In the weeks following Jim's babysitting blunder and Despair Bear's akumatization, it seemed that things on both Marinette's and Jim's respective sides of the world were going smoothly. However, when Jim was working to mend bridges with Claire and focus on his schoolwork while Blinky and Aaarrrgghh!!! were working to show NotEnrique to Vendel, things were picking up in Paris.

As luck would have it, the City of Love was celebrating Valentine's Day. While it was a bit of a concern to both Marinette and Adrien in regards to Hawkmoth possibly akumatizing someone heartbroken that day, they had bigger things to worry about. This is what Adrien had been focusing on in class instead of participating in the Literature lesson Ms Bustier was teaching that day, which just so happened to be themed around the current holiday.

"Now, as we have discussed, the prince breaks the spell by kissing the princess in most fairy tales. Can anyone tell us why?" Miss Bustier questioned the class, leaning against the front of her desk as she faced her students

"Because only love can conquer hate!" Rose replied as she enthusiastically stood up from her seat, followed by her swooning at the thought.

"Correct, Rose." Miss Bustier said, happy that she was paying attention to the lesson while the girl in pink sat back down. But no sooner than she did, Max had stood up from his seat, too.

"Technically speaking, this reasoning is only exhibited in about 87% of all fairy tales and-" Max spoke up, assuming the posture of a proper professor as he made his point.

"Thank you, Max. That's enough." Miss Bustier interrupted, while glad that Max was getting so in-depth with the lesson but not needing to know the specifics of the subject. But after she had said so, Ms Bustier had noticed Marinette trying to look over Adrien's shoulder as he wrote something on a piece of paper, clearly more focused on that than the lesson.

"Adrien, I hope what you're writing has to do with my lesson." the teacher remarked as she stepped towards the model, causing Marinette to gasp when she saw Miss Bustier approaching Adrien. "Can you tell me what I just said?" Miss Bustier asked, now standing in front of Adrien's desk before the blonde finally looked up from his writing.

" 'That's why in most fairy tales, the prince breaks the spell by kissing the princess because only love conquers hate.' " Adrien recited in a tired voice, revealing that he had been listening the whole time. A little habit he had picked up during photoshoots when the photographer rambled on about things while he waited for them to decide what to do.

"Very good, Adrien!" Ms Bustier praised just seconds before the bell rang, surprised that he seemed to be so good at multitasking. Once the familiar sound echoed through the school, all of the students started packing up to head home. "Now, everyone, don't forget to finish Sleeping Beauty by Charles Perrault tonight. Happy Valentine's Day, students!" the red-haired teacher farewelled the teens as they left the classroom, herself following soon after them. But the same couldn't be said for either a still-writing Adrien or a still-curious Marinette.

"Hey, go ahead, I'll meet you outside." Marinette said to Alya, eager to see if she could find out what her crush was up to.

"No problem, gurl." Alya replied, followed by her slipping out of her seat and walking to the door.

Now that everyone else had left the room, Marinette continued trying to peek over Adrien's shoulder as he kept on writing what he was working on earlier. However, her efforts were rewarded when a now frustrated Adrien crumpled up the paper, rose from his seat and grabbed his bag to exit the room, tossing the paper into the garbage can as he went by. Seeing the opportunity presented to her, Marinette couldn't help the joyous chuckle escaping her before making her way to the trash can to find the paper Adrien had thrown out. But had she been more aware of her surroundings, the designer would have seen Chloé and Sabrina walking up to Adrien as he just stepped out of the classroom.

"Hi Adrien, sign here please." Chloé greeted Adrien, Sabrina holding the unrolled end of a poster towards him and drawing out a sigh from the poor boy.

"Oh, come on, you know I hate signing autographs, Chloé." Adrien nearly whined, not interested in doing that particular requirement of his model profession... even if it was for his childhood friend.

"Oh, that's not what this is." Chloé assured the boy. "This is a petition against cruelty to hamsters. Have you seen some of the ugly sweaters they are forced to wear? It's appalling." the blonde brat explained, clearly lying. But Adrien didn't have the energy to argue with Chloé about the matter and begrudgingly signed the poster, quickly walking away afterwards.

As soon as he was gone, Chloé squealed in excitement and yanked the poster out of Sabrina's hold to hug it in her joy, causing Sabrina to smile as well due to her friend's good mood. However, the moment was spoiled when they noticed Marinette still digging through the trash can, who had just found the paper Adrien had thrown out and uncrumpled it to read it.

"Well well, Marinette, looking for something to eat?" Chloé taunted from the doorway, forcing a surprised Marinette to hide the paper behind her back before turning around to face them. "Or maybe you're looking for some better clothes!" the heiress further mocked, followed by her laughing before she ran off with the poster in hand, leaving Sabrina behind with an angered Marinette.

