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comics-and-fanworks · 2 years ago

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Prompt for you (feel free to adjust this if you like)! Based on Princess Diana’s interview in 1995:

Marinette was interviewed by Lois Lane on live television about her past relationship with her former friends, bullying and harassment as well as abuse from her classmates. With Chloe, Marc, Nathaniel, Sabrina, Kagami and Luka as her only friends. Her mental health struggles including Marinette’s suicidal thoughts because Lila lied and falsely claimed about her, the toxic environment at her school and the reasons for her, Chloe, Marc, Nathaniel, and Sabrina to transfer to another school.

After the interview, it became number 1 trendy on Twitter and a national topic around the world. Bustier and Damocles were immediately fired from their jobs and had their license taken away, the class became pariahs from their peers in school and was excluded from any school activities and events. Their parents lost their jobs because of their kids' actions and nobody wants a bully parents to work for them. Lila and Alya were also sued by multiple celebrities for libel and defamation. Adrien was then stripped from his miraculous ring by Ladybug and his father sent him away to a very strict and harsh boarding school that his cousin Felix attended in London.

Hello! Thank you for the request!! I hope you like it, I tried to stay true to your original prompt, thank you again!!

TW: Swearing, Mentions of Past Abuse, Mentions of Violence, Bullying, Mentions of suicide, heavy angst

If you or someone you might know are struggling, please, please, PLEASE know that there are resources and people willing to help. It doesn't matter who you are, YOU ARE deserving of love and support!

There is a second message for this that was part two of the original request but I have no idea how to link the two.

~~~~

Marinette knew this was coming. She knew the second she decided to wear that dress to Fashion Week. She could feel everyone's eyes on the scars that ran up and down her body. She was covered in them, and almost all of them were inflicted by people she once considered friends. "This is a step towards healing," she remembered her therapist saying. "We may not like the past, but the more we try to run from it the faster it chases us," she remembered Luka humming as she ran her idea through him. "Your scars are not a sign of weakness," Kagami told her as they sparred, "A lion who has won many battles has many scars, and no one doubts its strength. Your scars are the mark of your strength." She took a deep breath and continued to walk forward. She could hear the paparazzi's cameras clicking as they took her picture. She would surely end up on the news, but Marinette decided, to let them talk. Let them talk about her scars and wonder where they came from, let them talk about who could have inflicted them on the designer. Let them talk until they finally decided to approach Marinette and ask. Despite her nerves telling her to curl up in a ball and hide, she kept her head high and walked down the red carpet like a queen walking to her throne. As soon as she was inside her phone buzzed, a message from Lois Lane. "Hi, honey. I saw the live feed from Fashion Week, are you going to be okay?" Marinette smiled as she read the message, Lois may be a reporter with a supernatural ability to detect a good story, but she was a mother first and was going to make sure her son's friend was alright. "I'll be okay. It was very scary because I knew everyone was staring," Marinette replied, she watched those little dots appear, and then Lois responded, "Do you want to talk about it? Off the record of course." It gave her a warm feeling to know that one of the greatest journalists was willing to let such a big story go to prioritize her comfort. She thought about it and replied, "Yeah, I would like to talk about it, but I'd like to talk about it on the record. Do you have some time in your schedule?" Lois's reply was almost instant, "Everything else can wait." Marinette typed out, "Perfect. I'll be in Metropolis in a week."

The first thing Marinette saw when she got off the plane was her friend Jon, followed by the airport's ceiling as she was quickly tackled into a hug. The two friends made small talk as she got her luggage and Jon decided to get her lunch. As they ate their conversation eventually turned to the reason for her trip. "Mari if you're uncomfortable at any time just say the word and mom will stop the interview. She's not like that one lady in Paris, she's not gonna push you into sharing anything you're uncomfortable with." Marinette sighed and picked at her food, "I know. That's why I want it to be Lois. She's the only one I can trust to let me tell my truth and not try to put some narrative on it or dig into more... private things," Jon nodded. His mother immediately figured out that Marinette was a hero. He remembered having to help his mom calm down the panicking girl and promising that if anyone could keep a secret identity a secret, it was Superman's wife. "If you don't mind, what made you decide to finally talk about all this?" Marinette's face contorted as she felt rage boiling in her stomach, "Damocles and Bustier still have their jobs," Jon gasped and Marinette continued, "It never would have gotten as bad if it did if they'd stepped in, but they refused! They refused to help me, and I bet they'll refuse to help others. I can't stand by and do nothing! I have proof of everything that was done to me, physical proof not just my word. I need to make sure they can't hurt anyone else," It felt so good to let out her anger without the fear of being akumatized for it. Taking a minute to calm down, Marinette continued, "I've also decided I'll be immigrating to Gotham. As much as I love my parents, I need to get out of Paris. So, this is also kind of one big last 'Fuck you' to the people who hurt me," Jon laughed, happy to see Marinette was still as feisty as ever. "Now what can I say to convince you to ditch Gotham and stay in Metropolis?" Marinette laughed, "Get my fiancé to move here, and then you've got a deal."

Lois really knew how to wrap the media around her finger and make a subconscious narrative, Marinette thought as she sat down on the porch of the Kent Family Farm. Mama and Papa Kent were more than happy to let Lois use it as a set for the interview, and when she asked Lois why the woman explained, "When people talk about something tough, or in our case hear you talk about something tough, they prefer to be in a safe environment. The farm has a very calming atmosphere, there's gentle background noise, and it's warm enough that we can be outside. Plus, it helps make you more sympathetic than an expensive set or a pricey hotel would. Most importantly, if it gets too overwhelming there are plenty of cute animals here to take your mind off things!" Marinette was a little concerned with just how well Lois understood how to paint a narrative but decided to roll with it. The two were in casual clothing as well, instead of the professional attire they were used to. Eventually, they were a couple minutes out from the camera feed going live, so Lois decided to give Marinette a rundown on how the process would work. "Ok honey, here's what's going to happen. I'll start off with an introduction explaining who you are and why we're here, and I'll ask you some basic small talk questions. After that, I'll ask about the scars, and it's your choice how much detail you wanna give. I'll base the rest of my questions off of what you tell me, so it will be like you and I just having a normal conversation. If at any time you need to stop, let me know and we'll cut the feed immediately. We've got a statement ready and everything, hell if you need me to I'll send the Super Boy Scouts to fetch Damian. Speaking of which you owe me an interview explaining how the hell you managed to charm that demon!" The two women laughed as they were told to take their places. The camera's light turned on, letting both women know they were now being broadcasted live to the entire world.

"Hello everyone! Thank you for joining us at such short notice. I'm Lois Lane and this gorgeous woman next to me is the marvelous designer Marinette Dupain-Cheng!" Marinette waved at the camera, trying to ignore the nerves in the pit of her stomach. "Mari started designing at only eight years old, and by the time she was fourteen, she had already started her own company and won multiple design competitions. She's one of those rare people with a special kind of spark. We first met when she attended a business conference that my son and his friend, her fiancé, by the way, happened to be at. I love this girl like a daughter, so Damian Wayne if you're listening, I'll kill you if you hurt her." Marinette laughed, she could practically hear the sound coming from Damian, a mix of indignation and shock that such a thing would ever be suggested. "I really could spend the whole interview just gushing about you Marinette, but then we'd have wasted your time and two plane tickets. As you know dear, the media has been speculating about you particularly intensely since Fashion Week. I'm not going to pull my punches, Mari," Lois said, the tone shifting to a more serious one as the older woman reached over to gently hold her hands, "What happened? Where did those scars come from?" Marinette took a deep breath; it was now or never. "For starters, they did NOT come from Chloe. Ever since she apologized and we worked on becoming friends, she has always been open and honest about how she bullied me in school. That stopped when I was fourteen and even at her worst she never physically hurt me. She's never denied what she did when we were young, and I want to make sure the message is clear." Lois nodded. The businesswoman had always been honest about how bitchy she was as a child, and as a result, created multiple organizations to deal with bullying. "I also want to be clear that these did NOT come from my parents. My Papa wouldn't hurt a fly and my Maman would only ever hurt someone who hurts her family." 'Smart move,' Lois thought. If she didn't clear it up, tabloids would certainly spread rumors that she was abused by her parents, and they didn't want that for Tom and Sabine.

"If I may, who did they come from? Or is it a bit more complicated than that?" "It's a bit more complicated. It was kind of like the perfect storm. I didn't realize it at the time, but my old school was a very toxic environment. My teacher was more concerned about preaching unconditional forgiveness and pushing problems under the rug. For example, I had paint poured on me right before our class photo, and instead of punishing the people who did it, she made me THANK them for "adding their creative touch" because I had designed my dress and obviously this was just them wanting to help." A screen behind them was showing the incident in question. Marinette managed to get the surveillance footage and audio of many examples of her bullying. Many of her tormentors had gone on to be successful, and if she didn't have proof she could be sued for defamation. "Chloe can back me up on this, but the principal wasn't much better. If you had money or power, he was at your beck and call. As a baker's daughter, I didn't have the resources a fashion heir, Mayor's daughter, and Diplomat's daughter did. So even in situations like the paint one, I was always in the wrong because if their children were in trouble, it would upset the money." Lois nodded, "It sounds like a lot of what happened to you was ignored. What about the school board?" "I tried to contact them, but they either never got my messages or ignored them. Either way, I had no adults I could trust, and anything I tried to make it stop only ended up backfiring." Marinette honestly had no idea why the school board never intervened. She called, emailed, and wrote letters, hell she was about to resort to telegraph.

"So, was it one person who bullied you, or was it, multiple people?" Lois asked. Her heart hurt for the young girl across from her. "It was everyone in my class except Chloe, Sabrina, and Nathaniel, my other friends, Kagami, Luka, and Marc weren't in my class. One girl led everything. Lila Rossi transferred to our class right before summer when I was thirteen. She was a liar, she claimed to know all these celebrities, go to all these countries, and do all these charities. Most of my class believed her right away, but I was always suspicious of her because I actually knew some of the people she lied about. I tried to call her out on it, and while a couple of my classmates like Nathaniel put the pieces together and realized she was full of bullshit, one classmate, Adrien Agreste, basically told me to shut up and take it. 'Take the high road,' he kept telling me even as he helped them shove me into lockers, shred my sketchbooks, and steal my stuff. He never physically hurt me, but he would cover for the others when they would. They would shove me down the stairs and I'd break an arm, and he would tell them that 'Typical clumsy Marinette tripped and feel.' They would cut me, cut my hair, and slice me with scissors," Marinette gestured to the many scars on her arm, "And he would tell any teachers that I was just not paying attention. They'd burn me with chemicals in the lab, and he would say I was goofing off. Thankfully Mrs. Mendeleev never believed that, and she had me come to her every time something happened so she could document it. It was all she could do with the principal being less than competent, and thanks to her I actually have a timeline of what happened and when," Marinette turned to face the camera, she had started crying a while ago but was still able to speak clearly, "Love ya, Mrs. M!"

"If you feel comfortable talking about it, how did their abuse, and let's be honest it was more like torture, affect you?" Marinette sighed and rubbed her wrists as she could feel herself sinking back into that feeling of dread she had dealt with each day. "I won't lie, it got to me, it really did. I struggled to sleep and was so scared to go to school that I'd get physically sick in the mornings. I completely shut myself off from the world for a while, it felt like I was on autopilot and just... doing what I had to do to survive." She took a couple of deep breaths and continued, "It didn't take long for me to believe what they were saying about me. My mental health was already screwed up thanks to Bustier, I had a martyr complex the size of Jupiter. I was taught to always be the peacemaker, always do things for others, and always take every burden. I would get in trouble if I asked for help or tried to decline to do something. I would get yelled at for asking to be paid back the thousands of dollars of costs I was taking on trying to please everyone else. So, when Lila, my classmates, and even Adrien began telling me that I was worthless, that they would be happier if I was gone, and that nobody would miss me if I died..." Marinette choked back a sob, but still tried to continue, "I spent many nights contemplating if I should take their advice and end it. I never did, primarily because I didn't want the people I loved to have to deal with the aftermath. Then, and to this day I don't know how she did it, but Lila got me blacklisted from Gabriel. She claimed to anyone who'd listen that I was an awful bully, I stole my designs, and that I only liked Adrien because I was a gold-digging whore. I had a crush on him at one time, but after what he did to me... He's dead to me. They all are. Anyways, it felt like my whole world shattered. I cried for days and stopped eating. Even though I've gotten better, I still struggle with my self-esteem. They told me I would never amount to anything, and I still struggle with trying not to believe them."

"How long were you in this awful situation?" Lois asked. She seriously considered signaling to the person controlling the TV that was set up behind them to cut the feed. Some of the injuries Marinette and Mrs. Mendeleev had taken photos of were truly awful, and the security camera feeds were tough to watch. But the world needed to know what had happened and needed to know that it wasn't okay. "I put up with it for two years, until I just... snapped. I couldn't take it anymore and broke down to my parents. I begged them not to send me there, I didn't care where they sent me to school, as long as it wasn't Dupont. I had kept so much from them because I was so scared they wouldn't believe me, that they'd be disappointed, that they'd tell me it was my fault," Marinette dabbed at her tears. Lois had told her to wear waterproof mascara and she was very grateful for it, "I never should have doubted them, Maman and Papa believed me, and had me switched to Luka and Kagami's school within the week. Marc, Chloe, Sabrina, and Nathaniel joined me shortly afterward. They told me that without the class punching bag infighting began, Lila apparently began a witch hunt of sorts. She began accusing anyone who even looked at her funny of bullying. They left before it could get much worse. It was a bit tough to adjust to my new school, I had my friends there, but I was still pretty quiet and kept to myself. My new classmates were so kind and patient with me, I think they understood that something really bad had happened to me. They never pushed me to tell them what happened, and while there were a couple of meaner students it was NOTHING compared to my old school. Because of them, and because I was in a healthier environment I was able to bounce back!"

