"He's scared of cats but powerless without this feline." The trailer said as Marin couldn't hold back his laughter glancing as Alya's sour face as they watched the trailer together, clearly frustrated by how her favorite her hero was being presented.

"This is so inaccurate!" She remarked, crossing her arms. "There's no way Ladybug is afraid of cats! I think that if Ladybug had a problem with cats, he probably wouldn't be paired up with someone named Chat Noir!"

"Well," Marin hummed. "Chat Noir isn't really a cat, he just has those fake ears like a cat," Marin said holding up his hand to mimic cat ears. "Maybe this movie is onto something with whole cat phobia. It's not like his views on them have ever been confirmed. " He said playfully, pushing his best friends' buttons as she glared at him, the trailer continuing on.

"The real Chat Noir and Ladybug won't be able to make it to tonight's premiere, but I hope that they'll love my movie as much as we love them." The director said with a sincere tone, but Alya scoffed.

"Everyone knows that Ladybug is a humble person, there's no way he would show up to something that didn't directly involve the people." Alya remarked.

"Yeah...humble." Marin said, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly knowing that Ladybug wouldn't walk into a place that is crowded with people because he would be too anxious to even function.

"The premiere will be attended by many illustrious guests including the rockstar Jagged Stone, the famous fashion designer Gabriel Agreste, and his teen idol son who voiced Chat Noir, Adrien Agreste."

"WHAT!" Alya remarked, standing up. "Adrien never told me he was part of this project at all!" She said, clearly betrayed, furiously texting him on her phone.

"He didn't tell me either." Marin said sincerely, wondering why Adrien didn't tell him. After all, he was the only person who knew he was a fan of Chat Noir...so to speak. Having the chance to voice him in a high budget movie was incredible for someone who was just a model.

"Trailer: Chat Noir and Ladybug: two heroes facing their destiny. Coming soon to theaters." The trailer finished as Marin could still see Alya judging it critically, but he knew better.

"You wanna see this movie don't you?" Marin asked with a knowing smile as Alya grew flustered.

"Of course I have to see it, I run the Ladybug blog after all. It would be unprofessional if I just straight-up ignored the flick out of my personal bias."

"Okay sweetie," Marin said, thinking about how he'd probably get dragged along with her and Nino.

["Marinus! Could you come down for a moment please?!"] Marin's mother called from the living room.

["Coming!"] Marin said as he turned back to his friend. "I think I gotta go." He said as Alya nodded.

"No problem, I'm heading out with Nino soon anyway. Talk to you late cutie." She said, waving as the call dropped. Marin glanced at Tikki settled in her yarn basket nearby, engrossed in a manga she was reading as he headed downstairs.

["What's going on?"] He asked as he saw his parents sitting at the table.

"We're going to need some help serving all these guests at the catering event tonight." His father informed as Marin approached them in confusion.

"That even you've been baking for all week?" Marin asked.

"Yes." Tom clarified, "I forgot to hire someone, so you'll going to have to fill in. Sorry, it's short notice."

Marin shrugged his shoulders, used to being asked to help out for the larger events, but then realized."But...isn't the venue huge?" He asked, thinking about how many people would be there.

"Yes, there's going to be over 350 people in attendance." His mother informed as suddenly Marin grew nervous.

"And you're sure you'll need my help?" He asked as his parent's face fell with worry.

"If you can't do it-"

"I can! Of course, I can, I just...needed some forwarning. Don't worry, I'm not going to let you guys down." He said reassuringly as his mother then hugged him.

"Ah, wonderful. Don't forget to press your shirt my heart." She reminded as he nodded at her, raving back upstairs to his room as he shut the hatch behind him.

Tikki was pulled from her book as she saw Marin going through his trunk.

"What's going on?" She asked as Marin pulled out a black apron, placing it near his sewing machine.

"Well, we're going to be serving at a party tonight Tikki, and I need to make some adjustments to my apron."

"Adjustments?" She asked, as she watched him take out his needles and black thread.

