"Ready?" sounded Adrien behind the bathroom door.
"A-almost" stuttered out Marinette as she failed to put on her earrings for the third time in a row. She couldn't keep her hands steady because of her rushing heart.
When she finally made it, she took a step back, carresing her pure white sleeveless dress nervously.
It wasn't revealing, but for the casual Marinette, it was like going from a kid from kindergarten to a popstar-level kind of daring.
She brushed her let-loose hair and bit her lip. What is he going to think? I have never really shown this side of myself... He is going to cringe at it, won't he? I am just pretending I am something else...
She sighed. Ironically, because of her 'job' as Lady-bug, she never truly had a chance to show her Lady-ness. To wear dresses, go to parties, dance, sing, date boys. I never had time to grow up...
Wearing a dress felt so strange. Like that it was way too big of a step, promenading around like that. Sure, she wore a dress for a shoot, but never went out in public with it...
She took a biiiig breath and a motivating high-five from Tikki that then rushed to hide in her purse as she opened the bathroom door.
Adrien glanced up from his phone.
"!?" said his expression.
His thoughts raced so fast and in so many directions that his brain just gave up and left to take a drink.
Marinette's hand shot up instictively to play with her pigtails that were, to her embarrassment, not quite there. She dropped her head. "You don't like it..."
Adrien choked on air. His hand reached up to her, then back as he coughed, shaking his head. "N-No, Mari, actually, you are smoking hot."
Her eyes glanced at him confusedly. He put a hand over his mouth, whispering to himself 'Too soon...' He shook again. "I mean... You look... Good. Yeah. Good."
"Good...?" peeped Marinette.
"Splendid. Wonderful. Charming. Magnificent." Adrien flicked her nose with his finger. "Miraculous."
Marinette giggled with a huge boulder of nerves falling off her chest. "You look... Perfect."
"Marinette!" Adrien blushed, then smirked. "Oh, I see, you are saying that just because of your outfit you made for me." he spun around like a ballet dancer.
Marinette felt as if she was thrown into outer space. Only now did she fully realize he was wearing her outfit. The one she designed just for him, for his body and for his personality.
From a distance, it might seem like a normal formal suit, but up close the details started to shine. The precise cut, showing and accentuating only Adrien's strongest of features and smoothing out any imperfections - if there even were any. The color and pattern danced of each other, playing to Adrien's behaviour of a perfect social chameleon and the dark upper section of the suit played a huge contrast-role to make his hair pop out like a crown.
"How is it?"
"There is only one suit in the world that could match it." said Adrien with honest stupefaction.
Marinette smiled and pointed to the door. "Ready?"
"Ready as ever, princess."
------
"Lesson learned, pointing to all directions with a convincing foreign accent does work like a charm when trying to get to a party through a man who can't speak English nor French."
"Shut it." Marinette elbowed him. "What else was I supposed to say, Mr. Gentleman."
The blond goof ball grabbed her hand.
"These are Veet's friends, so they will surely speak English, right?" she wondered.
"I don't know him as well as you do." Adrien shrugged.
"Agreste! I don't even know his last name..."
"Hey, I am messing with you." He kissed her lightly on the ear. "I love you."
"I love you too."
They stepped into the mail hall. This was no ordinary house for a party. The high ceiling, marbled pillars and smooth tiled floor with ancient decorations, statues and furniture screamed royalty.
They barely looked around before a group of strangers approached them, flickers in their eyes.
"Oh my God." the people gathered around Adrien, prodding at his outfit, shouldering Marinette out of the way.
"That texture-" said one before being interrupted by others.
"The details-"
"The perfect fit-"
"The effortless élégance !"
More and more people piled up, driving Marinette further and further away from Adrien. She reached for him, but he was too far. Then she felt someone grab her gently by the shoulders.
Adrien looked around like a hit chicken, searching for Marinette that vanished in the sudden crowd.
"Marinette?" he whispered, confused.
"-look at the delicacy of the fabric!"
"I have never seen such a wonderful work with the sleeves and-"
"-work of art!"
"Who made this, young boy?" said one woman, touching the suit with an almost religious respect. When Adrien opened and closed his mouth without saying a word, they repeated him the question in another dozen languages to make sure he understood. Adrien looked from face to face, looking for Marinette.
