Miraculous Hunters Book 1

Chapter 3: The Bubbler

(One week later)


The week after Stoneheart's akumatization and Ladybug and Chat Noir's debut had been nothing short of a whirlwind. Hawkmoth had continued to release akumas during that time, and the heroes had to do everything in their power to stop them. But in their civilian lives, things were a little bit more quiet, but not by much. Just like her brothers had predicted, Marinette was not handling her first crush very well. During the first week, Adrien had been in school, Marinette could barely talk to him, which was a step up from her brother since he didn't even try talking to Claire. Plus, Marinette was one of those people who liked to know every little thing about their crush and then plan accordingly, which led to her doing thorough research on Adrien, including finding out his birthday. Which was why when Marinette's alarm rang that morning, she actually woke up with a start. She then threw herself off the bed and down the stairs, also Tikki waking up from her sleep since she slept on the girl's stomach and got knocked away when she woke up.


"Happy Birthday!" Marinette said as she slid down the rail of her stairs; with Tikki following behind and stopping when she was level with Marinette's computer; but fell off in her excitement. Thankfully she recovered quickly and made her way to her computer chair as Tikki watched her with a smile.


"Happy Birthday!" Marinette said with a giggle as she twirled around right before sitting down in her computer chair, making it spin in her excitement as she lifted her arms in the air in excitement before she used her finger to press the spacebar on her keyboard to wake up her computer, showing a college that she had made with pictures of Adrien she found one the internet with drawn hearts over them.


"Happy Birthday, Adrien." Marinette said with a sigh as she leaned her head on her elbows to lovingly gaze at her computer. She stared for probably too long at her handiwork because she became so lost in her staring that she began to think the colleague was really Adrien and leaned in to kiss it, much to Tikki's shock.


Meanwhile, in said boy's house, Adrien was getting ready for the day and was brushing his teeth in his bathroom, when Plagg flew in.


"Happy birthday, Adrien!" Plagg excitedly said as he brought him a piece of his precious camembert, wrapped nicely with a ribbon as a gift. And Tikki said he wasn't considerate.


"Aw, Plagg! Get that filthy piece of camembert out of my face!" Adrien said as he pinched his nose with his fingers to avoid the foul-smelling cheese, and abandoned brushing his teeth in favor of protecting his sense of smell. Unfortunately, Adrien wasn't exactly one who appreciated stinky cheese as he did. He appreciated the sentiment, really, but the smell...


"Ah?" Plagg said before he threw the piece of cheese into the air and caught it in his mouth. If Adrien didn't want it then he'd help himself. Adrien merely rolled his eyes at his kwami's antics and got ready for breakfast, which he hoped his father would attend since it was his birthday.


Back over at Marinette's house, the girl in question had broken out of her daydreaming and rushed to get ready for school. She had a present to deliver, after all, she couldn't be late! She already had breakfast and was all dressed for school so all she had to do was walk over to school but on her way out, Maman caught her as she tried to avoid her mom telling her...


"Marinette, don't forget to clean your room after school today." Sabine said, turning to look over at her daughter trying to sneak past. Yeah... that.


"But, mom! It's Friday and I'm already doing something with Alya." Marinette said, trying to win the disagreement with her mom as she turned to face her daughter. Plus it wasn't even that messy! Well maybe it was a little messy, but she could fix it up later.


"Fine. I'll go ahead and clean it then, but don't blame me if I come across any of your private stuff, like your emails, your diary-" Sabine said, knowing full well how to get Marinette to listen to her. Marinette should already know very well... that no child ever wins in an argument with their mother.


"Ok! I'll do it, I'll do it." Marinette said, even though she knew it was really an empty threat, but even if her Maman wasn't trying to, she still might stumble across something Marinette didn't want her to. She then quickly ran over to her mom and kissed her goodbye before heading back towards the door.


"Have a nice day, sweetie." Sabine said with a smile as she held a cup of tea in her hands just as Marinette opened the door, and turned to look back at her.


"Happy birthday- I mean, have a nice day!" Marinette said, almost letting it loose, that she plans for the day, before she left the apartment, closing the door behind her while Sabine blinked in confusion before shaking off her daughter's antics and enjoying her tea.


Meanwhile, with the birthday boy, Adrien was now in the dining room, glumly eating his breakfast with a cup of coffee to give him a boost of energy, all alone. Apparently, his father coming to eat with him was too much to ask. But he was soon greeted by Nathalie as she walked towards him.


"Your schedule, Adrien." Nathalie said as she presented him with his daily schedule on a tablet.


"Thanks, Nathalie." Adrien said as he took the tablet with his schedule before Nathalie started to walk away. Apparently having a free day without a schedule for his birthday was too much to ask as well.


"Hey, did father get back to you about my birthday party?" He asked, hopeful that maybe since his father had been so absent he'd be allowed this once for his birthday to hang out with friends. But the question made Nathalie stop in her tracks.


"Oh, well, um... He doesn't think it would be a good idea." Nathalie said, not even turning to face him as she did. She hated to have to disappoint him.


"Of course not..." Adrien said, his mood becoming much more sour. Apparently having a birthday party was too much to ask for as well. Why did this year have to be different from the years before... oh, right, his mom. She always brought life into the prison that Adrien lived in, and right now, he missed her terribly.


"Happy birthday, Adrien." Nathalie said, turning to face Adrien, in hopes to cheer him up, and that despite the disappointments already, it might be a good birthday for him, before she walked away and left Adrien alone in the dining room. Soon he had finished breakfast and let the Gorilla take him to school. He was going to have to tell Nino there wouldn't be a party, not even for his birthday.


(Time skip)


Luckily or unluckily Adrien's morning went fine because he didn't get a chance to mention the bad news to Nino until lunch break, which came early that day. After all, the teachers had a meeting to go to, so they extended it from 30 minutes to 1 hour.


"Dude, seriously? Has your dad always been such a downer? You'd think he'd at least remember what it's like to be young and wanna party a little." Nino said as the two boys stood outside the front of the school, while the aspiring DJ was blowing bubbles with a small bottle of soap and a mini bubble wand, before putting the wand into the bottle, and screwing the lid shut to prevent any spills as he tries to cheer up his best bro.


"No, I'm pretty sure he was a downer back then, too." Adrien said, not even imagining the possibility of his father; that cold shut-in; being a party animal, or having fun.


"At least I tried." The boy said before Nino slung an arm around his friend's shoulder.


"It's your B-day, dude! Insist!" Nino said, trying to get Adrien to stand up to his dad. And what better day than his birthday to stick it to his old man.


Meanwhile, a few yards away, Alya and Marinette were hidden behind the stone banister of the front steps, having a hype session to get Marinette to give Adrien his gift.


"You can do it! You can do it!" Alya said, as she crouched down next to Marinette on her right while she was leaning against the wall as she crouched down, holding the present she made for Adrien, as they both tried to hide from the boy's view.


"I can do it! I can do it!" Marinette said, her confidence growing, much to Alya's joy as she smiled at her best friend's attempts to be confident.


Back over with the boys, Nino was still trying to cheer Adrien up, while the model was waiting for his ride to his next scheduled thing.


"You know what? I'm gonna have a little convo with your Pops." Nino said, confident that he could change Adrien's dad's mind. But unfortunately for him, there was no one more stubborn and pigheaded than Gabriel Agreste... and Adrien knew that first hand.


"Don't waste your time. He's not going to change his mind." Adrien said, since he knew what his dad's reaction would be, and was trying to prevent Nino from experiencing the same thing he went through on a daily basis.


Meanwhile, Marinette had peaked over the side of the banister of the stairs, eager to give Adrien the gift she made, but with one look at the blonde Adonis, her legs gave out and she quickly shrunk back down.


"I can't do it! I can't do it!" Marinette said as she went back into her previous crouched position, and hid her head behind the gift in shame, while Alya sighed. This was going to be harder than she thought


"No, you don't, girl. You've been stalling all morning. Now's the time!" Alya said right before she emphasized her point with a literal little push in the right direction. With that push, it sent Marinette stumbling out of their hiding place, before she quickly and awkwardly caught herself from falling... right in front of Adrien. As soon as she saw him, she composed herself, and hid the present behind her back, while awkwardly standing in front of him and Nino.


"Hey." Marinette said, as she gave a quick, yet awkward wave, making Adrien and Nino look at each other confused before the former mimicked her introduction.


"Hey." Adrien said, feeling a little bit awkward at the moment too.


But unknown to any of the two parties, there was a third party that was watching their interactions, with shock and surprise.


"Wait! Am I seeing what I think I'm seeing? Don't tell me it's Adrien's birthday!" Chloé said; after seeing Marinette with the gift before she composed herself; turning to face the nervous Sabrina as she pulled out her phone and gasped at the fact it was Adrien's birthday, and nervously nodded to her master... I mean 'best friend', causing Chloé to become annoyed with her.


"Do I have to do everything myself? Seriously, what are you good for?" Chloé said, digging into Sabrina, before walking down the stairs towards the boys and Marinette. Leave it to Chloé to not remember her supposed friend's birthday... just like her mother.


Meanwhile, Marinette was still in front of the boys, trying to say her peace, and failing miserably.


"I, uh- I wanted to um, gift you a make! I mean gift you a give I made! I mean..." Marinette tries to say, as Chloé walks down the stairs and stands next to Marinette, impatiently as the designer tries to speak. And soon she had enough waiting.


"Out of the way." Chloe said as she pushed Marinette aside, much to the girl's shock as she went flying.


"Ah!" Marinette cried out in surprise as she landed on the ground, while Chloé immediately went from her trademark 'Spoiled Daddy's Girl' attitude, to sweet and peppy as soon as she saw Adrien.


"Happy birthday, Adrien." Chloé said as she batted her lashes, leaning her head to her right onto her clasped hands while balancing on her left leg in an attempt to swoon, before throwing herself at Adrien and planting a kiss on his cheek, much to his displeasure.


