Disclaimer: I do not own Miraculous Ladybug or the song ' Oo-de-lally' from Disney's Robin Hood.
"I'M LATE! I'M LATE! I'M LATE!"
Marinette rushed to get ready over oversleeping (again) after a long and rough night of fighting three akumas. She was so busy getting ready that she failed to notice the Miracle Box opening and a horde of tiny magical gods sneaking into her backpack. Even Tikki didn't see them, hidden away in Marinette's purse.
Marinette noted the sudden added weight of her backpack but had to run to school 2 minutes before class starts. As if possessing superspeed, she ran from her home to her school, making it close in time. She sat down in her seat and took a nap, too tired to investigate her backpack.
A lot of tiny eyes peered up out of her pink backpack, shaking with excitement. Although they loved their new master and respected her, they desired to see what human school was like in this time.
"So this is a classroom in the 21st century." Kaalki observed.
"Look! They finally letting girls in!" Ziggy exclaimed, gesturing to Juleka and Rose.
"And black people!" Orikko cried, pointing at Max.
"When I had my last holder, schools were a luxury only to wealthy boys." Longg mentioned. "And rich girls only had a basic education."
"Look, it's Chloé!" Pollen cried when she saw one particular rich girl. Overjoyed to see Chloé, the bee kwami flew out of the backpack, lifting the flap up, exposing her fellow kwamis to the open.
"Pollen, don't!" Sass hissed.
Pollen didn't pay heed to Sass, she only paid attention to her brief yet most favourite holder. "I know she has done great mistakes but she has potential! She just need more guidance and patience."
"So do you!" Fluff grabbed her left leg.
"You're gonna blow our cover!" Daizzi grabbed her right leg.
Together, the two kwamis yanked Pollen down. Wayzz and Trixx closed the backpack.
Luckily for the noisy kwamis, no one noticed them, too engrossed in themselves.
But the one who was the most self-centred noticed them.
Lila.
"There's something moving in Marinette's bag!" Lila shrieked, both eager to find out what the kwamis were and to harass Mairnette.
Mairnette woke up fast with a snort just to see Kim and Alya picking up her bag. Now she doesn't know she brought the kwamis to her school but she did not want anyone looking into her bag as all. That was a violation of privacy and even her friends weren't allowed to look without her permission.
"Hey, let go of my bag! Don't touch it!"
But Alya and Kim yanked her bag open anyway.
"Lila, there's nothing here but books, a pencil case and a sewing kit." Alya said.
"You put them up to this, Lila?" Marinette gasped.
Lila snatched the bag from Alya and dug through it. "There was something moving in here, I swear! Where did they go?"
"Give me that!" Marinette snatched her bag back, wearing the fiercest glare on her pretty face. Luckily the liar didn't find Tikki as the red kwami was in her purse. "When I say no, I mean NO!"
"Sorry, Marinette." Kim apologised, scared of the tiny girl. "But Lila said it was urgent!"
"How would you feel if I looked through your bag without your permission?"
"But girl, Lila said she saw something in your bag!" Alya insisted.
"Like a rat! Or a cockroach! Or a rat-cockroach!" Rose panicked.
As soon as she said those word, the whole class freaked out. They screamed and jumped onto their desks. Meanwhile, Adrien rushed in and held Marinette protectively for a second. However, no one noticed.
"What is going on?" Ms Bustier asked, walking into her class acting loud and scared.
"Ms, Lila said she saw a rat-cockroach in Mairnette's bag!" Mylene explained.
"And I said no, but they ignored me!" Marinette exclaimed.
Ms Bustier shook her head disapprovingly. "Oh, children, there's no such thing as a rat-cockroach. And you mustn't take or look into things if you don't have permission. Now, everyone, takes your seat."
"But-"
"Sit down."
Everyone sat down. But throughout the lesson, Lila kept thinking about those things from Marinette's bag. Thanks to Rose, everyone now thought those things were rats or cockroaches.
Lila know they were something else and she was determined to find out. If she was lucky, she could've discovered a new species of whatever animal it was and be famous and remembered throughout history!
The little creatures were all alone in the hallways. Class had begun so all of the pupils and teachers were in their assigned rooms. When Lila alerted their presence, they fazed through Marinette's bag to the floor to avoid capture.
"What do we do now?" Barkk asked.
"We can't go back. That wicked girl will find us before Marinette!" Roarr whined.
"I guess we should occupy ourselves until the school day is finished." Wayzz suggested.
"Do you think they still have slaves in this age?" Mullo asked before he and kwamis zoomed off to have some fun.
Throughout the day, the kwamis explored Françoise Dupont and Lila kept seeing them. But no matter how many times she told people, no one believed a single word she said.
For the first time, she needed concrete proof of her claim. She needed to catch them all.
If only those things stayed still!
After home room, Lila and her class had science. Ms. Mendeleiev set them to do an experiment where they must determine which solution to use, red or blue. Everyone was busy doing so, except for Lila who tricked Nathaniel doing all the work because of her 'headache.' And because she was the only person not focused, she saw the kwamis again.
"Red!"
"Blue!"
"Red!"
"Blue!"
Well, she heard them first. She turned around and saw Longg holding a vial of red liquid and Mullo with a vial of blue liquid, both of them arguing in mid air.
"I had Einstein as my holder and he said 'for a bang, use red!'"
