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#fic: marinette's world tour
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We Should Have Stayed in Gotham ch5
(Almost every Maribat fic I read has the akuma class going to Gotham. But tell me which is more likely, a class touring the city of crime, or a class touring the city of lights? So here it is, the Daminette fic that only I asked for, where Gotham goes to Paris, and the poor students have to grapple with the fact that they have competition for the most dangerous city in the world. I wonder what will happen?)
ao3 Beginning Previous
Everyone froze when the Akuma Alert sounded and looked at their phones. However, this time the information provided was significantly less helpful than the first time.
ALERT UNKNOWN AKUMA
Possible Level: 1-3
Location: 15th Arrondissement
Suspected Power: Transforming Victims into Teacups
Avoidance Protocol in Effect
Ladybug: MIA
Chat Noir: MIA
(If you have more information on the akuma submit it here: Link)
Damian looked around and saw the Parisians visibly relax, and then move about their day as if nothing was happening. Which made sense. This was a low level akuma on the other side of town, the odds of it affecting them were decidedly low and, according to the government site, simply turning around when you see the akuma would keep you safe. 
Still Marinette stood up. “I’m going to check with the teachers, make sure this doesn’t interfere with our schedule,” she said before leveling a finger at her friends, and for some reason Damian, saying, “No killing. I’ll be right back!” 
She wasn’t even gone five seconds before, Chloe steepled her fingers like a Bond villain and said, “So we’re killing Lila. Who’s in?”
“Chloe!” muttered the silent Juleka who had joined them with her GA partner, Matt, a few minutes ago. “Marinette said–”
“That we shouldn’t kill anyone,” Sabrina said cheerfully, “She didn’t say anything about planning to kill someone!”
Juleka muttered something as she hid behind her hair, as if that would abscond her from their criminal ways. But before any real murder plans could be concocted Kathryn asked, “I don’t get it. I mean if everyone knows she’s lying, and only the Enablers are pandering to her then what’s the big deal? She’s not causing any serious harm, is she?”
“It depends on what you mean by serious harm,” Sabrina said gently. 
“Example!” Alex shouted, “Here, she said this literally five minutes before you all turned up.” Alix cleared her throat dramatically and then clasped her hands together, and in a voice reminiscent of a 1950s Disney princess said, “‘Oh you know, I spent a summer in Gotham! Yeah, I helped Batman stop the Riddler by solving one of his puzzles. It was so hard. And afterward Batman and Robin invited me back to the cave for a tour! It was so cool, and Robin was so sweet! I’d talk more about it, but I’m so parched. Alya can I have a sip of your coffee? I’d ask Marinette, but you know how selfish she can be.’”
She turned to Sabrina who giggled and mimicked Alex saying, “‘Oh, of course Lila! Here just take the whole thing. I’m finished with it. So, what did Batman say when you solved the riddle?’”
Every single Gothamite at the table cringed, and Damian scowled deeply, but it was Alice who spoke, “If you guys had come to Gotham, and she had said that, then she would have gotten killed!”
Alex waved her hand dismissively, “Lila’s not an idiot. If we had gone to Gotham, I doubt she would have said anything that would have put her in danger. Unless…Damn it! Why couldn’t we go to Gotham?! We could have gotten one of the Rogues to do the dirty work for us!”
“The point,” Chloe said pointedly, “Is that Lila reinforced the idea that Marinette, who is an angel, is selfish and hates her. And Alya gives Lila her coffee every morning, and today Alya was using her limited addition Heroes Day Travel Mug. They made a hundred of them, but only twenty were sold due to…complications during the celebration.”
“Akuma,” the other girls said in unison. 
“Level ten,” Juleka muttered. 
Chloe moved her phone so that they could see a picture of said mug, and she continued, “Resell price is €100, but would go for three times that at auction.”
“But Alya’s mug would start at €10,000,” Sabrina said, “And go for five times that, because it was signed by Chat Noir and Ladybug. We don’t know how she managed that because Ladybug almost never gives autographs.” 
“And Chat Noir?” Damian asked.
“Hands them out like candy,” Chloe said reclaiming her phone. “The point is that mug was irreplaceable. And because Alya idolizes the heroes, to her it’s priceless.”
“And she’ll never see it again,” Alex supplied, “And probably get akumatized when she realizes it’s missing. She probably didn’t even realize that she had brought it today. I’ll bet you five euros, Lila only ever asked for Alya’s coffee so that she could get that mug.”
“No bet,” Chloe said as the Akuma Alert pinged to let them know that Ladybug and Chat Noir had arrived on the scene, “I’d rather bet on this akuma. Ten euros says it’s a little girl whose tea part got canceled.”
“Mm,” Alex said, “No, I bet that no one showed up to her tea party.”
“The parents of Paris know better by now,” Sabrina cried, “Fifteen says someone at her tea party said something mean.”
Juleka muttered something, about them all being awful which was quickly echoed by Alice crying, “Seriously? That’s a little girl! You people bet on this?”
“Oh!” Chloe scoffed, “Like you don’t bet on which Wayne gets kidnapped every time they have a Gala!”
The Gothamites blushed and very pointedly did not look at Damian. He just rolled his eyes, “Of course we do,” he said, “In fact Todd owes me ten dollars, from the last Gala. But I am more curious about Hawkmoth’s obvious idiocy. I mean, does he truly believe a little girl turning people into teacups is going to achieve his goal? It is ridiculous!”
“Utterly ridiculous,” the Parisians cried giggling, but Chloe just rolled her eyes. 
“It’s not ridiculous,” Chloe scoffed, “When you consider the numbers.”
Damian raised an eyebrow and Sabrina explained, “Year one of the Miraculous War saw Hawkmoth akumatizing one person per week, with a level 10 happening every other month. Year two, one akuma per day and a level 10 occurring every other week. We are now on year three, and on average there are two level 1-5s every day, and one level 6-10 every week. Although if there is a level 10, we only get one akuma the next day.”
“He’s wearing you down,” Will said, “Wearing the heroes down.”
The Parisians nodded their exhaustion seeping into their expressions. It was Juleka who spoke, “Ladybug and Chat Noir are getting stronger, but so is Hawkmoth. Every now and then he’ll enact a plan that almost succeeds. Queen Wasp, Heroes Day. But when those plans fail, he goes back to torturing the city. In the end, something will break.”
 There was a silence until Marinette returned with the good news that the day would go on as planned. But as she ran over to them, she tripped on a crack in the sidewalk. She would have face planted if Kim, who had just left the Museum, had not caught her, before joining his own friend group as if this was a perfectly normal occurrence. 
“That necklace,” Damian said, pointing to the smooth, grey, circular stone pendant with five mice icons on it. “You weren’t wearing that before.”
The Gothamites ignored him, but the Parisians narrowed their eyes. It was strange, But Marinette just brushed it off, “I got it in the gift shop on the way back. I thought it looked nice. So, what did I miss?”  
They didn’t have time to answer her questions however, as the last pair left the museum. It was time to return to the school for the “Getting to know you party.” Damian was not looking forward to the mundane and trivial socializing that this would entail. So, he stayed close to Marinette and her friends, whom he deemed to be of adequate intelligence. And it was a good thing too. 
For some reason, Marinette had suddenly become dangerously and inexplicably clumsy. She still had that spark of intelligence and competence that had convinced Damian that she was worth the time spent getting to know her, but every third step she seemed to trip on her own feet, fumble her phone, or run into a random object or person. It would have been humorous, if Damian had not seen her racing through the Louvre, dodging classmates and artifacts with almost inhuman grace and skill. In the end, it just made Damian suspicious.
But he did not have time to dwell on it too long, because they separated to drive back to the school. Once there, they were led into the art room, where banquet tables of Paris’s finest pastries and sandwiches were prepared, and popular music was playing. The teachers stepped to the side so that the teens could mingle. And once everyone had their food the party began. 
Damian turned to Marinette hoping to engage her in conversation when their phones went off. The green letters read. 
AKUMA DE-EVILIZED
Akuma: China Doll
Threat Level: 2
Power: Turning enemies into China Cups and friends into China Dolls
Akumatized Object: A Decorative Spoon teaspoon. 
Damage: None
Transformed: 50
Injuries: None
Casualties: None
Action Caused: No one came to victim’s tea party.
Akuma Prevention Note: Parents should encourage proper and healthy socialization in their children. Teachers should prevent alienation and bullying in school. No Tolerance!
Damian turned to discuss this with Marinette, but she just smiled and set down her plate. “I’m sorry,” she said. “But I have to get something from my locker. Excuse me.” And with that she was gone. 
Damian sighed, and prepared himself for a tedious afternoon as the Parisians exchanged the bet money, and the Gothamites exchanged the new information about the akumas and the class. Damian turned to disappear into a corner of the classroom, or perhaps examine some of the students’ projects, when he came face to face with the last person he wanted to speak to.
“Hi,” Lila said holding out her hand, “I’m Lila Rossi. You’re Damian Wayne, right? Oh my gosh, I’m such a fan. Alya told me you speak French. Please say you do; my English is dreadful!”
Damian narrowed his eyes at her in annoyance, but said in French, “I do. Please excuse me.”
“Whatever Marinette told you,” Lila said stepping in front of him, her pinch faced in simpering embarrassment. “Please know it’s an exaggeration. It’s true I do have a lying disease, but I am trying to get better. It’s just Hawkmoth, you know. He makes everything so hard.”
“Perhaps,” Damian said his scowl deepening, “But that does not mean that I must listen to your useless drivel. Please, excuse me.”
He shoved himself past her, but before he could even make it three feet away, a second annoying voice shouted, “Hey!”
Damian silently groaned, as he turned to face the scathing voice of Alya Cesaire. She stormed up to Damian, slinging her arm around Lila’s shoulders and fixing him with a glare, which might have been threatening, if he hadn’t been so assured of her incompetence. “She was just trying to say hi! No need to be rude!”
Behind her several Gothamites shook their head in exasperation. Even the students who had never seen him before, were well aware of his reputation. Chad stepped forward giving the girls a smile that would often get him slapped or fawned over (depending on the girl) and said in French, “Oh don’t bother with the Ice Prince. He’s always like that.”
“Just because he’s ‘like’ that is no excuse!” Alya cried. “He should apologize!” 
“Ten euros on Alya getting akumatized,” a harsh whisper reached Damian’s ear.
“No way, do you see his face, fifteen on the Gothamite.”
“Oh, you’re on!”
“Guys! It hasn’t even been ten minutes!” A third voice whined. 
Damian’s scowl deepened. This was ridiculous! But he was better than that. He was better than them. The moment he had decided that the akumas were real, he had resolved against ever joining their list of victims. His training and obvious risk aside, the idea of someone controlling him was grating. So, he attempted the deep calming breath he had seen Marinette and her friends do and tried again. 
“I have no need to apologize,” Damian said icy but calm. “I did nothing wrong. It is your ‘friend’ who cannot take a hint. I suggest she leave me alone. I have no interest in engaging with liars and manipulators.”
“You jerk!” Damian turned toward the new, slightly squeaky voice stomping up to him. A small girl in pink was storming up to them in a fury, and Damian thought she looked like a small kitten for all the good her threatening expression was doing for her. “Lila has a disease!” She cried. “You need to apologize! Can’t you have compassion for someone who is sick and unable to help themselves?”
Damian scowled, as Sabrina and a tall blonde boy dashed between them. “Everyone—" the boy began, but before he could continue, Damian sneered,
 “If Miss. Rossi was incapable of helping herself then she would only just be above the rat she actually is. However, since she is completely capable of controlling her own actions, I think it’s fair to say that she’s not even worth the consideration of a rat.” Everyone gasped as Damian fixed the full weight of his glare on the small blonde girl. “As it is, her ‘disease’ is inconsequential.”
The small girl’s gasped, her eyes watering as Lila began to cry into Alya’s shoulder. Damian tilted his chin up in victory, but then looked around to see everyone else, including the teachers looking at him in absolute horror. Marinette was standing in the doorway, fixing him with a look that could only be translated as, “Seriously!” 
Damian was confused only for the five seconds it took for a purple butterfly, that glowed with its own dark light, to fly through the window and vanish inside the blonde girl’s bag. “Right,” Damian thought, as a glowing butterfly mask appeared over the girl’s face. “Emotional Terrorist.”
“Run!” Someone shouted, and the class dissolved into chaos. Damian took a defensive stance. He had caused this akuma, it would want him. He needed to face it to keep the others safe. 
He watched in horrid fascination as the girl’s soft features transformed into a scowl. “Yes Hawkmoth,” she hissed, as the teachers violently began typing something on their phones. She reached into her bag and pulled out a perfume bottle that was glowing the same, purple black as the butterfly. A hand grabbed Damian’s wrist and pulled him away with a force that had Damian stumbling, even as he turned back to see a black and purple (for lack of a better word) goo encase the girl. 
All around him people’s phones were going off with a notification that read,
AKUMA ALERT: LEVEL 4
Akuma: Princess Fragrance
Gas Mask Protocol and Local Shelter Protocol in Effect. Everyone within the 12th Arrondissement put on gas masks and evacuate to the nearest Akuma Shelter. More instructions to follow.
 Ladybug: ON THE SCENE
Chat Noir: MIA
Damian turned to the person who was dragging him through the school. The young woman was dressed in a black body suit with red body armor covering her torso, arms, and legs. The red was patterned with small black polka dots, which should have looked ridiculous, but was somehow natural. Her black almost blue hair was done up in pigtails, which had screamed innocence in her pictures. But when she looked back, she fixed Damian with such a scathing glare, the Demon’s Heir flinched. But he understood.
He had been hoping to contrive a way to meet Ladybug during this trip, but he had not wanted it to be like this, running from an akuma of his own making. But he had no time to process the implications of that as a strange noise started echoing down the hallways behind them. It was the sound of a dozen voices singing, “At your service Princess Fragrance!”
Damian looked back to see a pink cloud chasing them down the hallways. The shapes of students and teachers, bent down to a distorted silhouette of a girl. Her maniacal chackling sent a shiver down Damian’s spine and spurred him to run faster, even as the cloud surged forward with quickening speed.
“Brace yourself!” Ladybug cried, and Damian barely had time to snap his head forward, before she had pulled him against her, and thrown them out the window in a shower of glass and metal.
If Damian had been anyone else he probably would have screamed. But since he was him he only hissed, as the spotted hero swung them on top of a nearby building. “Ok,” Ladybug said. As she released him, she flicked open her yoyo and began typing hurriedly on it. Damian stumbled as he regained his balance and focused on his savior.
The way she stood made her seem taller than she actually was, which surprised Damian. All of the pictures of her were all from a distance, or from bellow, so to see that the “Savior of Paris” was actually quite short threw him for a moment. Especially since, her face was still fixed in that withering glare that honestly could have rivaled the Batglare. It made him pause and reevaluate all of his opinions on her. But it was her eyes that gave the look potency.
Her eyes were so blue they practically glowed. No, they were glowing. It was clear to Damian, that the miraculous had given her some enhancements, but even with them she was still probably physically weaker than other meta he knew. And yet her eyes glowed with a power that she did not use, fixing him to the spot. And yet there was still something about her that he could not comprehend. She was young.
Damian was certain of it, Ladybug could not have been three years older than him, if not younger. And yet here she was leading a team of heroes in the protection of her entire city. As the Demon’s Heir it grated on his pride, that someone of his age with less experience was in a position of power, when he was not. But as the Son of the Bat he respected her all the more for it. It was a strange war in his head, that he had been fighting for a long time. But for today, he felt that it would be best for Robin to win, so that he wouldn’t get in Ladybug’s way or alienate her completely.
“You do realize,” Ladybug said in perfect English, obviously annoyed but not angry, “That it hasn’t even been ten minutes since the last akuma? What did you do?”
Damian stiffened. If he was going to convince this woman to let him help her fight Hawkmoth, he had to make a good first impression, “A liar in our host class attempted to manipulate me against my associate. I put her in her place, and her friend was akumatized.” Damian paused tilting his head. “How did you get here so fast?”
Ladybug sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose, “I was on my way back home, when I saw the butterfly. I would have purified it immediately, but I had to recharge…ok, we need to move before Princess Fragrance sends her zombies after us. Once I get you somewhere safe, I’ll be able to stop the akuma. Are you ok with me carrying you?”
“I’d prefer to run on my own,” Damian said. Hoping beyond hope that she would not force him to endure that indignity. His brothers would never let him live it down.
To her credit, Ladybug just raised an eyebrow and said, “Are you enhanced?”
“No, but I do have training in parkour and martial arts,” he said.
“That may be, but unless you have enhanced strength you won’t be able to keep up with me. Especially when I’m swinging and you’re just running.”
“I’m from Gotham,” Damian insisted.
“That means squat here,” Ladybug said with a furrowed brow. “Haven’t you talked to your hosts. Surely they would have instructed you on that by now.”
