In the week following Gorizilla and the new Adrien perfume ad, things were once again quiet in Paris. Granted, Adrien was still very much grounded for leaving the house without his father's permission, but that reality was soon pushed under the rug to Adrien when the next Saturday came around. Unlike usual weekends, this one was when Paris's annual National Music Festival; a city-wide celebration of both big names in music alongside local musicians and bands, was taking place. One of those concerts was at a place called the Liberty, a houseboat belonging to the Couffaine family moored on the banks of the Seine near College Francois Dupont.

While Adrien was at his house, some of his classmates were on the boat preparing for the first concert of Kitty Section; the band Ivan, Rosse, Juleka, and her brother Luka started. Those attending the concert who didn't already know who Luka was, were surprised to hear that Juleka had a brother but were excited to meet him. Marinette was especially excited since she now knew she wasn't the only one in the class to have a brother older than 5 years old. But she filled that thought away to focus on cleaning up the boat's surprisingly messy top deck, getting a helping hand from Lila; who had been more involved with the class's extracurricular excursions lately.

"Heads up, I'm going to need another bag, Marinette!" Lila called to the designer, holding up her already full bag of junk that she found on her end of the deck.

"On my way!" Marinette replied from the back end of the deck, quickly making her way over to Lila while stepping over the numerous boxes and piles of items covering the deck with her own bag and a box of extras. But as she saw and picked up Rose's microphone from the mess, she accidentally stumbled backwards and bumped into Mylène as she was helping to hang a string of pennants. "Oops! Sorry Mylène. My bad!" the pigtailed girl apologized, earning a reassuring smile from the rainbow-dreadlocked girl before continuing over to Lila.

Once reaching her business partner, Marinette pulled out another bag from the extra box and handed it to Lila, giving it to her before picking up a box to help make a clear path through the messy deck. While doing so, she spotted Rose looking around for her microphone while holding the stand in her hands, prompting Marinette to forgo her cleaning and quickly walk over to her pixie-cut-haired friend.

"I think this is yours, Rose." Marinette said as she handed the microphone to Rose, who immediately perked up at the sight of the device.

"Thanks, Marinette!" Rose chipped, placing the stand onto the deck and placing the microphone in its holder. "Oh, I'm so excited! It's our very first concert! It's going to be awesome." the pink-clad girl squealed while testing the microphone, her voice booming through the speakers surrounding the stage in the middle of the boat deck.

"Heck yeah, it is! I can't wait to see you guys perform." Lila cheered as she tied off her first bag and opened the second one, genuinely excited to hear their classmates perform.

"Me neither! If the songs you've written in the art room are anything to go off of, then this concert is going to be great!" Marinette agreed, walking over to her end of the deck to finish cleaning the more gross parts of the mess just as the captain of the vessel, Anarka Couffaine, came on deck.

"Captain Anarka speaking to ya'! So how's it comin' along, me young pirates? Ready to celebrate the-" Anarka greeted the kids setting up for the concert, only to see fit to adjust her glasses when seeing Marinette and Lila cleaning. "Whatcha up to, there, maties?" the silver-haired captain asked as she walked up to Marinette, curious about their actions.

"Oh, We're just cleaning up for tonight, ma'am! Your boat's gonna be clean as a whistle!" Marinette declared as she picked up a box of stuff, only for Anarka to yank it out of her hands seconds later.

"You're cleaning? We never pick up in this house! Didn't me daughter tell you? We like the lived-in look." Ankara laughed, amused by the two girls' actions before throwing the continents of the box into the air, letting it fall to the floor. "We have no rules on 'The Liberty'! Out of chaos comes creation! Messiness is life!" the anarchist proclaimed while throwing the box to the ground, her hands shooting into the sky above her before Lila walked over with hers and Marinette's bags of actual garbage.

"Well, she's certainly a fun one, huh?" Lila remarked, making Marinette giggle while Anarka saw the bags in her grasp.

"Now what did I just say? This stuff ain't going anywhere!" Anarka announced as she walked over to Lila and took one of the bags from her, opening only to see the actual trash inside and recoil from the smell. "Oh... well, that might be in need of tossing, actually. Carry on!" the silver-haired captain declared, handing the bag back to the girls before walking back to help the kids finish setting up.

As soon as Anarka left, the two girls giggled to each other in triumph and headed to toss the bags, stepping off the boat's gangplank to put them in the dumpsters next to it. But after they tossed their bags of garbage, Marinette looked around to see if Adrien was nearby or had arrived yet, soon frowning when she didn't see any sign of him.

"He's not here yet." Marinette observed as she and Lila walked back onto the boat, stepping over to the stage where Alya held the base of the ladder Nino was using to set up the rest of the upper speakers.

"No worries girl. The gig hasn't started yet." Alya assured her best friend, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"What if he doesn't know Juleka's address? Or he got the wrong day? Or he's lost?" Marinette rambled in worry, only to quickly stop herself from going into a spiral of worry when she remembered that Nino had been in constant contact with Adrien that day. "Could you check with Nino, please? You know, of course, just... casually." the red-tipped-haired girl asked Alya, hoping to get an update.

"Only for you, girl." Alya replied, smiling fondly at Marinette before looking up at her boyfriend on the top of the ladder. "Hey, Nino, did you hear from Adrien, by any chance?" the reporter questioned Nino before sending a sly look Marinette's way, needing to raise her voice to make sure the DJ heard her.

"He had something to do with his old man. He said he'd come right after." Nino replied, looking away from his work on the speakers and down at his girlfriend.

"Here's to hoping it goes well, then." Lila said, herself hoping Adrien would show up too.

