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milarqui · 2 years ago

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Scarlet Lady: Troublemaker

Directory | Anansi

She was normally a busy woman, but today looked to be even busier than normal.

“Down, Fang! Uh, I need an assortment of macarons, please,” she told to the hotel worker that had come at her request.

“Oui, Mlle. Penny,” Armand replied, as she realized she was still talking on the phone.

“No, not you,” she apologized, “please confirm that red-eye flight–”

“Hey, I got the perfect way to market the new album!”

And, of course, she just couldn't relax at all, as Jagged's manager suddenly showed up out of the blue, not even bothering with a call.

“Bob, I don't think–” she tried to say, but Bob Roth, being what he was, ignored her.

She rushed back to the main room, knowing that a fight was about to take place.

“Seriously?! You want me on Rockstar Wants a Wife?! That show's the opposite of rock'n roll!”

“That's what sells, Jagged!”

Yeah, they were now throwing stuff at each other.

“I'll call you back,” she said, hanging up and running in before they broke something that ended up costing them even more bills from the hotel.

She grabbed Jagged before he could throw a football at Bob,

“Jagged, what about–” and she told him the idea that had just sprung in her mind, from one of the shows she had watched last week. His demeanor instantly changed, and he dropped the ball to hug her.

“Such a rock'n roll idea!” he said, giving her a kiss on the cheek. “You're the best Penny!”

She loved it whenever he got like this, all happy and romantic and–

“Ugh, don't be saps right in front of me.”

And that was when she was reminded what she hated of Bob Roth.

----

She was normally a busy young lady, but today looked to be even busier than normal.

“C'mon, Manon, give it back! The deadline's tomorrow and I still have homework to do!” she begged.

The little girl, who clearly didn't understand the concept of being good for once, just laughed as she jumped around her room, wearing the hat she had been crafting.

“You look stressed, My Queen,” Pollen whispered from her hideyhole in her hair.

“I got double booked again!” she complained. “I've become so scatterbrained since taking on more as Marigold.”

And it had been a mess ever since. Between collège work, her class president duties, designing, helping at the bakery, babysitting, and now heroism, she barely even had the time to plan out how to do everything else!

Just then, her cellphone rang, and she briefly stopped her attempts to corner Manon to check.

“Huh?” The image on the phone was completely unexpected. “O-Oh my God, it's Jagged Stone's manager!”

As she picked up, she took advantage of Manon's distraction to finally grab the hat off the girl's head.

“Marinette! Phone!” Manon begged, but she ignored it.

“H-Hello?”

“Marinette?”

“Yes!”

“It's me, Penny Rolling!”

“Hi, Mlle. Penny!”

“Look, can you ask your parents something?”

“Huh?”

“I need to know if they want to show up in a TV show with Jagged.”

“A TV show?”

----

“Welcome to 'Fill My Shoes'! With our guest, the one and only, Jagged Stone!”

“Rock'n roll!” the rockstar exclaimed.

“Filling the shoes... of a baker!”

It hadn't taken Penny much to convince Tom and Sabine to allow the program to film (live, much like every other TVi program) on their bakery, and right now Tom was taking charge of showing how things were run in there, while Sabine brought out a platter full of croissants for the people coming for the program.

“Would you like a hot croissant?” she asked.

Bob Roth picked one and ignored the baker, not even bothering to thank her.

The cameraman just ignored her.

“Rude bunch, aren't they?” Sabine asked her daughter, who had decided this was the perfect occasion to wear her best uniform.

“C'mon, Maman, they're just busy,” Marinette mollified her. “Just think of what this'll do for the bakery!”

The iron grip of Sabine Cheng's right hand quickly held around Marinette's cheeks and jaw.

“It's rude to turn down hot food from your hostess!” she irately replied.

“Y-Yes, 媽媽,” Marinette mumbled back.

Meanwhile, Jagged Stone had picked up a large baguette, a croissant and a pair of other things from the counter and was holding them together in a particular form.

“Check out my edible guitar!” he joked, as he mimicked playing an electric guitar, singing. “Flour~! Eggs and butter~!”

Penny – who was holding onto Fang – laughed, causing the Cheng ladies to turn to her.

“Seems like working with Jagged Stone is fun,” Sabine noted, and Penny nodded.

“He's wonderful!” the aide replied, her cheeks blushing. “Never a dull moment, such creative ideas, always thinking of his fans, always pays his child support in time–”

“Wait, Jagged has kids–?”

“You didn't hear that,” Penny said, her demeanor now rock solid and calm, as she moved the pages on her clipboard until she found something she showed the women. “Also please sign this NDA.”

