06/25/24
0 Reviews, 8 Favs, 9 Follows
The next day, Lila is at home, pretending she is visiting London and is video chatting with the London poster behind her to look convincing for everyone to think she's in London. Marinette of course knew she was pretending. Adrien can tell Lila is lying about it, plus, he checked the weather in London and it was said to have severe thunderstorms, and judging by Lila's background in the video chat, it was as if the background looked like wallpaper to make it more convincing. He wonders why his father chose her to model without permission or training, almost like Gabriel likes bad people. Marinette was staying quiet, knowing Lila would cause trouble if she spoke up.
"You seem quiet, Marinette. Oh, I forgot to mention I met Felix and I heard how he tried to impersonate Adrien to take advantage of you. No need to worry, I wouldn't fall for that doppelganger" Lila lied.
"Right. There are doublegangers everywhere" Marinette replied in a bored tone.
"And Adrien, no need to feel upset. I get it, Felix caused so much damage at the Diamond Dance. I should've been there when I had the chance" Lila lied, knowing that she wasn't invited because Gabriel never did.
"I'm not in the mood, Lila" Adrien didn't wanna hear it.
"Dude, she's being supportive of you," Nino said.
"But that doesn't mean she has to bring up my cousin pretending to be me" Adrien criticized.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I feel bad. I didn't know you cut ties with Felix" Luka pretended to feel sorry.
"Excuse me. I need some air" Adrien said, not wanting to throw a tantrum as he went outside.
Marinette excused herself too to make sure he didn't get akumatized. She knew how lucky he was that he was never akumatized for nearly the whole school year.
"I can't believe she is pretending again. The weather in London doesn't match at all" Adrien said to Marinette.
"I know, the thunder weather in London," Marinette said.
"How can our friends easily believe that without checking their facts? The daylight didn't highlight her face" Adrien said.
"Yeah. And she is catching on I'm ignoring her" Marinette got worried.
"Let's take a breath. It's like she wants us to get akumatized" Adrien breathes in and out.
Marinette did the same thing, then eavesdrops from what Lila's telling the class next. Adrien could tell something was up by the look on her face.
"She's going against us. Just like she framed me to get me expelled. She's controlling everyone's beliefs just like Monarch controls everyone's negative emotions. She even manipulated Kagami to get akumatized twice convincing her to believe I'm the bad person" Marinette realized that Lila is doing more than just lying, she's manipulating everyone's beliefs.
"I'm glad Kagami's on our side now," Adrien said. Marinette listened until she heard Lila bring her name up.
Unfortunately, they had to return to the classroom or get in trouble for it, which they already headed inside.
"Oh, Marinette. As soon as I get back, maybe I can hand you London fashion magazines as a souvenir" Lila said, trying to get everyone to be convinced she's a nice person while she waits for Marinette's reaction.
"Wonderful but I don't need magazines for inspiration for my fashion. But thanks" Marinette heads to her seat.
"Alright then" Lila shrugs.
She felt defeated again that Marinette was more aware of her schemes. She's gonna have to 'come back from London' to make sure Marinette loses all her friends permanently but lying to Adrien is a challenge because he ended his friendship with her after finding out what she almost did to Marinette.
"Well see you all soon," Lila said before hanging up.
The class feels upset with Adrien and Marinette for embarrassing Lila by walking out of the classroom. Even Miss Bustier too who just wants to be the best teacher here, especially after going through pregnancy for months so she can be the best mom to her baby.
Alya thought that Marinette was again jealous. Nino thought Adrien was just being overprotective of Marinette just to be a perfect boyfriend.
"Come on Dude, aren't you being too defensive of her?" Nino asked.
"You know the history between Marinette and Lila, she's still not over it," Adrien said.
"Girl, Lila is trying to prove how nice she can be," Alya said.
"Nice? Do you think she's trying to impress me by being nice? You have never seen what she does outside of school or on her 'field trips'. You have no idea what she is like. And for the last time, I'm not jealous of her. You never directly saw what she does to me without anyone around" Marinette said before hearing the school bell ring, she left the classroom with Adrien, feeling very upset now that she feared Alya forgetting that Ladybug never lied to anyone but she had seen a lot of things that Alya never saw.
