Chapter Text
Game Over
Peter stared at the screen. “Wow … he only lasted twenty seconds.” Kim said with surprise. Everyone had gathered in the school library(cept for Chloe, who somehow was still queasy from eating soup….then again that was likely the princess just being overdramatic), for a gaming tournament. On the one hand, Peter was happy to live in a time where the art of video games could be celebrated on such a grand scale…. on the other hand….
“That…. that was the WORST gameplay of Mega Mecha Strike 3 I’ve ever seen… like… wow, no competition…. literally, Peter, you’re NO competition.” Alya kept harping on the point while recording it, because why wouldn’t an embarrassing moment of his NOT be recorded.
“Hey, that was just round one.” He said. “Watch round two, it’ll surprise you for sure.” He began his signature technique of trying to play a distance, only to be driven into a twenty hit combo and knocked out within fifteen seconds.
Game Over
….. How was it so much easier swinging through the city on nothing but a single chain than it was to shoot a blaster at an enemy using a joystick? “Peter, are you sure you’re a nerd?” Nino asked him. “How is someone as sheltered as Adrien more experienced than you?”
“I’m not that sheltered. My mom used to spoil me with a lot of them when I was younger.” Adrien raised his hand.
“I just spent the time I could playing video games doing homework and runs.” Peter admitted, turning to his opponent that had currently brutally annihilated him in virtual combat, Max. “Though it usually takes about a full minute before Adrien kills me when we play.”
“Your friend is probably trying to spare your feelings.” Max said sympathetically, patting his shoulder. “I, however, came to win and dominate my way to the top!”
“This is probably the most emotion I’ve ever seen him express at anything.” Ivan noted as the rest of the class watched from the background.
“It’s all about what makes my bro passionate.” Kim said. “Which is usually anything having to do with robots or super science that hurts my brain.”
“I find technological advancement to be highly stimulating, and the Mega Mecha Strike franchise usually is able to update and improve upon its coding and features with every single development.” Max stated matter of factly, proving that in France, Peter was in fact NOT the top nerd around… he wasn’t sure how he felt about that in all honesty. “Now I’ve thoroughly defeated Kim, Nino, Rose, and now Peter…though that last one wasn’t much of a challenge.”
“Unnecessary emotional damage!” Peter cried out dramatically….although how WAS Rose better than him? She somehow did more damage by making the robots hug each other…. a feature in the game peter was sixty percent sure DIDN’T EXIST.
“You do know it’s a team match right?” Alix asked Max. “You need at least ONE guy to be on your side.”
“I have analyzed the data from the previous matches, and have concluded that out of everyone in class, Adrien is the most skilled in terms of speed, finger reflex, and hand/eye coordination.” Max stated, bringing out a chart of said data.
“I have a lot of practice multitasking as a model.” The one benefit.
“So we’re cheering on Max and Adrien then?” Rose asked. “I wanna make sure before I start making the banners.”
“That does seem like the most logical choice, unless anyone else wishes to volunteer to participate.” Max asked.
“Nah. I like being in front of a screen, but I love recording the action even more.” Alya explained.
“My hands are too big for the controls.” Ivan sighed as Myleene patted his back. Still the power couple of the class.
“Eh, these types of games aren’t really my forte.” Felicia shrugged. “I’m much more of a platformer type of gal. You’d be surprised at how sweetly disturbing the Kirby lore is.”
“I think the paper mario rpg’s are much more fascinatingly disturbing.” Huh, whataya know, Juleka had her own games. Guess France was all about breaking stereotype… except for Chloe, she stayed firmly in cliche highschool mode.
“I’m not much of a gamer myself.” Mylene said with a small chuckle.
“I’ve never been drawn to anything about Mega Mech Strike, it’s pretty much just ripping off gundam in my opinion.” Nathaniel said with a shrug.
“Blasphemous accusations aside, I believe that wraps up any potential candidates.” Max smiled, looking to Adrien. “Now Adrien, I believe to best coordinates our attacks for maximum damage would be…”
“Hey guys, what’s up?” Marrinette suddenly popped into the room and announced herself. “Did I miss a memo for something?”
“Gaming contest, we’re narrowing down the candidates for our school.” Peter explained. “Hey Max, what did the winning team get again?”
“Fame!” The fellow nerd said dramatically.
