A fighter jet flew over Paris, two of its passengers preparing to disembark.
"Thanks for the ride, Colonel Dimitri. This is our stop," informed Marinette as she pressed a button, the back hatch of the plane opening, the cold morning air chilling Adrien right to the bones.
"Er, for once can't we just land like, taxi to a gate or something? "
"I hope we are not late," Marinette murmured as she pressed another button, ejecting their seats out of the jet. After descending out of plane range, they pulled the straps on their parachutes, landing safely in the park across from the school.
"Marinette!" Alya and Nino rushed across the street to the park to meet them.
"Girl, where have you been?"
"Ruthless dictator, don't ask. What'd we miss?" Marinette fell into step with Alya while Nino walked with Adrien a few steps behind.
Marinette had noticed recently that Adrien had been keeping his distance a little from her, seldom talking unless they were on missions.
"Nothing much, although I did overhear the seniors planning themes for the prom."
"Prom?"
"Well it is coming up end of May. People want to get started finding dates soon. Plus, some people may be in commission for making some dresses," Alya teasingly winked at Marinette.
"Fine, once Nino asks you to prom, then we start your dress."
"Once I do what," asked Nino, stepping closer to the girls once his name was mentioned as the group waited to cross the street.
Alya smirked.
"You'll figure it out," she teased.
"Oh, and your maman mentioned she wanted to talk to you," added Alya as the light changed, allowing the foursome to cross.
"You saw my maman?"
"I had to check you were on a mission rather than oversleeping," insisted Alya as they entered the school.
"Hey Marinette," Nathanael waved as he approached the group, falling into step beside Marinette. "Where were you?"
"Ruthless dictator," answered Marinette.
"Ah, we still on for lunch today? There's a new café down the street."
"Sounds great. I just need to talk to my maman then we can go over."
"Perfect."
"You can't avoid Marinette forever," chastised Nino as he kept an eye on Marinette and Nathanael leaving for lunch.
"I can certainly try," whispered Adrien as he hid himself behind his locker door, pretending to look for something, but actually staring at a picture of him and Marinette from one of their first missions in the back of his locker.
Nino had confirmed he flirted with Marinette, but Marinette had been silent on what had happened at Hawkmoth's lair when he asked her the following day. But she had turned slightly pink at his questions, confirming he may have done more flirting. Plus Nathanael seemed increasingly clingy lately, making certain Marinette's attention was on him whenever Adrien was around. It was probably better for Marinette and Nathanael if Adrien kept his distance in case whatever feeling were brought up when he was under the influence of the helmet wouldn't resurface and ruin their relationship.
"Dude, aside from me, she's practically your best friend. Marinette's just probably being too nice to mention you avoiding her and what happened at Hawkmoth's lair," responded Nino.
"What happened at Hawkmoth's lair," Alya appeared behind the boys, Adrien slamming his locker shut in surprise.
"Please don't do that again," Adrien clutched his heart as he tried to calm down. Anything seen by Alya could be held against him.
Alya huffed, "fine, but you stop hiding. Marinette and Nathanael already left for lunch.
The boys nodded and followed Alya out of the locker hall.
"So, what happened at Hawkmoth's lair," Alya turned to ask.
"I don't remember really what happened at all last week," Adrien offered, hoping Alya would stop her line of questions there.
"You do know you flirted with her?"
Adrien could feel his cheeks grow warm as Alya's smirk grew.
"Oh yeah, you sat down right between her and Nathanael, blocking Nathanael from her, even inviting her over to your place later."
"She comes over to my house all the time," he attempted to cover.
"Not for what you implied."
"Alya, stop trying to give my best bro a heart attack," Nino put his hands comfortingly on Adrien shoulder, directing him to a table.
"I'm just saying, despite being evil, it gave you a lot of confidence to ask Marinette out like that," Alya remarked nonchalant.
"WHAT!?" Both boys yelled at the brunette.
"Based on what Marinette told me, Adrien offered in exchange for turning off the mega-weather generator that Marinette go on a date with him."
Adrien whimpered as he hit his head against the table, Nino quickly substituting the table for his hand to prevent bruising.
It had taken him turning evil to ask out his best friend. While Adrien continued to mourn his terrible behavior, with Nino offering reassuring back pats, Alya sat smugly at the table, intending to enjoy the rest of her lunch.
"Hello Maman," Marinette greeted as she and Nathanael entered the bakery.
"Marinette, I wasn't expecting to see you until after school. Hi Nathanael," Sabine called out from behind the register as she rung up another customer. Nathanael waved before occupying himself with a display case as Marinette approached her mother.
