on you. How could you forget that?"
"I lots happened in the past five minutes. Plus, I thought you shipped me and Adrien?"
Marinette looked over at her bff to see a mischievous smile.
"I still do, just maybe this might make Adrien notice you. Get a little jealous his Ladybug is slipping away."
"I already told him we're going to keep being partners as long as he is up for it. I'm not going to replace him with a guy who has a crush on me."
"I meant in the dating department, not the crime fighting partner department."
"Please, Adrien likes me as nothing more than a friend, I doubt me going out with Nathanael would make him jealous."
"Who's jealous," almost out of nowhere as Marinette shut her locker, Adrien appeared, Nino appearing behind Alya.
"Marinette's going to do a research project on Nathanael's crush on her," Alya teased.
"Should be interesting," Nino absentmindedly responded while reading something on his phone.
"That still doesn't answer who's jealous," Adrien looked to Marinette, who looked away. Alya just smiled at Adrien while Nino kept reading, a smile gradually growing on his face.
"We got a hot tip," announced Nino, revealing his screen to Marinette and Adrien.
"Deranger?" asked Marinette looking from the phone to Nino.
"Well, that's a change of pace," added Adrien.
"He's on the move", Nino looked back at his phone screen, reading more of the message, "may be headed to…"
"A top-secret search facility?" added Marinette with a smirk, looking over to Adrien, who grinned smugly back at her.
"Been there. Saved that," he returned.
"I get you a ride, you two better get ready," Nino looked up to see Marinette and Adrien already racing towards their respective bathrooms.
"Someone's eager for a mission," sighed Alya as the warning bell rung.
A circus train coasted along the rails, winding through the mountains. Marinette and Chat Noir sat across from each other, Chat reading up on particle physics while Marinette and Nino talked over her watch.
"You're sure it's Dr. Deranger, Nino?"
"100%, LB. And it looks like you were right! His target is a top-secret research facility."
"Ugh. Isn't it always?"
"Later, LB."
"Don't forget to bring Adrien back for our research project," Alya butted in before Nino hung up. Marinette slouched in her seat, noticing Chat concentrating on his reading and looked in no mood to be disturbed since he wore his headphones. She wanted to ask him why he still wore the mask even though his identity had been revealed, when she noticed the ringmaster walking through their cabin.
"Thanks for the ride, Mr. Magnifico," Marinette stood up as he approached.
"Think nothing of it, Miss Ladybug," responded Mr. Magnifico, as a performer from the trapeze act swung down beside them.
"It's the least we can do. After all, you saved our circus," she added.
"It's no big. When you twisted your ankle, somebody had to fill in on the high wire," Marinette waved off before the horn of one of the clowns honked in her ear.
"Oh, yes. Ahem. Lord Laffington is right. Your friend made a delightful addition to our cavalcade of clowns," Mr. Magnifico amended.
"Nino?"
Marinette turned to see Chat without his ear buds, looking at them.
"Yeah."
He nodded and went back to reading. Marinette sat back down while Mr. Magnifico continued his stroll through the train.
"You alright?" asked Marinette as she sat back down, since Chat didn't put back in his ear buds after his question.
"Just trying to get ahead on the physics project."
"I meant, being Chat Noir, now everyone knows."
Chat looked up from his book.
"Never better. It was a lot easier just letting Nathalie know about the mission than disappearing and getting scolded later for my absence."
Marinette frowned, this wasn't like him at all.
"I meant you are still wearing the mask despite everyone knowing who you are."
"I just like wearing it. Separates polished Adrien from daring Chat Noir."
"You're the same person."
"Not to everyone," Chat sighed leaning against the seat to resume his reading.
Marinette made a mental checklist in her head as she sat back.
Talk to Nathaniel
Work on the project with Sabrina
Talk to Mr. Agreste about Adrien/Chat Noir
With a little help from some new tech gear from Nino, Marinette blast her way through the ceiling of the research facility, catching Dr. Deranger right before he and his goons were about to steal a top secret device. Chat Noir followed behind her as his staff shrunk to fighting size.
"Hope you don't mind us dropping in, Dr. Deranger," Marinette and Chat both took a fighting stance.
"Get them," Deranger ordered his two goons, both charging at Marinette and Chat.
Marinette handsprung towards one of the goons, her feet planting into his chest, which sent him falling back onto the floor.
Chat's challenger grabbed onto Chat's baton, both staring at each other intently as they battled for hold on the staff. Using that firm hold his opponent had, Chat flipped over the staff which he hoped with bring him around and able to throw the goon over and knock him out. Instead Chat landed on the goon's backside unable to touch the floor, which pressed the button on the rocket attached to his back, sending both of them flying. The goon wrapped the baton into the jetpack's straps and dropped, Chat still flying unguided around the room.