Damian opened his mouth and then closed it, remembering the images that Marinette and Chloe had painted in his mind. She was right, him being from Gotham was worth about as much as the air he used to say the words. So, he closed his mouth and glowered, which for some reason made Ladybug smile and say,
“You’re quiet a prickly one, aren’t you. I think I’m going to call you Spikes.”
“Spikes?” Damian demanded with a raised eyebrow.
“Yep,” she said, “Like your hair. You’re spikey.” As if to prove the point, she reached up to ruffle, Damian's carefully gelled hair. He reared back from her in complete bafflement which caused her to laugh, and shake her head. “Look Spikes, Princess Fragrance might just be a level four, but that’s one level away from being deadly. I need your complete cooperation on this, if you don’t want to get brainwashed and forced to do whatever twisted deed she has in mind.”
Damian sighed, “Very well, but first—”
He never got to finish that sentence, as Ladybug slung him over her shoulder like he was a bag of flour and took of across the city. Damian growled but didn’t fight her, as the sound of singing zombies grew louder and louder and the pink fog spilled out of the building. But before they were too far away, Damian looked up to see a girl with long pink hair, green skin, and a black dress march out of the building with a perfume bottle in her hand. She laughed shouting something that he couldn’t hear. But then a horde of brainwashed citizens spilled out of the building, smiling like they were on Joker venom and chasing them through the streets of Paris.
Ladybug didn’t set him down until they were completely out of sight of the zombie army and their Princess. She did have the grace to put him down on his feet, and so he easily turned to see that they were on top of a skyscraper. Based on its billboard, this particular building was dedicated to a news station. Ladybug flipped open her yoyo again, but she closed it as three new heroes jumped up onto the roof.
Viperion and Ryuko were both tall and imposing figures, but one glance told Damian, that they were just as young as Ladybug. As young as him. But they all carried themselves with a presence that Damian only saw around the adult heroes. It was something that Damian associated with true power and responsibility. It cloaked them, as it cloaked Ladybug, and there was no doubt in his mind that these were members of a coherent and well established team. Even their costumes had a uniform like quality to them as thy all fit into the same style as Ladybug's. Monochrome body suits with patterned body armor styled after whichever animal their Miraculous was named for.
 Viperion’s suit was black, and his armor had a teal scaled pattern, with a yellow diamond on the chest. Meanwhile, Ryuko’s suit was red, and her armor had black scales. A golden symbol of the three elements water, wind, lightening was embossed in the chest piece, and she had two golden horns, to complete her dragon look. Compared to them, Chat Noir looked very decidedly out of place.
His suit had not changed one bit in the three years he had been active. It was still the same leather black cat suite with the strange golden bell at his neck. And though his green cat eyes glowed with the same power that Ladybug had, there was something in his relaxed and easy posture that made him seem separate from the others. He was tall and obviously strong. But he clearly did not have the presence that the others carried.
Ladybug, Viperion, and Ryuko had the dignity of leadership and strength beyond their age. Chat Noire seemed obviously hindered by his. This fact seemed to be proved when the cat hero snorted at Damian and said,
“So, this is the one who caused Princess Fragrance. Looks like we got another Chloe on our hands, milady!”
“That’s enough Chatton,” Ladybug said stepping beside Damian. “We do not judge, remember.”
Chat Noir seemed properly chastised as the other two stepped forward. “What happened?” Viperion said calmly, strumming a…was that a lyre?
Ladybug sighed, “Lila.” All three heroes nodded understandingly, and no more questions were asked on the matter. Damian gritted his teeth at this reaction, and his hatred for the liar only grew. But he remained silent as Ladybug outlined her plan.
He listened intently as they spoke, half expecting that he would need to interject, point out a flaw in their plan, or come up with a better one. But no. Ladybug was clearly very strategic and experienced as she laid out a plan that was both simple and fool proof, provided that everyone did their part.
Damian’s eyes trailed to Chat Noir. He was clearly the weak link, but if the hierarchy of Miraculous that the SpotsOn blog detailed was correct, then Chat Noir was supposed to be equal to Ladybug, her partner and balance. Instead, he acted like a side kick, lazily swinging his leather “tail” and giving Damian narrowed looks. When he did speak it was to make a pun or joke, and Damian had a hard time figuring out what exactly he added to the group, except a place to fill. One thing was clear to Damian, if anyone was going to break ranks and cause the plan to fall apart, then it would be Chat Noir. He did not want that to happen considering it was his neck on the line.
Damian cleared his throat drawing all of their eyes towards him. “Your plan is good but it’s going to fail.”
“Excuse me?” Chat Noir demanded.
“What do you mean?” Viperion asked.
“It is too reliant on individual members. If so much as one person breaks rank, then the whole thing falls apart, and you will have to use your luck charm…is it wise to use two lucky charms in a day?”
Ladybug tilted her head examining him carefully, “So long as Cataclysm is used to act as a balance it's fine. Besides I need the charm for the cure, it's part of the spell. How do you know one of us will break rank?”
Damian looked Chat Noir up and down, and couldn’t help the sneer at his blatant childishness before facing Ladybug and saying, “Isn’t it obvious?”
“Hey!” Chat yelled and tried to charge Damian, but Ryuko held him back.
“Ladybug,” Viperion asked with a hint of amusement, “Where’d you find this one?”
Ladybug sighed, “Imagine if Ryuko and Bumble Queen were the same person and male, that’s him.”
She jerked her thumb at Damian as she said this, giving Damian a strange sense of déjà vu, but he shook it off as the boys nodded their understanding with soft “Oh’s” while Ryuko studied Damian far more carefully than before. Finally, the Dragon Hero said, “What exactly do you have in mind?”
“Your lucky charm,” Damian said turning to Ladybug, “Does it only work for specific situations, or will it always work no matter what?”
Ladybug smirked at him placing her hands on her hips. “Specific situations,” she said, “And if the situation randomly changes than it can become worthless.”
“Then—”
“Wait!” Viperion cried and then did something to his bracelet so that the snake carving on it began to glow. He then nodded for Damian to continue.
Damian arched his brows at that but continued anyway, “Then set the trap in an area completely under your control. But do not give specific instructions until Princess Fragrance is right in front of you. Once she is, command everyone as you see fit. It is the most efficient way to use your Luck Charm.”
“Ladybug!” Chat Noir demanded, “Are you going to let him talk to you like that?”
Damian sighed in exasperation but said nothing as he met Ladybug's gaze. He understood where Chat Noir was coming from. There was something in his tone of voice, that had most people believing he was arrogant and entitled. Which to be fair, he was, or at least he used to be. But he had lived six years with his father, three older brothers, two sisters, one almost brother, and one technically sister. And though he would never say it to their faces, they were all incredible warriors who had put him in his place as soundly as any of Ra’s trainers.
The arrogance might still be there, but the entitlement had been drained out of him with every spar lost, every prank war engaged in, and every birthday celebrated. But that didn’t stop people from hearing his tone and assuming the worst. He could only hope that Ladybug would look past this and see the logic of his plan, even if he was offensive about it.
The hero in question just looked at him with those glowing blue eyes, that seemed to pierce him even without the power behind them. A sly smile played on her lids as she shrugged, “I don’t know what you mean Chatton. He’s right. The only problem is our time limit. Once my lucky charm is used, we will only have fifteen minutes to defeat the akuma, and purify it.”
Damian blinked in confusion, “The Government site said your limit was five minutes.”
Ladybug’s smile became a smirk as she said, “And you think I tell the government everything? Viperion, what do you think?"
The snake hero paused for a count of three before grinning slyly and saying, "We didn't need second chance."
'The follow me," she said, and before Damian could protest, Ladybug slung him over her shoulder again. 
Next
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howhow326 · 10 months
Text
RING THE ALARM
Miraculous Ladybug: season 4 Alya sugar fic (based on the Alya exposes Lila's secrets prompt that I made)
Alya pov
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"... Anansi has been rigging her wrestling matches! It's the only reason why she's made it as far as she has." was the only thing Alya needed to hear to send off alarm bells throughout her whole body. Why would Lila say something that wasn't true? Alya tried to correct her friend, thinking it had to be some type of mistake. At first, Lila was surpised her latest gossip target had a sister, but held fast to the truthfulness of her 'sources'. Alya tried to correct her again, and Lila got defensive over her friend 'attacking' her. Alya tried to fact check Lila one last time, then the green eyed monster finnally retaliated. All she had to claim was Alya harassing her and Kim, Nino, and Ms. Bustier swiftly came to her defence.
Within the blink of an eye, Alya landed in detention. Alone in her punishment, but togather with Marinette who had been a recent victim of the lying new girl. As her real friend comforted her, Alya finnaly realized her real mistake... how could Lila be friends with Maribug if she met her the same time as me? Alya finnaly gleaned the truth that Marinette had been warnning her for so long, and despite Marinette's affirmations of her being guiltless, Alya couldn't help but feel that this whole mess was her fault. What kind of journalist am I to be fooled by a school girl...
That's when a Light bulb appeared above her head. Alya is exactly the kind of journalist to solve this mess, and she will if it's the last thing she does. As soon as she got home, Alya began scowering the internet for every and any truth of Lila's claims. As she took more and more notes, she began to learn Lila's real specialty: half truths. All the photos she wowed the class of her meeting with Jagged Stone and traveling the world were real, but the "special connections" she claimed to have were all as fake as her hair. That was the real reason why Lila asked everyone to keep some of the things she said between classmates, it stopped anyone from reaching the truth. As Alya started getting ready for bed, Trixx whispered a devious plan into her ear. Normally, Alya would never agree to using the miraculous to spread a falsehood, but this mirage might be just what she needs to reveal the truth...
The next day at school was much the same; Ms. Bustier was forcing the class to write an eassy analyzing the theme of love in the popular children's book series, Hubert Porter, written by JC Bowling. Because of some of the research Alya did last night, she knew that Bustier and Bowling were the same person. She gussed that it isn't a crime to teach a class based on a book you wrote, but it was starting to get suspicious when Bustier did it three times in a row and ended each class by giving extra credit to the students who donated to the charity of her choice, a conservative group located in Florida of U.S.A.
"... and just the other day, Jagged Stone asked me to come with him on his latest tour! He got so sad when I had to tell him no!" Lila lied. Alya was almost impressed with how good the Italian was at doing it; Jagged went on tour just three days ago, but Alya was sure that he never asked Lila to come with him. Now's the time, Alya thought to herself. She go out of her seat and confronted Lila.
"Do you have any proof that Jagged Stone asked you to come with him on his tour" Alya flatly asked. Marinette got up to reel her back, but Alya gave her a look that said she has everything under control. Of course, Lila pulled her usual: she claimed that Alya was bullying her and that she just wanted to be friends. Kim jumped to her defence, as Lila filled the void that Chloe left when she went on extended vacation with her grandmother. That void being "evil chick that he can make googoo eyes at". Nino, who had started to hang out with Lila more then he was around Alya by the day, also jumped to the Italian's defense. He lectured Alya on all the ways he was "disappointed in her" and the like. Just as Ms. Bustier was about to send Alya to detention, she pulled out her trump card. "Lila's lying, and she admitted to it here!" Alta pulled out a voice recorder and pressed play. "If course I'm lying, and you can't do anything about it!" Lila's voice vindictively said.
And just like that, the class erupted into chaos. Nino got re-akumatized into Rocketear and targeted Lila for "breaking my heart". When it was over, the class all sang their swan songs to Marinette and Alya for believing some new girl over them. Except Nino, who seemed to think he was entitled to his girlfriend's forgiveness. Yeah no, their relationship is on hold and Alya is going to be too busy to come to the phone rifht now, but Nino was welcomed to leave a message. And he did. Like a lot. Alya regretted even making that suggestion. As usual, Ms. Bustier was the last person to get the hint and tried to punish Alya for (???) but this time Marinette came prepared. She discovered their lovesick teacher had fled Britain from a little too many taxes, and that was all that was needed to get her fired. After Alya learned that her choice of charity was a Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminist organization, she considered it good riddance.
And as for Lila, she quitely disappeared like she usually did with no sign of coming back. Good, Alya thought to herself, no one messes with my friends and gets away with it. To make sure no one forgot, Alya posted her experience onto the Ladyblog, where the truth would be known for years to come.
I challenged myself to use less dialogue in this fic and I hope you enjoy it!
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abyssal-ali · 7 months
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Masterlist 1
Works written and published for the DC (and other) fandoms! See @/ali-annals for my Maribat writings!
And Yet Forgives the Butcher's Knife: JaySteph meet in Africa while both are presumed dead. They return to Gotham years later, backed by the League of Assassins and their family doubled in size, and take over the underworld, improving Gotham and confounding the Bats. | Currently on hiatus/being rewritten | T+ | Ao3 | 4k+ |
The Best Bat(?): Jason meets the Justice League when they accidentally summon 'the best Bat'. The problem? Why does Red Hood (who's a Rogue, not a Bat) know he's immortal? | T | ao3 | 1.7k |
Titans Tower AU (with a twist): The Titans overhear a suspicious call between their resident Bat and a supervillain. Eavesdropping always turns out fine, right? | G | ao3 | 0.9k |
Imagine Dragons: Dragon Batfam inspired by @/salparadiselost's dragon au | G | ao3 | 2.5k |
Burned my Wings: Tired of never knowing where he stands with Bruce, Jason decides to force his hand. Immortal Jason & Good Mom Talia. | M for Murder | ao3 | 7.6k |
There is Just no Stopping This Thing Called Love: JaySteph weekend 2023 submission. Gotham by Gaslight AU three-shot depicting snapshots of their relationship at different stages | T | ao3 | 4k |
JaySteph Dating Headcanons: What it says on the tin | G | ao3 | 1.2k |
RelationShip of Theseus: JaySteph Halloween 2023 Submission. Jason and Steph team up to go undercover at a Halloween party. They've been friends with benefits for a while, but lately...things have been changing. Maybe this Halloween they'll finally settle some things between them. | M | ao3 | 4.6k |
She's a Knockout: JaySteph meetcute. Steph asked for a box for her leftover chicken and waffles, not...a makeshift boxing ring? After a beautiful KO, she makes a break for it, but is chased down with the request to meet the Boss. Clearly her outstanding combat skills can't be put to waste, and she is offered a job at his new gym. The Goonion are eagerly invested in Boss's drama with the pretty lady with the stellar right hook. | T | ao3 | 2.7k |
Project #68 [Operation Concupiscence]: DamiRae Sauce Week '23 4-chap submission. Concupiscence: definition: noun. 1. sexual desire; lust 2. ardent, usually sensuous, longing. Demon AU + Hogwarts AU | M | ao3 | 8.7k |
what would you do if they never found us out?: JaySteph work together to defeat Black Mask after they kiss for a mission, meeting for the first time after returning to Gotham from their post-death world tours. | M | ao3 | 12.2k |
Deck the Balls: JaySteph fake dating for the holidays. Steph attempts to show Jason why he should appreciate her enthusiasm for the decor. | M | ao3 | 5.5k |
Bomb Threat: A Declaration of Love?: JaySteph fluff drabble inspired by a meme shared in the JaySteph server. | T | ao3 | 0.6k |
you knew the hero died, so what's the movie for?: Immortal Jason angst with a happy ending. | E | ao3 | 2.2k |
held together, our hands became a map: JaySteph Bridgerton AU | M | ao3 | 12.1k+ |
5+1 Times the Justice League realized something about RH: Red Hood is one of Batman's Rogues-brash, violent, careless. But one day Red Hood responds to a call meant for Batman and the Justice League begin to change their perception of the crime lord. | T | ao3 | 4.5k |
JaySteph Tinder AU Masterlist: What it says: JaySteph and Batfam Social Media AU crack | T+ | ao3 | 0.6k +texts |
Harry Potter x Twilight
time, curious time/cutting me open then healing me fine: (can be read as platonic) Drarry, Time Travel Fix-It in a Voldemort Wins AU. It's 100% a Crack Fic through and through, though. | T | ao3 | 3k |
Miraculous Ladybug
'tis the damn season: Lukanette. Seven years after defeating Hawkmoth, Luka Couffaine and Marinette Dupain-Cheng both return to Paris for the holidays. Will their teenage romance rekindle or will they always look back fondly to that one summer with the one who got away? | T | ao3 | 3.8k |
The Scarlet Pimpernel
her own elusive pimpernel: Perguerite angst, fluff, and smut. | M | ao3 | 5.5k |
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dum1s-writings · 1 year
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~~~~Intro thingy I guess~~~~
Greetings from @thedum1 (⁠◔⁠‿⁠◔⁠)
I have once again decided to start a new sideblog. I just wanna try tossing my hat into the xMasc!Reader ring. I'll have main fandoms and on occasion fandoms, which will be allowed once in a while.
