#Then he takes Kagami to the park to play catch or some shit

[autoauthor]

Android AU Endings (Part 1 : Android Victories)

Thanks to the lovely @doveywovy and everyone else who gave that AU lots of love. You all inspired me to keep thinking about that universe and its possible conclusions. Here's half the endings I've come up with so far.

Ending 1: Izuna keeps Tobirama drugged and oblivious.

Inspired by a time when Tobirama was sick under his care, Izuna keeps Tobirama completely reliant on him using chemical means. Tobirama is so out of it that he doesn't realize anything is wrong - Izuna is careful to obscure the passage of time. The androids win and Tobirama is none the wiser. (Cute, domestic, incredibly fucking toxic. What more could you ask for?)

Ending 2: Tobirama is restrained but still fighting.

At some point, Tobirama caught on to the androids' plans and fought back. Izuna subdued him and is now keeping him captive in his own home. Sometimes he's lulled into complacency by the domesticity of the situation. Sometimes Izuna drugs him until he forgets why he should be wary. Either way, Izuna is watching him 24/7 from every corner of his home. Escape is unlikely. (Stockholm syndrome may be widely disputed but I mean c'mon we all know that's where this is going)

Ending 3: Tobirama dies trying to stop the androids.

Tobirama fails in a final last stand and is killed for it. Maybe he even decides to choose death when Izuna offers him a way out. The androids accomplish their dastardly goal, however, victory feels hollow for Izuna. (Izuna's breakdown may lead to an eventual human victory much later down the line. Absolutely no one wins in any case.)

Ending 4: Tobirama almost succeeds but can't follow through.

Tobirama's plan is carried out flawlessly. He's in the perfect position to shut down all the androids and free humanity. Right when victory is within reach - he looks at Izuna - and gives up. Tobirama is wracked with guilt over betraying humanity. Izuna gives him many freedoms for choosing to side with him. (Good ending?)

[feminaexlux]

Black Cats are Some Kind of Luck

Oh god this might just be a little bit of a crack fic but I had way too much fun writing this.

Rated M, probably? Iunno. LukaNoire!

∴

In most of the mornings Luka had in his life after toddlerhood he woke up alone in his bed. When Juleka was younger, maybe a toddler herself, she had dragged him out of his bed to hide under a blanket on the floor when she had nightmares. Anarka would find her babies in a tangled nest, since sleeping on the floor meant finding no monsters under the bed to very young imaginative minds.

This morning he woke up with… someone else snuggled next to him. Someone who looked a lot like Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

He hadn't gone to sleep that way. Pretty sure of that. He was and had been sober.

He had no idea what happened.

Gently he pried himself away from her, extricating himself carefully from her grasp. He took a quick look around his room and yep, this was his room in his flat that he shared with his best friend. His guitars were hung up against the walls, his music sheet paper was on his desk in random piles, his hoodie was thrown over his desk covering his laptop.

But it was Marinette. In his bed. Oh god, he thought, HOW was she here? Somewhere deep down inside of him he didn't find the idea of him waking up next to her unwelcome but… there was a natural progression to things. Sure, he'd been in love with her for years but she was Marinette Dupain-Cheng the up-and-coming fashion star and personal designer for Jagged Stone. He was just Luka. He hadn't ever given himself even the slimmest of chances when she was Marinette and she had her eyes on Adrien Agreste, the supermodel and son of Gabriel, who ran the most prominent design house in France. She was probably 2 standard deviations out of his league.

"Shit," he whispered to no one in particular. He checked himself over and double checked that he was sober and dressed (oh god we didn't… did we?). She was wearing her pajamas and it didn't look like they did anything so that wasn't going to cause an immediate meltdown. He should probably wake her up and… figure out what happened. He knelt by the edge of the bed and gently shook her by the shoulder. "Hey. Marinette?"

"Mnnng," she groaned, eyebrows furrowing as she frowned. She grabbed at his blankets and pulled them in toward her, then started opening her eyes. "Hi," she said, lazily smiling up at him. She must still have been waking up, but if she smiled like that to whoever she woke up next to he'd happily have them both go back to sleep just so they'd wake up together again.

"Do you know where you are?" He asked. Maybe there'd been an akuma attack and she got teleported here? He wasn't sure. "You're in my room. Do you remember how you got here?"

"Yeah," she yawned. "I cam--" Her eyes shot wide open mid-word and she slapped her hands over her mouth. "Th-there was an akuma!"

∴

Oh god, she almost said she came here on purpose, and not because she'd been high as a kite on whatever kitty hormones had coursed through her veins while she was Lady Noire.

Well, she couldn't blame it just on the kitty hormones. Regular hormones were bad enough. And if she was even more honest with herself she had wanted to wake up next to Luka Couffaine, the gentleman rocker, ever since she found herself thinking about blues more than greens, distressed more than clean and crisp, shy but warm laughter more than confused smiles.

So basically for a couple of years now.

She should have seen it coming. When she and Mister Bug decided to swap permanently she'd been informed by Plagg that should she choose it, she'd be able to tap into some latent powers with the side effect of being more like the animal the Miraculous represented. She didn't think it'd be a problem so she chose it. Cats just slept all the time. If she didn't have to worry about being Ladybug anymore she could afford more sleep, right?

What she didn't really account for (and she should have after a facepalm worthy moment where she realized Plagg had been teasing it all along) was the heat. Or whatever it was that made her way more… touch-oriented, and way less inhibited than usual.

She'd been alright with napping more often. She'd been alright about unconsciously licking her hands clean. It was convenient that she was the daughter of bakers and helped out making pastries. She was practically covered in flour and sugar all the time anyway (regardless, she always washed her hands after). She didn't have a tail to swish around whenever she was annoyed so nothing about her was more cat-like than usual. Though she was annoyed more often now that she thought about it.

The cat-ness also severely affected her sense of smell.

She wasn't alright with how good some people smelled, especially near her period. When she and Kagami were having a juice date Marinette legitimately drooled at how vibrantly citrusy the fencer was. Alya, Nino, and most of Kitty Section smelled pleasant. Her parents smelled… well, familiar, which was to be expected. Adrien also smelled familiar, which was unexpected.

Luka was the worst. She couldn't place the scent but she kept thinking of blueberries, sea salt, chocolate, ocean waves lapping at her feet, the warmth of a crackling bonfire with the cooling sea breeze, and how badly she wanted to curl herself around him and take in his everything. It wasn't just near her period. It was all the time.

It seemed like after the late-night/early-morning akuma attack she had nearly gone ahead and wrapped herself around him in her kitty hormone addled brain. God, he had smelled so good and her brain had still been fuzzy at the edges when he woke her up, but she had quickly gotten to her senses after he had looked a little panicked and she had noticed that she was detransformed.

She couldn't blame him for being panicked. If the situation was reversed she might have screamed and tossed him across the Seine.

"I'm… I'm so sorry, Luka," she said in her own panic. She looked off to the side and nervously played with the rose-gold ring on her right hand, wondering where Plagg had gone. She looked back at Luka when he blew out a relieved sigh.

"Hey, it was the akuma," he laughed. "You alright? Not hurt anywhere?"

"I'm alright, yeah," she answered, then suddenly frowned. Plagg, that little shit, what the hell was he doing? She found him laying on top of Luka's head, smiling a wide Cheshire cat smile.

"I don't know why the miraculous ladybugs didn't drop you off back home," Luka said, sounding like he was talking more to himself than to her. "Maybe it works differently for Mister Bug?"

