Musical Mayhem

by Books-R-Better-Than-People

Seeing how Lila has emotionally tortured Marinette, Luka gets Akumatized into Musical Mayhem, a JD-type Akuma who's out to get a certain class with the help of a few grey pills and a guitar case full of musical-themed weapons

Marinette leaned closer into Luka as he hugged her tighter, just enough to let her know that he was here for her. "D... Do I not matter, Luka?"

The guitarist's heart nearly broke at such a question. Of course, she mattered. How dare Adrien make her feel such a way? The same goes for those "friends" of hers' that decided to side with that liar. He knew damn well that this girl wasn't a bully, she just wasn't capable, giving how she reacted with Chloe for so many years. Yet, they all seemed to have forgotten that and turned on the sweetest girl in Paris the second Lila pointed the finger.

He met the girl a few times. It was at a band rehearsal, and she was driving him and Juleka up a wall! She went on and on about how she knew all of these big-time artists that could help their band. She even felt it was appropriate to cling onto Luka like he was hers' to own despite hearing Juleka groan about her supposedly dating Adrien. It made him sick the whole day. Then one day, a week ago to be exact, while he was in the other room, he heard Rossi talking to his bandmates about finding a new guitarist, and Rose and Ivan were listening while Juleka clenched her hands over and over like she wanted to strangle the girl. Never had Luka been so proud of his little sister.

Having enough, he barged into the room and asked if they were buying this girl's shit. He did say those words, causing Lila to immediately burst into tears, wailing about how she was trying to help. The next minute he knew, Luka was kicked out of the band that he started, then a second later, Juleka quit. She finally voiced how she also thought Lila was a liar and hated what Rose became, a bully to their best friend. A horrible fight broke out between the two that had Rose running off the Liberty and Juleka running to her room, where Luka stayed up all night to ward off Akumas that were after his vulnerable sister.

The second time he met Lie-la, or at least, got to know more about her, was that same week, this time at Juleka's school. Juleka's been so upset that her routine's been thrown off. She forgot to put on the other shoe, her makeup, and almost put some of Luka's hair dye in her hair once. She did look nice in turquoise, though. Then one day, she forgot her lunch, so Luka biked to the school so his sister wouldn't go hungry. While walking through the halls, he heard mocking laughter coming from the locker rooms. Curious, he peered inside and saw Kim playing keep-away with Nathaniel's sketchbook. He heard things like, 'Quit stealing Lila's art!' and 'This is what you get for siding with her!' Finally, it ended with Kim running into the boy's bathroom where Luka heard the sound of the sink running. When Kim walked out, looking annoyingly proud of himself, Luka ran into the boy's bathroom where he found Nathaniel crying in one of the bathroom stalls while clutching his ruined sketchbook close to his chest. That made two people he had to protect from Akumas that week. The poor guy could barely even talk.

"Melody... You matter so much," he whispered, gently combing his fingers through her hair. "I know you matter, so do your parents, Jules, Nath... A lot of people think you matter." Marinette leaned a little closer into his touch, making Luka smile for the first time since he arrived. Earlier today, he was still consoling Juleka over her breakup with Rose as he had been doing for about a week. She was getting better, but it was hard to get over someone when you saw them every day at school. Interrupting this moment was a text from Nathaniel. He was over at Marinette's house, working on a project when suddenly, her phone buzzed with texts from her classmates, calling her a bully, a jerk, saying they weren't friends anymore. This caused Marinette to burst into tears. Nathaniel, while still a good friend, wasn't great at dealing with emotions so he texted Juleka to tell Luka, and the redhead handed his crying friend over to her boyfriend.

With a sigh, Luka looked at the wall where Marinette's photos of her classmates once were. Now she just had photos of him, Kagami, Juleka, Nathaniel, Marc, and other students in Mme. Mendleieve's class. Among those were also small laminated posters of Broadway musicals like Hamilton, Be More Chill, Dear Evan Hansen, Bonnie and Clyde, Mean Girls, Beetlejuice, and Heathers. The last one stood out to him. He and Juleka listened to the soundtrack a couple of times, and there was one song he felt matched the situation Marinette was in right now. He took a sigh before he sang, "They made you cry... But that will end tonight. You are the only thing that's right about this broken world." Marinette looks up at her boyfriend with puffy red eyes. "Go on and cry. But when the morning comes, we'll burn it down and then, we'll build the world again... Our love is God."

He pulls out of their embrace in favor of reaching over to his guitar case resting on Marinette's bed and pulls out his guitar. He knew the sound of it made Marinette happy. He started singing again, "I was alone... I was a frozen lake. But then you melted me awake. See now? I'm crying too. You're not alone. And when the morning comes, we'll burn away that tear and raise our city here... Our love is God."

Night soon came, and Marinette fell asleep in Luka's arms. Often, she'd cry in her sleep, only making Luka angrier at her classmates. He just wanted to knock some sense into all of them, make them understand the pain they've put Juleka, Nathaniel, and Marinette through, and just... Just...

"Musical Mayhem."

Luka's eyes widen as the purple butterfly mask appeared over his eyes. He looked to see what he was holding and saw that the hand he wasn't using to brush Marinette's hair was on his guitar case.

"I am Hawkmoth. The one whom you love, who you'd give up everything for is hurting and you're the only one who can heal her. Let me provide some assistance. I'm giving you the power to destroy all who have hurt those you care for. In return, you will get me Ladybug and Chat Noir's miraculous... Do we have a deal?"

"Let's safe the pitiful children," Luka whispered before moving Marinette off of him as the purple mist rose from his guitar case and engulfed him before disappearing seconds later. The Akuma still looked like Luka; it was just his outfit that changed. He wore a black shirt with a turquoise Y-shaped pattern with a glowing outline. A white glowing belt held up his black pants, and going up to his knees were turquoise boots with glowing collars and soles. Over his outfit, he wore a tailcoat that faded from turquoise to black and had a turquoise collar. At the hem of his tailcoat were glowing blue music notes. Under his sleeves were black gloves, and over his eyes, he wore a turquoise visor that was held up by nothing, just the Akuma's magic. And on his back was his guitar case, now black and on the front were glowing music notes.

He looked down at Marinette, who was still sleeping so peacefully and pressed a kiss against her forehead. "Our love is God, my Melody." He maneuvers his way around Marinette so he doesn't wake her up and makes his way down the ladder before walking towards Marinette's desk where he pulled out a pencil and pad and started writing something before he made his way out the window.

The second he left, Tikki flew out of the chest where Marinette had the Miracle Box stored. Sometimes she liked to go in for a while and catch up with her friends, brag about Marinette a little, and ask who they hoped would be their Chosen. She looked around the room, confused when she didn't see Luka. Tikki wondered where he went until she noticed the note sitting on Marinette's desk. She flew over and read what was written.

Dear Melody,

I'm sorry I couldn't stay over, the captain needed me home.

I hope you're feeling better, and remember, you can

always talk to me. And if not me, then Jules or Nath.

Remember, that you still have people on your side, Mari.

There are people who care about you and know that you do

matter. Stay strong for me, Mari,

Love, Luka

Tikki was gushing. She was always a sucker for a good love note. Sure, it wasn't as poetic as the ones she's seen in her lifetime, mainly because those were written during the middle ages and the renaissance where almost everyone was a romantic at heart, but Luka's was still so sweet. This little note is way more than what Adrien's ever done for Marinette. When she sees Plagg at school in the morning, she's gonna make him smack some sense into that Chosen of his.

Musical Mayhem landed on the deck of the Liberty before making his way inside where he was greeted by the sound of his mother's snoring. He quietly made his way towards the kitchen and opened the fridge which had seafood as the main content. On the bottom shelf was a couple he moved out of the way until he found the green bottle he was looking for, Mountain Dew.

The butterfly mask appeared over his visor, making him frown as Hawkmoth spoke. "I'm getting to it, Hawkmoth. I just need some assistance."

"Watch your back, Lavillant," Musical Mayhem whispered angrily as he poured a couple of tic-tacs out of their case into the small wastebasket by Juleka's bed. While he was doing this, he saw the photo of his sister and Rose kissing pinned to the mirror on her desk. Juleka must have not had the heart to throw it away, but he did. After emptying the case, Musical Mayhem ripped the photo off the mirror, crumpled it in his hands, then tossed it to the floor.

With that out of the way, he grabbed a handful of the grey pills out of the shoebox and poured them into the empty tic-tac case as quietly as he could without waking Juleka up. Fortunately, she's a sound sleeper. Once the case was filled, Musical Mayhem slowly opened the bottle of soda he got from the kitchen due to the fizzing sound. Finally, the fizzing stopped, and it didn't wake Juleka up much to his relief. With a steady hand, he poured the drink into the case, watching as the pills glowed bright colors before dimming.

The next morning, Juleka stirred a bit in her sleep due to the sun's rays hitting her face. It took her a few seconds to finally wake up and rise from her slumber because of how comfortable she was. Once up, she stretched and let out a small yawn then got out of her bed. When Juleka's feet hit the floor, she felt something brush up against them and looked down to see a crumpled piece of paper.

She picks it up and unfurls it to see if it's anything important but immediately regrets it when she finds that it's an old photo of her and Rose that was taken on the day the two girls confessed their love for each other.

