Sturchling

Alya had been a little suspicious of Lila for the last week. She didn’t want to accuse her of anything, but her stories were beginning to sound far fetched even to her. The lie that really made her start doubting Lila was from two weeks ago. Jagged Stone had just released a new single, featuring Clara Nightingale.

It was a major hit, everyone was talking about it all over the world. When the class came back from the weekend, they were all buzzing about the song. Lila should have thought before she spoke, but as usual she didn’t. All she knew is that the attention wasn’t on her right now, and she can’t stand that. “I know! The song is amazing! I actually helped write and coordinate the song”

While the class fawned over this new story, Alya hesitated. She was pretty sure she had read somewhere that Jagged had brought back his original song writer for this new song, since that writer had worked with both musicians before. Alya almost said something, but stopped herself and thought it through. If she accused Lila without proof, that wouldn’t go well at all and no one was likely to believe her. And besides, if she wasn’t remembering correctly and Lila wasn’t lying, it would be wrong to accuse her.

So Alya resolved to investigate like any good journalist would. First, she went looking for that article. She quickly found what she was looking for, and the article did specifically say that it was Jagged’s original writer who wrote this song, not Lila. Alya was sure this would be enough, but then she thought it over again. She realized she would need more proof. Lila could just say that this article was inaccurate, or some tabloid that got it wrong. Alya needed iron clad proof that couldn’t be refuted.

Deciding to go straight to the source, Alya went to the Grand Paris hotel where she knew Jagged was staying. If Jagged said so, there would be no doubt that Lila was lying. Alya arrived at the hotel and after some convincing, Penny let her into Jagged’s suite. Alya told the two everything that Lila had claimed about the new song. By the end, the two looked livid and Alya reconsidered if this was a good idea. Why if they thought she was lying? Or what if Lila was telling the truth and she had just insinuated that Lila was a liar to a close friend? But that wasn’t what happened. Instead, Penny simply told her “Thank you for bringing this to our attention, it will be handled.”

The next day, Alya was still wondering what Jagged was going to do. But she didn’t have to wait long. Just after the class came back from lunch, the door burst open and in walked Jagged and Clara. They wasted no time, walking straight to Lila and dropped a large stack of papers on her desk.

“Lila, we have heard from a little bird that you have been claiming to have written our latest song. That is simply untrue and you know it. So not rock’in. So considered yourself served and we will see you in court.” Lila was shocked and tried to stutter out a defense. She had never considered that her lies would get back to the celebrities she was lying about! She begged for them to reconsider, she apologized, and tried anything she could to get them to drop the case. But they wouldn’t and left her sitting at her desk, terrified and wondering what would happen when her mom found out.

What Lila didn’t realize is that only the class believed her lies. Everyone else in the school saw her for what she was. A ridiculously bad liar and nothing more. In Mrs. Bustier’s class Lila may be popular, but with the rest of the school? She was low man on the social ladder. Her reputation was only damaged more when Marinette was practically forced out of Mrs. Bustier’s class because of the lies.

Marinette didn’t purposely bad mouth Lila, but word did get out of what exactly she had been doing to Marinette and the school hated her all the more for it. Marinette was close to everyone, and always so kind, so the rest of the school was outraged at what had been done to her.

As the day of the dance drew closer, everyone grew more excited. The end of year dance was always great. Time came for the dance’s court to be announced. Each class nominated one boy and girl to be a part of the court and have a chance to be crowned king and queen of the dance. Of course, Lila and Adrien were nominated from Mrs. Bustier’s class.

Marinette rolled her eyes seeing them on the ballot, but focused more on cheering on her new friend Carrie, who had been nominated for Marinette’s new class. Marinette also finished up the dresses and suits for her new friends, so they would all look amazing on the special night.

Soon, it was time for the dance. Lila arrived with Adrien and was immediately crowded by her minions. So busy with them, she didn’t even notice that the other students practically avoided her at all costs. All the focus of Mrs. Bustiers’s class was on Lila, and that was how she liked it.

Then Marinette and her group arrived. They were gorgeous in their new dresses and all eyes turned to them. A large crowd gathered around to look at the dresses, and even a few of Mrs. Bustier’s students started looking towards Marinette. Lila glared at the young designer for taking the spotlight off her, but brushed it off. As she started spinning a tale to get the class’ attention back on her, she let her mind wander. Not like Marinette actually matters, she can have this one. All attention will be on me where it belongs soon enough, when I become queen.

Soon, it came time to crown the king and queen. Adrien won king in a landslide, not that he particularly cared, but he smiled and accepted his crown anyway. Lila sat preening, waiting for her name to be called next. “And the queen of the dance is- Carrie!” Lila was shocked in silence, as was the rest of her class. How could she lose? She is one of the most popular girls in school.

But she didn’t panic, she just let the anger and rage consume her, and waited for the butterfly. He always showed up when she was angry. So she waited. And waited. And waited. But it never showed. What she didn’t know is that Gabriel had left town to go to fashion week in New York. She was on her own. No helpful supervillain or butterflies to help get her way this time. So, as Carrie began to speak and accept her crown, Lila stormed the stage.

“I demand a recount! This can’t be right! I’m the most popular girl in school! That is my crown, I should be queen! How could some nobody like you beat me!?” Lila stood there, expecting some push back, but also for the school to rally around her. Mrs Bustier’s class agreed and called for a recount as well.

Mr. Damocles just sighed. “If you insist, we can do a recount, but it will be quick. Almost everyone voted for Carrie, only your class voted for you Mrs. Rossi. Now, if there is nothing else, please get off the stage and let Carrie finish accepting her crown or you will be removed.”

The whole school was laughing at this point, laughing at her. How dare they laugh at me. Lila furiously whipped around and glared at everyone. “Stop it! Why are you laughing?! Stop that right now!” Someone in the crowd called out “We are laughing at you for thinking we would fall for you lies like your class did. They may believe you, but you are a pretty poor liar.”

The laughing continued, as Mrs. Bustier’s class looked around confused and asking why they thought Lila was a liar. Lila saw everything crumbling around her, but she couldn’t let this go. She couldn’t just stop here and focus on keeping her class in her thrall instead of getting this crown she had already lost. So she continued yelling and screaming about how it wasn’t fair and she deserved that crown. She threw a tantrum that would put Baby August, the frequent akuma, to shame.

She had brought all her plans to Mrs Bustier for final approval and for her to make the final arrangements. All the teacher had to do was make the phone calls. Very simple. But she wouldn’t do it.

She kept saying that was Marinette’s job as class rep, not her’s. “I’m sure you can handle it. I’m too busy and it’s just a few phone calls and you can always figure things out. I expect you to have everything finalized by Monday since we leave Friday.” Before Marinette could protest, Mrs Bustier walked out the door.

Marinette went home, feeling extremely overwhelmed, but sure that she could figure this out quickly. It was just a couple phone calls right? It shouldn’t be that difficult to arrange everything for the trip. She had all the details she needed, she could get this done, right?

