The gaming trial happens, though Marinette is a little hesitant to sweep the competition...

12th November, 2014

Dear Diary,

We had another akuma attack this morning. Mireille got akumatized because she was yelled at for what the Languages teacher thought was plagiarism... it wasn't.

I barely managed to get somewhere safe and detransform before Cat Noir saw. Whew, my heart was racing! If he figured out my identity, Paris would be

"Hey, Marinette, lunch break is just about over," Tikki reminded her Chosen.

"Huh?" Looking up from her diary, Marinette checked her phone and let out a strangled noise. "Ack! I'm late!"

Citron was waiting by her closet doors, her jacket and textbook in hand. Hurriedly thanking the Sentibeing, the girl threw on the jacket, grabbed the book, and hurried down the stairs.

"Just made it," she thought to herself, panting as she rushed up the steps and into the building, "being Ladybug has really helped my stamina. I never could've made it this fast last year!"

Making her way through the courtyard, she heard electronic sounds coming from the library. Frowning, she crept towards the noise - and stopped short at the crowd in front of a large monitor. Slipping in, she whispered to Alya, "What's going on?"

"Tryouts for the Ultimate Mecha Strike III tournament," she whispered back. "The winner gets to compete with Max."

"Why Max?" Marinette inquired. Then, after a moment, "Wait, there's a tournament?"

"It's 'cause he's unbeatable. Max has been training for an entire month for this," Kim spoke up, having overheard them. Marinette nodded with a contemplative frown.

"Adrien is in the lead," Miss Bustier said out loud, right as Adrien's robot destroyed Max's. Twin looks of surprise filled their faces as they looked at each other, the scoreboard changing to signal Adrien's victory.

The room filled with exclamations of surprise and praise towards the blond, who bashfully smiled and shook Max's hand.

"Good work," Max congratulated, after a heavy silence. "That last combo would lead us to a sure victory!"

"So wait, wait, there's a tournament?" Marinette interjected again, staring at Alya in shock. "People have been competing for this?"

"I'm surprised you didn't know," Alix spoke up, nudging her in the side.

"I... haven't exactly been keeping up on my video game news," the dark-haired girl sheepishly laughed.

"Felix, are you sure you don't want to try?" Miss Bustier called.

Said boy shook his head, not even looking up from his book. "I'm not a gamer," he responded.

"Oh, Marinette!" Adrien's face lit up when he noticed her, and he made his way over to her. "You want a try?"

The group let out noises of surprise. Felix, from his spot in a nearby chair, lowered his book with a raised brow. Max looked up up and down with a reluctant face.

"I don't know... I don't think it would be fair," she began.

"Not fair? Don't be so unsure of yourself," Max retorted from the front. "I'll even go easy on you if you want, Marinette."

"Not exactly the issue here," she thought to herself. If this had been a cartoon, she'd have had a comically oversized bead of sweat dribbling down her cheek.

"Don't be so modest, Marinette," Felix spoke up from the fringes of the crowd. She turned, surprised, to see him standing behind Rose with his book tucked under one arm. He gestured to the screen. "I've heard you're skilled. You deserve a chance to play."

"C'mon," the blond pleaded, holding out the controller. "I've never seen you play before."

"Oh... well, alright." She hesitantly turned to the principal. "Is it okay if I try?"

"Well... the library is closing in five minutes." He hummed in thought before turning to Max. "What do you say, Max? Do you have time for one more challenger?"

"I don't see why not," he answered simply. "It wouldn't be fair to pass up Marinette's chance to try simply because she arrived last."

"Alright then, make the match quick." Stepping back, the principal gestured to the front.

"Go Marinette!" Rose cheered, followed by Juleka giving her a high-five as she walked past.

"I assume you need a refresher of the rules?" Max asked as soon as she was settled near the front.

"I play with my dad a lot, so I've got it," she reassured with a smile.

As they selected their fighters and began, the cheers from their classmates died down to an awed silence. Felix huffed a quiet laugh when she picked the ladybug robot.

"Ready... begin!"

The fight was intense, more intense than she was expecting. Max didn't hold back, and it took every ounce of concentration just to counter. The tide turned quickly, from Max's favor to Marinette's. As the match - and their healthbars - counted down, she saw the opportunity for a decisive strike.

"Aaaaaand... booyah!" She exclaimed, jumping up and down as her father shook his head in defeat.

"Good job, Marinette," he congratulated, pulling her into a side-hug as they set down their controllers. "How did you learn that finisher so fast?"

"Somebody's gotta be good enough to beat you at your own game," she grinned, squealing with laughter as he hoisted her over his shoulder to bring her to the kitchen.

"Are you finished already?" Sabine chuckled as her husband and daughter came in.

"She beat me soundly," Tom huffed dramatically as he set her down in her chair. "After dinner, you ought to try."

"Oh, I don't know," she hummed indulgently. "I don't want Marinette to be too disappointed when her winning streak is ended so quickly."

Marinette blinked, making her decision.

Fumbling the finishing combo, she let Max chip away her healthbar until...

"Max wins!" Miss Bustier announced, and the students cheered for the winner.

Heaving a breath she didn't know she was holding, the girl smiled and turned for a handshake.