“The school also gets a ten thousand dollar grant.” The principal said as he walked by, drawing something. “Needs more feathers …” Either the man was planning a prank or making a chicken costume. He did look particularly bird-like already.
“It’s wrapping up anyways, Max and Adrien are slated to team up for the tournament if no one else volunteers.” Peter explained.
“Wait….so Adrien’s one of the players?” Marinette gained a hint of curiosity in her eyes.
“Yep. Max and I need to practice for the next several hours together if we wanna have a shot at winning.” Adrian smiled.
“Practice……hours…alone…” Wait, was Marinette actually going to. “Ah…auditions for it aren’t completely over yet, are they?” She was…..Peter didn’t know if the boldness was progress on her part or just her reaching for any shot.
“Go ahead, choose your opponent.” Max said with a co*cky grin. “I must warn you however, that I have spent YEARS honing my skill.”
“Oh really?” Marinette grineed with an equally co*cky expression. “Well, so have I. My dad’s a part time gamer, and he and I have played the entire series together….twice.”
“Girl, you sure you got this?” Alya asked. “Not that I’m not rooting for you, but you DID just learn about the tournament JUST now.”
“Worst case scenario, I loose.” Marinette smiled, taking a seat next to Max.
“You mean the only case senario … wait, are you choosing Barbarex?” Max asked with a look of shock.
“Is that good?” Juleka asked in her quiet voice.
“It’s bad actually.” Adrien said. “Barbarex has stats so bad she’s in the low tiers. Usually referred to as the ‘joke character’.”
“Why the heck would you choose her?” Peter asked.
“She’s the only character with wall bounce blasts.” Marinette shrugged. “It’s not the character itself, it’s how you use them that matters. Like any tool, it’s all about using it at the right place at the right time.” … And here he thought Adrien was the optimist.
“Oh man, this is going to be a sweet slaughterhouse!” Kim shouted…and just like that, Peter would back Marinette up one hundred percent….. he still didn’t like Kim after the spider story.
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Max decided to stick with his go to character, Pyramotas. Extra armor, piercing rounds, and a special boost ability to act as a jet powered tank. And so far, the round had been going well. Slow, but well. She hadn’t landed a single hit on Max, and he managed to get her down to a quarter life after chasing her around the whole map. Heck, he even managed to get level three while she was still stuck at level two.
“COME ON MARINETTE! WIPE THE FLOOR WITH HIS DIGITAL BUTT!” Of course, that didn’t stop very loud and obnoxious, and slightly delusional, onlookers from voicing in their vocal…. far… far…. too vocal, commentary. Luckily, his mom was a rocket scientist, so he had plenty of experience trying to concentrate in very loud environments.
“You can do it, you have the advantage!” Mylene shouted.
“He has her down to a quarter of life, overleveled her, and blocked her escape routes.” Ivan explained.
“... You have the power of the underdog?”
“Yeah, this ain't a movie, sweetheart.” Felicia smirked. “Unless she’s hiding a nuke somewhere under those low stats, the girl’s a dead gamer walking.”
“Oh come on, have faith.” Alya said. “You’ve got this Marinette!”
“She hasn’t shot Max once. My bro’s got this in the bag.” Kim said, assured in his confidence.
“There is no shame in forfeiting you know.” Maybe a bit too premature, but it couldn’t be said that Max wasn’t fair. “No one here will hold it over you if you gave up now.”
“Jokes on you Max.” Marinette grinned. “Check out my special power.” The girl activated her special move. “For the next fifteen seconds, my damage doubles.”
Max scoffed. “At level three with a character that specializes in high level armor? Please-”
BAM
…. Every … single shot that she had missed … that had been bouncing around the walls, level edge, and pipes of the game area … came crashing down on Max in a SINGLE instance. “WHAT!?” His lifebar was going down too fast. “Activating turbo dash.” He accelerated.
“You should have tanked them, those shots are now in the range of the EXP box!” Marinette shouted. “Behold, as I not only jump to level three, but level four!”
“What!? But you haven’t done anything substantial!
“It’s called setting up a trap!” Marinette shouted. “Now behold as I activate her ultimate move, which auto kills you if your life is below half!” The rainbow bar of energy formed. “Asta lavista!”
“NOOOOOOOO!!!”
