Adrien: Every since I started school, my life, has been... awesome! I get to meet new friends, have fun, fight villains, become a hero, and most importantly... her. Marinette is the sweetest, kindest, bravest, and most beautiful princess I have ever met. Someday, I'll tell her the feelings hidden in my heart, but for now, I shall protect my princess from the forces of evil butterflies.
(Marinette enters her room. From her shadow, wings emerged from her back. Butterfly wings.)
It's becoming a popular belief that teenage boys dislike anything they deem "girly".
For Adrien Agreste, that's just a silly belief.
The moment Coach D'Argencourt anounced that the fencing team should take ballet classes in order to improve their flexibility and speed, the team immediately complained.
Except Adrien, who told the team to man up and respect the coach's decision.
In truth: Marinette was in ballet class.
Despite her clumsiness and her tendency to trip, Marinette is a very talented, very graceful, ballerina.
How does he know this? Word of mouth.
(Does not include night patrols when he "accidentally" witnessed her dancing in her pajamas through her window.)
So when Marinette came dancing in the room, along with the others, in a leotard and tutu, Adrien could feel his eyes exploding and his heart aggressively pounding against his chest, demanding to get out.
Marinette stopped dancing and smiles at him, "Hey Adrien."
Noone knows what happened. Adrien just exploded... taking the entire school with him...
...
Just kidding.
Although that's what he feels would happened.
"H-hey Marinette." He smiles and waves nervously.
When the teachers told them to choose partners, Adrien was surprised when Marinette asked first if he wanted to be her partner.
Of course he would!
So he said "yes".
He dreamt of the day when he would hold hands with the girl of his dreams. He would lead her through a lively dance and she would be amazed how gentle and graceful he is. It was as if he was leading her to a world full of magic and wonder, where she was the princess and him the prince. Then they would dance their way into a crystal palace in the sky with fairy wings on their back.
Alas. Adrien needed more work.
He keeps bumping into her, sometimes stepping on her feet.
One time, he almost fell down but she quickly grabbed his hand and pulled him back up.
Another time, he got their legs tangled and they both fell. Marinette failed to see Adrien's face turned red due to the fact that she was on top of him and she fell on her back.
Marinette attempted to help Adrien improve his dancing by telling him to relax. This only made the blond boy more nervous.
How can he relax when he's being touched by the love of his life and she's right in front of him?
Adrien heeded his crush's words and took a deep breathe. He channeled the Chat Noir side of him, the side of him that was more confident towards his princess, the side of him whose entire brain almost never shuts down when in front of her.
He imagined that he needed to protect her from an akuma and the only way they can survive is through dancing. With that drive, he began dancing confidentally, not missing a single step, nor was he even tripping.
Marinette smiled at her partner's improvement.
If only Chat Noir was this smooth. If only he was dancing with her.
Adrien got so caught up with his dancing that he suddenly tossed Marinette into the air, catching the attention of everyone else in the room.
Adrien realized his mistake and rushes to catch Marinette with his outstretched arms.
If she falls, she'll break every bone in her body. Then she'll be rushed to the hospital. The doctors will be able to fix her but she'll fall into a coma. He'll be blamed and his family will be banished from Earth FOREVER!
To everyone's complete surprise, Marinette landed on the toe of one foot, twirled around gracefuly, and stopped with a pose.
Adrien gaped in surprise before clapping his hands just like the others.
He knew she was good, but not this good.
"Marinette is such a princess." He could hear one of the ballet girls sighed.
"I know." Another agreed, "No wonder she's going to be Odette."
Marinette is really popular among her ballet classmates.
Almost everyone in the room was complimenting Marinette.
Except one girl. Her arms were crossed and she was not happy with the attention the blue-haired girl was getting.
"Adrien? In ballet class?"
At the end of school, when Marinette told her that her ballet class was helping the fencing team, Alya was surprised.
She was also worried for Adrien. Whenever he's around Marinette, he, tends to... his senses tends to shut down and his confidence fades away, making him a slight mess towards the girl of his dreams.
She could only imagine the many times he slips and/or trips, maybe even taking Marinette with him.