Despite him being aware of her previous lies, Lila was hoping to have a chance to convince him that she was worth being trusted now that she was Marinette's business partner. Anyone with eyes could see how fond he was of Marinette, so Lila knew that the dark-haired girl was a good way to get into Adrien's good graces again. But that plan would never come to fruition if the blonde model didn't arrive at the concert for Lila to even try doing so.

"Knowing Adrien's dad... who knows how it will end." Nino tiredly remarked, turning his gaze back to the speaker to avoid his thoughts going down that particular path while his prayers went out to his best bro, hoping he would be able to make it.

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Meanwhile, at the Agreste Mansion, Adrien was doing everything he could to convince his father to end his grounding and let him go to his friend's concert. After the events with Gorizilla, Gabriel had been dealing with a gargantuan feeling of guilt hanging over his head ever since. He was tortured by the fact that he put his only son in such peril all because he was paranoid and more focused on searching for enemies close at hand when there weren't. Needless to say, the fashion designer was being more lenient on Adrien out of guilt for his actions... even if he had grounded him. In Gabriel's defence, Adrien did sneak out of the house and the boy understood that. But due to Gabriel's guilt, the grounding was mostly in name and Adrien was able to do much of what he usually did during the week.

The only difference was that he couldn't hang out much with his friends as much as he did previously as a slight punishment for sneaking out. Thankfully, Gabriel's guilt was winning him over and he decided to give Adrien a chance to earn his freedom from being grounded... which meant Adrien had to show off his skills with the piano. And like the methodic man he was, Gabriel had decided to test Adrien's progress with the piano that same day in honor of the National Music Festival. When Adrien found out some of his friends and classmates were in a band that was going to perform during the festival, he ended up practicing the piano for the whole week to please his father with his performance so that he could go.

Soon, the moment where all his practice, all his preparation and skill would be evaluated had arrived.

In his room, with his father, Nathalie and 'Gorilla' as his audience, Adrien had started playing the rather melancholy piece of music his father always had him practicing in his allotted piano time. At first, things were going very well and Adrien was nervously playing the piece with relative ease after having practiced it for so long. But just as his confidence in his skills grew and Gabriel was pleased by Adrien's progress... he accidentally played the wrong key!!! Needless to say, the perfectionist Adrien called his father raised his hand in the air with a displeased frown, the silent command doing well to make Adrien stop playing.

"I've heard enough." Gabriel announced, standing from his seat on Adrien's couch to stand behind his son and staring him down. "Have you been practicing this week like you were told, Adrien?" the fashion designer interrogated Adrien, not seeing Adrien's shame-filled grimace.

"Of course! But I've just been doing the same exercises over and over again." Adrien said, expressing his disdain about practicing alone as he turned to face his father. "I think I could make better progress if I could just play with other musicians. After all, music's meant to be shared with other people, don't you think?" the green-eyed boy suggested in a hopeful/ul tone, bringing a smile to both Nathalie and 'Gorilla''s faces when seeing him stand up for what he wanted.

"Agrestes are soloists. We're not mere group members." Gabriel coldly stated, immediately shooting down Adrien's suggestion as if the idea insulted him. "I suggest you rehearse your piece some more. You'll play it for me again later today." he ordered, leaving Adrien flabbergasted.

"But you promised that I could attend my friends' concert!" Adrien exclaimed.

"Not after that performance, you've just given. It is probably due to their influence! You need to refocus, Adrien." Gabriel lectured his son before going to leave the room, the door closing after he was followed by Nathalie and 'Gorilla'; who felt terrible to see Adrien once again be denied the chance to be with his friends. Disheartened to hear that he still wasn't allowed to go to his friend's concert, a now saddened Adrien pulled out his phone from his pocket to call Nino, not looking forward to telling him the bad news.

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Back over at 'The Liberty', the class was putting the finishing touches on their decorations for the debut of Kitty Section. However, while Nino, Alya, Marinette and Lila were in the wheelhouse tidying it up, the DJ's phone started ringing the familiar tone he had set for Adrien, signaling that his bro was calling him.

"Wassup dude?" Nino greeted his best friend after answering his phone, lifting the device to his ear while the three girls with him stopped in their tracks to listen as well. "Wow, what happened?... Whoa, that's real rough. Good luck dude, see you tomorrow!" the usually laid-back boy farewelled, his responses in the one-side-heard conversation telling Marinette all she needed to know... Adrien wasn't coming yet again.

Upon hearing the news, Marinette turned to face the windows on the right of the wheelhouse with a frown, absentmindedly grabbing a metal statue from a box she was using to tidy up. Knowing that Marinette needed some cheering up, Nino looked over to Alya and Lila and nodded at them before walking out of the wheelhouse, leaving the three girls alone.

"Oh, don't be so down, Marinette. It's not exactly the first time Adrien's dad has kept him from hanging out with us, you know." Lila tried to comfort her business partner, she and Alya walking over to her to offer their support to the heartbroken girl.

"Actually, I'd have been super surprised if he hadn't. The man is so serious!" Alya exclaimed as she took the statue from Marinette's hands, placing it on top of the compass next to them just as Anarka stepped into the wheelhouse.

"Whoa, sailor! Never place a metal object next to a compass, ya hear lass?" Anarka warned the girls as she stepped up to the compass, removing the statue from the top of it as they turned to face her. "Metal attracts the needle, just like a magnet, which is why you can't get them anywhere near each other." the anarchist lectured the girls, moving the statue to and away from the compass to prove her point and show the out-of-control needle in the center of the compass's post.