"Yup, I need to sew on some extra pockets. I can't be carrying around my bag after all." He said, planning on sewing them both in the front and back so he could make room for her treats. He hummed to himself for a moment looking at his jewelry boy, containing just a few pairs of earrings, and his hair accessories. He frowned as he saw them he was running low on hairpins, somehow always losing them- one way or another.

"Think I should tie up my hair tonight Tikki?" He asked as his Kwami hovered nearby. She played with his long strands before shaking her head.

"No, but can I do something?" She asked, holding one of his two remaining hairpins.

"Sure?" He agreed nervously, recalling that his Kwami had recently been taking a liking to online make-up tutorials.

The event started within the evening. As Marin helped bring in the last of the creme puffs, he glanced at himself in the reflection of the tray he was holding. Though a little fuzzy, he could see that Tikki hat decided to style his hair asymmetrically, then used some of his dad;s hair gel to try and smooth out some of his cowlicks. It wasn't his style but he couldn't help it wasn't like he could change it, Tikki was too proud of her work.

He took a deep breath, promising himself that he wasn't going to worry about his appearance when he had to work on not tripping, or bumping into people, or stepping on toes.

["You'll do fine my heart."] His mother said as she handed him a tray of red and black macaroons, representing Ladybug and Chat Noir respectively. ["Just walk carefully, you don't have to rush."]

Marin nodded, looking out at the growing crowd, following his mother's instruction, taking one careful step- "Woah!" And then promptly stumbled over his feet, almost falling over if it wasn't for Jagged Stone steadying him.

"Woah, hey Marin!" He remarked, then his eyes lit up as he say him, placing his hands on his shoulders as he presented him to the man, the director of the movie, before him. "Now here's someone who's creative. Just check out these groovy sunglasses here he made for me!" Jagged Stone said, showing off the Eiffel tower sunglasses that he had created for the rockstar months ago.

"Well, that's impressive." The director complimented.

"He even designed my album cover, if you need someone who can draw, you should hire him!" Jagged praised as Marin chuckled nervously.

"Er, thanks. Er, macarons?" He offered, noticing that the Director was about to grab one, but the remaining few were quickly snatched up. The Director glanced at him as Marin, who had to laugh off his growing anxiety. "Um...more to come!" He said, quickly escaping the situation, and walked into another one as he almost ran into a familiar face.

After he handed back the empty tray, taking another one filled with cookies and started walking through the crowd again. Noticing how fast the cookies went as he passed by. The tray almost disappeared on the spot again, as there were only a few macaroons remained, the next thing he knew he was looking down at Kagami who was surprised, but it quickly turned to discontent as she recognized him.

"Um...hi?" Marin remarked nervously, taking a step back as he was about to walk away, rather quickly as he saw Adrien walking over. Both couldn't help but smile as they saw each other.

"I didn't know you were going to be here." Adrien said as he stood next to Kagami. "You do something to your hair?"

"Yeah-" Marin said, suddenly growing consciously as he messed around with his bangs, trying to cover more of his face.

"It looks good." Adrien said as Marin's face turned red, a small smile drawing on his face.

"Thank, a friend of mine did it for me." He said, pride swelling in his chest. "I'm just helping my parents out." He said, holding out the tray. "Macaroon?"

Adrien took a red macaroon off, taking a bite, looking at it curiously. "These macaroon kinda taste different. They're not bad, I just mean..."

"They're coconut-based, it was a special request. I have some regular macaroons on me if you want."

"Seriously?" Adrien asked, already knowing that Marin always kept snacks on hand. But he was somehow amazed again as he pulled out a few mini macaroons out of a pocked in his apron, all of them in a plastic wrap as he handed them over to his friend.

"Oh cool," Adrien said, his heart racing with anticipation as he handed a few over to Kagami. "Kagami, you should try some too, Marin makes the best macaroons." He said.

Kagami didn't say anything, only looking down at the cookie as Adrien bit into it fondly.

"I'm sorry, I'm not a fan of sweets." She said placing the cookie on a nearby table. Not, breaking Marin's heart to see a cookie abandoned, instead backing away nervously.

