Adrien returned the laugh with his own, warmth spreading through him. Marinette's family was wonderful. So kind and carefree. He could tell Marinette wasn't too thrilled, but he would bet his miraculous she wouldn't trade them for anyone else; especially after seeing a dinner at his house.

"You're right, sir. I really should find some spare time," he said.  Unfortunately, Nathalie and his father wouldn't allow such frivolous use of his time, but it was a nice thought. He could always try to talk Nathalie into tweaking something into his schedule.

After dinner, Marinette and Adrien returned to her room. Marinette still felt a bit flustered and was trying to stay calm. She took her seat at the computer and glanced at the PowerPoint. She was trying to collect her thoughts. What should she say? That her parents want him to be her boyfriend? Her dad literally told her that, after the video game tournament. Ugh. It was best to play dumb.

"Sorry, about my dad," she spoke up. "He can be a bit nosy. He asks my friends those kind of questions all the time."

Adrien shook his head. "No need to apologize. Your parents are really nice."

They finished the project that night, and Adrien headed home in the limo only to sneak out for a nice patrol once his father was in bed.  He was sure not to stay out too late that night since had to wake up early the next day; though, he really wanted to stay out all night.

The presentation was on Friday. Between himself and Marinette, they were able to present effectively and answer all the questions from their teacher and classmates. Everyone's presentations went well other than Chloe's and Sabrina's. Apparently, Sabrina had forgotten to find a key detail, and Chloe was not too happy about it. Nothing unusual there.

Since it was Friday and they were done with a large presentation, a large portion of the class decided to head over to the local arcade to hang out and play some games. Adrien looked at his schedule. He was supposed to have piano lessons after school.. He shrugged to himself and texted Nathalie, telling her he had some extra work to do at school. He felt bad leaving her to explain to his father that he would not be at his piano lessons, but he really did need some time for fun.

Marinette was glad their project was finally over. She felt a huge weight was lifted off her shoulders. Now she can relax and hang out with her friends. When the class entered the arcade, they saw it was jammed pack with people around their age. Marinette dragged Alya to a racing game. They played a few rounds and then Alya picked the next game. 

As the two friends were playing, Tiki sneaked out of Marinette's purse to have a little fun. Sometimes it got boring sitting in a purse all day. She flew low to the ground so no one would see her. Tikki eventually found Plagg between two arcade machines eating some nachos. "Plagg!! Did you steal those?"


Meanwhile Marinette and Alya just finished a round on some zombie game. They weren't doing so well so they decided to give up. They walked around some more until Marinette heard a Japanese song playing. She looked back and saw two people playing DDR. "Oh, wow they have DDR here! It must be new."

Alya nodded her head. "Yeah, I don't remember it being here last time." 

Marinette ran over to it with Alya following behind her. The two people just finished their match. The kid who won looked like stereotypical nerd. He had glasses and long greasy hair. He remained standing on the platform and has a smug look on his face. Marinette frowned by the looked of it the kid was hogging the game.

"Can me and my friend have a turn?" Marinette asked the kid.

He just gave her a smirk and replied, " Sure if you beat me in a match, little lady."

Marinette made a small growl and pushed up her sleeves. "We'll see about that." She hoped on the machine and they started their match. Sadly Marinette got her butt kicked.

"Victory is mine, little lady!" the kid said in a laugh. "I am the DDR Master!!"

"It's okay, Marinette," Alya spoke trying to comfort her friend. She could tell Marinette was pissed off. "We can play a different game."

"Oh, no. We're going to play this game. Someone else just has to be beat him."

"...Better not be me."

"Not you! Stay there!" Marinette marched off. She then came to a stop, when she found Adrien and Nino playing a racing game. "Adrien, there's a kid calling himself the DDR Master. I think you should dethrone him." She gave him a playful smile.

Nino looked at Marinette and then at his friend. "Dude, you totally should!"

Plagg shrugged. "It's so busy here. No one will even notice one plate of nachos disappearing from the bar.  Want one?"

He picked up a large, cheese-covered chip and jammed it into his mouth. It had been a long day with very little cheese to eat. He needed more.

