Chapter Text

Ten Little Collègiens

Ten little children at a friend’s house to dine;

One choked his little self and then there were nine.

Nine little children staying up too late;

One fell asleep early and then there were eight.

Eight little children gazing into heaven;

One stayed too long and then there were seven.

Seven little children, each making their picks;

One chose poorly and then there were six.

Six little children going for a drive;

One got in a crash and then there were five.

Five little children wishing there’s no more;

One got his wish, and then there were four.

Four little children trying hard to see;

One saw too much, and then there were three.

Three little children who don’t know what to do;

One got a bright idea and then there were two.

Two little children watching for the sun;

One saw spots and then there was one.

One little child left all alone;

His heart was broken and then there were none.

[Timeline: S2, sometime before Catalyst]

“Don’t be bemused, it’s just the news -- Nadja Chamack here reporting on the latest craze to sweep the streets of Paris. And this one certainly isn’t anything to get bemused about. The newest Internet Craze is something called the “Hawk Moth Challenge”. Teens are getting together at slumber parties and playing a game where they try to get Hawk Moth to akumatize someone at their party! While there hasn’t been any sightings of Hawk Moth yet, Ladybug and Cat Noir have had to crash three late-night parties this week alone to stop akumas from getting out of hand. Parents, please! We urge you to stop the Hawk Moth challenge, because one of your children could be next.”

“Class,” implored Miss Bustier, “please remember that the annual Night at the Museum is tomorrow night! Nine of you have signed up; please make sure you get your permission slips to me before school lets out tomorrow. Alix, that includes you, even though your dad will be the one there supervising.”

“Nine? Who’s not going?” Alya wondered out loud.

“Juleka and I have a… prior engagement,” Rose squeaked. “We’re going to the hospital to hand out toys that we collected for Prince Ali’s toy drive!”

Kim piped up, “I have a swim meet. Even though I can swim the fastest out of everyone there and will have my race done before the lock-in, I should stay and watch Ondine race too. Max is going as unofficial videographer and statistician in case I set any records.”

“Ivan’s got the flu, so he won’t be able to make it. I’m going, though!” said Mylène.

Alya leaned over to Marinette. “Based on who is going, sounds like it could be a nice couples night out, though!” She nudged Marinette in the side. “Who doesn’t like a nice romantic date at the Louvre?”

Marinette looked at her best friend. “Well, I don’t know, Alya, it seems like an akuma always beats us there. Copycat, Pharaoh -- where you were almost sacrificed, mind you -- Riposte… yeah, very romantic.” Marinette rolled her eyes, and giggled. “I think most people would be happy to stay away from the Louvre these days. It’s never as crowded at I think it should be.”

“Adrien, you got your dad to let you go to this?” Nino gaped. “I’m shocked the old man would let you do something like this. Letting you out of the house for an extended period of time just isn’t his… thing, you know?”

“Oh, he doesn’t know I’m going,” Adrien smirked. “He actually thinks I’ll be in my room working on a project all night.”

Nino protested, “But, dude, what if he goes in your room?”

“I’ve got it covered! Ever hear of an old American movie called Ferris Bueller’s Day Off ? The guy in that movie has tons of tricks to convince your parents that you’re in bed!” Adrien beamed. “They already think I practice piano much more than I actually do, thanks to my iPod. It’ll be a cinch.”

Alya nudged Marinette again and stared at her. Girl, we are so talking about this later , that look said. Marinette glanced at her, knew she had lost whatever silent conversation they were having, and grinned.

The next day was a whirlwind for Marinette. Between dodging Alya’s looks -- I feel like I’m being interrogated, and she’s not even saying a word! How does she DO that? -- and mostly succeeding in using real, actual words around Adrien, it barely registered with her that school was dismissed and it was time to head home. When she looked up from her tablet, most of the other students were already out the door, with only Adrien, Nino, and Alya remaining.

“Oh!... um… whoops,” Marinette stammered. She hurriedly crammed her belongings into her bag and stood up.

Alya grabbed her by the wrist and guided her to the door. “See you tonight, boys,” she said slyly.

