In the week following Jim's birthday Stalkling surprise, both world-saving groups had fallen into a new rhythm after that fateful day. As Ladybug had promised, she managed to find some time to talk to Vendel before she left so that Tikki could confirm she saw the bridge the night of the museum break-in as well. While Vendel had already believed them after NotEnrique's reveal, the Kwami of Creation's retelling was the final nail in the coffin for him to start doing something about it. She also talked to Vendel about letting Draal back into Heartstone so that he could freely use the Gyre to come to Paris, which he agreed to right away.

With Draal coming to train her on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and her usual sessions with Master Fu and Chat Noir moved to the weekends, Marinette's weapon skills increased significantly. However, there was always room for improvement and Draal suggested that she find a way to practice her skills outside their training sessions. So this is how Marinette found herself in her school's locker room, dressed in fencing gear and looking for a fencing helmet for the yearly tryouts of D'Argencourt Academy.

"This fencing gear really suits you, Marinette." Tikki praised her holder, floating near Marinette as she searched the assorted helmets provided for those trying out for the team that was placed on a table in the middle of the room.

"Thank you, Tikki! But let's hope wielding a saber is easier than finding a helmet that fits." Marinette said as she grabbed a helmet and placed it on her head, which slipped to the side, drawing a disgruntled noise from Marinette while Tikki giggled at the mishap.

"I gotta ace these try-outs! D'Argencourt is the most prestigious fencing teacher in all of Paris! I've only got this one shot to show them what I've got and get onto the team!" the designer exclaimed as she pulled the helmet off, holding it in her hands while talking to Tikki.

"You've been reviewing the fencing forms and rules all week with Jim and practicing with Draal as well! It's going to be great!" Tikki cheered as she floated above the fencing equipment table, smiling excitedly at her holder for trying something new.

"You're right. I'm going to make quite an impression on both the team and Adrien!" Marinette agreed, then slammed the helmet in her hands down onto the table, upsetting the others laid out and causing them to roll off the flat surface. Immediately, Marinette scrambled to catch them all before they fell off, only managing to catch three out of the whole amount... which had been helpful to her in the end.

"Ah, here we go! This one should fit perfectly!" the pigtailed girl declared as she spied the helmet she had caught on her foot, putting the ones in her hands back onto the table to grab it.

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After finding the proper helmet, Marinette put it off to the side to pick up the fallen helmets and put them back on the table for the other students trying out for the team. Once Marinette's mess was cleaned up and she had her equipment, she went to the school's center quad area, where Mr D'Argencourt and his senior students were waiting to greet the recruits.

"I am the fencing master, Mr. D'Argencourt." D'Argencourt greeted the recruits as he passed between them and his existing students, both groups lined up and focusing on the experienced fencer. "As I'm sure you're aware, we have only one open spot on the team this year. So, to select the best possible candidate, I will observe the beginners performing several attacks on the experienced students." he explained as he stopped and faced the challengers, not seeing or caring that Marinette was looking around the quad in search of something.

"Where's Adrien?" Marinette wondered to herself, concerned to not see her crush or any sign of his presence since the experienced students were all wearing their helmets over their faces.

"Now pair up so we can begin!" D'Argencourt ordered his existing students, gesturing with his arm to spread out and pair up with one of the six recruits that had moved to the fencing mats at the back of the quad. But after finding an open mat, Marinette continued looking around for Adrien when one of the students approached her, clearly her opponent to test her skills.

"Seems like you're looking for someone?" the arriving fencer observed, his helmet keeping his face hidden as he walked up to Marinette and caught her attention.

"Yeah, I thought my friend Adrien was here." Marinette replied, turning to face them. "He's a boy this tall, blond, nice, super handsome?" the red-tipped-haired girl rambled as she gestured to Adrien's height, putting her hand to her cheek when she reached the last gush about the boy she was crushing on.

"Thanks for the compliments!" the fencer happily said as he lifted his helmet, revealing him to be Adrien and causing Marinette to yelp in surprise when she saw who her opponent was. "I didn't know you were into fencing, Marinette." Adrien continued, so surprised to see her there that he didn't notice Marinette was frozen in place due to her shock of seeing him and realizing that she gushed about Adrien to Adrien himself!!!

"A-Adrien! Nice to fencing, I'm totally into you!" Marinette managed to get out, only to quickly replay it in her head and see that it was the last thing she needed to have said. "Uhh, I mean, it's nice to see you!" the designer quickly corrected, unable to stop herself from fidgeting around sporadically through the whole greeting. But despite the awkwardness, Adrien couldn't help the gentle chuckle and smile that escaped him due to Marinette's quirkiness, causing Marinette to giggle and blush too.

