"And... Action."

On cue, Aurore, Ismael, Jean, Denise, and Mireille walk into the library carrying bagged lunches and looking like they'd rather be doing anything but be near each other. Another thing, they were dressed how their parents were when they were their age.

Aurore's outfit consisted of a knee-length high-waisted skirt fitting securely around her waist with a light pink Peter-Pan collared shirt tucked into it. The black flats and the matching belt kept pristine over the years were eagerly provided by her mother when she heard what they'd be used for. Her hair was down and curled a bit, giving it more volume.

A slightly oversized flannel shirt fit well enough over Ismael, who opted to wear it under a black denim jacket and leave both open to show off the white v-neck t-shirt. His distressed jeans were dirty in some places and rolled up a bit to show off his brown combat boots. The outfit gave him a rugged appearance, and he fell in love with it the second he put it on.

Jean's blue and white letterman jacket fit well on him, and really gave the illusion that he lived at the gym thanks to the sleeves. On the jacket were a few varsity pins and letters from different sports, and around his neck, he wore a silver chain. His black shirt was tucked into a pair of loose-fitting acid wash jeans, and completing the look was a pair of blue and white sneakers.

Simon was trying his hardest not to drool at the sight of Denise's bookworm attire. Their curly hair was pulled back into a bun with a light green scrunchie, and they wore a pair of fake prescription glasses with black rims. The enby's light green cardigan was worn over a white button-up shirt tucked into a brown knee-length pencil skirt with matching flats.

And finally, Mireille looked like she could be Juleka's sister with her black makeup, black turtle neck paired with black jeans, black studded boots, and a black leather overcoat with metal studs on the shoulders.

Aurore rolled her eyes when she noticed Ismael's eyes on her. "Eyes on your sandwich."

"Sure, if I can get a shake to go with it." His rude laughter was interrupted by a quick shove from Jean.

"You need another reminder, jackass?" He asks with a raised fist.

Ismael gave an airy laugh and held up his hands as a show of peace. "Jockstrap, chill. Just getting her warmed up for you." Aurore walked further ahead with Jean tailing after her. "Hey, you're welcome!" He laughed and nudged Denise in the arm. "You believe that guy?"

Denise almost looks surprised that Ismael is talking to them. "Y-yeah," they murmured. "It's... It's out of nowhere, huh?" Mireille lingered back a bit. And while Denise isn't looking, steals a pen sticking out of their purse to put into her own.

"Camera B," Simon whispered into his walkie-talkie. Lacey, with a camera positioned on the right side of the library, moves it with Denise and Ismael as they walk.

"So," Ismael continued, pointing to Denise's lunch bag. "What'd the Stepford parents pack for you?" Denise scoffed.

"I pack my own, for your information. And my parents aren't Stepfords."

Ismael gave a mirthless chuckle. "You get good grades and ride around in a shiny new car. If you ditched the nun clothes, you'd be one of those blue-ribbon kids with pasty white teeth and wearing cardigans no matter how damn hot it is."

"None of that makes me a Stepford!" Denise yelled, making Mireille let out a quiet squeak as she ducked her head down. "God," they huffed. "What's your damage?"

"I could ask you the same thing when I'm just stating facts." Before Denise could retort, a scream was heard coming from the other side of the library. The two look at each other in confusion and then run to where they heard the scream. Mireille fidgeted with the strap of her bag for a moment before running after them.

"Camera C. All you, Resh."

Reshma tilts the short camera dolly up just a bit before Denise, Ismael, and Mireille run into the frame by a petrified Aurore and Jean.

"The hell is with- OH SHIT!" Ismael yelled. Denise looked close to passing out and Mireille's hand flew up to her mouth to hold back a gasp. Then before Simon could give another cue, a loud scream was heard coming from outside the library, startling the actors and making Reshma jolt a bit with the camera. He groaned and yelled, "Cut!"

The camera crew stops rolling and takes this time to stretch out their limbs while the actors take a snack break.

"We were able to get some good footage before the scream," Marcelle tells Simon.

"Well, that's a relief, but this is the fourteenth time since we started rolling. Whose turn is it, now?"

Marc looks up from the script. "Mine." He hands the script to Simon and makes his way to the door.

"Give 'em the business, cinnamon roll!" Cosette hollered as she reapplied Mireille's dark makeup. "Remember, don't press your hands so hard to your lips when you gasp, or it'll smear." Mireille gives a thumbs up instead of nodding so she wouldn't mess up Cosette's work.

😈🦋

Marc could already hear the commotion coming from the other side of the classroom door and also... Singing? He enters the classroom and is met with a scream followed by Myléne running to hide behind Mme. Bustier's desk. She pokes her head out from behind and looks embarrassed when she sees him.

If he were a student in their class, maybe this wouldn't look so weird. Juleka, Rose, and Kim are applying makeup on each other; Ivan's taking off an incredibly realistic monster mask; Nino, Alya, and Adrien are downing what is definitely not their first coffee cups; Nathaniel and Marinette appear to be making a batch of multicolored slime in something akin to a small witch's cauldron. And Marinette has a fake eyeball stuck to her forehead for some reason; Chloé is just sitting on a desk and making Sabrina file her nails, and Max is messing around with the sound effects.

"... Uh... Should I come back later?" He starts to back out of the classroom, but Alya pats him on the shoulder, telling him it's okay.

"It's not you. Sorry about all the noise, but..." She clicks her tongue as if she's trying to find the right words, but why? "Well..."

"It's because the little crybaby got scared of her own shadow! Again!" Everyone in the room muttered and glared at Chloé who only laughed at Myléne's expense. "Honestly! Who even picked her for the lead actress when the role should obviously be going to me?"

Alix is quickly restrained by Kim. The irritation on her face is clear, but who can blame her? It's a weekend, and she's in school with Chloé. That can make a person want to tear their hair out, or in Alix's case, rip out Chloé's hair. "Because you don't know any of Myléne's lines, and you're just going to be clinging to Adrien the entire time during filming! How many times do I need to say it before it gets through your bleached hair?"

