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It was a boring day of school - Nathaniel wanted nothing more than to get out of there and meet with Marc in the art room.
It was probably selfish to think that, but he kind of wished there was an Akuma attack just to skip school. Obviously, not a serious one, maybe the 73rd return of Mr. Pigeon? As long as he could get out of there.
Apparently Hawkmoth decided to grant his wish, because soon enough all of the class’ phones started to go off, signaling an Akuma allert.
Nathaniel stood up, ready to bolt. But, much to everyone’s shock, the Akuma stood by the door of their classroom.
“Ah-ha! There you are, Chloè!”
The class turned to glare at the girl, who looked unfased.
“Err… could you remind me who you are or what I did?” The blonde cut short. It was honestly unsettling how she had gotten used to causing so many Akumas - and yet she didn’t seem keen to be better.
“How can you not remember me?! After you humiliated my friends for being akumatized?!” She raised a hand towards her “I’ll make you and all those other hypocrites see! Nobody should be shamed for being deceived by a litteral terrorist!”
Ah. That sounded a bit weird coming from someone who was currently being deceived by a terrorist, but she was still right.
A beam of light was shot towards Chloè, who used Sabrina as a shield to prevent being hit. The ginger girl soon began to glow.
The Akuma didn’t falter and instead kept trying to hit her, only for her to ran around the room, her classmates being hit instead of her.
Nathaniel didn’t even get to see what happened to those who were hit once the light dissipated, since his turn came soon.
He fell on the ground, feeling like his whole body was being torn in half, every part of it hurting like crazy.
Finally, the pain dissipated, leaving him with a sense of numbness.
For a moment his mind was fuzzy as he tried to understand what was happening, then he heard a yell.
“Shut up, Kim!” It looked like Ivan’s voice.
Nathaniel looked up, only to gasp when he saw that fucking Stoneheart was standing in the middle of the classroom - Ivan right behind him, his eyes wide.
Stoneheart tried to hit the jock with a random schoolbag, which the he avoided right in time.
“I didn’t even do anything this time!”
“Hah! Your aim is even worse than your looks!” Dark Cupid teased him as he flew above his counterpart.
The rock boy tried to throw something else at Kim, but he managed to avoid that too.
“I get it- I was a jerk to you that day… but he’s the one who’s making fun of you right now! Take it out on hi- aaahh!”
This time, he barely dodged a light beam coming from the back of the class.
“Juleka!” He shrieked.
“I didn’t do anything…” the goth girl mumbled while Rose and Princess Fragrance soothed her.
“What? I thought it would make it more difficult for him to hit you if we both looked alike!” Reflekta said, putting her hands on her hips “you’re so ungrateful!”
From the other side of the room, Miraculer giggled. “I wonder if I can take away their powers, too” she mused.
Beside her, Sabrina looked at her like a scared puppy. Then she jumped and yelped - as if someone spooked her, even if there was no one there.
Soon enough, caos ensued between the various Akuma versions of Nathaniel’s classmates. He noticed that - other than Bubbler and Lady Wi-fi - Oblivio was standing between Nino and an all too excited Alya, who was filming everything.
“This is so cool- don’t you think so, girl- wha… where’s Marinette?”
“Adrien is gone too!”
Finally, Nathaniel stood up decided to follow Marinette and Adrien’s example and to run away as soon as possible.
There was also a chance that the Akuma would attack other students like Marc, so he decided to hurry.
He sprinted towards the science lab, where the writer was supposed to be before the Akuma attack. Nathaniel just hoped the villain stayed away from there.
“The exit isn’t that way, you know?” A voice that sounded too much like his own told him, making him stop in his tracks as he felt his blood run cold.
He slowly turned around, only to find Evillustrator looking back at him.
Of course, he should have expected this, since he was hit too. Why didn’t he notice him earlier?
Nathaniel took a few steps back, unsure about what to do. He couldn’t bring him to Marc, who knows what he would do to him.
“Come on, don’t look at me like that- you’re probably the last person I’m willing to hurt. We’re litteraly the same person”
Nathaniel bit his lip, but then an idea struck him.
