"What do you reckon?"

"I think it's perfect!" Sabrina says, beaming. Chloe grins as she taps on her phone.

"I'm not having Alya beating me out as top fan!"

"I heard my name," Alya says, from where she was sitting on the table in front of Marinette as she chatted with Adrien and Nino.

"I'm LadyBug's number one fan," Chloe says, "And she deserves to know it."

Alya's perfectly calm reply is not one Marinette would put in writing, but is followed by, "Who set up TP as it is today? Moi, last I checked."

"Adventures of Tikki would be a well-known comic without ChatNoir's help. She doesn't need him," Chloe replies, and Marinette considers attempting to slap some sense into the girl. Adrien, standing beside her, is trying to hide the fact that he feels mildly insulted.

"That's complete rubbish," Alya replies, but she's obviously having difficulty remaining calm. "Have you somehow missed the sheer number of times LadyBug has made some sort of comment referencing how helpful ChatNoir is?"

"She's being kind," Chloe says. "He never puts anything towards the comics."

Marinette glances at Adrien. He's looking at Chloe in a I-don't-want-to-believe-you-just-said-that kind of way. She doesn't want to embarrass herself in front of him, but she can't just let people insult ChatNoir.

"What would you know about being kind?" Marinette scoffs. "Look, Chloe, no one's denying LadyBug has talent. It's pretty damn obvious. If she reckons she could keep TP going by herself, she wouldn't keep collabing. Last I checked, you couldn't read the private messages between them, so you. Wouldn't. Know."

"It's obvious," Chloe says. "It's practically identical to the first two episodes, which LadyBug did alone. Mr. Pigeon and Santa Claws were terrible."

Adrien wants to crumble into pieces. His best friend thinks his art and writing are terrible. That TP, the best thing in his life, would be better without him. LadyBug, the one person who never fails to make him feel wanted, doesn't need him. Chloe doesn't know he's ChatNoir, but it doesn't matter.

"Excuse me," he says, "but I'm going to remove myself from the immediate area. This toxicity isn't good for my health."

He could hear Nino and Alya "ooh"ing from the room, but he just needs to get out.

She doesn't need him.

Adrien closes the door and starts walking down the hall.

He never puts anything towards the comics.

He pushes open the door to the bathroom, and locks the stall door behind him.

Mr. Pigeon and Santa Claws were terrible.

He opens Miraculous, and stares at TP. He looks at LadyBug's icon, and rubs the tears from his eyes before they can fall.

She doesn't need him.

Just as the door slams shut behind Adrien, Ms. Mendeleiev walks in. Marinette doesn't have enough time to wonder why Adrien stormed out before she's being told to sit down as Ms. Mendeleiev calls the roll.

"Adrien?"

"He's gone to the bathroom, Miss," Nino says. They assume he's going to the bathroom. Ms. Mendeleiev isn't happy about it, but continues. She gets to the end of the roll, and looks up.

"Does everyone have their workbooks?"

Everyone starts pulling them out of their bags, but when Marinette does the same, she comes up with nothing. Alya laughs, holding her own workbook.

"Again, girl? Really?"

"I know," Marinette sighs, raising her hand. "Excuse me, can I go get my workbook from my locker?"

"Off you go," Ms. Mendeliev snaps, and Marinette is down the aisle and out of the room before the teacher can change her mind. She gets to her locker, and pulls it open. She grabs her workbook, and closes the locker.

Something's niggling at her. Chloe, that's it. Chloe and how she thinks ChatNoir is useless.

Does ChatNoir himself ever think the same thing?

She's told him. She's told him so many times that he's invaluable to her. That TP would sink and die without him.

Does he still think so? Does he think he's useless? Wherever he is in Paris, does someone tell him that ChatNoir is useless?

She pulls out her phone and types a message.

LadyBug: this might seem random, but i just heard someone talking complete trash about u (as in chatnoir). just in case someone said this near you, thought u ought to know that your episodes were FABULOUS, that you contribute so much to these comics and, above all, i 100% need you and would be devastated if u continued to believe that its not true

Beep.

In Adrien's hand, the phone beeps, and he's afraid. He's afraid it'll be LadyBug, come to her senses and telling him that she doesn't need him after all.

Just as he's got the courage to look at the message, he sees LadyBug's icon and almost backs out.

LadyBug: this might seem random, but i just heard someone talking complete trash about u (as in chatnoir). just in case someone said this near you, thought u ought to know that your episodes were FABULOUS, that you contribute so much to these comics and, above all, i 100% need you and would be devastated if u continued to believe that its not true

And now he cries. He cries because LadyBug does need him.

ChatNoir: you have no idea how much that means to me, ladybug. thank you so much.

She doesn't reply, but Adrien doesn't expect her to. He stands up and exits the bathroom stall, wiping tears from his face. He stands in front of the mirror and splashes his face with cold water. After a minute, he decides that he's ready to go out, and heads off to get his workbook from his locker.

Marinette sends the message, puts her phone back in her pocket and heads back to the classroom.

"See for yourself, Mr. Damocles. Nothing happens when I press the button."

"You're in luck, Ms. Mendeleiv. I'm a bit of a computer whiz myself," Mr. Damocles replies. Marinette sneaks past them and into her seat. "And, there you go!"

"I didn't think Mr. Damocles was good with technology," Alya comments. Two seconds later, a computer virus shows up on the screen.

"That's not supposed to be happening!" Ms. Mendeliev says, and Marinette almost laughs.

"It's Dino-33, a malicious computer virus," Max pipes up. "Let me try something!"

"Leave this to the adults!" Ms. Mendeleiv snaps.

"Inform the adults that if they don't neutralize the virus in the next seventy-five seconds, there's a 99.9% chance that the hard disk will be permanently damaged."

Alya turns to Marinette.

"Tell me you just heard Max's bag speak to him."

"It's destroying the school's data!" Mr. Damocles interrupts. "How many seconds did you say we have left?"

"Sixty-five," Max replies.

"Let the boy have a go," Mr. Damocles says. "Goodness knows we can't do anything."

Max grins, and reaches into his bag.

"I believe this is what you're looking for?"

Marinette gasps.

"Tell me you see the mechanical arm coming out of Max's bag."

"Holding a USB flash drive," Alya agrees.

"Oh, thanks," Max says, and runs down the aisle. He almost shoves the USB into the laptop.

"This flash drive neutralizes a hundred percent of the virus!" Max says.

"And cleans the computer's hard disk at the same time!"

Everyone turns, and Marinette isn't the only one who gasps. A robot is hovering in the air above Max's bag.

"I feel like I'm living an episode of TP," Alya whispers, and Marinette grins.

"Everything is in order," Max says, and fist-bumps the robot. "By the way, this is Markov. My best friend."

Marinette and Alya aren't the only ones interested in the robot, but it's futile. The robot ends up confiscated, and Ms. Mendeleiv sends everyone back to their seats.

Two seconds later, Adrien opens the door, holding his workbook. Mr. Damocles, holding Markov, leaves the room behind him, and Max has got his head laid on his arms on top of his desk.

"Somehow, I think there's something I've missed."

The episode goes up that night. Robostus. And Marinette adds a shoutout to ChatNoir at the bottom before ChatNoir himself can stop her, and Max is beaming the next day.

[A/N: I forgot how long this story is. We've still got another 14 chapters until the end of this season, and then there's another season to come. Hang in there, guys, and I'll do my best to update sooner than I already am!!]