Chapter 10: Fly Away, Mr. Pigeon
As a new day came to Paris, Yuma, Marinette and Adrien were sitting in their classroom, hoping for a nice, quiet day at school. That all went out the window when Mr. Damocles came in to make an announcement that included a slideshow, which immediately piqued Marinette's interests.
"You only have one day to work on your fashion piece, and it must be your own design," Mr. Damocles explained as he faced the class as they listened, Marinette more than the others since she was the resident fashion designer. "In ten hours your fittest presentation will be judged by none other than the great fashion designer Gabriel Agreste…" The principal announced as Ms. Bustier grabbed a remote and pressed a button on it to make a picture of the fashion designer appear on the projection screen, and Mr Damocles to adjust his stance to gesture towards it.
Gabriel was a very tall man with a fair but rosy-tinted skin tone and a pointy chin. He had pale, light grayish cerulean eyes and combed-back light blond and gray hair.
He wore black-framed silver glasses, had a white high collar dress shirt underneath a medium gray striped vest with red buttons and a cream-colored dress jacket without buttons, along with a red and white-striped ascot tie. Underneath the tie, he had what people didn't realize was the Butterfly Miraculous pinned on his shirt. He also wore red dress pants and a pair of white dress shoes, with black soles, and red shoelaces. On the middle finger of his left hand, he had a silver band ring, which was sometimes depicted on his right hand.
"Wait, isn't that your dad, Adrien?" Yuma asked his friend, causing the boy to scratch the back of his neck in slight embarrassment, and shyness.
"You are correct, Yuma. In fact, Adrien will model the winning design in his next photoshoot," The principal continues, explaining the contest while Nino softly jabs his elbow into Adrien, in an encouraging way, as Marinette's excitement turns into pure joy. Her pupils figuratively turned into hearts while turning to face Alya with a smile, to which she responded with a smile of her own, and a calming hand on her best friend's shoulder, as the principal continued talking.
"And now, to announce this year's theme:…" Mr Damocles began, getting to the requirements for winning the contest, causing Ms. Bustier to change the picture on the presentation screen, from the man who believes himself to be a decent father, to a picture of what looked like a…
"Derby hats," The principal proclaimed, which caused Marinette's joy to take a sudden drop as she glanced over at Alya.
"Derby hats?" Marinette asked, confused as to why the theme was such a… unique choice, before she glanced over at Chloé as she looked at them and made an exaggerated thumbs-down at her.
'Yeah… this was not going to be pretty.' Adrien thought.
(Play Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal: Halfway to Forever)
The music starts up with Yuma activating his gear like in the original opening, before a blue vortex sucks Yuma and Astral into Paris.
Still together as one;
Cuz divided we're none;
Ready to go, we feel the flow!
Yuma then landed on his feet, as Astral floated next to him, before he drew a card and summoned Utopia.
So don't stand in our way;
You know we ain't afraid;
This is our time, we're in control!
Plagg was about to eat a piece of Camembert, before he was sucked into Adrien's ring, while Tikki she sucked in Marinette's earrings, causing them to transform into Ladybug and Cat Noir, who then Fist Bumped.
If I trip up today;
You just wipe it away;
All of my fears are gone, erased!
The rest of Yuma's friends then appeared on the Different Dimensional Airship, with Shark and Kite summoning Number 32: Shark Drake and Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon.
Let us tear down the walls;
'Til the final night falls;
The bonds of our souls can't be replaced!
Everyone then came together, as they all charged towards Hawk Moth and the Barians.
Let us fight together;
Regret it never;
Our dreams will be…!
The Giant Shadow of Don Thousand appears over both worlds as Vector goes from his human form to his Barian one, devastating the land.
Halfway to,
Forever;
Our light comes shining through!
Yuma and Astral then fuse into Zexal II as Yuma Summons Utopia Ray Victory as it absorbed an Overlay Unit.
Reach down deep;
Beat defeat;
Do all that we can do!
Ladybug and Cat Noir were then shown, as their monsters appeared and joined Utopia Ray Victory's attack.
Halfway to,
Forever;
We've got nothing to lose!
Hawk Moth smirked, as he held his arm out and created Akuma's, while Vector prepared to counter-attack.
Keep breathing;
Believing;
Halfway to forever-rrrrrr!
The Numeron Code was then shown, all of the Miraculous were spiraling around it. Astral and Yuma smile at each other and touch hands as they all come together with their aces standing out, with the title below them.
Yu-Gi-Oh Zexal: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir
(End Yu-Gi-Oh Zexal: Halfway to Forever)
Class had been let out early so the students could complete the challenge with ample time, but that didn't help Marinette. She paced in the courtyard, looking at her sketchbook while Yuma and Alya sat crossed legged on a bench, and Adrien leaning against the wall next to Astral, watching their friend having a hard time.
"Derby hat? Derby hat? Derby hat? Derby hat...! I don't have any derby hat designs," Marinette frustrateidly exclaimed as she paced in front of her friends. "I've got top hats, caps, even two-horned hats! Need a beret? I'm your girl. A sombrero? No problem-o. But a derby?!" Marinette exclaimed as mimed the corresponding hats, causing Adrien and Alya to chuckle at her antics, while Yuma and Astral just looked confused.
"Uh, quick question. What even IS a derpy hat?" Yuma interjected.
"A derpy hat, commonly also known as a bowler hat, is a style of a hat that was worn by many stylish Englishmen who attended the Epsom Derby. Americans identified the hats with the races and thus the nickname stuck. The hat Americans named derby was in fact a bowler hat, a style introduced in England during the 1850s." Adrien explained, showing Yuma a picture of said hat on his phone.
"Oh, THOSE kind of hats!" Yuma realized, recognizing the hat he once saw in World History class back in his world.
Marinette looked back down at her sketchbook in panic.
"You know what? It won't even matter, 'cause I'll probably make a total fool of myself at the event, most likely trip over my stupid derby and collapse on your father, give him a full-blown concussion with my hard head! I'll never be a world-renowned fashion designer. MY LIFE WILL BE OVER!" The poor girl wailed, spiraling as she imagined the most ridiculous worst scenario she could come up with.
"Marinette!" Adrien yelled, as he grabbed her shoulders. "Breathe." Taking a few deep breaths to calm down, the boy model then asked, "Better?"
"Yeah. Thanks." Marinette smiled.
"All this over a derby hat?" Alya asked. "Let me see your sketchpad, girl," The reporter insisted, to which Marinette immediately complied and handed over the pink book to her best friend.
"There must be something in here," Alya said as she started going through the book while Marinette sat between her and Yuma, while Alya rearranged her sitting position to place the book on the corner of the bench and lean over it to get a better look at the designs.
"Wow, Marinette. Those are some awesome designs." The boy model said, impressed by the amount of skill it had taken for someone to draw up such unique designs.
"Well, I got some inspiration from my Madolche cards." Marinette said, as she pulled out her Civilian Deck and compared some of the cards with her drawings.
"You're super talented, Marinette. You seriously have a good chance of winning," Adrien praised, causing the designer to smile.
