Authors Note:
If you see anything that looks like this: (#)word it's not a mistake. From now on, if you don't know what the word or words mean, then you can look at the bottom of the chapter and there will be a definition there for you! These are mainly going to be for words that are in french. I'm trying my hardest to incorporate the language into the book because these characters are French themselves. With that being said, enjoy!
(Y/N)'s POV:
The rest of the class and I sat in our desks, listening to Mrs. Bustier speak to us.
"I'm very pleased with how you all did on your assignment. Some of you have really stepped up and I do appreciate it. She praised, but it was short-lived. "Now it's time to move on to our next assignment."
My attention span wore off long ago, but when I noticed Chloe snickering at something, it refocused my attention. I looked to where her eyesight was and I saw that she was looking toward Alya holding a picture (seeming to have a head shape cut out of it) up to Mrs. Bustier's face who was confused.
"Is Marinette still in the Lady's room?" Mrs. Bustier asked Alya.
'When did she even leave? I wasn't paying attention.'
"I don't know." Alya responded. After that, the bell rung dismissing us from class, but not before Mrs. Bustier assigned us more homework.
As we left class, I waved goodbye to Adrien and Nino and went toward Alya who was still trying to contact Marinette. We checked around the building for her, but having no luck once or ever. Eventually, we had to make a pit stop at the locker room so I could get my things, but I was dragged back around the corner by the back of my shirt.
Before I could say anything, Alya shushed me and pointed toward Chloe who was looking around suspiciously before placing a ladybug themed yo-yo in her bag.
Being a miraculous user, I already knew that your weapons disappear with your costume after you de-transform. So Ladybug couldn't be Chloe. However, I could see the gears turning in Alya's head as she analyzed the scene in front of her.
After quickly running away (because Chloe was coming in our direction) we found Nino by himself on a bench and sat with him. Alya pulled out her tablet as she explained to Nino what we saw.
"I think I figured out who the real Ladybug is." She whispered to us both, even though I knew who she thought it was already. "Chloe."
Nino stared at her for a full minute before busting out laughing. Me joining in as he snorted loudly.
"Chloe? Seriously? She's too self-absorbed to think of anyone but herself. Much less save the world, you're cray-cray lady!" Nino jokes, but still putting in his opinion on the matter.
"I'm not crazy! Tell him, (Y/N)!" Alya turns to me.
I wasn't expecting her to turn to me so quickly so I froze for a minute. I'm saw the desperation in her eyes as she silently begged to have someone agree with her.
"Chloe did pull a yo-yo out of her locker, but I really don't think that's enough evidence to prove she's Ladybug. She could just have bought Ladybug merchandise and was embarrassed about having it on her." I put my opinion on the matter, but also defended Alya's claim about seeing Chloe with a yo-yo.
She softly smiled at me for backing her up, and nodding her head at my statement.
"Okay, since (Y/N) saw it too, it's now more believable." Nino shakes his head. "But I'm still not convinced that Chloe could be The Ladybug."
"I'll show you then, come on!" Alya drags us away. Telling us to come back tomorrow and meet her in the same spot.
We did as she says and once we were bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for the day, Alya dragged Nino and I to the locker room toward Chloe's personal locker.
"If Chloe's Ladybug, then I'm the Wizard of Oz." Nino sassily says, rolling his eyes.
"I might as well be the Wicked Witch of the West." I add on to his sass.
Alya rolled her eyes at the both of us. And told Nino and I to distract her for a minute. I would never tell Alya this, but she's awfully scary when she's determined.
"Don't mess up your lines or so help me I'll gut the both of you like a fish!" She threatens as she pushes us toward Chloe who was surprised by our sudden entrance.
"Look Ladybug over there!" Nino stutters out, causing me to facepalm harshly.
'Thanks Nino, I'm about to get gutted like a fish because of you.'
