Nino watched as Alya scrambled in her notebook. "Alright, I narrowed Ladybug down to this school …" She muttered. "The question is now who." This girl had this weird theory that Ladybug was somehow a kid that went to school with them. That was actually pretty awesome to think about, but Alya kind of was taking it to obsessive levels.

"Come on, Alya. Heroes come in all shapes and sizes, but teenage heroes are pretty rare." Marinette tapped on the red head's temple. "I mean, wouldn't they be sidekicks if that was the case."

"Actually the practice of sidekicks has largely died down due to the death of Steve Roger's partner Bucky Barnes during World War Two." Max raised his hand. "The closest you get nowadays is the likes of Johnny Storm when he debuted with the fantastic four."

"What about that War Machine guy who hangs out with Iron Man?" Kim asked.

"Colonel James Rhodes is more of a soldier than a superhero. He doesn't move much outside of what he's ordered to do." Peter said.

"Alright, if I simply compare whenever someone isn't there when Ladybug is, step by step, I can narrow down my search time to … one year." Alya groaned.

"Is it really that hard to figure out?" Rose asked.

"A little bit, it's not like we know much about her." Adrien said.

"He's got a point." Peter nodded. "If Quantum Masking works like how you said, every detail we have on her would blur."

"If that's the case, then how do we even know Ladybug is a woman?" Myleen questioned.

"I'm pretty sure when they called themselves 'Ladybug', it wasn't just to call themselves after an animal." Alya noted, still sticking her nose into her notebook. "… Chat Noir might be a woman though since they're the only one without a masculine or feminine name …"

"Ugh, can't class end any sooner?" Chloe grumbled as she had her head facing the desk. "The more I hear this idiot's rambling, the dumber I become."

"Didn't know that was even possible. Miracles CAN happen." Peter snorted.

"Better than being as utterly ugly like you." Chloe snarled.

"It's called being pretty on the inside darling, you could try it sometime." If it wasn't Chloe, Nino would almost assume that this was a case of 'arguing crushes', which was just crazy. No one could have a crush on Chloe. No one sane anyway.

RIIIIIINNNNNG

"Thank Goodness, I was literally about to scream." Chloe grumbled as she got up, forcing Sabrina out of her seat. "Sabrina, carry my bags!"

"O-on it Chloe." Chloe's lackey said timidly. Honestly it was just sad to watch. "Just-just let me carry my-ooof!" She fell over, spilling her bags.

"Watch it you ditch! That's priceless merchandise!" The mean girl shouted. "Pick it up!"

"On-on it Chloe!" Sabrina immediately answered, scurrying to pick up the multiple items of makeup, hair spray, and other most likely overly expensive and overrated beauty products.

"What's that?" Alya had her eyes picked up from her book, noticing something round, red, and black.

"Never seen a compact before?" Chloe mocked. "Pfft, with how you dress, it actually explains a lot." The mean girl laughed, before pushing Sabrina out of the room. "Nothing better be broken in here or you're paying me back double!"

"Yes mam." Sabrina said back meekly.

"… What does she have on her?" Peter asked.

"We don't know." Nino answered honestly. "It might have something to do with her dad being the mayor, Sabrina's being a cop, and the empty threat of said mayor firing said cop."

"What if it's Chloe?" Alya asked. "What if she … is Ladybug?"

"Hahahahahaha!" They watched as Peter held his side in laughter, before looking up. "Oh … you're serious … watch as I proceed to laugh harder. HAHAHAHAH!"

"It's not that funny." Alya grumbled.

"No, but it's still pretty hilarious." Alix snickered.

"Alya, not that I don't want to downplay your deductive reasoning…but why Chloe of all people?" Marinette asked. "The literal least heroic figure in class."

"Aka, the perfect cover! No one would suspect it!"

"Yeah, but Ladybug has a soul." Nino added. "And they look nothing alike-"

"That doesn't matter if Quantum masking is in the equation! She acts like a heartless jerk during the day so she can be free to be a decent human being the rest of the time!"

"I think you're all being a bit harsh." Adrien said.

"So do you think she's Ladybug then?" Peter asked with his eyebrow raised.

"Well, I didn't say that exactly… I mean…" Adrien stumbled a bit, which made Marinette flinch . "I guess anything's possible… but it's not like we can prove it."

"Yes we can!" Alya shouted. "By breaking into her locker and finding the Ladybug earrings!"

"Alya, you're talking about stealing from Chloe… CHLOE of all people." Marinette shook the girl. "Not that she doesn't deserve it, but you know she's not going to take it lightly!"

"It's not stealing if I don't take anything! That's what investigation is all about." Alya firmly smiled, heading towards the door.

"Seriously, what are you going to do if your right? Just go up to her and say 'I know your ladybug, let's be friends'?" Nino asked.