"I know how they feel." Marinette glumly admitted, gently taking the statue from their host. "Maybe I'm just like this statue and Adrien's my compass. Maybe we're meant to stay away from each other forever." the designer mussed aloud, frowning as she turned to place the statue next to the box she had taken it out of.

"I think it's the other way around. He's the statue and you're the compass that goes crazy whenever he gets close!" Alya countered, taking the statute from Marinette's hands and copying what Anarka had done seconds ago to prove her point, earning an amused giggle from Lila."There'll be other chances, Marinette." the bespeckled girl assured her bestie, placing the statue down next to its box before wrapping Marinette into a side hug.

"That's what you said last time and the time before that." Marinette sadly pointed out, looking at the door frame while she spoke.

"Didn't you get to see that movie with him last week? I'd say that has to count for something." Lila remarked, finding Marinette's reaction to Adrien's absence unwarranted since she had already had more than a few close moments with him.

"Yeah, but it wasn't just the two of us like I would have preferred." Marinette argued, remembering the added company of Artemis, Rayla and Placide with them as well. Don't get Marinette wrong, she enjoyed herself a lot with the guests Adrien had brought back with him after Gorizilla had been defeated. But it did kind of kill the hopefully romantic vibe she was looking for.

"But in your case, I don't think you can afford to be picky. That was the closest thing to a date you've had with him, so I'd count that as a win." Lila said, earning a perturbed look from Alya at her bluntness while Marinette just chuckled in amusement.

"You have a point. And at this rate, who knows? Maybe we might actually start dating soon!" Marinette exclaimed, her mood picking up a little thanks to Lila's peculiar comfort. Seeing as she had been spending more time around the quite blunt Draal, it made sense that Marinette would be more open to the critique.

"Yeah, when you stop stuttering around him, of course." Alya added, her attempt to follow Lila's example causing the three girls to laugh and Anarka to smile at their banter just as Juleka and Rose appeared in the stairway.

"We're ready, Captain!" Rose declared, saluting the owner of the boat. "But, uh... Luka's missing." the pixie-cut-haired girl reported, causing a sly smile to appear on the captain's face.

"Marinette, right?" Anarka asked, turning to face the girl in the middle of the trio next to her.

"Yes, ma'am... uh, Captain!" Marinette replied.

"Since you're free from your cleaning duties, could you go and tell Luka that we're waiting for him to start rehearsals?" Anarka requested, thinking that the distraction might help the lass fully get out of her funk before the concert started.

"Of course. But where is he?" Marinette asked, not sure of where to go since she never met the guy before.

"You'll most likely find him in his cabin. He has a ritual he does before every practice." Anarka simply explained, shrugging her shoulders to convey her little understanding of the ritual her son did. But, 'The Liberty' was made to be a place of no rules, so the boy could do as he pleased.

"Right, got it! I'll go get him." Marinette chirped, heading down the wheelhouse stairs to the lower decks to find the mysterious Luka.

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It didn't take long to reach the below-deck area, nor did it take long to walk over to where Juleka supposedly shared a cabin with her brother, Luka. And yet, Marinette was still surprised to see the boy seemingly meditating on his bed near the doorway, his silent presence making her jump into a battle-ready stance when she saw him. But after seeing him not reacting at all, the designer relaxed and finally took in the boy in front of her.

At first glance, the famous Luka looked the part of a cool guitar guy, especially when he had a guitar pick between his left thumb and index finger and his guitar lying next to him on his bed. But Marinette only had seconds to look at Luka before he finally looked up at her, his eyes opening to reveal the most striking shade of cyan blue and unnerving the girl.

"Hey, my name's Ma-ma uh Ma-Ma-Marinette! Your mom sent me down here. The groove...uh... the group's waiting for you." Marinette nervously greeted the older boy, her chest all aflutter for reasons unknown to her while her arms went all over the place amid her explanation of her presence.

"Hello, Ma-Ma-Marinette." Luka warmly replied, chuckling to himself at the joke he made. But at the sight of Marinette's crestfallen reaction, he immediately backtracked. "Sorry. I tend to make more sense with this." the aqua blue-tipped-haired boy bashfully admitted, picking up his guitar and strumming a chord.

Instantly, Marinette's eyes widened at the sound, suddenly feeling at ease after hearing Luka's small demonstration. The feeling of ease only continued when Luka patted the space at the foot of his bed, inviting Marinette to sit down next to him so that he could continue. And without a second thought, she did.

"That's strange. It seems you have something like this in your heart." Luka mused aloud, seconds before he continued to play his guitar.

Anyone who knew Luka personally, knew of his boundless empathy and a great gift for sensing the inner song within someone. A gift he readily shared with anyone he came across, especially when they were troubled and needed guidance. And you can bet that when he started to strum his guitar to match the inner turmoil of Marinette's soul, she was instantly moved.

It felt like a calm had washed over her. A sense of peace she hadn't felt since... ever! The more Luka played to match her inner song, the more Marinette fell deeper under its hypnotic embrace, feeling comforted by the way the song seemed to understand and capture her feelings. It felt like she was... free. Free of her heartbreak. Free of her struggles with akumas and whatever Jim's job threw into the mix. Free to be herself! But all too soon, the song was done, leaving Marinette amazed by Luka's talent.

"How do you do that?" Marinette gasped, looking at the boy in awe while her hand rested over her rapidly beating heart.

"Music is often simpler than words. It only shows the truth." Luka simply explained, smiling at the pigtailed girl.

