18: Pixelator/Dark Blade

It sucked that I wouldn't be able to be with my classmates for the field trip, but at least I would be able to spend it in the music room with Mr. Nelson.

He's quite talented both as a musician and singer.

He had a grand piano in his room, along with guitars, both acoustic and electric, basses, drums, cellos, violins, trumpets, saxophones, trombones… I could name a lot more, but I think you get the idea.

He could easily conduct an orchestra and have a rock band in the room.

"So Jolene, do you play anything?" He asks kindly as he fixes his squared wired-rimmed glasses.

"I play a few things," I answered wryly as I took a seat on the bench of the piano. "Um, what will my assignments be today?"

"Since you are taking my class for the rest of the day, I think you should show me what you have before my usual class comes by later on," He nodded as he sat by my left, careful of my cast.

So I started with playing 'Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da' with a smile on my face, and I was glad that Mr. Nelson was enjoying himself as he's singing along.

"Oh, wonderful! Bravo!" He claps when he finishes, "Now, what else can you play?"

And so I spent time playing between the piano and the acoustic and electric guitar. Playing mostly rock songs, both hard and soft.

Mr. Nelson joined in when necessary for duets.

Overall, I was enjoying myself, time lost for both of us.

And then we decided to play 'Dream On' by Aerosmith, however that's when some of his class decided to join in.

"Ah, students!" He greets cheerfully, "Today's classical will be changed for something more… modern."

And soon, he introduced us to someone called Scott's Postmodern Jukebox.

In thirty minutes we all learned our parts to perfection.

Mr. Nelson would be on the drums, the class was a mix of violins, violas, and a couple of cellos and basses.

Meanwhile, I would be on the piano and be singing.

And to be honest, I was a little nervous. I haven't sung in front of so many strangers before. It's one thing singing to one, but another to a group.

No wonder I never sang for the school choir. This is nerve wracking.

"Breath, Jolene," Mr. Nelson says as he taps my shoulder. "We are all good friends here, alright?"

I nodded and soon we all played our part, my hands and voice synchronized with the rest.

When we finished we were surprised by someone clapping, "Whoa! That was awesome!"

Soon there were squeals from the girls and excited yells from the guys. As the purple haired man walked right towards me.

"Oh my god! It's Jagged Stone!" Someone helpfully supplies.

Oh.

Oh!

Adrien loves his music.

I should ask for an autograph when I get the chance or something.

The bell rang indicating the end of class.

"Go on students, to your next class," Mr. Nelson grinned at his starstrucked students.

"May we have an autograph!" A couple of girls squeal as they take out a picture of Jagged Stone from their binders.

"Sure of course!" Jagged says with a grin as he takes out a marker from his jacket.

Immediately there was a line of students, and I was surprised that Jagged handed it pretty well.

Soon one by one, they left, leaving the three of us in the room.

Jagged grins at me as he gives me the 'rock on' hand gesture.

"You have wicked talent, girl," He says. "Both on the piano and your vocals. Though I'm not into very old school music, you make it impressive."

I blushed, "Thank you."

Then he looked at Mr. Nelson, "And you are pretty talented too, good sir. Did you teach her?"

Mr. Nelson shook his head, "She knew all of that before she stepped into my classroom."

Jagged grins even more, like he was excited. "Rock on, girl!"

"Thank you, Jagged Stone," I say with a nervous smile, "Umm… may I ask for an autograph?"

"Oh! Of course!" He leaps towards me, his marker ready, "Where do I sign?"

I took out a piece of blank paper, "Can you sign it for Adrien?"

"Adrien?" He asked confused, "Short for Adrianna?"

I chuckled, "No, my best friend is a huge fan of yours. He loves your music."

Jagged then looked like a kick puppy, "Are you not a fan?"

Immediately I felt guilt and rushedly told him that yes, I am a fan, but I think Adrien is as bigger fan and deserves it more, plus he knows all the lyrics to heart and I'm barely a novice when it came to his songs-

"Oi, I think I got the idea," Jagged stops me, giving me a wry smile, "I'm just glad you don't hate my music."

I shook my head, "I do enjoy it a lot. It was actually Adrien that introduced me to your music. Which is why I want to give him your autograph dedicated to him."

