Chapter 6: The Evillustrator
"Heeelp!" Marinette screamed as she ran through the halls of Françoise Dupont at night, being chased by Stormy Weather and Lady Wifi.
The designer ran away from Stormy Weather, but was soon blocked by the other supervillain. When she tried to escape, running back toward Stormy Weather, Lady Wifi sent a pink pause symbol at her. After Marinette was locked in place, Stormy Weather raised her parasol and aimed at the paused girl, freezing her in a block of ice. The two supervillains met up beside the ice block and shook hands in accomplishment. But then, a mysterious boy landed on the floor behind them.
The boy's skin was pale purple, and his hair was brushed back while colored orange with purple tips. On his head he had a dark purple beret, and on his face, he had a deep violet butterfly-shaped mask, and his eyes were moderate cyan. He wore a white jumpsuit with dark purplish-black stripes and solid dark purple legs that became red halfway down his lower legs. On his chest, there was a black circle with smaller red, yellow, and blue circles inside. His collar was similar to Juleka's usual T-shirt, with a red collar underneath. A black drawing tablet was attached to the back of his right forearm. His pen was silver towards the tip, with the end being black with a red stripe in the middle.
The two supervillains turned around and saw the new arrival, who twirled his pencil in his hand, ready to make his move.
Stormy Weather quickly raised her parasol, opening it up to attack the boy, but he merely erased the parasol, much to her shock.
Lady Wifi then stepped up to attack, but he spun his pencil in his hand again before he drew a box around the two villains, trapping them in a see-through cage. Once the two super villains were taken care of, the mystery boy erased the ice block Marinette was trapped in, letting her stumble to her feet, before looking at her rescuer.
"Oh, Super Nathan, you're my hero!" Marinette gushed, right before running to the mysterious boy.
"It was nothing," Super Nathan assured as Marinette tightly embraced him.
"I love you!" Marinette proclaimed, looking up at her hero, before he returned her embrace.
"I love you too, Marinette," Super Nathan replied, feeling so happy at that moment. Literally nothing could bring him down right now.
"Nathaniel! What are you drawing?" A voice exclaimed, interrupting the sweet moment, and caused the boy to wake up, seeing a woman standing above him, and his sketchbook, pulling him back into reality.
The boy was Nathaniel Kurtzberg, a fairly short artist with turquoise eyes, and face length messy ginger hair. He had long bangs that brushed to the left side of his face, covering most of his left eye. He wore a red orange t-shirt with a black logo design on the front, similar to that of the band Magma. Over his shirt, he wore a dark gray dress jacket with a folded collar, folded sleeves, and side pockets. He wore purple jeans that were rolled up at the bottom revealing a light purple bottom, and his shoes were gray with white lace and a white section where his toes would be.
The woman in front of him was Olga Mendeleiev, a physics, science, math teacher. Ms. Mendeleiev was a tall woman with short dark purple hair, deep cornflower blue eyes, prominent lips, a beauty mark on her left cheek, and a pointy chin. She wore black square-framed glasses, along with a purple V-necked dress shirt with a white scientific scribble pattern and popped collar, underneath a white lab coat. She also wore a brown watch on her right wrist, blue jeans, a brown leather belt, and red high heel shoes.
"Wha, wha—" Nathaniel began, trying to defend himself, as Ms. Mendeleiev grabbed one of the loose papers in Nathaniel's sketchbook, and waved it in the air above the boy.
"These artistic endeavors are clearly why you are failing science," Ms. Mendeleiev berated as she let go of the paper in her hands, letting it flutter to the desk as she ridiculed the young artist.
"I'm sorry…" Nathaniel mumbled.
"You go march yourself down to the principal's office and show him that chicken scratch! Then you'll be really sorry!" Ms. Mendeleiev demanded, seeming to enjoy torturing Nathaniel as he packed up his belongings and headed to the classroom door. But as he did, he tripped over another student's bag, and fell to the floor, his sketchbook flying out of his open bag. As the book fell to the floor, the pages were open for all to see, including Marinette and Alya as they saw what the drawing contained.
Chloé grabbed the book to get a closer look, while Ms. Mendeleiev picked Nathaniel up from the floor by his shirt collar, both embarrassing the boy further, and showed everyone just how strong the science teacher was.
"Ooh! Look, Sabrina! It's him as a superhero! And look who he's saving! It's Marinette!" Chloé snidely remarked, showing the drawing to Sabrina.
"Uh-" Marinette managed to say, as she turned to Adrien and Yuma, who were also speechless.
"He's so totally crushing on you, Marinette!" Chloé teased as she discreetly took a page out of the sketchbook. Ms. Mendeleiev then let Nathaniel go, which allowed him to save himself from more embarrassment.
"Gimme that!" Nathaniel exclaimed as he snatched his sketchbook from Chloé, not noticing that she had stolen a page from it, frantic to keep others from looking at it more.
"Enough! Nathaniel, go!" Ms. Mendeleiev demanded, as she pointed to the door. Nathaniel then used the getaway she gave him, and ran out of the classroom, away from being embarrassed even more.
Far away, in Hawk Moth's lair, the villain chuckled to himself, as the window of his lair opened. "Ahh, Artists can be so emotional. I love it," he purred as a butterfly landed on his hand, before he turned it into an Akuma. "Fly to him, my little Akuma. Draw him into our evil web!" He declared, releasing the blackened butterfly to fly off.
In the hallway, Nathaniel was on his way to the Principal's Office and dropped his pencil, but when he grabbed it, the Akuma flew in and possessed it.
"Are you tired of having your creative spirit crushed? Evillustrator, I'm your friend and patron of the arts. I'm here to offer you support. But I don't give this kind of power for free. I have a couple of items that need retrieving," Hawk Moth offered.
"Just tell me what you want," Nathaniel agreed, before the outline disappeared and the dark purple aura emerged from the pencil, turning him into what he looked like in his dream.
(Play Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal: Halfway to Forever)
The music starts up with Yuma activating his gear like in the original opening, before a blue vortex sucks Yuma and Astral into Paris.
Still together as one;
Cuz divided we're none;
Ready to go, we feel the flow!
Yuma then landed on his feet, as Astral floated next to him, before he drew a card and summoned Utopia.
So don't stand in our way;
You know we ain't afraid;
This is our time, we're in control!
Tikki was then sucked into Marinette's earrings, as she was transformed into Ladybug.
If I trip up today;
You just wipe it away;
All of my fears are gone, erased!
Plagg was about to eat a piece of Camembert, before he was sucked into Adrien's ring, as he was transformed into Cat Noir.
Let us tear down the walls;
'Til the final night falls;
The bonds of our souls can't be replaced!
The four heroes then came together, as they all charged towards Hawk Moth.
Let us fight together;
Regret it never;
Our dreams will be…!
The Giant Shadow of Don Thousand appears over both worlds as Vector goes from his human form to his Barian one, devastating the land.
Halfway to,
Forever;
Our light comes shining through!