"Exactly!" And with that, the crazy girl left.

"...Weren't Ladybug and the other heroes on tv SAVING Chloe when they debuted." The usually quiet Juleka spoke out as Alya ran out the room.

"Oooh." Kim's eyes widened. "What if the Lucky Charm thingy made a second Ladybug who took off the costume, so she could save herself?"

"Please, like she would even put in the effort to think that hard. She already has Sabrina doing all her homework." Peter pointed out. "... Although she is unethical enough to not question making a sapient life form for the sole purpose of getting it tossed off a roof."

"I think we're all missing what's important here." Marinette stood up. "We gotta stop Alya from breaking into Chloe's locker before she finds out and does something insane."

"You think any of us have the manpower to actually stop her?" Nino said. "She runs headfirst into akuma fights just for videos, which is totally rad, but it also makes her unstoppable."

"Besides, I'm sure Chloe will be perfectly understanding of the situation." Adrien smiled naively.

"... You know, it might be easier to just stop Chloe from getting close to her locker." Peter said.

"Whatever, we need to get going before she does something she regrets!" Marinette shouted, grabbing Peter by the arm. "Come on!"

"Why am I always getting dragged away into dangerous situations!?" Because every girl at this school seemed to be insane in some way. Alya with reporting, Marineete with her spasms, Chloe's… everything, Alix with sports…honestly the only sane girls they had in class were Rose and Juleka. One was too shy to cause trouble and one was too happy to do anything dangerous.

Alya was at the locker in question. It was the perfect place to hide anything valuable after all, Sabrina was the one who carried all her books. Hiding it in plain sight without it being in plain sight. If Chloe actually was Ladybug, maybe Alya could give tips on how to be less prickly in her civilian life. Actually, that would match up with the time she met up with Ladybug and her lack of wanting to be on camera. Everyone already knew Chloe on camera.

She pulled out some tools as she began picking at the lock. She would have tried the dial, but Alya left her stethoscope at home and it wasn't the right time to sneak into the teachers break room for locker combinations. Sure, some people may call this 'breaking an entering' and 'illegal', but was it really illegal to find out the truth? When Iron man revealed himself to the world, breaking the very notion of heroes having secret identities, everything turned out better for him and many other heroes to come.

"Alya." She saw Marinette and Peter come up to her. "You can't just go into someone's locker and-why do you already have the tools necessary for that on hand?" Her bestie asked.

"I'm prepared for any situation." She nodded, still focusing on the lock. "Compared to Akuma attacks, this is actually the tamest thing I could do."

"It's sad that we can't actually argue that." Peter slumped. "Look, I get that you're doing this to help Ladybug in your own way…but there's gotta be better ways to do it than burglary."

"I'm not breaking into her house am I?" She asked. "Besides, I'm just looking, not stealing."

"Yeah, by breaking school property. That's not going to look good if Chloe or the teachers catch you!" Marinette shouted.

"Which is why I timed it for her to be in the bathroom." She replied, grinning as she heard a click. "And Opeeeeeennnnnnn …" Alya trailed off at the sight of what could only be described as a shrine mesh between Spider-Man and Adrien, along with a week's supply of beauty products.

"...I think I need to bleach my eyes." Peter turned away. "I….I can't….It's just…why?"

"So many pictures of Adrien…ruined…" Marinette winced. "And next to pictures of Spider-man of all people…why….?"

"... I can't tell which crush is less fantastical." Alya muttered. "The hero that flirts back or the boy she grew up with." Okay, so she wasn't going to find evidence in here obviously. Maybe the answer laid in Sabrina's locker. "Okay, keep a lookout, I'm gonna need another five minu-"

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?"

"... I see her coming." Peter deadpanned at the terrible situation. "..We're boned."

"You broke into my locker!?" Chloe shouted, grabbing Alya's hand. "I'm going to tell the principal on you, now!"

"Wait, come on now, don't be rash-!"

"YOU BROKE…INTO…MY LOCKER!" Chloe shouted back. "How am I supposed to take that!? All I do is make fun of your tacky clothing, there is NOTHING that justifies this!" A minute later they were in the office of Mr Demecles. "Sir, this girl was breaking into my locker!"

The principal, who was just as used to Chloe's rantings as the rest of them were, just sighed. "Ms. Cesaire, is this accusation true?"

"Well … I didn't take anything …" She looked away in embarrassment.

"But you broke into her locker?" He reiterated.

"...Yes."

The principle actually looked surprised, probably from the fact that Chloe's words had weight to them for once. "One week's detention."

Well … yeah, that was fair. "Excuse me, but I don't't think that's enough." Chloe said. "She disrupted my property."

"But that's the proper punishment for-" The principal tried to say.