Wrong. Marinette had started this endeavor thinking it would be easy, but quickly learned it would be anything but. Every place she called wouldn’t let her make the reservations. She was too young to book the hotel, as they required the person making the reservation be 21. She couldn’t book the tours as Mrs. Bustier hadn’t given her any of the money the class raised and all the tours required deposits or for you to pay for the tour completely right there. Marinette realized, with dawning horror, that she wouldn’t be able to finalize anything herself, and by Monday it may be too late.

Marinette was exhausted as she got to school that Monday. She had spent all weekend trying to figure out what to do. Her parents were furious at Bustier and had tried making the reservations themselves, for the hotel at least, but since they wouldn’t be present on the trip, they weren’t able to either. Marinette had tried reaching out to Mrs. Bustier a number of times over the weekend about the issues, but received no response.

Now she was about to go into class and have nothing to show them for the trip. This was not going to end well. When Mrs. Bustier asked about the trip arrangements, Marinette had to reveal that nothing was set up yet. The class, at first, was angry with Marinette, thinking she had simply forgotten to do it while she worked on something else.

But when Mrs. Bustier started lecturing her, Marinette snapped. She yelled at her, saying that she had tried contacting Mrs. Bustier multiple times over the weekend to no avail. “Why did you think I could do this? I couldn’t make any reservations cause I’m not old enough or didn’t have access to the money we raised! How is that my fault?!”

Mrs Bustier spoke in an extremely condescending tone as the class began to realize that Mrs. Bustier is the reason for all of this. “Now Marinette you shouldn’t yell at me. And I saw your emails, but didn’t think it was urgent so I didn’t read them. I was sure you had everything in hand and were just sending updates. I was busy this weekend anyway, and couldn’t have made the arrangements myself. You should have found a way to work this out on your own. I’m so disappointed in you Marinette, and I’m sure the class is too.”

Mrs. Bustier looked at the class, expecting them to agree with her, but instead all she saw was them glaring at her. Then they all stood up and marched to Mr. Damocles office to complain. Mrs Bustier tried to stop them, but to no avail.

The two girls hadn't really been talking lately. Marinette had really been letting her jealousy get the best of her lately and had been harassing Lila constantly. But while she may be mad at Marinette for how she was treating Lila, she was still wanting Marinette to make her birthday dress. The girl always made her birthday dresses and they were always gorgeous. Alya was even going to invite Marinette to the party, after making sure it was ok with Lila and she wouldn't be uncomfortable, of course. This day was going to be great.

But when Alya approached Marinette about the dress, she wasn't expecting the answer she got. "I'm sorry Alya, but that is too short notice. It is only two weeks and it would be impossible to design, sketch and make a dress for you in that little time. And besides that I have 3 other commissions right now. I'm sorry."

Truthfully, one of those commissions was for Alya. Her parents knew Marinette always made a dress for Alya's birthday, and decided they wanted to surprise their daughter with the dress themselves this year. They had approached Marinette weeks ago about the dress, and asked her to keep it a secret. They also asked that if Alya came to commission Marinette herself, to please turn her away but not to really specify why. Marinette agreed and was excited to help surprise her friend. Things had been rocky between them lately and she hoped this might help start patching things up.

When Alya heard this, she lost it. She threw a tantrum like a spoiled brat about how friendship should be more important to Marinette than some stupid commissions. "Come on Marinette, how could you be so selfish!? I was even willing to put your treatment of Lila aside and invite you to the party. But you know what, forget it. I will find someone better to make my dress, someone who isn't selfish or jealous. And you can forget about coming to my party, you aren't welcome."

Alya stormed off, still muttering to herself, while the remaining members of the class glared at Marinette for 'her behavior'. Marinette was stunned. She knew things hadn't been great between her and Alya lately, but she hadn't expected her 'best friend' to blow up on her like that. Marinette was beyond hurt by Alya's accusations and even more hurt that she had been disinvited from the party that everyone else would be at.

She honestly didn't want to finish the dress for Alya after all that. She was so hurt by Alya, that she didn't even want to look at it. But she had promised Alya's parents and they had paid for everything upfront, so Marinette put her feelings aside and finished the dress. For the next two weeks she worked on the dress as Alya and the class ignored her. When it was finished, the dress was stunning when Marinette was finished and with a hollow feeling, she realized Alya would love it.

The next day, the day of the party, Marinette went to drop off the dress at the Cesaire apartment. The plan was for her to bring the dress, and then stay for the party. But now she wasn't welcome at the party, so she would just give it to Alya's parents and leave. When she arrived, the Cesaires loved the dress, complimenting Marinette's work, thanking her immensely. But then Marinette went to the door, and they were confused. Mrs. Cesaire stopped her, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Marinette? Are you not staying for the party? It is starting soon, so you would have to come back for it quickly. We don't mind you waiting here."

Marinette didn't even turn back to look at them, her voice sounding empty. "I'm not coming to the party. Alya came to ask me to commission the dress and I told her no like you asked me too. She got really upset and told me not to come. I need to go before she gets back, don't want to make her upset on her birthday." Marinette walked out the door, leaving Alya's parents stunned. Their daughter had done what? They could hardly believe it.

As the party guests started to arrive, they tried figuring out why their daughter would have done that. Maybe she had been having a bad day? Maybe Marinette hadn't understood correctly? Surely Alya and the class would notice and miss Marinette at the party? Right?

But as the party went on, the class carried on as usual. Alya had a great time with her friends, laughing and having fun. No one in the class seemed worried, or to even notice Marinette wasn't there. Alya's parents couldn't believe it. Marinette had been right, and Alya really had uninvited her from the party. Now they couldn't get the image of that out of their head, or the thought of Marinette being alone while all her supposed friends had a party here without her. They almost didn't want to give Alya the dress, it didn't seem right.

In the end, they decided to give her the dress and they would have a talk with her later about her behavior and have her apologize to Marinette. When it came time to open the presents and Alya opened the dress she was ecstatic. She thanked them over and over, acting like the Alya they knew. Then she said something that truly infuriated her parents. "Wow, this is way better than anything Marinette could ever make. I'm glad she didn't make my dress this year."

As the class agreed with her, Alya's parents felt like the world had stopped moving. Alya had gone to the other side of the apartment to talk with her friends and show off the dress, while her parents stood frozen. They were furious. They approached Alya, ready to say something and just end the party, when they saw Lila get to her first. They stopped for a moment to listen and heard Lila say, "Surprise! After Marinette so rudely refused to make you a dress, I gave your parents the name of a lovely designer I know from back in Italy. She was more than happy to make a dress for you. I am so glad it turned out great."

Alya's parents didn't know what to address first, but they let the anger finally boil over. "THAT IS IT! This party is over! Alya we are so disappointed in you!" Everyone stared at her parents, not sure what to say or if they should just leave. They seemed pretty angry and they didn't want to make it worse. Alya stuttered out a response, "W-What? Why? What did I do?"

Alya's parents almost saw red and laid into her. "What did you do?! How about how you treated Marinette? You uninvited her from the party for no good reason!" Alya tried defending herself, "I had a reason. She was being selfish! I asked her to make me a dress for tonight like two weeks ago and she said no! Said she had three commissions and had to work on them instead. That isn't what friends do!"

