Previously on Destruction...

Gabriel didn't tear his eyes away from the window he looked out of, "It's about one of my son's friends. Her name is Marinette. She almost died a few days ago."

The butterfly kwami was silent. He didn't know what to say. The least he could do was give his master company as he stood there deep in thought.

~҉҉~҉҉~҉҉{҉҉ ҉҉}҉҉~҉҉~҉҉~҉

As Alya made her way back to her home classroom with Detective Crow following her, her mind replayed the interview she had with those two EU officials. What did they know about her best friend Lila Rossi? Absolutely nothing. They didn't know what they were talking about. They must have gotten her mixed up with another Lila or something like that. And what they said about her journaling skills really got on her nerves. It was a surprise she hadn't gotten akumatized yet.

It came as a surprise to her that there was no Ladybug or Chat Noir roaming the rooftops of Paris for the past couple of nights. No Hawkmoth akumatizing anyone. No Mayura amokitizing anything either.

The dark-skinned girl clenched both of her fists. As far as Alya knew, the Lila the EU officials spoke about was nothing like the one she knew about. Lila was a sweet girl who was doing spectacular things. Things that none of her other classmates could live up to. As for Marinette, Alya didn't think it was right of her to bash Lila for her accomplishments. Yeah, Marinette had done a lot of good as well, but that didn't mean she needed to be rude to Lila because she was doing better than her.

"Let your classmate Juleka Couffaine, know that she's the next one, alright?" Crow gave her a gentle smile.

Alya walked into the classroom quietly and slowly walked up the stairs and let Juleka know she was next to be interviewed. She watched as Juleka nodded and left the classroom. It was now time for Alya to resume her studies. She whispered to Lila, "What page are we on?"

"Five hundred three," she replied.

"Thanks." the brunette found she couldn't concentrate at all. She looked at the clock. Seemingly, she felt as if time was just too slow. Alya didn't want to disrupt the class by confronting Lila about anything. She glanced at the girl sitting next to her. It looked like she was really nervous about something. So, she put her hand on Lila's shoulder, "Hey girl, everything's going to be okay. I'm sure they're just here because they want to make this place a safer place."

"I'm not nervous about them, Alya. I'm nervous about Marinette returning to school to finish the job," she whispered.

"What do you mean by 'finish the job'?"

"Well, before Marinette tried to kill herself, she told me she'd be taking me with her if she didn't succeed."

"What?!"

"Alya, please. We are in the middle of class." Ms. Bustier gave her a stern look.

"Lila said Marinette threatened her before she tried to kill herself!"

There were murmurs among the students. Most of the girls gasped while Chloe rolled her eyes. The boys looked really uncomfortable to say anything.

"Then report that to Detective Crow when Juleka comes back."

"But threatening someone is a crime!"

Adrien stood up from his seat, "You know, Alya," he began. "I thought you would have gained some common sense after Marinette tried to take her own life. Guess I've been mistaken."

"Common se-"

"I'm not going to repeat myself. So, I'm going to say this once and only once. If you keep defending Lila, I'll make your life a living Hell." the blond gathered his things and left the classroom.

Once he left, the classroom erupted into a massive argument that Ms. Bustier couldn't control.

.

In the case file that revolves around Lila Rossi, there only contains a single recording for victim number five. The name of victim number five is Twyla Davis. She was about two years older than Lila Rossi until she too took her own life. The following recording contains content that may be triggering to some viewers. Viewer discretion is advised.

This recording is entirely vocal.

Lila: What are you talking about? I never said that.

Twyla: I know you never said anything like that online, but I have it all on my phone.

Lila: Poor girl. You must be so delusional to hurt me. Listen here, sweetheart, it's not going to work. I may be two years younger than you, but I can easily take you out easy peasy. I suggest you back down.

Twyla: You raped my best friend's boyfriend. You said it yourself.

Lila: He's the one who raped me.

Twyla: Under normal circumstances, rape victims don't come out and cry about someone who raped them. If you end up going to the police, I know you'll have holes in your stories. The followers you have now will end up falling apart and then what?

Lila: Oh, they won't ever catch on. Everyone likes what I tell them. There's no point in trying to sway anyone. When the girl cries wolf, they all come running, but when a guy cries wolf, no one believes him. They only believe him to be a fuck boy.

Twyla: You're sick, you know that?

Lila: I'm really not. I just like seeing everyone around me suffer.

Twyla: I may not be the person who will be your downfall, but you'll end up behind bars without a single person serving you hand and foot.

Lila: We'll see about that.

The recording ends here.

.

Interviewing Juleka had been a bust. She was too shy and they just couldn't get too much out of her. Actually, neither of them could get anything out of her at all. Crow observed how guilty she looked when Blackmire brought up the question about what she thought about Marinette. She appeared to be quite devastated and it also appeared she wasn't at all disappointed in her like Alya had been when the both of them had interviewed them.

Crow was escorting Juleka back to class.

As for Blackmire, she noticed an angry blond walk past the classroom where they were conducting interviews. She got up from where she sat and opened the classroom door. "Mr. Agreste?" she called out to him.

He turned around to face her.

"You're angry. Would you like to talk about it?"

He hesitated for a moment, "I don't feel comfortable talking in the presence of another student. Maybe another time?"

"After school?"

He nodded and then turned around and walked down the stairs of the school out of her sight.

"Mylene Harple is here," Crow announced.

"Right, right. Come in." Blackmire said in a warm voice. She opened the door for the student and her partner who both walked in and sat down. "How are you doing today, Ms. Harple?"

Mylene looked down at her lap. "I'm doing okay."

"I'm sure you must be upset about Ms. Dupain-Cheng attempting to take her own life. If you were a close friend to her, I'm sorry you have to deal with the outcome of all of this."

"I... she..." Just like Juleka, she too also had a guilty look on her face. "I think it was because of me..."

"What makes you say that?" Blackmire questioned.

"It's just... well,... Ever since Lila came around, Marinette has been nothing, but mean to her. Lila said Marinette was bullying her for all of her achievements and Alya tried to stop her, but I didn't even think of getting in between them. Tell me, why did she try to end her own life when she was awful to Lila?"

"I'll answer your question once you answer mine. Did Lila ever say she had gotten beat up by Ms. Dupain-Cheng?"

"I... yes. But what does that have to do with my question?"

"Have you seen any bruises from Ms. Rossi?"

"No. She tried to intimate bruises with makeup, but it looked so fake that I didn't want to bring that up with Alya..." A lightbulb seemed to shatter in the girl's mind. Her eyes widened as puzzle pieces started to come together with one by one. "That bitch!" she cried out. "H-how could she?..." She buried her head into her arms and began sobbing.

Crow quietly pushed a box of tissues her way and returned to writing down notes.

Blackmire knew how learning the truth was harsh. She didn't want to believe her daughter had taken her own life and here she was fighting to bring her justice. She wasn't going to get revenge because that kind of thing wasn't the answer to solve this case. "People like Lila don't care what kind of harm they bring to others."

"Marinette was never the cold-hearted monster Lila and Alya described her to be... Lila's been the monster all along... I'm so stupid for not being able to see this..."

"You're not stupid. You were caught up in the loop of things."

Mylene looked up at Blackmire as she took a tissue from the tissue box and dried her tears. "I'm terribly sorry for the breakdown. I'm usually not like this. I just... I can't believe this..."

"I understand. Shall we conduct this interview properly from this point?"

Mylene nodded and the proper questioning began.