Marinette launched her yoyo and swung herself at Dr. Deranger, knocking him away from the device, with something flying out of his pocket and landing in an unknown location.
"Today's not your lucky day," Marinette chided as just then Chat decided to make a crash land on top of her.
"Correction. Today I feel very lucky," Dr. Deranger grabbed the device and ran off, his goons following after him. "So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodbye!"
"I was aiming for Deranger," Chat announced as he untangled his baton with the jet pack, "I just couldn't really see where I was going.
"I know Chaton."
Marinette and Chat rushed into school, the school emptying of students as they raced to their lockers to grab their homework. Students occasionally glanced at the duo, but shrugged off them dressed in their fighting attire. Chat ran off towards the bathroom to change while Marinette went to her locker, calling Nino as she did.
"Any idea what Deranger stole?" Marinette asked her techie friend, who looked like he was walking home with Alya.
"No. I'm hitting hard resistance collecting data. Plus I almost got my tablet taken away during class."
Marinette frowned as she approached her locker.
"And his location?"
"Could be anywhere. It's like Deranger vanished when he…"
"Got away. I know, I know," moaned Adrien as he approached Marinette, holding in his hand a mechanical orb.
"What's that?" Asked Marinette.
"Don't know, found this in my Chat pants."
Marinette held her watch out to scan the item.
"I'll analyze it and get back to you. Might be something from the research facility," responded Nino before he quit the call.
"So I'll keep this safe, I'm going to be heading out to meet with Nino and Alya after a photoshoot anyways," Adrien tossed the orb in the air, inspecting it as he did.
"Can I see?" Adrien handed Marinette the orb. Marinette examined the orb before it fell out of her hands. It hit the edge of the bench nearby before falling to the floor, releasing a greenish-yellow gas.
"You know, for someone as graceful as Ladybug when fighting, you are still clumsy out of uniform," Adrien fanned the vapors from his face.
"It's not like I try to be clumsy. Plus no harm done. We're not shrinking, changing colors, or turning into Armadillos."
"Armadillos," asked Adrien as he picked up the orb.
"You never know."
They were interrupted by a call on Adrien's phone.
"Father? Shoot, I'm late," and with that Adrien ran off.
"If you were trying to pun, it wasn't funny," Marinette called out after him.
She sighed as he was long gone and probably didn't hear her. Marinette made her way out of the locker hall, only to almost run into Nathanael.
"Marinette!" Nathanael froze and immediately turned red.
"Um, hey Nathanael," Marinette, started, unsure of what to say. How do you talk to someone who has a crush on you?
They stood there, both uncertain what to do.
"My birthday's tomorrow," he exclaimed, surprising Marinette, "actually. I was wondering if you could, uh...um."
"Movie? Maybe dessert after," Marinette offered with a timid smile.
His eyes lit up.
"Yes. That would be great."
"Great. I gotta go, class presentation to work on."
"I heard you're working with Chloe."
"More like working with Sabrina while Chloe gets her hair done."
They both laughed.
This could work, Marinette could give Nathanael a chance. He probably wrote one of the Valentine's if he had a crush on her, and it was a high chance it was the one with the drawing of Ladybug.
"I'll text you later, with shows and times. Any preference," asked Nathaniel.
"I'm open to anything."
"Great," they both went left, then right, then left until they finally were able to pass each other.
"Project."
"Locker." Marinette ran towards the stairs, two at a time, watching her step, only to run into Chloe.
"Could you be any more of a klutz?" Whined Chloe as they both stood.
"Sorry, and sorry for running late Sabrina," Marinette apologized to the orange haired girl standing behind Chloe.
"Well, you're here, so let's get started," responded Sabrina, perking up now that Marinette was here. Marinette moved to follow after her, only to feel something go taunted at her hip. She looked back to see Chloe checking her makeup. She pulled again to see Chloe slightly move, but pull her back.
"Um, did you sit in something sticky?"
"What? How dare you? I wouldn't be seen in that recipe for a fashion disaster," came the irritated response.
"Ok," Marinette contemplated what could be the answer, "the mysterious orb! We got to warn Adrien." Marinette rushed back down the stair, Chloe hanging on by the hip while Sabrina followed.
They ran outside only to find Adrien stuck to his father's hip.
"Miss Marinette, I hope you have a good explanation for this," Mr. Agreste rubbed the space between the bridge of his glasses in frustration.
Marinette got a call on her watch.
"Go Nino."
"I finished analyzing the contents of that orb. It's a super-strong molecular adhesive, so be careful," Nino sat in what looked to be Alya's living room with a text book open.
"We are so past careful," Marinette shifted the watch's view to of her and Chloe.
"Whoa," was all Nino could say, eyes going wide.