"Uh, yeah. Thanks, Chlo." Adrien said, trying to not upset Chloé by trying to hide his disgust, before he glanced at Marinette to make sure she was ok before giving Chloe his attention, otherwise he might take it out on his new friend.


Back over with Marinette, Chloé's shove had landed her on the ground back over at her's and Alya's hiding place, while she held the gift in front of her with a frown.


"Dummy" Marinette said as Alya; who saw the whole interaction; facepalms herself in exasperation. As if things weren't hard enough, now Chloé had showed up, making things even more difficult.


Meanwhile, Chloé was still hanging off of Adrien like a leach, trying to smooth talk her way into an excuse as to why Adrien didn't get a gift from her yet, instead of telling him the truth.


"Did you get the gift I sent you?" Chloé asked Adrien, knowing full well that he didn't get anything from her.


"Uh, no." Adrien said hesitantly, causing Chloé to jump back to throw a fake tantrum on his behalf.


"What?! Oh, those delivery guys! I bet it was too heavy so they had to go back and get another guy to help. Those slackers!" Chloé said in her normal 'Ridiculous, utterly Ridiculous' voice, before wrapping her arms around Adrien's neck again, going back into her 'nice' mode.


"I'll be sure they get it to you by tonight." She said before she planted another kiss on the disgusted Adrien's cheek before walking back into the school, humming. As soon as she was gone, Nino; who had to whiteness that horrible interaction; just offered Adrien a smile, and playfully punched him in the arm, causing Adrien to smile.


Back with the girls, Alya peaked over the banister, and waited for Chloé to be well on her way before crouching back down next to Marinette to encourage her again.


"Get back there! Don't be a pushover! Literally!" Alya said, placing a comforting hand on Marinette's shoulder, but she just whimpered in return, much to Alya's annoyance. Why did her best friend have to be so in love with a guy that she couldn't even say a single sentence to him?


Meanwhile, with Chloé, she had walked back to the top of the stairs, where Sabrina was eagerly waiting for her as she walked toward the bespectacled girl.


"What did you get him?" Sabrina asked, eager to hear what Chloé had got Adrien for his birthday. Maybe she was nicer than she let on.


"I didn't... you did!" Chloé angrily said as she pointed at Sabrina in expectancy. Okay maybe not.


"And it better be amazing, and it better not be late!" She said, yelling at Sabrina about buying him the perfect gift, just as Sabrina nodded in understanding, before Chloé walked away, with Sabrina following behind, trying to accomplish this seemingly impossible task.


Back with the girls, Marinette had stopped hiding behind the gift but still held it in front of her, not sure if she could give it to Adrien.


"Come on. You. Can. Do it!" Alya said, lightly bumping her fist into Marinette's arm to encourage her. And it worked, Marinette steeled her resolve and went to try again... only for Adrien's ride to arrive and take him away. What luck! Speaking of luck, wasn't hers supposed to be good now?


"Gotta go... Photoshoot." Adrien said disappointed, waving bye to Nino as he walked to the car and sadly hopped in before it drove off. Alya and Marinette could only watch as it drove away, much to the latter's disappointment.


"Why can't I just mean what I say?" Marinette said, frustrated with herself that she once again... couldn't accomplish her goal.


"Uh, say what you mean?" Alya asked, sort of confused as to how Marinette mixed up her words without Adrien being there.


"Exactly." Marinette said, as her bottom lip jutted out and her eyebrows sunk, feeling like a failure. Now she knew what Jim went through on a daily basis. But then Alya's eyes lit up with an idea.


"Well if you can't give it to him yourself, we can drop it off at his house, right?" Alya said, thinking of a much easier way to give Adrien the gift, without talking to him, since that clearly wasn't an option.


"That's a great idea!" Marinette said as she jumped up and down in excitement. Alya had no clue where this girl got all her energy from, just that she wanted in.


"Well, let's get moving." Alya said, pulling the excited Marinette with her as they made their way to the Agreste Mansion.


Meanwhile, with Nino, he was still standing at the spot where Adrien had left him and then decided then and there that he had to help his best bro.


"Looks like I've got some business to take care of with Adrien's old man." Nino said as he pulled his cap back down onto his head and walked after the girls, intent on helping Adrien have a good birthday.


(Time Skip)


The girls soon arrived at the address Adrien had said was where he lived on passing... oh who are we kidding, Marinette found it in her stalking... I mean, research, and attempted to put the gift into the mailbox, except it wasn't really your average mailbox and didn't have a handle to open it as it sat next to what looked like an intercom/doorbell.


"This mailbox won't budge!" Marinette said, quickly finding out that it was not going to be as easy as she thought.


"Ring the doorbell." Alya said nonchalantly while pointing to the intercom as she stood next to it. But the mere suggestion raised a few red flags to the nervous Marinette.


"Are you kidding? What if Adrien answers?" Marinette said, immediately thinking of worst-case scenarios in her head, but considering Alya was a good friend, she couldn't let Marinette self sabotage herself, so Alya pushed it. She went and pushed the button. She rang the doorbell!


"Ah!" Marinette cries out, set into an immediate panic at what her best friend had done. But thankfully, Adrien didn't answer the doorbell, but instead, a camera popped out from the wall above the mailbox, nearly knocking into Marinette's head, but stopped before doing so.


"Yes?" The disembodied voice of Nathalie spoke through the intercom, turning Marinette's attention from Alya to the camera looking down at her, making her even more nervous.


"Uh, hi! I'm in Adrien's class and I, uh-" Marinette said, trying to explain why she was there, before she held up the present to show the camera, and lowered it to look back into the camera.


"Did I already say that? Um..." She nervously said before she gave the camera an uncomfortable giggle and a tense smile.


"Put it in the box." Nathalie said through the intercom, right before the mailbox popped open so she could complete the request, much to Marinette's relief as she placed the gift into the box before it snapped shut.


"Thank you!" Marinette said as she looked back up at the camera before it went back into the wall. Well, that was an experience.


"Oh, I hope he likes it!" Marinette said with her heels tapping the ground rapidly before turning to Alya, feeling giddy that she had actually given him the gift. Well not actually given directly to him, but she did give it and he would undoubtedly receive it, so she had technically given him the gift, though indirectly, so... She'd take that as a win.


"You signed the note, right?" Alya asked, hoping that Marinette didn't forget, But when Marinette's eyes went wide and her giddiness was no more, it made Alya sigh. Immediately, she knew... that was a no.


"Girl, girl, girl." Alya said as she placed her left hand on her forehead to settle the oncoming headache and shakes her head in exasperation


"Augh!" Marinette groaned out in disappointment. The win was now taken back.


Meanwhile, in the mansion, Nathalie had just gotten Marinette's gift from the mailbox and started walking back to her desk.


"Who was that, Nathalie?" A soulless voice asked from the intercom on Nathalie's desk as she sat down, placing the gift on the base of her computer, before pressing a button to allow Gabriel Agreste; her idiot boy of a boss; to appear on the small screen.


"A girl from Adrien's class. She wanted to deliver a gift for his birthday." Nathalie said, explaining why someone was ringing the doorbell, which Gabriel would have known if he wasn't such a hermit.


"Did you remember to get him one from me?" Gabriel asked, once again choosing not to take an active part in his son's life, even on Adrien's birthday, which sent Nathalie into a small panic.


"But... You didn't ask me to." Nathalie said, not remembering once when her boss asked her to get something for Adrien for his birthday.


"Of course I did!" Gabriel shouts out, and he clearly seemed sure of it, did he tell her but she just forgot ? With how her workload increased so much in the last year, it frankly was almost as possible as him just forgetting, but at this point she wouldn't be surprised if he expected her to pull a miracle in 30 seconds.


"Yes, Mr Agreste! I-I'll take care of it." Nathalie said, trying to keep herself from spiraling until he hung up and wasn't looking.


"Good." Gabriel said before he signed off, leaving Nathalie a total mess. She was going to lose it! Too much stress! This man would be the death of her! How would she ever get Adrien a gift in time? And a good thoughtful one at that? Why couldn't Gabriel buy his own son a gift? It's really not that hard! Of course, Nathalie knew Adrien's interests better, but that was also a problem! What was she going to... She then glanced at the gift she had brought in. Unsigned, huh? Maybe she shouldn't? What was she thinking? This was not a time for moral reasoning. Gabriel demanded a gift for Adrien and there it was. She'd make time to feel bad about it later. Then as if there wasn't enough for her to do already, the doorbell rang again. Nathalie quickly composed herself and pressed a button to access the camera feed from the front door on the intercom on her desk.


"Yes?" Nathalie said as Nino; who was way out of his element; looked up to the camera nervously.


"Uh, hi." Nino said with a wave while scratching the back of his head out of nervousness...


(Time skip)


Somehow... somehow Nino convinced Nathalie to let him speak to Gabriel. Mostly because she had other things to do and he wouldn't leave until he got what he wanted, at least that's what she would say if asked. He so clearly wanted Adrien to have a birthday party and she felt for him. She kind of wanted to see her boss called out for his poor parenting skills, to be honest. He usually was willing to listen to her, but when it came to Adrien, she couldn't tell anything without him becoming hostile, but maybe if it came from someone else? Maybe if more than one person came to him he'd make some changes for the better. So there she found herself, waiting for Gabriel with the boy, Nino, and hoping she wouldn't get in trouble for this. Maybe it would be an opportunity for both of them?


"He'll be here in a minute." Nathalie said as they stood in the foyer in front of the main staircase while Nino fidgeted with his bubbles in nervous anticipation. He talked big, but wow, that room was intimidating. It felt kind of like a museum... or a prison.


"Adrien's not home yet," A voice from the top of the stairs said, bringing Nino's attention up to see a man dressed as a human candy cane, Adrien's father, standing at the top of the stairs looking down at Nino like he was an ant the fashion designer was about to crush.


"Uh, I was coming to see you, du- sir!" Nino said nervously as he put his bubble bottle away and grasped onto his bag strap to keep himself grounded. That was close.


