( Take the mask off when you speak to me )
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- Unedited -
"Is Marinette still in the girls' room?" Ms Bustier asked Alya.
"Uh, I don't know, miss," Alya replied with a shake of her head and a shrug.
Ms Bustier sighed as the bell rang out before turning to hand out the stack of sheets she had in her hands.
"Tonight, I want you all to read chapter three of the breathtaking France: The First Thousand Years, then answer this simple questionnaire." She explained to the class as she handed Alya multiple sheets, "See to it that Marinette receives her homework."
Alya nodded with a polite smile before leaving the classroom.
"And can someone please give Nadia her homework?" Ms Bustier shouted as the last of the class left the room.
"I can do it Ms Bustier," Adrien told the woman, walking forward to collect a sheet for Nadia.
"Thank you, Adrien." She thanked as she handed him another sheet and placed the leftover sheets on her desk.
Adrien left the classroom, before running out of the school.
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Running across the rooftops Nadia jumped from building to building before landing behind a pillar beside her house. Swiftly de-transforming, she walked towards the gate of her house and pressed the doorbell, a camera flying out of the wall.
"Nadia? Why isn't Susan with you?"
"Oh! Uh, sorry. I thought I called to say I wanted to walk home." Nadia replied sheepishly, scratching the back of her head. She heard a sigh come from the camera before the gates opened.
She quickly walked inside, apologising to both Tasha and Susan for the inconvenience before she went up to her room.
Nadia had been in there for a little while and was just flicking through the channels of the TV whilst Symph ate salted nuts beside her.
"Nadia?"
Nadia quickly hid Symph underneath a pillow on the sofa before running over to her bedroom door and opening it, revealing Tasha.
"There's a boy outside asking for you," Tasha informed her before walking away. Confused, Nadia ran down to the door and opened it revealing Adrien Agreste.
"Adrien? What're you doing here?" Nadia asked as she looked around to see if there was anyone else.
"Ms Bustier wanted to make sure you got your homework so I come over to drop it off, you also forgot your bag." He explained, holding up her tote bag.
With a small gasp, she took the bag from his hand and quickly shuffled through it to make sure nothing was missing, after deciding everything was there she took a breath and smiled at the boy.
"Thank you, Adrien, you didn't have to do this," Nadia told him as she put the bag on her shoulder.
"It's no biggie, plus I needed the air." He assured her before turning around slightly. "I better get going. See you tomorrow."
"Bye!" She waved as he walked away, making sure he closed the gate before stepping back into the house and closing the door.
With a sigh, Nadia went back to her room and sat at her desk. Symph flew over to her as Nadia took her homework out of her bag and read through the questions.
"What's that?" Symph asked, landing on Nadia's shoulder.
"It's just some homework," Nadia replied, picking up a pen and filling out the questionnaire.
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Nadia was back at school, however, Nadia was currently stressing about the information her mother had given her an hour earlier.
"Nadia. I need to speak with you." Her mother announced from her office. The girl sighed before entering the office.
"Yes, mother?" She asked, pulling her tote bag up her shoulder.
"You need a new album. Your newest one has been declining in sold copies for about a week now." Her mother told her, sliding a document across her desk.
Nadia walked forward and examined the data before turning to her mother. "But it only came out a month ago? Plus I haven't found the time since we've been so busy trying to settle in!"
"I will not hear your excuses! I want to hear a song demo by tonight or else you'll be out of that god-forsaken school!" Her mother threatened, slamming her hand down on the desk.
Nadia flinched slightly before nodding slowly and exiting the office. Glumly, she exited the mansion and walked towards the car.
So that was why Nadia currently couldn't focus on her schoolwork. She was trying to come up with something resembling a song however she was having writer's block and her inspiration was nowhere to be seen.
In frustration, she slammed her head on the desk, causing the class to look back at her.
"Nadia. If you could not interrupt my class, that would be lovely." Ms Bustier scolded the girl, muttering an apology Nadia lifted her head slightly to look at the empty notebook in front of her.
"Pst. Hey, Nadia."