"No, friends don't throw tantrums when the other doesn't do what you want! And she wasn't being selfish! Firstly, as I'm sure she told you, two weeks is not enough time to make a dress. Second, she told you no cause we asked her to! We wanted to keep it a surprise until tonight, but we commissioned her ourselves cause we knew that you liked her designs. She is the one that made this dress, not some fictitious designer in Italy. And you Lila, how dare you lie and take credit for this when you had nothing to do with this! We do not tolerate liars in this house, so you need to leave right now."

The whole class was stunned, not even realizing that Alya's parents had not only just said, but proved, that Lila is a liar. Alya, not wanting to believe her parents, checked the dress. She didn't want to believe that Lila lied to her just now, like Marinette had been telling her. She also didn't want to believe that she had blown up on Marinette for no reason. She was clinging to the idea that her parents were wrong and Marinette truly was selfish when she saw it. There, hidden in the embroidery, was Marinette's calling card. Her name hidden in the golden embroidery. Alya felt sick.

Lila took this opportunity to leave the apartment before everyone turned on her now that Alya's parents had revealed her. The class went to yell at Lila, realizing that she likely was the liar Marinette claimed her to be and the Marinette likely hadn't been bullying her. But when they turned, she was already gone. Alya's parents stuck to their word and the party ended right then, hours earlier than it was supposed to. The apartment now empty, Alya's parents really lectured her, for almost an hour. When it was finally over, they told her that she had to apologize to Marinette, but it would be up to Marinette if she accepted the apology and wanted to be friends again. And if she wanted Alya to leave her alone, then they expected Alya to respect that.

So that is how Marinette found herself as Ladybug, standing next to Chat, holding a press conference about the Miracle Queen event. She explained everything that happened that day. How the whole city was stung by some strange wasps. How Miracle Queen had revealed the identities of all the temp heroes and endangered their lives. How as a result of this attack, the guardian of the miraculous was lost, without going into details of what lost meant. And finally, she revealed that Chloe was a willing participant and had willingly helped Hawkmoth and tried to steal all the miraculous for herself. It was like Ladybug had lit a bomb in the city of Paris.

The citizens of Paris were furious. They had put up with a lot of nonsense from Chloe over the years. But they never pushed for any punishment, cause they knew it wouldn't go anywhere. But this? This couldn't be ignored. This wasn't just some mischievous prank or insensitive action. She had helped a terrorist, endangered so many lives, and caused a lot of damage. All for the sake of her ego as Queen Bee. This couldn't go unpunished and the citizens of Paris were determined to do something about this.

First they tried going about this normally. They appealed to the police and the mayor's office. They explained how they felt and how serious this was. They asked for some punishment for this girl. They understood she was still a minor, but this couldn't be let go with nothing. They were even willing to settle for a simple probation and community service instead of jail time, since she was a minor, the mayor's daughter, and a former hero herself. By all accounts, they were very reasonable.

But the mayor's office simply ignored them for weeks. Mayor Bourgeois simply laughed at this, thinking it would go away on its own in a few days. The citizens always got upset at his daughter for one thing or another, but they eventually dropped it. He was sure this would be no different. But he was wrong. When he continued to ignore their requests and words, they stepped it up.

They began full on protesting, where ever he and his daughter were. Outside the hotel, city hall, and even the school. They wouldn't let up. They had to close the school while this was going on, as no one could focus with the noise, not that anyone outside of Chloe and her father disagreed with the protesters. The hotel started losing business constantly. No one could sleep or relax with the racket. And hardly any work got done at city hall for weeks.

Finally Mayor Bourgeois was fed up. He held a press conference of his own. The city of Paris thought he had finally seen the light and was going to give in to their demands. But instead he spent an hour calling them selfish and immature. He went on to say that no matter what they did, he wouldn't punish his daughter. "I understand that you are upset at my daughter's antics, but this is ridiculous. The damage to the city was minimal and was already repaired. We all agreed we wouldn't punish akuma victims, and I am not changing that stance because of my citizens bullying me. Now let this madness end and let us return to the Paris I love!"

Mayor Bourgeois thought that would be the end of it. The mayor had spoken and his people would need to accept that. But what he didn't count on was his words infuriating his citizens further. What was once simple protests were now full on riots. The city was in chaos as crowds of citizens demanded not just punishment for Chloe, but now the mayor as well due to his obvious corruption. The Bourgeois family had locked themselves in their family suite at the hotel, with the crowds banging on the door, trying to get at them.

Now the city council saw the writing on the walls and knew they needed to step in. Truth be told, they had hated the mayor and his corruption too. So they listened to the people and used a power they had that the mayor had forgotten about. They had the power to hold a vote of no faith and remove the mayor if they were unfit for office. It was unanimous, Mayor Bourgeois was removed from office and was no longer the mayor. The city held a quiet election for the new mayor, and Mayor Bourgeois didn't even know. When people left his door to vote in the election, new people took their place so the former mayor never realized what was happening until it was too late.

With the new mayor elected, the first order of business for the new mayor was to listen to the will of the people. She approved arrest warrants for both Chloe and the former mayor. The time for probation and community service had passed. That was offered when the city initially asked. Now they would settle for nothing less then a harsh prison sentence for both of them, after everything they both had done.

When the police arrived at the hotel, the crowd of rioters parted like the red sea, gladly letting the police through to do as they wanted. When the banging stopped, the disgraced former mayor thought the nightmare might finally be over. He had heard the police identify themselves when they entered the hallway. He went out of the suite with his equally disgraced daughter in tow, expecting a police escort out of the building and somewhere safe while the police arrested these hooligans. But that isn't what happened at all.

There had been another battle today. Not that Adrien had known until after. Ladybug had gathered the temp heroes and ended the fight before Adrien even knew there was an attack. He only found out when he saw it on the news later that night. Even though he knew what he would find, he transformed and checked his messages to see if Ladybug had even called him. She hadn't. She hadn't felt the need to call him at all. This had been going on for a while, but it didn't make it hurt any less to see his empty inbox.

Deciding he needed to get out some pent up energy, he decided to do his own patrol tonight. He had long since stopped being scheduled for patrols, the temp heroes and Ladybug taking care of it. It had seemed fine at the time when Ladybug explained. 'You have told me before you have a hard time moving freely as a civilian. This way, you don't need to worry about getting away. We can handle it!'

Logically, he knew that his lady had been trying to be considerate, even if it wasn't the right way to handle it. She hadn't meant to be malicious. But it still felt like he was being left behind. All he had ever wanted was friends, and with his father practically ignoring him now, he felt alone more than ever. His father hadn't even noticed that he had moved out of the mansion and gotten his own apartment.

But his father had never been terribly attentive, so that was nothing new. And he always could talk to Ladybug about it, if he needed too. But now he was growing distant from one of his closest friends, who had started ignoring him too. So, now transformed as Chat Noir, he left his bedroom and started moving around the rooftops of Paris. He sat down on a roof overlooking the entrance to the louvre, and just thought about everything, sitting in a miserable silence. He knew at this point of the night, whoever was doing patrol should be on the other side of the city. So he was surprised to hear footsteps behind him.

