Learning How to Love a Half-KryptonianใJohnathanetteใ
My New FamilyใMaribat Family AUใ
His BetrothedใDamianetteใ
Lady Noire? More like Batman's worst Nightmare! -Fluff only!ใBrucenetteใ
One Lone Kitty -Fluff OnlyใBrucenetteใ
Important notes for my fanfics I'll be writing on here
Thoughts: ๐ฏ๐ฝ๐พ๐ ๐๐๐พ๐๐พ๐๐-Body movements with silent messages (Sign Language not included here): ๐ฃ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ผ ๐๐ป๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ท๐ฐ-Talking over the comms: ๐๐๐๐ค ๐จ๐ฃ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐-Phone calls: ๐โ๐๐ ๐ค๐๐๐ก๐๐๐-Emails & Text Messages: ๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐-Flashbacks & Breaking the 3rd wall: ๐ป๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐-Sign Language: ๐๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ซ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐
In my fanfics: Jason lived in The League of Assassins with Damian for most of the latters childhood with the League before moving to Gotham City three years before Damian did.
All outfits come from my Combyne account: mlb1dccomincsfanfics
Fanfic ages will be posted on their respective Master List! However the One Shots will have the ages of the characters on the actual story page.
Basically, Danny convinces everyone that he's a minor god. Which wouldn't have been so weird, had it been while he was a glowing ghost boy able to copy and develop a variety of powers.
Instead, this happens while he's Danny "Not-Able-to-Pass-the-Presidential-Fitness-Test" Fenton. He wants to claim it was a well-thought-out plan, but in reality, it just happened to look that way.
See, Danny's parents were getting awfully suspicious that he would set off so many of their ghost detectors. One or two, maybe, but every single one? That was odd.
Yet still they had been more willing to dismiss his readings, but when Jazz accidentally set it off, they were quick to assume she was a ghost. At the time, Danny had concluded that Jazz's personality made her stand out from the family, which, in their minds, made it more believable that she was not entirely human.
He never questions it too much, happy to side-step their suspicion with flimsy excuses. Danny will admit that he also believed his parents were not the brightest crayons in the crayon box, though he does that quietly and only to his most trusted of friends.
Turns out, it was because his parents already took into consideration that Danny wasn't entirely human to begin with. When Danny turned fifteen, his parents came into his room, one late Friday night, and sat him down to drop a bomb on him.
"I'm adopted?" Danny repeats, dazed, as his mother holds his hand. His dad rubs his shoulder, offering comfort. He never would have thought for one minute that he wasn't their son by blood. Jack and Maddie Fenton never treated him any different form Jazz, never even implied it.
"In a way." Maddie winces.
"What do you mean?"
"Maddie wasn't always convinced of ghosts," Jack admits. He offers his wife a small smile when she bashfully tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. Danny knows she only does that when she feels embarrassed about being wrong. "Before meeting me, she had been studying for medical engineering, and switched over to my field after joining Vlad and me in a field project."
"In all honesty, I only agreed to go to the field research because I had a crush on Jack and just wanted to spend time with him. I didn't actually think his research had any merit." Maddie admits, and suddenly Danny realizes why everyone on her side of the family grumbles about Jack ruining her future.
Honestly, he would have thought the same if that had happened to his sister or daughter, even though Danny spent nearly every family reunion fighting to defend his father's honor.
"We went to an area that was said to have a strong connection with the afterlife. It was the location of an old cult that got busted and broken apart by the FBI." Maddie continued blissfully unaware of her son's thoughts. "As you know, ghosts heavily overlapped with the occult. When we got there, I found the secret shrine by accident while leaning against a wall. Inside, Jack claimed he knew what the runes surrounding the shrine meant and did since his family was witch hunters, and he accidentally started the ritual when he stepped on them to get a closer view."
"What was the ritual?"
Jack sighs. "It was meant to offer a sacrifice. I think the cultist did it backwards, so instead of us offering a sacrifice, it gave us a sacrifice. It took the blood from a small cut I had on a rock and...you formed."
Danny stares, waiting for them to repeat themselves. They stare back for a moment, then slowly he asks. "I'm younger than Jazz, though? How could I have formed before she was born?"
Maddie makes a small noise. "You formed into a newborn baby, literally grew from the drop of blood, just floating in the air, then vanished into a green portal not even ten seconds later. It all happened so fast, I wasn't even sure it was real. Thankfully, we had a recording of the event on our surveillance cameras, which were strapped to our heads. Once we realized that we had really created a life from the ritual, we attempted to rebuild the portal to get you back. Our first prototype caused Vlad's accident, and we gave up on it until a few years later. You popped out again, and this time we kept you."
"So....I'm not human?"
"Based on all the tests we had done, you are. We even checked for a meta-gene, but... nothing. Until recently, we never brought it up because we thought you were our little miracle....until SuperBoy announced that some Kryptonians don't develop full powers until puberty, and we realized that you....have been off since you turned fourteen. We realized you finally hit puberty."
"Well, I wouldn't say finally, but okay...."
Jack sighs, taking a seat on Danny's other side. His large frame nearly crushed Danny, but oddly, it was a comfort, and he found himself leaning into his father's side. "Danny, despite you froming form my blood, you don't have my DNA in you. Or Maddie's or Vladdie's. You're....a human of an unknown donor- we suspected the cultests but the police wouldn't let us get samples from them. That was our theory for the longest time, but son, we know you've been finding changes in your body that aren't exactly human."
Danny bit his tongue, wishing that he was brave enough to mention Phantom. Instead, he shrugs, "I haven't felt that different."
"Nothing at all?" Maddie probs "You know you can tell us. We love you anyway."
"Well, sometimes I-" Dannt starts feeling both of the adults leaning closer, and for a minute, he thinks he might actually do it, but at the last second, he chickens out and blurts out the first thing that comes to his mind: "Sometimes I know things are going to happen before they happen."
"Like what, honey?"
"Natural disasters. Bad luck. Attacks," Danny lists, trying to think of how his ghost adversaries fit into modern life. Technically, they weren't lies, so his parents had no reason to call him out on it. "I see them in my dreams."
"You can see the future." Jack mutters, "That actually does make sense. The shrine was meant to have one of the members become an oracle, trading thier eye sight for it."
Huh. How convenient, thank you, crazy mountain cult people. Danny thinks, nodding his head like he knew Jack would say that.
"If you develop any more powers or any new changes, you can tell us. Okay, honey?" Maddie mutters, pulling him into a hug.
"Okay."
And that was that. His parents gave him more reassurances that they loved him no matter what; his mother smoothed his face with kisses, and his father crushed his bones with a bear hug. But eventually they brought him his favorite takeout and left him alone in his room to play more video games.
Danny would have forgotten all about it, happy that his secret ghost side remained as such, had he remembered to shut off his live stream when his parents came in. The thing is, Danny never had any views and was so used to it running in case Tucker had time to join that he never checked it.
Thus, he missed the moment a little boy from a certain farm clicked in to watch him play and overheard everything. He also missed the boy logging out to call a certain best friend in Gotham, whose father had a cave filled to the brim with means to track Danny down.
A couple of months passed, and his daily life remained mostly the same, but every once in a while, his parents would ask about any recent predictions.
Jazz was skeptical about his powers, even with her knowledge of Phantom, so to spite her, Danny made random things up that came true every two days after he announced them.
He found himself giggling at the luck that his random predictions were true, sure that at some point they would fail. The Fentons always got the latest predictions at the breakfast table, treating it the same way they would Danny, updating them on school or a new video game he bought.
None of them were aware of the many bugs placed around their home, recording audio from a certain group of Bat theme individuals who had installed them one day, when all the Fentons were away. And thus, what Danny considered small white lies made offhandedly, that group carefully recorded and investigated each one as if it were a warning to come.
They found that a majority of the predictions weren't just prewarning; they almost seemed to appear from thin air the moment Fenton spoke them. In fact, based on a certain bo staff wielder's calculations, it seemed like Fenton was pulling them from alternative universes, shifting the time in this one to create small rifts.
Convinced he was doing it on purpose, the youngest boy and his farmer best friend set out on a small mission to steal some DNA, getting close and "accidentally" spilling the boy's smoothie while playing catch in the local park.
Fenton had been very understanding when the two children apologized profusely, offering to buy him a replacement and to clean up the cup. They placed the said cup and straw in a ziplock bag, promising to throw it away later when they got closer to the trash bins. He also didn't seem to mind when the clumsy of the two got his bracelet stuck in Fenton's hair after attempting to offer him candy from his pocket, even though Fenton was sitting down on a blanket with his two friends.
After running numerous tests, the group was surprised to find that Fenton came back as a regular human. Deciding it wasn't possible, they reached out to their coworkers who had access to a database of multiple planets and their people, with a growing green law infurcers and an island connected to gods.
Shockingly, Fenton matched with the island instead of the multiple plants.
Fenton was a minor god, raised as a human who carelessly bent reality to his will.
This investigation concluded with Danny Fenton getting a target painted on his back by Earth's many protectors, casually watching him from afar. This also meant that, at one point, a leak occurred when Wes Weasley noticed Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman casually having a burger at Nasty Burger, but no one believed him.
So he did what any other teenager does.
He went online to vent. His post was picked up by a certain cult survivor who thought that this was the sign to come back after nearly twenty years of silence, and he went around rebuilding the following that once worked to have their god get a physical form.
Thus, by the time Danny Fenton is sixteen, he is interrupted during a regular shopping trip by a large group of people wearing white and black robes appearing out of nowhere and bowing before him, praising his name. Before he has time to even think beyond assuming this was a weird prank, he is thrown into a van and taken away to a mansion built in his honor.
Danny is freaking out about it until Batman, Red Robin, and Nightwing are able to infiltrate the mansion that same night and get him out. They are oddly respectful and somewhat unsure of how to speak to him, which is why Danny realizes they honestly believe him to be a minor god.
This is the moment he finds out that for the past year, the Justice League assumed he was a minor god, and that all his little white lies were affecting reality. No matter how many times he tried to correct this error, no one really believed him, because they all assumed he was just pretending to be human.
Or, in Wonder Woman's case, assumed he was a new god and was just getting his footing in his domain.
They gave him offerings. Ask for his prayers. Requested that he avoid blood sacrifices or ask for any pain from humans. Treated his whims like Danny was a coworker with a different religion.
He didn't know what to do. He was just trying to cope with the fact that he was adopted.
People, please be careful. There are also people tracking children and people and putting bids on them based on their profile pictures on whatsapp, tracking and kidnapping them. Especially young children, so please be cautious, especially parents who have their children as their profile pictures.
Please pass this on to everyone so that they are aware of the danger. I donโt how it is all around the world but I know it canโt just be here so please please spread the word. Thank you.
oh yeahhhh, I saw that on snapchat. itโs been freakinโ EVERYWHERE lately. i havenโt been getting the text, luckily, but im still extremely cautious about it. shitโs scary.
not just girls, but boys and other genders have to be careful as well. this could happen to anyone. please be safe, my friends <3
FOR ALL THE YOUNGER PEOPLE THAT FOLLOW. YOU GUYS ARE SMART. YOU KNOW THIS. BUT JUST IN CASE THERE ARE SOME WHO MIGHT NOT. THAT DOESNโT MAKE YOU NOT SMART, PERHAPS JUST LESS INFORMED.ย
DO NOT CLICK LINKS IN TEXTS EVER. GO TO ACTUAL WEBSITES FOR ONES YOU RECOGNIZE AND TYPE IN THE URL. OR A BOOKMARK IF YOU HAVE ONE. DONโT CLICK LINKS IN TEXTS AND SOCIAL MEDIA MESSAGES/DMS AND EMAILS. EVEN IF YOU KNOW THE PERSON. TAKE EXTREME CAUTION.ย
IF YOUโRE GUTS SAYS EH WOULDNโT DO THAT BUDDY. LISTEN.ย
One irrefutable, widely known fact about Marinette Dupain-Cheng is that she likes to have her friends around her at all times if she can.ย
If Marinette wants to work on commissions, then there's at least 3 people in her room just hanging out while she finishes her work. If she wants to go look around the Louvre for inspiration, then she's usually flanked by 4 of her friends and they go find Andres' cart after.ย
Sheโs very friend orientated.
It's just a fact.ย
Being this way has honestly led to some interesting on the fly hangouts for the entire Miracle Court.ย Overall her need to have friends around constantly led to one of the funniest events that she would ever host, Miraculous Game Night.
It started originally as a pretty standard night of just hanging out and playing games.ย Friendship and team building pushed together into one!
Theoretically, it should have worked out.