Max was staring at her, an unreadable expression on his face.

"Uh... good game, Max," she tried, holding out her hand. "You're the champ for a reason, I guess! You really gave me a fight."

He didn't bother taking her hand.

"What was his problem?" Marinette murmured to Alya later in the day, as they were getting ready to leave. "Max won. He's not usually such a poor winner."

"He was probably just tired from playing," her friend soothed, patting her shoulder as she spritzed herself with perfume.

"I guess," she doubtfully agreed, shutting her locker door.

"Crap, I need to use the restroom real quick," Alya heaved a frustrated sigh. "Go on without me?"

"I'll wait for you," Marinette answered with a smile.

"Thank you!" The brunette rushed off towards the toilets, leaving the pigtailed teenager to make her way to the door.

As soon as she stepped outside, Max seemed to appear out of nowhere. "You lost on purpose," he accused, making her yelp in surprise.

"Max?! Wha- where'd you come from...?"

"You lost on purpose, didn't you?" he rounded on her, a tight frown on his face. "I know the finisher you were going to try. It took me five weeks straight of playing to master it. Why did you fumble it to let me win? Do you think I can't handle a loss?"

"Wait, Max, no," she pleaded, raising her hands in surrender. "That's not it at all."

"Then why? Why would you do that? You could've qualified for the tournament!" Instead of being angry, he seemed more confused than anything. Exasperated. Like he just couldn't wrap his mind around it.

"Max... I didn't win because I didn't want you to think I was trying to take your spot on purpose." She sent him a wry little smile. "If I beat you, that means I'd compete with Adrien, right? I didn't want to take your spot because this is important to you."

Max floundered for a moment before folding his arms. "Well, I... yes, that's correct. I've been practicing every night ever since the tournament was announced in October. I want to compete more than anything." He paused then, brow furrowing. "But... it feels more insulting that you lost on purpose. This is supposed to be a test of skill. You should have won on skill alone."

"Yeah, but I don't need to play professionally," she pointed out softly. "Max, I'm already class representative. I don't need to take another title I don't have my heart set on."

So this was about the election. Max's shoulders slumped a little, and she felt a moment of guilt when she remembered that day. "You deserve to be in something you're passionate about. Whether that's a club, or a sports team, or even gaming, I'd rather root for you than be where you deserve to sit."

"I... but... you..." He took a breath. "I... suppose I should thank you, then. Will you cheer me on in the finals?"

Smiling warmly, she nodded. "Sure."

As the boy walked away, leaving Marinette alone, Felix pondered on what he'd just heard. Tightening his folded arms, he hummed quietly in thought. Marinette... she just kept shattering all of his preconceptions of her, didn't she? At first he expected her to go for the tournament spot despite their classmate's desperation for it, and yet here she was, admitting she had lost just so she wouldn't have to play with Adrien instead.

"Here I thought she would be selfish about it," he mused. "After all, if it meant playing with my cousin..."

Yet she hadn't even thought about it. She hadn't even so much as looked his way.

She's so nice, Adrien had gushed once. I hope you two become friends, Felix. You and her would get along well!

Friends? Hah. Perish the thought. He had to work alone. Having friends would just drag him down, distract him from his goals.

And yet... as he remembered the warmth in her face and the sincerity in her voice, his heart clenched in his chest.

"Perhaps I judged you too harshly, Marinette Dupain-Cheng..."

"YEAH! Go Max! Go Adrien!" Marinette cheered, waving a handmade banner along with the rest of their class as the two boys took their places on the bench.

The crowd was electric with their enthusiasm, and as the match began, Felix slipped into the seat next to her with a whispered, "Am I late?"

"No," she answered, smiling. "They just started."

Nodding to himself, he folded his arms and watched the match.

Max's expression was pinched with concentration, and Adrien's gaze, though determined, was the most emotive part of his face.

A quiet cough next to her caught her attention.

"So," Felix began, "you gave up the chance to play with Adrien... why?"

Marinette looked somewhat taken aback for a moment. "A chance to play with Adrien? What do you mean?"

"Well, you and my cousin... aren't you...?"

"Huh? Oh. Oh! No, it's nothing like that." Waving her hand, she shook her head with a barely-there chuckle. "Actually, I think he's a really sweet friend."

"Huh." He sat back in his seat, dumbfounded.

After a moment, her eyes widened and she turned to him in surprise. "Wait, you thought that we-?"

The opposing team's robots falling, defeated, interrupted whatever it was she was about to say, along with a roar of excitement from the crowd. Adrien and Max leapt from their seats, their hands smacking together in a high-five.

"The winner of the tournament is... Team Collège Françoise Dupont!" The announcer exclaimed. "Congratulations!"

Max looked happier than she'd ever seen him before, laughing along with Adrien as they exchanged good-natured handshakes with the opposing team. While one of them looked exhausted, the other seemed... quiet. Contemplative. Putting on a smile, one could see a congratulations on his lips as confetti rained down from the ceiling.

A/N: I really wanted Max and Marinette to have a bonding moment here. Looking back at the episode, I cringe whenever I rewatch her behavior here, but hey, she's a kid, and kids are selfish sometimes. The least I could do was give Max another friend.