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miraculouscontent · 3 years

Video

dailymotion

“Sentibubbler” summary? “Sentibubbler” salt?

Why not both at the same time?

Something a little experimental, though also somewhat reminiscent of some of my past videos. Calling it “summasalt” for now, based on the word “somersault” because this episode was an exercise of my patience.

It’s basically just me going through the episode with my usual episode summary, but salting along the way instead of making you guys read a wall of text without any images or clips or me making snarky comments.

(By the way, yes, I did in fact have caffeine before recording.)

script below for anyone who wants/needs it:

"Sentibubbler" begins with Marinette having food with the Cesaires and I already know this isn't real because Marinette is actually getting to interact with her best friend's family. That's only happened, like--when, two episodes of Season 2? [”Sapotis” and “Anansi”]

Marinette sees Trixx and points out how they're supposed to be a secret, and Alya asks why while calling Marinette "Ladybug." Marinette plays dumb but is told by Nino that everyone already knows her secret. Chloe is also there, chiding Marinette for her identity rule - it's not Marinette's rule but after "Reflekdoll" I've just gotten used to Marinette being blamed for things she didn't do - and Marinette goes to question Chloe's apperance when there's a knock on the balcony door. Alya invites Shadow Moth in and--[Shadow Moth has to duck to come inside]--huh, I thought Sole Crusher was seven episodes ago.

Anyway, now obviously, Marinette is just being ridiculous and overemotional as usual, because why would Marinette ever think that Alya would reveal any information to--["Feast"]--oh yeah, that's right.

Tikki doesn't transform Marinette and says that Marinette shouldn't have trusted Alya with her secret. Enter Chat Blanc, who says that they can be together now without any secrets. Not really sure what this episode is aiming for with the mixed message of "your identity rule sucks" but also "your fault for trusting someone instead of having a mental breakdown," but a’ight. Trixx also gets another dig in on Marinette for giving Alya the fox miraculous.

Marinette wakes up from her nightmare and panics, but Tikki reassures her that Alya is loyal. [”Chameleon”] Mm. Also, that kind of support might've been nice from Tikki literal seasons ago when Marinette could've used a confidant.

Wayzz - I swear, they've had eyelashes more often than not in this season - points out that Trixx is mischievous and Xuppu talks about Trixx being the cause of the Loch Ness monster rumors, which worries Marinette further. Marinette runs out in her pajamas and I can already predict that neither Tom nor Sabine are going to check on her later or care.

Marinette finds the Cesaires looking for something, their words vague enough for Marinette to think that they're talking about Trixx. Alya brushes Marinette off and tells her to help with looking instead of lecturing her.

Marlena makes a comment that reminds Marinette of her nightmare, only increasing Marinette's stress. A tarantula crawls up a ladle and Marinette freaks out when she sees it, which Marlena has a laugh at because Marinette's anxiety, fear, and panic is hilarious, guys!

This is my laughing face. [not a laughing face]

Nino exits, having been too afraid of the spider to leave the room, so Nora compares Marinette to him. Nino tries to play it cool, then changes the subject to point out Marinette's pajamas. Alya wonders aloud why Marinette showed up and Marinette tries to act casual, but Alya sees through it and states that she doesn't usually lose things when someone lends them to her.

I presume the exception is Marinette's trust. OH-HOOOOHHH, we'll get there.

Nora takes a jab at Alya for losing the spider and Marinette drags Alya away to talk. Nino tries to join but Alya states that it's between her and Marinette, which makes Nino sad.

Nino, does the phrase "guys' time" ring a bell by any chance?

Marinette is explaining her nightmare and is simply told to calm down by Alya, though Marinette is briefly startled by a phone ringing. Marinette puts together what she knows that Shadow Moth knows, including that Alya is Rena Rouge, adding on that Shadow Moth could steal the fox necklace if he figured out that Alya has it permanently. Alya reassures her that no one will ever know and Marinette states that this must include Chat Noir. Alya agrees and brings attention to the fanny pack around her waist, which Trixx has been hiding in, and Marinette has Trixx promise not to show up at the dining table like in her nightmare. Tikki tells Marinette that everything will be fine and Marinette admits that it was silly of her to worry, which it was! ...If you ignore all the anxiety, mental scarring, and constant pressure to be perfect or risk Paris lighting itself on fire, much like I presume they accidentally did with their original script for this episode.

Alya tells Marinette to trust her and also herself - I'll be sure to keep that in mind, Alya, thank you - then Alya loses her temper at the phone continuing to ring. She leaves to find an empty living room, then answers the phone only to hear Shadow Moth on the other line. Alya turns upon hearing Marinette scream to see that Marinette has been trapped in a bubble. Cue the reveal/return of the Bubbler, who is definitely Nino akumatized and not--like--a sentimonster, because the episode didn't spoil it at all with the title of Sentibub--

show, this is freaking embarrassing. Why even bother akumatizing someone when you can mold a sentimonster with the exact power you want?

At least they reveal it quickly, though that also means I have to live with the knowledge that Shadow Moth wINKED AT ALYA, NO.

Anyway, Shadow Moth tells Alya that he wants her to betray Ladybug. Marinette, meanwhile, is panicking over being unable to transform while in public, whereas Tikki remains calm and reassures her that Alya will figure something out and it's why Marinette gave Alya the fox miraculous in the first place.

Weird, I thought it was for the show to continuously validate Alya as a worthy choice for a confidant despite repeatedly covering up her sINS and so the show can push for more anxiety on Marinette's part while simultaneously not having to make a new hero model for Alya, which they would have to do if the realistic decision had been made to give Alya a different miraculous due to Shadow Moth knowing her identity as Rena Rouge.

Marinette texts Alya to inform her that the Bubbler is a sentimonster and so Rena can tell Chat not to use Cataclysm on him or the bubbles will burst due to the sentimonster's lack of control.

Hate to burst the show's bubble but Alya could literally see Nino up in the sky and they could see her; the bubbles are in viewing range. Did this even go through a quality check?

Alya goes to look at Marinette's text, but the phone is bubbled away by Sentibubbler. Marinette sees the phone floating by and panics, only to be reassured again to trust Alya and at this point I vaguely wondered if I was watching this episode on repeat. Tikki also adds that Alya has never let her down - [”Ladybug”] MMMM - and Marinette agrees, also certain that Chat Noir will show up soon.

Oh yeah, he exists. Oh no.

Cut to the Agreste mansion where Adrien is watching the news - dude, how is there never anything better on when you need to be told that there's an akuma? here, look, I'll show you [”Silencer” Lukabug clip] there, much better, see? - and it's pointed out that the bubbles are identical to the ones Bubbler had, yet Nino is in one of the bubbles. Adrien readies himself while Plagg is - for once - okay with leaving since his cheese isn't "edible" yet.

I feel like he should be a little more concerned about Marinette being in a bubble.

Meanwhile, Shadow Moth is explaining to Alya that Ladybug will come to give her the fox miraculous due to the bubbled people in the sky - plenty of other choices that aren't within breathing range of the obvious danger zone, but a'ight - and SentiBubbler will catch Ladybug. Alya brings up Chat Noir saving her but Shadow Moth states that she'll create an illusion of Ladybug and Rena to lure Chat Noir, who won't see Sentibubbler coming, at which point Rena will hand Shadow Moth her miraculous. He adds that her loved ones will only be returned once all three miraculouses are in his possession, though if she tries to warn the heroes then Sentibubbler will send the bubbles into space, too far for any hero to save them.

[clip of space power-ups] Hm.

Also, I would've just let her keep the miraculous as an extra bribe since he doesn't need the fox and she wouldn't have time to recharge anyway - at least to his knowledge - but that's just me.

Marinette is relieved that Alya still hasn't been captured--TIKKI, I KNOW, YOU'VE BEEN PARROTING THIS ALL EPISODE, I KNOW--but Marinette changes her tune when she sees Alya blindly calling out for Ladybug's help, unaware that Alya is buying time. Marinette laments the idea of transforming there and having using the rabbit to go back in time to reverse, as that's never a good thing (seconded), but gets the idea for Tikki to take her miraculous to someone else. Tikki rejects the idea, as the earrings won't go through the bubble, and Marinette realizes that Chat Noir is their only hope.

I mean, it was nice knowing them. Sure is interesting how Marinette has only been getting herself into these situations where she requires saving when the show needed to present Alya as a valid choice for a confidant.

Meanwhile, Chat Noir is leaving a message for Ladybug about the bubbles in the sky, saying that he'll wait for her; I already see where this is going and I don't like it.

Alya mutters to Trixx about how they need a plan to release Marinette. Through Alya Vision, we're shown Sentibubbler, a bowl of fruit, and the bathroom door. Alya tells Sentibubbler that she needs to go to the bathroom and - wow, we're really doing this, aren't we? - which Shadow Moth rejects. Shadow Moth is also on top of a building holding a coffee cup which honestly makes about as much sense as the rest of the episode, so whatever. Alya claims that she can't wait and that it'll be awkward for Ladybug to find her like that, which gets Shadow Moth to relent but also remind her of what's at stake if she tries anything. Alya states that she can't do anything without a miraculous anyway, then purposefully falls onto the table, concealing her long enough for her to transform and allowing an illusion of herself to go to the bathroom while she escapes. She detransforms in the twins' room and feeds Trixx with some grapes that she'd picked up.

Alya explains her plan to trick Shadow Moth and Sentibubbler since they don't know that she has a miraculous, though she also has to make sure that Chat won't ruin things. Rena then proceeds to call Chat Noir and claim that Ladybug wanted her to call him with her plan, but adds that it's a two-person plan and Chat himself isn't needed, so he needs to wait for further instructions. Chat demands that Ladybug call him to tell him herself, but Rena insists that she can't, as Ladybug is very busy. She warns him not to use Cataclysm if he sees the Bubbler, as he's a sentimonster, then promises to talk to him later before hanging up.

She uses Mirage again, making the Alya illusion reappear as well as creating a Ladybug. Chat Noir, infuriated at being left out, destroys part of a building with his baton. He then dismisses the action because Miraculous Ladybug will fix it.

Spoiler alert, it will, which is a very fascinating detail! I mean, I can't imagine another situation where a hero did something while there was an akuma going around and Miraculous Ladybug decided to help 'em out, but it just goes to show what happens when you're the writers' pet. Just look a little pitiful and they'll give you all the sympathy in the world.

By the way, didn't expect them to actually confirm my theory that Chat Noir does Chat Noir things because he knows that Miraculous Ladybug will fix it anyway, essentially allowing him to earn brownie points from Ladybug via sacrificing himself regardless of how it affects her mentally, yet here we are and I don't know whether to be sad, angry, disappointed, or a mixture of all three.

Chat Noir sees the Ladybug illusion jumping off and gives chase, refuses to stay where he is. Marinette, seeing that Rena Rouge's illusions are active, panics at the sight of Chat Noir, as the illusion will vanish if Chat touches it.

I like to imagine the immediate concern is the idea that Chat Noir will try to take Ladybug's hand while trying to flirt.

Anyway, Marinette flails inside the bubble in an attempt to reach Chat Noir, while illusion Alya and SentiBubbler get into position. Chat Noir watches what he perceives as Ladybug heading into the Cesaire house with Alya, but Marinette gets to him in order to tell him not to go anywhere. Chat complains about everyone telling him to stay put, but Marinette explains Rena's plan to him. Chat is skeptical of how she knows that, to which Marinette insists that she saw it from where she was. Chat Noir relents with a sigh and stays where he is.

SentiBubbler watches as the illusion of Alya and Ladybug talk to each other, Rena making it look like Ladybug is piecing together what happened and refusing to give Alya a miraculous ever again due to Shadow Moth knowing her identity. She claims that she'll find another holder and give them an even more powerful miraculous, which interests Shadow Moth and gets him to follow after the Ladybug illusion. Once Sentibubbler leaves as well, Chat sees this as his chance to stop the sentimonster, as the Ladybug illusion will vanish if it's touched. Marinette strokes his ego for the token love square moment of the episode, and Chat Noir fights SentiBubbler while Shadow Moth goes after the Ladybug illusion.

I'm noticing a real lack of tension in this episode. Once Alya has her plan, it's kind of a clean sweep from start to finish with no interference or unexpected roadblocks in the way. Even Shadow Moth following the Ladybug illusion goes fine, with Shadow Moth even punching a building thinking that Ladybug actually got away from him.

Dude, it's fine, Miraculous Ladybug will fix it, just put on your best sad face. Maybe Chat Noir gets it from you actually, is treatment from the writers a hereditary thing?

Sentibubbler and Chat Noir are still fighting. Shadow Moth shows up and Marinette tries to warn Chat, but Chat gets caught in a bubble and Marinette apologizes; she doesn't have anything to apologize for but after "Reflekdoll" I--wait I already did this.

Chat Noir uses Cataclysm to escape, only to get caught in another bubble. I'd just like to throw out there that this guy's a hero three seasons going and the love interest for the main character, yet his role in the episode has amounted to complaining about the authority of a hero Ladybug chose, throwing a property-destroying tantrum over being excluded, and wasting his power without a single thought which just got him captured again.

Chat, does the name "Syren" ring any bells by any chance? I'm just sayin', you could always quit. In fact, wasn't it you literally one episode ago saying that you understood if Ladybug couldn't always come get you? Then, after seeing the jump from "Glaciator" to "Frozer," I'm about as shocked as rubber.

Back with the competent one, Alya notes to Trixx that Rena Rouge can no longer be seen by Shadow Moth or else the jig is up. She transforms and texts Marinette to be ready, creating an illusion of Marinette that simultaneously hides the real version, allowing her to transform into Ladybug.

Chat Noir's bubble gets dragged down and Shadow Moth gets SentiBubbler to mute Chat Noir's bubble.

[clip from “Silencer” where Ladybug takes amusement in Chat being muted]

Ladybug uses Lucky Charm and receives a pot, her Lucky Vision spotting Shadow Moth's coffee cup, then SentiBubbler, then the tarantula trapped in a bubble. Ladybug deduces that the cup is the sentimonster's object, then pulls the horse miraculous out of her yoyo and unifies it with the ladybug--oh.

Oh my.

You know, it's times like this where I'm reminded that the show knows nothing about fashion... or girls... or good writing actually--there's just a lot of stuff they don't know.

Sentibubbler does a countdown, then starts sending the civilian bubbles up into the sky. Chat Noir is about to de-transform while PegaBug notices of Shadow Moth's two miraculous, up for grabbin'. She notes that she won't be able to catch everyone, so she forms a portal behind Shadow Moth and goes for the coffee cup first, thus putting her in control of SentiBubbler, who happily brings the bubbles back down at her command.

Shadow Moth erases SentiBubbler from existence though, causing everyone to fall, but Chat and PegaBug manage to catch them. PegaBug de-transforms and presents the Cesaires with the tarantula, which had been trapped inside the lucky charm. Ladybug and Chat Noir watch Shadow Moth escape and Ladybug laments that it could've been the end of Shadow Moth once and for all because it's not a Miraculous episode without Marinette being at fault or feeling guilty in some way! Chat Noir reassures her [*by “reassure,” I mean he might as well have said, “Well, you saved ME, so you did great!”] - wow, that's two token love square moments for the price of one episode, don't I feel spoiled - and Ladybug leaves to retrieve the tarantula's tank.

Rena Rouge is waiting for her and they hug, with Rena repeating that she doesn't lose something that someone gives her. Ladybug states that she never should've doubted the idea of giving Alya a miraculous and Imma just give you guys a counter real quick. [counter that shows that Tikki has complimented Alya four times, Alya has complimented herself/told Marinette to trust her thrice, and Marinette has said that she was wrong thrice]. Miraculous Ladybug is cast and everything returns to normal, with Alya explaining what she did and Marinette being relieved that Shadow Moth won't be going after her anymore. Alya confidently asks if she was smart and Marinette is happy to praise her, confirming it and stating that Alya is a real superhero and honestly? If the narrative wanted to marry Alya this badly, they should've just used some of the budget to buy a ring instead of projecting onto the other characters.

Then again, the apparent budget can't even afford a new hero model nor new akuma to a very noticeable degree, so I guess they're taking what they can get.

Alya praises Marinette as well for her work as PegaBug and they do a fistbump, thus ending the episode. There's also this ever-so-lovely post-episode scene with Gabriel and Nathalie where Gabriel laments the fact that Ladybug never makes mistakes which--I... has he even watched the series at all? Gabe, babe, Babriel Agreste, it's literally part of the show's formula that Marinette makes a mistake in every episode and she felt guilty like a minute ago over not yoinking your miraculouses when she had the chance, where have you been?

But, yeah, anyway, the episode.

Needless to say, not a fan. Like I said, the show seems so intent on immediately validating the choices they make with Alya in order to make her look like a better character. "Gang of Secrets" basically replaced her with someone different at the end of the episode, and the episode immediately afterwards in chronological order, "Mr. Pigeon 72," did everything it could to push Marinette out of her guardian position long enough for Alya to figure out the grimoire despite having zero onscreen experience with it, the episode even trapping Ladybug in a situation that forced Rena Rouge to come into play to validate that decision as well.

And now we have "SentiBubbler" here following immediately after "Optigami," desperate to reassure its audience that Alya is cool, smart, truthworthy, and that not needing to make a new model--sorry, I mean Alya continuing to have the fox--was a good decision. All the while, they continue pushing Alya's flaws under the rug [Note that it’s not even considered that Alya is even remotely at fault for Shadow Moth going after her specifically after her stunt in “Optigami” when no one else but Ladybug and Chat have ever given out a miraculous], hiding them instead of Alya actually acknowledging them, the only reason she did so in "Optigami" being the same as in "Gang of Secrets"; to make her look good while Marinette makes a big decision in their relationship.

The episode tries so hard to drill in this idea that Alya is a good friend who can be trusted, and I'm just not here for how much they try to hammer it in. Marinette's very real anxiety over Shadow Moth's power and ability to plan things is played off as her being silly instead of something to be concerned about, and instead of giving her a hug and trying to help her calm down - [clip from “Heart Hunter” of Luka hugging Marinette] I miss Luka - she's just told to trust and believe and hAVE fAiTh in Alya.

Shadow Moth is an adult; he has abilities that the teenage heroes don't. I'm not even saying that Marinette isn't overreacting [Basically, her concern about Shadow Moth is valid, especially after “Optigami” where her identity was almost found out], but she has anxiety and some obvious trauma over "Chat Blanc." I was already upset that Alya got a free pass to Marinette's identity, but the constant stressing over how much Marinette should trust her just doesn't affect me when I know Alya and I know the kind of stuff she's done that the show blatantly ignored in favor of pushing for her.

But okay, show, I'll give Alya the benefit of the doubt that she doesn't deserve. Let's say that she's turned a new leaf, and has become the reliable, trustworthy, and loyal partner that Marinette deserves. I'm sure that Alya has Marinette's back, and will never go behind said back in order to do something completely unsurprising and wholly indicative of the character I actually know her to be.

Especially not a mere three episodes later...

#MC's Videos #category: episode summaries #category: salt #video: critique #MC's Renders #render: persona #episode: Sentibubbler #((Definitely let me know what you guys think because I don't know if I should do this more or not.))#((Judging from what the response is will help me make a decision on it.))#((I know my editing could be a little better but my video editor has been physically fighting me lately.))#((Is there such a thing as TOO sassy/sarcastic?))#((idk if I'm actually funny or not so definitely lemme know if there was anything that particularly amused you guys))#((so I know in the future where your guys' sense of humor lies.))#((I don't really TRY to be funny I just do whatever comes to mind/is comfortable.))

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jasmine-the-fox · 3 years

Text

Down you go

Before you all read this... I want to make one thing clear to you all (what i’m about to bring up happened on ao3)

Never EVER! Ask me when the next update is going to happen before or after you make a salt request! It’s very rude and I will ignore you and or block you if you do this!

Anyways... Enjoy the salt fic! This request was made by @pinkskeletonsharkdeputy

It had started off as a normal day... Until it went down the hill... Literally, Marinette was having a great day! She had spoken to her girlfriend for a bit this morning which made her happy, then Lila was quiet this morning... Save for a few glares from her classmates, she aced three tests that Lila tried to claim she cheated... Resulting in Lila getting three weeks of detention for false accusations with lack of proof and her girlfriend called her to say she sent her a gift!

And then it went bad...

Turns out that when Mari was at the bakery for lunch (like always) and to see her gift... Lila claimed to the class that Mari pushed her down the stairs to try and make her stay away from her Adrien (even though Mari is a lesbian and she told the class before Lila even came to school) then warned her that if she tried to get near Adrien... She would be in a worse condition then this, she cried and claimed that she was hurting (she had no bruises, no cuts or even a bone either dislocated or fractured) so the class decided to get back at Marinette by making her go through the same thing... Even though Lila lied to them.

Mari got back to school to hear her classmates whispering her name, she thought it was strange but decided to wait and see what will happen next, the day continued with Lila going back to lying in miss Bustier’s class... As it was the only class she could get away with it, Mari completely ignored her and simply focused on using her new tablet that Jasmine bought her as a gift, at one point Caline ordered her to give Lila her supposed “stolen” tablet and apologize (Lila claimed that her mother bought it for her a week ago) problem was... The tablet was a new model that came out three days ago and she only got it this afternoon.

Mari even showed the proof that it only just arrived...

Everyone was quiet at this info... But Lila still lied her way out of it and claimed that she must have believed it was her’s by mistake, the class then went back to ignoring Mari and listening to Lila instead, Mari went back to using the tablet to draw and work on a few personal things that made her smile before saving them to her computer and tablet at home, she packed up as the bell rang and then left the classroom when it happened... Lila purposfully bumped into her and stole her tablet, then as Mari took one step down the stairs.

Alya pushed her to fall down... And the class laughed at her...

They claimed she was trying to be petty when she screamed and cried for help, they claimed she was joking when there was blood and they scoffed as she was placed into the ambulance that miss Mendelieve called, police did a quick investigation and reviewed CCTV footage before taking Alya by for to the station to ask her what she was thinking that would happen after pushing Marinette down the stairs.

Sabine called Jasmine about what happened and the girl rushed over in a panic, when Mari’s bags were handed to them, Tom was shocked when the tablet wasn’t there, police came and it was Jasmine who revealed she had gifted it to Mari... And then revealed it’s last tracked location... Lila Rossi’s bedroom. They rushed over and searched her room to find it in her trash can... Broken, Lila claimed she bought it yesterday and Marinette destroyed it, but Jasmine’s tracker said otherwise, so Lila was arrested for lying to the police, theft and destruction of another’s property... Also was forced to by a new one.

Lila’s mother refused to help her, claimed that Lila was on her own now and instead gave the police permission to search there home and to question Lila fully... Without the rights to a lawyer, Lila was shocked at this but her mother simply left the apartment to go do some shopping... And use her daughter’s money to buy a replacement tablet for Marinette, Lila tried to fight back, claiming she had nothing to do with Marinette being pushed down the stairs... She only stole the tablet... This confused the police since Alya claimed it was all Lila’s idea because Marinette did the same to her.

Lila denied it fully, Marinette never pushed her down any stairs, she admitted that Mari didn’t like her because of her lying disease that causes her to lie about anything and everything... She accidentally got triggered and lied about Mari pushing down the stairs, she tried to tell Alya that it never happened but by then Alya had already pushed her down the stairs, the class was laughing at Mari and claimed Mari was faking it up till she got to the hospital, the two officers now understood that Alya was lying to them... And then Lila continued, she revealed that her teacher, principal, Marinette and her parent’s knew about this... But no one else knew.

This told them everything in an instant...

To make sure Lila had friends, the principal and teacher agreed to keep this info about Lila a secret from the class... Not caring that it might cause problems if someone was accidentally targeted by Lila’s lies, since Marinette was more then likely the main target, the teacher and principal did nothing to stop the class from bullying Marinette... And now they would suffer from there choices, they decided to place an investigation on the two adults, and asked Lila to come to the station to answer a few more questions... Lila agreed while secretly smirking at the fact that she would get away with this by putting the whole blame on Alya.

Meanwhile, Marinette woke up to find her worried parents and a relieved girlfriend, Jasmine helped her to sit up and explained her condition and how long she would stay at the hospital and then at home before even thinking about going back to school, Mari sighed in relief... But then panicked at the fact that she couldn’t find her tablet anywhere “Lila stole it from you, she claimed it to be her’s and you destroyed it but I had a tracker on it just incase, so she needs to buy you a new one” Jasmine explained as she pulled out a new one “Her mother came to drop this off, she explained Lila was to be questioned and went to get it for her daughter” she added making Mari nod as she then turned it on.

“I had it configured to your previous tablet, so you don’t need to set anything up” Jasmine said making Mari smile, she then pulled out the pen and began to sketch, a doctor and police officer came in together, the doctor got to examining her before explaining her whole condition and what she might need to go through, then explained that the Cesaire family will need to pay for all the treatments as it was Alya who caused all of this to happen, once gone, the officer began to question her, Marinette told the officer everything... And by that...

I mean about Lila transferring, her lies beginning, her leaving for a while, her return with more lies, her threat towards Mari, her attempt of getting Mari expelled, her expulsion canceled with Lila claiming she has a lying disease, Lila lying to the class about Mari bullying her and the class turning against her to bully her in return the supposed bullying she caused to Lila...

The officer was shocked by all this information, so much more different from what Lila Rossi and Alya Cesaire reported... The officer could tell that only Marinette Dupain-Cheng will tell the truth in the end, the officer then thanked her and then left to report all of this, Mari relaxed with Jasmine helping her when she could, her parents then left to take care of the bakery, Jasmine waited for a bit before she sighed “I really think you should switch schools... Even if Lila is gone... The class won’t apologize for there actions... They won’t admit to being wrong until they suffer from there actions... And then hope that you will save them” she explained making Mari nod.

For a week she rests in the hospital before being allowed to rest at home, where she stays there for two weeks, during that time Alya told everyone to blame Lila for the whole incident... While Lila cries to her mom as to why Alya would lie and accuse her of causing Mari to be in the hospital... While the police look deeper into Lila Rossi, Jasmine was at Marinette’s side the whole time she was at the hospital and at home... While no one in the class came to visit her, they all believed she was faking it... All the while they got a new principal and teacher after the investigation the police did on the school.

Now all that was left was Marinette’s classmates...