The blonde girl looked offended by that last remark. "How dare you?! I am a natural blonde! And as for why I should be the lead. Unless you want my daddy, the judge of this little contest to give this b-movie first place, you'll make me the star instead of some pathetic scaredy-cat afraid of its own shadow!"

"Bitch."

Everyone's heads snapped towards Marc. "... D-did I say that out loud?"

Alix and Alya were the first to cut through the silence, breaking into a fit of laughter while others gave the noirette looks of respect. Chloé on the other hand was seething and stormed over to Marc, trying to get in his face, but their height differences made it hard. "H-how DARE YOU?! Do you know what I can do to your social life?!"

Marinette's jaw dropped. "You mean there's something worse than you standing near us?" This causes Alix, Alya, and a few others to laugh at how red in the face Chloé looked. Adrien only pinched the bridge of his nose, knowing what was to come next. While this certainly was entertaining, he knows Chloé and knows she won't let anyone have the last word, not even him.

"Well... Well, at least I never ran off the stage crying like a baby because I couldn't remember my lines!" She shrieked and jabbed a finger in Myléne's face, making the room grow silent. Adrien and Alya look around for some context. That was definitely a terrible thing to say, but it sounded so specific.

Ivan cautiously approached his paling girlfriend while giving Chloé the evil eye. He takes Myléne's hand. "Myléne? Hey, are you-"

The rainbow-haired girl suddenly books it out of the classroom, pushing Marc to the side as she does. He lands in someone's arms, and that someone happened to be Nathaniel. The two blush and look away from each other as Marc gets back on his feet.

"... That was a fucking low blow, Chloé." The room suddenly became a lot colder when Ivan swore. Even Chloé looked unsettled. Setting aside his anger for a moment, Ivan runs out of the classroom. "Myléne, wait!"

The room was completely silent until Marc shyly spoke up, remembering why he came here in the first place. "Hey, so... My class needs you guys to keep the noise down, and... Yeah."

Nino sighed and rubbed his temples. "Sure, dude. It'll be a lot quiet now that Chloé made Myléne run off crying!" He whips his head over in Chloé's direction, and she had the nerve to look offended.

"Well, I think I know the perfect role for her, Nino," Marienette started off calmly, and Chloé smirked, believing she might get her way once again. "I'm thinking 'Victim #1'!" She takes a spoonful of the slime a flicks it in Chloé's direction, prompting her to grab Sabrina and use her as a shield so the fake slime splatters on her face.

Marinette gave a nervous smile and ran over with a paper towel. "Sorry, Sabrina."

"I-it's fine," she murmured under the slime covering her mouth.

The second Marinette had walked away from her station, Nathaniel's Miraculous started glowing in response to someone's emotions. He looks around the room, but none of the emotions are strong enough and would make for pretty weak Akumas. Then he remembers Myléne.

With the excuse that he was going to get some water and Nino's exhaustion that he just doesn't care who does what right now, Nathaniel easily slips out of the classroom and makes his way into the next classroom over. Before he goes in, though, he can't help but watch the exchange between Ivan and Myléne.

"Myléne, don't listen to Chloé. It's easy for her to judge when she's not in front of the camera," he tried, but it didn't get Myléne out of her mood. "Hey, come on. Remember when she auditioned for the spring musical when we were twelve?"

Nathaniel was trying so hard not to laugh and blow his cover. Chloé's audition was a complete and utter disaster! She couldn't remember a single line, her singing was awful and sounded like that blonde girl trying to sing 'Burn', and most of the time, she was going on about how much of an amazing actor she was and how many tickets the school will sell if she were the star.

Nooroo put a hand flipper over Nathaniel's lips before a laugh could slip through. "Thanks," he whispered, then kept watching the couple, jealousy welling up inside him just a bit when Ivan pinned one of his buttons to Myléne's headband. He was a sap for romance, sue him. He like the idea of two people being together and... Sometimes he wanted something like that. Of course, it won't be happening until he makes the Wish, though.

Until then, he'll just watch almost everyone being happy finding love, going on dates, and he'll join Alix in staying single for hopefully not a long time... It'll be fine, Alix and Ismael make being single look fun all the time, so he'll be fine until he finally gets the Miraculous.

Before he could continue that thought, he hears rapid footsteps and looks to see Myléne running into the locker room with her hands covering her face. It's now or never time. Wiping away the tears he didn't know he had been shedding, Nathaniel rushes into the classroom before Ivan could see him.

"Are you okay, Nathaniel?" Asked Nooroo. He wipes away a few of his friend's tears, making him smile a bit. "It'll be okay. I know you'll find someone-"

"But not here, Nooroo," he murmured. "Who's going to want to date a villain, right? I accidentally transform in front of them, and they're telling everyone I'm the reason being an angsty hormonal teenager is the worst thing to happen to you while in Paris." With a scoff, he made his way to the very back of the classroom where no one by a window would see him. "Are you charged up?" Nooroo gave a solemn nod. "Nooroo, Wings Rise."

Before sending his latest Akuma off, Monarch checks to make sure there aren't any colors on the wings other than the black and specks of dark purple. He's about to let it go until he notices a fleck of blue on the underside of the wings.

"Shit," he hissed. "... Okay, it's only a little tiny dot. Magician of Misfortune's Akuma had green all over its wings. It's okay. Go on ahead." The Akuma did as it was told and phased through the walls until it reached Myléne crying in the bathroom. "Oh, you poor girl," Monarch sighed, catching the girl's attention.

"N-no! Please! I can't get Akumatized! I don't-"

"And I'm not going to force you," he assured. "Would you mind if we just talked? That was quite a performance earlier."

Myléne went quiet for a moment. "... How do you know that?"

"I can see your memories. It's all part of having emotion-based powers. Anyway, what that brat said was just- Pardon my language- fucked up. That was your first ever performance in front of such a large crowd, and you were nervous, weren't you?"

"Y-yeah," she cried.

Monarch smiled. "You cried in your room for a week, too afraid to face the world. It's totally natural. I'm a bit of an introvert, and others just don't get what we go through. We try to push ourselves outside of our comfort zones, and we get scared sometimes. You tried to put on a brave face, and how does blondie react?"

"Like... Like a total b-bitch!"

"Yes!" He claps. "Show her true fear- Hell, give everyone something to be afraid of, Horrificator!"