Lois couldn't help the rush of pride she felt looking at the young woman. She remembered when she first met Marinette, who seemed rather shy and overwhelmed at that conference. She had offhandedly mentioned having to go get a dress for a press event and watching as a roaring fire was lit within Marinette's eyes. The girl had explained she was an aspiring fashion designer, and seemingly out of thin air she pulled out a sketchbook and pencil and began working. Lois swore the pencil was smoking with how fast the designer was working. She had been handed a sketch (and list of colors and materials) of the most beautiful dress she had seen. At said event, she was dubbed the best dressed and was quick to tell everyone she met about the talented teenager that had designed it. "One last question Mari, it's been a long day and I think you need TLC more than anyone right now. If you could face your tormenters today, what would you say to them?" Marinette took a deep breath and thought for a moment. "Well, I would like to say a few different things to a few people. To Lila, I want to say: I hope you're happy. You got everything you wanted and yet I'm still standing. I won't ask you why because I know why you did it: You could, plain and simple. To my classmates: I feel so sorry for you all, that you were so easily manipulated, that you were so quick to resort to violence on word of mouth alone. I feel sorry because you all were also victims of Mrs. Bustier, but in a different way than I was. You all were taught to expect someone to always carry the brunt of the load, and your bad behavior was encouraged. To Adrien: I know you're going to try and reach out to me and tell me to release a statement saying I made it up for attention. I can practically hear Nathalie typing it out now. I will not stand down, go ahead, and try to sue me, I have the evidence on my side. You were the only one who reached out to me after I changed schools, only to tell me to come back and that the problems the class had after I left were my fault. Leave me alone Adrien. I don't need you in my life and I don't want you in it. Stay the hell away from me." After she said this, a notification from Twitter pinged on everyone's phone. The tweet was from Damian Wayne and was quickly displayed on the screen behind the two women, 'On behalf of my Fiancée, legal action is being taken against her former tormenters, the people, and institutions that allowed this to happen and go on as long as it did. Don't bother harassing Marinette, this is completely out of her hands. If anyone decides to ignore her warnings or mine, a restraining order will be filed.'

The interview set off quite the explosion on the internet. May students of Dupont came out and confirmed Marinette's claims. It was trending for weeks and sparked international conversations about bullying. What shocked everyone was the severity of what Marinette endured, and it posed the question, "If she went through all that, who else could be going through similar things?" Suddenly the schoolboard had finally heard about what had happened to Marinette, and quickly fired Damocles and Bustier, primarily due to the public outrage that the two had flown under the radar. Investigations into their conduct revealed that Dupont did not just have a high akumatization rate, it also had a high suicide rate. Mrs. Mendeleev was revealed to have stayed primarily to try and help students escape such a bad environment and received a lot of praise. The school board finally released its statement, "We were greatly disturbed to hear of the abuse Mrs. Dupain-Cheng suffered at Collège Françoise Dupont and that educators under our employ did nothing to aid her. We were alarmed to hear that Mrs. Dupain-Cheng and her family tried to report her abuse and were unable to reach us. We are currently investigating this along with the many failures that led to Mrs. Dupain-Cheng's suffering. The two educators who were most responsible were let go and will no longer be in teaching positions. We sincerely apologize to Mrs. Dupain-Cheng and any others who have suffered due to oversights by the school board." The statement did not have the effect the school board had hoped for. The public largely found it unacceptable, and while they were happy Bustier and Damocles could no longer cause any damage, they were still infuriated and disturbed by the sheer ignorance (willful or not) of everything that went on within Dupont. An unexpected side effect of Marinette's interview was the scrutiny the parents of her bullies faced. People questioned how they could be so unaware of just what their children were doing and becoming, especially with Marinette making them so many things that obviously required time and money to make. Alya’s parents were criticized more harshly than the rest, primarily due to how many videos of the class's abuse were posted to the Ladyblog. The main question on everyone's mind was, 'How did this not get noticed sooner?'

Marinette's former classmates felt like their lives were imploding. They were served by the Wayne Lawyers, and it was made very clear to them that Damian Wayne was spearheading the fight against them, not Marinette. Adrien talked to his family lawyers about how they could get the suits dropped, and they told him, "Hell will freeze over before a Wayne backs down." Lila and Alya were hit with additional lawsuits from various others as well. Alya had posted Lila's many false claims about various celebrities on the Ladyblog, and their reputations had taken a hit. People began to wonder why so many famous people associated with Lila when all of her actions were revealed, and many PR teams had to work overtime to reassure the public that they had never met the girl in question. An investigation revealed that Lila had charged many of the class's shopping trips and expensive dinners to various celebrities' accounts, so she was also facing criminal charges as well. She had been effectively excommunicated from the class. After her lies came out and their actions were revealed they quickly cut contact. They were at a loss, their excuse for why they teased (They still refused to see it as anything more severe than light teasing) Marinette was because she was bullying Lila. Now that that was proven to be false, they searched for any reason to justify their actions. They can't really say that they were completely oblivious to Lila's lies, Marinette had tried to tell them multiple times and they had brushed her off thinking she was jealous that another girl was close to Adrien. Speaking of the blond, he had arranged a meeting at the Agreste Manor, and he looked like he hadn't slept since the interview. He wished he still had the Cat Miraculous, so he could escape this nightmare. He didn't want to admit it but the evidence of what he did and helped cover up was pretty damning, and it made the last words Ladybug had said to him the night she took his Miraculous all those years ago make sense, "Your actions as a civilian and in costume have proven that you are too irresponsible and immature to wield a Miraculous." He froze, Ladybug knew what he did. Ladybug, the love of his life, knew he helped make Marinette's life hell. His classmates looked at him as he was stuck in his mental turmoil, and they realized this was probably the first seriously negative press the Agreste Heir had ever gotten.

His image as Paris's Sunshine, a perfect gentleman who could do no wrong was ruined. All of their careers were, but they still held on to hope that they could save it. They didn't want to apologize, they didn't think they should have to, they were deceived by Lila after all. Adrien had hired a PR team to figure out what they should do, he had also asked privately what he should do. They had suggested a public apology and then disappearing from the public eye for a while. Thankfully his aunt and cousin agreed to let him stay with them, although he knew that Felix was never gonna let him live this down. His cousin called the second the interview finished and ripped into him. It had been incredibly hard for him to watch, and his classmates said the same. Seeing all those scars on Marinette, watching her breakdown, seeing the injuries he had helped cause, and watching the security footage of what they did... He had run to the bathroom and thrown up. Were they really that bad? Come to think of it, he remembered Marinette switching to long sleeves after they pushed her down the stairs and broke her... He was going to be sick again. His father was managing his own crisis, with his blacklisting of Marinette without solid evidence being put on blast. People were boycotting Gabriel, and it seemed like everything he did to try and fix the situation made it worse. He was brought back to the present by the cough of the man from the PR company. "Alright, now that I have everyone's attention, this is by far one of the most difficult cases I've seen in my career," Alya cut in, "We weren't that bad! Besides, it was so long ago, and I'd hardly call what we did bullying-" "Mrs. Césaire what you all did to Mrs. Dupain-Cheng is considered torture! Thank your lucky stars the statute of limitations is up, and you were children at the time, people have gone to prison for a long time for doing much less than what you all did!" To emphasize his point, he began playing the parts of the interview that showed the extent of Marinette's injuries. No one could bring themselves to look at the screen, a couple started to cry, and Adrien felt bile rise in his throat. The PR expert continued, "This goes far beyond simple bullying, you all are lucky Mrs. Dupain-Cheng did not make an attempt on her life. You are especially lucky that she said you were victims of Mrs. Bustier's utterly abysmal failings as an educator. But-" He cut Alya off before she could start,"-That does not mean you're completely Scott-free. You all still made the conscious choice to do what you did to Mrs. Dupain-Cheng, and that cannot be excused by being misled or having an enabler for a teacher. The best you can do is apologize and admit what you have done was wrong. You'll have to pray that Mrs. Dupain-Cheng decides to throw you a bone, and you WILL NOT contact her to try and force her to forgive you. That is absolutely the worst thing you can do because it will come off as if you haven't changed at all. The best thing you can do is apologize, admit you were in the wrong, and leave. Her. Alone. I will arrange an interview of our own so you can publicly apologize, a script will be written, and you'd better not deviate from it."

Nadja Chamack was the only journalist willing to interview them. It was decided that they would use the same format Marinette did and that Adrien would do most of the talking. After a brief introduction, their apology interview began. "What brings you all here today, especially after the shocking revelations that have come out," Nadja asked. She hated that she had to stick to a script, if she had it her way she would be asking the REAL questions, 'Why do you think Marinette is speaking about this now? Do you think she has something to gain? Isn't it a little fishy that she has the Wayne legal team suing you all and not her own? Do you think she's hiding something, or is she trying to get revenge?' Her producers stressed that she had to stick to the script because they would not hesitate to fire her if she began making such allegations. Adrien spoke, trying to keep himself composed, "We're here because we saw Marinette's interview, we saw how our actions hurt her, and we wanted to publicly apologize to her. We know what we did was wrong, and we were assholes. We wanted to explain our side, we know it won't fix anything or make things right, but we owe Marinette an explanation." He was doing exactly what his PR team told him to do, sounding sincere and referring to Marinette by her first name to establish a connection. Nadja nodded for him to continue, so he did, "When Lila came to school and began telling us about all the things she did and people she knew, it wasn't that hard to believe. I'm a model, Alya ran the Ladyblog, Rose knew Prince Ali, and Marinette had all these amazing connections. We weren't surprised that a diplomat's daughter knew all these people, and it wasn't exactly out of the norm for a class like ours. Somehow Marinette found out she was lying, and we refused to believe her." It was Alya's turn to speak, and the importance of staying on the script was highlighted to her, "Marinette had a massive crush on Adrien at the time, and she had gotten jealous of other girls before, so we figured this was just another one of those episodes. We also wanted to believe the best in Lila and give her the benefit of the doubt, it was what Mrs. Bustier had taught us."

Nadja couldn't help herself, she had to ask, "Adrien, when did you find out about Marinette's crush on you? How did you feel about it?" "I found out a few weeks before she transferred, and at the time I was shocked. It explained so much, about why she was so shy around me, why she was willing to listen to my awful advice. I was fully wrapped up in Lila's web then, and couldn't see past my massive crush on Ladybug so I tried to convince myself that she was a bully, and her crush was weird, but now? Now I wish I hadn't been such a coward. I wish I had seen that such an amazing girl was in front of me, if I could go back and do it differently I would. I would have stood up for her, I would have had her back for real. My biggest regret is that I didn't help her when she needed me and that I didn't reach out sooner to apologize and fix things. I lost the most amazing woman to Damian Wayne, and I’ll always regret that.” A small part of him hoped that Marinette still held a small flame for him and that he’d have a chance. He did some thinking and realized that Marinette was likely (he wasn’t 100% sure) Ladybug. If he could win her back, then he had a chance to convince his Lady to return his Miraculous, and that they were meant to be. Ladybug had no reason to be active, she defeated Hawkmoth and Mayura by herself, and had gone around the world gathering the remaining Miraculous. Part of his theory that the two were one and the same was that Marinette’s Fiancé and his family are in Gotham and are most likely providing funding for the Bat Family, and a new hero called Lady Miracle had been spotted patrolling with them, and she was reported to have multiple powers. These powers lined up with the Miraculous and her costume changed as she used them, so the two women were either one and the same or working together. Had Adrien developed these logical deduction skills earlier he would have recalled Marinette’s declaration that he was dead to her. Both the producer and PR rep were signaling to get back on the script or else their interview would be cut short. Nadja went on to the next question, “Okay, I can understand falling for someone whose life sounded similar to yours, but what I can’t understand is why you decided to pick on Marinette?”