~Main fandoms are subject to change.~
The main fandoms will be marked with 💕
Favorite characters will be marked with 💋
Obey Me! Shall We Date? 💕
Lucifer
Mammon
Leviathan 💋
Satan
Asmodeus 💋
Beelzebub
Belphegor
Diavolo
Barbatos
Solomon
Simeon 💋
Luke
Twisted Wonderland
All students and staff*
*Riddle, Epel, Idia, Neige and Rollo are my weaknesses
Miraculous Ladybug and Cat Noir 💕
Adrien Agreste/Cat Noir 💋
Nathaniel Kurtzberg/Caprikid 💋
Marc Anciel/Rooster Bold
Nino Lahiffe/Carapace
Luka Couffaine/Viperion
Marinette Dupain-Cheng/Ladybug
Alya Césaire/Rena Rouge
Kagami Tsurugi/Ryuko
Gabriel Agreste/Hawkmoth
Nathalie Sancoeur/Mayura 💋
Mystic Messenger
Yoosung Kim
Zen/Hyun Ryu
Jaehee Kang 💋
Jumin Han
707/Luciel/Saeyoung Choi 💋
Animal Crossing 💕
Apollo 💋
Cherry
Julien 💋
Raymond 💋
Marshall
Tangy
Colton
Whitney
Punchy 💋
Stitches
Muffy 💋
Diana
Zell
Lucky
Ankha
Chrissy
Francine
Judy
Kyle
Fang
Willow
Merengue 💋
Mott
Bud
Kicks 💋
Isabelle
Tom Nook
Death Note
L Lawliet
Light Yagami
Touta Matsuda 💋
Teru Mikami
Misa Amane
Naomi Misora
Kiyomi Takada
Mihael Keehl/Mello 💋
Mail Jeevas/Matt 💋
Nate River/Near
Total Drama Island/Action/World Tour
Trent
Gwen
Cody 💋
Noah 💋
Justin
Lindsay 💋
Sadie
Katie
Sierra
Leshawna 💋
DJ
Beth
Heather
Duncan
Courtney
Alejandro
6teen
Caitlin Cooke
Nikki Wong 💋
Jude Lizowski
Wyatt Williams 💋
Jen Masterson
Jonsey Garcia
Teen Titans (2003 cartoon version)
Robin 💋
Starfire
Raven 💋
Beast Boy
Cyborg
Jinx
Terra
Red-X 💋
Aqualad
Speedy
Bumblebee 💋
The occasional slasher
Michael Myers
Cory Cunningham
Billy Lenz
Brahms Heelshire 💋
Others to be added...maybe.
The general rules:
Fandoms will have their own rules in their own separate posts
He/Him and They/Them pronouns only
I have problems with menstruation so none of that allowed as I HATE thinking of my own
Polyamorous relationships are accepted and loved here but NO cheating 😤
No non-platonic/familial child/teen x adult
No incest of any kind
No angst without a happy ending
VERY EXTREMELY RARE sexual nsft 👀
Piggybacking off the last rule I prefer a Top/Not Penetrated reader
No matchups 😐
No OCs as main character/reader
Piggybacking again I will allow OCs as side characters
You may see mentions of my OCs as I love them
Some characters will be OOC and I have no shame about that 🤷🏾
All fanfics will have swears except for Miraculous
I'm bad at coming up with bad guys/villains so fandoms with baddies will take place during down time/right after a fight
I am slow and easily distracted so things will come out when I remember
My target audience is me first so if I don't like how a thing is turning out it won't be published
Again....this a masculine pronoun only blog. And before I get shit on by children and the feminine pronoun users........Fuck. Off. I'm here for the gays and theys. I've been on the internet for years and there's PLENTY of shit for y'all.
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vln-vibes · 1 year
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Fics in the works
 Updated 04/2023
Hey I know its been a while since I’ve properly published new fics. Honestly  keep coming up with ideas but actually finishing them is the kicker.
Ngl I honestly feel like I need some betas for the works I’ve got going on and if any of these interest you then by all means feel free to message me! And yes some of these are still Maribat 
The Winner Takes The Crown (Princess)
Got into DPxDC and decided to take a crack at it. As usual this thing was supposed to be a one-shot but is 18.9k words so far and counting so three-shot is more likely.
Tags: Tim Drake & Dick Grayson, Dick Grayson & Jason Todd, Kon-El | Conner Kent & Danielle "Dani" Phantom, Danielle "Dani" Phantom/Kon-El | Conner Kent, Danny Fenton/Jason Todd
Summary: When members of the Team get sent out to scout an inconspicuous town in Indonesia with supposed hauntings and missing teens on the night of an eclipse surely nothing could go wrong, right?Meanwhile the Ghost King got tired of every old timey ghost royalty trying to get their hands on his little sister/cousin/clone and got an idea. Why not have them duke it out amongst each other for once. It'd be entertaining at the very least or a disaster waiting to happen at most--- at least that's what his newly appointed Fright Knight thought anyway
Chapters out so far: 1/3 AO3  Part 1
Who The Wayne Are You?!
Why not do a fusion of two crossover fandoms??? (Not sure if I’ll include any romantic ships)
Tags: Marinette Dupain-Cheng & Danny Fenton, Marinette Dupain-Cheng & Bruce Wayne, Danny Fenton & Bruce Wayne, Tim Drake & Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Tim Drake & Danny Fenton, Danny Fenton & Jason Todd, Marinette Dupain-Cheng & Jason Todd, Cassandra Cain & Danny Fenton, Cassandra Cain & Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Misunderstandings, Mistaken Identities
Summary: Its just her luck that on her first day in Gotham City, the literally cursed crime capital of the world that she gets kidnapped. To make matters worst her kidnappers must be blind because they think she’s Cass Wayne, Bruce Wayne’s only daughter, who doesn’t even have blue eyes! Fortunately or unfortunately she’s not the only one in this dilemma--- He was sure that the spirit of Gotham had it out for him; the moment his sister left to go on the tour to Gotham U he gets pushed into a white van (cliché much?). On the bright side it wasn’t the Guys In White, down side the idiots can’t seem to agree if he’s Tim Drake, co-CEO of Wayne Enterprises, or Jason Todd, supposedly dead son of Bruce Wayne (he’s not sure if that’s quite true). Well at least he’s got company. “Ugh just my luck that I get kidnapped literally on my first day in Gotham” “Oh samesie”
Chapter count: Unknown
Tales of Ladyluck and Jinx: Twins Extraordinaire (Wrk ttl)
I mean c’mon the potential for bio siblings Tim and Mari is right there.
Tags: Tim Drake & Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Tim Drake & Bridgette Dupain-Cheng, Bridgette Dupain-Cheng & Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Tim Drake & Bruce Wayne, Tim Drake & Dick Grayson, Jack Drake & Tim Drake, Jack Drake & Marinette-Dupain-Cheng, Sabine Cheng/Tom Dupain, Sabine Cheng & Tim Drake, Sabine Cheng & Jack Drake, Jack Drake/Janet Drake, Bad Parents Jack/Janet Drake, Dead Janet Drake, Jack Drake Knows Tim is Robin, Does Not Approve, Surrogate Sabine, Fraternal Twins Tim and Mari, Jack Drake tries to be better, in the end, Bridgette Dupain-Cheng/ Felix Culpa, Quantic Kids
Summary: Tim Drake’s 12 year old, almost but not yet 13, life was falling apart right before his very eyes and there was nothing he could do to stop it. His mother was dead and his father was paralyzed. To make matters worse his father found out about Robin and was vehemently against it; so much so that he was sending Tim away. Turns out Janet Drake wasn’t his biological mother, his parents had used a surrogate. A woman named Sabine Cheng who lived in Paris alongside her husband and daughters. Turns out Tim was a twin; his parents only wanted the son.
As much as he wants to hate this new family he can’t help but crave the affection they provide, the warmth and comfort , that his parents never could. As much as Tim would miss being Robin he had Mari and that was enough. Who knows maybe he’d go back to the Life later on in life?
Chapter count: Unknown
Royal Flush 
(Paused)
I’ve been really loving these HBIC Marinette stories and decided to try my own out with a fun Maribat twist!
Tags: Marinette Dupain-Cheng & Chloe Bourgeois & Nathaniel Kutzberg, Damian Wayne & Jon Kent, Jessica Keynes & Aeon Hill
Summary: For this year’s French-American Friendship Day it was the American's turn to visit and what a lucky coincidence and totally not tampered with by any of the Bats that Gotham Academy was chosen with newly re-enrolled Damian Wayne and recent transfers Jonathan Kent, Jessica Keynes and Aeon Hill. Jess was excited to reunite with her fellow Guardian only... things were different with the Parisians? She couldn’t really explain it but it seemed strange that the students were adorned with symbols; Red Hearts, Yellow Diamonds, Green Clovers and Blue Spades. What did this all mean and why were those without them ostracized? Was this also why Marinette seemed to have a whole wardrobe change and was now friends with mean girl Chloe?
Well it was up to Jess and reluctantly Damian to find out what was the root of the problem alongside sunshine duo Jon and Aeon, also known as the Seasonal Court while also trying to figure out how to offer their help with the Hawkmoth situation.
Chapter count; Unknown
Violet Gold (Working Title)
(Still working on it)
Tags: Marinette Dupain-Cheng/Luka Couffaine/Tim Drake, Adrien Agreste/Conner Kent, Juleka Couffaine/Stephanie Brown, Bart Allen/Jaime Reyes, Kagami Tsurugi & Cassie Sandsmark, Miraculous Team, Young Justice, Soulmate AU
Summary: After a heartbroken meta akuma unleashes her untapped power on all of Paris the citizens all get scatter across the world--- heroes included! While Tygress finds herself mildly concussed and not so alone in a technologically advanced cave with a shadow like girl who intimidating the ever-loving hell out of her and a beautiful amazon who looked badass and like she could kick her ass, even after her recent heartbreak with Rose she felt her heart skip a beat. That’s when she noticed the glowing red band around both their arms. It turns out her fellow heroes were teleported to the same location, each bonding with different teen heroes; Ladybug and Viperion with a red caped black haired hero she didn’t know. As they’d learn the Akuma took them to their soulmates. Journey as these teen caped and non-caped crusaders learn about their ‘soulmates’ and about themselves. All in the name of Love.
Chapter count: 7 (Chapter 1 partially complete)
War (Working Title)
(Still Working on it)
Tags: Bio dad Bruce Wayne, Bruce Wayne & Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Miraculous Team, Bat Boys, Bat Girls, Marinette stopped taking shit, salt fic
Summary; Not a Dupain. Not Wanted. Those two phrases echoed in Marinette’s head as she robotically made her way up the stairs after having her world turned. Marinette was not Thomas Dupain’s biological daughter, not only that but her parent’s had enough of her ‘problematic’ behavior and were sending her away to live with her actual father, a man who, after looking him up online, turned out to be billionaire philanthropist Bruce Wayne of Wayne Enterprise. Now she must leave her friends behind and move in with complete strangers while juggling her Guardian duties and hero life. Well one thing was for sure; she was done being a pushover. Done being a perfect example and ready to start anew. Gone was Marinette Dupain-Cheng, here comes Marinette Wayne!
Chapter count; 1 (its gonna be a long one-shot)
C’est la vie
(Paused)
Tags; Marinette Dupain-Cheng/Dick Grayson, Dick Grayson & Wally West, Dick Grayson & Kor’iander, Dick Grayson/Kor’iander, Tim Drake & Jason Todd, Tim Drake & Conner Kent, Conner Kent/Adrien Agreste, Felix Graham de Venily & Adrien Agreste, Bart Allen & Alix Kubdel, Mal Duncan & Alix Kubdel (more to come)
Summary; (Continuation of Staying Whelmed & Erable AU) Its been two years since the cease of the Parisian heroes. Everyone still  mourns their loss but its time to move on. At least that’s what Dick keeps telling himself, he’s put off being on the team long enough and missed enough family dinners. Honestly he can’t even remember the last time he properly talked to some of his friends, the kwami doing a well enough job of keeping him from completely going off the deep end. With the help of the recently rescued princess Kor’iander of Tamarand he think he’s getting there. Tim on the other hand notices the imbalance of the world; the way certain creatures’ populations have significantly dwindled down, the way the magic users have been losing power, the increase of natural disasters and sudden reappearance of what they believed to be Trixx’s original temple... He can’t help but hope. Hope to regain his brother and fellow heroes, to bring back hope and restore the world’s balance.  After encounters with others in the community he realizes that he’s not the only one that noticed. Now all he needs to do is convince the others that he’s not in denial and isn’t embarking some fruitless endeavor. Well no one said it’d be easy to enter the In-Between
Chapter count: unknown
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blackmagicforever · 3 years
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Marinette’s World Tour !
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Sneak peek to Chapter One: Jagged Stone !
The sound of the crowd cheering and screaming surrounded the empty, dark stage. Suddenly, white, blinding lights lit up, causing the cheering to reach insane levels.
The sound of chords strumming caused a hush to fall for a second, before the fans started screaming with more vigour.
“He said the way my blue eyes shined,” a soft voice resonated through the empty stage outwards to the screaming crowd, “put those French stars to shame that night.”
The crowd screamed along to the voice, “I said: "That's a lie.".”
The stage opened, and Marinette rose from a rising platform onto the stage. The stage blinding lights made her squint for a second before refocusing on the waving fans.
“Just a boy in a-” Marinette raised her microphone at the direction of the masses, “That had a tendency of gettin' stuck.” They chanted back at her.
She giggled, slow dancing her way towards the front of the stage.
“On back roads at night,” she waved her hand from side to side, the lights catching on the sequins on her black dress. “And I was right there beside him all summer long. And then the time we woke up to find that summer had gone.”
“But when you think "Jagged Stone",” Marinette held the note, causing a wave of screams from the fans singing back at her, “I hope you think my favorite song.”
The fans screamed back at her, “The one we danced to all night long!”
“The moon like a spotlight on the Seine!”
---
cast.
angelababy as marinette dupain-cheng
songs by taylor swift and her co-producers
this is from my own prompt, find it here
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theluckiestlb · 2 years
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I was doing some geographic research of Paris for my fic and came across their official site for tourists.
They have a whole page dedicated to the show and???? It’s so adorably detailed?? They talk about various locations that were showcased, but also reference specific episodes. Not just season one either—   
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A significant moment in the series takes place in Place du Châtelet, at the Fontaine des Victoires (also known as Fontaine du Châtelet and Fontaine des Palmiers). Ladybug kisses Cat Noir in front of this fountain, commissioned by Napoleon in 1806 to provide free drinking water to all Parisians. It is pillar shaped and adorned with sculpted palm leaves, with four sphinxes at its base. The gilded bronze Victory statue on top holding up a laurel crown in either hand was sculpted by Louis-Simon Boizot. 
The original statue is now housed in the Musée Carnavalet – maybe because of the damage Guitar Villain inflicted on the fountain when he played his ‘Shocking Riff’ against Cat Noir?
Fontaine des Victoires – place du Châtelet, Paris 1st
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The Tour Montparnasse inspired an episode as action-packed as any Hollywood thriller. Adrien’s bodyguard, who has been akumatized into Gorizilla, chases Cat Noir and Ladybug to the top of the 210-metre-high tower offering a spectacular 360° view over Paris. The skyscraper was built on the site of the former Montparnasse station and inaugurated in 1973. Its weight rests on 56 reinforced concrete pillars, buried 70 metres underground.
Tour Montparnasse – rue de l’Arrivée, Paris 15th
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Ladybug foils off attacks by three akumas inside the Louvre – Jalil Kubdel, who has transformed into The Pharaoh; The Mime, and Volpina, who creates amazing illusions. The world’s biggest museum was originally a castle built to protect Paris from Norman attacks. Today, it extends over an area of 243,000 m² and displays some 35,000 works. It has 403 rooms, 14.5 km of corridors and 10,000 steps. Stroll around soaking up more than 800 years of history, and do admire the glass and metal pyramid designed by I.M. Pei, where another of Ladybug’s adventures takes place.
Musée du Louvre -Pyramide du Louvre, Paris 1st
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The park near the Dupain-Cheng’s bakery was inspired by the Place des Vosges. In the series, the park has a statue of Ladybug and Chat Noir sculpted by the fictional artist Théo Barbot. The real Place des Vosges – the oldest square in Paris – is in the Marais district. It was built in 1605 on the site of a royal palace, the Palais des Tournelles, and indeed initially named Place Royale. It is surrounded by 36 pavilions, all identical except the king’s own pavilion at the southern end and the queen’s at the northern end, both intentionally higher.
Place des Vosges, Paris 4th
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When she isn’t busy catching evil akumas sent out by Hawk Moth, Marinette likes meeting up with her friends Alya, Adrien and Nino at ‘Troca’, where she also finds inspiration to design her new outfits. Facing the Eiffel Tower across the river, Trocadéro boasts gardens, ponds and some fine buildings. Start on Place du Trocadéro across from the Palais de Chaillot. From here, you will enjoy one of the loveliest vistas of Paris, and a breathtaking view of the Eiffel Tower.
