Hawk Moth must have found out who she was and sent this akuma to kill her via embarrassment. Seriously, why did they have to watch THIS? And why did it have to be with Adrien here?
Auuugh. And on top of that, the show seemed deadset on trying to expose her secret identity! Luckily there wasn't proof that this thing actually showed the future, so maybe she could persuade everyone that it was wrong? Though she didn't think Alya bought her protests.
What was taking Chat so long? If he could just defeat the akuma, he could break them all out of here. Then she could move to Shanghai, change her name, and never have to think about this embarrassing episode again.
(Marinette texting Alya): Where are you guys? Why haven't you come back yet?
(Alya texting back): We've got something to take care of. Have fun without us! It's for your own good. You'll see. Love you!
Adrien: Is everything alright?
Marinette: Yeah! (laughs nervously) So, looks like we're spending the rest of the day alone. Just the two of us.
She groaned. Why did Alya have to ditch her? Yeah, she wasn't exactly doing great with Alya there, but her friend was able to break the tension when it got too high. Without her… she didn't want to think about how badly this could go downhill.
Huh. She'd been looking at Adrien in order to distract herself from what her own counterpart was doing, and something seemed… odd. Like, obviously his hairstyle had changed, like Alya's had. That wasn't too surprising.
But that shirt of his… why was it so wrinkled? She was shocked that Gabriel would let him out of the house, looking like that. What did Adrien do, wad it up and keep it on the floor for a week? She didn't think that Nathalie would allow that.
Adrien: That's good, isn't it?
Marinette: Yeah, that's good. Very, very good. Very, very, very good. Really perfect.
Scene change: Adrien and Marinette stand in line at a movie theater.
(Marinette watches various couples hanging out and tries to mirror their poses, but can't decide which one to copy, until she sees a couple holding hands. Unfortunately, by the time she decides to do that with Adrien, he's stepped forwards, and she grabs the hands of the person behind him.)
Marinette: Oh, excuse me, I'm so sorry!
(She buries her face in her purse and slinks forward to stand beside Adrien again.)
"You don't need to copy them, Marinette," Adrien offered, smiling gently at her. "Don't try to be anyone else. Just be you!"
"But I'm a mess!" she burst out. "You've seen me. I can't even manage to stand in line right!" If this was the future, then all this proved was that she was completely hopeless.
Adrien came over, sitting on the floor beside her, his fingers crossed. "Yes, I've seen you. I've seen you kick my butt at Mecha Strike, and then kick the butts of your opponents with Max. I've seen you lead our class in protecting themselves against an army of knights. I've even seen you try to trick an akuma, putting yourself in the line of fire, by going off alone with him in order to free him from Hawk Moth's control. You're better than you think you are, and I don't want you to be anyone but yourself, Marinette Dupain-Cheng." He said the last part teasingly, grinning all the while.
She blushed. "You– you really think so?"
Wait. What was that last thing again?
"How do you know about my plan with Evillustrator?" She hadn't even gone into detail about that with Alya.
He rubbed the back of his neck, looking away. "Well, you see, uh– Chat Noir told me! Yeah! He dropped by and we got to chatting about how amazing you are!"
"That cat shouldn't be hanging out with civilians and blabbing so much," she muttered. Honestly, what had he been thinking?
Hm. Why was Alya narrowing her eyes at Adrien?
Adrien: You okay?
Marinette: (her face still in her purse) Mm-hmm.
Adrien (points at a superhero): Whoa, Ryuko! She's probably gonna use her rain powers to put out a fire. We're so lucky to have all these superheroes in Paris, don't you think, Marinette? (camera zooms out to show that Marinette's gone) Hm? Marinette?
Scene: Marinette runs into a narrow alley.
Marinette: Tikki, Spots–
Tikki: Marinette, I don't understand. You have everything you always wanted. Adrien is your boyfriend! You have a team who can take care of any issue in Paris, which gives you more time to be with Adrien, so why do you want to turn into Ladybug right now?
(Marinette ignores Adrien's phone call)
She cringed.
Great. Not only was this thing outright showing Tikki and trying to expose her as Ladybug even more than it had been already, but what it was showing with her and Adrien right now… UGH! Why couldn't she just function around Adrien? Why did her mind have to turn to mush whenever she was in his proximity?!
"Pathetic," Chloe scoffed. "She can't even stand in line with him? See, this is how I know this is fake. Ladybug would never be so cowardly. And ignoring Adrikin's call after ditching him? He should dump her, she doesn't deserve him."
"Chloe, that's enough," Adrien told her sharply.
Marinette curled her fingers, her fingernails cutting into her thighs. Chloe was mean, but she wasn't wrong. Her counterpart was a pathetic coward, and worst of all? She wasn't sure she'd behave any differently in her shoes.