Marinette blushed. “Good night, Adrien!”

Alya had to practically drag her stumbling, stuttering best friend down the stairs and out the door of the school. Marinette regained power as they approached her parents’ bakery, but it wasn’t enough to escape the inquisitive brunette. The door “ding”ed as the girls entered, waving to Tom and Sabine, who were behind the counter arranging pastries for the pre-dinner crowd.

“Hi, Mom! Hi, Dad!” Marinette called out as Alya lightly pushed her past them and into the back.

Tom chuckled, “Hi, honey!”

“Looks like someone’s going to get a Girl Talk,” Sabine knowingly called after them.

“I thought this was a class assignment? Why is everyone getting all girl-giggly about a trip to the museum?”

“Oh, honey… a sleepover where Marinette gets to spend time with Adrien? Alya’s probably just here to make sure her feet stay on the ground. Didn’t you ever have a crush you couldn’t talk to?”

“Yeah, but I solved that by making some great pastries for her. It worked, too!” Tom nudged his wife playfully with his hip, nearly sending her sprawling. “Speaking of sleepovers with our crushes, we’ve got the house to ourselves tonight. What should we do?”

“How about a romantic balcony dinner? You can bring the pastries…”

Alya got Marinette into her room and closed the trap door behind her, then stood on it so there was no chance of escape. “OK, girl, we have four hours before we have to be at the Louvre. Let’s strategize! What are you going to wear? Where are you going to take him? What’s his favorite piece of art? When are you going to kiss that poor boy senseless?”

Marinette’s head spun. “Slow down! Whoa! Enough!” She took a breath. “Alya -- this can be a great night! Or it could be a total disaster. I’m not sure which one it will be yet, though. I don’t want it to be a disaster but I could always just fall over or accidentally set off one of the alarms and then Adrien will run away and we will never get married and have two kids and a hamster…”

She was interrupted by her friend gently shaking her. “Marinette? Mar-i-neeette,” Alya sang. “You’ve so got this! Let’s start with the easy stuff. What are you going to wear? Everybody will be going in pajamas, I think.”

“Pajamas?!” Marinette shrieked. “I can’t go in pajamas, I will die right there on the spot!”

“The last time you wore your pajamas around Adrien, he did spend all day with you and even took you to the movies,” Alya pointed out, raising an eyebrow.

“OK, fine, good point. You win there,” Marinette said dejectedly. “But! I am not going to the museum to kiss Adrien! Senseless or otherwise! Don’t make that face at me, Alya… OK, fine, if it happens, it happens, and I’ll be the happiest girl alive if it does happen, but that doesn’t mean I’ll be the one starting it!”

Alya shrugged. “Better than nothing, I imagine. Now, you know his schedule back-and-forth. What’s there at the museum that he could be interested in? Where can you take him to get him to open up a bit?”

Marinette hummed to herself. “That’s a good question… let’s look at the website and see what the current exhibits are. They’re always something about Pharaohs, but I wonder if he’d be more interested in something Chinese…”

Adrien, meanwhile, was putting the finishing touches on his subterfuge. His iPod playing the piano piece he was supposed to be practicing, he surfed YouTube looking for just the right video.

“You know, Plagg, I’m not sure who in their right mind would upload a 10-hour-long video of someone snoring, but I’m glad they did it,” Adrien confided. He connected the bluetooth speaker to his computer and put it next to his pillow. With the sheets pulled up how they were and the towels stuffed under the blanket, it passed remarkably for a sleeping teenager.

Adrien set the timer on his iPod to quit playing after 45 minutes. He set his computer to begin playing in 45 minutes, turned his Bluetooth speaker on, and checked his overnight bag. “Toothbrush… deodorant…”

“Cheese for me…” Plagg added. “I’m going to need lots of cheese to stay up all night with a bunch of lovesick, oblivious teenagers.”

Meanwhile, in another corner of the Agreste mansion...

“Nathalie, do we have anything going on tonight?” Gabriel asked.