"You really think so?" She asked.
"I know so."
But unknown to them, Chloé and her 'friend' Sabrina had watched the entire interaction from the other side of the courtyard. And to say Chloé wasn't happy was an understatement… She was livid.
"Did you hear how impressed Adrien was with Marinette's desi–" Sabrina began to ask, only for her to be interrupted by the angry Chloé as she continued to look over at the four, leaning against a metal pole.
"Of course I heard! Her? Win the contest? As if," Chloé snarled, as she glanced at Sabrina, then back at Alya and Marinette while she spoke. "When Adrien sees my design he'll convince his father to award me the winner. Hm!" The heiress said, turning to look back at Sabrina before pointing to herself, leaning down to get into Sabrina's personal space, before going back to lean against the metal pole, and looking back at the four.
"I'm sure he will, Chloé. You're a born champion. Your design will blow everyone else's out of the water!" Sabrina encouragingly praised, trying to continue being on Chloé's good side.
"Yeah, it will. As soon as I can get my hands on the sketchpad!" Chloé proclaimed as she watched Alya give Marinette her sketchbook back.
As soon as Alya gave the book back, she checked her phone to see the countdown she had on it, changed into 09:00:00.
"Only have nine hours until show time," Alya reported as she watched the countdown continue, suddenly making Marinette nervous.
"Yikes! I'm off to my secret garden of inspiration," Marinette replied while she walked backwards as she spoke, not aware of her surroundings. "I'll see you later," The designer exclaimed as she turned around, only to run into a wall. But she quickly recovered and ran towards the exit. "AH! I'm okay. I'm okay, I'm okay," Marinette reassured as she ran past the door, almost running into another wall, then yelped before she changed directions, and ran out the door. All of this while Alya chuckled at the girl's antics.
Meanwhile, Hawk Moth stood in his lair as the window opened dramatically to let in a beam of sunlight, prompting the butterflies to stir.
"The time has come for us to find our next victim, my wicked little Akumas. And to prey upon Ladybug, Cat Noir and Yuma. Their powers must be mine!" Hawk Moth proclaimed.
"You mean OURS." A new voice stated, causing the villain to turn and see Vector in his Barian Form step out of the shadows. "You must be Hawk Moth, forceful holder of the Butterfly Miraculous."
"Yes, and you must be Vector, Yuma's arch enemy." Hawk Moth assumed, seeing the Barian's appearance match up with Dumon's description. "I am pleased that you accepted my offer."
"The pleasure is all mine, Hawky." Vector smirked, shaking Hawk Moth's hand. "An enemy of Yuma and Astral is no doubt a friend and ally to Barian World."
"Indeed, which brings me to one of my questions. What can you tell me about the Numbers?" Hawk Moth asked the Barian, an evil.
Back at HQ, Alvis, who was meditating in his room, felt a familiar presence, as he opened his eyes and commented, "It seems that the gears of fate have begun to turn." Touching the red crystal around his neck, it gave off a soft glow.
Meanwhile, in the Different Dimensional Airship, the team from Yuma's world in the command bridge, staring at Brock and Caswell in disbelief.
"What do you mean we're already almost out of food?!" Everyone yelled at the two, causing them to cover their ears.
"I mean that most of the food rations we prepared for the rest of the trip are gone. We've only got enough to last us until morning." Brock explained, before glaring at the others. "So either it somehow grew legs and walked away, or SOMEONE has been having a few midnight snacks!"
"You're blaming us?!" Shark yelled, walking up to the boy. "How do we know that it wasn't you?!"
"Well….I…" Bronk stammered, realizing that his theory makes him a suspect to the others as well.
Before he could say his alibi, beeping could be heard throughout the ship, causing everyone to jump a little. Confused and on guard, Kite turned to his robot assistant and asked, "Orbital! Status Report!"
"I-I-I'm working on it!" Orbital replied, as he ran a quick status report on the ship. His eye widening, he yelled, "M-M-Master Kite! Some of the s-s-ships gears are reactivating! We're g-g-gaining speed!"
"What?!" Kite asked in disbelief, as he ran over to the main control panel. Sure enough, he saw images of the pillars that activated the ship's gears slowly but surely becoming active once more. 'I don't understand. I thought we needed the Numbers to reactivate the gears. We've been on this ship for weeks, and those gears haven't moved an inch. So why are they activating now? Unless…' His eyes widening in realization, he exclaimed, "Make sure this ship is going at full capable speed!"
"On it, sir!" Orbital saluted, as he pulled the lever, causing the ship to slowly gain speed.
"Everyone, buckle up. We're getting close to our destination!"
A little while later, Marinette had made it to her 'Secret Garden of Inspiration,' the Trocadero, and was sitting on the steps that offered a front row seat view of the Eiffel Tower, trying to get inspired to draw some designs. But as she finished drawing an Eiffel Tower inspired derby hat, she ripped the paper out and started again.
"Geez, it's hard to be creative under pressure," Marinette remarked to both her Kwami and to herself as she re-drew the derby hat outline to start the process over again.
"Marinette, you save the world under pressure. I think designing a hat should be a piece of cake!" Tikki encouraged as she pokes her head out of Marinette's purse, trying to support Marinette.
"Hm, a cake derby hat. Stylish and tasty," Marinette joked right before they chuckled at the idea. Afterwards, Marinette kept drawing new designs in her sketchbook-sticking the tip of her tongue out in concentration, which was an unconscious habit she picked up over the years-but ripped them out, on the account that they didn't seem quite right, all while the discarded designs were crumpled up and formed into a pile.
"Are you alright Marinette?." A new voice asked, as she saw Astral fly towards her.
"I'm fine. It's just-" Marinette paused, as she looked around, not being able to spot Astral's human companion. "Where's Yuma?"
"He is searching every inch of this area for Number Cards or anything that could lead us to one of the ruins." Astral said, as he pointed to the boy, who smiled and waved, before bringing his attention back to his Duel Gazer. Upon seeing the pile of ripped out paper, Astral assumed, "Are you still worried about the competition at your school?"
Groaning, Marinette asked, "Wouldn't you be? This is the career starting opportunity of a lifetime. On top of that, this contest is closely connected to Adrien and his father, who is a man who could make and break my future. Both with my fashion career, and my relationship with Adrien."
As she became more dejected, Yuma walked over to his designer friend, just before a man walking like a bird sat down on a bench ahead of Marinette, leaving them curious.
This was Xavier Ramier, a tall and muscular pigeon lover, with moderate orange hair and strong gold eyes, olive skin and very thin lips. He wore a gray elegant suit complete with a gray hat, a dark gray waistcoat decorated with a square pattern, a white shirt, a big teal bow tie, dark green vest and brown sandals worn with white socks. He also had a bird call whistle on a string hanging from his neck.