"Ughhh!" Marinette growled, furious with Chloé's teasing while Sabrina shrank in on herself in regret for not calling Chloé out.

"Sorry!" Sabrina called out to Marinette, quickly scampering off to go after Chloé and finally leaving the pigtailed girl alone in the classroom with her kwami.

"Don't even give Chloé time of day, Marinette. She doesn't deserve it." Tikki told her holder as she poked her head out of Marinette's purse, easing some of the edges of Chloé's words achieved as the girl took a deep breath and calmed down.

"You're right, Tikki." Marinette admitted with a smile, only to redirect her focus onto the paper in her hands to begin reading the contents of the page, Tikki flying out to float and read alongside her. " 'Your hair is dark as night, your pretty bluebell eyes, I wonder who you are beneath that strong disguise. Every day we see each other and I hope that you'll be mine. Together our love could be so true, please, will you be my Valentine?' " the red-tipped-haired girl read aloud, her voice rising several octaves higher towards the end of the poem in shock.

"Whoa, now that's a love poem." Tikki exclaimed, also surprised with how heartfelt Adrien's now-revealed poem had been.

"Who could he be talking about? Hair as dark as night, bluebell eyes?" Marinette wondered, re-reading the poem to make sure she had the details right.

"Uh... you?" Tikki deadpanned, knowing that there was no one else Adrien could be talking about. But it seemed Marinette didn't think so, who nervously laughed off the notion.

"Me? No way. There are plenty of girls at school with dark hair and blue eyes." Marinette dismissed, not wanting to get her hopes up on the possibility. As much as she hated to admit it, Jim was right when he said that Adrien was oblivious to her feelings for him, and it had left a little seed of doubt in her mind in response.

"Yeah, but bluebell eyes..." Tikki pointed out, calling out the more in-depth details of Adrien's poem and triggering Marinette to start entertaining the possibility.

"Okay, I'll give you that one. But what do you think he means by 'strong disguise'?" Marinette rebutted, causing Tikki to sigh in slight exasperation. Looks like there was a little more convincing to be had.

"This is poetry. He means who you are deep down inside." Tikki explained as she hovered a few feet away from her holder, having been around enough creative people as her holders to know the meaning behind the writing style. "He wants to get to know you, Marinette! He's talking about you!" the red kwami cheered as she fluttered around Marinette, triggering the girl's excited squealing as she jumped up and down in her joy.

"OH MY GOD! Pinch me!" Marinette squealed, soon falling into a fit of joyous giggles until... "AHH, NOT LITERALLY!" the designer shrieked, followed by her pouting at a giggling Tikki as she rubbed her arm.

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Outside of Collège Françoise Dupont, Marinette had joined back up with Alya and they walked towards her house together, the pigtailed girl now holding the letter to her chest. But as they exited the school, the two girls couldn't help but notice Max and Kim standing on the sidewalk on the side of the school premises, looking like they were up to something.

"Operation Valentine's Day is commencing." Max proclaimed as Marinette and Alya stopped a few feet from the two boys, pulling out a heart box behind his back and holding it towards Kim. "According to my extensive research and cross-referencing of online shopping sites, this particular jewel was ranked highest in popularity." the resident genius revealed to the jock as he handed the box to Kim, who opened it to see the jeweled brooch inside.

"That's perfect, Max! I bet I'll hit a home run with this one!!" Kim exclaimed when seeing the brooch, eager to give it to the girl he wanted as his Valentine. "Love is like baseball, right? You gotta have a strategy or you'll strike out. But if you aim right, you'll hit it out of the ballpark and score!" the jock rambled, clearly not used to being in a relationship while he and Max were unaware of their conversation, exciting Alya.

"Oh yes, Kim. Lovely metaphor." Max complimented with a wince, triggering Kim to look at him in confusion while Alya dragged Marinette with her as she walked over to the boys.

"Meta-who?" Kim questioned his friend, only to be surprised by Alya grabbing his hands to look at the jewel in the box.

"Ooh! Sparkly! Is that for moi?" Alya gleefully wondered, both she and Marinette staring at the jewel in wonder before a surprised Kim backed away from the excited girls.

"Negative Alya. The recipient of this gem has already been determined." Max said, clearing up any confusion in regards to who was getting Kim's gift. "It's–" the resident genius began, only for Kim to quickly grab Max and slam his hand onto the shorter boy's mouth, cutting him off.

"Shh! Keep it on the down-low!" Kim told his friend, not wanting the name of the girl he was giving the brooch to get out. But the information already given was enough to get Marinette and Alya excited.

"Scoop! Kim's got a major crush!" Alya exclaimed, followed by her taking a picture of the jock with the phone in her excitement. "Who's the lucky lady?" the reporter questioned, a sly smile present before Marinette pushed Alya's camera arm down.

"It's gorgeous Kim. She's going to be ecstatic!" Marinette cheered, confident that Kim would be successful in his romantic pursuit, causing Alya to giggle while Kim bashfully rubbed the back of his head.