"What he means is, Ladybug was pretty cool yesterday right! I wonder who she is?" I trail off, watching Chloe for any suspicious facial expressions, but she gave me none. However what she said next shocked me.
"Is that a new perfume? It totally works for you. Where'd you get it?"
Nino and I gave each other a skeptical look, but didn't comment any further on it.
"Yes, it's Vanilla." I answered simply. She nodded and pulled out her phone and ordered it.
"Chloe! Alya's looking in your locker!" Sabrina snitches.
We all look toward Alya who quickly shoves her phone behind her. "That's a lie, I totally was not!"
Kim, who was behind her, snatches her phone from her and teases her by holding it above his head and holding it higher as she jumps to try and get it back.
"Give it back!" She demands.
"Kim, dude not cool. Give Alya back her phone, she wasn't doing anything." I step in on Alya's behalf.
I notice that Kim falters a bit, and a slow glow comes to his cheeks but one look from Chloe had him returning back to a jerk.
Kim hands the phone to Chloe and she scrolls through her recent photos, smirking when she finds the picture Alya took of her locker.
"Who's the little liar now?"
|~|
Just when I thought Chloe was being nice, her bratty attitude is what landed us here - the principal's office.
"She's guilty of invasion of privacy. I have proof!" Chloe whines to the principal. She shoves Alya's phone toward the principal and pulls up the photo of Chloe opening her locker.
"What? All I did was take one measly photo!" Alya defends herself.
"I'm sorry, but there's no school policy for invasion of privacy." Mr. Damocles says to Chloe.
"T-Then breaking and entering!" She tries.
"She didn't break into your locker. If anything, you had already opened it when she took the photo." I counter her statement.
"And nothing was stolen?" Mr. Damocles asks Alya and I.
Before we could say no, Chloe had already stepped in.
"Only my very soul! My locker is my secret garden! He or she whom enters uninvited burglarizes my inner being, and steals my life force." Chloe then proceeds to fake sob into Kim's arms.
"Wow Chloe big words for a big brat with a small heart. First things first, it's he, she, or they, depending on the person. Secondly, if your so upset about her going in your locker, then you obviously have something in there that shouldn't be there in the first place." I shoot at Chloe, who's face goes red in anger.
"Right, an hour of detention, Alya." Mr. Damocles, rolls his eyes at Chloe's dramatics.
"Fine." Alya rolls her eyes, not exactly happy about her punishment, but she'll take it.
"Are my ears deceiving me? Did I hear your giving one miserable hour of detention to a heinous criminal?" Chloe, not satisfied with torturing Alya just yet, continues and snaps for Sabrina to read school policies.
"The school rules states the any student found guilty of theft shall be suspended for one week." Sabrina reads aloud.
"Yes, but she didn't steal anything." Mr. Damocles states as he looks at Alya and I for confirmation, in which we nod our heads.
"I'm not sure my father would share your point of view." Chloe threatens Mr. Damocles by holding up her phone.
"Now let's don't bother your father..." Mr. Damocles stutters out. "...The honorable mayor with a minor locker problem."
I could feel my blood boiling as I noticed that Mr. Damocles was falling under Chloe's trap. And I couldn't even imagine how Alya was feeling.
"What I mean is, you're suspended for a week, Alya." Mr. Damocles gives in, and Chloe hangs up the phone.
"That is so unfair! I'm going to protest this on the school blog!" Alya stands from her chair in anger.
"The school blog is suspended as well." Mr. Damocles sighs as Chloe threatens to call her father again.
"She's no superhero, she's super-psycho." Alya storms out of the room, after snatching her phone off the desk.
My blood pressure raises through the roof as Mr. Damocles dismisses us back to class. I waited for everyone to leave before turning back around and slamming my hands on Mr. Damocles' desk, gaining his attention.
"What you just did, is unfair and unjust for a high school principal. You may be so worried about Chloe's father, but if you ever do that again then you'll need to be worried about my father. I suggest you find someway to revoke Alya's suspension and fast, or the silly mayor of Paris will be the least of your concerns." I fully glare at him and slam the door behind me, leaving the principal in absolute fear.
