Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

            It’s been 3 years since I was given a Miraculous, at a time when the whole world seemed like such a small place, and my problems seemed so large. Before I received the Ladybug Miraculous my biggest problem was how bratty and stuck-up Chloe could be. At the time I would have called her the worst person I knew, which changed upon becoming a holder of the Miraculous. A lot has changed since then. I used to have so many friends. I used to want nothing more than everyone to be happy. Now, I just want us all to get out of this alive. And looking at the current Akumatized victim in front of me, and the lack of listening let alone help from Chat, the chances are looking low at this point. For once I can’t say that Chloe is responsible for this one, actually now that I think about it, she hasn’t been in a while. I don’t think she follows the sheep herd mentality when it comes to Lila, unlike her one friend, so she’s been keeping to herself for almost a year and a half now. Which makes it hard to cause Akuma’s. No this is another of Lila’s victims which was tricked into thinking Chloe is the source of their problems this time. Another of Lila’s lies. So, I have to protect Chloe, my oldest bully, from another Akumatized villain. I never once believed that even she deserved to be attacked, and I refuse to let myself give up that way of thinking now.

            “Chat Noir! We need to get Chloe out of here!” I shout as I use my yo-yo as a shield.

            “Have I told you how beautiful you are when you are defending Paris M’Lady? Cause you are pawsitively purrfect!” Chat replied leaning on his pole.

            “Not the time Chat! Negator is going to get to Chloe if we don’t hide her or stop them first! So, either help me or get out of my way finally!” I scold him. His flirting has been getting worse, and he’ll get possessive too.

            “There’s no reason to be so catty Purincess. Put the claws away, this isn’t that bad of an akuma attack anyways, we got time,” Chat continues on.

            “Lucky Charm!” I call out hoping it’ll help me save the day.

            Negator is getting stronger with every attack he gives us. I’m not sure what’s powering him. He shouted something about negating the power Chloe has over Paris. The entire school is trying to get her. From my Lucky Charm comes a symbol for the Miracle Box, but I’m out of people to give a Miraculous that I can trust. Maybe Chloe, but she’s in the middle of the danger now. So, first priority is to get her to safety and then I’ll look at the Miracle Box.

            I fight Negator who makes everything negative in a couple ways. The removal of Chloe’s so called “power” and by making it absent of distinguishing features, funny enough, that can mean the difference between heavy hitting or light weight. I’m taking a lot of attacks. Chat is at least attempting to protect me, but I can’t do anything with him in my way. Finally, when he negates a cars weight as he picks it up just to negate the negation while it flies at us, I lasso Chatton with my yo-yo and send him flying at Chloe to push her out of the way. I, however, was just barely not fast enough. I got hit by the car. I managed to move enough that the brunt of the force wouldn’t hurt me, as I managed to move with the impact, but it was still painful as I hit a wall opposite the Negator, pinned by a car. I cough, some blood comes up, I’d taken a lot of hits and already used my Lucky Charm, I only had a couple minutes before I transform back. Chat Noir comes and pulls the car off me. Something I could’ve done once I caught my breath for one damn second.

            “Ladybug! Are you okay?” He immediately started checking me over. I just stood up.

            “I’m fine Chat. But I’m running out of time before I need to recharge. I need you to fend off Negator while I get Chloe out of here and take care of my Kwamii. Think you could manage at least that much?” I ask him, a bit annoyed. Had he helped more sooner, we might be done already.

            “Of course, M’Lady. Your wish is my command,” with that he jumped out and tried to distract Negator.

            I climbed out from behind the car and got over to Choe. “We need to hurry. The sooner we get you to safety, the sooner I can help de-evilize Negator.”

            “Are you okay Ladybug? That looked like a hard hit. I swear, it wasn’t me this time. I really didn’t do anything,” Chloe attempted to defend herself to her hero.

            “I know Chloe. You haven’t been the real cause of an Akuma attack in a while. I believe you. But that’s only more reason to get you out of here,” I turn to start pulling Chloe away so I can get her somewhere safe, only to see my classmates and couple friends that I do have, coming at us with whatever weapons they could rustle up. Like Chloe is some kind of medieval monarch that they’re rising up against or something. What’s next, a Dracula Akuma? Shit, wish I had some wood about now, that’s a serious jinx. Though how that would work is beyond me.

            My classmates, Luka, and Kagami, who were two people I were considering adding to the team more based on my trust of them, were at the front. Luka had been picking up his sister Juleka to hang out after school and Kagami had fencing with Adrien today, who I realized really is better off as a friend and I just found him really good looking and nice. Funny enough, after I stopped pursuing him, it was almost as if he had started claiming me. But that’s a story for a later date, as I’m currently under attack. Lot’s of weapons attacking me, and my reflexes have slowed a bit after literally being hit by a car, which was thrown like it weighed nothing.

            I dodged a sword, a guitar, some sticks and weirdly enough an actual pitchfork. Finally, I was able to get them all back a bit, enough to grab Chloe and fly out of there on my yo-yo, but not before getting a few more wounds. I really hate the minion gaining Akuma’s. I get Chloe somewhere she won’t easily be found, funny enough I took her to an alley near my house. She wouldn’t normally come near my place of her own volition, so I thought it worked. Problem is I collapsed shortly after arrival. One of those cuts were deeper that I thought, and I was losing blood fast. On top of that, even my extended time limit isn’t enough anymore. It took far too long to get Chloe to safety after using my Lucky Charm. As I land on the ground my Miraculous times out and I de-transform. Chloe lets out a gasp.

            “Dupain-Cheng? But-you-I-but they-and she-HOW? Wait no, why? Why would you save me all these times? I-I was awful to you for so long, yet you saved me every time. Why?” Chloe asked me, and there was no point in hiding it now.

            “Because Chloe, I knew, deep down, there was good in you. And no one deserved to be attacked by an Akuma like that. And I turned out to be right in the end. You haven’t done anything in over a year that could cause and Akuma, and you haven’t even made fun of me. And we can’t forget your time as Queen Bee. Even if I had lost my trust in you for a time after Miracle Queen. You’ve proved people can change, and for the better,” I tell her as I smile at her through the pain.

           “Let’s get you inside. You can get cleaned up and bandaged up as you recharge. I’m sure that now that I’m out of the way, you’ll come up with the perfect plan to defeat Negator. You always do, Marinette,” Chloe called me by my first name for the first time, probably ever. And it sparked something in my inner Guardian as she hefted my arm over her shoulder to help me into my parent’s bakery, which was thankfully untouched from todays chaos so far. That will change if they see me though.

            “I think one’s already forming,” I reply with a smile.

            Chloe helps me inside and gives an off handed explanation that Ladybug had dropped her off nearby where she saw her first savior of the day, Marinette. She casually explained that I helped her get away from school in the first place and that I must’ve been working my way home ever since. She saw me and decided to help me home and help patch me up till Ladybugs magic can fix everything. Luckily said magic is already healing me a bit. We get up to my room and Chloe cleans what wounds there are and bandages them up to slow/stop the bleeding where possible. As she did that, I gave Tikki a macaroon and formed my plan, which includes the Bee Miraculous, and Chloe. If I can get Chloe to do what I ask as the Bee holder then I might be able to finish this. It seriously sucks that Luka and Kagami were taken over by Negator’s power, normally they’d be helping me after I give them their Miraculous since Chat is practically useless lately. Though he would get extremely jealous of Luka, and sometimes even Kagami, which could get almost dangerous for all parties involved. If he’d help, then I wouldn’t need their help so often.

            Once I’m as patched up as I’m going to get, I stand up and walk over to the Miracle Box and pull out the Bee Miraculous. I really hope this works. I think, with Chloe’s recent changes, the Bee Miraculous might take on a different style for her when she transforms, after all, she’s Pollen’s true holder of this generation. I turn to Chloe and open my Palm towards her, holding up a jewelry box.

            “Chloe Bourgeois, this is the Bee Miraculous of Subjugation. With this Miraculous you will help me defeat the villain Negator by freezing him when the time is right. Once we are done you will return your Miraculous to me. Do you accept this responsibility?” I ask her.

            “I can’t, I don’t deserve it. Not after Miracle Queen. How could you even trust me?” Chloe asks me.

            “I trust you because I’ve seen how you’ve changed since then. You may not be truly selfless right now, but you have changed. If you hadn’t, you wouldn’t have bandaged me up just now. Besides, Pollen has missed you. Please accept it Chloe, I can’t trust anyone else,” I explain.

            “If you trust me Ladybug, then I’ll do everything I can to prove it was not in vain. I’ll accept this responsibility, and I’ll accept it whenever you need me. I trust you completely Ladybug, and…and I’m sorry for all the trouble I’ve caused you in the past,” Chloe gives me a watery smile and accepts her Miraculous, opening the box.

            “How can I please you my Queen?” Pollen asks as she comes out of the Miraculous and sees her holder. She’s clearly tentative, but hopeful. Which makes sense after the last time she saw Chloe.

            “Hi Pollen. Ladybug has decided she will trust me with you once more. I’m sorry for the past, and for basically betraying you. I hope you can forgive me and we can work together,” Chloe looks down, toeing the floor due to her nerves.

            “Of course, my Queen! I’m very happy to be working with you once again. I hope to serve you well,” Pollen nods at Chloe and seems happy to see all the change that has happened in Chloe.

            “Pollen, Buzz on!” Chloe calls out her transformation phrase and I’m genuinely surprised to see the new hero that stands before me. She looks so different. Instead of her former bright yellow and black catsuit, she has an outfit that is more feminine and looks like it was meant for someone from money. She wore a short sleeve athletic bodysuit. The base was similar to her old one, but the stripes were thinner, the big sweetheart black area above the stripes had a deeper dip with the yellow fabric filling that area, and the sleeves didn’t connect to her gloves which went just past her elbow. The neck of her suit wasn’t a normal turtleneck but seemed to have a sweetheart cut on it. The back was almost completely open, save for the back of her sleeves which connected to the large black part of her bodysuit. She seemed to have a fur scarf around her neck as well, making her look even more like a bee. Her bodysuit had a translucent skirt draping on either side of her that was very short and looked almost like a skirt worn to practice for ballet that was open up front. The bottom of her bodysuit looked the same as the past, but the heels were slightly more noticeable. Finally, the last difference was that all the yellows were more of a golden honey color except for the fur around her neck which was her classic yellow. Even Chloe’s hair became more of a honey blonde with the black streak that spirals into her ponytail which has a slightly more relaxed black ribbon paying homage to a bee’s antennae. I looked at her and smiled.

            “I told you that you’ve changed. You’ll need a new name. Think of one while I transform again,” I smile at Tikki and the little god beams back at me as she nods. “Tikki, spots on!” My outfit has started to change a bit too. Mine’s less drastic since I’ve been Ladybug the entire time, and my suit changes every so often at the end of an Akuma attack lately. I now have big black sections separating the spotted areas on each limb which end right before my hands and above my knees. It’ll be interesting to see how my costume looks in a year or so. “Let’s go…um…”

            “Princess Honey. I think I’ll go with Princess Honey,” Chloe replies.

            “Then let’s go Princess Honey. We have a city to save,” We rush out of my room through the balcony and quickly return to the fight. Though I joke on the way. “I don’t have to tell you to keep your identity a secret this time, do I?” I laugh and Chloe laughs as she shakes her head.

            “God I really was ridiculous, utterly ridiculous, wasn’t I? No, you don’t need to tell me, but I’ll make sure you know that I’ll take my secret identity more serious this time. I refuse to repeat my past mistakes after the last debacle that I had with the Miraculous. Now, let’s go rescue this Negator person, whoever they were before being Akumatized,” Chloe smiles at me as we hurry to the scene. I was enormously proud of her.

            When we got there she followed every direction I had given her on the way, to the letter. She never once jumped in ahead of her cues, and she was more cautious than she’d ever been in the past. She finally froze Negator and I got his ring off and was able to break it. Once I de-evilized the Akuma, and used Miraculous Ladybug, me and Chloe quickly made our way back to my room so I’d be there when my parents came to check on me. And that was the day I decided to give Kagami and Luka their Miraculous full time. I could use more partners if Chat Noir was gonna continue to be so unhelpful. I’ll keep Chloe on trial for now, but she knows my identity, so I’ll have to trust her for now. I haven’t mastered the memory wipe power that a guardian gets to have anyways.

            The next day I got up early and sent Kagami and Luka a text asking to meet before school started. They quickly agreed and Kagami managed to get away from her place to come meet in the park near school, which was low in population due to the early hour. When they arrived, they both greeted me in their caring and calm manner. I smiled at them and took a deep breath.

            “Kagami, Luka, these are the Snake Miraculous of intuition and the Dragon Miraculous of perfection. I would like to give these to you to keep so long as the world should need the Miraculous to remain active. With these Miraculous, I welcome you full time as Miraculous holders that will help me, Ladybug, in the fight against Hawkmoth,” I smile at my friends who by now have both had their mouths fall open from shock. “Will you accept this responsibility and fight by my side?”

            “You mean…you’re Ladybug?” Luka asks, still calm as usual but clearly shocked by the news.

             “Yes. The previous Guardian of the Miraculous made the rule that not even the partners I work with could know my identity. Of course, there are ways to figure it out, but that requires a strong connection to higher knowledge unless you either see the transformation or are told outright. He made the rule for safety purposes, and I get why he would…but I’ve decided that it needs to change to some degree. No one outside of us can know my identity, or yours, not even Chat Noir. But I think it will benefit us all if we could know about each other’s identities so that we could help each other after some particularly hard Akuma’s. I know you probably have plenty of moments in the past that you’d like to talk about Luka. You are the only one who remembers the reality before second chance. Not even I remember them. Though I will supposedly start to one day. My point is, I’d like us to be friends and partners. Will you two join me?” I look at the two friends I’ve managed to keep since Lila, the two that believed me about her lies, with hope.

            “I would be honored Mari-hime,” Kagami smiles at me and grabs the box containing her miraculous and put it on.

            “Of course, I’ll help you Marinette,” Luka responds with his warm and calming smile.

            “Good, I’m sure we’ll make a great team. I need to get going, if I don’t get to school soon, I’ll have to walk through a full classroom. Which isn’t great when you need to dodge stray feet. Hehe, see you guys later!” I call out to my two friends as I rush towards school. I can’t help but smile a bit at the knowledge that my friends were now my full-time partners too.

            I get into class and start sketching random inspiration that wasn’t important in my throw away sketch book. I learned early on not to bring anything I cared about to school unless I wanted the chance of it being thrown away, stolen, or ruined. I must’ve been lost in thought cause next thing I know the entire class is there and Mme. Bustier was already taking attendance. Once attendance was over Chloe raised her hand from the front row. I started sitting in the back when Alya chose to believe Lila over me and start treating me like a bully and enemy. After that betrayal I decided to switch seats with Lila so Alya could have her new bestie by her side.

            “Yes, Chloe?” Mme. Bustier asked, shocked to see Chloe raise her hand at the start of class.

            “Mme. Bustier, can I move to the back with Marinette?” Chloe asked. Which seemed to surprise the entire class cause murmurs erupted immediately after.

            “Um, I don’t see why not. But I thought you wanted to keep sitting by Sabrina,” Mme. Bustier replied, clearly confused.

            “Sabrina and I haven’t really been on the best of terms lately,” Chloe explains as she stands up with her stuff. “I figured if everyone was going to ice me out, I should sit with Marinette. At least she’s nice.”

            “Mari-clutz nice? Hah! Don’t make me laugh. She’s nothing more than a bully. All she does is bully Lila or do things for attention. If she’s nice then Satan’s God,” Alya cries out.

            “Please! Marinette is twice the woman you’ll ever be, little miss tabloid,” Chloe responds as she takes her seat by my side. “You’re just ridiculous, utterly ridiculous, if you think Marinette is anything other than the best person in this room.”

            “Wow Marinette. You’ve really sunk low if you’re befriending Chloe. You said you hated how she was a bully. I guess that was all a lie. Guess it makes sense to see the two biggest bullies in Paris are friends. It’s the perfect match. Mari-bitch and Chloe Brat-geois,” Alya calls out making the class erupt into laughter. Mme. Bustier just stood there waiting for us all to calm down so she could get back to teaching. The longer she taught us, the more hands off she’s gotten, in favor of the student’s learning to self-govern better. This is one of the moments that I wish she’d start stepping in.

            “Why you!” Chloe was about to stand up and shout at Alya but I put my hand on her arm.

            “Chloe just let it go,” I turn to Alya. “Chloe’s changed a lot in the last year and a half, not that you’d noticed. But let’s just leave it for now. If you have a problem we can talk later, but right now we are being disrespectful to Mme. Bustier who is here to teach us. So, can we just put a pin in this for now?”

            “Whatever,” Alya grumbled and Lila leaned over to whisper in the ear of her biggest supporter and enabler. No doubt trashing me so that Alya corners me again later. As long as it’s not too bad I’ll be fine.

            “Thank you, Marinette. Now, let’s begin,” Mme. Bustier turns and starts writing on the board as she speaks to all of us about some history lesson, I only really half paid attention to.

             Chloe leaned over to me and whispered in my ear. “Thank you for letting me sit by you. I know I haven’t been the nicest over the years, and I know I don’t deserve your forgiveness or your friendship. But I’d like to be friends if you’ll let me.”

            I smile at her. “Chloe, after yesterday, and the way you just stood up for me, how could I say no. I’d happily be your friend now.”

            I meant every word I told her. Even after Aya cornered me and attacked me in the bathroom later. Something about me bullying Lila about her having had missed so much school over time and getting Chloe to join in. Apparently becoming friendly with Chloe was reason to beat me until I could hardly breathe. I’m really glad she no longer has access to her old Miraculous or this could have been much worse after so long of her having a Miraculous. Even if Trixx said that she wasn’t her true holder, she still had high compatibility. But thinking on how much Chloe has changed, and this morning, I’d say that today was the start of what will become a wonderful friendship.

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@BlueKnight: Watch out everyone, Demon spawn is in a mood today. Guess it’s another day in#Gotham. #gloomycity#crimecity#wayneangst#iceprince

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| @Jaybird: @BlueKnight what happened? Did he lose solitude privileges again? LOL     #iceprince#alwaysinside#weneedsomesun#vitamindneeded#grump

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|    @SpoiledBat: Jay don’t be mean. You’re the same way. I’ll tell Alfie on you and you’ll lose   cookie privileges. #cookieadict#introverts#actstough#innersoftie#rightaboutthesuntho

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|          @MasterButler: I’ve already been alerted of the situation. Thankfully, some sugar and the Kent boy should help. But all should be wary of the Young Master until then.

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|                @CoffeisLife: Alfie, you forgot to use #’s. We talked about this. Also, we’re low on Coffee. #ineedcoffee#cantfunctionwithout#newapplicationssoon#bruceoutofoffice#iceprince

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|                     @AllSeeingEye: Weren’t you cut off @CoffieisLife? I distinctly remember B telling you to go sleep. But seriously we need some sunshine. Maybe a bit of warm sun will melt #iceprince a little so we don’t have to warn the city every week about his moods. #iceprince needsmaintnence#iwantsomesuntoo#gotham#gloomycity#crimecity#homewithnosun

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|                          @MasterButler: @CoffeeisLife, if you’re not in bed by the time I get up there I will personally hide all your coffee and tea and not let you leave the house till you’ve gotten at least 12 hours of sleep. #youneedsleep

Chapter Text

            It’s been a year since I let Chloe start working with her Miraculous again, since she first became Princess Honey. We’ve both changed our styles over time, and especially since being friends. I started wearing my hair up in a ponytail after I grew it out a bit and I moved away from pinks for the most part, preferring instead deeper colors such as reds and blacks. I’ve also started wearing more golds. Chloe said she won’t let me work with cheap clothes and fabrics if I’m going to be hanging around her all the time so she bought me some high-quality fabrics and some designer clothes, many of which she told me how I should make my own design adjustments.

            Chloe still has long hair, but she wears it down for the most part now, styled with the front pulled back so it stays off her face and her sunglasses are held on better. Chloe seems to have changed the most though. She wears more dresses and skirts, still keeping mostly to her yellow and black style and the occasional other bright colors. She’s also stopped wearing blue eyeshadow and nearly white lip gloss. She now favors a dark gold base for her eyeshadow with a black smoky eye and warm pink lip gloss. She honestly looks more mature than she did in the past and looks better than ever in my opinion. She admitted she had been practically copying my style in the past since I was so well liked, and she was jealous. She had of course adjusted it a bit to fit her better but still. Chloe told me she prefers skirts and dresses, always has in fact. She also wears heels almost 24/7 now. And she loves wearing my designs the most.

            I had moved my design business to a different site under a new name, MDC. Only I know that it stands for Marinette Dupain Clothing, meant to be a play on words of course. I will one day proudly announce my full name with the brand. For now, I get a few big-name commissions, including my Uncle Jagged who started insisting I call him uncle after we knew each other for a few years. Aunt Penny of course is responsible for most of his commissions and will sometimes get a little something for herself. Clara Nightingale also commissions from me some things on occasion. I had to move my business because my former friends had taken to trashing me online, causing commissions to slow down. But now I’m doing really well, and my friends love to tease me about how they’re excited to get their next MDC original.

            Anyways, me and Chloe were sitting in class within the first few weeks of August when I got a notification on my phone. I gasped recognizing the email and being desperate to go home at lunch to look closer at my email. I might be meeting with Mr. Damocles after lunch.

            “What’s up Mari-bug?” Chloe asked me. I turned and smiled at her, loving the look of the Bee Miraculous in its new camouflage form of a bobby pin with a Bee on the end. It just looks like she’s paying respects to her time as Queen Bee and to the new Princess Honey.

            “I’ll explain at my place at lunch. If I’m right, this’ll be huge!” I reply in a whisper to Chloe. Class was still going on after all.

            “Boo, you tease. Holding back after that excited gasp and making me wait,” Chloe whispers back and winks as she sticks her tongue out at me.

            I can’t help but giggle as I shrug at her. We’re gonna have to hurry out of here so I don’t get targeted by Alya again after that giggle. She hates when I’m happy anymore, but at least she leaves Chloe alone. She seems to think I’m convincing Chloe to do whatever it is that Lila says she joins me in, so Chloe is at least more innocent than me in her eyes. Which is funny considering the past.

            Finally, lunch arrives and me and Chloe bolt right out the door. We went as fast as we could to get to my place across the street and greeted my parents in our rush up the stairs. I run to my computer at my desk and log into my email and squeal this time.

            “Alright Dupain-Cheng, spill. You’re not holding out me again today,” Chloe cocks her hip as she stares down at me

            “Okay, Bourgeois,” I level her with a mock-glare for her using my last name like she used to. “You remember how I said I was entering the class into a contest last year? Well, a few months ago I became a finalist and entered my essay. And…we won! We are going to Gotham next month to study abroad at Gotham Academy and intern at Wayne Enterprises. I just got an email personally from Bruce Wayne himself congratulating me for winning the Thomas and Martha Wayne Foundation Good Will Contest. He asked me to help arrange with my school for my class to get to Gotham in time for school to start next month and told me to contact him if I need anything prior to the trip. He then said that his son and Co-Ceo Tim Drake would email me with details and his contact for everything. They just need the school’s final sign off and permission slips to be filled out and they will book our tickets to Gotham themselves and arrange for lodging for the semester that we’ll be there.”

            “OMG! Mari that’s amazing! But wait, you know that Lila is gonna take credit, right? And what about Hawkmoth? Paris needs it’s heroes, especially Ladybug,” Chloe states, concern filling her voice.

            “I already thought of that when I started the application process. So, what if Lila claims she did it, everything will be in my name either way and the Wayne’s will confirm if they hear about it cause they know who sent the application. As for Hawkmoth, you and I will have the horse miraculous so one or both of us can get away if an akuma alert goes off. And Kagami and Luka can stay here to watch Paris and do the patrols,” I explain my plan. I had made Chloe a full fledged member of Team Miraculous, as the media has taken to calling us, a couple months ago, so Luka and Kagami know that she’s Princess Honey and she now knows who they are too.

            “And Chat Noir? What if he get’s upset with Luka and Kagami when you don’t show up for the most part for 3 months or so?” Chloe asks and I sigh. Chat had stopped helping much with Akuma’s or patrol. Frequently only showing up when a battle gets to be too long and I’ve left him a dozen messages saying I needed him. Even then he’s been getting grumpier, and more convinced we belong together than ever before. Either me or Ladybug that is.

            “We’ll take away his Miraculous before then. Chat is becoming too dangerous to keep around anymore. He doesn’t listen and seems to be getting possessive. Of both Ladybug and…Marinette,” I wince as Chloe screeches.

            “He what?! Why’s he getting possessive of you? Like regular you. I thought he was obsessed with Ladybug,” Chloe questions.

            “He started considering Marinette a friend around the time of Evillistrator and I think he developed a kind of back up crush on me. Thinking Marinette is good enough if Ladybug won’t accept him, but he won’t give up on either. I’ve even started locking my balcony door. But that won’t stop him if we let him get much crazier and we both know it. I wanted to wait till I had a better holder for the Cat Miraculous but that’s not really an option anymore. I’m gonna have you, Luka, and Kagami corner him to revoke his right to the Miraculous. Which will then reject him. I would do that to Hawkmoth but I need them in one place long enough for the Miraculous to react to me and I need to be in the same area, so we need to find him first,” I look down, feeling bad for having to force Chat to give up his Miraculous. Luckily, I’ve been working on the memory magic and think that combined with the rejection of the Miraculous, I should be able to wipe all memories of being Chat Noir from his memory. He’ll know what’s been going on, but it’ll all be adjusted to him as a bystander.

            “If that’s what you’ve decided is necessary, then I’ll follow you anywhere Ladybug,” Chloe responds with a smile. “Luckily we have a Miraculous meeting tonight.”

            “Hah! You mean movie night?” I asked her.

            “Duh!” We both start laughing and go downstairs to eat the lunch that my Maman made us and have the email and documents printing while we eat. We can’t bring computers to school, only our phones. Once we’re done eating, we gather our stuff and the papers and go back to school. I ask Chloe to watch my back as I head for the office to talk to Mr. Damocles. Him and the school board approved of the trip back when I applied in the first place so it shouldn’t take much to arrange for the trip. I knock on his door and wait for him to invite me in before entering.

            “Sorry for the interruption sir, but I have something to talk with you about,” I approach the desk.

            “Okay, what is it Marinette?” Mr. Damocles asks me, and I smile as I hand him the paperwork.

            “I was chosen as the winner of the Thomas and Martha Wayne Foundation Good Will contest. When I asked last year if I could apply for the chance for my class to spend an American semester abroad this year, both you and the school board agreed that it would be a good opportunity and you would permit me and my class to go should I win the contest. Those are the basic details in that packet. I’ve been asked to help arrange things through you for Wayne Enterprises to bring us over to America in time for school next month. This will include permission slips, debriefing everyone on the details of the study abroad and the internship, and making sure everyone is aware of the travel arrangements as well as the as what the area we will be in is like. With your permission, I would like to make some copies of the permission slips, make pamphlets for the trip details, and make arrangements with our teacher Mme. Bustier. Is that alright with you Mr. Damocles?” I ask.

            “Well, we did get the School Boards permission, so I don’t see why not. Talk with your teacher for what all we need done and make any copies pertaining to the trip as you need, but do try to keep the paper to a minimum if possible, please,” Mr. Damocles nods and hands me back my information.

            “Thank you sir!” I smile as I walk out of the office and look at Chloe. “One more stop before the trip prep becomes seriously official.”

            “Where to next, Mari-Bug?” Chloe asks me with a smile, and we head for Mme. Bustier.

            After talking to Mme. Bustier we make the copies we need, and I make a pamphlet which I make sure to have some extra copies of. I also have email correspondences with Mr. Drake and a couple with Mr. Wayne to solidify some of the details before I bring it to my classmates. I knew I needed to have as much in place as possible before the announcement tomorrow. Lila will still probably get credit, but I arranged everything, so it’ll be harder in the end for her lies to not be exposed. A mass email to the class is arranged to go out tomorrow from WE stating that upon receipt of the permission slip they will be sent another email with confirmation of their specific travel arrangements from WE. Said email will have a link for any desired upgrades which must be paid for by the student or the students family. I asked that Mr. Wayne not give into any requests or demands for a free upgrade courtesy of the company as I didn’t want to let any of my classmates take advantage of the company being so generous to us. I also mentioned that the ones who would want the upgrade the most would be able to afford them anyways. I gave the example of my best friend Chloe who would no doubt upgrade all her accommodations to be more like what she’s accustomed to, and possibly upgrade me while she was at it, not that I cared much. Mr. Wayne replied that he would respect my wishes and asked what kind of upgrades I thought my friend would get for us, it was friendly enough that I told him she lived in a hotel penthouse and would likely want first class seats on the plane and at least a nice suite. He asked once more if there were any accommodations that I would specifically want and I told him I didn’t want to be a bother and could get what I need there. He asked what it was I would need so I told him I was going to sew me and Chloe’s dresses for the Gala at the end of the trip so I was going to get a sewing machine and the fabrics that I would need while I was there. He thanked me for being so honest and responsive and told me how he looked forward to meeting me in person. Finally, after a couple days of work, the announcement was going to be made in class.

            “Class, attention please. Marinette has some exciting news to share with everyone. Come on up front please, Marinette, and tell the class what you’ve been working on these couple days,” Mme. Bustier motions me forward and I smile awkwardly as I stand to walk down the aisle, barely managing to dodge the foot that jut out by Lila and Alya’s desk.

            “Okay, um…well for starters we have been granted the chance to go on a class trip to Gotham in America. The School Board and Mr. Damocles both agreed to let us study abroad there for the American Fall Semester of Gotham Academy. They start in a few weeks and end in December before the holidays. While we’re there, we’ve also been granted the opportunity to have Internships at Wayne Enterprises. Permission slips are required before your individual flight and accommodations confirmation will be sent to you. In the next hour or so, you should all be receiving an email in regards to such. Once your permission slip is received and we send a copy to WE you will receive your email and a link for any upgrades as well as a questionnaire for us to fill out. I have pamphlets regarding our itinerary, the hotel being arranged, and the flight that WE has several seats reserved on for us. It also has some basic safety information for while we’re there. I also have the permission slips that we need to all have signed by a parent or guardian no later than the week before our departure. The longer you take to turn in the permission slip the lower the chances of upgrades being available for you to make. When you have your permission slip filled out, please give it to me, Chloe, or Mme. Bustier. We will be able to get the permission slips to WE so you can receive your second email. Upgrades are not free as this is all being done for us due to winning the Thomas and Martha Wayne Foundation Good Will contest, as such our host is WE during this trip, which is why we will be participating in an internship. At the end of the pamphlet is a link to WE’s policies and a link to Gotham Academy’s policies. Any questions?” I try to get this out of the way as quick as I can.

            Instead of questions there were exclamations of surprise that Lila won us a trip to Gotham. She just claimed she wasn’t going to say anything but she was really excited to see her ‘Damiboo’ again. Then of course she dramatically clapped her hands over her mouth stating she shouldn’t have said that. So of course, it took almost an hour to get everyone to quiet down enough for my quick presentation of Gotham. While they were all talking, I handed out the permission slips and pamphlets. Once I was finally able to give the presentation I could see Lila hiding her annoyance that she already took credit for this trip, cause now she can’t raise a fuss about me bringing us to the most crime ridden city in the US. All she knew about Gotham was that the Waynes were rich and famous, lived there, and the youngest one was around our age and named Damian. I kind of figured as much too. Thanks for falling into your own trap Lila.

            Once I gave the whole presentation making clear that we need to follow safety precautions I then reminded everyone that they only had a week and a half before they had to turn in their permission slips, or they wouldn’t be able to go on the trip. Any permission slips not received by then would forfeit their seat on the plane and their internship and any other slots held for them.

~.~

            The very same day that the contest winner had arranged for the emails to start and the permission slips to go out, she had sent me hers and her best friends. Everything seemed to have been moving smoothly as I kept receiving the permission slips in a steady stream and only had a couple left to receive by the end of the week. And that’s when I got a phone call. My number was at the bottom of the basic details email if they had any questions for, WE and the contest trip.

            “Hello, I have Gabriel Agreste for a Mr.…Tim Drake,” sounded like an assistant but I didn’t remember that name from any companies we’re working with.

            “May I ask what this is in regard to first? I’m afraid my assistant is out of office at the moment so if you had told someone already, I wasn’t informed,” I sigh hoping it’s someone I can send off down the chain or something.

            “It’s in regard to his son’s school trip. Here’s Mr. Agreste,” the assistant passes me off to her boss before I can respond.

            “I need to ensure certain arrangements be made before I can allow my son to go on this trip you are sending him on,” this Agreste basically ordered as soon as he grabbed the phone.

            “Okay. First of all, I don’t know who your son is. Second, upgrades and accommodation requests can be made upon receipt of your son’s second email. And third, I don’t have to take a tone like that from someone I don’t know, even if they are the parent of a student in the class being granted a trip on our company’s dime. Do you want to try that again sir? I’ll go first. Hello, this is Tim Drake, Co-Ceo of Wayne Enterprises. How can I help you sir?” I answer as I roll my eyes at my brother who’s sitting on the couch in my office. Bruce won’t let him drive right now cause the idiot is getting into trouble all the time. That and he had meetings with me today about some of our charities.

