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3laxx · 3 years

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Christmas Burrito

Hey, @dhdrawings! I’m your @mlsecretsanta for this year’s exchange! It's just a small Oneshot and a drawing but I hope you enjoy it because I really liked writing the casual interaction between these two. Happy Holidays to everyone and have fun with whatever is being celebrated!

Adrien and Marinette spend an evening on the Christmas Market with their friends and invent the Christmas Burrito. This is a Secret Santa gift for @dhdrawings!

Ao3 / FF.net

~~~

Marinette happily accepted the warm mug of mulled wine that Adrien brought for her, humming at the sweet scent that made her neck tingle in an instant.

“Mmmh, thank you, that’s just what I needed!”

The blonde chuckled at that, before sipping on his own mulled wine and promptly burning his lip on it, grinning at her awkwardly.

“You mean, just after your last mug?”

Marinette gave him a little, hazy smile before pulling her shoulders up, humming at the warmth in her hands that comfortably seeped through her gloves.

They had only decided to visit the Christmas fair earlier today, since Adrien had managed to get his Chinese lessons rescheduled for another day, so it had been a spontaneous decision. But Marinette was glad that all their friends had been free and willing to go with them, that only made it so much more enjoyable. And even if it hadn’t been their plan to drink today, it was a Friday and nobody had an early morning tomorrow. Except, of course, if an Akuma attack would strike.

But Marinette and Adrien didn’t count on it. Besides, even if so, they’d get through it, like all the past years.

She leaned against him, as they continued watching a few little kids performing a nativity play, having a lot of fun freestyling and letting an angel answer the door when Joseph tried for a stay, instead of a normal host.

They had chosen a very small Christmas fair to go to, barely enough for 5 or 6 little huts for food and drinks and a few craftsmen selling their goods, to avoid the big masses and the packed streets of the wintery Parisian nightlife. This way nobody would ask Adrien for an autograph, and they had a little peace and quiet to enjoy the Christmas spirit. The atmosphere was nice, almost domestic, and as Marinette looked past her boyfriend and watched Alya and Nino cuddling as well, she found herself being absolutely content. This was the place where she wanted to be.

The longer they watched the little kids performing and spiraling into a science fiction inspired adventure of the shepherds defending the crib against Anti-Christmas spirits, the darker it became around them and slowly, small snowflakes started falling from the thick clouds above.

Adrien softly nudged her and placed a little kiss on her hat, then he wrapped his arm around her back.

“Hey, my lady. Are you cold?”

She giggled lightly, warmed by the mulled wine she was drinking, then she looked up to him.

“No, I’m not. Are you, chaton?”

Adrien grumbled lightly, then he nudged her head and shook his, huffing.

“… No. I’m warm.”

Amusedly, she turned her head to him, watching him with a smirk.

“Are you sure?”

Still lightly grumbling, he looked ahead watching the kids play, then he rested his chin on her forehead.

“I wanted to try something, but if you’re not cold that’s not gonna work.”, he finally replied. In an instant, Marinette began shivering, grinning up at him while she let out a small whine.

“Oh noooo, I feel so cold all of a sudden! My, I need a strong superhero to warm me!”

Adrien laughed at that as he looked down at her, then he pulled her a little closer again. “You liar.”, he lovingly mumbled, still chuckling, “You’re not really cold.”

“But I wanna see what you wanted to do!”, she said smugly, still trying to fake shiver at him.

Finally, Adrien nodded, giving her his mug, then he started opening up his winter jacket.

“Hey, wait!”, Marinette tried, but he already moved to open her jacket as well, and since she was helpless due to the mugs in her hands all she could do was watch, “What’re you doing?”

“Remember when we bought these jackets a few weeks ago?”, he asked and she deadpanned at that, remembering exactly well how she had said she was cold and he had promptly pulled her into the next shop to buy her a thicker winter coat as well as another one for him as well.

“Yeah, when you bought them, for no reason.”

He just shrugged at that.

“Can’t blame me for wanting to share something with my girlfriend. But you know, actually, when I thought about it just now, it’s the same brand. So that means-…”, he removed his gloves to be able to take her zipper and attempt to zip it up with his, “That means we could zip up each side of our zippers together and create a warmth burrito.”

Marinette couldn’t help but laugh aloud at that, causing Alya and Nino to finally turn around and notice what Adrien’s been trying to do.

“Wait, seriously? Would that work?”

Adrien merely shrugged, already giggly because of the mulled wine, and at that moment their zippers pulled together when he closed it, zipping up nicely and perfectly. Now their side was connected, and Adrien let out a whoop.

“Yes! It does work!”

The second zipper was a little trickier because his far arm couldn’t reach the zipper as well, but when he was finished, Marinette felt herself being tugged against her boyfriend’s chest and sighed at the sudden warmth surrounding her.

The zippers on both their sides kept them close together and they were trapped in their warm hug with each other, Marinette leaning against his chest while Adrien rested his chin on her hat.

“That’s actually really nice…”, she sighed when her boyfriend oven started heating her more than just her jacket before, and she comfortably wrapped her arms around his back while he took back his mug of mulled wine before doing the same.

“We gotta do that more often… And we gotta call it something really funny.”

“Oh yeah?”, she amusedly inquired, “And what would that name be, pun-master?”

She almost thought he purred when he beamed down at her, grinning so broadly she feared his teeth would blind her should she look up to him.

“You’ve never called me that before!”

Marinette put a hand on his back as she felt him getting giddy, not liking being strapped to an energized kid jumping around.

“Chaton, no moving too much.”

He lovingly placed another kiss on her forehead, then he started watching Alya and Nino compare zippers and try if they could do the same.

“… Maybe something like… The Couple Jacket?”

Marinette pulled up her nose.

“You can do better than that, Chaton.”

Huffing, he begrudgingly agreed.

“Okay, fine… How about the Zip Oven?”, she furrowed her eyebrows and smiled incredulously as she looked up to him, then he giggled awkwardly as he hugged her closer, “Okay fine, not as much then.”

She laughed and snuggled back against him, shaking her head as she kissed his sweater, then she leaned back a little to take another sip from the mulled wine.

“Yeah, not that one.”, she agreed with him and he couldn’t help but smile at her adorable expression.

“So, what else could we call it?”

Marinette shrugged, before hugging close again.

“Maybe the Christmas Burrito?”, she proposed and he grinned at that terrible name, but he couldn’t tell her that. She was so adorably tipsy and lost in his warmth that he couldn’t do anything else but agree with her.

“Okay. We’ll call it the Christmas Burrito.”

She smiled contently, nodding a little before rubbing her cheek on his chest, snuggling close.

“… It’s a horrible name.”, she finally said and he laughed.

“It is. But it’ll do for now.”

Adrien found himself completely fine with where he was right now. Cuddling with his girlfriend, slightly swaying in the Christmas music that came from some audio system in one of the huts, surrounded by warmth and love. This was the nicest feeling he’d had ever since his mother vanished a few years ago. And he wouldn’t choose to be anywhere else.

Right here.

With his friends, his partner, and a nice feeling in his chest. A feeling of being loved.

This was perfect.

