Thank you to Khanofallorcs for being the beta for this chapter! :)


Chapter Ten

"Just how many projects are you taking on at once?" Plagg muttered, watching as his holder hunched over near her sewing machine, surrounded by several half-finished projects, which she had alternating between throughout the last few days. Only now she was in a sudden rush, pinning up cloth to the derby hat model she had crafted last week.

Marinette pushed her chair partway across the room, grabbing a pin cushion, before rolling back towards her project. "Well, this hat contest I've been working towards for a few weeks now, and then next week is Alix's birthday so I need to finish her gift, and I also said I'd make a sign for that day since she and Kim want to have some grand race–" She had now stuck several pins in her mouth, muffling her words somewhat. "So I've been working on those, but then I remembered the hat contest is this week, so I need to get this done now."

Plagg wrinkled his nose as he drifted closer, looking at her scattered sketches. He just didn't get it at all– the end projects of things people made were cool and all, especially food, but the process– why on earth did anyone put themselves through this willingly? Something that could all come tumbling down so easily with one mistake? As much as he did love destroying and destruction, he couldn't imagine being happy with it if it was something he had actually worked on.

"How many feather designs do you even have?" He muttered, lifting up a page of her sketchbook, sure enough finding more feathers drawings.

"Agh!" Marinette cried, causing him to wince at the sound. "My feather, I never finished my feather design!"

The hat was left abandoned as she rushed to her drawer, pulling out a collection of faux-feathers she had clearly been working on, but none of them looked exactly like a real feather or anything close to what she had drawn. She shuffled through them, pulling out the best few and taking them over towards her hat, but even Plagg could tell they wouldn't be good enough for a competitive contest.

"No no no no no..." She muttered, tugging at her pigtails. "I was supposed to be working on this last week, I was supposed to have one ready by now..."

"Um, what's going on?" Plagg asked, but he regretted the question as soon as she dove into a conversation he didn't follow half of.

"Well my design needs to have a feather in it, and I wasn't just going to use one of those cheap fake feathers because this is a contest being judged by the Gabriel Agreste and this needs to be the best quality I can muster! So I was trying out different things with my fabric to see if I could get something that looked like a feather, these few I tried fraying and then setting with a glue, but it looks like it was done by a three year old, these ones I was..."

She went on for a few more minutes, going through what she had gone through for each attempt for the feathers, trying out things she had read online but she hadn't been able to replicate anything– and now there was no way she'd have time to figure this out because she had put it off and her design was going to be ruined, and she wouldn't just not win but fail horribly and Gabriel would be so disgusted by the hat that he would ban her from all future competitions and the entire fashion world would hear of it and hate her and she would never become a designer and her life and career was over–

Plagg's ears were flat against his head as she ranted on. "Why not use a real feather?"

Marinette looked at him with wide eyes, like how dare he interrupt her ramblings about how it was the end of the world. "What?"

"Um, use a real feather?" He repeated. "Doesn't take any work, it's not fake, and will save you time." He held his paws up dramatically. "Ta-da– nothing to worry about."

"Well, I don't know," Marinette muttered, but as she considered this she seemed to accept the idea. "Well, yes, that would make things so much easier– you're a genius Plagg!"

"Tell that to Tikki, she doesn't seem to believe that– hey!" He suddenly found himself in the girl's arms, being brought into a hug. He struggled against it, but before he could even protest she pressed a small kiss to his head. He phased through her grasp, bolting away. "What do you think you're doing?!"

"I just need to find the perfect feather, gah, but I don't have time to go out, I need to finish this hat..." She took at him, and his eyes widened.

"Nuh-uh, no way!" He said, crossing his paws.

Marinette scooted her chair towards him. "Please, Plagg?" She asked. "I really need this feather and I can't do this on my own..."

"Get one of your friends to find you one! I'm a kwami, not an errand boy!"

"It was your idea–"

"An idea for less work– not to make more work for me!"

"I'll get you a whole week's worth of camembert..."

Plagg couldn't help but look back at her, even though he knew exactly what she was doing, but his mouth had started watering at the word 'camembert'. He saw the grin on her face, but he needed to know more. "...Go on..."