"She did." said a voice without a trace of an accent.
Adrien turned to see Veet holding Marinette by the shoulders, pushing her through the crowd.
The people eyed Marinette up and down with distrusting laser-eyes. They are surely telling themselves it's not true - I couldn't have made that.
It was too much pressure. Marinette squeezed her dress, almost ripping it off. She avoided all eye contact, looking at the ground, beginning to shake.
She heard Adrien step forward. He threw one quick, sharp glance at Veet clearly signaling to him: 'Get-your-dirty-hands-off-my-girl' and comforted her, whispering encouraging things to her ear.
In the near silence the people observed the blue haired girl, slowly realizing yet another wonder...
"Girl, and who made your dress? Tell us the truth. It's just so... Princess-like. It's Magnificent!"
"I did." Marinette looked up. "I designed and made both of these."
The crowd was left it utter shock and Adrien was sure that if there were a few floors missing, their jaws would still be falling to the ground.
He led Marinette away from the group, his arm proudly over her shoulder.
Marinette was still in shock. "I.. Uh... Too many people... Pressure... Stress..."
Veet stepped to her, offering her a glass of water. She accepted, but eyed him warily.
"You both look so dreamy." Veet shook his head, smiling. "Truly an impressive job, Marinette."
"Th-thanks." said Marinette, sipping on her water.
"So, how are you two enjoying the party?"
"We just arrived." said Adrien with just a touch of ice in his voice.
"I see, and you already made yourselves the life of the party. Oh, you French." Veet laughed and drank a bit from his own glass. Then he jerked to a side as if he remembered something and called for the man with drinks. He offered Adrien one glass. "Please don't take this badly, I mean it in good faith, but before the match I also learned that you don't drink alcohol and instead prefer ginger ale as your drink of choice."
Adrien frowned, taking the drink. "You do that to everyone?"
"Only if they stand between me and winning." Veet sighed. "My curse."
"And then there are people like Kagami who completely destroy you."
Veet nodded. "And then there are people like Kagami who completely destroy me. Shame it wasn't a fair match. It would have been legendary."
"But you don't really play in fair matches, do you?"
"Anything is fair as long as I am the one winning." Veet laughed and Adrien already thought of ways to get far away from the conversation.
"Talking of winning, could you say that Chat Noir is celebrating his victory here in Prague?"
"What victory?" said Adrien dryly.
"The talk is that Ladybug and Chat Noir have defeated the Hawkmoth. It would make sense that he would want to get a bit of leisure time, surely."
"They have not defeated the Hawkmoth. He is still somewhere out there."
"How can you be so sure? Did you talk to Chat Noir?"
"You could say that."
"Oh, I see. Do you know him? Maybe you don't know him as well as you think you do..." Veet gave Adrien this worrying glance. "Anyways, if you are able to contact him, I am sure the Protector of Prague would like to meet him."
"The Protector of Prague...?" questioned Marinette.
"Yes, he goes by the name 'Gray Wolf'. He is our Miraculous Holder."
"I never realized there were other miraculous holders in Europe."
"Of course there are," said Veet, almost hurt. "there is one in England, Germany, Spain and so forth..."
Adrien frowned. "How is it possible I have never heard of them..?"
"None of them is as notorious or powerful as the best of the best - Chat Noir and Ladybug themselves. I am not surprised you haven't heard of them." Veet glanced from Marinette and Adrien. "Our Gray Wolf is not really a fighter. He fights his enemies with his mind, he is a detective ready to get under the skin of his target, trying his best to win. He doesn't fight Supervillains, but he combats crime and takes down mafia bosses."
Marinette wondered for a moment, coming to the conclusion that this Miraculous couldn't have been part of the original Miraculous box. "Where did he come from, this Gray Wolf?"
"It's an old hereditary title. What we know is that only those of pure Czech descent carrying old Czech King blood in their heart are able to wield the power of the Gray Wolf."
Could we move on? Adrien sipped on his soft-drink-in-a-wine-glass, not saying a word.
"It's cool that there are other Miraculous superheroes. It makes me feel less alone." said Marinette at last. "I mean, less alone in a sense that we civilians are protected more." she chuckled nervously, hoping no one would pose any questions.
