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midnightrosebell · 10 months

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Marinette Dupain-Cheng deserves better, let's begin.

This is super fucking long for no reason.

ALSO, there is charater bashing, cursing, and I would love to hear your opinions in the comments as this is what is post is for!

Firstly, Marinette Dupain-Cheng:

Marinette Dupain-Cheng is no matter how much that fucking theme song says it, NOT your average girl.

Firstly she is the daughter of the two most famous bakers in paris, that is shown during the series as we see a long line of people froming outside the bakery as the seasons progress. From this the Dupain-Cheng's have a substantial amount of money as we can presume. And she has a famous uncle in Shanghai, and during this we see her parents pay for her to go jest because she wants too. If we take a look at her grandmother we can see that she travels the world with her motorcycle, although this may be an in expensive way of travel compared to the normal plane cost; over the years of her doing this it will add up. And seeing how little we know of sabeins family and how Marinette is the only child, we can presume that she will have a big inheritance when she's older. Basically she has her life set for her the day she was born.

She not only can from a rich back-round but also made her own back-round for her self as a self though (seeing that we never seen her attend actual classes) and Purely hand made designer. She not only made designs for jagged stone but presumably has commissions from Clara Nightingale, has be recognized by the Queen of fashion, Audrey Bourgeois (controllingassmotherfuckingchildneglecter) And the one a only Gabriel Agreste (hawkbitch). She also made costumes for their school play, and did commissioms for outside people/friends. She also knows a lot of famous people/friends with the children of said people. Like alya's mother who is the head chef at Andrea hotel. Alya also runs a pretty famous blog called they ladyblog witch highlights the attacks on paris and has core footage for the hero's. This can be said for the reset of the classes future cause as of right now, they have something that, already is successful. Like max, he built a robot, helped successfully bring back dinesours and has already has planned projects for the future. Rose, she is the leading female singer for the kitty section and also has made her own perfume. Nino, he made a play at the school and is a DJ and has performed for so major events. Nathalie, he and Marc makes comics about Paris's superhero situation and has already gained a large following as we can presume. Then there is Luka son of jagged stone and lead singer in the kitty section. His sister juleka daughter of jagged stone and and been dabbled in the modeling industry. We all know about Adrien and Cholé, but what about Sabrina? Well, she is the daughter of the police chief in Paris. Kim is a Olympic swimmer, Alix a professional skatter and the Kagami, an professional and Olympic fencer.

Needless to say she has quite the backing.

Now, let's ge into the actual reason we're here.

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚋𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚜.

•firstly she babysit for her classmates little siblings and Nadia and she also makes commission (as mentioned above)

•She provides emotional support the characters and makes sure they don't get akumatized. Not only that, she also listens to understand and gives advice to the person. Even BEFORE the akumas.

•She helps ALOT in the bakery ever since she was young and takes her time to make, box, and give out pastries so those who she thinks need it. It also helps her parents out and bring in new customers. She bakes for special events for her classmates like brithdays.

•She is also the class president and is in charge of everything in the class, wether it be, fundraisers, class trips, brithday party's , class hangout, so on so forth.

•Lila. Just fucking Lila Rossi who's names predicated her fate. She made marinette life a living hell even after she left, through CHOLÉ (hang on we are getting their) And got her expelled, turned the class on her, attempting to turn her mother as well and threaten her to keep her mouth shut. SHE ALSO FUCKING AKUMATIZED HER SELF TO GET BACK AT HER.

•CHOLÉ BOURGEOISIE. She TOURNAMENTED Marinette for nearly SIX FUCKING YEARS. This is why I HATE CHOLÉ redemption arc. She bullied, embarrassed, and destroyed Marinette in more ways than one. She told everyone Marinette had a crush on Kim, thus getting Marinette embarrassed after Kim openly mocks her WITH cholé. She destroyed her self-esteem by this and by also at every little moment, put her down whenever Marinette had a single ounce of pride in herself. She JOINS Lila to make her life a living hell and keep her away from Adrien.

•She had to watch, one by one, as herclassmates fell for Lila's lies, had to watch Lila lie and framed her, watch their disgust and disappointment. Watch as them turn against her, watch as they slowly froze her out. Only to act as if nothing happened when Lila had left for one of her "trips" and when she was exposed as a lying mole. Now for them to come retreating back, even now, not trusting her as they used to. Not even her parents.

•she can't even cry, scream, or shout about how much they hurt her because she is the "right example. " The sign of hope that they can look up to as she has never been akumatized. She is the class representive, the golden child, the sweetest and the most forgiving girl that always owns up to her mistakes. She is the everyday ladybug.

•Marinette can't lean or rely on anyone. Who would their be to help her? She is supposed to be the person OTHER people can rely on, that they can talk to advice on what they can do. To help and comfort THEM in THEIR time of need. Not Marinette she is the therapist.

•After all of this, you bet your ass that she needs therapy. She went through so much seeing her family, friends, classmates and her citizens go through so much pain, so much anger that they can't even express at the fear of being akumatized. She watched her city, burn, flood, explode, controlled, over and over again. She watched as the ones she loved would die before her eyes knowing, knowing that she can't do anything about it.

𝐋𝐚𝐝𝐲𝐛𝐮𝐠

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍𝚜 𝚊𝚗 𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗-

○Ladybug fights akumas almost every other day.

○She can bearly express her emotions both in and out of battle as "She is ladybug".

○She has to handle and take care of all the kwamis. 19 MINIATURE GODS by her self without being caught. Then had to deal with the responsibility of being a guardian and most likely has to go through training in the future. Not to mention the possibility of more gardians visiting in the future

○She has to deal with reporters everywhere she is asking questions upon questions after her long and tiresome battles. Such questions even step into her bongeries, making her uncomfortable, but they don't care, and she doesn't want to come off a bad and have her citizens lose belief in her. Not to mention that one episode with Nadia when she interviewed the two heroes and accused them of being together. Honestly, the joke chat noir had made as well was a little too far seeing they were only a few months into being heroes.. and she was what? 11?

○Then there is chaton would matter of factly keeps trying to make advancies towards her and getting in her personal space and keeps persisting on a data and how their are "meant to be" and "their the only ones for each other" "are bond to be together" I don't even think chat knows he doing this. However I doubt that theory as well as he guilt trips and manipulates ladybug into feeling bad about not showing up on dates (even though she states that she wouldn't be as to attend) and when rejecting him, she sates her reasons clearly but guilt trips her more (by staying that he understands but he still loves her AND Threatened to stop being chat) making her feel bad. During this he doesn't listen to her, legit ignores her and is snarky towards her and in general he's a bitchy pussy cat in a few episodes. HE EVENS THREATS PLAGG TO TELL HIM WHAT WRONG WITH LADYBUG OR ELSE HE'S TAKING OF THE RING. Honestly, I love adrien. I really do. But the boy needs some major help, okay

○Then there's a hawkbitch who decided to target children to bring back his dead wife WHO WILLINGLY DIED TO BRING ADRIEN INTO THE WORLD AS A SETIMONSTER Akumatized the entire world to come after ladybug (mostly likely knowing that it'll probably kill her in the process) AND THEN THERE IS NATALIE– He teams up with a child and that child did something he's been trying to do for the past 3 years. Then He sends Lila after her make her life miserable. Then he sacrificed himself to be with Emily, RIGHT IN FRONT OF MARINETTE. Imagine your tournamenter of your city turns out to be the person you aspired to be when you grow up- And then jest fucking suicides in front of you.

○Has to fight no matter what, time, place, in side and outside suit. What the actual Fuck she can't even take a break.

○The ENTIRE FUCKING WORLD IS ON HER SHOULDERS. (Even tikki said that)

○She was thrown into being a hero with no training what so ever. (I am looking at you master Fu)

○She has to watch her city be destroyed over and over again. The place where she grew up, the people she loved, she can't even save them as she has to focus on the akumatized victim.

○She had to watch people die in front her eyes. Bruned, drowned, decapitated, frozen, stabbed, crushed. Then right after see them walk and talk as if nothing ever happened.

○Not to mention how many times she had to risk her life over and over again for this city.

○Risk her identity and safety of those around her is she is ever found out.

○she can't even ask for goddamn help mentally because of her identity as a hero and was betrayed by someone she thought she can trust. She has to keep this all to her self while being Paris's knight and shinning Amour.

○Also, chat blanc. That- that episode was fucking traumatising. Also if you didnt realise after this episode, marinette started to act differently. This is because her tendency to over think grew from there. She started to overthink more because she realised that one action may have a chain reaction that she might not be aware of. She started to really overthink from there about her actions and responses.

○Fuck hawkbitch and felix. Natalie deserves better. Adrien needs a mental evaluation and marinette need to go on vacation.

i would like to say I don't not have any thing against the characters it is jest my opinion on what I've seen through out the show, if you do not agree please jest ignore it or comment on this post! I would love to hear your reasons and responses!

#marinette deserves better.#marinette needs a hug #mlb #marinette dupain cheng #Chat Noir bashing #Hawkbitch bashing #Lila bashing #Cholé bashing #This is why mari best girl #She deserves better #miraculous #How has she not break yet!?#Lila rossi bashing #Audrey Bourgeois bashing #Mlb charater evaluation #i have a love hate relationship with this show #For you page #We need more mlb charater evaluation #Don't ask it is 3am

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starfinss · 2 years

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Coup de Grâce — Miraculous 2/2

𝘍𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘮: Miraculous Ladybug

𝘗𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨: Adrien Agreste/Chat Noir + Marinette Dupain-Cheng/Ladybug

𝘙𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨: SFW

𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘊𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵: 7,599

𝘚𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘺:

Coup de Grâce (Noun) A final blow or shot, given to kill a wounded person or animal.

When Adrien starts to put two and two together, he realizes Lila Rossi’s treatment of one Marinette Dupain-Cheng is far worse that he’d ever imagined, and the high road is no longer (and frankly, may have never been) an option. He decides to take matters into his own hands. Game, Set, Match.

Adrien woke the morning after the gala to a phone call.

It was before his alarm, and therefore before Adrien would be answering anything, so he declined the call, rolled over, and closed his eyes again, fully intent on going straight back to sleep.

It rang again.

“Adrien, please, turn off your phone,” Plagg whined, and Adrien grunted, declining the call again.

And, as Adrien expected, it rang again.

Plagg made a soft, disgruntled sound. “I’m going to eat your phone.”

Adrien sat up, brushing his mussed hair out of his sleepy eyes before picking up the phone and finally answering.

“Hello?”

“ADRIEN AGRESTE—”

Adrien pulled the phone an arm’s length away from his ear, startled completely awake by Alya’s shouting. She’d undoubtedly seen Jagged Stone’s livestream, and she indubitably didn’t like what she saw. Why she was awake and screaming at him before six in the morning, Adrien didn’t know, but she was making it very clear that this was his problem, and it was his problem now.

“—She never even TOLD ME—“

Adrien pulled the phone away again, exchanging a glance with Plagg before finally taking a deep breath and pressing the phone back to his ear.

“Alya,” he said, “calm down.”

“Calm do— CALM DOWN?! Don’t you tell me to calm down, you knew about all of this, didn’t you? That she… that SNAKE was lying to me? I can’t BELIEVE I thought Marinette was ever jealous. She knew all along, and I should have trusted her.”

Alya sounded like she was on the verge of tears, and Adrien couldn’t blame her. He’d been the one to tell Marinette to be the bigger person, and that hadn’t turned out well at all.

“Alya,” Adrien repeated, “I feel horrible, too. I told Marinette to take the high road, and Lila ended up bullying her—”

“Wait, wait, hold the ABSOLUTE phone, Agreste, Lila WHAT?! All Marinette said was thats she and Lila didn’t get along, but excuse me— you’re telling me that this BITCH has been bullying my best friend?”

“Yeah,” Adrien said miserably, “I overheard Lila in the locker room with Marinette. Threatening her, calling her names. It was horrible.”

“And you didn’t confront her?!”

Adrien sighed. “What do you think last night was? I couldn’t just tell her off in the locker room, she’d be onto me, no matter how badly I wanted to. I’ve talked to Lila about the lying before, but she never stops. I had to make it stick, and that meant being sneaky.”

Alya was silent for a second before she spoke again. “At LEAST tell me you comforted her. I dunno, gave her a hug, anything? Marinette is sensitive, something like that— going on for that long— oh, God.”

Her voice sounded equal parts miserable and exhausted, and Adrien knew how she felt. He’d felt the same when he finally realized what had been going on.

“Of course, I gave her a hug,” Adrien said, mildly indignant, “I’m not a monster.”

“God, her heart probably was on the verge of exploding.”

Adrien blinked. “What?”

“Nothing, never mind,” Alya said quickly, “I had an inkling of what was going on, Lila threatened Marinette in the bathroom a few months ago, but I stupidly thought she was stretching the truth a little. I believed her, though, I knew she’d never make something like that up. The way she said Lila was acting was… it was scary, Adrien. It seemed almost impossible that she could say those things, Lila always seems so… nice, so genuine.”

Alya scoffed, her voice tight, and angry, and so, so bitter. “But I guess that’s another one of her lies, isn’t it? I’ve been less inclusive of Lila since she makes Marinette uncomfortable, like, you know, not inviting Lila over, or just having time with me and Marinette, but she never told me that Lila was— oh my God, I’ve been such a bad friend.”

“No,” Adrien said, “Lila had everyone fooled. She’s a good liar, I’ll give her that. What matters now is being there for Marinette, I don’t doubt that Lila will try and take this out on her. We have to protect her.”

Adrien paused, “also, why are you calling me this early?”

Alya scoffed tearfully. “You think I got a wink of sleep after seeing that? All I could think about was how I didn’t believe Marinette, my best friend, when she was being bullied. I should’ve stuck with the feeling I got when I knew there was something she wasn’t telling me, because she so obviously wasn’t fine, Adrien, she must’ve felt so alone, and I should have believed her.”

“Then make it up to her,” Adrien said, “apologize, be a good friend, and call Lila out the second you see her at school.”

“Done and done. So much more than done,” Alya snarled, “I’m burying that girl in the fucking ground. She’s dead, Adrien, d-e-a-d, DEAD.”

And with that, she hung up, leaving Adrien sitting, dumbstruck in the darkness of his room.

“It is way too early for all of that,” grumbled Plagg, “what’d she even want, anyway?”

Adrien flopped down on the bed. “You probably heard most of that. She wasn’t exactly quiet. But I’m pretty sure Lila’s life is in danger.”

“Good,” the Kwami scoffed, “she deserves a little misfortune. You have no idea how crazy that girl was driving me.”

Adrien chuckled dryly. “I may have an inkling.”

Plagg fell asleep again in a few seconds, but Adrien wasn’t able to, so he got out of bed and got ready for his morning workout routine. After said routine, he took a shower, longer than usual since he had the time. He was even able to watch a few of his favorite compilation videos of Ladybug before Nathalie came upstairs to fetch him for breakfast.

Said meal passed uneventfully, with little conversation between Adrien and his father. Adrien was still annoyed with him for inviting Lila as his date without running it past him, so that was fine by him. It was only when he was getting into the car to go to school that Nathalie told him he was no longer to associate with Lila Rossi, and that she was no longer welcome in the house.

Adrien pretended to be confused, and when asked why that was, Nathalie simply told him it was ‘bad for PR’ before shutting the car door. Regardless, Adrien accepted the verdict, much more easily than Nathalie expected, Adrien gathered, from her perplexed expression.

That, Adrien decided, was something he could live with.

He was barely in his seat before everything went sideways, and the bell hadn’t even rang yet.

“Dude, what was that?” Nino cried, sliding into the seat beside him, “the class chat is going insane, haven’t you seen any of it?”

“Adrien, we need to talk,” Came Alya’s voice, from somewhere over Adrien’s shoulder.

“No,” Adrien said, turning to Nino, “I haven’t looked at the class chat, I had it muted since last night at the gala since it’s not exactly good etiquette to have your phone buzzing nonstop. And we will talk, Alya.”

Alya looked like she hadn’t slept, and, from what she’d told Adrien, she hadn’t. Her hair was unwashed, tossed into a ponytail, and there were dark circles under her eyes. She looked a bit like she’d gotten dressed in the dark, or, and Adrien didn’t at all blame her if this were the case, she just didn’t care about looking nice today. She had ass to kick, and nobody said there was a dress code for that.

In Adrien’s case, ass kicking, as well as anything that he considered a good time, involved black leather, as well as tossing himself from building to building and hitting things with a stick, but that was just him.

“I can’t believe that she’s been lying,” Nino sighed, clearly wounded, “all this time, to all of us. What else has she— and with the bullying— How deep does it go? Has she ever told the truth at all?”

Alya scoffed. “Fat chance of that.”

The conversation was interrupted by the arrival Marinette, who seemed just a little more upbeat than she had been the day previous. She’d clearly seen the class chat, and with how big of a fan Adrien knew she was of Jagged Stone, she’d undoubtedly seen the stream. Furthermore, she was more than smart enough to know what Adrien had been doing.

Alya sprang from her seat like she’d been ejected from it, tugging Marinette into a fierce hug. The other girl started, but she hugged her best friend back.