Marinette could definitely fudge it and say that the Miraculous Ladybugs kinda… skipped her. "Haha, maybe I was too far from them?" Marinette forced a laugh.

Luka shrugged. "Still, I'm guessing you'd wanna go back home, right?"

Hmm, not really. And well, her ride back home was currently lounging in Luka's hair. She reached out a hand to try to catch Plagg but the kwami slipped out of her grasp. She ended up just… petting Luka. "Oh! S-sorry you had something in your hair," she said quickly, trying to cover up her embarrassment.

"Thanks?" He said, a deep blush rising up to his cheeks. He swept his hair back after Marinette reluctantly drew back her hand and for a long moment Marinette just stared. The younger Couffaines had a mild tendency to hide behind brightly colored bangs when they were feeling shy, but Luka had as much unconventional beauty packed in his features as Juleka did.

And Juleka could very well be a supermodel if she wanted.

"I'll give you a ride back on my bike. Is that alright?" He asked as his blush faded. He still looked a little nervous with his hand on the back of his neck.

"I'd love a ride," she said absently, another yawn overtaking her. Ugh, his bed was so warm and smelled so nice and she would most definitely like to ride him--ride with him, WITH him, WITH him. Yeah, she should go home now before she ruined everything.

At least, that had been the plan. They had gone down to the garage and chatted lightly after getting geared up one after the other, both more than thankful that Luka's roommate was dead asleep in the other room. The ride was smooth and relatively short so she hadn't been thinking about how she wanted to feel him under her the whole time, no, not at all. He parked nearby as her housing complex had like, no available spaces, and walked the block and a half to her apartment with her so she could get out of the borrowed gear without going barefoot in her pajamas.

As he was heading out with the spare gear over his arms, she stopped him. "Thanks for getting me home and… for everything. I'm… I'm glad I didn't end up anywhere else," Marinette said with a shy smile. She got up on her toes and kissed him on the cheek.

"No problem," he said slowly, mostly surprised with a blush creeping over his face. "See you later?"

She had a giant yawn escape her after she closed the door and started walking back to her bedroom. Plagg zipped out of her pajama pants pocket to float in front of her. "Yanno you kissed him on the mouth, right?" he snickered.

∴

Luka slowly leaned forward and rested his head against her door. Had she just kissed him? Had she just kissed him and he said "see you later" like a dumbass? He tried to stifle a groan and pressed his head harder into the door when the door swung open away from him with surprising speed. Three things worked against him as he tried to recover from stumbling forward: being caught off guard, his arms already carrying stuff that made him unbalanced, and gravity.

Good thing Marinette was there to break his fall. The bad thing was Marinette had some really amazing reflexes and honed self-defense skills because she guided his momentum into throwing him onto the floor, landing him on his back. She gasped, covering her mouth with her hands after realizing what she had done. "Oh my god! Luka are you okay?!"

"Don't know," he said, blinking up at the ceiling. He'd been dressed for the slide but definitely felt hit by a truck after she'd kissed him. "Probably," he said after a beat. "Was that an accident?"

"… Yeah, I don't usually throw you to the ground?" Marinette replied, confused.

"No, you kissed me."

She made a couple of noises that sounded like abortive starts at sentences. "I… guess I don't usually do that either," she ultimately sighed, pressing one delicate hand to her very red cheeks. She knelt down next to him and brushed his hair away from his eyes. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'll be okay if you kiss me again," he said, thinking he'd be able to get away with ha, just kidding if she wasn't into it but desperately hoping she would be. Something in her expression shifted and he almost felt his soul leave his body. He started propping himself up by his hands looking for the gear that got flung aside when he was pulled up the rest of the way to sitting by his jacket collar.

He got hit by another metaphorical truck. She pressed her lips to his, which was pretty great by itself but then it got more and intense and open and she unbuttoned his collar and zipped down his jacket. The temperature of the room instantly got stifling and he was sure part of his brain melted.

She pulled back a bit and they got a few breaths of air. He should have used that time to ask Can this be an every day thing but then she licked her lips and all coherent thoughts evaporated. He didn't notice that she successfully tugged his jacket off. Didn't feel it when he got pushed back down. Did notice when she sat on his lap and leaned forward to kiss him hard over and over again. He only heard the faintest buzz of his phone that had almost been drowned out by her tiny, breathy moans, and that had only sunk in and registered after she sat back up and growled at it.

She picked it up and nearly threw it against her couch except she caught a glimpse of something and said "Goddamn it."

It wasn't his finest moment. "Huh?"

"Akuma. Sorry, Luka!" She took his hands off of her ass and jumped up. Somehow she hauled him up to his feet and pushed him out the still opened door, pressing his jacket and phone into his hands. "I'll get the rest of the stuff to you later okay? I'm so sorry!"

"Wait. Hold on, what--" She cut him off by kissing him again, which was a surprisingly effective tactic.

"I'll meet you for lunch, but for now I gotta g--hide! Be safe! Sorry!" Then the door slammed shut.

The phone buzzed in his hand and he took a look at the notifications. They were all from his roommate, the bastard.

Just now Di © K: Hope ur ok where ever the fuck u r

One minute ago Di © K: Shit akuma

Two minutes ago Di © K: Oi whered u go

Three minutes ago Di © K: ? Di © K: Lulu Di © K: Heeeeey Di © K: Hey

… Didn't the whole thing with akumas mean he should have stayed indoors? With her?

He wasn't sure he could sit on his bike comfortably for the next little while anyway.

∴

Mister Bug swore almost every other akuma was some damned mind-control wizard. Of course it had to be one of those today, and of course today Lady Noire was especially pissed off so she was slightly more reckless than usual. Which was saying something, as Mister Bug had seen her go on a rampage not 8 hours ago and that had been one of the quickest akuma fights he'd ever seen. Seen and not participated in, as he'd been left nothing but cleanup.

Heatstroke or whatever had literally thrown the akumatized object at Lady Noire's feet after she had beaten and clawed the shit out of him. He was cowering in the relative security of a dumpster bin when Mister Bug found him.

She must have really loved her sleep. It'd been maybe 2am?

This latest akuma called herself the Directator. She'd been managing a movie set and of course something had gone wrong early in the day. So Hawky gave her the power to truly direct everything to her heart's desire or similar bullshit like that. Mister Bug and Lady Noire took maybe a few minutes to try to figure things out when Lady Noire skipped straight to the attack phase, beating Directator with the director's chair.

He should have noticed that she was ready to pounce when Lady Noire's ears were angled back and her electric green tail was whipping back and forth in a threatening fashion. She'd been way more actual-cat-like than he ever was as Chat Noir.

Directator panicked and commanded Lady Noire to 1) stop attacking her, 2) put the director's chair down gently, 3) be a nice kitty, 4) take off and go.

Mister Bug spent the next few minutes chasing after Lady Noire. When he finally caught up with her and stopped her, she put up her hands. He sighed with relief that she still wanted to work with him. He'd been relieved all up until she started slapping him with those hands and he fell back in surprise. She took off again.

It looked like she was heading in a particular direction so, after deciding to stay back a bit, Mister Bug trailed after her to see where she ended up. He didn't have to wait too long until she stopped running across the rooftops and dropped down to street level, where she seemed to chat up a dude in full riding gear next to a motorcycle. The next thing he saw was Lady Noire taking motorcycle guy by the waist and using her baton to propel them both to the roof of the tallest nearby building.