"I'm sure my daddy, the Mayor, would love to hear how you're disagreeing with me." The bitch held up her phone.

"Oh you can NOT be serious!" Peter shouted as he and Marinette came in.

"Ms. Bugerious, I'm sure we can-" Chloe's finger got close to the dial button. "...we can take into account the…emotional stress that this has put you through. One week's suspension for Ms. Cesaire."

"WHAT!?" She, Marrinette, and Peter shouted at once.

"Oh, don't think I've forgotten about you losers watching in the background!" Chloe pointed an accusatory finger at Alya's friends. "I think they should be punished too!"

"What, hey, that's completely out of line!" Alya shouted. She was fine being punished, but Marinette and Peter were trying to talk her out of it!

"Well maybe some people should stay in their place." The rich bitch smirked. "And I don't think I like the tone of your voice. Principle."

"Chloe, please, don't escalate…"

"Oh Daddy.." The bitch held up her phone again…

"...Two week's suspension for Ms. Cesaire and a week's detention for Ms. Dupain-cheng and Mr. Parker." The principal sighed.

"This CANNOT be legal." Peter shook his head.

"When your daddy's the mayor, everything's legal." The bitch smirked, before turning back to her. "Now ms 'reporter, you should probably leave before you're hit with a trespassing charge too and bump it up to three weeks suspension."

Alya growled, storming out of the room. This is what Marinette was so scared about on the first day. The girl could just call up her dad and suddenly the entire school was forced to do what she said. No wonder everyone in this school was so complacent to her bitchy nature. It was a miracle that Peter didn't have the cops hauling him away for one of his jokes.

But now that wasn't the case. Alya poked the hornet's nest and got her closest friends in trouble… and she was powerless to do anything about it. Worst than that, Chloe was still likely to be LADYBUG! What kind of hero could just… GET away with being such a horrible person!? She didn't deserve those powers! They needed to be taken away from her!

Unfair … this was unfair … this was … her soul opened up as a cool purple energy buzzed through her body.

"Lady Wifi, I am Hawkmoth. You've been accused of a crime for seeking the truth, I can give you the power to find it. All I need from you is-"

"To snatch the miraculous from Ladybug and the other heroes, right?" She asked.

"..Normally I'd consider this rude, but you're the first one I don't have to explain the long details to, so I'm going to make you extra powerful for saving me time." Huh, this Hawkmoth guy didn't seem so bad after all.

She felt power buzz through her body … great power … they grinned, portalling back into the room. "How do you sleep at night?" Peter asked.

"Like a baby." The horrible person smirked. "Now principal, you should-"

"Sorry to say, but he's occupied!" She jumped out of the phone. "Because Lady Wi-Fi has some words to say!" She shouted out, throwing a pause button on the principal.

"Alya!?" Marinette shouted.

"Hey Mari, talk to you in a bit." She smiled. "Right now I just need to make this guy confess for working with Chloe …" The villain sent a smirk to Chloe. "Then it's just me and you."

"I'd run for my life if I were you." Peter turned to Chloe.

"First thing you've said that wasn't idiotic, moron." The girl rushed out the door. Ooooh, she was going to have fun with her later. She'll let Chloe stew in fear for a while, then it was down to business.

"Now, lets broadcast!" She turned on the camera. "The truth to the whole world! The truth from Lady Wi-Fi!"

Marinette rushed out of the principal's office. She needed to find a place to hide and transform. Janitor's closet, girl's bathroom, empty classroom … the closet seemed the best, she just hoped it wasn't locked.

She rushed inside … along with Sabrina … Right, lesson number one, closests weren't your friend… damn it, Spider-Man was actually right about something! "Ah… so…is this your normal hiding spot?" She asked Chloe's lackey.

"Hiding Spot? No, this is just where Chloe has me fake her penmanship." Sabrina said as she pointed to the small table with a lamp and a lot of paper. "Although right now she's having me work on forging other people's signatures. Why, is something going on right now?"

Well that was at least helpful to know for the future. "Alya got akumatized and is on a warpath against Chloe … so if you don't mind, I'm gonna run away from the girl that would know where she is at all times, alright-"

Ping

She got a notification on her phone … as Alya popped out. "Hey Marinette!" Her best friend smiled. "Don't worry, I got Mr Demeclies to admit everything to the whole world, you and Peter don't have detention anymore!"

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Sabrine screamed.

"Oh, I do NOT want to hear this right now." She sent a pink beam at Sabrina, who voice went completely mute. "Ahh, much better, don't you think?" Alya smiled, which turned into a giggle of excitement. "Isn't this cool Marinette?! I have powers!"

"Yeah …" She knew Ivan and Nino got akumatized, but this was the first time she met her friend as one … and one so nice too. "So you're not … destroying the town and being evil right?"