"Please tell me there's a solution here," Mr. Agreste pulled himself and Adrien into frame.
"Well, there's gotta be a solvent," offered Nino, unable to look Mr. Agreste in the eyes.
"Right Get on it," ordered Mr. Agreste.
"Yes sir. Oh, before I forget, I found out what was stolen from the lab. A prototype. High yield kinetic modulator. From what I can tell, it's very dangerous," Nino sent over some diagrams he had managed to find, detailing the device and its operation.
"Especially in Deranger's hands," concluded Marinette.
"Whoa. Don't care about this deranged guy," Chloe announced, leaning into Marinette's space, causing her to bend over.
"Deranger," Marinette and Adrien corrected.
"Whatever. Unlike you, I have a life, and things to do."
"Right, and what we are going to do is start working on our project," Marinette pulled Chloe back into the school, with Sabrina on their tail.
This left Mr. Agreste and Adrien on the front steps of the school. Not knowing what to do, they struggled to get inside the back seat of the car.
"The one day I go to check on your photoshoots," Gabriel grumbled as he looked out his window. Adrien frowned, turning to look out his own window.
"Shall I postpone the photoshoot," asked Nathalie.
Gabriel looked towards his son then back to his assistant.
"Yes, we shall head home until this matter is resolved."
"I have a group project I need to work on. I was going to meet up with my partners after the shoot to work on it."
"I see. Invite them over then."
Adrien turned to see his father resume his stare out the window as the car began to drive. He looked over at Nathalie who offered a small smile to confirm what he heard.
He quickly pulled out his phone and began to type.
Chloe and Sabrina had been arguing non stop while Marinette tried focus on her research. Sure, the research wasn't on her physics project that was due, but finding a solvent to get her, Chloe, Adrien, and Mr. Agreste seperate was just as good.
"What do you mean, you're not doing my assignment?"
"Marinette's right! I...I'm not your slave!"
"I never actually said that…" Marinette mumbled but not like the two girls could hear.
"But Marinette didn't buy a super cute beret at Gabriel's, and I did! And perhaps I could lend it to you."
"Excuse me," Marinette turned slightly to face her conjoined enemy, "but are you trying to bribe her into staying your friend? With a hat?"
"Uhhh... really, really adorable hat! That would look fantastic on me!" Sabrina looked like she would have begun drooling as she admired the hat.
"No, excuse ME, but you are trying to steal my friend from me with homework!"
Marinette groaned before flopping her head on the library desk.
"Thank you Mr. Agreste for letting us work on the project here," offered Alya as professionally as she could. Nino had voted to refrain from talking to Mr. Agreste, who continued to work on his laptop from Adrien's sofa, occasionally switching over to his drawing tablet.
So far the project was going well, as Alya was quick to divy up their research sections so that the room was mostly quiet with the exceptional tap on a keyboard or screen, or the page turn of a book.
What was the problem was when Gabriel hit a mental art block.
He would stand up, taking Adrien with him, and pace, walking to the window, then back to the sofa. After the first two times, Adrien stopped using the textbook and instead relied on his tablet.
He had caught Alya the fifth time about to take a picture, probably for Marinette.
"Have you figured out the solvent yet?" Mr. Agreste turned to Nino.
All three teens looked to Mr. Agreste as he stood at the window for his umpteenth pace.
"Father, we're working on particle physics presentation. Nino can figure out the solution after," offered Adrien.
Nino scrunched himself small, preparing for a verbal lashing.
"You better get a good grade on this."
"Marinette!" Marinette looked up from her spot in Chloe's room, to see Sabrina entering. After finding no solution, and Chloe had insisted on going home, the two girls sat on the couch on Chloe's suite, Chloe reading her magazine while Marinette read over the physics chapter and her notes.
"I did your pre-calculus homework!" Sabrina proudly presented the homework sheet.
"What about my homework?" asked Chloe.
"I'm not doing your homework Chloe because you're not my best friend."
"Sabrina, thank you, but you didn't have to do that," Marinette interrupted to keep the two girls from fighting.
"Well, since you're my new BEST FRIEND, it's the least I can do," Sabrina smuggly looked over at Chloe, making sure to emphasize Marinette's new title.
"Well, if your not my friend, then you can just leave."
"No! We need Sabrina to work on the project," protested Marinette.
"Why, so you can give her all the work," accused Chloe.
"No, its a group project, we need to work on it together."
Marinette opened the textbook to their chapter.
"Sabrina, which section would you like to work on," asked Marinette.
"I'll take this section," Sabrina pointed to a portion of the text.
"Alright, then I'll take this section, and Chloe," Marinette rested the book on Chloe's lap.
"You handle this section," Marinette pointed triumphantly.