Maybe he should… do something about that? Especially since it seemed like Motorcycle Guy was screaming out a "what the fuuuuck".

Mister Bug went after them and found Motorcycle Guy sitting against the raised ledge of the building with Lady Noire curled up against him, sitting on his lap. Adrien coughed to hide and try to suppress his laughter. Motorcycle Guy raised his visor (oh hey, it was Luka) and asked "What's going on?"

Before Mister Bug could answer Lady Noire leapt up and stamped her foot in front of Adrien. "No! He's mine! Leave us alone!!" she hissed.

"I'm what?" Luka said incredulously.

Mister Bug backed up a few steps to placate her. "Yeah, okay," he chuckled. "You're being a nice kitty, right?"

She huffed and crossed her arms. "I'm always nice."

"You're right. So the nice kitty will let me talk to her friend for a minute, right? 'Cause you're such a nice Lady Noire?"

"Only a minute," she said unhappily. She was pouting.

"Great!" Mister Bug said cheerfully. He walked over to Luka and contemplated what to do on the way.

∴

(Just a bit earlier)

Where had Marinette disappeared to? Luka had knocked several times after she shut him out but she didn't answer. He pressed his ear against the door to see if he could hear anything but it was dead silent on the other side. She wouldn't have made out with him and thrown him out like this and ghosted him… would she? It didn't seem like a Marinette thing. Not that he was an expert in all things Marinette… one day he'd like to see if she'd let him become one though.

He had loitered around her place for probably 20 minutes trying to convince himself to not break in and find out what happened. He'd have to respect her privacy and he did, really, but the last akuma attack magically teleported her to his someone else's bed and his thoughts were slowly spiraling into dangerous territory, where he imagined her ending up in Adrien's bed and her realizing she had better people than Luka to roll around under the bedcovers with.

Be cool, man, he thought at himself. Not going to help anyone if he suffered a mental breakdown. There might be a non-zero chance that she ended up back at his place? Okay that seemed too optimistic but… he should probably let his flatmate know he was fine and that he was heading back anyway.

He walked out to his bike after putting his jacket back on and unlocked the rear seat off to get to his helmet. He'd been ready to get back on the bike and ride off when he heard more than saw someone plunk down next to him. He turned and Lady Noire was looking directly at him. "Hi Luka," she said. "I need you."

"For the akuma?" He asked. Maybe he needed to be Viperion again? "Okay?" She rushed in and threw him over her shoulder, then they were a hundred meters in the air. "What the fuck?!"

He got plopped down against the ledge of the building and then she sat curled up on him. It might have been his imagination but… she was purring? This was… not making any sense at all. Luka saw Mister Bug land on the roof and the spotted hero managed to get Lady Noire off of him for a minute.

Mister Bug walked over and sighed before talking with Luka. That was a bad sign. "I'm sorry to have to ask this, but could you… stay with her until I can deal with this akuma? I just needed to know she's safe and in one place."

"… What?"

"Mind control akuma. Lady Noire's been hit with some weird commands." Mister Bug paused and looked thoughtful. "Hmm, I don't know, actually. Seems like she's just doing whatever she wants to outside of being ordered to leave the scene."

"Can't you fix that? Or… maybe get me out of here?"

"It'll be fixed after I deal with the akuma. I don't know if you noticed but Kitty here has been pretty extreme recently. Might be safer for everyone, including both me and you, if she's here and not ordered to Cataclysm anyone or anything." Mister Bug dropped his voice to a whisper. "Never thought she'd be a loose cannon. She might just attack me again so I'm not going to tempt fate if she just wants to hang out with you." Mister Bug shrugged at Luka. "Hey, greater good and all that. I promise I'll fix this as soon as I can. Take care of her, alright?"

"Hey wait--" "Bug out!"

Mister Bug up and left them. Shit. Lady Noire came walking back and looked over the edge of the building to make sure Mister Bug was gone. She sat back down next to Luka. "Okay, good, it's just us!" she beamed, hugging him.

"Uh," Luka started uncomfortably. "Not… to try to make things any weirder, but… could you get off of me?"

She pulled back, looking hurt. "You don't like me?"

"I… don't know who you are. I mean as a person, not a superhero." Luka tried to say that gently enough to not set her off. "I might like you if I got to know you?" He backtracked, feeling unsure. "But I mean, I'm just not great with the touching. I'm… into someone and it feels wrong to have someone else be this close."

Her ears flattened out to the side. "Who's that?" she asked, half sad and half… bitter? He felt like he just waded into turbulent waters. He didn't want to throw anyone under the Lady Noire murder bus, least of all Marinette.

"I'll tell you if you stay here," he compromised, hoping that he didn't just sign any death warrants. "Besides, you know her already. She usually chases after you."

"Alya?!" Lady Noire was shocked.

"No, Marinette? She always runs out to--"

"But I'm Marinette."

"… You. You're Marinette? Marinette Du--"

"Dupain-Cheng, yeah. That's me."

Oh. "… I thought you weren't supposed to tell anyone who you were?"

She snorted. "I can do whatever I want!" She leaned in closer. "So does this mean I can touch you again?"

∴

It was just a few moments shy of Mister Bug letting the ladybugs set everything back to normal, so he ignored the notification on his yo-yo from Lady Noire. He checked it after and saw one line: "Taking Luka home now! ;)" Oh boy. Well, she should be relatively okay now. Luka would be fine.

Hopefully…

∴

Lady Noire started whining and that whine turned into a full blown scream in the middle of dropping from the roof, just as the Miraculous Cure worked its magic over her. Luckily she still landed softly enough while she held onto Luka, so it wasn't that she had lost control or anything. She immediately jumped away from him after setting him on his feet.

"Oh my god I am so, so, so, so sorry Luka," she cried, covering her entirely red face with her hands.

"Thank god you're back to normal," Luka sighed, leaning back against the building.

"Any chance you could forget all that?" Lady Noire asked nervously, dropping her hands back to fiddle with her baton. She looked like she wanted to leave Earth as soon as she possibly could.

All that included him taking his helmet off, her crawling back into his lap and grinding herself against him, her ripping apart his jacket and shirt (they were fixed now), peppering him with kisses and tiny bites everywhere, and doing all of this while she was Marinette Dupain-Cheng underneath it all. He did his best to keep up and reciprocate but she was superpowered. She barely let him breathe but he survived. And he'd enjoyed it. He had enjoyed the hell out of it. But at the same time he had gotten thoroughly overwhelmed.

He didn't want to forget all that, but… "I can if you want me to," he sighed. She'd been mind-controlled, after all. "It was all the akuma, right?" Too bad. "What… about earlier?"

She opened her mouth to reply but inhaled too quickly and started coughing. "Um, I…" She coughed again. "Er. Um…" She bit her lip and looked down, muttering something to herself.

∴

Goddamn it, Plagg. Plagg had mentally kicked her and the voice in her head said "Cat's already outta the bag, toots, you've been wanting to mount that guy for-e-ver. Don't you dare take it back." It startled her enough to cause her to choke on air.

"Um, I… Er. Um…" She kicked at the ground. She wanted this. She wanted this. No mind-influencing akuma had told her to kiss him, that had been completely her. "No, don't… don't forget anything. I wanted all that," she sighed. "It was all me."

He raised his helmet visor to get a better look at her. "Are you sure?"

She nodded and looked back up at him. "I'm sure. I… kinda want to continue, too?"