Adrien took a deep breath, “Well Nadja, just like Marinette said in her interview with Mrs. Lane, it was a really complicated situation. What we believe now is that Marinette never bullied Lila, we know it was the other way around,” Rose cut in, going off script, “Mari didn’t have a mean bone in her body!” She sobbed into her hands, “I don’t know why we believed that, that witch over her.” “She told us what we wanted to hear,” Max sighed, “Lila promised us that she could introduce us to her important friends who could advance our careers and whether we consciously realized it or not we were willing to do almost anything to stay in her good graces.” Adrien shot them a look and continued, “My theory is that Lila gave Marinette an ultimatum, play along or she’d make Mari’s life hell. Not long after Lila began modeling for my father’s company, she began claiming Marinette was doing various things like stealing answer sheets, stealing from her, and pushing her down the stairs. Marinette was expelled without an investigation, and because we were kids, we trusted that the adults in charge were following procedures. She was reinstated, and Lila began claiming Marinette was tormenting her again. Like Max said, we were worried that if Lila didn’t believe we supported her then she would refuse to help us, but it mostly comes down to the fact that Lila lied well, and we were scared. She would claim Marinette beat her up after school and would come into school the next day with bruises. We suspect now that she was using makeup. Lila never outright said to hurt Marinette, but she was great at implying it. She said that she wished Marinette knew what the hurt she caused felt like and that If it happened to Marinette, she might quit being a bully. I think it was a case of falling into groupthink and fear. Everyone else around us seemed to believe Lila so fully, and anyone who didn’t was outcasted and treated terribly. We were afraid to challenge her, afraid to challenge the group, and we genuinely didn’t realize just how far we had escalated. I swear we never intended to hurt Marinette so badly, we sort of mindlessly followed along with what Lila suggested. When she and a couple of our other classmates transferred, Lila’s control snapped, and it was like waking up from a bad dream. She began to see her control slipping and began accusing others of doing the same things she accused Marinette of doing. It got to the point where she accused all of us of bullying her, and we realized she was full of shit. We realized what kind of person she was, and what we had become and decided to go our separate ways.” Nadja frowned. They had literally been spotted hanging out with Lila the week before Marinette was at Fashion Week and this whole thing began. If they had known Lila was a lying sociopath back in school, why the hell were they still hanging out with her? What about Marinette’s evidence? She had phone calls from Adrien demanding she returns to fix Lila’s mess, and evidence that he had known the whole time that Lila was lying. She may not be at Lois Lane’s level of reporting, but she could smell bullshit when it was in front of her, and judging by the look on her producer’s face, he’d caught on as well. Their PR agent nodded along, which told her that this was the narrative they created. They weren’t telling the truth, at least not the full truth, they were trying to slip out of trouble like they always did. Nadja remembered Marinette’s drastic change when she came to babysit Manon and listening to what these young adults were trying to spin confirmed that her earlier questions about Marinette’s interview were unfounded. Then she saw it: The signal from her producer, she could go off the script!

“Now Adrien,” She started in a tone she usually saved for when Manon was being challenging, “I’m not sure we were watching the same interview. I clearly remember some evidence Marinette presented showing that you all had fun tormenting her. I also remember that she had recordings of you demanding she comes back and fixes Lila’s mess. You called her a punching bag and said that the class needed its punching bag back otherwise they would begin ‘taking things out on each other.’ That’s not exactly what you’re telling me here. You all were spotting spending time with Lila before fashion week, and you seemed to be thick as thieves with her. So let me ask you this: Why are you lying to me?”

Adrien looked like a deer caught in the headlights, and so did his PR agent. They hadn’t expected Nadja to question their story, “I… We might have remembered some events differently. Most importantly, we want Marinette to know how sorry we are for everything that happened and what we did. We know that what Mrs. Bustier taught us is wrong, we are not owed her forgiveness, but we hope that she can find it in her heart to forgive us. Hopefully, we can work on rebuilding our friendship, but we understand that wounds like the ones we caused take time to heal. Mari, when you’re ready, please reach out to us. We’d love to apologize in person as well.” Nadja rolled her eyes. Looking at this bunch, it was obvious the sincerity wasn’t there. They acted like children getting caught sneaking an extra cookie when Nadja brought up Marinette’s evidence proving they weren’t as remorseful as they claimed to be. The fact that they only recently cut off Lila proved that they were lying and had planned to use her as a scapegoat. Nadja decided to make one last attack, “When she’s ready? She made it very clear she wanted nothing to do with you all. Why do you all think she owes you her attention and friendship after everything you did? You hurt her, yet here you all are acting like you’re the injured party!” “We are the injured party! Marinette’s little pity party ‘poor me’ attention whore act cost us our careers! She’s being overdramatic like she always is and now WE’RE suffering because she couldn’t take a little teasing,” Alya yelled with her classmates voicing their agreement. Everyone in the studio froze. The PR representative was shaking his head, while everyone else was in shock. The former Dupont students realized their mistake and quickly tried to backtrack only to be cut off by Nadja, “We are done. I will not let you use my coworkers or me to harass that girl anymore! You clearly cannot see the error of your ways and blame her for the misfortune you brought on yourselves. I may not be at Lois Lane’s level of journalism, but I am not a fool, and I will not be a puppet for you to spread your pitiful self-gratifying apology. Let’s be honest, you all clearly don’t care about the hurt you caused Marinette, you just care about the damage the truth did to your reputations. Get out of my studio! Get out of this building!” And with that, the interview was cut.

Their interview was trending, but it wasn’t for the reasons they had hoped. If they had done anything, it was throwing gas onto the fire. People almost couldn’t believe how heartless and totally unaware they were, that was clear from the various social media posts. “WOW. You guys are making grey sweatshirt Influencer apology videos look more sincere.” “Ew. Just. Ew. I used to like Adrien Agreste but now? No way. Watch out Damian Wayne he’s coming to steal his punching bag back.” “Teasing? Teasing doesn’t leave MULTIPLE SCARS.” “That was so self-serving. I gotta admit I feel terrible for whoever they hired for PR. Talk about letting the true colors out.” “I gotta give Nadja Chamack some credit! I was not expecting that level of journalism and take-no-bullshit out of her!” Twitter was having a field day with the live interview, and the statement released by Marinette’s former tormenters apologizing for their behavior during the interview and to Marinette didn’t fair much better. It was safe to say they had lost whatever little goodwill they had with the public. Lila had taken a slightly different approach. She did her own interview claiming that she never wanted Marinette to be hurt physically and that it was their former classmates that took things way too far. She cried that she was so, so sorry and that all she had wanted was to impress her classmates who had much more exciting lives than she did. Lila revealed that she had a crush on Adrien as well and was jealous of Marinette whom she saw as a threat. She explained that she spread rumors about Marinette hoping that Adrien would believe them and think Marinette was a bully, but their classmates took it too far. Lila claimed that she wanted to reveal that she’d made it all up, but she was scared that their classmates would turn on her and hurt her. She expressed shock that her friends would throw her under the bus for their wrongdoings and had her own apology for Marinette. Her interview was met with a bit more sympathy until someone (We all know it was Tim) released the recordings of Lila threatening Marinette and expressing to her victim the delight she took in watching Marinette being hurt by their classmates. Suddenly Lila’s image of the ‘Girl who made a few bad choices trying to impress her classmates and crush’ was shattered, and on top of all the lawsuits her public lies on the Ladyblog brought her, she was shunned as well. Gabriel, trying to cut his losses, fired Lila, and released a statement claiming that she was the one giving him false information on Marinette. However, Lila was determined to go down fighting and revealed her ace: Gabriel Agreste was Hawkmoth, and his assistant was Mayura. She had somehow collected evidence linking him to it while she worked for him as a model and as an Akuma provider.

The outrage was gigantic, with Ladybug having to return to explain that she had tried to go to the police, but they had not believed her or the proof she had. Ladybug had hung onto that proof, such as the gigantic map she had of where all the Akumatizations happened, and where the purified butterflies returned to. The French Federal Government decided to investigate how the Parisian Government had handled Hawkmoth, and they also decided to investigate Ladybug. They had found a young woman (whose identity they kept anonymous) who had been forced into the role by chance but had thankfully turned out to be incredibly competent. They found that she had worked within the law and had tried on multiple occasions to work with the police, but they had rejected her. Once she had discovered who Hawkmoth was she went to them, only to get laughed out of the police station. Why she wasn’t believed was something that was still unknown to the Investigators, but they had found Ladybug to be a superb hero. She was cleared, and given full permission to operate in France, should she ever choose to return. Chat Noir did not fare as well and was thoroughly raked over the coals by the report that was released. He had started out alright, but as time went on he quickly began to act out. He prioritized flirting and trying to win Ladybug’s affection and would refuse to help or even show up when she didn’t humor him. The report also revealed that he had been harassing civilians, such as one Marinette Dupain-Cheng. The designer had to explain that she had met Chat during an Akuma attack, and they’d become friends before his behavior worsened. Then after that, he’d harassed her on behalf of his other friend, Adrien Agreste. Twitter was on fire after this revelation, and #GiveMariABreak was trending.

No one knew who leaked Chat Noir’s identity, but theories were abundant. Some believed one of the investigators had loved ones who had suffered from Akuma attacks and Chat Noir’s behavior, and another group thought that the Waynes were behind it. They said that the Waynes were so enraged by the treatment their youngest’s fiancée had received at the hands of people who would have otherwise escaped punishment, that they decided to completely destroy her former tormentors. Considering Damian brought out the Wayne legal team, and Tim leaked the Lila Files, it was definitely possible that both theories could be true. What everyone did know, is that this outrage would go down in history. Adrien was still catching a lot of heat from the horrendous interview, which certainly did not help his case. It was quickly cleared up that he had no idea his father was Hawkmoth, and while officially on the report it said there was no evidence that he’d helped his father, the public speculation could not be stopped. In the chaos, photos were released of Ladybug landing on Marinette’s balcony and entering her room. These were brushed off as nothing surprising, surely the two women that were constantly harassed by the same man (even if they didn’t realize it) would find each other and start a support group. Adrien made a public plea for Ladybug to back him up and explain that he was a good hero, but it would seem that the Heroine of Paris had disappeared into hiding. It was clear that she had turned her back on him, just like he had turned on her all those years ago. He narrowly escaped getting charged along with Gabriel and Nathalie, but that didn’t stop the barrage of civil lawsuits he got hit with. The year ended with many trials, and the Wayne legal team proved why they were not to be messed with. Shortly after, a documentary was announced, to permanently document the fall of so many powerful people.

The documentary was a hit and contained all of the interviews that had taken place in the saga. The documentary was released at a party hosted by Bruce Wayne to celebrate his new Daughter-in-Law’s success, and it was met with rave reviews. But where was Marinette during the outcome of her interview? The designer had decided to step back from the spotlight until the mess had been resolved and hadn’t been seen in public since the initial interview. She was currently standing in the Wayne Manor with her husband, preparing to walk into the ballroom for her first public appearance as a Wayne. She was nervous. What if people began claiming that she’d only done this to take down a business rival? What if people accused her of making all of it up? She was brought back to reality by her husband, who pulled her into his arms. Damian gently kissed her forehead and whispered, “What’s bothering you, My Love?” Marinette had told him what had happened to her a year after the two became friends, and her bullies were lucky Bruce stopped him from going on a rampage. When he was watching his Darling’s interview with Lois at the Manor with the rest of his family, he could feel that fury reignite. It was also the first time his family learned about the abuse Marinette had endured (and suddenly his protectiveness made sense), so when he asked his father for the contacts for the Wayne legal team, Bruce had happily given them to him. Marinette took a deep breath, “I guess I’m just nervous, this is my first time being in public since everything came out and…” “And you’re worried that you’ll be walking into a den of lions.” Mari nodded, still amazed that he always seemed to know exactly what was wrong.Damian took a small step back and brushed a strand of hair out of her face, “My Jewel, you’ll be fine, I promise. The world believed you when you told them, you had strong evidence to support you, it’s illogical for them to turn on you now. Besides,” He gently poked her cheek, “Lila exposed Gabriel Agreste as Hawkmoth in a last-ditch effort to save herself. Think about it this way,” he gently twirled her around, admiring as the crystals she had hand sown into the stunning train on her dress sparkled. It was a tradition for every new member of the Wayne Family to debut in an all-black outfit, and Marinette had designed the most stunning dress in the Family’s history. “We attend the party, which is your debut as my gorgeous wife and I want to brag, and afterward we can go home, order some takeout, and binge-watch whatever you want on the couch with the Kwamii and the cats.” Damian would gladly and proudly admit that his wife brought out a side in him that he didn’t know he had, and Marinette was the only person he was regularly affectionate with. She was his star, and he wanted everyone to know how amazing she was. Marinette laughed, “Well I suppose we could do that; you drive quite the hard bargain Mr. Wayne.” The couple laughed, and all of Marinette’s worries evaporated as they entered the ballroom.

The young couple was met with hushed awe as they walked in, the wind from the open balcony doors catching parts of Marinette’s train. She looked ethereal in her gown, a stunning black dress with a long train that sparkled like stars in the void. The dress was form-fitting, with a galaxy of crystals wrapping around her body, coming to frame the neckline of her dress. It was an off-the-shoulder gown with a low V-neck. Marinette’s hair was done in an elegant bun, and the only jewelry she wore was her Miraculous, disguised as a pair of diamond earrings. The only other color she wore was blood-red lipstick. She looked like a goddess, elegant and regal, and held herself as if she was one. Despite the scars that littered her body, she stood proud, they were a part of her and would always be. The crowd began to murmur as the two youngest Waynes joined the rest of their family, “Is that Marinette? She looks spectacular!” “I heard she based parts of her dress off Princess Diana's Revenge Dress.” “I definitely believe that! She certainly looks like royalty!” “I’m surprised she’s showing her scars.” “Why wouldn’t she? The world should know what happened to her, and there’s no shame in being a survivor.” Kagami was right, no one doubts a victor’s scars. Cameras flashed, capturing her image from every angle as she talked with her parents and in-laws, and soon she was quickly whisked away by Damian to dance and mingle. She had to fight back a laugh, he loved letting everyone know that he had married this fantastic woman, despite the fact that the two bickered like cats and dogs when they were younger. He also knew that her old classmates were watching from their homes and wanted them to see the phoenix that had risen from the ashes. Damian wanted to drive the point home that while they had attempted to break Marinette, she was stronger. As the two danced and talked, the media had already begun crafting tomorrow’s newspapers. By the time the two had said their goodbyes and left the party for the night, the first article was out. ‘The Revenge Dress has a Successor: Marinette Wayne’s Revenge Look.’

