1) breaking up with adrien instead of telling him the truth is punishing adrien for Marinette's bullshit
2) if the show expects me to take its portrayal of mental health issues seriously, they wouldn't have had chat noir try to kill himself in season 4 and then never approach it again. Having marinette say she's reaching a breaking point doesn't matter because they're portraying people with anxiety as liars who will manipulate and gaslight anyone who gets in the way of their lie, then cry 'mental health crisis' when called out. S6 mari is a disgusting display of mental illness rep, and if the show wants to pretend that any previous displays (s4 Adrien's depressive episode, mari's supposed pool spider ptsd idk) were good, then it can cut its therapy plotline. Its not mental health rep. It's fucking gross. Reminder that marinette doesn't exist, I'm not deriding a struggling child, I'm going after her old as shit writers who should know better. Make more crying models, I don't care. Your show is officially a danger to mental health awareness.
3) the hints that scarabella takes over are great, except now Alya is also lying by omission. This is stupid and goes against her character. What the fuck
4) adrien isn't playing dumb. They actually just made him like that. What. The. Fuck.
5) abuse apologia isn't cute, and no amount of crying will make me care about your mouthpiece. Marinette doesn't exist, but the grown ass adults who thought this plotline was okay do. The same adults who now have half the fandom parroting the "he would hurt too much" bullshit excuse that gets used against real abuse victims every day when attempting to learn about their abuser.
6) Marinette spends the whole episode trying to convince Alya to forgive her, when outside of what she did to her in Lasy Chaos, Alya isn't the one she needs forgiveness from
7) adrien was useless. Adrien was stupid. What the fuck is the point of having him in the opening credits. Yes I am still harping on it
8) I want to enjoy alya being an amazing team leader but I'm so hung up on how fucking stupid Adrien was written to be i am crashing out. This is how they see abuse survivors. What's the point? What's the fucking point in any of this? "The character that abuse victims relate to heavily is now blind to everything going on around him, accepts what his girlfriend says with no question, doesn't have any suspicions at all, and has come to accept that his gaslighters were right about his abuser." What. The. Fuck. What the fuck? What the actual fuck? This is the kid who speaks multiple languages and is top of the class? What, do the writers think abuse victims' brains turn to sludge the moment they think about their abuser or their partner? What the fuck???
9) thank god alya shot down mari's manipulations during the akuma fight. If only I cared, but since alya isnt fucking telling adrien, I don't. Great. She knows and it stuck this time. Did the writers just forget that alya is a journalist and maribug is lying to all of Paris? Of course they did, because they're so attached to their fuck ass abuse apologia lie plot that they didn't think past "what if Marinette excuses an abuser then cries fifty million times about it"
10) that didn't feel like a season finale lmao
11) one last "there's no fucking way adrien is actually being written to be this fucking dumb" because holy fuck. His dead eyed stare in lady chaos was supposed to be taken seriously. He's actually being written like this. Holy. Fuck. Toddlers connect dots better than this, and I would know. All my cousins have infants and toddlers.
Controversial take: with how much Alya has been falling for lies and coming up with wild conclusions without thinking twice I really don't think she will be a good journalist in the future
Adrien lifted the hatch into Marinette's room. He froze at the chaos. Marinette turned to look at him, but all he saw was a conspiracy board on how to murder Lila. Adrien, quickly came back to his senses, climbed I and closed the door.
"What the fuck, Mari?" he whisper-shouted.
"Shhhh!" She shushed him, "See, if I can plan it carefully, I won't be caught."
Marinette smiled and turned back to admire her handiwork.
Adrien sighed, "Claws out."
Damian was at school when his emergency line rang. It was untraceable through the Justice League database.
"What did I say about phones, Mr. Wayne?" his teacher complained.
Damian stood up, grabbing his things, "It's my father and it says 'emergency'. He knows not to call me during school."
"Mr. Wayne." they growled.
"You can call him yourself, with the principal and our lawyer present." Damian declared walking out, "Emergency calls are authorized."
Damian sat in his car and sighed. He hadn't been using the 'Wayne' authority for awhile and had come to hate it as much as the 'Al Ghul' fame. Damian activated the soundproof windows and redialed the last number, on the hidden screen in the car.
"What is it?" He growled out, "Expect a call-"
"Uh, Birdy." Chat Noir spoke.
"Pussycat?" Damian replied, not expecting him to be on the line, "Why are you calling me?"
"I walked in on Minibug planning a murder." Chat admitted, turning the phone towards Marinette's wall and hideaway calendar, "She has evidence, everywhere. Think Bernard's board for 'Do the Butts Match?'"
'Habibiti.'
Damian sighed, "Yes."
His screen was suddenly filled with poster boards, papers, and strings.
"What happened?" Damian questioned.
"Well....today Lila pulled another stunt and Minibug went home early, but with all these papers, I don't know how long she's been planning." Chat Noir confessed, "It might also be because she's tired. There's been akumas every night this past week."
"Can you get rid of it?" Robin asked.
"She's not gonna like it , but you got it." Chat smiled, "Cataclysm."
Damian watched as everything vanished with a simple touch.
"How is she not screaming at you?" He wondered, out loud.
"Oh." Chat chuckled, moving the camera over to Marinette, "She didn't hear me transform and I tied her up with my tail. She fell asleep."
"I have a few calls to make." Damian responded, ending the call.
'Okay. Now, that the murder problem is solved, what do I do about you?'
Chat detransformed and looked at Marinette passed out. He carefully lifted her up and brought them to the ground.
"Tom!" he shouted, "Sabine!"
The couple rushed upstairs and found him scared, holding their daughter.
"What?" Sabine began.
"I don't know!" Adrien shouted frantically, "We-We were talking and then-Then she suddenly passed out!"
Sabine rushed over, checking for a fever.
"She was yawning and rubbing her eyes a lot." Adiren confessed, "She seemed tired these last couple days in class. Has she been really busy? I could help her with homework if she doesn't understand something!"
"She didn't tell us about any projects." Sabine replied.
"As far as we know, shes only been babysitting Manon." Tom answered, "Maybe twice a week. Three if it's important, but Nadia always checks if it's okay and it's not interrupting her schedule."
Adrien hid his scowl. He knew Alya and Nino were dumping their younger siblings on her if they saw her out and about. It seemed like her parents didnt know.
'I'll handle those two myself.'
"Why dont you head back to school, Son." Tom spoke.
"Hes right, Dear." Sabine suggested, "We can keep an eye on her and if anything changes, we'll take her to the doctor."
Adrien nodded his head and picked up his things, leaving the bakery.
'Thank you Father for the acting lessons. Onto phase two.'
"Hey!" Nino called out, "Where were you?"
Adrien smiled through his internal rage, "With Marinette."
"You were?" Alya questioned.
"Well, not that long." He answered, "She collapsed."
"What?" They cried out.
"Is she okay?" Alya pushed.
"I don't know. Her parents are keeping her home." The model answered, "We were talking and then her eyes rolled back and she fell!"
"Her parents couldn't figure out why. They said she isn't busy with projects right now and she's only been babysitting Manon, with her parent's permission." He announced, seeing them wince, "They said they might just close the bakery and take her to the hospital."
He watched as they looked over to the bakery with the 'CLOSED' sign now in full view. Adrien saw them pale and glance at each other. He knew he had gotten them worried.
'No one hurts M'Lady.'
Adrien strolled in after Nino and Alya, as they silently walked to their seats and hunched over.
"Ms. Bustier, Marinette is staying home." He announced, for the class to hear, "Her parents should be calling in soon; they might be taking her to the hospital."
"What happened?" Asked Rose.
"She collapsed during lunch." Adrien spoke, "We don't know why. She doesn't have a fever and she hasn't been too busy; just homework and babysitting."
He studied their faces and saw some had the decency to look ashamed.
"The doctor's note should say-" Lila interrupted.
"Why would she need a doctor's note?" Adrien questioned, "I just told Ms. Bustier. She can takes your word for it all the time or is mine not good enough?"
Everyone remained silent, in shock. They had never seen Adrien get like this, so upset.
"No!" Lila shouted, trying to back peddle, "That's not it, Adrien!"
"Then, Mari will be back and when she's back, she won't need a not." he growled out.
"No, Adrien-" Caline tried to interject.
"What if she's faking?" Lila called out.
Chloe stood up suddenly, "I can get Daddy to check hospital records if your all so worried and while he's doing it, we can get Lila's too."
Llila smiled, "I got to Italy for my treatments so-"
"Then, your passport records should be fine." the mayor's daughter scoffed, "Daddy doesn't have trouble talking to ambassadors."
"I wouldn't want to be a hassle." Lila pointed out.
Chloe smiled, "I can call him, right now, and get it over with. He does what I tell him."
Lila looked between Adrien and Chloe. They were smirking. They knew they had her cornered; if she pushed more about Mairnette, they would reveal everything.
"I'm sure....Marinette will tell us when she's better." Lila commented and kept her mouth shut.
Adrien took one look at Chloe and nodded, before sitting down.
Adrien let the class know the next day that Marinette was hospitalized and had to stay there for a few days. He could see that many felt bad for her, but Alya, Nino and Caline wore the guiltiest faces of them all.