Marinette: Because I'm… the guardian! And the guardian transforms into Ladybug. Tikki, Spots On!
"Um… what?" Alya asked, puzzled.
She buried her face in the bean bag. She had no idea what brand of logic her counterpart was following. She doubted there was any logic, frankly.
"What's a Guardian?" Alya continued.
Huh. Alya had a point. What did that mean? From the sound of it, she was guardian even as Marinette. But guardian of what? Was that just another term for a Miraculous Holder?
"Oh!" Adrien cried, looking at Ladybug on-screen, and then at Marinette.
She curled in, trying to shrink herself. If Adrien had once thought Ladybug was cool, he couldn't think that now. Not after this.
Ryuko: Rain dragon!
Ladybug: Lucky Charm! (Summons a hose that she attached to a water main, allowing her to put out the fire)
See, why couldn't SHE get Lucky Charms like that? Something simple and clearly useful? That was another point against this being the real future, that Lucky Charm was far too obvious.
Scene Change: Adrien's leaning up against the movie theater, looking down at the ground. Marinette sneaks over to him.
Adrien: Marinette! I bought the tickets! (looks down sadly) but the movie's almost over. Where were you?
Marinette: I went for… drinks, but– but they were out of them. Drinks. But that's okay, let's just… (Marinette glances at a cafe) Let's get a drink in that cafe! (Grabs Adrien's arm and pulls him to the cafe).
"Marinette, really?" Alya sighed.
"You made Adrikins wait so long that the movie was NEARLY OVER?!" Chloe yelled.
"Like you said, this isn't real, I never did that!" Though she probably would. Ugh. Even if she managed to ask Adrien out, and by some miracle he said yes (which he definitely wouldn't after seeing what a bad girlfriend she is, or was, or might be), she'd still just screw it up. He'd hate her forever and never talk to her again!
"Oh please, we all know you'd be just as hopeless," Chloe tossed her hair. "You'd make Adrikins wait for over an hour, ignoring his calls, just because you had a little conniption fit? You're lucky he's so nice–"
"Chloe, quit it!" Adrien snapped. "Don't you see she feels bad enough already? And like you said, that probably isn't even her, so stop!"
"Hmph." She turned away.
Adrien was so perfect, and she just… wasn't. How could he watch this and still want to talk to her?
Scene Change: Alya and Nino at some sort of outside event, talking to Mayor Bustier.
Alya: Mrs. Mayor, you were one of the first to get akumatized by the new holder of the Butterfly Miraculous.
Mrs. Bustier: I was.
Nino: Do you have any memories of the experience?
Mrs. Bustier: I remember how I felt prior to the akumatization, yes. I was extremely worried about our baby, and that's when I heard a voice.
Alya: Did it belong to a man or a woman?
Mrs. Bustier: It wasn't clear, like several voices blending together.
"So mostly the same as akumatizations in our time, except for the multiple voices thing, that's new…" Alya muttered.
She wasn't sure why Alya had expected the new Butterfly Holder to work differently from how the last one were using the same tool, after all. But then again, she didn't know much about how Miraculous worked. Maybe under some circumstances akuma victims COULD remember their time while akumatized?
Still, that multiple voices thing… that was useful information. Was it just some sort of voice disguising trick that the new Holder was using, or were multiple people actually involved? Was it even possible for multiple people to use a single Miraculous at the same time?
She wished Tikki was here. She could answer these questions. Well, maybe not right now, but she could sneak off and ask about this stuff.
Scene Change: Adrien and Marinette are sitting down at the cafe. Marinette looks around, and spots a couple ordering some food.
Waiter: Hello. What will it be?
Adrien. Uh…
Marinette: Two hot chocolates and some cookies please, like that couple is having over there! (she points to the couple)
"Marinette, you don't have to copy what other couples are doing in order to have a successful relationship," Alya told her, exasperated.
"Better than relying on her own instincts. THOSE told her to run away and ghost Adrikins for an hour. Acting like anyone but herself has a higher chance of success. He should just be dating ME, I can treat him like a prince!" Chloe declared.
She groaned. As if she needed the reminder. What did her counterpart even do for that long?
Scene Change: Alya and Nino are talking to some lady she'd never seen before
Nino: When that voice contacted you, by any chance, did it say its name?
Woman: I remember nothing that followed the akumatization, only the moment I came to. Ladybug and Chat Noir were there, and it was all over.
She really wasn't sure what Alya and Nino were hoping to uncover. This was the same as what happened with Hawk Moth's victims.
Scene Change: back at the cafe with Adrien and Marinette.
Waiter: Pistachio-shrimp cookies, like the lady and man are having over there.