"Well, I had Marie Curie and she said 'always use blue for an effect!'"
"Didn't she die of her hubris?"
"It was radiation, not hubris! She was a real scientist! Einstein was just a mathematician!"
"Just use both!" Wayzz appeared in between them, his little arms out.
"No! That would cause an explosion!"
"Don't you know your science?"
"I was only trying to compromise! Your arguing will get us caught!"
Lila smirked. Too late for that…
Then Wayzz saw Lila staring at him and his fellow gods. "Uh oh."
Without any hesitation, Lila lunged at the three kwamis. However, they quickly fled, letting go of the two vials. Lila's action caused everyone to turn their attention onto her.
No one saw the kwamis.
All they saw was Lila 'pouring' both liquids into the class jug, causing it to turn a bubbling green before bursting into smoke, filling up the science room.
"Everyone into the hall!"
Everyone ran out of the door, bending out and coughing as smoke poured from the door and windows inside.
"LILA ROSSI!" Ms Mendeleiev roared. "You are supposed to choose one, not use both! Your ignorance and recklessness endanger your whole class! The explosion could've killed us all!"
"It wasn't me! It was the…" Lila tried to lie but trailed off.
"The what?" The teacher demanded.
Lila looked for a word to describe the kwamis. "The…the, uh…"
"The rat-cockroaches?" Nino said.
"The what?" Ms Mendeleiev asked, curious.
"Lila claimed this morning she saw what happened to be a hybrid between a rat and a cockroach in Marinette's bag but there wasn't." Adrien explained, giving Marinette a bottle of water.
Unlike Ms Bustier, Ms Mendeleiev groaned from annoyance. "Honestly, children, this is not a B-rated horror movie. There's no such thing as a rat-cockroach!"
"It was something!" Lila argued. "They were arguing which colour to use! You must've heard them!"
"You must've misheard the others discussing which solution to use. Which is what you are supposed to be doing."
"Lila said she has a headache and can't work but she's scared to miss class." Nathaniel put in, hoping to help Lila.
It backfired.
"So, ms Rossi, you decided just to waste class time instead? If you really have a headache, go to the nurse."
"Uh, I'm feeling better now." Lila quickly covered up.
Ms Mendeleiev glared at her. "I'm giving you detention for wasting time and not doing your work."
Lila seethed. Now she was more determined to find those things!
Next was Art class. Lila channeled all of her frustration and curiosity into her painting. What she created was a vibrant splatter of paint in various colours, arranged in blobs and swirls, with influences of Picasso and Vincent Van Gogh.
"Ah, Lila!" Rose squealed. "Your painting is so good! Is it a farm?"
"No! It's the things I saw!" Lila snapped at her.
"They don't look like rat-cockroaches." Alix remarked.
Lila huffed and got up to fetch more oil paint. When she opened the cupboard where the oil paint was kept, she found a few empty tubes. Everyone else was doing medias of art, like spray painting, collage and clay. Only Lila was using oil paint.
"What happened to all the paint?"
"Bee sure to get my good side."
"Stop barking and I will."
She looked up and saw two kwamis again. This time, it was Pollen posing and Barkk painting her on a single of paper, recreating the bee in a parody of the Birth of Venus.
"I remember helping Botticelli paint his masterpiece. I made the hair and shawl float as if the wind breeze in." Pollen recalled fondly. "It would be better if we have the same materials as he did."
"He used tempura." Bark reminded. "Oil paint is the closest we have."
At that moment, Pollen noticed Lila staring.
"Uh oh."
Lila lunged for the kwamis. On instinct, Barkk jumped on the oil paint bottles and squinted its content at her. Lila ducked, but the the flying oil paint hit the wall, canvas, students and the teacher, especially Alix and Rose in the face instead.
"My eyes!" Rose screamed.
"Rose!" Juleka cried.
Pollen and Barkk fazed through the wall, leaving Lila in the mess they made.
"Lila! What was that for?" Alix demanded, trying to rub her eyes without permanently blinding her sight. Marinette gave her a towel to wipe the paint off. "I cannot believe you are so petty as to attack me and Eosw just for mistaking your painting! Don't be so mad because I said your painting doesn't look like rat-cockroaches! It wasn't like we told you your painting looks like sh-"
"Language, Alix! Lila, detention!" The art teacher shouted.
"It wasn't me! It was the things!" Lila insisted.
"Oh, for goodness sake, young lady! Do not put the blame of your actions on imaginary creatures!"
"I did not imagine anything and I did not throw paint at anyone! It was those things!"
"I think Lila has been inhaling too much spray painting gas." Juleka commented, wiping the multicoloured paint off of her best friend's face.
Meanwhile, the paper bearing Barkk's painting of Pollen was picked up from the floor by Chloé. She gasped at what she saw. Then she quickly looked around before taking the painting with her, smiling.
Next was Maths. Again, Lila saw the kwamis because she was only unfocused person in class. Rather than do the work assigned by the teacher, she just daydreamed sunbathing in Bora Bora with Adrien and assumed some lackey will do her homework later.