'It's not like I could tell them she was tired from all the akumas. If they feel guilty, maybe they have something to be guilty about.'
When Marinette woke up, her parents demanded to know what had been going on. The doctors had told them she was mentally drained and dehydrated. Marinette looked between her parents and the doctors and broke down, realizing her miraculous was gone.
"Alya and Nino have been forcing me to babysit their siblings. Miss Bustier has been making me do so much work! She wants me to stay later and tutor people when I'm already doing so much. Then there's Manon and the bakery! My homework! I need to work on my designs!" Marinette sobbed out, "Then, there's all the akumas! Everyoen is being mean and I'm trying not to get akumatized!"
Sensing her distress, the doctor gave her a sedative so she could sleep without worry of akumas.
When Adrien arrived, he could see they were unhappy.
"Is Marinette okay?" He questioned, seeing their faces.
"Did you know?" Tom asked, "Did you know about the extra work she was doing?"
Adrien sighed as he closed the door, "Not at first; not until the day before. Marinette complained to me. She said she didn't get a choice. She would be out with Manon and the kids would suddenly run up to her, with Alya and Nino nowhere in sight. When she asked where they were, they answered that they would pick them up in two hours at the park."
"I didnt know she hadn't told you, until she collapsed." He confessed.
"You tell those two, they are banned from our bakery for two years." Sabine commanded.
"Yes, Ma'am." The model answered, "I did tell them that Marinette collapsed and how we were worried since she shouldn't be that tired from babysitting one kid."
"And?" Tom pressed.
"They have been quiet ever since." He declared, "They arent talking to anyone and most of the time keeping their heads down, like waiting to be scolded. I might have laid my concern on a bit too thick; they might believe they are the reason she is here."
"From our perspective, they did." Sabine replied.
"Another thing." Adrien winced, "I may....have told Damian, she was here."
"We'll call him." Tom spoke, softly, "You have a full schedule as well."
"Make sure you're getting rest, Dear." Sabine stated. Adrien nodded and left the room.
It had been almost a month, when the class saw Marinette again. She was walking with a guy. Alya and Nino sighed in relief. They quickly ran up to her.
"You're okay! Rose cried out.
"Are you completely better?" Asked Mylene.
"Are you coming back to school tomorrow?" Questioned Nathaniel.
"Ms. Bustier has been different since you've been gone." Announced Kim.
"No." Mari announced, "I'm never going back to that school."
"What?" Spoke Nino.
"But you're the class representative!" Alya shouted.
"You can take over, Alya." Marinette replied, "I'm sure the class rep duties will be .....significantly lessened with the board carefully watching."
"What do you mean?" Asked Juleka.
"Your teacher was forcing Marinette to do her own work." The guy announced, "She also signed her up for activities to ease your burdens, as your grades were poor. Before her collapse, she demanded Marinette begin tutoring, the likes of you."
"Wait. What?" Spoke Ivan.
"What does he mean?" Kim questioned.
"Who is this guy?" Alya demanded.
"Her boyfriend, Damian." Adrien announced, "Hey."
"Agreste." Damian nodded, "Thank you for informing me about her condition."
"Wait!" Nino shouted, "You knew?"
"That Mari had a boyfriend?" Adrien asked, "Of course, I knew. Mari's my best friend."
Marinette groaned, "Don't you know how much of a fuss he's been putting me through? You're lucky I'm not super gluing feathers to you!"
"Don't be so rude, Marinette. She can be so cruel." Lila spoke up, "Are you sure she's your girlfriend-girlfriend?"
"Bitch!" Marinette shouted, surprising them, "If I kill you are you dead-dead or just not breathing?"
Damian chuckled, "Okay, Angel. Obviously, you are still tired. We should return."
"What?" Questioned Lila, horrified.
"She's tired." Adrien stated, as if they hadn't just heard Damian speak.
"Did you not hear her threaten Lila?" Alya snapped back.
"It was a simple question," Damian declared, "but if she wants to feel threatened, it is a simple task."
The class looked between Lila, Marinette and her boyfriend, and Adrien, who was happily smiling.
"Uh, Dude." Nino spoke up, "Your best friend is a little bit psycho and so is her boyfriend. You might need a new one."
"Nah." Adrien brushed off, "Princess only gets like this when she's super tired. It must be what happens with Lila. Mari never remembers when she sleep talks. The meds said they would make her drowsy, right?"
"Yes." Damian answered, "We got smoothies from the shop she goes to with Tsurugi-san. We were on our way back."
Adrien nodded his head in understanding, "So, when is the move?"
"Move?" Nino piped up.
"Is he moving away?" asked Alix.
"He talked to Mari's parents and convinced them to allow Mari to move in with his family, in the states." Adrien announced, nonchalantly, "Damian is over protective and his family is always making sure no one is stressed out."
"You make her sound like an object." Lila commented.
The model scoffed, "There's two overprotective people together."
"Marinette isn't overprotective." Alya declared.
"She doesn't lock her diary in a box that traps a thief's hands in it? She doesn't show anyone her designs and keeps a locker, in town, full of her things?" Adrien questioned, with a smile, " Perhaps, you never knew Mari at all, so-called ex-best friend. Mari could defend me for days because I did something wrong. When was the last time she defended any of you?"
'Defend?'
The Agreste heir glared at them, taking his stance next to the couple, "Don't you realize you are partially to blame for her leaving?"
"But Miss Bustier-" Rose began, uncomfortably.
"You're also the reason why Mari wasn't sleeping or eating!" Adrien shouted, pointing to Alya and Nino, "Tossing your siblings at her because it was convenient for you! Having them run up to her as you walk away, so she can't say no! Hell, you don't even talk anymore!"
"Why do you all go to her for help?" Adrien continued to shout, "She isn't the only artist in class! Are Alix and Nathaniel not good enough? Both Max and I have excellent grades, as well!"
Everyone looked down, never expecting the scolding. They had come to rely on Marinette so much, they hadn't realized the pressure they had put her under until now and it took Adrien to tell them.
"I'm okay." Marinette spoke up, hugging Adrien.
Damian swiftly scooped her up, "I'm taking her home. She doesn't need to be here, with them."
Adrien nodded, "I'll see you at dinner tomorrow." and with that, the couple was gone.
"Adrien." Nino called out.
"You guys pushed her so hard, she hadn't slept in almost a week." Adrien spoke softly, "It can cause neurological damage. You guys have been mean to her in school. She was just trying to meet you expectations; she was trying to be your friend."
"Wait, how long has Mari been dating that guy?" questioned Mylene, "Her parents wouldn't just let her move into a stranger's home."
"Three years." Adrien answered.
"What?" asked Alix.
Rose perked up, "What about her bullying Lila?"
The model rolled his eyes, "Mari never bullied her."
"Yes she did." Alya shouted, "Marinette wanted to date you!"
" Well, I asked her out and got rejected." Adrien announced, "She did admit that she liked me when Lila moved here, but she was getting over me. Marinette helped me get with my ex-girlfriend, Kagami, despite her feelings for me. By the time I asked her out, she was already with Damian. Lial has been lying to you and getting you to harass Mari."
"But....Why are you saying all of this now?" asked Nathaniel, getting increasingly frustrated.
"Oh, I told Alya and Nino years ago." he said, showing off his model smile, "They thought it was 'cute' that I was trying to defend Mari and be her 'knight in shining armor'. Doesn't matter now, though."
"What do you mean?" asked Kim, as people turned to look at the couple.
"Like I said before, her boyfriend is overprotective and Mari finds it cute. Her parents adore him. They think she's in good hands and so do I." Adrien replied, "Damian is known for not putting up with anyone's shit and breaking bones, if people get in his way. His mother raised him to believe that women were criminal masterminds, looking for the next big catch."
Lila unknowingly flinched.
The model smiled, "She taught him to fight and that anyone was an opponent. He is trained in several martial arts and banned from several competitions because he was trained since he could walk."
"I know Mari will always be protected and no one will ever hurt her again." He continued, glaring at them, "No more torn up homework. No more getting tripped in the halls. No more unnecessary work. I can guarantee that if Damian ever saw it happening to Mari, he wouldn't hold back. Bruce tells him he's too advanced and he could cause some serious damage to someone if he went all out. Damian wouldn't care and I would be cheering him on."
Adrien walked away leaving them stunned.
"Why didn't you tell us that Adrien told you Lila was a liar?" Questioned Ivan.
"Huh?" Nino answered, still in shock, "Uh, we...just thought he was...that Adrien wanted to help her. It was out of nowhere!"
"Why did you dump your siblings with Marinette?" Countered Nathaniel.
"She always helped before. She could be trusted-" Alya began.
"Trusted enough to look out for little kids, but not enough to be you friend?" Juleka pressed.
"It sounds like she was never given the chance to reject you...generous offer." Max countered.
Agitated, Alya shouted back, "What about your theatre's club backdrop?"
Everyone quickly turned against each other, fighting over who had pushed Marinette pass her limit. Who had pissed off Adrien? While they were busy arguing, Lila slipped away, tossing away her wig.
'Well, that school was a bust. Back to being Cerise.'
