#up grade

Chapter 5:

After a lunch with a surprisingly small number of stares, but that was probably due to the glares of Dami- Wayne and Felix, Marinette and Allegra headed to gym together. Entering the large room, the girl’s steps echoed around along with their lighthearted conversation. However, they were soon greeted by the sound of many teens filling up the area heading to the locker rooms to change.

Following Allegra, Marinette was taken to meet the gym teacher and was soon provided with a locker. Lucky for her, she had been told to bring clothes by Claude in advance, so she didn’t have to sit out, and she was given the chance to play dodgeball with everyone.

When it came time to play, Marinette was against Allegra’s team. The game started with balls flying everywhere, and people constantly getting out. Marinette picked up a ball and threw it, hitting a tall kid standing next to Allegra intentionally. Looking over at Marinette, the grey-eyed blond mouthed “This means war” causing a rush of adrenaline to flood her veins.

Ducking under a fluffy, obnoxiously bright green ball sent by the blond Marinette could only return the favor and throw one right in her path, resulting in Allegra having to bend her body to its limits to avoid it. Smirking, Allegra decided to rile Marinette up a bit.

“You're going to have to try harder than that to get me out.” said the blond, quickly realizing that they were the only two players left. She threw a few balls at the other girl all of which were efficiently dodged.

“That was nothing though I do have to wonder how you are so flexible,” Marinette replied while slightly raising an eyebrow. She Dodged a few of the fluffy weapons and returned some of the balls to her.

“That would be from dance. What about yo-,” Allegra tried to speak, but due to her distraction, she got hit with one of the soft projectiles. Falling on the floor she began to hold her stomach dramatically “I can’t believe this happened. How could you do this to me, my child?”

“Mother, it was only because of your actions that this fate has befallen you.” said the raven-haired girl as she held on to the blond.

“I will always love you my child, even in death.”

“Mother don't leave me!” echoed around the gym along with the snickers of onlookers.

“A lovely performance, girls, but now it’s time to go get changed back,” said Coach B. as people began to head in the direction of the locker room. However, two girls lagged behind giggling and exchanging phone numbers.

[POV Switch]

If anyone had asked his opinion Claude would say the day went well (if you didn’t include the events of this morning of course). So, he didn’t find himself that surprised to find out his friends had gotten along well with Marinette, but he did not expect to find this in the group chat when he got home.

Melodie: Marinette is now my child. I am her mother. I vote we try adding her into the group chat

Mercury: Um … What?

Melodie: I won’t repeat myself.

Ice Prince: No.

Sunshine: Come on Dames even you have a weird frenemy thing happening with her.

Ice Prince: …

Kid Mime: I second your vote.

Ice Prince: No.

Sparrow: Don’t be stupid Wayne we all like her at least a little bit.

Ice Prince: Fine … we can add her. However, I don’t like her.

Mercury: And I’m the queen of England.

Kid Mime added Marinette to the chat

Marinette: Hello everyone. Wayne.

Ice Prince: Dupain-Cheng.

Kid Mime: Mari. You don’t have a nickname yet!

Melodie: What should we change it to?

Mercury: idk, but maybe we should tell Marinette who everyone is?

Sunshine: Good idea! I’m Jon, Kid Mime is Claude, Ice Prince is Damian, Melodie is Allegra, Mercury is Allen, and Sparrow is Felix.

Sparrow: Nice to see you Marinette. Do you have any ideas for a name?

Marinette: Sort of, but it is more of an inside joke between me and an old friend.

Kid Mime: How about Mari-gold

Sparrow: I like it. It fits her.

Marinette changed Marinette to Mari-gold

Mari-gold: Are you happy now?

Melodie: Yes

Sunshine: I hate to change the mood, but I have to go do that math assignment from Mr. Loyd.

Mercury: Sadly, we all do.

Ice Prince: I already did it.

Sparrow: I think we all know that by now Wayne.