When Mari returned to school, the whole school minus her classmates welcomed her return to school... Some came to visit her to see how she was doing in her recovery, she was happy to have visitors checking in on her like that and Jasmine was relieved that they were so kind towards her girlfriend... But she was worried about her going back to school, because of the fall her legs needed time to recover so she needed some support for them thus she needed a crutch, the school was informed and students were told to help Marinette when they could and to not mess with her crutch.

That didn’t stop her class though...

When she walked into class, Alya was the first to snap at her for cause her parents to get mad at her, how was she supposed to know that the fall was serious, she kept yelling at her until there new teacher came and told her to stop or she would get detention, Alya tried to defend herself but there was nothing she could do about it, she was to blame for forcing her parents to pay Marinette’s medical after Alya pushed her down the stairs... Now she had to face her actions... Not long after class started, the police came to speak with Lila for her lies about everything... And to Alya for attempting to try and blame Lila for everything.

Both girls tried to defend themselves but there teacher forced them to follow, once outside the class, the two girls began to fight... Well if you can call Alya screaming at Lila for causing everything and Lila crying as she tries to defend herself a fight... Then sure, anyways the police didn’t care and forced them to follow them to the station to be once again questioned... When asked why they replied with them needing to help fill out some holes in the story... Both girls agreed... Without knowing that the police caught them right where they wanted them.

Once at the station, there parents watched as the two girls lied about what happened... And never bringing up the past of when it all started when the officer asked about it... They simply acted like the question was never made and continued explaining everything, there parents refused to help there daughter’s and asked that the rest of the class get’s questioned about all of this... Believing there was more to all of this and one of them might be able to help with the whole situation... The police agreed to the request.

And there answer... Was in none other then Adrien Agreste himself...

When he was asked to answer a few questions he agreed... But at the station he claimed to have the whole story on Lila and her actions, they sat down with him and talked... About everything, including the deal he made with her to bring Marinette back from expulsion, the police was shocked and asked if he did anything to help Marinette, he explained that his father ordered him to stay away from Marinette and to make Lila happy... Meaning he had to follow her around, go where she wanted to go and even agree with whatever she said.

The police was furious about all of this, as a result... Lila Rossi, Alya Cesaire and Gabriel Agreste were arrested... For different reasons of course, the rest of the class were given fines while Adrien was sent to London to live with his aunt.

Meanwhile... Marinette transferred schools to be with Jasmine... She changed her number and anything else connecting her to her old class, so even if they tried... None of them but Adrien can contact her.

It was there own fault for going down the way they did...

#miraculous ladybug #lila salt #Salt fic #class salt #lesbian #oc #Marinette Dupain-Cheng #Jasmine!oc #marixjasmine #Bustier salt

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dessarious · 3 years

Text

How the Sirens Adopted a Ladybug Pt6

AO3 Beginning Previous Next

Ladybug continued to cling to Chloe and the other girl seemed both grateful and slightly panicked. “You’re welcome? It’s the least I could do after everything. If you give me a list, I can make sure it’s stocked with food for all the Kwami as well.”

“Here you go bee.”

“Plagg!” The Kwami had once again just appeared, this time with a piece of paper to shove at the girl.

“What? She asked!”

“If you don’t stop popping out like this, I’m going to renounce you. I have enough stress without wondering if you feel chatty at any given moment.” Ladybug had pulled back and began rubbing her forehead. Whether it was just annoyance or she had a headache was anyone’s guess. Chloe took the paper gingerly, eyeing the Kwami like he was going to explode. So apparently Ivy wasn’t the only one wary around the creatures.

“I’ll get everything this afternoon.” She was frowning at some of the items and Selina could relate. It was a very mixed bag. “Why does it say ‘no shellfish’ at the bottom?” Ladybug let out an aggravated sigh and pinched the bridge of her nose.

“Damnit Plagg, have you lost your mind?” The Kwami just ignored her.

“The kid has an allergy. Best to not chance it.”

“Huh, that’s weird. Marinette is allergic to shellfish too. Guess it’s more common than I thought.” Ladybug’s eye twitched and Selina could feel something poking at the back of her mind, trying to get her to focus on what was being said. Her thoughts felt oddly sluggish.

“Yeah, weird. How do you know Marinette is allergic?”

“I was the class rep before Marinette. Allergies were one of the big things to take into account when planning events. Not to mention my father has always stressed the need to know both your constituents and opponents. I have dossiers on everyone in the school.” Ladybug’s lips twitched upwards but didn’t quite make it to a smile.

“I’m more surprised by that than I should be. I assume that you’re the reason I haven’t seen Lila for the last few months?” Chloe winced and nodded.

“I’m sorry I didn’t do anything about her earlier.”

“The adults in charge should have done something, not you.”

“Maybe, but I could have stopped this and didn’t. Just like Adrien, I ignored her because she wasn’t my problem. Just like Adrien, I could never see past what I wanted when given the opportunity to wield a Miraculous. I… I never really understood why you hated me so much until I saw how Adrien acted after he lost his ring.”

“I never hated you Chloe, I just couldn't trust you. But at least with you I knew the risks. The others… I didn’t know until it was too late.” The last seemed directed at herself rather than Chloe. Selina was so busy trying to read Chloe’s body language that she didn’t notice Ladybug swaying until it was too late. Chloe caught her as she fell and they all watched as the hero detransformed. Selina ran towards them before she could think it through, and could hear the others behind her.

“Tikki, what happened?” Chloe was staring at the girl in shock, not even noticing their approach.

“The transformation was taking too much of her energy. I had to drop it before it harmed her irreversibly.” Both Tikki and Plagg were hovering over the girl. “She can not transform again until she’s recovered.”

“What do we do if there’s another Akuma? Hawkmoth hasn’t been letting up lately. It’s… it’s like he’s trying to cause this.” The last was said in an almost horrified whisper.

“That’s exactly what he’s doing. Unfortunately right now we’re more concerned with you knowing who she is.” Plagg had flown directly into Chloe’s face and was scowling at her. She just hugged the girl tighter.

“I won’t tell anyone. I meant what I said about helping her. Both of her.” Suddenly the pieces of their earlier conversation clicked together in Selina’s mind.

“Hang on, this is the girl you were talking about? The one who’s been missing?” That finally caused Chloe to look up at them.

“Who the hell are you?” She caught sight of Ivy and set the other girl down to step between them. “And what the hell are you?” Selina could admire her spirit at least. The girl didn’t stand a chance against them but it was apparent that she wasn’t backing down.

“We’re friends and we’re here to help.” She looked ready to argue but Tikki spoke up.

“They’re telling the truth. They’ve been nothing but supportive so far and if that changes, Plagg and I will handle it. Right now we need to get Mari back to your hotel so she can rest. Then we need to discuss what to do when an Akuma shows up while she’s still recuperating.” Chloe didn’t look happy with it but she did nod.

“I’m not entirely sure how to get us all in there undetected. I have a feeling you three don’t really want to be noticed and I certainly don’t want to cause a scene bringing Mari in like this. Bringing attention to ourselves will only cause problems.” Well she was certainly right about that. Selina shared a look with the other two but both just shrugged at her. Before she could suggest anything Tikki and Plagg started whispering together before Plagg flew back to Chloe.

“Can I trust you to use a Miraculous to get where you need to go and then give it back?”

“Yes, I’ll do whatever you need me to.” Plagg continued to study the girl but Tikki Flew into Marinette’s bag and returned with a pair of glasses. Chloe looked sad for a moment but her determination overrode it as Tikki started whispering in her ear. As soon as they finished Chloe put on the glasses and muttered something, causing another flash of light. When it faded Selina wasn’t sure what she was looking at. The outfit was definitely horse themed but at the same time she couldn’t really explain why it was. The suit was a deep reddish brown but everything else about it felt unsettling. Her hair was in a braid but seemed to be attached down her back because it didn’t move. The suit itself wasn’t skin tight but moved with her body as if it were. The longer Selina stared at it the more uncomfortable she felt. She blamed that for why she didn’t notice the swords crossed on the girls back until one was at her throat. “I’ll only give you one warning. Marinette has already been betrayed by everyone around her, minus her family, and I won’t hesitate to do what is necessary to keep you from doing the same.”

“Everyone including you?” Selina expected her to flinch but her gaze just hardened.

“Especially me. I tormented her and took advantage of her forgiveness more times than I can count. I know very well I do not have the moral high ground so don’t expect me to act like a hero.” Selina felt the blade make contact and couldn’t help the grin that appeared.

“Oh I like you. This should be fun.” Chloe slowly lowered the weapon. She tried to hide her confusion behind annoyance but Selina saw it before the girl turned to pick up Marinette. She heard Ivy suck in a sharp breath when a portal appeared out of nowhere.

“Well, are you coming or not?” She stepped through the opening without giving them time to respond. Selina debated for a fraction of a second before following, even as Ivy started cursing under her breath. The chances that Chloe would leave them behind if they weren’t fast enough were high, and she had a very bad feeling at the thought of being separated from Marinette. Her instincts had kept her alive this long, she wasn’t about to discount them now.

AO3 Beginning Previous Next

Ko-Fi

Tags

@asrainterstellar @scorchdragon88 @arty-shadow-morningstar @toodaloo-kangaroo @solangelo252 @smolplantmum @jayjayspixiepop @unoriginalmess @weirdo-with-no-beardo

#maribat #Selina Kyle #Poision Ivy #Harley Quinn #marinette dupain cheng #chloe bourgeois #Chloe redemption #Mom Squad #Gotham Sirens

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aliensunflower-fics · 3 years

Text

How to Exploit Kindness [A New Kind of Lila Salt Prompt]

[ Ive seen Lila and Class salt that goes a lot of different ways. In some Lilas a sad lonely girl who will do anything for friends and the class fall for her lies through a mixture of manipulation and Lila’s genuine sad lonely but real persona. In others Lila is insane and the class get basically sucked into her cult. And in others still, Lila slowly breaks the class down by preying on there insecurities, hidden jealousies ect. There are the versions where Lila just bribes the class with connections and the versions where Lila frames Marinette until no one believes her. But I wanted to write a new idea for people to use, one that I feel is a bit more realistic. One where Marinette’s classmates are more their more authentic kind selves but still get slowly pulled into Lila’s web and where Lila is just a bit more intelligent. ]

[ As usual with all my prompts feel free to borrow the idea to write for your own thing salt, sugar, cuteness angst ect just be sure to credit me for the idea so I can read it. ]

Lila was furious! This wasn’t how it was supposed to go! She was supposed to be everyone's friend! She was supposed to finally get a cute perfect boyfriend who would cherish her like she deserved! She was supposed to be HAPPY! But no, the pathetic beetle Ladybug and that goody two shoes Marinette kept ruining everything!

No… No that wasn’t quite true. As much as she wanted to blame her problems on those two it wasn’t entirely their faults. Honestly Lila wasn’t quite sure what had happened. Her lies had been working at first, they had gotten her praise and compliments and adoration and friendship! But now? Now they were all ignoring her, unimpressed by her celeb lies! She could not understand it! At first she’d been sure it was Marinette or Ladybug maybe even Adrien had turned on her! But when she’d probed for information she’d learned that none of them had blown the whistle. So what was it! Tomorrow… Tomorrow she will find out one way or another. She needed to get them back under her thumb somehow.

It was Chloe who gave Lila her answers. Chloe was the reason none of her classmates cared about her stories! Chloe was the idiot mayor's brat. And what a brat she was constantly wiggling her way into her mothers fashion shoots or had celebrities over at the hotel. Of course Lila’s classmates didn’t care about Lila’s celebrity connections because Chloe was always name dropping just as many people as herself. The only difference was Lila used fake modesty and shyness that made her ‘friends’ view her lies in less of a gloating light than Chloe’s haughty claims of celebrity meetings.

It was a damn shame, celebrity lies were her bread and butter, they were exciting got people to think you were important and they were hard to prove or disprove allowing Lila to easily get around the messy little detail of ‘proof’ if someone asked for pictures all she could say was that her mom didn't let her take any because she didn't want her precious daughter being targeted by crazy fans. And if someone asked her to use her celebrity connections? Well she could just turn on the water works and cry about them just being her friend for her connections. Thus her prey would be forced to be her ‘friend’ , always listening to her and doing things for her, unable to ask for anything in return. Then when her mother announced their next move Lila would tearfully say goodbye and leave all her suckers behind. But without the sway of her celebrity lies her system broke down. That was the problem with picking the school full of rich talented idiots she supposed.

Well with Chloe ruining her system she’d need a new one. Scrolling through her classmates' social media for a clue she sneered at their overly cheerful and cutesy posts. Always encouraging one another and posting encouraging puff pieces about this or that. Always acting like they were so nice. As Lila scrolled over a charity fundraiser event that Alya had retweeted from Milene a sudden thought crossed her mind. Her classmates were very ‘nice’ and annoyingly so. They were always butting into each other's business, always being SO concerned, always organizing events to help each other and appreciate each other and going to charity events.

In fact now that she thought about it the stories that had intrigued her ‘friends’ always had some sort of charity garbage attached. Saving Jagged’s kitten or raising money for some cause or other that always got her heaps of praise. Sure saying Clara whatshername stole her dance moves got attention but not in the same way saying she raised money for some green project. Was it really that simple? Sure her classmates all loved Marinette for her extreme generosity and kindness but was it REALLY that simple? She needed to check.

It was actually that easy. One simple little lie about how she pulled a blind old man out of danger when he was nearly run over and suddenly the class was bathing her in praise. And the ‘fact’ that the whole very real thing made her miss first period and sprain her ankle? Well that was just the cherry on top. Suddenly Max was offering her a copy of his notes and everyone was back to caring for her like she was a princess. The fact that Marinette looked like she was seething only for sweet naive Adrien to keep her mouth shut was just so perfect. She’d found her golden ticket. Her classmates were truly ‘good kind people’ and nothing could be exploited quite like kindness.

With this knowledge Lila would easily be able to destroy Marinette, sure she wouldn’t be able to do it quickly but slowly she would replace her, with every good deed she made up with every act of false modesty she would build a reputation greater than Marinette’s she would replace her and become there new ‘everyday ladybug’ and the best part was she wouldn’t have to say ANYTHING against Marinette. Not. A. Thing. No sweet righteous Marinette would eventually snap, sadly for her it would probably be too late with how much control Adrien had over her, so when it happened Marinette would look like the jealous crazy girl going after the girl that was kinder, sweeter, and better than herself. As for Adrien… Well she had a hard time believing it at first but he really was an idiot with a pretty face as long as she was careful as she built her new reputation he would genuinely believe that she was changing for the better and then he'd fall for her.

The best part was, her classmates were genuine. As she built her new good girl heart of gold persona they would genuinely come to love her, all the loyalty Marinette got to enjoy all the perks of being friends with such talented, kind, sweet people would become hers. Slowly no matter how Marinette struggled she would lose, eventually she’d have nothing left. Of course she’d need to be careful with her lies but that was easy. Bring the class to a charity here and there and tell them that she was the one who gave the idea for the charity to the actual organizer but didn't want any credit because she was just that kind and humble. If they tried to make her do actual work then she’d have a sudden accident that would require she sit down.

And then once she’d done more photoshoots with Adrien for Gabriel she’d ‘convince’ the man that a charity would make him look good and boost sales. She’d MAKE her lies true all while winning over her future father in law, and heck maybe she’d even pocket a little of the money, she could use a better wardrobe and the extra would be perfect to buy her ‘friends’ the occasional ice cream or presents. In between that she’d just lie about saving people or volunteering on weekends. Maybe even let it ‘slip’ how she was a temp hero for Ladybug . One of the sweetest parts was that between volunteering with Lila, there own activities and hanging out with Lila so she could ‘thank them for their hard work’ no one would be spending a second hanging out with sweet pink little Marinette, they'd abandon her without even realizing it because they’d be SO busy. Sadly this plan of hers would take a little more work then her others, but it would be worth it to become the queen bee of the class- NO the school! And when Marinette eventually slipped up and looked like the biggest jealous bully in the school. Well she’d have no choice but to leave the school with her tail in between her legs.

Victory was looking sweet and satisfying.

[ And where it goes from here is up to you. Lila can win, she can slowly convince the class and school that she's a model citizen and an everyday hero. She can sneakily maneuver the class to not spend time with Marinette slowly separating the girl from her friends. In this way Alya and the rest of them don't become evil salty versions of themselves who overnight hate Marinette and love Lila, but rather they are good naive people who got slowly separated and tricked by someone who wants to use their genuine talents and skills to make herself look better. Adrien who is already shown to be naive and wants to believe the best in people, can fall into Lila’s trap and become genuinely convinced that his high road method really worked and ‘reformed’ Lila into a better person. OR Lila can fail, she can claim to be the wrong temporary hero for ladybug, or she can pick the wrong charity to lie about, or get exposed any number of ways and the class can realize with horror that because they are kind but flawed people who are perhaps too trusting and gullible that they got pulled away from Marinette through subtle manipulation and so they can be redeemed because instead of turning into outright bullies they stayed the same kind people they always were but just got genuinely tricked which is something that can actually happen in real life. You can go heavy salt where Marinette does eventually leave the school or class heartbroken that her kind friends have fallen prey to a bad person Marinette cant find a way to expose. Or you can go clever salt where Marinette figures out Lila’s plan and fights her from the inside slowly exposing the cracks in her facade. Or you can go sugar and redemption where maybe just maybe Lila actually LIKES being nice to people and having real friends who dont care about her fake celeb connections, maybe she honestly redeems herself and even makes amends with Marinette. You can do genuinely anything with this idea and I hope to see this generate some new less *and suddenly everyone is evil* content for those that like salt and angst. ]

#my writing #ml salt #lila salt #lila salt prompt #now technically there isnt any actual class salt or adrien salt in here because its more of a prompt but to be safe il tag it anyway #adrien salt #class salt #ml salt prompt

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mcheang · 3 years

Text

@pendoodlex Do an Adrien Salt where Lila lies about Chat Noir and Ladybug being in a relationship and Adrien confirms the lie.

It’s my love life!

It’s easy to lie about stuff people want to hear. Alya was greedy for any gossip about Ladybug and loved support for her theories on Ladybug.

Recently they debated on Ladybug’s true age. Was she an immortal with teenage hormones and atttiude? Or simply a teenager?

Now they were on to Ladybug’s love life.

Lila: Of course LadyNoir is a thing. Ladybug just denies it because she doesn’t want to give Hawkmoth any more reason to target Chat Noir, but it’s obvious how much they care for each other.

Alya: Yes! A witness to Ladynoir!

Marinette: a lying witness

Nathaniel frowned. “I don’t know, Lila…”

Before Lila could insist she was correct, Adrien actually jumped in. “It’s true. Ladybug and Chat Noir are a couple. Sorry, Nathaniel, but she’s off the market.”

Marinette froze. Did Adrien just lie to Nathaniel about her love life? Just so no one would interfere with their beloved Ladynoir fandom?

WTH???

Overwhelmed by her hurt and rage, Marinette actually grabbed Adrien’s hand and dragged him out of the classroom, her face burning red.

Some assumed she was trying out another one of her confession schemes. Lila thought Marinette was going to tell Adrien she was a liar (eh, he already knew.)

In a far off corner, Marinette was whisper-yelling at Adrien. “What are you thinking? It’s one thing to ignore Lila’s lies, it’s another to endorse them! LadyNoir is not real!”

Thinking that Marinette still had a crush on Chat Noir, Adrien winced and rubbed his head. “I’m sorry, Marinette. But it’s true. Ladybug and Chat Noir are a couple.”

“No, they are not! Where’s your proof?“ She demanded.

Adrien thought quickly. “I saw them kissing on a rooftop last week.”

Marinette raised a brow. “Are you sure you weren’t just dreaming?” Her voice was heavy with skepticism.

Adrien: Positive.

Marinette: Well, I’m not sorry to say that you’re wrong. Ladybug and Chat Noir are not a couple.

Adrien: and how are you so sure? Just because you have a crush on Chat-

Marinette: Because Ladybug visited me after my dad was akumatized!

Adrien:…what?

Marinette took a deep breath. She hated lying but she also couldn’t stand lies about her.

“Ladybug consoled me after Chat rejected me. She reminded me about the other great boys in my life and ones I have yet to meet. And I asked her why she wouldn’t date Chat. Do you know what she told me?”

Adrien was quiet.

“She said she was in love with a boy from her own civilian life, not Chat Noir. To be honest, he’s not even her type.”

Adrien perked up. “Ladybug has a type?”

Marinette: Obviously. From what I hear, she’s more into the sensitive soul kind of guy.

Adrien: Chat is sensitive!

Marinette just stared at her crush in disbelief. “Um, yeah, no. The dude sulks whenever he gets rejected and has no idea what no means. For crying out loud, he gave me a pink rose before dumping me, and that was after he ate the treats my dad baked for him.”

Adrien: For someone with a crush on the hero, you sure sound bitter.

Marinette exhaled again, calming herself. “I’m not bitter. I’ve moved on, truly. Enough to see what Ladybug meant when she said I’ll move on soon enough. I’m over Chat.“

Adrien raise his brows.

Marinette continued, “I’ve been able to analyse his actions without the hero-crush filters. Be honest, Adrien, how would you feel at having to constantly reject the same person over and over again? Wouldn’t you be annoyed by their repeated flirtations?”

Adrien shrugged. “I reject fans all the time. Well, not exactly. I just ignore their love letters.“

Marinette shook her head. “That doesn’t count. You don’t know those people. Let’s say Chloe was going to confess her love to you every day. And you have to reject her every day. When you reject her, she raises a fuss and causes an akuma. How would you feel about your childhood friend?”

Adrien grimaced. “That would suck. I would avoid Chloe just to avoid her confessions.”

Marinette raised her hand, like there you go. Point proven.

Adrien wasn’t done. “But,” he insisted stubbornly, “it’s different for LadyNoir. They’re partners. Yin and Yang. A superhero duo. Who else is she going to end up with if not her partner? These kinds of pairings always win in the end.”

Marinette: that’s just sad. You’re comparing Ladybug’s love life to fiction. Life isn’t a fairy tale, Adrien. you don’t decide who Ladybug ends up with, and it’s not right for you to lie about her either.

Adrien: LadyNoir will happen. I’m sure of it.

Marinette: You’re not even going to take back that lie, are you?

Adrien: Why would I? It’s going to be fact.

Marinette said sadly, “Goodbye, Adrien.”

After school, Marinette tore down her posters of Adrien. Filters removed, indeed.

Tikki: Don’t worry, Marinette. I’m sure things will come right in the end.

Marinette: that doesn’t mean I can’t help set things back in order. Tikki, spots on!

Alya turned around at a tapping on her window.

Alya: Ladybug!

Ladybug: Hey, Alya. Listen, I’ve been reading your blog, and I need to set some facts straight.

Alya: Is this about revealing your love life? Because honestly, it would be better to be honest about your love life than to let others hope they have a shot with you. Remember Copycat?

Ladybug: That’s my point. I’m not dating Chat Noir. I don’t even like him that way. Lila has been lying to you, Alya.

Alya: Um, she’s your Best Friend…

Ladybug: When did I ever say that?

Alya:…….. ……….Why didn’t you correct me before today, then?

Ladybug sighed. “Because i had called her out in front of Adrien, and she got akumatized. And when she disappeared for a while, I figured there was no need to bring her up.“

Alya: Hold on. Adrien knew Lila was lying?

Ladybug: Yes. Though I’m sure he must have his own reasons for protecting Lila. But back to my point. I am not dating Chat Noir, and I am not interested in him like that. My love life is mine to decide, not for others to insist on just because they prefer me with Chat. How would you like it if Parisians started pairing you with Pegasus or Monkey King instead of Carapace? With them insisting you break up with Nino just to be with someone they chose for you?”

“That would be annoying,“ admitted Alya. “And invasive.”

Ladybug: I want to do a live interview, to clear the matter up once and for all.

In this interview, Ladybug was professional and succinct as she stated she doesn’t know Lila Rossi and she is not in a relationship with Chat. She doesn’t want to hurt her fans, but her love life is for her to handle.

Unable to help herself, Alya asked, “If you don’t like Chat, who do you like? You don’t have to give any names, but just one little tidbit, please?”

Eh, why not?

Ladybug leaned back on her hands and smiled, her eyes going faraway and dreamy. “Mature. That’s all I’ll say.”

After all, Luka had always supported her crush on Adrien. He never pushed her, but was always there for her. Why didn’t she how good he was? Oh right, Adrien filters.

Lila was fuming. How could she show her face again? Where was an akuma when you wanted one?

The akuma was drawn to a LadyNoir fanatic.

Fight fight fight. Chat was noticeably sulky at having been rejected on air.

When Alya came over to interview, he insisted he would not give up on Ladybug. Alya raised her brows, “Yeah that’s fine. But just don’t be pushy about it. And from your attitude earlier during the battle, I don’t think you fit Ladybug’s ideal criteria.”

Chat flushed and turned away, using his baton to propel himself home.

At school, Lila was playing truant, and Alya was grilling Adrien for keeping quiet.

Adrien: her lies weren’t hurting anyone!

Alya: I’m taking into account your isolated childhood, so let me just say, lies are hurtful. And it’s not right to encourage and spread her lies either.

Adrien: LadyNoir has to happen!

Nino shook his head in disgust. “You sound like that akuma last night. Ladybug has the right to decide who she wants to be with. If you ship LadyNoir, that’s fine. But you shouldn’t let it get this far to decide for Ladybug who she ends up with.”

Alya sighed, “Let’s blame Gabriel for this and hope Adrien can still be saved.”

Alya also understood when Marinette gave up on Adrien after seeing his behavior. She was interested in Luka but decided to wait because she didn’t want him to be a rebound guy.

Anyway, Adrien learned to keep his opinions to himself when all they got him was disapproval.

Ladybug’s interview caused the Parisians to question if the Italian diplomat should even still be in Paris if her daughter likes to spout lies about their heroine. How could she let her own daughter lie about stuff like that? It was enough that Mrs Rossi was questioned at work and her ignorance unveiled.

Yeah, Mrs Rossi would be lucky to keep her job after this but it was suggested Lila be sent outside Paris since she would certainly be unhappy with her new pariah status. Lila was sent to a correctional facility where no one was charmed by her falsehoods. Hell, she couldn’t even contact her mother because she was even busier trying to make amends.

When Ladybug finally told Chat she was happily in a relationship with her new boyfriend, he was sulky. Oh sure, he continued to fight alongside Ladybug but he was hopeful that she would break up with her boyfriend.