"I will!"

"Wings Down." Nooroo laughed when he flew out of the Miraculous. "I did not mean to go that far, but it happened."

The kwami's laughter started to die down. "But, I am still worried about the bit of your sadness laced with the Akuma. It's not a lot like Magician of Misfortune's, but there can still be some side effects. Horrificator might come out physically unstable, and-"

"Physically?"

"Yeah, it fluctuates with each Akuma you lace with your emotions," Nooroo answered. "Sometimes they'll feel your feelings, sometimes their powers are different than what you intended, they can catch on fire if you're really angry-"

"WHAT?!"

"But it hardly ever happens!" Nooroo gave a nervous smile and looked off to the side as he recalled this one time in 1854... So much fire. "... So, what now?" He asked, trying to change the subject.

Nathaniel smirked and removed one of his boots. "Now I make it look like Horrificator "kidnapped" me," he said using finger quotes. He opens the door slightly before tossing his sneaker to the floor and then pulling out a small plastic bag of the slime he and Marinette were making. "We were planning to throw some of this at Chloé when she wasn't looking, but I think I can part with it."

Nathaniel spreads some of the fake slime on and around his shoe and near the door. "There."

"Okay, but won't it look suspicious that you were in this classroom?" Nooroo gives his friend a pointed look, only to be met with a smirk.

"Not at all, because here's what happened. I was just getting some water on the second floor of the school until I remember, that the water fountain up here doesn't work. So I head downstairs once Ivan and Myléne are gone, and as I'm by the fountain, I find Horrificator making her way through the locker room out of the corner of my eye. So she can't find me, I run upstairs and hide in this very classroom, but oh no, I've been caught. All that is left of me is my sneaker."

After a beat, Nooroo gives a slow but sincere clap as Nathaniel looked through his pockets again. "That's... Quiet impressive." His eyes light up when Nathaniel hands him a strawberry. Immediately, he takes a big bite out of it. "Now, where are you going to hide?"

"The vents." He points up at the ceiling to an air vent that doesn't look like much of a tight squeeze for him. "I heard from Juleka that they go all the way around the school, even the basement." Nooroo looks stunned by that piece of information. "Yeah, she did it a lot before she got together with Rose. You ready?" Nooroo took one last bite of his snack before nodding. "Nooroo, Wings Rise."

Transformed, he flies up to the ceiling and unscrews the vent off with the blade hidden in his cane. He found it by accident the week he first used it and nearly slit his neck. After a moment of freaking out because he almost died, Nathaniel discovered his ordinary but fancy cane was actually a sword-cane! While it is badass, he's gotta learn how to use it properly in the event where he meets Scarlet Beetle and Ikati Black face-to-face. It can happen, and he wants to be prepared... Also, he doesn't want to accidentally stab himself.

😈🦋

Ismael tosses his tennis ball against one of the bookshelves in boredom. "Man, when's he coming back? It's been five minutes, yeah?"

"Well, you know how they are." Lacey catches the ball before tossing it to Denise who catches it without even looking up from the script. "Plus, Chloé's with them. I'll bet they're only five minutes into their movie."

"I don't think it's Chloé who's delaying Marc," Aurore smirked and caught the ball next. She bounces it against the floor a few times. "Mireille, I believe our future son-in-law has the cinnamon roll distracted." The bluenette giggled as Aurore threw the ball to Simon. Like Denise, he caught it without looking up from his phone and while pacing. "Simon, he'll be back."

The redhead groaned. "Guys, this can't wait. We've got a week left until the contest is over, and eight hours left until we need to leave the school. And as many of you know, I do not waste time when it comes to my element!" Feeling Denise taking his hand, he takes a deep breath and sighs with a relaxed smile. "Okay... Okay, let's just, one of us get Marc."

Ismael looks up at Denise with wonder. "How do you do that?"

"Practice, short stack," they giggle as Ismael pouts over the nickname. The other students all laugh until they hear an odd 'Squelch!' sound coming from outside. Confused, they listen out again for the sound to make sure it's not in their heads. When they don't hear it again, the students begin to relax until they hear it again. Just louder.

Mireille held onto Aurore's arm as she darted her head around the room. "Tell me I'm not the only one who heard that."

"G-g-guys?" Jean stammered and pointed to the window. Outside the school, a thick pink ooze started trailing along the glass. "What the hell is that?!"

Marcelle gagged and took a picture of the window. "Sick."

Denise approaches one of the windows that aren't covered in slime and looks out of it, trying to find the source of the pink slime. They stay there for a moment before jumping back in fear when something zips past the window. All they saw was a blur of pink, purple, and what looked like tentacles before it left behind more slime. "Fuck! Did you all see that?!"

"I saw it, I saw it!" Cosette screamed and pointed at the window. "I-it was big, scary, and pink!"

"This is not the time nor place to be quoting Spongebob!" Ismael couldn't help but shout. "Okay, whatever that thing is, it's clearly trying to seal us in here, and we need to go! Simon, we'll get your equipment back later, but I'd rather not be stuck in school with some pink monster!"

Aurore runs to the door. "We need to warn the others! Come on!" Her friends follow suit and rush to Mme. Bustier's classroom where they hear shouting. 'Chloé,' they all think before Simon opens the door with so much force that the doorknob leaves an indent in the wall, grabbing everyone's attention.

"Okay, first thing's first!" The redhead thundered with a panicked look in place of their usual neutral expression. "First! Marc! What was taking you so long? Second! We all need to get the fuck out of here, like now!"

"¡Vamos gente!" Denise ordered.

"Hold on guys," said Adrien. "What's going on?"

"There was just this huge thing!" Lacey answered. "I-it was pink, had these tentacles, or something on its head- We couldn't tell! It was just crawling over the window, and it left behind this trail of gross slime! W-we heard it on the roof! And anyway, it's trying to seal us in the school, so we need to get the fuck out of here!"

Nino holds up his hands in a 'calm down' gesture. "Okay, take your time-"

Cosette pulled at their hair. "We don't have time to do that, because we need to get the fuck out of here! After everything we've seen since the start of the school year, ya'll are shocked by the idea of some big pink monster scaling the side of the school and leaving behind a bunch of nasty-ass slime?" The classmates look at one another, considering their words. "That's what I thought."