Nadia turned her head to look at the redhead beside her, who looked at her in concern. "What's up?"
"My mother wants me to write a song demo by tonight for a new album she wants me to make," Nadia whispered back with a groan.
"Damn, that's rough... Is there anything you can't right about?" He asked.
"Can't write about sad stuff and I can't write about
lovey-dovey stuff either," Nadia told him as she looked up to see Marinette sneaking into the class.
"Huh... So is there anything you could sing about?"
"Probably. I just can't think about it." Nadia shrugged.
"What?" Marinette yelled in shock,
"Marinette, if you're going to come late, would you please do it discreetly." Ms Bustier scolded the girl.
"Sorry." The bluenette apologised.
Nadia rolled her eyes, lying her head on top of her notebook as she tried to think of a subject for her song.
"What?!" Marinette yelled once again.
"That's it Marinette!" Ms Bustier yelled as she turned to face the class, "Go to the principal's office!" She continued, pointing at the door with her chalk.
Nadia slammed her head back on the desk causing Ms Bustier to glare at her.
"You too Nadia!" She announced, the class gasping.
"What? But that's so unfair!" Nadia argued as she sat up properly.
"What's unfair is you two disrupting everyone else's learning!" She replied as her glare harshened, "Office. Now."
"Alright, alright! Geez..." Nadia told her as she collected her stuff and put it in her tote bag, walking down the aisle she watched Ms Bustier glare at her. "Who got her panties in a twist?" She mumbled, not very discreetly as the people who heard her burst out laughing.
"Nadia!"
"I'm going!" She yelled back, holding her hands up in defence as both she and Marinette exited the classroom.
The two walked to Mr Damocles's office without a word, looking at each other with different expressions as if having a silent conversation.
Once the two got to his office, Marinette knocked on the door. The two waited a few seconds before Nadia knocked again, "Mr Damocles?"
The two girls looked at each other before pushing the door open. "Sir?" Nadia mumbled as the two walked in, gasping at the sight of him with a pink pause button on his torso.
"I'm Lady Wifi, revealer of the truth. For our first expose, your principal would like to share a little tidbit with you."
The girls quickly turned to the computer screen before turning back to the frozen man in confusion.
"So, Mr Damocles is it true you wrongly suspended a student named Alya today?" The villain asked as she leaned on the principal's shoulder.
"Uh, yes it is." He replied.
"So you were biased, unfair, totally unjust?" She questioned.
"Check, check, check and check," Nadia mumbled, gaining a glare at the bluenette.
"Yes, I was."
"Oh, no! Alya!" Marinette gasped as she ran out of the office.
Nadia watched her leave in confusion before turning to Mr Damocles and waving her hand in front of him.
"Thats cold," Symph commented as she flew around the principal's frozen state.
"Ice cold," Nadia added with a nod.
"Well, we won't be of much help stuck in here," Symph told her girl as she looked around the office.
"You're right. As per usual. Symph set sail!" Nadia called, causing her kwami to fly into her necklace.
Once transformed, Nadia watched the computer once again.
"For my next scoop, I'll be taking you to see the girls who've been hiding behind the Ladybug and Siren masks." The girl announced as she paused the man with her phone. "Stay connected."
"But who does she think we are?" Siren questioned as she ran out of the office and jumped onto the school's roof.
As she began to jump from rooftop to rooftop, a small figure floated next to her in water form.
"Symph?" Siren questioned, almost losing her footing on the roof she was running on.
"The one and only." The kwami replied smugly.
"Huh... Do you have any idea who Alya may believe me and Ladybug are?" Siren asked the kwami.
"Hm... I heard Nino say something about Chloé. Maybe it's her?" She replied with a shrug.
"Better than nothing." Siren mumbled as she ran towards Chloé's house, Symph following behind.
The two continued to jump from rooftop to rooftop until she saw the two familiar heroes she had met a few weeks prior. Landing quietly, she watched the two spy on both Chloé and Sabrina as they ran around Chloé's room dressed up as herself and Ladybug.