"Technically, she's still gotta accept it." Kim replied, knowing that there was still that little detail to take care of. Upon the mention of it, however, he quickly grabbed Max in a panic. "But what if she says 'no'!?" the jock questioned his friend, both Max and Alya looking worriedly at him.

"She won't Kim, no way! Don't hold back, Kim. Go for it, no regrets!" Marinette suddenly exclaimed as she fist pumped into the air in her encouragement, leaving Alya shocked. But it seemed to work since Kim was now rearing to go to get his and Max's plan rolling.

"Operation Valentine's Day is underway!" Kim hollered before high-fiving Max, followed by him starting to jog in place and holding a map the bespeckled boy had given to him.

"Now remember, her route is highlighted here in yellow and yours is in red." Max explained, pointing to the corresponding routes traced on the map. "If you run at ten miles per hour, you're going to gain a four-and-a-half minute lead on her." the resident genius continued, causing Kim to look up from the paper to see Max's encouraging smile.

"Halt and wait here facing northwest -- the third most romantic spot in Paris." Max stated as he pointed at where both mapped routes ended, quickly giving Kim a thumbs up alongside Marinette and Alya as they stood behind the smaller boy. "Go go go!" the bespeckled boy cheered, causing Kim to pick up the pace in preparation.

"Thanks, you guys!" Kim shouted before running away, heading out to intercept his crush. Once he was gone, however, Alya finally had the chance to catch Marinette's attention by elbowing her in the ribs, eager to bring up the elephant in the room the reporter had spotted.

"I know someone good at dishing out advice who can't take some herself." Alya slyly remarked as she pointed to Adrien exiting the school and entering his car, the door closing when he was inside. With his charge inside, Placide I.T. quickly drove away, leaving the two girls alone now that Max had left too. But now that they didn't have anyone in earshot of them, Marinette came to a decision.

"You're right. It's time I told him." Marinette replied, immediately catching the smug Alya's attention.

"SAY WHAT?!" Alya squawked, eyes wide as dinner plates due to her best friend's declaration.

"I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna tell Adrien my true feelings!" Marinette reiterated, holding the poem within her grasp close to her chest in her excitement and leaving Alya in further shock. "Well... I'm gonna write them on a card, that is." the pigtailed girl elaborated, taking a realistic approach to her decision. Nevertheless, a still-shocked Alya had finally let the announcement fully sink in and quickly recovered enough of her sanity to smile at her bestie.

"Heck yeah, you are!" Alya cheered in motivation, excited that Marinette was taking such a big step.

"Yeah!" Marinette parroted, followed by the two of them sharing a fist bump

"OPERATION VALENTINE'S DAY!" Alya & Marinette cheered, performing their secret handshake before running off to get Marinette's confession underway.

But had Alya and Marinette lingered around for a few more minutes, they would have seen a cluster of girls surrounding the corner post housing a poster of Adrien. As the girls grouped around the poster, they couldn't help but ogle over the image of their school's resident celebrity and wish he was theirs.

"He's so cute!" one of the girls squealed, practically groveling at the foot of the poster.

"Keep dreaming all you want girls, but the boy is mine." a shrill voice behind the girls called out, forcing them to turn around and see Chloé and Sabrina standing behind them. Seconds later, the heiress snapped her fingers, signaling Sabrina to unroll the poster in her hands and show it to the girls. A loud collective gasp occurred upon the sight of what was on it.

" 'To Chloé, the most awesome girl in the world and the love of my life. Signed, Adrien.' " a second girl read aloud, revealing what Chloé had tricked Adrien into signing earlier and triggering all the girls to begin crying their eyes out. But it didn't seem enough for the blonde brat, who saw one girl trying not to burst out crying.

"Uh, she's not crying enough." Chloé said to Sabrina, who frowned at the sort of silent demand as she brought the poster towards the one girl, who immediately cried even more. All of the girl's suffering had caused Chloé to laugh, soon having enough watching their pain and deciding to walk home, eager to get her new poster framed.

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While Chloé was causing her usual brand of suffering, both Alya and Marinette had arrived at the red-tipped-haired girl's house to enact Marinette's plan. But when Alya had gone to get the perfect card for her confession, Marinette was sitting at her desk and trying to think of what to write in her love letter to Adrien, all while Jim was on a video call, too.

"Dear Adrien, dear Adrien... Dear Adrien..." Marinette muttered aloud, tapping her pen on the paper she had in front of her before sighing as she crossed out what she had already written. " I'm no good at this love letter writing thing... I sound like a total dorkasaurus!" the designer groaned as she slouched onto her desk in her despair, leaving her brother amused.

"Only when you say words like 'dorkasaurus'." Jim remarked with a chuckle from Marinette's phone as it leaned against the base of the girl's computer, well used to Marinette's freakouts in the love department. But his words had only earned a glare from his sister before she turned her chair away from Jim in frustration.