“I’m so sorry,” Alya muttered into Marinette’s shoulder, “I’m so sorry that I didn’t believe you, if you don’t forgive, me I understand, I—”

“Alya,” Marinette said softly, her expression blissfully happy, “no, stop, I forgive you. For her credit, she was a good liar. But— I expect you to buy me a whole box of macarons. Y’know, to make it up to me. And I get to pick the movies we watch, for a whole month.”

“Done,” Alya said in an instant, her relief clear in her voice, “super done.”

Adrien decided not to mention that Marinette lived above a bakery, as that would ruin a sweet moment, and that was the last thing he wanted.

“God, M, why didn’t you tell me?” Alya sighed, and Marinette shrugged.

“I dunno, I thought maybe I was being dramatic, and I— I wanted to solve it myself. So I just said that we didn’t get along.”

Alya scoffed. “I was an idiot to have believed that. But I was an even bigger idiot to have believed Lila.”

“Is Lila even here today?” Adrien asked, and Nino chuckled bitterly.

“She’s here,” he said, leaning back in his seat and folding his hands behind his head, “hiding out somewhere, who knows. Little miss pants-on-fire probably wants to do damage control. Not that there’s anything left for her to control. She’s already been removed from the class chat. She’s done-zo, man.”

Adrien tilted his head. “How do you know she’s here? Did you see her?”

Nino chuckled. “Yeah, on my way in. She kept her head down, didn’t look at anyone. I didn’t approach; she isn’t worth my time. Marinette, for what it’s worth, I’m super sorry, too. I should’ve believed you. If there’s anything I can do to make it up, let me know, yeah?”

Marinette smiled, her cheeks gently pink, and she nodded.

“From now on,” Alya said, resting her head on Marinette’s shoulder, “I listen to you. Not some fake bitch with a fake life, girl. And you’re totally allowed to be mad at me, I was a horrible friend.”

The next ten or so minutes was full of apologies from classmates as they arrived, sans Chloé, who, of course, loudly claimed she knew Lila was lying the entire time, a declaration that convinced no one, earning a chorus of exasperated groans. Rose, contrastingly, burst into tears, with not even Marinette’s repeated assurances that she was forgiven providing any comfort. She finally stopped wailing after Juleka peppered her face with kisses, her hiccuping sobs turning into delighted giggles.

It was when Lila Rossi herself entered the classroom that everyone went silent.

Adrien’s eyes passed across his classmates, taking in the downright venomous looks they were giving Lila, but none of those held a candle to Alya. The expression on her face was something Adrien could only describe as apocalyptic fury, her eyes blazing behind her spectacles, her lip curled back to reveal her teeth in a menacing snarl. She probably would have already pounced on Lila if Nino wasn’t physically holding her back from doing so.

“You have some nerve—“ Alya started, but Nino clapped a hand over her mouth, much to her fury.

Lila barely acknowledged the other girl’s anger, her face a perfect mask of impassive and casual, a polite smile glued to her lips. She seemed completely nonplussed by the eyes on her, infuriatingly nonchalant, and if Alya was kept back any longer, Adrien was pretty sure she was going to start foaming at the mouth.

“Oh, Marinette,” Lila said, as though she’d just remembered something while she placed her things down at her desk, “can we talk? It’s nothing big, I promise.”

Marinette shrank in on herself, halfway hiding behind Adrien where he stood beside her.

Softly, and low enough that nobody else could hear, Adrian leaned over to her, just a little, to speak into her ear.

“Say yes,” he whispered, “don’t worry, I’ve got a plan. I’ll be right there with you.”

Marinette looked like she was about to bust into a million pieces, her face the color of a boiled lobster, but she nodded, straightening back up to her full height. A mask of calm slipped over her face, all the worry and fear previously in her expression melting away as if it was never there at all. She was suddenly the picture of confidence, and as Adrien studied her, he realized that this somehow seemed…

Familiar.

“Okay,” Marinette said, her voice even and calm, “I’ll bite. The locker room, in say, five minutes?”

Lila giggled, and something passed behind her eyes, something that made shivers rake down Adrien’s spine. But, just as quick as it appeared, it was gone. Adrien swallowed the swell of unease that caught in his throat, keeping his face blank.

“Sure,” Lila said, pleasant as ever, “Locker room. It’s a date.”

And with that, she turned on her heel, disappearing through the classroom door.

“I have a plan,” Adrien said, after a few seconds of tense silence had passed.

Alya yanked Nino’s hand away from her face. “If that plan involves strangling her, I’m all in.”

“No,” Adrien said, “but it does involve dealing the final blow, if you’re interested in that.”

Alya smirked. “Since when have you been so devious, Agreste?”

“Since someone started bullying my friend.”

And since the high road didn’t work, I’m fighting dirty.

Alya seemed to approve of this. “Okay, okay. Now, what’s the plan?”

The plan was simple. And it all started with Marinette.

Adrien walked alongside her down the hallway, his hand resting on the small of her back to try and soothe her unease, but that only seemed to make her more tense. The mask of confidence hadn’t slipped, but he could tell she wasn’t looking forward to confronting Lila, even with a friend alongside her.

Marinette stepped into the locker room before Adrien did, and the second she did, Adrien heard a heavy thud, and then a gasp of pain.

He’d never burst a door open so quickly in his life.

There was Lila, her face so different from what she usually looked like that she was almost unrecognizable. There was no hint of her usual kindness or soft, silly humor, or the ever present sparkle of sly mischief only visible to those who really looked. Her lips were curled back an a cold, unfriendly sneer, with teeth bared like she was a predator who had caught its prey. And her eyes…

There was nothing behind those eyes.

And that was what scared Adrien the most. Because now, though some small part of him suspected it before, he knew that Lila felt absolutely nothing for the people she hurt. She didn’t do this because she wanted people to like her. She didn’t do this for any conceivable reason that any regular pathological liar would; because she couldn’t help it. Lila Rossi lied because she could, for her own personal gain and for the pleasure she got from doing so. She was a master manipulator. This was a game to her, and she hated to lose.

She simply found joy in tormenting those who kept her from getting what she wanted.

And Adrien thought Hawkmoth was a monster. Lila Rossi didn’t need superpowers for that.

Lila’s fist was clenched at her side, the other drawn back, but then there was Marinette, sitting on her knees and clutching her cheek, and Adrien knew what she’d just done, what line Lila had crossed, and he didn’t even know if it was the first time she’d done so. With a rage he’d never experienced before, Adrien stalked forward to stand in front of Marinette, using his superior height to tower over Lila, staring down his nose at her, his disgust crystal clear on his face.

The emptiness in Lila’s eyes was rapidly replaced with false shock, then fear, and betrayal, and Adrien had no idea how she was so good at pretending to feel after she’d just struck someone in the face with a closed fist, after she had spent her entire time in France making false friendships and hurting everyone she spoke to. He wondered with bitter bemusement what ludicrous lie she was going to use, what she could possibly say in order to get out of this situation.

Adrien expected her to lie. He didn’t expect her to launch herself into his arms, crocodile tears tracing her cheeks, with false, hiccuping sobs shaking her narrow shoulders. He didn’t expect her to cling onto him like he was her saving grace, her manicured nails digging into his skin through his shirt as she held onto him with a vice grip.

“Oh, Adrien,” she wailed, her voice full of sorrow, “Marinette hit me, she just hauled off and hit me! I just needed some help with—”

Everything slowed down. Adrien had been nice to this girl. He’d been good to her, given her the benefit of the doubt, tried to give her every chance in the world for a shred of retribution, to try and prove that she was better than this, that she could be happy without building herself a fragile, falsified house of cards. He tried. And she went and hurt the people he cared about.

Adrien was done. He was done being nice. He was done letting her stoke him like he was an animal in a petting zoo whenever she felt like it, putting her hands where they were very much not welcome, and he was done being polite about refusing her advances, or chucking awkwardly as he pushed her hands away from his body, only to be forced to endure again, and again, and again.

You know what they say about a house of cards. All it takes is a single push to make it all fall down. This was Adrien’s push.

“That’s enough, Lila,” he said, with no hint of malice in his voice, “you can stop now.”

She looked up at him with watery eyes, her face the perfect imitation of someone who was so utterly betrayed, but Adrien was not buying it. He knew what she really looked like now.

“S-stop?” She hiccuped, “stop what? Adrien, please, Marinette, she’s been bullying me since I got here, I know she hates me, and she set you up last night, right? She put you up to all that— that stupidity. Just tell me that’s what happened, and I’ll forgive you, Adrien.”

Adrien shook his head, face still calm. “No, Lila. That isn’t what happened. You know that.”

Her eyes grew frantic. “Y-yes, yes it is! She put you up to that, and you didn’t mean it.”

“Lila. Listen to me—”

“YOU DIDN’T MEAN IT.”

Adrien knew exactly what she was doing. She was seriously, after he knew every single breath she took was a lie, trying to gaslight him. Had she done this to Marinette? The mere thought of it made his anger swell to dangerous levels.

“You wouldn’t do that to me, would you? You wouldn’t want to hurt me.”

Guilt tripping, gaslighting, what else was she going to try? Adrien may as well have been a statue, his expression just as stony as one. His eyes remained fixed on her face, unimpressed, the only indication that he was even listening to her being his eyebrows as they rose into his hairline.

“Lila, stop,” he said, finally, gently pushing her off of him, “that’s enough. No more games. No more nothing. Nobody slandered you, either. Nobody told the entire student body that you were best friends with Ladybug, or that you saved Jagged Stone’s cat, or that you got an expensive necklace from the prince of Achu. You did. All I did, all anyone did, was believe you.”

Lila blinked back her false tears, still trying to sell the wounded victim act, but the only thing it accomplished was making Adrien angrier.

“Just tell me you didn’t mean it,” she whimpered, as if she hadn’t heard what Adrien had just said, “you didn’t mean to force me to be on that livestream. You didn’t, right?”

Adrien started at her, perplexed and mildly amused. “Lila, I didn’t put you on livestream. Jagged Stone did. I didn’t tell him to do that. I don’t control him. You got yourself into this mess by lying, I did not do this to you. Stop looking for people to blame, and take a look in a damn mirror. I’m done with this, I’m done with you.”

He stepped forward, forcing her to take a step back, her tearful expression flickering, but Adrien didn’t care. He was on a roll.

“Because you don’t just lie, Lila. You hurt people. You enjoy hurting people, and that is sick. Something is wrong with you for enjoying tormenting others,” Adrien spat, the temperature of his voice dropping into single digits. “You bullied Marinette because what, she didn’t believe your lies? She saw through you? You felt the need to hurt her, someone sweet, and kind, and just purely good because of a stupid reason like that? Of course you did. To protect your falsified reputation, you took it out on her.”

Lila shook her head rapidly, and Adrien was mildly impressed she was continuing the charade. Her dedication to her act was admirable, even if it was for the wrong reasons.

“No!” She cried, “Adrien, I love you, don’t you know that? I’ve been in love with you since I first saw you. Marinette has been bullying me because she—”

“Save it,” Adrien interjected, “don’t you even try it. If you think I will believe a word you say you’ve got another thing coming. I gave you several chances, because I hate believing that someone is completely bad, and I hoped to God that you weren’t always a horrible liar, that just maybe you could change, but I was wrong. You’re worse than a liar. You’re a bully. And I will not be friends with someone like that, ever.”

Several emotions passed over Lila’s face, and Adrien thought that this might be his first glimpse of what she really felt. He could see the mental gymnastics going at the speed of light behind her eyes as she wiped at her face with the heels of her hands, raising her gaze to meet his once more.

“Does it even matter to you that I just told you I love you?”

Adrien stared at her, and before he could open his mouth to speak, Marinette did it for him.

“Love?” She said, her voice wobbly with emotions, but the scorn interlaced into her tone was almost palpable, “don’t make me laugh, Lila. You don’t lie and manipulate and gaslight someone you love. This is you, seeking control. Because that’s what you want, right? You don’t want love, you want someone you can break down into whatever you want, someone you can own. That isn’t love.”

“Don’t listen to her, Adrien!” Lila sobbed, “I do, love you, I do! You know I do. I love you more than anything.”

Adrien shook his head, his lips pressed together in a firm line. “No. Marinette’s right. This isn’t love, Lila. You need to stop. That’s enough.”

The tears stopped. It was so abrupt it was like someone had flipped a switch, and Lila stood terrifyingly still for a handful of seconds before a new emotion overtook her face.

Rage.

In a flash, she was on Marinette again, screaming profanities and insults, and Adrien rushed forward, past caring about being gentle as he yanked her off of his friend. She was fast, though, as she was suddenly on him, shoving him into the lockers, his back hitting the one of the metal handles with a painful clang that would undoubtedly leave a nasty bruise. Lila’s face was a twisted, feral grimace, her eyes swirling with selfish rage, her breath expelling out from between her grit teeth in seething bursts.

“Fine,” she snarled, “I lied. Yeah, maybe I do like fucking with idiots like Marinette. People like her, with those big, stupid soft hearts, it’s the most fun to watch them crack. To watch them fall into despair, wondering ‘why me’ when there isn’t any reason other than I felt like it. Everyone worships me. I tell those stupid sycophants what they want to hear to get things to go my way. Is it so wrong to want to be in control?”

Lila was unrecognizable, her eyes a horrifying concoction of mania and malice, her mouth split open into a wide, wolfish grin. Her hands were wrapped around Adrien’s upper arms, her nails cutting through his shirt painfully, and she leaned in until her nose was nearly pressed to his.

“Liar Lila, that’s what you wanted to hear, right?” She sneered, “well, I can lie some more. I can ruin you, Adrien Agreste. You’re going to regret siding with her. Watch me tell the principal, the police, that you and that bitch jumped me, a poor, defenseless girl. Watch me tell ruin your spotless reputation, watch me say you touched me. They’ll believe me. I know they will. Because if they don’t, they’re blaming the victim. I hope you liked school, Adrien, or having friends, or fans, or respect. You and Marinette deserve each other. You can be pariahs together.”

Adrien remained unfazed, despite the severity of her threats. In fact, he smiled. And as his grin grew wider, as did the confusion on Lila’s face.

“Why the fuck are you—”

“Alya,” Adrien said, “now’s good.”

The shutter of a camera went off like a gunshot, and Lila’s eyes went wide with horror as she jolted back and away from Adrien like he’d burned her.

“Nah,” Alya said as she finally, finally stepped into the room, “that’s it for you, miss pants-on-fire.”

Adrien watched Alya’s eyes roll as Lila’s eyes welled up with tears again.

“Alya!” She cried, “I was just defending—”

Alya rolled her neck, then her shoulders as she stepped forward, phone in her hand, undoubtedly recording.

“You,” Alya said, her voice dripping with tranquil fury, “can shut the hell up.”

“You don’t understand, Marinette isn’t your friend, she lied to you, I—”

Alya moved more quickly than Adrien had ever seen her move, shoving her phone into her pocket, the blink of the red light telling Adrien the phone was still recording audio.

“Oh my God, Lila, shut up,” Alya spat, her voice saturated with venom. “Didn’t I just tell you to shut up? You what? You lied? You bullied my best friend? Don’t you dare talk to me about Marinette, you two-faced, back stabbing cockroach. I thought we were friends. I can’t believe I ever thought a single word out of your filthy mouth was the truth. You played me and the entire fucking class for a fool, and you will regret that.”

The visage of a helpless, tormented girl drained from Lila’s face in an instant, replaced with her sneer, and she squared her shoulders, stepping towards Alya.

“Regret what? Your friend made herself an easy target. And she’s already so sensitive that—”

Alya did something Adrien was expecting her to do, but it still surprised him nonetheless: she hauled back, and in a flash, she slapped Lila across the face. The impact of the strike sent Lila stumbling back, her eyes wide as her hand rose to cup her cheek. She was stunned to silence, both from the slap and from the terrifying fury rolling off of Alya in crashing waves. Her face had given way to bug-eyed shock, her jaw slack, opposite arm limp by her side. If Adrien didn’t know any better, he’d think that this had never happened to Lila before: she’d never had to face the ramifications of her actions. And Hell hath no fury like an Alya scorned.

“I am talking,” Alya snarled, “mouth closed, attention please.”

Helpless, Lila nodded.

“Like, seriously?” Alya said, waving her hands around in indignation, “and I thought Chloé was bad, but she looks like a fucking humanitarian compared to you. I can’t believe I ever put you on my blog in a positive light. I hope you know that this recording is going to every goddamn person in school. Hell, maybe I’ll post it to the school website, maybe my blog. You know what, I think I’ll do just that. Maybe even Adrien’s fan page. I’ve sure the people over there would love to hear you threatening him. And don’t even think of speaking a single word unless it’s an apology to Marinette. Everyone has had enough of you.”

At last, Adrien saw the first genuine flicker of fear in Lila’s eyes. She backed up further, roles swapped drastically from predator to trapped prey as Alya stalked towards her like she was about to devour her whole, and if she wasn’t stopped, she probably would. But Adrien wasn’t going to stop her.

“Apologize,” Alya said, no, ordered, “by tonight. I’ll have Max add you back to the class chat, just for a little bit. Own up to all your shit, apologize to Marinette, tell everyone what you did, or I will do it for you. And if you ever touch another hair on Marinette’s head ever again, you know you’ll have me to worry about. Now get out of my sight.”

