The Valentine's Dance (COMPLETED)

The Valentine's Dance Part 4

 Four days later, Nicki, Marinette, and Alya showed up to decorate the auditorium for the dance. Alya took charge.

"Ok, Nicki, you can set up the tables and chairs and the streamers. Marinette, you can blow and tie balloons and set out the food and I'll do the rest," she said.

The girls exchanged thumbs up and got to work. After a couple of hours, the work was finally done. Nicki climbed down from her ladder, where she was hanging a banner and a couple of streamers. Alya came out from behind the sound system that Nino would use, and Marinette spread the last tablecloth over a table.

"Good work, girls," Alya said.

"Thanks for inviting me," Nicki said. "This was fun."

"Yeah, it was,"Alya said. "You know why?''

Nicki and Marinette raised there eyebrows. "Why?" Marinette asked.

"Because I'm here," Alya said.

Nicki and Marinette started laughing. Alya laughed, too.

"So, my parents didn't have time to make all of the treats and things, so I will bring them tomorrow," Marinette informed them.

Alya nodded. "That's ok. Well, I've got to get going. See you ladies tomorrow! Hope you find a date," she said, a sing-song lilt in her voice.

"I won't," Marinette muttered.

"Why not?" Nicki asked.

"Well, the only guy I like doesn't like me back and all of the other guys have dates already. So, I'm pretty much left alone," Marinette replied.

"Well, not completely alone," Nicki said. "I don't have a date, either."

Marinette looked up. "Really?" she asked

Nicki nodded. "Yup." She sighed. "And the guy I like doesn't even go to this school."

"Oh, really?" Marinette asked. "Who is it?"

Nicki looked away. "Just... a childhood friend."

"It isn't Adrien, is it?" Marinette asked, suspicious that her newfound friend might have a crush on her crush.

"Adrien Agreste? Ha-ha, no, no, not that childhood friend," Nicki giggled.

"'That childhood friend?' Adrien was your childhood friend?" Marinette asked.

"Sure! Chloe, Adrien and I were inseparable. But then, I moved away, and Adrien was homeschooled, and Chloe became... well, Chloe. But she can change. I promise you that." Nicki giggled again. "She was so excited to show us her bear, Mr. Cuddly. She was proud of that thing. It even matched her style."

Marinette nodded, remembering the party at Le Grande Paris Hotel and the akumatized victim, Despair Bear. Chloe's bear had been the object. Before that, she had been dancing with Adrien. She sighed. Adrien...

"Anyway, I've got to get going. I've got a dance dress to work on," Nicki said.

"You sew, too?" Marinette asked.

"Yeah, you do, too?" Nicki said.

"Yup! Well, good luck on your dress. I hope it turns out good." Marinette waved good-bye.

"Me, too. See ya tomorrow!" Nicki exited the school.

Marinette also left, walking into her parents bakery.

"Hey, sweetie! How'd decorating go?" her father said, looking up from the frosting tube he was holding.

"It went great, Dad," Marinette replied. "I got to go up to my room and put the finishing touches on my dress. I'll come down when dinner's ready." She left to go up to her room.

After she had her outfit completely done, she sat down at her computer and practiced her Ultimate Mega Strike 3 skills. She was in the middle of a round, with her computer as her opponent, when she heard a loud crash.

"Looks like we've got a problem to solve, Tikki!" Marinette jumped up from her seat.

"Let's go!" Tikki said jubilantly.

"Tikki, spots on!" Marinette yelled. She transformed into the super heroine, Ladybug. Then she called down to her parents, "Mom, Dad, I'm not hungry! I'm going to bed!"

"Ok, hun! Good night!" her mom called back.

She quickly hopped out the trapdoor and toward the crash. Chat Noir was soon beside her, observing the crash site.

"It can't be Gigantitan again, we would've seen him, and I saw him and his mom on the way here," Chat said.

"Hmm... then what could've caused this crash—" Ladybug was cut off be screams and shouts in the direction of the Eiffel Tower. "Looks like we found the objective."

Meanwhile, Nicki was out taking a walk around the Tower when she heard the crash. But instead of running away, as most would've, she smiled and ducked under the root of the Eiffel Tower, positioned where no one could see her.

"Aww man, are you serious?" a voice complained from her pocket.

"Luupis, come on, it'll only be a little while," Nicki pleaded with her kwami.

"But my steak..." Luupis, the purple and black wolf kwami, flew out from his hiding place in Nicki's pocket. He made a puppy-dog face

Nicki groaned, shook her head, and smiled. "All you care about is your food, isn't it?" She wasn't really mad, but Luupis needed to learn some self-control.

But her kwami was indignant. "It's not all I care about. I care about my friends. And you, my friend, are my friend, so, if I were you, I would just go back to my house and forget this ever happened."

"Ah, but you said 'if' you were me, and there's the problem. You're not me. So, therefore, I don't have to go," Nicki said.

Luupis rolled his eyes. "Fine. But can we make this quick?"

"Yes, Your Royale Majesty. I shall make haste in defeating the villain," Nicki teased.

"Oh, come on, just transform already!"

Nicki giggled. "Ok, ok, sheesh. Luupis, ears out!" She transformed into Alpha, the name she used for her other half. Alpha's look was similar to Rena Rouge's outfit. She had ears and a tail, both gray with purple tips. But Alpha's tail looked like fur and her ears were shorter, in the middle of Rena Rouge's size and Chat Noir's.

Her weapons, throwing sticks, were a lot like smaller versions of Chat's baton. One of the features of these throwing sticks was she could stick them together and make a boomerang or a baton for getting around. Her ring, also like Chat Noir's, could produce the power of loyalty, which she would use to make an object move at her will.

She stuck her two throwing sticks together and made them into a baton, then catapulted herself into the air. She threw one of her sticks into the side of a building. It stuck fast. She leapt onto it and jumped, grabbing it out of the side of the building and sticking them together, making a baton again. She looked around for the akumatized victim and let out a frustrated sigh. She headed back the way she had come.

The victim was heading toward the Eiffel Tower.