Thank you for all the support I've received while being away! University and my projects consume most of my time and writing a chapter takes way too long for me. I can't name you all, but I was really happy to see your comments! They gave me strength to continue :)

(Special thanks go to BabyGenius for betareading the first part. I'll use what I've learned from you in the upcoming chapters ^_^ )

Anyway I hope you enjoy!

''Alya…" Marinette audibly gulped ''How did you get me into this mess again?"

''Well…" The brunette trailed off, not knowing what to say as they eyed the nearly 2-meter-tall mountain of a man warming up his muscles inside the ring. When he flexed one, well-defined arm the two of them winced.

''Well…?" Accusing blue eyes pierced holes into golden ones and the ladyblogger couldn't hold her best friend's gaze.

''You know, when we had to hand in the application forms, things were a little hectic and I rushed to sign you up for as many things as I can while keeping in mind your abilities-''

''And you thought some fight to death with a meat tower would be within my abilities?!" The bluenette whisper-shouted in bewilderment with wild hand gestures towards the man.

''NO! Of course not! I wanted to sign you up to the 'Wonders in Wok' competition because I knew that would be an easy win for you-'' Alya, too, started gesticulating wildly with her arms.

''But?" Marinette raised an eyebrow.

Her shoulders slumped defeated. This was sucha Marinette thing to do, it wasn't her style to make a stupid mistake like this. ''But the contest's code was WiW, and I accidentally wrote an 'x' next to the one with the code 'WfW' that stands for-''

''Weightclass-free wrestling." The bluenette finished for her.

''…yeah." The brunette answered lamely with an awkward smile.

Her opponent flexed again, cracking his bones and making the cat girl even more nervous. ''You're getting me killed here, you know right?"

''Well, you can still give up your match, but that would mean losing against Adrien as he would not back down from any of his competitions and he's already ahead of you with two victories."

Marinette scoffed, turning her nose up in defiance. ''That's because he started earlier than me and neither of those contests took long. It's not like I lost a single competition, and Max made sure we had the exact same number of challenges making the bet fair."

''That means you won't back down?" Alya glanced at her opponent then back at her in worry.

''Oh, somebody's backing down already?"

Both the girls turned to see a bug boy with a self-satisfied smirk plastered on his face.

''Dream while you can. I'm about to give you a harsh wake up, Pigbun." Marinette answered with a smirk, trying to hide her inner nervousness. That man was huge.

Adrien looked at the large, well-built muscle monster, taking him in from head to toe and his smirk faded. ''Seriously, you don't have to do this, Mari."

''Any attempt at scaring me is futile, Agreste." Because I'm already scared, she murmured in her head. ''I'll beat him and any other who stands in my way in beating you." She smirked, but even she could tell it was fake.

The boy frowned at her, momentary faltering in his competitiveness. Yes, he wanted to beat her, but he didn't want her to get beaten. Nope, he really hated the idea of her even as much as getting a scratch. Something inside of him screamed at him to protect her, but he knew she was a smart girl. She wouldn't get herself beaten up just because of a stupid bet… right?

Before any of them could change their minds, the loudspeaker came to life. ''Weightclass-free Wrestling, Participant number 24 and number 36, please come to ring number 4, the match is about to begin."

Marinette's eyes snapped back to the monster waiting for her, but after a side glance to the bugboy next to her she clenched her fists, gritted her teeth and started to walk to the ring with new found determination sealing away her surging panic.

Alya and Adrien exchanged worried looks before following her.

She got her opponents attention as she stepped into the ring. The man just glanced at her at first before looking away uninterested, but as if he'd seen a ghost his eyes snapped back to her with bewilderment, taking the petite girl in.

''Little girl, I think you're in the wrong place." He chuckled and gestured at the event's banner.

''No, there is no mistake, monsieur." The girl answered without missing a beat while fixing her clothes. At least she should look good. It wasn't as if she wasn't prepared for the surprised looks their spectators were giving them.

''Are you sure?" The man asked while checking out first the ring's then his own number, but everything seemed to be correct on his part. The idea of her being a referee came to his mind – it was an event organized by kids after all – but seeing her number stomped on her chest confirmed that she, in fact, was another participant. Still, there should be some kind of mistake here.

''Yes, monsieur." Marinette said tiredly. She scanned the crowd around them from the corner of her eyes, but the faces of her classmates weren't giving her any kind of reassurance. They should have at least put up a brave face or something, she scoffed in herself. Honestly, all of this was just making matters worse. She knew this situation was ridiculous, she didn't need all of the people to remind her, thank you very much.

Then the man all but had the audacity to laugh. Loudly, nonetheless, gaining the attention of even more people.

She sighed. Could they just get over with this?

''Is…is this some… some kind of bet, lil' girl?" He asked between laughs. ''Because sorry, but I won't let you win just because you're a girl."

Marinette eyed the ever growing crowd around them but still tried to force down the nervousness gathering in her chest, burning her throat hot and answering in a steady voice.

''In some aspect, it is, but I didn't expect you to go easy on me, monsieur, as I am not planning to do that myself."

To this the man stopped laughing. This little pitiful girl? Going easy on him? A heavyweight boxing champion in high school? He might not have practiced for years and his reflexes were a little slower, but this… this was an atrocity!

''Little girl, you better back down now or you may get seriously hurt. I'm a gentleman, but I can't guarantee that you get out of this unscratched, little brat, so step down and let me fight some real opponents here."

The bluenette didn't like the way he was talking to her, but she decided no to say anything about it. Better not to anger this muscle monster any further. She wasn't a stranger to giant men as her father was one himself, but this man wasn't really giving out that 'gentle giant' vibe like her father did.

''It wasn't my intention to insult you, monsieur, but I take this contest seriously just like you, so there is no way I'm backing down." She said in the calmest voice she could muster up and took up a position indicating she was ready to fight.

The man's answer was pure mockery.

''Hahahaha, you? Fighting me? How delusional are kids nowadays?! Just look at yourself! A little girl playing with the big boys? Hahahaha, I can't stop laughing!"

Alya and the others were watching the exchange with growing nervousness as their friend was visibly getting more nervous with each second as the man was clutching at his stomach, laughing at her, while Adrien had a hard time restraining himself from jumping into the ring and showing this man just how wrong he was. His hands were clenched into fists tightly beside his body.

The ladyblogger was starting to think this wasn't the best idea, and looking around the immerse crowd gathered around them she had no idea how she could step in without making the situation even worse for Marinette and her other friends shared the same predicament.

''Juleka, what should we do?" Rose whispered into the goth girl's ear as she hugged her from behind.

''I don't know, Rose." She whispered back helplessly and tightened the hug.

''This is bad." Max kept typing furiously into his computer, sweat dropping from his knitted eyebrows, as he tried to find a solution with Markov. ''All the possible out comes will ruin our reputation."

