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lily-drake · 1 year

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Lesson 7: Always Know Your Place

Marin: Möckel! I havent seen you in aw-

Luka: its Luka.

Marin: oh- *furrows her eyebrows, whispers in Arabic* [I thought it was Möckel..]

Luka: *hums* Möckel doesn’t exist.

Marin: you.. *tilts her head* you were undercover?

Luka: yes.

Marin: you.. infiltrated..

Luka: *smiles* yes.

Marin: *grimaces* if mother knew she would have punished me for not knowing.

Luka: *grins* good thing they never found out, huh?

Marin: how did.. *furrows her eyebrows* how long?

Luka: 4 years?

Marin: how are you still alive???

Luka: *grins viciously* killed in combat. Unit down.

Marin: *hums* quite sad they never found Möckel’s body.

Luka: *nods solemnly* yes.

_____ It’s a real experience to see someone so bright and full of life… just break and melt down in front of you.

Its a real experience to see someone you’ve loved for quite some time… just drop dead all in the span of a second.

Its a real experience to see someone’s life flash on and off repeatedly for 5 minutes until… it never turns on again.

It becomes a real experience.

Until its an everyday experience.

She hates it.

_____ Marin: i don't- it’s like my emotions are shut off. Im me but not me. Im here but not here. I speak and i listen and i see people but im not THERE. IM NOT FUCKING REAL-

Jason: Marin-

Marin: *crying* I'm not real. My emotions aren't real. Im not real. Ive never been real. Marinette is real. Alice is real. Hailey is real. All my molds are real but I'M NOT! IM NOT REAL!

Jason: Marin you are-

Marin: *screams* IM NOT!

-@bambicambi

Things seemed to actually be looking up for Marin. It had been months since she left, and no one had found her yet! Jason visited on an on-and-off basis, and she had felt…good! It was a strange feeling, honestly when she first truly felt it she thought she was having some sort of panic attack. She was fighting her own villain now with her own partner–not a sidekick, but a partner, an equal–and she was free to do ct how she pleased with no interference and no one reminding her not to kill every time she so much as twitched! Paris had actively put a block on any information that pertained to the Akuma Attacks from being able to exit the borders so she didn’t have to worry about anyone coming here and accidentally finding her. Mother had visited briefly one other time after their first time meeting for tea, and it didn’t end with any form of bloodshed. Everything was looking up for her, and that should have been the first sign that something bad was quickly approaching.

Marinette had been invited to the Couffaine’s home for a concert; it surprised her when the offer was first made, but she quickly accepted. Chloe was bragging about going to XY’s concert and how she should ditch “those losers” and come with her. Marinette simply told her she had terrible taste in music. Chloe had crossed her arms and looked up definitely, making a ‘hmph’ noise and angling her body slightly away from Marinette. Marinette had laughed and bumped her shoulder against Chloe’s. Chloe simply rolled her eyes as her lips made a small upturn.

“Whatever Dupain-Cheng, he’s #1 on record charts right now.”

“Yea, but it’s all very subjective, so let’s not argue over it. Besides, we both know that Jagged Stone is far superior.”

Chloe felt a chill run through her at Marinette’s playful tone. Marinette still made something in the back of her mind ring loudly in alarm, but when she looked at the girl she was just smiling at her with her hands fiddling anxiously with the strap of her purse.

“What’s wrong Chloe, you seem a little frightened.”

“Ha, frightened of what? There’s literally nothing to fear. It would be ridiculous, utterly ridiculous of me to be afraid.”

Chloe replied insolently. Marin knew that Chloe could sense something from her, it had thrown her off the first time she noticed Chloe could sense her. Afterall, she had set these molds up to be perfect, she was extremely careful with how they were formed and used. The fact that Chloe could even feel something about her besides the happy, anxious, bubbly, and sunshine girl from her was extraordinarily impressive. Now she would never reveal that Chloe was right to be on edge, that would be a fool’s decision, she liked to tease Chloe about it though. Never enough to make Chloe think she’s going crazy, rather small call outs to make fun of her. It amused her greatly to see Chloe’s reactions.

When the time came to go to the concert she was shocked to see that Juleka lived on a ship. It made her wonder if she could convince the Dupain-Cheng’s to let her get one of her own. She wandered around and tried to help where she could, but it seemed like everyone knew what to do besides her. That was until Anarka came and told her to get her son, Luka, from his room. When she got to his room and they made eye contact both stared at the other in complete and utter shock.

“Möckel! I-I haven’t seen you in aw-

“It’s Luka.”

He said quickly, cutting her off. His eyes scanned the room frantically as if someone were hiding in the shadows just waiting to attack him.

“Oh-,”

Marin furrowed her brows in confusion. Did she mix him up with someone else? She had heard about doppelgängers before, maybe that's what this was? Under her breath she muttered,

“I thought it was Möckel…”

Luka hummed at that and once he was satisfied they were alone, leaned back and relaxed slightly against the wall.