"Nope." She shook her head. "Well, besides the current obsession of revealing Chloe as Ladybug to the world running through my skull every waking moment, and Hawkmoth's voice in my head, I'm still good old me." Alya smiled. "Oh, just a sec." She sent out another pink beam as Sabrina froze with a wrench in her hand. "Nice try, no sneak attacks."

"..So, do you just…make the world a living screen?" Marinette asked. If she couldn't transform, she might as well take advantage of Alya's nice nature.

"Pretty much, yeah. I can pause people, lock stuff, use cameras to show things to the world, fast forward myself for super speed, and teleport between phones!" Alya laughed. "Apparently Hawkmoth really appreciates not having to explain the miraculous deal over and over again, so I'm seeing nothing but wins right now."

"Good for you …" Marinette nodded. "So … what now?"

"Now, I show how evil Chloe is to the world, and take her miraculous because she's just a terrible horrible rotten soul who doesn't deserve to be a hero!" Not that she wasn't wrong to think that, but still…HOW could Alya think that Ladybug was Chloe!? Was Marinette really that standoffish when she put on the mask? Yikes, maybe she needed an image change…..damn it, that was something else Spider-man was right about!

"Well … I wish you luck then." She did her best to smile, patting the girl's shoulder.

"Thanks Marinette! I promise to send you a selfie of her black eye!" With a wave, the girl vanished in the phone.

She walked to Sabrina, snapping her fingers in front of the girl's eyes, seeing no reaction, before sneaking back out. "... How unethical would it be to wait until Lady Wi-Fi gives her an actual black eye?"

"It would be worse than Spider-man's showboating, because at least he gets civilians out of harm's way." Tikki reminded her.

"Right …" She walked over to an empty classroom, looking around before closing the door. "Tikki, Spots on!" In an instantly flash, she was transformed into costume, before leaping out the window. "Alright, if I was Chloe, and thankfully I'm not, I'd head back home to my suite because I would think that all my money would be enough to protect me from an Akuma." Chloe wasn't exactly the brightest bulb in the drawer. It's why she had Sabrina due her homework in the first place.

"Sup Ladybug. We carpooling to the next Akuma?" Turning her head, she saw Spider-man on his chain swinging next to her. "Because I can pay the faire, but only just this once."

"I'd rather not take your streaming money, after having to save Chloe of all people I want to feel the slightest bit clean." She shot back as they began to swing. "The Akuma's either in the phone or the keychain on it. I'm pretty sure her power revolves around treating the entire world like a phone screen."

"Man, she must save hundreds on the data plan." The spider smirked. "Hey, I know you are new to this, but have you ever come out enough to enjoy it?"

"Enjoy it?" She asked.

"The wind in your face as you swing through the air." He asked, flipping around as he released the chain and shot it to the next building. "The rush and speed?"

"I'm more into getting the job done as fast as possible." She said.

"So you're saying you've never once smiled with joy whenever the pavement comes close, only to descend upward and enjoy those ten seconds of free fall, taking in the entire city in all its beauty and just… feel good about being alive?" Spidey said with a relaxed expression. "It's not a bad idea to put the mask on when you have some free time. Trust me … it's not all serious stuff involving criminals and villains. There are days that peace exists, as rare as it sometimes might be…which is why I choose to seize the moment whenever I can. "

She took the words into consideration. She had no idea what Chat Noir or Spider thought about it… but for Marinette… Ladybug was Marinettte… but Mariette wasn't Ladybug. Even in costume, she still felt awkward and unsure of herself, even if she now had the power to back up what would mostly be reserved. The shy baker girl who dreamed of being a clothes designer and got tongue tied by the thought of a cute boy…that was who she was.

She didn't think of Ladybug as anything more than a mask for Marinette to wear…so taking the time to enjoy the air, the sights, the feeling of adrenaline….it was so refreshing from her usual anxiety and fears she felt daily. She yanked the cord, letting herself spin a bit in the air, before coming back down. "Yeah … that did feel good."

"Poor Chat. He has a stick and can't do the exciting tricks we pull off." Spidey did her spin, followed by a triple backflip.

"I don't know, I feline great. All I need to do is throw and WHAM, right in the kisser. Less chance of getting tangled up in my own weapon." Chat noir showed up, deciding from above as he spun his staff over head. "Plus if I spin this really fast I can hover. With my chat-like speed, I'll be flying high in no time."

"These things have a helicopter mode?" Spidey asked. "I've gotta try that sometime …" This … this was starting to work out.

Chloe smiled as she sat in bed. She was back in her highly protected and fortified hotel. Thus, safe from the likes of Alya and her somehow even MORE tacky outfit. Like seriously, all black with pink highlights? Was it just the lameness of the people getting villainized or was Hawkmoth just devoid of all fashion? … Of course, there lies another problem. How was she supposed to get saved by Spider-Man if she was hiding?