And because she skipped her responsibility, she caught sight of Kaalki and Xuppu drawing on the chalkboard behind the teacher's back. Kaalki was drawing out an elaborate mathematical equation one of her past holders created while Xuppu was drawing a series of comical sketches, such as a boy with a Mohawk that reminded her of Kim acting as a goofy monkey, Principal Damocles sitting in a throne with poop on his head courtesy of a bird flying over him, a knight with cat ears and a tail on one knee serenading to a princess with pigtails in a balcony, and Lila herself in between the jaws of a crocodile.
Lila shot out of her desk, ran up straight to the board, going so fast she slammed into the board. The kwamis dazed through the chalkboard, disappearing just as the teacher and the other students looked up, seeing only Lila.
"Lila! What are you doing?" The teacher ordered. She saw the board and gasped. "Lila, did you did that?"
Lila peeled her face off the chalkboard, dust paling her tanned skin. "It wasn't me! It was the things!"
"The things?"
"She means the rat-cockroaches." Ivan explained.
"No, I don't!"
"So you also did not do this impressive mathematical equation?" The teacher asked, gesturing to Kaalki's impressive maths equation.
Of course, Lila could not resist the chance to be praised. "No, I really did that! It's an equation I'm working on for Steve Hawking! I needed the whole board to work on it!"
"You liar!" Max stood up from his seat. "That's Ada Lovelace's Analytical Engine equation! And Steve Hawking is dead!
No wonder he was so quick to debunk Lila. She lied about two of his idols. He even used Markov to do Google searches and call out the results, thus disproving Lila.
"Why didn't he do that in the first place when Lila first lied?" Marinette wondered. In her pink notebooks was maths questions with her answers and hearts with the initials 'MDC + AA'.
"Lila, detention!"
"But the things did that, not me!"
"Maybe we should worked out how her mind works instead." Kim commented.
Behind a maths poster, Xuppu snickered at what happened before Kaalki grabbed him and pulled him away.
Then came Lunch. Lila trekked into the cafeteria, the last student to get her lunch. She was exhausted and starving. The last thing she wanted was to spot Daizzi and Stompp helping themselves in the food whenever everyone else was having their lunch at the tables.
"Our master cooks better than this junk!" Daizzi said, displeased after spitting out some mashed potatoes.
"I don't know, this salad is actually good." Stompp commented as he ate a discarded banquet of flowers.
"Stompp, you're eating flowers."
"Same thing."
Lila, again, leapt before she think. Daizzi and Stompp dived into the food to escape her, prompting her to dig through the food and sent handfuls flying behind her, hitting several students.
"Hey!"
"My hair!"
"Who did that?"
"Wasn't me!"
"FOOD FIGHT!"
Soon enough, there was a war of the lunches. Some kids ducked under the tables while most others threw whatever substances that could find.
"ENOUGH!" Mr Damocles yelled, putting an end to the fight.
On the Battlefield, Marinette and Adrien were the only ones to remain spotless, although Adrien had a streak of chocolate pudding on his cheek. When no one was looking, Marinette bravely kissed his cheek, cleaning the smudge. Adrien smiled stupidly.
"Who started this?" Mr Damocles ordered.
Every pupil pointed to Lila, the girl still looking for the kwamis, now looking in the kitchen.
"Ms Rossi! What is the meaning of this?"
"I have to find them! They were just here!"
"Who?"
"Them! They started the food fight!"
"Who?"
"The things!"
"Who?"
"THE THINGS!"
"Is she still playing that record?" Nathaniel asked in disbelief.
"She seriously flipped her lid." Mylene noted.
Normally Mr Damocles would punished the student responsible for a food fight but clearly Lila wasn't in her right mind.
"Everyone, clean up this mess. Including you, ms Rossi."
Nearly, behind a trash can, Daizzi and Stompp burped.
"Stupid things, making my life Hell…." Lila grumbled as she washed off dirty food off her hands.
She was the only one in the girl's restrooms.
Or so she thought.
"Oo-de-lally, oo-de-lally, golly, what a day…"
She turned to her left and found Trixx under a running tap, using it as a shower and rubbing soapy bubbles on her body as she sang.
"Oo-de-lally, oo-de-lally, golly, what a day- AAAHHHHHH!" Trixx screamed when she finally realised Lila staring at her. The fox even covered her chest. "Do you mind? I'm naked! Well, I'm always naked, but still!"
Lila didn't say anything as she lunged for the skin, successfully grabbing the little fox.
Trixx made a big glare on her tiny face. "Get your paws off me, you darn dirty ape!"
Then Trixx plunged her little but sharp teeth into Lila's hand. The girl screamed, letting go of Trixx, the latter spitting in disgust.
"I have never had something so vile! You taste like undercooked chicken and rotten peaches!"
"I'm not for tasting! Now come here!"
Lila ran around the bathroom after a laughing Trixx. Eventually Trixx ducked into a stall and Lila pounced….
….only to get her head stuck in the toilet.
"Swirly!" Trixx laughed and flushed the toilet with Lila's head still in it.
Trixx kept laughing as she fazed out the door. A few minutes later, Marinette entered.
"Lila?" The blue-haired girl asked, curious at what she saw.
Her vicious bully was wet from her hair to her waist.
"Not. A. Word."
Lila shoved pass Marinette and stormed out of the restrooms.
When the bell rang, it was time for Geography. Lila was the first person here so she was the first person to find Roarr and Sass messing up the classroom.
Chairs turned over, papers on the ground, desks open, Roarr making scratches on the chalkboard with her claws and Sass spinning the globe.
