Misterbug jumped in through the window, landing safely in his bedroom. Rapid, high pitched beeps emerged from his earrings. A pink light filled the room for a brief moment, where the superhero had been replaced by his civilian form. Stretching his arms over his head, Adrien slumped down in his desk chair.
"Divertia got away again," Adrien sighed, "At this point it feels like we're never gonna beat her."
"Come on, don't say that," Tikki said, "She's just a tough opponent is all."
"But she's been roaming around for weeks now," Adrien mumbled, "Almost a month at this point."
Adrien glanced down at his desk, where a small green gift box had been placed. His gift from that little Secret Santa activity. Or, as Kim renamed it, "Secret Kim". But Adrien refused to call it that.
His hands reached for the little box. A soft rattling hit the inside of the box as he lifted it up. Adrien yanked the tiny ribbon off the top of the box. His fingers ripped at the thin wrapping paper that decorated the stale white box underneath. He placed the small ball of green wrapping paper on his desk and took the lid off the box, revealing its contents.
Adrien's lips parted as he lifted a beaded charm out of the box一much like the one he made for Marinette. Only, this charm had beads of pink and green. As if this particular charm had sparked something within him, a flood of immensely vivid memories drowned his thoughts. Like he had seen this charm before. No, he has seen it before.
The green eyed blond tossed the black controller on the desk in front of him. Exhaling a silent sigh, Adrien slumped back in his seat as he pushed his chair away from the desk. The blue eyed girl looked at him as she, too, placed her controller on her desk.
"You're amazing, Marinette," Adrien said, his smile faltering, "I guess you wouldn't even need me. I'm so lame compared to you."
Marinette blinked, "What? No! You're so good! I'm the one who's not good."
The trapdoor burst open, where a rather large man with a brown mustache stuck his head through the opening. In his hands was a tray of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies.
"Anyone want cookies? Baked hot from the oven!"
Marinette sighed, "Papa, we're trying to work here!"
Without another word, Tom descended back down the trapdoor, closing it above him. Adrien and Marinette turned back to each other, where Adrien rolled his seat back to the desk. He perched one arm up on the desk as Marinette proceeded to speak.
"Actually, you know what? I've got a secret."
The pigtailed girl reached into the pocket of her pink jeans, pulling out a green and pink charm.
"This is why I win."
Adrien parted his lips. His viridescent eyes traveled constantly between the charm and the girl in disbelief.
"Are you messing with me?"
"Try playing a match with it," Marinette suggested, smiling softly.
Wordlessly, Adrien reached his hand out. He wrapped his fingers around the charm, feeling the warmth and smoothness of the beads melt into his skin.
A loud gasp entered his lungs as Adrien came back to reality. He swiftly stood up from his seat, his eyes frantically darting around "his" bedroom. They landed on a framed photo that sat on his desk. Instead of the Marinette photo he used to have, her picture had been replaced by a photo of himself. His eyes scanned farther, landing on the wall of posters一Adrien posters to be exact.
Adrien grunted as he gripped his heavily pounding head. More and More memories attacked his thoughts like a violent storm一too many memories to list. From the day he gave her his umbrella to images of a tiny black cat causing mischief, all of it was starting to come together now.
The world felt off because his life had somehow been swapped with Marinette's. Not only that, but Marinette was also Lady Noire.
Back at the Dupain-Cheng mansion, a certain girl had also been receiving the same experience. Marinette's hand trembled as she stared at the blue and yellow charm resting in her palm. Her head pulsated against her skull as a crystal clear memory washed through her. Like it had happened yesterday.
The blue and yellow charm dangled from her fingers, blurring out every image in the background as Marinette stared straight at it. With her mouth hanging open, Marinette lowered the charm to look at the boy who gave her this gift. With a smile, Adrien reached into his pocket and pulled out the green and pink charm she gave him.
"I always carry the lucky charm you gave me wherever I go," Adrien said, "And I think it works pretty well. So I figured it was my turn to make one for you."
Marinette's head throbbed with images of a red kwami, as well as Adrien and that cat boy from her dreams. Spirit lifting memories of her mother and father together had also managed to make their way into her thoughts while everything started to become more clear.
Adrien was Misterbug, and her life had been swapped with his.
Setting the charm down, Marinette reached for her phone. She turned on her front facing camera, where the new image displayed nearly made her drop the small device.
Her eyes, which had once been as green as the spring grass, were now the color of bluebell flowers一Adrien's eye color. She held the phone closer to her face, taking in every indigo string of her irises.
Her examination session had been interrupted when a notification popped brightly on her screen, making her flinch and push her phone back from her face. It was a text message from Adrien. Moving at the speed of light, the pigtailed bluenette rose to her feet. She darted over to her massive bed, where Plagg sat on the pillow with a whole wheel of camembert in his hands.
"We gotta go!" Marinette said frantically, "We need to meet up with Adrien!"
Plagg groaned as he bit into his cheese, "Can it wait? I'm enjoying the moment."
"No it cannot," Marinette hurried, "Plagg, claws out."
