A flash. That was all it took to turn the world into a whimsical, unfamiliar place, and Marinette was in the centre of the confusion.

Marinette looked down to see she was in a blue dress, overlapped with a white apron, and had blue heels on. She was in a forest filled with what looked like plants out of a Dr Seuss book or a child's imagination, and there was no-one else in sight... wait, was that a tail?

"Marinette?" A voice said from above. She looked up to see a blond boy in a pink and purple striped costume, complete with cat ears and a tail, lounging on a tree branch. She immediately assumed it was the superhero, but eventually noticed he had no mask.

"Chat Noir? Isn't this curious?" She looked back down at her surroundings before doing a double take, recalling that something wasn't quite right about his getup. "A-Adrien?!"

He tensed up, a nervous look on his face. However, that was overtaken by relieved surprise when she grinned. Then giggled. Then burst out laughing. She kept laughing, doubled over as he lowered himself from the tree to stand by her. He caught some of her words between her laughs.

"The puns... cheese... cat ears... the flirting... nicknames... oh my god the cheesy nicknames..." She managed out, almost crying from laughter. He stood sheepishly, and the moment she looked up she burst out laughing again. "Freaking cat ears... and the tail..." Taking deep breaths, she calmed herself down. "I'm good. I'm good."

Adrien let his alter-ego take over and a Cheshire-cat grin formed on his face (which was entirely appropriate considering the situation). "Are you done laughing at me, Princess?" Marinette met his eyes and let out one last giggle, visibly fighting with herself to not laugh again.

"I'm done, I swear." Her voice still shaking with mirth, she nearly broke at his un-amused expression. "Stop being funny and I'll stop laughing." Taking another deep breath, she once again took in their surroundings. "Where are we?"

A set of footsteps were heard by both of them, and instinctively, Adrien stepped in front of Marinette, tail flicking as he tried to protect her. A pair of white rabbit ears poked up from behind a bush as well as a relieved sigh. Marinette placed an hand on his arm, effectively calming him as he lost the protective stance.

"Oh thank god, guys." Alya came out wearing a white rabbit costume, as well as Nino in a weird blue costume that strangely looked like a caterpillar.

Marinette shot her two friends a grin. "I guess you could say this is getting curious-er and curious-er." She giggled as Adrien snorted with laughter. "Well, by now, it's clear we're all in some kind of Alice In Wonderland world, where for some unapparent reason I'm dressed as Alice, Adrien is the Cheshire Cat, Alya the White Rabbit and Nino's the Blue Caterpillar. So, by the movie that I watched..." She stepped through the bushes and pulled back a branch to reveal a floating table surrounded by chairs, along with three figures. "The Mad Hatter's tea party!"

Marinette gestured for the three to follow her as they jumped through the bushes. Adrien stood still, shocked at her leadership skills and her uncanny resemblance to Ladybug, that is, until Marinette came back to pull him by his tail.

"Marinette? Alya? Nino? Adrien?" A familiar voice called, one of the figures peering down from where he sat on his chair.

"Nathanael? Who's with you?" Marinette called up, running over to a tree to climb up it and get to the table. Nimbly scaling the tree, she leaped to the table to see Juleka dressed as the March Hare and Rose as the Dormouse.

"Juleka and Rose. What's going on?" Nathanael looked worriedly at her while she wobbled slightly, trying to get to a seat. Adrien looked down, slightly in anger that Nathanael was talking to his Princess, and noticed he was floating, just like the real Cheshire Cat. With a gasp, he floated up higher, waving his arms around. Gaining control, he decided to help Marinette to one of the chairs.

"We're in Wonderland, probably due to an akuma. We need to find the rest of the class." Marinette somehow managed to get the chairs and table to come down to the ground, to Rose's thankful smile. "So that means we need Ivan, Mylene, Kim, Alix, Max, Sabrina and Chloe. I bet Chloe's the Queen of Hearts. Can't you just imagine it? 'You touched my bracelet, off with your head!'" Marinette mimicked a posh and high-pitched voice that was eerily similar to Chloe's, sending the group into chuckles. "In any case, we should go find the others. They're probably at either the Red Castle or the White Palace."

Marinette stood from the plush red high-backed chair and once again climbed a taller tree. Adrien floated up to her aid. He swept her into his arms and carried her up, winking as she rolled her eyes with a smile. They reached the top of the tall tree, discovering a breathtaking view of Wonderland.

