On the other side, Marinette hummed an off-key tune, her steps light as she ran up the stairs leading to her attic room.
In her mind, the grand blueprint for the "double date" that Alya had just drawn up for her played on repeat like a slideshow—Alya would be responsible for creating various "accidents":
Accidentally spilling a drink on Jaden, giving Marinette the chance to thoughtfully wipe him clean with a tissue;
Or pretending to sprain her ankle, giving her a legitimate reason to hold onto his arm... Every scene was so beautiful and heart-racing.
She imagined how Jaden would be moved by her clumsy but sincere concern, and what kind of gentle light would reflect in those deep, night-sky-like dark eyes.
"Marinette, Marinette!"
Tikki flew out of her satchel, calling out anxiously near her ear.
But at this moment, Marinette was completely submerged in her pink bubble of fantasy, deaf to everything outside.
She plopped down in front of her workbench, which was piled high with fabric and design sketches, and habitually turned on her computer, intending to sketch out the rush of inspiration she had just received.
However, as the computer screen lit up, an automatically popping-up video website homepage displayed a bold, red-highlighted title and a highly impactful cover image, which struck her fantasies like a heavy hammer—
[Title: Kiss of the Century? Paris Hero Duo Allegedly Exposes Romance! A Collection of Super Intimate Moments between Ladybug and Cat Noir During Battle!]
The cover showed the exact moment of the "wall slam" that had set the entire internet ablaze: "herself," clad in a red bodysuit, cornered by Cat Noir, who had brilliant blonde hair and wore a black bodysuit. Their faces were almost touching, with the sunset-reddened sky in the background.
Marinette was dumbfounded.
The sweet, romantic scenes in her mind vanished instantly like a popped balloon, replaced by disbelief, shame, and a sense of betrayed anger.
She pointed a finger at the figure on the screen who looked exactly like her, her voice turning sharp with shock: "How... how could she do that?!"
In her understanding, An Marinette, as her parallel-world self, should uphold the "hero" code after transforming into Ladybug—a core tenet of which was maintaining a safe distance from her partner, the Cat.
She herself had always done this: she consistently and sternly rejected Cat Noir's endless stream of jokes and flirtations;
When rescuing men during battle, she usually used her yo-yo to pull them from a distance, absolutely avoiding unnecessary physical contact.
But what about this "Ladybug" on the screen? In the face of Cat Noir's flirting, she merely offered a few mild reproaches, and even... even allowed the other party to make such an intimate gesture!
This was practically public execution! It was an insult to her, Marinette's, character!
What if... what if Jaden saw this? What would he think?
Would he think that she was also the kind of girl who would casually hug her partner and be fickle?
"Wow, Marinette, look! The parallel-world you and that Cat have such a good relationship!" Tikki hadn't realized the seriousness of the situation and innocently praised it from the side.
"Good? This is a disaster!"
Marinette abruptly stood up from the chair, clutching her head, and paced back and forth in the room agonizingly. "If Jaden sees this, everything is over! What will he think of me? He'll definitely think I'm an indecent girl!"
Her voice was already laced with a sob.
Originally, the Parisian internet was already full of speculation that "Ladybug and Cat Noir are a couple," and she had been trying hard to clarify and avoid suspicion.
Now, with An Marinette doing this, it was like pouring a barrel of jet fuel onto the raging flames of gossip!
For those two heroes who came from afar, this might just be harmless interaction, but for her and this world's Cat Noir, it was undoubtedly a public relations disaster!
"Tikki!"
Marinette stopped pacing and spoke sternly to the Kwami in an almost commanding tone, "You! Now! Go immediately and ask Master Fu!
When exactly can we send them back? If this continues, my reputation will be completely ruined!"
Seeing Marinette so distressed, Tikki finally understood the crux of the problem—it knew that what Marinette truly feared was Jaden misunderstanding and rejecting her after seeing this "evidence."
"But, Marinette, I already asked the Master yesterday..." Tikki flew in front of her, looking troubled. "The Master said he couldn't do anything about it either.
And... and the Master has been busy translating the spellbook recently, maybe he can find a solution..."
"I don't care!"
Marinette interrupted it, her face showing unprecedented seriousness. "When An Marinette returns, I must tell her personally:
While in Paris, she must maintain the dignity and reserve expected of Ladybug!
She absolutely cannot act like she did in that video again! Otherwise, I am truly... completely finished!"
...Meanwhile, in the luxurious and empty Agreste Mansion, Adrien was also experiencing a scene of "social death" identical to Marinette's.
He slumped on the sofa in his room, watching the "wall slam" video looping on the oversized computer screen,
along with the constantly refreshing comments below like "I ship it" and "So sweet," making him want to crawl into a hole.
"Woah~"
Plagg, hugging a piece of camembert cheese larger than her own body, munched on it with relish while teasing mercilessly, "It looks like your relationship with your 'M'Lady' in the other world has really progressed rapidly!"
Adrien groaned and covered his face with his hands: "It's over... it's all over..."
"What's wrong?" Plagg tilted her head, looking puzzled. "Isn't this great? Haven't you always wanted to get closer to her?"
"That was before!"
Adrien peered through his fingers and said painfully, "Everything before was fine; it could be explained away as fans grasping at straws.
But this situation now... I just pray that after those parallel heroes go back, Ladybug won't find an opportunity to hang me from the Eiffel Tower in public retaliation."
