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goggles-mcgee · 1 year

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A Little Birdy Told Me 19

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Better.” He replied honestly.

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

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

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

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

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

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

“It was disturbing.” Vogul shook her head.

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

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

“Just- What was her name, Claude?”

“Uh, something with a ‘B.’”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

_______________________

[LUNCH]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Hey. You okay Chlo?” Sebastian asked.

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

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

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

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

“Fortunate?” Allan echoed.

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

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

Well that was not what Chloé expected him to say.

________________________

Chloe Bourgeois

@Bee-utifulMe

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

#imdonewithtoday #gothamacademy #itsbarelynoon

💞MAPS💞

@ImTheMapImTheMap

RE: Chloe Bourgeois

@Bee-utifulMe

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

Mood.

#Iwasnotpreparedforthatenglishtest #TTuTT

Notes:

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

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

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spicysummer22 · 8 months

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so proud of this one. misternette is invading my brain fr

ALSO!! if anyone had links to fanart/fanfics of these two i’d LOVE to see them!!

#miraculous ladybug #marichat #miraculous #miraculous adrien #miraculous au #miraculous fanart #miraculous fandom #miraculous fanfic #miraculous fanworks #miraculous s5 #mister bug #marinette deserves better #marinette dupain cheng #mlb adrien #adrien agreste #chat noir #cat noir #misternette

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iwasbored777 · 1 year

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Marinette didn't have her miraculous here. She didn't have her super suit to protect her. He knew that. HE FUCKING KNEW THAT. THESE PUNCHES WERE REAL. SHE GOT HURT FOR REAL HERE. I wake up every day happy that he got cataclysmed.

#miraculous ladybug #marinette dupain cheng #garbage agreste #ml deflagration #marinette deserves better

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lovysmtalks · 8 months

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Adrien is the Ken of Daminette and every other existing ship with Marinette

I can't explain why or how, just "I'm just ken, where I see love she sees a friend" fits most of the usual daminette scenarios, OR any other ship.

#AdrienisKenough

#maribat #ml x dc #marinette deserves better #marinette dupain cheng #mlb au #maridami #marinette x damian #class salt #adrien salt #felinette #jasonette #damimari #daminette #mlb crossover #timinette #dickinette #lukanette #marikami #marinette x kagami

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brubni · 1 year

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someone (anyone) pls appreciate my stupid little ladynoir zine.

they're both so stupid and i love them so very much

#miraculous #miraculous fanart #miraculous ladybug #miraculous season 5 #mlb fanart #fanart #ladynoir #gabriel agreste #mlb #adrien agreste #marinette deserves better #marinette dupain cheng #mlb comic

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mochinek0 · 1 year

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Unexpected Angel (1/4)

Marinette was exhausted. She thought working at Wayne Enterprise would be a dream come true. Every night she came home ready to pass out. It was getting to the point where she was forcing herself to eat before passing out.

'If only Carrie would leave me alone.'

Marinette was a new hire at Wayne Enterprise. She had been there for a month, when things took a turn for the worst. A lady name Carrie was assigned to their fashion sector. She wasn't a designer or working on any of the clothes; she was basically a secretary to Marinette's boss. She was suppose to get his coffee, make copies, and file things away for the future. For some reason, Carrie decided to dump her work load into her hands.

Marinette was now stuck doing the work of two. Once she had put papers to copy and Carrie had marched up and screamed at her.

"Where are the papers I gave you?" Carried yelled.

"They are getting copied." Marinette spoke.

"And you left them there?" Carrie shouted, "How could you be so irresponsible?"

"You never told me to stay with them. I'm busy-" Marinette began.

"Do I have to tell you how to do everything?" Carrie continued to berate her, "How did a nobody like you get hired in the first place?"

It had been a long day.

Marinette sat in a café close to the office. She had gotten a coffee, but if anything, she wanted a nap. She quickly sat up as someone took the seat across from her.

"Are you okay?" they asked.

Marinette sighed and took a gulp of her coffee, "It's been a long morning."

"Work?" he asked.

