Alya turned her phone around, revealing Adrien on video call. His expression at first was grim, but changed, softening into sadness and adoration the moment he spotted Marinette. Marinette suddenly burst into motion and tried to hide behind Mylene, but was largely unsuccessful as Mylene moved out of the way. She wasn't gonna let Marinette cower away from this. She and Adrien desperately needed to talk, and thankfully, Alya had found a way to have Marinette tell Adrien what happened without the girl stumbling and stuttering over her words, or escaping.

Sensing that there was no way of talking to Adrien, Marinette sighed and sat down, her eyes reluctantly meeting Adrien's. "H-Hi Adrien...How are y-you th-this evening?"

"Marinette...You know we have to talk about this."

Marinette sighed again, her eyes averting to the side. "Y-Yeah...I know..."

"Marinette, why didn't you tell me?"

"If you were on the phone as long as I think you were, then you heard me say it already." She said, glaring slightly at Alya, who only crossed her arms, totally unphased.

"Marinette." Adrien said, some frustration in his tone, as his expression became grim again.

"It's like I said. I didn't want you to be disappointed in me." She said, her eyes averting away from Alya and back to the side.

"Come on Marinette. That can't be the reason."

"Adrien, just please drop it." Marinette said, her arms crossing in front of her. Her tone was laced with frustration, and before Mylene could try and relieve the tension, Adrien spoke again.

"Marinette, this is serious. How could you think that I would be disappointed in you for telling me what Lila did? What could have possibly given you the impression that I-"

"Because you've done it before." Marinette said, almost whispering.

"...What?" Adrien said, a confused look on his face.

"I said," Marinette said as she finally looked Adrien in the eye. "because you've done it before."

Everyone looked at Adrien then, all wearing confused expressions. None looked more confused than Adrien though, who looked to be trying to remember the incident Marinette was talking about, but with no more details, he seemed to be failing as his face became frustrated. "Marinette, when did I ever-"

"The day that Chloe's dad was akumatized into Malediktator." Marinette said, mercifully giving everyone more information.

Alya perked up then. "Oh yeah! I remember that day! That's when Chloe showed us that fake interview where she was dressed up as Queen Bee and Ladybug. Everyone gave her a hard time for that, especially since she pulled that stunt at the station where she used her powers to create a situation where she would look like the hero."

"Yeah, everyone did give her a hard time about that, she was pretty upset." Adrien said.

"Yeah, she was upset, but despite how everyone was giving her a hard time, the moment I spoke, she tried to take it out on me like I was the only one who spoke. I hadn't even meant to say anything at first." Marinette said, frowning.

"True, but your last comment really made her upset. You were kinda harsh Marinette." Adrien said.

Marinette glared at him then, and Adrien seemed taken aback, but before he could say anything about it, Marinette spoke again.

"My parents and I were on that train, Adrien."

Adrien's jaw dropped, and he paled considerably. "W-What?"

"My parents and I were on the train that Chloe pulled her little superhero stunt on. If Ladybug and Chat Noir hadn't shown up, we could've been hurt or even killed."

Adrien paled even more, but Marinette continued on, not shying away like she had before.

"And yet when I and everyone else was glad that Chloe was leaving, you were upset that we were happy. You practically shamed me when I said that she was a brat to everyone and that she was useless. While I understand the useless part wasn't right, you, I, and everyone here knows just how much of a brat Chloe can be. She torments everyone just because she can and gets away with it because her father is the mayor. But almost every single time Chloe does something wrong, you never really reprimand her or hold her accountable for her actions. I understand that you guys have been friends for a long time and have a strong connection, but that doesn't excuse how she treats everyone. But that day, when you shamed me and was disappointed because everyone was celebrating Chloe being gone, stuck with me. You made me feel really guilty for being happy that my long-time bully was leaving."

Adrien's expression became sad, what could be seen of his shoulders drooping as Marinette continued to talk, laying his flaws bare for everyone to see.