"It would be from my own pocket money," she said. "But I'd buy you enough of your favorite– a whole week of just camembert, no last minute cheddar or 'subpar' brie..."

"Just for the record cheddar and brie are amazing!" He snapped, turning his head away. "Camembert just happens to be so amazing that nothing can compare to it." He flicked his tail. "So... I get you the feather and you get me the cheese?"

Marinette grinned, holding up her sketchbook, showing him all the feathers she had drawn. "It needs to be this big, okay? Anything smaller won't work, and anything bigger will be way over the top– though I doubt you'll find anything too big. I need the feather to be a flight feather, and it has to be a nice one, not broken or ruffled or anything, okay?"

He stared at the picture, wondering why he was agreeing to this again, but yet he could already taste the cheese on his tongue. She did buy him camembert, but it wasn't as often as he'd like. He couldn't pass up this opportunity. "Yeah, yeah, I got this, kid."

"It needs to be a feather exactly like this, or else the deal is off."

Plagg groaned. "Fine..."

She beamed. "Thank you Plagg, you're a lifesaver!"

He grumbled in reply, but phased through the wall and out into the sun. He stretched a bit, knowing that the Guardian wouldn't be happy with him leaving his holder... but the idea made him grin at the same time. He wasn't running some little errand, he was going under the Guardian's and Tikki's noses! The Black Cat stretched out, before diving down towards a flock of pigeons, determined to find the perfect feather.


"You're getting reckless, Master," Nooroo said, watching as his holder paced the dark room. He didn't agree with what they were doing, but he couldn't help but try to guide his latest holder as he watched her frustrated strides. "You should be patient–"

"I am being patient!" Monarch snapped at him.

"You almost sent out a champion who was upset about a cat chasing pigeons," Nooroo replied. "Pigeons, Master."

"Well, I didn't, did I?" She growled.

Nooroo shrivered. "Master? Are you feeling alright? Are you–?"

"I. Am. Fine." She growled, eyes flashing at him. "How many times must I repeat that to all of you?" Her voice rose with each word. "I know what I am doing! This constant pestering will get us nowhere!"

The kwami's heart was racing. "Master," he whispered. "Perhaps you should take off the Miraculous for a time."

She closed her eyes, hand clutching the brooch on her chest. She sneered, but seemed calmer than before. "Perhaps you are right. Do not put it on until I have a proper plan."

He let out a sigh. "That is wise, Master."

She said nothing else to him, simply removing the Miraculous from her. Nooroo felt his connection to the world being cut off, him turning into a burst of energy as she renounced her claim to it. Nooroo knew it wouldn't be long until he was summoned again, but for now he was glad his powers would remain dormant.


"Well, let's see what you got," Alya said, reaching for the hat box, which Marinette held out of reach with a slight smirk. "Oh, come on– I had to put up with your panicked texts last night!"

"Price of being friends with me," she replied, sticking out her tongue playfully. "I was down to the wire, of course I panicked."

"All turned out fine though, just like I said."

Marinette held the hat box close to her. "Making a hat is a lot different from clothes, but honestly I'm feeling really good about this one."

"And if you win your piece will be in an actual fashion show."

"A Gabriel fashion show," Marinette said excitedly. Her piece being featured in an actual show of her favorite designer– that was like something from her daydream. She couldn't help but let out a small squeal, and she heard a small chuckle. She opened her eyes, and found Adrien looking at her with a smile. She smiled in reply, sitting up slightly as she laid her hat box on her desk.

"Glad you see you're entering," Adrien said, sliding into his seat next to Nino, grinning. "I'd love to wear a Marinette original for the show."

"When is this show even going to be?" Alya asked. "Because I want to buy tickets if my girl's hat is going to be in it."

"You're saying that like you're so sure Dupain-Cheng is going to win," Chloe said, louder than necessary as she entered the classroom. "Just because she can sew doesn't mean it's anything special."

Marinette opened her mouth to counter, but Adrien beat her to it. "I definitely think Marinette has the best chance of winning out of the class. The scarf she made me is awesome."