~~~

Pssst I’m very bad at backgrounds here’s another version without it

#miraculous ladybug #adrien agreste #marinette dupain cheng #fluff #christmas market #alcohol #but not much I promise #fanfic #drawing #fanart #mlss 2k20 #mlss #mlss2020 #mlsecretsanta #dhdrawings

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gale-gentlepenguin · 4 years

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ML Fic: Soulmate Survey Part 31

(Master Post)

Thank you everyone that took part in the contest. The entries and voting participation were amazing!

I can't thank you guys enough for making this such a fun time.

And congratulations to @bevvydraws for winning.

and the other wonderful finalists: @emdoddles, @heizerux, @dhdrawings and @spaghetti-l0rd

I hope you all enjoy this next part. I would love to hear your comments, and please share if you think it is worth being seen by others.

_______________________________________________________________________

“Lila!” Mrs. Rossi cried out after her daughter left the room in a hurry. The diplomat was ready to run after her only daughter.

“Mrs. Rossi, a moment please.” Principal Damocles asked with a demeanor that was stern yet not too harsh.

The mother turned to the elderly principal and the young concerned teacher standing next to him.

“Miss Bustier, please go locate Lila for us. I will handle everything from here. Afterwards, head back to the classroom.”

The red-haired teacher snapped to normal.