"One of my seniors at work keeps forcing me to do their job for her." Marinette confessed, "It's not even in my job description. She gets upset with me constantly. I can't really do or say anything because I'm a new hire. I would probably be replaced the next day. That lady has been there for five years."

Damian frowned as he listened to her.

'A lady who worked for them was forcing others to do her job for her. She's been there for five years and from how this person speaks, it doesn't sound like it was the first time.'

She sighed, "I've been so stressed out. I just want to sleep when I get home; I just feel drained, you know. I have had to force myself to eat when I get home. I'm too tired to even do that, but I know I have to eat."

'I need to figure out who this senior is and fast.'

"Trust me." Damian spoke, "That place is survival of the fittest. They won't fire you because you spoke your mind. Especially, if you were right."

"Thanks for the advice." she whispered, before smiling, "You know, I heard people in Gotham were rude and never really helped each other. Maybe, they just haven't met people like you, Stranger."

'She doesn't know who I am!'

"I never got your name." he spoke, as she stood up.

She smiled, "Marinette. Marinette Dupain-Cheng. And yours, my Guardian Angel?"

Damian smiled, "I think I'll keep the title you bestowed me."

Marinette giggled and quickly hurried back to the office.

Damian pulled out his phone, "Father, we have a situation in the fashion department. I'll be there in five minutes."

TAG LIST: @animeweebgirl @a-star-with-a-human-name @meme991001 @vixen-uchiha @abrx2002 @alysrose-starchild @fandom-trapped-03 @dood-space @moonlightstar64 @saltymiraculer @marveldcedits20 @09shell-sea09 @icerosecrystal @animegirlweeb @insane-fangirl-of-everything @blueblossombliss @nickristus-dreamer @megawhitleycalderonpaganus

#marinette dupain cheng #daminette #damian x marinette #marinette x damian #dc x mlb #mlb x dc #oc character #marinette deserves better #tim drake #bruce wayne #unexpected angel #waynes love marinette #marinette works at Wayne enterprise

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stellarlex · 1 year

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One of the biggest plot holes ML Season 4 and 5 have so far that the writing has absolutely refused to acknowledge, is how Alya hasn’t figured out Lila is a liar when she knows Marinette is Ladybug.

Because you know, can’t make things easier for Marinette or give her even the slightest bit of relief from the pressure of everything on her shoulders, even though Alya is supposed to be supporting her, but can’t even do that fully when the narrative is purposely keeping Alya in the dark even though it should be obvious that Lila has been lying.

#miraculous ladybug #ml salt #marinette dupain cheng #marinette deserves better #lila rossi salt

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richter10 · 7 months

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#miraculous ladybug #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste #marinette deserves better #adrien deserves better #ml writing criticism

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pocketsizedann · 8 months

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A redraw of some fanart I made a while ago, love them so much lol

#miraculous ladybug #miraculous ladybug fanart #miraculous fanart #miraculous lb #miraculoustalesofladybugandcatnoir #ladybug and chat noir #marinette dupain cheng #marinette fanart #adrien x marinette #post reveal #tales of ladybug and cat noir #fanart #my art #artists on tumblr #miraculous fandom #adrienette #adrien agreste #adrien deserves better

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miraculousdeservesbetter2024 · 4 months

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Dear show:

S2’s Maledictator: “Oh, it's not just her— actually, I don't even care about her— it's because I have no reason to be here: nobody likes me; I have no friends. I'm… useless.”

S5’s Derision: “Forgive me? What do I care about her forgiveness? I couldn't care less about Dupain-Cheng's feelings! She and the likes of her only exist to suffer for my entertainment. Why bother having power if you can't use it against those who don't have any?”.

…

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nothingtherefornow · 6 months

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What scares me for Season 6 is that no matter what happens Marinette will be blamed - since the show writers's method for creating drama is "Marinette commits a mistake and have to atone"....

Indeed, this is why I'm not feeling that bad if the season 6 of miraculous don't come out before at least the end of 2024.

To hide the truth from Adrien may have been a mistake, but one that Adrichat himself could have also make have his and Marinette's positions been reversed.

