This Is How We Survive (previous part)
Sabrina followed after Ladybug, rattling off a long list of things that were reported to her by the Sweets, the Medics and the Runners and the Resources in her quadrant just moments before. The boy Abeille had brought in, the akuma victim, was frail and dressed in rags, and in immediate need of medical attention. Sabrina had sent a Runner to get a Medic for the boy, directing the Resources all around them to research anything they could about the boy and to alert them when the League arrives.
“Sabrina, gather the Council. As soon as possible.” Ladybug’s voice was flat and serious, her eyes alight with a fire that’s usually reserved for akumas.
“Yes ma’am.”She brought out her phone and sent a message into the Council’s special group chat. All the messages in it were lengthy and important, filled with reports and details of strategies and attacks in vivid detail, making her short three line message stand out even more. Within moments, she had the affirmative of all of the Councillors staring back at her and she stored her phone in her pocket once more. “Estimated time of arrival for all is five minutes.”
“Alright. That should give us enough time. Bring them to the conference room and begin the meeting once we have all arrived.” Ladybug conformed, leading her group of heroes to the elevator. All their miraculi were beeping rapidly now and Sabrina knew better than to bother them now. They needed a moment to breath, to tend to any wounds they might have gotten. She wasn’t going to stop them. Her job as Counsellor was stressful and frightening. She couldn’t imagine what they all feel when they go head to head with an Akuma like the one they got today.
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Black Canary walked the streets of Paris, scowl on her lips and a special type of hurry in her step. She witnessed first hand what Paris was like when under the attack of an akuma, whatever that was and she still couldn’t believe it. It felt too much like a fever dream, something that couldn't possibly be right. Civilians couldn’t have possibly so organized and calm in a situation like this. Even most military that she had encountered couldn’t have handled this so well, with such calm and organization and unity. The whole city had operated together, with one purpose, following orders and protocol without question. No one had been afraid except for the tourists. The citizens moved like a well oiled machine, familiar with their roles and who they worked off of and with. Concern was the main emotion the blonde was experiencing, for all of Paris.
Batman, though he didn’t show it so obviously, shared Black Canary’s concerns. As he, Superman, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, Black Canary, Green Lantern, Hawkgirl and Green Arrow made their way through the streets of Paris, he noticed the citizens escorting clumps tourists to hotels and restaurants, talking animatedly, like the sky hadn’t just been blocked out by an impenetrable barrier that plunged the whole city into darkness. Medical professionals were roaming the streets with dazed and fearful people by their side that they kept reassuring and helping. People were gathering supplies from the streets, breaking down tents and carting crates full of goods and resources to and fro shops.
He could see the divide between the native Parisions and the tourists with startling clarity. Parisians behaved as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened - which could be a correct assessment because no such large people work so well together with extensive practice and experience - and tourists were looking around them with fear and wonderment in their eyes, unsure of the world and everything that was happening around them. Bruce was afraid that his assessment of the city of Paris might be more right than he ever wanted it to be.
By the time they made it to the Grande Paris Hotel, the streets were almost clear of all people and the signs of the organization of the people. The tents were taken down, supplies were stored, people were off the streets. It looked like nothing had ever happened and that was almost more eerie than the citizens behavior that Black Canary, Green Lantern and Green Arrow had reported from the people during the crisis.
A brunette young woman stood from her place at the secretary desk as stepped forward the moment they entered the building. She walked towards them with a scowl, gesturing for them to follow her, “This way ladies and gentlemen.”
She lead them further into the building with that scowl on her face. It was strange for a lot of the League, especially to Superman, to be treated with such discontent. But none of them commented, mostly because they didn’t have the opportunity, as the woman stopped walking outside the double doors of a conference room.
“The Council is waiting for you within.” The scowling woman says, much to the Leagues confusion. Who was the Council? The general idea they had was that they were going to meet with the heroes of Paris, not some council of civilians. The door opens before they could protest and surprise shot through them at the sight before them.
The whole group collectively tensed up as soon as they registered the blonde’s reaction. All the nineteen people at the table stared at the Justice League, eyes narrow and cold. The blonde sat back down as Ladybug stood, her shoulders tense and mouth set in a firm frown. Her palms were pressed against the smooth wood of the table as she leaned forward, blue eyes meeting Batman’s head on.
“Welcome to Paris. The Forgotten City.” Even the members of the Council were surprised at the tone of her voice. She was completely cold and almost bitter and biting as she addressed the League.