“Oh, of course. If you need any additional information, please reach out to me.”

The young teacher left the room to go find the young exchange student. Leaving the Principal and Lila’s mother alone.

“What is all of this about Mr.Damocles? Why was my daughter so distraught?”

The owl hero enthusiast took a moment to contemplate how he was going to word his discoveries to Lila’s caring mother.

“Mrs. Rossi, are you aware of Lila’s actions and behavior at her previous school?”

“Of course, My daughter was an excellent student. Top of her class, perfect attendance she was the perfect role model from the report cards I received.”

The principal took a breath which seemed to take the wind out of Mrs.Rossi’s statement.

“I was afraid you would say that.”

The principal turned his computer screen to Mrs. Rossi.

The older gentleman sat by patiently as he watched the mother frantically go through each document.

“There must be some mistake. I haven’t seen any of this! My daughter is a good girl!”

“I am afraid those are the records I had attained this morning. I made sure to check that these were authentic before calling you, and I have yet to find a single reason to believe that they have been altered.��

The horror that the Italian diplomat was experiencing was clear. She did not want to believe that her daughter had been lying to her.

She had gotten to the last document, an audio file.

“What’s this one?” She asked nervously, unsure if she even wanted to know the truth behind it.

“It is an audio recording of your daughter. She seems to have been bullying one of the students at our school. I would normally like to get both students’ side of the story before making any rash judgements, but the evidence in the file is rather concise.”

Mrs.Rossi could feel the tension in the air, this was likely going to be something that would change how she viewed her daughter, but she needed to be sure that these accusations against her were true. The diplomat knew that if there was even the slightest hint of doubt, she would use it to fight for her daughter with every fiber of her being.

“Let me… Let me hear the file.”

The principal took note of the woman’s conviction. She was willing to see this through to the end.

“Very well.”

He presses play.

__________________________________________________________________________

“Lila!” The young red head teacher called out in concern as she exited the school. She had been searching the entire building for the young transfer student.

She blamed herself for how everything turned out. How could she not have noticed the way Lila was acting? How could she not be aware that one of her own students was lying to her? Why was she so blind to the malicious actions of her own student? Was there a way to bring her back to being a good person?

Caline kept looking as these questions kept swarming her brain. She had to find Lila, she needed to talk with her firmly. She needed to see if there was still some good in her. Maybe she could help Lila turn over a new leaf, she was still just a young teen, she had time to turn things around. Chloé had started improving a bit since the start of the school year, so maybe Lila could as well.

A flash of light from a nearby alleyway caught the attention of the frantic teacher.

“Oh no…” She ran towards flash, hoping that the sudden light was not her student getting akumatized. She hoped she wasn’t too late.

“Lila?” She called out as she entered the small entryway. Her worried expression shifted to horror when she had found herself face to face with an akuma.

“So Sorry Miss Bustier, you just missed her.” The voice taunted with cynical glee.

The akumatized individual that stood in front of her had a crown like mask that transitioned from white to black as it covered the top of her face. Her brown hair slowly shifted whit as it reached the ends of her hair. Her eyes glowing with an ethereal white light, showing her fury. Her outfit was reminiscent of a costume in a high-end stage production, adorned with various masks, each showing different emotions and alternating in black and white color scheme. Her right hand was wearing a snow-white glove with her charm bracelet over it. Her legs had long white stockings which she wore long gray boots that reached up past her knees. Each boot had a small mask expressing a different emotion and covered her knees as if they were knee pads. The last and most mesmerizing detail was the gaseous monstrosity that stood behind her, it having a glowing mask with a mouth that moved.

(AN: Congrats again to @Bevvydraws for this amazing design and winning the contest)

“Lila… don’t move. We can fix this. We will get Ladybug and Chat noir here, then we can start to work with the school and…”

“Not this time. I have tried to handle things the civil way.” The akumatized Lila chuckled. “That was how Lila would handle things, with pretty words and half-baked apologies. You always assumed the best in people Miss Bustier, and that is why your students always got akumatized, because you couldn’t see how awful they all are, how awful everyone is!”

Lila had noticed her charm bracelet was glowing. It was telling her that Miss Bustier has been turned into an akuma. But that wasn’t all, it was if she could even read their darkest thoughts as it did. She was looking under the mask that was Caline Bustier.

