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mcheang · 7 months

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Revelation AU

What if Felix took Adrien’s place again the day Lila tried to take over class rep duties.

Let’s just say thanks to his stalking, Felix knows Lila is a liar who makes Adrien uncomfortable and Marinette unhappy. He warns Kagami about it, who in turn wishes to expose Lila after being manipulated by her.

Knowing Lila has had too much time to sway the school to her side, Felix proposes an idea but needs Kagami’s help. Like Lila, Felix is a master at deception, at least when pretending to be Adrien.

When Gabriel fires Lila Rossi, Felix suspected Lila would want revenge on Adrien to hurt Gabriel. As such, he insisted that he take Adrien’s place for that day in school. Kagami lured Adrien and knocked him unconscious, allowing Felix to take his place while Kagami stayed with Adrien to keep him from interrupting their plan.

When Marinette tried to argue that Chloe should be punished for cheating, and how Caline suggested that Chloe was going to need a lot of work, Lila suggested she take over Marinette’s duties since Marinette is too busy with her love life.

Felix: I’m sorry, Lila. It’s just what you said. The reason you were not around to vote for Marinette is because you were on one of your MANY trips for charity. I know you’ve had more time for us now, except last I heard, you said you were going overseas. I know you’ll try to be there for us, but we all know how you can’t help answering the call for help from your many other friends overseas, even changing your plans at the last minute because you told us how much you cherish bonds overseas, knowing you can’t dismiss friendship that easily.

And just like that, Lila is also unreliable for being class president.

Lila: I will try to be there for the rest of the school year, even my mother put her foot down about that.

Felix quickly interrupts: Oh no! Are you that exhausted? We shouldn’t put more pressure on her.

Lila: But I have more free time on my hands.

Felix: Um, I heard you refuse to join Mylene’s cause to help Ramier’s cause to build pigeon shelters next week. And Marinette is not even going to be there! Not to mention I’m worried that Chloe might take advantage of you like she’s taking advantage of Sabrina, she’s already trying to take back power, but we all know that Chloe will dump her deputy duties on Sabrina, again. You’re too nice, Lila.

No matter what Lila says, Felix is ready to counter her.

And then comes the killing blow

Felix: I know you mean well, but my father also told about your special disease

He looked at Miss Caline Bustier, who now recalls Lila’s lying disorder

Felix: It’s embarrassing but my father does do background checking, Principal Damocles told him about your uncontrollable lying disease. I know Miss Bustier wanted to keep this a secret so we would not worry over you like we do over Rose, but we’re your friends Lila, you don’t have to hide this from us.

Alya is unsure if Adrien is telling the truth or he really wants to defend Marinette

Caline: I think you’re right Adrien. Lila needs all the support she can get, and she can only get that if we help her be honest

She just confirmed what “Adrien“ said.

The class is stunned. Lila really was a liar. And Ms Bustier did not even tell them. It was hard to tell whether their feelings of betrayal were directed more towards their naive teacher or Lila.

Lila herself was feeling quite furious with Adrien.

Naturally Hawkmoth was attracted to the akuma class…again.

He sensed Lila Rossi’s hatred to Adrien. Not a good idea. (Sure Lila tried to direct some hatred Marinette’s way but the latter was clearly surprised by Adrien’s move). Nathalie was already breathing down his neck on his treatment of Adrien.

Someone else in the class will have to do.

There was obviously a divide.

Some actually thought Lila had a lying disorder and could not control it.

Others like Alya Cesaire were immediately apologetic for not believing Marinette, cursing their own gullibility, and angry at Ms Bustier for keeping it from them.

Yes, Alya’s guilt was prime for akumatization.

Except…what is this? Her resistance to the akuma…it was so similar to…Viperion/Luka. Alya knows Ladybug’s secret identity.

True, Alya rejected the akuma and Hawkmoth summoned it back, but the idea that two friends of his son knew Ladybug suggested the possibility that the heroine herself was within Adrien’s social circle.

But who? He had akumatized most of them. All except…Marientte Dupain-Cheng!

Oh wait. If Alya is aware that Marinette is Ladybug, how could she actually believe that Ladybug is best friends with Lila?

No one is that stupid.

He discusses this with Nathalie.

Nathalie: but Alya is that gullible. Didn’t she believe Chloe of all people was Ladybug? Despite witnessing Ladybug saving Chloe from Stoneheart?

A pause.

Gabriel: it’s time we invited Marinette to our home again. It will be a chance for Adrien to tell her about his trip to London. (Aka akumatize and see if she really is Ladybug)

Meanwhile, Alya confessed Monarch discovered she knows Ladybug and has to leave town. She joins Luka with his dad and Penny.

Marinette feels guilty for telling Alya the truth. Tikki reminds her that Alya knowing has helped her before.

Before Alya left with Luka, the latter warned Marinette to be careful with her secret identity. “Monarch might decide to investigate our common friends. And you’re the one of the few he hasn’t akumatized.”

Marinette: few…Adrien! Wait, what am I saying, Adrien can’t be confused for Ladybug.

At the invitation for brunch, Gabriel knew Marinette was still oblivious to Adrien’s impending departure (he would have akumatized her otherwise).

Gabriel: I wouldn’t want to keep two lovebirds apart in these precious moments Adrien has in Paris.

Adrien dropped his fork. “Father!”

Marinette looked at her boyfriend in concern. “Adrien, what’s wrong?”

Gabriel: you didn’t tell her?

Adrien shut his eyes. “I’m moving to London at the end of the school year.”

Gabriel: as soon as the school day is over, he’ll be packing his bags.

Adrien: but I’ll miss the dance!

Gabriel: so is Kagami but I don’t hear her complaining to her mother.

Marinette understood immediately. Gabriel disapproved of her so much, he was willing to send Adrien away, take him away from his friends. “You can’t do that! It’s not right!”

“Oh, and what would you know of right, Ms Dupain Cheng. My own surveillance cameras have caught you spying on my house. Your male friends threw a wild party under my very roof while I was absent, draining even my back up power reserves. I’ve already shown my generosity by not suing them for the power disruption or demanding a restraining order on your presence. Do not test my patience.”

Marinette and Adrien were horrified, for different reasons. Adrien knew about Marinette’s stalker habits already but to hear that his father was capable of using the law to punish his friends…he knew he needed to tread carefully. Marinette was horrified to see her own flaws turned against her.

Gabriel settled down, forcing a smile on his face as he civilly asked, “And what do you think of my pancakes now, Marinette. Do you think my new recipe is better than before?”

Both knew they could not insult him and make their own situation worse, not when Gabriel has already proven himself of capable of following up his own threats.

“It’s certainly efficient,” Marinette finally managed.

They finished the breakfast in silence. Gabriel happily eating his pancakes. Marinette and Adrien holding hands tightly under the table.

Nathalie came in. “Adrien, your piano teacher is here.”

Gabriel: it’s been nice having you here again, Marinette. But good times never last long.

It took all Marinette’s willpower not to run or call Gabriel out for his cruelty. As soon as the coast was clear, she sank down against the wall and cried.

Her despair just begging Monarch to akumatize her.

Unfortunately for him, Tikki was also on alert should Marinette be depressed enough for an akuma. (Being in an akumatized purse was not fun!)

Tikki: Marinette, an akuma!

Marinette freaked and ran, worried that Ladybug’s immediate purification would give her identity away.

Rather than let the butterfly go rogue and cause another startrain, Monarch summoned the butterfly back. He can be patient. Sooner or later, Marinette has to break down and he will be ready.

Knowing she had to stay positive, Marinette devotes her energy to try to be optimistic, thinking of how she can get Gabriel to change his mind, or ways to make a long distance relationship work.

This was enough to make Gabriel give up and instead wait for Adrien to leave for London.

By that time, Marinette had already tried several plans to convince Gabriel to stay. She got Wayhem to organize Adrien’s fans to strike about Adrien’s departure but was countered by Gabriel saying Paris was too dangerous for Adrien. She threaten to call child care services except Adrien (influenced by the Graham wedding rings) vetoes this plan. She considered using Cosmobug to visit Adrien except Marinette doesn’t have the money or time to make such frequent visits plausible.

Eventually Marinette came to accept Adrien’s departure and both agree to work out a long distance relationship.

Gabriel is extremely disappointed that Marinette isn’t more unhappy when Adrien leaves. Oh well, it doesn’t matter. project Alliance will continue as plan.

#miraculous ladybug fanfic #miraculous ladybug fic #ml fanfic #ml fanfiction #ml fic #miraculous ladybug fanfiction #révélation au #Lila is exposed #Lila gets exposed

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sizzleissues · 8 months

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toxic (748 words)

Toxinelle/Marinette/Shadybug drabble thing

The apartment was a shell.

The furniture they retained from the move sat in the positions they logically belonged to but there was no heart to their placements. The objects knew they were miles from where they were supposed to be and languished in their new dusty light. The space between them, places that should have contained something else — not something physical but a concept — was chillingly bare. Marinette doubted anyone had sat on the couch in a few days or treaded across the creaky floorboards in any direction other than to the bedrooms. The kitchen that had sung in its constant use; pots and pans clanging, cupboard doors slamming and kettles hissing — was quiet.

The lack of something pressed into her skin, a constant companion to her nowadays.

Marinette could have tried to make this home, she had tried at first, back before she’d resolved herself to seek fulfilment through other means. Made dinner — burnt dinner — decorated the table and sat at its head and waited. If she hadn’t thrown out the food two months ago it would still be there, under the layer of mould it had accumulated. She tried to fill the house with song and light but no matter how many curtains she parted it never reached the shadows. Her parents were never home to see her efforts.

So she gave up and did her best not to spend too much time inside. Her new hobby helped greatly with that.

She hung her jacket up, dumping her belongings by the door and making her way through the apartment to close an open window. This may not be home but she didn’t want stray animals to make it theirs. As she passed the couch, her eyes caught on the enigmatic grin of her a certain stray cat, lazed across the disused cushions. He allowed her three seconds to process his appearance before leaping up and grabbing her wrist, pulling her against him.

“Found you.”

She fought against his grip, weaker as Marinette than she was as Toxinelle. His grin only widened, flashing razor sharp fangs she’d seen tear through metal (and bloodier things.)

“It wasn’t that hard. Stop looking impressed with yourself.”

Griffe Noire dropped her wrist, putting distance between them as easily as he’d removed it. He detransformed, leaving the haughty Adrien standing in her living room. His height and slender frame was less elegant and more awkward as his civilian self — as if being human returned gravity to his body and mind. She already knew the depths of his mind quite well.

“I only had to find it ‘cause you wouldn’t tell me,” he said. If it had been Griffe Noire there would have been a smile to it, constantly making everything a game. Adrien, even though he was but another side of the same person, said it with a sulky tone.

“I can’t have you here if my parents come home. Especially as Griffe Noire.”

“As if they would. You said they're never home with all the work they have to do to pay for your tuition.” He flopped onto the couch again, throwing her previous words back at her with an ease that didn’t articulate the slap to the face they were for her. Things she’s admitted in confidence tossed around like nothing when it had taken her everything to admit. He seemed to notice her silence and realise the impact of his words. “Sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. Just that this would be the perfect place to plan and hang out. I'm a bit sick of the sewers. It wouldn’t be weird for us as civilians to be here either and it's private.”

“No. Not here. I’m keeping any chance of them knowing about this out of it.”

This was her line.

Adrien examined her for a moment. The strength of her stance and the resolute set of her jaw. He could care less if his father became embroiled in this, as long as it didn’t stop him from doing it.

“Okay. Do you want to go now?”

Marinette looked around the apartment, she wasn’t sure for what. Maybe for an excuse not to say yes. To see her parents walk through that door and finally figure it all out. Take away her miraculous because she wouldn’t stop them and free her from the burden she’d brought upon herself.

Then again, she quite liked tearing shit apart.

“Let's go.”

Did you understand it? I'm I going in a direction you like? While I love a lot of peoples takes on the concept of the reverse world and have a few of my own, this particular is going for it all being quite toxic in its short amount of words.

Trying to get myself motivated to write but I am a fickle thing

Did you like it?? let me know and reblog blah blah blah etc.

#miraculous ladybug #miraculous #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste #toxinelle #shadybug #claw noir #griffe noire #ml fic #ml fanfic #ml paris special

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theographos · 1 year

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Marinette and the original trauma

I have storytelling classes in college, and the very first thing we learned is that a character always starts by “the original trauma”. It can be the loss of a parent like Batman or Spider-Man, or something like 'that character was bitten by a dog when he was a kid, and now they are afraid of every dog that they see.' The point of this trauma is to shape the personality of a character, more importantly their fears and their inside battle. For example that character who is afraid of dogs, well he needs to have a job, and the only one he found is in a dog shelter. The point is to make the character deeper and to give them a starting point for their growth. Here is the problem : Adrien Agreste fits this condition, but Marinette Dupain-Cheng do not.

Adrien’s original trauma would be the disappearance of his mother. Yes his parents were already a bit abusive before (His only childhood dream was to be the perfect child his parent wished for. I’m not saying that wanting your parents to be proud of you is wrong, i’m saying that if it’s the only thing you ever wished to be as a kid, maybe your parents aren't the best), but everything went downhill after his mother disappearance. Gabriel became distant, he ended up even more alone, etc... And that's where we find him at the beginning of the serie, and it's a recurring theme with that character.

Marinette ? I can’t see anything to be honest. (edit : now with the recent episodes we have something that could be refered as her original trauma. But, it's something we learn way too late, and it's about something that has been used for comedy purposes since the beginning of the show. In other words, it's just a last minute change. It's something that should have been done in the beginning, and i'm not going to give them credit for doing the bare minimum so many season after the beginning of the show.) Her mistake with Felix at the end of season 4 could count as an original trauma, but it’s a bit late. A character can have an original trauma during the story, and can also have one after several seasons (it could be because the character’s growth has come to an end, but not the story. So something happens, and boum another trauma that the character will have to work with. It’s similar to the original trauma without really being one though), but here the mistake with Felix would be more of a trauma that starts off a new kind of character growth for Marinette. It doesn’t define her fears and her character in general since the beginning of the show, unlike Adrien.

