1. Prologue

The Lycèe department of Françoise Dupont organized a summer field trip not only for educational purposes but also for recreational ones. It was arranged as a consolation to the seniors before they start preparing for their le bac, and at the same time, the best distraction to unwind and enlighten those who were still in the bind.

When a black limousine parked outside the school entrance, Nino couldn't help but run towards it.

"Yo, Adrien! You're finally here!" the future DJ greeted when an obviously excited blond-haired model emerged from the vehicle. Like him, his friend was carrying a big, traveling bag full of clothes and other necessities.

"Salut, Nino!" Adrien replied with a high-five. "I thought I'll be coming here late. I only slept like four hours!"

"Mine's three, dude," he replied casually. "Wow, I'm glad your father finally agreed to give you a break. One was supposed to start working after they finished school, you know."

"I'm surprised that he allowed me to join here. He even told Natalie to clear my schedules for two weeks." the model remarked then shrugged his shoulders. "I just consider my work as some sort of helping our family business."

"Hey, guys! Over here!" Alya called them while waving her hands in the air. She was carrying a matching traveling bag with a video camera on the side.

"Salut, Alya. Seems like you're totally prepared for this trip." Adrien's greetings earned him a smirk.

"Of course, I can't miss this for the world!" she replied enthusiastically as she looked around. "But I think we might be missing one."

The trio turned their heads around when they heard a small commotion, followed by a loud squeaking sound as a petite, dark-haired girl ran towards their direction. Similarly, she has a large traveling bag but with a small rectangular box tucked on her arms.

"I'm so...sorry...I was...I forgot the time...of the meeting." Marinette huffed then handed them the box. "Papa...macarons..."

Nino and Alya squealed simultaneously as they grabbed the pastry with delight. Adrien, on the other hand, decided to help the dark-haired girl by unhooking her bag from her back.

"You're not supposed to run like that, Marinette. Your house is practically five minute's away from here." the blond cooed.

She blushed at his kind words and lost the care if such reaction was visible on her face. She was too exhausted to mind it anyways.

"Five minutes away, yeah. But she can still be late for more than five minutes." Alya commented while munching a macaron. "It's a good thing I gave her a fifteen-minute leeway for our meetup. Or else."

"Don't be too harsh on our Mari. Besides, she made it - and she even brought us some treats." Nino quipped her between bites.

Marinette gave a short laugh then glanced dreamily at her crush who was also enjoying the treats.

The designer was so excited she barely made a wink last night. She was so preoccupied imagining herself with Adrien, and probably went downhill if not for Tikki's scoldings.

Despite years of being together as friends, her stuttering mess remained the same, much to her dismay.

Alya was convincing her to end her unrequited love before their graduation. She tried deliberately, but her embarrassment and cowardice won over.

Marinette hoped that she could confess her feelings before the end of their school trip.

"All students, please gather at the Parkway for further instructions!" Miss Bustier made an announcement using a megaphone.

There were eight classes overall, and each class has an assigned bus with a designated teacher and a tour guide that will explain the routes and places that they will pass along their way.

Since Marinette's class got the third bus, they hastily left their things inside there first before they joined the assembly.

The school's head Mr. Damocles stepped to the podium and cleared his throat. "Before we begin, I would like to inform you that -"

His speech was cut short when a loud shrill sounded afar, followed by a bright light-like explosion.

Surprisingly, the situation was considered to be normal in a modern-day Paris.

All citizens knew that the said scenario means Akuma, which also means Ladybug and Chat Noir's appearances.

The adults conducted an evacuation procedure and securely led the students, including Alya who was ranting about her mod status in Ladyblog, back to their ride. The commotion became a perfect distraction for Adrien to slip away, as well as Marinette who took a cover behind the pillars.

Once cleared, the teens immediately called their transformations.

"Tikki, Transforme moi!"

"Plagg, Transforme moi!"

Both superheroes lurched themselves towards the plaza and suddenly became aware that they came from the same location.

"It seems that we're always in the same place at the same time, My Lady." Chat Noir smirked as he landed on the post. "Is this serendipity?"

"Hold your whiskers, Kitty." Ladybug replied as she stood on the opposite post. "We have some job to do here."

"We're so claws yet so fur."

Ladybug gave her partner a beady glare, then jerked a finger towards a big, chubby man in a black-and-pink striped jumper suit. Both hands were cuffed with silver bracelets, which matched the ones around his neck. His hair was a fizzy red afro, and his eyes have swirls of yellow and pink hues.

"I am Twiddle Doom! And I'm here to control this new dimension!"

"I cat believe I'm seeing a human time-machine." Chat Noir snorts offended the akumatized person. "Mind if I dis-claws about Physics 101?"

Twidle Doom aimed his left palm towards the black-clad superhero then released a supersonic wave which almost knocked him unconscious, as well as Ladybug who happened to be on the sidelines.

The red heroine squinted at the damaged spot then saw the fuzzy effect.

An effect that reminded her of Pixelator.

"Chat! Beware, he's freezing the time!"

Chat gave her a thumbs-up sign, then rolled around while dodging some hits. He witnessed how the supersonic waves hit some living objects and turned them into frozen blurs like it was being eaten by an unknown void.

Ladybug used her yo-yo to bind Twiddle Doom's hand but failed. The Akuma overpowered the yoyo's strings enough to snap it, but because of its magical essence, the strings reconnected again and bounced back to its owner.

Worried that the enemy would eventually reach her school, the heroine decided to use her trump card.

"Lucky Charm!"

And a silver platter dropped from the air.

"Erm, are we going to eat something?" Chat Noir asked while deflecting the waves with his baton. "Claws I have a bad feline about it!"

His partner looked around then saw the red-and-black dots as her clues.

Now for the akumatized object...

Ladybug didn't know the identity of the possessed person or the reason of his possession, but there was something on his necklace that caught her attention.

"Found it!"

She hastily swapped her place with Chat Noir and automatically changed as the main bait.

She ran and leaped as Twiddle Doom threw some supersonic waves towards her path. When she reached the fountain, she paused momentarily and flipped the platter like a reflector, letting the sunlight bounced towards the villain's face.

As if on cue, Chat Noir raised his arm to activate his power.

"Cataclysm!"

Twiddle Doom crossed his arms to shield his face, and the actions gave Chat Noir an easy access to reach his neck. With his black bubbling hand, he swiped the Akuma's silver necklace, as well as the two silver cuffs in one go.

The objects changed its color to gray and disintegrated into a fine dust.

A black butterfly that emerged from the damaged accessory was immediately swiped by Ladybug's yo-yo.

"No more evil-doing for you, little Akuma." she uttered as the butterfly was cleansed to white. "Time to de-evilize!"

Afterwards, she threw the Lucky Charm to the air.

"Miraculous Ladybug!"

Red ladybugs swarmed around and reverted the place back to normal. On Twiddle Doom's place was a confused middle-aged man who received an immediate medical attention.

"Bien joue!" the two superheroes celebrated their victory again with a fist bump.

They didn't wait for their Miraculous to beep this time though.

No further flirts, no additional goodbyes.

Both rushed back to the place where they hide to transform. They released their kwamis there and handed them their desired food.

Both returned to the parkway to meet with their classmates -

Only to find a deserted place.

Marinette and Adrien blinked and stared at each other for more than ten seconds before it clicked.

They've been left behind.