"Well whatever you did, it was amazing." Marinette sighed, only for her gaze to travel over to a poster of Jagged Stone next to Luka's bed. "You like Jagged Stone's music?" she asked as she looked down at the wall of guitar picks under the poster, picking one up that had the rockstar's face on it for closer inspection.

"He's my favorite singer!" Luka replied while slinging his guitar onto his back, standing up from his bed to stand next to her.

"Mine too." Marinette happily said, looking up from the pick in her hands and back at the poster before noticing Luka next to her.

"I noticed." Luka cheekily remarked, his gaze flitting to the pick in Marinette's hands and causing her to nearly drop it in surprise. "You can have it if you like. I've got plenty." the soulful guitar player said, smiling at Marinette's little fumble as she caught the pick.

"Oh! Thanks!" Marinette chirped, happy that Luka was being so sweet to her.

"You're welcome. But I think I'd better go join the... groove, you said?" Luka replied, recalling the mix-up Marinette had made earlier with amusement.

"Did I really say that? Oh, no!" Marinette wailed, her arms flying into the air above her before letting herself slouch to the ground in shame. 'Leave it to me to make such a bad first impression.' the pigtailed girl internally wailed, embarrassed by her usual nervous rambling. However, Luka was only smiling at her.

"You're a very interesting girl, Marinette. One of the most I've seen yet." Luka remarked with a smile, finding her actions rather cute before walking out of the room.

Now alone, Marinette could only stare at the retreating boy in awe, her heart racing and her cheeks blooming into a soft red before looking at the pick in her hands. She didn't know what was happening to her... but she knew she wanted to find out if it was what she thought it was. Without wasting another second, Marinette raced to catch up with Luka, eager to see the concert now that he was joining the other band members.

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While Kitty Section's first concert was almost underway, the mood over at the Agreste Mansion could have been better up in Adrien's room. The boy was still sad that he couldn't go to see his friend's concert, so sad in fact that he hadn't moved an inch away from his piano since calling Nino. He didn't even move when Plagg turned on his computer monitors to watch the news coverage on the music festival, hoping to cheer his holder up by any margin.

"For this year's National Music Festival, Paris's city hall has organized numerous free concerts featuring big stars in some pretty prestigious locales!" Nadja Chamack reported, unaware of the observing Plagg scarfing down a wedge of camembert before zooming over to his holder. "We're joined by our honorable Mayor, Andre Bourgeois. If you will, please tell us about the line-up!" the news reporter requested the city official, her words finally getting Adrien interested enough in the broadcast to turn and watch it.

"Well, XY will be performing at the Place de la Concorde, Laura Nightingale at the Louvre, The Philharmonic Orchestra outside City Hall, and Mr. Jagged Stone at the Eiffel Tower!" Mayor André happily explained, the screen changing to show glamor shots of the described locations. "And let's not forget the many concerts and gigs given by the people of Paris across the city!" he added, the images on the screen changing to show a map of numerous locations in Paris occupied by the local talent.

"This is likely to be the most incredible music festival since the first one was held, right here in Paris, in 1982! I'd be surprised if anyone would stay at home and miss it!" Nadja exclaimed when the feed switched back to her again, her words unknowingly making Adrien feel worse than he was already. "I'm Nadja Chamack. Tune in here, to hear more tunes." the news anchor signed off, the feed cutting to commercial while Plagg hovered next to the melancholy Adrien.

'So much for that being the thing to cheer him up,' Plagg griped internally, slightly frustrated that Nadja had made things worse before he refocused on his holder. "Come on, now. Don't be so down in the dumps. Look at the bright side. Now you can enjoy all of the concerts without leaving the comfort of your own room!" the cheese gremlin cheerfully pointed out, hoping that his unusual-looking-on-the-bright-side attitude would cheer Adrien up.

"I didn't want to go to every single concert, Plagg, I just wanted to go to my friend's concert. But apparently, even that's a tall order when it comes to my father." Adrien remarked sourly, looking down at the piano keys with a frown. But that was just the opening Plagg needed.

"Then why didn't you say so?" Plagg said to Adrien, drawing the boy's now-confused attention away from his piano and over to his kwami. "As your friend, I'm going to give you a private concert you'll never forget!" the black kwami declared before flying to float in front of Adrien's darkened computer monitors, using that as his little stage. And with a quick 'Ahem!', the kwami began to sing.

"Camembert! You're the cheese of my dreams! Camembert! You make life better than it seems!" Plagg sang, his voice incredibly off-key and quite horrible to those who would witness the performance. But it was enough to bring a smile to Adrien's lips, who was grateful that Plagg cared about him enough to try so hard to cheer him up. Even if his ears were still recovering from the ringing Plagg's singing caused.

"Thanks, Plagg. Best concert ever." Adrien melancholily praised, appreciating the effort. Unfortunately, it still wasn't enough to fully cheer Adrien up, which was evident when he turned to his piano and started playing again, the dreary melody echoing through the room.

"Aww..." Plagg sighed, his ears lowering to his head in disappointment. Yet again, his holder was suffering from his father's stubbornness, and he couldn't do anything to truly help him.

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Up on the top deck of 'The Liberty', everything was almost ready for the concert. Turns out, Luka wasn't just the 'cool guitar guy' that he presented, but was a lot like the big brother of Kitty Section as he was already Juleka's. It warmed Marinette's already fluttering heart to see him encouraging the other band members, hyping them up for their performance like she would do for Jim when he needed the push. It was a refreshing change to see someone be the one encouraging others. Being the mature yet fun one of the group instead of needing to take that role on herself. And the warm feeling was still carried within Marinette as she sat in the middle of Alya and Lila on the provided seats in front of the stage, still smiling at the bantering band members.