Can I just say I am so fucking done with Alya's high horse morals bullshit after she and Nino told Adrien to his and Marinette's faces that he's just trying to act like a good boyfriend but shouldn't support her in her delusions/lies.
Like genuinely I am so done with this character that has done nothing to earn back the trust she's given after straight up distrusting and gaslighting Marinette in favour of Lila.
Her taking Lila's side has never been properly adressed and this whole arc of "Oh but you know I HATE lying, I'd never lie" is trash too, especially after she lied to Marinette and revealed Rena Furtive to Nino, thus screwing up and risking their entire mission/plans.
Her calling out Marinette on her bullshit is valid or rather would be if she didn't also just get off scottfree after the things she's done wrong.
And she could at some point perhaps try reaching Marinette with empathy for the situation she's been in since she was fucking 14, bullied and doing terribly in terms of her memtal health, rather than constantly guilting her and threatening her with rescinding her friendship, etc
Getting emotionally blackmailed by someone whose friendship you only managed to keep by revealing your most important secrets to might not be the epitome of a healthy friendship.
Marinette needs someone to call her out on her misdeeds/wrong decision but it should be someone who both treats themself and is treated by the story with as much scrutiny and self reflection.
I genuinely cannot stand her anymore and just in this latest episode she completely ignored Marinette's boundaries and wish to be alone.
But sure let's give her the "Change or you don't deserve me as a friend anymore" card.
Hey all, I have had this idea circling my head for a while now, I just haven't been able to flush out how the storyline goes besides the main bullet points. I would love someone to turn it into a story (and tag me with the finished product). I have tagged a few creators who I really enjoy reading, but please do not limit to them, they are just who I am familiar with. So yea, here goes:
*Marinette has approached the school board about what is happening in her class, with receipts of Lila's lies, Bustier & Damocles' neglect and the bullying.
*The Board of Governor's mention that they have been curious about Francois DuPont for a while as they have not received any compliments or complaints in years and that is highly unusual.
*When Marinette mentions that she has called & emailed the number provided on their school's webpage for complaints after her near expulsion caused by Lila Rossi, the Board decides to take drastic measure. They would like Marinette to go undercover for them. Continue to gather & document everything that happens with pictures, witness statements (if she can get them) and even a camera they would like her to wear when she is on the grounds or attending any events so they have audio & video proof they can use. The camera will be live & automatically uploaded to their cloud server so they can see what happens in real time & have access to necessary moments for review/documentation in case of any legal actions taken.
*Basically Marinette would be like a TABC undercover agent for them.
*They also agree to wipe her record of any evidence of the punishments she received under the 2 adults in charge of her care (namely the expulsion and any suspensions).
*Marinette agrees as long as her parents are allowed to be in the know about this as well.
*When Marinette asks if she has to continue tutoring students, organizing, planning and leading all Fundraising and class activities the Board gets frustrated. They tell her that while they would like her to, she will receive reimbursement based off of what evidence can be done to show her work.
*Marinette has her lawyer draft up a contract to protect herself and all parties including her parents, the Board & Marinette sign it. Along with an NDA to protect her identity as MDC as that will inevitably be discovered during the operation.
*Marinette provides weeks worth of documentation for the Board and has meet ups with the Board at random to turn in her physical documentation including destroyed work, assignments with failing grades that actually were correct, copies of essays turned in to win class trips, photos, emails and text messages from the class' bullying etc. Marinette keeps copies of all of it, as do her parents.
*Marinette misses a check in which is highly unusual for her. When the representative from the Board decides to check the live feed of her camera, they see it streaming an attack against the girl by the class. She is being physically held while being attacked. Her teacher is in the background with her back turned & pretending it isn't happening/she doesn't know what's going on.
*The representative takes action, calling the police to the location, calling her parents to notify them and then following up her boss to request they review the last few hours of footage for what caused this drastic increase in behavior, while she herself rushes to the school yard.
*Marinette wakes up in the hospital.
And yea, that's all I've gotten. Not sure how to conclude it. Not sure how the kwami's play into it (or basically how she acts as Ladybug if she's wearing a camera). Not really sure if Adrien or Chloe is good or bad in this one or not. I feel like if Adrien is good in it then there should be some footage of him talking with Marinette about how he can't help her because of his father. It will also show how much time he misses from physical classes due to Gabriel's ridiculous photoshoots at all hours of the day.
"Hey girl, you know how we're taking that class trip to tokyo in a few days right?" Alaya asked her best friend.
"Yes, I know, I helped organize it with the rest of the student council Alya," Marinette said with a slightly exasperated tone, confused as to why the other girl was asking her that. surely the lady blogger didn't forget that as class rep, Marinette would be the first one (aside from Ms. Bustier) to learn about any major event the class would be involved in.
Heck, Marinette was the one who informed her class when she asked Nathaniel to help design the flier for Heroes Week.
"And you know how there's going to be a Heroes week event in honor of not only Ladybug and Chat Noir, but other heroes like that ninja from Norrisville, and jade armor, and Max Steel, and Danny phantom, and spider-man?" Alya continued as if she didn't hear what Marinette just said, etching herself more and more into the ravenet's personal space with each mention of each hero.
"Yeah, I know that too. It mentions that on the flier but-"
"Well look at this!" Alya exclaimed as she shoved her phone into Marinette's face. The ravenette had to step back to get a good look at the screen. She frowned when she saw a familiar brown-skinned Italian girl with her signature sausage hair on the small device.
"Lila gave me another exclusive interview for the Ladyblog about some of these other heroes! watch!"
The brunette plays the video for her to see, and Lila lets out the fakest laugh the raven-haired girl has ever heard (which coming from someone who sucks at lying was saying alot) before saying "I didn't mention this before, cause I didn't want to come off as bragging. but I'm friends with the ninja, Max steel, Spider-Man, and jade armor. We're all like this." She holds up two crossed fingers for emphasis, "especially me and Max Steel, he's so romantic. I even told ladybug about them for any potential team up."
"Isn't this so cool," Alya squealed as she hopped up and down like an excited little girl who just got a gift for Christmas, "this video got me more views than even the interview Lila gave about being ladybug best friend."
Marinette wondered if Alya checked the reviews for the video.
When Alya posted that interview of Lila claiming to be ladybug best friend, most of the reviews for that vid were of people either calling Lila out on her lie and pointing out how ridiculous her claims were and/or threw insult (to put it nicely) towards Alya and her apparent failing at being a journalist. Marinette was sure that the reviews for the interview of Lila's latest lie would be similar to the reviews for Lila's first lie, if not more harsh.
though judging from how Alya was behaving, it was likely she didn't read those reviews, that or she brushed them off just like she did for the reviews of her first interview of Lila.
"And do you know what this also mean?" Alya squee with sparkles in her eyes, as she clenched her phone close to her chest.
"Um," was all that a confused Marinette could let out, not really sure where the other girl was going with this.
even if the ravenette did, the tan-skinned girl wouldn't have really given her the chance to speak as Alya didn't even wait a single second before she resumed talking.
"it could mean the birth of a new superhero team, one with both ladybug and chat noir in it!"
Marinette honestly doubted that would happen. Not that Marinette was against the idea, but rather due to how...unrealistic something like that could be. again, each of these different heroes live too far away from each other to be a proper team.
Seriously, does Alya think they have access to some space station that's equipped with teleporter pads or something?
"oh man, they could be like the new Seven!" Alya exclaimed in excitement, missing the look of revulsion that flashed across Marinette's face.
'DON'T YOU DARE COMPARE ME AND CHATON TO THAT GROUP OF FRAUDS!' Marinette thought with barely concealed disgust, completely insulted at the very thought of being compared to that group of so-called heroes.
she still recalled the last time she was in New York and she had ran into the Deep as ladybug, and thanks to the glamour provided by her miraculous, the older man thought she was an adult and tried to coarse her into inappropriate activities before she introduced her foot to his prized jewels.
When Chat learned of that incident, he was ready to murder the fish themed mutant before she managed to (begrudgingly) stop him.
it didn't help that one of the local (actual) heroes, Spider-man, inform her that the rest of the seven, as well as the other so-called "heroes" working for Vought were just as bad, if not worse.
Marinette took a deep breath to try and forget that memory and focus on the current issue, before letting out an exacerbated sigh as she palmed her face.
"Alya, I've told you not to post videos of Lila's stori-,"
"Oh not this again Marinette," Alya interrupted, shooting marienette an annoyed glare.
"I'm serious Alya, if you keep posting more of Lila's lie's you're going to really-," Marinette tried to explain, but was once again interrupted by Alya.
"You keep saying Lila is lying but you don't have any proof she is. I told you before you need to give me proof if Lila really was lying," Alya explained, crossing her arms over her chest before a proud smirk grew on her face, "After all, a good reporter always checks her sources."
"Seriously Alya?" Marinette scoffed with a deadpan as she crossed her arms, looking at her former best friend with an unimpressed expression.
"Yes, I am a serious Marinette. I get that you're jealous of her, but you can't just keep accusing her of lying," Alya replied, crossing her arms over her chest. The raven haired girl couldn't help but roll her eyes at what the other girl said.