But what is her original trauma ? Because without it, it becomes harder to care about her. Sure she is a nice girl (except with that poor Chat Noir), she is smart and makes us laugh. But to be honest, I never really liked Marinette, that is until season 4.

This season has so many bad sides, but also so many good ideas. And making Marinette’s mental health a subject that is often talked about is something that I like very much. We saw her having panic attacks, isolate herself and the first thought we had was “omg we should protect this girl”. BOOM we care about that character.

What kind of original trauma could she have then ?

Well if we want to go in Thomas Astruc’s view of how the show should be, we could say that she has been bullied by Chloe a long time. Because of that, she never has been able to fight for herself, raise her voice at someone, Chloe made her insecure and she began to doubt herself for everything. She even started to be clumsy, because she’d doubt her ability to do things, so she would stress about everything and the terrible thing she didn’t wanted to happen, well happened. She was isolated, and only the new girl, Alya, started talking to her. No one really paid attention to her, which would explain how she started to like Adrien that quickly. He was the first boy with who she shared a more or less romantic situation.

Here we have the reason why Marinette started the new year of school without any close friends in her class, why the lesson of not letting someone walk all over you in the Origin episode is so important, why Marinette's over controling personality became worse with time (she is finally in a position of power where she more or less controls what happens to her, and it goes to her head and forgets that there is people that cares about her), it gives her a way to bound with Adrien (the feeling of being lonely for so many years and the difficulty of making friends) and an explanation to why her first reflex is to isolate herself when she is not feeling well.

But, if we want to give to Chloe a redemption arc easier to understand for a younger audience and and easier to make (it would be kinda hard to forgive a character when the main character still suffers because of that character don’t you think ?), there is other options. Maybe Marinette was admiring Chloe, and started lying in order to gain her attention, but it never worked. So she started to hate her, and Chloe hated her too for trying to be the center of attention.

That way, it’s a nice parallel between Marinette and Lila and a way to show how Marinette is different from Lila. It could explain why she hates liar and liying to her parents, but also why sometimes she does it without thinking. She is so used to lying that it’s hard for her to get rid of this habit, but she is trying, while Lila isn’t.

And if we want to give her a parallel with Papillon (because Adrien already has one, he lost Emily too and yet he didn’t go crazy) we could give Marinette something to obsess about. For example, when she was younger, her parents told her that being a fashion designer wasn’t a real job, or some kids mocked her designs or something dear to her. Her only place of comfort was with a person, like a member of her family, a pet or a neighbor. Either that pet/person ended sick and died or they disappeared. If they were sick and died, well it’s been a long time, but it still hurts. Her clumsiness is maybe a way to show that : She wasn’t clumsy before that person/pet’s death, but it had consequences on herself and now she doubts herself constantly and falls (for example). She maybe hates liar because of that, because she wasn’t aware of the sickness until it was too late (for example, her parents hid it from her to protect her, or that very same person hid it), and now she hates liars in general.

With that, we could show that it’s harder for her to lie about her secret identity. And maybe when she learns about the wish, she still think it’s bad but she kinda wants to use it. And as time flies she becomes more and more desperate to use it, until season 5. She sees how Monarch is because of his obsession with the wish, and does not want to become like him.

If that person disappeard, maybe it could be because of Hawkmoth. Either they were close to Emily, went away to find a cure and never came back, either they are now Gabriel’s secret henchman, and kinda like in Spider-man : Into the spiderverse that person and Ladybug fight each other, until they learn the other’s secret identity. Or if we want to be really dark, that person died because of Gabriel. Either they tried to stop him a long time ago and he got rid of them, worked for him and saw something that they shouldn’t so he had to kill them to make sure his secret was safe, or they worked for him but kinda like Nathalie, they were so devoted to him that they gave their life for him. (then Nathalie discovers it and understands that he does not really care about the people who are devoted to him in the end.)

The main hero having lost someone because of the bad guy/being bullied/discovering that a close one works with the bad guy are tropes that are often used in the superhero genre. They were obvious choices. I also gave one less common : the “Marinette used to lie, but she tries to get rid of this habit”.

To be honest, adding this important step of Marinette’s character would have not changed a lot of things in the show. What I mean is, doing this important step of her character would not stop her from falling for Adrien, from being insecure about being a good Ladybug. It would've actually helped to picture her as a strong heroine. It could’ve even help when the writers lacked of inspiration sometimes. You don’t know how to relate this episode’s bad guy with a main character ? Well maybe if Marinette had an original trauma you would...

Anyways, as I said in another post, the writers, animators and concept designers did the best they could with what they had and what the producers wanted the show to be. I can’t be mad at them so I just give all of my hopes to the fanfiction writers

#mlb fandom #mlb critical #mirauclous ladybug #miraculous fandom #miraculous season 4 #miraculous ladybug season 5 spoilers #mlb season 5 spoilers #marinette deserves better #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste #miraculous ladybug #miraculous rewrite

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trainsinanime · 3 months

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That post about titles vs last lines (which is harder) is really interesting, because I see so many people say last lines, and that's not the case for me at all. I feel like talking about that, so here's some thoughts on how I write my last lines. I do not think this is universally applicable, I'm not even sure it works that well for me, but maybe it's interesting.

First things first: The last line is easy because you already got the reader on your side. They read through the whole thing without pressing the back button, and they know everything that happened in it. That doesn't mean you can do a bad job here, but it means they're complicit. What you write here is an inside joke between you and them, more or less. You get to use a something you established earlier, a theme, an idea, a literal sentence or similar, and repeat it or play with it, or do a punchline on it.

For example: Everyone Knows Black Cats Are Bad Luck discusses the common fan idea that Chat Noir and/or Adrien is somehow unlucky due to the black cat Miraculous, through a discussion between Adrien and Plagg. It's a simple dialectic: Adrien presents the thesis (also given in the title). Plagg presents the counter-thesis: No, that's stupid. The synthesis (well, it's not a perfect synthesis, Plagg mostly just represents my views here) is the finale, where they both bond even deeper. And the final line distills that synthesis down, when Plagg says,

"Kid, just remember: If I were unlucky, I'd have never met you."

Another option is to humorously counter the story you told so far. Works well for silly stories. For example, in A Friend Like That, the whole story is telling us that Adrien is enamoured with Marinette, pays super-close attention to her, and doesn't even know that he's doing it. It's all about how he sees her, and how much he loves what he's seeing. The final line reverses that, when Marinette says,

“I don’t know. I just wish, you know, that he'd finally notice me.”

Honestly that line is cheating, I don't think Marinette would actually say that. But nobody's called me out on that yet, because it's such a useful punchline.

Another good option: Imply the whole thing is a bit cyclical. The very short Drabble Absence just literally ends the same way as it started, but now we have a completely new context, and what seemed eery and sad at the start (assuming you didn't read the summary or tags; the thing was a Tumblr post at first) is now fun and light-hearted and silly.

(I still deeply regret that I didn't end Marinette's Choice with Marinette feigning death again. The last line there is okay, but it's just one final joke in a story that is just a list of jokes. If Marinette had "died" again, the whole thing would have seemed like a closed narrative.)

How do you help a good friend? ends with

“Only one way to find out, Chaton. Try following that advice you keep getting and ask me out.”

That's a callback to the very start of the story, which makes it feel like a closed narrative, and also implies the start of something new.

Depending on the story, you can also just go weird with it. In The Haunting Spectre, the level of silliness starts strong and keeps rising, and that's really the key thing the story is about. So when we reached the end and have finally reached max silliness, the end just turns it up a notch, when Chloé asks Alya,

“Anyway, I’m fairly certain Adrien doesn’t know that Marinette is Ladybug, but do you think she knows he’s Chat Noir?”

Of course, the best ending line in any of my stories is in Rooftop Musings, although I feel like I can't give any credit for it since it isn't from me, it's stolen, and the whole story is built just to get to it. After a bit of Kagami wondering about Marinette, Adrien, and that one episode in season 3 that made everyone ship Adrigaminette, you know where they were on top of the hotel and everything, we end with the most bitter-sweet line that I and all old Tumblr users know:

Still, if she could, if she had any chance at all, there was only one thing she truly wanted: Spend an extra hour in the ball pit.

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miraculosus · 1 year

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Fandom Response to Miraculous Ladybug 514 “Derision”

Reception of the episode “Derision” upon airing appears mostly positive. That means it won’t create a dramatic rift as some of those who saw the leaks had feared, and the status quo of the fandom seems more or less undisturbed on the surface. Perhaps it pumps a bit more gas into the righteousness tanks of some and sours opinions of Kim (but those who really cared about him were few to begin with). Most are integrating the new information into their understanding of the characters, which may be a bad thing if you don’t like this new information and prefer to stick to “earlier versions” of them.

My own personal feelings on the matter are neither here nor there because the discourse is the main course. I’ve written three mock-reviews based on all the posts I’ve seen: positive, negative, and mixed. Let’s go!

Positive

What an enlightening look into Marinette’s past. My poor baby girl! I love her so much, and it hurt my heart to see how much she suffered in the past. This was a deeply moving and impactful depiction of the horrors and effects of school bullying, and even the systemic inadequacy of the adults response was realistic. Some parts hit a little too close to home, haha! It recontextualizes so many of Marinette’s past behaviors big and small all the way back to Origins in an amazing way. Her view of Chat Noir in season 1! Her reaction to Adrien in Puppeteer 2?! So many dots are connecting I’m going crazy! How can people say these writers aren’t good at long complex plots and foreshadowing? I’m eating this up!

Adrien’s responses really blew me away. I’ve always wanted to see him stand up and fight like that, and for it to be out of protectiveness for Marinette? So romantic! I love when a character is so devoted that they’ll go murder-mode instantly on anyone who tries to hurt their beloved. This dark side of Adrien is awesome! Seeing him finally cut off Chloe once and for all was super satisfying too. And in the end, he was just so patient and understanding of Marinette. That’s true love! Who could ask for a better boyfriend?

Socqueline was super cool, and it’s adorable how Marinette got her pigtails from her. That makes Socqueline dressing up as Ladybug such a sweet full circle moment!

This episode added a lot of depth to both Marinette and Adrien, and showed great development for Adrinette. They are so cute, and things are only getting better for them!

Negative

It’s glaringly obvious that this episode was a late-stage retcon created predominantly out of spite, and boy is it ugly. Somehow, they managed to ruin every character.

With Marinette, they try to prove her haters wrong and make us feel bad for her by showing her past actions were due to trauma, but all this does is tell us those things we laughed about as comedic cartoon exaggeration like her Adrien calendar, obsessive celebrity research, keeping his hair as a souvenir, sneaking into his house and sniffing his pillow, stuff like that… was actually genuinely problematic, creepy, and bad. Then they say don’t blame her for it, blame Chloe!

Could they leave Chloe out of it for once? I’m so sick and tired of the weird vendetta the writers seem to have against Chloe and her fans. They made her sympathetic by giving her that backstory and those genuine moments, now they punish us for not buying wholesale that this 14-year-old abused child who was never equipped to learn to be a decent person, is the root of all evil? We get it! Shes fucking sociopathic and malicious from womb to tomb! She’s worse than Gabriel ShadowHawkMothNarc Righteously-Enslaves-His-Son Agreste! I can accept the show will never give her a redemption arc, but this is exhausting. Love or hate Chloe, wouldn’t we all be better off if they just left her alone and wrote her out already? Every Chloe focus episode gets worse and worse.

Moving on, now they’ll make everyone hate Kim which was completely unwarranted. He already had his background arc from being a bumbling insensitive twat to a lovable goofy himbo. He may have been worse last year, but he denounced Chloe already after Dark Cupid. Plus, Kim and Marinette always got along just fine! Don’t try and tell me her trauma with him was just repressed until now? Kim was a great and fun side character that subverted the bully jock trope, and they had to go and ruin that for cheap points.

Adrien already had realistic and compelling character flaws they now refuse to address, instead going with the edgy murderous rage angle that completely goes against his whole established character and should have been left behind in bad OOC gender-roley fanfiction. Of course the Adrien Salters will never let this go, and then there are the Stans who think this glaring red flag is romantic. I get that some like the violently overprotective boyfriend trope, the guy who abandons principles of human decency out of passion and love, and takes care of all the girl’s emotional needs so she never needs to worry about anything, but it came out of nowhere. That’s not the kind of character or romance that made me like this show.

Finally, we have to mention how horrifically incompetent literally every adult looks here. Tom and Sabine didn’t do anything about Marinette’s suffering at school for years. Neither did any of the teachers or the Principal. They’re all rotten!

An utterly unnecessary and trash episode that proves the writers completely lost the plot and devolved into petty vengeance against insatiable fans they never should have paid any mind.

Mixed

School bullying can absolutely be traumatic and its effects should be taken seriously, and this backstory for Marinette does flesh out her character in some interesting ways. However, this episode or any involving Marinette’s past would work better earlier in the series. When placed this late, it can seem more like a response to a certain sect of Marinette critics in the fandom, which diminishes its value as part of the story. With all the other high-stakes plot left hanging, another one about the mean girl doesn’t feel like the most effective use of airtime. Moreover, a different one-off character (Gorgeous Nathan from the Gym Club, anyone? Or maybe one of the others shown in last year’s picture from Reflekta) would have worked fine in Kim’s role in the episode, and wouldn’t create the continuity issues that using Kim here does. But the contrast between his apology and promise to change and Chloe’s refusal and doubling down worked for the lesson.

There wasn’t buildup to Socqueline having such a major role in Marinette’s past, so that makes it feel shoehorned in as well.

Many apparent inconsistencies can be explained though. Marinette’s hang up is not about falling in love but about confessing and saying “I love you”. Luka never asked that of her. At first, Chat Noir was not a viable option because she could never know him the way she told herself she had to, but later, she realized she truly knew him through all the trials they endured together. But Adrien is a uniquely difficult target because he was friends with Chloe. The circumstances of their meeting was enough to sow seeds of doubt that were difficult to shake deep down. Marinette gave her all, but things kept going wrong. Now that she finally knows why, she and Adrien can work through it together. He already knows she loves him and will patiently accept whatever affection she’s able to express, so it’s not the end of the world.