----

As Adrien sat down, table with cheese for his Kwami companion ready, said Kwami companion turned to him.

“There's no cheese on this show, why are you watching it?” Plagg asked through the Camembert piece he was already inhaling.

“They're filming at Marinette's place!” Adrien replied, just as the camera turned to look precisely at the girl he liked so much.

“Yo, Marinette, my favorite little lady! Get on stage with us!” Jagged Stone said to a surprised Marinette, who looked somewhat uncomfortable as she waved back.

“Uh?! Oh, heheh!” she awkwardly said as Mme. Cheng encouraged her to step forward.

“Marinette's really talented, you know! She made the cover of my last album!” the singer declared, while Adrien just drank in the wonderful, wonderful appearance of his friend-slash-crush-slash-love-of-his-life.

“Omigod, her widdle uniform!”

----

“Impressive! A family of artists!” Alec Cataldi declared.

“Tch!” Chloé grumbled, clearly not getting what she wanted once more.

For a moment, it looked like she might, when Marinette accidentally threw a bag of flour at Jagged Stone's head... but then the rock'n'roll singer smiled.

“Hey, look! I'm a ghost! Rock'n boo!” Jagged said, and then he tackled Alec, who was smiling as well.

“We'll be back after the break.”

“BOO!” Jagged said again as the transmission turned to commercials.

“Ugh, I only wanted to watch this dumb show to see Dupain-Cheng mess up, not to hear her praises!” Chloé complained, as was her wont whenever she didn't get what she wanted.

“But Chloé, don't you remember?” Tikki said, eager to needle her bearer.

“What?”

“It's thanks to you that Jagged Stone even met Marinette!”

Chloé immediately put her hands to her face as she tried to forget how she had helped the person she most hated in the world.

“Nooooo! Don't remind me!”

----

Back at the Dupain-Cheng bakery, Penny managed to impose some sort of order and pulled a whistling Jagged away from Alec.

“Where's the bathroom?” Penny asked Marinette, who pointed to the stairs.

“Upstairs!”

“Merci!” she replied, leading her charge.

However, they didn't notice that they were going too far upstairs until they reached a place that was very clearly not a bathroom.

“Uhh, I think we went too far up,” Penny said, as they looked around the place they had arrived. Jagged, however, had other things in mind.

“This must be her bedroom! Cool!” he said, as he started to check things.

“Oh, a sink!” Penny noted, taking the rag she had been loaned by Marinette's mother and wetting it before brushing off the flour off Jagged's hair.

“Penny, look! Marinette's seriously talented!” Jagged stated, looking at what was clearly a set of designs made by Marinette.

“U-huh.” Penny felt awkward, as she realized they were intruding into Marinette's personal space, which was something they really shouldn't be doing.

Jagged did not have the same epiphany, however,

“This one would look great on you!”

“Focus on getting back to set!”

Unfortunately for everyone involved into the matter, other people had different ideas in mind.

“Returning live with Jagged Stone 'Filling the Shoes' of a baker!” Alec declared, followed by the camera crew as they also entered Marinette's room in total disregard of her intimacy. “Let's see if our rockstar got rid of his flour!”

Before she could tell them off for it, though, Jagged played it off for the cameras and pointed at one of the walls.

“Hey, there's more pics of Chat Noir than me!” he joked. “Marinette, you got a thing for Paris' coolest cat?”

----

Back in the Agreste Mansion, one Adrien Agreste had something to say to that.

“YES!”

----

Back at the Dupain-Cheng's home, one Marinette Dupain-Cheng had a very different opinion of the matter.

“NO!” she shouted, embarrassed that her room was being bared to the entire world.

----

Back again at the Agreste Mansion, in a secret underground floor, Paris' supervillain gasped.

Then, Hawkmoth realized something.

“Wait, why am I gasping, I already knew that.”

----

“GET OUT OF MY ROOM!” Marinette yelled with the righteous fury of someone who had seen her intimacy violated in such a way.

Particularly when she was seeing Alec Cataldi picking and wearing the half-finished hat she had been working on earlier, as if it were in the wardrobe of his studio instead of someone else's room.

“Hey, Marinette! Want me to sign my poster?” Jagged, who once more showed a lack of ability to read the room, asked.

“I WANT YOU OUT!” Marinette yelled again, turning to the camera crew. “AND YOU! STOP FILMING! What is WRONG with you?!”

----

“Penny, do something!”

Oblivious to (or, more likely, interested in seeing) Marinette's distress, Chloé just munched on popcorn.