Game Over
His character was instantly disintegrated to nothing….. a whole year of training… completely down the drain. “....Whoa, talk about crouching tiger hidden dragon, that was epic!” Peter shouted excitedly.
“I knew it, I knew all along! Pay up, non-believers!” Alya shouted, holding her hand out as euros were plopped into her hand by Ivan and Kim.
“Wait, were you guys betting on me!?” Marinette shouted.
“......Nooooooooooo.” Peter said, leaning near Alya. “I’ll get my cut later.” He spoke in a whipster.
“It’s like looking at one of Ladybug’s plans in action.” Adrien said with sparkling eyes. “All that set up hitting it all at the last minute.”
“Whhhatttt, that, nah, nah, that…that was nothing.” Oh cut the false humility already, if you were going to trash your opponents, at least own up to it! “It’s just a game after all. Anyone with a little practice could do the same.” ….Just a… just..a… JUST A GAME!? Years, YEARS spent training, on JUST A GAME!? “Good job Max, you had me on the ropes.” The girl held out her hand as he felt the rage fester …
He pushed the anger down. “Good job Marinette, good game.” He shook her hand, before quickly walking out of the room. If he was going to keep anything, it was his dignity, he wouldn’t blow up, he wouldn’t blow up …
The moment Max left the school however….. “I SHOULD HAVE WON!”
He deserved victory, that no good Marinette just played casually, like it wasn’t important, just to impress some guy! EVERYONE KNOWS YOU HAVE A CRUSH MARINETTE, JUST ADMIT IT! She didn’t even care about the game, about the tournament he’s spent a year preparing for ... hard dedicated work he sweated over, and she didn’t even appreciate it! She wasn’t a true gamer! Someone who treated games as seriously as the artform they deserved to be recognized as!
She didn’t deserve to play the game at all, she deserved to be crushed! But he couldn’t do anything about it, everyone would be on her side and he’d be seen as a petty jealous nerd……well maybe he DESERVED to be jealous of that no good casual Marinette who-his soul opened up.
“Finally got someone usable agai-I mean, Gamer, I am Hawkmoth. Your talents and efforts were treated as secondary, I’ll give you the power to show the world who the REAL master of games is. In return, I ask for Ladybug and Chat Noir’s miraculous.”
A real life power up…..this was his chance! “Yes Hawkmoth, I will! I will show Marinette Dupang Cheng who the superior gamer is!”
“Weird, this wasn’t caused by Chloe for once. Usually whenever the Dupain-Cheng girl is involved, the Akuma doesn’t want to hurt her.… Meh, maybe the variety will get the job done for once.”
With that, he felt the energy transformed him, the Gamer! And he got to choose his own mech, just like in the game, awesome! “Time to collect EXP!” He shot a bus, destroying it as the people were absorbed, civilians running screaming. “Once I reach Level 4, the Ultimate Power will be mine, and I’ll be immune to any attack from a hero!”
“I didn’t understand half of what you said, but I like the sound of it.” Hu, that sounded like something Kim would say … maybe Kim was Hawkmoth. He’d think about it later.
========================================================================
Plagg sat with Tikki as they watched their holders play around. “So, you clearly got the superior locale.” He wouldn’t give up Adrien for anyone, but he would be a fool to deny the clear access to baked goods, fluffy art projects to sleep on, and the balcony to bathe in the moonlight at night. Oh what he wouldn’t give to snag a warm piece of bread for his camebert right now… unfortunately Tikki was keeping him on a tight leash with her adorable stink eye. “I live in a stuffy place with no heart or soul in it, and it’s super unsettlingly quiet to boot.”
“That’s the exact opposite of my holder's home. It’s always warm and there’s always something going off, whether it’s her parents baking or her screams of terror from hiding all her Adrien pics.” She said as she pointed to the dark corner of the room, where said pictures, posters, and several hearts could be noticed but not seen super clearly.
“This love square’s gonna be the death of us.” He muttered. “So, according to Annasi, we apparently got hit with Darkforce and Lightforce. Looks like humanity’s finally pressing against the cosmos.”
“Are you kidding me?” Tikki groaned, looking like she wanted to yell, but kept it to a quiet tone. “Couldn’t they stop at magic and vibranium? Those alone already give us Kwami’s so much trouble.”