Adrien kept his arm around Marinette's waist, and she didn't push him away, just looked out at the Red Castle and the White Palace. The sun bathed her face in a warm glow, her blue hair even brighter than before. He found himself wondering how he had missed her now obvious beauty for so long.

"So, kitty cat, where do you propose we go?" She glanced at him with her bluebell doe eyes glimmering in the fading sunlight. If the view hadn't already left him breathless, she would've taken his breath away. He swallowed down this new feeling and once again looked out at the two magnificent structures.

"I'd prefer not to run into Chloe just yet, so how about the White Palace? After all, pretty sure whoever's the White Queen wouldn't look nearly as good in a ballgown as you would, Princess." He wiggled his eyebrows and Marinette giggled, a light blush staining her cheeks. Her crush on him remained, she was just now more confident now that she knew he was her best friend and partner.

"Oh the flirting. Will it ever end?" She snickered, earning a playful frown from him. "I'm just glad you haven't said any puns yet."

"Oh, now that's simply cat-astrophic! It simply won't do, I must correct this hiss-take as soon as paw-ssible!" He smirked triumphantly as Marinette mock groaned.

"I should've kept my mouth shut." She grinned and sighed happily, once again gazing out at the sun setting over Wonderland. "As much as I want to stay up here, we should get back down." She said softly, a wistful expression on her face before shaking her head and nudging Adrien. "C'mon, bring us down with your new-found flight. Ironic really, aren't ladybug's the ones who fly?" Marinette stifled a giggle as she mentioned her alter-ego.

"Yeah, but I'm the Cheshire Cat and Ladybug isn't here!" He said, shooting her a grin as he brought them down. Oh well, it's only fair, I know who he is, he should know who I am.

"Ah, kitty kitty, Ladybug's right here." She whispered in his ear before leaping down the rest of the way and landing with a commando roll. Getting up and dusting off her dress, she motioned for her classmates to follow her, but not without sending a wink to Adrien, who floated there, dumbfounded. A sharp whistle jolted him back to reality. "Kitty cat! You can't just hang around all day!"

He zoomed over to the front, next to Marinette, landing with a thud. "You drop that on me, then you pun? Do you have no intention of letting me calm down?!" He whisper yelled, careful as to not let the others hear. She gave him a grin.

"Depends. You gonna freak out when I drop that I have a ginormous crush on you?" She snickered when he froze then ran up to her again, a bewildered expression on his face. "Okay, that was definitely the reaction I wanted."

He mock scowled. "You're mean." He whined, before sobering up and saying with a serious tone. "Who do you like? Adrien or Chat?"

Marinette glanced at him, noting the change in atmosphere. "Both." That single word made him smile, and for that, she was happy. Happy that she had made him happy. That boy didn't smile enough as himself, and she was now even more determined to make that change.

"Well, milady, a cat-astrophy has been avoided this fine day." He announced cheesily, causing her to roll her eyes affectionately. "As I find was finding it rather difficult to choose between a lady and a princess myself." He wiggled his eyebrows and she giggled lightly. He found himself smiling dreamily at that giggle, lost to the world of day-dreams and thoughts. Marinette... Ladybug... Princess... My lady...

Marinette watched in amusement as Adrien walked forward, in a dazed state. She even had to pull his arm in order to stop him from walking into a tree. She could hear Alya and Nino running to catch up with the two of them, as well as Nathanael, Juleka and Rose, probably because they were reaching the White Palace.

And... was that Alix? In a white gown?

"This'll be fun." She muttered to herself before running over, waving. "Alix!" The tomboy turned to see her and the others, and she looked incredibly frustrated.

"Hey Mari, why can't I take this stupid thing off?! And what in the name of all heck are Ivan and Mylene wearing?!" She growled, lifting the skirt of the exquisite dress in disgust. When she looked at Marinette again, she rolled her eyes to see her gushing over the dress.

"Oh my god that dress is beautiful! Look at the cut, the ballgown skirt and the petticoats must be so soft and the stitching is practically invisible, and the details, the embroidery is amazing and the lace-" She cut herself off at Alix's unamused expression. "Sorry." She squeaked out before clearing her throat. "We're apparently in the world of Wonderland - you know, Alice in Wonderland?"