She and Rose went out for a picnic in the park one day. It was beautiful out and the butterflies, before becoming a symbol of evil, were fluttering around. Juleka gifted the blonde a bouquet of pink roses and Rose bought Juleka a silver bracelet with a small compact mirror attached to it. They spent the day getting ice cream, skating at the ice rink, and going to see a romantic movie. Their day ended with the two girls confessing their love for each other, and it was something Juleka would never forget... But now she wants that memory burned and sent to the back of her mind.

Juleka crumpled the paper again and tossed it into the trash can before sitting back on her bed and sighing deeply into her hands. The goth girl still can't believe she lost her sweet girlfriend to an evil liar. After taking a minute to calm herself down, Juleka gets back up and goes to get ready for another grueling day at school where Lie-La will no doubt accuse her, Nathaniel, or Marinette of bullying her. At the reminder of her friend, she looked over at Luka's empty bed. 'He's probably still with Marinette,' Juleka thought to herself.

After getting washed and dressed, Juleka gathered her things in her purple messenger bag- Books, phone, math homework she'll probably get a B on, and her case of wintergreen tic-tacs for when she needs some stress relief. The minty taste just calmed her down, so she took a quick one before putting the case in her bag, knowing she'll probably be needing a ton today.

'Is this a new flavor?' She wondered as she tasted what she thought was a mint. It wasn't wintergreen-like the label said.

Making her way towards the gangplank, Juleka felt a short surge of pain in her head. "... Damn," she cursed as she held her hand to her head and staggered a bit. Then her vision started to get a little blurry, only everything looked boxy and almost pixelated. "What is- Ow!" Suddenly, she fell to her knees and let out a hiss of pain.

Your Target: Lila Rossi

"What the hell?" It felt like a thousand tiny lasers were zapping her brain all at once right now.

Calibration in process. Please excuse some mild discomfort

"Mild?!" Juleka retorted to the voice in her head as she tried standing back up again, only to fall back down to the floor.

Calibration complete. Access procedure initiated

Suddenly, the pain and the voice stopped. Juleka slowly stood as if waiting for something else to happen. She was still in pain, but it was slowly decreasing.

"What the hell was-"

Discomfort level may increase

That didn't sound good. Juleka immediately fell back down to the floor and held her head. The pain is now much more excruciating. She writhes on the floor as the thousands of tiny lasers turn to millions and they were zapping her all over her body this time.

Accessing: Neuro memory.

Accessing: Muscle memory.

Access procedure: Complete.

Juleka Couffaine.

Juleka lifted her head off the floor and was greeted by the sight of Billie Eilish, only now she was see-through like a hologram, and she faded into green pixels from the knees down.

"Welcome to your Super Quantum Unit Intel Processor... Your SQUIP."

Juleka's irises glow a bright green, and circuits of the same color appear on her cheeks before fading away. The holo-version of the musician approached Juleka, prompting her to back away.

Her Squip just smiled and kneeled to her level. "Hello, Juleka."

"You look like Billie Eilish," she remarked in astonishment.

"I've chosen the form that would make you most comfortable," she explained. "You can always set me for something different, though."

"Ho-how is this possible?" Juleka asked as she slowly stood back up. "Squips aren't real."

"Then explain me," the Squip smirked. "Consider yourself lucky, Juleka. Not many are lucky. I can help you achieve any goal you desire. And right now, I know exactly what you want."

"... I... I don't know what you're talking about," she murmured.

"So, you don't what all of the pain you and your friends feel finally stop?" She approaches Juleka again, only now she doesn't back away this time. "Everyone will finally learn the truth, that Lila is nothing more than a filthy liar. You won't be talked over or ignored anymore, your friend Nathaniel won't shy away from standing up for himself, and Marinette will be overjoyed once everyone sees that she was right." She cups Juleka's face with her hand. Even though she can't physically feel it, Juleka leans into her touch. "Don't you want that? Doesn't it sound perfect?"

Juleka did like the sound of it. Lila would finally be exposed, her classmates could get what they had coming ever since Lila opened her big mouth, and Marinette won't be so miserable anymore. She can't remember the last time she's seen her smile, and it was disturbing. Juleka was always so used to seeing a smile on the bluenette's face, and it didn't take a genius to know that Lila and her brain-cell deficient posse had something to do with it.

"... What do you need me to do?" After basically pledging her loyalty to her Squip, her irises glowed a bright green.

The Billie Eilish look-alike smirked, "Go to the bakery and walk Marinette to school. Make her feel safe. That Rossi girl could be lurking around."

With a nod, Juleka made her way towards the gangplank, but stopped when she heard her Squip say, "Oh, and Juleka? Make sure to think at me instead of speaking out loud."

Marinette begrudgingly got ready for school. She honestly didn't even see the point in going anymore. Mme. Bustier never acknowledged her, and when she did, it was to bash her for not being the "class example" or some shit like that. She often found herself wondering how that woman ever even became a teacher. Teachers are supposed to protect victims, not berate them and force them to apologize.

The same goes for "friends". They're supposed to be understanding and listen to you when you have a problem but instead, they just attack you verbally, emotionally, and sometimes physically the second some liar comes along and paints you out to be the bad guy. And friends are also supposed to defend and protect you when they say they are, not turn a blind eye to everything and tell you nobody's getting hurt!

Marinette let out a sigh and sat down on her chaise. Tikki flew over to her chosen and nuzzled against her cheek, making her lips curl into a faint smile. "Thanks, Tikki."

"Marinette, those people are not worth your time," Tikki stated firmly, knowing what Marinette was thinking about right now. "I want you to remember that, okay? The people who believe and support you are the ones that do matter."

The bluenette let out a hum of agreeance and got up off her chaise, "You're right. I still have friends; my parents believe me. I'm not alone." She opens her cross-body purse, allowing Tikki to fly in, then she grabs her backpack off of her desk where the note she saw this morning still sat. Marinette read it over once more to give herself some reassurance before she made her way to school, or as Nathaniel calls it, 'Where brain cells go to die.'

Marinette chuckled to herself before making her way downstairs and into the kitchen where her parents were making breakfast. Tom turned away from the stove at the sound of her walking down the stairs and kissed his daughter on the cheek, "Morning, baguette. How are you feeling today?"

"Uh... Better, I guess," she said. "I'm not as upset as I was yesterday."

Sabine smiled and went to hug Marinette, "That's good to hear, sweetie. Remember, if you don't feel safe there, come home at any time. We'll send your teachers an email, okay?" Marinette nods. "Good." Her eyes trail over to the stairs, "Is Luka still-"

"Oh, no. The Captain needed him home for something," Marinette answered. "He left a note, do not frame it," she said sternly, much to her parents' disappointment at not being able to tease their little girl about her love life.

"Come on," Tom moaned. "Your mother and I have a scrapbook filled with notes we sent to each other."

Marinette smiled, "Thanks for telling me that. No putting it in a scrapbook, either." She chuckled when her parents let out groans. So far, things were looking good today. "Well, I'll see you guys later." She kisses them both on the cheek.

"Are you staying at school for lunch?" Sabine asked.

Marinette hummed in thought for a moment before answering, "Juleka, Nathaniel, Marc, and I might stop by." Then she left.

When Marinette walked out of the bakery, she was surprised to see Juleka waiting a few feet away. "Juleka?" The goth girl turned her head and smiled. "Hey, what's up?"

"I thought we could walk to school together. You know, in case Lila or the class tries anything."

Marinette frowned. "Makes sense. Sabrina tripped me on my way inside since I did it to Lila so many times." Bitterly, she added, "I almost fell down the stairs, and they laughed."

"God," Juleka grimaced. "I didn't know about that." With some hesitation, she asked, "Did Adrien do anything?" Off Marinette's darkened expression, she flinched.

"That spineless idiot had the nerve to act like it was my fault," she snarled. "I can't believe I used to like him."

"Put an arm around her," Juleka's Squip instructed. "Suggest a girl's day where you can cut up his magazines."

Loving that idea, Juleka did as she was told. "Hey, what if one day we just bought a ton of the magazines with him and Lila in them, and just shred each page?"

"Nice work adding Rossi," the Squip commended.

"Yeah... Yeah!" Marinette exclaimed with a grin. "Let's do that! We'll find a ton of magazines, draw a few mustaches and devil horns on them, and just cut 'em up!"

Juleka chuckled, "Loving the way you think. I'm thinking this Friday after school?"

"Yeah," Marinette smiled. "That works for me.

As the two continued walking to school together, Marinette asked, "So, what did your mom need Luka for?"

Before Juleka could ask what she meant, her Squip placed a hand on her shoulder, making her tense up a bit and freeze for a second before she said, "Some guys graffitied the ship," she answered automatically. "Mom needed the extra help scrubbing it off." Once the musician look-a-like let go of her, Juleka turned her head slightly at her Squip, thinking, 'What was that?'

Marinette bought it and nodded, ignoring the almost robotic tone of voice Juleka spoke in. "Well, I hope you guys catch whoever did that. That's just messed up."

Juleka wanted to say more but was cut off by Nathaniel. "Jules! Mari!" The two girls looked to see him waving to them from the steps of the school.

Marinette smiled, glad to see her other friend, "Hey, Nath."

Juleka's Squip noticed Nathaniel's strained smile. He was still upset about his sketchbook but was trying not to show it. Since she was a part of Juleka's brain, she could see all the goth's memories and knew all about her friends, family, and classmates.

Nathaniel didn't like to make others feel guilty. Sometimes he did but would immediately regret doing so. He was worried Marinette would think it was her fault that his sketchbook was destroyed, all because he sided with her.