'I think he forgets who's daughter I am.'
|~|
"School life.. such a science experiment. A Petri dish of cultivating lies and betrayal. A thriving vivarium for my little Akumas. Fly away my little Akuma, and evilize her!"
Hawkmoth evilizes a butterfly and sends it out into the world, it flying straight to the school and inside Alya's phone.
"Lady WiFi, I heard thank you're seeking to unmask Ladybug. I'd like to help you if you help me, too."
"I'll expose the lies of anyone who covers up the truth. Sign me up."
|~|
I sit in class, overly distracted but snapping out of it when I hear the door open. Marinette's head peaks in and she quietly yet swiftly rushes to her seat beside me.
I feel a tap on my shoulder and I turn around to see Marinette who was pointing the the seat in between us.
"Where is she?" Marinette asks me, referring to Alya.
"She's been suspended." I grumble out to her softly.
"What!" Marinette shouts out loud in disbelief.
"Marinette, if you're going to come late, would you at least do it discreetly." Mrs. Bustier says.
"Sorry." Marinette shyly says before sitting back down.
Marinette taps me again. "What happened to her?"
This time Nino and Adrien whipped around. Adrien was simply curious and Nino spilled the beans before I could.
"Long story short, she was accused of breaking into Chloe's locker.... I mean, Ladybug's locker." Nino says.
"WHAT?!" Marinette shouts out louder in disbelief.
"That's it Marinette, principal's office. Now!" Apparently, Mrs. Bustier had enough of Marinette's outburst and Marinette did the walk of shame out the door.
"What is he talking about?" Adrien whispers to me.
"Exactly what Nino said, Alya thinks that Ladybug is Chloe." I whisper back to him.
Adrien's head whips in Chloe's direction, who simply winks at him. Adrien slowly turns back to me looking green in the face.
'I swore I just heard him gag.' I snicker at my inner thoughts.
"Is she sure that Chloe's Ladybug?" Adrien gulps.
"I-" I was cut off when a pre-recorded video popped up on the screen in front of us.
"I'm Lady WiFi, Revealer of Truth. You're principal would like to share a little tidbit with you. Mr. Damocles, was it true that you wrongfully suspended a student named Alya, today?"
"Yes... yes it is."
"So you admit that you were very biased, unfair, and totally unjust?"
"Yes. I was.."
"For my next scoop, I will be taking you to meet the girl who's been hiding behind the Ladybug mask."
Before the video cut off, we see Lady WiFi throw some sort of stop button at Mr. Damocles causing him to become immobile, almost frozen in time.
"Everyone, for your own safety, go directly home immediately!" Mrs. Bustier tells us, "And don't forget to read chapters 4 and 5!"
All of the students rush out the door and away from potential danger, however I simply rush toward the bathroom stall, watching to make sure no one saw me.
I close and lock the door and allowing Feu to fly out from my bag.
"I have a sneaking suspicion that Alya just might be Lady WiFi. If so, you'll have to fight your best friend. That seems like it'll be a fight worth transforming for." Feu smirks, his tooth poking out even more.
"That makes sense, if so, then she'll definitely be after Chloe." I deduce. "Ready?"
"No." Feu monotonously states.
"Too bad!" I joke trying to get away from having to praise my narcissistic kwami.
"Feu, Fire Up!"
|~|
Chat Noir lands right next to me as we both arrived on the roof next to Chloe's hotel at the same time.
"Looks like you may have a crush on the Chloe Bourgeois." I joke to frowning Chat Noir.
Chat simply frowns more and takes out his staff. He turns it to the camera feature and zooms into Chloe's room. I peak over his shoulder to see that Chloe was in full Ladybug uniform and practicing spinning her yo-yo.
"What? It can't be!" Chat Noir almost looks more disgusted rather than shocked.