She was even more surprised when Marinette told her that Adrien was a great dancer.
"Want to grab a snack at the bakery?" Marinette offered.
"Thanks. But..." Alya paused, trying to think of a good excuse, "I got tutor session."
Sabrina screamed as her back landed on the ground. In front of her, Alya, who was wielding a long wooden staft, stood triumphantly.
In order to strengthen the team, Gabriel advised they train during days they have less or no homework or during days when they don't have tests on the next day.
Today, they decided to train at the backyard of the Agreste Mansion.
Gabriel called Chloe, signaling her turn to face Alya. When she didn't respond, Gabriel called her again.
Until he saw what she was staring at on her phone...
He decided to let her fight last and called Lila to fight Alya next.
Adrien noticed the sad look on his childhood friend's face and approached her. When he saw the picture on her phone, he feels her pain.
Chloe's mom... The Phantom Night...
That picture was taken before. One of the rare times Chloe bonded and had fun with the parent that was always at work, but never at home.
One night, Chloe called him, telling him that she has a horrible mother. He could hear her choke as she cried from the other side of the phone.
Then the fog came...
"You ever wish your Miraculous could help you find your mom?" Chloe asked without taking her eyes away from her phone.
This caught Adrien by surprise.
But he did want to use his powers to find his mom. Ever since his first Akuma Attack.
One night, while everyone was asleep, he transformed into Chat Noir and snuck out without noone noticing.
He searched for his mother everywhere with one object that could lead her to her whereabouts: Her hankerchief.
He took in the smell of his mother, then, like a creature of the night, sped off and began his search.
He returned to his room after 12 am. Along with nothing.
Yet, he never gave up.
No matter how many fruitless nights he has to go through, he will bring his mother back home.
"Hey Chlo?" He placed a hand on his friend's shoulder, "If ever you go Queen Bee just to find your mom, let me know, 'kay?"
Chloe was confused at first, but then gave her childhood friend a grateful smile.
Lila was too busy looking at Adrien and Chloe that she didn't pay attention to her opponent and was knocked down by a kick on her leg.
"No fair." Lila protested, "I wasn't ready."
Gabriel just looked at her sternly, "A hero is always ready. Never let the smallest of distractions get to you."
Lila glared at Chloe. If that little spoiled brat hadn't distract her she would've won.
Gabriel called Adrien to face Alya next.
The two clashed wooden staffs. Alya attempts to knock Adrien down with a low-kick, but the blond manages to jump out of the way. She tried to land a blow on his hip, but he swiftly catches it with his hand.
As they kept fighting, Gabriel observes.
So far, Alya has had the upperhand against her teammates. But this time, Adrien was swiftly dodging every one of her hits and blows.
In fact, his speed has increase, including his perceptive ability to predict his opponent's next move.
His fighting moves were new. Gabriel didn't know what style they were, but they did help Adrien in taking down Alya.
His son seem to have enjoyed the battle. In fact, it looked like he was dancing... Ohhhh...
Nathalie did tell him Adrien's fencing class had ballet class earlier today.
And guess who's in ballet class.
Oh well. He won't say anything for now.
Just let his boy dance on cloud 9.
Adrien literally danced his way to school.
And before that, throughout his entire morning routine, from the moment he woke up.
And he was the first one to arrive to ballet class.
Since noone else was here other than him, Adrien decided to practice the new moves he wanted to impress Marinette with.
Closing his eyes, he imagined he was dancing with Marinette, one arm wrapped around her waist, while his other hand held hers.
It was just the two of them, alone in their own little world.
Marinette looked up to him with a smile, her eyes sparkling. He smiles back, and moves his head forward, just like hers.
They closed their eyes as the slowly closed the distance between them.
After a few seconds, which seem like an eternity, Adrien felt his lips touching something.
And it wasn't Marinette's.
In fact... It felt like... leather?
Adrien opened his eyes, his pupils dilating when he realized he just kissed Mariposa's finger...!
"You're sweet." The younger Butterfly teased by playfully touching his nose, "But I'm taken. By the way, you haven't seen a girl muttering angrily around, have you? Leotard and ballet slippers and all?"
Still in shock, Adrien slowly shook his head.