“Huh… the Akuma wanted Chloè- why don’t you go help them?”
What a smooth speech. At least his knees didn’t give up and he wasn’t shaking enough for the other to notice.
Evillustrator smirked.
“That seems nice. Well, then, what are we waiting for?”
“What?”
“I’ll let you know that I was pratically pulled out of the classroom right after you. It seems like we can’t be too far apart from each other, so you’ll have to come with me”
Nathaniel shook his head and took a few more steps back.
“No… no way! I can’t go now- I need to find Marc!”
That seemed to surprise the Akuma, who raised an eyebrow and tilted his head.
“Marc…? Who is he?”
It was Nathaniel’s turn to be confused.
“How can you not know who Marc is if you’re me?”
“Well… I remember everything about you… until I was deakumatized at Chloè’s hotel” the lilac skinned boy shrugged. “Anyway, who is Marc? Did you finally manage to make a friend?”
Nathaniel bit lip, wondering what his dark side’s reaction will be when he’ll tell him that…
“Marc is my boyfriend”
The Akuma’s jaw dropped.
“Wh- what?!” He sputtered, but other than that he didn’t exactly seem hostile about it. That eased a bit of Nath’s worries. At least his evil side wasn’t as homofobic as his mother.
“You heard me”
“You… you are dating another boy?” Evillustrator asked incredulously.
Nathaniel nodded.
“And… mom is alright with that?”
The mention of Shirel made the pale boy frown.
“Who I love doesn’t concern her. Especially if she isn’t going to be supportive of our relationship”
Evillustrator kept looking at him dumbfounded.
“What- how… when did you get so… confident?”
“I didn’t. I just didn’t tell her I’m bisexual and I pray every day that she never finds out”
There were a few beats of silence.
“Now if you excuse me, I need to go and make sure the love of my life is safe and sound”
And with that Nathaniel started to walk towards the science lab. Evillustrator waited a bit before slowly following him.
***
Unfortunately, those who were still inside the lab told Nathaniel that Marc had gone to the bathroom a few minutes before the Akuma arrived.
The redhead decided to go downstairs to check if the writer was still there.
Evillustrator kept following him, despite not being interested in finding that boy.
Honestly, he couldn’t understand why his civilian self seemed to be head over heels for someone of the same sex.
He had a few crushes in the past - even before Marinette - but even if none of them ever reciprocated his feeling, he didn’t think about becoming gay - or bisexual, like his counterpart said earlier.
All those girls were sweet, a bit shy and had some sparkling jewel eyes that made Nathaniel - and Evie - fall in a matter of seconds. Would that new boyfriend of his even compare to how pretty and kind those past crushes were?
As the redhead approached the bathroom, Evillustrator noticed a figure lurking in a corner of the locker room.
Before he could say anything, he got a glimpse of the other teen’s green eyes.
Holy shit.
The Akuma felt his breath leave his lungs.
His eyes were so bright, the artist didn’t think he could ever draw them and do them justice. They looked like emeralds framed by some beautiful dark locks of hair.
He was wearing a red hoodie, which was left open and revealed a rainbow tie-dye shirt underneath.
That was a boy - one that looked a bit like a punk - and yet the villain found him prettier than Marinette or any other girl he ever had a crush on.
Evillustrator felt his knees almost give in when the mysterious boy smiled brightly. It was the most breathtaking view he had ever seen.
Gone was the shy expression from that pretty face, being completely replaced by what looked like excitement and soon enough he started to run towards the art Akuma.
He straightened his back and quickly fixed his beret, the boy having reached his side…
Only to walk past him.
“Nathaniel!” Wow. His voice was really pleasant to hear too.
The noirette hugged the red haired human before the other could go inside the bathroom. At first he was startled, but then he looked euphoric.
“Marc, you’re ok!” He hugged him back. “Thank God!”
Oh. Evillustrator understood completely why Nathaniel fell in love with a boy. He was pretty sure he did too.
The little reunion was interrupted by a loud scream from the courtyard.
The three boys opened the door just a little to take a peek and saw that the Akuma was chasing Chloè out of the school.
The lilac skinned boy huffed.