"So when you stopped me from exposing Lila when she slipped up that day, and asked me if it really mattered if both of us knew the truth, I decided to keep my mouth shut. And when she threatened me again after school, I stuck with that decision. I thought at the time that maybe you were right, and that Lila would eventually lie herself into a corner she couldn't escape from. But what you don't realize is that lies hurt people. Maybe not at first, but they do eventually. I thought you would have learned that the day that Lila lied her way into your house. Alya and I were nearby when you chewed Lila out because your dad's assistant and bodyguard got reprimanded because of what she did. But despite knowing that people got hurt, you still kept quiet about her lies. Taking all of that into account, not only was I scared that you would be disappointed in me if I tried to tell you what Lila did, but I also figured that you wouldn't do anything about it and just tell me to keep quiet about it or give her another chance."

"Basically," Marinette said, her eyes averting to the side again, almost like she was afraid of what she was going to say next. "I didn't have faith that you would be on my side."

Everyone was silent then, Marinette's confession of her lack of faith in Adrien doing the right thing stunning everyone, until they heard a sniffle. Everyone's heads turned to where the sound came from, and were even more stunned to see that Adrien had teared up, a hand covering his mouth.

Marinette gasped, both hands covering her own mouth as her eyes too began to water. "Adrien, I-I'm so sorry! I d-didn't mean-"

"No." Adrien said, his tone surprisingly forceful as he began wiping his eyes. "Don't you dare apologize Marinette. I needed to hear this. I needed to hear how bad of a friend I was being."

"Adrien," Marinette began as she too wiped her eyes. "You're weren't being a bad-"

"Yes I was." He said, his tone fierce and his eyes blazing with frustration and sadness, which seemed to be directed towards himself. "Before I came to school, I was so used to be walked all over, whether it's by my father, or Chloe, or others, that I didn't realize that by letting things go, I'm enabling them to keep doing those things and worse. But when I came to school, I started learning that some things shouldn't be tolerated, and I became more confident. When that incident with the fire department happened, I chewed Chloe out for it and threatened to end our friendship."

Everyone gasped, including Marinette, but Adrien continued on.

"For a while it kinda worked, but in the end, when I promised her we would always be friends, she went right back to her old behavior immediately. And I just took it as she would never change. What I should have done was held her accountable right then and there, but I didn't. And I should have realized that she wasn't going to change unless she actually did lose me as a friend, because the consequences would have been more real then. When I talked to Lila on the day she came...back..."

Adrien began frowning before turning his eyes toward Marinette. "Marinette, you said she threatened you in the girl's bathroom on the day she came back, right?"

Marinette nodded. "Yeah, why?"

"Was it during lunch time?" He said, a little anger seeping into his tone.

Marinette nodded again, her expression becoming a bit timid at Adrien's tone.

"...When I came into the locker room during that time, she was there, walking away from the bathroom. She must have just come from threatening you in the bathroom when I came in. When she saw me, she started talking to me about helping her make up the school work she missed, and how her uncle was a great pianist who taught her how to play piano. She said she had to stop playing because of arthritis and asked if I could give her lessons when she gets better. That's when I told her not to lie to me like she lied the her first day of school about being connected to Ladybug."

Everyone gasped, before Rose began clapping and cheering in excitement.

"Yes!" She said as she clasped her hands together. "This is perfect!"

Everyone looked at Rose in confusion before the short haired girl made a frustrated noise and threw her hands in the air, wildly gesturing to make her point. "Girls, Adrien just corroborated Marinette's story! And the best part is that we never asked him about it, he brought up Ladybug and Lila by himself, and his own words unprompted prove that what Marinette said about Ladybug chewing out Lila in front of Adrien was true! We've got more evidence and another witness to Lila's lies!"

"Wait, hold on," Adrien said, turning to Marinette as she sheepishly looked away. "Marinette, you were there?"

Marinette takes a deep breath and sighs, before turning back to Adrien and nodding. She quickly gives him a run down of what happened that day on her end, and as Adrien listens, he begins corroborating the events she describes. What Lila said in the library, the book cart, Lila being interested in his book, and most importantly, what went down in the park between Ladybug and Lila.

