Chapter Ten:

The lights flashed in the audience, sending them into a roaring mass. The excitement in the room was as tangible as a lion. The yellows, greens, and blues that represented the Animal theme ignited on the stage just before the spotlights were focused on Alec. He wore his giraffe costume, smiling at the audience like he was their parent.

"It's time to introduce our Charms!" He announced.

The crowd was thrown into a tizzy, applauding and cheering so loud, it shook the seats.

The cheers of the crowd were ringing in Marinette's ears. She stood backstage next to Nathanael, holding his arm like a life preserver. With his free hand, he rubbed her shoulder comfortingly. Her thoughts were running wild, trying to make her hike up her dress and run. As hard as Jukela and Rose worked on her new ladybug dress, Marinette was this close to ripping it off and running back to her room.

"Hey," Nathan whispered, pulling one of the curls out of her face. "Let's not panic, okay?"

Marinette realized she was gripping his arm so tightly, his fingers were going purple. She let go just enough to slip her hand into his. His copper suit definitely did not match her red dress. The suit he was supposed to wear did look good on him, though. It fit him perfectly, even with the coattails that were tipped with white. At least they matched the fox ears in his hair, which were also tipped with white.

"S-sorry," she stuttered.

He smiled at her. "You're going to do great, Mari. Just look at Alec and answer the questions honestly. Besides, it's not as bad as you think it's going to be."

"How do you know? What if I trip and fall on my face again? What if I accidently swear in front of everyone? What if everyone hates me?" Her mind ran faster. "What if I ruin Alec's suit? What if my parents disown me?" She gasped. "What about Adrien?! He's going to see me fail and he's going to hate me and he'll never want to--"

Nathanael clamped his hand over her mouth. "Marinette, calm down. You're going to do just fine."

She pulled his hand away from her lips. "You might think that, but I--"

She was cut off again, but not by Nathanael this time. It was by Chloe's laughter.

"Sounds like Loser-Ladybug is losing her cool! Ha ha!"

Next to Queen Bee, her friend Hummingbird laughed along at the joke. Marinette clenched her teeth, glaring at Chloe.

"I'm going to kick her butt so hard that she'll have a stinger stuck up her rear end."

Nathanael chuckled, fixing Marinette's ladybug headband antennae. "I'd pay to see that, but we can't fight back here. We'll get in trouble."

Grumbling, Marinette sent Chloe one last look of death before Alec started calling Charm's names to join him on stage. Chloe was the first to go out with Sabrina on deck, which was a relief. Marinette turned her attention to the TV screen that had been set up backstage for the charms to watch their fellow competitor's interview.

Chloe strutted out across the stage like a princess. Her blonde hair was pulled up into a ratted ponytail with an intricate braid starting at the front of her head and running through the ponytail. A silver headband decorated with black and white diamonds was set beautifully in her perfect hair.

Her dress was sleek and form fitted, perfectly framing her curved hips. It was made of yellow satin with a sweetheart neckline that clearly was meant to tempt. Across her waist, three 'V' shapes were created with black strips of lace. As she spun to show off her magnificent dress, Marinette noticed that it was synced in the back with a corset. Overall, it was a very Chloe "Queen Bee" dress.

"Hello, Queen Bee." Alec bowed, then gestured to the interviewer seat. "Might I just say you look quite stunning in that dress of yours."

Yup, that sweetheart neckline was getting to him.

"I know," Chloe gushed. "My designers designed it just the way I wanted!" She did a dramatic hair flip and that was when Marinette was done watching her.

"When do we go on?" Marinette asked Nathanael.

He shrugged. "You go before me, that's all I know."

And so the waiting game began. Charm after charm waltzed out onto the stage.

Hummingbird Sabrina was another one the fan favorites. Her dress was stunning, a sea foam green with a bateau neckline. Her bust sparkled with blue and green gems that showered down the folds of the ballgown style dress. A thick green ribbon wrapped around her waist before the satin flared out. What was so different about her dress was the ruffle sash tied to her wrist. When she walked out across the stage, it dragged behind her like an elegant swan.

When Alec welcomed her, she brushed her loosely curled bangs out of her face and gave the crowd a winning smile. Chloe had taught her well.