As for Adrien’s violent outburst, as far as he knows, Monarch is still in ok condition. So he may believe on some level that cataclysm is not an instant kill but something rather less severe than that. He did lose control of his emotions for a moment, but it’s good for a character to have such flaws, especially one like Adrien who has repressed his negative emotions to be a “perfect son” in the past. His anger management issue and impulsivity could be building to something truly dramatic. It could be something that gets addressed in his character arc.

So there are things that bothered me about this episode, and it does seem to have been inserted fairly late, but overall it was alright and not nearly as awful as the reactions to the leaks made it seem.

#ml derision #ml spoilers #ml meta #ml meta meta #lol

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knifedancer · 5 months

Text

Winds of Change - Salt Ending

You've selected the SALT ENDING!

Trigger Warning: obsessive behaviors, implied mania.

Go Back | Dark | Hope | Bittersweet

~~~~~~~

When the storm finally cleared, Felix left his amok-made shelter behind and carried the weakened, unconscious girl in his arms to safety. Through thigh deep flood waters and around piles of debris. Past knocked over cars, damaged storefronts, and other stupefied survivors. It took almost an hour but, at last, he found a hospital that had most of their operations in functioning order. While doctors and nurses attended to Marinette, he never let her out of his sight and remained steadfast at her side – her dedicated protector. He had managed to contact Adrien – who had already been evacuated by Gabriel against the model’s wishes – Felix was sending periodic updates to his cousin when service was available. The storm had taken out many of the towers nearby and the remaining network was overwhelmed by the sheer volume of users attempting to check in on those in the affected area. The medical staff assured him that the young designer was simply concussed, chilled, and lightly injured but, thanks to his quick actions, would make a full recovery. After being treated for his own minor injuries, Felix breathed a shaky sigh of relief once they were alone. Taking a seat at her bedside and delicately holding her smaller hand in his, the blond gazed into her pale face. She was still unconscious, but a kindly nurse had suggested he talk to her so that she would know he was there. "You scared me back there... I thought we lost you," he could feel two sets of paws tap comfortingly against his leg from within her discarded satchel he had dutifully carried for her. In the hours since her reveal, Felix had built somewhat of a rapport with Tikki. Her bright blue eyes spoke of a wisdom developed over many millennia, yet she still retained the hopeful exuberance of a child. He was no longer surprised that she had caused the storm to develop into, what meteorologists were calling, a ‘frakenstorm’ that behaved more like a hurricane without a discernable eye. Experts could never know it was caused by a tiny pocket goddess that simply wanted to protect her holder. It certainly gave Felix a newfound respect for the power of Creation! Through their interactions, he had come to realize that Ladybug's kwami was as kind and caring as the bluenette laying before him. Now that he knew the girl behind the mask, he could not imagine a more fitting candidate to fill her spotted shoes. Felix had known Marinette was a bastion of light in this dark world but, now knowing her identity, he finally realized just how bright her very existence was... How cleansing and purifying, that even the shadows deep in his heart seemed to have fled in her presence. While Argos had protected her part-time and had distanced himself from her out of respect for his cousin, he found that just a scant few – if apprehensive – hours in her presence had changed so much. The bluenette inspired people around her to be better versions of themselves and damn if he wasn't now among them! He squeezed her hand gently as he murmured, "I know your enemy's identity, but you'd never believe me. You don't trust me – not that I blame you with how atrocious I've acted." Felix chuckled and brushed a piece of hair from her brow with his free hand, reflecting on each of their interactions with a new perspective. "I will find a way to build that trust with you and then we'll take him down together. I swear it."

He silently hoped that he could earn her forgiveness as well. ~~~ Chat Noir’s POV: Four Months Later ~~~ Chat Noir reflected on the past few months of his life while Ladybug and Argos playfully sparred on the dark Parisian rooftop. In the time following the disastrous trip to China, the peacock holder was seen joining the fight against Monarch in Paris. Ladybug and Chat were wary at first but, as battles became harder and more complicated, Argos remained a constant companion to the two heroes. Two months on, Chat's doubts were dispelled after witnessing Argos sacrifice himself during a particularly hard battle, taking a fatal blow for LB. The cure had brought him back and healed his wounds, but the black-clad hero could still vividly recall the pool of blood and feathers in the street... So much blood. After watching his cousin die such a gruesome death, the cat boy now understood firsthand how LB had felt whenever he had lost his life to an akuma. Both he and his lady had had tears in their eyes after that fight. Chat recalled the spotted heroine had swung down to Argos' recovered form in a fury while her earrings' timer blared. She had screamed at him and jabbed a pointed finger into his chest with each word of the lecture, before pulling him into a tight yet desperate hug. The peacock user had looked shocked and contrite as he hesitantly returned the embrace; supporting her as she shook from silent sobs. That wasn't the only time he sacrificed himself either, just the most jarring. To the consternation of both heroes, the purple-suited teen seemed to have become even more of a shield than Chat had been! A slowly building camaraderie had formed between the three as he also began to join them on patrols. He had proven himself to be smart, reliable, respectful, and strong. A true holder of the Peacock. 'Felix seems to be truly becoming a good person,' Chat thought to himself. Adrien had been disappointed to discover that his cousin would remain in hiding in his civilian form, wishing to get closer to Fe without the mask as well. He understood though: Argos' identity was essentially public knowledge at this point. Monarch could attack him or Amelie or even put Adrien in danger if they were seen together. At least Chat could be closer to the taciturn blond. Adrien had caught Felix watching over Marinette in his Miraculous form as well, camouflaging himself in the shadows on rooftops or sending a small sentimonster spy so as not to call attention to himself. Adrien had asked Felix to help protect her from danger months before and, while Argos had done so occasionally, his efforts had redoubled since their aborted senior class trip. It was suspicious and odd for him to take such an interest in someone… But then the model had seen Argos slipping the injured bluenette away to safety at the beginning of an akuma attack only a couple weeks after their return from China. He had given chase as Chat, hissing and ready to protect his princess, but instead found out his cousin was just looking out for her. Marinette, now nervously sporting a small feather-shaped pin on her jacket lapel, quietly confirmed to Adrien later that day that Argos had decided to become her version of Le Gorilla since Felix saved her from that horrible storm.

Oh, how he hated that pin. It was as if Argos had marked her as his hen, she willingly wore another man’s symbol! Not that he could tell her that her beloved model boyfriend was also a superhero… Still, Adrien could not stand that pin! He wanted to rip it right off her lapel and throw it into the Siene. Marinette was his, not Felix’s! Worse, Chat had even caught the two of them on her balcony several times… That was his spot! He growled in anger, his eyes glowing a toxic green as the young designer laughed at some joke Argos had made while they leisurely sat on the deck chairs under the stars. Quite a few rooftops sported deep claw marks by daybreak and Plagg had started giving him concerning stares... The model was seething possessive livid not entirely thrilled with the idea but was grateful that his girlfriend – the best girlfriend a boy could ask for – would at least be safe while he was distracted being Chat Noir. He hadn't even had the chance to spend much time with her... He wasn’t even allowed to see her while she was in the hospital! His father seemed not to approve of their relationship. She was beneath them, a simpleton, a passing interest that would fade. She was too clumsy and would be an embarrassment to the brand. Agreste Sr. wanted someone perfect, wealthy, well-behaved, easily controlled. Instead of flat-out forbidding Adrien from seeing her, Gabriel simply made his schedule impossible to get away. Months of cancelled dates, interrupted phone calls, and missed anniversaries...they hadn’t even had their first kiss yet! At least he could see Mari at school...even if Lila seemed to constantly get in their way now, separating them every chance he got near the young designer. The model ignored the way her eyes dimmed as he was pulled away or made yet another excuse.

'Thank goodness Felix was there for her in my stead and quietly supported her through her recovery,' the boy thought blithely. Although his cousin was being too friendly…

Adrien would make it up to her eventually!

Sure, Gabriel kept setting him up on those dates with debutantes of respectful families. Floosies he was forced to ‘wine and dine’, pose for photographs, give them special treatment and gifts… Adrien was just doing it to appease his father. Marinette definitely understood! So what if he hadn’t been able to see or text her much in the last few months? When was the last time he had texted her anyway? Last month? She understood why he couldn’t be there to help her with her recovery; of course, she would understand he was doing all this for them.

He just needed to work even harder to convince his father to accept them, to see how great Mari was!

Yeah, it was just a matter of time! What’s a few months apart when they have a lifetime ahead? And once he became a legal adult, they could finally move to that island he always dreamed about… The cat hero was drawn from his increasingly discordant thoughts by the sound of Argos and Ladybug sharing a laugh after their match, trading lighthearted quips. Chat smiled as the two exchanged a warm look that he understood all too well. 'I'm glad they've gotten close. It's good that she's found someone. She deserves to be happy.'

And maybe this means Felix will leave her alone now…

With a soft lovesick sigh, he turned his toxic green eyes towards the darkened T&S bakery in the distance. 'My lady will always hold a special place in my heart, but I have Marinette now...'

‘She’s MINE, no one else’s.’

~~~~~~~

Go Back | Dark | Hope | Bittersweet

#miraculous ladybug #felinette #marinette dupain cheng #felix x marinette #marivanily #felix fathom #felix graham de vanily #cross posted on ao3 #ml salt #strikeout font intentional #obsessive love #mania #Adrien letting the intrusive thoughts win #protective felix #Maximum salt #i'm so sorry #Do you need water?#SALT ending #choose your own ending

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chocoluckchipz · 1 year

Text

Dreams Of You - 23

Marinette

It wasn’t an all-consuming, agonizing burn anymore. All it came down to was a sharp stab in her left arm. Marinette tried to shake it off, a silent groan escaping her lips.

“Still alive, I see?” someone grunted by her side.

Slowly, Marinette propped her eyes open… Not the best of the ideas. Lila’s cold glare was not what Marinette wanted to see.

“How bothersome.” Lila pressed her lips into a thin line, withdrawing the tip of a nail filer from Marinette’s arm.

Marinette glanced around. She was on a bed in a typical hotel room, though on the fancier side. There was a conversation set across the room—a coffee table, a sofa, and two luxury chairs. A grand chandelier hung from the ceiling, its crystals’ sparkle striking contrast to the marble of the fireplace to her right. Judging by the view behind the snow-white sheers and heavy drapery of the windows, it was somewhere higher up than most buildings in Dupont. Perhaps, one of those taller hotels in the centre of town?

“Where am I?”

“Nowhere you should concern yourself with,” Lila muttered. With a scowl on her face, she settled down in one of the chairs across the room and started filing her nails.

Marinette closed her eyes and took a deep breath in. Though her head was still a bit fuzzy and her body stiff, only an echo of the pain remained. Was it the antidote that Félix gave her, her own healing powers, or a combination of both? She didn't know or have time to care because all of her trackers were back in her room and without them, Adrien would have a tough time finding her. Getting information out of Lila was her only chance right now.

“Why are you doing this, Lila?”

The woman smirked, not bothering to look at Marinette as she replied. “The crown would look much prettier on my head than yours. Don’t you think so?”

It was all for the throne. How predictable. Boring even. Marinette shifted to a sitting position and tried to stand up, only to be stopped by Lila’s glare.

“Move an inch, and my darling will be biting you again. Only this time, Félix won’t be around to hand you an antidote.”

“I just wanted to change my position. Lying on a bed while talking to you isn’t very comfortable.”

“You aren’t here to be comfortable,” Lila seethed. “Stay where you are or you won’t live to see tomorrow.”

Marinette sat back down, glancing one more time around. Not much she could find out about her location from the room’s interior, but she could see an ocean out of the window, so they were on the south side of the building.

“You aren’t seriously thinking Adrien would marry you after this.”

Lila laughed, the sound of her voice sending chills down Marinette's spine. "Not only will he marry me, but he'll do so with a smile on his face."

“Adrien would never—”

“He will do everything I tell him,” Lila cut in, glaring at Marinette. “I hold everyone he loves in my hand and just like you, he’ll do anything to keep them safe. You two truly are a pair. Of ridiculously predictable idiots.”

Marinette’s fingers curled into fists. She could barely control the tone of her voice. “When Adrien finds me, he will—”

“By the time he realizes you’re gone, it’ll be too late.”

Marinette halted. Lila didn’t know Adrien already knew. Good. That was one place where they had the upper hand.

“I know about your dream connection, by the way,” Lila added. “So, if you’re thinking of getting in touch with him via that route, just a heads up: you won’t be sleeping until the whole ordeal is done and over with.”

Marinette pressed her lips together. If they wanted to keep their advantage, she’d have to continue her act. “You can’t possibly keep me awake for a whole ten days.”

Lila shrugged. “We won’t need that many. You’ll be married today.”

“That’s impossible. Everyone has to wait at least ten days after applying for a marriage license before they can be married.”

“You’re forgetting that Félix isn’t everyone, sweetheart.” Lila stopped filling her nails and looked at Marinette. “He’s the King’s only nephew. Surely, the mayor of some god-forsaken coastal shit hole can make an exception for him.”

“King’s nephew or not, the law—”

“You can’t seriously be that naive.”

“I don’t think—”

“You know what your problem is?” Lila snapped, checking her nail work as she switched to a different hand. “You think too much. It’s annoying. Stop that. Just sit and wait quietly for your groom to return with the mayor. Then, we’ll get you two hitched right here today and everyone lives happily ever after.”

“And how will that make Adrien marry you?” Marinette snarled.

Lila let out an exasperated groan, rolling her eyes. “In case you didn’t know, Adrien has to obey his father’s every command. Unfortunately, I found out that little detail after he’d already slipped my grasp. But make no mistakes: that won’t happen again. This New Year’s Eve, Adrien will be announcing his engagement to me, per his father’s already-existing orders because you, my dear, will be unavailable, married to another.”

“Divorce is a thing, Lila. Even if you make me marry Félix, I’ll divorce him as soon as I can, and that is assuming—”

“You will be divorcing no one,” Lila stated coldly. “Not if you value your parents’ lives. And that annoying friend of yours. I can throw in her family as well. Perhaps, a few of your other friends. As many as it’ll take to make you give up on Adrien forever.”

“Adrien will—”

“Adrien’s got his own parents to worry about. His and his friend’s whole family.”

Marinette halted. Adrien's mother was in a coma. He kept claiming his father was behaving strangely as of late just like her own parents. And Nino’s whole family? She swallowed. Was it all… Lila?