Le Trocadéro – place du Trocadéro, Paris 16th
Ok, but?? Referencing Nino and Alya too?? Whoever writes/updates the page clearly loves the show. You can read more here.
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goggles-mcgee · 2 years
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I need some high end Winchester approved demon repellent Salt for Class/Parents that end in death/jail 😂
My mental health is okay 👍 I just want ANGSTY DEAD DEMON REPELLENT SEASALT FICS
Please 🥺
Oh I may have some more ideas in the works 👀
I will tell you about this high salt one to keep you salted and hopefully quench that thirst.
Marinette is getting tired of how things are going in school and how things are starting to get at home. Her parents are getting on her for causing problems at school because they are "very busy with the shop" and they are pressuring her more and more to be the "perfect daughter you were before." She's just straight up exhausted. She's tired of having to be the perfect daughter, the perfect student, the perfect friend.
Her aunt, Sabine's sister Bridgette, and her new husband, Felix move to Paris and when they invite Marinette over to their new house (they invited the Tom and Sabine but apparently they were too busy preparing for an upcoming catering gig and just couldn't spare any time but they would take a rain check.) Marinette certainly wasn't expecting her aunt to be living in a mansion!
Bridgette and Felix are rich, but both worked for their fortune and stability. During the tour and the dinner that followed Marinette finally broke down and told her aunt and her new uncle everything that was going on. She didn't mean to but when Uncle Felix asked how she liked school and how being the Class President was, she just snapped. She told them how she felt pressured by her parents but at the same time felt neglected, she told them the whole Lila situation had just gotten worse and how she was basically forced to remain as the Class President by her teacher and peers. She told them that she was cracking and she felt like there was no way to stop it.
Both are shocked and feel heartbroken at the speed their niece broke down and brought herself together again because of Hawkmoth which was a whole other can of worms they had questions about. Bridgette is mad at her sister for not listening to her daughter and just caring about her image and her and her husband's shop. And Felix is pissed that the school continued to do nothing.
"I didn't have perfect attendance last week and Maman and Papa threatened to take the door to my room, but when I tried to explain why my attendance wasn't the best they didn't listen! They sent me up to room without dinner!" Marinette cried and Bridgette saw red. One thing Bridgette and Sabine's mama had always taught them, was to never be stingy when it came to food.
Felix couldn't believe they would threaten to take their teenage daughter's door away, her privacy!
They ask her what she wants, not what others want or what she thinks is realistic, what she wants. And she tells them she had been wanting to transfer schools since her past few attempts to change classes never went through or well with her teacher and her parents, because what she wanted was "too much trouble" and why couldn't she "be the bigger person."
She tells them, in all honesty, that she had thought about running away at times because she didn't think her parents wanted her unless she was perfect. Bridgette had looked at Felix when her niece said that and she knew he understood the look in her eye that they would do anything to make sure Marinette didn't run away.
She tells them she just wanted a break from her responsibilities, from having to always be the bigger person, the idol, the hero. After that she falls asleep and Bridgette wasted no time taking her to a guest room and tucking her in.
Her and Felix are discussing everything they heard and they decide they want to become Marinette’s legal guardians. It would be a bumpy road but no kid deserved to feel like they had the weight of the world on their shoulders. It's while they're doing this that an akuma attacks and both are surprised when this floating red thing comes down with earrings and explains that their niece, their TEENAGE niece is the hero of Paris. But the thing looks so heartbroken when she says Marinette needs help that Bridgette doesn't even hesitate to take the earrings.
That night a new Ladybug was seen.
After that night things get set in motion. Bridgette and Felix talk to Marinette about her being Ladybug and everything else and that they want to help her. She almost breaks down again.
It starts small, with Marinette moving things she has bought with her own money to her aunt and uncle's house. Her parents don't even notice.
Then Bridgette and Felix help her transfer schools. When she needed her parents signatures on some documents she recorded them signing the papers, she also recorded them complaining how she was bothering them.
She transfers schools without her parents noticing and with her class thinking she's sick or just ditching.
She's almost fully moved in with her aunt and uncle when Bridgette has to do something that hurts but needs to be done. She starts getting things in order so her and Felix can adopt Marinette.
When Marinette is too tired or they feel like she needs a break, Bridgette assumes the role of Ladybug.
It's only after Mlle Bustier calls Sabine to ask if Marinette is sick that Sabine and Tom notice she hasn't been home for a maybe at least a week. When they go up to her room they see things are missing. It's when Sabine calls her sister to find her "reckless irresponsible daughter" that Bridgette tells them that her and Felix want to adopt Marinette and that they all need to come together and talk.
Sabine and Tom are baffled. They go for dinner at Bridgette's place, Marinette isn't there, Bridgette and Felix told her she should go out with her new friends. Who would have guessed she transferred to Luka's school?
Tom and Sabine react badly to Bridgette and Felix going behind their backs and helping Marinette "run from her problems." But Bridgette and Felix do not take it and they tell them they are helping Marinette get out of unhealthy environments. They talk about adopting Marinette and that it would just take Sabine and Tom signing the papers but both aren't having it.
Felix said they were more than prepared to take them to court if that's what they wanted. But he hints that is something they definitely don't want.
They don't listen. They get outted in court as being neglectful, and not paying their daughter for all the work she did in their shop, and other things they did not expect. Especially since they told Nadja about the case and gave her permission to report about it since they are well known people in Paris. Public opinions of them takes a dive. Bridgette and Felix become Marinette’s new legal guardians.
The class get mad that Marinette abandoned them and when they see her out with her new friends they become livid. It was an accident but they do end up injuring Marinette which gets a lot of them in big trouble. They also end up being sued by the cafe they decided to confront Marinette in due to vandalism that happened in the accident.
Adrien keeps trying to get Marinette to talk to him, any version of him, and basically starts to stalk her to the point Bridgette and Felix ask her if she wants a restraining order against him because they have caught him on their security camera following Marinette home, standing outside their gates waiting for her, they also see Chat Noir doing this too.
Gabriel is pissed and tries to persuade them not to do it as it would ruin his and his son's image but they aren't budging.
Adrien does get the ring taken away.
He also gets a restraining order against him! :D
Bridgette and Felix decided to take legal action against Marinette's former school due to their treatment of her and the way they handle bullies and akumas.
M Damocles and Mlle Bustier face legal charges.
As does on Lila Rossi who's actions come to light but she does not go down without a fight and ends up revealing she was working with HM. She does go to jail for working with a terrorist and other charges.
Nathalie dies due to all the stress going on and because of her use of the Peacock Miraculous. She "disappears" which launches an investigation on Gabriel himself.
More stuff happens but this is getting very long XD working title of this is "Little Ladybird Fly Home"
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Graveyard Siblings (4)
I am sorry for not posting in a while. School is a total bitch. Here is part 4 of a fic that is not a fic.
[Masterlist]
(Part 1)(Part 2)(Part 3)
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Tall Marinette.(I admit I might be projecting a little here.)
One day, she took out something from someplace high and the whole family realized that ‘holy shit when did you get so tall?’
Bonus if Jason comes back from a long mission and had a wtf moment because she was wearing 6-inch-heels and met his eyes with them on.
“Pixie?!”
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You know how Bruce has the identity of Matches Malone to infiltrate the Gotham Underground.
While Jason does the drug deals more street crime stuff, Maria uses an excuse of being the representative for Red Hood excuse to mingle with the rich people who does crime on the side (Penguin), she uses it to go to black market auctions and buy some of the lost miraculouses which got into the hands of black market dealers.
Jason knows about it and acts as her ‘bodyguard’ anytime he can or sends one of his henchmen to be one with a death threat if she gets a single scratch on her.
Bruce is unaware of this. Or is he?
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Mari helps with running WE since she is a little less busy with the vigilante side of things.
It started with Tim panicking about deadlines and Mari offering to help, to Bruce and Tim bullying the board to have her as co-CEO.
She has to be that and head of Afterlife. So she is very busy. Doesn’t know about what comes next….
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Somehow the class comes to Gotham for a trip. It has been 3 years since her death.
Mari has changed her appearance since the day she left Paris. She has highlights in her hair after a ‘sibling bonding day’ with Jason. Her hair is kept short for convenience and not in pigtails. Along with her tall height and more confident aura, she is almost unrecognizable.
She rides a motorcycle too.
The class waits in the lobby for the tour and in walks this badass woman with aviator sunglasses, leather jacket and designer clothes which was all MT brand, making a lot of people swoon.
She takes off her glasses and walks past the class. Checking stuff on her phone and sipping coffee in her other hand.
She seems familiar but they couldn’t figure out why. (All except Chloe, Alix and Felix who are snickering in the background.)
Lila sees her and comments on how she must be a criminal with the way she dresses. (Lila internally freaks out because were her eyes messing with her? Because she looked a little like Marinette. Also jealous of the new arrival for stealing all the attention.) Alya takes the bait and calls security to ‘arrest’ her.
They just laugh. The class doesn’t understand, speaking in confused French.
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“I am Maria Todd-Wayne, also known as designer MT. CEO of Afterlife and co-CEO of the very company you are in. I am allowed in here. Don’t judge a book by its cover.” she said in perfect French.
“But Lila told us you can’t speak French.”
“Who?”
“Lila Rossi, your friend. She told us that you and MT were dating.”
“Me dating myself. Okay I love myself because self-love is a thing but that is a whole other level. MT are my initials. Anyone who has a brain could have figured that out or at the very least do a Google search. I am not sure where your friend got that notion.”
“Hey, Bean, come on. We have a long day ahead of us.” Tim reminded her.
“Goodbye but cease the rumours or you would be escorted off the premises.”
As they rode up the elevator, “Tim, why are they here?”
“They are the lucky winners of the Wayne Enterprise Young Prodigies Contest. Why, Maria?”
“Lucky, huh.” She muttered under her breath. She might as well tell him. They are the Bats and they will find out anyway. “They are from my old class, the one you know…”
“Oh. Want me to send them back? I can do that if they are making you uncomfortable.”
“Nah. Too much to deal with. And it is unfair to send them back over a petty grudge. Besides, I could have some fun.”
“Anything that Bruce and I should be worried about?”
“I swear no killing. Just because Jason came back from the dead, hell-bent on killing. Doesn’t mean I am too.”
“Cool, just don’t do any property damage or traumatize our employees.”
“I might need you to erase some footage later and tell Bruce about this.”
“Some brownies, my favourite coffee cake, the ‘special’ brew and you have yourself a deal.”
-----
So basically she just showed up around where the class was ‘by coincidence’.
Talk to a few people and take them out of earshot of the rest of the class.
End the conversation by saying a few things only they and her would know. Insides jokes and secrets. (I pick her old childhood friends like, Nino, Kim and maybe Sabrina)
Uses Trixx to turn into a walking dead version of her 15-year old self and disappears as they freak out about how she knew that secret/story.
Freaks them out further by appearing again in front of the whole class and pretending not to know their previous conversation.
Mari manages to get Lila alone.
I should also say that Lila thought that her curse was making her see MT as Marinette.
It terrifies Lila when she finds out that MT is actually Marinette, not dead but alive after all this time and apparently living the high life she wanted. This fact made the Italian swell up with jealousy.
“I hope you are not lying about me again, Lila Rossi. Like you always do.”
“What do you want with me? I swear I didn’t say anything else about you.”
“Aw, Lila. Don’t recognize me?”
Maria flickers and Ladybug is in her place and later, the Marinette that appeared in her bedroom and back to normal.
“You! How? Why are you here? Why can’t you leave me alone?”
“Why not? I mean you did take away nearly all my friends, my parents and made my life a living hell. If you think about it, I am just repaying you the same favor. How are the others? Treating you well?”
“What did you do to me, you bitch?”
“I just put a curse on you. The ghosts of your past will haunt you until you stop.”
“Stop what?”
“Stop Lying, Liar. They all feed and grow in power from your lies. I wonder what would happen in a few years if you kept this up.”
“You think you can get away with this. This is war and I have already beaten you once.”
“Oh Rossi. This isn’t a war. It’s a death sentence.” With that she disappears.
Lila tries to tell her class that MT is actually Marinette. She is met with crazy looks. Some of them look like they want to believe her but don't because they don’t want to look crazy too.
Oh. Adrien wasn’t on the trip because his mother didn’t want him to go to the crime capital of America although the crime rate has gone down a little due to Hellbat curing some of the city’s bad energy..
Right after Lila told the class about MT, Scarecrow came to steal some Wayne tech and the class got caught in the crossfire. So later, it was brushed off as Lila seeing things due to the fear toxins.
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Joker made the mistake of kidnapping her. Once was enough to never try that again.
(It involved the use of nearly all of the Miraculouses, old and new. He was thoroughly humiliated at the end of it and his picture by the time Hellbat was done with him was on the Batfam’s Christmas Card. Like I said she doesn’t kill but making them beg for death was okay.)
It coincided with Jason’s Birthday and the video of the incident was ‘the best birthday present ever.’ The uncensored version was watched at the next undead siblings bonding day. Damian included.
After hearing a few rumours about what happened, most criminals were glad for Hellbat’s rare appearances. (which happens once a month and during really busy time of the year)
There was a time where Penguin was carrying out one of their plans and when Hellbat showed up, all of their thugs surrendered instantly. (No Batman did not pout at the fact that this French girl was more imitating than him.)
Scarecrow used his newest batch of fear toxin on her during the first year after she died.
He was astounded to see her still standing and she later proceeded to beat the crap out of him while being under the toxin’s influences.
He has tried to stay out of her way since then.
She saw Scarecrow as Hawkmoth and said a lot of things in French which scared everyone because she said it with so much hate, anger and in a very menacing tone that everyone is like ‘I am not touching this.’
It took Red Hood and Nightwing to restrain her from further beating Scarecrow up.
He was one of the people who sympathised with the Joker after the Incident.
The next was Riddler being so arrogant in his plans and managed to get Hellbat and Spoiler into a death trap.
“You know I have a few regrets in life. And my final one is that I got captured and am now going to get killed by a walking fashion disaster.”
“Hey! I made this myself. I will have, you know.”
“You have a brilliant mind but no sense of fashion at all. When I get out of here, I am going to burn that thing with you in it, for your crimes against fashion.”
“What is wrong with it?”
Cue a lot of roasting of Riddler’s costume and Spoiler adding more fuel to the fire.
They manage to escape while Riddler is crying on the floor, having an existential crisis.
The thing was no one knows why Riddler was silent the entire week after encountering Hellbat and crying when anyone mentions it.
They now think Hellbat is the scariest one in the Batfamily, second to Batman and tied with Black Bat/Orphan.
The few who find out what really happened in the warehouse that night. Blackmail material on the Riddler.
Three ( four if you count Penguin) of Gotham’s biggest villains of the Rogues Gallery scared of Bats’ newest addition. Hellbat was not someone they wanted to mess with.
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Magic crisis stuff. Like a world ending event thing. Dr. Fate says they need the Miraculous jewels but the last mention of them had been in Paris a few years ago and had vanished since then.
Costantine looked at Batman. “You know who you have to call.”
Batman calls Hellbat. Who hasn’t been introduced yet to the JL.
“Ah. Bats. Not that I question your authority or anything but how can your newest ‘ward’ help us?”
She takes off her helmet and reveals her face and more importantly, her earrings.
Tikki comes out of her hiding place.
“I am the current Guardian of the Miracle Box and wielder of the Ladybug miraculous during Hawkmoth’s reign in Paris a few years ago. Any other Questions?”
“Oh great Guardian. Tikki. It is an honour to meet you.”-Wonder Woman, who else.
“You too, Princess Diana. Pass on my regards to your mother.”-Tikki
A huge face-off and the big evil is defeated.
WW asks abt HM and gives a horrified face at the end of her story. Nearly everyone who eavesdropped on the conversation was.
"Forgive me, Guardian for not aiding you in your hour of need.”
“It’s okay. I understand that there are other crises, world-ending ones that JL have to take care of. I am better now. Mostly.”
“I doubt it with those revenge schemes I found lying around. But she is getting there with her therapist.”-Batman
“I hate you, Dad.”
“Did you just call him Dad?”
“No….”
“Do you see me as a father figure?”
“I see you as a nuisance with how nosy you are with my personal business. So you are more of a bother figure.”
“I see you as part of the family too, Daughter.” (Got that reference anyone?)
“Jason was the one who adopted me.”
“Legally you are adopted by me.”
Maria with Pikachu surprised face because nobody told her that. “My life is a lie.”
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(Part 5)
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mcheang · 2 years
Text
Kwami advantage
I finally finished Strike Back and it gave me a lot of fic prompts. Here is one.