"Well, happy day, happy day! Splendid is the afternoon day." Mr. Ramier cheered with a smile as a pigeon landed on his outstretched, bent arm. Mr. Ramier scratched under the pigeon's beak while it was perched on his arm. "Ah, Edgar, you fancy one," Mr. Ramier happily fed Edgar the pigeon a couple of bread crumbs before the bird jumped up into the air and flew in a circle leaving the man giddy. "Fantastic, dazzling performance," The man gushed as Yuma and Marinette watched him with a fond smile.
But then, a police officer approached him, startling the surrounding pigeons. This was Roger Raincomprix, Sabrina's father. He was at medium height and a bit overweight. He had pale skin, short orange hair on the back and sides (but had gone bald on the top) and eyebrows, vivid spring green eyes, and a large nose. His police cap was dark blue and had the word "police" written in all uppercase white letters. He wore a blue polo shirt with a badge with the flag of France on his right arm. His shirt had three buttons, and beneath them were light blue lines. On his right wrist, he wore a wristwatch and on his left wrist, he wore a medical bracelet. He also wore dark blue pants with a black belt, a baton attached to the belt, and black work boots. His silver police whistle dangled from his neck, like a necklace.
"Scram, you winged rats!" Officer Roger shouted out as he walked up to Mr. Ramier, scaring the pigeons as he did so. He then stood in front of the bird loving man, arms behind his back, looking down at him. "How many times do you need to be told, Mr. Ramier? No! FEEDING! The pigeons!" The officer exclaimed, while firmly pointing at the man as he did so, before grabbing the bag of food from the bench, holding his arms behind his back, hiding the bag of food with it. "It's strictly forbidden. If everyone feeds them, they'll leave their waste everywhere!"
"But, who's going to feed my poor pigeons?" Mr Ramier asked, trying to speak up against the stubborn officer.
"All the park keepers know about you, Mr. Ramier. You're banned from every park in Paris. Leave now or I'll call the authorities. Oh, wait. I'm the authorities. GET OUT!" Officer Roger shouts at the man, before Mr. Ramier walks away sadly.
"Sheesh, I almost feel sorry for him," Marinette admitted, as the group watched Mr. Ramier leave.
"What a unique character." Astral exclaimed, somewhat interested in the man.
"He was like… a human bird. All he needed was a feather jacket to complete the look," The red kwami pointed out, unknowingly giving Marinette just the idea she needed.
"A feather jacket, hmm?" Marinette thought over, as she saw her Deck Box poke out of her purse, before going into another design frenzy. "Nice thinking, Tikki," She praised as she started drawing again.
Mr. Ramier-known as Xavier to his close friends-had walked well enough away from Trocadero and sadly sat down on a bench that was on the banks of the Seine river. He felt hopeless as he hunched over himself, his bird call hanging limply from his neck.
"Poor Mr. Ramier, the feeling of injustice, such easy prey for my Akuma." Hawk Moth said as he held out his open left palm, allowing one of the butterflies to land and be coated in his dark magic.
Impressed, Vector gave out a whistle and commented, "So that's your power…impressive."
Hawk Moth nodded, as he held his hand out, allowing the Akuma to fly off. "Fly away, my little Akuma, and evilize him!" Hawk Moth said, as the Akuma flew through the city, and to Mr. Ramier.
Soon, it finds the despairing man, and flutters to his bird call, and immediately infecting it, creating the psychic link between the pigeon lover and the twisted man.
"Mr. Pigeon, I'm Hawk Moth. Neither this police officer, nor any other of the park keepers, should stop you from taking care of your friends. What would Paris be without pigeons? What would pigeons be without you?" Hawk Moth asked, causing Mr Ramier to chuckle and spread out his arms like wings.
No sooner than he did, the telltale black and purple aura surrounded him, and soon disappeared, to reveal the transformed man.
Mr. Ramier, now known as Mr. Pigeon, was more muscular and fairly white skinned supervillain and wore a full body skin-tight jumpsuit with black forearms, waist and thighs, dark gray belly, light gray chest, shoulder and biceps, and pale, light grayish amaranth shins and head. The suit also had black stripes on his triceps and around his upper hips, along with two lozenge light blue diamonds where his bow tie was. He seemed to still carry a bird call whistle around his neck.
He laughed triumphantly, flapping his arms, and making pigeon noises, before he ran off down the length of the Seine.
Meanwhile, Marinette was deep in her concentration-her tongue tip still sticking out-when she finally completed the design.
"Yes!" Marinette exclaimed in excitement as she took her phone from the unoccupied side of the book and she held up a drawing of her finished design, all while Sabrina snapped a photo of the design. Happy with herself, Sabrina fled her hiding place and went back to Chloé, all while Marinette had no idea what had happened, as she was more focused on her Kwami and friend's reactions.
"Now that's a derby!" Tikki praised, causing Marinette to look away from her design, and back down at her Kwami with a bright smile.
"Thanks, you guys. Yours and Tikki's support means the world to me," Marinette gushed as she closed her book, placed it next to her and started picking up her discarded ideas. She needed to get home as fast as possible so she could start working on the hopefully winning design.
Sabrina had reached Chloé as the heiress stood in her hiding place, feeling confident in herself. "We're so awesome!" Sabrina happily exclaimed as she showed the picture on her phone to Chloé.
"We?" Chloé coldly questioned as she snatched the phone away from her slave, which hurt Sabrina, but she didn't let it show.
"Oh right, sorry! You're so awesome, Chloé," Sabrina reassured, with a hurt look on her face as Chloé looked at the picture of the design.
"When are we- uh, you, going to make the hat?" The bespectacled girl asked, even though she most likely knew the answer to that question.
"And ruin these nails? Of course not." Chloé scoffed, holding out her newly manicured nails out towards Sabrina.
"Daddy'll pay someone to do it." The spoiled brat declared before she walked off with Sabrina following her.
Very soon, Marinette had made it back to her house, and raced up to her room to begin working on her hat. The time flew by fast as Marinette got out the necessary fabric, needles, thread, and hat construction pieces she needed to create the faux feathered design. It was a labor of love that had taken painstaking patience to do, as Marinette measured and cut the pieces of fabric to suit her needs, even when Marinette poked her fingers with needles every now and then, and having a quick snack-thanks to Tikki bringing her an apple-but the hat was almost complete.
But as the young designer gave it a once over, she suddenly realized that something is missing. Immediately, she frantically looked around the top of the desk, coming up empty. She then looked under her desk to see if what she was looking for had dropped to the floor, which confused Tikki as she floated above in the air while Marinette continued her search.
"What are you looking for?" Tikki asked, just before Marinette got out from under her desk.
"A feather!" Marinette cried in a panic as she stood up from the ground, her hands on her head–which she had a habit of doing while she was freaking out–before turning to face her Kwami.
"I forgot to pick up a fake feather for the hat! It has to have a feather!" The designer exclaimed before she raced out of her room, with Tikki following behind her.
"Why do you need a fake feather? Can't you just get a real one back at the park?" Tikki asked, flying into Marinette's purse.
"Adrien has a feather allergy, remember? I have to consider that when he tries it on." Marinette explained, as she left the bakery.
