"Thanks," She mumbles and takes a bite out of her food. Now she was considering to keep it those colors. She originally did it just for a laugh. They then continued on to talk about other things. Once they were finished with dessert, they headed back to his bedroom.

Meanwhile the Kwami were watching TV. Tikki heard footsteps and quickly returned to Marinette's bag. Plagg went back into the closet forgetting to the turn the TV off. The door opened up and their owners walked in. 

"Your room must be hunted," Marinette giggled. "The closet, the cookies, and the TV." She then went over to her bag. "I better get going. I told my parents I wouldn't be out too late."

Adrien tried to laugh it off, but he was more than a little frustrated with Plagg. The kwami was lazy and selfish but he didn't usually do things that would reveal Adrien. "Yeah, it's weird. The TV must have been a short circuit or something," he said as he turned off the TV.

"I'll walk you home," He offered once the TV was off. He walked over to his closet and grabbed a light jacket as a way to retrieve Plagg without Marinette being suspicious. He was planning on a quick patrol as Chat Noir once Marinette was safe at home; though, he couldn't take too long or Nathalie would notice. Hopefully, there were no akumas tonight.

"You don't have to do that!" Marinette said in shock, but Adrien insisted. So he walked her home and when they got in front the front of bakery, she said goodbye to him. She then walked inside the side entrance to her apartment. She ran up the stairs and entered her apartment. She quickly greeted her parents and went up to her bedroom.

Once inside her room, Marinette threw bag on to the floor and then jumped onto her couch. Tikki flew out of her bag. She didn't look amuse that she was toss to the side liked that. She flew over to her owner and saw she was screaming into a pillow. 

"Earth to Marinette!" the kwami squeaked trying to snapped her back into reality.

Marinette sat up. "I'm sorry, Tiki, but I'm just so happy! This whole night was like a dream! I can't believe he walked me home!" She then fell back down on the couch.

"I'm sorry about tonight," Tiki spoke ignoring Marinette's gushing. She needed to act like she was behind the occurrences from earlier.

"I wonder if he'll invite me over more often after the play," Marinette said to herself ignoring her kwami.

Tikki just shook her head. Marinette was gone and probably wouldn't return until tomorrow. So she just flew up to Marinette's bed and decided to call it a night.

Adrien walked a few blocks from the bakery before stopping in a small alleyway and letting plagg out of his pocket. "You seemed to have fun tonight," Adrien said, crossing his arms.

Plagg shrugged. "What can I say? Being stuck in a closet isn't fun. You didn't give me enough cheese."

"You never acted that way when Nino came over," Adrien countered.

Plagg looked unconcerned. "It all turned out fine.  I guess you're going on patrol?"

Adrien nodded, deciding to drop the subject for the time being.  He didn't give Plagg a chance to complain. "Plagg, claws out!" he yelled, delighting in the power that washed over him from the transformation.  Now he could truly be himself.  No rules or schedules. Just freedom.

He extended his staff to help propel him up to the roof of the building next to him.  Paris was beautiful tonight with various lights dotting the skyline. His eyes landed on the distant outline of the Eiffel Tower.  Smiling, he launched himself to another building and headed in that direction.

For the next two weeks Marinette's class worked hard to get everything ready for the play. During class time they focused on building the sets and making the costumes. Then after school, the cast focused on practicing while back stage people kept working on the sets. Unfortunately Chloe was giving Mr. Agissant a hard time. Everyday she would complain about being the nurse. During her scenes she wouldn't say her lines right. Mr. Agissant would brush off her comments and kept reminding her if she wanted a certain part she should join Drama Club. 

Despite Chloe's disruptions Marinette was easing into her role. She was bit upset that Mr. Agissant wanted to save the kiss for the play. Everyday he would remind them. He also remind everyone put their hearts into it. He wanted this to be best play he has ever directed. 

After two weeks, it was finally the night of play. Everything was going smoothly until it was time for Juliet to make her first appearance. In this scene her mother told the nurse to go fetch for her daughter. Unfortunately the nurse was not on the stage. Mr. Agissant who standing left side of the stage panic. He then went looking for Chloe. She showed up on time. He wonder if she gotten stage fright. He asked his students and no one has seen her since the huddle (huddle of break a leg!). Mr. Agissant stormed off and went into the dressing room. He threw his clipboard aside.

Hawk Moth smiled as he sensed the pain, anger, and disappointment of his soon to be newest victim.  Pressing a small button in his staff caused the window to open. The butterflies scattered around him as sunlight poured into the previously dark room.

"An artist's dream crushed by humiliation. A tragedy brought on by the whims of a selfish teenage girl while directing the most famous tragedy of our time. The need for revenge shall overcome him."  Hawk Moth held out a hand for one of his butterflies to land. He covered it with his other hand and let his dark power flow through it before letting it go.