"Well, if you don't believe me, check this out." Marcelle pulls up the photo she took with her phone. Nino adjusts his glasses to make sure he's not seeing things. "It's just all over the windows!"

Growing worried, Kim reminds everyone, "Nathaniel and Myléne are somewhere around the school, and Marinette just left to go look for Myléne!" Murmuring flooded the classroom until Chloé let out an annoyed groan.

"Do you idiots seriously believe a bunch of weirdos?" Both classes took offense. "I bet this is a prank to keep us from finishing my movie!"

"Your movie?!" Nino snapped. "This is our movie! And they wouldn't lie about something like this, Chloé! It's probably an Akuma, so it's only natural we evacuate!" His friends back him up, but the blonde only scoffed with a flip of her ponytail.

"Well, if there really is a big scary monster like you say, then where's your proof?" Expecting them to stammer and probably pull up a fake photo on their phones, Chloé leaned back in her seat with a smug expression that just made Aurore want to punch her.

Before Denise could drag her to the library, Mireille points ahead and says with the most neutral tone of voice, "There's your proof." Each head turns and everyone recoils when they find the pink slime oozing outside the classroom's windows.

"Ew!" Chloé gagged. "Don't let any of that stuff touch my hair!"

"We have bigger problems than your hair," Adrien deadpanned. "Marinette, Nathaniel, and Myléne haven't come back yet and we need to find them before the Akuma does, and get out of here, pronto! Ivan." The taller boy straightens up at the almost authoritative tone of his voice. "Do you know where Myléne went?"

"I saw her run into the locker room," he said, then sighed. "I should've gone after her."

"Don't beat yourself up, man." Alix gives her friend a pat on the shoulder before glaring in Chloé's direction. "You didn't send her off crying." The blonde girl scoffed and turned her nose up. "Now let's go! We're not leaving until we find Marinette, Myléne, and Nath!"

"It might be too late for Nath," Ismael remarked as he pointed out the classroom. Confused, Alix runs out of the room, look at what Ismael is pointing at, and finds a familiar purple sneaker right outside the classroom next to theirs'. "... I'm gonna kill that fucking bastard."

😈🦋

"Looks like that possessed girl from The Exorcist threw up in here," Jean quipped at the sight of the slime-covered locker room. The stuff was everywhere, the ceiling, the lockers, windows, in every little nook and cranny. And a row of lockers was tipped over for some reason. They approach a small puddle and dip their finger in it, only to regret it when they feel how sticky the slime is. "What do you guys think happened?"

Cosette made their way around the room. "Looks like Marinette tried to put up a fight." Marcelle quirked an eyebrow.

"How can you tell?"

"Well, look at the walls." Everyone does. "See how the slime on it is stretched? Maybe she got slimed a couple of times and was yanking her hand out of it. Then whatever has us captive in here shot slime at the lockers Spiderman-style while she was hiding behind it; it tipped over and Marinette had nowhere else to hide." A few nod along as they start to get a mental picture of the events. "And check out the dent in the lockers against the wall. Tell me Marinette didn't try to punch that sucker. Look, you can still see the dent from her ring."

Juleka clicked her tongue. "Impressive."

"I watch a few crime movies from time to time," Cosette said, answering a few unasked questions. "But, as for where Marinette is now, I'm not sure."

"What about Myléne?" Ivan asked worriedly.

"And Nath!" Alix adds, voicing Marc's concerns as well.

Before Cosette could give an answer, a hissing sound could be heard from outside the locker room. Adrien gestured for everyone to duck while he peeked through the window to see what was in the courtyard. It wasn't until more of the pink slime dripped down to the floor that he looked up and saw what could only be described as... One of those campy 80s horror film monsters. It was pink for one and had this light and dark purple gradient to go with it. On its head appeared to be these tentacles with something on the end of them, but he couldn't tell. Probably the weirdest thing was how it was spewing pink slime across the roof! It was sealing them all in!

"Shit," he whispered. "Guys, we need to find the others and get out of here-"

"Oh, please! We'll be better off without some talentless artist, a tacky excuse for a designer, and some scaredy cat actress!" Chloé exclaimed, clearly not understanding the danger she was putting everyone else in by not being quiet. And if the monster didn't get to her first, then Alix, Ivan, and Alya would after she spoke ill of their friends. "Adrikins, get me out of here so we can do our love scene for real."

Adrien moved out of the way before she could attempt to wrap her arms around him.

"There's no love scene in my script," Alya hissed. Marc rubbed her shoulders to calm her down, understanding the frustration that comes when someone doesn't want to follow the script one spends days and weeks writing and revising. She gave the writer an appreciative look and then continued, "We are getting them out of here. It's what they'd do, right?"

Ismael muttered, "Certainly Marinette."

"Hey, the monster's gone," Adrien pointed out. "Only now, there's actually a roof."

"So, climbing out and then scaling down is out of the question. And there's no way out of the window unless we're cool with breaking it and we have a knife to cut through the goo," Lacey points out, looking a little dejected. Ever since Stoneheart, she's been keeping an emergency rock-climbing kit in her locker in case an Akuma attacks the school and blocks the door. And the day the door is blocked, she can't use her equipment because she can't bring her ice pick to school, and without it, she can't cut through the slime!

Nino bit his lip. "And if I have to guess, the doors are out of the question."

"Oh, it is," Simon nodded. "The slime we saw on the library windows was over the door, and it was oozing pretty fast, so-"

"Enough with the nerd talk!" Chloé groaned. "Either get me out of here or-"

"Or what?" Denise challenged, startling their friends and boyfriend. They haven't seen them this irritated since Bubbler left children alone without any adults. "Either we get you out of here or make you a human sacrifice. This is basically a horror movie situation." They stalk closer to the blonde, making her back up against a wall. "And everyone knows the petty little blonde girl is usually the first to go. Y'know... Because no one likes her."

The room seemed very cold at that moment until everyone heard Nino clearing his throat.