Plagg: that’s a horrible reaction. Can’t you just be happy for Ladybug?

Adrien: love is irrational and can’t be reasoned with, Plagg.

Plagg: then can you at least be polite and respectful to Ladybug’s wishes that you stop flirting with her?

Adrien: fine. Being Chat Noir was a chance to finally express myself, though.

Plagg: there’s a difference between freedom of expression and being rude/disrespectful/obnoxious

Adrien tried to date Kagami, but she broke up with him. There was no point in continuing the relationship when Adrien was so fixed on Ladybug.

I’m gonna leave this open ended. Any ideas how you would end this story?

#miraculous ladybug fanfic #miraculous ladybug fic #ml fanfic #ml fanfiction #ml fic #miraculous ladybug fanfiction #ml salt fic #Adrien salt #Lila is exposed #Lila gets exposed #post-Chameleon #Marinette x Luka

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gale-gentlepenguin · 3 years

Text

ML Fic: Soulmate Survey Part 36

Sorry about the delay. But now its here and its ready for consumption.

Also, Shout to @asongeverlasting for beta reading for me and making sure I actually got this out.

Check her writing out on AO3 as ShamelesslyRomantic,

(Master post)

(Read the fic in a more condensed on Ao3)

_____________________________________________________________

“Finished,” the artist akuma stated as he addressed his master.

Masquerade got up from her throne to look at the room. The classroom had been transformed into a rather spacious throne room. The artist had erased and redrawn walls to ensure the room was much larger. This new space also had several large windows adorned with elegant black and white curtains hanging from the top. Reflekta servants decked out in masquerade themed armor stood at attention on each step leading to her throne. Beautiful artwork of her decorated the walls, including an imposing portrait of her behind her throne that made it look as if she was looking down at everyone looking up at it. To her that came off as self-interested yet tasteful. The masked akuma even loved the addition of a red carpet that led up to her throne.

“This is quite satisfactory, Evillustrator. Just be sure to reinforce the walls of the room then head to the roof and locate Simularé. I want this place to be a fortress,” Masquerade ordered

“Understood,” the akuma nodded, his expression unreadable from the white face mask. He quickly headed to the door out of the room and Stone heart was guarding the door with his large frame and had to let the artist out.

“Gamer! Robostus! Status report!”

“We have made it so we could hack into every screen in Paris that is connected to the internet, as per your request,” the Gamer responded in monotone.

Masquerade smiled at that.

“Excellent. Do we have the cameras ready?”

The Reflekta copies near the robot akuma were being outfitted with recording gear.

“Affirmative, we will be ready to go live at your request.”

The masked akuma smiled at that news, she turned her attention to Princess Fragrance and the original Reflekta, who had just finished turning the last of the captured individuals into obedient copies of her.

“Has everyone in the school been rounded up and handled?”

“Dark Cupid and Reverser are doing a final sweep of any runaway stragglers. Stormy weather is going around flooding and freezing any empty hallways to flush out any that are hiding. There are Reflekta copies guarding the blocked off exits should anyone try and escape. But over 96% of the student body has been accounted for and 99% of all Faculty.” Princess Fragrance answered.

‘The missing ones are likely Marinette and Adrien. Those two never did make anything easy for me, did they? But it didn’t matter, their luck would run out soon enough. Once Ladybug and Chat noir were handled, then I could focus on making them pay,’ Masquerade grinned to herself.

She could picture how it would be, finding them and seeing their desperate faces as they realized that no hero would be able to save them. The first thing she would do was show them both her little empire. They thought she was bad when she had the school wrapped around her finger, they will be mortified when they see Paris. She would have all their friends and family captured, their best friends leading the cruel treatment of the rest. This would have them in tears and begging for mercy.

She did once consider letting Adrien be her boyfriend, with some perfume to sway him. He would have been a perfect boytoy to taunt Marinette with, but Masquerade realized how far above him she was now. She didn’t need him anymore, and truthfully, he was just as bad as Marinette, if not worse. Marinette had the audacity to dislike her and challenge her, but Adrien, he was so condescending, acting like she should be better than her actions. She could swear she saw pity in his eyes, and that was so much worse.

Though she wasn’t completely heartless, if they begged to be her personal servants and apologized for standing against her, then maybe she would let them have some mercy. Having Marinette clean up after her and make those admittedly delicious baked goods would be nice and having Adrien wait on her hand and foot like a personal butler would be quite fun. Maybe they would think if they did a good enough job their families would suffer less.

She did want to daydream about that idea more but she knew that she needed to focus on the present.

“Alright, Let’s start moving to stage 2. Gamer! I want a comprehensive list of every akuma victim outside of the school. Robostus! Make sure the cameras and broadcast are ready when I tell you. I want everything to go off without a hitch.”

“Affirmative!” Gamer and Robostus responded in equal robotic unison.

“Reflekta! Princess Fragrance! After all of the copies pick up the stragglers, I want you scanning the area for Ladybug and Chat noir. Bubbler and Lady Wifi… wait. I think I remember something.”

She paused to check her charm, she noticed the question mark charm and touched it, allowing her to focus and see what akuma it was.

“Cancel that order, remain on standby unless we get approached.”

“Yes… so this is what that voice meant by merging. How very interesting. I think I will let that new akuma keep its directive. Ladybug and Chat noir will have no chance of beating...”

An akuma merged with Lady Wifi, Bubbler and Oblivio. Combined to make something new. Something that she knew even the heroes would have trouble fighting.

“Deadzone.” Masquerade said with a devilish grin.

______________________________________________________________________________

Ladybug and Chat Noir made their way down the hall. They easily dealt with a few Reflekta clones without much effort and continued moving.

They were expecting to see more akuma lurking about, but strangely, the halls they were walking down were all either empty or only covered by Reflekta duplicates.

“Masquerade likely has her stronger forces consolidating after bringing in as many people to her as they could. Those that didn’t hit the mark likely got turned into the copies we bumped into.” Ladybug answered.

“That does explain why they were singing, like when Princess Fragrance made servants,” the cat hero added.

“This might be our only time to catch a break before confronting her.”

“So, since we have time, do you mind if I ask if you're free to go on Patrol tonight?” the cat hero casually inquired.

Ladybug stopped.

“Tonight? That is quite sudden. Plus, we still don’t know how this will play out.” Ladybug gestured to the school.

“Well I am going to assume we stop the akuma and save the day like always.” Chat noir commented. “Call it a safe bet, but we usually win.”

“Always the positive outlook, Chaton. I’m glad you have so much faith in us despite our numbers disadvantage.”

“You said it yourself, most of the servants are pushovers or just puppets. The only real threat is Lila. And we have faced worse."

“True, but not anything this sinister,” Ladybug tacked on.

“Didn’t we fight Hawkmoth a couple of months back?” Chat noir asked with a twinge of confusion. Was Ladybug implying what he thought she was?

Ladybug held her tongue.

“You’re kidding right? You think Lila is eviler than Hawkmoth!” Chat Noir exclaimed in shock.

“No no no! Not eviler … just a bit cleverer than him,” Ladybug confessed.

Chat noir looked at his partner skeptically, but then considered her words.

“She is manipulative. Considering even without being akumatized she has done some rather twisted stuff. But thinking she is evil is a bit much. Especially when there is someone responsible for forcing emotionally vulnerable people to do his bidding,” Chat noir pointed out.

“Isn’t that what she is doing right now?”

“Yes, but she was akumatized. If we started blaming people for their actions as akuma we would have to throw innocent people in jail.”

“Right… but you read that article on the Ladyblog right? She could be more than just a victim of Hawkmoth, she could be an ally.”

The Cat hero thought about it more but was still not entirely convinced.

“I guess underestimating her would be dumb, but maybe she isn’t completely evil. I mean Chloé ended up showing a bit of humanity and did some good, maybe Lila is capable of it too.”

The crimson clad heroine smiled a bit.

“That’s what I like about you, Chat, you always focus on the good in others.”

The black clad hero gave a Cheshire grin.

“When it comes to the team, you’re the brains, and I’m the sidekick who brings the smiles and the heartfelt speeches.”

“You aren’t my sidekick, Chat Noir, we are partners. And you could be the brains too, if you would use yours outside of pun making.” Ladybug playfully bonked his noggin.

The cat chuckled at the playful teasing.

“Fair enough, but I can’t help it if I FELINE making a quip.”

Ladybug could feel herself groan at the lame joke.

“I take it back… you are the sidekick,” Ladybug deadpanned, her tone of mock annoyance causing the cat to chuckle.

“Alright I’ll…” He stopped speaking as he noticed something was amiss.

Chat Noir’s left ear twitched. He heard approaching footsteps.

“We better get moving, this abandoned hallway isn’t going to be so abandoned in a minute.”

“More Reflekta clones?”

Chat Noir extended the staff to the ground, his face showing a sudden sternness.

“No… Winter is coming.”

______________________________________________________________________________

Viperion peered through the door of the locker room.

“Clear.”

The snake and dragon heroes entered with their akuma prisoner.

“Pick a locker and let’s toss her in,” Ryuuko commented as she held the squirming akuma.

The two paused their movement when they heard a rustling in the lockers.

“Do you hear that?” Viperion questioned.

“How could I not?” Ryuuko replied.

Just as the two stared at the rustling lockers. The two shaking lockers doors flew off their hinges.

And stepped out an akuma that neither hero recognized.

“I don’t remember seeing that akuma before,” Ryuuko stated.

“Neither do I, but it seems vaguely familiar,” Viperion responded.

As the Akuma was gathering its bearings, the heroes tried to gauge its powers. It had broad shoulders that had spherical, dark purple balls around them, which were connected to tight black sleeves with 3 white circular stripes at the end that ended at his wrists. Its left hand had a fingerless black glove which showed its skin akin to a purple silhouette. The other hand was what appeared to be a black laser canon with a phone attached to it. On its back was a large red, purple and black pipe which seemed to act as a holster to a blue bubble wand. Its face was obscured by a large white theater mask much like all the other akuma. But there was the impression that it had distinct features. Its chest had a rounded purple bubble on the top half of its body akin to round armor and it had a logo that appeared to be a WiFi signal within an eye in a cage. The lower half appeared more akin to a skintight jumpsuit that was black with white stripes at the feet.

The akuma turned its attention to the two heroes.

“So umm… what are you doing in the locker room?”

“Merge complete, Deadzone is active. Mission objective, Capture Ladybug and Chat Noir,” The akuma answered in a robotic tone less as a response to the question and more as a statement, their voice sounded like the mix of two people.

“Well, Deadzone, we can’t let you do that!” Ryuuko exclaimed as she glared at the akuma.

The akuma pointed its blaster at her.

“Your opinion on that really doesn’t have an impact on us.”

Deadzone’s left hand touched the phone on their blaster, and a purple bubble with a pause insignia shot out. Ryuuko and Viperion both jumped back as the bubble had direct contact with their akuma prisoner, causing her to be motionless as the bubble turned green and floated to the roof of the room.

“Okay, so don’t touch the bubbles,” Viperion noted.

“Positive side, we don’t need to worry about that one akuma,” Ryuuko commented.

Viperion and Ryuuko knew this akuma would be trouble if it got to Ladybug and Chat noir. They were going to need to find a way to stop it.

______________________________________________________________________

Fu had been observing the spoiled Mayor’s daughter after her confrontation with the Reflekta replicas. Using it as a means to help him find Ladybug and Chat Noir. He was aware that this girl had a knack for getting into trouble and making akuma target her, so it would not be too far off to assume she would be useful in locating his chosen. He would have called her, but communication was down, so he would need to adapt. But now he had a rather interesting quandary.

“Should I lend her the miraculous or not?” Fu spoke quietly as he pondered.

It was a tougher question he had initially thought. If he was asked if she was worthy of being a miraculous user, the answer would undoubtedly be negative. She was clearly a spoiled brat who saw herself above others. But after the events when the bee miraculous temporarily fell into her hands, he had started observing her. He did this with all of the chosen ones that Marinette had picked. Not because he didn’t trust his student, but more out of curiosity of why Marinette picked these individuals.

With the one she picked for the fox miraculous, Fu could see that the girl valued justice, but was cunning and saw the importance of distinguishing truth from illusion, an ideal pick for the fox miraculous. As for the Turtle miraculous wielder, Wayzz spoke highly of Nino, which really made him curious about the young lad. That boy showed a willingness to protect those close to him even if it meant getting hurt, and the calm to be ready to wait and roll with things. The miraculous of protection required someone that can keep a cool head and be ready to defend at the drop of a hat.

The other temporary heroes matched pretty well with the traits of the Kwami and were all good people deep down. Fu had no doubts that Marinette had the instincts of a guardian. The only one that brought doubt was Chloé. After the incident where she found the miraculous and got akumatized, Chloé was trusted with the bee miraculous 3 times. And her record had been mixed but overall she was decent when she fell in line and worked with Ladybug and Chat Noir.

Marinette mentioned that she didn’t want to trust Chloé with the miraculous after the last time. But has admitted to Fu that if needed she was a decent Bee heroine.

But if he was wrong and she decided to use this chance to stay being a miraculous wielder, he would have to deal with her as a rogue. Though, considering the circumstances, that would honestly not be the worst situation, as her identity was public and Ladybug and Chat Noir would deal with her like before.

“Wayzz, what do you think?”

His kwami companion popped out of his shirt pocket.

“This is quite a dilemma, Master. The situation is dire, but putting the miraculous in the wrong hands would also make things worse. Perhaps Pollen would be able to give better insight.”

“Very true, my friend.” Fu patted the kwami.

Fu cautiously went into the cleaning cart and pulled out the Bee Miraculous. The bee kwami popped out.

“Good morning, Master,” Pollen greeted the guardian with respect.

“Good afternoon, Pollen. We have a situation and I would like to know your opinion.”

“Very well, I am happy to serve,” The bee kwami replied.

“What do you think of Chloé Bourgeois? The one that used your miraculous recently.”

The kwami put her little hand to her face as she compiled her thoughts.

“She is complicated, Master. She didn’t talk to me much but I kind of got to feel a lot about who she was as a person. She is brash, she is confident, yet she is insecure. She is blunt, stubborn, and set in her ways. But I can tell that she is at a crossroads in her life. There is some small part of her that wants to be good and do good for others outside of herself, but her upbringing has made such a mindset seem like weakness, and she is scared of letting herself be vulnerable. Ladybug has been a good influence on her, but she is still immature in several aspects. She has the potential to be a good queen. If she could break through that self-imposed selfish mentality, she could be something extraordinary,” Pollen explained, finally.

“I see, well that is quite informative. Thank you,” Fu responded, nodding thoughtfully.

He put the Bee Miraculous back in a tiny box, causing her to go dormant.

“So, she is at a crossroad.” Fu repeated as he stroked his chin

He turned his attention back to Chloé, who had continued walking towards another dead end. When he caught the eye of approaching Reflekta clones. And with that, Fu figured out a way to know.

“I think I just found a way to know the correct answer.”

______________________________________________________________________

“I swear this place is a maze.” Mayura grumbled to herself as she walked the halls.

She noticed her fan shake, notifying her of someone calling. It was Hawkmoth

“Yes?”

“Mayura what are you doing?! You were supposed to find the target and get out!” Hawkmoth exclaimed angrily. “And why did you transform? You knowutilizing the Peacock Miraculous is dangerous.”

Though she wouldn’t admit it, she was somewhat touched by the concern in his voice. Unfortunately, she did not have time to dwell on that so she was going to ignore it, as she had a task at hand

“Some unforeseen circumstances have caused some rather unfortunate delays. I am going to locate the sentimonster and gather information regarding the target. Afterwards, I will assist in getting Ladybug and Chat Noir’s Miraculous.” Mayura responded.

As she was speaking, an akuma with black wings flew into view along with an akuma riding a paper airplane.

“Seems the akuma servants have located me.”

She notices the akuma began preparing to attack her. They were practically mindless puppets that saw anyone who wasn’t their master as an enemy. This was quite an oversight, but it fit with the motif of the akuma villain. She felt the emotions of that girl, she knew exactly the type of insecurities Lila held. Thankfully for her, it meant they could easily be exploited.

“Get out of there this instant it is too dangerous. You are in no shape to…”

The akumas aimed at the unidentified villainess and fired off paper airplanes and arrows.

“We will discuss this later.” Mayura hung up before turning her attention to the two servants of Masquerade.

Mayura dashed through the hall, expertly avoiding projectiles and blocking with her fan those she couldn’t dodge. She jumped onto Reverser’s glider, grabbed the akuma and threw him at the flying Dark Cupid, leaving the two dazed and tangled together.

“I’m weakened, not helpless,” Mayura commented as she dusted herself off and hopped off the floating paper airplane.

She noticed that the two akuma that attacked her were slow in getting up.

‘Seems the akuma created by Masquerade aren’t just mindless, they are also rather slow in reacting. Ladybug and Chat Noir can exploit that. I suppose with the number of servants she made, this was to be expected. I should locate Simularé and get some details on our akuma’s little plan. I should step in and seize control if she gets too distracted like the last one. Gabriel has always been far too cautious when it comes to his plans, it’s time we were more active.’ Mayura mentally concluded.

She closed her eyes and focused on locating the sentimonster.

“She is on the roof. Odd placement for her most powerful ally, but I suppose there must be some sort of logical reason for what she is planning,” Mayura rationalized.

The peacock themed villainess noticed that the akuma that attacked her were starting to move again, and she decided to pick up her pace a bit.

______________________________________________________________________________

“This is super ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous!” she exclaimed with anger. “Not a single exit in this place! Why is every exit coated in icky slime?”

She checked her phone.

“And still no signal.”

She ended up chucking her phone out of frustration.

“I wish Ladybug would just get here and beat the akuma, or better yet, come here and give me the bee miraculous so I can help kick butt,” she grumbled as she went to go see where she threw her phone. She'd remembered she actually liked the case she just bought for it and losing that would be a waste.

“H-help me please!” The wails of a person in danger caught Chloé’s attention.

“That sounds like a non-me issue,” the blonde told herself. As she continued walking to her phone.

“If only there was someone here to save me!” the voice called out again.

Chloé stopped moving for a moment.

“Well I am not a hero without the Bee, so I guess he better hope Ladybug and Chat Noir are nearby, or maybe those other two costumed nobodies that I saw earlier,” she said, clearly trying to convince herself not to do anything.

“Please! Ladybug! Chat Noir…. “

"The heroes will handle it." Chloé reasoned with herself as she picked up her phone. Now getting ready to go somewhere else and likely away from the screaming.

“ And a…Queen Bee.”

Chloé’s eyes went wide. Did someone call out for… Queen Bee?!

Chloé started dashing down the halls to the sound of the voice.

“Did someone call for a hero!” Chloé called out, looking confident.

She arrived to see an old man in an ugly Hawaiian shirt being cornered by 3 Reflekta copies. The akuma copies turn to Chloé.

“Surrender,” they sing-songed as they began to approach.

Chloé ran right at them, and proceeded to push them into each other, and let the impractical heels make it hard for them to get back up.

She rushed to the old man.

“Don’t worry, old man with good taste in heroes and nothing else. I, Queen Bee, am here to save you,” Chloé blustered.

“Thank you.” Fu said with a forced smile. She clearly only came when he mentioned her name. But she did show up. In hindsight, maybe his test was not as conclusive as he thought. But then again, he actually planned those out more.

Chloé looked around.

“Alright old man, normally I would have just left you to get saved by Ladybug, but you have good taste in heroes, so I am going to help you out. We need to move before those creepy akumas get back up. So follow me, I know a place you can hide out.” Her tone tried to come off as abrasive, but it did show an inkling of care.

Chloé began moving away from the cluster of Reflektas. The old man shrugged and followed behind. He supposed that this would be another good test for her. Maybe he will get a more definitive answer by keeping an eye on her. And if worse comes to worse, he had a feeling she would make a good distraction should he need to escape a band of akuma.

______________________________________________________________________

“Did you just make a...”

Ladybug was able to pick up on the sound of harsh wind heading their way and decided her scolding of lame references could wait for later. She grabbed her partner's arm and pulled him into the nearby science lab.

She quickly closed the door just as a cold front blasted right past them. The window on the door was covered in ice.

“Stormy Weather?”

“Stormy Weather.”

The two both look at each other with a bit of worry. The storm akuma was one of their more powerful foes, and with complete control of the weather in such a tight space, things were going to get tough.

“Any ideas?”

Ladybug weighed her options. Would now be the time to use her lucky charm? or should she save it for when they are in front of Masquerade? It was starting to get harder to make that call.

“We can’t have her roaming the halls, we will need to incapacitate her. So I say have your ice power up ready, and be ready to swap power ups at the drop of a hat. Stormy Weather may be tough, but we still have tricks up our sleeve.”

Chat Noir nodded.

“Sounds like a plan.”

Ladybug and Chat Noir both popped their Ice blue power ups and shift into their Ice forms. The two watched as the other’s suit gained ice skates, ice crystal and snowflake accents, becoming Ladyice and Icecat.

(AN: Yes, according to the Wiki, that’s what they are calling them. Personally, I would have called them Ladyfrost and Cold noir/ Cool Cat but that’s just me. This isn’t relevant to the story, I just wanted you all to know that.)

“You know, Ladybug, you really give off the ice skater vibe. Would you say you have experience ice skating outside of this form?” Chat Noir asked.

Ladybug felt her mind flash to her date with Adrien and her cheeks turned red.

“I- I may have some experience. And how about you, Kitty?” she deflected.

“Well, now that you mention it, I…”

They heard a loud bang on the door, cracking the ice that covered the window to reveal the white theater mask that Stormy Weather had covering her face.

“I’m gonna give it to her, she really knows how to break the Ice,” Chat Noir joked.

“Chaton, cool it with all of the ice puns,” she stated.

“Wait, was that a pun? My Lady I... OH SHI…”

A large ice stalactite burst through the door interrupting their banter and almost skewering them.

Chat Noir was about to say something when Ladybug cut in.

“Chat Noir, you are my partner and I respect you greatly. But so help me, if you say we should put this conversation on ‘Freeze’, I will not save you if you get impaled.” Ladybug stated.

Chat Noir paused.

“You know me so well,” he said with a smile.

The two watched as Stormy Weather entered the room through the stalactite hole.

______________________________________________________________________

“Hey Viperion?”

“Yea Ryuuko?”

“We both agree that we need to stop that crazy akuma right?”

“That is correct.”

“Then why are you carrying me away from it!?” Ryuuko exclaimed.

Viperion had picked up the dragon heroine fireman style in order to pull her away from the pursuing akuma.

“Do you want the reasons in alphabetical order?” the snake hero sassed.

“We can take it,” Ryuuko asserted. “We can’t retreat! There is no honor in it!”

“Well considering neither of our weapons can touch them, the concept of honor has flown out the window. Not to mention, I seriously doubt that we can take them on without a plan, and don’t say ‘try to hit them harder’ is a plan. It isn’t.”

Viperion had a smug look as he noticed Ryuuko look away.

“You’re right, but I'm mad about it,” the dragon heroine huffed.

“I can live with that.”

Viperion took a sharp left and noticed a dozen Reflekta duplicates.

“Juleka?”

“Come with us,” the clones sang.

“I’m going to assume they aren’t her,” Ryuuko said as she got off Viperion’s shoulders.

She punched his arm.

“Ow.”

“Your shoulder was bumpy.”

Ryuuko drew her weapon and dashed past the group of Reflekta clones. After a second, she holstered her weapon and all of the clones dropped to the floor groaning.

“Wow.” Viperion was impressed. He had to admit that it was super cool.

“Don’t worry, I used the flat end of the sword. They will be fine, and hopefully they will slow down the akuma.”

The two continued running, but glanced back as Deadzone arrived. He looked at the clones getting up and blasted each one into a green bubble in which they remained motionless and floated to the ceiling of the hall.

“It can’t distinguish between friend or foe,” Viperion commented.

“What?”

Viperion turned to his comrade.

“I think I just got an idea.”

__________________________________________________________________________

“This way,” the bossy blond teen motioned.

Fu pushed his janitor cart as they moved in the hallway.

“Do you really need to move that hideous thing with us?” Chloé questioned with clear aggravation.

“It's very important,” Fu responded.

“Ugh, whatever. Just move faster, then.”

Fu nodded and picked up the pace.

The mayor’s daughter led them down the hall and they had managed to avoid attracting attention.

“Okay, we are here.”

Fu looked at the door and realized that it was the nurse’s office.

“Hopefully the nurse didn’t get herself captured while I was gone.”

Chloé went to open the door and noticed it was locked.

“What the…”

“Let me try.” Fu interjected.

“Fine, just hurry up.”

He pulls out a jingling set of keys. Chloé shrugged as she turned around to keep watch.

Fu let his kwami companion out to open the door. Wayzz quickly undid the lock and opened the door before sliding back out of view.

“All done,” Fu said.

Chloé turned around as Fu opened the door.

The two quickly ran inside and locked the door behind them.

“Nurse Arugula!” Chloé called out. “I have a guest for you!”

“Arugala?”

“It was something with an A.” Chloé commented.

The two waited a few seconds, but there was no response.

They moved deeper into the office.

“Are you here?” Chloé questioned.

They flicked on the light switch to see the nurse in the cot.

“Oh, that’s great, I leave to go get help and be a hero and she goes off napping!” Chloé fumed.

Fu moved to the nurse and noticed she had a bruise on her neck, indicating that she was clearly forced into this state. He jabbed a pressure point and the nurse jolted awake.

“HUAGH!”

She nearly fell out of the cot.

“Glad you can join us from your nap,” Chloé hissed.

“Chloé? Did you call for help?” The nurse inquired as she gathered her bearings.

“No, the school is a total dead zone, and I couldn’t find a way out because they are all blocked by slime. Side note, I found this old guy.”

The nurse turned to the old man.

“Hello. I’m Angela.” She politely introduced herself.

“Nice to meet you. I am… Fung,” Fu lied. He couldn’t be too careful.

“Nice to meet you Fung, despite the circumstances,” she tried to make light of the situation.

“Every meeting can have a positive circumstance if one is looking for it.”

The calm in the air died when Angela realized that someone was missing.

“Oh no! The women you left in my care! She knocked me out and stormed out of here.” Angela exclaimed.

“Welp, she is probably captured,” Chloé shrugged.

“We have to find her, she has some sort of strange illness. Leaving her out there might be dangerous, akuma or not.”

Angela prepared to move to the door but was stopped by Chloé.