"Now fly my akuma and evilize him."

The butterfly flew from the window and over the city to the high school dressing room and flew into the clipboard just as Mr. Agissant sat and dejectedly picked it up. Dark power enveloped him, transforming his clothes into a more colorful version of one of Shakespeare's outfits. An outline of Hawk Moth's power appeared over his face.

"Hello, Playwright. I am Hawk Moth.  I can help you put on the best performance of Romeo and Juliet in the world.  There is just one thing I need from you. Defeat Ladybug and Chat Noir and bring me their miraculous, and your dreams can come true."

Playwright smiled, "It would be my pleasure."

Meanwhile, the students had called an intermission and were desperately trying to cast another nurse given no one thought they would actually find Chloe at this point. The blonde had made it clear she was not going to be the nurse, and she had taken the costume with her.  

"Maybe we could combine the nurse's lines with Juliet's mother," Ivan suggested.

Nathanael shook his head. "It wouldn't make sense. Families like that in their time had people who took care of chores and children. We need a separate role."

"Does anyone know the nurse's lines well enough to stand in and wear the old, worn out costume?" Adrien asked. No one volunteered.

"I think some recasting is in order," a voice said from behind the group of students. The class looked up as Playwright entered.  "A new cast and a new set.  All of Paris must see my brilliant production."

The students shrank into a small, nervous group.  Adrien tensed, his eyes looking towards the cast lockers. Plagg was in there, and his chances of reaching the kwami without being noticed were very slim.

"What do you mean new cast and set?" he asked as he tried to dislodge himself from the group of students.  Keep the akuma talking. He could sneak away once Ladybug appeared.  Hopefully, she would come soon.

Playwright flipped through a few pages on his clipboard before pointing at Adrien and Marinette, "It means you two are relieved of your parts. Our new star crossed lovers will be Ladybug and Chat Noir, and all of Paris will see."

Marinette bit her lip, when Playwright approached them. Of course their teacher would get Akumatized. Leave it to Chloe to cause another victim. Sometime she wondered if Chloe worked for Hawk Moth. She glanced back toward the girl's dressing room. Tikki was in her locker. How would she able to get there without anyone noticing. 

"It's show time!" Playwright then shouted. Suddenly everyone, but her and Adrien disappeared. Marinette quickly ran out on stage saw the audience was gone. She then ran back behind stage.

"The audience is gone too," she explained Adrien. "I'm going to go find them. I need to make sure my parents are alright." That was a good excuse right? She then bolted to the locker room and grabbed her bag. She then ran out of the school and found an alleyway to hide in. Tikki flew out of her bag and Marinette grabbed her phone.

"What are you doing?" the Kwami asked. "You need to transform!"

"I need to call my parents first," Marinette explained. "They might be able to tell me where they are." She pulled up her mother's number and called her.

"Marinette?" her mother answered in fear.

"Maman? Are you and papa alright?"

"Yes."

"Where are you?"

"In front of the Eiffel Tower. Marinette, please stay where are you."

"I will." Marinette then hung up on her mother and looked at her Kwami. "Tikki, spots on!" The Kwami then went inside Marinette's earring and she transformed into Ladybug. She then got out her Yo-Yo and made her way to the Eiffel Tower.

Ladybug made it to a building that was near the tower. She was high up enough to see that Playwright created a huge stage and there was a giant audience. He must have gather more people from around the area. Ladybug stood there wondering what she should do next. Playwright was waiting for her and Chat. Confronting him would probably be a trap so it was probably best to wait for Chat to show up. She glanced around looking for him.

Adrien opened his mouth to try and stop Marinette multiple times as she ran back and forth and then finally out the door. She had been too fast even in the small moment she'd stopped to talk to him.  He frowned as he hurried to his locker to retrieve Plagg. Marinette handled herself well during previous akuma attacks, but she shouldn't be the one putting herself in danger.  That was his and Ladybug's job.  He quickly grabbed his phone out of his bag and called Nino. 

"Hey man, where are you? I can't talk for very long. Playwright really hates cell phones. He broke Alya's because she was trying to film him," Nino whispered.

Adrien frowned at the news.  Good thing he had called Nino rather than trying to get information from the blog.  "He left Marinette and me at the school since we're not part of his play. Where are you guys? Is everyone all right?"

"Yeah. We're just at the Eiffel Tower waiting for Ladybug and Chat Noir to get here since that's what he wants. He has the power to direct people, though. So anyone who tries to do something he doesn't like gets forced to do what he says."

"That doesn't sound good..." Adrien said, more to himself than Nino. There was a huge potential from Playwright to direct someone to get him their miraculous. Or even for them to just hand them over... He shuddered at the implications. They'd have to tread carefully.

"Well, be careful. I'm sure Ladybug and Chat Noir will be there soon. I'm going to try to come as well."