‘Interesting’ Lila mused to herself.

“You don’t truly believe that. The akuma is warping your perception. I know you are hurting, but you can fight it Lila. You are….”

“I can see it now. You do actually care for your students, but you hate how despite your best efforts, you can’t control them to be the vision of them you see. Chloé is the biggest failure to you.”

“What?! No! Chloé has been a bit slow in progressing but she is becoming a better person.”

“You hate how much influence she has in the school thanks to her father being the mayor. The staff has to remind you how carefully you have to tread when dealing with her. When she was going to leave for New York some time ago, you were as happy as everyone else and you hated yourself over it.”

Caline could feel her spirit breaking as she said that. She was right, she did hate that she felt happy about Chloé leaving, she did despise the amount of influence that student had. Sure she understood that she couldn’t control everything, but it felt so much worse when she felt she couldn’t do anything to help her students excel and be the best they can be.

A mask launched from Lila’s dress and hit Miss Bustier dead center. The teacher fell to the floor as her screams were muffled, trying to fight the mask that had launched itself onto her face. She tried to pull the mask off with her hands but it only seemed more stubborn to stay put.

“I am Masquerade, the one who will reveal the farce that is Paris, just like how I removed your mask.”

The teacher’s struggles began to lessen as the mask began taking control.

“This world is a stage where everyone acts to please others, to get what they want, to pretend to be happy. I am going to destroy all of that nonsense. You wore your mask so well that you forgot you even had one on. You were so easily fooled, but now your true self will come to the surface. The evil that lies in your heart has a new face. Now let’s see how this new mask fits you and how well it will serve me.”

The mask began to glow and in an instant, Miss Bustier had reverted into the paler, akumatized version of herself, Zombiezou. The only difference being the white mask that covered her face as opposed to the eye mask she wore in the past.

“Isn’t that Right Zombizou?”

“What is your bidding?” Zombizou inquired with an emotionless tone.

Masquerade smiled as she snapped her fingers. The masked monster behind her moved in front of her.

“Simulare! Shift and transform into Volpina!”

The gaseous masked creature began morphing into Lila’s first Akuma transformation, the faux Fox heroine, Volpina. The Sentimonster perfectly replicated the form.

A purple butterfly outline appeared over Masquerade’s face.

“Looks like you have quite the handle on your new powers” a sinister voice said with glee. “Now what do you have planned to deal with Ladybug and Chat noir.”

Masquerade smiled.

“Just you watch Hawkmoth, this will be one show you won’t want to miss.”

“I am looking forward to it.”

She cracked her knuckles and prepared her order.

“Now, Have Zombizou reprise her role as Miss Bustier, and help me look like my former self.

Simulare nodded and activated her powers, transforming the two to look like their former selves.

“Excellent work Simulare, now stay close by and maintain the illusion until we get back into the school”

“Come, we must return to the Principal.” a sinister smile on Lila’s face.

_______________________________________________________________________

There was a lot to talk about in Miss Bustier’s class. They had a lot of revelations thrown their way in a matter of minutes. Rose was Gushing to Mylene and Juleka about Marinette and Adrien dating, Max was busy helping Kim and Ivan process what happened with Lila. Alix and Nathaniel were discussing if Lila was the one trying to frame Marinette for that whole chair debacle with Chloé.

Marinette decided this was all too much and just moved to her seat to sit down. This was a lot to process. Lila had finally been exposed. Everyone knew the truth! She was also dating Adrien, and the class found out about that, it all felt so overwhelming.

She noticed someone sit beside her, her blond model boy who also had a similar expression on his face.

“I am guessing we are both feeling the same thing.” Marinette commented.

“A mixture of shock, relief, nervous and excited?” Adrien responded.

“That pretty much sums it up.”

The two sat in silence for a moment. Marinette subconsciously touched his hand. They both interlocked their fingers as they let the events wash over them.

But the moment they were sharing was ended when Nino and Alya sat in the desks in front of them and turned around to face them

“I guess the date went well.” Alya rhetorically asked with a knowing smirk.

The two new love birds felt their faces heat up.

“No need to answer dude. We can read it from your faces.” Nino chimed in.

“We weren’t this bad when you two got together.” Adrien fired back.