#adrien salt #lila salt #marinette deserves better #maribat #class salt #gabriel salt #marinette dupain cheng #ml x dc #daminette #possibly triggering #read with caution

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sayuricorner · 1 year ago

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Miraculous Ladybug crossover salt AU idea:

Marinette lose her friends thanks to Lila's lies BUT she go to New York for a student exchange program, became friends with ROTTMNT April O'Neil, meet the ROTTMNT turtles and become the little sister of the group.

Personal headcanon + unpopular opinion(?): ROTTMNT April and Alya are similar characters but April is better written.

Personal headcanon + unpopular opinion(?) 2: The turtles and April would be way better friends for Marinette than the Akuma class and April would make a better best friend for Marinette.

---------------------------------------------

If you want to use this idea go ahead! Just credite/tag me in return please! ^^

#ml salt #miraculous ladybug #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rise of the tmnt #rottmnt #crossover #marinette dupain cheng #rottmnt april #rottmnt raph #rottmnt leo #rottmnt donnie #rottmnt mikey #marinette deserves better #class salt #alya salt #lila salt #au idea

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iwasbored777 · 2 years ago

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No one voted for Marinette, not even Alya 🥲🥲🥲🥲🥲🥲🥲🥲

Fuck this fucking class

Edit: Someone pointed out there should be one vote here cuz Adrien would vote for Marinette and it's true like at least he would

#miraculous ladybug #Ml class salt #marinette dupain cheng #Marinette deserves better #ml revelation

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goggles-mcgee · 2 years ago

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A Little Birdy Told Me 19

Beginning

Last Chapter Next Chapter

Summary: Just another day at Gotham Academy, well, Damian wished it was. His acquaintances seem to like to make it anything but.

Damian was not having a good day despite his father’s wishes. For the record, he did try to have a good day, it’s not like he purposefully went into the school with the intent to not, but it seemed like any good luck he had had in the last couple of days (which wasn’t much mind you) ran out. The whispers were what had tipped him off to begin with, usually he could brush them off as nonsensical youth gossip and carry on but the stares coupled with the whispers put him a bit on edge. He hadn’t done anything to his knowledge to warrant the behavior he had observed when he walked in but he didn’t let it show that anything was amiss. He merely strode to his locker and dropped off his afternoon class books before shutting it and locking it swiftly. Damian had tried to be nonchalant about his locker in the beginning, but when it had been broken into in his first week he had been livid, and upgraded the security courtesy of Drake. Apparently some schoolmates just wanted a peek into the newest Wayne’s locker and see if there was anything damning they could use against his Father to sell to some tacky tabloid. Needless to say, he and his father had been less than amused and in Damian’s case, hopeful that he would not have to stay in the ridiculous establishment.��

As he had said, luck was not on his side back then, so why would it be now?

“Oh our favorite and sometimes benevolent Ice Prince of Gotham Academy.” an annoyingly familiar voice sang out as the body it belonged to slumped against the locker next to Damian’s. “Have you heard the latest gossip, my liege?”

“Hardy. How many times have I told you I do not listen to drivel?” Damian replied in the most monotone voice he could pull-off. The one that made Drake throw pillows at him because he disliked how robotic it made him sound.

“Oh, of course, of course Milord. But…this “drivel” as you call it has to do with you.” Claude Hardy, active member of their drama club, well-liked, class clown and as always an avid gossiper told Damian. Damian didn’t talk to him a lot, or well, it was better to say he tried not to. With Hardy came Allegra Vogel: accomplished flutist, ballerina, the queen of gossip and his class’ president, Alan Lopez: writer, soccer player and like his friends Hardy and Vogel, a gossip and Sebastian Allaway: one of the school’s best track members and whose parents own and run The Cottage, the restaurant that replaced Bamonte’s Restaurant after Don Maroni died and The Maroni Family dissolved (assumedly). An odd group of…almost friends, more so associates maybe to him, he wasn’t sure yet if they were friends but Damian would admit they were entertaining at the least.

“Can you never just get to the point, Claude?” The newest addition to the friend group, and Damian’s associate circle asked dramatically. Damian’s gaze shifted to look over at Gotham Academy’s latest transfer Chloé Bourgeois. Nicknamed Queen Bee by the friend group, but Damian noticed she always smiled sadly when she was called that. Perhaps her friends noticed too because Queen Bee quickly shortened to just Queenie. Both nicknames were ridiculous if you asked Damian, he somewhat disliked nicknames. It was fine when Dick did it, because he did it out of affection, Jason did it to be a dick and Tim did it to be annoying. Well that was his theory in any case.

“You missed it too Queenie!” Hardy helpfully pointed out.

“Traffic was worse than usual but I’m not that late Drama King. English hasn’t even begun.” Bourgeois snarked back.

“Bourgeois has a point. The school day has barely begun, how have we missed anything vital?” Damian asked with a furrowed brow as he closed his locker and led the group in the direction of their English class.

“It’s sad how you both don’t get here early enough to socialize like proper socialites,” Hardy sighed dramatically before he perked up and looked at them with a glint in his eye. One Damian was not a fan of as it often painted trouble for him. “That class exchange thing, the one Damian’s father is funding, the class arrived the other day and oh boy was Headmaster Hammer not amused!”

Damian stiffened but kept walking, the news startled him but he was not going to let it show. He could not let anyone know he knew about the class already and especially not about Marinette. “Oh? I thought they were supposed to start next week? That’s what Father said. I would also like to point out that one cannot be late to gossip as I was not here to begin with.”

“Exactly. At least Wayne has brain cells that work.” Bourgeois teased.

“Are we teasing Claude?” And now another person was walking with them and Damian had to resist the urge to sigh loudly. It was too early to be this social.

“Don’t we always Allegra?” Bourgeois asked as though the answer was obvious which to be fair it was. The group did tease Claude an absurd amount, but he just made it so easy.

“Oh yes of course. How silly of me to forget.” The other blonde responded with a teasing laugh.

“Why are you guys so cruel? I’m just here, existing. I’m just a little guy.” Claude pouted.

“You are taller than us.” Damian pointed out a bit bitterly. He was of average height for his age but it seemed like a lot of his male classmates surpassed average in grade school.

“ANYWAY. Sir Ice Prince and Queenie, you both weren’t here on Friday-”

“I had an appointment, I told the group this on Thursday.” Bourgeois interjected.

“I didn’t want to leave Richard alone after what happened at Wayne Tower on Thursday so my father excused me from class.” Damian threw in, in some way it was the truth. Dick had been rather…wound up after the situation at the Tower and the run in with Brat Chat hadn’t helped anything. He may be playing it off but Damian knew his older brother well and he knew that Dick was holding everything in still. So it was no surprise that Dick was sticking around Marinette more than the rest of them. He was worried about the girl, that much was clear and it didn’t take a genius to guess it was because he felt responsible for her being Fear Toxined when he was there and able to do something, but the fact of the matter was there really wasn’t much he could have done. Dick was stubborn though and would continue to blame himself until Dupain-Cheng was safe or until Damian could beat sense into him. He had no problem exercising the second option. Dick was too hard on himself.

“That’s understandable. How is he doing?” Vogel asked softly.

“Better.” He replied honestly.

“I’m glad Dick is doing better, but you and Chloé really did miss one hell of an…interesting day.” Hardy continued. Damian merely hummed in response, he knew it was futile to try and argue that he was not interested because Hardy didn’t care. Or just didn’t believe him; either option was equally annoying. “Like I said, that French class the school is doing the exchange with arrived on Friday. Like the whole class. I can tell you guys now, they did not make a good impression on our dear schoolmates.”

“Oh…yeah…the class exchange. You said they’re French?” Bourgeois asked nonchalantly, though Damian could see her body stiffen as stutter as they walked before she collected herself.

“Yeah. I thought they’d be nice to speak with. Especially this small group that had been discussing music but…” Vogel scrunched her nose up, it made her distaste well-known. Though, Vogel was not one to hide how she felt to begin with so the expression wasn’t a surprise. Especially to Damian who had knowledge of the class already and he knew he wouldn’t like most, if not all of them. “Instead of telling me about their songs and band and such they only spoke about this girl in their class. I swear, you would think she was newly Sainted or the like with how they looked at her and talked about her. It was like experiencing a cult without actually being in the cult.”

“Oh yeah. It was some real Jim Jones’ shit.” Hardy readily agreed.

“Language.” Damian couldn’t help but quip. He was too used to telling Jason, Tim and Steph that so they would have to add to Alfred’s ‘Swear Jar.’

“And the teacher acted like their behavior was normal!” Hardy continued as though he hadn’t heard Damian. Brat. “She acted like they were perfect little angels.”

“It was disturbing.” Vogul shook her head.

“The teacher…” Bourgeois was inspecting her nails, feigning disinterest but Damian could see the subtle shake in her hand. “What was her name?”

“Why? Think it might be your old one Queenie?” Hardy asked with a smile but the twitch of his brows told Damian he was worried about the answer Bourgeois might give. “What are the chances of that?”

“Just- What was her name, Claude?”

“Uh, something with a ‘B.’”

“You’re beyond help Claude. How do you not remember?” Vogel asked.

“Look. In my defense, I don’t like her and I don’t pay attention to things I don’t like nor care for.”

“You’re horrible. Her name was Caline Bustier. Her class was supposed to be placed in ours but apparently now, that’s not even certain. I think I heard someone say Headmaster Hammer was not at all pleased with how they came in and demanded their schedules. I guess their class president was supposed to be present but she was not there. Word on the street and from the horse’s mouth is that she went missing after the whole Two-Face, Scarecrow situation at The Tower.” Vogel was as connected as ever. Damian was impressed she had all that info already given it had only been a few days since everything went down. Not to mention a weekend passed, which meant some of her sources were not available to talk with, or so Damian assumed. She probably had them all on speed dial for all he knew.

Another thing he observed? All of them looked at him like he had answers. He did, but he wasn’t going to say anything, it was for Marinette’s safety after all. So he sighed like he did best, “Even if I knew something, I wouldn’t tell you.”

They nodded. “Fair.” Hardy said with a shrug, he was used to those kinds of answers. He would have to be since he had been bugging Damian since he started at Gotham Academy.

Bourgeois had stopped walking and though he wanted to just head into the classroom, it was quite literally fifteen steps away from them and if he went ahead it would be incredibly rude to ignore whatever was bothering the girl. Alfred impressed upon him how a gentleman behaved and leaving Bourgeois in this situation was most definitely against Alfred’s teachings. As though the man himself was watching him, Damian stopped walking and barely held in his complaints. His grandpa was terrifying when he wanted to be, especially when it came to manners. Damian shuddered at the memories of Alfred’s etiquette training but managed to hide it as he turned to face Bourgeois who honestly looked close to passing out right there in the middle of the hallway. “Bustier?” She gasped.

“Chloe?” Vogel asked as she placed a hand on the other blonde’s shoulder.

“Oh my god, they are your old class.” It was a statement rather than a question from Hardy. The Style Queen Heiress’s reaction was all the answer they needed but she did give a stiff nod. The answer was…interesting to say the least but it also put Damian on edge. If that was her old class then she must have known about Lila Rossi, granted she had been at their school for about a year now but due to the family’s research, Damian knew the Lila situation had been going on for about four years. So Bourgeois had been in that class when it was happening, Damian knew the school sounded familiar, he just couldn’t remember why. He, of course, had done his own research into Chloé Bourgeois when she had been announced as the new transfer student but admittedly he hadn’t dug too far as Dick and Alfred told him that was not the way to make friends. He couldn’t help being cautious, it was a skill he had to learn very early in the League, so anyone new that came into his life he couldn't help but be suspicious of.

Honestly, he did the bare basics of a background research on Bourgeois that the fact he was being surprised by a fact he could have found out if it weren’t for ‘manners’ and ‘courtesy’, he would have found out about Bustier’s class before the exchange program was finalized. He could have prevented so many annoyances by arguing with his father about them. Though that would have meant never meeting Dupain-Cheng… he didn’t know how to feel about that. “We can speak about this after class. The bell is about to ring and I for one would rather not be counted late while I have the ability to be on time in mere steps.” Damian announces as he walked on, he would gather whatever information he could from Bourgeois at lunch, he had time.

_______________________

[LUNCH]

Chloé took a deep breath in to calm herself for what felt like the millionth time that day. Ever since she found out her former class was the one that won the spot for the Gotham Education Exchange she had felt like her heart was about to beat out of her chest all day. She didn’t want to face them, she wasn’t ready to face them, ever since her move to Gotham Chloé had changed and she knew it was for the better. There was no Hawkmoth in Gotham, so no reason to not feel, and well, Jean-Claude made her go to therapy and though she found it ridiculous to begin with, she had to admit it did actually help if you put the work in. It was the end of collège for her when she realized just how absolutely miserable she was. Her parents’ fighting had gotten worse, her classmates were all sheep, she knew that before but she thought they had grown some kind of backbone when Marinette started standing up for herself but then that liar joined the class and things changed. It was terrifying to see just how fast everyone turned on the person they called their ‘Everyday Ladybug’. If they turned on her that fast, what would happen to Chloé?