“Well, not vibranium…..for me at least.” Plagg grinned cheekily. “The perks of being able to destroy anything you touch.”
“No, you just got Baast to declare eternal war on you after threatening to destroy the wakanda’s vibrainum mound.”
“Hey, she didn’t pay respects as the one true cat of the multiverse.” Plagg grinned.
“You’re a cat, panther is an entirely different breed of animal, we’ve been over this before.” Tikki groaned in exasperation.
“Hey, you were the one telling the stag beetle and horned beetle brothers in japan who the ‘real beetle’ is.” He shot back.
“Because they wanted to con the citizens of the town. If you’re gonna be a beetle, be a good guy.” She pouted. “Ladybugs don’t need a bad rep.”
“Oh, you could never look bad in my eyes, sugar cube.” He playfully teashed. “You’re as beautiful as finely aged gouda sprinkled with expired parmesan.”
“....Maybe I would find that more flattering if you didn’t compare me to stinky cheese.”
“But cheese is the greatest known thing to the universe, how else could I describe your beauty?” He asked.
“I’m sorry Marinette, I don’t know why I’m doing so bad now.” Adrien said from the computer.
“Maybe it’s because you’re not used to coop gaming?” Marinette suggested.
“But I play with Peter all the time.”
“.....And how much of the work are you putting in compared to him?”
“... I’m starting to see the problem.” His kitten nodded.
“A nerd that’s bad at video games, who would’ve seen the day.” Plaag laughed.
“You’d think pushing buttons would be easier than tricking an akuma and running across buildings.” Tikki noted.
“Eh, you’d be surprised.” Popping up behind them, they saw Annasi flyin in with a piece of bread. “Buttons get sticky and you gotta be quick on your hands.”
“... What are you doing here?” Tikki asked.
“Holder’s ordering a few macaroons down in the bakery. Got me a coffee danish, figured I’d check on you lovebirds.”
“Lucky.” Plagg pouted. “And for the record, I’ve despised birds ever since Mr Pigeon the sixth.” How many times can one villain akumatize a single person!? “I prefer the term ‘cheesemates’.”
“And I prefer we didn’t label it at all.” Tikki rolled her eyes in a cute manner. “Got any idea where the Dark and Lightforces are popping up?”
“Not until we get a duel for it … at which point the property damage will make it irrelevant for me to sense it, so back to square one.” He answered. “Not to mention we’re dealing with a company that’s actively experimenting to make extra dimensional energy into something usable.”
Dimensional energy … Plagg paled. “Please tell me they haven’t tried the power cosmic or Phoenix Force.” He didn’t need to deal with Galactus and Dark Phoenix.
“No…or at least not yet I believe. The Phoenix Force belongs to some mutant redhead at the moment…it’s particularly fond of mutant redheads for some reason.” Annasi said with confusion. “As for the Power Cosmic, pretty sure if anyone’s tapping into that it would be the Fantastic Four, them or that silver guy on the surfboard.”
“Humanity’s getting waaay too advanced far too quickly.” Tikki muttered in concern. “Back then it was only magic we worried about. Well, magic, En saba nur, and the occasional Rama-tut and whatever the heck his deal was.”
“I personally miss Frankenstien’s monster.” Annasi said. “He was chill for an abomination of science gone wrong.”
“Didn’t he form some kind of super team with the Werewolf?” Plaag asked.
“Yeah, but they beat up Dracula. I think we can all agree that’s a win in any book.” Annasi shrugged. “So on more modern news, any progress on your love square?”
“Nope, oblivious as always.” Tikki confirmed as she pointed to the two. “Though Marinette had a couple encounters with Chat noir in those respective identities, and they seemed pretty chummy with each other.”
“Honestly, I don’t think Adrien is interested in Marinette as anything other than a friend.” Plagg deadpanned. “He’s just laser focused on Ladybug.”
“So like you and Tikki.”
“... If there’s not an akuma attack in the next ten seconds, you’re losing a mouth.” Immediately after saying that, Tikki crossed her fingers.
“You do realize coming from you, a black cat, that’s more of an omen than a threat, right?” Annasi said. “And you’re directing that at the kwami who attracts danger to himself.”
“I know, I just felt the conversation needed to end immediately.” Plagg shrugged shamelessly.
“Level two is cleared! Onto level three!” A voice shouted outside, followed by screams.