“Shame. I would have loved to give her a lesson too”
That seemed to startle Marc, who ended up falling in the courtyard, only to scramble a little farther from him.
Evie just frowned. The boy seemed to have noticed him just in that moment.
Nathaniel rushed to his boyfriend’s side.
“Hey- it’s fine- it’s alright, I… I’m not sure if he’ll do anything… but it’s fine! I’ll protect you from both Akumas” he said, taking Marc’s hands in his to give him courage.
“Oh, please, the first thing you do when seeing an Akuma is running away” the villain said, making his way towards the two.
He quickly drew something on his tablet and dropped on one knee.
“You don’t have to be afraid. I would never hurt someone as cute as you” he sighed dreamily as he offered the noirette a bouquet of red roses.
Marc squeaked, putting a hand in front if his mouth. His cheeks were as red as the flowers. Adorable.
Nathaniel frowned.
“He’s taken” he grumbled, sliding a hand around the writer’s waist.
“We’re the same person”
“Well- you’re evil! It’s in your name!”
Evillustrator shrugged. “Still, I would never do anything to hurt this angel” he turned to the shy boy “Marc, isn’t it?”
The writer nodded.
“You have a really lovely name”
The blush and the frown on the two boys’ faces deepened.
The villain stood up and offered a hand to Marc, but Nathaniel made an offended noise and got up, pulling his lover with him and not seeming like letting go of his hand and waist.
“He’s mine”
The Akuma narrowed his eyes at him, but understood that he wouldn’t let Marc accept his gift, so he erased it.
The redhead smiled triumphantly.
It quickly faded when Evillustrator drew a flower crown made out of red roses and gently placed it on Marc’s head.
“You know, this color suits you. It makes your eyes stand out”
“Oh- huh… thank you” the other answered timidly.
Nathaniel looked away, annoyed. He also noticed that a lot of students came out in the courtyard, probably to make sure their dark sides didn’t cause too much damage.
“You know, I’m quite tempted to go and look for that villain to make him bring Reverser back. At least he’ll have someone else to fawn over” the artist grumbled.
Surprisingly, Marc just chuckled.
“About that…” he pointed upwards.
Both the artists looked up.
Nathaniel immediately noticed a black and white glider floating where the roof of the school should have been. It looked like somebody was lying on it.
“Oh” the redhead said. “Why is he there? Aren’t you supposed to be close to each other?”
“We are? Oh- that’s why he stopped so abruptly when he tried to go somewhere else earlier” the noirette’s voice got quiter by the end of the sentence, like he was mumbling to himself.
The two walked more to the middle on the courtyard, so that they were standing right under the paper Akuma.
“Why did he try to leave, anyway?” Nathaniel asked.
Meanwhile Evillustrator was confused but followed them anyway.
“I stayed up a little late to finish our script and went to bed at 3am. He seemed quite sleepy and said not to disturb him”
“Do you think he got enough rest?”
“I don’t know, try to call him”
Nathaniel made a face.
“If he’s anything like last time, it’s better if I don’t”
“But you apologized and now we’re working on that comic book- he has no reason to be mad at you”
The artist stared intensely at the glider.
“Nope, he’s going to kill me. You call him”
“Didn’t you say you’d protect me from Akumas? If you’re so desperate to make him come down, you do it” Marc demanded, letting go of Nathaniel’s hand to cross his arms.
“Pleaaaase, babe” he pressed his hands together in a pleading way “call him for me”
“No, you call him”
“Why are you fighting?” Evillustrator asked and the couple looked at the lilac skinned boy.
Nathaniel pointed at him.
“It’s because of you that we want to bring him down, so you should call him!”
“Why though? And who is he?”
“My akumatized version” Marc said.
“And why can’t any of you two call him?”
“We’re… a bit scared of him…” Nathaniel admitted begrudgingly.
“Yeah, no- I’m not flirting with him then” the Akuma deadpanned “I’m more into delicate flowers- sweet little cuties that I can spoil in every way”
He took Marc’s hand and looked at him in the eye.
“I could show you, if you allowed me to take you on a date”
“No way!” Nathaniel gasped, clinging at the writer’s other arm “he’s mine!”