"And that's coming from someone who has to wear fancy nice clothes twenty-four seven!" Alix called.

Chloe wrinkled her nose, making her way to her seat. Alya looked like she was about to say something, but Adrien was quick to turn the conversation back to before. "The show is scheduled for June, right after the school year ends."

Alya gave a low whistle. "That's a ways off."

"You'd be surprised how far things are scheduled in advance," Adrien said with a laugh, rubbing at the back of his neck. "This contest was actually done on what Father would consider short notice, but I think he wanted to do something involved with my school?"

"At least we'll finally get to meet this mystery man," Nino said.

"Don't count on it," Adrien muttered.

"Isn't he supposed to be judging the hats?"

"He does basically everything over video calls nowadays," Adrien said, shifting. "Nathalie will probably be the one here in his place. He hasn't really left the house since... since Mom disappeared."

He said the last word quietly, though those nearby all heard it. No one said anything, because just about everyone in Paris had heard about when Emilie Agreste had suddenly vanished, and Adrien had never directly mentioned her disappearance before in their time together in school. The most he'd ever bring up was a mention of his mother with a smile, and usually would change topics just as quickly.

Their little group was silent as class began, and Marinette looked down at Adrien in worry as he scribbled down notes without much thought. Usually he was one of the most eager in class, and clearly just thinking about what might have happened to his mother weighed heavily on him.

She flipped open to a new page of her notebook, scribbling down a few doodles alongside some puns she had heard Crimson make– both of them adored puns just a little too much in her opinion– before ripping it out and sliding the paper over Adrien's shoulder as Miss Bustier had her back to the class to write on the chalkboard. Adrien looked down at the paper, letting out a small snort at the cheesy jokes, before sliding it under his own notes as Miss Bustier turned back towards the class once more.

Marinette let out a slight sigh, glad to see Adrien as his normally cheery self once more.


Gabriel Agreste 'showed up' in just the manner Adrien had predicted– over a video call on a tablet which was held by his assistant– who Marinette now knew was Nathalie. It was kind of funny, because she had seen pictures of Nathalie before by Gabriel's side, and had heard plenty of Nathalie through Adrien, but had never put two and two together until now. Nathalie was just as stoic as she was in all the photos Marinette had seen of her, face neutral and unmoving as she held up the tablet so Gabriel could see everyone. The only change of expression she had was when Adrien approached her, her gaze softening the slightest as she gave the boy a nod.

Marinette didn't want to be rude to her competition– but a majority of the hats entered hadn't been done that well, many of those having been made by various fans of Adrien. They didn't even seem dejected about being rejected, merely giggling as they watched Adrien try on their hats, others trying to get a picture– but a glare from Adrien's bodyguard was usually more than enough to stop them. Gabriel didn't even bother noting the fact that those designs hadn't been done seriously, just openly giving the harsh criticisms he was known for.

"You were given the measurements of the model's head, yet it is quite clear that you did not even bother to use them."

"This is not a derby hat, and I am having my doubts if it even resembles a hat."

"This contest did now allow for using another hat as a base; I recognize Mme Bisset's work anywhere."

Marinette couldn't help but feel slightly weak in the knees as they reached her hat, because even though she had worked hard and put in true effort, there was nothing stopping him from hating her hat for the design alone. And as that was what she prided herself on, she feared that response the most. As Adrien slipped it on his nose crinkled slightly, and her panic surged, wondering what she had done wrong.

Gabriel just nodded slowly on camera. "Finally, something of possible quality, and meeting the basic requirements. You will move on with the others that actually put in effort."

She let out a sigh at this, Adrien giving her a thumbs up as he and Nathalie moved on to the next one, and she smiled in reply.

There turned out to only be three hats that Gabriel deemed to be good enough not to be thrown out immediately, Marinette's being one of them. She didn't know the other two students that well, none of them were in her class and both of them were in another grade. Gabriel took much more time as he looked over the hats once more, asking them to hold them up so he could look at them from different angles, this time not commenting on anything, giving them no hints on what he thought of their creation– leaving her anxiety to only rise.