"Guys, come on! Why are you so against Lila?" Nino ran towards them downstairs.
Unfortunately, they don't want to talk about it, no matter how hard they explain their opinions, their friends will always decline it as in believing Lila's facts over theirs.
"Forget it, Nino. You wouldn't understand. If you want to hear us talk, you need to stop declining how we feel" Marinette said.
"Bro, don't make it worse for us. We don't wanna get akumatized and regret something" Adrien said calmly.
"I just wanna hear your opinions," Nino said before dragging them to the boiler room without having their arguments attract attention.
"We already did but you think we are wrong," Marinette said.
"Every time we do, Lila gets more and more persuasive in planning to damage everything. For example, Lila only says things to Alya not because of Ladybug stories, she wants all to herself to be noticed on the Ladyblog over Ladybug and Cat Noir" Marinette explained her theory, "And for the record, Ladybug herself said she's not her best friend" She adds.
"And I was there when Ladybug confronted Lila for her lies in front of me. Lila lied to me about being a descended superhero until I realized the fox necklace was a fake which was never given by her grandmother. Plus, she lied about wanting homework help at my mansion but it was just a lie so she could get inside the mansion to snoop around my room until she got Nathalie and my bodyguard in trouble for that" Adrien explained his experiences with Lila lying to him.
"You all can see how Chloe is a brat all the time which is called bullying but when it comes to Lila, she's only using manipulation to get you all on her side so you can do all the dirty work for her. Just like Monarch manipulating his Akuma victims to do all the work for him while he's in hiding" Marinette explained as an example.
"Okay, this is just going too far, dudes. There's just no evidence to prove Lila is a liar" Nino said in disbelief.
"Really? When she made a lie about being in Steven Spielberg's movies, how come he never made an interview with her nor her name was never in the end credits? Honestly, Nino. Is called checking facts. If people don't verify them, it gets disastrous. You once thought Cat Noir and Alya were in love without fact checking" Marinette said.
"Until Ladybug proved it to me," Nino said.
"And we are trying to prove it to you too but you don't believe us. Nino, I'm not trying to be a perfect boyfriend for Marinette, I'm trying to save you from getting your beliefs crushed or worse, Lila changing you into something you shouldn't be. You have no idea what it's like when Lila constantly touches me in photoshoots and I get very uncomfortable that she doesn't care how I feel. I did not choose her, my father did against everything I say" Adrien said, feeling very angry about it but he calmed down.
Nino just stood there in shock, never seen Adrien this mad before.
"And I listened to how he felt the day when he was gonna travel with Lila around the world, he was never happy about it. He never agreed to it. He never told you all because you only see his image but not his feelings" Marinette said.
"But I never went with her," Adrien said.
"Plus, Lila made Mr. Damocles more convinced she had a 'lying disease' to get me reinstated to school. I don't know why but it was as if she wanted to get me akumatized which I almost did until whatever really happened. On top of that, there's no such thing as a lying disease but what I do know is she's evil and persuasive to hurt people with her lies. Just like she threatened me in the bathroom with no witnesses" Marinette said, wanting to leave now before this argument becomes worse.
"Wait what?" Alya gasps at the last sentence.
"You heard me. And I'm not gonna talk about it because it was traumatizing for what she did to me" Marinette said, dragging Adrien out of here before it gets worse for her anxiety.
"That was a little harsh Marinette," Adrien said.
"It was something I had to let out of my chest," Marinette said.
"Yes, but not like that," Adrien said.
"Adrien, how long have you had your anxiety build up in your bottle every time your father tells you what to do when you don't like it?" Marinette asked.
"A lot of times but I couldn't disobey him" Adrien replied.
"And how many times has he made you cancel your hangouts with me and your friends?" Marinette asked.
"A lot. And if I disobey there's trouble" Adrien said.
