Ivan watched as the two went on. "Agent Smith, it's too dangerous! We must evacuate!" Adrien shouted. Nino had gathered them all together to collaborate on a little class project-entering a movie making competition, and the subject of said movie was a monster horror… something a bit questionable considering one of the main leads was his girlfriend… who had a habit of being a little too scared.
"You're suggesting we run, Officer Jones? After it devoured my family, my friends, and my beloved dog, Sniffles?" The beautiful Mylene shook her head. "Never! I won't run, I no longer fear it! I'm going to face it head on, then I'll-" And that was his cue.
"Brraaaaa!" He jumped out, wearing the monster mask.
"AAAAAHHHH!" Mylene screamed, looking at him like he was Stoneheart, something that admittedly hurt deep down.
"Cut!" Nino shouted for what felt like the tenth time today, sitting in a rather cheaply made directors chair. "Mylene, that's the twelfth cut in a row… on the first scene."
"It's actually been fifteen cuts, but who's counting?" Alix shrugged, being in charge of the lighting.
"We've been here two hours, how do we have enough dialogue for this to count as the first scene?" Nathaniel asked, being in charge of the background designs.
"I'm sorry." Mylene apologized. "But the mask is too scary …"
"Honestly compared to his real face, it's an improvement." Chloe rolled her eyes, who was only here because Ms. Bustier said they needed to include everyone.
"Hey, we had to improvise." Peter, being the cameraman/Chloe detractor, spoke up with his usual snark. "If we showed your face Mylene would have had a heart attack."
"And if it was your face, she would die laughing at how butt ugly it is!"
"People, people, order on the set!" Nino shouted from a megaphone. "The deadline for entry is in twelve hours and we need to move it!"
"Who's bright idea was to give him that?" Felica, being in charge of makeup along with Rose and Juleka, covered her ears.
"He said it'd help him run the show." Adiren shrugged as blush was reapplied on his face "Do we need to do this every take?"
"Nino said he wanted this to look as professional as, and I quote 'Early year Stephen Spielberg before cgi ruined cinema'." Julka answered in a low mumble.
"And I stand by what I said!" Nino continued to yell.
"I will unplug that Nino, I swear to god!" Marinette, their producer, shouted out. "I spent hours getting us access to the school to film, do NOT test me!" Ever since she got the class rep role, she was a lot more outspoken and took charge. While great for stopping Chloe, it slightly intimidated Ivan honestly.
"… I thought power was gonna go to anyone's head, it was Sabrina." Peter said. "You know, spend all her life taking orders, then suddenly being given the ability to give orders?"
"That's silly. No one would ever give me power over anything." Said girl, who was working on the costumes, waved from the background. "I'm just the help hand in the background, nothing more."
"You see, the unsettling desire for world domination buried deep within." Peter noted. "I'm sure Dr. Doom started out the same way."
"Less joking, more filming!" Nino shouted in Peter's face, making Marinette's grab the megaphone from him. "Mylene, can you promise to not freak out this time?"
"I can try … not scared, not scared, I'm not scared." She turned around to Ivan. "AAAHHH!"
"He didn't even jump out!" Nino shouted.
"I'm sorry, but I don't like it when Ivan frowns. I'm used to seeing his cuddly teddy bear smile." Aww, that was sweet. Okay, now he would step up and help her out before Nino blew a gasket.
"How about we go through one practice run without the mask?" Ivan asked. "That way you can find your voice before using I put the mask back on."
"You know, we could do two takes." Max, their footage editor, stated. "One where he jumps out, and one where he doesn't. We overlap the footage and get a fearless result because nothing is there."
"But I was trying to do this in one take! You know, make it more professional looking to increase my odds.
"It's already been fifteen takes." Alix deadpanned. "And if we don't move soon I'm going to go crazy and punch somebody… the biggest candidates for that right now are you or Kim."
"I'm willing and ready!" The boy shouted with a grin.
"…Fine, I will do it in two takes." Nino grumbled.
"You know, you could do it in one if you got rid of the scaredy cat and put in yours truly." Chloe spoke up with a smug smirk.
"You say that as if you've taken the effort to read something not a fashion magazine." Peter shot again.
"I read the script. At least long enough to know the scene ends with officer what's his name kisses whosits."
"It what?" Most of the crew asked in confusion. Mylene was going to do what!?
"Ooooh, sounds like you've got lucky lips." Felicia chuckled as she finished dabbing makeup on Adrien.
"Wait a minute, I wrote the script for this scene, there is no kissing!" Alya shouted, looming through the stack of papers. "It doesn't even make sense, the two leads don't even have romantic tension to them!"
"Oh, I added it in the post." Nino said of handedly. "Adds drama to the upcoming death."
"….You changed my script without telling me!?" Alya shouted, grabbing Nino by the shoulders and justifying shaking him violently. "That's a low blow dude!"
"Hey, I'm the director, and it's my script too!" The jerk shook Alya off. "And I felt a kissing scene would do wonders." Nino said. "Creative choice, you know."
Ivan lifted the boy by his collar, snatching him from Alya. "And you made sure my girlfriend was okay with this before asking her to kiss a boy, right?" He asked in a threatening tone. "A boy that was not her boyfriend?"
"It is so weird seeing a justified jock." Peter said with a blink. "Usually they just beat you up for money or funsies."
"Ivan's a gentle giant. He only uses his fists for righteousness." Myleene said sweetly with a swoon. "But yeah… I'd rather not kiss someone that's not Ivan, Nino."
"I feel the same. I'd rather not get in between what Ivan and Mylene have, even if it's just pretend." Adrien lifted his hand.
"That's why you should lose the scaredy mouse and place him with someone he is comfortable with." Chloe smirked evilly. "Like say, his best friend that he's grown up with all his life."