Mylene couldn't be happier if she tried. Never could she have imagined that Lila slipping up would lead down a rabbit hole of lies, one dug by Lila herself. She also never could have imagined that Lila had done much worse than lie to people, like threatening Marinette and having a fierce grudge against one of the heroes of Paris just because she had been called out on her lies.

And then to find out that not only had the people at their school had been victims of Lila's lies, but so had everyone around her.

Mylene was pulled out of her thoughts when she heard Adrien slightly raise his voice.

"Wait, what do you mean you want to expose her to the entire city? I'm not on Lila's side or anything, but that might be taking things too far wouldn't it? Exposing her to the school would be what she deserves, but exposing her to the city might have people coming after her." Adrien said, a worried look on his face.

"Adrien," Alya spoke, going around the table next to Marinette so that he could see her. "Mylene saw Lila try to go after Marinette while you both were sleeping on the train. She also has video of Lila violently throwing a croissant from the Dupain-Cheng bakery into the garbage with this really mean look on her face, right after she lied to my face saying that she would eat it when she got home. When I offered her one, telling her where I got it from, she looked really disgusted for a moment before she corrected herself. She knew I saw her face and made up that excuse. She had absolutely no problem lying to me, and the amount of anger and disgust she had towards that croissant when I told her where it came from, and when she threw it away on Mylene's video, tells me that she really hates Marinette and anything to do with her. Who knows what else she's willing to do to make Marinette suffer?"

Adrien frowned even more, and was about to speak before Marinette spoke.

"Adrien, we have to expose her to the city. I don't want Lila to get hurt either, but considering how good she is at lying and isolating people, I have a feeling she's done something like this before, if not once then multiple times. She's way too good at getting sympathy and knowing how people work and what buttons to push for her not to have hurt other people in the past. People who could be worse off than what she's currently doing to me. I mean we got lucky that she was caught on her first day here by Ladybug in front of you. Imagine the amount of damage she could have done if she hadn't been caught that first day?"

Marinette wraps her arms around herself, a deep frown forming on her face.

"Imagine what she could have done to someone who figured her out and wasn't strong enough to shrug her off? Some people get bullied and hurt themselves when they feel that nothing will stop the bullying. I'm not saying she has caused anyone to hurt themselves or anything, there's no proof of that that we know of. But the proof we do have is that Lila is a very accomplished liar, and liars like her don't get to where she is with just luck. She has experience in doing this. When she threatened me that second time outside of the school, she told me that I would lose all of my friends like she was sure it was going to happen, like she knew exactly how to make that happen."

Alya wraps an arm around Marinette's shoulders and Marinette gives her a small smile, then turning back to Adrien with a determined expression, her eyes grim but resolute.

"I hate to be the one that even has to consider outing her on such a wide scale, and I'm not considering it out of spite, not completely, but there is more than likely other people out there that were denied justice, lost friends, family, opportunities, and/or had their names dragged through the mud just because Lila doesn't like to get called out as the liar she is. Lila gets away with almost everything she does and more than likely has in the past as well. She shouldn't get to walk away this time, not when we have proof, amazing proof, and witnesses. And not just regular people, influential people like Alya the Ladyblogger, like Adrien the Model, even Jagged Stone, band members of Kitty Section, even Ladybug and Chat Noir! These are all people that the city will listen to. And even if they were a bit skeptical, they can do the research for themselves. People on the internet are really good at that. The truth will spread faster than Ladybug's Miraculous Ladybug Cure."

"Adrien," Alya said as she sighed. "Even if we didn't expose her to the entire city, it's more than likely that the news would get out anyway. Almost certain, really. If it's true that her parents are diplomats, then things are gonna get hairy anyway. When everything comes out, we'll find out if she was really traveling with her parents or not. And if she wasn't, which is highly likely, then Lila would be extremely guilty of truancy, which would warrant an almost immediate expulsion and trouble with the law. A diplomat's daughter being taken in for extreme truancy as well as being expelled from school won't stay quiet. Not only that, but as a journalist who severely messed up, I'm obligated to take down the interviews with her and post an apology. Even if I didn't announce Lila's name, people are smart enough to put two and two together. It would more than likely make the news since my footage of akuma attacks is often used on the news. Even if we took every precaution, she would still be outed as a liar city wide."

