"Girl, we should totally have a sleepover tonight!" Alya grabbed Marinette's hands, practically bouncing with excitement as students filtered out of the school around them, heading home for the day.
Marinette nodded eagerly. "Yeah, that sounds great! I haven't been to a sleepover in a while."
Suddenly, screams echoed through the air as a distant crash heralded the arrival of another akuma. Alya's eyes widened, and she quickly pulled her phone out of her pocket, already turning around, ready to follow the noise to the source. She stopped for a second, as though remembering something, and paused to look at Marinette. "Are you sure I can't convince you to come with me?" she asked.
"You know my parents want me to stay away from akuma attacks," Marinette deflected, waving her off. "And besides, I wouldn't really be too keen on running into a deranged supervillain anyways. You have fun, though! Take care of yourself!" Seriously, though. Worrying about you while fighting the akuma is about the last thing I need.
Alya laughed and nodded, then turned on her heel and raced off.
Marinette watched her go for a moment, then ran off in the direction of the bakery, ducking behind the building. She pulled open her purse to reveal an empty spot where her kwami was supposed to be. "Plagg!" she hissed. "We gotta transform!"
"I'm not here, I'm sleeping," he mumbled from somewhere in the alleyway.
"Plagg…" she warned.
An exaggerated snore. Marinette sighed. An ancient, ridiculously powerful magical creature has absolutely no right to be this lazy.
She reached into her jacket, pulling out the small packet of Camembert she'd slipped into a pocket after her visit to the fromagerie. "You know I can't buy that much Camembert, Plagg. I'd finish my allowance, and then my parents would ask questions," she told him as she pulled the packet open to let the pungent smell of the cheese drift through the air.
Plagg floated out of her backpack, almost drooling. He caught sight of her smirk and her raised eyebrow and laughed nervously. "For your information, I can smell Camembert in my sleep," he said haughtily. "It's only one of my many talents."
Marinette handed him a tiny piece of cheese and closed the plastic pouch, tucking it back into her jacket. Plagg stuffed the whole thing in his mouth with a sigh of pleasure.
"Plagg, claws out!"
Moments later, Chaton Minuit vaulted up the side of the building, landing with a soft thud behind the chimney. She began making her way to the disruption on the far side of the city, ready to fight.
Adrien spotted the collapsing buildings through the windows of Gorilla's car, pressing his hands to the glass as he planned his escape, ready to join his partner at the akuma fight. He could see Minuit already darting to the scene from above the rooftops, the silver of her baton flashing in the sunlight.
Gorilla tapped on the window to get his attention, and Adrien glanced over at him. Gorilla pointed with his thumb to the front doors of the Agreste Manor.
"Sorry," Adrien said, hastily grabbing his school bag and scrambling out the door. He darted up the steps and into the mansion, rushing into his room and quickly shutting the door behind him.
"Adrien, you have fencing lessons in an hour," Nathalie called through the door. "In the meantime, you can practice your piano."
"Yes, Nathalie," he called, fumbling for the ipod inside the piano bench. He quickly pressed play on the device, and the piano session he'd recorded the other day played from the tiny speakers. He turned the volume up to full and rushed to the window. "Tikki, spots on!" he hissed, the transformation magic washing over him in a burst of pink as Tikki was sucked into the flat gray studs in his ears. Moments later, Crimson Beetle was swinging across Paris, heading straight for the akuma.
He found Chaton Minuit perched on the roof of a tall building, peeking over the edge. "What's going on?" he asked her, and she jumped.
"Don't startle me like that!" Minuit said. She turned back to surveying the ground below. "Anyway, the akuma is called Magma. He's turning the ground to lava, causing buildings to topple and sink into the ground."
"Do you know why?" Crimson asked her, and she shook her head. "No clue," she told him. "I haven't been able to get close enough to hear what he's saying."
"Let's change that, shall we?" he said, holding his hand out to her. Minuit blushed awkwardly, putting her hand in his and allowing him to haul her to her feet. Then the two of them leapt off the terrace, Crimson wrapping his yo-yo around a chimney and using it to rappel down, while Minuit extended her baton across a gap between two buildings and used it to halt her fall.
"What's got you all fired up?" Crimson asked, landing softly on a rooftop about a floor above the akuma.