“What’s that?” Adrien looked outside…where what looked like a giant black pyramid mech from that game they were playing was standing outside. “Is that some kind of game promotion?”
“Once I get level four, getting the miraculous will be a peace of cake for an experienced Gamer like myself!”
“If the promotion was from Hawkmoth.” Marinette grumbled. “You should go home, I think it’s Max, so he might be coming after me personally.”
“No, I’m not going to leave you alone to deal with it.” Adrien said firmly, grasping the girl by the hands, and making her light up red all over. “Maybe if we talk to him together, we can calm him down.”
“Oh..ah…well….if-if you insist.”
“Well I’m gonna go to Peter and transform, good luck surviving with blind optimism.” Annasi stated, floating through the wall. “Oh, and for the record…. this akuma’s on you pal.” Meh, one of them was bound to be. Such is the way of the cat, even if Tikki was giving him the look Ladybug gave Spider-Man
========================================================================
Adrien walked with Marinette out of the shop, passing by a confused looking Peter, and watching as a giant pyramid mech walked over to them. “Max, please calm down!” Maybe if they could give him their spot, he’d deakumatize. Talking it out was bound to work one of these days. And here he was having such a nice day with Marrinette too. She even gave him a good luck bracelet. Such a sweet girl, she was just as nice to him as she was to Chat Noir
“There is no Max, only the Gamer!” Max shouted from his mech. “And I’ve surpassed to a higher level than all of you casuals!” He shouted as he blasted nearby run civillains, turning them into bubbles and absorbing EXP.
“You do realize your leveling up by grinding though powerless NPC’s right?” Peter said, walking out of the bakery right next to them while eating a danish. “That’s a low move.”
“Well none of the heroes have shown up, and I can’t exactly grind on akumas since there’s only one at a time.” The villain complained. “... Maybe if I go to New York I could turn the avengers into EXP …” If he got stronger the stronger the enemy he beat, that would REALLY be a nightmare scenario.
“Max, why are you doing this!?” Marinette yelled. “I thought you were fine with me taking your spot!”
“I just said I’m not Max! I am the Gamer, I will prove I’m superior to you, and deserve that spot in the championship, Marinette Dupain Cheng!” The robot shouted.
“Oh, so people can’t even lose fairly without being Akumatized!? Where’s the fairness in that!?” Peter shouted.
“Wait, is he mad that he lost or mad that he lost to a girl?” Adrien asked.
“I’m mad that a casual shot down a serious competitor for a spot in a tournament she didn’t even want to go to just to impress some guy she can’t even be bothered to be direct with!!”
“It’s okay Max, turns out I’m just as bad as Peter when it comes to multiplayer..!” Adrien stated.
“Just because it’s true doesn’t mean it’s not hurtful!”
“So you can probably take my place..!” He offered.
“And play alongside the girl that didn’t even want to join in the first place!? I don’t think so!”
“So this IS about losing to a girl?” Marientte questioned. “Are you that insecure over a little game?”
“You know what, done talking, firing my laser!” The pyramid head began glowing green.
“In New York we take that as GET OUT OF THE WAY!” Peter screamed, shoving them into a nearby bush. “You two stay down, I’ll distract Mr cone head here with more insults. As a New Yorker I’m used to this.”’
“Peter..” First Mr. Negative, now this. He hoped this wasn’t going to be a recurring habit of his. Keeping Alya out of trouble was hard enough work.
“Yo, triangle head with a circle face and a square body, you must fail at geometry, big fat F on the report card for your mom!” The boy shouted as he ran.
“Don’t you dare…. ever….. INSULT MY GRADE POINT AVERAGE!”
“I regret everything!” Peter screamed in a high pitched voice as a volley of lasers fired off.
“For someone that usually runs away from villains on the first sign, that was a lot braver than I expected.” Marinette noted.
“Peter’s plenty brave. It just takes special moments for it to shine.” Part of the reason why he was his best friend. “But you should head in the other direction in case he comes back.” And give him plenty of room to transform
“Right, I’ll run away from my house now.” Marinette said, making a break for it.
Adrien waited until she was out of sight, before taking a look around. “Plagg, Claws Out.”
“You’re so lucky I was at a bakery before you did this!” The kwami screamed as he was sucked into the ring.