"but Lila is lying Alya," Marinette argued, bringing her hands up into the air, "she lied about jagged stone having a cat, she lied about being clara nightengale's trainer, she lied about catching the guy who blew up south melesia, and she lied about knowing ladybug!"
"Do you have any proof that Lila is not friends with ladybug," the brunette asked with a raised brow, "or the ninja, or Max steel, or jade armor, or Spider-Man?"
"Proof Alya, you're asking for proof that ladybug and these other heroes from different cities, heck even different countries, each of whom have their secret identities no one knows, aren't Lila's friends?" Marinette asked in both exherbation and barely restrained frustration, "Alya, think about what I just said and think about how unrealistic that sounds."
"Marinette, I just told you-."
"Now Alya It's not her fault that she doesn't believe me," Lila said with adowncasted expression on her face as she walked up to the pair, "after all I did do some stuff to make her not like me."
"No way Lila," Alya countered, "you did nothing wrong, it's just Marinette being jealous as usual."
The black haired girl in question could simply look at Alya in incredulous disbelief, "jealous?! Alya, what am I jealous o-"
"Anyway girl," Alya cut the ravenette off as she continue to talk with the Italian girl, "are you excited about the trip, you can introduce me to all your other hero friends."
"Of course I am," the italian girl beamed, "I'll be more than happy to introduce you to them, I'm sure they would love to meet you as well."
"You think so?" the journalist asked with a hopeful grin plastered across her face, and Marinette could swear she could see actual stars coming out of Alya's eyes.
"Of course, I've told them all about you and your blog, they told me they were big fans of your work."
"Really!? Thanks Lila, you're the best!" Alya exclaimed as she embraced the italian girl.
"Anything for a good friend," Lila said with a smirk, returning the hug.
Marinette could only roll her eyes at that, knowing the liar wouldn't be able to keep her word, and would make some kind of excuse as to why she couldn't introduce Alya to these other heroes.
"By the way, when is the trip?" Lila asked as she and Alya broke the hug.
"Our flight leaves 3 days from now," marienette answered with an annoyed expression as she crossed her arms, "It says when we're leaving on the flier, and we talked about the trip multiple times in class. You should know this Lila."
"Sorry, but I must have been off in another country doing charity work and wasn't around to hear about the details of the trip," Lila countered with a down casted expression as she hugged herself.
Alya glared at Marinette
"Marinette, not cool gurl," Alya reprimanded as she sent her best friend a disapproving glare her way, "you know that Lila has to travel to other countries for her charity work. she probably wasn't here when we talked about the trip."
'Except she was in class when we were talking about the trip Alya,' Marinette thought to herself as she stared at Alya with an unimpressed expression.
"But it's this Wednesday? That's disappointing." Lila said sadly, holding a hand to her heart. "I'm going to Achu tomorrow, and I won't be back until 2 weeks from now." She sniffed, holding back tears. "I know you don't like me Marinette," she said, "but planning something, knowing I can't attend? I just want to be friends."
"Oh, Lila." Alya said, placing a comforting hand on the girl's shoulder. "I'm sure Marinette didn't mean to hurt your feelings. Maybe she didn't know about your trip. I'm sure she can reschedule it for the following week."
Alya glared a Marinette. She was giving that girl an out, and she better take it.
"But I can't." Marinette said, frown still in place. "That's not fair. We spent weeks-"
"Yeah, right." Alya said, rolling her eyes, arm wrapped comfortingly around Lila, who was quietly 'crying' into her shoulder. "You just don't want Lila to attend. You're going to reschedule it."
She didn't leave any room for argument as she left, probably heading back to the class room.
Marinette could only stare in absolute disbelief as she watched Alya lead a still weeping Lila into miss Bustier's class.
The raven haired girl merely let out a dejected sigh and she looked down towards her feet.
"Alya, what happened to you?" Marinette whispered to herself, worried about the journalist girl.
Alix rolled into class as she bobbed her head in beat to music blasting on her headset.
"jump up, Kick back, whip around and spin!" she sang as she spun around Max and Markov who were looking down at the former's phone. Neither the boy or artificial intelligence reacting to her maneuver, completely use to her doing this with her classmates, and were fully confident in her skill on roller blades to not crash into anyone.
"And then we jump back, do it again!" she continued as she slide toward her seat, "Ninja-Go! Ninja-GoHEY!"
Suddenly, she felt her headsets yanked off of her ears, much to her surprise and annoyance.
"Hey, I was listening to that!" The short pink haired girl exclaimed as she spun around to face the offender.
She expected to see Kim's smirking face, and was prepared to kick him in the shin with her roller blades, only to be somewhat surprised to see Alya instead.
"Hey Alix! Perfect timing!," the taller girl greeted with a smile, as if she didn't do anything wrong, before tossing Alix's headset over her shoulder…
"Ow!"
And hitting Kim on the back of his head.
"Alya what the heck!?" Alix asked in annoyance, rubbing her ears that were now sore thanks to the wavy haired girl.
"Well you know how we're taking that trip to Japan," Alya asked as she leaned closer to Alix, oblivious to Kim's glare as he rubbed the spot he was hit in the head.
"uh, Yeah. I helped Marinette with preparations for the trip," Alix answered with a raised eyebrow, wondering why she was bringing that up, "What about it?"
Well, Lila won't be able to go with us. She has to go to Achu in a few days right before we have to leave, and she won't be back for the next two weeks."
"Really? Well that sucks," Alix replied, somewhat disapointed that one her fellow classmates wouldn't be able to come along on such a cool trip.
"I know right," Alya exclaimed as she raised her hand up in exacerbation, "I can't believe Marinette made it so Lila won't be able to go with us."
"I'm sorry, what?" Alex asked, taken aback by what the taller girl just said, "You really think that Marinette would do that on purpose Alya?"
"Well she did." Alya huffed with her arms crossed over her chest, " so I was wondering since you're class deputy-"
'Only because you quit for some reason and Marinette came to me,' Alix thought with irritation. She didn't know why, but Alya and Marinette's friendship had became rocky as of late.
She knew that things were getting tense between both girls, especially whenever Lila was involved.
It got to the point where Alya abruptly resigned from her position as class deputy.
A few days after that, Marinette approached Alix and asked her to take over as the new deputy. It seemed that Alix was the only student in the class who was available and wasn't too busy with other things that Marinette found reliable.
Alix was initially opposed to the idea. she didn't like the idea of having to deal with that kind of stuff. But after noticing the bags under the taller girl's eyes and the hint of stress that she was trying to hide, Alix found herself reluctantly accepting Marinette's request to take over as her deputy.
which led her to being in this situation.
"-That you can make sure that Marinette reschedules the date when we go to Japan to after Lila comes back from her business trip."
Alix could only stare at Alya in bewilderment, completely dumbfounded at Alya's request.
di-did she seriously hear that right?
Not noticing the shorter girl's reaction, Alya bent closer to Alix's ear, whispering, "But knowing Marinette, she might not reschedule the date for Lila. So, if she doesn't agree, you go behind her back and try to reschedule the date yourself."
"What!?" Alix exclaimed in complete disbelief, "Alya, that's crazy.
"I know, I know it doesn't sound like Marinette either, but you know how that girls jealousy can can make her do crazy stuff."
Alex knew that jealousy wasn't the reason why Marinette wouldn't change the date when their class leaves for Japan. She also knew that Marinette didn't set the date to ensure that Lila is unable to come along on the trip. Ignoring the fact that Lila never mentioned anything about leaving for achu till today, Marinette doesn't have the power to change the departure date, as it was what the entire school's student commitie agreed upon.
Heck it wasn't even Marinette who set the date for when they leave for Japan, it was Aurore.
and frankly Alix couldn't see the rest of the student committee go through the trouble of changing the date at the last minute just to accommodate just one student.
"Alya, I can't do what you're asking, there's no way that-" Alix tried to explain, but was interrupted by the Italian girl.
"We understand, Alex. Marinette is class president and you're just a deputy. it's just that I was hoping to go as well," Lila said with a sniff as she brought a hand up to wipe away a tear, "But I just can't just leave those poor children to starve while I go and enjoy myself."
Alix couldn't help but winch in guilt. She wanted Lila to be included, but the truth was that the trip was already set in stone.
"I'm sorry Lila, I want you to come too, but--"
"But nothing!" Alya cut in, nearly shouting now, "You're in a position to help Lila be able come with us attend heroes week, and we need you! Just think about it, Alix."
The pink-haired girl blinked at Alya's words, incredulity written all over her face, "Alya, do you realize that even if we change the date for Lila, we would end up mi--"
"Having Lila come with us!" Alya insisted, her voice cutting through Alix's protest.
"Yeah, but we would still--"
"You just need to convince Marinette to change the date, and if not change it yourself."
"Alya, can you please just--"
"it shouldn't be too hard, after all I was able to change our trip to Cote d'Azur instead of that exhibit unveiling at the Louvre.--"
'YOU DID WHAT!?' Alix mentally exclaimed in fury.
She remembered how her dad and his colleagues had been excited, working hard to set things up for her and her class.
