Miraculous: How It Could Have Happened-Season One

Timebreaker

Marinette stuck the landing behind a piece of structure and detransformed without a single soul seeing her. She knew this was a tight squeeze into her schedule. She was supposed to be back at the bakery, waiting for Nadja Chamack to come to pick up her preordered cake. But a call from Alya at the last minute had reminded her that the big race between Alix and Kim, the one she had made a banner for, was today.

She had promised to bring it, and everyone was counting on her, so she timed the clock on her phone for twenty minutes, when Nadja was expected to arrive at the bakery, and set off to the location as Ladybug to cut her arrival time shorter. She hurried down the steps, where everyone was waiting for the race to begin. She was the last to arrive, second to Alix herself.

Her friends greeted Marinette cheerfully, oohing and aahing at the handmade banner she had worked so hard on. As she returned their smiling faces, she noticed one of them was Adrien's. He took a small step forward and cleared his throat. "Impressive, Marinette!" He winked at her. She giggled. "Thanks, Adrien."

In his head, he was doing a victory dance. For once, he had nailed a pass at her, and he hadn't stuttered or anything! For the first time, he was actually smooth around her. As she turned her attention towards Kim boasting about his superior athleticism, he spun around with a huge grin on his face towards Nino, who gave him two thumbs up for a job well done.

Moments later, Alix came rolling on her blades, looking confident. She and Kim exchanged playful banter for a minute before Max broke them up so they could proceed with the challenge. "Let's review the official rules, shall we? Two laps around the fountain, approximately five hundred yards. The first one over the line is declared the victor. If Kim triumphs, Alix will relinquish her rollerblades to him. If Alix triumphs, Kim will be prohibited from making another dare for the rest of the school year."

"We're through with all those stupid dares!" "Uh-huh! That's right!" "No more dares!" Alix and Kim got into position, both sets of eyes fierce with determination. The class was on the edge of their seats. Kim was a remarkable athlete, especially in track and field, where his strongest suit was, but Alix was like a blizzard on her rollerblades, swift and piercing through the air. Max held up both his arms. "On your marks...get set..." "Hold up!", Alix cried.

She rolled to Alya, holding out a silver pocket watch that gleamed when the sunlight hit it's spotless surface. "Hold this for me, will you? I don't wanna drop it during the race." She placed it on the palm of Alya's hand. "Hold on, girl! I gotta—" "Guard it with your life!", said Alix, with a hint of sternness in her voice. "Its a family heirloom!" "But—!" She didn't hear Alya as she rolled back to the starting line.

Stealing a quick glance at the watch in her hand, she passed it off to Marinette, who was holding up the right end of the banner in her other hand, Nino holding up the left end. "Marinette, take this! I gotta record the race for my blog!" Alix and Kim got back into their starting positions at the white line. "On your marks...get set...GO!" And with that, the competitors took off, Kim's feet pounding against the pavement, Alix's rollerblades wheels grinding fast and hard enough to emit sparks.

As the race went on, Marinette struggled to keep Alix's watch safe in her hand, especially with Nino shaking her at the other end of the banner. "But...she asked you to hold it! I gotta hold up the banner!" All of the sudden, a hard jerk at Nino's end sent Marinette stumbling, and the watch jumped out of her hand, falling towards the hard ground...

...until a suntanned hand swooped in and caught it just in time. Marinette followed the arm to see that it was attached to Adrien, who was smiling sweetly at her. "Need a hand?" She sighed in relief. "Adrien, you're a lifesaver! Thanks!" Adrien grinned. First, he'd made a successful compliment at Marinette, then he'd saved the day, like her knight in shining armor. He was on a roll today!