“Oh no you don’t! I brought this old man here for safety. You stay here with him.”

“But my patient!”

The woman was clearly shaking, but she was determined, she wanted to help her patient even if it meant going into danger. But much to Fu’s surprise, Chloé stepped up.

“I will bring your patient back. Mostly because being stuck in here seems much worse than dealing with a bunch of dumb akuma.”

Angela hugged Chloé.

“Thank you.”

Chloé tried to look annoyed, but a ghost of a smile appeared on the mayor’s daughter’s face. She accepted the hug for a moment.

Fu took notice. He had made his decision.

“Alright, enough touching! You deal with sick people all day. I don’t want germs,” Chloé stated as she tried to give off her usual air.

“That is very brave of you, young one.” Fu spoke.

“Pff, this is nothing. It’s what heroes do.”

As Chloé began making her way out of the nurse’s office, Fu quietly slipped the tiny miracle box into her bag.

‘I hope this was worth the risk.’

_____________________________________________________________

(END OF CHAPTER)

Well things are really heating up.

Will Ladyice and Icenoir be able to deal with stormy weather? Will Deadzone be the dead end for Ryuuko and Viperion? What is Masquerade's villainous plan? Will I update faster than every 40 or so days?

Let me know your thoughts and if you did enjoy the story.

REBLOG it and comment. Likes are nice but they don't really help content creators like they should.

351 notes · View notes

justcourttee · 3 years

Note

Adrien asks mari out and she says i would of been so happy in the past but now its too little to late. She's engaged to Damian but they haven't announced it yet

Bittersweet

It had been a while since Adrien had found himself in Gotham City. Too many years to count on his hand. Yet when he received an invite from Marinette he didn’t hesitate to hop on the next flight to attend her gala.

He had no idea that she had created a partnership with Wayne Enterprises, in fact, he had no idea they were interested in the fashion world at all. Then again, why should he be surprised? When Marinette put her mind to something, nothing would get in her way.

Ever since he had taken over his father’s company, Adrien hadn’t had much time to keep up with his old school friends but it hadn’t stopped them from trying to keep him in the loop. From what he could gather, Alya and Nino would also be attending, Rose and Juleka too. It would be nice to see them all again, especially Marinette.

Stepping out from the warmth of his hotel room and into the cool streets, Adrien couldn’t help but let his mind drift to thoughts of her.

It took Marinette moving to the States for him to realize how much he was in love with her. It was something he never wanted to admit seeing how much he adored Ladybug, but as she disappeared from his grasps, he was left to face his true feelings.

Glancing at his phone, Adrien confirmed that he was mere minutes away from the address she had listed. The gala was still a few days away, but Marinette asked if he had wanted to meet up for a late-night coffee, a Gotham specialty. Even her scarf that she had gifted him ages ago couldn’t hide the red on his cheeks as he imagined the perfect date with the girl of his dreams.

He paused, reaching the door of Deja Brew, his heart beating a million miles a minute. Somewhere in this late-night shop was his best friend. How would she react to seeing him again? Would she be as excited as he was? Would she feel the same way as she did?

Taking a deep breath, he pushed through the door, his eyes glancing through the scattered exhausted customers until they landed on her. She still hadn’t noticed his presence, her nose buried into her sketchbook, her coffee still steaming beside her seemingly untouched.

She was early.

The thought almost drew a laugh as he approached the counter to place his order. Of course she would have finally picked up some time management skills by now. Marinette was 27 and slowly making a name for herself as the future of the fashion industry. That wasn’t something accomplished by constant tardiness.

He picked up his cup, placing a ten into the tip jar, the hostess’ raised eyebrows making him smile. He could already hear his father scolding him. After all, that wasn’t the way to becoming a billionaire. You only make money by holding onto it.

Honestly, Adrien didn’t understand why he had to be a billionaire. His father said it would raise the bar for their line, but it just wasn’t in Adrien’s heart to hoard all of the money unnecessarily. Maybe the Waynes offered Marinette the same advice. Maybe they had something they could relate to together.

“Excuse me ma’am, is this seat taken?”

His heart had finally slowed down but as her eyes slowly peeked up at him under her lashes, it immediately began somersaulting once more.

“Oh Gods, Adrien!” She was out of her seat before he even had the chance to set down his coffee, her arms flung around his neck. He hoped and prayed she couldn’t feel his chest threatening to explode. “You should have said something! I’ve gotten into the bad habit of zoning out in public places.”

Her smile was blinding as she unwound herself, slipping back into her seat, motioning for him to sit as well.

“How was the flight? Did you fly private or first class?”

Adrien gasped, his hand covering his chest as if she had shot him.

“I only flew business thank you very much.” Marinette’s look of mock disbelief earned a small chuckle.

“That must have been so hard for you. I really am sorry you went through so much trouble for my sake.”

“You know, I would go through so much more for you Marinette.”

Her smile faltered for a moment, so quick that if he hadn’t been staring so hard at her, he might have missed it. Did his statement make her uncomfortable? He had only meant it jokingly with the truth laced in, but he was sure his eyes gave him away. They always softened when it came to her.

Marinette cleared her voice, her true smile shining once more as if the falter never happened in the first place.

“You’ve missed so much, I don’t even know where to start.”

“How about from the beginning?” She nodded as she dove into her move to the States and how she began as an intern for the CEO, Tim Drake, years ago and slowly worked her way up to personal assistant.

She recounted how Tim found her sketchbook at work one day and showed it to his father. Together they agreed that she was their way into the fashion industry, an investment that could open the door to many more jobs for the Gotham citizens.

It took two years, but she finally had a full line that was presented at Bruce’s first fashion show.

“So many big names were there Adrien! I really thought I was gonna faint!”

His smile became softer and softer as she recounted meeting the rest of the Waynes and finally after six long years, she had made enough of a name for herself to be holding her own official Gala, the Wayne’s simply a sponsor.

“That’s amazing Marinette, you’re amazing.”

She beamed proudly, her smile pulling at his heart.

“I couldn’t have done it without them. They are genuine and kind people and they are pretty much family.” Something glistened in her eyes as she spoke of them. It could have been obvious to anyone, Marinette cared so deeply for these people.

It was Adrien’s turn to falter as an ugly thought passed.

She’s so comfortable here, she would never want to come back to Paris with me.

He was shocked with himself. This was no time for jealousy. His best friend, the love of his life, was excitedly telling him about a future she had built for herself and the only thing he could think was that it was an obstacle keeping her from him?

Adrien desperately wanted to smack his own forehead, but for Marinette’s sake he straightened out his smile instead.

“I’m so sorry. I’ve only been talking about myself! What’s new with you? How’s your dad’s business? Do you have anyone you’re seeing?”

His eyebrow raised at the last question. She asked the question he so desperately wanted to ask her. And she did it so casually, equating it to his work and social life. Did that mean she was also fishing for his response?

“Nothing much. Dad wants to move from a multi-million dollar business to a multi-billion dollar business so he’s been pretty aggressive about money lately. He didn’t even want me flying over here for the gala.”

Marinette snorted much to his amusement. She knew how his dad was and how petty he could be as well.

“And as for your last question,” he paused watching her face carefully. “No, I am not seeing anyone.”

He waited for the reaction, any reaction really. But none came. Instead, she simply nodded as if she expected as much. Maybe he had read into it too much. She really could’ve just been asking for the sake of catching up. Should he ask too? Was that what she was leading up to?

Adrien cleared his throat before taking a long draw from his cup. This was so nerve wracking. She looked so content, so grown. This was a Marinette who had grown leaps and bounds while he was still stuck in this high school romance that was quite possibly one-sided.

“Well, I hate to cut it short but it’s going to be a long day tomorrow and Damian will be here any moment to pick me up.”

She slid out of her seat so effortlessly, her sketch book snapping shut before it disappeared into a bag that he hadn’t even noticed. Her smile was just as warm as he remembered, but something was missing from the girl he loved.

“Your eyes.” The words slipped out of his mouth before he could stop himself. Marinette’s smile faltered as she tentatively reached up to touch her eyelid, confusion etching it’s way into her face.

“Is there something near my eyes Adrien?”

“No, no, I’m sorry. That’s not what I meant. I just-” Adrien bit his lip, trying to string his thoughts together before he sounded even more like an idiot. “You used to stare at me with such soft look. I’m sorry I never noticed, but once I did, it was all I could see. Yet now-”

He trailed off as her lips drew into an o, her hand moving slowly from her eye to her lips, trying to hide her shock.

“-now, I can still feel the love in them, love directed at me, but it’s not the same love is it?”

She looked like she wanted to say something, but she couldn't find the right words. He knew she was trying to explain that he was wrong, but couldn’t bring herself to lie. It was the only confirmation he needed.

He slid out of the booth, his hand grasping the scarf slipping from his neck.

“Marinette, I was so excited when you invited me out tonight. In fact, I thought of it as a date.” She tried to reach out, but Adrien took a step back, tears brimming in his eyes. “I don’t blame you at all, please don’t think I’m saying all this to make you feel guilty. I just had to get it off my chest.”

Adrien blinked hard, trying to spill the tears clouding his vision. This was harder to say than he thought. Her eyes were so distracting, the sympathy oozing toward him in waves.

“I love you, Marinette Dupain-Cheng. I know you’ve made your life here and I would never dream of taking that from you. Hell, if you asked me to, I would drop everything to be at your side in an instance. Is there any chance at all that after the gala ends, we could give this a shot? Just one real date. Not some deluded fantasy I created in my head, but something we both consent to.”

He flinched when her hand finally made contact with his upper arm.

“Adrien, I love you. I really do. But you were right when you said my eyes had changed. That soft look is meant for someone else now. He and I had tried to keep our relationship quiet, but tomorrow at the gala, I was going to announce my engagement to Damian.”

Adrien couldn’t help the small sob that left his mouth. He was painfully aware of the few scattered glances all directed toward him, but he couldn’t help it. He felt Marinette pulling his head down until it laid resting on her shoulder, her small arms wrapping around his figure. It was embarrassing how hard he cried, unable to hold back his sobs any longer.

“I’m so sorry Adrien, I had no idea your feelings had changed. You were always chasing after a dream when we were younger and when I left Paris, I had finally decided that there wasn’t a chance after all between us.”

He knew she meant her words as a comfort, a promise that at one point, she would have gladly accepted his offer. Why couldn’t he have seen it earlier? Why was he so blinded by a partner who never even revealed herself right to the end? He had someone who trusted and loved him with all of their being and he ignored their feelings for a what if.

Adrien slowly pulled himself from her grasp, his smile shaky. He took a moment to use the end of his scarf to dry his soaked face.

“I’m glad you told me that Marinette. I really am. And I hope you and Damian have a long and prosperous life together.”

Her eyes widened, her mouth forming the wait, but he was already out of the door, running. It was a cowards move, one he would mull over all night. But it was too painful to look into the eyes of one you love and only find pity reflecting in them.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

“So you came?”

Adrien turned, his smile bittersweet as he embraced Alya, his fist connecting with Nino’s outstretched hand.

“How could I not support her? She’s worked so hard to make this a reality. My feelings can take a backburner for one night.”Their eyes all trailed to the center of the room where she stood, her arm threaded through with the man he assumed to be Damian Wayne. “Besides, you can tell. She loves that man beside her more than anything in this world.”

The glint of the ring on her finger caused an aching in his heart. Despite it all, he really did wish the Wayne boy no ill will. If he was who Marinette chose to spend the rest of her life with, then Adrien trusted her decision.

“I’ve never seen her smile so bright. And to think, I used to believe her smile was at its maximum blindlingness.” Nino’s chuckle earned a small chuckle from Adrien as well.

There was no denying it.

Marinette was where she belonged. The only thing left was for him to support her in any way that he could. And that was exactly what he planned to do.

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#daminette #maribat #miraculous ladybug

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mochinek0 · 4 years

Text

Big Brother to the Rescue!

This fic was inspired by @justcourttee - A Brother’s Love. I loved her fic and I couldn’t stop thinking....what if this happened?

Jason sighed, rereading the text he had gotten again from Gina.

Nona: Jay, I am unable to get to Paris in the time I wished. My son and his wife are having problems with my Little Fairy. They claim her to be a bully and a brute, but I know this is not my Little Fairy. I am her guardian now and my plan was to bring her with me. Go in my stead and take her to Gotham. She told me she has a date with her boyfriend, Adrien Agreste. Break the news to her gently.

Gina had traveled with him for awhile and was always there for him when he got in a fight with Bruce. They could disappear on the road and travel, forget their worries. Gina had told him about her granddaughter, her 'Little Fairy', Marinette Dupain-Cheng. She was an inspiring fashion designer, who was also her class' president. She had designed for Jagged Stone and won a contest from Gabriel Agreste. She even had the opportunity to be mentored by Style Queen, herself, in New York, and turned it down. Gina had told him so many things about Marinette, he felt as if she was his little sister. When Gina told him that Pixie was getting bullied again and no one would help or see her side of things, he had gotten upset. Even her boyfriend had told her to make peace with the bully and to let it go. She had never asked him for a favor before and he didn't want to let her down.

Jason had taken the first flight to Paris to bring his little sister home to Gotham. He watched as she left the bakery and pressed the button to head to the park when her phone rang.

"Adrien? Yeah, I'm just heading-Oh. Ye-Yeah, I can meet you there instead. Sure. Bye." Marinette spoke and quickly took off in another direction.

'Sounds like a change of plans.'

Jason watched as Marinette ran up to Adrien as he was drinking from a water bottle.

'Gotta get closer.'

"Adrien, why do you keeping putting up with her?" Marinette asked.

"Marinette, please, stop asking questions." Adrien sighed.

"NO! Not this time!" Marinette shouted, "We've been dating for four months and you still let her do whatever she wants. I've seen how she touches you, kisses you! And then you come to me and … I feel… like I need to disinfect you before you can touch me!"

"Marinette, please!" Adrien begged.

"Face it, Adrien! Your stupid 'high road' idea isn't working!" Mari complained.

"Lila speaks directly to my father! I can't risk being stuck at home again, Marinette. I….I don't love you enough to give up my freedom!" the model confessed, "I…I have to pick Lila over you."

'I'm sorry, Marinette.' Adrien frowned.

Marinette could feel her world crashing down. Lila was more important then her. Lila had succeeded in her plans to destroy her. She took her friends, took her loved ones, and now, she had Adrien. Marinette couldn't even feel the tears rushing down her cheeks, as everything clicked into place.

"Marinette?" Adrien whispered, reaching for her.

'This brat is who she had feelings for! How dare he make her cry; no one makes my little sister cry!'

The first sob escaped her mouth and she shook her head, stepping away from him. As she turned to run, someone ran passed her and punched Adrien in the face, breaking his nose.

Marinette's knees gave out as Natalie and his bodyguard rushed onto the scene.

"You are a piece of shit, Agreste!" Jason began, "Do you have any idea what you just did? Marinette has loved you for years! She knitted you that blue scarf your father claimed was his birthday gift to you. She set aside her feelings for you when you asked for advice on dating that fencer! Hell, she even took the blame for when Lila stole your father's book and brought it back to him, just so you could go back to school!"

Adrien looked behind the man to see Marinette, on the ground, sobbing into her hands.

'No. No. She couldn't have done all that for me. That…That would mean…..she really does love me.'

Gorilla quickly stood between his charge and the man who assaulted him. Natalie quickly looked him over and found only the broken nose. The bodyguard moved to get the assailant off the set, but was quickly disarmed and knocked out.

Natalie quickly stood in front of Adrien to protect him.

"I hope you can pay $57, 000 because that's how much Adrien's face is insured for!" Natalie shouted at him.

"Pocket change!" he growled.

"Marinette, get your friend out of here!" Natalie cried.

"I don't know who this is!" Marinette sniffled, backing up.

Jason turned and smiled, "I'm you new big brother, Jason Todd-Wayne." shocking Natalie.

Jason took two steps forward, pulled Marinette to her feet, and threw her over his shoulder.

Marinette began to scream and struggled to get out of his grip, as he took them away from the set.

Natalie quickly rushed Adrien to the car.

Adrien opened his mouth to call out to her, but it hurt too much.

'Marinette!'

"Your Nona Gina sends her regards." Jason spoke, causing her to stop struggling.

"Jay-Jay?" Marinette questioned, quickly calming down.

"Hello, Pixie-Pop!" he smiled.

Gabriel stormed his way through the hospital to the room Natalie had informed his son was at. She had already given him her recollection of the scene, but he needed Adrien's word. He walked past his failure of a bodyguard on a gurney and entered the room.

"What happened?" he demanded.

"Is Marinette okay?" Adrien asked in response.

"Okay? Look at your face! It's putting us months behind schedule! Photoshoot and runway appearances have to be rescheduled; all because of that girl! You're better off without her!" Gabriel screamed, "Lila was right about her. She's a bad influence on you!"

Adrien opened his mouth to argue and claim that Lila was wrong, but the disappointed look from his father stopped him and he decided it was better to remain silent. Marinette had done so much for him, if that guy who kidnapped her spoke the truth. She had given him his favorite scarf, helped him get back in school, and she loved him when it seemed like everyone else preferred him to be perfect.

Adrien felt the guilt begin to bubble as he replayed what happened in the park, in his head. He had told her, she wasn't enough. He had made her cry and now, she was possibly gone.

"Who did this?" Gabriel questioned, "I want them sued!"

"I am unsure if we will be able to sue him." Natalie spoke.

"Who is he?" he asked again.

"He claims to be Jason Todd-Wayne." Natalie stated.

Gabriel bristled in fury, knowing if that was true, he couldn't sue the boy. Maybe have him pay for Adrien's hospital fees, but that's it.

"How does Marinette know him?" Gabriel asked, turning to his son.

"I don't know. She was saying she didn't. He threw her over his shoulder and carried her off. Marinette was screaming and trying to get away. Natalie got me in the car. I don't know what happened after that." Adrien admitted.

"Then we will find out." Gabriel sneered.

As Natalie pulled up in front of the Dupain-Cheng bakery, they could tell there was a different air about it.

Gabriel stormed in, ready to get to the bottom of everything.

"Hello. Welcome to-" Sabine began.

"Is Marinette here?" Gabriel interrupted.

"Marinette isn't taking any guests, at this moment." Sabine stated.

"This isn't a pleasant visit." he spoke, shuffling Adrien in front of him.

Sabine looked in horror at Adrien's disfigured nose held by tape and gauze.

"She did this?" Sabine questioned, "I know Lila had said-"

"It wasn't Marinette!" Adrien quickly defended, before his father tightened his grip on his shoulder.

"It was someone who claimed to know her. Adrien claimed she was forcefully removed by a larger man." Gabriel stated, "He had black and white hair with blue eyes."

"He's here. They both are upstairs. You can head up there; they're on the third floor. Marinette is on the fourth, if you don't see her." Sabine spoke quietly.

As they enter the third floor, they saw the man with black hair with a white tuff and blue eyes, turn to face them. Marinette looked like she was upset and close to tears at the table.

Jason glared at them, opened his mouth, but his phone rang and he held up a finger, signaling them to wait. He pulled his phone out of his leather jacket and groaned as he saw it read 'Old Man B'. He decided it was best to put it on speaker phone.

"Why am I getting a hospital bill from Gabriel Agreste?" asked Bruce, "I know you're in Paris, Jason."

"I punched his kid and probably….. broke his nose." Jason responded, rolling his eyes

"Why?" Bruce questioned.

Jason could hear the lecture that awaited him once he was back in Gotham.

"He made my little sister cry." Jason spoke.

"Cass or Steph?" Bruce questioned, "They don't seem like the kind to cry over a child."

"No; Gina's granddaughter." Todd said, as if it answered everything.

Bruce sighed into the speaker before speaking, "Fine; I'll pay." and hung up.

"I'm assuming that's what you wanted; a payout. You got one." Jason growled out, "And you don't have to worry about Mari, I'll be taking her with me to Gotham."

"I haven't agreed to anything!" Marinette shouted.

"If you want to watch the chaos, you're more then welcome to, but you are not staying at that school!" Jason cried out, ignoring the Agreste family.

"You can't just show up and control my life!" she screamed.

"Well, if your parents actually gave a damn and not listened to that lying bitch, Gina wouldn't have been given custody, and she wouldn't have sent me to take you away from this shit hole!" he retaliated, "Think of it this way, you won't even miss 'baby face' over there. Hell, there's no one left for you to care about here in Paris."

Marinette's head hung in defeat.

"Look, Pixie Pop, I know you don't wanna listen to the truth, but Gina has the say and she wants me to take you to Gotham, where you won't be harassed by people claiming to be your friends." Jason spoke more calmly, "I'm gonna set you up with Damian. He can help you through this."

"I don't need a therapist." Marinette scowled.

"He's Bruce's demonic spawn and you'll get along perfectly." Todd said, ruffling her hair.

"I refuse." Mari growled out.

"Too bad. You're fire; he's ice. You're good; he's a pain." Jason continued.

"Oh joy." Mari spoke up.

"You're sarcastic; he'll hate that! See you're already perfect for each other!" Jason smirked.

"Are you trying to get me to date or murder him?" Marinette asked, glaring at her new 'temporary guardian'.

"Nah. He'll do that for you, if necessary." Jason spoke, but Marinette just rolled her eyes.

"Look, he's in your grade and I doubt you'll walk into Gotham all sunshine and rainbows, trying to make friends, right away." Jason continued, "He's already better looking then Agreste, okay."

Marinette sighed in defeat, as the big picture started forming clearly in her head. She needed a new start and Gotham was it. She'd get away from Lila and Bustier. She'd be free from all of her duties as class rep, babysitting, making banners and outfits for school plays.

"He's not blonde." Jason teased, noticing her shoulders slump.

"Black hair and blue eyes, like you and all of Bruce's other kids, right? Guess I fit the bill: unwanted and I can pass as his." Marinette teased back.

Jason chuckled and took the seat next to her, "Yes, you do, but Damian isn't like that. He may look like a mini-B, but he's got darker skin and green eyes. Not like Baby Face, back there."

Jason pulled out his phone and showed her a pic of Damian he had secretly taken when he practiced his swordsmanship.

He smirked noticing the blush forming on her cheeks and tips of her ears, before she shook her head and looked away.

"Nope. No boys. Boys are nothing but trouble." Marinette growled, glaring at Adrien.

"It's your first heartbreak; you'll get over it. As much as I hate to say it, he's athletically built and is probably the most popular guy at school. Besides, Gina told me about your weakness for men with green eyes." Jason teased.

Marinette's cheeks flushed as she stammered, "So…..Adrien with muscles? Joy."

"Except…." Jason began nudging her, "he hates just about anyone and avoids social situations."

"And this is who you think will make me happy?" Mari questioned, looking at him.

"It will, at least, give you a friend. You can avoid everyone together." Jason summarized.

Marinette sighed in defeat, before taking a big breath, "When do we leave?"

"Atta, Girl! I knew you would see things my way." Jason shouted, "Come on, Pixie Pop. Let's see what you have to pack! Agrestes; bye!"

They next day at school was a disaster, right from the start. As Adrien walked into class, everyone flocked to him.

"Dude, what happened to your face?" shouted Nino.

"Did you wipe out? Asked Alix.

"Did you get hit by something?" wondered Sabrina.

"How did Gabriel let you out of the house after that?" questioned Chloe.

Adrien grimaced as the root of his problem and why his face looked like it did, latched onto him.

"Oh, Adrien. You must be devastated that our shoots are cancelled. I promise, I'll take care of you." cooed Lila.

As the bell rang, Bustier settled the class down when Officer Raincomprix walked in.

"Papa?" Sabrina voiced in confusion.

"Is something wrong? Does Sabrina need to leave?" questioned Caline.

"No. Sabrina may stay, but I'm afraid this isn't a friendly visit." Officer Raincomprix stated, as another person entered the room.

"Hello, I'm Lauren and I am from child protective services. We're here for Lila Rossi." she began.

"What?" Lila shouted, "Is my mother okay?"

"We are here to take you to a safe home until everything is cleared up." Lauren smiled, not answering Lila's question.

"Until what is cleared up?" asked Rose.

"Is someone hurt?" asked Mylene.

Jason entered the chaos and smiled. Adrien immediately shrunk in his seat.

"Which one of you is Lila Rossi?" he questioned.

The class pointed to her curiously.

'What else could happen today?'

Jason snapped his fingers and a man with a suit walked in. He pointed to Lila.

"Miss Rossi, you are hereby sued for defamation and slander by the Wayne family in Gotham." the man stated.

Lila paled.

"What?" shouted Kim.

"Why would the Wayne's sue Lila; they love her!" spoke Mylene.

"Because we don't know her." Jason stated, "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Jason Todd-Wayne and I have never met Lila Rossi in my life. Neither has anyone else in my family."

The class turned to Lila as the man called out Alya's name next.

"Here?" she responded, raising her hand, confused.

"What's this?" Alya asked, as she was handed a similar file.

"You will also be receiving a lawsuit for defamation, slander, and a cease and desist notice for your blog." Jason stated.

"What!" she screamed.

"The lies you plastered about our family are enough to have your blog taken down and if you don't, you will be charged daily until it is removed." Jason spoke.

Alya stared in shock at the file in her hands.

"Why are you doing this?" asked Nino, as he moved next to Alya to comfort her.

"Oh, don't ask me; ask Lila Rossi why she lied so much." Jason smiled.

"Lila can't help her lying disease!" shouted Caline, in a frenzy.

Jason just smiled.

A moment later, an officer dragged a woman into the room, in handcuffs.

"What is the meaning of this, Lila? Why was I arrested for child negligence at the hospital?" the woman shouted.

"Mamma!" Lila shouted.

"Hospital? Were you injured?" asked Caline, "Please, let her out of the cuffs!"

"Injured? No; I work there!" Madam Rossi shouted, "Do you know how embarrassing this was? I demand to know what is going on!"

"But-" Bustier faltered.

"Lila said…. she was the daughter of an Italian diplomat." stated Alix, confused.

"Yes; her father, but he stayed in Italy and we divorced. I moved to Paris with Lila." explained Madam Rossi.

Jason smiled, "You were arrested for child negligence because this school can't do their damn jobs. Lila has been telling the class that she's been going on adventures around the world with you, the Italian diplomat."

"What?" Lila's mother questioned, looking at other police man and his guest.

"Oh, and CPS are here to take her away for her truancy, for missing months of school." Jason continued.

"Months? What are you talking about? The school has been shut down for almost a year because of all the akumas! She's been at home, being tutored!" her mother cried out.