What happened was nothing she hadn’t expected. Much like Dupain-Cheng she had been sent to the back, at first she had been there with Sabrina but by 4’eme* the redhead had left her. She had the mercy of not being targeted by some of the classmates “pranks” like Dupain-Cheng had been but no one spoke to her, no one acknowledged her unless they absolutely had to. Chloé had tried to get her dad to do something about it but that was when he and her mother’s fights started getting bad and they paid less attention to her. The only one who seemed to care what was happening to her was Jean-Claude, he tried to help as best he could but there was only so much he could do. She thought Mme Bustier would do something as she had always been on her side but when Chloé tried to complain she was hit with that good old infamous ‘good example’ bullshit. It was like a slap to the face. Usually hearing that would have brought a smug smile to her face because it wasn’t her getting that talk, she was the one who got her way and the others were supposed to be the ‘good examples’.

It threw her for a fucking loop is what it did and it sent her in a deep depression. She was so used to getting her way by throwing tantrums, throwing money or just in general throwing something someone’s way, then all of a sudden she couldn’t get her way by doing what she used to do and she was lost, utterly lost. Her mother and dad kept fighting, sometimes she expected it to get physical with how close both got to one another while shouting and maybe that was the one saving grace that never happened but she never wanted to see her mother throw her heels at her dad ever again. That was as physical as it had gotten and it scared her because one of those times one of the heels almost hit her when she tried to enter the room and beg them to stop fighting. That was the last time she tried. By her last year, 3’eme, they had at least taken to fighting with each other through their assistants and poor Jean-Claude in a ridiculous imitation of Mlle Sancoeur (she never did like when Chloé called her by her first name despite the fact she has known her since Chloé was in diapers.) But when they got lawyers involved they didn’t fight over one thing, one important thing, her.

No. She was thrown around like the shared house furniture trying to be divided, except where they argued about who kept what piece of furniture, they argued why the other should keep her. They did it with her in the room. It was then that she realized that neither of her parents’ really loved her, oh she always knew with her mother there was never any love, but when her dad didn’t fight for her? It hurt more than she cared to admit and that was the day of her final akumatization, Folk-Tail. From pictures she had seen her hair had grown down to her feet in its ponytail but it took on the likeness of a scorpion’s tail, her skin had turned gray but it looked like she had cried after just putting on mascara that was definitely not waterproof since she had black streaks starting from her eyes going down her face, she wore what she always imagined Princess Potentilla wore when she was made to live in the small house by her jealous mother and on top of her ponytail sat a crown of forget-me-nots. The tale of Princess Potentilla and Prince Narcissus had always been her favorite fairytale. It was no surprise that her akuma had been fairytale based since at that moment in time all she had wanted was for her life to be like the fairytales Jean-Claude had often read to her. She just wanted a happy ending.

Apparently her power was to assign roles to people, roles of famous fairy tale characters or creatures that she felt they reflected. Since she herself had been a sad reflection of Potentilla, her father was of course King Cloverleaf and her mother Queen Frivola. Those she did not personally know were given basic roles like a villager or the like. She had gotten to most of her class given they were hanging out at the park that day in celebration of their last year of collège. It was no surprise that she found out Lila had been turned into the Big Bad Wolf, what did surprise her was that she had hit Dupain-Cheng and the girl had become Melinette, the helpful, powerful fairy from her favorite story. It shouldn’t have been so surprising and yet it was. It was after she had been defeated that she reflected on it all, her akuma had been surprisingly truthful with what she herself felt but was too scared to acknowledge. Her father was only interested in what had his attention like the glory of being Mayor and his true love running his hotel much like King Cloverleaf loved being King but only because it gave him the means to hunt to his full pleasure. Her mother was a vain woman who cared too much about her reputation much like Queen Frivola who thought herself the most beautiful woman and threw the most lavish balls but when she saw the beauty of her daughter, she hid her from the kingdom out of jealousy. She had no Prince Narcissus. Yet she had Marinette, determined, helpful, kind Marinette who was very much like Melinette, the fairy who raised the Prince.

If she had hit Hawkmoth with her ‘tail’ he for sure would have been Grumedan the Evil Enchanter. It was that akumatization and everything else going on around her that made her snap. She didn’t want to be like her mother or her father. Hell, she had spent so many years trying to be like her mother in an attempt to get the woman to just get her name right! Chloé didn’t even know who she really was but she wanted to find out and she knew that wouldn’t happen in Paris. She broke down to Jean-Claude about it all, she cried for the first time in a long time, she didn’t care if she got akumatized again, she wanted to cry, she needed to cry. That was when Jean-Claude took charge, he yelled at her parents, demanded a meeting with them and the lawyers outside of Paris because he knew emotions would be high and he demanded parental rights over Chloé. In some ways it shocked her and at the same time it didn’t because he was always the one taking care of her. He wanted her. He cared for her. Chloé had zoned out after his demand because she was just so overwhelmed, someone actually wanted her; she missed the fight and following negotiations. Since her parents didn’t want to take care of her Jean-Claude would be her parent, they wouldn’t change her name since Jean-Claude fully expected her parents to still provide for her.

Oh she knew they fought that with everything they had but Jean-Claude told her after the fact that he essentially blackmailed them. If they provided for her by sending money to her and Jean-Claude after their move and if they kept her as their heir for their respective businesses until she was old enough to decide if she wanted to take over either business, then he wouldn’t go to the media with some illegal stuff he knew had gone on and absolute neglect the put their child through. They folded quickly since there was nothing more important to Audrey and André Bourgeois than their reputations. Before she knew it, after all the necessary paperwork was completed, she and Jean-Claude moved in with his sister Margot in Gotham, New Jersey. It was quite the move and it was hard to adjust but Jean-Claude was patient with her but firm, they arrived in the summer which was the perfect time for her to start therapy apparently. She thought it would be hard adjusting to Gotham and its unique brand of crime but it really wasn’t. Costumed weirdos running around causing havoc? Old news. No Miraculous Cure? Now that, that was scary and took time getting used to.

All in all she thought she was getting better and growing. She had friends, actual friends! She liked hanging out with them, listening to them, just in general being with them, she didn’t have to fake anything around them. Sure she had a hard time with Damian but that was just because he was so standoffish and kind of reminded her of Felix which wasn’t great but she was starting to separate the two in her mind. Though both boys were fond of their families, Damian wasn’t as conniving as Felix nor as fake, he was simply blunt and in some way it was refreshing. She liked their little odd group of friends and one acquaintance who was becoming a friend and she didn’t want anything ruining it. Especially not her old class but she was still fragile and they had the power to set her back and she didn’t want that at all. But Chloé Bourgeois was not someone who bowed to anyone and she wouldn’t start now but…she would talk to Jean-Claude about it all and maybe see if her therapist would be available for more sessions or even on speed dial.

“Chloé?” Allegra’s voice tore through the murky fog that her thoughts had become and she finally realized she had somehow made it to their table.

“Hey. You okay Chlo?” Sebastian asked.

“This is about your former class, is it not?” Damian asked but the way he said it made it sound like it wasn’t a question. It made her wince.

“Damian. A little more tact next time please.” Allegra said as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

“But he’s not wrong is he?” Claude asked next.

Chloé looked at her friends and tried to swallow the lump that had formed in her throat, her hands clenched and unclenched around her lunch tray that she hadn’t noticed she didn’t set down and she took in another deep breath. “I am…I’m scared. I was not the best person to them as I’ve told you all before, I was a bully. But towards the end of my years with that class things changed. They changed. They didn’t speak to me. At all. Me and Mari-another classmate, we were isolated, basically banished to the back to be all but forgotten. Well…I was. Dupai-the other classmate, she wasn’t as…fortunate?”

“Fortunate?” Allan echoed.

Chloé nodded. “I would take my fate over hers any day. I was forgotten in a way, but they did bad talk me and insult me when they knew I could hear but they never acknowledged my existence. It was like I wasn’t there in the room while they were talking. But Ma-my classmate, they bullied her, worse than I ever did and I admit I bullied her for years. While I did it out of jealousy and to just get her mad or in trouble, they did it to break her. I did nothing to help. I was going through things, yes, but that’s no excuse and I don’t know how I’m going to face any of them.”

It was quiet. Awkwardly quiet. Chloé was close to just pushing away from the table and just storming out because everything she was feeling was too much but a small yet loud ‘Hm’ stopped her and called her attention. It came from Damian who was staring at her with his calculating eyes that gave her the creeps from time to time. It was like he was trying to pull your secrets out of you with his eyes. She stared back at him as he stared at her and leaned his elbows on the table, interlocking his fingers and resting his face on his hands. “So you know Lila Rossi. Tell me about her and everything she’s done to Marinette Dupain-Cheng.”

Well that was not what Chloé expected him to say.

________________________

Chloe Bourgeois

@Bee-utifulMe

School is barely halfway over and I’m already ready to call my therapist.

#imdonewithtoday #gothamacademy #itsbarelynoon

💞MAPS💞

@ImTheMapImTheMap

RE: Chloe Bourgeois

@Bee-utifulMe

[School is barely halfway over and I’m already ready…]

Mood.

#Iwasnotpreparedforthatenglishtest #TTuTT

Notes:

*4'eme (3'eme) are the last two level of schooling in college (French schooling). College typically goes from ages 11-15, 4'eme is for those 13-14, 3'eme is 14-15.

Prince Narcissus and The Princess Potentilla is a fairy tale that you can read here if you would like context -> HERE

Next Chapter

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arty-shadow-morningstar · 2 years ago

Text

Graveyard Siblings (12)

[Masterlist]

(Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) (Part 4) (Part 5) (Part 6) (Part 7) (Part 8) (Part 9) (Part 10) (Part 11) (Here) (Part 13: The END)

-----

Gabriel sat and stared at the white walls of the interrogation room as the French police investigated the murder of one Maria Todd-Wayne.

MT’s personal assistant, Tam Fox, had received a distress signal from her employer that she had on her since she was from Gotham and had experience various dangerous situation.

Tam went to see what the situation was only to find a bloodied Gabriel Agreste laughing over Maria’s corpse.

According to the Police, evidence and the cameras in the mansion (although the footage was a little finicky like something else was interfering with it.) had shown Gabriel panicking after accidentally pushing his assistant, Natalie Sancouer down the stairs where she had hit her head hard and fell unconscious.

Maria, who had scheduled a meeting with Gabriel to negotiate selling his company to her (which he remembered turning it down after she revealed who she was), walked in on the man while he was trying to move the body elsewhere. He attacked her, thinking she witnessed the fall and to silence her so she wouldn’t report him.

Natalie is currently in a hospital but doctors are baffled and unable to wake her up from her coma.

Although he no longer has a team of lawyers working for him, he managed to hire one of them with what little fortune he had left who had straight out told him that pleading guilty would be the best option.

He had killed Maria Todd-Wayne, MT, one of the world’s greatest and beloved designers since Edna Mode, and one of Bruce Wayne’s children. She also had a lot of celebrity friends like Luka Couffaine, Jagged Stone, Kagami Tsurgi, Felix Culpa and a few superheros like the Bat clan of Gotham, Wonder Woman, Superman.

All of them were calling for his head on a pike, none more so than the Wayne family who were using every resource at their disposal to drag the Gabriel name through mud and destroy whatever is left of what he had dedicated his entire life to built.

So even if by some totally impossible miracle he manages to get off his sentence (through bribery), there will be mobs out for his blood. Jail is the safest option.

—---

It was not the end of it. The entirety of Paris rear its head when the police uncovered evidence of his time moonlighting as Hawkmoth.

(When in reality, Tim and Barbara dug up many deleted files of his activity as Hawkmoth and left many tracks for the police to follow. There was a few planted physical evidence that Nooroo helped make it look as authentic as possible. Everything Gabriel had tried to cover up, the Bats made sure every dirty laundry of his was there for everyone to see. They are the night. They are vengeance and all that.)

Someone leaked the fake ‘journals’ Gabriel had apparently kept to keep track of akumas and their progress against the heroes. The last page had a paragraph where ‘Hawkmoth’ revealed Ladybug’s identity as Marinette Dupain-Cheng, one of Adrien’s classmates.

(No one ever managed to figure out who had leaked it. Meanwhile, a rich blonde who smiled at her phone before muttering to herself about how ridiculous and utterly ridiculous that she had no black dress that was appropriate for a funeral.)

Paris was horrified to find out that Gabriel had managed to turn Chat Noir against Ladybug and kill her and later, making her death to be a suicide and covering up her death by bribing some officers so the truth wouldn’t be revealed.

The city of Love mourned for their fallen heroine, who fought for them and was finally receiving the justice she deserved a few years too late. But better late than never.

There were memorials for Marinette Dupain-Cheng and lots of people visit her grave to leave flowers and gifts.