“True, but we weren’t as bubbly and blushy as you two are right now.” Nino countered.

“Daww Mari, you look like a cherry.” Alya teased.

“Alright enough. We get it, we are adorable.” Marinette gestured to herself and Adrien. “I am curious on how you exposed Lila.”

Alya’s cutesy teasing smile shifted to her knowing smirk.

“Well if you must know, it all started with that recording you asked me to hold on to.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alya began to paint the scene with her take on everything that happened.

(Cue chalkboard illustration explaining Alya’s elaborate plan with her standing in front of it)

“After Curiosity got the better of me while I was home. I played the recording.”

Chalk Alya showing a shocked expression

“I was absolutely shocked to hear everything on there. If I didn’t hear it myself and it didn’t come from such a reliable source, I would swear it was a fake. But it was right here.”

Chalk Alya’s expression turned to rage as the recording kept going. The chalk caricature stomping on the ground and steam coming out of her ears

“I was furious! I had been blatantly lied to and the worst thing was that this Liar was hurting my best friend. I could not let it slide.”

“So, I ran to Nino’s place and showed him what was up”

Chalk Alya clearly steamed and now starting to explain to chalk Nino who is also mad. Chalk Nino listening with shock at this.

“We knew we couldn’t let that stand. But we did get briefly distracted with that whole crazy Knights thing. So that delayed us for a bit.”

Cue comedic bits of Nino and Alya hiding in a dumpster while knights walked past.

“After that whole situation had cleared up, we started doing some serious digging on Lila back at my place.”

“We talked with some of Lila’s old classmates, friends, school teachers, anyone we could find from the places and people she mentioned. We needed to make sure we got as much information about this girl as possible.”

illustration of Chalk Alya emailing different people of varying looks. All sending responses back.

“And we found out some more shady stuff about her, it was crazy. It was like we didn’t even scratch the surface of how bad this was.”

“But to really confirm some of the more outlandish stuff, we needed to reach out for help. So, we brought in Max.”

Chalk Alya and Nino heading to Max’s place where it shows him talking with Chalk Markov.

“We asked him to check a few things which he was a bit nervous about doing but we managed to convince him. The stuff we did find was a massive leap forward in our little investigation of Lila.”

Show Chalk max hacking and reveal shocking info. And then waking up sleeping Alya and Nino.

“After that, Nino and I decided to do a last bit of information gathering at school, just to make sure we had a strong enough case to ensure she could weasel her way around it.”

Chalk Alya and Nino tiptoeing through the halls trying to be stealthy. With little flashlights

“That was where we found the security camera footage.”

“And after all that was gathered, it was all about making sure everyone got the truth.

Show the class, the teachers, and all of the school getting the information about Lila.

(The chalk illustration ends and goes back to reality)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“And then you pretty much saw everything else that happened.” Alya finished

Adrien and Marinette processed the explanation.

“Wow, that is something. You guys really pulled out all the stops for it.” Adrien commented.

“Well my dudes, she was messing with our friends, we couldn’t just let her do that. You two both knew that she was sketchy. Now the school knows, and possibly all of Paris because of the Ladyblog.”

A chill goes down Marinette’s spine. The baker’s daughter had a disturbing realization. What if Lila did get akumatized?

__________________________________________________________________________

Mrs. Rossi sat down.

The principal did his best to try and ease the disheartened parent.

“There is more to that recording than what we listened to?” The mother of Lila questioned, her voice trying to stay steady.

“Another 40 minutes yes.”

“And it is just as bad as what we have just heard?”

“I haven’t listened to the entire recording, but based on everything I would say that it is a high possibility.”

“I… I can’t believe my daughter is the girl on this recording. There must be some sort of mistake.”

Mr. Damocles could see that the poor woman was on the brink of tears. She was doing her best to stay strong. She wanted to believe her daughter was not capable of the horrible things the documents and the recording were saying. He couldn’t imagine the amount of torment she was going through.

The older gentleman was no stranger to dealing out discipline to bad students, but this was the first time he had seen such a distraught mother over finding out the actions of her child. He couldn’t blame the woman for her feelings, Lila was indeed quite the charismatic actor. He and her teachers were easily charmed by her demeanor. One would not suspect any malicious intent from her in the slightest. It made the discovery all the more shocking and now, all the more heartbreaking.