Back at the Trocadéro, Yuma sighed in annoyance, being unsuccessful in his search around the area. Marking the area off on his map, Yuma started to make his way back to HQ. But as he was about to leave, he saw a swarm of pigeons descend on Officer Roger and attacked him, causing him to cry out in pain.
"What the-?!" Yuma cried out in disbelief, as the pigeons stopped attacking the officer and stared at Yuma, making him panic. "Uhh…nice birdies?" He pleaded, only for the birds to fly towards him, causing the boy to run away as fast as he could.
A little while later, Marinette was sitting on the bus, deciding that returning home would have been quicker that way, but was proven wrong when the bus stopped moving. Soon, Marinette had enough of waiting, especially when the light had turned green and the bus still hadn't moved.
"Come on! Can't we go any faster?" Marinette asked as she walked to the front of the bus towards the driver.
"Sorry folks, we have a situation here," the bus driver explained as Marinette reached the front of the bus, only to see that a bunch of cars were being held up by a cluster of pigeons.
"You'll need to get off the bus now," the driver continued, just before the doors opened, but her attempts were stopped when she looked down at the ground to see a whole bunch of pigeons in front of her.
"Ah! Uh, this is weird," Marinette remarked before she got off the bus, careful not to step on any of the weirdly acting birds. The streets were littered with pigeons as she walked down, when she heard Yuma screaming. "Yuma?" Marinette asked, as she turned to the direction of the voice, only to see Yuma and Astral coming towards her, with the boy running for his life.
"RUN!" Yuma cried out as they went past her.
Confused, she turned to where the boy came from, only for her eyes to widen in horror, seeing an entire flock of pigeons coming in their direction. Not wanting to take any chances, she ran the same direction the Duelist went, hoping to catch up with him before the birds did. When she did, she yelled, "WELL, THIS IS THE WEIRDEST SITUATION I'VE EVER BEEN IN!"
"THAT MAKES TWO OF US!" Yuma yelled back, as the duo tried to shake off the chasing birds.
Back on the Different Dimensional Airship, the vehicle kept gaining speed, as the main gears were getting close to fully activating.
"Orbital, status report." Kite ordered, as he was at the wheel.
"According to m-m-my calculations and the rate of speed we are gaining, I-I-I say that we will be at our d-d-destination in less than two hours." The robot confirmed, displaying a graph of the ship's speed.
"Finally." Shark sighed in relief, as he stood up and stretched. "I can't wait to get off this hunk of junk."
"Come on, Reginald. The ship's not that bad." Rio said, though in reality, a change of scenery would be nice, especially after spending weeks in the same place.
"Let's just get Yuma so we can go back home." Kari said, hoping to make this quick and easy.
Little did she know that her wish wouldn't be coming true.
Panting in exhaustion, Yuma and Marinette were now deep in one of the subway tunnels.
"I think…we…lost them…" Yuma said, trying to catch his breath, as Marinette pulled out her phone, hoping to find out what's going on.
"Pigeons have taken over Paris. This is just one of the many alarming situations giving authorities cause for major concern," Nadja reported, as pictures of pigeon infested areas were shown behind her. But soon, she was interrupted by someone giving her a tip from her earpiece. "Yes, I've just been told that someone named 'Mr. Pigeon' is making an announcement," The reporter continued, which immediately gave Yuma, Astral, Marinette and Tikki a good clue as to who was the current Akumatized victim of the day.
"Oh, dreary day, poor Parisians," Mr. Pigeon announced as he stood on the Eiffel Tower. "Sorry to ruffle your feathers, but Paris now belongs to the pigeons! Flap flap!" Mr Pigeon continued as he flapped his arms like wings and made pigeon noises.
"I do not know about you three, but I find this situation rather ironic." Astral commented, as Marinette put her phone away.
"Ironic or not, Paris needs us!" Marinette said, as Yuma got his Duel Pad ready. "TIKKI, SPOTS ON!" The young designer called out before she transformed into Ladybug. No sooner than she had transformed, the three exited the subway, as Ladybug grabbed Yuma and started jumping from roof to roof like an acrobat, looking for Mr. Pigeon. But just as she had jumped down from one roof and onto another, she looked up at the sky, only to stop running when she saw pigeons flying through the sky above her in the shape of airplanes.
"Now this is weirder than weird," Ladybug remarked as she, Yuma and Astral saw the unusual behavior the pigeons were displaying.
"Birds of a feather flock together," a voice from a ledge above her flirted, causing her to look in the direction of where it was coming from, and see Cat Noir as he laid across the roof under him.
"Are you being cocky or charming right now?" Ladybug teased her boyfriend.
"Can't you tell?" He asked, before his bravado shattered as he suddenly sneezed and rolled down the roof to where Yuma, Astral and Ladybug were, looking up at Ladybug with a bashful smile.
'Miraculous Observation #3: While they can protect their holder's identities, the same cannot be said for their allergies.' Astral thought as the cat-themed superhero stood up from the roof, only to sneeze again.
"Bless you." Yuma said.
"Thanks," Cat Noir responded, right before he was almost ready to sneeze again. But managed to stop himself with an awkward smile, getting his head back into the game. "These birds are only part of the problem. The park keepers in Paris are vanishing without a trace," The cat superhero reported, pulling Ladybug from her amusement of watching Cat Noir dramatically sneezing from the feathers.
"What? We have to track down Mr. Pigeon ASAP," Ladybug proclaimed, her focus for the job at hand coming back full force.
"Where are we gonna find him?" Chat Noir questioned, as she tried to think of a plan to solve that little detail.
"Hmm, I don't know where we can find him, but I do know where he can find us," Ladybug replied, knowing exactly what to do to draw out the villain of the day, while she glanced over Yuma with a sly smile.
A few minutes later…
Soon, the two heroes were at the Place des Vosges, where Yuma was wearing a police cap and pretending to be an officer, with Ladybug and Cat Noir hiding behind a tree nearby.
"You sure this is gonna work, Ladybug?" Yuma asked the spotted-heroine
"Let me answer your question with a question. Have I ever steered you wrong?" Ladybug asked the duelist.
"Not that I know of."
"Then, trust me on this. It's bound to work!" Ladybug said.
Unknown to them, a pigeon was watching the trio, before it took off to fly back to Mr. Pigeon, as he stands on a statue in the city. The pigeon overlord then extends his arm out, letting the little winged spy land on it, before bringing it closer to him so it could report its findings.
"Ladybug and Cat Noir? Job well done, buddy-boy," Mr Pigeon praised, using his pointer finger to tickle the bird's chest in affection. "Let's get them!" The bird man proclaimed, commanding the pigeons to flock and carry him off.
"Where is he? He should've been here by now." Ladybug said, as they have been waiting for a few minutes now.
"I don't think this is working." Astral commented, causing the two to glare at him.
"Thank you, Captain Obvious." Yuma sarcastically replied to his companion, before hearing a strange flapping sound. He looked up in the sky, seeing a bunch of pigeons forming a big ball and started carrying him away, causing Ladybug and Cat Noir to poke their head's out from their hiding spot.