Nobody seemed to connect the dots on how similar the long dead Marinette Dupain-Cheng and the recently deceased Maria Todd looked.

Of course, this wouldn’t be a salt fic if Lila and everyone else get dragged along for fun. In HM’s journals, he mentioned getting the help of Lila Rossi (lots of emphasis on the name and many details so there is no doubt that he is talking about another Lila Rossi) for his plan to akumatise Miss Dupain-Cheng which many people now know was Ladybug.

Gina decides it was a good time to drop (a pre-approved) ‘Diary of Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Everyday Ladybug’ containing entries from Marinette’s diaries with a few things redacted for her privacy (plus Miraculous secrets). And all proceeds from the sales of the books going to the Marinette Foundation to help teens in need (set up with help from Wayne Enterprises).

People paled in fear at how close their heroine nearly succumbed to akumatisation many times as she was bullied and isolated.

The book showed how Ladybug was, under her mask, just human. A normal girl with dreams and a crush who wanted to do good for the world. A girl who was also severely bullied and isolated and received no help from the adult figures in her life and only had a few friends who tried their best to support her.

Lila and the akuma class were glared at and everyone whispered of every horrible thing each of them did.

The akuma class’s parents cried and yelled about how their kids turned out like this, and that they had taught them how to be better as they waved Marinette’s book in their hands.

Lila was last seen by everyone to be dragged out of the school by police officers and to be put on trial for aiding Hawkmoth as an accomplice.

Francoise Dupont was investigated and authorities were horrified at how deep the corruption was. Caline Bustier was fired without question and same with M. Damocles. The entire school was reformed and policies were implemented so nothing like what Ladybug had gone through would happen again.

The Dupain-Cheng bakery shut down and moved away from Paris after how many people tried to ask them insensitive questions about Marinette forcefully or vandalising the place for how they had mistreated Marinette.

The lawyer Gabriel had hired quit, regardless of how much Gabriel offered. Which was not very much to be honest. He had nothing now.

Gabriel was charged with a lot of things, his actions as Hawkmoth were at the top of the list and the murder of Maria Todd was second.

He was sentenced to serving a lifetime in a maximum security prison, somewhere cold and where he would have to do a lot of labour.

Natalie will never again wake up from the coma but she was also charged with being an accomplice.

Meanwhile, Emilie moved to London to be closer to her sister after hiding in the States with Adrien as she waited for Gabriel to meet his doom. (Gotham was considered but dropped in favour of the less gloomy Metropolis.)

Adrien gets some backlash for his actions as Chat Noir and his inaction as Adrien to stop Lila from bullying her. If he ever steps into Paris again, people threaten to hunt him down with pitchforks.

A few wanted Emilie to also get arrested but many were sympathetic towards her as she was mostly unaware of how she became cured and she later revealed that she was trying to get away from Gabriel once she found out that he was Hawkmoth.

Chloe did get some haters for her bullying but most of Paris forgave her due to her redemption arc and being friends with Marinette near the end of her life.

It helped that she also had the many charities and non-profit organisations she set up over the years with a few of them in honour of Marinette.

—---

Across the globe, the Waynes buried another family in the Manor plot.

Jason had insisted on holding off burying the body for a month in case she gets resurrected again and with magic you can never tell so the rest of them complied with his request.

After the one month period ended, they finally held the funeral that Maria had planned.

Jason for a long time stood in front of the grave, desperately hoping for his little sister to dig herself off like she did many years ago when they first met.

After hours had passed and nothing happened, he finally let go and mourned.

The following week, Gotham noticed Red Hood being more violent than usual and that none of the other Bats restrained him.

—---

Someplace far away, where it is nowhere and everywhere, where the laws of the universe were made and none of them apply, Marinette opened her eyes.

—----

In Tibet, Guardians tend to their business when an unsettling feeling enters everyone.

Days ago, the Order had come knocking in Gotham for the Miraculouses under Maria’s care. The Bats had handed them over without much resistance except Batman warning them that they would take them back if they were ever found used for evil.

Su-Han went to check on the Miracle Box.

Kwamis’ powers were usually unpredictable especially when they are emotional, with Tikki’s chosen recently deceased, she had retreated into a shell of herself as she grieved. Many other kwamis were in a similar state but Tikki was understandably hit the hardest.

As soon as he got within a few feet of the Box however, it opened and a huge beam of light came out. From within, nineteen balls of lights in different colours emerged and took on an almost humanoid shape with their respective animal characteristics.

The Kwamis were freed.

Soon after, other Boxes in the Temple and all over the world opened with all of the kwamis being freed. Most of them didn’t hesitate to vanish into their home realm where they were from.

Back in the temple, after other kwamis had vanished, only Tikki and Plagg had remained.

“Guardian.” Plagg said the title with mockery. The only Guardian who was ever worthy of that title was Marinette and she had earned it with her kindness. “I think you are wondering what the hell is happening.”

“I demand that you tell me what you are doing right this instant.”

For the first time in a while, Tikki finally spoke.

She told them about how Marinette before she died had managed to find out about the origins of the Miraculous and how Kwamis were not meant to be tied down to the physical plane for this long.

This was the other imbalance that the Universe brought her back to fix. She had performed the ritual using her blood and soul to slowly destroy the binds tying the kwamis to their Miraculous.

It also meant that Marinette gave up her chance at paradise or reincarnation to give the kwamis their freedom.

“Do not retaliate by attacking the Bats and their chosen city. They didn’t know nor took any part in it. Marinette made sure of that. There will be consequences if you touch them.”

With that, Tikki and Plagg left the mortal plane.

“Sugarcube, just to check. The ritual protection spell we set for Gotham is still in place, right? The one which we changed one of the conditions to as long as they set foot with no intent of harm.”

“Of course, Stinky Sock.”

“Cool, just checking. Because you conveniently left that part out.”

“I gave them a warning. It’s their wish if they choose to ignore it.”

“I think I am rubbing off on you.” Plagg cackled, just thinking about the chaos that would be unleashed if the Order tried to get to the Bats.

Tikki ignored him and instead went faster.

Plagg easily caught up to her, “Looks like someone is eager to see Pigtails again.” He tried to lighten up the tense atmosphere Tikki was giving off.

“It’s not that. I have a feeling that They have more plans for her.” Tikki replied worriedly.

“Pigtails can’t catch a break and such is the fate of the Marked. If it wasn’t for that ‘man’, ” Plagg spat the word out like it was a curse, “this would have never happened.”

“The ones with the Mark are bound to serve Them. Those are the rules. I can only hope that I can give her the peace she deserved with my testimony.”

“And mine too. It is partly my fault that she ended up this way. I should have done better.”

“Plagg, it’s not your fault. You know that.”

“If I had reined in my holder-”

“The blame lies on the man who chose our holders and the man who chose to abuse Nooroo for his selfish desire.”

—---

Marinette looked around her surroundings. Everything was dark but somehow she could still see.

And she sensed many presences surrounding her.

“Who are you?” She asked.

WE ARE THE ONES WHO GAVE YOU THE TASK OF RIGHTING THE WRONG.

The voice was disembodied like many voices speaking over each other and yet somewhat in harmony. It sounded like wind chimes and also the loudest roar of thunder. The voice did not speak nor was it heard. Instead it was like the words washed over her like an ocean wave.

“Okay. So what now?”

YOU WILL BE SENTENCE-

“Stop.” Two figures appeared in front of Marinette. Both of them shielded Marinette from the other presences. “We demand a re-trial.”

There was a slight familiarity from them. One was a tall woman who was all red, from her hair to her clothes to her skin. They were all a varying shade of red with black spots dotting her body. She also had translucent wings on her back which fluttered.

The other figure was of a man who was all black like the woman from his body to his clothes. Marinette could make out cat ears on the top of his head and a tail lazily poked out from his back. The only colour he had other than black was two neon green eyes that held a mischievous glint.

“Tikki? Plagg?” Marinette asked.

“Hiya, Pigtails.”

------

(Part 13: The END)

Note: This story is nearing its end. Thank you to everyone for being patient. I will try my best to give a satisfactory sent-off.

Taglist: @local-witch-of-mn, @ladyqnoirr, @lolieg, @istoleyourcookies, @pale-lady-dreamer, @ichigorose, @meow-now, @demonicbusiness, @unoriginalmess, @the-drokainian, @joejosyxd, @questionableboi

#graveyard siblings #ml x dc #maribat #platonic! jasonette #maribat class salt #Gabriel is trash #and he is going to bear the consequences for his actions #idk what the show is doing #i haven't watch but I heard bad things #Karma for him #Karma for Lila #Karma for Adrien #Basically everyone saying that Marinette deserves better

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generalluxun · 8 months ago

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Colt's Brother(one of many)

A.R. Fathom

-also a 'Lord of War' come to Paris to get what 'the family is owed'(The peacock miraculous)

-Colt did not die in silence, and the Fathoms are a large and tightly knit clan

-'Colt was a bastard, but he was our bastard. We paid the blood price for that geegaw and we'll have it.'

His son, Magnus Fathom

-calls Amilie 'Desert belly'

-Meanest dog in the hunt

-Not happy to be in Europe, at all.

#miraculous ladybug #ml fanfiction musings #OCs?#kinda #Paris deserves a better class of villain

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starguardianniom · 2 years ago

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Adrien's revelation about his feelings for Marinette and before that, their "friendship"

I got big mood about it, for the moment he realise when he noticed his feelings changed for her.

That moment? The "statue kiss" in The Puppeteer 2, aka one of the most embarassing and cringe moment of the show, period.

Especially since it was one of those moments that Adrien witnessed Marinette in one of her creepiest and weirdest moment ever toward him that he's aware of and saw and somehow didn't have a problem with in the end because of her excuse and her being more upset about his joke than her behavior being beyond unacceptable toward what she thought was a statue of him, as he consider her a good friend and good friends don't creepily sniff your statue, don't pull out some of its hair to keep and don't kiss them on the lips.

But that kiss apparently made him change his feelings toward her subtely until he could pinpoint it in season 5.

Like, what? The Fuck?

Are you freaking kidding me?

Adrien, my sweet cinnamon bun, please have more self-respect for yourself.

You do not catch feelings for a girl who acts so gross toward what she thinks is a statue of yourself, please.

Heck, he was weirded out as hell when she was sniffing him, pulling his hair (his eye twitched), and of course when she kissed him he immediatly pulled away, to his defense he had no idea she would do that, because why the hell would she try to kiss a statue of him when she can barely stay in the same space alone with him in the first place? As the beginning of the episode showed, she freaked out when they were left alone and yelled (begged) to not be left alone with him, to his sadness before she corrected herself.

But him saying the moment he started to see her as more of a friend was that moment when she kissed him as a statue takes the cake.

Not to mention that already from the start their "friendship" is not really the greatest, because well, 95% of the time they get moments because Marinette or one of their friends made sure they would spend time together in some ways, or just make sure Marinette would be around or get opportunities to confess her love for him more than anything else, like actually hanging out for real as friends and not it just being a plot for a confession on Marinette's part.

Especially since Marinette has his entire schedule for the next 3 years, broke into his locker, his house (multiple times, mind you), stole his stuff, manipulated people to get into trouble so she could get a chance at maybe getting a date with him, when she's not outright trying to get rid of the competition, stalks him to another country, make sure he doesn't hang with other girls that she hates, abuse her powers to get a chance, and so on.

Let's be real here, their friendship was more genuine on Adrien side than Marinette, who said herself once in Riposte that she didn't want him to like her like that but to like her as in a romantic view instead of platonic.

Half the time the show shove Marinette down Adrien's throat because she wants to be his girlfriend, except she has a whole network to try to make it work, her friends, her family, hell, she even use her powers to try to make a move. Took 5 seasons of unhealthy behavior and 2 erased end of the universe to make it happen. Yeah!

Because I remember people being salty about how Adrien regarded knowing Ladybug's identity in Chat Blanc being wrong because he knew who she was and she wasn't aware of it, until she almost got akumatized, but the whole thing started because Marinette decided to use her powers to break into Adrien's room knowing he wasn't home to give him a gift, something that Tikki had opposed to, and of course Marinette being Marinette, didn't listen, and well, it led to that.

Not to mention that she wasn't any better when Ephemeral came, as she decided that Viperion and Su-Han would learn Chat Noir's identity behind his back and they wouldn't tell him after she learned it and later forget about it, and the whole thing fell apart because once she realised he was her precious Adrien, she decided to see how it would go. And then still proceeded with her plan. So Adrien literally had 2 other people knowing who he was and wasn't made aware of and probably wouldn't have before a long time, not sure if he would still have dated Marinette if he had found out about it.

Sure, Adrien knew in Chat Blanc, but it wasn't planned at all on his part unlike her, he sure as hell didn't tell anyone else behind her back with the promise of her never finding out like it was her original plan in Ephemeral, when he transformed to save her, well, it was either throwing his secret away, or well, they were screwed above and beyond. He didn't know Nathalie was watching and ratted him to his father, whom he doesn't know he's Hawk Moth until later in the episode when he gets traumatized by him and akumatized. Especially since Adrien finding out Marinette was Ladybug was completely on Marinette's fault for not sticking to her golden rule of never taking risks with their identities that was also shoved down his throat and ours for 3 seasons straight, but she threw that through the window (literally) by going into his room and acting like a total obsessive maniac, sniffing his pillow while laying down his bed, why, just why?

