A/N: I've seen things from the series again, each one more ridiculous. The direction the plot has taken is one of the most absurd things I've ever seen. I've seen it on a YouTube video (I don't usually watch them, but this one popped up and I wanted to see how they did it). It is called "the decline and end of miraculous". I know he complains about girl power and obviously I love girls being superheroes. But he is right that what they do to Adrien is not okay (although this kind of thing has been done to female characters day in and day out in series, movies and action books and many of those who complain about the Adrien's situation seemed it good).
Anyway, you know I don't follow canon at all.
On the other hand, I found out that Thomas directed Code Lyoko and now it all makes sense. There are failures and repeated behaviors.
Thanks to Katherine.
PS: we are in the final stretch (from the first part).
"What happened? Why haven't you come today? Are you sick?"
Oh my gosh, Alix. Let her talk. I know you're worried. I am worried. Adrien is worried.
Kagami's voice is heard from afar and also a man responds. It is not understood what they say.
The three of us are standing in a circle and she has the phone on speakerphone in the center.
When time kept passing and Kagami didn't show up, we got worried. Saturday was fine. We talked to each other and decided to call her in case something had happened. Adrien has also asked about her and discussed what to do during class, so we have included him in her call.
We have come to the hall at the first break, at the end of the first class.
I don't know what happened to the Marionette and Lila thing, but right now I don't care.
A door is heard.
"I am already alone." She informs us. "I am fine. I could not go because this morning a thief broke into my house." Kagami relates with her emotionless tone.
"A thief?!"
"Calm down, Alix." His voice sounds a bit hoarse, like I had after Sabrina's akumatization. I touch my neck. Now I have it good. "I heard a noise and left my room. In the corridor I saw a tall man taking things from the living room. At first I thought of t..."
"That's tough!" I interrupt her. I'm sure she was going to say "transform me." That would have been a disaster.
Alix looks me in the eye covertly. She thinks so too.
"Chloe." Could she be surprised? "Are you there."
"Yes. And Adrien." I warn her.
"Hello. We have worried. You haven't missed a single day since you arrived."
There's a short silence where I hope she's thinking about what to say.
"You should not have been scared. Everyone has the flu from time to time."
"Yours has not been a flu."
"Could have been. I am fine. I wanted to call the police, but I could not do it. I had to fight the thief until my mother came and called the police. Between the two of us we reduced it. Now we are in a diner with a cop while they get evidence at my house."
So why is she hoarse?
"Go back to class and do not worry about me. I will need notes."
And hang up. She has become somewhat less abrupt, of course.
The three of us are about to go back to class when the door opens from inside. One of Marionette's ass-kisser runs off at full speed.
I don't need to see what's inside to know what's going on. Still, I lean out. The three of us do it.
In the classroom there is a completely white girl, dressed in some kind of Roman tunic, with her hair loose and a crown. In her hands she carries a sword and scales. But the most remarkable thing is that she has a blindfold on her eyes. She looks like a statue.
That is, of course, an akuma.
"Is that supposed to be justice?" Adrien asks
"I think it's Marinette." Alice answers.
"How ironic!" I mean.
Marionette points her sword at anyone, because I don't know his name and I don't care.
"Tell your darkest secret."
Almost instantly, the boy confesses to stealing money from someone else in the class.
One of the scale pans sinks.
"Now, you will receive your sentence."
She points her sword again, this time at a backpack. The object catches fire.
Alix tugs at my arm.
"Let's go. Adrien has already taken off. We can hide now."
I look to where he was a moment ago and it's true, he's gone. When?
I follow Alix running on her way to where we've never been, the toilet. Behind us I hear more people running from the classroom.
As always, we make sure we're alone before we transform and enter the burrow.
Alix begins to look through her black circles. I'm already accustomed.
If what we've seen is true, this akuma can make people tell their secrets. And this akuma has to come down hard on anyone who's ever done something morally questionable. What do I say? To anyone who has committed a crime, which is even worse.
Or us.
"Do you think she will make us say our identities."
"Doesn't seem to be the case. If she really is justice, it will make us confess something wrong and our identities are not."
She keeps looking at her circles. I hope we get out of here with a plan.