Meanwhile, Adrien paused for a moment. His father would not be pleased with him destroying his perfect model persona just to teach some kid a lesson about sharing.  And yet...  What was the harm in actually enjoying himself?  He stood grinning at Marinette, "I guess it's time for a revolution."

He followed Marinette back to the DDR machine with Nino coming to watch.  The self-proclaimed DDR Master was busy thrashing another kid who had challenged him when they arrived. Adrien studied him as the match got to the end. The kid was good but too full of himself to realize how much of a jerk he was being.

"Who else wants to challenge me?" he asked. Most of the kids in the gathered around the machine murmured to themselves, ready to give up on getting a chance to play.  DDR Master looked pleased.

"I'd like to give it a try," Adrien said as he stepped towards the machine.  The murmurs of the gathered crowd changed from disappointment to astonishment as people recognized one of the most famous teen models in France and a few more people started to gather, instantly more interested in DDR than they'd probably ever been in their entire lives.

"You think you can beat me?" DDR Master (who had never said his real name to anyone) asked in disbelief. Obviously, no one thought a model was capable of anything other than posing and walking down a runway.

"Of course I can. I'm pretty good at DDR.  One might even say I'm a master," he said with a smirk.  Okay, antagonizing the kid probably wasn't the best idea but he was already getting into the challenge.  He was too used to being open with DDR at home to police his actions now.

"You're on!  Whoever wins is the Supreme DDR Master, and it's going to be me!" the kid exclaimed while taking his place on the platform. "Your song choice, noob," DDR Master said. 

Adrien ignored the comment and scrolled through the song selection. His favorite song was one of the hardest in the game. This kid did not know what he'd gotten himself into.  He chose his favorite song and the music began.

To say he beat the poor kid was an understatement. The problem was this kid had never been challenged on one of the harder levels. "Looks like I win," Adrien said.

"I don't know how you did it but you probably cheated, rich kid!" The kid said, glaring as he planted himself firmly onto the platform.

Adrien frowned, "There's no way to cheat in DDR. Either you have the skill or you don't. Now, why don't you give everyone else a turn?"

Tikki grabbed a nacho and took a bite. It was actually quite good. The two kwamis shared it and then went off to try to play some games.  

---


'Shit, shit!' Marinette thought to herself sneaked off, when the kid turned into an akuma. She found a broom closet and closed the door behind her. Of course the kid would turn into an akuma. Ugh and they haven't had an akuma in awhile too! Why couldn't this happen, when she wasn't with friends? Marinette opened her purse and saw Tiki was gone. A panic looked appeared on her face and she left the closet to go find her.

Meanwhile, Tikki was inside a claw machine pulling on Plagg who was asleep. The two got separate earlier due almost getting spotted while trying to play Pac Man. Of course he would hide in here and fall asleep. She then heard noises coming from outside the machine. Tiki turned and saw an akuma. She left Plagg's side and went to go find Marinette. Tikki figured that Adrien would be able to find him. Tikki stayed low to the ground and eventually saw Marinette crawling around on the floor. She quickly flew over to her.

"Marinette," the kwami squeak. 

"Tikki!" Marinette spoke in a hush tone. "Why did you wondered off?"

"I'm sorry. I got bored. I want to stretch my legs."

"That's understandable. Come on we to transform." She grabbed her kwami and made her way back to the broom closet. She stood up and closed the door behind her. "Tikki, spots on!" A flashed a light appeared and Marinette was now Ladybug. She flew open the door and jumped on top of arcade machine. By looked of it the only thing the akuma did was sealed the doors so no one could leave.

"Finally!" DDR Master spoke, when he noticed Ladybug. "My opponent has finally arrived."

"Excuse me?" Ladybug spoke in a confused voice.

"Ladybug, I challenge you to a DDR match! If you win I will let everyone go. If you lose you must hand over your miraculous and everyone will be forced to play DDR forever."

"You have got to be kidding me!" Ladybug muttered to herself and slapped her face. She then glanced back at him and the DDR machine. The akuma didn't want to physically fight so technically this would be an easy battle. However as a human he kicked her butt....so did she stand a chance?

Adrien checked every other pocket Plagg could hide in, his heart sinking as the kwami was nowhere to be found.  Knowing Plagg, he could know there was an akuma on the loose and just not care either way, and Adrien didn't have any cheese to bribe the kwami out of hiding.