Eagle Kim was a crowd favorite, his hair probably getting more love than his personality. His suit was pretty impressive and it made Marinette want to talk to the designers. How had they sewed all of those feathers on the charcoal gray suit so intricately?

Finally, it was time for her to go out.

"And now we welcome Ladybug Marinette!"

Taking a deep breath, she plastered on the biggest smile she could muster. She walked out to meet Alec in the center of the stage, her black and white heels clicking on the stage. The crowd roared in approval of what they saw and Marinette couldn't help but feel like a princess. In her minds eye, she could see herself standing herself in front of a mirror. She had loved her dress as soon as Juleka made her put it on. As she looked up at the thousands of TV screens with her on them, she really could take in the beauty of the dress as a whole.

It was a deep wine red that draped all the way to the floor. A very slight sweetheart neckline decorated with black lace covered her bust while elegant, tight sleeves ran down to her wrists. The dress was tight-fitting until it hit her waist, where synched red satin flowed out freely. Spotted throughout the flowing fabric, small black sequins sparkled in the spotlight. They were grouped together to make bigger spots, resembling a ladybug.

Her shiny black hair tumbled over her shoulders in delicate curls, pinned back with bobby pins and a headband, which was decorated with small antennae.

Alec oohed and aahed along with the rest of the crowd.

"Give us a twirl!" He insisted, twirling his finger. Marinette blushed but did as she was instructed. She spun on her heels, her dress swirling around her like a choppy red sea. The black sequins sparkled in the spotlights. More oohs and aahs from the audience.

"That is a gorgeous dress! One of my favorites, that's for sure."

Marinette smiled. "Thank you, Alec. I love your suit, too."

It was Alec's turn to blush. He straightened his suit coat. "Well, thank you very much. You're the first to say that to me."

"You deserve it," Marinette assured. "Not many people can pull off giraffe print."

Alec chuckled, the crowd joining in. "Enough about be. We're here to talk about you. Have a seat and we can begin the interview." He gestured to the padded white seat next to his. Marinette sat, still trying to plaster a confident smile on her face.

"Now, for our first question, what's your full name and district occupation?"

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng, and my parents and I run a bakery in our district."

"Ooh! Looks like we've got a cook in our games!" Alec admitted.

Marinette laughed. "I could make some killer cupcakes, Alec."

"Oh, trying to tempt my vote, are you?"

Marinette spread her hands but didn't say anything, which caused laughter from the audience. Alec pulled another card from his stack of questions.

"Ah, this is a good one. What do you think of Adrien Agreste?"

Her face flushed. "W-well," she stuttered, hunching her shoulders self-consciously, "if I am to be completely honest, I have to say that he has stunning green eyes." The crowd catcalled and whistled. There was no way to hide her blushing, so she started to nervously babble. "I've only seen him in person once, which doesn't give me a lot of say on what he's like, but he is super sweet. He has a lot of confidence and seems really reserved."

"Sounds like you've hit him on the dot to me. Next question!" Alec moved on, which stopped her from making a bigger fool of herself. She was thankful for that.

"How many family members do you have?"

"Three, me and my parents."

Alec leaned back in his chair and crossed his legs. "Do your parents support your decision to be here?"

That question threw her a little bit. Why was he asking her that?

"Yes," she responded almost immediately. "Before I left, they visited me and told me that they were proud of that I had stood up."

"Who was that little girl you stood up for again?" Alec asked. "Wasn't it Mrs. Chamach's daughter?"

"Yes, it was." Marinette hesitated, fingering her dress nervously before she continued. "I was babysitting her at the time with my friend Alya while Mrs. Chamach was preparing the Lucky Charm Choosing in our district." Behind her, pictures and videos of her standing up for Manon played across the screen. Marinette pressed forward with her story. "Hearing that this year was different than years previous was a shock at first, but I had no plans to volunteer until..." She trailed off. The crowd's focus did not move from her frame. The weight of their gaze began to bother Marinette, but she tried to continue.