"THAT MAN HAS NO PANTS!" Kim yelled.
"Uh… what?" What man? The waiter was certainly wearing pants.
"The guy who looks like that fallout mascot, you know, the one with blond hair, yellow shirt, and blue jacket, see?" Kim pointed to the screen.
She blinked. Sure enough, there he was. Not wearing any pants.
"How did I miss that?" She muttered. He wasn't exactly hard to see.
Max adjusted his glasses. "It's like the invisible gorilla. If you're focused on one thing, in this case Adrien and Marinette, it's easy to miss even really weird things happening in the surroundings."
"Can that explain why the man chose to take off his pants?" Alya asked.
"I am afraid I would need more data to formulate a hypothesis for that."
How Max was able to say that with a straight face, she'd never know.
Adrien: That's an… original combination.
Marinette: Right? Original, just like us!
Marinette sees one of the couple feeding the other and starts trying to do the same with Adrien, only for a little girl to block her view with her drawing.
Little girl: Look! Look what I drew!
Marinette: Yeah, yeah, that's very pretty, why don't you show it to the next table instead?
She does so.
Little girl: Look what I drew!
The person waves her away.
"Poor kid," Alya said sadly. "I mean, I get it, I've waved away Ella and Etta more than once when I was busy with someone, but it still sucks to be on the receiving end of that.
Marinette watched as a couple played footsie. She tried to do the same with Adrien, but kicked him by accident.
Adrien: Ooph!
Marinette: Sorry sorry sorry! I didn't mean to do that! I wanted… not do that, at least. Uh. I'm sorry.
Adrien: Don't worry about it. But are you sure everything's alright?
Marinette: Why wouldn't I be? We're here together, doing it on our own. It's amazing.
"And you're doing so well," Chloe sneered. "You order him the most disgusting cookies I've ever seen, then you assault him? This is the worst date I've ever seen. He'd be better off far, far away from you."
"Ever heard of 'if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all?'" Alya asked.
"That's for peasants."
Adrien knelt down next to her. Her face turned red-hot. He was far too close!
"Look, I know this is tough," he told her gently. "And I know this isn't the sort of thing you'd want to be broadcast. I don't like having my personal life on display, either. But it's okay. You'll get through this."
Oh, yeah. Adrien would go through some of this normally, wouldn't he? Since he was on tv a lot. But– "You're always amazing! You don't do the sort of embarrassing things that I do. You're perfect!"
"I'm just another kid, Marinette," he told her quietly.
But he wasn't! He wasn't running away in embarrassment or kicking his date or anything else she was doing. Why did she think she had a chance with him? Even if he got temporary insanity and said yes, she wouldn't be able to handle it.
Adrien: Oh, look Marinette, it's Miss Hound. Uh, Marinette?
"REALLY, DUPAIN-CHENG? REALLY? YOU'RE DITCHING ADRIKINS AGAIN?!"
She winced. Why did the akuma have to hit her? Or, why couldn't it be one of those ones where you just stopped existing if it hit you? That sounded nice right about now!
Scene change: Marinette ran into the bathroom
Marinette: Tikki, Spots O-
(knocking at door)
Marinette: What is it?
Little Girl: Wanna see another pretty drawing?
Marinette: Sorry, I don't have time. Later, okay?
"Aww, that girl looks like she's gonna cry," Alya sympathized.
Oh, NO. "Do you think she might get akumatized?"
Alya shrugged. "It's certainly possible. Even if my counterpart is right and most of us have learned to resist akumas, I doubt a little kid like her has a chance."
She groaned. As if she needed to be responsible for any MORE akumatizations.
Marinette: Tikki, Spots On!
Cat Owner: My cat, my cat!
Miss Hound: Don't worry Ms. Michele. You're up, kitty! Now, Fe-
(Ladybug got the cat down with her yo-yo).
Miss Hound: -tch. (The cat reappears in her arms.)
"It looks like the ball can be used to summon anything it's touched before," Adrien observed. "Very situational, but could be useful for fighting akumas. You just need to hit the akumatized object with the ball, and then retrieve the ball and summon the object to you whenever you're safe. Preferably when you're far away from the akuma."
Hm. Not the strongest all-around power, but with a sufficiently clever user, you could put in some work with it. She kinda wanted to try it herself now. The Lucky Charm stretched her brain a lot (a little too much, in fact), but this would bend her brain in a new way.
Ladybug: Awesome job, Miss Hound.
Miss Hound: Yeah, well, I didn't have time to do mu–
Ladybug: Oh, Polymouse!
(Ladybug swings off-screen.)
Miss Hound: –much.
"I really don't think your super team needs much help right now," Alya told her.
She groaned. When would this embarrassing nightmare end?!