And why does Adrien just rolls with her being weird around him all the time? At one point he could get fed up and just tell her off, because well, she only acts like this toward him, and if she can't act normally around him, that won't stand, he wants to be like other kids and fit in, Marinette's behavior toward him compared to how she acts around the rest of their friends should drive a wedge between them because he wants to be part of the group, and if the girl who's the most liked by their friends can't act normal around him, what are his chances with others? Because Marinette is really the only weird one around him. Kagami, Chloé and Lila are clingy sure, but they also can function without problem around him, Marinette, barely managed at times. That went for 4 seasons. I think Adrien telling Marinette off about her behavior, especially since months passed in the show, could have been a good way to make Marinette realise that she puts him so high on a pedestrial that not only she was making it difficult for herself to endear herself to him, but maybe backpedal on her behavior that wasn't fair to him much as she has so huge expectations and pressure feeling for him that Gabriel's expectations and pressure of him can almost look good next to her views of him. That would have been a good character development for her I believe.

Instead in season 5 they joke about how she used to be and he just let it slide and doesn't concern how she learned his habits without his knowing.

Because let's face it, Marinette didn't so much got to know everything about him that there was to know as she was more studying him, like a project you're working on and need to know every little details so it won't blow up in your face or fall apart. Don't tell me she learned stuff from him by asking him directly and hanging out with him normally back in season 1, she could barely talk to him at all, or stay too long before running away or trying to. She puts him so high on a pedestrial she can't see him past the clouds. That's not a healthy way of friendship or romance mindsetfor her to be in. Even more because her worship of him is entirely on her, he doesn't want anyone to treat him like a god, he just wants to be treated normally, and she can barely manage that.

Also, Marinette monopolize so much of his time that the rest of the class sans Nino (and possibly Chloé) barely knows him, they are so quick to throw him on Marinette, or the other way, that they don't really interact at all, again he wanted to have friends, he barely interacts with anyone not named Marinette, Nino, Chloé or Lila. I think Luka got more lines with him than most of the class did. And I'm not talking about them talking about Adrien, but them talking to Adrien as in in a conversation with him and them talking together. We saw in Felix that only Nino, Marinette and Lila thought Adrien wouldn't be that mean, meanwhile Alya, Rose and Juleka get akumatized over "Adrien" being mean toward them, since they barely know him, being too busy shipping him with Marinette instead of trying to be friends with him like he would probably want to. Leave Marinette alone with him, Nino, get with Alya and leave the lovebirds alone. I swear Nino gets shoved away in favor of Marinette and it pisses me off, given how little freedom Adrien has when he can hang out with him it would be nice if he actually could and not just have Alya glaring at him for wanting to spend some alone time with him and not her, or for her to immediatly ask if she and Marinette could tag along.

Let's not forget the huge mistakes Marinette made because of her being unable to cool her heart and head when it came to him, as seen in Heart Hunter and Strike Back. Fu losing his memories and her being the guardian, later Hawk Moth getting most of the miraculouses, leaving her with only her original partner once again.

All of the unhealthy behavior she exhibit in the show because she got traumatized confessing to Kim the year prior courtesy of Chloé. Note that it's the act of confessing itself that seems to have scarred Marinette completely, not Kim or Chloé, Kim probably because she knows he was manipulated into it and is probably more unaware of how much hurt she ended up feelings as they probably have known each other for years maybe (who knows), and well Chloé had been her bully for some years by that point so nothing new here, just another new way of being tormented by her. It was the act of pourring her heart and feelings out in the open to someone she loved only to then being brutally having it turned into a sick joke that left an horrible trauma on her, to the point that she swears that she'll know everything about the next guy she'll fall in love with and make sure they're not friends with Chloé. But that second part went away with Adrien who is friends with Chloé so. Yeah.

So again, why the heck should I approve of Adrienette? Why should I like it? Why should I like that Adrien finally got with Marinette after realising he started to grow romantically interested in her after one of her worst moment ever toward him? Why would they even be good friends? For all the things I said above, I'll say that's why I'll never approve, like it or ship it, or think they could be good friends, unless Marinette just stopped feeling romantic toward him.

For all the fluff that happens when it is all romantic and soft and stuff, I remember all the terrible moments, thoughts and actions that led to them, preventing me from liking it.

Even their "friendship" moments, that were also most of the time Marinette being hurled toward him, either by herself or with the help of her friends.

Because I'm sure that Marinette would probably be able to do worse than what Chat Blanc would have done if something happened to Adrien and she couldn't save him.

She could and probably would be worse than Gabriel ever was.

The only one time I actually liked Adrienette was in Oblivio, when they had no idea who they were, and as such didn't have their trauma and insecurities with them which made it the healthiest they've ever been.

Marinette doesn't need a boyfriend, she needs a therapist to overcome her freaking trauma before actually heading in a romance. She deserves this much. She needs the help, badly. Her friends can only do so much and they are amazing, but they are also kids who aren't equiped to deal with her trauma. They all have their own traumas and worries to work on too.

Seriously where are the therapists in this city for real?

Adrien and Luka deserved better.

Adrien also needs therapy because Gabriel sucks for life.

And the kids need to reign their shipping tendencies, nice of them to help, but sometimes, please don't get involved, because either it won't work or Marinette will take it apart by herself even without meaning to.

So those are my feelings on the Adrinette ship and the Adrinette friendship.

#ml s5 spoilers #ml season 5 leaks #ml s5 leaks #adrien agreste #marinette salt #adrinette salt #never have i ever loathed a ship this hard #or a friendship for that matter #dumb kids but good kids the class is #adrien deserves better #i love alya #but she needs to tone down the shipping

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jennrypan · 2 years ago

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Will forever be an avid defender of Alya and Nino, fuck yall.

Felix can be a dick to everyone and give up all the miraculous for whatever reason and will NEVER receive the type of salt Alya and Nino do which is despicable in itself.

Chloe has bullied Marinette since day one and yet yall have her replace Alya ?? (i love Chloe but she and Marinette will never be friends, Marinette does not have to be Chloes friend for her to be redeemed!!!)

Stop treating the only main relevant brown characters like shit then act like the white ones can do no wrong yall aint slick!

Blame the shitty ass writing cuz literally everytime Lilas on screen EVERY CHARACTER makes ridiculous decisions!!

#ml spoilers #alya cesaire #nino lahiffe #if i see more alya salt in the tag ima start beatin people with a stick #A BIG STICK.#miraculous ladybug #mlb fandom salt #mlb salt #this is a felix hate account forever and always #and a alya and nino salter hate account #yall are boring actually #leave them tf alone challenge #alya deserves better #nino deserves better #alya sugar #nino sugar #class sugar #cept for Kim #i ion care for him actually

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lovysmtalks · 7 months ago

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A throwback from when this was a thing;

this shit was my jam when I discovered this side of the internet man, I kinda miss the "going to Gotham trope"

#maribat #ml x dc #marinette deserves better #mlb au #class salt #lila salt #ml salt #marinette dupain cheng #maridami #marinette x damian #daminette

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universallydestinytaco · 3 months ago

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The Smiling Friends Go To Paris! (Salt Prompt)

Do people even do Salt Fics anymore? *checks ao3 and tumblr* Well shit, They’re as popular as ever! Okay so how come nobody’s ever done this idea? A Lila Salt/Class Salt fic where Marinette, who’s feeling at her lowest in her social life, finds unlikely help when everyone at the bakery is freaking out when they mistake four colorful critters for like Akumatized citizens or something. Turns out they can come in handy to help Marinette deal with that troublemaking Lila turning all her friends against her over her typical bullshit.

If anyone is bored enough to even touch this cursed prompt with a ten foot pole, feel free to use.

#smiling friends #ml salt #lila salt #class salt #ml class salt #marinette deserves better #miraculous ladybug

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kimbapisnotsushi · 2 years ago

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i should make a poll of which high school romance manga second lead got well and truly fucked over

#KIKUCHI THE LIGHT OF MY LIFE HE DESERVED SO MUCH BETTER #aya in waiting for spring!!!!#atohira in hibichouchou #i actually really really liked atohira bc he was also on taichi's side in a way #THE #THE ML'S FRIEND #IN I FELL IN LOVE AFTER SCHOOL AAAAAAAH #HE WAS SO NICE TOO #god fuck that class president guy in the hedgehog series i keep forgetting the name of #sou says stuff

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elina-sakura · 2 years ago

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It honestly does feel like it’s being used more to create conflict and suspense while ignoring how this would impact the characters and their relationships.

Especially the episode Ladybug. Throughout season 3, it felt like it was being built up for something big that Lila will do, and I genuinely thought it was going to lead an impact. And with how the episode played out, I thought Marinette was going to develop trust issues from her friends, her teachers, and even possibly her family.

There is also a potential character arc for Marinette to go through: learning that while it’s okay to forgive others, it is important to be emotionally honest about how they hurt you.

Or how in season 3, Marinette could possibly lean more into trusting Kagami and Luka with the Miraculous instead of Alya and Nino. And perhaps Marinette starts trusting more of her classmates with the Miraculous.

What’s the point of Marinette getting beaten down and turned against by the people she trusts most if it’s not going cause some sort of change in her? It’s being treated as just another thing she has to overcome to then be happy she exposed the bullies but realistically being treated like that by pretty much everyone in your life would be pretty traumatic regardless of whether it gets “resolved”. What I’m saying is Marinette should be developing trust and intimacy issues with everyone regardless of if they’re friend or foe.

#miraculous Ladybug #ml writing critical #ml writing salt #marinette dupain cheng #marinette deserves better #class salt #no hate though #they are teenagers #teachers on the other hand #you guys keep failing your job #I want overarching character arcs #not restricting to just build up in multiple episodes #and then impacted and resolved in just one episode #and then kind of forgotten in the end

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iwasbored777 · 2 years ago

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The class really said that Chloé deserves a bigger chance than Marinette and Kagami legit trusts two shady people she just met rather than Marinette as the show progresses people care about Marinette less and less despite how much she does for them and yet the same people have the nerve to judge her look in the mirror idiots you should change not her they really are losers

#I fucking hate them why do they want her out so much #miraculous ladybug #marinette deserves better #Ml class salt #Kagami salt #ml revelation #Ml protection #ml perfection

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goggles-mcgee · 2 years ago

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Too Late: Epilogue

The last chapter of this story for @miner249er

First Story in Series

Beginning Chapter

Last Chapter

Summary: Wu Fei came back from training only to hear news that changed her whole world, meanwhile Nooroo's mind wanders while he watched over Marinette.

Wu Fei was someone who liked to believe that she grew from her mistakes. She had faith she had in fact done so, but she knew she had not accomplished it alone. She owed thanks to her French-Chinese friend, Marinette. Oh, she knew a lot of it was herself but the other teen helped her realize the difference between Revenge and Justice when she had still been lost and hurt. Losing her adoptive father, Wu Shifu, had been a hurt that she believed nothing could soothe, but she lived as though it hadn’t hurt as badly as it had. But losing someone who loved you, cared for you, raised you, CHOSE you, was something she never wished upon anyone. Not even an enemy. Her bàba was her family, whether they shared blood or not, he could have taken her somewhere else like the CWI or a hatch house but he didn’t. He took her in and adopted her and he told her it was the best thing he had ever done as he believed she was a blessing. Thinking of him still hurt but it was more bittersweet than the blinding pain it used to be. Memories of them together were held near and dear to her heart and now she strived to be the woman he taught her to be.

That was the reason she left to train. Fei had strayed from the path she had been taught and wanted to remedy that immediately after she had acquired the Prodigious. The powers she had gained were exhilarating but she did not doubt the weight of their responsibility thus another reason to train. It wasn’t easy. Nothing worth it ever is, but she was proud to say all the training paid off. Her only regret was not being in contact with Marinette for so long but Mei Shi was a strict mentor when it came to her training for the Prodigious and for becoming another Guardian of the Sacred Cave and forbid outside distractions. Though the being was rather fond of Marinette whenever Fei and her called or messaged one another, Mei Shi usually asked Fei to send his well wishes to the French-Chinese girl. Now that training was done, Fei couldn’t wait to get back to their talks whether they were deep or meaningless, she missed her friend, her only friend.

That was why, as soon as training was done, she immediately sent a message to let her friend know she was finished and they should find a day that worked for both of them so they could video chat. She didn’t get a response the first day. That was okay, Marinette was a busy individual and when she was busy she tended to neglect her phone much the same way that Fei herself did when she herself was in a creative zone and deep into her training with Mei Shu. But the days kept passing and messages went with no responses, let alone read and Fei grew more worried. She even called Marinette’s parents bakery but either the line was busy or no longer in use. Her worry increased to the point she was in an anxious frenzy and had no idea what to do short of finding a way to Paris to make sure her friend was okay. Then she remembered Cheng Wang and his open invitation to visit him and his restaurant whenever she wanted. Whether she needed a meal or simply needed someone to talk to. It was an offer that Fei really appreciated but rarely took up.