“What did you do to them?”

Lila chuckled, getting back to filing her nails. “Nothing much. Not yet, at least, but that, of course, depends on your actions from now on.”

“What did you do to them, Lila?” Marinette asked again. “I know for certain that my parents would’ve never let you take me the way they did or force me into a marriage with someone I don’t even know.”

“Maybe you don’t know them as well as you think you do?”

Marinette pressed her lips into a thin line, drilling a hole in Lila’s head with her glare. “What did you do to them? And don’t tell me it’s nothing, because I know it’s something.”

The corners of Lila’s lips curled with amusement. She side-glanced Marinette’s way. “Perhaps I should tell you. That way, you'll behave." She paused for a moment, taking a look at her nails, and evaluating her job.

"I don't want to go into too many details," Lila spoke, standing up and heading towards the bathroom to wash her hands. “Let’s just say that your parents, Adrien’s parents, a few of his friends, Nino’s whole family and a bunch of other potentially useful people, are all under my control. I say, they obey. No matter what it is.”

Marinette sucked in her breath, a chill running down her back. Was it the same situation Adrien was going through with his father? It couldn’t be. For that Lila would need—

“How do you think I ‘ran into’ you two the moment you set foot into Paris? Noël proved to be quite useful,” Lila continued, coming back into the room.

Marinette gasped for air. That kind of thing wasn’t possible without magic, and Lila, as far as Adrien had told her, was not a part of that group.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Lila said, settling back into her chair. “But does it matter how I accomplished what I did? You should be focusing on the fact that Félix will also do whatever I order him. If I tell him to make his future bride an orphan, he won’t hesitate. Your parents will not fight back because I will order them not to.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“Watch me.” Lila snarled, quirking an eyebrow.

Marinette fell silent. Somehow, Lila must have possessed something similar to Adrien's father's magic, and knowing from Adrien how that one worked, Marinette doubted she should try to do anything reckless at the moment. Stalling for the time until Adrien found her and dealt with this seemed to be her only option now. Adrien would know what to do. He was used to dealing with magic people. She wasn't.

One question pestered her, though. “Why didn’t you just eliminate me? Why go through all the trouble?”

“I considered that,” Lila said, watching Marinette with an amused smile. “But Félix is right: having you in my little collection would be way more useful than simply getting rid of you.”

“I’m a baker’s daughter from the province. Why would you want me in that collection of yours?”

“A baker’s daughter?” Lila scoffed. “You want to play that game, do you?”

“I’m not playing anything.” If that helped her win some time, she’d play as long as it took. “I’m just trying to understand why you would want to keep me alive if it's much easier to just get rid of me. Why would you make this whole evil plan of yours so much more complicated than it needs to be? Controlling everyone, scheming, kidnapping. Isn’t it easier to just—”

“Shut it!” Lila stood and slowly walked towards Marinette. “Don’t you think I haven't tried to make it as painless and as believable as it could possibly be? That was my mistake. I shouldn’t have rushed with that whole “engagement for the political alliance” thing. There were quite a few details Adrien’s father ‘forgot’ to mention to me at that point. Like the fact that Adrien quite literally cannot disobey him. Or your existence. I was caught off guard, lost my bearings for a moment, and let Adrien slip away.”

She reached for grapes in a glass vase that stood on the bedside table beside Marinette, popping a few into her mouth. “That won’t happen again, though. I learned my lesson, and I found a way to make that stubborn man talk and give all of the nitty-gritty details I was missing. Like the fact that you and Adrien are soulmates, and as his born equal, you must have magic in you just like Adrien does. Magic that is equal to his in strength. Adrien knows it. You know it. And I know it, too.”

Lila paused, letting a huff of air out. “Isn’t it funny how some of us have to claw our way up in life through nightmares you can’t even imagine if you tried? And then, there are people like you: lucky bastards born with everything one can ever wish for presented to them on a silver platter. Bitchy little thing, that destiny, isn’t it?”

Marinette held her breath. “What are you talking about? I never had anything presented to me. I had to work hard for what I have and the whole magic thing—I’ve never heard of it before you created that beast this morning. And I’m still not very certain that wasn’t a hallucination or some kind of technological trick. A hologram or something. Nino’s great at tech. It was probably—”

Lila’s laughter was as loud as it was dark. “Please, darling. Let’s not pretend anymore. It’s tiresome. With how long Adrien has been here and how close you two seem to have gotten, do you expect me to believe he didn't tell you his big secret?”

“That he’s a prince? Yes, he did tell me.”

“That he wields the power of Destruction. That you must have the power of Creation within you. Have you tried it out yet? Do you like it? How does it feel? Don’t tell me. I don’t care.”

Marinette pressed her lips together, looking straight at Lila. “Do you really think that if I had magic in me, I’d be obediently sitting on this bed right now and not fight you with everything I’ve got?”

“You aren’t fighting back because there is nothing you can do against me right now, and you know it,” Lila replied, towering over Marinette. “You’re weak and inexperienced. You are too scared because you value the lives of those you love too much. You rely on Adrien to handle it all for you. He’s the experienced one, right? He’ll know what to do.”

Marinette would rather die than acknowledge just how right Lila was, so she remained silent.

“You’re forgetting one thing,” Lila whispered, leaning closer, hooking Marinette’s chin with her finger and bringing it up to look at her. “Adrien is his father’s son, and Agrestes love too deeply for their own good. I had the King in my hand the moment I took his Queen’s miraculous. The Prince will be at my feet the second I have your complete obedience. And that is only a matter of time now.”

"You'll never have my obedience," Marinette growled through her teeth. She remembered it now—the magic hierarchy Adrien had told her about. A weaker wielder could not influence a stronger one and, according to Adrien, Creation and Destruction stood at the top of them all. Whatever magic Lila had, it was not stronger than either of them. Otherwise, this kidnapping and blackmailing thing wouldn’t be necessary. “You can’t control me the same way you do others. Just like you can’t control Adrien.”

“For now,” Lila snarled, digging her nails into the tender skin of Marinette’s face. “But that will change quite soon, and until then, I’ll use whatever means necessary to keep you in line.”

Marinette winced as Lila’s nail broke her skin but said nothing. She wouldn’t grovel at Lila’s feet. Never.

“I’m not risking it anymore,” Lila added. “I know all about the consent thing, and I know that the only way I can get it out of you is when Adrien, your parents, and all of your friends if needed, all have seconds to live right in front of your eyes. And I have the means to achieve that. Do you want to test me?”

Marinette’s knuckles turned white from how hard she was clutching her fists. How could someone be so obsessed with power, they didn’t care about the innocent lives that stood in their way?

“I guess your silence means you’re okay with that,” Lila hissed. Letting Marinette go, she walked back to her spot on the other side of the room and grabbed her cell phone from the desk. “I’m done wasting words. I’ll let my actions speak from now on. Who would it be first: your mother or your father?”

“Don’t touch them!” Marinette scrambled to her feet.

“Sit back down or I’ll end them both!”

Marinette slowly lowered herself back onto the bed, clenching her teeth together. The woman before her was crazy. Marinette would better be very careful if she wanted everyone to come out of this alive. “Don’t touch them. I’ll do anything you want, but do not touch anyone.”

“See? It’s not that hard, isn't it?” Lila snarked, putting back her cell phone. Settling into her chair, she added, “It’s not like I’m even asking you much. Just marry Félix, be a good wife to him, cook, clean, and give him kids. Occasionally, do my bidding. That’s all. You can even imagine him to be Adrien if you’d like. They look similar enough.”

“Why do you want me married to him so badly anyway?” Marinette couldn’t help but ask. “Can’t you just let me go once you get what you want? I’d be less of a risk to you here in the province than at the palace near Adrien.”

“A matter of convenience.” Lila shrugged. “I want to keep my eye on you, and that would be much easier to do if you’re in Paris, by Félix’s side. I will also need your powers quite often. Do you seriously want me to travel to this province every time I want a new gown or a snack? Oh! And Félix did help me to get here. Without him, I'd never have gotten close enough to the Queen to put this whole thing in motion. He deserves a reward, don’t you think? He asked for you specifically.”

“He asked for me?”

Lila chuckled. “He’d been second to Adrien in everything his whole life. Always pushed aside. Always overlooked in favour of the prince. Can you blame him for finally daring to reach for a slice of his cousin’s pie? I’m amazed he didn’t snap earlier.”

Marinette bit on her lip, her chest aching. Did Félix really betray Adrien out of jealousy? Because Lila didn’t have a reason to lie about what she’d just said. Not that Marinette could think of, at least.

“Relax.” Lila sighed. “Félix is cool in his own way. You might even start liking him with time. I’m even willing to order him to be a perfect husband to you if you’ll be a good little girl and not cause me any trouble. See?” She chuckled to herself. “I’m not heartless. I don’t hurt people I control. They all live their happy, pathetic, little lives—”

"Lila?" Félix walked into the room with a somber expression. "My status wasn't enough to convince the mayor. I’m afraid you’ll have to akumatize him.”

“What do you mean it wasn’t enough?” Lila jerked from her chair, glaring his way. “You said you used your status all the time to override the law.”

“I did.” Félix nodded. “In Paris. It doesn’t work here. Believe me, I tried.”

Pinching her lips together, Lila growled. “I gave you the peacock for a reason, you know.”

“I don’t think using this kind of magic at a public institution while we’re trying to stay on the down-low is a smart idea, Lila,” Félix said, his gaze icy cold and focused on Marinette as he walked towards her. “Or would you rather attract Adrien’s attention before he realizes his girlfriend is gone by himself? Just akumatize the mayor like you always do.”

“I swear—the more freedom I allow you, the more useless you get,” Lila growled, standing.

“It’s not my fault those provincials don’t know their place.” Félix shrugged, stopping in front of Marinette. “I’ll keep an eye on my bride for you.”

“No. You’re coming with me.”

“You want to risk her going to sleep while we’re out?”

Lila pursed her lips, shifting her gaze to Marinette. "Fine. You're watching her. She can't go to sleep. Neither of you leaves this suite. Under any circumstances. Understood?”

Félix nodded. “We’ll just sit here and make plans for our happily ever after while you’re making it all possible.”

Lila halted. “On the other hand, perhaps you shouldn’t talk to her either. We wouldn’t want anything she has no business knowing slipping out, would we? And give me the peacock.”

Félix huffed, unclipping a brooch that looked like a peacock’s tail from the spot hidden right under his jacket’s lapel. “You still don’t trust me?”

Lila put the brooch in her purse, ignoring his question. “You are not to talk to her until I’m back. Not a word. Understood?”

“How could I not?”

“Don’t get too cocky, Félix,” Lila snarled. “If she’s not here when I’m back, your head will be the first one to roll.”

“I don’t doubt that.”

With two glares, one Marinette’s way, one Félix’s, Lila left the room, loudly closing the door behind herself.

Marinette looked at Félix, catching his emotionless gaze. “Why are you doing this, Félix?”

He looked away.

“Adrien had nothing but fond things to say about you. You’re his family, one of his closest friends. Why are you doing this?”

He remained silent.

“Is that true that you helped her to steal Adrien’s mother’s miraculous?”

Félix looked at Marinette, his eyes wide, jaw slacked. He pressed his lips together, his hands tightening into fists. Then, he opened his mouth and closed it again, his gaze falling to the ground, eyebrows knitting in frustration.

Right. He couldn’t talk to her by Lila’s orders.

“Can’t you break from Lila’s control?”

Félix slightly shook his head, looking back at her with his lips pinched into a thin line.

“Can I somehow help?”

His breathing seemed to intensify as he grasped at the spot where his neck met his torso, at his tie’s knot.

“You want me to choke her?”

Félix snorted and looked away; then froze and started to rummage the drawers of a nearby desk. The moment he pulled a notepad out of one of the drawers, his lips twitched in a smile. Taking a pen from the same drawer, Félix started to write. A few minutes later, he ripped the page out and gave it to Marinette.

“She forbade you to talk to me but not to write,” Marinette whispered, looking at the note. At the corner of her eye, she saw Félix nod, but her attention was already on the text.

“My help was involuntary and out of ignorance. I didn’t know Lila back then. I didn’t know what I was doing. She tricked me and then used my involvement to blackmail me into silence. She said she didn't know Aunt Emilie would collapse into a coma and promised to fix everything. Instead, she got her hands on the butterfly as well and akumatized me. I cannot go against her wishes. I have a semblance of control because she allowed me to wield the peacock to help her out with her scheme, but I cannot disobey her orders. You and Adrien can. She has a brooch that looks like a butterfly under the scarf around the collar of her blouse. Get it to Adrien. He’ll know what to do. I can’t help you more than I already have. If she orders me to, I will kill you. So, until Adrien gets here, just play along, and we all should be fine.”

As soon as Marinette raised her eyes from the paper, Félix snatched the note out of her hands and went to the bathroom. Sounds of paper ripping and the toilet flushing followed. The moment he took a step back into the room, though, the window glass shattered, Félix’s eyes widened, and with a loud thud, he crumbled down to the floor.

Marinette yelped and scrambled further onto the bed, her gaze shifting between the window and Félix’s body, lying on the floor.

“Marinette, it’s me,” Adrien’s voice sounded near her ear. “I’m going to put a cloaking device on you.”

A wave of relief rushed over her body, her heart pounding loudly in her chest. Adrien’s invisible hand clipped something onto her top. A moment later, Chat Noir appeared beside her, his smile gentle but trembling, arms open to welcome her.

Marinette lunged forward, falling into Chat’s embrace without a second thought.

He was here!

He came for her!

She’d never let him go again.

No matter what it cost her!

Chat held onto her just as tightly—as if his life depended on it as if this was the very last time they’d see each other in this life.

His voice was shaking and quiet as he whispered something in her ear, Marinette couldn’t quite distinguish over the sound of her own heartbeat. She didn’t care. He was here and he was holding her and this moment should've lasted forever.

Yet, Chat drew her back from his chest, scanning her body meticulously. “Are you alright? Did they hurt you in any way?”

Marinette shook her head and clung back to him, tears bursting out of her eyes. Never again! They’d always stay together from now on. They’d face Lila together, and they’d find a way to free everyone because Marinette wouldn’t be making another step, wouldn’t be taking another breath without Adrien by her side!

