[Narrator's POV]

Mrs Bustier has a passion for literature so it was not hard for Adrien and Marinette to find her amongst the book stands.

"Hi ma'am!" Marinette greets brightly.

"Oh, hello." Mrs Bustier smiles and puts down the book she was looking at. "I see you're competing in The Ultimate Competition. I must say I am very impressed with both of your participation in the Story Book Parade."

"Thanks Ms Bustier. So, what challenge do you have for us?" Asks Adrien.

"A scavenger hunt!" Ms Bustier takes out a small list and hands it to Adrien. "Collect these items from the students in our class and bring them back to me. However, you are not allowed to simply ask your classmates. You must take the items without them knowing about your partaking in the competition."

"Right. Thanks Ms Bustier, see you soon." Marinette says, waving her teacher goodbye.

Adrien reads the list out loud as they walk. "One wicker basket, one wizarding wand, one tiara, one pirate's parrot, one magnifying glass and one clown nose."

"Rose's scrapbooking stall is up ahead!" Marinette says, pointing at a small pink stall. "Goldilocks and the three bears will have the wicker basket."

"Let's sneak around the back. As much as it pains me to steal from Rose, she can't know that we're participating in The Ultimate Competition." Adrien replies.

As they draw nearer, Adrien and Marinette notice that Ivan and Nathaniel, with possession of the wizard wand, are also hanging out at Rose's stall.

Adrien chuckles and rubs his hands together mischievously. "Here the prey gathers."

Marinette and Adrien sneak around the back of Rose's stall.

"Here's the plan. Everyone is inside the booth which means I can crouch behind the counter and they won't see me. We'll take Nathaniel's wand first and then once I create the distraction, you snatch Rose's basket." Adrien whispers.

"What? How will I know when your making the distraction? And What do I do in the meantime? How are we stealing Nathaniel's wand?" Marinette questions.

"Easy. You distract Nathaniel with your girly charms and leave the rest to me." Adrien answers before shoving Marinette forward.

"Woah—wait!" Marinette starts.

Adrien crawls around Marinette's feet and crouches behind the counter where she is standing right in front of Nathaniel.

"M-Marinette! Hi." Nathaniel greets.

"Hi, hey, what—what are you guys doing here?" Marinette says, her eyes flickering down to Adrien nervously.

Adrien is crawling under the stall table that is acting as a counter. Clearly he intends to swipe Nathaniel's wand from his pocket while he is busy talking to Marinette.

"We're helping out." Nathaniel answers. "Is everything okay?"

Marinette's head snaps back up. "Everything is fine! I-I just wanted to say hi to my fellow classmates."

"Oh...er, hi?" Nathaniel replies awkwardly.

Ivan, Mylene and Juleka all give Marinette a wave.

"Hi Marinette!" Rose says happily. "That's so nice of you to drop by, do you like my stall?"

"I love it! It's so pretty...and pink." Marinette answers.

Adrien successfully retrieves Nathinael's wand and scoots back to Marinette's side but she is still focused on Nathaniel.

"It's very kind of you to visit us." He tells her. "You're so caring to everyone Marinette, and you're especially compassionate for our class. I hope you know what an admirable class leader you are."

Adrien growls impatiently.

Marinette immediately feels less stressed. She allows herself to forget about the competition and why she is here for a moment.

"Really? Thank you!" Marinette says. "It's nice to hear that my efforts are appreciated."

"By the way, Marinette..." Nathaniel continues shyly. "I didn't get the chance to tell you this morning but I love your dress. You look really beautiful."

"Aw, that's so sweet NathaneeOUCH!"

Adrien had given Marinette a jab in the leg with Nathaniel's wand.

"What was that for?" Marinette snaps as she rubs her leg.

Her classmates look at her with puzzled expressions. Marinette smiles back up at them.

"Sorry, uh, pesky mosquitos." She says. "Anyway, thanks. That's really sweet of you to say Nathaniel."