"Ridiculous! Utterly Ridiculous," Chloe tossed the book onto her table, revealing the loose page Chloe had taken from Nathanael's notebook.
Marinette readjusted herself as she took the paper, scowling at the crude addition Chloe added to the artwork, and wishing she could yoyo herself away. The only thing left untouched by Chloe was an exclamation point inside a rectangle.
Adrien sat straight at attention as he played the piano. Nino and Alya had left a while ago, reminding him to meet up tomorrow to work on the project. Adrien said he would check his schedule.
He wondered how Marinette was fairing, being attached to Chloe. Hopefully she was doing alright.
A new note on the piano interrupted his thoughts and his playing. He slightly turned to see Gabriel's hand resting on the piano. His laptop and drawing tablet were on the ground.
"Keep playing," Gabriel managed to say, his eyes glossy.
Adrien resumed his song, Gabriel improvising parts on the higher end of the scale. It sounded like when his mother was home and would accompany him on piano pieces. Sometimes even doing duets.
"I didn't know you played," Adrien commented.
"I didn't win over your mother with just my charm and good looks you know," responded Gabriel.
Adrien smiled and changed the song to something his mother loved to play, Gabriel easily switching keys to accompany him.
Sleeping in the same bed as Chloe was not easy. Chloe insisted if they were going to be stuck, then at least she was going to be stuck comfortably, which included Marinette sleeping over.
Chloe pulled the blanket to her side as she rolled over.
"Um… can I get a little blanket here?"
"No way. Mr. Cuddly will get cold. And not a word of this to anyone," Chloe snapped as she held her diamond eyed teddy bear close.
"Not a word," Marinette agreed.
Just then her watch rang, Marinette quickly answered and hiding it so only her face would be visible.
"Please tell me I'm about to lose 135 pounds," whispered Marinette to an alert Nino surrounded by three mugs of probably coffee.
"I weigh less than that," Chloe snarled, refusing to turn her face to the bright screen.
"Sorry, not yet. But I thought you should know I've been registering power surges all over the globe," answered Nino.
"Deranger," Marinette scowled.
"I'll keep you posted if I find anything else out."
"How's Adrien?"
"Fine actually, called before he and his dad went to bed, told me to check up on you. Make sure you were still alive."
"He said that?" Chloe turned, the light reflecting off the cucumbers covering her eyes.
Nino grimaced before looking away.
"Not the last part. Just wanted me to make sure you both are fine."
"We're alright as can be," answered Marinette while Chloe went back to sleep.
"Alright. Good night LB."
"Night Nino."
Nino logged off, leaving Marinette alone with Chloe, who had successfully stolen more of the blankets.
"You scheduled a photoshoot," Adrien asked as they pulled up to the location Saturday morning.
"I thought it wouldn't hurt publicity for father and son to be modelling together," answered Gabriel as they stepped out of the car, their movements more in sync. Finally out of his red and white suit, Gabriel wore an outfit similar Adrien's normal style, only more mature looking for the older male audience.
Adrien smiled and shrugged as his regular photographer approached.
"Alright, now stand there," the photographer directed them and readjusted their positions as best as he could despite them being stuck together.
"Bravo! That's it! Give me the smile when your mom brings in spaghetti!"
Then had to take a 10 minute break because Adrien could not stop laughing at Gabriel's confused expression.
"You are seriously going to wear that?" Chloe scoffed as Marinette held up an outfit.
"Why? It's nice enough for a birthday evening thing."
"You mean a date?"
"We didn't say its a date."
"You didn't say it was, but he might think it is."
Marinette turned to Chloe, who was trying to look disinterested.
"I'm just saying when a person crushes on someone, any chance they have they take as a date, even if the other person knows it or not," Chloe clarified.
Marinette nodded, remembering the times she spent one on one with Adrien back when she still obsessed over him. Nathanael might think the same thing. And Chloe probably thought that way about Adrien too.
"So don't dress too formal unless I want to confirm that," Marinette asked.
"Pretty much, but for you anything is probably an improvement."
Marinette shook her head. Chloe would always be Chloe.
Out of all the things Adrien had seen in the past two days, this was by far the strangest. Alya had offered her house to work on the project since it was close to the photoshoot. So while the three teens gathered in the living room, Gabriel sat on Alya's couch, drawing whatever popped into her younger sisters' heads.
"I can ask them to leave Mr. Agreste," Alya offered.
"No, this is quite alright," he responded as he jotted down a new idea from one of the twins.
At least he wasn't pacing with how many ideas the girls gave him.
Marinette stepped out of Chloe's limo, Chloe reluctantly following behind. Nathanael stood out front of the theater, his hair that normal covered his face, swept up by some gel.
"Hey Nathanael," Marinette waved, trying to sound cheerful despite Nathanael's nervous expression when he saw Chloe.