Yuma and Astral then fuse into Zexal II as Yuma Summons Utopia Ray Victory as it absorbed an Overlay Unit.
Reach down deep;
Beat defeat;
Do all that we can do!
Ladybug and Cat Noir were then shown, as their monsters appeared and joined Utopia Ray Victory's attack.
Halfway to,
Forever;
We've got nothing to lose!
Hawk Moth smirked, as he held his arm out and created Akuma's, while Vector prepared to counter-attack.
Keep breathing;
Believing;
Halfway to forever-rrrrrr!
The Numeron Code was then shown, all of the Miraculous were spiraling around it. Astral and Yuma smile at each other and touch hands as they all come together with their aces standing out, with the title below them.
Yu-Gi-Oh Zexal: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir
(End Yu-Gi-Oh Zexal: Halfway to Forever)
Back in Ms. Mendeleiev's classroom, the science teacher was facing the class as she began to assign groups for the class's particle physics project.
"The next particle physics presentation group is Nino, Adrien, Alya and Alix!" Ms. Mendeleiev announced. At her words, Adrien and Nino fistbumped. "And then, Yuma, Sabrina, Chloé and Marinette," Ms. Mendeleiev continued, causing Marinette to gasp in shock, slamming her head onto the table.
"So unlucky," Alya pittyed, before she patted Marinette on her back. But it looked like Chloé wasn't going to have any of this.
"Uh, Miss, can't you add Marinette and Yuma to another group? Sabrina and I work much better on our own," Chloé demanded.
"This is a group presentation, not pairs! Deal with it," Ms. Mendeleiev denied, not folding for the heiress. Unlike her colleagues, Ms. Mendeleiev didn't bend to Chloé's whims. Quite frankly, she didn't care about what her father would do to her either, much to Chloé's annoyance.
"I hate dealing with it!" Chloé growled, right before the bell rang, signaling everyone to pack up and head to their next classes.
"You wouldn't be willing to trade groups, would ya?" Marinette asked Alya, hoping that her best friend would help her out.
"And deal with that twosome terror? Sorry," Alya refused as she placed a comforting hand on Marinette's shoulder, while the designer slumped in disappointment.
'Fair enough, it's not like anyone would be in Chloé's group willingly, save for Sabrina of course,' Marinette rationalized. 'Besides, at least Yuma's in our group as well. That should make things a little more tolerable.'
"But I promise to talk all about you in between particles and the physics!" The reporter promised, immediately cheering Marinette up.
"You're the best!" Marinette exclaimed in excitement before she glomped onto Alya, sending both of them to the ground in a fit of giggles.
Soon, everyone was in the locker room, either getting ready for their next class, or talking amongst themselves. Chloé and Sabrina were two of those people as they stood at the heiress's locker, discussing the assigned physics project.
"Forget it, Sabrina. I don't have time for some dumb project," Chloé dismissed, as she closed her locker, turning to face the police lieutenant's daughter. "Besides, now you have Marinette and that boy to help you," The spoiled brat justified, thinking she didn't need to do any work and pawn it off onto Sabrina… like she always did.
"Okay, that's fine, Chloé. We'll do the work. Don't worry," Sabrina reassured. But there was one small detail that was different from the last time… Yuma and Marinette were in their group now.
"Um, is everything okay?" Marinette questioned as she and Yuma walked over.
"It is fine, Marinette," Chloé dismissed.
"Well then, why can't you help us with the project?" Marinette asked, not willing to let Chloé back out of her fair share.
"None of your business, Miss Nosy!" Chloé exclaimed, trying to get Marinette to drop her insisting/interrogating.
"Uh, isn't it since we're part of this group?" Yuma questioned, making a point.
"It's okay, guys. The three of us will do all the research, and the writing for our project, and then, Chloé can present it! That way it's equal," Sabrina assured in hopes to quell any conflict.
"That's not equal at all! Is that how you two work?!" Marinette questioned, realizing how Sabrina and Chloé usually 'worked together' with school work.
"Yeah! We've been doing this ever since grade school, when I started doing Chloé's homework! And we've been BFF's ever since!" Sabrina explained cheerfully.
"You got a problem with that? Come on, Sabrina," Chloé demanded, turning to Sabrina to get her lackey to follow her. But Marinette wouldn't have any of it. She had to get Sabrina to see that this wasn't healthy.
"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!" Marinette explained as she placed her hand on Sabrina's shoulder.
"Ugh, not only am I Sabrina's best friend, I'm her only friend, so she better do what I say, 'cause without me, she has nothing." Chloé threatened, grabbing the bespeckled girl possessivly.
"Well, I'd rather have no friends than be friends with you," Marinette remarked, not wanting anything to do with a toxic relationship like Sabrina and Chloé had.
"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!" Chloé farewelled, departing in a huff.
"I believe the term for their relationship is 'Parasitic.'" Astral said, making the duo nod.
A few minutes later, in the college courtyard, Yuma and Marinette had grabbed their bags, and were leaving the building.
"Marinette!" Sabrina's voice called out, causing her to turn around to see Sabrina before she slammed into Marinette, hugging her tightly.
"I can't believe you stood up to Chloé like that! It was so amazing." Sabrina gushed as she backed up from the hug, not believing that someone stood up for her against Chloé. 'Literally, no one has done that for me,' Sabrina gushed in her head.
"Uhh, well...Yeah, what are friends for?" Marinette managed through her surprise.
"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, excited to have someone stand by her in a more healthy way.
"Sounds...great?" Marinette agreed, not sure how to take Sabrina's excitement so quickly.
"YAY! Then I'll see you in the library, besties!" Sabrina cheered before she practically skipped to the library, leaving a smiling Yuma and Marinette behind, happy to see Sabrina enjoy herself for once.
Pretty soon, the group was in the school library. While other students working on the same project were searching the shelves for books to help in the research part of the assignment, Sabrina was finally putting her foot down.
"Ugh! What do you mean, you're not doing my assignment?!" Chloé complained.
"Marinette is right! I...I'm not your slave!" Sabrina exclaimed as she, Yuma and Marinette sat at one of the library tables, with Astral floating besides them.
"Well, she never actually said that…" Yuma began. Marinette didn't exactly say anything along those lines, but he knew she still meant something like that.
"But Marinette didn't buy a super cute beret at Gabriel's, and I did! Perhaps I could lend it to you," Chloé offered, pulling out the newly bought beret from her bag, showing it off to the bespeckled girl.
"Excuse me, but are you trying to bribe her into staying your friend? With a hat?" Marinette questioned, appalled with Chloé's tactics of keeping Sabrina loyal to her.
"Uhhh... really, really adorable hat! That would look fantastic on me!" Sabrina gushed as she poked out from behind Marinette to get a better look at the hat.
"No, excuse from ME, but you are trying to steal my friend from me, with homework!" The heiress shouted at Marinette.