Chat held her, gently stroking her hair with his hand. “Everything will be fine. I’m here now.” His lips barely touched the crown of her hair, lingered on her forehead, glazed against her eyelids, pressed to the corner of her mouth. “We don’t have much time: we need to leave before Lila comes back. You said Félix used a miraculous. Have you seen a peacock tail-shaped brooch anywhere on him?”

Marinette nodded. “Lila took it with her.”

Adrien pressed his lips together, letting a sigh out. Then, gathered himself and looked back at Marinette. “Alright. Then, we’re going now. Do you trust me?”

“Always,” she could all but whisper.

“Close your eyes, and hold on tight. Whatever happens, don’t scream. We can’t attract any attention even if we’re invisible, okay?”

She pressed harder to his chest and closed her eyes. Chat swept her in his arms and walked to the now-glassless window. With a single lunge, he got on its sill and whispered, "Nino, we're coming. Get ready."

The next moment, Chat Noir jumped out of the window. With Marinette in his arms.

She bit on her tongue, pressing closer to her boyfriend.

She trusted him.

She did, but if what information she’d gathered prior was true, there were at least ten-fifteen floors above the ground! And sure, Adrien could be reckless sometimes but this was a whole new level!

His grip on her tightened. The wind rushed against her skin, nothing but the sound of their heartbeats pounding in her ears. It shouldn’t take long. A few more moments and they should hit the pavement.

Though, Adrien should’ve warned her he was about to smash them both against the ground, not ask if she trusted him. Dying together sounded cool and all, but Marinette would have appreciated the warning.

But then… Adrien wasn’t a fool. Reckless, but not stupid. And he was in his Chat Noir form, meaning better mobility, flexibility and strength. Magic as well. Perhaps there was a pool down there? Or maybe Nino set up some kind of trampoline? Adrien wouldn’t have jumped down if there were no chances of them surviving at all without warning her.

Still, if it came to worst, if she were to die today, doing so in Adrien’s arms, pressed to his chest, was one of her better options. And—

Wait…

Was their fall… slowing?

No.

It felt more like floating.

They weren't slicing the air anymore. The wind turned into a breeze. The ringing in her ears lessened.

Marinette held onto Adrien tighter, shutting her eyes closed.

Is this what dying felt like?

Her mind had finally caught up and started playing games with her perception of reality in anticipation of an imminent departure. Next, she’d see the pictures of her life flashing before her eyes. It’d be cool, in a way. She bet there were a lot of memories she’d forgotten over the years she’d love to see again. The dark corridor with light at the end of it—

Thud!

Chat landed on a seemingly solid surface… a lot gentler than Marinette had anticipated.

“It’s over,” he whispered, kissing the top of her head. “You can open your eyes now.”

She propped one eye open, glancing around. No dark rooms, no blinding sources of light, no memories of the past flashing anywhere. Just Chat Noir, standing in a parking lot by one of the hotels at the centre of Dupont, with her in his arms. Alive and perfectly healthy. Not smashed into two pancakes in love.

"Welcome back." Nino waved in their general direction, putting away some kind of device in his backpack. "I hope you enjoyed your flight. We'd appreciate feedback on your experience. I'll forward you a survey later.”

A nervous sigh slipped her lips. “We’re alive.”

“I wouldn't have jumped if I didn't know one hundred percent that you’d be safe.” Chat placed a kiss on her hair and set her down to the ground, a little early for her liking. Her legs were still shaking.

“Which is why my baby deserves a five-star review,” Nino added.

Chat chuckled. “Alright, alright. I’ll leave you a review. Don’t worry.”

"What level did we jump from?" Marinette asked, too bewildered to think about anything but the fact she was breathing and living and grasping Chat’s hand as tight as she could.

“Twelve.” Chat brought her hand to his lips for a tender kiss to her knuckles. “With the help of Nino’s gravity-cancelling device. He’d love to tell you all about it—a bit later, though. For now, we’d better get out of here.”

Oh! That thing Nino had been working on ever since he’d arrived in Dupont! He had mentioned it a time or two. Or ten.

Marinette let a chuckle out, wishing for her hands to stop trembling. She was safe now. “Sounds good.”

Silently, Chat nudged Marinette to follow him towards his motorcycle. Nino was quick to join them.

“Your helmet, My Lady.”

Marinette took it in her hands, her thoughts racing back to the room above, “You didn’t kill him, did you? Félix is being controlled by Lila, but I think he was trying to help us.”

"I know." Chat nodded, getting on his motorcycle. "We figured that much. So, that was just a tranquillizer, nothing life-threatening. He'll be out for a few hours, and then back to his normal self, which will give us time to disappear and him an excuse for letting you escape.”

“Lila said she also controls our parents, and a few of your friends, as well as Nino’s whole family.”

Chat quirked an eyebrow. “She’s been busy.”

“So that’s how she found us,” Nino murmured. “Noël.”

“We’d better be careful who we talk to from now on,” Chat added, putting his helmet on. “Let’s go.”

“What about my parents?” Marinette grabbed his arm. “We can’t just leave them like that.”

“We’ll have to think about that on the way,” Chat responded. “It’s a bit tricky with them being controlled by her. We can’t leave them alone, but we also can’t bring them with us.”

Marinette had to admit that was true. But, leaving her parents to Lila’s mercy was even more terrifying.

“I don’t think she’s got to Alya yet,” Marinette added. “She threatened to do so before leaving for the city hall.”

“Then, I’ll get her before that happens.” Nino started his motorcycle.

“Sounds good.” Chat nodded. “We’ll wait for you at home.”

“We’re going to your place?” Marinette put on her helmet and got on the motorcycle behind Chat Noir.

“Yeah. I don’t think Lila knows our location yet or she would’ve visited by now. That’s temporary, though. Once Nino gets Alya, we’ll figure out what to do next.”

“Okay.”

“Wait,” Nino called. “You might want to de-transform and disable your cloaking device if you don’t want a haunted motorcycle to be in the news tomorrow morning.”

“Good idea,” Chat finger-gunned his best friend and followed his advice. A few moments later, he started the engine. Marinette wrapped her arms around his midsection and leaned against his back. So many times she’d done this in the last few months. This was the only time she wasn’t hyper-aware of the toned muscles under her fingers. Her cheeks didn’t flame at the thoughts, wandering in less-than-decent directions. Her parents’ lives were in danger. Her friends as well. Just as hers and Adrien’s. There would be no resting tonight. Lila had to be stopped, and it looked like Adrien and she were the only ones who could do that.

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#miraculous ladybug #adrinette #ml au #ml #miraculous #ml fanfiction #marichat #dreams of you

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rosie-b · 1 year

Text

True Blue

Chapter 3: A New Normal (5263 words)

Summary: Marinette comes up with a plan to help Adrien attend public school. Meanwhile, a new akuma is on the loose...

You can read the full story below or on AO3!

It turned out that having an upside-down life was pretty much the same as having a right-side-up life, Marinette thought to herself as she selected a background for the slide show she was beginning to make.

Hawk Moth’s akumas were dangerous, evil, and more than terrifying to the human citizens of Paris. Even so, Marinette had quickly learned that she could always count on Golden Bug and Chat Grise to defeat the akuma victims and return them to their normal, decidedly un-evil selves.

True, Pharaoh and his maiden-sacrificing tendencies were concerning, but in under an hour, he’d been back to being Alix’s geeky, conspiring older brother. Stormy Weather was a fierce fighter, and her powers had the potential to be deadly, but her threat, like many other akumas’, had been undermined by Hawk Moth himself.

The villain had paused mid-battle and commanded Stormy Weather to create a talking storm cloud through which he’d demanded Golden Bug and Chat Grise’s surrender. It had been easy for Chat to find and destroy Aurore’s akumatized object while Golden Bug distracted Hawk Moth’s stormy face with a heroic rebuttal, and the heroes simultaneously won the battle and the undying support of Paris. Not what the villain had been hoping for, at all!

Besides, after Lady Wi-Fi and Mr. Pigeon’s back-to-back akumatizations, it seemed that Hawk Moth’s akumas were becoming less dangerous even as their powers grew more creative. With a little luck, maybe Golden and Chat Grise could defeat Hawk Moth during the next akuma battle and end the city’s troubles once and for all!

Marinette’s alarm went off, alerting her that she only had ten minutes until the Gorilla picked her up for school. Saving the few changes she’d made to the mostly blank slide show, Marinette slammed the lid of her new laptop closed, shoved it into her bookbag, and rushed to the mirror to check that she was presentable enough for the day. Then she went downstairs to grab a bite to eat before the Gorilla came.

“Hello, Maman!” she called cheerfully as she tripped over the third-to-last stair and caught herself on the railing.

Sabine smiled and shook her head at her daughter’s familiar clumsiness. “Good morning, Marinette,” she said as she set a plate and cup out on the table for her.

Marinette rushed over, leaning her bag against the table leg as she took the cup her mother had gotten out and poured some orange juice into it from the jug already on the table.

“You’re in even more of a rush than usual, dear,” Sabine noted as she sat down and took a sip from her own cup full of gently steaming tea. “Is there something big happening today?”

Reaching into the fruit bowl on the center of the table, Marinette snapped a banana off its bunch and started to peel it.

“No, not really,” she said, her eyes sparkling. “But do you remember what I told you about Adrien?”

“Gabriel’s son? Yes, I remember,” Sabine answered with a nod. “He wants to go to public school, but his father won’t let him.”

Marinette pointed the banana at her mother. “Right! And it’s making him miserable. Less miserable now, but it’s clear in his eyes when the other students walk by the mansion after lessons that he’d rather be out there with them than cooped up just like he always is. But not anymore!” Marinette smirked as she bit off the tip of her banana. “I foun’ a sowution,” she said in a pleased tone as she chewed the food.

Sabine shook her head in amusement. “I’d love to hear what it is when your mouth is empty.”

Marinette’s cheeks turned pink, and she quickly finished chewing and swallowed.

“Sorry, Maman, I guess I’m more excited than I thought,” she said sheepishly. Her mother’s gentle smile assured her that there was no harm done, and Marinette quickly returned to her earlier, excited babble of information.

“See, Adrien’s problem is that he thinks he has to go around M. Agreste and prove that he can go to school by himself that way. But what if all he needs is the right argument? I asked Ms. Sancoeur about it during my apprenticeship hours, and she said she was doubtful but didn’t shoot my idea down the way she would’ve if it were really impossible. Adrien’s dad obviously loves him, so all we have to do is make him see how lonely and trapped he’s making his son feel by not letting him go to regular school, prove that François-Dupont is a good place to learn at — which I can help with! — and voilà, Adrien is free to leave homeschool! All I have to do is convince Adrien that he can talk to M. Agreste about it himself and finish making the slide show. Oh no!” Marinette gasped as she looked at the clock. “I’m going to be late! I mean early, but still late! Wish me luck, Maman!”

“Good luck, dear,” Sabine said affectionately as Marinette stood up, pressed a quick kiss to her mother’s cheek, and rushed off with her bag slung over one shoulder.

Hurrying down the stairs, Marinette pulled the car door open before the Gorilla had the chance to step out of the just-parked car. He gave a surprised grunt, but quickly recovered, buckling himself in again and pulling the car away from the curb.

Marinette wiggled nervously in the back seat of the car, tapping her fingers against her leg as she watched the familiar buildings rush by outside. She stopped when she saw the Gorilla giving her a questioning look in the rearview mirror and flashed him a quick smile to show that everything was okay.

Before she knew it, the car was pulling into the Agrestes’ driveway, and Marinette quickly hopped out, dashing up the steps to the house and knocking for Nathalie to let them in.

The assistant pulled the door open with a scrutinizing look, and Marinette quickly pulled herself into a more proper pose, straightening her back and pushing a few stray hairs back from her forehead.

“Ms. Dupain-Cheng,” Nathalie said in a toneless voice. “It’s a surprise to see you here so early.”

The corner of Marinette’s mouth twitched, unsure if it wanted to go up or down.

“I am making more of an effort to get here on time, like you requested,” she said in her best ‘adult’ voice. “Besides, why shouldn’t I be on time for school? Education is important,” she said, quoting her teachers words back at her.

The shadow of a smile flickered across Ms. Sancoeur’s face as she tilted her head in acknowledgement of her pupil’s words.

“Wisely said.”

Ms. Sancoeur stepped back to allow Marinette to enter the mansion, and the girl stepped through the door with her head held high. Though she walked to the study room a little quicker than usual, she carried herself with as much poise as she had at the door, and quickly set her backpack down at her desk before turning back to Nathalie.

“Since I’m still a little early, could I be the one to go get Adrien from his room?” she asked politely. It had been a few weeks since Stoneheart, and she could find her way through the whole mansion with ease.

Surprised, Ms. Sancoeur considered the request for a bit.

“I suppose so,” she said after a moment. “Just be sure to knock before you enter. He might not be presentable just yet.”

“Of course,” Marinette said with a grin. Adrien always got up and dressed before her, she knew, because it took him so long to finish his morning routine. He was probably stuck styling his hair out of the roguish state it fluffed itself into every night.

Taking the stairs two at a time until she tripped and nearly fell on the wide staircase, Marinette rushed up to Adrien’s room with her laptop clutched to her chest. Stopping in front of his door, she knocked loudly, bouncing on her toes as she waited impatiently.

“Adrien? It’s Marinette. Do you have any time to talk?” she called through the door.

There was a short scuffle on the other side of the door, and Adrien whispered something to himself before the noise abruptly stopped.

“Sure, Marinette! Come right in,” Adrien called back. He sounded a little nervous, probably thrown off by someone other than Nathalie greeting him in the morning.

Marinette opened the door and stepped into Adrien’s large room, taking a precursory glance around the still strange, but becoming familiar, surroundings. Adrien, who was standing by the foosball table, waved, and she walked over to him with a smile.

“Hello, Adrien! I bet you're happy to see me instead of Ms. Sancoeur for a change,” she said, and Adrien beamed at her, eyes lighting up at the sight of his friend.

“I'm always happy to see you, Marinette,” he said earnestly. “What are you doing here so early, though? I thought you were making it a habit to be fashionably late to class.”