"Don't worry, I'm not going to spoil your, whatever this is," Chloe turned away as best she could.
"Sorry, about this. Last mission got a molecular adhesive bomb that…" Marinette tried to cover.
"I get it, a save the world thing," cut off Nathanael with a smile.
"Save the world thing," responded Marinette with a smile of her own.
"Um, I already bought the tickets, but…" Nathanael held up two tickets. Marinette looked at Chloe who rolled her eyes.
"I can pay for my own ticket," she groaned pulling Marinette with her towards the ticket booth.
"If I wasn't here, this so totally would have been a date," she whispered, "What show are we seeing."
Marinette responded numbly the show and time.
This would have been a date if Chloe wasn't here. So with that, Marinette decided to make it as date like as possible. Nathanael seemed to be understanding the save the world problem, so maybe this could work out for them.
That was when she got a call from Nino.
"I don't have an exact fix, but Dementor's location is somewhere in central Europe," came Nino, walking down a street.
"Let me know when you have a more accurate pinpoint. I'm going on a date."
"A date? With Chloe?"
"With Nathanael. We are going to the movies for his birthday."
"You and Chloe with Nathanael doesn't make it a date."
"He paid for my ticket."
"Ok, so if Chloe wasn't there it wouldn't be a date."
"Pretty much."
"How's Adrikins?" asked Chloe as she took her ticket.
"He's doing fine. He and his father went to Gabriel's headquarters a little while ago to review designs for an upcoming show."
"Alright, keep us posted."
"Will do LB." Nino hung up as they approached Nathanael at the doors of the theater.
"Save the world thing?" He asked, looking a little disappointed.
"It's ok, we got time until Nino gets an accurate pinpoint on the villain's location."
Nathanael's eyes lit up a little.
"Alright, let's enjoy the movie until then." Nathanael opened the door for them. Marinette was about to go through, until Chloe moved to go first, pulling Marinette along. Marinette shrugged at Nathanael, who shrugged after her as he followed them in.
True to her word, Chloe kept silent for the movie. Maybe action movies weren't her thing, or maybe it was because the hero was hot enough for her to pay attention to. But it worked well for Marinette and Nathanael.
Marinette quite enjoyed his company, their artistic eyes making excellent conversation as they left the theater.
"The lighting in that one shot was brilliant, especially with the door closing to have the red light focus on him, hinting at his darker intentions," Nathanael chatted.
"I know, because before he had a bit of blue and red making him seem undecided, but that was an awesome and practical use of the light. And her clothes at the end, totally like the series before where he wore white for the first film, and went brown for wavering loyalties," added Marinette.
"So you think because she is wearing grey she might question being good or evil?"
"Probably, but won't for certain until the next one comes out."
Their conversation was interrupted with a call from Marinette's watch. Marinette was tempted to not answer it. Deranger could wait until after dessert.
"You better answer that," Nathanael recommended, eyeing the watch at her side. Marinette sent him an apologetic grin before answering.
"Hey, I traced Deranger to the Bavarian Alps," answered Nino.
"Alright, let Adrien know and can you hook us a ride? Unless we should hold Adrien on backup."
"Backup?"
"He's spending time with his father. This time together is good for them plus it may help Adrien overcome Chat Noir insecurities."
"Alright. I'll get you guys the ride."
"Please and thank you."
Marinette hung up the call.
"Rain check?" she offered weakly.
Nathanael's frown turned into a gentle smile, "Sure. Maybe when you're just you," he glanced at Chloe.
"I'm still here," she groaned.
"Sure thing," both parties went their own way.
"Just so you know, I so totally need to change," grumbled Chloe.
"Of course," Marinette groaned.
Adrien followed his father throughout Gabriel's design house, Gabriel inspecting every minor detail of his latest creations. Adrien was certain he was getting more exercise than his normal workout routine during fencing practice with how many squats his father did to examine every article of clothing.
"Everything looks fine Nathalie, send my approval to Marisol to have these sent to modeling and press release," Gabriel ordered, Nathalie typing Gabriel's response on her tablet.
"I believe that's everything scheduled for today sir, unless there was something else not on the schedule," informed Nathalie, looking to Gabriel.
The growling of Adrien's stomach, reminded them of the teenage boy stuck to Gabriel's side. Adrien smiled nervously.
"I believe we'll call it a day. Inform the chef we are heading home."
"Right away sir," Nathalie confirmed as she pulled out her phone.
Gabriel gave Adrien a small smile before leading them out of the building.
Marinette scaled up the side of a cliff, Chloe hanging off at her hip while covered in her expensive ski gear.
"This is not helping my hair. Why didn't we use a rocket pack or something," the blond whined.