"Well, usually it's the token black character who's the first to go," he mentions. "Chloé would probably be caught third or fourth. Or near the very end like everyone who was mean to Carrie White." Noticing everyone's eyes on him, he tugged on the collar of his shirt. "Sorry," he chuckled. "Movie tropes help me relax."

"Valid," Simon nodded while holding Denise's hand to help them calm down. "Like how cell phones never work in horror movies." For example, he holds up his phone which has no bars. To see if this was true, everyone whipped out their phones and became outraged when they couldn't get a connection."

Alya blows some of her hair out of her face. "Now we just need a crazy guy telling us about a curse and for no one to believe him until the end," she quips before glancing at the other class. "Wait, never mind. You guys were right about the monster." The room erupted into some laughter, helping to make the situation less tense until they heard a crash followed by a familiar scream.

"That's Nath!" Alix cried, already booking it out of the room. The rest followed after her, all except two. Kim stayed behind in the locker room while Max ran in the other direction to the auditorium.

The group found itself back upstairs, this time in the music classroom, where, in the middle of the room stood the monster wrapping Nathaniel up with its tail while he was cornered. Now that Adrien had a better view, he could see those were spines on the tentacles growing out of its head, fading from light to dark pink. It even had a tail with a spine on it.

"PUT HIM DOWN!" Alix demanded and tossed a trumpet at the creature's head... Only for it to get absorbed into its weird-textured skin that seemed to be dripping in some places. "Oh, sick!"

Nathaniel writhed in Horrificator's hold, trying to slip through her skin, but he wasn't budging. Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in the small of his back before going limp in his Akuma's hold as the concerned shouts of his friends grew distant.

~Ladies and Gentlemen, the Nightmare of Nathaniel Kurtzberg~

"... I'm Monarch."

Before him, two people stood with mixed expressions. His mother and Alix. Aya was the first to react after what felt like hours, breaking down crying as she sank to her knees. Her tears fell to the floor in small puddles, making her son become rigid and unable to move. He couldn't even go to console her.

Alix's legs were shaking as she backed away. "... You... You turned me into a villain. You made me hurt my friends!"

Finally, Nathaniel could move, but only to back away from the pink-haired girl's growing fury. "Alix, I-"

"I THOUGHT YOU WERE MY FRIEND! AND FOR WHAT?!"

"N-no, please!" He has no time to react before Alix surges forward and delivers a punch to his face, knocking him down on his back. Nathaniel tried to get back up, but could only stay up with his hands and knees. He starts to cough from out of nowhere, and it all comes up dry until an Akuma lands on the floor before fluttering in front of him.

"... Aah-!" He coughs up more Akumas until there are at least three hundred swarming in front of him. The fluttering of their wings is the only thing the redhead can hear. He looks between the Akumas and his mother and Alix. Tears begin to pour when he sees his mother crying and looking ashamed.

"... I brought a monster into this world," she whispered, but it was loud enough for Nathaniel to fear. It almost had an echo effect.

Nathaniel turned away and covered his ears, unable to take much more of this... But he immediately begins to regret it when his Akumas take on an all too familiar shape. "... N-no. No! Please!" He cried and began to crumble under the man's disappointment-filled gaze.

"You were supposed to take care of your mother," he muttered, his voice laced with resentment. Nathaniel shuddered at the tone and brought his hands up to his face to wipe away his tears. "Instead... You're off turning people into monsters, worrying her, making Paris suffer. And for what?... I'm dead, Nathaniel!... Look at me... LOOK AT ME!"

Nathaniel's head jerked up against his will, forcing him to look not at the man who was once there... But at him. Marc retches and coughs up roses and is unable to pull them out of his mouth as his hands are tied together by Magician of Misfortune's handkerchief chain. Tears are visible in his eyes as he gasps for air. He looks at Nathaniel with a woeful expression before coughing up more roses, and even managing to get a few words out.

"You... Y-you hurt me-!" Along with the roses, he starts coughing up the green-winged akumas. Hundreds of them circle around the redhead and obstruct his vision so he can't see his mother, Alix, or Marc.

😈🦋

"Did it just get bigger?" Rose squeaked as the monster seemed to shoot up a foot. Along with the growth spurt, its' nails became sharper, the teeth became more jagged, and a third eye appeared dead center on the monster's forehead.

Alix gripped the monster's tail, trying to get it to release her inanimate friend, but there was no use. "Put him the fuck down, ugly- HEY!" She yelped when one of the tentacles gripped her waist before she felt a prick in her arm.

~Alix Kudbel's Nightmare Sequence~

"NO! STOP!"

Alix could only watch as Timebreaker stole her friends' time and left them frozen in place until they disappeared into nothing. All the while she was laughing as if this was a game for her!

"CUT IT OUT!" She tries to move, but it's like her feet are glued to the ground. Half of her class has been hit, and now her Akumatized self is going after Mendeleieve's students. Timebreaker circled around her just to taunt her before skating off to freeze Nathaniel, much to Alix's horror as her best friend was erased from existence.

"St-stop..." Her legs finally gave out as her friends all faded away from existence.

😈🦋

When Alix woke up, she felt a sharp pain in her shoulder and found herself in... What looks like the school basement... And she's not on the floor somehow. When she tried to walk, Alix found she couldn't move her legs or her arms. The only part of her body able to move was her head.

"Oh thank God, she's awake." Alix turns to the source of the voice and finds Marinette, safe and sound!... And cocooned in some pink slime hanging from the ceiling. And it was at that moment, that Alix realized she was caught in the same slime as her friend. Only, she was stuck in a makeshift web. "Nath! Alix finally woke up!"

The pinkette perks up at the mention of her friend and looked around to see where she is. It wasn't until with a head tilt from Marinette that she found her friend stuck to the floor under a pile of pink slime, going from his calves up to his neck... Somehow, the sight was making her day.

"Wipe that smirk off your face," the redhead muttered. He let out a sigh as he internally berated himself, thinking he'd be safe in the music room since the door was locked and he got tired of crawling through the vents, but no! Horrificator just had to slip through a second vent because of her malleable skin and just had to get stronger whenever she scared someone. And really, what was he thinking with those fear-injecting spikes? He's trying to get the Miraculous, not traumatize people for life. If his nightmare was that bad, he doesn't even want to know what Horrificator put Alix and Marinette through.