''Maybe we should just back down?" Mylene stepped next to him. ''Marinette is a really talented girl, I know it, but this man is just scary."

''I have to agree." Chloe appeared seemingly out of nowhere making the other three jump. Then their gazes turned suspicious. ''What? As much as I want her to lose against my Adrikins – no way I'm letting her kiss him – I don't want her to get hurt. Dupain-Cheng is a tough cookie, but she has her limits too."

Max looked at the others and they all nodded. Lastly he looked in the direction of Adrien and Alya, and made eyecontact with the latter – as Adrien's full of ire glare was fixated on the man – and silently asked for her permission. Alya glanced at her trembling best friend with guilt then turned her attention back to Max and with a deep frown followed by a slow and reluctant nod the brunette let him do what they had to.

''Referee-''

''And look at that ridiculous costume of yours! What do you want to be? Cat-woman? Kitty-lady? Oh, don't tell me you're dressed up as that pathetic excuse for a sidekick jumping on the rooftops of Paris?"

Suddenly everybody's except Adrien's blood in the class ran cold and Marinette stopped trembling.

''Chat Noir, that skinny little boy tailing Ladybug all the time, playing crime-fighting! Are you really dressed up as Chat Noir, the pathetic sidekick?!" The man continued to laugh and insult her but the rest of his blabbering washed out, leaving only one sentence echoing in her head.

…Chat Noir, the pathetic sidekick…

…the pathetic sidekick…

…pathetic sidekick…

…sidekick…

…SIDEKICK…

''Oh no." Whispered Alya.

''Oh no." Said the girl squad.

''Oh no." Echoed the entire class.

Adrien snapped out of his ready to kill state and looked around as he was just leaving a trance. His expression changed from surprised to confused when he saw all his classmates freeze up.

''What?"

''Dude." Whispered Nino from next to him, who he didn't even know was there until that exact moment. ''Dude… you never EVER bad mouth Chat Noir in front of Marinette."

''What?" Adrien repeated himself, more confused than ever, but his only answer was a trembling finger pointing at front of them. His gaze followed the direction the finger was pointing at just in time to see as the bluenette's eyes flashed up in a very dangerous new electric hue of blue.

''Chat Noir…"

The man looked up between laughter that soon died in his throat.

''…is not…"

The air froze around them and he suddenly felt an instinct to run.

''...A SIDEKICK!"

But it was already too late to escape and his scream was cut off by a petite yet furious cat-demon smashing him hard onto the floor.

''Chat Noir..."

Marinette kicked the man behind his knees making him stumble.

''...is a valuable..."

Then kicked him right in the head sending him forward headfirst into the frame.

''...and irreplaceable..."

Now she jumped up for a head lock yanking her opponent backwards.

''...part of the duo..."

With a flawless move she avoided the man's desperate attempt to hit her and free himself but for the fun she released him anyway before pushing him right into the ropes.

''...who deserves all the recognition..."

He sprung back right into her fist with his stomach.

''...that the people of Paris can offer..."

Then she tripped him, sending him to the floor yet again.

''...And more!"

Then came the next punch.

''Ugh"

The audience winced.

Then the next one.

''Ugh"

Some turned away others took out their phones.

Then a hard kick.

''Aaaagh"

Juleka covered Rose's eyes, but she peeked through her fingers.

The referee was too caught up in the moment to interfere.

''He's brave!"

Punch.

''He's kind!"

Kick.

''He's selfless!"

Then she just deliberately climbed onto one of the posts...

''He's the best partner Ladybug could ask for and if I need to I'll beat it into every single Parisian!"

...and jumped.

How a '50 kgs with iron bed' teenage girl managed to cause such an impact would remain a mystery to all who witnessed that day as Chat Noire smashed her opponent into the ground completely annihilating the poor guy.

She stood up and prepared to continue but before she could hit him again he could finally catch his breath to form words.

''I'm sorry! Chat Noir is the best, I'm not worthy of even looking at him, he is the hero of Paris, the best of the best, just please stop... Stop! I'm begging you!"

Marinette didn't have time to consider his words as the referee softly – and carefully – made her step down from the back of the whining man understanding that this was the perfect opportunity to end this before she executed him on stage.

Nino had enough presence of mind to start up his DJ equipment again and select just the perfect song in the form of Halestorm by Mz. Hyde.

''Pictures! Pictures!" Chloe shoved Theo forward who started to take pictures as the song came to life and the referee lifted Chat Noire's arm into the air.

And in that moment the audience had gone from dead silent to insane.

In the daylight,

I'm your sweetheart,

''Make your bet! Chat Noire vs Lordbug! Don't be a mere spectator, be part of the game!" Mylene shouted sitting on Ivan's right shoulder with a megaphone she yanked out from one of the organizers hand, who didn't have the courage to ask it back from teenager meat-tower and the other crazy girl from 'that class'.

You're goody-two-shoes prude is a work of art.

But you don't know me,

''Merchandize! Buy Chat Noire shirt, posters and other souvenirs!" Nathaniel, Rose and Juleka seized the opportunity as well, already gathering a little crowd around them while others still cheered for the cat girl with full force.

And soon you won't forget,

Bad as can be, yeah you know I'm not so innocent

Alya helped Adrien lift his chin up from the floor gaining the wide-eyed blond's attention, his entire expression begging for some kind of explanation but of course, his only answer was a devilish smirk.

Better beware I go bump in the night,

Devil-may-care with a lust for life,

Marinette decided to exit the ring that moment, jumping right in front of her partner. Personal space forgotten she leaned into him with her own devilish smirk, putting a finger on his lips.

''And I know you... can't resist me... Soon, though, you... are so addicted." Her whispering in perfect sync with the song caused chills running down his spine in a best, and at the same time, worst kind of way, before she turned on her heals and left him utterly speechless and madly blushing.

''Boy you better run for your life!" Alya's chuckles rang in his ears.

''What do you think now?" Kim breathlessly asked from an equally breathless Alix, both of them just barely got back before the annihilation started after getting an IBC – Idiot Bad-mouthing Chat Noir – code in text from Max. Hell no they would want to miss something like this. ''Who would win?"

''My bet is on my sis, Marinette. She's a force to be reckoned with!" Laughed heartfelt Alix.

''Sorry but my buddy, Adrien's still more likely to win with all his extracurricular. Marinette's good but not as experienced as Adrien." The jock stated confidently but his self-assurance fell on deaf ears.

''Don't you have any eyes!? Marinette just straight up destroyed that guy!" The short girl exclaimed incredulously.

''Then wanna bet?" Kim reached a hand with a challengingly cocked eyebrow.