She nodded, following along easily. "Yeah, and apparently you're Alice."

Marinette nodded, continuing. "We think this is an akuma or something, but we need to find everyone else. If Ivan and Mylene are here too, then we just need to find Chloe, Sabrina, Kim and Max. They're probably at the Red Castle."

Alix snorted. "Makes sense. Chloe's the Red Queen, and the others would probably be those creepy card knights." Marinette laughed, nodding.

"Yeah. That guy knight is really creepy in the movie, especially when he hits on Alice." Both of them mock shudder at the thought and burst out laughing.

Ivan and Mylene had come, both dressed as Tweedledee and Tweedledum. It was weird, because Tweedledee and Tweedledum were twins, and Ivan and Mylene were dating, but Marinette thought it was adorable.

"Ah! Matching outfits! That's the cutest and most couple-y thing ever!" She squealed, bounding over to them. Marinette had noticed the awkwardness between the two and the rest of the class, so she cut through the tension like it was butter and put a whole new twist on it. Mylene shot her a grateful look before giggling.

"Yeah, I guess matching outfits are really couple-y and cute." Mylene glanced up at Ivan, who smiled warmly at her and took her hand. The affection towards each other was practically radiating off the two. Marinette was a sucker for love-y dove-y stuff, and she cooed softly at them.

Alya snickered at the sight. "Marinette is such a romanticist, it's adorably annoying." Adrien smirked at this.

"A romanticist, huh?" He grinned as he formed a completely cheesy, over the top first date in his head. Only Marinette would he take on an extremely cheesy first date. 

Flowers, a dozen red roses probably, with a poem, a candlelit dinner, that cheesy spaghetti moment where you both get the same strand and meet in the middle, and wouldn't it be amazing from the top of the Eiffel Tower? Watching the sunset from the top of the Eiffel Tower! Then star-gazing maybe, and he'd say that she was more beautiful than the stars, and she'd blush and it would be so cheesy and romantic she'd have to kiss him on her doorstep by the end of the night!

Marinette snapped out of her state by her strong sense of responsibility and called everyone together, yelling that they should all stay together, and try to find Max, Kim, Chloe and Sabrina. Then they could figure out how to get out of Wonderland. 

Once again, Marinette led the way with Adrien walking/floating beside her. The two of them were talking and laughing and flirting a little. Okay, a lot. Alya and Nino, while thoroughly confused, didn't want to intrude seeing as they seemed to finally be getting along without any pushes. It made them wonder what happened between them in the forest, at the beginning of their adventure. 

Alya squealed quietly when Adrien took her hand in his, finally, he was noticing her! She would so be interrogating her best friend about what happened between the two of them that made him suddenly take interest in her. 

Beside her, Nino no longer was watching the pair in front of them. Instead, he turned his eyes on the radiant girl walking next to him. Her eyes sparkled in the sunlight, and her lips curled up were able to make him smile as well as any of Adrien's bad puns. She was so fierce and confident, loyal and protective, he adored the way she stood up for herself and Marinette. Alya was an amazing girl.

A girl he wanted to look at him the way Marinette looked at Adrien. 

Marinette glanced back to see Nino talking to Alya, a serious and nervous expression on his face. Alya gasped and blushed before smiling and kissing his cheek. It was Marinette's turn to squeal quietly, gaining Adrien's attention. Quickly, the blunette faced forward again.

"Don't look now, but I think Alya and Nino just got together." She said in a hushed tone, to which he whipped his head around to glance at the two. "I said don't look now, dork!" She pulled on his hand and laughed as he turned back around with an exaggerated groan.

"Come on, Princess, that's my OTP right there!" He whined, to which she rolled her eyes and poked his nose. 

"We can talk to them later, right now we need to find the rest of the class and figure out how to get out of Wonderland." She pointed at the looming black and red castle ahead of them.

And... was that four figures running... towards them?

"GUYS! THERE'S A CRAZY BEAST IN THE CASTLE! I would've taken it, but it kinda almost ate Max, so."

Three guess and a hint who said that.

"SABRINA! YOU GOT MUD ON MY SHOES!"

Chloe.

"This is completely illogical!"