"And what will happen to Kagami?"
"If she doesn't show up herself, I'll have to go look for her later. But I don't think she can do it. She is quite guarded."
"And what are you doing?"
There is a small silence as she looks at more black circles.
"See what happened. Marinette has exposed Lila in front of everyone."
She is a son of a bitch. Wasn't it enough to akumatize her? Does she have to destroy her chance at this school? Of course. She crushes all the people who get in the way of her interests.
"Lila has been able to demonstrate that she is actually our friend, through the photo. She has left Marinette in evidence. That has really pissed her off and she has said that she wants to do justice to liars like Lila. And then comes the butterfly."
I start laughing. She has been like this because, finally, someone has won her!
"Wait. She has asked her if it is true that we are her friends. I think she can ask us our identities."
She is silent for a moment.
"You have a plan?"
She almost always has it. She must have it. This akuma is too fucked up for us.
"Let me look."
And once again, there is silence.
We will leave the same moment we entered, right? But that would not look good. Not that this akuma even caused much of a stir. If we show up so quickly, he might suspect us. Although Alix thinks that he already knows that we are students here. And it makes some sense.
What if we arrive later? He would entertain himself by getting the secrets out of the other students... including Nathanael.
No. That can't be. I am sure that the most important secret for him is that he kissed me. I would put him in Hawk Moth's sights. He would constantly attack him just for being my weak point.
I can't let him put himself in that situation. It is my fault. I approached him first.
"It seems that she can only ask each person once. If we get in the way when she asks someone else, we can avoid revealing our identities."
Too good to be true.
"What's the trick?"
Then Alix makes a face.
"We will have to reveal what she asks of us. She has asked the others their darkest secret."
My darkest secret? I have no idea. I've been mean to a lot of people, that's no secret. And they deserved it.
Alix clenches her jaw and looks away. Does she have a very dark secret? Until Kagami came along, she used to stay away from people. I know that she sometimes hung out with Kim and Max, but I don't know much about their relationship.
"Why do you get like that? Have you committed a crime?"
It's a joke. I know she plays the rebel, the bad girl, but I'm sure she's no worse than me.
For a moment she stares into my eyes, very serious. Then smile.
"Of course not."
What was that? Is she a criminal? Is she really?
"We have to get out of here now."
She does some more modification to that black hole and goes through it. I follow her. Being locked in here is not a plan.
We leave just as her sword points to Mariè.
"What is your worst secret?"
As has happened before, the person she points to responds immediately. I see her try to shut up, but she can't help it.
"I am Dominique's lover."
What? One moment. If Mariè's secret gets out, I won't be able to continue using it to blackmail her.
Sixtine gives a sharp gasp at the same time that the scales become unbalanced.
"Now, I will pronounce your sentence."
She points her sword at her and the plates are evened again.
They wait for something to happen. We wait, actually. Absolutely nothing happens.
"You have failed."
"You'll see when you get home." says Marionette in a monotonous way.
We take advantage of the fact that everyone is watching her to get closer to Marionette. Where is the akuma? I activate my poison, just in case.
But, of course, people realize that we are here and they react. For this reason, Marionette takes a strong leap in the opposite direction to ours and throws herself out of the window.
Brilliant.
I look around, looking for where Nathanael is. I find him in the background, with a scared look fixed on me. It is possible that he too was aware of what could have happened.
"We have to follow her!" Alix reminds me.
We both jump out the window, at the same time a scandal breaks out in the classroom. I think the two good friends are having a fight.
We run after her, we have no idea where she is going. Surely towards a trap. All I'm sure of is that she's blocking traffic, and us with her, skidding cars here and there. I think someone crashes. They leave her step, as if running over her would do her any harm.
"Hey. Why don't you make a portal next to her and take the scales and sword from her? Why haven't you done that with previous akumas?"
Alix looks at me like I've grown another head. I don't think my question is that stupid.
"For starters, I don't know what the akuma item is. Second, if I stick out my arm near an akuma, their powers might affect me, even if they don't have a weapon. Third, if I had stuck an arm out near her, it could have been cut off. And lastly, you have no idea what the cost of my miracle is."