"A rocket pack wouldn't be able to life the extra weight," commented Marinette as she reached for the next available ledge, only to be stopped by Chloe holding onto the cliff.
"Ok, what's wrong now?"
"Apologize," Chloe pouted, turning away her head, only to turn back towards the mountain with the realization how high they were.
"What? Oh, uh, sorry. Didn't mean it the way it came out."
"Whatever. Why didn't we just take that road over there?" She nodded her head towards the right, where Marinette could see a clearly defined road.
"Um, we wanted to be sneaky?"
Marinette's watch began to beep, Marinette turning her wrist so the device faced her before she answered.
"Go, Nino."
"Marinette, you're almost…" Nino began before she lost connection.
"The electromagnetic waves have totally cut me off. We're close." Marinette turned off the communication before searching searching for a new hand hold.
"We'd be closer if we took the road," grumbled Chloe.
"I told you, we're being sneaky."
" Whatever. I'm just saying."
"Oh, one more thing, Chloe. Quiet is a key part of being sneaky."
"Fine." Chloe laxed her hold on the wall as Marinette continued to climb.
They finished scaling the rest of the mountain face to find a sinister looking castle surrounded by a fence. Marinette pulled a pair of wire clippers from her bag and set to work on removing a portion of the fence.
"Sabrina's gonna be totes mad you ditched her for this."
"She already knew about us hanging with Nathanael, and we still have tomorrow to get the project done."
Marinette finished her work and pulled open the cut portion of the wire, the girls stepping through the enclosed forest.
" It's Deranger's lair, all right," commented Marinette as she took in their surroundings as they neared the main road loading to castle.
"How can you tell?"
Marinette gestured to the giftshop opposite of them.
"A gift shop?"
"I remember when it used to be about the villainy," Marinette sighed while Chloe examined the giftshop, pulling Marinette with her when she noticed the snowglobe.
"Look out." Marinette stopped Chloe from grabbing the snowglobe.
" Do you mind? I want to get a snow globe," Chloe reached for the snow globe on the counter, the moment her hands touched it, laser bars extended from the covering to the ground, effectively caging them in.
"Oh, great," Marinette groaned as a foreign looking snow mobile's lights approached them. The door to the armored mobile opened, revealing Dr. Deranger as he maniacally laughed.
" I see you fell for my gift shop trap," he chortled.
"Well, one of us did," Marinette rolled her eyes, the eye roll eventually landing on Chloe.
Chloe groaned, "Ok, fine. Do your thing where you kick things and escape or whatever."
Needing no further permission, Marinette yanked the snow globe off the counter and held it under one of the laser bars, allowing both girls to safely through. Then she chucked it at Deranger's stomach, knocking the wind out of him.
Just then, the door to the snowmobile began to lower.
"Too late. My men have already unleashed the dachshunds!" Deranger barely managed wheeze out as he regained his breath.
"We are supposed to be afraid of little weiner dogs?" snarked Chloe.
The door fully opened to reveal giant mutant dachshunds, barely being restrained by their leashes.
"Weiner, yes. Little, no," Marinette corrected as the dogs began to corner them.
"Winner!" The tv screen in Adrien's room announced as powered up.
"How did-" Adrien splurted. He was certain the training with Marinette would have given him the advantage when his Father agreed to play video games. Apparently that was not enough.
"This use to be a big arcade game back in the day. Your mother loved to play up until I finally learned how to beat her combos," Gabriel smiled as he set down the controller and took a sip of water.
"Do they still have it? At the arcade?"
"I don't know. I'm not sure if that arcade is even there anymore. It was close to the university your mother attended, but since the campus has expanded I don't know if they relocated or closed down."
Adrien nodded.
"Another round then?"
"You're on," Gabriel picked up his controller again.
"My question is why didn't you want the new Mecha Strike 4?" Gabriel selected his character.
"Heheheh, let's just say their beta test campaign was a little traumatizing," Adrien selected his character.
Before Gabriel could inquire further, the game with interrupted with a widescreen of Nino.
"Adrien, I'm worried about LB. She's somewhere in the Bavarian Alps," said Nino.
"Bavaria?" asked Adrien.
"LB?" asked Gabriel.
"Ladybug, she had just found Deranger's lair when I lost her signal."
"She went without me?"
"She wanted you to spend time with your dad," explained Nino.
Of course she would.
"What is the current weather conditions in Bavaria?" asked Gabriel, both then teen boys looking at him stunned for a moment.
"Um, still heavy snow I believe. Do you want me to get you both a ride."
"That won't be necessary. Just send Adrien Ladybug's last coordinates."
Nino nodded and quit the call, Adrien still stuck staring at his father, who pulled him over to the closet.
"Close your mouth Adrien."
Adrien did so as Gabriel handed him some heavy winter gear located in the back of the closet.