“Möckel doesn’t exist.”

At his words things began to click into place, because she knew exactly what he meant by that statement. Marin tilted her head slightly as confusion and disbelief bled through her voice,

“You… you were undercover?”

“Yes.”

He stated simply, his eyes never leaving her form showing he was on guard even if he looked completely relaxed.

“You…infiltrated…”

At that Luka gave her a bright and smug smile. He was proud of this, he found victory from having done it.

“Yes.”

Marinette grimaced at that. She didn’t feel too terrible for never figuring it out as no one else had either, but still. She was supposed to be one of the best, and she failed…again. If he was aiming to kill her or anyone else in the League, would he have been successful?

“If mother knew she would have punished me for not knowing.”

Was all she could say to his smug response. At that his smile fell to one of sympathy and pain. After all he had seen her punishments, they were made public for a reason.

“Good thing they never found out then, huh?”

Marinette nodded dazedly before asking,

“How did… how long?”

Marin asked, her fingers twitching at her side in frustration.

“4 years?”

He said, or rather questioned. He and Marin had interacted a few times in the League, in fact he saw her as an almost friend in the death trap. He had never seen her like this before, this was all Marin, but it felt like she was falling apart here. Marin’s head snapped and she stared him directly in the eyes,

“How are you still alive?!”

She yelled almost incredulously.

Luka’s grin turned vicious as he stated,

“Killed in combat. Unit down.”

Marin hummed at that, calming down and letting her own body relax slightly.

“Quite sad they never found Möckel’s body.”

She said almost distantly, her eyes downcast with a sort of silent remembrance in her tone. Like she had lost something important, and even if she found it it would never be the same again. Luka nodded solemnly, remembering the battle and how all of his comrades had died. He was the only one to make it through. It was the perfect excuse to finally leave, to report to his superiors so that he could finally be reunited with his family.

“Yes.”

Was all he could say as the somberness of the conversation filled the room.

Suddenly yelling and loud noises filled the room from the outside and the ship was covered in dark purple bubbles transforming the ship into a modified red and black medieval pirate ship. The large round window was still there and thankfully open.

“Come on Luka, we have to get out of here!”

She said pointing to the window. He nodded and quickly stood up, but before either could get to the window loud footsteps sounded through the halls. Luka opened a door under the bed and pointed to it. Marin gulped but quickly got inside, already going into battle mode. Luka pushed her back in and started to act like she had escaped and he was about to join her. The door was burst open and she heard Anarka yell,

“Liberty, capture him.”

The sound of chains sounded and Möc-no, Luka’s body fell to the ground. Once she was sure she was alone she had Plagg pull the drawer out and she took a small gasp of breath, almost choking on open air.

“Alright Plagg, it’s time to get to work.”

Plagg sighed tiredly and stretched.

“Do we have to? I’m still tired.”

Marin smiled at her little friend and gently patted his head with one of her fingers.

“I promise that once this is over I’ll make you some Camembert Danish.”

“Deal!”

“Alright, Plagg claws out.”

She whispered, afterall, she didn’t need anyone to hear her and figure it out. She snuck out through the window and took stock of her surroundings. They were passing by other concerts, both large and small, and they were getting far too close to the land.

“Liberty, fire!”

She watched as the sets and everything around it crumpled and died with the canon balls. Cries and Screams pierced the air, she felt terrible with how the familiar noises almost seemed to put her mind at ease. Quickly she made her move, blending in with the shadows as she tried to figure out what the object that needed to be broken was.

And just her luck, she saw Mr. Bug swinging on the opposite side of where she was, easily distracting the Akumatized victim. That wasn’t good for long term reasons, but it was good for now. She needed to be careful though because if she was given even an ounce of good luck, it could only mean there would be Hell to pay later.

She quietly climbed onto the deck, keeping to the shadowed areas of the ship creeping closer and closer to where the civilians were tied together in the center of the ship. She needed to do this carefully, she couldn’t risk being spotted by the Akuma, but she also needed the kids to talk to her in case they knew where the corrupted bug was. She quickly glanced over and watched as Mr. Bug was able to deflect the chains with his yo-yo causing the Akuma to be even angrier than before, placing even more of her focus into catching him. Good. The tip of her tail began to whip side to side as excitement filled her bones. This thrill, the life or death of it all is what she lived for. It wasn’t a game to her, she knew how serious this was, but she had lived her entire life like this, she was far too desensitized to ever feel the fear of this line of work ever again.

She reached into her belt and pulled out three small orbs that would explode on impact, each with a different purpose. One would be smoke, the next would be an explosive, and the last one she would be able to channel her power into without having to activate her Cataclysm. With practiced ease she threw the explosive at the Akuma, the smoke bomb at the group of kids, but held onto the last one. She didn’t have time to focus on the Akuma and Chat, her first priority was information, so she ran as fast as she possibly could toward the kids.