“You and your stomach are endless, yet my cabinets are still full of cheese.” Chat rolled his eyes as he jumped ahead, seeing the still fleeing Peter and Gamer in the distance. “I don’t mean to stereotype, but your not giving gamers a good two right now with your bad attitude.” He extended his poll and whacked Gamer in the head, knocking him into a nearby building.
“Finally, the boss level can begin.” The giant machine cracked it’s knuckles.
“Sorry, we’re gonna have to put this game on pause for just a moment.” His lady’s yo-yo popped out as she came in, scooping the fleeing Peter up and to a nearby roof. “You were pretty brave out there, but try not to make this a habit. Don’t be the next Alya.”
“Hey, I prefer running from my life, thank you very much!” His friend shouted as he left through it the rooftop door.
“You better hand over your miraculous now, before I make this a beatdown you’ll never forget.” The Gamer shouted as they blocked some blasts.
“We better hurry up Chaton.” Ladybug said. “Once he hits level four, the ultimate level, it’ll be next to impossible to beat him.”
“I never knew you were such a gamer.” He smirked.
“What can I say, being lucky and pretty aren’t my only skills.” She smiled back at him with such an adorable expression. They then rolled out of the way of another shot, which turned a car into pixels that got absorbed into the robot. “We need to draw him away, somewhere big and empty where he can’t hit anything.”
“I’ve got an idea.” A familiar chain flew up and wacked the robot in the side. “Yo Gamer, you’re at level three? Your dialog isn’t even worth binary.” Spidey shouted as he swung away.
“I’ll show you binary after I spam you internal code, arachnid!” The villain shouted as he ran after them.
“Hey, you got that right! And here I thought you couldn’t even get past the third digit of pi, my mistake you fragile egg head!” Spidey exclaimed as he swung over in the direction of the stadium.
“Empty stadium… a giant pit to keep Gamer contained! Brilliant!” Ladybug noted, before turning to Chat. “Don’t tell Spidey I said that.”
“My lips are purfectly sealed M’lady.” He assured with a zipped lip gesture.
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Marinette flipped into the stadium, where Spidey was doing his best to avoid the giant fists and lasers of the Gamer. “Oh come on, you’re a giant robot, can’t you think of something more creative than throwing punches and shooting lasers?”
“Rocket fist!”
“You know what I said about asking stupid questions, right?” She asked as the web head was sent flying into the goalnet. “I know that’s hard for you, but I expected a little more effort.”
“Meh, I took Chat’s curiosity, I felt like it would kill him.” The hero grumbled, cracking his back. “I’m having a hard time locating the akumatized object though, just a giant robot from what I can see.”
“I could try destroying it … but we have no idea how much is a giant robot and how much is human skin turned into a giant robot.” Chat said with a wince.
“It is Mega Mecha strike 3 he’s copying, and in that version it is an external suit controlled from a pilot co*ckpit.” Ladybug listed off. And they said it never paid to play video games. “I think this is one of those occasions where we just have to trust the miraculous cure can fix everything.
“Well, here’s to blinding hoping you’re right. Cataclysm!” The boy shouted, his hand sparking with black energy as he rushed forward, jumping over the laser and touching the body, causing it to break down and crumble to dust, as a giant red orb was placed next to them, and Max, wearing a black and green suit with oversized glasses, fell to the ground. “Ha, we win!”
“Oh yeah!? Well while you were leading me here, I gained just enough exp to gain access… to level four! Which means I can not only respawn my mech for a second chance… I can upgrade it!” Digital light appeared around the villain as rose into the sky.
“I call hacks!” Spidey shouted as the robot … became four times its original size, the size of the stadium itself. “And shenanigans from Hawkmoth!”
“Unfortunately for you heroes, Level Four is the ULTIMATE level, immune to attacks from low levels like yourselves!” The villain cackled.
Ladybug looked around …and grinned. “Unfortunately for you Gamer, you overlooked one fact!”
“I overlooked nothing!”
“You overlooked that destroying your mech, even with the respawn, gives us your XP!” She pressed the orb, watching another massive mech rise into the air, black and red covering it’s entire body, with claws on the front arms and legs, ladybug wings on the back, four giant spider legs protruding from the back, and a head that had sparking antenna, mandibles, and fangs.