"You never know with saving the world, so I thought I'd stop by just in case."
"Alright, you remember my Uncle Wang?"
"Doesn't he own that restaurant we visited last time we were in China?"
"The restaurant one of your enemies attempted to destroy."
"Anti-bug."
"Right, well, he's been invited to compete in World's Greatest Chef this Saturday, and with Easter coming up, we need you host him while he's here."
"But maman, I don't know Chinese."
"Please honey, it's only for Saturday," pleaded her maman, giving her a kitty cat pout.
"Oh please not the kitty cat pout," Marinette attempted to shield herself, but the look was too strong to resist.
"Alright, but can you please let him know I didn't mean his restaurant any harm last time."
Sabine chuckled as the kitty cat pout disappeared.
Adrien sat at his desk busying himself with a Chinese lesson he had missed while under possession of the helmet.
"Dude, I don't get why you spend your free time studying."
"I hoping if we go back to China for a mission, I can talk with Mr. Lau directly. Might be useful."
"Unless Marinette decides to learn Chinese before you do."
Adrien looked up from his worksheet to Nino, who was watching Marinette enter with a mildly bored Nathanael following.
"欢迎来到我的家.我的名字是马里内特," her phone spoke to her. Marinette attempted to repeat back the phrase, butchering it up so bad Adrien wasn't sure if she had insulted someone or even spoke Chinese.
"Girl, it's too early to start picking electives for next year," teased Alya as Marinette took her seat, not even bothering to wave Nathanael off to his own seat.
"My great-uncle is coming to town Saturday and Maman needs me to host him while he's here," informed Marinette before repeating the phrase from her phone, getting a couple words right.
"So why the Chinese lesson?"
"He only speaks Chinese, how am I supposed to be a good host if I can't talk to him?"
Adrien should have ran for dear life the moment he saw the dastardly twinkle of mischief in Alya's eyes.
"Why don't you get a tutor?"
"I can't afford to pay a tutor, no matter how many favors Nino could pull to have Miss Sui tutor me."
"I was thinking more local than someone from China," informed Alya looking directly at Adrien. Marinette finally glanced up from her phone, to Alya then followed Alya's gaze to Adrien, noticing his Chinese worksheets.
Upon realization, Marinette folded her hands together, placing her head on the table with a loud smack.
"Please tutor me in Chinese," she pleaded.
Adrien looked around for help. Alya looked devious, Nino looked curious, and Nathanael look like he could kill him.
"Um, d-do you need to learn Cantonese or Mandarin?"
"Mandarin," Marinette hurriedly answered. Which was what he was studying.
It would be a good opportunity to clarify things that happened last week.
"Sure, when do you want to meet."
"After school? My place."
"Sure, I'll let Nathalie know," Adrien turned back around in his seat.
"You are a lifesaver," Marinette sighed in relief, causing Adrien to smile. He put away his worksheet for his Mandarin book, flipping back to the beginning to review the material.
He could hear Marinette expressing her relief more to Alya as she had practiced all through lunch. Adrien noticed out of the corner of his eye Nino give him a thumbs up.
And he could feel the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end as someone glared daggers at him from the back of the classroom.
For Marinette, the day could not end fast enough. She had less than a week to learn how to converse with her great-uncle, and the sooner she started on that, the better for her uncle.
The moment the bell rung, she shoved her books in her bag, and grabbed Adrien's hand, pulling him out of the classroom.
"Do you need to grab anything from your locker," she asking briefly looking back for Adrien to shake his head "no".
Marinette nodded and pulled him out of the school, up to the apartment with a quick mention to her parents they were going to study before setting him down on the chaise in her room, pulling her desk chair opposite of him, sitting at attention, ready to learn.
Her concentration was broken by the realization her phone was ringing.
"You should probably get that," offered Adrien as he reached for his books.
Marinette nodded, accepting the call she realized was from Nathanael.
"Hello?"
"Hey, you dashed out of there, we didn't get to say goodbye."
"Sorry, I just really need to learn Chinese for my great-uncle's visit."
"I know, it's fine. Did you at least enjoy lunch though?"
"Yeah, it was delicious," to be honest, Marinette couldn't even remember what she ordered.
"That's good, see you tomorrow."
"Yeah, see ya."
"Love you."
Marinette's breath hitched, glancing over to Adrien who seemed to be reading his Chinese book.
"Love you too," she whispered into the receiver.