... Actually, come to think of it, what was Marinette afraid of? He knows from late-night guilt-inducing calls that Alix is afraid of turning back into Timebreaker, but what did Horrificator make Marinette see? Before he could wonder some more, a strange sloshing noise sounded through the room. The kidnapped students look across the room towards a vent with its badly dented cover strewn to the floor, and in comes Horrificator, looking nothing how Nathaniel made her!

The tentacles growing from her head were longer, she had two more eyes, another row of teeth dripping with her dark purple saliva, another set of arms, sharp black spikes protruding from the top of her head, and smaller ones going up from her elbow to her shoulder. He definitely didn't add those!

"Denise! Ismael!" Marinette yelled, trying to wake up the two students trapped in Horrificator's hold. She carelessly drops them on the floor, leaving some slimy residue from her body on their clothes. A gurgling noise came from the back of her throat before more of the pink slime spewed from her mouth and onto the unconscious students, much to Nathaniel's disgust.

"God, what was I on when I akumatized her?"

By the time Horrificator was done covering them in slime, Denise and Ismael were beginning to stir awake.

"The hell?" Ismael murmured. His eyes dart around for a moment before a look of relief crossed his face. "Oh, thank God." But then he saw Horrificator and screamed. As a result, the Akuma grew in size and her horns became larger. Ismael didn't see the connection and continued to scream, helping to wake Denise up.

"Would you quit- Oh, SHIT! What is that thing?!" When they screamed, Horrificator's tentacles now went to her knees, and her nails became longer.

"Your screaming is making it grow, guys!" Alix exclaimed, but they didn't hear her and continued to scream while trying to get unstuck.

Ismael violently writhed around. "BURN IT!" And those were his last words before Horrificator finally left, but not out the way she came in. As if to just make him wonder what the hell he was thinking, she made her way over to a smaller vent cover and tore the grill off. The redhead watched in disgust as her body contorted and shifted to fit through the vent, leaving behind a disgusting trail of pink goo.

When Denise and Ismael saw that she was gone, their screams trailed off and they just awkwardly look over at the other captives.

Alix would've facepalmed if she could move her hands. "So... When the monster kept growing, that wasn't a cue to stop screaming?"

"Sorry," Denise sheepishly apologized. "But hopefully the others heard us."

"Astronauts heard you," Marinette retorts to them.

😈🦋

"What did you to do Denise, you bastard?!" Simon demanded as he threw another chair at the monster. Ivan tries to drag him away, but his anger-strength keeps him where he is as he reached for another chair, only to fall when the monster's tail hooks around his ankle and reels him in. "Get off!" He grabs a book and hurls it at its face, hindering the monster a bit so Scarlet Beetle can cut him free with his yoyo string and hoist him over his shoulder so he can get the redhead to safety. "Put me down!"

Scarlet Beetle ignored his pleas and followed the students and Ikati Black into the cafeteria. Right after setting Simon down, he goes to barricade the doors.

Seeing him going to make a break for the doors, Marcelle restrained Simon's arms. "Simon! You can't go off fighting Akumas!" She urged.

"That thing took Denise, Marcelle!" He thundered with this manic look in his eye. "I-I should have-" He's met with a quick slap across the face from Rose. He looks at the blonde girl in shock, not even attempting to run away when Cosette lets go of his arms.

"Pull yourself together, Simon!" She exclaimed. "I get it, if Juleka were kidnapped too, I'd be upset and want to go after that thing." Juleka looked touched by that declaration. "But be reasonable. It can't be hit, and Scarlet Beetle's and Ikati Black's weapons don't have any effect." Noticing him starting to look away, Rose cups Simon's face and has him look back at her. "But they always find a way to beat every Akuma. Okay?" The redhead only nodded, but that was a good enough answer for her before she hugged the taller boy.

"... Thanks, Rose," he murmured, his lips curling into a slight smile.

Ikati Black sighed a breath of relief when all of the exits were blocked, there were no vents around for the Akuma to pull any surprise attacks, and Simon had calmed down. "Okay, for now until we come up with a plan to hinder that thing, we'll be stuck here for a while. Now, any idea is a good one, so let's hear them."

"No holding back," Scarlet Beetle adds, shifting away from his partner a bit. A few notice this and look at the duo with worry.

"... Well," Aurore started. "Its body isn't completely solid. If it can't be hit without weapons going through it, then why don't we take apart its body?" Noticing the thoughtful look on Ikati Black's face, she continued. "Well, what if we were to get jars from the science classroom? We could rush after the Akuma all at once, trap bits and pieces of it in the jars, and maybe that'll weaken it.

Alya tapped her chin in thought. "Okay, I see where you're going with this. Basically, we're cutting that thing down to size." Aurore gave an enthusiastic nod. "Alright, I'm down." The others made sounds of agreement.

"What do you think?" Scarlet Beetle asked without looking at Ikati Black. Jean and Marc look at them suspiciously.

He gave a jerky shrug of his shoulders. "Well, it's better than mine, leading it into the kitchen freezer so the skin will freeze."

Aurore points to him. "Plan B?" He nods.

"Plan B," Ikati Black agreed. "Alright, now how can we get to the science classroom without risk of being caught?" With his enhanced hearing, he's able to pick up the monster circling around the courtyard, waiting for one of them to come out of hiding... Also... Desks scraping on the floor. "Hey, is anyone else missing?"

Adrien does a quick headcount, making sure to leave out the six students who were kidnapped. When he realizes who's missing, he frowns. "Chloé and Sabrina." Alya rolled her eyes.

"Of course she abandoned us," she huffed. "Why go after one person when there's a huge group? I swear to God, if she uses Sabrina as a human shield, I just might sacrifice her- No, I will sacrifice her."

"We do not sacrifice people," Scarlet Beetle tells her firmly. "And I think I know a way to get to the science classroom. Are there any vents around here?"

😈🦋

"These vents go all around the school, even the basement, but you gotta be good at scaling down and back up." As the heroes, Marcelle, Adrien, Alya, and Jean follow Juleka, they can't help but feel impressed. When they found a vent in the kitchen, Ikati Black was about to pull up schematics of the school's air duct system until Juleka mentioned that she knew her way around, shocking almost everyone except Rose and Mireille.