“Talk about a power up.” Chat whistled, impressed
“Miraculous cure of the universe, if you’re ever going to not get rid of something, let it be this.” Spidey said with wide eyes and a dropped jaw. “... I call the driver's seat!”
“Can you even pilot a giant robot?” She asked.
“No, but it’s on my bucket list next to proving Santa isn’t real.”
“I bet you a thousand macaroons that he is.” Chat chuckled back.
“Oh it’s on.” Well that was going to be an annoying Christmas. They got inside the head, where three seats resided. “Alrighty.” Spidey cracked his knuckles, taking the seat. “Let's do this.” He pushed the button.
CLANG
As the robot’s foot hit its own head, causing them to tumble around in the co*ckpit. “... So Ladybug should probably drive.” Spidey said, his body tangled with Chats.
“Yeah…. and if we ever… ever… ever pilot anything ever again, I’m banning you from driving until I see proof of license.” She grimaces, trying to get her hair out of her face.
“But that would reveal-oh okay, I see what you’re saying.” He grumbled as he took another seat. “I’ll just take giant spider legs and hope I don’t tangle up the arms.”
“Hah! Not even one second and I already have more health than you filthy casuals! I almost want to leave out of pity.” The Gamer shouted as he jumped on them with missles being fired. “Then again, beating noobs is a treat all true gamers love to indulge!”
“No gamer would love attacking a noob!” Ladybug shouted, rasing her arms up. “Ladyshield!” She blocked the attack with big red shields. “Bug fist!” The shields opened up like ladybug wings, rocketing into the Gamer’s head.
“Gaaah, I see you’re ready to take this seriously!” The villain jumped up, spinning their body quickly around. “Drill kick!”
“Catdooken!” Chat shouted, pressing a button that fired off a black light laser. “I am loving this thing! Clawtastrophe!” A series of claw slashes were sent out and sent the villain back.
“Gamer blast!” A laser ball was blasted, before the Gamer disasembled and sped behind them. “Gamer tackle!” And shoved them into the attack!
“Oh you wanna play rough!? Maximum spider!” He pressed a bunch of buttons as the spider arms began stabbing at the mecha over and over again.
“Oh yeah, how about Inuit you next with-“
“Maximum spider!” Spidey kept button mashing and hitting the villain repeatedly.
“What hey-!”
“Maximum Spider!”
“Agggh, at least change your moves set of you going to play like a no-
“Chain sling!” The mecha sent out a large chasing that hooked…onto something in the air…and proceed to hit the mech in the face “Looooooooser!”
“You are having way too much fun with this.” Ladybug smirked.
“To reiterate, GIANT ROBOT!” Spidey grinned.
“He makes a fair point M’lady.”
“No fair! You don’t even have a strategy! Your just doing the same move over and over again!”
“Yeah, the same move that’s keeping you down on the ground while we fight for our lives! My conscience is pretty clear, all things considered.” He kept pressing the buttons for ‘maximum spider’. “Seriously pal, you must have a phd in stupid of you think you’re going to beat us.”
“Oh you wanna play dirty!? Stun grenade!” They hit their mecha with an electric ball, stalling the systems. “Thirty hit Gamer clashing combo!” And punched them over and over with a storm of blocks and pieces.
Beep beeep beep
“We might wanna wrap this up sooner rather than later, my time's almost up.” Chat pointed to his ring.
“His akuma has to be in his glasses, they’re the only thing noticeable on his normal outfit.” Ladybug stated.
“Which we can’t get to because he’s held up in a constantly respawning mecha with better skills than the three of us combined.” Spidey complained. “WEB BALL!” He pressed more buttons, launching a white silky substance at the Gamer.
“This is so gross!” The mech was covered in the substance. “It’s covering the screen!”
That gave Ladybug an idea. “Spidey, keep spamming the gamer with that web move! I’m going to make sure he comes out for some fresh air.” She began climbing out.
“Ah, I get you. WEB BALL! WEB BALL! WEB BALL!”
She jumped out of the suit as the mech was covered, running along, swinging to the pyramid’s face. “Oh no, if the gamer Gamer sees our exposed point, it’s over!” Ladybug announced overdramatically.
“Really, where!?” Hah, sucker. She waited until the Gamer’s head popped out, where she took the glasses. “Hey that’s cheating!”