----

“You all heard the lady–!” Penny declared as she pushed Bob Roth away, but in process someone pulled on the cord connecting the camera to the transmission equipment.

“Penny, you cut the feed!” Alec admonished her.

“Uh–”

“Wait, get out first!” Marinette demanded as she opened her trapdoor again.

“Penny, give me the cord!”

“ACHOO!” Jagged sneezed. “Penny, I need a tissue!”

“C'mon, we're live!”

“PLEASE LEAVE ALREADY!”

“ACHOO!”

It felt like a pressure cooker in the room.

Something had to give.

And this time...

“EVERYBODY, SHUT THE FUCK UP!”

… it was the overwhelmed Penny.

Everybody silently filed down, out of Marinette's room, and as she closed the trapdoor Bob Roth chose to make his personality shine once more.

“What do we do now?” he asked, unconcerned.

“Film in the bakery, like you're supposed to!” Penny yelled as she opened the closest door, pen in the other hand. “Try to survive for five minutes.”

And, entering what appeared to be a library room, she slammed the door, collapsing on the ground with a long, stressed sigh, as she attempted to regain control over herself.

----

“Oh, bless up. I don't have to akumatize the girl,” Hawkmoth said as he commanded the butterfly to go for the older woman. “That's just begging for Chat Noir to show up at my door.”

----

Pollen carefully approached her Queen, who was shrunk against the wall, shaking from both anger and shame.

“My Queen, let's just talk it out, okay?” she gently said.

“They showed my Chat Noir photos, my half-finished dresses, and my month-old designs!” It didn't look like she was ready to 'talk it out'. “My fashion career is ruined! I should've burned those old designs!”

“That's simply not true!” Pollen said. Her Queen shouldn't have to destroy such wonderful things! “Jagged Stone loved them!”

“If Chat Noir sees, he'll know I'm in love with him!”

“You think so?” she asked, not sure of what was wrong with that.

----

Plagg had had many types of bearers. Some good, some bad. And sometimes just a bit irritating.

And Adrien, who was normally the best, now was approaching that last category.

“Should I go see her?! No, no, it's too soon. I should order roses! Should I get red this time?!”

“Ugh.”

Seriously, why did his kittens have to become lovesick?

----

As soon as the crew and guest went back downstairs, Bob Roth found himself under the glares of the bakery's owners, but he couldn't care less about them.

“Alright, back to work!” he ordered.

“No! We want to stop!” Tom Dupain replied.

“WHAT?!”

“We agreed to film in the bakery, not in our private home!” Sabine Cheng said, full of righteous anger. “And now you've upset our daughter! Completely unacceptable!”

“The ratings are blowing up, we're not stopping now!” Roth replied, unconcerned by the legitimate demand.

As an answer, Sabine picked up the bakery shovel and glared at the manager.

“YOU WANT TO START SOMETHING, M. BOB?!” she challenged, all too ready to go medieval on the unscrupulous man.

“Huh?” Said man was clearly unaware of the danger about to be unleashed on his person.

“I DEMAND YOU APOLOGIZE!”

However, before Bob Roth could actually awaken to the fact he was about to have a close encounter with the wooden implement, the outside doors were locked up.

“Ah, the doors!” Tom shouted, having easily recognized the beeping sound.

“You could've told us the bakery was haunted!” Bob Roth begged, sweating out of his brow.

“Uh, it's not!” Tom replied – only for one of their flour bags to start flying around covering everything in white dust.

“Ahh!” Sabine shouted in shock.

“What is happening?!”

And, with no warning, the answer showed up right behind Jagged Stone, in the form of a woman with a long mohawk, heavily painted-on face, and a total lack of damns to give about anything.

“Hey.”

“WAAAAAHH!” the singer screamed. Then again, the man had a reason for it – the Akuma had not even had the decency to warn him!

“There's no more Penny to solve your problems, Jagged! The untouchable Troublemaker will make sure you have nothing but problems!” the Akuma declared, clicking on her pen twice.

----

“Poor Penny was so busy trying to save everyone that she became a target for Hawkmoth!” Pollen noted, worried about the gentle woman.

“Good thing I'm here to save her!” Marinette stated. “Buzz On!”

----

“Oh! Look! Akuma at the bakery! Gotta go!” Adrien exclaimed, while Plagg rolled his eyes.

“I can tell you're real choked up about it,” he remarked.

----

“C'moon, Chloé, let's goooo!” poor Tikki said, pushing Chloé to stand up.

“Ughhhh.”

Chloé wasn't exactly interested in moving from her seat.