Lila stood still. Her eyes were wide with shock, her jaw clenching and unclenching as she her gaze passed from Alya, to Marinette, then finally landing on Adrien. He stared back at her, expression frosty. She would get no more help, no more second chances from him. Genuine, defeated tears welled up in her eyes, no more of the play acting dramatics to be found as she swallowed back a sob. Without another word, Lila turned, keeping her head down, and ran out of the room.

Silence. It was quiet enough in the locker room to hear a pin drop, interrupted only by the rhythmic sound of Alya’s labored breathing as she tried and failed to calm down. Adrien turned to face her, and watched as tears of her own beaded at her lash line, reappearing even as she blinked them back. She wiped her face furiously before reaching down to end the recording on her phone. In a few taps, Adrien’s phone buzzed, undoubtedly with the audio recording that had just been taken.

“Adrien,” Alya said, “thank you.”

Adrien looked back at her, puzzled. “What for?”

“Sticking up for her, dumbass. Sorry I called you a dumbass,” Alya sniffled. “I mean, thank you for seeing through Lila’s tricks, for supporting Marinette when I—”

Alya bit back another sob, and Adrien wanted to step forward, to try and offer some form of comfort, but she held her hand up.

“I’m not the important one, here,” Alya said, “Marinette is.”

Adrien turned towards where Marinette was sitting, still on her knees, her arms wrapped around herself. Her left cheek was red, undoubtedly in the early stages of a forming bruise. Tears were welling up in her eyes, too, but she wasn’t bothering to brush them away, letting them spill down her cheeks in soundless cries, but Adrien could tell that among the cacophony of stentorian emotions that were thundering in her head, that one in particular was present beyond a shadow of a doubt: relief.

Kneeling beside her and pulling her forwards and into his arms felt as natural as breathing, and the second he was touching her, it was like a dam broke. It was like everything was hitting her at once, with soft, sniffling sobs spilling out as she finally just let it hurt. She pulled Adrien closer to her, burying her head in the crook off his neck, a spot where it fit like it was always meant to be.

“You’re okay, now,” Adrien whispered, and she clung to him more tightly, “she can’t hurt you again. I won’t let her.”

Marinette let out a gasping sob as her fingers curled into the cloth of Adrien’s shirt, just to hold onto something, and he let her, rubbing soothing circles into the small of her back with one hand as his opposite arm wrapped securely around her shoulders, holding her close.

Adrien smiled when he felt Alya move in, wrapping her arms around the both of them, pressing a soft, affectionate kiss to the crown of Marinette’s head, whispering her apologies and promises to do better into the midnight of her hair, and Marinette lifted her chin, leaning up to press her forehead against her best friend’s.

Alya quietly excused herself after that, undoubtedly to upload the audio recording she’d just taken to every social media platform she had an account with, leaving Marinette with Adrien as he continued to whisper words of comfort. She cried for a long time, and Adrien’s heart hurt for her. He knew what it felt like to be alone, to be helpless. Marinette didn’t deserve to feel that way, nobody did.

He wondered if Ladybug ever felt this way. She was always so strong and confident. He didn’t think he’d ever seen her cry, not that any part of Marinette was weak for crying, it was human to cry. Even if Adrien had never seen Ladybug cry, he knew she probably did. It made his heart, his entire soul ache, just the thought of his lady being sad or lonely. The thoughts of her and the beautiful girl in his arms blurred together, and, without even thinking, the words just… slipped out.

“It’s gonna be okay, bugaboo.”

Adrien hadn’t even realized he’d said anything until a few seconds had passed, and Marinette was staring up at him with wide, shocked, teary eyes, an odd mix of recognition and utter befuddlement intertwining behind her bluebell hues.

“You—” She sniffled, “you called me— You called me ‘bugaboo.’”

For all of Adrien’s eloquence, manners, and high society etiquette, he had no idea what to say to that.

He stared back at her like a deer in the headlights, his eyes wide and terrified because he was truly fucked. He’d slipped up, and there was no Ladybug to put things back the way they were, nobody to backpedal and make Marinette forget that he’d just Freudian slipped while she was crying in his arms and he was trying to be comforting— Oh God, Plagg was going to tease him about this for the rest of time.

“I—” Adrien floundered, “j-just uh, forget—”

“N-no,” Marinette said, suddenly panicking, more tears welling up, “no, no that can’t be right, nobody calls me that— I mean nobody calls me that— Unless— Except…”

Adrien had no idea what she thought she knew, or what she was even talking about, but he watched as realization rapidly dawned on her, realization that was completely lost on him.

Her voice was thick with emotion when she finally spoke, a watery smile spreading across her lips, her eyes glossy with unshed tears.

“I thought,” she said, her voice adopting a laughing edge, despite her tears, “I told you not to call me that.”

Adrien stared back at her blankly. What did she—

Oh.

There it was.

It was hitting him like a big semi truck, knocking him flat on his back like a fifty foot tidal wave.

Because it was so fucking obvious.

All those times Marinette seemed to pop up just after Ladybug vanished, how she seemed to know things only Marinette knew, why she got so bent out of shape when Lila claimed that Ladybug was her best friend. Or why Adrien always had a particular fondness for the constellations of freckles on Marinette’s face, just as he did with Ladybug’s. Why Ladybug always adopted Marinette’s stammer when she spoke to him in his civilian form.

It all made sense. All of Plagg’s weird double entendres, all of the winking and nudging his Kwami did when regarding both Ladybug and Marinette.

The confidence she wore like a second skin, her grace and poise and sass that Adrien always told himself was just a coincidence because he saw Ladybug in everything. The way Marinette’s smile reminded him of the same heaven that Ladybug’s did, and again, it had to be a coincidence, because it had to be another cruel trick of Adrien’s chronic bad luck if his lady was here, right in front of him, all along.

Marinette. Marinette. Marinette.

Tears of his own welled up in Adrien’s eyes as he stared at her, awestruck and punch drunk in love as he raised a palm to cup her face, so gingerly, like she was made of glass and precious jewels.

“You,” he whispered, voice drawn taut with emotion, “you. You’re my lady.”

Marinette’s eyes darted away, even though she leaned into his touch, betraying her own hesitance.

“A-are you disappointed it’s me?”

Adrien laughed. He didn’t mean to, but the notion that Marinette Dupain-Cheng could ever be in the same sentence with the word ‘disappointing’ was laughable. Among all of Adrien’s firm admissions that Marinette was just a friend, he saw her as a cut above the rest. Nino was his friend. Marinette was Marinette. She was talented, beautiful, and kinder than anyone he’d ever met in his life. Internally, he’d been struggling for his slowly growing feelings for her, alongside the ones he had for Ladybug for so long he’d grown tired of trying to suppress them.

Being disappointed it was her was absolutely laughable.

“Disappointed?” Adrien parroted, “God, no. No, Marinette, I’m glad it’s you. There’s nobody else I’d rather have as my lady. I’ve loved you since— Since the moment I laid eyes on you. Every waking moment has been thoughts of you, but I understand you’re in love with another boy. I value you as my friend before all of that, I’d rather you be happy and remain in my life than force my feelings on you. It’s Luka, isn’t it? He’s a great guy, and—”

It was Marinette’s turn to laugh, and Adrien blinked at her, almost owlishly.

“Silly, oblivious kitty. So dense.”

Adrien stared, affronted. “Me-ouch.”

“It’s you.” She said, blinking back tears, “Adrien, the boy I love, the one I kept rejecting you for, is you. I’ve been crazy, insane, stupid for you ever since that thing with the umbrella, the day we met. I love you so much that all I think about is you, all I want is you. I’ve tried dating, and sure Luka is wonderful. But he wasn’t you, and as much as I care about Luka, it just doesn’t feel right. I’ve wanted you since day one, Adrien Agreste.”

It took Adrien’s brain a few seconds to catch up with her words, because things like this didn’t happen to him. He was waiting for her to laugh her signature nervous Marinette laugh, speedily telling him she was joking, or for his alarm clock to wake him up, or for anything at all to interrupt this, but he blinked, squeezing his eyes shut once, twice, and his lady remained, enfolded in his arms, those incredible eyes still fixed on his face, a soft, painfully endearing smile playing at her lips.

This was real. She was real.

“I—” Adrien gasped, at a loss for words, “I— you—”

“Yeah,” Marinette giggled, tearfully, “I love you, too, you stupid cat.”

In that moment, after everything Adrien had been through, it all felt like nothing at all, no more than fleeting moments, because here she was, in his arms, telling him what he’d wanted to hear for two years, telling him she loved him just as much, just as fiercely as he loved her. All this time, they’d been chasing each other’s shadows, so desperately smitten with one another that nobody could hold even half a candle.

Adrien made a sound that was an odd mix of a laugh and a sob as he pulled her achingly tight against him, tucking her head into the crook of his neck, reveling in the way she fit against him like she was made to, how soft her skin was, how she smelled like sweet sugar and freshly baked dough. She was perfect to him, with all her flaws and misgivings, they were and always had been something he could more than happily live with, as Ladybug or as Marinette.

“Please,” Adrien whispered into her hair, “can I kiss you, Marinette?”

Marinette stiffened, her face luminescent. “If want to— I mean, if you don’t— I mean—”

Adrien chuckled warmly, his heart seizing in his chest. “Never change, Marinette.”

One of his hands slid down her cheek to find her chin, tilting her face up, and he watched her eyes flutter closed as he leaned in, slowly, finally meeting her lips with his own. It was like everything he’d ever held back was spilling out, a symphony of emotion and sensation and pure, perfect adoration. One of Adrien’s hands slid down to lace into the wisps of hair at the base of her skull, the other cupping her cheek, his thumb smoothing over the gentle curve of her cheekbone, and he could feel her in his blood, thundering through his heart, consuming him whole.

Adrien angled his head to deepen the kiss, pulling back just slightly only to dive back in, kissing her with everything he had, and she was giving back just as much, clinging onto him, her fingers in his hair, and her touch felt like perfection incarnate, like everything he’d ever been missing.

They pulled apart only with great reluctance, resting their foreheads together, blissfully happy and oh so in love.

“Hey, Miss Busiter is looking for—”

Alya’s voice tore them from their focus on one another, but they didn’t separate, even as Alya stared at them with wide eyes, a slow, bordering on manic grin appearing on her face.

“Oh, my God,” she hollered, “it is about damn time.”

Marinette floundered in a way that Adrien could now call utterly adorable without forcing the word platonic down his own throat, making him smile like a total dope, pulling her tighter.

“A-Alya!” She cried, wiping her remaining tears with the back of her hand, “I— we were just—”

“She knows what we were doing,” Adrien laughed, his smile widening when Alya, characteristically, snapped a photo of them still pressed close together.

Marinette sighed. “Yeah, well, that’s… Gonna take some getting used to. Yeah, Alya, this is exactly what it looks like.”

“As much as I’d love, and I mean love to celebrate,” Alya said, her grin earsplitting, “you two are still students. You can hold hands and cuddle and all that after school. Oh my God, Marinette, we can go on double dates! This is so great! We— We’ll talk about it later.”

Marinette laughed, the first truly genuine laugh Adrien had heard from her in weeks, and it made his heart do a funny, jumpy thing in his chest, his stomach twisting into knots. He should have realized who she was earlier from her laugh alone. Unable to bear to let go of her, Adrien kept their hands intertwined as they stood up from the floor, legs stiff from sitting for so long, but they hardly cared about that, not now.

Because everything, every bit of pain was worth it, if it meant being with her. And from the dreamy, adorably dorky way she was staring at him, Adrien was absolutely positive she felt the same.

The classroom erupted into cheers when Adrien and Marinette entered with their hands joined, their proximity far too close to be any kind of platonic, and during break, when Marinette finally asked Adrien to a movie without putting her foot in her mouth, Alya clapped her on the back so hard she went toppling forwards.

But that was fine. Adrien was there to help her up.

They got that double date, Nino and Alya dragging them to some cheesy horror flick that ended up being more funny than scary, and even when Marinette did get spooked at the odd spooky scene, Adrien was there to smooth his thumb over her knuckles. He was there for her. And if Lila came back, as she absolutely would, Adrien would be there, too. She was far from done, and Adrien knew that. He’d done enough damage to send her off for a good while to lick her wounds, but he knew there was only a matter of time before she popped back up like a particularly contagious chest cold. Only this time, they’d be ready.

And Adrien would never let her hurt his lady ever again. That was a promise. So was the absolute pure, sparkling elation they both felt as Adrien walked Marinette home, hand in hand, the setting sun on their backs, blissfully happy.

Adrien Agreste was walking on sunshine all the way home.

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artzychic27 · 2 months

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Here’s more Favoritism AU stuff

The police have received many anonymous calls telling them that Marc has drugs in his locker at DuPont. An hour of searching later, they haven’t found anything, but due to his record caused by you-know-who, they usually come running any time his name is mentioned

It’s given Marc a reputation as a “badass criminal,” which is not what Marinette intended, but at least people think he’s capable of committing crimes

Nathaniel, Lila, Chloé, and Félix are trying to figure out which gym Marc does to so they can watch him work out

Nathaniel: *Staring at a map* Okay! I think I’ve narrowed it down! He’s at the one near the pool hall!

Félix: Ah, of course! It’s the one furthest away from the wretched shrew’s bakery!

Chloé: We’re so stupid! It makes perfect sense! It opens in ten minutes!

Lila: Let’s go see dem biceps!

Little do they know, he’s joined an underground fight club as an outlet for his anger

Marc barely flinches anymore when Marinette insults him. He honestly stopped caring about what she had to say when he was eight

Now he just listens to death metal on his AirPods whenever she talks

He actually threw a printer at Mme. Bustier after she compared him to his cousin. She dodged, unfortunately

Marc REFUSES to leave Kiran alone with Marinette for even a second, and he most certainly is not letting him play with any of the kids she babysits. Lord knows what poison she’s been feeding them

Carrie Powers AU ⬇️

Discovered his powers when he was seven and a rock nearly hit Marinette

Marc does arson with his mind. There’s no evidence so no one can convince him

Lila’s the only one who knows about his telekinesis and being her chaotic neutral self, she convinces him to cause a little chaos around DuPont

So far he’s tripped Damocles, kept the lockers of Marinette’s lackeys permanently locked, tore up Marinette’s homework, and ruined Marinette’s outfits with paint

Lila: See? I told you revenge could be fun.

Marc: Okay, I stood corrected.

Lila: Yeah, you did. Now let’s flush some phones!

#miraculous ladybug #miraculous #marc anciel #Lila Rossi #favoritism au #Marinette bashing #Marinette salt #mlb au #chaotic besties

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trashyangelic · 1 year

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Can I get a ML Salt Prompt? With a hint of Felinette.

There are things that Sabine Cheng doesn't like when it comes to her daughter well-beings. ︶ ⠀ ⤭ ⠀⠀ ๋࣭ ⭑ Caline Bustier treats her daughter as a servant doing the teachers job when its suppose to be her job to do it not her daughter. She heard complaints from her daughter at the trapdoor but also finding out that she is Ladybug and the Guardian of Miraculouses but she also knows that her daughter is MDC from the very start. ︶ ⠀ ⤭ ⠀⠀ ๋࣭ ⭑ Lila Rossi for targetting her daughter by manipulating the principal and her daughter's classmates she had decided to do something about before Caline Bustier. She had a hunch that this girl is trying to blame her daughter for something she didn't do it happen before when she was young. She depises bullies. ︶ ⠀ ⤭ ⠀⠀ ๋࣭ ⭑ Alya Cesaire treats her daughter as a doormat but also asking for free stuff even she told her mother to pay for it she doesn't do it. Yet she still wants free stuff like the designs that her daughter makes she did not like it one tiny bit. ︶ ⠀ ⤭ ⠀⠀ ๋࣭ ⭑ Adrien Agreste who seem to be a sweet boy but after her daughter told her the advice that he told her, she was not having it. She told this to Nathalie and Gabriel to discipline Adrien about this high road advice towards her daughter that is enabling bullies for no reasons even Gabriel is annoyed by that advice he had given it to Adrien but it was meant for Tabloid Reporters only but decided to do a different method for Adrien to get his high horse about this high road advice a method only for bullies. As soon as Gabriel realize that his son is on thin ice with the Dupain-Chengs he had to do something about it and possibly for Ms. Marinette Dupain-Cheng to be his future intern or Audrey. ︶ ⠀ ⤭ ⠀⠀ ๋࣭ ⭑ While Sabine decided to do something for her daughter happiness about Lila Rossi, Alya Cesaire, Adrien Agreste, and Caline Bustier they have crossed the line on the mama bear by poking it. Sabine only wants her daughter to be happy away from the toxic class and those so called friends who wanted to make her daughter as a doormat or a pushover by claiming that her daughter is a bully. Clearly she was not having it.

Sabine decided the big guns by calling her mother about the Cheng Family Company in two different branch one in Shanghai and the other in Beijing to be lent to her daughter as the heiress. But she needs her daughter to learn about the family business from her side. She called her mother about the DEAL that she made with her mother after marrying Tom Dupain.

She called one of her close friends in China by enrolling her daughter to Central Academy of Arts it was the same academy that she attended when she was young but this would be good for her daughter.

Marinette gets to be transferred to Central Academy of Arts in Beijing for her business as MDC but also for her family business too as she meets Felix Graham de Vanily along with her cousin Bridgette who is arrange marriage with another Chinese Branch Family who is the heir of CEO Long Company.