"I'm not going to be blamed for stopping Ladybug's partner come to her rescue," Gabriel promptly exited the closet, Adrien struggling to change as he was pulled across the house.
"Nathalie, call our private jet and have him make arrangement for an emergency flight to Bavaria," Gabriel called out in passing.
Adrien could hardly believe it.
He was going to rescue Marinette. With his father.
Deranger's goons worked around the lair, securing Marinette and Chloe to a metal column as Dr. Deranger began his monologue.
"So Ladybug... You thought you could sneak in here undetected. Well, your arrival will not deter me from my ultimate goal!' The villain stopped at a control panel, pulling a lever to open the ceiling above. "Soon the world will tremble before the awesome might of Doctor Deranger! Behold!"
He migrated over to where the kinetic modulator stood on a table. With a press of the button, the prototype turned on, its connection to another device producing hot cocoa.
"Cocoa?" asked Marinette.
"Hmm. No. How about a latte? Soy decaf," added Chloe.
"You stole the kinetic modulator just to make cocoa," continued Marinette, not paying much mind to Chloe's comment. Deranger took a sip of his hot beverage before respond.
"It is very good cocoa, but I also plan to bend the world to my will with my Counter Electrodynamic Concentrator!" He went over to another control panel, raising a lever. The floor in the center of the room opened to reveal a giant electronic device, the Counter Electrodynamic Concentrator.
"That's more like it," commented Marinette as Chloe's mouth hung open. Until she realized her face could stay that way permanently if she held it for too long.
"With this, I will absorb the power from all electronic devices. The world will have to pay me to use their cell
phones, TVs, und video games." He dashed towards the captured girls. "And there is nothing you can do to stop me, Ladybug! Nothing!" He laughed at his victory, but Chloe cut him short.
"Hold up, Mr. Bad Accent Guy. Why are you telling us all this? Why don't you just get on with it?"
"That's how these things go," offered Marinette.
"Well, it's dumb. And what's with the red light on his face?"
Marinette looked to see Deranger holding a red tinted flashlight under his face.
"What? You don't like my dramatic villain light," the villain actually looked a little hurt by this.
"She's new to this."
Gabriel hung on for dear life as Adrien vaulted them over the fence enclosing Deranger's lair.
"So much like you mother," Gabriel mumbled, but Adrien grinned to himself. The continued towards the lair, only to find sniffing them out a pair of mutant weiner dogs.
"The cat's natural enemy, the dog," Adrien hissed as he pulled his father out of the dogs' line of sight.
"You are not actually a cat Adrien," corrected Gabriel as the dogs howled. Their growls grew closer, Adrien pulling his father away.
"Adrien, you do realize running will only make the situation worse," commented Gabriel as he tried to keep in step with his son. Runway walking was one thing, but sprinting with his son through the snow was another thing entirely.
"Do you have a better plan?"
Gabriel looked between his son and the dogs chasing after them. He took Adrien's staff and abruptly halted, nearly throwing Adrien if they weren't attached.
"Pfui!" He called out, the dogs halting in their tracks.
"Sitz!" Gabriel commanded, the giant dogs sitting.
"How-"
"Your aunt on your mother's side did show dogs for years." Gabriel approached the dachshunds, scratching underneath their jaws. "Never thought going to those terrible shows with your mother's side would be useful."
Adrien hesitantly pet the dogs, one of the flopping over for a tummy rub.
"This could work," Adrien looked up to his father, Gabriel's eyes already syncing with Adrien's plan.
"You'll enjoy the show much better from this central operating collector," Deranger stood back as his henchmen bound Marinette and Chloe to the Counter Electrodynamic Concentrator. " Think of it as a front-row seat. When the machine is activated, you will both be vaporized!"
"Why are you going to such elaborate measures? Isn't there an easier way to do this," complained Chloe.
"It's how it's done," Marinette and deranger both yelled. Frustrated by the heiress, Deranger and his goons moved behind the control panel, Deranger pulling another lever.
"Starting the charging sequence," he informed as the device turned on, sending a shock through Marinette and Chloe.
"My hair," Chloe cried, Marinette's view seeing Chloe's hair frazzled nearly beyond repair.
"The least of our worries. If I can move the communicator, I might be able to short out the coil," Marinette attempted to twist her watch wrist towards the conductor.
" Looking for this?" Deranger held up he watch, laughing maniacally with his red flashlight point up at his face. "See how my villain light works? Effective, no?"
"So not what I wanted to hear "Marinette groaned, lost on ideas. Well, she had one idea.
"Chloe, I'm sorry I got you into this," she turned to Chloe.
"It's OK. It was almost like fun... until this last part."
Marinette smiled, which Chloe returned.