"Right, sorry. I need to um, go, get more cookies." Marin stammered, bowing his head respectfully as he scurried away, still feeling the chill from Kagami's gaze on his back. Even a few feet away she was still making his heart race out of fear as he was certain that he could destroy him with just one look. So much so, that he didn't even see where he was going, almost bumping into someone else, who was standing on her own, but then immediately glared at their almost accident.

"Chloé?" Marin asked as he saw his classmate hanging around on her own, but then rolled her eyes as she noticed he was there as well.

"Ugh, Dupain-Cheung? You're here?" She looked like she was about to say something mean, but then she smirked, placing her hands on her waist. "Actually, it's a really good thing you're doing the serving, get me a chocolate macaroon, dark chocolate not milk."

Marin stared at her with a deadpanned expression. "Chloé, they're all dark chocolate."

"Then it'll be easier for you to get one for me then." She remarked, but then her expression soured as she spotted someone walking in. Growing angry as she gritted her teeth together. "Ugh, she's here too?!"

Marin followed her gaze, seeing Adrien talking to Kagami, both of them smiling politely at each other. "You mean Kagami?" He asked as Chloé snapped at him.

"I don't just know her, I despise her." She clarified, crossing her arms.

"Why?" He asked, thinking it was an innocent enough question, but then thought again as Chloé glared daggers at him.

"Have you met her? She's rude, and cold, and she's far too clingy for someone who barely knows my Adrikins!" She said, her temper growing as she spotted Kagami grasping Adrien's arm, almost rampaging after her if it wasn't for Marin holding her back by grabbing her arm.

"Chloé you can't get in between them!" Marin remarked as Chloé then turned towards him.

"You're right, we need a plan!" She remarked, grabbing his arm and pulling him aside away from the crowd. Slapping him against a wall as she trapped him in place, forcing him to look at her as there was a fire in her eyes. "You're going to help me humiliate that girl for crossing me!"

"What? Why?!" Marin stammered, "Chloé, I have a job to do!"

"Oh please, if people want snacks they'll get snacks." She reasoned, "Look you want to watch the movie don't you?!"

"Not real-"

"Adrien and Kagami are going to be sitting next to each other, if we get rid of her, then there will be a seat for you to take. We both win in this situation.

"Chloé." Marin said taking a deep breath. "You're being ridiculous." He said, but then grew more nervous as Chloé smirked.

"Remember what you said to me once, Marin? All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good people do nothing. Well today, the evil is her and the good people are us!"

Marin just stared at her, then pinched the bridge of his nose as he questioned how he got into this situation to begin with. "Okay, first of all. You're being crazy."

"I'm the one being crazy?!"

"Yes! Kagami hasn't done anything to you!"

"She-"

"Is only responsible for being friends with Adrien!" Marin snapped back, but then thought for a moment, his anger fading. "Wait a second...are you envious of Kagami and Adrien being friends?" He asked, but got his answer as he saw Chloé's determination waver, taking a step back.

"W-What? Me?! You're the one- who's ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous!" She said defensively, trying to turn the conversation back onto him. "Besides, you're the one who needs to be worried. They're already going to the movies together, their parents are signing papers together, it won't be long before Adrien is shipped off to Japan."

"Okay, now you're just exaggerating." Marin sighed somehow becoming more exhausted with this entire conversation.

"You think so huh? Then tell me this, isn't Adrikins the type to never say no to anything his father orders him to do?!"

"Well-" Marin was about to say before he was interrupted again by Chloé going off on a tangent. To which he responded to by shoving one of Tikki's macaroons in her mouth to silence her.

"Chloé. Adrien is just as your friend as he is Kagami's'. If you hurt her just because she upset you once, over nothing; then you're the one being the bad guy." He told her bluntly, now looking down at her stunned expression. "Now I have a job to do, if you have a problem with Kagami, just tell Adrien, it's just that simple. Since when have you ever back away from telling anyone how you feel about them?" He explained escaping from her placing his empty tray under his arm wanting to just go home at this point.

Adrien looked around for Marin, wondering where he disappeared too as he noticed that Kagami was looked down at her shoes. "Kagami is something wrong?" He asked, helping her balance. Both of them saw that Kagami had gum attached to the bottom of her shoe.