Nathanael hung up the call, Marinette sighing, now at a loss for motivation as she slouched in her seat.
"Nathanael?" Adrien asked, not looking up from his book.
"Yeah, he's been more… attached lately."
"Probably because he really cares about you."
"I'm a big girl, I can handle myself."
"It's probably not you he's worried about."
Marinette sat up, looking over at Adrien.
"Sorry about last week, and the whole flirting, asking you out."
"Oh," Marinette adjusted herself in her seat, feeling as if maybe Adrien tutoring her in Chinese had been a setup by Alya.
"It's fine. Nothing bad happened. Plus you weren't exactly yourself."
"But I was, or at least a part of me was there. So I am sorry if I made you uncomfortable in anyway, and I would still like for us to keep being friends," Adrien looked up to her with pleading kitty-cat eyes.
"We never stopped being friends Chaton," Marinette smiled, which Adrien returned.
"Good, let's then teach you some Mandarin."
"Are you sure you want to study through lunch," asked Adrien as he and Marinette walked towards the cafeteria. Two days and Adrien had agreed to teach Marinette some basic conversation sentences to help her uncle feel more comfortable during his stay. And if Marinette had any issues, Adrien agreed to keep the day largely free with the exception of piano in the morning, but that would be before her uncle arrived.
"I'm certain, quiz me."
"郑师傅, 这是您第一次来巴黎 吗？"
Marinette repeated back the words, slightly sounding like Mandarin.
"Almost, let's try breaking it down. 郑师傅."
"郑师傅, what does shifu mean?"
"Master, so your uncle is Master Cheng or 郑师傅."
"郑师傅."
"Alright, 这是您第."
"Hey Marinette." They were interrupted by Nathanael approaching them.
"Hey Nathanael," Marinette smiled, noticing how Adrien stepped slightly away.
"You able to break away for lunch?"
"Actually Adrien agreed to help me study during lunch. I think I'm getting the hang of some of it."
"Oh, that's good. If you want to get more practice, there's an authentic Chinese restaurant close by."
Marinette went wide eyed at that. She didn't think she could handle actual conversation in Chinese yet. But Chinese food sounded good.
"That sounds like a good idea. You can practice reading the characters on the menu," offered Adrien. Marinette turned a panicked look to Adrien. No way was he abandoning her to practice Chinese on her own. She might insult the entire restaurant.
"How about we go to the Chinese Restaurant, with Adrien, so he could keep teaching me Chinese," offered Marinette.
A look passed between the two boys, Nathanael intimidating while Adrien looked sheepish.
"Um… sure," Adrien whispered.
"Great, Nathanael, lead the way."
Nathanael nodded, leading their trio out of the school and down the street. Marinette looked over to Adrien to continue testing her, but he remained silent, glancing over at Nathanael who was glaring at nothing in particular. The tension was thick, lasting even as they entered the restaurant. Nathanael cornered Marinette to the same side of the booth he chose to occupy, while Adrien took the other side.
"So, Nathanael, how did the art exhibit go," offered Adrien as he took up a menu.
"Fine, until someone decided to interrupt it," retorted Nathanael, not lifting his eyes from the menu.
"Yeah, sorry about that. I wasn't in my right mind last week."
"From what Marinette told me that helmet took away the good, leaving only the bad. So some of that was you."
"And I'm sorry about that. Won't happen again," Adrien buried his face into the menu. Nathanael glared at Adrien's shield before pursuing his own menu. Maybe going out for lunch wasn't the best idea.
"You know what? I'm going to go to the bathroom. Wash my hands really quick," Marinette said, Nathanael standing up to allow her out. The moment Marinette made it to the bathroom, she called Nino on her watch.
"Marinette, I told you no bathroom calls. It's sick and wrong," answered Nino, closing his eyes the moment he recognized where she was.
"This is an emergency. I'm out to lunch with Nathanael and Adrien, and Nathanael looks like he wants to straggle Adrien."
"Really, he always seemed like the passive type."
"Well he's passively glaring daggers at Adrien. Please, Tell me somebody somewhere needs my help!"
"Actually, it's been pretty quiet."
"Come on. A cat stuck in a tree, ...anything!"
"I've got a series of robberies in Europe, but it looks small-time."
"Sold! Send me the coordinates. I'll get Adrien."
"Good luck."
Marinette hung up the call before dashing out of the bathroom.
"Adrien, we got a mission, let's go. Bye Nathanael, raincheck," Marinette pulled Adrien out of the booth, hightailing out of the restaurant.