"Thanks anyway." Mariposa summoned her wings and took to the air, "You know with moves like that, you're bound to get the lucky girl."
Seconds later after the younger Butterfly left, Adrien finally snapped out of his shocked daze. Although, he was slightly taken back by Mariposa's... comment.
And the fact he unconsciously kissed Mariposa' finger.
But could it mean...?
Adrien snapped out of it. Mariposa was searching for an angry ballerina. Who'd end up being...
Time to alert the team.
After transforming into Chat Noir, he heard a scream.
He held her gently in his arms. So, warm.
He slowly yet lively led her. It felt as if they were dancing on the clouds.
He smiles at her. She blushes as his face was getting closer to hers.
She closes her eyes...
Marinette's eyes opened, their owner sighs in disappointment.
It was just a dream...
But the black swan creature in front of her wasn't...!
The black swan creature grabbed her arm with his talons and almost dragged her away, if Azula Paonne hadn't knocked it down with her fan.
Azula grabbed her returning fan, "Sorry, but sometimes birds of a feather, don't always have to flock together."
Before Marinette could thank her, Rena Rouge grabbed her hand and led her away from the black swan creature.
They managed to find the other heroes. When Marinette saw Chat, she blushed, embarassed that he has to see her in a leotard and tutu.
Chat sneezed. Seconds later, they heard a scream from above: Kim was caught in the talons of anothe black swan creature and was flown to an unknown location.
"Those guys are after the fencing team and ballet class." Carapace spoke as he watches the creature and Kim disappear.
Hearing this made Marinette worried. Her friends were in the fencing team and ballet class. Whoever this akuma was, she hopes they were okay and not hurt.
Chat approaches her, "We have to hide you somewhere safe."
Before she could protest, she was locked inside the boy's locker room.
Call her crazy for wanting to rush straight into danger, but if her friends are in danger, then she just can't hide safely in the locker room throughout the entire ordeal.
Rena Rouge managed to place a tracker on the member of the fencing team before he was snatched away by a black swan creature.
The tracker led them to the Palais Garnier, where the next ballet recital was to take place.
Chat recalled that Marinette was going to play Odette in the recital. She was going to be the lead, which led her to become even more popular with her classmates.
Some classmates, would wish they were the lead in the recital.
The akuma must be a jealous rival.
The Team entered the Palais Garnier, where they found the captured teens in a cage, surrounded by several black swan creatures.
They hid behind the shadows as a figure emerged from the shadows, a girl in a black swan-themed tutu, complete with feather-adorned ballet slippers. She wore a feathered cape and a sharp silver tiara lays on her head.
Chat could hear someone else approaching the stage.
Mariposa leaps from one top of a seat to another. Upon reaching the front row, she accepted the hand of her mentor, who helped her down to the stage.
"Nice show." The younger Butterfly remarked as she watches the caged teens tremble at her presence, "Now all we need is our Odette."
The black swan creatures all turned their heads to her, at the same time their mistress glared at her.
"Oops. Sorry." Mariposa slighly giggled, "I meant the understudy."
Chat glared at his enemy. She did not just call his princess "understudy".
The next thing he knew, Ladybug was charging at the enemies with a loud battle cry.
Without even facing the spotted heroine, the akuma, Black Swan, threw one of her feathers at Ladybug.
It didn't really hurt the heroine much, but she soon tripped over a seat and got tangled in the strings of her own yo-yo.
The other heroes decided to charge as well, only to be hit with several black feathers. The only one who wasn't hit was Azula Paonne who fanned the feathers away with her fan.
Chat sneezed before loosing his balance, causing him to fall backwards on Rena Rouge.
Queen Bee aimed her top at Black Swan, but instead, it attacked Carapace's feet. This caused him to hit himself with his own shell shield instead of throwing it at Hawk Moth as intended.
While Azula fought Black Swan on her own, her teammates wondered why they keep stumbling and bumping into each other instead of defeating the minions.
"And I thought only black cats have bad luck." Chat remarked before sneezing, much to Queen Bee's disgust.
"Actually, black swans are also believed to be birds of bad luck." Azula pointed out as she kept fighting Black Swan.
