ravennm84

[ravennm84]

"Well, I guess there's only one question left."

[ravennm84]

[ravennm84]

Making Your Own Luck

Quick story I wrote while thinking of Plagg’s love of cheese, Tikki’s love of cookies, and the different ways we associate with good and bad luck. Sprinkle in a little Lila salt and you’ve got some wonderful brain candy to tide you over until the next story. Warm-Fuzzies and enjoy!!

There were more than a few abilities that kwamiis had that normally weren't used. Kaalki could improve her holder's horseback riding ability. Pollen could help flowers grow when she spent enough time in an area. 

Tikki's power over luck and good fortune was very well known. But it wasn't only her lucky charm, but her ability to take away luck. Now, this wouldn't give someone bad luck, that's Plagg's thing and had started the whole black cat crossing your path superstition. It would just set a person's luck to zero, and their actions afterwards would determine if it turned good or bad. This is where the concept of karma and the saying 'making your own luck' came from.

Normally, these were abilities that kwamiis kept to themselves or would become a side effect of being active for an extended period of time. Tikki was able to control that ability easily… until her holder came across that Italian rat, Lila Rossi. Oh, how she wished for the chance to reset that girl's luck and let karma determine her punishment. It would be so easy, just a second of physical contact and all her luck would disappear. Then everything she did would continue to build and grow, not that the little Goddess had to guess which way it would go.

 Then, one glorious Tuesday morning, Lila accused Marinette of stealing her orange pen. Tikki had been eating her blueberry and lemon curd macaron while reclining on a silk scarf when the girl snatched the purse she was in. Marinette tried to get it back, horrified when Lila opened the latch and shoved her hand inside. 

The purse jostled roughly to one side, causing Tikki's cookie to fall to the floor as the stolen pen slid out of the girl's sleeve and into the purse. What happened next occurred so quickly, that she would always claim, while ignoring Plagg's jokes and side eyes, that it was a complete accident. Tikki grabbed the pen, touching Lila’s fingers as she pushed away and fazed through the bottom of the purse. With all the chaos of Lila keeping the purse out of Marinette’s reach and Mme. Bustier, demanding that everyone calm down, no one noticed the kwamii fly under the desks, drop the pen under Lila’s chair, and return to Marinette to hide in her backpack. 

"...but she took my pen, I saw her put it in-"

"If that is the case, you tell me and I will handle it," Bustier said sternly, displeased that her lesson had been interrupted and her pregnancy hormones giving her a shorter fuse. "Give Marinette her purse back, now." She did, barely hiding her smirk. "Marinette, may I please take a look inside your purse?" 

Hands shaking from the adrenaline, having a flashback of the last time her bag had been searched, and worried about Tikki being found, Marinette wanted to say no. It was only when she spotted Tikki out of the corner of her eye, head poking out of her backpack and giving a reassuring nod, that she handed over her purse.

A few seconds later, Bustier handed the purse back and cast a disappointing scowl at Lila. "I believe you owe Marinette an apology." 

Shock broke through Lila’s façade as she sputtered. "But… but she took my favorite orange pen. I swear I saw-"

"Isn't this it?" Nathaniel asked, causing everyone to turn and see him pick the pen up from under their shared desk. 

Sputtering a bit more, Lila clenched her jaw before giving Marinette a terse "sorry" before stomping back to her seat. 

Plagg knew exactly what his Sugarcube had done, he'd felt the slight spike of power after the cookie had shattered on the floor and that brat had shoved her hand into Pigtail's purse. The embarrassment of apologizing in front of the class was just the start. He knew the girl wouldn't accept defeat so easily, and the consequences would keep growing. 

And he was not disappointed. 

Lila tried to trip Marinette in the cafeteria, and ended up stubbing her toe on a table leg hard enough to cry real tears. When she attempted to switch their homework assignments in Mendeleiev's class, the teacher not only spotted the switch but proved it in front of everyone by comparing handwriting. That got Lila a week of detention. 

Then, at the end of the day, Lila accidentally dumped her water bottle all over Marinette’s head and backpack. Despite acting oh-so apologetic and reminding everyone about her weak wrist, she wasn't getting the support or assurances of "it's not your fault" that she expected. Many glared at her while others ran off to get towels to help Marinette. Realizing that she miscalculated and did too much on a single day, Lila made a hasty retreat outside. Only to get absolutely soaked when a car sped through a puddle on the street. 

Plagg laughed his little whiskers off from that one. But he knew it was just starting. He couldn't wait to hear about what happened away from school. 

~oOo~

The following morning, Lila looked like she'd been dropped into Dante's Inferno and spat back out just in time for school. What happened didn't even have anything to do with Marinette, so she couldn't blame it on her. That just annoyed her all the more.

While storming home wet from the puddle, she kicked a pebble that hit a bird, then a flock of birds swarmed her while she ran for two blocks. She shoved a neighbor out of the way when she got to her apartment building, and the door flew back and cracked her in the nose. It bled for over ten minutes. 

She went to the mall for some retail therapy, coupled with a five finger discount, and was caught immediately. Her mother was called and she was banned from the mall for life. Greta was not happy with her daughter and gave her extra chores as punishment. While Lila was muttering mean and disrespectful things about her parents while cleaning the bathroom, she didn't account for the volume of her voice or the bathroom tiles echoing what she said. Her grounding was extended. 

All this made Lila’s mood particularly volatile when she arrived at school that morning. Not bothering to pay attention to what was around her, she gave Mireille a shove out of the way, making the girl stumble down the stairs. A couple seconds later, Lila slipped on the wet steps and fell all the way to the bottom. Her classmates saw the whole thing, and although they were miffed that she pushed someone, they still helped Lila to the nurse to get checked out. Nothing broken, but there were multiple new bruises to match her black and purple nose.

In class, Marinette had to resist the urge to stare at the hot mess her bully had become in a single day. The rest of the class had noticed too. Nathaniel decided to move up a row to sit with Ivan. Rose and Juleka cast wary glances in her direction whenever Lila started muttering to herself. Even Mme. Bustier had to tell Lila multiple times to stop talking with the threat of detention. 

By the time lunch came around, Marinette made sure to be with one other person at all times. With how unhinged Lila was getting, she didn't want to risk being caught alone with her. Luckily, Ivan, Rose, and Juleka wanted to talk with her about the new designs for Kitty Section, so she was covered. 

Lila noticed how the class was starting to avoid her. Fighting off the urge to curse and scream at them, she took a few deep breaths to clear her mind. She'd been rushing too much for the last two days, she knew that. Trying to compensate for her failure was only bringing more attention to herself and the sheep were noticing that something wasn't right. She had to slow down and make them come to her.

For the next few days, Lila backed down. She smiled at her followers, paid attention in class, and would occasionally look at her phone in distress and act like she was fighting off tears. By Monday morning, things were going better for her. She'd avoided getting in any more trouble with her mom and teachers, she'd texted a fake apology to her classmates, and admitted that she was going through something that was causing a lot of stress. When some of them asked what it was, Lila timidly said that she was too nervous to say anything else. She knew they would bug her and assure her that she could tell them anything. 

Monday morning, just as she planned, everyone was encouraging her to trust them and tell them what was bothering her. Seeing that Bustier and Marinette weren't in class yet, she knew now was the time to strike.

Squeezing her eyes shut as she harshly pinched the inside of her elbow to bring tears, she started weaving her story. "It's just, someone's been bullying over text. It's so bad. She keeps telling me that I'll lose all my friends and that I should just kill myself," she said between forced sobs as she dropped her head into her hands. "And it never stops. Sh- she texts all day and into the night. And when I tried to show my mom, the messages were gone. I don't know how, but it's like my phone got hacked and the messages disappear after I've read them."

Max mentioned that there are self deleting message apps, but he wasn’t familiar with them. Then he looked at her searchingly. "You keep saying 'she', that would indicate that you are aware of who is behind this?"

Doing her best surprised face, Lila shook her head. "I can't say, none of you would believe that Marinette would-" she gasped and covered her mouth. "Oh no, I really shouldn't have said anything."

Lila watched as the sheep exchanged surprised looks while Adrien glared at her, but he wouldn't say anything. His father would have made sure of that. 

"You're saying that Marinette, our class rep, has been bullying you over text?" Alix asked, unease evident in her tone.

She shook her head while turning up the water works. "I knew I shouldn't have said an-anything. She's your friend, too."

"You said she's been doing this constantly?" Mylene asked, eyeing her carefully as Lila nodded. "When did she last send you one of those texts?"

Sniffling, Lila rubbed her eyes to give herself a second to think. It felt like these were leading questions, like they knew something she didn't. Meaning they'd probably spent time with her over the weekend and would have noticed her messaging Lila constantly. But since everyone was here and Marinette wasn't…

"Right before class. It- it asked if I was dead yet." Another sniffle and she was sure the class was wrapped around her fing-

"Marinette was right! You are a liar!"

Lila was so surprised by Kim's outburst, she forgot to keep crying and stared at everyone as they glared at her in disgust and moved away from her.

"I can't believe we almost bought that crap you were selling!" Alix turned away, face turning red in anger.

"But- but it's the truth! I-"

"There is a .03% chance of what you said being true." Max interrupted, staring down his nose at her. "At this point it is better that you admit it."

Casting a desperate look around the classroom, she was surprised that no one looked supportive. Even Adrien looked absolutely done with her. Realizing the jig was up, she let her expression morph to anger and annoyance as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Wow, I'm surprised you idiots figured it out. Usually you do exactly what I say after faking a few tears. I'm curious, what gave me away?"

The sudden change in the Italian girl gave them a bit of whiplash, but Nino answered her. "You ruined Marinette’s phone when you dumped your water on her. She isn't getting a new one until this Friday. No way she could have been messaging you at all."

"Huh, I guess it was worth dumping that on her, even if you idiots started to notice." Then she shrugged and stood from her seat. "Oh well, good to know for my next school, this place was getting stagnant anyway."

Kim blocked her way. "You're not going to get away with-"

"Shut it, you stupid jock. I've already got Bitch-stier and Dumb-ocles eating out of my hand. When I tell them you're ganging up on me, all of you will get detention while I walk free." Sidestepping her soon-to-be former classmates, she gave them a sarcastic wave and smile as she bid them "ciao" and opened the door…

To come face to face with a furious teacher, principal, and her mother!? What's she doing here? Did they just hear what I said?

The thought barely finished when her mother reached out, literally grabbed her by the ear, and dragged her out the door. The class watched in shock as Mme Rossi screamed and lectured her daughter all the way to Damocles' office. 

They would be informed days later that Lila had been sent to military school in Italy. In lycee, they heard rumors that she had been arrested for stalking a local celebrity in Venice. During university, Alya found an article about Lila Rossi being sentenced to 30+ years in prison for attempting a ponzi scheme. It had failed terribly and her victims got all their money back, but Lila would have to serve 5 years for each of her victims. 

Not that it mattered to them anymore. The class was too busy with their own lives and futures to put much thought into some lying brat that they went to school with for a little while. 

Bonus:

Tikki fought her grin as she watched Lila being dragged away by her ear as she and Marinette came up the stairs. Sighing with relief, she was about to enjoy a well deserved treat when she heard a familiar snicker behind her.

"Nice going, Sugarcube. Couldn't have done it better, myself." Plagg cackled as he passed her a cookie before indulging in a wedge of cheese he'd brought with him.

She grudgingly took the cookie before looking away from him. "It was an accident, I touched her hand when she tried planting that pen in my holder’s purse. What happened was her own doing and not my fault."

"Su~re. And the fact that she interrupted your cookie time and dumped your macaron onto the floor had nothing to do with it?"

The look she gave him had Plagg laughing on the inside. Only on the inside.

"That was a perfectly baked, blueberry macaron with a tart, lemon curd filling. I only got one bite before it got dumped to the floor. A price had to be paid."

Plagg watched with great affection as his Sugarcube took a bite of her sweet treat. Oh yes, he'd learned millennia ago not to interrupt cookie time. Just like Henry the VIII, that Lenin guy in Russia, and a few others. They had experienced the wrath of the goddess of creation when interrupting cookie time, though Plagg was the only one to know why things went so bad. It made him smart enough never to do it again.

Taglist:

@2confused-2doanything @7-sage-7 @aadnrsstar @abrx2002 @awkwardromances @bayball @babylovebug18 @botanicalfoxx @back-cats-and-broken-mirrors @caffeinetheory @cheshire5210 @chocolateherringtacofan @city-of-all-tunas @classycollectorreviewworld  @corabeth11 @chocolatechipcookiesandcamembert @darkened-flame @delightfulcookiesrecipespizza @fandom-trapped-03 @ghostmaster83@iamblinkmarvelarmy @interobanginyourmom @izang @jesussavedevenme @kazedancer @kitten12113 @lady-phoenix-of-tardis @lilypotter2018 @lunataravler @ladylupuscrow @maskedpainter @ miraculouslydumb @nerd-nowandforever @naruwitch @ola-is-dead @pandacatxd @plushbookworm @plz-excuse-my-inner-ravenclaw @pheonix-biach @pandora-fucking-box @raiderofthelostbooks @ramos123 @rowanrouge @rowanyx @ren121 @seesea22 @seraphichana @sashakoi @shypeacekitten @smartlanceisreal @tazer6787 @that-girl-sakea @thecrazyfantrollshasmoved @the-smallest-kittenz @tishwinchesterannabethjackson @t1dwarrior-of-earth @ulmban @with-forward-motion @wonderbat91939 @zoiechance

#miraculous ladybug #miraculous justice #lila lies #lila salt #lila bashing #class redemption #badass tikki #tikki and plagg

[ravennm84]

Daminette December 2022: 25-Demon/Angel

Damian sighed as he walked into the community center. He had been assigned community service for punching someone at school. The school had thought it was best for the youngest Wayne to see the consequences of his actions and what his actions could lead to. They volunteered him to work in a reformitory.

Damian looked around the room of people. It reminded him of Arkham, just less yelling and screaming. One person caught his eye; a girl staring out the window. She sat perfectly still on the windowsill.

‘Who is she? Why is she alone?’

Damian quickly grabbed the clipboard out of the attendant’s hand.

“Hey!” they cried.

He flipped through the pages quickly and found her: Marinette Dupain-Cheng. He shoved the clipboard back and started walking towards her. They grabbed his arm.

“I wouldn’t go near her.” they whispered, “We go told very bad things about her. She’s very violent.”

'These people are idiots.’

Damian walked up to the sill.

“Hello.” he spoke.

Marinette didn’t speak or turn at the sound of his voice.

“Not one for words?” Damian questioned.

“Words are filled with lies.” she stated.

'Progress.’

“I am told you are violent.” he continued.

She sighed and continued looking out the window.

“I do not believe them.” he concluded.

Marinette turned and looked at him, shocked. Damian noticed tears build up befre she quickly shut down her emotions.

“So what?” Mari questioned.

“I am sentenced for one month to work here for two hours, three times a week.” Damian informed her.

“Lucky you.” she declared.

“I would rather spend time with you than with idiots.” he stated, “I can tell you are not like the others.”

As he turned to leave, he said his name was Damian and left.

It took until the very last day for him to get her to open up once more.

“I was never violent.” Marinette whispered, still looking out the window, “Not until the end.”

“The end?” Damian asked.

“I snapped.” she sniffled, “My parents sent me here because the couldn’t 'control’ me anymore. That’s a lie.”

“Why don’t you tell me when everything went wrong.” He spoke.

She shrugged, “Why not? I get out of here in a week. I’ll be eighteen by then and I’m suppose to get my stuff from them. I’m never going home. I grew up in Paris, France and my parents were bakers. Everything started with a new transfer student; she was a liar. I could see through her façade, but no one else could. She lied to people like we breathed oxygen.”

“I confronted her. She said she was only 'telling people what they wanted to hear’.” Mari sighed, “Nice to know people wanted to think so badly of you, huh. Anyways, she faked disabilities, told lies about going places, made up connections to celebrities. I tried to tell my friends, my classmates, but they wouldn’t listen. One of them knew she was a liar and said it was better to let her lie; that everyone would find out eventually. Later, she started to spread rumors about me, saying that I was bullying her, sending her threatening texts, calling her at all hours so she couldn’t sleep. It was all over a boy she wanted me to stay away from who was my friend. There even came a point where I got expelled because of her.”

“And you proved your innocence.” he smirked.

“If only.” Marinette answered, “I never got a chance to defend myself. There had been a tip to the teacher that the answer sheet for a test was in my bag. My idiot teacher had already graded the tests with it, but I somehow needed it. When I accused her, we were sent to the office, together. She walked down a whole flight of stairs and then started screaming that I pushed her.”

“Did they not check the footage?” Damian growled.

“Nope. The principal listened to people with money and powerful parents more. I was just a baker’s daughter. Why would the daughter of an Italian diplomat lie?” Mari waved off, “She wasn’t sent to the nurse or a hospital. She then accused me of stealing a necklace that was an heirloom. It was really a Gabriel necklace that had come out five months prior, but the 'evidence’ was there. So, I was expelled.”

“How were you reinstated?” he questioned.

Marinette laughed, “The bitch claimed to have a lying disease that made her fabricate evidence under stress.”

Damian gripped his jeans as tight as he could to stop himself from running off.

“Not sure when it started, but eveyone started telling my parents how 'awful’ I was to her.” Marinette stated, turning back to the window.

“And they believed them?” he asked.

Marinette nodded, “Soon, it wasn’t just her bullying me, threatening me. She got the whole class to do it. They started tripping me, destroying my homework, my designs, spilled coffee on me and played it off on my own clumsiness. One day, she said I chased her until she twisted her ankle.”

“What happened?” Damian pushed.

“That was the day I snapped.” Mari replied, “I don’t remember what happened. I was sitting in the back of the class and the next thing I know, I was being pulled off of her. She had a broken , fractured jaw, and was bleeding a lot. I’m told I just kept callign her a liar over and over, but I don’t know. Then, I was sent here. I’ve been here for….two years, I think?”

'I was right. This isn’t a violent girl. This girl is an angel and she plummeted.’

“May I hug you?” Damian asked, suddenly.

Marinette turned quickly. He could see her face had turned bright red and she was shocked by his gesture. Damian leaned in and held her close.

“I do not believe you are bad.” he whispered, “I think you are a better person than most.”

Marinette shakily brought her hands around him and began to sob.

“What was that girl’s name?” Damian probed.

Mari sniffled and pulled away. She wiped her tears, like nothing had ever happened, and turned bac to look out the window.

“Layla Rossi. She went by Lila.” she answered, “I don’t know if it’s still with my things, but I kept a journal about everything. You can read it if you want. I decided to keep it as a reminder to never let it happen again; that I never needed friends, again.”

Damian stood up and placed a hand on her head. He smirked as he walked away and explained he had permission to look though her belongings. He found the journal and smiled. Marinette had no idea she had just made a deal with a demon.

Keep reading

[ravennm84]

Idea for you class salt after the class is out of school and in the real world.

Marinette's phone gets broken so badly she needs a new number. She only tells a few her new number no one from her old class has it.

Some of her old class goes to bakery to ask why she hasn't called them back when they called her. They get told her phone got broken and all that.

The class member goes okay tell her to call me when it gets fixed or replaced it is important.

Only her parents forget and when said class member comes back later is told that but is also told Marinette has a new phone now. But not a new number.

Classmate rushes out to call her so she can fix their problems like always only it goes to voicemail as the person whom has her old number is like I don't know this person calling me. It goes on and on till it gets bad and the person with the new number goes to the police with worry over the threats they are getting.

Should I be worried for myself or the person they are trying to reach

It comes to a head when alya talks max into hacking the location of the phone and they go to have a talk with Marinette only it's not her

Thank you so much for the request! It's my first one so I went a bit overboard and wrote a lot! So sorry it took me so long to get to this! I'm taking organic chemistry over the winter so that has been kicking my ass. The first draft was deleted, so hopefully, this is a better version! Thank you for your patience with me!