Tumblr media
Ladybug realises that all humans are likely infected by Risk but kwamis are not. She detransforms to consult Tikki, then transforms into Pegapup.
Together Pegapup and Tikki travel back in time.
When they return to the present, Kaalki swaps places with Tikki.
The day is saved.
Meanwhile Felix is irritated he has been been tricked. And there is no way in hell he is going on a world tour with Miss Blabbermouth. At least he has Nathalie’s tablet. An informative consolation prize.
Gabriel is infuriated by the defeat and orders Nathalie to return home with Adrien. He feels like giving up.
To his surprise, he finds Adrien at home demanding to stay at home.
To Adrien’s surprise, his father immediately agrees to cancel the world tour and even stop his joint photo shoots with Lila. Then asks Adrien to leave him be.
Adrien: but i want to spend time with you, normally. Not just for business dinners.
Gabriel: Adrien, i have to call Nathalie and let her know she is with Felix. Did you even consider what Felix might gain from this? I listened to you already, now you listen to me. Leave my presence immediately.
Without even looking at Adrien, Gabriel calls Nathalie or texts her about Felix and warns her to check that nothing is stolen.
Nathalie discovers her pad and ring missing and demands Felix return them. In a public setting, with Gorilla summoned, Felix sulkily hands over the items.
Lila is dismayed to learn the trip had been cancelled.
Marinette is so relieved and proud Adrien stood up to his father.
Adrien himself feels this is a bittersweet ending. He gets to stay at home but now his father feels like he can’t trust him.
Plagg: cheer up. We can blame this whole thing on the Risk akuma
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serenescribbles · 3 years
Text
all those words i can't say Part 2
For Maribat Bio Dad!Bruce Wayne Month Day 1: Meeting for the First Time
Here's the accompaniment to chapter one! This is pretty much all I have so far for this fic so, yeah!
This chapter was also beta'd by Emily on the Maribat? Get In! Discord Server!
I hope this chapter is enjoyable!
CW: I don't think this chapter has any warnings?
AO3 | Masterlist | Part 1 | Part 3
Marinette Dupain-Cheng was… an enigma.
When he first walked into the waiting room, as soon as he laid eyes on her, he knew right then and there who she was. His daughter.
At first, he had been surprised to receive an email from a law firm in Paris. Apparently, he had been mentioned in someone’s will. And he couldn’t for the life of him figure out why.
It must’ve been another ploy by someone in order to gain his attention. But then, he realized he recognized who had mentioned him in their will.
Sabine Cheng.
Bruce sighed wistfully as he glanced sideways at Marinette.
The resemblance was uncanny, and there was no doubt that she was his and Sabine’s child.
He had met Sabine while he was still traipsing the world in China.
As he wasn’t fluent in Mandarin at the time, it had been a real struggle for him to navigate China. Many a time, he found himself being scammed, but with no way to do anything about it.
Going from Nanking to Xi’An to Beijing, he had finally hopped over to Shanghai, looking for a place to spend the night.
It had started raining all of a sudden in the middle of nowhere and Bruce had found himself going against the wave of people that had started running towards the subway entrance.
Being ill prepared, he had no umbrella, and simply resolved to grab a stray newspaper laying on the ground to cover himself.
Hurriedly rushing to find somewhere he could rest, without paying attention, Bruce had run into a young woman with bags full of groceries.
Him bumping into her had caused all the groceries to topple out of their bags and he hurried to help her pick them up.
Apologizing over and over again in poorly spoken Mandarin, she simply chuckled at him and told him it was alright, in English.
That was enough to shock him silly! So far, he hadn’t met anyone other than her who knew how to speak English!
The woman had told him that her name was Xia Bing, but it was a bit too hard for him to pronounce. After watching him struggle for a few moments to say her name, she finally said to just call her Sabine.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Bruce had offered Sabine to walk her home, and to help her with her groceries, and she had accepted.
While walking Sabine home, he had told her his story, and she’d been heartbroken.
It was a bit surprising, to see someone genuinely feel sorry for him, unlike all those socialites back in Gotham who put on fake smiles.
When they had finally arrived, Sabine offered to let him stay in her home for the next couple of nights if he was planning on staying in Shanghai.
At first, he had adamantly refused, not wanting to place a burden on her and her family’s shoulders. Yet, she insisted, and so, he had no choice but to accept.
In the next couple of weeks or so, Sabine had taken him touring around Shanghai, showing him all of the beautiful sights that were lesser known to people, teaching him Mandarin, and trying out all of the food.
Bruce’s eyes softened unintentionally when he looked back fondly on those days.
But then, one night, he and Sabine had gotten a little too drunk and the next morning, they woke up tangled in bed with each other.
It had been a little awkward and embarrassing at first, but they both eventually came to the agreement that they wouldn’t let it come between them.
They didn’t regret it or anything, there was just no purpose in making it mean something more.
And when they finally had to part ways, they had seen each other off amicably, with Sabine giving him a chaste kiss before he had to board his plane.
After that, they had unfortunately lost touch, but he had done some research a few years back and discovered she had moved to Paris and met someone by the name of Tom Dupain. The two of them owned a bakery and were running a successful business.
When he had found that out, he had experienced a light twinge of something in his heart but overall, he was happy for her. She had been able to settle down and live a happy life.
Yet, there would still be some days where he would ponder how different his life would be if he had let that one night he’d spent with Sabine mean something. But his children and Alfred would always be there to remind him that he wouldn’t trade his current life for anything in the world.
In recent years, he hadn’t thought much about Sabine, so it came as a huge shock when he learned that she had passed away along with Tom, leaving their 16 year old daughter alone in the world.
He had been taken aback by the existence of Marinette. And even more astonishing was how similar she looked to his mother, when she was in her teens.
After doing some digging, he was finally able to come to the conclusion that Marinette was his biological child! The product of that night he spent together with Sabine all those years ago.
It had been nerve wracking, to discover he had another biological child, and in one hysterical moment, Bruce found himself worrying over Marinette turning out to be another Damian.
But he had quickly dispelled that thought away. She was Sabine’s child, there was no way Marinette would turn out like that! And even if she was another Damian, there was nothing wrong with that! Damian was his son and even though things had started off rocky between them, he loved him so much.
However, that being said, Bruce didn’t think it was a good idea to reveal that he had another biological child to his family just yet. Alfred already knew though, because he’d needed his help with keeping it a secret.
So, under the guise of needing to meet with the head of the Parisian W.E. branch, he got onto his private jet and flew to France.
Despite his efforts, Bruce still got the feeling that Tim knew something was up, and Barbara probably already knew everything. Because while he had been on the jet, she had sent him a simple text that only said “I know :)”
He had been sweating bullets at that point but he hadn’t gotten any further texts from her. So he hoped it was safe to say that she knew, but wasn’t planning on telling anyone before he did.
After arriving at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, and then checking in at Le Grand Paris, he decided to familiarize himself with the city. And what he found was alarming.
Apparently, up until three months ago, Paris had been dealing with a magical supervillain who could manipulate a person’s emotions. His identity hadn’t been revealed and the public had been quite angry over it, but Bruce had been able to conclude that it was Gabriel Agreste.
After the “Final Battle”, as many Parisians dubbed it, he noted that Agreste had basically dropped off the face of the earth, along with his son, Adrien Agreste.
He couldn’t find anything that connected Adrien Agreste to his father’s crimes so he let that slide. But it was still concerning that the two of them had vanished at the same time.
The only notable thing was that Chat Noir also disappeared when the battle ended. It wasn’t anything really suspicious, as it was possible he simply gave his miraculous back to Ladybug.
But there was just something… not quite normal about it that Bruce couldn’t quite put his finger on.
And, while looking into Sabine and Tom’s deaths, it seemed as though it happened on the same night as the Final Battle. At first, he thought it was done by Hawkmoth or Mayura, with malicious intent. But he found it was simply because their building was old, and the infrastructure was wearing down, so that’s why it collapsed.
Thankfully, Marinette hadn’t been in the building because she had gone out on a last minute sleepover with her friends, Alya Césaire and Alix Kubdel.
But there was just something that he couldn’t shake from his mind.
He had first noticed Ladybug and Chat Noir because of the statue in the Place des Vosges. Yet, when asking locals what the statue was for, many people just gave him shifty looks and tried directing him to other things.
Why were they all hiding something?
No one seemed to want to talk about it, so he had to take matters into his own hands. And that had certainly been a trip, as Stephanie一 no, sorry一 Steph would say. It was going to take some time to remember to call her that, and call Barbara “Babs”.
It just seemed… awkward for Bruce to call them that. But they had requested it, so he would do his best to follow through.
Even when he had found out, it had taken a lot of hacking and searching to even catch a mention of it in the news. It was like everything had vanished.
Ladybug had vanished, but not after giving a final statement to the public that she, and every other miraculous wielder, was retiring. Again, Chat Noir was absent.
Nothing was left behind, except for the statue, amongst other very obscure things.
He’d even tried to talk to the mayor, for goodness sake! And Bruce had thought the money he’d given the cowardly André Bourgeois would be enough to get him to confess. Although he didn’t like bribing people, sometimes, it was the only way to get things done.
But even though André’s eyes practically glowed at the sight of the money and he opened his mouth to say something, he suddenly shut his mouth, and tersely asked that he “not try to look into things any further”.
Which was strange, because just a moment ago, he was ready to give up everything. Oh, how he hated magic.
It was useful, sometimes, but most of the time, it was confusing and restricting.
Strangely, whenever he thought about how everyone in Paris seemed to be pretending that Hawkmoth never happened, Bruce always thought back to the phrase, “There is no war in Ba Sing Se!”
It was from Avatar: The Last Airbender, an animated cartoon show that his kids seemed to like a lot. During movie night, it was the only show they could all agree on watching and he couldn’t tell you how many times he heard that phrase.
It was an apt description for what was happening right now, with every single person he met denying Hawkmoth ever existed.
Shaking his head, Bruce quietly sighed.
How had he let himself get sidetracked?
The most important thing about being in Paris wasn’t to uncover the secret of what was going on, it was to bond with his new child!
But, he’d said it before and he’d say it again.
Marinette Dupain-Cheng was an enigma. She was confusing. She was a puzzle he had yet to crack.
And while Bruce knew he shouldn’t think of his own daughter like that, he just couldn’t help it.
When he had first walked into the waiting room, he’d noticed that she was subtly trying to observe him.
Did she recognize who he was?
Yet, her face never showed any signs of recognition, only casual curiosity. Then her brows furrowed, perhaps thinking that she had seen him somewhere, but unsure where.
But then she turned back to doing her own thing, and he noticed her fiddling with her shirt.
It was odd for him to zero in on her clothing, but he couldn’t help but notice that although her clothes looked professional, in some places, the stitching was uneven.
Though, in his file that he’d compiled for Marinette, it had said that she was an aspiring fashion designer, so it was quite likely she’d designed and made her clothes herself.
If he had just been another normal civilian, it was likely he would just believe her clothes were store bought. They honestly looked like they were made by a professional, save for the tiny mistakes made, and it was impossible to believe that Marinette had made them!
A part of him felt pride at how skilled his daughter was. And Bruce internally noted to himself to ask Alfred to buy a mannequin, a sewing machine, and lots of bolts of fabric for when Marinette came to the Manor.
Pulling his phone out of his pocket, he checked for any emails from Tim or Lucius, as he had left the company in their hands for while he was away. Luckily, nothing was in his inbox.
Then he checked his texts and his eyes would’ve widened, had he not practiced the art of keeping his face emotionless for a long time. The family group chat had blown up, and now everyone was spamming “gifs” in the chat.
Scrolling up to see the chat history, he found that it had been Steph who instigated this. Of course it was Steph. He loved her but sometimes she was too chaotic.
Like the time she stole his credit card to buy a giant pink flamingo pool floatie even though it was in the middle of winter. Or the time she stole his car and took it for a swim in Gotham Bay. Or even the time she ordered 100 waffle makers from Amazon and put her address as Wayne Manor.
Lord, delivery people had been stopping by the Manor all day because of her.
But then he heard a loud sniffle, and he tucked his phone away into his pocket and noticed Marinette was crying!
She had hunched in on herself and her head was buried into her hands. He could tell by the way she was muffling her cries that she didn’t want him to notice.
But how could he just ignore his daughter when she was upset?
He had to help her. And so, before Bruce himself even knew what he was doing, he found himself kneeling down on one foot in front of Marinette.
Her eyes flung open as he reached a hand out to cup her cheek. And he was angered to see her flinch at his hand. Calming himself down, he tenderly wiped her tears away with his thumb and ran his fingers through her hair.
There wasn’t really anything to say, so he just stared up at her watery eyes, and showed her that he was there for her.
However, for some reason, that just made her cry even harder! Panicking, he pulled her into a tight hug in an effort to soothe her.
Patting his daughter’s back, Bruce tried to let Marinette know that everything was going to be alright. Well, it wasn’t, but things would get better. Just not to where they were before.
And, speaking as someone who had been orphaned at such a young age, there would still be days where he’d go into his father’s study and just sit there, admiring the man his father was. And he still connected every so often with the ladies in his mother’s social circle.
The whole manor reminded him of his dead parents and there was nothing he could do about that. But then Dick came into his life. Along with Barbara, Jason, Tim, Steph, Cass, and Damian.
With them, he had been able to forge new memories inside his home. But they weren’t enough to replace the ones he’d made with his parents. Nothing would ever replace them. But they did help him move on.
So that’s what he would do for Marinette. His beloved daughter. He would help her heal, and remember how to live again even after everything was lost. He’d help her find her wings again and fly.
Marinette kept sobbing and trembling, and he didn’t know how to make it better. So he just stayed there, just let her cry into his shoulder, just let her get everything out until she finally died down.
He was just getting prepared to say something when the lawyer interrupted their moment and called them both inside his office.
Which was where he was sitting right now, with Marinette sitting to the right of him and the lawyer sitting behind his desk.
But she was acting strange. Her eyes had widened when the lawyer had addressed him as “Mr. Wayne”, so could she have not known? And ever since they had sat down inside the lawyer’s office, she had avoided his gaze and simply stared straight ahead.
She trembled ever so slightly and Bruce could see Marinette bite her lower lip just a tad.
Oh no! He hadn’t wanted her to feel uncomfortable! What was he going to do now?
The lawyer chose that moment to clear his throat. Pulling out a sheet of paper from a folder in a filing cabinet, he set it down in front of the two of them as he pulled the digital copy of Tom and Sabine’s will on his computer.
“Ahem. The two of you are gathered here for the reading of the late Sabine Cheng and Tom Dupain’s will. If none of you have any objections, I shall begin.”
After a moment of awkward silence, the lawyer started reading the will out. “We, Sabine Cheng and Tom Dupain, of sound mind and of sound body, declare this will to be our final will and testament, voiding all previously filed wills and testaments. This will and testament is dated 21st June 20XX.
To Marinette Dupain-Cheng, our beloved daughter, we leave everything we own in your possession. Including ownership of our bakery and apartment, access to any and all of our bank accounts, and all of our worldly goods. We also leave behind a letter for you to read.
To Bruce Wayne, my dear companion, I know this may come as a shock to you, as it has been so long since we have last kept in touch, but in the event Marinette is still a minor when both of us pass, we would like it if you were to become her guardian until she turns 18. You will also be in possession of everything of ours until Marinette is of legal age. There is a letter for you to read as well.”
Bruce was surprised. Sabine and Tom wanted him to take custody of Marinette? Of course, there was no problem with that, as even before arriving in Paris, he had already followed the proper procedures that would be needed in order to take in his daughter.
It was just, a bit shocking, after all, who were Sabine and Tom to say that he would take good care of Marinette? Sure, Sabine knew him well enough to provide her experience on the matter but they hadn’t talked in years.
What if he had changed? What if he had become a bad person?
But at least it was safe to say he hadn’t changed, except for gaining a few wrinkles and some back pain. Though, if he had, the two of them were literally spelling out Marinette’s doom. And Bruce didn’t know how to feel about that.
It was… sort of nice, though, to see that Sabine and Tom trusted him unconditionally.
However, that wasn’t the case for Marinette.
Subtly glancing over at her, she was still avoiding looking at him but instead, her eyes were fixated on the paper, going over and over again at the line that said Tom and Sabine granted him full guardianship over her. And she honestly looked terrified.
And then she didn’t.
In the blink of an eye, Marinette’s horrified expression was gone. She now simply had a neutral one, with no emotion at all.
A chill ran down Bruce’s spine.
How could someone have changed their facial expression so quickly?
Looking more closely at her eyes, they seemed to be sunken in, unseeing, unnatural.
It was like she had completely shut down. Before, it was easy for him to tell how she was feeling, because she was wearing her heart on her sleeve. But now, Marinette was completely unreadable, and he prided himself over knowing how to read faces!