“All’s fair in an akuma fight.” Marinette grinned, snapping the object. “No more evildoing for you akuma, time to de-evilize!” She swung her yo-yo out, catching the creature. “Gotcha. Bye Bye little butterfly.” She watched as Max turned back to normal, the two mechs remaining.
“Sweeeeeet! I feel awesome!” Spidey cheered as he and Chat Noir climbed out. “If we’re keeping the mech, I’m calling it Leopardon.”
“That’s awfully specific.” Chat stated.
“I have an appreciation for Super Sentai, Sue me.”
“Um …” They turned to the nervous Max. “I’m sorry for all the trouble… and blasting multiple people into data.” Right, she needed to fix that.
“Lucky Charm!” She tossed her yoyo in the air … as a good luck bracelet, like the one she gave Adrien this morning, landed in her hand, the heroes staring at it. “... I guess it’s a sign of good fortune?” Marinette guessed.
“Isn’t that what ladybugs symbolize naturally?” Chaton asked with a head tilt, gazing at the bracelet with almost cat-like curiosity.
“Hey, with the way things have been going lately, we could stand to double up on the luck.” Spidey noted.
She shrugged, tossing it in the air. “Miraculous Ladybug!” She screamed out, the small bugs appearing … and destroying their robots. “… Of course.” The coolest thing that’s ever happened to her in her time as a superhero… and it only lasted for three minutes.
“So long Leo…. so long.” Spidey waved to the air dramatically.
“Sorry guys, less than a minute. I’ll see your beauty next time, M’lady!” Chat shouted, jumping away. Sweet guy. She had another love in mind, but still, sweet guy.
“Max, you alright?” She asked the boy.
“I tried holding back my anger and being nice about it … but I still found it really infuriating that I lost to Marinette.” The boy groaned. “I know she’s skilled and that it’s only fair she compete … but dreams, you know?”
“Maybe you should try talking to her about it. She sounds like someone who’d understand.” Ladybug reassured.
“Yeah … you’re right.” The boy nodded.
“To be fair, you do have awesome skills.” Spidey grinned. “Wanna chat with the web about how you caused the most epic giant robot fight of all time?”
“I would like to have an in-depth discussion on the process of technological structures being summoned by supernatural forces, but I have further apologies to make… and a tournament to get to.”
========================================================================
Nino turned to Adrien. “You sure you wanna back out man?”
“It’s fine. I’m good at games, but Peter hasn’t helped my ability to work with a teammate.” His bro shook his head.
“And my emotional pride has taken triple damage today, that’s nice.” Peter rolled his eyes. “Good luck Marinette, Max. May your inevitable victory not cause any akumas this day.”
“Oh it will. With my comprehensive knowledge of the game mechanics and Marinette’s long term planning, we have this competition in the bag.” Max grinned.
“Good luck bro!” Kim shouted, holding up an Adrien x Marinette banner. They all stared at it for a moment. “Rose said she already made it and wasn’t going for a do over.”
“Even my optimistic energy has a limit somewhere.” The short haired blonde nodded.
“We’ll just have to cheer harder.” Adrien smiled. “Go Maxinette, best pairing!”
“Might wanna think about how you're saying that when you shout it.” Felicia snickered.
“What’s wrong with my wording?” Adrien asked with complete oblivion.
“Never change bro.” Nino snickered, patting his back. “So we finally added another bro to the akumatized club. That now makes it Ivan, Mylene, Kim, Nathaniel, me, Alya, and Max. Starting to think we need to make some kind of shelter for the remaining members.”
“No need, I have positivity!” Rose shouted with a grin.
“Isn’t it weird that about half the class has been akumatized by this point?” Peter asked.
“Not really.” Alya shrugged. “Speaking from personal experience, Hawkmoth preys on negative emotions, and what a better source of mood and angsty emotions than a high school?”
“Solid argument. We’re just lucky we’re not the heroes.” Nino said. “Could you imagine being a teenager forced to never get moody or angsty?”
“Sounds like a pain.” Adrien smirked.
“Nightmare.” Marinette nodded with a thin line instead of a smile. “Anyway, wish us luck!” She waved off with grace … alright, he really needed to get this off his chest … maybe his bros would be willing to listen…. tomorrow at least. Confessions were likely to lead to another akuma if it went wrong.