"And to answer your earlier question, I'm totally into fencing! My brother, Jim, has recently been... getting into the sport, and I've been helping him review the forms." Marinette went on, playfully holding the saber in her hand and stabbing the air beside her to emphasize her claim. "Guess you could say that the interest rubbed off on me." the pigtailed girl added bashfully, turning her focus back to a smiling Adrien.

"Well, looks like I have to thank your brother for helping me potentially have a good friend on the team to talk to after practice." Adrien noted, happy at the prospect of spending more time with Marinette outside of class... platonically of course!

"If I end up getting on the team, then yeah!" Marinette exclaimed, maneuvering her grasp on her saber to adjust her gloves and looking at the ground to hide the fire-red blush on her cheeks at the thought.

"Get into position!" D'Argencourt called out to the teens, prompting Marinette to awkwardly put her helmet on before glancing at Adrien, momentarily forgetting how to do the stance when in front of her crush.

"Bend your knees, then stretch your left foot back and turn it outwards." Adrien advised her, Marinette doing so and earning a smile from the boy. "Perfect! Now, put your saber forward, like this." the blonde model continued as he stepped up to her side, putting his arm around her to have her lean forward and using his other hand to guide hers so her saber was pointing out.

While Marinette already knew how to use a sword thanks to Draal, all those lessons went out the window when the blushing and giggling Marinette found herself being touched by Adrien. But after he stepped away now that she was in the right stance, Marinette was able to compose herself and pull down her helmet to keep her blush hidden and get her head back into the game. She wanted to get on the team to improve her skills, not just talk to Adrien... meaning Marinette had to focus and prove herself.

"Greet each other!" D'Argencourt commanded his students, crossing his saber arm over his chest and then snapping it out to his side to demonstrate the traditional fencing greeting. Following the command, Adrien and Marinette greet each other like their instructor had done, now standing at the ready. "En garde! Prêt, allez!" the master fencer declared, casting all the students to begin fencing while he walked around and watched. But while Adrien had his helmet down and was ready for an attack, Marinette stood still despite the match already starting. Seeing that Marinette wasn't budging, Adrien straightened up and pushed up his helmet to speak to her.

"Go on, Marinette. You're supposed to touch me." Adrien encouraged, hoping that she would finally move.

"Touch you?! Yeah..." Marinette gushed with a giggle, her covered face preventing Adrien from seeing her goofy grin before he smiled at her and pulled his helmet back down.

With his helmet down and his face protected, Adrien waited until Marinette was focused again before he attacked, lunging at the girl with his saber. Seeing the attack coming, Marinette's fighting instincts kicked in and she quickly dodged Adrien's advance, followed by knocking his sword back. After Adrien's saber was out of the way, Marinette proceeded to strike at her opponent's chest and touched the end of her weapon at his just as D'Argencourt came to observe them.

"Attaque! Touche. Point!" D'Argencourt announced as he indicated to Marinette, causing the two of them to turn to him as he declared her the winner of the first round. "Continue!" the instructor ordered, walking away to observe another pair.

"Thanks!" Marinette said to Adrien as she pushed up her helmet, thinking he had helped her impress D'Argencourt.

"All I did was lunge. You've got good reflexes!" Adrien replied with a smile, also pushing his helmet up to make sure his words were clear before putting his helmet down again for another round. "En garde!" the Adonis declared, readying himself before Marinette put her helmet back down and copied his stance.

"Prêt... allez!" Adrien exclaimed, prompting him and Marinette to start their new match.

Deciding to take offense, Marinette lunged at Adrien and aimed for his chest again, which Adrien managed to block with his saber. Following that, Adrien pushed Marinette's saber back and attacked her back by tapping her helmet with his saber, forcing her to duck out of the way and use her saber to block the attack. After that, Marinette used her saber to push Adrien's weapon out of the way and used the new opening to hit his chest again, earning another win.

"Attack, parry, riposte, counterattack. The point goes to you, Marinette." Adrien congratulated Marinette as she took a step back, impressed by her skills and reflexes.

"I don't get it. You hit me first." Marinette pointed out as she once more pushed her helmet up, her ignorance of the sport causing Adrien to also push his helmet up again.