"I don't understand it, all they took was two pair of infrared goggles," commented a man at store in England.
"Two coils of climbing rope," added another man from a store in Switzerland.
"Two grappling hooks," added a man from a store in Italy.
"Two parachutes!" added a woman in store in Spain.
"All of it, every last jar! Oh, my pauvre Le Goop," cried a familiar vendor, Francois. She had him fix up Nino's hair back Freshman year of high school to try and impress a girl.
"Le Goop? Hmm, a clue," Adrien took a display picture to examine the product.
"I caught a glimpse of them. There was a boy, tall and slim, but a few crepes short of a suze," informed Francois.
"Let me guess, he was with an older gentleman, strong family resemblance?"
"Mais non! A young lady. She was a blond."
"Anti-bug and Moni?" "Chloe and Moni?" Marinette and Adrien said at the same time, Marinette frowning at Adrien's guess of Chloe.
"I send Nino the deats," offered Marinette, as they began walking back to school. Luckily their last stop was Paris.
"Yeah, I should probably get back home. I got a photoshoot in an hour."
"An hour," Marinette whimpered.
"You'll be fine. I can Skype you once I'm done. Just review what we learned so far," his grin faltered as he finished that sentence.
"Or maybe you should maybe study with Nathanael."
"Nathanael doesn't know Chinese."
"I meant your regular classes. He looked like he wanted to spend time with you today."
"Right, I'll skype you later then."
"Sure," Adrien answered with a smile. Marinette halfheartedly returned the smile before pulling out her phone.
"Hey, I'm free, want to meet up to study?" Not even three seconds later, a response came back.
"Sure, let me know when you're at school."
Marinette fell on her chaise, exhausted by the day. She had been studying at the library with Nathanael, although he kept sitting really close, constantly one hand on her as if she was going to run off again. It was very tiring and exceedingly nerve wracking. She couldn't even remembered what they studied or what Chinese Adrien had tested her on that morning.
Just a small nap before she would go shower.
Or should she shower first then nap.
She wasn't given a moment to decide as she heard her skype calling her. She tumbled off her chase, dragging herself over to her computer to answer the call.
"Hello?"
"Marinette? Where are you," asked Adrien's voice.
"On the floor. What's up?"
"You wanted to study Chinese later. Did you just get back home?"
"Yep. Dinner's not ready yet so I have a bit of time."
"You sure? You sound exhausted."
"I'll be fine," Marinette pulled herself up onto her desk chair.
"Let's do this."
"No, go take a shower first and eat some dinner. We'll study when you're alert again."
"But I need to learn more so I'm ready for Saturday."
"And you aren't going to learn if you as drowsy like this. Go shower. I'll be here when you get back."
Marinette smiled sleepily at the video feed of Adrien.
"Have I told you lately you're the best?"
"Not lately, no."
"Well, you are. And cute too," Marinette plopped her head on the desk, missing Adrien's blush.
"A-and you are tired, go shower," he insisted.
"Fine, trying to compliment you ya know," Marinette stood, grabbing her thing to shower.
"You can compliment me when you aren't tired," insisted Adrien.
Marinette waved her hand dismissively. She was about to exit the room, when Nino logged onto the call.
"What's up dudes. How's the Chinese going?"
"It's not, at least until Marinette is more rational," answered Adrien.
"I'm always rational," argued Marinette as she sat back down in her desk chair, both boys giving her a look.
"Any way, what's up Nino?"
"Found something on Anti-bug and Moni," a link appeared in the message bar.
"Villain's Digest. Bad guys have their own magazine," asked Adrien
"Complete with want ads, including one placed by Sir Monsieur, the First.
"Tutor wanted. Excellent pay, meals included," read Marinette scanning the article.
"Hey! Anti-bug's probably tutoring Moni, just like I'm tutoring you in Chinese!
"Yeah, great. So, now we just have to figure out what she's tutoring him for."
"Probably villainy. I doubt she qualifies for elementary teaching," offered Nino, which earned a snicker from Adrien and a disapproving gaze from Marinette.
"The Monsieurs are all about the challenge, they only go for stuff that's really valuable and heavily-guarded," commented Marinette, running over a list of places that would serve as a target. Hopefully they would stay local considering this was villainy lessons, but his practice lessons had expanded all over Europe.
"You know, we could just run a web search on the words 'really valuable' and 'heavily-guarded'," joked Adrien as Buginette jumped in front of the screen, making herself comfortable in the space between the monitor and the keyboard.