            “This is Gabriel Agreste. I’m calling about my son Adrien. He’s been asking me for a week to give him permission to go there but I won’t agree unless you allow me to send bodyguards with him. He’s too important of a figure to let wander around unprotected. He insisted I call this number if I wanted to arrange that,” Mr. Agreste stated plainly.

            “Okay, sir, if you think your son needs bodyguards that’s up to you. If I don’t know who you are or who he is, then the citizens of Gotham probably don’t either but if you think he’s in danger of being kidnapped or you’re just concerned for his safety then it’s your choice how you want to protect your son. However, in this instance I’m going to have to make sure you are aware of the trips policies. These will pertain to your son’s bodyguards as well since they will be in the area. I also have some rules that will be specifically for them. We do not allow anything more than basic self defense weapons on any person during this trip. Gotham has enough guns, we don’t need a goon, rogue, or a thug to get their hands on one only registered in France. Same goes for other weapons. Self defense weapons can mean: tasers, mace, brass knuckles, a small pocketknife that is not a butterfly knife or a switch blade, and other similar and non-lethal weapons to deter attackers. Your son will only be permitted to have one bodyguard with him in the WE building at any time, and only if you insist upon even that much. The school has the right to refuse entry to one or both of your son’s bodyguards as they do have their own security. WE is only allowing you one because we’re being nice. That being said, we will not provide airfare or lodging for these bodyguards. If you want him to have them, then you have to send them. And if we find that any of our policies have been broken by these bodyguards, then we can and will have them deported back to France. Am I understood, Mr. Agreste?” I lay out the rules while pacing back and forth in my office in front of Damian on the couch.

            “Hm, I suppose so. You’ll have your answer regarding my son’s attendance by tomorrow,” with that, this Gabriel Agreste guy simply hung up. I look at my phone incredulously.

            “First, he calls me, then he makes a demand, then he remakes said demand but with some reasoning and the rest of said demand without apologizing for being rude, then he hangs up on me after saying a quick blurb about getting a permission slip or not by tomorrow. What’s this guy’s deal!” I was very frustrated, and I needed coffee.

            “Why don’t you look him up and find out if it bothers you so much,” Damian looks up from his sketch book as he suggests this idea.

            “I would but I don’t want to use the WE servers for the shit I’m going into,” I sigh. “At least it doesn’t seem like he has an issue with the rules I gave him for his son’s bodyguards. That’s right, plural. What is he, the damn Prime Minister?”

            “Only way to find out is to look him up. You can do a basic search under background check after a parent phone call. Not a big deal is it?” Damian doesn’t even look up this time.

            “I suppose you’re right. Weird when the Demon spawn gives sound advice,” I jab at him and he just gives his signature ‘tch.’

            I look up this Gabriel Agreste person and his son and find out that Gabriel Agreste owns a fashion company, and his son is his main model. I guess wanting protection makes sense, but it sounds a bit overboard. Till I see his wife went missing so I guess I can’t fault his high caution. I decide I should do basic background of every member of the class. We already got one for Miss Dupain-Cheng when she applied. Turns out we also have a daughter of the Mayor and one of an Italian diplomat. Who knew it was such a high-profile class?

~.~

            Once I received everyone’s permission slips and they all got their emails there was only a couple things left to do. Pack…and revoke Chat Noirs Miraculous. This was not going to be easy, but with the True Guardian magic and my friends help, I should be able to manage. I call all my friends and tell them I’ll text when I have a time and location. Then, I contact Chat asking if we could meet up. I told him we needed to talk. He agreed, and it was set for the roof that we usually meet up on for patrol, back when he joined in, in an hour. I told my friends and had them hide so he couldn’t see them. It’s sad, but it’s time.

            “Chat,” I greet him when he arrives at the meet. “Thanks for meeting me.”

            “You said you wanted to talk. So, what’s up M’Lady?” Chat responds as he leans on his pole in his usual flirtatious manner. “Finally, gonna take me up on that date?”

            “No Chat, it’s about your lack of help,” I sigh, and his face begins to get thunderous. “Since you’re not going to help anyways, you might as well turn in your Miraculous.”

            “Are you serious?! You can’t take my Miraculous, and it’s your own fault that I’m not showing up anymore. You should have just gone on that date with me, then you’d see how we’re meant to be. But you just kept refusing me and refusing me. Then you’d bring in others, like you didn’t need me anymore. And I could forgive it on occasion, you know, when your Lucky Charm said it was the only way to win, but then you started giving a Miraculous on the way to the fight too! I’m your partner! I’m the one you’re meant to be with, me! And I’m not letting you take my Miraculous either. You’ll see, when you finally decide going on a date with me is the right choice, you’ll see I was right all along, and you’ll see why we only need us, and I can start joining in again. It’ll be purr-fect M’Lady,” Chat is yelling throughout most of his rant, and it’s clear how badly he’s being affected.

            “I’m sorry Chat, but we weren’t meant to be. You weren’t even meant to have the Cat Miraculous as it is, you aren’t a true holder Chat, or your transformation would have changed by now and the markings would have shown up,” I tell him as gently as I can, only to be interrupted.

            “Markings? What markings?!” he shouted.

            “The markings of the True Miraculous Holder Chat. I’m sorry, but it’s my responsibility to take away your ring. Your soul is being attacked after having it for too long. It was never yours. And as the current Guardian of the Miraculous, it is my duty and responsibility to take it back,” I inform him, not that he’ll remember this soon.

            “Well, I’m not giving it to you, and I’m not gonna stick around for you to try and take it either, I’m out of here,” he remarks and turns only to find himself surrounded by the rest of team Miraculous. “You set up a trap for me?!” He was outraged and lunged for me. The team rushes forward and grabs him before he can attack me.

            “I’m sorry,” I say one final time before I start the revocation of his Miraculous. “I LadyBug, Guardian of the Miraculous, hereby revoke your Miraculous and all the powers it has granted you. I revoke your claim and your memories of ever having held a Miraculous. With the power of the Guardian I allow you only to remember what has happened in the last four and a half years as a bystander and not as a wielder of the Miraculous. With this power, it shall be done, the unworthy no longer claim what was never theirs.”

            Chat Noir starts to cry out in pain. The transformation is undone but Plagg does not leave his Miraculous. In the spot where Chat Noir stood, is Adrien slumped on the ground in pain as his ring rejects him, likely burning until he removes it. Tears prick my eyes. It explains so much. Including why I couldn’t love him anymore. It’ll take time, but his soul should heal. I just need to keep that in mind. Once the ring has fully rejected him, it falls off. The burn will fade into nothingness as it binds his memories with my spell. And all that will be left behind will be Adrien Agreste, the boy she used to love, who loved her too late. Allowing a couple tears to fall I pick up the ring and thank my friends. I tell them to go ahead and that I’d take Adrien home. I took him home and tucked him into bed, whispering my farewell to my first partner. For now, we’ll have to take turns wielding the cat until I can find a suitable holder.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

@CoffeeisLife: Watch out Gotham, a new class full of tenacious do-gooders are coming soon. The class president is a real sweetheart if our conversations say anything. #selfless #wantstohelp #asksfornothing #sweetbean #wontripforclass #likeliterallytheyknewnothingtilllastweek

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|   @OGWayne: I second that sweetheart assessment. The dear wouldn’t even ask for a sewing machine when she’s making her own gala dress for the winter Wayne Gala. Also said her friend would pay for her upgrades, so I paid for them and the sewing machine. She deserves it. #impressedme #bestcontestentryyet #selfless #considerate #charitable

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|       @SpoiledBat: Holy Sh*t! Bruce Wayne just called someone a sweetheart! As one of his unofficially adopted daughters I can confirm that he doesn’t do this. #whoisthisgirl #complimentedbybw #possiblefuturewayne #maybeshehasblackhair

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|              @BattyBat: @SpoiledBat be nice your spoiled is showing. I’m sure he’s called little girls’ sweetheart before. Besides, we don’t know if she’s got dark hair and a dark past. #tooearlytoscreamnewwayne #maybenewwayne #bwserialadopter #seriouslythoughshesprobnice #timsaidso #shealsowonsobenice

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|                      @AllSeeingEye: Seriously though my intel says she’s done more for her community and those around her than I can fit in a post. #probmartyr #futurejoanofarc #charityqueen #helpful #sweetbean #allpicssmiling #evenhelpswithfambusiness #alsoclassprez #hasunlistedextraciriculars #smolchild

Chapter Text

            The time had finally arrived for the class to go on our trip to Gotham. With Kaalki, Trixx, and Tikki carefully tucked into my purse, I made my way to the airport with Chloe. The class decided to meet up at the airport like we did when we went to London. Difference is this time most everyone hates me, and of the two that don’t one still ignores me. Though, I’m avoiding him a bit as well since finding out he was Chat and taking away his Miracuous. He may not remember being a hero, but I’ll remember him as he was before the Cat Miraculous was corrupting his soul. Plagg is still sleeping after having to reject Adrien and has remained in his Miraculous since that day at the end of last week. The Cat Miraculous is in a ring box in my purse as well. When he wakes up, I’ll be there for him as the current Guardian of the Miraculous. Adrien is still of the mind that I should just leave Lila alone as she isn’t hurting anyone with her lies, I of course can’t agree and haven’t spoken to him recently.

            When me and Chloe arrive at the airport, courtesy of a driver her dad had hired, we collect what luggage we hadn’t sent ahead, as it was going to be a long trip, we all sent a couple pieces of luggage ahead, and head into the airport to meet up with the class. We were of course early, but the entire class was already there and Mme. Bustier was arguing with the ticket counter employee.

            “What do you mean there are no tickets under Francois Dupont, Caline Bustier, or Lila Rossi? We have to make our flight to Gotham, we are the Wayne contest winners, we have to have tickets,” Mme. Bustier cries out and I sigh. Seriously, she should at least acknowledge that I’m the actual contest winner and try my name.

            “Excuse me, Mme. Bustier…” I started only to be interrupted by my very hands-off teacher.

            “Not now Marinette, can’t you see I’m trying to get the tickets for the class,” Mme. Bustier reprimanded me and I sighed. “You know better than to interrupt an adult. Go wait with everyone else.” She turns back to the ticket lady. “I can’t believe you lost our tickets. And Miss. Rossi worked so hard to win the contest.”

            The ticket lady rolled her eyes as she continued to explain they can’t lose tickets and clearly Mme. Bustier either doesn’t have tickets or doesn’t know the name they’re under. Meanwhile Alya speaks up.

            “Nice of you to join us Marinette,” Alya sneered.

            “Well considering I’m early and our flight doesn’t even board for another three hours, it wasn’t that hard,” I snarked back. It’s hard seeing how hateful my former best friend has become. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I think our teacher needs some help.” I go up and decide to just interrupt them, which Mme. Bustier didn’t like. “Could you try Marinette Dupain-Cheng please? Mr. Wayne said it should be under the contest winners name.”

            “Marinette! I’m very disa…” Mme. Bustier was interrupted by the ticket lady.

            “Oh, yes! I’ve been expecting to hear that name. Congratulations on winning the Thomas and Martha Wayne Foundation Good Will Contest. You must’ve done a lot of good for the community to win such a difficult contest. Here are the coach tickets for your class, and the three first class tickets. I was informed that Mr. Wayne wanted to ensure you knew he hoped you had a very comfortable flight with your friend,” The lady handed me the tickets. “On behalf of Gotham Knight Air, thank you for flying with us and we hope you have a fun and safe stay in Gotham.”

            I thank her and hand Mme. Bustier everyone’s ticket’s but me and Chloe’s. That’s when Adrien finally arrives with more than his normal one bodyguard. His father’s assistant Nathalie held a tablet with his dad’s face on it which he seemed to be arguing with. Possibly over the extra guy who seemed to also be a bodyguard. The second bodyguard looking guy went to the ticket counter and came back with two first class tickets for the same flight as us.

            “I get that you’re worried for me father, but Chloe doesn’t even have one bodyguard for this trip and her dad is a political figure, is it really necessary for me to have two? You usually leave me be with one at least,” Adrien argues.

            “I’m not asking Adrien. Just be glad I’m letting you go at all,” Gabriel Agreste replies. “Just keep your grades up and your head down. If I hear of one incident, I’ll bring you home.” With that Gabriel Agreste hung up.

            “You heard your father Adrien. Please put up with the bodyguards, they are only there to ensure nothing happens to you in that crime filled city. Have a safe trip,” with those parting words Nathalie turned around and left the airport.

            We finally made it to the gate when Lila noticed my first class ticket. Clearly, she didn’t like me having better tickets than her cause she decided to make a big scene. I felt bad for the other passengers around us.

            “Oh, my tinnitus is acting up!” Lila cried out while covering her ear, supposedly in pain. “Why now of all times? Now the flight is gonna be so painful. Only first class could help me at this point. But I didn’t upgrade because I knew Alya couldn’t and I really wanted to sit by her.”

            I rolled my eyes and Alya noticed me and Chloe had first class tickets. “Marinette, you should give Lila your ticket. You know how bad her tinnitus can be.”

            “What?!” I ask incredulously.

            “God, your so selfish Marinette, you don’t need the ticket, but Lila does,” Alya narrowed her eyes at me. “If you're concerned about sitting by your new bff then me and Chloe can swap too.”

            “No way! Chloe paid for these upgrades. Why should we give away our tickets? If Lila knew this was a possibility, she should have made preparations accordingly. Everyone received the link to the upgrades,” I reply looking on in shock.

            “I can’t believe how selfish you have become Marinette! Mme. Bustier, shouldn’t Marinette give up her seat for Lila? She doesn’t need it and Lila’s tinnitus is acting up and she’s the contest winner anyways,” Alya replies. Of course, only when directly brought in does our teacher get involved.

            “Marinette, please give Lila your seat. You should be thankful that she won this trip for us and be less selfish. I’m disappointed in you Marinette, you are the class president, you’re supposed to set a good example,” Mme. Bustier unsurprisingly takes their side. “Chloe can switch with Alya and you two can still sit together.”

            “But…” Before I can rebuttal a flight attendant from the gate came up.

            “I apologize but I couldn’t help but overhear your, rather loud, conversation. I’m afraid the airline does not allow for a switching of seats. It’s a safety precaution in case of a crash or other emergency. It makes it easier to identify passengers and any medical conditions that we should be aware of. Wayne Enterprises takes passenger safety very seriously, so all assigned seats are final. That’s why there is a seat selection process when purchasing tickets. You select each individuals seats,” the flight attendant coolly attempts to diffuse the growing situation. “So, I’m afraid, at this point in time, it’s far too late to change seats. Now, please get ready for boarding to begin. First class will begin boarding in the next fifteen minutes.”

            “In that case, I’m sorry Lila, but you’ll just have to stay where you are,” Mme. Bustier tells Lila and Alya.

            “That’s okay, Mme. Bustier. I’ll try to be as undisruptive as I can as I put up with my tinnitus,” Lila replies on a fake whimper. Needless to say, I was really happy when first class was called to board. Adrien didn’t even sit near us. Apparently, it was so late into being able to upgrade it was all they could do since they also needed two more tickets near his.

            The flight was mostly pleasant, though Lila had made her way to first class once to spill a drink on my sketchbook. Luckily, it was a throw away sketchbook which didn’t have any serious ideas in it. I just rolled my eyes as she faked an apology and told her it was just full of doodles anyways. Then I called over a flight attendant, which are very attentive in first class, and asked her to throw away my ruined sketch book and managed to inform her that Lila didn’t belong there. I simply told the flight attendant that this young lady ‘must’ve gotten lost’ and spilled her juice on me and mostly my sketchbook. The flight attendant nodded and took the sketchbook and escorted Lila back to her seat. I was told shortly after that they’d keep a closer eye on her if I wanted to pull out anything else for entertainment. She expressed that she didn’t want me to feel as if it could happen again and should be able to pull out any device or book, I wanted. I thanked the nice flight attendant and turned to Chloe, grinning.

            Me and Chloe talked for a good chunk of the eight-and-a-half-hour flight while I sketched in my extra sketchbook and she painted her nails. Of course, Chloe of all people, brought travel sized nail polish for the flight. We got about two hours of sleep near the end and woke up with thirty minutes till landing. The scenery was so different from Paris and yet as we landed it somehow felt remarkably familiar at the same time.

            We quickly got to baggage claim and started looking for our bags on the conveyer belt. As we were in a group with the rest of the class we had to wait for them before heading down for our checked bags. Within twenty minutes the rest of the class all had their bags except me. My red spotted luggage seemed to be missing. Of course, that’s when Lila started to whine that she had a terrible headache and needed to lay down, so Mme. Bustier started ushering the class to find the transportation that was arranged by Wayne enterprises to be our bus for the duration of our stay here.

            “Go ahead, and don’t even think of whining. Who else will stop them if they try to leave without me?” I wink at her. “I’ll find my bag real quick and meet up with you. Go watch the drama unfold if the person picking us up stops Mme. Bustier.”

            “Okay fine. But you better be fast Mari-bug! I’m not wanting to leave you behind, in Gotham of all places,” Chloe responds and walks off after the rest of the class. After another look around and the belt stopping, I go over to the nearest employee to ask them about it. They luckily just had found it and were getting ready to call over the intercom for the owner. He gave it to me, and I gave my signature smile as I thanked him and went to find my class. When I get there, I arrive to see a woman in a very business-like dress facing off with Mme. Bustier.

            “I told you, yer student may enter the bus and lay down, but we are going nowhere without our contest winner Miss Marinette Dupain-Cheng. I refuse to leave the poor dear alone in Gotham,” the woman reprimanded my teacher and talked with an accent I wasn’t quite familiar with.

            “And I told you, the one who won the contest is Miss Lila Rossi here who needs to get to the hotel immediately so she can lay down,” Mme. Bustier replies angrily.

            “You go right on ahead and enter the bus. But I know for a fact that the contest winner isn’t here because Mr. Wayne gave me her picture to ensure I would recognize Miss Dupain-Cheng. It won’t be going anywhere without me in it and I’ll be goin’ to find yer missing student,” The woman would not back down, and I had a feeling she was about to storm the airport.

            “No need, I’m here. Sorry, my bag somehow ended up in the bathroom, so I had to ask an employee to help me find it,” I walk up to the woman. “Hi, I’m the contest winner, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, you can just call me Marinette. It’s a pleasure to meet you ma’am,” I extend my hand for a handshake.

            “Oh, Darlin’, the pleasure is all mine. My name’s Daisy and I’ll be helping y’all navigate Gotham while yer in town. Now that you’re here, let’s get y’all to the hotel y’all’ll be stayin’ at. Mr. Wayne is excited for you to see your accommodations. As the contest winner he decided you deserved a free upgrade. Sadly, that’s as much as I’m allowed to say. Well come on y’all, Gotham ain’t gettin’ any safer as we await the sun to go down. All aboard,” the kind woman greets me and I’m shocked. Before I can turn to Chloe to see if she knows anything about this, Lila cries out. Clearly the sheep started giving some looks of doubt.

            “Oh Marinette, I know we don’t get along, but I can’t believe you changed my name on the contest entry. I shouldn’t have stayed quiet after all when I saw you with my phone that day all those months ago,” Lila cries and then seems to ‘swoon’ from her headache.

            “Well bless your heart, aren’t you just so pretty. Well darlin’ sadly we can prove that’s not the case, but I’ll be leavin’ that to Mr. Wayne. My only job is to get y’all where you need to be and to report back to him once y’all are settled in. So please continue your little crocodile tears on the bus,” the woman could clearly see through Lila’s lies, and for some reason her words sounded more like an insult than sympathy and a compliment.

            My classmates all glared at me as we got on the bus and headed to the Hotel, where Mme. Bustier tried to get the room keys under the school name, her name, and Lila’s name. Seriously, I told her when I entered into the contest and when I won. Did she think I’d arrange for things to be under Lila’s name when Lila took credit in front of the class?

            “What do you mean there are no reservations under that name?!” Mme. Bustier cried out while Daisy completed her head count before heading over to the front desk and nudged Mme. Bustier aside.

            “Hello Jeanine, I’m here with the contest winner and her class. You got my room key’s?” She asked the front desk.

            “Oh, hey Daisy, yeah I got them right here. Is that who this woman is with?” the girl at the front desk, apparently named Jeanine, asked our guide.

            “Sadly yes. Y’know, she almost had me leave one of her students behind at the airport. The contest winner no less. Good thing I do headcounts and knew who I was looking fer to greet,” Daisy responded.

            “Oh my, why didn’t she give me the contest winners name? She didn’t once ask for a Miss Marinette Dupain-Cheng,” Jeanine questioned.

            “Oh, don’t get me started. Let’s just say there’s a pretty little thing, bless her heart, in the class who’s a real peach. Bless her pretty little heart,” Daisy replied and I almost laughed at how it was so obviously meant as an insult. “Anyways, she’s managed to convince most of em’ that she’s the contest winner. Seems the teacher is on board with em’. Thanks a bunch for the keys darlin’ I’ll take em’ from here and get them out of yer hair.”

            Daisy walked over to us and called out room partners. Kim and Max, Nathaniel and Ivan, Lila and Alya, Rose and Juleka, Mylene and Sabrina, Adrien and Nino, and finally me and Chloe. She told each of us our room numbers and escorted me and Chloe to our room herself after the class dispersed. Of course, Mme. Bustier had her own room and left as soon as she got her key. Daisy showed me and Chloe to a different elevator form everyone else and pressed the button. Once we got inside, she used one of our room keys to get the elevator moving instead of pressing any buttons, of which there were only three. Once we got to the floor the doors opened to a massive space that seems to be the entire top floor.

            “Welcome to the penthouse my dear. Mr. Wayne specifically booked it for the entire semester that you’ll be here. As the contest winner, he wanted you to have the best accommodations. Apparently, when he hear yer friend here lives in a penthouse and that you refused to ask for any accommodations of any kind let alone ask him upgrade your tickets or room, he decided to surprise you with the royal treatment. There is a note on the coffee table of the tv room with a letter from him as well as all amenities that you can use. He had this entire thing prepared for you Miss Marinette. Mr. Wayne was very impressed with your essay and community efforts. I’ve been informed that you’ve had your hand in a couple charities and projects for local improvement on top of doing other things and keeping up with your responsibilities. This work ethic is impressive for a girl like you. And from what I’ve seen and heard, you also appear to be sweeter than sugar. So, with all of this in mind, Mr. Wayne wants you to have the chance to experience a kindness equal to what y’all provided all this time. Now, have a good night ladies, we start our days of tours tomorrow and will be seeing WE on Friday,” Daisy sings my praises to me as she explains Mr. Wayne’s reasons for this generous upgrade, and I can’t help but to tear up a little.

            “Thank you,” I hug the kind woman before me and then wave her off as she leaves.

            Me and Chloe checked out the entire floor, our luggage having been left in the entry area for us to choose our rooms later. I go into the TV room and read the note, Mr. Wayne once again congratulated me on winning the contest and told me I am far too modest and thoughtful of others so the least he could do was offer me the penthouse with my best friend as well as pay for a few amenities. He then provided a list and limit of certain ones before we would have to pay for ourselves. One in particular was the sewing machine and space he had set up in the penthouse for me. We also had access to spa treatments, at least one a month, mani-pedi’s, hair styling appointments, access to the hotel Go-fer, as well as a few other things. Mr. Wayne has even arranged for me to have a fabric store be prepared to see me every so often with a Wayne Enterprises Chaperone for safety. He told me to enjoy my time here in Gotham, stay safe, and how he looked forward to meeting me in person soon. I told Chloe her name was given access to a couple free ones, including an in-room appointment before the Gala. All in all, Mr. Wayne had set us up nicely. He told me that he had made these arrangements with the hotel only for me and Chloe as I had made it clear how important she was to me, and that all my other classmates would have to pay for any of these amenities. Once I learned all that there was a PS at the bottom that said to press play on the TV.

            I did as told, and Mr. Wayne appeared on the screen expressing how he was happy I was able to experience this semester and this treatment. I was told he had set up some special accounts and other things to allow me to stream tv and set up any amenities without worry of the charge. He also expressed the minibar would be free the entire time as the alcohol was removed. He told me once again to enjoy my time in Gotham and that he’d be seeing me soon. I turned to Chloe who was grinning and ranting about how she’s been wanting to treat me like this for a very long time but didn’t quite have the means to. She was clearly happy with our set up.

            Once we were done with that, we explored our floor a bit more and chose our rooms. Even though Gotham Academy had a uniform, we were given an exception as exchange students who were only really given two weeks to get permission and get set up. Mr. Wayne apparently has a lot of sway with the Academy. Because of our ability to wear our own clothes, we had brought plenty. Laundry wasn’t a guarantee when we were packing, though that is on our list of amenities along with dry-cleaning, so we brought more than enough clothes for the trip. We also brought plenty of snacks for all the kwamis, unsure what we could get and where to get it, so we were stocked for a couple weeks barring heavy akuma attacks.

            Me and Chloe got settled in and said goodnight pretty quickly. We had a tour of the Gotham Museum tomorrow, which was meant to take the entire day basically, with an hour for lunch at some point. Me and Chloe will arrive in Gotham Vigilante inspired outfits, which I had been working on since I got the email telling me I won, for the entire first week. But we planned to end the tour week with Ladybug and Princess Honey outfits. I had a feeling that we would get Vigilante attention with most of our outfits and then we might incite questions, which the answers might get back to the right people, when we wear our hero outfits. We of course intend to continue the vigilante’s at school for the first two days, for the fun of it. I picked only the vigilante’s and the anti-heroes for this. So, the Sirens: Harley, Ivy, and Cat Woman. As well as the civilian named BatFam: Batman, Batgirl, Robin, Nightwing, Black Bat, Red Hood, Red Robin, the original Batgirl, and Spoiler. Chloe will be dressing as all the girls except for Cat Woman, she was the one Siren I wanted, plus there’s more female identities than male to draw inspiration from. We both decided that we’d wear Batman and the original Batgirl outfits on the same day, we were thinking the last day of outfits. We decided that tomorrow would be Nightwing and Black Bat, both had previously been under identity from what I could tell and settled quickly into their new and permanent identities. Perfect for the Museum.

~.~

            I walked into Mr. Wayne’s office after settling everyone into the hotel and ensuring the front desk knew to call me should there be an issue with the class. When I walked in, Bruce immediately looked up. He put his work to the side, and I moved to the side as his son’s came in behind me. Apparently, they were planning to all go home together after I gave my initial report on retrieving the class. I had all of their attention, except of course the youngest who only appeared to half pay attention.

            “Well, how did it go?” Bruce asked me and I smiled.

            “Miss Dupain-Cheng is absolutely sweeter than sugar, and her friend seems very ready to come to her defense should she need it. Though Miss Dupain-Cheng seems to stop her from reacting most of the time,” I replied to my boss.

            “Why would she need defending?” Mr. Drake asked me, and Bruce looked just as confused.

            “Well…there’s this one girl that seems to have most of the class and the teacher wrapped around her little finger. Bless her heart, the pretty little thing is a real…peach. Bless her heart,” They all sucked in a little at my insult. Serves the girl right. It’s clear she’s been bullying that sweet girl.

            “And why do you say that?” Bruce asked this time.

            “Well for starters she tried to take credit for the trip and the contest. Seems to be working too, the teacher even said it was her when we got to the hotel after I said outright that Miss Dupain-Cheng was the contest winner. She even claimed that Miss Dupain-Cheng must’ve changed her information after stealing her phone for the submission. As if that would work,” I roll my eyes at the memory. “The teacher seems to put a lot of weight on the poor girls shoulders too, at least from what I could tell. And can you believe they tried to have me leave the airport without a head count, let alone their contest winner? They tried to leave her behind, all cause that little Rossi girl, bless her heart, claimed she was having such a bad migraine that she had to lay down. I told her to go lay down on the bus, because we were not leaving anyone behind.”

            “They tried to what?!” Mr. Grayson finally spoke up. “In Gotham?!”

            “Hm. Seems we’ll have to keep a close eye on things. We’ll have to take turns watching them. Daisy can’t be with them at all times, so we’ll have to pick up the slack. We’ll ask the girls if they’d like to help us with tour guide and supervision of this class. They’ll be hitting several important places in Gotham before WE. Starting with the Museum tomorrow. Who wants to take the first shift?” Mr. Wayne asks, and I excuse myself to complete my work from earlier. If I don’t do it now, Mr. Wayne will just need it right away in the morning. If habit says anything.

@BlueKnight: This just in, the class that came with our sweet little contest winner is no where near as sweet as her. I found out they tried to leave her at the airport! #notingotham #srslyitsgotham #whysweetpea #eveniceprinceisangry #waynewatchstartsnow

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|   @AllSeeingEye: Are you serious?! I can’t believe it. Who does that when in Gotham of all places? I’ll volunteer for #waynewatch. They clearly need it. #gothamisntsafeenoughforthat #thisisgotham #notingotham #eventherogueswouldagree #watchingforthesupposedsweetpea

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|          @CoffeeisLife: @BlueKnight is right. I was there for the report of it as well. I found it crazy. I seriously can’t wait to meet her but am needed at WE so can only meet her at the WE tour. #agreetowaynewatch #whyingothamofallplaces #unsafe #donottrythisathome

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|                 @HarleyHarHAr: The only rogue I know who would do this is Joker, and he’s horrible. Most rogues hate him too. You never leave one of your people alone in this city unless it’s 100% that they can handle themselves, and even then. #gotham #dontdothisingotham #notsafe #idjoinwaynewatchifiwasawayne #hopetomeetsupposedsweetpea

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|                      @OGWayne: @HarletHarHAr don’t even think about it. I don’t even know the full situation yet and I doubt that Batman would appreciate you getting involved either way. #sirensstayoutofit #waynewatchforwaynesonly #gothamisntsafeenoughforthiscrap #thesweetheartisnteven18

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|                             @IvyGotPlants: Oh, don’t worry B. I won’t let her go alone, and even if she does go, we don’t know where. I’ll distract best I can, but no promises if I meet the supposed sweet girl and manage to like her. If you like her, then there’s a chance. You’re hard to please even as a playboy. #sweetpeawatch #gothamsafety #gothamisunsafe #harleymightactuallygolookingicantstopher

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|                                       @BattyBat: Can we just agree for all siren’s and rogues to stay away for now? Seriously let them have a week before scaring them too bad. #gothamwillscarethemeventually #itsgotham #wescareeveryone #leavingthembehindwasreckless

Chapter Text

            When my alarm went off for me and Chloe to get up, I groaned. I hate getting up, even if I’ve gotten better at it. I start my morning exercise and yoga so I can get through the day of dealing with Lila’s crap without being too distracted from the Museum tour we’ll be taking today. After I take a shower and dry my hair, I pull out my Nightwing outfit which consisted of a black dress with a blue stripe following my v-neck and going down each sleeve which I paired with black combat boots. I pull my hair back into a ponytail that I then straightened even more than my normally straight hair. My makeup had blue eyeshadow and a natural lip shade. Once I finished getting ready, I exit my bedroom to go see if Chloe was ready.

            Chloe’s outfit was similar in that it was a black dress. Her black dress had a yellow bat over her heart and a yellow belt that looked like Chloe’s classic diamond looking belt but yellow. She wore, as she put it, ‘the most comfortable black heels she ever had the pleasure of wearing.’ The dress had a hood, and she wore a black scarf as well. Her makeup is what she normally wears these days but with a dark nude pink lip. Finally, Chloe wore her hair down and pulled back out of her face but slightly curled.

            We decide to head downstairs for breakfast instead of cooking in the penthouse kitchen. This place was like an upscale apartment on top of hotel. Once we got downstairs, I bit back a groan. Of course, my class is already downstairs. Me and Chloe decide to just ignore them as we get some food for ourselves. We sit down and easily enjoy ourselves while we eat. A few minutes after I go through my bag to make sure I have everything and curse. My sketchbook wasn’t in there. That means I left it up in the room. I’ll need to go get it in case inspiration hits. Daisy and the bus shouldn’t be here for another 15 minutes anyways. I tell Chloe to go ahead and stay down here and that I’d be back soon. My sketchbook was right where I left it last night after I pulled it out of my luggage, on my nightstand. Once I had that and a few pencils put away, having to carry a larger bag to accommodate the extra Kwamii’s anyways, and head back downstairs.

            When I get downstairs again the class is gone, and I sigh. I don’t know how I didn’t expect it. Lila of course, would want me left behind, even if it’s simply for saying I am crying out for attention. My only question is how they got the bus to come early and leave without Daisy. Guess Lila is just as persuasive here in Gotham as she is in Paris. I go to the front desk and ask if the class already left and she seemed shocked to see me left behind. I sigh and think of my next move when I hear a familiar voice behind me.

            “Well, aren’t you nice and prompt, where’s everyone else? I thought I’d see at least a few more already in the lobby when I arrived,” Daisy spoke calmly. She clearly had no idea what had happened, at least not yet.