TW: swearing, minor threats of violence

~~~~~~

"Well shit," Marinette's day was already bad, but this was just throwing salt into the wound. She had started her day with her phone blowing up with requests from her (former) classmates and friends. Ever since she returned from College they had gotten right back to their usual B.S. "Mari I need a new dress for a meeting with Prince Ali," "Marinette! I told my team you'd design some sick jackets for us and you'd have them done by our next swim meet!" "Girl! I need three new outfits! Adrien and Lila are taking me with them to a fashion show and this is my chance to interview some top designers! Oh sorry, you're not invited." She was up to her neck in demands and requests, to the point she was seriously considering closing her commissions, not like her former friends paid her anyways. THEN Hawkmoth decided that she hadn't suffered enough, she had to deal with Volpina, Frozer, AND Prime Queen and it was not even lunchtime. Volpina was easy enough to take down, why Lila was akumatized is anyone's guess. Frozer was a bit trickier, and since Chat had no plans of showing up she had to bring in Ryuko and Viperion. The trio ended up fighting Prime Queen, who was convinced that LadyNoir would still happen and the Cat Hero's absence was due to a lover's quarrel. Marinette was finally able to return to the alleyway she had transformed in... only to find her shattered phone. It must've fallen out of her suit's pocket (she had redesigned her costume since returning to Paris, she wanted a more mature, fashionable look) when she was rushing to get to the battle.

"Great! Just Perfect! This is just what I need now!" She sighed picking up the shattered phone. There was no way this was salvageable, the impact of hitting the ground had practically broken the thing in half. Tikki knew her chosen was stressed, between being Ladybug, being the Guardian of the Miraculous, building a blossoming fashion empire from scratch, and having to deal with her former friends' constant demands it was only a matter of time before she lost Marinette to Hawkmoth's akumatization. The goddess recognized that this was just the opportunity she needed to help her chosen, and she would start by helping Marinette cut off the people hurting her most. "Marinette! I have an idea! Why don't you get two phones? One can be your work phone, and the other can be your personal one. That way you won't have to worry about your work stuff getting lost in your personal stuff. You can get new numbers for both too!" Marinette looked at the Kwamii with some confusion, "Why would I need to change my number?" Tikki sighed, "Marinette, they haven't been very good friends to you, they haven't even been your friends for a while now. Think about it, your former classmates don't talk to you unless they want something, they expect you to use your connections to benefit them but won't return the favor, and they promise you and your time to other people without your consent.  That isn't right babybug, friends don't treat friends like that. They don't even pay you for your time, effort, and the cost of materials!" Marinette knew that Tikki was right, but she was still hesitant, "But..." "Would Kagami text you expecting you to make her something and refuse to pay? Would Luka text you telling you that he promised another musician you'd make their wardrobe by their next concert? Would Kagami and Luka use your work to get ahead, and then refuse to extend the favor? No, they wouldn't! Those are healthy friends babybug, you can give them your new number, I know they'll understand!" Marinette thought about it for a moment and decided that Tikki was right. With a renewed conviction she made her way to the nearest tech store to begin to take control of her life again.

Adrien was frustrated, he had been texting and calling Marinette all afternoon but she wasn't answering! That wasn't like his princess, so something had to be going on, but there wasn't an Akuma on the news, Ladybug, Viperion, and Ryuko defeated the three earlier today. He did feel a little guilty that he didn't go to help, but he was busy! He had modeling shoots all morning and then joined Lila and Alya for lunch discussing their upcoming trip. The topic eventually turned to the Wayne Gala that was approaching as well, with both models confirming they had been invited. Well, Lila had only been invited because she was an official Gabriel representative, but she didn't need to know that. The brunette was currently making a big show of bringing Alya as her plus one, which brings Adrien back to his current predicament. When he arrived home, his father told him that he had to invite Marinette Dupain-cheng as his plus one no matter what. Both Agrestes had been shocked when she had rejected Gabriel's offer to join his company, but her answer had been reassuring, "I greatly appreciate your offer but cannot accept it in good conscious. Adrien has been my friend for years and I would hate to potentially harm his, the company's, and my reputation by accepting. I am worried it could be misconstrued as me gaining the position, not by my own talent, skill, or merit but because I had a connection to someone with considerable sway." His father didn't seem to pick up that the last bit was about Lila, but seemed content. In fact, Gabriel had complimented Marinette's business savvy and remarked how good it would be if she followed in his footsteps by building a fashion house from scratch. He had mused that it would be even better to have the two great fashion houses merging together instead of just taking Marinette in as a designer. Now that Miracle Design Clothing (MDC) has risen to compete with the likes of Gabriel and Style Queen, his father had decided now was the time to begin winning Marinette over.

Adrien would never admit it to his father, but he had his own motivations for being so on board with the plan to invite Marinette to the Wayne Gala. They were now in their mid-20s, and everyone in Paris wanted to know everything about the Agreste Heir's love life. Lila had hinted multiple times that Adrien was dating her, so much so that the media was beginning to spin her narrative. However, Adrien wasn't entirely out of the running yet. He knew that the Wayne Galas were always a media frenzy so if he, a fashion empire heir, showed up to the Gala with Marinette, a rising star in the fashion world, on his arm the media would quickly assume they were dating. It was a brilliant plan, Marinette was charming, beautiful, intelligent, and incredibly talented. His father held her in high regard, and he knew that if Gabriel approved of him dating anyone, it would be Marinette. Besides Adrien had a trick up his sleeve, he knew Marinette was in love with him, or at least that was what Alya had told him. She told him about Marinette's crush right before the ravenette left for college, hoping to embarrass her former best friend. Their old class still believed what Lila had said about Marinette being a bully. In their get-togethers they would often mock the designer's success, reassuring Lila that the only reason they talked to her was to get stuff from Marinette. While it upset him a little to know Marinette was being taken advantage of, a larger part of him felt like she deserved it since she didn't listen to his advice about Lila. Oh well, it was her own fault. Adrien was brought out of his thoughts by Alya's shriek.

"OH MY GOSH! The Waynes just announced the Designer they got their Gala outfits from, and it's Marinette!" Adrien choked down a laugh at the sour expression Lila wore, as Alya continued to read, "The article says that Marinette and Timothy Drake Wayne met while they were in college, and he thought her designs were so incredible that he referred her to Bruce Wayne himself! She's considered a family friend and received their order along with an invitation to the Gala! Why didn't she tell me any of this??" 'Maybe because you only talk to her when you want something' Adrien thought as their former classmates began to text. Alya was trying to call Marinette, most likely to scream at her for not letting Alya in on such a big story, but she couldn't get through. "Ugh! Marinette is ignoring me! Who does that stupid bitch think she is?" Lila's eyes sparkled as she saw a chance to jump in and control the narrative, "I know right? You'd think she'd be more grateful after I introduced her to Timmy- oh I've said too much," She batted her eyelashes and made a show of covering her mouth. "YOU introduced Marinette to the Waynes? Girl you've gotta give me the details!" "Well, Marinette was going to college in Milan, and I happened to be there for a modeling shoot," That part was actually true, Adrien was sick and couldn't make that shoot, "We happened to bump into each other at a cafè, and Marinette apologized to me for how awful she was to me in our youth. She told me that the only reason she did what she did was that she was jealous and felt threatened by me, you were right Alya." That was how Lila worked, she mixed a little bit of the truth with what someone wanted to hear, which caused the lies she told to pass by noticed. "Anyways we had lunch and caught up, she was showing me some of her amazing designs," as much as it pained Lila to admit it, Marinette was truly talented. In fact one thing she regretted was not working harder to deceive Marinette back when they were still in school, if she had known Marinette would be so successful she would've fought like hell to take the spot of Marinette's Best Friend away from Alya. She would've been MDC's top model, instead of having a stagnating career as just another practically nameless model for Gabriel. "I remembered my dear friend Timmy, we met when my mother was stationed in Gotham, he had told me that the Wayne family needed suits and dresses for their upcoming Gala and that Gabriel was too busy." Another partial truth, Lila didn't know any Wayne, but she knew Gabriel was too busy being Hawkmoth to make their outfits. "I gave him Marinette's number as an olive branch because I had thought she changed, but I guess she was lying. Oh and Alya? Adrien? Please don't mention my friendship with the Waynes, I don't want people thinking they can get to them through me." Lila smirked as both Adrien and Alya promised her they wouldn't say anything.

When Marinette told them she was cutting off her former friends for good, Tom and Sabine were over the moon. They knew about the Lila situation and all its complexities after the faux fox tried to infiltrate the bakery and convince them their daughter had stolen her necklace. They almost fell for it, until Tom remembered that Marinette had been helping him in the bakery during the time Lila said their daughter took the necklace. He had sternly told Lila that there was no way Marinette could have done it, and even offered to show her security footage that proved Marinette was not the thief. Instead, the brunette stormed out of the bakery, and Tom and Sabine knew they had to talk to their daughter. After a bit of gentle prodding, Marinette broke down and told them everything. She told them about Lila, her classmates, and Adrien, and she told them about everything they were putting her through. They were horrified, and that feeling was solidified after Lila got Marinette expelled. After their daughter's name was cleared, that useless principal was trying to dodge removing it from her record, until Sabine threatened to contact the school board about how their daughter was expelled without an investigation. They did everything they could, but it seemed Lila had everyone else in her pocket, and it seemed to stay that way once Marinette returned from college. She had swung by the bakery and explained that her phone had been shattered while she avoided the akumas, and she was taking this opportunity to change her number and cut those leeches off. Sabine and Tom promised that they would say nothing because it was only a matter of time before her former friends wound up at the bakery because of the radio silence from Marinette.

The chiming of the doorbell confirmed their fears. In stormed Marinette's old class, with her former friend Alya leading the pack. They could see Lila hiding in the back, and decided it would be better to say nothing. "Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Dupain-Cheng! We have a problem and thought you could help us. We've been trying to get in contact with Marinette all day, but we can't reach her and we wanted to make sure she was okay." Sabine smiled as she tried to hold in her rage. They weren't here because they were concerned, those brats wanted something. It would appear that Alya and co didn't know that Marinette's parents knew Lila was lying or what they did, so Tom decided to answer in a way Lila couldn't twist. "Oh, she came by earlier today and let us know that her phone was broken. She dropped it during one of the Akuma attacks, and it was pretty smashed up. She told us to let you know if you came by since she would be off the grid until it was fixed. It might be a while though, it was almost as bad as the time it got caught in the bread mixer!" His answer seemed to calm the group down, typical clumsy Marinette strikes again. "Ok, well can you please let her know to reach out to us once her phone's fixed?" The two nodded and promised they would, and watched as the group of adults left. Sabine turned to the freezer, "They're gone! You can come out now!" The two chuckled as their daughter slowly poked her head out of the walk-in freezer, ready to dash back in at a moment's notice. Yeah, they're glad Marinette was finally cutting those people off and the bright glow in their girl's eyes confirmed it.

The Gala was in a few weeks, and Marinette was STILL radio silent. Adrien was pacing back and forth in his room, trying to figure out what to do. Her social media was most likely controlled by an assistant like his was so he couldn't message her there, he couldn't get into her studio without an invitation or employee badge, and he realized he had no idea where she lived so he couldn't even pay her a visit or send a letter! "I don't know what to do! No one has heard from Marinette and her parents promised they'd talk to her about it!" "Maybe she finally got tired of your bullshit and decided to cut you and the rest of those users off," Plagg snapped from somewhere in his room. After The Paint Incident, Plagg's attitude towards him seemed to change. He snapped at Adrien more, called Adrien out on his behavior, and started giving Adrien harsh (and desperately needed) advice. Other than that, Plagg was getting on his case about slacking off on his duties as Chat Noir, claiming that his behavior was a disgrace to the legacy of the Cat Miraculous. Adrien was getting fed up with him, hadn't the stupid cat heard the saying 'if you can't say anything nice don't say anything at all?' "Marinette wouldn't do that! We're her friends!" "Some friends. And some friend YOU are. You knew Lila was lying and let her wreck Marinette's school life, get her expelled, and continue to lie to everyone. You told Marinette to shut up and take it, news flash kid, the high road does not mean stay quite and let people hurt you! YOU currently know that YOUR friends only care about what they can get from her and that Lila is planning to pull some bullshit at the Gala, but all you're concerned about is making sure karma doesn't bite you in the ass!" Plagg roared. It was hard to argue with the little god without sounding like a hypocrite, but Adrien was going to try. "Well... When Marinette agrees to go to the Gala with me I can fix everything! She likes me, so we can get together, and I can get Lila to apologize! Once everyone knows they're on good terms things will go back to how they should be!" Plagg was paying more attention to the cheese he was juggling, but he did glance back at Adrien, "One, IF she decides to go with you. Two, she may not even feel that way it's been years. Three, How are you going to get a narcissist to admit to wrongdoing? Four, How does Lila apologizing change how your ex-class treat Mari when that's how they treated her before Lila showed up?" Adrien chose to ignore Plagg and tried calling Marinette again.

Alya was STRESSED. The Gala was coming up and she needed a new dress that would wow everyone and make her stand out from other reporters. She had already secured her Press Pass, and because she was Lila's plus one she could actually get into the Gala. The only other reporters with that privilege were Clark Kent and Lois Lane, close friends of the Wayne Family. Lila offered to get her a Gabriel Original but she turned it down, both girls shared a sentiment that Gabriel's designs had really been declining. "I think it was the loss of his wife. She was his greatest inspiration, and especially with Hawkmoth on the loose, I can understand not wanting to leave your house. Maybe he's just out of touch," Lila had told her, and Alya agreed. What she needed was a Marinette Original, something to show she was in with both designers. She was thinking of something fox-inspired, to pay homage to her time as Rena Rouge. She'd talked to the other girls about why Marinette had never told her she would be designing for the Waynes, and they reassured her, "Well, maybe she thought you wouldn't be interested or were too busy?" Rose offered. "You didn't really report on fashion until Adrien and Lila took you to that fashion show. Maybe she thought you wouldn't be interested." Juleka suggested. "Als, you're overthinking it! Mari didn't tell you because she couldn't! A family like the Waynes has wicked good lawyers, they probably made her sign an NDA." Alix concluded. They were probably right, Marinette would have told her if she could have, and Alya needed that dress. So there she was at Tom and Sabine's bakery again, asking about Marinette. "Oh, she just called this morning! The damage was too severe, so she had to get a new phone." Sabine told the young reporter, who thanked her lucky stars. As she left the bakery, she sent a text 'Mari's back!'

Adrien nearly dropped his phone when he got the text from Alya, before excusing himself to run upstairs and call Marinette. The phone rang, and rang, and rang, before the call was answered, "Hello? Who is this?" A woman's voice answered, but certainly was not Marinette. Adrien was floored, he was sure he dialed the correct number. "Um hi. I'm looking for Marinette Dupain-Cheng. I'm a friend of hers and was calling to speak to her." "Oh really? Well if you're her friend maybe you can explain to me why the second I had this number activated my phone was bombarded with calls and texts demanding things from dresses, to invitations to some Gala, and all kinds of other demands." Wait, had Marinette changed her number? No, she wouldn't have. "Listen, lady, I don't know if you find this funny but I KNOW Marinette wouldn't change her number. If you're her assistant you better give the phone to Marinette NOW or I'll see to it personally that you're fired!" Marinette should really have taken care to not hire such incompetent people. It was unfitting of an eventually-to-be Agreste. "I don't know who you think you are but I will make one thing clear: I DO NOT KNOW A MARINETTE DUPAIN-CHENG!" The line went dead. Adrien pressed the redial button, and felt his stomach drop as the call didn't go through, he had been blocked. From the way the group chat was blowing up, he could guess the others were getting the same response. Lila was going on and on about how Marinette was abandoning them in their time of need, and adding fuel to the fire. Adrien decided he was going to do damage control. He had thought a bit about what Plagg had said and realized that he needed to show Marinette that he was still on her side, besides it would be tougher to get everyone to make up if they were mad at her for something her crappy assistant did. He sent the chat a message, 'Guys relax. The woman on the phone wasn't Marinette but has her number, so she's probably a new assistant! Miracle Design Clothing has really exploded since the Waynes announced she made their outfits for the Gala so Marinette probably hired some help and the lady didn't know who we were. We can try again later.'

Lea Dubois was having the roughest week in all of her fourty-three years. She had gotten a new phone, since she her old one was stolen, and decided to get a new number with it. Not even a couple of minutes after activating her phone it began blowing up with calls and demands for a Marinette Dupain-Cheng. After a particularly snobby boy threatened to get her fired from a job she didn't even have, Lea decided to do some snooping and figure out who this Marinette Dupain-Cheng was. Googling the girl's name directed her to a Miracle Design Clothing website, and after scrolling through she found a tab labeled, "Founder." Clicking on it, she saw a picture of a smiling young woman with shiny black (almost blue) hair and sapphires for her eyes. She was a truly gorgeous woman, and from what Lea read very talented. That explained the demand for clothing. She decided to check social media next, and quickly found articles about how the rising star had been personally invited to the Wayne Charity Gala! That explained all the calls from people claiming to be Marinette's friends and demanding to be taken to the Gala, to that one girl who demanded an interview and a dress for the Gala. Lea went through the messages that quickly went from demanding to insulting and toxic, and thought to herself, 'I see why that girl changed her number, I hope she knows these people aren't her friends.' She decided to look up the people who had called her, and see what she could find out about them. A girl named Alix and a boy named Kim were both athletes, although both played for the minor leagues of their respective sports, but it did explain the requests for jersey designs. A boy named Ivan and two girls named Juleka and Rose had been calling about outfits for their next concert, apparently they were in a band called Kitty Section. Lea vaguely remembered that it was a popular group, before their lead guitarist was kicked out and went solo. Two girls named Sabrina and Mylene had asked her to create costumes for a production in the Théâtre du Châtelet, a boy named Max called asking for a suit for his new tech reveal, and another boy named Nino asked her to design a couple of album covers!

A few other people called, but they seemed to be genuine friends. One standout was a boy named Nathaniel who had called twice, once to congratulate Marinette on her work with the Waynes and invite her to an event for his comic. The second time was to apologize to Lea when he found out Marinette had changed her number. He had also apologized for the harassment his (and apparently Marinette's) former friends had been throwing at her. He explained that when they were younger, Marinette didn't know how to stand up for herself, and was pressured by her teacher to constantly put her needs on the back burner to help her classmates. Nathaniel told her it had gotten better when Marinette left for college, but now that she was back in Paris, things had gone back to the way they were. Instead of their teacher, the role of pressuring her had fallen to three people, Lila Rossi, Alya Césaire, and Adrien Agreste. That last name caught her attention, could that have been the bratty boy who threatened to fire her? "Sweetie I hate to do this to you, but if you have time could you meet me in person? We have a lot to discuss, and I'm beginning to worry for Marinette." Nathaniel had agreed and had said he was bringing a couple of Marinette's friends, her real friends. "They've been harassing us too, maybe we can look into getting a restraining order or something." And that was how she ended up in a cafe sitting at a table with some of the most impressive people she'd ever met. There were Nathaniel Kurtzberg and Marc Anciel, the power couple of comics. She hadn't read comics since she was a little girl, but her nephews talked nonstop about the Ladybug comic the two had started in collège. Olympian fencer Kagami Tsurugi, and hit rock artist Luka Couffaine. There was academy award winner Zoé Lee and fortune 500 company founder Chloé Bourgeois.

The group exchanged pleasantries and got right to business, "So we heard from Nathaniel that you got Marinette's old number and that your phone has been blowing up with all the shit she used to get," Luka said. Lea nodded, "Yes. They refused to believe that she'd changed her number and one man even threatened to get me fired! I don't know what job he thinks I have that he can influence, but I digress. " "Ugh. That sounds like Adrien alright. I swear it was like a switch flipped in his head during Collége, he's acting like I used to," Chloé had come to terms with the kind of person she was, and had taken the steps to apologize and change for the better. A part of that was she swore never to touch a Miraculous again, she had become aware enough to realize that when given that much power she would be tempted to fall back into her old ways. "It's telling that their first reaction to being cut off is to harass an innocent person instead of reflecting on their actions and what lead them to that point," Kagami said, "I think we owe you an explanation since you have unfortunately been dragged into this." Lea nodded, that sounded good. "They weren't always this bad, well they weren't always this blatant about it. For a long time, Marinette was happy and popular, hell even when I bullied her she didn't seem bothered. Then Lila Rossi transferred. That girl is the type to convince people that two plus two equals five, you know what I mean," Lea nodded, her ex had been like that. "Well anyways, Marinette saw through her bullshit and called her out for it, so Lila declared war. Before anyone could process what happened, Lila had convinced the class that Marinette was the Devil's spawn. She even managed to get Marinette falsely expelled, and while that was reversed, it was the moment Marinette realized she couldn't rely on her classmates. Alya was an up-and-coming journalist and her best friend, but if she couldn't bring herself to fact-check this girl's stories..." Chloé paused to take a sip of her drink, and Lea thought of something, "Maybe Alya did fact-check and knew Lila was lying. I did some research before I came here, and I know that Alya ran the Ladyblog. I also know that her videos featuring Lila are her most viewed videos, but when I looked at the comments I noticed that a ton had been deleted. Maybe she knew but saw how much attention her blog was getting, and chose to ignore Lila's lies, or maybe she believes them, I don't know." The group continued to chat about their situation and were snapped out of it when the door to the cafe was flung open.

Alya was gonna kill Marinette when she found her. How dare she hire someone and not tell them who she was?! How dare she do that to her friends?! Doesn't she realize they need her? It didn't take much to convince the others, specifically Max, to ping the location off of Marinette's number and track it down. If she was going to be bitchy and ignore their calls and messages and hire some dumb assistant to annoy them, they were gonna make her pay! They had tracked her location to a cafe in the fashion district and were waiting for the last of the group to arrive. "I don't understand why she's being so petty," Lila whimpered, fighting back tears, "You all have been nothing but kind to her even when she's been such a nasty person!" "I don't understand it either," Sabrina said, "It's like a switch flipped in collège or something." Well whatever it was, they weren't gonna let her get out of this! Once Kitty Section had arrived, the group stormed into the cafe ready to give Marinette a piece of their minds! To their surprise, Marinette wasn't there. Their old friends turned enemies were there and sitting with them was a middle-aged woman, was she the one who had been answering from Marinette's number. "Where's Marinette?" Alya demanded. Chloé and Kagami lept to their feet. "She isn't here, and unless someone is dying you are not getting in contact with her!" Chloé was a lot less polite about it, "Wow, I'm surprised none of you got the memo. You've been cut off!" The older woman turned to face them, and Adrien snapped at her, "You! Are you Marinette's assistant or something? Get her here now!" Oh, that was it, Lea walked right up to him, ready for war. "I will do no such thing because I am not her assistant! I did not even know who Marinette was until you people began blowing up my phone with demands! I have never met more selfish people! And you," she pointed at Lila, "I've heard all about you and what you've done to that poor girl!" Lila began to sob, wailing about how she didn't do anything, and that she had been trying to mend bridges with Marinette by introducing her to the Waynes.

"Woah, Woah, hold on! You did NOT introduce her to the Wayne Family," Luka stood up and walked over, Lea noticed how Kitty Section seemed to shrink under his gaze. "Marinette met the Waynes at a fashion show in Gotham that Jagged Stone took us to. She met Selina and the two hit it off like a house on fire," Luka pulled out his phone and showed off pictures of a much younger Marinette with a woman who could have passed for her mother. "Notice the date? She was in high school when she met them. Here she is at Selina and Bruce's wedding. Know why she's there? She designed Selina's dress." The dress was a stunning white with elegant black lace. The top resembled the head of a cat, and if you looked close enough you could see little cats and bats hidden within the lace. "Marinette's been the Wayne Family's go-to designer for YEARS. Hell, the Waynes were at her graduation party, and the opening of Miracle Design Clothes Studio, and have been to every major life event she's had since she met them." Luka showed them More photos of Marinette and the Wayne family. "I don't know how you could introduce her to people she's known for years," Luka said, "Not to mention Stephanie tells me they're desperate to either adopt her into the family or have her marry into it," Marc added. All eyes were on Lila now, she had told them all that she'd introduced Marinette to Timothy Drake Wayne and that was how Marinette got the job, but with all this evidence it was clear her lie was dead in the water. Lea turned back to the group, watching as the realization crossed their faces that Lila had lied, and had most likely lied about various other things. Turning back to the people she had met she said, "It was very nice meeting you all. Please pass on my concerns to Marinette, and let her know if she ever needs friendly advice, she knows what number to call,"

The Wayne Gala was very... Awkward for Adrien. After their failed attempt to confront Marinette, Lila got exposed, and in the excitement, it came out that he knew about what she had been doing. Simply put he was excommunicated from the group. They figured that if they cut him, Lila, and Alya (who had doubled down on Marinette being the problem until it came out she knew Lila lied and had said nothing to protect her views) out that they could apologize to Marinette and she'd take them back. Their pleas on social media brought attention to the situation, and Marinette's friends and parents were more than happy to tell the world what happened to their favorite designer. When he, Lila, and Alya walked into the Wayne Gala, they turned heads but not for the reasons any of them had hoped for. People were polite to their faces and when speaking to them, but Adrien could hear them whispering behind his back. He needed to talk to Marinette, if he could smooth things over with her then maybe, just maybe this could be salvaged. However, the Wayne Family seemed to personally take offense to his plan, because whenever he saw Marinette (and she stood out in an absolutely jaw-dropping sparkling red mermaid cut dress) she was whisked away before he could say anything. First, it was Selina, who lead her over to some of his father's former clients and proudly told them the story of how she met the young designer. Then it was Bruce Wayne himself who came to introduce her to the Kents, who much to Alya's dismay didn't even glance her way. Finally, it was the Wayne Kids who were determined to dance with Marinette all night, Adrien swears Jason was smirking at him. Eventually, she broke off from the main party with Tim and the two were chatting on the balcony. This was as close of a chance as he would get.