Although, that would explain the clanging sounds Max would often hear while in the library.

Ikati Black is wishing he had stayed back in the cafeteria or had just stayed home so he wouldn't be in this mess. Ever since Valentine's Day, things have been awkward between him and Scarlet Beetle. Nightly patrols were nothing but awkward small-talk and zero eye contact, and all because he had to be stupid and kiss his partner, his friend! What's worse is that he's crawling right behind the other hero so he has a clear view of his sculpted- Nope!

Before he starts having unneeded thoughts, he clears his throat. "So, how much further?"

Feeling something wet and sticky under her hand, Reshma feels a shiver down her spine when she finds more of the pink goo.

"We should be right over the science classroom." The goth girl answered and points to a vent. "Check it out." She moves around so the others can get a look. And there, they find Sabrina moving all of the desks to the classroom entrance while Chloé sits on Mme. Mendeleieve's desk, not even bothering to check if Sabrina needed a break. Alya was tempted to kick the vent off its hinges, take Ikati Black's staff and just beat her ass.

"This was such as brilliant plan I came up with!" Chloé boasted once Sabrina got the last desk up against the door. "No one's getting through that barricade, so we can just relax and let Scarlet Beetle and Ikati Black do all of the work."

"What a brat," Jean snarked.

The heroes scowled. "Who does she think we are? Her butlers?" Ikati Black muttered. He takes his staff and hits it against the vent before lengthening his staff so he and the others could slide down it like a fire pole.

"Scarlet Beetle! Ikati Black!" Pushing Sabrina to the side, Chloé rushes over to wrap her arms around the hoodie-wearing hero who was keeping his arms far away from her. "Did you come to rescue me?" She tries to go for a kiss, only to be yanked off Scarlet Beetle by Marcelle.

"Is it too late to turn back?" Adrien whispered, earning a sympathetic pat on the back from Alya. He sighs. "Alright, the jars should be in the supply cabinet." He starts to make his way across the classroom, only to stop in his tracks when he notices pink slime beginning to bubble up from a vent in the floor. "G-guys? We need to go!" Before he could run back to the group, he felt something cold wrap around his feet, preventing him from moving.

Scarlet Beetle throws yoyo around Adrien's wrist. "Adrien, hold on!" He pulls, but even with his enhanced strength, Adrien won't budge. Meanwhile, Ikati Black uses his cataclysm to make a hole in the wall so the others can get to safety. After what seemed like forever, Adrien was finally able to pull one foot out of the slime. But by that time, something pricked the side of his head and everything just went black.

~Now, sit back, relax, and enjoy The Adrien Agreste Nightmare Hour~ (TW Warning for Non-con Touching)

"STOP IT! GET OFF OF ME!" The blonde cried as dozens of unfamiliar hands gripped and prodded at his body, and new ones just kept coming. Some gentle, some rough, and he hated every single one of them.

Hehehe!" A chilling voice giggled. "Oh, darling, you really can't decide that." A cold hand makes it's way down Adrien's leg, making him shiver and wonder when this will end. And it only got worse from there when some hands began to slither their way under his shirt. No matter how much he begged or said no, the hands just wouldn't stop and squeezed every bit of skin they could get.

It didn't take too long for tears to start forming. And the hands started to caress his face to wipe away the tears as a result.

"Please stop touching me, please stop touching me, please stop touching me," he murmured over and over again when suddenly-

"ADRIEN!"

He was jolted awake by a familiar voice. Much to his relief, the hands were all gone, but he still felt restricted. But, much to his relief and slight fear, he was being restrained by a massive pink spider web. Oh, and there's Alix and Marinette with him. "H-hey," he stammered, worrying the bluenette. "Um... What happened?"

"You got kidnapped by the Akuma." Able to turn his head slightly, Adrien sees that he's next to Nathaniel. "Hey."

"Hey. Who else is here?"

"Denise and Ismael," the Pakistani boy answered. Adrien looks above him and sees the two are placed higher up the web. "Man, you were knocked out! You were kicking, screaming, 'Please stop touching me!'" He looks at the blonde with worry. "You alright, man?"

Adrien looks down at himself once again. He just needed to double-check. "... Y-yeah, I'm alright. But, how did I get here?"

"Through the vents," Marinette answered, but it was clear in her voice that she didn't believe her friend was okay. "I think that's how the Akuma is getting around without getting caught. A couple of them are wide enough for us to go through, and they've been sealing them back up so nobody can follow them. I doubt anyone even knows we're down here."

"Well, why can't we just scream for help now?" Ismael wondered before remembering what happened last time. "Right. We scream, they grow, not smart, got it."

Alix sighed. "Let's just hope the others figure that out."

😈🦋

Nino and Simon hold each other as they scream for dear life while they're trapped in the Akuma's tail; Marcelle is smacking it with a metal spoon from the kitchen even though it has no effect; Cosette, Chloé, Jean, and Marc have all gone limp in the monster's hold with the occasional twitching and yelp; and Scarlet Beetle and Ikati Black are trying to get the students free while keeping those who remained unharmed safe.

Ikati Black glances down at his ring and sees only two pads left. "Scarlet Beetle! I need to recharge!"

"Hurry back!" With a quick salute, Ikati Black vaulted back to the cafeteria. "Put 'em down!" He throws his yoyo at the Akuma's eye, and to his surprise, it doesn't go through. Finally, a weak spot! He throws his yoyo at each of the creatures' eyes, blinding them. "Gotcha!" As the Akuma flailed around from the pain, Juleka was the first to notice.

"Look!" She points to the third set of arms, dripping on the floor and becoming watery until they were reduced to nothing but a puddle. A bit of slime even dripped from the Akuma's body, making them shorter. "I think fear is making it stronger."

Scarlet Beetle almost wanted to facepalm. They could've gotten this done a whole lot quicker if they just stopped screaming. While the Akuma was weakened, he pulled the students out of their hold with his yoyo and hefted Jean and Cosette over his shoulders while Ivan took Marc and Chloé.