Adrien looked troubled for a moment before his expression became resigned. "Yeah, you have a point. And what Marinette said was also true. Lila is too good of a liar for her not to have experience. And Marinette couldn't have possibly been the only one to have caught on to Lila and tried to expose her."

"It's not even that her lies are particularly that good. What she's really good at is conning people with phony evidence. She tried to do that with Adrien on her first day here. She literally stole his father's book went and bought a necklace to make it seem like she was a superhero. And then there's those fake Skype calls that she says were taken while she was overseas. She's also good at deflecting and getting around questions whenever she's asked about details. Like on her first day back when I asked her about Jagged's crocodile. She just claimed that she saved his kitten before he got Fang. It's completely bogus. Any true Jagged Stone fan knows that Jagged hatched Fang from an egg, and has been his ONLY pet for a little over 15 years. It's public knowledge. Crocodiles grow larger as they get older. So either Lila isn't as young as she says she is, or, as we know, she's lying." Marinette said as she rolled her eyes and frowned.

"Marinette's right. While Lila was akumatized into Volpina she actually came to my house, while she was akumatized and tried to convince me again that she was actually a superhero and that Ladybug was just jealous. She even insinuated that us meeting after school was a date when it wasn't. Even after she had already been exposed she still tried to make me believe that she was a superhero. In fact, after I asked her not to lie to me again like she did with Ladybug, she said that Ladybug was the liar."

The girls gasp, horrified. They had already learned that Lila wasn't as much of a fan of Ladybug as she said she was since she degraded her in front of Adrien to make herself look better. But to go further and actually accuse Ladybug of being the liar when Lila had already been exposed to Adrien, and for her to try to poison his mind against Ladybug...

This is a kind of madness even I didn't expect, Mylene thought as she scowled. So far, Adrien had been corroborating everything that Marinette had been telling them, mostly unprompted. Then there were the other witnesses to Lila's attempts to threaten Marinette like Alya and Nino, who had seen Lila waiting for Marinette at the bottom of the stairs on the day she returned to school. But one thing still bugged her. Just how did Lila get akumatized that day? Except for Adrien telling her-

Mylene gasped again, drawing everyone's attention. She immediately turned to Adrien, her quick movements startling him and everyone else. "Adrien, did Lila get upset with you for calling out her lies?"

Adrien nodded, now visibly less startled. "Yeah. I told her that if she kept lying that she would just turn everyone against her, and I offered to help if something was wrong, but I also told her that she needed to be honest with me. She blew up at me, saying that I was trying to lecture her like Ladybug did. She turned her nose up at my help and then left. A few minutes later, less than two in fact, just as I was leaving the locker room she came out of nowhere and pushed me back in, claiming that she wanted to apologize. She swore she wouldn't tell another lie, and then kissed my cheek. Next thing I knew, I woke up stuffed in my locker."

"That must've been right after she got akumatized." Marinette said.

"But that doesn't make sense." Adrien said, frowning. "How could Hawk Moth have possibly sent an akuma to Lila that quickly?"

The girls looked at each other nervously, with Juleka mumbling quietly, "...Guess he didn't hear that part..."

Unfortunately, Adrien did hear what Juleka said. "Didn't hear what Juleka?"

Juleka winced before her eyes slowly shifted to Marinette, who then sighed and looked into Adrien's eyes. "The reason why Lila was akumatized so fast...Was because the akuma came for me first, right after she finished threatening me in the bathroom."

"...What?" Adrien said, his voice soft but filled with incredulity and fury, which everyone could see growing as his expression gradually began to harden.

"Adrien, it's okay. The akuma never made contact. I was able to calm down and the akuma left. Your conversation with Lila and her anger at being called out again for her lies was perfect timing Hawk Moth."

"But how could I have missed the akuma if it had just left you alone? I only had my back turned for a second..." Adrien said as his expression darkened even further.

"It's a magical butterfly Adrien. I doubt it has the same speed limits as a normal one would." Marinette said.

