Summary:
Nightmares, Adjusting and the beginnings of Miraculous shuffling; it can't get anymore complicated, right?
Chapter; Ladybug and Noir P.2
"You know, Aurore's having a sleepover this weekend, would you like to attend?", Kagami asks Marinette casually as they walked side by side towards their next class together, just having finished their lunch just moments ago. Normally, sleepovers and such would be things that Kagami would not take part in, she preferred to stick to her usual schedule, her mother also always preferred she stuck to her usual tight schedule, but then again, her mother has become somewhat more lenient with her wanting to join others in outings, not that she wanted to join others in outings much, she only recently started to get more involved in outings because she wanted Marinette to get to know Aurore and Mireille more. "Or will you be spending the weekend with Chloé again?", she can't help but bring the blonde up.
Marinette sighs softly, she brought a hand up to the back of her neck, "Uh well…", she turns to Kagami and smiles sheepishly.
And that's all Kagami needs to confirm where Marinette will be this weekend.
Kagami sighs and rolls her eyes slightly, she should have figured as much, she thinks to herself. She noticed fairly quickly into spending more time with Marinette, that Marinette was becoming very attached to the snobby heiress, she had a few issues with it of course, but Plagg and Tikki told her that it was fine, that Chloè was actually interested in helping Marinette cope. She was skeptical of course, even with the kwamis vouching for Chloé, she just felt that the blonde might have hidden intentions, motives. "Again.", she groans. She can't help but dislike the idea of Marinette spending so much time with Chloé, she can't help but worry about the miraculous wielder being and becoming so vulnerable around the heiress. It wasn't sitting right with her.
Marinette smiles and shrugs, "Lighten up 'Gami, Chloé's actually been very supportive and helpful. She's kind and welcoming to my late night intrusions.", she chuckles lightly as she turns to face forwards. Marinette knew Kagami had qualms about her and Chloé's growing friendship, and she didn't exactly hold it against Kagami, after all, Chloé wasn't exactly the greatest person to her or anyone else before Lila popped up.
Kagami shrugged a little uninterestedly, she crossed her arms over her chest and faced forwards, "Still, there's something off about her, and if she hurts you-", the girl returns her gaze to the ravenette just as the teen turns to look at her, their gazes meet, "-I'll be there to hurt her.", she says with a hard cold expression.
Marinette gulps, "Uh-heh…", she forces an awkward smile. She knows that Kagami would definitely be there. She's tried hard to coax the girl into going out with her and Chloé, but to no avail, Kagami was stubborn and refused to change her opinion on the Bourgeois. "Oh, 'Gami-"
And just as Marinette was going to speak further, her words were cut off by sudden screaming and panic along with the sound of her and Kagami's phones giving up an akuma alert chime.
"KIM NO!", Came a sudden scream.
Then many screams of terror followed.
Marinette and Kagami both turned their heads to each, their expressions changed to one of horror before they turned their gazes to look across the courtyard, they saw students suddenly pouring out from Marinette's old homeroom, as well as other classrooms, teachers and students all scattered quickly.
Marinette's expression hardens as she runs to the metal rail, her hands gripped the cool metal tightly, she removes her hand with the ring from the rail and places it over her chest, her hand immediately making contact with the lump that moved under her jacket's material, she knew it had to be Plagg. "Akuma attack? Again?", she says in surprise, Hawk Moth hardly ever throws back to back akumas her way.
Kagami gets beside Marinette, "It seems so.", she narrows her eyes as she sees Lila, and Adrien along with Chloé running towards the stairs, she sees Alya, Nino, along with a handful of others all running towards the other set of stairs, they scattered quickly.
Marinette narrows her eyes as she sees all her old friends running, she eyes them all up, thinking about who it was that may have been Akumatized.
"Kid, let's go.", Plagg suddenly speaks up.
"Hurry, Marinette.", Tikki also speaks.
"Right.", Marinette says as she turns to Kagami, she makes to take her ring off, wanting to pass it to Kagami, but just as she does, a long chain suddenly wraps around Kagami's neck and torso, both girls are startled.
Kagami clicks her tongue, "Shit!", she curses before she's suddenly yanked away from Marinette.