She said to Juleka, "Make sure you give him a Squip. They're those tic-tacs in your bag," she added. "God knows he needs the confidence to survive this hell hole as you call it." After giving a subtle nod, Juleka made her way towards Nathaniel with Marinette. After exchanging greetings, the three walked into school together, ready to survive yet another day at Francoise Dupont.

Juleka panicked a little the second she walked into the classroom. Fortunately, Lila hadn't walked in yet. There were just Alya, Ivan, Mylene, Kim, and Rose. The blonde girl's eyes were still red and puffy from crying the week they broke up. Juleka didn't want to care or even look at her, but she couldn't help herself. She just felt so many emotions right now, happy, sad, betrayed, and she wanted to knock some sense into Rose while also crying about how much she missed her and wanted her back.

"She's not worth your tears," her Squip whispered, making Juleka realize that she was close to crying. She was right. Rose made her choice. Quickly, she wiped the stray tear away and followed Nathaniel and Marinette to their desk in the back without even sparing Rose a glance. Their seat change left her and Alix alone, prompting the two girls to sit together so Alix could comfort Rose after her breakup, and so Rose could comfort Alix no matter how many times she says 'no' over losing her best friend.

Seeing as they were about to pass by Alya and Nino's desk, Nathaniel switched places with Marinette so now she was in the middle and not forced to see to Alya's harsh glare, and Marinette quickly switched places with Juleka, so she didn't have to be so close to her ex-bandmate/girlfriend.

"Are you okay?" Marinette asked once they go to their desk. Juleka took her place on the left, her in the middle, and Nathaniel at the left. "Juleka?"

The goth girl looked up and saw Marinette giving her a look of concern, same for Nathaniel. The Billie Eilish Squip stood in front of their desk and rested his hand on top of Juleka's, prompting her to say something.

"Y-yeah. I'll be fine." She then asked, "How are you guys?"

Nathaniel shrugged, "Still miserable." Then he frowned once he heard Kim's laughter over something he was looking at on his phone. "Wanna kick someone's ass into next week."

"I feel you," Marinette muttered once Lila walked into the door, head held high and those weird side ponytails flapping with each step. Walking in after her were Nino, Adrien who made Marinette's blood start boiling, Alix who caused Nathaniel to slam his face down on the desk, Max, then Chloé who, as always, had Sabrina carrying her stuff. The second Lila sat at the desk she stole, that's when the variety show started.

"Everyone! You will not believe who I had dinner with last night!" She yelled out in that high-pitched, saccharine voice.

Nathaniel massaged his temples as everyone, sans Chloé, crowded around the Italian, wanting to hear every little detail about her dinner with so and so. "Every. Fucking. Time." He has never wanted to scream so bad right now, but he held it in, even when Lila had the absolute audacity to spew lies about her art winning a contest. She doesn't even draw, and they are all praising her for it while he's been drawing since he could hold a pencil and they accuse him of art theft.

Nathaniel looked over at the window and asked, "You think I'll survive that fall?"

In response, Marinette pulled him in for a hug and pat his head, "No jumping out of windows, Nath. We talked about this." The redhead pouted.

Juleka ignored the obvious lie about Lila being able to find a new guitarist and bassist for Kitty Section in favor of glancing over to the Squip, who took a seat down next to her. "Once you give Nathaniel his Squip, pass the rest out to those who don't believe Rossi." She sent a glare towards Rossi and her group.

Juleka thought to her, 'Got it.'

The Squip combed her holographic fingers through Juleka's hair, "Just make sure Marinette is safe and happy, Juleka. And remember, do as I say." Juleka nodded. "Good."

Musical Mayhem leaped down into the courtyard. Not a student or teacher in sight. He made his way around the school, looking for a specific room. After a few close calls with the janitor and students who often looked out the window, he finally found the basement and made his way down the stairs.

He removed his guitar case as he approached the boiler, then he set it down on the floor and rummaged through it. From the case, he pulled out three bundles of TNT with timers attached to the straps holding them together. He placed the explosives around the boiler as he sang, "And so I built a bomb. Tonight our school is Vietnam. Let's guarantee they never see their senior prom..." He hummed the rest once the last bundle was placed and started setting the timers to go off in three hours before packing up his guitar case.

"HEY!"

Musical Mayhem whirled his head around and saw M. Haprele standing a few feet behind him, looking brave for a second before fear took over when he saw that he was face to face with an Akuma. "Who are you?"

Musical Mayhem didn't say anything and just smirked as he reached back into his guitar case and pulled out a black sledgehammer with a blue stripe on the handle. M. Haprele paled and started backing away as the Akuma approached him, spinning the sledgehammer around in his hand and raised it for a second before smacking the side of the teacher's head, sending him down and lay unconscious on the floor.

"I won't get to Heaven," he sang while digging through his guitar case again. From it, he pulled out an ordinary necktie that lengthened as he wrapped it around Fred. Once the teacher was tied, Musical Mayhem dragged his limp body to a dark corner of the room. "... So, why not raise a little hell?"

Once Fred was stowed away, Musical Mayhem grabbed his guitar case, made his way out of the basement, and leaped up to the roof of the school as he hummed a tune.

Mme. Bustier's been in the classroom for ten minutes and she hasn't done anything to stop Lila from prattling on and on about her fake adventures. Instead, she just sat at her desk, drank coffee like she was the one who needed it, and listened. She didn't even speak up when Lila lied about Marinette tripping her in the hallway. She got to school after Marinette and Bustier didn't do anything. She just let her students glare and yell at the bluenette for hurting poor Lila.

Nathaniel was also a target on the long, never-ending, headache-inducing Lila Variety Show. That harpy thanked Kim for avenging her artwork and exposing an art thief. Marinette kept a tight grip on Nathaniel's arm to keep him from storming over there and giving Lila more ammo. Instead, she gave him a stress ball to take his rage out on. Sadly, the ball deflated in fifteen seconds, leaving the redhead to resort to scratching his nails against the wooden desk.

Juleka sat quietly, thinking about her Squip and where she came from. They only existed in that musical and boom, so what was a Squip doing here? And should she trust her Squip knowing what they're capable of?... But she offering something amazing that could make everyone a whole lot happier. She could help expose Lila, make her classmates see the truth, and maybe even get her Rose back.

'She's not worth your tears.'

... On second thought, Rose made her decision. She followed her instincts and chose Lila over her damn girlfriend. She can do whatever she wants, but when Lila leads everyone off a cliff, Juleka is not tending to any of those injuries no matter how much she begs and cries. It'll be her fault, and karma's a bitch.

The Squip looks around with a furrowed brow. Everyone is crowded around Lila's desk and Bustier isn't doing anything to wrangle them back and begin the lesson, which should have started fifteen minutes ago. "That's your teacher?"

'I wouldn't exactly call her a teacher,' Juleka sneered in her head. 'More like a people pleaser.'

"You mean an enabler," her Squip sneered.

"Alright, everyone!" Mme. Bustier announced, finally starting class. "You can hear more from Lila during lunch, but we should get our lesson started.

"Finally," Nathaniel muttered as the students begrudgingly headed back to their desks.

Marinette pulls out her notebook. "I swear I lost a couple of brain cells," she whispered.

Before Juleka could pull out her notebook, her Squip placed his hand on her shoulder, stopping her actions. "Don't even bother, Jules. I went over the statistics. The second that woman says the name of a famous historical figure, the spotlight will be right back on Lila for another fifteen minutes."

'She wouldn't be that irris-'

'Enabler...'

'... Fuck it. Caline should've been fired a long time ago.' Able to control her body again, Juleka puts her notebook back in her bag, much to Nathaniel and Marinette's confusion.

"Juleka?" Marinette whispered. "You're not gonna take notes?"

"I don't see a point," she shrugged. "Just watch. Mme. Bustier is gonna talk about someone who's done something to benefit a lot of people and Lila's gonna claim she's related to them, making the class hers' until the bell rings."

Marinette and Nathaniel thought about what Juleka said once they got over how much malice was in her voice. They realized she was right. It was a regular occurrence in the classroom. Mme. Bustier talked about Vlad the Impaler? Suddenly, the man has kids, Lila is a descendant of the man, and everyone is asking all about her famous great something grandfather. And Mme. Bustier just smiles and nods along, allowing her to take over the classroom until the bell rang.

Marinette closed her notebook, "Yeah. You're right."

Nathaniel just leaned back on his seat, "I honestly can't even remember the last time we had a quiz, anyway."

The Squip was right. Five minutes into the lesson, Lila talked about her relation to the famous Renaissance artist, Raphael. She talked all about how he painted so many wonderful things, and no one even corrected her when she got the names for his paintings wrong, which just made Nathaniel want to scream since he happened to admire some of the man's work.

And Mme. Bustier just stood by her desk and allowed the Italian to disrupt the lesson she had already set up, not even bothering to correct her as an educator should.

Marinette looked up from her design book and turned to Juleka, "You were right. It's been almost twenty minutes; class will be over soon."

"I'm amazed that she hasn't damaged her vocal cords," Nathaniel remarked as Lila kept babbling along. "Eh, she practi- Hey!" A crumpled piece of paper was thrown at his face and landed on the desk. He looked to the group of snickering students before unfurling the paper. He scowled. "Of course."

"What does it say?" Nathaniel handed Marinette the paper which read, 'Art Thief'. She crumpled the paper back into a ball and tossed it to the side.

"Marinette!" Mme. Bustier scolded. "Do not throw things in the classroom!"