He whips around, baton in hand, expecting an akuma. Instead there is a woman standing behind him in a black leather body suit and cat ears on her head. Chat didn't know what to make of this woman, but she looked too normal to be an akuma. Aside from the costume, she was completely normal.

To her credit, Selina recovered from the shock of seeing someone dressed almost exactly like her on a near inaccessible roof pretty quickly. She had come to try and get her hands on the valuable jewels that were kept in the louvre. But now this boy had her interest. "Hello there little kitten. What are you doing up here by yourself. Imitation may be good flattery, but I'm not a big fan of copy cats." That is when she recognized this boy from the news. He wasn't some sneak thief trying to copy her. He was a local super hero, and was very famous in the city. Guess her plan would have to wait for another night, or at least until later.

"Now why would one of Paris' heroes be up here all by himself? On patrol? Though I thought you lot worked in pairs?" Adrien wasn't sure why, but he felt comfortable with this woman. He couldn't explain it, seeing as he could surmise that she was up to no good, but she had an almost maternal air to her. Adrien simply scoffed, "I'm not sure I am one of the city's heroes anymore. Ladybug surely hasn't been treating me like her partner lately."

Selina had always been one for gossip. Couple that with the fact that this boy looked miserable and she had this strange protective instinct towards him and she wanted to know everything. "Do you want to talk about it kitten?" And that was all it took. Someone finally asking about him. Finally checking on him, for the damn to break. Adrien actually started crying as he told the mysterious woman everything. With each passing word, Selina grew more and more angry. But she tapered it down for now. The last thing she needed was that idiot Hawkmoth further ruining the night.

After Adrien was done, it was clear to Selina that he needed a break. From his horrible father, his partner who was ignoring him good intentions or not, and from Paris as a whole. So she offered a suggestion. She told him that she was only in town until morning, then she would return to Gotham. She invited him to come with her. Revealing herself to be Catwoman, Selina Kyle, and having connections to the Bat family, he could come back with her to Gotham.

There he could forget about Paris for a bit, or even forget it completely, and she and the bats could help train him up a bit and make him a better fighter. He was reluctant, so she simply told him to meet her at the airport at Bruce's private plane by 8:00 if he wanted to come. With that, Selina left. The jewels could wait until her next visit. In the morning, she waited by the private jet, until it was almost time to leave. Just as she thought he wasn't going to come, Adrien arrived, running to meet her. Without another word, they boarded the plane and Adrien's adventure began.

When they arrived in Gotham, Bruce and Alfred were waiting for them. She had explained the situation to them last night, and to expect another guest when she got back. To say the bats were livid about this boy's treatment would be an understatement. They welcomed the boy with open arms and got him settled in at the manor. Seeing how Selina cared for the boy, Bruce put her in contact with his attorney that processed his adoptions in the past. While Adrien's father may be alive, seeing as Mr. Agreste hadn't noticed his son had been living on his own in Paris and still hadn't noticed when his son left Paris all together, the attorney was able to make the case that Mr. Agreste was an unfit father and got the adoption pushed through. Adrien was growing accustomed to life in Gotham, even having started helping the Bat Family with their super hero work. He wasn't sure he ever wanted to go back to Paris.

It made big news in Paris when Adrien Agreste left his father and got adopted in Gotham. Meanwhile, Marinette had been looking all over for Chat. He hadn't answered his messages in a while. Sure they had been a bit distant lately, but this is nuts. So when Marinette saw pictures of a new cat themed hero in Gotham, she put two and two together. Sure, this new cat hero looked a bit different, Adrien having changed his appearance to try and avoid suspicion, but Marinette wasn't dumb. She could tell it was Chat. Wondering why he was in Gotham and not here in Paris where he belonged, Marinette used the horse miraculous and went to Gotham. There, she waited on a roof until she spotted the Bat Family, Catwoman, and who she was sure was Chat on a roof, talking. She made her way over and called out to her partner.

"Chat! There you are! I've been looking all over for you. What are you doing here? I've needed you back in Paris, but you haven't answered my messages!" Everyone turned to look at her, and just based off her costume, they knew exactly who she was. She was the person that had been ignoring Adrien and now she wanted to act like this? They just glared at her as the one Marinette knew as Catwoman responded, moving in front of Adrien. "You sure haven't needed him in a while. So he went somewhere he would be appreciated. Now why don't you just leave him alone. He has a new family now."

Marinette was stunned. She had expected Chat to smile at her like he always did, crack some lame joke about his absence, and come back to Paris with her. But that didn't happen. Instead he stared at her with an apathetic look before saying, "You and the others had a handle on things. You haven't needed me for a while. As a matter of fact, you ignored me for a long time. We were supposed to be partners, but you haven't treated me like a partner in a while. Just a sidekick, and not even a sidekick you needed. So I left, and I have found where I belong. You should go." Marinette tried to defend herself, to argue against his statement, but nothing worked. The rest of the heroes in front of her joined Chat in lecturing her and telling her to leave.

Marinette was fuming. They had all betrayed her for some pretty words and promises that would never come. Meanwhile, Marinette could and would have easily helped them. But now they had burned that bridge, and Marinette would rain hell fire down on them. And she would be able to do it in a single night.

She jumped online and started posting on every social media she had. Post after post of not only Lila and her lies (with the proof that they were only lies), but also what the class had done to her. Photos of the bruises from the altercation. Of her destroyed homework and property. She showed everything, but that was only the start of her plan. If they thought that was mean, wait until they saw what happens next.

She also showed her parents what had happened, and they had initially wanted to press charges and have all of the class arrested for assault. And while Marinette was angry, she didn't want to send them to prison. Not yet anyway. They attack her again, and that could change. She convinced her parents to sue for damages instead. That way they are still held accountable, but they don't go to prison. Even as angry as she is, there is still a tiny seed of compassion in her for her old friends. But that was where the compassion ended.

She went back to her room and opened her laptop again, seeing that her posts and threads were quickly picking up steam and going viral. She could see her classmates trying to defend themselves in the comments, but it wasn't going well for them. Now on to the next phase of her plan. Her classmates had applied to many different internships and summer jobs with their top idols and most had gotten the positions. Lila had taken responsibility, saying she had called in some favors with her famous friends.

But the reality? The reality was that despite everything, when Marinette heard about the applications, she had reached out to her contacts and given glowing recommendations for her classmates. That is what had gotten them the internships and jobs. Not Lila, Marinette. And now, if Marinette could give that too them, she could take it away. She called everyone. Jagged, Clara, the Wayne family, Lois Lane, and many others from around the world. She told the story of what had happened several times that night, but it worked. They all agreed to pull her classmates from the accepted applicants and reject them.

And while she was talking with Bruce Wayne, she called in another favor. This time in regards to his more covert activities. She had a feeling that this plan of hers may result in an akuma, or more likely multiple akumas. Obviously she couldn't use any of her old temp. heroes if this happened. She had already been training with the Justice League and the covert team known as Young Justice. Several members of the two teams had been selected as new miraculous holders and were ready to come if needed. She hadn't thought she would need to use that offer until it was time to defeat Hawkmoth, but she called in the favor anyway. Bruce agreed and soon there would be a small team of heroes ready and waiting for the fallout that was sure to come.