"Guys, can't we all just get along so we can do the assignment?" Yuma pleaded, trying to break up the fight, just as a mysterious figure had seen the group from the second level of the library, and drew a beret on his drawing pad with his silver pencil.
"Stay out of this!" Chloé yelled, right before a shower of berets suddenly fell from above, and onto Chloé. "Ahh! My hair!" Chloé exclaimed, raising her arms to cover her head in a form of protection, while the mysterious figure drew a hairdryer onto his drawing pad. A second later, the giant hair dryer appeared out of thin air in front of Chloé. "Ahhh! Please! Please! Ahhhh!" The spoiled brat cried out as she ran away from the hairdryer, only for it to follow behind her.
Meanwhile Adrien, who was one of the students looking for books in the library, saw Chloé in distress close by and decided that Cat Noir should step in, and ran to find a good hiding place. Once he did, he started the transformation sequence with the familiar phrase…
"PLAGG, CLAWS OUT!" Adrien shouted.
Back with Chloé, she was still running from the giant hair dryer.
"No! Not the hair!" Chloé cried as she kept running from the hair dryer, while Marinette ran to hide behind a bookshelf, eager to transform.
"Time to transform!" Marinette said as she opened her purse to let Tikki out.
"TIKKI, SPOTS ON!" the pigtailed girl exclaimed, turning into Ladybug.
"No! Stop!" Chloé begged as the hair dryer finally cornered her against some shelves. Then Ladybug arrived, wrapped her yo-yo around the giant appliance and jumped onto the hairdryer.
"Run and hide!" Ladybug ordered, allowing Chloé to run as the hair dryer gained a mind of its own, trying to buck Ladybug off it like a rodeo bronco. While Ladybug tried to hold on and gain control of the hair dryer, Cat Noir had finally arrived.
"I got wind that you were being blown away by a hairy situation," Cat Noir punned from the top of one of the bookshelves, smirking at his 'clever' wordplay, while Ladybug passed right by him.
"Fewer puns, more action!" Ladybug managed to say as she wrangled the hair dryer in, needing Cat Noir to have his head in the game. Thankfully, the hero in black stepped in and tried to spear the hair dryer with his staff, only for the appliance to move, which made him miss and hit the floor instead.
Ladybug unwrapped her yo-yo from the hair dryer and throwed it, making it wrap around a support pole in the library, and used the momentum to swing the hair dryer to the floor. Using this as an opening, Yuma grabbed a card from his Extra Deck and exclaimed, "Go, Utopia!" He then called forth his Ace Monster, which then stabbed the hairdryer with his sword, destroying it. The figure above them glared at them in annoyance for ruining his plan, which allowed the heroes to look up and see him from the upper level.
"Well, that guy looks pretty sketchy!" Cat Noir quipped, seeing the Evillustrator above them, right before he and Ladybug jumped up to the upper level, and went after the Evillustrator. But when they went after him, he drew a see-through wall in their path, causing them to knock into it and fall backward.
When they recovered and got back to their feet, they saw the artist was gone.
"Where'd he go?" Ladybug wondered as she looked for the Villain.
"I don't know, but he sure has a way of illustrating his point." Cat Noir punned, trying to lighten the mood.
After the heroes left the library, they headed to the Le Grand Paris Hotel, hoping to get some answers from Chloé.
"Seems this Evillustrator is targeting you specifically, Chloé. Any idea why?" Cat Noir questioned Chloé, while Ladybug and Yuma sat on one of the couches in the room, and the heiress was doodling on a piece of paper. Only when she was done did she decide to answer.
"No. Everyone adores me," Chloé declared.
"Yeah, because you're sooo adorable," Ladybug deadpanned, but Chloé's eyes lit up.
"Yessss! Ladybug just said I'm adorable! I totally need a picture of the two of us together!" Chloé squealed as she quickly latched on and snapped an unexpected selfie..
"Ugh! That was unpleasant," Ladybug groaned as she peeled Chloé's arm off of her, and walked away as the spoiled brat looked at the selfie she had taken.
All of this while Cat Noir only observed, not knowing how to help in this situation. He'd had plenty of times that this had happened to him as Adrien, but Marinette wasn't really on the best of terms with Chloé, so he understands why she would object to a photo op, especially with Chloé.
"Well, I look great, of course, but your smile is all wonky. I'll take another!" Chloé decided before she once again, quickly wrapped her arm around Ladybug's neck and took another picture of them.
"Oh, for crying out loud!" Yuma facepalmed, as Ladybug only slumped over and frowned, until the picture was taken.
"Sorry, I'm just a little camera shy," Ladybug sighed as she peeled away from Chloé again, and walked away. The heiress gushed about the photo, while Ladybug was angered by Chloé's behavior. Cat Noir took the opportunity to walk over to his annoyed partner.
"Looks like somebody's got a fan!" Cat Noir noticed, trying to cheer her up. But it didn't work.
"Yeah, great," Ladybug groaned, her voice conveying her annoyance and anger.
"Come on, you gotta admit that having this girl worship you is pretty awesome," Cat Noir remarked, trying to cheer up Ladybug's sour mood.
"If by awesome, you mean clingy." Yuma whispered to Cat Noir. While he hasn't known Chloé that long, he knew enough that she wasn't the best person to be friends with.
"Not really." Cat Noir replied, before spotting the paper on Chloé's couch was Nathaniel's drawing. He picked it up, only to see it was spoiled by Chloé, mainly the parts with Marinette in them since they had ugly glasses and a mustache added to it.
"Isn't this Nathaniel's drawing?" Astral asked the feline themed hero.
"Well, now we know who the Akuma is and why he's targeting Chloé." Cat Noir said, as he picked up the drawing and gave it to Yuma.
"Well, if someone was teasing me and ruined something personal of mine, I wouldn't blame them." Yuma commented.
"What?! I did no such thing!" Chloé countered.
"What do you call this then?" Yuma asked, as he showed the picture to her, which made Chloé sweat drop, and further soured Ladybug's mood.
"Ugh, seriously?" Ladybug declared as her hands angrily balled up into fists, before she opened the balcony doors, and walked onto the terrace. "You stay here and protect Chloé. Me and Yuma will look for Nathaniel."
"Be careful, okay?" Cat Noir said, before they shared a small kiss, calming Ladybug down a little.
"Don't worry. We will." Ladybug said, jumping up onto the railing, looking out at the city in front of her before she grabbed Yuma, pulled out her yo-yo and swung away, leaving Cat Noir behind. Immediately after she left, Chloé ran to the balcony and waved goodbye to the retreating hero.
"Ahhh! Ladybug! Text me! OK!" Chloé exclaimed, causing Cat Noir to facepalm.
Soon enough, Ladybug and Yuma reached the Dupain-Cheng bakery, landed on the balcony, opened the trapdoor of Marinette's room, and the spotted heroine transformed into Marinette. After climbing down to the ground level of her room, she threw her purse on her chaise, forgetting Tikki was in there for a second.