Everyone looked between Lila and her mother.

"Lila?" her mother called.

"School has been in session this entire time, Ma'am. Lila has claimed she was with you in different locations around the globe. She would even video call and say how her day was." Office Raincomprix spoke up, "My daughter is in this class, as well. She has spoke of your daughter fondly and your trips out of the country."

In that instance, everyone's view of Lila was shattered. Her mother no longer saw the innocent girl she raised. The class saw a liar and the CPS officer was noting down that Lila was a liar and manipulative.

Another man in a suit walked in and handed Caline a pink slip.

"Caline Bustier, as of now, you have been fired for child negligence and enabling bullies." he spoke.

"What?" their teacher questioned, dropping into her chair.

"The school board has been investigating your class for awhile now and are appalled at how you have run things and allowed them to escalate this badly." he continued, "Today is your last day, as is that of your principal. He is cleaning out his office as we speak."

Caline looked from Lila to her class.

"If you had done your job, properly, none of this would have happened. If you had called her mother about Lila's 'disabilities' and asked for a doctor's notice for everything, we could have possibly gotten Rossi's mess cleared away. Now, everything that has happened since she started school, will go on her permanent record. Every school she goes to, will know her reputation as a liar and manipulator." he turns to the CPS officer, "I recommend getting a psychological evaluation on her before placing her in a home with other children."

"Yes, Sir." Lauren stated, "I apologize Miss Rossi, but I am Lauren and am with CPS. We will be taking your daughter out of your custody, for now. I have made some changes to her file, after all this over-whelming evidence. Madam Rossi, we might be able to come to an agreement since we are now aware you were not at fault, in this."

Th officer undid the cuffs and Madam Rossi walked over to her daughter.

"Why?" she questioned, "Why do any of this?"

Lila could feel the disappointment in her mother's voice. She hated that tone.

"Lila?" her mother pleaded, hoping for an explanation.

Lila scowled and looked away.

"Aren't you even concerned?" Madam Rossi questioned, "All these….lies. For what? "

The officer from before came up and handcuffed Lila with ease.

"Do you realize how many lives your lies have ruined, just now?" her mother questioned.

"We'll have to look back at her other school to see how long she's been doing this…routine." spoke Lauren.

Madam Rossi nodded.

Adrien watched as Jason smiled and dusted off his hands, done with the school drama. Silently, he left. Adrien quickly rushed after him. He saw Marinette closing a car trunk and slipping into the car as Jason took the wheel and left.

'Bye….Marinette.'

It was three weeks later, after the chaos, that the class realized that Marinette was missing.

"Has anyone seen Marinette recently?" Alix asked.

The class mulled it over before shaking their head.

"She's gone." Adrien whispered.

"What was that, Dude?" Nino asked.

"Marinette's gone; she's not coming back to Dupont." Adrien stated.

"What?" questioned Kim, "Where is she?"

"Did she transfer schools?" asked Juleka.

"She's in America." Adrien sighed, "She left the same day that everything happened with Lila."

"And you didn't tell us?" shouted Alya.

"It took you three weeks to notice she wasn't even in class!" he cried back.

Alya frowned. She knew he was right. None of them had even noticed she was gone.

"Why?" asked Mylene.

"Her Nona got custody after her parents didn't trust her anymore. They believed she was bullying Lila." Adrien began.

The class flinched, knowing they had complained to the Dupain-Cheng's about Mari's behavior.

"A family friend came to tell her and ….she went willingly after everything that happened that day." he continued.

"What day? What are you talking about?" questioned Alix.

"The day that guy came to pick her up……I broke Marinette's heart." he spoke.

"Wow! She finally told you." smiled Rose.

"So she left because you rejected her?" asked Nathaniel.

Adrien swallowed the guilt that was bubbling in his stomach.

"N-No. I….I knew Lila was lying and told Marinette to keep silent about it all." he concluded.

"Why?" growled Ivan.

"Her lies were obvious and Father said he would lock me back up in the house if I wasn't friendly with her." Adrien sighed.

"So all those things Mari said about Lila were true?" questioned Alya.

Adrien nodded.

"I should punch you!" she shrieked.

"Someone already beat you to it. It's how my nose got broken." Adrien explained, "I'd also advise against it, unless you can pay $57,000."

"Marinette broke your nose?" asked Kim in awe.

"Sounds like you deserved it." Alix stated, glaring at him.

"No….her….someone else did. A family friend did." Adrien stated.

"I told Marinette she was just jealous of Lila because of your relationship with her." Alya cried out.

"She was. We were dating, in secret, for four months. That's what caused the argument that day." Adrien sighed, "I was Lila's arm candy and she didn't like it. I told her I was choosing Lila over her and I got my nose broken."

"Then you deserved it!" yelled Nathaniel.

"Mari did so much for you to notice her and make you happy, even if she wasn't." Juleka spoke.

"I know that now." Adrien frowned.

The class shook their head at him and began to disperse.

Adrien's phone beeped as they left. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and saw he had gotten a text from an unknown number and there was picture attached.

Adrien opened the text to see Marinette's smiling face, in the arms of someone else. It was obvious that they were close and happily content, on the couch, asleep, in each other's arms.

Adrien could feel the tears as he read the text that came with the picture: Ur never getn her bak.

The dam finally broke and he sobbed as he brought his phone to his chest.

PERMANENT TAG LIST: @vixen-uchiha @animeweebgirl @i-is-mysterious @kitten12113 @a-star-with-a-human-name @meme991001 @rosiesimone819

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mochegato · 3 years

Text

Even the Losers

Chapter 13

Chapter 1 Chapter 12

“You ready for this?” Dick asked flashing a charming, boyish grin that Marinette imagined many people had trouble saying no to. She was not one of those people. If she could say no to Adrien’s most charming, sappy, kitten eyes trained on her and Tikki’s most wide eyed, imploring, big blue eyes begging for cookies after a ‘grueling’ day wrangling the other kwami, she could say no to Dick’s blue eyes. It wasn’t even a contest.

However, she currently had no interest in saying no. She was actually really excited to swing on the trapeze with him… or alone, really at all. A bright smile spread across her face as she took in their trapeze rig. She’d never been on a trapeze, but she was hoping it would be like swinging on her yoyo. She and Adrien had put their superhero days behind them. They still wore their miraculous and of course she still had her guardian duties, but they didn’t transform anymore, preferring to move on from the painful memories and impossible balance. They loved being heroes but the strain it put on relationships, the lies, the responsibility… they never regretted their decision.

Wonder Woman knew how to get in touch with them should their services ever be absolutely necessary, but short of that, they were out. So this was the closest she was going to get to that feeling ever again, short of a world ending event, in which case, she wouldn’t be able to enjoy it anyway.

But this, she looked at the rigging again, this was going to be great. She turned to Dick, her bright smile spreading even wider and her eyes gleaming. “Absolutely!” She gripped her bag tighter then actually took in what Dick was wearing, tight tank top and bike shorts, and looked down at her own street clothes in realization. “Well, I mean not right now. I need to change,” she motioned to herself, “but as soon as I change I will be.”

Dick nodded and opened his mouth to say something but Bruce stepped in before he could say anything. “Good to see you again, Marinette.” He leaned in to do a la bise. He mentally congratulated himself for their first not awkward greeting. It was definite progress. “Let me show you where you can change.”

Marinette nodded and walked in the direction he indicated. She looked back over her shoulder to smile at Dick, but he was already turned around and focusing on checking the rigging. “How was New York?” Bruce asked, bringing her attention back to the two of them.

“New York was good. It was a good meeting. Mrs. Bourgeois wanted to speak with me personally about styling the shoot. I was originally scheduled to speak with an associate editor. I can’t imagine what changed in the last three weeks or so,” she joked with a smile at M. Wayne.

Bruce sighed and gave a resigned nod. “Yeah, once people find out, they can change the way they treat you.”

Marinette nodded, looking away in thought. “It was so strange. I’ve known her for years and all of a sudden she was trying to be nice.” She shuddered slightly. “That woman has never been nice a day in her life. Honestly, one of the creepiest feelings I’ve ever had.”

Bruce grimaced at Marinette’s first brush with being treated differently. “Sorry about that. I should warn you… we should sit down sometime and discuss security and social changes. People are going to do that now, want to get close to you because of your name. Not that you aren’t worth knowing without it!” he rushed to assure her once he realize what he said. “I just mean…”

“I understand,” Marinette cut him off kindly. “I have quite a few famous friends or friends with famous parents. I’ve seen how people try to get close to them because of that. I’ve even had people try to get close to me in order to get closer to them.” She rolled her eyes at the memories of the desperate people trying to flatter her and just dropping in mention of Adrien or Jagged.

Bruce looked at her sympathetically. “Sorry you had to deal with that.”

Marinette laughed at his apology. She laughed loud enough for it to echo off the walls of the hallway. The absurdity of thinking that was something to apologize for. That those experiences even registered on her hurt scale. “Don’t be ridiculous. None of that was your fault. They weren’t even bad. It was something for us to laugh about.”

Bruce gave her a small smile. “Hopefully it stays that way.” He stopped walking and motioned to a room. “This is your room.”

Marinette waited for the ‘while you’re here’ or ‘while you’re changing’, but they never came. And there was something off with the way he said it, a gravity that didn’t belong there. She looked between Bruce and the room a few times and pushed the door open. Like the rest of the house, the room was luxurious. Only the finest furniture and decorations. The room was filled with pink, silver, grey, and white. Everything coordinated and elegant. She was almost afraid to walk into the room lest she damage any of it.

She walked into the room timidly and tried to take in all the details. She scanned the room and gasped, her body going rigid, as her eyes rested on a crib against the far wall. She walked slowly toward the crib, almost like she was in a trance. Her eyes ran over the crib. There were still stuffed animals in it. It was almost like it hadn’t been touched in decades and except for the lack of dust in the room, she would believe it.

“I couldn’t…” Bruce started coming up behind her, “I could never bring myself to tear it down.” Marinette looked up at him wide eyed. She was too shocked to say anything. Her eyes moved to the bookshelf next to the crib. It was filled with children’s books and baby toys. “I can… I mean we can change it if you’d like.” His face wrinkled as he forced the words out. “I know it isn’t exactly,” he paused looking for the words. “I know it isn’t exactly an ideal room for a young woman.”

He sighed and looked around the room. He made his way over to a nightstand and picked up the framed picture standing on it. He sat on the bed still holding the frame. The luxurious bed sagged under him as if it was accustomed to his weight there. “For a while, it was the only part of you I still had.”

Marinette looked back at him, her lips parting in surprise at his admission. “Did I spend time here?” she asked quietly, almost too quietly for him to hear.

Bruce nodded. “You did. The grey cat stuffie was your favorite, MaoMao.” He looked up at her with a bittersweet smile. “You loved chewing on his ears.”

Marinette slowly walked over and sat next to him on the bed. She looked at the picture he was holding. He noticed her interest and held it out for her to take. Marinette took it, almost fearfully. She didn’t know what exactly she was afraid of, more knowledge? New knowledge? Everything changing yet again. Everything had been in constant flux for the past two weeks. She wanted things to settle but she needed to know more.

She looked at the image and immediately brought her hand to her mouth, her eyes already tearing up. The picture was of a much younger Bruce Wayne holding baby her. The look in his eyes was absolutely enamored. She was looking up at him with much the same expression, a wide, toothless grin on her face as she reached out for his face with one hand and clutched the stuffed cat to her chest with the other. It was the stereotypical image of a happy family. She ran her fingers over the image, trying to force herself to remember any part of that day, or any day here or with Bruce.

“That was out in the gardens behind the house. There’s a little creek back there that you loved. You kept trying to work your way over to it. Before you could walk, you’d crawl to it. Before you could crawl, you’d scooch. Before you could scooch, you’d roll.” He chuckled as a far off look overtook his eyes. “You were always very determined.”

“How much time did I spend here?” she asked.

Bruce let out a heavy sigh. “Your mother brought you once a week for a few hours.” He frowned. “Then when you were about ten months old, you spent an entire month here… while your mother was in the hospital.” Marinette whipped back to him, her eyes wide in surprise. Bruce gave a small, pained smile. “You two were caught in an attack that affected your building. Sabine took the brunt of the damage for you two, but there were other kids…”

He trailed off, unable to finish the sentence. Marinette didn’t blame him. She’d seen similar scenes in Paris, bodies strewn about, children’s bodies littering the street after an akuma attack. Bodies she hadn’t been fast enough or good enough to save. She’d had the luxury of knowing it wasn’t permanent and she could save them. M. Wayne wouldn’t have had that.

“I still have nightmares about it,” he admitted hoarsely. She frowned at him in sympathy and laid her head on his shoulder. He froze for half a second before relaxing and laying his head against hers. “It’s why you left. Sabine and I were never going to get married. We both knew that. So I would never be able to keep you close enough to protect you. And if I couldn’t protect you by keeping you close…”

Marinette took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She pursed her lips. “Then you thought you’d do it by keeping a distance.”

Bruce nodded. Marinette nodded too, but didn’t say anything. There wasn’t much to say. She understood the reasoning. She understood making decisions based on nightmares. She had experience with it. The nightmares can seem so real, they have just as much effect on you as reality, sometimes more. They can mess with you in a way reality can’t. She understood all of it. And it helped. It didn’t make it okay. It didn’t make the hurt go away. It didn’t excuse not contacting her even after he made sure they were safe. But it helped.

Bruce suddenly stood up awkwardly. “Right well, Dick will be wondering where you are. I’ll just… get out of your way.” He shuffled stiffly for a few seconds trying to figure out if he should give a hug or just leave. He settled for a wooden pat on the back before retreating out of the room.

Marinette stared after him for a few seconds even after the door was closed before finally moving and slowly changing her clothes. She frowned at the room. Would it be better to change the room to exorcise the memories, or keep it the way it was? She really wasn’t sure. She’d have to get to know M. Wayne better before she could have a hint at the right answer.

She left her room and looked up and down the hallway, trying to remember the way back to the gymnasium. She made it to the end of the hall before she was lucky enough to run into someone. She quirked her head to the side. “I thought you didn’t live here.”

“I don’t,” Jason answered gruffly. She raised an eyebrow at him. “I’m grabbing a book.” He held up his book as evidence of his claim. She raised the other eyebrow but kept silent. “I’m not here to see you on the trapeze.”

“I didn’t say you were,” she grinned.

“Shut up,” he looked away and ruffled her hair. She squawked an objection, making him smile. He motioned for her to follow him and guided her to the gym. “Just make sure you listen to Dickhead.”

Marinette rolled her eyes. “Not going to lie, doing what I’m told isn’t my forte.”

“Hey!” He looked suddenly very serious. He moved closer until he was almost towering over her. Marinette looked up at him wide eyed, caught off guard by the sudden change of mood. “I’m the rule breaker around here. Ask anyone. That’s my role. Get your own.”

Marinette held her serious look for a few seconds before her entire body started shaking from the giggles she was trying to suppress. She pushed through the doors to the gym still giggling. Jason huffed in mock annoyance and leaned against the doorframe. Dick perked up at seeing them and made his way over with an excited smile.

“Whatever. Just don’t wear that,” Jason motioned vaguely to her sports bra, tight tank top, and boy shorts, “around Roy.”

“You know Roy?” Dick asked with a frown.

“Why? He going to give me a workout?” she asked Jason with a smirk.

“No! He is not,” Dick exclaimed, face scrunching in distaste.

Jason shuddered and wrinkled his nose, making a gagging noise. “No,” he said definitively. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go throw up.”

Marinette gave him a mock concerned look, her eyes open wide in innocence. “Oh no, Jason! Are you not feeling well? You really shouldn’t drive yourself home. Should I call your partner to come get you?”

“Wait, how did you even meet Roy?” Dick tried again.

Jason narrowed his eyes at her. “I hope you fall.”

“Jason!” Dick exclaimed, his expression suddenly serious. “That’s not funny.”

Marinette cackled as Jason walked away. Dick shook his head at her and moved them into the gym. “Okay, let’s warm up first.” He got down on the padded floor and started stretching out encouraging Marinette to do the same. He watched her in surprise as she was able to stretch incredibly well for a civilian. She was better than most of his brothers. “You’re really flexible. Did you take classes?”

Marinette froze almost imperceptibly. If Dick hadn’t spent the last twenty years analyzing body language in order to survive, he would have missed it. She shrugged in an excellent imitation of nonchalance. “I sit behind a sewing machine for hours at a time so I make sure to stretch a lot.” She laughed lightly. “Probably a lot more than I need to.”

Dick watched her for a few seconds before nodding. “Right,” he said slowly. He looked her over one more time. “Well it’s working.”

Marinette gave him an overly wide smile. “Thanks.”

Dick eyed her suspiciously again but got up and grabbed something off the wall. “Now,” he held up a harness for her, “I’m going to hook up a harness. It’ll keep you from falling too fast and help with the moves.”

Marinette frowned at the thought. If she was hooked up, she wasn’t going to be able to fly like she wanted to. It wouldn’t feel like she imagined, like she just now realized she needed. She needed to feel the weight of gravity on her body pulling her down. The harness was going to throw her weight off. It was going to interfere with her movement. “Can we try it without the harness?” she asked tentatively.

Dick frowned at the idea, clearly not comfortable with it. She may have swung a few times with the heroes, but that wasn’t nearly enough to be safe on the trapeze. Maybe he could convince her to wear the harness for the first few swings and she’d realize how helpful it was. He looked back in her eyes and faltered. She was looking at him with wide, hopeful, innocent eyes. How was he supposed to say no to those eyes? “I…” he sighed and looked down defeated. “Do you know how to fall?”

Marinette gave him a deadpan look. “I’m the world’s foremost expert at falling.”

Dick blinked a few times and gave the deadpan look back at her. “That’s not making me feel better about not using the harness.”

“Can we try it?” she asked hopefully. “Just a few swings to get a feel for it and if I’m falling too much, we can try the harness.”

Dick sighed and looked down. It was the same logic he had been planning on trying, but she was using it against him. He ran his hand over his face in defeat. Yeah, she’d fit in the family perfectly. He glanced over to see Bruce peeking in and his eyes widened in realization. If he let Bruce’s daughter, his newly brought into his life daughter, get hurt, he’d never forgive Dick. “Okay, here’s the thing,” he started giving her his most pleading eyes. “If we do this without the harness and you fall, Bruce is going to skin me alive.”

Marinette gave him an understanding smile. She laid a reassuring hand on his arm and Dick breathed a sigh of relief and waited for her to agree to the harness. “I’d protect you, but you won’t need it. We start slow and build up. Trust me?” She turned her hopeful eyes back at him but they were somehow even wider and more pleading.

Dick groaned. “Fine.”

Marinette grinned brilliantly and jumped up and down in excitement. “Thank you! Thank you!” She jumped at Dick to give him a hug. Dick almost startled in surprise. A family member that wanted hugs and gave them freely? He hugged her tightly. Yes, please. Hopefully, everything would be fine and she was as good as she thought she was and nothing would happen and Bruce wouldn’t kill him, so he would be able to get more hugs in the future.

They climbed up on opposite sides and stood on the platforms facing each other. Dick got into position and showed Marinette so she could do the same. When she was positioned, he nodded and pushed off from the platform. “Okay, let’s start with getting the rhythm. It’s kind of like getting a swing into rhythm,” he explained. “When you’re ready to try, go ahead and let go.”

Before he even finished his sentence, Marinette had pushed off and started pushing the bar into a matching rhythm. Dick blinked a few times at how quickly and smoothly she’d gotten into a matching rhythm. It was a skill people worked at for days, sometimes weeks. Getting into a rhythm wasn’t incredibly difficult, most people got that somewhat quickly.

It was maintaining the same rhythm and matching your partner’s rhythm that took time and training. Honestly, if learning how to get the trapeze to swing smoothly was all she learned out of this time, he would have been impressed. But she was already far past that. She was swinging like it was second nature, like the physics of swinging and gravity were inherent.

“Good job,” he said a bit breathlessly. “Ready to try a simple move?”

Marinette grinned back and nodded in understanding before remembering he wouldn’t always be able to see her. She had to be very vocal about everything so he could react properly. “Yes,” she called out loudly.

“Okay, when I say go, let go of your bar and hold out your arms for me to grab.”

“Okay,” Marinette called out. She focused on maintaining her momentum and enjoying the way the air pushed back against her as she glided through it, the resistance creating a familiar feeling of a breeze against her skin. The baby hairs around her hairline, the only hair free of her tight bun, were blowing back and forth as she moved.

As soon as she heard Dick say ‘go’, she let go and arched her back, reaching for him. She free fell for only a moment before Dick caught her forearms in a strong grip. She grabbed his forearms too in a tight grip and looked up to meet his eyes. Their eyes met, exhilarated smiles on both their lips.

Dick grinned in surprise at the success. He’d been expecting her to fall, to be honest. The first time doing a catch almost always resulted in falling unless the person was well trained or well prepared, which he admittedly hadn’t done for Marinette. It was a fumble of arms reaching and tangling, grasping for each other, but moving at the same time, trying to anticipate but guessing wrong. But she understood how to do a catch. She understood to trust her partner to catch her.

He grinned wider at what that meant; she trusted him! His face suddenly turned serious. “Okay, here’s the tricky part. I’m going to count to three. When I say three, I’m going to let go. You’ll need to twist around and grab the bar.”

Marinette’s expression turned serious as well, though her eyes still sparkled with delight. “Understood.”

Dick nodded. “One… two… three.” He let go on three and Marinette twisted in time to grab the bar, both of them frozen for a moment in weightlessness while she waited for gravity to take over.

She swung away from Dick but quickly flipped on the bar so she was facing him again. Dick chuckled and shook his head. “Let’s get more complex, what do you think?”

Marinette’s grin got wider and her eyes impossibly brighter. “Yes, please.”

Dick laughed loudly, his laughter echoing off the walls, her laughter quickly joining his. They swung together for almost half an hour, trying increasingly difficult tricks until they finally got to one Marinette couldn’t do. Dick’s eyes widened in surprise as she fell in front of his eyes. He was so accustomed to her keeping up with him, it was a shock when she didn’t. His heart started pounding and he scrambled to get back to the platform until he heard Marinette’s giggles. He looked down and saw her bounding across the bouncy net toward the ladder.

When she got to the platform she looked over at him with a grin. “Try it again?”

Dick grinned at her and flipped back over on his bar. “Let’s go then.”

The trick ended in the same result, but Dick joined her in the net on purpose this time. “Maybe try to build up to that?” Dick suggested.

Marinette nodded as she tried to catch her breath. “Sounds fun.”

“Did you want to try it on your own?” Dick offered. “You seem like you’re comfortable up there.”

Marinette’s eyes widened in excited surprise. “Really!”

Dick chuckled and nodded. “Have at it.”

Marinette bounced back over to the ladder and quickly made her way to the bar. She started swinging and twisting on it, using the zero gravity to do solo tricks. Dick was so engrossed in her performance he almost forgot to get out of the net. She was so graceful and elegant, like she knew exactly what gravity was going to do down to the millimeter. It wasn’t at his level, she clearly hadn’t been trained. But she was also clearly not a novice.

After a while she fell down into the net again breathing heavily. She grinned at Dick. “That was amazing. Thank you! I didn’t realize how much I needed that.”

Dick helped her down from the net, immediately returning the hug she gave him before he could set her down. “I had fun too. Anytime you want to use it, feel free. Just come on over.”

Marinette gave him a small nod. Her smile still hadn’t died down at all. “Let’s cool down.” Dick motioned toward the padded mat again. He and Marinette sat across from each other and started stretching again. Dick watched her as she stretched, that spark never leaving her eyes. He knew the feeling well, that felling you get from flying, the freedom, the release.

Images of her growing up with them, him being able to teach her trapeze from the time she was a baby ran through his head. Fantasies of being a big brother to her, keeping her safe, teaching her, sharing the feeling of flying together… all of it gone. No chance to happen. Because Bruce walked away from her and straight to him.

“I’m sorry.” His voice was heavy, weighted down with guilt.

Marinette quirked her head to the side and blinked a few times. Her mind raced trying to figure out what he could possibly be referring to. “Did something happen?”

Dick shook his head, his eyes narrowed slightly as he tried to figure out how to say what he was feeling. “I.. I’m… he… I was the one he took in after…”

Marinette’s eyes softened immediately. She laid a hand on Dick’s arm. “Dick,” she started softly. “You don’t have to apologize for getting adopted, for finding a home where you felt safe and loved. You didn’t do anything wrong,” she assured him.

Dick searched her eyes for any evidence she didn’t believe what she was saying, but there was only sincerity and a touch of bittersweetness. “Neither did you.” His voice was sure and supportive. His eyes bored into her, pushing against her boundaries.

Marinette looked away quickly. She hummed noncommittally. “Except going to the gala,” she said wryly. “I should have just let Adrien take care of it. As soon as I found out I should have…” she trailed off, unsure how to end it.

Dick moved closer to her and threw his arm over her shoulder, pulling her against his side. “But then we wouldn’t have met for who knows how long,” he offered with a bright smile.

Marinette let out a heavy breath and smiled at how hard he was trying. She looked back up at him from the corner of her eye. “And what a shame that would be.”

Dick’s grin got wider. “Exactly!” He hugged her closer for a few moments as the smile slowly faded from his face. “I just want to let you know I’m here for you. I'm sure this is really overwhelming and Bruce has never been good with conveying... or feeling... emotions. But if you need anyone to talk to, I’m here.”

He moved away so he could see her more clearly. “I missed out on being your big brother growing up and we’ll never get that time back. And to be honest, I’m extremely upset with Bruce about that. But I’d like to make up for that lost time now. So if you need anything, I’m here. You want anything, I’m here. You want to talk, I’m here. You want to yell or scream at somebody, I’m here. If you have a problem you need help with, I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.”

Marinette looked up at him in surprise. She blinked a few times uncertain what to say. “I…” She closed her mouth quickly, still not sure how to finish the sentence. After a few moments she smiled softly at him. “Thank you, Dick.”

Dick pulled her in for another hug, enjoying the feeling of her reciprocating. Maybe she could show their other siblings how to do that without it being a life threatening situation. Dick grinned widely as he squeezed her tight and rested his head on hers. “Or if you just want a hug. To tell you a secret, I give the best hugs in the family.”

Marinette scoffed playfully as she pulled away from him. “I don’t know, Jason gives good hugs.”