"Still, Lila is out of control. She's arrogant enough to try to con me right after she finished threatening you, and then got akumatized and attacked me just because I called her out on her lies." Adrien said as he crossed his arms.

"...That witch."

All heads turned to Alya as she gripped her pajama bottoms.

"Alya?" Rose said as she looked at the copper haired girl in concern.

"That witch tried to do to Adrien what she threatened to do to Marinette!" Alya said as she clenched her teeth. Pure fury seemed to leak from her very pores as everyone began to try calming her down while simultaneously looking around for butterflies. Mylene was surprised that with all of the anger and hurt feelings that they'd gone through so far that night, that no one had been akumatized. Either Hawk Moth was unwilling to release another akuma today or he was asleep. Either way, she thought as Alya began to finally calm down, she was grateful that no one had been akumatized so far and hoped that it would stay that way.

"Now that you're calmer," Marinette said, breaking Mylene out of her thoughts and back to everyone crowding Alya. "What did you mean when you said that Lila tried to do to Adrien what she was trying to do to me?"

Alya huffed and crossed her arms. "I mean that she tried to ruin Adrien's relationship with his friends. You weren't there Marinette, but when Nino and I walked out of the cafeteria, Adrien, or I guess Lila with Adrien's face, immediately started making Adrien look bad. She told Nino that he didn't deserve her friendship, or me as his girlfriend, or his cap. Then she snatched his cap from his head and put it on. She escaped soon after that and we saw Ladybug follow her."

"I remember that." Juleka says as everyone turns to her. "Rose and I were right behind Alya and Nino when we saw Adrien, uh, well, Lila saying those things. It was only after he, uh, she, jumped off the second floor railing that other students came running out of their classes to watch."

"I was there too." Mylene said as the event played out in her mind. "Ivan and I were standing next to you and Rose. And that means more witnesses to Lila's behavior. What Alya said about Lila trying to ruin Adrien's relationships makes a lot of sense. She was mad that Adrien wouldn't comply to her lies and instead took it out on him by going for two of his closest friends, one of which was his best friend. Honestly, if Marinette were there with them, I have no doubt that she would have tried to make good on her threat. Using Adrien's appearance, she could have easily devastated Marinette by making it appear as if Adrien really hated her. I'm not sure if she realized it or not, or if it was all part of her plan, but in less than one day she targeted every single one of Adrien's core friends; Nino, Alya, and Marinette."

As Mylene looked around, she could tell that what she said had clicked into everyone's minds...Well, almost everyone as she observed Alix, who had been quiet for a long time. Mylene was worried that despite all of the corroborating evidence that everyone was providing thanks to Adrien's side of the story, that Alix would still be on the fence when it came to Lila. But before she could think further on it, Alix finally turned to everyone and spoke.

"...She's a psychopath."

All heads turned to Alix, a bit startled. Mylene decided to cut to the chase and ask what Alix meant before she was bombarded with questions from the others. "What do you mean she's a psycopath?"

"Just because she's awful doesn't mean we should go around saying things like that." Adrien said.

Alix rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "No, I mean she's a literally a psychopath. In the clinical sense. She exhibits all the signs and characteristics of one."

"How do you know that?" Rose asked.

Alix shrugged. "I lost a bet with Kim a while back and was forced to read one of my brother's books. I picked Psychology since I thought I could learn some tricks to mess with Kim's head during dares and competitions. You know, psychological warfare."

That...made a lot of sense, Mylene thought before returning her attention back to Alix.

"Anyway, I read the book, and I have to admit it was really interesting. But one of the sections I read was on psychopaths and sociopaths. I'm no psychiatrist, but I think one would agree with me that Lila is a psychopath if one actually examined her. Based on all of the things we've heard so far, her behavior practically screams it. She stole from Adrien and not only used the book to con him, but also threw it away. She lied to all of us and then threatened Marinette because she refused to go along with her lies. She got angry at Adrien for the same thing and got akumatized, attacked him, shoved him in a locker and then tried to turn his friends against him using his face. Normally I would blame akumatization but the fact that she attempted to do to Adrien what she threatened Marinette that she would do, leaves her with no excuse because there was a precedent she set before she was akumatized, when she threatened Marinette. This proves that Lila has no empathy, and no conscience. She doesn't feel like what she's doing is wrong. It's how she was able to threaten Marinette and then try to charm and con Adrien in what, less than a minute between both events?"