"Adrien, we're talking a devious criminal mind here. It's not as simple as…" started Marinette.
"Got it! Great idea, Adrien," responded Nino. Adrien smiled over Buginette.
"Marinette it's time for dinner," Sabine called out from below.
"One second maman. Business meeting with Nino and Adrien," Marinette turned towards the door in her chair.
"Alright, but better hurry. It's mapo tofu tonight."
"Alright, so what'd you dig," Marinette turned back the screen.
"Interestingly enough, a soup recipe from China." The message board beeped as Nino sent them the link.
"Great-Uncle Cheng's Celestial Soup Recipe is the most heavily guarded thing in the world," Marinette dropped bathroom necessities as she read the article.
"Apparently after your crash with Anti-bug at his restaurant last year, security on the recipe has been amped. Rumor has it he keeps it on his person at all times," answered Nino.
"Anti-bug would try to strike the same spot twice."
"At least your great-uncle will be in Paris this weekend so we can keep an eye on him," added Adrien.
"We?"
"Yeah, I can be your translator. Security guards aren't known for being conversationalists," teased Adrien, earning a smile from Marinette.
Marinette practically bounced in her seat waiting for her great-uncle and Adrien to show Saturday morning. Adrien's piano lesson was running long, but he said he was on his way. Her uncle though could be there any minute.
"Let's try the app again," she opened up the Chinese translator app, "Welcome to my home. My name is Marinette."
"欢迎来到我的家.我的名字是马里内特."
"欢迎来到我的家.我的名字是马里内特. Yes! Finally got it right," Marinette congratulated herself. She keep repeating the phrase over and over in her head as she examined the flowers. Her mother had recommended them as a gift to give Cheng Shifu considering his niece and her husband would be unable to host him properly during his brief stay.
He concentration was broken by a text message from Nathanael, "Hope you have fun with your uncle. Maybe we could hang out Sunday if you're free?"
Before Marinette could respond (she planned on taking a nap on Sunday), she was interrupted by a ring of the doorbell. She hoped it was Adrien, only instead to find several burly men surrounding an older Chinese man dressed in his cooking attire.
She could not recall her great-uncle feeling so intimidating.
"你好," her great uncle greeted, snapping Marinette out of her stupor.
"Uh, welcome Mari you're at Nette's. Uh ah, welcome to Marinette's! You're Chinese! No no no no! In Mandarin!" Marinette attempted to repeat the phrase she had said correctly earlier, only to feel she messed up as her great-uncle and his guards stared at her with a neutral expression. "Ugh, no wait."
Marinette handed her great-uncle the flowers before pulling out her phone, the guards eyeing the flowers suspiciously as Cheng Shifu smelled them.
"Welcome to my home. My name is Marinette. Ugh, this is so lame," Marinette whispered into her phone.
"欢迎来到我家。我的名字是马里内特。哎，这 真...哎，这 真...哎，这 真..." Marinette hurriedly closed the app, offering a nervous smile as she opened the door wider for her uncle and his bodyguards to enter the small apartment. She was about to shut the door, when Adrien slipped in.
"Hey Marinette, sorry I'm late," he began, the body guards turned to eye him suspiciously, hands reaching for their right hips.
"你好，我在这里为程仕福翻译," Adrien explained, the guard eyeing him suspiciously.
"我是马里内特的朋友," Adrien continued, looking to Marinette for confirmation.
Marinette had a feeling they reviewed a little over that bit of dialogue. He was introducing himself. She was suppose to say yes.
"是," she affirmed.
The guard relaxed, turning to Cheng Shifu who had been picking apparent Marinette' bouquet and stuffing petals into his bag.
"我们走吧," he urged, the guards escorting their master, Marinette and Adrien out of the house.
Adrien sat in the car next to Cheng Shifu, Marinette sitting on the other side, while his guards sat on either side of the limo.
"Master Cheng, Is this the first time you've visited Paris," Adrien asked in Chinese. While speaking in the man's language did exclude Marinette from conversation, he did seem more relaxed as Adrien conversed with him.
"No, I have been here 30 years ago. You can speak Chinese fluently," Cheng Shifu complimented back in Chinese.
Adrien slightly bowed at the compliment, as much as he could for sitting in a car, "Thank you, Master Cheng."
"Oh, my English very bad. Not like your Chinese," he spoke in English, surprising both Marinette and Adrien.
"I thought you couldn't speak English," Adrien looked up between Cheng Shifu and Marinette, who looked equally astonished.
"Uh, me too."