Marinette opened her mouth before pausing, and the air gathered in her lungs rushed out in a sigh. “Was that a pun I heard from you? This early in the morning? Adrien,” she whined, desperately fighting a smile as Adrien’s grin grew.

“It was funny!” he defended himself, crossing his arms and grinning at her. “Look, you can’t even hide your smile. You know you like my jokes.”

Marinette gave up and smiled back at her friend. “Fine, I do,” she relented. She knew how important it was for someone as isolated as Adrien to be validated by their friends. “But that doesn’t mean I can condone such effortless jokes at this hour of the day. I have something more important to discuss,” she said, bringing her laptop over to the foosball table and balancing it precariously on the edge.

Suddenly concerned, Adrien backed away from the laptop. “Marinette, are you sure that’s a good idea?” he asked.

Marinette opened the laptop. “It’ll be fine,” she said dismissively. “I might be clumsy, but I’m very good at balancing things that aren’t me. Besides, I can catch it if it falls.”

She pulled up the slideshow she’d been making earlier that day, clicking presentation mode on.

“Operation: Free Buttercup?” Adrien read out loud from the screen, looking curiously at Marinette.

“We’ll retitle it, obviously. I just needed a placeholder title,” she said as she clicked to the next slide.

“Wait, who or what is Buttercup? Why do they need to be freed?”

Marinette looked up at Adrien. “Well, you’re Buttercup,” she said, as if this was obvious. “We’re using code names at this point. Once we have a convincing presentation, we’ll go back and edit them all out. You have yellow hair, like a buttercup, and M. Agreste has that striped ascot, so he’s Tiger Lily, and I used to really like tulips, so I’m Tulip. Any questions?”

Adrien wrinkled his eyebrows in that adorable model way he did sometimes. “Can I please have a different code name?”

Marinette grinned evilly. “Nope,” she said, shaking her head and letting go of the laptop. Adrien’s eyes bugged out as he watched for it to fall, but the laptop remained balanced on the foosball table. “If a flower name is too girly for you, then you need a new perspective. Everyone deserves to have a flower name, if they want.”

“And if they don’t want one?” Adrien asked, his eyes still glued to the laptop.

“Then they should have come up with the slideshow on their own. Beggars can’t be choosers, Buttercup.” Marinette dismissed Adrien’s concerns and turned back to the laptop, which was open to a blank slide.

“This is going to be a picture of François-Dupont eventually. I couldn’t find any good ones this morning, though. Next slide!”

Marinette hit the spacebar with such enthusiasm that Adrien’s heart sank as he accepted the eventual death of the laptop. If Marinette was going to keep being so risky with it, there was no way around its demise.

Plan A: Sneaking out to school, the slide show read in oversized letters.

“This plan didn’t work so well,” Marinette said. “But that doesn’t mean no plan will. I asked Ms. Sancoeur about it, and she feels cautiously optimistic about our odds in convincing your father to let you go to public school.”

Adrien’s jaw dropped to the floor. “Really?!” he gasped. “She said that?”

“Not in those words,” Marinette said with a mysterious smile. “But yes, she didn’t say it’s impossible. Plan B!”

She hit the spacebar again, sending trembles through Adrien and the laptop.

“We talk to your father directly instead of trying to sneak around the problem. Not that I'm saying your last plan was indirect, of course! Just that, this is more direct,” Marinette said, waving her hands in the air. She looked mildly panicked now, though she’d started speaking confidently.

Adrien sighed. “It’s okay, Marinette. I understand where you’re going with this. I’d love to speak with my father directly, but... well, you know, Marinette. He’s never listened to me before. Why should he start now?”

Marinette looked at Adrien with a pitying gaze. “Because he loves you, doesn’t he? Every father wants the best for their child. Maybe he is busy, but he still has some time to talk. He just usually spends it telling me what I’ll be doing to train as an apprentice,” she said with a trace of guilt.

Adrien raised his eyebrows. “You’re saying we should try to convince him while he’s giving you your schedule after school? Won’t that be kind of annoying to him?”

Marinette grimaced. “Maybe,” she admitted. “But that’s just about the only time either of us see him. I’m pretty sure Nathalie could give me my schedule instead, and you could stay behind with M— with your father to convince him.”

“But what if he doesn’t listen to me? What if I forget what I was going to say to him, or he doesn’t want to listen to me and throws us out of his office?”

“That’s why we’re making this slide show,” Marinette said, waving a finger in the air. “Even if he refuses to hear us out, we can email our argument to him. He has to look at it sometime.”

Glancing at the time on his phone, Adrien gulped. “That might work, but Marinette — or should I say Tulip? — we don’t have enough time to make a whole slide show before class. Really, we need to get downstairs now, or Nathalie is going to be mad at us and tell Father!”

Pulling out her own phone, Marinette, too, looked at the time. “Ah,” she said understandingly. “That’s okay, too. We’re going to do this over lunch! We can eat here, in your room, and finish the slide show before the end of the day. I know the first few slides aren't helpful right now, and the whole thing needs a better title, and then there are the code names, but I do have a lot of evidence gathered already. We can do this together, Adrien! I won’t let you stay trapped in homeschool just because you have one friend with you now. You deserve more than that, Adrien! And I want you to be happy! Now, come on,” she said, not noticing the awestruck look on Adrien’s face as she grabbed his hand and closed the laptop with her elbow. “You were right, we still have to get to class on time.”

__*__*__*__*__

Morning classes were interrupted by one akuma, who was still on the loose when Golden Bug and Chat Grise lost them and gave up.

Marinette supposed it didn’t make sense for the heroes to waste their energy on a wild goose chase, but she hoped they would find the akuma before it had the chance to hurt anyone, because this akuma seemed more dangerous than the last two.

The limited footage from the Golden Blog had shown a black blur running through François-Dupont, conjuring items out of thin air and trapping the heroes, as well as Alya, the Goldenblogger, under a heavy table that literally weighed a ton before leaving the building. Chat Grise called for her Cataclysm in a quiet, defeated voice, and Golden Bug reset the damage to the building with his miraculous cure. Then the two heroes had to go, and the footage stopped, leaving Marinette and the other citizens to wonder when the battle would start again.

Or maybe the akuma de-akumatized themself, Marinette thought hopefully. No one had done anything like that before, but that didn’t mean it was impossible.

Marinette’s leg jittered nervously, making her chair squeak each time she moved, and Adrien looked up from the table at her to offer a gentle smile.

"Sorry, I'm just worried about the akuma again," she whispered to him apologetically.

“It’s okay, Marinette,” he said — even though they were in class, there was no use whispering while Nathalie was the only other person in the study room with them and could hear every sound they made. “I’m sure Chat Grise and Golden Bug will find the akuma as soon as they can.”

Marinette groaned as she set her pencil down on top of the worksheet she had to complete before lunch.

“I know,” she said. “But I can’t help but feel like this time is different. I was really hoping they’d be able to defeat Hawk Moth and his stupid butterflies once and for all today, but it feels like maybe they’re going to lose, instead!”

Adrien winced and opened his mouth to reply, but Nathalie answered her first.

“If the heroes lose to an akuma that they aren't even actively fighting, that would be quite the feat,” she said. “I’m fairly sure that for now, Golden Bug and Chat Grise are safe. You have nothing to worry about, Marinette. Now, finish your worksheet and then you can head to lunch.”

Marinette smiled gratefully at Ms. Sancoeur. “Thank you,” she said. “I guess it was just a silly fear, after all.”

Adrien frowned as he wrote something down at the bottom of his worksheet. The right answer, probably. He was really good at finding those, Marinette thought jealously.

She struggled through the last two math problems and laid her pencil down on the table.

“Done!” she called cheerfully.

Ms. Sancoeur walked over to check her answers.

“The third answer should be negative,” she said. “The multiplication inside the parentheses doesn’t eliminate the negative sign outside of them.”

Marinette drooped in her chair as Adrien gave her a sympathetic look from the other side of the room, where he was standing by the door.

“But your work overall is still good enough. You are free to go to lunch, Marinette. I believe Adrien told me that you wish to eat in his room rather than at the dining table, correct?”

Marinette nodded, looking cautiously hopeful.

“Very well. It should be delivered in ten minutes. Bon déjeuner.” Nathalie walked out of the room, gripping her tablet tightly in her hands as she walked in the direction of the atelier.

Grabbing her phone and laptop from her bag with a smile, Marinette walked over to Adrien.

“Shall we?” she asked.

Adrien smiled and gestured towards the door. “After you, dear Tulip,” he said.

Marinette rolled her eyes as she walked past.

“Did you have any ideas for what you wanted the presentation to say during your makeup emergency this morning?” Marinette asked as they walked up the stairs to his room together.

Adrien winced. “Not really,” he said, raising a hand to adjust the hair in front of his ears. It just barely hid them from view, and how he was comfortable like that, Marinette wasn’t sure. But he’d never said anything about not liking the hairstyle, so maybe it was his idea.

“That’s okay,” Marinette said as they reached Adrien’s room and he reached out to open the door. “Just tell me if you disagree with anything on the slide show or if it’s making you uncomfortable. There's always another way to get your father to let you attend school.”

“I don’t know about that,” Adrien said with a laugh as he led Marinette over to the white couch facing his huge windows. “But I’m sure I’ll like whatever you have so far. Except for the code names,” he said with a smirk.

“Oh, hush, you,” Marinette said. “Would you rather I come up with some other ones? I’m kind of an apprentice, so I could go with that. The Apprentice. Your father gets to be Candy Cane, and you... hm. Would you prefer Golden Boy or Rapunzel?”

Adrien stared wide-eyed at Marinette. “Golden Boy?” he asked, his voice nearly two octaves above where it usually was.

Marinette frowned. “Yeah, does it not make sense? You’re still just my age, but you’ve already accomplished so much already. It should strengthen our case, honestly.”

Adrien nodded absently. “Yeah, yeah, but don’t you think it sounds a little too... like a certain yellow hero’s name?”

Marinette gasped. “You’re right!” she shrieked. “I can’t believe I didn’t notice before.”

Adrien stared warily at her, looking like he might bolt at the next words out of her mouth.

“The heroes are on my mind so much today, I guess it affected my code name choices,” Marinette laughed. “I really hope Golden Bug and Chat Grise are taking care of that akuma.”

Adrien laughed awkwardly, eyes darting away guiltily. “Yeah, that would probably be the smart thing to do,” he said, and gulped hard.

Marinette shrugged.

“I guess. It’s not our responsibility, though, so back to the slide show! I added—”

Just then, a black- and white-suited akuma leapt through the window — which was now just a hole in the wall, having been erased by the Evillustrator’s powers — and landed in front of the sofa Marinette and Adrien were sitting on.

“Marinette!” Nathaniel called out in a familiar voice. Marinette gasped. So that’s who the akuma was this morning, she realized.

The concerned tone he used, and the way he looked at Marinette with wide, almost-frightened eyes made it seem as if Marinette was being saved by the akuma rather than having her plans interrupted by one.

But he was an akuma, now. There was no way he was still the polite Nathaniel she was used to. And he was targeting Marinette!

Oh, no, Marinette thought as Adrien gasped and threw himself in front of her, blocking her view of the akuma. She’d heard that some akumas targeted other people, but until now, she’d never thought she would be one of those akumas’ victims.

But if Nathaniel, or whatever his akuma name was, was targeting her, then he probably had a good reason. Nathaniel was one of the only people who was nice to Marinette last year, and though some of it could have been the fact that he wasn’t in class with Marinette and Chloe, Marinette had begun to see Nathaniel as a kind person, one who would never lash out without reason.

“Adrien, move out of the way,” Marinette demanded, scooting past him on the sofa so that she could stand up and face Nathaniel. “I need to talk to him!”

“Marinette, no!” Adrien cried.

As Marinette pushed herself off of the couch and stood up on shaky legs, the Evillustrator smiled, in relief, it seemed to her.

“It’s so good to see you again, Marinette,” Nathaniel’s sweet voice greeted her ear. “School’s been nothing but awful without you there.”

Marinette twitched, and she felt herself beginning to frown sadly.

“I’m sorry to hear that, Nathaniel. Is that why you were akumatized? You can fight it off, you know! I believe in you!”

Moving to be beside Marinette, Adrien threw his arms around her protectively and scowled at the Evillustrator.

Nathaniel scowled back at Adrien, while Marinette patted his head reassuringly and tried to smile in Nathaniel’s direction.

“There isn’t anything to fight, Marinette. Hawk Moth isn’t controlling me right now. But yes, I suppose you could say that school is why I got akumatized. Or more specifically, Chloe is,” he spat out, and his blue eyes flashed dangerously.

Adrien’s arms tightened around Marinette.

“Let go of me,” she hissed at him.

Adrien pouted down at Marinette. “No,” he said with a huff. “I won’t stop protecting you, not until Mr. Evil Artist leaves you alone. What do you even want, anyway?” he asked the Evillustrator.

Nathaniel grinned and drew something on the tablet attached to his right arm. A red rose appeared in the air, and Marinette felt Adrien stiffen around her.

“I came here because as petty as she is, Chloe reminded me of something important today,” he said in a shy voice.

“No,” Adrien growled. The Evillustrator shot a pitying glance at him.

“She reminded me that without action, none of my dreams have the chance to become reality. And for the longest time, Marinette... my biggest dream has been to be with you.”

Nathaniel offered the rose to Marinette with a flourish, and she felt her face burn scarlet.

“Me?” she squeaked, fingers twitching as she reached out uncertainly for the rose.

Adrien grabbed it before she could.

“No, Marinette, it’s probably poisoned!” he cried as he threw it towards the open window area. It landed two feet away, on the floor.

Marinette turned a frosty gaze on Adrien, making the boy cower in front of her.

“Then you would be dead now,” she said, untangling herself from Adrien’s arms. He squawked in protest. “That wasn’t very helpful of you to do, Adrien.”

Outside the window, a thin black pole with a person clinging to it rose into view, and soon Chat Grise was stepping into the room.

“Evillustrator,” she hissed, and her thin belt-tail lashed behind her. “What are you doing to Marinette?” Her voice was quiet, as it always was in the Goldenblog’s videos, but it carried a chilling power in it.