"With saber fencing, the attacker doesn't necessarily win the point even though he touched his opponent first. You took the initiative, so we say that you had priority. I can only parry or riposte, so I lose." Adrien explained as he bent his saber a few times, which only earned an unsure look from Marinette at his words.

"But everything's happening so fast. How can you know who won the point?" Marinette questioned Adrien, not getting how this sport worked the more she learned about it. While she had read up on the forms and learned the rules... it seemed that there were still new things to discover on the fly.

"We don't always know for sure. That's why you can also abstain." Adrien replied with a shrug of his shoulders, followed by him lowering his helmet. "Shall we continue?" the model asked as he now stood at the ready for another round, prompting Marinette to nod as she lowered her helmet and got ready to fence too.

"En garde! Prêt... allez!" Adrien shouted, once again causing the two of them to face off against each other.

This time, however, Marinette was more at ease in showing off the skills she learned from Draal, despite knowing she had developed a tendency for more devastating blows. When Adrien went to lunge his saber at her in the hopes of taking the offense, Marinette stepped to the side and almost literally danced out of the way of the advance. Seeing the way Marinette evaded his attack, Adrien had to catch himself from falling off of the mat entirely, soon finding that they now swapped sides as Marinette stood ready for another attack. But just as he raised his saber and set up for another attack, Marinette thrusted own her saber at his and managed to twist hers around Adrien's. With a spin of Marinette's wrist, the designer pulled Adrien's saber out of his hand and caught it with her non-dominant hand. Now disarmed, Adrien had little chance to protect himself from Marinette as she held her saber at his throat while she held the other one behind his neck, ending the match.

"Wow..." Adrien breathed out in shock, looking at Marinette in awe. "Despite doing so many illegal moves just then, that was incredible!" the model praised, prompting Marinette to suddenly drop the sabres in her hands and back away from him in shock at her actions.

"Oh my God, I am so sorry! I don't know what came over me!" Marinette rambled as she pushed her helmet up, her eyes wide as she realized she had shown off a little too much.

"It's okay! It's okay! Nobody got hurt, so that's the main thing." Adrien replied, pushing his own helmet up as he tried to assure Marinette to not be so worried. "Those moves you just did... no offense, but I would have never expected you to know how to do them. Where did you learn how to do those?" the green-eyed boy asked, curious as to how his usually nervous friend was so skilled in weapon dueling. But upon being asked the question, Marinette's eyes widened with worry.

"Oh, uh... funny story about that..." Marinette stammered, unsure of how to explain herself without giving away her connection to the Trolls.

"Hey, you! Are you Mr D'Argencourt, the fencing master?" a shout echoed through the courtyard, preventing Marinette from continuing her half-baked explanation. At the new voice interrupting the fencing tryouts, everyone looked to find the source of the shouting and saw a figure in red fencing gear standing on the scoring box, carrying a red saber in their hand. "I wanna join your team." the newcomer declared, everyone left in shock by their brazen attitude.

"Only the best are admitted here, you knave." D'Argencourt told the newcomer, turning to face them with a glare.

"And I was... everywhere I went." the newcomer proclaimed, demonstrating a saber greeting with a quick spin of their wrist to show off their skills.

"Part le fer! This whippersnapper has some nerve!" D'Argencourt exclaimed, returning the greeting with a new intrigue on the new challenger as they walked up to him. "All right! I may consider your admission, shall you defeat one of my students." the fencing master declared as he pointed his saber at the newcomer, followed by his turning to face his students and step to the side to allow them to stride forward to the now silent students.

"Which one of you is the best combatant?!" the newcomer demanded, causing all of the students to shuffle around and sidle away to reveal Adrien, who yet again lifted his helmet at the nomination.

"Adrien, would you please give our visitor a lesson in chivalry?" D'Argencourt requested his best student, drawing a smirk from Adrien at the challenge before lowering his helmet.

"I shall, Sir." Adrien responded before walking up to the scoring box, everyone now coming to gather around to watch the ensuing match.

While the students were gathering to watch the face-off, the new opponents quickly attached themselves to the scoring box and stood beside it to begin their match. As a precaution of the equipment, both Adrien and the challenger touched their sabres on the other's shoulder, testing the box to make sure it was working and would keep a proper score. With a bow following their test, the challenger and Adrien walked to their sides of the fencing mat, both fencers preparing their saber blades in the process. But unlike Adrien, the challenger swung their saber around in a flamboyant display of their skills, clearly having a lot more practice than anyone there.