"Oh, no, not good. My English not good," the chef emphasized, causing Marinette to giggle. A slight vibration on his wrist alerted Adrien he received a message from Nino. He lt Marinette check her watch first before he did.
"No sign of Anti-bug or Moni on the Hotel's perimeters."
Their car pulled up to a stop in front of the hotel, crowds cheering on either side of a railing keeping them from the red carpet.
The two of the guards were quick to step out, holding the doors open for Marinette, Cheng Shifu, and Adrien.
Alec Cataldi, who worked for TVi and was hosting "World's Greatest Chef" stood before the doors, while Mayor Bourgeois stood off to the side. Upon Cheng Shifu's arrival, the Mayor approached, the guards taking positions along the railings.
"Cheng Shifu, I am delighted and honored to have you on our final show, where you will have the chance to defeat all of the chefs who have competed thus far," congratulated the Mayor before leading him to Alec for a momentary interview.
"Only one will be awarded the title of "World's Greatest Chef." The winner's dish will become the new Mayor's Special on the Grand Paris's menu!" Alec turned towards Cheng Shifu as he approached, "Tell us Cheng Shifu, what dish will you be honoring our panel with today?"
Adrien translated the question for Marinette's great-uncle.
"My dish is: Celestial soup."
"Wow," Alec turned back to the camera, "I've heard so much about your legendary Celestial Soup, but today we'll actually get to taste it!" The cameraman pressed a button and began moving his equipment elsewhere as Cheng Shifu security guards approached.
"Would you like me to come with you, Cheng Shifu," offered Adrien.
"No thank you Adrien. Cooking needs no words."
Alec proceeded to lead Cheng Shifu and his guards towards the kitchen.
Adrien turned to find Marinette talking to the Mayor, so he approached at the tail end of their conversation.
"Thank you for that information. We'll still keep an eye out though." The Mayor nodded and redirected his attention elsewhere.
"What was that?"
"I told Mayor Bourgeois about the potential threat from Anti-bug and Moni. Turns out TVi already got a video warning from Sir Monsieur."
"So then all that left is to scan the perimeter just in case," suggested Adrien.
"Sounds like a plan."
"Oh look who it is!" The worst possible voice Marinette could have heard today rang throughout the lobby, Chloe Bourgeois. "My favorite person, Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Shouldn't you be with your boyfriend? Today being a Saturday or whatever."
"I'm supporting my uncle for the competition."
"Your uncle?" she pointed in the direction Cheng Shifu left, Marinette nodding in confirmation. "Seriously? Does he
expect to win the contest with a SOUP!? It's not even a main dish! Please! Doesn't he know how to make sushi like everyone else?"
"Japanese people make sushi, Chloé. Cheng Shifu is Chinese," defended Adrien.
"Besides, he's not like "everyone else". My Great Uncle is the best chef in the world. His soup is legendary!"
"Well, I despise soup."
"So what?"
"Didn't you know? I'm on the jury. Your uncle will not be getting my vote, for sure," retorted Chloe with a victorious grin.
"Oh yeah? Well, he doesn't need your vote to win! There are other judges with much better taste than yours. Oh, silly me, you don't have any taste! I mean, look at what you're wearing," smirked Marinette.
"Ew! Don't talk about me like that.," Chloe stomped off, but not before glaring back at Marinette, "You've made a big mistake."
Marinette scowled after Chloe, a calming hand on her shoulder snapping her out of her thoughts.
"Maybe I should get going since Cheng Shifu doesn't seem to need a translator. You can have Nathanael sub for me today," Adrien offered with a small smile.
Marinette looked appalled by the suggestion, "Don't even think about suggesting. I promised you that you would be my partner. And that stays, whether or not I have a boyfriend."
Adrien offered a weak smile that didn't reach his eyes. Nathanael already seemed mad at him for the things happening the week before, he didn't want to be the cause of a relationship fallout for his best friend.
"You can't get rid of me that easy Chaton."
Adrien immediately perked at her nickname for him.
"I certainly hope not bugaboo," he teased back, Marinette returning the smile.
"Now let's do a perimeter check.
"We're on in five," the camera man counted down with his fingers while the judges and Cheng Shifu stood ready to film. Marinette and Adrien snuck close to the camera, their perimeter check revealing heavily guarded entrances from either the police or Cheng Shifu's personal guard.
"As usual, our panel of gourmets is made up of André Bourgeois, the mayor of Paris and owner of this luxury hotel," began Alec, "his daughter Chloé, representing the younger generation, hot rock star Jagged Stone and his killer crocodile Fang, and finally, the divine head chef of this very hotel, Marlena Césaire, and yours truly - Alec!"
