Lila’s unlucky shadow
This content features a lot of Lila-bashing. Though I’m not sure if bashing=salt so I’m just gonna put bashing in the tags. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
This idea came out of nowhere. It was just a thought that Plagg is the kwami of bad luck and it snowballed into this. I realize this may seem a tad OOC, but what’s fanfiction without indulgence.
Furious at Lila for Onii-Chan, (hey, she nearly caused Ladybug’s death), Adrien decides to avenge his lady. So Plagg is asked to give Lila bad luck.
The kwami is eager to be let loose. Adrien just warns Plagg not to go overboard or Lila will just soak in the pity and take advantage of his classmates. (And yeah, he doesn’t want to feel guilty for requesting Plagg’s help)
Being tiny and intangible has its advantages. So while Lila is paying attention in class, she doesn’t notice Plagg hiding behind her head. Because’s he’s intangible, he doesn’t even mess up her hair...at first. Basically this is how Plagg always curses Lila. He does this several times, even more than Adrien’s request should have caused, as you will soon see.
1. Lila is stuck with Chloe as a project partner for the duration of the class. True to form, Chloe refuses to work her share. And since Sabrina promises that Lila is supposedly a bright student and super friendly/tame, Lila can’t exactly stand up for herself. Everyone else is too busy to notice Lila. So she grits her teeth and completes the assignment, determined to get back at Chloe. However, when she reports on Chloe, everyone else gives her pity but don’t make a big fuss, they’ve all been bullied by Chloe and just share stories. Caline just asks Lila to be the bigger person.
2. Puberty has been kind to Lila. Not anymore. Pimples and body odour make themselves known. People don’t really want to be around Lila. Deodorant doesn’t seem effective and when Lila asks Adrien for advice, he says he can’t help her because his facials use cinnamon. (When Marinette made cinnamon rolls, Lila smacked it out of her hands and claimed to be deathly allergic hence her overreaction)
3. Bad hair day...or should I say days? Plagg also may or may not have thrown spit balls into the back of Lila’s head. Only they weren’t made of paper. Nope. Plagg is a cat and he coughs up hair balls. Yeah...these are easily combed out but they give Lila’s hair an oily texture and make the strands limp (remember Snape?) She thought there were dust bunnies.
Once Lady Noire detransforms, Marinette bribes Plagg with cheese treats from the bakery if he will haunt Lila. Plagg is just so happy people want him to cause chaos. Plagg promises this deal will remain between them, just like he promised Adrien.
1. Lila is haunted at night. Plagg only has to be there once but his power causes it so that whenever Lila is ready for bed, the lights always switch off, it sounds like there are claws on the windows, something scurrying on the floor, her closet door creaking, and why do her feet feel clammy? Lila is plagued with nightmares. She is too tired to even take advantage of her class’ sympathy.
2. While spending time with her Mother (something Lila cherishes), Lila accidentally trips on the stairs and twists her ankle. She is confined to the hospital. She has an incompetent nurse looking after her. So when her friends visit, Lila is too overdosed on anesthetic to take advantage of the situation. When Lila is released, the most logical solution would be to sit in front. But then Chloe would never move. And Lila does not want to be the new Sabrina. Adrien makes it clear he and Nino are a package deal, and Lila hates Marinette. So Lila insists walking will speed her recovery. When Adrien says Plagg was kinda harsh with the broken bone, Plagg rolls his eyes and says the girl exaggerated. Lila threw such a tantrum she got rushed to the hospital over a sprained ankle. Adrien’s response: oh...never mind, keep up the good work. Marinette already suspected Lila faked her injury because she herself had a broken ankle and Lila’s bandaged ankle in a boot should have been a cast.
3. The Césaire twins got gum in Lila’s hair and try to help by snipping it off. Lila can’t stop them in time because her hands are tied with cleaning the dishes. Lila has to go to a real hairdresser who says all her hair has to go. Lila ends up with a pixie cut, and she does not rock it.