“That’s not your decision to-“
“Shut up, you little shit!” A voice not to far from them thundered. Quite litteraly.
Stormy Weather let out a bolt of lightning from her umbrella as she yelled, making many people - including the two artists, who both gripped at Marc’s arms - scream in fear.
Thankfully she wasn’t mad at them, just a group of other Akumas.
It looked like a fight was about to start between them.
Evillustrator quickly let go of Marc’s arm and recomposed himself, then he turned around to face him again.
“It’s too dangerous here- come with me, I’ll-“ he looked around, realising that both him and Nathaniel were gone. “Rainbow?”
“Hey! I’m the only one allowed to call him that!” Nathaniel yelled from the door of the locker room, where both him and Marc’s heads were sticking out.
The art Akuma pouted and was about to go with them, when he heard some gasps from behind him.
He turned around and was surprised to find the previously bickering villains hug each other as if they were close friends.
In front of them was a black and white figure, standing on a glider with their hands on their hips.
Evillustrator couldn’t tell much about them, since he could only see their back.
“Wha- what did you do?” He asked, sounding quite shocked.
The monochrome figure shrugged.
“They were annoying me”
From the sound of their voice, it looked like a boy.
He turned around and…
Holy shit.
The Akuma felt his breath leave his lungs. Again.
That boy looked confident and strong - the exact opposite of Marc - yet he felt like his knees were about to give out.
The monochrome villain stepped off his glider, which flew away on its own somewhere else - Evillustrator didn’t really care about that.
The black and white Akuma took a few steps towards him, only to stop - as if he just realised he was there.
They stared in each other’s eyes for a minute, until Reverser frowned, probably because the the purple Akuma didn’t get out of his way.
He was about to circle around him, when Evillustrator started to draw something.
When he was done, he dropped on one knee and held out a small velvet box with a diamond ring.
“Marry me”
The monochrome Akuma looked taken aback.
“Yes!” Nathaniel hissed from his hiding spot.
Meanwhile Reverser just blinked and looked around.
“Did anyone lose an idiot?” He asked out loud, earning some snorts.
“You still haven’t answered” Evillustrator pressed.
“No”
Evie just sighed. “Worth a shot”
He couldn’t really blame Reverser - he probably didn’t even know him.
***
“That was quite… anticlimatic” Marc commented.
“Yeah- it won’t happen to us, right?”
“Huh?!”
“I mean, I’d like to think we’re going to be together in the future- and maybe… we could reach a new level?” The artist felt his face heating up more at every word he said.
Marc looked at him with wide eyes and an unreadable expression.
“Or maybe not- sorry, I just thought-“
“No, no! I… I would like that too” the writer admitted bashfully.
“Really?”
“With how things are going right now, more than anything”
They looked at each other - both having a completely smitten expression, before slowily leaning in.
Their lips were pratically brushing against the other’s, when Marc felt something press against his back, litteraly pulling him off his feet. His flower crown fell off his head too.
He tried to reach for Nathaniel’s hand, but the artist was quickly becoming smaller and smaller.
He screamed, not understanding what was happening.
Reverser just smirked and jumped on his glider, only to grab his hostage so he would not fall.
“Marc!” Nathaniel gasped, his mind not fully understanding what was happening, only that Marc was gone.
***
He tried to run after Reverser’s glider, but the Akuma was way faster than him and soon he found himself leaning against a random wall, trying to catch his breath.
“Do you think my skin is too off-putting? Maybe that’s the reason why all of my crushes keep rejecting me” Evillustrator speculated as he walked behind his human counterpart “or maybe it’s my clothes? What would you wear for a romantic date?”
Nathaniel was about to tell him to fuck off, when he got an idea.
“Hey… can you… can you fly in some way?” He asked as he tried to regain his breath.
The villain tilted his head. “Why do you ask?”
“I need to save Marc… I can’t leave him…”
“Weren’t you afraid of his Akuma version?”
“Who cares? …I’m not leaving him alone with Reverser!”
“Reverser? That’s his name?”