“There’s a soccer match at the stadium, but I think you know how the last one turned out,” Nathalie replied.

“Oh, don’t remind me. That was one of the worst ideas I’ve ever had, including improvising with that giant baby! All that one wanted to do was flip cars and get drunk… and that was after I akumatized him! I guess soccer fans are so used to disappointment that I had no control over him. I was about ready to cut his powers myself when Ladybug and Cat Noir showed up and defeated him in five minutes.”

“I’m not sure that qualifies as saving face, sir,” Nathalie chuckled.

Gabriel’s face darkened. “What’s the Bourgeois girl doing tonight? She’s usually good for antagonizing somebody!”

“The Collège Françoise Dupont has an overnight outing at the Louvre,” Nathalie said after checking her tablet. “Sir, I really don’t think it’s a good idea to keep targeting that school. What if Adrien gets caught in the crossfire?”

“This isn’t at the school, so he’ll be safe. I’ve got him too busy tonight, anyway. Let’s send out a friend and wait for the magic to happen…” he got up and went to a portrait of his wife, pressed a few buttons, and disappeared down an elevator hidden in the floor.

Most people would be happy just sitting in front of the TV with a remote , Nathalie thought to herself. I’ll never figure out what I see in this man...

7:45 arrived, and nine teenagers were waiting in the lobby of the Louvre.

Adrien Agreste was wearing a black t-shirt and black sweatpants with a green stripe on each leg.

Alix Kubdel complemented her bubblegum pink hair with a camouflage tank top and shorts ensemble. On her feet were her ever-present rollerblades.

Alya Cesaire wore her usual grey-and-purple pajamas.

Chloe Bourgeois was sporting a bright yellow-and-black robe, and, somehow, high-heeled slippers.

Marinette was wearing a spaghetti-strap top and pajama bottoms, both in her favorite color, pink.

Mylène had one of Ivan’s black t-shirts on, obscuring any other clothes she may have been wearing underneath.

Nathaniel, clad in grey sweatpants and a red hoodie, was laden with art supplies, claiming that he wanted to be ready if inspiration struck.

Nino wore a navy blue t-shirt and jeans. “I actually don’t own any pajamas,” he whispered to Adrien. “I didn’t think it would be cool to sleep in just my boxers in front of the ladies.”

Adrien boggled at his best friend.

Sabrina had a purple Jagged Stone t-shirt on and blue plaid pajama bottoms.

Mr. Kubdel entered the lobby, smiling. “Hello, students! It’s great to have you back this year! Tonight we’re going to have fun, adventure, and hopefully learn a bit too along the way. Come, let me show you to your quarters for the evening,” he chuckled.

The class followed him downstairs and down a hallway toward the back of the museum. Turning a corner to the left, they found themselves in a small auditorium. The desks and chairs had been put away, leaving four tiered surfaces for them to spread out on. “Lay out your sleeping bags here and get settled; we’ll start the program in 15 minutes!” Mr. Kubdel called out, before turning on his heel and exiting the room.

There was general commotion as people got together and found prime spots for their sleeping bags. Chloe and Sabrina were next to each other, as expected -- mostly because Sabrina was the one laying out Chloe’s sleeping bag and unpacking her stuff. Alix, Mylene, and Nathaniel were one tier down. On the bottom tier, there was a strange dance going on as Alya kept trying to get herself between Nino and Marinette, all the while pushing Nino over to one side to force Marinette to put her sleeping bag next to Adrien’s. Marinette finally gave in, rolling her eyes as Alya smiled wickedly at her.

As everyone finished unpacking their bags, Alix bounded down the tiers to the front of the room and grabbed a microphone. “OK, everyone, listen up! We’re going to take the excitement up a notch here and make the museum fun! Who’s with me?” She didn’t bother waiting for a response before plunging forward, “I’ve got, right here,” -- she pulled a piece of paper from her pocket and unfolded it -- “the HAWK MOTH CHALLENGE!”

Nathaniel’s eyes bugged out of her head. “Alix, you can’t be serious!”