----

It only took Chat Noir a few minutes to reach his goal, Tom & Sabine's Boulangerie, aided by his memorizing of the best way between his home and Marinette's home, and acrobatically landed right on the red carpet that had been laid down for the program.

“Hi everyone!” he greeted Mme. Chamack and those who had already arrived to check what was going on. “Stand aside, this'll be a piece of cake–”

“Or you could try the door!” he heard his partner exclaim, and as he looked up, he saw her standing near the terrace Marinette liked to use.

“Marigold!”

“H–Hey, Chaton!”

He reached her in just the two jumps, and smiled, noticing that she looked a bit nervous.

“You sure got here fast!” he commented, deciding that it probably was nothing.

“O–Oh, you too!” Marigold replied, and he realized what was happening.

“You must've been watching the show too!”

----

Marigold turned so Chat Noir couldn't see her distraught face.

NOOOO! He saw it!

Why couldn't he have been watching sports or cartoons?

Regardless of her desire to just let the earth swallow her up, they had to deal with the Akuma, so she opened the window and led Chat Noir into her bedroom. Which, unfortunately, brought him next to the reason for her embarrassment.

“Wow, I didn't notice the photos of me the last time we were here!”

Why can't you keep not noticing? she wondered, really hoping that the Akuma would show up and allow herself to be dealt with fast.

She quickly got half of her wish, as Troublemaker came through the floor and threw a cushion at her, which she just barely dodged.

“HA!”

“AH!”

“Look here!” Chat Noir exclaimed... grabbing a photograph. “Hey, what do you think this means, huh? All these pictures–”

While he looked super-adorable with his cheeks blushing and wide-open eyes, Marigold knew that this was not the moment for this, so she just put a hand over his mouth.

“I think you should pay attention!”

As Chat Noir gingerly dropped the photo he had picked up, Marigold pulled out her top and swung it at Troublemaker, who clicked her pen.

And, much to her shock, the top went through her and hit the wall before bouncing back.

“She goes intangible!” Chat Noir realized. “So troublesome!”

“Vanisher knock-off!” Marigold shouted, pulling the top back towards her.

“Touch me if you can. Bye~” Troublemaker taunted them, before falling through the floor and out of their sight.

“The Akuma's in her pen!” It was the most obvious solution, given how she kept clicking it, turning her intangibility on and off.

“Fat load of good it does us without Scar!” Chat Noir complained.

“Where is she?!”

----

“Can I get five more of these blonde bitches?” Scarlet Lady said, showing the small popsicle made resembling her, but in a cartoony style. As expected, they were the best ones of the lot!

----

As both of them tried to keep an eye on where Troublemaker might come from, Chat Noir noticed something coming from behind Marigold, and turned to see the Akuma getting her hands close to the Bee Comb.

“Look out!” he yelled, swinging his staff at her. “Swiper, no swiping!”

Marigold tripped trying to dodge, but at the same time it forced Troublemaker to back off from her.

“Grrr,” the Akuma growled, clicking her pen again and falling through the floor again.

“T–Thanks, Chaton!”

“Careful, Goldie, you've got the easiest to remove Miraculous!” Chat Noir warned her, giving out a chuckle. “Maybe you should glue it down.”

Marigold felt the epiphany coming, and picked him by his face, sparkling.

“Chat Noir, you're a genius!”

“Wha, what'd I say?”

----

Marigold quickly explained her idea, and picked up a bottle of heavy-duty glue she normally used for holding stuff together in her practice designs, asking Chat Noir to help her cover her comb with it.

Just in time, though, as Troublemaker dropped from the ceiling on top of Marigold.

“Hahaha!”

“AH!” Marigold screamed in shock.

“Good Lord!” Chat Noir joined, just as Troublemaker fell on Marinette and trapped her against the floor.

But, when the Akuma went on to pull the comb away, she found that she couldn't force it.

“Huh–?! What?! Why won't this budge?!” she exclaimed, tugging the magical comb without success.

“Looks like you're stuck,” Marigold said with an impish grin, before readying her weapon. “Venom~”

“NO–!”

But it was too late: Troublemaker had been too slow to react, and the paralyzing effects of Marigold's power had quickly taken a hold of her. Chat Noir grabbed the Akumatized object.

“Everything goes smoothly when I stick with you, Honeybee,” he said, smiling.

Marigold was not smiling, though.

“Help, I glued it to my hair tie, I can't move!”

Helping his partner stand up – even with dealing with the dead weight of Troublemaker – he pulled his staff again.

“Alright, let's see what's keeping the royal pain,” he said, calling Scar.