"Relax, Marinette. He's only teasing." Tikki assured Marinette, flying to float next to her holder while Jim realized that he might have gone a little too far.

"Sorry, sis. I didn't mean to be rude." Jim apologized, hoping to soothe the little offense he had caused and seeming to lighten Marinette's mood a bit.

"Thanks, Jim. I know it isn't easy for you to stand by me on this, but I appreciate your help." Marinette said to her brother, finally turning to face him with a small smile, which he returned in kind.

"While I don't like you having a crush on Adrien, it's great that you're attempting to tell him. So stop worrying about it so much and say how you feel about him. " Jim replied, hoping to encourage Marinette to be brave... even if it was with the guy he didn't think was right for her. But he promised to not argue about it anymore, and Jim intended to keep that promise.

"He's right. Just think of Adrien and speak from the heart." Tikki encouraged, causing Marinette to smile at her kwami for the kind words. But while looking at Tikki, her gaze spotted Adrien's letter pinned on her corkboard on the wall across from her and triggered a gasp of realization to pass through Marinette's lips.

"Adrien's letter! That's it! Why didn't I think of that before? I'll answer his poem!" Marinette exclaimed, rising out of her seat in her exhilaration of having a solid basis for her confession letter.

"Marinette!" a voice called from below, once again causing Marinette to gasp as Tikki hid before the trapdoor opened up, Alya entered the room with a grin. "Check it out!" Alya cheered, pulling out a pink heart-shaped card from behind her back and showing it to her best friend.

"It's perfect! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Marinette squealed, her joy skyrocketing now that she had the perfect card for her perfect letter.

"Okay, okay, we get that you're excited, Mari. Now get to writing before the postman gets there!" Jim reminded his sister, pulling Marinette out of her excitement for a brief moment to regain her composure.

"Right, got it." Marinette replied, quickly going over to her chair and sitting down while Alya hovered behind her as she and Jim; as much as he could, watched as Marinette wrote the love letter. "Voila!" the pigtailed girl announced when she finished the poem, Alya squealing after reading the final product.

"Don't forget to sign it!" Alya brought up, pointing to the card to make sure Marinette would remember considering she had a track record of forgetting to do so.

"Hang on, let me see it first!" Jim whined, now fully invested in Marinette's confession before his sister lifted the card to her phone, showing the letter to Jim for him to read it. "Again, I don't think you and Adrien should be dating... but that's a goddamn great poem." the Trollhunter approved, blown away with how romantic the poem had turned out and earning a bright smile from Marinette.

"Thanks, Jim. Despite your blatant dislike of the boy I'm interested in, your and Alya's encouragement means a lot." Marinette thanked as she placed the letter back onto her desk, only seconds before a ladybug flew inside the room and distracted Marinette as it landed on the letter.

"Oh, this is a good omen! Ladybugs are good luck!" Alya exclaimed as she leaned over Marinette's shoulder to get a better look at the ladybug, the little beetle crawling over Marinette's letter and minding its own business. "Especially in the love department!" the reporter slyly drawled out, a smirk on her lips before taking a step back from her best friend.

"Really?" Marinette questioned, unfamiliar with the tidbit Alya had just dropped.

"Yeah! You of all people should know about ladybugs." Alya remarked as she pulled out her phone and started searching for something, sending both Marinette and Jim into a panic.

"R-really? Wh-why do you say that?" Marinette stammered out as she nervously rubbed the back of her head, starting to think the worst and Alya had figured out her identity. But her worries were put at slight ease when Alya turned around and faced her to say...

"Since ancient times the ladybug has been a symbol of love, guiding hearts on the path to devotion." Alya read from her phone, followed by her turning the screen to show the Ladyblog to Marinette. "It was on my blog this week. You read it, didn't you?" the bespeckled girl asked, unknowing to the relief she had just given the two siblings.

"Oh yeah, yeah, of course." Marinette replied, glad that her initial fears were wrong as she turned her attention back towards her computer, sighing in relief alongside Jim.

"Chiudine uno(Close one)." Jim & Marinette muttered to themselves, glad to have dodged such a bullet.

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Over at the Agreste mansion, Adrien had long returned home and had raced up to his room, hoping to finally figure out how to confess to Ladybug on this certain holiday. In case it wasn't obvious, the letter he had been working on in class had been intended for Ladybug instead of Marinette; even though they are the same person. But seeing as Adrien didn't know that, he had planned on telling Ladybug his true feelings on the day practically made for love and romance.

The only problem was... Adrien couldn't figure out how to make such a declaration that seemed to encompass all that he felt for his spotted partner. And Plagg wasn't helping either with his incessant talk of how cheese was easier to understand than the fairer sex.