Marinette was having an amazing night! She met so many amazing people and made so many new contacts! She even set up an interview with Lois Lane! She could feel Alya fuming on the other side of the room, and tried her best not to think about it. She knew Adrien, Lila, and Alya were at the Gala, and she knew what had happened a few weeks before. While she was happy Lila was finally exposed, she had moved on. She got to dance with each of the Wayne siblings, but her favorite dance had to be with Tim. When Selina had introduced her to him, their reaction to each other was to freak out. Tim was over the moon to meet the designer he'd followed for years, and Marinette was ecstatic to meet the young Wayne CEO (whom she may have had a bit of a crush on). The two had exchanged numbers and talked constantly, building up a close friendship. As time went on her crush on him grew as well, but she was too nervous to risk their friendship and say anything. Eventually, when she thought her feet were going to fall off, Tim led her over to the balcony. There they talked quietly about anything and everything when a cough interrupted them. There was Adrien, with a charming smile, but Marinette had learned not to be fooled. "Hello, Adrien. Enjoying the Gala?" Marinette asked, she knew he was up to something, and from the way Tim looked at him, he could sense it too. Marinette decided to take control of the conversation, "I heard what happened. With Lea Dubois and the phone number and everything. To put it lightly that certainly wasn't your best moment." "Well, I... I never thought you would change your number, so it kinda threw me for a loop. Anyways, I wanted to apologize for the part I played in all of this. I really dropped the ball and it lead to you getting hurt I never intended for that to happen," "Yet you continued to let Marinette's former friends use her for free things?" Tim butted in, holding up his phone and showing various text messages between Adrien and his friends. Adrien's face darkened, "How the hell did you get those?!" Tim just threw his head back and laughed. "I'm a tech prodigy. Finding texts is a piece of cake. I started looking after Nathaniel told me about what happened in the cafe. I also found the texts between you and your father, and no I won't let you use my girlfriend as a publicity stunt. We were gonna announce our relationship tonight-" Adrien turned around and stomped off before Tim could finish his sentence. Marinette sighed, he really hadn't changed. Turning back to Tim she asked, "Since when are we in a relationship?" The raven-haired boy blushed a little, "Well Unofficially since your graduation party, but neither of us knew it at the time. Officially now... If you want. If not that's cool and we can just pretend this never happened. Damn Adrien! I had a plan for this but he had to show up and ruin it!" Marinette chuckled and brought Tim's hand up to her cheek, smiling up at him fondly, "Officially now is fine with me."

[ravennm84]

[ravennm84]

Lila’s Karen Moment

This is a story that I’ve been kicking around for a while, thinking of Lila having a moment where she’s in a bad mood and takes her anger out on someone, not knowing that the person is closely connected to her classmates. And... I just love writing “Lila gets exposed” stories. Warm-Fuzzies and please enjoy!!

Most of the class knew about Max’s cousin, Nick. They had been raised in the same apartment building and absolutely adored each other. Although Nick was a couple years older, he had been diagnosed with autism when he was four years old. Which wasn’t to say he was slow, just a little different. Mostly, Nick was shy and wouldn’t talk to people he wasn’t familiar with. He had a hard time looking people in the eye and didn’t understand social cues.

Still, the class, at least those who had grown up around him, knew just how sweet and caring he was; and how open he could be with people he knew. Kim and Alix would include him in their races, knowing how much fun he had running with them. Nathaniel would do drawings of Nick as a superhero, saving the day and protecting Max, which always put a smile on his face. Nino had a playlist with a bunch of show tunes, Nick was a big fan of Phantom of the Opera and Fiddler on the Roof. Marinette taught him how to do paper folding when they were younger, and he soon became better at it than she was. Even Chloe had a soft spot for Nick after he had bashfully given her a rose made of gold paper and said she was a ‘pretty princess’.

But none of the class cared as much as Max. He would go over to his cousin’s apartment every day in the morning to make sure he got up. Tell him stories about the class and show Nick pictures. Heck, one of the reasons he had invented Markov was to create someone to be a companion for Nick, so he would never be alone. Nick had a tendency to wander off when he was bored or saw something interesting. The few times Max, his mom, or Nick’s parents had lost sight of him; they had gone into total panic attacks. Only for Nick to find his way back to them a few hours later. If Nick had a little companion robot like Markov, it would be a lot safer for him.

So, when Max's aunt asked him if he could have an activity day with Nick, he was all for it. When he told the class, they decided to have a picnic for Nick. They had all been busy lately, it had been a while since they last saw him.

It was a beautiful day at the park. Nino had a full playlist ready to go, along with new songs from Hamilton and Six, he had a feeling Nick would like Haus of Holbein. Marinette had brought all his favorite pastries and a couple new ones he might like, making sure they were organized by size. Even Chloe had come, having Sabrina bring a ream of multicolored paper, perfect for folding. 

As soon as Max, Nick, and Markov arrived, there were good vibes all around. Kim and Alix raced laps with him around the fountain until Kim tripped and fell into the water; big smile from Nick. When No Way played, Nick had Nino put it on repeat over and over until everyone was singing it. When Rose and Juleka got there, they had been running late; Nick came behind the goth and started braiding her hair. He loved touching her hair and had done this many times before. Rose would always watch carefully and would gently tell him if he pulled too much.

Nick was in the middle of creating an entire boutique of paper flowers when the akuma alert went off. Alarms were always too much for Nick and before anyone could stop him, he had covered his ears and ran down the sidewalk. Markov followed as best as his little propeller would let him, but fell behind. 

Even as the swarm of magical ladybugs swept across the sky a few minutes later, signaling the end of the attack, Nick didn't slow down. He only stopped after he ran head first into a familiar girl wearing twin ponytails and an orange blazer. Both teenagers fell to the ground with Nick cowering and quietly apologizing, while Lila glared at the boy. Markov, to his credit, recognized her expression as hostile and began recording in case something happened. And boy, did it.

"You stupid, clumsy retard! What the hell are you doing?" Lila screamed as she stood over the cowering boy. 

"I… I-"

*smack*

Nick curled into a ball on the ground, scared and in pain from the unexpected strike. 

"Shut up, you don't get to talk. Retards like you aren't allowed to talk. How did you even get out of your ward? Things like you should be locked up since your parents weren't smart enough to drop you off a cliff." 

*smack*

Another cry and Lila kicked him out of the way with her boot, grumbling as she walked off that her outfit got dirty and scuffed. Not once did she bother to look up and see Markov hovering above them. The little robot stopped recording and floated down to comfort Nick while sending their coordinates to Max. 

Ten minutes later, the class and Max were gently leading his cousin back to the park. He was shocked and angry to see the bruises and nail marks on Nick's cheek. The marks meant that they weren't the result of the akuma attack. Those would have been healed by the miraculous cure. This would have been done by someone else after the initial attack. Marinette had rushed home to grab a medical kit while the others did their best to cheer Nick up. It wasn’t until Marinette got back that Markov was able to get everyone's attention.

"Max, I was able to record the interaction that resulted in your cousin’s injuries. Including the identity of his attacker. Would you like to see it?"

After Nick was properly distracted by Marinette and Nathaniel showing him a new paper folding technique, and moving a small distance so he wouldn't hear, Markov played it. The class looked on in absolute shock and disgust as they watched their "friend" verbally and physically attack one of the kindest, sweetest people they knew. 

After watching it a second time, to convince themselves that it really was Lila, they went ballistic! Nino was on the phone with Alya, telling her what he'd just seen. Max was angry-dialing his aunt and mother to tell them what happened, Markov had already forwarded the video to his email to send to the adults. Rose and Juleka displayed a surprising amount of strength as they kept Kim and Alix from hunting Lila down themselves. Sabrina had called her father to report the assault. Chloe was also on the phone with her father, demanding that he have the Rossi family kicked out of Paris immediately. 

~oOo~

Lila was beyond annoyed by the time she stomped into her family's apartment. First, her akumatization failed and she was turned back to normal after just a few minutes. That mangy cat even had the audacity to compare her to the fanatic bird guy. Then she got knocked down by some pathetic boy who couldn't even apologize right. She was so angry that she ended up slapping him a couple times before kicking him out of the way. And, just her luck, her phone got damaged from the fall.

When she got home, she barely made the effort to wave at her mom in the kitchen before going to her room. After changing into a new outfit, Lila took a few minutes to think up a good story as to how her phone was damaged and reasons why she needed the newest model to replace it. When she heard her mom talking to someone, she figured she was talking to her father over Zoom. He was back at his school in Italy. Maybe she could convince him to side with her for a new phone. 

However, she was met by two police officers that greeted her by name. Lila didn't get the chance to say anything before the men were arresting her for assault. Her cries went to deaf ears as she was taken away with her mother following them to the station. Even there, she had no chance to spin her lies as her mother and lawyer kept telling her to shut up. The only times they demanded she speak were to questions she didn't want to answer. 

Why did you hit a stranger who accidentally knocked you down? 

Silence.

You were akumatized? How could you not tell me? 

Silence.

How are you already back to normal? You told me how those useless, fake heroes take weeks to defeat a single akuma. 

Not so silent. 

It was the police that indignantly corrected Greta Rossi that time. For a few minutes they were going back and forth while Lila stewed between the four angry adults. She really wished that an akuma would come to her, but none came. Unknown to her; Ladybug, Chat Noir, Rena Rouge, Carapace, and Pegasus were all camped out on the surrounding buildings to keep that from happening. They'd already spotted and caught three butterflies. 

Eventually, Lila was released into the custody of her mother, but was warned that they should expect to be contacted with a court date very soon. The entire way home, Greta was yelling and berating her daughter for not only physically and verbally attacking someone who accidentally bumped into her, but lying about the akuma situation. She already planned on personally escorting Lila to school on Monday to have an in depth discussion with her teacher and principal. Lila pleaded with her mother to just listen to her, but Greta wasn't about to fall for any more of her daughter's lies.

~oOo~

Monday turned out to be even worse for Lila with all her diseases and attendance issues coming out during the meeting at school. As well as the incident with Marinette. She tried to cry and tell her side of the story; but her mother, the principal, or Marinette would contradict her with facts. This left more lies exposed, giving her another six months of being grounded without an allowance, and the possibility of an expulsion from school. 

Marinette was soon excused back to class. Lila was formally suspended for three weeks, would have to finish the school year with her class, and then repeat the academic year. If she wasn't expelled, that is. Lila was in tears as she pleaded with the two adults, begging them to just give her detention and summer school instead of holding her back a year. It didn't work. 

Eventually, Lila was sent out of the room and left sulking in the hallway. It was just her luck that Max, Nathaniel, and Kim were going to the library to work on a research paper. The three boys scowled at her, she didn't bother to hide her glare today. When they stopped close to her, she sneered harder. 

"What do you freaks want?" She snapped. 

*SMACK*

Lila cradled her reddening cheek in shock. The other two boys were just as surprised as they stared at Max as he casually adjusted his glasses.  "I would like to state that under normal circumstances, I would never strike another person. I prefer to fight my battles with intelligence and wit rather than my fists." Then his lens glinted, giving him a menacing look. "But then you attacked my cousin. You hit him, called him disgusting names, and then kicked him out of the way like garbage."

Lila sputtered in shock for a moment before snarling at the boy. "Like that even matters. I'll get you expelled for hitting-"

"I can guarantee you that I will never face any consequences for what I just did." Max said, walking forward as he spoke and forcing Lila to back into the wall. "You have already been exposed as a liar, so no one will believe you. The cameras for this hallway are currently malfunctioning. I have no record of violence, ever. And I have witnesses that will support that I never laid a finger on you. If you tried to tell anyone, there's a 99.874% chance that they would say you're lying."

Kim shrugged as he looked at the two of them. "I didn't see anything."

Nathaniel looked surprisingly smug as he said, "I bet she made it up as a way to get back at the family that's suing her. Even the mark on her face, I bet she did it to herself. And it's not the first time she faked an injury to get someone in trouble."

Leaning even closer, and despite being several centimeters shorter than her, Lila felt very belittled by the boy. Since when was Max this intimidating?

"Consider this your first, last, and only warning. If you ever try to hurt my family or friends again, I will ruin you. You don't need to answer me now, I'll be watching."

Then, the three of them walked away, like they hadn't just threatened her! Like she was nothing to them! Just like… like she'd done to Marinette. Gritting her teeth, Lila wanted nothing more than to go after those boys and destroy them!

In the span of a single weekend, Max had been able to record her without her knowledge. Got her arrested for assault. Fired from Gabriel since the brand couldn’t be associated with someone who beat an autistic boy. Suspended from school, likely expelled. And most of her lies were exposed to her mother. Still, she wasn't about to let some nerd with no fashion sense get the best of her!

Lila was trying to decide the best way to get her revenge when her mother came stomping out of the principal's office. Cursing at her in rapid Italian the entire time, Greta dragged Lila out of the school. All the way home she tried to tell her mother about Max slapping her just outside the office and how they tormented her, saying that no one would believe her. 

"Will you stop, already?" Greta screamed at her daughter, catching Lila by surprise. "What makes you think, after everything you've done, that I would believe anything you say?"

"But-"

"No, I am done listening to your lies. Even if some stranger came up to me and said you stole their soul from them, I would believe that person over you."

"I'm not lying! Look! Max left a mark where he slapped me!" She screamed back, pointing at the slightly red cheek.

"After what Marinette told me, it wouldn't surprise me if you did it to yourself as a way to try and get out of trouble."

"But, Mom!"

"I don't want to hear it!"

Lila couldn't believe it, the one time she was telling the truth and her own mother didn't believe her… just like Max said. After arriving back at their apartment, Lila was put on house arrest. She would be forced to study under a very strict tutor until the suspension and trial were finished. After that, she would be sent back to Italy where she would be attending the naval military school where her father, Ciro Rossi, was the vice principal. And no amount of begging, pleading, or tears would change Greta's mind.

Bonus:

Once Max, Kim, and Nathaniel were out of sight, the smallest boy nearly collapsed to his knees in shock. He couldn't believe he just did that. He actually hit and threatened someone! Kim was patting his shoulder, assuring him that he'd been very intimidating. Nathaniel looked just as surprised by what he'd done, but far more accepting. 

"Do you think she bought it?" Max asked, a slight tremor in his voice.

"I would have, you were really believable," nodded the red head.

"Yeah, you were scary, man. I'm so proud of you." Kim noogied his head. 

Pushing the larger boy off of him, he gave Kim a smile before they went back to their project. He didn't like how he acted, even towards a terrible human being like Lila Rossi. But for Nick, he'd do it again.

Taglist:

@2confused-2doanything @7-sage-7 @aadnrsstar @abrx2002 @awkwardromances @bayball @babylovebug18 @botanicalfoxx @back-cats-and-broken-mirrors @caffeinetheory @cheshire5210 @chocolateherringtacofan @city-of-all-tunas @classycollectorreviewworld  @corabeth11 @chocolatechipcookiesandcamembert @darkened-flame @delightfulcookiesrecipespizza @fandom-trapped-03 @ghostmaster @iamblinkmarvelarmy @interobanginyourmom @izang @jesussavedevenme @kazedancer @kitten12113 @lady-phoenix-of-tardis @lilypotter2018 @lunataravler @ladylupuscrow @maskedpainter @miraculouslydumb @nerd-nowandforever @naruwitch @ola-is-dead @pandacatxd @plushbookworm @plz-excuse-my-inner-ravenclaw @pheonix-biach @pandora-fucking-box @raiderofthelostbooks @ramos123 @rowanrouge @rowanyx @ren121 @seesea22 @seraphichana @sashakoi @shypeacekitten @smartlanceisreal @tazer6787 @that-girl-sakea @thecrazyfantrollshasmoved @the-smallest-kittenz @tishwinchesterannabethjackson @t1dwarrior-of-earth @ulmban @with-forward-motion @wonderbat91939 @zoiechance

#lila lies #lila salt #lila bashing #class redemption #max kante #max is the man #miraculous ladybug

[ravennm84]

Demonic Justice

So, I was on a Buffy the Vampire Slayer binge and thought to myself, What would happen if someone made a wish to a justice demon to go after Lila? More specifically, her past victims? And this is what I ended up with!! A little dark, but still filled with salty goodness. Warm-Fuzzies and please enjoy!!

As a justice demon, Remios considered himself to be more than fair, preferring to hear and see many different perspectives before passing judgment. Most of the other justice demons considered him to be too soft or slow in his work, but he didn’t care. What he cared about was the right people receiving justice and the rest getting the punishment they deserve. More than a few of his fellow demons would end up doling out justice willy-nilly and some jackass with a vendetta against an ex-girlfriend, who broke up with him for cheating, would end up getting the poor girl fileted from the inside out. Remios, however, never had to worry about the wrong person being punished. He always got the right ones.

There were also times when he felt souls cry so strongly, they were impossible to ignore. Today, for example, he was sensing the anguished cries of multiple souls, seemingly in the same area. Remios had put on his human face before teleporting to the area without being seen, and approached the group of teenagers that were huddled together and crying by the street. There were three of them, two girls and a boy, and their souls in such pain that it made him flinch to be so close to them.

It took some time and an offered bag of cookies, but they began venting to Remios, who had introduced himself as Remy, what was bothering them. Apparently, it was a photo in a magazine that had set them off.

“We just can’t believe such a horrible person got to be a model after ruining our lives,” Maria, a girl in her late teens, said as she gripped the magazine so hard that the pages tore.

“Do you mind if I ask what she did?” Remios asked, using a slight amount of his power to make them more willing to spill everything.

“What hasn’t that bitch done,” Terance growled in disgust. “She sexually harassed me, tried to get me to date her because my family has money. When I told her I wasn’t interested, she told everyone that I was harassing her! She got me expelled and taken to the police for questioning, it ruined me at school even though we had proof that it was the other way around. My family had to move to keep people from beating me up every day.”

Beatrix clutched at the two crutches that were laid across the bench beside her. “She tried to ruin my reputation at school, too. It almost worked, but our teacher believed me instead of her and kept giving her detention. When the teacher told Lila that if she did one more thing against me, she would get suspended, I got pushed down the stairs. I was in a coma for over a week, broke a lot of bones, and I still can’t walk without crutches. My parents and the school tried to get ahold of her parents, but the phone number and email they had were defunct. The school never found where she transferred to.”

Maria’s eyes were full of hate and tears as she continued to glare at the magazine in her hands. “She bullied my sister for months; at school, on the internet, she convinced our parents that she was the bully. People were throwing stones through our windows. Jennifer came home covered in bruises at least a dozen times. But the worst…” Her breath shuttered as she threw the magazine onto the street. “Someone had posted online that Jennifer was a prostitute and wanted to have ‘fun’. A group of boys from her school cornered her in the locker room and…” Maria broke down in sobs as Beatrix rubbed the older girl’s back in soothing circles. It was a few minutes before she was able to gather herself enough to continue.

“It wasn’t until then that my parents actually tried to do something… but it was too late. My poor little baby sister couldn’t take anymore and killed herself. That… that thing masquerading as a teenage girl ruined our lives and who knows how many others.”

“At least twelve, if we go by the group chat.” Terance muttered, before looking at Remios. “That’s how we met. Maria set up the group chat as a sort of support group/warning system for others. Lila’s done everything from stealing from people, getting people expelled because they tried outing her for lying. One girl, Katy, almost committed suicide before she found our chat and we were barely able to talk her down.”

“And now that thing is a model for a famous fashion designer,” Beatrix groused. “All her dreams are coming true and all the people she hurt have to deal with the fact that all we can do is try and fail to make her pay for what she’s done.”

Remios just looked on in shock. If these three were telling him the truth about this girl, then she would be the youngest person he’d even punished. He had gone after sociopaths before, that was nothing new, but those were normally in their mid-thirties or older. Just to make sure, he asked them to show him the chat so he could see the stories for himself. Sure enough, there were dozens of different members of the chat. Some were Lila’s victims, others were friends/related to former victims, and there were still others that had tried to tell people at Lila’s schools the type of person she was, only to be ridiculed and bullied for their efforts. 

No one had known where she disappeared to after her last school in Florence, where she had brought her classmates a batch of cookies, knowing full-well that one of her classmates was allergic to coconut and served them to her. The girl had recently discovered that Lila was a liar and decided to give her a chance to confess on her own. If Amelia hadn’t had an epi-pen with her, she would have died. By the time her mother had found out what had happened and tried to contact Lila’s parents, the family had moved on and the contact numbers and emails on file were defunct, just like all of her previous schools.

With so many different stories from people all over, and the fact the souls of the three people he was speaking with were in so much pain that he wasn’t sure how much longer he could be around them, he knew what he had to do. It was time for him to wield the power of the wish. He just had to know what they wished for.

“This girl, Lila, really does sound like a rotten person. I bet you all wish something or someone would do something to take her down a peg or 30.” Remios prompted. 

Terance nodded. “More than anything, I wish all of her lies were exposed so everyone will see exactly what a disgusting, vile, and corrupt psychopath she really is.”

Beatrix’s hand absently ran over her crutches again as she spoke. “I wish she understood the pain that she’d caused the people she targeted, both emotionally and physically.”

Maria was wiping away the remaining tears from her eyes before looking up longingly at the sky. “I want her to pay for what she did to my sister and everyone else. But I don’t want it so bad that she dies, I want her to live with the consequences of what she’s done. And I wish I could see her face when it all happens. That way I know that what she did to Jennifer, she won’t be able to do to anyone else.”

The three of them were all looking to the street or the sky at that moment. No one saw his human mask melt away to reveal his true demonic face. All they heard was the word “Done,” whispered in their ears before the man that the three of them swore they had been speaking to, vanished as if he was never there.

~oOo~

It started with emails to a few celebrities from lawyers that they didn’t remember retaining. 

Jagged Stone and his manager Penny received a call from their lawyer that the lawsuit against the girl that accused him of reckless endangerment, copyright, slander, and accusations of pedophilia was ready for his signiture. The rock star had been confused at first, not remembering having anything like that in the works, but a look through the paperwork and he was glad that it was being resolved. When he recognized the name as the girl that was also harassing his honorary niece, he had the lawyer draw up a restraining order and lawsuit on her behalf, to be implemented as soon as he had her parents permission.

Clara Nightingale received a similar call from her lawyer, pertaining to copyright, slander, and theft of art that she was being accused of from a girl she’d never met, but the name was familiar. Once she realized that it was the girl that Marinette had been venting about after the girl had accused her of stealing her design ideas, Clara had the lawyer add theft on Marinette’s behalf. There was no way she was going to let the girl that inspired such good will and a few new songs suffer from some no talent wannabe.

There were over a dozen other celebrities that suddenly found themselves signing lawsuits to be delivered to the teenager and her parents later that afternoon. Most didn’t even remember wanting or filing the lawsuits, but agreed wholeheartedly after reading the charges that were being brought against the girl. There was everything from slander, copyright infringement, and liability; to theft, harassment, and impersonation for pretending to be dating/related to a celebrity and making them foot the bill for whatever restaurant or store she went to.

Another lawyer, M. Fontaine had a completed class-action lawsuit on his desk that morning; full of testimonies, video, digital, and physical evidence against Lila Rossi for what she had done to her former classmates. This included the wrongful death of Jennifer Cartia, the attempted murders of Amelia Rostiere and Beatrix Devoux, the sexual harassment of Terence Armounte, as well as bullying, harassment, slander, destruction of property, and theft of 17 other former classmates. There were also notes about Miss Rossi’s current school, that there was a student that was accused of being a bully to Rossi and had nearly been expelled. This girl was likely another victim and he had interviews set up with her and other students that day. He wasn’t sure how he had almost forgotten about the interviews, he could have sworn that he was looking forward to nailing this girl’s lying tongue to the wall. Gathering up his paperwork, he began making his way to the Francoise Dupont School.

~oOo~

Greta Rossi had just barely sat down at her desk at 7:15am sharp. She had always taken pride in her punctuality. It surprised her when her phone rang,  normally the office didn't receive phone calls for another hour, but answered all the same. “Hello, this is Greta Rossi.”

“Oh, Mme. Rossi, it’s wonderful to speak with you. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

Her brow creased for a moment. “What do you mean? You called me. Who is this?”

“I apologize, but my phone rang and you answered, I could have sworn that you called me. Oh well, it doesn’t matter. This is M. Damocles, Principal of Francoise Dupont.”

 “Is everything okay with Lila? Has there been another akuma attack?”

“Lila is fine and there are currently no akuma. But while I have you on the line. I would like to discuss a few things with you. I am in need of the note for her absence from school for those months you and she were away in Achu for diplomatic work. I’ll also need the doctor’s notes pertaining to Lila’s medical needs and instructions on dealing with her accommodations. Specifically her lying disease, as I would hate to have another misunderstanding like we had a few months ago.”

There was a pause on both ends while Greta processed what M. Damocles just told her. “Exactly what ‘misunderstanding’ are you referring to? I didn’t receive any call or email about anything happening. Did my email get deleted or something after you were akumatized for all those months and the school was damaged? And what diplomatic work in Achu? We haven’t left Paris since we moved here.”

Another pause… The two confused, and soon angry, adults agreed that Mme. and M. Rossi needed to come in right away to discuss what her daughter had been saying and hash out the truth of the matter. 