And hiding the truth about Gabriel from Paris is even more understandable, because even if making them beleive that Gabriel was a hero is a big injustice, the truth would have put Adrien in a very difficult situation. We can't tell if Parisians would have been able to dissociate Adrien from his father.

And who know if had LAdybug told the truth to the parisians, if Tomoe Tsurugi may not have tried to portray a false story where her and Gabriel were forced to act as Monarch' agents because he held their children hostage or something (she probably used that excuse to explain why the alliance rings where used to miraculize people and falsely making them beleive that Kagami and Adrien were kidnapped by Ladybug and Chat Noir)

Not to forget that it would be so unfair to only blame Marinette for that situation when Kagami, Felix and Nathalie are as much aware of the truth as her, and maybe even Bunnix for she has the power to see the past, present and future.

#miraculous ladybug #miraculous ladybug season 6 #ml season 6 speculations #marinette dupain-cheng deserves better

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goggles-mcgee · 1 year

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Too Late: Aurore & Mireille

Latest chapter in the story for @miner249er

Beginning Chapter

Last Chapter Next Chapter

Summary: All Aurore wanted was a peaceful, stress-free day from all that was going on in the chaos that had become Paris. Just a day out with her best friend, thinking about nothing but of course life was never that easy and her day never got the chance to be peaceful. Though it did end interestingly.

__________

Aurore sighed as she twirled her parasol between her fingers. She could feel her best friend’s gaze on her but she really didn’t know how to put all the thoughts in head into words. Usually Mireille was the ‘quiet’ one out of the two but lately Aurore hadn’t felt up to talking much even with so much to talk about. Or maybe it was the fact she only wanted to talk about one thing and that one thing made the two of them depressed and caused Mireille to spiral more often than not. Though it would be a discredit to Mireille if Aurore believed her friend didn’t know exactly what, no who, was on her mind. It was just better for the both of them that Aurore did not voice it but that was her vicious cycle, it was all she wanted to talk about. Oh at first she tried to talk of other things, the weather, the hottest gossip at school (but that quickly fell into the category of the person she was avoiding bringing up), or whatever mundane thing she could think up. The problem was now instead of those things being the distractions they were meant to be, they were now reminders.

Reminders of The Protector.

Of Marinette.

Even just thinking the teen’s name made her throat tighten. Before she had disappeared, Marinette had become a very close friend of Aurore and Mireille. Though she never wanted them to be public about it out of fear of the reactions of her former friends and the Liar. Aurore had always argued that her class would protect Marinette and nothing could break their friendship but the girl would merely give her a small smile and say things were enough for her. After a while they gave up arguing with her, they were just happy to have her friendship and Aurore wished that truly had been enough. Friendship was supposed to save the day. That’s what all those kids' shows told them, it’s what parents encouraged and it’s what Aurore had foolishly believed in even in the face of what Hawkmoth had turned Paris into. When reality hit her in the face, it hit her hard.

Aurore had been like a lot of Paris’s population that saw their heroes as this dynamic duo. Best friends out to fight the evil of the world! Then the group grew and so had the belief, because here was a friend group bestowed with powers beyond imagination and they fought for good, they fought the evil that tried to oppress the people of Paris. It wasn’t hard for Aurore to get caught up in it all, the magic, the heroism, the fights, the everything. It was like seeing her favorite shows come to life and she was constantly in awe. She remembered feeling as in awe of the group as she was envious. They were living out her childhood dream. Then she along with all of Paris found out the fantastic group of friends that defended them from Hawkmoth and Mayura wasn’t as tight-knit as they all had believed. It shouldn’t have been as world-shattering as it had been.

And yet it was.

If Hawkmoth had not been…stopped by The Protector, Aurore was sure she would have been akumatized. Actually she was willing to bet money that most of Paris would have been akumatized if the villain hadn’t been stopped. It was weird, being able to feel emotions properly once more and Aurore, like many, hadn’t known how to move forward when they realized that. She had become so used to forcing herself to only be happy and when she did get angry or something like it all she felt was fear. Mireille and she had spoken about it often as neither had been comfortable enough to go to their channel's newly hired therapist. The lady was nice enough, but Aurore just couldn’t bring herself to trust the woman. Mireille had just been afraid to have to talk to a stranger about personal things, so the two of them decided they would just talk to one another. It wasn’t healthy, they knew that, but it wasn’t an easy thing to stop.