"Ow!" Tikki cried out, before she popped out from the purse, and flew to her holder. "Hey!" The Kwami exclaimed, causing Marinette to realize her mistake.
"Sorry, Tikki... Chloé! She just...fires up this little red bug!" Marinette said, apologizing for taking out her anger on her Kwami, before slipping back into her anger.
"Well, simmer down! A hot head isn't going to get you anywhere!" Tikki chided.
"I agree. We cannot afford you to be a potential candidate for Hawk Moth's Akuma's." Astral added
"You're right. It's hard to keep my cool. Especially in school," Marinette sighed, right before she remembered an important detail. "Oh my gosh! Sabrina! The project!'' The designer cried out before she dived onto her chaise, grabbed her phone from her purse, and checked it, seeing a lot of missed calls from Sabrina.
"Uh-oh... Looks like we got ourselves a new BFF!" Yuma teased, making Marinette drape herself onto her chaise in defeat.
"What are we gonna do now?" Marinette asked, hoping to come up with a plan.
"Well, maybe we can-" Yuma said, before he and Tikki saw someone out the window. "Uh oh! Trouble!" He said, as Tikki hid in Marinette's purse.
Marinette then looked up and saw that the one in the window was the Evillustrator, right before he erased the window pane, and entered her room.
"It's you! From the library! What are you doing here?" Marinette questioned, shocked that the villain was in her room as she sat back onto her chaise.
"Stay back! I know how to Duel!" Yuma exclaimed, as he attached his Duel Pad to his arm.
"Easy, tiger. I'm not here to fight." The Evillustrator reassured, confusing the duelist.
"You're not?" Yuma asked, before the Akuma shook his head.
"I just wanted to see you," The Evillustrator pointed to Marinette, much to the designer's confusion.
"Okay... But why did you attack Chloé?" Marinette asked, trying to get more information out of the Evillustrator. Thankfully, he was all too eager to comply.
"Because Chloé is cruel and selfish!" The Evillustrator growled, much to their surprise to find she actually agreed with him. This was the first time that she ever agreed with an Akumatized victim.
"Can't argue with that…" Marinette said, before asking, "Are you going to hurt me?" Marinette checked.
"You? You're Marinette! You're beautiful and sweet and... you're perfect and I could never hurt you!" The Evillustrator rambled, letting his crush on the girl show as he gushed about her.
"Wow...that's, uh... very, umm...flattering! Uh, thank you?" Marinette thanked, feeling flattered that the Evillustrator thought about her like that.
"So, I just came by to ask you, uh, well, it's my birthday today, and, uh, would you wanna come to my party?" The Evillustrator stammered out bashfully.
"Oh, umm... Actually, it's not really the best night. See, we got a presentation to work on, and...I have to call my friend, so we can meet and…" Marinette trailed off as she stood up from her chaise, grabbed a blue folder that was sitting on her storage trunk, trying to explain why she couldn't make it. Not to mention that if she went, Ladybug wouldn't be able to save the day.
"Oh please, Marinette! It'll just be you and me." The Evillustrator begged. He then sketched something, and grabbed the resultant invitation that appeared to present it to Marinette on one knee.
"Oh my gosh! That's...me!" Marinette gushed, surprised to see herself so well drawn on the invitation before looking back at the hopeful Evillustrator.
"You like it?" The Evillustrator asked, his hopes laid bare to the girl standing in front of him, as she looked at the invitation… and saw an exclamation mark on the bottom left corner of the page, recognising the signature.
"I...love it! So much that I will absolutely be at your party," Marinette decided.
"Huh?!" Yuma exclaimed, not expecting that response, as he stared at the designer in disbelief, who gave Yuma a wink (which Evillustrator didn't notice). Realizing a plan was forming in her mind, he played along while Evillustrator's eyes lit up at her response.
"On one condition," the designer continued, hoping that he would comply with her simple request.
"Anything for you, Marinette," The Evillustrator responded, wanting no more than anything to make the girl he loved happy, and have the chance to go on a date with her.
"You can't hurt Chloé anymore. I simply cannot bear violence," Marinette said, laying it on thick considering she dealt with violent Akuma's on the daily. But it's not like he knew, or needed to know that.
"For you and only you," The Evillustrator agreed as he got up from the floor, and turned to face the erased window. "Meet you on the left bank, next to Notre-Dame, at sunset!" the artist themed villain announced as he drew a rocket pack on his drawing pad; which appeared on his back, and flew away through the damaged window, leaving the designer alone in her room.
"Ahh..." Marinette sighed as she sat back down on her chaise, not believing that she managed to talk to an Akuma without it turning south, while Tikki flew out of the girl's purse and floated in front of her.
"What are you thinking, Marinette?" Tikki asked as Marinette pulled out the crumpled drawing she took from Chloé's room, and straightened it out to see it clearly.
"I'm thinking poor Nathaniel's got a crush on me. And his alter ego, the Evillustrator's gonna get crushed by Ladybug!" Marinette exclaimed, holding the drawing and invitation next to each other, and saw the identical exclamation mark signature.
"Yes, but... how exactly is Ladybug going to crush this crush when...you're going on a date with as Marinette?" Astral asked, bringing up the one flaw in Marinette's plan.
"Astral's right. You can't be in two places at once." Yuma added.
"Maybe some cool cat needs to crash the party," Marinette remarked, thinking of the perfect solution to the problem… or more like a purr-fect solution.
Back at the hotel, Cat Noir was regretting his choice to stay behind and keep Chloé safe. Because now she was whining about doing her part of the homework assignment on her own.
"Ohhh... Sabrina is so selfish! Making me do this project by myself?! Ugh, my brain hurts…" Chloé whined as she sat in her pink single seat, holding her head to stop the incoming 'headache' she had. But then she looked up at the hero as he stood guard. With a sly smile, the blonde thought of an idea to get out of doing her work, and walked over to the unsuspecting Cat Noir. "Cat Noir, Are you any good at particle physics?" Chloé asked seemingly innocently, pulling his attention from guarding, and to the heiress as she asked her question.
"Oh, this cat's got particle physics in the bag," Cat Noir bragged, much to Chloé's joy.
"Ah! Great!" Chloé exclaimed before she pulled him with her by his arm toward the chair she was just occupying.
"Sit, kitty!" The heiress ordered as she gave him the project. After she had pawned off the work to Cat Noir, she walked away, grabbed a magazine and sat down onto her pink lawn chair, intent on letting him do all the work.
"Now, make it sound purr-fect for my presentation. See what I did? I made a cat joke! Ah! I can be funny," Chloé laughed, amused by her own joke before going back to read her magazine, much to Cat Noir's annoyance.
"Yeah, hilarious." Cat Noir agreed sarcastically, before his staff rang, much to his joy to get out of working Chloé's project (when he had his own to finish, mind you) as he got up from the chair and walked to the balcony to answer it, seeing Yuma on screen.
"Any luck finding Nathaniel?" Cat Noir asked.