"KAGAMI!", Marinette yells out, her hand reaching out, her body leaning over the rail a bit. She internally curses a she pulls back, she turns away and runs towards the closest set of stairs. She turns to see a blindfolded akumatized boy with chains, holding Kagami up, he faced her as if he was scrutinizing her.
"Hm, You're just and honest, worthy of trust, I Prince Verus, deem you vindicated.", he says with a deep voice.
Kagami recoils a bit, turning away from the boy, feeling uncomfortable due to being suspended in the air by the tightly wrapped chain.
Marinette narrows her eyes one last time before she decides to run past the stairs and makes it to a bathroom so she could transform, she kicks the door in and slips in, she huffs and pants, she makes to look under each stall to ensure no one was hiding in a stall, she sighs in relief as she doesn't see any shoes.
"What now, Marinette?", Tikki pops up from the jacket.
Marinette growls as she runs to lock the bathroom door. She turns to Tikki, "I'm feeling a little spent from fighting the other akuma, I was kinda hoping for backup this time.", she says as she raises a hand to push her bangs back, her eyebrows furrowed.
Tikki frowns lightly, feeling concern raising, she was hoping that Kagami would help them, but unfortunately she got caught first.
Plagg leaves the security of the jacket, "What about Blondie?", he asks without hesitation. "She's good too, right?"
Marinette sighs and crosses her arms over her chest, "Yeah, except she thinks I'm the permanent Noir.", she reminds the kwami of destruction. Marinette knew how adamant Chloé was about not taking Marinette's ring, even if Ladybug was to strip her of it and 'pass' it to her.
Tikki released a soft grunt of frustration. "Right, right. She'll question why the ring is being given to her."
Plagg rolled his eyes, "Urgh, can't we just tell her the truth? Kagami knows, and it's made things easier.", he groans. Plagg knew Tikki had every right to be wary of Chloé, but the blonde was proving to be a very different person, she was proving to be worthy of knowing the truth. "She's earned it.", he says.
Tikki crosses her arms into an 'X', "No, Plagg, Kagami knowing Marinette's other identity is more than enough, anyone else knowing is too risky, I took a leap of faith when I exposed Marinette to Kagami.", the Kwami argues with Plagg's point. She trusted Chloé, but she had her reservations. The less people that knew about Marinette being Ladybug, the better. She didn't want to risk putting Marinette in anymore danger.
Plagg frowns heavily, he thought Tikki was being unfair, the blonde was being helpful and caring towards Marinette. "But-", he was going to counter, argue, but their master intervened.
"Enough you two, I think I have an idea.", Marinette cuts in as she suddenly turns her ring around on her finger, putting it on the right way, "Plagg, Claws out.", she says as she raises her hand above herself. In seconds and in a flash of light, Noir stands in her place, she sighs and meets Tikki's gaze, "The earrings…", She says, "Can I give them to her?", she asks as she begins to take the earrings off.
Tikki looks hesitant, she knows that Marinette is referring to Chloé, she thinks for a moment. It was one thing for Marinette to be passing the Ring around, but the earrings were a completely different story, the last thing Tikki wanted was a severed bond with Marinette. "Marinette, you are not the Black Cat.", Tikki reminds the teen as her eyes search her masters gaze.
Marinette nods, "I know, but to her I am.", she explains. Trying to justify giving the earrings to Chloé.
Tikki frowns lightly, "Marinette, the balance must not be tipped too far. She is nothing like you, you and her are two different people with very different ideals and perspectives.", Tikki draws closer to her master, "You are my master, You and me are in sync, having someone else suddenly put the earrings on could throw us off, our bond could be severed as a result.", Tikki explains with a firm expression. She knew that Miraculous shuffling was always a complicated matter, shuffling the miraculous about means there's no permanent bond between Kwami and Master, after all, there's no time for it to be created. However, once a Kwami and Master have spent enough time to create a bond, suddenly shuffling the bonded miraculous about can potentially sever the bond, creating potential problems in the long run if the master and kwami attempt to mend the bond. "You could lose abilities, Marinette.", The Kwami warns.
Marinette chews on her bottom lip, "She makes for a good Black Cat though.", The teen says softly.