Even her brother, Jalil, had seemed eager to teach their classmates all he knew about history. Which, of course, meant that Alix would have to fact-check pretty much everything he said.
So she was shocked that, instead of heading to the Louvre as she and the rest of the class expected, they instead arrived at the airport.
When Marinette asked Ms. Bustier what was going on, the teacher informed them that they were heading to Cote d'Azur instead, much to Marinette and the class's surprise.
Not only did that last-minute change in plans cause them to miss the unveiling, but they couldn't even go to Cote d'Azur. Cause their flight was scheduled to leave at 11:00 P.F@&ING.M the night before!
when she confronted Marinette about the sudden change of plans, the ravenette simply gave Alix a sincere apology. However, Alix had been too caught up in her anger to see the exhaustion and stress behind her friend's eyes (and ignored the fact that Marinette was just as caught off guard as the rest of the class was), and refused the ravenette's apology...among other things.
Alix winched when she remembered that moment.
Oh fluff, Alix needed to apologize to Marinette later for the less than…nice things she said to her face.
"If only Marinette would have worked with you Lila, instead of being stubborn," Alya scoffed and she placed her hands on her hips, oblivious to the short pink-haired girl's bubbling anger. Alix'x fists clenched tightly under her desk, glaring daggers at Alya.
"I know," Lila sniffed, wiping away another tear, "then we would have been able to-"
"You know what, Fine!" Alix relented as she growled in annoyance, her outburst making Lila jump in surprise and drawing the attention of the rest of the class, "I'll talk to Marinette about this, alright!?"
"Thanks, Alix!" Alya beamed, blissfully unaware of the daggers Alix was shooting her way, "we're counting on you."
With that, Alya and Lila strolled toward their seats at the front of the classroom.
"Yeah, yeah whatever," Alix scoffed with a roll of her eyes, as she finally slumped back in her seat. Honestly, she only agreed to at least talk to Marinette just so she could get Cesaire off her back. Alix was sure that if the conversation kept going, she was going to end up strangling the reporter.
Either before or after she gets akumatized.
Nathaniel looked up from his sketchbook and towards Alya's and Lila's back, a confused frown etched onto his face.
"um, doesn't Alya know that if we change the date for when we leave for Japan to be after Lila comes back from her trip to Achu...we'll end up missing Heroes Week?" He asked his fellow artist.
"Apparently not," the shorter girl muttered in annoyance as she rubbed her forehead.
She was still going to talk to Marinette about what Alya said to her, though it wasn't going to be how Cesaire was hoping it would go.
"She asked you to change the schedule behind my back," Marinette asked with an unamused expression, her tone indicating she wasn't surprised by what she was just told.
But Alix still notices the looks of hurt in the taller girl's eyes.
"Yeah, she did," Alix explained, as she rested her chin on top of the back of the seat she was currently sitting on, "I tried to tell her I couldn't do it, but she wouldn't listen."
Marinette let out an exasperated sigh as she rubbed her forehead, "I can't say I'm surprised, actually listening was never really Alya's strong suit, especially when she sets her sight on something. remember that time when she thought Chloe was ladybug, no matter how many times we've told her that couldn't be the case."
"Yeah, why did she suspect Chloe was ladybug?" Alix scrunched her nose in confusion, recalling the absurdity of that situation, "I mean we all saw Ladybug save her when Ivan yeeted her from the Eiffel Tower."
"I don't know," Marinette breathed out in exacerbation as she pinched the bridge of her nose, "she's so quick to jump to conclusions that she seems to forget or disregard certain facts!"
"You mean like how she thinks you still have a crush on Adrien, even though you told her you want to move on, and thinks you're only dating Luka to try and make Adrien jealous?" Alix raised an eyebrow.
"Exactly!" Marinette snapped, throwing her hands up into the air before letting them fall to her sides, looking exhausted, "Honestly, She's so stubborn she refuses to acknowledge anything and everything that goes against what her mind is set on."
Marinette let out another sigh as she looked to the side, a mix of concern and annoyance growing in her features, "And it just got worse when Lila came into the picture."
Alix couldn't argue that. While Alix wouldn't necessarily call Lila an outright malicious liar like Marinette does, she would admit some of Lila's stories were a bit…hard to believe.
If there was anything that Alix learned from having someone like Jalil as her older brother, it is to not take everything someone says at just face value.
It was surprising how Alya didn't seem to grasp that, despite her motto being: "A good journalist always checks her sources."
When it came to Lila's stories, Alya would believe everything the Italian transfer student said without a second thought, even when they were obviously untrue.
Such as Jagged Stone having a cat, despite everyone knowing he always had a crocodile.
Not only that but for some odd reason as of late, whenever someone points out the holes in her views or brings up info that contradicts it; Alya would always tell them to not listen to Marinette and that she was just being jealous.
Speaking of Marinette, Alix then notices how Marinette suddenly gains a confused frown on her face, hints of anger brewing in her eyes "Wait, Alya thinks I'm only dating luka just to ma–"
"Hey Marinette!" A familiar voice chirp from right behind Marinette.
The startled ravenette jumped in surprised before she reflexivity spun on her heel and threw a punch
…right into Adrien's gut.
The blonde let out a pained wheeze as the air was forced out of his lungs and he crumbled to his knees.
"Oh my god, Adrien!" Marinette cried out in shock as she knelt down to the downed model, "I'm so sorry, are you okay!?"
Alix couldn't help but sweatdrop at the now familiar scene unfold.
'Why does something weird always happen between these two?'
"Dude, why do you keep doing that?" Nino asked with a deadpan, "you know that's how Mari reacts after she began taking those martial art lessons."
Adrien groaned, clutching his stomach. "Still worth it," he managed to wheeze out, causing the three teens to sweatdrop in unison.
"Seriously, even when she threw you across the classroom when you just appeared out of nowhere," Alix added flatly, making the raven hair girl's cheeks heat up.
"Yep," Adrien replied, still on the floor, a pained yet amused smile on his face.
Alix couldn't help but facepalm at the blonde's comment.
"Let me help you up," Marinette said, her worry evident as she offered a hand.
"Thanks," Adrien smiled as he took her hand. His smile then shifted into a subtle smirk before he let out a quip, "Has anyone told you that you punch like sakura?"
"Not sure I should consider that a compliment," Marinette mumbled, a smile creeping across her lips as she helped pull him to his feet.
Alix rolled her eyes at the exchange, but she couldn't help but smirk a bit. Ever since she managed to convince how much her obsession with Adrian was... unhealthy (and creepy, most definitely creepy) and that she needed to move on from the dense boy, Marinette slowly but surely no longer ended up becoming a (complete) stuttering mess whenever the model was around.
And boy oh boy, how refreshing it was not to see Marinette become a nervous wreck simply by talking to the blonde. Her mood seemed to improve as well since she was no longer stressed about impressing Adrien.
Even Adrien's attitude seemed to brighten even more now that he was able to have a decent conversation with the ravenette.
Yet, the moment was cut short as Alix notices Alya making her way toward their group, with Lila strutting behind the journalist with a self-satisfied smirk on her face. However Alya herself wasn't smiling, and looked to have an impatient frown on her face.
'Oh boy,' Alix mentally groaned, having a sneaking suspicion what was going to happen.
"You've thought about what you said, haven't you?" Alya said, arms crossed, her voice gains Marinette's attention. The ravenette turned to face Alya and was taken aback by Alya's glare, "You're going to reschedule the entire trip to japan, so that poor Lila isn't excluded?"
Alix couldn't help but face palm at the journalists words.
Cause seriously Alya, do you not even hear yourself? Reschedule the entire thing! For only one person!? Did they even read the flyer? It clearly said it was planned by the student council, not just Marinette! Neither she nor Marinette could reschedule it even if they wanted to! (Not that Alix does. And Alix knew Marinette didn't want to, Especially not for Lila.)
When Alix looked backed up, she blinked when she saw Adrien giving Lila the stink eye.
Which was surprising as Adrien wasn't one to show animosity towards other people, not even Chloe.
Weird…and somewhat concerning.
Marinette blinked, caught off guard, but she still let out an annoyed groan at the other girl's words, "Alya, I told you, I can't just-"
"Of course you can!" She said, throwing her arms up in the air in exaggeration.
"Um babe," Nino spoke up nervously as he rubbed the back of his neck, "isn't it…you know, a little last minute to change the date when we leave for Japan?"
"But it's not fair to Lila that she doesn't get to go," Alya tried to argue, planting her fist on her hip.
"Alya, it wouldn't be fair to the rest of us to have Marinette reschedule the trip, especially since she isn't-" Adrien started, but Lila's interruption cut him off.
"Adrien how could you be so cold?" Lila exclaimed, fluttering her eyelashes dramatically.
"I just want to be able to go with you all for this trip, but I just can't let those poor children starve," Lila whimpered out as she cried into her hands, "What would your father think?"
At the mention of his father, Adrien's eyes widen and he immediately shut his mouth. Alix could see the blonde clenching his jaw, as if he was physically forcing himself from saying anything. All the while his frown was still etched onto his expression, and somehow darkening.
Again…concerning.