"What is that extra embroidering?" Gabriel asked as he got to hers once more. "The gold, near the base of the brim."

"That's my signature, sir," Marinette said.

"Signature?"

She turned her hat upside down, what looked to be a fancy stitching now showing her name written in a looping cursive. "I try to sign all of my work in some form, sir, to show that it's mine, but I try to keep it subtle as well..."

She trailed off, wondering if perhaps she shouldn't have done it for this project. Was it wrong to have her name on something that could end up in one of his shows? Something too bold for her to do? The doubts ran through her head, but Gabriel just simply nodded at this explanation. Not exactly approval, but nothing condemning either. No more words were said, Nathalie taking the tablet to the front of the small group so the designer could address them all.

"You three certainly were more impressive of the bunch, and some of your skill was more than what I was expecting from school-age children," Gabriel said. "Clearly you made use of your time, followed all instructions given, and gave me something worth my time to look at. The winner will be number three, as the hat is both well made and looks aesthetically pleasing as well."

There was no dramatic pause, no lead up to announcing the winner, the man just stating it clear and plainly. Marinette, who had been listening very intently, almost missed the fact that the winner had just been announced. Everyone's gazes shifted towards her as she processed this fact she realized that she was number three, meaning that she had won.

"M-me?" She said, eyes widening.

"Yes." Gabriel replied, tone unshifting, and a smile broke over her face.

"Awesome job, Marinette," Adrien said warmly, taking the hat from her and sliding it onto his head. He grinned proudly at her, before his nose crinkled up as it had before– the teen letting out a loud sneeze. He looked at her sheepishly, fighting against another sneeze. "Um... this isn't a real feather by chance, is it?"

"Uh, yes?" Marinette said uncertainly.

Another sneeze filled the air, and Adrien carefully placed the hat back on the stand. "S-sorry, I'm allergic to feathers."

Her eyes widened. "I had no idea, Adrien! I'm sorry, I wouldn't have used one if I had known–"

"It's okay, really," he said. "Nothing serious, just a bit annoyin... ah-choo!"

"Well," Gabriel said, interrupting them. "I am afraid that I will not let my son model something with feathers. It will not be efficient nor will I put him through that."

Marinette felt her heart sinking at these words, and Adrien turned towards the tablet. "Wait, Father, that's not fair, you already said that she won–"

"You are the model, Adrien, you do not make these calls," Gabriel said simply. "You will not be wearing that hat."

Marinette swallowed. "Um, sir, can I say something?"

Nathalie turned the tablet back towards Marinette, who was digging through her backpack for her sketchbook.

"I wasn't originally planning on using a real feather, but I didn't have enough time to figure out how to make a synthetic one to my liking." She opened to her sketches of several different feathers. "However if the show isn't going to be for months, I think that is plenty of time for me to make a synthetic feather that will both match my design that you picked, and be something that won't affect Adrien's allergies."

Her heart was pounding, wondering if she was a bit of out of line with this, but she was not giving up her winning spot that easily.

She was startled when Gabriel Agreste smiled. It was not a warm smile, more humored than anything, and he nodded approvingly. "Exactly the response I was looking for."

"Um, sir?"

"You most certainly have the hands of a laboring hat maker, young lady. You are taking this seriously, and in the actual field of fashion one has to be prepared to make alterations for their models, oftentimes without any notice. Whether it be from incorrect measurements, or working with a new model altogether. I will have to approve of how this new feather looks with the hat before it will be in my show, but you may take your time to design one that you feel is appropriate. Adrien will model your hat at my first summer show, and I shall design a suit to go with your hat. Congratulations, miss...?"

"Marinette," Adrien said, laying a hand on her shoulder.

"Marinette," Gabriel finished. "I am afraid that is all the time I have. Nathalie, see that Adrien gets home safely."

"Of course, sir," Nathalie said, ending the call.


"Spots off," Crimson Beetle whispered as he landed in the alley, a burst of pink light flaring as his transformation fell. Tikki came flying out of his earrings, looking split as she hovered there in front of him. Adrien pulled a mint from his pocket for her, knowing that the kwami wasn't keen on their powers being used for personal things, but that she also did not like being cooped up any more than he did.