Peter smirked. "Sorry Agreste, I love you, but I could never pull off Agent Smith's sense of style."
Adrien snorted at that one. "That is true Parker, you do not have the hips Officer Jones would be into."
"You know that's not what I meant, American!"
"Or we just get rid of the kissing scene all together." Max pointed out. "It's clearly prolonged too many issues. Both leads don't want it, and we're on a schedule."
"Agreed." Marientte nodded. "Nino, this may be your film, but if Adrian and Myleene aren't comfortable with kissing, then we're cutting it."
"So what you're saying is that if Myelene wasn't currently here right now, we could have it?" Chloe asked.
"My script, I don't want it either." Alya deadpanned.
"Your opinion is invalid." Chloe laughed.
"Mine isn't." Marinette spoke up. "I'm the producer, aka, your BOSS in this scenario, and as your BOSS, I say you haven't done anything to contribute, so either get quiet or get lost!"."
"Kim hasn't done anything either." She pointed out.
"I do the food runs." The boy shrugged. "Oh yeah, speaking of, who ordered the lukewarm moca?"
"I asked for an ice mocha." Nathaniel said.
"But the ice melted."
"... Better than nothing I guess."
"Look, can we just get in with the shoot, we've been arguing in circles and we're wasting time!" Nino shouted. "Ivan, get in position. Adrain, Mylene, get ready for take sixteen."
"Alright." Adrian moaned. "I'm used to hour-long modeling shoots with clothes and makeup , but never moving in them."
"I've been a part of protests that have lasted twelve hours, so I'm not too uncomfortable about it." Mylene chuckled. "Just … just got to power through."
He turned to his girlfriend, patting her back. "I think you're doing awesome." Ivan smiled with encouragement.
"Thank you teddy bear. It means a lot-"
"BOO!" The mask of his costume was thrown right on top of them as Chloe shouted.
"AAAAHHHH!" Mylene screamed as she ran out of the room.
"Ha, she totally ran."
"….Why do you suck so much?" Peter shook his head. "Just … why?"
"What, I'm just proving she's unfit for the role. Which I will take for myself." Chloe scoffed.
"I wouldn't be in front of a camera when I'm through with you." Ivan growled, cracking his knuckles.
"Hey, bodyguard!" Chloe turned to Kim. "I need assistance right now!"
"Okay, okay, let's not get too hasty-" Kim came up to him. Ivan, out of patience, just picked the jock up by the collar and threw him out of the classroom. "… I'm okay!"
Ivan marched right up the rich bitch, pulling back his fist. "Ivan!" Rose got in his way. "Mylene needs your support more than you need to hurt Chloe."
"Exactly, we can just spend the time going over the script … because someone didn't tell me about the reprints they made!" Alya shouted at Nino.
Ivan took a deep breath. They were right, she needed him.
Mylene did her best to hold back her tears. She was weak. She was scared. She … she wasn't good enough. She was just a scaredy cat … no, cat's were braver than her, she was just a mouse… something that she was ALSO afraid of, why was she so afraid of everything!?
"Smelly wolf … smelly wolf … trapped in the stinky hut …" It was such a childish song, but it's the only thing that calmed her down. It was the song her dad sang to her all the time when he went out as a mime… which she ALSO was afraid of until her dad sang the song to her. Something about it just made the world feel a little less scary.
"Mylene?" She yelped, turning to see Ivan looking at her with concern. "Are you all right?"
"Oh yeah, I'm fine, no need to worry about me." She waved off quickly.
"But you're crying." He said. "I know Chloe freaked you out. If you want, I can throw her out the window and make sure she doesn't bother you again."
"No Ivan, don't go that far… the expulsion and/or time in juvie wouldn't be worth it." Mylene sniffed, rubbing her boyfriend's hands. "That would just mean I would spend less time with you."
The boy blushed at that, cutely rubbing the back of his head as he took a seat next to her. "I think you're really brave, you know. You tried to talk me down when I was Stoneheart."
"Oh, I didn't do much, it was just…heat of the moment." Mylene sighed. "If it wasn't for Ladybug and the others, I don't think I would even have the courage to be in a relationship."
"But you DO have that courage now, Mylene. No matter what people like Chloe think. Literally everyone in class is here to back you up… except maybe Nino at the moment, but right now he's kind of being a diva." Ivan chuckled.
"I know … I just wish I could do more." She sighed, resting her head against Ivan's thick arm. "Everyone had so many ideas and expectations about me being the lead … and I can't live up to them." She whimpered. "I just… I can't deal with it right now. I thought I could break out of my comfort zone today…"
"I understand. I mean, I had to be pushed into even admitting I liked you… sure I would've preferred I DIDN'T act like such a jerk to do it, but I do understand." He said, taking out a little black pendant with a white skull on it. "Here, it's from my favorite band, the Skullcrushers. If you're feeling scared, just squeeze it, and a small part of me will be there no matter where you are."
She took it in hand, feeling warmth in her hands. "Thank you Ivan." Mylene smiled, leaning up to kiss him … before having to stand up on the bench itself to reach the bottom of his cheek. Sometimes the height difference was both a blessing and a curse. "I just…I'll need to before I'm ready again. If they replace me…I wont mind."
"I'll tell them…but if they know better, they won't let anyone touch your role." Ivan smiled. "Or else." It was both sweet and a little intimidating just how far her boyfriend was willing to go for her.
She watched him walk away … before looking back down at the pin … she couldn't muster the courage … afraid … weak … as a butterfly landed onto her pin, opening her soul.
"Horrificator. I am Hawkmoth. You were cast out from fear, now I give you the power to give fear to others. All I ask in return is Ladybug and Chat Noir's miraculous."