"Great. There goes any chance I had of making the team. This guy's obviously better than everyone." Marinette groaned when she saw the new fencer's demonstration, now looking down at the ground in disappointment.

"It's not over yet, he still has to beat Adrien." a student to Marinette's left spoke up, offering some solace to the designer before they turned their focus back to the match about to start.

"En garde!" D'Argencourt began as he lifted his hand into the air, prompting Adrien and the challenger to stand ready. "Prêt... allez!" the instructor declared, slicing his hand down and starting the match.

With the go-ahead to attack, Adrien and the challenger lunged at each other and went headfirst into their match in a flurry of sabres. Right off the bat, the dueling fencer's blades met in the middle of their clash, followed by Adrien moving back for another attack while the challenger advanced on him. With a block from Adrien, he prevented the challenger from hitting him and took offense from there, pushing the fencer in red back to their side of the mat. But after Adrien tried to strike at them twice, they both managed to land a hit on each other and earn a point each, both point buzzers going off at the same time.

"Simultané! Par un toucher!" D'Argencourt declared, causing Adrien and the challenger to return to their starting points while preparing their blades for another round.

"I could have sworn Adrien touched him first..." Marinette observed, finding D'Argencourt's ruling to be incorrect... purely from her observing of the match.

"I'm not sure if he did. But you never question the referee's decision." the student to Marinette's left spoke up while Adrien and the challenger now stood ready for another match, D'Argencourt raising his hand into the air once more.

"En garde! Prêt... allez!" D'Argencourt shouted, pulling his arm down to start the match.

Immediately, the challenger and Adrien lunge at each other once more, their sabres meeting in a dance of danger as they try to get the edge on each other. But after an exchange of strikes, backsteps and advances, the match ended when both fencers lunged past each other, neither one seeming to land a hit while both sides of the score box lit up. Due to the result of the match, everyone looked up to the fencing master and referee to decide who had won, which caused a nervous look to appear on D'Argencourt's face.

"Uhh... Abstention!" D'Argencourt finally declared, seeing as he wasn't sure of who the winner was.

"What's happening?" Marinette asked the student to her left, unsure of what the decision was.

"Mr D'Argencourt isn't sure who won, so he's chosen to abstain. This is a tight match." the student to Marinette's left explained while Adrien and the challenger went back to their respective side of the mat, the third match about to start.

"En garde!" D'Argencourt began, once again raising his arm into the air.

"Wait!" the challenger interrupted, drawing everyone's attention to them. "I request that we do it the old-fashioned way. We'll be much more at ease without the machine." they offered, leaving D'Argencourt intrigued by the idea.

"Adrien?" D'Argencourt said as he turned to the boy in question, wanting to see what he thought of the option provided

"Fine with me." Adrien replied before he unplugged his body cord, letting it fall to the ground before the challenger unplugged their own.

Once the challenger was freed from their confines, they further showed off their saber skills by backflipping to their end of the mat and swinging their saber with expert skill. But while Marinette was impressed by the challenger's skills, she was left displeased by the new turn of events that was about to take place.

"But how will we know who touched the other one first?" Marinette asked the student on her left, not liking how there would be an even more unclear match about to happen.

"By watching very closely." the student to Marinette's left replied, both Adrien and the fencer in red now standing at the ready for their biggest match against each other yet.

"En garde... Prêt... allez!" D'Argencourt proclaimed, the third and final match now starting with a downward swing of his hand.

For the third time that day, Adrien and the challenger lunged at each other and clashed their sabres, neither of them holding back their blows. But the challenger was more eager to wail on Adrien, their strikes becoming more and more violent as they pushed Adrien off of the mat and towards the side of the courtyard. It wasn't until Adrien swung his saber at the red fencer that they used the opportunity to duck from the blow, followed by them slamming into Adrien's gut to push him back further.

Thanks to the hit, Adrien's back hit a post and only had seconds to recover before they attacked him again, the blonde model narrowly dodging his attacker. The fight between them continued as it suddenly made its way up the stairs to the upper levels, the challenger forcing Adrien to backtrack up to the second level the more they attacked him. But after having enough of pushing Adrien back, the challenger decided to mix things up and used the stair railing to jump ahead up to the second level, blocking Adrien from going further.

"Is this what fencing's all about?!" Marinette wondered aloud in amazement, everyone else watching in the same amount of awe as her.