"I just wanted Maman to play with me!" Magma cried out. "But Maman said she was too busy, so now all of Paris gets to play with me instead!" Magma hopped from floating car to floating streetlight, darting through the maze of debris without ever letting the lava touch him.
Crimson's jaw slackened as he realized what Hawkmoth had done. He could tell the moment it struck Minuit as well; he could hear her softly curse as she landed on the rooftop behind him. "Hawkmoth akumatized a child?" she whispered.
"He's a monster," Crimson spat. "Who would do this to a child?"
"We need to focus so we can deakumatize him," Minuit murmured. "We can hate on Hawkmoth all we want after this. In fact, we could even make a date out of–" She abruptly stopped talking.
Crimson thought over what she said. "That does sound fun," he mused, "but I have somewhere to be right after this. Maybe another time."
"Sure thing!" Minuit's voice was strained. She cleared her throat. "So, what's the plan?"
"What do you think the akumatized object is?" Crimson asked.
"I don't know," Minuit responded. "Should we just follow him?" Her question was answered when the boy froze, a purple butterfly mask glowing around his face. Then he turned to face them.
"Mir-ac-u-lous?" he pronounced carefully, no doubt speaking to Hawkmoth. "What are those?" Hawkmoth must have said something, for he nodded a moment later and the purple mask flickered away. "Give me your Miraculous!" Magma called.
"Never," Minuit said.
Magma narrowed his eyes. Crimson felt his feet become uncomfortably warm, then glanced down to see the concrete of the rooftop starting to bubble. Cracks formed across the surface, glowing fiery red and molten gold.
"Minuit, move!" he called, tossing his yo-yo and zipping off the rooftop. Minuit quickly followed his advice, escaping the rooftop just as it imploded into a mass of bubbling magma that quickly spilled over the sides of the building.
"We need to split up," Minuit said, jumping into action mode. "He can likely only turn one spot into lava at a time, so splitting up means we won't both be caught."
Crimson nodded, and they ran in opposite directions, putting Minuit's sort-of-plan into action.
Minuit leapt from rooftop to rooftop, keeping Magma in between herself and Crimson Beetle. She squinted at the akuma's appearance– dark, ashy skin with glowing red cracks, with soot-stained red overalls. Her gaze caught on the akuma's clenched fist, something white peeking out from between his fingers. "It's in his fist!" she called to Crimson, who nodded to show he'd heard.
Suddenly, a familiar shout caught Minuit's attention. She turned to see Alya balancing on the roof of a rapidly sinking car. Cursing, Minuit leapt down beside her. "Grab on!" she called, and once she could feel Alya's arms wrapped around her neck, she extended her baton and launched them into the air. Why'd she think it was a good idea to run into a magical pit of lava? For a blog post? That is some serious dedication.
Minuit landed lightly on the rooftop, setting Alya down. "What are you doing here?" she hissed. "You're supposed to have evacuated!"
"I was trying to get footage of the attack," Alya whispered back. "I climbed onto the top of that car when I saw the road start to turn into lava."
She sighed. "Wait here," she told Alya. "I'll come back for you once the battle is over." She turned and leapt off the roof, joining Crimson on his rooftop.
"Lucky Charm!" Crimson called, and a pair of heat-resistant gloves fell into his hands. "What am I supposed to do with these?"
"I have an idea," Minuit said, peering over at Magma. The rooftop they were on began to heat up, so they quickly leapt to the next roof over. "His skin is made of magma, right? So what if you're supposed to use those to pry the object from his hands?"
"Good idea," Crimson said, and Minuit tried to ignore the fuzzy rush of warmth she felt at his praise. "It looks like he doesn't have anywhere to run. So what if you Cataclysm the piece of rubble he's standing on so he falls in, then while he's distracted with the lava, I drop down from above and pry it out of his hands?"
"Let's do it," Minuit said. "Ready?"
"Go!"
"Cataclysm!" Minuit called, dark energy bubbling around her right hand. She leapt off the building, her braid streaming behind her as the bubbling lava rushed closer. She extended her baton right as her hand made contact with the chunk of concrete the akuma was standing on, one end of the baton plunging into the lava while the other carried her straight up. Once she was standing on solid ground again, she retracted her baton, wrinkling her nose at the slightly melted end. Huh. I thought superhero weapons were supposed to be indestructible. I guess even magical metal can't stand up to a pit of lava.