Adrien frowns and shoves the table beside him. Nathaniel opens his mouth to reply when all of a sudden the counter knocks over and goes crashing to the ground, paper and glitter flying everywhere. Marinette looks down at Adrien in a panic who just points at Rose's basket urgently. While everyone else bends down hurriedly to help Rose clean up, Marinette snatches the wicker basket and runs away as fast as she can.

"That was your distraction? You destroyed poor Rose's stall!" Marinette says.

"I couldn't think of anything else! I'll apologise to her later." Adrien replies.

Marinette and Adrien stop running and hide behind a food stall to catch their breath.

"That was so embarrassing. Why did you make me the small talker while you got to hide behind the counter?" Marinette whines.

"Because I don't have girly charms. Nathaniel would only be distracted enough not to notice someone finishing around in his pocket if he is talking to you." Adrien answers, presenting Marinette with Nathaniel's wizard wand.

Marinette takes the wand and puts it in Rose's wicker basket guiltily. "Poor Nathaniel..."

"He'll get over it." Adrien pouts bitterly.

"Okay, let's head over to Alya's stall." Marinette says. "I hope Nino is still there too."

Adrien and Marinette emerge from their hiding place behind the food stall and turn the corner to come face to face with Chloe and Sabrina. They both let out a peep in fright.

"Adrikins! I've been looking everywhere for you." Chloe throws her arms around Adrien.

Whilst Chloe is snuggling Adrien, Marinette slowly reaches her hand up to take her tiara but just before she can grasp it Sabrina yells out,

"Chloe, Marinette's trying to swipe your tiara!"

Chloe immediately pulls away from Adrien and glares at Marinette. "Just what are you doing here anyway?"

"She's taken Adrien captive!" Sabrina points at the handcuffs in dismay.

Chloe gasps.

"The nerve of you, kink shaming the Adrien Agreste. And here I thought you pledged your undying loyalty and love to him." Marinette tuts.

Chloe double gasps, her face turning blue with shock.

"Hey, this is Christian Grey's fault!" Adrien denies.

"You're right. I told you those late night reads were a bad influence on you." Marinette sniggers devilishly.

"Y-You know I was referring to Kim!" Adrien replies, his face turning red from embarrassment.

"A three-way relationship..." Sabrina mutters darkly.

"Enough!" Chloe stamps her foot on the ground angrily. "Why are you handcuffed to this vermin?"

Marinette looks at Adrien and then back at Chloe. "Well that's rude. He's right here you know."

"I was talking about you!" Chloe grunts through gritted teeth.

Adrien leans over to Marinette and whispers, "We aren't allow to ask them for the item and we aren't allowed to tell them why we need it...but Ms Bustier never said we had to steal it without them noticing."

Marinette takes a moment to consider before nodding in agreement. She then snatches Chloe's tiara and sprints off with Adrien.

"AH! Hey! COME BACK HERE!" Chloe screeches, chasing after them. "First you steal my prince charming and now you're taking my crown? How dare you!"

"Run faster!" Adrien yells fearfully.

"Do you know how hard it is to run in this dress?" Marinette shouts.

"Do you know how hard it is to run in these pointy shoes?" Adrien shouts back.

Luckily, neither Marinette nor Adrien's costumes were as physically disadvantaging as Chloe and Sabrina's, being a tight dress with heels and an Olaf mascot suit. Marinette and Adrien twist and turn as many corners as they can before eventually losing Chloe and fortunately arriving at their destination of Alya's LadyNoir stall.

Alya and Nino are both chatting away behind the counter. Alya notices the newcomers out of the corner of her eye and turns to greet them. Marinette and Adrien quickly squish together and put their handcuffed wrists behind their backs in order to hide them.

"Hey guys. I thought you promised not to come back to my stall?" Alya jokes.

"Oh, well, you know—" Marinette starts.

"We need a place to hide from Chloe." Adrien finishes bluntly.

"Say no more." Alya replies. "Come on in."

Adrien and Marinette shuffle forward, careful not to reveal their handcuffed wrists.

"Wow, you two sure got close." Nino says with a smirk.

"Yeah, we bonded in Neverland." Adrien replies before pulling Marinette aside abruptly. "What do we do, we've got less than eight minutes to finish this and we still haven't found Mr Damocles?!"