"Yep, and we've already got a plan. You can leave Chloé now, because we're gonna need you to protect this girl instead," Yuma reported just before a picture of the girl he needed to watch over appeared.
"Her name is Marinette. Really cute, isn't she?" Marinette's voice teased, as she was off screen, not in her Hero Persona. They knew that Chloé might try and listen in on the conversation, so they were playing it safe, and it was a good thing they did, as Chloé's attention was brought from her magazine to the conversation on her balcony. "The Evillustrator is in love with her, and promises not to harm Chloé as long as Marinette comes to his birthday party. While he's distracted, we want you to take him down," Ladybug explained as Chloé walked up to Cat Noir, dinged his bell, catching his attention, and pointed to the folder in her hand, telling him to do the project. He merely gave her a tense smile before he turned her around-his smile turning into a frown-and shoved her away. "Can you handle this by yourself?" Ladybug questioned, hoping that she could trust him to handle this on his own.
"Ha! Please! It'll be a cinch!" Cat Noir reassured before he closed the baton, feeling confident in himself before he went over to the balcony entrance to say to Chloé, "You're out of danger, uh, so I'll see ya! Later!" The black cat hero exclaimed, right before he ran off and jumped away. Chloé, who stood at the end of the pink couch-her arms crossed and a frown on her face-was left in shock.
"Later?! What about my presentation?! Ughhhh!" Chloé griped as she gestured to the folder on her couch, and growled in frustration. 'Great, just great!' Chloé thought to herself.
Back over at the Dupain-Cheng bakery, Marinette and Yuma were about to leave, only to come face-to-face with Sabrina. "Oh! Sabrina! You scared me," yelped Marinette, as Sabrina walked over to the duo.
"Sorry… I was just waiting for you," said Sabrina. "Did you get my messages?"
"Yes! Yes I did! And I was totally gonna call you," Marinette answered, telling the truth since she had planned on calling Sabrina before the Evillustrator had shown up.
"You were? I knew you would!" Sabrina beamed. "Eventually. And so? I did your geography homework!" She then handed Marinette her homework, much to the duo's surprise.
"Whoa! You didn't have to do that," said Marinette.
"Well, since you're my new best friend, it's the least I can do."
"Thanks, but I just can't," she said, pushing it back towards her.
"Really?" said Sabrina, looking upset.
"Oh, okay, but just this once," said Marinette, taking the homework.
"Great! So, you wanna work on the physics project tonight?" Sabrina asked.
"Uhhh, I'm so sorry, Sabrina, I've got something really important that I have to do," said Marinette honestly.
"Something really important? Really? That's fascinating. Oh, you know who else uses that excuse all the time, don't you?"
"Um, no?" Marinette frowned.
"Chloé! I'm beginning to see how similar you two are!" said Sabrina looking upset. "I bet you'd expect me to do all the work like she did, right?"
"No! I don't! Really!" said Marinette quickly. "It's just that—"
Sabrina then snatched the homework back, looking upset. "I can't believe I did your geography homework for you…" She then turned away and ran off, rather upset.
"Sabrina-!" Marinette was about to give chase, only for Yuma to stop her. "Yuma?"
"You got somewhere important to be. Let me take care of Sabrina." Yuma stated, causing the designer to hesitate, before nodding slightly, as the duelist then chased after the upset girl, yelling. "Sabrina, wait! I can explain!"
"Whoo-hoo! I thought I was going to have to save you from that girl's claws," said Cat Noir, as he landed in front of Marinette. "After all, I'm your knight for tonight's ball, little lady." Cat Noir proclaimed, as he bowed and kissed Marinette's hand.
"That puts my mind at ease," Marinette teased, while Cat Noir stood up and placed his hand on the wall and leaned against it.
"So, you up for helping a superhero?" Cat Noir asked.
"Me and Cat Noir? Fighting crime together? Amazing! What do I do?" Marinette exclaimed, acting excited, causing the feline-themed hero to chuckle.
"You just need to keep him away from the pen, Little Lady. I'll take care of the rest," Cat Noir explained as he turned to leave, gave her a two finger salute and then jumped away. Once he had left, and made his way to the rooftops, Marinette used the opportunity to giggle to herself.
Meanwhile, back with Yuma, he had finally managed to catch up with Sabrina. Seeing that he wouldn't leave her alone until she listened, she stopped and decided to hear the boy out. "So Marinette made a deal with the Akuma so that as long as she goes to his Birthday Party, he'll leave Chloé alone?" Sabrina asked as she and the duelist sat down on a bench in the park. "Why would she do that?"
"Well, despite Chloé tormenting her, she doesn't want to see Chloé hurt. From what I hear, she has bullied Marinette for years, but that doesn't mean she should treat her like the way Chloé has treated her. That would make her no better than Chloé," Yuma explained.
"She does have some good in her. She just doesn't like to show it in public," Sabrina admitted, trying to defend Chloé. "Chloé thinks she has a reputation to uphold, despite what me and the rest of her family say. She thinks she has to be ruthless like her mother, and strives to be like her to win her approval," the bespeckled girl revealed. "But in private, she is actually a nice person… when she wants to be. That type of mentality does not go away fully with a snap of her fingers, no matter what she thinks," Sabrina admitted with a soft blush and fond smile, revealing a bit of Chloé's more personal qualities that she kept close to the vest, and tried to defend the heiress.
"She seems to trust you enough to show that side of her," Yuma said, now realizing that Chloé and Sabrina's relationship was a little less toxic than it seemed. "Kind of reminds me of a couple of my friends back home."
"Really?"
"Yeah." Yuma smiled, as he stared into the clouds, seeing the silhouettes of Shark and Kite. "They never really wanted me as a friend, but no matter how many times they pushed me away, no matter how many times they said they never needed me, I kept Feeling the Flow, and stood by their side to the very end."
"They must be very special to you." Sabrina realized.
"Yeah, they are." Yuma nodded, before he stood up and said, "So, you wanna get started on that project?"
"Huh?"
"Well, it has to get done at some point, and with Marinette occupied with the Akuma and Chloé, well, not wanting to do the work, that just leaves the two of us." Yuma said.
"Oh, right." Sabrina nodded, before remembering what happened earlier at the Bakery. "Oh, man, Marinette! I should have listened to her! Now she thinks I hate her…" She trailed off, before looking at Yuma and asked, "Do you think she can forgive me?"
"Why don't you go and talk to her before class tomorrow? You won't know for sure until you try," Yuma encouraged Sabrina, hoping she would go and talk to Marinette
"You're right! I should talk to her!" Sabrina exclaimed, before she stood at Yuma with a certain look in her eyes. "Hey, uh, you won't tell anyone what I said about Chloé, will you?" Sabrina asked, knowing that if it got out, Chloé would immediately know she blabbed, and things between them would never recover. Thankfully, Yuma only smiled at her.
"Our little secret," Yuma said, making a 'zipper lip' gesture, and caused Sabrina to smile.