For the final stage of her plan, she decided to reveal not just to the class, but to the whole city, that Lila had been lying. She went on the official Ladybug twitter account, and sent a message to Nadja asking for a live interview that very night. Nadja got back to her within a minute and agreed to have the interview in an hour. Ladybug wanting an interview was big news and the TV station was happy to oblige.

As Marinette made her way to the TV station as Ladybug, all over the city, her classmates were panicking. They had seen the posts and initially thought nothing of it. Who cared what Marinette thought, and then they really read the posts and saw the proof of Lila's lies and began to grow concerned. But they would apologize to Marinette and this would all blow over, it was just a single thread on Marinette's page, it wouldn't be a big deal. That was until they saw the posts going viral. People were commenting and sharing it everywhere, calling out the class on their behavior. And these weren't just random people call them out. These were big names in every major industry. Which just made it go more viral.

The class tried defending themselves in the comments, but no one was listening to them, or taking their sides. As far as people were concerned, they were horrible people who attacked Marinette for no good reason. Just as their panic began to reach their peak, the rejections started coming in. Programs and internships that had accepted them only weeks ago, now sent them letters rejecting them. The letters said that the person who had recommended them for the positions had come back and retracted their recommendations because they had attacked the person who gave the recommendations.

With growing horror, the class realized that not only was Lila a liar, but that Marinette had been the one with the connections that got them these positions. And she had taken no credit, letting Lila claim that it was her doing. And now everything was falling apart all around them. Adrien watched as the Gabriel brand stock tanked and his fans turned on him quickly for not defending Marinette. He hadn't thought Marinette had this kind of pull. But in a single evening she had ruined everything for the class. As if things couldn't get worse for them, everyone's TVs and phones that had been watching all of this unfold were now playing a special interview from Ladybug.

Adrien and the class watched in horror as Ladybug went on the record, clearly stating that not only had Lila lied about being her friend, but was also akumatized several times and was suspected of being a willing accomplice to Hawkmoth. Adrien knew he had to do something. This wasn't right, and LB should know that. But he could get her to stop. To change her mind, retract her statement about Lila being a liar, and get everything back to normal. He would have to throw Marinette under the bus on live TV to do that, but it was her own fault and he would try to make it up to her later. She would forgive him, and realize she was in the wrong eventually. So he transformed into Chat and raced to the station.

He got there just as they were wrapping up a commercial break. They were just about to go back on the air when he arrived. He rushed up to Ladybug and begged her to make things right. "I don't know what Marinette told you, but she must be exaggerating. This is too much and you know that. But there is still time to make this right again. We just have to tell everyone that what Mrs. Bustier's class did was justified and Marinette was the real aggressor. Then everything will go back to normal." He had expected Ladybug to agree, but instead she simply glared at him, before grabbing his arm and yanking off the ring.

Adrien was stunned and yelled at her, demanding the ring back. The TV crew stood in shock, forgetting to get prepared to return to air. "Adrien. Of course it was you, I should have known. No I will not say any such thing. I'm not a coward like you. I know when to stand up and say enough. That class made their bed and now they have to lie in it. They don't get to torment people and expect everything to just go away. Now they will suffer the consequences of their own actions."

With that, Ladybug went back to the interview, which just returned to air. Nadja was still stunned, so Ladybug took the lead. "I have just retrieved the Black Cat Miraculous from Chat Noir. He was unworthy of wearing it and has since been retired. And this goes for all of the temporary heroes as well. They are all retired. If I can't trust them to have my back, then they don't deserve a miraculous. They will never again wear a miraculous." She of course didn't mean Luka or Kagami, they hadn't done anything. She would reach out to them individually to tell them in person, and help them come up with new hero personas so no one was suspicious.

Just as the interview ended, the akuma alarm went off. Just as she expected. Ladybug left the stunned studio crew behind and rushed outside where she saw a grotesque amalgamation of her classmates' akuma forms. Hawkmoth had sensed the growing despair from them all, from Lila being revealed to the city, and the class' world falling apart, and took advantage of the situation. For once, he felt grateful to Ladybug, sure her announcement had something to do with this. Not that he could make out much, with so many minds under his control at once. But one thing was clear. They wanted to go after Marinette. She caused all of this tonight, and they were placing their anger on her. And Hawkmoth would be happy to oblige.

But it wouldn't last long. Thanks to Marinette planning ahead, she went to where the zeta tube let out and found her back up there. Several heroes like Aqualad, Nightwing, Super Boy, Miss Martian, Beast Boy, and many others all stood waiting. She gave them all a miraculous that they had practiced with previously, and gave Aqualad the Black Cat miraculous, thinking his cool headed nature would help keep its destructive power in check. With her new team by her side, they faced the villain they decided just to call Amalgamation.

Adrien was so tired of this. Of being Lila's fake trophy boyfriend. He hated this so much. He only did it cause his dad was forcing him, for the brand. He didn't even like girls like that. He now sincerely regretted ever taking the high road. Marinette had been right, they should have cut this off at the root and revealed her on day one. But he hadn't listened, too scared of Lila being akumatized or his father deciding to pull him out of school. Now it was too late.

Marinette was long gone. She transferred out of Dupont to a fancy arts academy somewhere else in the city and was very happy there with all her new friends. Meanwhile, Adrien was facing Lila alone. Well, almost alone. A few members of the class had woken up and realized that Lila was nothing but a liar after Marinette left. Juleka, Kim, and Nathaniel knew Marinette well enough that they knew she wouldn't go so far as to transfer schools over a little jealousy. Then they looked into Lila's stories and figured it out. Since then, they have tried to help Adrien as much as possible. Try to get him some time away from Lila.

Now they were in Gotham for a class trip and Adrien was miserable. Lila had been glued to his side all day, her nails sinking into his arm any time he tried to pull away. Finally when they were all at dinner that night, Adrien was able to pry himself free with an excuse that he needed to use the restroom. He escaped to the restroom and took a deep breath, desperate to make his reprieve last as long as possible.

Just as he was leaving the restroom when he ran head first into a man heading into the restroom. They crashed to the floor, and Adrien scrambled to get off of him, incredibly embarrassed. "Oh, I am so sorry! Are you ok?" Adrien helped the mystery man up and he dusted himself off. "Yes, I am quite alright. Thank you for the hand." Adrien smiled awkwardly, "Of course, I still feel bad for knocking you over and getting your clothes dirty. is there any way I can repay you?" The mystery man smirked. "Well, how about you let me take you out of here and somewhere better for dinner? It is alright if you would prefer not to." Adrien smiled, both because he saw a way out of this hellish dinner with Lila and the class, and because this handsome guy just asked him out. "I'd like that a lot. I'm Adrien Agreste, what's your name?" The boy smiled at him, and started to lead Adrien out, "Damian. Damian Wayne."