She phased into his pocket as he headed out, double checking the address Alya had texted him– this was the apartment complex she had told him. He hurried up towards the entrance as swiftly as he could, not needing a stray fan to catch sight of him and for it to get back to his father somehow. He didn't sneak out often except for when an akuma struck, but in his mind this was just as important.

Nino was the one to open the door as he knocked, his best friend grinning at him. "Dude, you made it!"

"I hope I'm not late?" He asked as he was let into the Cesaire apartment. Nino just grinned, leading him to the main room– where everyone else was gathered.

There was Alya, Marinette, and Aurore on one couch, chattering away. On a recliner nearby were two young girls, who he recognized as Alya's little sisters from pictures she had shown. Ivan and Mylene were sitting on the ground, the latter sitting on Ivan's lap. Max, Rose, and Juleka were sitting on the couches behind them, and in the doorway across the room stood a woman that Adrien recognized from the field trip to Chloe's hotel.

"Hello, Mme Cesaire," he said as Nino led him into the room. Marlena smiled at him, but the poor woman looked overwhelmed. Alya said it had taken some time to convince her mom that the akumatized victims weren't as dangerous as the media portrayed them, but seeing that at first even Alya herself hadn't been on board he could see why that would have been hard. But now that several of those victims were sitting in her house it seemed that she had come to understand the truth.

Tonight was the night Alya was going to post the video and the article, which is why they had all gathered here for the moment. They knew the reception could go either way, but they all had high hopes that this could make some sort of difference.

Adrien joined Nino next to Ivan and Mylene, everyone lightly chattering with each other. Out of everyone here, it was Max and Rose who looked the most uneasy– but Max had been recruited to help with editing the video, and wherever Juleka went, Rose did as well– and Juleka was someone in the class who didn't seem frightened of the akumas at all, whether transformed or not.

"Hey, listen up, you flyweights," a voice called, causing all the conversation to die down. Alya closed her eyes for a moment, and everyone looked towards the doorway to see a very muscular woman standing there, arms crossed.

"Nora..." Alya muttered, but here sister just gave her a grin before looking back at everyone else.

"So Alya here is an idiot," Nora said, jerking to thumb at her sister, causing the twins to giggle from their seat. "As if running after akumas weren't bad enough she's decided to stick her neck out for all of you," she glowered at them, as if they had all been akumatized– and as if that were their fault. "So if this vid of hers fails and Als becomes the target of bad press it's all of you who's going to pay."

"Nora," Alya said again, standing on her feet. "I already told you that I'm willingly doing this, and you leave them alone– they've been through enough as it is."

"I know, I saw the clips you got," Nora rolled her eyes. "Psh, if one of those stupid butterflies got me I wouldn't let anyone say a word about it– one good punch would keep everyone quiet. Anyways, if this turns against her then you all better make sure nothing happens to her," her eyes locked on Ivan. "You, Muscles, your new job at school is to make sure no one says anything bad to my sister– got it?"

"Of course," Ivan said softly, arms around Mylene as she shrank back from Nora's presence.

"Don't worry," Adrien said. "We won't let anything happen to Alya, or anyone."

Nora let out a laugh. "Oh, and what are you able to do, Model Boy?"

Transform into a hero. He thought to himself, but he didn't want to raise any more conflict, so he just stayed quiet. At his side Nino did the same, looking slightly intimidated by Nora. Alya seemed to have had enough at this point, standing up and shooing her older sister out of the room.

"This is my party," she said. "Go punch someone or something, I don't care."

Nora laughed, picking up Alya as if she weighed nothing, walking over to where the twins were sitting. They giggled, scrambling onto the armrests as Nora collapsed down into the recliner, before climbing onto their sister as Alya tried to get out of Nora's grasp.

"No way," Nora said. "You've been working on this vid non-stop, I want to see what your hard work came to." She cast one more glance around the room. "Besides, don't want to let any creeps in."

"These are my friends– now let me up!"

"You wanted to invite creepy men here too."