"What the-" Ladybug exclaimed in surprise, before the two ran out from their hiding place and gave chase.
Chuckling a little, Cat Noir smirked as he joked, "Well, at least he finally gets to 'High Five The Sky'!"
"While I find that joke funny and clever, now might not be the best time." Ladybug replied, trying to keep herself from giggling, as they kept leaping over rooftops to keep up with the pigeons. Before long, they soon reached the roof of the Le Grand Paris hotel and the pigeons dropped Yuma off.
"NOT AGAIN!" Yuma yelled, as he landed on the same large air conditioning he crashed into during his arrival to Paris. Groaning, he looked around, and saw that the pigeons that took him to the rooftop were looking at him. While he was looking around the roof, seeing that there were more pigeons surrounding him, Ladybug and Cat Noir arrived, and joined up with him.
"So what are the odds of crashing into this thing a third time?" Cat Noir jokes, causing Yuma to glare at him. Awkwardly clearing his throat, he helped the duelist up and said, "So, where's that bird-brain Mr. Pigeon?"
"He's gotta be here somewhere," Ladybug concluded as they stood on the rooftop, waiting for the villain to show up.
But they were unaware that Mr. Pigeon was already there, lifted by a swarm of pigeons behind them, and staring down at them.
"If you want to give Paris back to the pigeons for good, you must first rid the city of those two pests," Hawk Moth commanded, bringing a twisted smile to Mr. Pigeon.
He brought his bird whistle to his lips, and sounded his call, causing the pigeons to start to circle around the three.
"Call me crazy, but I feel like bird seed all of a sudden," Yuma admitted as the pigeons formed a dome to keep them in, making them shield their eyes from the birds as they stood back to back.
"Got any bright ideas, guys?" Cat Noir asked as he tried to keep himself from getting any feathers in his eyes, and especially near his nose.
"You're the cat, don't you eat these things for breakfast?" Ladybug questioned, as the pigeons that were surrounding them blocked their sight. While they were distracted, more pigeons brought down a gigantic cage over them, imprisoning the heroes. "Look!" Ladybug exclaimed once she was able to look through the bird cyclone, only to see that the three of them were trapped. The pigeons flew away, their job of distracting the heroes, complete.
"Turpy day. I'm so ruthless," Mr. Pigeon cooed as he towered above the trapped heroes on his platform of hovering pigeons, chuckling to himself.
"Excellent. Now take their Miraculous!" Hawk Moth ordered, as Mr. Pigeon commanded the pigeons holding him up to lower him down to the trapped heroes.
"Coo-coo, coo-coo! You're Miraculous. Give them to me or face the wrath of my feathered friends," Mr Pigeon demanded, before he sounded his bird call. Some of the pigeons start banging on the top of the cage, causing the top to lower down on the heroes, while others turn around and point their behinds at the heroes.
"He wouldn't…!" Yuma gulped, eyes widening at the situation they were in.
"He would." Cat Noir finished, before sneezing again.
"Dada-dee, on the count of three, my beloved pigeons will commence fire," The pigeon overlord sang as the pigeons lowered him to the roof, where he stepped off and stood a good distance away from the cage. "You can still save your sorry skins by handing me your Miraculous. One, two…" Mr Pigeon offered, counting down with his fingers, while Ladybug suddenly thought of a way out of their predicament.
"Cat Noir, the bars!" Ladybug shouted, which Cat Noir immediately caught on.
"Cataclysm!" Cat Noir called out, summoning his powers. He then placed his hand on the bars and wiped it across them using his Cataclysm to destroy the bars of the cage. Mr. Pigeon only cowers back toward the edge of the rooftop while the heroes advance on him.
"Well, well. Looks like the pigeon's really a chicken," Cat Noir snarked as Mr. Pigeon jumped up onto the rail of the roof, looking like he was about to jump.
"Any last words, bird brain? You can't fly out of this one." Yuma smirked. But unfortunately for them, Mr. Pigeon didn't and instead, stood his ground.
"Me? I'm not flying away. I'm just killing three birds with one stone," Mr Pigeon responded. He sounded his bird call and jumped over the edge of the roof. The heroes ran to the rail, to try and help him, only to see some pigeons had caught him, lift him back up and take him away.
They only watched as the pigeons that were lifting the villain into the air, while another group of pigeons formed into a giant rock-like flock.
"Coo! Coo! Merry Christmas!" The bird man shouted as he flew away and the rock-like group of pigeons dived towards the heroes.
"Duck for cover!" Yuma yelled, as they ran towards the roof access door, and ran inside, closing the door behind them, and holding it to stop the pigeons.
A second later, a bulge formed in the door as pigeons slammed into it, but they fell down to the ground in relief.
"Ah!" The three of them yelped, glad to make it out of that disaster unscathed.
"Well that's the worst Christmas present I've ever gotten." Yuma stated.
Back outside, Mr. Pigeon saw they had escaped, but only chuckled. "I'm not done with you yet!" Mr. Pigeon shouted as he rode away on his cloud of pigeons.
The four of them started running downstairs, when Cat Noir's ring beeped. He looked down at it, and saw he only had four minutes left.
"I've gotta get out of here before my secret identity's revealed!" Cat Noir reported as he realized just how close this was going to be.
"Yeah, you wouldn't want to let the cat out of the bag," Yuma remarked, trying to add a bit of humor to the situation before continuing her path down the stairs.
"Ha ha, very funny," Cat Noir deadpanned.
They soon make it to the first floor and start to head out the building. On their way out they see a crowd gathered at the entrance, with the Mayor of Paris among them.
"Ladybug, Cat Noir, Yuma! I'm in great danger- of losing big bucks if my guests leave Paris!" André wailed as he ran to the heroes, hoping to have the Akuma taken care of quickly.
Cat Noir's ring beeped again, making him so nervous that he got ready to bolt.
"You are going to get rid of those pigeons, aren't you?" The mayor pressed, while Cat Noir kept fidgeting, and Ladybug only fondly smiled at his antics.
"Of course we are, but before we do I have an urgent need," Cat Noir admitted, trying to get the mayor to let him transform back into a private space.
"An urgent need? I see, head to the royal suite," André said, allowing Cat Noir to race over to the elevator, where a butler was waiting inside, while Ladybug remained standing next to the mayor.
"There's paper in there, but perhaps you would prefer... a litter tray?" The mayor jokes, in an attempt of humor, much to the feline hero's slight embarrassment.
"Uh...? Oh right, no need for litter. But, um, could I have some Camembert?" Cat Noir requested before the elevator door closed. Mayor Bourgeois looks back at Ladybug and Yuma, who gave an exaggerated shrug. Like they would tell the father of their school bully why the cat-themed asked for that specific cheese.
Over at the Royal suite, Cat Noir raced into the room, just as Butler Jean had opened the door.
"'Scuse me, sorry. Emergency!" Cat Noir exclaimed as he slammed the door behind him. A second later, there's a knock on the door, making Cat Noir open it, only to see it was Butler Jean once again.