As for Chloe luckily for her she was taught Mandarin/Cantonese from Sabine Cheng she is now applying to Central Academy of Arts with Marinette away from the toxic school back in Paris that she convinced her father to stop the donating towards the Dupont for a good reason. As her father listen to his daughter's reason he was not happy about what happen when Chloe explain what exactly is happening in the school.

At the end Lila Rossi, Caline Bustier, Adrien Agreste, and Alya Cesaire got into a alot of trouble with the parents and the school board by the Mayor himself who had reported it with Sabine Cheng afterwards. The students of Caline Bustier well their parents got super pissed and decided to withdraw their children from the toxic school into a homeschool or a new school for a fresh start.

As for Nino well he apologize to Marinette before she transfer to China for her new school with Chloe Bourgeois but he still gets in trouble by his parents so he is at his new school to continue his dreams since his parents owns a Music Label Company.

The Police Officers and Roger found something at the CCTV footage in Dupont on the main part with Lila Rossi. Roger wasn't very happy with this girl being friend with his daughter after finding out this girl is working with a terrorist they did what they had to do is to arrest this girl Lila Rossi but also informing this to Nadja Chamack about it as well. Italy is in thick ice with Paris right now cause of Lila's actions. Lila's father is not happy nor her mother isn't. Lila's mother decided to disown her and fix her family honor from the embarrassment that her daughter made.

Caline got fired from the School Board for her silly methods and also enabling bullies too while Damocles gets demoted as a principal for doing his job horribly against School Board demands. But Damocles gets his redemption after realizing his mistakes but wanting to redeem it as a good principal like his brother was in from a different school.

Adrien well to him he didn't have any social skills due to his father abusing him so why not let Nino to be concerned about his well-being by calling the CPS on Gabriel clearly Nino wanted Adrien as his new brother along with Chris it would be alot helpful for him to gain social skills. Gabriel also fired Lila Rossi in person he was pissed when Chloe told him the truth about Lila sexually harrassed, blackmailing, and calling people of his son's classmates as a bad influence even if its Lila who is a bad influence to his son by some classmate of his son who sent it to him but seem to be on struggling with the CPS but decided to let it go.

Lastly Alya got the major hint of lawsuits by celebrities and Ladybug as her parents forced her to delete her Ladyblog down for posting false stories. But she has to pay the amount of money that she asked free things from Dupain-Chengs. Sabine already made a restraining order on Alya Cesaire, Adrien Agreste, and Lila Rossi for good just away from her daughter.

#mlb prompts #caline bustier bashing #bad teacher caline bustier #bustier salt #good parent sabine cheng #sabine cheng #lila rossi salt #no lila rossi demption #marinette moved schools #marinette deserves better #felinette #adrien salt #alya salt #felix graham de vanily #busiter gets fired

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aliensunflower-fics · 1 year

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CHANGING FACES Chapter 3: Where Are We Going

[ Prefer to Read on Archive of Our Own? Link HERE! ]

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After years of dealing with each other Lila Rossi win's when she convinces Hawkmoth that Marinette is Ladybug. In order to throw off suspicion and keep the Miracle Box safe Marinette and her supportive parents leave Paris and head to Gotham of all places. In this new place away from her friends and her unhealthy routines Marinette is forced to confront herself and change for the better. Helping her on her journey is a surprising new friend and potential ally. When Alya missing her friend learns about the chance to win a free trip to Gotham she convinces the class to work hard to qualify. When her new life clashes with her old one will Marinette be able to hold on strong to her new confidence or will she crumble under the pressure?

( This fic will be for the most part comedic, fluffy, and sweet, with only a bit of seriousness to tie it together. With only the mildest salt because I don't think the class or Adrien are bad people just that they can be naive and selfish thanks to the canon writing. I hope you enjoy reading this work and have fun with me on this journey. )

CHAPTER 3:

Where Are We Going

Marinette felt tired. Not the kind or tired that could be slept off but something DEEPER. It was an exhaustion that seeped deep into her bones and left her feeling heavy. Her limbs felt like rocks and her fingers ached. Her mind begged for the sweet escape of dreamless sleep. Yet voices tickled the edge of her conscious mind slowly leading her back to the waking world. Whoever was talking was trying to be considerate of her, speaking in hushed tones with all the lights but a small table lamp off.

Blinking slowly, Marinette’s groggy mind took in the hideous pattern on the hotel's cheap curtains and the smell of cheap greasy takeout pizza somewhere in the room. Finally her ears seemed to pop and the whispered voices of her mother and father hit her brain causing her muscles to relax. They were here, they were all safe, as Marinette’s eyes drooped she smiled contently ready to let her mind drift away to the black seas of sleep once more. That is until she heard Tikki’s signature squeaky voice thanking ‘Tom’ for the sugar cookies. All at once Marinette felt wide awake and bolted upright, shocking everyone in the room into silence.

There on the other side of the hotel room sitting in the too small, too cheap wooden chairs eating cheap pizza and terrible store bought sugar cookies and holding a conversation like old friends was Marinette’s dear parents, her kwami and Trixx who looked like they were delighted by everything.

The silence stretched for a moment or two before Sabine sighed, shook her head and smiled warmly at her daughter.

“I think we have some things to talk about mon petite choux, but first why don’t you grab a bite to eat you must be hungry and its going to be a bit of a late night.”

At her mothers words Marinette felt her breath hitch as she swallowed down her panic, with a small nod she inched closer to the end of the bed nervously taking the offered slice of pepperoni pizza. It was lukewarm and greasy but biting into it felt like heaven as her body finally registered just how hungry she was, as usual her mother was right. For a while Marinette just ate her pizza with her parents while the Kwami nibbled on their provided cookies. It was strange and peaceful. As Marinette finished up her second slice and reached for her third the silence was finally broken again by her mother who seemed to know what she said while her father still languished in uncertainty.

“Marinette… We… We just want you to know. How proud of you we are.”

Marinette swallowed hard and looked away, unable to make eye contact with her family.

“H-How did you figure it out? Kwami can’t tell others who there chosen are a-and… I thought- at least Fu told me that magic was protecting my identity?” Marinette heard her father’s nervous throat clearing as Tikki swallowed down her cookie and hovered up to Marinette eye level.

“They figured it out earlier after you fell asleep, Marinette. I let them see me and told them who I was. It all seemed to fall into place after that.”

“But…Tikki WHY? T-The rules w-we cant just… Have… Have I not been a good enough Ladybug? Are you leaving?”

Tikki gasped in horror and flew over quickly soothing Marinette by hugging her face.

“No, no! My little bug it's nothing like that I… I decided you needed some help. Marinette you have been doing such a good job and you have been doing it all alone for so long. Master Fu was foolish to think anyone could or should carry such a heavy burden without support and we should have broken the rules a long time ago!”

Marinette nodded numbly trying to process Tikki’s words. She did not want to admit it but she’d been drowning for so long that as horrible as it felt to have her identity exposed as terrifying as it was to go against the rules she felt relief flooding her system as she exhaled a shaky breath.

“How much did you tell them?” At this her father let out an awkward cough and shifted in his far too small hotel chair trying to get comfortable.

“She told us a lot. Marinette sweetie… We're not mad. We could never be mad, you’ve been so strong and so brave, your mother is right, we are so proud of you.”

Marinette felt her face flush and her eyes burn as hot tears gathered in her burning tired eyes. She had never once become Ladybug for the praise or fame she had never expected or wanted it, and in fact she had many times resented being Ladybug hated the lies and the act she had to put on each and every day to keep others safe and to keep them out. But hearing her parents tell her how proud they were felt like a weight being lifted off her heart. A broken hiccup left her body and Marinette realized she was crying.

“M-Mom Dad… I’m- I'm so sorry! I n-never wanted to lie I-I had to I-I’m sorry im so so sorry.”

“Oh non! No no no my little one my sweet pastry!” Marinette felt the warm heavy arms of her father envelop her as he moved to the bed, the cheap mattress dipping under his weight causing her to fall into him. “You don’t need to apologize for anything.”

“Your friend Tikki told us about the rules the previous master put in place. She told us about everything you have been through. Our big strong girl. If anyone should be sorry it's us. We should have known it was you, even with magic guarding your identity how could we be so blind.”

Marinette sobbed harder at her mothers words, opening her arms to accept her mothers embrace as she cried harder.

“B-But I’m the reason Hawkmoth burned down our home! I’m the reason the bakery is gone! I-Its all my fault!”

Marinette felt her mother stiffen at her words and was shocked when her mother pulled back and grabbed her face firmly into her calloused hands forcing Marinette to stare into the fiery eyes of her mother.

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng none of this is your fault! That reject Disney villain has been tormenting Paris for years! He has killed people with his akumas and never once shown remorse or guilt for using even babies to achieve his goals! And you, our brave beautiful girl, you have saved people's lives over and over, you have given up hobbies, concerts, and your own peace of mind to be a hero. Your father and I are scared for you, were angry at Hawkmoth, we wish we knew sooner but angry? Never, not with you my beautiful little peanut.”

As her mothers words sunk in, Marinette felt a fresh wave of tears fill her eyes and she threw herself into her mothers arms while her fathers large warm hand rubbed circles into her back.

They let Marinette cry until she was done and had her breathing back under control at which point they gave her water and more food. While she drank and ate, a sudden thought hit Marinette.

“What are we going to do now?”

Tom and Sabine exchanged a look before nodding and smiling at each other. As Sabine got up to retrieve something from there meager belongings Tom beamed warmly at his daughter though Marinette did not miss the tired bags that hung under his eyes.

“Did we ever tell you about how we met my little choux bun?”

Marinette’s eyebrows creased together as she thought about it.

“You met… At college right? Dad was doing a baking course and mom was studying business. Mom had been working herself too hard and not eating so her blood sugar totally crashed and you found her half collapsed on a bench and offered her pastries right?”

Tom chuckled fondly at the memory and nodded.

“Yes, that's right. But do you know WHERE we met?”

“Where? … Dad, what do you mean? Wait… You didn’t meet in Paris?”

Sabine giggled at her daughter's shocked expression and sat next to her once more, opening the old family album that had been lucky to survive the fire in a fireproof safe. As she flipped through the pages Marinette took in all the familiar pictures of herself and her family, the bakery, and her childhood from her first time making cookies to her first tooth, but as they flipped to older pictures Marinette began to see more things she did not recognize. Her parents' marriage, a small private affair in some miscellaneous park. But then they flipped past even those going back to even younger images and Marinette realized quickly what her father was hinting at.

“These pictures… You guys met in… America?”

Sabine smiled warmly as she touched a picture of her and Tom’s first cake together. “We met in Gotham.”

Marinette sucked in a breath of air as her eyes widened. She looked between her parents' confusion and questions evident on her face. After a brief silence Sabine cleared her throat and flipped back to some older photos and began her tale.

“When I was little, your grandma had very big dreams for me. She wanted me to become a big shot business woman, make lots of money and take care of the whole family. She made me study endlessly and never cared about my own dreams and passions. Just like your great uncle I liked to cook but your grandma did not care. I worked hard and got accepted into an American college. I knew how dangerous Gotham was but I didn’t care. I just wanted to get far away from your grandma and your great uncle encouraged me. He told me I needed to free myself and learn what I wanted to do. The rest you know, I was studying so hard I never ate and then your dad found me.”

Marinette nodded slowly then looked at her dad curiously. He smiled and leaned over to flip the albums pages before pointing at a beautiful old building with a much younger Grandma Gina and Tom in front of it.

“As you know your Grandma Gina and Granpa Roland had a rocky marriage. Your grandma liked to go fast, and she liked to see the world and everything in it. Your grandpa thought moving that often wasn’t good for me so he refused to go, this made their relationship rocky, they were always fighting. Finally your god-father Alfred got in the middle, he suggested a compromise. A second home somewhere fun and exciting for Gina and we could spend our summers there. Grandma chose Gotham the same place Alfred lived and I spent my summers there growing up even after the divorce. So when it was time for me to go to college I decided I wanted to live in Gotham and attend the college baking course. And then I met your mother.”

Marinette mulled over the new information carefully taking in the photos carefully.

“How long did you and mom live there?”

Tom chuckled slightly and flipped through several pages until they landed on a photo Marinette had never seen before. She was a newborn baby in her mothers arms as her parents were posed in front of an old bakery. Marinette realized that it was the same building as the earlier picture with her grandma and her dad.

“I was… BORN THERE?” Marinette touched the image in awe and then felt a sting in her heart, “Why didn't you ever tell me? Why not talk about it? H-How did it never come up once when grandpa Alfred came to visit!?”

Sabine exchanged a look with Tom before she cleared her throat.

“We… Your father and I… We loved Gotham. It is a gloomy place with a lot of crime and problems but the people there are GOOD people. They protect their own, and they work hard to try and make their city better. It was the place where we met, the place we got married, and the place where we had you, our beautiful little girl. But…”

Marinette felt her stomach drop. “But?”

“It is dangerous there Marinette. And when you were still just a baby you and your mother got pulled into a bad attack, you both came out okay thanks to Batman but we realized then that our life wasn’t a safe one to raise a baby in.”

Sabine nodded gravely to her husband's words.

“Your father and I both knew how to defend ourselves. We even taught other people self defense on weekends at the local gym as volunteer work. But you were just a baby and we got scared about losing you. So we made the decision to abandon our lives in Gotham and come to Paris. We always told ourselves we’d go back to Gotham someday when you were older and until then we didn’t talk about it, not because we didn’t want to but because I wasn’t ready yet I got so scared remembering almost losing you and when we were finally ready to tell you and move back to Gotham you… Met Alya.”

Marinette blinked confused and furrowed her brows. “What does Alya have to do with this?”

“Well…” Sabine looked over at Tom who took over the conversation.

“You had been getting bullied by Chloe all those years. We were doing everything to get you out without pulling you from Dupont because we knew it was one of the best schools, but it wasn’t working. We saw how your confidence was dipping and how you were so unhappy so we thought that maybe it was time to make the move. You were 12 and knew how to defend yourself thanks to all your lessons with your mom and me. But then you came home from your first day of school and you were so happy.”

Sabine smiled fondly. “You had made a friend and you were talking about how excited you were, then you ran for your class president position and won and we saw how you were blooming and we could not take that away from you so we pushed Gotham aside.”

“But… But you both love it there?! Why would you do that why didn’t you tell me at least I-I don't understand-”

“We didn’t want you to make a decision for our sake.”

Marinette snapped her mouth shut, denial dying on her lips. She knew exactly what her parents were talking about. Since Lila had begun manipulating the class and having them ask more and more of her, Marinette had learned that she had a serious problem standing up for herself. If her parents had approached her wanting to move to Gotham when she was younger even with her Ladybug responsibilities she would have folded like a deck of cards and likely stretched herself thin trying to make everyone happy and do everything.

“We wanted you to have a choice about the move. And you have always been so caring and considerate of others and if you had known how much me and your father loved Gotham we knew you’d agree to move even if you didn’t want to. So we held off saying anything and we were just happy to see you become so confident and happy.” Sabine bit her lip and chewed at the loose skin. “Recently… We had seen how stressed you were becoming, and how your friends were treating you. Before all this happened we were planning on telling you again and asking you if maybe you’d like to move to Gotham, but now with everything… Well the conversation happened a bit sooner than we had planned. But what do you say Peanut? Wanna go on a new adventure and move to Gotham?”

Marinette nodded slowly and looked at Tikki and Trixx on the table who had been enjoying there cookies in relative silence the whole time.

“Tikki, what do YOU think?” At the name the small god blinked her antenna twitching.

“I think you need to be the one to decide Marinette this is your life, and you are our guardian. We trust you because you have always taken such good care of us all these years.”

Marinette flinched at Tikki’s words and dug her nails into her skin. She wanted to deny Tikki’s words but she knew the tiny god was speaking from the heart. Marinette often gave the kwami freedom, she talked with them, she was their friend and guardian and she valued them as people, something Tikki and the others had told her was rare so even though Marinette did not believe in herself she believed in the honesty behind Tikki’s words.

“I… I’ll need to use the horse Kwami Kaalki to travel back to Paris whenever an akuma happens.”

“That's not a problem, you have the same blood sugar problem as your mom so we can inform whatever new school you go to that you might need to leave class at times to take care of that.”

Marinette blinked, shocked at her dad's willingness to lie but then she snorted and smiled. It felt nice having someone to help her guard her secret identity.

“If Marinette leaves Paris Hawkmoth will stop suspecting me as Ladybug so that's a bonus, I’d be able to decompress after fights and let myself feel emotions without worrying about akumatization. I also won't have to worry about the bakery getting crushed by another toddler akuma.”

Tikki and her parents watched her in silence letting her talk herself through her thoughts and plan as she often did when processing her stress and fear.

“Gotham has some of the best schools, and I’d be living in Uncle Jagged city AND in grandpa Alfred’s city… But… But where will we live, how will we make money, and what about school and then there's Alya and everyone back home and what if Ladybug gets to Paris too late??”

Before Marinette could spiral further her mother took her hands and squeezed hard pulling Marinette out of her downward fall as she tools several deep breaths and focused on her mother who was guiding her through the breathing slowly.