"But I don't wanna hurt anyone." She pouted.
"You won't, my dear. In fact you'll be able to keep them nice and contained, safe from danger. Of course they might get scared … but that's what they want, right?" The man's voice was deep… but comforting in a way. "You will absorb their fear and turn it into power, that way no one will have to feel afraid ever again. Not from monsters, not from villains, and certainly not from the likes of Chloe Bourgeois."
Chloe … she kept hurting people … "Alright." She felt power grow over her, as her body was covered with flem, muscles, power … and instinct … to feed … on FEAR! Fear, fear, she must take everyone's FEAR! Where to find it, where to find it, where to find it!?
"Ugh, the nerve of them making me walk to get my own costume!" The voice of Chloe shouted as she rode on top of Kim as Sabrina dragged along what looked like a moving closet. "I came up with the idea to make agent whatshername a nurse, and they expect ME to do all the dirty work?! Some people are just so lazy and unreliable." Preeeyyy …. Horrificator made a tiny bit of noise, getting them curious, drawing the attention. Set the scene and let them approach with trepidation and fear. "Ugg, how am I supposed to plan my kiss with all that noise? Sabrina, go check it out."
"Uh, okay Chloe…" The lap dog of Chloe nodded timidly as she went into her direction. Just a minute … wait it out … the girl walks and sees a bit of Horrificator's flem, fear in her eyes. "What … what did …"
Horrificator blocked off her escape. "Grrrrr." She quietly growled.
The lackey turned around, seeing her … "AAAAHHHH!" The fear felt great. She felt herself getting stronger, taller, braver…she would never have anything to fear again…not if she BECAME the fear itself.
"Great, she probably got scared of her own shadow. Between her and Mylene, I don't know who's more pathetic." Chloe rolled her eyes. "Kim, bring the girl back, I'm not moving my costumes by myself."
Just one for now. She snatched the girl, keeping her mouth closed as she moved. Let them see the body vanish. The Horrificator needed to box in her prey, to make sure they couldn't run … only stew in FEAR.
"Come on, is it really that bad to keep?" Nino begged Alya.
"I will take a pencil and shove it in your ear!" Nino had thought they would finally be able to move on with the script after Marinette tricked Chloe into leaving, but unfortunately, Alya was serious about yelling at him for all his rewrites. "You don't just shove a romantic subplot like that out of the blue! The girl just lost her family, and her DOG! The last thing someone like that is going to think about is kissing the nearest guy around her!"
"But every great horror movie has a romantic subplot." Nino argued.
"Aliens don't." Peter raised his hand. "Neither do the good Halloween movies, the Child's play franchise, the predator movies, do I need to go on?"
"Doesn't every couple in a horror movie die?" Alix asked. "It pretty much spells out that being single is the only way to survive horror."
"Exactly, which means if there's a romantic subplot, it'll add to the tragedy for what goes on later!" Nino shouted. "
"That's a hackneed way of getting audience sympathy, and you know it!" Alya argued.
"If the audience isn't gonna love it, who is!?" He shouted out.
"Could we all stop arguing about Adrien kissing!?" Marinette shouted.
Peter paused his work on the camera, a look in his eye. "You know … maybe we could run the kissing scene …" Yes! His bro saw the light!
"Dude!" Alya shouted. "I trusted you!"
"But given our female options are very limited … we may have to give the role to Marinette." Wait, what?
"Wait WHAT!?" Marinette shouted in a high pitched voice.
"I don't want to replace Mylene, but if we are on a schedule, Marinette would be a natural fit." Peter snickered. "And we've all seen how confident Marinette is as Class rep, she could pull off something this small no problem."
It … well Nino was getting his scene but … Marinette kissing someone …He may have only had a small crush on the girl, but it still would sting a little. "I-uh…I don't know…" Marinette hesitated.
"I'm more than willing to volunteer." Felicia held her hand up with a mischievous smile while licking her lips. "Been a while since my last kiss, I could use a little practice."
"I'll happily volunteer!" Marinette shouted in a complete 180.
"She has my support." Wait, since when was Alya on the side of kissing in the script!? "Okay people, we've already lost a good three hours trying to film the first scene, let's get to work!"
"Okay … places …" Faster than he could believe, Rose and Juleka completely converted Marinette into Agent Smith. "Ready …" Here we go. "Acti-"
"AAAAHHHHH!" What sounded like Sabrina screaming in the air filled the air.
"... Do you think Chloe made her do something gross?" Nathaniel asked.
"That or pushed her into the street." Felicia shrugged. "Either or seems plausible with those two."
"But it came from inside of the school. We don't exactly have access to a street." Max pointed out.
"Eh, I just assume screaming is the normal reaction for looking at Chloe's face every time someone sees her." Peter shrugged. "Hopefully Kim's not too dumb to just stand by and do nothing while the poor girl suffers."
"AAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Kim's screams were heard out loud next.
"... What makes Kim scream?" Alix asked with a bit of sweat.
"Stoneheart last I checked." Ivan noted, before his eyes widened. "Oh no, Mylene might be in trouble! I'm coming, little mouse!" The boy ran out the door.
"This is great!" Nino shouted. "We can catch an akumatized monster live!"
"...One of our friends just became a villain and your first instinct is to film it?" Rose shot him a disapointed look.
"Like Alya hasn't done the same thing." He pointed out to the girl, who was already taking out her phone. "Now Peter, as my cameraman I need you to-" He turned … seeing the boy gone. "... How did no one see him leave?"
"New York intuition?" Adrien said. "Either way, we should figure out where everyone else is and get out of here before the villain strikes. I'll go look for Chloe … cause honestly I'm pretty sure I'm the only one in this classroom who would bother to check."
