Switching Deceit

Chapter 5

I swung through the city until I was right in front of Solo. She stared at me with pure delight reaching for her flute.

"Ladybug! How nice of you to notice me! That's so sweet of you! I'm actually a huge fan, but, unfortunately, if I want people to keep paying attention to me, I'm going to need your Miraculous. Could you please hand it over?" She batted her eyes with a sickly sweet expression.

"First of all, no." Solo looked enraged but I kept speaking before she could say anything. "Second of all, aren't you only getting attention because you don't have my Miraculous?"

"I-" Solo paused to think.

"Once you get the Miraculous, no one's going to pay attention to you anymore."

Solo contemplated her decision to steal my Miraculous, maybe she could turn over herself? Nevermind, a glowing purple outline of a butterfly appeared over Solo's face turning Solo's frown into a fat smirk.

"Ha, Ladybug! Just you wait! When I get your Miraculous and bring them to Hawkmoth, everyone will pay attention to me and my powers!" She got out a silver flute. "Just watch." She started playing the flute and bright purple music notes floated throughout Paris and absorbing into the nearby citizens. The affected people started turning to look at Solo in a trance and clapped when she finished her song. "Soon, all of Paris will be listening in awe to my music!"

"I don't think so, Solo!" I got in a fighting position.

We fought for a few minutes, but we were both somewhat equally matched. I needed a distraction, so I could break the akuma in the flute.

"Lucky charm!" I exclaimed. A red and black dotted scarf came floating down. "A scarf?"

"Hey, m'lady!" Chat Noir jumped beside me. "Is the music is so bad you have to cover your ears with a scarf?" He joked.

"How does that even make sense? I think you mean, stuff your ears with a scarf," I rolled my eyes. "Chat, be serious. We need to think of a plan."

"Speaking of plan, I have a whole date planned for the two of us," He wiggled his eyebrows.

"Seriously, Chat? Pay attention to the akuma! She could very well destroy Paris!"

"Meouch! That hurt my feelings." He clutched his heart.

"Whatever," I rolled my eyes. "Chat, you need to distract Solo. I have a plan."

"I'm assuming the plan doesn't involve a dozen red roses on top of the Eiffel Tower at night?"

"Absolutely not." I responded making his ears flatten a bit.

"Come on, m'lady, one date can't hurt."

"Chat, just go distract the akuma."

"Fine, but this conversation isn't over."

"Yes it is." I said while he was jumping down towards Solo.

"So what's the point making people pay attention to your flute playing? Is that the new trend? Ooh! I remember a trend from back in my day!" He said the last part acting way older than he actually was. He paused and leaned on his stick. "Kiki, do you love me? Are you riding? Say you'll never wanna leave from beside me. Cause I want ya, and I need ya. And I'm down for ya always." Chat sang very very loudly and off-key. I facepalmed from the overwhelming amount of second hand embarrassment that washed over me.

"I will destroy you, Chat Noir!"

Solo began chasing Chat with her flute and tried whacking it onto his head. Chat effortlessly dodged each attack frustrating Solo. She tried harder, moving faster, swinging longer, but all of her efforts were in vain.

While they were fighting, I snuck up on Solo and jumped onto her back. I refused to let go even though she was trying to buck me off. I unrolled the scarf and tied it around Solo's eyes.

"No! I can't see my loyal fans! I can't tell if they're giving me attention! Agh! Everyone look at me!" Solo panicked.

I yanked Solo's flute out of her hand and smashed it on the ground. I quickly took care of the purple that akuma flew out.

"Miraculous ladybug!" I threw the scarf in the air.

"I'm so sorry, ladybug. I-I let HawkMoth take advantage of my emotions." She cried. "I promise it won't happen ever again." I kneeled beside the crying 12 year old.

"Hey, it's okay. Keeping your emotions to yourself is a very unhealthy lifestyle, I suggest seeking a therapist if you start feeling like this more often. It's a healthy way to let them out, and a therapist will say the right words so you don't get akumatised during the session." I smiled at her.

"Thank you so much, Ladybug." She cried into my shoulder while we hugged.

"Right, so Ladybug, how about a date?" Chat said completely ruining the moment.

"No," I responded still hugging the victim.

"Why not!"

"Because I simply don't like you that way."

"You never know, you could after getting to know me better."

"No, Chat. Keep your personal and professional lives separate." I broke the hug as her mom came over. "Bye!" I waved to the girl.

"Stop being so uptight about it, m'lady. One date can't hurt."

"One date. Then you'll beg for another. And another. And another. It won't end, Chat. When something goes wrong in our relationship, that'll affect our superhero lives and our battles. I'm not risking that." I had the final word and swung back to my house.

"Spots off."

"Phew! What a day." Tikki said coming out of my earrings. "You're smiling!" She said softly. "A real genuine smile."

"Today was amazing, Tikki! The plan to ruin Lila is moving forward! No one hurt me or ripped my stuff! I have a mom who actually cares about me! I-I'm so thankful for the switch." I said wiping a stray tear from my eye.

"It's working wonderfully for you, Mari." She smiled, "You may want to text Alya, you disappeared on her."

"Eh, it probably won't matter that much because in 2 months, not just me, but everything she's ever known will disappear on her."