''I don't want to..." Alix started out uninterested looking away with the most unimpressed look she could muster up before her expression morphed into one with shit-eating grin. ''...destroy you, but if you're asking for it..." Then she grabbed his hand and pulled him in her direction with such a force he stumbled forward and with releasing his hand she just let him fall flat on his face.

''Just don't regret it." With those last words she skated away, grabbing her stuff to sell on the way. ''By the way, I'll still sell more food than you, dumbass!"

With a more than fired up audience, class and duo the sportfestival continued.

Welcome to the nightmare in my head,

''...and the winner is Lordbug!"

(Oh god!)

''...the victory goes for Chat Noire!"

Say hello to something scary,

''Buy Hambugger or Spotcorn! The most spot on snacks for heroes' week!" Kim shouted, his arms full with red and black popcorn and hamburgers in the same color plate.

''Buy Hotcat and Pawsicles instead! Chat Noire themed foods are the most trending today!" Shouted over him a very food-overloaded Alix, balancing cat-themed hotdogs and icecreams while skating through the crowd.

The monster in your bed,

''Another victory for the spotted hero!"

(Oh god!)

''This cat girl can't be stopped!"

Just give in and you won't be sorry,

''Posters! Signed posters are available here!" Rose offered through another megaphone seized from an unsuspecting – and kind of scared – organizer.

''Good, good." Chloe said while inspecting the newest pictures taken by Theo. ''I want them on shirts in half an hour. Now hurry everybody, we don't have all day!"

Welcome to my other side,

Hello it's Mz. Hyde!

''Excuse me." A very formally dressed man stepped to Mylene who was just counting the money after waving goodbye to the last costumer at her gambling stall. She looked up to the man completely umphased by his supposedly intimidating posture.

''Can I help you in any way, monsieur?"

''Yes, it came to my attention that you are operating a gambling boots." He said authoritatively straightening his coat but honestly, he was a little taken aback by the girl's nonchalantness.

''You got that right. Do you wish to place a bet? We have different options and even combos with good probability rates." Mylene asked offhandedly as she were flipping through her little notebook, checking out the info Max just sent to her.

''That's not what I wanted to discus here young lady." He coughed trying to mask his irritation finally gaining the attention of said young lady who arched an eyebrow with an amused smile. That was the moment the man figured out she knew exactly what he wanted to talk about and still wasn't bothered by it. This, of course, angered him. His eyebrows scrunched together in an angry manner as he drew in a breath and opened his mouth to onslaught a well-earned lecture upon the girl when the words were caught in his throat.

A giant shadow towered over him from behind the girl sitting comfortably on her chair. As his eyes traveled up from the girl to the not-happy-at-all face well 2 heads above his own he relented before he could even start his rant.

''Is there any problem, Mylene Dear?" Ivan asked in his deep, intimidating voice eyeing the man.

''Of course not, Teddy Bear. This nice gentleman just wanted to talk about something seemingly important with me." She smiled up at him then her gaze fell back to the man in front of them. ''What was it again, monsieur?"

''I… khm… Well, I just wanted to let you know you could use one of the stadium's safe case. Just to make sure there wouldn't be any issues with the money."

''That's really nice of you, monsieur. Thank you." Mylene smiled sweetly, texting Max the news. ''Are you sure, you don't want to make a bet, though? I can even give you some inner tips."

The man looked at her then the giant behind her and felt himself trapped. What was with these kids?

Nevertheless, he couldn't exactly say no. ''Khm… Right… Then I would like to bet 20 Euros on Chat Noire. I like cats."

''20 Euros? Aren't taking risks today, are we?" Ivan asked raising an eyebrow in pure mockery at him.

'I can't believe these kids' he thought to himself but – gritting his teeth – he fished out a 50 Euro bill from his wallet.

''50 Euros that the cat wins all the competitions she participates in." He slammed the bill into the girl's awaiting hand then stormed off to report those kids if he couldn't dealt with them himself. Realizing a minute too late, that now that he himself took part in the shaming he couldn't get out of this unscratched either. So with a few swearing words he just went back to sit somewhere in the auditorium out of sight so he could be fuming a little alone, causing the couple the chuckle.

Mylene didn't like playing dirty, but when she wanted she was hella good at it.

At this point almost every Adrien Agreste fan girl got her hands on a Lordbug poster and various other souvenirs so a significant amount of people were walking around in red and black spotted merchandise but they were nothing compared to the immerse mob of crazed catboys and catgirls literally swarming the entire place continuously chanting Chat Noire's name.

''Chat Noire! Look here!" An excited boy with black cat ears shouted while trying to get out of the crowd.

''Chat, you are my hero!" A young blond girl cried out while clutching a black cat plush to her chest.

''Kitty, kitty! Come to your daddy!" A grown man whistled and waved to her.

Marinette turned to the crowd with an unimpressed look. She grabbed a white board and started to scribble something on it using both sides. Then she held it in front of her to showcase it to all of the audience and cameras directed at her.

'No cat calling.' Said the board and she used an indignant pout to emphasize it, then turned it over to show to other side. 'This kitty has claws.' Then she grinned and made a kitty like hand gesture accompanied with a meow.

The crowd went insane.

But even with all the happy people cheering and shouting everywhere there was one guy whose pouting face was nothing sort of fake.

''Why is she so popular, Nino?" Adrien asked turning away from all the commotion with a sour expression.

''What do you mean? Marinette is doing her part excellently. It's no wonder people go crazy for her!" The boy exclaimed, the pride over their success radiating off of him.

''Yeah, yeah, but she is getting more attention, than Chat Noir ever did. I mean, Mari is good, but Chat Noir is actually saving people!" The blond glanced over to the girl in question but seeing her sending an air kiss to all her fans who were only held back my some security guards made him look away, his frown deepening immediately.

Nino's brows furrowed in confusion. It wasn't like Adrien to act like this. ''Bro, what's your problem? It's just a show nothing to be so pouty over." When he got no response he stepped closer and draped an arm around his best friend's shoulder turning him so they faced the scene again. ''Look at that girl. She is doing amazing there just to make our class succeed and get that free week. Celebrities get always the most attention and our heroes don't really stay around after akuma attacks to get all the adoration of their fans. But look at the Ladyblog and how many people actually follow their every fight and cheer on them. Or just look around here, all the people came here to celebrate our heroes, even if our catgirl is getting all the attention."

He finished with a smile but to his disappointment Adrien's sour expression didn't change one bit. What was with him?

Then one of the fans threw a red rose towards Chat Noire and she grabbed it out of the air gracefully bringing it down to her nose to feel the sweet scent giving the crowd a brilliant smile.

Nino watched as his friend's cheeks adopted a hue very similar to the rose's and he looked away yet again while pouting like and indignant child.