It was 8am as she was grabbing her purse, there was a knock on her office door and she was met with numerous men and women in power suits and carrying briefcases. After introducing themselves as lawyers representing multiple different parties, Greta was handed lawsuit after lawsuit that she, her husband, and Lila were going to have to answer for in the coming weeks. They then informed her that they would also be delivering the lawsuits to Lila herself, but wanted to make sure that Greta was informed first, as she was the adult and Lila had proven a tendency to lie.

The more Greta read, the angrier she got. It was only through sheer will that she kept calm so that she wouldn’t attract an akuma while she called her husband and informed him what their daughter had been up to and that they had a standing appointment at the school for that day. He told her that he would meet her there within the hour. By 10am, she was sure that any freedom Lila had would be stripped away.

~oOo~

Lila had a feeling that today would be different. She wasn’t sure how, but she had a few ideas in mind to do with Adrien, Maribrat, and possibly getting her classmates to do her work for the rest of the term. She'd bought a box of white chocolate macadamia nut cookies from a bakery near her apartment the day before and put them in a tin from home, ready to tell everyone that she made them herself. 

She had just stepped on campus, already half way through the school day. Not that it mattered since her "mother" had already emailed the school to let them know that she had a doctor's appointment and would be coming in after lunch. If that meant she would have to miss a test she hadn't studied for, oh well. She was a little surprised to see Mme. Bustier waiting for her at the door with a somber look on her face. "Lila, you're needed in the principal's office. Something has come up with your parents."

A little surprised by the grave tone in the teacher's voice, Lila rushed up the stairs to the office. She took the time to knock, attempting to keep the image of an obedient, but worried girl. But in reality, she was annoyed that whatever happened was interrupting her plans for the day. Still, she plastered her best scared/concerned expression on her face when she heard Damocles call for her to enter.

Her eyes hardly found him sitting tall behind his desk before she noticed her parents standing to one side, looking absolutely furious. Lila was contemplating just turning around and sprinting away, knowing full-well that it would be hard to work things to her advantage if they'd had any time to talk before she arrived. 

Before she could decide, her father marched forward to move her away from the door and stand in front of it, firmly blocking her exit. Ciro Rossi, a naval commander turned diplomat, was a force to be reckoned with when he was angry. Lila was fortunate, and skilled enough, to never have that anger directed at her. But now, it felt like every experience she had avoided had accumulated and was now directed at her all at once.

Her mother… she had never seen that expression on her mother's face before. She was the type that was open and loving, always with a smile on her face. Going on and on about how much she loves Lila, whatever that really meant. But now, her face seemed completely devoid of any readable thought or emotion besides anger. Which was very bad for Lila, if she couldn't read the emotions of her parents, it was harder to manipulate them. 

Still she had to try. "Mama, Papa, is everything alri-"

"Sit down," her father said sternly behind her. She looked back at him, doing her best to appear small, vulnerable, and scared. "Now." 

She did as she was told. "What’s going-"

"Shut up," her mother harshly interrupted her, surprising Lila into silence. "You will not speak unless asked a direct question. Every interruption or attempt to lie will see you more harshly punished. Are we clear?"

Unable to help herself, she visibly winced before nodding. They knew that she had lied, but which ones did they know about? Probably the ones having to do with school and attendance. Worst case scenario, she'll be expelled and have to start over at a new school. Not the worst thing, since her classmates were a bunch of idiot sheep and didn't have much to offer anymore. 

"First thing's first, the school never closed. You lied to us and the school about your attendance," her mother said matter-of-factly. "That's called truancy. The Board of Governors has already been notified, it will go on your permanent record, and your father and I will be forced to pay a fine for believing your lies. That fine will be paid for from your allowance."

She automatically jumped up to protest, but her father firmly grabbed her shoulder and pushed her down into the chair again. One hard glare from him had Lila biting her tongue as she glowered in her seat.

"Secondly, we have been informed of your 'diseases and disabilities' that you have told the school about and the fake doctors' notes you gave them. Do you realize that each one of those is a possible fraud and forgery charge? Because either you knew and didn't care, or you're an idiot and didn't realize the trouble you could get in."

Lila scowled at her mother for the insult. She hadn't meant to and averted her eyes back down to the floor, but it was too late.

"Ah, so you did know and didn't care. After everything we've been told, I'm not surprised."

"We could also add that she didn't think she would be caught." Ciro stated behind her, his voice making her quake slightly. "After all, she has forged our signatures, faked our contact information, and assaulted other classmates at her past schools. Why wouldn't she think she'd be able to do it again?"

"But I haven't, I swear!" Jumping from her seat in a panic, she looked from one adult to another while trying to figure out what to do. There was no way they could know about her past schools and classmates. None of those places had their numbers or forwarding address. She'd made sure that none of them were able to contact her parents. They had to be bluffing!

As if the gods heard her thoughts and wanted to torment her, there was a knock at the office door followed by a tidal wave of lawyers. They greeted Greta with a nod before each of them served Lila with lawsuits. A lawsuit and restraining order from Jagged Stone. Another lawsuit and a cease and desist from Clara Nightingale. Bruce Wayne had sent a lawsuit for slander and theft, how could he have known about the times she had sent tabs to him, claiming she was dating his son? 

Lawsuit after lawsuit were being dropped into her lap as the lawyers filed in and back out of the office. She hadn't even realized that she had sat back down, likely from the shock. This can't be happening! How did all these people find out about me?

Lila hadn't even realized that she had zoned out for a couple minutes until a stern voice cleared his throat. She looked up from the towering pile of envelopes to face yet another intimidating man in a power suit… and was backed up by a couple of police officers. 

"Are you Lila Rossi?" She dumbly nodded before the man looked towards her mother and father. "M. and Mme. Rossi, thank you for allowing me to finish my other interviews before speaking with you formally." 

"Of course, M. Fontaine. Now, if you would please tell us about the charges you plan to file? You said it was in relation to Lila’s past schools and classmates?" Ciro asked in a resigned voice. Their daughter already had 14 lawsuits handed over to them in one afternoon. What was one more?

The man nodded to the two officers before approaching Ciro and Greta. "Yes, I'll be leading the class action lawsuit against your daughter." As he said this, the officers had stood Lila up and proceeded to arrest her while giving her miranda rights. This seemed to wake Lila from her shock as she began thrashing and screaming. Fontaine ignored this as he spoke to her parents. "I represent Lila’s past and current victims of bullying, harassment, sexual harrasment, and slander; as well as two charges of attempted murder and the wrongful death of one of her classmates."

Hearing that, Greta nearly collapsed but was kept standing by her husband. Ciro's expression turned hard as he glared. Luckily for M. Fontaine, he was pretty sure that look was for daughter rather than him.

Speaking of, the three of them were startled when there was a sudden *tang* of metal striking flesh. They turned towards Lila and the officers just in time to see the teenager strike the second officer in the face with the tin of cookies that burst open from the force. The handcuffs were hanging from her right wrist and her expression reminded Fontaine of a rabid badger, something that would attack anyone and anything that got too close. 

The class bell rang a moment later and the girl sprinted out the door in the hopes of blending in with her classmates so she could escape the school, find an akuma, and use its power to make everyone forget about today. She didn't count on the police officers recovering as quickly as they did to follow her out, along with her parents, the principal, or that last lawyer. But it wasn't over yet, the dark purple wings of the approaching akuma proved it. A good jump in the air and the butterfly was trapped in her fist.

"Just you wait, once I've got my powers I'll make every one of you suffer for even thinking of challenging-"

*BUZZZZZZ*

Lila’s entire body went ramrod stiff as the two prongs of an officer's stun gun made contact. The akuma got crushed in the girl's grip in addition to the 1,200 volts coursing through the insect and her. Unable to control her body, nothing could stop her from tipping sideways and tumbling down the stairs. 

The officer that had shot her was nearly in a panic as the girl fell. All he'd been able to think about was that this girl they were arresting for multiple counts of attempted murder was about to willingly akumatize herself, risking the lives of everyone in the school. Who knew what kind of powers she would have gotten. He had done what was necessary to protect the students, his partner, and himself in a situation that he hadn’t thought possible. Still, she should have fallen forward and away from the stairs, not towards them. Now they had to worry about being accused of using excessive force on the arrest. 

~oOo~

It had become one of the biggest trials in Europe since the Nuremberg Trials. Lila Rossi had been found guilty of aiding known terrorist Hawkmoth, the wrongful death of Jennifer Cartia, the attempted murders of Amelia Rostiere and Beatrix Devoux, the sexual harassment of Terence Armounte and Adrien Agreste, and numerous other charges. 

She'd lost every charge and lawsuit brought against her. Lila didn't know how they had found all the evidence or how they traced it back to her, but they did. It made whatever defense her lawyer attempted seem pathetic. 

Lila claimed that Terance harassed her? They had audio and video of her harassing and threatening him. She says that she had nothing to do with Beatrix’s accident? The seven eye witnesses and DNA evidence from the fingernail that broke off in Beatrix’s hair says otherwise. Lila is currently being bullied and was injured by her classmate, Marinette? CCTV footage of Lila faking her injury and planting evidence in Marinette's locker proves it's the other way around. Claims that she and Jennifer were friends and would never hurt or bully her? There were literally stacks of printed texts, emails, and social media posts that were time stamped and traced back to Lila’s accounts. Including the post that had resulted in Jennifer being assaulted, which had Lila being charged for the crime, just like the boys that hurt Jennifer. 

Her lawyer refused to let her take the stand in her defense. Both because of her tendency to lie and the fact that she was on a constant supply of pain killers that made her loopy. The fall had left her unable to walk due to shattered vertebrae, but the nerves were still able to transmit pain and had been doing so to an impressive degree. Lila had hoped for a bit of sympathy from the jury. She was just a teenager, who was now paralyzed from the waist down as a result of her fall down the stairs when she was tazed. They ignored her pain and focused on the pattern of behavior, saying that if she hadn’t been discovered, she'd have continued to escalate. 

At the very least, she hoped that the stupid police officer that paralyzed her would have been fired and forced to apologize to her. But NO, the officer had gotten a freaking award for stopping her willing akumatization. Stating that he had made a difficult decision in an unpredictable situation, likely saving hundreds of lives, most of them school students. 

When the judge had finally come to a decision, she cried real tears for the first time since the doctors said she'd never walk again. He sentenced her to the maximum penalty as permitted by law. Lila Rossi was to serve 182 years in prison for all her crimes. The possibility of parole had been completely revoked once it had been proven, via video evidence, that the day of her arrest wasn't the first time she had been willing to be akumatized. 

When the verdict had been read, she had wanted to launch herself at her past victims, the people that had testified against her. Not that it would have worked. Between her injury and the four officers that surrounded her at all times, she never had the chance. Worst she could do was throw her cup of water at the crowd when they cheered at her verdict. 

Lila just couldn't believe everything that happened. All of her lies had been exposed on international television and all over the internet. She was in constant pain from her injuries and would never walk again. But worse of all, the humiliation from being exposed would never leave her. She was constantly monitored to make sure she would serve her sentence…and not end it abruptly due to selfish actions. No, this was Lila Rossi's life until she died of old age in a cramped, disgusting prison cell. 

She never once noticed the nondescript man that had attended every day of her trial, despite the proceedings being closed to the public for her safety. The man had seriously given Marinette and Adrien the willys, and their kwamis had warned them to steer clear of him, but there were no incidents. He wasn’t a witness or one of her past victims. He never took the stand. All he did was sit to watch the trial. When the verdict was read, he watched three of the people up front: Terance, Maria, and Beatrix. As they cried tears of relief and joy, the man gave a smile and nod. Then it was like he was never there.

**Bonus**

Gabriel Agreste slowly came around as he propped himself up on the floor. The last thing he remembered was the feeling of thousands of bees buzzing under his skin after Rossi grabbed his akuma. Very unpleasant. 

After transforming and returning to his office, he was greeted by Natalie, who held out her tablet with a video cued up. It showed a news clip about an "unnamed student" being arrested for willingly accepting an akuma while in the process of being arrested for other heinous crimes. Although force had been used and the student had been taken to the hospital for her injuries, witnesses state that the actions of the police officer saved their lives. 

Gabriel handed the tablet back to his assistant. "Be ready to prepare a statement to the press about canceling Lila Rossi's contract. Including that we were unaware that she forged her parents signatures and, due to her obsession with Adrien, we will be filling a restraining order as well. We don't know what kind of diplomatic pull her parents have, the little weasel may get out on bail."

A little while later, Adrien came rushing through the mansion doors. He demanded to see his father, saying that there was a big incident at school that he had to tell him about. 

Gabriel hummed. "That will work."

Tag List:

@2confused-2doanything @7-sage-7 @aadnrsstar @abrx2002 @awkwardromances @bayball @babylovebug18 @botanicalfoxx @back-cats-and-broken-mirrors @caffeinetheory @cheshire5210 @chocolateherringtacofan @city-of-all-tunas @classycollectorreviewworld  @corabeth11 @chocolatechipcookiesandcamembert @darkened-flame @delightfulcookiesrecipespizza @fandom-trapped-03 @ghostmaster @iamblinkmarvelarmy @interobanginyourmom @izang @jesussavedevenme @kazedancer @kitten12113 @lady-phoenix-of-tardis @lilypotter2018 @lunataravler @ladylupuscrow @maskedpainter @miraculouslydumb @nerd-nowandforever @naruwitch @ola-is-dead  @pandacatxd @plushbookworm @plz-excuse-my-inner-ravenclaw @pheonix-biach @pandora-fucking-box @raiderofthelostbooks @ramos123 @rowanrouge @rowanyx @ren121 @seesea22 @seraphichana @sashakoi @shypeacekitten @smartlanceisreal @tazer6787 @that-girl-sakea @thecrazyfantrollshasmoved @the-smallest-kittenz @tishwinchesterannabethjackson @t1dwarrior-of-earth  @ulmban @with-forward-motion @wonderbat91939 @zoiechance

#lila salt #lila bashing #lila lies #mlbjustice #lila karma #lila rossi #miraculous ladybug #miraculous justice

[ravennm84]

The Fox and The Fae

Ok so this is my take on a modern day fairytale kind of story. Would you guys like some more chapters? I’ve currently marked it as a one shot but I’m thinking about adding some other chapters focusing on Alya, Chloe (or Zoe possibly) and maybe some other characters and the deals (or curses) they make with or from Luka.

=====================================================

Lila looked around with an expression of disgust on her face as she walked down the steps towards the Seine. It was the last place she wanted to be, especially with how unsightly it was but she was desperate. In her mind, she believed that she should be worshiped by all who saw her. She was a goddess and deserved to be treated as such. However, her life was not what she envisioned at all. She was almost 21 and she still wasn’t famous or adored. She still wasn’t filthy rich or had a hot and rich guy on her arm. The media had no idea who she was and she was working as a lowly advert actress and a small time model when she deserved to be up there with a A listers. Well, that life wasn’t good enough for her but she didn’t want to have to work for it. Oh no, Lila believed that what she wanted should be handed to her on a silver platter. She was destined to be one of the elite and she knew it. However, her usual methods of cheating and leeching off others didn’t working in the way she wanted so she had to come up with something, which is what lead her to The Seine or as she called it the slum area. Paris itself was home to many supernatural creatures and she had tried every trick in the book but they weren’t good enough. Nothing was. She had been to several of the supernaturals in the city but they could only offer her charms to briefly improve her luck or a hex that will curse her enemies. Some had offered her spells to bring in some positivity or some had done rituals for her but none of them lasted and she wanted something more effective and permanent. She wanted her name to be remembered forever and for anyone who had tried to cross her to get exactly what they deserve and suffer. Naturally there had been some in her life but one stuck out. Marinette Dupain-Cheng. A half breed witch who tried to expose her in their school and was currently living a good life. Well, that wasn’t fair which is what lead her to here. Of course, she wouldn’t be seen dead here normally but she had tried everything else so now she was going to the place where she knew someone would be able to help her. However, she went in disguise. She couldn’t risk been seen here plus the Seine was rough. It was home to the low class humans, witches and worst of all the fae, an extremely attractive race with a reputation worst then werewolves. The fae were treated poorly, forced to live in awful conditions and were labeled as scum, tricksters and other degrading names. Despite this, they were one of the most powerful race when it came to using magic and the only creatures that could give her what she wanted. Due to been very unpopular in Paris, they were hard to find but she had managed to track one down with the help of her sheep, Alya. The fae supposedly lived in a houseboat in the Seine river and was her last hope. However, he had a rep of been a bad guy and been extremely dangerous but Lila didn’t care. She wanted her promised life and would do anything to get it. She came to a stop as she saw the boat she was looking for, frowning to herself before she took out a fox tail pendent and put it on. One of the reasons why people didn’t like the fae was because of their ability to detect when people were truthful or not. No one quite understood how it worked but faes were said to be able to look into the very soul of people and that made them uncomfortable, which was why Lila had the pendent. It had a powerful charm on that would protect from the fae’s truth seeking eyes. Satisfied with it, she stepped over to the boat and climbed onto the gangplank before heading onto the boat. She grimaced at the scattered boxes and papers that littered the deck but shook it off. She walked over to the entrance to the cabin and began to descend down the stairs into darkness.

“Hello?” She called, looking around but she couldn’t really see anything. “Is anyone home?”

Keep reading

[ravennm84]

Cut Throat Fashion

This was a post from @smartlanceisreal Salt Fic Ideas, I saw one I really liked and just expanded on it. I was just in the mood to post something a little different than I normally post, but there is still salt galore for all my faithful followers. Warm-Fuzzies and please enjoy!!

It had been a bad day for the, now former, employees of Gabriel fashion company. Vincent the photographer, Elisa the makeup artist, Alizabetta the model, and Andrew the staff assistant had all been fired or rage quit because of Mr. Agreste’s new favorite; an Italian brat named Lila Rossi. The girl thought she was untouchable. Unfortunately; she was right, so she got away with so much more bull than anyone else would be able to at any company in the entire fashion world. 

She refused to take Vincent’s directions while modeling, which had the photos looking sub-par and was hurting his reputation. She was borderline abusive towards Elisa, literally throwing things at her and using racist slurs that had the artist crying off set at times. Alizabetta had been outright bullied and tormented by the Italian until she was akumatized that day, which resulted in Mr. Agreste firing her, believing that she was tormenting Lila. When Andrew stood up for her, saying that it was the other way around, he was fired as well for talking back. Seeing the situation, Vincent and Elisa quit as well and left with the others.

Which brings them to now, drowning their sorrows in pastries at the Tom and Sabine Boulangerie Patisserie. Alizabetta was upset because this was her first real modeling job. The others were worried about Mr. Agreste being spiteful and blacklisting them, that was something that he seemed to enjoy doing since his wife disappeared.

The table was quiet when a new plate of macaroons were gently set on the table in front of them. Looking up, they saw a young woman, a little older than Alizabetta. Vincent recognized her from somewhere, but couldn’t quite place her.

“You all looked like you could use some more comfort food,” she said, smiling kindly.

“Oh, thank you so much, Angel. We could definitely use this.” Elisa smiled back, before taking a bite out of one of the pastries and humming from the wonderful flavor.

“If there’s anything else I can do to help, please let me know. My name’s Marinette and this is my parents’ boulangerie.”

Vincent snapped his fingers. “Ah, si! That is how I recognize you. You were the girl that won Singor Agreste’s contest a few years ago and your designs were praised by the Style Queen.”

Marinette blushed at that. “That was a while ago. I’ve stuck with private commissions for a while, since I wanted to at least finish lycee before trying to join the big leagues.”

“Piece of advice, avoid Gabriel. That company treats their people like crap and let others get away with anything but murder.” Andrew groused as he helped himself to his plate pan du chocolat. 

The table didn’t miss her scoff of disgust as she crossed her arms. “Nothing new there. He treats his own son like a billboard, ignores him in every aspect of his life unless it has to do with business, and lets that lying bitch climb all over him like a cat in heat. It’s disgusting.”

Alizabetta’s head snapped up at her. “You know about her?”

Marinette shrugged. “Italian liar that makes fashion and anyone with Italian blood feel dirty? Yeah, I’m familiar with Lila Rossi. She got me expelled once, convinced all my friends that I was practically the antichrist, almost got me akumatized 12 times, and tried to ruin my career choice. If I hadn’t switched schools and gotten a restraining order against her, I don’t want to even think about what might have happened.”

The four of them stared at her for a long moment before Vincent grabbed a chair from another table and pulled it up so she could join them, having found a kindred spirit and someone they could vent to about the ammature model. It was hours later, and a lot of pastries that Marinette mentioned that she was actually looking to start her own fashion house. She had clients that wanted her clothes, a fanbase of people on her waitlist that she hadn’t been able to get to because she was only one person, capital to pay employees, and a facility that she had just leased. What she was missing was people. It was hard to find competent people in the fashion industry that weren’t already employed in one of the bigger fashion houses and willing to work for an eighteen year old girl.

Alizabetta was the first to speak up about that. “Do you need models? If you do, I’d be more than willing to work with you. I mean, if you’d be willing to hire me.”

Vincent completely agreed. “Si, I have seen Jagged Stone and Clara Nightingale wearing your designs and have always thought they were molto bella. When you are in need of a photographer, I would be willing to work with you.”

Elisa and Andrew were partially joking and semi serious when she said "You seem nice enough, and Vincent here knows your work. We'd be willing to give you a try."

"For the right price," he finished with a smile. 

Marinette was practically vibrating with excitement as she stared at the four of them. “You mean it? You’d be willing to work with me even though I’m practically a kid?”

Andrew shrugged at that. “It’s not like we have any other jobs right now. And accepting a job from you will help us make sure we can pay our bills.”

Nodding in understanding, Marinette stood from the table with a smile. “Okay, if we’re going to do this, let’s do this right. Alizabetta, I’m going to need your resume, comp cards, and any spreads you’ve done in the last three months. Andrew and Elisa, your resumes and references for my records. Vincent, your resume and I’d like to take a look at your portfolio. And if at any time, any of you are offered a ‘real’ fashion job, just give me proper notice and there won’t be any hard feelings. I’ll schedule some meetings with you this week to get the details ironed out and you can start work as soon as next Monday. Does that work for all of you?”

They all stood from their chairs and shook Marinette’s hand. Although they were admittedly worried about working for someone so young and new to the business, they had a good feeling about the girl.

~oOo~

It had been three years since that afternoon at her parents’ bakery and Marinette's business had been skyrocketing ever since. Much to the surprise and delight of the five people that had been there.

Alizabetta had become the face of her brand and was the least high-maintenance model around. The girl was just so happy to be treated with  respect and without being asked to be beanpole thin, that her happiness easily showed through in her work. Although that might have something to do with her amazing photographer, Vincent. The man’s reputation had been saved when he had joined MDC, proving that his work with Gabriel had been sub-par due to the model rather than his talent as a photographer. For that, he was eternally grateful to Marinette, going so far as refusing to leave for another company, even when he was offered more money. 

Elisa became the head of the makeup department with six artists working under her. She worked very closely with Marinette and was glad to say that the girl-turned-woman was as sweet and wonderful as the first day she met her. All the stress she had dealt with working for Gabriel was now a distant nightmare that she only bothered mentioning when other artists asked her to compare the two companies. 

Andrew ended up becoming Marinette’s personal assistant and was very good at his job. His biggest responsibilities were making sure Marinette took time to herself for things like eating and sleeping, and protecting her from the people from her past. Namely, her former college friends that came asking for jobs, favors, and interviews after her business had picked up. Hardly any of them had references or any experience, expecting their former connection with her to get them what they wanted. The first time was a girl named Alya Cesaire, she’d applied for a PR position and had demanded to meet with Marinette, saying that “she owes me this job, after everything I’ve done for her”. 

He had gone to see his boss, and at the mention of the woman's name, Marinette had gone deathly pale. The four of them knew of all the things that her former classmates had put her through and swore that they would protect the woman that saved their careers. So Andrew had told Ms. Cesaire that his boss did not remember any friend by that name. That her references and experience were not up to par for the company; as the Ladyblog was little more than a gossip blog and Lila Rossi had recently been fired from Gabriel. 

Speaking of, not long after the four of them had quit/been fired, Gabriel had seen a high turnover rate of employees. Many of those employees found their way to MDC thanks to her popularity, good pay and benefits, and just the fact that she treated her employees so well. When Mr. Agreste had looked into the reason for the high turnover rate; he discovered a few other problems with his company along the way. The number of applications from qualified applicants was dwindling, his sales dropping to a low that he hadn’t seen in over a decade, and there were multiple scandals that were connected to his company’s name. Most disturbing of all, it could all be traced back to a single person: Lila Rossi. 

Anyone and everyone who was forced to work with the talentless diva soon found themselves fired due to her tantrums or they quit because they couldn’t bear working with her. Word quickly spread around the industry that Gabriel was a company to avoid, so they weren’t getting any new, qualified candidates. Then there were the lawsuits. Lila had two lawsuits against her for sexual harrasment in the workplace filed by other models. Another for assault when she threw a prop at a set hand that required him to need stitches on his head. And another for theft and disturbing the peace when she refused to pay her bill at a restaurant and caused a scene which saw her being arrested.

Mr. Agreste had tried to do damage control by firing and blacklisting the girl from the fashion industry, but it was too late. His company and its sales were in the toilet and nothing he did could bring its reputation back up.

Lila had tried to save her career, turning on Gabriel and telling anyone who’d listen about how unprofessional and disorganized the company was. That the quality of clothes was terrible, and Mr. Agreste himself had been pressuring her to cause those public scenes so that it would bring some attention back to the brand. She wasn’t a bad person, she’d just had to deal with a terrible boss so she could keep her dream job. This was followed up by her applying to be a model with MDC. 