Immediately, both of them heard a very familiar music tone right above them.

Chat Noir marched off to the trapdoor that led to the terrace, and slammed it open – to see Scar laying down on Marinette's chaise-lounge without a care for the world.

His temper frayed up quickly.

“HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN HERE?!”

“WAH–!”

----

Fortunately, it only took a push for Chat Noir to force Scarlet into the bedroom (even if Marigold would rather keep her at least one kilometer away from there) and then a move to snap the pen, freeing the Akuma and allowing Scarlet to fix everything up.

As Penny woke up and realized where she was, she looked up to them.

“W–What happened? Where's Jagged?” she asked, and Marigold smiled at her.

“Stuff Jagged,” she replied. “How are you?”

“I... I let myself get stretched too thin. I took on too much,” the young woman realized. “I should remember to look after myself too. I'm fine now.”

“I'm a pro at self-care,” Scarlet declared. “Just buy yourself a diamond phone case! You'll feel better.”

“Uhh...” Penny mumbled, unable to understand where the girl was coming from.

As for Marigold, she figured it explained so much about Scarlet's attitude.

----

As they sent Penny downstairs, the heroes came out to the terrace and gazed upon Paris after saving the day once more (well, at least two thirds of them did).

And one of them looked up to the sky, thinking over the previous conversation.

“Stretched too thin, huh...” Marigold mumbled.

“You say something?” Chat Noir asked, and she shook her head.

“Oh, no, nothing,” she answered.

“Hm.” Then he took on a quizzical look. “I hope Marinette is okay.”

“EEP!”

“I wonder where she went.”

“Probably in a hole, dying of embarrassment! Ha Ha ha!” Scarlet laughed, and Marigold had to hold back her rising murderous intentions.

I'd rip your Earrings off if there weren't reporters nearby, she ruthlessly thought.

----

By the time Penny came back to the bakery, everything was fixed up, everyone was calming down, and Bob Roth looked as unconcerned with what he had indirectly caused as with everything else.

“U–Um, hello everyone,” she said.

“PENNY!” Jagged Stone shouted, quickly walking up to his aide. “I'm so glad you're back to normal! I'm sorry I didn't notice I was driving you so hard.”

The worry and sorrow in his voice were sincere, so much that Penny knew the man(-child) in front of here was being truthful in his apology, so she thought she could forgive him.

“Jagged...”

Jagged pulled her between his arms, hugging her with strength and care, as he spoke into her ear.

“I'll look out for you like you look out for me,” he promised, and she basked into the feeling as she nodded.

“Mm.”

“Also, the mohawk was hawt.”

Good feelings gone.

“I am not shaving my head for you.”

“Damn.”

----

With the TV crew finally on their way out (and some copious buying of produce as apology for the chaos they had caused) the Dupain-Cheng family was finally left alone to deal with the aftermath.

Which was when Marinette decided she needed to bring out the thing that had been on her mind since Penny's comment.

“Maman, Papa, I need to talk to you about something,” she said, fidgeting in place.

“Okay...?” Papa asked, confused.

“I... I...” she stumbled, but then she took a deep breath. “I need you to ask before volunteering me to babysit! And I can't drop everything to help in the bakery! I–I mean, I'll still help out, I just need notice! With Jagged promoting me, I've gotten real busy, on top of being class pres–”

“Okay,” Papa replied.

“Huh?!” she said, her tirade breaking in the middle, much to her confusion.

“Sure, no problem,” Maman added.

“Seriously?! It was that easy?!”

----

Now that they were back at home, Plagg was attacking a piece of cheese with his usual enthusiasm, while Adrien just laid down on his couch, taking a break after the recent crisis.

“Not gonna visit your lady love?” Plagg teased him, but he knew not to fall for that bait.

“After everything, I don't want to overwhelm her. And I thought more about it...” he replied, smiling at the thought of the girl he loved. “If it were me, that's not how I'd want Marinette to learn I'm in love with her. She should confess the way she wants to.”

Just as his phone dinged with a message, he heard Plagg chuckle.

“Pretty presumptuous, aren't you.”

“IF! If she's in love with me!” he corrected himself, embarrassed, before checking his cellphone. “Huh, a message from Alya...?”

----

The next day, Marinette carefully snuck around the school, because she really didn't want to deal with her friends' reaction to the previous day's events.

The fact that she had come much earlier than usual helped.

“Thank God no one's here,” she whispered as she reached her locker.

“Hey, Marinette.��

“AHHH!” she screamed, lamenting that she had been proven wrong so quickly. “How do you do that?!”