“Hawk Moth has actually akumatized people at the challenge, you know!” Adrien added.

“What-ever, Ladybug and Cat Noir always show up and fix everything. Akumas might be scary and terrifying, but they’re not exactly lethal. I don’t think this is the best idea, but it’s not like anyone’s gonna get hurt. Besides, you’ll be here with me, Adri-kins,” purred Chloe.

Marinette’s skin crawled.

Alix cleared her throat and begun reading from her paper.

“We’re gonna do a variation of it. I found a creepy old nursery rhyme since we’re going to be shut in here all night. Let’s tell ghost stories and see if Hawk Moth sends any butterflies! Are you ready?”

“Ten little children at a friend’s house to dine...”

“Hey! We are not little children! We’re like… fourteen or something,” interrupted Chloe.

“Shhh!” Alya hushed.

Alix continued,

“...One choked his little self and then there were nine.

Nine little children staying up too late;

One fell asleep early and then there were eight.

Eight little children gazing into heaven;

One stayed too long and then there were seven.

Seven little children, each making their picks;

One chose poorly and then there were six.

Six little children going for a drive;

One got in a crash and then there were five.

Five little children wishing there’s no more;

One got his wish, and then there were four.

Four little children trying hard to see;

One saw too much, and then there were three.

Three little children who don’t know what to do;

One got a bright idea and then there were two.

Two little children watching for the sun;

One saw spots and then there was one.

One little child left all alone;

His heart was broken and then there were none.”

“OK, that was actually kind of creepy,” whispered Nathaniel.

“Whatever! You’re honestly scared by a child’s nursery rhyme? I’ve got a spooky ghost story for you: four friends and their dog are driving through the woods in their van…” The kids leaned in, listening as Mylène continued.

The classmates walked out of the auditorium and split up; the Hawk Moth Challenge had affected them more seriously than they would have initially imagined. Nino had attempted to play scary music for everybody after Mylène’s story. Adrien had held a flashlight underneath his chin and told the worst campfire story ever (“I’ve never been camping,” he explained sheepishly). Yet it was Nathaniel’s eerie talent for quietly sneaking up on people that did everybody in, and earned him a trip to the restroom to get a cold towel for his face after Mylène accidentally slugged him in surprise.

Nobody noticed the purple-and-black butterfly flitting around near the ceiling, waiting for the right moment to strike. It flew off down a hallway, attracted by negative emotions, and struck while everyone’s back was turned.

“You asked for me, you got me! I am Hawk Moth, and you are going to make everyone here feel as scared as you do right now. Scare them… then capture Ladybug and Cat Noir’s Miraculous when they show up. You know what to do…”

Purple-and-black bubbles enveloped the akuma victim, leaving a very familiar form. The akuma victim started off down the hallway, looking to strike fear in the assembled group.

Marinette ducked into an alcove and opened her purse. “Tikki, I don’t think this is the best idea…”

Her kwami blinked back at her with big blue eyes. “Oh, Marinette, if there’s an akuma, you can handle it! Plus, maybe you can rescue Adrien tonight, too. Wouldn’t that be fabulous?”

“I can barely remember how to speak around him! But I did some research before I came here,” she said with a twinkle in her eye. “There’s an exhibit about ancient Chinese warlords over in the other wing. Maybe we can sneak off…” Her twinkling eyes glazed over as she imagined Adrien confessing true love to her and sweeping her off her feet in front of the Genghis Khan display.

Marinette’s daydream was interrupted by a loud noise from another part of the museum. “What was that? Let’s go check it out!”

Hawk Moth’s minion found the first victim at the drinking fountain. Turning around, he wiped his mouth and waved at his friend. “There you are! Are you ready for… what are you doing? NOOOOOOO!”

A smile. Then, an even brighter smile. This is going to be fun.

Eight people ran to the source of the noise.

“NOOOOOOO!” The cry echoed off the hallways of the nearly-deserted museum.

Marinette looked at Tikki, who darted into her purse, and took off running. When she got to where she thought the noise came from, she found eight other students, a nervous-looking adult, and a semi-translucent shell surrounding someone at the drinking fountain. Inside, a figure dressed in dark clothing was barely visible.