            “I’m afraid they ditched us. The front desk said that they called the bus early and loaded up and left five minutes ago. No doubt Lila’s idea. Though I have no proof so I shouldn’t just accuse,” I back pedal when I remember how much trouble I’ve gotten in for accusing without proof in the past.

            “Accuse away darlin’, I got a feeling you’re right. Don’t sweat, I’ll call Mr. Wayne and get this all sorted out,” Daisy smiles at me sympathetically as I check my own phone to respond to Chloe’s messages. I let her know that Daisy arrived and we’re gonna meet her there.

            “It’s okay, if you have somewhere to be, I’ll just go ahead and walk. I don’t want to bother Mr. Wayne for anymore special treatment than he’s already given me,” I smile at the sweet woman who just tuts at my reaction as she fiddles with her phone.

            “No worries dear. He’s already been notified and is sending someone to pick us up. I’ll need to talk to that driver before I return to the office,” she informs me, and I just nod with a grateful expression clear on my face.

            After a little bit a nice town car pulls up in front of the hotel and a young man in a suit opens the drivers’ door to wave at Daisy. “B sent me to get you guys. He tried to do it himself, but he had more work than me, so I was able to weasel my way into the pleasure instead. To the Gotham Museum, right?” The handsome man asked Daisy.

            “Yes. After all, I doubt Dick will start the tour without at least the contest winner,” Daisy replies.

            “Ooo! I didn’t even notice it was you! I’m so glad I got to meet you first,” the man comes around the car and extends a hand towards me for me to shake. “I’m Tim Drake, we’ve had a few email correspondences but haven’t had the pleasure of meeting. And believe me, it’s a pleasure.”

            I can’t help but smile a genuine smile at his antics. “Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Please just call me Marinette. The pleasure is all mine. It’s an honor to meet the Co-Ceo of Wayne Enterprises, let alone have him offer me a ride.”

            The man, Mr. Drake, seems stunned for a moment before he regains his composure. “Feel free to call me Tim, Marinette. I’m only a few years older than you. And it’s really my pleasure to get to come and give you a ride. I was pretty annoyed that my brother and Cass were gonna get to meet you first, so this is better for me. Plus, now Alfred can’t say I didn’t take a break today.” Tim winks at me.

            “Well thank you all the same,” I smile again, and he smiles back before opening the door for me and Daisy. I of course, left the front seat for the older woman.

~.~

            I did a headcount five times before I pinched the bridge of my nose. Not only was this teacher missing a student, but she actually left the contest winner behind. On top of that, she couldn’t seem to get her class under control. Which was making it harder to keep Cass’s darker tendencies under control.

            “Ma’am, could you please explain to me, how it is you leave behind a student in Gotham? And not just any student, but your contest winner on top of that,” I ask the teacher directly.

            “I told you, we have the contest winner. Lila Rossi is right there,” Ms. Bustier gestured at a girl in orange with her hair tied in a way that resembled sausages hanging by her face.

            “And I told you, that’s not the contest winner. Even if she actually entered the contest, which I wouldn’t know, she certainly didn’t win. The winner is a Miss Marinette Dupain-Cheng. I don’t see Miss Dupain-Cheng here. So, let me ask again, how do you leave a student behind in the most dangerous city in the world?” I ask the teacher one more time.

            “It’s not like I tried to. But of all my students, I’m confident that she can take care of herself just fine,” the teacher scoffs.

            “Did you take a headcount before leaving?” I ask, just to see how incompetent she really is.

            “No, she didn’t. She’s ridiculous, utterly ridiculous! I told her Mari wasn’t there, she had gone to get something from the room since we had another 15 minutes. But the bus showed up early and Mme. Bustier hurried us all onto the bus despite my protests!” the young blonde scoffs. This must be the friend I was told about.

            “Luckily for you, your liaison with WE showed up not long after you departed. I was informed recently that WE sent someone to go and collect Miss Dupain-Cheng as well as Daisy. Needless to say, we won’t be allowing this to happen again. Had she chosen to walk, chances are she would’ve been mugged or worse by now. If you haven’t driven it into your head that you are in the city of crime, then let it sink in by the end of today. Negligence can mean the loss of life in this city. Am I understood?” I lecture the teacher who seems appalled at what I’m saying to her before she laughs. It was apparently disbelief.

            “Oh please. You’re just exaggerating. My student Lila told me that most of the crime has been cleaned up in Gotham. It’s no more dangerous here than it is in Paris. Nice try though, Marinette tried to say these things as well, but Lila told us how the cities heroes have all but wiped-out crime by now,” Mme. Bustier, as the blonde referred to her, scoffed at my warning. I was going to rebut but, the red head with glasses interrupted me.

            “She would know too. She’s Damian Wayne’s girlfriend. So, be careful how you speak to us, or her boyfriend will get you fired. He loves her way too much to let you ingrates treat her poorly,” When she was done talking, me and Cass lost it.

            I couldn’t catch my breath, and from the looks of it, neither could Cass. We were laughing so hard we almost fell over and ended up supporting each other as we both continued to laugh. That’s of course how Tim found us when he arrived with Marinette and Daisy.

            “What’s so funny?” Tim asks from over the hood. We hadn’t even let the class inside without Marinette.

            “Th-They…haa! Sh-she said that…hehehe! She said that Damian loves the sausage girl! Ha! Su-supposedly way too much to l-let us ‘i-ingrates’ treat her badly. Hehehehe! Sh-she claimed he’d get us fired! Hahahahaahahaha!” I barely managed to explain to my brother, but he clearly understood.

            “Oh, that’s rich,” he snorts, and Daisy smirks a bit. Then I noticed the young girl that must be Marinette.

            “Sorry about her. But it’s not stopping any time soon,” she apologizes to Tim.

            “Heh! Don’t worry about it. Me, my brother, and Cass are getting a kick out of it. Gonna be murder when he hears this. But it’s funny right now,” Tim shrugs it off.

            “You must be Miss Dupain-Cheng. Nice to meet you. I’m Dick and this is Cass. We’re gonna step in as tour guides and chaperones today. We were sent by WE. It’s a pleasure to meet you. You’re the most praised contest winner to date. Your name has been a staple around for a while now,” I shake the young girls hand. That’s when I took in her outfit, hair, and eyes. I look at Tim and he just smirks as he shakes his head. “I love your outfit by the way. Nightwing, nice.”

            The young girl, with hair so black it was blue, giggled. “Thanks, me and my friend Chloe decided to dress up for the first week or so that we’re here. Today, I’m Nightwing and she’s Black Bat!” Her smile that she gave me was so bright, I swear the sun started shining in Gotham. I look at Tim and he simply smiles warmly at her. Clearly my brother is taken with her already. We’re screwed if Bruce meets her.

            “That’s awesome. Where’d you get them?” I ask and before she answers, her friend dressed as Cass’s alter ego sidles up to her and responds for her.

            “She made them. My Mari is the best designer around. You’ll see,” Chloe responds, and I look at them in shock.

            “Well, you certainly seem talented. You two mind if I get a picture? I need to have proof of these outfits,” I ask them and they both nod. Marinette gives her smile that lights up Gotham. “Thanks. Now then, let’s get on with the tour.” I take the students into the museum to finally start the tour.

~.~

            Dick, the tour guide, starts to show us around the beautiful museum and my hand is itching to reach for the sketchbook in my bag. The marble and pillars alone were art enough to inspire designs of outfits, dresses, and jewelry. Not to mention the actual art. When we reached the hall of Heroes, the history and the costumes show me the accuracy of my own outfits. I stepped in front of the original Bat Girl and get lost in my own thoughts. As a hero myself, I fear the day I might get as injured as she once did, even though I have the Miraculous cure.

            “Mari!” Chloe whisper yells. “Get out of your head and focus on the tour guide. Don’t let yourself fall into those thoughts I know you were thinking.”

            “Thanks, Chlo,” I smile at her and turn my attention to Dick.

            “Batman is said to have been single handedly responsible for more than half of our city’s Vigilante’s success. No Robin who went out on their own would be here today without his training them in the first place. No one knows where he get’s these Robins, but everyone knows that we are grateful to have them all. The female vigilante’s we see are also a major positive influence on the youth of our city. Not only did the first Bat Girl start her work entirely on her own, but she was clearly a youth who was later brought under Batman’ wing before the fateful day where she was injured to the point of never returning to vigilante work. There are many theories out there about Bat Girl’s disappearance and why the public never saw her again. All together we’ve had about 3 Bat Girls and at least 4 Robin’s. From what we can tell Nightwing…” Dick continues explaining the history and theories of the local Vigilante’s.

            I raise my hand to ask a question and Dick pauses and nods in my direction. My classmate’s rolling their eyes. “Why is it that you all call them Vigilante’s when at this point they are clearly heroes who have even joined and at least one of them helped form, the Justice League?”

            “I guess it’s just kind of habit at this point. When the Vigilante’s began here in Gotham, it was just Batman against the city. He stopped the crime that the cops couldn’t get to or even touch sometimes, but he did so by breaking the rules and the law. We are supposed to leave it to the cops to solve and stop crime. Batman became an absolutely indispensable hero for the city when superpowered villains and pycho’s such as the Joker or Scarecrow who were too difficult for the police to handle on their own came on the scene.”

            I nod and Dick continues on with the tour before we head into the Wayne wing. Yes, an entire wing dedicated to the city playboy. The center of the wing had a gigantic and beautiful chandelier. I fell into a near trance just looking at it and ended up sitting on the floor with crossed legs and pulled out my sketchbook. I was sketching before I even knew what I was doing.

~.~

            Shortly after finishing in the Hall of Heroes we made our way into the Wayne Wing so I could explain my own family history, starting with my adoptive father’s parents. But before I can I turn around only to watch Marinette sit down in a trance and start sketching in her sketchbook. I can’t help myself; I discreetly take a picture to share with the family later. Damian is going to like this a lot. I was smiling when the moment was ruined.

            “There goes Mari-slut, vying for attention again,” the glasses girl comments again.

            “Oh, come on! For someone who used to supposedly be her best friend you really don’t know her. This happens all the time when something beautiful catches her attention. Next thing you know, you have a gorgeous new outfit and accessories that she lets you wear or even gives you,” Chloe stands defensively in front of Marinette. Which of course catches MY eye.

            “I know you mean well Chloe, but she could have hurt someone with how quickly she dropped down like that. She clearly didn’t care what happened when she sat down. I wish I could agree with you, but I can’t see that as anything other than a cry for attention,” the sausage girl replies with her hand to her mouth, seemingly in concern.

            “She was in the back of the group; I was the only one with a chance of falling over her and I was next to her. This was just the best position for her to sketch whatever entered her head. And based off this room she might need to do this now, so she doesn’t do it even more later,” Chloe defends her friend again.

            “It just, I’ve seen people turn around and trip over someone who had dropped down carelessly like that and gotten seriously hurt,” sausage girl adds on with teary eyes.

            “Oh, girl. Don’t mind Chloe. At least no one was actually hurt. Despite Marinette’s best efforts,” glasses consoles sausage.

            “Enough! Sitting down like that couldn’t be a cry for attention when she has that look in her eyes. That’s the look of someone who doesn’t even recognize what is going on around them. All she see’s is the chandelier and her sketchbook,” I call everyone’s attention to me.

            “What would you know?! You’re just a tour guide and Lila has firsthand experience with this kind of thing. Besides, you don’t know Marinette like we do,” glasses shouts at me.

            “I know cause as I cop; I saw it all the time. Especially here in Gotham where fear toxin is a regular threat. Victims of fear toxin get a similar look in their eye, except their look is full of manic fear as well. I don’t want to hear anymore on the matter. Miss Bourgeois, if she starts to need to sketch again, can you please help to guide her to a bench instead of the floor so she won’t get stepped on and can be more comfortable. The Gotham Museum encourages artists to sit and be inspired by the art within it’s walls. And the Wayne Wing has some of the most beautiful pieces ever to be in Gotham, all donated by Bruce Wayne to honor his mother’s memory,” I finish my reprimand of the bullies and point out that similar actions are encourages, especially in this wing.

            Chloe simply nods and the Lila girl makes a fuss apologizing for causing a scene and whatever else she says to her friends to get them to fawn over them. I let them explore the Wayne Wing and tell them to meet under the Chandelier in two hours. By then it’ll be time for lunch, which they have permission to leave for. After lunch I’ll finish the tour and then they’ll head back to the Hotel. I’ll be helping Daisy make sure that all of them are on the bus so no one gets left behind again. Once they’re all preoccupied, I turn to Cass.

            “Ok, I’m gonna say it. What the fuck?” I ask her and she gives a harsh laugh.

            “Seriously. How dumb can those kids be?” Cass crosses her arms and glares at the Lila girl.

            “Apparently pretty dumb,” I grunt. “I don’t know how they seem to blindly listen to that Lila girl. Especially with her earlier Damian lie.”

            “Yeah. Though we didn’t exactly debunk her lie yet. This could be fun,” Cass smirks as plans seemingly form in her head.

            “Could you hold off on that please?” I didn’t even notice Marinette approach so needless to say, me and Cass were both a little startled.

            “Um…why?” I ask her, more than a little confused why she would stop us from exposing the lies.

            “I just think that they won’t believe you no matter what right now. They haven’t even figured out that you’re Bruce Wayne’s oldest son. Let alone that I was dropped off by the Co-Ceo. So, they’re gonna need plenty of evidence. And since we’re here for an entire semester, we have plenty of time to do just that while we’re here in Gotham. I’ll do my best to gather all the evidence quick as possible,” Marinette tells me, and I give her a questioning look.

            “Just trust her. We have discovered that Lila did the least research for her current lies cause Gotham has a lot less information coming out easily on their famous people. So, she doesn’t think Marinette can really prove her wrong. Plus, she doesn’t think in general half the time. That’s just Liar-la for you. She’s ridiculous, utterly ridiculous,” Chloe backs up her friend.

            “Alright, we’ll follow your lead for now I suppose. So, what did you just have to draw when you saw the original Wayne Mansion Chandelier?” I ask to switch gears.

            “Oh, well, I…I uh…I…you see…it…um…I…des…gah!” Marinette stammers and blushes as she starts hiding behind Chloe.

            “Mari-bug is a bit of a designer. When she gets like that, the inspiration is too strong for her to resist and she is lost in her world of design,” Chloe responds for her clearly flustered friend.

            “Stolen design you mean. Lila designed half the stuff Marinette posted on that old site of hers. That’s why she had to take it down. Don’t you remember Chloe Brat-goise?” Glasses interrupts.

            “Seriously Alya? You of all people should know that’s not true in the least. Yet you just believe whatever Liar-la tells you,” Chloe retort.

            “The only liar around here is Mari-slut. Who you seem to be helping to flirt with our tour guide. Seriously, how desperate can she get? First Adrien, now this old guy?” Glasses girl, or Alya apparently, spits at Chloe.

            “I’m not flirting with the tour guide,” Marinette says with what seems like bravado, but I can see the fire in her eyes. I was still stuck on being called old, and Cass laughing wasn’t helping.

            “Whatever Mari,” Alya flips her hair dismissively.

            “Mari is reserved for my friends Alya, something we haven’t been in a while,” steel seemed to infuse itself in Marinette’s voice as she stood up for herself.

            Alya just decides to stomp off after clearly being shocked by Marinette’s tone. I tell Marinette to go enjoy the rest of the Wayne Wing with her friend and that me and Cass would be here if she needs us. After they walk off me and Cass share a look. Marinette was clearly being bullied, and it went beyond being left behind in the city of crime.

~.~

            Me and Chloe wander around the Wayne Wing and admire all the art and beautiful statues that the Wayne’s have donated over the years. The biggest statue being one of Thomas and Martha Wayne with their arms around each other and their outermost arms outstretched as if saying “here we are, and here you go. Beauty, wealth, warmth, and home, all gifted to all that we can reach.” The statue was carved from white marble and seemed to be so pure it was almost a solid white. All the black tendrils that you could see, almost seemed consumed by the white, as if the light of their souls were swallowing the darkness of the world around them. The most beautiful statue by far was this one. It was welcoming, warm, and giving. The statue gave off a warmer feeling than you would expect from stone.

            I thought I got the design out of me but instead, Chloe guided me to the nearby bench before I could just sit down on the ground again and I began designing. I wanted to capture the spirit of this statue as best as I could. Giving, merciful, light, swallowing the harsh, cruel, darkness. The embodiment of yang, the light of yin yang, the creation miraculous. When I was done, I looked at the dress on the paper in front of me. It was a floor length gown, draping the form of the body it’s on as if it were poured on. The dress was white with shimmering diamonds in bunches by the heart and right hip. Those diamonds held together bits of the draping fabric to gather together and fit the body even better. Underneath was the swallowed black, the black being the darkest fabric I’ll be able to find only to be dyed even blacker once my hands are on it. The white will be a silk, mostly solid but just thin enough the darkness will shine through, making the dress all the more beautiful. You see just a small peak of the black fabric at the bottom left of the dress as if an asymmetrical skirt was on sideways and barely lifted five inches off the floor to reveal a pitch-black universe beneath the veil of the skirt. The shoes match the white of the dress with a cluster of diamonds on the toes. The bottom of the shoe the blackest you’ve ever seen. All accessories are diamond, reflecting the light of the dress designed for others to bath in and feel the purity of it. The dress is strapless and has a brilliant fur coat to go over it should you be exposed to the cold darkness of Gotham.

            “I think I found your dress,” I tell Chloe. She’s beautiful enough to do this justice.

            “Are you kidding me? That’s your dress. I look much better in gold, like the last one you designed. Besides your dark hair compliments the dress much better than my blonde,” Chloe tells me, and I look at her in shock. She gently smiles at me. “That is so clearly the light of the miraculous. Besides, the chandelier fits Pollen and Princess Honey better. The only reason this dress isn’t in red is because your miraculous is the embodiment of yang and creation. The white is you. Not me.”

            “Alright Chlo. In that case, we both might just have our dresses. Way earlier than I thought, thankfully,” I smile at my best friend and we return to the group for lunch. I’m satisfied with the dress. And Chloe’s right. I put myself down when I said the dress was for her. Deep down, I knew it was mine.

@BlueKnight: *2 pictures attached* Okay, so I met our contest winner today and can I just say she is literal sunshine? Like I swear the sun shines in Gotham every time she smiles. Look at how cute she is with her friend in Vigilante outfits! Apparently with more to come. And the cutie draws too! So lost in her inspiration she just dropped down and her tongue poked out in concentration. #literalsunshine #sunshineofgotham #sweetie #trueartist #hidefrombruce

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|   @CoffeeisLife: I met her too and loved the outfit. She seriously is sunshine. When she truly smiles, the clouds seem to part just to let the light in for her. An absolute darling! #sunshineofgotham #bestoutfits #nowonderbestentry #absolutesweetheart

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|           @DaisyDarlin: This girl is sunshine and sugar. I don’t care who you are but bless your heart if you try to hurt her. I’m already in love with the little darlin’. And the brats who go after her will be in so much trouble if I have anything to say about it. #sunshineofgotham #sweeterthansugar #seriouslykeepfrombruce #hemighttrytoadopt #lookslikeawaynealready

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|                 @BattyBat: Seriously, from what I’ve seen there’s some major bullying going on. This sunshine was even asking us to hold off on revealing lies so she can make it easier for her classmates to believe it. I really wanna punch something now. #sunshineofgotham #littleartist #mightbeasaint #caresforallbutself #seriouslyimgoingtopunchstuff

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|                         @OGWayne: I won’t adopt her…I think. Besides that point, @BattyBat only punch a punching bag or other gym equipment. Outside of that, tell me more about the bullying situation later. I’ll see what I can do. #sunshineofgotham #sweetdear #backboneofherclass #millioncharities #idontknowallshesdone #seriouslycantwaittomeetmycontestwinner

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|                                   @IcePrince: What was she drawing? #fatheratitagain #iwillnotcallhersunshineofgotham #whatsherartlike #notanotherwayne #ihaveenoughsiblings

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|                                             @BlueKnight: She was apparently designing clothes and accessories based on what she saw around her. And Aww, I love you too demon spawn. #sheissunshineofgotham #sunshineofgotham #littledesigner #iceprinceinterestpeaked

Chapter Text

            After we were given two hours of free time Dick wrangled us up for a quick blurb about how Mr. Wayne and his family had been donating to the Museum for decades now. When the Chandelier had been donated, back not long after Bruce Wayne returned from his abroad seclusion, the Museum had to have a remodel done to accommodate the beautiful and original chandelier of Wayne manor which had burned down. This chandelier was restored before being donated and a new one was put up in its place in the manor. Since then, the statue of Thomas and Martha Wayne had been created and placed in its place of honor in the Wayne Wing.

            Once the blurb was done, we were let loose for lunch nearby and told to be back in an hour so we could see the rest of the museum and go back to the hotel afterwards. Me and Chloe chose a little cafe and had some time to ourselves. The others wanted to try other places. Sadly, the coffee and food didn’t last long enough as soon the hour was up. We went through the rest of the museum and I avoided anymore design trances. The art was beautiful, absolutely stunning, but not as inspirational as the chandelier and the statue. Once we were done being given detailed explanations of the couple other sections we had to go through, including a small hall of Villains which was there purely to educate in case someone didn’t know who they were, it was about four-thirty. The bus had arrived and so had Daisy. Both waiting outside the entrance of the museum.

            Lila’s group stopped to talk, as if they hadn’t been talking all day, at the top of the stairs at the entrance. It didn’t bother me as this is pretty normal, but I had been distracted talking to Chloe, so I didn’t notice when Lila’s foot shot out in front of me. It must have rained since lunch cause the stairs were wet and slick and I couldn’t regain my footing because of that. I went tumbling down the stone steps to land in a heap in front of Daisy.

            “MARINETTE!!!” Chloe shrieks as I tumble down the many steps. There were other voices mixed in but with the fall it was a bit jumbled, so I didn’t really recognize them. That is until Lila called out above them all.

            “Oh my gosh! Marinette I’m sOo sorry. I didn’t mean to! You know my leg has that twitch and the cold weather must’ve triggered it. Oh, I know we have our differences, but I really hope you don’t blame me and get angry with me for this. It was an accident, honest!” Lila gave her little crying speech and covered her face. Mme. Bustier, who had been checking on me along with Chloe and the tour guides, rushed over to join the class in comforting Lila. I could see Adrien standing nearby with a dangerous flash in his eyes as he looked at me before rejoining the group from class.

            “Oh girl, how could she blame you for this. It’s not your fault that you have a twitch sometimes. Besides, Marinette’s clumsy anyways, she probably would’ve tripped even without your leg twitching. If she does get upset over this then that’s her problem for not being more understanding and for being such a bitch,” Alya gives me a glare as she holds and comforts Lila. Her eyes clearly telling me that if I don’t reassure Lila then I’d be getting hurt worse later. I get up slowly, and with a little help from Chloe and the tour guides and grin a biting smile. My teeth grinding together I spoke through them.

            “Of course, I don’t blame you Lila! It was just bad timing. You couldn’t help it,” I manage to say, taking a deep breath. “It looks worse than it is anyways. Just a few scrapes and bruises.”

            The tour guides look at me skeptically and I just keep my irritated smile on my face, not noticing how thunder clapped as I spoke through my gritted teeth and the sky darkened. Mme. Bustier smiled at me warmly and with a bit of pride. Adrien appeared pleased with my standing down about Lila’s lies as he had asked all those years ago, when Lila made her promise to take all my friends and then made good on it. Alya looked satisfied before she looked at Lila and continued to assure her of not being at fault, how even ‘the bitch’ aka me said so. Finally, I looked at Chloe who looked at the class with utterly pure disdain and rage.

            “Thank you for reassuring Lila, Marinette. I knew you would set the right example in this situation as the class president. Now everyone let’s get on the bus,” Mme. Bustier called out and Daisy finally stepped forward seemingly hanging up the phone.

            “Y’all won’t be going anywhere without my agreeance anymore. After leavin’ behind a student this mornin’ by leavin’ early, y’all have lost the privilege and ability to call for the bus. Mme. Bustier, I will be conducting head counts every time y’all get on and off the bus. Mr. Wayne does not take kindly to children being left to fend for themselves in Gotham. He’s been workin’ very hard to provide aide even for them homeless runaways that we got here. Last thing he’s willing to do is see his contest winner or one of her classmates get hurt from y’all leavin’ em’ behind. Now, Miss Marinette, Mr. Wayne has asked if you’d like to see a doctor after that fall. If you do, then one of the tour guides will take you. If not, well we won’t force you and you can get on the bus with the rest of yer class,” Daisy clearly wasn’t happy with the situation and Dick was standing close in case I did want to see a doctor, or emergently needed one I’m sure.

            “No, really I’m fine. Scrapes and bruises really. I might be a little sore tomorrow, but I’ll be better in no time. And Chloe won’t let me say no if I need it. I can just clean up at the hotel,” I smile at Daisy for real this time to make her more at ease for me not going.

            “If you feel like you need to see a doctor at any point, you just let the front desk know and they’ll help you get to one,” Dick speaks up this time. “Daisy, I’m gonna get these two onto the bus now. So, add them to your headcount before you let the others on.”

            Daisy simply nods and we’re ushered into the bus to take our seats first. We sit near the back so that the others will have a hard time to do anything to us. I sit near the window and Chloe looks on worried. I feel a reassuring pressure on my leg near my bag from the kwamii’s. As we wait for the rest of the class to join us on the bus, I lean my head on Chloe and she doesn’t say a thing. She knows I’ll say something about how I’m actually feeling after we get to our room. It takes about twenty minutes before we’re all on the bus and back at the hotel.

            In our room, Chloe helps me clean up the outward injuries. Once they’re better looking, she asks if she needs to be worried about anything else. I simply shake my head lightly and tell her that Tikki is already healing me a lot. I just hope we can avoid any Akuma attacks while I recover from this. At least for the day is preferable. We’ll see. I keep my phone on just in case of an alert and go sleep in my room. Chloe checked on me throughout the night, she probably had an inkling of my likely concussion. Either way, I wasn’t about to let yesterday’s ending ruin my tomorrow.

~.~

            For some reason I started having the worst headache above my left eyebrow. It almost felt broken but that made no sense. This happens sometimes though. It’s usually gone pretty quick. Though on occasion it takes a day or so before it fully goes away. But the intense anger I felt was something I hardly ever feel anymore. At least, I thought so. When I was ten, I would be angry like this a lot, ready to tear someone apart. I would never admit it, but Father, Greyson, and the rest of the family have done a lot for helping me to understand my own emotions and work towards healing. With Pennyworth on top of it all, being angry all the time seemed pointless. But for the last three years there will be moments of this intense anger just building inside of me. Slowly it became more often. Today I had one of those moments on top of this headache. When that happens, I almost always take a day or so to recover. This is gonna be a long twenty-four hours. Especially when father roped me into being a babysitter for that contest winners class tomorrow at the garden. Instead of just putting up with humans, I got up and went to my room to rest. I was exhausted.

~.~

            The next morning, I woke up and still had a headache from where I’m pretty sure I fractured my skull yesterday, not that I told anyone. I took some ibuprofen and went to get ready. Today’s theme for me was Robin. There have been many Robin’s but only one has remained Robin only, at least so far. He also has one of the best costumes of all the Robin’s. Instead of a dress, I wore a red tunic with black skinny jeans underneath. I had on green combat boots today and a black hooded kimono style jacket with a yellow lining and a batwing style cut at the bottom. Once again, I wore my hair pulled back in a ponytail but instead of it being a high ponytail it was low and secured to a couple places on my head which I wrapped around the bands with more hair. Technically it was two ponytails combined into one, but still a ponytail. My eye makeup was green with black winged eyeliner that kinda made the design of Robins mask but smaller. The rest of my makeup was simple and nude, and covered my bruises. Finally, I accessorized with a yellow chain belt which consisted of big, thin, and circular links, and green cuff bracelets.

            When I exited my bathroom, I had to wait for Chloe today. She’d be dressing up as a Siren so she’s probably having more fun with her look. I pulled out my doodle sketch book and just draw random things that I might draw inspiration from later. Luckily, I don’t have to wait long as out walks Chloe perfectly made up in the outfit I gave her. When I designed Poison Ivy’s outfit, I drew from many different styles of hers, which resulted in Chloe’s outfit today. Chloe’s dress was green with a strapless bodice that had leaf-like designs all over it. The skirt covered in ivy vine designs flowed seamlessly from the bodice. In some outfits you see Poison Ivy in a leather jacket style, so I used that to keep to dress code of needing sleeves. However, instead of a dark green that looks black like you usually see, I put her in red for Ivy’s hair. For shoes I decked out green heels, like what Chloe is used to wearing but slightly taller, to have vine straps going up to the knees and have leaves all over them. Chloe had one side of her hair pinned back a little with a rose and wore green smoky eyeshadow with red lips. To see my designs come to life on her is always breath-taking and gives me such joy. She always makes my designs stand out more in my opinion.

            Once we were both ready, we decided to eat in our room to avoid any issues with the class. We knew we could order room service and Mr. Wayne said he’d comp it. Normally I wouldn’t accept such a generous offer, but this seemed like the right time to let myself indulge in someone else’s generosity. Also, Chloe argued that he was even richer than Gabriel Agreste so two girls occasional room service charges were probably nothing to him. I ordered pancakes and made sure to get things for the Kwamii’s to eat as well, including camembert for Plagg whenever he finally woke up. Once we were done with our food, we went downstairs to wait for Daisy and the bus to show up, only to be met with Mme. Bustier arguing with the front desk.

            “What do you mean you won’t contact the bus for us? My student needs to get to our destination so the plants can help with her allergies!” Mme. Bustier argued.

            “And I’ve told you multiple times ma’am, I have been instructed to never call the bus early anymore. The bus will arrive on time for its schedule and Ms. Daisy will take headcount before you go anywhere. After you left a student behind yesterday, I’m surprised Mr. Wayne hasn’t done more but I’ll have to assume it’s because it was unintentional on your part. Now please have a seat, Ms. Daisy will be here soon and any grievances you have about the bus you can bring up with her,” The lady at the front desk spoke fluently in French as she shut down Mme. Bustier for arguing about calling the bus early. I suppose Lila would test her luck with it to see if the new rules stuck…if she even heard them yesterday. Of course, Lila sneezes a few times to bring her ‘misery’ home.

            When Daisy did show up about thirty minutes later Lila was acting up a storm and Mme. Bustier tried to reprimand Daisy for not allowing us access to the bus, ‘effectively stranding us here’. Daisy was having none of it.

            “Whatever could there be that y’all need to call the bus yourselves fer? Hm? To leave a student behind again? Did you even attempt a head count before you tried to call fer the bus? Bet you were missing at least one student if you didn’t. Now, why on earth did you think y’all needed the bus…” Daisy looks to the lady manning the front desk.

            “An hour early,” she filled her in on how early they had tried.

            “Thank you sugar. A full hour before y’all were scheduled fer yer tour? What could be so urgent that you couldn’t wait ta get to the gardens?” Daisy interrogated Mme. Bustier but Lila answered for her.

            “My allergies started acting up ma’am. Achoo! And the flowers there would help me. Achoo!” She made sure to sneeze twice to add to the effect.

            “Well, I have no idea what smelling the flowers of the garden have ta do wit yer allergies but here’s an antihistamine. This’ll fix ya right up,” Daisy walked over and handed the pill to Lila. “And for the record. The only way fer any of the medicinal plants in the garden to work as medicine, is to pick them and use them. Such an act can only be performed under the supervision of Ms. Poison Ivy or we all have ta deal wit her rampage for undue harm of the plants she works so hard ta tend to. So, don’t any of y’all think about plucking the plants today. They’re fer lookin and smellin. That’s it.”

            Daisy conducts her head count, and we get under way to go to Gotham’s Botanical Garden, ultimately cared for by Poison Ivy herself. Which is why me and Chloe decided today would be when she wore her Poison Ivy outfit. It would be so cool to get to take a picture with her. When we get there, a grumpy looking guy our age is standing there with a girl a few years older than us. She’s clearly a lot more perky. Daisy does her head count as we get off and then stands in front of us.

            “Mr. Greyson can’t join y’all for the next couple days, but Mr. Wayne has arranged for others to help guide y’all on yer tours. This is Damian and Stephanie; you’ll be seeing them both again so please do behave. I’ll see y’all after yer tour. Mr. Wayne needs me to get back to the office soon,” Daisy introduces and then hops in a waiting car nearby and heads off to her destination.

            “Hey everyone! As Daisy said, I’m Stephanie. You can call me Steph. And this is Demon, I mean Damian. Heh, inside joke. We’ll be showing you around inside the garden. I’m sure Daisy already said this, but please don’t touch the plants. Poison Ivy really doesn’t like it when people do without permission. That being said, it’s absolutely beautiful in here. Wayne Enterprises has been working really hard with Poison Ivy to make this place as beautiful as it can be and keep nature safe in at least one part of Gotham. Go ahead and follow me in guys. We’ll do a quick tour and then let you all loose to enjoy the garden. As long as you remember the rules, everything will be fine,” Steph was clearly happy to be here with us. I kind of like that about her. The guy however looked about ready to rip off his own fingernails to get out of here.

