Masked Permanently

After The Fight

"So I'm sure that if you talked to your editor about your news column, he'd be more understanding," Ladybug reassured the confused man.

"Thank you, Ladybug. Was I- changed into a villain?" He asked, guilt evident in his eyes.

"Don't worry. Everything was fixed and you're back to normal! Stay safe and keep positive thoughts!" Ladybug smiled, giving him a thumbs up.

The man smiled in a friendly way in return, and he left the scene.

"Hey Ladybug! Do you have a few minutes to answer some questions?" She heard a familiar voice ask from behind her.

The girl jumped in surprise, turning to see that her best friend and reporter for the blog about her was standing behind her with her phone camera out.

"I- I think I might actually have... time. Hey, do you mind looking to see how many spots I have on my earrings?" Ladybug asked, trusting her best friend. Even though Alya didn't know that Ladybug was Marinette, she still trusted that she would tell the truth and wouldn't take her earrings.

"You have... one, two, three, four, five spots! Five spots! So, in every akuma attack, I've noticed that you lose spots on your earrings and Chat Noir loses green dots on his ring. What's that all about?" She asked, the reporter in her coming out curiously.

"I- well, I can't stay after I lose all five spots. I only have five minutes to fight after I use my power to create an object that will help me in the battle. That object is called a Lucky Charm. The same goes for Chat Noir, except with his ring. He uses his power of destruction in battle to help us when we're in a sticky situation," Ladybug explained, exciting Alya with all this new information. Alya had theorized about the spots and paw print on the ring, but now she had factual evidence from the most legitimate source.

Something confused her though. Alya did notice that Ladybug used her power of creation to call forward a paper shredder, but that was longer than five minutes ago. If she only had five minutes to fight, why was she still here? What happened after those five minutes were up?

"Thank you, Ladybug. I was wondering, what happens after your and Chat Noir's five minutes are up?" Alya asked her.

Ladybug looked at her, then at the phone camera. She knew it was okay to tell people this stuff because Hawkmoth already knew this. He saw it from the akuma's point of view in every battle.

"We transform back," she spoke carefully, knowing that the public would have information about this once Alya uploaded it.

"You used your power today and in battle, right? It was longer than five minutes ago that you used your power. Is there something that lengthens your time to transform?" Alya asked, seeing as Ladybug seemed steady, in one place. This was a strange sight, to say the least. Most of the time, Ladybug was always on the move, never having the proper time to interview with her.

Once Marinette presented Alya with the gift of interviewing Ladybug when she accidentally deleted a video on her phone, but Ladybug still seemed a bit more jumpy and ready to leave, seeing as she was always ready to go.

"Actually, this is... a rare time when I'm able to stick in my transformation, even after my five minutes are up!" Ladybug told her, seeming a bit at unease herself. Something in her eyes told Alya that she was a little less than confident today, but she shook it off, knowing that Ladybug was a human girl underneath that suit. At least she was pretty sure.

"Are you a human teenage girl?" Alya asked, causing Ladybug's nervous demeanor to lighten up in laughs.

"Are you trying to uncover my identity, Miss Cesaire?" Ladybug rose an eyebrow, laughing lightly.