“I need to talk with my daughter about all of this.”

“As would I Miss Rossi, we do try to give all our students a chance to explain themselves.”

Mostly because too many parents complain when we don’t do that and that is its own PR nightmare that Dupont does not need to deal with.

“I know that my daughter is a good girl. There must be a reasonable explanation.”

The door to the office opens.

The two adults turn to watch a much calmer Lila walk in with the red head teacher.

Miss bustier remains quiet and stands by the door. Her face was unreadable.

“Lila! There you are.” Miss Rossi got up from her chair, her worry apparent in her voice.

“There are a lot of accusations being thrown at you and I have no idea why. You need to tell them it isn’t true. Please tell them that this is all a huge mistake”

“It’s alright mamma.” Lila assures her mother. “I will take care of everything.”

Mrs. Rossi felt herself calm at her daughter’s assurance. She should have known not to get so worked up. She sat back down and watched as her daughter sauntered to the desk of the principal

“Everything that you have read and heard from those documents is accurate. I did do all of those terrible things. I am 100% at fault.”

Principal Damocles blinked at the statement.

“I’m sorry Lila, are you… confirming everything in here?”

“That’s right.”

“Mia stellina, please tell me this is a bad joke. A silly prank of sorts?”

“Nope, it’s all factual. I did do those things, I did threaten Marinette, I did fake those illnesses, I did skip school for a few weeks because I didn’t want to go. But you know what else is true, Mr.Damocles?”

The bracelet on Lila began to glow.

“What else is there?”

“You have been lying to yourself. Trying to act like an arbiter of right. You act like you are this no-nonsense principal that cares for the school and its students. But that isn’t true at all.”

“I beg your pardon! I do care about this school. That is why I have no choice but to…”

“I wasn’t done speaking.” Lila’s comment sent a shiver down the principal’s spine. Something was very wrong with Lila, and he couldn’t tell what.

“Now, where was I? Oh yes. The truth. The truth is that you dream of being a hero like the ones in your precious comic book. But you know you’re too old and pathetic to do any real hero work. You loved the idea of Ladybug and Chat noir, bringing those fantasies you had to reality only to slowly loathe them because they are young and can make the difference that you never could.”

Her words cut sharply into the bald principal. It was as if she knew the exact words to cut him down.

“But now that I broke through your pathetic façade, I have a new mask for you.”

Out of nowhere a mask seems to appear on Lila’s hand and she sent it flying onto the older man’s face, causing him to fall over. He struggles to try and get the mask off but the mask only seems to fighting harder to stay on.

The diplomat found herself paralyzed with shock at the situation. She was trying to process what was happening, but she couldn’t. Did her daughter just attack the principal?

Lila turned her attention to her mother. The mirage that was keeping her looking like her civilian self, faded away revealing her akumatized form.

“Now Mamma, you don’t need to worry. I have everything under control.”

“You… you aren’t my daughter.”

Masquerade took a moment before laughing darkly.

Suddenly from behind the desk stood the fallen Principal but his outfit had changed. His portly stature was now toned and muscular. His clothes were replaced with that of hero spandex. He had transformed into his former akumatized persona, Dark Owl.

“You act like you actually knew me. You know how much I love masks, yet you failed to realize I was always wearing one around you.”

Dark Owl went into his Utility belt and handed Masquerade a spray.

“Don’t worry Mamma, I won’t hurt you.”

Mrs.Rossi wanted to protest but her akumatized daughter used the spray she was given on her and felt everything fade to black.

“Put her somewhere safe. We move to the next phase.”

Dark Owl Nodded as he picked up the unconscious woman.

Masquerade’s expression softened as she looked at her mother.

“Trust me Mamma, once this is over, you will see how amazing your daughter truly is.”

The akumatized Villain cupped her earring.

“Simulare. Keep the mirage on Bustier, and have her move to the classroom once our two guests arrive.”

She smiled again as she noticed Dark Owl had finished putting her mother somewhere.

“Alright Dark Owl, I need you to make an announcement.”

__________________________________________________________________________

“Do you think Lila might get akumatized from this?” Marinette spoke aloud.

The three-other teens understood why Marinette was suddenly stiff.