Marinette and Adrien look at each other and then back at Alix and nodded, who nodded back and then continued talking.

"That's another thing. According to the book, psychopaths are also known to be charming and are good at blending in or acting so that they aren't found out. If we all think about it, Lila came to this school and immediately began lying about people that we were all interested in. Either she did some investigating before she came to our school, or she was smart enough to sniff out our interests during conversations and then use those bits that she got to charm us all."

"I'm betting that it was both." Adrien said as he frowned and crossed his arms. "Lila was quick to say she loved superheros and all of that knowing Ladybug and fake miraculous nonsense the moment she looked at my father's book. She knows how to improvise and make up things about people's interests to make herself look better and more interesting."

"Yeah I bet she put in extra effort because she likes you, or your status anyway. She didn't even try to give herself time to get to know you better. She just immediately tried to make herself seem like she was this incredible person, even more incredible than Ladybug. And I'm willing to bet she did that because she noticed you were fond of Ladybug. Psychopaths don't see people as people. They see them as objects that they can use. Like pieces on a chessboard. More than likely, she believes herself to be the smartest person in the room. I bet she was shocked when Ladybug not only caught her but exposed her to the guy she wanted. Based on what I read, it would explain her hatred of Ladybug. She thought she was above getting caught and when she was, it was more than likely a major blow to her ego. And since it cost her something she really wanted, I bet that doesn't sit well with her. And then you have Marinette, who like Ladybug, refuses to tolerate Lila's lies. The fact that Lila is going so far to terrorize Marinette and destroy her relationships, shows that she has a fragile ego. It also shows that the blow Ladybug dealt when she exposed Lila to Adrien, still hasn't healed and that she won't tolerate another blow like that from anyone, including Marinette and Adrien."

"While this is all fascinating and sickening at the same time, what does all of this mean?" Alya said crossing her arms.

"It means that if we're gonna expose her, we need to be willing to do everything we can. Any information against her, anything we can use, we need to use. She's not gonna make it easy. She knows how to cry on command and turn on the sympathy in order to make whoever is speaking against her look like the bad guy, like she did to Marinette when that whole thing with the seats came up. We need to be able to back her into a corner that she can't escape from, so that she can't escape the consequences of her actions." Alix said, scratching her head in with a contemplative expression.

"I've been recording our conversation since before Adrien called and after Marinette got here." Alya said. "It would prove that what Marinette said was true and corroborated by Adrien unprompted, along with things that multiple witnesses saw that doesn't just include us."

"That's...a little freaky, but it might just work." Alix said, skeptically.

"It won't be enough." Mylene said. Everyone looked at her, particularly Alix and Alya who looked ready to argue their case until Marinette spoke.

"Mylene is right. Despite all of our evidence, it won't be enough. Even though people will listen to what we have to say, it's pointless unless we can actually nail her for what she's done. And even all of our word isn't enough for that. We need people of real authority that Lila can't argue against without risking outing herself. Unfortunately, people like Mme. Bustier and Mr. Damocles are not good candidates. Mme. Bustier is notorious for blaming the victims and having sympathy for the 'devils'. Zombizou happened because instead of Mme. Bustier punishing Chloe for breaking into my locker and vandalizing my gift, she gave Chloe half the credit for my work by saying that she would think of both of us when she used it."

Marinette frowned, the day in question replaying in her mind.

"I worked hard to make that and she just let Chloe get away with it. Chloe didn't even try to deny she did it, and that's when Mme. Bustier took me outside the classroom. It made me believe that I was getting into trouble for what Chloe did and it attracted an akuma. And then she gave me this talk that basically said that instead of being upset, I should forgive Chloe because she doesn't know the meaning of love. She got scared when she saw the akuma and it latched onto her. She believes that the victims should be a better example for the bullies so that they will learn to act better instead of punishing them. But she certainly has no problems punishing the victims like she did to Ivan our first day of school when Kim was bullying him. I love Mme. Bustier, but we can't trust her to do the right thing when it comes to people like Chloe and Lila. Mr. Damocles is kind of the same. He has no problem punishing victims of bullying but he folds over for people with influence like Chloe who is the mayor's daughter, even if it means someone is unfairly punished like Alya was. If Lila's parent's truly are diplomats, I believe he would do the same thing."