The one thing they avoided talking about though after a particularly bad panic attack from Mireille and a rather bad dip in Aurore’s depression was Marinette going missing. Again, they knew it wasn’t healthy, Aurore’s father pointed it out any time she brought it up tentatively, but it hurt too much to acknowledge beyond the basics. Though Aurore knew that only made her parents worry more and she was pretty sure they were looking at therapists outside of Paris to take her to. She knew she was getting bad so she knew they weren’t going to ask if it was something she wanted to do, it was going to be something she needed to do. Even if she understood that, it didn’t make the anger, betrayal, or anguish she felt lessen. Mireille was in the same boat though, apparently her parents were talking to Aurore’s and this was going to be a group thing. That’s why she asked her friend to take a walk today. To warn her.

The problem was trying to bring it up without it ruining their day out, though Aurore was not confident that could be accomplished no matter what. She didn’t want to wait till the end of their outing, because she knew holding in that information would make her act unlike herself and Mireille would notice. While they ate was also out of the question because she knew that neither she nor Mireille would be up to eating if she did, but that was also why she feared the ‘ripping the band-aid off’ method. If she brought it up right now, at the beginning of their day she ran the risk of their day being ruined and them not even making it to the cute little bistro their coworker Eileen had suggested earlier that week. But she couldn’t not tell Mireille, her best friend deserved to know what their respective parents were planning!

“What’s going on between those pigtails of yours?” Mireille joked softly.

Aurore gulped, she knew Mireille would notice something. “A lot.”

The girl beside her hummed, “Anything I can help with?”

“I don’t think this is something that will go away so easily…” Aurore muttered as she looked down at her shoes, she watched the way the sun shined off the material as they walked, she absolutely couldn’t handle looking at Mireille.

“Well,” Mireille mused, “it might not go away easily, most things don’t, but talking certainly makes things a little better. Don’t you agree?”

“I agree…” She said a little hesitantly, but Aurore did actually agree. “It’s just…I don’t think my parents do. Well I mean they do but they don’t. They- It's complicated. Or maybe it’s not and I’m the one complicating everything! I don’t know.”

Mireille stopped walking and gently tugged on Aurore’s arm to get her to stop as well which made the blonde girl look up at her friend. Something she somewhat regretted as Mireille looked at her with her big doe-eyes and Aurore knew she would tell her everything despite the fear that seemed to have her heart in a grip. “Aurore. Whatever it is, I bet it’s not worth you making yourself stressed. You’ll make yourself sick like that.”

She huffed in reply, Mireille was definitely the Mom Friend, though Marc told her she could be as well, maybe they traded off the role. “I know Mir. It’s just…I overheard my parents talking and I don’t think I would be as upset if I knew it was just about me but they were talking to your parents too. Not there. At my house or anything, but like, over the phone on speaker. I had just put Pier down for a nap and was going to tell my parents that he was sleeping and grab a snack but I heard them talking and it sounded serious. And I just…I eavesdropped.”

Aurore watched as Mireille bit her lip, a bad habit her friend had when she was nervous. “Is it…Is it bad? What they were talking about. Is it bad?”

“No?”

“You don’t sound positive.”

“It’s not bad. I mean it’s really not but…” Aurore bit her lip now. “They uh, my parents were telling yours that they are looking at therapists outside the city to take me too. They didn’t talk to me about it which I guess I can kind of understand. I have turned down all the ones here in Paris…”

“Me too.” Mireille admitted quietly.

Aurore gulped because she guessed as much. “My dad never really said anything, but when I mentioned we talk to each other…he didn’t look happy. I mean he also didn’t look upset or mad, but he definitely didn’t look happy. He and mom brought up talking to a professional after that and I said I’d think about it-”

“Which, in Aurore talk, means no.”