Marinette had an incredulous look on her face. "Did you not see them throw it at Nathaniel's face?"

"Nonsense," Mme. Bustier dismissed. "Do not blame your friends for something like that!"

"They aren't friends of mine," Marinette muttered.

"What was that?"

Before Marinette could answer, Juleka, who suddenly lost control of her body stood from her seat and spoke. "She said they're no friends of hers'." The students and teacher gasped. "Not since that harpy came into the class and turned everyone sans Nathaniel and myself against the girl who worked herself to the bone and put her heart, soul, blood, sweat, and tears into everything we asked to make us happy."

"Ju-Juleka!" Lila whined. "Why are you being so mean?!"

"Unlike you, I'm telling the truth," she sneered. "And I want you to get it in your head that Marinette isn't alone or miserable like you hoped she would be. She has friends looking out for her." She glares at Adrien, making him sink into his seat. "Many friends in and out of this God-forsaken classroom that you can't corrupt or manipulate. All you have are gullible classmates, and 'educators' who lack spines!"

The room went silent until Chloé let out a laugh. "Damn, Couffaine! Way to put these idiots in their place!"

After getting over the shock of Juleka standing up against the class like that, Lila sobbed into her hands, "Juleka! What did I ever do to you?!"

Juleka looks over at Rose and frowns. "A lot." The blonde girl bowed her head, not daring to meet the gaze of her ex. "And I'm not gonna take it anymore." She gathers up her stuff and heads for the door.

"Juleka!" Mme. Bustier shouted. "Class doesn't end for another-" The bell rings, causing her cheeks to flush in embarrassment.

Juleka left, but not before saying these words, "Next time, actually teach the class instead of letting some blabbermouth prattle on." And with that, she left.

Once they snapped out of their stupor, Nathaniel and Marinette gathered up their things and made their way out of the classroom, leaving their very stunned classmates and teachers to wonder what just happened.

As she walked to her next class, Juleka suddenly stopped in place and convulsed a bit. Exhausted somehow, she leaned on the wall and took a few breaths. "... What did you-"

"Sorry Juleka," her Squip apologized. "But you said what needed to be said."

'But that wasn't-'

"It was!" She exclaimed. "I just helped you to get it out there and say what's on your mind."

Juleka looked thoughtful. 'That was me?'

"And just imagine what Nathaniel could do with a Squip." Juleka smiled, a little brighter than she ever had. "... Juleka, repeat after me. Everything about you is so wonderful."

"... E-everything about me is so wonderful," she said aloud.

"Good," she smiled. "And everything about you is going to be so alive."

"Everything about me is going to be so alive," she repeated, a little more confident this time.

"Now get to class and save those pitiful children." Juleka's irises glowed bright green again before going back to their original color.

"Jules!" Nathaniel called out as he and Marinette ran over to her. "That was... I... I have no words. But, never in my life have I been so proud."

Juleka laughed, "Thanks, Nath."

Marinette quickly pulls her in for a hug. "Thank you, Juleka. Come on, let's get to class."

Lila didn't stand a chance in Mendelive's class. Every time she tried to tell one of her stories, the purple-haired teacher would shut it down in a matter of seconds. And when the class tried coming to her defense, Mendelive gave the infamous threat of extra homework, which just enraged her.

Since she couldn't get the class's attention, she just thought of ways to make Juleka quiet and compliant again. Maybe she can win that dingy brother of hers' over with a little charm and promises of getting him connected with Jagged Stone. Ha! As if Jagged would notice him.

They got through class without a single interruption, and Marinette couldn't be happier. Sure, there was the occasional paper ball with a rude message thrown at her, Nathaniel, and Juleka, but that was only when the science teacher's back was turned. But there was one note among the rest that was tossed instead of hurled at their heads. It read, 'Can we talk?' And it was in Adrien's handwriting, making Marinette frown and crumple up the note, not caring about Adrien's kicked puppy face.

Ever since he gave her that whole spiel about taking the high road, not stooping to Lila's level, basically not telling anyone about her lies, Marinette found herself falling out of love with him until she just didn't see the model as even a friend. He didn't support her when the class antagonized her and her friends, and he always gives her a look of disappointment like she's the one manipulating and lying to everyone. It made her sick.

Soon, the bell rang. The students flooded out and went to lunch.

"Do it, Jules," the Squip said once Juleka and Nathaniel were alone in the classroom. The rest have already left for the cafeteria and Mme. Mendelive was in the teacher's lounge, getting herself a cup of coffee. She points to her bag, still containing the tic-tac case filled with Squips. With a nod, she pulled out the case and casually asked the artist, "Want a tic-tac?"

Nathaniel looked away from his bag to see the plastic case in her hand and nodded, "Sure." He held his hand out, allowing Juleka to pour a single, slightly wet Squip into his hand. "Thanks." He put what he thought was a regular tic-tac in his mouth and continued packing his stuff. "Hey, what flavor is this..." His voice trailed off as he looked around the room. "Do you see pixels right now?" He waves his hand around as if trying the catch what he's seeing. "What- Ow!" He held his head in pain while Juleka watched with concern. "Aah!... What do you mean 'mild'?!" He dropped down to his knees and begged for the pain to stop.

Juleka kneeled next to him and held his hand. "It'll be okay, Nath. It's fine." Soon, the pain coursing through Nathaniel suddenly stopped. He tried to stand back up, but Juleka had him stay where he was, knowing what's coming next.

"I... I think I'm okay... What did- Ah! Aah!" He fell onto the floor, writhing around in pain that same way Juleka had on the Liberty.

"Nathaniel Kurtzberg." The redhead sat up, and his eyes widened when he saw a cloud of red and black pixels forming behind Juleka into none other than Stan Lee. "Welcome to your Super Quantum Unit Intel Processor... Your Squip."

Nathaniel's irises shone a bright red and glowing red circuits notes appeared on his cheeks for a few seconds before fading. "... What the hell?" He slowly gets back up, warily eying the blonde hologram. "Why... Why is Stan Lee standing behind you?"

"Nath, I can explain-"

"No! No. Jules, I don't know what's going on, but you?" He points to the holographic version of the man he admired so much. "I don't know what you are, but-" He starts backing away towards the door. "That is not funny! I'm gonna go-"

The Stan Lee-look-alike locked eyes with Nathaniel and smiled. "Kid, listen up. Did you see Juleka in your teacher's class? Her Squip helped her, and I can help you, too." He turned into a cloud of red pixels that flew over to Nathaniel and formed back into the deceased comic book writer. "Nathaniel, I know you want to get back at Kim for what he did. Correct me if I'm wrong."

Nathaniel's mouth opened and closed a couple of times as he tried to come up with a reason why he didn't want to be a part of this. He could only think of one reason: This is clearly the work of an Akuma. But he didn't see anything wrong with what's going on. Juleka gained the confidence to say what needed to be said, and he was being offered a chance to stand up to Kim for destroying his most prized possession. How could he possibly pass that up?... But then again...

"Doesn't it just eat you up inside whenever Lila gets away with these injustices? Wouldn't it be a thrill to finally get back at her and her minions?"

Nathaniel furrowed his brow, deep in thought.

"So?... Do we have a deal?"

"... I'm in." At that, his irises glowed bright red.

"Good," his Squip smiled. "Now run along and go give a Squip to your boyfriend. He should be in the locker room right about now."

"How do you know?" He questioned.

He scoffed, "Kid, I'm a super-computer. I know every little thing. That includes your boyfriend's schedules."

And Nathaniel's Squip was right. Marc was just about to open his locker right when he walked in.

"Hey, Nath," Marc greeted.

Nathaniel smiled, "Hey, Rainbow."

The comic book partners slowly and tenderly exchanged a kiss. Once they pulled apart, Marc went to his locker to get out his lunch. While he did this, Nathaniel looked off to the side where his Squip was leaning against a row of lockers. At his nod, he pulled the tic-tac case Juleka gave him out of his pocket.

He stared at it for a few seconds, hesitant to give one to Marc after what he just went to. It felt like his entire body was on fire and being stabbed at the same time. His Squip approached him and stared him down.

"Don't you wanna rid the school of that girl and get back at her little posse?" He asked.

'Yeah, but-'

"That was a rhetorical question, of course, you do."

"... Marc," Marc looked away from his locker and saw Nathaniel pouring a tic-tac into the palm of his hand. "Want a tic-tac?"

Marc smiled, "Sure." He took the grey pill soaked in Mountain Dew and put it in his mouth. "Thanks." As he turned back to his locker, Nathaniel stood close by him, waiting for what will happen next. "…N-Nath?" Marc waves his hand in front of his face. "I... I can't see anything but pixels- What's- Aah!" At his scream, Nathaniel quickly wrapped his arms around the noirette and kept him up before he could fall to the floor.

"Nath, what- Ah!" Marc hides his face in the crook of Nathaniel's neck while the redhead continues to console him and massage his head, knowing that's where most of the pain is. The next scream Marc let out was muffled by him screaming into Nathaniel's blazer.

"It's almost over," Nathaniel whispered as he pressed a kiss on Marc's head. "It's okay."

Finally, the screams stopped. Marc slowly lifted his head, revealing his glowing blue irises. "... Nath... Why is Kodo Nishimura in the room with us?" He points to the Squip who has taken the form of the Buddhist makeup artist. He reaches his hand towards her, only to recoil in horror when his hand phases right through. "And why did my hand just go through him?!"