The cost of her miracle? Isn't it the same as mine? I mean, aside from the fact that I now love honey. We got to talk about this with Kagami, but she didn't tell us what was wrong with her.
Right now it gives me a slump for using poison.
I look at her. She should have a slump too.
"Are you OK?" I ask, with the drowning feeling leaving me behind. "Do you want to stop?"
She nods and I stand up, though she starts walking.
"We can't stop completely."
With Lila I didn't see her collapse.
"The five minutes didn't pass."
"What?"
"With Volpina. The first time was while I was waiting and with the second the five minutes didn't pass."
Oh.
We continue forward and see how Marionette is stopped by Kagami, who suddenly arrives. She has already drawn her sword and is about to disarm her when the akuma points hers at her and says something. Kagami hit her in the hand and she drops her weapon. She then says something and the scale moves. It has only been a moment, but it has been worth it to her. We arrive just in time to hear Marioneta.
"This is your sentence."
Kagami transforms into water, as if she had summoned the water dragon, but without saying anything. Has she forced her to be water?
The scale balances.
We both reach her. Alix raising her umbrella as if she were going to hit her and I spinning my spinning top, gaining strength to throw it and wrap it. She no longer has a weapon, she can't use her powers on us.
She turns and faces us.
"What's the worst thing you've ever done?"
My partner stops suddenly. I look at her. What has happened? It must be that the sword, in reality, is of no use to her.
"My mother... she died because of me."
That? That is very strong. I didn't expect it at all.
I hear the squeak of the scale plate going down.
It's true, it's not the time to think about that, I've been distracted. And she has used the moment to pick up the sword.
"Your punishment."
I swing my spinning top again and try to take the sword from her. I hook the cable tight and yank hard, yanking it out of his hand.
It sounds like stone collapsing, which doesn't make sense because we're in the middle of the road, on asphalt.
A hole is made in the ground and hands come out of it. I don't know what the fuck is going on, but I'm not staying, I have to catch the villain. I feel good now and I can go back to chasing her at my normal speed.
I have the sword, I could break it. I am not going to do it. If she was able to use her power without the sword in hand, it means that the akuma object is the scale.
I must be very careful. She has already questioned Kagami and Alix and hasn't asked for the identity of either of them. I am the one that remains. She's going to ask me for sure.
I'm getting closer. Of course I am, I am in much better physical shape than the stupid Marionette. I see that she has a butterfly on her face. Hawk Moth is talking to her.
I spin my spinning top like I did before. I aim at the scale, I'm going to reach it. She hooks up and I pull. The problem is that when I pull the scale, I also do it as a Marionette, since she holds on very tightly and doesn't let go.
I throw the sword to the ground and get on top of her, in case she wants to take it, and I wrestle with her to get the scales out of her hands. I should have used the poison, but for that I would have had to get closer.
Finally, I manage to remove the scale from her.
Marionette smiles.
"What is your darkest secret?"
What? How could she?
An incredible force seizes me. It forces me to open my mouth, even though I've put up all my resistance. I don't even know what I'm going to say.
"My mother..." I've always wanted to please her, almost everything I've done has been for her, even the bad things. "she hit me."
What? Why have I said that?
Marionette's smile fades and she let go the scale.
I don't know what's going on, but I'm not going to think about it right now. I push the filthy Marionette away, knock the scales to the ground, and use the sword to cut it down with several blows. The butterfly comes out and I finish with it.
Marionette returns to normal and the scale transforms into her bag, which is now broken.
She looks around. There are people here. People with phones that record us. Then, she looks in my direction. From the look on her face, I know she's holding out as long as she can not to throw a tantrum.
"Are you from the future?" Alix asks Kagami, once we are in her burrow.
I have no idea what her secret has been, but she seems fine.
"Yes" Kagami replies.
"Far away?"
"From the same day. At night. You gave me quite a scare waking me up at two in the morning. I do not even know why you did it. I have been of no use."
The dwarf nods, as if she had just given her the answer to a question.
"To give you an alibi, surely. If you were with your mother and with a policeman you can't be Ryuko."
"Now that we've cleared that up, can we talk about this rare akuma? She has not tried to take away the miracles at any time, she has only run. And she has given me the akuma object. Don't you think it's weird?"