“Yes, well, I honestly thought they had forgotten about it. I don’t…I don’t want to talk to a stranger about myself or what I’m feeling…but my parents think I need to. They found out I had overheard and well…It turned into an argument but, in some ways I can see where they are coming from. I don’t…I don’t feel like myself a lot of the time anymore.”

Mireille was quiet, but it wasn’t her normal quiet and it scared Aurore. Sure they often spoke to one another about how they were feeling but she was pretty sure they both held back a lot too so they wouldn’t be a burden. Which is nonsense because Mireille could never be a bother. “I…I don’t think I’m okay.”

The admission wasn’t surprising but it still made tears well in Aurore’s eyes. “Me too…”

“My parents…my parents are looking for a therapist for me too aren’t they?” Mireille asked in a small voice.

Aurore nodded.

“I’m…I don’t want to but I know they’ve been worried…” The shy girl sighed.

“Mine too. I feel bad…” Aurore admitted as she took one of Mireille’s hands in her own and continued their walk. “But…there’s really nothing we can do to stop them. I just wanted you to know. I’m sure your parents wouldn’t ambush you with this but…you needed to know and I couldn’t keep it from you.”

Mireille squeezed her hand. “I appreciate that.”

The two stayed quiet as they walked, occasionally they swung their hands but overall they didn’t speak. Aurore wanted to give Mireille time to digest everything she had told her and she had no doubt it was a lot to digest and sort through feelings wise. Aurore herself had been furious when she first overheard her parent’s conversation. She didn’t think she needed to see a complete stranger and talk about her life. Her life was fine, it wasn’t great but it wasn’t awful and that was something right? She was happy sometimes, though more often than not, if she wasn’t with Mireille, Marc, or her younger brother Pier, she felt numb. Like she was going through the motions as if she had gone through each day a hundred times despite knowing she hadn’t. She tried to keep her grades up but she knew they had been slipping, it wasn’t like she was failing but she could no longer say she was doing her best to achieve high grades. She did what was necessary or whatever she felt she had enough energy to do. Sometimes just staring at her homework overwhelmed her to tears.

So maybe, yeah, she could see why her parents finally had enough of her behavior and just straight up told her she was going to see someone to talk to instead of asking her. Though to be fair to Aurore, she had tried to talk to a therapist here in Paris but the first session ended up with the therapist themselves breaking down as apparently Aurore was the first client they had had post-Hawkmoth’s defeat. She had sat there through the most heartbreaking breakdown she had ever witnessed and she had seen a lot seeing as she worked in show-biz. The therapist went on about how he was scared he would become akumatized again-and boy hadn’t that been a sad eye-opener; even their therapists weren’t safe-he was terrified of feeling even the slightest bit of emotion during a session even if he knew that Hawkmoth posed no threat anymore. Aurore didn’t blame him. No in the least. But she did not return after that session and told her parents that they should email him and maybe suggest he go see a therapist, preferably outside Paris.

Maybe it was that, her suggestion there, that had given her parents the idea of seeking a therapist for their daughter in Reims. If anything she guessed they were going to tell her they were visiting her grandparents who lived in said city and would ambush her with the appointment. Sadly, it would have been effective as she felt like all she wanted to do was run given she now knew about said appointment, or future appointment. She didn’t actually know if they had booked anything but let it not be said that they did not know their daughter. They knew she would have protested or done something dramatic like run to her cousin CiCi’s place which was still a plan that lingered in the back of her mind. But…there was a voice in her head that sounded too similar to Marinette than she was comfortable with, shouting at her to not run away. To not back down. You got this Aurore!

“You’re not thinking of running to CiCi’s are you?” Mireille really did know her better than most.

Aurore chuckled weakly. “The thought has crossed my mind more times than I can count Mir…It’s always my back-up…but-but I know in this case I shouldn’t. Or well, more like there’s a voice telling me not to and giving me a right scolding if I even briefly think about CiCi.”

Mireille nodded before she bit her lip, she looked a little apprehensive which made Aurore feel apprehensive in return. “Scolding, huh? That little voice wouldn’t happen to sound like…like Mar…like Mari…like her would it?”

Another chuckle, though this one was remarkably wetter than the last. “You know I can’t lie to you Mir. Yeah…it, uh, it sounds like Marinette.”