Nathaniel shushes his panicking boyfriend and combs his fingers through his hair. "Mar- Marc, it's okay."

"Nath, what did you give me?!" He stares at the Squip standing next to them, trying to appear as non-threatening as he can. "And is he just gonna stand there?"

His Squip just chuckled. "It is alright, Marc. I'm gonna help you and your friends out. I know you wish to be rid of sausage hair."

'How did he know what we call her?' Marc thought to himself, and much to his shock, his Squip answered, "Marc, I'm in your brain. I know everything you've done, said, and I can predict what you might do."

"It's a Squip," Nathaniel explained. Off Marc's incredulous look, he nods. "I-I know, it sounds crazy, but listen. I have one and Juleka has one. Mine promised me the chance to get back at Kim for what he did! You remember, don't you?"

How could Marc forget? He's never seen Nathaniel look so upset. That sketchbook was one of the most important things he owned, and Lila ruined it by turning their classmates against Nathaniel out of spite.

"Such a sad day," his Squip said solemnly. "Isn't it unfair how Rossi gets away with this? You can give that girl and her little band of followers what they have coming for what they've done."

"... Nath, are you sure?" Marc nervously asked. "Wh-what if this is an Akuma who's mad at Lila, and they're manipulating you and Juleka?"

Nathaniel looked thoughtful for a moment. "Honestly, Rainbow, that just slipped my mind. But if it is an Akuma, and they're also against Lila, let's just go with it."

"Nath-"

"Come on," he urged. "I know you have a few choice words to say to the class for what they did to Mari... And Me." His eyes glowed bright red. "Just think, Marc. Lila will finally be exposed. My Squip promised that! I know yours' did, too."

Marc looks to his Squip, who nods. "Nathaniel is right, Marc. Once Rossi is gone, it will be nothing but smooth sailing from here on out."

Taking a few more seconds to think it over, Marc gave his answer. "Let's do it."

Nathaniel grinned before pulling Marc into a hug, "You won't regret it!" A knock on the locker room door interrupted the two, and Juleka walked in with her Squip following behind.

"You got him?" Marc's irises shining a bright blue answered her question. "Alright, let's get to lunch. Lila can only talk about herself and not accuse Marinette of murder for so long."

"Hey Mari," Juleka greeted as she, Nathaniel, and Marc approached the bluenette sitting at their lunch table with Aurore and Mireille. Seeing how lonely the three friends looked, students from Mendelieve's class who also believed none of Lila's lies decided to sit with them and reassure them that the rest of the school had their backs.

"Where were you guys?" Marinette asked.

Nathaniel's Squip rested his hand on the redhead's shoulder, making him respond, "I lost my phone. Juleka and Marc were helping me find it." Back in control of his body, he sent his Squip, who was standing by their table a look that said, 'What the hell?'

"So, how was another day with that banshee?" Mireille pointed her thumb over at Lila's table where her posse has gathered around her, handing her the expensive lunch items they bought due to Lila 'donating so much money to charity.'

"Oh, the usual," Marinette sighed as she twirled her yogurt with a spoon. "They glared at us, Lila accused us of things we didn't do, Nathaniel killed a stress ball..." Marc sent his boyfriend a look of shock. "They threw paper balls at us, and Juleka told them all off."

Aurore smirked and wrapped an arm around the taller girl, "Juleka! I didn't know you had that in you."

The Stan Lee Squip looked over at the Akuma Class's table and frowned when he saw Lila crying over something else while talking to Alix. The pinkette glared over at the other table, mainly at Nathaniel. Seeing her picking up an apple and aiming it at either Marinette or Nathaniel.

Seeing this, he yelled out, "Activate: Reflexes!"

Nathaniel suddenly lost control of his movements as his hand shot up and caught the apple without even looking, much to the shock of everyone who saw. Alix, bewildered, grabbed an orange off Nino's tray and threw it at Marinette, only for Marc to quickly catch it just an inch away from her face.

'Get back at Kim...'

Nathaniel narrowed his eyes at Kim. He took the orange out of Marc's hand, aimed, and threw the two fruits at the athlete. The orange hit his forehead and the apple him right between the legs, causing him to kneel in pain and for everyone who was against Lila to laugh at the athlete and cheer Nathaniel on, who's now realizing what he just did.

"Nath! Where'd you learn how to throw like that?" Jean Duparc asked, a few laughs still escaping from his lips.

Nathaniel glanced over at his Squip who mouthed, 'You're welcome.' "... I just have good aim, I guess."

Marinette looked and saw Max and Myléne struggling to help Kim up due to the pain between his legs while Alix stormed off, probably to go and tell Mme. Bustier what happened. Meanwhile, Lila was sobbing about how 'It was her fault Kim got injured,' while Alya and Rose tried to reassure her that she was not the one at fault. "Enjoy this while you can, Nath. 'Cause, I don't think Mme. Bustier's gonna let you off easy."

Nathaniel's Squip sent him a knowing look. "I can handle her."

"Nathaniel, I am surprised at you!" Mme. Bustier chastised once all the students gathered back in her class. Juleka and Marinette rolled their eyes. It was clear this woman got a thrill out of humiliating her students.

"So, you're yelling at me, but not Alix?" He points to said girl, sitting at her desk and glaring at the back of his head. "I wouldn't have thrown those at Kim if she hadn't thrown them in the first place, so, you should be punishing her. There. Once again, someone else did your job."

Mme. Bustier stammered for a moment before regaining her composure, "Young man, that is no way to speak to me! And I'm sure Alix just lost her grip-"

"Yeah, yeah, that makes so much sense," Nathaniel sarcastically said, offending his teacher even more. "Yes, both the apple and orange slipped out of Alix's hand and came hurdling towards Marinette and me, and would've hit us if I hadn't caught them. Need me to go over that again, Caline?"

The entire room gasped. Even Nathaniel was shocked that he used her real name. Out of his peripheral vision, he saw his SQUIP giving him a thumbs up.

"Nathaniel, what has gotten into you?!" She screeched.

"I'm simply stating facts, ma'am. You're once again defending bullies and reprimanding the victims when they defend themselves," he sneered.

Kim shot up out of his seat before wincing in pain and sitting back down. "But what did I do?!" Nathaniel quickly whirled his head to face the jock. Something about his gaze had Kim and a few others sinking into their seats.

"You know what you did," he hissed, sending shivers down everyone's spines. "And I wish I had thrown that apple much, much harder." Kim quickly took his textbook and set it over his lap, now starting to regret what he did to Nathaniel's sketchbook.

Mme. Bustier has had just about enough. She snapped her fingers, putting the attention back on her. "Nathaniel, that is no way to speak to your-"

Nathaniel cut her off, "I swear to God if you call that meathead my friend, I will fucking scream until your even deafer than you already are. That's your problem, Bustier, you want everyone to be friends, all happy, conflict-free, and just sickeningly sweet like we were back during our pull-ups days. But news flash, hippie, you can't stop fights with love and compassion. You can't coddle bullies; you need to reprimand and make an example of them until they get it through their thick skulls that there is something wrong with them!" He shoots a look at Lila, and immediately, she bursts into tears.

"Nathaniel!" She whined. "Wh-what did I-"

"Oh, and there's this one," Nathaniel scoffed as he turned back to Mme. Bustier. "I honest to God, thought that Chloé was bad, but her? Yeesh!"

"Hey!" Chloé yelled.

His face suddenly brightened, "Oh! I just figured you out, Mme. Bustier."

"Wh-what are you trying to say?" Bustier asked, her voice wavering a bit.

The Billie Eilish Squip chuckled and encouraged Juleka to keep watching. "Hon, you are not gonna wanna miss a second of this." He looked at Nathaniel's Squip and saw the devious smirk on her face. "Showtime."

Mme. Bustier swore she saw Nathaniel's eye flicker red for a second before he saw the most specific and hauntingly accurate thing she's ever heard anyone say to her.

"I think you were the lonely unlikable teacher's pet who always sat by the trash cans at lunch. You ratted out students for everything and told people to forgive each other which is why they all hated you, but you still felt you were in the right. So, you decided to major in teaching, to pass your flawed teachings onto the next generation, and to compensate for that fact your little philosophies are fucked up and getting you nowhere in life. You think if someone like you succeeds, then maybe, just maybe you can show everyone who said you'd never make it in life for being a fucking little goody-two-shoes doormat who always did what the teacher said no matter how stupid, that they were wrong."

Everyone sat with their jaws hanging open. Lila was too shocked to even turn on the waterworks and try to make Nathaniel look worse than he already is right now. What was happening today? Since when did the one eye twins grow spines? Would Adrien be next? Not taking any chances, she clung on tight to his arm, not caring about his groan of discomfort.

Moving for the first time in a few seconds, Mme. Bustier shakily made her way behind her desk and gathered her things. "Cla... Cl... Class d-dismissed." She bumped into the door two times, still trying to process everything before finally turning the knob and making her way out.

Ending the silence was Nino, trying to awkwardly brighten the mood, "Free day..." Alya patted his shoulder and mouthed, 'Not the time.'

Nathaniel turned to the rest of the class. "Anyone else got a problem?" They all muttered 'no' or shook their heads, no one daring to step into the usually quiet redhead's line of fire. However, Lila, feeling bold again and wanting the sympathy of her minions cried into Adrien's chest, pulling him closer as he tried to scoot away.

"Nath! How could you say all those mean things?!" She cried. "I-I thought we were friends!"