It was wrong, and unsettling, with how blank his daughter’s face was. Marinette had cut any ties she had to any emotions and he didn’t like it one bit. It wasn’t healthy to bottle up emotions. He knew from experience.
Yet, she moved like a robot, with her eyes totally blank, and her face smoothed to a neutral expression. If he hadn’t witnessed her crying earlier, and her sudden expression of sheer terror, he would’ve thought that his daughter was entirely devoid of emotion!
He almost reached out a hand to gently shake his daughter’s shoulder, but he fell short.
No, she was already clearly terrified at the idea of him being her guardian. So reaching out to her right now wasn’t the best idea.
And so, Bruce quickly withdrew his hand, feeling slightly embarrassed as he shoved it into his pocket.
By then, the lawyer set down a crisp, sealed envelope in front of him and Marinette.
Picking up his envelope, Bruce glanced sideways at his daughter and watched as she shakily reached out a hand and quickly snatched the envelope up.
Deftly breaking the seal, he took out a small folded up piece of paper and unfolded it, careful not to rip its edges.
Now that he saw the letter’s contents as a whole, he could easily recognize Sabine’s loopy cursive. Smoothing out all of the crinkles the best he could, Bruce started reading.
Dear Bruce,
I’m sorry for giving you such a big responsibility even though we haven’t talked in a long, long time. I hope I haven’t inconvenienced you.
However, you see, the truth is, and there isn’t any easy way to tell you this, but Marinette is actually our daughter.
Marinette was the result of the night we spent together all those years ago. I apologize for not letting you know before you left, because at that time, I didn't even know about the baby growing in my belly!
Imagine my surprise when a little over a week after you left, I started showing symptoms of pregnancy! After a physician looked me over, she confirmed that I was 5 weeks pregnant! Oh, I was so over the moon after hearing that news! But by the time I knew for sure, you were already long gone and I had no way to contact you.
Not long after that, I traveled to Paris, wanting to seek more than just my simple life in Shanghai. And I met the love of my life, Tom, there, too.
He already knew about Marinette, and he didn’t mind. I was honestly so touched that he still loved me despite me having a child that wasn’t his.
Not long after we met, we got engaged, and then married! It all happened so fast but I didn’t regret a single second of it!
And then Marinette came along.
I remember holding her in my arms right after giving birth and noticing how she had your eyes. They were a brilliant shade of opulent blue that kept on sparkling.
I love her so much, and Tom does, too. We were planning on telling her on her 18th birthday about you, but if you’re reading this letter, that means that we have failed.
It saddens me to have this knowledge bearing down in my mind as I write this, and I hope that you’ll never have to read this le一
Bruce tore his eyes away from the letter, unable to, or rather, unwilling to read the rest of its contents.
He hadn’t expected the letter to evoke such deep emotions inside of him. There was just something about how Sabine’s neat cursive seemed to wobble a bit, or how there seemed to be tear splatters on the paper, that made it too much for him to go on.
Up until now, he hadn’t seemed to process the fact that Sabine was gone now. What once was a bright, bubbly woman who giggled at his poorly attempted Mandarin was now no more. And she had given him his first experience with love, too.
Despite not thinking of Sabine in a long time, it was still hard to grasp that his first love, the first woman he’d ever been with, wasn’t living and breathing on this planet anymore.
All of the time they spent together, the jokes they shared, the memories they made, he would not let them go in vain. They would be remembered. Even if not for his sake, for his daughter’s, so she could get to know the wonderful woman who was her mother from a different point of view.
Bruce clenched his fists and tried to shove down his emotions. It was a struggle, but he managed.
This wasn’t the time to be caught up in his own emotions! He could deal with them later, away from his daughter.
Marinette needed someone to support her, to uplift her right now. Not someone who was also grieving. He needed to be strong. She mattered more than some feelings he was experiencing way past their due.
He needed to put up a brave face for Marinette, his daughter. Be strong now, be the person she needs.
Letting out a deep sigh, with regret painted on his face, Bruce slowly unclenched his fists.
Stay strong. Right. He could do that. Easy peasy.
But he was startled out of his thoughts by a low, guttural cry.
Turning his head to the right, Bruce watched as Marinette raised a shaky finger at him and stammered, “You一 you’re my father?”
@maribat-bdbwm
1. I know the timeline of when Bruce and Sabine is a bit wonky but bear with me. Just pretend the timeline inconsistency doesn't exist!
2. Thank you Martina for inspiring the "There is no war in Ba Sing Se" part!
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We Should have Stayed in Gotham ch 4
(Almost every Maribat fic I read has the akuma class going to Gotham. But tell me which is more likely, a class touring the city of crime, or a class touring the city of lights? So here it is, the Daminette fic that only I asked for, where Gotham goes to Paris, and the poor students have to grapple with the fact that they have competition for the most dangerous city in the world. I wonder what will happen?) (a/n: Warning dark Conversation. Don't be taken off guard.)
ao3 Beginning Previous
Despite what his brothers might say, Damian did not hate fun. He just hated their idiotic brand of fun that usually found them needing Bruce and the WE PR team to bail them out of jail while Barbara laughed at them from the other side of the bars. (He would never forgive Todd from stopping him from freeing the Zoo Animals. They would have gotten away with it if he had just followed orders.) Still, he planned to have fun on this trip, especially at the Louvre. He had always wanted to see the inside of this place, the art, the history, maybe even correct some of the factual errors. A scavenger hunt would not interfere with that, even if it was tedious and pointless.
But then Alix and Kathryn had skated by waving a half-completed work sheet shouting, “You’re falling behind!” Apparently, they had gotten a head start by going through her father’s office. Mendeleiev just groaned as manic grins spread across multiple students’ faces, including Marinette’s.
 And so it was, that before any of the teachers could stop them, the Parisians had grabbed their Gothamite’s hand and took off running through the halls of the most famous museum in the world. Damian didn’t know how to react as Marinette pulled him through wing after wing, her hand holding his in a vice grip, until they stopped in the Egyptian hall. He was surprised to see that she wasn’t panting, even though she had to be running at full speed in order to stay ahead of him.
Instead she just skidded to a stop and began to say in very broken German, “Ok…the first…question…is about…”
Damian cleared his throat, and said in French “You want to win this, right?” Marinette cocked her head but nodded. “Then I think it will be best if we stick to our fluent languages. We can help each other after we finish demolishing your insane classmates.”
Marinette grinned and then said in English, “Very well, but what about your classmates. Won’t they be a problem?”
Damian glanced at his work sheet and raised an eyebrow. “I doubt they will be much help. After all I’m not even sure what this first question means. Is it some sort of riddle?”
Marinette laughed and pulled him deeper into the wing. “Sabrina and your class representative, no you call it president, made this to encourage us to ask questions about each other,” she explained, “‘The scroll that awoke the Pharaoh, and revealed the secret of the Bug,’ is a reference to the akuma Pharaoh. He was a researcher here at the Louver whose theory on resurrection magic was dismissed, so he was akumatized in order to prove it worked. He tried to sacrifice Alya to the god Ra.”
Damian squashed a quip about how that would not have been the worst thing, instead settling on the more pressing question, “And the secret of the Bug?”
Marinette stopped in front of an old papyrus scroll, her smile fond and almost nostalgic as she looked at it. She pointed at the image of a woman with a yoyo in a spotted robe fighting the Pharaoh. “It was during this fight that it was revealed that Ladybug was over five thousand years old.”
Damian nodded as he looked at the scroll with consideration. “I thought the SpotsOn blog said that the title of Ladybug was a mantle passed down.”
“It is,” Marinette said as she scribbled on her work sheet. “But it was this scroll that set the question in motion. Since then scholars have been scouring the artifacts looking for people who could have a Miraculous Holder.”
“So why is it on our work sheet?” Damian asked.
And Marinette once more smiled as if at a fond memory. “I was with Alya when she found this. I got turned into one of the hundred mummies meant to aid in the sacrifice. Believe it or not we were actually good friends back then.”
Damian opened his mouth to say something, but Marinette clapped her hands and spun towards him with a smile. “Alright, the first one was for Paris, the second one should be for Gotham. Alix and Kathryn, have a good head start, but if we run, and take a few short cuts I know, then we should be able to catch up and beat them!”
Damian stifled a grin with a smirk. Her competitive spirit was infectious, and it pulled at his own instincts to push them to victory. And he was so tempted to give into it. He was the Son of the Bat after all, there was no way they could lose. But Grayson was always warning him that he overdid it, so he fought the urge to string trip wire everywhere and looked down at his sheet. His smirk turning devilish. “Are there any bat artifacts in the Chinese Wing?”
Marinette nodded briskly, “Tang Dynasty, this way!” And with that she had grabbed his hand and was once again pulling him through the Louvre at a devastating pace. And as the game went on, Damian stopped denying the genuine and bright smile that was slowly growing on his lips. But even as he gave into his more competitive instincts, he noticed a few interesting details about the Parisians.
For example, the Museum had obviously prepared for them, because they had roped off designated running lanes so the students could go wild without breaking anything or disrupting the other guests. And as they zoomed past, while the tourists stared in shock, the employees and locals laughed and cheered them on. It was strange considering that in Gotham they would have had security called on them ages ago.
Another thing was that all the Parisians were strangely athletic. Even the ones who should have been out of breath at the first sprint, vaulted and laughed as if it was nothing. At the pace he and Marinette were keeping, he expected that she would have to slow down after the first three questions. Instead, she only seemed to gain speed as she pulled him after her in a rush of adrenaline. And she never slowed down. Even when her classmate, the tall Chinese one, barreled toward them with his partner on his back, Marinette never slowed. She just pulled Damian down so that they slid down the slick floor, as the boy vaulted over them with ease.
Leaping to her feet, Marinette continued to pull Damian along even as her peer shouted, “I’m going to get you Mari!”
“In you dreams Kim!” she shouted. She beamed with pure joy, and Damian felt his own adrenaline muddling his senses, because he found himself mirroring her.
“What was that?” He demanded when they reached the Enlightenment Room.
“Hm?” Marinette said even as she searched the artifacts, “Oh, have you ever played the floor is lava?”
Damian grimaced against the memory. Grayson had thought it was a good idea to yell that phrase in the middle of Titan’s Tower, resulting in Jon scooping him up and hovering over the floor. Everyone had laughed as Damian thrashed like a kitten in the bath. It was one of his more embarrassing memories. “Once or twice,” he said through gritted teeth.
“Have you ever played it with real lava?”
Damian cocked his head at the question then nodded his head in understanding, “Lava Boy, he was a level 10 right?”
“You read the list,” Marinette said with a smug smile.
“Tt,” Damian said has he scanned for their opponents. “Of course, I did, I’m not an imbecile.  But what does this have to do with the fact that your entire class seems to be experts in parkour?”
“Not the entire class,” Marinette mused as she jotted down the answer. “Just those who know to pay attention in gym. Parkour became a curriculum requirement after Lava Boy. Every Parisian school teaches it as apart of our Physical Education. Or as we like to call it, ‘Running from Akumas 101.’”
Damian nodded his understanding. It was smart. It made him wonder why Gotham schools didn’t teach self-defense. But then again, maybe they did. He never really paid attention in class. But he had no time to ponder, because Marinette was grabbing his hand again and pulling him to the next artifact.
They ran into Alix and Kathryn twice, and saw that they were catching up, as the pair debated if they should be going towards Modern Art, or Ancient Greece. Which was when Damian noticed something else about Marinette, she was smart. When she had competed with him in languages, he had known that she had intelligence. But now she barely had too look at the clues to know the item they were talking about. And they really were some of the strangest clues, for example, “This Queen’s spear is lauded as Luck’s greatest hand.”
“That could be anything!” Damian exclaimed.      
“Queen Hippolyta’s spear was donated by Wonder Woman back in 1983, as a gift to her adopted city,” Marinette stated and then dashed off.
“Wait how did you know that?” Damian cried as he chased her.
“Hippolyta was the first named Ladybug, although technically she was the second holder. The first was the Oracle of Khepri, although her name was lost to time. We saw her scroll like ten minutes ago.”
Damian just shook his head and followed her without question. And that was another strange thing that he noticed. He didn’t mind following this girl around. Under normal circumstances, he would have demanded the lead. But Marinette just pulled him along as if her leadership was the most natural thing in the world. And as of yet, Damian could not begrudge her for it. And so it was in less time than he thought possible, they were racing back to the teachers with Alix and Kathryn hot on their heels and gaining. Then Marinette pulled out a bag of marbles and scattered them on the floor.
“Hey!” Alix yelled as the two girls were forced to slow down, “That’s cheating!”
“No rule against it!” Marinette shouted back as Damian laughed.
Mlle. Mendeleiev was pinching her nose as the pair skidded to a stop in front of her and handed her their completed work sheets. “I hope,” she said in her stern voice, “That the two of you got to talk at least once during that…escapade?”
“Yes Mlle. Mendeleiev,” Marinette said with her signature bright smile growing even as Damian sunk back into his signature scowl.
“Oh, and what did you learn about each other,” Bustier said with her signature plastered smile and too sweet voice.
“That Damian knows a lot about bats but not a lot about bugs.”
Damian couldn’t help the amused snort, even as the teachers rolled their eyes and took their sheets. But it was one of the Gotham teachers, Miss. Faustus who said, “You finished three hours early. Why don’t you two go back through the museum slower this time? Or perhaps spend time at the museum’s café?”
The two nodded their assent and then waited for Alix and Kathryn to turn in their sheet. “Well,” Marinette said, beaming so brightly, Damian was sure he was going to go blind. “We won!”
“You cheated!” Alix cried in mock annoyance as she skated up to them.
“Tt,” Damian said, “You were the ones with a head start, not to mention you were on skates. If anything, you were the ones that cheated, and yet we still were victorious. I do not know if that proves the depths of your ineptitude or the height of our excellence, but either way, you cannot argue with the results.”
Kathryn face palmed, as Alix stared at him in shock. Suddenly Damian was very aware that offending the wrong person in this city could result in a villain chasing him down. But he refused to back down as he tilted his chin to the girl, daring her to question him. Instead, Alix just turned to Marinette who seemed completely unfazed by his attitude.
At her friend’s questioning look, Marinette smiled gently. “Imagine if Kagami and Chloe were one person, and male. That’s him,” she said jutting her thumb at Damian. He furrowed his brow at the comparison, but faced Alix undaunted all the same.
She however just said “Oh,” as if that made perfect sense and then studied him more critically. Then her face split into the widest, most mischievous grin, Damian had ever seen (and he lived with Jason). A little nervous he took a step back even as Alix leaned forward and said, “We kill Lila!”
“Alix, no!” Marinette cried.
“Alix, yes!” Alix cried grabbing Damian’s shoulders before he could even begin to process what was happening as she said in a hissing voice, “Come! We have murder to plan!”
“No murder!” Marinette cried, even as Damian threw her hands off of him.
“First,” he said coldly, “Never touch me again. Second, I assume you have a strategy?”
Alix cackled and led him to the café even as Marinette screamed in frustration.
---------------------------------------
“So,” Kathryn said once they were all seated at the Museum’s outdoor café, “Who is this Lila and why are we trying to kill her?”
Damian remained silent as he watched the Parisians. They had only ordered drinks, because apparently the best bakery in Paris was catering their “Getting to Know You Party” later. So he sipped his as he watched Marinette tense, and Alix huff in frustration. It seemed, that now her adrenaline from the game was spent, the roller blading menace was ready to be serious. But it was Marinette who began the story.
“Lila,” she said simply, “Is a compulsive liar in our class. The only way to ensure that she didn’t akumatize anyone from Gotham was to pair her with the worst French speaker in your class, because she doesn’t know a lick of English no matter what she might claim.”
“When she first came here,” Alix said anger dripping from her every word, “She would tell all of these crazy stories about the places she’s been, and the celebrities she’s met. Of course, none of us actually believed her. We actually personally know a lot of the celebrities she likes to name drop so we always knew she was lying. We thought it was just some sort of game she liked to play, so we entertained her. It wasn’t doing any harm.”
“I never liked the game,” Marinette said as she stirred her coffee. “So I asked her to stop, and she threatened me. It was the only time she’s ever been completely honest.”
Alix took a deep calming breath, an action which Damian was quickly learning to associate with deep negative emotions from the Parisians. “That’s when her lies became a little less obvious,” she said, “She started sneaking subtler lies in with her obvious ones, slowly turning the class against Marinette. Started framing her for stealing, cheating, and bullying. Things like that.”
“She almost got me expelled,” Marinette said into her cup. And Damian couldn’t stop the shock from spreading across his face.
“Are you saying that your teachers believed her?” Damian demanded. He had only known this girl for an hour and a half, but already he felt that her being anything other than a model student was just preposterous.