He made his way through the panicked crowd while scanning every nook and cranny of the arcade for any sign of Plagg.  There was no way he would have left the arcade, right?  Hopefully not.  The exits were now sealed thanks to the akuma.  Which meant there would be trouble if Ladybug wasn't already here.

Adrien rounded the arcade two more times before he just heard some very muffled cries coming from the entrance of the hallway leading to the bathrooms.  That was where the claw machines were...  'There's no way...' Adrien thought, pleading he wasn't going to see what he thought he was going to see.

He hurried over to the claw machine and groaned as he saw Plagg, half buried in plush toys while waving his arms in distress.  If this wasn't an emergency, it would have been funny to watch.  "What are you doing in there?" he asked in exasperation as he dug through his pockets for some change.  He was not good at the claw.  He never got a chance to practice because his dad would always tell him it was a frivolous waste of money even though they were literally rich.

"I was hiding and fell asleep, and now I can't get out," Plagg answered while trying to pull himself out of the toys.

Adrien shook his head, finally finding some coins.  He could just hear DDR Master challenge Ladybug to DDR. At least it wasn't the type of fight that could get her killed.  He could try to take his time.

He inserted the coins and moved the claw above Plagg.  "It's coming down. Grab onto it," he said as he pressed the button.  The claw fell and Plagg grabbed at it just as it grabbed painfully onto his ear. Adrien winced in sympathy as Plagg lost any hold he had on the claw and cried out in pain.  Thankfully, his ear slipped out of the claw's grasp without leaving too much damage.

"How about you go after the one that's holding me down? That won't hurt." Plagg said as he rubbed his ear.

Adrien tried again, going with Plagg's idea.  But he missed badly all five tries before he was out of change.  He'd have to get more from one of the token machines.  "I'll be right back. Hang in there," he said, leaving before Plagg could say a word.

Adrien couldn't have been gone for more than three minutes (no one was at the exchange machines after all), when he came back to find a ten year old kid happily cradling Plagg in his arms.  'You've got to be kidding me!' He thought. Plagg didn't look too thrilled either.

Adrien dug through his pocket and brought out the rest of his money.  He had ten euros.  "Hey kid, that stuffed animal is really cool.  I'll give you two euros for it."  He could see a glint of resentment in Plagg's eyes.  Obviously the kwami thought he was worth more than two euros.

The kid shook his head. "It's mine. I won him fair and square," he said, sticking his tongue out.

Adrien bit his lip and tried smiling. "How about five euros?"

"No."

Adrien wasn't sure what to do.  He was halfway to his spending limit unless he wanted to use his debit card, which was tied to his father's account.  His father would not be pleased to find him spending money at an arcade.  What else could he do...?

"How about five euros and some ice cream once the akuma attack is over?" he said.

The kid looked thoughtful for a moment.  "Give me the five euros now and ice cream later."

Adrien stared at the kid.  Who had taught him that business sense?  "Fine.  Here's five euros.  Meet me near the ice cream machine after the akuma attack."  The kid nodded and they traded.

He took Plagg and ducked into the bathroom while making sure no one else was in there.  "Plagg, claws out!"

He peaked out of the bathroom to make sure the kid was gone before leaving the hallway and jumping onto one of the arcade machines.  It was way easier to get to the other side of the room than trying to push through people.

He landed near DDR Master as Ladybug in the middle of one of the songs.  "Hey, sorry I'm late to the party. Looks like you're having fun." he said.

"Oh, I'm having a blast," Ladybug responded sarcastically. She didn't look at him at all. She had to focus on the game. So far Ladybug and DDR Master have played three rounds. Each round was a tie. The song ended and again it was a tie. Ladybug fell to her legs. She was exhausted. 

"We're not done yet little lady," DDR Master sassed her. "We're not stopping until there's a winner."

Ladybug glared at him. There was no way she could go on. If she back out they would lose unless. She looked at Chat. Sometimes he would dance for no reason while out on a mission. So she wondered if he would be good at this game. For some reason her gut was telling her that she was right. She looked at the DDR Master. "If you want both miraculous then you'll have to challenge my partner too."  

"Hmm," DDR Master paused for a moment to think. "Alright."