"That's obviously not the real Ladybug, Chat." I reassure the droopy-eared cat, softly putting a hand on his arm.
"Who's being sneaky now?" The real Ladybug appears beside me, scaring Chat Noir out of his wits.
"Oh... Ladybug." He says in pure relief. "But.. I thought..."
"You two don't actually believe that she's the real Ladybug." Ladybug snickers.
"Yeah. Of course not." Chat Noir says.
"She's obviously just a diehard fan. A copy-cat if you will." I point out, sending a wink to Chat Noir.
We continue to watch for anything inside that could point us in the direction of Lady WiFi. Chloe's phone rings and as she answers it, Lady WiFi pops out of the screen and proceeds to go after and capture Chloe.
"We've got WiFi!" Ladybug releases a quick quip before dashing off with Chat Noir and I behind her.
We bust into the room where Lady WiFi was unmasking 'Ladybug' to the world, confusing her.
"I thought you were Ladybug!" Lady WiFi exclaims upset, glaring at a frozen Chloe.
"Sorry to bust your news story, but next time double-check your facts." Chat Noir smirks.
'Didn't you think that Chloe was Ladybug too?' I think to myself.
"Alya?" Ladybug questions.
I remember that Feu said that I shouldn't guess who my partners are, but I couldn't help but wonder how Ladybug knows that it was Alya who was the one to be akumatized.
"Alya's been disconnected. I'm Lady WiFi!" She growls out. "Newsflash, Ladybug. Let's find out who you really are."
Lady WiFi sends multiple pause buttons towards Ladybug but she dodges them, running away and calling for us to follow her.
We run out of Chloe's bedroom and begin to descend down the emergency stairs.
"What's the plan?" I ask.
"Lady WiFi's power comes from her phone. We need to get to the basement where there's no service!"
"No service, no power! Nice plan M'lady!" Chat Noir compliments. Ladybug stays behind us to make sure that Ladybug is following us as Chat Noir and I continue to run down the stairs.
She soon joins us as she begins to spin her yo-yo. Chat following spinning his staff and me pulling out my bow, an arrow appearing on its own.
"So, what do you two do when you aren't superheroes?" Chat Noir asks out of nowhere.
"Chat, we're a little busy right now." I raise an eyebrow, my mask moving along with it.
We hear fast footsteps get quieter, signifying that Lady WiFi noticed that she was losing reception and ran back up the stairs. We run after her but noticed that a lock button was on all the doors we ran past.
As we ran up the stairs, Chat begins to rant once again. "You two do realize that we all might know each other in our normal lives?"
"I doubt it." Ladybug shuts his idea down.
We kept going up the stairs until we reached a door that didn't have a lock button.
"That's suspicious." I commented.
"You're right, be ready for an ambush." Ladybug warns, pulling out her yo-yo.
On the count of three, Ladybug and Chat Noir kick open the door (which could've just easily pushed open) prepared for an attack while I just walk in after them, annoyed with their theatrics.
"So much for the ambush." Chat Noir says.
"You almost sound disappointed, Chat." I walk past him, following after Ladybug. "And what's up with all theses phones?"
As I said that, one of the phones lit up and Lady WiFi popped out of it. She grins maliciously and shoots multiple pause buttons at us, making us scatter.
"How now brown cow! I thought it was you she was after!" Chat Noir says as he flips over a pause button.
As I continued to dodge pause buttons, I accidentally stepped on a phone causing it to break. I watched as Lady WiFi completely skipped over the one I broke when she teleported away from Ladybug.
"You can't catch me!" She says, not noticing that I was behind her breaking phones.
"Yes I can!" Ladybug smirks, following my idea and breaking more phones.
Once she was out phones, Lady WiFi dashed into the kitchen with Ladybug hot on her tail.
Chat Noir and I rush after them, but the door slams and locks in our face.
"No, no, no! Hold on in there Ladybug!" Chat calls to her.