"And I'll go look for Mylene." Marinette said as the two ran out.
"Wait, haven't you ever seen a horror movie!?" He shouted. "Never split the party!"
"Weren't you the one who was advocating for a romantic subplot because he planned for a tragic ending?" Alya questioned him.
"Well, yeah, but that was before real consequences existed." Nino said. "Mylene and Ivan are already doomed. Just be glad no one else in our class is in a relationship."
"Eh, wouldn't be too sure about that." Felicia shrugged. "I feel something brewing between Rose and Juleka, so they might be next, no offense girls."
"Pretty sure Rose isn't into me." The shy girl muttered.
"Nino has a point though, we shouldn't split up." Rose agreed as she hugged Juleka. "That way we can tackle anything scary together!"
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Marinette's voice shouted into the air next.
"Marinette!" Alya rushed out, the rest of them following as they found a classroom covered in slime … with a phone dropped onto the ground. "No, no, we were too late!"
"We're too late for the rest of us!" Alix pointed at the slime covered windows. "We're all trapped in!"
"It's kinda pretty." Juleka said in a normal voice for once.
"...Morbid fascination aside, we gotta keep moving." Felica shook her head. "Spent way too much time on my hair today, and I don't want to be slimed."
"Well that makes two people in this classroom to prioritize the cleanliness of." They turned and saw Spider-Man himself walk into the room, carrying Chloe bridal style. "That's the end of Spidey express. Stay close to the group at all times and make sure to keep hands and feet away from slimy tentacles at all times." He put the blushing girl down.
"Spider-Man, nice! This is going to make my movie so sick!" Good thing he still had his camera.
"Hey!" The hero said with a pointed finger, looking like he was going to lecture him. "... If you're gonna film me, get my good side." He began posing. "And make sure to give me notice in the credits, you know?"
"We're dealing with an akumatized villain here you are looking good for the camera." Awesome, Ladybug was here too! "Why am I not surprised?"
"Hey, I came here the moment I saw the princess in danger, and I still came before you." Spider man shot back. "Sadly can't say the same about that skinny kid with glasses, got pulled under looking like he was trying to escape." The web head held up Peter's glasses.
"Nooo! My bro!" Nino shouted.
"I guess the New York escape method isn't as full proof as I thought." Alya muttered.
"Not like he could try if he wanted to." Chat Noir was here too! The perfect trifecta that was guaranteed to snag him first place! "I just tried breaking through the slime. It's clawsitively impenetrable."
"Meaning we can't evacuate the civilians." Ladybug muttered. "Everyone, stay close. We need to go find the rest of your class."
"No issue, miss Ladybug." Felicia saluted, before walking up close to Spider-Man. "So would it be too forward to call you Spidey now or do I need get creative with pet names?"
"Back off old hair!" Chloe shoved the girl away. "Obviously I'm what Spidey should be focusing on."
"Hey now, I'm the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, remember? Both of you are my primary focus."
"I'd prefer if all eight limbs were on me, but I guess I can settle for half." Felicia smirked as she leaned into the webhead's chest.
Ladybug twitched at that, but said nothing as she looked out of the room. "Chat Noir, Spider-Man, did you see the akuma on your way in?"
"Sorry M'lady, I cat walked my way into here just before the goop covered the school." Chat Noir answered. "Although given how many kids are here during school closing time, I'm assuming the villain might be someone in their class."
"A student from this get together eh?" Spider-Man asked, turning to them. "You guys didn't happen to make anyone run out scared and crying, did you?"
"Yeah Chloe, you wouldn't happen to know anything about making a kid run crying away after making fun of how afraid they were?" Alix glared as the rest of the class now stared at the rich girl.
"Oh please, even if I had anything to do with it, which I don't, Mylene should learn to get over it." Chloe crossed her arms, completely devoid of sympathy.
"Wooow, how heroic." Felicia smirked, leaning on Spider-Man. "I'm sure this stud approves."
"What is it with you and blondes?" Chat Noir asked.
"Apparently my secret power is to attract danger." Spidey shrugged. "Alright, everyone here is clear on the rules of horror movies? No splitting up, no saying something is the opposite of bad and having ironic consequences, no hiding in closets, and having a full battery life on your electronics?" Nathaniel raised his hand. "Yes, red headed artist?"
"What's the rule about growling noises and slightly shaky objects?" He asked.
"Run as far away from it as possible the moment you see something fishy." Ladybug answered.
"... Then I probably should have mentioned the desk earlier." He pointed to the slightly wobbly teacher desk, that suddenly stopped, creating a dead silence in the room. "Is that also a bad-" What looked like a pink tentacle grabbed the boy's arm, dragging the screaming kid behind the desk faster than any of them could move, which began to shake even more.
"…You'd think we would've noticed that before." Chat Noir scratched his head. "So what's the rule for when you're actually face to face with the monster?"
"Start running now!" Nino shouted.
Crash
The desk was thrown across the room … as a giant, magenta monster with three yellow eyes, tentacle-like hair, and a long sharp tail emerged. It glew a bright pink, as it began to grow, soon reaching the height of three heroes stacked on top of each other. "RAAAAAHHH!"
"AAAAAAHHHHH!" The class screamed in horror, as it began to grow even LARGER.
"Cool." Except for Juleka, who once again spoke in a normal voice as her eyes widened in fascination.
The growth stopped instantly, the monster tilting its head. "It was created from fear!" Ladybug shouted. "If you give into fear, it'll eat it up and grow!"
"Horrificator … FEEED!" The monster screeched unnaturally leapt forward, Nathaniel in its grasp.
"Aaaaah, don't eat me! Eat the losers first!" Chloe shoved Alix to the side as she hid behind Spider-Man.