"Me?" Gabriel said, surprised that this boy was either brave enough or stupid enough to even try talking to him. But Nino only nodded, gaining a bit of confidence, unaware of his impending doom.


"Yeah, that's right!" Nino said, while finger gunning the man Adrien called father, which helped as he continued.


"Look, I know you don't want Adrien to have a party, but it's his birthday, dude- I mean sir! It's all he wants." The DJ said as he made his case. Wow, he was uncomfortable. But this was for Adrien! He'd do whatever it took.


"No. That's final." Gabriel said, not even thinking the idea through before shutting it down. The man is just a joyless storm cloud to those around him, always wanting to rain on everyone's parade. But that didn't stop Nino, as he continues to dig his own grave.


"That's messed up! He never screws up in class, he always does whatever you tell him, photoshoots, fencing, Chinese, piano-" Nino said, trying to convince Gabriel, not knowing that Adrien had just entered the foyer, and was shocked to see Nino making a stand against his father.


"Nino? You're here?" Adrien said as he placed a hand on his best friend's shoulder, bringing Nino's attention onto him. To say Adrien was surprised to see Nino actually talking to his father was an understatement. He felt all warm and fuzzy. It meant so much to him that someone would do that.


"Anything for my best bud." Nino said, with a smile, before turning his attention back to convincing Gabriel to be a good father for once, and let his son have a party.


"Show some awesomeness, du- I mean, sir! Please." The DJ pleaded while the fashion mogul glared down at him. Adrien knew that look on his father's face. There was no convincing him.


"Forget it, Nino. Really, it's fine." Adrien said, bringing Nino's attention back to him, and trying to help his friend avoid his father's wrath. But unfortunately, it was too late.


"Listen, young man, I decide what's best for my son. In fact, I've just decided you're a bad influence and you're not welcome in my house ever again. Leave now!" Said the man who is colder than the airless vacuum of space, much to Adrien and Nino's shock.


"Father! He was just trying to do something nice for me." Adrien said, trying to defend Nino, as Gabriel walked away, just as cold and unemotional as ever. Nathalie knew that was her cue and she turned to their guest.


"Goodbye." Nathalie said, slipping back into her detached, unfeeling facade while Nino kept his cool, but held anger in his posture as he turned away and made his way to the door, opened it and walked out of the 'house'.


"Nino, wait!" Adrien said, running to catch up with Nino, trying to cheer him up.

"I'm sorry. My father, he's... pretty stubborn. It's just best to stay out of his way." The boy said, already learning early on that... Gabriel Agreste was not the type to show any affection to those he cares about. But Nino knew that Adrien deserved better than an emotionally distant father that didn't care about his son.


"It's not fair, Adrien! Harsh. Uncool." Nino said, trying to get Adrien to see that his father was the worst, before heading down the stairs to the front door, and over to the front gate, while Adrien just stood there.


"Thanks anyway, Nino." Adrien said as he watched mournfully as his friend left.


Meanwhile, Nino had arrived at the park and tried to cool off, he really did. He then took out his bubble mix bottle, and blew some bubbles, watching them dance until they popped. It was sunny and the breeze was nice, perfect. Except it wasn't perfect. It wasn't perfect because Adrien couldn't have his party, and it wasn't perfect because all he could hear was kids crying because their parents wouldn't let them play.


"Adults ruin everything, all the time!" Nino said, anger filling his voice as he saw what he thought was injustice by way of kids not allowed to have any fun.


But unknown to Nino, his anger and negative emotions were a blaring beckon for the resident supervillain, Hawkmoth.


"Desperate to help his friend but feeling powerless. How frustrating." Hawkmoth said as the window of the lair opened, awakening the butterflies to start fluttering around the lair around the terrorist in training.


"It won't be long before frustration turns to anger." The violet pimp said as he held out his open left palm, allowing one of the butterflies to land on it. He then covered it with his other hand, with his powers transforming it into an Akuma. Once the process was complete, he removed his right hand, allowing the Akuma to flutter free and begin its track out of the lair, towards the window.


"Fly away, my little akuma, and evilise him!" Hawkmoth said to the Akuma as it flew out the window opening in the center, and out into the city in search of Nino. Fortunately for Hawkmoth, the akuma quickly found Nino in the park, just as he had blown a few more bubbles in an attempt to cheer himself up. But when that failed, he slouched back on the park bench with a sigh and put the cap back on the bottle, just as the akuma merged with the bubble bottle. It wasn't long before Nino heard a sinister voice in his head, with the telltale butterfly outline in front of his face.


"Hawkmoth is my name, and Bubbler is now yours. I will help you with these horrid adults and all you have to do in return is help me get something from Ladybug and Chat Noir." The man with an abysmal fashion sense said through the link, instantly catching Nino's warped attention.


"Yes, Hawkmoth." Nino said, just before he stood up from the bench and clenched the bottle of bubbles in his right hand. Darkness soon erupted from the akumatized object and encased Nino, then out stepped a brightly coloured akuma. Bubbler's akuma persona was decked out in bright red, blue, and yellow. His costume was vibrant, yet made him look like a balloon animal version of a human and a giant bubble wand was strapped to his back, with a uvula-like protrusion on his head, with bright blue skin to match the blue of his suit, two black marks above one eye and below the other. All and all, the akuma was not pleasant to look at. Immediately after he was transformed, Bubbler leaps into the sky in a bright multicolored blur, before landing in a crouch on a rooftop well away from the park he came from, in a shower of bubbles.


"No more adults means total freedom. This is sooo sweet!" Bubbler said excitedly as he stood up from his crouched position and pulled out his bubble wand sword from its sheath that was strapped to his back.


"Off the hook!" The eyesore of an akuma said before he leaps off of the rooftop and flies through the city, leaving behind a trail of large purple bubbles in his wake. The citizens were obviously confused, but they soon found out that these bubbles were not normal bubbles when they started abducting adults off of the streets and from their homes, turning from bright purple into a sickly green when they captured an adult.


Back over in Hawkmoth's lair, the villain merely watched in delight as the newly made akuma wreaked havoc on the city.


"Perfect." The villain said as he watched from the safety of his lair, the damage being done that was sure to draw Ladybug and Chat Noir's attention.


Meanwhile, Marinette had gotten home from dropping off the gift, and was now in the middle of her and her brother's noon video call, leaning her phone against the wall as she had her lunch so she could talk to him without holding her phone. All the while, she had no idea what was happening outside in the city.


"So how did giving Adrien his present go?" Jim asked, as they already told each other how their day went and was eager to find out if Marinette actually did it because...he honestly hoped a little that she didn't, otherwise she would have been better about her crush than him. Not that it was a competition, but mostly for his pride.


"I tried to give it to him at school, but couldn't, so I tried to do so at lunch break, but Chloé prevented me, and when she left, he had to go to a photo shoot. So then I and Alya went to his house to drop it off and managed to do so, but I... forgot to sign the gift." Marinette said, explaining what had happened, much to Jim's humor since that was a step up from him, but not by much.


"Seriously? Oh my god, only you Mari. How could you forget something like that?" Jim asked, not believing that Marinette was this unlucky, despite her alter ego's representation, while Marinette just sighed and started to play with the remaining bits of her lunch.


"I don't know, but honestly, I just hope it makes him happy. Adrien must have gotten his gift by now." Marinette said as she was daydreaming while moving her peas with her fork to make a heart-shaped out of them. She could just see it!


"What was that you said?" Sabine said, as she walked into the room to open a window near the T.V., not hearing what the two siblings were talking about before, but managed to hear Marinette's last little sentence. Nothing to shock you out of your romantic delusions like your mother!


"Uh- I was just telling Jim that I can't wait to get back to school this afternoon!" Marinette said, as she turned to face her mom, trying to preserve her pride, while Jim merely tensely smiled and waved at his Aunt Sabine to help sell the cover story. But Sabine was not fooled. A mother knows these things. She muffled her laughs. Ah, to be young again. How nice it must be. But the moment was soon ruined when Jim saw one of Bubbler's bubbles coming towards the open window


"Huh?" Jim said out loud, bringing Marinette's attention back to her mom, seeing what Jim was confused by. Marinette saw it coming before her mother did. A bubble came through the large window and captured her mother, who was surprised to now be trapped by the magic bubble as it began to float back outside.


"Mom!" "Aunt Sabine!" Marinette and Jim shout out, while Marinette takes her phone with her as she runs after the retreating bubble, as it takes her mom back out and up! But unfortunately, Marinette had to stop herself from falling over the railing of the window, helpless to save her mom.


"MOM!" Marinette shouts out as she reaches out for her mother, as they both reach out for one another.

As she was doing so, Marinette and Jim could see more adults floating away in bubbles too, including their...


"Dad? Dad!" "Dad!" Jim and Marinette shout out as soon as they see Tom floating away in his own bubble prison next to Sabine, as mother, daughter, father and son reach out for each other as the adults in the area were lifted away in green bubbles. Marinette; who was hunched over the railing and holding onto it with her free hand till her knuckles turned white; and Jim could only watch as the adults soon floated away out of sight, as Tikki flew up to Marinette, floating near her right shoulder as she looked at the situation in worry.


"Your parents! Hawkmoth must have unleashed another akuma!" Tikki said, bringing Marinette's attention from the sky, and back to the little kwami, filled with determination.


"I have got to find his newest villain ASAP!" Marinette said before she brought her phone to her face, looking right at Jim as he panicked at seeing his family members float up into the sky.


"I've got to go, bro. I'll tell you and Toby about this next time we call." Marinette said, bringing Jim out of his panic.


"We can just watch it on the news, and Alya will probably be able to get footage." Jim said, trying to reassure her that she didn't have to worry about them.


"It looks like the bubbles are taking adults, so I doubt the news will cover this akuma. And I don't know if Alya will get any details this time around." Marinette said, bringing up logical reasons why this akuma wouldn't be on the news.