"Don't threaten him Lila," Marinette demanded, sounding as if she was holding back a growl, the scowl she was shooting toward the Italian girl deepening. Even though Alix wasn't on the receiving end of it, the look in both Marinette and Adrien's eyes still sent shivers down Alix's spine.
"What?" Lila gasped as she placed a hand to her chest, looking at the raven-haired girl as if she had just physically struck her, "me threaten Adrien, I would never!"
Except what Lila said to Adrien did indeed sounded like a threat to Alix. And judging from the hints of a frown forming on Adrien's best friend's face, it also sounded like a threat to Nino.
"It kind of sounded like a threat dudette," Nino retorted flatly, as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"I-I didn't mean it as a threat," Lila sniffed as she wiped away a tear, "It's just that his father is so strict on his appearance in public, not to mention overly protective," 'Sniff' "And with how his fans just love to post anything and everything about him online. It's more than likely that someone would post whatever he said out of context. And if his father were to see that, he might think Adrien is surrounded by bad influences and pull him out of school."
That almost sounded like a stretch to Alix. But considering how controling Adrien's old man is of his son's life, she wouldn't put it past him.
"Yeah Nino, Lila is just looking out for Adrien," Alya agreed as she placed a hand on her boyfriend's shoulder.
"Sorry dudette," Nino apologized with a winch, once again rubbing the back of his head as he looked down with a guilty expression on his face.
Ms. Bustier walked in then, "What's going on here?" She asked.
Alya immediately piped up, sending Marinette a smirk. "Marinette's setting the day for when we leave for japan where she knows Lila won't be able to make it. And she refuses to reschedule everything."
Marinette groaned. "Alya, I told you I-"
"Marinette," Ms. Bustier said gently. "why don't you just reschedule it? I'm sure everyone will forgive you. You shouldn't exclude Lila."
Alix eyes widens in shock as her jaw went slack. She couldn't even believe what she was hearing. Was ms.Bustier seriously trying to make Marinette change the schedule for when they leave for heroes week!?
WHY!?
She knows that Marinette doesn't have the power to do that! She knows that it was the student coucil who were the ones to set everything up, not just Marinette! and she knows that Marinette wasn't even the one to set the date for when they leave for Japan! Heck she was there when the student council presented the plans to the school board!
So what is Ms.Bustier thinking?
Marinette, apparently not surprised by their home room teachers words, merely just shook her head before making her way out of the courtyard.
"Hey Marinette wa-!" Alix tried to call out for the ravenette, wondering why she wasn't trying to explain or even argue. However the voice of her homeroom teacher made her stop.
"Alix, could you wait for a bit," Ms. Bustier said in a gentle tone.
"Come on, Adrien," Lila suddenly said, her mood instantly improving, as she latched onto Adrien's arm who winched, "we should go, you said you would help tutor me."
The blonde raised a skeptical brow at the Italian.
"No I di-," the model began to say before once again winching.
"Don't you remember Adrien," Lila pouted as she flutter her eyes, "right before classes today, you agreed to help me with my homework."
"No he didn't," Nino spoke up, one of his brows raising in clear confusion, "he and kagami agreed to hang out this afternoon. You never even talked to him this morning."
Lila eye twitched before opening her mouth, but before she could say anything Adrien slipped out of her grasp and edged his way toward the front of the school.
"Yep, that's right, and look at the time I got to go meet up with kagami," Adrien replied with a large smile, looking a bit to eager to leave all of a sudden.
"B-but Adrien, you promised-" Lila sputter, trying to convince Adrien to stay, but the blonde uncharacteristically brushed her off.
"Welp, I'm off, LATER NINO!" Adrien exclaimed before running out of the school, a dust trail picking up behind him.
"Um, later dude," Nino let out weakly, clearly put off by his friends behavior before shooting a suspicious glance toward the Italian girl.
Said girl eye was twitching in clear irritation as she grinder her teeth.
"I don't get why he likes hanging out with that ice queen?" Alya questioned with a raised eyebrow as she crossed her arms over her chest.
"No doubt it's his father making him spend time with her instead of me," Lila claimed in a manner Alix found to be somewhat petulant.
"Yeah I can see him doing that," Alya muttered with a roll of her eyes.
"Oh dear," Ms. Bustier let out as she hovered her hand in front of her mouth, Put off by both her Star student brushing her off in such a manner and Adrien simply refusing to help out a fellow classmate.
It was so unlike either of them to behave in such a way. What has gotten into them?
The teacher shook her head. addressing her students behavior could wait, she needed to address the current issue to ensure one of her students isn't being excluded from a rare event.
"Alix, could you change the date for when we leave for heroes week to be the week after Lila comes back from her trip," the teacher asked in her tone that she usually uses when addressing her students.
This made Alix look up at the red haired teacher, her eyes widening in pure disbelief.
"Wha-But Ms.Bustier-!"
"Come on Alix, just change the schedule so Lila can also come to Heroes week as well," Alya cut off Alix as she wrapped a supportive arm around the shorter girl's shoulder.
"Alya's right, it wouldn't be fair to Lila if she couldn't get to come along with all of us," ms. Bustier explained, speaking as if she were addressing a kindergartener.
"But-,"
"Now Alix, you need to speak up If someone else is doing something that is not fair, even if that person was the class representative."
"But what about when you pulled Marinette out when we all called out Chloe after she destroyed the gift Marinette made for you?" Alix tried to argue, frustration becoming more evident on her face.
"Marinette need to be the bigger person and set a good example for others," Ms. Bustier said with a gentel smile, as if that was answer enough.
'What?' Alix's right eye twitches at hearing her teacher's reason.
"Chloe is going through difficult times. Especially recently when all of ladybug's fellow heroes identities were exposed," Ms. Bustier continued, her smile dropping into a downcasted expression.
'Geez I wonder why?' Alix sarcastically thought with a frown, not sharing the same sentiment as her homeroom teacher.
"Sadly it seems Marinette isn't following my advice and is not only being mean to Chloe…"
'You mean not taking any of Chloe's bullshit?' Alix thought as she rolled her eyes.
"…but now seems to be bullying Lila."
"Huh?" Alix let out in confusion. That was news to her.
Since when has Marinette started bullying Lila?
Sure Marinette has called out Lila as a lair a few times, but that was only really when the Italian girl was telling stories that were blatantly untrue, and could lead someone getting into trouble.
Alix was pretty sure that wasn't really bullying.
So what was ms Bustier talking about.
"A student has been coming to me with some concerning stories regarding how Marinette has been treating Lila," the red haired teacher continued, looking even more disappointed now, "About how Marinette has been harassing and harming Lila."
Alix also heard about those rumors, but she didn't believe them a single bit. Alix just couldn't see Marinette doing those things, it just wasn't in the fashion designer's nature.
Sure there were times that Marinette could be a bit of a bitch here and there. But she would quickly apologize for her behavior and do her best to make up for it.
And frankly Alix didn't really have the right to demonize Marinette for any of her bitchy behavior, as the short girl has arguably done worse.
Like the time Alix may or may not had "accidentally" tripped Kim when he annoyed her too much and unintentionally broke his ankle…as he fell into the Seine…before being attacked by a school of piranhas…
…
…That wasn't important and Kim got better. The point was that Marinette wasn't a bully.
For crying out loud the girl would apologize for things that weren't even her fault.
"But ms. Bustier, Marinette isn't like that and we can't cha-," Alix once again tried to explain, but the teacher cut her off mid-sentence.
"Please Alix, do the right thing so Lila can be a part of heroes week," the red haired woman admonished with a gentle smile on her face, looking at Alix as if she was just a preschooler.
Alix could only stare at the teacher in shock and disbelief.
Ms. Bustier wasn't listening.
She was insisting that Alix change the date to accommodate Lila.
Despite how unrealistic it was to do such a thing in the first place,.
Despite doing so would make them miss Heroes week.
And Ms. Bustier wouldn't listen at all.
The short pink haired girl could only grind her teeth in irritation, her frustration growing at the ridiculousness of the whole situation.
And the sight of Alya peering out from behind the teacher while giving Alix a reassuring smile and two thumbs up was only making the short girl's mood worse.
"This is complete and total bullshit," Alix growled in barely contained frustration, her fists clenched as she stomped forward away from school; classes now over for the day. Trailing behind her were Max, Kim, and Markov, all three of whom were looking at the short, pink-haired girl in concern.
"Can't you just reschedule it?" Kim asked with a tilt of his head, not really understanding the big deal.
Alix forced herself to take a deep breath and remind herself that Kim was an idiot.
"I doubt it would be that simple," Max said as he adjusted his glasses, "this is an event the entire school, as well as many others, are partaking in. Even if it was just our school, the likelihood of the entire student council agreeing to reschedule the event just for Lila to also attend is 0.00000001 percent likely to happen, especially this close to the day we depart for Japan. The likelihood that the other schools would do this is even lower."
"Yeah, and even if we just reschedule just our class, we'll miss out on Heroes week in japan," Alix added, "Besides, we already paid for everyone's tickets; it's pretty much finalized at this point."
Max couldn't help but frown at that as the memory from earlier today came into mind.
"Doesn't ms. Bustier know that?" Max asked curiously, "I mean, she is the teacher after all; the likelihood of her not knowing the details of the trip is slim at best."