"When I survive, I'm ending you Bourgeois!" Alix screamed as she was grabbed.
"RAAAAAA!" The Horrificator shouted, blasting a sticky membrane on the girl and Nathaniel, sealing them up before it ran out the door, shoving Ladybug into a wall hard enough to leave cracks.
"….Okay, I let a lot slide, but that was a bit much princess." The web head turned to Chloe.
"Come on, it's fine. Lady zero isn't a no show like last time, so she can clean up the alley cat's mess."
Felicia turned to Chat. "And you're just gonna take that as a fellow cat lover?"
"Eh, it's in one chat ear and out the other really." The hero in black shrugged. "You doing alright M'lady?"
"If these suits weren't skintight I'd be plucking out concrete." Ladybug grumbled as she pulled herself from the wall. "So, Myleen got akumatized, kidnaps students, and the more they scream in fear, the stronger it gets."
"And she's trapped the whole school in her own spider web of slime and is likely going to start cocooning her victims for further nourishment." Spidey pointed out. "And her only weakness is to not be afraid, something that adrenaline and hormone filled teenagers are not the best at handling."
"It really is a miracle akumas are more of a weekly thing than a daily one." Chat stated. "Alright class, we need all the pawsitivity you can muster up for our feline down friends."
Everyone turned to Rose, the most positive girl in the class, who now had the most determined face Nino has ever seen, looking like Alya whenever she chased down the heroes. "My time has come."
"And I'll be there, with Alya, to film the whole thing." Nino grinned.
Juleka gazed with wonder at the area around her. The sunlight dimmed to a low shade, the rooms covered with a dark pink, a low hum of radiators and drips of liquid being the only things to see. And that awesome looking monster she saw earlier … this was the best. And Rose's determined face made it even better. "Positivity, joy, happiness, I shall shove these in the maw of the Horrificator!" So cute.
The only thing ruining it was the heroes ironically. Not because they weren't helpful … but the dynamic was annoying to listen to. Mostly Chloe shouting at Felicia over Spider-Man. "Hey, I don't see anyone's name on him… unless there's a brand underneath this suit, in which case I'll be happy to inspect."
"I tried to market myself with the Fantastic Four, but they're a family only gang." Spider-man waved off. "And when I tried to pop in to say hello, they trapped me in a glass jar."
"Did they bring out the probes while they were at it?" Chat Noir asked.
"If they did, I'm pretty sure Spidey would only have half the jokes out of trauma." Ladybug shot back.
"Hey, I'm a lively spider, if I don't quip, I'm not me." Spider-Man laughed it off. "Side's, I met up with Johnny Storm on the Statue of Liberty every other Friday since then before the big move, so all and all it was a pretty decent experience."
"If you ever plan on heading back would you introduce me?" Chloe asked. "I could introduce you to Mommy. I mean, no offense, I love your get up…but the white spider's a bit much."
"Ouch. Kill me softly next time princess." Coming from their supposed biggest fan, that had to hurt.
"You really aren't being the biggest fan you know." Felicia said with a smirk. "You need to caress a boy with paws before claws." Yeah … this wasn't great to watch.
"Kill me now." Max groaned quietly.
"Would it kill your to not play cassanova when we're akuma hunting?" Ladybug glared.
"Hey, not my fault no one here wants to flirt with you watermelon." Chat Noir raised his hand. "No student wants to flirt with you." And promptly lowered it.
"Besides, what are you going to do about it? Not show up and let the akuma kill us all?" Chloe added. "Cause you did a fine job of that last time."
"Hey, leave her alone!" Alya shouted back. "I'm sure Ladybug was busy with something super important for her not to show up during Darkblade."
"Oh yes, more important than all of us nearly dying to a metal army as we get brainwashed, I'm sure." Chloe rolled her eyes. "It just proves my point that Spider-Man is the only real hero around here."
"Coming from the girl that put us in this situation in the first place, pardon if we take your definition of hero with a grain of salt." Juleka lowly muttered.
"And the word of the girl that can't say anything above a whisper is any better?"
"Chloe, you are being far too negative right now." Rose gave the rich bitch a nasty glare that Juleka silently squealed in delight at. "If you have nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all."
"That would be never opening her mouth again ... so yeah, go ahead and do that Bourgeois." Alya snickered.
The girl growled. "Kim, back me up." She said … getting no response. "Where is that muscle brained moron?"
"He disappeared….you know, when you made him and Sabrina do your dirty work for the millionth time, remember?" Max reminded her with a roll of the eyes.
"I'm starting to question if Spidey here saves your behind all the time because he likes you or cause you're the mayor's daughter." Felicia snickered.
"Hey, all civilians are equal in the eyes of Spidey… though the cute ones are more equal than others."
"Glad to know I'm a priority." Max said sarcastically … before pink slime shot at the kid, locking him to the wall. "Please let me be a priority!"
"Gggrrrr." A growl came from the vents, echoing across the school like a low hum as Juleka's heart raced with excitement.
"Okay, everyone, get behind us and don't move!" Ladybug ordered as the three heroes formed a circle. "And above all else, don't be afraid!"
"Trust me, I'm not!" Nino shouted with glee. "The intensity just got amped by ten!"
"Positivity, positivity, positivity." Rose chanted to herself.
"Why be afraid when you're here?" Felicia asked with a smirk.
"Aww shucks, you'll make me blush-" A magenta hand broke out of the second floor ground, grabbing Spider-Man and dragging him down. "Hello nessie!"
The sound of brawling came forth as the other two heroes got on guard. "RAAAAA!" Before Spider-Man was launched into the courtyard through a wall.
"Guys, it appears our little monster's been drinking her vitamins!" The hero shouted, as the Horrificator came out even bigger and more awesome than before!