"Did you hit your head?" He asked in a snarky tone. "I'm genuinely curious. Did anyone hear me mention her? Sure, I looked her way, but that was it. So kindly shut up for once in your life." He makes his way towards his desk, ignoring the pale and very disturbed looks on his classmates' faces.

"Do I hear the distinct sound of tic-tacs?" Jean asked in a playful tone the second he heard Marc placing the tic-tac case on his desk when Mme. Mendelieve stepped out for a few minutes.

During lunch, Nathaniel's Squip instructed him to slip the case into Marc's bag for him to pass out to his classmates.

"Classroom rules state that if you bring food, you must have enough for everyone," Aurore smirked. "So lemme at them tic-tacs!"

"As much as I admire you for not wanting them to get hurt," his Squip spoke. "Remember, this will help you expose Lila. Outnumber her group. Supply Marinette with a larger support group."

"… Help yourselves." And his classmates did not hesitate to take what they thought was a tic-tac for themselves.

It was break time, and Adrien is searching for Marinette, Juleka, Nathaniel, anyone who might be out to expose Lila. He looked around the courtyard where the students chatted with each other and did homework they forgot to do. The blonde knew Nathaniel had some problems with his anger, but he's never seen him act like how he did during class before. It seemed a little uncalled for in his opinion; Mme. Bustier was just teaching everyone to forgive and forget because that's what you're supposed to do... Right? And Juleka would never speak that way about anyone, she's too nice. Maybe Marinette said something to them; she's who he should be looking for.

And there she was, sitting on a bench with Aurore and Mireille. Surely they won't mind if he pulls her away for a few minutes. Just as he's about to walk over to them, he feels himself being pulled back and dragged away until he's in the locker room. He's shoved to the side and would almost have hit the floor if not for his reflexes from being Chat Noir. He looked to see his assailant, and was shocked to find:

"Marc?"

"What do you think you're doing, Agreste?"

He gave him a dumbfounded look, "I-I was just gonna talk to Marinette. I have to tell her-"

"To take the high road," Marc hissed, startling Adrien.

Adrien stammered for an excuse, not expecting that and trying to come up with a reason why without revealing Lila as a liar. "Well- uh. I have t-to-"

"Adrien, do I look dumb to you? Scratch that. Does everyone at this school look dumb to you?"

The blonde wasn't sure how to respond that that. Why was Marc speaking this way when he usually sounded so nice, and why was he glaring like he wanted him dead?

Marc stepped closer to him, "Marinette is my cousin and I will be damned if some spineless coward tells her to enable her bullies and some trash liar!"

Adrien wasn't focused on the part about the bullying, but more about Marc knowing that Lila was a liar. Sure, he said it rudely, but this was great! Maybe Marinette will listen to her cousin since she's not listening to him.

"Marc, please don't tell anyone that Lila is lying," Adrien pleaded.

"Oh, I won't," Marc said with a shrug, much to Adrien's relief. "Because everyone already knows, idiot." Adrien paled at those words. "We could all smell Lila's bullshit from a mile away, and instantly knew. Unlike those classmates, teacher, and principal of yours', but they'll know pretty soon."

Adrien was starting to panic. It was great that more people knew about Lila's lies, but they can't just call her out in front of her support group like that. They need to learn for themselves and gently push Lila out of their lives until she learns why. Then she'll see why lying is wrong and everyone can be friends again. (Sure, hippie)

"Sorry, Marc. But I can't let you or the others do that," Adrien said determinedly as he made his way to the door, only to be stopped by a tight grip on his shoulder.

"And just how do you intend to stop us from telling everyone?" Adrien turned his head and nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw Marc's glowing blue eyes and the circuits going along his cheeks. "Who knows? While we were here, my classmates were probably telling everyone who wasn't even that interested in what Lila had to say." He points out the window and Adrien can see Jean talking to a few students who aren't in Mendelieve's class. Now it looks like he's handing them mints for some reason.

"I want you to stay away from my cousin," Marc said threateningly as his eyes and face returns to normal. "And trust me, I'll know if you come within five feet of her." He tightens his grip on Adrien's shoulder. "Got it?"

Adrien let out a wince, "Crystal!"

"Good riddance; you make me sick," Marc said before shoving Adrien to the side and making his way out of the locker room. Once he was gone, Plagg flew out of Adrien's pocket to check on his holder.

"Adrien! Are you okay? Man, ponytail is fiery, huh?"

Adrien just nodded, startled by what just happened. "… Plagg, you don't think they're going to tell people about Lila, do you?"

Plath rolled his eyes. "Kid, I'll be blunt. You are kind of spineless." Adrien looked offended. "And he's right, you know. You just left Marinette to the dogs."

"But she has people who believe her; isn't that enough?"

"It may seem that way, but she wants her friends since diapers to believe in her again," Plagg tried to explain to his clueless Chosen, who still didn't seem to understand why Marinette was upset. With a sigh, he flew back into his shirt. "Just enjoy your break before class starts again."

Adrien slumped out of the locker room, trying to grasp what Marc and Plagg have said.

Musical Mayhem scowled as he watched a grown man playing with dolls when he should be working and treating his students equally instead of going with the words of some spoiled rich brat.

Gripping the handle of the black sledgehammer, Musical Mayhem shattered the window with it, creating a nice-sized hole for him to crawl out from the small ledge outside the office. The grey-haired man, hearing the crash, hid under his desk like the coward he was.

Hearing the footsteps of the Akuma promoted him to poke his head out and foolishly say, "Who are you? What are you doing in my office?!"

Instead of saying anything, Musical Mayhem just reached behind his back, into his guitar case, and pulled out a red noose, making Damocles back away out of fear. "Now you're gonna do what you do best and keep your mouth shut when a villain takes over." He tossed the noose on the desk as a reminder of who the man is dealing with, then he propped himself up on the desk and grabbed the microphone connected to the PA system.

"Alright, you're up." Appearing next to him in a flurry of pink pixels was another SQUIP who bared a striking resemblance to Marinette, only she was dressed similar to Luka but in her colors.

Musical Mayhem pressed the button of the microphone, and the familiar tune heard before an announcement is said can be heard throughout the courtyard and in classrooms. The Marinette look-a-like leaned in close to the mic and said, "Up-up-down-down-left-right-A!"

To the students who weren't Squipped, it just sounded like static, but for the students who were, they heard the familiar cheat code, they felt pain shoot through their heads and fell to the floor, much to everyone else's alarm. When they rose back up, their eyes were glowing bright pink, and the same-colored circuits appeared along their cheeks.

Alix ran over to Nathaniel, who was hunched over in pain. "Dude! Are you okay?!" They may not have been friends anymore, but she didn't want to see him hurt.

He straightened himself up and glared at Alix with such hate in his glowing eyes before he grabbed her arms and lifted her with a surprising amount of strength. She kicked and shouted, trying to get him to put her down, but Nathaniel didn't comply and flung her at Kim, who fell to the floor upon impact.

Alya backed away from the two angry-looking weather girls, "Wh-what's going on?!"

"It's an Akuma!" Rose screamed, prompting the non-Squipped students to go into a panic and run to their classrooms for safety and lock the doors before the others could get in. One, however, wasn't in the safety of his classroom. Adrien ran back into the locker room while everyone was trying to escape the Squipped students.

"What the heck was that?!" Plagg yelled.

Adrien panted, "I-it's like an on switch just made them go crazy or something."

Plagg sighed, "You know the words, kid."

"Plagg, Claws Out!"

The Akuma class had taken shelter in their classroom but soon came to regret it when almost all the Squipped students had come for them and were doing everything they could to break down the locked door or the three-inch glass, all while spewing insults at them.

"Tabloid trash!"

"Damn coward!"

"FUCKING LIAR!"

Lila forced more tears out of her eyes, "Why are they saying all of these things?! They're so mean, I-I didn't even do anything!"

Juleka let out a scream, "When I get my hands on you, Rossi, I'll drown you in the Seine!" She hit her fist against the glass, making a small crack appear. "This is your fault!"

Rose felt tears about to escape out of her eyes when she heard how violent her girl… Ex-girlfriend sounded. Ever since they broke up, she often wondered if she made the right choice. She didn't know what came over her, she was just so mad that Juleka would say such horrible things about Lila.

"What, are you gonna cry, Rose?" Aurore taunted. "Jules has been crying herself to sleep at night because of you!" Rose wondered how she even knew that. "You can't even begin to understand how heartbroken she was!" Another punch to the window, the crack a little larger.

"Are they even bleeding?" Kim wondered aloud.

"Immensely," Nathaniel deadpanned. "But we can't feel the pain. It's awesome!"

Marinette furrowed her brow in thought. 'Where have I heard that before?'

Nathaniel locked eyes with her and smiled, "Mari, come on. Let us get you out of here. Anything's better than staying with them."

"Come on, Melody," Jean crooned.

Marinette backed away further than she already was. Only Luka called her Melody… Was he the Akuma behind this?

"Marinette!" Lila wailed. "You're doing this?! Oh my gosh! She's an Akuma, you guys!" Never in her life had Marinette wanted to punch her.

"If you guys think Marinette's the Akuma, you must be dumb as shit!" Marc yelled when he saw Kim stalking towards the Eurasian girl. "She doesn't even look like an Akuma, you idiots!"

"We-well, some Akumas look human!" Lila said in defense. "And their eyes are pink! Marinette wears pink! Guys, you need to believe me, Marinette is trying to hurt me!"