"I say we just grab Alya's magnifying glass and Nino's parrot and then head straight for Max's clown nose. We've got no time to take the stealthy route." Marinette schemes in a hush.

Alya and Nino peer at Marinette and Adrien as if trying to depict their whispers and murmurs.

"Alright." Adrien sighs and confronts Nino and Alya. "We apologise in advance for this."

Alya and Nino exchange confused looks. Adrien nods to Marinette. He then yanks Nino's parrot off his shoulder as Marinette snatches Alya's magnifying glass.

"What?"

"Hey!"

Nino and Alya shout.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry!" Marinette cries as she and Adrien sprint away.

Nino and Alya stare blankly as Marinette and Adrien book it back towards the opposite end of the parade.

Marinette and Adrien skid to a stop just out of view of Kim and Max's Ultimate Competition stall.

"They know about the competition, obviously, which means they will see us coming." Adrien says. "So how are we going to get Max's clown nose?"

"I've got an idea." Marinette tucks away all their collected items in the wicker basket and hides it behind her back as she and Adrien stroll casually up to the booth.

Max checks his watch as they approach. "You're not yet out of time. So, have you come to forfeit?"

Marinette looks down sadly.

"Yes." Adrien answers reluctantly, holding up his handcuffed wrist. "Just get this thing off."

Max gets out a key and edges closer.

"Psych!" Marinette snatches Max's clown nose.

"Hey!" Yells Max.

"Gotchya nose!" Adrien laughs as he and Marinette dart away.

The two teenagers dash through the Story Book parade, puffing and wheezing by the time they reach Ms Bustier.

"My my. That was fast." Ms Bustier says.

Marinette holds out the basket of stolen items, which Ms Bustier gladly accepts.

"Here you go, good job you two!' Ms Bustier happily stamps their card and hands it back to Marinette. "As a reward, I will give you a heads up. You can search all you like but Mr Damocles is not in the parade at the moment. He is currently hidden away in his office."

"Thanks Ms Bustier! You just saved us a heap of time." Adrien says gratefully.

"No problem. Now if you will excuse me, I need to return all of these items to my students. Well...except maybe this one." Ms Bustier props Chloe's tiara atop her head and smiles before walking off.

Marinette and Adrien waste no time and begin sprinting up the stairs to Mr Damocles' office.

"Okay, okay." Marinette says. "We've already come so far. We won a sword fight against Armand D'Argencourt. We made Ms Mendeleiev laugh. Whatever Mr Damocles has in stall, we can do it."

Adrien grasps the handles and opens the office doors. Mr Damocles is huddled at his desk, swamped in a mountain of paperwork.

He looks up from his work and stares at Adrien and Marinette. "May I help you?"

"We've come for your task," Marinette says. "For The Ultimate Competition."

"My task? Oh, right, my task." Mr Damocles strokes his beard as he looks around his office for ideas. "Now that you mention it I am a bit hungry. Haven't gotten the chance to eat all day. Get me a Croque Monsieur Ham and Cheese Sandwich and I'll stamp your card."

"A-A Sandwich? You...just want a sandwich?" Marinette stammers.

Adrien laughs lightheadedly. "He just wants a sandwich. Oh thank god!"

"Yes...um, are you kids feeling okay?" Mr Damocles questions.

"We're fine." Marinette answers, waving her hand.

"We can do this." Adrien adds.

The two exhausted teenagers hurry out of the principle's office and back down into the Story Book Parade.

"Alright. Ham and cheese sandwich." Marinette says as she scans the crowd. "...where are we going to find a Croque Monsieur ham and cheese sandwich?"

"We aren't allowed to leave school grounds so I guess we just scrounge around until we inevitably run out of time." Adrien replies.

"Hmm..." Marinette evaluates the importance of this situation. If she and Adrien can complete this Ultimate Competition together, it will prove their compatibility as partners and Adrien will have the best day with her by his side. But, if they don't win...Adrien will be crushed and he will associate this bad experience with her. She will have failed as his teammate and possible partner.