Obviously, it didnโt end up doing that.ย
From board games to video games, it was a genuine mess. Everyone in the Court was just too competitive to play any of the games properly, which led to stakes being upped and bets being placed pretty frequently.ย
All of those bets and stakes snowballed from there into a bigger mess. The team itself were all too close to each other to NOT know any tells the other may have.ย
Trauma bonding tended to have that effect on people.
Somehow, even with all of that to face, a normal person who never met them would probably think, 'It couldn't possibly be any worse than that, right?'
But Mari knows better.
She also knows she'd laugh at that person before shoving them out the door, laughter trailing behind them like she was a crazy maniac.ย
Imagine a group of rich kids betting against each other while also being trauma-bonded, unable to lie to each other since they can read your every move and add in tiny concepts of ancient god-like beings attached to each of those rich kid players.
The problems just spiraled worse.
From a snowball to a snow avalanche.ย
It ALSO didn't help that these gods helped their charges to cheat each round if they felt like it. And that there was nothing anyone could do to stop them from doing just that if the Kwamis felt like it.
To combat this, Marinette had come up with a small form of punishment she liked to call the "Off Brand Geoguesser" round.
If a player in between rounds was caught cheating in any way, they were subjected to sit down in front of her computer with Google Maps opened up to a random location of their kwamis choice. The offender would have to then (in under 5 minutes) figure out where they were on Google Maps with only 3 movements in either direction.
The only one to know the true location, beyond the kwami, was the Guardian aka Marinette Dupain-Cheng. She would only reveal the answer if the cheater lost or if they somehow managed to guess right.
On top of that, their miraculi were confiscated temporarily to prevent further cheating.
If the player didn't get the answer in time then they lost whatever game they had originally been playing automatically. Even if they originally had been winning the entire game.
It added better stakes, strangely enough, and the team always needed to play the round at least once or twice on a single game night day.
The night they found out Batman's identity wasn't actually any different.
Luka had been subjected to the Timeout chair after it was discovered he had been using second chance to cheat in their game of uno. With Sass having chosen the location, Luka had maybe 3 more minutes to spare.
Marinette had honestly never seen him guessing faster.
She held his miraculi in her hand loosely, watching over the group as she lazily leaned against her ladder. Mari loved when they all got together for these nights.
It was something small to look forward to in the middle of a literal emotional war with a magic terrorist. As depressing as that thought was to think about.
Luka used his last click and his laugh brought her back into the moment as it echoed in the room. He had most likely noticed something that would help him narrow down the location even further.ย
Mari looked around his tall frame to see the Wayne Manor entrance, something she only even knew from research for their grade wide field trip next week, and canโt help but shake her head.
Of course he would somehow get lucky playing the punishment game.
She just watches as Alya immediately starts to argue with Luka, screeching about how unfair this was that he got a location so easy and that he had to have cheated a second time somehow. Adrien rolled his eyes beside her before taking a moment to smack her side with a pillow in an effort to protect Luka silently.
All that does is make the room explode into different sets of people fighting. Chloe and Nino jumped on top of Adrien to smother him with their own pillows from home from behind right after Alya was attacked.
Sabrina looked determined to fight with Chloe to defend Adrien, grinning as she continuously smacked the trio with her pillow. Luka was laughing so hard at the fighting that Mari watched as he had to catch himself from falling off her roller chair and breaking it.
His laughter earned him a pillow to the face.
Kagami and Felix were the only ones not involved in the slightest, taking their standing right next to Marinette the second it had even started.
โHow long do you think they'll take this time? 5 minutes? 10?โย
Kagami snorted at Marinette's question, arms folded across her chest as she watched over their group of squabbling friends.
โI'd say 20.โ Felix replied dryly for the both of them, eyes sparkling with amusement despite frowning at the group below them.ย ย
It all goes wrong before Marinette can even open her mouth to reply to both of them.ย
"Is that fuckin Bruce Wayne?" Escapes from someone's mouth in the room, effectively cutting off any fighting from continuing and making everyone look over to the computer to see.ย
There, in all his rich kid glory, was Bruce Wayne. He was covered in all sorts of bruises, or at least seem to be since it was still pixelated, as he stood in front of Wayne Manor. He stood there, shining on screen in the most accurate looking Batman costume she had ever really seen.
Too accurate to be even considered a fake costume at all.
Marinette couldn't really look away from the screen at that revelation, feeling all of her life flashing before her eyes as her mind ruins through a million world ending scenarios at once.
The room stayed silent for a long while as Marinette started to mentally plan how to deal with this information before Chloe broke all her worries with a half caring shrug.
โYeah this makes sense."
Alya jumped up shortly after to rebuttal that comment with a large "WHAT!?" and Adrien just nodded beside her in agreement, as if he had known it all along. The action just made Nino react and Alya looked burned thoroughly by his betrayal.
Bruce Wayne being Batman was very weird, but if Chloe wasn't too worried over it then Marinette wouldn't be either.
Having planning for if Batman came to deal with them over this wouldn't hurt though...
Minor Warnings: Abuse on Marinette, Alyasalt, classsalt, Adriensalt, Marinette getting taken in by her biological father Bruce Wayne after custody battle, Sabine Cheng and Tom Dupain being abusive towards Marinette, Marinette having anxiety and panic attacks, Marinette having severe PTSD, strong language such as cussing, Chloรฉ Bourgeois becomes Marinette's best friend. (That's also a warning bc people might no like that Chloรฉ becomes best friends with Marinette)
Description: When an Akumatized civilian with the power to transport people to their biological father strikes Paris, Marinette Matha Cheng-Wayne, aka Marinette Dupain-Cheng, gets transported to Gotham City and lands on the desk of Bruce Wayne in his office at Wayne Enterprises, still transformed as Ladybug, things take a wild turn because she falls unconscious from the impact for a short time frame. When she wakes back up? She finds herself in the Batcave surrounded by the Batfamily! And detransformed no less! Now she's stuck in Gotham City with no way back to Paris. Luckily, Zoรฉ Lee is wielding the Bee Miraculous and can purify akumas while Marinette is stranded in Gotham.... But dangers lurks in every corner of Gotham City and with her good luck streak? Let's just say a custody battle between Sabine Cheng and Bruce Wayne takes place... And Bruce wins. So Marinette has to make a tough decision. Tell Bruce about Paris? Or keep it a secret while she has the Mother Box/Chinese Miracle Box in Gotham City with her?
We all got back to the Batcave and I saw Marinette out cold, snoring softly with a peaceful expression on her face at the Batcomputer. "Barbara? Where'd the pillow come from?" I asked her while Dick took a photo of Marinette's peaceful sleep. Barbara shrugged her shoulders and I chuckled slightly, and sighed with a small smile on my face.
๐ฎ๐ฝ๐'๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ถ๐ธ๐๐ป๐๐ ๐๐ฝ๐พ๐๐ ๐๐ฝ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐. I thought with a sigh, I looked over at Dick and motioned to Mari-Bug, silently saying: ๐ฃ๐ช๐ด๐ฎ ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ป ๐พ๐น๐ผ๐ฝ๐ช๐ฒ๐ป๐ผ ๐ฝ๐ธ ๐ฝ๐ฑ๐ฎ ๐ผ๐น๐ช๐ป๐ฎ ๐ซ๐ฎ๐ญ๐ป๐ธ๐ธ๐ถ. Dick nodded and picked her up bridal style, she didn't even stir. "She must be a deep sleeper." Tim said softly as Dick carried Marinette upstairs to the Manor. I heard the grandfather clock open and then shut again, "Father. She's hiding something." Damian said to me and I sighed.
"I know she is Damian. But it's best not to push." I told him before walking over to the changing rooms and changed out of my Batman suit into regular civilian clothes. I walked up the stairs and headed to my study to contact my lawyer to start the custody battle on Marinette's behalf.
Dick Grayson POV
I was already in the Manor and had placed Marinette in the spare bedroom. I went to walk away but Marinette grabbed my arm and yanked me onto the bed, I sighed and just accepted my fate when she mumbled in her sleep, "Don't leave me big brother..." I chuckled quietly and wrapped an arm around her waist before falling asleep cuddled up with my new little sister.
The Next Morning
Marinette Cheng-Wayne POV
I woke up to the feeling of an arm around me and a sense of comfort. I turned around and saw Dick cuddled with me and sound asleep, I curled into him and buried my face into his chest before falling back asleep.
I woke back up a couple hours later to arguing and I groaned in annoyance. "Fuck this shit..." I muttered quietly as I got up and left the bedroom, I walked down the grand staircase to the foyer and then got lost trying to find the living room.
I bumped into Damian and looked at him before asking, "Where's Dad?" causing him to sigh. He started walking and I just followed him until we reached a door? "Father is in there. There's also a woman who looks like you in there." Damian said and I gulped.
I knocked on the door and heard Dad say,
"Come in." so I walked inside and saw my mother there on a holographic video call, looking angry.
"Hey, uh, Dad? Where's the kitchen? I'm kinda hungry and I don't kno-" "๐๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฎ ๐๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐๐ข๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ต๐ต๐ฆ ๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ-๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐จ?!" Mom demanded while interrupting me, like she has been doing for awhile now. "๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฌ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ข ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐บ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ. ๐ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐บ๐ฃ๐ถ๐จ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ญ๐ด๐ฐ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ด๐ถ๐ค๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ข๐ญ ๐ข๐๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ." I lied to her which caused her to scoff and mutter something along the lines of: "๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ'๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ถ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ข ๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ฅ๐ข๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ." which caused the smile I had on this morning to disappear.
Dad noticed this and glared at Mom, "๐๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ต๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ, ๐ฏ๐ฐ, ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ? ๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ'๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ธ." Dad said to Mom and I sighed. "Where's the kitchen? I don't know my way around yet." I finished my earlier questions, Dad smiled softly at me and told me how to find the kitchen, he also told me how Alfred was making breakfast for everyone.
I quickly left the study before walking down the hallway and taking a right turn and then a left turn before reaching the kitchen. I saw Jason and Alfred making breakfast together and smiled softly, "Can I help?" I asked them and Jason chuckled before nodding his head.
They were making chocolate chip pancakes while I made my homemade white chocolate and blueberry pancake recipe. I had it mesmerized so that way no one could steal it, I didn't realize Alfred and Jason had noticed the amazing smell of my pancakes and crowded around me.
"What kind of pancakes are those? They smell fucking amazing!" Jason said in excitement and I just giggled and said, "You'll see~" my voice was a little playful and teasing as I said it, which made Jason actually pout?
Dick walked in with Duke, Damian and Tim, lured in by the smell of my pancakes. I finished making, maybe a little too much, my pancakes for everyone before grabbing the eggs and making my special omelette, scrambled and hard boiled eggs recipes. The seasonings I added on were literally everything but onions, because I'm allergic to onions.
Finally I finished and brought out all the plates to the dinning room, expertly balancing them on my arms, hands and head as I walked. I knew everyone was staring at me wide eyed as I placed everything on the table without dropping them.
"Breakfast is served, on my end at least. Jay?
Alfred? Did you finish making the pancakes, eggs and bacon you two were working on?" I announced before asking Jason and Alfred a question. They nodded and brought out what they made in about three trips before we all took a seat at the table.
I sat down next to Tim, (since that was the only open seat) and grabbed some food to put on my plate. I watched as everyone else immediately reached for the stuff I made, eager to try it all.
Jason was the first one to take a bite and his eyes widened before he started scarfing down his food (he was acting as if he hadn't eaten anything in days) and I giggled when everyone started eating it, I guess if Jason liked it, it was delicious enough for everyone to want to try. Everyone had quickly gotten seconds as Dad walked in. He sat down at the head of the table and grabbed some of the food I made, I guess he heard from Alfred about my cooking?
"So B, how'd the call go?" Jason asked and my body stiffened, Dad sighed and shook his head.
"Not well, I had to lie to my lawyers and tell them Marinette showed up at my office, sneaking past security and staying out of sight of the security cameras when she snuck into my office. Granted yesterday I had a meeting so I was able to lie and say I was getting back from the meeting when I saw her unconscious on my desk. Sabine called me immediately after my lawyers got in touch with her. She's going to fight this hard, but I'm confident I can win. I have better lawyers than she ever will."
Dad explained to us and I sighed, ๐ช๐ป ๐ธ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ฝ๐ ๐๐๐'๐ ๐ฟ๐๐๐ ๐๐พ๐๐ ๐๐ฝ๐ ๐ธ๐๐๐๐๐น๐ ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐๐๐.