"Part le fer! This IS what fencing's all about!" D'Argencourt exclaimed, now just as excited as his students before they and the fencing master went to the base of the stairs to watch the exciting match. But while Adrien and the challenger were caught in a flurry of parry and trust, Marinette ran up to the group and found herself unable to see over the other students. Not liking her inability to see the match, Marinette's gaze turned from the fencers and spotted the stairs on the other side of the courtyard, quickly heading over to get a good vantage point.

Meanwhile, the fight between Adrien and the fencer in red was picking up when they managed to push Adrien back from their little exchange. As a result, Adrien found himself pinned between the challenger and the railing of the stairs, holding his opponent's saber back with his own with both hands.

"Is that all you can do?" the challenger questioned Adrien, pushing their weight onto him until he was almost over the railing.

Thinking quickly, Adrien managed to push back against the challenger enough to use his saber to force the newcomer to back off him, causing the red fencer to slide towards a wall behind them. Now free from his former predicament, Adrien decided to go further up the stairs and to the library, the challenger following after him. Unbeknownst to the dueling fencers, Marinette had reached her first flight of stairs while the fencers, tryouts and Armand were still at the base of the other stairs. But with the new move Adrien had made, Marinette continued while the other's excitement had grown to new heights.

"The fateful moment has arrived!" D'Argencourt declared. But his words had caused the students to push past him and climb the stairs to keep watching, trampling the fencing master in the process.

While D'Argencourt was groaning in pain from being stepped on by the students, the challenger in red and Adrien reached the top of the stairs to the library. Upon reaching the top, they continued to fence against each other furiously, the challenger slamming Adrien into a wall before he spun them around and burst into the Library, Adrien knocked the challenger inside.

After being thrown to the ground, the fencer in red recovered by rolling into a ball and skidding across the ground by their knees before Adrien attacked them. From there, the two fencers began making a mess of the library, sending books flying off the shelves and even pushing a cart out into the hallway, which nearly hit Marinette when she arrived at the door.

Thankfully she had managed to dodge it... which let it continue falling down the stairs towards the gathered students and an approaching D'Argencourt. But after he pushed his students aside so he could see, they then fled from the incoming book cart before it hit the fencing master and slammed him into the wall at the bottom of the stairs.

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While D'Argencourt was once again in pain, things up in the library were getting more heated as the challenger and Adrien were still fencing, with only Marinette to watch. The fight kept on increasing in intensity as Adrien and the red fencer's sabres kept clashing against each other, followed by them trying to put more force in their strikes and drawing close to one another. When that didn't work, the fencers took a step back and still kept on dueling, their blades not touching each other as they tried landing a blow to the other. But soon enough, the challenger and Adrien finally moved back from each other, taking the opportunity to take a breath.

"Let's finish this off!" the challenger shouted as they pointed their saber at Adrien, clearly eager to finish the fight and prove themselves worthy.

For the fourth and final time that day, the dueling fencers lunge at each other, their blades clashing against each other as the fencer in red keeps on aggressively attacking Adrien. It wasn't until the challenger blocked a strike aimed for their head that they turned their body just as Adrien went to attack them again... both sabres seemingly touching the other at the same time. Marinette could only watch in awe as the match ended, the challenger slipping away from Adrien and turning their attention to Marinette.

"Who got the first hit?! Who?!" the challenger yelled, causing Adrien to look over at her as well and leaving Marinette flabbergasted by the sudden attention.

"Uhhh, I...!" Marinette stammered out, unsure what to say now that she was put on the spot.

"Who touched first? Tell us now who won!" a voice to Marinette's right cried out, leading them to see D'Argencourt appearing on the floor as he crawled up the stairs in pain. But after Marinette looked between the challenger and Adrien, while she was nervous and previously tongue-tied, she quickly made her choice.

"Neither of them!!" Marinette shouted, leaving everyone to stare and/or gasp at her in shock at her response.

"WHAT!?" the challenger yelled, their voice filled with rage before Marinette took a step from the doorway and closer to them.

"Look, I'm not going to lie. That was the most amazing fencing match I'll ever see!!" Marinette admitted, excitedly throwing her arms at the previously fighting fencers. "And while I love our friend here's 'going for the throat' attitude, it doesn't change the fact that rules were broken in this match." she went on, her earlier admiration fading into a more serious mindset.