"You guys have known me for what? Over three weeks and you can't tell me apart from her?" Siren questioned pointing at the 'spy camera' on Chat's stick. "Red flag."
The two yelled as they turned around to see the familiar redhead. Who, instead of apologising, began to compare her to Sabrina.
"Oh come on! My hair's darker than that and longer. Also, when did my voice sound like that?" She commented, touching her throat in panic. "Please don't say I sound like that."
The two chuckled at the girl before Chat put the spy camera away. "Not at all, M'lady. Sorry for doubting you." Chat Noir apologised, taking her hand and kissing her knuckles before turning his attention to Ladybug who had just watched Chloé and Sabrina get captured by Alya.
"Got Wifi!" She announced before the three swiftly made their way over to the villain.
The three kicked open the balcony door just as Lady Wifi had "unveiled" the two heroes.
"Huh? Who are you?" She questioned as Siren deadpanned, Chat Noir flexed his muscles and Ladybug stood there awkwardly.
"But I thought you were Ladybug and that you were Siren!" Wi-fi said as she turned to the two girls beside her.
"Sorry to burst your news story." Chat apologised, "Next time, double-check your facts."
"Please." Siren pleaded.
"You'll be sorry," Wifi told the three as she cancelled the broadcast and Chloé and Sabrina's frozen issue, the two tumbling forward.
"But I liked them frozen. It was so peaceful." Siren groaned as she rubbed her temples.
"Alya..?" Ladybug asked as the three stared at the villain.
"Alya's been disconnected. I'm Lady Wifi! News flash. Ladybug, Siren, let's find out who you really are." Wifi told the three as she started to shoot pause buttons at the two heroines.
Swiftly dodging and blocking them with her spear, she turned towards the other heroine who had only just dodged a pause button, and Chat Noir, who was just standing there.
"Follow me!" She called, jumping onto the wall beside Wifi before exiting the room, the two other heroes following behind her.
The three run down the hall, Siren quickly opening the fire escape stairway as they tried to escape Wifi's attacks.
"So what's the plan?" Chat asked the girl.
"She gets her powers from her phone," Ladybug commented.
"So, let's lead her down to the basement where there isn't any service." Nadia continued for her.
"No service, no power. Nice one M'lady." Chat Noir praised her as Ladybug stayed behind to see if they were low enough. She quickly began to follow the two after she was almost compromised by the villain.
"I've got you both now Ladybug and Siren!" She announced as she followed them down the stairs. Trying to send a pause button their way, she realized she couldn't because of the lack of wifi and service.
"Get ready." Siren warned them as the three got their weapons at the ready.
"So, what do you do when you're not Siren?" Chat Noir asked the woman in front of him.
As she was about to answer his question, Ladybug groaned and turned to look at him, "Can't you see we're a little bit busy right now?"
"She's gone back into the hotel," Siren told the two as she put her spear away and looked up the stairwell.
The three began to run back up the stairs being slowed by the fact that all the doors had been locked. "She's locked all the doors!" Chat pointed out as they ran.
"Hey. Uh, you realize we might actually know each other in normal life?" He asked Siren.
"I doubt it. Oh, it's locked." Siren replied as they ran past another door.
"She's left this one open." Chat Noir told them as they stopped in front of it.
"Get ready for an ambush! On one, two, three!" Ladybug called as they ran through the door with their weapons out.
"Uh, so much for the ambush." Chat Noir sighed, lowering his staff.
Siren hummed in reply as she looked around the room, "Follow me."
The two followed her, looking around the hotel, "Where is she hiding?" Ladybug asked, "And what's up with all these phones?"
They watched as a phone began to glow pink, and Lady Wifi pixelated from it. With a laugh, she began to throw pause buttons at the three, causing them to split up as they dodged them.
"How now brown cow? Uh, I thought it was you two she was after?" He asked as he used a table to block her attacks.
"Maybe you pissed her off," Siren replied as she jumped off the wall to avoid being hit.
Watching as Chat Noir got pushed into another table by one of the signs, she quickly ran to his aid, blocking her attacks with her spear.