Much worse, Adrien ignored the question.

“So...”

“Don't,” she warned him.

“Um–”

“Do not.”

“... about the photos.”

“AHHH!” she shouted, covering her ears and turning around so Adrien wouldn't see her blush. “You said it!”

Adrien patiently waited for her to calm down, and when she did, she decided she needed to keep him from getting ideas.

“It's not what you think, okay?! I... I'm not in love with Chat Noir!”

“HRK!” she heard Adrien squeak, even as she dealt with the fact that she had just dropped a big fat lie.

“Besides, it's too dangerous to be with a superhero while supervillains are still around,” she explained. “So, Chat Noir and I are just...”

She couldn't say it.

“He's just...”

She tried to force it out.

“He's just a frie– HRK!”

Oh, great, now she had blood coming out of her mouth.

----

Meanwhile, Adrien was having something else in mind, linked to his highly developed list of priorities.

I HAVE TO DEFEAT HAWKMOTH A.S.A.P!

----

Their moment was interrupted by the usual suspect.

“Wow, gutsy of you to show your face, Dupain-Cheng!” Chloé yelled. “If I just showed all of Paris I had the world's biggest crush on the world's biggest loser, I wouldn't leave my room until I was 50!”

“Ugh,” Marinette growled, wishing she could just throw a flour sack on her face.

“The only loser here is you, Chloé,” Alya declared as she arrived on scene.

“Ridiculous!” Chloé shouted, but Marinette didn't care, not when she saw what her friends were doing.

“Chat Noir is dead even with Scarlet Lady in the popularity polls,” Alya added, leading the class in wearing Chat Noir-themed clothes and accessories.

“WHAT?!” Chloé yelled again, completely unable to comprehend that people liked the true hero of Paris above that lazy glory hog.

“Y–You guys, what–?” Marinette asked, but Alya interrupted.

“WHAAAAT? We're just showing our Chat Noir love, same as you!”

Then she leaned to whisper in her ear.

“I convinced most of them it's just a celebrity crush and the rest are covering for you,” she said. “This'll get people off your back!”

She straightened up again, and put a hand to her cheek.

“The poor Kit-Kat doesn't get the recognition he deserves, doncha think?”

Marinette felt like crying. Her best friend was so wonderful!

“Oh, Alya!” she exclaimed.

“You're right, he doesn't!” Adrien exclaimed... also crying.

“Why are you so emotional?” Alya asked, confused.

----

As everyone else filed into the room, Alya pulled Adrien aside to check on something very important.

“Adrien, my dude, my guy, my spot of sunshine.”

“Y–Yes?” Good, he knew he was in trouble.

“You were supposed to wear Chat Noir stuff in solidarity. Did you understand the assignment?”

“Now, see, I have a very good explanation for that.”

“Mhm?” It better be a good explanation. Or else.

“My dad is Gabriel Agreste.”

“... ah.”

Alright, he gets a pass.

----

Intermission 2

@zoe-oneesama Here's to someone making enough trouble for Gabriel Agreste to ruin his plans!

Also: 420 pages, 167435 words, 902000 characters.

#scarlet lady the novel #fanfiction #milarqui #long post #marinette dupain cheng #marigold #adrien agreste #chat noir #penny rolling #troublemaker #adrinette #chatgold

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saltymiraculer · 5 years ago

Text

A Pretty Flower for a Pretty Girl

I’ve stayed up until midnight reading @zoe-oneesama ‘s Scarlet Lady comics a few too many times, so I thought I might as well finally turn my ideas into a fic!

Also, this was too adorable for me not to.

-🌼-

Life just couldn’t give him one day off? Not one?

Apparently not, or else he wouldn’t have to be fighting a giant glob of cafeteria food and compost that insisted on being called “Lunchion”.

You know, Adrien could appreciate the pun if he weren’t covered in banana peels and eggshells, and–was that a hamburger patty? He pinched his nose and extended the baton towards Lunchion’s weak spot, the plastic tray it used as a shield.

You’d think an akuma wouldn’t use their most important object as a deflector, yeah?

Lunchion made a gargling noise and blasted him with another garbage-truck’s worth of compost.

Scarlet Lady–did he forget to mention her?–screeched and jumped backwards, catching herself with the yo-yo she had finally figured out how to use.

“Disgusting! I’m out of here. Call me when you get the akuma!“ she called back to him, swinging away and disappearing in the direction of the Grand Paris. He groaned and pushed himself off of his knees.

“Shtay Awaysh!“ the blob gurgled. “Give me your Miraculoushes!“

“Not a chance, trash can!“ he yelled, jumping just out of shooting range.