            When we get a little ways in Stephanie scans the crowd and seems to be doing another headcount. Probably to make sure she hasn’t lost anyone. When her eyes land on me and Chloe she gasps. “You must be the contest winner Marinette and her friend Chloe! OMG Dick was right the outfits are to die for! Damian, look at them! Can I get a picture of you two? Dick will kill me if I don’t get one for him!”

            I can’t help but giggle and nod at her. Me and Chloe stand near each other off to the side of the group and get our picture taken for Steph. Meanwhile I overheard Alya mutter about me seeking attention. I decided to brush it off and let myself have some fun.

~.~

            In the morning, the headache was better but still there. After a little while though it got better once more. I got ready in my usual attire, a white button up and black jeans with sneakers. Sneakers make it easier to run if need be. I slick back my hair as usual and spike it up a bit to make it different from Robin. I go downstairs once I’m ready and Pennyworth already has my breakfast ready. I quickly eat and groan when I’m reminded that I’m going to be babysitting that class today. No wonder I didn’t get ready to hit the gym. And I’d be going with Stephanie who was already ready to go. Pennyworth drives us in the town car and waits for fathers assistant Daisy to take her to Wayne Enterprises.

            Soon after arriving a bus pulls up and Daisy does her head count, which I’ve been informed we need to do as well on occasion. Once she lets everyone off, my eyes catch on the last girl out. She was small and lithe, with hair so black it appeared blue. Her eyes were such a brilliant blue that they were easily compared with bluebells. And she was dressed as my alter ego. I take pride in my ability to keep my emotions under wraps, but this time was hard. I knew I had to hold back as a blush attempted to creep onto my cheeks. I would not give Brown the satisfaction. Daisy told them all to behave and try to get along with us, at which I quietly scoffed, and then she scurried off to Pennyworth so he could drive her back to the office.

            Brown brought all the students into the garden after a little speech of her own, where she referred to me as Demon as if now was the time for family antics, tch. Once we got to the first stopping point, in front of the roses Ivy planted where she died in the past, Brown finally seems to notice the girls’ outfit. And apparently her friend had one to. When she gushed and made a point to point it out to me, my blush pushed through for all of a second. Long enough for me to be annoyed. She quickly got the girls to agree to a picture and then continued on with the tour. She explained the significance of the roses and several of the other flowers that are considered hot spots. Some beds were donated by WE, others by just the Waynes, and everything was planted and cared for by Poison Ivy. My favorite spots were the water attractions. There was a pond, two fountains, and waterfalls here and there. All filled with fresh water so any spray that came off them wouldn’t harm the plants. All man-made water attractions, which was now all of them, were donated by my father. He thought a good garden should have plenty of water, and water attractions.

            I would never admit this out loud, but the garden is the most beautiful spot in all of Gotham in my opinion. I often come here to sketch my surroundings, to practice my observation skills as something other that fighting instinct. Once Brown finally cuts the students loose, I go sit in my favorite spot. By the fountain surrounded by dark flowers. The ground here almost looks like the night sky has poked through as if the earth held it within itself rather than being surrounded by it. I decide to sketch, but for some reason, I can only seem to sketch the girl with the bluebell eyes. I swear, the sun actually shined when she smiled. I suppose my idiot brothers may have been right. She might be literal sunshine.

            I thought all was going well until I heard some of the students come around the corner into my slice of heaven. It was the girl with sausages for hair and her posse. She seemed to be bragging about something. Hopefully, they just pass through.

            “I can’t believe she interrupted the tour just to take a picture of Marislut and Chloe Bratgoise,” the girl with the glasses calls out.

            “It was rather unprofessional. I suppose I should tell my Damiboo about it. I just hope she doesn’t get into too much trouble,” sausage girl acts distressed, though it was so clearly fake.

            “I still can’t believe you’re dating Damian Wayne! You’re so incredibly lucky Lila!” a small blonde girl says in this annoyingly high-pitched voice.

            “Tch!” I scoffed. Unable to hide my disdain. Who’s dating me? I don’t recall dating anyone.

            “Hey! What’s your problem?” glasses turns to me and glares.

            I was about to answer when bluebell walked into the area, smiling brightly and talking quietly with her friend. When she saw what was going on, she sighed before plastering on a fake smile. Her friend sighed as well, only after the fake smile was put on though. And bluebells friend looked on in clear anger as bluebell approached the group.

            “Hey guys, what’s going on here?” she asked them, and glasses speaks up.

            “None of your business Mari,” she snapped. Bluebell let her smile fall.

            “You don’t get to call me Mari anymore Alya. You gave that right up when you stopped being my friend. It’s Marinette to all of you now,” she sighed and put back on a smile, a much more mild one, but still a smile. “I was just curious cause one of our tour guides looked uncomfortable. And we wouldn’t want that when we were told that we’d be seeing them both again.”

            “We were just talking about my Damiboo and he scoffed as if there was something offensive about it,” Sausage girl fake cries. All of her sheep instantly flock to comfort her. I can only scoff again.

            “He probably was offended Liar-la! Not everyone buys your lies, and most people find lies to be offensive!” Marinette’s blonde friend relied before me or Marinette even get the chance to. I can’t help but smirk at her reply.

            “How dare you Chloe! Lila doesn’t lie! It’s you and Marinette who are liars!” glasses, I think Marinette called her Alya, shouts.

            “Ridiculous! You’re utterly ridiculous! I can’t believe you still believe and follow that liar after all this time. And you’re supposed to be some kind of reporter? Puh-lease! More like a third-rate tabloid rag!” Chloe yells right back.

            “Chloe! Leave it! Alya, there’s always going to be people out there who don’t believe Lila’s word, and I have a feeling there will be plenty here in Gotham. They’re used to people lying about their lives. It is the city of crime after all. And Lila, you can’t blame him for not believing you with only your word, knowing the city he probably grew up in. So, can we all just drop it and go our separate ways?” Marinette attempts to diffuse the situation, but it doesn’t seem to work.

            “Just because you’re hell bent on making Lila out to be a liar, doesn’t mean anyone else is Marinette! Except maybe your brainwashed lacky Chloe. You’re the only liar around here. You make up lies all the time just to bully Lila all because you’re jealous of her and Adrien!” Alya shouts at Marinette. My fists are beginning to ball up. That’s when Stephanie showed up and grabbed one of my hands. The class was clearly distracted cause no one noticed her. She held a finger up to her lips. She wanted to hear a little more, probably so she could report to father. “That’s why everyone thinks you’re the contest winner on this trip when we all know it was Lila! You changed the name of the entry at the last minute when you stole her phone! Just admit it already so Lila can get the reward she deserves!”

            “First of all, Lila can have Adrien. I’ve long since gotten over that crush. And second of all I won’t admit to something I didn’t do,” Marinette replies in an eerily calm voice.

            “Just let her take credit Alya. Maybe if she gets to pretend she’s the contest winner then she’ll finally forgive me for whatever I did to make her hate me so much,” the Lila girl cries holding onto her friends arm.

            “No girl, you won fair and square. She shouldn’t get the credit that you deserve,” Alya replied affectionately. As if talking down a martyr. Which I suppose is the role that Lila girl was playing. This only made me like that Chloe girls nickname for the liar even more.

            “No, she doesn’t deserve credit for my hard work. I let go of a lot of things, but this is something I refuse to. I spent an entire year writing essays and the like to enter and win this contest. All so that I could give the entire class this experience. I accomplished a lot with that entry, and I’m not letting Lila take that away from me. Now just walk away, I’m sure the last thing our tour guides want is to listen to us fight. And I’m sure it made him uncomfortable to hear about your love life. So, ignore whatever he did to upset you and walk away. You can argue with me later, we stay in the same hotel and are going to be here through till the New Year. You have plenty of time,” Marinette’s voice brokered no argument. It was the voice of a true leader. One who cared about the safety and well-being of their people. It was impressive.

~.~

            Once I finally convinced Lila and her sheep to walk away, I turned to the tour guides. “I’m so sorry you had to see all that. I promise I didn’t lie in my essay. They are mostly good people, they’re just a little lost right now,” I bow as I apologize.

            “Mari,” Chloe calls out softly. Clearly feeling bad for my still having hope. I can’t help it.

            “What was that all about anyways,” Steph asked, and I stood up.

            “Well…it’s complicated. I’m working on taking care of it but I’m also trying to help the rest of my classmates not be too difficult to convince. Right now, they’re all basically convinced that Lila is this amazing person with an even more amazing life. And sadly, while we’re in Gotham anyways, she decided to use the Wayne’s to better convince the class of this,” I can’t help but look down. I have a feeling that the Damian in front of us is the Damian Wayne she’s been talking about. Which would explain his being upset.

            “Well, I’m here so I can set the record straight,” Damian replies, confirming my suspicion.

            “They’ll just think you’re lying cause I got my ‘claws’ in you. Please, if you can, hold off on anything until I can give them all definitive proof of Lila’s lies,” I ask.

            “Why?” was his simple reply.

            “Because if I don’t get definitive proof, then they’ll just keep believing Lila over everyone else. She’s decently convincing,” I hope that explains well enough.

            “Hm,” Damian thinks for a minute. “She’s not convincing enough for Gotham. Let my father or any one of us Wayne’s know if you need help. The sooner we stop her lies. The sooner lies about me will stop.”

            “Of course. Again, I’m really sorry,” I bow once more for asking something so big.

            “You’re fine! I’m more concerned about where you got those clothes!” Steph exclaimed. Clearly to lighten the mood.

            “She made them. My Mari is gonna be the worlds best fashion designer one day,” Chloe sang my praises as usual. I can’t help but to smile and laugh at their antics.

            “Maybe, but will she be MDC good?” Steph asks clearly as a joke.

            “Chloe, don’t you dare,” before she can reply. Two more women show up.

            “I’m telling you, the plants are reacting to something, and even I can feel the sunlight. It’s like it’s getting stronger over…” the red head stops mid-sentence when she sees me and Chloe.

            “Oh my goodness! Ives! Look it’s a mini you!” the blonde shouts and I finally piece together who they both are. In front of us are Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy.

            “Harles. I think I found the sunshine and I never wanna lose it,” Poison Ivy says almost in a trance as she looks at me.

            “Ives!! Snap out of it and actually look at them!” Harley Quinn snaps in Poison Ivy’s face.

            “Oh, wow,” Poison Ivy snaps out of it like Harley said and she gets a good look. “Only thing that would make this better would be if one was me and the other was you Harles.”

            “Oh, Harley Quinn is tomorrow. She’ll be Cat Woman then. We would’ve done the two of you together, but I wanted to be you both too badly and she likes the darker color scheme of the males. As the designer, she deserves to wear whichever color schemes she wants,” Chloe smiles at the two Sirens and is clearly star struck by their presence. Probably because of how much she relates to them.

            “Aw! Well, I can’t argue with that, now can I? And you made these Lapis? Really?! Just like Lemon Drop says?” Harley asks me and I blush. My smile is practically ear to ear as I nod.

            “Well, I have to say, you do great things for my plants so I’m not too shocked at how good you were at recreating plants on your outfit. You’re really talented Marigold,” Ivy tells me and I blush harder.

            “Can we get a picture wit ya both? You are too cute to pass up!” Harley asks and we smile even more.

            “We’d love that!” We both reply at the same time and laugh in joy.

            “If you two ever need anything while you’re in Gotham, give us a shout,” Harley says as she gives us a business card that boasts being made of recycled paper.

            “We both should be on there. Consider us your friends. With the sunshine you bring to Gotham, I will definitely say you are someone I want to stay safe while you’re here. And happy too,” Ivy smiles at us. “We better get going. It was nice meeting you two. You’re welcome back here anytime!” Ivy shouts as they leave on a vine of her’s.

            We just made some seriously dangerous and amazing friends. I can’t believe two of the sirens called us friends.

@HarleyHarHAr: *picture* look at my pretty Lapis and Lemon Drop! They are precious! Lapis made the outfits herself! It’s official, she is Gotham’s Sunshine! #sunshineofgotham #designer #precious #mycuties #lapisandlemondrop

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|   @IvyGotPlants: She isn’t kidding. My plants have started doing better since she got here. She literally brings the sun when she smiles. I declare her off limits. I officially declare protection on that little Marigold and her friend Daffodil. #sunshineofgotham #lapisandlemondrop #marigoldanddaffodil #designer #underprotection #offlimits

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|          @CoffeeisLife: Harley, Ivy, we talked about this. You can’t just take people. Especially not them. Protection is fine, and I definitely agree with her being off limits. #sunshineofgotham #behavesirens #offlimits #shesunderwaynewatch #waynesprotection #precious

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|                @OGWayne: Yes, the Sunshine of Gotham is under the protection of the Wayne’s. For more than one reason. She is an absolute sweetheart and I want her to understand what kindness from others can be like as she seems to be lacking in that department. #sunshineofgotham #seriouslyasweetheart #underwaynesprotection #waynewatch #precious #offlimits

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|                        @SpoiledBat: I met her today at the Botanical Garden, before the two Sirens I might add, and her smile lit up the world around her. And her outfits are sooooo cute! I asked her where she got them, and her friend said that she made them herself. AAHHH! Seriously, might be next MDC. #sunshineofgotham #offlimits #precious #waynewatch #designer #seriouslysweet #calculatingforotherstoo

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|                               @IcePrince: She was very good at diffusing a situation even when it seemed hostile towards her. And her outfits were aesthetically pleasing. #sunshineofgotham #shesprettywhenshesmiles #makesfriendswithsirens #defendedme #waynewatch

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|                                         @BlueKnight: OMG DEMON COMPLIMENTED HER!!!! SHE IS OFFICIALLY A SAINT! HE EVEN USED THE HASHTAG!! THE PRECIOUS SUNSHINE CHILD MUST BE PROTECTED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! #sunshineofgotham #iceprinceusedsunshineofgotham #sunshinemeltediceprince #sunshinesaint #iceprincecomplimented #waynewatch #precious #offlimits

Chapter Text

            I don’t know why but seeing those two Siren’s buddy up to Marinette made me uncomfortable. Probably because they are former rogues and she’s an innocent. That’s probably it; Father and the rest of them are rubbing off on me is all. Though I don’t know why the sun appears to come out when Marinette smiles, and the air around her seems to sparkle like the sun on water. I also have no idea I can’t seem to take my eyes of her. She’s not the only vulnerable innocent here. Though that Lila girl would probably fall closer to the rogue position so I probably wouldn’t care if she got attacked. I’m iffy on her glasses wearing friend, Alya I think it was. Either way, they both rub me the wrong way. And it doesn’t help that they’re spreading rumors about me either.

            I decide to stop sketching for now and walk around the gardens to keep an eye on all of them. That is why father had me come anyways. And Brown was here to keep me from murdering anyone. Which seems increasingly hard as I hear them talk about Lila and her “Dami-boo.” I would never let someone call me that. Only reason I’m not ripping her tongue out now is because that Marinette asked me earlier to let it go for now. And for some reason I feel compelled to listen to her. They were slowly milling around and looing at all the different plants and flowers when every one of their phones go off at the same time. They pull them out and Marinette and her friend Chloe glance at their screens before nodding at each other. Marinette runs off and Chloe looks at her phone casually.

            “What’s going on?” Brown asks me and I shrug. So, she drags me over to Chloe, clearly agreeing she’s the most tolerable of the group that we can find right now. “Hey, Chloe, right? What’s going on? Why’s everyone looking at their phones?”

            “Oh, it’s just a news app. Something’s going down back home and there’s live coverage that we’re all watching,” the blonde shrugs.

            “I can’t believe someone was just akumatized. He’d been so quiet recently too,” I overheard someone say from the direction of the rest of the class.

            “You sure that’s all it is? They seem a little more shocked over there,” I question, perhaps a little harshly.

            Chloe flinches a little but sighs nodding her head. “I’m sure. It’s nothing abnormal. They have no business being surprised. I’m more surprised at it being almost a week since the last situation.” She waves off her classmates. Brown looks around.

            “Where’d your friend Marinette go?”

            “Bathroom. She’ll be back before long,” Chloe responds.

            “Can we watch,” I asked. It surprised even me a bit.

            “I guess. But you won’t know what’s going on,” She nods, and we get on either side of her to watch her phone. I girl in a red, black, and spotted outfit was fighting with some kind of monster along side what appeared to be two more heroes. One with a dragon theme, and one with a snake theme. I didn’t know what to make of it. This monster seemed pretty strong too. And yet, when they broke an object, the monster turned into a regular citizen and a white butterfly flies away. Followed by a wave of what appeared to be ladybugs fixing everything in their wake.

~.~

            Everyone’s phones chime not too long after Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy leave. It was an akuma alert. No time to waste, Ladybug was needed. I nod to Chloe and run for the bathroom, releasing the Kwamii from my purse. I tell Trixx to make it seem like I’m in a stall and call out my transformation phrase. My suit now had more than simply some black areas on the limbs. I now had a black lined half jacket that was red and black spotted on the outside and had black combat boots that go halfway up my calves. My hair is up in a ponytail with the signature ribbon and I now have a second yo-yo that I can use that splits off my first one.

            I put on the glasses of the horse miraculous and merge Tikki and Kaalki. My mask fell away leaving the glasses in black on my face alone. The jacket became a pretty brown and my black areas on my arms and legs got some cream-colored stripes. My hair gained a white, blonde appearance and my hair tie became black. I only look like this when merged with Kaalki of course, but I’m really not opposed to it. I call out voyage and arrive in Paris. I take down Kaalki and place the glasses in my yo-yo pocket dimension thing, where sugar cubes are kept since they’re in my purse anyways.

            I rush to join Arashi and Vipere, Kagami and Luka’s new alter egos. After Miracle Queen they both had to change their transformation look to continue being holders, as true holders that was easier for them to do than for me to have to find others that are even somewhat as good of a match as the true holders. Kagami now had a more traditional style outfit when transformed. She had a high and tight neck that had an elongated pentagon of black fabric underneath it and over the chest just above her breasts. The shoulders are covered but there are no sleeves. There was a black boarder branching out from the sweetheart neckline under that elongated pentagon. The costume was a tunic style split into four sections. The front was the longest panel, ending in a point. The two side panels had almost a U-shape which was pointed in front and simply connected to the last panel in back. The boarder of the sweetheart neckline goes down at a forty-five-degree angle to the back where it separates the side panels from the back panel about a quarter of the way onto the back on either side. On her back was a triangle of the black fabric from her front. She wore black pants and red fabric boots with gold string wraps that went up to mid-calf. There was a crossing gold belt and in the center of her chest sat her power wheel which would glow and spin to indicate the power she was using between wind, water, and lightning. And she had black gloves over her hands with a red pointed glove going overtop and up the arms almost to where the tunic ends. The gloves had the tail design from her old costume and so does her pants. Her mask was similar to how it used to be, but the fangs were golden lightning with black clouds to represent both water and wind. Finally, her hair would transform with her. She gained a loose and spiky mohawk that ended in a low ponytail. She still had her horns in her hair, as that seemed to be unchangeable. Her miraculous still had the same design and sat on her neck over her costume.

            Luka’s new costume was more similar to his old one, while still having enough of a difference to not cause an issue. He now had a hood similar to Carapace’s old costume. The base of his suit seemed to be a black skin-tight bodysuit that included gloves while the hood was the only fabric item that was of color with a scaled border at the edge of the hood. Body armor similar to the color of his hair but more blue would cover his pecks, shoulders, sides, stomach, hips, thighs, and shins/calves. He had large wrist cuffs on either forearm starting at the wrist and ending halfway to the elbow. The armor appeared to be covered in scales, and the wrist cuffs had an intricate design creating some subtle diamonds throughout. The miraculous built into the top of his right wrist cuff. His mask is similar to how it used to be, in a matching color to his costume, but with scales similar to his body armor with some slight yellow near the black fangs. His shoes are black and blend into the bodysuit but with the thickness of the armor. In fact, it covers some of the armor on his shins/calves. Finally, his hair color did change to match his armor and hood.

            The two of them looked so different, it wasn’t hard to tell everyone they were someone else entirely, thus Arashi and Vipere were born. It wasn’t too hard for me to introduce them. Chat was the hard part, and he no longer was an issue. My heart clenched at that though. I don’t have time to think of my former partner. I hurry to the Akuma site and assess the situation. I was dumbfounded when I saw a man that appeared to look like a satyr with a pan flute and plant life overgrown around him.

            “Give me an update so I know what I’m dealing with,” I tell them and they nod look at each other and Vipere stays back while Arashi distracts the Satyr.

            “His name is Panikos, literally after the Greek god of nature, Pan. He was a professor of Greek Mythology at the local University. This happened during his free time though. Apparently, he’s an avid environmental activist when he’s not teaching. I don’t know exactly what lead to him getting akumatized but we believe it had something to do with destruction of nature. I think they’re planning on adding a new structure to this park that would cut down trees and other plants. His power is he plays his pan flute and controls plants to have them grow to monstrous levels and attack civilians…fifteen lost souls so far,” Vipere informs me and I swallow as I nod.

            “We better get them a Miraculous Ladybug then. Where’s the Akuma? Do you know?” I ask for a little more information.

            “Far as we can tell, it’s in the flute. But we could be wrong. All witnesses were among the fifteen,” he looks down, saddened at being unable to save their lives. A memory he’ll always have, even if he had been able to reverse the damage himself with second chance.

            “Alright. Activate second chance now before we lose Arashi. LUCKY CHARM!!!” I call forth my power and begin formulating my plan. Luckily, it didn’t indicate a need for Princess Honey.

            I observed the situation as I got involved in the fight. Using the machete to hack away at the plant life attacking me. Finally, I see what he is guarding most was actually the laurel wreath in his hair around his horns. I’d need to be precise. Finally, I see my plan. Arashi will thunder in front of him and turn to wind knocking him back, by that point I’ll have hacked my way in from behind and he’ll fall right into me, where I’ll be able to grab his wreath and destroy it. It takes us a few shots, but with second chance we manage to succeed, and I get my hands on his wreath, tearing it apart. All in all, with the growth and destruction he managed to get, we ended up with two-hundred souls lost. Two-hundred souls we could not save. Two-hundred souls that will come back with the power of Miraculous Ladybug. I’m just lucky that this lucky charm was more straight forward…and that we didn’t need Princess Honey or the cat miraculous.

            “MIRACULOUS LAYBUG!!!!” I shout as I throw the machete up into the air after de-evilizing the akuma and releasing the butterfly back into the world. Ladybugs fixing the damage in waves and reviving every lost soul. I nod to Vipere and Arashi my gratitude for their help and pound it. I was determined to keep the tradition. Once we pound it, I rush off, so I don’t de-transform in front of the cameras and give Tikki a Macaroon as soon as I transform back. I pull out the glasses for Kaalki and put them on. My costume wearing just the glasses is similar to my old Ladybug costume mixed with Max when he donned the glasses. I quickly used Voyage to return to the stall I left from and de-transform once more. Allowing all the Kwamii to rest in my purse as I returned to the Class. Our tour guides standing with Chloe.

            “Hey, sorry that took so long. I think I got a little lost there for a minute,” I explain away my absence with practiced ease and Chloe adds to the cover.

            “All good Mari-bug. You didn’t miss anything anyways,” She waves me off as she loops her arm into mine.

            “I’d argue that she missed what appeared to be a super powered fight,” Damian retorts.

            “I didn’t miss much of it. I have my own phone you know. That’s why I got lost, I was watching while I looked for the bathroom,” I mimic Chloe in waving Damian of this time.

            “I’m still rather surprised to hear this is going on in Paris,” Damian pushes, and I look at him confused.

            “Well, it’s not exactly something we all enjoy talking about,” Chloe retorts.

            “I’m sure. That looked pretty terrifying,” Steph decided to add to the conversation.

            “Yeah, I heard the number of lost was two-hundred this time. Not the worst one though. So,” I shrug. It pains me to be so nonchalant about something I just witnessed that was so brutal.

            “Not the worse?! That’s two-hundred people! Gotham doesn’t even usually have that many casualties!” Steph calls out and the class all kinda giggles.

            “Try ninety-percent of Paris. That happened once. It’s been a while, so we’re all just kinda used to it. Well, except maybe Adrien. His dad shelters him as much as possible so we don’t know how many attacks he’s really been witness to,” Chloe continues the act, knowing how hard that day was for me.

            “I’ve witnessed plenty. Just cause my dad has kept me sheltered doesn’t mean we haven’t been targeted before,” Adrien growls out and gives me the same dark look he’s been giving me since before I took his Miraculous. A look like he was just waiting to take me as his own.

            “Sorry. How were we supposed to know,” Chloe cocks her hip and looks straight at him. I had let go of her arm. “You haven’t exactly been present lately.”

            “Oh please, this is rich coming from the girl who’s caused the most incidents!” Alya yells at Chloe. “You’re just a brat who throws a tantrum whenever she doesn’t get what she wants and bullies’ others to make yourself feel better for your own mother not loving you!”

            Chloe physically flinches and I put my arm around her. Her past could still be a sore subject for her. “That was uncalled for Alya. She’s changed a lot since all this has begun. She doesn’t even say that she should be called on as Queen Bee anymore and is happily a fan of Princess Honey now. On top of that, her mother’s been making an effort more lately. In fact, she had slowly made more and more of an effort to show Chloe her love for her since she became Style Queen. So, back off of her already.” The only time I usually stood up to Alya was when she picked on Chloe anymore. She doesn’t believe my own defenses anyways.

            “Right, says the lying, attention seeking, bully. You probably push Chloe into causing half of the Akuma’s she causes in the first place. You’re the new bully ring-leader after all,” Alya retorts.

            “Enough! Another word about this and I’ll have to send you all back to the hotel. Cause I can call the bus and Daisy early if I have to,” Damian yells.

            “No offense, but what exactly could an intern like you do anyways?” Lila asks in her sickeningly sweet voice that she concocted.

            “If you’re not scared of him, how about me? I work directly with Bruce Wayne. Family connections and all that,” Steph throws some of her weight around without pointing out she’s practically an adopted daughter of the Wayne’s.

            “Oh, I’m sorry, I wasn’t trying to sound mean or anything! I was just curious. We are about to become interns ourselves,” Lila bats her eyelashes and has her eyes water a little bit. “But I’d really hate to have to tell my Dami-boo that someone who works closely with his father was rude to me. Let alone an intern. I’d hate for anyone to get in trouble on my account, but I tell him everything.”

            Damian scoffs and looks away, clenching his fist. “Well, good thing that’s not an issue. I happen to know Damian Wayne really well. So, I’m not really concerned for my job. But if I were you, I’d be concerned for my student visa here in the US. Cause, if you’re lying about being Damian Wayne’s girlfriend, and he finds out, the Wayne’s can get you deported for defamation. Just keep that in mind.”

            “She doesn’t need to. Cause she doesn’t lie. Unlike Mari-slut over there!” Alya yells, clearly enraged at the suggestion.

            “I’ll believe it when he tells me. Not you,” Steph winks and turns towards a different part of the garden. “Let’s finish up our tour, shall we?”

            We take another couple hours in the garden before we return to the hotel, with Daisy doing two headcounts to ensure everyone was present. I was exhausted so we decided to order room service once again. I’m hoping Plagg will wake up soon.

~.~

            I was lost in thought as we approached the company. Superheroes in Paris, and casualties hitting the millions, all missed. I don’t know how we never knew about this. Maybe it’s some kind of reality show that’s released randomly into that app disguised as a news app. That would be an idea. But I have no clue how accurate it is. And why did she say she got lost when I know I saw her determined stare as she headed over and inside the bathroom. We get to the office and upstairs to father and Drake’s private offices on the top floor. I nod at them as I sit down, waiting to go home.

            “I can’t wait to go to the aquarium tomorrow. It’s an interesting class. And that contest winner is as sweet as you said. And talented. Check out the outfits for today! And look, Baby Bird blushed when he looked at her!” Brown was swiping through her phone when I picked up on the end of what she said.

            “I did not blush,” I scoff at the idea.

            “Nice try Baby Bird, but I caught you on camera. I’m just stealth like that,” Brown beamed. I knew better than to try and wrestle her for the phone, father would reprimand me.

            "Tch, whatever,” I turned away and looked out the window towards the hotel I know they’re staying in. Perhaps Robin should pay Marinette a visit tonight. But first I should consult father about that app and the footage.

            I walk into fathers’ office and look at him. “We need to talk.”

            “Well, isn’t this rare. Go on,” Father gave me the green light and I described everything that I saw today, especially that video that appeared to be live footage.

@SpoiledBat: Wanted my own post. I got to spend the day with the sunshine, and I have to say, I’ve never seen the Ice Prince so calm! *picture of Damian and Marinette* Looks like the Sunshine of Gotham is melting our Ice Prince. #sunshineofgotham #mustprotec #meltingiceprince #sheaskediceprincesomethingandhedidit #waynewatch #possiblefuturewayne

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|   @IcePrince: Take this down.

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|        @AllSeeingEye: AWW!!I love it! What did sunshine ask the ice prince? #sunshineofgotham #waynewatch #mustprotec #meltingiceprince

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|               @SpoiledBat: To allow her time to gather evidence to prove one of her classmates is a liar. Said liar claimed she was dating @IcePrince. Sunshine apologized and asked if he could bear with it for a while. He actually did let it go! For now, at least. #sunshineofgotham #poorsunshine #sunshinesliarclassmate #sunshineneedsevidence #iceprinceofferedwayneshelp #hecouldnttakehiseyesoffher #sunshinebeingbullied

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|                       @BlueKnight: OMG so I’m not the only one who went through something like this. Well other than @BattyBat who was with me. Seriously, liar/bully tripped her down the stone stairs. She was pretty cut up and bruised. Little shocked you can’t tell from the pictures today. #sunshineofgotham #poorsunshine #sunshineisbeingbullied #mustprotec #waynewatch #itsphysical #eyespeeled

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|                                 @IcePrince: Seriously take this down. I will not ask again.

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|                                            @BattyBat: Chill @IcePrince. This post isn’t just about you. But seriously, I almost pulled out a weapon when I was with them yesterday. Sunshine and her friend are the only truly bearable people there. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw her tumble down the stone steps of the museum yesterday. Can you believe Sunshine denied medical care? She’s hardcore. #sunshineofgotham #poorsunshine #sunshineisphysicallybullied #hardcoresunshine #sturdygirl #mustprotec #waynewatch

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|                                                      @OGWayne: I’ll have to look more into this. And some other things brought to my attention by @IcePrince today. #sunshineofgotham #sweetheart #poorsunshine #mustprotec #waynewatch

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|                                                              @SpoiledBat: OMG @IcePrince totally just tried to steal my phone and delete this post! Luckily, I stopped it in time! #rude #notalwaysaboutyouiceprince #leavemyphonealone #tellingb #tellingalfred #notokay #sunshineofgothampost #gladicaughtitintime

Chapter Text

            Bruce closed the Aquarium for the day to make it easier to keep track of the students in there, which I appreciate cause then I know that Barbara will also have an easier time today. Since my co-chaperone is my lovely Babs having a less crowded place is better so she can maneuver her chair and keep up with us. I’m also looking forward to seeing what she comes up with after observing the obvious bullying. I feel bad for Mari, she is being so obviously and maliciously bullied and yet she’s asking us to leave it for now while she accumulates evidence against that liar Lila. I want to respect her wishes but I will do something if I get a whiff of that bullying being physical again. According to Dick she was tripped down the stairs of Gotham Museum and left behind at least once. Babs won’t let them get away with much either, I’m sure of that much. So hopefully Mar will be safer at least during the tour.

            I hurry down the stairs to eat the breakfast that Alfred prepared and see that Barbara is already there in her spot that we leave deliberately devoid of any chairs. I smile at her as I grab my coffee and fill a plate with the variety of goods that Alfred prepared. At least he’s not doing any fancy weird shit for breakfast today. I grab a little of everything and sit down right by Babs, taking a sip of my coffee as I do so.

            “Hey Babs! You ready for today? Tour of the empty Aquarium!” I pump my fist in excitement. I know she needs the excitement in her life. Sometimes Babs injury really messes with her head. Of course, that’s not hard to understand when she was once just as kickass of a vigilante as me and everyone else until she ended up with that spinal injury that stuck her in her chair. I work hard to keep her spirits up when I can. I think she’s improved a lot. Though another shopping trip is in order, I think. Both her and Cass are getting darker auras again from what I can tell. When that happens I try to make us go on a girls day to lift both their spirits and remind them both that they’re still young, even if they’re both older than me.

            “Heh, yeah. I’m more excited for checking out this Marinette girl I’ve heard so much about. And seeing the class interactions. Maybe they’ll accidentally give me more to go on. I have all of their full names and their school, but I don’t have much data on them or their interactions, so I can’t really make many predictions yet. Until I have some more data, we will have to take the blows as they come instead of being a few steps ahead,” Babs seemed to be stuck in her own little world and I laughed.

            “They’re not evil Genius’s Babs. They’re just high school kids. And none of them have Damian or Cass’s backgrounds. So, it’s fine. Though it would be nice to stop the bullying all together. But I suppose you’re waiting on a green light to be given so you can go full stalker on their backgrounds and find every shred of evidence to stop it possible huh?” I chuckle, knowing my Babs.

            “Maybe,” she blushed as she replied. I totally hit the nail on the head.