Adrien and Damian had a fantastic time that night. And every night after that for the remainder of the trip. They would hand out every night once the mandatory tours for the class were done. Adrien would stay far away from Lila, with his group of friends during the tour, and vanish to go meet Damian as soon as they were given free time. He had even visited the manor the other night and the whole Wayne family already loved him, seeing how much of a good influence he was on Damian.

But this had Lila fuming. How was she supposed to be the envy of Gotham with Adrien on her arm, if Adrien kept disappearing to God knows where every night. She had seen him leaving with some man every night, but she didn't know who he was. But she was determined to nip this in the bud. So on the final night of the trip, she set her plan in motion.

As expected, once the tours were done, and they had freshened up at the hotel, Lila waited in the lobby and sure enough Adrien came down soon after. Lila saw the mystery man at the door, smiling and waving at Adrien. The class was also nearby, wondering where Adrien was going. This hadn't escaped anyone's notice which made it all the more important for Lila to stop this. If she didn't it wouldn't be long before other people started wondering why Adrien was going with this stranger every night instead of on romantic dates with her. So when he was almost to the mystery man, Lila leaped into action. She grabbed Adrien's arm and dug her nails in until he winced. "Adrien, where are you going? You skipped out on all our dates this week and keep leaving with this stranger. I've been all alone, you should spend time with your girlfriend."

Adrien grimaced and Lila smirked, sure her plan would work. Guilt and peer pressure always worked on Adrien. But before Adrien said anything, the stranger interrupted. "Excuse me, but who do you think you are to touch my boyfriend. You are nothing but a manipulative liar that he has been trying to placate. You are not his girlfriend. Now get your hands off him, you are hurting him." Lila was stunned, and the class was now looking at her funny, especially after he said she was hurting him. Not wanting to risk anything, Lila released his arm, and started crying. "Adrien, what is going on? Why would he say that. Were you cheating on me?" Just as the class seemed ready to turn on Adrien, Adrien looked at Damian who nodded encouragingly at him. Adrien had enough and the only way this would end is if he did something.

Marinette tried to ignore Lila for the most part. It was just a bunch of nonsense half the time anyway. Instead Marinette was focusing on writing her next letter to her pen pal, Isabella Stark. They had been writing each other for months after connecting in a pen pal program. And at first, Marinette had no idea who she was or what her last name was.

Months had gone by of her writing her pen pal with no last name. Marinette was curious but didn't want to invade her privacy if she didn't want to tell Marinette her full name. But Isabella had sent her a picture. 'For a face to the name' she had said in that letter. Marinette thought Isabella was beautiful, with long dark brown hair, brown eyes and tan skin. Standing next to her was a man that looked similar to Isabella, who told Marinette that it was her father. Marinette had sent one back as well so Isabella could see her too.

But it was that picture exchange that led Marinette to finding out her pen pal's full identity. Marinette was watching the American news for a world events assignment, and they were covering the opening of a new state of the art medical research center that hoped to cure diseases like cancer, diabetes, and other complicated conditions. It was being funded by Tony Stark, as an act of charity. And Marinette instantly recognized him from the picture Marinette had gotten from Isabella. That meant this was Isabella's dad. And if Tony Stark is Isabella's dad, then that means Isabella is actually Isabella Stark. To say Marinette was shocked was an understatement.

By this point, the girls had graduated from letter writing, to emails. So Marinette jumped on her laptop and sent Isabella an email, that went something along the lines of 'YOU ARE ISABELLA STARK?! That is so cool!" At first, Isabella was concerned that Marinette knew who she was. They tried to keep her father a secret from everyone, mainly for security reasons. But of course, some people she deals with daily, do find out eventually. Most people when they found out, started treating her differently. Like a celebrity instead of a friend, and started asking for favors and things. She dreaded that happening with Marinette cause she really liked talking with her.

But to Isabella's surprise, nothing really changed after that. Sure the next few emails had a lot of questions, but after Marinette asked her questions, things between the two girls stayed the same. Marinette didn't treat her any differently because she was a Stark or because she knew and lived with the Avengers. And now that Marinette knew her secret, the two girls started video calling most nights, now that Isabella didn't have to worry about her dad or one of the Avengers coming into the room while they were talking. As a matter of fact, Marinette ended up saying hi to a few Avengers who did come in. The day she met Black Widow, she fan-girled pretty hard. What can she say, the widow has style.

Things continued like this for sometime. Marinette chatting with Isabella about everything and anything, including what was going on with her class and the liar. So one day, as Marinette tried to ignore Lila, she heard something she knew Isabella would be interested in. "I am best friends with Tony Stark's daughter. She is such a sweet heart. I met her when my mother was based in New York and I interned at Avenger's Tower. We are so close we are practically sisters. I even helped her dad on one of his Iron Man suits. It was a great time." Marinette smirked a bit at that. Now isn't that interesting. I think Isabella might want to know about her 'best friend' Lila.

That night, Marinette called Isabella and told her everything. Tony overheard and went on a bit of a rant about the Iron Man suit comment. "No one touches those suits but me! How dare that little liar! My lawyers will make mince meat out of her!" While the girls laughed at the reaction, Isabella got a smirk on her face. Marinette knew that face. "What are you planning Bella?" With mischief in her eyes, she said, "Don't you worry about that. But I would suggest you make sure to get to school on time tomorrow. You aren't going to want to miss the show." Without another word, Isabella signed off, and for the first time in a while, Marinette looked forward to school tomorrow.

As Isabella suggested, Marinette made sure she was on time. Hell, she was even early. It took about a hundred alarms to pull off, but she did it. Now she sat at her seat in the back, anxiously waiting for whatever Isabella had planned. As the class filtered in, Marinette's anticipation grew. Finally, just as Mrs. Bustier was getting ready to start and everyone was here, the door burst open and in walked Isabella.

The whole class was very confused. Who was this strange girl who came in? They didn't get time to ask before she spoke. "I am looking for Lila Rossi." Lila, instantly trying to win this girl over without knowing what she was here for, shyly stood up and said with a fake smile on her face, "I'm Lila, how can I help you." Isabella smiled like the Cheshire Cat. "Oh good. I wanted to hand deliver this lawsuit for slander in person. Along with a cease and desist letter demanding that you stop lying about being my best friend, having helped my father with his suits, and being an intern for the Avengers. They are all false, and we take lies like this very seriously."

Isabella threw down a thick stack of papers on Lila's desk, written on Stark Industries stationary, and grinned widely at Marinette when no one was looking. Marinette had to stop herself from bursting out laughing. She could tell the show wasn't over yet. The class was stunned, but Alya recovered first. "What are you talking about?! Lila isn't a liar. How could you say all that. Who even are you?" Isabella turned to Alya with a wide smile on her face. "Oh, my apologies." She gave a small sarcastic bow before continuing with a flourish not unlike her father. "My name is Isabella Stark, and I am Tony Stark's only daughter."