Down at the Seine near Notre Dame, as the day turned into dusk, Evillustrator was on a barge, preparing everything for his birthday date. As he sat on the top of the wheelhouse, he drew lanterns and small bushes along the sides, and on the deck of the barge. After that, a miniature display of the Eiffel Tower and a bench in front of it, appeared in the middle of the deck, foliage surrounding it.
But just as he finished drawing up two lanterns on either side of him and smiled to himself in accomplishment Hawk Moth decided to speak up. "That is a lovely little scene you're setting. But I don't want you to get distracted, boy," Hawk Moth reminded Evillustrator. The purple menace didn't give him these powers just to get revenge and impress his crush.
"But I just want Marinette to love me," The Evillustrator argued, trying to appeal to Hawk Moth's softer side… not that he had one though, but it was worth a shot.
"And I want the Miraculous. So get it! Or else," threatened the man as he clenched his fist, paralyzing the Evillustrator's hand, making him grab it to stop the pain and drop his pen.
"Okay, I will, I will!" The Evillustrator assured fearfully. Thankfully, Hawk Moth relented and his hand went back to normal. And just in time, for…
"Happy birthday," A sweet voice behind the Evillustrator greeted, causing him to turn around. He then saw Marinette had arrived, and was standing near the gangplank that led to the barge, smiling.
"Marinette!" The Evillustrator exclaimed when he saw her, happy that she had come after all. He then jumped off the wheelhouse, and joined Marinette as they began to stroll down the barge. "Thank you for accepting my invitation," The Evillustrator began as they walked down the length of the barge, Marinette in front and him behind her.
"Wow, it's so beautiful," Marinette complemented as they walked, admiring the work the artist had put into this date.
"You like it? Well hold on, 'cause I'm just getting started," Evillustrator proclaimed before he jumped up and onto the wheelhouse, ready to draw something else. But just as he was about to, dark clouds appeared, clouding the moon and blocking his light.
"Grr! Come on, you've gotta be kidding!" The Evillustrator growled, glaring up at the darkened sky above him. Marinette was suddenly surprised by his aggression, which made Evillustrator's realize he might have been a little short. "Uhh, sorry. I didn't mean to startle you. It's just... I can't draw properly in the dark," The Evillustrator explained before he leaned in close to one of the lanterns he drew up before, and continued to work on his drawing, while Marientte found that little fact interesting.
'That could come in handy later on,' The designer thought to herself as Evillustrator drew a glowing moon above the miniature Eiffel Tower, lighting up the barge.
"Voilà!" The Evillustrator exclaimed, feeling accomplished as the whole scene came together.
Soon enough Marinette and the Evillustrator were sitting on the bench in front of the replica Eiffel Tower while the barge moved along the river. As the Evillustrator played some music on his pad by drawing the notes and letting them fly into the air, Marinette looked up at the rooftops and noticed Cat Noir leaping across them.
'Time to do my part,' the designer thought to herself before turning to face Evillustrator. "You're so talented! I just don't understand why you wanna use your power to hurt people," Marinette gushes as she scooted closer to Evillustrator, trying to establish conversation.
"Not all people. Just Chloé. And I'm never doing that again. After all, you were true to your promise, so I'll be true to mine," The Evillustrator promised, stopping his melody to speak to her. Marinette smiled at his words before he continued to draw more music notes.
Meanwhile, as the barge passed under a bridge, Cat Noir landed on said bridge as the front of the barge went underneath, and leapt directly to the boat, landing as silent as his namesake behind the wheelhouse.
Over with the 'love birds' Marinette was still trying to strike up conversation to distract Evillustrator.
"I...actually draw a little too, I'm not as good as you are, of course," Marinette admitted, hoping to keep him focused on her.
"I'm sure you're a wonderful artist," The Evillustrator praised, trying to assure Marinette to not doubt her talents as he kept drawing the music notes to life.
"Well, can I draw you something special for your birthday?" Marinette asked, turning slightly to see Cat Noir was crouched on the top of the wheelhouse, ready to attack. But Marinette placed her hand behind the bench and looked back at Cat Noir, gesturing to him to back off. She then used her other hand to grab the top of Evillustrator's pen, stopping the music again.
"That would be amazing," The Evillustrator gushed, surprised that Marinette wanted to do that for him. But as Cat Noir took Marinette's advice and backed up after seeing her grab ahold of the pencil, the artist noticed him retreating from the corner of his eye.
"Marinette, give me my pencil back. I need to draw something, now!" The artist Akuma demanded, trying to pull his pen back from Marinette… but she wouldn't let it go.
"No, I'm keeping it!" Marinette exclaimed as she grabbed the pencil and got back onto her feet.
"Cat Noir! Now!" The designer shouted as she ran from Evillustrator, right before Cat Noir's staff extended in front of him, blocking his path and making him realize what was happening.
"Marinette! You're working with him?" The Evillustrator questioned as the designer turned back to look at him in apology when she was far enough away.
"I'm so stupid... I actually thought you liked me! But you're really just like Chloé. Teasing me, mocking me, leading me on!" The artist Akuma growled, his feelings of betrayal bleeding into every word. But his words did the trick as Marinette grew angry at his choice of words.
"Come on! Seriously? Why is everyone comparing me to Chloé?" Marinette shouted in disbelief, stomping her foot on the deck of the barge in anger. It was just the distraction Evillustrator needed as he kicked Cat Noir's staff, making it fly away from him, and into the air.
Thanks to its current length, it hit Marinette's hand, knocking the pencil out of her grip. While both Marinette and Cat Noir were distracted, Evillustrator slipped off the bench, jumped up to grab the pen, and landed on the moon he drew earlier. Once he did, Cat Noir jumped up after him, staff raised above him to attack the artist, only for Evillustrator to draw something on his tablet.
A transparent cube then appeared from thin air, and fell at an angle that not only trapped Cat Noir, but also Marinette when it landed on the deck. When Marientte and Cat Noir were trapped inside the box, Evillustrator then landed on top of it, knowing they couldn't try anything.
"And I'm taking back my promise! Chloé's gonna get a little lesson she'll never forget!" The Evillustrator exclaimed before he erased a part of the hull, and created a hole in the boat. As the boat started to sink, the artist escaped by jumping onto the wheelhouse roof, and then up onto a passing bridge, leaving Marinette and Cat Noir trapped.
"We've been penned in! Literally!" Cat Noir exclaimed as he tried to fight his way out by jamming the end of his staff into the bottom of the box. While doing that, Marinette watched as he struggled to free them, but then had an idea of how to get out.
"Cat Noir, your stick! Like this!" Marinette explained as she knelt to the deck, and made Cat Noir do the same as she placed the stick against the deck, facing up and at the top of the cube.
"And extend it!" The designer finished as she pointed to the top of the box, explaining her plan.
"Got it!" Cat Noir exclaimed, as he wrapped his arm around Marinette's waist and pulled her in close and leaned in close with a smirk before she wrapped her arms around his neck. A second later, Cat Noir extended his stick, lifting himself, Marinette-who held onto him for dear life-and the cube into the air, extending the stick long enough for them to safely reach the rail of the bridge Evillustrator had used to escape.