"So she's got eyes, arms, legs, big deal! How can you possibly be in love with Ladybug? You don't even know who she really is!" Plagg whined as he floated in front of Adrien's largest computer screen, his holder leaning on his arm while trying and failing to write another letter to Ladybug.

"You don't know anything about love..." Adrien sighed dejectedly, having enough of Plagg's naysaying before the black cat flew to Adrien's right.

"Oh sure I do, I love Cheddar, I love Swiss and I love Camembert." Plagg proclaimed, hugging the slice of aforementioned cheese in his grasp before a pouting Adrien sent him a glare. "Plus, with all the looks I've seen your dad's assistant give your dad, I'd say that's more than enough to say I know what love is." the black kwami announced, earning a surprised stare from his holder at the news.

"Wait, what?! Since when did that happen?" Adrien nearly shrieked, his pencil dropping from his hand as he leaned towards his floating kwami in the hopes of getting more answers.

"Kid, it's painfully obvious! Seriously, she looks at him like he's the one who hung the stars in the sky!" Plagg exclaimed, recalling the numerous incidents that he'd poked out of Adrien's shirt and saw Nathalie fondly gazing at her boss. Needless to say, Adrien wasn't convinced of the obvious fact.

"Plagg, stop joking...." Adrien began to say, only to stop and think about Plagg's words. As he did, the boy began to realize that he was right. Now remembering the at-the-time weird looks he'd seen Nathalie give his father and certain mannerisms one wouldn't see with normal boss/assistant relationships, it left Adrien shocked.

"Oh.... Okay, now that you mentioned it, I see what you mean." the blonde model breathed out, now looking to the ground as he processed his not-so-great epiphany while Plagg gave him a deadpanned look. "But maybe it's a good thing! I've always thought of Nathalie as part of the family, so it would only make it official if they did end up together! They're practically soulmates!" Adrien excitedly rambled, now happy at the prospect of his dad finding happiness again thanks to Nathalie.

"Unlike you and Ladybug, huh?!" Plagg remarked, teasing his holder. At the snide remark from his kwami, Adrien glared at him as stood up from his chair with a sigh, causing it to spin as he headed for the window. "Aww, the poor boy's frustrated because he can't finish the poem for his masked sweetheart?" the cheese-obsessed sprite mocked as he landed on the top of Adrien's swivel chair, watching as Adrien rested his arm and head against the window in his distress.

"I don't need a poem when I can tell her to her face... I love you." Adrien nearly whispered in a love-sick tone, now deciding to go the simple route as he envisioned the ideal outcome of his confession to Ladybug.

"Bleh, gross. You're making me lose my appetite." Plagg whined from his perch, not wanting to deal with such matters before he tossed the wedge Camembert he was holding into his mouth, golfing it down in one go. "Almost." the black kwami muttered, his mouth full of his favorite food as he watched his holder dive deeper into his love-sick fantasy.

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Meanwhile, at the Pont des Arts, Kim had arrived a few minutes earlier and was now waiting on the side of a rail guard fence for his intended Valentine. Fortunately for him, Max's calculations were correct in his wait time and he soon saw Chloé walking onto the bridge, who was on the phone with someone.

"That's right, in a 24-karat gold frame." Chloé spoke to the person on the other end, obviously talking about the poster she conned out of Adrien while Kim rushed toward her. "Deliver it to Le Grand Paris Hotel and bill it to Daddykins... uh, I mean, Mr Bourgeois." She outlined, still walking along the bridge before she stopped after noticing Kim standing in front of her, his gift for her hiding behind his back.

"What are you doing here?" Chloé snobbily questioned the jock, hanging up her call as her intense stare had now left Kim feeling nervous.

"I-I..." Kim stammered, already forgetting what he had planned to say due to his nerves.

"You-You..." Chloé mockingly parroted, quiet board of Kim's inability to say what he wanted to say. But it didn't stop Kim from gathering up his courage and clearing his throat to finally say what he wanted to say to her, only to kneel in a puddle of water. Despite the little mishap, Kim carried on and pulled the box from behind his back, holding it out to Chloé.

"Will you be my Valentine?" Kim asked the blonde girl, presenting the jeweled brooch to Chloé.

Unfortunately, before he could get an answer, a passing biker went through a puddle and splashed water on Kim's face and the left side of his body. After wiping the dirty water from his eyes, he still held the gift to Chloé, only for a chip bag blowing in the wind to land and stick on his face, further embarrassing Kim.

"Don't move!" Chloé said with a gasp, followed by her taking a humiliating photo of Kim and then sending it to the whole school with a press of a button. "Wait till everyone gets a load of this! Hahahaha!" the heiress laughed, not at all caring about Kim's heartfelt gesture.

