Note : Marinette moved to Paris in mid-June. Which means that at this point in the story, it's been a year since she became a Parisian. So she's 14 years old now.
Chapter 11: Life without Netty
Some events in life marked more than others. Unfortunately, Superman had seen a lot of horror in his life... He had seen many of his friends suffer terrible loss. Even he himself had suffered a number of bad experiences. . .
And now another terrible experience was about to be added to his list.
He'd already seen Batman devastated...
One event in particular had hurt him enormously and driven him almost insane: the death of Jason, the second Robin.
Tonight, the Man of Steel was sure he was witness to another event that would undoubtedly shatter Batman.
The Kryptonian was sure that he was going to keep this horrible image in his mind for a very long time. Maybe even his entire life.
He'll never forget the desperate cries of little Marinette when she came to her senses.
"I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I'm sorry..."
Superman was sure that her screams and tears had left their mark on everyone... He felt particularly moved by the event. Marinette was like a daughter to him. She was his son's best friend, barely a year older than Jon.
Mari had visited them a lot. Clark was even sure that at this point, Lois was already collecting decorations for a future wedding between Jon and Mari... He too had noticed that Jon had a little crush on Bruce's daughter. He understood that. The little girl had quite a temper, but she was adorable in her own way. In any case, Lois seemed to already consider her as their future daughter-in-law.
Who would have thought, that he would now find himself in front of his computer tried to write an article to defend LadyBird's honor.
Indeed, since the incident, many people wanted LadyBird to be brought to justice.
Unfortunately, she had also taken the lives of many innocent people. It was absolutely not her fault, but instead that of the Joker and Scarecrow.
Unfortunately, not everyone saw things the same way...
And now JL's detractors were using this incident to question their existence.
Marinette really didn't deserve this.
-XxxX-
Bruce was on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
He didn't know what to do to help Marinette. He wasn't even sure if he could help his Princess...
Marinette was getting worse and worse...
To make things worse, there was this completely unfounded debate about LadyBird's actions. She was just a child! She had nothing to do with it!
Mari had made extraordinary progress since her arrival at the Manor. He was the first to admit it. Marinette was doing absolutely everything she could to change.
And it took the Joker and Scarecrow to ruin all her efforts.
Joker.
Bruce had already almost killed the clown when he went after Jason. If it wasn't for Clark, he would've hung up his Batman coat by now.
But this time...
He shook his head several times, then pinched his nose with his hand.
This was not the time to be thinking like that.
For the moment, the only thing that mattered was Mari's health. She shouldn't have to find out what had happened. If his daughter discovered the extent of the damage she'd actually done while under the Joker's control...
She won't survive it.
While he was in the middle of thinking. He received an unexpected phone call. On the screen of his phone appeared the first name "Sabine". It was a young woman who had once been a member of a criminal organization, but who fortunately had since repented. He had helped her change her life. The young woman had married a baker's son named Tom Dupain. A good man.
— Hello?
— Hello Bruce, I'm not disturbing you?
— No, how are you?
— I'm great! I wanted to check something with you... Tom and I are thinking about adopting a child, I was wondering if you'd be willing to be his godfather?
— Adopt a child...
— Yes! We've done everything we can... We just have to keep our fingers crossed.
At that moment, an idea sprang into his mind.
— Sabine... I have a favor to ask you.
— You do? What is it?
He quickly explained the situation with Marinette.
— It's a complicated situation. I suppose you'd like me to keep her until this whole scandal goes away.
— Yes, but also-
— You want me to help her through this trauma, since we have a similar history.
— Indeed.
— You can count on me.
Marinette left U.S. soil the following week.
-XxxX-
A week after Marinette was gone.
Tim was staring at his screen in complete absence. Several contradictory feelings were influencing his mind.
Anger.
Hate.
Frustration.
Sadness.
Relief.
Loneliness.
Rationally, he knew Bruce had taken the best course of action. Jason himself had approved of their "father's" decision.
It was the right thing to do… Get Mari away from this unhealthy environment.
If she had stayed... Like him, Jason feared the worst.
But that didn't mean... accepting it didn't hurt.
God... he was in so much pain.
Tim loved his sister with all his heart.
She'd been the only one who believed him when he announced Bruce was still alive.
— Grayson told me that you thought Bruce was alive. Is that true?
— Why do you care?
— I just want to understand, Timothy. You don't strike me as the kind of person who would make a statement like that without thinking.
— …
— What's up then?
— Let's just say it's a feeling.
— Mmm.
— I guess this is the part where you tell me I'm in denial?
— No, I believe you.
— …
— We live in a strange world Timothy; I don't see why you'd be wrong. I can help you.
Tim was suspicious of her. He genuinely found it hard to believe that Marinette, Damian's twin sister, could believe him.
She had to be hiding something.
Marinette didn't love her biological father. Tim knew that. He even suspected her of seeing Jason as her father instead of Bruce. That brat had no reason to help him bring back someone she hated.
Shit, they barely knew each other!
So he told her to fuck off.
— I don't need your help, demon witch.