Mari-gold: Bye everyone!

Exiting the chat Claude was surprised to see a private message from Allegra.

Melodie: Hey Claude. Did something happen to Marinette before she came here?

Kid Mime: Why are you asking?

Melodie: I heard about this morning from the boys, and she would occasionally act … different.

Kid Mime: Idk what happened this morning, but I know that she had some sort of “delinquent” record. Something was weird about it though, and when I asked, she wasn’t comfortable talking about it. She seemed way too happy over the fact I told her I wouldn’t pry if she wasn’t comfortable.

Melodie: Hm. This keeps getting weirder.

Kid Mime: True.

Melodie: Thanks for telling me. I have to go work on my math though. Bye.

Kid Mime: Bye.

Yes. This was definitely strange, but who in Gotham wasn’t. Hopefully, soon he will get his answers but for now, the only way to find out the truth is to wait for Mari to tell them.

[POV Switch]

Looking up from her phone, Marinette could not believe it. They had just accepted her. It has been a long time since anyone new truly wanted to do that. Yes, Luka had been so accepting of her, but who was she to hold him up from traveling the world with Jagged Stone. They still talk plenty but staying in Paris was only going to bring him sadness. Speaking of Luka, she should probably talk with him soon, but maybe not yet she still has homework to do, and she has only known everyone for a day or three they could be lying.

Chapter 4:

"Come on Mari"

☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾

"You- you killed him!"

☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾

"Jason Todd-Wayne, the second adopted child of Bruce Wayne, was murdered by the Joker in…"

☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾

"What's wrong Miss?"

☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾

"Why did you have to leave"

☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾

Nettie woke up to the sound of crashes and screams. Mom and Jay were fighting again. It probably has to do with her, but maybe she could block it out. Just a few more minutes…

☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾

Marinette was sitting clutching the ripped pieces of her first fully homemade outfits, but she couldn't tell Jay. He would say something and Mom would be upset. If Mom got upset she would get "so high she is practically in space" as Jay put it once. When Mom is high then Jay has to do more work to take care of both of them, and he would probably get in trouble for it.

☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾

Mom was dead. Nettie has to be strong now. Everything was fine. All she had to do was keep her head down. Don’t let Jay find out about the bruises, or anything that she had to do. Jay has enough on his plate. Don’t make him worry over how her curse abilities were acting up again. Just keep going.

☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾

“Nettie stay here ok I don’t want you to get caught in this”

☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾

“We are your new family. Don’t forget it brat”

☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾

“Mari! Mari are you ok?” a voice echoed through her thoughts.

“Claude. Get away, I don’t want to hurt you too!” replied the blue eyed girl.

“Mari I won’t leave you, my friend. If I left you I would be a terrible host brother, plus I have to repay you for saving my ass yesterday.” earning a small giggle from the girl who was still scratching at her skin.

“Can- Can I please have a hug?” whispered Marinette.

“Of course,” replied the brunette, opening his arms which were quickly full of the raven haired girl.

“I- I- I’m so sorry. You probably hate me now because I punched that Wayne boy and then there were so many people I-” she rambled before she realized Claude was snickering. “What are you laughing at?” she said defensively.

“Marinette I can assure you that you are not the first to punch Damian, and you will most definitely not be the last. I kinda hate to say it, but he does have the title of ‘Ice Prince’ for a reason.” Claude stood up and offered her his hand. “Now as much as I dislike math I think I did promise Mr. Loyd that I wouldn’t completely miss his class showing you around, so we may have to cut it down a bit if you're still up for it.”

“I- I think I am. Thanks Claude” Marinette replied, taking his hand.

“It should be a ten minute walk if we rush a bit” said the brunette before he began to fill the silence with talk of funny cat videos he saw. And soon the two of them were laughing clearly into the dirty air of the bustling city.