"Exactly, she has destructive tendencies, Marinette. You don't, you mix well with creation, you are order where she is disorder.", the kwami can't help but start stressing. She is clearly not on board with allowing someone else to wield her. Especially Chloé, Tikki knew the girl had more depth, but to allow Chloé the privilege of using the Ladybug Earrings would just be pushing too far. It would be a different story if Marinette was trying to let Kagami wield the power of creation.
"But wait, think about it, Tikki. Me and her are opposites, yeah.", the teen acknowledges that Chloé is certainly more suited for Plagg, "But didn't you say that was a good thing? Like how me and 'Gami are also opposites, she's more organized than me, more focused and more confident. In a balance between me and her I would be destruction.", Marinette draws closer to her kwami, "In that balance, Me and her would be able to swap miraculouses without much repercussions, because we are 'balanced'.", she brought up the topic of Kagami. Marinette knew that in a balance where Kagami was creation, she would certainly be the destruction.
"What are you saying, Marinette?", Tikki narrows her eyes a bit. She searches her master gaze, she can see that Marinette was about to grasp at a loophole in the whole 'balance' thing that Tikki was trying to keep in order.
"I'm saying that if me and my counter could swap miraculouses, than why can't me and her do it?", she now referred to Chloé. "She's well...my counter in this balance.", the teen explained, wanting Tikki to see her point. She knew that in a balance, both counterparts could switch, without any real danger, she knew that in her and Chat Noir's balance, it was a possibility until he began to get out of line.
"Yes, Marinette, but you're forgetting one important thing."
The teen sighed deeply, "What?"
"In a perfect balance.", The kwami stresses. She knows Marinette is trying to bend the rules, but she wasn't having it. "In a perfect balance where you and me won't get thrown off, you have a permanent Black Cat. A Black Cat that has formed a bond with Plagg.", Tikki starts to drift away from her master, "A balance where you and Plagg don't share a bond…"
Marinette raises her eyebrows in surprise. "Me and Plagg…"
"Yes Marinette, you and Plagg. You're getting farther and farther away from me, you're stretching our bond to its breaking point. You aren't allowing us any time to mend.", Tikki turns away, sadness fills her expression. She knows how oblivious her master was to bonds and what not, she knew that despite how hard Marinette tried, she couldn't feel it. It made her wonder sometimes.
"Oh Tikki, why haven't you told me?", Marinette's voice dropped to a whisper, she stepped towards Tikki, she brought her hands up and gently took a hold of the kwami.
"I shouldn't have to, Marinette. You should know.", Tikki looks away from the teen, she can't help but feel saddened at how things were turning out, the lingering effects of Adrien remained, staining the balance with destruction. She thought that with Adrien gone, surely the balance would mend, but it wasn't turning out that way, Marinette was now continuing to flood destruction into the balance that was becoming fragile, a balance where creation was starting to lose its place.
"Claws in.", Marinette says softly. In a flash, she stood before her kwami in her civilian form. "I'll fix us.", she says softly as she brings the kwami up to her face, she gently presses her lips over Tikki's head, "I'm sorry, Tikki."
Plagg sighs and floats idly, he wears a sad expression, "Gonna go with spots?", he asks.
Marinette smiles and nods as she pulls away from Tikki, "Yeah.", she meets Tikki's soft watery gaze. "Tikki, spots on!"
"Oh fuck me.", Chloé curses out loud as she finds herself hiding out in a supply closet with Adrien and Lila. She crosses her arms over her chest. She sits on the floor next to Adrien, her back against the door.
Lila sneers at both blondes.
"Great, just great.", Adrien murmured under his breath. He sits on the floor with a heavy frown over his lips.
"All this cause you two couldn't shut the fuck up.", Lila suddenly speaks, she growls at the two.
Chloé sneers, her upper lip curls upward, her pearly white teeth flashing at the brunette like a lioness that was being cornered, "How about you shut the fuck up? I'm so close to fucking stomping your dumb ass.", the heiress hissed through her teeth.