"I wanted to invite all the akumatized victims– and don't call them creepy! Besides, Mom already said no to no one we know, so they're not coming– oh let me up already!" Alya finally was able to stand as Nora let her go, muttering under her breath as she headed up to the front of the room by the TV, before smiling as if nothing was wrong. "I'm glad everyone was able to make it, thank you for coming."

"Wouldn't miss it," Marinette said.

"Got to make sure you did this all right up to the end," Aurore replied, causing Alya to roll her eyes in return.

"Anyways, as you all know, I finally got my newest project for the blog all finished– special thank you to Max for helping me edit it all, and to Nino for the sweet music in the background, and to Marinette for creating the thumbnail– and for coming up with the idea in the first place! Adrien was there during the nearly all of the filming, acting both as a cameraman and coach, and finally a thank you to all the akumatized victims that were willing to share their stories and to everyone else here that's supporting us." Alya let out a long breath, before pulling out her phone. "Anyways, figured we could all watch the final product together before it goes live on the blog, and make sure it's showing the exact message we want to send."

"It's going to be awesome," Marinette said as Alya turned on the TV, taking a moment to connect her phone to it, an image of the BeetleBlog showing up on screen.

Adrien was interested to see the blog from the admin's perspective, surprised at how many unpublished posts she had sitting in her drafts. He tried to read the titles, slightly surprised at how many seemed to be about Lady Noire, but she switched over to the unpublished 'Akumatized Victims Speak Out', the video taking up the entire TV as she turned it to fullscreen.

"I was able to get all eight akumatized people to accept an interview," Alya said. "Some like Mylene don't want their name or faces shown, so don't go saying who they are if you know them." She hesitated. "Well, um, is everyone ready?"

"Just hit play already," Aurore said.


Adrien had been there during as many interviews as his schedule would allow, but seeing the final product was something else. It was very different from the other videos Alya posted of the akuma fights, where the most she would do was make a few cuts before posting, but with everyone pitching in this one looked nothing but professional.

"You don't remember anything after Monarch transforms your body," Ivan said onscreen, his voice low and gravely. "It's like you're disconnected from reality, one moment the butterfly touches you, and next the heroes are there telling you it's over."

Adrien regretted not talking to Ivan more after they deakumatized him– but in the moment he hadn't known what he would have to go through.

"My mom is amazing," Ivan continued, smiling softly. "She never once seemed afraid of me, and when fear started spreading she did everything she could to keep me from it. I was the first one akumatized... and so there was no one to turn to. At school people avoided me, and barely anyone tried talking to me. I kinda feel bad for avoiding those who did try, but I think at that point I was too used to people approaching me with bad intentions."

It was a bit strange to see Ivan talk for so long as he continued on, as he usually never said more than needed– but right now everything he could offer was needed.

When Caleb appeared on screen next– the one who had been Cameraman– it was clear that the sequence of the interviews was being ordered in the same order that the akumas had appeared. He looked very different than when he had first been akumatized. His clothes were worn, and he had grown a scruffy beard that looked as if it could use a trim.

"My job?" Caleb scoffed as Alya asked what had happened. "I was fired– unrightfully so– before I even got hit by that akuma, and I most certainly didn't get it back afterwards." He took a long sip of the coffee Alya had bought him before the interview. "Especially after Cameraman kidnapped my boss."

That had been something Adrien had advised all of the akumatized victims on– referring to their akumatized form as another individual. It was important to create distance from them and the akuma, and make sure the audience did the same after they saw this video. Who they were when akumatized wasn't them– and that was the most important thing to get across.

"Was evicted from my apartment about a week after it all happened," Caleb continued. "Crashed at my sister's for a bit as I looked for somewhere else to move to, but nothing was accepted. Neither were any job applications." He snorted. "Her husband kicked me out after a while, so I left; didn't want to cause my sister any more problems. Been draining my savings much quicker than I ever wanted– but I'm glad I actually had some!"

The rest of his time was focused on his current living situation, with some pictures being shown on screen. Adrien found it interesting that Alya had cut out a lot about them talking about their akumatized forms even though they had the footage for it. It was a good call in his opinion, as this was about what these people were going through, but he had thought that Alya would cling to anything that could enhance the story.