"Wait, how's she getting bigger, who's afraid right now?!" Chat shouted
"Well it could be me!" Max shouted from his goey prison.
"Not to mention the other students she probably trapped somewhere." Ladybug said as Spidey was grabbed by the tail, slammed onto the ground.
"Miraaaculouusssss!" The monster screamed as it threw him through a column.
"Sorry, can we offer some scones and tea instead?" The hero groaned as he got back up.
"We have plenty of knuckle sandwiches available if your really hungry!" Chat Noir charged in, avoiding a sweep of the tail. He aimed for the head, only to get smashed through by an incoming slimy fist, knocking him into the ground. "...I think the one you gave me has too much mustard."
"Boys." Ladybug muttered, using her yoyo to hit the monster in one of its three eyes."Hey Horrificator, follow me!" She shouted, running and leading the creature on as she dodged slime and tail. "I'm not afraid of someone who can't even land one hit on me!" She exclaimed as she dodged yet another ball of slime, the monster shrinking just a tad.
"Miraculous…FEAR….." Horrificator mumbled, opening her maw and grabbing the Yo-yo with her mouth, pulling the spotted hero forward, before leaping and grabbing ahold of Rose.
"Stay positive, staying positive….."
"GAAAAAAAAAAH!"
"It's hard to stay positive with three eyes staring at me!" Rose screamed, causing the monster to regain some of it's growth.
"The key is to make it look silly!" Spider-Man jumped in the air, kicking its nose as he tried to pull Rose out of its grasp.
"Graaa!" The Horrificator slammed the hero to the ground, raising it's foot to step on him.
"Mylene!" And froze, turning to Ivan, who was huffing and puffing by the door. The monster gave a low rumble as it got close to the boy. "I'm sorry you got scared, I should have stuck around to help more. You can fight this, you're stronger than you look." He said as the monster got in close.
"Where the heck have you been this whole time?" Alya asked.
"I tried searching the first floor and boiler room. All I found was a bunch of slimed up kids in cocoons down there."
"Called it." Spider-man smirked. "Now we know where to find them at least."
"Wait, but you didn't free them?" Alya asked again.
"How could I? The slime is as thick as concrete." He said as the Horrificator was face to face with the boy, a low rumble in their throat as the monster took a few sniffs. "You don't have to be a monster to protect yourself. I promise to always be by your side no matter what."
The akuma stared at Ivan for a moment … before licking his face with a smile. "Awww." Juleka turned to see Rose, Spider-Man, and Alya stare with sparkly eyes.
"Even when horrifically monsterified, their love is adorable." Rose cooed as the Horrificator began to shrink again.
"Rush her while she's distracted!" Ladybug shouted as she and Spider-man threw their weapons around the monster's arms to tie her up.
"Can anyone find the object!" Chat Noir asked as he jumped on the back of their head and looking it over.
"No, her body is still covered in that pink mucus!" Spider-man shouted, looking over the skin. "I don't know where to start looking without it being too invasive!"
"I gave her a pendant with a skull on it earlier, it might be that!" Ivan announced.
"Thank you Ivan!" Ladybug shouted, looking the monster over. "Come on, come on, where is-"
"GRRAAAAA!" The Horrificator thrashed around, tossing Rose into the air.
"AAAAHHH!" Her scream caused the monster to grow a bit, letting it break out of the hold as it grabbed the trapped Max, snatching Rose out of the air, and ran.
"ROSE!" For once in a blue moon, Juleka raised her voice high enough to let out a scream. "Don't worry, I'm coming!" It didn't matter how cool the monster was or how comfortable she was at school for once, no one threatened Rose!
"Wait, you shouldn't rush it!" Ladybug shouted.
"I'm not going to wait any longer and listen to the three of you bicker over and over again!" Juleka called out.
"Well, if we're being specific, it's mostly Ladybug and the Spider doing the bickering." Felica shrugged. "Mr. Cool cat over here's been mostly strutting along just fine."
"Thank you cool kitty." They got up with a stretch.
"Whatever! We know where she's taking them, so I'm going to go to the boiler room and grabbing Rose!" And everyone else…though mostly Rose.
"So are we." Spidey said. "Come on everyone, single file. Fearless Goth girl in the front, watermelons in the back."
"... Yeah." Ladybug looked like she gave up the argument, simply moving along.
"Nice back bone, Jul's." Felicia smirked as they followed her. "Didn't know you had it in you. There's a fearsome tigress underneath all the goth, isn't there?"
"Just doing what needs to be done. Once the adrenaline drops, I'll probably go back to how I like to be." She slowly returned to the muttering. Oh crap, she just yelled at super heroes. What on earth was she thinking?! Hopefully she wasn't too harsh.
Ladybug had to be on the lookout. Already half of the class was gone. She couldn't focus on anything else, nothing else. She wasn't expecting an Akuma to attack today…. which was stupid, she was Ladybug, she HAD to prioritize Akuma's above anything else! Maybe if she was patrolling instead of hanging out with her class, she could've captured that butterfly before it hit Mylene. Sure, she couldn't actually track those butterflies, but the effort wouldn't have hurt! She should have at least expected it when Mylene went crying out, right? Especially after Chloe humiliated her. Chloe was the source of over half the Akumas, that was supposed to be the biggest red flag!
She wished she had Tikki to talk to when she had the suit on. The little bug-god girl was smart, and always steered her in the right direction whenever she was getting overwhelmed. And she never held anything against her…. except for that one time with the Bubbler and the record player. God what was she thinking, she needed to be responsible with her powers!
"We're definitely getting close." Spidey said. "The pink slime is getting thicker down here."
"The lair of the monster." Nino grinned with excitement. "This is where the big climax happens!"