“Hawk Moth!” gasped a stunned Alix, mortified.

“I told you this was a bad idea…” breathed Mylène.

Mr. Kubdel looked around at the assembled group. “Seven… eight… where’s Nino?”

Everyone’s eyes jumped to the shell.

Alya screamed. Marinette and Adrien ran over to hug her.

“I think… we should try to get Ladybug and Cat Noir here, don’t you think?” Mr. Kubdel suggested. Eight cell phones were produced and unlocked, followed by eight groans.

“No service?! This is ridiculous,” Chloé spat.

“Let’s go to the lobby,” offered Mylène. “We might get some better service at the upper levels of the museum.”

Sabrina quailed. “You can go do that… I just want to lay down and rest. I’ll see you back in the auditorium.” She left the group and headed to her sleeping back in the other room, while Mr. Kubdel led the way upstairs.

When they got there, the group was crestfallen as it was obvious that the security features of the museum weren’t going to let anybody out anytime soon. There was still no cell service, and now it was very clear to them that they were trapped for the rest of the night in a museum, potentially with a dangerous akuma on the loose.

Five pairs of eyes looked at each other.

“We should probably stick together,” whispered Nathaniel, nervously.

Five pairs of feet shuffled slowly downstairs.

On the way back to the auditorium, Mr. Kubdel passed the Egypt exhibit and started talking about the various details, in an effort to distract the schoolchildren. Since the schoolchildren were very willing to be distracted, Mr. Kubdel led them over to a display of hieroglyphics and started telling the assembled group about how the Egyptians understood astronomy.

Chloé sneaked away from the group. On her way out, she passed Adrien, Alya, and Marinette and told them, “I’m going to check on Sabrina. It’s not like her to go to bed this early, and she seemed really nervous. I don’t want her to be alone.” She continued to the auditorium.

Mr. Kubdel may have thought Egyptians and astronomy were fascinating, but the students definitely did not. One by one, they slowly peeled off to explore other, more interesting areas of the museum. Eventually, it was only poor Mylène, too polite to say anything, left listening to Mr. Kubdel drone on.

Eight pairs of ears heard a scream from the auditorium.

Six pairs of feet came running.

Nathaniel was the first on the scene. He stopped suddenly and, mouth agape, could only point at the two frozen figures in front of him.

Marinette ran up next to him. She saw Sabrina, on her back, asleep except for the odd situation of her floating about four inches above the ground. Chloe was next to her, eyes wide open. The only indication that Chloe wasn’t frozen like Sabrina was the slow intake of breath indicating that another scream was coming.

“Breathe, Chloe. We’re here now. What happened?”

“Sa… Sa… Sabri…” she stammered out.

One by one, the other students filed into the room. Adrien burst between them and yelled, “She’s frozen! The akuma must have gotten her! Chloe! Are you ok?”

“Adri-kins! I’m fine… but Sabrina, she’s… THIS! What are we going to do?” Chloe collapsed theatrically into Adrien’s arms and started sobbing.

Marinette gave Chloe a look. Adrien was lamely patting her on the back and sheepishly grinned back at Marinette, shrugging as if to say, What can you do?

“OK, well, there are seven of us here. Eight, if you count Dad. Where is he?” Alix turned around.

“Right here, honey.” Mr. Kubdel appeared at her side. “Another one? Oh, no… they’re never going to let us do this program again, and it’s so much fun. Why, we were just talking so much about astronomy…” he trailed off.

“Let’s do a headcount,” Mr. Kubdel said. “Me, Alix, Alya, Adrien, Chloe, Marinette, Nathaniel… where’s Mylène? I thought she was behind me when we came here from the astronomy exhibit.”

Seven pairs of eyes traded a glance.

Seven pairs of feet took off, staying together this time.

Seven people found Mylène, staring as if in deep in thought, at the astronomy exhibit.

Seven people looked at each other once again, wonder and suspicion… and a little fear, too, in their eyes.