Dick snapped his eyes to hers. “Jason gives hugs!”

They almost jumped with Bruce walked in with a wide smile. “How was it?” He watched them with a smile as they stood together and stayed close after rising. It was absolutely no surprise that Dick was able to get so close to her so quickly, but it was still reassuring to see it.

“It was amazing!” Marinette enthused. “I had so much fun! I can’t wait to do it again.”

Bruce smiled. “Any time you want,” he promised. “Any time you want to come over, feel free. No need to call first.” He paused for a moment. “Although maybe not in the middle of the night. “It would wake Alfred up. He’d be more than happy to let you in but we already put him through so much.”

Marinette smiled and chuckled. “I understand. I’ll keep the visits to the daytime.” She looked up just in time to see Dick giving Bruce a significant look. Dick played it off with a wide smile that Marinette pretended to buy. She also pretended not to notice the look Bruce gave him back. She shuffled a few times before looking quietly between them. “Um… I’ll just… I’m going to take a shower and change back.”

Bruce nodded with a soft smile. The smile was so convincing, Marinette would never have thought anything suspicious was going on if she hadn’t seen the look they gave each other… immediately after Dick spent the afternoon with her. “You know the way back to your room?”

Marinette nodded rapidly. “Of course. Thank you.” She turned to Dick again. “And thank you. This was a lot of fun.”

Dick shook his head with a smile. “You don’t have to thank me, Marinette. I wanted to spend time with you. I look forward to doing it again.”

Marinette nodded to him and left the room as quickly as she could without drawing suspicion. As soon as she was out of eyesight, she speed walked back to the room, closing the door quickly behind her. She leaned against the door and banged her head against it lightly a few times. It was okay, she tried to reassure herself. They didn’t know her yet, of course they would have secrets and want to talk about what they learned about her. She knew that. But it still hurt.

As soon as Marinette was out of ear shot, Bruce turned back to Dick. “How did she do?”

“She’s done that before,” Dick reported to Bruce, keeping his voice low so Marinette couldn’t hear him.

“We knew that,” Bruce answered just as quietly. “She said the heroes took her around sometimes.” He pursed his lips tightly at the thought. Even knowing nothing happened, he wasn’t happy about it. The only thing he could think of was all the things that could have happened to her if their villain would have found out.

“No,” Dick cut in before Bruce could brood too hard. “She’s done something similar enough to be comfortable with it, enough that she soared, she flew. Enough that her body instantly fell into the rhythm, into trusting someone else to catch her. Those things are learned, Bruce. I think she had a closer relationship with the heroes than we think she did.”

Bruce narrowed his eyes at Dick, processing his words. He nodded and looked back to the hallway Marinette had disappeared down. “The heroes disappeared. Diana said she can’t even contact them anymore. Marinette’s the only one who can tell us more.”

Dick nodded. “I’ll see what I can do when we get together on Monday for Duke’s reading.”

“Carefully,” Bruce cautioned. He glanced over to catch Dick’s flat look. “I don’t want to push her. She’s your sister. She’s family, not a source. She’s not a suspect. She’s not even a victim. We don’t need this information. It would be nice to know, but we can live without it. She’s allowed her privacy. Plus she’s smart. You start asking questions, she’s going to get suspicious and may get upset we’re digging into things she doesn’t want to talk about.”

“I know how to talk to people, Bruce,” Dick scoffed. “I’m better at talking to your kids than you are, if you recall.”

“I’m well aware,” Bruce conceded. “I just… I don’t want to upset her. She’s allowed her privacy.”

“And I’ll respect that. And her,” Dick assured him. He paused for a few seconds before he broached the next subject. It was going to be delicate, one that neither of them wanted to consider. “So the question is, if she did have a closer relationship with the Parisian heroes, when did her relationship with Adrien start. And why.”

Bruce furrowed his brow. “You think he started it because he knew she was close to the heroes? You think he was working with his father?” He stared intently at Dick trying to gauge how serious he was about this. “It doesn’t make sense for him to still be with her if that’s all it was. And Ladybug told Wonder Woman Adrien was not involved,” Bruce said quietly. “She vouched for him.”

“And we trust her word?” Dick asked in the same tone.

Bruce paused as he thought about it. They really didn’t know Ladybug at all. She’d disappeared after the last fight and only Wonder Woman seemed to have had any contact with her, and limited contact at that. The League had never gotten the chance to gauge her competence in areas outside of fighting. “She said he helped give evidence to take his father down,” he started tentatively.

“But…” Dick prompted.

Bruce let out a deep sigh. This was not going to go over well with Marinette, but if Adrien was using her, they needed to know. “But it could be a cover. We don’t know enough to completely excuse him and we don’t know enough about Ladybug or Marinette to know how good of a judge they are.”

Dick nodded. “We proceed with caution.”

“Extreme caution,” Bruce stressed. “You heard how she talked about him at dinner. She’s very protective of him. Questioning Adrien is going to take more delicacy and tact than questioning her, I think.”

Dick nodded and looked down the hallway toward her room. He would have to spend the next few days doing research before they met up on Monday.

Chapter 14

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#maribat #bio!dad bruce #bio dad bruce wayne #roynette #Even the Losers #mbdbwm2021 #prompt - fantasy

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a-marlene-s · 4 years

Text

Commission: Actions and Consequences

Tags: (I’m going to do a reblog tomorrow with the tags.)

@miner249er commissioned me to write this fic.

If you like my work, please considering supporting me! https://ko-fi.com/a_marlene_s

Warning: SALT SALT SALT SALT. CLASS SALT! LILA SALT! ADRIEN SALT!

Oh, and there’s a bit of Lukanette in this~

----

You know what they say…

All actions have consequences.

Every choice has a consequence.

Be responsible and be…

You get the idea.

This has been on the mind of everyone in the school of Dupont for who knows how long. Oh wait, that really hit home when one Lila Rossi came to Paris and started her lies. It looks like the only ones that were clearly fooled by her lies is the Akuma Class. Including their own teacher!

Well… except for Marinette.

She is the only one that is not fooled into believing such things. Who in the right mind would believe any of that? Akuma class, that is whom. People began to pull away from them. One by one, not wanting to be connected to them. Not so much for the fact they are known as the Akuma class… it is for the lack of regard they have for Marinette.

How dare they treat Marientte in such a way! After what she has done for them! For all of them! They believe the words of that liar over a friend they have known far longer. Some have tried to reach out, but Rossi is always near or just sucks them back into her webs of lies. Whatever work they have to get their friends back to a world of reality, it is reversed back the moment they step back into that classroom filled with webs.

Many have tried and tried again to help them. To help them see the light of what has been going on, but they all refused to see the light. Many of them growing toxic to themselves that it is better to cut ties then to deal with them anymore.

Who could blame them?

They tried. Truly tried.

Did they want to lose their friends?

No. They did not. But for their own health and sanity… they cut their losses and moved on. At least, they are reassured, that the only ones in Rossi’s grasp is the Akuma class sans Marientte Dupain-Cheng. For which, they made a promise to get protect her from them. She does not deserve the mistreatment. No one does.

-.-

It started out small.

Too busy to hang out.

Leaving messages on read.

Avoiding having them around.

Cutting conversations short.

Many other things to get away.

Some others… are more up front with their dislike with Lila Rossi.

They do not bother to hide their disgust.

Some kept quiet to a degree…

Mireille gave Lila a worried smile as she started to tear up about Aurore’s mistreatment towards the latter. She simply patted Lila’s cheek, leaning close so that she could wrap her arms around Lila to give her a comforting hug… before whispering into her ear as everyone watched on. “Play along… after all… this is just a game for you. You don’t want to disappoint your audience.”

It wasn’t much of an issue to play along with Lila’s games when she tried to bring in the Akuma Class as backup. Long as you show sympathy, play along with Lila’s games against her… you should be good. Lila will never break in character in front of them. Long as you don’t call her out in front of them and act just as deluded to make her mess up, it’s all good.

Then there are the times one has to be more up front…

“Achoo! Ugh, sorry, allergies you see.” Aurore sneered out as she ‘accidentally’ stabbed her umbrella into Lila’s hair when she sneezed. “I’m allergic to bullshit.”

Lila’s jaw dropped as she tried to pull her hair but only wincing as her hair really got caught in the umbrella. She looked around, hoping to catch someone’s attention. But… no one is paying any mind. If anything, one of them even went as far to offer Aurore an allergy pill. “Why are you doing this? I never did anything to anyone!”

“Oh, shut up. We all know you’ve been mistreating Marinette since day one.” Aurore teased, there was a glint in her eyes as she easily untangled her umbrella out of Lila’s hair. “All of us were willing to stand back because Marinette asked us to. Then you got her expelled… Let’s make some truths…”

-.-

Slowly but surely, things began to change for Bustier’s Class. Or better known as, the Akuma Class began to see a change. Then again, things have been happening and have been so caught up in Lila’s lies to even take note of any of it at first.

Many have already put a distance between them and themselves.

It’s silly really. None of them really had taken note of the fact here is now a wall between them. Slowly growing as time goes by. It really came ahead when news spread around on Marinette’s expulsion and her return back to school without much of a say on what happened.

Except for the fact Lila claims Marinette had stolen an answer sheet, her necklace and pushed said girl down a staircase.

Why no one bothered to look deeper into those lies, is beyond anyone at this point. What really got to the rest of the school is how the Akuma Class, Bustier and Damocles’ are so far up Lila’s ass that they wonder if they could even see the sun at this point. It was at that point, the gloves were off and no more.

It was time to bring out the big guns when word got out that Lila supposedly has a lying disorder… only to Bustier and Damocles. Only them, no one else. Thus, only causing more tension for Marinette with the rest of her classmates as they still believe the original lies. All of them giving her a side eye, wondering what she should do next.

Marinette doing something against Lila?

Hah.

It’s going to be the entirety of Dupont against Lila now.

Dupont vs the Akuma Class, sans Marinette. They love their sleep deprived cinnamon roll that could possibly kill them once she finds out what they are up to.

It would be so worth it though…

-.-

“I’m sorry Rose, I’m going to be busy that weekend. Busy, busy at the studio!” Mireille smiled sweetly at Rose, Juleka, Mylene, Alya and Lila. “Nadja is prepping me to do live interviews over the weekend. I’ve been told I might interview a rock star! Isn’t that great!”

“Wow! That’s amazing, Mireille!” Rosa said in awe. The others following along, amazed by the news. They were gushing over the fact Mireille is possibly going to interview a pop star soon. Going on and on… Mireille simply smile, keeping her arms behind her back and her knuckles turning white as she kept a tight grip on the back of her blouse. She kept an eye on Lila, her smile only growing as Lila tried to steer the conversation back to herself.

Mireille did not care; this would be the perfect opportunity for her to walk away.

Expect when she saw Marinette walk down the hallway with Aurore.

“Hey Marinette, did you hear? Lila knows who Mireille is going to interview.” Alya mentioned, grinning at Lila’s direction. “

Marinette paused, nose scrunching up. She looked over at Mireille to see her eyes narrowing at the direction of Lila. Clearly, this is one of the many lies Lila has up her sleeves. Aurore smiled at Lila, almost warningly. “Yeah, she told us last week.”

Marinette looked around her classmates to smile at Mireille. “Nadja finally got in contact with them?”

“Thanks to you, Marinette. Nadja got in contact with all of them.” Mireille smiled widely at Marientte and Aurore. “We can’t thank you enough for that favor! Come on! I know the perfect tea shop!”

Mireille walked over to Marinette and looped an arm around one of Marinette’s own. Her smile only grew as Aurore looped her own arm around Marinette’s free arm. The two girls quickly pulled Marinette away from Lila’s sights all the while talking about the interview and the tea shop.

“Did… did they just ditch us?” Alya pulled a face as she watched Aurore, Marinette and Mireille walk away. Mireille had earlier mentioned she was going to be busy after classes which is why they asked her if she was going to be free this weekend. Apparently, she’s supposedly busy with other things than to thang out with them. Why?

“Hey, girls… is everything alright, Alya?”

Alya and the rest of the girls turned around to see Nino and Adrien walking up to them. Her smile grew when she saw Lila warp an arm around Adrien’s own. What she didn’t see is how stiff his smile became but continued on.

Adrien looked ahead to see Marinette with a Mireille and Aurore. The three chatting away without a care in the world. His brows furrowed at the sight. As of late, this has been becoming the norm…

-.-

“Mom said we could hire a DJ for the event, but…”

“Davis already have the day filled?”

“Yeah. Along with Diego, Mei and Lola.”

“What about Nino? He DJ’s, too right?”

“Hah! Dad, don’t joke! Like I want him to DJ the party! Marinette is going to be there and if I have him there, he’s going to wonder why no one else in his class was invited. I am not going to invite a bunch of people that have been mistreating my friend.” Claude grimaced at the thought. He was not going to have Nino DJ his party. If things were different, things would have been different. It is his party. His. He is not going to run the risk of Lila Rossi and her flying monkeys coming to his party and making it all about her.

Yeah… that is not happening.

Lila will find a way turn the party so that it’s geared towards her. She did that at Izzy’s 15 birthday bash and it took Izzy weeks to console her after she regretfully invited Rose, who in turn invited Lila after she overheard the blonde telling Juleka about it. Rose never asked or apologized to Izzy about inviting Lila, who in turn invited her flying monkeys.

Yeah… Claude was not going to let that happen. To make sure that does not happen no one from the Akuma Class, except for Marinette, is invited to his party.

“That’s a bit harsh. I’m sure there’s more to the story. You and Nino were good friends for some time now.” Claude’s father said, worry filled his tone.

“And I thought Nino was close friends with Marinette far longer but apparently that does not matter to him.” Claude deadpan. “I am not going to have Nino DJ the party. Plus his girlfriend is Lila’s main supporter. If I do have Nino DJ, he’ll tell Alya who will tell Lila and I am back to square one. The one I want to avoid! I don’t want Lila Rossi at my party!”

“I’m sure she’s just trying to make friends…”

“…that’s what you said about Clarice before mom divorced you.”

-.-

Adrien paused mid-bite, straining his ears to overhear what is being said on the booth several seats away. He overhead Claude saying Nino and Lila’s names several times but never a clear sentence. It took a while before it caught on what is being said.

Izzy’s party was amazing to say the least! He went along as the rest of his classmates invited him along and he finally got permission to go by his father. The party was amazing to say the least! The music! The food! Everything else!

Why wouldn’t Claude want to ask Nino to DJ his party? It wouldn’t be a bad idea to invite everyone. It would be horrible to note everyone. Wasn’t Claude friends with everyone in his class?

Right?

Sitting across of Adrien is Nino, concentrating on a calendar that he brought out along. Nino has been… struggling to get gigs for a while now. It was not so much he could not get someone to hire him, from what Nino has been telling Adrien, it’s actually doing his job. As of late, he hasn’t been asked to DJ for anyone else outside of his class. Sure, there are some here and there, but at times… he needed to cancel because Alya wanted to do something with Lila and wanted him there for it.

-.-

Luka resisted the urge to pull out his ears as the rest of Kitty Section, sans Adrien and Marientte, whisper to other. All the while sending him weird looks throughout. This is the first time they have met up for practice in well over a month since they keep bailing on practice. Why? They prefer to hang out with Alya… who is hanging out with this Lila Rossi. All. The. Time.

They all have been talking about Lila Rossi… nonstop. Going on and on about her. To the point, Luka suspects that Rose wrote a song about her for some damned reason. Why are they talking about her?

Lila Rossi knows Jagged Stone.

How Lila Rossi’s dance move got stolen from Clara Nightingale.

How close she is to Prince Ali.

Lila knows a lot of people that could, supposedly, get them famous. How Lila has connections to help Kitty Section become famous. Knows someone that would make them better costumes. Along with even knowing how to write better music.

Lila this…

Lila could do this.

Luka stood up from his spot from the makeshift stage with his guitar in hand. There tunes are different, no longer in tune to the music, let alone to their hearts. More so when he is supposedly out of ear shot and they started to whisper about how Lila mentioned that he, the founder of Kitty Section, should no longer be in the band. How Lila told them how he is hold them back and that she knows someone that is better than himself.

Him holding them back.

Really?

Rossi is the one that is holding them back.

If they want to repeat that broken tune, so be it. He needs to find his muse. Luka left them to whisper to themselves. If Lila believes that they do not need him, so be it. Leaving without much of a fight, he knew when it was a time to retreat until they got their bearings. Right now, he now needs to find out more about Lila Ros-

“Psst! Over here!”

“Hey! You! Luka!”

Luka paused, an eyebrow raised as he slowly turned around to see two individuals, some of his sister’s friends from a different class, are calling out to him. They were both holding umbrellas, which only made them stand out more in his opinion. “Hello?”

“Come here!” The blonde motioned for him to walk over to them.

“Hurry before they see you!” The other said, pointing down the hall. Luka looked down said hall to see Adrien and some unknown girl that is clinging onto his arm. Oh.

Luka hurried over to the girls and they promptly hid him under their umbrellas and behind the pillar with them. It was close enough to listen into whatever Adrien and the new girl’s conversation.

-.-

Adrien stood by as Kitty Section walked out to meet him and Lila, and they started to talk about Lila’s advice. What’s this advice? That it would better for Luka to leave Kitty Section as it would be too weird for him to be in the band with them. It is concerning to say the least. Are the really going to kick out Luka from the band?

“It is better this way. Luka is only holding all of you back.” Lila smiled at her classmates as she tightened her grasp around Adrien’s arm. “All of you are better off without him. I’ve talked to that producer friend of mine and Jagged Stone, and they both agree. Luka is no good for your image.”

“I suppose you are right…” Juleka said, twiddling around with her gloves. Rose reached over to hold onto her hands and gave her an encouraging smile. Juleka chewed on her bottom lip as she thought it over.

“I am positive that Luka will understand.” Lila smiled once more and this seemed to put Juleka in a better place.

“We have been practicing without him for the last month.” Rose mentioned, tugging onto Juleka’s hands. “We could do it.”

Lila smiled brightly, increasing her hold around Adrien. She looked at the blonde for support. “Right, Adrien?”

-.-

Who does she think she is???

They have been practicing without him. For the past month? Without him? Well, that’s one thing he could easily take with a grain of salt. What his sister is saying has his song beating a new beat that hasn’t been played for so long. What really got Luka’s attention is the fact they were all eating up Lila’s lies.

Are they really that gullible?

“This is just the bare minimum of what Rossi has been doing to your sister’s class.” Aurore explained, motioning for Luka to follow her and Mireille.

Luka’s brows furrowed over the blonde’s words. “…Is something being down about it?”

“More or less, but that’s for later. Right now, we are planning a party later for Marinette and we need you to distract her for a bit.” Aurore said, nudging Luka with her elbow and gave him a sly grin. “The party is for her. Did she tell you about her class situation?”

“Marinette has mentioned she wanted to tell me something but everytime she tried to say it, one of her classmates popped up and she would go quiet…” Luka trailed off as he took that in. Oh, that would explain some things. Shaking his head, he would ask her later about it. “I’ll talk to her later about it. Tell me more about this Lila…? I don’t like her song.”

-.-

Mendeleiev was never one that cared so much to know about the personal lives of her students. In terms that, she does not care who is dating (long as it is a healthy and very much legal relationship), knowing what her students are doing after classes (long as it is nothing illegal or against the rules), and well… whatever she had just witnessed from down the hall.

Ondine just broke up with Kim.

Which is a big surprise considering how googly eyed they are… were for each other. A big shock, that’s for sure. However… considering what has been going on, it’s no surprise to anyone. Well…

To Bustier’s class that is. Those poor, poor, souls do not know what is coming to them. It was just a matter of time and patience before someone loses said patience. There is only so much someone could stand idly by or do their best to help others, before washing their hands of them. Look at herself? Mendeleiev did so to Bustier due to the fact the younger woman refuses to listen to reason.

Mendeleiev shook her head as she headed to her room. She needed to create some paperwork in hopes that will push some people to see things her way.

-.-

Adrien gulped when he heard the news that Ondine broke up with Kim. That came out from nowhere! Completely out of nowhere. Why did she break up with them? They were so happy together it does not make any sense.

A lot of things have not been making sense for a while now. Many of those things were small at first, but Adrien could no longer shake off that creeping feeling there is more t-

“Adrien… a word?”

-.-

Marinette stared down at her phone, her shoulders shaking as she read the text messages her fri… her classmates are sending her. Varies of texts that has her wondering what the heck is going on to her class, are they finally seeing the rest of the school just does not tolerate Lila?

“Block them, Mari.” Luka murmured into her ear while he played with her loose hair. He and Marinette were in her latter’s room on the sofa, with the bluenette snuggled up to Luka. He reached for the phone and took it from Marinette, ignoring the pout that was sent his way. Placing the phone in his pocket for safe keeping, Luka wrapped his arms around Marinette and reached down to give her a peck on her neck.

“I suppose I could forget about them for now…” Marinette giggled at Luka’s actions, she smiled when she felt Luka grin against her neck. She raised an eyebrow at Luka, despite the fact he could not see it. “Are you hiding something from me, Luka?”

“You could say that… Aurore and Mireille asked me to distract you as they set up a surprise.” Luka mumbled into her neck, his grin ever present. “How am I in distracting you?”

Marinette’s jaw drop when she felt Luka started to press kisses up and down her neck, her mind went blank just long enough to return the favor. This was so much better than dealing with her classmates demanding answers to something they should have known since day one.

-.-

“Ugh, again with Lila crap?”

“I know, right? Why does Alya keep posting those so-called interviews she has for Rossi?”

“I don’t know, but have you seen ClaudetteOneEye’s reaction and debunking of it? Hah! Her best yet!”

“She already did a reaction to it! I need to watch it!”

“We still have time before class, watch it now!”

Alya really wanted to storm out of the stall and yell at the individuals that were clearing mocking Lila, who in turn mocking her. What is there to debunk? There is nothing to debunk! Lila has been most telling about her history with Ladybug. They are best friends for Pete’s sake! Alya took out her phone and started her search to show those gir-

“You know how Alya always goes on and on about how she’s a reporter and always checks her facts…”

Snort.

“Hah. Her checking facts? Has she ever checked on any of the crap Lila has been spewing? Any of it?”

“I know, right? Plus, has she ever asked Ladybug about it before posting any of their interviews?”

“Like the little good reporter that she is? Unlikely. No wonder Ladybug has been ignoring her.”

Has… has she ever asked Ladybug about Lila? Alya ran a hand through her hair as she tried to think of an answer to her question. Of course, there were times when she has recently tried to get an interview, but Ladybug just… started to avoid her.

-.-

“Saving Jagged Stone’s cat? If they looked it up, they would have checked that him and his fiancé are allergic to animal fur.”

“Doesn’t he have a pet crocodile?”

“Yeah. He does.”

“That’s just as pathetic as her knowing Prince Ali and being friends with him.”

“Uggghhhh. That doesn’t even make sense, she’s been here in Paris for months before she started coming to Dupont.”

“That’s what I thought! Among the other bull she’s spewed out, the ones that grinds my gears are all the ones she lied about Marinette…”

“Yeah. They all known her for years and this new girl comes along and what? All that goes out the window?”

“Marinette does so much for them, and this is the thanks she gets? That they’ll believe Lila’s lies that she supposedly pushed her down the stairs, steal her necklace and some other bullshit?”

“Still heated about it?”

“Of course, I’m heating about it! They still think she did those things! From what Marinette told Aurore and Mireille, they didn’t even let her talk or defend herself. They took Lila’s side and expelled her.”

“Tell me again, how Marinette got un-expelled?”

“From what Marinette told them… Lila said she had a lying disease.”

“That is bull. I am so over the moon over the fact she’ll be leaving that class. Come on, Aurore said she’s going to need help setting things up.”

Juleka, Mylene and Nathaniel pushed themselves against the wall as they watched several students run past them towards the courtyard. Their expressions betrayed how they felt over what they just overheard. Did they just hear right? Lila has been lying this whole time… and none of them… No, just their class never caught it.

Except for Marinette.

Mylene shakily took out her phone to look up all of Lila’s stories, the others followed in doing so.

-.-

Adrien sat on a stone bench as he watched Kagami paced in front of him. Every time he tried to say something, she would shoot in a glare. He looked down on his lap as he tried to think of what he should say when he’s finally able to speak. Somehow, Kagami found out about Lila’s lies. All of them. From whom, he does not know. Maybe Marientte told her, he’ll have to ask her about it. She shouldn’t have told Kagami about Lila. “Kagami, did Marientte tell you about Lila? I-”

“Agreste, everyone at school and whoever has met Rossi, knows she is a liar. Everything that has ever come out of her mouth is a lie. Everything.” Kagami said in a tight voice. She stopped pacing to stare down at Adrien. “Marientte told me nothing. I was the one that had to go around to figure out exactly what type of person she is.”

“Why didn’t you ask me about Lila before you asked others?” Adrien asked, head shooting up to stare at Kagami with confusion. “I would ha-”

“You would have attempted to pressure me to not do anything against Rossi once I found out exactly what kind of person she is. However, considering you never told her off about that picture she took of the two of you…” Kagami looked up and down at Adrien, her mouth twisted into a scowl. “You would have attempted to have me stay quiet about Rossi’s nature. Just like you are doing to, Marinette… correct?”

“I-I just don’t want to cause problems!” Adrien exclaimed, pushing himself off the bench. “I don’t want any problems in class, and with Marinette trying to out Lila it was impossible. I don’t want Lila to get akumatized anymore.”

Kagami stood her ground, crossing her arms over her chest. “And what of your classmates? Your friends? Marinette or myself? I was akumatized because of her, remember? Don’t we all matter too?”

“It’s more complicated than that, Kagami.”

“Complicated? Complicated! How is that complicated! Explain yourself!”

“…”

“…What did you tell Marinette about Lila’s lies? Adrien, what did you tell her?”

“Could we drop this?”

“Tell. Me.”

“I told her, as long as me and her know the truth, does it really matter?”

“Adrien, it does matter! Everything matters! You are allowing Rossi to walk all over Marinette and make her out to be the bad guy for trying to stand up for herself.” Kagami snarled out, causing Adrien to jump. “You are forcing her to stay quiet about someone’s lies. You do realize once your friends find out, they will be the ones that are going to get akumatized. Not Rossi. What then? Who are you going to protect then?”

“I’m doing my best, Kagami.” Adrien pleaded.