“It’sh Lunshion, idiotsh!“

“Yeah, whatever!“

As much as he wished he didn’t, Adrien needed some help. Without Lucky Charm, which he could normally figure out how to use, he didn’t have too much of a plan.

Wait a second…was that a miraculous box?

And so it was, sitting on the ledge of a building. Holy cannoli, he was actually going to have a competent partner for once!

Just who to give it to? He opened the box, and inside was a small comb, in the shape of a bumblebee.

Oh, wait a second.

Which classmate had the adorable, tinkling laugh? Which classmate had the sweet-as-honey smile? Which classmate had he had a crush on since day one?

Ding, ding, ding, it’s Marinette Dupain-Cheng!

“Um, give me a minute!“ he said, jumping as far as he could away from the akuma and running to the bakery. He landed on Marinette’s balcony, nearly knocking over one of her potted plants.

“Eek!“ he squeaked, catching it just before it hit the wood. The last thing he wanted was to destroy her porch.

“Hello?“ Marinette asked, startling him out of the panicked state. “I-is there a reason Chat Noir is standing on my porch, or am I just that lucky?“

“Oh, uhhhh–“ he fumbled the little box out of his pocket, holding it out to her. “–yeah, I need some help, so…“

“No. Freaking. Way. No way, no way, no way! Awesome!“ she cheered, immediately slapping a hand over her mouth. “Sorry.“

“it’s fine. You just transform and let’s go!“

“…how?“

“Dang it.“

Once Marinette had consulted the kwami–after momentarily freezing–she transformed and they looked at each other, nodded, and jumped on building after building, chasing the glob of garbage as it made its way downtown.

“You know, I’ve always hated just sitting around during akuma attacks!“ she said brightly.

“Is that why you get caught up in every single one of them, then?“

“No! I mean, I don’t want to get caught up in them, but it just happens!“

“Sure thing, Marigold. Sure thing.“

“You’re incorrigible, Chat Noir.“ she joked. He chuckled, halting to a stop and sticking out his arm so Marine–Marigold, sorry, wouldn’t fall off the edge of the building.

She slammed into his arm and fell backwards, and fortunately, he caught her.

But, sine life couldn’t even give him five minutes off, they were in the exact same positions as ballroom dancers. And she was blushing.

Dammit, life!

“I’m sorry!“ he said, letting go as fast as he could. Marigold was still looking down, a hint of blush still spread across her cheeks.

“It’s okay,“ she whispered. “It was nice.“

“O-oh. Let’s keep going, yeah?“ he set off again, his heartbeat pounding in his ears. They arrived where the akuma was about to take the top off of a restaurant, swinging their respective weapons defensively.

“Who’sh the bumblebee, pushycat?“

“That’s Marigold to you, Lunchion!“

“Finally! Shomeone getsh the name right!“

They took down the akuma in a matter of minutes, thanks to a well-timed Venom from Marinette and the smart idea to fake a Cataclysm to get Lunchion in weapon range.

“Ugh, now I’ve got to call Scarlet,“ Adrien groaned. Marinette stuck her tongue out and gave him the thumbs-down. He agreed nonverbally.

Scarlet Lady appeared, swinging in from stage right, and landing neatly on the roof ledge parallel from them.

“Ugh, finally. What took you so long? And who’s this?“

Marinette gave him a look that he interpreted as ‘spite Scar as much as possible’. He nodded.

“Marigold’s my new partner! Scar, this is Marigold! Marigold, Scarlet Lady.“

“Let’s hope she’s a good sidekick for my sidekick, so the battles won’t take as long! They’re just exhausting! And that’s Scarlet Lady to you, you mangy cat.“ Out of the corner of his eye, Adrien could see Marinette mocking Scarlet Lady, exaggerating the stuck-out hip and the way she rolled her eyes whenever she could.

He stifled a laugh.

“Look, Scarlet, there’s Nadja Chamack!“ he said, snapping her out of the stupor she was in. She applied a fresh coat of red lipstick and swung off to the ground, casting Lucky Charm and using the Miraculous Cure simultaneously.

-🌼-

“That was good,“ Chat Noir whispered. “but we’ve got something more important to attend to.“

He pointed at a little boy, who couldn’t be more than eight or nine, sitting on the ground on the verge of tears. The walked over to him and she wrapped her arms around his shoulders.

“Are you alright?“

“N-no!“

“What happened?“ Chat Noir asked gently, landing on his other side.