Don't get her wrong, she didn't exactly think that she would actually have a chance. Not that it was impossible for her, because NOTHING was impossible for her, but….It was like one of those far off celebrity crushes. One you never had to consider having a shot at before. That's why she crushed on her Adrikens. He was the one that stuck close to her as a kid. He was the only person in her life she didn't have to scare in order to make them like them.

Which made it even more confusing for Chloe when Spider-man would actively engage and talk to her. Even with all her charm and dazzling image, most of her flirting and advances went over sweet Adrien's head. With Spider-man, not only did he take the flirting in stride, he flirted back. He was CLEARLY interested in her, and if it wasn't for the stupid villains running around, he'd probably have time to give her his phone number.

She looked at her phone, checking up on the scene in question, to see if there was anyone catching footage of her hero … until her phone shot out a pink beam, which transformed into that Alya brat. "Sorry for the wait, but Lady Wi-Fi finally has enough bandwidth to make you tell the truth Chloe!"

"If this is to scare me out of what you did with my locker, than no dice Clesaire! You don't get to break into my property and get away with it!" Like seriously, she had some nerve to think she would get away with messing with her dedication to her favorite people in the world that weren't herself.

"Oh, I already did that with Principal Demecles, Bourgeois!" She shouted, throwing a pink thingy as Chloe's leg got stuck. "I'm going to show the world that you're Ladybug!"

…"Did that Akuma give you brain damage?" Chloe asked seriously. "Ah, hello, Ms wannabe Reporter, I've been in the same place AS that tackily dressed bug lady several times before…some of which YOU caught on film! Remember Stoneheart!? She and her mangy cat were doing a horrible job of saving me until the real hero arrived?" She scoffed.

"..." That made the villain freeze in a look of confusion.

"Wait, is this all happening because you got so obsessed over some dumb conspiracy theory you made up you forgot to fact check!?" Chloe couldn't help but laugh. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAHHAHAAHA! I knew you were dumb, but this takes the cake!"

"… Well I'm still mad enough to press the pause on your internal organs." They said.

Right, still being attacked by a villain. "If I'm going out, then at least it's going to be laughing at your stupid face!" She wouldn't give this D-list villain the pleasure of watching her scream in terror.

"Hey Ms VCR, mind if I press the fast forward on your but tkicking?" A familiar and awesome voice said as multiple bodies jumped into her bedroom. "I have a thing at a place."

"Spider-Man!" She and the wannabe shouted with completely different tones.

"Aw, Cat's are supposed to eat chopped liver, not be it." That mangy cat in black pouted with a cheeky smile.

"Trust me Chat, it's hard to not notice you." That buggy girl said as she swung her toy around.

"Alright Ladybug, if Chloe isn't you, then I'm going to unmask you here and now!" The crazy chick aimed her phone.

"Wait, you thought Chloe was Ladybug? She's far too beautiful for the red and black polka dots." Her one true hero complimented her.

Come on, think of something nice to say … "Well to be fair, you pull off black and red webs quite nicely." She shot back.

"...Chloe being nice…" The stupid Alya girl looked about twice as dumb as she usually did, making an utterly ridiculous face. "...This might actually BE a bigger event than Ladybug's identity."

"So you'll give up the Akuma and stop being a super villain?" The mangy cat asked.

"I mean…part of me wants to…but the voice in my head is telling me to grab your miracles, and they make very compelling points."

"Yes, because you always trust the tacky and very clearly deranged voices in your head. Wise lesson to teach the kids." Spider-Man quipped. "Word of advice. If the voice in your head is telling you to overdue it on the black eyeliner, then it's a clear sign your going coo-coo for coco puffs." Chloe snickered at that.

"Oh can it you two!" The chick began firing off pink lasers.

"You really have a way with words, Spidey." Ladybug rolled her eyes as her hero scooped Chloe out of the way. "Don't let the lasers hit you, not even your weapons! They'll freeze in place and be unusable!"

"Then it looks like we'll have to make use of the environment!" The mangy cat threw her makeup dresser, which was thankfully frozen in place … until he jumped through it to grab the crazy chick."

"Hey, there's limited edition facial care in there! It's not meant for cannon fodder!" She shouted at the idiot.

"We got Miraculous insurance!" The crazy bug shouted, throwing her YoYo to the cat and villain … until Alya vanished in a flash.

"Great, now you got my makeup frozen and lost the villain. Some heroes." She rolled her eyes.

"She's traveling by phone." Spider-Man assessed. "You have yours on you?"

"Yeah." Chloe held it up-

Smash

And got a yo-yo through it. "…You can have more tact than just smashing phones. That's two for two now." Spider-man glared.