Kagami crosses her arms.
"It is certainly unusual. Also, he has not asked our identities either."
"Exactly." I mean. "And the scale didn't move when I said the answer, she didn't seem to like it. She didn't punish me."
We remain silent, thinking. Well, letting them think, I'm not so good at it. I'm the only one of the three who hasn't investigated on my own.
"It may be" says Alix "that akumatizations must comply with some rules. That's why she couldn't ask us our identities."
"You said she could do it." I rebut. I saw her look through her doorway.
"I made a mistake."
What? It is assumed that she is not wrong. Not when she uses her miracle. We have been blindly trusting her miracle for a long time.
"But if you saw the future." I tell her.
Alix takes a deep breath, as if she's annoyed by my insistence.
"I didn't see the future. If I had, I'd have used you as a human shield."
Kagami is surprised by that statement. Of course, she didn't hear what Marionette made her say. I understand her. She hasn't heard what I've had to say either.
"Then your miracle is not as reliable as we thought."
"No. Time is... strange."
That's bullshit.
"That means that the objective of the akumatization was not to take away our miracles, but to get something more. What was the reason?" Kagami intervenes.
"We are talking about Dupain-Cheng. The reason is anyone who has hindered her interests."
Kagami tilts her head, like a puppy.
"Lila said that we are her friends, making Marinette look bad for having harassed her." clarifies Alix.
Kagami nods.
"So, what the akuma wanted was to uncover the truth, or rather, what she believed to be the truth."
"But not only the truth, but the bad things about people, their dark secrets."
The two nod. Hey, I'm contributing to the theory.
"Hawk Moth may be looking for clues about our identities by wanting to know secrets about our personal lives." Kagami speculates.
"No, I dont think so. They are secret, therefore few people know about it. He can't relate them to us easily. How many people know our secrets?" Alix asks.
I'm relieved to know that she doesn't want us to tell ours, even though I know hers.
"Just Longg and me."
"Just my mother, Pollen and me. But it's not something too unique."
Unfortunately, I'm not the only one who has been hit by their mother. Although I don't think anyone else was done the same as me.
Alix sighs.
"You are much better than me. Mine is known to my family and several policemen. If the police really work for him, they'll be able to look it up in the file. I'll have to sneak in again and modify the file."
We both nod. We certainly don't have much to say about what she's going to do about herself.
"Still, I think he wants to get our dirty laundry out for something else."
I'm sure it is.
On Shrill Snooper's blog there are videos of our fight with Marionette. I don't know how she always gets images. And our secrets can also be heard well. I'm sure she has a microphone too, the damn girl.
Everyone talks about us on social networks. Analysis on Tik Tok, debates on Twitter, discussion groups on Facebook... Some people try to understand what our statements mean and others simply judge us.
People talk about how my mother beats me, Kagami started a fire (we don't know if she intentionally or not) and Alix killed her mother (but I don't think she murdered her). In the latter case, people talk about the "Bunnyx nightmare." They keep sharing that video in which a kind of woman's corpse appears from the ground and says things to her while she is paralyzed. People are very morbid, they love to see and revel in the gruesome details. No one cares how they're making Alix feel, how they're making any of us feel.
And then there's that damn op-ed. Kagami sent it to me. She loves to find out about the "news."
"Girls playing at being heroines.
This week we had a different and unique akuma that helped us get to know a little more about the heroines of Paris.
This akuma, which has already been named "Princess Justice" has caused not only car accidents (something not very strange, since these usually cause material damage), but also the revelation of the secrets of the self-proclaimed heroines.
The akumatization that occurred two days ago and the subsequent viralization of some videos in which the consequences of "Princess Justice" were seen and, mainly, heard, has made me worry even more about #mentalhealth.
It is not the first time that mental health has been talked about regarding these girls, since Ryuko is known for being "The Crazy One." It is with her that I am going to start.
I want to make it clear that I am not going to use that pseudonym to refer to a person who clearly needs psychological and possibly even psychiatric care.
In the viralized video showing images of her, she confesses to having started a fire. We do not know how this could have happened, it could be intentionally or by accident. What is clear is that whatever the answer, it shows that she is not qualified to hold the role of protector of the city.