It was time to take up that offer to make sure her friend was okay because Fei had a bad feeling and usually her bad feeling’s were always something worth fretting over. She was scared. This feeling wasn’t something like the time she had a bad feeling and realized she was missing an ingredient from a potion that Mei Shu had been instructing her to make, an important ingredient. The result had been…less than ideal but nothing life threatening. No, this feeling made her heart pound, her lungs squeeze, her body tense and her stomach sick. It only came when she thought of Marinette and she was about ready to use her dragon form to take her to Paris but she couldn’t be impulsive. Impulsivity caused mistakes, mistakes caused consequences you might not be ready nor willing to face. Fei had to be smart, she had to be calm, she had to be rational and going to Cheng Wang was what her rational thoughts were screaming and she was not going to deny them as they were the only good ideas she was having.

One short yet long-feeling trip had Fei standing in front of The Thousand Delights restaurant and to her surprise it had a closed sign taped to the door and windows. Fei’s heart dropped when she read it was for an undetermined amount of time but that it was not forever. The restaurant was closing for a family emergency and a little voice inside Fei whispered, Marinette. Desperately wanting to be wrong, Fei ran up the stairs to Master Cheng’s apartment that was located above the restaurant, much like his niece and her husband. The door was ajar and though she knew it was incredibly rude not to knock or saw something to announce her presence, Fei’s heart was racing, something was wrong and she needed to help so she just entered the home in a rush. There was no thought of her shoes on the floors, only to see if Master Cheng was okay, to see the problem, to fix the problem. Except there was no problem, well, not one she could see besides Master Cheng packing a suitcase. He was leaving? Why was he leaving?

Master Cheng blinked at her in confusion, he didn’t even reprimand her about her shoes, he was usually a stickler for rules. “Fei?”

“Master Cheng…what…what’s going on?” Maybe it was too broad a question but Fei didn’t know a lot of things at the moment and Master Cheng was the only one who could give her answers.

The heart-broken, desperate look he gave her did not make things better. “Oh Little One,” He had taken to calling her that and Marinette Littler One, “You do not know.”

“No. Know what? I…I’ve been training.”

“Come. Sit. I will…I will make us some tea.” Master Cheng said after a moment as he moved away from his suitcase to lead Fei more into his apartment and close the door.

“What? But-”

“Believe me. You will need the tea.”

Fei didn’t argue but she did toe off her shoes and set them by the door before she made her way to sit on one of the couches to wait. She didn’t want to wait but she knew she had to be patient. But how could she be patient when she knew the news she was about to receive was bad enough to warrant tea? The urge to bite her nails was strong but Mei Shu had been working really hard with her to break that particular habit. Though the more seconds that passed the more they felt like hours and the more impatience began to consume Fei. Restlessness crawled up her legs and seized her heart and she was almost about to just get up and go help despite how rude it might come across. Master Cheng was a kind person but she had no doubt he would be upset if she busted into the kitchen and interrupted him so she bounced a leg to try and occupy her and burn some of her restless energy.

“Sorry for the wait, I forgot I had packed my favorite tea to go with me on my trip.” Master Cheng announced softly as he walked into the room with his teapot and two cups on a tray. Fei even spotted some cookies.

“No worries.” Fei replied even if the words tasted bitter like a lie. She watched as Master Cheng placed the tray gently on the little coffee table and arranged everything on the table for them to reach them comfortably. She watched as he poured them both a cup of his favorite Longjing Green Tea, it brought a small secretive smile to her face as she recalled its other name, Dragon Well. It was something so simple and yet it made her feel a little less frantic and stressed, that seemed to be the normal when it came to her visits with Master Cheng. He was such a calming presence to be around. “You, You mentioned a trip?”

Master Cheng took a seat across from her and picked up his own cup of tea and blew at the steam and sighed. “Yes. I am taking a trip to Paris…You…You haven’t heard… anything?”

The way he said it, much like before, like it was something that weighed on his mind, on his shoulders, on his very spirit. “I’m afraid not. As I mentioned earlier, I’ve been away training with a new mentor. He is…old fashioned and strict but kind, but while training he forbade outside distractions.”

“Ah, I had a great aunt like that. She had a thing about technology, I assume your mentor is much the same.”

“He is.”

Master Cheng nodded and stared off into his cup of tea for a moment before he brought it up to his lips and took a sip. “Much has happened back in Paris I’m afraid…”

Fei’s heart skipped a beat but she forced herself to shakily take a sip of her tea before she did anything rash. She swallowed the tea and then swallowed her lips before she asked, “Marinette? Is it…Does it have to do with Marinette?”

The silence that followed was answer enough.

“What happened?” Fei asked after she had a sip of her tea and after the silence started to feel more than a little suffocating.

Master Cheng took in a deep breath before he placed his cup on the saucer and back on the table between them. He stared down at his hands for a few seconds before he looked up at her. Eye contact had never felt so foreboding. “Marinette is…she is missing.”

Missing?

She couldn’t be.

Marinette couldn’t be missing, she just couldn’t. Please not Fei’s first friend. Not her best friend.

“It started with an akuma. I assume you are…familiar with them in the sense you have heard of them.”

All Fei could do was nod, her throat was too choked up.

“The akuma was…She was…Marinette was the akuma.” Master Cheng admitted and when he did so it seemed like it tore a bit of himself away. He looked so pained by the admission that Fei knew without a doubt he had actually felt that odd flash of pain one felt squeeze their heart in times of true sadness and panic.

And yet. She still wanted to doubt what he said despite her gut telling her he was being truthful. “No…Marinette would never…”

Master Cheng looked so bitterly resigned before he spoke again, “There is this American writer I am fond of. She has written many words, said probably many more but there is this one quote I can never forget. ‘The human capacity for burden is like bamboo – far more flexible than you’d ever believe at first sight.’ It is a thought provoking quote and an inspirational one, but like many things…bamboo can break with enough determination and the right tools.”

“Marinette…she’s the bamboo.”

“We all are, but in this case? Yes. I guess things were not going well in her class, quite the opposite in fact. It wasn’t one big thing that hit her, rather it was many things, some small, some not. It’s only human to break after that much pressure. The only thing is that Paris had a madman set out to use any strong negative emotion against everyone.”

“Had. You…You said, ‘had’.” Fei pointed out.

It made Master Cheng chuckle, albeit weakly. “You are very smart, very intuitive. Marinette…as an akuma…this is rather hard to explain…”

It certainly seemed hard to explain. Fei couldn’t see how Marinette as an akuma connected to the past tense talk of Paris’ supervillain. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s no fault of yours.”

“Nor yours.”

“...True. It’s just…the circumstances make one feel like they could have done more. I could have done more,” Master Cheng insisted, his voice thick with tears and it was such a shock to Fei. She had never seen him cry. Never. “Marinette was not happy, I noticed this in our last call but she brushed aside my concern and thought it best to give her space. If I had done more, if I had pressed…maybe none of this would have happened. Maybe The Followers would have never happened.”

“Th-The Followers?”

“Even as an akuma, Marinette wanted to protect people, she called herself The Protector. Not much is known about what she did before but…the akuma because I know Marinette could never, the akuma supposedly beat Gabriel Agreste and his assistant to the point of immediate hospitalization. It’s not confirmed but it is heavily speculated that he and his assistant were in fact-”

“Hawkmoth and Mayura.” Fei gasped. It made sense. Too much sense and yet not enough at the same time. “She…she saved Paris…but how…how did she end up missing then?”

“No one knows. She saved everyone and then just disappeared. No heroes were seen that day. Marinette was never defeated as an akuma. Never-”

“Never purified!” Fei couldn’t help but finish, her mind was going a mile a minute.

“Indeed. She disappeared as an akuma and…she left behind overzealous fans. Fans of her akuma form and those who believe she was Ladybug which it seems was the truth. These people became a group who basically became more of a cult, they, in her name, decided they too would ‘protect’ Paris. In doing so they have murdered a woman, maybe a man, they have put two young ladies in the hospital, one more injured than the other and they have taken it upon themselves to ‘protect’ the memory of their messiah.” Master Cheng explained with an obvious heavy heart.

“The Protector…”

Master Cheng nodded. “That’s why I am going to Paris. This cult has stolen many items that Marinette has made by hand for others. They have even gone as far as breaking into Sabine and Tom’s bakery and apartment. They have already taken objects but I’m going over to help pack the rest of Marinette’s things and bring them back here. We don’t want them getting their hands on anything else and I honestly don’t think Sabine would be able to handle anymore thefts.”

Fei felt an all too familiar feeling of loss hit her full force but she refused to buckle under its pressure like she had done before. Not when she knew there was still hope. Hope to find and see her friend again. “I’m coming with.”

_________________________

Nooroo did his best not to panic at the fact that Marinette was still unconscious but it was an old habit that was not so easy to break. Even if he could feel she was perfectly fine through their connection. A connection that comforted him yet confused him, it was like no connection he had ever made before. There was always some kind of connection between a Kwami and the Holder of their Miraculous, especially if they were a Harmony, a perfect match. Then there was the opposite of that which was a Dissonance, a very imperfect match one that could be destructive if a Holder still forced a transformation. If a Kwami was in a Dissonance for too long it would result in damage done to the Miraculous which is what happened to Duusuu unfortunately. The two souls would continue to clash within the transformation without the wearer being aware until they started being affected by it. The Holder would succumb to either the injuries or the illness they were cursed with and the Miraculous would break and infuse itself with that curse.

Emilie Agreste had unfortunately learned of this curse first hand despite Duusuu’s continued warnings. At some point Nooroo stopped caring what would happen to the woman, Duusuu had warned her and pleaded for her so many times, it had to be pure stupidity or desperation to ignore them and though Nooroo shared a fascination of humanity with Tikki, he felt irritated in the face of their stupidity. Duusuu though, poor Duusuu was a bleeding heart and had a soft spot for the blonde woman and did her best to save her. Even if Duusuu hadn’t tried, their fate had been sealed the moment Emilie fell into a coma and Gabriel Agreste showed some of the worst humanity had to offer. Duusuu was spared for a good amount of time while Nooroo had been chained to power-hungry Holder once more. It had happened before but not like this.

The sad part was that Gabriel could have been a good enough Holder for him, not a Harmony but close but his actions and the change he went through caused the connection between them to go askew, closer to a Dissonance but never reaching that level. The only reason it never did was because Gabriel at least had the brain to feed him, even if it wasn’t as often as it should have been and he let him rest though he never went out of his way to make sure Nooroo was okay or comfy. A good bond with a Kwami was essential to the growth of a connection thus the growth of power a Miraculous had. Being free of Gabriel was like plunging into cool waters after being in intense heat for an extended period of time, all the shackles of the commands he was given were broken and it was like he could finally feel.

Marinette had freed him, though not entirely herself. She possessed the power of a Champion, those who fought for the Butterfly Miraculous though Gabriel had twisted the magic so much that they couldn’t even be called Champions when he made them, much like past Holders who used the Butterfly Miraculous in such a way, the man gave the creatures he created new names. He dubbed them Akumas. From what Nooroo could recall of his time in Japan so many years ago, he recalled the different meanings: demon, devil, fire spirit, group of undefined beings that brought pain and suffering. It fit in a poetic way. Marinette was no Akuma, but to call her a Champion didn’t feel right either. She became something entirely different when she accepted the butterfly in the height of her hurt and anger, when she accepted all of them, when she felt for them, when she sympathized with them.

Nooroo was as much Marinette’s as she was his and he knew he would be safe as long as he was with her. He would protect her too, as much as he could. “Don’t worry Little Caterpillar, we’ll get through this and out of it, you will blossom and transform.” He muttered softly as he ran a little hub through her hair.

“Oh. Hello there! It’s not very often I see my kind here. Actually not often at all.” A voice startled Nooroo enough to nearly make him fall into Marinette’s hair. He flew up and turned every direction he could until his eyes focused on what was definitely a Kwami. One he did not recognize.

“You…You are a Kwami, but not one I know…”

The Kwami laughed, though not unkindly. “That’s not surprising. I was one of the younger ones and not many knew of me before my Miraculous went missing from the Box I was part of.”

That somewhat answered Nooroo’s question and yet didn’t and left him with more. “I am Nooroo. Kwami of Transmission and Hope.”

“Oooo formal greeting! Okay.” The Kwami cleared its throat before it introduced itself. “I am Frenze. Kwami of Strength and Friendship! It’s nice to meet you Nooroo, why did you come to this island? Was it with that human? Why is that human asleep? Where’s your boat? Did you even come on boat? Oh my goodness! Are you guys shipwrecked? Did you fall overboard?”

Yep. Definitely a Kwami of friendship.

CWI - Children's Welfare Institute is an orphanage located in Shanghai, China

hatch house or also known as a baby hatch - A baby hatch is a small home where parents drop off children, where they hopefully will be taken to an orphanage. The Ministry of Civil Affairs began the baby hatch program as a response to the increasing number of abandoned infants. Currently, there are 32 baby hatches across China, and each hatch only accepts children from within the same city.

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