"Fair point. You'll just tell us what the cameras didn't get anyway. NOW GO! I held you up enough already." Jim said, seeing Marinette's point, and realizing that she needed to do her job, bringing her back on point.


"Right, gotta go. Bye Jim, tell Toby I said 'hi'." Marinette said with a tense smile and a wave of her hand, while Jim returned the tense smile and wave.


"Bye sis. See you next time. Hope you and Chat Noir win." Jim said before he hung up, leaving Marinette and Tikki alone with the screen black.


"You and I both, bro." Marinette said as she walked to the table, and placed her phone on the tabletop before turning to Tikki, ready to turn into Ladybug.


"Tikki spots on!" She said, as she sadly transformed into her super alter ego. At first, Hawkmoth had sent out his evil butterflies sporadically so they'd had some practice, but it was never so personal! She'd make sure to take care of this one fast.


Back with the Bubbler, he was perched on a random rooftop somewhere in the city, overlooking his handiwork with pride.


"And now... party time!" The Bubbler said excitedly as he soon released another stream of purple bubbles, but this time, they merely floated in the sky, acting as screens so he could broadcast an announcement, just as Ladybug exited the bakery.


"Hey, hey, hey! Today's your lucky day little dudes! The adults are taking the day off so make sure to make the most of it! No chores, no homework, no more nagging, just fun, fun, fun, fun! This is the Bubbler's gift to you." The Bubbler announced through the bubble screens, much to Ladybug's frustration, and the kids of Paris's sadness to see their parents ripped away from them.


'As if to add insult to injury.' Ladybug thought as she saw the akuma was using its bubbles to broadcast his gloating while the children all around her cried! She then kneeled down to the children closest to her to try and cheer them up.


"Don't worry, your parents will come back, I'll see to it." Ladybug said, bringing an awed smile to the two children. Next, she turned to the teenager that was standing with them and placed her hands on his shoulders to ground him from his awe that the Ladybug was right in front of him.


"You look after them in the meantime." She said, before she swung away, determined to find Bubbler, while the little kids cheered her on.


Meanwhile, in the Agreste Mansion, Adrien was having a... wonderful lunch alone on his birthday. The clock ticks by, just as he finished off his lunch and wiped his mouth with a napkin, placing it next to the tray where his empty plate sat.


"Wow, that was a birthday lunch break to remember. Yay." Adrien sarcastically said as he halfheartedly raised a fist in the air while he grabbed his school bag and headed into the foyer to go back to school, only to find no one there.


"Nathalie? Father?" He calls out as he stands in the foyer, only to be surrounded by silence. There wasn't even anyone there to greet him when he left. It wasn't like that was unusual but he thought maybe Nathalie would have been there. But Adrien only sadly walked to the door and walked outside. It was a great surprise to him to find his classmates cheering 'Happy birthday!' for him when he closed the door behind him, with a table covered in food and sweets; birthday cake included; and a DJ booth across from it.


"Hey, hey, birthday boy! Guess what? Daddy's gone, and while the cat's away, the mice will play." A voice above Adrien called out, causing him to look up. It was an even greater surprise to be greeted by the Bubbler as he was standing on a bubble that floated in the air above them!


"Nino?!" Adrien said in disbelief. His father really went and got his best friend akumatized? Huh, why is he not surprised?


"The Bubbler's brought all your homies together for one sole purpose, to ce-le-brate!" The Bubbler said as he pumped his fist and jumped behind the DJ setup while his classmates cheered.


"Let's get this party started!" The Bubbler said, causing the crowd to cheer out, right before he started playing dance music, making the class start to dance. Meanwhile, Adrien took this chance to run back inside and consult Plagg. But when he left, everyone's cheerful mode disappeared, which the Bubbler noticed immediately.


"Come on everybody! I've brought you here to party! So dance... or else you'll join the adults up in the sky." The Bubbler threatens; causing the crowd to continue their forced dance; before wickedly cackling as fireworks shoot up into the sky, with the sparks turning into bubbles to prevent any fires from breaking out. Bubbler might have been a villain, but a fire would have been a major way to ruin a party, which isn't what he wanted.


Back in Hawkmoth's lair, the butt-erfly man watches as the Bubbler basically shoots up a flare for Ladybug and Chat Noir to come and find him, but sees this as a good thing.


"It won't be long before Ladybug and Chat Noir show up to meet their doom!" The humanized eggplant said before evilly cackling. While the akuma did draw attention to itself with the fireworks, it did make it so that the resident heroes would find him faster, so they would face off against him.


Meanwhile, with Adrien, the boy had reached his room, and clenched his fist with his miraculous on, while using his free hand to hold onto his fist to support it as he contemplated what to do. That wasn't right. He'd only fought, what, five akuma? Six if you count doing Stone Heart twice, but despite the seemingly cheery atmosphere, he was sure that wasn't right.


"What's the problem?" Plagg said as he laid on top of Adrien's shoulder as if acting in the role of a 'shoulder devil'.


"Relax, you're getting the party you've always wanted!" He said, trying to get Adrien to see that this might not be such a bad thing. Tikki was always the more serious, and yet fuzzy feeling one between them, and Plagg was okay with that. But he did care about Adrien, he just didn't show it like someone normally would.


"But Nino's been akumatized! I've got to help him!" Adrien said as he looked at his kwami, not wanting to see his friend being used as a puppet by a psychopath.


"You may never get this chance again! Come on, let's have a little fun while your father's away! When we're done we can save Nino, trap his akuma, and all will be good!" Plagg said, not really being responsible at the moment. So maybe this wasn't the best thing to encourage, and Tikki would probably have his head if she found out, but his holder really did deserve something nice! He needed to relax. Everything would be fixed with the ladybug cure anyway, though he wouldn't point that out.


"Ok, you're right. This might be the first time that I get to do what I want to do for once." Adrien said, much to Plagg's hidden joy that he was going to have some fun. With that, Plagg flew back into his hiding place in Adrien's overshirt and he went back out to the courtyard to join the party and enjoy the music.


Back with Ladybug, she was running across the rooftops and soon landed on a roof that gave her the vantage point she needed to see the Bubblers fireworks as they shot into the sky.


"It's you and me, Bubbler." Ladybug said before she leapt towards where the fireworks were coming from. For her part, all she had to do to find the akuma was follow the fireworks, which was probably by design. She usually didn't get so mad about akuma, but with everyone over 18 being floated off to space, she had seen too many kids scared and crying for their parents on the way over. She wasn't even going to think about the infants.


Meanwhile, back at the Agreste Mansion, the party was in full swing; if you could call it that when the guests sans Adrien were there against their will; and Adrien was having a blast. Though it was hard when everyone there looked like their pet had just been run over. So he decided to break the ice and headed over to Rose as she joylessly danced


"Hey, nice party... I guess since it's my first one." Adrien said to Rose who merely gave him a double thumbs up and a tense smile before going back to dancing while Adrien continued celebrating. But after seeing first-hand how joyless Rose's reaction was, he looked around the other party-goers and saw that they weren't having a good time either. He'd never been to a fun party before, but he thought you were supposed to be in a better mood at those than the fancy ones. Unknown to him, Chloé and Sabrina were at the DJ booth, where Chloé was impatiently waving her hand at Sabrina to approach the akuma DJ, and unfortunately for Sabrina, she had no choice.


"I'm requesting a slow dance." Sabrina said, bringing Bubbler's attention from his spin table, and to the bespectacled girl as she looked up at him from the bottom of the DJ booth.


"It's a bit early for that, isn't it?" The Bubbler said, leaning over the DJ table to speak to Sabrina, and also find out why she wanted a slow dance so early in the party. But Chloé merely pushed her servant out of the way and took Sabrina's previous spot before looking up at the akuma.


"It's for Adrien. His first slow dance..." Chloé 'sweetly' said, batting her eyelashes to make it seem she was asking for the slow dance for her friend out of the goodness of her heart, but only really wanted to have an excuse to closely dance with Adrien.


"Oh, you know it girl!" Bubbler said, shooting her a couple of finger guns while standing up straight, quickly understanding what Chloé was up to. A few seconds later, the song changed to a slow dance song, and everyone paired up. Adrien could only watch as the partygoers continued to not really enjoy the party.


"Is it just me, or does everyone seem a bit weird?" Adrien asked Chloé when he saw her walking toward him. Normally, he always was on guard with her on the account that she likes to smother him with... affection. Still, he felt relief when she came up to him.


"Forget about them. Let's go dance! Come on!" Chloé said as she grabbed Adrien's arm and pulled him into the center of the crowd to dance with him, clinging onto him like a barnacle would do to a pillar of a pier. But unknown to everyone, Ladybug had just arrived at the Agreste household and surveyed the situation. From her vantage point, she saw the Bubbler was DJing the party but went to a crate behind the DJ booth to sift through the collection of records he stored in it, while the guests were despondent. And in the middle was Chloe trying to plant another kiss on Adrien while he tried to back away.


"There is no way this is happening!" Ladybug said in jealousy, disgust, anger, and disbelief as she saw Chloé trying to forcibly plant a kiss on Adrien's face. No way. Nuh-uh. Not today or any other day, and certainly not on her watch. She then quickly pulled out her yo-yo and summoned her...


"Lucky Charm!" She cries out; which somehow doesn't draw any attention to her from the akuma or the party guests; and receives...


"A record?" Ladybug said when she had the object in her hands. Well, she knew just what to do with that! Looking around; while the Bubbler was still distracted by looking through the records he had to find the right one; she spied the turntable, the volume notch near it, and a ledge of the Agreste Mansion, all lighting up in red with black spots. Then with a confident laugh, she made like a discus thrower, and... yeet! The record went flying towards the ledge, ricocheted off of it, where it changed direction to fly towards the volume notch on the turntable. When it hit, the notch went up all the way and made the record stop its path, and go up for a few seconds before it landed right on the turntable, causing the needle to fall on the record, to play the music on the vinyl disc. The funky music that began to play caused the captured guests to stop slow dancing and went to regular dancing, even cheering, while Adrien happily pulled away from Chloé who was shocked that the slow dance was over.