The Dj immediately brought a hand up to his mouth to try and hide the laughter exploding from him without much success. Adrien's eyes snapped back at his friend just to see him slowly descending to the floor, his arm dropping from his shoulder to clutch his stomach seemingly dying from anoxia but something told him, he shouldn't feel sorry for him even for a moment.

''What's so funny?" The blond boy asked cautiously.

''Oh my god! You're jealous because all these people getting Marinette's attention and not you!" Nino said while taking deep breaths and wiping tears from his eyes.

''Wha- No, I'm not!" Adrien huffed turning away from the other boy.

''I never thought those green eyes hid a real green eyed monster." Nino couldn't help the smug smile forming on his lips.

''You can't be serious, Nino! Marinette is just my friend, nothing more!" He denied but the deepening red on his face told otherwise and the Dj's smile turned devilish.

''Yeah, and all those people over there want to be her friends too, I'm sure. Should we go and help some guys with good inner and outer qualities know her better?"

Nino pressed as he leaned into his personal space, draping his arm around his shoulder yet again, but Adrien just didn't want to meet his eyes.

''There is no need, Marinette has just enough friends who are wonderful enough for her."

''Aw, thanks bro for thinking I'm wonderful." The Dj coed forming a heart with his hands.

The blond rolled his eyes but grinned back at him then freed himself from the awkward side hug and started to walk away.

''We've a match to win, did you forget?" He turned back halfway with a smirk.

''Nope, dude. I've got your back." Nino said, punching some buttons on his equipment to start a new song as he sped after his best friend.

So again, there were tons of people wearing red and black spotted design and even more who adorned some black cat themed attire. Of course, this was hero appreciation week so there were numerous boots that were selling Chat Noir and Ladybug stuff in the stadium and a good amount around the city so this very welcomed attention Mlle Bustier's class had gotten should have been driving costumers to the vendors equally.

Well, should have. But when you have Alya Césair and Chloe Bourgeois as your team's head managers things get naturally out of their natural flow like a wild spring stream: dancing on the edge of chaos while still thriving to break through and succeed.

Alya saw as some school boys were eyeing a vendor talking about wearing matching cat ears.

She grinned and threw a side glance to Chloe who returned it with her own smirk.

''Nathaniel, cat ears." The blonde diva held out her hands and in a few seconds a dozen of cat themed headbands were placed in them.

''Chat!" The ladyblogger waved with her right arm. ''Come here!"

Marinette looked in their direction and followed her signal. ''What's it, Alya?"

''Kiss these." She said and grabbed one of the items from Chloe's hand.

The catgirl gave her a funny look but knowing better than question it she just went ahead and kissed the headband showed in her face. Immediately after Rose handed Alya a megaphone with a sweet smile and stepped back causing the bluenette to do the same purely out of instinct.

''Everyone! Cat themed headbands kissed by no other than Chat Noire!"

''Limited edition, only while the stock lasts!" Chloe added after grabbing the megaphone herself.

Suddenly they were swarmed and to Marinette's dread Rose and Juleka wheeled a wagon full of cat headbands next to her. She gulped down her horror and put on a smile as convincing as she could muster to get rid of all these cursed items before Alya could get another idea.

The 'kitty kissed' goodies were sold just as fast as the temperature rose amoungst all the other vendors to a point that would put hell to shame. Soon enough M Damocles was receiving a bunch of complains from people selling their own stuff along with the class supposedly be in charge.

''M Damocles, this can't go any further! All of the attention goes to Mlle Bustier's class and they use this to monopolize the market! We and others can barely sell anything because as soon as one of the she-demons catches sight of it they come up with a strategy to take even that little interest we could get rendering our sales to next to nothing!" A boy their age, Martin complained to the principal animatedly while his peers just stood there in silence.

''Oh come on! Profit maximalization does not make us some kind of monsters!" Chloe huffed crossing her arms in front of her chest.

''The way you do it is purely evil!" Shouted back Martin.

''Keep your cool students. We're here to have a calm discussion." M Damocles stepped in before things could get out of hand.

''We may went a little overboard with 'profit maximalization' but your statements are not really true." Alya joined the conversation, Max right next to her his calculator ready in hand.

''According to my data here we're taking up 80% of the sales but we increased the buying mood by at least 540%. Everything else is pure math. All in all we are not taking away profit we didn't create in the first place." He explained showing all the necessary data on his device as he righted his glasses with a confident smile. ''You can easily review and verify my data and analysis if you wish so."

''No, I don't think that would be necessary Max. Thank you." The principal said getting dizzy from all the numbers just shown to him.

''But this is supposed to be our event when we can earn money, not them!" Martin yelled visibly pissed then turned to the girls. ''What would you say if we barged into your event and stole all the profit you can get?!"

''Well, you can try." Alya smirked putting one hand on her hip. ''We always welcome real competition."

The boy just growled.

''Don't blame us for your own incompetence. It's not our fault our team could come up with better ideas in the span of a few hours than you after days. And all the profit earned during the events by the classes goes to charity anyway, so it's not like we're gathering the money for ourselves." Chloe was starting to get annoyed herself.

''But this is a competition. You should earn money on your own event and not snatch the opportunity from other classes. This is just unfair!" Martin pointed at the blonde accusingly but was rendered silent with her icy glare.

The man scratched his beard in thought completely lost as to what to do. On one hand he understood how the appearance of 'that class' lowered the chances of any other classes considerably and it really wasn't hard to see why. On the other hand there were no rules against participating and collecting money on other classes' events. He couldn't even expect Mlle Bustier's famous negotiation skills as after dealing with 'that class' for years even the kind and nice teacher would jump at the opportunity to get a break and refuse any help that would endanger her golden dream.

''M Damocles, there is really nothing to discus about here." Alya said suddenly in such a calm manner it made seemingly no sense in the heated conversation but this was exactly that made a chill of dread run down on Martin's spine. ''If the other class wants exclusive rights to sell in their event, we have no problem with that."

''You don't?" M Damocles and Martin asked in unison.

''We don't?" Chloe exclaimed dumbfounded.

The man was surprised while the boy more like suspicious. Max only arched one of his eyebrows waiting patiently for the cunning fox's plan.

''No, I think if our fellow students feel like we are intruding in their sport festival we can't really do anything about it and should just leave... altogether." She finished with a devilish smirk and a very dangerous glint in her eyes.

A matching smug smirk stretched on Chloe's face, who finally caught on what was just happening.

''I mean we should just pack up and take our winning super duo with us to make some great advertising near the Eiffel tower, maybe at the Noire Dame or the Louvre. I'm sure our dedicated fans will find no trouble with accompanying us and we could even get some additional attention out there." She was thinking out loud, being absolutely nonchalant about it. ''What do you think, Chloe? Will we manage all the packing and stuff? Max, will we be able to keep up our profitability?"