As Ladybug tried to apprehend the villain, Lady Wifi escapes through the other phones scattered across the room.
"You can't get me!" She smirked.
"Yes, I can," Ladybug replied as she began to smash all the phones with her yo-yo.
As Lady Wifi ran off, the three quickly followed, Siren and Ladybug running into the kitchen first before dodging a lock button. However, it did lock their means of escape.
Chat Noir ran into the door, trying to get it open. Finding it to be useless he cupped his hands around his mouth, "Hold on there, Siren!"
Ladybug rolled her eyes at the cat as the two heroines ran around the kitchen to avoid getting hit. After a little while, however, Ladybug got caught in her trap.
"Ladybug!" Siren yelled as she tried to reach the bluenette finding her attempts useless, she focused on dodging the villain's hits.
Finally being able to hit the hero with a pause button, she turned her attention to Ladybug.
"No!" She screamed as Siren stopped moving.
As Lady Wifi broadcasted Ladybug and tried to take off her mask, Chat Noir finally made an appearance.
"You're out of minutes Lady Wifi." He told her, climbing out of the service elevator.
"Awh, how romantic. Tomcat's come to save his mermaid." She commented sarcastically as she unpaused Siren only to lock her body in place.
"I am not his 'mermaid'." She sassed.
"We'll come back to that later," He told her, sending a wink in her direction.
As he tried to dodge her attacks, he ended up getting thrown into the freezer.
"Chat!" Siren yelled after him, Lady Wifi turning to look at her.
"If you're so worried, why don't you join him?" She asked the girl, taking her spear from her lower back and unlocking her body before hitting her with the flat part of her spear, sending her flying into the freezer.
Adrien watched as Siren got thrown back onto the shelves before falling onto the group unconscious. Adrien watched in concern before noticing his wrong was missing.
"Oh! My ring!" He called as he began to look around the freezer for his ring.
After a few minutes, banging was heard on the door of the freezer. "I'll get you out of there Siren and Chat Noir." She called out desperately.
"Take your time," Adrien called back as he continued to look for his ring.
"I don't think we have time." A voice announced.
The two turned to see a kwami made of water.
"Symph?" Plagg asked, flying over to her.
"Plagg she needs help!" Symph told the cat as she pointed towards her owner. "Sit her up, you'll see!"
Adrien crawled towards the girl and gently picked the girl, who had previously been laying on her stomach, her head turned to the left, up and sat her up against one of the shelves. He stared in shock as blood trickled down her forehead from where her head had made contact with the blunt end of her spear.
Adrien desperately began to look around for his ring at the sight of the girl and before long, he found it. Turning back into Chat Noir, he picked Siren up and held her close. Symph watched for a minute before vanishing once again.
Ladybug opened the door to find Chat Noir carrying Siren, bridal style with a solemn look on his face. She looked down at her partner before gasping at the sight of her bloodied forehead. Taking the girl out of his hands, she placed her against a countertop so that the Cat could warm up.
"Ladybug? Is she gonna be okay?" He asked her in concern for the fellow hero.
"She's gonna be fine Chat. She just needs to rest." She replied, brushing some of Siren's hair away from the cut.
"Zap open the kitchen door!" He told her as they stood fussing over the unconscious heroine.
"We can't. Microwave's busted." Ladybug informed him as she looked up at the broadcasting button. "Here's what we'll do. Listen to me." She whispered the plan into his ear, him turning towards her with a nod.
"Got it." He told her as he grabbed a pot and placed it over the button with a grin. "I'll go and jam the wifi antenna."
"Good luck," she told him.
Ladybug waited around the kitchen, waiting for the cat to finish the job. Turning towards the unconscious girl, she found that she was still losing blood. "Hurry Chat Noir..."
After a minute or two, the doors were finally unlocked and Ladybug made a run for it, forgetting about the girl who had been locked in the kitchen with her.
With a groan, Siren slowly opened her eyes to find herself still stuck in the kitchen. Carefully, she lifted herself and picked up her abandoned spear from the ground and began to make her way towards the roof where she expected the two other heroes to be.