"For starters, Fédération Internationale D'escrime: t15 states: The point in line position is a specific position in which the fencer's sword arm is kept straight and the point of his weapon continually threatens his opponent's valid target. Neither of you did that." Marinette stated, going into a long recount of the many rules she went over with Jim over the weekend. "t16: The field of play should have an even surface. You both were jumping around and running upstairs. Plus t18: The combat area of the piste is 1.50 meters wide. You didn't even use the piste." The red-tipped-haired girl went on, using her hands to list off the other violations during her informative rambling before turning to D'Argencourt still on the floor.

"And to top it all off, our challenger here did a corps-à-corps at the near start of the match, and Adrien did so when pushing them into the Library. Those all disqualify them and make neither of them the winner." Marinette declared, now turning to the previously fighting fencers with a wince. "I'm sorry, but you both lost." the designer concluded in a somber tone, followed by D'Argencourt rising to his feet at the news.

"Well... this is quite the predicament. But seeing as Miss Dupain-Cheng was the only one to witness the end of the match, she has the last word." D'Argencourt declared in a miffed tone, quickly turning to the newcomer with a frown. "On that note, I cannot permit someone so willing to break the rules to join my academy." the fencing master decided, prompting the challenger to sigh in defeat at the news before walking up to Adrien, offering their hand for a post-match shake. After Adrien took it, the fencer in red then calmly walked out of the room, only for Adrien to remove his helmet once they were gone.

"Are you sure about the call you made, Marinette?" Adrien asked his friend as he took off his helmet, walking over to Marinette and D'Argencourt with a perturbed look.

"I'm quite sure, Adrien. When it comes to subjects I'm passionate about, I take them seriously. Even when I've just started taking interest in them." Marinette replied, which earned a disappointed look from Adrien at the news. "However, while you ceased to do rule-abiding sport fencing, the duel showed that you both were of very similar skills. Should it have been a first blood drawn match or even duel to the death, either of you would have been as likely to lose as to win." the pigtailed girl added, leaving both Adrien and D'Argencourt staring at her in both surprise and shock at how casually she had spoken about such duels.

"Uh, that was... a little morbid there, Marinette." Adrien managed to say in a cautious tone, causing Marinette's eyes to widen at his remark before turning to face him in a growing panic.

"But that doesn't mean the challenger doesn't deserve a second chance." Marinette rapidly replied, hoping to draw the subject away from her surprising aloofness to violence. 'Maybe hanging around Draal so much is rubbing off on me a little too much.' she thought to herself, looking at the ground while Adrien's face lit up at her suggestion.

"You're right." Adrien realised, Marinette's words working to cheer him up as he turned to face D'Argencourt with renewed hope. "While they were a little overzealous, they deserve another chance to try out." the green-eyed boy said to his fencing instructor, earning a solemn look from D'Argencourt.

"As I have said, the referee has the last word. And as exciting as the match was, Miss. Dupain-Cheng is right about the rules having been broken during it." D'Argencourt declared, dashing both Marinette and Adrien's hopes before a small smirk appeared on the man's face. "But if you were to take part in a decisive match and follow the rules this time, I might reconsider my decision." the experienced fencer offered, causing both Marinette and Adrien to smile at his words before the model went after the challenger to tell them the news. But after he leaned over the railing to see where they were, Adrien spotted the red fencer was about to leave the school, stabbing their saber into the ground and leaving it as they stomped out of the school in anger.

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Below the city, the window within Hawkmoth's lair opened up, disturbing the resting butterflies to flutter around the space as their master stood in the center. Even before the match started, Hawkmoth could sense the warring emotions stirring and knew that there would be someone he could akumatize afterwards. And his hunch turned out to be right.

"A champion whose victory has been stolen." Hawkmoth mused to himself, his hopes of a powerful akuma rising when sensing the red fencer's pulsing anger. "Crushing defeat is the ideal steel with which to form a blade of revenge." the resident supervillain went on as he turned one of his butterflies into an akuma, letting it flutter free after the transformation.

"Fly away towards this spite and petulance, my little akuma, and evilize that fencer!" Hawkmoth commanded the akuma, willing the corrupted insect to fly out of his lair's window and into the streets of Paris.

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Back over at Collège Françoise Dupont's library, Adrien turned to face Marinette and D'Argencourt, determination filling his features.

"I'm going to offer them a decisive match. I'll be right back." Adrien announced before he ran after the challenger, grabbing their saber from the ground as he went. Fortunately for him, Adrien had just reached the school's front threshold when he spotted the red fencer about to get into a car matching the color of their uniform.

"Hey! Wait! Your saber!" the blonde model called out as he caught up to them, seeing the challenger throw their gloves into the car before removing their helmet.