Hearing enough, Kim grabbed Marinette before she could escape and restrain her. "She's lying!"

Alya scoffed, "Nice try. Now tell us where you're Akuma is!"

"I'm not an Akuma!" Marinette yelled, officially done with these people. She's done crying for all of them. If they really believe that she's an Akuma, then they're too far up Lila's ass to listen to reason.

"LET GO OF HER!" Mireille yelled. "She's not the Akuma, you idiots!"

Sabrina yelled back, "Don't call us idiots!"

The Akuma class and Squipped students hurled insults at each other while Marinette tried to escape from Kim's grip until a gunshot silenced them all. The Squipped students parted for the person who fired the shot. The Akuma class waited with anticipation. Suddenly, the door burst open.

"Let go of her," Musical Mayhem growled, his white gauntlet raised and threatening to knock them all out. Marinette took a closer look at the gauntlet and noticed that 'CONNOR' was written on the front in black. 'What kind of Akuma is he?' She wondered.

Kim released Marinette and backed away with his hands up. Musical Mayhem approached Marinette with a warm smile. "Come on Melody. Lemme get you out of here."

Her eyes widened, "L-Luka?"

He didn't answer and just pulled her in for a hug, combing his fingers through his hair. She was too shocked to move and barely reacted when he hoisted her up and carried her to the door, bridal style.

"Hey!" Nino called out. "You're not going anywhere with her!"

Musical Mayhem rolled his eyes. "Now you care about her safety?" The capped boy looked hurt by that question. "Pick. A. Side." He turned to the Squipped students. "Take care of them and get the other students out. Not everyone deserves to fry." At that, he was gone and leaping from roof to roof.

Juleka cracked her knuckles. "I've been waiting so long for this." She made her way towards Rose, fists clenched, but was stopped by Chat Noir's staff tripping her to the floor. The students looked and saw Chat Noir standing right outside the classroom with his signature smirk.

"I'll hold them off! You guys go!" He whacked a blonde student away with his staff. While he holds off the Squipped students, the Akuma class runs out of the room. Once they were out, Chat continued to fend for himself while wondering where Ladybug was. Seeing that he was outnumbered and that none of them were going down without a fight, Chat Noir fought them all into a corner and ran out of the room while fiddling with his belt. When it came loose, he tied one end around the doorknob and the other around the railing, tight so none of them could open the door.

"Are you all okay?" Asked Chat.

"Oh, thank you so much!" Lila cried in her annoying voice, making Chat roll his eyes. "I can't believe Marinette would be so cruel!"

"FUCK OFF, ROSSI!" Aurore yelled as she hit her fist against the window. "You didn't see the Akuma take her away?! How stupid are you?!"

Lila wailed louder, prompting Alya to comfort her. Little did she know that Lila had a hideous frown as her face was hidden in the crook of her neck.

"Chat Noir, they're blocking all of the exits," Myléne said, pointing to the Squipped students at the doors. Some students, however, were allowed to leave as they were escorted out.

"Why aren't they attacking them?" Kim questioned.

Max stroked his chin in thought. "You know, I heard Luka mention something about how not everyone deserves to fry. Perhaps that has something to do with it." The students tensed. They didn't like the sound of that.

"Wh-what does that-" Ivan was cut off by a scream. They looked and saw Fred Haprele, still tied up and hopping out of the basement.

"Dad!" Myléne cried as she went to untie her father. "Dad, what happened to you?"

"I heard noises coming from the basement, found an Akuma in a flashy blue outfit, and he whacked me on the side of the head," he explained as Myléne untied him. "Be-before he did, I saw that he had planted bombs around the boiler!" This sent the non-Squipped students into a panic. "There's a timer that is set to go off in an hour! Someone needs to disarm it, or at the very least get it into big, open space!"

"They're not gonna let us leave!" Nino exclaimed, panicked. "We're done for!"

"Not unless Markov and I can disarm it," said Max as the little robot hovered next to him.

"Max, are you sure?" Chat Noir asked, concerned. "One wrong move and-"

"Chat Noir, I can do this," he said with a determined nod.

Seeing that he wouldn't let this go, Chat relented. "Alright, but take Kim with you in case one of them tries anything." He warily eyes the Squipped students trying to get out of the classroom. "I'll get the rest of you out of here, then I'll find Luka."

"And Marinette," Nino added. "He kidnapped her."

Chat Noir's mouth hung open a bit when he heard that. "I'll get her back." He extends his staff so it reaches the roof. "Hope you guys can climb." Seeing this, the Squipped students try harder to break the door down. "Go!" While Kim and Max made their way to the basement, the Akuma Class and Fred climbed up Chat's staff, (With some struggle) but they were all able to make it up onto the roof and went to look for a way down. It was at that moment, the Squipped students were finally able to get the door open.

Chat Noir shortened his staff. "Alright, now you guys are gonna tell me why Luka took Marinette and why he planted a bomb under the school!"

Nathaniel charged at him first and threw a punch that Chat was able to block. "He's making this city better for her! That includes getting rid of this school and the God-awful people in it who made her miserable!"

Juleka comes at Chat Noir from behind while he's fighting Nathaniel and lands a kick to his back, making him fall. "Once this school and her classmates are gone, Marinette will finally be happy again."

Chat Noir got back up on his feet and swept their legs, making them fall to the floor. "What are you talking about? What do you mean she's not happy?"

"You're either really blind or really stupid," Jean sneered as Chat blocked one of his punches. "Lila has turned her into an outcast and the most hated person in that class! She deserves so much better!"

"Didn't she have friends?!" Asked Chat as he whacked Jean and Nathaniel away with his staff, allowing Mireille to come in for an attack.

"Only three people in that class believed her! And one of them didn't do anything except tell her to shut up and stay quiet about Lila's lies!" She flipped him over her shoulder, but Chat Noir got back up quickly and vaulted over Mireille before she could attack again. "He let Lila continue to tell scathing lies about her so that her reputation would be ruined and she would have no friends left! What kind of friend is that?"

Chat Noir extended his staff so he could sweep their legs, sending them all down to the floor. "Now tell me where Luka took Marinette… NOW!" He's not going to let Marinette down again.

Nathaniel let out a bitter laugh. "Like we'd tell you."

Aurore added, "And by the time you do find her, the school's gonna turn into rubble, we'll all go someplace far away from those traitors, and give Marinette the life she deserves."

Ignoring those words, Chat Noir vaulted out of the school to go find Luka, Marinette, and hopefully Ladybug.

"Think you can do it, bud?" Kim asked the bespectacled boy as he and Markov observed the timers connected to the bombs. "I know you've got that big brain of yours, but you've never actually disarmed a bomb."

"Kim, if I can hack into the mayor's files, I can do this." Max pulled a pair of nail clippers and cord out of his pocket, hooked one end into Markov, and the other into one of the timers. "Relax, and we'll get this done quick."

Kim nodded, "Alright. I trust you." He looked around, making sure none of the Squipped students were hiding anywhere and planning a sneak attack. As he was looking, Max let out a silent cheer as the first bomb was disarmed. "You got it?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "Two more to go." He hooks Markov up to the next timer and fiddles around with the wires. While he was doing this, a 'Clank' was heard. "Did you hear that?"

Kim cracked his knuckles, hoping it'll scare off anyone down there with them. "… Hello?!" No answer… "Must've been- AH!" He was tackled to the floor by Marc, who was keeping him pinned with a surprising amount of strength. "Hey! Get off! How'd he even know we were down here!?"

"I know what you're doing, guys," Marc smirked, keeping a tight grip around Kim's wrists. "I know what everyone's doing! ALL THE TIME!"

Max got so distracted by the attack, that he clipped the wrong wire, making the countdown go down faster. He corrected his mistake and stopped the countdown on the second wire. "Kim! Hold him off! I'm almost done!" Before he could unplug Markov from the second bomb, Marc's boot hit the back of his head, hard. And he went unconscious.

"Max!" Kim cried out before being hit by Marc's other shoe. He fell to the floor. Done with them, Marc made his way over to Markov who was still plugged into the second timer and struggling to fly off. Marc grabbed the nail clippers out of Max's hand and uses them to cut the cord Markov is plugged into.

"… Whoops." He looked at the timer at saw that there were only fifty-five minutes left. His eyes glow bright pink as he made his way out. "Guys, we better get out of here."

Marinette's hair blew in the wind as she stood on the top floor of the Eiffel Tower. She leaned over the balcony to get a view of her school and sighed. She could transform and go join Chat in the fight, but Musical Mayhem's keeping a close eye on her, making it impossible for her to escape.

"We can start and finish wars. We're what killed the dinosaurs. We're the asteroid that's overdue…"

Marinette turned her head and saw him approaching.

"The dinosaurs will turn to dust. They'll die because we say they must."

As he went in for a hug, Marinette flinched away from his touch, making him frown and her regret it. "Melody, please." He takes her hand. "I'm only doing this for you. I hate to see you so miserable."

"L-Luka, I don't want or need you to do this. I liked whenever I had a bad day, you would just play your guitar and I'd feel like I mattered." She caressed his cheek with her free hand. "Please, Luka. I'm mad at them too, but I don't want this."