"That's the thing! She does! She knows that there are multiple schools participating in this, not just me and Marinette.
Alix kicked a can and sent it flying over a brick wall
"Ow! My head! it hit me right in the head!"
"Plagg are you okay!?"
"But if she knows that it's impossible, why is she making you and Marinette reschedule the trip?" Max asked with a raised brow as he readjusted his glasses.
"Because Marinette need to be the bigger person and set a good example for others, and that I should speak up If it's someone else is doing something that is not fair, even if that person was the class representative," Alix explained as she mocked/mimic Ms. Bustier's voice while also doing hand puppets and rolling her eyes.
"woah really?" Kim asked, taken aback by this, "talk about unfair. "
"This is the same woman who forces us to invite Chloe into our group activities," Max brought up with a deadpan, annoyance evident in his tone, "and this is despite the fact that none of us wants her around. Not even Chloe herself wants to be near us if she could help it."
"The thing I don't get is why Lila is now bringing up the fact that she's going to Achu right before we have to leave for Japan?" Alix muttered as she scratched her head in confusion.
"Perhaps she was simply joking," Max shrugged, "similar to that time she made a joke about protecting my eye from a paper airplane that was made from a napkin."
"Wait, she said that as a joke!?" Kim asked in shock.
Alix couldn't help but let out an exacerbated sigh as she turned to the large teen.
"Of course Lila was joking about that Kim," Alix said as she face palmed, "not only does Max wear glasses, but it was a napkin. The worst that would happen is Max's glasses getting smudged."
Seriously, your brain has to be severely rotting to think that Lila actually saved Max's eyes that day.
(In an either the canon universe or some random salty au)
Suddenly everyone within Miss Bustier class (with the exception of Marinette, Adrien, Chloe, and Kim) all sneezed simultaneously.
(current universe)
"So what are you going to do?" Max asked as he adjusted his glasses
"There's really nothing we can do," Alix admitted with a frustrated sigh. As much she would like for Lila to also come along on the trip, it just wasn't realistic.
"You know, with how stressed you seemed to be with everything going on, I'm quite surprised you haven't been akumatized by shadowmoth by now," Max pointed out as he adjusted his glasses, his words pulling Alix out of her thoughts.
"Huh, your right," Alix blinked. Between Alya's stubbornness, being guilty about not being able to help Lila attend hero's week, Ms. Bustier's…stupidity, Alix was becoming more and more frustrated about the whole thing.
angry enough that she would have been easy prey in becoming one of Shadowmoth's unwilling minions.
How come…
"Oh yeah, you've been akumatized by him for less," Kim added as he snapped his fingers before snickering in amusement, "like that time when you..."
"Shut up, Kim," Alix growled, her tone making the jock immediately pale, "unless you want another nap in the Seine."
Kim let out a quite "ep" before he scrambled to hide behind an unamused Max.
In another part of the city, within an expansive chamber shrouded in darkness (you know, your typical super villain lair), a hatch on the floor opened up. From it rose a very tall man with a fair but rosy-tinted skin tone and a pointy chin. He had pale, light grayish cerulean eyes and combed-back light blond hair. Covering his eyes are a pair of black-framed silver glasses. He wore a white high collar dress shirt underneath a medium gray striped vest with red buttons and a cream-colored dress jacket without buttons, along with a red and white-striped ascot tie. A pair of red dress pants and a pair of white dress shoes, with black soles, and red shoelaces. On the middle finger of his left hand, he wears a silver band ring.
This was Gabriel Agrest, one of Paris most famous fashion designers.
And was also out of breath, as if he had just ran a marathon.
"Norodusuunify!" The man quickly chanted as he rushed forward as he pulled his tie aside to reveal a pair of unique broochs as both kwamis were sucked into their respective miraculous, before a familiar glow flowed across his body, transforming him into his villainous alter ego, shadow moth.
He skidded to a stop at the center of the chamber as the massive airlock of his window opened up, allowing light to spill in and onto his form similar to that of a spotlight.
"Huff, huff, aww, huff, such raw, huff, emotion," he began to monologue in between heavy pants, trying his best to put on his signature evil demeanor "perfect, huff, emotions for my…wait?"
His evil smirk fell from his face as the negative emotion he's been sensing built up all day began to dwindle.
He would have tried to akumitzed his would-be slave the moment he sensed their anger like he normally does. Unfortunately, he was stuck at an important meeting at at the time… which was also followed by numerous appointments he had to attend.
So he was reluctantly forced to allow this potential opportunity slip by.
But the longer he felt the anger brew and shimmer, the harder it was to simply ignore them. After all, Only strong negative emotions could fester that long, and such emotions were vital for making powerful akumas.
And those same emotions needed were now fading away.
"Oh no, nonononono, not yet I haven't even sent out my akuma!" Shadowmoth panic as he tried to conjure up one of his butterflies as quickly as possible.
But by the time his akuma was primed and ready to go…the negative emotion needed for his powerful akuma was gone.
"Grrrrrr, Curse you ladybug! Curse you!" Shadowmoth bellowed toward the heavens, as he repeatedly stomped the ground, "…even though you had nothing to do with this!
Marinette’s life in class was crumbling down, or so Lila thought. Her friends had abandoned her, and while Adrien was still on Marinette’s side, he couldn’t actively do anything about it. But not a worry. Adrien would be hers.
Meanwhile, Marinette was at the brink of depression. She had lost all her friends, her new responsibilities as Guardians were pressuring, not to mention the akumas that Hawkmoth was sending were downright annoying, waking her up at 3am, plus the finals and the studying needed for it, in additon the babysitting, commissions for celebrities and more. But she was Ladybug for a reason. And after ranting about it for about two hours to Tikki, she was finally at peace.
Because the next morning, Marinette woke up and stopped giving a shit.
*end of lil backstory*
As Marinette walked to school, she felt oddly refreshed, like a weight had suddenly dropped from her shoulders. Aurore and Mirelle greeted her, as they were now one of her closest friends, along with Kim and Alix. Surprisingly though, her best friends were Chloe and Kagami. Chloe had apologized for her previous actions, finally maturing enough to see the errors in her ways and the damage she was doing. And as soon as Kagami heard what was going on, she immediately transferred into Dupont. Marinette was actually quite popular amongst the school, just not with her class. As she walked into the school, she was immediately met with a teasing remark. “Damn Mari-bug, you look like you haven’t slept at all!” Chloe snickered. “Hey you try running on two hours of sleep and 5 and a half cups of coffee.” she grumbled in return, smiling slightly as she made her way to Miss Bustier’s class with her.
As she walked through the classroom doors, surprisingly early, she was immediately met with harsh glares from the class. Usually, she would respond with her customary fear and shyness at the glares. Sometimes even get teary-eyed. But today was different. So instead, she merely rolled her eyes, and paved her way to the back, matching the angry glares with cold ones. As she settled in her seat, she inwardly counted. “3. 2. 1.” As if on cue, Alya lunged at Marinette, glaring furiously at her. Keep in mind, Mari’s blood was practically running on caffeine at this point, and she was not in the mood for this. But Alya was already talking. Sipping her coffee, only Marinette knew how much of a mistake that was.
“How could you do that to poor Lila! You hurt her because of your jealo-”
“Shut up.”
“What?” Alya said, dumbfounded. Usually, Mari either bursts into an angry rant or tears. But currently she was scrolling through her phone and sipping coffee like Alya wasn’t even worth her time. Alya was disgruntled. This was not the reaction she wanted. But being her stubborn self, she would not let it go. So, once again, she tried to jab at her.
“No YOU SHUT UP!”
Marinette rolled her eyes at the sheer immaturity of that sentence alone. “I swear to god…” she muttered, before taking a large sip of coffee. She had a feeling she would need it. In anger from being ignored, Alya decided to speak, not understanding how stupid she sounded.
“I still can’t believe you would-”
“I was doing shifts at the bakery the last 24 hours, no sleep, so unless I can teleport, can you care to explain what I could possibliy have done to your precious Lila?”
“I-”
“Oh that’s right! You don’t know, and I don’t care enough to bother listening to the two hour explanation filled with more holes than Swiss cheese that you are undoubtedly going to yell at me, so let’s get this over with shall we?” Mari said, her eyes showing exactly how much she cared about this conversation. She waved her hands to continue, looking just as bored as she sounded.
“You went through her phone, and because she was talking to Adrien, and threatened her!” Alya screamed angrily, and was about to yell more, when Marinette cut her off.
“Wow. She flipped the story around. Genius. Not. I’m still surprised that she bothered really, but I’ve come to expect the unexpected. You know what is expected though? The fucking idiocy of the class used to shock me. Now I’m just used to the fact that every single one of you guys are dumb. Seriously. Y'all dense. You genuinely think that I would waste my precious time and effort on Lila, when I could be doing better things? Working, sleeping, watching paint dry?”
Crying fake tears to hide her fury, Lila piped up. “You think that I’m a waste of time?” she whimpered.
“Precisely.” Marinette said, not even bothering to spare a glance at her, and resumed looking through her phone. Alya was dumbfounded, too shocked to retort.