''I certainly think we can move everything in time with a little help from daddy. Just give me the location." The blonde diva said already lifting her phone to her ear.

Max kept furiously typing into his calculator before giving the results. ''It seems like if we go now and give a notice to all the fans around we could still be profitable even with the loss of revenue with the moving time and all the additional costs of changing locations."

Martin and the other kids paled realizing what all of this meant.

''Wait, wait! You can't just take a large chunk of our audience! We're only half way through the games, who would we sell all the food and merchandise to we spent our allowance on?!"

''Well, you can't expect us to stay here while earning nothing when we can just go and make profit elsewhere." Chloe told them as she inspected her nails.

''We came here to advertise our own event and we did exactly that. Now it's time to make profit, either here or elsewhere." The ladyblogger said taking a step forward to intimidate the boy even more. ''It's your choice."

Martin's and the others' faces contorted in helpless anger.

Max suddenly cleared his throat to get everyone's attention before he suggested. ''We can actually work together. If you're willing to sell us the food and merchandise you're storing with a 10% discount we will take that off your hands or you can join in the business sharing the profit accordingly."

''Max, what's this about?" Alya whispered into his ear while leaning as close as she could keeping their conversation strictly to themselves.

''We're almost out of both merchandise and food, but we still have food coloring and our little artsy team. If they lend us their unused food materials we could make even more from it and they wouldn't loose costumers because of the design quality of their food so it's a win-win. Not to mention their merchandise are apart from the special Chat Noire and Lordbug stuff basically the same as ours. This is a golden opportunity."

The brunette only nodded in understanding before facing towards the members of the other class and the principal again.

''So are you gonna to accept our generous offer or what?" Alya grinned offering her hand to Martin.

The boy took a few deep breath, deep and slow, to calm himself, cursing every star upon the sky for crossing paths with a class worth of crazed multi-talented people, before he reached out to shake it muttering something unintelligible that sounded a lot like 'generous offer my ass'.

''We're looking forward to work together." Max showed a few papers full of instructions in his hand before letting Rose take up the role of coordinator. The girl appeared out of nowhere, her kind smile and friendly cheerful attitude as present as ever improving the mood immediately.

The trio of Alya, Chloe and Max walked back to the main team to check upon their progress just as both Marinette and Adrien won a match simultaneously. The ever growing crowd excited shouts were mixing with Feel invincibly by Skillet from Nino's Dj equipment as the referees announced the winners to both games setting the mood perfectly. People drinking and eating black cat and ladybug themed food, wearing spots and paws, dancing and fooling around in cat ears and bug antennas like one massive swarm of red and black with some green gave a sight that one could even call mesmerizing or hypnotizing as lack of better word. Seeing all the people happy and full of energy put a smile on Marinette's face, a real genuine one that made herself too, radiate from happiness causing one certain bugboy to stare helplessly at her. Even if someone noticed they didn't say a word. Theo silently snapped a picture or two wearing that same kind of seemingly contagious smile Marinette sneaked on everyone's face. Even Chloe did smile. Proud that for once in some way she can be a cause behind so many people's joy. Even if this wasn't the main objective it was the sweetest collateral effect one could ask for. Well, the more their profit grew the more they could contribute to the charity so maybe their main objective wasn't that bad in the end either.

The matches continued along with the winning streak, there was not a single defeat in either part, the two heroes were running about neck-and-neck teasing each other at every single opportunity.

The young genius kept observing the two as they won game after game. They were not equal in every term, Adrien had better reflexes while Marinette easily came up with creative solutions for example, but in whole they were equal to each other and above them extremely good. Too good to be honest. Max didn't know how it was possible for two individuals to be this good and balancing each other's abilities perfectly with their own at the same time. I mean, of course he knew that there was always a slight change something improbable can occur, after all they lived with a supervillain and two superheroes with magical powers in their city, but it just seemed too unbelievable, implausible to be true. Even so he had to believe his own eyes and data. Maybe the magic surrounding them made unlikely events have a higher chance? He should investigate it at some point. For now he just had this bugging feeling he was missing something from the overall picture that would explain some of this. He shook his head. Maybe he should ask Markov or something.

After hours of exercising themselves the final, joined match came. A match that seemingly wouldn't solve a single thing. Both Lordbug and Chat Noire had the same amount of victories and this game, participated by both of them couldn't really draw a clear winner in their competition. This, of course, distressed both of them.

''What were the chances you would get this far? I thought you would lose at least one kitty ear being distracted with all of your fans and all." Adrien coed before flicking on one of said cat ears.

Marinette, smile still in place stepped into his personal space, they almost nose to nose now, then suddenly grabbed onto the edge of his pants and pulled them upwards making the boy almost jump. ''You should watch your spotted ass better, your pants started slipping down."

The blond blushed little embarrassed but came to his senses quickly. He still couldn't get used to how well this girl could tease him without missing a beat. She was like Ladybug but without any restriction. It was refreshing and infuriating at the same time.

''Ha ha, really funny. Let's see how funny it will be when I get you apologize and swear never to use that atrocious nickname again."

''Do you mean Pigbun?" She grinned at him sneaking an arm behind his back to flick on his manbun. He dodged the attack expertly knowing all to well what she was up to at this point and took a step back enjoying the puffed cheeks in a pout and stuck out tongue in response of his smug grin at her failed attempt.

''You're getting predictable."

''Maybe so, but that won't take away from the sweet victory when I get you to wear that bun for at least a week."

''Oh come on, you don't have to hide you want that kiss from me with lame excuses." Adrien said and he even had the nerve to send her a playful wink.

Marinette's cheek warmed and she barely managed to choke down a squeak. She all but buried that one little detail into the dark void of her mind to keep herself functioning. She didn't really think through this bet, did she?

''Unfortunately you won't enjoy my soft lips as the victory will be mind." His pity made it all the worse but it actually helped her to push her jittery feelings to the back of her mind and forge an instant comeback. The playful bantering went back and fort until one Dj had just enough.

''Kids, kids! Calm down. It's almost time for the last match. You should, I don't know, be preparing yourself, resting your muscles or something." Nino separated the two by stepping between them but they still were very keen on continuing their little lip fit. He sighed trying leading away Adrien. ''Oh come on guys, leave something to your first date, will you?"

This finally got both of them blushing madly before turning away abruptly looking anywhere than the other, Marinette reciting 'concentrate on the match, only on the match' while Adrien repeating 'she is just a friend' in his mind over and over again.

Their red-faced ridiculous rehearse was cut short by one over excited jock who practically jumped on the blond boy. ''Guuuuys, it's finally time for dodgeball! I can finally show Alix how much better I'm at this sport as well!"

The small pink-haired girl only huffed. ''As if. You only beat me at food selling because people have a bias towards hamburgers."