When Marinette was nearly akumatized, Tikki asks Plagg for the same favour, bribing him with cheese danishes, guilt tripping him about Kwami Buster, and using the pity plot by confessing she was so scared inside the akuma purse. Plagg falls for it, and also because he doesn’t like Tikki glaring at him. He also doesn’t mention to Tikki that Adrien and Marinette also got him to do this because....well...CAMEMBERT. Yeah...Plagg goes on such a crazy cheese fest that it is a wonder how he hasn’t gained an ounce of fat or gathered Adrien’a notice, though Lila’s body odour has started to remind Adrien of the stinky cheese, not exactly but close enough. Perhaps Lila has developed a liking for blue cheese?
1. Lila’s experience as a model is painful. Not at first, though. She is given hair extensions and lots of makeup. Her appearance is airbrushed. But then Lila gets bad reviews for her first model shoot and Adrien’s fans target her with harsh emails. Adrien has to play nice so he tells her to ignore it, that’s what he usually does. Natalie isn’t sympathetic. “You want to be a model, you need to learn to accept that there will be people who hate you.” When her classmates suggest she filter her email, Lila starts getting hate mail and is bullied at home because Dupont is too protected. Mrs Rossi is concerned and decides to end Lila’s model career since her baby is so distressed. Adrien is thrilled and gives Plagg a gigantic round of Camembert. (Credit for inspiration goes to @coke-and-candy I believe there was a follow up fic about negative critics but I couldn’t find it)
2. Lila claims to have gotten backstage passes to Jagged’s concert. Alya is happy because Marinette got them the same passes for herself, Alya, Adrien and Nino. Lila fake smiles. On the day of the concert, Lila fakes an injury and begs Alya not to tell Jagged because she doesn’t want to worry him. Alya keeps her word but Lila nearly cracked a tooth when the newspapers published a photo of Jagged presenting Marinette as his new personal designer. No matter what lies Lila spins, celebrity or injury-related, people just keep raving about Marinette.
3. Plagg visits her wardrobe and wrecks everything. Lila is flabbergasted but the claw marks suggest a wild animal got in. She isn’t totally wrong. Plagg invited some animals to make a mess of the girl’s room. Lila doesn’t want the class to volunteer to clean up her room, on the off chance her Mother shows up. But she does mentioned how she donated her entire wardrobe to charity. Chloe overheard and decides to be nice in front of Adrien. She dumps designer rejects on Lila. Of course, Lila doesn’t know that. Marinette does tell Alya, but Adrien pretends to care for Chloe’s improvements and comments that Lila seems to like them anyway.
When Lila rifles through Adrien’s locker and throws away the Camembert, Plagg narrows his eyes. “Alright, Liar, no more games, this is WAR!” (I was having trouble imagining what could anger Plagg even further. Credit for inspiration to the fanfiction Camembert Ice Cream by @quicksilversquared )
1. Lila starts to lose her voice and her throat hurts.
2. When Lila tries to communicate by writing, her hands undergo a seizure so she can’t pick up a pencil.
3. For some reason, the only way to cure her throat is to eat a regular diet of healthy but utterly unappetizing food. Lila has to say goodbye to junk food and sodas. Her water now tastes bitter because of the health supplements dissolved in it. Even with her voice returned, Lila can’t talk too much or she will strain her voice. It’s a shame oral presentations are over or Lila could have really used that excuse.
Plagg is satisfied. He got vengeance for 2 heroes, Sugar Cube, and most importantly himself. All this chaos has been nice, but he’s exhausted. Time for a cat nap.
(Note: needless to say, Lila won’t be causing trouble for quite some time. Plagg’s curses have only strengthened each other because...well, like calls to like. By the time Plagg’s curses run out, Marinette and Adrien would be living happily ever after, Tikki would be content, and Plagg would be munching on Camem-...hey....WHO ATE MY CHEESE TART? PLAGG!!!!!)