Hawkmoth sensed annoyance from Marinette. While there were many strong emotions, he had been looking forward to akumatized Marinette for a long time. He did his little speech, and the akuma flew straight into her coffee cup, turning it into a ugly purple color. “Princess Justice, I am Hawkmoth and I will grant you the power to-”. He was cut off by a rather pissed Marinette. “Give me the power to do what? Walk around in an ugly onesie destroying Paris and trying to grab some teenager’s jewellery because for some reason you can’t do it yourself, or design anything that doesn’t look like a hot mess?” she snickered at a rather shocked Hawkmoth.
“Did you just call my outfits ugly!”
“And a hot mess.” she supplied.
“They are neither of those things! They were designed by a world renowned fashion designer!”
“Well that fashion designer was clearly blind. And deaf, because the outfits practically scream ugly.“
“Excuse me?”
“Change my mind. I dare you.”
“...”
“Yeah that’s what I thought, Hawkass. Now, you have completely ruined my coffee. Shame. I was looking forward to it. My favourite too. Anyway, I expect at least $100 dollars compensation and a free coffee for my trouble. And if you can’t afford it, I can see why you need the accessories. Speaking of which, not only do I expect that voucher, I want your miraculous too, and while you’re at it, get Mayura’s as well. Au Revoir.” Marinette finished, tearing the cup in half as she did so. She went back to drawing, blissfully unaware of the shock on her classmate’s faces.
Adrien had a lot to think about. Previously, he saw a news story about a girl who commited suicide because everyone turned on her, beleiving rumours instead of her actual personality. Shocked, Adrien realized that he needed to apologize to Marinette. Still thinking about it, Adrien walked in, and noticing the obvious tension in the room, centered around a certain bluenette, quickly slid into the seat next to Marinette. “What did you do?” his tone wasn’t accusatory, more… confused. Not even looking up, she replied. “If you dare tell me to take the fucking high road, I will shove that advice so far up your-” Adrien cut her off, only a little bit alarmed at her gorriness. “I get it. I actually came here to apologize. The advice was terrible.” he said, and Marinette smiled up at him. He smiled back, and for a second, they shared something that Lila quickly became jealous of as she snuck a glance. But the moment was broken as the teacher walked in. Yet Adrien did not miss the silent “Just a friend huh?” from a certain mini god of destruction.
Lila thought that there was no way Marinette could keep up this attitude. Boy was she wrong. For example, when Lila had tried to corner her to threaten her, she responded with a cold glare and a “I’ll listen to you when hell freezes over. On second thought, even if it does, you can fuck off, because I’m still not listening.” When Nino tried to ask for some of the pastries she brought for her friends, she looked him dead in the eye and said “I’ll share them with you when you grow a brain, and leave your herd of sheep.” then left. But the icing on the cake was when Juleka came up to her crying, expecting comfort, and Marinette turned a blind eye, saying no, and when Juleka said that that's what friends do, Marinette quickly retorted with sugary sweetness that would soon haunt the akuma class’s dreams. “Honey, you’re right. That is what friends do. But I’m not going to help you. Why? Because I’m not your friend. Not anymore.” she said, leaving a rather stunned Juleka in her wake.
At lunchtime, Marinette was talking to Chloe about something, and Alya watched with jealousy as she laughed with Chloe like she used to do with her. The feeling was quickly shaken off however, as Kagami sent a smug smirk her way, and the jealousy was turned into what she thought was rightful rage. Just then, Mylene went up to Marinette. “Hey Mari, can you make me something for the new play? I’m auditioning for Lady Bravery, and I need a costume! It’s tomorrow, plenty of time! ” she asked. Mari smiled, but Alya could have sworn she detected a hint of smugness as the girls in the akuma class drew next to Mylene. “Sure. Just give me the details and I’ll send you the price.” she said brightly, and Mylene turned pale. “Price…” she stuttered. Marinette smiled innocently. “Well of course, you can’t expect me to give you it for free. The materials are expensive and so is my time, plus it’s such short notice.” Mari explained.
Just then, Alix came into view. “Hey Mari, do you mind if you make me a dress for my date with Kim?” she asked. “When do you need it?” Mari asked warmly, contrasting from the fake sweetness that Mylene received. Smiling brightly, Alix explained how it was only a week away, and she was so sorry for the short notice. She needed it to match her style. Lila watched, gritting her teeth. If Alix and Kim were on her side, she could and would have easily used them to beat up Marinette. But of course the only two people with more strength than a snail also had to have a brain bigger than the size of a pea. How annoying. “Of course I can make it Alix!” Mari said. “How much would it cost?” Alix asked, but Marinette waved her off. “It’s free! You’re my friend!” Alix beamed and thanked her, and soon a rather large crowd was slowly forming around Mari. It seems that as soon as she left, Marinette realized it, so sighing, she turned her attention back to Alya, who was purple with rage, and Mylene who looked like she was about to sob any second.
Alya decided to intervene. “WHAT! WE NEVER HAD TO PAY BEFORE! HOW COME ALIX GET’S IT FOR FREE AND MYLENE DOESN’T!” she yelled, but Mari not only rolled her eyes, she snickered with Chloe, making Alya’s fury swirl. “Yes well that was when you were my friend, and now you’re not, so I don’t think you deserve my kindness. I’m not handing out freebies to you anymore. Suck it up. Mylene, you can either pay me or you can leave, and honestly I’m fine with either. But just to let you know, the price would be $370, not including material prices. Alya, you’re just being a plain bitch. Give me one good fucking reason I should give you anything for free. You believed a liar over your best friend, harrassed me, abused me, and destroyed my property. Not only that but you yelled at my friends for being my friends, and then wormed yourself out of trouble by tattling to that useless teacher Miss Bustier!” Mari said, sharing a glance with Kagami. “Mylene has done nothing to deserve my kindness. All she has done is stand by and watch me crumble at the hands of every single one of you.” Marinette ended her speech, glaring furiously.
As Mylene burst into tears (to Marinette’s annoyance), Alya decided to take action. “Take that back!” Alya demanded, and visibly angered at Marinette’s denial. Appalled, Alya decided that there was only one course of action.
“Fine then. We are not best friends anymore, not until you learn the consequences of your actions.” Alya said, expecting apologies, tears and possibly groveling from Marinette, but she got…confusion?
“Oh! I thought we established that already. We are not best friends, nor are we friends, and we will never be friends again, or classmates for that matter. Because I plan to get rid of toxicity. I’m transferring to Mrs Mendeleiv’s class, effective immediately.” she bit, adding venom to every word, and swept out the door, leaving applause and a dumbstruck class. Lila watched in awe. Maybe she should have befriended Marinette.
Alya rushed back to class, along with Ivan and Max. “How dare she insult Mylene.” Ivan growled. Lila was watching this gleefully. “Hey, is that Marinette’s sketchbook?” she said innocently, knowing that the plan would form all on its own. That’s how it worked really. Lila never had to lift a finger. They practically carried her. “Yup. We’re going to rip it, or in my case, use scissors.” Max said. They got to work, tearing every single design, note or sketch in that book. Soon it was reduced to peices, and a smug look on Alya’s face was almost as priceless as the face Marinette’s when she saw this. Lila smirked evilly at the tattered remains of paper on the desk. She quickly wiped it away at the classmate’s glances, but returned soon at the thought. If this didn’t break Marinette, nothing would.
As Mari came to pick the last of her things, she noticed the torn up prices of paper, on her desk, most likely at the hands of Ivan and Max, who was surprisingly good with scissors. Instead of being heartbroken like the class expected, she shrugged and smirked. Lila piped up. “We ruined your sketchbook! That’ll show you to be mean!” she smirked smugly. “Do you honestly think that I would leave my sketchbook with you goblins?” she smirked knowingly, then it hit Lila. With all the abuse she had been getting, she wouldn’t leave her most prized possession unattended. “Who are you calling a goblin?” Ivan growled.
“You,” Mari continued “Anyway, what you actually destroyed was the information for the class trip to London.” Gasps were heard, but Marinette ignored them and continued. “Luckily I have backups.” There was an obvious relief in the room, but Mari smiled smugly, Lila knew she wasn’t done, and she honestly considered switching sides from the mere look on Mari’s face. Mari continued. “Unfortunately, they aren’t for you. Seeing as you don't appreciate me, I am now going to Mrs Mendeleiv’s class. I’m sure they’ll enjoy London, and business class seats.” The shock of the class could not be described as she walked out, her friends in tow.
Marinette meant what she said. She transferred, along with her friends (Kagami , Chloe, Kim, Alix and Adrien). Lila was elected class president, but her kingdom of cards came crashing down, as all the promised connections were revealed to be nothing more than dust. The class found out the truth. They tried to bring Marinette back. They begged, blackmailed, bribed. But she wouldn’t. And everything fell apart. No more free dresses, free food, fun fundraisers, fantastic field trips. They saw how much fun she had with the other class, seeing the Big Ben, London tower, and even a selfie of them having tea with the Queen! Meanwhile, they could barely go to the Eiffel Tower for the field trip, and had to buy cheap costumes which were of bad quality. They quickly fell into despair, rage, and jealousy.