In my opinion, the fire that she claims to have started was completely deliberate, if we take into account the displays of uncontrollable anger that she has already shown in public. That means that in private this violence is enhanced.
Ryuko is a person who needs urgent treatment to help her control her sudden uncontrollable attacks of anger. It is evident that she is a dangerous person and that she should not be allowed to walk around Paris with a gun.
Secondly, and in chronological order, we have what Bunnyx said. The fact that she murdered her mother tells us that it is very possible that her motivation for being a heroine is to redeem herself from the accident. That reason is not honest and we do not know when she will decide that she has already redeemed herself and she will leave us alone in the face of danger.
Although, to commit that accident (assuming it is such), we must be dealing with someone reckless enough to make lethal mistakes. Who knows when this failure will occur again? It could be any of us.
I know that talking about their negligence is not a new idea on my part, but I find it necessary to highlight and confirm the futility of our "heroines."
Last but not least are the words of Queen Bee. We have discovered that Queen Bee is an abused child. A fragile and vulnerable person. A person who, once again, has trauma, since all abused people have those kinds of problems, whether they are aware of it or not.
From what we have seen, it is very possible that she is a girl who wants to raise her self-esteem, receive love and attention based on her hero identity. And I wonder what will happen when she already has that love and attention that she was looking for? What will happen if her fragile mental health causes her to collapse in the middle of an akumatization and leave us unprotected?
Let it be known that my intention is not to attack mental problems, but to worry about them. We cannot allow people with these problems to have such an important burden.
I know that everything I have said is nothing more than speculation, however, it is based on facts and statistics. This team of superheroines must leave, for their own good and for everyone's.
By Pierre Perrin"
It's true that he got me a little right, but I don't like that he thinks that doesn't make me suitable to be Queen Bee.
Furthermore, two days have passed since the akumatization and the situation in class is strange. There is a palpable tension over what Marionette has done to her ass-kisser and I think she has to decide what she is going to do next. There is also the new fact that Lila is now publicly our friend. And that also shows in the way others treat her now.
"Bourgeois, put down the phone! You are going to leave soon." exclaims Mrs. Alarie.
Indeed, I am in the rhythmic gymnastics competition in Île-de-France.
Today we play the hoops. I'm not very good at them, but I've been practicing with the group.
The choreography is to the rhythm of a Clara Nightingale song.
The strange music of the previous group ends. It's our turn.
I don't like doing gymnastics performances. I've never done any. I don't look at the audience, despite having invited Kagami and Adrien. My mother and father also know, but they haven't come. My father because of lack of time and my mother because she doesn't want to. I wouldn't want her to come either.
My companions and I get into position. The first notes of our song sound.
It's very difficult for me to do well. I have practiced it, but since it is something I am not used to, I have to concentrate a lot on each movement and pass of the hoop. May everything I do be coordinated with my colleagues and with the music.
It's difficult and I don't like it, but it's what I have to do. And I do it, not because Alarie ordered it, but because I think it will help me with my operation at Triple Super.
The song ends and the applause begins.
We retreat to a bench near the stands to wait for the score to be given.
I don't like competing in gymnastics, in part, because corruption is so easy. It is people who decide who wins and who loses. All sports have corruption, but in others it is more difficult. I know very well what I'm talking about, my father is very corrupt. I have never wanted him to pay for my victory. If I win it has to be because I am better than the others.
Near where I am are Kagami and Adrien. They greet me and I greet them. He makes a victory gesture. Come on, he knows as much about rhythmic gymnastics as I do about fencing.
They give us a high, very high score. That puts us in first position with two more teams to go. We have secured the bronze.
The next team competes and comes in third place. We have secured the silver. Then the last one, which is in fourth place. We are gold.
Incredible.
My mates celebrate. We have the first gold. Kagami and Adrien also celebrate.
Everyone celebrates.
Until there is an akuma.
A/N: The idea for the akuma came to me before that Luka akuma espisode came out. I have no proof, but it's true.
1 Regional competition of the region in which Paris is located.
The 116111 is the child helpline throughout the European Union. You can call there if you are in Chloe's situation. This was not my idea, but Katherine's, but I very much agree.