He could already imagine the cold, disgusted expression beneath Ladybug's mask the next time they met.
Seeing Adrien in such distress, Plagg wisely changed the subject instead of saying more: "Alright, alright, don't think about it so much.
But seriously, you looked really happy playing with your friends today."
At the mention of this, Alternate Adrien's spirits lifted slightly.
He lowered his hand, a nostalgic smile appearing on his face. "Yeah, today was really great.
Before, every time an Akumatized Person appeared, I had to come up with all sorts of lame excuses to leave early—like 'My father needs me for a photoshoot' or something—and seeing the disappointment in my friends' eyes made me feel terrible.
But now that Alternate Adrien is here, I can finally enjoy a party that belongs completely to me."
However, Alternate Adrien frowned in confusion: Why hadn't Alternate Adrien returned yet?
As he spoke, he opened his classmates' chat group, wanting to see if everyone was discussing today's gathering.
However, a message that had just popped up, sent by Kim, instantly caught his eye—
[Kim]: @All Members Emergency Notice! Parallel World kim... he's gone!
As soon as this message appeared, the group chat exploded.
[Marinette]: What?! What happened?!
[Alya]: What exactly happened? Kim, explain quickly! How did he go back?
(I also want to quickly send that reckless guy back! Otherwise, I'm genuinely afraid I'll wake up one day and see news about An Alya dying at an Akumatization scene!)
[Kim]: I... I don't know either... [Max]: Based on my observation and analysis, Kim and I were just with "Parallel World kim."
Suddenly, a storm appeared around Parallel World kim's body, and then he vanished.
That energy... it looked very similar to the scene when Ladybug activates the Miraculous Restoration.
[Alix]: A delayed Miraculous Restoration? Is that possible?
She then asked if the "counterparts" near everyone else were still present.
[Chloé]: That annoying guy is still next to me watching TV.
[Sabrina]: The one here hasn't left either.
[Mylène]: No... [Rose]: An Rose is still here with me... Seeing a series of negative replies, Marinette's heart sank.
When she first saw Kim's message, a glimmer of hope had sparked—maybe An Marinette had gone back too?
But just as this thought emerged, the door to the room's balcony was gently pushed open.
A figure wearing a red and black spotted bodysuit skillfully climbed in, landing steadily on the floor. With a flash of red light, An Marinette de-transformed.
Marinette silently typed the words "No" into the group chat and tossed her phone onto the bed in disappointment.
"What's wrong?"
An Marinette looked at her dejected appearance and asked, puzzled.
Marinette didn't answer, she just pointed at the computer screen.
An Marinette leaned over to look, and when she saw the infinitely magnified screenshot of the "wall slam," a trace of awkwardness appeared on her face too.
"Why... why are you back so late?"
Marinette finally spoke, Her tone carrying barely suppressed interrogation.
"Oh, that..."
An Marinette pretended to be casual and smoothed her hair. "After dealing with the big guy, I helped the police handle the aftermath at the scene, so I was a bit late coming back."
"Aftermath?"
Marinette's gaze sharpened. "What I'm asking is, haven't you always liked Alternate Adrien?
Then why... why were you so close to that Cat?!"
Being questioned so directly, An Marinette's cheeks flushed. Her expression turned a little ugly, perhaps thinking of something.
But she insisted, "I've always liked Alternate Adrien. What does that have to do with Cat Noir?
He's just a chatterbox who loves to joke around. We have... we have purely a comrade-in-arms relationship!"
As she spoke, she quickly changed the subject. "Wait, what were you guys talking about in the group chat? Who went back?"
Marinette was full of suspicion, feeling that the matter was far more complicated than a simple "comrade-in-arms relationship," but seeing An Marinette's eagerness to distance herself, she knew further questioning would be fruitless, so she temporarily gave up.
On the other side, a nearly identical scene was unfolding in Adrien's room.
A black figure climbed in through the window and de-transformed. It was Alternate Adrien.
"Hey, I'm back... Huh? What are you guys talking about?"
Adrien saw Alternate Adrien staring at his phone with a serious expression.
Adrien unhappily typed "No" into the group chat, then looked up at him: "You're certainly back late. What were you doing?"
"Ah, I helped out a bit, evacuating people."
Alternate Adrien gave the same reason as An Marinette.
He walked over to Adrien and saw the message about Parallel World kim's disappearance in the group chat. "Oh? Parallel World kim went back? How?"
"Max analyzed that it might be a delayed effect of the Miraculous Restoration."
Adrien answered, then changed the subject, looking at him with a scrutinizing gaze. "What's going on with you and that Ladybug...?"
Alternate Adrien naturally knew what he was referring to and immediately said, "Right now, it's a comrade-in-arms relationship! In the future, it's love!"
Adrien looked at his expression and didn't know what else to say.
After all, he was his parallel-world self, but this relationship was so messy even Alternate Adrien couldn't sort it out.
Just then, a war broke out between the two black Kwamis.
Alternate plagg, who flew out of Alternate Adrien's ring, was starving. As soon as she appeared, she smelled the scent of cheese.
Without a word, it lunged straight for the massive camembert cheese in front of Plagg.
"Hey! That's mine!" Plagg immediately shielded her food, baring her teeth at Alternate plagg in displeasure.
"Give me some! I'm starving to death!"
"No! This is my share for today!"
"Stingy!"
The two little black Cats chased and wrestled in the air for the food, flying back and forth.