Adrien rolled his eyes. Great, he thinks, he's stuck in a closet with two girls that were practically ready to just fucking kill each other. "Enough, both of you, shut up.", he nearly snarls, the last thing he wants is to get dragged down with Lila. After all, Kim was after her, not him and Chloé, he had half the mind to just grab Chloé and leave the safety of the closet, stranding the arrogant brunette by herself.
The trio were clearly not great at being stuck together in tight quarters.
"I ought to fucking kick your ass out of this closet and let Kim do whatever the fuck it is he wants to do to you.", Chloé threatens as she places her balled up fists onto her lap, she glares at the brunette.
Olive green eyes widen for a moment before they narrowed, "Fucking try it, I'll tell everyone-"
"Go the fuck ahead-", Chloé grit her teeth.
Adrien brought both his hands to face, "Shut up- sh-", the boy started to hush the girls that were starting to grow louder with their argument. But before he could finish telling them to shut the hell up, the door to the closet opened, causing Chloé to nearly fall onto her back.
Lila and Adrien both released surprised gasps and yelps, both practically backed away from the opening and squished together, huddling into the tight corner of the closet in fear.
"I thought I heard voices in here.", came none other than Ladybug's voice, she was currently bent down, her hands were over Chloé shoulders, keeping the heiress from falling completely onto her back, "You three seriously need to work on being quiet when hiding from an Akuma."
"Ladybug?", Chloé spoke first, her expression instantly brightened up, "Oh thank god.", she breathes out in relief.
Ladybug smiles as she meets Chloé's gaze, it's a warm smile of acknowledgment.
While Chloé is certainly happy that Ladybug is here, Adrien and Lila both feel the opposite of relief. There's a distaste for Ladybug that they both unknowingly share. Their expressions are forlorn, distant and cold.
"Ladybug.", Adrien spoke, he shifted away from Lila and moved to sit on his knees.
Ladybug hummed and looked at Adrien, their eyes meet. For a moment, Ladybug feels chills run down her spine, she feels unsettled by Adrien's gaze. It's somehow familiar. She unconsciously grips Chloé's shoulders. "Adrien...hello.", she greets slowly, awkwardly.
Adrien huffs softly, his eyebrows furrow, "So, what now?", he asks suddenly, he keeps the hero's gaze, his eyes searching hers. Here she was, Ladybug, right in front of him, He can't help but think bitterly.
"Yeah, what now?", Lila suddenly chimes in, "Stop being useless.", she says as she pushes Adrien forwards, causing the boy to fall onto his hands and knees, she sits onto her knees now, glaring at the hero.
Chloé growls and sits up straight, "Watch your mouth, Rossi.", she frowns heavily.
Ladybug frowns and looks away, "You three need to get away from here. Now the akuma, do either of you know who it is and where the akumatized object is?", she speaks with authority now.
"Yeah, it's that loser, Kim.", Lila practically spat out.
Chloé and Adrien both growl.
"You caused him to be akumatized, you bitch-", Chloé was going to start cursing again, but just as she raised her voice, they all heard the unmistakable sound of chains hitting the floor.
Before either could say anything more, Ladybug suddenly bends against Chloé's back, she slips an arm under Chloé's legs and slips her other arm around the girl's torso, she scoops the teen up and she doubles back, retreating, jumping away from the closet with Chloé secured in her arms. She just barely avoids the chain that gets thrown her way. She jumps onto a metal rail and she jumps down onto the ground level, she huffs as she then breaks into a full run, she feels Chloé's arms wrap around her neck tightly. "Hang on!", Ladybug says as she ran to the double doors that was the entrance and exit of the school, she jumps up to deliver a hard kick to the door, kicking the doors open, she makes it outside the school, but she keeps running until she gets a few blocks from the school. "Sorry.", she says as she starts to set the blonde down. They currently stood in an alleyway, hidden from sight, for now.
"Whew, that was a close one, spots.", Plagg suddenly appears, popping up, descending from the sky, a familiar black ring in his grasp.
Chloé sighs softly, she breaks her gaze from Ladybug's own and looks up to see the little god flying down towards them, "Plagg?", she says the Kwami's name with a look of confusion.
"Hey, blondie.", he greets as he lands on Ladybug's shoulder casually. He hugged the ring to his chest.