"You know, exposing Lila to the whole city doesn't seem like enough now that you mentioned that." Alix said.

"What do you mean?" Marinette said as her expression became confused.

"I mean that we shouldn't just expose Lila. I think we should expose Mr. Damocles, and Mme. Bustier too. It's their fault too that Lila has been able to get this far. Lila missed months of school and faked illnesses so that she could get special treatment and accommodations. If they had actually investigated they would have found that Lila was full of crap."

"...Normally, I would have a problem with that, but honestly I don't think it could be avoided." Said Adrien, who was rubbing the back of his neck in thought. "Even if we didn't include them, if Lila got exposed to the whole city, people are going to wonder where the adults were in this situation and how they let it get so far. There's going to be plenty of backlash-"

"Wait!" Mylene said as jumped up from her seat. "Say that last part again Adrien."

"Uh, there's going to be plenty of-"

"No no before that!" Mylene said as a solution began to form in her mind.

"Uh, I was saying that even if we didn't include Mr. Damocles and Mme. Bustier, if Lila got exposed to the whole city, people are going to wonder where the adults were-"

"That's it!" Mylene said. Of course, she thought. It was right there in front of them the whole time! Why hadn't she thought about it before?!

"Uh, what's it? Mind sharing since we can't read minds?" Alix said as she crossed her arms.

"Alix, you're the one who said that we have to back Lila into a corner that she can't get out of. And Marinette, you said that we need real people of authority that Lila can't argue against. Who are the two people that have both the ability to debunk all of Lila's lies and she can't argue against?" Mylene said as she bounced slightly on her toes in excitement.

Rose raised her hand and waved it around vigorously. "Oh oh! I know, it's Ladybug and Chat Noir!"

"Wrong! Well, no, you're actually kinda right. But while they would definitely be a huge help, we can't guarantee that we can get a hold of them or that they would even agree to help in our plan to expose Lila."

No one noticed Marinette and Adrien shift their eyes to the side in thought.

After a few more moments of thinking Mylene became impatient before the answer finally exploded out of her.

"Her parents! We need Lila's parents! They are the only ones who can debunk all of Lila's lies concerning her travels and whether she knows all the celebrities she brags about. That coupled with our evidence would sink Lila and her lies."

Everyone began grinning, none more than Marinette as she spoke. "Are we gonna tattle on Lila to her parents?"

"We'll need to record Lila's lies and present our case to them, but yeah, we are definitely tattling on Lila to her parents." Mylene said with a grin.

After more excited talking and grinning, the night began to take a toll on all of them and soon they began preparations for bed. They bid Adrien goodnight and hung up, thanking him for telling them his side of the story.

Alya was the last to start to settle down as she began saving all of the evidence, notes, and recordings from that night. The others were already asleep, content smiles on their faces with Marinette in the middle. Alya was happy to see that despite the rollercoaster of emotions and revelations they went through tonight, that Marinette was able to sleep peacefully knowing that her friends believd her. Just as she was about to shut down her computer, her phone dinged with a notification. She glanced at her phone, and was surprised to see a text from Adrien, asking her to call him.

Making sure that the others were still fast asleep, Alya made her way out of her room and into the bathroom, closing the door behind her and sitting on the lid of the toilet. She called Adrien, curious about what he could have wanted after everything was said and done. Adrien answered her call almost immediately, and she was taken aback by his grim expression and filled with wrath.

"Jeez Sunshine, what's up with you?" Alya said as she grimaced at his expression.

"What's up is that I need you to find everything you can on Lila. When we expose her, I don't just want her to be humiliated. I want her to be destroyed."