“You don’t need to worry about all the details, Marinette. We still own the old bakery from the pictures, your father and I could never bring ourselves to sell it so we kept it. It will need a bit of paint and the Marinette touch but it's got good bones and it's a bigger building.”

“As for school, well… You may not know this but your godfather Alfred is the butler and in many ways the father and grandfather to a very rich and influential family He’s told us all about Gotham Academy and I know my beautiful incredible daughter will be a perfect fit.”

“Gotham Academy? Are you sure we can afford it? And don’t tell me your gonna have grandpa Alfred ask his employers for a favor! I don’t need or want the help of some rich people we don't know.”

Sabine laughed openly at Marinette's pouty face. “My daughter? Need a hand out? No, but Alfred has told us all about the scholarships there. You are as brilliant as you are talented even if it is a bit past the start of the school year I’m sure we can get you one and if not we will find another school that recognizes what a talent you are.”

Marinette’s cheeks flushed red at her mothers teasing proud words and she pulled nervously on her long dark hair as she bit her cheek and thought about it.

“What about… Alya and my friends? Moving it sounds so amazing, a fresh start, somewhere new, the ability to let myself feel, and the distance from Hawkmoth it all sounds incredible but… What if I lose everyone here?”

Tom squeezed his daughter's leg comfortingly and smiled at her warmly. “Do you think Alya and the others are the type of people who will just forget you?”

“... No… I trust Alya. It's… Someone else I don’t trust and I’m worried what that person will do.”

“You're talking about that Lila girl again aren't you?” Marinette nodded stiffly, leaning into her mother for comfort.

“If she hasn’t succeeded yet, then I don’t think you need to worry. BUT if she does succeed then painful as it may be you will learn who your real friends are, but what you need to decide now is where you trust Alya to be your friend even if you're across an ocean.”

Marinette took a moment to think, letting her mothers words hit her fully. Alya was her friend and despite all the damage Lila had done and all the problems shed created Marinette still cared about Alya and valued her friendship and she knew despite everything that Alya felt the same. They were bffs and for now Marinette was willing to trust in the bonds she’d made and believe that Alya would be there for her ocean or not.

Marinette took a deep breath and felt her heart and mind settle. She knew what was best now, for ladybug, for the kwami, for her family, for paris, but most importantly what would be best for herself and who she wanted to become moving forward.

Looking at her family, Marinette smiled warmly.

“Gotham, sounds perfect.”

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( I hope I’m releasing the chapters at a good steady pace and that you guys like it so far feedback and comments are always appreciated and thank you for your patience with my spelling and grammar english is not my first language! )

#daminette #salt fic #class salt #alya salt #alya sugar #alya redemption #adrien salt #lila rossi gets exposed #lila salt #lila bashing #class redemption #Marinette deserves better #BAMF Marinette #miraculous fanfic #marinette x damian #maribat #my fic #Changing Faces Fic

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ravennm84 · 2 years

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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:

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

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sassyduckqueen · 2 years

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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.

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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?"

"Oh, we have a visssstor," A voice hissed, making her jump and look where it came from. Instantly, she saw two glowing eyes that were teal green in color and snakelike.

"I don't recall having any visitors," A second voice added, though this one sounded more human. It was actually a very nice voice. It was softly spoken and almost musical. Almost instantly, she felt her body relax as she walked over, unconsciously drawn to it. Another reason why people hated faes. They were naturally seductive with how they were and how they spoke. "And what do you want?"

Oh, she could listen to that voice all day... but she needed to remember why she was here.

"I..." She mumbled, shaking her off the fog in her mind and putting on her innocent act. "I hear you have the power to give people their hearts desire,"

"Hmm," He replied as she watched. The eyes moved suggesting the fae was getting up before a light came on, revealing a large amount of snake tanks and a young man. Lila studied him as he glanced at her. He was very attractive but the fae were supernaturally beautiful. His hair was black with teal blue highlights and his skin looked slightly tanned. He wore black ripped joggers and a white tank top, showing off his toned arms that had tattoos of snakes going up them. It was clear that the fae had snakelike features too. The most obvious was his eyes but he also had a number of green teal scales across his arms and neck. Lila felt a little uncomfortable as she glanced at him but that discomfort turned to fear as she felt something sliver over her feet. She looked down and screamed as she saw a snake that looked up at her and stuck its tongue out. She felt panic rise as she wanted to kick it but before she could, the fae was in front of her. "Not fond of my reptile friends hmm?"

"I... I'm afraid of snakes," She gasped, actually telling the truth for once. The fae smiled at her before turning away. "Could we go outside?"

"Why? They're not going to bite and most of them aren't poisonous," He replied, looking back at her. That's when she noticed the snake resting around his neck. It would have been beautiful to anyone not afraid of them. It was teal green with dark teal diamonds across it's body and a hood around it's head like a cobra. His eyes searched her features, making her feel like he was searching her soul before they flickered down and landed on her foxtail pendent before he sat back down and glanced at her. "Well, aren't you here for a reason? Tell me what you desire, Little Fox,"

"I... I would like to be famous," She replied, trying to seek shy and meek. "It's been my desire-"

"So you want a little fame?"

"A little fame? I want more then just a little fame!" She gasped, pinching her nose before realizing she almost lose her cool. She took a deep breathe and shot him a smile. Not that he was looking. He was holding one of his snakes and sticking his tongue out at it in a playful manner. It made her feel sick when she saw it was forked. "I mean I want to be the most famous person on the planet if you can do that. I really want my name in every newspaper and to be up there on the red carpet with all of the A listers. I want to be so famous no one will ever forget my name,"

"Interesting," He replied as she took a breathe. "I can definitely do that. Is there anything else you want?"

"Oh yes, there is," She replied, ready to turn on the water works. "T-There's this woman who has been making my life awful since high school. Marinette Dupain-Cheng. She use to bully me and she constantly makes it hard for me to reach and work for companies. I'm sure she's had me blacklisted. I can't even order of her website because of this,"

She began to cry, making the fae frown but not for the reasons she thought. He heard the name Marinette Dupain-Cheng before. He was sure she was a friend of his sister and Juleka had said she was nice. He turned his attention to Lila. Depending on what she said depended on what he could do.

"I'm sorry... I just..." She sniffed. "I j-just want her to finally get what she deserves. I've tried to be the bigger person but... she just doesn't stop,"

"I see," He replied, frowning. He wasn't sure he believed her but he couldn't tell with her pendent on. Luckily, she had said 'get what she deserved' which meant he could easily work it so he doesn't harm her. 'Getting what she deserves' can be considered a grey area, meaning he can do anything he wanted as long as he deemed it 'what she deserved'. Yes, he could still honor the contract without harming anyone. Sure, he had cursed a few people but he didn't like to if he didn't have to. "Well, I can easily do those things. Fame and fortune. It's yours and getting even with this person. Easily done,"

"Really?" She gasped, surprised. "When can you do it?"

"I can start immediately. Of course, it will take a little time for your fame to skyrocket but I promise it will," He replied, making her frown a little. "It's only natural that I have to make some spells and pull some strings but of course, none of this can happen until we've discussed a price that is,"

"A Price?" She questioned surprised. She had heard Faes didn't charge a fee. "I was unaware,"

"Of course, my services don't come free," He replied, smirking. She frowned as if she hadn't expected that. "All magic comes with a price, Lila and fae magic is typical expensive,"

"Expensive?" She echoed. "I don't have a lot of money,"

"My price is fairly simple in it's nature but still rather costly," He replied, waving his hand. A contract appeared out of thin air, making Lila gasp. "€150. Once you sign the contract, it can't be altered or amended,"

"That's all?" She asked, making him nod. She would have to live with all her fame and her enemies getting what they deserve. It sounded like a fair price to her. "That seems pretty cheap and fair to me,"

"Then if you're satisfied, sign the contract," He smiled, holding out a pen. Lila snatched it out of his hand and grabbed the paper, signing on the line at the bottom. As soon as she did, the contract and pen appeared in the fae's hand. "Excellent! Glad to do business with you, Little Fox,"

"Oh thank you so much!" She gasped, smiling before she left as he smiled back. As soon as she did, the smile left his face as his snake moved around his neck.

"She wass wearing a protection amulet," The snake hissed. "Are we sure she's telling the truth? Should we grant her wissh, Luka?"

"A deal is a deal, Sass," He replied, folding up the contract and putting it with the others he had. "She will have her fame and Miss Dupain-Cheng will get everything she deserves,"

~A Couple of Weeks Later~

Since making the deal with the fae, Lila's life had dramatically improved. She went from been a barely known actress to an A-star Celebrity. Woman wanted to be her and men wanted her. She had adoring fans who screamed her name and cried when she walked past. She had landed herself in a relationship with a pretty handsome man. She was on top of the world and richer then she had ever imagined. She had it all but it wasn't enough. She could have all the money and fame in the world and it would still not be enough because Marinette Dupain-Cheng hadn't suffered yet. Her business was still successful. She hadn't been made an example of nor had she disappeared of the face of the earth. If anything, she was getting more popular. To say Lila wasn't happy was an understatement. Sure, the fae had told her that it would take sometime but she wanted her nemesis to fall now! Which was why she was storming towards the fae's boathouse to demand he destroy her life. She stormed onto the boat and stalked into the living area, where the fae was sat with his snakes.

"Hello, Little Fox," He stated, making her glare at him. "Something wrong?"

"Wrong?!" She screeched, making him frown. "Wrong?! You were suppose to punish Marinette and make her suffer!"

"Hmm I don't recall that been in the contract," He replied, making her grit her teeth. "But I don't really see the issue. You have your fame and fortune. Why fixate on Marinette?"

"Because I want her to suffer!" She screamed, stamping her foot before she pointed at him. "That was part of our deal! You need to honor it! My wish was for her to suffer!"

"Incorrect," He replied, causing their contract to appear in a puff of teal smoke. "I have it right here and it states 'I want Marinette to get what she deserves' nothing more, nothing less. Since you failed to specify exactly what that was, I decided the best course of action was to leave her alone since that's what she deserved,"

"What?!" She screamed. "You useless puck!"

The entire room's feeling changed as soon as that word left her mouth. The term puck was considered extremely offensive against the fae. It basically implied that they were nothing but pranksters and trouble makers. The fae's eyes turned green and more snakelike as Lila stepped back, realizing her mistake before she ran out of the boathouse. The fae's eyes narrowed as he watched her scamper out. She thought she could run from him but that wouldn't help her. He had cursed people for less.

"Luka," Sass's voice made him look over and stroke the snake's chin. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine, Sass," He replied, looking at the contract in his hand. "Isn't the first time and won't be the last I've been called that but like the last time, her deed won't go unpunished,"

"What do you intend to do?"

"Lila asked for fame and for this girl to get what she deserved right?" He answered, making the snake nod. "Well then I think Miss Rossi should get exactly that. By the time, I'm done with her, she'll wish she never met me but first I think it's time I paid Miss Dupain-Cheng a visit to determine exactly what she deserves. Though I have a feeling it won't be what Lila envisioned,"

"And the fame part?"

"Oh, I'll give her a week to enjoy her new lifestyle while I deal with the second part of her contract. Once that's done, Lila will go down in history. Everyone will know her name and never forget her," Luka replied, making the snake look at him but the devious smirk on his lips told him that it was as simple as Lila been famous for been an actress. "She will get exactly what she wanted whenever she wants it or not,"

"She'll learn the hard way why one should not make themselves the enemy of a fae,"

~Marinette's Shop~

Marinette hummed to herself as she flicked through the magazine she was reading. Lila had been on the front cover but despite what people now believed about her, Marinette wasn't mad. She was actually happy for Lila. She had never wanted to be her enemy and just didn't get why the girl couldn't be honest. Even after Lila had tried to destroy her, Marinette had given her a second chance. Come clean to the class and all will be forgiven. She had done the same with Chloe so she could do the same with Lila. Unfortunately Lila decided not to and proceed to turn almost everyone against Marinette. Something that lasted through her adult life too. Even after they had left school and moved on their careers, Lila chose to slam her at every chance she could. Whenever it was a snide comment when she saw her, whispering horrible rumors about her to her ex best friend who would then post said rumors on her news blog or just leaving a bad review on her shop, Lila was determined to ruin her. Luckily, she still had a small number on her side but she had lost a lot of 'friends' to Lila over the years but she guessed they weren't her true friends anyway. If they were, they wouldn't have believed Lila nor encouraged her to do the embarrassing and frankly creepy things in her attempt to get the attention of Adrien Agreste, one of the few faes in the city who weren't treated badly. That was probably because he was rich and part of the seelie court, which was also known as the summer court but he didn't stay by her side, despite insisting he was. No, he insisted she take the 'high road' and got annoyed at her when she decided not after losing her crush on him. Honestly, she didn't see what her younger self saw in him. She was grateful to the people who did stay by her side though. One of the people who did side with her was part of the seelie court just like Adrien but she was treated badly due to her choice of lover. Her name was Rose and her girlfriend was Juleka, the other person who stayed on Marinette's side. The thing was Juleka was half fae, half human. She didn't fit in anywhere. She was considered a freak to most witches and humans for been half fae, she didn't fit in with the seelie court as her family were part of the unseelie court but she didn't really fit in with them either. Though from what she had told Marinette, none of her family members fitted in with the unseelie court despite been full bloods either. In school, she was picked on for it, especially by Chloe, though the blonde had since changed her tune after been cursed by Juleka's brother. According to her, her brother was one of the most powerful faes in the unseelie court and had cursed Chloe with a karma spell. To say it humbled her was an understatement and she wasn't the first person to be cursed by him nor the last. Apparently, he had cursed the musician XY and his father, Chloe's own family and a number of other people but from what Marinette had heard, most of them deserved it. That didn't mean she wasn't afraid of him. She had made a mental note to never piss him off if she met him. Of course, his curses had put him at odds with the magical councils yet he got away with it. She was pretty sure he only got away with it because they were scared of him and because none of his 'victims' had been mortally wounded nor were they really victims. It had turned out that each one of them had done something wrong. XY and his father had stolen music and other creative ideas from a number of musicians, Chloe's family were corrupt to the bone and arguable to blame for Chloe's own behavior. Sure, she was partly to blame as well but she never would have become that bad in the first place if her parents hadn't given into her every whim. His other victims were far from innocent too. They ranged from criminal gangs to other corrupted politicians. Either way, his curses had been blessings in disguise. Chloe had since became a way better person, her family humbled, the artists that had their work had their thieves brought to justice and their work returned to them and the victims of the other cursed got justice. All in all, it worked out for the better. The bell rang, making her jump a little and look up.

"Hi, welcome-" The greeting died in her throat as she stared at the very fae she had been thinking about. Luka Couffaine, Juleka's older brother. She never thought she would ever see him in her store. From what she knew, he tended to stay at his boathouse at the Seine, preferring to deal with his magic and his snakes but she had seen enough photos of him to recognize him. As she stared at him, the fear she felt disappeared and was replaced by attraction. She knew fae were extremely beautiful. Rose, Adrien and Juleka all were but Luka was something else. Not only was he gorgeous but he had an air about him too. Everything about him screamed hot. His hair, his body shape and his eyes. Oh his eyes. They were so hard to look from. They were snakelike but ocean blue in color. As he stepped into the shop, Marinette couldn't help the little whine that escaped her lips. She felt like she was in the presence of an actual god. The pictures she had seen did not do him any justice at all. "H-Hi, can I help you?"

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng?" He asked, making her want to faint with just the way he said her name. She weakly nodded and tried not to faint as he tilted his head to the side as a smile appeared on his lips. "Well, Juleka never told me how pretty you were,"

"I... um..." She blushed as he smiled. "S-Same here,"

He chuckled as she went bright red before he closed the door.

"I need to talk to you about a recent contract of mine," He stated, making her frown. Luka was what you might call a deal maker but it was rare for a witch to get involved with it. She walked over to the door and moved the sign to say closed. "Is there somewhere private we can go?"

"We can talk in the back," She replied, making him nod and follow her as she lead him to her reading room. "So this contract-"

"I was contracted by one Lila Rossi to make her famous and to give you 'what you deserve'," He stated, making her frown. So that's how Lila got famous and now he was here to act Lila's revenge. She frowned but she wasn't surprised. She closed her eyes, waiting for him to curse her but when it didn't occur, she opened her eyes and found him look at her with interest. "There's more to the story,"

"Oh?" She asked, feeling a little silly.

"Don't feel silly. It's a natural reaction to assume I'm here to exact her 'vengeance' and technically I am here to honor that part of the contract," He replied, making her gulp. "However, Lila failed to tell me exactly what she wanted. She told me to 'give you what you deserve'. I decided to leave you alone but apparently that wasn't good enough for her so she came by and demanded I do my job,"

He rolled her eyes at that.

"She was extremely angry that I had decided that course of action to the extend where she called me a 'useless puck'," He explained, making Marinette gasp and began to apology to him. He held up his hand, stopping her. Though he appreciated the sentiment. "You do not need to apology for her. I simply came here to talk to and determine exactly what I should give you,"

"Give me?"

"Part of Lila's contract was to 'give you what you deserved' which is why I'm here. I need to determine exactly what that is since she never actually said," He explained, making Marinette nod. "But in order to do so I need to know the full story. Why does Lila Rossi hate you so much?"