Ladybug rolls her eyes, "Plagg.", she speaks sternly. Wanting the kwami to get on with what they planned out.
"Right, right.", he huffs, he floats off the shoulder and gets in front of Chloé with the ring, "Alright, so here's the thing, Your friend, my master, got caught up in the akuma attack...she uh...well, couldn't turn into Noir without risking her identity, so uh, I left to find Spots here or you. Take the ring?", the kwami speaks a little rushed and jumbled, he just wants to clean this mess up and be done with it so he, Marinette and Tikki could finish their little bathroom discussion. He honestly wants the heiress to be his new holder, not that Kagami was bad, she was just...too strict with him. She didn't take too lightly to his laid back side. She accused him of being a 'slob'.
Chloé raises her eyebrows in surprise, she stares at the kwami and then shoots a look to her idol. "Marinette's not really stealthy huh?", she can't help but comment.
Ladybug smiles a little sheepishly. "She's good at what she does, just...a little clumsy.", the teen feels her cheeks burn slightly in embarrassment.
"You should train your kitten a little better, Ladybug.", Chloé reaches out a hand and gently takes a hold of Plagg in a way that has the kwami sit on the inside of her palm, she reaches her other hand out and as Plagg holds the ring out for her, she merely pushes her finger through the ring, allowing it to slip onto her finger, instantly the ring goes into camouflage mode and the ring settles onto a gold color. "Hm…", she hums softly, she notices the change in the ring, "Wait, why's the ring gold? Isn't it supposed to be silver?", Chloé questions as she brought her hand up to her face to observe the ring closer. The first two times she used the ring, the ring was silver.
Plagg's mouth forms a small 'O'. He turns to Marinette, giving her an expectant look.
Marinette's mouth also forms an 'O'. That's different she thinks to herself, she'll have to ask Tikki about this new development later. "Doesn't matter, let's handle this akuma quickly and get things back to normal.", Marinette says as she composes herself.
Chloé breaks her gaze off the magical ring and nods, "Right.", she says in sudden determination. "Plagg, Claws Out!"
Alya sighs deeply, she's currently huddled in the supply closet by the gym with Nino, Alix, Juleka and Rose. It was hella awkward and hella tight, the brunette couldn't help but think.
"Fucking hell, What the fuck just happened?", Alix cursed as she hugged her knees to her chest, she sat at the back of the tight closet, she was squished into the corner.
Nino groaned, "It's too small in here.", the boy can't help but complain.
Juleka rolled her eyes, not wanting to speak to either of the trio that were currently all squished in the tight space with her and Rose. She blamed them, she really did. This whole Lila thing got way too out of hand. She felt guilty about Marinette being forced out of their class, she knew the girl left because of the bullying. She and Rose had discussed the entire thing, they both looked into everything, deciding that it wouldn't hurt to get some facts checked after Marinette had transferred out of their class, and well...Marinette was certainly right about Lila. It was like a slap to the face, both her and Rose truly felt it. They felt sick, she felt sick. They doubted their greatest friend. They abandoned her.
"I can't fucking believe that Marinette is fucking dating Chloé.", Alya's voice catches everyone's attention. There's disappointment in her voice, her tone. The brunette wears an angry expression. "I mean, what the fuck?", she curses. She clicks her tongue and grits her teeth. "After all the shit…", she trails off and starts mumbling under her breath, cursing every now and then.
Rose presses her lips tightly together, forcing herself to shut up, not wanting to argue with the brunette.
Alix scoffs, "Tell me about it, I mean, fuck. Is Marinette so thirsty that she'd go as low as fucking Bourgeois?"
Nino tensed from between Alix and Alya, he felt out of place, uncomfortable. He didn't want to hear any of this. "Chill out guys, please.", he says a little shakily.
Juleka frowns, trying to keep her sense out of the conversation.
"I mean, since when is she even into girls? Like, I mean-", Alix was going to continue talking, but Juleka had heard enough.
"You know what, why don't you shut the hell up.", Juleka growls suddenly, she snaps. "Who the fuck cares if Marinette and Chloé together? Let them be, let Marinette be for fucks sake, all of this is happening because all of you are too stupid to see what's really going on!", she raises her voice as each word spills from her mouth. "Marinette isn't in the wrong here!"