Symph appeared in water form once again as she watched her owner stagger towards the elevator with the help of her spear.
"Nadia! What are you doing? You're injured!" Symph scolded her.
"Nothing a little walk can't fix," Siren replied with a groan.
"You're going to get yourself killed!"
"Then I'll run it off." The hero replied to the kwami with a faint grin.
Symph only sighed as Siren made her way into the elevator before disappearing.
As Siren slowly got her strength back during her time in the elevator, she began to run to the stairwell, racing up the stairs to reach the roof. Once she did, she sneaked out of the door to find Chat Noir being straddled by Lady Wifi and Ladybug trapped beside him with her yo-yo.
Using the element of surprise, Siren ran silently towards Lady Wifi - who was holding her phone out of Chat Noir's reach - and grabbed it, flipping over the three before landing in front of Lady Wifi. Chat Noir watched as Siren used her spear to shove Wifi off of him before throwing the phone onto the ground and stabbing it with the point of her spear.
Ladybug, with help from Chat Noir, had gotten out of her situation and de-akumatised the Akuma. As she threw her lucky charm into the air, Siren stumbled forward due to the blood loss.
"M'lady? You okay?" Chat muttered as he held the girl by her waist to keep her upright.
As the magical ladybugs flew passed the two, Siren stood up properly with a nod. Chat kept his arm around her waist just in case.
"Never piss off Alya is what I got from today." Siren muttered as she rubbed the spot her injury had been. "Get's violent. Major red flag."
"What is it with you and red flags today M'lady?" He asked with a grin as Ladybug walked towards the two.
"Dunno." She answered honestly, "It's okay kitty. You're a green flag."
With a grin, he reluctantly let go of her waist, "Pound it!"
Ladybug? Siren! Wow... And Chat Noir!" Alya gasped, "Can I get a quick interview? Just let me grab my phone!"
As their miraculouses began to beep, the three ran down the stairwell and into the lobby of the hotel. Ladybug had already left the two but as Siren was about to hide in a storage cupboard, Chat Noir grabbed the door.
"Stay! I won't tell anyone who you are. Cat's honour." He told her, placing a hand over his heart. "Please M'lady..."
Siren sighed at the cat and put a hand on his cheek, stroking it gently. He leaned into her touch as she looked at him with a frown. "I'm sorry if I worried you kitty, but no one can know our identities. Not even us."
The boy watched as she pulled her hand away and closed the door accidentally leaving it slightly ajar. Chat Noir stared at the door with a frown before reaching for the door handle, Opening it a few centimetres wider, he watched a blue light fill the room. His frown deepened and a sigh left his lips however, he shut the door and left, leaving the girl behind the door relieved.
"That was way too close. Do you know what would happen if he saw you?" Symph asked the girl, putting her hands on her hips.
"My life would be a lot simpler," Nadia replied sassily then sighed and held her hands out for the kwami to land on. "But I wouldn't have you." She finished with a smile.
The kwami lit up at her words as the girl stuck her head out of the door to check the coast was clear. After finding it safe to leave, Nadia exited the cupboard with z on her shoulder.
"What do you say we go home Symph?" Nadia asked the kwami who swiftly nodded in agreement.
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As Nadia arrived at the front gate of her house, she had had time to think about the song her mother had wished for her to begin writing that morning. Pressing the doorbell, she believed she knew was she was going to do.
"Miss Antiope? Where have you been? We've been worried sick!"
"Sorry Tasha, just needed to get some inspiration so I decided to take a stroll around the city of love and fashion," Nadia replied, she wasn't wrong, running around Paris even as a hero had proven to be very useful in her songwriting process.
"Just make sure it doesn't happen again, Miss! Your mother is furious!"
Nadia walked through the now-open gates with a smirk, "She won't be once she hears what I have in store for her."
Walking up the stairs to her house, she found her mother standing in front of the door with her arms crossed. "Where have you been?" She screamed.
"I was writing that song you asked me to make. Not my fault it took a while." Nadia sassed as she pulled out her notebook from her tote bag.
