[Narrator's POV]

Chloe takes a fat free protein bar out of her purse.

"That doesn't look like much of a lunch." Adrien says.

"You think I got this banging bod by munching on muffins." Chloe shoots a glare at Marinette, who is eating a blueberry muffin from her family's bakery. "Some of us actually care to look good."

"Some of us actually care to have a balanced diet." Alya retaliates in disgust.

Chloe unwraps her bar angrily and throws the rubbish over her shoulder.

"Hey!" Says a voice. The school janitor comes jogging over to the scene and scoops up the wrapper. "Excuse me Miss but littering is not acceptable. Please take care of your rubbish next time."

The janitor holds out the wrapper but Chloe just looks at it and scoffs. "Last time I checked it was my father paying you to clean this crumby school so why should I have to do it."

"Come on Chloe," Adrien says. "The bin is right there."

Chloe ignores Adrien and continues to torment the school janitor. "If you don't like picking up rubbish then how about you get a real job!"

She spins on her heel and walks away laughing with Sabrina following her closely. The janitor scowls and clenches Chloe's wrapper in his fist. The school bell rings and everyone else leaves the scene to return to class.

"That Chloe is such a spoilt brat—walking all over everyone like she's the best thing in the world!" Marinette rages to Alya as they take their seats. "Her attitude really fires me up!"

"I hear you, girl." Alya says. "Someone ought to teach her a lesson."

Right on cue, an angry mud monster crashes into the room. He looks like a man that has just been swimming through a swamp.

"Who are you?" Ms Bustier demands.

"I am Mud Man and you are my mud minion!" The swamp monster throws his hand in her direction and a wave of mud swallows her up.

The pile of sloppy dirt and mould that used to be Ms Bustier groans.

"Teach that brat a lesson!" Mud Man orders, pointing at Chloe. "Drown her in her own filth!"

Marinette gasps. "Is that the janitor?"

Chloe screams as the mud minion trudges its way towards her.

"You can't hurt Chloe!" Sabrina yells.

"If you are protecting her, then you are one of her. For years you brats have walked all over me, but now you are the scum beneath my feet!" The Mud Man roars. "You will all pay!"

The Mud Man throws violent gestures at the students, mud and dirt shooting wildly around the room.

"Everyone evacuate, hurry!" Adrien orders.

All the children scream and run for the door, though few make it without getting consumed by mud. Adrien turns the corner into a neighbouring classroom to transform into Cat Noir without being seen.

"We have to get out. Everyone go home where you'll be safe!" Marinette yells over the commotion. She then slips into an empty room herself to turn into Ladybug.

The group of teenagers that had made it out of the classroom sprint for the exit. All accept Alya. She is too busy recording for her LadyBlog. The evacuating students make it out just in time before the Mud Man buries the doors in thick mud. Alya remains alone in the school courtyard with the mud minions trudging towards her. Ladybug and Cat Noir both jump down to protect her at the same time.

"Cat Noir?" Ladybug says in a tone of surprise.

Cat Noir bows. "Nice to see you, my lady."

"Ladybug!" Alya says. "The school janitor has been akumatized. He turned most of my class into monsters. Don't let his mud touch you!"

"Don't worry, Cat Noir and I can handle the Mud Man." Ladybug replies. "You need to find another way out of here."

"No way. I want to help you stop the Mud Man." Alya says firmly. "Don't bother arguing with me, I can be very stubborn."

"I'm aware of that." Ladybug sighs.

"Look out!" Cat Noir shoves the two girls into the classroom behind them and slams the door shut.

A blast of mud piles up against the door until it is completely submerged.

"Great, now we're stuck in here." Ladybug complains.

"There was nowhere else to go unless you wanted to be on the receiving end of that mud blast." Cat Noir retaliates.

"Couples quarrel," Alya commentates to her video recording. "Typical LadyNoir, am I right guys?"

"We are not a couple!" Ladybug snaps, stamping her foot on the ground.