Their moment was interrupted by the breaking down of the door, revealing Adrien and Mr. Agreste.
"Boo-yah! Game over, Deranger!" ANnounced Adrien, looking very smug, Gabriel even more so.
"Why did you have to break down the door? It wasn't locked, and I just had it painted! Get them!" Deranger order his goons who went after Adrien and Gabriel.
With a dramatic extending of his arm, pointing at the henchmen, Gabriel called out, "Fass!"
The two mutant weiner dogs from before charged into the room, Gabriel directing them to their new chew toys. The dachshunds chase the men in circles, allowing Adrien and Gabriel to get through and untie them.
"Adrikins! I knew you would save me," Chloe flung herself onto Adrien, Adrien attempting to smile politely as she hugged him. Marinette just rolled her eyes, allowing Chloe this moment.
"Thanks for coming Mr. Agreste," said Marinette to Gabriel as he watch his son get smothered by his childhood friend.
"Not a problem Ms. Ladybug. If my son promised to protect you, then I shall honor that promise as well."
"You're too late," Deranger interrupted, pointing to where storm clouds began to gather over the lair, "My counter electrodynamic concentrator is already sucking up the world's energy!"
"We'll see about that," responded Gabriel, Adrien throwing his staff like a lance towards the kinetic modulator, nearly knocking if over, but enough to halt the energy storage in the counter electrodynamic concentrator.
"What have you done!?" Deranger cried in a panic, rushing towards the small device, grabbing it and the other items it was plugged into.
"At least I still have my cocoa maker," He made a dash for the door, only to be stopped by Marinette and Chloe.
"Uh-uh," Marinette wagged her figure at him.
"So not getting away," added Chloe.
Deranger panicked and ran the other way. A nod between the two girls, and they hand sprung after, both landing a kick to his back, which released his hold on the prototype and cocoa making equipment, which the girls caught. Deranger went flying into the mutant dogs, one of the orbs falling out of his pocket before exploding, connecting him and the two dogs.
"Here's to being separated," Marinette raised her cup, Chloe, Adrien, Mr. Agreste, Alya, and Nino doing the same.
"Good thing you found the debonding formula in Deranger's lab," said Nino after taking a sip of his drink. Along with helping the four people seperate, Nino and Alya were there to complete the final portion of their project.
"I don't know, being stuck together wasn't so bad," mentioned Adrien, looking up at his father, who rested his hand on his son's shoulder. From Marinette's view, it looked like some father son bonding was exactly what was needed.
"Are you kidding me, it was the worse. I had to go to a commoner's theater, and pay for my own ticket. Not to mention what that deranged man did with my hair."
"Deranger," Marinette and Adrien corrected before Marinette realized something.
"I got go. I'll see you guys tomorrow," she set her cup down and raced out of the mansion, leaving a knowing Alya, Nino, and Chloe, but a very confused Adrien.
Marinette had just made it out of the gate when she ran into Sabrina about to enter.
"Sabrina, I have somewhere I need to be right now, but I can come over and work on the project later."
"Too late. Chloe and I are doing the project together," Sabrina harrumphed, clearly not please with Marinette's busy schedule yesterday.
"You mean, you're doing the project?"
"Of course! After all she's been through…"
Marinette sighed. Something would never change.
"Well, I'll work on my part and add it to the presentation in the morning."
"Fine."
Sabrina continued towards the Agreste mansion, probably to see Chloe.
Marinette continued running down the streets, checking her watch.
She barely made it in time as she saw Nathanael waiting outside the ice cream shop.
"Nathanael!" Marinette called out as she ran up beside him.
"Marinette, glad you could make it. No Chloe this time?"
"All gone of Chloe," she teased.
"Ready for part two of your birthday," Marinette led him inside the shop, waiting in line to order their ice cream.
"Definitely. Thanks for agreeing to go out with me. I mean, celebrate my birthday with me. Again. Since we did yesterday."
"There is another reason, why agreed to a second ... celebration," Nathanael looked at her curiously as she pulled out a Valentine's Day card out of his purse.
"Did you draw this?"
Nathanael's face went as red as his hair.
"Yes."
Marinette smiled tucking the card away in her purse.
"Thank you for the card, and for asking me out," she stepped a little closer to him as the line moved forward. As he moved with the line, his hand reached for hers.
This could work.
HAPPY NEW YEAR! 10 days late.
I originally wanted to have the new chapter up in time for New Year's but some personal stuff has had me drained creatively since Christmas. I still feel lacking in the creative department, but hopefully I can move past this and write more frequently. It's like I have ideas and want to improve drawing and writing wise, but am unmotivated to do so or just hit walls when I do.
It's hard to explain without going into much detail.
So enough about me, and onto the next part of Call Me, Beep Me. Fun chapters ahead!