Alec took a seat with the other judges, "It's time to determine the fate of Cheng Shifu's famous Celestial Soup. Let's get tasting!"
The jury dipped in their spoons to taste, except Chloe who causally stirred hers.
Alec reacted immediately, spitting some of the soup back into the napkin," What IS this!?"
Cheng Shifu panicked at their reaction, Marinette and Adrien immediately on high alert.
"Uh, I don't think this soup would fare well with our guests! I'll give it a 3/10," offered Mayor Bourgeois apologetically.
"Seeing as it's pretty unappetizing, maybe I'll pass on the tasting, but I'll still give it a zero," Chloe looked quite smug with her vote, Marinette immediately thinking Chloe may be the sabotager.
"Ech! It's like kissing a member from the Zombeats! Negative zero," informed Jagged Stone.
"I'm sorry, but it's inedible. I give it 1/10," commented Marlena in the sweetest voice possible.
"Uh... I…," he walked over to the row of judges, tasting Chloe's soup, before spitting it out into a napkin, "Uch! I don't understand, I never put these ingredients in. It's a mistake. Someone sabotaged soup!"
Marlena and Jagged looked at each other worriedly, while Chloe continued to look smug.
"I'm sorry, Cheng Shifu, but I'm giving you a zero, too, which brings your score to 0.8/10 - the lowest so far. Celestial Soup will therefore not be in the hotel's menu this year, and you will not be named 'World's Greatest Chef'!"
Everyone began to disperse, Marinette approaching the soup, passing Chloe as she did.
"Marinette," Adrien nudged her, gesturing to where Chloe had passed, a petal lay on the ground.
"From my bouquet to Cheng Shifu!"
"He did mention he was going to use the petals in his soup," added Adrien.
Marinette, with determination, marched over to the kitchen after her great Uncle, only to find it guarded.
"Can I please see Cheng Shifu?"
The guards made no movement to allow her to pass.
"我们可以请见郑先生吗," asked Adrien, but the guards were as unresponsive as to Marinette's English.
Marinette frowned before walking off, Adrien hesitantly following her.
"What do we do now? Anti-bug and Moni could be here already, and what Chloe did didn't help the situation."
"Looks like we'll just have to get to my uncle before Anti-bug and Moni do."
Cheng Shifu stood before his pot of soup, mourning his loss, when the vent from the range hood opened, revealing Anti-bug and Moni wearing gas masks.
"Just like we practiced," Anti-bug cautioned as Moni threw down a smoke grenade, the room filling with a knockout gas.
The moment Cheng Shifu fell to the floor, Moni went to his satchel, pulling out a recipe card.
"A-plus. Let's bolt," urged Anti-bug as she turned on the ventilation fan.
"This is a very strange secret recipe," commented Moni as the smoke cleared.
"What," Anti-bug stopped to look at the card.
"'You are so busted.' Shouldn't there be some mention of eggs or water?
"Let me see!" Anti-bug pulled the card out of Moni's hands, "This isn't...!"
"The recipe," teased Marinette as the doors opened, revealing Marinette, Adrien, several bodyguards, and the real Cheng Shifu without his chef hat and bag.
"B-But how…" stammered Moni.
"Cheng! I knew that name was familiar," groaned Anti-bug in realization.
"Great Uncle actually, and world's greatest chef."
"Then he'll do," Anti-bug leapt over to Cheng Shifu.
"Pardon me," she pulled him along after her.
"I'll take care of Anti-bug, you handle Moni," ordered Marinette as she raced after Anti-bug and Cheng Shifu, several security guards following after them.
Adrien and Moni began circling each other.
"That's a cool outfit, guy," complimented Adrien as he readied his fighting stance.
"You think so? I fear it makes me look beefy in the booty, if you know what I mean?"
"I do and it doesn't."
"You are too kind. Now I must attack!"
Moni lunged at Adrien, which he successfully dodged before landing a strike of his own, pushing Moni back further into the kitchen. Before Moni could land another strike though, the sounding of metal vibrating put Moni to a halt, falling forward to reveal the security guard dressed as Cheng Shifu had knocked Moni out with a cookie pan.
"Nice," Adrien gave a thumbs up.
Marinette followed behind Anti-bug, as they raced up different levels of the hotel. She could hear Anti-bug telling her uncle to give up the recipe.