๐ฏ๐ฝ๐พ๐ ๐๐พ๐๐ ๐ท๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ป๐๐ ๐๐๐๐. I thought to myself but watched as Dad ate my food, his eyes widened in delight, but he didn't scarf down his food like everyone else.
Bruce Wayne POV
I looked at Marinette and sighed, I know this week will be hard for her and it's completely understandable, she's lived a life of torment for so long now and I hate that Sabine won't do what's right for Marinette. "B? Pixie can stay with us while this custody battle is happening, right?" Jason asked and I bit my lip. "Yes, I was wondering the same thing as Ahki, Father. Marinette is my half-sister and I would prefer she stay with us." Damian said, shocking all of us.
๐ป๐'๐ ๐ถ๐๐๐๐ถ๐น๐ ๐ถ๐ธ๐ธ๐๐ ๐๐๐น ๐ฝ๐๐? ๐ผ๐ ๐พ๐ ๐ท๐๐ธ๐ถ๐๐๐ ๐๐ฝ๐'๐ ๐๐๐๐ถ๐๐๐น ๐ท๐ ๐ท๐๐๐๐น? I thought to myself, I knew that my youngest son isn't exactly accepting of newcomers. This is an interesting development, very interesting indeed.
Paris, France
Sabine Cheng POV
I just got off of the phone with Bruce and I was boiling over with anger, he'll win the custody battle and I'll lose that brat who's only good for cleaning the apartment and bakery! This can not be happening to me right now! "Tom! We have an issue!" I called out to my husband and my husband, Tom Dupain, walked out of our bedroom. "What's wrong Sabine? Where's the brat? The dishes still need to be done." He said to me and I quickly explained our little problem that's happening now.
He looked furious that Bruce found out and is going to fight for custody over that brat, Marinette. "So she was affected by the akuma yesterday? Standing near Ladybug?" Tom asked me and I nodded, I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. This is going to be a difficult time and Bruce's lawyers said that the courts had given him temporary custody, which I will not tell Tom.
(Pairing: Aged up!Marinette Dupain-Cheng X Bruce Wayne)
Warnings: Mentions of bullying towards Marinette, mentions of past abuse, Marinette has severe PTSD, Marinette has severe anxiety and panic attacks, traumatized Marinette, The Wayne's craziness, Jason Todd's anger issues, Damian Wayne's trust issues, Marinette's self-doubts.
Description: Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Daughter of Sabine Cheng and Tom Dupain. Grand Guardian of the Miraculous. The famous fashion designer MDC. And the new holder of the Cat Miraculous. She was only 14 when she lost everything. Her friends. Her Master. And Her parents. Her Partner; Chat Noir. Everything was taken from her by a pathological liar named Lila Rossi. And one day Master Fu left her alone with 18 miniature gods. And finally, at 18 years old. She left Paris and learned there were more Miraculous' out there and that's where she fled to. Gotham City. Where all the stolen Miraculous' were located. Now Marinette's 29 and a wanted criminal for theft. Who is she? The infamous Lady Noire of Gotham City. And Batman sends Dick Grayson, aka Nightwing, to track her down and figure out where she lives. So when Batman finally sees her sneaking into a mansion bigger than Wayne Manor that's obviously the home of MDC? Let's just say he gets a little too curious. And goes in. Alone. Bad move Batman, for Marinette at least. How will Bruce Wayne react when he starts to fall in love with Lady Noire against his will?
I sighed in annoyance at the fact I was currently running away from Batman, for the first time. I had already put the Miraculous I retrieved into my staff that was connected to my very own magical pocket storage unit I created to store the Chinese Miracle Box and all the stolen Miraculous' I've retrieved these past eleven years.
I jumped down in the wooded area next to my mansion and detransformed back into Marinette Dupain-Cheng before transforming into my MDC disguise with the Ladybug miraculous and walked through the gates to my mansion. I let out a shaky breath when Batman passed by my mansion without a second glance, I walked into my actual mansion before shutting the door behind me and heading towards my Miraculous cave below my mansion. Losing him was almost too easy, which was suspicious. Very suspicious.
Bruce Wayne POV
I sighed in frustration as I returned to the Batcave, anger rising in me because Lady Noire was too quick and fast for us. I saw her land in the woods next to MDC mansion and when I went to look for her, she was already gone and it was frustrating. "Any luck Father?" My youngest son, Damian Wayne aka Robin and my only blood son, asked as I pulled down the cowl to reveal my frustrated face. And my eldest son, Dick Grayson aka Nightwing and my first adopted child, chuckled in amusement.
"I'll take that as a no? Jesus Christ, she's good. Which isn't good for us. Her identity is pretty well hidden and no facial recognition software has been able to work with a search. It's almost like there's magic surrounding her suit." Dick said and I pinched the bridge of my nose and looked at Wonder Woman, Diana Prince, in confusion as to why she was here.
"I believe this 'Lady Noire' is using what's called a miraculous, specifically the Cat miraculous. The miraculous' are magical jewelry that protect their holders identity with magic. So it doesn't matter what software you run her face through, you'll never find it out. The magic is solid and unbreakable unless you remove her miraculous from her." Diana said and my eyebrow twitched at the realization that a magic user was in my city and stealing jewelry for no reason!
๐ข๐๐๐ถ๐... ๐ฟ๐๐๐ ๐ป๐๐ธ๐๐พ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ถ๐... ๐ ๐๐ถ๐๐พ๐ธ ๐๐๐๐ ๐พ๐ ๐๐ ๐ธ๐พ๐๐? ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ ๐พ๐ ๐๐ฝ๐ ๐๐๐๐ถ๐๐พ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ธ๐พ๐ป๐พ๐ธ ๐ฟ๐๐๐๐๐๐? ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ ๐ท๐๐๐ถ๐๐ ๐พ๐๐๐ ๐ฟ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ถ๐๐น ๐ข๐๐๐ฝ๐ถ๐ ๐๐พ๐๐'๐ ๐๐พ๐๐๐ถ๐พ๐๐ ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ ๐ฝ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐พ๐๐ฝ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐พ๐๐ ๐ธ๐ถ๐๐๐ฝ๐ ๐ท๐ ๐๐ฝ๐๐. ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐'๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ท๐๐๐๐ ๐พ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ป ๐๐ ๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ ๐ฝ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ฝ๐ถ๐ ๐ฝ๐ถ๐น ๐ฟ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ผ ๐๐ถ๐ ๐๐๐พ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ฝ๐ถ๐๐ ๐ต๐ถ๐๐ถ๐๐๐ถ ๐ต๐ถ๐๐ถ๐๐ถ ๐พ๐๐๐ ๐๐ธ๐. ๐ต๐๐ ๐๐ฝ๐ถ๐ ๐พ๐ ๐พ๐? I thought in annoyance before something weird happened to the Batcomputer? It was glitching out and then Lady Noire's symbol appeared on the screen?!
"๐ ๐ค๐๐ ๐ฅ๐๐๐ฅ ๐ช๐ ๐ฆ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฅ๐ฃ๐ช๐๐๐ ๐ฅ๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐จ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ ๐ฆ๐๐๐๐ฃ ๐๐ช ๐๐๐ค๐, ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ฃ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ค ๐๐ ๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐ฆ๐๐. ๐'๐ ๐ฆ๐ค๐๐๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ โ๐๐ฅ ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ฆ๐๐ ๐ฆ๐ค ๐ฅ๐ ๐๐ ๐ฅ๐๐๐ค. ๐ ๐๐๐ง๐ ๐ ๐ฃ๐๐๐ค๐ ๐ ๐ฅ๐๐๐ฅ ๐๐ค ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ช๐ ๐ฆ๐ฃ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ฃ๐. ๐น๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐๐๐ ๐จ ๐ฅ๐๐๐ฅ ๐๐ง๐๐ฃ๐ช๐ฅ๐๐๐๐ ๐ช๐ ๐ฆ'๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐ ๐ ๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ค ๐๐๐ ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ก๐๐๐ฅ๐๐๐ช ๐๐ฃ๐๐ค๐๐ ๐จ๐๐ฅ๐๐ ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ ๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฅ๐ ๐ฃ๐๐ฅ๐ฃ๐๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐ง๐ ๐ช๐ ๐ฆ๐ฃ ๐ค๐ช๐ค๐ฅ๐๐. ๐๐๐ ๐ช๐ ๐ฆ ๐ ๐ ๐ช๐ ๐ฆ๐ฃ ๐๐๐ฉ๐ฅ ๐๐๐๐ค๐!" We heard Lady Noire say before I yelled at another on of my sons, Tim Drake aka Red Robin and a genius since childhood, "Kick her out! We can't let all this be erased!" in a panic and he just yelled back, "I'm trying B! Shit! She deleted everything! Now what?!" this just got so bad, she was able to break into the Batcomputer? I turned to Wonder Woman who looked like she'd seen a ghost? What?
"Wonder Woman? What's wrong? Do you know something we don't?" I demanded and she took a deep breath, "It's obvious that she's using Miraculous magic... The most dangerous magic in existence... Batman, she's far more powerful than you realize. She's the Grand Guardian. You'll never catch her unless you figure out how to remove her miraculous." Diana explained weakly, if she was scared? Then we were dealing with someone that was more than a jewelry thief.
๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ถ๐ ๐ถ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐น ๐๐ ๐น๐? ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐'๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ป๐๐. ๐ฏ๐ฝ๐พ๐ ๐พ๐ ๐ถ ๐๐พ๐๐ฝ๐๐๐ถ๐๐. ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ถ๐ ๐พ๐ ๐ฝ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ถ๐? ๐ฏ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ฝ๐๐๐ ๐ข๐๐๐ฝ๐ถ๐? ๐ผ ๐ธ๐ถ๐'๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ฝ๐ถ๐ ๐ฝ๐ถ๐ ๐ ๐๐! ๐ฏ๐ฝ๐พ๐ ๐พ๐ ๐๐ ๐ธ๐พ๐๐! ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ฝ๐๐๐! ๐ข๐๐น ๐ป๐๐ธ๐๐พ๐๐ ๐น๐ถ๐๐ ๐พ๐! I thought angrily as I balled my hands into tight fists, she was dangerous and needed to be stopped. Before she caused irreversible damage to my city.
Marinette Dupain-Cheng POV
I chuckled in amusement while Plagg ate his stupid and stinky Camembert cheese. "Was that necessary Bug?" Plagg asked me once he finished his cheese and I sighed and rolled my eyes, "It was very necessary Plagg, they were getting too close. It's very important that my identity remains secret, you know that. And don't call me Bug, I barely use the Ladybug miraculous anymore." I said to Plagg in annoyance and he just rolled his eyes in response. ๐ผ ๐ท๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ป๐พ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ฝ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ฝ๐พ๐ ๐๐พ๐๐ถ๐ธ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐น๐๐๐ ๐ถ๐๐น ๐๐ฝ๐พ๐ธ๐ฝ ๐๐๐ถ๐๐พ ๐พ๐ ๐ธ๐๐๐๐๐ธ๐๐๐น ๐๐ ๐พ๐. I thought to myself, curiosity getting the better of me. I pulled out the miraculous and put it on, it was a necklace with a flame charm on it. Suddenly a kwami that resembled a Phoenix appeared! "Hello! My name is Phoe Phoe! And you've found me Grand Guardian! How may I be of service?" Phoe Phoe asked me in excitement as she flew around me and I just laughed in response.
"Call me Marinette or Mari, Phoe Phoe. What's your transformation phrase?" I asked her as she continued to fly around me happily, "My transformation phrase is 'Phoe Phoe! Revival Flames!' it's so nice to meet you!" Phoe Phoe said and I just smiled softly at the excited Phoenix kwami. I could see the jealous look on Plagg's face and I just shook my head, "Calm down kitty cat, you're still my favorite." I reassured Plagg who scoffed and turned around and pouted slightly. I chuckled at his expense and then talked with Phoe Phoe about their preferred pronouns.
I learned that Phoe Phoe preferred They/Them pronouns, unusual but I'll respect it. "Alright, Phoe Phoe, I'm gonna put your miraculous away, I'll pull you out when I need you." I said to them before putting their miraculous away and gently kissing Plagg on the top of his head, which resulted in him purring softly and I giggled softly. "Who's a good boy Plagg?" I asked him with a small smile on my face and he just purred louder in response. ๐ฏ๐พ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ป๐พ๐๐น ๐๐๐ ๐๐ฝ๐๐๐ ๐๐ฝ๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐พ๐๐ถ๐ธ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐พ๐... ๐ฟ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐พ๐๐ ๐พ๐๐ ๐พ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ป ๐ต๐ถ๐๐๐ถ๐'๐ ๐ฝ๐พ๐น๐๐๐๐๐... ๐น๐๐! I thought with a grin on my face as I chuckled and muttered, "Better get that tonight before he has Zatanna Zatara inspect it..." I then transformed back into Lady Noire to head back out.