Andrew made sure that all five of them were present for that interview. He would admit, the girl was smart enough to realize that she was screwed the second she saw the people behind the half-circle desk. Alizabetta was glaring at her with disdain at the far left. Vincent sat next to her, looking through the photos on Lila’s comp card, while verbally ripping it apart. On the far right, Elisa only asked her how she was able to get any modeling work with her highly questionable choice of hairstyle? Andrew made a show of calling each of Lila’s fake references in front of her, unsurprised when they all came up as unavailable. At the center of the table, presenting herself with all the poise of a queen looking at a subject that she’s about to sentence to death, Marinette sat quietly as she listened to her friends. 

Lila made an admittedly pathetic attempt to kiss up to Marinette. With crocodile tears in her eyes, she pleaded with her former school mate. “Please, Marinette. I am so sorry for how I was back in college. But we were just kids back then and mistakes were made by everyone. I never meant for you to get hurt or anything like that, I just wanted to make friends and you scared me since you realized right away that I didn’t always tell the truth. But I swear, that’s not who I am anymore. If you would just give me a chance, you’ll see that I can be a valuable employee and model for your brand.”

Marinette said nothing for a moment, simply stared at her former tormentor before pressing a button on the desk. A man walked in, a man that had been sitting next to Lila in the waiting room. He pulled a pocket sized recorder from his jacket and pressed play, Lila’s sneering voice filled the room.

“I can’t believe I have to stoop so low as to try working for Maritrash. You know, I used to go to school with her?”

“Really? What was she like? I've only been  here for a few days, so I haven't had a chance to meet her yet.” The man asked her, playing along with Lila.

“Ugh, she was a total nosy-good for nothing that would have been better off slitting her wrists and stop taking up air. But she’s also a bleeding heart, so she’ll probably give me a job anyway. If I can fool her for long enough, I can fix my reputation, ruin hers again, and maybe claim that she’s actually a madame or something and her models are call girls.”

“If you’re willing to cut me in on the deal, I’ll back you up. I could probably print out some evidence on the letterheads to support your claims.”

Lila’s chuckle, which had been genuine at the time but made her feel sick as she listened to it now, echoed off the walls of the room. “I get this job, and you’ve got a deal.”

The man pressed the button again to stop the recording before handing it to Marinette. She calmly set the recording on the desk in front of her, never looking away from Lila’s pale face. "You were saying?"

Doing her best to hide her fear, Lila shot to her feet in a rage. "You had no right to record me without my consent! I could sue you-"

"If you had bothered to read the notices when you entered the building," the man interrupted her, "you would know that by entering the premises you are consenting to being recorded. This includes video and audio."

"Thank you, Philip." Marinette smiled at him. "Oh, I forgot to introduce you. Lila, this is Philip, my head of security, and he takes his job very seriously."

"I've already called the police. We'll be filing charges against Mlle. Rossi for attempted corporate espionage."

The girl let out a guttural shriek before diving for the recorder while taking a swing at Marinette. Her fist didn't get close before her arm was twisted behind her back and her face was slammed into the table. No matter how much she struggled, she couldn't get away before the police arrived and slapped cuffs on her. Since the news crews were minutes behind, their head of PR had “no choice” but to share the security footage along with a statement that they were pressing charges for attempted assault and corporate espionage. 

The story blew up. Any miniscule amount of sympathy that Lila may have earned was now in ruins, along with her reputation. Especially when Marinette gave Nadja an exclusive interview. 

~oOo~

It was two months after the Lila incident that they received their next surprise guests. Gabriel Agreste, Adrien Agreste, and their assistant Natalie had made an appointment to talk business. Marinette had a feeling that this meeting would be coming. The others were worried and had wanted to sit in on the meeting, but she assured them that she could handle it. 

Her guests, on the other hand, seemed very out of place. Natalie seemed frazzled, her hair not as neat as she remembered, and hands gripping last year's tablet a little too tight. Gabriel was attempting to exude an air of calm that he was known for, but the incessant tapping of one foot gave away what was really going on in his head.

Adrien, who had always seemed perfect in her eyes, was the most obvious. Or maybe she was just more aware now that her rose colored glasses had been removed and crushed beneath her designer shoes. His clothes, hair, and posture were not quite the perfect model look she remembered. His expression was open; she could see that he was uncomfortable with his family's situation, as well seeing her again.

The last time they had spoken was their last week of college. Lila had destroyed Marinette’s final project for class, claiming that she had done it herself. Adrien had publicly sided with Lila before pulling Marinette to the side and chiding her for trying to expose her. At that point, she was done. She called her parents, had them bring a lawyer, and forced the principal to look at the security footage. Once they had the rock solid proof that Lila had destroyed Marinette’s property, it was easy to get a restraining order. It was harder to get her in trouble, since Lila fell back on her "lying disease" excuse and only got a week of detention, which she never served.

However; that was the past, now was time for business. 

"What can I do for you, Mr. Agreste?"

To her relief, he and Natalie didn't waste her time. Proposing that they were interested in merging Gabriel with MDC. They went on about how with her skill and his experience, their companies would flourish and grow to new heights. They even hinted that with Adrien as her model, it would add more legitimacy to her company. Especially if the two of them were seen out together in romantic settings. 

"I think I've heard enough." Marinette said as soon as she saw a break. "I'm sorry, Mr. Agreste, but I don't see any value in joining our companies. As it stands; Gabriel lacks stock value, you are unable to keep any decent staff, your business practices are questionable at best, and you have not created a single noteworthy design in years." She watched as spoke, apparently they hadn’t expected her to turn them down and were surprised that she had.

What surprised her was when Gabriel Agreste lost his ever present cool and started yelling at her. "Who do you think you are speaking to me like that?! You have no experience in this world and you think-"

"Despite what you think of my experience, Mr. Agreste, the numbers don't lie." Marinette cut him off easily. "Your stock price is lower than it has been in over 20 years. People are not buying your clothes, some have even boycotted you due to your lax policies on sexual harrasment and your choice of models. Everything about you has become toxic. In fact, when my board members heard that I was meeting with you, some threatened to leave if our companies joined. I will not jeopardize my company for another that can't even claim to be on its last leg, more like its last toe." 

"Please, Marinette," Adrien pleaded as he stood from his seat to move closer to her. "We really need your help, and friends-"

"I'm going to stop you right there, Agreste." She interrupted again, refusing to let Adrien take her on a guilt trip. "You made the choice to ignore my warnings about Lila years ago. You took her side and told me over and over that her lies didn't hurt anyone. Your employees told you what she was doing, and you fired them instead of punishing her. At this point, the consequences are catching up to you and I want no part of it. This meeting is over, I'll have someone show you out."

Gabriel and Natalie were smart enough to realize that Marinette wouldn't budge on her decision and were willing to leave without a scene. Adrien made the mistake of grabbing her to make her "listen to reason" just as Philip entered her office. His hand was forcibly removed and there was nothing Gabriel could do to keep the man from forcing his son from the building. He could only hope that there weren't any paparazzi waiting for them.

Taglist:

@2confused-2doanything @7-sage-7 @aadnrsstar @abrx2002 @awkwardromances @bayball @babylovebug18 @botanicalfoxx @back-cats-and-broken-mirrors @caffeinetheory @cheshire5210 @chocolateherringtacofan @city-of-all-tunas @classycollectorreviewworld  @corabeth11 @chocolatechipcookiesandcamembert @darkened-flame @delightfulcookiesrecipespizza @fandom-trapped-03 @ghostmaster @iamblinkmarvelarmy @interobanginyourmom @izang @jesussavedevenme @kazedancer @kitten12113 @lady-phoenix-of-tardis @lilypotter2018 @lunataravler @ladylupuscrow @maskedpainter @miraculouslydumb @nerd-nowandforever @naruwitch @ola-is-dead @pandacatxd @plushbookworm @plz-excuse-my-inner-ravenclaw @pheonix-biach @pandora-fucking-box @raiderofthelostbooks @ramos123 @rowanrouge @rowanyx @ren121 @seesea22 @seraphichana @sashakoi @shypeacekitten @smartlanceisreal @tazer6787 @that-girl-sakea @thecrazyfantrollshasmoved @the-smallest-kittenz @tishwinchesterannabethjackson @t1dwarrior-of-earth @ulmban @with-forward-motion @wonderbat91939 @zoiechance

#lila salt #lila bashing #marinette dupain cheng #Marinette deserves better #adrien salt #class salt #alya salt #gabriel agreste #lila lies #lila karma

[ravennm84]

The Interview Part 2: Live Broadcast

[ I had SO many requests for a part 2 so here you go. This time Gabriel didn’t just get roasted he got destroyed. ]

[ After his interview with Marinette, Gabriel has learned nothing and continues down his path of bad decisions. Well these next interviews are about to ruin his life for good, and this time its on live broadcast. ]

[ Part 1 is HERE! ]

Keep reading

[ravennm84]

Who Framed Marinette Dupain-Cheng

[ Alya can’t seem to figure out why Lila and Marinette hate each other until one day Lila comes into class sobbing about the horrible texts Marinette sent her the night before. There’s just one problem with that, Alya knows for a fact that Marinette’s phone is broken! But she’s also sure that Lila can’t be telling lies! Finally Alya understands whats REALLY going on, someone is trying to frame Marinette Dupain-Cheng and she and the class will not rest until they figure out who’s doing it!

This is a class sugar / comedy fic with just a dash of gratuitous Marinette multi-shipping as everyone has a crush on the girl. Enjoy some laughs and some light fun, and don’t worry Lila gets her just desserts in the end. ]

Keep reading

[ravennm84]

Let Her Eat Cake

After scouring the miraculous side of tumblr for writing prompts I could use for a one shot, I came across a post about Madame Bustier from @heyitsbugette. Basically a what-if with Bustier being incriminated as Mayura. As with all my other one shots, I’ll write it because canon has failed me one too many times. I’m also eating cake as I write this, bon appetite! (I might edit this later as this is an outline)

The entirety of Paris went wild when Lila’s alliance with Hawkmoth was unearthed.

Lila’s exposure was a complete accident. The Italian had tried to stir up drama while Marinette was absent for a week. She claimed that the asian girl had been skipping school and just using a ’sickness‘ as an excuse.

Despite Alya and Nino trying to refute the girl’s claims with literal photo evidence of Marinette’s clearly sick form lying in bed, Lila insisted that it was fake and the bluenette was just trying to cover her tracks by using fabricated evidence and accused the reporter and DJ of being biased since Marinette is their friend.

The two had tried to get Adrien to help, so that Marinette wouldn’t be expelled, but he refused stating that he didn’t want to get involved.

Nino had given him a disappointed look while Alya accused him of being an awful, unreliable, cowardly idiot. She huffed and let herself be dragged away by Nino.

To no one’s surprise, the class rallied around Lila and supported the idea of Marinette playing truant. They eventually got the teacher involved who immediately believed them due to the designer not meeting her personal standard of setting a good example for the rest of the class.

”I will go to Principal Damocles and discuss this matter with him. Marinette will not get away with this,” Bustier marched out of the room with conviction, deeply unaware that she had just dug her own grave.

When the principal heard the (false) news of the French-Chinese girl skipping school, he immediately contacted the super attendant from the school board.

This turned out to be a fatal mistake.

The super attendant, Ms. DeClaude, made principal Damocles rummage through his phone calls to see if the Dupain-Chengs had contacted him.

Lo and behold, a recorded voice mail of Sabine’s voice was heard notifying the man of her daughter’s absence.

Needless to say, both teacher and principal were embarrassed while Ms. DeClaude was incensed at this monumental waste of the school board’s time and resources. Not to mention this could’ve been avoided if they had contacted the Dupain-Chengs first.

”If they managed to over look this, what else could they have done?” Ms. DeClaude said to herself as she dug through student files and records. Most of them had come out clean, but there was one in particular that caught the redhead’s attention; Lila Rossi.

Specifically, her so-called disabilities, injuries, and her….lying disease!? While investigating further, the super attendant discovered that this revelation of this ‘lying disease’ had Lila admitting to framing another student for assault, theft, and bullying. Accusations that led to another student getting expelled!

Determined to not let any stone go unturned, she flipped through all of Lila’s files from her previous schools. What she ascertained left her wondering if the school was being run by morons.

Because in those files were in depth descriptions of the Italian’s lying and bullying habits. Why they didn’t warn the students of her behavior was beyond the redhead. It was enough for Ms. DeClaude to resolve and call Mrs. Rossi.

As she struggled to get in contact with the woman, she looked over the security camera feeds to get a clearer picture of the situation.

Flipping through the few options, the super attendant found an interesting piece of footage. The screen displayed Lila Rossi and Marinette Dupain-Cheng walking together to the principal’s office.

Hitting the audio button, Ms. DeClaude’s suspicions were confirmed, “I told you I’d make your life unbearable Marinette. Let’s see how you get out this one…” came Lila’s smug voice.

”I not falling for you trap, Lila,” Marinette bit back, clearly unamused.

”Too late. You already have,” the Italian said a lot quieter that the super attendant had to strain her ears to hear it. The the sausage hair girl proceeded to walk down the stairs, sat on the floor, and began wailing about the bluenette pushing her down the stairs.

Ms. DeClaude switched to the feed in which Lila placed her ’grandmother’s pendant’ in Marinette’s locker, actively framing her for theft.

The super attendant was well within her rights to assume that Marinette was innocent of stealing test answers as well. Not only was it stolen after the test was finished. There’s also the fact that many students from other classes had vouched for Marinette and that she studied rigorously.

But there something else Ms. DeClaude stumbled upon that made her go pale. One particular piece of footage with Lila talking to Adrien about something or other. The Italian obviously hadn’t liked what he said to her as the super attendant watched Lila huff and storm off. In another set of cameras, the redhead recognized the iconic purple butterfly that had taken Paris by storm.

And Lila reaching for said butterfly and placing it in her earrings, voluntarily allowing herself to become the villain Chameleon.

Rushing to call the authorities, Ms. DeClaude sent all the footage she had found to the school board and near by police station.

When Mrs. Rossi was finally hear on contact with the police, everything spiraled from there.

Lila, who was blissfully unaware of her fall from grace, was immediately intercepted at school. The students were on their lunch period and were chattering around Lila as usual. The sausage haired girl was prattling on about an expensive vacation she had when an entire police team, seven members of the school board, the mayor, and a tears eyed, furious Luisa Rossi burst into the cafeteria.

Roger stepped forward and clasped handcuffs around her wrists, much to the shock of everyone in the cafeteria. Teachers present stopped whatever they were doing to watch the catastrophe in front of them.

Lila begged her mother for help as she was dragged out of the school but said woman only glared at her daughter and told her that she was being arrested for aiding terrorism. Someone in the crowd had been live streaming the whole mess on their social media. Once it was seen, it went viral.

People were rightfully outraged. Lila’s entire life had fallen apart right from under her nose and she didn’t even realize it. When she was told just how her alliance with Hawkmoth was uncovered, she immediately regretted her attempt at getting Marinette in trouble. How was she supposed to know all of this would eventually blow up in her face? She had hoped Hawkmoth would send an akuma for her, but the butterfly villain left her high and dry! And with all of her lies she told since arriving in Paris were swiftly debunked and exposed for the whole of France to see, all she could do was stew and wait for her official trial to begin.

There were many who refused to believe that a single teenaged girl would stoop to Hawkmoth’s level. This was vetoed and proven wrong by leaked videos of the surveillance cameras not only showing Lila grabbing an akuma for herself but also declaring that she wanted Ladybug gone as well. That was when Paris went crazy.

People we’re actually akumatized over it. Lila had to be locked away in a secured facility to ensure her safety. When the news reached the French court of law, new legislations had to be created for aiding in terrorism. The backlash was so severe that people called Francois DuPont into question.

Her lies were insultingly obvious and easy to clear up so why didn’t they? How has her alliance with Hawkmoth stayed hidden for so long if all it took to discover it was just scrolling through the camera feeds?

Social media was at a stand still when these questions were made public until people brought up the akuma class. Or more specifically one person.

Madame Bustier.

Theories began floating around that she was Mayura. The fact that she looked eerily similar to the peacock themed villain.

It was then that a dam burst. Students and teachers alike who had witnessed Bustier’s teaching methods revealed her tendency to gaslight or outright punish victims of bullying while letting the aggressors off scot free.

It didn’t help matters that she was one primary cause of Stone Hearts rampage: the first ever akuma.

The school board called Marinette in to clear up her expulsion. They were curious as to what else had been happening.

The bluenette knew saying anything else would only make Bustier look worse, but the members of the school board reminded her that her word could potentially protect her classmates from harm. Marinette finally gave in and told them how Bustier and Damocles were quick to turn on her when the accusations of bullying began circulating around her.

She also mentioned how she just let Chloe do whatever she wanted without facing any consequences. Though she stressed that Chloe had been getting better.

This unleashed another tidal wave of public outcries. Because to the general public, it seemed that Bustier was intentionally favoring students that wreak havoc all the while not having them face consequences and grooming the children of the akuma class to be taken by Hawkmoth.

And when Bustier’s ‘be a better example‘ was exposed (by Alya) citizens were outraged. But at the same time it made sense for the teacher suspected of being Hawkmoth’s partner to leave the one of the only students that hadn’t been akumatized to deal with bullying while dumping all of her responsibilities on said student.

Marinette’s parents were furious and planned to sue the school, Damocles, and (especially) Bustier for endangering their daughter as were many other parents. On their insistence, the principal was fired.

Bustier sat in her now empty classroom with her phone in hand as she read through social media and news outlets which defamed her and smeared her name across headlines.

The school board was on her case and investigating the rest of her conduct, though they might as well fire and arrest her. With how everyone and their mother was demanding it, it was sure to happen soon.

Her students looked at her with contempt and disgust as well as her colleagues and people on the streets.

She closed her phone and placed her head in her head and cried, wondering just how she had let things get so out of hand.

[ravennm84]

Ladies and Gentlemen: Stephan Vladislav

So, a lot of you have been requesting a part two of this story so here it is. It won’t be as long as the last one, just so you know. I‘ve been skimming the web for pictures that match the image of Stephan Vladislav in my head and this is what I came up with. Just imagine him with black hair and the same clothes I described him with in ‘Ladies and Gentlemen: Him’. Enjoy!

It wasn’t a challenge figuring out Adrien and Chat Noir were one in the same.

Honestly, the parallels were obvious. The selfishness, the inability to take anything seriously, and not to mention the same whiny and annoying voice.

Stephan didn’t really pay the heroes any mind before discovering Bratdrien’s identity. He thought that it was a miracle that Ladybug was at least mature about fights and handling the public. Where as Adrien treated heroing as a means to be a celebrity. Because it wasn’t enough that all of Paris viewed him a ray sunshine.

The ravenette liked fame, but he was a model. Not a hero with the weight of an entire city on their shoulders.

He didn’t think Adrien would stoop this low.

What is he saying?

He saw it coming a mile away.

The Russian boy leaned closer to the door of Marinette’s bedroom to get a clearer view of what that mangy alley cat was telling her.

The two were partners on an assigned project from Bustier about the heroes of Paris in honor of Hero’s Day. It was due in two weeks and Marinette suggested they should get started with it and invited him over.

”Hey, Princess? I don’t think you should associate yourself with that Stephan guy. He sounds like bad news,” Chat said in a voice Stephan was sure he thought sounded concerned. The ravenette did his best to remain calm and in control.

”Stephan? He seems so nice. He defends me whenever a certain someone tries to pull their little tricks,” Marinette rose to Stephan’s defense immediately. Said boy felt his heart flutter warmly. Even in the face of a hero, beloved by all of Paris (that wouldn’t last long if Stephan could help it!) she was able to stand up for him.

His affection for the Asian girl grew.

”But he caused Lila’s akuma a week ago. Not to mention he‘s been bullying a kid named Adrien. How can you feel ok with hanging out with someone’s bully?” Adrien asked in his same trademark disappointed voice. Stephan rolled his eyes. As if there weren’t other obvious ways to reveal your identity. Who ever considered the blonde would make a good hero had to be a senile old man or something.

”Oh really?” The Russian was momentarily surprised at the disdainful tone the blunette’s voice took, “If your so worried about akumas, then why do you never complain when Chloe went around being the primary cause of akumanizations? Yes she’s gotten better, but that doesn’t change the fact that Adrien was friendly with her back when she was a bully. So did he ever think about how we would feel when ever he hung out with her. And don’t even get me started on Lila. Adrien wouldn’t know a manipulator even if it slapped him in the face. For someone who’s never been bullied, he’s quick to force everyone to feel sorry for them.”

Stephan could feel the surprise coming from Chat as Marinette unknowingly insulted Adrien to his face. On the other hand, a smirk creeped onto his face. It seems Bratdrien had unknowingly created skeletons in his closet even before the Russian had moved to Paris.

It was perfect.

It would be too suspicious if all the problems with Adrien started up when Stephan enrolled in Francois Dupont. If he brought up unflattering things Adrien did in the past when he wasn’t present, it would be a much more believable and clever way of getting rid of him.

The stupid cat continued his “higher than thou” speech disguised as a lecture, “I don’t know what Stephan’s been telling you but Adrien’s right. Making a bad guy suffer won’t change them into a good guy.”

By this point, Stephan prepared to enter the room until Marinette said something that made him stop.

”Then, why are you and Ladybug fighting Hawkmoth?,” the Russian heard her say accusingly.

”What?” Came the alley cat’s choked response.

”If making a bad guy suffer doesn’t work to make them a good guy, than why are you still fighting Hawkmoth?” The fashion designer repeated again.

“W-what? Because he’s a terrorist! And if we don’t stop him, he’ll just continue making everyone miserable!” Stephan could tell that Adrien was beginning to falter.

”That’s exactly the case with bullies,” Marinette shut him down with certainty.

”Bullies aren’t Hawkmoth or Mayura. That’s different.”

”Is it though? Adrien told me that exposing Lila was a bad idea. And now look what happened; she got me expelled, ruined my and my friends reputations in class, and turned them against us. I should have never listened to a person who has no experience with dealing with bullies,” the Asian girl was clearly getting frustrated with the conversation.

Stephan was proud of his soon to be girlfriend. When he first met her, she was hesitant and only kept her head down when the class accused her of what the Italian girl told them. It seemed the ‘girls night outs’ that Chloe and Alya dragged her to were doing wonders for her confidence.

“Adrien’s new to the social life. You have no right to talk about him like he’s the bad guy,” For someone meant to be a hero, he let his emotions and personal problems guide his actions.

”Than he has no business in being disappointed with me whenever I defend myself. And please, it’s been a year and a half since Adrien attended public school. If he still doesn’t understand social situations by now, it’s because he doesn’t want to learn,” Marinette dismissed Chat’s defense of the blonde.

”How could you say that?” Adrien’s voice was judgmental.

Marinette sighed, “Even if Adrien is an enabler, I don’t want him to get bullied. I’ll try asking Stephan about it. Just leave, Chat.” Stephan swore quietly in Russian. He had taken to verbally tearing Adrien apart in private and even worse when they were around others. Of course, he did it subtly, there was no doubt Marinette might pick up on it if he did it again. Looks like he’ll have to find another tactic to make Bratdrien miserable. Not including ruining Chat Noir’s reputation.

And he knew just how to do it.

When the leather clad hero (thankfully) left, Stephan waited for two more minutes before entering Marinette’s bedroom to avoid her suspicion of eavesdropping.

The Russian was relieved when the Asian girl didn’t bring up what Chat had told her. But Adrien was going down.

After the class president stunt, the model thought that the blonde boy would have enough sense not to mess with Stephan Vladislav. He had no idea who taught the blonde model to be this pathetic but it truly was a shame.

Stephan knew it didn’t have to be like this. He never wanted it to be like this. He didn’t want to have to shove Adrien into the dirt like the miscreant he was, but he was making it too easy.

A part of him was flattered. The Agreste heir saw him as that much of a threat that he had to use his hero persona in a failed attempt to get Marinette to side with his civilian counterpart.

He had a plan. He and Marinette finished a good portion of the projects and parted ways. He made sure to behave like a gentleman, a side he only saved for her to combat Chat Noir’s opinion on him and make the bluenette doubt the leather clad hero.

The two just blended together as the designer genuinely enjoyed Stephan’s company. She felt her heart flutter and cheeks warm whenever he smiled at her. She never experienced any of this with Adrien. He even earned Tikki’s seal of approval.

Later, the young Vladislav surfed the internet and leveled every media sight he could find. He even ventured into the wasteland that was tabloid blogs for anything he could use to discredit Chat Noir. Through his internet dive, he found one blog; The Trashiness of Chat Noir. The user’s name was ‘Noir-salt’. On it was countless videos and clips of the leather clad boy making jokes and goofing off during fights. Following was pictures of the alley cat flirting with a clearly uncomfortable Ladybug. Getting into her space, kissing her hand, and even the kiss from ‘Oblivio’.

Stephan’s face was nearly folded in two from the grin that played on his lips. The blog itself wasn’t popular, but that was about to change today. He quickly copied the link of the blog and opened his Instagram and Twitter accounts. He then created new posts with the link attached to them and published it for the world to see.

He even posted them in the comments in one of Alya’s most recent post. Opening up the Face-to-Face website with Nadia Chamack, he submitted the blog for daily news under his name. The combination of Chat’s less than stellar behavior paired with the fact that Stephan Vladislav himself submitted would be too hard to ignore.

The fallout was epic.

The news spread like wild fire. Nadia broadcasted it to all of Paris. Television screens analyzed and ripped apart Chat Noir to shreds. The whole scandal resulted in Parisians coming out and explaining how they each suffered Chat Noir’s incompetence. Mr. Rainer in particular told the local news about how the leather clad boy pestered him often about how he felt. Implying heavily if he felt any negative emotions and sulking when he replied that he felt fine.

This sparked city ride outrage. How could a hero want the citizens he swore to protect fall victim to Hawkmoth?

Said villain was having a field day with the negative emotions that swallowed Paris like a tidal wave. Several akumas came out of the blow up, all of them with the same single minded goal; vengeance against Chat Noir who they deemed to be a false hero.

A slight feeling of momentary guilt crept up his spine as he saw how heart broken Alya and Nino looked. They all sat in the Bakery along with two other friends; Luka and Kagami.

Luka strummed soothing melodies on his guitar to calm everyone’s tense nerves. Kagami appeared agitated as she continued scrolling through the blog which started it all. Nino was calming down a furious Alya who looked ready to burn everything down if someone so much as blinked at her the wrong way. Chloe raved on and on about how she knew all along that the ‘mangy cat wasn’t good enough for Ladybug. Ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous!’