Alya's eyebrows rose as high as they could go at Adrien's statement. Adrien? Wanting someone destroyed? "Uh, you alright Adrien? Not that I'm complaining about taking down Lila in a brutal fashion, but usually you're all for the peace and love route."

"I was all for that...until she threatened Marinette."

If Alya weren't so sure that she still had hair on her head, she would have thought that her wig was currently in orbit. She'd never seen Adrien this mad before. Disappointed, yes. Mildly annoyed, absolutely. Frustrated, you betcha. But this was something entirely new; A darkness to Adrien that she, nor anyone, had probably ever seen before. "Well, I get what you're saying. She's a monster for threatening Marinette, and I want to see her go down too." Alya said.

"You don't understand, Alya. I want to eradicate any and all credibility she could possibly have." Adrien said as he frowned.

"Uh, aren't we planning to do that already?" Alya said as her expression became confused.

"Not to the degree I want. I warned Lila not to hurt the people I love after she got my bodyguard and my father's assistant in trouble for lying her way into my house. And I was especially angry when she put me in a headlock and forced a kiss on me, and then took a picture and sent it to all of my contacts. And then I find out tonight that she was so much worse than I could have possibly imagined."

"Wait...We could work with that. I mean, she basically committed sexual assault when she did that."

Adrien grinned, his expression looking like the cat that got the canary. "Good. But I also especially want her to pay for what she did to Marinette. Marinette had a point tonight when she said that Lila must have done this before. I want you to dig up everything you can find. If you need financial help, I've got your back. If you need anything, just let me know. I don't want Lila to wriggle her way out of any consequences. I want it to big and I want it to be public."

"We might have trouble with that. People can say that we're doing a smear campaign." Alya said.

"It's only a smear campaign if it's not true. And if it is true, it's an exposé." He said as he crossed his arms. "It would be good for your blog if you made an exposé on Lila after she conned you. I think your followers would be more understanding and sympathetic to you if you reveal just what Lila was willing to do to get her way and hurt whoever stood in her way. It would also be like a Public Service Announcement to be wary of Lila and what she says. You'd be protecting people against her because they won't trust her, and that's no less than what she deserves."

"I get that, and it sounds like a great idea, but why didn't you just discuss this with us while we were all talking?" She said.

"Because this is my own personal piece of revenge against Lila for what she did to Marinette. I don't care what she does to me, but Marinette works too hard and does too much for the people around her to be threatened and lose her friends just because Lila wants to pretend she's a great person and can't tell the truth to save her life. Not one part of Lila can measure up to Marinette and she knows it. Unlike Lila, Marinette has plenty of famous connections that she earned. She doesn't brag and never needed to. She let her work do the talking for her. Marinette trusted me to have her back and I didn't, and now I'm gonna make sure I never make that mistake again. I'm done trying to keep the peace when to people like Lila, peace was never an option."

"You really need to stop looking at those Untitled Goose Game memes."

"You know I'm right regardless. Besides, I'm more than ready to be that goose if it means I get to ruin Lila's day." Adrien said, not at all ashamed of his weebness.

"Yeah, you're right. So, how are we gonna ruin Lila's day? It has to work with our plan so that nothing clashes." Alya said.

"Oh I think I have an idea." He said, grinning even more. "Just be ready to record on Monday. I have a feeling things are going to get heated."

And with that, Adrien hangs up.

Alya takes a moment to look at her phone, feeling no less than pride, amusement and giddiness toward Adrien after their conversation. She had never thought that Adrien could be this devious. He was smart enough to recruit her for his plan because he knew just how badly she wanted to get back at Lila for what she did. He recognized her fury and realized that she had the resources and abilities to help him with his own side plan to ruin Lila.

Alya stood up, her butt and legs a bit numb thanks to sitting on the hard toilet lid and proceeded to walk back to her room, grinning the entire way. She wasn't sure if Adrien realized it, but the little tidbit he dropped about warning Lila about hurting the people he loved was particularly interesting. Especially since he was only referring to Marinette in that instance.

Alya settled down, removing her glasses as she tucked herself in. For the first time in a long time, Alya was looking forward to school on Monday.

It was sure to be quite a day.