Batman's Hideout in Crime Alley
I snuck in and realized it was a little too easy since the miraculous was sitting in plain sight. I pulled out the Chameleon miraculous and merged it with the Cat miraculous before saying quietly, "Camouflage..." and then I was completely invisible and jumped past all the security measures and grabbed the miraculous before fleeing the scene, still invisible. I easily made my escape back into my Miraculous cave without getting caught or chased. ๐ฏ๐ฝ๐พ๐ ๐๐ถ๐ ๐๐๐๐พ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ถ๐ฎ๐... ๐ผ๐ ๐๐๐ถ๐๐๐ ๐พ๐... ๐น๐๐ ๐๐๐ธ๐ ๐ผ'๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ฝ๐ถ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ป๐๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ถ๐๐ ๐๐๐ถ๐ท... ๐น๐๐ธ๐... I thought as I pulled off the tracker that had glitched out and stopped working the minute it was put on me, I quickly destroyed it before pulling the residue off of my suit. ๐ผ ๐๐๐ถ๐๐๐ ๐ฝ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ฝ๐๐ ๐น๐พ๐น๐'๐ ๐๐๐ถ๐๐พ๐๐ ๐๐ฝ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ฝ๐ ๐๐๐ถ๐ธ๐๐๐ ๐ฝ๐ถ๐น ๐ท๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ฝ๐ ๐๐พ๐๐๐๐ ๐พ๐ ๐๐ถ๐ ๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐... I thought with a sigh as I put the miraculous away before saying, "Claws In." and detransforming back into my civilian self.
Pairing: Aged up!Marinette Dupain-Cheng X Bruce Wayne
Warnings: Mentions of bullying towards Marinette, mentions of past abuse, Marinette has severe PTSD, Marinette has severe anxiety and panic attacks, traumatized Marinette, The Wayne's craziness, Jason Todd's anger issues, Damian Wayne's trust issues, Marinette's self-doubts.
Description: Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Daughter of Sabine Cheng and Tom Dupain. Grand Guardian of the Miraculous. The famous fashion designer MDC. And the new holder of the Cat Miraculous. She was only 14 when she lost everything. Her friends. Her Master. And Her parents. Her Partner; Chat Noir. Everything was taken from her by a pathological liar named Lila Rossi. And one day Master Fu left her alone with 18 miniature gods. And finally, at 18 years old. She left Paris and learned there were more Miraculous' out there and that's where she fled to. Gotham City. Where all the stolen Miraculous' were located. Now Marinette's 29 and a wanted criminal for theft. Who is she? The infamous Lady Noire of Gotham City. And Batman sends Dick Grayson, aka Nightwing, to track her down and figure out where she lives. So when Batman finally sees her sneaking into a mansion bigger than Wayne Manor that's obviously the home of MDC? Let's just say he gets a little too curious. And goes in. Alone. Bad move Batman, for Marinette at least. How will Bruce Wayne react when he starts to fall in love with Lady Noire against his will?
I took a deep breath as I looked at my parents, I was officially 18 and leaving the house. They kicked me out and I had already packed up all my things. Hawkmoth was defeated. Chat Noir was no longer wielding his Miraculous. And I was no longer welcome in Paris. So I headed to the airport to catch a plane to Gotham City where I sensed the stolen Miraculous'. This isn't a great day and I put on my MDC disguise so no one would recognize Marinette Dupain-Cheng heading towards the MDC official private jet. I walked over to where my jet was and got on with all my stuff. I still remember where everything went wrong... Lila Rossi left for Italy in 7th grade before returning to my old school in our 10th grade year.
I was on my jet heading to Gotham City, New Jersey, USA for my first year at Gotham University and to escape Paris. I had built a mansion on the outskirts of Gotham City near Wayne Manor, just to stay away from all the violence of the city. It was known as the mansion of MDC! Which is great because I'll be in my MDC disguise whenever I pull up to the mansion and/or go shopping and then out of disguise when I arrive at Gotham University. I got my drivers license under the name Marinette Dupain-Cheng and put down my other name's, MDC's, mansion as my address and said I was sharing it with her/me.
I soon landed and walked out of the airport towards my Mustang GT 500 and got in, throwing my stuff in the trunk and backseat before driving to my mansion. I quickly arrived and smirked as I parked in my garage before getting out and grabbing my stuff to bring inside to my bedroom. I had taken the dishes, pots, pans, silverware and cooking utensils that I had bought with my own hard earned money from my parents apartment. I knew I'd eventually get a call so I blocked their numbers, plus, they don't even know where I am.
45 Minutes Later
I finally finished unpacking before heading towards a certain wall in living room and pressed a certain piece of tile in the wall next to a framed diamond art painting I did of Batman. I took a deep breath before the wall opened and I walked in and then the elevator started going down to my very own Miraculous cave. I had the Chinese Miracle Box with me and when the elevator door opened I walked out to see all the advanced technology that was infused with my Miraculous magic. Making it more advanced than the Watchtower and the Batcave. ๐ผ๐'๐ ๐ป๐พ๐๐ถ๐๐๐ ๐๐พ๐๐ ๐ป๐๐ ๐ฟ๐ถ๐น๐ ๐ฉ๐๐พ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ถ๐๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ ๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐๐ธ๐ ๐พ๐ ๐ข๐๐๐ฝ๐ถ๐ ๐๐พ๐๐ ๐ถ๐๐น ๐๐ถ๐๐ ๐ท๐ถ๐ธ๐ ๐๐ฝ๐ถ๐'๐ ๐๐พ๐๐ฝ๐๐ป๐๐๐๐ ๐๐พ๐๐. ๐ผ ๐ฟ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐น ๐๐ ๐ธ๐ฝ๐ถ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐พ๐ ๐ถ ๐ท๐พ๐. I thought with a grin on my face as I powered up my massive Miraculous Computer that had screens bigger than the Batcave's and then set the Chinese Miracle Box on a shelf next to the computer.
I had built this long after the mansion was built. ๐ฏ๐ฝ๐๐๐ ๐ธ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐พ๐๐ ๐ถ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ถ๐ธ๐ ๐ถ๐๐ ๐๐ฝ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐พ๐๐ถ๐ธ๐๐๐๐๐' ๐๐ฝ๐๐๐๐๐ฝ๐๐๐ ๐ข๐๐๐ฝ๐ถ๐ ๐๐พ๐๐. ๐ป๐๐ ๐๐ป๐๐๐๐ ๐ผ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ธ๐ถ๐๐๐ฝ๐ ๐ท๐ ๐๐ฝ๐ ๐ต๐ถ๐๐ป๐ถ๐๐พ๐๐ . I thought to myself, even though I knew I'd become more famous than Catwoman with my thieving skills. And it would draw attention to myself...
The old class gathered around the TV at Alya's new apartment. It was Christmas time and they were all eager to watch 'Jagged Stone's Charity Extravaganza!!!' To their surprise, it wasn't hosted in Paris this year; it was hosted in Gotham. It was rumored that Bruce Wayne and his family and co-founded the event.
The class cheered loudly as Jagged Stone and Bruce Wayne walked out on stage.
"Welcome to our Holiday Extravaganza!" Jagged Stone cried out, "Any donations today will be sent to orphanages. Thank you to everyone who brought clothes and toys to the boxes in the front."
"Thank you, all, for attending or streaming this charity event." Bruce continued, "To those of you confused streamers, anyone who was able to purchase a ticket, we let them know there would be donation boxes if they would like to contribute that way, instead of with money."
"That's such a good idea!" Nino commented.
"I thought of it." Lila immediately, declared, "I just thought that some teens could donate their old shirts or toys they don't play with anymore."
"That's such a good idea!" Mylene cried out, "We could do that around gardens. People could throw their banana peels, egg shells, all their composite waste and it could be used as fertilizer to help the gardens!"
"I'm glad I could help." Lila smiled, tightly.
'The only thing that would end up in there is trash.'
"To kick start off the event, " Bruce began, and on cue a spotlight shown on a giant wrapped present.
The number immediatley began to flicker until it reached $2 million.
"The Wayne family donation!" Bruce announced.
Everyone began to cheer.
"How generous!" Jagged smiled, clapping him on the back, "Now, I do want to let everyone know that there is a lottery, no matter how big of a donation, or small. Anyone in the world can donate! The prize is a custom design, of our choice, from my personal designer. The winner and my deisgner, will be filmed on the design and the progress. The reveal itself will be an exclusive on DVD."
They watched as the donations began to roll in.
"We should all donate $20, as a chance to win." Alya suggested.
"Well, I already know Jagged and the designer, so that feels like cheating." Lila spoke up, "I handed him money, in person, the last time I saw him. He said he would add it to his own donation."
"How generous of you, Lila." Kim smiled.
They quickly found out that the Extravaganza was more like a Battle of the Bands. Many bands, some local, and not were performing Christmas and holiday songs. Even Kitty Section was performing to their surprise.
"I canโt believe they're there!" Nino whined.
"Ivan said he had a big event and I couldn't go, but I didn't know it was this." Mylene said in awe.
"I put in a good word for them." Lila declared.
She smiled and turned to Adrien, for approval, but saw him shake his head instead.
'How did I fuck that up? Does he know Jagged Stone? As long as he doesnโt say anything, I'm fine.'
Jagged came back onstage and announced, "My designer is gonna be on film anyways, so I asked her to perform, as well. She has been my designer since she was thirteen. I had her make me an accessory and I loved her creativity, so much, she went on to deisgn covers and my rockin clothes."
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Adrien sit up.
'Does he know the deisgner?'
"Welcome my amazing designer!" he cried out.
"Adopted!" a voice called out.
"Adopted niece." he stated, rolling his eyes, "Amazing designer, MDC, or as you Gothamites may know her asโฆโฆ..Marinette Wayne!"
Their jaws dropped as Marinette walked out on stage in an elegant dress, with her hair in curls.
"Is that Mari? Like our Mari?"
"She looks the same."
"She's taller."
"Her hair grew out."
"Not the only thing that grew. Ow."
"Shut up, Kim."
"No, he is not actually my uncle." She declared, after hugging the rock star on stage, "I designed his Eiffel Tower sunglasses. His next big ask was his Rock Giant album cover, with the scratch and sniff sticker."
"That was all your genius." Jagged announced, "It was so amazing, we had a contract drawn up that day for her to be my personal designer."
"Besides, it would be too weird if I was your actual niece, since I dated Luka." she stated.
Luka just smiled and waved.
"Wait, Luka and Juleka are twins."
"So, he's Jagged Stone's daughter!"
"Do you think she could get me his autograph?"
Lila could feel the room tilt and her vision begin to tunnel. She glanced over at Adrien, who was smiling.
"Wait, Wayne? Marinette's married?"
"She said she knew Jagged Stone when she was thirteen."
"Do you think Luka introduced them?"
"He was still in love with her for a long time."
"I will be singing with my husband, Damian Wayne, while he plays violin." Mari announced.
A man walked out, who they couldn only assume was her husband. They could see him glare at Luka. Luka simply blew him a kiss.
"We'll be performing a classic: 'You're a Mean Once, Mr. Grinch' with back up on instruments." she continued.
Jagged gave her a quick hug and patted Damian on the shoulder.
"Can Marinette even sing?"
"I don't know?"
"How can you not know?"
"Yeah, you were so close before!"
You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch
You really are a heel
You're as cuddly as a cactus
As charming as an eel
Mr. Grinch
You're a bad banana with a greasy black peel
"She's amazing!"
"I didn't know she could sing! Did you?"
"No. She could have joined Kitty Section!"
"They're a rock band."
Lila sat rooted to the couch, frozen and panicking.
You're a monster, Mr. Grinch
Your heart's an empty hole
Your brain is full of spiders
You've got garlic in your soul, Mr. Grinch
"Her husband is amazing!"
"He's so fast."
"And accurate."
"Graceful, the complete opposite of her."
"Do you think that's why she and Luka didn't work out?"
You're a vile one, Mr. Grinch (Mr. Grinch)
You have termites in your smile
You have all the tender sweetness of a seasick crocodile
Mr. Grinch
Now given the choice between the two of you, I'd take the
Seasick crocodile
Seasick crocodile
"Oh my god, she can really sing!"
"Look, it's Fang!"
"Awww, she said crocodile and Jagged's croc she called for him."
"I donโt know how she isn't scared of it!"