It sounded like he choked. "I… wouldn't mind that."

She glanced back at her apartment a few blocks away. "See you in a few?"

∴

(Some time later)

Luka hadn't completely gotten used to waking up with someone else in bed. He wasn't sure if he ever would, since every time he woke up next to Marinette it'd been nothing short of amazing and he'd felt like he was dreaming but no, she was actually there.

Occasionally he'd have to deal with waking up in the middle of the night because she'd leave for patrol, or had come back from it to snuggle back into his arms. It wasn't really a problem because they were together in the morning.

He didn't really miss waking up alone.

[spooky-z]

Confident

It's time to get the chains out

Is your tongue tied up?

'Cause this is my ground

And I'm dangerous

And you can get off

But it's all about me tonight

Confident – Demi Lovato

××××××

Warning: Adrien and Marinette's potty mouth

@ozmav @maribat-archive

××××××

 "Do you think she'll like it?" Damian asks, his worried face.

"Absolutely." Jason whistles, enjoying the breathtaking view.

He hoped his brother was right.

•••••

Marinette was... bored.

Chloe hadn't come to school today because Kagami was going to travel to Tokyo and she wanted to say goodbye to her girlfriend at the airport.

Because she's a drama queen.

Her class was once again around Lila, eating everything she spat out of that lying mouth.

At least Adrien had stopped covering her and was now helping Marinette when Lila tried to hit her.

The class was not happy with any of the three (Adrien, Marinette and Chloe), but neither did they exclude them. At Lila's request, of course. She wouldn't let Adrien go like this without a fight.

"... Then Damiboo took me for a romantic picnic in the garden of Wayne Mansion." Marinette felt bile rise in her throat, but swallowed back. "He has a motorcycle, but he loves me so much that he was afraid I would fall out of it, so the driver, Alberto, took us for a ride around Gotham."

How could people believe this? For real. Marinette seriously doubted whether her classmates still had working neurons. Even a monkey could tell what was true and what was pure shit.

But she had already given up on them. It was no longer her problem.

Her cell phone buzzed twice signaling that she had received a message.

Bǎobèi: Angel, did you dress like I asked?

Marinette smiles, but bites her lips to avoid questions.

Habib: Maybe... You didn't tell me why. And I am waiting.

She had dressed as Damian had requested.

Leather pants, boots, a leather jacket as well. Underneath she had a plain, loose-fitting white T-shirt.

She still didn't understand why the request and Damian didn't tell.

Bǎobèi: Wait for you at the school entrance at break. Do not be late!

Marinette straightened in her chair.

Damian was coming for her?!

Habib: Are you coming here?

Habib: Dami?

Habib: ?

Habib: Hello?

She drops the phone giving up on getting an answer for now. It was only five minutes before the break.

“... My God, girl! You're so lucky!” She hears Alya scream “Damian Wayne at your feet!”

And there we go again.

•••••

When it gave two minutes for the bell to sound, the loud sound of two bikes was heard throughout the school.

High performance bikes.

And Marinette thought it would be too much of a coincidence that Damian would come and pick her up, soon after, bikes prowling the school.

The class looked confused at each other. Kim looked excited with the expectation of ... something? Marinette didn't understand very much what was going on in the boy's head.

Alya had the sparkle in the eye of the one who found the exclusive of the day. Lila seemed to be up to something and Adrien... Poor baby, sleeping as if he'd been kept awake for a whole week.

Which was probably true, given that Mr. Agreste was a dick. Marinette has never hated an adult as much as she hates him.

"OH MY GOD THAT IS DAMIAN WAYNE?!" someone shouted in the courtyard and the class got surprised.

“Hey, isn't Damian Wayne your boyfriend's name, Lila?” Mylene asks innocently.

Marinette suspects that her classmate is not as stupid as the others. She always seemed to know things you don't want anyone to know.

Adrien wakes up scared, his face scrunched up and his eyes heavy.

"What is it?" He asks.

“Lila's boyfriend Damian Wayne is here at school!” Alya gushes excitedly.

The blonde tilts his head in confusion. “Lila's boyfriend? But he wasn't-“

“It can't be my Damiboo because he went on a business trip with other billionaires.” Lila quickly cuts Adrien knowing that he would say something against her.

This is when the bell rings and everyone seems to jump out of their chairs and leave the room. Curiosity eroding them.

Even Lila ran.

That left only Adrien (who looked like a cat, sprawled on the table) and Marinette, who was waiting for Damian's message.

She goes to Adrien, worried about her friend.

"Chaton, you don't look well." She strokes the blonde's head, hearing the soft purr coming from him.

He turns his head to look at her.

"It's been a tough week for this cat, My Lady."

Plagg runs away from the bag just like Tikki, only to land on the boy's head.

“That miserable man that my kitten has as his father decided it would be a good idea to make a busy schedule to the brim of appointments for the whole month.” The god of destruction complains “If Tikki hadn't stopped me I would have totaled him already.”

Marinette smiles at him.

“Plagg, we already talked about it!” Tikki complains and the two starts arguing.

“Gabriel seems to be getting worse, Adrien.” Marinette says, “You're 18 years old soon, I think it's time for you to run away from him. Have your independence.”

The model rises from his chair, bag on his shoulder. He smiles at his friend.

“And I will.” She raises her eyebrow to show she wasn't having any of that. “Really! Luka has been helping me. As soon as I turn 18, I leave the mansion.”

Marinette smiles mischievously.

“Luka, huh?!” Adrien blushes at her tone. “You've been very close lately. Can I celebrate already? Because it was about time.”

She pokes him playfully.

“MARI!” He squeaks.

"What? It's true and you know it.”

“Alright!” He complains. “Now let's go, because I'm sure Lila must be trying her moves and Damian pissed off that he couldn't get rid of her and Alya.”

Marinette gets serious quickly.

"You're right! He's going to kill her!” She pulls Adrien out the door, their kwamis quickly hiding in their bags.

“Even, I must say, My Lady, you're divine in those clothes.” He says gallantly. “Makes a better cat than me. A total of 10/10.”

Marinette doesn't respond, just pulls the blonde harder through Dupont's corridors.

When they arrive at the school's front door, they come across the crowd of students. Everyone squeezing so they could see what was happening on the street.

“… What do you mean you don't recognize me, Damiboo?” Despite all the confusion, Marinette and Adrien were able to hear.

The brunette palmed her face, not believing what she was hearing.

“Look, she can be a liar and all, but you can't deny she has courage.” Adrien whistles.

"Too much courage." Mari observes. "Now help me through them."

"Right away, my lady!"

They start pushing people, apologizing when someone complains more strongly. Marinette thinks they lost two minutes pushing the students until they reached the top of the stairs.

“Holy shit.” Adrien sighs.

"Fuck." Marinette replies.

The scene was as follows:

On one side was Lila in Alya's arms pretending to cry, while Alya had the furious expression on her face. The class was close behind, anger was a joint feeling, from what Marinette could observe.

On the other side was Damian, all dressed in black leather, helmet in hand, and scornful expression.

A beautiful black Suzuki GSX R1000/R with red accents and an all-black Kawasaki ZZR1400 Ninja parked on the sidewalk.

"Look, I'm just going to talk one more time: I've never seen or met this girl in my life." His voice colder than the Antarctic glaciers. "I've only had one girlfriend in my life and I still keep dating her."

“Why are you lying, Damiboo? I thought we loved each other!” Lila pouted.