"Maybe don't shout that out so loud where it could hear us." Chat pointed out. "Otherwise we'll head to an abrupt anti-climax with all of us cocooned." How was Chat able to stay so calm and reasonable? He acted aloof and flirted with her too much, but he was reliable. If it wasn't for him, Paris would've been back to the dark ages with an army of army making knights.
"If I get a single iota of slime on me, I'm suing all of you." Chloe acted like the brat she was, the one that caused ALL the problems in her life. Maybe a part of her Great responsibility was to just keep the girl locked away somewhere where she can't hurt anyone ever again. Then again Chloe would probably be akumatized … why hasn't Hawkmoth just akumatized actual prisoners now that Ladybug was thinking about it? The offer of a jailbreak alone would tempt a lot of people. "Cept you Spidey, I would never blame you."
"Never thought you would, princess." Just shove away your anger, you failed last time, you're not allowed to be mad at Spider-Man. If he could show up and clean a mess YOU created, then you had no right to judge anybody…oh crap, what if Marinette was just a bad judge of people altogether?!
"Oh, don't I get a special nickname?" Felicia said with a smiling pout. Marinette remembered her being a lot more reserved… then again that one time with Chat Noir in her bedroom may have brought out something the girl was repressing. "Poor Spider is going to leave a girl hanging?"
"Course not, Snow top, or should I call you feisty gal?" She could do without HIS brand of flirting though. Bad enough when it was just contained to Chloe, but now Felicia? Good grief.
They opened the boiler room … hearing the shouts of kids trapped in pink cocoons, screaming out in fear. "AHHHHHHHHHHHH!" What sounded like Sabrina shouted from one of them.
"Sabrina! You better not have gotten goop on my wardrobe!" And Chloe shouted at with the little to no sympathy she held in her black heart.
"Yikes, how do you put up with her?" Felicia snickered, sticking closer to Spidey.
"Eh, strong personality, easy on the eyes, and blonde."
"We really have to cover your weakness." Chat deadpanned. "Parker! Peter Parker, are you in here!?" Oh crap, Marinette forgot he was one of the first to go.
"Yeah, yeah, still in one piece! This isn't the first time I've been covered in goo at school before!" Peter's voice shouted from one of the cacacons. "The moleman attacks really make you prepared for this sort of thing." Well at least he wasn't terrified. "Is Adrien with you guys!?" Right, Adrien! God she was bad at this!
"Aw man, we never saw where he went!" Nino freaked out. "Bro, if you're here, say something!"
"Yeah! I'm here… just… woke up!" Adrien's voice shouted. "I… uh… passed out when the monster grabbed me!" The poor kid.
"How are we gonna break them out?" Ladybug asked. "We can't just keep cataclysming every pod over and over."
"Grrrr …" They all slowly turned to the Horrificator … who was tall enough to reach the roof of the boiler room itself. "GRAAAA!" And slammed her hand onto Ladybug, crushing her.
"AAAHH!" She screamed in pain, before she was hit again, and again, and again.
"M'lady!" Chat Noir shouted, leaping forward and landing on the monster's head
"Hey, I know it's tempting to smash bugs on sight, but show a little mercy!" Spidey swung his chain up to kick Horrificator in the face as Chat Noir slammed his pole down into one of it's eyes.
"RRAAA!" They grabbed the two heroes, squeezing them tightly.
"Bones crushing!" Chat shouted. "Now would be a good time for that lucky charm M'lady!"
Right, get your head in the game, no mistakes, no hesitation, focus on everything. "Lucky Charm!" And out came…. A drum.
"Well, at least we'll have funeral music to go with as we die." Felicia shrugged.
"Even for me that's pretty morbid." Juleka started.
Music … "Ivan." She turned to the boy. "Did Mylene have a song? Something to calm her down?"
"Yeah, Smelly wolf. She sang it all the time whenever she was scared." A song to keep her brave … Ladybug ran around, gathering whatever she could to make instruments..
Chloe snickered. "She's into that lame old childish song?"
"Hey…. I… think… it… would… be… cute… if …. You… sang… it…" Spidey gasped out from Horrifcator's tightening grip.
"... Hand me the drum!" The rich girl demanded. Wow….the flirting actually had an advantage for once.
"You're all singing it." Ladybug handed out makeshift instruments to everyone. "We're overcoming fear itself." She grabbed some makeshift drumsticks. "Spidey, Chat Noir, keep Horrificator on lockdown."
"Sure, sure, no problem!" Chat squeaked. "Can't be too hard… when she's… still… squeezing hairballs out of me!"
She finally got the instruments together, signlining everyone to play in three … two … one … "Smelly wolf, smelly wolf, Trapped in the stinky hut."
The akuma reacted instantly, shrinking a bit as she growled at them.
"Smelly wolf, smelly wolf, I'm gonna kick your..."
The shrinking monster tried to reach forward and grab them.
"Smelly wolf, smelly wolf, Stinky breath and slimy drool."
The slime on the monster grew less and less as her two partners slipped out. "Okay, whoever wrote this song knew what they were doing." Spidey grumbled. "I gurentee most kids who sang this song filled in the gaps and sang the rest of the rhyme." He said as he threw out a chain to stop the Horrificator from going after them.
"Smelly wolf, smelly wolf, You're just a silly...!"
"Probably." Chat snickered as he looked at Horrifcator's chest…where the Pendant was shown. "But it's still catchy. Cataclysm!" Chat lept forward and stuck out a single claw at the pedant, turning it to dust.
And now her moment. "No more evildoing for you akuma, time to de-evilize!" She caught the creature. "Gotcha. Bye bye little butterfly."
"It feels like overkill to use cataclysm on a pendant you know. We could have just crushed it with our bare hands." Spidey noted.