Her name hung in the air like a noose but Aurore trooped on, she wanted to say her friend’s name. She wanted to hear her name. Her real name, not the idolized name people referred to her by, not the akuma name others called her in reverence, her actual name, her normal name. A name she introduced herself with with pride. “It sounds so much like her Mir…”

“I think I have a voice like that too…” Mireille confessed on a cry. “She scolds me when I’m being ‘silly’ or she comforts me when everything just gets too much. I miss her Aurore! I really miss her!”

The sound of her friend crying made Aurore cry and soon they were just standing on the sidewalk hugging each other like the other might disappear too and they just cried. As sad as it was to say, this was not an unusual sight for the people of Paris as of late, random bursts of emotion were as commonplace as a sneeze nowadays. The news said something about delayed reactions, others said something about repressed emotions, all Aurore could see and understand was the damage. These bursts were a good thing yes but they were also the ugly damage left behind by an unremorseful terrorist. Normal was a thing of the past and yet it was something Aurore ached for day by day. She yearned to not wake up and stare in her mirror and tell herself to be happy no matter how she actually felt, to wear a smile despite her facial muscles protesting. It was what she had done every morning when Hawkmoth and Mayura were still a thing and it was a habit she still couldn’t shake. It was like how her mother would play Vanina* every morning because it was her favorite song and would give her a little extra cheer, or how her father started his days wearing his fathers old Dog Tag because his father had been such a positive person, or so he said. Aurore never got to meet the man.

The damage stayed like a persistent stain. Faded but never gone.

The two gave each other one final squeeze before they let go and gave each other a strained smile. Aurore giggled sadly and shook her head. “You still hungry?”

“Mireille tiredly chuckled back and shook her head, “No. You?”

Aurore gave a wry smile. “Nope.”

“Want to just take a walk? I don’t feel like going home just yet.”

“Mir, that sounds like an excellent idea.” Aurore declared as she looped one arm through Mireille’s and picked up her forgotten parasol, she hadn’t even noticed when it had fallen.

They hadn’t even moved more than two steps when they heard footsteps rapidly approaching them and all of a sudden Aurore felt the breath knocked out of her and she was on the ground in a tangle of limbs. She heard Mireille shriek and all she could do was groan back. She thought she even heard a snap and prayed that it hadn’t been her parasol. She didn’t need another thing to add to the already big list of things she was feeling crummy about. Before she could shout at whoever decided to bulldoze her and her friend she was unceremoniously pulled up on her feet. She felt hands brushing off her shoulders and heard someone frantically apologizing and that’s when she finally noticed that the person-no-people who had knocked them over were Luka and Kagami. Both of whom looked pale, shaken, and just a tad frustrated. “I’m so so sorry Aurore! We didn’t mean to run you guys’ over!”

“Luka is correct, it was not our intention but you see we are running from some…rather persistent people and..” Kagami said with a wince as she tapped her foot. Adrenaline obviously still coursing through her veins and with the way he kept glancing over his shoulder, the same could be said about Luka.

“Wait, you guys are being chased?” Mireille cried out in shock. Aurore didn’t really think twice about grabbing at Luka and Kagami and running in the direction of the Seine. Mireille was startled if the noise she let out was anything to go by but she caught on quick and then all of them were running. There was no plan really, but Aurore knew Luka, ish, and she knew his family lived on that houseboat on the Seine, it was hard to miss. So she figured if they ran towards the body of water, they would see the boat sooner or later and that would be their safe haven. She voiced as much and left them all to discuss whatever they wanted but Aurore could only think about getting these two to safety.

She had seen how crazed some people were getting over any information they could get about Marinette in any of her identities or forms. It was maddening. It was frightening. Like everyone else, she had seen the news about Madame Bustier’s murder, and had heard through the grapevine about what happened to Lila. It might not be The Followers who were after Luka and Kagami but there was no way that Aurore was going to risk it. So they ran and ran until they caught sight of the house boat. Thankfully it was docked and even though she was out of breath, Aurore pointed to it and they all clumsily made their way over but before they could even think of boarding they ran by an elderly couple who had been crossing the street at the same time as them but were doing so slowly. Aurore desperately wanted to just run on the boat, to get to safety but as the echoes of distant footsteps rang in her ears she shook her head and let go of Luka and Kagami. She felt the stop but she just continued to make her way to the couple even as her heart thumped in her chest violently.