“Yeah”
“Reverser… reverse… do you know what his tastes are? Like- clothes? Flowers? Men in general?”
“How am I supposed to- huh… I mean, sure- I can tell you all you need to know while we go save Marc” the redhead flashed a smile at his evil version, hoping that he didn’t realise he actually had no idea what Reverser liked.
He knew what Marc liked, but Reverser was his opposite and the same person at the same time, how was he supposed to know which traits were the same as his boyfriend and which ones were different?
Thankfully, Evillustrator just beamed and drew some large wings on his back, before scooping Nathaniel in his arms and flying away.
The artist screamed at the top of his lungs.
“Slow down!” He tried to yell over the deafening sound of the wind and the villain’s flapping wings.
“Blow jobs? That’s something he likes?!” Evillustrator shouted back.
“What the fuck did you say?!”
“That hot guy is gay?! Awesome! That means I have a chance!”
“You wanna conquer France?!”
“He also likes to slow dance?! We already have so much in common!”
“What?!”
“What?!”
“What?!”
“Wha- oh, they’re here!”
“Dolphins?! What does that have to do with-“ before Nathaniel could finish that sentence, Evillustrator nosedived to the top of the Eiffel tower.
The pale redhead will deny having shrieked at a frequence humans cannot hear.
The Akuma didn’t think twice before dropping Nathaniel on the platform where Marc was, only to fly upwards where Reverser’s glider was.
The poor artist was left paler than he was normally, with ruffled hair and an expression that comunicated a trauma.
“Are you ok?” Marc asked him, despite knowing the answer already.
Nathaniel just kept closing and opening his mouth. He looked like a fish. A traumatized fish.
“Nath?” He asked again.
Marc waited for a few minutes and, when he realised that his boyfriend wouldn’t snap out of it on his own, he put his gloved hands on his freckled cheeks.
The noirette pulled the redhead’s face closer and then gave him a sweet kiss.
He was relieved when he felt Nathaniel reciprocate and wrap his arms around his waist.
***
After dropping off Nathaniel, Evillustrator flew upwards to go see Reverser.
The monochrome Akuma was sleeping - or at least attempting to - on his glider.
He smiled like a dork at the sight of the other boy.
“Are you going to get lost or do I need to reverse you?” The black and white villain asked after a while.
“I just wanted to see you” the purple Akuma drew a rose and offered it to him.
Reverser opened his eyes but didn’t move otherwise. He looked annoyed.
He smacked the flower away with his hand.
“And I want to be left alone. What do you even want from me?”
“Step on me”
“No”
And with that, the black and white boy threw a paper airplane at the other.
Evillustrator avoided it with ease, his love-struck smile never leaving his face.
Reverser groaned.
“I can’t wait for the magic ladybugs to come and get rid of you”
Just as he said that, the two villains noticed that far ahead, a red and black blur was sweeping across Paris, fixing everything that looked out of place.
“Dammit…” he complained. In his defense, it meant that he would disappear soon, too.
“It looks like we have to go” the artist said. There was a tinge of sadness in his voice.
“Seems so”
“I hope I’ll see you again soon enough”
“I doubt it. Both Marc and Nathaniel will have to be akumatized again and the same time, which is something that happens rarely”
“You can’t keep me from dreaming”
They stayed quiet. The Miraculous Ladybug was getting closer, but not as fast as usual. With all of those Akumas, it had to stop and fix little and big messes everywhere. It would take a couple of minutes before it wiped them out of existence too.
“I think… I want to say goodbye to Marc before going” the art Akuma muttered before flying downwards.
Reverser decided to go with him. His nap time was ruined, anyway.
They both stopped in their tracks once they saw their counterparts kissing.
Evillustrator was a bit jealous.
Reverser looked a bit disgusted.
“You’re seriously dating someone like… him?” He asked out loud, making the couple separate from each other to look at him. They were still holding each other, though.
“I don’t see what’s wrong with it” Marc replied.
“He’s the reason you got akumatized!”
Evillustrator’s eyes widened.
“Wha… how did you even do that? He has the patience of a saint!”
Nathaniel looked deeply uncomfortable.