Magma shrieked and tried to jump away, but there was no nearby debris– he was stranded. The rubble crumbled to dust beneath him and he fell into the lava, slowly starting to sink as he flailed around, trying to escape. Right on cue, Crimson dropped down, hanging upside down with his yo-yo tied around his ankles as he worked. Within moments the akumatized object– a piece of paper– was in his hands, and he reached up to tug on the yo-yo string and rise back to the top.
He landed on the rooftop beside Minuit, tearing the paper in half and capturing the akuma with his yo-yo. "Bye-bye, butterfly," he said, releasing the purified butterfly from his yo-yo. He tugged off the gloves and tossed them into the air. "Miraculous Crimson Beetle!"
A swarm of ladybugs erupted from the gloves, sweeping over the ruins of the neighborhood and returning everything back to normal. On the ground below, a young boy sat up, rubbing his head.
"You take care of the victim. I left a civilian on one of these roofs somewhere," Minuit said. "Meet you in a minute?"
"I can't," Crimson said sheepishly. "I can take care of the kid, but then I really have to go."
"Hurry, then," she encouraged, pushing back the disappointment she felt at the thought of him leaving. "See you at the next akuma."
He leapt off the roof, ready to comfort the akuma victim, and Minuit turned to scan the rooftops, looking for Alya. She spotted her best friend hopping up and down and waving her arms, and quickly made her way over.
"Oh my gosh, that was so cool!" Alya gushed once Minuit was within earshot. "Thank you so much for putting me on this rooftop! I got a killer view of the whole battle."
"That's great!" Minuit beamed. Then her smile darkened into a frown. "That doesn't excuse you putting yourself in danger, though, Alya."
Alya gasped, "How do you know my name?"
Minuit coughed. "I, uh, saw your blog. Heroic Herald, right?"
"No. Way!" If anything, Alya looked even more starstruck than before. "A superhero saw my blog!" She raised her phone, grinning at the camera. "Hear that, civilians? Chaton Minuit saw my blog!"
"Are you livestreaming?" Minuit probably looked as flabbergasted as she felt.
"Of course!"
Shaking it off, Minuit waved her baton to get her attention. "We need to hurry," she told Alya. "I have to go, so can we get you off this rooftop really quick?"
Alya nodded, latching her arms around Minuit's neck again. Minuit leapt off the roof, carefully making her way down to the ground. Her ring let out a series of shrill beeps as they neared the ground.
"Chaton Minuit, do you have time for a few questions?" Alya asked, holding her phone out in front of her as she climbed off of her back.
"Sorry, I have to go!" Minuit launched herself back onto the roof, scanning for a nearby alley and taking cover before her transformation finally wore off. Plagg collapsed into her hands, groaning.
"Cheese," he said dramatically. "I need cheese."
Marinette dug around in her purse, pulling out a couple of cheese biscuits. Plagg grabbed them and stuffed them into his mouth, letting out a small burp when he'd finished scarfing them down. "Hide," she hissed. "You're supposed to be a secret, remember?"
"Yeah, yeah, I remember," Plagg said. "I've been doing this for millennia. By the way, can I have the rest of that Camembert?" he asked.
"Sure," she whispered, pulling the packet out of her jacket pocket and dropping it into her purse. He flew in after it, and Marinette could hear the sound of the plastic bag opening as he began to enjoy his snack.
Once she was sure he was hidden, Marinette rushed out of the alley and to where she'd left Alya. "Alyaaaaa!" she called. "There you are!"
"Marinette?" Alya sounded surprised. "What are you doing here? I thought your parents wanted you far away from akuma attacks?"
"Yeah, but I was watching your livestream on Hero Hour, and I started running here the moment I saw you were in trouble," Marinette lied, doubling over as she pretended to gasp for air. She felt bad about deceiving her friend like this, but there was no way she would have been able to sneak out of that alley without Alya noticing, and at least this way she had an explanation. "Are you okay?"
"Girl, I'm more than just 'okay', I'm great! Chaton Minuit saved me!"
"That's so cool!" Marinette said. "I'm so happy for you! Did you get an interview from her?"
Alya shook her head. "She was in too much of a rush," she said. "But that doesn't matter. Chaton Minuit reads my blog!"