“My brother got really sick–because of the cafeteria food–and he’s in the hospital, and I’m really scared he’s not going to be okay!“ Marinette exchanged a worried look with Chat Noir.

“Hey, it’ll be okay! The people at the hospital will help your brother, all right? He’s going to be just fine.“

The little boy sniffled. “Th-thank you, Chat Noir and Bee Lady.” She smiled and patted his arm.

“I’m Marigold, okay? Remember that.“

“I will, Miss Marigold.“

“Good,“ Chat Noir interjected. “But we’ve got to get you back to your family. I’m sure they’re worried about you.“

A lady who they assumed was his mom ran up and hugged hum, telling the little boy it would be all right.

-🌼-

“And that’s why I’m the true hero! See, even you can–“ Scarlet Lady was saying. Nadja cut her off with a shhh noise.

“Hey, it’ll be okay! The people at the hospital will help your brother, all right? He’s going to be just fine.“ a yellow-and-black striped hero said, comforting a little boy.

The little boy sniffled wetly. “Th-thank you, Chat Noir and Bee Lady.” She grinned and patted his arm.

“I’m Marigold, okay? Remember that.“

“I will, Miss Marigold.“ Nadja chuckled at the little boy.

“Good,“ Chat Noir said. “But we’ve got to get you back to your family. I’m sure they’re worried about you.“

She walked up and tapped Marigold’s shoulder.

“Excuse me, but can I get an interview?“ She looked at Chat Noir hopefully. He nodded and smiled, grabbing Marigold’s hand and pulling her next to him.

The cameras swiveled towards them.

“But first, has anyone met my amazing new partner?“ Nadja could hear Scarlet grinding her teeth loudly behind them, but paid that no attention.

After a few questions and some cooing over the two heroes’ banter, their miraculouses beeped and they both looked very startled.

“Sorry to disappoint, but we’ve got to run!“ Marigold said, yanking Chat Noir’s arm urgently.

“If the lady insists! Next time, Nadja!“

“Um…goodbye!“ she called after them, watching the duo swing off into the sunset.

-🌼-

They landed in front of the rosebushes of Dupont, each of which was covered in pretty blossoms.

They bumped into each other as they landed, stumbling back, leaving them about an inch apart. He took the time to notice the tiny details of her makeup–the way her eyelashes had the tiniest gold jewels on the tips, the orangey sheen over her lips, and the way the sparkly yellow mask framed her eyes.

“So–um–we’re about to transform back,“ she started.

“You’re right, um, I’m going to need that back?“ he said, pointing at the comb. She pulled it out of her hair and handed it to him, Pollen materializing immediately.

“Sun salutations, Chat Noir!“

“You ready to go back in your box, Pollen?“

“Hmmm…not really. Can I stay with Marigold?“ Chat Noir looked to at Marinette with a surprised expression.

“You can do that?“

“Of course, I can!“ Pollen huffed. “Now give the comb back to Marinette.“ He handed the silver comb back to Marinette, who pocketed it immediately.

They stood there in awkward silence for a inute until Chat Noir’s ring beeped again. he dashed into a bathroom, stuffed a wedge of camembert into Plagg, and ran out of the bathroom, back to where Marinette was conversing with Pollen.

“Out of all the 19 kwamis, I had to get the hippie one? Not that I’m complaining, but…yoga? Now?“

“Don’t complain, mine eats cheese 24/7.“

He shook his head and broke off one buttery yellow rose from the bush.

“A pretty flower for a pretty girl,“ he announced, offering her the rose. “Before I go.“

“Friendship,“ Marinette said softly. Wait, did this mean she only wanted to be friends? Shoot. “The rose, I mean. Yellow roses mean friendship.“

“Oh,“ he said, looking down. Double-shoot.

“Unless it’s thirteen of them, though.“ He looked sideways at the bush before Marinette put her hand on his arm.

“Don’t you dare. Those roses aren’t supposed to be picked, you know.“

“Sorry, Marinette. I–um–is it okay if I call you Goldie?“ Marinette smiled warmly.

“Of course, but only if I can call you kitty.“ Adrien felt a warm, tingly feeling in his chest, rising up until he felt like he could float.

“Yeah! Let’s go, Goldie. We’ve got a fanclub to meet.“

They walked the around the building, over to the class, who immediately burst into applause.

“You were amazing!“ Kim cheered.

“Yeah, I’m changing it from the Ladyblog to the Goldie-Noir Blog!“

“So you heard that, huh?“

#scarlet lady au #chatgold #chat noir #adrien agreste #marigold au #marigold #marinette dupain cheng #marichat?#marichat #adrienette

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