Marinette's eyes shoot open, flaring with determination. "We'll just have to search through every lunchbox on campus. Someone is bound to have a ham and cheese sandwich, I don't care how fancy it is!"

Adrien checks the time on his phone. "We've got barely five minutes, let's get searching."

Marinette and Adrien check the girls locker room first, fishing through every bag they could find with no luck. Marinette felt a little less comfortable about exploring the boys locker room. Unable to split up, Marinette closes her eyes as she and Adrien walk through boys locker room.

"You don't have to do that." He says.

"I know how gross and messy boys are, I am not risking it. I would rather not have nightma-e-ahhh!"

Marinette trips on a stray bag and falls to the ground, pulling Adrien down with her.

"Ugh...stupid handcuffs." Adrien groans.

Adrien's brain slowly focuses on the situation after the shock of falling and he finds himself on top of Marinette, who is lying on the ground with her eyes screwed shut. Adrien's face burns up as he stares down at her.

"Sorry, I'm too clumsy for this. I'll open my eyes from now on..." Marinette says.

Marinette's eyelids slowly begin to lift when Adrien quickly slaps a hand over her eyes.

"D-Don't look yet!"

Adrien isn't sure why he feels so flustered, all he knows is that he is blushing like crazy and doesn't want Marinette to see.

"Why?" Asks Marinette.

Adrien doesn't know how to answer. He isn't quite sure why. He figures he should just cool down and is about to lift his hand when the locker room door swings open. Adrien freezes.

Confused and concerned by Adrien's silence, Marinette beings to panic and wriggle around in an attempt to shake his hand off her face. "What's happening? Adrien? Adrien!"

Nino walks into the locker room and stops dead in his tracks at the sight. Adrien, handcuffed to Marinette, pinning her down on the floor whilst she struggles to escape from his blindfolding grip on her face. The door slowly creaks shut behind Nino as he and Adrien stare at each other in silence.

Adrien's eyes linger down to Marinette lying beneath him and then back up at Nino. "Uh...it's not what it looks like?" He tries awkwardly.

Nino's brain finally finishes processing what he is looking at and immediately goes into panic mode. "A-Adrien—Dude! Not—Not cool! What do you think you're doing? Get off of her!"

Adrien clambers off of Marinette who sits up and looks around, blinking steadily as her eyes adjust to the light.

Nino rushes over to her side. "Marinette, are you okay? Did he hurt you? Did he...did he touch you?"

Adrien's face boils from embarrassment. "What? No! Nino, I told you it's not what it looks like."

Marinette squints as her vision slowly returns to normal. "Nino...? What does what look like?"

"Marinette tripped over and dragged me down with her!" Adrien explains desperately, waving his handcuffed arm around.

Nino snatches Adrien's handcuffed wrist. "And what is this?!"

Marinette suddenly remembers their mission. She grabs Nino's shirt and shakes him back and forth, her eyes wild. "Do you have a ham and cheese sandwich?"

"Look what you've done to her! Delusional from trauma." Nino says dramatically.

Adrien groans and puts his head in his hands. "This is not happening..."

"We don't have time for this!" Marinette exclaims, pulling herself and Adrien up to their feet. "We have to find that sandwich!"

Marinette kicks open the locker room door and sprints back into the Story Book Parade, dragging Adrien behind her. They search through every single food stall only to find nothing. Just as they are about to give up hope, Marinette's nose twitches.

"Do you smell that? Ham and cheese..." Marinette sniffs the air and follows the scent like a bloodhound.

"My mum makes the best toasties..." comes a voice.

Marinette and Adrien peek around the corner of a stall to see a large boy, twice the size of Ivan, standing with two other teenagers. The bulky teenager presents a zip-lock bag to his friends and inside the bag is a toasted ham and cheese sandwich. The golden brown glaze of the bread, the smell of hot cheese and ham...is glorious.

Marinette stares at the bagged sandwich with wide eyes. "That's Theo Quentin, the toughest, roughest, meanest bully in school..." She turns to Adrien and says shortly, "We have to steal his sandwich."

