Why had she done this? Why had Marinette agreed to going to the haunted house? She was already freaking out. Oh! That's right. Adrien was going. She had imagined showing up and him kissing her because she looked great in her Chat Noir costume. Then he'd propose and she'd say yes, but Alya had shattered that fantasy when she announced their arrival.

"Do I have to?" Marinette whined. She really hated haunted houses.

"Do you want to disappoint Adrien?" Alya asked. Marinette lowered her gaze in thought. She decided to just suck it up. She was Ladybug after all. Taking a deep breath, she grabbed her baton and stepped out of the car.

She noticed Alya searching for someone. Finally, her gaze stopped shifting. It was Nino. Huh, Mari thought. She'd noticed something between them. Could it be love?

Then her bluebell eyes met emerald green eyes. For some reason, Adrien was intently staring at her, making her blush. Then she noticed why. They were the only ones dressed up as Chat Noir. Everyone else was dressed up as Ladybug. Was Ladybug really favored that much?

Her thoughts were interrupted when Alya and Nino resorted to dragging the two into the haunted house. The moment she stepped inside, she screamed. Alya had triggered a very real looking spider to jump out at them. (My BFF/neighbor has one of those and the first time I walked past it, I screamed and scared their dog.)

Surprising, Nino also shrieked which resulted in Alya and Adrien snickering. Annoyed, Marinette and Nino shot a very dirty look towards their friends and brushed past them. Soon, Marinette came running back when she got scared by the zombie popping out of the ground.

She hid behind Alya who was shaking with laughter. Marinette collected herself and huffed. She was Ladybug for Pete's sake. She could handle a few Zombies and spiders popping out of nowhere.

Alya and Adrien went to catch up with Nino who was suddenly way ahead of the them. Marinette ran after them. She caught up in no time and resorted to small talk to keep her distracted.

"So… Adrien. W-what made you decide to dress as Chat Noir?" Marinette asked.

"I suppose the right answer would be because I admire Chat Noir, but it's really because all the Ladybug costumes were sold out." Adrien said, chuckling. Marinette giggled along.

"What about you?" he asked.

"W-well… I personally think that Ladybug gets too much attention and she couldn't defeat the akumas without Chat Noir. They're a team, not leader and sidekick." And I didn't want anyone finding my identity out.

Quietly, Adrien wiped a tear from his cheek.

"Well, after you." Adrien said, holding the next door open for her. Alya and Nino were about 4 rooms ahead, leaving Adrien and Mari alone. Ignoring the gory displays of zombies and ghosts, they continued to talk.

"So… Where did you get your costume?" Adrien asked, genuinely curious.

"I, uh, sorta made it myself." Marinette replied, blushing.

"Wow. That's amazing! I don't think the people my dad hires could do as good as you."

Marinette's blush intensified. "What about you?" She blurted.

Adrien froze. He hadn't actually bought the costume. He had just transformed.

"My, um, personal assistant ordered it from somewhere, but I'm not sure where." He covered. Marinette bought the lie, not believing Adrien could actually lie.

"You know… You really look like him." She commented. Adrien panicked.

"But I'm not him! NOT AT ALL! I mean. I couldn't dream of being him. Never. Totally." Adrien said. Marinette gave him a weird look, but continued walking. She opened the next door, not noticing that it was the wrong door and led Adrien inside. When she closed it, she realized that there was no creepy stuff.

"Huh?" Marinette asked. "Oops! Wrong door!" She said, blushing. What kind of dork opened the wrong door in a haunted house?

She did.

Marinette tried to open the door, but couldn't. It was locked. She shook the door knob harder as if it would magically unlock the door.

"It's locked?" Adrien asked.

"Yup."

"Let me see if I can get Alya and Nino to unlock the door." Adrien said.

"Great! No pockets. No phone." Marinette immediately took hers out.

"That's okay. I've got mine." She tried to call her BFF, but there was no internet. "Aaannnddd. There's no connection." She groaned in frustration. Now what?

"I guess we can wait. Sooner or later Alya and Nino will notice that we're missing and they'll find us."

Or they'll think that I'm on a date or something with Adrien. Marinette sighed in frustration. How long until she broke? Mistaking her sigh for one of annoyance, Adrien felt hurt.

"Hey. At least I'm not Chloe." He said. Marinette gave him a small smile and turned towards the door. She took a step back and kicked. The door swung open easily and it surprised a few fellow teenagers. Adrien's eyes widened in surprise. Why hadn't he thought of that? Besides, he was the ACTUAL Chat Noir. And that's when the screams started.

Great. Another akuma. Everyone quickly left, leaving Marinette and Adrien. Without thinking, Marinette suddenly grabbed Adrien and hightailed out of there. Soon, he found himself being carried bridal style out of the building and into a random alley. She quickly dropped him and turned to run back. Adrien grabbed her arm.

"What do you think you're doing?" He asked.

"I have to get Alya and Nino." Marinette said, as it was obvious.

"They've got Ladybug to take care of them." Adrien said.

Idiot! Let her go so you can help Ladybug. But… I can't just let Marinette face danger by herself. Sometime during his mental civil war, Marinette had freed her arm and started running. Well... That was that. He was letting Marinette face danger alone.