“I am just going to put on the Ladyblog to be wary of a potential Akuma attack. Just to be safe. Maybe Ladybug and Chat noir will see it and take out the akuma before it gets to Lila” Alya started frantically typing.

Marinette stood up from her desk.

“I’m going to go to the bathroom. I need to…”

“Attention students!”

The voice from the loudspeaker caught everyone’s attention.

“Alya Cesaire and Marinette Dupain Cheng. Both of you will need to come to my office immediately.”

Alya and Marinette look at each other, something seemed very off about this announcement. Normally the loud speaker wasn’t used for such direct announcements. Normally just to announce the school lunches or events. Most of the time Principal Damocles would just go classroom to classroom to do it. It seemed odd that he would use it now.

Alya stood up.

“This probably has to do with Lila. I did use your recording. I guess they want to get both sides of the story.” Alya commented.

“Do you need me to tag along? I did help you with some of the evidence gathering.” Nino inquired, sort of worried for his girlfriend.

“No worries. I think I can handle it. Besides, he only called Mari and I down.”

Alya started moving to the classroom door.

“Come on girl, we have one last thing to take care of.”

Marinette got up from her desk nervously.

“Don’t worry Marinette, whatever happens, I have your back.” Adrien assured.

Marinette gives the boy a soft smile.

She gives him a super quick peck on the cheek before running to Alya at the door.

Adrien cups his cheek and smiles.

“Dude, you are so love sick.” Nino commented.

“You are even worse than me, so don’t even.” Adrien fired back.

“I ain't dissing, I am just saying welcome to the club.” Nino laughed.

Adrien chuckled a bit. He did like this feeling. But he still couldn’t help but worry, Lila was crafty. What if she was up to something?

“Hey, I am just gonna go check my locker, I think I left my science homework in there.” Adrien explained as he got up from the desk. He moved slightly and noticed his shoe hit something.

“What are these screws doing here?”

Adrien checked to make sure Marinette’s seat wasn’t loose and was relieved when it was sturdy.

“Oh that probably has to do with Chloé’s seat breaking. I’ll take em” Nino commented.

Adrien decided he would deal with that later. He figured it would likely be best to confirm that gut feeling he had.

______________________________________________________________________________

“Things are going better than I anticipated.” The silver masked villain exclaimed with glee.

“Masquerade has infiltrated that school which houses several of my previously made akuma. Ladybug and Chat noir will have to face an army by the time they realize what is happening.”

“Sir, you do remember your son is in that building. Is it wise for us to leave him in there?” The blue clad villainess commented.

“My son has never been akumatized, besides. Lila has no interest in hurting Adrien. Unlike the last akuma, there will be no personal stakes.” Hawkmoth assured.

“You do remember that she mentioned wanting revenge against Marinette and that Ladyblogger.”

“That is of little concern.”

“The first one being the girl that your son is in love with.”

Hawkmoth paused for a moment.

“That shouldn’t matter. Adrien will get over it once we have the miraculous and bring back …”

“So, you believe Adrien wont risk fighting the akuma to protect her.”

Hawkmoth’s assurance began to melt at the realization that his son did share a rather glaring flaw. The will to jump into danger without a single thought of self-preservation in order to save the one they love. That could be trouble.

“Nathalie, we may need to get involved.”

Nathalie had dropped her transformation.

“I will head to the school and get Adrien out of there.”

“Take his bodyguard and be quick about it. Masquerade will have that building overrun with akumatized servants shortly.”

Nathalie nodded, she did feel faint for a moment but fought through it. Now was not the time to get weak. Adrien needed to be taken to safety.

______________________________________________________________________

Marinette and Alya made it to the office where Miss Bustier was outside.

“Hey Miss Bustier, is everything alright?” Alya questioned, noticing the expressionless face of their usually peppier teacher.

The red headed teacher said nothing as she gestured to the door.

“Umm… okay.” Alya took the door knob in her hand and opened the door.

Marinette took a moment to study the teacher. Something was very wrong here. She watched as the teacher began to walk towards the classroom they had just come from. She could swear she saw something flicker.

“Come on Marinette.” Alya insisted. The French-Chinese teen decided it must have been her eyes playing tricks on her and went into the office.

They entered the office and noticed that Mr.Damocles’s chair was turned away from them.