"Akumas never are, Max!" Marinette had enough of their bickering and yelled back. "Now all of you, be quiet, and answer me when I ask you something. Max, logically, in order to get out of this place, we need to defeat the... Jabberwocky, was it?"

"Y-Yes, but neither Ladybug nor Chat Noir are here. And logically, the akuma would be the Jabberwocky, as a defense... hey! Where are you going?" The class stared after Marinette, who had taken off in a sprint back towards the White Palace.

"Forgot something! I'll be back in a sec!" She yelled. Adrien rolled his eyes and floated up.

"I'd better follow her. We'll be back, hang around!" He grinned as half the students groaned at his pun before whizzing after her. 

Alya watched them for a moment before breaking the silence. "Wanna bet those two are Ladybug and Chat Noir?" A murmur went through them all, most agreeing, except Chloe.

The blond lifted her nose in the air snootily, like the stereotypical rich girl she was. "Mari-trash is so not Ladybug! Ladybug's so cool and amazing and-"

"She has pigtails exactly like Marinette's, and eyes exactly like Marinette's, the same body shape and height as Marinette. Has anyone even seen Marinette and Ladybug at the same time?" Nino interrupted.

"Yes! That time when Alix was the akuma-"

"There were two Ladybugs that time. And Alix could time-travel, that Ladybug could've been from the future!" Alya pointed out, cutting off Chloe's arguments once again.

She was about to continue ranting when Sabrina quietly piped up from her side. "They have a point, Chloe."

Meanwhile, Marinette was trying to find the set of armor from the movie, as well as the sword. Adrien too was searching, but mainly was bugging her. 

"Come on, buginette, you know it'll annoy Chloe to pieces." He was currently trying to convince Marinette to kiss him in front of Chloe. She was ignoring him because she didn't want him to be expecting it.

"Oh thank god." She mumbled under her breath as soon as she spotted the suit of armor. She couldn't help but admire the design on the chest-plate, but she wouldn't fangirl over it now. She was a woman on a mission. "Adrien, can you help me get this on?" She glanced back to see Adrien frozen in the air, blushing lightly. "Adrien?"

"U-Uh, y-yeah, ri-right." He snapped out of his state, although still blushing, as he moved over to help her. 

Oh god. He gulped as she stripped down to her tights and a tight shirt. Don't even think about it, Adrien. He thought to himself as he lifted the metal pieces. Gently maneuvering the armor around her body, he tightened necessary straps and clipped on pads. She shivered slightly at the feeling of his warm breath on the back of her neck. 

"Done." He whispered, fingers lingering on her neck. Eventually, he couldn't help himself, and bent to lightly press his lips to her soft skin, listening to her suck in a breath.

"Adrien." She murmured, subconsciously leaning into him. "We have a job to do." Sighing, he nodded and pulled away. She moved to grab the shining vorpal sword. "Let's go, kitty cat."

Once they reached the group again, Marinette was stared at by pretty much everyone. She only responded with a shrug.

"I don't want to get mauled in half by a huge monster." Swinging the sword around in a circle, she caught it in her palm. Her expression grew serious as they drew near the doors to the Red Castle. Alya, just behind her, couldn't help but softly sing a song to relieve the tension.

"I'm headed straight for the castle
They wanna make me their queen
And there's a monster sitting in the courtyard roaring something about being hungry." 

Marinette snorted in amusement, throwing her friend a grin and a roll of her eyes. "I'm not planning on being food, Als." She gripped her sword a little tighter and placed a hand on the doors to the courtyard. "But thanks."

And she threw open the doors to be faced with a monster.

"Oh merde." Marinette swore out loud, taking in the appearance of the creature. It was at least the size of a bus, maybe bigger, with huge wings and four sets of sharp claws, not including its feet. It's spine had spikes jutting from it, back hunched and tail long and hooked. Its head was like that of a Chinese dragon, long tendrils of... hair or flesh or something trailing from the around its head and from above its mouth. Which was open, showing many sharp teeth that could tear flesh right off bone, in a vicious snarl directed right at her.

Swallowing her fear, she let out a battle cry and ran straight at it.

While swinging her sword and attracting its attention away from her classmates, she tried to figure out where the akuma could be. I can't see anything through the black fur! She thought in frustration, once again swinging at a claw that was coming straight at her. Who could this be, anyway? She tried to think about anyone who could be connected to 'Alice in Wonderland.'