"Where'ssssss Yugossssssssslavia?" Sass asked himself, looking down on the globe as he spun it. "Hey, Africa issssssssss no longer part of Portugal. Ssssssssweet."
Then Roarr realised Lila was staring at them.
"WE'VE BEEN SPOTTED!"
Roar and Sass flew around the room with Lila hot on their tails.
"Get back here, you little bugs!"
Roar stopped flying to glare "Hey, Tikki, Pollen and Nooroo are the bugs! I'm a tiger!"
She let out a tiger's meow before Sass grabbed her tail and pulled.
"Keep moving! Sssssshe mussssssst not catch usssssssss!"
Eventually, the two kwamis fazed inside the globe. Lila grabbed it just as a voice alerted her.
"Lila!"
Her geography teacher and her class were at the door, gobsmacked at the utter mess the room was in.
"I didn't do this!" Lila insisted.
"Oh, really? Well- OH MY GOD! THE TEST PAPERS!" The teacher screamed. Yesterday's test papers were on the floor, torn and dirty. "Did you do all this just to avoid learning your bad grade? I'm sure with some tutoring, you can catch up-"
"I have catch up! I caught up to the things! They're in here!" Lila raised the globe over her head.
"Lila, put that down! That is an expensive piece of school property!"
"I'll pay you back with the money I get from my discovery!"
Then Lila threw the globe to the floor, smashing it to pieces. The inside was empty of any kwamis.
"They're here! They were here! I saw them!"
"I think Lila's brain has left for Spain." Nino commented.
Behind him, Adrien and Marinette stood pretty close to each other, shoulder to shoulder. And Adrien's arm was around Marinette's petite waist.
Afterwards was Home Economics. Today, each student was required to cook a dish. Marinette made her uncle's famous 'Marinette' soup, thus making her the centre of attention. Lila just made pizza. The latter was too exhausted to snap for attention, so she only scowled at Marinette but then she spotted Wayzz in Marinette's soup. The tiny turtle was on his back, blissfully relaxing in hot soup.
Without a single thought, Lila flew at Marinette to get Wayzz. In the process, Marinette shrieked and dropped the bowl of soup. It broke upon contact with the hard floor, hot soup scorched her legs and Wayzz fazing through the ground.
Marinette screamed at the pain on her legs. Now Lila was back to her normal self!
"Lila!"
"Marinette!"
"I'll take her to the nurse!"
Adrien scooped up Marinette and carried her off Bridal style. Everyone else was too busy with Lila to even fully realise what had happened between the two.
"Young lady, you harmed poor Marinette!" The teacher scolded. "Is there by any chance you cook weed in your pizza? It's the only reasonable explanation as to why you attacked her!"
"She had it!" Lila persisted.
"How could you be so petty? Just because Marinette can cook a dish she's named after and your 'Lila Leading Tower of Pasta' takes too long to make-"
"She had the thing in her soup!"
"What on Earth are you talking about?"
"All day, she has raving about rat-cockroaches." Sabrina described, doing air quotes. "And she has been attacking people and destroying school property to find 'them'."
"I have not! And I have seen them!"
"Oh my goodness, what if she's right? What if there's an infestation in the school?" Alya panicked.
The teacher shook her head. "Impossible! Either it's rats or cockroaches! Not both! Now, everyone, go back to your stations. Except for you, Lila. Clean up the mess you made!"
Lila grumbled.
Next was Music. Lila had a chance to relax by staring at Adrien playing the piano like a trained professional. In front of the whole class, he composed a medley he wrote himself dedicated to a special lady in his life. Lila arrogantly assumed he meant her.
But then she caught the little sight of Ziggy on the piano, just behind the music desk. Like a rocket, she shot up and out to the piano, pushing Adrien aside.
"Hey!"
"Oh, Lila, if you wanted a turn, wait until he's done and ask." The teacher scolded.
Lila ignored her crush and teacher to try and grab Ziggy, but the goat kept hopping from one key to another. Soon enough, Ziggy was playing an elaborate piano medley, more dramatic than Adrien by hoof!
No one saw Ziggy. All they see is Lila moving her shoulders and a determined look on her face, so they easily assumed she was the one composing. After all, Lila did lied she was the descendant of Beethoven.
Then Ziggy fazed down and Lila slammed her hands down on the keys, finishing the song. Everyone applauded, even Marinette and Adrien. The performance was way too good. It was unbelievably real.
"Bravo, Lila! That was amazing!" The music teacher praised.
"Not me! It was one of the things!" Lila shouted.
The class responded by groaning.
"Someone take that record off her!" Nino remarked.
"It's ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous!" Chloé complained.
Out of the blue, a French horn blurted loudly, startling the class. While the teacher was dazed, Lila was able to see Orikko in the back, bowing the French horn. She ran to the back, intending on catching the rooster kwami but in her haste, she ended up with no kwami and her big head stuck in the Frenchhorn.
Marinette giggled Ivan and Kim attempted to pull the instrument off of her without damaging it.
Then Adrien ruined it by saying a pun.
"Wow, Lila is really trebled today."
Marinette groaned and shoved him.
Lastly was Gym. Lila and her class had badminton, which Lila got out by faking a broken ankle to play so she briefly watch Alix, Alya, Kim and Adrien play. Especially Adrien in his gum shorts. But then she saw something.