Once Claude had given her the basic tour, with a map included of course, and she was feeling more comfortable with being back at school, or at least as comfortable as she can be considering the circumstances. They ended up going to Mr. Loyd’s math class together, and Claude fulfilled his promise with the bell ringing 5 minutes after they entered, barely allowing time for her to get to a seat and take out her notebook.

Math was followed by French, and Marinette was quick to discover that Damian Wayne was in her class due to the teacher, Ms. Sanderson, assigning her seat next to him. Although, one of Claude's friends, Allegra if she wasn’t mistaken, is also in this class.

Once class began, they were assigned to talk with their seat partner in French to practice communication. Turning to Damian, Marinette began to speak in fluent French “It was wrong of me to punch you earlier. Even if you were acting like a complete prick …” earning her a “tch” in response to her statement. Continuing she said “I know you are … acquaintances, so as Claude’s friend I want to at least be civil. We can be frenemies.”

Considering her offer, Damian tilted his head to the side “I suppose that I can stand being in your presence for the sake of the others.” After taking in his answer she nodded her head and stook out her hand. “How about we reintroduce ourselves? I’m Marinette Dupain-Cheng, and you are?”

“Damian Wayne.” As soon as he said that a small squeal was heard from the person sitting behind Damian. Turning to face her Damian quickly said “Eavesdropping Holloway?” getting a snort and a quick, sarcastic “Me. No. Never.” from Holloway.

Taking a closer look at the apparent eavesdropper Marinette couldn’t help but appreciate her style. She was tall with long blonde hair tied back in an elegant braid. She had silver glasses which accentuated her deep grey eyes that stood out against her tanned skin, a simple, lavender cropped sweater over light wash, high-rise jeans. The girl offered out her hand “My name’s Allegra Holloway, and yours is?”

“Marinette, which I’m sure you totally didn’t hear earlier.” the raven haired girl sarcastically replied with a wink, gaining a giggle from Allegra. “You’re Claude’s friend, right? He told me you would be in class here.”

“That would be me. I can’t believe Damian actually agreed to being frenemies with you.”

“What can I say? I am just that amazing.” The girls stared at each other before quickly breaking out into laughter. Though it was soon silenced by Ms. Sanderson, the girls quickly became friends and got along great.

Soon, Marinette’s fears were beginning to calm, especially since Claude promised to meet her for lunch. She was waiting at the base of a specific set of stairs talking with Allegra, comparing their schedules, when Claude came by talking with a blond haired boy with striking blue eyes. He was wearing a smokey grey vest with black buttons over an ivory button down shirt with a black tie countaining blue accents to match his eyes. He had on slacks to match the vest, and black dress shoes to finish off the outfit. His hair was styled, but simple enough that it looked natural, and he held himself with an air of confidence and grace.

Claude looked up and upon seeing them immediately came over. “Mari. You don’t know how refreshing it is to have you here. Felix was being so mean to me!” fake sobbing Claude put his arm on her shoulder.

Laughing, she heard the blond, who she assumed was the previously mentioned Felix, say with a deadpan expression “It's only because you messed up 5 + 7. We are in a Calculus class. I hope you can understand how ridiculous that is.” which only caused Marinette to laugh harder.

“I- I’m Marinette Dupain-Cheng.” she said, addressing Felix before she took Claude’s hand off her shoulder. “Come on Claude. If you're going to mess up like that, at least text me next time for the answer.” she said sarcastically, getting a startled laugh in return.

Felix held his hand out “I’m Felix ✨Le Blanc✨, and it’s a pleasure to meet you.” Shaking his hand, Marinette gave him a smile and a quick “you too” in response.”

“Oh Le Blanc, I see you met Dupain-Cheng” said Damian’s voice from down the hall, in a way close enough to Chloe’s that she never wanted them to meet.

“Hello Wayne” said Marinette in tandem with Felix causing Allegra and Claude to laugh.

“We should go get lunch, unless you want to stand here looking like idiots the whole lunch period?”