They were all targets in Hawkmoth’s firing range.

Stephan wrapped a comforting arm around Marinette who seemed down in the dumps ever since the news aired. He supposed it made sense. The way Chat Noir spoke to the bluenette seemed way to familiar for it to only have happened once. The Russian assumed that Marinette felt betrayed by someone who she considered a friend.

Little did he know how deep the betrayal went. Marinette knew the feline hero had his flaws, but didn’t they all? Except, with all the evidence and the public’s negative opinion, the weight of Chat’s behavior hit her like a freight train.

The Asian girl felt like she had been doused in cold water. She leaned into Stephan‘s embrace, the only form of comfort she could find. She considered Chat to be her best friend, one in a million. Sure, the way he professed his love for her on patrol and on the battle field was grating on her nerves. Not to mention him declaring that they were soulmates because of their miraculous.

So it had been an absolute shock to hear just how much people had been suffering from Chat’s inability to take anything seriously. Injuries, destroyed house, and even in the rare instances: death.

She shivered at how awful in must have been to watch civilians die, even if it was just a few. No wonder all of Paris was furious at the leather clad boy.

Her musings were interrupted with a loud crash located from outside and several screams.

As it turns out, a seven year old boy who looked up to Chat Noir felt so betrayed and hurt that he wanted to learn what else the cat was hiding behind his charismatic persona. Thus, he became the akuma ’Heads and Tails‘ because there are two sides to every person.

The child revealed all that he could. Projections were scattered all across Paris displaying each of the hero’s misdeeds: Chat Noir’s childish behavior, how he left during fights whenever Ladybug wouldn’t cater to his tantrums, and how much said spotted heroine struggled to defeat more of the stronger akumas the moth villain created.

Any slack the citizens wanted to give the leather wearing hero was subsequently destroyed, especially since Heads and Tails’ had projector like powers and broadcasted the past events for everyone and their mother to see.

But their was one particular clip that made everyone in the bakery‘s hearts stop. They were currently outside after having followed the noise of the first crash the akuma made.

”That’s Marinette’s room!” Alya screamed in horror.

The projector portrayed a very familiar scene to Marinette. When her room was destroyed by Baby August’s akuma. And Chat just standing there trying to get a kiss from Ladybug. Everyone watching was horrified. They knew it was possible the Chat Noir wasn’t aware of some of the injuries or deaths he may have caused but to see one happening in front him and focus on flirting with Ladybug who was clearly trying to do her job?

Luka and Nino were in complete shock, Alya and Chloe looked at the projection in enraged disbelief, Kagami as well as Marinette’s parents looked ready to throw down, and Marinette looked like a deer in headlights.

Stephan was furious. He would make sure that Adrien would never see the light of day ever again.

He swore it.

The aftermath of the akuma had left people grumbling about the mangy alley cat. Celebrities made their disapproval known, especially Jagged Stone who had blasted the feline hero in his last concert and how dare he put his honorary niece in danger.

Coincidentally, the Leather clad boy was no where to be seen. But Stephan knew that Adrien’s reputation as Chat was beyond repair and was most likely waiting for the storm to pass like the cowardly waste of space he was.

The Russian boy enjoyed everyone moment when someone for their class would make a jeer about the leather wearing hero and watching the blonde model wilt in on himself whenever someone else added in their two cents.

Lila made a whole spectacle about the ordeal. ‘Poor Ladybug’ and ‘I told her Chat Noir was bad news and that I would have made a better partner!’

Little did she know her grip on the class was slowly wavering courtesy of Stephan.

He had decided to take a round about approach to dismantling the liar rather than outright laying the evidence down. Knowing her, she‘d probably say it was fabricated. Knowing the class, they’d be gullible enough to believe it.

He started with Alya. Whenever Lila mentioned her many ‘celebrity connections’ and how she could ‘totally introduce you to them. They see me as family,’ Stephan would pull some strings to get his friends to meet some.

The ravenette casually brought up that it would be a good idea for Alya to start another blog for her reporting. It’s always a good idea to have multiple for when she applied to colleges.

“Yeah, I have been thinking about it for a while. But what would I report? I’m so used to akuma fights, everything else just seems so stale compared to that,” Alya admitted.

”Why not a few celebrities and debunking articles? I can get you in contact with some,” Stephan offered as ran his hands through his curly black hair.

”No way. That’ll make me feel like I’m using you. Besides Marinette already helped the Ladyblog by getting me my first interview with Ladybug. I want to try this on my own,” Alya explained while scrolling through the new blog she was creating.

”Word on the street is countless news stations are fighting tooth and nail to get you to intern with them. I’m sure they can supply you with what you need. And since they are doing so because of your talent, it would be less of you using me and more of me giving you a little nudge,” he finished with a smirk.

And that’s exactly what he did. He teamed up with Marinette to convince Alya to start up another blog and except a summer internship at a local news station.

Since Clara Nightingale adored Marinette and her friends, she easily agreed to an interview when Stephan reached out to her. The interview was a hit and ‘A Scoop of Paris’, Alya’s new blog for Paris related news, took off.

With Nino, it was the same thing. Adam Rachad, a well known Parisian director and music producer, had seen Nino‘s popular website, Turtle Pictures and wanted to extend a favor and collaborate with him. Stephan contacted him with Nino present and organized phone call with Nino present. When the glasses wearing boy sealed the deal, he gave the model the biggest hug.

Chloe was more complicated. While the blonde female was still into business, it wasn’t a secret to Stephan that she wanted her mother’s attention. So, the Russian boy met and spoke to the Style Queen at her next fashion show displaying her new summer coming line. It was still April, but it might has well have been summer due to the warm weather.

At first, the Fashion Queen was skeptical about letting her daughter model like the young Vladislav had suggested, he heavily implied that Chloe had the summer looks, not to mention the fact that she bore a similar resembling to Audrey herself could make the world go wild.

Chloe’s first photoshoot happened a week after. The camera just loved her. When #QueenChloeBourgeois and #ModelQueenBourgeois began trending on Twitter, Audrey congratulated Chloe (using her real name) and called her exceptional for the second time, the addressed blonde shed a few tears.

She bought a large graphic camera setup as her way of say thanks without thanking him along with a note that said: “Now I know for sure that you’re good enough Dupain-Cheng. Go get her Vlad.”

Stephan‘s cheeks reddened at the implication but he had to admit that it felt good to have the best friend stamp of approval.

It wasn’t even a few days before Lila started her bragging again. This time about exotic restaurants around Paris and the celebrities she ate with.

In retaliation, Stephan took his friends out to eat at a luxury restaurant across town. He assured them that he would be paying when their concern about expenses were brought up. And they best part? It was his own money. Because of his talent with a camera, he received many internships every time they moved before coming to France, so he amassed a lot of wealth on his own. He may be rich but he also enjoyed being independent. Which was more than he could say for Adrien.

The food was exquisite. Alya and Chloe made sure to take as many photos of the place. Alya for her blog, and Chloe to shove it in Lila and her sheeps’ faces.

They didn’t get to meet a celebrity but seeing Marinette so happy and starstruck was worth. After all, he planned to take her here more often when they hopefully began dating, but he still had yet to ask her.

At first, he had only done this to slowly expose Lila for the fraud that she was, but as he continued, he realized that he enjoyed making the others happy. Before coming to France, Stephan was selfish, manipulative, confident, and cared only about himself and his goals. The only exceptions were his parents.

He was still selfish and manipulative, but he was willing to used those traits to fight for people he cared about. Not that he would ever say it out loud.

Anything Lila had claimed she could do or had done Stephan had done ten times over. So much so that even the sycophantic cult began to notice. The Italian was so busy sharing her stories that she hadn’t noticed the way several faces would twist into slight annoyance and discomfort.

And that’s exactly how they felt. They all saw the pictures of Stephan and the others. How could they not when they were blowing up on social media? Seeing their careers take off while they waited for Lila to introduce them to celebrities she had been bragging about for over a year. It made them bitter and resent her.

What was the point of telling them about her ’amazing life’ if she couldn’t even prove it? They all stewed while they listened to Ms. Mendeleiev’s lecture about the human ears and hearing until Rose raised her hand.

“Can you get tinnitus from being to close to an airplane engine?” The question sounded innocent enough.

The purple haired teacher turned to the pixie blonde before raising an eyebrow and answering her inquiry, “No. Tinnitus is a ringing in the ear. If you were to be exposed to an air plane engine you’d go deaf.”

It was like a fog had been lifted.

After class, Ms. Bustier’s students researched everything Lila told them. Every grand trip, tales of celebrities, every award. Part of them didn’t want to do this. They didn’t want to believe that their golden ticket was lying to them. But with all the talk and no action, it aroused their suspicion.

They found nothing. Nothing at all.

It didn’t take long for them to come running back to the others they had isolated from the class, but they didn’t react the way they’d hoped. Marinette and Nino accepted their apologies but made it clear that they weren’t going to be friends again. Alya and Chloe didn’t bother to hide their resentment and held a grudge against the class. Stephan never cared much about them and never made an emotional connection, so he was unbothered.

But it was obvious that the group had left them behind. They all were reaching new heights while the students of Bustier’s class were left to pick up the pieces of their dreams. Not before ripping into the liar in front of the entire school the next day.

Adrien tried to meekly defend Lila. She was just looking for some friends. The blonde saw no need to isolate the Italian the way they did. She would end up miserable and alone.

Stephan snorted before asking slyly why Adrien would defend someone who had been actively harming and manipulating his ‘friends’. As expected, the clueless sheep immediately got on Adrien’s case. Said model only backed down when several classmates began questioning their friendship.

Pfft. The young Vladislav opened up the class group chat on his spare phone. He had found Alix’s phone lying around and used it to invite his anonymous account into the chat group. He quickly sent an audio recording and waited for the fireworks.

Notification bells dinged throughout the classroom asynchronously. Each student reached into their pockets, desks, and backpacks for their phones and confusion crept onto their faces as they saw the recording anonymous user had sent.

”Does anyone know who this is?” Mylene asked the gathered students.

”Not sure. I don’t think anyone in this class is anonymous,” Alix answered.

”There is a 67% chance that this is a hacker. The other 33% are unknown,” Max was as statistical as always as he pushed up his glasses.

”Well, let’s see what it is! It can’t hurt right?” Sabrina piped up as she pressed play.

Total silence filled the room as Adrien’s voice was heard. The room had dropped several degrees when they heard the blonde admitting to knowing Lila was a liar. Not to mention gaslighting Marinette into staying quiet.

It was the recording from when Stephan had first threatened the blonde model. He cut out the threats of course.

When the recording finished, dirty looks, glares, and eyes of betrayel landed on the Agreste heir who had paled dramatically.

There was a beat of silence before everyone began screaming in unison. How could Adrien just stand their and watch as Lila lied to them? Said blonde tried to defend himself but it became increasingly clear that the class wasn’t having it. Alix declared her friendship with Adrien over, the others following suit.

Stephan and the others in the back just watched as the chaos unravel like a ball of yarn. Ms. Bustier finally arrived and silenced the classroom to begin the day’s lesson.

Throughout the lecture, students occasionally threw glares in Adrein’s direction. He did his level best not to make eye contact with anyone.

No one saw the rougish smile that Stephan wore. He had warned the blonde to stay out of his way. Had he listened, the Russian wouldn’t have had to make him miserable. That’ll teach him.

Meanwhile, Adrien was going through the hell Stephan created for him.

First, Lila was exposed as a liar. He felt sorry for her. Then some anonymous account revealed that he knew of the Italians lies. Everyone was angry at him for remaining silent. What would they know? He just didn’t want her to get akumatized. He just knew it was Stephan who had done it. It was only the two of them in the hallway and Stephan’s threats were cut out, only incriminating Adrien.

His father was still furious for letting Nicolas Vladislav claim Marinette as his intern. If only Stephan had stayed out of the way. Now Gabriel was barely even talking to him.

He couldn’t even enjoy being Chat Noir anymore to cheer himself up. After the fallout that destroyed his reputation, he received backlash from every prominent website. He couldn’t even go out on patrol without someone glaring at him and spitting hateful comments. And yet again, it was all Stephan’s fault. He never once considered himself to be at fault. After all, it was Ladybug who refused him.

And when he had tried to visit Marinette as Chat to try and remove the cotton from her eyes, she insulted him as Adrien and as Chat Noir at the same time! It was so frustrating!

The blonde was having trouble coping. He was so used to being loved and adored by the general public that he thought it impossible for anyone to hate him. Now that both of his personalities were under fire, there was no where he could hide behind or escape to.

It was a miracle he was still managing to keep his grades steady. The blonde wanted support, but Plagg was also giving him the cold shoulder as he did his best to fend off the ravenette’s attacks.

In his loneliness, he threw himself into modeling. The one thing that Stephan Vladislav couldn’t take from him. Until he did.

After the plethora of photo shoots Adrien had done and the many Stephan had accomplished, people began theorizing that the two models had some sort of rivalry.

The weren’t wrong.

Gabriel was pleased with his son‘s change of attitude and the prospect of potentially rivaling Nicolas Vladislav’s fashion company.

Sunshine vs Eclipse was all the fashion world could talk about. There were billboards of each model. Each one trying to one up the last.

Laurice Vladislav loved it. She loved the idea so much that she created a new magazine cover for the rivalry. A phot shoot Adrien was supposed to have already booked.

Stephan looked over his reflection in the mirror after the stylists left. He smiled, satisfied with what he saw. The smile quickly turned into something darker when he saw a familiar face on the reflective surface.

Spinning his chair around, the Russian model fixed an amused expression at the blonde model, “Do want to take a picture? We’re about to start the photo shoot in two minutes. You’ll be able to keep one of me if you want. It’ll last longer.”

Adrien didn’t laugh.

”Are you happy now? You’ve turned everyone against me and ruining my life!” he bit out, the frustration boiling too wildly for him to tame.

”So? I gave you a choice. I told you to stay away from Marinette. You didn’t. I told you to stay out of my way and keep your head down. You also didn’t. I wasn’t about to let some scion get in the way of my goals and Marinette’s affection,” Stephan raised his eyebrows in a way that showed how little he cared for the blonde’s misfortune.

Adrien glared at him with the same amount of venom the Russian would expect from a peasant. He rolled his eyes at the weak intimidation attempt.

”You’ve turned Marinette into a bad person. She doesn’t want to be friends with anyone in the class anymore. I bet you don’t even care her or the others. Knowing you, you’re probably just using them for your own ends,” the blonde spat. He didn’t bother mentioning that the ravenette had also ruined being Chat Noir for him, single handedly ripping away his freedom from him.

The look Stephan gave him was awful. That was probably the worst thing Adrien could’ve said in that moment.

Stephan marched forward and grabbed Adrien by his collar, “You shut your mouth. I care about Marinette more than you ever did. I went out of my way to help the others. I spent time with her. Listened to her. Comforted her when akumas came after her after a bad day. I never pushed her. I respect her boundaries. I don’t invalidate her feelings like you do. And I certainly don’t expect her to play nice with her bully. Even if she doesn’t except my feelings, I‘d be more than happy to recieve her friendship,” Yes he would be absolutely crushed as Marinette was the first and only person he fell so hard for. He went out his way to sabotage and threaten someone just to be with her. But he wasn’t planning to confess to her yet.

Slowly but surely, Stephan had begun to include Marinette into the limelight more and more. First were small gestures like holding hands and standing in close proximity. But not too close as he didn’t want the bluenette to feel uncomfortable. Then it drifted into hugs and more love like gestures. Some of the backgrounds used were the Seine River, the Effie Tower, and various locations used for dates and love confessions. Every passing photo portrayed them as a young couple in love to the entirety of Paris, just what the ravenette had been aiming for. People were already betting on when the two of them would start dating. Stepheinette was what everyone was calling a power couple. Everything was perfect and no piece of cowardly blonde garbage was going to ruin it.

Especially since Kagami, Chloe, and Alya pulled him aside and gave him the shovel talk. Break Marinette’s heart, and they’d break him the same way.

He wasn’t really worried. He hadn’t planned on breaking the blunette’s heart to begin with.

The three girls were very aware of what Stephan was doing and supported it, so long as he wasn’t trying to push himself onto Marinette. Of course , he would never do that. He valued her comfort before his own goals and made sure never to cross any of those lines with her.

Adrien wasn’t backing down, “You claim that you don’t expect her play nice with her bully but your just like Lila!”

The young Vladislav laughed in the blonde’s face.

Adrien sputtered at his reaction, “What’s so funny!?” He demanded.

Stephan calmed down enough to answer Adrien, “You say I’m just like Lila? Please, the two of us are nothing alike. She’s lazy, has no talent, and has a number of delusions. Not counting the one where she thinks her sausage hair is stylish,” He gestured to the space around them, “I achieved everything I’ve done with my own hands. I brought my rivals down with an iron fist. She swears she‘s the master manipulator and liar, but she is so far beneath my level that the idea of someone comparing us is laughable.” The Russian spoke in a smug, vindicated voice.

”You‘re both liars and don’t care about who you hurt to achieve your goals!” The blonde model protested.

”But I thought she was just lonely and in need of friends,” Stephan threw the words that Adrien used to excuse Lila’s actions back in his face.

The blonde in question stammered as he indeed contradicted himself. Now he sounded like a hypocrite. Never mind that he already was one.

The Russian gave a sly grin as he continued to decimate the male in front of him, “I amassed my own money from hard work. I’m intelligent as well as talented. I destroyed the reputation of one of Paris’ most beloved heroes. I decimated countless wealthy people and their reputations in ruins. I made an image for myself. Not just as my father’s son unlike someone. I took over Francois Dupont. Lila and I are nothing alike. Tell me, do you think Lila could achieve all of this?”

There was only silence as his answer.

”I thought so,” he shoved past Adrien as the camera man announced three more minutes before starting.

The blonde could only watch as Stephan left, wordlessly. It dawned on him that he was right.

What could he do against someone like that? He was like a super villain without a costume. He was smart, talented, independent, and self sufficient. While Adrien was still stuck in his father’s shadow.

Life wasn’t fair.

Meanwhile, Stephan smirked as he stood in front of the camera.

He was a King and if you displeased to the King, you get banished. Just ask Adrien or Lila.

Kings get whatever they want, especially if it was a Queen.

(Else where across Paris, Marinette sneezed)

And whenever the Russian saw something he wanted, he would always get it.

He was Stephan Vladislav wasn’t he?

Taglist: @bookwalmartav @ravennm84 @starfire21 @miraculous-ninja @critical-thinking-is-mandatory @smartlanceisreal @bygge00 @couffeeine @jayphoenic @khisee @kelelamentia @unmaskedagain @vixen-uchiha @mcheang

[ravennm84]

Be Kind to Servers

Inspired by a story on Pinterest The Karen that Breeds Minion Karen's by u/RRinfo. I absolutely love that story and can picture Lila trying that bull, so I decided to give it a Miraculous twist. Warm-Fuzzies, please enjoy, and don't forget to take a look at the original story!!

Lila was excited as she and some of her followers strode into the restaurant. This was her chance to prove that she really was as rich and connected as she said she was. Sure, it would be a little expensive, but she just considered this an investment. Pay for a good meal now, get her naïve followers to pay her back even more down the road.

The restaurant she picked was famous for its delicious food and the celebrities that frequent it, all while being not overly expensive so she'd be able to afford taking her followers out to eat. She'd also done her research and found that the owner always had tables reserved for those celebrity guests open and ready. With that knowledge in mind she led the girls of her class inside, minus Marinette and Chloe. 

The heiress had turned her down cold, saying that if she wanted fine dining, all she had to do was order room service. The former had given her a suspicious look before claiming she had a commission due in a few days and needed to focus on that. Lila had been working up tears to cry about how 'I'm just trying to do something nice and you're avoiding me? Oh no, you don't think I would invite everyone out and then leave you with the bill, do you? How could you think so little of me!?'

Before she could let out the first choked sob, Alya asked Marinette if it was the outfits for Jagged Stone's new music video and started talking about the leaked info she'd found the day before. Marinette said nothing definitive, but the blush and stammering response was enough to convince the others. They encouraged her to concentrate on her work, that they would celebrate the successful commission after she was finished, and that they couldn't wait to see the video.

Although Lila was annoyed that she wouldn't be able to shame or humiliate her rival, that was one less meal she'd need to buy.

When they got to the hostess station they were greeted by a gentleman in his early 30s. He smiled and welcomed them before asking for the name on their reservation. 

Lila chuckled, she hadn't bothered making one, as she had never needed one before. "Oh, I don't need one. You see, I'm a Gabriel model and the owner is a personal friend of my boss and my family. He said he always has a table or two that he keeps open for special guests. So, could we get a table for seven?"

The man gave her a surprised/suspicious look before quickly smiling again. "I'm sorry, but we can't seat anyone without a reservation. As you can see, we don't have any tables available."

Lila did her best to fight off a scowl. How dare this low class man working as a server embarrass her in front of her followers! Did this man not know who she was? She was Lila Rossi! The future face of Gabriel and Mrs. Adrien Agreste. She could ruin him and this entire restaurant if she wanted. But she had to appear to be reasonable, at least in front of her followers. 

Pulling out her phone, she took a picture of him before stepping closer so only he would hear her. "What do you think your boss is going to say when I send him your picture and tell him that you were being rude to someone he sees as a niece? Now, you can either give us a table or I can make your life very difficult, to the point where you'll be fired. Now, you need to ask yourself if this is worth your job?"

Again, the man looked at her in surprise before schooling his features and smiling at her. "You're right, it is simpler to get you a table. And as an apology, the first three rounds of drinks are complimentary." Lila preened at this as the man led the seven of them to their table before checking she had turned 18 a few weeks earlier. The others were still 17, so they would be stuck with mocktails and other non alcoholic drinks. 

As they were seated at the table, he pulled out Lila's chair as he told them "We will require having one of your credit cards and ID on file, it will be returned before you leave."

She would have preferred one of the other girls to hand over their cards, but since she had already established herself as Queen of their group, and she had told the others to leave their wallets behind, she had to maintain the role. Smiling brightly at the others, Lila held out the cards to the man without even looking at him. "Don't you worry about a thing. I invited all of you out, so tonight is on me."

The man, Lila guessed he was a host and a server, took down their drink orders and a couple appetizers. He did mention that due to the restaurant being so busy, there might be a delay on the food. All Lila cared about were her free drinks; they were a sweet, fruity cocktail that had her ordering her two free refills before their food came out. 

A bit buzzed, Lila raised one hand in the air and yelled for the "useless server" while snapping her fingers in the air. The girls were very uncomfortable with how she was acting, not used to this side of Lila. She was only placated when the man offered to go check on their orders and asked if they would like more drinks as they waited. Lila was five drinks in by the time the first round of appetizers arrived. 

Through the entire meal as the Italian girl continued to drink, they became more and more uncomfortable with how Lila was acting. She was rude and condescending to their server, talking about all the ways she could mess with him. One of the worst things was when she flagged him over to ask him "Do you ever feel like your life is worthless since all you ever became was a server?"

Alya, in particular, was insulted by what she said. If Lila thought that of people who work in the food industry, what were her real feelings about Alya's mom? Still, all of them wanted to believe that Lila wasn't really like this, that it was the alcohol making her act like a bitch… they hoped.

Still their server remained kind and professional the entire time. After discreetly talking to the other girls, they decided to pull some money together and give him a really good tip for putting up with their drunk friend. Especially after Lila drunkenly stated "I should totally give this guy a bad review on Twitter, that'll teach him to talk back to his superiors."

When the bill finally came, Lila went from laughing and giggling in an alcohol induced haze to completely sober in an instant. Rose even noticed tears in her eyes. Then Lila did another complete one-eighty and started screaming. "Where's our server? Somebody get his retarded ass over here before I call the police and have this place shut down for serving alcohol to minors!"

The girls slumped down in their seats, embarrassed and utterly horrified by their friend's behavior. Mylene was leaning away from her in fear, not liking the look on her face.

The server came over, much calmer than any of them thought he would be in this situation, and asked her if there was a problem. At which point, Lila practically threw the bill at him "Is this some kind of joke?"

Alix caught sight of the bill when the server was looking at it and nearly choked on her soda. Had she just seen a total of €3,722.27?

A second later the waiter nodded. "Oh yes, I apologize, I will get you the correct bill in a moment." He said before walking away.

Lila scoffed at him as he walked away. "Fucking idiot, no wonder he'll never do anything besides wait tables for the rest of his pointless life."

Alix and Alya were really beginning to lose their patience. The alcohol was no longer an excuse for how Lila was acting. In fact, she was acting more like the way Marinette kept describing; egotistical, rude, selfish, and-

The waiter chose that moment to come back with their real bill… which was now €3,822.37 since the previous bill was missing an order of oysters!

Lila. Lost. It.

Yelling, cussing, she even threw a plate; luckily it didn't hit anyone. All of the girls were staring at Lila with jaws dropped to their laps. Then Juleka got up from her chair and shoved the Italian back into her own. "Sit down and shut up, you're humiliating yourself and us." Then Juleka turned back to the server. "Are you sure this is the correct bill?"

He responded by asking, "Is there anything on the bill you didn't order?"

Juleka took the paper and handed it to Sabrina, knowing that the girl's eye for detail and experience with paperwork was unparalleled. The first few lines listed their complimentary drinks, then the rest of the drinks, appetizers, and other foods they ordered. When she finished, Sabrina looked Lila square in the eye. "Everything on here's correct."

The girls watched as Lila seemed to go into shock for a second before snatching the bill and looking it over herself. Sure enough, they had ordered everything listed on the bill. Then Lila was trying to figure out if she could pull a dine and dash without losing face with her followers.

The server must have realized what she was thinking since he gave a slight smile and asked. "Would you like me to charge the card we have on file, or would you prefer to pay another way?"