"Dude, who just hijacked my mix?!" The Bubbler said, abandoned the records he had been leafing through to find the source of the upbeat bop his set was producing.


"Yours truly!" Ladybug said to herself before her earrings warned her of an impending detransformation.


"Better bug out quick before I change back." She said to herself before she quickly dove out of sight to recharge, by running off of her vantage point, leaping off of the wall and tumbling towards the ground landing in a crouch; near the front gate; left arm behind her and right arm on the ground to help with balancing.


"Spots off." Ladybug said, just as the last spot on her earring disappears, and she stands up from the ground as her transformation fades away in a showing of pink light, and Tikki flies out of her earrings before tiredly falling into Marinette's awaiting hands to keep her from hitting the ground.


"Marinette..." Tikki said as she sat up while rubbing her head to stop the incoming headache. While to a human, using a kwami's powers didn't do anything to them, it was a different story for the kwami. Using their powers left them exhausted, and unable to fly like they normally would until they eat their favorite foods to recharge. And Marinette knew this well enough.


"Tikki, it was an emergency." Marinette said as she held Tikki to her eye level, trying to defend her actions.


"Yeah, if by emergency you mean jealousy. You know what happens when you use your lucky charm. You only have minutes before-" Tikki said, beginning to head into a lecture that Marinette had already been through on the first day on the job.


"I turn back, I know, but I figured... The Bubbler, he's not going anywhere. We have time to get you food to get your energy back up. Then we'll get right back out there, I promise." Marinette said, understanding what Tikki meant, really. She knew they couldn't waste much time, but everyone had been so uncomfortable, especially Adrien! If someone had been trying things like that on her when she didn't want them to; like Chloé was doing to Adrien; her Papa, Jim AND Toby would be locked up for first-degree murder. She took the chance, and maybe she shouldn't have. Maybe there were more important things, but as long as she won, everything would be right in the end. But she paused her musings to place Tikki into her purse and headed to the front gate to enter the party. She then took the opportunity to check out the gathering she had just crashed to see what she was up against, but mostly to check out the food table to get something for Tikki. Quickly walking towards the table, she spied a couple of plates of cookies, and when she arrived, she opened her purse, carefully throwing a few into her purse for Tikki to eat. She really needed to find a way to store cookies in her purse without destroying the inside.


"I've gotta find a place to transform fast." Marinette said as she looked around, seeing there weren't many places she could duck in and transform. She'd have to try to get back out unseen-


"Where have you been, girl? I was so scared something had happened to you!" A voice to her right said, bringing Marinette's attention to the source, only to see Alya coming towards her to pull her into a hug. Alya might have been scared, but she nearly scared Marinette to death before she realized who had come up behind her.


"Me too..." Marinette said as she hugged Alya, her voice thrilled with the lie but it thankfully went unnoticed by Alya as she pulled back from the embrace.


"I'm sure Ladybug and Chat Noir will show up at any moment to save us all. They've never failed us." Alya said as she looked over at the Bubbler as he continued to DJ the party, but soon perked up and fully pulled away from the hug.


"Meanwhile, come with me. I've got something for you." She said as she walked away from Marinette and towards the Agreste Mansion, making Marinette nervous since she still had a job to do.


"Uh, there's something I have to do first." Marinette said, trying to make an excuse to transform into Ladybug so she could defeat the Bubbler. But unknown to her, Alya's surprise was connected to her Achilles heel.


"It's about Adrien," Alya sang, immediately throwing any and all thoughts Marinette had of transforming, out the window.


"... Ok..." Marinette said, knowing that she had no choice... well she had a choice, but how could she plausibly say no to her best friend about that? Too suspicious. Plus she really wanted to know what it was. Sue her for being in love.


"Marinette," Tikki said as she peeked out from her purse, bringing Marinette's attention to her as she hurriedly ate one of the cookies.


"The Bubbler!" The sweet-toothed kwami said urgently, reminding Marinette of her duty.


"Ok, ok. In a sec." Marinette said as she tried to appease her, before she followed Alya as she led her inside the prison of a house and into Gabriel's atelier, where, laying on Nathalie's desk, next to her computer was the present Marinette had wrapped the night before, much to Marinette's surprise.


"Look, now you can sign your gift." Alya said as they poked their heads into the office, while a smile came upon Marinette's face.


"Yes!" Marinette said, happiness filling her soul. It might have been Adrien's birthday, but this was a wish come true for her.


Back at the party, Ivan had decided to break away from the party and was leaning against the wall of the courtyard, seemingly in a brooding mood, which caught the Bubbler's attention.


"Hey, you. Why aren't you having fun?" The Bubbler asked when he approached the boy, who glanced over at him.


"None of your business." Ivan said, not seeing any use in explaining why he wasn't having fun when... it was painfully obvious as to why. But the answer didn't sit right with the Bubbler.


"Then I'm gonna make it my business." The akuma said in a grave tone as he pulled out his bubble wand sword, shocking Ivan out of his brooding as the Bubbler cackled to his fear.


Meanwhile, inside the mansion, Marinette had been left alone in the office, while she rectified her earlier mishap.


"Love, Marinette." Marinette read out as she wrote the words on a sticky note with a pen she had found handily laid out for her.


"There." She said as she finished writing the note, took the sticky note off of the pad and placed it on the gift with a smile before lifting it up in the air in accomplishment.


"Mwah!" Marinette said as she kissed the present in happiness that she was able to fix her mistake, right before Tikki poked her head out of her purse.


"Right, we're good. Spots on, Marinette." Tikki said almost impatiently, hoping to get Marinette out of her distracted state.


"I can't do it now, Alya's here." Marinette said, trying to reason with her impatient kwami, which caught the girl's attention from outside the room.


"Whatcha say?" Alya asked as she peeked through the door, making Marinette panic to cover her seemingly strange behavior and try to get Alya to leave.


"Go ahead. I'll meet you in the yard." Marinette said, with a tense smile while Alya left, closing the door behind her, while Marinette breathed a sigh of relief. But her peace was interrupted by Ivan drifting up past the window. Shoot!


"No! You were right, Tikki. I never should have waited this long!" Marinette said as she ran to the window, not able to do anything to help him as he floated away and panicked.


But back outside, everyone else was unaware of what the Bubbler had done and was occupied by Adrien as he stood on the stage that the DJ booth was set up on, microphone in his hand as he was asked to say some words by the Bubbler, considering it was his party after all.


"Hey Paris, how you doing?!" Adrien excitedly said into the microphone. He didn't think saying no was an option since past behavior showed that saying 'no' to an akuma didn't end well. The other guests were not so enthused as the Bubbler had hoped, but all it took was to put a hand on his bubble wand for their attitudes to change, and for all of them to cheer as Adrien hopped down and surrounded him. But Adrien suddenly noticed a flash of red above them, looking up to see what it was, and that was when he spotted her... Ladybug, as she stood confidently on the top of the courtyard wall.


"Ladybug?" Adrien said just before she quickly sent her yoyo and unplugged the set. Time was up! He wasn't too upset about it. Part of him had hoped that despite the akuma this would be a cool party, but he should have known that wasn't an option.


"Sorry, Bubbler, but the party's over!" Ladybug said when the yo-yo was back in her hand and the music stopped.


"Why you gotta be like that?" The Bubbler said, angry that Ladybug was interrupting his plans.


"You made all the adults disappear, that's why. And now you're imprisoning anyone who isn't having fun!" Ladybug said, stating why the akuma needed to be stopped, while Adrien fully used it to his advantage, and pulled away from Chloé; who was cuddling him; and ran back into the house to transform. He couldn't let Ladybug fight alone!


"You will not bust up my party!" The Bubbler said before he drew his wand and launched bubbles which she deflected by spinning her yoyo before leaping off of her spot, into the air while the Bubbler followed her lead, as they clashed in the air, their battle beginning. As they clashed, it gave the captives time to flee the scene before they both landed on the opposite ends of the courtyard from where they started.


Meanwhile back inside, Adrien had managed to reach his room, where he let Plagg fly out of his hiding spot in Adrien's shirt, dancing in midair, unaware of Adrien's regret.


"I think I've been a complete idiot. Plagg claws out!" Adrien said, bringing Plagg out of dancing as he was sucked into the ring, letting Adrien transform into Chat Noir. Once he was Chat Noir, he sprinted back to where the pseudo party had been held.


Back outside, Ladybug had thrown her yo-yo at the Bubbler, but he had conjured a bubble that deflected Ladybug's yoyo and sent it hurtling back towards her faster than she could recall it herself. But at the last second, Chat Noir slid in and hit it straight up just before it made contact.


"Looks like I made it just in time." Chat Noir said as he spun his baton before posing; crouched, with his left hand in front of him, his baton held with his right hand behind him, while Ladybug waited for her yo-yo to drop back from the air.


"I had it under control... " Ladybug said, trying to play it cool, just before her yoyo dropped back down, bonking Chat Noir in the head.


"... but thanks."She said as the yo-yo landed into her hand, while Chat Noir processed what had just happened with wide eyes, making Ladybug smirk. A second later, a purple visor appeared on the Bubbler's face as he became enraged that both superheroes were present.


"Get their Miraculouses! I want those powers... NOW!" The pathetic excuse of a human being screams at the Bubbler as he watches from his lair, growing impatient. No sooner than he finished his ranting, he cut the link, and the Bubbler roared out before he started rapidly launching small red bubbles at the two superheroes. As they were being attacked, the two of them spun their weapons to help themselves, as they confidently dodged the barrage and stood tall after the bubbles had passed on, only for the Bubbler to grin and snap his fingers, causing the bubbles to change from red to green and begin attacking them again, but smaller and surrounding them like a tornado, while just sticking to them as they passed by. They were harder to dodge at this size and they were surrounded. There wasn't much they could do and soon enough they found themselves trapped in a bubble together while the Bubbler laughed at their predicament. When they got their bearings again, Ladybug immediately tried to pop the bubble prison with her elbow, but it was no use.