"One black cat of bad luck is enough for me. Thank you." Ladybug remarks as she tried to punch a black swan minion, but punched Queen Bee instead.
Chat Noir sneezed again. He fell backwards again.
This time, someone caught him.
Mariposa.
The younger Butterfly grinned, "Hey Kitty. Let's dance."
Before Chat could make a remark, Mariposa had already twirled him around, and was leading him in a very lively dance, much to the displeasure of Ladynug and Queen Bee.
Both who slipped and fell in the middle of their attacks.
"Oh Kitty..." Mariposa purred, "You're so light on your feet..."
That's something he wanted Marinette to say!
Chat could only grin nervously while Ladybug gritted her teeth.
Having enough, the spotted hero summoned her Lucky Charm and got...
A spotted red banana peel?!
Ladybug threw the banana peel away in disgust. She didn't see the person picking it up as she resumed fighting off the minions, only to slip up again.
Hawk Moth looked bored, "Not to be rude, but this show is getting a bit dull."
While Azula Paonne laid defeated on the stage, Black Swan turned to Ladybug, who was restrained by her minions, "Then let the real show begin."
She approaches the spotted heroine and stretches out her hand, reaching for her earrings...
"Hey Black Swan."
Black Swan stops. She turns around, only to find Marinette on stage. While her classmates watched with worry, the blue-haired ballerina was glaring at the villain who dared captured her friends and scared them.
"You can be Odette, Ophelia." She spoke bravely, "Just let my friends go."
Chat sighed blissfully. Even in a tutu, his princess looked so cute standing up to the akumatized ballerina.
However Black Swan was not satisfied. She shot her black feathers towards the blue-haired girl, but Marinette swiftly, and gracefully, leaps out of the way. Her classmates and friends were impressed.
Except for one sour Ladybug.
Marinette smiles mischieviously at Black Swan and leaps away as if taunting her and daring her to chase after her.
It worked. And Black Swan slipped on the spotted banana peel Marinette cleverly dropped on the stage without the villain noticing.
Black Swan slipped and collided with Mariposa and Chat Noir, to the black cat's hero's relief. This released him from Mariposa's hold and allowed him to free his teammates from Black Swan's minions.
The Team were relieved after they purified Black Swan.
They were also relieved that Marinette didn't stream the entire fight live.
That would have really ruined their reputation and they would have hid in an isolated location out of embarassment. Never to be seen again.
Worst, fight, EVER.
They were glad Marinette saved them. It was frustrating fighting the bad girl without even landing a single punch on her, and being forced to act clumsy while fighting.
Still, Lila wasn't pleased when the rescued teens crowded Marinette, instead of her, out of gratitude for saving them.
While his friends were finding seats, Adrien managed to sneak backstage to wish Marinette good luck.
After Black Swan was purified back into Ophelia, Marinette admitted she was a beautiful dancer and decided to let the purified girl dance as Odette while she took her role as the villain's daughter.
Adrien searched for Marinette but couldn't find her. He suddenly bumped into one of the dancers and screamed because she had make-up on that made her look like Black Swan.
He stopped when he realized who it was, "Marinette? Wow. Sorry. You look like... Well you're not really... If you were akumatized... Which you wouldn't! But if you were, you'd still be you..."
Marinette slightly giggled, "Thanks. I didn't see you with the others earlier. You're lucky Black Swan didn't find your hiding place."
Adrien shifted nervously, "Yeah. There's always a place the bad guy least expects. I... just want to wish you good luck. And break a leg. Which, also means 'good luck'. Just in case you didn't get it."
One of the dancers tapped Marinette's shoulder, signaling her that the show was about to start.
"Show's starting. See you later." She turns to leave but stops to smile at Adrien, "Enjoy the show."
Oh. He will.
Even if she was dressed like a villain, Marinette still was beautiful as ever.
Adrien never let his eyes stray away from the magical show. Especially the scenes where Marinette performed.
This motivated him to take his dancing lessons more seriously. And his piano lessons as an added bonus.
Who knows? In the future, they may have to deal with a dangerous tap-dancing villain or an evil Beethoven impersonator.