            “HAHA! Oh, Babs I love you!” I hug my friend and finish up eating. “You ready to go meet the class and gain your data?”

            “Heh! Yeah, let’s go. You mind driving us Alfred?” Babs smiles and turns towards the elderly butler. Don’t let his age fool you though. He could take on Bruce any day.

            “Of course, Ladies. The Master is already aware of our departure this morning and stated him and Master Drake will be driving themselves for today,” Alfred replies calmly. He always knows exactly what we’re gonna do or ask. Creepy and brilliant old man that he is.

            “Thanks Alfie!” I shout as I head for the exit with Babs and he goes to bring the car around. The one that can hold Babs wheelchair instead of the normal Limo. We’ve had the car as long as I’ve been here, but I believe they bought it specifically for Babs when she got hurt. I could be wrong though. Bruce does get plenty injured plenty often.

            We have a smooth ride to the city where the Aquarium is situated. To be more specific the Aquarium is situated on the outskirts so there is plenty of room and the least amount of pollution in the air for the city. There’s still plenty of pollution though, it’s still Gotham after all. We get out and wait outside for the bus of Student’s. Alfred waits to take Daisy back to her car. A company car will bring her to pick up the kids. Or she’ll get on the bus. I’m not quite sure how she gets around when heading to the pick-ups. But this is basically the last time I’ll be personally seeing it. The bus arrives soon after we do, and the students file out. I focus on seeing Marinette and Chloe’s outfits for the day, knowing I can expect something great.

            Today’s themes were Harley Quinn and Cat Woman. Marinette was wearing her hair mostly down today under her hoodie with a cat theme. The hoodie was a mini made of sweatshirt material. Underneath she wore a black camisole, which you can only tell because the hoodie I unzipped just enough to show a glimpse at the top of the camisole. She paired it with black leather pants and combat boots. She wore mock diamond jewelry that all had a cat theme. Truly capturing Selina’s love for sparkling jewels. Her makeup was dark but had silver diamond shapes on the eyelids. She even wore red lipstick.

            As for Chloe, she had her hair up in pig tails, each with colored spray on the end that matches Harley’s well. She wore a red and black diamond patterned corseted tank top with matching shorts over black fishnets. She also had on combat boots but hers were red with black diamonds on the side. Chloe’s makeup was also red and black with hearts and diamonds in the same places as the actual Harley Quinn. She honestly is just missing a couple of items and she would be the exact mini me of Harley Quinn. Which is a tad scary.

            “Oh look, we only have female chaperones today. Guess there’s no one for Mari-slut to suck up too today. Oh well,” the girl with glasses announces to her classmates, which is the last thing I was expecting to hear when they all got off the bus. I believe her name was Alya. Well, Alya made a mistake saying that in front of Daisy, that woman already adores Marinette. Marinette simply sighed and looked sadly at her friend Chloe.

            “Excuse me young lady! What did I just hear? Cause it sounded an awful lot like bullying,” Daisy instantly reprimands the behavior.

            “Oh, it was nothing ma’am,” Alya replies, clearly she’s smart enough to know that Daisy is no push-over and didn’t feel like repeating her insult.

            “It was not nothin’, I can assure you a that! Calling your classmate a slut, is no way to behave. Now Imma warn y’all right now that bullying is not tolerated at Gotham Academy. Y’all may not be going there this week, but y’all certainly will be next week. And as the WE representatives, we can send you back to the hotel and bar y’all from anymore tours for such behaviors. Now, apologize to Marinette before I decide to do just that,” Daisy does not hold back and yet still seems to keep her southern manners. How does she always sound sweet even when she’s being scary? I don’t get it.

            “I won’t apologize for pointing out the truth. She’s always cozying up with the male tour guides and any guy she can get her hands on. And if anyone’s a bully here, it’s her!” Alya shouts. Wrong move.

            “Well then young lady, give me proof. Unless you have evidence of her bullying, or one of the WE representatives catch her in the act, you’re the Only one I’m seeing bullying currently. Name-callin’ will NOT be tolerated. Bless your heart if you thought you’d continue to get away with this appallin’ behavior. I assure you, I will NOT stand by and let you bully someone who’s been nothin’ but sweet as sugar. So, apologize OR go back to your hotel room. If you choose your hotel room, you won’t be leavin’ that hotel until the WE tour on Friday. Your choice young lady,” Daisy gives the reprimanding mom tone and even I flinch. I’m just glad it wasn’t Bruce or Alfred doing the reprimanding. At least Daisy’s southern twang makes it seem nicer.

            “Fine. I’m sorry for calling you a slut Marinette. There, happy now?” Alya huffs and crosses her arms.

            “I spose’ it’ll do for now. I best not hear of this again. Marinette sweetie, if they continue, y’all just tell me. We almost always have eyes and ears across Gotham. WE likes to provide security in Gotham. Now, y’all enjoy your tour. These lovely ladies will show y’all around and keep an eye out for all y’all,” Daisy nods and places a hand on Marinette’s shoulder as she passed, giving Marinette a smile. Soon, Daisy was gone with Alfred.

            “Alright everyone, as Daisy said, we’ll be showing you around the Aquarium today. You all know me and this is Barbara. Don’t let the wheelchair fool you, she’s a badass! And for the record, you’re lucky I didn’t notice that behavior yesterday. I can promise you not much will go unnoticed today. It takes a lot to get something past Barbara here. Now, what do you guys say we get inside. The museum was closed just for us today so we can take our time and enjoy ourselves. We will, however, be eating lunch here today. Luckily for you, today’s meals are paid for,” I start leading everyone inside and Babs takes up the rear. She clearly wants to observe everyone and that includes Marinette. “Oh yeah! First, Marinette, Chloe, can I get a picture today too? These outfits are just great. Everyone is loving them!”

            “Hehe! Sure,” Marinette smiles brightly, the sun immediately following just as they posed and I snapped my photo. She really is the Sunshine of Gotham.

~.~

            Barbara seemed nice enough, though I was still a bit embarrassed from Daisy reprimanding Alya. She’s not exactly used to that; I hope she’s doing okay. I watch Alya from my spot in the back and see she’s gossiping with Lila, so I guess she’s fine. Barbara is right behind me and Chloe in her wheelchair. If it wasn’t an electric one, I’d volunteer to push her, so she doesn’t have to keep pushing herself, luckily that’s not the case. I may be familiar with pushing wheelchairs, but it does still make me nervous sometimes. I can’t help but to wonder if she was born in a wheelchair or if an accident put her there, but I don’t want to ask. What if it’s a bad memory, I don’t want to trigger a panic attack or anything. So, I leave my curiosity within me.

            “Heh, it was an accident. I can see your question written all over your face. I used to be really active but a, uh, car accident damaged my spinal cord. Been stuck in a chair since. Not so bad, I can still exercise my brain plenty and the damage could’ve been much worse,” Barbara smiles at me. “And feel free to call me Babs like Steph. You seem nice enough to warrant it.” She winks at the end.

            “Hehe! Okay Babs, you can call me Mari if you’d like. This is my friend Chloe. It’s nice to meet you,” I smile back at Babs and can’t help but giggle.

            “Likewise!”

            We spend a few hours getting a guided tour of the large museum and are let free to roam from lunch on. Of course, it wouldn’t have been a complete day without an akuma alert. Seems like the next few days are gonna be busy. Let’s just hope it’s not someone I know. I nod at Chloe and run for the bathroom, leaving her to play decoy and distraction.

            Quickly, I make my way to paris after transforming. When I arrived, the whole city seemed to be engulfed in a green flame. The heat was intense, and I couldn’t help but be scared. I rush to find Vipere and Arashi hoping that I’m not too late. When I find them, they seem to sigh in relief.

            “Ladybug!” They both shout in unison.

            “Give me a report so we can finish this fast,” I call out and they nod.

            “Her name seems to be Flame Enchantress. She lost her house in a fire this afternoon. Once the elation that everyone was safe, Hawkmoth was able to feed on her despair. Her goal appears to be to make everyone go through what she did and let them be tested by the fire. If they survive, they become her minions, spreading more flames. If not, then…” Vipere explains for the most part.

            “Then we have more Lost Souls. How many are we up to? Do we know?” I ask and Vipere looks to Arashi.

            “About eight-thousand so far. Still not as bad as Syren, but it’s getting close,” Arashi answers for Vipere who was one of Syren’s victims.

            “Got it. Do we know what object we need to destroy?” I ask, though I can already tell that might be a tad difficult with the way that their body seems to be engulfed in flames. How are we supposed to destroy something that’s on fire? My partners shake their heads as I study the flaming humanoid figure.

            “THERE!” I shout and point to a singular ring that I can manage to make out. It’s the spot the flames appear to be coming from. “There’s not way we can destroy a flaming ring without the Miraculous of Destruction. Vipere!” I call out to Vipere as I toss the cat Miraculous ring to him. “Merge your Miraculous with that of the Cat, Arashi, next time will be you. We’ll have to have all of us sharing this burden until I find a new Chat Noir. But we must avoid merging the Ladybug and Cat Miraculous at all cost! Will you accept this burden with me?”

            “Yes Ladybug! We trust you!” they both shout in unison. Vipere combines with the Cat Miraculous and becomes Vipere Noir. Vipere’s suit gains even more black in the armor and hood, leaving only the boarders his dark turquoise. The hood gained ears and a tail formed with a belt at his waist. His mask became mostly black with a turquoise boarder like his armor. We quickly discuss the plan and manage to defeat the villain with Arashi putting out most of the fires and keeping the minions at bay as me and Vipere Noir fight together to defeat Flame Enchantress. I create the perfect opportunity for Vipere Noir to touch the ring with his Cataclysm. Though he does narrowly miss burning his hand in the process. I sigh and take back the cat Miraculous and rush back to the bathroom of the Aquarium hoping that no one got suspicious of the among of time I took.

~.~

            Every one of the student’s phones go off at the same time. According to Stephanie this is not the first time this has happened. When I inquired as to what it was, she said I’ll have to watch on someone’s phone cause it’s too hard to explain. So, we head over to Marinette’s friends. But where is Marinette, these two seem never to be apart. When a girl in a Red and Black spotted costume arrives, the entire class cheers, except for Chloe. But I need to focus on the screen.

            On the screen there is green fire engulfing just about everything. A flaming person in the middle of it. They seem to have a ring that is emitting the flames. Surrounding the flaming person is three people in costumes, I assume the heroes. That’s when I hear it. The number of Lost Souls, which can only mean one thing. They have lost around eight-thousand civilians in this fight. If this is real, then it’s incredible that I don’t already know about threats this big. Considering this is Paris, that’s almost half their population. How many times have people died from a threat? They have heroes so this can’t be the first time. Not if there’s a team already.

            The spotted one sends the hooded one a ring and he appears to transform in front of my very eyes. His costume changes and takes on cat like features on top of what I am assuming was a Snake. They announced this was the first arrival off Vipere Noir. Black Viper, hm. What’s his usual name then? Viper? I suppose it fits. What about the others. I manage to catch their names. Especially the spotted one, Ladybug. This Ladybug appears to be their leader. But I wonder why they gave that snake guy a ring that seems to boost his powers? I didn’t have to be curious long as the cat snake called out the word cataclysm and touched the flaming ring, which upon closer inspection went up the knuckle of the flaming person.

            From the broken ring came a black and purple butterfly that seemed to glow a bit. Ladyug caught it and quickly released a white butterfly. I can’t help but believe it’s the same butterfly. Then Ladybug throws some object in the air, it seems to be an electric fan, but I’m not sure as it quickly burst into a wave of ladybugs that fixed the destruction around them. The cat snake returned the ring to Ladybug, his original costume returning. Ladybug then quickly runs off. The news cast continues, and the news caster announces that once again, all of the dead have returned to their loved ones almost as if nothing had happened. None of them remember death, but all of them remember burning. Within minutes of Ladybugs disappearance, Marinette returns from wherever she was.

            “Where have you been? You missed the excitement,” I ask her.

            “Oh, had to use the bathroom, but I watched from my phone,” Marinette smiles easily but it doesn’t seem quite real. More like practiced disarming. The fact that it didn’t feel as if the sun came out only supported the feeling that it was practiced.

            “Again? It seems every time all your phones go off, you have to use the bathroom,” Steph comments and I look at Marinette, curious once again.

            “That does sound quite unusual,” I add to the conversation. Hoping to get more information.

            “Mari doesn’t really like being around the others during these. They started blaming her for some of them so when she cheers on Ladybug with the rest of them, she gets yelled at by the class. They say until she stops causing Akuma attacks that she needs to just be quiet,” Chloe hesitates as she tells us, and Marinette looks at Chloe in shock.

            “Chloe!” She calls out.

            “What? Like they wouldn’t find out that it’s the bully’s fault you’re always disappearing when an Akuma Alert goes off,” Chloe shrugs as if she didn’t say anything weird.

            “Well, if it makes you more comfortable, then we won’t stop you Marinette, but feel free to stay with Chloe when these alarms go off. The chaperones won’t let them do anything if we can help it,” Steph places a reassuring hand on Marinette’s shoulder, who seems rather uncomfortable at the moment.

            “Yeah, please don’t worry about being bullied when at Gotham Academy or with any of the chaperones. We’ll put a stop to it,” I tell her, and she gives me a reassuring smile. This one seems sad, but more real. The clouds seeming to allow cracks of sunlight through.

            “Thanks, but honestly I’d much rather if you guys simply ignored everything they do. Most of them are good people, even Alya. They’ve just fallen foe lies and have been led down the wrong path because of that. Once I gather the evidence I need, against all of Lila’s lies, I can help them return to their rightful paths,” Marinette kindly tells us, and I look at her in shock.

            “If you need evidence, then I’m your gal. My dad is police commissioner, and I am a civilian consultant because I can dig up evidence on anything. Please, let me help you,” I offer.

            “No, thank you really, but I need to do this on my own. I’m the one they stopped believing because of this liar. I need to be the one to regain their trust,” Marinette explains.

            “Forgive the name calling but I believe it appropriate. Ahem, besides, Liarla is just gonna twist things in her favor. We need undeniable proof. We already got one, but she still might try to twist it. Without evidence on almost any lie that she’s said, she’ll just twist it around. And believe me, you don’t want to be in the cross hairs. She gets nasty,” Chloe announces, and I look at them in confusion this time.

            “What do you think she can do to us? We may not be officially adopted but we are basically Bruce Wayne’s daughters. We have the power in Gotham, not her,” I try to argue their point, which is a tad abnormal for me.

            “That may be, and she may be unable to purposely Akumatize herself while she’s here, but her lies have sway over our class. And more than one of them could be dangerous if you let them. Not to mention the one with his bodyguards following him everywhere is under orders from his dad to make her happy. He’s probably the only other person in our class who knows she’s lying but even before his dad took a liking to her, he said we should just take the high road and let her lies go since they weren’t hurting anyone. He still maintains that opinion,” Marinette points out that this Lila person is basically a cult leader. That must make them the cult of lies. Heh, maybe Steph is rubbing off on me if I can think about that right now. “I don’t want anyone else getting hurt on my behalf. So, I’ll handle it.”

            “Well, if you insist. But don’t worry, we can handle ourselves. All the Wayne’s can. So, if you ever change your mind and want some help, give me a call,” I write down my number on a piece of paper and give it to her. “I’d say to call anyone of the Wayne’s, but I think that’ll be decided later. Those who decide to give you their numbers will. You already should have Bruce and Tim’s contacts so I doubt they’ll care. I also have a feeling that by the end of next week, if not this week, you’ll have every Wayne’s number.” I smile at her.

            “Let me add mine to the pile now!” Steph calls out and gives a piece of paper with her own number on it.

            “Thanks guys. I appreciate it. I’ll keep these safe,” Marinette puts the numbers in her bag and we finally announce that it’s time to go back to the bus. Daisy doing her headcount once again.

@SpoiledBat: Look at the cute outfits for today’s outing!!!!! *Picture* If I didn’t know any better, I would’ve thought that she was the actual Harley Quinn. In other news the bullying continues, and Sunshine got called a slut today for being nice to her chaperones. Needless to say @DaisyDarlin shut that down quick when she heard it. #sunshineofgotham #sunshineisbullied #mustprotec #waynewatch #dontcrossdaisy #blesstheirheart #daisyusedsouthernattack #designer

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|    @AllSeeingEye: Those outfits were adorable but I’m more focused on the weirdness that I saw on their phones. Totes talking to B later. On the bullying topic though, I was srsly shocked to see her tell Daisy no when told to apologize the first time. #sunshineofgotham #sunshineisbullied #bullygotguts #waynewatch #mustprotec #dontcrossdaisy #cuties

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|          @DaisyDarlin: I was appalled to hear that student utter those words unapologetically. I just wish I could’ve gotten a sincere apology out that girl. Bless her heart if I hear something like that come from her again. #sunshineofgotham #sunshineisbullied #bullybetterwatchherself #mustprotec #sweeterthansugar #cutelittledesigner

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|               @BlueKnight: I am waiting for the day that @IcePrince catches them in the act of bullying Sunshine. Bet they’ll stop when they’re eating from a straw. #sunshineofgotham #sunshinemeltingiceprince #sunshineisbullied #waynewatch #mustprotec #iceprincewilldestroywhenheacknowlegeshislove #dontkillmeiceprince

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|                     @IcePrince: I will not make them eat through a straw…but if they are being cruel to an innocent, such as this sunshine girl…I may or may not put them in the hospital. In the meantime, @BlueKnight…I suggest you start running. #sunshineofgotham #bullies #zerotolerance #itsnotlovestupidblueknight #knightwannabe #waynewatch

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|                              @OGWayne: @IcePrince, no hospitalizations without real reason. And don’t chase or attack your bother for his mild teasing. Now, as for these bullies…there might be a hospitalization reason there. #sunshineofgotham #sunshineisbullied #sweetheart #literalsaint #mustprotec #waynewatch #mighthelpiceprincehospitalizethebullies #waiticantdothat #mightcallsirensifican

Chapter Text

            The last two days had Akuma attacks, and I can’t let myself get too relaxed because I know that it can happen again, it could even happen twice in one day. I’m just glad that hasn’t been the case yet while in Gotham. Not to say I don’t think it will. I’m going to be here for months, it’s bound to happen an unholy number of times. Hell, I think Hawkmoths record is like three in one day, there’s no way I’m lucky enough for him not to do that a few times too. Either way, I need to be careful today. Steph got curious yesterday after prolonged bathroom time two days in a row and the last thing I need is for them to think I need a doctor.

            My injuries from my fall down the stone staircase are almost completely gone. There’s no more pain and only some slight discoloration in a handful of places. Thanks to this, I can move easier as I get out of bed. Me and Chloe planned for the most active outfits to be worn today. Red Hood and Spoiler. While Spoiler isn’t exactly in the scene anymore, she was still really good at her job when she was and is still a revered “vigilante” today. I still stand by the fact that they should be referred to as heroes.

            For red hood I wore a black shirt with a red bat on it, much smaller than the actual costume and a bit to the side, with black jeans. I wore a beige jacket over a red hoodie and had black combat boots with silver buckles. Red Hood isn’t the most fashion forward of the local vigilante’s, but he is a pretty powerful force. It’s said that he is single handedly the reason for the so called “slums” not being nearly as dangerous as they once were. Also, why the poor there don’t go hungry. Supposedly Red Hood protects the children and feeds them as well. Not much is known though beyond his lethality and generous heart towards the homeless and scared. He is most definitely in the anti-hero category, but from what I hear he hasn’t killed in a couple years now. Either way, he always avoided harming the innocent. I should probably move on from Red Hood’s story.

            I decide to add the fingerless leather gloves as accessories before doing my hair and makeup. I put my hair up in two braids so it’s pulled back and ready for action and did a mostly red look with my makeup. Dark red glittering eyeshadow, some of it on the lower lash line, covered my eyes and ended in a point to either side. I kept the glitter to a minimum, only enough to accentuate it being eyeshadow, and added smudged black eyeliner into the lash line of both lids. It was dark and edgy without being too much. I put on some blush and a deep red matching lipstick with a black edge line. Of course, I had foundation on to cover any leftover bruises.

            I leave my bathroom excited to see Chloe in her Spoiler outfit. Like my outfit Chloe has a black top and black jeans. However, her outfit is a sporty tank top with purple sides instead of a t-shirt. It was paired with purple combat boots and a purple hoodie that went lower on her body in back, almost like a cape. She wore purple fingerless gloves like mine. Her hair was pulled back in an intricacy of multiple braids that created a sort of warriors braid down her back. Her make up was similar to mine but more tones down and with purple instead of red and black lips. This is by far, one of Chloe’s darkest looks for the trip. I can’t wait to surprise her with tomorrows outfits. She only knows of the Gotham themed ones, not my special WE surprise outfits for us to wear like armor as we tour the building we’ll be working in for the duration of our stay in Gotham.

            After breakfast and Daisy’s headcount we are loaded into the bus and were taken to the shopping district. I have no idea who our chaperones will be today, but Mr. Wayne had promised me access to a fabric store so hopefully that’ll be in the area today. Today will probably be the hardest on the chaperones as we will all be split up and there is usually only two of them. If we’re lucky, I won’t get cornered by Alya who still has promised me bodily harm from earlier in the trip. I’m really glad she hasn’t had the chance to corner me yet. Also avoiding Lila or any Akuma’s would be ideal for today. We’ll see if I’m that lucky.

            “Alright everyone, today is one of your best times to get some shopping in as well as look at all the Wayne Enterprises stores that are around the area you will be in. All of the stores owned by WE in the area are options for your internship which is why you’ll be seeing them today. More will be explained on the internships during tomorrows tour of WE. I can’t promise there won’t be any wait tomorrow, as we will be leaving earlier than truly necessary. The departure time is on your pamphlets just like it has been for every day of this trip. You’ll be early tomorrow so we don’t delay the tour or any of the workers. WE itself is on a very tight schedule so they only have so much availability for the tour. Now then, please behave for your chaperones today and stay within the designated area,” Daisy announces for the class and I smile at her, glad for her thorough attempts at keeping my class informed and in line.

            We get off the bus and group up in front of Dick, our tour guide from the first day, and another guy who looked similar to Dick but with a streak of grey hair in front popping against his black. It’s strange but he actually looks younger than Dick, at least by a few years, I could be wrong though. When I get off the bus, the guy with the silver streak’s eyes widen just slightly, and Dick is bouncing on his toes.

            “Hey guys! Hope you remember me, but incase you don’t I’m Dick and this is Jason. Jason is gonna be helping out today to keep everyone safe and help you all avoid being scammed. This square is where we’ll be spending our day. Most of these places are owned by WE and can be used for your internships, as I’m sure Daisy mentioned to you on the bus. If you want to go somewhere outside of this square come find me or Jason and let us know where, how long, and why. If it’s simple curiosity we’d like you to wait for now. Starting next week, you all will be getting free days and you can apply for a chaperone to take you or a group to specific locations. We don’t want anyone wandering the streets of Gotham alone since it’s so dangerous,” Dick gives a little speil. “Hey Daisy, we got it from here. Bruce gave me a list for you and asked you get this stuff to him ASAP.”

            “Well, I can’t say I’m shocked. The sweet shop is over here. I take it Alfred is around the corner,” Daisy smiles at the chaperones.

            “Yup! He’ll help you carry anything you need too,” Dick returned Daisy’s smile. “Just make sure to get it all, we don’t need a grump tomorrow. Also, if you don’t mind, I’m sure Tim is low on coffee.”

            “That boy is always low on Coffee. He needs to learn to function with sleep instead of caffeine. Alright, y’all be good now. And have fun!” Daisy heads off with her list in hand.

            “Now then, as long as you stay in the area, you’re free to look around and go where you want. Go ahead and search and have fun. Come get me or Jason if you need anything or something is going on that you’re not sure of,” the class disperses and I look around for a fabric store. Dick approaches me before I can get a good look around. “I’ll point out the store you want in exchange for a picture.” Dick has a big grin on his face. Clearly happy about something.

            “I take it this is normal for how you’re acting,” Jason comments to Dick.

            “I already told you. They’ve had Vigilante themed outfits all week! I’m so glad I get to see them in person today,” Dick bounces on the balls of his feet again. “And just cause your still brooding doesn’t mean I didn’t notice your reaction.”

            “Shut up.”

            “Hehe! Sure you can take a picture. We don’t mind, right Chlo?” I respond in kind to their antics.

            “And advertise your skills? I never mind Mari,” Chloe responds. “Isn’t her skill amazing?”

            “It really is,” Dick takes a picture of the two of us before continuing his thought. “I love how easily you can tell who the outfits are meant to be while they’re still so different from the costumes. Can’t say I expected a Red Hood or Spoiler though.”

            “Why not? They’re both talented. They say Red Hood is the reason that the homeless children of Gotham eat and stay alive. And the Spoiler may no longer be a figure around right now, but she was really good at her job at the time,” I reply.

            “I see your blush,” Dick nudges Jason. “Red Hood’s my brothers favorite.”

            “Shut it Greyson,” Jason nudges back.

            “I knew you were brothers. I just didn’t want to say anything,” I smile.

            “Ah, yeah. Technically not by blood but we’ve been around each other enough that we may as well be. Besides, he’s my adopted brother,” Dick gives a million dollar smile.

            “I miss when you were brooding,” Jason commented rolling his eyes.

            “No, you don’t,” Dick grins before turning back to me. “Anyways, I promised to point you in the direction of your store. The fabric store is right over there. One of WE’s so you know they’re good too.”

            “Thank you! Hopefully, I can find everything I’ll need for what I’ll be making while we’re here. If not, I’ll have to look elsewhere. You never know when or where the right fabric will find you!” I exclaim before heading over to the store that was pointed out to me.

~.~

            I was caught somewhat off guard from the moment Marinette stepped off that bus dressed like my alter ego, but then she says something that I swear my favorite designer has said in interviews with magazines. MDC swears that she doesn’t pick the fabric, the fabric picks her. And she’s said as much in the interview for up-and-coming fashion designers. I only know this cause I’m a fan of MDC, not cause I follow fashion. She’s got cool and edgy looks that I’ve been dying to get my hands on.

            Marinette skips over to the fabric store with her friend following close behind. But the more I look at the outfits, the more I swear it looks like something MDC would’ve made. But they keep saying that Marinette made the clothes they’ve been wearing and I haven’t seen anything like these outfit’s on MDC’s site, which I get alerts when it’s updated for. Courtesy of Tim who also loves the clothes. Heck, we all love MDC and are dying to commission them but haven’t had the ability to. They said you need a recommendation from a current client from their list of clients to get a commission from them. Something about their identity remaining secret. I can’t say I’ve ever heard of a famous designer not wanting their names known, but to each their own I guess. That’s when I over hear a peculiar conversation.

            “So, what will you be wearing to that ball at the end of the trip? Since you decided not to look at any dresses at the boutique,” a girl with glasses asks her friend who has sausages for hair.

            “Of course I’m wearing an MDC! You know she’s one of my close personal friends. She said she’d make something for my Damiboo too if he was coming, but it’s too far out for him to know for sure. His schedule is just so hectic,” sausage girl comments, fluttering her eyelashes and nearly swooning in all the right places. This must be the liar I’ve heard so much about. Which means she doesn’t actually know MDC.

            “Damn!” I mutter, angry that my hopes actually got up for a minute. An MDC original would actually make that ball bearable but I don’t know any of her current clients.

            “What?” Dick asks me and I grunt.

            “Nothing. Mind your own business Dicky Bird,” I turn and continue to scan the area. The chances of scamming are pretty slim in this area but it’s still Gotham. That’s why I’m here, I can sniff a scam a mile away. So, I was told to come babysit and prevent the kiddies from getting scammed on their first shopping day. Or, you know, mugged.

            “Everyone seems to know what our presence means, I doubt they’ll try anything,” I nod at Dick as I start walking around.

            “Yeah, but like you said, it’s our presence causing that. We’re Wayne’s, their boss’s kids, so they’re gonna be careful right now. But that doesn’t mean desperate people won’t try something anyway,” Dick responds, keeping pace on the patrol around the square. We’re used to moving together after patrolling the city so many times together. “So, we gonna talk about how happy you were to see Marinette in her outfit inspired by you? Or hear her sing your praises?”

            “No,” I grunt out. He knows better than to provoke me too much after the Lazarus pit, but that doesn’t change that he’ll poke at me as my brother plenty.

            “Oh, come on. You’ll have to deal with it later, you know if I don’t post about today’s outfits I’ll be attacked,” Dick smirks. He can really be a cocky bastard sometimes. Just cause he’s older, and been with Bruce the longest, and has a few other accomplishments. He’s not the only one who broke away from being Robin though. Even if he’s the only one who became a detective. The jerk.

            Ok, I could’ve become a detective, I really didn’t want to. Especially not after the bullshit that the system put me through growing up, I never wanted to be part of the system. Honestly, the money I get from Bruce is plenty for me. Thanks to that I can help the homeless community without having to work and do stuff I’m not okay doing, or that’ll drive me nuts. Believe me, no one wants me to go crazy, I’m crazy enough as it is.

            “So seriously, what was the ‘damn’ comment about? Don’t think I didn’t hear you just cause I asked what. Worlds best detective, remember?” Dick asked me. The guy sometimes lived up to his nickname, but I can’t help but to like the guy. Something about being family or whatever.

            “It’s nothing. Just some shit I overheard from sausage hair over there,” I give him a little, hoping he won’t pry.

            “Ah, yeah. Lila, calls our little brother Damiboo. Total liar from what I’ve gathered. It honestly seems pathological,” Dick shrugs and I snort.

            “Damiboo?” I smirk at my brother, curious about this tid bit of information.

            “Yeah, she even did it in front of him without realizing it. So not only is she a liar, but she’s dumb too,” Dick replies, matching my smirk.

            “Priceless,” we go back to our silent patrol of the area. I find a couple venders trying to scam people and scare them straight before they cause damage to other people’s wallets. Some people have hard earned money, not me, but some people.

~.~

            I spend the next couple hours carefully browsing all the fabric in the store. I pick up the fabrics that call to me and go from there. I ended up leaving with three bolts and ten yards total of fabric, several skeins worth of lace, ribbons, and other similar accents, five bottles of glitter, eight bottles of rhinestones, a small bag worth of dyes, and a bag or buttons and eyelets and other fasteners. Ultimately, I think I spent s couple hundred dollars. It’s a good thing I make good money on commissions and have savings from my allowance. Not that I’ve ever had issues purchasing supplies for new designs since becoming MDC.

            Once I check out, Chloe is practically whining that all we’ve looked at are supplies, so I smile, and we go to a clothing boutique. She browses for a while, satisfying her inner shopper, and we even check out some jewelry. Discussing what we’ll do for the jewelry for the gala in December. Yes, it’s a long way out, but its one of the only times most people in my class will get to have such a fancy occasion that they can participate in.

            Me and Chloe were glad for the chance to shop and relax, doing a little retain therapy is ideal. And we do manage to avoid the others for the most part. Even if we get teased a bit for buying fabric and design supplies when I “don’t even come up with my own ideas or have any commissions anymore.” But Dick puts an end to that pretty quick and asks if I want some help carrying anything. Ultimately the day was pretty nice, and I’m glad to say pretty uneventful. I think the lack of isolating chances helped with that though. And our chaperones were pretty great, even considering Jason being as quiet as he was. I think the only times I was all that annoyed and almost forgot my plan was when I heard Lila talking about MDC again.

            I’ve never liked when Lila would use my alter ego to promote herself. Even if she doesn’t know she’s doing that, and therefore I have the power to debunk each of those specific lies, it still always annoys me. It’s bad enough she uses me to further her and her agenda, but why can’t she leave my alter egos alone? I know why, cause they’re famous. I honestly didn’t even know that MDC would become famous until my Uncle Jagged started hyping me up as his sole designer. Then there were the other big names that started working with me, only a couple of which knew my identity. I decided to close commissions unless recommended to me by another client. There was a bit of backlash from that but not much and it was easily managed when I mentioned it will become first come first serve outside of outstanding clients after I eventually reveal my identity. I even told the interviewer that I was staying anonymous for personal reasons and safety. The public seemed to eat that up. I was definitely hoping to get business pointers once we started our internships.

            I knew I wanted to intern at corporate and with someone who can help me with business knowledge. I want to go to design school, but business is a major part of design. I’ve been doing well so far, but I don’t want to be caught off guard if a problem arises. Of course, if they had a design department, I’m not sure if I could resist. I made sure to ask the workers of each WE store what working there was like and mentioned that we were students getting ready to begin internships at WE. Everyone was really nice, and told me to feel free to come by any time if I had questions about retail.

            When the day ended Daisy had returned to herd us back onto the bus and to the hotel, reminding us all to get plenty of rest before tomorrow. After tomorrow, we had two free days to spend in the Hotel. They didn’t want us running around the city just yet and thought it important to prepare for school on Monday. One of the reasons we’re not being held to their uniform policy is to tell us apart from their students in case we needed extra help in understanding lessons. That and the school only had a couple weeks to prepare for our arrival. That would’ve been fifteen or so uniforms they’d need measurements for, and time to do perfectly to those measurements. Thank fully this means we can wear what we want within reason and me and Chloe could continue our fun outfits for the first two days of school before returning to our new standard.