"These shoes belonged to my grandmother." Kagami grumbled as Adrien quickly ran to grab a chair, but looked down to see that almost every chair was covered in crumbs. But luckily spotted a clean chair sitting nearby, bringing it over.

But just as Kagami was about to sit down, they both heard her mother calling out to her.

"Kagami!" She called as Adrien helped her over to a chair next to her mother, helping her sit down as he knelt before her. He helped remove the gum from the bottom of her shoe, throwing it away in nearby trash as saw the director walking up towards the catering table angrily.

"This macaron contains almonds! I specifically told you that I'm allergic to almonds!"

"We were so careful about that. All the macarons are made from coconut." Marin's father explained as Adrien listened in, a cold wave of realization washing over him as he looked towards the table where Kagami placed her macaroon from before, seeing that it was now gone. The director complained some more as Adrien noticed Marin ran over, apologizing profusely for something that wasn't even his fault. But it was no use as the man walked away sadly.

"Now I understand why Kagami speaks so much about you. Your father has raised you to be a refined young man!" Mrs. Tsurugi praised as Adrien averted his gaze, not feeling worthy of it as he placed Kagami's shoe back on.

Marin grimaced once against as Chloé approached him, clearly angry, but not taking the hint that he did not want to be involved.

" You ruined EVERYTHING, Dupain-Cheng. What was it with that macaron, anyway?"

"What are you talking about?" He asked, but then realized what she was implying. "Chloé, what did you do!?"

"Nothing, thanks to that old woman."

"Then why are you blaming me?!"

"Because you didn't help me!"

"Ugh-" Marin groaned, resting his head on his hand. "Please stop. I'm very tired." He sighed as he suddenly lifted his head, sensing the presence of an Akuma nearby. Looking around for a moment, he couldn't see anything.

"Hey! Are you listening to me?!" Chloé barked, but Marin ignored her, glancing towards the front entrance where a security guard was knocked back. And then a new villain walked in.

"So you really think a director does nothing? Let me show you exactly what Animaestro capable of!" He said as people started panicking. Marin looked around, heading towards a fire exit just as he saw the new villain transform into a large green dinosaur in a puff of pink smoke. As he ran up the stairs Tikki flew out, hovering nearby.

"Tikki, spots on!"

Ladybug landed on the roof along with Chat Noir as they looked up towards the Animaestro destroying buildings.

"We'd have come to your movie premiere if we'd have known how upset you were gonna get." Chat Noir said cheekily as the monster looked down towards them. "But I have to say, my bugaboo afraid of cats? Talk about creative liberties." He said jokingly, but Animaestro didn't think so.

"You haven't even seen the movie and you're already slamming it?!" Animaestro said angrily, aiming another laser blast now towards them as Ladybug and Chat Noir split up, evading the attack. Ladybug followed up, using his yo-yo to bind the snout of the Animaestro, preventing him from attacking as he landed on the head as Chat Noir followed in suit.

"Nice work." Chat Noir complimented, but they both then started falling as Animaestro transformed into a cartoon dog, falling alongside them as he threw a cartoon hole forwards the ground.

"So it's always about you, isn't it? From now on, everybody will be looking at me!" He remarked as he jumped into another cartoon hole.

Ladybug held out his arm as Chat Noir grabbed on to his wrist; then used his yo-yo to pull them to safety as they avoided the hole, tumbling to the ground.

"You okay?" Ladybug asked, but before Chat Noir could answer he was hit with a flying red boxing glove hitting a building as Ladybug turned his head to see Animaestro grinning as he threw more punches. Ladybug spun his yo-yo, using it as a shield to defend his partner as they were assaulted by more punches.

"I'm reconsidering being a dog person." Chat Noir said, rubbing his nose as he and Ladybug sprinted away, gaining speed as Animaestro jumped atop the roofs.

Ladybug thought for a moment as he saw Animaestro transform again, this time into Majestia."The only thing that doesn't change when he transforms is his mask!" He pointed out as they were blasted again, this time under their feet as they fell into the subway system below.

"Fear the power of cartoons!" Animaestro cried out with an evil glee.