Once the stick was leaning against the rail and the box flew off the end of the baton, Cat Noir quickly gathered Marinette into his arms and planted his feet onto his stick before leaning toward the ground and slid down to the end. His feet finally landed onto the ground, where he let Marinette back onto her feet, and retracted and spun his baton, before catching, and putting it away.
"We gotta go. Still got a lot more saving to do," Cat Noir began as he turned to face Marinette after their daring escape.
"Right. You go and call Yuma, I'll start heading towards Chloé," Marinette vented as Tikki flew out of her purse, and floated next to her.
"Got it." Cat Noir nodded, as he ran off and pulled out his staff, while Marinette ran to a hiding place, transformed into Ladybug, wrapped her yo-yo around a chimney and swung towards the hotel.
"Hmmmm." Yuma said, as he and Sabrina were in the Library (which was still open, thankfully), reading books and taking notes at one of the tables.
"I think that's about everything." Sabrina smiled, as she closed the book she was reading and double checked their notes.
"Finally!" Yuma slumped, his face hitting the table. "All that studying was making me tired."
"Maybe we should take a break." Sabrina suggested, right before a strange sound started coming off Yuma. Curious, he pulled out his Duel Gazer, and saw that he was receiving a call from…
"Cat Noir?" Yuma asked, confused on why the feline-themed hero was trying to contact him, before he answered it, seeing his friend appear on the lens, who was currently running across rooftops. "Hello?"
"Yuma, the Evillustrator took back on his promise and is going after Chloé! We need you!" Cat Noir exclaimed, causing the Duelist's eyes to widen.
"On my way!" Yuma replied, as he then ended the call and turned to Sabrina, feeling guilty for the unexpected change of plans that occurred.. "Sabrina, I-"
"It's okay, go! The project can wait!" Sabrina exclaimed, knowing that Akuma's don't normally take the word 'no' very well, if their actions afterwards in the past were any indication. Grateful that she understood, Yuma smiled and ran towards the exit, attaching his Duel Pad to his arm.
Over at the hotel, Chloé was in front of her bathroom mirror, trying to come up with an excuse for why she hadn't completed the project. "Boo-hoo-hoo! I'm so sorry, miss, but after what happened at the library, I simply couldn't work on my project! It would've been too...dramatic! Just look what it's done to my… my… hair!" Chloé said, pretending to cry, but then quickly stopped. "Oh, please. Who's going to believe that?! Even a stupid hairdryer couldn't make me look bad."
right before the door to her actual room rumbled, causing Chloé to cautiously walk out of her bathroom and to the door.
"Uh? Cat Noir? Is that you?" Chloé asked as she leaned her ear against the door, only for it to be erased, revealing the Evillustrator behind it. Chloé then ran away in fear, as the Evillustrator erased away more of her door. The spoiled brat screamed as she ran further into her room and hid under her bed, as Evillustrator entered the room.
"Chloé, where are you? Are you hiding? That is so cute. You're playing hide-and-seek. In the closet?!" The Evillustrator called as he walked further into the room-passing by Chloé's bed, as the girl hid underneath- before he turned toward Chloé's closet and started erasing things in it.
The girl screamed in shock from her hiding place, and that was all Evillustrator needed to find her, erasing the bed Chloé was hidden under with a sinister chuckle. When she saw her hiding spot was gone, Chloé screamed again as she got up from the floor and backed away from Evillustrator
"I win, Chloé! I found you!" The Evillustrator taunted, looking and sounding like a psychopath.
"Ah! My Chanel dresses! My Todelan heels! You're... you're a monster!" Chloé exclaimed, actually feeling emotion for her expensive stuff. Not that you can blame her… but still.
"You like to walk all over other people. But you don't like it when others trample on you! Do you, Chloé? Do you?" The Evillustrator questioned as he drew a giant heeled shoe that soon chased after Chloé. The girl screamed again as she was pursued by the giant shoe.
Thankfully for her, Ladybug appeared and broke the heel of the shoe, making it disappear before it stepped on the heiress. The Evillustrator was left angered as he looked over at the balcony door to see the spotted heroine standing there.
"Oops! Broke your heel! Better watch your ankles," Ladybug teased as she spun her yo-yo with her hand-turning it into a shield- just as Cat Noir landed on the balcony and entered the room.
"Well, well, look what the cat dragged in," Cat Noir greeted as he pulled out his stick, and smiled at his partner.
"No cat dragged me anywhere, Cat Noir. I flew in all on my own," Ladybug responded, returning her partner's banter with her own.
But their exchange was soon interrupted by the Akuma himself.
"In the comics, this is what's known as the final showdown. The thing is, if you knew her, you wouldn't be breaking a sweat to save her skin! She's the real baddie!" The Evillustrator shouted as he tried to justify his actions to the Heroes.
"Oh! It's not true! Everybody adores me!" Chloé denied as she sat on the floor to the side of the soon-to-be fight, staying on the hero's side of the room rather than the villain's. But as soon as she finished, Evillustrator drew up three boxing gloves and fired all of them at the other people in the room.
"Look out!" Cat Noir shouted as he spun his baton in front of him to block the incoming hit, only to get knocked out of the room by one of the gloves, dropping his staff and flying onto the balcony. Meanwhile, Ladybug dodged a boxing glove, and jumped up into the air, stepping on the passing glove to use the momentum and swing her yo-yo to disintegrate the last one with her weapon, saving Chloé from the incoming hit.
When Ladybug landed back on the floor, she threw her yo-yo at the Evillustrator, but he quickly drew a wall to protect himself from the weapon, causing Ladybug to grab it as it went back at her. Evillustrator quickly drew a buzzsaw and sent it toward Ladybug, who dodged it by using her yo-yo as a shield, but it only redirects it towards Chloé.
The buzzsaw was about to hit the heiress, but Cat Noir (who had just gotten back from his recovery on the balcony) stopped it by spearing the hole in the middle of the blade with his stick. The blade then slowed down and fell to the floor, mere inches away from Chloé before it disappeared. Cat Noir then grabbed his staff, spun it and then split it into two before he threw them at the Evillustrator, who unfortunately dodged them.
One half of the staff buried itself into the wall, but the other half of the stick broke a lamp that was mounted on the wall behind the Evillustrator, forcing him to walk closer to another working lamp. The sudden change allowed Ladybug to remember what she had learnt earlier.
"The light! Cat Noir! He can't draw in the dark!" Ladybug exclaimed as she turned to face her partner.
"Got it!" Cat Noir replied as he looked around and he saw a light switch on the wall behind him. Once that was in his line of sight, he called on his…
"Cataclysm!" The feline hero cried, summoning his signature move. But before he could use his Cataclysm to destroy the light switch, the Evillustrator erased it. This made Cat Noir break the wall instead, wasting his shot.