"We can hide in the basement!" Lacey instructed, and the others wasted no time following her. "There's enough hiding spaces!"

By the time everyone made it into the basement, Cosette, Marc, Chloé, and Jean woke up, looking as if they hadn't slept for weeks.

"Fuck," Cosette murmured as Scarlet Beetle set them and Marc down. Ivan did the same with Jean and Chloé, although, he was much more gentle with the brunette. "My head." Feeling some tears on their cheek, they quickly wipe them away before anyone can see. "Where are we?"

"Guuuuys?" They heard Adrien call out.

Then Marinette, "Anybody there?"

Nathaniel shouts, "Someone, get us down!"

"I really need to use the bathroom!" ... Ismael.

The group made their way further into the room where they come across the missing students, all trapped in a massive pink spider web. "Well, this totally isn't my nightmare," Scarlet Beetle gulped. "Are you guys okay?"

"All the blood's rushing to my head," Marinette groaned, her face a pale shade of red much to the worry of her friends. "Get me down first, please." Scarlet Beetle was quick to comply and handed her off to Nino since she was having trouble standing. Before he could help the others, pink goo burst from one of the vents and took the form of Akuma. The students tried to run, but it spits slime at their only exit.

"We're done for!" Jean cried.

"No, we're not! Lucky Charm!" And he was given... "A box of cornstarch?" Before he could come up with a plan, he hastily dodged out of the way of the Akuma's slime spit. "Where are you, Ikati?" He murmured to himself while using his yoyo as a shield. Before he could come up with a plan, Marinette yelled, "Throw the cornstarch on the Akuma!"

Nathaniel seemed to realize what she was saying and nodded. "Cornstarch thickens slime! That way, you can hit her!" The more he thought about it, he doesn't see himself getting the Miraculous today. If Horrificator captures Scarlet Beetle and Ikati Black, she'll be waiting for him to arrive to congratulate her and then take the Miraculous for himself. Next time, then.

Scarlet Beetle rips the box open and throws the powdery substance all over the Akuma. He didn't expect such quick results, but when their movements were becoming slower and the slime spit came out in big globs that fell to the floor, Scarlet Beetle seized the opportunity to attack. He wraps his yoyo around the Akuma, and to his joy, the string doesn't go through their body. While the Akuma was struggling to get free, Scarlet Beetle looked around for the Akumatized object.

"Where is it?"

"I think I may have found it," Ikati Black said. Standing by the basement entrance, he holds a black pin covered in slime. "I found it by one of the vents while I was heading back. Must've fallen off of." Ivan instantly recognized it.

"That's the pin I gave to Myléne!" He looks over at the Akuma and takes a few tentative steps forward. When they don't try to attack him, and instead look at Ivan with a soft expression, he moves closer. "Myléne?" Letting out a quiet chirp, the Akuma licked the side of his face with her long blue tongue, getting purple saliva all over him. "... Oh, God. That just happened."

Holding back a laugh, Ikati Black crushed the pin in his hand, releasing the Akuma. "Well, look who was right."

Not even bothering to tease his partner, Scarlet Beetle captures the Akuma before setting the origami butterfly free. Then, he tossed the empty box into the air. "MIRACULOUS SCARLET BEETLE!" While the ladybugs worked their magic, he retracts his yoyo when Myléne starts to turn back to normal. Before she could question what was going in, she was pulled into Ivan's loving embrace as their friends cooed.

"So. Fucking. Adorable," Lacey giggled.

"I beg to differ." Jean points to Denise wrapped in Simon's scrawnier warms as he kissed them all over their face while saying in Irish, "Buíochas le Dia tú ceart go leor! Shíl mé gur chaill mé thú!" Amongst all of the love in the room, Scarlet Beetle and Ikati Black easily slipped out, and Kim and Max were back with the group as if they had never left.

😈🦋

After today's events, both classes agreed that it would be best to head home, get some sleep and try again in the morning without any interference from Monarch.

"You're sure I didn't hurt you guys?" Noticing the uneasy looks on some, she hid her face in her hands. "I'm so sorry!"

Adrien gave an awkward chuckle. "I-it's fine. It wasn't anything physical."

"Yeah, we just had some nightmares, is all," Cosette tells her while tugging on its hoodie sleeve. "Not even that bad, really. Nothing a few hours of sleep won't fix, right?" Those who were forced to see their worst nightmares nodded in agreement while Chloé only looked down at her phone, although, the others were skeptical. "I'm serious. We deal with all sorts of shit every week. Alright, we're bound to be traumatized."

"Kind of a bleak way of wording that, but I agree," Alix nodded. "You're alright, Myléne, okay? So no moping around." The rainbow-haired girl look unsure until Ivan wrapped an arm around her, causing her to smile a bit. "There we go! Gotta love boyfriends." She gives Ivan a high-five before making her way down the steps. "See ya'll tomorrow!"

The students gave their goodbyes and made their way back home, today's events still in their heads. However, there was just something on Marcelle's mind that she couldn't stop thinking about. Her brother noticed. "Are you alright, Marcelle?"

"... Y-yeah. But, Marc, and tell me if I'm wrong. We all saw Nathaniel's shoe covered in slime outside the other classroom, right?" He slowly nodded, not sure where this is going. "Right, and we thought he was captured. But, when we went into the music room, he was being cornered by Myléne." Seeing the thoughtful expression on his face, she nods. "Yeah, I knew I wasn't the only one who noticed."

"D-do you think he outran her?"

A laugh escaped through Marcelle's lips. "Bro, I've seen that boy run. There's no way he could outrun an Akuma that gets stronger by feasting on people's fears."

Marc chuckled a bit as he thought about it. "Okay, you're totally right. But, I hear what you're saying. And when we were all in the basement, did you hear him call Myléne 'her?' Until we figured out the Akuma was her, we've been using 'it' and 'they' pronouns. So, how'd he know?"

"... That is kind of strange. I-I just wanted to hear what someone else thought, really. I'm probably overthinking." Marc gives them an unsure look before shrugging.

"Hey, if you say so, but now you've got me thinking about it." As he and Marcelle continued their way down the stairs, Marc couldn't help but glance at the redhead, talking on his phone as he walked away from the school... But... Why was his phone off?