"Did you hear of what happens when one person wields both the powers of creation and destruction?" said Veet excitedly.
"Bad?" said Marinette.
"Absolute power." said Adrien, finishing his drink. "That's why they must never fall in the hands of Hawkmoth."
"You never wondered what he might want with them?"
"No. I don't care, he won't get them."
"It would be over then, right?" said Marinette.
"Yes." nodded Adrien, getting sleepy from the conversation.
"Not quite." winked Veet. "You see, the Gray Wolf learned about one time, long long ago, when a man who has lost everything - his children, wife, siblings and all riches in a horrible looting - managed to get his hands on both the miraculouses of Chat Noir and Ladybug. Long story short, the power drove him crazy and instead of bringing back his lost ones, he decided to end the world."
"But the world is still here...?" wondered Marinette.
"That is because he was stopped by someone. All others failed, but this one person wielding new and unheard of powers called the Radiance defeated the man and disappeared. Radiance disappeared with him, never to be found again. The Gray Wolf has spent centuries looking for it, but failed."
"And you know all this how?"
"You could say we have a similar relationship as you and Chat Noir." Veet shrugged. Adrien and Veet stared each other down.
Marinette drove an elbow into Adrien's side. He glanced in the direction she nodded to.
"Why did you invite her...?! " moaned Adrien when he noticed Kagami quickly approaching them.
"Because I find her fascinating. And I want to destroy her in our next match." admitted Veet. "Kagami!" he bowed down courtly, reaching for her hand.
Kagami stared his offer down coldly. "Are your horrible fencing skills contagious?"
Veet straightened back, smirking. "Your tongue is more lethal than your swordplay. Impressive."
Kagami shrugged. "If you say so."
Kagami locked eyes with Adrien. For way too long. Marinette's heart started beating faster, worries popping up. It was not a glance of hatred at all.
"You fenced brilliantly, Adrien." she said at last. "In the first round at least. Then it was painful to watch."
"I take it as a compliment." said Adrien. Marinette leaned into Adrien's embrace, confused. Like, what do you do in front of someone's ex? Hey, Kagami, he loves me more, so eat it ? Eh... No...
"Take it as I said it." said Kagami, glaring at Marinette in the process. Marinette's heart flew to her throat, silencing her. "But yes, it was a... compliment." Kagami said at last.
Adrien laughed. "I think you steamrolled Veet." Veet gave Adrien a quick 'Come on, man' look. "It was a fantastic match."
Kagami looked at Veet who looked like a happy five year old baseball audience member catching the ball the moment she payed him attention. "It wasn't all that brilliant at all. He was predictable, exactly how I expected him to be."
"Don't get too cocky, girl. I love Japan, so I went easy on you in our match. But now I see you are no joke.. . Honestly, you are the best fencer I have ever met. But I am still going to win in the end, you will see. "
Kagami scoffed. "What makes you think such nonsense."
He stepped closer to her. "I know you are right handed with an improportional focus going to the right on nearly every attack. I know that you always press the attack after every single parry - you can't help yourself. I observed your matches yesterday and I noticed that you perform the worst on week-ends, caused by the pressure of your parents being there, perhaps?" Kagami stepped uncomfortably. "I know that your Master applies épée fencing methods into sabre, revealing one or two backbone flaws in your foot work. Talking of predictability, you only have three playstyles... Also, your best score in movement was 10.34 seconds." He looked her directly in the eyes. "Mine was 9:84."
Kagami's pupils dilated.
Veet smirked confidently. "Let the best one win our next round."
Marinette was beyond confused by what she was seeing. If that was flirting, she had obviously been doing it wrong the whole time. Whatever floats your boat, guys...
She was relieved when the band started playing.
Adrien's face lit up like Christmas lights. "Do you want to dance?" he said and dragged her behind him without waiting for an answer. Marinette looked over her shoulder awkwardly and waved. "It was nice to meet you, Kagami." she said with an ultra insecure smile on her lips.
"Dancing..." Adrien repeated. "I haven't had the chance to dance in so long!"
"Adrien... I don't know how to dance."
"What? Of course you do! I danced with you once, remember?"