"Yes, you do," Musical Mayhem huffed. "My Squip told me about all of the dark corners of your mind melody." Marinette paled at those words. If his Squip can see into her mind, does that mean it knows she's Ladybug? "It knows you're angry, and I'm angry, too. I know how much relief you'll feel once Rossi and her gang are gone. Her, Alya, Nino, Rose… Adrien. Please, let me make you happy. You need this…"

Marinette didn't want to believe what he was saying, but… He was right in a way. She wanted her classmates to pay for what they did to her, Nathaniel, and Juleka. She wants them to feel the pain they've put her through ever since Lila opened her mouth, and-

Cutting off her thoughts was her phone ringing. She slipped her hand out of Musical Mayhem's hand and reached into her pocket for her phone. She pulled it out and saw Alya's number. After the auburn-haired girl renounced their friendship, Marinette felt it was unnecessary to keep her number and deleted it. Hesitantly, she answered it and listened to what she had to say.

"He-hello?"

"… You were right." Alya almost sounded like she was crying.

"… Excuse me?"

"About Lila." Marinette's eyes widened at those words, but Musical Mayhem didn't look too surprised. "We-we were trying to make out way off the roof and we got a mass text from Aurore that…" She sniffed. "Oh my God. Lila caused a girl to commit suicide back in Italy. I-I didn't wanna believe it at first, b-but there was a news story, pictures of suicide notes… Marinette, I'm so-"

Marinette hung up on her before she could say anything else. She looked up at Musical Mayhem and saw his smirk. "Did you do that?"

He shrugged, "My Squip did most of the work. I simply communicated with Aurore and told her to send out that text. Who's going ignore a real journalist?"

"Then-then you can't-"

"Just because they apologize now, doesn't mean it won't happen again," he hissed. "Just wait. Some newer, shinier thing comes along, and they toss you to the side. I won't let that happen again- Aah!"

Chat Noir whacked him away from Marinette with his staff. "Get away from her!"

"Chat Noir?"

The leather-clad hero turned to her and smiled kindly. "Run, Princess." He turns back to the villain with a scowl. "I let Marinette get hurt once, and I'm not gonna let it happen again!"

'Does he know?' Marinette wondered as she ran to the elevator so she could transform. Once the door closed, Tikki flew out of her purse and looked at her Chosen with concern. "Marinette?"

"… I never wanted any of them to get hurt, y-you know that, right, Tikki?"

Tikki just sighed. "You're not the first Ladybug to have a bit of a dark side, Marinette. You're only human, and it's normal."

Marinette slid down the wall onto the floor. "Would it make me a terrible person if I never forgave any of them?"

Tikki nuzzled against her cheek. "I wouldn't blame you, Mari. Now come on. Say the words."

With a faint smile, Marinette said, "Tikki, Spots On!"

"She needs someone to keep her safe!" Musical Mayhem yelled as he swung at Chat Noir with Lizzie Borden's axe. "From liars and traitors! I'm the only person who can give her the life she deserves!" He hurls the axe at Chat, but he blocks it with his staff. As he tries to pull it off, Musical Mayhem pulls out an ordinary pen. When he clicks it, it transforms into a sword.

He charges at Chat Noir and the two duel against each other with Chat Noir using his staff like a sword.

"You think Marinette would want you to destroy the school?!" He spun his staff, making it act like a shield when the Akuma thrust his sword. "To hurt her fri- Classmates?!" It was clear to him that Marinette no longer viewed any of them as friends, and he had to accept that. "Yes, what they did was awful, but-" He felt something wrap around his ankles and saw that it was a long black tie. Musical Mayhem yanked on it, making Chat Noir fall to the floor and drop his staff, leaving him defenseless.

"What they did is a good enough excuse for me to wipe them all out!" Reaching into his guitar case, he pulled out a crossbow, loaded and ready. "And since you're getting in my way, I have an excuse to get rid of you, too."

"I don't think so!"

Ladybug's yoyo wrapped around the crossbow handle and she yanked it out of the Akuma's hand. The hero and villain looked to see her standing on the railing. "Sorry, I took so long, kitty. I found Marinette and brought her to safety, by the way."

Musical Mayhem's eye twitched at those words. You. WHAT?!" He pulled out another weapon, a very old-looking gun that he aims at Chat Noir, his eyes brimming with tears. "Tell me where she is… NOW! Or the alley cat gets it!"

"Lucky Charm!"

What landed in her hand was a mirror. Only two things lit up with her Lucky Vision: The mirror and Musical Mayhem. She knew what she had to do and calmly approached him.

"TELL ME!" He yelled, tears now streaming down his face.

"Luka, look at yourself." She holds the mirror up in front of his face and forced him to keep looking when he turned his head away. "This isn't the kind, gentle boy Marinette fell in love with. Do you think any of this is making her or her friends happy?"

The more Musical Mayhem looked into the mirror, the more he saw the good times he had with Marinette, his sister, and Nathaniel, comforting Juleka after a bad day at school, talking with Nathaniel on the phone, and playing a song for Marinette on his guitar. Slowly, he began to lower his gun, making Ladybug let out a sigh of relief only to take it back when he raised it again. She reached for her yoyo, but it was too late. He fired.

…

…

Into the sky.

"… My… My Akuma's in my… Ah!" His eye glowed bright pink and he fell to his knees as he rubbed his temples to ease the head pain his Squip was causing. "I-i-i-i-in my- Aah!"

Chat Noir unwrapped the tie from around his ankles and went to help him up. "Where?!"

"Un-Squip me first, please!" He begged as pink circuits appeared along his cheeks, and his body jolted as if he were being electrocuted. "We-we're synced! It'll get rid of everyone's- MAKE IT STOP! There's Mountain Dew Red in my guitar case!"

Ladybug set the mirror down. "Chat, restrain him!" Chat Noir grabbed ahold of his arms to keep him from flailing around so much, allowing Ladybug to reach into his guitar case and pull out a small bottle of vintage Mountain Dew Red. She opened it and tried to force the drink in Musical Mayhem's mouth, but his Squip was keeping him from opening it.

Ladybug winced, "Sorry, Luka." She punched him in the gut, making him let out a pained scream before pouring the drink down his throat. Nothing happens for a few seconds. Until Musical Mayhem lets out a supersonic scream that had the heroes covering their ears as his eyes flashed bright pink. When the screams and flashing stopped, he fell limp onto his back, breaking his guitar case and releasing the Akuma.

"No more evil-doing for you, little Akuma!" She tossed her YoYo at the evil butterfly... "Time to de-evilize!" … And she caught it. "Gotcha!" Fluttering out of the butterfly was a pure white butterfly. "Bye-bye, little butterfly." She grabbed the mirror and tossed it into the air. "Miraculous Ladybug!"

The mirror burst into the thousands of Ladybugs that flew across the city and put the Akuma Class back in their classroom, the once Squipped students who lied unconscious on the ground were put back in the school and gained consciousness again, the bombs disappeared just as the last one hit two seconds. A purple mist covered Musical Mayhem before lifting and revealing Luka, dazed and confused.

"Where am I?"

Ladybug and Chat Noir fist-bumped, "Pound it."

The spotted heroine approached Luka with a look of concern. "Are you okay?"

"… I got Akumatized again, didn't I?" Ladybug nodded, making him sigh. "Wh-where's Marinette? I didn't hurt her, did I?!"

"She's safe," said Ladybug. "I can take you to her if you'd like." Off his nod, Ladybug wrapped an arm around his waist and pulled out her YoYo. Before swinging away, she said to Chat, "You mind checking on the students?"

"Sure thing," he nodded before vaulting away.

After dropping Luka off at the front of the bakery, Ladybug quickly swung up to her balcony before anyone saw just as she transformed back.

"Are you okay, Marinette?" Tikki asked.

"Yeah," she smiled. "I mean… Things at school still won't be the same, but at least she's gone now."

"Mari?" Hearing Luka's voice, Tikki flew into Marinette's purse just as he opened the floor hatch and made his way into her room. "… Hey."

"Hey."

The two don't say anything for a while and just stare at each other, both unsure what exactly to say after everything that just happened. Finally, Luka spoke, "I'm sorry. I-I went crazy trying to protect you, and I just… I snapped, Mari. I never wanted to hurt them or you, and-" Before he could say more, Marinette rushed over and hugged him.

"It's okay," she whispered. "Just don't scare me like that again. Okay?" His response was a kiss on her forehead. "Love you."

"Love you too, Melody."

Interrupting this sweet moment was a buzz from Marinette's phone. Reluctantly, she pulled out of Luka's hold and fished her phone out of her pocket. "Oh, a text from Nathaniel. 'Rossi got exposed, y'all.'" Seeing the confused look on her boyfriend's face, Marinette showed him the photo that came with the text. Nathaniel and Juleka were taking a selfie, and behind them was Lila, locked in a police car. The two couldn't help but laugh at Lila's scrunched face.

"I guess that means things are gonna change at your school."

"Yeah. I think so, too."

And things did change at DuPont. The board of education sent an investigator after Lila's exposure and were horrified by what they've discovered. Bustier and Damocles were enabling the rich and powerful students' toxic behavior, reprimanding the victims, and forcing those victims to apologize and stay quiet when they're being bullied. Immediately, they were fired. Mme. Mendelieve soon took over as principal. As for the bullies, they were either suspended or expelled based on the severity. Chloé was expelled without question and no one cared if she called her father. He could cut funding, but can't fire teachers. The Akuma Class was given a mandatory seminar on toxic behavior, how to spot a con artist, and the difference between bullying and avenging. Marinette, Juleka, and Nathaniel transferred to Mendelieve's previous class and couldn't be happier. And as for Lila, she was sent to a maximum-security prison without bail because the Squips also found out that she's working for Hawkmoth.