"When Manon's name was called by you, Alec, I knew that something needed to be done. Her crying and Mrs. Chamach's pleading was the only thing playing in my head.I couldn't just stand by and do nothing. Before I knew what happened, I was volunteering for her."

Seriousness blanketed over Marinette, Alec, and the rest of the crowd. Alec leaned forward.

"Do you regret that lucky choosing, Miss Dupain-Cheng?"

Everyone held their breath.

Marinette sat up taller. "I would never go back and change my decision." She lowered her chin and gave Alec a serious look. She had made a choice, and she was not backing down. "I can tell you, and everyone here, that I have no powers of luck. I don't believe in it. Luck does not exist in my world. Determination and good works are the real superpowers that help me." Marinette turned her attention to the audience. "Instead of believing that I was luckily chosen by some sort of bowl, I like to believe that I made the decision to stand up for Manon Chamach. To me, instead of believing that one of the charms has more 'luck' than the others, let's open our eyes to their attributes."

Marinette got to her feet, gesturing to backstage. "Each charm that has walked off this stage all have amazing talents. I've been working with them for the past two weeks. Through that experience, I can tell you that each and everyone has something spectacular to give our country.

"Sabrina is clever, always able to find an answer to a difficult problem, just like a hummingbird.

"Kim has courage -- undeniable courage. Though he may be nervous about doing something, he can push past that and do amazing acts of bravery. I'd say that is very eagle worthy.

"Ivan is one of the most humble people I know. He may make a mistake, but he learns from it, as like a snake would."

Smirking, Marinette thought of the lovely Queen Bee. I can't believe I'm going to say this.

"Chloe is a very hard worker. It may not seem like it at first, but when she has a goal, she will do anything to reach it. I think a 'queen' bee represents that better than anything else.

"Alix has a bucketful of guts. She can do things other people wouldn't ever dream of trying. To me, that sounds like a pretty awesome panther.

"And finally, the boy who's been by my side this entire time, Nathanael. He is so kind and thoughtful, always looking out for me." She smiled to herself. "He's been the person who has kept me sane through all of his chaos."

Looking out over the crowd, and at Alec, Marinette held her ground as she spoke.

"I don't know who will win this year's Miraculous Games, but I don't think it matters. What does matter, instead, is what these games teach us. So far, I've learned that, though I may be terrified of what may happen, I will uphold the mantle I have chosen to take on." Locking her gaze straight into the nearest camera, she let her next words be spoken, not to just the entire country, but to two individual people.

"President Agreste," she stated firmly, "you have the most amazing citizens, and I want to congratulate you on your success. I hope we, as Charms, represent you well." She paused, gathering her thoughts before she let her words come out. "Adrien, remember that you have a choice in this too." Marinette tucked her hands behind her back and bowed.

The crowd gasped in shock. Alec stared in disbelief at her perfect form. No one spoke as she uprighted herself. Had she broken an unspoken rule?

"Thank you for your generosity," she thanked. She smiled at Alec. "Do you have any more questions?"

He stared at her as if she was a three-headed monster. Snapping himself back into reality, he cleared his throat and got to his feet.

"N-no, I think that is all the time that we have. Thank you, Ladybug."

The crowd erupted into applause as she walked toward the backstage. Marinette took an unsteady breath. What had she just done? Everyone had stared at her like she was some sort of crazy, mutated creature. Did she say something wrong? It felt like she had done the right thing. Was she wrong?

Nathanael stood at the edge of the curtain. Marinette couldn't help but notice that his eyes were moist with tears. He watched her come closer, and as she approached him, he ran toward her and engulfed her in a hug.

"Marinette," he whispered, "you really are a superhero."

Her eyes began to water. She wrapped her arms around him and buried her head in his shoulder. He was right, she had done the right thing.

---

Woohoo! Go Mari!

Sorry for the long wait. I hope this makes up for my horrible updating habits. :/ I'll be sure to update quicker this next time! Besides, this chapter took a lot of research. The next ones should be a lot easier to write haha.

Be sure to drop a vote before you leave!

Comments are always appreciated, so don't be afraid to post your thoughts. :)

(UPDATED 11/24/17)

I was requested to draw Marinette in her dress, so here you go!

And, as always, have a 'miraculous' day!