"What can I say, catharsis." The lady zero shrugged.

"Except now we don't know where she's gonna come from." The true hero pointed out.

"Don't our weapons act as phones?" The alley cat asked.

"I would like to hope that the magic pychokinetic weapons have a decent firewall to block that." Spider-Man responded, looking at his chain. "Hm… Shot in the dark here. Her name is Lady Wi-Fi, right? Doesn't that mean all her powers work through the wireless signals of an internet connection?"

"So we destroy the signal, she's powerless." The bug girl looked at her yo-yo. "We take out the antenna on the roof, stick together as a group, and avoid Lady Wi-Fi's pause button."

"Ah, hello? What about me?!" Chloe shouted. "That pyscho is still out to get me!

"True, but she wants to uncover Ladybug even more. We got her main target right here." Spider-Man pointed out. "All you need to do is stay in your room away from anything with a screen and we'll take care of your villain problem within minutes, even fixing up your cute little phone. Nice shade of magenta by the way."

"Oh well, just trying to stay current, that's all." She blushed, trying to lay it on as smoothly. "I suppose if you're these leading these incompetents, then everything will be fine."

"Uh, who are you calling incompeten-!" The loser ladybug tried to yell, only to be held back by the alley cat and dragged away.

"I like seeing a cat fight as much as the next guy, but save the claws for Lady Wifi, M'lady." Char noir smirked as he took her out the door.

"That's my cue to leave." Spider-Man walked to the door. "Remember princess, be kind to others, I like my neighborhood to be friendly after all."

"Sure, sure. Whatever you say Spider-Man." She would make sure to be kind to only those that deserved it… so him and maybe Sabrina, when she didn't mess up of course. Everyone else could screw themselves.

"Please, we're friends." He smiled at her. "Call me Spidey." He bowed, kissed the end of her hand.

"O-okay Sp-Spidey." Damn it! Don't be a spaz like Dupain-Cheng! You were better than that!

"You sound like that Dupain chick, she'd probably be a good friend if you were nice back!" With that, the hero ran out the door.

"…Was that a code for something?" Cute as heck, but a little confusing. Eh, she'd think about it later. Now she just needed to wait until she saw the footage of Alya getting her butt kicked.

"Meow's instinct is saying you might have done something you would regret, my lady." Adrien said as they scaled the stairs. He was used to seeing Ladybug being a little irritable when it came to Spidey, though he chalked that up to friends with friendly banter. Being a little standoffish on a civilian however… that was a different story.

"The girl was about to get in the way. I've seen her posts, and she can't stay off her phone for more than two seconds." Ladybug justified. That wasn't wrong per day, but she looked like she wanted to antagonize Chloe.

"Let's just be lucky we have miraculous cure insurance." Spidey said as he swung his chain up, skipping floors. "Lose an eiffel tower, the next one's on the house."

"Exactly, and she's not going to stay mad as long as her favorite brightly colored distraction is around to smooth things over." Ladybug kept going.

"Are you talking about Lady Wi-Fi or the Mayor's daughter?" Spidey asked.

"To be honest, either could apply." Adrien caught a glimpse of that Spidey shrine in Chloe's locker… It almost made him glad Chat Noir didn't have an obsessive fan on her and Alya's level. "Either of you find it weird Lady Wi-Fi is waiting so long to strike us? Akumas aren't exactly the most patient folk."

"She's probably struggling to find a phone to access her powers. The hotel is actually pretty empty for once." Ladybug looked around. "Which is strange but good for us."

"True, not like we have to worry about an arsenal of phones." Spidey nodded, opening the door of the top floor … leading to a dining room full of phones. "... Is it us? Does the universe just hate when heroes have hope?"

"No, villains just love dramatic irony! I'll be sure to have an article on said subject, right next to Ladybug's unmasking!" The villain teleported on top of a table.

"Sorry I'm late, I just spent the last five minutes confiscating all the phones abandoned in the lost and found!" Lady Wi-Fi laughed. "With all the rich people that stay here, whenever they lose a device, they just buy a new one instead of trying to find it." … Adrien wasn't sure how much of this was technically his fault.

She fired multiple pink beams, forcing them all to roll, before Lady Wi-Fi moved to a new position in a flash, continuing her onslaught. "She can shoot at us from all angles! We're surrounded!" Ladybug pointed out.

"When I'm surrounded by phones, I expect them to take pictures of me, not end my life!" Spidey quipped as he threw up a table with a phone on it to intercept the attack.

"Maybe you should take the time to reflect on your current choice of career!" Ladybug shouted as she smashed a phone with her Yo-yo. "Have as many phones as you want, they're still smashable!"