"No offense, Kim, but my heart's saved for someone more awesome than you." Chloé admitted as she walked past Kim and headed to the bridge exit, only to turn back to say... "Don't you just hate how harsh love can be?" the blonde brat mocked, laughing once again as she left behind a heartbroken Kim. As soon as she was gone, the poor jock took the brooch out of the box and into his hands, throwing the box and the chip bag away from him as he began sobbing his heart out.

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Down below the city, the window within Hawkmoth's lair opened up, once more disturbing the resting butterflies to flutter around the space as their master stood in the center. Admittedly, Hawkmoth had spent most of the day in his lair waiting for someone to be rejected or be the victim of a harsh break-up... and his patience had finally been rewarded.

"Ah, Valentine's Day... the day of love and the day of fools. So many delusions, and so much disappointment all at once." Hawkmoth mused aloud, glad to finally be able to have a chance to cause some discord. "My evil akumas, you are going to have such a field day." the resident super-terrorist exclaimed as he transformed one of the butterflies into an akuma, charging it with power before it fluttered free from his grasp.

"Fly away my little akuma, and evilize him!" Hawkmoth commanded the akuma, the demonic insect flying out of the lair and heading off to find its target. Fortunately for the akuma, it soon reached the Pont des Arts bridge and found the sobbing Kim, quickly entering the brooch and making the connection between the jock and his new master.

"Dark Cupid, I am Hawkmoth." greeted the man as mad as a hatter to his newest minion, the telltale butterfly outline appearing on Kim's face. "I can give you the power to shoot your arrows, pierce love and impale friendships. But there is something you must do for me in return." Hawkmoth offered, already hooking the broken-hearted boy wanting revenge.

"No love affair or friendship will escape my fury. No one will ever love again!" Kim angrily proclaimed, standing up from the ground and holding the brooch to his chest as he was transformed into Dark Cupid.

Once the transformation was complete, the newly christened Dark Cupid spread his huge wings and took off into the air, beginning his reign of terror on any couples he saw. With one hit of his arrows, the numerous couples he had spotted were subjected to unbreakable feelings of hate and turned against each other, their lips turning black being the only other sign of the akuma's powers. As he continued his hate-filled assault on love, Dark Cupid couldn't help the maniacal laugh that escaped him as he flew through the city, unaware of Hawkmoth's delight in the chaos happening.

"Perfect!" Hawkmoth exclaimed, happy with how Dark Cupid was doing so far. "It won't be long before Ladybug and Chat Noir show up to meet their doom!" the resident supervillain evilly remarked, followed by a maniacal laugh of his own as he awaited the ensuing confrontation.

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As Dark Cupid started his rampage, back over at Tom & Sabine Boulangerie Patisserie, Marinette and Alya ran down the stairs and entered the bakery. But as they made their way over to the front door to get to the nearby mailbox to send Marinette's letter, they passed by Tom as he carried a tray of heart-shaped candy apples to the shop front.

"Candy apples, girls?" Tom asked the giggling girls, halting them in their tracks so Marinette could stop and take two of the candy apples from the tray in her dad's hands.

"Thanks, Papa." Marinette thanked, kissing the big teddy bear of a man on the cheek before she and Alya exited the bakery. Due to the bakery's proximity to the Place des Vosges, the two girls had quickly arrived and stood in front of the mailbox, intent on sending Marinette's letter to Adrien. That is if she could get over her fear of putting the card through the mail slot.

"Come on, Marinette! Do it before you chicken out!" Alya encouraged Marinette, who was still a little scared of sending the letter. But after taking a deep breath to center herself, Marinette handed the candy apples to Alya and finally put the love letter in the mailbox. "Yeah!" the reporter cheered, followed by Marinette's celebration.

"I did it!" Marinette squealed, the two of them hugging each other in their joy. But the moment was quickly interrupted when both of their phones rang, prompting them to pull them out and see Chloé had texted them.

"Chloé? Since when did she start texting us so regularly?" Alya wondered aloud after she and Marinette pulled away from each other, the two of them opening the message and shocked by the humiliating photo of Kim the blonde brat had sent out. "What a witch!" the bespeckled girl growled, immediately feeling bad for the jock.

"And I was the one who told Kim to do it! I didn't know he was talking about her!" Marinette exclaimed, feeling even worse for her part in this disaster.

"Dang, I hope Adrien doesn't do the same thing to you." Alya remarked, only to realize that was the last thing she should have said to her highly emotional best friend. "I mean..." the reporter began, only for Marinette to start panicking and run back over to the mailbox.

"WHAT HAVE I DONE!?" Marinette wailed as she tried to get the love letter out of the box, climbing all over it in her panicked state.

"Girl, calm down! I was totally joking!" Alya assured the designer, who was too immersed in her attempted retrieval to focus. "Kind of..." the ombré-haired girl muttered while Marinette finally calmed down enough to listen to her.