Fluff was the shuttlecock!
"Wheeeee!" Fluff cheered as she was hopping from one racket to other.
Brushing fake pain aside, Lila ran up and straight for the little rabbit, running into the middle of the match, knocking down the net and pushing down three of her classmates.
"Hey, what you doing?"
"Lila!"
"Lila, you're not supposed to run out like that!"
Because Fluff was flung toward Adrien, Lila tackled him just before the boy hit the 'shuttlecock.'
"Get off of me!"
Normally Lila would grope him at any chance, but she needed to find the kwami.
A whistle from the coach blew.
"Game over!"
"Lila, what has gotten into you?" Alix asked. She was hitting the shuttlecock over and over with her racket. And by shuttlecock, I meant Fluff.
And Alix was still oblivious!
Like she did to Adrien, Lila body slammed Alix to get to Fluff, only for the kwami to finally disappear.
"Hey, get off of me!"
Ivan pulled her off of Alix.
"Let go of me!" Lila shoved the larger boy away and glared at everyone staring at her.
The coach was staring particularly hard at her. "Lila, you're standing."
"Well, duh! I'm been standing since I was 2!"
"You said you have a broken ankle. You said it hurts so much, you can't stand. Did you lie?"
"No!"
"You lied in maths, you lied in homeroom, you lied in Home Ec…" Alya listed. "Your lying disorder must be acting up."
Marinetted slapped her forehead.
"I DO NOT HAVE A LYING DISORDER! I AM TELLING THE TRUTH!"
"It must've be!"
"Not to mention you've been acting like a raving lunatic all day!" Kim said as well.
"I am not!"
"You are! You have been attacking everyone and messing up classrooms and lying about rat-cockroaches!" Nathaniel inputted.
"I never said rat-cockroaches!"
"You did!"
"When?"
"Now!"
"And all day!" Mylene added.
"Rose thought they were rat-cockroaches! That wasn't me! They're something else, a whole new species and I'm gonna be on the cover of every science magazine when I discover them!"
Nino swirled his finger over the side of his head and whistled.
"…Did you get a disease or something when you went to Bora Bora with XY and Clara Nightingale?" Juleka asked.
"ENOUGH!" The coach screamed. "Ms Rossi, Go to the nurse and come right back."
"I don't wanna go to the nurse!"
"Lila, nurse, NOW! Mairnette, Nathaniel, Nino, Juleka, you're next!"
The eight kids switched sides. When their paths had crossed, Mairnette and Adrien shared a longing glance.
Lila stalked to the hallway. Rather than going to the nurse as ordered, she just slumped against wall with her arms crossed, huffing.
"That's it! I had enough chasing after those things! It's time to make them to come to me. I need bait. What do all dumb animals like?"
"Hey, Kim! Look at what I got!"
Lila took a careful look, over the edge. Back on the gym's yard, Alix was dangling a pink-coated cupcake at a drooling Kim.
"The last cupcake from lunch!"
"Gimme that!"
Kim followed Alix around in a circle like a puppy, eyes fixed on the treat. Seeing the exchange, Lila grinned.
The kwamis met up in the hallway, flying towards the classroom of their young guardian. Their time of freedom was almost up and they need to get back into Mairnette's backpack.
"BERRIES!"
Suddenly Trixx ducked into an empty room. Curious, her fellow gods followed her in, finding her eating berries from luscious fruit laid out on a silver tray.
"Apples!"
"Oranges!"
"Peaches!"
"Grapes!"
"FOOD!"
Wayzz hesitated to take a single grape. "Doesn't it feel strange that all of this enticing food is presented in a dark room? It feels almost like a…."
"Like a what?" Daizzi asked through a full mouth of strawberries.
"A…trap."
"GOTCHA!"
Out of the darkness, a matching silver lid swooped down, trapping the kwamis.
"Hey!"
"Who turned out the lights?"
"I can't see a thing!"
"I'm blind!"
"It's just the dark."
"It's the dark and I'm blind!"
"AHA! I got them at last!"
Lila danced with the vast joy she received for finally capturing the things that had been driving her crazy. At last she had them, right where she wanted them.
But she heard faint chattering inside her brilliant trap. She leaned in, listening.
"We've been trapped!"
"Obviously, Sherlock."
"Who trapped us?"
"It's that crazy girl that saw us earlier!"
"Her? She's the ugliest girl I ever seen!"
Lila gasped, and then growled. "I'm gonna have you creepy things dissectioned and stuffed!"
She marched out until she reached the centre of the open-roofed yard, which was the centre of the whole school.
She took a deep breath and shouted.
"EVERYONE, COME OUT!"
By her command, every pupil and teacher came out of their assigned rooms, including her class and gym teacher.
"Ms Rossi, what is the matter with you?"
"How dare you interrupt class time? And why aren't you in gym class?"
"You're supposed to be at the nurse's office!"
Usually, Lila could make up a convincing lie to save her skin, but she was so stressed with the kwamis, she forgot to do it not she cared to lie anymore. Not when she has the truth in her hands.
"I GOT THEM! I GOT THEM!"
"Got what?"
"THE THINGS!"
Everyone in the entire school rolled their eyes and groaned.
"For heavens sake, Lila, there's no such thing as a rat-cockroach!"