"No way," Marinette gasped. She tried not to laugh at the irony of the situation. Alya was the one who'd introduced her superhero to her blog, after all. "Anyway, wanna head back to the bakery with me?" she asked. "We can start our sleepover early. What do you say?"
"What do I say?" Alya raised her phone. "See you later, civilians, this girl's got a sleepover to get to. Stay connected!" She tapped something on the device and switched it off, tucking it into her pocket. "Let's go!" She paused. "Though we may need to stop by mine to pick up my stuff. But after that, let's get this sleepover started!"
Crimson swung back into his bedroom, detransforming and quickly rushing over to the piano.
"Are you okay, Adrien?" Tikki asked, taking in his silence. "Is something wrong?"
"No, nothing's wrong, just…" Adrien turned off the ipod and kept it back in its hiding place in the piano bench. "That akuma kind of hit close to home."
Before Tikki could say anything, a knock on the door had her making a beeline for the box of cookies hidden inside his cabinet as she tried to stay out of sight. Adrien quickly took a seat and started to play the song his sheet music was open to. Barely a moment later, Nathalie opened the door.
"Adrien, it's time to go," she said, tapping at her tablet. "Grab your fencing gear and head to the front of the house. Your driver is already waiting there."
"Yes, Nathalie," he said, getting up and retrieving his fencing supplies from their spot. He caught a quick flash of red as Tikki phased in through the side of the duffle bag, then turned to follow Nathalie out the door.
The ride to fencing class was quiet. Adrien waved goodbye to Gorilla, who drove off to find a parking space to wait in until Adrien's class was over. Turning, Adrien ascended the steps, heading into the locker room to change into his fencing gear and put his regular clothes in his locker along with the duffel bag and Tikki.
As usual, Adrien won fencing match after fencing match. He pulled his helmet off after his last match of the day. "That was good, Claude," he congratulated his opponent. "You really kept me on my toes that time."
Claude waved off his praise. "You don't need to exaggerate. I know you're leagues better than anyone else in this class," he said, following the rest of the class into the locker room.
Adrien changed back into his regular clothes. Everyone else in the locker room chatted with each other, but he was quiet, finishing after the rest of the group and heading to the front of the school, where Gorilla was already waiting.
"Adrien!"
He stopped at the sound of his voice, turning to see Marinette and Alya standing outside the Tom & Sabine's bakery, the latter carrying a duffle bag over her shoulder. He waved awkwardly. "Uh, hi," he said.
"Wait there," Marinette called, then she pulled open the door and dashed into the bakery, leaving Alya on the steps, looking as bewildered as Adrien felt.
"What's she doing?" Adrien asked once Alya had crossed the street to stand beside him.
Alya shrugged. "Honestly, half the time I don't even know with that girl," she said fondly. "But she always has good intentions. Best to just wait like she said. So, what were you doing in school so late?"
"Fencing class," Adrien said.
Alya nodded. "Are you any good?"
"Yeah, I guess," he said.
"Did you hear about the akuma attack on the other side of town?" she asked. "It was insane. The akuma turned the ground into literal lava."
"Were you there?" he asked. He hadn't seen her at the site of the akuma, but there was always the chance that he had just missed her.
Alya snorted. "Of course I was there," she said. "I run a blog about the heroes called Hero Hour. I was livestreaming through practically the entire thing."
"Was Marinette there too?" he asked. Somehow, he dreaded the answer.
Alya shook her head. "Marinette's parents don't like her staying near the akuma attacks, but she did show up at the end of the livestream because she ran all the way there to check on me," she told him. "Hey, Sunshine, give me your phone for a moment," she said. "I'll give you my number so I can text you the link to my blog."
Adrien obediently handed his phone over, watching as Alya typed in her number into his messages app and texted herself. Her own phone buzzed in her pocket as proof that she'd received it .
Both of them looked up as the bakery door slammed, Marinette rushing across the street with a box in her hands. She skidded to a stop in front of them. "Sorry it took me so long," she gasped out, "the bakery was really crowded today. Anyway, here." She held the box out to Adrien.
"What's this?" he asked, taking it and opening the lid. Inside were two perfect rows of macarons in a variety of flavors. "Thanks, but what's it for?"