"How do you like your Camembert?" Butler Jean inquired smoothly.
"Runny!" Cat Noir responded before he slammed the door again. Once again, a second later, there's another knock on the door. Quick as a whip, Cat Noir opened it again to see Butler Jean holding out a plate with a cloche towards him.
"Unpasteurized Camembert, matured for two years," Butler Jean said as he handed Chat Noir the silver plate.
"Thanks!" Cat Noir exclaimed before he took the plate and he slammed the door again. A second later, his last pad disappeared, and his transformation ran out. Plagg spiraled out of the ring and landed onto the bed of the suite.
"Oh the exhaustion! My poor aching body, I can't move a muscle!" 'Plagg, the Cheese Annihilator' complained while Adrien walked over to him, the silver plate in his hands.
"You wanna bet?" Adrien asked as he placed the plate in front of Plagg, and removed the cloche from it to reveal the Camembert. Its noxious fumes rose from the cheese, and attracted the little kwami's attention.
"Yesss! My gooeyness," Plagg gushed, and like a starving lion, he leaped over to the cheese with renewed strength, and started devouring it like a pig.
"Eat up buddy. Our friends need help," Adrien said, as he leaned against the bed post, watching as Plagg scarfed down his favorite snack.
Meanwhile, over in the Le Grand Paris Hotel's restaurant, Yuma, Astral and Ladybug stepped out of the elevator into the dining hall, able to see the action that was going on outside, through the near floor to ceiling windows.
"Great, we can get a much better view from up here," Ladybug remarked as they walked up to a window, seeing large groups of pigeons flying by, but also noticed something else.
"Odd, the pigeons are flying in the same direction." Astral noted.
"Better go follow them," The spotted heroine decided, just before the elevator dings, bringing their attention to it to see Cat Noir was waiting for them inside.
"Ready when you are, you three," Cat Noir said, while Ladybug and Yuma walked over to the elevator.
"Let's go!" Ladybug exclaimed just as the elevator doors closed in front of her after they stepped inside.
They followed the pigeons to the Grand Palais and looked inside to see a big cage full of park keepers, seemingly unguarded.
"So that's where Mr. Pigeon's keeping them," Ladybug noted as she looked past the corner they were hiding behind before moving back to Yuma and Cat Noir, who were a few feet away from her, but the latter started to sneeze. Thankfully Yuma stopped him before he alerted Mr Pigeon.
"My pigeon radar is on high alert," The feline superhero groaned as he rubbed his nose to stop it from itching.
"Either your radar is on the brink or Mr. Pigeon's left the park keepers unattended," Ladybug opined worriedly.
"Let's set the cat among the pigeons," Cat Noir exclaimed, excited to let his claws out for a scratch fight.
"Hold up, Kitty," Ladybug argued. "It's too easy. I've got a plan," She said before running around the other direction, with Cat Noir following.
But they didn't see that a pigeon was above them, watching them before it flew inside.
"Perfect timing, hootie hoo! We're ready to greet them, aren't we? They're going to fall right into my trap," Mr Pigeon exclaimed as the spy pigeon flew back to him. "It won't be long before you get your Miraculous, friend."
"I can't wait, my dear Pigeon," Hawk Moth said, feeling confident in his choice in akumatizing the pigeon lover in the first place.
Up on the roof of the Grand Palais, Ladybug and Chat Noir were running up to one of the access hatches of the building.
"If we can destroy that bird call, we'll be able to capture the Akuma," Ladybug explained as they reached the hatch, which was conveniently right behind Mr. Pigeon, allowing them the element of surprise. "You open the window, I'll grab him and yank him up onto the roof, then you snag his bird call away from him," the spotted superhero explained as Cat Noir crouched down to the latch on the roof hatch.
"Let's go, early bird gets the worm!" Cat Noir quipped, opening the skylight as Ladybug got ready to attack. A draft of air sended feathers at his face, making him sneeze, and Ladybug missed Mr Pigeon when she threw her yo-yo. After the failed attempt, the Akuma turned around to see the flabbergasted heroes above him.
"So much for the element of surprise," Ladybug remarked as her yo-yo returned to her.
"We really should have gotten him allergy medicine before coming here." Yuma sweatdropped, as the three of them jumped inside, and landed on the walkway Mr. Pigeon was on, right before he jumped to the ground and let the pigeons break his fall.
The heroes leapt off of the walkway and landed on the ground, rolling into a run, as they chased Mr. Pigeon until he sounded his bird call. The pigeons flew to him, forming two spheres around his hands.
"Deedly-dee dee, come closer, I have a bone to peck with you," Mr Pigeon sang, ready to fight.
"I'd be honored," Cat Noir answered, right before Mr. Pigeon hit him and Ladybug back towards the cage with his pigeon weights.
"Get us out of here, Ladybug!" An entrapped park ranger exclaimed from the cage, as she got back onto her feet, with Mr. Pigeon advancing.
Seeing no other option, Ladybug pulls out her yo-yo and summons her…
"Lucky Charm!" Ladybug cried out, as a flash of pink occurred in the sky, watching as some sort of object emerged from the yoyo, both items dropping down into Ladybug's hands.
"A coin?" Ladybug asked, staring at the object in confusion. "What am I supposed to do with this?"
"Play a game of Heads or Tails?" Yuma guessed.
"I doubt it." Ladybug replied, as Lucky Vision kicked in, highlighting a beam, a vending machine, then the coin itself. A second afterwards, she looked ahead of her and saw Mr Pigeon continued to advance on them, forming a giant flock.
"You can't bribe yourself out of here!" Mr. Pigeon threatened before he threw the sphere of pigeons at them.
Immediately, Ladybug started running towards him, but then slid on the ground and under his legs, using her yo-yo to wrap around his left ankle. She then got up to her feet, ran until she was under the beam she spotted, and then jumped up to a pillar to push herself up to the beam, grabbed it, made like an acrobat, and swung herself to the top of the beam, and back down, making a pulley.
Ladybug then dropped back to the ground and ran to the vending machine at the far end, and inserted the coin. Pressing a couple of buttons, she was rewarded when she got what she needed…a bag of popcorn.
"Cat Noir!" Ladybug shouted out, causing the feline hero, and Mr Pigeon to turn and look at her. Cat Noir then got back to his feet, just before Ladybug had thrown the bag in the air.
When he saw what she was up to, Cat Noir grinned, "Yeah!" He then threw his staff right at the airborne bag, which popped it open, showering the contents onto Mr Pigeon, much to the villain's surprise.
"Snack time, pigeons!" Ladybug proclaimed, as the pigeons went after the popcorn, landing on him.
"No!" Mr Pigeon cried out as the birds turned on him, favoring the food over obedience.
Ladybug took advantage of the villain's distracted state, and pulled on her yo-yo, lifting Mr. Pigeon up into the air and hanging from the beam the yo-yo string was wrapped around, allowing his bird call to fall to the ground.
"My bird call! Nooo!" The pigeon man exclaimed as more pigeons surrounded him, trying to get the remaining popcorn on him.