But Marinette didn’t seem to register his outrage as she just shrugged and said, “The principle is more worried about funding and press than justice,” she said, “And I don’t know if you’ve noticed this, but Mlle. Bustier is a bit naive. Mlle. Mendeleiev is great, and she doesn’t let Lila get away with anything. But Mlle. Bustier…”
“That woman needs her license revoked,” Alix said in a huff, “And she probably would have by now if it wasn’t for Hawkmoth.”
“So?” Kathryn said leaning forward, “What happened?”
“Adrien,” Marinette said with a sigh of exhaustion, “Another classmate. Apparently, he talked to her, made a deal with her to back off. He told me about it as if it was this grand gesture on his part. But basically, it boils down to, he lets her do whatever she wants as long as she doesn’t directly target me.” Marinette rolled her eyes, “His heart's in the right place, but his arrows don’t always hit their marks if you know what I mean.” The Gothamites nodded and then gestured for the girls to continue.
“So anyway,” Alix said, “Later, Lila comes forward and admits that she lied. Claims she has a mental disorder that forces her to lie. Only, that night Marinette goes home and does a crap-ton of research on mental illnesses and lying and guess what?”
“There’s no such thing,” Damian said with a sneer.
Marinette just shook her head, “Compulsive lying is a symptom of many different illnesses, mainly OCD and psychopathy. But neither force the individual to lie. The person is always conscious of what they are doing, and can chose differently given that they are actively working towards their mental health.”
“And when Marinette presented her research,” Alix said, “The class basically split in two. The enablers who think the best way to help Lila is to humor her. And the intelligent people, who are just sick and tired of her crap.”
“Me, Chloe, Sabrina, Alix, and Juleka are the most outspoken members of the Intelligent,” Marinette explained. “Alya, Rose, and Mylene are the most outspoken of the Enablers. Everyone else falls on a sliding scale in between. But of course, none of this would even be a problem it is wasn’t for Hawkmoth.”
“Yeah,” Alix said sipping her coffee, “Hawkmoth has everybody thrown out of whack. I mean how do you in good conscious call someone out for being an idiot, when they’re enough of an idiot to let that akumatize them.”
“Next thing you know,” Marinette said, “You're running through the city with a horribly dressed flying fox demon on your tail.”
Both girls groaned and sipped their drinks, as Damian exchanged a look with Kathryn. Finally, Damian asked the question that had been plaguing him since the moment he had heard the name Hawkmoth, “What about the Justice League? Why hasn’t anyone called them in?”
“Screw the League,” a harsh voice called out, and the party turned to see Chloe and Sabrina with Alice and Will following behind.
“Chloe,” Marinette said instantly brighter, “You’re done early. I thought you would be dragging your feet in there.”
“Chloe helped me make the scavenger hunt so she can’t participate,” Sabrina said sliding into the chair beside Marinette. “So, we decided to do a walking tour with our partners instead.”
Everyone then introduced themselves, with Damian being introduced to Chloe last. They stared at each other with narrowed eyes before huffing simultaneously and sipping their drinks. The rest of the group giggled at that before Alice said, “What do you mean, ‘screw the League?’ I know some of them are blowhards, but they do have some powerful magic users. They can help.”
Chloe sniffed derisively, but the rest of the Parisians became somber. They looked to Chloe almost as if asking for her permission before she nodded. Then Marinette cleared her throat and said,
“It was three years ago, at the beginning of this…mess. At first all of the akumas were level 1-4s. Powerful and scary but not dangerous. No casualties, and they always had limited goals. It was very rare for them to effect more than ten people. Then…then we got our first level eight, Dark Cupid.”
“I saw him in my research,” Damian said stiffly, “I couldn’t understand why he was put so high, all of the other level eights had a death count in the high thousands, but his wasn’t even in the high hundreds.”
Sabrina nodded emphatically, her face contorted with pain, “Yes. The akumas are categorized by the damage they do. Which means that the higher akumas are rated by their death count. 5 is 1-1,000. 6 is 1,000-10,000. 7 is 10,000-1 million. 8 is 1 million-10 million. 9 is 10 million to 1 billion. and 10 is anything high than a billion.”
“But there are other kinds of damage that rank just as high as death,” Marinette said as she reached over to grip Chloe’s hand which was starting to shake. “When those akumas happen on a wide scale, they are usually ranked higher.”
“And Dark Cupid was one of those?” Kathryn asked.
“I read about him too,” Alice said leaning forward. “There weren’t any fight videos of him on the blog, but it said that he made people feel the opposite of their true emotions. What does that even mean?”
The girls took a deep breath and looked to Chloe again. She just nodded as she stared numbly into her coffee. It was Alix who spoke, “Dark Cupid was a boy whose Valentine humiliated him. So he made people feel the opposite of their true emotions. Love turned to hate. Hate turned to love.”
“I don’t see the problem,” Damian said, his brow furrowed in confusion.
“Oh!” Will cried, horror etched over his face. “Oh, that…that’s awful!”
“What?” Kathryn demanded.
Marinette sighed and looked them in the eyes. There was something hard and cold in her gaze, and it seeped into her voice as she said, “Imagine the person you love the most. The person you trust the most, parent, sibling, partner, spouse, being struck with a black arrow and then turning against you. They are consumed with a burning obsessive hatred for you and everything else they love. What do you think would happen?”
Damian paled at the thought. He could imagine it. He didn’t want to, but he could see it happening. His family sitting down to dinner, suddenly struck from behind…and then turning on him. It was a horrible image and he wanted to forget he ever saw it, but Marinette was not done.
“Now, imagine the person you hate. You’re worst enemy, and the same thing happens to them. Except now, with love. Or perhaps more accurately…lust. You’re enemy filled with an obsessive drive to ‘love’ you, just as your loved ones are filled with an obsessive drive to hate you. What do you think happens then?”
Damian was suddenly very glad that he had not eaten anything, because he was going to throw up. The images that Marinette was painting for them. They were horrible. They were gruesome, and disgusting on so many levels. And…and they had lived through that. He looked up and saw it. All four of these girls had faced that. Spouses turning on their partners. Parents turning on their children. Friends turning on their friends. All on a day when they were supposed to be celebrating their love and trust. And then to add their enemies into the mix…
“Only 136 dead,” Sabrina said solemnly, “But over three million reports of assault and battery, and over ten thousand reported rapes, and sexual assaults. And those were just the people who came forward.”
“We called the Justice League,” Chloe said as a single tear fell down her quivering jaw. “We broke their website begging for help, once the Miraculous Cure passed through. But they never answered.”
“Three more akumas were created because of that,” Marinette said squeezing Chloe’s hand as Sabrina wrapped her arms around her. “Eventually Ladybug gave a press release saying she got in contact with an International member, but she didn’t say whom. Here,” Marinette pulled up a video on YouTube and showed it to them. “You can watch that later. It basically says that miraculous matters are miraculous matters, and the Justice League will not be coming unless it’s a level 11 akuma.”
“Level 11?” Kathryn squeaked.
“Yeah,” Alix said with an amused huff, “Otherwise known as the ‘How in God’s Name are You Still Alive!’ Protocol.”
“If either Ladybug, or Chat Noir ever lose their Miraculous to Hawkmoth. Then the other is to retreat and go into hiding, while every citizen still alive in Paris spams the Justice Leagues number until someone shows up,” Marinette said with a small smile. “It hasn’t happened yet, but we’ll be prepared if it does.”
“Were you?” Alice looked at the shaking Chloe, her voice hesitant and soft. “I’m sorry but you told me that you used to have a lot of enemies. So…were you…um…”
Chloe sniffed and straightened, she was as rigid as a bored, but her chin was up and her jaw was set. Her eyes had not lost their fire as she scoffed and said, “Kwami no, no one touched me during Dark Cupid. I was the bitch who caused the whole thing.”
The Gothamites blinked. “What?” Damian demanded.
“You heard me,” Chloe said firmly squeezing Marinette’s hand. “Dark Cupid. The most emotionally scaring akuma aside from Sand Boy. I caused him. I was the dumb bitch who humiliated the boy and made Valentines day banned in Paris! It was my fault.”
“Chloe—” Sabrina began, but the heiress silenced her by leaning forward and growling,
“I caused more akumas, and suffering in this city, then Joker has probably done in a year. Everyday I wake up knowing that I am probably the most despicable being on the planet. But you know what? Everyday I wake up and decide to change that. It will never be enough. I will never undo the damage I did to Paris. But damn it, I’m trying! And I’m not alone.
“This is Paris. If you haven’t been an akuma, you’ve caused one, and no one is immune. Not even angels who are too good for this world like, Sabrina and Marinette heaven help them! So everyday we wake up knowing that we are villains! But every day we wake up and we swear we are going to do better. We make amends and we try. We’re all monsters, but we all have one enemy, and that’s the idiot who thinks he can put chains on monsters and not get bit!”
Chloe was seething now. Her teeth bared. Her eye wide. But she was still in control, and she stared them all down with the deadly force of a lioness. It quelled any arguments, pinning the Gothamites to there seats. As she roughly wiped the tears from her eyes, she declared,
“So yeah, screw the Justice League. As far as I’m concerned, they can all go and suck it! This is Paris, and we clean up our own messes. Besides even if they did show up, there’s nothing they can do. Ladybug is right, this is a Miraculous problem to be solved by Miraculous Holders.”
“Besides,” Sabrina said in a far gentler tone, “Do any of you really want to see and akumatized Superman? Or Batman?”
Everyone shivered at the thought, even Damian. He then drew in on himself as he thought about everything they had said. Lila. Hawkmoth. Dark Cupid. Chloe. The Justice League. Not all of his questions were answered, not by a long shot. But then he remembered the scavenger hunt. The pure joy radiating off of the Paris Class as they ran through the Museum. The genuine laughter of the employees at seeing their antics. The bright smiles of the civilians as they walked with their heads held high down the streets. They had been through hell, like Gotham never had. But where Gothamites scurried and scowled they…smiled.
Even now as he looked up to study the four girls before them, they were smiling. Bright, genuine, pure smiles. They laughed as they pulled the Gothamites out of their horror. They cheered as more of their friends joined them from within the museum. It was strange. It was confounding, confusing, and impossible for Damian to comprehend. It was…miraculous.
And so Damian whispered to himself in his heart, "I swear on mantle as Robin, and on my title as the Son of the Bat, and the Demon's Heir, I will do everything in my power to defeat Hawkmoth."
Next   
@night-ngale @annastasha @ev-cupcake @hammalammadamdam @laydeekrayzee @itsemmylie @when-no-wings-do-broomsticks  @doglover82 @raven-ette @atiredartistandacat
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ramos123 · 3 years
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This all happened because of the joker
In all honesty, I forgot to post this here I am very sorry
Damian had a crush on Marinette for some time, but he never dared to tell her. He and Marinette were friends they had known each other since she first came to Gotham after touring the world with her uncle. She has attended Gotham Academy for her 3rd year of high school.
At first, Damian hated Marinette just like everyone he could not stand her but Marinette would not take his bullshit and stood up to him. Damian at first was shocked but glared at her and Marinette glared right back.
Damian huffed and turned around and ignored Marinette. They were constantly at each other's throats, and their classmates would try to separate Marinette from Damian but would fail constantly. They still had a rivalry but not as much as their 3rd year of high school. They had grown over the summer and matured, but that didn’t mean that they still didn’t despise each other sometimes.
Once the last year of high school started, they had to learn to be around each other as they had mostly every single class together except for clubs and electives. When they got to know each other better, they learned that they enjoyed being around each other and a friendship was born.
Damian was currently waiting for Marinette at her locker, so they could walk to class together. When Marinette showed up to her locker to retrieve her stuff for their next class Damian noticed she was using her headphones Damian couldn’t help but say I'm falling for those eyes but they don’t know me yet. Once he realized that it had come out of his mouth, he raised his head wondering if Marinette had heard him but she hadn’t as she had said nothing.
Marinette internally was freaking out she had heard what Damian had said but did not want to make things awkward even if she liked him she was not ready for a relationship. She had finished a long-term relationship with Adrien on good terms but it still hurt she had loved him with all her heart.
Marinette loved Damian with all her heart she really did, but she didn’t want to hurt him when she was not ready for a relationship. She had learned to treasure the friendship she had with Damian. Even if they were enemies before she would not trade what she had now for anything.
They were on their way to class when they heard screaming they turned around only to find the Joker and a bunch of goons surrounding the exits and a group of students that had the misfortune of being trapped between them.
Damian and Marinette were planning on how to make it out of there and saving everyone. Unfortunately, the Joker had noticed Damian and Marinette next to him and cackled he would get some money once Bruce Wayne got the news that he was holding his son hostage. But then he noticed how worried Damian looked for Marinette so he decided to call Marinette over. She walked over cautiously for she had no clue what the Joker would do.
Marinette was scared she was walking towards the Joker and she had no clue why all she knew was that he could kill her anytime. Once she got near the Joker, he yanked her arm and put a knife to her throat and she went immediately stiff. Marinette could hear the gasp Damian had let out. Marinette was panicking at this point she had a clue about what was about to happen.
The bats had caught word about what was happening in Gotham academy suited up ready to get Joker back to Arkham. Batman got inside the batmobile and Red Hood, Red Robin, and Nightwing rode on their motorcycles. Once they got there, they got information on what was going on inside the building. What they heard was not good news Joker had a knife held to someone’s throat and that someone just happened to be Damian’s crush. Once they had a plan, they crashed through the windows and started to take out Joker’s goons and tied them up.
Batman approached the Joker and told him to let Marinette go she had nothing to do with what he wanted. Joker cackled and dug the knife further into Marinette’s neck until he drew a little blood. Batman stopped in his tracks knowing the closer the more Joker dug his knife into Marinette’s neck. He was trying to distract the Joker, so he could let go of Marinette but was failing.
He was trying to come up with a plan in his head and then noticed the Joker had started to walk backward dragging Marinette with his knife still held at her throat. The bats stepped forward but Joker just dug his knife even further into her throat.
Marinette was crying scared because she had no clue whether the Joker going to kill her or just use her to escape from the bats. All of a sudden she got an idea a bad idea but she had no other option. She stomped on the Joker’s foot hard and he yelled in pain and grabbed his foot and accidentally let her go Marinette took the opportunity to run away from him.
Batman yanked her forward and pushed her towards one of the bats. Once she was safe batman arrested the Joker and pulled him along to take him back to Arkham Joker was cackling telling Marinette that she was lucky and was looking forward to seeing her again.
Marinette walked away from the bats clearly still in shock over what had happened an ambulance had been called and once they spotted Marinette they walked over to her to make sure she was okay and had no serious injuries. She had a scratch from when she bled but otherwise besides the shock and the scratch she was doing okay. After they were done checking up on Marinette Jagged came bursting in freaking over what had happened to Marinette once he spotted her ran towards her and pulled her into a hug. Marinette relaxed into the hug and burst into tears that just made Jagged hug her tighter and rub her back.
She eventually finished crying but still clung to Jagged, and he let her and asked Penny if she could grab Marinette's stuff from the floor where she had dropped it. Damian saw her stuff and picked it up for Marinette walked towards her and handed it to her and hugged her. Marinette was confused at first but accepted the hug not knowing when the next one would be. Damian and Marinette hugged each other for 2 min until Marinette had to go but before she left she kissed Damian cheek and walked away with Jagged and Penny leaving Damian standing in his spot with a soft blush.
This was for the bracket war that @mgi-events hosted if you want to read all the wonderful fics that were written here is the link
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chocolate1721 · 4 years
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I haven’t seen a lot of the class touring Arkham fics anymore, so here’s my prompt. Ok more salt and rogue trying to adopt Marinette.
So the class is touring Arkham. They were walking through the cafeteria or recreation room, their guide was rushing them because the inmates are due to come any minute. Lila slows down and trips Marinette, then she kicks Marinette’s sketchbook across the room. The class leave Marinette behind while she is scrambling for her book. When she looks up she finds two of Gotham’s Rogues in front of her.
Harley and Ivy weren’t expecting to have anything exciting to happen. There has been gossip about a foreign class touring Arkham, but other than that it’s been pretty quiet. They walked into the recreation room and froze. There is a child there. There is a child by herself there. They immediately went over to her, and they saw shock in her eyes when she saw them.
“Hey there girlie whatcha doing here by yourself?” Harley asks her gently.
“Uhm, my class and I are on a tour, but it looks like they forgot me.”
Harley and Ivy steered her towards an abandoned sofa and sat on either side of her. They soon got her to spill what’s happened. Harley went into ‘therapist’ mode. Marinette didn’t know how long she was talking about her problems, but she soon had her head in Harley’s lap while Harley strokes her hair.
Once all of the tears have been shed. Marinette showed them her designs. Some based on Gotham architecture, some based on the vigilantes, finally presenting outfits based on them. Ivy and Marinette start talking about making an eco friendly fabric. Harley knoticed what time it is and walks over to the door. She bangs on it a few times to get someone’s attention.
