I don't own Miraculous Ladybug.
Based on Mariposa on nobodyfamous on Tumblr and System Restore AU and Good! Lila Lila is actually an old classmate on Adriensaltprompts.
Marinette secretly hates being Ladybug. She hates having to go out and fight in Paris all the time. She hates being forced from the safety of the shadows into the limelight. She hates how Paris always demands perfection from her. She hates Chat Noir and the way he thinks being a hero is all about the spotlight. The sexual harassment didn't help. She hates the way Tikki always tries to make her forgive people and be the better person. But, most of all, she hates how her sweet, little Nooroo is being abused by Hawkmoth.
Marinette hates this world that she is in, thanks to Adrien Agreste/ Chat Noir wishing for a world in which he could be the hero. She misses being Mariposa, the Dealer of Dreams. It had been so fun and so safe. She would send her butterflies to people who have wishes. In exchange, for a simple favor (a roll of expensive fabric, a donation to this charity, support against Andre in his next campaign) here or there, she will grant their wish. Chat Noir and Scarlet Lady were the villains that just do whatever they want, consequences be damned. They proclaimed they were heroes, but it was clear as day that they were the only ones who saw themselves as such.
Over time more and more of the wishes she granted have to do with stopping Chat Noir and Scarlet Lady. She eventually managed to reveal Scarlet Lady to be Chloe Bourgeois. Everyone in Paris was surprised, but not terribly. It matches her spoiled brat attitude. Andre Bourgeois tries to use his position and power as Mayor to protect her. However, another wish puts a quick end to that.
Chat Noir remains on the run. However, several people's desires to capture him allow her to make several Champions at once. They trapped Chat Noir using the Ladybug earrings as bait. Unfortunately, he had managed to get the earrings before they cornered him. As he was about to lose, he snarled "I wished I was the hero." That had triggered the wish.
This new world did have one advantage, Master Fu. As the Guardian, he gives her knowledge of the miraculous. She learns the various potions for power up and more importantly how to return to her real world. She learned that the reason she was sent here was Adrien made the wish because he had the two miraculous. Marinette decided that to fix everything, she would need to get the ring from Chat Noir to make a wish of her own. She needs to make him irritated, so he will let his guard down, so she plots. (She also wants revenge on Adrien for what she had to go through in both timelines.) Also simply demanding he hand over the ring if he doesn't want to be a hero didn't work.
She knew his obsession with her, and his freedom was his Achilles heel. She started by having several new heroes, Viperion, and Ryujin, join the team. Then, she starts to hint that she is more interested in Viperion. It wasn't that hard. She did like Viperion more for his capability, his work ethic, and his polite and tasteful flirting (which was always at the appropriate times and respectful to her.) She nudges the media to report on the relationship between Viperion and Ladybug by telling Alya that a reporter should report on all sides of a story and that it would bring a lot of followers and views if people were arguing about which couple was better. She did the same with Nadia and dropped the same hints to a few other journalists. Thanks to being the Holder of Nooroo, the Kwami of Transmission, she was very good at manipulating the media.
All of this made Chat Noir very angry and jealous. He stopped showing up to fights, which made fights go much faster. She, Viperion, and Ryujin were praised by all of Paris. Chat Noir was pushed to the side and all but forgotten.
Then, she had to deal with Adrien in class. Fortunately for her, Adrien didn't know about Lila. In the original timeline, Lila had been the one to notice Adrien's true nature. Since she travels with her diplomat mother, she knows a lot about the masks people hide behind. Following her advice, the class observed Adrien's behavior and created simulations to see his reactions. It follows the pattern Lila said.
Adrien guilt trips people to make them do things his way or to help him. He blames the victim or pressures them to take the high road. The class made anonymous accounts about Adrien's behavior to get an outside opinion. The general opinion was that Adrien was an enabler and they should be on their guard. The class decides to take the advice and keep Adrien at a distance. They were polite and respectful, but they took everything Adrien said with a shaker grain of salt.
In this new timeline, Marinette decided to do the same. Since Adrien didn't know about Lila, her situation was still the same. In a video chat with Lila, Marinette told her about some of Adrien's behavior. Like before Lila noticed the pattern and informed the class. What happened was the same as before with the class observing and recognizing Adrien's behavior. The class decided on one final test. The entire class (except for Chloe, Sabrina, and Adrien), and come up with a scheme. Lila would be a new student, who would manipulate and turn the class against Marinette. The class would bully Marinette with the sight of Adrien. To explain to their parents and to avoid getting into any sort of trouble, they said that were making a movie. They had legal documents drawn up in case they got in any legal trouble. They also take a lot of behind-the-scenes videos for proof.
Alix and Kim fake beat up Marinette for "bullying" Lila. Adrien saw it and just walked away. As soon as Adrien was out of sight and hearing range, Nino yelled "CUT!" Alix and Kim immediately stop and help Marinette up.
Alya comes up with her phone, playing the scene they just take. "Okay. It looks like we need bruise makeup here, here, and here." She points at various spots on Marinette's body. Jukela starts to apply makeup on those spots. "You may also want to fake a limp." Nathaniel keeps on filming this scene, making sure to get every angle.
An hour later, Marinette confronts Adrien, asking him for help. He just told her that it was her fault, and she should just have shut up. Then, the class would still be her friends.
"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?" Alix screams from behind the wall where she is hiding with the rest of the class. Adrien jumps.
Lila hands Marinette some make-up wipes. "You are so lucky that this is just makeup." Marinette wipes the makeup off.
"What is going on?" Adrien asks.
"A test," Nino said tiredly. "We want to see if you would defend Marinette when she was being bullied. We were hoping that you were a true friend or at least know right from wrong."
"We make up this entire bullying and lying scenario to see how you would react. It seems that you like to take the easy route out, doing what doesn't affect you." Max said, pushing up his glasses.
"In the future, we are just classmates, not friends." Marinette turns and walks off. The rest of the class follows, leaving Adrien alone in the hallway.
Discovering Hawkmoth had been easier than she thought. She just had to pinpoint where the Akuma attacks originated. This gives her a general location to search. She narrowed it down even further by eliminating buildings with businesses and people living in them. (If only she had her butterflies to help her search.) Having the Ladybug Miraculous comes in handy for once. She decided to start with Gabriel's house. Even if he wasn't Hawkmoth, he may still have other items related to the miraculous she can use. She was right. The Peacock Miraculous was in the mansion.
She decided to keep a close eye on the Agreste Mansion. She inserts door cams in nearby abandoned buildings. With them, she caught an Akuma butterfly (she makes a note to get revenge on Gabriel too for what he did to her butterflies) leaving the mansion. During the next Akuma attack, she sent Kagami to record Hawkmoth's detransformation. They send the video to the police. Capturing him, in conjunction with the police, was easy and boring.
The interesting part comes after when Chat Noir shows up and throws a fit about them arresting Gabriel. While he was screaming, she motioned for the other holders to restrain him. They did. She yanked the ring off him, revealing him to Adrien Agreste.
"That explains so much" She snorts. "I am going to return the ring," she said, not that she was heard over the angry crowd. As soon as she was out of sight, she removed her earrings.
"I wish for everything to return to normal."
Marinette wakes up. Nooroo is sleeping in the niche by her headboard, in the bed she made him. A look at her phone alarm shows that it was the day that Adrien made the wish and altered the timelines. A sense of triumphant victory fills Marinette.
It was good to be back.