"He's acting like a big puppy with her!"
Lila sprang to her feet.
"Lila?" spoke up Alix.
The words that best describe you are
Lila ran to the bathroom and they could all hear her throw up.
Stink, stank, stunk
Alya and Mylene rushed after her
No, no, no
"Are you okay, Lila?" Mylene asked.
"Were you already feeling like this?" Alya questioned, "You didn't have to force yourself to come. I tried to make sure to avoid the foods you canโt eat."
Stink, stank, stunk
"Do you need a ride home?" Mylene asked.
"I don't want to ruin your party." Lila groaned.
"I can give ou a ride and come back." Mylene declared.
Oh-oh, Mr. Grinch
"That's fine." Alya smiled, "We planned for a long night anyways and the concerts not even half way over."
Mr. Grinch
Lila simply nodded.
Alya came back to the living room to see that Marinette's song was already over. She was giving belly rubs to Fang.
"I'd like to thank everyone for watching and donating." Marinette smiled, "I will personally be donating $1 million, from my business, to the charity."
"Thank you, my dear." Jagged declared.
"I do want to let the audience know that the Wayne family are banned from participating in the prize, so even with their large donation, they still have to pay if they want clothes from her."
Jagged laughed as Damian and Marinette walked off stage, with Fang trailing after them.
"Yes!" Kim shouted, "No favortism!"
Alya turned at the sound of the door opening, "You're back already?"
'I didn't know Lila lived so close.'
"Lila had me drop her off at the store for medicane." Mylene responded, " She said her place was close by and didn't want to risk throwing up in the car."
"Then why do you look like someone announced they were going to tear down the park?" Alix questioned.
"I-I think she lied." Mylene mumbled.
"Huh?" Kim asked.
"Lila." Mylene spoke.
"Lied about what?" Nino asked, "We all heard her vomit."
"Everything!" Mylene shouted, surprising them, "I waited in the car, in case if she changed her mind and wanted a ride. She went in and came out, almost immediately, and got in another car."
"Maybe she called her boyfriend?" Alya suggested, "It sounds like she was being considerate to not throw up in your car."
"And Marinette?" Mylene pushed.
"Huh?" Kim spoke, "The song it over. It was short. It was over by the time you left."
"No!" Mylene declared, "Lila said she knew the designer and was close friends with her; that they were like sisters!"
"I-I fight with my sisters." Alya spoke up, confused, "I got the apartment so we weren't so confined."
"We all knew Mari." Mylene continued to argue, "She said Lila lied about knowing Jagged and she would have known, since she was designing for him."
"She didn't know about Luka or Juleka." Alix remarked.
"Yeah, but that's cause Luka didn't know until later." Kim spoke up.
"What?" Nino asked.
"Anarchy never told Luka or Juleka, who their dad was." Adrien spoke up, "He found out the same night that Mari broke up with him. He said 'One door closes, another opens'."
"Well, itโs not like we knew she designed for him." Nino tried to argue back.
"Yes, we did." the model countered, "She designed his glasses when we worked at Chloe's hotle for the day. She was his gopher. He's been to the bakery, loads of times, and even did a TV special there. I had her autograph his new cd covers, when they came out. I didnโt know where she moved or I would have gone and asked her to sign the rest."
"You're agreeing, with her?" Alix asked, "You're saying you think Lila lied to us about knowing Jagged Stone?"
Adrien simply nodded.
"Why?" demanded the hostess.
"Cause she panicked." he answered.
"What?" asked Nino.
"You didn't see her face or how she tensed up when Marinette came on stage?" Adrien asked, "Lila never once mentioned Mari or her "fashion designer friend" once she was on stage. Last week, she said that she 'hoped Mari would find love and peace in her life. That she would 'pray for her soul so she would never bully anyone ever again'."
"She did?" Max questioned.
"Alya told Lila she 'hoped Mari got help with her anger issues'." Adrien countered.
Alya suddenly felt sick to her stomach.
"We could always call Juleka or Luka, anyone from Kitty Section, really, and ask Jagged Stone directly." Adrien declared, "You kno, if you don't believe me."
"But, if she lied about Jagged Stone and MDC, I mean Marinette, what else did she lie about?" Kim asked the hard question.
Max sighed, "She claimed they were like 'sisters', but she told us that Marinette bullied and hated her."
"We told Marinette she was a hurtful person." Mylene sniffed, "That being around her was painful."
Alya took a look around the room. Some of them were fixated on the stream, others were staring at their laps. She realized Adrien had known Lila was lying about Mari, at the very least. She recalled he tried to tell her and Nino, but they hadn't believed him. She took out her phone and immediately blocked Lila's number. Nino watched as she hovered over the button, before pressing it. He realized how far they had fallen and did the same. He sent out a text to the others that he and Alya had blocked Lila's number.
The others slowly lifted up their heads and stared at Alya. She had been Lila's biggest supporter and best friend, but they could only see the tear streaks on her face now. One by one, they followed suit an blocked someone they had trusted. They watched as Alya stared at her phone before typing something. On the screen appeared a new donation: it read-$20 fromย 'Sorry, Marinette. From Paris.'
"I hope she sees it." Nino whispered.
Alya took a deep breath, "Let's continue the concert. I'm not going to let her ruin the night. We also have to cheer on our friends."
Everyone nodded and put their phones away, before turning back to the screen.
Lila stared at her phone:ย Message Not Sent.ย She tried to apologize about the vomit, but her texts weren't going through. She tried over and over. Then she tried other people from the party; the answer was always the same.
Lila slammed her phone down and let out a bitter laugh. Marinette finally won; everyone turned against her and Marinette wasn't even there to see it.
'It's not like she will forgive them and be friends with them again. She's married to a rich guy. That bakery girl has the life I was supposed to and I'm stuck in Paris with no Adrien , no rich husband and now, no friends.'
who's fault was it huh? it was you who begin the threat and the war with Marinette. You and your stupid lies is what got you instead the dreams you wanted. You could have befriend Marinette but noo you threaten her to take away her friends which you did. That's Karma for you.
I got this idea from a post @unmaskedagain and decided to put my own little spin to it. Itโs a bit sad and does have my usual Lila-Salt spin, but I really loved writing this. Warm-Fuzzies and please enjoy!!
The day of her greatest triumph was also her greatest tragedy. Hawkmoth had finally been defeated, the butterfly and peacock miraculous back in the miracle box where they belonged, and Paris was finally safe.ย
However, when Gabriel Agreste was revealed to be the magical terrorist and his assistant, Nathalie, his accomplice, Adrien had been devastated. When the Paris police sought to find out the extent of Adrienโs involvement, he had no choice but to reveal in a private interrogation room with only the mayor, Officer Roger, the chief of police, and Ladybug herself, his identity as Chat Noir. After which, Adrien said a tearful goodbye to Plagg and surrendered the ring of destruction to Ladybug. A press conference was held within an hour, absolving Adrien of any crimes in relation to his father, and his bodyguard would also be absolved four days later.
That night, after Ladybug had returned home and tearfully placed the ring, broch, and pin back in the miracle box; her parents and Grandma Gina had told her that they were going out to dinner to celebrate; Gina had even rented a car so they wouldnโt need to walk or take the subway. How Marinette wished that they had just gotten on the subway.
She woke up the following afternoon in the hospital. Apparently, her family werenโt the only people celebrating Hawkmothโs defeat, and a car load of university students had celebrated too hard and T-boned their car while running a light. The doctors told her that her grandmother and father had died on impact and her mother passed away during surgery. Marinette had been extremely lucky to survive without any life threatening injuries; a broken leg, arm, collar bone, two cracked ribs, and a few lacerations across her body.ย
She was hardly paying attention to what the doctors were saying. Too shocked by the whole situation. There was no Miraculous Cure that could fix this. In the span of a single day, she had defeated her enemy, saved Paris, lost her partner, lost her grandmother, and her parents. She was alone.
When her familyโs lawyer, M. Contere came to talk about custody, it was revealed that her grandmother was supposed to take custody in the event of her parentsโ deaths. Her grandfather would have been the next logical choice, but he had recently suffered a stroke and had been placed in a nursing home. This left the lawyer scrambling to find someone to take the girl or risk having her surrendered to the city of Paris.
Going through the Dupain-Chengsโ contact list, M. Contere made phone calls to numbers listed as family friends or emergency contacts. There were three that particularly stood out to him, all listed under the title of โuncleโ.ย
The first was to an โUncle Jโ; a woman answered the phone, introducing herself as Penny. When Contere told her it had to do with the Dupain-Chengs, the phone was handed to a man with a distinctly British accent. He sounded devastated to hear that Tom, Sabine, and Gina had all passed away before going into a panic and asking if Marinette was alright, showing absolute relief that she had survived the crash. When Contere mentioned the custody hearing, the man practically demanded to know the date, time, and place before promising that he would be there.
The second contact that stood out was labeled as โUncle Tonyโ. That call was answered by an assistant named Jarvis before transferring the call to Tony. Again, Contere could hear the surprise and hurt at hearing that his friends had passed away before asking if Marinette had been in the car. When told that she had survived, there was relief and he mentioned that Peter would have probably cried for a week if heโd lost his childhood friend. Tony then offered to take custody of Marinette and Contere quickly told him the details.
Although M. Contere was relieved that at least two family friends/possible relatives seemed more than willing to take Marinette, he knew how fickle and difficult the courts could be and wanted as many options as possible for the girl, which led to the third contact labeled โUncle Bruceโ.ย
The phone was answered by an older sounding gentleman named Alfred before transferring the call. Contere could hear multiple voices in the background, most sounding like young men, and when he told Bruce about the passing of Tom, Sabine, and Gina; it went very quiet for a moment before all the voices began speaking at once demanding to know what happened, who was responsible, and if Marinette was okay. M.Contere answered the questions that he could and told them that Marinette was in need of a legal guardian. Bruce said Gina had been a great friend and mentor to him when he was younger and that he would be honored to care for her granddaughter. So he told him the details of the court hearing with the promise that he would make sure that Marinette was taken care of until then.
After hanging up, M. Contere had a strange feeling that he couldnโt shake. A feeling that told him that those three โUnclesโ were either going to make his job of getting Marinette into a stable home a lot easierโฆ or it would be a total nightmare.
~oOo~
The day of the hearing was a Monday and Marinetteโs case was the first on the docket, which was a relief. If things went smoothly, she could be placed with one of her respective uncles by the end of the week and be taken care of. When the two of them stepped into the room, with Marinette rolling beside him in her wheelchair, M. Contere was surprised to see multiple familiar faces in the courtroom that he had not expected. Jagged Stone, Bruce Wayne, and Tony Stark were glaring, arguing, and puffing out their chests at each other; ignoring everyone else in the room. He also noticed how each man seemed to have an entire team of lawyers backing them up.
The tension and glaring match only broke when the two women; Pepper Potts and Penny Rolling, and the four Wayne boys; Dick, Jason, Tim, and Damien, noticed Marinetteโs arrival.ย
โMarinette, sweetie, how are you feeling?โ Penny asked as she walked away from Jagged to kneel beside Marinetteโs wheelchair.
โBeen better, but Iโm glad to see some familiar faces,โ she said with a weak smile.
Pepper leaned over a bit to give the girl a gentle hug while minding her injuries. โWeโre here for you, Mari. No matter what.โ
Then the four boys were almost surrounding her, offering to hunt down the people that took away their family and pile so many lawsuits on them that theyโll die of papercuts. This made her chuckle and grimace a bit from the pain, telling the boys that was sweet but unnecessary.
Jagged, Bruce, and Tony immediately put their argument on hold as they hurried over to check on the girl as well. Contere found it to be a good sign that Marinette seemed familiar with the three men, that they all asked how she was and if she wanted anything, as well as promising that they would take care of her. That last one, the three said at the same time and got them glaring at each other again. This caused Contere to sweat and Marinette to give her head a resigned shake.
What followed would probably go down as the most intense, well argued, and most headache-inducing case in the history of the Paris Family Court System with all three men vying for custody of the teenage girl.ย
Being able to provide financial stability wasnโt a concern as Jagged Stone was currently the most successful rockstar in Europe, Asia, Australia, and the Americas; while Tony Stark and Bruce Wayne were two of the wealthiest businessmen in the entire world. All three even offered to completely cover Marinetteโs tuition to any school she wanted, so long as she was accepted.
Her safety turned out to be a large factor with all three men, and they were willing to hire their own private security to make sure that she stayed safe at all times. However, the three men also argued how the others lived in unsafe environments.ย
Jagged mostly lived in tour buses and out of hotels, which was a factor; but he was willing to call off his tours during the school year and only go on tour during school breaks so Marinette would never be without her guardian. Penny was also willing to help Jagged at every turn, stating that she loved Marinette like a niece and would make sure that she had a strong female role model in her life as well.