"Hey, what works works." Chat shrugged. "Plus it's cooler."
"Touche, my clawed friend."
"Miraculous Ladybug!" She threw the drum in the air, watching the damage thankfully fix itself as the slime vanished.
Ladybug grinned as she walked over to her partner. "Pound it."
"Mylene!" Ivan ran forward to the now normal girl, wrapping her up in a hug. "You're back! I'm sorry I didn't stay with you! From now on I'm never leaving your side!"
"Oh Ivan, that's sweet…. But…you're… starting… to… choke me with… love." Mylene chuckled underneath the gasps for air.
"So sorry!" He let her go.
"This is all gonna be so rad to film!" Nino shouted. "I just need to talk it over with Marinette … wait, where is she?"
"Maybe she got…cocooned somewhere else, I'm sure you'll find her soon, gotta swing, bye!" Ladybug sent her yo-yo up and out of the room before too many questions could be asked.
"Wait, M'lady, hold up!" Chat Noir followed her.
"Don't have time for small talk, Chaton, we don't have long before we transform back." She pointed to the three minutes left on her own earrings.
"I'll be quick." Chat said. "Just…what happened with Darkblade?" Oh…she should've known this conversation was coming. She could lie… but that would only make her a hypocrite, which would be worse.
"I … got caught up in my civilian life. By the time he put the flag on the mayor's office it was too late." Which was true, the entire office was converted into a castle, and she was a knight for the two minutes it lasted.
"Ah." Chat nodded. "Well, I hope everything's alright on the other side of the mask." Such a sweet kitty, not even having a hint of malice at her.
"Don't worry, it won't happen again. Ladybug comes first." She said, looking down. "I…I can't let it happen again."
"That's an impossible promise." Looking up, they saw Spider-man on the ceiling.
"Yeah, well I don't exactly have the luxury of not keeping it." She said. "If I don't use the cure after every fight, people have broken legs or lost family. It's…It's all on me…"
"Cept it's not." Spidey said bluntly. "Yeah, you're vital for fixing everything, and we DEFINITELY need you the most, but be careful about carrying all that guilt. I saw your face after Juleka shot us down, you still feel bad."
"Well, yeah. Anybody with a conscience would still feel bad." So everyone except Chloe.
Spidey groaned. "You made a mistake. So what? Get over it. I'm the flipping clown who makes jokes on the internet, and you think I haven't made my fair share of mistakes? Just look up 'chain swinger's first day out' and you'll see me crash into the YMCA window."
The thought of seeing that video did make her feel better. "Spidey's bluntness aside, we don't hold anything against you." Chat smiled at her with a hand on her shoulder. "I think we've shown that not all three of us will be there all the time, but we will get better. If one of us is down, then we'll fight harder, we'll fight smarter, and we WILL be better heroes. I have faith in this team…I have faith in you, M'lady."
Beep beep beep beep
Down to one minute… and apart of Ladybug wanted to stay, she wanted to thank him, to tell him everything, to join him in his fantasy… but… she couldn't. "Thank you, Chat Noir. You really are the sweetest cat in all of france." She spun her yo-yo out. "Take care… you too, you web headed knucklehead."
"I always do, Watermelon. Now if you excuse me, I have some ladies to chat up."
"And they say I need to tone down the flirting." Chat rolled his eyes.
Peter watched as Nino stormed out with a frown. "It got rejected!" He shouted. "We didn't even make it to the preliminaries."
"You mean we went through all of that for nothing!?" Alix shouted, gripping her short red hair. "Two hours on one scene….. FOR NOTHING!?"
"I know, right, it's totally bogus!" Nino crossed his arms. "It had everything! Horror, suspense, super heroes, what more could you ask for!?"
"Wait, did you put in our movie, or did you put in the stuff Alya usually adds to her blogs?" Adrien asked.
"Well, it'd be a waste NOT to add all three heroes into the movie, so of course I added it." Nino nodded. "I don't get what went wrong."
"… This wasn't a film with creative story. You just walked around recording masked men in spandex beating up an oversized blob." Marinettte pointed out. "No offence Mylene."
"None taken."
"Besides, you didn't even edit it either to at least give it a narrative flow." Max said. "It comes off as more of a found footage feature at best, which kind of defeats the purpose of this sort of competition."
"So it really was for nothing." Peter noted. "This really was the molemen incident at school again…cept we didn't have magic ladybugs to raise the school out of the ground."
"Well I got to spend time with the Spider, so I wouldn't call it all for nothing." Felica said with a sultry smirk. Wow, to think there were TWO blondes into him as spidey…and one of them was a platinum blonde at that. Too bad Felica completely ignored his existence as Peter Parker. Guess that only showed to prove Spider-man was the best part about his life.
"Don't you get any funny ideas, old lady hair, I'M the one Spidey calls princess!" Chloe shouted. And now he was in the middle of a triangle with his masked half. He wasn't sure if that was something happy or sad.
"Oh yeah, and who proved to be a total jerk, cause akumas, and get told off by the man?" Felicia smirked back.
"And who was the try-hard who couldn't keep her filthy hands off of him!?"
"I didn't hear him complain about it."
"Can we switch topics from Spidey's love life?" Marinette asked.
"Oh yeah. What about how Chat Noir and Ladybug look super cute in this pic?" Alya asked, showing it off. "I think they're an awesome couple."
"Totally. I personally think they were made for each other." Peter chuckled lightly. "Of course Adrien might think otherwise."
"Well, I'm a model, but I probably can't compare to a superhero." His bro laughed off with a wave.
"I think you're cu-I mean, good enough." Marinette, once more, fell victim to romance panic. Guess no one had luck with love here.