Wait! Wasn't the akuma hunting for their miraculouses? Marinette's costume was so authentic, they'd mistake her for him! He had to save her. Running, he took off after her.

Once he reached the street, she was nowhere to be seen. She was a fast runner. Probably had to do with being late to class so many times. He took off towards the screams.

The akuma was very big and bright. Some kid had wanted to be Superman for Halloween, but couldn't go out because his homework wasn't finished.

Seriously. Kids these days.

Well, Hawkmoth had transformed him into a giant Superman who actually had laser eyes and could fly.

To his dismay, Marinette seemed to be fighting the akuma by herself.

How?

Her baton! It was actually metal. But, she used it more as a staff and her blows were more precise than his. He was in shock by how the girl could fight, but duty called. He had to extract her and call Ladybug.

He quickly grabbed a mirror that was lying, discarded, on the side and raced to block the laser beams coming from the akuma's eyes. Marinette had been doing just fine on her own as she back flipped away from the lasers.

When Chat came, she mistook him for Adrien.

"Adrien! Stay back. It's not safe!" Marinette called as she hid with Chat behind the mirror. He had to think fast.

"I'm not Adrien. Isn't it obvious that I'm pawsitively the better looking one?" Chat said. Marinette rolled her eyes.

"I swear. You look exactly the same. But… Adrien would never pun. Or flirt. Sorry Chat." She said.

"It's fine." Chat said. He would've continued if the mirror hadn't shattered, leaving them defenseless.

"Okay. Chat, you take front, I'll get back and snatch the akuma. It's in the cape." Mari said, forgetting that she wasn't transformed. Chat had forgotten too and went along with the plan. Suddenly, Marinette had an idea.

"Chat. The next time he shoots his laser beams, cataclysm it." Chat nodded again and attacked.

The akuma rose in the air, leading them on a chase.

Marinette's baton worked almost exactly like Chat's, enabling her to leap across the rooftops as swiftly, if not even more, that Chat. The way her eyes were focused on the next roof and how she expertly maneuvered away from chimneys tugged at a memory in Chat's mond.

He had once let Ladybug use his baton when they were bored on patrol. Could they be the same? Nah!

Marinette was…

Confident like Ladybug, Hated lies like Ladybug. God, she even knew how to fight. They were the same.

"Chat! Look out!" A voice called from an alleyway. It was Alya. She had been watching the fight. Somehow, there were two Chat's and no Ladybugs. Still, the fight was pretty epic and the live stream was getting a ton of awesome reviews. Wait… Did one of the Chats have hair in pigtails so black, they were blue? Was MARINETTE fighting the akuma? Successfully?

Chat looked up and called on his power as the laser reached him. He quickly used his right hand to block the beam, praying mari- NO- Ladybug's plan would work. Sure enough, it did.

The entire beam started to decay. Soon the decay reached the akuma's eyes and took hold of him. Marinette quickly punched through the cape, releasing the akuma. She reached to her hip for her yo-yo to purify the akuma, but… it wasn't there.

She wasn't even transformed and the akuma was getting away. Chat was staring at her. Well. She had no choice now.

"Chatton. I'm so sorry." She said as she called on her transformation.

Alya sensed something was wrong and she put her phone away for a second.

Quickly, she purified the akuma and everything returned to normal. Except for the fact that Chat had seen her transform.

Chat walked over to her and talked.

"I kinda figured it out when we were fighting." He said.

"WHAT?" Ladybug yelled.

"Yeah. Well, since you know me, I guess it's only fair that you know who I am." Chat said.

"Chat.."

"You were right earlier. We do look alike."

"ADrien?"

"Yeah. It's me. Sorry."

Suddenly a flash of orange caught her eye.

"Someone's here." She said. "And they saw me transform."

Ladybug quickly ran over to where the alley was.

"Alya?" She asked incredulously.

"Huh? What am I doing here?" Alya asked. She couldn't remember anything after seeing Marinette fight the akuma.

"Marinette! Where is she? She was fighting the akuma and- That stupid girl." Alya said.

"She's safe." Chat said. Then his ring beeped.

"Sorry, but we gotta bug out." Ladybug said.

"Together, Bugaboo?"

"Always."

"Wait. Bye! Maybe an interview next week. Or next month, Whatever fits your schedule. Ladybug? Dang it. I was so close." Alya pouted. Well she now had to hurry over and upload her video. Surly Marinette wouldn't mind. Right? Then, she'd meet up with Nino, Adrien and Marinette and continue on with the haunted house.

Somewhere far away from Alya, Adrien and Marinette detranformed. Tikki and Plagg popped back into the real world and started squealing.

They hadn't seen each other in decades. After their reunion, Marinette and Adrien had a couple of questions. Of course, Tikki and Plagg required food first, and then passed out from food comas. What were kwamis for?

BONUS SCENE:

"Mari!"

"Marinette!"

"How?"
"Maritrash? They could've chosen better. Like moi!"

Marinette was being bombarded with questions which she wasn't in the mood for, especially after the late night last night.

"What?" She asked.

"This." Alya said, shoving her phone Marinette's face. A clip of her back flipping away the alums played and then Chat 'saved' her.

Great. Just another lie she'd have to come up with. Why did having a secret identity have to be so hard?

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

PS: (Season 2 spoilers alert) NATALIE KNOWS? HOW? SHE WAS KINDA NICE!