"No, there isn't. It was something else. And I got the whole hive! Behold!"
Lila lifted the lid up, as proud as a high class waiter. Her eyes were closed as she smirked, waiting for the gasps of astonishment.
…
…
…
…
…
"Uh, Lila?"
"Si?"
"What exactly are you showing?"
"Are you blind? The thi-"
Lila opened her eyes and froze.
The tray was empty.
Empty of any noisy, impish little critters.
…
…
…
…
…
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Glass broke. Cars stopped. Cats yowled. Dogs howled. Birds flew away.
"B-B-B-But I had them! I really did!"
"The Rat-cockroaches must've got away when you weren't coming…" Alya said gently, hoping to pacify her.
It only made it worse.
"THEY'RE NOT RAT-COCKROACHES! THEY LOOK LIKE THIS! LOOK AT IT!"
She dropped the tray and unfurled her painting.
Students tilted their heads in confusion.
"Is it a fruit basket?"
"A bouquet of flowers?"
"Oh, I know! A volcano in Hawaii!"
"NO! ITS THE THINGS! I HAVE PROOF! THEY'RE REAL! BUT THEY KEEP DISAPPEARING WHENEVER I TRIED TO CATCH THEM!"
"I've been down that road, dear…" Ms Mendeleiev muttered as she took sips her coffee.
"Just calm down. You must be under stress with all your charity work and travelling…" Mylene said.
"I AM PERFECTLY CALM! I AM NOT CRAZY!" Lila screamed.
"No one says you're crazy."
"Out loud…" Kim hissed to Max.
"Shh!" Max hissed back.
Something in Lila snapped.
Her hair had gotten ragged, bags appeared under her crazy eyes, her teeth stuck out and her breathing was hollow.
"Guys…I think she's broken." Nino said timidly.
Then Lila resumed screaming. "WHY DON'T YOU BELIEVE ME? YOU ALWAYS BELIEVE ME! YOU'RE A BUNCH OF IDIOTS WHO BELIEVE ANYTHING I SAID!"
"That's it! I'm calling your mother!" Mr Damocles was more insulted then concerned for the deranged girl under his supervision.
"Hey, we're not idiots!" Alya protested.
"YOU ARE! YOU BELIEVE ANYTHING I SAID! YOU EVEN BELIEVE ME WHEN I SAID I GOT TINNITUS FROM SAVING JAGGED STONE'S CAT FROM A MOVING AIRPLANE!"
"Hold on. Are you saying you made that up?" Nino asked.
"YES! I MADE EVERYTHING UP! I'M NOT DELUSIONAL! I KNOW WHAT I SAW! I KNOW I LIED BEFORE BUT NOW I'M TELLING THE TRUTH! I DO NOT HAVE TINNITUS! I NEVER SAVED JAGGED STONE'S CAT! I NEVER MET PRINCE ALI OR GONE TO AHCU! I NEVER SAW SOMEONE GETTING THEIR EYES GORGED OUT BY A NAPKIN! I DO NOT HAVE DISABILITIES OR TRAVEL VISITS! I'M NOT LADYBUG'S BEST FRIEND! LOOK, WHATEVER I TOLD YOU, WHERE I WENT OR WHAT I DID OR WHO I MET, I LIED! YES, I LIED! I AM A LIAR, BUT I AM TELLING THE TRUTH!"
The whole school stood stunned. Even Marinette and Adrien.
Just then, Mrs Rossi arrived.
"I'm here! Whats wrong with my bambina?"
"She's having an emotional breakdown." Ms Bustier explained. "We believe it's a result of the stress of the vast travelling and charity work she has been doing, along with the multiple disabilities-"
"Wit a minute, what travelling? What charity work? And what disability? My daughter is perfectly healthy!"
"She can't be perfectly healthy if she's going crazy with lying." Chloé noted.
"Akuma!" Sabrina yelled, pointing to the sky.
As she mentioned, a purple butterfly fluttered down for, the sky towards Lila. However, Mrs Rossi wrapped her arms around her child and batted the flying insect away.
"Shoo! Get away from my baby!"
Rather than akumatizing the mother, the butterfly just flew away.
"The last thing I need is Ladybug and Chat Noir bumbling around for weeks just to cleanse my daughter."
"Bumbling around?" Mr Damocles questioned.
"Hey, Ladybug and Chat Noir are not bumbling!" Alya shouted angrily.
"But it's true. Your school has been closed because of the Akuma attacks and your so-called heroes takes weeks just to purify them."
"Who told you that?" Ms Mendeleiev asked.
"My bambina."
"So your lying daughter told you that school is closed and she told us the reason she has been missing lessons is because of her travel trips and doctors appointments." Ms Mendeleiev looked right at Mr Damocles as she said that and sipped her coffee.
Mr Damocles blushed. "L-Like we said, she's going crazy from her lying."
"MAMA, I AM NOT CRAZY!"
"Lila, you are in no condition to speak for yourself."
"BUT MAMA! I'M NOT CRAZY OR LYING AGAIN!"
Her mother ignores her and started to pull her away. Lila just kept screaming when
screaming when she spotted Adrien.
"ADRIEN!"
She broke free of her mother's hold and ran towards Adrien, throwing her hands on him.
"Adrien! I'm so sorry you have to see me, your precious girlfriend, having a meltdown!" She lied with a hopeful face, thinking he was too nice to turn her down while she's deemed crazy, and he will help her.