"You can smash the thirty phones in here, but all I need to do is hit you guys once." The villaines pointed out, shooting off energy at them from another direction.

"Maybe we'd be more worried if you had better accuracy." Spidey quipped. "For a reporter, your eyes are terrible!"

"You won't be saying that for long when I become the one known for unmasking all three of Paris's heroes!"

"This is just delaying the inevitable. We need to get to that cell tower." Ladybug looked at her yo-yo. "I hope this isn't too soon… lucky charm!"

The ladybugs poured out of her yo-yo…and out came a little box of matches. "Huh, that one's rather obvious." Adrien noted, pointing to the sprinklers above them.

"Aww, and here I thought it was saying Chat and Ladybug needed to light the candles for their evening meal." Spidey smirked.

"Oh, if only." Maybe after the fight, they could have a moonlight dinner.

"Obvious or not, we got a short window. Chat, the moment the water starts pouring, you dash to that cell tower and cataclysm it." His lady instructed.

"Will do bugaboo." He grinned, dodging another blast as his lady lit a table cloth on fire hit the sprinklers.

"Won't matter if I stop you!" She fired multiple blasts, keeping Noir pinned, although she wasn't moving with the water damage on the other phones, it seemed the one in her hand worked fine.

"Make sure I won't regret this Chat!" Spidey threw his chain, wrapping around Chat and launching him out of the room … as Spidey was hit with the pause button.

"Spidey!" He and Ladybug shouted.

"Idiot! Now all I need to do is take your miraculous and …" Lady Wi-Fi paused. "Wait, how am I supposed to take rings off a frozen closed hand!?" And since Spidey didn't use his power…he didn't have to worry about Transforming back!

"You kind of counted your chickens before they hatched…then again, what do I expected from the lousy journalist who thought Chloe Bourgeois was me!" Ladybug shouted.

"I may not unmask him, but I can still get you!" She started blasting as Chat ran for the fire escape to the roof. As long as he could cataclysm the wifi tower, his Lady would win. She's taken care of worse after all.

"Taking a cat walk up the stairs to the roof. I'm a cat of the night, a sneaky sneaky cat following the shadows and coming in bright." He sang to himself as he made his way to the roof. Chat just love how natural the synergy between the team was coming along, now even to the point where Spidey would take a dive for him. If Ladybug didn't trust him after that, then he didn't know what would.

He flipped his way to the rooftop, seeing the tower. "Cataclysm!" With a rush of energy in his hand, Adrien rushed forward … only for Wi-Fi to show up on top of the device. "I thought it was just cell phones!"

"Anything with a signal baby!" She chuckled. "This cell tower is blasting it at full power! And there's nothing you can do to stop me-!"

Sshhhhhh

His claw reached the tower and began to crumble. "…Damn it, I spent too much time monologuing!"

"You should really clawth the mouth, too much r rated content for a superhero reporter is bad, you know." He smiled as she fell, snatching her phone. "Ladybug, I got the akuma in hand, are you in purifying range!?"

"Right behind you Chaton." His lady landed on the roof alongside Spidey. "Her lock fell the moment the signal failed."

"Bit of a shame. I was enjoying being suspended in mid air." Spidey smirked. "Felt like I was doing a mid freeze end of movie pose."

"All you were missing was the explosion." He grinned, snapping the charm and the phone, as the Akuma flew out.

"No more evil doing for you little akuma. Time to de-evilize!" Ladybug shouted, swinging the YoYo. "Bye bye little butterfly …"

"Do you need to say that every time?" Spidey asked. "It feels like stock footage."

His lady rolled her eyes, tossing the match box in the air. "Miraculous Ladybug!"

"See, even that feels pretty routine." Spidey pointed as the ladybugs fixed everything.

"Oh i'm sorry. Did you want the ladybugs to not fix everything? Should I switch it up and not do what most counties have wished they could have at the end of every super hero fight?"

"Just saying mix it up a little." He shrugged as he held up his hand.

"Pound it."

"Aaahh .." Alya stood up. "Ladybug … I'm so sorry about that …"

"It's cool, you're not the first teenager to get angry and nearly take over the world, and you won't be the last." Spidey waved off. "Like serious, I'm pretty sure that's half of the X-men's rouges gallery by description alone."

"Honestly, I'm sorry that I came across as standoffish enough that you thought Chloe was me." His lady said sheepishly. "Maybe…I can give you a short interview sometime later?"

"You serious!? Yes!" Alya screamed in delight. That would be awesome, thank you!"

"Just don't try looking into our identities again." Ladybug said. "I know you're trying to help, but even the theories can lead to dangerous situations."

"I understand. I'll make sure to not search for it." Well, that was a relief on Chat's end. He didn't want to lose any of the freedom he got.