"Give me your miraculous before you run out of air." The Bubbler said, holding out his hand towards the trapped heroes before clenching it before Ladybug turned from her attempts to escape to face him.


"Dream on, Bubbler!" Ladybug said, not even entertaining the idea of them giving up to Hawkmoth.


"Total party poopers, just like adults." Bubbler said, not seeing why they didn't just give up and join in on the 'fun'.


"Kids need adults." Ladybug said, trying to reason with the akuma, but past experience had not shown that to be a good idea.


"False! Kids need freedom and fun! Let loose and live it up. Adults are controlling and bossy." The. Bubbler said while the captive partygoers watched from the front of the house, hoping that the heroes would pull a miracle and find a way out.


"But adults keep children safe and protected. They care for their kids! They love them!" Ladybug said, her personal emotions starting to surface as she brought herself to the front of the bubble to face the Bubbler. Normally she would think of this as normal business, but the Bubbler had taken her parents captive. This was personal.


"Most adults do anyhow..." Chat Noir grumbled to himself. Even if his father wasn't there for him, there were other kids who did need their parents. And maybe his father would learn to be there for him, too.


"You must bring the adults back!" He said, trying to get his head back into the game, and challenging the Bubbler. But that just seemed to make things worse.


"Nope, never. Know what? Since you enjoy these adults so much, why don't you go float with them for a while?" The Bubbler said before he started running towards the large green bubble. Before they could process exactly how horrifying the Bubbler looked running towards them, they were being launched: destination space screaming as they rose higher into the air, while the captives watched in fear. But there was one person who didn't find the Bubbler's actions terrifying, but rather... inconvenient.


"What do you think you're doing, Bubbler? You're supposed to seize their Miraculouses!" Hawkmoth shouts out in anger as he clenches his fist as he speaks while watching what had happened in his lair. How he does this without the mind link being active, this author honestly has no idea.


Back with the trapped heroes, after a few seconds of shock from their less than graceful launch towards space, they frantically tried to push and break the bubble as it shrunk, while it rose higher into the air; even passing the top of the Eiffel Tower; using their feet and hands to punch and kick the bubble. It took longer than she'd like to admit for Ladybug to remember Chat's power.


"Use your cataclysm!" Ladybug said as she sat up and leaned against the shrinking bubble, causing Chat Noir to stop his attempts to escape, and focus his attention on her.


"Couldn't you have said that 500 feet ago?" Chat Noir said, being sarcastic while trying to hide the fact that he had spaced about his powers as well.


"We can't stay stuck in this bubble together forever." Ladybug said, causing Chat Noir to ponder the thought with a groan-worthy expression featuring wiggling eyebrows.


'Yeah, I walked right into that one.' She thought as she placed her hand on her head to stop the oncoming headache, and shook her head. Thankfully, he did, of course, do as he was told. She was right after all. They would run out of oxygen eventually. Or would they hit space first? He didn't want to find out.


"Cataclysm!" Chat Noir cries out, before putting his hand on the bottom of the bubble, causing it to pop. They were then immediately sent free-falling which was quite a precarious position when you were several hundred feet above concrete with no parachute.


"Should we see if you land on your feet this time?" Ladybug shouts out against the roaring wind as they freefell towards the ground together.


"No thanks!" Chat Noir shouts back, not very keen on the idea. He might have been a cat-themed superhero, but he was still a normal human underneath. But thankfully, Ladybug was able to quickly come up with a plan after looking at the Eiffel Tower to her right as they fell past it, forming a plan.


"Your stick... there!" Ladybug said as she pointed out a spot where it would stick into the Eiffel Tower and not move as they continued their freefall.


"Got it!" Chat Noir said before taking out his baton and throwing it at the monument, where it lodged itself into the metal of the tower, right before she grabbed his hand and got her yoyo.


" Hold on!" Ladybug said before she threw her yo-yo at the baton, where it wrapped around the staff, creating an anchor point for them to stop freefalling, and swing back into the air; the staff and yo-yo followed after being dislodged from the tower. Thanks to the plan, they were able to slow themselves, landed on the ground, rolling to avoid landing on their faces and ended up back on their feet, which they would both thank their suits for. Ladybug especially. She was certain if not for the magic she would simply not have her arm anymore and they'd be pancakes anyway.


"Good thing cats aren't afraid of heights." Chat Noir said confidently before Ladybug tossed him his baton back.


"We've got to get to the bubble sword, that's got to be where the akuma is!" Ladybug said, determined to finish the job, just before Chat's ring offered its first warning, making him look at it as the first pad blinked away.


"We'd better hurry." Chat Noir said before they started to run back towards the Agreste Mansion. It didn't take long to get back to the household where the Bubbler was on the search for his missing party guests as they cowardly hid away from him.


"Where is everybody? Get out here and party!" The Bubbler shouts out, trying to get the captives to have fun when they had enough of his demands. But thankfully, they didn't have to say anything.


"Sorry to burst your bubble." Ladybug said as she. stood on an archway above him with Chat Noir crouched by her side, much to the 'partygoers' relief.


"Ladybug!" Alya called out, to the joy of those hiding with her, as they started cheering out in celebration, much to the Bubbler's rage as he faced Ladybug and Chat Noir. Why did they have to ruin his plans?


"No one wants to party with you anymore, Bubbler." Ladybug confidently said, which frustrated the Bubbler, as he turned to address the former party goers.


"What's wrong with all you guys? Why you gotta be such haters?" The Bubbler said before he roared out in rage and launched large purple bubbles that entrapped the remaining 'guests', much to Ladybug and Chat Noir's shock as the now green bubbles started to rise into the sky.


"Outer space is the next stop for your precious peeps, and they're never coming back!" The akuma said before leaping away from the courtyard. With nothing keeping him there, he fled the scene, making Ladybug and Chat Noir chase the Bubbler all the way back to the Eiffel Tower, dodging explosive red bubbles as they came up onto the first observation deck of the landmark. They apparently exploded now! So cool! Totally makes sense! Once they landed, the Bubbler; who was standing on one of the awnings of the deck, launched another red bubble at them, which they dodged; just before it exploded; ending up on opposite sides of the explosion, just before Chat's ring was beeping down to its last pad.


"I'm going to switch back soon! Hurry!" Chat Noir calls out causing Ladybug to stand up and summon her...


"Lucky charm!" Ladybug cries out, summoning her powers, which gave her a... giant wrench? Like a seriously massive wrench. It was almost as big as she was!


"Your... plumbing skills are going to help us out?" Chat Noir asked, confused as to how that monstrosity of a wrench could save their hides. Ladybug could only shrug. One of these days she'd figure out how lucky charms worked. At present, she had more pressing issues. Like exploding bubbles, the Bubbler was launching at them. At least Chat Noir was keeping him busy and drawing fire, climbing up the Eiffel Tower to avoid becoming a barbecue roasted cat, but she needed to figure out the wrench soon.


"Needs some work. Is that all you got?" Chat Noir said after he managed to land on one of the rafters above the deck, catching his breath. Dodging exploding bubbles would not become one of Chat Noir's new favorite pastimes, but his taunting had seemed to help Ladybug have time to make a plan to do... something. He had been joking about the plumbing thing but he didn't realize how helpful that was. Looking around, she saw a vent, a tube connected to it, the large nut that kept the tub in place, and the wrench in her hands, immediately coming up with a plan.


"Got it." Ladybug said as she ran towards the vent, and made quick work of taking apart the vent, using the wrench to loosen the nut while Chat Noir continued to draw fire from the Bubbler up in the rafters. Soon enough the tube Ladybug had set loose was flapping around wildly.


"Chat Noir, cover me!" Ladybug said, catching Chat Noir's attention with her voice, where he noticed the flailing tube. He leaps off of the rafter, and gets a hold of the tube; landing on the deck, while holding it in his arms; which thankfully had a strong enough airflow to push the bubbles away from them.


"Go on!" Chat Noir said his new defense pushed the explosive bubbles away from him, frustrating the Bubbler enough that he raised his wand high so that he could launch the bubbles harder which opened it up to be snatched by Ladybug's yoyo, much to the Bubbler's shock. She then pulled it towards her and broke it over her knee, before throwing the remains to the ground.


"Get out of here you nasty bug." Ladybug said, just before the akuma flew out of the broken bubble wand.


"No more evildoing for you, little akuma!" She said as she used her pointer finger to slide down the middle of her yo-yo to open it up to reveal the sparkling pool of cleansing energy inside. She then let it drop before she started to swing it in a circle behind her, intent on capturing the akuma as it creates a circle of pink light behind her.


"Time to de-evilize!" Ladybug cries out before she throws her yo-yo towards the escaping akuma, catching it in her yo-yo, as it closes back up, before bringing it back towards her.


"Gotcha" She said when she had the yo-yo back in her hand. A second later, she released the purified akuma, setting the white butterfly free.


"Bye, bye little butterfly." Ladybug said as the butterfly flew away. A second later, she grabs the wrench and throws it into the air.


"Miraculous Ladybug!" She cries out, and no sooner than she did, the miraculous cure sweeps through the city, returning things back to normal. Adults were suddenly transported back to where they had been taken from and the Bubbler fell to his knees as the darkness fell from him, transforming him back into Nino, who was confused as to why he was at the Eiffel Tower.


"Where- Dude." Nino said, looking around, trying to piece together what had happened, but it only took seeing the heroes to figure out what had happened.


"Pound it!" The two heroes said, feeling proud of themselves for taking care of another supervillain.


Meanwhile, in Hawkmoth's lair, he was less than thrilled to see that he was once again defeated, while the white butterflies fluttered around the lair, blissfully unaware of the man's frustration.