However, he gently pushed her off and wrapped an arm around Marinette while staring at her hard.
"You're not my girlfriend. Marinette is."
Then he kissed Marinette.
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
The school exploded.
"WWWWWWWWWWHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA?!"
Even the teachers were shocked. Adrienette had became a seldom dream for hopeful romantics. Adrien was too oblivious and Mairnette was too shy.
Only Mrs Rossi was unconcerned about the hysteria. She was only concerned about her daughter. "Hallucinating about dating a model? You seriously need help. Come on, young lady. There's a good mental asylum in Switzerland."
"MAMA! I AM NOT LYING AT ALL! I MEAN I LIED BEFORE BUT NOT NOW! MAMA, PLEASE!"
The Rossis left the school, the younger kicking and screaming. When they finally left, the whole school went quiet.
…
…
…
Then Mr Damocles broke the silence. "Everyone….back to class."
Everyone did so.
"Wait, Marinette!" Alya grabbed Marinette's shoulder and turned her around, demanding answers. "Why didn't you tell me you finally got with Adrien? I'm your best friend. You're supposed to tell me everything."
Marinette opened her mouth to answer back but no word came out.
"Best friends listen to each other." Luckily, her boyfriend came to her rescue. "You're not Marinette's best friend."
"What are you talking, Adrien? I am her best friend! You're going crazy like Lila!"
"I'm not crazy. I'm serious. Alya, you don't listen to her at all. Ever since Lila first came here, you haven't listen to your own best friend about anything. Mairnette tried to tell you Lila is lying and we're dating but you refused to listen. All you say is 'Lila this' and 'Lila that.' We only dated in secret because you and everyone else ships Liladrien. Hell, Mairnette can try to tell you that she discovered vampires on Mars and you still won't listen to her. So Marinette has no reason to tell you anything. Let's go, milady."
At that, Adrien and Marinette walked away, Alya and their class gobsmacked.
Except for one…
"Oh, snap!" Chloé crackled.
Laugher filled the empty room, the place where Lila trapped all the kwamis. And where they were still there as they fazed through her trap just as she ran off with the tray. From their hiding place, they watched their hunter break down and hauled off like a man mad.
"We did it!" Pollen cheered.
"We exposed the liar!" Barkk cheered as well.
"You were correct, that girl is ugly!" Xuppu sneered.
"What was a hideous haircut!" Kaalki shivered.
"And a revolting face!" Mullo remarked.
"Is that also the girl that making our master's social life miserable by taking away her friends and framing her?" Stompp questioned.
"Yes, Horns for Brains. Try to keep up." Trixx retorted.
"Here you are!"
The kwamis stopped laughing.
Tikki was glaring at them with her little arms folded. Plagg was with her, grinning with delight.
"I knew Lila's painting from art class was too familiar!" Tikki ranted angrily. "How could you do this to Marinette? She has given us warmth, food, shelter and protection, and you repay her by causing havoc at her school, the one place she is at her most vulnerable! Her social life was more complicated than it is!"
"Not for long! People are finally realising that sausage-hair is lying." Fluff piped.
"Sausage-hair? You mean Lila?"
"I know a Lila." Daizzi remembered. "Sweet girl. It's a insult that someone so wicked is also called Lila."
"Hey, we didn't do anything!" Xuppu protested.
"We just brought the dishonest girl to justice!" Orikko defended.
"You're all going to just stress Marinette out when she finds out about this!" Tikki persisted.
"Oh, let them have fun!" Plagg cracked up. "We all been stuck in that box for decades! Besides, they're doing something on return."
"Like what, stinky sock?"
"Like driving Lila insane, sugar cube, and proving her dishonesty."
"Plagg, we got in the same situation as them with our holders' science teacher. Only their teacher had a nervous breakdown!"
"No, she had a honest breakdown."
"Tikki, don't you see that wicked girl is causing our master to fall into depression?" Wayzz reasoned. "Every night, our master cries herself to sleep with her name on her lips."
"Not even Adrien can sssssoothe her nightmaressssss." Sass added.
"Yes, but-"
"Lila is a coward for attacking our master at her weakest." Stompp critiqued.
"A lily liveried coward!" Ziggy cried, appalled.
" I know, but-"
"Hear us out, Tikki." Trixx interrupted. If Lala-"
"Lila."
"Whatever. If that sorry excuse for a girl continues her abuse on Marinette, our master will break."
"Sssssssssssshe'll get depressssssssssssed!" Sass foretold.
"She might commit suicide!" Mullo squeaked.
"She'll be vulnerable to Hawkmoth!" Longg predicted.
"Akumas will get her easily!" Stompp worried.
"She'll get akumatized!" Daizzi squealed.
"He'll take her Miraculous!" Barkk howled.
"Chat Noir will be distraught!" Wayzz theorised.
"Hawk Moth will take his Miraculous!" Kaalki stated.
"He'll rule the world!"" Fluff yelped.
"THE END OF THE WORLD!" Roarr, well, roared.
Tikki gawked at her fellow kwamis.
Plagg burst out laughing. "They got you there, sugar cube!"
The Ladybug kwami knew her allies were correct, which was irking her.
"Alright, you made your point. But you are all still in trouble for sneaking out. How did you get here without anyone seeing you?"