"No, dude.  You should just go home.  There's no reason for you to come here." Adrien was about to reply when Nino continued, "Gotta go. He's coming over here." With that, the call ended.

Adrien looked back in his bag to see Plagg lounging on his shirt. "Are you sure you want to go to this one? It doesn't sound worth it," the kwami said, lazily. He must have heard about the akuma's power.

"I'm not going to leave Ladybug to do all the work. Besides, Marinette ran off in that direction too.  I need to get her to safety if I see her on the way."

Plagg snorted, "That girl will be fine on her own. She's helped you with akumas before."

"We're going.  Plagg, claws out!" Adrien said, transforming into Chat Noir.  

He quickly made his way over the buildings toward the tower.  He didn't want to keep his partner waiting. He kept an eye out for Marinette as he went, and it was more than a little worrying he didn't see her.  There was no way she had made it too far on foot.

Adrien found Ladybug on a building a few blocks from the tower and headed towards her. He landed beside while acting like he'd come in from the side. "Sorry to keep you waiting, my Lady.  I was studying our opponent.  Seems like he can direct people at will, and he wants us in a play. It's going to be a risky fight."

He crouched on the edge of the building, his tail-like belt twitching as if it was alive. "What do you think we should do?" He had no qualms about letting her decide a plan. His plans usually ended poorly.

Ladybug was impressed that Chat took the time to study the enemy. Maybe he would take this mission seriously for once. She looked back at the stage and tried to think of a plan. She sighed under her breath. She wasn't quite sure how to approached this Akuma and she didn't want Chat to know. She had to make it look like she had a plan.

"Follow me," She spoke and dived off the building with Chat following right before. They quietly approached the stage and entered from the back. Ladybug could hear Playwright giving a monologue to the audience. Good he was distracted. Maybe they could sneak up on him. She glanced back at Chat. "We're going to sneak up on him."

The two silently walked on stage. Playwright was in the center talking away boring the audience to death. He didn't notice the duo. They came up from behind. Ladybug saw the clipboard too a guess that was where the Akuma was hiding. When she tried to grabbed it, Playwright jumped to the left and faced them.

"Our stars are finally here!" he shouted back to the crowd. "Please welcome them!" The audience was forced to clap.

"I will never be apart of your play!" Ladybug yelled at him.

"We'll see about that," Playwright spoke with a smirk. He snapped his fingers and the duo were now in outfits that fit the parts.

Ladybug let out a groan. She looked at Chat. "Don't you dare say anything."

Well, that didn't go as planned. Apparently Ladybug's plans weren't always the best either.  Chat smiled as Ladybug grudgingly told him not to say anything. "You know, you look lovely in that dress," he said.

"Now, get to your places so we can start the show!" Playwright said, enthusiastically. Chat unwillingly moved towards one end of the stage while Ladybug headed towards the other. Well, at least Playwright didn't instantly make them give him their miraculous. Hopefully, Hawk Moth didn't remind him before they caught the akuma.

"I guess I'll exit stage left. See you at the party, my Lady," he called back to her cheerfully to try and mask the fact their plan had failed. He wasn't sure, but she might have groaned.

The rest of his classmates seemed disappointed when they entered the cast area. "Not to worry. All's going well. We just need to play along for a bit," he assured them as they were forced to group together for their entrances on stage. A major rule of being a superhero was to keep people from panicking.

They worked their way through the play with Chat throwing meaningful glances at Ladybug every time they were near each other. They needed to do something soon.  Once the play was over, there was a good chance both would be unmasked and powerless. Plus, both the students and the audience were starting to doubt this was going to end well.

Finally, they made it to the kiss.  He couldn't lie, he was looking forward to a kiss with Ladybug. Not that it would mean anything since they were forced to do it... Chat picked up the vial of poison (what he assumed and hoped was really water) and drank it.  Thankfully, it really was water and he dramatically fell to the floor as Romeo fell into his death-like state and waited for a kiss from Ladybug.

Ladybug sat up from Juliet's slumber and saw Chat laying on the floor. She could tell he over did the fall from the way he landed. She just rolled her eyes at him. She got up from bed she was laying on and walked over to him. She had to something quick. She glanced over at Playwright. He was standing on the stage making sure they were going through with the play. There had to be way to get the clipboard out of his hand. Playwright then did an outburst at member of the audience for whispering. Ladybug used this chance to summon something with Lucky Charm. A knife appeared in her hands. She started at it confused and looked back at Playwright. Behind him she could see ropes glowing red with black polka dots. She smirked.

Playwright looked back at Ladybug snapped at her that kiss happens before Juliet's suicide. Ladybug was relieved that he thought the knife in her hand was a stage prop. She decided to use to his advantage. She keeled down beside Chat and kissed him. She then quickly stood up and threw the knife at the rope. The ropes broke and the curtain came falling down crushing Playwright. The clipboard fell out of his hand. Ladybug quickly ran over to it and grabbed it. She then broke it in half and the akuma came flying out.