Ladybug looked at Chat. "Do you think you can beat him?" She stood up and got off the platform.

Chat Noir narrowed his eyes when DDR Master sassed his partner as she looked exhausted.  Thankfully, the akuma was open to him tagging in. "Of course I can. No on can out-step me. You just catch your breath, my lady."

He stepped onto the dance platform and waited.  There was no way DDR Master was going to let him pick the song.  The song started and Chat fell quickly into the rhythm. It was one of the easier ones.  DDR master was probably testing his skill.  The song ended with him getting a perfect score. That one was way too easy.

The next song ramped up the skill level to hard.  Again, Chat fell into the rhythm like it was second nature to him. Until suddenly, it wasn't.  The speed of the song suddenly changed, throwing off his usual grasp of the game. Chat missed quite a few hits before he could recalibrate himself to the new speed.  

DDR Master just laughed and changed it up again.  Suddenly, all his knowledge of the game was wrong.  Chat felt a bead of sweat fall down his face as he focused on the screen, forcing himself to learn the new rhythms, speeds, and arrow placements as quickly as they changed. Hopefully, Ladybug was about ready for a lucky charm...

Ladybug was sitting on the ground watching Chat. He was actually pretty good. She was impressed. She clapped, when he won the first song. They had a chance! Ladybug kept cheering him on as their matches continued. She noticed that Chat was struggling bit due to DDR Master controlling the songs. Shit if he kept that up they were screwed. She had to do something. Ladybug stood up and decided to go behind the crowd. 

"Lucky Charm!" She shouted and tossed her Yo Yo in the air. Suddenly a pair of pliers fell into her hands. She made a frowned and looked back at the match. She was standing on the side and was able to see the wires behind the machine. They were glowing. "Of course!!" She ran forward and dove behind it. Ladybug then cut the wires with pliers and the machine turned off. "Chat break the machine now!"

Chat breathed a sigh of relief at Ladybugs command. His muscles were starting to get sore from all the quick movements.  He grabbed his staff and sent it right into the middle of the platform near where the akuma had first merged with it.

He slid down into a sitting position and watched with a smile as Ladybug caught it with her yo-yo and purified it before throwing the pliers into the air. The damage to the machine was quickly fixed and any remnants of DDR Master's wrath was gone.

Ladybug gave him a hand to help him get up, and they bumped their fists together in a pound it.  "That was a great job," he said with a smile.

"You weren't bad yourself," Ladybug spoke with a smile and flicked his bell. "I guess all your little dances paid off." She then heard the buzzing from her earrings. "Welp, got to go." She then ran off and left the arcade to detransform in alleyway. 

Marinette walked back into the arcade and found Alya and Nino. Alya was busy looking at her phone. She must recorded the dance off for her blog. "Hey, guys."

"Girl, where were you?" Alya said and looked up at her friend. "You missed everything!!"

"Sorry, I was hiding in the bathroom." Marinette looked around. "Where's Adrien?"

Nino shrugged. "I haven't seen since the DDR Master appeared." 

Marinette frown. She hoped he was okay.

Chat watched her leave before heading out a side door in the opposite direction of Ladybug. He hid behind the dumpster in that alley and let himself detransform before heading back into the build with Plagg hidden in his pocket.

He reentered the arcade and headed to the bar to hold up the other half of his bargain. The ten year old was waiting with his arms crossed but seemed to relax as Adrien became visible. Obviously, the kid thought he had been lied to.  "Chocolate or vanilla?" Adrien asked.

"I want a sundae," the kid said.

Adrien looked at the prices and sighed. One sundae later and he was out of pocket money.  He left the child, who was proud of getting his way, and headed back towards the DDR machine to try and find the others.  

He found them a few moments later.  "Hey, there you are.  Sorry I disappeared.  I ran into the crowd when that kid was akumatized and kind of got lost in the crowd.  Is everyone okay?"

Marinette was glad that Adrien was okay. Soon their other classmates joined them and they all agreed to go get pizza. They left the arcade and made their way to a pizza parlor. 

The weekend went by fast and it was now Sunday evening. Marinette was working on her dress while Alya was using her computer. She was on the Ladyblog updating it and responding to comments. She gain more followers, after posting the DDR match from Friday. Marinette was working on a black trim on the bottom the dress. She cut a piece a thread from the trim and smiled. Her dress was finally finished.