"The akuma must be in it." Chat Noir finished as he helped Ladybug to his feet, both of them surrounded by rubble. Chat Noir pulled out his staff as his ears twitched. "Better hurry up with a plan bugaboo." He warned as Ladybug nodded, throwing up his yo-yo.

"Lucky charm!" From it, a ladybug print sleeping mask fell into his hands.

"Somehow I don't think it's the time for a cat nap-HEY!" Chat Noir commented just before Ladybug placed the mask on Chat Noir's face without any warning.

"Trust me." Ladybug said as Animaestro transformed, jumping down into the hole as an animated ninja. Ladybug's immediately shut his eyes as he gripped Chat Noir's hand, standing back-to-back.

Ladybug took a deep breath, sensing the villain wasn't moving, at all. Slowly, he reached out his hand, feeling Animaestro before them, but he was frozen in place.

"What's going on?" Chat Noir asked, his tone filled with worry.

"Activate your cataclysm," Ladybug ordered as he heard Chat Noir activate his power.

"Cataclysm." He said, "Now what?" He asked, then feeling Ladybug's hand on his wrist, guiding his hand before him.

Ladybug opened his eyes as he felt the Akuma move, seeing it flutter by.

"No more mischief from you little Akuma. Time to purify!" Ladybug said as he swung his yo-yo towards the possessed Akuma, capturing it in one motion. Then opening it once more, watching the newly purified Akuma fly away. "Bye-bye, little butterfly."

Chat Noir removed the Lucky Charm, handing it back to Ladybug as they both saw the villain transforming into the director of their movie.

"Miraculous Ladybug!" Ladybug said, throwing the Lucky Charm into the air, turning everything back to normal. Ladybug then smiled at his partner, holding up his fist as he returned the gesture.

"Huh? What am I doing here? Chat Noir and Ladybug?" The director asked in confusion as Ladybug handed back his movie ID, just as his miraculous began to beep.

Ladybug touched his earrings for a moment but turned his attention towards the director, who still looked beaten up after what he went through at the premiere.

"Sorry we couldn't attend your premiere, but I am looking forward to seeing your movie." Ladybug said simply as a smile broke out on the director's face. He then waved towards his partner as he ran towards the main street.

As night fell, everyone started to gather into the theatre. Marin had to stand outside the theatre, holding the last tray of macaroons despite his feet practically being dead at this point.

"Excuse me." A man said as he walked up towards him. Marin immediately grew nervous, recognizing him from earlier as the director.

"I'm so sorry about earlier sir!" Marin apologized, bowing his head. But the man shook his head, sighing heavily.

"It's alright, mistakes happen. But, I will forgive you if you let me take the rest of those macaroons home." He requested. And it wasn't something that Marin could refuse as he easily handed over the tray, his anxiety easing as he saw the man smile, taking the tray into the theatre, all for himself.

Marin sighed heavily, done for the night. He looked down into his apron pocket, seeing that Tikki was already sleeping soundly. He was eager to follow his Kwami's example, but just as he was about to turn the corner he saw that Chloé was standing in front of Kagami, both of them had their arms crossed as there was a definite tension between them.

"Well?" Kagami prompted. "Get on with it." She said rather curtly as Chloé scoffed.

"You're cold, rude and you think that you're little miss perfect. Which you probably are; but only in the ways that matter to yourself." Chloé remarked as Kagami looked at her in surprise. "And that attitude may work for you, for now, but that attitude is only going to work out if you only plan on caring about your own needs."

"I don't need a lecture from someone as conceded as you."

"Probably," Chloé remarked, flipping her ponytail. "But I'm probably the one who's going to be honest about what kind of person you really are. We both know Adrien is too nice to ever hurt your feelings."

Marin then heard footsteps approach the two, just as he was about to leave this session of eavesdropping, he stopped as he heard Adrien's voice.

"What's going on?" Marin overheard him asking as he tried to walk away. This wasn't his business...

"Just telling Kagami what I really think about her." Chloé said.

"I hope she wasn't mean to you." He heard Adrien said, his tone implying that he was about to scold Chloé.

"Oh please, people can take a little criticism now and again Adrikins. Like you for instance."

"Me?" He asked in surprise.