''Hambuggers, lil' girl and you only say that because you're a sour loser." Kim laughed before stealing Alix's hat.

She tried to get it back but he was tall enough to hold it out of her reach. ''Says the one who keeps whining every single time he loses a bet."

''Well, every time I lose there is something fishy with the rules so I have the right to complain."

''Rules you did previously agreed to, apehead." The girl jumped then tried to climb onto him when that didn't give her the wanted result.

''That's enough Kim, Alix." Alya grabbed the hat and handed it back to Alix who put it back on her head with a grateful smile. ''We still have a match to win, so keep your energy to it."

''Ah yeah, you will be the fifth member of our team, right?" Kim asked as he took her in with her gym clothes on.

''You look great, Babe." Nino placed a kiss on her temple hugging her from the side.

''Thanks." The brunette grinned back at him giving him a peek on the lips.

''Get a room guys." The jock huffed irritated.

''Oh don't be jealous because Odine couldn't be here today, she'll pick you up after this, won't she loverboy?" Alya laughed at how red she could get the poor guy even after years. No wonder, Odine and him just recently got back together after a messy 'timeout'. Being overemotional did not help teens to make good decisions and handle things calmly but being honest and open did help them make up.

''Maybe..." The smile on his face as he muttered this said it all. After mopping around for weeks he was happy again.

''Chat, we need to readjust your make up!" Rose shouted from a few meters away from them getting her brushes and eye-liners ready.

''Coming!" Marinette called back and made her way to her and Juleka.

''Come here, Agreste! Let's warm up!" Alya said before grabbing onto his arm and dragging him away just to return him 5 minutes later utterly flustered just as his partner got her smirk reapplied and returned to his side just as flustered as he was. They didn't say a word just walked to the court silently followed by the bickering pair of Alix and Kim.

Nino raised an eyebrow. ''What did you do to him?"

Alya batted her eyelashes innocently at the accusation. ''Me? Nothing."

The boy just sighed and shook his head before giving her one last 'do your best' and taking his place as to Dj again.

After Nino left Rose came up to Alya with Juleka in tow sharing a knowing smirk and a quick high five.

''Everyone, are you ready to start the last game of the sportfestival?" Alek called out now in person getting the crowd even more hyped. ''Dreadful Dodgeball is one of my favorite games. You can always turn around the chances and grab the victory out of your opponent's hand. You ask me how? It's easy just let's look at the rules! You start out with 5 people in each team, both parties trying to eliminate the other team's players either with hitting them with a ball – provided one to each participant in the start of the game later you need to catch one yourself – wherever you see fit except the head – we're pro-keeping-your-teeth after all – or catch a ball thrown at you directly."

''When you eliminate a player on the other team," he continued," one player can join your team, new players and previously eliminated players are both allowed. If you catch a ball directly then eliminate the same player, still on the court, who threw it it's considered a 'double kill' and two players can join your team at the same time, so I would advice you not to stay long if your ball was caught by the enemy kids. It also considered a 'double kill' when you catch the ball bouncing back right from the opponent you just eliminated and you eliminate another opponent with it. In this case in fact it's a 'double-double kill' and not two but four players can join your team at once. If you're in a pinch go for it!"

He waited for the crowd's reaction before adding the last rule. ''If we reach the 10 minutes threshold the game changes to sudden death, meaning from that point you can't gain teammates by eliminating players from the other team so you have to work with what you have."

Everybody took in the unorthodox dodgeball rules and started to speculate amongst each other, discussing what would be the best tactic in this situation and such with excitement.

''Any question? No? Then folks, let's start the game!"

The audience cheered and the first match began.

Really, it was an easy win for a team consisting of two trained jocks, the superduo and Alya Cesaire who was superfit considering she have been chasing around the heroes for more than 3 years now. The second match came and they beat their new opponents just as easily as the previous ones. This went on until they reached the semifinals but along the way our team became a little... cocky.

''Haha, come on! This is the best you can do? Seriously, I can dodge those half-heartedly thrown balls with my eyes closed!" Kim taunted the other guys even going as far as wiggling his ass at them. They threw several balls targeting him but just as he said he was able to dodge them effortlessly.

''This is the best you can do, Kim? I can dodge them with my eyes closed and arms behind my back!" Alix shouted, keeping up their usual bickering throughout the game.

Alya was a real ace on their team in the beginning, keeping up the tempo dictated by the others just fine and eliminating enemy one after another. But somewhere around the third match Adrien or Marinette – she couldn't really pick out who was the genius behind the idea as she, at least, was concentrating on the actual game – came up with the brilliant idea to settle their bet with a 'who is protecting Alya better' contest. This meant not only that she was constantly hindered by idiots jumping in front of her 'protecting' her from incoming balls – or getting anywhere near a ball at all – but that she was constantly pushed back and fort by said idiots preventing her from doing anything that resembling of actual playing.

''I can protect Alya just fine, Agreste! Mind your own business and accept your defeat already!" Marinette yelled as she grabbed a ball out of the air aimed at Alya. A ball so slow and predictable that could have been a perfect double kill ball for Alya, but no, they just had to interfere yet again ticking the Ladyblogger off more and more.

''You call that protecting?" Adrien shouted back while tackling – absolutely unnecessarily – Alya to the ground. ''I can't let my best friend's girlfriend receive that kind of 'protection'. How would I look him in the eye after that?"

''I think he would appreciate it if you didn't take your sweet time draping yourself all over said girlfriend." The catgirl smirked as she eliminated another player with a perfectly aimed ball.

The model blushed and quickly jumped off of Alya but before he could help her up he jumped into action to catch an obviously no-hit ball thrown at the brunette and this stupid contest continued.

At this point neither of them except her was really paying any attention to the other team focusing more on competing with each other and winning their stupid bet.

They just reached the semifinals and the referee started the game when the other four were already bickering and taunting each other but Alya had just enough of this. She grabbed a ball, locked eyes with a huge guy on the other team then as the match began she just threw the ball right onto his hands – he dropping his own ball out of surprise – earning a shocked face from her opponents.

''Free me from this hell hole already!" She said, closed her eyes and holding her arms wide open awaiting her fate.

''Alya!" The superduo shouted in unison but her action was so unexpected they had no time to react and soon enough a ball hit the girl lightly on her left leg and a sigh a relief escaped her lips while her face lit up with joy only a patient freed from their pain can understand.

This stopped the bickering between Alix and Kim just enough to distract them and the momentary drop of defense was enough for a member of the enemy's team to throw a ball right into Kim's stomach causing the jock to yelp in surprise. Sadly instead of directing her attention back to the game Alix started to laugh and the same ball bouncing back from Kim was thrown at her with full force and hit.