"But the point is that Adrien would never do that to you." Alya reminded Marinette, looking up at the girl perched on the top of the mailbox. But as she did, Alya suddenly noticed Dark Cupid in the sky right above them. "What in the world is that?!" the reporter shouted, pointing up at the akuma and directing Marinette's attention to Dark Cupid just as he saw the candy apples Alya was holding.

"All hearts must be destroyed!" Dark Cupid exclaimed as he pulled out an arrow and shot it at Alya, hitting her in the chest and knocking her back a few steps.

"Alya!?" Marinette yelped, climbing down from the mailbox to check on her friend, who was now looking at the ground. But her worry was responded to by Alya shoving the candy apples onto Marinette's shirt, the treats sticking onto the fabric like glue. "Hey, seriously?!" the pigtailed girl whined, trying to pull the candy apples off of her.

"You're not my BFF, you're a joke! Adrien's gonna laugh his head off at your lame attempt at poetry!" Alya yelled at Marinette, her head rising from looking at the ground to reveal her now snarling black lips to the red-tipped-haired girl before running away with a cackle.

"Alya!" Marinette exclaimed, appalled by Alya's strange behavior before she looked back up at Dark Cupid. "What did he do to her?" the designer worriedly wondered, her stare scanning over the flying akuma as he shot another arrow until she spotted a familiar-looking brooch on his quiver strap.

"I've seen that jewel someplace before." Marinette mused to herself as Tikki flew out to float next to her holder, only to suddenly remember from where and who had it last. "It's Kim's pin! He's been akumatized!" the pigtailed girl cried, watching as Dark Cupid flew away to find more targets.

"This is not good! We gotta find him, fast!" Marinette exclaimed as she finally pried the candy apples off of her shirt, throwing them to the ground as she ran into the park and found a place to transform. Once she was sure no one would see her, Marinette activated her Ladybug disguise rune and quickly said...

"Tikki, spots on!" the red-tipped-haired girl proclaimed, finally transforming into Ladybug. After that, Ladybug jumped out of her hiding place and landed on a rooftop, running across them before she spotted Dark Cupid and followed him. Looks like she wasn't getting the holiday off, after all.

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Ladybug's chase of Dark Cupid was long and sort of tedious. However, it soon led them to the outside Le Grand Paris, where Chloé was standing at the door awaiting the deliverers of Adrien's portrait. But when the deliveries unloaded it, the heiress was less than pleased with the final result.

"Ugh! I never said 18-karat gold!" Chloé complained, her extensive knowledge of jewels and precious metals coming in handy for once. "Those gold tones will never match my 24-karat toilet! Idiots!" the blonde brat whined, unaware of Dark Cupid standing on a roof above and spotted her. Still fresh from his heartbreak from Chloé, the winged akuma didn't waste any time shooting an arrow at her, only for Ladybug to throw her yo-yo at him, making him miss.

"Ladybug!" Dark Cupid shouted in anguish, turning to face the spotted heroine behind him after the arrow hit the delivery truck, the impact drawing Chloé, Sabrina and the delivery men's attention.

"Stop, Kim!" Ladybug demanded from across the same rooftop Dark Cupid was on, her yo-yo spinning next to her to form a shield.

"I'm not Kim, I'm Dark Cupid, and I'll never stop!" Dark Cupid proclaimed, his words frightening the delivery men to place the framed poster against a lamppost before driving away. "If I can't have love, then no one can!" the evil cherub snarled at the superheroine, both not paying attention to Sabrina dragging Chloé into the hotel when the blonde brat tried to grab the poster to take with her.

"Okay, Dark Cupid, I get it. Chloé totally burned you. But that doesn't mean you have to take it out on all of Paris!" Ladybug observed while the two girls entered the hotel, retracting her yo-yo in a show of non-violence to her adversary to persuade him to stop his rampage... hopefully.

"Oh yes, I do! And I won't stop until everyone's heart is crushed." Dark Cupid announced, Ladybug's attempt at a peaceful solution now thrown away. "Say adios to your loved ones. From now on, you'll hate them!" the winged akuma shouted at the heroine, lifting his now-loaded bow at her.

But when he attempted to shoot his arrows at Ladybug, she dodged them with a throw of her yo-yo. The fight between them soon escalated when Ladybug jumped down to one of the roof windows on the building and lept toward Dark Cupid as he fired more arrows at her. Dodging the arrows, Ladybug managed to jump into the air and throw her yo-yo at the akuma, who managed to quickly evade it with a lean to the left. After the failed attack, Ladybug let herself drop to the other side of the building roof, landing on the edge of it before her enemy flew back into the air and started firing at her again. Thanks to her yo-yo, Ladybug was able to shield herself from the arrows as she leapt to the top of the roof, soon having no choice but to run along them to escape her pursuer.