Tonyโs reputation as a playboy and his identity as Iron Man brought up the possibility of attracting a dangerous element. He argued that his homes were equipped with the most advanced security systems on the planet. As well as being friends with an actual โGod-Alienโ, who had met Marinette and liked her a great deal. Tony was also willing to make Marinette her own personal Iron Suit that would be programmed to protect and fly her to a safe location at the first sign of danger. Pepper also offered to share custody as she already took care of Tonyโs daily life as his assistant, taking care of Marinette would be easy and she was looking forward to having her around.
Bruceโs residence in Gotham, the most crime ridden city in North America, was a big factor. Bruce made a point that he already had experience as a guardian of his three adopted sons and his biological son, and they were kept safe. That he also had a top of the line security system at his home, which was located outside of city limits. Dick, Jason, and Tim also commented that they thought of Marinette like a little sister and that Wayne Enterprises had locations all over the world. If the judge decided that Gotham was too dangerous, one of them would gladly take up residency in a city that the judge approved and would stay there to watch over Marinette while still working and providing for her.
After two hours of listening to the back and forth of the three men and their lawyers, the judge decided that heโd heard enough for the day and set the next meeting for the following Thursday after lunch. He also recommended that the men bring proof that they have the mental capability of caring for a teenage girl, lists of schools near their homes to show that she will continue her education, and character witnesses, if available.ย
The three men wanted to take Marinette out to get something to eat after the court was adjourned, but M. Contere was forced to tell them that it would not be appropriate during the legal proceedings. He also recommended that they follow the judgeโs instructions and make sure that they had everything needed, otherwise they would likely not qualify. Hearing that got all three men, their assistants, family, and lawyers moving at top speeds to get everything they needed for court in a few days.ย
Once they were out of sight, the lawyer couldnโt help but let out a stress induced sigh as he raised one hand to pinch the bridge of his nose. This custody battle had the potential to turn into a total circus, and although it could do great things for his career in the long run, he was more worried about how this would affect Marinette.ย
Speaking of, he was brought from his thoughts when he felt her small hand gently pat the hand that was holding his briefcase. When he looked down at her, she gave him a kind, though slightly amused smile. โYou had no idea about the can of worms you were opening when you made those phone calls, did you?โ
He couldnโt help but chuckle. โHow was I supposed to know that Uncle J, Uncle Tony, and Uncle Bruce would turn out to be three of the most influential men in the world? How does your family even know all of them?โ
โUncle Bruce was raised by the family butler, Alfred Pennyworth, after his parents died. Grandma Gina and Alfred were best friends when they were younger. After the Waynes died, Gina would go check on them in Gotham, she liked to brag that she helped get Bruce back out of his shell. Uncle Tony knew my parents back in university, he was a lot younger and smarter than the other students and you can guess that didnโt go over well with some of them. My parents looked out for him and they became friends, and even after he got busy when he took over the company, he always made time to be there for the big moments in our lives; my parentsโ wedding, their baby shower, and when I was born. Iโve actually spent a few summers in Gotham and New York visiting them.โ
โAnd Jagged Stone?โ
โHeโs the most recent of my honorary uncles. Iโm his personal designer, but he got unofficially adopted into my family after the tv show that took place in my parentsโ bakery. Uncle Jagged made a bread guitar and sang rock songs with my dad. Once the show was over, Mom invited him and Penny to stay for dinner. During the course of the night, Dad claimed him as a new little brother. Jagged was so happy that he started calling my parents big brother and big sister, and started calling me his niece. Since then, heโs come over at least once a month to just relax and be a family with us.โ
M. Contere couldnโt help but smile at that. From the sound of it and what he had seen, all three men truly cared about this girl and were willing to bend over backwards for her. That was a good thing, but he still worried that a custody battle between these three men could go for a long time and possibly cause mental distress for Marinette. Although the final decision was ultimately up to the judge, he was allowed to make recommendations if they were in the best interests of the child.ย
With that in mind, he knelt down beside Marinette. โYou know the three of them and what theyโre living situations are like better than I do. And even though youโre not 15 years old yet, I could petition the judge to factor your opinion. Which of them would you like to have guardian status?โ
When Marinette gave him a knowing smile, he just knew that things might get more complicated.
~oOo~
It got a lot more complicated.
The media had caught wind of the custody battle, causing a giant crowd of paparazzi to stake out the courthouse to catch a glimpse of the rockstar, billionaire, and the self proclaimed โgenius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropistโ who was also a superhero. To their credit, the three only said that they were devastated by the loss of the Dupain-Chengs and wanted to do what was best for Marinette and left all the other questions at the door.
In the courtroom; all three men, as well as their assistants and Bruceโs boys, had done mental evaluations that their lawyers submitted to the judge. They also provided lists of different schools that Marinette was free to choose from; including public schools, private, and even schools that specialized in fashion. But the absolute kicker was the character witnesses.
Jagged Stone had brought other music stars, movie stars, and production mega stars that made Contere wonder for a moment if heโd accidentally walked into an award ceremony. Tony Stark had brought the Avengers, The Avengers, as his character witnesses. Contere wasnโt too proud to admit that he was a bit starstruck when Thor himself came over to great Marinette and complimented her on her โbattle scarsโ, saying that they were a testament to her strength. If that wasnโt enough, Bruce brought multiple members of the Billionaireโs Club as character witnesses, many of whom had been suspected of being members of the Justice League.ย
The judge looked just as surprised, though somewhat irritated, by the people crowding his courtroom. He quietly looked over the mental health evaluations that had been provided, as well as the lists of schools; finding that everything was in order and that any of them would have been wonderful guardians to the girl. He was tempted to call another recess and pick this back up the following week until Marinetteโs lawyer raised his hand.
โIf it would please the court,โ the judge motioned for him to continue, โalthough Mlle. Dupain-Cheng is not yet of legal age to make a final decision on the matter of custody, I felt that she was old enough to state her opinion. We have discussed it over the past few days and I believe we came up with a proposal that will satisfy all parties involved while still being in the best interest of the child.โ M. Contere presented the four copies of the proposal to the bailiff, who handed one to the judge, and the three lead lawyers.
The judge read the summary at the top before looking at the lawyer in surprise. โYouโre proposing joint custody?โ
โYes, your honor. My client and I feel that due to the influence that these men hold, as you can see by the character witnesses that have come here to speak on their behalf, that this custody hearing could be drawn out for a long time, which could have mental repercussions on Marinette.โ Contere didnโt miss the โyou ainโt kiddingโ roll of his eyes, or the looks of shame that the three men shared at the thought of hurting Marinette.
โKeeping that in mind, my client came up with an outline for a possible custody agreement. M. Stark would retain custody during school as he has listed one of the top fashion schools in America, which would further Marinetteโs future career. The weekends would be spent with M. Wayne, as Wayne Enterprises has connections to the fashion industry and would be able to give her training to help her successfully run her own business. M. Stone would have custody during summer breaks, so Marinette may continue gaining experience as his personal designer, a position she has held for close to a year and has already earned her recognition in the industry.โ
The judge grew quiet again as he contemplated the proposal and read over the details. He didnโt want to deal with these three powerful, and in a lot of ways eccentric, men for the next few months while attempting to figure out the best placement for the child. Nor did he want to deal with the media frenzy that this case had already brought on. If anything, this was likely the best option, if he could get the men to agree to the terms.
โDo you have any objections to this proposal?โ
There was a moment of silence as the lawyers continued to look over the proposal and spoke to their clients. Jaggedโs lawyer was the first to respond. โNo, your honor. M. Stone believes that this would be best for Marinette, but we would like to add a clause that M. Stone be permitted to call and visit Mlle. Dupain-Cheng so long as it does not interfere with her school work.โ
โMy client would also like that clause added to the proposal, your honor,โ said the Wayne lawyer. โAs well as the clause that Messieurs Stone and Stark work together with M. Wayne in securing Mlle. Dupain-Chengโs safety. As previously stated, all three men could be considered high-priority targets and normally require bodyguards. M. Wayne has proposed that any potential bodyguard be vetted and approved by all parties involved before being hired.โ
The judge looked to Starkโs lawyer. โAnd do you have any stipulations you would want to see added to the proposal?โ
โOnly that there be an open line of communication between Messieurs Stone, Wayne, and Stark at all times in reference to Mlle. Dupain-Chengโs well being and any possible travel. As all three men are known to travel the world for business; there will be occasions for the child to travel as well. When this occurs, the other guardians should receive notice of the country, city, and address that she resides; so, in case of an emergency, they will be able to be present to assist and protect her.โ
โMy client has no objections to these clauses,โ said Jaggedโs lawyer.
โAnd you, M. Wayne?โ
The Wayne lawyer nodded. โThe clauses are more than reasonable and are in the best interest of Mlle. Dupain-Cheng. Although I only speak for my client, I do not believe that I would be out of line to say that is the main focus of Messieurs Stone and Stark as well.โ
The lawyers hid their relief when the judge nodded in agreement. โAs the proposal was presented by the child and the three of you are in agreement, Iโm scheduling a meeting in my chambers for next Tuesday to go over the finer details of the custodial agreement. I will allow your clients and one lawyer each to attend; this includes you and your client, M. Contere.โ
โYes, your honor.โ
โAnd as for you, Mlle. Dupain-Cheng,โ Marinetteโs head snapped up to meet the judgeโs gaze. โIt seems that you have gained three extremely powerful, influential, and in many ways crazy guardians. I donโt know if I should congratulate you or give you my sympathies. What I will do is wish you the best of luck and hope that you are prepared for the future. Court is adjourned.โ
There was a hum of surprise and joy that spread through the courtroom as Jagged, Bruce, and Tony stepped up to each other and shook hands before approaching Marinette and M. Contere.ย
โOf course, my niece would come up with a way to keep everyone happy, sheโs so rock nโ roll that way.โ Jagged beamed with pride as Tony and Bruce nodded in agreement.
โWould it be alright if all of us went to dinner to celebrate,โ Bruce asked Contere, indicating the โallโ to be himself and his boys, Jagged and Penny, and Tony and Pepper; along with Marinette and Contere.
โSo long as thereโs no discussion of custody and everyone stays civil, I donโt see any harm in it.โ
Everyone smiled in agreement while Pepper mentioned that sheโd just finished making reservations for all eleven of them at a nice restaurant that had the best view of the Eiffel Tower.
As the others began filing out of the courtroom, Marinette patted his hand and gave him a sympathetic look. โYou just opened your second can.โ
M. Contere wasnโt sure about what sheโd meant until after the meal was over and the waitress brought the check, and then watched as the three billionaires fought over it. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he only hoped that this would all be over on Tuesday and he could go back to his normal, boring cases.
I like to imagine in a world of Daminette, when Talia finds out her boy is dating she might, possibly go on a "no one is worthy of my child" streak and then she meets the girl and its like:
Talia:*on a far away rooftop, staring through the rifle
Marinette:* in the distance, walks into a lamp pole repeatedly
Talia: why my child, are you trying to spite me in some form or fashion?
Also
Marinette: what the fuck does the LoA want with me
Talia: why do you even know who I am
Marinette: hi my name is Marinette and my cult is your neighbour
Talia: what
Marinette: behold, the celestial guardian, nice to meet you
Talia:*who just saw her drop a bag of flour on herself
ใParing: Marinette Dupain-Cheng X Johnathan Kentใ
Minor Warnings: mentions of abuse on Marinette, Alyasalt, classsalt, Adriensalt, Marinette getting disowned by her parents and being adopted by Bruce Wayne, Marinette having anxiety and panic attacks, Marinette having severe PTSD, Alfred Pennyworth being Marinette's godfather, strong language such as cussing, Chloรฉ Bourgeois becomes Marinette's best friend. (That's also a warning bc people might no like that Chloรฉ becomes best friends with Marinette)
Description: Marinette had a good life for awhile, until Lila Rossi showed up and Marinette lost everything to a liar. She quickly became MDC, the most popular Fashion Designer in the world and then Marinette ended up becoming mute and using sign language to communicate. Her parents ended up leaving her and disowning her. Lila turned her entire class against her and they would abuse her mentally and physically. And then she runs away to Gotham City with The Chinese Miracle Box after taking away Chat Noir's miraculous. But when her godfather, Alfred Pennyworth finds out she's in Gotham? He has Bruce adopt her... So now she's stuck being Ladybug in Paris and another adoptive child of Bruce Wayne. How can she live this double life without Bruce or the rest of the Batfamily finding out about the shit going on in Paris?