Snarling a bit, Lila excused herself to the restroom. Leaving her friends to speak to the waiter. 

Rose was nearly in tears as she spoke. "We are so sorry for her behavior. I don't know if it's the alcohol or something else, but she has never acted like this before."

He smiled at the blonde. "I do appreciate the apology, thank you. But it's not up to you to apologize for the actions of another. She should be the one to apologize."

"Still, we wanted to give you this," Mylene said as she offered him a small stack of bills. "You were a great server to us, the food was amazing, and you have the patience of a saint dealing with Lila's temper tantrums."

He gave them a large smile that reached his eyes before gently pushing the money back towards her. "You can keep that, if you accept this advice." All the girls nodded,feeling that this guy deserved their full attention. "If I were you, I'd distance myself from that girl. I have seen her type before and they have a tendency of causing a lot of trouble and getting those close to them, be it friends or family, caught in the crossfire."

After what the girls had seen tonight, they were inclined to agree with him.

Further conversation ended as Lila came marching back from the restroom; makeup touched up and phone in hand. "You listen here, there is no way I'm paying you all this. The food and drinks were barely palatable and the service was terrible. The bill should be at least cut in half and all of you," she turned to glare at the girls, her eyes practically threatening to back her up on this and do as she said, "are going to chip in."

Alya crossed her arms and glared right back. "Didn't you tell us before that we 'shouldn't even bother to bring our wallets' and that 'the night is on you'?" She wasn’t about to mention that they had brought some money anyway.

"And if the food and drinks were so awful, why did you order seven of those drinks and eight orders of oysters?" Sabrina asked, acting like she was confused, but her eyes bore into her as if she was daring her to lie to them.

The look Lila gave them was awful. If they had any doubts about distancing themselves from the girl, they were gone.

Flipping her hair as she scoffed at her classmates, Lila turned back to the server. "At the very least, you should have given me a discount because of my relationship with the owner!"

Completely straight faced, he said "No."

Then she practically shoved her phone in the server's face. "I was trying to be nice, but now you forced my hand. Your boss told me to tell you that you can either comp half the bill or you're fired, as of tonight!"

The server reached up and clicked on the contact info. "That's not the owner's number."

"He has multiple numbers for business and personal stuff!" She snapped. 

The server, still keeping his cool to the girls' shock, shrugged. "I'll make you a deal, I'll call the owner and ask him myself. If he says it's okay, I'll give you 50% off."

"That sounds reasonable to me," Mylene mused, making it obvious that she was siding with the server. 

"How dare you all accuse me of being a liar! I don't need to prove myself to any of you!" Now she was screaming. Customers that were still in the restaurant were staring at them. Alya noticed one woman pointing her phone in their direction, so she was probably recording the whole thing. At that point, the girls could tell that he was done with Lila's hissy fit. Seeing the change in the man, Alya got her own phone out to record as well.

"Cut the crap, little girl." He said harshly, causing Lila to gasp in indignation. "You don't know the owner, you've never been here before, and if you keep yelling, I will call the police."

She stammered for a second before stomping her foot and getting in his face again. "Who do you think you are to say who I do or don't know! I'm going to call the owner right now and get you fired!"

In the same harsh/even voice, what he said next tore her apart. "My grandparents founded this restaurant. My family has been running this place for generations. I have worked here almost my entire life. I am the one and only owner of this restaurant and have never once seen you, heard of you, and I definitely never made a stranger I don't know and never met before tonight any promises."

Lila was absolutely frozen. This was not how she saw this night going. She was supposed to wow her followers, eat some amazing food, maybe meet a celebrity while they ate and talk about being a Gabriel model. But no, she had to lie to the absolute worst person she could. And he just outed her as a liar in front of everyone. She was about to say something, but he kept going. 

"Now, I gave you the table you wanted, one of our specially reserved tables for high end clients, which I didn't charge you for, and gave you three rounds of free drinks. If you don't pay your full bill, I will call the police. And hand them your ID." Practically in tears, Lila nodded before telling him to use the card he had on file and to let her know if he needed another card.

All the girls stood from the table to leave before the serv- the owner came back with her card. 

"Where are you going?" She tearfully screeched at them. 

Alya turned her head just enough to glare at the girl. "I don't know about everyone else, but I'm going over to Marinette's to apologize my ass off, tell her she was right, and exactly what happened here tonight. I'll also probably be keeping an eye out for that scene you just made to end up on some news or tabloid tv show. After all, more than one person was recording you."

The last of her alcohol induced haze cleared as she realized exactly how much of a scene she had caused in front of a bunch of people who might have recognized her as a Gabriel model. Her image, the persona she had been carefully crafting since she arrived in Paris, was ruined.

~oOo~

Four days after the incident at the restaurant, Lila's whole life was falling apart. Everyone in class now knew she was a liar. No one was taking her calls; Alix, Juleka, and Alya had blocked her on their social media and group chats, even all of the boys were giving her the cold shoulder. She’d tried forcing Adrien to help her, but made the mistake of gripping his arm too hard and left marks that their classmates and teacher noticed. One call to Gabriel about the incident and she was ordered to stay away from his son at all times.

She'd hoped to get akumatized to cheer herself up, but it seemed that Ladybug had been expecting it. Her time as Volpina had barely lasted 5 minutes and the Miraculous cure had done nothing to remove the stench of falling into sewer water when she fell through an open manhole on the street. 

But the absolute worst was when her mother got a notice on her phone about a large purchase made on her daughter's credit card. Greta Rossi had been furious and had demanded an explanation. Lila had tried to twist the story; telling her about the overly expensive restaurant her former friends insisted that they go to, that they were acting rude and belligerent as they were served alcohol despite being under aged, and then they ran out on her, essentially sticking her with the bill.

She thought her mother would simply tell her that her classmates were no friends of hers before offering to move her to a different school, so she wouldn't have to deal with them again… Oh no. Her mother took her to the restaurant in question and demanded that she speak with the owner. Lila tried to keep her head down.

Greta spoke for all of three minutes, accusing the man of overcharging her daughter, serving alcohol to minors, and just being a terrible human being. The owner said nothing, merely playing the security video of their table with full audio. Greta saw her daughter drinking multiple cocktails while her friends didn’t touch a drop of alcohol. This was a pretty big deal to her since Greta forbade her daughter from drinking. She heard all the rude and downright disrespectful things her daughter said to her friends and the owner. Acting like a three year old, actually throwing things! Thank goodness no one was hurt. But then the ending… her daughter threatened to get someone fired just for doing their job and not catering to her tantrum? She had never felt so humiliated.

So she nodded at the man, apologized for interrupting him at work as she grabbed Lila by the arm and escorted her out. All the way home, Greta ranted and raved at her daughter for displaying such terrible behavior. Once they got home, she stripped Lila of every single privilege she had. Allowance, gone. Technology, repossessed. Free time, that would be spent at the embassy while working as a janitor to pay her mother back.

Lila almost slipped up by saying that she already had a job, but kept her mouth shut. Her mother considered modeling to be degrading and an exploitation of women. If she had let that secret slip, she wasn't sure what her mother would do to her.

Then, as if the gods themselves could hear her thoughts, her phone rang while Greta held it in her hand. Lila watched in horror as her mother answered the phone, telling whoever called that she was unavailable before listening to what the person was saying.

"Understood, I'll be sure to let her know. Thank you for calling." After hanging up, Greta Rossi leveled a glare that made her daughter shake with fear. "That was your boss's assistant.” she said in a calm voice that steadily rose the more she spoke. “ Apparently, they have seen some unflattering recordings of you from the restaurant and the marks you left on Adrien Agreste’s arm. They wanted to tell you that you are in violation of your modeling contract. You have been fired from the job that you've had for years, that I wasn't even aware you had!"

"Please, Mama! I can explain."

Greta held up one hand to silence her as she continued to glare scornfully at her daughter. "I think you've said and done enough. Since you consider yourself above the rules of my house, after you are finished paying me back, you can find someplace else to live."

...What?

"Mama, no!" She cried desperately as she dove to grip her mother's arm.

The woman continued to glare at her daughter. "I don't see what the problem is. You are an adult now. You seem to hate the rules I've set for my house: don't drink, do not accept a job that degrades women, don't lie to me, and treat others with the kindness and respect that you wish to be treated. I thought those rules were simple enough, but I guess I was wrong. If you're not living with me, those rules no longer apply to you and you can do as you wish, without my support."

By now, Lila was all out sobbing as the prospect of being homeless ran through her head. Without her job or her mother's support, she wasn't sure what she would do. 

"However, you are my daughter and I love you, so I will give you another chance." Despite Greta's stern voice, Lila was nodding desperately, terrified of the idea of being homeless. "You will follow my rules, go to school, and stop lying. If I find out that you've been causing any problems, that's it. You will have to find your own place by the end of the month. Have I made myself clear?"

Still crying and with snot dripping from her nose, Lila agreed. Already dreading her first day working at the embassy; dusting, taking out trash, and cleaning toilets.

Taglist:

@2confused-2doanything @7-sage-7 @aadnrsstar @abrx2002 @awkwardromances @bayball @babylovebug18 @botanicalfoxx @back-cats-and-broken-mirrors @caffeinetheory @cheshire5210 @chocolateherringtacofan @city-of-all-tunas @classycollectorreviewworld  @corabeth11 @chocolatechipcookiesandcamembert @darkened-flame @delightfulcookiesrecipespizza @fandom-trapped-03 @ghostmaster @iamblinkmarvelarmy @interobanginyourmom @izang @jesussavedevenme @kazedancer @kitten12113 @lady-phoenix-of-tardis @lilypotter2018 @lunataravler @ladylupuscrow @maskedpainter @miraculouslydumb @nerd-nowandforever @naruwitch @ola-is-dead  @pandacatxd @plushbookworm @plz-excuse-my-inner-ravenclaw @pheonix-biach @pandora-fucking-box @raiderofthelostbooks @ramos123 @rowanrouge @rowanyx @ren121 @seesea22 @seraphichana @sashakoi @shypeacekitten @smartlanceisreal @tazer6787 @that-girl-sakea @thecrazyfantrollshasmoved @the-smallest-kittenz @tishwinchesterannabethjackson @t1dwarrior-of-earth  @ulmban @with-forward-motion @wonderbat91939 @zoiechance

#lila lies #lila salt #lila bashing #class redemption #be nice to servers #moms rock #miraculous ladybug

[ravennm84]

Double Date Disasters

Best Friend Blues

Happy Valentines Day! @lenoraishere I hope you like this!

————

Marinette is feeling good. She got over Adrien, she and Luka have been dating for a month, Chat Noir has stopped flirting with her, and she's been so much more relaxed.

Only Alya still believes she's in love with Adrien.

But when Luka and Adrien propose that they all go on a double date, Alya goes to extreme measures to make Adrien and Marinette fall in love.

————

Part: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4

————

Marinette was feeling good as she walked into school on a quiet Wednesday morning. Luka and she had been dating for about a month now, she was almost completely over Adrien and things had calmed down in both her civilian and superhero lives.

She loved Luka, and really enjoyed being around him and the dates they went on. He gave her a necklace made out of a guitar pick, which she wore everywhere and with everything.

Chat Noir had stopped flirting with her as Ladybug, saying he’d found someone he cared about and wanted to be with. He still called her M’Lady, but it was just a platonic nickname at this point.

She'd torn down her magazine pictures of Adrien and his schedule, replacing them with photos of her, Luka and her friends and a yearly planner. She was going to need it if she was going to keep up with all of her commissions, exams and hero duties.

She and Kagami were getting on great. They’d go to coffee shops together, After she found out Kagami liked to draw, she started going to Art Club with her, becoming good friends with Marc and Nathaniel.

Her friends no longer made elaborate, over-complicated plans to confess to Adrien, instead making plans to watch movies, go shopping together and go to see, or perform, Kitty Section gigs on the Couffaine houseboat.

She sighed contentedly and opened the door to the locker room, she spotted Adrien by her locker, shoving books into his locker.

“Morning Marinette!”

“Oh, hey Adrien!”

Finally, she could talk to him without foaming at the mouth. Now, they could have actual conversations with each other.

“How have you been?”

“Not too bad, my commissions have eased up a little. You?”

“Great, Kagami and I have a fencing tournament in two weeks.”

“Oh cool! Remind me to come along to cheer for you both!”

“Of course. How’s Luka doing?”

“Good, Kitty Section’s a gig in a couple of weeks, so we’re getting ready for that.”

“Great! And don’t forget, I’m always up to play keyboards if they need it.”

“I’ll let them know! Anyways I’m gonna head to class now.”

“Okay, see you there!”

Marinette sighed, content as she opened the door to the courtyard. Everything was perfect.

“Sooo, I heard your conversation with Adrien~”

Well, everything except Alya.

She was still plotting and planning opportunities to confess, always telling her where Adrien was or what he was doing, regardless of her relationship with Luka. It was driving her mad, but Alya was her best friend. She'd have to come around eventually.

“Ugh, Alya, I don’t have the time or the energy for this,” Marinette sighed, exasperated.

“Come on girl! Just admit you're still in love with him! You two were made for each other, you're soulmates!”

“I don't want to talk about this,” she growled, turning and walking up the stairs to the art room.

“What! Girl, where are you going?”

“To talk to someone who'll listen to me!”

Slamming the door, she leaned against the door and groaned. She cared about Alya, she really did, but this was driving her mad.

“Best friend drama?”

She turned her attention to Alix standing on her platform with a can of spray paint in her hand, and Marc and Nathaniel sitting at one of the tables, Marc’s head on his boyfriend’s shoulder.

“Yep.”

“What happened?” Marc questioned, leaning back in his chair.

“Me and Adrien, we're just talking about stuff, fencing things, my commissions, Luka and Kagami, and Alya overheard us and thought I was trying to get with him and started saying we were ‘made for each other' and ‘we’re soulmates'. I just don’t have the energy for it.”

“You know, I can ask Lila to sit with Alya and you can sit with me,” Nathaniel offered.

“You sure?”

“Yeah, I don’t care. It sounds like you two need a little space, and as much as Lila’s stories are interesting, I don't want to hear them twenty-four seven.”

“Yeah, okay. Thanks, Nath.”

Maybe that would help them. A little bit of space from each other.

————

Alya walked into class, about to sit down and talk some sense into her girl, only to see Lila in Marinette’s seat, and Marinette in Lila’s, showing Nathaniel something in her sketchbook.

She darted up the steps and slammed her hand down onto the desk, startling them. She glared at her and Nathaniel.

“Girl, what are you doing? Why is Lila in your seat?”

“I just want a little space for today, Alya,” Marinette explained. “Nathaniel talked to Lila and she agreed she’d sit next to you for the day. We already spoke to Miss Bustier about it too, and she’s ok with it.”

Alya stared at Marinette in shock. First, she stormed off because Alya tried to help her with Adrien and now she didn’t want to sit with her?

“You can’t be serious.”

“Well, I am, Alya.”

“Marinette, come on!”

“Alya, class is about to start. Please sit down,” Miss Bustier called out, everyone else silent, staring at her at the back of the class.

Alya pressed her lips together in anger, before turning away and sitting down next to Lila. She smiled sweetly at Alya.

“It’s okay Alya. Best friends fight all the time. You know, this reminds me of this time when Ladybug and I had a fight. It was really stupid, but it was kind of serious at the time ….”

But Alya wasn’t focused on Lila or her stories that would blow up on her blog.

She needed a plan to get her bestie to see the truth. She needed Marinette to see that she was still in love with Adrien, no matter how much she denied it, it was so obvious, and she was getting mad at her over nothing. She just needed an opportunity to do so….

—————

Marinette walked down to the courtyard after class, heading to the art room once again. Just then, her phone buzzed with a notification.

Kagami 🌹🤺

Hello, Marinette. My fencing practice has been called off for today, and I have decided to go to the Art Club. Will you be there?

Marinette smiled, tapping out her reply.

Marinette 🎀🪡

Of course! I'll see you there!

Turning to the stairs, she was startled when Alya ran up to her.

“Girl!! You will not believe who's in the Art room!”

“Who?”

“Kagami!! Now's the chance to tell her that Adrien’s yours and-”

Oh, GOD! Can Alya not take a hint? Marine rolled her eyes and gritted her teeth.

“Alya, I can't believe you! Kagami is my friend! Why would I do something like that to her?”

“Uh, because she's in your way? Come on, don't you want to live out the rest of your life with Adrien with three kids and a hamster?”

“No! I got over my crush months ago! I've been dating Luka for a month now! Everyone else accepts it, our friends, our classmates, my family! Everyone but you! And if you can't accept that, we won't be hanging out any time soon!”

“But-”

“But nothing. I am going to Art club to spend time with my friends. Kagami included,” she finished, turning and climbing the stairs angrily.

She heard Alya scoffing, before walking away. She knew Alya was stubborn, but this was stupid!

Sighing, she put on a sweet smile and took the seat next to Kagami.

“Hey, Kagami!”

“Hello Marinette,” she smiled softly. “Are you ok?”

“Of course I am! Why do you ask?”

“Well, I heard you and your friend before you came in here. Are you sure that you're okay?” she asked again.

Marinette sighed. She decided it was better, to be honest with Kagami.

“It’s fine, Alya and I just had a little fight,” she explained. “I’ve been saying something for a while and Alya won’t listen to me.”

“Ok. I heard her say something about Adrien?”

“I’m not trying anything with him, I promise!” Marinette said quickly, waving her hands. “You two are in love and I am so so happy for you and-”

“Hehe, it's okay Marinette, I know you wouldn’t do that,” Kagami reassured. “Is that what you and Alya are arguing about?”

“Huh, yeah. She keeps trying to set me up with him like before, and she won’t listen when I say I’m with Luka, or that you’re with Adrien!”

“And are you happy with Luka?”

“Yes!! I am so happy, he’s amazing! And I’ve been doing much better ever since I got over Adrien too, my friendships have been better, I’ve been less stressed, everything’s been perfect!”

“Then if Alya is a good friend, she’ll want you to be happy. Everything will work out, Marinette.”

“But what if it doesn’t work out?” Marinette frowned. “Alya’s done so much for me and I care about her.”

“Hopefully it won’t come to that,” Kagami reassured, patting Marinette’s back.

Marinette smiled at her.

“Thanks, Kagami. Now, enough of my blues, let’s make some art!”

————

Marinette and Kagami walked down the stairs, talking and laughing while they walked out of school. Just as they got to the steps, Kagami spotted Luka and Adrien by Adrien’s car.

“Is that Adrien and Luka?”

“Yeah, it is! Let’s go over to them!” Marinette smiled, grabbing Kagami’s hand and pulling her over to their respective boyfriends.

“Oh, Hey Marinette. Hey darling,” Adrien said, putting his arm around Kagami and pulling her close.

“Hi Adrien,” she replied, blushing.

Marinette smiled fondly at her friends, only looking away when her boyfriend took her hand, making her blush too.

“So, Adrien and I were talking, and I told him how we’re going to that restaurant on Friday, the Soleil et Lune,” Luka explained.

“And then I said that Kagami and I were going,” Adrien added.

“So I suggested we make it a double date! If that was okay with you two of course,” Luka finished.

“That sounds great!”

“That sounds lovely!”

The boys smiled at each other, before hearing the beep of cars. Kagami’s car had arrived.

“Oh, I have to go,” Kagami said. “We can discuss arrangements later. Bye!”

She kissed Adrien on the cheek before darting off to her red car.

“I’m gonna go too. See you tomorrow,” Adrien said, opening the door to his car.

As the two cars pulled out of the curb, Marinette smiled at her boyfriend.

“Hey, do you want me to walk you home?”

“Of course,” Marinette sighed with bliss.

As the couple walked to the Dupain-Cheng bakery, they were oblivious to a certain blogger, hiding in the bushes, who heard their every word.

Alya almost squealed in joy. This was it. The opportunity she was waiting for.

Give it a week, and it would be Adrien and Marinette walking hand in hand.

[ravennm84]

Ladies and Gentleman: Him

After reading a post from @critical-thinking-is-mandatory, which was essentially about Adrien having an antagonist who is a model, I decided why not? All Adrien has to do is breath and he gets all the girls, wealthy or not. So this is my take on an Adrien antagonist, who is a model, rich, a bully (somewhat), hates Chat Noir’s guts, knows how to dazzle an audience (like Liar Rossi), and has feelings for Marinette because we all know that if Marinette had a bully for a love interest like Adrien does and she protects him even though uwu, sunshine boy is clearly ~suffering~, the fandom would have her executed. Ugh. Just. Ugh.

Stephan Vladislav expected many things when he transferred to Francois Dupont from his previous high school in Russia. That didn’t mean he wasn’t ready for anything. He did his research and found that many of his classmates were high profile individuals.

Adrien Agreste: The son of Emile and Gabriel Agreste. A well known model just like him.

Alya Cesaire: Creator of the Ladyblog which has become the number one akuma battle news source in Paris.

Nino Lahiffe: Founder and creator of his own film website, Turtle Pictures.

Chloe Bourgeois: Daughter of Style Queen and the Mayor of Paris.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng: Daughter of the best bakers in Paris, the well known fashion designer MDC, publicly endorsed by the Style Queen herself, Jagged Stone, Nadia Chamack, Clara Nightingale, and many other high profile celebrities.

The list went on and on. Francois DuPont was certainly different from his previous schools. He attended the most prestigious schools for most of career. The students there, while rich and influential, were flimsy, lazy, snobbish to anyone they deemed less worthy than themselves.  The fact that many of them were untalented spoke volumes of how they expected their status to get them through life (what morons).

But they weren’t even a challenge to Stephan, as what looked like a fight to the rest of his schools was, in reality, a one-sided massacre. Students who at the top of the food chain when he arrived were left broken, alone, and friendless by the time of his departure.

He wasn’t a bad person per say. Stephan just liked winning by his own talent and merits. He was the son of the famous Russian luxury fashion designer Nicolas Vladislav and his mother Laurice Vladislav, a dark skinned woman who was a famous photographer and known for discovering many of the famous models and actresses we see today.

His new school may be filled to the brim with competition, but the Vladislav family thrived off of opposition and he had a lot going for him. If it was grades, he would work tirelessly to make sure he was at the top of the class. Sports? He had a knack for baseball and archery. Music? The flute as well as drums come easy to him. Art? Say hello to his shelf displaying all the trophies and certificates he won from several art competitions. Extracurriculars? He can speak Russian, English, French (obviously), German, and Mandarin. In depth understanding in photography, fashion, and the business world. Not to mention he is a very well known model. They’ve got nothing on him!

*******

Standing in that classroom, Stephan realized he had been wrong about his class.

Instead of the hardworking, ambitious, and goal driven classmates Stephan had been looking forward to competing with (and winning against), he was met with a literal zoo of students screaming, crowding around one Italian looking student, and sending harsh glares over at a few students in the back who looked embarrassed at their classmates‘ behavior.

He hadn’t even been in there for five minutes and he could already list everything wrong with his new class.

First off, the teacher (Ms. Bustier he would later learn), had no control of her students whatsoever. Her eyes would frequently go to the back of the classroom to a blue haired student as if begging her to make the class listen even though she was the teacher. Pathetic.

Secondly, it seemed the class was catering to what could only be a chronic liar. Seriously, all it took was a simple google search to disapprove her lies. Not to mention all her stories contradict each other if anyone bothered to use their brain. The only ones not fooled were the four students sitting at the back of the room (Alya, Nino, Marinette, and Chloe).

And no. Just no. He won’t even get into the topics of the class’ lack of critical thinking skills, their herd/mob mentality, and blatant disrespect to anyone with a different opinion from them, specifically pertaining to one Lila Rossi.

And to think he prepared every trick and every tactic in the book crush the others on the his to the top.

It took seven minutes top for the red-haired “teacher” to get the rowdy class under control.

Madame Bustier gestured to his person when the class finally noticed his presence with a plastered smile on her face.

“Class, please welcome your newest classmate and transfer student. He’ll be studying with us from now on,” she clasped her hands in front of her and sent Stephan a smile, “Why don’t you introduce yourself?”

Snapped out of his pondering, the Russian stepped into the classroom completely from his spot at the doorframe. He strode confidently to the center of the class with his head held high.

”Hello, everyone. My name is Stephan Vladislav. I’m from Russia and I enjoy modeling, and art”. Judging from the shocked looks from most of Bustier’s class and dawning recognition on others, they very well knew who he was. He spotted an Italian girl sitting next to a very uncomfortable Adrien Agreste looking at him with a greedy look in her eyes. He knew that look well and it was always crushed when he destroyed the girls whom they belonged to.

Though one student seemed to be looking at him in confusion. Marinette’s eyes roamed the new boy with fixed concentration from her spot next to Alya, where her bestie had been sentenced for not believing Lila along with her boyfriend Nino, and enemy turned sort of ally Chloe.

The bluenette swore she had her the name Vladislav before. The new certainly looked like a model like he had so boldly mentioned.

She was certain Stephan really was Russian, as his French was heavily accented by it. He had dark skin, close to Alya’s complexion, probably biracial. Sleeked back undercut black hair, sharp and calculating bright hazel eyes which contrasted against his happy-go-lucky expression. He wore a light green leather jacket with ‘Vlad‘ embroidered onto his top right breast pocket, a black dress shirt made of what looked like silk, light blue jeans, and boots that matched his leather jacket to complete the look. He seemed nice, but she knew better than to judge from appearances.

Everyone else thought he and Adrien would get along great because of their careers as models.

”You think he’ll get along with Adrien?” Alya leaned over to her bestie who had been studying Stephan before she answered.

”What do mean? Who even is he?” She whispered back to Alya.

Nino joined the conversation with a look of disbelief on his face, “You really don’t know who Stephan Vladislav is, Dudette?”

When Marinette shook her head, Alya whipped out her phone, typing something into the search engine.When the results came up, she showed Marinette, “He’s only one of the most well known models there is. He has influence that eclipses Adrien’s. His father is Nicolas Vladislav, a fashion designer even more wealthy and successful than Gabriel Agreste. How could you not know who he is?”

Nino chuckled, “We’re talking about the girl who had no clue who Adrien was despite his face being plastered everywhere.

”Ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous,” Chloe muttered playfully.

Marinette was so busy trying to defend her self against her friends laughing at her expense, that she didn’t even notice Stephan making his way towards her. That was until a shrill, high pitched, unwanted voice interrupted them.

”I wouldn’t sit back there if I were you,” Lila said in her sweetest fake voice.

Chloe and the others glared at Stephan, expecting him to believe her, only to take them by surprise.

”Well you aren’t me. I don’t appreciate you telling rpms what I should or shouldn’t do,” Stephan flipped her off.

Lila immediately started the water works, “How could say that. I’m only trying to warn you about the others in the back. They’ve had it out for me ever since Marinette got expelled.”

”How could you say that about Lila!? She just wants to help!” Sabrina protested.

”We know you’re knew and all but that’s no reason to be awful about it,” Ivan agreed.

”Lila is right thought. Those four have been awful to her,” Mylene comforted a crying Lila. The Russian boy could tell that she enjoyed the sympathy and attention.

”Shut up. We’ve been avoiding Lila like the plague for over a year,” Alya snapped back.