Madame Bustier! She was reading the novel when Chloe called out and called it a book for babies. She was about to reprimand her when Chloe threatened her... and she left to talk to Mr Damocles... and they were waiting for her to come back when the flash happened. 

How could they get back to the real world though?

Finish the story. Marinette's eyes widened in realization. She had to finish the story. How did the story end?

...Alice slayed the Jabberwocky.

With newfound determination, she ran up a slope, drawing the beast below her. The swings of her sword were filled with more intent to hit the target. Just like Chat's staff, and if he can do it, I certainly can, come on Marinette...

Adrien felt his heart speed up. Up until now, Marinette had been more concentrated on defense rather than attack. But now it looked like she was aiming to kill. Killing akumas was never an option. This was wrong.

"Trust her, Adrien. She knows what to do." A red kwami sat on his shoulder, her voice tinkling. "She's figured out that isn't really the akuma, and she has to finish the story in order to bring us all out of this world." She looked up, her big purple eyes meeting Adrien's, and smiled before hiding in once again, probably with Plagg.

That didn't help Adrien's worry, only escalating it as he watched Marinette nearly get hit once again. But... if killing the Jabberwocky was how to free them all, then who was Adrien to stop her? He could only hope she'd be okay.

Marinette steadied herself above the beast, once again dodging a claw swiping at her. Sweat dripped down her face, she barely noticed how bruised she was getting and the few cuts on her face. Her hair was now free, the ribbons long since lost in the battle. She glanced towards her classmates, noting all their expressions. Some of awe, some of fear, some of worry, and some of desperation.

She would get them out of here if it was the last thing she'd do. 

Looking down, she watched the Jabberwocky as it climbed the ledge she was standing on. Taking a breath, she gripped her sword with both hands...

...and jumped straight off the ledge, sword above her head, swinging down.

Time seemed to slow. All Adrien could see was her, hair flying, feet off the ground, sword slowly crashing down in front of her. It was sure to slice the monster's head straight off. His heart was thumping wildly, and he could only hope she would be okay. Please let her be okay.

The sword clattered to the ground first.

Then Marinette rolled on the dirt.

The head thumped down beside her.

Adrien ran towards her, his heart only slowly slightly when she rolled onto her back. And he slowed to a curious walk when she started laughing. Propping herself up on her arms, she continued laughing.

"I'm alive! I thought I was about to die, and I'm alive! Oh god, nothing is better than thinking you're about to die then finding out you're alive!" She said through giggles, picking herself up. Adrien rolled his eyes, but rushed to her side when she stumbled, supporting her.

"I thought you were about to die! Don't you dare do that again!" He scolded her, helping her back to the group. They were about to congratulate her when a white flash blinded them all...

And they were all back in their classroom, where Madame Bustier was in the obvious outfit of an akuma, clutching her head and groaning. Marinette shot up and ran out of the classroom. "I'll go find Ladybug! You all should probably run before she wakes up."

The classroom empty except for the akuma, Ladybug swung in and found the storybook she was clutching. Tearing it in half, she purified the akuma, but because she didn't use her lucky charm, she couldn't heal herself. She swung home after talking to Madame Bustier and telling her to go home herself.

Later that night, she was putting ointment on her bruises when a knock came at her window. Limping slightly, she opened it to let Chat Noir in. He immediately enveloped her into his arms.

"Don't scare me like that again." He mumbled into her hair. She softened and hugged him back.

"No promises, this job is dangerous. You should know that." She replied just as quietly. "Now let go, I need to keep tending to my bruises." 

He instantly pulled away, gripping her arms and inspecting her head to toe. "Why didn't you say you were injured?! Do you need help? Did I hurt you? Oh god, I hurt you didn't-" He let out a startled yelp as she cut him off by pressing her lips to his. He eased a hand behind her head and the other rested in the small of her back. The kiss was short and sweet and innocent, nothing like later kisses they shared.

"I'll be fine, Adrien. Tikki says I have no broken bones, just bruises and a couple of cuts." She smiled at him, affection and love shining in her cerulean eyes. He hesitated one second before trusting her completely.

Resting his forehead against hers, he kissed her nose and whispered. "I love you."

She didn't hesitate. "I love you too."

WHEW that was long. But I finished it!! This one was definitely my favourite. Hope you enjoyed!