"Are you crazy? Look at the size of that guy!" Adrien replies.

"It's okay, I don't think he hits girls. And you're handcuffed to me, so, you know." Marinette shrugs before walking out towards them.

"Wait—no!" Adrien tries, but it is too late.

Marinette clears her throat to announce her presence. "Excuse me, sir."

Theo stops smiling at his sandwich to glare coldly at Marinette.

"I was wondering, may I please have your sandwich?" She asks politely.

"No." Theo grunts.

"Oh well, you heard the man." Adrien says. "Let's go—"

"Yes, let's." Marinette replies, though she stays standing where she is.

Adrien watches her uneasily in fear of what she might be thinking.

Marinette takes a deep breath to ready herself. "Goodbye then."

And, as Adrien expected, Marinette grabs the zip-lock bag containing the sandwich before sprinting away. Adrien cries out in fear as Theo begins chasing them, roaring with rage.

"It's okay, we'll just lose him in the parade like we did with Chloe." Assures Marinette.

Adrien and Marinette take a sharp turn but Theo just crashes straight through the stall. Marinette squeals as a flying table smashes beside her. She and Adrien continue to twist and turn through the parade but Theo continues to knock down any stalls that get in his way.

"Soon there isn't going to be much parade left to lose him in!" Adrien yells.

He and Marinette pick up their speed, quickly approaching Rose's scrapbooking stall— one of the few stalls left standing. As Marinette and Adrien jump the counter, Marinette grabs a bowl of glitter and throws it behind her. The bowl hits Theo in the face and the glitter gets in his eyes. Blinded by sparkles, he howls and thrashes around aimlessly.

"We have to get up to Mr Damocles' office!" Marinette says.

Adrien and Marinette begin sprinting towards the outskirt of the parade when suddenly Theo smashes a nearby stall and a piece of airborne debris knocks the sandwich clean out of Marinette's hands.

"NO! The sandwich!" Marinette screams, dashing forward.

She leaps through the air, pulling Adrien along with her, and dives to the ground to catch the sandwich. Marinette and Adrien land with a painful thud on the concrete. They both groan in pain and lift their heads to see a pair of leather shoes standing in front of them. Mr Damocles was drawn out of his office by the ruckus.

Marinette holds up the sandwich weakly. "We...we got your sandwich...sir."

Mr Damocles temporarily forgets about why he came down to the parade in the first place as he happily accepts his food. "Ah, thank you."

"Oh it was no struggle, really." Adrien says sarcastically.

Mr Damocles takes a bite of the sandwich and turns his gaze back to the destroyed parade. He slowly begins to frown as he chews.

"Er...what exactly happened to my parade?" He asks.

Theo comes charging through the crowd, yelling furiously. "My sandwich! I'm gonna kill you, pipsqueaks!"

"Theo Quentin! My office—NOW!" Mr Damocles spits crossly.

Theo stops dead in his tracks at the sight of the principle. He looks down at Marinette and Adrien, his eyes bulging with hatred, but he does not say a word. He grinds his teeth in anger and storms up to the principle's office.

Mr Damocles sighs and takes another bite of his sandwich. "That Quentin boy...always causing trouble."

Marinette doesn't give herself a chance to feel guilty for Theo, she quickly hands Mr Damocles their stamp card. "Please, sir."

"Oh, right. Yes yes, of course." Mr Damocles mumbles as the stamps the card.

"Yes!" Marinette exclaims happily.

"We did it!" Adrien laughs in relief.

Marinette and Adrien throw their arms around each other in celebration.

"We are The. Ultimate! TEAM!" Adrien shouts triumphantly.

Suddenly, the door to Mr Damocles' office bursts open. Theo comes barging out in a yellow and pink supervillain outfit.

"The snack-witch is coming for you, pipsqueaks!" He declares.

"Yikes, I think he means us!" Adrien says.

"He's been akumatized over a freaking sandwich?" Marinette complains.

Marinette and Adrien both look down at their handcuffed wrists in a horrible realisation that they can't transform whilst attached to each other. They look back up at each other and speak in unison, "We have to get these off!"