They were coughing slightly, but it didn’t matter right now.

“Do any of you know where the Akuma may be?”

She demanded as soon as she was in front of them.

“Huh, Kaus Noir!”

One of them gasped excitedly.

“Yes, now tell me, where is the Akuma?”

“It’s the compass! A police officer came and asked if we had a docking permit, but Mom refused to show it to them. He kept giving her senseless tickets, and I saw it fly into the Cabin.”

Juleka all but muttered.

“Thank you, I’ll take care of it.”

Marin’s senses were on high alert as her ears perked up at the sound of chains coming straight for her. She dodged with easy grace, grabbing her staff from its holster at her lower back and extending it. Now out of the smoke she could see what had happened. Mr. Bug had seemed to tire the woman out quite a bit, but she had been able to chain him to the mast. She wore an almost gleeful smirk, her eyes bright like she had already won.

“I have your bug, and if you don’t want me to run him through, you’ll hand me your Miraculous!”

Anarka demanded while pointing her sword towards Marin dramatically. Marin simply rolled her eyes before she threw the small ball at the chains, letting them quickly decay.

“You don’t scare me, and I have more tricks up my sleeve than you’ll ever know.”

She watched as the boy jumped, landing right next to her while swinging his yo-yo in a large circle so fast it became a shield. She stayed next to him, letting him deflect the oncoming chains.

“What's the plan Kaus?”

He asked, not even breathless. Maybe she didn’t give him enough credit, he’s fairing far better than she thought he would these last few weeks. She was slowly starting to trust him, and him her, it was strange.

“Witness said that the Akuma is in the compass in the Cabin. If you can keep her distracted a little longer I can destroy the object.”

Mr. Bug nodded.

“I’ll separate from you, so be ready for an incoming of chains.”

With her confirming nod, he moved away, racing towards Anarka at a high velocity that can only be attributed to the Miraculous. Marin twirled her staff in a similar manner that Mr. Bug did his yo-yo, allowing her to block the chains and shield herself. It didn’t take long for her to reach the Cabin. Where there was once a simple wooden door now stood a large iron door with slithering chains. She was hidden in a dark shadow, but she could tell Anarka was looking for her. It was a pattern, she would fight Bug for 45 seconds before she would glance around for 5. After the third time Marin began her work, the timer ticking down in her mind as focussed her energy into one more orb, this one draining her Cataclysm only a little. She threw the orb at the door and smiled as it disappeared into ash, but now Anarka was racing towards her, riding the chains. Marin ran into the small room yelling Cataclysm and placing her hand against the compass. As soon as her hand brushed the device the chains encompassed her body, but it was too late, the device was already decaying.

“NO! What have ye done?”

Anarka yelled, falling onto her knees as purple consumed her once more. She watched as Mr. Bug threw his yo-yo at the corrupted creature, capturing it before releasing its purified form back to the wild. Yes, the wild, she had placed tracks on some of the other ones and none of them ever led back to anywhere except parks and the like. She watched as he also threw a giant pair of chain breakers into the air, causing millions of Ladybugs to fly around all of Paris, fixing all of the damage that occurred, and removing the chains from around her.

Mr. Bug lent his arm towards her, and for once, she accepted it, letting him pull her to her feet. He smiled at her and held out his fist. Dick had always done something similar, he had called it a “fist pump”. She returned that as well, he smiled brightly at her, and though she didn’t feel butterflies or anything flying in her stomach, she felt settled. Calm. It was a nice change of pace.

“Great job today Kaus.”

“Yea, not bad yourself Mr. Bug.”

Both of their miraculous beeped, and with one last curt nod, she ran off the boat, only to subtly arch back to land back into Moc-LUKA’S room once more.

“Claws off.”

She whispered letting Plagg fly out before hiding him back in her purse where she kept cheddar cheese, because she was not smelling like camembert. He would get lots of that back in the apartment so it wasn’t like she wasn’t meeting his needs. Luka burst through the room with wide eyes that almost seemed frightened. He looked scared, accusatory, and almost…guilty.

“I don’t like small spaces.”

She stated, crossing her arms, as if that’s why he was looking at her like she had done something she shouldn’t have.

“I know, sorry. It was the only place to hide you.”

He whispered, never leaving his spot right in front of the door. They stayed silent for a few moments longer before he finally asked,

“Why are you here? Who’s your target?”

And didn’t that just hurt. It felt like she had been slapped in the face, but she didn’t let him see that.

“I’m not here for the League, I left it. They have no control over me. I am here because I want to live my life free of anyone. I’m here to make my own decisions, I am not here to kill.”