Just a couple floors below, Zhǎn Chì stood in front of the large blue orb. Her butterfly shaped brooch sparked with indication of a negative emotion in the city. Just as the butterfly in her hands grew tainted with purple, the loud sound of shattering glass vibrated against her eardrums. Zhǎn Chì shot her head in the direction of her window, where a certain cloaked villain had broken in一charging right towards her with her scepter raised.
Zhǎn Chì quickly reached for her staff. She raised the purple staff in defense, blocking Divertia's attack as their weapons collided with a clang. While the unexpected ambusher kept her distracted, the newly tainted akuma fluttered its way out the window to hide in its next victim.
~
Lady Noire landed on a large rooftop, where Misterbug had been waiting for her. The cat girl took a step towards him, now seeing that his eye color had changed as well. Instead of those blue eyes she met him with, his eyes now shined with a familiar viridescence. The same green tint that the eyes of her civilian form once had.
"Adrien?" Lady Noire asked.
Misterbug nodded, a small smile forming on his lips.
"Looks like you've figured it out, too," Misterbug said, "Marinette, right?"
Lady Noire nodded, taking more steps towards the spotted hero. Her heart performed backflips like a professional gymnast as she stood right in front of him, leaving the smallest distance between the pair.
"Claws in."
At the sound of her command, Plagg flew out of her ring. Lady Noire's long, black braid had disappeared and was replaced by Marinette's shoulder length midnight pigtails. As if on instinct, Misterbug muttered his detransformation command, too.
"Spots off."
Tikki exited Misterbug's earrings and dashed away to float beside Plagg. The two kwamis watched as Adrien and Marinette's eyes locked onto each other. A delicate breeze latched through their hair from the side, allowing their blond and blue locks to ride the wind.
"There's something I want to tell you now that I know who you are," Marinette began, darting her eyes away from his face, "That other boy I said I was in love with... It's Misterbug."
Adrien's lips parted, his eyes blinking a single time while a small blush crept its way onto his cheeks.
"In other words, I think I'm in love with you, Adrien," Marinette blurted, her cheeks glowing a deep shade of vermillion.
Adrien's eyes widened at her love confession, the verdant circles of his irises twitching back and forth. Marinette gathered up the courage to look him in the eye again, her pupils dilating at the handsome blond in front of her. His parted lips trembled, trying desperately to get a word out. Anything to break the heavy silence that now filled the air.
The subtle blush in his cheeks grew warmer when, unexpectedly, Marinette placed her arms around his neck. His eyes darted to her pale pink lips, which hovered very close to his own lips. Heart pounding, Adrien closed his eyes, clouding his vision in the darkness of his eyelids. Marinette followed suit, taking this as permission to kiss him.
As the sense of her presence grew closer, Adrien's thoughts roamed around like bees in a hive. Was this really happening? The girl he was in love with was about to kiss him? As far as he could tell, this most definitely was not a dream. He was in reality right now, about to experience his first kiss.
Then, another thought struck him. Adrien's eyes shot back open, where Marinette's face was just millimeters from his. Just as the tip of her lips lightly brushed against his, Adrien lifted his hands to her shoulders. Taking a small step back, Adrien extended his arms to push her away before she could go any farther with that kiss.
Marinette's eyes opened the second she had been pushed back. The blush had faded from Adrien's expression, which had now turned serious.
"I'm confused," Adrien muttered, lowering his hands from her shoulders, "What am I to you?"
Marinette blinked, "What一"
"Not too long ago you said I was 'just a friend', and now you do..."
Adrien gestured between them with his hands, "This?"
Beside them, Plagg and Tikki looked from their holders to each other, their mouths open with nervousness.
"Why are your feelings changing all of a sudden?" Adrien continued.
Marinette looked down at her feet, "I... I guess it was when I found out who you were when they officially一"
"Are you serious?" Adrien raised his voice slightly, "Do you hear yourself right now?!"
Marinette shot her head back up, shaking her head frantically, "No! Adrien, listen! I do love you一"
"Are you only saying that because I'm Misterbug?" Adrien growled.
At the sound of his words, Marinette's heart dropped to her stomach. She opened her mouth to rebuttal his statement, but Adrien hung his head down, allowing his golden bangs to cover his eyes.
"I see," Adrien mumbled, turning away from her.
"Adrien, please!" Marinette begged, "Listen to me一"
"Marinette," Adrien interrupted, now standing with his back turned to her, "Just stop, I've heard enough. Let's go, Tikki."
Tikki flew up to her bearer, floating by his side as her squeaky voice spoke.
"Adrien一"
"Spots on."
Without bothering to look back at Marinette, Misterbug reached for his yo-yo. He threw his weapon in the distance, allowing it to grip onto a building. Marinette jogged up to the hero, her eyes burning with tears threatening to escape.
"Adrien, wait!"
Too late. With a tug of the string, Misterbug took off from the rooftop. Marinette stood there watching the spotted superhero swing away. His yo-yo latched onto another building in the distance, allowing him to disappear from her sight.
With her body trembling, Marinette's eyes sank to the ground. Her chest pushed down on her with a burdensome weight while the previous scene replayed in her head over and over again like a song on repeat.
Only, this melody wasn't pleasant at all.