"We'll have to use the service elevator to get in there." I tell Chat, running in the direction of where it was, him following after me.
After a few uncomfortable seconds of being squished up against Chat Noir, the both of us roll out of the elevator and onto the kitchen floor.
"Aw how romantic, Tomcat's come to save his Lovebug." Lady WiFi rolls her eyes.
"I am not his lovebug!" Ladybug denies.
"We'll come back to that later." Chat winks.
"I'm here too, guys." I roll my eyes.
Lady WiFi begins to shoot buttons at us and hits Chat Noir causing him to slam into me, knocking us straight into a freezer.
I heard something drop on the floor as we were locked in the room. I groan and begin to open my eyes, but my eyesight was blocked by hands.
"Chat Noir? What are you doing?" I try to take his hands off my face, but he firmly keeps them there.
"My ring fell off! You can't look, Nix." He panics. "Promise you won't look!"
"I promise." I feel his hands slowly move off my face and I keep my promise by keeping my eyes firmly shut.
"Thank you." I hear Chat Noir say.
I hear him scrambling around in search of his ring, but I also hear his teeth chattering. Since my alter-ego is the epitome of heat, I'm not able to feel cold as easily.
'I'm freezing too, but Chat Noir doesn't need to know that.'
"Chat? Do you need help?" I call out to him, beginning to stand up, but keeping my eyes closed.
"No! Y-You don't h-have to worry about anything." He begins to stutter over his words because his body temperature was decreasing by the minute.
My foot hits something small as I walk toward his voice. I reach down and pick it up, holding it out to Chat Noir.
"What's this?" I ask.
"My ring!" He exclaims as he gently pulls it from me.
"Plagg, claws out!"
There's a quick flash of green and I refuse to open my eyes. That was, until something freezing latches onto me.
My eyes pop open and all I see is Chat Noir snuggling into me. His head was on my shoulder and his arms were wrapped around my waist. He was considerably taller than me so I knew it was an uncomfortable position for him. I also saw his legs shaking as the temperature in the freezer decreased further.
I bring Chat Noir closer to me as I slowly lower us both to the ground.
"I'm s-so cold, Phoenix." Chat snuggles into me closer. "You're so w-warm."
Becoming more worried about him, I decide to use one of my special powers to keep him warm.
"Flame Wings." I summon my wings. I feel a large heat on my back, and I wrap my wings around the both of us. His shivering settles but doesn't stop completely.
"You used your power on me? You shouldn't have t-to do that." He tells me, but stays as close as possible.
"My powers are used to help people Chat, and if I didn't use it to help someone I care about, then I wouldn't deserve this Miraculous." I tell him, as I gently brush the loose strands of hair away from his face.
He looks up at me and his pupils seem to widen, but he doesn't say anything, he simply holds my hand on his face and snuggles into it.
"I knew I could trust you, (1)ma flamme." Chat says quietly, almost like it wasn't meant for me to hear.
"Chat Noir! Phoenix! Don't worry, I'll get you both out of there!" Ladybug says from the other side of the door.
"Take your time!" Chat calls back, getting even closer. At this point, I don't think a piece of paper could slip between us.
"He means hurry up, but he's being nice about it!" I translate. My flame wings unfortunately have a time limit so I won't be able to keep him as warm soon.
We hear shuffling from the other side of the room as Ladybug works to get us out. I felt the heat on my back begin to flicker out, meaning that time was almost running out. I watch worried as Chat Noir begins to shiver violently once more as my wings lose it's glow.
"It'll be okay Chat, I promise." I whisper to him, feeling myself begin to shiver. Chat Noir doesn't say anything (too cold to try) and presses his forehead against mine. My eyes widen as he does so. I pull myself away from being so close to his face, which makes his eyes snap open in confusion.
"Ladybug!" I call out in desperation. I feel myself getting colder at an alarming rate, and I know my wings are right behind me.