"You can't run forever, Ladybug. And when I catch you, I will crush you." The heartless purple reptile of a man said as he clenched his fist in anger while making his claim


"I will destroy you both!" Hawkmoth shouts out as the lair window closes up, leaving the loonie man in total darkness.


(Time skip)


Things had returned to normal, but on the account that the akuma had attacked during the afternoon, the classes after lunch were canceled, leaving the students an early day with more time on their hands. But that meant Adrien was stuck in his house for that time, having no excuse to hang out with his friends, especially after what had happened. But at the moment, he was enjoying his dinner, while Nathalie was in her office, catching up on the work she missed during the akuma attack, when 'Father of the Year' Gabriel Agreste showed up on her intercom.


"Nathalie, did my son like his gift?" He asked, much to Nathalie's shock; pulling her away from her computer to speak to her boss; trying to cover the fact that... she hadn't given it to him yet.


"Actually... I was going to check right away sir!" Nathalie said, trying to hide the panic in her voice. Thankfully, Gabriel didn't seem to notice.


"Good." The anti-Santa said before signing off, leaving Nathalie to her panic. She then frantically looked around her desk for the gift, but then saw it next to her computer. She grabbed the gift from his classmate, but then noticed- there was a sticky note that wasn't there earlier. It must have been left during the akuma. She took it off, crumpled it, and threw it away. She did feel guilty getting rid of it, but not guilty enough to lose her job. She ran to the dining hall where Adrien was having dinner... regrettably alone. She stopped just short of the door, to compose herself before walking in; grabbing Adrien's attention; and holding the gift out to him.


"A birthday present. From your father." Nathalie said before Adrien gently took the present from her; shock clear across his face; before immediately turning to leave. It wouldn't help the poor kid if she started tearing up.


"Oh! Thank you! I mean, please say thank you to my father for me!" Adrien said, obvious to Nathalie's inner turmoil. But she turned her head back around and nodded. He was so genuine. She then left the dining room, leaving Adrien to open the gift that 'his father' gave him, with a wide smile.


(Time skip)


Night had fallen, and Marinette had considered the day pretty successful, all things considered. She got Adrien his gift and was even able to sign it. She beat an akuma, they didn't have their second half of classes so her science homework was technically done on time, and she cleaned her room, it all went quite well. But now, she was once again in her pajamas, and at her desk, ready to call Jim and Toby like she did every night. Tikki was now resting on a pillow near the computer, while Marinette pulled up the call app, and dialed Jim's number, where they waited for the boys to answer.


Meanwhile, in Arcadia, the bell had just rung, and Jim and Toby took the chance to run out of English class, excitement running through their veins as they raced to the bike racks.


"Do you think Marinette will skip the details? I mean, this akuma was pretty personal." Toby said as they ran, while Jim just shook his head.


"I don't know, but let's hope she does. Alya hasn't updated the Ladyblog yet, so let's see if Marinette is up for it." Jim said as they slowed down and found themselves at the bike racks. Once they sat down and leaned against them, Jim's phone started ringing. Just as he and Toby pull out their lunches; homemade cheeseburgers with lettuce, tomatoes, onions, extra cheese, ketchup and mustard with carrot and celery sticks and leftover cookies for dessert; Jim answers his phone, allowing Marinette to appear on the screen.


"Hey, sis." Both boys said at the same time, causing Marinette to smile at the greeting, feeling better than before.


"Hey guys, how was your day? Just get out of English?" Marinette asked, seeing as they had a little sweat on their brows. For some reason, Jim and Toby always ran out of English when the class was over, even when they had another class afterwards.


"Yep. Our day has been good. But enough about our boring lives... tell us what happened with Bubbler. Alya hasn't updated her blog and we are dying to know what happened!!" Toby said, right before biting into his burger, ketchup and mustard spilling out in droplets.


"Your lives aren't boring, Tobes. In fact, I sort of envy you guys, you don't have to run out of what you are doing at the drop of a hat, just because someone got angry at someone else for giving them a hard time, or getting a bad grade. It's a full-time job." Marinette said as she leaned back in her chair, stretching her arms above her head, with a yawn.


"But to answer your questions, the Bubbler was an... interesting akuma." Marinette said, just as Jim bit into his own burger.


"How so?" Jim asked, his mouth full of the homemade lunch, while Marinette rolled her eyes at him.


"Your manners are atrocious, Jim. But I might as well start from the beginning." Marinette said, setting her arms down, and placing them on her desk as she leaned forward towards the screen.


"Go ahead. I missed the first catch up, so tell me the details." Toby said, making Marinette smile. Toby would totally get along with Alya if they met up.


"Okay. So that morning, I got up and got ready for school, ready to give Adrien his birthday gift." Marinette said, while Jim took another bite out of his burger and smirked at Toby.


"Ask her how that went." Jim slyly said, his mouth still full, much to Marinette's annoyance.


"All in due time, brother. Now let me continue." Marinette said, growing a bit impatient with Jim's interruptions.


"Right, sorry. Continue." Jim said while Toby continues to eat his burger and Marinette continues to tell her story.


"Okay, so I went to class, and I hadn't been able to give Adrien the gift until lunch, and Chloé got in the way, so I had to go to his house to give it to him. But when I put it in the mailbox, Alya asked if I signed the note, but at that moment, I realized that I didn't even have a note on it, to begin with." Marinette said, causing Toby to laugh as soon as he swallowed his food, to which Jim joined in as well, while Marinette just deadpan glared at them with a pout.


"Yeah, laugh it up. Laugh at my misfortune. Are you done now?" Marinette asked, not enjoying their laughter at her expense. But thankfully, they did stop laughing.


"We're good. Sorry for that. Please, continue." Toby said, wiping a stray tear from his cheek, while Marinette took that as her opportunity to continue.


"Alright, after that, I went back home, and Jim and I had our noon chat. I told him what had happened, and I don't really know what had happened, but Nino got akumatized because of something that Adrien's dad did. Then he released those bubbles that trapped Mom and Dad and the other adults." Marinette said, which Jim recognized immediately as he finished eating his burger, with Toby soon following.


"Which I saw on the video call, and before you transformed to fight. What happened then?" Jim said letting Marinette continue the story while the two of them started on their veggie sticks.


"Right, so I transformed, then went after the Bubbler, which was actually pretty easy considering he was throwing a party for Adrien; with my classmates as captive partygoers; shooting up fireworks into the sky that acted like flares for me. When I got there though, what I saw was not pleasant." Marinette said, looking away from the screen and scratching the back of her neck out of nervousness.


"What did you see?" Toby asked as he chomped through his veggie sticks to get to his cookies, while Marinette looked back at the screen with a tense smile.


"I saw Adrien slow dancing with Chloé. And I used my Lucky Charm to change the music." Marinette said while Jim and Toby's eyes widened in shock, before bursting out into laughter again. This was way worse than anything Jim had done to embarrass himself in front of Claire. Once again, Marinette watched her brothers laugh at her with a deadpan glare.


"You done?" Marinette asked as the two of them calmed down from their laughter.


"Sorry, it's just... you are handling your first crush so badly." Jim said as he held his aching sides, trying to catch his breath.


"Yeah, I know. Anyway, after that, I had to transform back and sneak into the party to get Tikki some food. But Alya was there and she led me to the house, where we found my gift to Adrien in his father's office. And I managed to sign the gift before transforming to fight the Bubbler." Marinette said while Jim and Toby smiled at the news while finishing off their veggie sticks.


"That was good fortune. I guess being Ladybug has done you some good in the luck department." Toby said, amazed that Marinette had such a good amount of luck while starting to eat his cookies with Jim


"I know, right? So, I and the Bubbler were fighting, when Chat Noir joined in. But then Hawkmoth must have told something to the Bubbler that made him angry, because he attacked us with a swarm of his bubbles, and ended up trapping us in one of the ones that took the adults. And after he demanded for our miraculous in exchange for our lives, which we obviously refused, he sent us up into space. Thankfully we managed to escape with Chat's cataclysm, and survived a 1000 ft freefall to land safely on the ground." Marinette said, while Jim and Toby just looked at her in shock. She had said that so nonchalantly, that it scared them that Marinette was already used to this type of life-threatening danger after only a week.


"The way you just said that... are you doing okay? And I mean mentally?" Jim asked, worried that his little sister was already used to the... less than ideal situation Hawkmoth had forced them into. Sure being a hero seemed like a great gig, but it did have many downsides that not many people knew of or experienced.


"It's only the second week on the job. I'm doing fine right now. But admittedly, today was a bit of a challenge, since this became very personal for us. All in all, we defeated the Bubbler, and things went back to normal. I'm doing fine now." Marinette said, trying to assure her brother that she was doing good.


"Even then, even if Hawkmoth could take advantage of your emotions, you know you can talk to us... right? We'll always be here for you." Toby said, just as he finished eating his cookies, which made Jim nod in agreement, making Marinette smile. Leave it to her brothers to know how to make her feel better.


"I know, and I appreciate it. I promise that if I do need someone to talk to, you guys will be the first ones I go to." Marinette said, which brought a smile to their faces as they wiped their faces clean.


"Thanks, sis." Jim said, just before the bell rang, which meant they had a history with Mr Strickler. Hooray.


"Aw man, I hate history with Strickler. He makes it so boring!" Toby said with a groan while slouching backwards, making Jim and Marinette chuckle at his antics.


"Looks like I got to go. Bye boys." Marinette said with a wide smile as she waved at them through the screen.


"Bye sis." The two boys said before hanging up, and Jim put his phone away in his bag, while they made their way to history.


"History with Strickler isn't so bad, Tobes. It can be a bit fun at times." Jim said, trying to defend the subject he enjoyed. But it wasn't for the right reasons.


"Easy for you to say, that's the one class you share with Claire. Plus, you're Strickler's favorite student. You're biased." Toby said as they neared the classroom, with Strickler waiting outside as he greeted the students walking in.


"Maybe. But I am worried about Mari. She seems to have a lot more on her plate than she's letting on. I just know it." Jim said, not knowing they were in earshot of Mr Strickler.