[[More]]
“What is it?”
“You know that French tour from earlier?”
“Yeah what about it?”
Harley moves enough for him to see Marinette talking passionately with Ivy. “I think that left someone behind.”
The worker pales drastically. They ran like a bat outta hell to get their superiors. This news ran up the chain of command until it got to Gordon.
Gordon was having a stressful evening. The Joker recently escaped, there were more muggings this past week than usual, and now he gets a call from Arkham. Only telling him to get over there as fast as possible. Not knowing what he is going up against he called Batman.
Batman and Red Hood arrived at Arkham. As they approach Gordon to see what’s going on they hear a worker panically describing how he found a French child in the room surrounded by the inmates. Red Hood demands to know which room. Once getting the info they both rush to the room. They were expecting the worse: torturing, beatings, crying. What they were NOT expecting is a small French girl braiding Poison Ivy’s hair while having Harley Quinn braid her own hair.
“The riddler should be shot and his clothes should be burned, then the ashes have to be scattered at the four corners of the world. The different shade of green on that man is more than a forest. Like, having a green themed outfit is fine. Wearing it everyday is fine. But what is NOT FINE is whereing every shade of green PLUS purple question marks. It’s like he’s asking to be slapped!” Marinette ranted.
Red Hood grabbed Batman’s shoulder and pulled him out of the room. He turned fully to Batman, placing both hands on his shoulders, he started shouting. “YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO ADOPT HER! DO YOU HEAR ME! SHE IS TOO PURE AND INNOCENT! I WILL NOT ALLOW YOU TO CORRUPT HER!”
Batman just brushes him off and (glides? Shadow melts? Skulks?) into the room.
“I’m sorry to interrupt, but may I ask what is going on?”
Marinette yelps in suprise. Spinning around to come face-to-face with the dark knight himself. “Uh-um-I-I-I-“
“She won a scholarship for her class. They were taking a tour today and left her behind. She said she has been bullied by the class for a while, and there is this one girl lying about everything.” Harley intervened for Marinette.
“Hmmm, you won the Martha Wayne scholarship?” Marinette nods shyly. Batman kneels down to be eye level with Mari. “What’s your name?”
Marinette looks at him and smiles brightly. “My name’s Marinette.”
After being dazzled by her bright, sunshine smile. (Red Hood is in the background being the dramatic ass he is shielding his eyes and yelling “TOO BRIGHT”) Batman then speaks up. “Your class wasn’t supposed to tour Arkham.”
Marinette freezes. “I’m sorry, what?!”
“Arkham is far too dangerous to tour. Who decided that the class was to come her.” Batman questioned her as they walked towards the door.
Before she could answer Harley interrupted. “Oi, Batsy! You can’t adopt her! She is our baby!”
“That isn’t up to you Harley.” Batman retorted.
“I told you earlier Bats, you’re not adopting another one” Hood spoke up.
“B-b-but I already have parents” Marinette informs them.
“It’s ok sweet pea we adopted you emotionally.” Ivy soothes.
“Ok let’s go inform Gordon what happened.” Red Hood directs her to the commissioner while Batman stepped away to make a few calls. He then calls Marinette’s parents, and tells them what happened. They give him permission to watch over their daughter.
By the time he walks back to where Marinette is, both her and Red Hood are ready to go. Hood helps Marinette into the back of the Batmobile, then climbs in next to Batman. Batman then turns to Marinette. “I called Mr. Wayne and informed him of what happened. He told me to bring you to his house, he wants to know what made yours class think you had a to of Arkham.”
“Thank you Mr. Batman.”
Marinette gets out of the batmobile and meets Alfred at the door. Batman calls Red Robin. “Red Robin I want you to find out why the class went to Arkham today.”
“10-4 B”.
By the time everyone returned from the cave Red Robin had what he needed.
“So it turns out one of the students made a fake email, under your name and told the teacher that they had a tour that was left off of the schedule. Then sent an email to Arkham to have them expect them.”
“Who was the student?”
“A Lila Rossi.”
“Hmmmm it seems like we will have to keep an eye on the situation.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ok so now it’s a few days later and the class is at Wayne Enterprise taking a tour. When the Riddler suddenly takes them hostage.
“Which one of you is Marinette?” Riddlers demanded
The class has no hesitation when pushing Marinette into the him. Marinette quickly regains her balance and squared up to him.
“What do you want with me.”
The Riddler gets close to her face in a dramatically scary way. Then quickly backs up and shows off his outfit. “I heard you don’t think I’m stylish.”
This is all the invitation that Marinete needed. She lays into him. No mercy.
“Absolutely. It’s worse in person than in the pictures!”
The Riddler gasps dramatically. “How dare-“
“Oh I dare. I dare I can redesign your entire wardrobe and make it look 10 times better.”
As all the hostages are being saved the class tries to leave, only to be stopped by an officer.
“Ma’am I’m sorry but you have to stay and give your statements.”
Bustier was insisting that it was too dangerous for them to stay there. If the police want their statements then they can come to their hotel and get them. The officer motions to the bus driver to not leave. The bus driver is more than happy to stay put. He is sick and tired of this ungrateful class.
Not too long after, Marinette and the Riddler walk out. The Riddler looks excited about his new clothes. He is so ready he heads straight to Gordon. He asks Gordon if he can have a package delivered to Arkham. Gordon is suspicious until Marinette shows him her designs. Gordon agrees.
As everyone is giving their statements Lois Lane arrives. Alya is extatic, she thanks Lila for getting her an interview with her idol. Only to turn around and see her idol interviewing Marinette.
Lois marches towards the girl who seems to be at the center of all this. A small girl standing next to the Riddler. She approaches her and asks for an interview. The girl agrees but apologizes in advance for any miscommunication between them. Lois asks her what happened. Marinette explained how the Riddler came to see if she really didn’t like his clothes and how she ended up redesigning them.
“But how would he know you didn’t like them?”
“Maybe Aunt Harley and Aunt Ivy told him?” Marinette shrugs.
“Wait! As in Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy?! How do you know them?!”
“Oh we met when my class left me behind in Arkham.” Marinette says nonchalantly.
Everyone around them freezes.
Caline quickly comes over and starts telling Lois that “you can’t trust everything she says. We are from France, so she most likely misunderstood you.” She continues to try and pass of Marinette as incompetent, troubled, attention seeking, and being a bad role model for the other students. All of this is caught on camera.
Bustier then roughly guides Marinette back to the class.
As Lois is processing this, the officer that stopped the class from leaving came over and explained what the class did. Leaving that same student behind in a hostage situation, then demanding to leave. Lois is horrified.
Both she and the officer go to Gordon and ask if they can use the body cameras of the officers there in the story.
Gordon immediately agrees. Once he knows why.
The story ran that very night.
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blackmagicforever · 3 years
Text
has this been done yet ???
i mean, i do know that there are some reaaally good Singer! Marinette fics out there.
(*cough* NeTi fic *cough*) (*cough* Shout Out To My Ex fic *cough*) (*cough* Shameless fic *cough*)
but.
did someone finally used Mr. Perfectly Fine as an adrien, or félix, or -heck- maybe even damian !!!
[mr. perfectly fine is a song by taylor swift, btw. shoo haters. she’s absolute queen shit, i don’t take criticism about taylor]
because listen, marinette goes through men same as taylor did, what can i say.
she’s queen, and all she does is queen shit.
so, if no one is going to use Mr. Perfectly Fine, (and you can !!! i won’t say no, i’d probably be there hyping you up !!!), i’m probs going to write it myself.
okay so maybe i already picked a name for the fic and it’s going to be a musical style fic with marinette going on world tour and stuff and tbh the reputation album in it’s glory is basically post lila’s lies in a dystopian world where people took lila’s lies as truth.
like, “Call It What You Want” ???? (i just realized that justcourtee (did i write it right???) wrote a song fic of this song, but not in the sense of a singing fic so...)
My castle crumbled overnight I brought a knife to a gunfight They took the crown, but it's alright All the liars are calling me one Nobody's heard from me for months I'm doing better than I ever was, 'cause
like, hello ???
or OR 
“Delicate”
This ain't for the best My reputation's never been worse, so You must like me for me
We can't make any promises Now can we, babe? But you can make me a drink
but that’s post lila’s lies
“King of My Heart”
Is the end of all the endings? My broken bones are mending With all these nights we're spending Up on the roof with a school girl crush Drinking beer out of plastic cups Say you fancy me, not fancy stuff Baby, all at once, this is enough
because fucking adrien WOULD date mari, don’t say no. but like, adrien and marinette, no matter how well they click don’t really seems to be the it couple for me. like, as they are now. maybe when they mature (jesus they’re, what, 14 to 15? at that age i was a mess)
and, y’kno.
just. singer! marinette guys.
edit: i,,, have three final exams to study for but, here we have ! fic: marinette’s world tour , check the tag for it as well.
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nerdypanda3126 · 2 years
Text
Paper Anniversary
Happy anniversary to the @lovebugs-and-snakecharmers Sprint Fic Challenge!
The rules are three 15-minute sprints with 24 hours for light editing, including adding more writing to smooth transitions. On this one I took 4 sprints and kinda freehanded from there to get to the ending.
And the prompt I used was: Anniversary
Read on Ao3
Marinette woke up only slightly disappointed that Luka wasn’t there next to her. 
Well, maybe more than slightly. It was their first anniversary, after all, and part of her had hoped he’d pull some crazy stunt to get home in time but—
It was fine. Really. There’d be plenty of other anniversaries when he wasn’t out there making a name for himself. 
She sighed as she rolled over to grab his pillow, intending to snuggle it and hoping that his scent was still lingering on it, but something crinkled under her hand and she was instantly more awake. When she sat up and looked she was holding a slightly crumpled paper crane with what looked like Luka’s handwriting on the wings. But how…?
 Her head snapped up to swivel around the room. It was definitely still empty, and when she wandered through the apartment it was still empty, too. A smile started to creep across her face as she gently pried the crane open to reveal his note. 
Good morning, gorgeous. Happy anniversary. Did you know the first wedding anniversary is traditionally the paper anniversary? There’s plenty more surprises in store today, so get up and get ready and you’ll find the next one waiting for you in the closet. All my love, Luka
The closet? But there wasn’t anything there last night… 
In a daze, she walked back to their closet and opened it to find a delicately folded flower on top of a neatly folded pink dress. Scarcely believing it, she picked up the lotus flower and admired the skill it was made with before she unfolded it. 
Couldn’t wait, huh? The note read. She could almost hear his self-satisfied smirk within the words. I’m glad you’re excited but I know you’ll want to look your best today. Get ready and get dressed, love, your next clue is on the way. Love, Luka
Next clue? 
How on earth had he managed to set this up? He was halfway across the world by now touring with Jagged and he’d apologized to her—repeatedly—that he couldn’t make it back. She’d assured him it was fine and she understood, which she did. She really did. But then how were these notes appearing like this? Maybe—
Maybe she shouldn’t think about how a Couffaine was accomplishing something like this and do as his note read. 
So she did. And she had just slipped on the dress he’d apparently picked out for her and hadn’t even had time to admire the black flowers embroidered around the waist of the gauzy pink fabric before her doorbell rang.
When she opened the door she found a delivery person from her favorite café holding a to-go cup of coffee and a bag. Breakfast. Luka had gotten her breakfast. She could only gape at the poor man trying to transfer everything into her hands. 
“Oh, and this,” he said then, drawing an origami box out of his apron pocket that was unmistakably another of Luka’s notes. He smiled and waved before he turned and left her alone to open it. 
Somehow she managed to sit at their table before opening the paper box. Inside was a plastic-wrapped chocolate truffle, but no note. At least there wasn’t until she checked the inside of the lid she was still holding. 
I have to admit I cheated on this one a bit. But I wanted to make sure you had your favorite breakfast today, plus a little something sweet. When you’ve finished eating (and please eat, my beautiful melody) go to your parents’ house and tell them ‘hi’ from me. Love, Luka 
Her smile was going to be permanently stuck on her face after this, she could feel it. As she ate and sipped her coffee, barely registering what it tasted like although it was definitely all of her favorites, she felt almost like he was sitting across from her. He’d be sipping his own coffee and glancing up at her now and then, smiling like he always did when she was eating something she enjoyed. Apparently she had a happy dance, although she’d never noticed doing it. He always did, though. 
That was probably the point of this, she realized as she reached across to touch his empty spot. He couldn’t be here, but he wanted to make sure she knew he was thinking of her, wherever he was. 
When she’d finished and made her way to the bakery, her dad nearly broke the door bursting through it to greet her with a bear hug. Her mom came out a moment later smiling and holding a bouquet and a note folded into a heart. Marinette barely registered the sweet smelling flowers before she was tearing into the note. 
Remember our wedding day? You had plum blossoms in your bouquet for your mom and roses for your dad. And baby’s breath for the future, but we’ll get there eventually, love. There’s one more stop today and then I want you to enjoy the day however makes you happiest. You remember where I proposed? All my love, Luka
She looked up at her parents and they were both grinning. Although her dad was barely holding back happy tears. It reminded her so strongly of the day he walked her down the aisle that she stretched up to press a quick kiss to his cheek before she hugged them both and turned to run for the bridge, her heart pounding, scarcely daring to hope that maybe the last stop, the last surprise, would be her husband waiting for her to wrap her arms around him. 
But when she got there, out of breath from the run, the flowers on her arm shaken within an inch of their life, no one was there. The water lapped gently against the embankments and reflected off the underside of the bridge. It was so quiet, and that’s why Luka liked it there. It was his favorite place and when he’d proposed, he’d told her that he’d found a new favorite place by her side. That he wanted to be next to her for the rest of his life if she’d let him. 
He said where he’d proposed. There couldn’t possibly be anywhere else—
She gasped when she realized what he meant. Not his official proposal, but the first time he’d told her he’d be happy spending his life with her. A grin stretched across her face before she could stop it. With everything but a ring he’d offered everything he had and she’d kissed him until she couldn’t breathe anymore. 
She made her way—slower this time—towards the tree they’d sat under that day. As she did, it all came back to her. How calm and beautiful it had been that day, with a bright blue sky and big fluffy clouds floating by on the breeze. How they’d been lying side by side on their blanket with her head on his shoulder as they pointed out shapes to each other. And how, out of nowhere, he’d turned those eyes on her, as blue as the sky above, so serious, so soft, and told her he wanted this. Just this. With her. For the rest of his life. 
As she neared the tree, she didn’t know what to expect and she didn’t want to get her hopes up. But there was a blanket laid out under the tree and a picnic basket. And leaning against the tree was a familiar tall figure. A figure that shrugged off the tree and stood at attention as soon as she came into view. An unmistakable figure with a shock of blue hair stuck up in all the familiar ways. 
She was running again before she knew it. The flowers were dropped on the blanket as she flew into Luka’s waiting arms. He was laughing as he hugged her back just as tightly and pressed a kiss to her hair. 
“Surprise,” he said quietly, although his voice still rumbled through his chest. She pulled away to look at him, only to bury her face in his shoulder again. He smelled like the stale air of an airplane and hotel soap. But underneath that was his smell. Something she would never be able to describe but would be able to identify in a heartbeat. 
When she had finally convinced herself he was real, she pulled away again and swatted his shoulder. “You jerk! I thought you weren’t coming!” 
“I wasn’t,” he admitted, still laughing as he pretended to cringe away from her hands. “I had it all set up to take care of you while I was gone, and then Penny pulled some strings and, well, long story short, we have a few hours to kill before I have to get back on another plane.” 
He gestured to his set up, and for the first time she noticed a branch of plum blossoms laid on top of the picnic basket. Out of all his origami designs she’d seen that day, this was by far the most elaborate. She bent down to pick it up and examine it more closely, taking his hand as she did and imagining his long fingers making the delicate folds. 
"Show me," she said, pushing it into his hands. He seemed stunned for a moment and let out a disbelieving laugh. 
"We only have a few hours together on our anniversary and you want me to teach you origami?" 
"You're the one who got me all dressed up and brought me somewhere public," she teased him back, stretching to press a kiss to his cheek. She stayed there and tugged him down to whisper in his ear. "And I've been thinking about your hands all day." As she pulled away, she raised her eyebrows suggestively and took an expectant seat next to the picnic basket. 
"Please show me?" 
He relaxed as understanding dawned on him and he smiled as he took a seat close to her, already unfolding the paper so he could show her how it worked. And as she curled her hand around his arm and leaned her head on his shoulder, listening to his voice and watching his movements, she couldn't help but sigh in absolute contentment.
Just like he’d said that day. All she wanted was this, with him, for the rest of her life, too. And as she looked down at the rings glinting on both of their hands, she couldn’t be happier that this was the first of what she hoped were many anniversaries to come.
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