            Once we got to the hotel, and safely sequestered into our suite, I told Chloe to get up extra early so I can reveal the outfit I’ve been hiding from her before getting ready. With this knowledge, both of us ate and wound down pretty quick so we could go to bed early, only to get notified of an akuma in Paris. Another child targeted for their nightmares. Will the horror of Hawkmoth never end?

@BlueKnight: Another day of cute outfits by Sunshine! *Insert Picture* Today’s inspiration comes from Red Hood and Spoiler, both greatly admired by the designer and good for moving around shopping in. @JayBird was understandably happy. Also, seemed relatively incident free. The bullies were quiet, maybe too quiet. #sunshineofgotham #sunshinedesigns #gothaminspired #mustprotec #waynewatch

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|     @JayBird: @BlueKnight, leave me out of this. There was nothing worthy of reporting on anyways. #sunshineofgotham #sunshinedesigns #redhood #waynewatch

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|              @SpoiledBat: OMG that spoiler is too cute! I so wish I was there for that! I haven’t seen one of my favs before! She’s too cute! #sunshineifgotham #sunshinedesigns #gothaminspired #spoiler #mustprotec #waynewatch

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|                        @AllSeeingEye: @SpoiledBat I still have yet to see my favorites. So at least you got one. And I’m not chaperoning again during the trip so I only had one chance. Cute outfits thoat day though. #sunshineofgotham #gothaminspired #mustprotec #waynewatch

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|                                @OGWayne: Keep me updated on the bullying situation, glad to see she got a day off from it. I’ll keep my own eyes out. WE is everywhere. ;) #sunshineofgotham #sweetheart #sunshinedesigns #gothaminspired #mustprotec #waynewatch

Chapter Text

            Come morning I smile despite having gotten up long before the sun and following a short nights sleep due to a kid having a nightmare in Paris and Hawkmoth using it to terrorize the public. It’s different for every kid having nightmares that gets akumatized by Hawkmoth. Some bring people’s nightmares to life vividly, some put others to sleep that’s unending, some bring their own nightmares and fears to life, no matter what form their terror takes upon becoming Hawkmoth’s pawn, they are a brutal force due to the pure strength of the emotions that come from being scared out of your slumber. On top of that, it’s always harder when it’s a kid, simply because I never liked fighting kids. That’s one of the reasons I always struggled with Mannon’s becoming the Puppeteer both those times so long ago and every other kid I’ve had to face. But that’s not for me to dwell on right now.

            It’s time I show Chloe the surprise outfits I made for us. I wanted us to feel strong and confident today. Feel the most like us and the most capable to be able to handle anything life may throw at us. We may or may not find our questions answered at WE about where we will be interning. We may or may not find ourselves at the mercy of mean, crude, rude, jaded adults who will become our bosses and superiors that don’t have the confidence to take out their frustrations on the objects of their emotions. To protect us against all this onslaught of emotion, which we’re no longer used to allowing ourselves to feel, I designed outfits that should draw out the most confidence in each of us. While I would have considered wearing these to the first day of school, I felt the potential from the internships would affect us more than whether or not kids our age liked us. We’re used to being the outcasts at this point, that can’t hurt us anymore, but being rejected by our future and those in our future fields and goals could. So today, we are ourselves.

            Our outfits are Ladybug and Princess Honey. I made some changes so that it can’t be easy to connect the dots, making the outfits homages instead of blatant copies just like I did with the vigilante outfits. I have a strapless sideways hourglass red top on that’s paired with a matching red skirt with black polka dots. The skirt had a straight tight waistband that was about nine centimeters before puffing out to a loose pleated circle skirt. I put a black petticoat underneath it add extra oomph, not as big as Chloe’s will be though, and accessorized it with pearl beads around the top and crossing for the second and third lines as they run into the yo-yo replica I made as a belt buckle fastened to the skirt. Finally, to keep it more in keeping with the school dress code I made a black jean jacket for it too, similar to Ladybug’s newer costume but the jean jacket reaches the top of the skirt’s waistband. I paired the outfit with knee high red boots that were almost lacy at the top with a V-shape in the front of the boots. The boots ankles were wrapped in the pearl beads as well. I also accessorized with a simple red choker necklace with a small golden heart connected to a red dangling jewel.

            Chloe’s outfit is a dress with a golden yellow base color. The dress is mostly form fitting till it reaches the skirt which flares out with pleats similar to mine. Her skirt has two black stripes about four centimeters apart starting from the very edge of the skirt. I put a big and extra poofy white petticoat under Chloe’s skirt to make it extra feminine and princess like. The top had the similar almost lacy appearance along the top edge above the bust. Her dress is almost strapless as well but with a black strap connecting the white frills for sleeves to the dress. The straps were almost like a tie top in nature but went around the top edges of the point of the shoulder and connect to the dress in the back where the dress opens. Along the back are the same black stripes but with no dress underneath, at least not obvious dress. To keep it to dress code I put nude mesh along the back opening of the dress. At the waist of the dress is a replica of the bee miraculous without the comb part. I also made a purse to look like the stinger that Princess Honey has to paralyze our opponents. I paired her outfit with yellow heels. The heels had a black stripe where the foot enters the shoe in a V-shape like my boots. I also made little wing designed out of crystal to decorate the shoe. The straps of the heels were black and went up the leg almost like a ballerina but without crossing, held together with a zip up the back of the shoe. I also accessorized with a black necklace that had a gold heart and crystal wings dangling from the heart and matching gold and crystal earrings.

            I smile looking at the outfits I set up on a couple dress forms. I go get Chloe so I can show her the surprise and we can get ready. I have to enter her room only to see her still sleeping. I can’t be surprised after last night. Since no one but hotel employee’s can get to our room and it was the middle of the night, we both went to deal with the Akuma, we had hoped it would make it faster and easier if there were four of us. It helped, but it was still one of my more brutal fights. This kid summoned his own fears, and monsters were definitely one of them.

            “Hey Chloe, it’s morning. You need to get up so we can get ready. I have to show you your surprise outfit too. I know you’re gonna love it,” I gently shake Chloe as I talk to her.

            “Mmm! Not now Marinette, give me five more minutes,” Chloe frowns in her half-awake state, clearly not fully processing what I said.

            “Fine, if you don’t want the super cool outfit that I designed specifically for you then I’ll just have to find someone else to wear it and look awesome together with that person. No more MDC originals for you,” I smirk, knowing she’s awake enough to process what I said this time.

            “The hell you will Dupain-Cheng. Just give me a minute to wrestle these covers and I’ll be over there to claim MY outfit. Your ridiculous utterly ridiculous if you think I’m letting you give that away!” Chloe starts awake at my declaration and starts wrestling with her covers that she’d been tangled in. Finally breaking free, she stands in front of me with an annoyed glare on her face. “You just said that to get me out of bed, didn’t you?”

            “Yeah, but it worked didn’t it. Besides, you would’ve killed me if I let you sleep any longer cutting into your precious primp time. Especially after you see this dress,” I smirk, and she grins.

            “Yeah, you’re probably right. Well go on, show me then,” she gestures for me to lead the way and I take her to my room where I staged the outfits for maximum viewing when I revealed them. I open the door and she squeals. “Oh my KWAMI! Those are too cute! And look perfect for our hero sleves…Wait, we’re gonna be ourselves for today? What if someone figures it out?”

            “Chloe, I was once dressed as Ladybug without my mask in front of everyone and no one figured it out. These aren’t even relica’s. No one will figure us out. Besides, the detail of this bee only serves to further solidify the idea that I made you that replica of your old miraculous, even if it is the real thing,” I smile at her. “You like it? I would’ve left the back completely open for you, but I couldn’t cause of dress code. Sorry.”

            “Sorry? Mari-bug it’s perfect! I love it so much. The white tulle under the skirt from the petticoat only serves to make the skirt almost look like it’s flying on wings and the bee motif is perfect. You even got my new shade of yellow! Thank you, Marinette, it’s perfect,” Chloe hugs me and says that last sentence softly in my ear.

            “Of course. Now, go grab your outfit and get ready. Remember to keep enough difference from your normal look that it’ll be even harder to connect the dots. I don’t think anyone will, but better safe than sorry,” I return her hug and push her to start getting ready. I’m so glad that she’s happy with the outfit.

            We both get dressed and start styling our hair and doing our makeup. I do my classic pigtails, just like I used to have as Ladybug but longer due to how my hair is now. I have long red ribbons tying my hair so they’re nice and long as they spiral on either side of my head. I also wrap each pigtail with the pearl beads and put two strands on my head like a headband. I do a red eyeshadow with and extravagant black eyeliner and red lips for makeup. I clearly look like a fan of Ladybug when I look at myself in the full-length mirror in front of me.

            Chloe does the ponytail like she wears in her actual costume and curls a black ribbon into it. Chloe’s makeup is similar to her current light style but with some extra. She does golden eyeshadow with black eyeliner. The eyeliner wings out into three lines and has a few honeycombs along the crease in a dark bronze color as well as between the three wings. Her lips are a light pink with a shimmering lip gloss on top. She looks every bit like Princess Honey had I designed the costume and not Chloe’s heart. Her Miraculous sat in the same place as always and right where it’s worn by princess honey but is the same bobby pin with a bee at the end as it always is when dormant.

            I smile when I see what she looks like and told Chloe that I was going to start instilling doubts from the class by making it obvious that she’s not always right. To do this, I’m gonna meet them at WE instead of going with everyone. I told her I needed her here to reassure Daisy that they weren’t leaving me behind and that I wouldn’t let her convince me otherwise. I also let Chloe know that I’d be leaving word with the desk that I was going for coffee if anyone bothered to check on my whereabouts. Knowing Lila, she’ll tell everyone that I’m just late as usual and say it would be wrong to hold up the tour and the company due to my chronic tardiness. But instead, I’ll be there before anyone else. Chloe was reluctant but let me go but, in the end, gave up in trying to convince me. I’m Ladybug and I have three Kwami with me. I’ll be fine.

            I decide to actually stop and get coffee since I’m so early and there is a nice-looking café on the way to WE from the hotel. A quant shop with sweet décor and a homey feeling. I decide this is the best place to fuel up with the sweet sweet anti-sleep juice called coffee. And while there I happen to run into a slightly familiar face. The man who drove me to the museum on Monday when I was left behind. Tim Drake, Co-Ceo of Wayne Enterprises. What are the odds?

~.~

            When Marinette left to go get coffee and meet us at Wayne Enterprises I resigned myself to being left alone with our class because she’s right, Daisy wouldn’t believe anyone else. And Lila will be proven fallible. So, I bite my lip and go eat breakfast here at the hotel. They have pretty good food, I don’t know if it’s better than my daddy’s hotel or not but it’s good either way. At this point my only option is to wait, and wait, and wait, till it’s finally time to go and Daisy to arrive and take us to our destination.

            When Daisy does finally arrive she does her head count like normal, but once again, Marinette is missing. “Where’s Miss Dupain-Cheng?”

            I walk up to quietly explain the situation. “Ma’am, Marinette went to get coffee and said she’d meet us at Wayne Enterprises. I couldn’t convince her not to go, or to at least bring me along. She told me you wouldn’t believe anyone else.”

            “Well, she’s right, but did she leave word anywhere else? What if the teacher noticed for once?” Daisy asked me and I smile.

            “Yeah, she left word at the front desk in case anyone asks about her,” I reassure her of Marinette’s responsible nature.

            “I bet she’s running late, again. Miss Daisy, is it really fair to all of us, or the company for us to wait for one student who has a habit of being chronically late? I’d hate to waste the companies time just because Marinette can’t remember the time we were leaving,” Liar-la calls out and I barely manage to avoid miming gagging, there was no one here to enjoy laughing about it with.

            “We will be leaving, but only because she left word that she’d be meeting us there and lord knows that girl can be stubborn sometimes. Come on then y’all, Wayne Enterprises waits for no man or woman,” Daisy ushers us to the bus and Lila gives me a satisfied smirk thinking she’s won somehow. Ha, she’s in for a surprise. Marinette will be there already by the time we arrive.

~.~

            “May I sit here with you?” I look up from my computer when I see someone stop by my table and ask me a question. I was gonna tell them to fuck off till I saw who it was.

            “Miss Dupain-Cheng. I didn’t expect to see you here, I shouldn’t be running into you for at least another hour at WE,” I smile at the young girl, gesturing for her to take a seat.

            “Please, call me Marinette Mr. Drake,” Marinette smiles brightly at me, once more bringing the sunshine to Gotham. Our little Sunshine.

            “Then I insist you call me Tim. Most do. I see you’re in another fun outfit today. Though I can’t say I recognize the inspiration for this one,” I comment in a friendly manner.

            “Oh, yeah you probably wouldn’t. This is based off the main hero from back home. I wanted a little extra confidence for touring my future place of work and figured nothing better than the hero of Paris who keeps us all alive. No casualties yet,” Marinette laughs a little. It seemed a little forced and nervous, but also somehow proud at the same time. “Chloe is dressed as one of the other Team Miraculous members. Princess Honey. You’ll probably hear gossip about how she used to be the Bee Miraculous holder, it’s true, but she totally would deserve it now. Now she’s just incredibly proud of her replacement who is doing so much good instead of letting the power get to them and revealing their identity.”

            “Wow, Chloe used to be a hero?” I asked, astonished.

            “Yup! She’s helped Ladybug a few times. She first got a miraculous by accident when Ladybug dropped it or something, but she got angry with her mom always dismissing her and calling her a nobody so she put on the miraculous and transformed. Sadly, Hawkmoth, the villain of Paris, used her anger and hurt and akumatized her then. Turning Chloe into a villain with the power of a miraculous. After that, she didn’t get her miraculous back for a while but when she did, she did whatever she could to help Ladybug protect all of Paris. Now that I look back on it, had Ladybug never stopped giving her the Miraculous, or at least talked to her about it, she probably wouldn’t have ended up being akumatized again and stolen the miraculous causing a huge issue, including revealing several of the other miraculous holders. Only Ladybug and Chat Noir remained a mystery. No one who was revealed that day was given a miraculous again. It’s sad, but it was done to protect them and everyone else. But now we have team Miraculous! So, it worked out pretty well in the end,” Marinette explained a bit about the situation which I’d only heard a little about from Stephanie and Barbara.

            “Wow, that’s pretty insane. How come we haven’t heard of your heroes? You’ve heard of our vigilante’s,” I ask, trying to get as much information as possible.

            “Paris is basically on a Media blackout. You have to be seriously looking to find out any information about the Paris situation. Or live there and have the Akuma Alert App that me and my class have. It tells us the moment that we are aware of an akuma attack, which is pretty quick, and informs the people of area’s to avoid or directions to the nearest akuma shelter. They were made after Syren. She flooded the city so there’s high ground shelters and below ground shelters. Too many people were unable to get out of the way of Syren’s water. Me and my classmates made it to the roof tops, but not everyone did. In fact, most didn’t. And not all rooftops were tall enough in the end. I think the body count was one point three million at least, maybe higher,” Marinette waves off her last statement like it was nothing.

            “How can they keep a media blackout after over half the population died?! I thought you said there were no casualties yet!” I basically called out in shock. I wasn’t loud, but I wasn’t that quiet either.

            “That’s right, there’s no casualties, but the body count has reached at least one point three million in one attack though. You see, when the attack is over and the day is saved Ladybug fixes everything, and that includes all the deaths. At this point the number of casualties would probably double the population of Paris if it weren’t for Ladybug,” Marinette explains further and takes a sip of her coffee. “Ahh, sweet sweet anti-sleep juice.”

            “Ha!” I can’t help but to laugh as I hear that. “You’re too young to avoid sleep. Trust me, don’t let yourself become ruled by coffee.”

            “Heh, too late. Too many design ideas and other things tend to keep me up at night. Can’t help it sometimes, middle of the night tends to be one of the best times to accomplish things,” Marinette laughs and once again the sun comes out. I’m glad the topic took a happier turn.

            “So how come you’re here when you should be at the hotel waiting on Daisy?” I ask her. Today is the worst day for the clas to be late due to Daisy being short during a headcount.

            “Oh, cause I know my classmate was gonna at least try something today, and also this way I can start to prove she’s not infallible. She’ll probably say that I’m just running late and say something about how my ‘chronic tardiness’ shouldn’t be allowed to affect the rest of the class who were there on time. Probably include WE’s precious time as well. And say they should just leave me otherwise it wouldn’t be fair to anyone. She’s gonna say all that just to find me in the waiting room with coffee in hand when she arrives. Proving I’m truly not tardy anymore, even if she never really noticed,” Marinette explained and I grinned before checking my watch.

            “Then we should probably start heading over there. The bus should be arriving at the hotel right now and I don’t wanna miss this,” I smirk at her before we get up and walk the short ways to WE. There’s a reason I like this coffee shop, and now I just like it more, cause it’s now the place I got to talk to sunshine.

~.~

            Upon arriving at WE with Tim, I say Dick heading over to the front desk. Clearly preparing for the tour. “Hi Dick!” I smile and wave at him and he grins before he notices I’m practically alone.

            “Hey! Good to see you. But…where’s the rest of your class and why are you with Tim?” Dick asks me, clear concern written on his face.

            “I’m starting phase one of my plan to deal with Lila…start proving she’s fallible. She’ll have said that I’m not in the lobby waiting for the bus cause I’m late, only for the class to find me here with my luxury coffee waiting on them,” I grin.

            “As an ex-cop and the head of security here, please don’t do this again. Gotham is way to dangerous for a young girl like you to be wandering around alone. But as a petty bastard, I’m loving it,” Dick grins at the end and I smile back. “I don’t recognize the outfit today. Who are you?”

            “I’m the leader of the heroes of Paris, Ladybug, today. Like the others it’s just a homage to her, not a copy. Which is good. That could be a bit hard to do in public without being her,” I chuckle at my own secret joke.

            “Heh, I get that. Feel free to wait. I’m just gathering your badges for the tour. You’ll just have simple lanyards for today. Things will get specialized when you’re all assigned your internships,” Dick chuckles a little himself. “I look forward to seeing Chloe’s outfit today and getting another picture. I’m kinda collecting them at this point. ‘Can you get all the fun Marinette originals. Try to collect them all!’ Something like that.”

            “Haha! I’m sure she’d be fine with a picture. We both adore the heroes we dressed as today. Gonna be pretty hard to get next weeks though. We have two more outfits each, all based off of Gotham’s vigilante’s. But you’ll have to wait and see what they are,” I wink at them as I laugh.

            “We look forward to it. We’ll have to force Damian to take picture’s for us if Daisy doesn’t do it,” Tim smiles.

            “I’m sure Little Bird wouldn’t mind…if we help him smuggle a cat or something,” Dick chuckles and Tim joins a little.

            “He likes animals then?” I ask.

            “Likes is an understatement. Our house is practically becoming a zoo at this point. Heh, but we wouldn’t have him any other way,” Dick smiles gently, showing how much he cares for his little brother.

            “Well, that sounds pretty great to me. I love animals,” I smile back before going to wait for my class who would be showing up any minute.

            When my class shows up I get up and walk over to them. “Hey guys, glad you all made it in time.”

            “Barely with this little stunt you pulled. We were gonna be held up waiting if Lila hadn’t convinced that Daisy woman to let us get going,” Alya states with her normal attitude and I sigh.

            “Lila didn’t do shit! I told Daisy that Marinette wanted to get some good coffee and would meet us here. She came cause I told her we weren’t leaving Marinette behind,” Chloe crosses her arms, clearly annoyed.

            “I thought you were running late and I didn’t think it would be fair to the company or the class if we waited for too long for you to arrive. I hope you don’t mind that I advised her to leave without you Marinette,” Lila says, acting like she feels bad to get the attention off the fact that I was never late in the first place.

            “I left word that I would be meeting everyone here and Chloe told Daisy like I asked so really, I’m glad you all left without me. Kept me from having to wait longer,” I smile, knowing that some of them had to have figured out that she was clearly wrong about something this morning.

            “Now that that’s settled. Marinette promised me a picture of the two bug themed heroes and I’m here to collect before we get started. These outfits are just too cute! To die for! Well, if I wore dresses and skirts,” Dick grins and I smile as we pose for our picture.

            Once we were done, Dick began handing out ID passes and explaining the rules and procedures for the day. Funny enough, they have a bullying policy in WE. Daisy quickly had excused herself after they arrived, saying something about stupid CEO’s not functioning without her. As Dick was talking, Alya slid up next to me so she could talk loud enough for me and the class to hear but she clearly had hope that Dick couldn’t understand as she switched to French.

            “I can’t believe you and Chloe are daring to wear outfits connected to our heroes. I almost get Chloe, dressing as her replacement, but you have no right to dress as Ladybug. She’s a hero who protects Paris, you’re just a bully who picks on Lila,” Alya practically spits at me in French.

            “Well, considering she has been at least trying to pay attention and not deciding to talk over the explanation of how things are gonna go today from your tour guide, I’d say she has more integrity than you at the very least. As for her wearing this outfit, it fits within dress code and looks very nice. You do not get to tell her not to wear something cause you disagree with her wearing it, that is considered bullying Miss Cesaire. Please take care to avoid such actions in the future as bullying is not permitted within WE,” Dick replies in perfect French, clearly proving he understood every word. Alya at least had the good grace to blush, apologize, and step away sheepishly. We’ll see where this lands me later. I have a feeling I’ll have some bruises soon.

@BlueKnight: I got a great pic of sunshine’s outfits today. Apparently, they’re the heroes of Paris. Don’t know much about that though. *Inserts picture* #sunshinedesigns #sunshineofgotham #sunshinehasbullies #bulliesaredumb #thoughtididn’tknowfrenchdespiteguidingafrenchclass #mustprotec #waynewatch

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|   @CoffeIsLife: I actually got to learn about those heroes. Apparently the one called Ladybug, sunshine’s outfit homage, can fix everything and bring everyone back to life after an attack. I have no idea how I’ve never heard of this when apparently more than half of Paris died once. #sunshineofgotham #sunshinedesigns #parishasheroes #parishasdiedmultipletimes #gonnadoresearch #sunshinehasbullies #sheputthemintheirplace #pettymomentfromsunshine #mustprotec #waynewatch

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|           @OGWayne: I’ll want to know more about this Paris situation. We’ll talk later. In other news, the sweetheart was petty? #sunshineofgotham #sweetheart #sunshinedesigns #sunshinehasbullies #pettysunshine #mustprotec #waynewatch

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|                  @CoffeeIsLife: She went for coffee on her own earlier knowing that the liar/bully would claim she’s just running late and try to convince them to leave without her since it would be unfair to waste their time and the company’s time. Sunshine was here first. #sunshineofgotham #sunshinehadhelp #daisyallowedduetosunshinesfriend #pettysunshine #mustprotec #

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|                        @AllSeeingEye: @CoffeeIsLife, I’ll help you research. I’m quite interested myself. How do they keep it quiet and still have tourists? I need to know more. #sunshineofgotham #parishasheroes #pettysunshine #mustprotec #waynewatch

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|                               @JayBird: Man, this sounds hardcore. Let me know what you nerds find out. I don’t have the brain power to research that hard about something. That’s why we have you two in the family. #sunshineofgotham #sunshinehasbullies #pettysunshine #parishasheroes #curious #sunshinedesigns #mustprotec #waynewatch

Chapter Text

            The first few floors weren’t overly interesting. Low level employees and positions that aren’t exactly well known for the running of a company, though Dick made sure to tell us that they are just as important, if not more so, to have as any other position. Basically, the foundation of the company was in the lower floors, and some overflow from certain departments. There were a lot of cubicles in these areas and some offices for people who worked independently. There were also some really cool break areas that included full lounges with tv’s, bean bags, tables, charging stations, games, and all sorts of things. Wayne Enterprises takes pride in their care for their employees. On every floor there seemed to be a handful of quiet rooms and private rooms that are designed as places to go when things are just becoming too much, or stimulation is going to far. If you just need some quiet, maybe a place where no one is going to disturb you unless it’s urgent, then that’s what the quiet rooms are designed for. When you feel on the verge of breaking down from being overwhelmed from anything in your life, work or home, then you can go to a private room to calm down and collect yourself. There are also computers in each private room that connects directly with your supervisor if need be and allows you to inform them if going back to work isn’t a good idea that day. The supervisors will ask a handful of random control questions, simply to ensure no one abuses the generosity of the Wayne’s, and then will ask if you need your belongings brought to the private room you’re in by security or if you’re okay to go get them yourself. There is no doubt that the Wayne’s care about everyone in there employ.

            As we get higher in the tall building, different departments show up. Electronics, sales, marketing, R&D, production, customer service, HR, management of external stores and other services, security, city security, and several others both shared floors in some cases or took up entire floors in other cases. We got through the first half of the building by lunch, which was taken in the middle floor of the building so it’s almost equidistant from everyone. The cafeteria took up an entire floor as well and it was designed to look more like a mall food court with the different options and food stalls. They have something from just about every major chain and some more. There is also a second elevator that comes directly from the first floor.

            “Um, Mr. Greyson, where does that elevator go?” I asked, curious as I hadn’t seen it before. “Is it the executive elevator?”

            “Ah, good question Marinette, no Mr. Wayne believes in using the central elevator just like everyone else, though some question if he doesn’t have some secret ways to travel through the building without being seen, that’s just rumors. That actually goes to the area on the first floor that I pointed out that none of you would be working there. What I hadn’t mentioned is that it’s a free safe space for teens and kids. There are a lot of homeless youth in Gotham as well as kids without the best homelife or without wifi that they need for school projects. Whatever the reason they are safe to come here, no questions asked, and head straight for that area on the first floor. That’s why you didn’t see much past the lobby on the first floor, that area takes up most of the first floor. They are all given automatic passes that give them access only to that elevator so they can come and get a warm meal as well. There are some beds, a lounge like you see on most floors but geared more towards youth, changes of clothes, tutors, and other amenities available for them. It started when Mr. Wayne noticed kids sitting out front of his building sometimes for the free wifi. We’ve even incorporated free and private counseling for those who need it and free medical checks. These are done on set posted days so the kids all know when the best time to come would be. That’s why there is an elevator on the opposite side of the building from the main one,” Dick smiles at me. “Alright everyone, your passes give you free lunch at any of the stalls that you want. We’ll spend an hour and a half here and you’ll be given these questionnaires to fill out so we can find the best place for your internships. At the end you’ll be getting a second questionnaire that will allow you to tell us which areas you are most interested in. HR will look between the two to help place you in the right areas. Keep in mind, we still have several floors and departments to go see so don’t set your hearts on anything yet.”

            We all nod and collect our questionnaires as we go by him to get our lunches. I chose something easy but Chloe has more refined taste so it’s taking her a while to find what she wants and is willing to eat. That’s why I told her I’d get my food and find us a place to sit in the huge cafeteria.

~.~

            When I got my food, I turned around and found Marinette alone with her food at a table near the edge of the room. I smile and make a bee line for her. I may be required to keep Lila happy, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t talk to Marinette and try to get her to apologize. That way she can come back to the group. She’s honestly been so selfish with this whole thing, but at least she’s stopped trying to prove everything Lila says as wrong. Even if Lila is lying all the time, she’s not hurting anyone. It’s selfish of Marinette to try and destroy everyone’s good image of Lila. Selfish, selfish, selfish! She may be an everyday Ladybug, but she’s not been acting as gracious as Ladybug. Ladybug would do what she can to make everyone happy, she saves the day and cheers up the victims almost daily. How Marinette can be so selfish lately is unknown to me, but it’s also really weird how she’s been hanging around Chloe so much over the last year.

            I understand Chloe being selfish, she’s always been a bit selfish, the name Queen Bee fit her when she had a Miraculous because of this. But Marinette has been acting selfish far longer than she’s been friendly with Chloe. Chloe may be my friend, but even I know that she can be a big brat. So how can the angel be hanging around her so much and even be so selfish as to try and hurt Lila by revealing her lies. Just because she doesn’t like Lila. Just because she doesn’t like the lies. It’s so selfish. So selfish! But I can try to talk some sense into her. If she just apologizes to Lila, then we can be together. My father won’t disapprove if Lila agrees.

            I sit down by Marinette and look at her, my signature smile on my face. “Hey, Marinette.” She starts as she looks up at me, she hadn’t noticed me approach. “Can we talk?”

            “I don’t know, can we? I don’t think Lila will like you sitting and talking with me,” Marinette says evenly. She’s so small, so sweet, so delicate. The faint smell of candied strawberries wafts from her skin.

            “Oh, come on. Lila’s really not that bad. And her lies really aren’t hurting anyone. Why can’t you just let it go. If you apologize then she’ll let you be welcomed back by everyone, though it will probably take time for them to trust you again, and you’ll get to be with me freely,” I scoot closer to her and grab her arm. “Come on, come and apologize to Lila. We can be together just like you want to if you do. I know you like me. Alya kinda spilled the secret a while back.”

            Marinette tries to pull her arm out of my grip. “Her lies hurt me Adrien, and they will hurt everyone else one day.” I start pulling her up and she fights me. I don’t know why she’s being so stubborn. Stubborn and selfish!

            “Come on Marinette. Stop being so stubborn. My father wants me to keep Lila happy, so I need you to apologize to her. Then she’ll be happy with you too and we can be together. I know you want to be with me. We belong together, you belong with me. You even said so to Alya, she’s your best friend so she would know,” I keep pulling trying to help her. “I know being hated by everyone bothers you, and if you apologize things can get back to normal. You need to stop being selfish and going against Lila just cause you don’t like her. Nothing is happening with us so you have no reason to be jealous, okay?”

            “No Adrien. Let me go! Alya doesn’t know anything about me anymore cause she’s not my best friend now, Chloe is. And I may have had a crush on you at one point but that’s over now. I have no reason to apologize, especially when the only thing I’m guilty of is trying to show everyone the truth and disagreeing with Lila. I’m not going to apologize for trying to uphold the truth, and I shouldn’t have to. And I’m definitely not apologizing for things I didn’t do!” Marinette keeps her voice down, but her tone indicated when she was basically shouting at me. How dare she. She’s just another girl with a crush on me. I thought she was supposed to be my friend too but she’s not acting like herself. She should just do what I say. Stupid girl, stupid, stupid, stupid!

            Before I can say anything else to finally convince her, multiple hands separated us. Two men held me back and one was checking out Marinette’s arm that I had been holding as I tried to guide her to go over to Lila to apologize.

~.~

            My brothers Jason and Tim came into the Cafeteria to have lunch with me. Demon spawn would be joining in a bit once his latest charity meeting with the board and father ended. Tim got himself out of it saying he doesn’t know as much about the animal charities as Damian. We started talking by the entrance when we started noticing movement near the edge of the room. We brushed it off at first as simply someone going to sit down as we were still heading to one of our favorite food stalls, but an employee hurried over to us.

            “You might want to intervene over there. That kid seems to be trying to force that girl to do something she clearly doesn’t want to, he’s pulling on her arm,” I didn’t even register who told me once I turned my head in the direction of where they pointed, the area with the movement earlier. Marinette was being yanked on by that blonde kid with bodyguards with him. Dumb move on his fathers part. I’m honestly shocked he hasn’t been attacked already since arriving in Gotham.

            We don’t even look at each other as all three of us run over to yank him off of her. I start at his hand on her arm while the other two yank from under his arms. Once he’s off of Marinette, the words she said as we approached registered. “I’m not going to apologize for trying to uphold the truth, and I shouldn’t have to. And I’m definitely not apologizing for things I didn’t do!” What on earth was he trying to make her apologize for.

            “Are you alright? Did he hurt you?” I ask her as I look at her already bruising arm.

            “I’m fine,” she tells me quietly as she shrinks from his thrashing.

            “AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH” the big oaf of a bodyguard must’ve finally noticed because he was charging at my brothers who were holding the blonde kid. I don’t give them the chance to pick who disarms him. The kid hurt someone I care about too, so I had anger to get out as well.

            I thrust my arm out and catch him in the throat before he finishes making his approach and then sweep his legs. He’s on the ground gasping for air faster than someone could say no. I immediately rolled him over and zip tied him where he was so he couldn’t do anything.

            “That won’t last long. I’ve seen him, just let Adrien go and he’ll stop going crazy,” Marinette puts a hand on my arm, startling me as she was suddenly beside me.

            “Marinette what happened? Oh my…gods where did you get that bruise?” Chloe rushes over to her friend and sees the same bruise that I did. The jacket had been off when he grabbed her, probably didn’t feel like having it on while eating.

            “I’m fine Chloe, Adrien just got a little excited trying to get me to sit with everyone else. Right Adrien?” Marinette leveled him with a wary yet somehow commanding stare.

            “Yeah. I just thought if she said sorry, even if she didn’t think she should, then everything would go back to normal,” Adrien stopped fighting when she leveled him with that stare.

            “That’s no excuse to grab her and start pulling on her arm hard enough to leave a bruise!” Jason wasn’t holding his temper well. Something is off about Jason’s temper right now though. His eyes always seemed to have a bit of a dangerous flash to them when this kid was near him. Marinette seems to have noticed as well.