Once they did, the fencer in red turned to look at Adrien expectantly, revealing their... her face in the process, leaving Adrien momentarily stunned by her appearance. But neither of them saw Marinette; who had changed out of her fencing gear and felt guilty for her previous actions, running up to the school entrance and seeing the scene at the foot of the steps. Regardless of her being shocked to see the identity of the challenger, Adrien had finally gathered his wits and tried to speak.

"Let's do a... decisive match?" Adrien offered to the female fencer, noticing the ring on her right hand holding her helmet as he spoke.

"No." the girl simply replied, leaving Adrien shocked by her response. "You inspired me to act in a dishonorable fashion. You are a bad influence, Adrien. And now I have disgraced my family. So I must flee Paris at once to make amends for my terrible behavior today." " the challenger stated, her stare burning right into Adrien's soul with how intense it was.

"Goodbye." the red fencer added in a short tone, getting into her car before it drove off and left Adrien at the curb.

"H-Hey! What's your name?!" Adrien called out to the retreating fencer, his grip on her saber tightening as he futility reached out for them. But while he was occupied, Marinette was shocked stiff just as Tikki flew out of her purse.

"You might have a chance on the fencing team after all, Marinette!" Tikki exclaimed as she flew next to her holder, only for her and Marinette to see Adrien getting into his own arriving car where Placide I.T. was waiting for him. But after hearing Adrien shout 'Follow that car!' to his bodyguard and watching the car drive off, Marinette saw the akuma Hawkmoth released flying past her.

"An akuma!" Marinette shrieked with a horrified gasp, now running after it before ducking into the metro station to transform. "Better capture it before it turns someone into a villain!" the red-tipped-haired girl exclaimed, Tikki zipping to fly beside her again after the little sprint.

"At your service, Marinette!" Tikki announced after Marinette found a place to hide herself from view.

"We better do it quickly! Adrien is in danger!" Marinette fretted as she activated her disguise rune necklace, followed by her saying... "Tikki, spots on!" the designer shouted, transforming into Ladybug and exiting the metro station to use her yo-yo to get to Adrien as quickly as possible.

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While Ladybug was racing over to protect her crush from the akuma, the challenger was still in her car, calling her mother just as the car stopped at a stop light.

"I'm not available at the moment. Leave a message." the voicemail said to the red fencer, leaving her even more disheartened by the dismissal of her mother.

"Mother, you thought I was good enough, but... I lost. I won't be joining the D'Argencourt Academy." the challenger reported to the voicemail, followed by her hanging up the call and sitting back in her seat, her emotions a brewing storm beneath her seemingly calm exterior. But just seconds after she looked at the ring in her hand, the akuma had finally caught up to her car and slipped in through the closed window, flying into her ring.

"Riposte! I am Hawkmoth." Hawkmoth greeted the fencer as the glowing butterfly outline appeared on her face, the psychic link between them created and enacted. "I'm giving you a second chance to prove that you are the best fencer of all! But in return, you must bring me Ladybug and Chat Noir's Miraculous." the purple-clad villain offered to the red-clad duelist, immediately grabbing her now-twisted attention.

"On my honor, Hawkmoth! I shall be victorious!" the challenger proclaimed, the telltale purple aura covering her body and transforming her into Riposte. After the transformation was complete, the lights changed and the car started moving again... only for the newly made akuma to slice open a new sunroof into her car and leave to enact her revenge.

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Unknowing of Riposte coming after him, Adrien's car was still following after the red fencer's car, all while the blonde model was skimming through his phone. He was currently looking through a set of logos for anything similar to the one he saw on the red fencer's ring and soon found the right one, clicking on it right away and ending up seeing an article about it.

"She's the only daughter belonging to a family of prestigious fencers. Her mother and grandfather were both world champions." Adrien read aloud after Plagg popped out of hiding and laid on his holder's shoulder, the kwami now intrigued by the news Adrien just shared. "I've read about them before! She and her mother just moved to Paris! How incredible!" the green-eyed boy breathed in amazement, looking at his kwami while he spoke.

But he was pulled out of his awed state when he heard a shout from outside the car, causing Adrien to only have seconds to react before the car was suddenly cut in half. Thanks to the car still running when it was cleaved, the front half spun away from the back half until it crashed into the street while the back half stopped and launched Adrien out of his seat. Fortunately, Adrien had come away from his tumble to the ground unscathed and the red fencer's saber in his hand... only to turn and see Riposte standing atop the back half of the wrecked car.