"Cat Noir, grab it!" Ladybug shouted as she kept holding onto the yo-yo string, keeping Mr Pigeon up in the air. Chat Noir followed through, and grabbed it, but then he sneezed and threw it upward by accident. 'Curse his allergies,' Ladybug thought before running to get it, dropping Mr. Pigeon. When Chat Noir recovers from his sneeze, he runs toward the bird call too, just before Mr Pigeon lands on the ground and also runs for it.
They all lunge for the bird call, and all manage to get to it, with Mr. Pigeon's hand landing on it first, then Cat Noir's, then Ladybug's.
Suddenly getting an idea, Yuma suddenly pointed in a random direction and yelled, "Hey, look! A human-sized Pigeon!"
"What?! Where?!" Mr. Pigeon replied, as he turned around, not realizing he fell for the oldest trick in the book.
Seeing Yuma wink at her, she smiled and used Cat Noir's hand to break the bird call into pieces.
"Yes!" Ladybug exclaimed.
"Ow!" Cat Noir said, as he held the aching hand Ladybug used to destroy the bird call.
"Sorry." Ladybug apologized, as while Mr. Pigeon faints. A second later, the Akuma flew out of the broken bird call, causing Ladybug to pull out her yo-yo. "No more evil doing for you, little Akuma!" Ladybug opened up her yoyo, the inside glowing a heavenly white as it dropped to a foot above the ground, catching the Akuma she had freed from it. "Gotcha!" She swung the yoyo around herself and grinned. "Time to de-evilize!" she cried as she swung it about a bit more, a pink glow growing into a flash as she swung it outwards. Coming to a halt, the bluenette heroine opened up the yoyo, the Akuma no longer a gloomy purple, but pure white like how it was before Hawk Moth weaponized it with his magic. "Bye, bye little butterfly," Ladybug farewelled as the butterfly flew away.
"Miraculous LADYBUG!" With that heroic yell, Ladybug tossed the Lucky Charm into the sky, as it exploded into a bright pink energy wave, making the workers return to their parks and everything was quickly fixed, even the broken bird call.
"Huh? What happened? Where am I?" Xavier questioned, looking around confused, while Yuma, Ladybug, Chat Noir stood nearby.
"Pound it!" The two heroes cheered as they were about to fist bump, before they saw the sky start to turn blue.
"Now what?" Ladybug asked, as they saw a dimensional portal open, before the Different Dimensional Ship came out of it.
"What is that?!" Cat Noir spoke in shock.
"It's the ship that was contained in the Emperor's Key." Astral spoke, gaining the hero's attention. "But who's driving it?"
"YUMA! ASTRAL!"
Gasping in surprise by the familiar voice, Yuma looked closer at the vehicle, before seeing Tori and the rest of his friends waving at them. "It's Tori and the others!" Yuma happily exclaimed, as a red beam came down, teleporting Yuma's friend's down to him. "Guy's, I'm so glad you're okay! How did you-?"
"YUMA TSUKUMO!" Yelled a voice Yuma wasn't expecting, as its source stormed over to him.
"Kari?!" Yuma exclaimed in panic and disbelief, seeing an angry expression on her face.
"Kari?" Ladybug asked, before turning to Cat Noir, who shrugged.
"Yuma's older sister." Astral simply said, causing their eyes to widen.
"Oh boy." Cat Noir sweatdropped, as Kari now stood in front of her brother, before grabbing him by the neck.
"Did you have any idea how worried we were!? We've been looking for you for weeks!" Kari shouted while strangling Yuma's neck.
"Nice…to…see…you…too…Sis…" Yuma managed to say.
"Alright, aright, easy there Kari…" Bronk said, causing her to let go. "Still, we're happy you're okay."
"Hehe, same here." Yuma spoke, rubbing his sore neck.
"So uh… Yuma, who are your new friends?" Flip asked, seeing the two heroes behind them.
"It's a long story…" Yuma trailed off, before Ladybug's earrings beeped, causing her and Cat Noir's eyes to widen.
"Well, look at the time!" She awkwardly smiled, as she rubbed the back of her. "Looks like we better get going, right Cat Noir?"
"Oh, uh, right!" The cat-themed hero trailed off, as the two backed away. "Wish we could talk more, but we've got places to be!"
Seeing that they just going to leave him at the worst time, Yuma cried out, "Guys-"
"We'll meet up later!" Ladybug called out, as she swung away, while Cat Noir went in the other direction.
"Hang on. Those were REAL superheroes?!" Caswell asked, as Yuma's friends stared in disbelief.
"Should you really be surprised, especially with what we go through every day?" Yuma asked.
"Touche." Caswell sighed in defeat.
Meanwhile in Hawk Moth's lair, as the villain and Barian witnessed the scene, Vector couldn't help but chuckle, "Well, looks like the rest of Yuma's friends finally decided to come out to play."
"And why are you laughing at this?" Hawk Moth glared at the Barian. "If they are as powerful as Yuma, then we will be outnumbered indefinitely!"
"Relax, Hawky." Vector smirked, as he didn't seem too worried. "This just means we get to crush them all at once! Besides…" He trailed off, as he opened a portal. "I know where to get reinforcements."
A while later, the young designer managed to get back to her home with only 58 minutes left to work on her hat.
"There's no time to lose. I have less than an hour," Marinette frantically exclaimed as she glided into her swivel chair, and kept working on her hat.
Meanwhile, Yuma and his friend were now at a cafe, discussing the recent events and new information Yuma had learned ever since his arrival in this world.
"From the sound of things, it seems like you've been busy." Shark said. "Though I still think you made up that part about this Alvis guy having all the Blue-Eyes White Dragon's."
"I'm serious!" Yuma defended, though they didn't seem convinced.
"Either way, these Mythyrian Numbers…" Kite trailed off, taking a sip of his drink. "You say that they're connected to the Barians when they were once human?"
"Yeah. Alvis said that the clues to their locations lie within their past." Astral spoke.
"Their past?" Tori asked.
"The Barians do not remember their lives as humans. If we are to find the Numbers we need, we must find out who they once were." Astral continued.
"As if it would be easy, though." Yuma sighed, before pulling out his map of Paris. "We've been searching for weeks and still haven't found anything."
"And that Hawk Moth guy isn't making it any easier, is it?" Rio asked, getting a nod from Yuma.
"Hmm…" Kari hummed, as she was deep in thought. "Maybe we need to look at this from a new angle."
"Huh? New angle?" Yuma asked his sister.
"When you first vanished, I went through some of Dad's old things, hoping to find out where you went." Kari explained, as she pulled out a few books. "That's when I stumbled upon his old expedition notes of the places he visited."
"Do you think they can tell us where to find them?" Yuma asked.
"It's worth a shot, isn't it?" Caswell asked, as their waiter came with their food.
"Finally, I'm starving!" Flip said, drooling over his meal, before getting into it.
"So WHEN are you gonna take us to this 'Headquarters' of yours?" Kari asked her brother.