Rose grimaces, she cringes, she reaches out and grabs one of Juleka's arms, she grips it tightly trying to urge the girl to calm down. "Juleka, stop.", she says.
Alya turns to Juleka, "Why is everyone suddenly taking her side-", she tries to cut in, but Juleka cuts her off.
"Because we feel like shit about not helping her when she needed us the most!", Juleka's eyes watered up, she yelled out the last part, her voice cracked slightly, her heart raced in her chest. "Marinette was right…about everything." She balls her fists up, "I mean c'mon, since when does Chloé side with Marinette? And-and Adrien...since when does he throw chairs across the room and also accuse someone of lying? And Kim...you're all so blind…", tears suddenly roll down her cheeks, she brings her hands to her face, "She needed us and we weren't there...I was too scared…", she curls up, bringing her knees up to her chest. "He must have been scared too…", she referred to Kim.
Rose feels tears stinging her eyes, she feels her chest tighten, the gravity of the whole thing had hit them hard, the reality and realization of who and what Lila truly was...was crippling. Juleka had never broken down like this, she knew the girl was holding everything in, the guilt and anger of failing Marinette. She too felt it, she too felt grief at what they had done, they too played a part in Marinette's down fall, they did nothing to help.
Nino frowns sadly, he feels his chest ache. "Marinette...I… grew up with her… and she never did anything Lila's accused her of-"
Alya gasps and turns to Nino in shock, "Nino?!"
"You're fucking kidding me.", Alix hisses as she too turns to Nino. "Dude, Marinette's been nothing but a bitch to Lila-"
"Maybe, but to that extreme?", Nino turns to Alix, "Sure, maybe she got a little petty and jealous, but…", he trails off and turns to face ahead, he sees Rose staring at him with a watery gaze, he feels guilt starting to bubble up. His gaze falls to his knees.
Alya narrows her eyes. "Nino, what are you saying?", she asks a little breathlessly.
"Why are you all still going after her? What was the point of tripping her...hurting her?", he starts. "After the whole locker room thing...she stopped talking to us, she stood away from Lila, she didn't even talk to Adrien...she just...sat in the back...alone, minding her own business.", his lip twitched, he swallowed thickly, "But you guys still...came after her…"
The atmosphere in the tight space grew heavy suddenly.
Alix had no words, and neither did Alya.
Juleka trembled slightly, "Bunch of asshole, all of you. I mean, did anyone even fact check? Cause I fucking did, and I couldn't sleep for a whole week.", she piped up, sniffling, "Lila fucked all of us. She had it in for Marinette from the start."
Alya felt something in her stomach drop, she didn't want to hear this, no, she doesn't want any part in this-
"I only did what Lila said Marinette had been doing to her.", Alix suddenly pipes up.
All eyes go to Alix, they all see Alix's cocky demeanor suddenly change, a whole new expression settles itself over her face.
Nino narrows his eyes. "What do you mean?", he asks.
Juleka and Rose listen closely.
"Well, when Lila first started a few months ago, she told me in confidence that someone was bullying her, I felt bad for her and well, a good few days went by, and she spilled, she cried and everything...she told me Marinette was tripping her and pushing her around when no one was watching.", Alix explains, she swallowed thickly.
Alya nods her head, it sounds familiar. "She told me that too, I mean...she fell right in front of me and I snapped, I…", she thinks back to the beginning. She remembers the locker room incident, it was basically the catalyst to everything, it marked the day that the class decided to label Marinette the black sheep. She remembers walking beside Nino, she remembers hearing Marinette and Lila arguing by a row of lockers towards the back, she remembers how she walked towards the sound of the girls voices, ready to round the corner of the lockers, only to suddenly see Lila on the floor by her feet. She remembers finally snapping and physically taking Marinette down.
Nino and everyone is suddenly silent.
Alya is trying to remember more, but she can't. It like there's something missing. She can't remember seeing Marinette push Lila down, and suddenly one thing leads to another, she can't remember seeing Marinette doing anything that Lila said Marinette had been doing. Alya can't help but suddenly think back on that day, the horror that was written all over Marinette's face when she talked down to her, yelled at her, insulted her.