"Are you okay girl?" Alya asked her bestie, quickly noticing the smile on Marinette's face and taking it as a sign of her improved mood.

"Mmm-hmm. Better than okay, actually." Marinette replied, not taking her eyes off Luka as he led the band's warm-up and tuning.

But thanks to her staring, it triggered Lila to follow her business partner's gaze and see it focusing on the lead guitar player. It did take a few of Lila's rapid glances of growing realization at the two teens, as well as her increasingly widening eyes and exaggerated gasp of shock for Alya to understand what was going on. But when she did, Alya was eager to get on board with the possibility.

"I'm thinking 'Marinette the Compass' has found herself a new statue." Alya remarked, her words bringing a smirk to her and Lila's lips and immediately pulling Marinette out of her staring to turn her attention to her best friend.

"What? Luka? No way! You're being ridiculous! Pff! Sure he's cool and nice and everything... but there's only one statue that drives this compass crazy!" Marinette rambled, trying her best to dissuade the two girls from making assumptions... when she wasn't even sure of how she herself felt about him.

"That may not be the case soon if you keep looking at Mr. Guitar Player the way you have been since sitting down." Lila teased, leaning onto Marinette's shoulder as she enjoyed her day even more with this turn of events.

"Like what?" Marinette asked, cocking an eyebrow at the teasing Lila when she turned her gaze to her.

"Like how you do with Adrien." Lila simply replied while letting her head rest on the designer's shoulder, earning a flustered blush from Marinette at the analogy. "But in a much more... sane manner, of course." the Italian girl cheekily added, making Marinette snap out of her blushing and gawk at Lila.

"HEY!!" Marinette squawked in mock offense, followed by her tickling Lila in retaliation to the teasing.

"Just calling it like I see it!" Lila said amid her laughter, soon managing to gently push Marinette off of her so that she wasn't subjected to more tickle torture. 'This is too perfect! If I can get Marinette to focus her affections on Juleka's brother, then I won't have to worry about hurting her while pursuing Adrien!' the olive-eyed girl thought to herself while she and Marinette settled back into their seats, deciding to take the chance presented to her so that she could easily obtain her goals.

"Ho, ho, sailors! Let's give them a show!" Anarka declared from behind the audience once the band was done warming up, causing the teens to turn and see her standing at the sound controls. "Whenever you're ready, Luka!" the silver-haired captain declared, prompting the lead guitarist to turn to the back of the stage and grab a tarp covering a pillar-like structure, pulling it away to reveal the biggest speaker any of the others had ever seen.

"You're going to need these, believe me." Mylène advised as she leaned over to hand Alya, Marinette, and Lila extra strength earplugs, having been to the band's previous practice sessions due to being Ivan's girlfriend.

Heeding the advice, the three girls put the earplugs in and waited for Luka to begin. But they were stupefied when he shredded his guitar and the speaker amplified it to record-breaking volume heights. The sound was so loud, that it was enough to make both cars and pedestrians on the streets go flying from the resulting sonic boom. All in all, Alya, Marinette, Nino and Lila were shocked by how loud it was. But they were quickly broken out of it when the sound of Police helicopters, boats, and cars rushed over to the houseboat, Lieutenant Roger coming out of the lead car with a megaphone.

"Mrs. Anarka, are you completely out of your mind? I'm reading 160 decibels! That's 10 times the sound of a jet engine! You just can't do this. You'll have to play something else!" Lieutenant Roger lectured the ship's captain with his megaphone, holding up a decibel reader to show how loud the speakers were going.

"It's the National Music Festival today, Officer Roger! My crew's allowed to play whatever they want!" Anarka replied through her ship's speakers, matching Lieutenant Roger's hostility towards her as she stepped up to the side of the ship closest to the bank of the Seine.

"It's a music festival, not a noise festival. If you don't turn the volume down, I'll ban your concert altogether!" Lieutenant Roger threatened while Marinette, Alya, Nino and Lila walked up to the ship's captain, thinking that he could get Anarka to stand down if he put his foot down hard enough.

"Uh, maybe we could turn the volume down a bit, Captain? Then there'd be no more problems, right?" Marinette suggested as she stepped towards the ship's captain, hoping to help settle the dispute between her and Lieutenant Roger.

"No, out of the question!!" Anarka snapped, appalled by the idea as she turned to face Lieutenant Roger again. "I didn't name my galleon Liberty for nothing, you know! It's a matter of principle! Haven't you ever heard of freedom of speech, Roger? This is me home! I will do as I want!" the anarchist went on, defending her right to freedom while on her ship while Roger abandoned his car and megaphone to walk over to the houseboat.

"Do you have a document stating you can moor your houseboat in this location?" Lieutenant Roger questioned Anarka as he stepped onto the gangplank, trying another tactic to make the captain stand down while she came to stand at the other end to prevent him from stepping aboard.

"The Seine belongs to everyone!" Anarka declared, having enough of Lieutenant Roger's so-called 'rules'.

"You are not allowed to moor here without a parking permit! Which means you can't play your concert here either." Lieutenant Roger stated as he pulled out his ticket book, starting to write up and hand Anarka the corresponding tickets. "Not to mention this incredibly messy deck! Public visual disturbance you get a ticket! And this decoration, it's too decorated! Another ticket!" the police officer continued, handing Anarka more tickets before she ripped them up into shreds while laughing. But that only made Lieutenant Roger even more angry at her.