Aurore was nothing but harsh when it came to the questions she was giving– holding nothing back.

"My brother runs from the room when he sees me, my mom won't talk to me, and don't think I haven't noticed how much overtime you've been taking at work, Dad," Aurore glared directly into the camera. "I usually eat in my room nowadays, dinner isn't that much fun when it's just your mom sitting across from you not even making eye contact. At least I'm not grounded for looking at my phone when I eat now!"

She let out a laugh, though there was honestly nothing funny about her home life.

"Honestly school's the best place to be. We have our own little corner in the lunchroom I've dubbed 'the akuma table'. Nothing like having some fellow outcasts to talk to," she smiled. "It's gotten better though, some other students actually have a brain and realize that whoever Stormy Weather was, she was gone as soon as that stupid butterfly was. Wasn't overnight though, even the great BeetleBlogger was dodgy when she first approached me about this interview."

Adrien was surprised that Alya kept the jab about her in.

From there it was Vincent the stalker who made an appearance, and this was definitely the most edited from the initial interview. But considering that he had tried to paint his actions from even before he was akumatized in an innocent light it was the best call, leaving him to talk mostly about the actual process of akumatization.

"You hear her voice, you know, before the butterfly takes over," Vincent said. "She acts like she's talking to you– but trust me when I say she ain't. You aren't yourself in those moments. I have memories, but they feel like the memories of a stranger."

The screen was dark for the beginning of the next clip, as Mylene had not wanted her face on camera.

"She... she messes with your emotions," Mylene's voice was soon accompanied by footage of the Horrificator attack, the camera panning across the slime covered school. "When the akuma butterfly touches you... it enhances them. I was really scared when everything happened, and that fear became all I cared about. It wasn't like I became super-scared though? But it was like my fear was all that mattered when Monarch spoke... and how much I didn't like it."

"What exactly did Monarch say to you?" Alya asked.

"...She told me that she would make fear my strength. And I guess that's what she did to my akumatized form, as my friends tell me that Horrificator would feed off of fear." You could hear Mylene swallow. "The thing is, though, I remember all of that before the magic took control, but even then I wasn't in control– because what I said to Monarch was something I didn't want to say. A part of me was scared of her... but that part of me couldn't speak in the moment."

The screen remained dark as the next akuma victim spoke as well, though Adrien recognized him as the akuma that had woken him and Lady Noire up in the middle of the night. School had been miserable the next day, though he just had been grateful that no one had discovered him out of bed in the night; he was pretty sure that he would have been pulled from school immediately if they had.

"Laws are being broken," Alec said when it came his turn, the man staring right into the camera. "The custody arrangement with my daughter isn't being honored, and I have been as good as fired from my job despite being under contract. And doing nothing to deserve it."

The screen faded from the video of him as he continued talking, instead showing photos of his apartment door, which was plastered with papers. It was hard to read most of the signs and messages, but those that could be read showed nothing but hateful and fearful messages.

"I think I got it a bit worse than some others," Alec continued. "My face is known to the public, so when I go out I'm recognized fairly quickly. Even grocery shopping has become a problem, and it's just easier to order things in."

The last victim interviewed was one that Adrien was surprised that Alya was able to add to the video in the short amount of time they had– as she had only been akumatized days before. She was a slightly older woman, who had been much more mobile in her akumatized form, who spoke to Alya with nothing but fondness.

"It was sweet of you to stop by," she said, smiling into the camera. "My kids haven't been answering my calls. I hope they're all doing well."

"What was it like when the akuma butterfly came to you?" Alya asked.

"Oh, it was the strangest thing ever. Like watching something play out through someone else's eyes. Looking back I didn't like anything she said, but yet in the moment it's like you have no choice but to agree." She let out a laugh. "Like the stories of sirens, how sailors can't fight the calls when they sing."

"And how do you feel now, looking back?"

"Still honestly don't see how that thing could have been me," she said, gesturing to the photo of her akumatized-self. "Don't remember a thing, and if I could actually move like that it would be amazing."