“Aurore?” Mireille wanted.

“They’ll get trampled Mir. You can hear them. They’re not going to stop even if they see them.”

“They might.” Kagami said reluctantly.

“But they might not.” Luka said back.

Mireille bit her lip but nodded and all four of them ran to the couple and helped them across the street, trying not to rush them even as the footsteps got closer, got louder. The closer and louder they got, the more Aurore’s hands shook but she would absolutely not abandon these poor old folks.

“You children are very kind.” The woman said with a kind smile, one Aurore couldn’t help but return. The woman reminded her of her grandmère.

“Yes, but I do believe you are in a rush. Do not let us keep you any longer.” The man said with an equally kind smile, though his was tinged with a sadness Aurore didn’t understand but somehow felt all the same.

“Be safe.” Luka said firmly but with his own smile before they all waved at the couple and ran as fast as they could because they heard the footsteps come out of the alley they had come from shortly before and they didn’t want to waste any time. There were some shouts of recognition from the small crowd and Aurore had been tempted to look back but she did trust herself not to trip if she did so, so she just ran. She ran and swore to herself she would wear more comfortable shoes from now on because her undoubtedly cute Mary-Janes were pretty but her feet were killing her.

They all clumsily ran on deck and promptly fell into a pile once more as it seemed their bodies had run out of adrenaline once they deemed they were in safe territory. The noise made Madame Couffaine come barreling out of nowhere with a sword of all things but when she saw the gaggle of children slumped on the deck and from the sounds Aurore heard and the way the woman’s neck snapped to shore, she was pretty sure she also saw a crowd chasing said kids. Without any help from the exhausted children, Aurore watched as the woman swiftly undocked the boat and before she knew it they were sailing and it was anything but smooth but she was grateful to get away. In time, the ride and they calmed down and Madame Couffaine-Anarka, as she asked to be called-led them down into the living room-esque room to let them calm down further as she got them somewhere safe and quiet. She recommended they tell their parents which Kagami, Mireille and Aurore did swiftly.

For a moment they all just sat there until Luka made a face when he plopped down face first on the couch and sat up. “Ow.”

“What is wrong?” Kagami asked in concern.

“Something in my pocket poked me.” He mumbled as he reached into his sweater pocket.

“Now that you mention it, it feels like there is something in my jacket pocket too. It feels heavier.” Mireille said as she furrowed her brows and stood up so she could rummage in her jacket pockets since said jacket was wrapped around her waist.

Aurore watched in mild interest as the two dug in their pockets only to pull out two identical boxes. Mireille looked confused, Luka looked like he had seen a ghost. That’s what had Aurore sit up straight. “Gami…” His voice shook when he spoke too.

Kagami too stood up and started going through her own pockets before she took her mini backpack off her shoulders and saw the big pocket open. With shaking hands she opened it further and reached in. It was a surprise to Aurore when she pulled out a third identical box, but to Kagami and Luka it looked like they expected it and were still somewhat in shock. “What…?”

“Aurore. I promise we’ll explain in a minute but can you please check yourself to see if you got a box as well.” Luka pleaded and well, Aurore really couldn’t say no to his desperation. So she checked her small clutch and found nothing but remembered her skirt had pockets and she was wearing a petticoat so if something was in there she probably wouldn’t feel it. So with a deep breath taken in she reached into her own pockets and when her hand met wood her eyes widened. Out she brought the fourth identical box and heard Luka laugh a little hysterically, a little breathlessly while Kagami slowly lowered herself back onto the couch.

Mireille and Aurore shared a look before Mireille frowned at the two other teens, “What’s going on?”

Next Chapter

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punkeropercyjackson · 3 months

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I mean it's not like i'm wrong💀Marinette i wish i could free you from the clutches of white fuckboys,including your creator

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comics-and-fanworks · 1 year

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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