"Oh, you asked for it, now! One more ticket for making me use too many tickets, one more for your attitude, one because I can't sleep, one more because I'm seasick, one more because I say so–" Lieutenant Roger rambled while writing even more tickets, some not even viable violations but was all enough to anger Anarka to the point of boiling over, her glare at Roger scaring the teens witnessing them.

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Unknown to either Anarka, Lieutenant Roger or the teens aboard 'The Liberty', the silver-haired captain's growing anger towards being confined by the law was reaching the point where a certain villain easily detected it. As soon Gabriel sensed the negative emotions surrounding the houseboat, he hightailed it to his lair and transformed into his Hawkmoth persona, eager to use them to his advantage. The desire only grew as his lair window opened to reveal the city to him, the daylight streaming through the window disturbing the surrounding butterflies to start fluttering around the lair.

"Ah, the suppression of a soul demanding liberty and freedom. A perfect target for my akuma!" Hawkmoth exclaimed as he opened his hand to let one of the fluttering butterflies land on it, quickly changing it into an akuma before letting it flutter free from his grasp. "Fly away my little akuma and evilize her." the resident supervillain ordered the akuma, watching as it flew out the opening in the lair's window and went out into Paris, heading to the Seine.

As Hawkmoth has sent quite a few akumas to the area where College Francois Dupont resided, the corrupted bug didn't take much time to arrive at the houseboat where its target was. But it was enough time for the Police to clear out, giving Anarka the chance to stomp up to her boat's wheelhouse and punch the compass post in anger, unaware of the akuma closing in on her.

"I refuse to give in!" Anarka yelled in anger, unhappy with her latest encounter with Roger while the akuma entered the wheelhouse and landed on the compass of the ship. No sooner than it did, the link between Anarka and Hawkmoth was created, allowing him to communicate with his soon-to-be latest akuma.

"Captain Hardrock, I am Hawkmoth." Hawkmoth greeted the ship captain, the butterfly outline appearing before her face as she looked up from her ship's controls when the psychic link was created. "Is the establishment censoring your right to make as much noise as you'd like? From now on they won't hear anything but your music. I'm giving you an indestructible ship and you will use it to sail around Paris and blast your music out everywhere you go as loudly as you please. In return, you will bring me the greatest of all treasures, Ladybug and Chat Noir's Miraculous." he explained, outlining his deal and greatly pleasing Anarka with the offer.

"A treasure in return for freedom? Ho, ho, ho then I shall be your pirate Hawkmoth." Anarka declared, accepting the deal before the telltale black and purple surrounded her and transformed her into .

Second later, the aura also covered 'The Liberty', transforming it like Hawkmoth had promised and leaving the teens still on board shocked. Once the aura had passed, it left behind a barely recognisable yet seemingly indestructible ship just as the newly christened Captain Hardrock stepped up to the helm.

"Raise the mainsail me deckhands! Let's get swashbuckling around here!" Captain Hardrock ordered with a wicked laugh, causing the teens to look up to the helm and see her.

"Mom?" Juleka breathed out in shock, standing next to Luka as they took in their mother's current state.

"What's going on?" Luka asked, not liking the fact that his and Juleka's mother had been turned into a fanatic music-loving pirate.

"Your mom has weighed anchor, me lad! I'm Captain Hardrock!! And today Paris's timbers are about to be shivered by my cannons!" Captain Hardrock declared, brandishing her glowing red microphone sword before it quickly turned into a telescope for her to look through. No sooner than she did, the akumatized pirate spotted Jagged Stone's concert at the Eiffel Tower, greatly pleasing her with how close it was. "Westward ho!! Liberty, next stop! Jagged Stone at the Eiffel Tower!" the evilised captain declared, the semi-sentient ship following her command as the compass spun to point to Captain Hardrock's desired location before sailing towards the monument.

"Soon, there will only be one concert in Paris! Only one Music Festival! We will destroy all the others! Now, get to your instruments and rock those decibels!" Captain Hardrock ordered her captives on the deck below her, the ship continuing towards the Eiffel Tower much to the teens' despair.

"Mom, please! You can't ruin the Music Festival. You can't force people to listen to your music!" Luka protested, trying to reason with his mother by any means he could.

"No way we're playing like this!" Ivan shouted, backing up Luka. But their pleas fell on deaf ears, only doing well to further enrage Captain Hardrock.

"Mutiny? On my ship? I don't think so!" Captain Hardrock yelled, followed by her pointing her sword handle; the glowing blade retracted within it, at the teens. "Liberty, seize these scallywags and throw them down into the hold!" the akumatized captain ordered, the ship following the command and sending flying chains from out of nowhere towards the teens.

The chains; too fast to be dodged by normal reflexes, then wrapped around the crew, capturing them even further. Seconds later, the deck below them suddenly fell away to make the captive roll into the below-deck area, followed by the deck closing back up once the captives were secure.

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With no one in her way, Captain Hardrock continued on her quest to ruin the festival, her ship quickly coming to pass by the Eiffel Tower and Jagged Stone's concert. However, there was a bridge in the way of her ship... which wasn't much of a problem to Captain Hardrock, of course! All it took was a quick shot from her ship's laser cannon to blast the bridge out of the way and continue to sail past the monument until she was in the perfect position to fire her cannons at the venue.

Once she was, Captain Hardrock ordered her ship to fire small, cannonball-shaped speakers at the Eiffel Tower, the devices embedding themselves all around the concert area and causing a fair amount of damage. But the worst thing they did was act like white noise machines, releasing an eardrum-bursting sound that evacuated everyone in the area. Soon enough, the chaos was enough to make the news... which Adrien had been watching once again after practicing his piano piece again.