''What the hell?!" She jumped grabbing her arm in disbelief.

''Woah, a double kill and a double-double kill in a row from Team Blue! Six, I repeat six players can join Team Blue so they now have no less than 11 competent and clearly determined youngsters up to take down the sport festival's self-proclaimed super team. Team Red is really in a pinch right now! Can they still turn around the situation or this last game brings the end of their winning streak?" Alek shouted through his megaphone and the crowd fell silent not even daring to breath waiting in anticipation to the events to unfold.

''Alya, what have you been thinking?!" Nino ran up to her but she didn't even spare a glance to him.

''Yeah, what the heck, Alya?!" Alix tried blocking her way but she pushed through anyway. '' We will lose because of you!"

For this she stopped. ''Nope, we won't, we still have those two idiots there, but if we lose it would be just as much of your fault as mine."

''What?!" The pink-haired girl asked back exasperated from the accusation. At this point Kim joined them too, rubbing his sore stomach.

Alya turned sharply on her heels jabbing her finger right at the shorter girl's chest. ''If you would have paid attention to the match instead of bickering and focusing on your stupid bet the whole time, then maybe you would have seen the ball coming in your direction so the opposite team would have only gotten one more player while we lost one. Or better, we could have already won the game and went home victorious, but all you people cared about was your own stupid shit, so don't you dare pointing fingers at me when you both can thank yourself and the two idiots over there!"

Alix and Kim scoffed at this. ''Well… maybe we weren't exactly concentrating on the match. But you still let yourself be eliminated on purpose and with a double kill nevertheless!" Kim pointed out while scratching the back of his neck in embarrassment.

The ladyblogger sighed shaking her head. ''Okay, maybe I went a little too far, but those two were driving me nuts. I couldn't even get my hands on a ball without either of them jumping on me to 'protect' me."

''I hope you're happy." Chloe said appearing with Sabrina and Max on her side. ''Now we're up against 11 people with only 2 on our side. Our money was always on these two's victory so if they lose not only our popularity but our budget too will feel the backlash."

Alya gritted her teeth. Okay, maybe this wasn't the best idea. Maybe she should have just switched with somebody before the match started. But what's done is done, the only think she could do now was damage control.

''Max?"

The boy adopted a serious expression as he looked through his data. ''I'm afraid Chloe's fears are not baseless. While both of them gave us some surprises in the past few hours there is still little chance we can win this, only if the two work together. But they, while having the best skill set to form the perfect team, didn't really show any real team work since the first game. More so, their continuous bickering only emphasized their individual abilities leaving any short of cooperation behind."

''Well, you can fall the biggest from the top it seems." Nino draped his arm around her shoulder trying to comfort her.

''I'm really sorry guys." Alya whispered.

''So what's now?" Kim asked looking over to their teammates desperately trying to dodge the incoming balls without much chance to fight back.

''We can only hope they get their shit together and work as a real superduo for once." Chloe spat out and everybody turned to watch the match.

Every gaze was glued to the two players who tried to avoid being caught by each and every ball thrown in their direction. Dodging every ball was a feat in its own but eliminating their opponents was nearly impossible this way and there was no chance they could win the game only by dodging. They needed a play and they needed it right now.

''What if we catch the balls and eliminate them that way?" Adrien asked breathlessly as he did a somersault barely getting out of the ball's way.

''Wouldn't work." Marinette replied jumping up then doing a black-flip. ''While you catch one ball you stay in position and you need to move if you want to survive."

''Then what? Use one of us as bait while the other eliminates as many players as they can?" He went for a grab but had the jump back so another ball wouldn't hit him.

''Too risky, one ball accidentally touching the other and we're both out." She ducked below seized a ball and quickly threw it but it didn't hit. She cursed under her breath.

''Then we have to come up with a way to deflect balls so we don't have to move all the time!" He slid on the floor while maneuvering with his arms. He finally grabbed a ball and threw it but had similar luck to his partner.

''10 minutes threshold!" Alek shouted through the megaphone. Their classmates were biting on their nails and pulling on their hair at this point. Max shook his head in defeat.

The duo felt the tension and pressure from the others more than ever.

''Even if we can stay in one place how would we attack if we have to deflect the whole time? It's not like one of us could…" Marinette began to say but cut herself off, her eyes widening with sudden realization. ''That's it! Chat, I mean, Bug…!" She shook her head and didn't understand why Chat's name came to her mind automatically. ''Behind me, back to back!"

Before Adrien could dwell on her intentions her firm tone got his body to react without thinking doing so as he was just told, but the familiarity of the situation resonated in him. A moment later he was shoulder to shoulder with her positioning his head so he could see what was happening in the front. Their opponents grinned and didn't hesitate to target the one player they could reach together.

Balls flew in their direction in a slow motion in Marinette's eyes and she dodged the first few while her partner perfectly shadowed her every move. Then when an obviously not dodge-able one came she already had a grab on one ball of her own and deflected the incoming ball and the ones that followed with impeccable exactitude without any of them touching her or her partner in the process.

The other team and the audience were baffled and the mood changed quickly: the formed growled in anger and continued the onslaught while the latter went insane from the sudden turn of events.

''Grab…" She whispered and Adrien immediately knew what to do.

His eyes fixated on an opponent. ''Aim…"

''Switch!" They shouted in unison and with a swift motion they changed positions, Adrien throwing the ball with full force taking out a player easily then they were back in position in the next moment, Marinette continuing to fend for them.

The excitement grew as they did the same trick again, eliminating another opponent.

''Judge, is that even allowed?" One of the other team's supporters shouted from the crowd.

''As long as a ball thrown by a member of the other team doesn't hit them directly, meaning it has to touch them either on their torso or one of their limbs, they can continue to play. Defending yourself with a ball is not against the rules." The judge calmly answered gaining a few annoyed scoffs but mostly supportive whistles from around them.

''Shouldn't we switch, Chat? It hurts to say, but my reflexes are better than yours." The bugboy asked while his eyes zeroed on his next target.

''And that's why you can follow my movements better. Beside, with your experience in basketball I'm sure you are better at aiming and hitting with balls." She answered with a grin and he smiled at the compliment. Still, it somehow bothered him he couldn't be the one protecting her.

''Go catgirl, I bet 50 Euros on you!" A formally dressed man shouted and one of the Chat Noire fans slammed catear-headband on him dragging him towards the fan mob to join them.

''Grab…"

''Aim…"

''Switch!"

And another player was eliminated. The other team now was reduced to 7 people. They knew they had to change tactics.

''Let's synchronize our attacks and throw at the same time so she can't possible deflect all of them:" One of them said while they continued to target them because if they left only a moment of opening between their attacks the duo would attack immediately.

The others nodded and for the next few seconds everybody stopped for a moment so they could target her at once.