The citizens of Paris had coined a new name for their city after they were first abandoned by the outer world, left to their own devices and forgotten for all but they sights. No one had cared, nor remembered their initial pleas for help, no one had responded, not even the very people who claimed to defend all of Earth’s people. They were left alone, Ladybug and Chat Noir, only thirteen years old at the time abandoned to their own devices, left to defeat a villain who took advantage of any one and everyone to reach his goal. While Paris would forever remain the City Of Love to the rest of the world, Parisians identified their home as The Forgotten City.
“Have a seat.” Chat Noir said in a much more neutral tone than Ladybug had spoken in but he wasn’t welcoming either. Batman was first to move, seemingly unaffected by the tension in the room as he sat down across from Ladybug with Wonder Woman on his right and Superman on his left. He didn’t say a word, waiting for their hosts to begin speaking.
Ladybug, finally taking a seat, wove her fingers on the table in front of her and began speaking, “I am Ladybug, holder of the Ladybug Miraculous and Lady Luck. These are much teammates, Chat Noir, holder of the Black Cat Miraculous and Duke Destruction, Abeille, holder of the Bee Miraculous and Baroness Of Subjection, Ryuko, holder of the Dragon Miraculous and Marquess Of Weather and Viperon, holder of the Snake Miraculous and Earl of Time. And this is our Council.” The bluette spread her arms and gestured at the civilians gathered around the table.
Wonder Woman’s jaw was hanging open as she stared at the five at the other end of the table while the other Leaguers tried to process the implications of their titles. Diana’s mind was a storm of emotions and thoughts as she tried to figure out how to approach this situation. Her mother, Hippolyta, had told her about the Miraculous, their power and their importance. And the League, and by association she herself, had done something to piss the current Miraculous holders.
“I offer you my sincerest apologies mi’lady,” Diana said before anyone could interfere, “We meant no disrespect or harm by whatever had occurred to cause such discontent among your people.”
The corner of Ladybug’s lips twitched in a manner that did not indicate anything other than a reaction. This was when one of the Council members, the one Ladybug had been talking to when the League arrived who had taken a seat a little ways away from the heroine, spoke up, “You and your League refused to send help. Five years ago, you called our pleas for help a joke and brushed us aside like we were insignificant. That is not an act easily forgiven.”
As the other councilors nodded their agreement, a rippling went through the members of the Justice League present. They turned to one another, muttering among themselves and trying to remember if they had ever gotten a message from Paris. Hal vaguely remember someone mentioning a prank call from Paris a few years back but that couldn’t possibly have been this. If Paris has been experiencing situations like this for years, than the League should have known about it and would have sent help. At least most of the League members present assumed so.
Bruce narrowed his eyes. he had never heard of any call from Paris but the rumors of a prank call had been a hot topic a few years back, one he hadn’t bothered to pay attention to. His colleagues in the League might have been superpowered beings who wanted to best for humanity but they still gossiped like grandmother’s in church. He didn’t trust rumors, just kept up with them. He was the Dark Knight after all, he had to know about everything. And yet it seemed Paris had slipped under his radar.
Meanwhile Diana was seething. Someone had dismissed a call from the Miraculous users, who were asking for the League’s - for her! - help, think of them as a joke. Her mother had told her tales, wonderous tellings of the power of the Miraculous. Hippolyta was and always will be a sworn protector of the Magic of The Miraculous and had passed the title and knowledge onto her daughter. Whoever had caused this discontent, this festering wound to the integrity of the Amazon’s and their devoted protection, shall pay the price for their treasonous actions.
“That’s ridiculous!” Superman bursts out, unable to keep himself from talking, “The League has never received a message from you, certainly not one asking for help.”
Ryuko’s eyes narrowed at Superman in a not explicit but clearly threatening way as she gestured at the boy in the glasses, “Max, play the clip please.”
Max nodded, fixing his glasses as he fiddled with the tablet in his grasp. He spent a minute or so clicking through different files until he found the correct one. With a decisive swipe of his fingers he transferred the video clip onto the flat screen TV hanging in the room. The people gathered in the room all turned to watch it.
On screen was a much younger looking Ladybug with pigtails instead of the braided bun near the nape of her neck and a Chat Noir, whose hair, instead of being in a messy ponytail was just a disastrous bed head. Both of them were smaller in build and while Chat Noir’s suit almost didn’t change at all, the older Ladybug’s costume was a darker red with black in gauntlet like shakes around her forearms and calves, blacked fingertips and less spots scattered around her suit.
“This is Ladybug and Chat Noir of Paris.” Younger Ladybug sounded nervous and scared as she spoke, “And we need your help.”