"You looked kind of sad," Marinette said simply.
Adrien felt like tearing up. "You… noticed?" he asked, voice thick. "Thank you."
"Anytime," she said. Whatever she was about to say next was interrupted by Gorilla pressing the car horn, the loud beep causing all three of them to jump. "We should let you go," she said. "Hopefully the rest of your day is better!"
Alya quickly handed him his phone back, succumbing herself to being dragged across the street by her friend. Adrien watched the two of them disappear into the bakery.
His lightened mood carried him all the way back home.
"What was all that, girl?" Alya asked as the door of the bakery closed behind them. Marinette hadn't been kidding, the bakery was full of customers. They carefully skirted their way around the crowd, slipping through the back door and climbing the stairs to Marinette's family's living space.
"He really did look sad," Marinette said as she opened the door. "Plus, I wanted him to know for sure that all the stuff from last week really was just water under the bridge."
"You really are something else," Alya said affectionately. "How many people do I know who would see a sad classmate and give them an entire box of macarons? Only you, Marinette."
"I should hope so," Marinette joked, opening the trapdoor to her bedroom. Alya followed her into her room. "Um, we can sleep together on my bed, unless you'd rather sleep on your own," she said. "Then I can take the chaise."
"The bed's fine," Alya told her. "Can I go change in your bathroom?"
Marinette showed her where the bathroom was, then quickly retreated back into her bedroom. "Plagg," she whispered. "You're gonna need to stay hidden tonight."
Plagg floated up and out of her bag, groaning. "What's in it for me?" he grumbled.
"I'll get you an entire packet of cheese biscuits and some pastries if you stay out of sight and don't cause trouble," Marinette told him.
"Deal." Plagg flew over to her desk, phasing into one of the drawers on top. "You won't hear a peep out of me."
Marinette quickly changed into her pajamas, then headed down to the kitchen to grab snacks for Plagg. When she returned, Alya was sitting on her bed. "Marinette, your room is so pretty!" she called.
"Thanks," Marinette said. She quietly slipped Plagg's snacks into the drawer doubling as his hiding space, then joined Alya on the bed. "I worked hard on decorating this place."
"It shows," Alya said appreciatively. "By the way, how much of the livestream did you see?"
"Not that much," Marinette said. "I opened it and saw you standing in the middle of a pool of lava, and then I was out the door."
"I have got to show you some of the footage I got from the akuma attack," Alya said eagerly. She climbed down the stairs leading to Marinette's bed, heading over to her desktop. "Can you enter your password?" she started to say, moving the mouse to wake up the screen.
"Wait–" Marinette started, a little panicked.
Alya froze the moment she saw Marinette's wallpaper. Then a slow, knowing smile spread across her face. "Do you have something you wanna tell me, girl?" she asked.
Marinette hid her face in her hands, mumbling something.
"What was that?"
"I kinda, sorta, maybe… haveacrushonCrimsonBeetle," she spat out.
Alya grinned. "Enough to have a collage of photos of him as your desktop background within a week and a half of his superhero debut?"
Marinette nodded miserably.
"Wow, that is one heck of a celebrity crush," Alya teased. "Though I guess I can't talk, I have an entire blog dedicated to them, after all. Plus," she mused, "I guess I kinda have a celebrity crush on Chaton Minuit. She's so cool!" she continued, unaware of the intense blush overtaking Marinette's cheeks. "It's nowhere near as strong as yours, girl, and I'd never do anything about it because Crimson and Minuit are totally meant for each other, but it's definitely there."
"I'm honored– I mean, I'm sure she'd be honored," Marinette said to Alya. "Besides, it's more than–" She bit her lip. There's no way I can tell her it's more than just a celebrity crush, she thought to herself. "I mean. Wanna play Mecha Strike while we talk about superheroes?" she said instead. "You can tell me all about the battle while we play."
"Do I?" Alya asked. "You're on!"
Notes
While playing mecha strike:
Alya: You know, girl, we should totally come up with a ship name for you two.
Marinette: Alya!
Alya: What would it even be? Maribeetle? Crimsonette?
Marinette, hiding her face in her hands as she blushes:
Alya, taking advantage of Marinette's distraction and utterly destroying her bot: I win!
Sorry Alya, Midnight Sun is the one and only ship name for this :3
-√i