"Because I caught onto her lies," Marinette sighed, making Luka frown. He had suspected that Lila had been lying but hearing it from someone else annoyed him more. This was no longer just about contracts and magic. This was now about pride. Lila thought she could fool him and get him to do her dirty work while getting to live a good life. Well, not on his watch. "That's why she wants me to get what I deserve. She's made it her mission to destroy me,"

"So she does lie. How disappointing," He muttered, frowning. It wasn't a surprise. Faes themselves couldn't lie and had to tell the truth but they also couldn't stand liars. "That explains her pendent,"

"So what are you going to do?" She asked as he made a face. "I know a little about contracts and I know they are unbreakable. Whatever you do, she'll use it to her advantage as long as she has that silver tongue of hers. It's her biggest strength. I know from personal experience. No matter what I did to show people the truth about her, she always spun it to make me look like the bad guy and she'll do the same to you. You try and break the contract, she'll made it so you're the bad guy. You try to alter it and she'll make you look evil. You have no choice but to honor it in the way she intended,"

"I see," He muttered, making her frown. She would have some sort of punishment. "Then I'm going to honor it,"

"Then please don't be too harsh on me," She muttered, closing her eyes as Luka stepped closer to her. "I accept whatever you decide to curse me with,"

"I'm not going to curse you," He replied in a gentle voice, causing her to snap open her eyes. "Did Juleka tell you why us unseelie are hated compared to the fae of the seelie court?"

"No?"

"It's because people believe us to be malicious," He replied, making her frown. "But the truth is we're not. No fae is benevolent or malicious. We simply grant what we are asked to so when I say I'm going to honor her contract, it will be done to the exact detail,"

"But isn't that giving her what she wants?" Marinette asked, confused. "She'll be happy with it. I suffer and she gets to be the most famous person,"

"Oh, I doubt she'll be happy with what she gets, Marinette," He smiled in a dark manner. "You see we unseelie are what you might call tricksters and mischievous. We have no rules nor do we play to others. Lila thinks she can control me but she can't. Personally, I don't like it went people act entitled nor do I like been insulted so it's my duty to punish her for her entitled and frankly awful behaviour. Lila wants fame. Well, I'll make sure no one will ever forget her name again. She wants you to 'get what you deserve' then I'll do exactly that. She's going to get exactly what she asked for whenever she liked it or not,"

"I think I understand," She replied, nodding. "I'm just sorry you had to take her job,"

"Hmm, I'm not," He replied, shrugged. "Paid for food for a week. Besides, I get to punish one of the wicked again and I know exactly how to turn this around without breaching my contract with her. Starting with you,"

Marinette closed her eyes as she expected him to reign down fury and fire on her but to her surprise, she simply felt his lips brush against her cheek as he placed a gentle kiss there. She opened her eyes as she felt magic flow through her body but it didn't feel wicked or cursed. It felt... good and light. Like she was on cloud nine. It continued to flow even as he pulled away.

"As par to my contract, I have given you what you deserve," He stated, making her look at him. "Which is a blessing of prosperity. May your future be a bright one,"

"A blessing?" She asked, generally surprised. "But isn't that breaking your contract?"

"No, it isn't," He smiled, making her blush a little. "Lila only said to give you what you deserved. She never said what that was,"

"Oh," She replied before smiling brightly. "Then thank you,"

~One Week Later~

Marinette couldn't help the massive grin on her face as she walked through the Gala, getting everyone's attention. She got endless compliments and couldn't believe her luck but when she thought about it, she knew it was because of Luka's gift. Apparently, this was his definition of 'what she deserves'. In other words, success and happiness. And happy she was. She had never had such a successful run before nor had she been in the spot light like this. She just wish she could thank her fae friend. After all, he had been the one to change her life.

"Marinette!" A familiar voice called, causing her to look over and see Adrien. If she had been 14 years old again, she might have fainted from his amazing smile but she was over him these days. Having said that, he still looked beautiful, just not as otherworldly as she once thought. "Wow, you look amazing,"

"Thank you," She smiled but it didn't last long as Lila stormed over.

"Marinette," She grinned falsely. On the outside, she looked happy for her rival but on the inside, she was fuming. Apparently, that stupid fae had helped Marinette become a sensation overnight, despite her contract with him. Anyone who was anyone wanted a MDC original, which was why Marinette was here and Lila hated it. She had gotten an invite because she was the current it girl. Anyone who was anyone knew her name. She was so famous that she couldn't walk down the street and she loved it but tonight someone else was outshining her and that someone was Marinette. Lila had to admit she looked amazing but it wouldn't last long. It enraged her that Marinette was stealing her limelight and she was determined to destroy her but she would wait til Marinette lose her defense pose. "I heard you've been getting more successful recently. Oh maybe we could work together. With my status and your designs, we could do great things,"

"Oh, I'm not interested Lila but thank you," Marinette replied, making Lila grit her teeth as she stepped forward.

"Listen here, Dupain-Cheng," She hissed, getting closer to her. "There is nothing special about you as I know for a fact you had that puck help you but he also helped me and I intend to keep my throne so either you get in line or I'll destroy you again,"

"I'm not afraid of you, Lila," Marinette replied back. "And his name is Luka. Yes, he gave me a blessing and maybe that's why I'm successful but unlike you, I'm grateful for his help,"

"Typical," Lila gasped, turning on her heel and walking away from Marinette. Marinette shrugged and turned back to people as a waiter came by with glasses of red wine. Seeing her chance, Lila took one and was about to 'trip' into Marinette, planning to ruin her dress with the wine but before she could, someone caught her by the waist, removed the glass in her hand and pulled her into a dance, making her glare at Luka. "You! You broke-"

"Now, now. Don't make a scene," He replied as they glided across the floor. "There are a lot of cameras and I'm sure you don't want them to see you arguing with the son of Jagged Stone now, especially if you decide to use those racial slurs again,"

"I-" She gasped, glancing around and saw he was telling the truth. Of course he was. Faes can't lie. "You stopped me from ruining her. If you hadn't cheated-"

"I did no such thing," He replied, making her grit her teeth. "You were the one who didn't say exactly what to do with Miss Dupain-Cheng so I improvised,"

"So you made her more successful?!" She gasped in annoyance. "That is not what I wanted,"

"I care not for your wants but for the contract's words. It said to give her what she deserved and that's what I did. If anyone is to blame, it is yourself for not been exact in your wording," He shrugged, making her gasp in annoyance. "But relax. I'm not here to cause any trouble. Actually, I'm here to grant the final part of our contract,"

"I'm already famous!"

"Are you?" He questioned, making her look around. Despite dancing with him, no one seemed bothered by her. All eyes were still on Marinette. "Seems like to me no one's really paying attention to you,"

She gasped as she realized he was right. She was famous but not enough. She turned to him with a begging expression.

"You need to honor-"

"Don't worry, Miss Rossi," He smiled but to her surprise, he roughly grabbed her arm, causing it to feel like it was burning. "I'm here to make sure everyone remembers you forever,"

The way he said it sent a shiver down her spine and she panicked, trying to pull her arm away from him as it continued to burn before he suddenly let go.

"That's our contract fulfilled," He stated, walking away from her and picking up a glass of wine from a nearby waiter. He held up the glass to her with a smirk on his face "Have fun now,"

With that, he turned on his heel and walked over to Marinette, causing the witch to smile as she greeted him. Despite his promise, that annoyed her and if he wasn't going to punish Marinette, she would. She began to storm over but was stopped by one of the other people there.

"Oh, isn't Marinette such a darling?" She asked, mistaking Lila for one of the crowd who was admiring the girl. Lila couldn't believe her luck. She could easily corrupt this person's mind. "I would love one of her design,"

"Oh, she is the most talented designers in the world and I hate her for it," She stated, surprising herself and causing the person to look over at her before shaking her head. "I mean we were in school together and she was always so nice to other people, it made me sick. She told me to stop lying so I destroyed her life and turned most of her friends against her,"

"What?" The woman asked, looking wary as Lila covered her mouth.

"I didn't mean that," She gasped, thinking she was able to lie. "I mean I totally meant it. She was such a goody two-shoes and I hated her guts. I even framed her for stealing another person's designs once. Her class actually believed it. They were so stupid. All that to do was turn around the sketch and they would have seen her signature. The best part is she wasn't the first person I did this too,"

At this point, everyone was looking at Lila with shock and disgust, apart from Luka. He simply held up his glass to her as she glared at him. She had realized that burning feeling he had created was a curse. A curse of truth but all she had to do was remain quiet until it lifted.

"I caused a girl to kill herself," She suddenly blurted out, causing a number of people to gasp. "I laughed at her funeral and pretended I was crying,"

Lila clapped her hands to her mouth but it didn't stop her from talking. One by one, all of the lies she had said throughout the years came out in front of everyone at the gala including the cameras that were filming everyone. People were whispering to each other and pointing at her. In sudden realization, Lila realized that everyone was no longer looking at Marinette but in fact were all looking at her. They were taking her picture and the cameras and reporters covering the event were filming her too. She knew by morning her career was over and it only got worst as security came over.

"Miss, come with us please," They stated, making her look at them.

"What?!" She gasped, annoyed. "Do you know who I am?!"

"Yes, you're Lila Rossi and due to your confession the police have been called," The man answered, making her go pale. "Come quietly,"

"Quietly?! You stupid buffoon!" She screamed, despite trying to act 'innocent'. "I am Lila Rossi! I'm the best thing here and you think you can force me from here?! I deserve to be here!! Not these morons! Me! I'm the Queen! You should be begging for my attention!!"

Apparently, whatever Luka had done to her didn't just cause her to tell the truth but to drop her act. However, the security guard didn't care and went to take her arm, causing her to hit him which only made the situation worst. Soon, her downfall was filmed by all the cameras and bystanders as she was frogmarched out, shrieking like a banshee. Actually, scrap that. Banshees had nicer voices. Luka smirked as he watched her spill more lies and cause a scene, enjoying it.

"What did you do to her?" Marinette asked, causing him to turn his attention to her.

"I gave her a blessing," He replied, causing her to raise an eyebrow. "Unlike yours though, I gave her a blessing of truth. She can't lie about anything now. Not through words or through her personality. I would guess that she is going to be trending on social media. She wanted to be famous after all,"

"That is brilliant," Marinette smiled before turning to him. "Thank you for my blessing by the way. It's really helped my business take off but I feel kind of bad that I'm riding on your magic for all my success. I wouldn't have gotten this far without it. Is there anyway to thank you?"

"You know I only gave you a little boost of prosperity right?" He asked, making her look at him. "Everything else was all you.. but I would love to get to know you better if you're interested and if you insist on thanking me, you could get me a danish from your parent's bakery. They're my favorite treat,"

"I would you to get to know you better as well," Marinette flushed, making him grin. "And getting a danish wouldn't be a problem... want to dance?"

"I would love to," He smiled, taking her hand and leading her onto the dance floor as they heard Lila screeching in the background. By tomorrow morning, she would go down in history as a spoiled diva but not just that but people would post about her. Her previous victims would reveal how she was and the hashtag 'LiarRossi' would trend, occasionally making a comeback when something new was revealed. All the crimes and fraud she committed to would come to light, along with every bad deed she did and she would realize with growing horror that Luka fulfilled his contract perfectly. After all, he promised to make her famous and now she was. She would never be forgotten for a long time. The best part was he had brought her to the height of fame which made this so much more better. You see Fame is tricky. Once you're famous, everyone watches you every move and with how famous Lila was, people from all over would learn of her misdeeds, spreading her story all across the world. The newspapers were going to have a field day and her name would forever be remembered as a famous liar. He would make sure no one would ever forget her. After all, she asked to be known by everyone and that's exactly what he gave her. Of course, that doesn't mean he wasn't grateful to her. After all, if he hadn't taken her deal, he might not have finally gotten a chance to meet Marinette and now he had. He hoped Lila was satisfied with the outcome. He sure knew he was.

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festering-bacteria · 2 years

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here’s my last few redesigns!!! antags edition :))) (ik volpina isn’t a real hero but it’s the closest there is to a hero form for Lila)

#art #miraculous ladybug #chloe bourgeois #sabrina raincomprix #lila rossi #felix graham de vanily #queen bee ml #miss hound #volpina #flairmidable #lowkey obsessed w/ chloe & sabrina’s designs #ALL OF THE HERO COSTUMES ARE ORANGE/YELLOW #it’s cool but also it makes me wanna bash my jead against a wall

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ravenramblingrandomshit · 2 years

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the funniest thing about lila-bashing fics is that in 75% of them, marinette has the entire city, the school, and half her class on her side and then has the audacity to claim that lila "won"

"only nino, max, juleka, rose, alix, and kim still believed her"

leaving mylene, ivan, nathaniel, alya, sabrina, and lila, oh yeah and adrien

chloe is a side all by herself most of the time, and then she joins mari

mari also has luka and kagami outside of school

her parents are a hit or miss

she has Actual Celebrities on her side

lots of these fics are maribat so she has an additional alfred, bruce, however-the-fuck-many kids, and the gotham city sirens ofc

also diana and clark and the superfam

girl

u fine just ditch this place mf

#miraculous ladybug #marinette dupain-cheng #akuma class #lila rossi is a bitch #maribat #lila bashing fics

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charlietheepicwriter7 · 2 years

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High Priest, Pt. 9

From “The Many Akumatizations of Luka Couffiane”

AO3

Rose didn’t like this plan. As Chat Noir and Harmonia argued, she kept turning the idea over in her head. Sacrificing one person so that everyone else would be okay… But what if they turned over the wrong person? What if someone tried to give themselves up as the culprit and was killed because of it?

It made her shutter.

“We still can’t escape, even if we use someone as bait, right?” Kim asked. “We’re trapped.”

Max nodded. “Correct. And given the nature of this akuma, it won’t stop until we are all punished, so it wouldn’t distract him for long.”

“But it might be long enough for us to get the upper hand,” Harmonia said. “We already know his akumatized object, so it’s just a matter of getting it off him.”

“You mean the knife? He’s not just going to hand it over-”

Harmonia gave Chat Noir a withering stare. “No, it’s his necklace. Marinette made it for him as a present and he was protecting it throughout our fight with him.”

How did Harmonia know that? Rose had noticed Luka wearing a new necklace during band practice, especially since he never seemed to take it off, but he hadn’t answered when she asked where it came from. Did… did she really miss the start of Marinette and Luka dating?

Rose had been all for Adrienette since Alya had filled her in on Marinette’s crush. She and Juleka had gone to all the meetings aimed at getting the two together. But once Marinette and Luka met, and they seemed to hit it off, she’d switched teams. After all, wouldn’t a double date between the two couples be super cute? Not all the time, obviously, Rose still had plenty of things she wanted to do with Juleka that they didn’t need her older brother hanging around for, but she loved the idea of maybe one day being sisters with Marinette.

Or she had, until Marinette had turned mean. Or Lila framed her into being mean? Rose didn’t want to think poorly of Lila, they were friends, but… Luka really seemed to hate her. Even if everything they’d seen so far was Luka’s opinion, she couldn’t ignore the fact that so many people she cared about didn’t believe her. Luka was furious enough to want to hurt them. Juleka had left because of them. Surely… they’d done something wrong, right?

If Marinette really was innocent, then that meant Rose-

“There’s only so many of them, and more of us,” Alya interrupted. “What if we all attack him at the same time? He can’t stab us all at once, and it would give us enough time to grab the akuma!”

“Or we could just give him Lila,” Alix added bitterly. “He’d probably take his time with her.”

Rose gasped, horrified. Her eyes instantly darted to Lila, ready to comfort her friend… and that was the only reason she caught Lila’s fearsome glare at Alix before she wailed. Rose rubbed her eyes. Did she really just see…? Alix’s comment was harsh, but that glare…

Max coughed into his hand. “Anyway, we should assume that anyone who isn’t here is on the High Priest’s side, just in case. If we didn’t see them disappear, then they could have been brainwashed by now.”

Rose gasped. Juleka… Nathaniel wasn’t here either, and they’d gotten separated from Mylene and Ivan while running away. It was like Horrificator all over again, only this time they might find their friends brainwashed instead of trapped in pods.

Lila sobbed. “Please… please don’t give me up! He’ll hurt me if you do; Luka’s always been so mean to me!” Rose froze. As far as she knew, Lila had never been formally introduced to Lila. Lila usually missed Kitty Selection’s band practice–Rose couldn’t remember if she’d attended one, actually–and Luka didn’t pick Juleka up after school since Jules claimed she was old enough to walk herself. When had they met?

Rose had assumed that most of what the akuma said against Lila was biased, since they’d never met. But if Luka did know Lila… or maybe Rose was right, and they’d never met, but then why was Lila lying now? Is she really so scared that she’d think they’d actually sacrifice her?

“No one is sacrificing anyone!” Chat Noir shouted. “I wish Ladybug was here…”

“Well, she’s not!” Harmonia snapped. “Sorry I’m not perfect, but what else can we do? We tried fighting him, but he’s too strong!”

“Have you used Lucky Charm yet?”

“No, but do you seriously think we can beat him in five minutes before I transform back?”

“I carry some cookies on me for Tikki to recharge.” Harmonia shot Chat Noir a confused look. “Me and Ladybug switched Miraculous once, and… it’s just in case. What I mean is, you can transform back quickly once you use it. And since this is going to be the only time you get the Ladybug Miraculous, then you don’t really need to worry about your secret identity.”