“Your best is not good enough. Rossi is escalating and you are doing nothing. What will happen if she says you two are dating? What then? Far as I supposed know, are dating but this is extremely one sided considering you keep putting Rossi’s feelings above everyone.”

“I… I don’t know…”

“…you are pathetic. Your best is not good enough and it will never be.” Kagami sniffed, she pulled out her phone to look at the time and grinned a bit. She put it away before starting back at an obviously hurt Adrien. “What? Like I would allow someone who I am supposedly seeing, to put some other girl’s feelings above my own.”

Adrien opened and closed his mouth, unable to say anything as he was unable to respond to Kagami’s words. How was he supposed to respond that, there was no answer to that for him. “Please understand th-”

Kagami shook her head before she pulled out phone before putting it away. She gave Adrien on last look before walking away. “You need to stop putting horrible people above those that have been nothing but supportive of you… It’s no wonder why Marinette has finally given up.”

-.-

Ladybug swung around Paris at night as she thought over today’s events. It’s safe to say, that today has been one of the best days of her life since becoming Ladybug to say the least. She felt free and no longer held up to an impossible standard. To think transferring to a different class has made her feel as such. It also may have helped she told everything to Luka what has been happening to her since Lila came to Paris. The memory of that conversation made her blush as at the end of it, they are now officially together. It made her happy, immensely so.

Their first date was at the welcoming party Aurore and Mireille threw for her transfer to their class. Best date and party ever. The cherry on top, was when her former classmates crashed the party(apparently that was planned) and Claudette of @ClaudetteOneEye did a live reaction to one of the newest interview of Lila. It was priceless to say the least. Her former classmates tried to approach her but that was shut down immediately. Many other things had happened at the party that made it so much better, but that’s a thought for another day.

Right now, there is someone sitting alone at the park.

Is that Adrien?

Ladybug let out a sigh before she swung down to the park.

Adrien blinked a couple of times when he heard steps walking towards him. He looked over to see Ladybug walking up to him. He smiled at the sight of her. “Hello, Ladybug? Having a good night?”

Ladybug raised an eyebrow at Adrien, she sensed something is up with Adrien but did not make any notion for him to open up. “A little late to be out, Adrien?”

Adrien shrugged before he looked down at the ground, his brows furled deep in thought. “Can I ask you something, Ladybug? I need your advice in something?”

Ladybug stared at him for a moment before motioning for him to speak. Might as well hear what Adrien wants to say and need advice in. This is new considering how his advice has never been exactly the greatest.

Adrien began to tell her about the advice he had given to Marinette, when it came to Lila.

Adrien Agreste is asking her opinion on the advice he had given Marinette, who by extension, is actually herself. The same advice that had weighed heavy in her mind so much so, that it nearly akumatized her. Ladybug had stopped listening to Adrien as she felt anger started to bubble within her. This is too much, far too much. It was one thing to ask her about his original advice. Oh no, now he’s going on about Marinette’s actions that contradicted mentioned advice.

For what? To make sure that Lila does not get akumatized. Again.

“And Marinette? What of Marinette? Were you not even worried if she got Akumatized because of Lila?” Ladybug cut Adrien off. “Have you even thought of the highly possible chance she could be the one getting Akumatized over your advice? Paris got very lucky tonight there were no akumas out tonight otherwise the city would have Akuma’s at every corner of it.”

Adrien looked shocked over Ladybug’s words. His silence, his answer, has Ladybug starting to pace around.

“No, you did not care. What you cared is to make sure Marinette kept quiet and did not stand up for herself. Not only to Lila, but also by extension to Chloe.” Ladybug grounded out, sending Adrien a glare as she continued to pace. “You expected Marientte that as long as the two of you knew the truth, that nothing else pretty matters? That as long as Lila continued lying to everyone and allowing her to walk over Marinette, who is supposed to be your friend, that it did not matter?”

“It’s not like that, Ladybug.” Adrien stood up and approached Ladybug. Ladybug raised a hand at Adrien’s direction to stop him from getting close to her.

“Then how is it, Adrien?” Ladybug questioned. “You are prioritizing Lila over everyone, even if it puts them all at risk at getting akumatized themselves. Is that what you wanted to hear? That your advice is horrible. Let me tell you something, Marinette, your supposed friend to nearly get akumatized. Twice. It’s all because of Lila and the second time, Hawkmoth got to her and for some reason the akumatization did not take place. Lila caused that. All because she wanted to keep your promise when it came to her. Truth is that Lila Rossi is a liar that should have been exposed a long time ago and I am happy that it happened tonight. I am happy!”

“What about Lila? It was horrible what happened to her, she got humiliated in front of nearly the entire school.” Adrien tried to ask but was cut off when he saw Ladybug pulling out her yo-yo.

“To be frank Adrien… when it comes to bad people… you need to knock them down several pegs to get them to understand how wrong they are.”

#ML #ML Salt #Lila salt #Adrien Salt #Class Salt #Lukanette #marinette dupain cheng #lila rossi #adrien agreste #salt #miraculous ladybug

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miraculouscontent · 3 years

Photo

Who wants more sad statistics~?

Because say hello to the color-coded guide to Marinette blame/mistakes! Obviously there’s some room for debate (even I struggled with how to color an episode from time to time), but it should be mostly accurate.

Blue = "Marinette wasn't really blamed for anything notable and didn't really suffer from Adrien" Cyan = "Marinette was blamed for something unrelated to Adrien that she didn't do/she shouldn't be made to feel bad for" (this one is probably the most subjective) Green = "Marinette was blamed/made a mistake but it had nothing to do with Adrien" Yellow = "Marinette doesn't technically make a mistake or get blamed, but is negatively impacted by her crush on/relationship to Adrien" Red = "Marinette either was blamed for/made a mistake that related to Adrien."

"Negatively impacted by her crush on Adrien" could mean generally anything, but it leans towards Marinette embarrassing herself in front of Adrien, characters making snippy/unnecessary comments about her crush, and things that wouldn't have happened if her Adrien crush didn't exist. In the case that Marinette makes a mistake/is improperly blamed for something not about Adrien (cyan/green) but also is negatively impacted by her relationship to him (yellow), whatever is given more attention will take priority. There could've easily been a lot of cyan+red episodes had I allowed myself to use two colors.

Now look at all that red, which is easily the most frequent color, and then try and tell me that Marinette's crush isn't just a tool to humiliate her and force her to make mistakes in order to fit the "Marinette makes a mistake" quota.

I've put the explanations below on my decisions for each episode, as well as the tally for everything together:

Season 1

"Stormy Weather" (red) - Marinette blames herself for leaving Manon, and they're only at the park in the first place because of her Adrien crush.

"The Bubbler" (red) - Marinette uses Lucky Charm explicitly to stop Chloe and Adrien from dancing together.

"The Pharoah" (green) - Ladybug drops her schoolbook; relatively minor in the grand scheme of things, but seems to be why the show forces Marinette to awkwardly try to keep Alya in the museum instead of just having Tikki directly point out where to go.

"Lady Wifi" (green) - Marinette overslept while doing homework and was late for class

"Timebreaker" (cyan) - Marinette is blamed for not being home to give the cake to Nadja... who came early and thus Marinette shouldn't have been expected to expect her

"Mr. Pigeon" (yellow) - Marinette embarrasses herself in front of Adrien, with Alya making faces at her all the while

"The Evillustrator" (cyan) - Marinette is blamed for ditching Sabrina when she has an akuma to worry about, accused of "being like Chloe" (i.e: the person who Sabrina immediately goes back to anyway)

"Rogercop" (red) - Marinette, after being accused, states that everyone has the potential to be guilty, but sidesteps Adrien when someone suggests it

"Copycat" (red) - Marinette, panicked by an embarrassing confession she left on Adrien's phone (thanks to Alya), steals it to delete the message (also thanks to Alya)

"Dark Cupid" (red) - Marinette forgets to sign the love letter addressed to Adrien, which Alya laughs at her for

"Horrificator" (red) - Marinette is pressured/convinced to play Mylene's role instead when Alya throws out that she'd be kissing Adrien

"Darkblade" (cyan) - Marinette doesn't want to run for class representative because she already has enough on her plate (...what a monster?); both Alya and Alix make snarky comments at her for this

"The Mime" (green) - Marinette deletes a video on Alya phone and spends the rest of the episode trying to recreate it

"Kung Food" (cyan) - Marinette blames herself for defending her great uncle and insulting Chloe (again... what a monster?), which leads to Chloe sabotaging Wang's cooking

"Gamer" (red) - Marinette enters the gaming competition solely for Adrien

"Animan" (yellow) - Marinette offers to get Nino a date with Alya, an event that wouldn't have taken place if not for Marinette's crush (either there wouldn't have been a zoo trip at all or Alya wouldn't have been there); in addition, Alya tells Nino about Marinette's Adrien crush, which Marinette is distraught by

"Antibug" (cyan) - Ladybug is blamed for "not accepting help from others" (except she did at the beginning of the episode) and not listening to Chloe (who is a habitual liar)

"The Puppeteer" (green) - Marinette folds to Manon's "baby doll eyes" and gives her something that Nadja insisted she not have

"Reflekta" (green) - Marinette tries to steal Guiseppe's SD camera card so Juleka's picture will need retaken

"Pixelator" (red) - Marinette shirks her job as Jagged's gopher in order to get back to Adrien as soon as possible

"Guitar Villain" (blue) - Not much happens, just cool Marinette stuff; there are technically scenes of Marinette embarrassing herself around Adrien, but either no one else was there to witness it or there wasn't any significant reaction to it

"Princess Fragrance" (red) - Alya forces Marinette to go talk to Adrien, which results in Marinette tripping and losing Tikki

"Simon Says" (cyan) - Marinette... I guess is at fault for struggling to keep up with schoolwork and hero duties? That's what you get for wanting to help people, Ladybug

"Volpina" (red) - Marinette is mocked for being jealous, her following Adrien is presented as her doing it jealously (she literally says that she's going to warn Adrien about Lila stealing the book from him before Tikki stops her, but okay), and she yells at Lila as Ladybug, which is also presented as being "only about Adrien."

"Origins - Part 1 (Ladybug & Cat Noir)" (green) - Ladybug neglects to capture the akuma, having forgotten that detail

"Origins - Part 2 (Stoneheart)" (green) - The mistake from Part 1 carries over... the episode also may or may not blame Marinette for encouraging Ivan.

blue - 1 cyan - 6 green - 7 yellow - 2 red - 10

Season 2

"A Christmas Special" (red) - Marinette's "Adrien blindness" causes her to jump to conclusions and believe that a Santa Claus lookalike is an akuma

"The Collector" (red) - Marinette lies to Master Fu in order to protect Adrien, not able to believe that Adrien could be Hawk Moth

"Despair Bear" (red) - Marinette goes to Chloe's party for Adrien and is repeatedly mocked/teased for this

"Prime Queen" (cyan) - Ladybug "makes a mistake" in getting upset at Nadja for trying to pry into her romantic relationships and her potential romance with Chat Noir

"Befana" (cyan) - Marinette is blamed for "lying" to her grandmother about going to a birthday party with her friends (she didn't) and "not wanting to spend time with her" (she did, Gina is the one who neglected Marinette for literal years)

"Riposte" (cyan) - One of the more subjective ones, but going frame-by-frame, Adrien's saber bends first yet the episode calls Marinette "flustered" and "new to fencing" to say that she's wrong in her choice

"Robostus" (blue) - Mostly free of crush and mistakes, episode focuses primarily on the main plot of the akuma being caused (if I had a color for Marinette just normally being mocked/embarrassed though, it'd be here)

"Gigantitan" (red) - Needs no explanation: Marinette is embarrassed in front of the girls multiple times and the entire subplot causes the akuma that almost hits Gorilla

"The Dark Owl" (green) - Ladybug orchestrates a situation in which the Dark Owl could save her so as to not hurt his feelings, which ends in him being found out, humiliated, and akumatized

"Glaciator" (red) - Marinette is upset because Adrien didn't show up to get ice cream with her, which leads to her blowing up on Andre

"Sapotis" (blue) - Marinette goes largely blameless for everything; not much here

"Gorizilla" (yellow) - Multiple "jokes"/"mocking" about Marinette revealing skin/being in her pajamas in front of Adrien

"Captain Hardrock" (blue) - Surprisingly void of blame on Marinette despite her being depressed over Adrien; if anything, Luka apologizes for making a teasing comment when she was upset

"Zombizou" (cyan) - Marinette is blamed for being upset with Chloe for ruining her gift for Miss Bustier

"Syren" (cyan) - Ladybug is blamed for keeping secrets from Chat Noir (look at the Adrien stans for reference)

"Frightningale" (red) - Marinette is bothered by Chloe being Ladybug, but Adrien is involved so the fandom can easily put blame on her concerning her Adrien crush (see Marinette salters for reference)

"Troublemaker" (red) - Marinette's Adrien pictures are intentionally inflated/exaggerated to humiliate her more

"Anansi" (green) - I wouldn't argue if someone suggested that this is a cyan: Marinette "makes a mistake" in cheating Nora's arm-wrestle with Nino since Nora was being unreasonable

"Sandboy" (green) - Marinette agrees with Tikki that they should do something to help Nooroo without asking Fu

"Reverser" (cyan) - Marinette peeks at Marc's work and tries to help him work with Nathaniel (I see, so when Alya meddles to push Marinette past her comfort zone, it's fine, but--); she also embarrasses herself in front of Adrien over this

"Frozer" (red) - Marinette suffers because Adrien's an idiot and has tons of people in relationships to ask advice from, and he chooses to ask Marinette; Marinette appears to be "blamed" for either wanting to move on (due to the girls fighting) or agreeing to go with Adrien, along with a "bonus" (almost earning a cyan) due to Chat throwing a hissy fit over her rejecting him

"Style Queen" (cyan) - Marinette is blamed for thinking that the magic ladybugs would bring the miraculous back to Fu (see "Sentibubbler" covering for Chat for reference on how the narrative sees this)

"Queen Wasp" (cyan) - Carried over from "Style Queen"; Ladybug is blamed for losing the miraculous

"Malediktator" (red) - Marinette is made to feel bad for being glad that her bully of many years is gone (almost earning a cyan here, or even a yellow), and this is all due to Adrien; he also unintentionally convinces her to give Chloe a miraculous (her "mistake" according to future episodes), which sets off a slew of events that makes her suffer

"Catalyst" (cyan) - Alya not believing Marinette due to her Adrien crush carries over from "Volpina," almost earning this a red, but Marinette also lies about her gift for Heroes' Day. However, the fact that she is completely sleep-deprived from the night before and was being made fun of for only bringing macarons is largely ignored by the narrative and treated too much as her fault

"Mayura" (red) - When going to correct her mistake from last episode, Adrien throwing a pity party for himself makes Marinette go back on it

blue - 3 cyan - 9 green - 3 yellow - 1 red - 10

Season 3

"Backwarder" (red) - Marinette gives Adrien the wrong letter (due to each slip of paper she has conveniently looking the exact same but the episode clearly indicates it to be her fault); she's also humiliated over this

"Weredad" (cyan) - Marinette lies to Chat Noir in a panic to protect her identity. The fact that Chat Noir is an idiot who wonders why Marinette might be on her own darn balcony and that Tikki doesn't offer a better solution for the situation is given no attention

"Chameleon" (red) - Alya believing that Marinette is only upset with Lila over Adrien presumably carries over from "Volpina" and "Catalyst;" Marinette's relationship with Adrien also seems to make her more inclined to believe in what he says about doing nothing about Lila

"Animaestro" (red) - No explanation needed; Marinette's Adrien crush makes her more inclined to believe Chloe (remember "Malediktator" and "Zombizou"?) when Chloe claims that Kagami stole her seat next to Adrien, which convinces Marinette to team up with Chloe against Kagami, and this leads to Marinette being embarrassed over her crush

"Bakerix" (green) - Marinette makes a mistake in... I guess riling up her grandfather? (this one's pretty subjective and I wouldn't argue with anyone who says this should be cyan)

"Silencer" (blue) - Regardless of what "Crocoduel" says, Marinette isn't blamed in this episode for challenging Bob Roth

"Oblivio" (cyan) - Marinette seems to weirdly be blamed/punished for getting upset with Chat Noir if the smugness of Chat+Alya about the taken picture is to be believed (perhaps """explained""" in "Reflekdoll" about Chat having his role to play as the "sense of humor")

"Stormy Weather 2" (yellow) - Marinette spends a portion of the episode sulking about the little progress she's made with Adrien

"Reflekdoll" (red) - Needs no explanation: Marinette's anxiety is caused by Adrien and she's blamed for it despite Alya orchestrating everything

"Oni-Chan" (red) - Marinette chases after Adrien and Lila, which is made to be completely about Marinette's crush on Adrien despite Marinette telling Tikki about her actual concerns (which end up coming true as Kagami gets akumatized)

"Miraculer" (cyan) - Chat gets snippy with Ladybug for not telling Chloe right away (apparently assuming that Ladybug doesn't have other obligations to attend to like school; she even tells Chat that she "wouldn't have time that day"), and Ladybug was literally about to before the sentimonster and Miraculer show up

"The Puppeteer 2" (red) - Marinette repeatedly pushed and punished for liking Adrien, then punished again in front of Adrien (who she thinks is a statue) when she was actually just taking the advice that Tikki gave her

"Desperada" (red) - The guitar scene (i.e: "huh, who would've known that my wingwoman for Adrien was actually trying to wingwoman me with Luka one time!"), Aspik (i.e: "wow, the guy who I thought was perfect because that's what the narrative is always telling me actually doesn't fit what the narrative was telling me!"), and that's all I need to say

"Startrain" (blue) - Mostly mistakeless on Marinette's end; the focus is on other characters/plots (again, if I had a color for Marinette being mocked/embarrassed though, it'd also go here)

"Kwamibuster" (blue) - Marinette isn't blamed for anything; even though Master Fu isn't aware of the events at first, Tikki apologizes to Marinette in front of him later

"Feast" (yellow) - Marinette is briefly distracted by Adrien until Alya chides her so that she can show Marinette the information she might as well have hand-delivered to Hawk Moth

"Ikari Gozen" (red) - Marinette tries to sabotage her and Kagami to prevent Kagami from meeting up with Adrien

"Timetagger" (cyan) - Tikki notes Marinette's bad excuses (which are due to the sheer amount of akuma) to the point where Alya had replaced her as babysitter before Marinette explained that she couldn't show up (I wouldn't argue with anyone who said this should be blue instead)

"Party Crasher" (red) - Marinette tries to crash the secret boys-only party in order to spend time with Adrien

"Gamer 2.0" (cyan) - Marinette+Ladybug is blamed for being upset that they have no time for anything, with Ladybug in particular "making the mistake" of taking over and failing due to Chat constantly goofing off despite her urging

"Chat Blanc" (red) - Marinette is pressured/threatened by the girl squad (specifically Rose) enough that she decides to sneak into Adrien's house

"Felix" (yellow) - Marinette, after "finally" confessing to Adrien (for like--the fourth time), ends up running off and rambling in front of Luka (not knowing that he's there), which embarrasses her

"Ladybug" (red) - Alya's doubts of Marinette's hatred of Lila (implied in "Volpina" and stated in "Catalyst" to be about her crush on Adrien) carries over as Alya chides Marinette for blaming Lila, and had Marinette not listened to Adrien in "Chameleon," Lila may have been stopped early on and she wouldn't have gotten expelled (otherwise, the episode would've gotten a "cyan" because how dare Marinette be emotional at being accused of cheating and get angry at Lila)

"Christmaster" (red) - Marinette lies to Chris (in the exact way that Alya does to Manon in "Stormy Weather" but sure) in order to protect her darn privacy so Chris doesn't find out about her chest full of Adrien gifts, which leads to Chris getting akumatized

"Heart Hunter" (red) - Ladybug neglects to detransform due to being distracted by Adrimi happening, which leads to long-lasting and overly harsh consequences

"Miracle Queen" (red) - Ladybug's mistake carries over from the previous episode

blue - 3 cyan - 5 green - 1 yellow - 3 red - 14

Total: blue - 7 cyan - 20 green - 11 yellow - 6 red - 34

#category: salt

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jasmine-the-fox · 3 years

Text

She’s mine!

So this little salt fic was a request by Thiamati on ao3 so here we go with a jealous Damian Wayne!

Damian was sick of it, for a week now he has watched guys rush over to Marinette with gifts and asking her out on dates, and while she does turn them down... They don’t give up one bit.

He has been dating her for the last two years, she wasn’t ready to tell the public about there relationship so he respected it, but this summer she came to Gotham to patrol with his family and to train, when she came back she was different, her hair was now down instead of it’s usual pigtails style, her clothes were now a little bit more grown-up instead of the usual pink in her clothes, she gained muscles and her figure was more visible then before and she was now wearing make-up.

At first it was fine, guys noticed her and people would compliment her new look while Lila makes another lie about herself... Nothing new, but then guys began to leave her gifts in her locker, making her buy herself a lock for it, then guys left the gifts on her desk, and then guys would come up to her and ask her out... He hated it since Mari would tell him to calm down and let her handle it, he trusts her but he just hated watching those guys asking her out.

Alya Cesaire was annoying, she claimed that Mari was a slut and was paying these guys to ask her out... But they followed Adrien Agreste today and claimed she was lying and stupid... Also said she was jealous of Mari’s new look, he hated the model with the way he was so blind sided about things like Lila and her lies... He wished he could simply smack him in the face and yell at him to see a therapist and research what his actions do in life.

But that would make Marinette cry... And he didn’t want her to cry...

So he did nothing, simply watched from the lunch table he eats at with the people who were on Mari’s side: Chloe Bourgeois, Luka Couffaine, Juleka Couffaine, Kagami Tsurugi and Alix Kubdel, these people knew about his relationship with Marinette and also know Lila’s true colors... But each time they try to bring her lies to light, she fake cries, blames Marinette for there false claims and then claims she simply want’s them all to be friends right now making them be glared at.

He sometimes wonders what Adrien is doing, while he does go over to speak to Mari and asks her out (which he notices makes Alya get excited and pull out her phone to record) he get’s rejected quickly enough with the claim that she doesn’t see him that way (which as a result angers Alya as she stomps away) he would then watch the blonde walk away and then pull out his phone to do something on it for a bit and then leaves the area... Days later Mari get’s a package of two gorgeous dresses.

Which she donates to charity...

They dresses were in her old size so she couldn’t fit in them, not only that but they weren’t in her current taste... So donating them was the next best thing, it made him smile towards her kind heart, but then the gifts began to happen every day, she always got something in her old measurements and her old tastes which made no sense to her, then at school Adrien would look upset about something for a bit and then walks away, one day around her desk were a bunch of red roses and on her desk was a pink teddy bear holding a box that held a necklace of a heart shaped pink quarts.

She didn’t understand what was going on, after she left the roses behind, she handed the bear to Juleka to gift Rose as the girl was slowly listening to her girlfriend and her words, while to Aurore she handed the necklace to gift to Mireille, she had feelings for the girl and so Mari was certain that the gift would get her feelings through, now she was at her locker being yelled at by Alya about the gifts and Adrien... Sadly the girl wasn’t making much sense right now so Mari simply ignored her until Chloe walks in so they can head to her hotel.

But the gifts kept going... But with notes from Adrien this time...

They freak her out, each time she would leave her room or any room to be honest, there would be a gift from him with a note in his hand writing, she would always look around to try and find him, then she would ask him to leave her alone because she didn’t feel the same way, but he kept going so her friends began to reject him for her since he wasn’t listening... Damian was getting angry at the blonde because he was close to losing it at him right now, so then it happened, Mari was heading home when she felt like she was being watched, she pulled out her phone and recorded behind her and got a clear shot of Adrien, she then ran to the Couffaine house boat and then waited for the police to arrive.

Adrien was long gone, but they examined the video and confirmed it was real and not edited, so they went over and reported to Gabriel a restraining order on his son... Then showed him the video “We had it tested many times mister Agreste, your son stalked miss Dupain-Cheng and as a result demanded a restraining order on him” he was told, he nodded and the police left so he could yell at his son and show him the video.

Adrien was to stay at home for a week so they could speak with the police, Mari’s parents and the principal about a solution to have him keep going to school, be with his friends without breaking the restraining order “He will need to be at the back of the class while she is at the front to not break it” Sabine explained making them all nod in agreement, this made Adrien furious! He just wanted to date Marinette! And now he wasn’t allowed to speak to her!? It was so unfair, he texted Nino about this and since he didn’t know the full story he agreed with his friend and told the rest of the class.

This gave Lila her ammunition for her next lie...

She began to claim that Mari had been stalking Adrien and her so they don’t get together for work and things outside of school, and claimed that to protect herself she lied to the police (without knowing about the video she took) Alya who was furious went to the police and demanded proof about Mari’s reason behind the restraining order on Adrien, the officer at the time could tell that Alya was blinded by lies so her smirked and showed her the video “We had it tested many times and it was confirmed as 100% real and not edited” he said before letting her play it.

She didn’t know how many times she watched it (the officer saw her replay the video twelve times) but it was true, Adrien was the one stalking Mari... And she was so close at claiming that Mari lied and she was the one stalking Adrien AND Lila! All this time that Italian lied to them! She had to do something about this, she set the video down and thanked the officer for allowing her to watch it and then left in a rush to get back home, sure she had to watch the twins but she got them distracted with a movie as she did a ton of research on all of her post about Lila and the truth behind the liar.

As she worked she made a private group chat with the class (minus Mari and her friends, Lila and Adrien) and began sending them links about the truth behind each of Lila’s lies and the consequences behind if her claims had been true, she would send links every few seconds without allowing them the chance to reply with another of Lila’s lies... Once she was done she then began sending them links to stories that Lila was part of... All in the same pattern.

She would move, transfer to a new school, start lying her butt off about herself in class then someone would call out on her lies, Lila would cry and claim that person is bullying her and hurting her, the class attacks that student and then either the student ends there life, transfers to a new school or suddenly dies and Lila is gone before anyone can question her... The class never replied, sure it was confirmed they saw her post but no one was saying a thing, they were simply quiet.

Once she was done she told them to not tell Lila or Adrien as she believed the blonde knew she was a liar (but she didn’t have proof about it so she had to wait) she asked them to meet her at the school library the next day so they could talk, she then left the chat to focus on her sisters until her big sister arrived and takes over for her, she then goes to her room to try and reach out to Marinette, but she was blocked from contacting her, so she tried her friends... Same result, she then decided to try and use social media to reach out... Mari hadn’t blocked her there so she was able to get her to agree to see her in her room at the bakery that same day.