Still, she insisted on following him.
Everybody would eventually leave him alone, so why the hell did that kid keep sticking it to him?!
— Seriously, girl, what is wrong with you? Why are you even here? What do you want? What do you want?
— I don't understand your questions, Timothy.
— Why are you following me? You have absolutely nothing to gain by staying with me. Besides, does Jason know you're with me?
— I just want to help you get Bruce back. And yes, Jay knows I'm with you. Unlike Bruce, Jay doesn't lock people up and pretend to protect them, or some such nonsense.
— That's exactly what I don't get! Why do you want to help me bring back someone you hate?!
— You're acting weird, Timothy. We don't save people because we love them, but because it's a just thing. We don't help people out for attachment or merit, it's simply the right thing to do, isn't it? So, no, I don't understand why you're so anxious to give a meaning to my presence...
— …
That day, he felt like he was getting a slap in the face. Tim decided to give her a chance... After all, she was the one who decided to follow him, and he had nothing to do with it.
It was a decision he would never regret.
Marinette became an emotional pillar for him.
How many times had she come to rest with him when he couldn't sleep...
The number of times she forced him to eat...
The times she had forced him to go to sleep, promising to continue the search for him...
The number of troubles he had been able to avoid, because she was also an excellent fighter.
She also told him her story...
— You died 15 times?!
—At least, yeah.
— But how did you...
— Lazarus' pit.
— Mari... It's completely insane...
— Sometimes I feel it... The water from the pit running through my veins, all the emotions are amplified. You don't see the world like everyone else. But that's also why "death" doesn't mean anything to me.
— Mmmm.
They had managed to bring Bruce back together.
He had gained a friend, a sister, a partner.
So when she got caught by the Joker... Tim felt like he'd abandoned her.
It never should have happened.
Tim should've taken her with him.
And now the only thing left was a void.
That horrible emptiness he'd felt when his parents died, when Steph died, when Kon died...
It was absurd, Marinette wasn't dead. (And fortunately, he wasn't sure he could bear the death of another member of his family... especially not Netty's.)
His sister had been there for him.
And he had left her all alone.
What kind of brother was he?
He wouldn't make the same mistake twice.
Tim was going to do what Bruce should have done a long time ago.
The Clown and Scarecrow were going to pay.
-XxxX-
Robin was in Blüdhaven.
He'd moved to the top of a building. The teenager was looking at the horizon, contemplating.
Since Marinette had left he had spent a lot of time in this town. Especially now that Dick was living in New York with his wife, the city had been abandoned.
He felt responsible for what had happened.
Damian had been unable to protect his sister. Now she was gone. Unfortunately, he had a feeling she wasn't coming back.
Gotham was too bad for her.
He'd come to understand that.
But that didn't mean he'd accepted the idea.
Why should his sister have to pay the price for the crimes of these monsters?
She was innocent.
It wasn't her fault.
It wasn't fair.
But maybe... if the monsters responsible for his sister's misery disappeared, then... She wouldn't have any reason to stay in Paris, would she?
Damian took a mask out of his pocket and looked at it for a long time.
— Hey mini-demon, are you having fun?
— What the hell are you doing here, Hood?
— I just wanted to confirm a theory.
— Tt, go check out your theory somewhere else.
— Don't you even want to know what my theory was?
— No.
— I just wanted to know why I couldn't find my targets...
— TT.
A silence settled between them.
— I hope he suffered.
— He begged to be spared.
— As if he had spared Mari.
— Mmm.
— Ah, well, there you are.
Both turned their heads in unison to see Red Robin landed casually beside them.
— What the hell are you doing here, Drake?
— Just testing a theory.
Red Hood suddenly laughed.
Red Robin walked towards them quietly. He then threw something at Hood.
— Here, a gift.
Red Hood grabbed the object. When he saw what it was, he shivered. Then he looked at the young man in front of him. Then laughed again.
It was ironic.
The clown had to go after someone dear to their heart once again, so the family finally decided to do something about it.
Robin moved in closer to them. He still had the mask of Scarecrow in his hand. Red Robin looked at the mask, then looked at Robin. A grin formed on his face.
Silently, Red Hood took a lighter out of his pocket and began to burn the green bow tie in his hands.
The three watched the object burn silently.
Then Robin held out Scarecrow's mask. Hood set it on fire as well.
None of them spoke a word.
This little incident would be the secret between them.
A secret between Robin.
It was a solemn pact among them.
To protect their sister no matter what the cost.
Bonus:
Tim realized there was something unusual about the budget allocated to purchase materials for their vigilante activity. It was very subtle. Bruce probably didn't notice it yet because he didn't have the time to deal with it.
By digging a little deeper, he realized that some of the funds were converging somewhere in France.
He started to rummage through the system and realized that everything was abnormally encrypted.
He managed to get into the French security system. He discovered the history of the young heroes of Paris and above all... The fighting style of the young heroine "Ladybug"...
He would recognize these movements anywhere.
A smile formed on his face.
Tim chooses to subtly strengthen the encryption and then falsify the information in the accounts.