Lila turned more and more pale with each word from Isabella. Lila desperately tried to salvage this as she saw doubt creep into her classmates' eyes. "No you are not. I know Tony Stark's daughter and you are not her. You can't prove it, anyone can say they are Stark's kid." Isabella looked almost giddy at this. "Why yes, of course anyone could say they were me. Anyone could also say they are my best friend, wouldn't you agree? But I can prove it, since you are so sure I can't." Isabella whipped out a small book and her wallet, throwing them at Lila and Alya's desk. "There. My passport and ID. Both with the name Isabella Stark. Can't just fake that. Or, how about this." Isabella pulled out her phone, where her lock screen was her and her dad at her last birthday. "And if those don't convince you, how about this picture with Tony Stark. My dad" The class was silent as they looked at everything. This girl really was Tony Stark's only daughter. But if she is Isabella Stark, then Lila really had been lying.

Marinette rolled her eyes as she heard Lila's newest lie. Some nonsense about Clara Nightingale asking for help with her newest music video cause she needed another background dancer. "I wanted to help her so badly, but with my bad knee from when Marinette pushed me down the stairs, I knew I knew I wouldn't be much help." The class glared at her from across the courtyard, but quickly tuned back into the Lila variety show.

Marinette turned back to Aurore, her only remaining friend. Lila had successfully turned all of Bustier's class against her. All of her so called friends now believed her to be evil and a bully. And Adrien had done nothing to help her, despite knowing it was lies, he still acted like she was the one in the wrong. Marinette ended up switching into the same class as Aurore. While the people in her new class were nice, she had only really connected with Aurore. Now the two girls sat on a bench in the courtyard looking at Marinette's sketch for Aurore's new dress for her next TV appearance. As they sat there, they heard someone laughing from up above.

Everyone in the courtyard looked up to see a strange looking woman, who was clearly akumatized. Marinette started running plans in her mind about how to slip away, when the akuma started yelling. "Ladybug won't be able to ignore me this time! Weeks I have sent letters to her P.O. box, tried catching her after an attack, anything just to talk to her! But she just ignores me. Well now I can find the people she actually likes and they can tell me how to get her attention!" Marinette couldn't believe it. This person got akumatized because she hadn't responded to them as Ladybug? That P.O. box was set up at the start of all this by the city, and is meant for things like tips about Hawkmoth, but obviously some people just send fan mail or requests for interviews (Alya). Marinette had just stopped looking at it all together at this point.

The akuma seemed to shoot a ray from their hand, and it struck Rose. Marinette prepared for the worst, not knowing what this akuma could actually do. But instead of Rose becoming some kind of minion, or being hurt by the attack, a number appeared above her head. There was just a floating 2 above her head. "Oh, poor you, I guess Ladybug doesn't like you very much at all." Marinette was slowly starting to understand. This akuma's attack shows them, and everyone around, how much Ladybug likes you on some kind of numerical scale. In that case, the number is fairly accurate. She couldn't fully hate her old class, they had grown up together after all and those bonds are hard to forget. But yeah, she is pretty miffed with them, so 2 made sense.

The akuma began rapid firing around the courtyard, not even looking at who he hit. He struck all of Mrs. Bustier's class, who scored mostly 1's and 2's. Except for Chloe, Lila, Alya, and Adrien. All of them scored 0's. By this point, everyone had pieced together what the numbers meant and were shocked to see they had scored so low in Ladybug's esteem. Especially Lila. Even if Ladybug didn't like the rest of the class much, shouldn't her best friend's number be much higher? Adrien was horrified. His lady disliked him this much? Had he not proved how much he cared for her? Well, that didn't matter right now, he would address that when his lady was here, and ask for an explanation. Then the akuma class looked over and saw Marinette and Aurore, and were even more stunned.

The two girls, who the class despised for their mistreatment of Lila, had the highest numbers so far. They had 100's. Why does Ladybug like a bully like Marinette and a girl who would accept that behavior from her friend? It didn't make sense. The akuma hadn't seen the two high numbers, focused instead on someone from the art club who had a score of 63. Marinette caught sight of her number in a window and knew she needed to get away to transform before the akuma saw. She grabbed Aurore and raced into the locker room. She told Aurore to hide in a locker, since there was no telling what the akuma would actually do to someone Ladybug like that much, and she would hide in a different one.

Once Aurore was safely hidden, Marinette transformed. She left the school and swung in through the roof to give the appearance of having just arrived. Before Adrien could even try to slip away to transform, Marinette had taken care of the akuma and released the magic ladybugs to take care of the minimal damage. Since the akuma had wanted to be her friend, they had rushed up to her the moment she arrived and it didn't take long at all to spot the akumatized object.

As Ladybug prepared to leave, she was mobbed by Mrs. Bustier's class, with Alya pushing to the front. "Ladybug, what was with that attack. Why were our numbers so low. The akuma said that means you don't like us? I thought you did, what is going on?" Ladybug just let out a sigh and then leveled the class with a cold glare that made them flinch. "It is my understanding that you all believed the word of this liar-" pointing at Lila "and bullied another student in the class so badly because of those lies that she switched classes. I could never be friends with people that would be ok with doing that to someone."

The class was stunned. Alya sputtered indignantly, trying to save face as the entire school watched. "What do you mean a liar? Lila isn't a liar! She is fantastic and your best friend, she said so herself! And if you are talking about Marinette, how did you even know about that. And Marinette was bullying Lila horribly. We were just defending our friend!" Ladybug gave Alya another icy glare. "This girl is a liar. I had never met her before the day she became Volpina. That was the first day I had seen this girl. She is definitely not my best friend. And as for Marinette, I found out about her situation because while I was on patrol I saw an akuma going for her. I caught it before she became akumatized thankfully, but she told me everything you all had done to her. You should be ashamed of yourselves. You bullied someone who was once your friend so badly that you nearly got her akumatized, all on the word of pathetic liar."

Lila stood there red in the face from both embarrassment and and anger. How dare Ladybug expose her all over again. And this time in front of the entire school. She had never been so humiliated. And the worst part is that no one would believe her now. Her kingdom of lies was ruined! As Ladybug went to leave, Adrien stopped her in a desperate attempt to understand. "Ladybug wait! I know Lila is a liar, but that was cruel. Exposing her in front of everyone isn't the way to handle this!" Ladybug simply scoffed before turning back to face Adrien, who was now wishing he hadn't said anything. "Yeah, I know all about your strategy to deal with this, Marinette told me all about your precious 'high road'. Well guess what? That clearly hasn't worked. You have known since day one that she was a liar, and you stood by and watched as she lied to the class about help she could give them and let her turn the entire class against Marinette. You allowed them to be tricked into bullying that sweet girl, just so that your life could stay comfortable. In my opinion, you are the worst of the bunch. You stood by as your friends were tricked and you left Marinette to face this alone. From now on, all of you just stay away from me unless it is an emergency." And with that, she swung away on her yoyo.

With the miraculous now common knowledge, there is a very real chance of someone else coming after the miraculous for their own selfish gain. That couldn't happen. The risk was too great that another psychopath was going to try and obtain their power. So, after much consideration, the kwami approached Marinette with a solution. She didn't necessarily like it, but she knew it was the right thing to do.