I took a deep breath as I got off of the plane at the Gotham City airport. My apartment was in the richer side of Gotham City, away from most of the crime that happens in the city and lucky for me, my apartment was about a block away from Gotham Academy. It was a new school year at Gotham Academy and Wednesday was the first day of school, which gave me enough time to buy the school supplies I needed for the school year! Luckily with me being the famous fashion designer MDC? I can afford literally anything.
I quickly reached my apartment before heading inside to unpack all of my things, the place was already fully furnished and I had a smart TV. I'd bought everything in advance and had it delivered to my apartment. It would've been nice to know what was going through my head when I got my dual citizenship between France and the USA. My parents or ex-classmates could easily find me, right? Well... maybe not since I also have dual citizenship between France and Japan. So they'd have to seriously research between the USA and Japan and Gotham City isn't exactly my original ideal place to live, but that's why I chose this place! They'd never expect me to move to the most crime ridden city in the world.
I set my belongings down before grabbing my MDC black Amex card and my keys before leaving my apartment, I locked the door behind me and headed to the Walmart Supercenter near my apartment. I quickly arrived and grabbed a cart before walking towards the back to school section, I grabbed a Batman themed backpack, it was pretty big and spacious. I then grabbed all my school supplies I needed before heading to the electrics department.
I got a new iPhone 16e and Apple Watch, both an Amazon Fire and Nook Tablet, a new HP Laptop, and both a PlayStation 5 and Xbox One. I paid for everything at the electronics counter and said that my parents sent me to buy this stuff before school started on Wednesday. I also had to lie and say me and my parents moved to Gotham City from France. Luckily the person at the counter knew both ASL and French Sign Language. I made sure to learn ASL before coming to Gotham City, I wanted to make it easier for people to understand me.
I got home without my shit getting stolen, which I was very happy about. I unpacked everything before setting it up, I had immediately called MetroPCS and got my phone turned on with them under my MDC identity and they let me without question, saying that Batman himself had gone to them as Batman and paid using a card that was under his vigilante name. I guess it was normal for Gotham City to have phones activated under their aliases names. I did the same thing when creating my Barnes and Noble account. I already had an Amazon account under my MDC alias.
But the Amazon account is already connected to my MDC official website. So Amazon is basically for buying my things and selling my designs. But it doesn't matter, 'cause today's Sunday so that gives me three days to get everything set up before I have to go to school.
๐๐ถ๐๐ท๐ ๐พ๐ ๐๐ฝ๐๐๐๐น ๐ธ๐๐๐๐ถ๐ธ๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐น๐ป๐ถ๐๐ฝ๐๐? ๐ผ'๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ป๐๐๐น ๐ธ๐๐๐๐น ๐ฝ๐๐๐ ๐๐... ๐ช๐ ๐ฝ๐'๐น ๐ฝ๐ถ๐๐ ๐ต๐๐๐ธ๐ ๐ฒ๐ถ๐๐๐ ๐ถ๐น๐๐ ๐ ๐๐... ๐ด๐๐ถ๐ฝ, ๐๐๐'๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ธ๐ถ๐๐ ๐๐๐ป๐๐๐น... I thought with a small wince at the thought of being adopted by The Dark Knight who was already suspicious about Paris.
Finally Wednesday came and I woke up at five in the morning, took a shower, brushed my hair and teeth before putting on my Gotham Academy uniform and then putting on some light make-up. I grabbed my backpack and left my apartment, after I made sure everything I needed was inside my backpack, and I made sure to lock the door behind me. I arrived at Gotham Academy around six-thirtyish, it was still dark out but the gates were open and kids started piling in.
I walked up to where everyone was getting their schedules and once I reached them I signed out in ASL, "๐'๐ฆ ๐๐๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐๐ญ๐ญ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ฉ๐๐ข๐ง-๐๐ก๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐'๐ฆ ๐ก๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐ฆ๐ฒ ๐ฌ๐๐ก๐๐๐ฎ๐ฅ๐" the person who was passing out schedules handed me mine before quickly saying, "It was mandatory for all teachers and staff to know ASL before we got hired. It's basically a requirement to work here." I just nodded my head before walking into the school and headed towards my fist class.
My first period class was World History with Mrs. Williams, the Principal of Gotham Academy's wife. I walked inside the classroom and she smiled at me and I just waved. "You must be Marinette, if any of the kids here make fun of you for being mute, you come to me right away, okay?" Mrs. Williams said and I just nodded my head before heading to sit next to a boy with the perfect mask of indifference on his face.
Next thing I knew a boy with glasses who looked like he was made of pure sunshine walked in. I don't associate with sunshine people, they're always full of lies and deception. Lila was anyways... the sunshine boy to a seat next to me, he looked so happy to have a new person at Gotham Academy? Weirdo. The boy with a mask of indifference just scowled and said, "Why are you in my class Kent?" and I realized that name sounded familiar, but where? Wait... He couldn't be, could he?
Is that Lois Lane-Kent's son? Johnathan Kent? Didn't she ask for an outfit for me to make him? The commission was something she knew he wanted, a Robin themed Halloween costume. "๐๐๐ฒ! ๐๐ซ๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐จ๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐๐ง๐-๐๐๐ง๐ญ'๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐จ๐ง? ๐๐จ๐ก๐ง๐๐ญ๐ก๐๐ง ๐๐๐ง๐ญ?" I signed to him and he looked confused before the boy with a mask of indifference sighed and translated, "She's asking if your mother is Lois Lane-Kent." and the sunshine boy nodded his head excitedly. "Yeah! That's my Mom! She's a great reporter! If you're into journaling, I can ask her if you can come home with me to Metropolis?" Johnathan said cheerfully and I smiled softly, "๐'๐ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ค๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐๐จ๐ก๐ง๐๐ญ๐ก๐๐ง!" I signed excitedly and the indifference boy translated again.
"Kent, Cassandra used sign language when she first arrived in Gotham City. Did you forget what we taught you already? Oh, I'm Damian Wayne." The boy with the indifference look on his face, that I now knew was Bruce Wayne's only blood son, Damian Wayne. I just nodded and Mrs. Williams started the lesson, I easily followed along and listened to her as she spoke.
Finally first period ended and I headed to AP Biology, when I arrived I sat down in the back of the classroom and then Damian joined me at my desk and just rolled his eyes? "You seem to be the only one other than Kent that would be socially appropriate for me to 'hang out' with in this school." Damian said and I just nodded my head without questioning his declaration. I wasn't used to people talking like that to me, but he seemed to want to have me as a friend? Whatever.
Soon enough it was lunch break and I grabbed my lunch box out of my locker before shutting it and heading to the lunch room. Damian and Johnathan met me at the entrance to the lunch room before we walked inside and I walked towards their table with them. I didn't understand why Damian and Johnathan wanted to be close with me, did Alfred find out I was in Gotham City? No, that's impossible. But I remember seeing Batman spying on me last night when I transformed into Ladybug left my apartment using the Horse Miraculous to get to Paris after I got an akuma alert.
Suddenly my phone went off and I gulped when I saw it was an akuma alert back in Paris, I quickly finished my lunch. "๐ ๐ก๐๐ฏ๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ญ๐ก๐ซ๐จ๐จ๐ฆ, ๐'๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ฌ๐๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐จ๐ญ๐ก ๐ข๐ง ๐ ๐ฌ๐๐." I signed to them and Damian sighed? "Very well Dupain-Cheng. Do not take long." Damian said and I just put a thumbs up before running to the bathroom, I finally reached the girls bathroom and went into a stall before signing, "๐๐ข๐ค๐ค๐ข! ๐๐ฉ๐จ๐ญ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ง!" and transforming into Ladybug.
I used the power of the horse miraculous to opened a portal to Paris. I quickly stepped through and shut it behind me before running and joining the fight. The battle was hard since we were fighting against Stormy Weather, again. But she was stronger this time and it took us a total of three hours just to get her umbrella and break it to get the akuma and purify it. "Ladybug! Head back to school!" Vesperia said to me when she realized how long the battle took and I nodded my head before returning to the bathroom stall I was in and destransformed.
I walked out of the stall and washed my hands before the door to the bathroom was kicked opened and I literally jumped... and accidentally broke off some of the sink. "Found her B. She's been in the bathroom." I heard a male say and turned my head to see... "๐๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ๐ฐ๐ข๐ง๐ ? ๐๐ก๐๐ญ? ๐๐ข๐ ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฆ๐๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ก๐๐ฉ๐ฉ๐๐ง?" I signed out to the Gotham City vigilante that was a fucking ray of sunshine. "You've been missing for three hours, the Principal got worried and so did Damian Wayne and Johnathan Kent. Where were you?" He asked me softly and I sighed, not knowing what the fuck to say.
Should I say 'Oh! Hey! I'm actually a superhero from Paris and I had to leave to go battle a villains mind controlled puppet!', yeah, actually, no. The Batfamily is already suspicious of Paris. Especially Bruce Wayne, Batman. I just shrugged my shoulders and came up with a terrible excuse, "๐ ๐๐๐ญ๐ฎ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ก๐๐ฏ๐ ๐๐๐. ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ฒ." I signed out and he sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "That's the lamest excuse I've ever heard Marinette. Batman wants to talk to you." Nightwing said and lead me outside of the bathroom towards the gymnasium and then behind the curtains of the stage.
And that's where Batman was and he sighed, he bent down to my level and gently pulled out a small Hershey chocolate bar from his utility belt and passed it to me. I reluctantly took it and started eating it quietly, "I know your from Paris, Marinette. Alfred told me about you many times, but he called your parents yesterday to ask if they knew where you were. And they just said they legally disowned you, are you okay? Do you need a safe home? Safer than your apartment?" Bruce asked me as I ate the chocolate, I couldn't necessarily say anything because my hands were busy.
"She's mute B. She uses sign language, Alfred already told you that." Nightwing said to Bruce said and the older man sighed and nodded his head. "Damian said you wanted to meet Lois Lane-Kent, I can set that up for you. But, I have to ask, why do you want to meet the most world renounced journalist?" Bruce asked me once I finished eating my chocolate. "๐ ๐๐ข๐ ๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐ ๐ฌ๐ก๐'๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐ฆ๐ฒ ๐จ๐ฅ๐ ๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐ง๐'๐ฌ ๐๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐. ๐๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ ๐๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐๐ซ. ๐๐๐ฒ๐ง๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฌ๐๐ ๐จ๐๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ ๐ ๐ข๐ซ๐ฅ ๐ง๐๐ฆ๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ ๐๐จ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ข ๐ฌ๐๐ข๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ก๐๐ซ ๐๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ค๐ง๐จ๐ฐ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ฒ๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฒ." I signed out and Bruce's mouth went into a firm line of displeasure.
"๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ฌ๐จ ๐ค๐ง๐จ๐ฐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ'๐ซ๐ ๐๐ซ๐ฎ๐๐ ๐๐๐ฒ๐ง๐, ๐๐๐ญ๐ฆ๐๐ง. ๐๐ฅ๐๐ซ๐๐ ๐ง๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ ๐ญ๐จ๐ฅ๐ ๐ฆ๐, ๐๐ฎ๐ญ ๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ฆ๐ฒ ๐ญ๐ซ๐ข๐ฉ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐จ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฌ๐ข๐ญ ๐ก๐ข๐ฆ, ๐ ๐๐๐๐ข๐๐๐ง๐ญ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ญ๐๐๐ฏ๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ฐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐๐จ๐ฐ๐ฅ. ๐'๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐จ๐ซ๐ซ๐ฒ. ๐๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ ๐๐ข๐๐ง'๐ญ ๐ญ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐๐ง๐ฒ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ ๐'๐ฆ ๐ ๐ซ๐๐๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐ค๐๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฌ๐๐๐ซ๐๐ญ๐ฌ." I signed out while looking away from him, Alfred knew I knew so he didn't say anything to Bruce. Bruce sighed and shook his head in amusement. "It's fine Marinette, Alfred and I talked for a bit... Would you be okay with me adopting you? You'd be safer at my place than at your apartment." Bruce said and I shrugged my shoulders, it would be harder to sneak out to fight akuma's.
But I could also learn how to fight better under his training? And I'd be safer. I didn't realize that Bruce was watching me intently and finally I, reluctantly, agreed to him adopting me. He gave me another piece of chocolate before turning to Nightwing and said, "I'll get the paper work settled by tonight. I'll send Red Robin and you to go to her apartment and have you both pack up her things. I'll also get that meet and greet with Lois set up." before he left the stage and I looked up at Nightwing as I ate the chocolate and he gave me a kind smile?