"Alya, I'm finally done!" She spoke with pride and stood up from the ground. Her friend turned away from the computer look. The dress had bikini straps and was red. The polka dots were black and small and went in diagonal pattern. Then on the bottom it had a black trim.

"It looks wonderful," she responded. "Are you happy with it?" 

"I think so," Marinette answered as she examined her dress and cut any loose threads she found.

"Are you going to wear it?"

Her friend bit her lip. "Um, no.."

"What you made a dress and you're not even going to wear it?"

"I just wanted to make something for fun. Maybe I will give it to my cousin."

"Marinette, that dress is you! Don't give it away!"

"No, not really.." Marinette looked back at her friend. 

Alya was about to say something, but her phone buzzed. She looked down and read a text from her mom. "Ugh, I need to go. My mom needs me." She stood up from the computer and then placed her hand on Marinette's shoulder. "You should wear it tomorrow to school. If I remember correctly Adrien liked this dress?" Marinette turned a shade of pink. "Exactly. See you tomorrow."

Marinette let out a noise of a frustration, after her friend left. She then buried herself in the pillows on her lounge couch. Marinette knew this would happen. All she wanted to do was to make a dress. She had no intention to wear it. 

"Alya's right," Tikki spoke up as she came out of her hiding place.

"I knew you would side with her," Marinette mumbled through the pillows. 

"Marinette, if you want to be a designer then you need to show off your designs!" Her owner made some noise of disapproval. Tikki sighed. "Why don't you want to wear it?"

"Because, Tikki." Marinette sat up and looked at her kwami. "I don't have enough confidence to pull something like that off."

"Yes, you do. You're very confident, when your Ladybug."

"Yeah because I'm behind a mask. I can anything that I want to be, when I'm Ladybug."

"So can Marinette."

Marinette just stared at her kwami. She couldn't argue about that. Her parents constantly told her that she could be anything she wanted to be, when she was little. This was no different. "I'll think about it."

The next day Marinette got up and got ready for school. She decided over night to take the plunge and wear her dress. She grabbed a mini black sweater from her closet to cover her shoulders. Bare shoulders were not appropriate for school. She slipped into the dress and put the sweater on. Tikki clapped, when she saw her putting it on. Marinette smiled at her and went to looked at herself in the mirror. She made a frown. Something was not right.

"What's wrong?" Tikki asked her." You look great in it."

"Yes, I do, but.." Marinette paused and then smiled. She took out her pigtails and let her hair down. "Much better."

"Oh, yes!" the kwami agreed. "It makes you look more mature."

"Thanks." Marinette then grabbed her school bag and purse. Tikki quickly went inside her purse and Marinette headed off to school.

When Marinette arrived on school grounds, she saw Alya and Nino sitting on the school steps together. They were busy talking. Meanwhile Chloe was standing on the top of the steps having people admiring her new outfit. Alya looked up and noticed Marinette and whistled.

"Looking good, Marinette!" she shouted.

"Ahh!! Alya!!!" Marinette nearly scream and turned red. She could hear Tikki laughing at her in her purse. Heads turn and everyone was staring at her. Marinette wanted to run back home and change clothes.

Adrien exited his limo with a sigh.  He was grounded for the DDR incident which somehow had made the tabloids. According to his father, the headline "Adrien Agreste, Perfect Model or DDR Nerd?" was super damaging to his image.  So DDR was something to only do in his house, and he wasn't allowed to have any guests for two weeks.

He entered the school grounds barely paying attention to his surroundings until he paused to look for Nino.  That was when he saw Marinette.  He stared, going over every detail of her and the dress, a blush rushing across his face before he even realized it. He had never seen her with her hair down.  The new hairstyle paired with the dress was really hot.

He shook his head, trying to clear it, but he couldn't stop the thought. Unfortunately, Nino noticed him before he could really rein in his thoughts. "Hey, Adrien! How's it going?" his friend called while waving him over to the rest of them.

Adrien walked up, a blush still present on his face, and said, "Fine."  He paused for a moment, his eyes going back to Marinette.  "Your dress looks great," he said with a smile.