She quickly got there and went up to her friends room... And found her curled up on Damian’s lap... Explaining to her that they were dating, she didn’t ask question and decided to not tell anyone as it wasn’t her story to tell at all right now, instead she sat down as she listened to Mari tell her side of the story in everything connected to Lila and Adrien, Alya decided to simply record the audio and not film her... It would show Damian and she wanted to respect there relationship.

Mari did reveal that she wasn’t mentally ready for the media and tabloids to attack her yet, she explained that Damian’s family and her friends were helping her overcome it but it was a slow process for now, Alya nodded in understanding and promised to keep quiet, she got back home and replayed the audio a few times to work with it on revealing Lila Rossi and Adrien Agreste for the monster’s they truly are, the next day Lila laughed at Mari for lying to the police to gain attention, Caline sternly reprimanded Marinette for doing so and told her to go to the police station to apologize for lying about Adrien.

The blonde was going to go with her and was just about to take hold of her hand when Damian lost it, he flipped Adrien over his shoulder and yelled “DON’T TOUCH MY GIRLFRIEND YOU CRAZY STALKER!!” this made the school look at him in shock, Lila then began to cry and claim that he was dating her for the last two months “News flash Rossi: Damian Wayne has been dating Marinette for the last two years” Chloe laughed making the school glare at the liar as she trembled in fear and then ran back home to hide.

Alya smirked at this as she then claimed that she had proof about Lila being a liar and had compiled the evidence about Lila and Adrien straight from Marinette herself, everyone wanted to see this so Max asked them all to come to the library so he could set it up there, meanwhile Sabrina called her dad over to come watch this with a team, Damian apologized to Mari for revealing there relationship but she simply smiled and explained that they can reveal everything in Gotham “As long as i’m with you... I won’t be scared” she explained making him smile as they walked into the library.

Minutes later, Lila and Adrien were taken to the police station to be questioned for there actions, Gabriel refused to help his son as for Lila... Her mother at first wanted to help but after hearing what Lila did back at her old schools... She removed her diplomatic immunity on the spot and left the room to get back home while telling her daughter she was on her own.

The judge claimed them both unstable and dangerous, for now they were to be put into juvie and once they were adults they would be sentenced like adults... Lila didn’t go there though, she was taken back to Italy to be put in a mental prison for the unstable where she would be pumped with medication to keep her calm and loopy (she did try to attack the judge, stabbed one officer with a pen, bit another and then scratched a third one) Adrien who didn’t want to face the same fate as her agreed to his punishment and admitted to all the charges placed on him.

No one saw them after that, instead they focused all on apologizing to Mari and trying to fix there friendship with her... All the while she returned to Gotham with Damian to go on live TV to reveal there relationship, in the end her fears were for nothing, Gotham reporters respected her greatly since she was titled as Gotham’s sunshine since she made the criminals want to protect her instead of attack her... And Damian couldn’t mind it since they always took care of any tabloids or creeps from getting to close.

Guess being jealous pays off huh...

Hey guys! So if you didn’t get it when Damian was jealous let me explain it... Like I wrote around the start, Damian and Mari have been dating for two years... But in those two years they have never been public about there relationship... So it was a secret, meaning no one knew about it other then the people they tell... Meaning that the boys asking Mari out have no idea that she’s taken and Damian can’t stop them since it will reveal that there dating... Makes sense now?

#mlb fic #mlb salt #class salt #CrossOver #miraculous ladybug #batman #Damian Wayne #marixdamian #lila salt #lila gets exposed #adrien salt #Stalker!adrien #alya salt

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sturchling · 3 years

Note

How about fairy tail where levy and gajeel are Marinette's bio parents

Sorry this took so long! Spent quite some time trying to come up with a good plot for you! I hope you like it! This story has some spoilers for the end of the Fairy Tail series. If anyone still hasn't seen it, be aware, spoilers ahead

Levy and Gajeel were about to make the toughest decision of their lives. After defeating Zeref, they thought all their tough battles were over. They had defeated Zeref, the Spriggan 12, and even Achnologia. After everything, the two had started dating. About a year after that, they became pregnant with their first child, a daughter. When their daughter was born, they both just fell in love with the sweet little girl, and named her Marinette. The young girl was the darling of the guild, and spoiled by everyone. It was the happiest time in the young couples life. But the happiness didn't last.

------------------------

There had been one loose end that nobody in the guild had thought of since the Grand Magic Games. Obra. Obra had escaped at the GMG, but no one noticed. Nobody in Fairy Tail realized that the small creature they had seen at the opening ceremony of the games sitting on Obra's shoulder was Obra's true form, and the person before them was nothing but a puppet. As a result no one in Fairy Tail saw this little creature return to Zeref and promise to return. However, Obra didn't return with Zeref. He instead waited patiently, and gathered more dark wizards to help him in his goal to destroy Fairy Tail. When the first wave of attacks happened, Wendy recognized this magic from when she was attacked at the GMG. It wasn't long before Obra had attacked several members of the guild, showing little sign of slowing down. It was clear that Obra meant to attack every person associated with the guild. Levy and Gajeel were terrified, not for themselves, but for their child. They made the difficult decision to send their daughter away. They knew that no where in Fiore was safe, so they approached Makarov for help. He knew of an ancient magic that could send their daughter to another world, where she would be completely out of Obra's reach. Reluctantly, the young couple agreed.

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The time came soon after for the parents to say goodbye to their young daughter. Everyone was crying as Levy and Gajeel brought Marinette forward. Levy and Gajeel decided that as much as they wanted to go with their daughter and stay with her, they were needed here to help their friends. And since Gajeel had spied on Raven Tail, it was possible that Obra had a personal vendetta against him. They decided it was likely safer for their young daughter if someone else cared for her. So, Tom and Sabine, who had been using their cooking magic to help in the guild's kitchen, were asked to go to the other world with Marinette. They were the newest members of the guild, and it was unlikely Obra knew about them. So, he wouldn't go looking for them in the other world. The couple agreed and assured Levy and Gajeel that they would care for Marinette as their own. With tears in their eyes, Levy and Gajeel gave Marinette to Tom and Sabine, promising to bring her back as soon as it was safe. Before they left, Levy and Gajeel gave their daughter a locket, with their pictures in it, so she would always know her parents loved her dearly. And with that, the portal to the other world opened, and their darling daughter was gone.

---------------------

Years went by, and the new Dupain-Cheng family had made a nice life for themselves. There was hardly any magic in this world, but Tom and Sabine made do. What little magic they did have left helped to make their food the best in town and helped them become successful quickly. The bad news is that this lack of magic made it impossible to communicate with their friends back home, or to open the portal again. They had no idea if their friends in Fairy Tail had defeated Obra, or if they were even ok. But they never lost hope in their friends, and made sure to tell Marinette all about Fairy Tail and her parents. Marinette longed to see her real parents again and to get to know them herself. She would often stare at their pictures in her locket, and she never took the necklace off. While she was happy, with all her friends in school, and with Tom and Sabine, she did wish to see her real home, and meet her family.

---------------------

Meanwhile, in Fiore, it took years to finally catch Obra. In that time he had drained several members of the guild of their magic power. Sure, their magic power eventually recovered, but while they couldn't use magic, Obra would send other dark wizards to attack them. It was difficult to defend the guild from these attacks, but they always pulled through. But it was difficult to track down the tiny creature that was causing all this chaos. But finally after three long years, they caught Obra and the nightmare was over. But now they were faced with a new problem. When Master Makarov tried to open the portal to the other world to bring Tom, Sabine, and Marinette back now that the danger had passed, he found that he wasn't able to open it again. The only reason for this that they could find was that opening the portal the first time had used almost all the magic power in the other world, and it would take time for that power to be replenished. Until it was, all they could do was wait. Every few months, they would try to open the portal and bring their friends home, but it would never work. As time went by, Levy and Gajeel began to lose hope of seeing their daughter ever again.

------------------

As time went by, Marinette grew up and was now thirteen years old and a hero. While she knew that Tom and Sabine would believe her about the magic, she didn't want them to worry, so she kept it a secret. But it made Marinette happy to be a hero and using magic, it made her feel closer to her parents in a way. Marinette's life for the most part was fairly happy. She missed her parents, even though she had hardly any memories of them, and wanted to see them and Fiore more than anything. She just wished, more than anything else, that she would be able to see her parents again one day. But she was happy in Paris. That was, until, Lila came along. Lila had slowly been destroying her friendships in Mrs. Bustier's class. And now, almost the entire class hated her completely. The only person who didn't hate her was Alya. Alya, thankfully, had seen through the lies. Marinette had even told Alya about being Ladybug, and after sometime had also told her about Fiore, with Tom and Sabine's permission. Alya was stunned by all of this, but believed her friend. After all, the miraculous and kwami exist, who was Alya to deny the existence of another world?

------------------

The rest of the class, however, hadn't seen through Lila's lies and believed Marinette had been bullying Lila for weeks now. While Adrien knew the truth, he wasn't doing anything to stop the class from bullying Marinette in return. In fact, he blamed Marinette for it, saying that she just needed to apologize to Lila, even though Marinette hadn't done anything. While Alya tried to help, the class just got worse and worse.

----------------------

It was the first day of class after Hawkmoth's defeat. It had taken a while, but Hawkmoth's reign of terror was finally over. School was cancelled for a week after his defeat and the whole city celebrated. Master Fu took back the recovered miraculous, but let Marinette keep the earrings, saying that Paris may still need its heroes. Then her took the rest of the miraculous and returned to the temple with the box. Marinette finally told Tom and Sabine everything. While they were upset that Marinette hadn't told them, they made sure to tell her how proud they were of her, and how proud her parents would be. And they had a thought. If these kwami used such powerful magic, they may be the key to opening the door and being able to return to Fiore. After Marinette introduced them to Tikki, Tom and Sabine spoke with them about way to return to Fiore. Tikki said that yes, she would be able to help the family return home, but they needed a few days to prepare. Tikki would use the necklace Marinette was given as a way to open the door. Since it connected Marinette with her parents, it would be the ideal anchor for this magic to work. Marinette was excited, and thrilled to finally be able to see her parents.

---------------------

While this was the first day class was back in session, it would be Marinette's last day in this school. Everything was prepared, and that night, after school, Tikki would help to open the door back to Fiore. She had already managed to use her magic send a message to Makarov, telling him to try opening the door from his end tonight. With both sides trying to open the door, there should be enough magic for it to work. Marinette went to school with the biggest smile on her face, despite the constant glares being thrown her way. She whispered to Alya about the plan, and how she would be going to Fiore tonight. Alya was sad to see her friend go, but knew that Marinette would be happy going home. As the two friends talked quietly, planning to hang out one more time after school before Marinette left that night, they didn't notice Lila glaring at them.

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No matter what Lila did today, no matter what lie she told, or what she got the class to do, nothing seemed to upset Marinette today. Marinette just kept smiling. And Lila hated seeing Marinette happy. So, Lila went for her best plan. She had noticed how fond Marinette was of that locket she worse. She never took it off. So, Lila was going to get rid of it. Surely that would upset Marinette, since nothing else seemed to work today. At lunch, while Marinette and Alya ate in the classroom, Lila told the class that Marinette had ripped her favorite necklace off her neck and broke it. She planted the idea in the class' head to do the same thing to Marinette and then sat back and admired her work. The class waited until they saw Alya leave the classroom, when they knew Marinette would be alone, and made their move.

----------------

They all went into the classroom and attacked Marinette. They had been physically attacking her for a while now, but this was much more frenzied than before. In the struggle, someone ripped Marinette's locket from her neck and handed it to Lila. When she realized what had happened, Marinette tried to grab for the necklace, but was held back by Kim and Ivan. Marinette cried and begged for them to give her back the necklace. A few members of the class, Rose, Juleka, and Nathaniel, felt bad for a moment. But they quickly reminded themselves that Marinette had done the same thing to Lila and they were getting revenge for her friend. Besides it was just a silly necklace, Marinette could replace it later. Marinette kept pleading, doing anything she could to get the necklace back. That was her only way home. She turned to Adrien, he knew she was lying, surely he would stop this! But that hope was shattered when Adrien turned away from her. As she continued to reach for the locket, Lila dropped it on the ground and stomped on it, breaking the locket into several pieces.

------------------

Lila smiled, sure that this would be the end of Marinette interfering with her lies. The class let go of Marinette, and the young designer raced to the remains of her locket, gathering the pieces and crying. The class stood there, wondering why Marinette was completely breaking down over a silly necklace. Alya came back in the room at this point, and saw the scene. She was furious and just as she was about to lay into the class, she heard "Tikki, spots on!" Marinette transformed in front of everyone and raced out of the school and back to the bakery. She didn't care that she had revealed herself to the class. All she cared about was getting home and trying to fix things so she could still go home. She clung to hope that maybe they would still be able to use the necklace, even in its broken state.

-----------------

Meanwhile, the class was stood in shock. Marinette had just transformed in front of them. She was Ladybug. They had been bullying Ladybug for months now. They had helped to break Ladybug's necklace. And it was now dawning on them, that Lila must be a liar like Marinette had said. Because Lila couldn't have been best friends with Ladybug if Marinette was Ladybug. Adrien was shocked as well. His true love, his Ladybug, was Marinette all along. How could he have been so blind? And he had just stood by and let Lila and the class bully her for months! He had to apologize and confess his feelings to her again. It was the only way he might still get to be with his true love. Lila was horrified as she realized that this would ruin everything. She watched as the entire class realized that she had lied. She could see the exact moment they realized this. She watched as her kingdom of lies all came tumbling down.

------------------

Alya wanted to yell and berate all of them for what they had done, but her friend needed her more right now. Alya raced to the bakery, and ran through the front door. She knew Marinette had probably come in through the roof, so Tom and Sabine likely didn't even know she was here. She quickly told them not to let anyone from the class in and gave them a brief summary of what had happened. Tom and Sabine were horrified. They finished with the customers they had in the store, and then closed up the bakery to help Marinette. They closed and locked the doors, just as the class was about to come in. As the class begged to be let in, the couple just drew the blinds over all the windows and went upstairs to help Marinette.

---------------------

They found her and Alya sitting in Marinette's room. Alya's arms wrapped around Marinette's shoulders as Marinette sobbed. Tikki was floating at the desk nearby, looking over the necklace. As Sabine went to help comfort Marinette, Tom approached the kwami. "Tikki, can you still use it?" Tikki looked up, appearing worried. "I don't know. I might be able to. I won't know until we try." Marinette, having heard this, whimpered "You mean there is still a chance?" Tikki smiled at her chosen. "Yes, there is still a chance. I will start getting everything prepared, it will be time soon." Marinette was comforted by this, and clung to the hope that this could still work. As night fell, Tikki began trying to open the door, using all of her magic that she could. She could feel the magic energy coming in from Fiore, as Fairy Tail tried to open the door from their end as well. Everyone watched Tikki with baited breath. As time went by, nothing was happening. Their hopes began to fall as time went by slowly. But just as they were about to give up, a spark of light appeared.

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In Fiore, the Fairy Tail guild had been buzzing all day. Master Makarov said that he received a message from someone in the other world to try and open the portal again tonight. Levy and Gajeel didn't have much hope for tonight, after all the failed attempts, but still there was a sliver of hope in their hearts that maybe this time would work and they would get their daughter back. The entire guild made their way to where the spell would be cast and waited as Master Makarov focused on the spell. At first there was nothing, and it seemed liked the spell had failed, just like every other time. But then a blue spark of light appeared. Then another. And another. Soon, a small circle of light began to grow larger and larger in front of their eyes. Levy and Gajeel held their breath as they saw the silhouettes of people on the other side of the light.

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Marinette, Tom, and Sabine watched in awe as the light grew larger in front of them and soon they could see a large group of people standing on the other side. And at the front of the group, Marinette saw two people that were obviously her parents. They were older than their pictures in the locket, but Marinette knew it was them. Before long, the spell was complete and it was time for them to go. Marinette turned to Alya and hugged her one last time. She may have been excited to go back to her home, but she would miss her friend dearly. Before she left, she gave Alya the Ladybug earrings, entrusting them to her. The two girls cried a little as they hugged goodbye. Marinette gave Tikki a little hug, before turning to face the portal again. She gave one last wave at Alya and Tikki and then, Tom, Sabine, and Marinette stepped through the portal.

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As the light around her faded, Marinette was finally able to get a good look at everyone around her. As her eyes fell on her parents, she felt tears form in her eyes. She could see them forming in her parents eyes as well. Not wasting another moment, they ran to each other and embraced each other tightly. It had been several long years, but their small family was finally together again. Everyone was crying watching the touching scene, happy that their guild members were finally back.

-----------------

After everything, Alya kept the earrings and became the new Ladybug. The bakery closed permanently, and Alya told everyone that the Dupain-Cheng family had decided to move away from Paris. The class was left feeling guilty for the rest of their lives with how they treated Marinette and how they abandoned her for a liar. Adrien was upset that his lady was gone and he never got to make things up to her and have a relationship with her. He tried looking for her, or at least a way to contact her, so he could try to apologize and confess to her, but he wasn't ever able to find her. It was like her and her family just disappeared off the face of the earth! Lila was furious that she had lost her control over the class. She tried to fix things and regain the control, but nothing worked. She was outcasted, not just by the class, but by the entire school. She tried to convince her mother to let her transfer schools or even to go back to Italy, but it didn't work. She was left to suffer in Mrs. Bustier's class as a social pariah until she graduated.

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In Fiore, Marinette had quickly adjusted to her life with the guild. She and her parents were inseparable, understandably not letting each other out of their sight for several weeks. Marinette had even started to use magic! She may not be an ability type wizard like her parents, but she was a holder type wizard. After her time as Ladybug and using her lucky charm, Marinette found that she was very skilled at creation magic when her parents gave her a magic wand to practice with. It wasn't long before she was able to go on smaller jobs with her parents. Marinette was so happy with her new life in Fiore, and was happy to finally be home again.

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marauderundercover · 3 years

Text

This Side of Normal Chapter Four

AO3

Technically, it was an accident. Well, more than technically. It was definitely a legitimate accident that Jason figured out their secret identities only a month after meeting them. Chat Noir’s should’ve been the easiest, given the fact that he saw the boy on nearly every billboard in Paris. However, it wasn’t the billboards that gave it away. It wasn’t even the ungodly number of times the kid’s perfume ad came on the tv. No, it was the shocked “Jason” that the boy spluttered out when he bumped into him in front of the school. Without a mask. Yeah. Not subtle at all. Ladybug’s just fell into place after that. What with the tiny dark-haired girl shooting him worried glances as she patted Chat’s back. Chat Noir. Adrien Agreste. Agreste. Gabriel Agreste. Hawkmoth- fuck. That’s why the kid seemed so down every time they worked on a plan to prove Gabriel was Hawkmoth. Shit. Well that settles it. Hawkmoth was going down, and he was going down soon. The kids could handle themselves, and with Jason willing to fight with them...Gabriel won’t know what hit him.

----

“Oh god. Oh god. I messed up. He’s not gonna help us anymore and I messed up and-” Adrien rambles, a panicked expression taking over his face.

“Adrien, it’s okay. Please breathe, it’s okay.” Marinette says lowly, gently rubbing his back.

“He knows who Hawkmoth is, Mari. He’s gonna think I’m a bad guy too.” Adrien whispers, his eyes filling with tears. Marinette’s heart breaks as she looks at her best friend and the crushed look on his face.

“Jason’s a good guy. He’s always making sure we eat enough and take care of our injuries, and he always asks if we’re getting enough sleep. He’s like….he’s like our big brother. He’s not going to abandon us just because he knows your dad is a major jerk.” Marinette says matter-of-factly. Adrien frowns, but nods.

“What do we do?” He asks. Marinette scrunches her eyebrows, not understanding the question. “I mean, what do we do about him knowing? Do we ask him to leave Paris? Or do we just act like we don’t know that he knows who we are?”

“I think we wait, see if he brings it up. I trust him, Adrien. I know that we haven’t known him for long, but he’s always had our best interest in mind. He cares about us, and as much as it hurts to say, I think he cares more than Master Fu did.”

“Why do I feel like everything’s gonna change?” Adrien asks, his voice small as he curls in on himself.

“Because it is. But it’s not necessarily a bad change.” Marinette says, hoping her voice sounds cheerier than she feels. She’s also felt the shift coming for awhile, felt the way the air seemed to spark with energy. Adrien frowns again and Marinette wraps him in a hug, knowing that no matter how good the change would be for the majority of Paris, her best friend would be hurt. He would suffer, and there was nothing that she could do to take away all of the hurt that is sure to come. No matter how badly she wanted to.

----

Jason paced the length of the roof, trying to figure out a way to broach the subject of identities with the kids. He didn’t want them to stop trusting him, but he also didn’t want them to feel like they <i>had<i> to confirm it. He also really didn’t want them to ask him to leave. How was he supposed to be there for them if he wasn’t allowed to <i>be<i> there? Thinking back to earlier this afternoon, Jason huffs in annoyance when he remembers how young both of them looked. Three years. For three goddamned years these kids had fought something bigger than themselves, and they had done so alone. Alone, with no one but other kids to help until even that was taken away from them. Taking a few shaky breaths, Jason tries to calm himself. There’s no way in hell he’s gonna let himself be controlled by some asshole in a butterfly costume. No way he’ll let that asshole use him against those kids. Someone clearing their throat makes Jason’s eyes shoot open as he looks over where he heard the noise. He grins, hoping the kid isn’t overthinking too much.

“Chat may be a little late tonight. He got caught up with something in his civilian life.” Ladybug says, dressed in her usual training clothes and domino mask, her arms wrapped around herself like she’s trying to hold herself together.

“You okay Pixie Pop?” Jason asks, frowning. She purses her lips and Jason can tell she’s weighing how much she should say. Taking a chance, Jason says “I saw you guys today.” The girl sucks in a deep breath and nods.

“Yeah, yeah I know.” She says, and Jason gives her a minute to collect herself and decide if she wants to say anything else about it. “How much do you know? I know you saw us, but…”

“I know his name. And I know what you look like behind a mask.” Jason says, and the girl nods before she starts pacing.

“I trust you, Jason. I really do. And I told Chat that it would be okay and that you care about us, but if there’s even a small chance of you being akumatized you’ve gotta go because even though I trust you, I can’t risk my identity and his identity and I’m sure you understand that. Especially with who we think Hawkmoth is because it’s already bad but if he found out it would be even more bad and now Chat is worried that you’ll hate him because of you know, everything, and that’s why he’s not here yet because he’s scared that you’ll look at him differently and-” Ladybug rants, stopping as Jason kneels down to be eye level with her.

“Hey Pix, I’m gonna need you to breathe okay. I told you that I would help you guys, and I’m not gonna leave just because Chat Noir got the short end of the stick. I don’t hate him, and I’m sure as hell not gonna let myself be akumatized. I’m here for you, both of you. And I’m not gonna let some jackass in a butterfly costume chase me off from helping you guys.” He says, talking in the voice he used when he was talking to street kids as Red Hood. The voice that was meant to be calming, but not patronizing. The voice that was laced with concern, and the reassurance that whoever he was talking to didn’t have to run away. That they were safe.

“You’re really not gonna leave?” She asks in a small voice. Jason shakes his head.

“No, I’m here. And I’m not just gonna ditch you guys. If anything, finding out who he is just made me wanna get this done quicker. Get him outta that house.” Jason says, and Ladybug nods.

“Did you- did you want to know my name?” She asks, and Jason instantly sees the worry in her posture. She’ll tell him, but he can tell that she doesn’t want to. At all. Not that he blames her. A lot sits on her shoulders. Jason shakes his head.

“You can tell me after, if you want. But you don’t have to say anything now, okay Pixie?” Jason smiles softly as Ladybug’s shoulders instantly relax. She grins and pulls out her phone, probably to tell Chat Noir that it’s safe for him to come. The two wait in a comfortable silence for a few minutes before a soft thud announces the kid’s arrival.

“Hi Jay.” The boy says quietly, curled in on himself as he obviously prepares to be yelled at.

“Hey kiddo. I’m not mad at you, you know that, right?” Jason asks, making sure to keep his body language relaxed despite how much he wants to go and beat the shit out of Gabriel Agreste.

“You don’t think I’m a monster?” Chat asks, and Jason shakes his head.

“I’ve met monsters, kid. And you’re sure as hell not one.” He says.

“But my father-”

“I don’t give a damn about that piece of shit. You’re not him. You’re the kid who thought he could fit twelve marshmallows in his mouth. You’re the kid who cheers on LB no matter what. You’re the kid who makes god awful jokes, seriously the only one with worse jokes is my brother. You’re the kid who stepped up and helped to protect Paris when no one else would. You’re a lot of things, but you’re not your father and you’re definitely not a monster.” Jason says. Chat- no, Adrien lets out a choked sob and rushes forward, wrapping his arms around him. Jason freezes for a minute, before wrapping his arms around the kid, watching for butterflies. It’d be just their luck for Gabriel to akumatize Adrien when he was finally letting himself cry. Jason glanced over at LB, noting that she was also watching the skies. After a few minutes, Adrien’s cries slow down to sniffles before he takes a step back, his cheeks bright red under his mask.

“Uh, I- um, sorry about that.” He apologizes, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

“Don’t worry about it kid. What’re big brothers for?” Jason asks with a cheeky smirk. He snorts when he sees the kids’ eyebrows shoot up in surprise.

“Did Buginette tell you about that?” Adrien asks, and this time it’s Jason’s turn for his eyebrows to shoot up. He glanced over at Ladybug, surprised to see her entire face bright red.

“I er, um, no I didn’t.” She stammers out, looking everywhere but at Jason.

“Tell me what?” Jason asks, still confused why the two were acting so weird.

“Well, I, um, you see-” Adrien cuts off Ladybug.

“She says you're our big brother.” Adrien says with a grin. Jason’s confused face is instantly replaced with a wide grin.

“Well of course I am.” Jason says, unable to wipe the grin off his face. Jason snorted at the thought that Bruce was gonna have to get two more rooms ready at the manor (it was safer than Jason’s apartment and he was not about to put these two in any more danger than they’ve already been in for three years).

“So big bro,” Adrien starts, his wide grin still stretched across his face. “What’s the plan?”

“We’re gonna get Hawkmoth’s miraculous. Tonight.”

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