From there the video once again looped through all of those who had been akumatized, speaking of their akumatized selves. It was done swiftly, the moment they said how they felt nothing when looking at the images it would switch to the next person, speaking how the intentions of the akumatized beings were far beyond anything they felt.

"I miss my classmates," Ivan said with a sad smile. "But they're slowly coming around. Monarch's left her mark on this city, but I won't let her leave her mark on me."

"I don't miss my job, but I do miss the security of one." Caleb said, draining the last of his coffee. "You never know when everything's going to fall apart."

"I would say I miss my family," Aurore stated with a shrug. "But if this is how they're going to treat me when something goes wrong, then I don't know."

"I wish I could go out again," Vincent sighed. "Take pictures, enjoy Paris once more."

"I just don't like seeing Dad take so much undeserved blame because of what Monarch did to me," came Mylene's voice, the screen going dark.

"Akumas are going to keep coming. I feel our city needs to either heal and accept, or else we're going to become divided."

"I want to see my little girl again," Alec said, eyes locked right onto the camera.

"Too much negativity gets us nowhere," the older woman said. "Moving forward is the only way towards progress."


Alya stood up as the video ended, looking out at everyone. "Um, well– do you think it's ready to be published?"

"That was perfect," Marinette said with a smile.

"I'm happy with it," Aurore replied.

"I predict that this will gain swift traction in the media," Max said. "There has been a growing interest in those who have been akumatized– and while it has not been a positive one, the fact that you were able to interview all eight will not be something ignored."

Rose was leaning up against Juleka, looking at Aurore with wide eyes. "Does your family really not talk to you?"

The blonde shrugged. "I don't blame my brother; he's young and Stormy Weather wasn't exactly kind to him."

"Honestly, Alya, I'm really impressed," Adrien said, smiling. "You included things I feel other reporters wouldn't, and left out things others might have included just for the drama."

"Post it," Nino said with a nod. "No hesitation."

"You heard him," Marinette said with an encouraging smile. "Post it."

"You're going to crush those big-timers," Nora said with a grin. "And if anyone says otherwise they can deal with me."

Alya smiled back, before turning her attention to her phone. A few taps later and she posted, a small ring coming from Adrien's phone to alert him that the BeetleBlog had been updated. Nora let out a whoop, which was joined in by a few others.

Adrien hesitated for a moment as he pulled up the blog, before copying the link. If this article didn't go the way they wanted it... he knew his father and PR team wouldn't be happy with him. But in the moment he didn't care– this was something important, and his name had some weight to it.

He pulled up his Instagram, dropping the link to the video in a post.

[This video is important for everyone to see. Our city needs to make a change. #victimsnotvillains #parisheroes #akumas #adrienagreste #crimsonbeetle #ladynoire #paris.]

He debated tagging himself at first since this wasn't really about him in any, but he knew he had a pretty active hashtag with plenty of fans, and he wasn't going to turn down a chance for this to be seen. Within several minutes of posting he already had a good handful of likes and a couple of shares, even though there was no way they had watched the video that quickly, but it meant it would start to reach more people.

There was a slight edge in the room, the knowledge that the video was out there, but it was much too soon for people to have actually watched it, meaning there was a strange limbo of knowing that it could be seen, but unable to get any feedback on its reception. Marinette tried to break the tension by bringing out a box of macarons from her bakery. She offered the first one to Alya, who didn't even notice as she hunched over her phone, constantly refreshing the page.

"Thank you, Mari," Adrien said as Marinette passed the box around, selecting a pink one. She smiled at him, before turning her attention back to Alya.

He was only able to take one bite of the macaron before slipping it into his pocket for Tikki, knowing she'd appreciate the sugary treat. She didn't complain about what he could offer her with his diet, but she had a sweet tooth and he wasn't always able to get access to her favorites– usually resorting to mints and fruits while knowing she'd rather have pastries and candies.

"First comment!" Alya suddenly cried, launching herself from her seat. All eyes turned towards her. "Guys, it's a positive one– we got a good one!"

"Let's hope it stays that way," Ivan said softly.