“Well, that’s reassuring,” Harmonia scoffed, and then sighed. “But you’re not exactly wrong. Lucky Charm!” Harmonia threw her yo-yo up into the air and caught… a flower. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“A flower?” Alix complained. “We’re in a garden, we could have just pulled that off a bush!”

“Maybe it means we’re supposed to fight the High Priest in here?”

As her class chatted about the lucky charm, Rose’s face grew pale as she stared at the rose in Harmonia’s hand. It was about her.

She was going to have to tell them that she’d been the one to push Marinette.

@bee-a-garbage-shipper @gabbie-gabbs @yamagotchii @larasilvestris @vixen-uchiha @kittysuicoffee @toodaloo-kangaroo

#the many akumatizations of luka couffiane #yandere luka couffaine #lukanette #mlb au #akuma luka #rose lavillant #julerose #juleka couffaine #ladybug juleka #chat noir #lila bashing #lila salt #lila rossi #alya cesaire #mlb #miraculous ladybug #ml salt

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starfinss · 2 years

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Coup de Grâce — Miraculous 1/2

𝘍𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘮: Miraculous Ladybug

𝘗𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨: Adrien Agreste/Chat Noir + Marinette Dupain-Cheng/Ladybug

𝘙𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨: SFW

𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘊𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵: 6,469

𝘚𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘺:

Coup de Grâce (Noun) A final blow or shot, given to kill a wounded person or animal.

𝘕𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘴: Partially inspired by “Best (fake) Smile by Reiaji, over on Ao3! Seriously, dude, your fanfic is amazing. I adore that story, I’ve read it like, four times. Go read that fic, I highly recommend it. I’m so sorry, I stole some plot points, but I wanted to do it with my own twist.

It all started at breakfast.

Adrien had a fairly uneventful morning before this. He woke up at six, did a short morning workout, then took a shower, listening to the newest Jagged Stone single as he got dressed and ready for school.

A knock on the door prompted Adrien to turn off the music, half leaning over to tell the person outside to come in.

“Breakfast is on the table, Adrien,” Nathalie told him, tilting her head out the door and into the hall, telling him to come to the table when he was ready.

Adrien smiled warmly at her. “Thanks, Nathalie. I’ll be there in a minute.”

He finished up with tying his shoes, then made his way to the dining room, taking his seat at his usual spot.

“Good morning, father,” Adrien said, and his father looked up from his laptop for a split second, grunting an acknowledgement, before going back to whatever he was working on.

Ignoring the sting, Adrien picked up his utensils, slicing into the pancakes on his plate.

“As you know, Adrien,” Gabriel Agreste said, “I’m hosting a charity gala tonight.”

Adrien nodded, placing the slice of food into his mouth. He knew where this was going. He was already dreading having to get dressed up, swarmed with stylists as he was fitted with a suit, airbrushed and tailored to perfection. He tried not to let his dread show on his face.

“Yes, father, I know.”

“Good,” Gabriel said, eyes still fixed on his computer screen, “I expect you to make an appearance.”

Adrien bit back his protest. “Yes, father, I know that, too.”

This was normal. He usually had to make appearances at these sorts of things, dressed to the nines in the brand’s best menswear. And sometimes, if he was really unlucky, he had to bring along a date. Usually, it was some daughter of whatever designer his father was working with at the time. That was a mixed bag. Sometimes, the girls didn’t want to be there just as much as Adrien, and the two of them made a mutual, pleasant agreement to avoid each other for the night. Sometimes, they got along, and became friends. And sometimes, if Adrien was really unlucky, they got handsy. What was lucky, however, was the Gorilla taking one look and prying whatever girl tried to shove her hand up the front of Adrien’s shirt off of him and tossing her out on her ass. Even if she was sneaky, all it took was a single frightened glance at the bodyguard and there would be absolutely no more of that.

Adrien didn’t mind parties. He enjoyed talking with designers, and other celebrities that made appearances at these things, and many of the guests had known him since he was a young child. But he did mind when his father picked a date for him. He’d much rather take Nino and hang out, eating fancy hors d’oeuvres and just being regular sixteen year olds.

“Can I bring any guests?” Adrien asked, hopeful, but not expecting a yes.

“You are to bring a date.”

Ah. There it is.

Adrien’s shoulders slumped. “Do I get to choose this time?”

If Adrien did have a choice, and if it was a perfect world, he’d bring Ladybug. Just the thought of her, dressed to the nines, was enough to make his heart do backflips in his chest. Hell, just the thought of her had that effect. But, this wasn’t a perfect world, and Ladybug had a more important job than being his date to a silly gala. But, he could always take Marinette. His fondness for her ran bone deep, and her nervous smile and pretty, melodic laughter warmed his heart. It gladdened him that they’d been growing closer, and he enjoyed her company. She, the creative and bright baker’s daughter, was one of his very first friends, and he treasured that more than anything he had, treasured her.

“I already have a date selected for you.”

Adrien ignored the frustration bubbling up inside of him, pushing it down with as much force as he could, instead opting to nod passively, the only hint of his annoyance in the tightness of his polite smile.

“What’s her name?” He asked, reaching for his glass of orange juice, taking a drink.

“You may already know her, she’s one of your classmates. Lila Rossi.”

Adrien almost spat out his juice.

He sputtered inelegantly, forcing himself to swallow, but the juice got caught in his windpipe, making him cough roundly. He could feel Nathalie patting him on the back, offering him the glass for another sip, which he took, gulping down another mouthful of liquid.

His voice sounded strained when he spoke. “Lila?!”

Gabriel looked surprised at his son’s outburst, the lack of his usually impassive expression reflecting this. “Why, yes. She’s a good influence, and since you already know her, you’ll get along quite well.”

Adrien was incredulous. “Father, she lies— about everything.”

“Adrien, honestly. It is very unkind to say such things about your friends. You will be taking Miss Rossi to the gala, and that is final. I have already informed her mother, and Signora Rossi agreed. I will hear nothing more about it.”

Adrien wanted to say that he and Lila weren’t as close as his father thought, and that he’d appreciate it if he didn’t just set up dates without his say, but he also had enough sense to know that argument wouldn’t make a dent in his father’s decision. Adrien didn’t like liars, and he didn’t like how Lila treated people, but if his father said it was happening, it was happening.

As much as all of this irritated him, and as much as he thought that Lila might be involved with this decision, Adrien wasn’t going to do anything. There wasn’t anything he could do. He’d just have to endure her, glued to his side all night, lying about everything under the sun as she giggled and smiled and charmed everyone like a siren, worming her way into Adrien’s life even further.

Oh God, he was going to die tonight.

Without much more chatter, and a frosty silence, Adrien finished his breakfast and retreated to his bedroom to gather his school supplies. Tonight was going to be exhausting.

“Adrien!”

There she was, the second Adrien was stepping out of the car, running towards him with a bright, wide smile. She had obviously dolled herself up, dressing in a pair of white skinny jeans, paired with a pretty orange blouse with long sleeves, tied at the throat with an elegant bow. On her feet were a pair of soft brown ankle boots with a slight heel.

Adrien sighed, plastering on his best friendly smile, waving at her.

“Good morning, Lila.”

He tried to walk past her, searching the throngs of students entering the school for someone, anyone he knew, even an acquaintance, but there was nobody. Nothing at all this morning was going Adrien’s way. He took a deep breath in, walking on, and not pausing even when he heard the clack of Lila’s heels on the pavement as she tried to follow him.

She eventually caught up, grabbing onto his arm, forcing Adrien to give her his attention. He tried his best to give her a smile, and she smiled back, bouncing on her heels.

“Aren’t you excited for tonight?” She gushed, “it’s so awesome of your dad to ask me to be your date, do you think I’ll be able to wear a Gabriel Original to the gala? Have I ever told you about the time I exposed a store selling fakes? The real designers were kind enough to send me some originals because they were just so grateful.”

Okay, so Adrien was half right. He had no idea why his father had decided this, but he hardly had any idea why he did anything, even if predicting his changes in moods was like sixth sense to Adrien. It was hardly any use arguing with a brick wall, though, and that was something Adrien discovered long ago.

“That was kind of them,” Adrien said simply, not believing a word she’d just said, “and sure, tonight will be fun. I must warn you, though, these parties are kind of stuffy. I wouldn’t blame you for backing out.”

Lila scoffed, waving him off with a smile. “Of course I won’t back out, silly, and miss the chance to spend time with some of the biggest names in fashion? And most importantly, you.”

Adrien didn’t like the way she was looking at him, like he was a prime cut on display, or how close she was to him. He swallowed thickly, extracting himself from her grip.

“W-well,” he said, looking at an invisible watch, “we’re gonna be late to class.”

That was nowhere near true, but unlike Lila’s lies, a little white one like that was hardly anything to talk about, especially to get himself out of an uncomfortable situation.

Adrien took a deep, cleansing breath as he entered the courtyard, but he nearly toppled over when he bumped straight into Marinette.

She yelped in surprise, toppling over in a heap, peering up at him through tangled limbs. Her eyes went wide, a luminescent blush spreading across her cheeks as she scrambled to sit on her knees, rapidly straightening her clothing.

“Adrien!” She cried, “I’m sorry so— I mean I’m so sorry, I—”

Adrien chuckled, leaning down to pick up her dropped backpack, passing it back to her and offering a hand to help her up.

“My fault,” he said, “I wasn’t watching where I was going. Are you okay?”

Marinette’s expression was a little dreamy as she took his hand. “Now that you’re here— I mean— I— I’m fine.”

Adrien chuckled awkwardly, endeared by her, helping her to her feet.

She was dressed warmly, for the changing fall weather, in a blue sweater dress that brought out the vibrant cerulean of her eyes, fitted snugly at her narrow waist with bishop style sleeves, cinched tight at her slender wrists. On closer inspection, he noticed that there were little white ribbons, hand stitched at the collar of the dress. It was unique enough in its design enough that Adrien knew she herself designed it. It was paired tastefully with white leggings and pretty blue and white flats that matched her dress.

As always, she looked perfectly adorable. Adrien felt his heart warm at the sight of her. She looked nice like this, he noted, not that she ever didn’t look nice. Her hair was in twin braids instead of pigtails, fastened with little white ribbons. She was the picture of softness and beauty, and Adrien felt himself smiling, his heart fluttering in his chest.

A guy can platonically admire his friend, right?

…Right?

“You look pretty today,” he said, before he could stop himself, and he watched her face get so red he was afraid she’d combust, her eyes as wide as dinner plates.

Good going, Adrien.

“Y-you look pretty— pretty today,” she replied, as if on autopilot, “I mean, handsome— u-unless you wanna be pretty, you can be… pretty.”

Adrien smiled. “Thanks.”

A few, awkward beats of silence passed, and Adrien was about to excuse himself to go find Nino when she spoke.

“So,” she said, voice tight, “Lila.”

Adrian sighed heavily, pinching the bridge of his nose. “You heard that.”

Marinette panicked, shifting from foot to foot nervously. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to listen— I was just here, you know?”

Adrien waved her off. “No, no. Not your fault. It wasn’t a private conversation. And like you said, you just happened to be nearby. Also, just between you and me, I’d rather not be going with her, but it was my father’s idea.”

Marinette seemed puzzled by this. “Since when has your father even liked Lila?”

Adrien shrugged helplessly. “I don’t know. They had some kind of chat, or something about something or other, but now she’s welcome in the house any time. I guess he started liking her after the whole Kagami incident. Or maybe it was after she charmed her way into the house to help me study. I haven’t really asked.”

Marinette nodded, her expression oddly sad, her arms wrapping tightly around her backpack.

“I’m sorry about that,” she said, her eyes staying glued to her feet, “you should be allowed to choose your own date.”

Adrien scoffed. “Yeah, well he doesn’t see it that way. I’d rather be taking anyone else.”

You, he wanted to say, but that wasn’t an option, because she was one of his dearest friends, and that would definitely send the wrong message, right?”

Marinette cracked a smile, laughing ruefully. “If I had to spend an entire evening with Lila, I think I’d combust.”

“Oh, come on,” Adrien said, “she isn’t that bad. Y’know, once you get past all the lying. I think she’s just… misguided.”

Adrien noticed, for the first time, that Marinette’s face was paler than usual. Hidden by her makeup, sure, but where her foundation cut off, her skin was a touch paler than it usually was, and her eyes were tired. Furthermore, at his frankly weak and half assed defense towards Lila, she reacted in a way he didn’t expect.

In that she didn’t.

Usually, Marinette would say something about how Lila was a liar, or get at least somewhat annoyed or angry. That was to be expected. Marinette was an emotional girl who wore her heart on her sleeve. It was almost unnerving to see her not react at all to something she normally would’ve.

Instead, her gaze remained on the ground, expression tight, her shoulders rising and falling shallowly in an apathetic shrug.

“Have you been sleeping well?” Adrien asked, suddenly concerned at her unusual behavior.

Marinette blinked, finally looking up at him. “Huh? Oh, yeah, fine.”

Another beat, and she shifted uncomfortably. “W-we should class get— I mean, get to class.”

And with that, she turned on her heel, disappearing into the crowd.

Something was off with her. Adrien contemplated following her, but he refrained, watching her retreating figure. Her shoulders were hunched, making her look smaller, and it made Adrien’s heart hurt. She seemed even more nervous than usual, almost jumpy. She was usually jumpy, if something involved him, but never to this degree. There was something else going on.

Adrien intended to find out what that was.

And it wasn’t long until he did.

Talking to Alya, which was Adrien’s first plan of attack, went with little success. Alya told Adrien that Marinette was fine, just tired and stressed with new designs and schoolwork, though she did admit that she noticed something was off. However, she also said that when she confronted Marinette about this, the girl had simply brushed her off, assuring her that she was fine. Alya was worried before, but even more so now that someone else had noticed Marinette’s strange behavior. She agreed she’d keep an eye on Marinette, and that was it.

But it wasn’t. Adrien knew it wasn’t. Alya was smart, and she had the makings of a cutthroat journalist, so Adrien knew that when she said she was going to keep an eye on someone, she would do just that.

Adrien tried to keep his worry from his thoughts while he was in class, which had the usual banter throughout it, and there, Marinette seemed a little better, but she was still withdrawn. She spoke when spoken to, and didn’t even respond with her usual snark towards Chloé, but she answered questions when called on and smiled at jokes made by her classmates.

And, unusually, when Nino brought up going to the movies, Marinette declined.

It was during break that Adrien found out what was really going on.

He was passing the locker room when he heard voices. One of them was clearly Marinette, he knew her voice well. And the other was none other than Lila Rossi. She sounded nothing like she usually did, all sugar sweet; well meaning and pleasant. She sounded different.

“—that gala.”

“I know, Lila,” Marinette said, “he told me.”

“Oh, did he?” Lila replied, “then you know he’s taking me, as his date. He asked me himself, you know.”

Adrien felt his fist clench. Liar.

“No, he didn’t, Lila, stop lying. He told me that his father asked you to go with him.”

Lila laughed. It wasn’t a kind laugh. It was cold, unfeeling. Mean. “I’m sure he’s just saying that so he doesn’t hurt your feelings. But like everyone else, he likes me much better than you.”

“Why are you doing this to me, Lila?”

Adrien’s heart broke at the sound of utter defeat in Marinette’s voice. But mixed with the heartbreak for his friend, he was angry.

“Because,” Lila said, smugly, “I told you what would happen, didn’t I? I’d make sure that your life was miserable, that you’d have nobody left, and that you’d end up alone. After tonight, Adrien will be mine. And if you do anything about it, you’ll have more to worry about than just being alone.”

Adrien decided he was an idiot. All the signs were there. Withdrawn, poor sleeping, avoidance of social situations. Marinette was being bullied. How long had this been going on? What else had Lila done to Marinette? Why hadn’t she said anything?

Then, it occurred to Adrien that she had. Multiple times. And nobody listened. Everyone believed Lila instead of Marinette, calling her jealous, even when Lila lied more and more outrageously. It felt like a puzzle was piecing itself together as Adrien stood, thunderstruck, listening to one of his dearest friends get bullied.

She’s busy.

She needs to help her parents at the bakery.

I dunno, her grandma is in town.

She’s busy, Adrien.

I dunno, she said she was busy.

Adrien should have realized this so long ago. He should have put two and two together when she made an excuse and vanished after Lila was invited (or, rather, invited herself) to Alya’s party, or how she made every excuse under the sun not to even be in the same room as Lila when she could help it, keeping her head down when she did have to be within the other girl’s vicinity.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng was being bullied by Lila Rossi.

Adrien felt like a horrible friend.

Fury was beginning to bubble up inside of him, threatening to spill over as he tried to even out his breaths, listening to Lila verbally abuse Marinette, his anger reaching an all out rolling boil when he heard Lila use an insult.

“You really think he’d want you? Stupid bitch.”

Lila’s venomous words rang out inside Adrien’s head, reverberating like a shout in a cavernous tunnel, only stoking his building fury.

“Um,” came Plagg’s voice from within Adrien’s jacket, “you’re really gonna let her talk to your friend like that?”