“You see,” Younger Chat Noir was much more upbeat and cheerful than the weathered young man sitting at the conference table in the Grand Paris. “ we have a little problem. A villain called HawkMoth is using magic to control our citizens and turn them into super powered villains.”
Younger Ladybug sighed with no small amount of expiration as she glared half-heartedly at the Chat Noir by her side, “And while we are the only ones who can save our city from those controlled citizens, we need your help stopping Hawkmoth himself so he reign of terror ends before it can truly begin.”
The TV screen cut to black, Max frowning at his tablet as he closed the window. All Of the Council had seen that video hundreds of times. All of Paris had. They knew why they were called The Forgotten City. Because the rest of the world, primarily the league turned a blind eye, refused to listen and help them in their time of need. So they had adapted, working together to survive.
Batman was the first one to break the suffocating silence that had descended on the room, “How does your system work?”
The whole Council turned towards Ladybug, as she was the one to come up with the idea. They were going to help explain but they wanted their leader to set the tone for how this was going to go down.
“A year or so after we sent that message, it finally dawned on us that we weren’t going to be receiving any aid from you or anyone outside of the city,” the heroine began in as neutral of a tone as she could manage while glaring at Superman down the table, “so we came up with our own system. We fought tooth and nail, together to make sure out citizens were safe and calm. Initially it was just Chat and I dividing out attention between the akuma and the citizens but than the people of out Council stepped forward and offered their help. Together we devised the system you see us use today.”
Ladybug’s blue eyes turned to Alya, who continued, “The first step and the most important one was crowd control. If the people were running about like headless chickens, everything became more complicated, so we devised the Sweets. They are our sweet talkers, the ones that keep the people under control. Over time the Sweets became our most expansive group because Parisians got used to akuma attacks and protocols but since the tourists didn’t they are still some of our most valuable people.”
From there Rose took over, “The next biggest concern was health. Even with the Miraculous Cure righting everything after the fighting is over, people are still in danger. Car pile ups, explosions, collapsing buildings. All of that and more endangered our citizens and caused damage to their bodies. So we reached out to the local hospitals and medical professionals. Now we have special doctors and nurses on standby with equipment for basic and sometimes even advanced first aid hidden in every store and building in Paris. These people became known as the Medics.”
Than Kim chimed in - Dinah recognized him as the leader of quadrant four. “It became pretty obvious very early on that a lot of the akumas are able to take down the communication networks and such, so we came up with the Runners. They run information, resources and such between camps. It took a bit for Max to develop a walkie talkie that could function even with an akuma’s interference but he did it and communication between quadrant Councillors became easier however the Runners are still necessary. They bring papers, people and supplies to and fro from different quadrants as well as lead anyone they find wandering to safety if it's possible. They also have the riskiest job since Runners go out alone and akuma’s have been known to take control of or kidnap people.”
And finally the floor was returned to Max, “And finally we created the Resources. These are people with an aptitude for the sciences and other practical fields. They fix broken grids, feed information, run the communication etc. They are also the ones whose skills we use the most even after the akuma’s are finished. Sometimes people aren’t where they are supposed to be or people are missing, sometimes even the news networks get things wrong and they provide aid. They are basically a human resource group.”
“And that,” continued Sabrina, “brings us to the Council. We are the quadrant leaders, the people in charge while Ladybug and Chat Noir take care of the akuma. We coordinate during and after the attack, making sure that everyone in Paris is safe and well. We are basically the ones who run the whole show. We run the drills, come up with protocols and take responsibility for anything and everything that happens with an akuma.”
“What about the city authorities?” Batman asked in that same monotone voice but he was intrigued. From the sound of things, a group of teenagers basically became government or at least a military branch that ran the whole city. And with much more success than most adult politicians Bruce had ever witnessed. He was honestly impressed by they work.
Abeille snorted, crossing her arms and leaning back in her chair, “This city’s authorities are useless. They chase their own tails, much more concerned with how to cover something up, or small little crimes that are the size of an ant’s ass compared to akuma attacks. They threw some money at the Council and expect us to do the work. It’s better if they don’t interfere. We fight side by side with the citizens of Paris but not the autories.”
Nods and sounds of agreement rippled down the Parisian side of the table as they all agreed with the black and yellow heroine’s assessment of their city’s government.
Dinah had grown increasingly more concerned throughout the meeting. How could anyone possibly rest well knowing that they are basically doing nothing for their struggling citizens? How much neglect had been committed? If a group of barely young adults ran a city better than a mayor or any other government body - during a time of crisis nonetheless - than how broken was this city? How deep were the cracks in the foundation of Paris?
We Value One Another (next part)
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