"You are a good friend to this Adrien," Jagged nodded as he wrote on the paper and I smiled, glad to have it. But I smiled and blushed when I read what he wrote.

To Adrien, thank you for introducing your awesome friend to my music. From, Jagged Stone.

"By the way, what's your name?" He asked once I placed the paper in a safe place where I was going to draw on the paper with colored pencils.

"Jolene Baudelaire," I answered.

"Well, Jolene, how do you feel playing a couple of songs with me, huh?"

I grinned, "It would be awesome."

Just as we were finishing playing an awesome rendition of 'Bohemian Rhapsody', we found out the reason why Jagged Stone was in my high school.

Pixelator was snapping pictures of people, making them disappear into… some unknown location.

"I have to get out there," Jagged frowns. "All those people are in danger because of me."

"But Ladybug said that you should still be hidden," I told him. "You would just put yourself and the heroes in danger."

He grunts in frustration, "But I just can't stand by. I have to confront him. On my own terms."

"That could work," I offered lamely, getting his attention. "You can distract him enough for Ladybug and Cat Noir to do their thing. Maybe you can convince Pixelator to release the people he disappeared or something in exchange of… you.

"Isn't that the reason he's after you?"

His eyes widened before he left running.

"Are you sure that was a good idea?" Mr. Nelson asked me.

I shook my head, "No. But it wasn't going to make a difference."

"Why do you say that?" The music teacher asks curiously as he puts his drumsticks away.

"He was going to leave one way or another," I answered. "No matter what we would have told him about staying, he already decided to leave and do something about Pixelator. I just hope he takes care of himself."

It was silent as we both waited for the outcome of things.

I prayed that Cat would be okay, and for everyone's safety. I was getting a little worried when Jagged explained that he didn't see Cat.

Adrien and my whole class were at the hotel that Jagged was. Cat should have been one of the first to be in action against Pixelator. But he wasn't, which sent me another wave of worry.

However, when we saw the Ladybugs restoring the city, we knew that things went right.

I let out a sigh of relief when Adrien texted to me that he was fine. Breathing was easier after that.

"Jolene, I have an extra ticket for a Jagged Stone concert!" Adrien tells me when he sees me in the locker room. "He said to invite you. Since when do you know him?"

I laughed, "Just today. Ladybug thought that he would be safe in the school and he wandered around and happened to hear me singing and the rest is history."

Adrien grins, "That's so cool!" Then he smiled wryly, "Should I feel jealous that you were singing with someone else?"

I shook my head really quickly, "Definitely not." Then I leaned closer to him and gave him a quick peck before anyone could see us. "You're my boyfriend, and you better not forget that."

He blushed, but before he could kiss me back, Nino came in the lockers, "Dudes! I'm so pumped for the concert!"

Adrien and I separated so fast that I almost lost balance. Thankfully, Nino didn't notice as he went to his locker to get his things.

"Yeah, it's going to be my first concert too," Adrien smiles. "I'm glad that my first concert is with Jagged Stone."

"You are going to have fun," I assured him as the three of us exited the lockers.

The concert was amazing, not that I didn't expect anything less. Though I did feel a little left out as everyone was standing while I was sitting down.

But overall, I enjoyed being there with them. And it was more fulfilling to see Adrien's wide grin and his huge eyes sparkling with delight.

So when Adrien dropped me off my house, Kathy still wasn't home.

We kissed for a while before he had to leave.

"Good night," He whispers as he gives me one last kiss.

"Sweet dreams," I whispered back with a soft smile as I closed the door behind.

Now, I just have to give the autograph that Jagged gave me. And I have the perfect image I want to draw for the background.

Days later.

I didn't know that Paris held class representatives, especially when we are a bit over half done with the school year.

But I guess better late than never?

Though I am not happy that Chloé is the only one to run for class rep. I looked around and saw that no one else wanted to run either.

"I'll give you all until after lunch to decide if any of you decide if you want to run," Ms. Bustier says just as the lunch bell rings.

Most of them exited the room, Ms. Bustier included.

For obvious reasons, I was allowed to eat in class and Adrien and Nino have been accompanying me all this time.

"I'm gonna get something from the vending machine downstairs," Nino announces, "You want something?"

Both Adrien and I shook our heads and Nino left.

"Hey, wouldn't you like to run for class rep?" Adrien asks softly.