The kwami suggested that the miraculous be sent to another dimension, were no one from this world could find them again. But to do so, the guardian would have to come with them. That meant Marinette would have to leave her whole world behind. Her family, her close friends, her entire life would be behind her. Of course, Marinette would be happy to get away from Lila and the fake friends she once had. Life in Paris had been extremely hard since Lila had arrived and the sheep that believed her had been harassing her. It would be nice to leave that mess behind her completely and start fresh. But when she thought of leaving her parents behind, never to see them again. Of leaving Luka, Kagami, Nathaniel, and Alya behind, after they stuck with her through the rest of the class turning on her. When she thought of how she would be all alone in a world she didn't know, she felt fear take hold of her.

But she knew it was what she had to do. She couldn't let the miraculous fall into the wrong hands, that simply couldn't happen. And it was clear that if the miraculous stayed here, eventually someone was going to try. So, she made the heart wrenching decision to go forward with the kwami's plan.

Marinette wouldn't just leave, disappearing without a trace, that would be too cruel. After Hawkmoth was defeated, she had told those closest to her about her identity, except for Alya who already knew. Some were shocked, others like Luka seemed to accept it readily. Put one thing was consistent with everyone she told. They were all proud of what she had done.

When she came to her family and friends with the new plan, and explained while it was necessary, there were tears all around. Sure the group understood why she was doing this, but it didn't make the pain of the impending separation any less severe. A few days later, everyone gathered for one final goodbye. They had one last party, and laughed together. Some gave gifts, hoping they may help her wherever she ended up. Her parents emptied their savings and gave it to Marinette, hoping that wherever she ended up, the currency would be valid and it would help get her on her feet. When the kwami declared it was time to go, Marinette gathered the things she would take with her and there were tearful hugs all around the room. The kwami opened a portal to another dimension, her new home. With one last tear filled look at her home and family, she faced the future and stepped through the portal.

When the portal closed behind her, it took a few seconds for her to get her bearings. But when she did, she was surprised to see that this world looked similar to her own. But there were some subtle differences, that cemented in Marinette's mind that this truly was a different world. Marinette checked into a hotel for the time being, and was thankful to find that the money her parents gave her was indeed valid. Then she set out to explore this new world of hers.

As she looked around, she noticed that a lot of the buildings looked familiar to her for some reason. But she couldn't put her finger on it. She walked around for hours, hoping to figure it out. She would have just asked someone, but that would have been really strange to whoever she asked. Just as she was about to head back for the day, she saw it. A newspaper on the corner. The paper itself wasn't anything special, but its name nearly took Marinette's breath away. The Daily Planet. Marinette was stunned as she looked around her and finally realized where she recognized these buildings from. She had seen them in Alya and Nathaniel's collection of comic books. She had ended up in the DC universe!

This could be really bad. There were real evil super villians here that put Hawkmoth to shame. If any of them got their hands on the miraculous, it would be disastrous. As Marinette began to panic, and wonder if maybe they should look for another dimension, she saw a comic book in a store front. A comic book with Ladybug smack on the cover.

Marinette stared at the cover in thinly veiled shock. She was a comic book here? She went into the store and bought the entire collection so far. She had to be sure. She went back to the hotel, catching the kwami up on everything she had learned, and showed them the comic. They spent several hours reading the comics and sure enough, all her adventures were printed there as a fictional story. Looks like the comic series had gotten as far as Heroes Day for now. After frantically asking if they needed to leave because of all the villains here, the kwami came to the conclusion that it would be ok, so long as they all laid low. In this world, they were nothing but fantasy so no one would look for them. As long as Ladybug didn't make an appearance, they should be ok.

With that settled, Marinette began her new life in Metropolis. She ended up opening a Dupain-Cheng bakery here in the city, using her families recipes. The bakery was an instant success, drawing business from all over the city, and even from other cities. She had to stop herself from freaking out when Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne came in one morning together, just after Superman and Batman had beaten Toy Maker the day before. Of course, Marinette wanted to help the heroes and keep people safe, but it was way to dangerous to reveal the miraculous here, especially with the comics and everyone knowing how they work. So, she kept her head down and spent her days selling croissants. That is, until the end of the world almost started.

The world was on fire. Darkseid and his parademons had arrived, leaving death and destruction in his wake. Marinette, at first, had been confident the Justice League and others would be able to stop it, and she could stay out of it. But it quickly became clear that they needed more help. It was very dangerous, but after discussing the risks and benefits with the kwami, they decided it was worth it to go into battle. So for the first time in almost two years, Marinette became Ladybug once again.

She raced to the heart of the battle, where the JLA was fighting a losing battle. They had defeated most of the parademons, but there was still a small group of them left and Darkseid still stood behind them. She combined with Long, so she could have the powers and weapons of the dragon as well, figuring she would need more offensive power in this fight. As the Justice League began losing ground, a yoyo came out of no where, restraining several parademons. The Justice League was shocked. How did a yoyo stop them? They followed the string of the toy and saw a young girl on a roof. But that wasn't what shocked them. What shocked them was that she was photo copy of the character Ladybug from that popular comic series.

Batman couldn't believe his eyes. How could this child be so reckless, this is no time to play pretend! No matter how impressive she was with that yoyo, it was still a toy and she was in terrible danger. Just as Batman went to remove the girl, she dove off the roof with a sword in hand, and sliced through the small group of parademons she had captured. As everyone stood stunned, Ladybug turned back to them. "I am sure you have a ton of questions, but they can wait. We have bigger things to worry about now, but I will explain everything later."

While the Justice League was still uneasy at this mythic hero's sudden appearance, they wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth. Still, they were stunned when she yelled "Lucky Charm!" and a swarm of ladybugs deposited a seemingly random object in her hand. It was like something straight out of the comic book. She looked around her for a few moments, before shouting out orders of what she needed as Darkseid and the remaining parademons advanced. And as startled as they were, the Justice League jumped into action and followed her directions. At this point they had started to believe this girl might honestly be Ladybug, and they had read enough of the comics to know how the lucky charm plans worked. So, with questions filling their mind, they got to work.

Darkseid was defeated after a long and intense battle. There were several wounded JLA members, but they would live. And it was all thanks to the mysterious girl in a Ladybug costume. As the wounded were taken to be treated, Marinette watched as a handful of members approached her. Batman, Superman, and Wonderwoman stood in front of her with a mix of awestruck and serious looks on their faces. While they appreciated her help, they couldn't help the suspicions that came to mind. Batman finally broke the silence. "Start talking."

Marinette spent the rest of the night explaining everything. How she was from a different dimension, how they were the comic characters where she was from, and how she had come here to try and protect the miraculous. After repeating herself with a lasso of truth around her, and revealing secrets of their backstories that only members of the league should know, they began to believe her story, hard as that was.

Now that her cover was blown and Ladybug was revealed to exist, half the world seeing the footage of the epic battle, Ladybug became an official member of the Justice League. She also publicly said that her miraculous was the only one, the others having long since been destroyed. She knew eventually someone would question the cover story and come looking, but she hoped it may buy her some time. The Justice League became committed to helping her protect the miraculous, offering various ways to store them so no one could easily access them, which Marinette gratefully accepted.