"It's gonna be okay Marinette, you don't ever have to worry about going back to Paris ever again." He said softly to me as he gently ruffled my hair. I gave a small smile before he lead me back to my classroom when both Damian and Johnathan were impatiently waiting for me while also being extremely worried about me. Johnathan was the first one up to me and hugged me whispering softly, "Don't ever scare me like that again... Promise me you won't..." and I just hugged him back, happy that someone other than what little family I had left cared about me, Damian had a small, barely noticeable smile on his face and I just rolled my eyes causing him to scowl again.
Johnathan pulled away and I took a seat at the desk in between him and Damian. Finally the school day ended and Johnathan smiled a waved goodbye as his mother, Lois Lane-Kent was picking him up? I quickly ran after Johnathan and easily caught with with him and we walked over to his mother with Damian trailing not too far behind. "Bruce said you had a story for me Marinette?" Ms. Lane-Kent said and I just nodded my head and she smiled softly. "Alright, I'm going to take Jon home and then I'll meet you at Wayne Manor." She said and I nodded my head happily.
Damian grabbed my hand a lead me towards a limo and my godfather, Alfred Pennyworth, was standing next to the door and opened it to let me and Damian get in. Once we were inside I immediately buckled and Damian did the same before Alfred shut the door and walked around to the drivers seat, he started the engine and we left Gotham Academy and headed towards Wayne Manor.
It didn't take us that long and my eyes widened, this place never seemed to not amaze me with how big it was. It was so big and amazing and I've gotten lost in it too many times to count. We pulled up out front and Alfred got out before opening the door. I saw a moving truck with boxes and I automatically knew it was my stuff from my apartment, suddenly I noticed the box that had the Miracle Box in it and quickly ran over since the person carrying it was about to drop it because of how heavy it was. I easily took it from him and carried it inside and followed the movers to my new bedroom.
Lady Noire? More like Batman's worst Nightmare!: Part 1
ใPairing: Bruce Wayne (25) X Marinette Dupain-Cheng (22)ใ
(A/N: I loved nyukaart's University Bruce Wayne/Batman idea, so credits to them for the creation of this MLB X DC Comics Batfamily fanfic idea)
Minor warnings: Mentions of past abuse on Marinette, runaway Marinette AU, Gotham University Bruce Wayne/Batman & Marinette Dupain-Cheng/Lady Noire AU, soulmate AU, Marinette is aged up to 22 while Bruce is aged down to 25 (3 year age gap), in the Prologue Marinette is 17 and Bruce is 20, slight mentions of suicidal thoughts and tendencies, slight mentions of the teenagers of Gotham City doing drugs, Marinette has severe PTSD, Marinette has severe anxiety and panic attacks, Marinette is depressed as fuck, early guardian Marinette, stressed out Marinette, strong language such as cussing.
Description: Marinette finally had enough of Paris and ran away to Gotham City, where she had entrolled at Gotham University at 17 since she graduated High School at 15, with a necklace she made right before she left after getting the Butterfly and Peacock miraculous' from Shadow Moth and had stolen the Cat miraculous from Chat Noir all in one night, she found a spell to merge al the Miraculous' into a necklace, but after Marinette put it on, all the Miraculous' of the world merged into it. Bruce was just 20 when he became Batman, he was going to Gotham University as well and his classmates often asked questions as to how he got his injuries or why he always seemed tired.
Bruce had nightmares all the time, every night he saw horrible things happening to his soulmate growing up. But then, suddenly, the nightmares stopped and instead she was living a life of peace.
When Lady Noire (Instead of her having green on her suit it's blue and her eyes are still the same design as Lady Noire from the show except they're now blue as well, he suits design art I will post at the end does NOT belong to me, I found the picture on Pinterest.) appeared on the streets of Gotham City? She was a Cat themed vigilante, and Bruce didn't like that she had gained the popularity over the kids. But she was kind and caring and he secretly looked up to that. Then Dick Grayson came into Bruce's life when he was 21 and Bruce had adopted Dick, he quickly became Robin and was put into Elementary school at Gotham Academy. Lady Noire built up a good reputation with all the Robin's and they always asked if Lady Noire could be their mother. Commissioner Gordon didn't mind her, she kept children off of the streets and away from drugs.
I looked at Tikki and Plagg with tears in my eyes, I didn't belong in Paris anymore so I enrolled at Gotham University to escape. I graduated high school at fifteen and I'm now seventeen, these past two years I've been quickly looking at different colleges far away from Paris, Gotham University was all the way across the world in Gotham City, New Jersey, USA. I was going to be far away from my abusive parents, far away from Lila Rossi and her sheep, far away from Paris, France. I heard there's a vigilante there named Batman and maybe I could be Lady Noire with a different version of said suit. I'm the Grand Guardian, so I'm able to change any of my suits based off of whatever miraculous I use.
I had already bought a plane ticket in advanced with cash and didn't use any of my debit or credit cards. I quickly reached the Parisian airport and showed the lady at the reception my ticket and passport. I was able to apply for dual citizenship in both France and the USA and got accepted for it. The President of France was one of my main MDC Fashion customers, so was Jagged Stone, Clara Nightingale, Superman, Louis Lane, Bruce Wayne and Lex Luthor. MDC Fashion was more popular than Agreste Fashion. I made a company from scratch and have built it up to where my fashion designs were being sold in extremely popular fashion stores.
I put Tikki and Plagg in rest mode as I got on the plane, did I mention I got a first class ticket? I sighed softly and decided to sleep for the plane ride.
Location: Gotham City International Airport
I woke up as the plane landed and sighed, I would be living in the Gotham University dorms. Not my ideal place to live, but it was better than all of the apartments in Gotham City. I got off of the plane and collected my things from baggage claim before leaving the airport to get into a taxi, we quickly arrived at Gotham University and I got out. The taxi couldn't drive onto the campus, I showed the person at the gate my Gotham University ID and he let me in, saying in French, "Bienvenue ร l'universitรฉ Gotham, Marinette. Nous espรฉrons que tu resteras en sรฉcuritรฉ et loin de Crime Alley et des autres endroits dangereux de Gotham City." (Welcome to Gotham University, Marinette. We hope you stay safe and away from Crime Alley and other dangerous places in Gotham City.).
I just nodded my head as the gates opened and I walked in and headed straight to the Girls Dormitory. I was on the Second Floor in dorm thirteen, luckily at Gotham University all the girls had their own dorms and didn't have to share them with others. I didn't understand why, but I was grateful for that factor and it made it easier for me to be Lady Noire without people asking questions. Though they might when I show up with injuries from fighting the criminals of Gotham City alongside Batman.
Two Days Later: Winter Semester Begins; Wayne Manor
Bruce Wayne POV
I woke up and groaned in pain, I had fought The Joker last night even though the first day of the Winter Semester at the University I go to started today. Being Batman and a University student is sometimes hard, people will ask questions about my injuries and last night? Then this "Lady Noire" showed up mid battle with The Joker.
She's been active for two days now and seemed to be great with the children of Gotham. I'd never seen a cat themed vigilante before, Catwoman was a cat themed villain in Gotham for crying out loud! ๐ฏ๐ฝ๐พ๐ ๐ฟ๐ถ๐น๐ ๐ฉ๐๐พ๐๐ ๐ธ๐๐๐๐น๐'๐ ๐ท๐ ๐๐๐๐๐พ๐๐ ๐๐พ๐๐ฝ ๐๐ถ๐๐๐๐๐ถ๐, ๐๐พ๐๐ฝ๐? I thought to myself as I got into the shower, then got dressed before I brushed my teeth and styled my hair. There was supposed to be a French girl joining Gotham University at age seventeen? She must be a child genius if she actually graduated high school at fifteen. It was a mystery to me that someone else was a childhood prodigy and graduated high school earlier than they were supposed to.
Location: Gotham University; The Business Lecture Hall
3rd Person POV
Marinette Dupain-Cheng and Bruce Wayne walked in after each other, both having coffee in their hands and looking dead on their feet. They didn't notice each other at first, too busy trying to find a seat. They ended up sitting next to each other and pulling out their notebooks. Marinette was used to being up late, having fought many akumas in the middle of the night and still made it to school on time back in Paris. Bruce? He was still getting used to it. Not many people can say they've been up all night fighting the criminals of Gotham City.
Marinette finally turned her head to look at Bruce when she realized she left her pencil case in her dorm. "Can I borrow a pen?" She asked him and he immediately passed to her his spare Wayne Enterprise black pen. She took it without recognizing that he was Bruce Wayne, she was too tired to talk to anyone unless she absolutely had to. She'd talked to him over the phone many times as MDC but she still didn't recognize his voice when he answered their Professor's question. Finally she was heading towards the Fashion Studio Lecture Hall. She arrived and noticed the man sitting next to her in the Business Lecture Hall was also studying in this major. She thought nothing of it and went to her station, and Bruce was her partner for this class.
Throughout the day they kept running into each other, whether it be in the different Lecture Hall's throughout the University and also during lunch break. Bruce just thought she was in the same classes as him because she wanted to be. Marinette however thought he was following her and didn't understand why he kept looking at her with those perfect bright blue eyes. What was she thinking? He didn't seem to like her and here she was, constantly getting lost in his bright blue eyes.
When the day ended she saw the man get into a fucking sports car that had to be worth millions. She suddenly started to think he was some stuck up rich boy who hated and thought he was better than everyone else. "Stupid rich boy. Acting like he's the fucking boss." Marinette muttered as she walked into her dorm room and immediately started on her homework. She quickly finished it and then quietly transformed into Lady Noire around eleven-thirty at night.
When she saw Batman standing next to Commissioner Gordon? She decided to stop by and see what was going on. "Anything I can help with Commissioner? Batman?" Lady Noire asked them and they both turned to look at her Batman was about to respond when Commissioner Gordon decided to say, "Black Mask has been selling drugs to teens and we're trying to figure out how to stop him. Any ideas Lady Noire? Because we're stumped." and Lady Noire grinned that grin that made Batman swoon without wanting to. But he hid it well under his mask of indifference and his cowl.
Lady Noire just dropped down next to the kid that had just gotten drugs and took it from her before leading her over to a park bench. "Hey, kiddo, this? This isn't going to help with whatever problems you have at home. You seem like a young girl who has loving parents but gets bullied at school. Do you really think your parents wouldn't blame themselves for this? Blame themselves for you doing these drugs? They would be devastated and hate themselves when they eventually found out. They wouldn't be mad at you, they'd be furious with themselves for not getting you the help you needed sooner. So stop doing this, because it'll just cause pain to everyone who truly cares about you. Okay sweetheart?" Lady Noire said to the girl who looked down at her lap and started to cry.
"I never thought about it like that... I need help... Maybe if I come clean to my parents they could get me help...?" The teenager said quietly through her sobs and Lady Noire just gave her a kiss on the forehead before saying, "It's up to you on whether or not you tell your parents. I'm sure they'd be devastated, but would immediately get the help you need. Now go home, or do you want me to take you home?" and the teen just hugged Lady Noire before said hero picked up the teenager and put her on her back before listening to the young girls instructions and they quickly arrive at the younger girls apartment.
Lady Noire knocked on the door and the girls parents answered, "Nevermind! You can hang up with the police! Alexis is home!" the teenage girl's, now known as Alexis, mother immediately hugged her little girl and asked, "Who are you? You brought home my baby girl, how ever can I thank you?" Alexis' mother asked quietly and Lady Noire just smiled. "You can call me Lady Noire, and I think little Alexis has somethings to talk with you and your husband about. I'm just a cat who wants to help the children of Gotham City." Lady Noire said before extending her bow staff and meeting up with Batman and Commissioner Gordon who were watching her form the rooftop across from the apartment.
"You're great with kids Lady Noire, I'll give you that. Maybe... Maybe we can work together every now and then. But I prefer to work alone. If I absolutely need help, what's a number I can reach you at?" Batman reluctantly accepted her as the, selective partner on certain cases, only person he'd reluctantly work with.
Lady Noire pulled out a piece of paper from her bow staff and wrote down her phone number she created for when anyone needed Lady Noire's help. Batman took it with a grunt before disappearing into the night. Lady Noire looked at Commissioner Gordon in confusion and he just said, "He does that a lot. He basically lives in the shadows of Gotham City." and Lady Noire just giggled and nodded her head before leaving Commissioner Gordon and heading off to her dorm at Gotham University, losing Batman's trail within minutes of him trying to follow her.