"Aw, she's just too shy to admit her feelings." Cat Noir leans on Ladybug's shoulder and winks at the camera.

"Will you stop that?" Ladybug says desperately. "We are not in a relationship!"

Cat Noir smiles cheekily at Ladybug. "Haven't you heard, Bugaboo? LadyNoir is the biggest ship in Paris."

Ladybug steps back, causing Cat Noir to slip from her shoulder and face plant on the ground. But he doesn't let that stop him. Cat Noir rolls over and lays in a sexy pose with his head rested on his hand.

"So Ladybug, Valentine's day is coming up soon." He says smoothly. "If you're feline this connection between us, I think me and mew would be purrfect together."

"Purrhaps not." Ladybug replies flatly. "Focus on the task at hand, please. We need to find a way out of here."

"There!" Alya points her phone camera at a ventilation shaft in the wall. "I'm not sure about Cat Noir and me, but Ladybug should be small enough to crawl through. Once you're out, you can defeat the Mud Man, all his gross dirt goo will disappear and Cat Noir and I will be free."

Cat Noir gets up off the ground and dusts himself off. "Missing out one important detail there— Ladybug needs my help to defeat the Mud Man."

Alya stares at Cat Noir, clearly thinking that he has underestimated the power of her superhero idol.

"Besides," Ladybug says. "I couldn't leave you guys in here. What kind of person would I be to just leave you behind?"

*Meanwhile in the classroom next door...

"Argh! I can't believe I have to crawl through this grotty air shaft." Chloe complains as she climbs up a stack of chairs to reach the vent. "This is all your fault for suggesting to hide in a classroom, Sabrina. Now we're trapped in here!"

"B-But Chloe, wait!" Sabrina begs. "I don't think I can fit into that shaft."

"Does it look like I care?" Chloe takes out another fat free protein bar from her purse and throws it at Sabrina. "Here. Looks like you need that more than I do."

.

Alya sits on one of the desks and swings her legs happily. Clearly, being trapped in a classroom doesn't bother her as long as she can interview Ladybug and Cat Noir.

"So," Alya says. "Do you two know each other's secret identities?"

"No." Cat Noir pouts bitterly.

"I know it's called a secret identity for a reason, but I thought you said you had an unbreakable bond of trust." Alya continues. "The LadyNoir fans really thought you would be at least friends outside costume...if not more."

"I would trust Ladybug with my life! If you want to know why we can't trust each other with our identities than you should ask the Lady." Cat Noir says, pointing his thumb at Ladybug.

Alya turns her phone camera to Ladybug. Both Alya and Cat Noir stare at Ladybug as they wait for her response.

Ladybug sighs. "It's not that we can't trust each other, it would just be irresponsible. Sometimes...Sometimes it does feel unfair that we have to keep such a big secret between us even though we claim to trust each other completely. But even if it feels wrong, telling anyone of our secret identities would be a selfish decision. We made the choice to become superheros and protect our city of Paris despite the dangers. We made that choice. Therefore, we must bear the weight ourselves. Even the slightest connection between our normal life and our perilous life would not only endanger ourselves, but all of the people around us. Our friends, our family, everyone we know and love—we would be putting them all at risk."

"I never thought of it that way..." Cat Noir says guiltily. "I guess I was just so blinded by desperation. I would give anything to find out who you are, Ladybug. I know it sounds selfish but if it would mean being with you, then I have nothing to lose."

Cat Noir looks at Ladybug as if pleading her with his gaze. Ladybug's heart aches with pity.

But the dramatic atmosphere is soon interrupted by Alya's narration.

"Ladybug and Cat Noir, the star-crossed lovers!" She says. "They are doomed to spend the rest of their lives with their true love just out of reach. It's so romantically tragic."

Ladybug groans in annoyance. Cat Noir looks at Ladybug sadly, wondering if he really is fated to chase after her for the rest of his life with her always just out of reach.

"Enough of this. We need to stop that mud man." Ladybug puts her hand on her chin and examines situation. "If we open the door the mud will pour in and we'll all get turned into mud minions."