"Ugh, of course, you! I realize your daddy and everyone else keeps telling you that you're perfect but quite frankly, this little nice-boy act you have going on has really been stroking your ego."

"Excuse me?"

"Oh, I don't mean like the pompous way I've been acting, or even like your little friend here. But it's no wonder you're bonding with little miss perfect, you two are exactly the same when it comes to other people's feelings. Seeing only what you want to believe." She said, then seemingly took a deep breath. "Okay, that's what I wanted to say. Ta-ta now." She said, as Marin suddenly scrambled to gain some distance, hiding behind another corner, waiting for Chloé to walk by so he could leave.

"The company you keep is...strange." Marin heard Kagami say as he heard footsteps approach.

As soon as he heard the sound of footsteps disappear, he sighed in relief, thinking that he was home free, but was then sorely mistaken as he saw Chloé was waiting for him.

"GAH-"

"Don't even get me started on you, Dupain-Cheung." Chloé said, pointing a finger toward him, seemingly knowing he was there the entire time.

"You're an airhead, your guts make me sick, and worst of all; you haven't even realized how damn annoying you are when you clearly lie about your feelings. Not to mention, it's your own fault that I became..." Chloé narrowed her eyes for a moment, averting her gaze as she gritted her teeth. "Ridiculous." She admitted, taking a deep breath.

"Are you really one to lecture me on my bad points?" He asked, but was surprised as Chloé smirked smugly at him.

"Then tell me how you really fell about me." She said.

"Um, you're a spoiled brat, who is entitled,

"See? If someone probably told me that earlier..." Chloé started to say, but then dropped it. "Well, it doesn't matter now." She said snidely, but then tossed something in his hands.

Marin looked down, seeing a familiar ID pass. "This is-" he started to say, then looked towards her. "Are you sure?"

"Don't flatter yourself Dupain-Cheung, this isn't generosity. There's no point in watching a superhero movie if Queen Bee isn't in it. I'd rather just go home and sleep after all this drama anyway." She remarked, walking past him without a second thought.

Marin looked back at her for a moment, humming to himself for a moment as texted his parents, saying he'd be home late as he walked into the theatre.

As Adrien sat down, he waved to Marin who was one of the few people entering at the last moment, holding Chloé's ID pass that she apparently gave to him. Odd, considering that she was talking about this movie for weeks, but it had been an odd day in her case.

"It's awesome you could get in, Marin." Adrien said as his friend sat down next to him. "So Chloé just game

"It's a little weird, but more importantly, I found out your secret," Marin said, as Adrien looked at him in confusion but then froze as Marin spoke on. "You're Chat Noir." He said with a carefree smile as Adrien screamed internally.

"Um..."Adrien whimpered out as Marin then started laughing.

"What's with that face? You voiced him in the movie right?"

" Oh. Right. The movie..." Adrien said simply, trying not to give away that his entire world was just about to shatter. "Sorry I didn't tell you about this earlier. I was- I mean, it's my first time doing this. So I didn't wanna get anyone's hopes up." He said, but already knew he had failed ever since he read Alya's live comments about the trailer. And then the follow-up texts when she found up he was part of the project.

"I'm sure it's going to be great. It's amazing really," Marin said, smiling cheerily. "Now I can tell people one of my best friends is Chat Noir after all."

Adrien hid his face in his hands, very happy when the theatre started to darken so he could hide his blushing face. As he heard the movie start, he kept thinking how one of his closest friends was really bad for his heart.

Notes:

-At this point, Marin would let Tikki do almost anything to him, he loves her that much.

-The mood of always losing bobby pins, it's too real.

- Chloé redemption maybe? But I wonder how that would work out if I keep the season 3 ending the same... hmmm. :3 (I'm all for her being super blunt about truths)

-I did like Chloé's character more in the third season and I have an idea where maybe, Chloé and Marin had kind of a back story together. Would ya'll like to see that incorporated into this?

-Not much Adrien/Marin fluff but I did enjoy the gag at the end.

- (concept art) /c/miraculous/page/blog/miraculously-ladybug-chapter-update-animaestro-was-a mistake/VjPM_gat7uMMpoxGbErw57WNKzEJVDvvBv