Beep Beep Beep

"Well, I believe that's your cue to go." Spidey said. "I'll help our young journalist down, don't know how much of the staff thinks she's still a hostile."

"Then I bid you adue." Chat bowed as he and ladybug hopped out of there. "I see that the lady is starting to soften on the idea of the spotlight."

"I still think Spidey's a gloryhound." His partner smirked. "But maybe a little honesty with the public is warranted."

"Will any of that honestly include your adoration of me." He asked with a wink.

"I said honesty, not fantasy kitty." She rolled her eyes playfully.

"One day that fantasy may come to reality." He would keep trying. One day, they'd be together.

"Alright, I've gotta ask now that two of my friends have been akumatized." Peter said as they all waited around for class to begin. "What … does it feel like?" He could use some notes if he was going to try and prevent future Akumas; or even try to resist it one day if it came to it.

"Like someone is agreeing with your soul dude." Nino said. "Then, it's like you're you, but you're not … like someone else is walking around as you, but you're that very person."

"Yeah, you feel normal, feeling naturally frustrated and angry at the world…then you get filled with a sense of validation." Alya continued. "Then that small voice comes in, saying platitudes, and you feel like ignoring it…but there's some part of you that also says to let it happen."

"So not only mind control but emotional manipulation." So far, it seemed Hawkmoth targeted mainly emotionally angry teenagers…but if it was vulnerability he was looking for, then sadness or depression were likely targets of akuminazation as well.

"Honestly, I still feel super bad." Alya groaned. "Not just about the whole 'Lady Wi-Fi' thing, but thinking Chloe was Ladybug … I mean, the answers were right there!" She slapped her head. "Guess I'm not as good of a reporter as I think I am."

"Hey, your still learning." Marinette patted the girl on her back. "And don't feel too bad. You just get really excited when your determined. Just work on the tunnel vision and you'll be the best journalist in Paris." Hopefully not good enough to figure out he was Spidey, he'd like to keep that secret pretty please.

"Still though…Chloe as Ladybug. I don't know what I was thinking." Alya smirked. "They're nothing alike. Honestly Marinette, you'd make a way better ladybug than her."

"Whaaaa?" The girl asked, eyes looking everywhere. "That's crazy. I'm just an everyday girl."

"You help out people all the time dude." Nino smiled. "You're like, our everyday Ladybug."

"When you put it like that, there can be a little bit of ladybug inside all of us." Adrien smiled. "Just going out to help someone when they need it. I can't think of anything more heroic than that."

"Iiiiiiii-hgakfnw." And now Marinette was exploding like always.

"Are you alright Marinette? You look feverish." And as always, Adrien was oblivious to it. How the heck was he supposed to ship them together when they both made it so difficult?

"Guess anybody can wear the mask." Peter added his own two cents in. "But let's be glad that not everyone can. Seems like a lot of pressure."

"Unless we make Paris the new superhero capital, so that way Hawkmoth would never stand a chance." Nino grinned.

"And how do you suppose everyone in the city uses magic?" Alya asked. "It's not like they give miraculous out like candy."

"No, but we can always imagine. I just got this app that takes any pic and makes anyone look like they're one of the heroes." Nino showed off his phone. "I got one of Peter dressed like Spider-man."

Shit, shit shit shit- "Utterly ridiculous." Chloe rolled her eyes as she walked past. "Nobody that scrawny can fill out a suit like that."

Huh…thank you cliche high school mean girl. "Sadly, she has a point. I fail every gym class known to man."

"How do you fail gym?" Adrien asked. "You just have to show up."

"Let's just say I spent a lot of time getting locked in the gym lockers in middle school." Peter smirked. "Anytime I avoided Flash and his goons, I was asked to kindly 'step aside' for the real athletes."

"Yikes." Nino winced. "I can't tell if Chloe's emotional or this Flash guy's physical abuse is worse."

"Pain is an old friend. I know how to dance around, so it's fine." He waved off. "Besides, most of the people I've met here in Paris are way less jerkish, so I win in the end."

"I still can't believe Chloe nearly expelled Alya …" Adrien muttered. "… I really thought I knew her."

That was a small issue with Adrien. He could be WAY too trusting with people. Usually it took only a smile and a wave for him to like you. Made him an easy guy to talk to, but a bit naive. "Like I said, she shows her nice side to you." And Spider-man. "Her mean side somehow is the physical embodiment of every mean girl chiche in every movie rolled up into one." And her nice said got Spidey and the rest into the good graces of the mayor. Two sides of every coin. Spider-man could bring out the nice said while Peter Parker fought back against the bratty side. "Just know when to spot the difference."

"Yeah … no problem Pete." They offered a fist pump, one that Peter returned. And now every time he fist bumped he had to resist saying 'Pound it' … nice.