“Layla-“

"It's LILA." She growls.

"-LILA, unless you were born with the name Marinette and changed your identity from yesterday to today, you're not my girlfriend."

“Marinette? Like Marinette Dupain-Cheng? That Marinette?” Alya asks surprised.

"Yes. Marinette Dupain-Cheng. My girlfriend for three years.” He frowns “That’s late again.” And looks at Marinette standing at the top of the stairs. He smiled.

She takes her cue and jumps into his arms. The boy catches her effortlessly.

“Hey you.” She kisses his lips quickly. "Wǒ xiāng nǐ."

"I missed you too, Angel." He replies. "And I brought your gift for taking your license." And points to the parked Suzuki.

Marinette lets him go, the shock on her face.

"Wait! Is this my?!” She looks incredulous “Adrien comes here! I have a bike now!” She shouts at the blonde running down anxiously.

They were totally ignoring the rest of the class.

"Damian." He greets before going to see the Suzuki.

“Adrien.” The brunette greets back.

“Wait, wait, wait!” Alya demands, having already released Lila, very focused on trying to understand what was going on. The three stops to look at her. "Are you dating Damian Wayne, Marinette?"

"... Yes? I thought he already said that.” She answers placidly.

“And Lila? Are you stealing other people's man now?!” Alya was livid.

“I never thought you'd play so dirty, Marinette.” Lila sniffles. She would be a terrible actress, Jesus. "I know you hate me because all the boys you like end up coming to me, but I didn't think you would do anything like that."

Marinette feels a vein burst in her temple.

“Girl, you need urgent help! This is not healthy.” Alya supports Lila.

“… Are you telling me they really believe this?” Damian asks Adrien, not believing what he saw.

"Unfortunately."

"How can you handle it?"

“At the base of croissants and hot chocolate.”

Marinette snorts, looking like a bull.

"I won't argue with you." She says "I have more important things to do."

"Like me." Damian jokes maliciously.

Some students blush at the blatant joke.

“You two are gross.” Adrien scowls.

Marinette doesn't answer because she was admiring her motorcycle. Her wonderful, beautiful and powerful bike.

She was almost jumping with anxiety to run through the streets of Paris.

Mari rode the bike, testing the comfort, the pedals, and the accelerator. Not paying attention to the discussion going on between Adrien, the class, and Damian.

Maybe she was drooling a little.

"Bǎobèi!" Marinette calls, cutting off the discussion. "Can I take a walk with her?"

Damian smiles, delighted with the animation of his angel.

"Sure." He replies. "But first the helmet."

He goes to her, the black helmet in his hands and extends it to her.

Marinette runs her hands through her hair to fix it so that it doesn't fall into her eyes. They were much shorter than at 13. She had decided on an asymmetrical jaw-length cut.

She takes the helmet from Damian's hands and puts it on her head, pinning the buckle below her chin.

Damian adjusts to fit her helmet better and closes the leather jacket she wears, for better protection.

She turned to Adrien.

"How am I?" She poses.

“I would let you kidnap me. Approved.” He claps his hands. “If Damian wasn't here… Oh boy.” He shakes his eyebrows and Damian rolls his eyes.

“I'M TALKING TO YOU!” Lila screams angrily.

Adrien looks at Marinette.

"She was?"

Marinette shrugs.

“I don't care.” She turns the key to the bike, loving the sound. “Now get in loser we're going shopping.”

Adrien widens his eyes in surprise.

“Really?!” Marinette rolls her eyes at him before closing the helmet visor. "I'M GOING!"

He rides the bike holding tight to Marinette's arms, knowing she can take his weight.

Damian was already seated in Kawazaki, his helmet steady, when Adrien tightened his grip around Marinette.

“Let's bet who's the fastest, Wayne?” He says mischievously.

“Oh? Do you really want to bet a race sitting in the passenger seat?” Damian sneers.

Adrien seems to understand his situation, but it was too late.

"I accept the challenge. May the best win."

“Wai-” his voice was cut off by the acceleration Marinette gave.

Damian close behind.

The whole school stopped without understanding anything.

And Lila? Well, she kept talking to herself.

BONUS!

"Do you think Marinette would take me for a ride?" Alix sighed, a dreamy expression on her face.

"Marinette could take me with her anywhere." Kim replies, his face an exact copy of Alix. "Did you see how beautiful she was?"

"Yes..." They sigh together

"... So how long have they been like this?" Max asks Nathaniel.

The redhead shrugs.

“Since Adrien and Marinette left.”

"... That was an hour ago."

Nathaniel shrugs again.

[lnc2]

rattle my cage

Summary: In which history, despite Alya’s best efforts, does not repeat itself.

A commission from @booyahfuruya who requested Adrienette in the panther cage.

AO3

It was all Alya’s fault.

Not that she would ever admit to it.  If pressed she would adamantly insist it was all Nora’s doing.

Never mind that the tenacious blogger should have been babysitting and not chasing superheroes across the arrondissements– no, it was her sister’s overprotectiveness that landed Marinette in this mess in the first place.

This mess being a locked panther cage, a debilitating crush, and a literal pile of animal shit.

She cast a too-wide, uneasy smile towards her stupidly attractive, blessedly naive co-captive and waved.

Adrien, confused, waved back.

Ugh.

She really needed to have a talk with Tikki one of these days about what it meant to be Lady Luck. 

Because, honestly, she was starting to have doubts.

What was lucky about having a best friend who considered unmasking her superhero alter-ego her life’s purpose?  A best friend who pawned her actual responsibilities onto her too-accommodating boyfriend.

A boyfriend, who, by all accounts, was (justifiably) terrified of said best friend’s older sister.

An older sister who would and did not take kindly to the discovery that her baby sister’s boyfriend let her run off after a magical terrorist. An older sister who, after putting the fear of god into the boy, sent him after her, neglecting to put away her other sisters’ football in the process.  

A devastating oversight that sent said best friend’s father tripping and spraining his ankle.

All of which now culminated in being dragged out of her bed by an indignant, grounded Alya, coerced into helping out at the zoo while Monsieur Cesaire was recovering.

“Please, M.” She’d said, with the biggest, brownest puppy dog eyes Marinette had ever seen.  “I promise I’ll make it up to you.”

So, like a sap, she’d agreed.

Something Marinette was now deeply regretting.

Apparently, making it up to her meant pulling a Ladybug and “accidentally” locking her in the panther cage with Adrien before disappearing with her equally traitorous boyfriend.

E tu Nino?

In another life maybe, maybe Marinette could forgive Alya this so-called favor.  Another life where Adrien hadn’t just days before confessed to liking another girl.

She’s special. Very pretty. She’s got dark silky hair, deep and mysterious eyes.

Kagami Tsurugi was ladybug lucky and Marinette was the very good friend who’d volunteered to keep them company on their first date this afternoon.

She’d never dreaded ice skating more.

Even the solace of Luka’s company couldn’t stem the tide of that impending heartbreak.

And Alya, bless her, couldn’t seem to let it go.

“That could be you,” She’d said.  “You can’t give up now!”

It’d been a loud and frequent argument these last few days.  One Marinette apparently needed to revisit. Again.

“I’m really sorry about this,” She said, wiping her sweating palms against her jeans.

Akumas she could take down no problem.

Adorably earnest boys?  Not so much.

“No worries,” Adrien said, looking unfairly attractive for someone who was currently shoveling animal excrement.  “It’s not your fault Alya ran off with the keys.”