Running across the rooftops with Dark Cupid following behind her while shooting arrows at her, Ladybug had only managed to get across two roofs when she miscalculated a jump. Said fall had led a screaming Ladybug to fall towards the busy street below, only to save herself at the last minute by catching herself on a roof gutter with her yo-yo. Fortunately for the spotted heroine, her new hiding place had prevented her from being spotted by Dark Cupid after he flew higher into the air to get a better view. You can imagine his surprise and anger when he couldn't find Ladybug, furiously scanning the city below him before Hawkmoth decided to... offer some words of encouragement.

"If you want to continue destroying love, bring me Ladybug's Miraculous, or I'll remove your powers!" Hawkmoth threatened his akuma, quickly cutting off the link so Dark Cupid could do just that. But as the evil cherub flew over the city in his search, he passed right over Ladybug as she hung upside down from her yo-yo cord, who was glad that she was in the clear.

"Falling for me already, my lady?" a voice below Ladybug spoke, causing the heroine in red to see Chat Noir leaning on the building wall right below her while standing on his staff, which was wedged beneath a window ledge. At the sight of her partner, Ladybug couldn't help the smile that appeared on her face.

"You have no idea how glad I am to see you, kitty." Ladybug remarked as she swung herself uptight, lowering herself towards the feline.

"Same here. I need to talk to you." Chat Noir admitted as he grabbed her hand and pulled Ladybug down next to him.

"It's gotta wait. Dark Cupi-" Ladybug began, only for Chat Noir to hush her as he pulled the red heroine close.

"Sorry, but I swore to myself that I'd tell you as soon as I saw you." Chat Noir said, leaving Ladybug speechless as she awaited what her partner had to say. "Ladybug, I-I..." the hero in black began, only for his eyes to drift to the side and spot Dark Cupid come at them.

"Look out!" Chat Noir shouted in warring, quickly spinning him and Ladybug around to shield her with his body as the arrow Dark Cupid shot at them drew near, taking the hit instead of Ladybug. It had taken Ladybug longer than she'd care to admit to process what had happened, but by the time Dark Cupid had passed by them, the deed had already been done.

"Chat Noir!? Chat, are you okay?!" Ladybug fretted, still wrapped in Chat Noir's arms as he tried battling the effects of the hate arrow.

"Ladybug, I—I..." Chat Noir strained to say, his arms tightening around Ladybug before he finally succumbed to the effects of the arrow. "I LOATHE YOU!" the hero in black growled, his lips turning black due to the spell.

"Chat Noir, snap out of it!" Ladybug cried, only for Chat Noir to squeeze Ladybug incredibly close to him and nearly suffocate her.

"You're nothing, Ladybug, and nothing to me! I hate you!" Chat Noir yelled, Ladybug squirming in his grasp before jumping onto his foot, making him cry in pain and let her go.

Now free, Ladybug pushed Chat Noir off of her and she used his staff to launch herself into the air, grappling her yo-yo onto the roof above her while the feline held onto the wobbling staff to keep himself from falling. Pulling onto the yo-yo string, Ladybug launched herself into the air above the building and flew through the air before spotting a street lamp below her. With a flick of her wrist, the spotted heroine threw her weapon at the lamppost and used it to redirect herself to fly through the front door of Le Grand Paris, rolling into the middle of the lobby.

"Ladybug, it's about time! Where have you been?" a voice near her wondered, causing Ladybug to look up and see Chloé coming out from behind the decorative table in the middle of the lobby, Sabrina coming out as well now that the city's superhero was here.

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Back over with Chat Noir, the feline was still holding on to his staff and waiting for it to stop wobbling so that he could stand on it without worry. Thankfully, he didn't need to wait long for that to happen, followed by him crouching onto the weapons before he retracted it, still giving him something to stand on before grabbing onto the building wall. Once he had a good grip, he fully collapsed his staff, put it on his back and climbed up the wall to the roof... where he was met face-to-face with Dark Cupid as he stood just in front of the roof ledge. Seeing the opportunity presented to them, that was the moment Hawkmoth chose to butt in on Dark Cupid again.

"Offer to help him in return for Ladybug's Miraculous." Hawkmoth ordered Dark Cupid through the psychic link between them, causing a smirk to appear on the akuma's lips at the idea before the butterfly outline disappeared.

"I can help you crush Ladybug, but you must give me her Miraculous in return." Dark Cupid offered Chat Noir, holding his hand out to the hero in black.

"No... problem." Chat Noir agreed with a sly smirk, cackling as he grabbed the akuma's hand and pulled himself up to the roof. With the new partnership created, Chat Noir and Dark Cupid headed out into the city, searching for Ladybug to end this fight. In any case, it had left Hawkmoth feeling very giddy at how well things were turning out for him.

"Yes. Yes! And once I have Ladybug's Miraculous, taking Chat Noir's will be child's play!" Hawkmoth exclaimed as he rested his cane across his shoulders, eager to see the outcome of Dark Cupid's alliance with the possessed Chat Noir.