"I'm taking you up on your offer of a decisive match!" Riposte declared to Adrien, pointing her sword hand at the fallen boy while the nearby civilians fled the scene.

"I- I can't fight you like this! You're not... yourself." Adrien stammered out as he rose to his feet, not looking for a fight against the akumatized fencer in front of him.

"Fight!" Riposte demanded, about to lunge and attack Adrien and drawing Hawkmoth's attention in the process.

"Halt, Riposte!" Hawkmoth shouted from the link between them, making the platinum-plated akuma stop in her tracks. "You may seek your revenge, but only after you take hold of Ladybug and Chat Noir's Miraculous first." the resident terrorist reminded his newest minion, hoping to keep his son away from danger. While he was normally a man of his word, Hawkmoth had no intention of honoring any deal that would put his son in danger.

"Understood, Hawkmoth." Riposte replied, having no idea of Hawkmoth's true motives before she saw Adrien trying to flee from her. But before he could get far, Riposte jumped from the wrecked car and blocked his path. "Where do you think you're going? Stay there. Nice and patient." the metal-coated akuma threatened Adrien as she pointed her sword at the boy, causing him to flinch back from her just seconds before a familiar yo-yo wrapped around Riposte's blade.

"How'd you like to start a duel with me?" a familiar voice shouted from behind Adrien, causing both him and Riposte to turn and see Ladybug perched on a billboard pillar behind Adrien. But when she tried to disarm Riposte with a tug of her yo-yo, her weapon slipped off the blade, surprising Ladybug with the unmoving sword. "It's merged with her hand." Ladybug breathed out in shock, which left her open for Riposte to strike at both Adrien and Ladybug, cutting a poster display apart after they jumped/ducked away from the blow.

"Give me a moment, Adrien. I must finish her off first!" Riposte snarled as she watched Ladybug land on the street, a glaring Adrien landing on the street on her left while she kept her stare on the spotted heroine. "But don't worry- I haven't forgotten about you! I WON'T BE LONG!!" the platinum-plated akuma yelled before she lunged at Ladybug, rapidly attacking her and forcing her to defend herself with her yo-yo while being pushed back by Riposte.

"Don't let her close in on you! Fight back!" Adrien shouted to Ladybug as he rose to his feet, quickly throwing the challenger's saber to Ladybug. Thankfully after dodging an array of strikes, Ladybug backflipped away from Riposte and caught the saber after she was a fair distance away, now having an offensive weapon to help her.

"Thank you, but now get out of here." Ladybug told Adrien, holding the saber at the ready before looking at Riposte with a stoney glare. "She doesn't deserve you." the heroine in red mumbled to herself before she moved in to attack Riposte, using her yo-yo to shield herself from the akuma's attacks. But the protection her yo-yo gave her didn't last long when Riposte saw an opening and took it, knocking Ladybug flat on her back.

"Watch out Ladybug!" Adrien shouted as Ladybug recovered a little from her fall, causing her to look up and see a flying Riposte coming right at her!!!

With Ladybug not having time to react, Adrien's protective instincts kicked in and he dove at his secret partner, the two of them rolling out of danger right before Riposte could skewer Ladybug. But that didn't mean that both of them came out of the attempted attack unscathed... which Adrien discovered after he lifted himself off of Ladybug and felt a sharp pain in his left ankle.

"Ouch!" the model yelped, holding his ankle to soothe the pain while Ladybug lifted herself into a crouch and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"You're hurt!" Ladybug cried in panic, now feeling guilty that she was the reason he got injured.

"I'm fine. Don't worry." Adrien groaned, trying to assure Ladybug to not worry about him and to focus on getting the job done.

"I need to get you as far away from that girl as possible." Ladybug declared, turning her gaze back to Riposte to glare at the akuma as she struggled to free her bladed arm from the stone she stabbed it into.

"Sounds like a plan." Adrien replied, rising to his feet with help from Ladybug before she threw her yo-yo around a chimney stack in preparation for their escape.

After her yo-yo was secure, Ladybug pulled Adrien close to her, causing the two of them to blush and smile sheepishly at each other at their proximity. But they both shook themselves out of their daze and Ladybug carried them away with a tug of her yo-yo, the two lovebirds flying away. Meanwhile, Riposte finally managed to get her bladed arm out of the road, lunging at the spot where Ladybug and Adrien had been and growling in anger when she saw they had escaped.