Back at Canterlot, a few hours prior after Marinette saw Kayla leaving in a bus, the whole gang were gathered at the Sparks twins' home to discuss what Marinette had to tell them.
"Alright, Marinette, we're all here. What's the sitch, Mari?" Unicra asked as she munched on some Energon cookies.
"Okay, this might sound a bit confusing, but, did something happen at school after me and Adrien left for our part time job?" Marinette asked.
"Ugh, you can say that again. That candy cane liar was picking on Kayla again." Uzi grumbled as she sipped some oil through a straw from a can
"Wait, again? That's the 260th time she did that this year." N said in shock and surprise.
"You're keeping scores now?" V asked her brother in confusion.
"Uh, yeah. I like keeping count." N laughed nervously.
"Anyway, pigtails here have something to tell you all and I suggest getting comfy." Plagg said as he gobbled a piece of Camembert cheese.
"Ooh! Story time!" N said as he got comfy. Emily gave him some energon-oil cookies as he ate it.
"Okay, so, me and Tikki were just leaving the store after buying ingredients for that new recipe me and Adrien wanna try when something or someone caught my eye." Marinette began as she fidgeted slightly.
"Who, Marinette?" Emily asked.
"Um, well, some of you might freak out cause it's... It's..." Marinette struggled. She knows that the ones most likely to blow a fuse are V, Unicra and Uzi.
A hand held hers gently and she looked to see her boyfriend giving her an encouraging smile.
"It's okay, Princess. Guys, try not to blow a fuse, okay?" Adrien said as he held Marinette's hand.
That was directed to V, Unicra and Uzi who looked at each other and nodded.
"We'll try." Uzi said, making Marinette sigh in slight relief. Time to tell them.
"I saw a bus pass by and riding in it was Kayla and from the looks of it, she's leaving Canterlot." Marinette finally said.
It was silent but the reactions were a variety of emotions. N's optic eyes were thin circles in shock and disbelief. V dropped the can of oil by accident. Uzi did a spit take and accidentally hit V, who didn't mind. Unicra's hands were clenched into fists while Emily was shocked. Plagg was frozen mid-bite of his cheese while Tikki nibbled on her cookies in silence then all hell broke loose.
"WHAT?!" Both Uzi and V exclaimed in shock.
"You're joking right?" Unicra asked in disbelief.
"Oh primus..." Emily muttered.
"S-She left...?" N asked sadly.
"But why?" Tesla questioned in shock.
"Mari?" Adrien looked at his girlfriend who was close to tears.
"I... I don't know why but it feels like Lila all over again but it's Kayla suffering from Liliana's actions." Marinette said as Adrien put a supporting and comforting arm around her shoulders.
"Marinette, it's okay. Lila is in jail for what she did." Tikki said as she hugged her holder by her cheek.
"Thanks, Tikki." Marinette smiled softly.
"B-But why?! Why did she leave?!" Tesla asked in shock and worry.
Unicra clenched her hands angrily and Emily put a hand on her shoulder.
"I think I know why or rather who." She sneered dangerously.
"Liliana caused her to leave." Emily said much to everyone's shock.
"Look, we know this is weird. But we stopped by the principal's office to hear Liliana sobbing a story about Kayla hurting her and that she stole some school trophies. When Kayla tried to prove her innocence she didn't do it but the principal believed that liar and the trophies were found in her locker. She was expelled right after that." Unicra said.
"That's when we met up at the hall right?" Tesla asked as the twins nodded.
"You're not gonna believe this but this wasn't the first time. She did this about 10 times." Uzi said as she took out her tablet iPad from her bag and gave it to the twins.
"What do you mean?" Marinette asked as V peered at the screen.
"I found information about Liliana Viper and you won't guess what I found. Several articles about a candy cane colored liar had done this to several students in other schools she transferred to. Apparently, she's been to juvenile prison a couple of times but always escaped and lied to her parents that she was released early. And she's doing the same thing again." Uzi said as V whistled.
"Wow. Think she's a pathological liar?" V asked as Unicra handed it back to Uzi.
"We don't need to think, we all know she is one." Plagg said as he ate his cheese.
"So what should we do?" Adrien asked after a moment of silence.
"Personally I would say that we teach Liliana a good lesson. But If we do that, it will get worse for Kayla. She's our friend and we have to do whatever we can to bring her back." Unicra said to which everyone agreed.
"If by lesson you mean give her the fright of a lifetime. That's doable." V said as she giggled sadistically as she showed her claws.
"A bit too extreme don't you think?" Emily asked as she raised an eyebrow. V rolled her optics before changing her claws into her hands.
"Yeah but I figured it would be more fun. Plus we don't need to kill her per say. Just scare her enough." V said with a small grin as Uzi gave her a can of oil.
"I'm afraid this won't work, V. Girls like Liliana do not get easily scared. Trust me, I know enough about them. Whatever you do, they'll just find a way out and in the end you'll be the one who ends up getting scared." Marinette said sadly. She can still remember the times Lila played victim until she was finally exposed.
Unicra, who has been silent, had a light bulb idea. That's it!
"Hey, wait a minute. That's it!" Unicra snapped her fingers as everyone looked at her.
"Uh, that's what?" Uzi asked in confusion.
"That's it! It's so simple." Unicra said as Emily gave her a confused look.
"What are you saying?" Emily asked.
"It's so simple, guys. And to think the answer was right in front of us all along." Unicra said and didn't answer her twin's question.
"I think she's suddenly gone cuckoo." Plagg said while twirling his limb on the side of his head.