"Paris is yet again under attack, a new villain is destroying all the music festival concerts one by one. Please take shelter as soon as possible!" Nadja warned through the broadcast, the top corner of the screen showing aerial shots of Captain Hardrock's ship and the akuma herself. Needless to say, Adrien was both troubled by the news of a new akuma... but also glad to have an excuse to escape his grounding for a short while.

"I may be grounded, Plagg, but they're playing my song." Adrien declared, eager to head out and help Ladybug defeat the new puppet villain.

"Yeah, I know it by heart." Plagg groaned, his hopes of having a quiet weekend without transforming going down the drain before ...

"Plagg, claws out!" Adrien shouted, triggering his transformation into Chat Noir and jumping out of his window towards the chaos Captain Hardrock was creating.

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With Chat Noir on his way to head off Captain Hardrock, things over in 'The Liberty's' hold could have been better for the captive teens inside. They were all sitting on the wooden floor of the lowermost deck of the ship, chained into pairs; a trio of Alya, Nino and Lila due to the uneven number of teens, while the sounds of cannon fire raged above them. But despite the seemingly bleak situation, Marinette still had a trick up her sleeve to escape... which just so happened to peek out of the girl's purse to look at her holder for confirmation to continue.

As soon as Marinette saw Tikki ready to help, she glanced around to make sure no one was looking at them and nodded at her. Now allowed to continue, Tikki zipped out of her holder purse and unlocked the chains holding Marinette and Luka together, making the metal restraints fall to the floor before hiding back in Marinette's purse again.

"Wow! How'd you do that?" Luka asked Marinette in amazement, immediately assuming she had freed them.

"Uhh, I, uhm... With this." Marinette stammered as she showed him the guitar pick he gave her, having momentarily forgotten that Luka was with her when getting Tikki to free her.

"You're amazing. A real magician Marinette." Luka praised the girl, standing to his full height.

"Oh, it was nothing." Marinette dismissed as he offered her a hand up, glad that he was going along with her excuse until she fully processed his words. "Wait, amazing, really? You think so?" the red-tipped-haired girl questioned the boy she was previously chained to, looking up at Luka in wonder as he smiled at her.

"Excuse me, but some of us are still chained up here, you know." A voice spoke up, causing the newly freed teens to look and see it was an amused Alya who had spoken up.

"Oh, let them have their moment, Alya. We aren't going anywhere." Lila chided the reporter, using the limited space between her, Alya and Nino to bump her shoulder into the second girl in the trio. Not to get her wrong, she wanted to be out of the chains keeping her attached to Alya and Nino, but she was willing to wait if it meant that Marinette fell deeper into her new affection for Luka. "Besides, what are the chances of Captain Hardrock coming down here this very minute?" the Italian girl rhetorically wondered, only for the sound of a laughing Captain Hardrock walking downstairs to fill the room.

"Guys, she's coming!" Alya exclaimed, leaving the others frightened about their freed friends being captured again.

'Seriously? Of all the times!' Lila whined internally, starting to think that the universe just loved to either prove her wrong or screw with her plans.

"We'll come back, I promise." Marinette swore to the others while she and Luka ran to a door, going through and locking it just as Captain Hardrock had arrived in the Hold to check on her prisoners.

After a quick look around the room, the two teens found themselves in one of 'The Liberty's' spare bedrooms before Luka found a spare guitar and used it to barricade the door. With that taken care of, Luka went over to the spare room bed and opened a very large drawer underneath it before looking over at Marinette.

"Hide in here! Hurry!" Luka urged, the sound of Captain Hardrock banging on the other side of the door filling the room.

"What about you?" Marinette questioned the boy, concerned about his choice of helping her hide instead of them both escaping.

"I'll be fine. Now hide!" Luka reiterated as the banging grew harsher, prompting Marinette to do as he said and lay down in the drawer. Once she was in, Luka closed it again and stood up to open the portside window just seconds before Captain Hardrock broke into the room. "Run, Marinette quick!" the cyan-tipped-haired boy yelled through the window, making it look like Marinette had escaped the boat while the akumatized captain approached him from behind.

"Seize him." Captain Hardrock shouted, 'The Liberty' following the command and summoned chains to surround Luka, pulling him back into the hold while the akuma looked out the window for any sign of the 'escaped' teen. "She won't get very far." the akumatized pirate menacingly mused aloud, pulling her head back into the boat before closing the window and leaving the room. But had Captain Hardrock stayed just a few seconds more, she would have seen the drawer slide out from under the bed and reveal the hidden Marinette.

"Phew, that was close." Tikki remarked as she flew out of her holder's purse, floating next to the girl moved by Luka's sacrifice.

"Yeah, it was. But I have to save my friends." Marinette said as she went through the motions of dining her usual disguise underneath her transformation, soon proclaiming 'Tikki, spots on!' and transforming into Ladybug. Now in her hero alter ego, Ladybug went to the window Luka had used for his distraction and opened it, using it to escape the boat and head off to defeat Captain Hardrock.

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While Ladybug came to join the action, up on the top deck of 'The Liberty' Captain Hardrock had returned to her post and commanded her ship to shoot at another approaching bridge. After the ship passed through the resulting wreckage, the akumatized villain pulled out her telescope and peered through it for her next target... XY's concert.