“Not now, Chat Grise!” the Evillustrator growled in exasperation. “It’d bad enough that I have to deal with this boy! Both of you, take a hike!”

He started drawing frantically on his tablet, and a mountain rose from the floor and stretched up through the ceiling, separating Marinette and the Evillustrator from Adrien and Chat Grise.

Marinette gasped. “Nathaniel!”

“It’s the Evillustrator!” he snapped back, a violet shadow appearing around his eyes. As quickly as it appeared, though, the shadow disappeared, and a remorseful look entered Nathaniel’s eyes.

“Sorry, Marinette,” he said in a subdued tone. “I guess Hawk Moth still has some control over me, after all.”

Shoulders drooping, Marinette sighed and looked down.

"So it seems," she said sadly. "Does that mean I should forget about the rose you were offering me?"

Suddenly perking up, the Evillustrator started drawing on his tablet again.

"Not at all, Marinette," he said, hope coloring his voice. "I just thought, with how that other boy was clinging to you, that maybe I was already too late."

He offered a new rose to Marinette, this one red with shimmering gold tips.

Marinette gasped at the sight. "Nathaniel! This is beautiful," she said. Accepting the rose from the Evillustrator, she ran a finger gently over its petals and brought it to her nose to sniff its fragrance.

"I've had a crush on you for nearly a year now," Nathaniel said shyly. "I might've... taken to sketching you whenever I felt down. Chloe found my sketchbook and teased me about it in front of the whole class. There's a new girl in class this year," he continued, watching Marinette toy with the rose. "Alya Cesaire. You might know her from the Goldenblog."

The violet shadow appeared over Nathaniel's eyes again, and he grimaced before shaking it off.

"She's been helpful in weakening Chloe's power over us, but this time the teasing was just the final straw. It was already a hard day for me, because no one seemed to care about me enough to remember—"

"It's your birthday today," Marinette finished fo him, looking up with a gasp. "I knew today was special somehow. I'm so sorry, Nathaniel! Nobody deserves to have their birthday forgotten."

"Thank you, Marinette," Nathaniel said with a small smile. "I knew I could count on you to care about me, even when no one else did."

Marinette froze, hand still caressing the rose's petals. "I do care about you, Nathaniel," she said slowly. "And I want you to be able to celebrate your birthday the way you should. I'll tell you what," she said, speaking around the lump that was growing in her throat at the thought of the plan she'd come up with. "If I go on a date with you, will you promise that you won't listen to Hawk Moth or hurt anyone while the date lasts?"

Nathaniel beamed. "Marinette, that's exactly what I wanted! I promise," he said with a wide smile.

Marinette barely had enough time to smile back before he scooped her up in his arms, princess-style. Suddenly nervous, Marinette threw her arms around the Evillustrator's neck so that she wouldn't overbalance and fall.

"Wait!" she cried, and the Evillustrator looked down at her in surprise.

"What is it?" he asked.

"You have to un-make the mountain," she pleaded. "It's so steep; what if Adrien falls off of it?"

"Worse, what if Chat Grise sees that we're leaving and follows us?" the Evillustrator growled.

Marinette looked up at him in fear. He sighed and turned away from her to look at the mountain he'd created in the room.

"Fine, I'll erase the mountain. But first..."

He drew something, the outline of a cloak, on his tablet, and Marinette watched as he finished drawing, transferring the cloak to the real world and creating a faint shimmer around them.

"Don't make a sound," he whispered. Then he erased the mountain out of Adrien's room, leaving two confused, out-of-breath people to fall down a few feet and land with an oomph on the floor.

Before Adrien, who looked more than a little irritated, and Chat Grise, who was only slightly less frustrated, could figure out what was happening or detect the faint shimmer from the invisibility cloak the Evillustrator had made, Nathaniel drew an invisible chariot drawn by Pegasusses and climbed into it with Marinette. The horses flew them away from the scene as Chat Grise asked if Adrien had seen where the Evillustrator went, and Marinette cowered against the sides of the chariot, away from Nathaniel.

"Did you have to do that?" she asked.

The Evillustrator looked down at her seriously. "The heroes can't find where we are, or they'll take away my powers," he explained. "Hawk Moth isn't all bad, Marinette. I used to think his akumas were evil, but look at me! Do I seem evil to you?"

Marinette studied Nathaniel, his new suit, red hair, and gentle expression. It's in your name, Evillustrator, she imagined Adrien saying, poking fun at the akuma, finding the humor in the situation like he always did. But Adrien wasn't there.

Swallowing, Marinette decided to answer Nathaniel seriously. "You don't seem very evil at all," she whispered. "But Hawk Moth hasn't been controlling you yet, has he?"

The Evillustrator grinned as the invisible chariot touched down by the Seine.

"No, Marinette," he said as a purple shadow formed around his eyes, growing darker by the second. "He's not controlling me at all."

#bluewing au #ml fanfic #rosie-b writing #adrinette #evillustrator #kwami swap #ml au #ml leak free #miraculeakless #miraculous ladybug

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their-destinys-writer · 5 months

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Akuma Flashpoint - Chapter 4

Rated: M

Chapters: 4/?

Chapter Summary: Marinette and Alya finally get to talk.

Info: Canon compliant up to Season 3, Episode 'Ladybug'. Miracle Queen never happened. Canon divergent from that point forward, but might borrow a few details from later seasons. Very loosely inspired by DC's Flashpoint Paradox (the animated movie). Updates on the last Monday of every month.

Ao3 | Wattpad

A/N: Merry Christmas! Have a new chapter as a gift.

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The Recruit

It had been a long morning and midday, and yet Marinette still felt lost. To figure out the right thing to say for the now dreaded breakfast, she had to ask about her history with Adrien in this timeline. And it sure was… interesting. Starting with the fact that they got together when they were fourteen, instead of sixteen. Apparently, since he never fell in love with Ladybug, it opened the door for him to instantly fall for her civilian identity instead.

That was one what-if scenario she never knew she would get the answer to. Not that she had ever actually wanted to know. But it also meant Lila was Adrien’s second girlfriend, meaning she shouldn’t underestimate the importance Lila had acquired for him in this timeline.

Another awful revelation was that he was the one to break things off. According to Tikki, their communication suffered greatly after Nino passed away, and this timeline’s Marinette didn’t want to fight for the relationship, blaming herself for what happened. After that, she distanced herself from everyone, resulting in Adrien giving up in the relationship.

But every now and then, she would drunk-dial Adrien to tell him how much she cared about him and that she was glad he was alive. Among other things Tikki wouldn’t divulge. As for his relationship with Lila, that was a more recent development. Something that started between four to five months prior. And apparently, Marinette did not take it well at all, ending up at his doorstep, drunk and sobbing.

“That’s so embarrassing,” Marinette whined, dragging her hands down her face. “No wonder he’s pissed. I’m a total disaster.”

“More like cripplingly depressed,” Tikki said with a cringe.

“And borderline alcoholic,” Marinette pointed out, as she checked her phone again. “I have so many calls made to Adrien in this phone. At least three times a week. Why was I drunk three times a week?!”

“Well—”

“You know what? I don’t need to know,” Marinette intervened. “On the bright side, that gives me a few ideas of what I can say to them.”

“Really? Already?”

“It’s obvious I had a drinking problem before I got here, so what do alcoholics do when they’re finally ready to get their life back together?” Tikki shrugged. “They admit they have a problem and, somewhere along the line, they make amends. I can start by jumping to those amends. I just have to convince them that this was something I had already been thinking about for a while.”

“Oh!” Tikki said excitedly. “Simple!”

“Mhm,” Marinette nodded. “So, now that that’s settled, I just have to make sure I don’t mess it up. And in the meantime, I can try to figure out how to fix everything.”

“May I ask, how will you know when something or someone was responsible for changing everything?”

“Unfortunately, I think that’s something I’ll figure out along the way,” Marinette admitted.

“Is that why you still made a plan for tomorrow? Even though you hope to find the akuma before then?”

“Yeah,” she said. “Because I have absolutely no idea who The Genie could be, and I’m not even sure she knows I’m here. There’s a chance this might not have been part of her plan. And if that’s the case, she has no reason to suddenly show up.”

“Wouldn’t we have noticed someone walking around in blue skin, though?”

“That’s the part that I least understand.” Marinette started pacing in the small room. “Surely someone like that would’ve stood out by now. And I also don’t think she would’ve gone through all the trouble of time travel if this timeline didn’t end up benefiting her in some way. She did say something about getting her wish. Maybe Adrien not being Chat Noir triggered a better life for her.”

“That implies that she’s been here the whole time since he lost his miraculous.”

“She could have.” Marinette tapped her lip. “She was able to become somewhat invisible during our fight. Maybe she can change her appearance and make herself look normal.”

“But that would mean she could be anybody!” Tikki gasped.

“It would explain how no one has ever seen her. Or even suspected that she’s akumatized.”

“Did you ever figure out her akumatized object?”

Marinette stopped on her tracks, thinking back to that last fight. She wracked her brain, searching for a clue, but she couldn’t remember. Genie didn’t ever seem to use anything to make her wishes true, or even her movements possible. She just willed everything. Like a cartoon genie.

“I didn’t,” she sighed. “All I remember is her tacky and culturally insensitive costume, and a bright light before I woke up here. Nothing really stood out from her. It happens sometimes with willing akumas. They’re always harder to beat. But this one really takes the cake in difficulty.”

“Is that why you’re looking for a pattern?” Tikki asked.

“Exactly. Well, not necessarily a pattern, but any clue—”

Marinette’s phone vibrated. A quick look into it revealed an unknown name.

“Who’s Mrs. Boche?”

“Oh no, your work,” Tikki slowly placed her paws on her cheeks.

“Ah. I’m guessing she’s my boss?” Marinette asked, to which Tikki nodded. “That’s fine, I’ll just tell her I’m not feeling well.”

“She might chew you out for that,” the kwami warned.

Marinette let out a long sigh. It sounded like she had already used that excuse too many times. Nevertheless, if she got fired, so be it. She was hoping to not spend enough time in this reality that finances would become a problem.

“Hello?” she responded to the call.

“What happened to you today?” a woman with a demanding—and slightly intimidating—voice said from the speaker.

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Boche, I’m not feeling well today,” Marinette excused herself.

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng, I cannot keep accepting your excuses anymore,” Mrs. Boche said. “It’s the fifth time this month already. If you’re not willing to do something about it, I’m afraid I can’t keep you in our team. And you know that would mean termination. You understand that?”

Marinette gulped. She may have never worked for this person, but that tone made her feel ashamed for something she didn’t even do.

“I understand,” she responded in a small voice. “I promise not to let it happen again.”

“I’m tired of your excuses,” Mrs. Boche huffed. “Give me one good reason I shouldn’t send you a letter of termination right this second.”

Marinette opened her mouth to give another plausible excuse, but immediately closed it. Considering how she had managed to balance work and being a superhero in her reality, she had a feeling her absences had nothing to do with that. This universe’s Marinette was clearly going through a lot, meaning what was really wrong was a health issue, and not a superhero one.

“I have no good reason to give, Mrs. Boche,” she responded as professionally as she could with missing context. “I clearly haven’t been well for some time, and I’ve made a lot of mistakes. The best I can do is say that I will be seeking the help I need, and that if I were to continue under your employment, I would do my best to not slip up again. However, if you understand I have exhausted my chances, I will respectfully accept your decision and wish the company the best.”

There was silence from the other side of the line. Marinette exchanged a look with Tikki, wondering if she said something she shouldn’t have. Or maybe she had already given a similar excuse in the past. But Tikki’s expression was hard to read.

“You better walk through that door tomorrow,” Mrs. Boche finally said. “I hope you feel better.”

The call ended. Marinette let out a breath, glad that if it took longer than expected, she would at least not die of starvation. However, it had the downside of cutting into the time she would need to find The Genie.

“Is she a bad boss?” she asked Tikki.

“I don’t think she is,” Tikki responded. “I think it’s more that you’re a bad employee.”

“Sounds about right,” Marinette muttered. “Ugh, this is starting to become more complicated than I expected. Now I need to catch up on anything that has to do with work. Though, it can’t be that different from the job in my reality, right?”

“You didn’t know who Mrs. Boche is,” Tikki pointed out.

Marinette let out a drawn-out groan, as she dragged her hands down her face. The miraculous, Adrien, Alya, work, it was a lot she had to figure out and come up with solutions in order to maximize her time to find The Genie. And the more things continued to pile up, the more it was starting to look like she might be stuck for several days.

“I need help, fast,” she admitted. “I can’t do this on my own. I need to find a way to convince Alya to help me as soon as possible. Does she patrol often?”

“She does,” Tikki said. “I know I said we can try to convince her, but after this morning, I don’t see her helping you very soon. She might need time before you ask her.”

“I have to try.” Marinette turned back to the corkboard, already interrupted several times from being continued. Without another word, she added Gabriel’s and Nathalie’s pictures on the upper-right corner of the board, plus the miraculouses they owned. “Any miraculous we do know who has them?”

“I know Mayura has the mouse miraculous. Hawkmoth definitely has the dragon and pig miraculous. The rest, I don’t know who has which.”

With a hum, Marinette placed the mentioned miraculous under its respective thieves. Slightly lower, she placed the rest of the drawings and added the word ‘stolen’ over them, merely to identify them as not in her possession.

“Did I ever make a proper investigation about these?” she asked, to which Tikki nodded. At least that was one thing she did right in this reality. “Okay then. That’s as much as I can do with that.” As she looked at what she had so far, her brows furrowed. “You said we lost the box. What… What happened to Master Fu?”

There was silence. Marinette turned slightly towards Tikki, only to find her looking away, eyes becoming glassy.

“No,” Marinette breathed.

“It happened two months before Nino passed,” Tikki said quietly. “He didn’t even get the chance to relinquish his guardianship before he…”

Before he died, Marinette finished internally, feeling her eyes well up once again. Her gaze turned down to the desk, mindlessly landing on Master Fu’s picture and a piece of paper with the word Deceased on it.

“Who did it?” she asked.

“The sentimonster active at the time,” Tikki explained. “Or at least, that’s what we think. There was also an akuma, and Hawkmoth and Mayura weren’t very far from him. It could have been any of them, but the sentimonster was closest.”