            “Jason it’s fine really,” she puts her hand on his arm and he seems to relax, just a fraction, but he relaxed none the less. “You guys should really let him go. Adrien, just grab your food and go sit with the others. Me and Chloe are more than content over here on our own.”

            “You won’t be alone, Jason, your usual?” Jason looks at me somewhat shocked.

            “We’re actually gonna just let the punk go?’ Jason looks pissed at the idea.

            “We have to Jason, it’s not like you are one of the vigilantes. Unless she wants to officially make a report or draw up a charge, there’s nothing we can do,” Tim grits out and slowly lets Adrien go. “But we can keep our eye out and the second things start to appear uncomfortable for Miss Marinette we can intervene. I’m officially letting you tail her for the duration of her time in WE.”

            “What the hell can you do?” Adrien spits at them as he’s finally released, and he fixes his clothes, the same brand I’ve seen him in all week.

            “As the Co-CEO I can do plenty,” Tim turns to Adrien and levels him with one of his darker stares.

            “My father is a CEO too. You wouldn’t want to sour your relationship with him,” Adrien sneers.

            “Well, I’m head of security and I have no qualms with pissing off your father. If you continue to cause issues, I will revoke your security pass faster than you can say sorry. Your only internship options left will be off site and that’s assuming you don’t get deported for losing your internship,” I inform him. “Now, grab your stuff and get out of here.”

            Adrien grunts and grabs his things. I uncuff the bodyguard and let him off with a warning that any action taken against me or my people will result in his deportation. WE has the power to make him unwelcome in the country and will make him unwelcome. He must approach situations calmly before he can act on our property or he won’t be allowed here. I turn to my brothers once they’re both gone.

            “Jason, you stay with the girls, you need to cool down. Me and Tim will get your food along with us. Hope you ladies don’t mind some company for lunch. After what just happened, I don’t think we feel comfortable leaving you two on your own…unless you wanna open an official report so I can remove him from the building?” I smile my most charming smile at the girls and Marinette laughs, it’s good natured but lacking in some enthusiasm.

            “Thanks. We’ll take the company. There’s no reason to get him kicked out of the building,” Marinette smiles at me.

            “Alright, work what ever calming magic you have on Jason or he might be removed for his safety anyways,” I smirk and her expression falters as she stiffens for a second before she laughs again. This time was completely awkward.

            “Haha, funny. Thanks, I think we both know it’s no magic though. Some personalities are just more naturally calming to others. Hahahahahaha,” Marinette continues laughing that strange awkward laugh until Chloe elbows her in the side.

            “Heh, yeah. Good one,” Chloe adds before pulling Marinette back to the table. Me and my brothers nod and we leave Jason behind.

            “Text Bruce. I’ll handle the order while you report what just happened,” I told him.

            “You technically work for me, remember?” Tim smirks as he quirks an eyebrow. His phone already out.

            “Here maybe,” I smirk back. “Let’s not forget which one of us is the little brother here. Though I have to say you wear the stable mask surprisingly well. No one would know you’re worse than the bat himself in some respects.”

            “Oh, shut up,” Tim’s already tapping away on his phone and I notice him pulling up Barbara’s contact as well. I leave it knowing he’s probably having her do deep research on Adrien while he’s away from his computer. By force from me and Bruce I might add.

~.~

            I continue to eat my food after shrugging my jacket back on. No reason to have everyone staring at the hand shaped bruise that was forming on my arm. I lay my head on Chloe’s shoulder to reassure her for a moment after I see she’s still upset and I smile at Jason. I don’t know why I hadn’t seen it earlier, but the magic of the cat miraculous is hanging around him like a magical scar on his soul. It’s a lot like Adrien’s but different at the same time. I don’t think he’s ever held a miraculous, but I do think he’s been affected by one. That’s probably why his eye’s flashed with Plagg’s power and destructive desire. He wanted to kill Adrien, and Adrien’s presence is what drew that out. I’ll have to figure out why Jason seems to be similarly affected, but apparently worse. Adrien will heal. I saw his soul, I got to him just in time, but Jason’s soul appears to be scarred more severely.

            I discovered this Guardian ability not too long after taking away Adrien’s Miraculous and landing here in Gotham. I can read people’s aura’s and, if I concentrate, see their souls. It’s still more vague but when the soul is touched by Miraculous Magic it’s easier to see. Adrien’s soul will always be easy to see and always be tinged green because of his time as Chat Noir, but Jason’s soul was different. There was a similar red to mine glowing in the center of a darker red soul that had black marbling and a big green slashing scar across the whole thing. Again, the only reason I can see it so well is the Miraculous Magic. I can see Chloe’s soul and my soul just as well when I focus, though I need a mirror for my soul. Chloe’s soul is a swirling white and gold with some black cracks scattered lightly throughout. My soul is a glowing light red that fades to pink around the edges with some white shining brightly from the core. I noticed this after the day at the Museum. The conversation I had with Chloe made it easier.

            We continued chatting during lunch and filling out our questionnaires that Dick had given the class, despite Dick insisting the two of us were fine and didn’t need to. I told him I didn’t need the class to see me not doing something assigned and using it against me and Chloe just followed my lead on this one. We drew support from each other the entire time after that incident with Adrien.

            After about thirty to forty minutes the guys look up and wave to someone, Damian stands next to me moments later. He’s fast and pretty quiet. Like a cat, he approached without me hearing a thing. It startled me a bit, not as much as it would have if they didn’t wave at him, but still.

            “What are you three doing over here? I would’ve thought you’d get your own table like usual,” Damian said in a very flat tone, clearly not caring but also not currently understanding.

            “We would’ve but there was an…altercation earlier. We thought sitting with Marinette and Chloe would be for the best because of it. Especially after the bruise we saw from it,” Dick replied, clearly the most outgoing of them all.

            “Hm,” Damian hums and nods towards a nearby food stall. They all nod and he quickly grabs some food before coming and sitting down next to me, Chloe had taken the aisle seat much to my dismay. And seemingly Damian’s as well.

            Damian lifts his eyebrow at his brothers and they just say the word “later” and he nods. Weird. Guess since they’re all brothers they know each other really well, so words aren’t always necessary to communicate.

            “I mean it Marinette. You don’t need to deal with the questionnaire if you don’t want to. As the contest winner you get to go to whichever internship you’d like. You were chosen for your abilities and personality already. We know you can handle any position, even if you were my intern,” Tim tells me, smiling.

            “That may be, but I’ve gotten more than enough special treatment. I’m happy to jump through the hoops with everyone else,” I giggle at their insisting that I don’t have to fill out a small questionnaire. “It’s not that big anyways.”

            “Don’t bother. Once Mari-bug has set her mind on something there’s no changing it. The heart is pretty similar in her case. It took a lot to change her hearts desire too,” Chloe pokes fun at me.

            “Oh ha-ha. It’s not my fault that I fall hard. Besides, the important thing is that I did move on…even if the class clearly didn’t,” I roll my eyes.

            “What do you mean?” Dick asks me.

            “Oh, well…um, I guess you’ll hear about it anyways,” I sigh. “I had the biggest crush on Adrien a while back. Fell for him hard the first week we met.”

            “You told me it was the second day you met, when he apologized and gave you his umbrella. He explained how he was trying to clean up my…ahem, uh, prank, and he was really sorry about the whole thing. Then thunder boomed and you were in love, like out of a fairytale,” Chloe nudged me and said the whole thing with a big smile on her face.

            “Okay, yeah, the second day. Anyways, it wasn’t one of those cute crushes. No, I was a train wreck. I couldn’t speak properly when I talked to him, my clumsiness got out of control, and I practically stalked him. I feel really bad about that part. But I didn’t know how else to express my love, let alone how to confess. I tried multiple times. To this day he thinks the scarf I gave him is from his father. I tried so many times, and almost lost out on the chance for a really good friendship because I’d blindly get jealous of girls that got to be around him. I won’t lie, when I first took issue and suspected Lila and her lies, I was jealous cause she was trying to get close to him. But that jealousy only made it easier for me to see through the lies. Now, my head’s been clear of that for a while and I’m still positive that she’s a liar and manipulator. I wouldn’t be shocked if even her own mom doesn’t know the extent of her lies,” I finish explaining and most of the guys looked like they felt bad for me. Damian just looked angry.

            “If he believes her over you than he’s just stupid,” Damian comments and his brothers look a little shocked. I chuckle.

            “Thanks. He doesn’t believe them though. Most people around Lila do, but after the first time she was proven a liar, he never believed the lies again. But he did ask me not to reveal her lies. Said that in time things will work themselves out and that the lies weren’t hurting anyone in the meantime. Now, he’s been told to keep her happy by his dad and has to stay on her good side for whatever reason. He does still stand by his idea that her lies aren’t hurting anyone. I try to tell him that they hurt me…but he doesn’t listen. In the last couple years, he’s been getting more and more like the man you saw earlier today. He used to be so sweet, now, he kinda scares me a bit. I know I could fight him off if I really wanted to, but the absolute darkness in his eyes throws me off,” I shrug.

            “Opposite of your light. It makes sense it would throw you off. If you ask me, he deserves a good smack to the head,” Dick smiles gently at me.

            “Of course, you’ll probably hear some distorted version of this from Cessaire and Liarla over there. Cessaire told Adrien, and anyone in the class who didn’t already know, which wasn’t that many, about Marinette’s crush on him. They act like it’s still a thing and that Marinette bullies the sausage haired bitch because of it out of jealousy. Liarla has told Marinette that she won’t let her have any of her friends until she apologizes for all this stuff that she claimed Marinette did and begs for forgiveness in front of everyone. Ultimately, she wants a submission from Marinette who is the main one who sees through her lies, so she wants her serving next to her because she’s smart. After all, if she had Marinette on her side supporting her and her lies, she’d be just about unstoppable. Especially after Adrien previously gave her the nickname of our everyday Ladybug. If Lila supposedly got this everyday Ladybug to go back to being good and selfless, she’d be applauded as some amazing heroine of the class. Bringing back their good little Marinette who does anything anyone asks without complaint and helps everyone with everything no matter her own struggles or feelings and takes everyone’s crap and emotion dumps and…” Chloe practically started shouting before I cut her off.

            “Chloe, it’s fine. I’m not helpless, and I certainly don’t mind helping people. Besides, I’ve started setting boundaries. Do you see them getting clothes anymore?” I ask her with a smile.

            “Right, sorry Mari-bug. I just get really upset when I think about how you used to be treated…about how I used to treat you,” Chloe hugs me and I hug her back. “God I was such a bitch!” Chloe is purposefully avoiding the use of the word Kwamii since we don’t know how good their hearing is, and we don’t want questions.

            “Yeah, but now you’re my bitch,” I smirk and she laughs. The rest of lunch passes similarly, and we continue our tour. This time with Jason in the back with us, glaring at the rest of the class.

            We go through all the floors and I get to see more departments as well. PR, some more senior management of any division that hasn’t made it to VP or that area, the legal department, the financial department, I was shocked to find a fashion design department (Dick said it was new and that they were still working on their first line), advertising, the board of directors, all the different VPs, and finally the CEO’s. Each department throughout the day explained a little about themselves and I already knew where everyone should go, but I figured I’d leave that to the questionnaires and the company to determine where everyone belongs.

            “Alright, we are heading to our final floor which is one of the most open. Next floor is the top floor where both CEO’s offices reside. You’ll get the chance to meet Bruce Wayne and officially meet Tim Drake. Once they’re done talking with all of you, you’ll receive your questionnaires that are for you want to work. Everyone needs to put down at least one reference as if this were a real job interview. The reference can’t be your parents, siblings, or any one of your classmates. We’re looking for professional references, so your friends won’t be your best options. If you’ve never worked before you can use a teacher or tutor of some kind. And whoever you put down may be called over the weekend so be careful. There are a couple of departments that you’ll need multiple references, all professional, because we want to see if you’re up to the tasks of that department. The new Design department is one of them, as well as any executive management, advertising, R&D, and either security department. When you’re done with this last questionnaire of the day, you’ll give them to me and wait for Daisy’s say so on when you head downstairs. It’s getting pretty late, so security protocols for all of you are that you stay in your group and follow the adult’s directions. Your department will inform you of the rules of your internship specifically and what protocol is when the day ends. Alright, let’s head upstairs,” Dick explained all of this before calling the elevator to bring us up to the CEO’s floor. I’ll finally get to meet Bruce Wayne.

            “Don’t worry, Bruce is very excited to meet you,” Jason leans down and tells me, he could probably sense my nerves. I give him my best smile in return, he was being nice, and I really appreciated it.

            “Thanks!”

            We get upstairs and two men stand not too far from the elevator. I recognize one of them as Tim and immediately look to the large man standing next to him. I’d recognize him even if he wasn’t standing next to Tim. Bruce Wayne was a tall and clearly muscular man with dark hair and bright blue eyes. If I didn’t know any better, I would swear that his sons were all his biologically. They all look very similar with black hair and light eyes. The differences were in facial structures and other small details. Sadly, before he even get’s the chance to talk to us, Lila decides this is the best time to start up more trouble.

@OGWayne: So excited that I finally get to meet the #sunshineofgotham in person today. Disappointed to hear that she was being harassed at lunch in my building though. Luckily, the Wayne Boys were there. #blondiebetterwatchout #sunshineisbullied #sweetheart #literalsunshine #definitionofpurehearted #mustprotec #waynewatch #keepingmyeyeopen

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|     @BlueKnight: OMG I was so surprised at the kid’s audacity! I almost had him deported right there. So glad that me @JayBird and @CoffeeIsLife were there to help. Kid had a strong grip, didn’t like seeing those bruises form on her arm. #sunshineofgotham #sunshineisbullied #morethanabully #physical #gavemecreepvibes #sunshinerelaxedthejayman #mustprotec #waynewatch

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|             @JayBird: I’m just waiting on the green light to rough him up a bit. Bastard deserves to lose that pretty little face of his. #sunshineofgotham #shunshineisbullied #blondiegonnadie #wannagetmyhandsonhimagain #totalcreepvibe #pervvibe #mustprotec #waynewatch

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|                      @JayBird: Also @BlueKnight she didn’t relax me, I just don’t want to upset her, so I backed off a bit. #sunshineofgotham #shedeserveseverysmile #givingherreasonstosmile

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|                                 @CoffeeIsLife: Sorry Jay, she relaxed you. It’s cool though, she’s calming for everyone. She is the literal embodiment of sunshine after all. But on a more serious note, I seriously wanted to punch his face in. He’s so lucky we aren’t vigilante’s or he’d be beaten up and delivered to the police with a sign saying he assaulted someone. #sunshineofgotham #lovewhensunshinesmiles #sunshinessmilesbringthessunshine #sunshineisbullied #totalcreep #screwvibestherewasonlycreep #mustprotec #waynewatch

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|                                          @SpoiledBat: Boys boys, calm down. Maybe she will want to do the punching. Don’t assume she needs the rescue. #sunshineofgotham #girlscanbestrong #sunshineisbullied #mustprotec #onlycauseshecutenotfightingherbattlesforher #waynewatch

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|                                                 @AllSeeingEye: @SpoiledBat is right. Maybe she was handing it her own way, she’s said she’d tell us when she wanted our help. In other news…I have the info you asked for @CoffeeIsLife. #sunshineofgotham #sunshineisbullied #girlscanbestrong #mustprotec #waynewatch

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|                                                        @BlueKnight: If I didn’t see the near panic and the fear in her eyes then I’d agree. #sunshineofgotham #sunshineisbullied #kidweirdlystrong #allthreeofuspulledhimoff #mustprotec #waynewatch

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|                                                              @IcePrince: The bastard is lucky I wasn’t there yet or he wouldn’t have gotten away without a beating. In other news @JayBird, my ‘self-defense’ weapons are sharp and ready to go when you are. #sunshineofgotham #sunshineisbullied #blondiebettersleepwithoneeyeopen #callingvigilantes #callingredhood #callingrobin #callingredrobin #wouldcallnightwingandthebatbuttheyarentdangerousenoughforthisone #blondiebetterwatchout #creepgoingdown #seeingred #shestillshookwhenigotthere #istnexttohersoifeltit #mustprotec #waynewatch

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|                                                                        @SpoiledBat: …WTF?!!! ^^^

Chapter Text

            “Isn’t that the guy who walked in with Marinette earlier? Oh, my goodness I didn’t know she was so…close with an executive here. No wonder she felt so comfortable telling everyone she’s the contest winner,” Lila whisper shouted to the class in French. I couldn’t help the blush or the angry tears that were forming. She seriously implied I was sleeping with him.

            “OMG, no wonder she. Well, are we really surprised since she’s Mari-slut,” Alya replied in French. She clearly forgot that Dick knew French.

            “Ahem. I believe you were informed of the no bullying policy upon entering the building ladies. Your classmate over there has already been put on thin ice. I’d hate for you to join him,” Bruce Wayne announced in perfect French. Of course, he knew it too. That made sense. “Now then, I’m Bruce Wayne. The head of the Wayne family and one of the CEO’s of Wayne Enterprises. And this is my adopted son Tim Drake, the other CEO of Wayne Enterprises. I’ll have you know that we do take our bullying policies seriously. The only reason Mr. Agreste isn’t already removed from the building is that no complaint was formally made. Though many informal ones made their way to me since the incident at lunch today.”

            Mr. Wayne leveled his gaze on Adrien who bristled at being treated like he wasn’t the Golden Boy for once. Tim cleared his throat and switched to English.

            “Sorry, I’m not as fluently speaking as my family is. I have no doubt however that I will be by the time you all are heading home. You’ve all seen WE and what it has to offer. We have many stores under our brand, the hotel you stay in, and every department you have seen today. You’ll be getting a questionnaire shortly where you can inform us of where you’d like to work.  The top three choices please. And follow the references instructions provided by Dick. Now for those of you still thinking about that little piece of gossip from a minute ago, allow me to put your minds at ease. Me and Marinette ran into each other by chance today. And I happened to be the one available to pick up Marinette and Daisy on the first day. Without a doubt Marinette is the contest winner, and we will not tolerate any of you bullying her for something she didn’t do. That includes the term, ahem, Mari-slut that you used earlier. Daisy warned us of that, and we won’t hear it again. One last chance Ms. Cessaire. One more instance of bullying from you and you’ll be bared from activities until we see fit. Ms. Rossi, same goes to you. You try to be more subtle, but those of us from Gotham can recognize cruelty from a mile away,” Tim explains in detail my defense.

            “Yes, and on the note of Ms. Marinette’s winning the contest, I chose the contest winner myself and knew what she looked like before she arrived here today,” Bruce Wayne approached me. “Ms. Dupain-Cheng I want to commend you on your brilliant two-part essay that applauded your class and their achievements. Though I’m shocked to see and hear their behavior since your arrival. I expected all of you to be getting along as the good friends described in your essay. I’m disappointed to see how different they are.”

            “Thank you, Mr. Wayne. I promise, they’re all better people than what you’ve been told. There are just…difficult circumstances surrounding their behavior and the situation. Also, I’m beyond honored to meet you Mr. Wayne. The foremost CEO of the world. I don’t care how much help you get from Mr. Drake, who is amazing in his own rights, you are the one who kept this company up for so long before he joined you,” I shook Mr. Wayne’s hand.

            “I’m sure all my boys have told you to call them by their first name, feel free to do the same. Mr. Wayne is my father, I prefer Bruce. May I call you Marinette?” Bruce smiled a charming smile and I returned it with fervor.

            “Of course, Mr. Way- I mean Bruce,” I return the handshake and he nods before he pulls back.

            They explained a bit about what the CEO does and then turned to Dick who started handing out questionnaires. Murmurs could be heard throughout the room from my class but they at least stopped attacking me loudly enough that someone else would hear. As it is, I can only hear it because of my enhanced hearing from being a Miraculous Holder for so long. Chloe has a couple more years before she has this hearing out of the suit.

            “Marinette is such a slut…”

            “I can’t believe Marinette got so cozy…”

            “Marinette has changed so much…”

            “Marinette….so selfish…”

            “Such a bully…”

            And on and on it went. There was so much gossip about how horrible that at this point I’ve begun tuning it out. I looked at my questionnaire and thought about where I’d like to be best. I decided the most fun would be the design department, the most practical upper level management, and the easiest fall back would be sales of some kind. Whether store or the department, I didn’t care. Then I remembered I’d need references, professional ones. I could put teachers but they don’t think as highly of me right now. I sigh and decide I’ll have to give my actual business references. Jagged Stone, Clara Nightingale, and Chloe’s mom would be my best supporters. I’d put Penny but she’s Jagged’s assistant so it would be practically putting the same one twice. I decided to ask Dick a question about the references.

            “Hey, Dick, how many references would you want for design or upper management?” I ask him and he looks at me a little surprised.

            “Well, we’ve seen your designs a bit, but they wouldn’t work well in most department stores across the nation without being special occasion wear. We’ll need at least three people that can confirm that you are up to the task in Design. And I’d want at least one more that isn’t design related for the upper management. I doubt we would have any issues for you, but those are two departments that might be difficult, so we want some decent references,” Dick responds and gives me a smile at the end. “Though I’m sure you’d be able to handle them.”

            “Heh, thanks. I’m almost done then,” I think hard. Who could be a decent business reference? And then I remember. Nadia Chamack! I babysit her daughter Mannon all the time! I quickly put her down and then hand him my paper and smile.

            Just as I finished the Akuma alert went off. Crap! This was literally the worst place for that to occur. I look around and find the one area that would hide the light from my transformation or voyage. I nod at Trixx who puts a cover over me and puts up an illusionary me. This one would be harder cause she’d need to have me respond if I’m talked to. I run around he corner and immediately transform and head to Paris, only to be horrified from what I see.

~.~

            The students alerts go off and the room bursts into a frenzy. Chloe just walks over to me to allow me to watch while Marinette went to the corner and sat down. I feel bad seeing how uncomfortable she is with most of the class and knew we’d want to watch over Chloe’s shoulder so she tried to hide in a corner.

            “Dad, check this out. This is what we told you about. T-Bird you’ll want to see too,” I call them over and Tim slides in upfront so that the tall two of us were in the back looking over shoulders.

            What we saw was horrifying. All those dead bodies, so much blood, I have no idea how many have died already. Above some of the bodies seemed to be floating a ghostly version of themselves with red eyes dripping blood and white translucent bodies. In front of the camera was a news woman who seemed to be absolutely terrified.

            “This is Nadia Chamack, I bring you, live, to the scene of the latest Akuma attack. She calls herself Mother Banshee. When she screams at you, you will shortly die a bloody and gruesome death and become one of the ghosts in her army as she goes to take everyone’s lives. We’ve already reached 1 million dead. This is the highest number of cases since Syren and is not looking like it will slow down despite our brave heroes attempts. Oh! Here comes Ladybug! Her and Princess Honey have been away on intense training all week and are expected to for several months. But as promised, Ladybug returns with every Akuma attack, with the promise to collect Princess Honey should she be needed. Now for the question on everyone’s minds, how will Ladybug win this AH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Nadia Chamack cries out as the Banshee’s scream hits her, allowing us to see her basically pulled apart right in front of the camera. The camera then dropped as the camera man screams as well, more blood sprays from behind the camera this time. The camera however had the perfect view now of Mother Banshee.

            Ladybug had called out Nadia’s name when she was hit, regret for not reaching her in time covering her face. She turns to the Banshee and has a look of determination on her face as she joins her comrades. You can’t hear them unless they truly shout, but it’s clear that she’s being brought up to speed. She sighs and looks down. A look of uncertainty on her face for a split second before she looks up and glares at the Akumatized woman. She then shouts out her activation phrase for her powers and looks around determined to end this before any more lives could be lost.

            Soon Ladybug springs into action clearly telling her comrades pieces of her plan in order that she needs them. After about thirty minutes of fighting and fining the right opening, they had Banshee tied up and gagged so she can’t scream. Finally, Ladybug grabs a necklace that she’s wearing and smashes it to the ground. Out of the necklace comes a dark purple butterfly. She de-evilizes it, as I’ve learned she calls it, and calls out her Miraculous Ladybug. In a flash, waves of ladybugs filled the screen and healed everyone, the next instant, Nadia Chamack is standing there as if nothing had just happened to her, microphone in hand.

            “Ladybug! Ladybug! The people want to know, how many dead this time? Did Banshee break Syren’s record?” Nadia asks Ladybug who takes a deep breath clearly seeming weak.

            “I hope she fucking did! Maybe people will leave Ondine alone then finally!” the tall jock of the students cries out, clearly angry over something.

            “As you know Nadia, Miraculous Ladybug not only heals all damage done, but it will also tell me the number of souls lost in an attack that I revived. I’m sorry to say…today we lost one million two thousand and sixty-two souls. I urge you all, if you haven’t already, please fortify your homes and immediately seek shelter when an Akuma attacks. The less lives we lose, the better. I know I can bring them back, but I’m truly sorry for all the mental scars that come from losing your life even once in an Akuma attack. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to get back to Princess Honey. Stay safe, Nadia,” Ladybug swings away and Nadia turns back to the camera.

            “There you have it, folks. The highest number of lives lost from an Akuma since Syren drowned half the city. This was Nadia Chamack, don’t be bemused, it’s just the news!” The feed cut off and everyone stood in silence for a minute. That had been such a horrifying scene that unfolded in front of me. I can only imagine what it was like from the beginning.

~.~

            I find a safe place to hide and de-transform. I had healed from the blows I’d taken as well but that many lives to bring back is taxing. I begin to cough violently as soon as I’m in my civilian form. Blood, that’s blood on my hand. I sigh, I can’t go back to the tour. It’s a good thing I already turned in my questionnaire. I texted Chloe that I’d meet her back at the hotel and to have Trixx continue the illusion till the elevator doors close. I felt bad, but it’s what I had to do. If I went back, they’d insist on the hospital when I didn’t need it. I’d be fine in a few hours. I am just taking the feed back from reviving so many people without a partner to wield the cat Miraculous. I had a similar experience with Syren. What I hadn’t known at the time was that it meant that Adrien wasn’t meant to hold the cat Miraculous. I’d be tender and weak for a couple days but would be fine by the time we had school and our first day of internships.

            I use Kaalki to get back to the hotel room and receive Chloe’s reply just as return to being Marinette once more. She said she’ll keep everyone distracted enough not to notice the illusion and that she’d see me soon cause the class was being hurried to finish their questionnaires due to it being so late now. Thankfully, that meant I was able to collapse on my bed and sleep. Sleep was better than coughing up blood.

            I woke up the next day, hungry and still tired. Chloe took care of me and we dubbed this weekend a girls relax weekend. Which is good because I certainly couldn’t do much more for today. We spent the weekend ordering room service and watching movies together. Chloe didn’t ask me once how I was doing because she knew the answer. At this point, Chloe knew me well enough to know how much losing so many people affects me. Instead, she kept me distracted with chick flicks and cheesy romance. She also handed me the numbers that the Wayne’s had given my illusionary self and told me who was who. I have to say, she’s unbelievably helpful at times. There was a time I never would have dreamed that this would be us. And thankfully, our quiet weekend in also meant that I couldn’t get the beating that I’m sure Alya wants to give me. I’ll probably get it at school instead. And Lila will probably add insult to injury. Literally and figuratively. It’ll be so ‘great’.

~.~

            Dick had given me Marinette and Chloe’s questionnaires. I saw Chloe wanted Hotel Management, so I simply sent her down the chain and approved her for Hotel Management. Since her dad ran a hotel this was a no brainer. Marinette however was a different story. She wanted design or upper management. While I’m sure she could handle it, I would be remiss if I didn’t at least check out one reference for her. I decided I would be easy and just call the first number. Dick was in the room with me, and the entire family was on the very open floor. Daisy had been excused for the day when she took the students home. I dialed the number and waited to get an answer.

            “Hello,” was the simple reply. I look at the name on of the reference. J. Stone…weird. Two of the names are missing first names past the initial.

            “Hello, sorry to be calling so late in the evening. Is this Mr. Stone?” I ask and the other end of the line seemed to shift.

            “Yeah, but you can just call me Jagged, Mr. Stone sounds so formal. What’s this about?” Jagged…Stone…Oh My Fucking God! It’s Jagged Stone!

            “Please hold one moment,” I mute myself and couldn’t help but to scream in excitement like a little fan girl. To be fair, it was Jagged Stone…so I was a little fan girl for the moment. Dick was so startled he threw himself against the wall behind him in his shock. My family ran in and I was just taking off the mute so I just held up a finger before they could ask me anything. “Ahem, of course, Jagged Stone. What an honor, huge fan, but um that’s not why I’m calling. My name is Time Drake and I’m calling from Wayne Enterprises. A Ms. Marinette Dupain-Cheng put you down as a reference for either the design or upper management departments as an intern. Do you know Ms. Dupain-Cheng? If so, please tell me what you can about her.”

            My entire family looked at me in shock when I said Jagged’s name. I smiled like a kid on Christmas at them and made sure to pay attention to what was being said on the phone.

            “Oh! Marinette! Yeah, course I know her. She’s practically my niece I’ve known her for so many years now. I insist she calls me uncle. How could I not when she’s just so cool and everything she does is just as cool. I actually met her when she made my signature Eiffel Tower sunglasses! Those were so cool! So, of course I had her design my next album cover too, and she nailed it! Who would’ve thought of scented stickers on music albums? Brilliant! She’s also done so much other stuff for me. She’d probably mad if I told you. Eh, but she applied for your design department so she’ll probably forgive me. If you wanna see some of her stuff, check out MDC. If anyone wants to get a commission from MDC, then you have to go through Marinette for the measurements. That’s all I can say,” Jagged was clearly very excited to talk about Marinette. “Penny, get me Marinette after this call! So cool being called as her reference! Any ways, we all good, man? Did you need anything else? If it’s for Marinette, I’ll do just about anything for that sweet girl!”

            “Heh, no, thank you Jagged. I really appreciate you taking the time to talk to me about Marinette. And for the tip on how to check out her stuff. Have a good night Jagged,” I hang up the phone and take a deep breathe before addressing the questions of my family in front of me. “That was Jagged Stone, the Jagged Stone. I have his number in front of me.”

            “You fucking screamed!” Dick yelled. “It scared the shit out of me. You just screamed out of nowhere man.”

            “You’re lucky I didn’t do it again,” I smirk.

            “Why?” Bruce asked this time.

            “Because he implied that Marinette is MDC. Which makes sense with her initials literally matching the brand,” I explained.

            “When you say implied. What do you mean,” Jason asked, clearly wary.

            “I mean he straight up said that she wouldn’t like him telling me this, but that she’ll probably forgive him since she applied for our design department. Then he said if we wanted to see some of her work then we should check out MDC and that all commissions have to go through Marinette for measurements. That’s what I mean by he implied it. He wasn’t exactly subtle,” I explain further. “Also he said he insists she call him uncle cause they’ve known each other since she made his Eiffel Tower shades and she was such a cool girl.”

            “AAHHHH! Oh my god, oh my god! This is so cool…I mean…whatever,” Jason blushes after he had his fanboy moment and cleared his throat. “Can’t believe you screamed just from talking to Jagged Stone.”

            “Sure Todd. And you totally didn’t just fanboy from learning you’ve met MDC,” Damian smirks at their brother.

            “Whatever Baby Bird,” Jason scoffed, and we all laughed, well Damian just smirked but still.

            “Alright. I take it we can put her in both departments then. There isn’t enough work in the design for her to intern there alone. You can take her under you Tim. That way she gets plenty of design and business experience at the same time. Perfect for her future as the top designer of the world,” Bruce made the decision and I nodded, emailing HR. “Alright, I think it’s time we all go home. Alfred will have dinner waiting for us.”

            We all nod and head to the manor. I’m particularly excited to work with Barbara on the information she dug up on Adrien Agreste. Then I’ll have one more piece of the puzzle to figure out how to help Marinette from the shadows. It’s clear the bullying is intense, and when she’s home she doesn’t feel she can let herself be emotional about any of it because of that terrorist. Honestly if she let herself feel those emotions at this point while in Paris, I bet she’d be even worse than today’s incident. So, I want to help her deal with these bullies now and then help her let go of all of her emotions when I’m done. She’s still holding them in because of habit at this point. A habit, the Wayne’s are already familiar with helping each other break.

