Disclaimer: I do not own Miraculous Ladybug.
The Gamer
"Lucky Charm!" Ladybug yelled, throwing her yoyo up into the sky. A deck of tarot cards flew down and landed in her hands. "What the hell am I supposed to do with this?"
"Uh, maybe you could tell him his future for him. I'd bet he'd love that." Chat responded, sarcastically. He jumped out of the way of another razor sharp term paper.
They were on the streets of Paris once again, and as always Chat Noir and Ladybug fell into the same rhythm where Chat distracted, and Ladybug came up with the plan. Ladybug was sitting on top of a light pole, looking closer at the tarot cards in her hand. Like the rest of her lucky charms, it was ladybug themed. On the face side of the cards, they were just like any other tarot deck, but there was one difference. Instead of just pictures, there was a clear meaning written on each card. Ladybug thought about the motives of the victim. He was getting ready for the end of term exams, and he had probably got too stressed after a failed assignment. "Hmm, maybe Chat was right. I wonder if I should try showing him his future."
"Ladybug, watch out!" Chat cried. The Studier had turned his attention on Ladybug and was hurtling towards her, ready to throw his razors at any time. In a split second decision Ladybug jumped out of the way to lead the victim farther away, but she left the deck of cards on the ground, free for Chat to grab.
Without any physical or verbal communication, Chat grabbed the deck of cards and pulled three of them out specifically. Chat stashed the cards in his belt and went after the akuma. In a series of seconds Chat bounced off of the walls of the buildings to land in front of the akuma while Ladybug pulled away to give him a space to land. Ladybug threw her yoyo around The Studier, effectively pinning his arms to his sides. I sure hope this works.
Chat held up the three backs of the cards to The Studier. "Do you know what these are?" Chat asked. The Studier stopped trying to get away and his eyes widened.
"Those are Tarot cards, of course." Both Ladybug and Chat Noir breathed a quiet sigh of relief. They had hoped that they would be able to distract him and cool the akuma down if they could tell them that end of term exams are not the end all, be all; life continues whether you get an A or an F. And it all hinged on whether or not the akuma believed in the tarot readings.
Chat continued. "Good. Now I want to show you something." Chat flipped around the first card. "This is your past. You have always had a hard time passing classes right?" The Studier nodded. His eyes were still entranced with the cards. An outline of a butterfly appeared around his eyes; Hawkmoth was trying to rein in his servant, but it wasn't working.
Chat turned over the second card. "This is your present. You have been working so hard for the end of term, when you got depressed, and you became-"
"A monster?" finished the victim. Something had changed about The Studier all of a sudden. The picture of nine swords began to freak out the victim. He was once again trying to break free of the yoyo bonds, but Ladybug held on. Chat continued to try to get through to the akuma by calmly touching his shoulder, but his touch did the opposite. "The teachers never notice how hard I worked; they just think I'm just a 'poor little boy' who knows nothing. Well I know one thing for sure. You both are trying to trick me into giving up my power!" The Studier gained in size and looked down upon the superheroes.
"No. We're trying to help you!" Chat Noir defended trying to reach out to the boy. The Studier broke away from the yoyo and ran away. Ladybug and Chat scrambled to grab him again, but they couldn't reach him in time. In the scuffle Ladybug's earrings beeped a warning signal for two minutes.
"Crap. We're gonna have to wrap this up really soon. I really don't have time for this." Ladybug looked around the city stressfully, trying to think of a way to get to The Studier.
"Shall we?" Chat offered his hand to Ladybug as he extended his pole. Ladybug looked at him, surprised, but took his hand quickly.
"Ok, but just this once." Chat grabbed Ladybug's waist gently and he catapulted them down a few blocks, then a few more.
"Just saying, once you get a taste, My Lady, you'll be begging for more!"
"Just shut up and go, cat." The two landed on a building adjacent to, the now walking, Studier. Moving as one, but still somehow separate, Ladybug and Chat Noir landed in front of, but also behind The Studier, and once again trapped him in place.
"I told you! I'm not giving up my power. With my power I don't have to ever write a term paper ever again!" The Studier yelled. Chat held out his hands in surrender.
"I realize how wonderful it is to not have any responsibility, but you have to realize that teachers are not trying to hurt you on purpose. They are truly trying to help you succeed. And, yeah, you failed a few tests and papers along the way, but look at this third card." Chat flipped around the third and final card; the fool. "This is you. In ten years, this one exam won't matter. What will matter is how hard you tried." For the first time, The Studier completely relaxed and listened to Chat's words. "Don't give up yet. You can still make it." Ladybug's hand slipped into the back pocket of The Studiers' suit and pulled out a purple colored term paper. With one swift movement, she ripped the paper in two and freed the akuma of its dark powers.
"Pound it!" Ladybug and Chat Noir cheered together.
"I got it from her, My Lady, you can go." Chat said in farewell, but Ladybug looked at him in confusion.
"Why would I want to do that? We still have to take care of the victim." Chat looked at Ladybug with an amused smile, waiting or her to realize the detail she forgot. A shrill series of beeps cut through the air and Ladybug's eyes widened as she clasped a hand to her earlobe. "Ahh! I got to go! See you later smart Kitty!"
Chat chuckled softly as Ladybug jumped out of view. "Crazy bug."
000
"Oh my gosh, Tikki! That was such a stressful adventure." Marinette flopped down on her spinney chair, and spun around a few times.
"I'm sorry I couldn't hold out for longer, Marinette." Tikki landed onto Marinette's outstretched hand.
"It's fine Tikki, and totally understandable. I only have five minutes after I use my Lucky Charm, it's the rules." Marinette spied her diary box out of the corner of her eye. "But I think this adventure will be a great entry in my diary." Marinette said cheerily.
000
"You're running out of room in your diary." Tikki sat in her usual comfy pillow next to the stuffed cat in Marinette's bed and watched her holder scribble notes about her second meeting with Chat Noir that day.
"Yeah, I guess I am," Marinette said, distracted. "Looks like I'm going to have to get another one. I didn't really realize I had written so much." Marinette stopped and finished her paragraph, then flipped through the pages of her journal.
"Wow, it looks like a lot of your stories have immense details about someone's partner?" Tikki cheekily grinned at Marinette. A very, very small tint of pink colored her cheeks as she scowled at her kawami.
"Well he just happens to do a lot of dangerous, stupid things during battle that are important to the description of it." Marinette turned back to the page she was working on and quickly finished retelling her encounter with the certain cat. "He is just my partner."
Tikki nodded, and cuddled in her bed after saying goodnight. It's always so tiring, sometimes, when the holders don't realize who their partner really is. Although, if Marinette knew her dear Adrien was also her beloved cat, I don't think she'd take it well,…at the moment at least.
Hello Readers! I'm back along with the inspiration to write. When I was watching this episode again I wondered what had happened in the battle that Marinette was starting to describe at the very beginning of the episode, so I thought I would write about that. I realize now that I might have gotten side tracked by the villain's motive (The start of school is coming soon, and I may or may not be freaking out), but I think it was an ok motive. Hope you guys liked it. Please give me feedback on how I am doing! I really like hearing from you guys. It is amazing me how much support I am getting from this story. Thank you so much. The next episode is the Animan. And until I write again, TTFN!