In the next moment seven balls were thrown at the catgirl leaving her no way to dodge or deflect. She knew there was no way out of this and prepared herself for the impact protecting her partner with her own body. Only to be moved just before the balls could reach her.

She was swung around, arms coming up on both sides of her, a firm chest pressed to her back then she heard the impacts. When she opened her eyes she found herself facing away from the other team, Adrien completely wrapped around her.

''Are you okay?" He asked with his green eyes boring into her blue ones.

She looked up at him in disbelief then her disbelief turned into anger.

''Why did you do that?!" She snapped at him, making him take a step back.

''What?!"

''Why did you have to protect me?! It didn't matter which one of us is taken out!"

Adrien drew his eyebrows together in annoyance. ''Yeah, and that's why I protected you."

''You could have used that chance to attack back instead of taking a risky move!" She shouted back gesturing with her arms widely.

''What's your problem?! I just protected you!" He shouted back and was back in her face in the next moment but she didn't back down bumping heads with him without hesitation.

''And I didn't ask you! I don't need to be protected! I don't need others to always take the risk for me!"

''What the hell is your problem?" He growled at her and really couldn't understand what was her problem.

''You're my problem!" She yelled angrily. ''You and Chat and every other idiot who thinks it's good to take unnecessary risk for me!"

He was taken aback by her last statement. Why did she mention his alter ego out of nowhere?

She saw the confusion on his face and growled at herself for her mistake then started to walk away.

''What?" He asked but she just turned away.

''Nothing, nothing at all!" She said between gritted teeth but in the next moment she turned around and marched up to his face yet again. ''No, really, you are my problem! You and your unnecessary bravery!"

To this point the other team was too caught up with the suddenly exploding argument so they didn't make an effort to grab and throw another ball but as a ball slowly rolled to one of the players' feet he got out of his stupor and thought this was the perfect opportunity to take out their last opponent. So he lifted the ball, aimed at the girl and threw it with full force. They weren't even looking and if the boy protected her out of instinct when he was already eliminated… well, the victory would be theirs in that case too.

The duo kept shouting at each other, the ball flying right to Marinette with full speed and then…

Her arm came up from out of nowhere and stopped the ball only the breeze of the impact reaching her and fluttering her unruly hair.

A cold chill ran down on the poor guy's spine as the glowing blue eyes from the wrestling match reappeared and locked onto him.

''Can't you see we have a private conversation over here?" She asked in a dangerously low tone. ''Why can't people just wait till I deal with them?!" Her voice rose in anger and her fingers like iron claws closed on the ball as she prepared herself to throw it.

''CAT-A-CLYSM!"

The ball hit and the other team's middle section was taken out, players flying like bowling pins while their teammates followed them with their gazes. The huge impact was followed by a moment of silence then all the remaining members lifting their arms up running from the court as fast as they could.

The crowd went insane.

''Well…" Alek started searching for words. ''I think Team Blue just.. forfeited the match?" He watched them disappear without saying anything more. ''Seems like that to me."

A girl then stepped beside him pulling on his shirt and handing him a note. ''Wait, I just received something. Ow, looks like the other finalist gave up the last match after witnessing this last round. This means the Superduo's team wins Dreadful Dodgeball as well making them the ultimate champions! I hope you guys bet well, I surely did!" Alek shouted grinning and the fans swarmed the court lifting Chat Noire onto their shoulders, chanting her name.

Adrien looked at her helplessly, utterly lost at their current standing. How could he have a fight with Marinette of all people? What the hell happened?

He searched for her eyes but when they locked gazes she glared at him angrily and turned away just as she was carried away with the crowd leaving a helpless, confused and sad blond behind.

In the end Chat Noire was named as the ultimate winner of their competitions as her last unleashed-anger-throw was the one making the rest of the team forfeit and scaring away the last team meaning he in the end lost their bet.

~~~oOo~~~

M Damocles were wandering around the stadium in a calm demeanor, keeping an eye out for a certain someone until he found just the person he was looking for. The lady in question was lying comfortably on a very expensive looking sunbed with a matching cocktail, a sunglass concealing her eyes as she gazed upon the commotion surrounding a certain class' final victory while We Are The Champions by Queen played in the background.

''Mlle Bustier, I was wondering where you were the whole time." He walked up next to her taking a seat beside her sunbed. ''I see your class took good care of you."

''M Damocles." The woman raised her sunglass acknowledging his presence. ''Did you enjoy the sportfestival?" She asked with a sweet smile.

''I see you're not bothered by your students' action at all."

''Did they cause so much trouble to you?" She asked sheepishly but her smile didn't waver.

He sighed. ''What else they do all the time?"

''True." She turned back to look over them. ''But they're good kids."

''Oh I'm sure." He waved dismissing the issue with the resigned calmness of a war veteran but some tiredness still sneaked its way into his voice. ''They're just overly talented. I really admire you for dealing with them all the time. If I were you even with the advantage of your youth I'm sure I would have given up long ago not even getting near to school territory ever again!"

She laughed at this. ''Oh my, you're flattering me! But they're the joy of me." Her eyes adopted a fondness as she saw them jump on each other celebrating their well-earned victory. ''Overly talented and energetic youngsters with such diverse personalities I can't wrap my head around how they can make it work, but they do."

M Damocles hummed at this.

Her eyes drifted back to the man beside her and her smile turned mischievous. ''But with all this flattery and you looking for me in the first place I'm assuming you want something from me."

The man coughed upon obviously being caught. ''I fear your students are planning on participating on other events."

''And?" She raised an eyebrow playfully forcing him to be upfront with his request.

''I'm afraid the other classes will be discouraged if that happens. I would like to ask you to keep an eye on them and try to… contain… your students better."

Mlle Bustier lifter her cocktail's straw to her mouth and took a sip. ''I'm sorry but as you can see they made sure I stayed out of way while they're doing all they can to win. Still, I kept them from anything against the rules but you can't possibly ask me to discourage my own students." She placed back her drink on the table beside her bed and reached for a brochure. ''Beside I believe so it's the other teachers' job to keep their students determined and yours to keep things in order."

M Damocles stared at her flatly. ''So you won't interfere no matter what?"

''I wouldn't say no matter what, but as you yourself pointed out just a moment ago I deserve a break after so many years. Me and them both."

The man sighed. ''I can see why you're so good with them."

''Oh don't be so tense, M Damocles." She said handing him the brochure. ''Tomorrow we've an auction to attend."

He glared at the caption 'Miraculous Auction' and felt like he was already starting to get a headache. ''Do you know something perhaps?"

''Nothing. Nothing yet." Mlle Bustier smiled giving one last glance to her class before lying back onto her sunbed again. ''But I'm sure they will come up with something."

Oh how M Damocles wished she wasn't right.