I made a face, "No thank you."

Adrien blinked in surprise, "Really? I thought you would like to represent us."

"I mean, that sounds nice," I start as I play around with the alphabet soup I had in my thermo bowl. "I can work with people just fine. But I already have different things to do that I don't want to give up, like my videos and spending time with you."

Adrien blushed, but he smiled at me fondly as he tucks a piece of stubborn hair behind my ear.

"Now that's a good reason why you should definitely not be class rep." He started to lean in closer and unconsciously did I, but then I leaned back and gave him a look.

"Adrien," I warned, but I was smiling fondly, "We're in school. Wait until we are back in my apartment."

"Fine," he whines pitifully as we continue eating our lunch.

When lunch was over and everyone was back, it seemed like no one had decided to run against Chloé.

But then there was a ray of hope with the name of Marinette.

Even Ms. Bustier was excited with the new development. She gave Marinette and Chloé to come up with a campaign for tomorrow when we will all vote.

I don't care about the campaign, I'm going to vote for Marinette, no matter what. And I told her that after class.

"What really?" She asks, surprised.

I nodded, "You're an honest, hard working person. That's a lot more than what Chloé is currently."

"But I don't want you to vote for me just because you don't want Chloé to be class rep," Marinette frowns.

"Then why are you running at all?" I asked her. Once again she looked surprised, "Look Marinette, I'm voting for you because I believe in you. And I believe that you are not going to half-ass your responsibilities if you become class rep. Sorry for my language," I added absently. "So there. That's my reason and I'm definitely voting for you, no matter what." I assured her with a soft smile before I left the class.

Nino was waiting for me outside to help me.

And he was looking a little bit nervous.

"You don't have to carry me," I laughed.

"Oh," He sighed, "But actually I asked Ivan to do that for me…" He trails off as he scratches the back of his head while not looking at me.

I turned around and saw Ivan and Mylène coming towards us.

"Hey," He greets. "I'm here to help."

"Thank you," I say first before looking at Mylène, "Is it okay? If you say no, I understand. I'll just hop… really careful and slow."

Mylène laughs as she waves me off, "It's okay. Really. Plus we are doing it because we care about you Jolene. We don't want you to get hurt. Right, Ivan?"

"Right," He says with a soft smile. "I promise I'll be careful."

"You guys are the best, you know," I smiled fondly as I gave Nino my crutches and backpack before Ivan carefully picked me up.

Immediately I grabbed around his shoulders, my voice a little higher than usual, "You are much taller than Adrien, that's for sure."

They laughed as they all walked down the stairs, Ivan being the most careful. When we all got down, Ivan carefully placed me down.

"Thank you, Ivan," I smiled at him and then at Mylène, "You are one lucky girl. Don't let him run away."

Both of them blushed and I laughed softly as Nino gave me my things back.

"So you're going to wait for Adrien?" Nino asks.

I nodded, "He's my ride home. And I don't mind waiting. Gives me time to work on what I missed."

He nodded, "Well, I'll see you tomorrow dudette."

"Bye, Nino," I waved before I went towards an empty bench and sat down.

Time to start on homework.

I received a text from Chloé that she was having Jagged Stone signing autographs at the Grand Paris Hotel to all her classmates that went to see her campaign.

I ignored it and continued on my homework.

I know I can have Jagged Stone autograph me something if I ask him. We exchanged social media and promised that he would answer my messages.

And so far he's been asking if we could do a cover as a duet.

I told him that it would be fun, but I was busy with school.

However I did suggest some songs that we could start once my schedule is a little more free and I'm no longer in a cast. And also warned him that I don't want to be a public figure.

He was surprisingly cool with it and didn't question me about it.

The loud clangs of the swords brought my attention to the fencing practice.

Mr. D'Argencourt was being a lot more intense than in previous private fencing practices with Adrien. Especially with the cool move that he 'finished' off Adrien.

And all that was ruined when the news lady and her cameraman intruded school premises.

It was so not cool to rub salt in a wound. I hate those types of reporters.

Thankfully a school staff member was able to scare them off and leave the school, but fencing still ended a little earlier than usual.

"I'll change real quick and we'll drop you off," Adrien says as he runs towards the lockers.

When he came out, I had just finished putting all my stuff away.