“Was it the same with Nino?” Tikki nodded. Marinette let out a shuddered breath as she proceeded to add Master Fu on the corkboard, close to Nino’s picture. “I really hate it here.” As she looked back at the desk, she realized there was one miraculous left. “Whatever happened to the black cat miraculous is still a mystery, right?”

Tikki nodded again. So, Marinette proceeded to place the picture of the ring isolated in its own corner, with the word Lost. Further right to it, she added pictures of Adrien and Lila, making a face of disgust as she did. Underneath their pictures she added: Untrustworthy.

“I’ve never in my life thought of Adrien as someone I can’t trust,” she said quietly. “I can’t believe I just associated that word with him. It feels so surreal.”

“But he did lose his miraculous,” Tikki reminded her.

“I know, I know.” Marinette swallowed, her stomach making a nasty lurch at the thought of him with Lila. “I think I’m going to need a break.”

“Are you okay?”

Marinette shook her head, as she sat at a nearby chaise. In fact, it seemed to be the same chaise that had been in her room at her parents’ apartment. She must’ve salvaged it from the destruction. Yet she couldn’t salvage her relationship with Adrien? The thought made her nauseous. Just imagining those nasty claws of Lila caressing his arms, it sent a cold shudder through her body.

“What’s wrong?” Tikki asked.

“I just need to remind myself that this reality will cease to exist,” Marinette whispered. “And everything that’s happened here will fade like a bad dream. All of you won’t even remember it. Please distract me, Tikki.”

“What do you want me to say?”

“I don’t know, um… The rest of the core team. Chloé, Kagami and Luka. Where are they?”

“Oh.” Tikki tilted her head. “Well, Chloé and Kagami are not in Paris.”

“What? Why?”

“They’re with their mothers. Chloé in New York and Kagami in Japan.”

“Why? Their mothers are awful.”

“Maybe so. But you weren’t exactly close to them to—OH! Marinette, look!”

Tikki grabbed Marinette’s cheek, pushing her to see through the window. A speck of orange was visible over the city’s rooftops. Marinette sprang to her feet, ready to transform.

“Any advice on getting her to my side quickly?”

“Just blurt out whatever you think might get her attention,” Tikki said.

Marinette looked back at the corkboard. “I think I have just the thing. Tikki, transform me!”

The light had barely finished washing through her body, when Ladybug was jumping out the window, swinging her way across the city as fast as she could. Although it was only an hour after midday, the sky was dark with heavy rain clouds. Nevertheless, Ladybug wasn’t letting the opportunity slip through her fingers.

She landed on the edge of a tall apartment building to survey the area she had seen the speck of orange. But it was like it vanished into thin air.

“Dammit,” Ladybug cussed. “Where are you? I just saw you.”

“You’re unbelievable,” a voice said behind her. Turning around, she saw the very person she had been looking for. “What part of ‘fuck you, Marinette’ do you not understand?”

“Hey, Alya. Um, Rena Rouge.” Ladybug held her hands together.

“You go looking for me one more time, and those earrings are coming off,” Rena Rouge threatened.

“I’m sorry,” Ladybug loudly said, taking Rena Rouge aback. “I’m very sorry about this morning. I didn’t mean to hurt you—”

“Oh, save it,” Rena Rouge spat. “I don’t care for your pity. I just need you to stay the hell away from me. I thought that I had made myself clear.”

“Yes, and I understand that. But—”

“But nothing,” Rena Rouge growled. “You don’t get to decide what I need. Much less after the display you pulled today. Just get out of my life!”

She turned around, about to leave, so Ladybug made a last desperate attempt at retaining her.

“Nino’s alive!” Ladybug shouted. And to her relief, it had the desired effect, for Rena Rouge stopped dead on her tracks.

“What did you just say?” She turned her head to the side.

“I-In my timeline,” Ladybug continued, hoping Rena wouldn’t change her mind. “This reality, it’s not what it’s supposed to be. I’m not who you think I am, I’m not the Marinette you’ve known, I’m from a reality where Nino is alive and we won. But an akuma caused this and I need your help setting it right.”

Ladybug could see Rena’s breathing accelerated. She wondered if it was enough, or if the damage had been too much. Rena Rouge opened her mouth slightly, but no words came from it. Perhaps it was time to push her luck.

“I know you don’t have many reasons to believe me, but don’t you think I was too oblivious this morning for it to just be a hangover?” She continued. “As awful as I’m sure I’ve been in this timeline, I doubt I’d go as far as being cruel. So there would have been no reason for me to bring up Nino, unless I had no idea he passed away. And trust me, that’s something I would never forget. I know it’s hard to believe me, but please give me a chance to explain everything.”

“How can I know if you’re telling the truth?”

Ladybug pressed her lips together. “You don’t,” she said. “I know it’s a lot to ask, but I need you to trust me.”

“That’s not good enough,” Rena interrupted. “Unless you can provide proof, I can’t get my hopes up by your word alone. I also don’t understand why it has to be me. Seems convenient.”

“You’re the only one of my team left with a miraculous and not dating one of my enemies.”

The wind blew past them, the smell of approaching rain filling Ladybug’s nostrils as she waited for a response. When Rena Rouge turned back ahead, she said at last: “I don’t buy it.”

A mournful breath left Ladybug’s lips, just as her transformation collapsed without warning.

“SHE’S TELLING THE TRUTH!” Tikki screamed. The fox hero turned on her heels, eyes bulging out of their sockets. Marinette attempted to call her back, but was ignored by the kwami. “Please believe me. She’s not our Marinette. There’s a reality out there where I still get to see Plagg. But we need to beat the akuma for it to come back, for our lives to be out of this awful place without the ones we love. Please, I’m begging you, Rena Rouge, please help us!”

Marinette could feel her eyes well up for the hundredth time that day. After eight years as a team, she had never seen Tikki in so much anguish. She couldn’t help but reach out and hold the small goddess as she sobbed.

“Tell me everything,” the voice of Rena Rouge demanded.

* * *

The rain was falling hard against the windows of the café, as Marinette finished telling Alya everything about her arrival to this reality. She waited with bated breath, as her best friend removed her hands from her temples.

“So,” Alya said after catching her breath, “you’re saying that Chat Noir not being around as your partner derailed our entire existence?”

“Pretty much,” Marinette sighed, as she took a sip of her coffee.

“Damn,” Alya scoffed. “I would say you’re full of shit, but I had never seen Tikki vouch for you like that.”

“Yeah, I noticed how unhappy people are with me,” Marinette said quietly. “I’m sorry this timeline’s version of me made you guys go through such hard times.”

“Hmm.” Alya brought the tea to her lips, hesitant. “I mean,” she started, “I guess, to be fair, you were going through a hard time yourself, you know, having literally no one to lean on. If I had known about your parents…”

“It’s still not an excuse to act unkind,” Marinette insisted.

“Look, what matters is what’s happening now,” Alya interjected, landing the cup of tea on the table. “You said you can fix this. Now tell me how.”

“Okay, so you know how I have to defeat a villain in order to fix all the damage they made, right?”

“The thing I learned today, yes.”

Marinette winced. “Right. I need to find The Genie in this timeline and defeat her. Once I free her of her akuma, I can purify it and revert this reality she created.”

“Even if you do purify the akuma, how are you so sure the Miraculous Cure can bring back an entire reality that’s currently lost.”

“I once brought back a temple that had been lost for over a hundred years by purifying an amok,” Marinette stated. “If I can do that, I can bring back a lost reality. Which I’m sure is not a hundred percent lost. I just need to find that akuma.”

“And you said you don’t think she looks like an akuma currently,” Alya added skeptically.

“Right,” Marinette sighed. “Considering she can change an entire reality, I don’t think it’s much of a stretch to assume she can also change her appearance. Otherwise, someone would’ve seen her by now.”

“Good point,” Alya muttered, before raising her voice slightly. “So, what’s the plan? If you have one.”

“I started making a board to figure out everything that’s different in this timeline and where the heroes and villains are. Obviously, I know exactly where Gabriel is, but I don’t know much about Ms. Sancoeur. And I can’t take their miraculouses yet, or The Genie will figure out I have my old memories.”

“Good call. Okay, so, that’s the villains. Does that mean you know who Chat Noir is and where to find him?”

Marinette pressed her lips. “I do. But… Ugh, I can’t trust him here,” she admitted. “I already bumped into him, and he was so hateful towards me. Well, Marinette me, at least. I think he wouldn’t believe me if I tell him everything, so right now, he’ll be staying in the dark.”

“So you know who he is!” Alya said, edging her seat. Marinette nodded. “I would love to know the identity of the coward who abandoned you.”

“If you want to know just to kick his ass, I’m afraid that information is currently off-limits.”

“Come on—”

“And like I said before,” Marinette interrupted, “whatever the reason that he’s no longer Chat Noir, I know it wasn’t his choice. He loves being Chat Noir more than anything, and I know he would never give it up unless he thought it was a matter of life or death.”

“If you say so,” Alya sighed, sitting back while drinking some more of her tea. “What about the other heroes you mentioned?”

“Well, I got you, so that is my biggest relief,” Marinette said. “I know now what happened to Carapace. What I don’t know is about his miraculous—”

“I have it,” Alya responded.

“Oh. Good then,” Marinette let out a breath of relief. “So that’s another miraculous Gabriel and Ms. Sancoeur don’t have. Anyway, the bee holder is not in France, and neither is the dragon holder. So that leaves the holder of the snake miraculous, but that was where I left off.”

“You thinking of bringing them in?”

“I’ve considered it, yes,” Marinette confirmed. “Out of the entire team, he was always the most levelheaded one. Of course, I don’t have the snake miraculous, so the bee will have to do. But I have no idea where to find him, and I don’t have his number in my phone, for some reason. So I need you to help me make contact.”

“Why me? Wait, do I know him?”

“Yes, Luka.”

“Luka?!”

“Yeah, I thought about calling Juleka or Rose, but I don’t wanna come off a bit weird, since I don’t know—”

“Waitwait, time-out.” Alya made the gesture she said. “You’re telling me, of all the people in the entire city, you choose Luka? Luka?”

“He’s basically part of the core team,” Marinette argued. “He was one of the firsts I trusted with my identity, he recognizes the importance of teamwork, has the most patience out of all the holders, and even had to wear the black cat miraculous once. I know he can do—”

“He’s in rehab,” Alya interjected.

The coffee cup landed loudly on the table. Marinette’s mouth hung open, right where she left off her sentence.

“He’s… WHAT?!”

“Ow,” Alya winced, covering one of her ears.

“What do you mean he’s in rehab?!”

“I mean,” Alya said, pointedly lowering her voice, “he decided to get clean after Juleka woke up from her coma.”

“Juleka was in a—God, why do I even question anything in this timeline.” Marinette dragged her hands down her face, attempting to get her tone several octanes lower, yet failing miserably. “This is literally my worst nightmare. And everyone else’s it seems!” Marinette grabbed at her hair. “I-I… I don’t have a team. I literally have zero core members available outside of you. I mean, unless… How long has Luka been in rehab?”

Alya blinked. “Don’t even think about it.”

“He’s our best shot.”

“He’s an addict. The last thing he needs is stress.”

“Or maybe he needs to be trusted. And a support system.”

“No, he can’t be around you,” Tikki interjected, poking out of Marinette’s purse that was sitting on the table.

“And what is that supposed to mean?” Marinette groaned.

“You two have a history together,” Tikki explained.

Marinette raised an eyebrow. “That doesn’t sound like a big deal. He’s my ex-boyfriend in my timeline, too.”

“Wow, your timeline sounds fascinating,” Alya said, resting her chin on both her hands. “So you actually dated Luka in your timeline.”

“I—Wait, I’m confused.” Marinette said. “Tikki just said we have a history, but you’re acting like this is new information.”

“Alya doesn’t know,” Tikki cleared up.

“Know what?” Marinette and Alya said in unison, the former concerned while the latter excited.

“Before Luka went to rehab, you two had a… I think what you call a fling?”

“Okay?”

“Oooh.”

Marinette and Alya said in unison.

“It didn’t end very well,” Tikki finished, tucking back into the purse.

“Of course it didn’t,” Marinette deadpanned. “Though, to be fair, things could’ve gone better in my timeline, too.”

“What happened in your timeline?” Alya asked, sitting back while sipping her tea again.

“My secret identity is what happened,” Marinette said with a tired sigh. “Eventually, it wasn’t sustainable.”

“And yet, you’re still with Adrien in that other reality?” The reporter arched a brow.

“Things are different with Adrien,” Marinette reasoned, careful not to let slip his identity. “We found a way to make it work. But that doesn’t matter, Adrien’s not part of the plan, nor is he getting a miraculous.”

“Why not?”

Marinette shifted in her seat. “I just see no reason to bring him in. The only thing I need to do with him is make sure he doesn’t get in my way. Which I’ll be doing tomorrow.”

“Whatta you mean?” Alya pried. To which Marinette explained part of her encounter with him that morning. “So, you could be delayed in your investigation because of a potential court order.”

“Yup,” her lips made a popping sound at the last letter. “If I want to reverse this mess as quickly as possible, the last thing I need is to worry about going to jail, or something of the likes. So, I will convince him and… ugh, Lila, that I’m done and that I’ll be leaving him alone.”

“You seem to dislike Lila,” Alya said, eyes squinting.

“Let’s just say she’s very different in my timeline,” Marinette limited herself to say. “Anyway, it doesn’t matter. What matters is that I do that tomorrow so I can focus more on finding The Genie. And to do that, I need to know everything there’s to know about this timeline.”

“Does that include…” Alya gulped, “Does that include Nino’s death?”

Marinette’s gaze lowered to the already cold cup of coffee in her hands.

“You don’t have to tell me if you’re not ready,” she whispered. From the corner of her eye, she saw Alya’s tea land on the small plate.

“I’ll tell you everything,” Alya said quietly. “But not here.”

Marinette slowly looked back up, finding a solemn expression on Alya’s face.

“Okay,” she agreed. “We can go to my place.”

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#miraculous ladybug #ml fanfic #akuma flashpoint #ml af #ladrien #marinette dupain-cheng #ladybug #alya cesaire #rena rouge #mrs. boche

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