"We hitched a ride in Marinette's backpack." Orikko confessed
"You want?"
BRRRRINNNNGGGGGG!
The last bell rang, bringing the exhausting school day to an end.
"What do you think happen to her to hallucinate and breakdown like that?" Adrien asked his girlfriend as they opened their lockers.
"I guess her lies have caught up to her at last." Marinette said softly. Honestly, she was tired with dealing with akumas, Hawk Moth, her new relationship with Adrien and Lila.
She took out her backpack and opened it to put in books…only to find it filled with kwamis to the brim.
"We found the rat-cockroaches." Tikki said firmly, pointing to her fellow kwamis.
At first, Marinette was shocked. But soon, she glared.
"Uh oh." Adrien uttered, staring.
"Home. Now." Marinette hissed.
Back in Marinette's pink bedroom, the kwamis huddled in a tight hug under the angry gaze of Marinette, their guardian and mother figure. Adrien stood by as the calm father-figure.
"You were the things Lila was talking about?" Marinette said through clenched teeth. "You were responsible for her craziness? The messy classrooms, the food fight, the drawings on the chalkboard, the explosion…"
"And the piano!" Ziggy squealed.
"So Lila wasn't lying at all or going crazy?" Adrien asked. "She was telling the truth all this time?"
"Well, she did lie that Ada's equation was hers." Kaalki scoffed. "As if a lazy schoolgirl has the capability to design an elaborate mathematical system."
"We just wanted to see what school is like in this time." Fluff confessed.
"We didn't plan to reveal her lies." Mullo apologised.
"Her lies unravel when she tried to make sense of us." Wayzz stated.
"But we're glad we did make her go crazy!" Xuppu exclaimed.
"She was making you miserable!" Pollen protested.
"Please forgive us!" Daizzi pleaded.
Marinette held onto her glare.
"She's not bugling. Puppy dog eyes, activate!" Trixx called.
She and the kwamis, apart from Tikki and Plagg, widened their eyes, cutely begging for forgiveness.
"Aw…" Adrien gushed, touched. He glanced to his kwami, eating a cheese danish made by Marinette's talented parents.
His girlfriend wasn't touched.
"Don't give me that look. You're all grounded. No TV or junk food for a week!"
"Aw…" the kwamis whined.
"I'll come over with treats and Anime DVDs." Adrien added with a smile.
"Yay!" The kwamis cheered.
Marinette slapped his arm. "Adrien, don't reward them! They were seen! They could've got caught and photographed and dissected!"
"Ow! Kwamis can't be photographed and they can easily escape, remember?"
"YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN!"
Adrien grabbed her shoulders to stop her from freaking out. "Mari, don't be so hard on them. They helped you."
"Helped me?"
"They exposed Lila all on their own."
"Coming the guy who once said her lies weren't hurting anyone and it's best to take the high road." Marinette pressed her finger on his nose, pushing him away and releasing his hands of her.
"I know, that was awful advice. But face it, we didn't know what to do with Lila anyway. She was stressing you out so much, you revealed your identity first by crying in my arms and told me about her. Even my own father is tricked by her. Lucky for you, you have an army of little gods to fight for you. All I have is a hungry, lazy cat."
He gestured to Plagg still eating the danish, savouring the pleasure.
Marinette knew he was right. She glanced to the kwamis, all of them back to doing their puppy dog eyes. Lila was making good on her promise to make her life miserable. But unknown to the liar, Marinette has a small army ready to defend her. Even if half the time, they don't listen to her.
"Although, I agree with you over the others' disobedience, Adrien does have a point." Tikki admitted.
Marinette sighed in defeat. "It's been a long day. Let's do the patrol now. Tikki, spots on!"
"Plagg, claws out!"
"But my cheese….!"
The young lovers transformed into Ladybug and Chat Noir, ready to do a patrol.
"You better stay here and be here when I come back." Ladybug ordered, bath sternly and firmly.
The kwamis nodded in earnest, not wanting to risk anymore privileges. The heroes turned away, only for Ladybug to turn back.
"I have one question. Which one of you gave Lila a swirly?"
Trixx turned her eyes to the wall beside her and whistled far too innocently.
Ladybug laughed as she turned away and left with her boyfriend.
"Little gods? More like little devils…"
"Sir, the girl you hired to model and spy on Adrien?"
"Yes, Natalie?
"She has been declared clinically insane, sir."
Gabriel was not surprised. He saw the event as Hawkmoth and eventually thought a mentally challenged host will be too difficult to control.
"Is that so?" He questioned in a bored tone.
"Apparently, she has been lying for taking advantage of others and now she cannot stop lying. She spent the day blaming her pranks and misfortunes on, her own words, Rat-cockroaches. She drew this."
Natalie displayed Lila's painting on her tablet.
Gabriel fiddled with his glasses and squinted. "A four course meal?"
"The rat-cockroaches, she claimed."
"Cancel the contract with her. I do not employ insane people."
"Yes, sir."
Natalie simply tapped and the painting was gone.
The oil painting of a pig, a dragon, a dog, a rooster, an ox, a turtle, a fox, a snake, a bee, a mouse, a tiger, a goat, a monkey, a horse and a rabbit.
Animals that their own kwamis knew very well.
All that was missing was a cat and a ladybug.