She finally made it to the pool deck on the roof of the hotel, Cheng Shifu attached to a pole about to be dropped into the water.
Rather than waste time on talking, Marinette went straight for the attack,, which Anti-bug dodged before throwing something that destroyed the entrance to the pool area.
"Nice try having multiple bodyguards," taunted Anti-bug.
"I think I can substitute nicely for a bodyguard," responded Marinette as she pressed her attacks.
"Marinette, do not bother. Shame is on Celestial Soup. Celestial Soup should be forgotten."
"It's not your fault. I'm pretty sure Chloé's behind this. It was actually because of me. I provoked her, and Chloe sabotaged your recipe."
"Sabotage? The olive oil?!" Cheng Shifu realized, recalling the moments of peace he had, noticing the bottle of olive oil left on the kitchen counter. He had assumed another chef had left it there.
"I'm sure the other judges would be willing to give you another chance," offered Marinette as she dodged one of Anti-bug's punches.
"That's nice and all, but I'm going to get the recipe first," taunted Anti-bug as she kicked Marinette away.
Anti-bug leapt onto the pole and began searching Cheng Shifu's pockets.
"Where is it?"
"You mean the recipe?"
Anti-bug looked up to see Adrien in front of the previously destroyed door, now open with several security guards and police filing onto the pool deck.
Anti-bug and Moni were stuffed into the back of a police car, while Adrien watched from the sidelines.
"You know what, they belong together," commented Adrien as Marinette approached him from behind.
"In jail maybe," she added as the police car drove away.
"It's a good thing Uncle Cheng keeps the recipe in his head," added Marinette, grateful for that tidbit of knowledge that saved her uncle's recipe.
Adrien nodded as he turned to see in her hand a new bouquet of flowers.
"For me, you shouldn't have," he teased.
Marinette turned bright pink. "They're for my uncle! Because the judges are letting him make the soup again, so I was just going to give them to him," Marinette rambled.
"I'm teasing. 我们走吧,"
"我们走吧," Marinette affirmed, glad she could remember at least one phrase after week of studying Chinese. Adrien led Marinette back inside the hotel, unaware of the passenger exiting the police vehicle for a flying aircraft.
"Cheng Shifu's delicious Celestial Soup has received the highest marks overall, making you the final winner!" Everyone applauded as Cheng Shifu bowed his head for the medal Alec presented to him.
"Ah, and it will soon be the Mayor's Special on the restaurant menu of my prestigious hotel," added Mayor Bourgeois, before helping himself to another spoonful.
"Rock n' Roll! I can't wait to get home and write a song about soup," Jagged continued helping himself to his bowl as his assistant, Penny stood close by, guitar ready.
"Thank you, but no longer Celestial Soup. Now called: Marinette Soup," Cheng Shifu gestured to Marinette who stood near the camera, her face lighting up in excitement.
"Thank you," she spoke in Chinese. Now two phrases she knew.
"You're welcome," her uncle responded in English.
"Come over here and stand alongside your uncle, the 'World's Greatest Chef'," gestured Alec, Marinette going over to her uncle, standing beside him for the final shot, giving him a hug.
"And cut!" called out the cameraman, people immediately dispersing.
"Boss," one of the guards approached Cheng Shifu, who answered his unspoken question with a nod.
"What was that," asked Marinette.
"The reason for so many guard is so many like Celestial- I mean Marinette Soup," one of the guards handed Marinette a bowl of Soup, Adrien joining the group with his own bowl. Cheng Shifu led the teens over to a table where another bowl sat ready for him.
"To Marinette Soup then," Adrien lifted his spoon in a toast.
"To Marinette Soup," cheered Cheng Shifu, and several of his guards.
I apologize for any Chinese that was butchered during this. Thank you Google Translate.
Translations:
欢迎来到我的家.我的名字是马里内特 - Welcome to my home. My name is Marinette.
郑师傅, 这是您第一次来巴黎 吗？- Master Cheng, Is this your first time in Paris?
郑师傅 - Master Cheng
这是您第 - This is your first
欢迎来到我家。我的名字是马里内特。哎，这 真...哎，这 真...哎，这 真... - Welcome to my home. My name is Marinette. Ugh, this is so lame, Ugh, this is so lame, Ugh, this is so lame
你好，我在这里为程仕福翻译 - Hello, I'm here to translate for Cheng Shifu.
我是马里内特的朋友 - I am a friend of Marinette
是 - Yes
我们走吧 - Let's go
我们可以请见郑先生吗 - Can we please see Cheng Shifu