Over at Collège Françoise Dupont, everyone was getting ready to present their hats. Alya tried calling Marinette but she didn't respond.
"Where is that girl?" Alya wondered as a woman entered and approached Mr Damocles, along with Adrien and Nino.
This was Nathalie Sancoeur, Gabriel's personal assistant, who stood at an average adult height. She looked very beautiful and was about in her early 30's, had pale skin with wrinkles under the eyes, bluebell eyes and black hair with a streak on the left side of her head that was dyed a red color. Her hair was pulled back into a bun with the hair on top with a piece of it hanging over her face. Nathalie had glasses with black and red striped frames and she wears very pale blue eyeshadow. She wore a red turtleneck sweater, a black dress jacket, black pants, and black medium-heel shoes. She also had round creamy-white earrings.
"Hello, Mr. Damocles, I am Mr. Agreste's executive assistant Nathalie," Nathalie introduced, while Mr Damocles was confused when he didn't see Mr Agreste anywhere with her.
"Hello, miss. Pardon me, but where is Mr. Agreste?" Mr Damocles asked.
Nathalie held up a tablet, answering the principal's question as it revealed the fashion designer on the screen.
"I'm here," Mr Agreste said, looking bored already.
"Ah, uh, hello Mr. Agreste. Welcome to our school," Mr Damocles greeted uncertainty.
"Adrien, take Nathalie around," Mr Agreste instructed, and like the dutiful son he was, Adrien obeyed.
Meanwhile, Chloé noticed that the fashion designer had 'arrived' and was starting the judging.
"Ah, there's Mr. Agreste! He's coming this way," Chloé exclaimed, before composing herself and posing, with Sabrina following suit.
Mr. Damocles, Nathalie were led by Adrien, to see Juleka and Rose's hat, which seemed to have a steampunk theme to it.
"As you'll see, Mr. Agreste, our students have poured their hearts and souls into their projects." Mr Damocles explained, just as Marinette rushes in and carries her box over to Alya with Adrien noticing as she rushed past him.
As soon as she placed the hat box onto the pedestal, she let out a sigh of relief. She made it.
"Where have you been?! You got your hat?" Alya questioned, as Marinette straightened up. She had run all the way over, despite being just across the street.
"Yep, here," Marinette sighs out, right before she takes off the hat box from the pedestal, revealing her feathered creation. Alya marvels at it, but then her expression darkens, confusing Marinette. "What?" Marinette asked, wondering why Alya seemed so upset.
"But, it's the same as Chloé's," Alya said, causing a panic in Marinette.
"What?!" Marinette exclaimed, right before she looked over at Chloé as the judges walked over to see her hat… an exact copy of Marinette's!
"Uh, hi Mr. Agreste. I'm Chloé Bourgeois. You know my father, André Bourgeois, the mayor?" Chloé greeted the judges, much to Marinette's rage.
"Ugh, that thieving little brat!" Marinette growled out, seething as she glared at the thieving girl, while Alya was worried for her best friend.
"Do you want me to take care of it?" Alya asked, placing a comforting hand onto Marinette's shoulder.
"I think I can handle this," Marinette reassured with a smirk as she crossed her arms. If Chloé's hat was an exact copy of hers, then she would have no problem with setting the record straight.
The judges then move on from Chloé and Sabrina, and finally reach Marinette's hat. Immediately, Mr Agreste could see something was up.
"Hm, turn the tablet back to Ms. Bourgeois' hat," The designer requested, making Nathalie follow his command and turn back to see the other hat, seeing that the two were identical.
"Is this a joke?" Mr Agreste questioned, not finding the situation funny at all.
"No fair! Marinette copied my design! It's scandalous, how could you do that?" Chloé wailed, not even putting in any effort to sound sincere as she fake cries. But Marinette continued to keep her cool, and decided to make her move.
"I apologize for the situation Mr. Agreste, but I can prove that this derby hat is MY original design," Marinette reassured, channeling her inner Ladybug to boost her confidence.
Thankfully, it worked and Nathalie turned the tablet back towards her, while Chloé snapped out of her fake crying to see what she had up her sleeve.
"Go ahead," Mr Agreste said, giving Marinette the floor to defend herself and her work as she picked up her hat from the pedestal.
"Um, everything on my derby hat is hand-made- from the embroidery, to the weaving of the band, to the stitching of the brim," Marinette explained, while she pointed to every detail she mentioned, making Chloé recoil.
"All done by myself. And last, there's a special design element that only the true designer knows about: I signed mine," The young designer continued as she turned her hat upside down and revealed the hidden signature in the gold detailing.
A second afterwards, Chloé stepped back in shock, and knocked over her derby hat stand. Everyone turned to look, and it showed Marinette's signature as well.
"Daddy!" Chloé bawled out as she ran out of the school crying. Once she was gone, Nathalie once again turned the tablet back toward Marinette.
"Very exquisite creation. You definitely have the laboring hands of a hat maker, miss…" Mr Agreste trailed off.
"Marinette, the girl I've been telling you about." Adrien introduced as he put his hand on Marinette's shoulder, feeling proud of his girlfriend.
"Congratulations on your demonstration, Miss Marinette. You're the winner," Mr Agreste announced, offering the closest thing to a smile he could manage. Marinette gasped in happiness.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Marinette repeated, ending each 'thank you' with a bow in her excitement.
"Adrien will wear your derby on our next advertising campaign," Mr Agreste explained, just before Adrien put his hands over hers as they held onto the hat. Immediately, she smiled and blushed in response.
"Awesome job, Marinette," Adrien congratulated, making her blush and smile even wider. Adrien then begins to put on the derby hat. Realizing that he wasn't sneezing, he smirked at his girlfriend and asked, "Did you use a fake feather?"
"I had to consider your allergies, especially with how bad they can be." Marinette smiled, before winking at him, causing him to give out a chuckle.
'I've got my eye on you, Marinette Dupain-Cheng.' Gabriel thought, as he stared at her deck box. 'I don't know why Yuma Tsukumo trusted you to use one of his Numbers, but I will not let you or that boy get my son involved in this war.'
Author's Note:
FINALLY! I thought I would never get this done. I finally managed to replace my laptop so I could continue writing. Thank you Aemon_Targaryen13 and DragongirlFury28 for helping me get this one done.
In case you haven't heard, I am officially uncancelling my story, Yu-Gi-Oh: Ouroboros (Loud House x Yu-Gi-Oh x Xenoblade Chronicles 3 crossover) and giving it a major rewrite. In addition, I still plan on continuing this and starting Yu-Gi-Oh Zexal: A Loud Journey (Yu-Gi-Oh Zexal x Loud House x Pokemon crossover) very soon, so be sure to expect that.
Fan Art (use these #'s on Twitter (X) for the story you want to post fanart of: (match spelling and casing)
Yu-Gi-Oh Ouroboros: #YugiohOuroboros
Yu-Gi-Oh Zexal: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir: #ZEXALMiraculous
Yu-Gi-Oh Zexal: A Loud Journey: #PokemonLoudZEXAL