She smiled, nervous.  “Yeah. I guess not.”

“Besides,” Adrien said.  “I’ll just text Kagami and let her know.  We can always hang out another time, right?”

“Sure.”

She changed the subject then.  There was only so much a girl could take and Marinette felt stretched to the limits on her best days.  They moved on from fencing to school to his audition for the new Ladybug and Chat Noir movie when the screaming started.

Marinette froze as a woman’s terrified cry echoed through the park.  Adrien met her eyes across the cage, grimacing.

“What are the odds it’s just an escaped gorilla or something?”

She stared. He sighed.

“Right.” And then, more quietly, “Fuck.”

Marinette barely registered the epithet and his rushing towards the locked cage entrance as she whipped out her phone to call Alya.

The phone rang once, twice, three times.

“Don’t you dare leave us here while you play Lois Lane-” She growled, angrily hanging up when she was sent to voicemail.  She tried Nino next with the same result.

Fuck, shit, fuck.

“Aaaand the Ladyblog is live. Fuck.” Adrien said, echoing her thoughts.

He tossed her a worried look which she ignored.

She didn’t have time to reassure him.  She was already dialing the zoo’s front desk only to be met with the akuma emergency notification recording.

No phones, then.

Another scream followed by an earth-shaking explosion that nearly sent them both to their knees.  Adrien helped her to her feet and patted her sides. She waved off his fussing with a flustered, nervous laugh.

Now really wasn’t the time.

Reluctant but assured, Adrien tried the back entrance again, muttering a low string of curses with every useless yank of the door.

Marinette’s eyes scanned the cage for something, anything.

Maybe, if they worked together and had the proper leverage –  one of the heavier logs scattered throughout the habitat? – they might be able to fashion some sort of battering ram.  Although as the door opened inwards she doubted they’d be strong enough to do any good. And even if that managed to work the possibility of one or both of them getting hurt in the process was too risky. 

Marinette couldn’t even begin to think about what Gabriel would do if she injured Adrien by being so careless.  Her designing dreams dashed before they ever truly had a chance to take form. Adrien crippled, spending months in physical therapy, only to fall in love with his nurse.  Marinette growing old, unsuccessful, and dying alone.

Ouch!

Tikki pinched her side, sending her a look she knew all too well.

You’re catastrophizing again.

Right. Right.

So the battering ram was out.

There was some sheet metal near the exit - if she managed to unravel it they could try to catch the light and attention of any passersby.  Assuming of course there was anyone left nearby and that said people would be able to do anything in the first place.

She quickly dismissed any success there as unlikely.

She tugged at her pigtails, regretting her choice in hairstyle and its woeful lack of bobby pins even as she doubted something like that would work on the cage’s lock.

Or at least, she hoped it wouldn’t, no matter how convenient it may be in the current circumstances.

Although … Marinette met Tikki’s anxious gaze. I have something better than a bobby pin.

Tikki could get them out of here.  Preferably in a way that wouldn’t involve revealing her identity.

God, she could only imagine.

Hey hot stuff.  Real sorry to drop this extremely dangerous secret on your lap but Paris needs me. 

Yeah, no.

Marinette could do this without going that far.  All she needed to do was find a way to get Adrien away from the doors… and come up with some sort of explanation for how she managed to get them open in the first place.

Something that, upon consideration, shouldn’t be too difficult.  As ridiculous and incomprehensible as her stammering and excuses have been over the past year he always seemed to believe her.  A heart of gold and oblivious – Adrien Agreste really was the whole package.

Decision made, she nodded to her kwami who returned it with an adorable determination.

Excuse on her lips, she pointed towards the opposite side of the cage.

“Adrien I think we can use that log–”

“I’m sorry, Marinette.”

She whirled around to find Adrien much closer than before, mouth set in a firm line.  He was staring beyond the bars of the cage towards downtown and the likely akuma.

The what for was on the tip of her tongue when she caught sight of a pair of familiar, electric eyes blinking out at her from his open shirt pocket.

Wait…

“Plagg – claws out!”

Marinette reflexively shielded her eyes against the blinding flash of green light.  It was useless though– the stomach sinking feeling of shock and dread was already setting in.  She knew exactly who she would find when she dropped her hands.

Chat Noir gave a sheepish wave.

Son of a bitch.

“Um, hi."

Marinette blinked once, twice,

and then screamed.

“Wait– shh, no!” Chat (Adrien) said, ears flat, hands outstretched placatingly.  “Don’t scream. Please don’t scream, Marinette.  It’s me. I’ll explain everything I swe–”

“You...” She said, holding up a shaky finger.  “You...”

“Me.” He said, his lips quirking up into the smallest smile in spite of everything.

Oooh.  She could just kill him.

“You- You’re so stupid!” She cried and his smirk fell from his lips.

“Excuse me? ”

“We– we could have called someone!  Or jerry-rigged a battering ram! Or… or… you– we could have–” Marinette pulled at her pigtails and let out another muffled scream.  “I can’t believe you.”

“Me? ” He said, angry now.  “ You can’t believe me?”

“No,” She snapped.  “I can’t. If you had just given me a second I could have gotten us out of here!”

“With what?” He said, gesturing wildly.  “Your magic lockpicking kit?”

She stomped her foot, furious.  “I was working on it!”

“Well that’s great, Marinette.  Real great.” He crossed his arms and she wanted to smack that patronizing look right off his stupid face.  “But I don’t have time to wait around when there’s an akuma on the loose and Ladybug needs me.”

“What Ladybug needs,” She said, reaching up to poke at his temple.  “Is for you to fucking think.”

“I was thinking!”

“There are cameras, Chat.” She hissed, waving hysterically towards the blinking object in the corner of the cage.  “Oh my god.  Cataclysm that and recharge Plagg. We could have gotten out of here without the dramatics.”

Chat rolled his eyes.

“Oh I’m dramatic, she says.”

“Who’s wearing leather spandex?” She snapped before opening her purse.  “Tikki? Can you open that door?”

Chat Noir gawked as the little red and black sprite floated out of Marinette’s bag.  Tikki gave him the stink eye before phasing through to the other side of the cage. A few seconds later there was a distinct click and the door swung inwards.

Ladybug.

“We’ll talk about this later,” She said, cutting off his rising tide of gibbering, flailing, and panic.

Chat nodded, dumbstruck.  Unfortunately, his brain hadn’t caught up to his mouth and he said

“Where was that idea ten minutes ago?”

Marinette scowled.  “It was one of the first things I thought of, dumbass.  I just thought, you know, it would be best not to out myself.”

The reality of the situation had yet to set in but hearing Ladybug’s frustration come out of Marinette’s mouth was grounding.  Sort of. Maybe.

His mind flashed to their original plans for the day and he let out a mortified squeak.

Oh my god.

“How are you not freaking out about this?”

“Who said I wasn’t freaking out?” Marinette said, deadpan.  She pointed towards the security station. “First the cameras, then the akuma.  I’ll go find a place to transform.”

She shot him a familiar, scolding look that sent his heart stumbling over itself.

Oh my god.

He’d found her. He’d found her.

“Wipe that dumb smile off your dumb face.” Marinette said. “I’m still mad at you.”

Chat saluted, still smiling.  “Yes ma’am.”

“Ugh.” She grabbed him by the shoulders and pushed him towards security.  “Go.”

“Okay, okay.  Just…” He looked down at her over his shoulder, eyes soft.  “We’ll talk later yeah?”