"Like the time he grounded you the same day, Lila was a new student? Especially pulling you out of school? Parents don't ground kids by pulling them out of school, Adrien" Marinette reached her home.
"Yes. But nothing will stop us from seeing each other" Adrien said.
"True but with all these akumas interrupting us, it's like Monarch hates romance in Paris. Especially our romantic moments" Marinette kissed his cheek, "And please don't always let your father tell you what to do. Your bodyguard seems supportive of us. He should be the father"
"Yeah, the gorilla. See you tomorrow" Adrien said.
Unaware that across the neighborhood near the park, Lila was spying on them she smirked menacingly that Marinette will meet her soon.
"Oh Marinette, you have no clue what's up my sleeve," She said quietly.
x
At the mansion, Nathalie made sure to promise Emilie to protect Adrien from his father. Ever since he betrayed her for losing the time miraculous, she can see how much madness is building up in him every time he constantly fails with his akumas. Even foolish enough with the times he akumatized Mr. Pigeon again, it was as if Gabriel had never learned the meaning of cooperation. And so far, the cataclysm on his body is killing him slowly, especially foolish to use the snake miraculous to accelerate the spread as it went from months to weeks.
Adrien had a hard time disobeying his father but there were times that he listened to Nathalie's advice in the mansion, he was growing more like himself with his free will against his father.
Right now, Adrien did not like his father's bad cooking but there were times he hid his disgust. At the same time, he worries that Monarch might sense Marinette's negative energy after ranting to Alya today. She came so far in the record to never be akumatized.
"She got one positive spirit," Adrien thought.
"Adrien, you feeling okay?" Nathalie can tell by how he's not eating his food much.
"Yeah, just high school life getting delayed a lot with akumas in the way. I just want a perfect life without that monster terrorizing innocent people" Adrien said, playing with his fork.
"I really wish that monster had some sanity to see sense" Nathalie remembered how insane Gabriel had gone of his obsession. Especially the day with the first Style Queen, he indirectly almost had Adrien killed.
Eventually, Adrien headed to his room to sleep. He did not let his father get the chance to say anything ever since he was beyond cruel to forbid him from being with Marinette. All he does is try to force him to be with Kagami when he doesn't feel any romance with her and neither does she with him.
"Tomorrow's just another day" Plagg ate his cheese.
"Yeah, until Lila pretends to come back from London. I cannot let her frame my princess again. Ever since I ended my friendship with her, there was no remorse in her eyes. Just vengeance and revenge. Or worse, a lot of envy to take credit from everyone until she goes to the next when it's never enough for her" Adrien heads to the bathroom to take a shower to calm his stress.
"She'll just destroy herself" Plagg finished his cheese.
"More like destroy her well-being for sure. I looked up pathological liars and it's definitely not good" Adrien removes his clothes and steps in his shower. Once done he changed to his sleepwear. Brushing his teeth and doodling Marinette on the evaporated mirror.
"Stay positive, Purrincess," He thought.
"You know, you really gotta listen to your lover one of these days. Kids your age have more free will than you. Especially how you never listened to me when I said Lila is a liar and you assume she craves attention but more like she craves to have you as her trophy property" Plagg criticized him while swallowing his cheese.
"Okay, I get it. I was wrong about Lila. Sheesh" Adrien said with his mouth full of toothpaste foam before rinsing it.
"Just warning you about the consequences," Plagg said.
"And I faced the consequences already. The only problem now is Lila hates Ladybug but also hates Marinette. It's like she can't be like them because she's not them" Adrien said.
"And she hates you with Marinette. It's always about her envy in things she wants to take away from and take credit for" Plagg said.
"I just hope her lies don't get worse," Adrien said.
"It's gonna get worse as we know," Plagg said before heading to bed with him, "I guess 'take the high road' was not the best genius move of doing nothing at all" He glared at him.
"Yes, it was a foolish decision" Adrien replied.
"That's another reason why you are bad luck as Cat Noir" Plagg laughed.
"Enough," Adrien said in annoyance before sleeping.