She stated, looking into his eyes the entire time with a hard conviction. He stared back at her, familiar blue, calculating eyes trying to piece together her words. Find a hidden meaning where there was none, look for the lie where she only said her truth.

“Very well, but if I catch even a whiff of you trying to hurt my friends or family, I will not hesitate to expose you. I may not be able to defeat you, but I can take you down with me.”

And with that, he turned and left, leaving her alone, fists clenched and face expressionless. She could feel Plagg nuzzling her hip through the purse, it grounded her, made her feel warm, but it didn’t take away the loathing that began to once again squirm through her entire being.

___________

Two weeks after that day Jason was staring at his little sister in shock as she told him what had happened that day. It's a real experience to see someone so bright and full of life… just break and melt down in front of you.

* It's a real experience to see someone you’ve loved for quite some time… just drop dead all in the span of a second.

It's a real experience to see someone’s life flash on and off repeatedly for 5 minutes until… it never turns on again.

It becomes a real experience.

Until it's an everyday experience.

She hates it. Jason hates it, especially when he has to see it every time Marinette fades away to Marin. He loved her, they kept each other sane while I’m the League and always had the others back. Nothing would ever change that.

“Möckel is alive. He goes by Luka now. He had infiltrated the League.”

She said, spitting out the last sentence like it was an insult to her very being. And in a way, it was.

“I know.”

Jason stated and that had Marin snapping her head to stare at him like he was insane. He was worried she had given herself whiplash.

“You-you knew and you did not say anything?!”

“Well, I kept a close eye on him and threatened him. But you two were getting close and you needed another person you could trust in your life. Didn’t want to take that away unless I had to.”

It was silent for a few minutes. Then Marin whispered,

“Möckel was a mask. It didn’t take control of his life. Luka is real.”

Jason was confused and didn’t understand where this was headed. But he was sure it was nowhere good.

“I don’t- it’s like my emotions are shut off. I’m me, but I’m not me. I’m here, but I’m not here. I speak and I listen and I see people, but I’m not THERE. I'M NOT F*ING REAL-“

“Marin-“

Jason said softly as he tried to take her hand in his. She moved it away quickly and hugged herself as warm tears fell down her cheeks and a sob escaped her lips.

“I’m not real. My emotions aren’t real. I’m not real. I’ve never been real. Marinette,”

She spat the name like it was the most disgusting poison she had tasted,

“is real. Alice is real. Hailey is real! All my molds are real, but I’M NOT! I'M NOT REAL!”

Jason was at a loss for words and it hurt to see her like this. To finally have her walls fall down around her as she sobbed. Carefully Jason maneuvered her so that she was seated in his lap while he hugged her to his chest as tightly as he could while not crushing her. He placed a gentle kiss to the crown of her head and whispered,

“Marin, you are-“

“I’M NOT!”

She screamed, banging her fists harshly against his chest, face buried against his neck.

Jason was silent, letting her have a moment while he compiled his thoughts. He, like the rest of his emotionally constipated family, was never great with words. He had known her for so long, so many years. He knew so many of her molds by heart, her fears, her triggers, when she was actually happy and sad, he knew her better than Damian ever would know her. Where Dick was like a father to Damian, the same could be said of him with Marinette.

He had always wondered when this breakdown would happen, it was a long time coming, and now that it was here he didn’t know what to do. He knew that she had never had the opportunity to really let herself just be, especially when she was stuck with Bruce. It turns out that seeing Möckel, or rather “Luka”, had been the thing to finally tip her over the edge. Jason carefully ran his fingers through her hair, gently removing the knots and running his fingers softly against her scalp. Slowly her sobs petered down to hiccups and eventually to small sniffles. Jason was very happy that they were in one of his safe houses instead of the bakery for this conversation.

“Marin, and yes, I mean Marin, please listen to what I’m saying.”

A pause,

“I promise you, that you are not fake. I have known you longer than Damian has, better than anyone ever will, or at least that’s what I’d like to believe. I know who you are, you are strong, resilient, fierce, a bit of a prankster, a smartalec, and a little s*.”

“So you admit it,”

Marinette sniffled with a small chuckle.

“I am a little s*.”

Jason smirked and rolled his eyes at that.

“Yea, I admit it, you really are. But, in a good way, because your my Little S*.”

“You really believe that Marin is real?”

She asked hesitantly. Jason gave her a small smile and ruffled her head, earning a sharp slap.

“Of course. I know for a fact this isn’t a mold, a facade, this is what you really feel. This is all Marin, no one else.”

“Jason.”

She muttered,

“Hmm?”

“I’m tired.”

“I believe you. Why don’t you take a break. I’ll text Sabine and Tom if you want to spend the night.”

“Yes please.”

“Alright. I’ll do it when you're ready, and don’t you dare force yourself.”

“Yes, Sir.”

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