“Sure,” Marinette said, traitorous cheeks turning pink even as she pushed him away.  “We’ll talk later.”

Much, much later. 

Like, after she’d had time to scream later.

With her promise of a future discussion secure, Chat bounded off towards the security station, the very picture of caught canary. 

Marinette met Tikki’s exasperated gaze with her own.

Her kwami shrugged.

“Well… at least he’s pretty.”

[spooky-z]

College Françoise Dupont’s talent show [4.1/5]

• 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 4.1 • 5 • 5.1 •

I put links on Mari, Chlo and Kami's clothes because I suck in description. It has a link to the ring too.

@ozmav @maribat-archive

The big night had come.

Nervous, Damian had been sitting on the Dupain-Cheng's couch since arriving with his family.

The whole Wayne family inside the little house waiting for Marinette to finish getting ready with Chloe's help.

He already felt suffocated even though everyone was scattered around the house.

Bruce talked quietly with Tom, Sabine and Alfred looking at old family albums (Dupain-Cheng), Jason and Tim playing Mecha Strike, Dick with Kori on the couch with Damian, trying to calm down the brunette.

“Damian, calm down, man. I know how you are feeling right now, really, I've been through this. Trust me, everything will be perfect. She'll say yes.” He puts his hand on his shoulder in comfort. “There's no way Minette can refuse. That girl is crazy about you and you know it.”

"Surprisingly. For a while I thought she had a screw less." Kori adds solemnly.

"Kori..." Dick scolds.

But Damian ignored them both, as the hatch in Marinette's bedroom opened softly and Chloe came down, in a long, tight transparent dress with sapphire blue details all along (which looked like lace), a small belt of the same color to accentuate the slim waist.

Her hair was tied in a high, princess-style bun and the makeup on her face was minimal, the only highlight being the black cat eyeliner.

Damian couldn't see her feet from the dress, but he was sure she wore a heel of at least four inches.

He gets up quickly from the couch.

“Go Wayne, Tikkie is distracting her. This is your chance.” She says as he reaches the bottom of the stairs, “Don't ruin things. Remember: Kami will be on the neighboring roof on the left, ready for when it's time.”

“Okay.” And he climbs the stairs quickly, barely hearing the others wishing for luck.

He passed Marinette's room, which was practically empty, not sparing a second and up the stairs leading to the bed, then up the hatch.

The sight that greeted him as he climbed up was breathtaking.

The balcony was decorated with fairy lights, the vines with blooming roses, and the clear sky, sprinkled with stars.

Marinette never lived up to the nickname angel as much as she did that night.

She was divine in a sapphire blue dress (she, Chloe and Kagami would go with the pieces she had made for her debut) of lightweight fabric (which resembled Diana's suit and the Amazon or Greek gods), her legs naked every time she moved and the top with a triangular neckline supported by a kind of belt decorated with beads, two or three shades darker than the dress.

To complement the Greek theme, she wore blue lace-up heels.

Her hair (which had grown so long it almost reached her waist) was shaped into loose curls, framing her small face. A thin golden tiara in the middle of the head.

Her makeup was a little more flashy than Chloe's. In addition to the baby blue cat eyeliner around the eyes, there was a dark cherry tone to her lips. Highlighting them.

Damian felt his mouth dry.

“Look at the time! I have to… go, Chloe is calling me!” Tikki before disappearing downstairs.

"What-Tikki!" Marinette called. She mouthed to say something more, but stopped when she noticed Damian.

“You look stunning, Marinette. Wonderful.” He says coming out of his stupor, but still frozen in place.

"You look wonderful too, Dami." She approaches, the lights making her more surreal. "I still think Chloe exaggerated a little..."

Damian finally moves, catching her halfway. His hands automatically reaching her face, stroking softly.

“So… are you going to tell me why our friends and parents have been weird lately? Something tells me you know why.” She says quietly, her face slightly tilted so she can look him in the eye. Despite her high heels, she barely reached his nose.

He placed a small kiss on her forehead before pulling back and kissing her on the lips quickly.

“Marinette, Angel. When I met you, I didn't think we could get to where we are now. Meet you, meet Ladybug, your parents, your friends... It was the best thing that ever happened in my life.” He says softly “In two years together, we had so many good, amazing, bad, worrying moments… But nothing managed to shake what we have. I'm here, I still love you, maybe even more than in the beginning and I intend to have you with me until I can no longer. I want to be by your side always. Be fighting crime or just deciding whether to eat pizza or dine out, then-” Marinette, who smiled sweetly, widened her eyes as Damian knelt before her.

“Damian what-” she choked out as he pulled a small black velvet box out of his jacket pocket.

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng, would you give me the honor of becoming my wife?" He opened the small box showing the ring.

The ring was a pink gold, a larger diamond in the center and four smaller ones around. Marinette was in love.

“Dami! My God! Damian!” She sobbed “Of course! I do! I love you so much!!” And pulled the brunette to kiss the life out of him.

"I can't believe it... God, I love you." she says as she steps back.

“I love you too, Angel. You're my life.” He whispered. “Here, give me your right hand.”

She pulled back and reached out, her manicured nails painted in a nude tone, her heart beating so fast and hard that she could feel the pulse of blood in her ears.

Damian slid until the ring fit comfortably on the finger.

Marinette admired the ring, still not believing. She was engaged. Bride of the person she loved. She didn't know she could be any happier. Damian pulled her back in a kiss.

“Sabine, she accepted! They are kissing now! Ahh my little girl is getting married!” The two are startled by Tom's loud voice and turned in time to see Sabine pulling her husband back to Marinette's room. Tikki in his head with a dreamy smile.

The movement on the roof of the house also caught their attention.

“DAD?” Damian calls incredulously. “Tim? Wait- Why is everyone on the roof? Even Kori!” Noting that his father was not alone.

Marinette starts laughing when Bruce nods in approval and disappears into the shadows taking the four (Tim, Jason, Dick and Kori) with him.

Tsukuyomi on the next roof, also leaves leaving the two alone.

"... So I think I'll need help getting down with those heels and the dress." Marinette says breaking the moment "I may not be the clumsy 13-year-old, but I don't want to test my luck."

Damian smiles mischievously before scooping her up.

"Lucky for you I came prepared." And he jumped with her toward the limo parked in front of the bakery.

“Damian!!!”

••••••

Lila was absolutely furious. If Hawkmoth was still active, she would have been akumatized at least four times.

She still couldn't believe Adrien had the courage to reject and push her in front of everyone. In front of Dupain-Cheng.

The mayor's daughter's despicable laugh still echoing in her ears and the class's incredulous expression glued to her eyes.

She had arrived early at the theater to avoid any questioning of the idiots. She was also hiding in one of the entrance pillars watching the doors trying to catch any glimpse of Adrien.

There were few people, but the situation was changing ever closer to the school schedule.

Last night she had a plan to get the blonde to apologize for what he had done in front of everyone, thus clearing her path with the class. And if by chance the plan resulted in everyone pitying her and forcing both of them together (perhaps breaking the baker's daughter's heart) she would not complain.

Lila had dressed to impress. A long orange chiffon dress with lace at the hem and sleeves, black heels and striking makeup. Her hair was loose.

She wanted highlight and attention. She wanted Adrien at her feet. She wanted the meticcia humiliation.

So she waited.

The first person of the class to arrive was Alix with her family. Lila wrinkled her nose at the girl's ridiculous outfit.