"So we won't leave through the door." Cat Noir says simply. He throws his hand in the air and exclaims, "Cataclysm!"

"Careful Cat Noir. If you take out the wall the ceiling could collapse on us." Ladybug warns him.

"It's our only way out." Alya says bravely. "I'm ready to run as soon as Cat Noir opens the room up."

Ladybug nods. "Okay."

Cat Noir drags his claws across the side wall facing the school courtyard. Without a second's hesitation, he, Alya and Ladybug smash through the wall. Though the classroom they were inside was completely destroyed, the school was still intact so the damage was not as bad as they had expected. The walls of the classrooms next door had also collapsed. Sabrina craws out from inside, covered in dust.

"Chloe! Chloe, Ladybug and Cat Noir busted a hole open for us. We're free!" She says happily. "...Chloe?"

"SABRINA! What's happening?!" Chloe screams from inside the classroom. "The exit of the ventilation shaft has been blocked up, I'm trapped! Sabrina! Get me out of here this instant!"

Sabrina whimpers worriedly. "Oh dear..."

Alya on the other hand is cracking up with laughter.

"Er—we'll get you out of there, Chloe!" Ladybug hollers, trying not to smile. "Just hold on!"

The Mud Man and his minions swarm in the school courtyard. "The fun is over, Ladybug. You will not escape this school alive!" He declares.

"Well someone's a stick-in-the-mud." Cat Noir jokes.

"Hand over the Bourgeois Brat!" The Mud Man demands.

"Not a chance!" Ladybug yells. "Lucky charm!"

She throws her yoyo into the air and conjures up a polka-dotted bottle of vinegar. Ladybug studies her surroundings and notices the emergency fire sprinklers.

"Cat Noir, attack him and distract his mud minions!" Ladybug orders.

"Right." Cat Noir runs forward and does as she says.

Ladybug slips around the battlefield and hurries down into the school boiler room. She looks around desperately for the emergency fire system. Finally, a pipe running into the ground flashes red in her Lucky Charm vision. Ladybug can only guess that the pipe leads to the waterways. She wraps her yoyo string around the pipe and wire-cuts it open. Ladybug then shoves the bottle of vinegar under the pipe and slams down on the fire alarm. The vinegar instantly gets sucked up the pipe.

As Ladybug hurries back up to the courtyard, she begins to hear screeching and wailing. She emerges from the boiler room to see the Mud Man and all his minions melting away in the vinegar raining down from the fire sprinklers.

"Of course! Vinegar is used for cleaning." Alya exclaims, watching in amazement.

The Mud Man's dirty sludge exterior dissolves away, leaving the school janitor curled up on the ground in pain.

Ladybug snatches Chloe's bar wrapper from his hands and rips it up. "Get out of here, nasty bug!" The akuma inside tries to escape but she is too quick with her yoyo. "Time to de-evilize!" Ladybug captures the akuma and releases it as an innocent, white butterfly.

"That was awesome! I can't believe I got to video the whole thing, especially Chloe getting stuck in a ventilation shaft." Alya laughs.

"Oh shoot—Chloe!" Ladybug says. "I need to get the vinegar bottle from the boiler room and fix everything."

She rushes off and after a few moments, streams of red light whiz out of the boiler room and repair the destroyed classrooms. Chloe bursts out from the room she was trapped in and immediately storms out of the building, yelling at Sabrina all the way.

"What took you so long?!" She rages. "I could have suffocated in there!—I could have died!"

"If only..." Alya mutters.

Ladybug comes running out of the boiler room. "Sorry, can't stay—Bug out!"

She extends her yoyo to the top of the building and saws out of sight. Cat Noir reaches his hand out longingly but Ladybug has already gone. His miraculous beeps as another pad disappears. Cat Noir looks at the ring on his outstretched hand. In a matter of minutes, their disguises can crumble. The thing that conceals his and Ladybug's identities. The one thing separating him from finding his true love. Sometimes it astonishes him how close he is to her, despite how far away she seems.