Adrien said nothing, ignoring the Kwami as a plot began to formulate in his head. Most of the people at this gala were probably people Lila had told lies about in her life. Adrien knew for a fact that Jagged Stone would be in attendance, much to his excitement, since Gabriel Agreste had designed many of his last tour outfits. And Lila loved to lie about Jagged stone.

But, unfortunately for Lila, Jagged Stone had a particular fondness for Marinette.

In one night alone, Adrien knew he could do a lot of damage.

At the sound of Lila’s approaching footsteps, Adrien hid behind a corner, out of sight as she exited the locker room. After she was gone, he slipped into the room himself.

Marinette was sitting on the floor, her head in her hands, narrow shoulders shaking with sobs. Adrien felt his heart crumble, dreadful worry and horrible, horrible sorrow overtaking his anger as he rushed to her side.

She started at the sound of his footsteps, scuttling back, but when she saw it was him, she was launching herself into his arms, desperate for human contact of any kind, and he wrapped his arms tightly around her, tucking her head into the crook of his neck as he rubbed soothing circles into her back.

When Adrien found his voice again, he spoke softly, gently. “I didn’t know it was this bad.”

“Y-you heard—”

“All of it. She won’t get away with this, Marinette.”

“No, no,” Marinette said, tearfully, “you don’t understand, she always does. She won’t leave me alone, and I can’t stop her. I’m gonna— I’m gonna lose everyone.”

“No,” Adrien said, a little more firmly than he meant to, but he was angry. “no, no, you are not. You aren’t losing me.”

Marinette buried her face in his chest, and Adrien made a promise, both to her and himself.

Lila Rossi was going down.

“So, what’s the plan of attack?”

Adrien glanced over his shoulder, his fingers sliding down the length of his necktie as he fastened it to his shirt with an ornate silver tie clip. “Huh?”

His fingers found the buttons of his vest, doing them up, then straightening the lapels of his jacket. His hair was perfectly styled, his face airbrushed and made up flawlessly. He looked like a walking magazine cover, and he smelled like designer cologne, as well as far too much money for one person to have. From the tips of his shiny black dress shoes to the top of his preened head, he looked perfect in only a way a team of stylists could make a person look.

“I said,” Plagg groaned, “what’s the plan of attack? C’mon, kid, I live for pettiness. You know that. Now spill.”

“Is it petty to get back at the girl who’s been bullying my friend?”

Plagg was silent for a second. “That’s the definition of pettiness. But justified pettiness. You get me?”

“Okay, then I guess I’m petty,” Adrien said, then paused, “wait, when have I been unjustly petty?”

The kwami scoffed. “Seriously? Anytime someone has the hots for Ladybug, you’re the king of petty.”

Adrien considered a response, but gave up. “Point taken.”

A knock at the door prompted Plagg to zip into Adrien’s suit jacket with a snicker, and Adrien had a feeling that Plagg was going to be enjoying this more than he was.

“Adrien,” came Nathalie’s voice, “Miss Rossi is waiting for you.”

Adrien took a final look at his flawless reflection, reaching up to tousle his hair, just a little.

“Yeah, I’m coming.”

He followed Nathalie from his dressing room and into the sprawling ballroom of the Paris Le Grand, smiling politely at guests as he passed them. Lila was waiting at the refreshments table, a flute of sparkling water perched between her manicured nails.

She was dressed in an evening gown the color of a fresh peach. It was made of flowing crepe fabric, cinched tight at the waist. The neckline was low, revealing a tasteful amount of skin, with spaghetti strap sleeves, undoubtedly crossing at her back in an x-pattern. There was a slit on either side of the skirt, revealing her legs when she stepped forward, just a flash of them; hiding enough to be modest, but still revealing enough to be a little bit sexy. She wore strappy white high heeled sandals on her feet. Her arms were left bare, and her hair was fastened into a long French braid, worn tossed over one shoulder.

Adrien had to admit she looked lovely, even if his distaste for her had grown into detest in the last twelve hours.

Absently, he wondered how Ladybug would look in a gown like that.

“Adrien, hi!” Lila said, dark burgundy stained lips stretching into a grin.

She hurried towards him, catching his folded arm and tucking her hands against it. There was nothing wrong with the gesture, especially if she was there as his date, but the way she was standing so close showed a form of possessiveness Adrien wasn’t comfortable with. It told anyone who looked that they were a couple, which they most definitely weren’t.

Adrien forced a bit of distance between them, just enough to be respectful and impersonal, repeating the action when she tried to steal closer, after which she got the message.

“You know,” Lila said, taking a drink of her sparkling water, “the last time I was at a gala was when I was in Achu. It was Prince Ali’s birthday, and I was invited as his honored guest. He called me when he knew I’d be awake just to invite me, even though it was like four in the morning in Achu, then flew me in for the party.”

Adrien knew that was a lie. It was too tall of a tale not to be one, and it enraged him that his classmates would lap that right up. But Adrien wasn’t his classmates. Regardless, he forced a smile.

“That’s great, Lila. What’s a price’s birthday party like?”

Lila’s face lit up, undoubtedly thinking she’d snared him with that lie, her grin resembling a cat that got the cream.

“Oh my god, it’s incredible, especially as an honored guest. I got to wear the traditional dress of Achu, eat the food, and even dance with the prince. His other guests gave him all sorts of gifts, but he said he liked mine the most. It was just a handmade scarf, but he still appreciated it since I made it while doing all the traveling I was. He even gave me a gorgeous emerald necklace because he said it went with my eyes, as a thank you.”

Another lie. What kind of person gave gifts to someone else on their own birthday? And why would the prince of a tropical kingdom need a scarf? Adrien’s mouth twitched, but he hid it with a smile.

“That was so generous of him! I’m surprised you don’t wear it more.”

Lila chuckled. “Well, it’s so expensive that it would probably get stolen right off my neck if I did that.”

Adrien didn’t think the necklace even existed, but he didn’t let his doubt show. “So, your dress. It’s not a Gabriel, is it?”

Lila shook her head. “No, it’s a Lili Toussaint. She designed it specifically for me, you know.”

Adrien hid his grin. Bingo.

“I didn’t know you knew Madame Toussaint.”

A giggle, and her head fell to rest on his shoulder. Adrien tensed up.

“Oh, yeah, I did a summer internship as a model for her. We became great friends.”

“I see. How did that go?”

Lila leaned more heavily on him, and Adrien shifted uncomfortably. “Amazing. She’s super nice, it was a joy to work alongside a fashionista like her. She was even kind enough to design me a wrist brace to go with my outfits when I sprained my wrist while chasing down a thief that stole a poor old woman’s purse.”

That almost made Adrien laugh. Madame Toussaint was a dear friend of his father’s, who had practically watched Adrien grow up. She was like an aunt to him, and treated him and his father like family. But, unfortunately for Lila, Madame Lili Toussaint liked very few people outside of a collection of individuals Adrien could count on one hand, one of which included her purebred Pomeranian.

“Oh, really? I’ve worked with her as a model, too,” Adrien said, giving nothing away.

“I figured you probably had,” she said, “you’ve probably worked with so many more designers than I have.”

“Well,” Adrien said, “your career is still young. I’ve been modeling since I was a kid.”

Lila seemed to like this answer. “Yeah, you’re right. One day, I’ll be at your level. Maybe you can introduce me to some of your favorite designers?”

Not a chance, Adrien wanted to say, but he simply nodded.

Suddenly, Adrien’s bingo turned into a jackpot. Because there, standing in a sweeping, pale silk evening gown, absolutely dripping with what were undoubtedly real diamonds, was Madame Lili Toussaint herself. Her broad, elegant shoulders were wrapped in a faux fur shawl (she hated cruelty to animals, and went great lengths to make her brand cruelty free), her hands encased in long, silk gloves. Her hair was done up in an elegant French twist, pinned in place with large lilies, made up of silk petals.

Adrien said nothing, simply leading Lila along by the arm as she blathered on about how she had many interested parties regarding her potential line of handmade jewelry, so wrapped up in her lie and continuing to have Adrien’s attention that she hardly even noticed they were moving.

The very second Madame Toussaint saw Adrien, she broke away from her conversation to approach him, her lips stretching into a friendly grin.

“Adrien, darling,” she cried, eyes glittering, “you’ve gotten so tall! My goodness, you so look like your mother.”

She leaned down to plant a kiss on each of Adrien’s cheeks, chuckling merrily as she examined his appearance, brushing invisible lint from the lapel of his jacket, straightening his tie.

“Good evening, Madame Toussaint,” Adrien said, and she huffed.

“Bah! None of that formal nonsense, Adrien, you know I’m Lili to you. How is your father?”

“He’s well,” Adrien said, smiling, and he was genuinely happy to see Madame Toussaint. He just wished it could have been in circumstances not involving Lila.

Madame Toussaint clapped her hands together, smiling widely. “Oh, wonderful. I’m gladdened to hear that.”

“Yes,” Adrien said, then turned, gesturing with one hand to Lila, “surely you remember Lila Rossi. She modeled with you last summer, as an intern?”

Her smile dropped as she turned to take in Lila, her eyes calculating, then she turned back to Adrien.

“Adrien, you know as well as anyone I don’t take intern models,” Madame Toussaint said, “furthermore, I have never seen this girl before in my life.”

Adrien looked at Lila under the guise of seeking reassurance, but had to hide his smile when he saw her expression. If she looked like the cat that got the cream before, now she looked like the cornered mouse. Her shoulders were tense, her eyes wide, her cheeks pale. Adrien almost wanted to snap a picture, but that would be too cruel.

“Well,” Lila said, “I-I’m sure you just don’t remember me. I’m sure you worked with—”

Madame Toussaint scoffed. “Are you deaf, girl? I don’t take summer intern models, or whatever nonsense you told Adrien. And believe me, I never forget a face.”

She turned back to Adrien, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder, all smiles again. “Adrien, my dear, you should seek better company. This young lady seems to have a penchant for lying.”

Lila looked like she was about to combust, but she quickly composed herself, slapping an obviously fake smile on her face.

“It was amazing to see you, Lili,” Adrien said, “will you be visiting us later on?”

“Why, of course,” Madame Toussaint said, laughing richly, “silly boy, thinking for a mere second that I wouldn’t.”

The conversation wrapped up shortly after that, with Madame Toussaint excusing herself to go find Gabriel Agreste, leaving Adrien alone with Lila once more.

“So,” Adrien said, “I take it she didn’t design you that wrist brace?”

“I-I’m sure there was a mixup,” Lila sputtered, but it didn’t look like even she was buying that, “I remember now, it was her representative, since I couldn’t work remotely. You know, with all the traveling. She traveled with us.”

Adrien knew for a fact that Madame Toussaint preferred to work personally with her models, and that the representative in question was, in fact, male, but Adrien said nothing. Lila wouldn’t be able to keep lying for much longer.

Because now, Adrien had Jagged Stone in his sights.

He was dressed in a sweeping leather trench, dripping with chains and dotted with glittering gold studs, worn over a deep royal purple pinstriped suit. On his feet were steel toed wingtip shoes, lined with studs along the edges of the metal plating. His hair was slicked back, his face made up even more extravagantly than it usually was. His entire ensemble was awesome, Adrien thought, but then again, he did have a particular fondness for black leather.

Jagged Stone was holding a smartphone in one fingerless gloved hand, speaking animatedly towards it, undoubtedly on a live stream. This couldn’t have been more perfect if Adrien had set it up himself.

“Lila, look,” Adrien cried, “it’s Jagged Stone! I’m a huge fan. We’ve gotta go over and talk to him. You know him, right? Will you introduce me?”

Lila’s complexion turned absolutely chalky as she took in what Adrien said, but she hid her unease with a woolly smile, which looked borderline alarming when her eyes were wide with panic.

“Of course, Adrien,” she croaked, “but— he might not—”

Adrien bounced on his heels, giving her a smile. “Really?! You’re truly the best, Lila.”

Before she could say anything else, Adrien was dragging Lila across the ballroom towards the rock star, even as the girl tried to protest.

“He looks like he’s busy, Adrien, maybe we should come back later.”

Adrien scoffed. “I’m sure he won’t mind.”

But, heedless of what Lila said, Jagged Stone seemed pleased to see Adrien, his heavily lined eyes lighting up as he merrily walked over the rest of the way, draping a leather clad arm over Adrien’s shoulders. Adrien had to remember to breathe, taking two manual breaths and reminding his heart to keep beating.

“Adrien Agreste! You’re a friend of Marinette’s right? That girl is so rock and roll. If she’s a fan of yours, well, I am too. Say hello, kid, you’re live!”

That made Adrien’s stomach do backflips, since Jagged Stone had just said he was his fan, but he was here on a mission. Regaining his composure, Adrien waved to the camera, watching the chat function of Instagram Live go insane at his appearance.

“Marinette is awesome,” Adrien said, “I loved her design for your last album cover, I even got her to sign it.”

Jagged laughed merrily. “Did you now? I may have to get her to do that for me, too, yeah? I’m thinking of asking for her to design the next one, too, you think she’d do it?”

“I don’t think she’d let anything stop her,” Adrien confessed, and Jagged grinned widely.

The rock star straightened up, still resting a hand on Adrien’s shoulder as he hand turned, taking notice of Lila. He looked at her blankly, without any form of recognition, but still, he smiled politely.

“And who’s your friend, Adrien?”

Jagged turned the camera towards Lila, who was now white as a ghost, looking supremely uncomfortable. She waved to the camera anyway, trying her best to smile.

“Oh, don’t you two already know each other?” Adrien asked, feigning innocence, “Lila Rossi, she saved your kitten from an airplane runway, even though the jet engine burst her eardrum and gave her tinnitus.”

Jagged looked deeply puzzled, staring at Lila for a good few seconds in a mix of astonishment and confusion.

“Well,” he said, with an awkward chuckle, “deeply sorry ‘bout your ear, love, but Penny’s deathly allergic to cats, even though I do love the little buggers. I’ve never owned a cat in my life, ‘least not since childhood. Fang’s all I need now, yeah? You must be mistaken, Miss Rossi.”

Lila swallowed thickly, her chest rising and falling rapidly as she tried to calm her breathing. “E-excuse me, Adrien, I need to… t-op off my drink.”

With that, Lila turned unsteadily, heading towards the refreshments table.

Adrien pretended to be shocked, watching her leave with a dumbfounded expression.

“Well,” Adrien said, coughing, “I must’ve misunderstood her. I’m sorry, Mr. Stone, I didn’t mean to—”

Jagged chuckled, patting Adrien on the back. “Oh, no sweat, kid. Some people like to lie because they think it’ll make people like them. Don’t hold it against your friend, there, she probably just wanted to seem impressive to you, yeah? Besides, no trouble to me, I’m glad to meet you, and your… misguided friend. On the bright side, she can say she met me now and have it be the truth, hey? I wish her no ill will.”

He turned, winking at his camera, pulling Adrien in against his side for another shot together.

Adrien thanked him, promising to return later for an autograph, and then turned to go after Lila. He found her, hiding by the chocolate fountain, freezing like a deer in the headlights when she saw him coming.

“You feeling okay?” Adrien asked, and Lila didn’t answer for a second, busying herself with downing the contents of her drink.

“F-fine.”

Her voice was tight, barely controlled panic laced throughout it. She knew what had just happened. She’d been exposed, by a celebrity the entire class— no, the entire world loved, as a complete and utter liar. On a livestream. Adrien would be surprised if she even showed her face at school tomorrow. And if she hadn’t realized what Adrien was doing now, she would, without a single doubt, later.

“I think,” Lila said, “I’d like to go home now.”

Adrien pretended to be disappointed. “Oh, really? I mean, if that’s what you want.”

Lila forced a smile. “I’m a little tired. Maybe partying just isn’t for me, y’know? Pretty stuffy, like you said this morning.”

Adrien nodded, sympathetically as he could, before going to find Nathalie, who called a car to bring Lila home. Adrien waited with Lila for the car, and she was uncharacteristically silent the entire time, simply fiddling with her skirt, buttoning and unbuttoning her coat, and shifting her weight from foot to foot. Adrien played the attentive, chivalrous date when the car arrived, opening the door for Lila and bidding her farewell with a soft, easy smile.

The second she was gone, Adrien pulled out his phone. His Instagram followers had grown substantially, even from that one livestream, but that wasn’t important. What was important was that the tabloids were eating what had just happened up.

Who is the girl who lied about Jagged Stone?

And, to Adrien’s pleasure:

French Teenager to design Jagged Stone’s next album cover. Learn more about Marinette Dupain-Cheng here.

Adrien knew what he was doing the second he saw Jagged Stone live streaming. Was it petty? Sure it was. Was it a bit much? Yeah, probably. But nobody would believe any of Lila’s lies after all of that.

The damage had been done, irreparably.

With that, as if nothing was even wrong, Adrien tucked his phone back into his pocket, ignoring the raucous laughter from Plagg from his jacket. Shushing the Kwami, Adrien stepped back inside, intent on enjoying the rest of his (rather stuffy) evening.

Checkmate, Lila Rossi. She was finished.

#miraculous fanfic #miraculous ladybug #Adrien agreste #marinette dupen chang #adrien salt #salt fic #miraculous ladybug salt #lila rossi #adrienette #My writing #not a reader insert #adrien x marinette #fanfiction #fanfic #mlb plagg #alya cesaire #cross posted on ao3 #lila rossi bashing #adrien has had enough

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