Who would go to an event at a prestigious venue wearing denim shorts and Jagged t-shirt?

The others were arriving not long after. No one at Alix level, but not as neat as Lila. This until Adrien appears.

The lobby was crowded with students, family, and guests, but she was still able to see him enter. His bodyguard right behind.

Even wearing a simple button-down shirt, dress pants, and polished black shoes, he could still stand out from the crowd.

Lila almost ran from her hiding place to reach him, but stopped when she saw Alya and Nino pull the blonde to talk in a far corner. Their parents and brothers right behind with the bodyguard.

"Shit."

Now she would have to wait until the last second and make a triumphant entry.

••••••

Ms. Bustier's class had found a way to meet among so many people.

The conversation went well, but a tense mood hung over them. No one brave enough to go after Adrien asking what had happened onstage the night before. No one had seen Lila yet and everyone wondered if she would still show up after the embarrassment.

All calm until it was not.

The people closest to the entrance were in a frenzy. The barely muffled whispers, some pointing, others shocked. Everyone moving closer to the doors to see whatever it was.

The class looked at each other confused trying to understand what was going on.

Kim and Ivan, the tallest in the class, followed by Adrien, tiptoed up to see the reason for the confusion, but unfortunately failed to get a good look.

Alya, who could never keep her curiosity in check, patted Kim on the shoulder to get his attention.

“Get me up. So I see and say what's going on.” She says “We won't be able to get through this crowd or see from here. ”

“Okay, I'll give you a boost and you sit on my shoulders.” He replies.

"Be careful, Aly!" Ms. Cesárie asks.

“I'm always careful, Mom!” And there was a general roll of eyes. “Now let me see wha- MY GOD THAT'S BRUCE WAYNE?!” She shouts.

Alix gives a shaken jump. “Bruce Wayne? Like Bruce Wayne? The tech mogul? This Bruce Wayne?”

"Of course! Is there another Bruce Wayne that I don't know?” Alya snapped angrily “Wait... Is that in Bruce Wayne's arms--- MARINETTE!?” She almost falls off Kim's shoulders in shock, but the boy is quick to hold her.

“Marinette?” Lila says, appearing out of nowhere beside Adrien who was still as confused as the class.

Max looks at the frowning newcomer "Why are you so..." he rethinks the word. “Dressed?” Lila might be the best girl in the world, but he couldn't help noticing that she dressed very badly. Very tacky.

She looks at him, eyebrow raised, not even trying the innocent facade, but looks back at Ladyblogger for an answer.

“Oh my god, it's true! It's Bruce Wayne with Marinette.” Alix exclaims sitting on Ivan's shoulders. “Man, I didn't know Mari was so hot.” She whistles in appreciation.

“Alix!” Rose, Nino, Adrien and Nathaniel exclaim in horror.

"What? It's true!” She replies “You should see this! Let’s go! Put me down, Ivan! We will open the Red Sea.”

The boy did as she asked, Alya who was still frozen on Kim's shoulders was poked by Nino. “Aly, let's go. Alix will try to get us there.”

She gets scared but goes down numb.

This was not the Marinette she knew.

"OK! There we go.” Alix says “Sorry! Oops It was bad!” As she pushed people out of the way, the class right behind her.

Lila and Adrien also following the rest. One out of curiosity and one... Well, Lila didn't know what else she was feeling right now except hatred and contempt.

"... And we arrived!" The girl says, her cheeks pink with the effort.

"Oh my god!" They gasp as they understand Alya's shock. And we are not talking about Bruce Wayne. By the way, it was really him.

No. The disbelief had a first and last name. Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

“Marinette…?” Adrien called, not believing his eyes.

And she, who was talking to Bruce, turned in surprise for the class. Her eyes firmed only briefly at Adrien, before turning to another person entering the hall.

He was a tall man, black-haired, well built, dressed in a black suit from head to toe, the suit obviously designer. Short hair combed and styled to the side. Green and cold eyes. His hands automatically going to Dupain-Cheng's waist as if it were normal and routine between them.

The class seemed even more surprised.

“Dad, Jason is trying to kill Tim and Dick in the car.” His voice coming out cold. “Angel, your parents were kidnapped by Jagged. Something about a tour.” Adrien notices the change in tone as he talks to the girl, the way his eyes soften and the corner of his lips curves slightly.

Bruce Wayne also seems to notice the change in behavior because he says nothing before leaving to solve the said problem.

“Is Jagged here? He didn't even warn me he was coming.” Marinette says ignoring the eyes poking holes in her head.

“It was supposed to be a surprise. I forgot-"

“Of course he forgot. That wasn't because he wanted to see you freaking out.” Kagami, who was arriving with Chloe in tow, says sarcastically. "Hello Damian, Mari." She nods.

The brunette wore an all-black suit, gold trim at the edges and sides. The jacket fully open at the front, closed just enough to cover the breasts. Her hair was artfully styled in a mess and there was a ruby lipstick on her lips.

“Kami!” Marinette jumped toward the girl. “I missed you today. Chloe used me like a doll all day. ”

“I've been busy getting everything ready.” She responds “By the way, congratulations. To both.” She adds.

"Thanks," Damian replies simply.

“Where, let me see this diamond!” Chloe pulls the brunette's hand evaluating the ring. “Wow, I didn't think Wayne would have good eyes for jewelry. Good choice.” She winks at Damian and releases the brunette's hand.

“I think it was exaggerated. It's beautiful, I loved it, but if it was a little less flashy…” Marinette doesn't finish, but the others understand what she means.

“Only the best for you, Angel.” Damian caresses her hand, then bends to kiss the ring.

Bruce returns with four other people, three men and one woman. The eldest of the three immediately jumped up to Marinette excitedly.

“What did you think of the ring, Minette?” He asks. “Damian was so concerned about not getting the proper engagement ring. You had to see it! All red and boring. He looked eleven years old again.”

What? Who were those people? Why did Marinette, Kagami and Chloe know them? And the guy who would not let go of Marinette? And Minette? Wait. Engagement Ring?

“MARINETTE GOING TO MARRY?!” Rose screams.

And the group finally looks at the class, noticing them. In Marinette's case, seeming to remember that they were there.

"Wait! Who is this guy, Marinette?! Why did I never knew you were dating someone?!" Alya sputters possessed.

Damian, already annoyed by the ladyblogger, pulls Marinette close to his family and stands in front, staring directly and coldly at the class.

"And who are you?"

“II am Ma-marinette's best friend! Alya!” She fumbles at the words.

Damian smiles humorlessly “Oh really? Interesting.” He says “Marinette and I have been together for two years and I've never heard of any Alya.”

Alya seemed to have been slapped at his words and shut up quickly, with nothing to talk about.

"You never answered the question." Lila says, taking the lead in the group. Damian raised an eyebrow in question, "Who are you?"

“Me?” His smile turns sour. “I'm Damian Wayne, fiancé of Marinette Dupain-Cheng, the one who won't think twice about crushing you if you try anything else against her… Lila Aloisi Rossi.”

[tag list]

@mystery-5-5 @spicybelladonna @iglowinggemma28 @crazylittlemunchkin @lunaraquaenby @maude-zarella @mooshoon @kuroko26 @littleredrobinhoodlum @fanboy7794 @shadowberrybinch @k-rena-k @captainmac6 @clumsy-owl-4178  @tazanna-blythe @vixen-uchiha @zebrabaker @chloe-bourgeois-is-big-gay @artxyra @ellerahs