”Don’t lie! Lila showed us the text messages you guys send her. You’re nothing but bullies who scorn her just because Marinette got expelled.

Expulsion? Stephan tucked that in the back of his mind to investigate later.

Seeing Marinette wilt under the scrutiny of the class, Nino backed his girlfriend up, “You mean her unjust expulsion with flimsy evidence and no investigation!”

”As if I would concern myself with a girl that has such an ugly hair style. Ridiculous, utterly ridiculous,” Chloe dismissed them as Stephen examined her nails.

This went on for about five more minutes before Bustier finally began the lesson. Stephan sat in the chair across the staircase next to Marinette on her right. The lesson moved peacefully at first. This gave him hope that Bustier wasn’t a failure on all fronts. That hope was promptly crushed when Rossi interrupted the lesson to prattle on about how she was a descendant of Socrates after Bustier covered famous philosophers in Ancient Greece. The wasn’t true as everything that had come out of her mouth since he‘d arrived had been nothing but a lie.

Subtly, he leaned over and whispered to Marinette, “Is it always like this with them?” He casted an annoyed glance at the class.

Turning towards him, said bluenette sighed, “Yes. They hang off her every word. Especially if it’s promises of connecting with people to jump start their dreams. I don’t even think that things will go back to normal even after they find out the truth. They called me a bully and ended their friendships with me with only word of mouth as their proof.”

The young Vladislav just sat there as the pieces clicked into place. It was clear the class didn’t really care about what Lila did, but rather the promises of what she could do for them. They didn’t ditch Marinette because they thought she was a bully. They did it to gain Lila’s favor and thus a golden meal ticket. Coattail hangers. The lot of them.

”Well it seems that they won’t take the truth very well. Especially since she lied about celebrities that could help them,” Stephan faked a concerned voice. He couldn’t care less about those gold diggers.

Marinette turned to face him completely and Stephan’s first thought was, she blue really be that blue? The bluenette had lovely Raven locks that looked muted against her pale skin. Cute frekles over so slightly decorated her cheeks and the bridge of her nose. And her azure eyes almost seemed to glow.

”Yeah, well, they don’t like hearing what they need to hear.”

Stephan forced himself to look away from her pretty face and looked at his plain notebook page. Ms. Bustier hadn’t said anything noteworthy, therefore the page remained blank. “Most morons don’t,” he muttered and Marinette laughed.

He had to force down the growing blush on his cheeks.

It was about two months into his attendance at his school when Stephan decided that very few people were worth his time.

Competing for best grades was dull since the class as a whole sans Chloe, Alya, Nino, and Marinette had the IQ of a pencil. He reached the top in no less than three weeks much to the robot geek’s humiliation.

Being the best in sports was essentially useless as Alix and Kim stopped entering contests, instead choosing to hang off of Lila’s promises of connecting them with big shot Olympic athletes.

Music was practically nonexistent as the band “kitty section” comprised of some of his… classmates hadn’t preformed a gig in almost a year, he learned. Not to mention that their lead guitarist Luka, he heard from Marinette decided to go solo to save himself the embarrassment of failed performances.

Adrien was as good as a wet napkin, so the Russian didn’t even try to one up him in extracurriculars.

Stephan knew how to pick his battles, and as such, he refused to fight any of his classmates if they refuse to even try. Otherwise it would just be some delusIonal one-sided fight and he was anything but delusional. He had far too much pride.

Found with a lot of free time, the Young Vladislav decided to fill it in by spending time around Marinette and her friends and found that it kept him sane in the asinine situation that is their class.

He even began looking forward to hanging out with them. The fact that they were goal driven, witty, and intelligent was just a bonus.

Alya was an aspiring journalist, respected by all of Paris? He would swoop in and get better footage of akuma attacks. The two would often one up each other with their recordings and shove it in each other’s faces. Neither knew when the other would strike so their little war kept them on their toes. But it was all in good fun, and neither wanted to back down.

Nino’s website Turtle Films was the go to place for short films? The two males would challenge each other’s ideas, editing plans, and scripted writing. They high-fived over Nino’s newest film which took the media by storm. They combined their ideas and collaborated on their master piece. Stephan was surprised to feel the thrill of success while working with someone else was refreshing compared to achieving it all on his own.

Chloe was thinking about enrolling in online business management classes? Both blonde and ravenette were relieved to find someone who spoke their language. Even if their business jargon ended up with multiple broken dishes, ripped paper, and screaming matches.

Marinette had the attention of many celebrities? Stephan took better photos of her produced clothing. He had a knack for photography, something he inherited from his mother. Both sets of photos always went on her website at the end of they day. And when they weren’t doing that, they were having a baking competition every other week.

But despite being so competitive with them, the one thing they allied together against was the lying shrew Lila Rossi.

Their fist encounter ended up being their last. Lila began telling lies about her achievements to impress him knowing who he was. It was very likely that she liked the idea of two models vying for her attention. She would not allow Marinette and friends sway him over to their side. If she could date the Stephan Vladislav, a well known model whose father had even more money and popularity that Gabriel Agreste, her name would be in lights and her fame would be garenteed . Except he did not react they way she expected him to.

He called her out on being fake. He mocked her for the fact that she had such an unfulfilling life that she had to pretend to be someone she’s not just so people would like her. Stephan pointed out that her lies were unbelievable at best and desperate at worse.

The young Vladislav then reiterated the tale of a girl from his past who shared many qualities with Lila.

Angela Voss.

She, like Lila, was a desperate liar and wanting fame, attention, and all the boys in the school. She was known for bullying anyone who called her out on her lies or tried to sabotage her goals. Angela tried flattery to get Stephan to date her, but he publicly rejected her. She became the joke of the school for weeks. In her humiliation, she spread rumors about him, meaning to sully his reputation but it only served to provoke his ire. After the very clear declaration of war, he used every trick in the book to be rid of her.

Including but not limited to manipulation, slander, libel, sabotage, destruction of property. He dragged her name through the mud so far that even her parents grew tired of her. The final nail in the coffin was a subtly placed enrollment paper regarding a boarding school in Switzerland and she transferred out fasting than he could have dreamed. On her last day, he made it his personal mission to make it absolute hell by throwing her shattered kingdom into her stupid face by spreading her “rumored“ departure around the school. The look of shock on Angela’s face was sweet, but her tears of devastation and her humiliating fall from stardom left a smile on his face for the rest of the month.

He told a pale and shaking Lila that she had better watch who she messed with and made it a point to tell her just how easy it would be to destroy her as well. To threaten her a bit more, he casually added that one word from him could have her blacklisted from ever working at even the smallest of fashion houses and crush her modeling career before it even started. Stephan emphasized the fact that Angela was a daughter of influential Russian politicians and he still managed to win. What would happen to Lila if he were to use the full force of what he did to Angela on Lila? Some girl who was the daughter of a woman who was barely the secretary of an ambassador.

Finally, he warned her to stay away from Marinette and any and all transgressions would be met with no mercy.

The threat was clear to Lila and Adrien, the latter having over heard the conversation.

Lila better back off or Stephan will make her back off.

She scurried away from him in fear and the look of horror was priceless. However there was no backtracking from this. The Italian was smart enough to know that whatever she, she would always remain on Stephan’s ‘harm eventually’ list. Dammit. She just had to go and piss him off.

Stephan snorted. He was willing to reckon Rossi never experienced being threatened before. Well he’ll show her the difference between a cat and a spider.

When a certain blonde appeared from the corner of the hall where he had been listening in, Stephan didn’t even bother to look up when he addressed him.

”What do you want, Agreste?”

Adrien on the other hand, was disappointed. He could tell Stephan wasn’t buried in Lila’s deceit like the rest of their classmates but he never said anything, which was good. Just when he thought he wouldn’t have to deal with another person trying to expose Lila, the Russian up and threatens her career over a few silly lies. Clearly, Adrien needed to have a discussion with him about taking the high road or he’ll cause tension in the class.

”Don’t you think you were a bit harsh with her?” the blonde strides over to Stephan and stops a few feet away from him.

“It’s not my fault Rossi thought her flattery and fake achievements would fool me. It‘s high time someone told her she is it as amazing as she thinks she is,” Stephan sniffed at the blonde model with distain and placed his hands on his hips.

”Lila is just looking for some friends,” Adrien ignored Stephan‘s haughty snort, “If the truth gets out, the class will ostracize her and she’ll end up friendless and alone,” he ended with the same disappointed glint in his eyes that made Marinette back down.

Hazel eyes just stared at the blonde like he was stupid. He had a few suspicions about Adrien‘s true character and this confrontation was just proving them.

“And when the truth gets out and the class realizes that she basically took advantage of them and played them for fools for who knows how long, how do you think they’ll feel?” Stephan stated becoming annoyed with the conversation at hand.

”I’m sure she’ll realize that she’s wrong and apologize. Then everything will go back to how it was before,” Adrien said brightly.

But the Russian knew better. After being a model for so long, he could practically smell a fake person, and Adrien was covered in that particular stench.

”Oh really?” The young Vladislav raised a perfectly trimmed eyebrow, “Things will not ‘go back to normal’. After seeing how quickly their so called friends were willing to turn on them and how easily they’re swayed by promises that will solidify their careers, there’s no doubt in my mind that Marinette and the others will not just roll over it.”

Adrien crossed his arms over his chest and his lips thinned, not liking the way the other model stared at him condescendingly.

”Sure they will. After all friends don’t stay mad at each other. I know it’s been rough for them, but if they hadn’t kept antagonizing Lila they would still have friends. Especially Marinette,” he ended with a disappointed scowl when he mentioned the bluenette like he had every right to.

As far as the ravenette was concerned, that was the last straw of this ”conversation”.

Hearing him talk about the Asian girl that way made his blood boil like nothing he ever experienced. If he were emotionally inclined, Hawkmoth would have a field day.

It took several weeks of hanging out with Marinette from the beginning of his transfer to now to realize he developed a crush on her. It was strange at first, especially when he never looked at anyone romantic feelings in mind.

Trying to sort out his feelings, he spent the next few days planning out how he would ask Marinette out and came across an interesting discovery.

From one of Alya and Nino’s conversations, he was made aware of Marinette’s crush on Bratdrien. His mood was soured as he glared at Agreste every chance he got, attempting to figure out just what Marinette saw in the blonde.

In conclusion, he had miffed feelings about Agreste before his miserable attempt at lecturing him about the high road. Stephan gathered that Adrien was, for a lack of a better term, a self righteous prick who was willing to gaslight and scapegoat anyone he viewed as morally lesser than him. Before this, the Russian hadn’t planned on ruining Adrien despite really wanting to, but now? The idiot sealed his own fate the second he thought it would be a good idea to reveal his true colors to Stephan.

Stephan continued to internally seethe all while keeping his stoic and uninterested mask as Adrien continued his prattling, “Honestly, if she had done what I said, the class wouldn’t be so full of tension and-”

His line was cut off when Stephan introduced his back to the right wall of the hallway. The Russian’s death grip on either side of his shoulder kept him in place and the blonde had a sinking feeling that was validated when he saw the dark scowl resting on Stephan’s features. Adrien felt his knees shake as the Russian addressed him.

”Looks like the sunshine of Paris has come to the delusional conclusion that I’ll let that happen,” the young Vladislav hissed with venom lacing every word, “You think you’ve got everyone fooled with this angel facade wear everyday. Honestly I shouldn’t be surprised at the level of deceit displayed by Gabriel’s son. But it wasn’t enough to fool me. I can see you for what you truly are. I’m sure you think that you’re such a saint and therefore have the right to lecture and project your disappointment on to people you feel don’t live up to your moral standard. But you’re not. You’re just a coward with no backbone or force that you could be mistake as a puppet or doll. You won’t do anything about Lila because on some conscious level, you know what she’s capable of”.

Adrien’s eyes widened in fear as he tried to come up with a rebuttal, but any comeback he had quickly died on his lips when he saw the intense look in Stephan’s eyes as he continued his threat. He wasn’t about to let Agreste get a word in.

”So you decide to kill two birds with one stone. You used your “good boy” reputation as a means to appease bullies and trouble makers while seeming nice and benevolent but in reality you don’t care about giving second chances or about helping be better because it’s much easier to defend the bully rather than stand up to them isn’t that right?” The Russian smirked cruelly as he watched Adrien‘s expression morph into one suitable for a fish.

”That isn’t it at all!” Adrien splutterred at Stephan’s bold accusation, “I’m not trying to save my reputation. Making a bad guy suffer won’t change them into a good guy!”

Adrien tried to say more, but Stephan’s low and even voice rang with power and stabbed hI’m with authority that demanded nothing less than silence and attention, “Bull.Shit. Please, if I didn’t know any better, I’d almost think you like the attention bullies give you. Female bullies that is”.

”Woah! Since when was Lila a bully?”

”Don’t play dumb with me, aphid. You know well, how Lila has alienated Marinette, Alya, Nino, and Chloe from the rest of the class with fake tears and false tales. You just choose to ignore it because it’s better they become scapegoats in the name of keeping false peace. For God’s sake, I heard she got Marinette expelled even if it was redacted. How have you not realized Lila has it in for Marinette and anyone who sides with her by now?” Stephan narrowed his sharp eyes at the clearly uncomfortable blonde. Pretend what he may, it was obvious he knew on some level that Lila was a bully who didn’t what to change.

Adrien fumbled for an excuse that didn’t sound bad, “Well- I didn’t want to risk losing my friends over this,” he admitted meekly and winced as Stephan’s grip on his shoulders tightened.

”Ha! Friends? You have the audacity to claim they’re friends when you’re letting them get manipulated and used? And lets not forget the whole sad boy with daddy issues. True, your father is controlling and over bearing, but you use that as an excuse to avoid the others or make them feel bad for you. Gives the sunshine trope more merit. And when you aren’t being Sadrien Depreste, you find ways to guilt trip and emotionally manipulate the class into forgiving people who are harming them, like with Chloe” At this point, Stephan was practically snarling the words like a panther ready to strike.

”You’re really making me the bad guy? I hope you aren’t planning to expose Lila. Listen-“ Adrien tried to get a word in Stephan’s tirade, but the ravenette was more annoyed than he thought.

”No, you listen to me, Bratdrien,” the Russian model said menacingly, having enough of beating around the bush. “Here’s what will happen. You will stay out of my way and continue being a wet napkin. Something you excel at. Stay away from Marinette. If I catch you trying to guilt trip, gaslight or scapegoat her into catering Lila’s whims, I will expose the liar as well as the fact that you knew and didn’t bother to say anything.”

Chills ran down Adrien’s spine as he finally seemed to register the danger he was in, “Y-you can’t do that. You have no proof!” He wasn’t sure if that was true, but the blonde felt like he had no choice but to say that.

“I have my ways,” the ravenette responded nonchalantly. “Know this. I have the power to make you miserable. If you even cross any of the lines I’m setting up by a hair, I can have you gone like that. Turning your classmates against you with your past reactions to Chloe’s bullying will be a walk in the park. I have an even more influencal position in the modeling industry than you. I won’t even have to lift a finger to boot you out of the spotlight if I wanted to. And winning Marinette’s affection? I’m not a coward, I have a sort of sense of justice, I can speak multiple languages, I have extracurriculars that will actually help me get by in life, I have my own standing not just my parents son, and I know a lot about the world of fashion and business. It’s clear that I’m the one Marinette will choose”.

”What does Marinette’s affection have to do with anything?” Adrien’s fear was momentarily replaced by sincere confusion.

Stephan rolled his eyes at the blonde’s naivety, “It’s pretty obvious that Marinette has a crush on you. Or has. From what I’m seeing, it’s dwindling by the day. Chloe also had a crush on you and Lila is currently vying for your attention. I’m fairly certain that Chloe and Lila liked you because they knew you wouldn’t go against them, and in Marinette’s case, she was fooled by your appealing visage and was unaware of the rot lying underneath”.

Stunned, Adrien could only gape at his model counterpart. Marinette had a crush on him? Suddenly all of the stuttering, falling over herself, and blushing made sense. But if she liked him, then why wasn’t she following his high road advice? Maybe he could use her crush to remove the cotton from her eyes and make her see reason…

Stephan’s eyes sharpened into slits as if hearing Adrien’s thoughts. “See, DuPont High School will be mine. I get to decide who succeeds or who fails. Who thrives and who will get crushed. Only those who follow the rules will be spared. So, Adrien, if you don’t follow those rules, we will have a problem. So what’ll be? Either you keep your head down and mind your own business or you stand in my way and get destroyed,” Adrien tried to placate him. That it didn’t have to be this way but Stephan just continued, “You don’t have to answer right away. I’ll give you till the end of tomorrow”.

Stephan finally released his grip on Adrien and stalked away.

And Adrien watched him go because what was he supposed to do? If he took what the Russian had said about Angela Voss into account, this wouldn’t be the first time he’s destroyed someone.

Gulping, Adrien finally walked away.

It took exactly a day for Lila to recover from Stephan’s threat.

She smirked before breaking down in fake tears reiterated a tale, accusing Marinette of stealing her designs and selling them as her own.

There was no way anything Stephan said could be true. Sure he might be more assertive than Adrien, but Mr. Vladislav must have him on a tight leash like Mr. Agreste does Adrien. So the threat didn’t scare her for long.

”How could you, Marinette?” was heard from Rose as she stared at said bluenette in disappointment.

”It’s one thing to bully Lila but another to steal her hard work and pass it off as your own,” Kim seethed.

”Totally low,” mumbled Juleka as she added her own thoughts.

There were more voices of disapproval.

Lila felt a thrill of vindictive pleasure at Marinette’s shocked face as she tried to defend herself. Chloe, Nino, and Alya hadn’t arrived yet so there was no one to vouch for her case.

Just then Adrien stood up and urged the class to quiet down. Lila felt rage rising as the blonde looked prepared to defend the Asian girl. Quickly hiding her expression, she put on the beginnings of a hurt facade.

”Come on guys. You know Marinette would never steal Lila’s designs,” Hope over took Marinette’s face until Adrien said, “She probably mixed them up and took Lila’s by mistake. We all know how clumsy she can be”. And just like that, Adrien sealed his fate.

Adrien knew Lila would make a scene if he defended Marinette, so he came up with a way to blame Marinette’s clumsiness. It was mean but she would get over it. Lila was just sensitive and wanted attention.

”That would be highly unlikely,” a familiar snooty voice added in.

Several students whirled out to see Stephan, standing at the top of the stairs near the back of the classroom with his phone in hand and a scowl on his face. Both Lila and Adrien shuddered at the long look he casted at the two of them.

”Yeah? What would you know,” Ali’s was the first to sneer, prompting similar responses from the others.

The Russian just stared them down impassively before speaking as if they hadn’t interrupted him.

”As you can see, Marinette uploads videos of her design process and tailoring procedure to the very detail. The idea of Marinette who is a designer noticed by Jagged Stone, Audrey Bourgeois, and Clara Nightingale, stealing Lila’s designs is impossible. Not to mention we’ve never witnessed the harpy design anything,” Stephan browsed through a selection of Marinette’s clothing, clearly displaying videos attached to each one, proving plagiarism to be unlikely.

The students of Madame Bustier’s class shifted uneasily as Marinette’s innocence of stealing was proven, while Marinette looked at Stephan as if he were an angel, and Adrien had to keep himself from scowling. Didn’t Stephan realize how close he came to exposing Lila?

The young Vladislav focused his gaze on Lila, and with his gaze she could see her career, her dreams of ruling the fashion world with Adrien being flushed down the drain.

After class, Stephan caught up to Adrien and walked in stride with him. With a smug smirk and a raised eyebrow he declared war, “Looks like you’ve made your choice Adrien. I’ll make you and the class of pathetic sheep miserable. I’ll expose Lila and make sure the class knows that you were aware the whole time. And I’ll make Lila seem like a saint compared to me. Watch your back,” the Russian whispered that last part threateningly.

Before the blonde could respond, Stephan smiled innocently and caught up to Nino and the others as if he hadn’t just declared war on him in broad daylight. Which was a lot more bold than anything Lila had ever done.

Adrien Agreste had a bad feeling that he had made the biggest mistake in his entire life.

That following Monday was the start of Stephan’s wrath.

Lila received a phone call from Mr. Agreste, terminating her modeling career and black listing her from Gabriel.

Still, she hoped Adrien hadn’t been notified so she could still use that to cow the boy.

That plan was buried next to her terminated job as she came face to face with the ravenette and she knew he was behind this.

Apparently he had brought up Gabriel’s newest muse with his mother. Laurice than raved about how the Agreste patriach had made a mistake in hiring Lila Rossi in front of a social gathering. Not to mention her sausage hair was horrendous.

The video went viral with people agreeing with her to the point where Gabriel had to fire her to save face.

Needless to say, the ordeal ended with an akuma. Though Ladybug couldn’t understand why Chat was so eager to blame Stephan. (Especially when she herself agreed that Lila was a disgrace to fashion). The leather wearing boy claimed that the Russian was nothing but trouble and was determined to hate him.

When Lila tried to pin the blame of a lost career on Marinette and Alya (the reporter was the one who recorded the whole ordeal with Laurice Vladislav), who tried to defend themselves, Adrein and Bustier pressured them to apologise to Lila, Stephan decked out a knew plan.

Outraged and seething, Nino, Chloe, and Stephan convinced Alya and Marinette to resign from their positions as deputy and president respectively.

Bustier held another re-election to which none of Marinette’s friends participated in. When no one stepped up on the claims of being too busy, Bustier shot an expectant look at Marinette and Chloe, both being former class presidents and asked them to reconsider. Chloe vehemently denied it with her usual “ridiculous utterly ridiculous,” while Marinette piped up that she was too busy.

Adrien asked Marinette what could be so busy with that she would ignore her duties when Stephan chimed into the conversation and suggested that Adrien should try his hand at being the class president with Lila as his deputy.

The blonde in question paled as he tried to state that he was too busy but Bustier and the class latched onto that idea. They knew his dad was controlling but maybe he would lessen his load if Adrien was class president.

Chloe caught onto what Stephan was doing and smirked viciously at the paling pair, “Yeah. With so many connections, I‘m sure Adrien will rock as class president.”

The female blonde had been disappointed in Adrien ever since she had discovered that he knew Lila was lying and just sat there and watched as they were ostracized from the class. What kind of friend does that?

The job Adrien had tried to force onto Marinette and Chloe was a lot harder than he thought. This was something that his extracurriculars just couldn’t help him accomplish.

The Halloween mingle was bust. He had forgotten to book a reservation for a revenue as well a caters since the old ones were unavailable (Marinette’s parents). Chloe invited Alya, Marinette, Nino, and Stephan to her own Halloween party with the rest of the school.

School trips were either boring or canceled completely. Turns out Adrien hadn’t know how difficult fundraisers were. His father refused the fund the trips and Lila was no help at all. After going to Marinette’s place to request that she do the bake sale, he was told to take a hike. Stephan took his friends out for fabulous trips around France.

He ended up doing the bake sale himself. Most of the students and even Bustier began avoiding him after his pastries gave several of them food poising and started a small fire.

This put him at odds with the others as he found himself snapping at them more often. About if he was such a bad president then they should get off their high horses and do it themselves.

Despite it being completely true, the akuma class was known for taking criticism as a personal attack. He found himself being invited to outings less and less and they didn’t attend his photo shoots anymore. All Adrien could do was grit his teeth and bare it.

Add in his constant modeling shoots, his rabbit diet, and forced extracurriculars, he found it harder to sneak away to become Chat Noir to battle akumas. Eventually, the stress had become to much and it was beginning to show during his photo shoots. After finding the source if his son’s faulty modeling, Gabriel demanded that Adrien quit being class president.

The blonde happily did so, much to the relief of the class. They all unanimously agreed that he was a horrible president. Lila was forced into the position despite being utterly useless with Rose as her deputy.

It ended in a disaster.

Stephan enjoyed it every second of the blonde’s misery. And the best part? He didn’t even have to lift a finger. The ravenette completely underestimated just how reliant the class was on Alya and Marinette, that things ended in catastrophe if the weren’t in charge. It was pathetic really. Nino agreed.

Due to Marinette’s rising popularity as the very much demanded designer MDC and the fact that numerous A list celebrities were battling for spots on her commissions list like children, Gabriel instructed Adrien to get close to Marinette and thus weasel her into the company, much to Audrey Bourgeois‘s dismay.

Stephan caught Adrien cornering an uncomfortable Marinette trying to convince her to apply for an internship at his father’s company. Sensing the opportunity to once again thwart the blonde’s plan, he gave subtle recommendations to Nikolas Vladislav to check out Marinette’s website.

Impressed by what he saw, he emailed the bluenette and offered her an internship that would look very good on her college application. As expected, Marinette accepted it in a heart beat, not wanting to deal with seeing Adrien too often. Her crush had completely soured by this point and she wanted nothing to do with him.

The Russian boy was thrilled as this meant he could spend more time with her and shove it in Gabriel and Adrien’s faces. After a week of interning with Mr. Vladislav (who had a similar appearance to Stephan except he had fair skin, blonde hair, and blue eyes), Marinette ran into Laurice. Immediately after taking in the Asian girl’s appearance, the dark skinned woman practically flew over to her and suggested she should try modeling. Apparently, Laurice Vladislav had a taste for rare mix racial models of all shapes and sizes. Italian-Japanese, Spanish-British, Brazilian-Haitian, German-Swedish, and African American-Russian (Stephan’s nationality) to name a few. Laurice mentioned that she had never met someone who was a mix of French and Chinese.

Stephan was all for letting Marinette model. He understood why she was never. This was Laurice Vladislav they were talking about. She was a world renowned photographer, responsible for launching the careers of many S ranked models of their era. She had the power to make or break a person. After seeing Lila’s humiliation and ruined modeling career, it’s understandable that she would be hesitant.

Only one model shoot was what Marinette bargained. After it aired, all of Paris went crazy. Who was this gorgeous bluenette posing with the equally gorgeous Stephan Vladislav himself? Many people were demanding that she be sponsored in another shoot and that’s how Marinette’s side job as a model began.

Chloe told the young Vladislav that Gabriel Agreste had been furious to lose Marinette to the even more successful Nicolas Vladislav. He gave Adrien the cold shoulder for days.

That was when Adrien‘s suffering at Stephan’s hand truly hit home.

After all, what Stephan wants, Stephan gets.

I’m going to end it here. What do you think?