"Sounds like someone else I know, Jim. It seems that your little sister has inherited your talent of taking on too much at once." Strickler said, knowing full well who Jim was talking about. He had known Jim's mother, Barbara; and to the same extent, Jim; for years, and became like a sort of uncle to the boy, knowing all about what had happened between Barbara and Tom all those years ago. To say that he was a huge help to her was an understatement. Not many people understood the story completely, and took it the wrong way, but Strickler seemed to not care about that at all. The whole family liked him, Tom especially since he was helping Barbara and Jim when he couldn't, even Marinette liked him, even more so when they got into deep conversations about textiles and historical influences for fashion. Last summer, Jim and Toby could barely get the two to stop talking since they were too deep in a conversation about the famous Chinese 'Silk Road'.


"You have no idea, Mr Strickler." Toby said before he and Jim walked into the classroom, leaving a fond smiling Strickler behind to close the door. Those two seemed to be more alike than he ever imagined. But he simply kept the thought to himself as he began his lesson.


Back over in Paris, Marinette had just crawled into her loft bed, ready to slip into the realm of dreams, while Tikki curled up on the pillow with her.


"Good night, Tikki." Marinette sleepily said, her eyes closing as she slowly drifted off.


"Good night, Marinette." Tikki responded back in the same sleepy tone, as they both fell asleep.


(The next day)


The morning came, and Marinette had managed to not be late to school that day. She even managed to meet up with Alya, and the both of them walked to the school while Alya gushed about the up-close footage of the Bubbler that she had been able to get for the Ladyblog, which Marinette was sure that Jim and Toby would see soon. The good mood was put on pause when they got close enough to the front of the school to hear Chloe yelling at Sabrina on the front steps.


"What do you mean 'Not for a week'?!" Chloé shouts at Sabrina as she leaned forward by her waist to seem more menacing to Sabrina. And it worked, considering Sabrina was hiding her face behind her tablet, as she leaned away from Chloé to try and avoid her wrath.


"There were no adults yesterday to deliver it!" Sabrina said, feeling very afraid of what Chloé would do to her, while Alya, Marinette and a few other students watched.


"So what? Ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous!" Chloé shouts out as she storms inside, Sabrina following after her like a kicked puppy, all while the situation made Alya laugh.


"Serves Chloe right." Alya said, causing Marinette to smile as well.


"Hey girls!" A voice behind them said. They turned around to see Adrien's limo had pulled up behind them. All in all, he. was wearing his usual T-shirt and jeans look, along with a new addition, which Marinette noticed immediately as. Adrien closed the car door behind him.


"Hey, that's my scarf!" Marinette whisper yelled excitedly to Alya, smiling brightly.


"He's wearing my scarf!" The designer said, joy filling her entire body. This was the happiest day of her life! While she was drifting off into La La Land, Adrien had walked up to Nino; who was waiting for him at the front steps; with a smile.


"Hey dude," Adrien said before he greeted Nino with his morning fist bump, to which he responded in kind.


"Yo, nice scarf, Adrien! Off the chain!" Alya called over to the boys, turning their attention to them while Marinette waved, grinning from ear to ear.


"Yeah, can you believe my dad got this for me?" Adrien said, to which Marinette stopped waving and her expression dropped. His... What now? Why would Adrien think his dad got the scarf she made for him? There must have been a mix-up. Maybe the note fell off?


"It's so awesome. He's gotten me the same lame pen for three years in a row." Adrien said, not aware of Marinette's turmoil, and how sad that comment really was as he turned to face Nino.


"Wow, I guess anyone can change. Adults can be cool when you least expect it." Nino said, as he tried to be supportive of his new friend, even if his dad was a total jerk.


"Speaking of adults... I know my father said you were a bad influence, but-" Adrien began, trying to make things right between the two of them. But thankfully, he didn't need to


"We're good, Adrien. Don't sweat it. We're buds! Always and forever."Nino said as he placed an arm around Adrien's shoulder, and directed him to face the stairs before they began walking up. Meanwhile, Alya waited until the boys were far enough away before she said anything to Marinette.


"You've got to tell him you're the one who knitted the scarf." Alya said, wanting Marinette to get the recognition she deserved, but all Marinette did was look wistfully after him, watching him laugh with Nino.


"But he seems so happy about his dad... I don't want to spoil it for him." Marinette said as she watched Nino and Adrien reach the top of the stairs, while Alya was blown away by her words.


"Aw, Marinette." Alya said just as she pulled her in for a hug which Marinette returned in kind a second later.


"You're amazing girl, you know that right?" The reporter said as she pulled back to look her best friend in the eye.


"And someday Adrien will figure it out, too. I promise." Alya said as she placed an arm around Marinette's shoulder and they joined the other students walking into the school at the first bell. Maybe next year Adrien would get the party he wanted and Marinette could give him a gift in person. They'd just have to wait and see.


(Time skip)


Soon lunch had arrived, and Marinette found a bench to sit on when she pulled up Jim's contact to video call him. She pulls out her lunch as she waits for Jim to answer. As soon as she placed her bag onto the floor, Jim's familiar face showed up on her phone, making her smile.


"Hey Jimbro, how are you?" Marinette said as she got her lunch; a thermos of her mom's spicy chicken noodle soup, with a bowl to pour and eat it out of, chopsticks as her utensils, slices of baguette, and an assortment of macaroons for dessert; out of her lunch bag while Jim chuckles at the nickname.


"I'm doing good. Another boring day here in Arcadia. I'm still sore from gym class with Coach Lawrence. He really put us through the wringer today, I thought he might have been an akumatized villain. Are you sure Hawkmoth can't akumatize anyone overseas?" Jim asked, as Marinette poured the soup into the bowl, and began to dig into her meal, but when asked about akumas over on his end, she stifled a laugh at the thought of Coach Lawrence being an exercise obsessed akuma, to prevent any noodles shooting out of her nose, like Uncle Yang in the Kung Fu Panda Christmas Special.


"I'm pretty sure that he can't. Tikki even said that if he based his operations here, then the USA is out of his range." Marinette said when she managed to swallow her noodles and keep her laughter from slipping out, as she glanced down at Tikki who was having her own lunch of chocolate chip cookies, while Jim nodded in understanding. The boy might not have been able to see Tikki through the phone, but considering that she was a magical creature that gave Marinette her ability to transform into Ladybug, then he should listen to her.


"Fair enough. So how has your day been going? Did Adrien get your scarf?" Jim asked, causing Marinette; who had just slurped up another bite full of noodles; to swallow her food down the wrong pipe in surprise before she started coughing to clear her throat. She had really hoped he wouldn't ask that question.


"Mari? Are you okay?" Jim asked as Marinette managed to clear the food from her throat and swallow it the rest of the way, while Tikki patted her leg in support since she couldn't pat her back without exposing herself.


"Yeah, I'm fine." Marinette said as she caught her breath and set down her bowl so she wouldn't spill it. When she managed to catch her breath, she picked up her bowl and held it nervously while looking down at it.


"He did get the scarf, but somehow, he ended up thinking it was from his dad." She said, which brought a shocked look to Jim's face.


"What? How? You left a note on it." Jim said, not understanding how Marinette's luck could have turned from good to bad in such a short amount of time.


"I don't know. But he was so happy when he thought it was from his dad, I couldn't ruin that for him. So I just kept quiet about it." Marinette said, which brought more shock to her brother's face as she finished off her noodle soup and baguette pieces. How is it that Marinette was born with such a heart of gold? It seemed physically impossible.


"Okay, I'm calling it, he doesn't deserve you. You need to find someone else to be in love with." Jim said, knowing full well that this boy, either was really stupid, or really oblivious to not seeing the gem of a woman that is his little sister was, and want to cherish her every day.


"I can't help who I fall in love with, Jim. Adrien is not who you think he is. And I could say the same about Claire. You've had a crush on her for how long and she still hasn't noticed you. I've just started crushing on him, it's going to take some time, you know." Marinette said as she popped a lemon macaroon into her mouth, while she was imagining romantic scenarios in her mind at the moment. Hey, it might take time, but that didn't mean she couldn't fantasize in the meantime.


"Good point, but seriously you are too good for him." Jim said, trying to get his sister to see herself the way that he and many others saw her... a good that was too pure for the world. But to Marinette, she would argue that Rose would most likely take that title.


"Either way, besides being massacred in the gym, how was the remainder of your day? History went well?" Marinette asked, eager to change the subject a bit from the topic of crushes.


"Trying to change the subject? Really? But to answer your question, it went fine. Strickler asked about you." Jim said, telling her what had happened, much to her surprise to hear that Jim's teacher asked about her.


"How come?" Marinette asked, curious as to why Strickler would even ask about her while eating a peppermint macaroon. Sure they had talked during the summer, and he knew about their... complicated family, but it still made her curious.


"He overheard me and Toby talking about you having a lot on your plate." Jim said, clearing up any curiosity and confusion Marinette had.


"Well, you're not wrong. But it's nice that you are enjoying history. For reasons that aren't involving Claire." Marinette said, with a smirk as she brought a raspberry macaroon to her lips, and ate it, which caused Jim's cheeks to erupt into a fiery red.


"I... I... oh alright, the fact that Claire is in my class, is amazing. It feels like fate wants us to be together." Jim said in a dreamy tone, and with a faraway look in his eyes, making Marinette smile and roll her eyes at him.


"Sounds like it." Marinette said, just as the bell rang, bringing her attention away from her phone and to the noise.


"Looks like I have to go. Talk to you tonight, bro." She said, looking back at Jim through the phone screen.


"Talk to you later. Bye, sis." Jim said as he waved through the screen, while Marinette waved back.


"Bye, bro." Marinette said before she hung up and put her phone away. With that, she puts her lunch stuff back into her bag and heads off the class with a smile. But at the sight of Adrien's smile because of his birthday gift from 'his dad' made her smile brighter as she slipped into the chair next to Alya, ready for the next lesson.