"Lila!", Marinette yells in what sounds like surprise.
Alya rounds the row of lockers only to see Lila on the floor, holding her wrist. She sees red.
"What the fuck, Marinette!", Alya yells furiously, getting the attention of everyone else that was entering the locker room.
Marinette steps back, her hands up in the air, "Alya it isn't what-Uhmph!?", Marinette's words are cut off by Alya suddenly tackling her, shoving her to the ground hard enough to wind her.
Marinette falls to the floor, sliding a foot back against the floor, "Alya!", she shrieks. Her voice cracks, eyes tear up.
"Césaire!", Chloé's voice yells out suddenly. She and Sabrina along with Adrien show up.
"Marinette!", Adrien says as he gets passed Alya and gets beside Marinette. He kneels down, his arms wrap around the girl. "What the heck, Alya?", he says firmly, he looks angry.
Alya growls, "Why do you have to be such a bitch, Marinette?!", Alya ignores everyone else, her eyes were focused solely on Marinette.
"Alya I-", Marinette tried to speak, but Alya wasn't having it.
"Enough! You're through! I was trying to put up with you, I thought maybe you would open your eyes and see the wrong you're doing, but enough is enough, you're even worse than Chloé!", the brunette yelled. "You're just a jealous bitch."
Adrien gasps, his expression falls, his mouth drops open in shock.
Nino and everyone else merely looks on, some were amused, others were entertained.
"Tsk, she's just mad cause Lila's cuter than her.", Kim throws a comment in.
The guys except for Nino and Adrien laugh.
Marinette flinches.
Adrien presses his lips into a tight line.
"Lila's the entire package.", Alya sneers, arms crossing over her chest, she glares at Marinette. "Marinette's got nothing on her."
Everyone laughs.
Adrien, Chloé and Nino feel sick to their stomachs.
Marinette's eyes tear up, Alya can't help but feel her chest tighten, she holds it in.
Alya's eyebrows furrow.
"Oh fuck…", Alix suddenly says breathily. She sounds out of breath, shame starting to wash over her. She only acted out of what she thought was 'justice', she...believed Lila and felt bad for her. She…"Oh fuck.", she curses more clearly.
Nino feels sick suddenly.
Alya is stuck in thought, processing, thinking deeply. She's pushing it down, pushing the regret, the guilt, the anger...everything that was suddenly starting to come up. It was suddenly overwhelming. All the memories of the past few months starting to hit her all at once, all the times she or everyone else pushed Marinette around, all the times they insulted her. It's all playing in her head like a movie.
Rose can see the guilt starting to show on everyone's face. She has to admit. It's bittersweet. Because now they feel what she and Juleka have felt, except, they feel it worse.
"How does it feel?", Juleka can't help but rub salt on the fresh wound. She's bitter about it, she has been ever since realizing the truth.
Alix glares at Juleka, "You know what-", she starts, but just as she does, the door is suddenly ripped off the hinges.
The group all scream in surprise and in fear.
"Where is Lila Rossi?!", Comes the deep voice.
"We don't know, dude!", Nino answers as he backs up into the closet as much as he can, the girls also doing the same, they all cower in fear.
The blindfolded akumatized villain hums, he tilts his head to the side and shrugs before a wicked smile curls his lips, "My chains may strangle liars, but that doesn't mean they can't strangle those who aid a Liar", he says as if coming to a conclusion right there and then. "Everyone who hides a truth is guilty.", he then suddenly raises a hand and whips a chain towards the cowering teens, the chain quickly wraps around Alya's neck first.
"Oh fuck.", Alya struggles to speak as the chain tightens around her neck. She quickly yanked from the closet and dragged towards the boy, her body sliding on the floor.
"Alya!", Nino yells.
The teens all start screaming.
Alya starts to find it harder and harder to breath as she is being dragged towards the Akumatized villain's feet. She can't help but feel she deserves this.
"Liar, Liar, Liar.", he says. "You're a traitor, you protected someone who lives and breathes lies.". He raises his hand and the chain starts to come up, pulling Alya up. "She'll get her turn, just like everyone else-Ngh!", he's interrupted by Ladybug suddenly delivering a kick to the back of his head, he released Alya and was suddenly on the other side of the building thanks to a certain metal extending staff that was extended into him, sending him flying away into a wall.