"Hang on!" Right as she said that, a big explosion comes from outside the door. I pull Chat Noir off the ground and pull him closer to the door.
The door flies open and I quickly push Chat Noir into Ladybug's arms, knowing he'd rather be in hers than mine. My flame wings finally die out as I step into the warmth of the kitchen.
Ladybug has her own little moment with Chat Noir, him perking up even more from being outside the freezer. I watch as she strokes his hair the same way I did until I couldn't watch anymore. I slowly turn my head away, ignoring the large, yet confusing pain in my chest.
Chat Noir and Ladybug stand up and walk towards the door that Lady WiFi had locked. With me, slowly following behind them.
"Phoenix, you'll have to use Explosion to melt the lock off the door!" Ladybug turns to me.
Snapping out of... whatever came over me, I nod and summon my other power.
"Stand back and close your eyes!" I announce and they follow my directions. "Explosion!"
A couple sparks release from my hands before I send a powerful and blinding blast toward the door. When the light faded, I realized that not only the lock button was gone, but also the door frame itself. A big chunk of the wall was missing, obliterated into pieces.
"Oops?" I say looking at my hands, already knowing that my poor Kwami is going to have a fun time answering my questions tonight.
"Well, that's one way to do it." Chat Noir says.
"Phoenix and Chat Noir, you two go take out the WiFi signal, I'll bring in Lady WiFi!" Ladybug commands.
"On it!" I nod, before taking off. More or less forgetting about Chat Noir, when I heard my watch begin to beep. We dash to the top of the roof only to be met by Lady WiFi.
"I won't let you cut me off so easily!" She says throwing pause buttons at us.
We dodge them until we were able to get close enough to the WiFi tower where Chat Noir cataclysmed it. Lady WiFi growls as she loses the signal, automatically giving us the upper hand. She fights with Chat Noir as I look for an opening to snatch her phone. When she knocks him over, I pull out my bow and fire an arrow straight at it. Effectively breaking the phone, and letting the akuma fly out.
Ladybug swings in just in time to catch the akuma and purifies it, returning everything back to normal.
"Pound it!" We end off the battle with our famous fist bump.
"Ladybug? Chat Noir and Phoenix? Oh my goodness, I need to get an interview with you three! Let me just grab my phone!" Alya says excitedly, running to grab her phone.
Ladybug's earrings and my watch beep simultaneously, signaling we only had a minute left before we de-transformed.
"You two only have a minus left, let's go!" Chat Noir whispers, making us girls nod as we take off back down the stairs.
We rush downstairs as Ladybug enters one room and I enter another. I make sure the door is fully closed and locked before my minute is up and I de-transform. Feu pops out of my watch and groans aloud.
"Wait until we get home for questions. I'm too hungry to answer them." He yawns.
I roll my eyes and feed him small pieces of spicy chicken to satisfy him until we get back home.
A knock on the door is heard which causes Feu and I to stop dead in our tracks.
"Phoenix? It's Chat Noir." I hear.
"I'm not transformed, you can't come in!" I call back to him.
"I won't tell anyone who you are, Cats honor!" He says.
"Our identities have to remain a secret, Chat Noir. No one can know, not even us."
"Right." I hear him say before I hear fast footsteps fade away.
I peak outside after a few minutes watching to make sure the coast was clear before I slip outside the door.
Apparently the coast wasn't clear enough when I heard the door on the opposite side of the room open, the same door that Ladybug entered. I watched as Marinette pokes her head out and freezes as she sees me.
"Marinette?" I blink.
"(Y/N)?" She stutters out.
"You're Ladybug/Phoenix?!"
|~|
In the end, Marinette and (Y/N) walked out of the Bourgeois hotel, laughing as their Kwami's flew around excited to see one another after thousands of years.
And Adrien left the hotel on the opposite side of the building, wondering who his super-heroine companions were.
(1) Ma Flamme - French for "My Flame"