"New target located. Fire at XY." Captain Hardrock ordered her ship, 'The Liberty' firing its cannonball-shaped speakers before the eardrum-bursting sound made everyone evacuate as it did at Jagged Stone's concert, pleasing the akuma. "And now... Huh? What was that?" the akumatized anarchist wondered after she had set her sights on Nightingale's concert, seeing something on a rooftop between hers and XY's venues. With her curiosity piqued, Captain Hardrock turned her telescope back towards XY's venue and saw what had caught her attention seconds earlier, quickly zooming in and being greeted by the smirking Chat Noir perched there.

"FIRE AT CHAT NOIR!!!" Captain Hardrock yelled, triggering 'The Liberty' to fire its cannonballs at the feline hero.

Seeing the cannon fire coming his way, Chat Noir lept from the roof he was on just before the cannonballs embedded themselves into the building. While in the air, he used the incoming fire to his advantage and lept from cannonball to cannonball to finally arrive on the deck of 'The Liberty', landing towards the bow of the ship and in the enraged Captain Hardrock's sights.

"Seize him!" the akumatized villain demanded her ship, the summoned chains coming at Chat Noir so fast that he had no chance to block them before he was caught by them. However, luck was on his side when Ladybug finally arrived on deck and broke him free with her yo-yo, allowing the two of them to stand ready for another attack. "Seize them!" Captain Hardrock shouted, the ship sending more chains at Ladybug and Chat Noir while they used their weapons to dodge them. But amid the chaos on 'The Liberty', the sound of police sirens suddenly cut through all of it and caused Captain Hardrock to turn and see a squad of patrol boats chasing after her.

"I command you to stop in the name of the law!" Lieutenant Roger demanded from his megaphone, standing at the bow of the lead boat.

"Fire, Liberty!" Captain Hardrock commanded her ship, pointing her sword at Lieutenant Roger's ships so that the cannonballs would be aimed at the police.

No sooner than she did, the cannonballs hit the pursuing boats and launched them out of the water and into the air.

But the sounds of Lieutenant Roger and his team's screams, Ladybug and Chat Noir lept from 'The Liberty' and landed on the bank of the Seine. Once on solid ground again, Ladybug threw her yo-yo at the area next to them and made a giant net to catch them, followed by her letting all of the officers slide off before retracting her yo-yo.

"Thank you Ladybug and Chat Noir." Lieutenant Roger thanked the heroes after they rushed over to help the disoriented officers, Ladybug helping the bright-haired man to his feet.

"Go and find some cover. We will take care of her." Ladybug advised the lieutenant, both she and Chat Noir helping the police officers to leave before turning to face Captain Hardrock as she awaited for them to come back to her ship.

"Time for the treasure hunt!" Captain Hardrock declared, commanding her ship to fire more cannonballs at the heroes still on the Seine bank and forcing them to move out of the way as fast as possible.

"I hope you've got your sea legs kitty." Ladybug remarked to her partner, the two of them landing a bit away from the police boats and using their weapons to block incoming fire.

"I'll be purr-fect, as long as I stay dry." Chat Noir quipped in return, blocking another cannonball before they leapt into the air and used more of the incoming fire to leap onto 'The Liberty' deck again.

"Seize them!" Captain Hardrock shouted, the ship following the command and sending more chains at the heroes.

But instead of merely dodging them like before, the heroes decided to take offense and jumped into the air, landing and running across the offending chains towards Captain Hardrock. Once close enough, they jumped off of the chains and landed on the stern of the ship, turning to attack Captain Hardrock at the wheel. The fight soon grew quite heated, especially when Chat Noir busted out his sword-fighting moves against the pirate akuma to even the score while Ladybug shielded them from her worst attacks. Just as the heroes were about to disarm her, however, Captain Hardrock jumped away to escape from them, landing on a rope ladder above them with a laugh before more chains started coming at the heroes.

"Any idea where the akuma is?" Chat Noir asked his partner, destroying a flying chain coming his way with his staff.

"It's gotta be on the ship somewhere." Ladybug theorized as she did the same as her partner, the broken chain links falling to the deck by their feet.

"In that case, my power will settle this." Chat Noir declared after destroying another link, raising his hand to do just that before Ladybug stopped him with her yo-yo

"Wait! I was warned that there are prisoners down in the hold! If you sink this boat, they might drown!" Ladybug exclaimed, using her prior knowledge to avoid endangering her friend's lives any more than they already were. But while Ladybug was talking to her partner, 'The Liberty' had finally arrived at the Nightingale concert venue.

"Fire at Nightingale." Captain Hardrock ordered her ship, 'The Liberty' firing its cannonball-shaped speakers before the eardrum-bursting sound like with the previous concerts.

"We've gotta stop this ship." Ladybug said to Chat Noir, having seen enough of Captain Hardrock's brand of chaos to know that the ship was a big part of it.

"It's time we got this vessel anchored. I'll rip the sail off, you try the wheel!" Chat Noir agreed before leaping high into the air, soon landing on the rather solid sail seconds later while Ladybug ran to the wheel. But when he raised his clawed hand to attempt ripping the sails apart, he merely slid off of it and landed back on the bow side of the deck. "It's no good. The sail's indestructible!" the feline hero reported to Ladybug, looking up at her as she tried to turn the wheel.

"And the wheel's locked! I can't steer it!" Ladybug replied while putting all her strength into the task, earning an amused laugh from Captain Hardrock.

"Liberty answers only to me, you little pest!!" Captain Hardrock mocked the hero, pointing her sword at Ladybug to send more chains her way. But while Ladybug was blocking the chains coming at her, Chat Noir leapt up from the deck and landed next to Captain Hardrock, attacking her to distract the akuma from attacking his partner. Fortunately for Ladybug, the sword fight Chat Noir was engaging Captain Hardrock in was just the distraction she needed to sneak away below deck.