Alya gasps as she feels chains loosen from her neck, she quickly slips out of the chains and falls onto her back, she kicks back until she is against the wall beside the closet, panting, trying to catch her breath.
"You look a little, out of breath there, you okay?", Came a snarky voice. There's a bite to the tone.
Nino and the teens all nearly fall out of the closet, all eager to get away from the fight, but they all stop when they see Ladybug and Noir.
Alya sneers weakly, she turns to see Ladybug and Noir both standing side by side. Looking at her. She can't help but glare at the blonde. 'God', she thinks, how she hates this Noir. Sure the other Noir was an asshole to her and everyone else, but this one was just too sarcastic to be around. It was almost as if the blonde haired Noir was being stupid on purpose.
"Ladybug...and…", Nino begins but trails off. His eyes taking in the sight of the blonde haired Noir, the one he knows Alya hates with a passion.
"Noir, just Noir.", Chloé says as she leans against her baton with a smirk. "Anyways, you lot should run while you still can. I'm not kitten around.", she winks playfully.
Noir's playfulness rubs everyone (except Ladybug) the wrong way.
Alya and everyone else find themselves getting a little...pissed.
"Are you kidding me? Is this a joke to you?", Alya hisses, she glares at the blonde haired Black Cat miraculous wielder. She always thought she disliked the other Noir, but it turns out she'd rather a rude Noir than an obnoxious one.
Ladybug nearly face palms, Chloé was starting to pick up on Plagg's puns, that was a mess she knew there was no picking up. She always assumed Chat Noir just had the jokes and came up with them on his own, but it turns out that Plagg was the source of the majority of Chat Noir's stupidity. At Its best it was endearing, at its worst, it was annoying. She sighed softly, her mind drifted to Chat Noir for a moment. It was moments like these that she couldn't help but remember the good times she had with the boy.
"No, I'm being fur-real, I have a feline this guy's gonna be a fur-midable foe.", Noir said as she wiggles about in place. Chloé knew damn well what she was doing, she knew how to push Alya's buttons. Hell, she acted the way she did solely to get on the brunette's nerves. The first time she had acted stupidly in proximity to the Ladyblog reporter, Ladybug had to physically stop Alya from throwing her phone at her. It didn't stop her from annoying her or their peers.
Chloé Noir acts out of spite, she always accidentally dropped Alya or her peers a little too soon before safety, she got a kick out of scaring them, while she knew it was messed up, she concluded that they deserved it and oddly enough, Ladybug never stopped her or scolded her, not even Marinette Noir. So, here she was, being the best jackass she could be.
While the blonde annoyed the brunette and the scared teens, Ladybug was trying fairly hard to keep her composure, she certainly was enjoying this, for two reasons, one, she knew Alya and the others were getting angrier by the second and two, guiltily, because it made her feel better. It was messed up she knew, but she knew Chloé had a limit. She knew the blonde was doing it for her civilian self.
Alya turned to Ladybug, "Where's the asshole? I prefer her over this one.", she was pissed, she was nearly strangled to death, and this...idiot was being a jackass.
Ladybug frowns slightly, "Well, that's a little harsh, Césaire.", she crosses her arms over her chest, "My kittens have saved you a few times, it'd be nice if you showed a little gratitude.", she comes to her Black Cat's defense.
Alya is taken aback by the hero's tone.
Noir smirks like cheshire cat. "Me-oow. That hurt, Ms. Césaire.", she stops leaning against her baton. She was going to throw another pun around but was sadly interrupted.
"Give me your miraculous!", a shout cuts through the tension and the groups conversation.
Noir and Ladybug both turn their attention to the akumatized villain.
"You all should get going, I have a feline things are about to get furry hairy.", Ladybug says as she cracks a small smile, she whips out her Yo-yo.
Noir smiles, she sees the look of disbelief on Alya's and Nino's faces, it's almost satisfying. "You ready, Bug?", Chloé gets into fighting stance, ready to attack.
"Ready as you are, Kitty."