“You wanted to see us Principal Damocles?” Alya spoke up.

“No, he didn’t.” A familiar voice from behind the chair spoke.

“Lila!” Marinette exclaimed.

“Well aren’t you a detective, though you are sadly incorrect. I was Lila.”

“Was? Wait… don’t tell me…” Alya began to figure it out.

The office chair turned to reveal the akumatized Lila smiling.

“It’s Masquerade now. I really must say Alya I am quite amazed by all the work you did.”

The two teens glared at the villainess as she stood from the chair.

“This was the first time in my life that I had been so thoroughly backed into a corner. I had no way of dismissing the evidence, I was at your mercy. Truly, I am impressed.”

Alya did not know how to react to Masquerade’s rather out of nowhere praise for busting her.

“You’re praising me?”

“The old me would have had a breakdown, probably end up on the ground crying in frustration, unable to get my way. I was without a doubt destroyed.”

Marinette and Alya looked at each other in confusion.

“Why are you telling us this?” Alya questioned.

“Because anywhere else, I would have just given in. I would have resigned myself to my despair. But we are in Paris, a place with an emotion manipulating super terrorist with the power to weaponize my negative emotions.”

Marinette’s eyes went wide. She understood what Lila was saying.

“You weaponized your emotions.”

The akumatized villain started to laugh.

“I am glad you understand the situation.” Masquerade snapped her fingers.

From the shadows emerged a familiar owl themed akuma, Dark Owl. The only new addition to his ensemble was the white mask that covered his face, making his emotions unreadable.

“Dark Owl, Restrain Marinette!”

Dark Owl went to grab Marinette, but the teen quickly jumped to avoid the akuma’s grasp.

“Don’t worry girl I got you!”

Alya went to grab the nearby chair to throw it at the akuma, but Masquerade quickly moved across the desk and grabbed Alya’s shoulders as the charm bracelet began to glow.

“Oh Alya, you value truth among everything else, yet you are so dishonest with yourself. You always love to throw yourself into your passions, not giving a damn on who gets involved or who gets hurt. You put your theories and ideas above everyone else’s because you are so sure that you are right even when you aren’t. You hate how vulnerable you are when you are wrong.”

“Let go! You don’t know me!” Alya shouted as she tried to escape Masquerade’s grip on her shoulder.

Marinette had avoided a tackle made by the owl themed akuma and left him head first into an office plant.

“Don’t listen to her Alya! She is trying to turn you into an akuma like what she did to Mr.Damocles!”

“You know I am speaking the truth, your little mask of confidence is meant to hide the insecurity of a middle child that wants validation and acceptance because they never truly felt like they had their own identity. You fight so hard for everything and fear that it will be for nothing. You hate being left out of the loop and have trouble accepting when things happen that you aren’t a part of.”

“Stop it!” Alya pleaded. She could feel this akuma Lila’s words cutting her deep. This couldn’t be the truth, right?

“I can see the secrets you try and hide. I am bringing it all to the surface. You also secretly feel that Nino going after you when he was originally after your best friend makes you feel like a rebound and you hate that you feel this way.”

That was the last cut Masquerade needed, the look of hurt in Alya’s eyes was the proof.

Masquerade took a mask from her dress and placed it on Alya. The Ladyblogger dropped to the floor and tried to fight the mask that covered her face.

“Alya!” Marinette cried out in horror.

Masquerade turned to Marinette with a devilish grin.

“I warned you Marinette. I would turn everyone against you if you messed with me. And I intend to keep that promise.”

_______________________________________________________________________

So Ends part 31.

Will Masquerade’s revenge go unabated?

Will Nathalie make it in time to get to Adrien?

Will Marinette be able to escape and bring an end to Lila’s Masquerade ball?

Will I stop asking questions?

Find out all of these things and more next part.

Please comment your thoughts on the chapter and reblog.

Its tough writing on Tumblr and seeing the support really does motivate me to keep going.

Also, as for the mass amounts of tagging. I honestly won't be doing it anymore due to the f*** ton of effort it takes only for some to not work.

#ml #ml fanfic #ml fic #miraculous ladybug #masquerade akuma #masquerade #akuma!lila #adrinette #djwifi #lovesquare #drama #miraculous fanficiton

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