So they headed out to get lunch. These were some amazing people. Maybe, just maybe she could let down her guard for once.

Chapter 3:

Claude was expecting a lot of things to happen when Marinette met his friends. While her not liking them was one thing he did not expect her to punch Damian twice. Sure Damian could be ... Blunt but he hasn't even said anything the first time. The second time was kind of his own fault, but there was still a chance that this was salvageable; he would just have to find it in the dumpster fire of a first meeting. A very large dumpster fire, and the day started out so well to ...

[Two hours earlier]

Marinette was not excited for her first day back at school. While she was excited to meet Claude's friends, she didn't have the best experiences with school or Gotham so put them together and you have a recipe for disaster. What would happen next, she would meet Bruce Wayne or any of his children and punch him or her for stealing her brother. With her luck it may happen. She always seemed to have the weirdest sense of luck. For example, she once was able to save a man from getting hit by a car. In doing so, she lost the cookies for her class, but the man ended up being the one who helped her learn Miraculous magic and she got to meet the Kwami. The kwami were a mix between spirit guides and familiars. They wouldn't have to stay near the holder of their jewels which are almost all embedded into specific pieces of jewellery. However, their companionship came at a cost mainly protecting this reality from other possible apocalyptic endings.

Anyway, she was wearing her pajamas and eating a bowl of fruit and an omelette and The CoffeeTM when Claude came out.

"Mornin' Mari"

"Hey Claude. I made you an omelette with cheese and vegetables for you. It is in the microwave so it doesn't get too cold." Replied Marinette, earning her a face of shock. "What do you not like about vegetables? I can make you something else if-" she started before Claude grapes her in a bear hug.

"You're the best Mari. I wasn't expecting you to make something so I was surprised."

"That makes sense. I guess?"

"You guess?"

"Nothing, let's just get ready. I'm going to get dressed."

"M'kay." Said Claude between mouthfuls of food.

Eventually they were ready after Marinette was once again disappointed in his outfit. After a quick goodbye to Mrs. Kathrin they walked to school. Luckily it was just around the corner. As Claude and Marinette rounded the corner into the school while talking about UMS II which was coming out soon Claude spots Damian. Before Claude could say anything Marinette shouted

"You. Your A Fucking Wayne!" And punched Damian in the gut. If Claude was being honest she only went slightly lighter than yesterday.

"Marinette what the Hell. Are you ok Damian?"

"Wait, you're one of Claude's friends he talked about. Oh my goodness I am so sorry I completely let my emotions get the best of me I-"

"Tch. Don't be an idiot I am obviously Wayne and me and Claude are acquaintances at most, '' in his condescending tone.

That earned him a punch to his face. Which brought them back to the beginning. However things were only getting worse.

"What did Wayne do this time?" asked Felix's icy cold voice.

As soon as she saw him Marinette froze

"Mari?" called Claude and she ran.

"What happened? Who made Damian bleed?" Asked Jon who looked angry and amused at the same time.

"She broke my nose. I told you she wasn't an angel like you claimed Claude." Said Damian.

"What did you all do? I have to find her before something happens to her'' replied Claude who started running after her.

"Wait. Claude!" Said a voice but it was useless because they were already left in the dust.

Marinette's POV:

Marinette didn't know what happened. She was walking with Claude and she saw him. A Wayne. Now it wasn't in Marinette's nature to be impulsive most of the time, but she was angry. And you don't mess with an angry Marinette. She held herself back and when she realized that she may be hurting a random kid. Especially after Claude said something, and this kid Wayne had the audacity to call her an idiot. He definitely deserved what he got, but then there were more people. Too many people. All she could do was run. Just like always.

Run. Run. RUN.

From Claude, her demons, her mind. She just had to escape it all and keep running. Ignore the looks, and the voices just run. She had no destination in mind. All she had was instinct, and that is what brought her here. Back to her and Jays spot before-

You killed him