How could I forget? She thought and bit her lip. "That was slow, this is different. Listen... I am so clumsy..."
That's when Adrien grabbed her in his hands, pressing so close their noses touched. She smelled his scent, felt his breath brush over her ears and heard his heart beating steadily against her chest.
He grabbed her hands and started to lead her, and she followed. Did she know what she was doing? Absolutely not. Did she do it anyways? Yes. And did she feel freaking incredible? Absolutely yes.
She was free. She moved, she danced. She threw all bounds, self-deception and insecurities over board. She was Marinette and Adrien was her own.
She looked at him. His hungry eyes ate up her movements like candy as she loosened up. That made her dance even wilder. Finally having fun with someone she loved. With someone so hot...
"What are you looking at?" she threw him a seductive glance. Adrien bit his lip, holding himself back for a moment, then he stepped forward from his own dancing and grabbed her by her sides aggressively. She danced and grinded against him.
If someone in that room could read minds, they would have called for Jesus himself to cleanse her of her impure thoughts at that moment.
After a simultaneous flash in their eyes they both turned at each other and leaned in for a kiss. Nothing could ruin this moment...
The music stopped, light suddenly blinding them.
Marinette stumbled mid-movement, tripping over, confused.
"What is going on..?" she said outloud, as did many other dancers, looking around the dance floor blankly. The room was filled with nervous murmuring.
Then someone turned on a large TV near the ceiling that everyone could see.
The hall fell silent.
The screen flashed with an emergency red in a language she couldn't understand. She instinctively wrapped herself around Adrien's arm.
The TV cut to a shaking camera and people screaming in fear and pain.
Then the TV cut again, to a shot of a burning flag. The flag of the Czech Republic.
Marinette frowned. The buildings she saw were certainly not from Prague. They were-
She opened her mouth but Adrien was faster. "The Czech embassy in Paris!"
Something moved behind the flames on the screen. The someone was moving closer to the camera, paying no mind to the meat burning heat of the flames. A shape stepped out of the burning embassy, walking carelessly over corpses of innocents.
Marinette's eyes grew wide in terror. Is that-
"Hello, hello, hello..." said the shape, moving closer through the smoke and flames, his manly voice colder than sharp icebergs of Neptune.
Marinette could slowly make out some details...
She saw a tall slim figure with a blank white face with black ink running down its cheeks like tears, a crude set of armor, all spikes and rough edges, three bloodied brutal blades like guillotines - a blue one in the right hand, a red one in the left and a white one, the smallest of them, on the front of his menacing crown of rusted metal pointing upward.
An Akuma attack.
"You ignored my warnings... You thought that my restrictions were too strict... And you idiots refused to wear your damned masks and then you decided to blame this on me!!!" the villain bellowed, his tattered cape fluttering behind him with the colors of the French flag.
"And you-" he looked in the camera, expressionless. "You, Ladybug and Chat Noir. I begged you for help thirty times... But you never came. Not a week ago, not yesterday and not today." he let out a little chuckle, even though it sounded more like nails scratching the top of a coffin. "Well, that's why I am here. Paris is mine now, little cat hiding in Prague," Adrien tensed up as the villain stomped on the burning Czech flag. "and soon I will have Ladybug's head too. Just wait and see..."
"Who are you... What do you want..." whispered weakly one of the bodies below him in French. The Akuma cocked its head, annoyed. He stepped on the woman's neck, making her choke.
"Learn your manners, woman." he cleared his throat and turned back to the camera. "But it is true I haven't presented myself properly. My name is President Havoc and I declare an absolute quarantine. Anyone found breaking the rules and walking outside without permission will be executed." President Havoc looked over at the camera crew behind the screen. "Effective immediately."
With a quick slash of his blades and guttural screams in the background the broadcast went black.
---------------
Well, well, well, you fricked up, Adrienette.
Anyways, you readers are the craziest love buckets ever. This story was 5# Adrienette for 5 days straight. I can't believe it, you are truly the best best best...
Anyways, tell me what you think of this chapter, where you think the story is going, what you like or dislike or anything on your mind! I am down for any feedback.
Well, wear your masks or your president might get akumatized and go on a killing spree... Ehm,
Have a great day, cookiepie.
[3324 words] 💕💕💕