Snatching the book, her mother read through the lyrics as both she and Nadia entered the house. Once the two had walked into the foyer, Nadia's mother shoved the notebook into her chest.
"It'll do. I want a backing track for tomorrow." She demanded as she walked to her office.
Checking the time on her phone, Nadia sighed with a nod. "Yes, mother."
Dragging herself to her room, she placed her tote bag next to the sofa and with a groan, she opened the door to the right of the sofa and walked into the recording studio.
"It's nine PM Nadia, are you seriously gonna start working on it now?" Symph questioned as she watched her owner sit in front of a large panel of buttons and switches.
"Yup." The girl replied, popping the 'p'.
As she messed with some of the controls, her phone started ringing so she took her phone out to look at the caller. "Adrien..?" She mumbled curiously. She accepted the FaceTime and placed her phone against the wall as she continued to mess with the buttons.
"Hey, Adrien, what's up?" Nadia asked the boy who stared at her in surprise for a minute before shaking his head and giving her a light grin.
"I haven't spoken to you in a while is all. I wanted to see how you were doing." He told the girl as her eyes widened at the noise coming from one of the buttons. "What are you doing?"
"I'm trying to make the backing track of a new song my mother asked me to write this morning," Nadia explained as she grabbed her notebook and read the lyrics.
Adrien watched as the girl mumbled the song in different pitches before finally deciding on the pitch it would be sung in. Tapping her fingers to the beat as she hummed the song she began to press buttons, this time, not being horrified by the outcome.
"Can I hear it?" He asked as his grin widened.
"Before my mother? Adrien you rebel." Nadia joked, Adrien, laughing in reply. "I mean sure, I'm all for a little rebellion."
Adrien continued to laugh until she began to play what she had come up with for the few minutes they had been on the call. He nodded along to the beat until it ended. "Can I hear the lyrics?"
"Now you're pushing it Agreste," Nadia warned him as she continued to add to what she had made. Adrien's grin turned into a genuine smile as he watched the girl concentrate on the backing track.
This continued for a few hours, he would ask a question or comment on the song and she would either make a witty response or shoot it down.
That was until it turned midnight and Adrien, although still wide awake, watched the girl on the screen struggle to stay awake.
"Nadia? You should go to sleep. I don't want you to be tired tomorrow." Adrien told the girl as he frowned in concern, he seemed to do that a lot.
"No! No. I've almost got it Agreste just give me-" The girl paused as she yawned, "Just give me twenty more minutes."
He sighed at the girl's antics, "Nadia you said that an hour ago."
"I mean it this time! I promise!"
"Don't make promises you can't keep Nad." He warned her as her mood visibly deflated at his words.
"Sorry... Sorry." She apologised before closing her notebook and picking up her phone. Walking towards the door to her room, she switched the light to the room off before exiting and entering her bedroom. Placing her phone down, she put her notebook into her tote bag before gasping and facepalming.
"What's wrong?" Adrien asked, although he couldn't see her he could hear her frustration.
"I forgot to do the homework Ms Bustier set." She told the boy as she began digging through her bag.
"Nadia it's fine, it was just reading so I can just give you my notes," Adrien assured the girl as she looked up and picked up her phone so he could see her.
"You'd do that?" She asked.
"Course. Now get some sleep, you look exhausted." Adrien told her with a worried smile.
"Mkay... Night Adrien, see you tomorrow." She mumbled as she began walking over to her walk-in closet.
"Night Nad. Sleep well." He smiled before ending the call.
Putting her phone on charge with a groan she walked into her walk-in closet and grabbed some pyjamas to wear. Once she had gotten her clothes she walked out of the closet and walked into her bathroom before changing into her pyjamas and throwing the clothes she had previously worn into the wash basket.
Exiting the bathroom, she stumbled over to her bed before falling face-first onto it. With a groan, she sat up and got under the covers, falling asleep minutes after.
Unbeknownst to her, a certain black cat was perched on her balcony, watching through the window to make sure she went to sleep instead of doing something else. Once he saw that she had gone to sleep, he lept away without a word.
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Word Count:
4941