"Here you go, kitty. A little ball and chain to play with," The Evillustrator taunted as he drew a ball and chain before they appeared on Cat Noir's ankle.
"Hey!" Cat Noir shouted in protest, not liking that the Akuma was playing dirty.
"Sadly, those who get in my way get erased," The Evillustrator proclaimed before he erased a giant hole in the floor, which caught Cat Noir by surprise. He quickly fell into it, but Yuma showed up just in time and managed to grab him and help himself by grabbing onto the ledge, while Ladybug tried not to fall in as well.
"I…got you!" Yuma exclaimed, as Cat Noir grinned, thankful that his friend showed up at the perfect time.
"I had no idea you were this strong." Cat Noir commented.
"Really helps…when you make food deliveries…up a huge set of stairs!" Yuma grinned, while the rapidly expanding hole forced Ladybug to back up, until it had no more space to expand. All of this, and to top it off, Cat Noir's Miraculous started to beep. "Oh, you've gotta be kidding me!" The Duelist complained as Cat Noir's ring lost one pad, causing the feline-themed hero to panic.
"Cat Noir's and the boy's Miraculous's! Take them! Take them now!" Hawk Moth demanded.
"Before you go, you have something I want," The Evillustrator explained, walking to the edge of the hole he made, and stared down at Yuma as he hung from the edge, with Cat Noir struggling to hold on to the duelist's hand.
"Ladybug! This cat doesn't have nine lives!" Cat Noir shouted as he hung on to Yuma, leaving him defenseless.
Seeing no other way, Ladybug summoned her…
"Lucky Charm!" Ladybug shouted while her superpower gave her…
"A bouncy ball?" The spotted heroine questioned as the object landed in her hand and squashed it between her fingers.
"Just try and stop me with that, little lady!" The Evillustrator laughed, not seeing how Ladybug could use that tiny thing to stop him.
"Think of something, Ladybug! I'm starting to lose my grip!" Yuma exclaimed, as his hand hanging onto Cat Noir began to loosen a little. Ladybug looked around the room, and with her Lucky Vision, she saw the ceiling lights and lamps around the room, forming her plan.
"Gladly!" Ladybug exclaimed before she threw the bouncy ball at the lamps, letting the ball break them, and ricochet around the room to hit all of them, turning everything dark.
She then used the opportunity to throw her yo-yo at the artist Akuma, dragged the Evillustrator from his feet, which made him fall and drop his pen, letting it fly up into the air. Ladybug grabbed the pen in midair, landed in front of Evillustrator, and broke it, releasing the Akuma just before Cat Noir's Miraculous beeped again.
"Hurry!" Cat Noir panicked, not sure how much longer Yuma could hold on. Thankfully the ball and chain disappeared, allowing Yuma to pull him out of the hole and back onto solid ground as he climbed out.
"No more evildoing for you, little Akuma!" She exclaimed as she opened her yo-yo to reveal the sparkling pool of cleansing energy inside. "Time to de-evilize!" Ladybug shouted before she threw her yo-yo toward the Akuma, catching it in her yo-yo. A second later, she released the purified Akuma, setting the white butterfly free. "Bye, bye little butterfly," Ladybug said as the butterfly flew away. She then threw the bouncy ball charm into the air. "Miraculous Ladybug!" She cried out. No sooner than she did, the miraculous cure swept through the city, returning things back to normal. The damage inflicted by Evillustrator and the fight between them in the hotel room was repaired and the Evillustrator turned back into Nathaniel.
"Huh? Where am I?" Nathaniel questioned as he looked around to see where he was, only for his gaze to land on Ladybug and Cat Noir.
"Pound it!" The three heroes cheered as they fist-bumped, feeling proud of themselves for taking care of another supervillain, before Cat Noir waved goodbye before going to find a place to transform back. Ladybug soon followed his example and headed home.
Meanwhile in Hawk Moth's lair, the butterfly man himself was not dealing with the latest defeat well.
"Noooo! The Miraculous was practically mine! And they will be. Once I have them all in my grasp, I shall obtain my wish!" Hawk Moth proclaimed as the lair window closed up, leaving the man in total darkness.
The next morning had come quickly, as Marinette was in the locker rooms, overhearing Alya interview Chloé about Evillustrator's attack last night.
"What happened when Ladybug and Cat Noir arrived on the scene?" Alya questioned, as she held up her phone to film Chloé as she interviewed the heiress.
"Well, to be perfectly honest, they only made matters worse. They came barreling in, and started smashing things to bits, throwing plastic balls around my room!" Chloé exclaimed, describing her account of the events last night-even though she was hiding for most of it-as she stood in front of her open locker.
"Plastic balls?" Alya questioned, not understanding what the spoiled brat was referring to. Marinette giggled to herself as she stood at her locker, and watched the exchange going on.
"I hope you had a good time last night taking care of that important thing you had to do," A voice behind Marinette greeted, making her turn to see Sabrina behind her, a smile on her face and a new beret on her head.
"I'm really sorry about yesterday, Sabrina. But I can now meet you in the library and finally work on the project with you," Marinette reassured the girl.
"No, Marinette. If anyone's sorry, it's me. Yuma told me about the deal you made with the Akuma yesterday. I should have stayed and listened to what you had to say." Sabrina said, feeling guilty. "So, as an apology, I told the liberty of finishing the project myself."
"You…finished it?" Marinette asked, not believing that Sabrina had worked a miracle. And in one night no less.
"Yep. All those notes me and Yuma took last night really helped." Sabrina smiled.
"Nice new beret, by the way." Marinette complimented, making Sabrina smile brightly at the compliment.
"I know, right! Chloé lent it to me, and I didn't even have to convince her to do it. She really is my BFF!" Sabrina gushed, thankful for the 'favor' Chloé did, before she walked toward the heiress with a smile, saying, "Chloé! Your Geography Homework's ready!" Marinette only watched with a fond look as she closed her locker, not knowing that Adrien was hiding behind the open door.
"Hey!" Adrien greeted from his spot, leaning on the locker, next to Marinette. But his greeting surprised Marinette so much, she jumped back from her locker and ten feet into the air before she realized who it was.
"Don't scare me like that!" Marinette said, as she playful pushed Adrien, causing the boy to chuckle.
"You can blame him for that idea." Adrien commented, pointing at Yuma, who was chuckling from the second floor, with Astral floating next to him. Realizing that he's been outed, he yelped and began running away, right before the bell rang, signaling them that they needed to go to class, causing him to panic even more and run to class in a hurry, much to the couple's amusement, as they burst out laughing.
Author's Note:
I have decided what Marinette and Adrien's Civilian Decks will be, with Marinette's being a Madolche Deck (due to her living in a Bakery and the fashion they all wear) and Adrien's being a Raidraptor Deck (to represent the irony of his Pigeon Feather allergy and how he wants to have more freedom from his father's strict rules). Still trying to figure out their Ladybug and Cat Noir Decks. Feel free to give ideas.
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