"More like her circuits have gone nuts." V snickered.
"Unicra!" Marinette called her and that snapped Unicra out of it.
"Yes?" She turned to them as everyone gave her a fond and deadpan look.
"Can you stop talking like that and tell us what's going on?" Marinette said as she gestured to everyone in the room.
"Sure. It's simple. As I said earlier. Liliana loves to talk, right?" Unicra said as everyone nodded. She sure does love to talk.
"Right."
"Well, here's the thing. Since she loves to express how smart she is, we can use that at our advantage. Lilianna is like a hot air balloon that's growing and growing. Going up and up with no intention of going down. So instead of making her go down, we are gonna let her go up even more." Unicra told them. This just left some of them confused but for Marinette, it's clear as day.
"I don't get it." N said in confusion.
"Me neither." V shrugged as her tail swayed curiously.
"I did. She's saying that we can use her own ego against her. Her bragging can be the cause of her own downfall." Marinette said with a smile. That's pure genius!
The doorbell rang and Unicra practically rushed out of the room
"Probably that extra spicy jalapeno pizza she ordered. Hope she ordered other ones." Adrien said.
Marinette nodded as she looked out the window. They'll have to gather more evidence to expose Liliana and hopefully, it brings her back home.
Somewhere in the city, a lime green haired teen with sunny yellow streaks just arrived at a familiar hotel.
"Ah, Sunflare. Welcome back." The lady that Kayla handed the note to greeted warmly.
"Hey, Miss Willow Blossom. I just came to deliver your lunch." Sunflare said as he handed the food to her.
"Ah, you know my favorite?" She asked.
"Yup, one veggie egg sandwich with mayonnaise and ham, one cool green iced tea and two slices of chiffon cake." Sunflare said as he read the receipt.
"You know me so well." Willow Blossom said with a smile.
"Um, is Kayla around? There's something we had to talk about but we didn't get to." Sunflare asked.
"Oh dear. Sunflare, I'm afraid that you just missed her." Willow Blossom informed him sadly.
"What? When?" He asked in surprise and shock.
"Earlier actually. She came back looking all down and sad. Her aura was a darker shade of blue than normal." Willow Blossom told him. He was silent for a moment.
"Did... Did something happen to her when she came back?" Sunflare asked sadly.
"I don't know, sweetheart, but I think it has something to do with that red and white girl at your school. Her aura is a wicked shade of red and black. Not a good combination, I say." Willow Blossom said.
"You mean Liliana? Why?" Sunflare asked in confusion. He broke up with her after catching her cheating with the rich boy, Kennedy Billionaire.
"I do not know but she left this note just in case someone asked about her." Willow Blossom said as she gave him a folded paper.
"The hotel library is down the hall." She pointed. Sunflare nodded and went there.
He went to a quiet part of the hotel library and unfolded it before reading it silently.
'To whoever gets this letter first, I'm sorry that I'm around anymore. I've been thinking about the past few days ever since Liliana came to school. I tried to tell the other students about her and her lies but nobody believed me. The only ones who know that she's lying are my true friends.
Marinette, I'm thankful for everything you did to try and help me expose that liar. I know it brings up bad memories of your experience but I'm glad to have you as my true friend. I left a recipe of the double chocolate cookies in your email as a surprise and for Tikki.
Adrien, you're such a cat that you're a perfect match for our everyday ladybug. I'm glad you hung around me and the others even if Liliana told you not to because of me and my bad influence. I think she's going after you next after cheating on Sunflare. Plagg, don't eat all of the cheese that Adrien buys you.
Tesla, N, V, Uzi, I have no words to describe how your whole dynamic goes but I'm glad to have friends like you. I'm more than upset that Liliana lied about knowing your dad and mom, Uzi. N, Tesla, V, hope guys have fun even without me around. I'll miss our little online chat battles including the rpg online games we played together.
Emily, Unicra, you two are beyond amazing. Being the only two girls that tries to do what's right even if you were both different from everyone. I mean, who wouldn't want to be friends with you two and that you two saw through her lies quickly and tried to expose her.
Sunflare... I'm sorry if I can't say more about you but I'm glad to have you as a childhood friend. I'm gonna be honest since I'll be leaving. I used to have a crush on you before Liliana beat me to it. It broke my heart to see you being with her but my feelings for you are already gone and I only see you as a brother. Hope you find happiness somewhere.
I just wished I had told you all that I'm leaving but I'm sorry. I didn't want Liliana to know where I'll be going since she'll just make my life worse than it already is. I gave Miss Willow Blossom a recorder. It has the threat that Liliana used on me when she cornered me at the lockers.
With love and sincerity, Kayla Blair Rose.'
The signature of the letter ended with Kayla's signature rose drawing. Tears started to hit the paper but didn't mess up the writing on it.
Sunflare stared at it in disbelief and shock as tears continued to fall from his eyes.
Oh gods... Why didn't he see through it all?! The fake smiles, the nervous looks, the scared and pleading looks she always gives whenever Liliana is around! She was being unintentionally hurt by her and everyone at school didn't even side with Kayla but they only sided with Liliana because she always plays the victim.
He got up and left the library. He asked for the tape recorder to which Willow Blossom gave him as he headed home to think about what he just gathered.
How can Kayla still be friends with him...? She really is the only friend he had at school aside from Adrien and N. He just hopes that he can make it right. And by doing so, he needs to tell the others about this and help them find her.
"I'll bring you back, Kayla. Don't worry. Everything will be alright."