Ladybug got out her yo-yo, "No more evil-doing for you little, akuma." She then tossed it at the akuma. "Time to de-evilize!" The akuma was then caught. "Gotcha!" She then released it. "Bye-bye little butterfly." The butterfly flew out of the yo-yo and flew away. Ladybug then tossed the knife into the air and everything went back to normal and returned the cast and audience back to the school.

Mr. Agissant who was back to normal stood up the ground. "What happened?"


"An akuma took over you," Ladybug explained. "We got rid of it." Ladybug and Chat then did their little pound it thing. 


"Thank you so much."


"No prob!" Ladybug replied with a smile. She then heard her earring buzzing. She needed to get out of here. Ladybug then turned to Chat. "Don't you ever bring up that kiss! Ever!" She then ran off to go find a place to hide. 

Hawk Moth cursed as his most recent akuma was defeated. Apparently, artists just were not good akumas.  They were quick to go do their own thing rather than keeping up with their side of the bargain.  Playwright had been instructed to make Ladybug and Chat Noir give him their miraculous multiple times tonight but the idiot ignored him.

He felt his power leave him as his partner became too tired for him to hold the transformation. "They've thrown another wrench in you plan, Gabriel.  You need to make more aggressive akuma," the kwami said, flying around to face him.

"Quiet, Lycca. The citizens of Paris are too simple.  They cry over petty things and become petty akumas. I just haven't found the right person to turn yet. It will only take one good akuma to get what I want," Gabriel Agreste muttered.

The butterfly-like kwami shrugged. "Just stating the truth.  I guess it doesn't matter.  You have plenty of time to win."


Chat smiled as he watched Ladybug run off.  He was so going to bring that kiss up in the future.  He looked down as his ring beeped and one of the pads of the green pawprint disappeared.  Only four more minutes even though he hadn't used cataclysm?  Well, Plagg only got one slice of cheese earlier, so he was probably tired.

He left the room and ran to a different floor to turn back in an empty room. He was going to go back and check with everyone else on what they were going to do about the play, but it was too late for the play to be tonight and they'd probably reschedule. Nino would most likely update him when there was information. So he headed home.

He was halfway home when Nino texted him and told him the play was going to be tomorrow and they'd found a replacement for the nurse. He thanked Nino for letting him know and went home for a late dinner and early bedtime.

Monday morning Marinette was walking up the school steps, when she was greeted by Alya. She showed her pictures on her phone. During the play Alya captured the scenes Marinette had with Adrien. Marinette hugged her. They walked inside the school and headed to their lockers.

"So how was the kiss?" Alya asked her friend as she opened her locker.

Marinette giggled. "It felt nice. Do you think I over did it?" she felt kissed Adrien a bit to long.

"Nah. You were one with your role."

Marinette laughed harder. She looked back at her locker and grabbed her history book. While she did enjoy the kiss she did feel somewhat confused. For some reason the kiss felt familiar. She wanted to Alya, but she felt she wouldn't be any help. 

The girls both closed their lockers and headed to their classroom. When they walked inside, everyone was gather around Max. Out of curiosity they joined them.

"What's up?" Alya question the group. 

"I was able to recorded that play with Ladybug and Chat Noir," Max replied and showed footage to both Alya and Marinette.

"No way! Playwright didn't catch you with your phone!?" Alya spoke in disbelief. 

"I was very careful."

"Please send it to me! I want to post it on my blog!"

"Oka-"

"NOOOO!!" Marinette scream cutting off Max. Now everyone was staring at her.

Adrien entered the classroom as Marinette screaming 'no' and raised an eyebrow. He walked to where Nino was standing and asked, "What's going on?"

"Max got video of the play with Chat Noir and Ladybug. Including the kiss," Nino answered.

"Really?" Adrien turned to where Max and some of their other classmates were trying to figure out why Marinette was so against the video being posted on Alya's blog. "Hey, Max.  Can I see that?" he asked.

Max handed him the phone while Marinette seemed strangely invested in keeping anyone, including him, from watching. He smiled as he watched Ladybug summon her lucky charm and then kiss him.  He always loved watching her as she figured out how to use the typically random item the lucky charm gave her.  

"Awesome! Hey, Marinette, why are you so against this video?" he asked, curiously.  There had to be a reason.

Marinette jumped and replied, "Because I'm pretty sure that would be invading Ladybug's and Chat Noir's privacy."

Alya waved her hand. "It was a play performed out in public. There's nothing private about it. Max text it to me."

"Sure thing, Alya," Max said and took his phone back from Adrien. Their teacher just walked in and everyone took their seats.

Mairnette just sat there in her seat crying internally for rest of the day. Her life was ruin. Now Chat will never shut up about it. He probably follows Alya's blog.