“I’m not that patient…” Marc tried to defend his boyfriend, only to be interrupted by Reverser.
“You are. Or else I wouldn’t be so short tempered”
“So you do realise you have little to no patience” Marc quirked an eyebrow.
“That’s not the point right now-“ the monochrome Akuma crossed his arms, only to be interruped by a earth shattering scream.
Everyone looked at Evillustrator - who held on to Reverser’s arm like a lifeline, much to his dismay - with quirked eyebrows.
Both of the Akumas flinched when they saw the magical ladybugs get closer, only to change route and fix something else, first. Still, it would be a matter of seconds before they reached them too.
Finally, the purple villain coughed and detached himself from his crush.
“Well… it looks like we have to go” he started, walking closer to Marc. “But I’m sure we’ll meet again soon. My counterpart has a really short temper, after all”
Nathaniel scoffed, looking quite offended.
Evillustrator just ignored him and took Marc’s hand and dropped on one knee.
“Maybe I could take you on a nice date when we see each other again” and with that, he kissed the green eyed boy’s knuckles lovingly.
Marc squealed and became as red as a tomato.
The pale redhead looked quite flabberghasted.
His ‘evil’ counterpart just smirked.
“Oh please, it wasn’t anything special” Reverser commented as he watched the other two panic.
“What do you mean?! He- I just-“ Marc started, only to make some sloppy gestures. His face heated more with every word he tried to utter.
The monochrome Akuma just shrugged.
“It wasn’t even a kiss”
“What do you mean it wasn’t?!” Marc retorted.
Reverser just walked to Nathaniel. Then he wordlessly pulled him towards him by the front of his shirt.
The redhead just gasped.
The monochrome villain ignored him and slid a hand around his waist, turned around and did a dip.
Then he kissed him fiercely.
Marc’s jaw fell.
Evillustrator felt a bit jelous of Nathaniel.
Eventually, Reverser put them back in place and detached himself from the freckled teen, who looked paralysed with his face as red as his hair.
“That was a kiss” the black and white boy finished, looking quite smug.
“Can I have one too?” The purple Akuma asked as he walked closer to him with puppy eyes.
“No”
The purple Akuma pouted.
“Why not?”
“Because I said so”
Meanwhile the magical Ladybugs were coming closer. In a few seconds, they would reach them, too.
“Can I have one the next time we see each other?”
“I told you, it’s almost impossible that we do”
“But if we meet, can I have a kiss as passionate as that one?” He pointed to Nathaniel, who still looked quite shook.
Reverser sighed. “We’ll see”
And with that, the Miraculous Ladybug finally reached them, sweeping the two villains away.
Marc and Nathaniel were left with silence.
***
After the events of that day, the couple decided to go to Nathaniel’s house and calm down a bit. His parents weren’t home, anyway.
The artist was drawing something while Marc had his head resting on his boyfriend’s shoulder as he watched him draw and mindlessly played with a strand of red hair.
“Do you think we’ll ever see them again?” The writer eventually asked.
Nathaniel’s pencil’s movements didn’t falter.
“Well, Evillustrator wasn’t wrong when he said I have a really short temper” he answered as he focused on the shading of said Akuma’s hand - which fingers were buried in Reverser’s hair. “I just hope he doesn’t hurt you” he leaned his own head to rest on his partner’s.
“He won’t. You and him aren’t so different. And you’re one of the sweetest people I have ever met”
“But I always end up doing something stupid by impulse. I guess Reverser was right about me”
“He may be still a little mad at you, but I’m sure he has forgiven you too. That kiss proves it” Marc’s voice was filled with amusement at the end of the sentence.
The ginger boy brought a hand to his lips, thinking about that moment.
“And your temper isn’t even that bad. You act like that only to protect yourself or those you care about. I think it’s endearing”
Before Nathaniel could protest, Marc grabbed his face and pulled him into a kiss.
Soon enough, the redhead found himself too busy to care about his drawing anymore.
His sketchbook slipped from his lap, revealing an illustration of Evillustrator and Reverser kissing.
It wasn’t finished - it just needed a bit of shading - but Nathaniel couldn’t really care in that moment.