He helps me up and carries my backpack as I start hobbling towards the door.

"I can't wait to take this off," I complained tiredly.

But as Adrien was about to make a comment, the words died in his mouth as his eyes widened.

I made the mistake of seeing what he was looking at.

Mr. D'Argencourt has become another victim of an akuma.

How come it doesn't surprise me?

Adrien pulled me back inside.

"Sorry, but-"

I kissed him to shut him up. When I moved away I gave him a knowing smile, "Save the day."

He smiled at me before kissing my head and he transformed. "I'm dropping you off first, no argument."

I nodded and he quickly scoops me in my arms and starts the journey to my apartment.

Already I saw that Mr. D'Argencourt already had many knights at his disposal and it was only growing.

"Be careful," I told Cat as he safely deposited me in my room.

"I will be, little lady," He smiles before giving me a quick peck on the lips before jumping out the window. He's sometimes too smooth in his affections.

I always worry when Cat defends Paris from Hawk Moth's evil schemes to take the Miraculous. But I regained faith, all thanks to Cat Noir and Ladybug.

So as the dark cloud was looming threateningly over the city and the dark energy getting closer and closer and completely consumed me, I wasn't too afraid. Nervous, but not afraid.

I have faith that Cat and Ladybug will save the day.

They haven't proved me wrong.

So when I had Ladybugs filled my vision, and I was back in my room and my crutches next to me, I knew that my faith was well placed.

I don't know what happened yesterday at the Grand Paris Hotel, but it was enough for Marinette to be elected as our class rep and Alya as her deputy. Things were going well for our class.

Omake 8

Jagged Stone invited me to his room in the Grand Paris Hotel the day after his concert. His assistant, Penny, took charge of giving me the necessary arrangements to allow me in and the transportation.

Thankfully I didn't encounter Chloé or the Mayor as I made it to his room.

"Jolene! So glad that you could make it!" He answers the door as he raises his Eiffel Tower glasses that Marinette made him. "Come in! Come in! We need to start our little concert!"

And a mini concert it was. He played the electric guitar while I took over the drums. And naturally we both sang, either taking turns or harmonizing or even synchronized. It was a good thing we knew what had to be done naturally without previous communication. Real musicians know the difference when a specific vocalist can do a certain part of a song while they do a different part of the song.

Fang was relaxed as I saw him moving his tail to the rhythm a couple of times. Penny was grinning as she was dancing in her seat and wrote things on her clipboard.

We played some AC/DC, Queen, Fall Out Boy, Guns N Roses, Kiss, and Joan Jett.

I had fun.

"Jolene," Jagged asks as we had lunch, "Have you ever thought of going professional?"

I stopped a moment and I noticed Penny looking up from her clipboard to see me.

"No," I answered them honestly.

"What? Really?" Jagged gasped as he stood up, "But with your talent you could go big! I know fame is not everything, but people will enjoy hearing your music."

I smiled, "That may be true, but being a rock start isn't my dream."

"Oh?" He asks as he sits down. "What is it then?"

"I want to be an animator," I told him honestly. "I love music as much as you do, but I love animating things even more."

"Whoa, that's seriously cool," He grins. "If your animations are as good as your singing and playing, then I have no doubt that producers will hire you in no time! You will be a superstar in the movie industry!"

"Thank you, Jagged," I nodded with a grin. "Today was super fun. Thank you for inviting me to play with you."

"It was fun, wasn't it?" He grinned. "We should still totally do some covers someday in my studio some other day!"

"Some other day," I say wryly. "But I think you would like it more if Sea Queen sang with you."

"Sea Queen? That name is awfully familiar," He mutters to himself.

I internally giggled.

Maybe I should tell him about my UTube one day. It would be beneficial for both of us.

I'll mention it to Adrien, when I have the opportunity to ask him what he thinks.

AN: Yeah, I combined both episodes in one chapter. I would have separated them, but they would have been too short. Personally, I would like to have the chapters that I post around the same length to be at least some what consistent since I update around once a month.

I want to say thank you to Shadowing, starrat and Aminelover for the reviews. You guys don't know how happy it makes me to read them.

And thank you to KasKasKitty, Hikaru Emiya, zZSweet-JasmineZz, Austin0425, april7000222, and jenicia stone for following/favorited this. You guys are amazing.