@CoffeeIsLife: Seriously done with sunshine’s bullies. They called her a slut today because she walked into the building with me in the morning. Gah! In other news, she has some epic references for work. I’d share them but I’m pretty sure there’s a law somewhere preventing it. #sunshineofgotham #sunshinehasbullies #stillnothappywithblondie #falseslutshaming #stopslutshaming #sunshineknowsarockstar #mustprotec #waynewatch

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|   @BlueKnight: I know, I didn’t realize it before but apparently, they’ve been calling her a slut all week. Totally not cool! #sunshineofgotham #sunshinehasbullies #slutshamingisnotcool #stopslutshaming #especiallyfalseslutshaming #weallwannakillblondie #sunshinegotconnections #mustprotec #waynewatch

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|         @OGWayne: We’ll keep a close eye on her. I’ve already arranged with the school for her to be in @IcePrince’s classes, so we have eyes easier. #sunshineofgotham #sunshinehasbullies #sweetheart #hersmileisliteralsunshine #shedoesmakecoolclothes #mustprotec #waynewatch

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|               @IcePrince: Do not worry father. I’ll keep my eyes out for her. I’ll keep her as safe as possible. I’m sure @GoldenRetriever will help I’m sure. #sunshineofgotham #sunshineisbullied #willprotect #mustprotec #waynewatch

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|                     @GoldenRetriever: I just checked out these tags, you know cause I technically live across the water, and damn! She’s coming to school on Monday? Totally helping. I got you friend. #sunshineofgotham #sunshineisbullied #firstfayofschoolyear #firstday #prettylittlesunshine #mustprotec #wouldsaywaynewatchbutimnotawayne

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|                           @SpoiledBat: Awe! @GoldenRetriever, you are totally an honorary Wayne. You’re over enough you have your own room anyways. Makes you a part of Wayne Watch at the very least! #sunshineofgotham #sunshinehasbullies #deathtothebullies #honorarywayne #mustprotec #waynewatch

Chapter Text

            The weekend passed quietly allowing me to recover from all those revivals and the fight. Me and Chloe just enjoyed our girl’s weekend. The first day wasn’t all that fun, seeing as how I was still in some pain and would cough up blood, but that passed and we could enjoy the rest of the weekend. Sure, I was tender, and still am a bit, but I’m fine and can make my way through the day just fine. I’m just glad that Hawkmoth decided to take the weekend off, that made recovery easier. Now that it is the first day at Gotham Academy, I’m excited to get started in a new environment. Their bullying policies are a lot stricter and they’re renown for being a high quality institution.

            For today I’m wearing my Red Robin outfit. The outfit is black jeans, a red ribbed tank top, black jean jacket, and black leather boots. All my accessories are a yellow gold, including my belt. The Red Robin insignia is stitched in a yellow gold thread on the left breast pocket of the jacket. My makeup is a red glitter eyeshadow with a black wing smudged into the eyeshadow on the edge with matching lips. It’s simple but bold. And finally, I leave my hair down and straighten it to complete the look.

            Chloe was wearing the outfit inspired by the current Batgirl. Batgirls current look is a mostly black cat-suit with purple on the sides and a yellow bat insignia with yellow accessories. Her cape is black and so is her cowl. So, Chloe is wearing a black dress that stops just above the knees with the yellow bat insignia over the heart, purple leggings, and a long black sweater that goes down to her calves. Her shoes are black boots with heels and her accessories are the same yellow gold as mine. Her makeup is a purple base, with a golden inner corner and black over the crease and the outer edge, smudged into a smokey affect across half the lid with batwing eyeliner. Her lips are the same purple as her leggings. Last, but not least, her hair is down with a black headband and curled slightly, she looks a lot like the current Batgirl because of it.

            Once we were both dressed, we collected our school bags and headed down our private elevator to the lobby. We run out of fun outfits tomorrow, but we had a lot of fun wearing them. We probably would’ve only done the first day of school in fun outfits, but I really wanted to wear our Miraculous outfits on Friday. And I’m glad we did, it just made us feel confident most of the day, despite the Adrien incident. If I didn’t still remember the good in him, that is most likely coming back, I probably would have snapped and hurt him. Luckily, I remembered how good he can be. One day, he’ll come back to himself, and then I’ll have my friend back.

            We make our way over to the outskirts of the group, Mme. Bustier already reminding everyone to behave since we’re guests at this school. She then proceeds to give me a pointed look, to which the class snickers. I don’t even know why everyone was already down here, me and Chloe are fifteen minutes early for the pick-up time. Usually there’s a few of them that would still be pushing the time for them to get ready.

            I decided to let the snickers and stares roll off my back as I stay by Chloe. You would think that I was the troublemaker, which I guess they all think I am. I can’t wait till Lila is exposed for all the lies and finally face the consequences. We all wait around in our groups and Mme. Bustier approaches me while the rest of the class, minus Chloe of course, was off huddled together and gossiping about who knows what.

            “Marinette, please try to keep the peace in this new school. It wouldn’t be fair for Lila to be treated differently because of her condition. Just please be the bigger person. As the class president, I’m counting on you to set the example,” Mme, Bustier tells me in a hushed voice so the rest of the class can’t hear.

            “Mme. Bustier, I would like to point out that I’m never the one starting things. And it’s not fair for you to ask me to lie so that Lila doesn’t get discriminated against for lying. Especially since she’s been lying about me this entire time,” I try to defend myself.

            “Well, she’s not the only one who’s been lying now is she. You and I both know that she is the one who won this contest and that you managed to change things to make it seem like she’s lying. She’s been very gracious about the whole thing. I think the least you can do is return the sentiment,” Mme. Bustier reprimands me for my defending myself. “Just try to behave and keep the peace. Please.”

            With that, Mme. Bustier walks away and doesn’t let me get another word in. I can’t believe she just said that to me. I showed her the email of me winning. I told her when I applied in the first place. She’s just ignoring all of that for Lila. But what can I expect when she’s so consumed by Lila’s lies herself, despite knowing that Lila lies.

            “She’s ridiculous, utterly ridiculous! I can’t believe she said that despite the fact that she was aware that you were the winner. You told her and Principal Damocles the day you got the email,” Chloe huffs and crosses her arms. “I’m sorry Mari-bug. They’ll learn that you’ve been telling the truth…eventually.”

            “Thanks Chloe,” I smile at my friend.

            We wait the rest of the time in companionable silence, just supporting each other as we realize that we are the primary subject of our classmates conversation. Who knows what they’re saying, but we won’t let them know how affected we are from their conversation. They were probably talking about how horrible we supposedly are. Or about how I or both of us did something to bully Lila over the weekend despite being in our room all weekend. They wouldn’t believe us, besides our room is so far away from theirs it would be hard to prove. We’ll just have to take it whenever we find out what it is they’re talking about though, we can’t start a fight when we’re gonna be guests of this school. That, at least, Mme. Bustier got right.

            Despite all this I’m well aware that Alya has been itching to beat on me for whatever lies Lila has been saying lately…and those times I stood up for others against Lila. I know I should stand up for myself more, I’m Ladybug for Kwamii sake, but I can’t seem to shake my memories of Alya. Alya is the reason I accepted the Ladybug mantle. Alya was the strength that supported me in improving myself. She’s the reason I developed self-confidence of any kind, confidence in my designs, and gained the strength to run for class president. Sure, being Ladybug helped with all those things as well, and Tikki is of course my biggest cheerleader, but Alya sparked it all. From our first meeting, to her quoting Majestia, to her being my best friend for years, she was always a major inspiration for me being the Ladybug I am today. And Ladybug protects the people of Paris, she does not use her strength to fight against them. The only way I will fight against Alya is if my life was in danger or she was akumatized. My memories of her just won’t let me.

            Finally, Daisy arrived. “Alright y’all, headcount and then I’ll be taking ya to the school. I’ll introduce ya to Headmaster Hammer and he’ll tell y’all where to go from there. After school is over, I’ll pick y’all up and we’ll go to WE for your internship assignments.”

            Daisy begins her headcount and then we all load onto the bus. She refuses to let Mme. Bustier leave someone behind again after what happened last week, and honestly, I admire her for it. Granted she’s probably operating under Mr. Wayne’s orders too.

            The bus ride to the school wasn’t too long but it was definitely gonna be interesting getting used to going to a school that isn’t right next door to my house. Also, the lunches will be shorter so that’ll be another big thing to get used to. I did my research, changing rooms isn’t entirely foreign to us but it’s not entirely normal for us either. Pretty sure that will be the easiest change funny enough. At least for me, I like being somewhat active, especially after becoming Ladybug. I finally learned martial arts from my maman for that reason too.

            Once we arrive Daisy double checks her head count as we get off the bus and we gather by the front doors of the grand Academy that we will be attending for this semester. Gotham Academy lives up to its name as the gothic architecture reminds me of Notre Dame. The school is clearly well kept and made from high quality materials, perfect for the typically rich student body that inhabits it. Standing at the top of the stairs is an old man with a strict look and Damian Wayne. I am pretty sure that Lila will still not recognize him. She’s gotten lazy since I’ve stopped trying to prove her a liar.

            “Welcome. I am Headmaster Hammer. You are all given this esteemed opportunity because of the generous donation given by Mr. Bruce Wayne. Had he not given such a sizable donation you would have had to make it into these hallowed halls on your own. As transfer students who didn’t even enter the school by normal means you will be granted special permission to not wear the uniform, that does not, however, mean that you can wear just anything. All students at this school must keep an appropriate appearance at all times. As it’s your first day we’ll forgive the outfits for now, however from now on I expect you’ll follow the following rules. Skirts shall not be shorter than half way down the thigh, pants shall not fall below the bottom, and shirts must cover all mid-drift. Tank tops will be permissible provided they cover most the shoulders, and on ladies the bra straps may not show. In the future please refrain from any head coverings indoors and all music playing devices and phones should be kept in your bags during class unless given permission by the instructors. Beyond that take note that our school does not tolerate bullying at all. If I get a whiff of it, I will take immediate and severe action. Especially if things get physical, there is enough violence in this wretched city without me condoning it in my school. First offence of instigating violence will result in immediate suspension. Now then, I’ll leave the rest to Mr….” Headmaster Hammer was about to finish but Damian interrupted.

            “Damian. Thank you, headmaster. I’ll take it from here,” Damian smirks at my class. “You should all remember me as one of your chaperones from last week. Since I’m connected to WE, Mr. Wayne arranged for me to take point while you’re here in school. I have your schedules here and after school you’ll all meet back here so the bus can take us all back to Wayne Enterprises. Just so you know, some of you are gonna be ecstatic over your placements, and some of you will be far less than ecstatic. Now then, when I call your name come get your schedule. And remember, you actually have to go to every class, they don’t come to you.”

            Damian called everyone’s names and ended with me and Chloe. He smiled and said he had purposely put us last so that he could walk us to class since he shared first period with us. Apparently, my schedule lines up well with the young Wayne, who was clearly enjoying the prospect of keeping Lila in the dark about his identity for a while longer.

            We walked to class and got settled in with me next to Damian and Chloe sitting at the table in front of us. It was easy going for conversation and Damian mostly stayed out of it, giving the occasional hums and grunts throughout our conversation. He seemed to be sketching something as he sat next to us, occasionally looking up to acknowledge us. I know the feeling, when you’re so lost in drawing something, but you don’t want to miss the conversation. And as much as I’m curious about what he’s sketching, I purposely avoid looking so I don’t offend him. I hate it when my unfinished sketches are stolen to be looked at.

            A couple minutes before class starts a young guy with tousled black hair and blue eyes walks in. His eyes light up when he sees Damian and then takes note of me sitting next to him. He looks confused for a second before he comes and takes a seat by Chloe, smiling big at Damian as he sits turned in his seat.

            “Well, well, well, looks like the Ice Prince finally made friends with someone other than me. Why else would you let someone sit beside you,” The boy smirks as he teases Damian.

            “Shut up Kent. Not everyone makes friends with lampposts,” Damian retorts without even looking up.

            “Whatever man. I’m just saying, it’s nice to see you branch out a bit, though I always knew you had a soft spot for me. Your new friend looks just like me,” Kent smiles. “Let me introduce myself, I’m Jon Kent, the brooding one’s oldest friend. Don’t let his lack of manners fool you, he’s actually a decent human being.”

            I giggle. “Marinette Dupain-Cheng. And the lady to your left is Chloe Bourgeois. We’re exchange students from Paris on the Thomas and Martha Wayne Goodwill Contest. You’ll probably be meeting our classmates throughout the day.”

            “Oh cool! Wait…you’re!...” He was about to continue but Damian cut him off.

            “Yes, she is the contest winner that father raves about,” Damian leveled his friend with a glare.

            “Oh. Yeah! You had the best essay Bruce has ever seen! Him and Tim have been raving about you for a while now It’s almost like you’re famous,” Jon winks at me.

            “Oh, I’m sure you’re exaggerating! I’m nothing special like that. If you want to meet someone famous though we have a famous model in our class,” I can’t help but be a bit flustered. Me famous? Hah! Maybe with spots and a mask on, but otherwise I don’t think so.

            “Mari-bug don’t sell yourself short! You are amazing and you better learn to know it. Honestly, sometimes your modesty is ridiculous, utterly ridiculous,” Chloe flips her hair behind her shoulder and levels a playful glare on me. “Besides, you’re multi-talented.”

            “Chloe!” I blush and look away.

            “What? Am I wrong?!” Chloe asks.

            “I mean…technically no. I guess,” I mumble, Chloe staring at me intensely. “I’m decent at design and some school stuff.”

            “And leadership, and self-defense, and language, and baking, and anything artsy, and loyalty, and all sorts of stuff. I mean it Mari, don’t sell yourself short. Once you put your mind to it, you can do just about anything, though maybe with a few hiccups along the way,” Chloe smiles at me. “It’s bad enough with Lila and her cronies putting you down all the time, don’t turn her words into the truth by giving up on yourself.”

            “Thanks Chloe. I wasn’t giving up on myself, but I do appreciate the sentiment. Besides, all that most of them do is stand there with disapproving looks on their faces. It’s really only Lila. Don’t forget that they were all really good people and friends before she started things,” I grab Chloe’s hand and squeeze it reassuringly.

            “I have a feeling I’m not going to like this Lila person,” Jon says with a kinda smirk and a playful look to him.

            Damian shudders a tad. “She’s a liar and acts better than everyone, so no, you won’t like her.”

            “Ah…got it,” Jon smiles and shakes his head. “She chose the wrong city to come to if she’s a liar.”

            With that, the teacher walked into class finally and we began. First period was History, easy enough but since we’re used to studying mainly French history, they didn’t put us in AP. Next period I shared with only Damian, it was AP Physics, I’m only able to take this class because I had to learn so much from Mme. Mendeleiev, as Ladybug, I had found great use from her class. Third period is Calculus with Damian and Jon, sadly Lila and Alya are in this class too. Fourth period is Art, with Damian and Nathaniel. Nathaniel keeps mostly to himself, like usual, so that’s not so bad. After fourth period is lunch followed by English with Chloe, Damian, and Jon again for fifth period. Sixth period is Chinese Myths and Legends, apparently Damian takes the class so he can get a nap in before Gym since he already knows most of this. I’m taking this for my heritage and also for becoming a better guardian of The Miraculous. Finally, seventh period is gym class, which they managed to stuff all of my classmates into the one class. Probably because the gym is so big that they could just make two classes into one easily. All in all, it seemed like everyone behaved for today at least. Now we just need to make it to our internships and get through those. Then, we might be able to claim actually having a relatively quiet day. There was of course some snide remarks from Lila and Alya, and the occasional murmurs of outrage from the rest of the group, but that’s a pretty tame day in my book. Honestly, how does she keep coming up with new lies all the time? It’s pretty amazing in some sick and twisted way.

~.~

            The day started relatively normal; get up early so I can train, shower and get dressed, eat breakfast, and go to school. Be dropped off about a half mile away so I can walk a bit before I have to sit down in those infernal classes all day. Difference was, today I had to get up even earlier if I wanted to train and I was dropped off directly in front of the school. This was so I could join the headmaster in welcoming Dupain-Cheng and her classmates. The headmaster was never a particular fan of mine from the beginning, something about my father and brothers and my disrespectful attitude. I like to think I’m far tamer than Greyson, Todd, and Drake. At least my emotions aren’t all over the place and showing. Greyson was likely the worst culprit, him and father that is. Despite this I’ve never really been kicked out…not for lack of trying on the headmasters part though. I’d step mildly out of line a few times in a row and then miss class and he’d threaten expulsion. Father always donated some large sum to keep me and Kent in school.

            I let the headmaster greet everyone, while I got lost in the bluebell eyes at the base of the stairs. Luckily, I was still managing to listen so I could cut off Headmaster Hammer before he used my last name. I wanted to keep my identity a secret for the sake of bluebell and her friend, or rather the plan that she has. It would be far too gentle to point out that her lie about dating me was fake by simply revealing who I am and how she talked to me. Once there’s over whelming evidence, I’ll let Dupain-Cheng reveal the truth and revel in the sweet satisfaction of victory.

            I handed out the schedules and saved Dupain-Cheng and Bourgeois for last since their first period was with me. In fact, all of Dupain-Cheng’s classes were with me. That was as much by design as it was coincidence that we both fit to the same schedule. Bourgeois only shared first, fifth, and seventh period along with lunch with me and Dupain-Cheng. Kent was with me in first, third, fifth, and seventh periods, along with lunch of course.

            I showed the girls to our class once I finished with the schedule’s and they were talking until Kent showed up and joined in. I made a few remarks, Greyson would say he’s proud with how much I spoke, but I mostly stayed out of it.

            The day seemed to go rather smooth at school, but at this point, the number of smooth days for Gotham in general is starting to get nerve wracking. I expected a villain to attack by now. The closest I’ve seen has been the siren’s meeting Dupain-Cheng and Bourgeois. Someone is planning something; I just wish I knew who and what.

@GoldenRetriever: I got to meet #sunshineofgotham today! Total sweetheart! There was obvious hostility, but nothing happened yet today. Though, I’m starting to get nervous. Nothing has happened guys. #sunshineisbullied #sweetheart #waynewatch #spoiledbatsaidimhonorarysoicountforwaynewatch #mustprotec

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|     @IcePrince: I agree with the nerves. Not only has the liar not tried anything, but neither have the villians. I’m honestly getting nervous about what they could be planning. Not that that’s an invitation to any villains reading this. But yeah, I’m at the point I’m afraid to say the Q-word. #sunshineofgotham #sunshineisbullied #waynewatch #villainnerves #liarnerves #sunshineisbulliedbyaliar #mustprotec

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|             @BlueKnight: I SWEAR TO ALL THAT IS HOLY IF ANYONE SAYS THE FUCKING Q-WORD RIGHT NOW BE PREPARED TO FIGHT ME!!!! But seriously, it’s been the bad juju first responder bad words lately. I want no Q-Word. I want no C-Word. I want no jinx words at all. The break was earned! #novillainnervesallowed #iwillfightyou #willwreckyou #qwordisnotallowed #jinxisnotallowed #sunshineofgotham #waynewatch #mustprotec

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|                    @JayBird: @BlueKnight you don’t get to censor me…I’ll say cunt if I want to. Though I can’t think of any Q-word so you’re safe on that one for now. But I agree with the kids, shits been too calm lately. Something is about to go down, let’s just hope the vigilantes are being just as worried as us. #sunshineofgotham #sunshineisbullied #waynewatch #mustprotec #villainnerves

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|                            @BlueKnight: GOD DAMMIT JAY YOU JUST HAD TO SAY THE C-WORD!!!! AND NO, I DON’T MEAN CUNT! Now everything is going to happen. #watchmehide #offtofightajaybird #ifiwasntatwayneenterprisesnowidbebeatinghisass #nowshitwillgodown #youfuckingjinx #sunshineofgotham #weassignmentday #sunshineisbullied #waynewatch #mustprotec

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|                                      @OGWayne: Boys stop fighting, the class is going to be here soon, and we don’t want to scare her with your glares. @JayBird, you seriously had to use the word calm? And @BlueKnight just because someone said a universal fuck you word to get everything to slam you doesn’t mean you fight them…at least wait till after the universe sends all the shit. #sunshineofgotham #weassignmentday #sunshinewillbeinterning #gettoseesunshinemore #sunshineisbullied #cantwaittoputthebullyinherplace #waynewatch #mustprotec

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|                                             @AllSeeingEye: @JayBird the only reason I’m not attacking you for your use of the word calm is because I know shit will happen and I’m not having you get to sit out till it’s over. #sunshineofgotham #jayisanidiot #jaysasswillbekicked #justkickitlater #sunshineisbullied #waynewatch #mustprotec

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|                                                       @JayBird: Guys…it was a joke.

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|                                                                 @BlueKnight: Jokes on you cause I’m using you as a meat shield when shit goes down next. Your fault for using the C-word. Though @OGWayne and @AllSeeingEye are right, beating your ass now will only serve to harm me when the time comes. I’ll beat your ass when everything’s done. #jayisanidiot #jaysasswillbekicked #sunshineofgotham #waynewatch #mustprotec

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|                                                                             @IcePrince: I second the vote to use Todd as cannon fodder when next thing goes down. Using any jinx words are never funny.

Chapter Text

            When the school day ends we all load up into the bus again, with Daisy giving a head count once more, and we head towards Wayne Enterprises for assignment and orientation. I can’t wait to find out where I’ll be working for the semester. I’m sure wherever I end up, I’ll learn a lot. I just hope I’m nowhere near Lila or Alya, it would be nice to work in peace. I was surprised to see Damian get on the bus with us but it is his families company so I suppose it makes sense for him to just hitch a ride with us since we’re already heading that way.

            “Hey Damian. You joining us for Wayne Enterprises?” I ask, just trying to be friendly.

            “Mm,” Damian nods with his grunt. I thought he’d leave it at that, but he actually said something more. “I got some work I need to get done there.”

            “Cool! Sorry you ended up on a bus with this rowdy class. We only seem to be capable of settling down for small periods of time during class. Even then, there’s usually some talking,” I offer a smile.

            “s’ fine. I chose to get on the bus. And I’ve been around your class a couple times now. My expectations for most of your classmates are pretty low,” Damian replies, the same blank expression on his face as always. Something about his body language is telling me that he is smiling a little though. Must be a mix of the Miraculous and spending the entire day with him. I’m probably simply getting used to reading him a bit.

            Not long after the bus started moving, Wayne Enterprises was within sight. We unloaded and were met by Dick in the lobby. His shit eating grin told me he liked where this was gonna go…and it only got bigger when he saw Damian enter with us.

            “Not a word Greyson. I’ll be up in the offices,” Damian mutters to his brother as he walked past.

            “Welcome back everyone. I hope you all enjoyed your weekend, cause not all of you will have very many off from now on. In my hand is the clipboard with all of your assignments. The desk will have your updated badges which will give you the clearance to get to the floors, buildings, rooms, and even computers that you will be allowed to access based on the clearance level needed for your department and based on how trustworthy the CEO’s decided you were from your questionnaires, employee testimony, and their brief meeting with all of you. Your badges will identify you, let you in certain doors, and are your ultimate lifeline in this company. Don’t lose them,” Dick gives a spiel before he tells each of us our assignments.

            “Looks like Mari-klutz is screwed,” Alya mutters to Lila. I heard but it looks like Dick missed it.

            “Alright, I’m going to read out your assignments. When I’m done, we’ll get each of you your badge and you can each go to your departments to get familiar with the environment. Tomorrow is when the real work will begin. Sabrina Raincomprix, you’ll be working in local clothing store that is run by WE. You’ll be mostly in sales. Ivan Bruel, you’ll be working in the testing department. They test out new products made by the R&D department to see how they’ll work with the general public and at what point they’ll break. Don’t worry, nothing will be tested on you. Max Kante, you’ll be interning in the R&D department. I don’t think I need to explain further for you. Le Chien Kim, you’ll be interning with me in the security department. Juleka Couffaine, you’ll be joining Ms. Raincomprix in the clothing store but you’ll work more with other departments on top of sales. One of your tasks will be assisting with the front window display. Rose Lavillant, you’ll be working with the perfume design department. We had a feeling that would be a good fit. Mylene Haprele, you’ll be interning with the secretary pool. You’ll rotate around with them to learn as much as you can in all the departments. Nino Lahiffe, you and Nathaniel Kurtzberg will be working in advertising. Mr. Lahiffe you will be working with the music mostly and Mr. Kurtzberg with the art. Adrien Agreste, you will be in supply distribution. Alya Cesaire, you will be interning with PR. Lila Rossi will be interning with the Legal department. Chloe Bourgeois, you’ll be working in the hotel you are staying in learning how every department, especially management, runs. And finally, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, you’ll be working in two departments if you’re up for the challenge. Due to how young our fashion design department is, there isn’t a lot to do there. But after calling your references we thought it remiss not to assign you there. So, to make up for the lack of work there we also assigned you to one of the CEO’s to learn business management. Tim Drake will be taking you as his intern. Your schedule will be full, but the tasks will vary and we’ll promise you weekends due to the nature of having two internships with WE. Does anyone have any questions?” Dick finally finished handing out everyone’s assignments. But I think everyone was shocked by mine. Me included.

            “Excuse me, but I think there’s been a mistake. See, I know the Wayne’s and there’s no way they wouldn’t want to keep me close by during my internship with them,” Lila calls out, trying to get the spotlight back on her.

            “There’s no mistake Ms. Rossi. You will be interning with the legal department as that is where we have determined your talents would best fit. Ms. Dupain-Cheng is interning with Mr. Drake as we believe her talents will serve him well. And may I point out that you should be careful who you present yourself as knowing while in Gotham. This is a city known for it’s crime and the Wayne’s are actually frequently targets,” Dick replies, seeming almost tired of dealing with Lila.

            Of course, almost as if summoned by Dicks words, the lights go out and there’s crashes heard. Smoke fills the room with strobe lights. Out of the smoke appears a slim figure walking with a cane but not using it to support him, it was purely decoration. His top hat matched his suit, both of which were a horrendous crime against fashion. I recognized him from my research…The Riddler. The least lethal of all their Rouges. Harley Quinn has a higher body count to my knowledge, and she’s reformed.

            “Fucking shit fuckity fuck fuck! God damn jinx! Freaking c-word! Then I had to open my damned mouth about Rossi,” I hear Dick mutter agitatedly as he fiddles with his watch and the hideous outfit emerges. “At least it’s this fuck for now. I don’t want one of the others and they all got some weird ass deal. Here’s hoping Batman shows up soon.”

            “Hello kiddies! Let’s see if any of you can solve my riddle, shall we? I’m loud when you squeeze me, I cause pain when you need me, I’m legal but not well liked, and I need to be refilled from time to time. What am I?” Riddler smirks at everyone. The class appears scared and clearly don’t look ready to even think about it. The only ones who don’t look scared are Adrien and the Gothamites. Adrien looks angry with his Bodyguard standing in front of him and holding onto him to keep him safe. The Gothamites look like it’s normal. Dick looked like he was gonna step forward to try and answer the riddle but then realized he doesn’t know the answer. He seems so conflicted, and almost scared as he realizes he can’t figure out the answer.

            I look back at the Riddler, everyone else getting scared as Batman has yet to arrive and no one has answered him. Even I know that he gets most lethal when no one can answer him. I step forward, Dick moves to stop me, but I shake my head at him. I need to keep him occupied till Batman arrives, and no one else knows the answer.

            “Do we have someone brave enough to answer?” Riddler asks as I separate myself from the crowd.

            “Stop trying to be a hero Marinette! There’s no way you could know the answer,” Lila calls out in her fake concerned voice.

            “Yeah, come on Marinette. Everyone knows you’re just a bully who steals ideas from others. That’s why you had to stop designing! Cause you stopped having original thoughts. So just back up girl,” Alya almost sounded like my friend then.

            I don’t answer either of them, I don’t know what happens behind me but they both stop talking. The Riddler seems pleased with my bravery. “The answer is a gun. You squeeze the trigger and it’s loud, it causes pain to whoever the bullet hits, it’s legal in the US but not well liked anymore, and you have to refill it with bullets. A gun.”

            The Riddler gives a sickening grin and pulls out a gun. “Correct!” The class screams and the Gothamites flinch. Dick shushes my class. “What has no hands, but might knock on your door, and you better open up if it does?”

            “An opportunity.”

            “Correct again! I’ll give you one, an opportunity. To save this silly little class of yours. Answer my riddles three, and you will all be free!” The Riddler gestures widely before returning the gun to aiming but this time it’s clearly past me at one of my classmates. I don’t have time to worry about them right now. I have to answer these riddles so that I won’t need to worry about them.

            “Bring it on,” was my simple reply.

            “Marinette, no! It’s too dangerous!” A shot rings out after a small readjustment from the Riddler.

            “She said yes. Keep your mouth shut or you get the answer to a different riddle,” Riddler looks angry at the interference. The shot was clearly enough to keep Lila’s trap shut. Thank goodness. Only reason Chloe isn’t interfering is cause she trusts me implicitly. If it weren’t for that, she’d never have let me step forward in the first place. “Your next riddle is this: I am sudden and tall, I bring disaster as I fall, and I mean broken pride. What am I?”

            “I suppose a riddle about a tower while in Wayne tower is somewhat clever. Though why it had to be the tarot I don’t think I’ll ever understand,” I wink at The Riddler, acting like I’m just having fun. Seriously though, I’m lucky that I’ve been studying other cultures and beliefs because of the Miraculous. As the guardian I felt it would help me understand everything better. “The answer is the Major Arcana Tarot Card, The Tower.”

            “Hm. A simple, The Tower would suffice,” Riddler grumbles. “But it’s fascinating that you knew the answer. How about something a little harder? I am the beginning and know no end, without me there is no you, and I inspire those around me. What am I?”

            “Creation. I see you’re on a ‘what am I’ roll today. Sadly, our home city has a hero with the power of creation. And anyone who’s read up on her, and has a little smarts, would figure out that answer, Riddler,” I respond, smirking and gathering some of my inner Ladybug strength and praying that an Akuma alert doesn’t happen right now.

            “Fine then. I’ll stop making them so short and simple. Try this one. There are those who seek me a lifetime but we never meet, and those I kiss but who trample me beneath ungrateful feet. At times I seem to favor the clever and fair, but I bless those who are brave enough to dare. By large, my ministrations are soft-handed and sweet, but scorned, I become a difficult beast to defeat. For each of my strikes land a powerful blow, when I kill I do it slow. What am I?” The Riddler gives me my third riddle and I’m stunned…he can’t be serious.

            “Really? That’s your showstopper? Love, the answer is love. The first two at least were gonna be challenging for most people. But your last one you decided to be a fan boy and ask me Amarantha’s riddle? Really? I thought you were better than that. Well, Riddler, I got a riddle for you. Can you answer it? I’m purple and green, and there’s no shade between. Same intensity for every color on me. When people see me, they scream and hide. So many almost will bleach their eye’s. I’m offensive and cruel, no matter what I do. A crime against humanity, is what I should be. And there’s no better place for me than a fire. What am I?”

            “Well, aren’t you a violent one? I don’t think I quite belong in a fire. But nice try being funny. Does this mean we can do a round two?” The Riddler asks me, seeming to enjoy the back and forth with me.

            “Nope! Cause you got the answer wrong. The answer, is your horrendous suit. Seriously, it’s a crime against fashion and humanity. You should get a new one…maybe of better style and quality. The dapper look is ruined by the absolute fashion faux pas. Since I won, does that mean you’ll turn yourself over to Batman there?” I ask when I see the bat themed vigilante walk through the door discreetly.

            “Well, I guess my allotted time is up. In that case I suppose I’ll have to bid you all adieu. And most of all to my new favorite, Mademoiselle Marinette,” The Riddler lifts my chin with the tip of his cane. “Till next time my dear.” With that and a smoke bomb, the Riddler left. I sighed as the smoke cleared and put on a show of my legs giving out. Partially cause they actually did give out a bit. I’ve never faced a true rogue villain without my Miraculous before. Sure, I’ve had to deal with some akuma victims as Marinette before I could transform into Ladybug, but they don’t usually have a gun. The only reason I felt confident is cause I knew the Vigilantes of Gotham City would be here quickly. And they were. It may have felt like hours, especially with a gun to my class, but it really couldn’t have been more than 10 minutes of The Riddler asking me riddles. I’m just glad I got them all right.

            “Marinette!” Chloe rushes to my side to check on me, along with Dick and Batman.

            “Are you alright?” Dick asked me concerned.

            “Yeah, just relieved. Luckily, I got all those answers correct and he didn’t get mad for me being right,” I smile up at them. I wasn’t even really lying. I had no other way to protect everyone but like this. At least not this time.

            “That was brave of you, but reckless, next time let an adult handle the situation or do what they want till one of us Vigilante’s arrive. Just stay safe, understood,” Batman speaks up in his gruff voice. But there was something about him that seemed a bit familiar. Not that I could put my finger on it.

            “I understand, but no one else knew the answer to the first riddle. And according to my research that would have just agitated him. So, I figured if I could keep him distracted with his riddles, then you’d show up. It seemed like the best course of action at the time,” I responded trying to be respectful and explain my reasoning.

            “And what if you were wrong?!” Lila calls out. Here we go. I’m not allowed to be the hero after all. “He could’ve killed us all! Did you think of that Marinette! I know you want to try and show off for the class, but how could you take that risk. In the end, you’re not the one he pointed the gun at. We are! If you had been wrong about a single riddle he would’ve shot us! He probably would’ve shot our poor tour guide too. I just…I just…” Lila breaks down into her fake sobs. I can’t do anything but sigh. The class won’t believe me anyways.

            “I would’ve done the same thing had I known that first riddle. I try to keep my mind sharp and learn all the riddles I can so that I can do exactly what she did should the occasion arise. She’s right, no one answering would’ve just agitated him. I wish it wasn’t her, but that wasn’t the case, and sadly I was actually stumped by his first one. Thinking back on it, I shouldn’t have been, but I was. She knew it so she stepped up. It was brave and anything but selfish. When it comes to civilians, the first one he likes to shoot or kill is always the ones who answer wrong first,” Dick comes to my aide. Defending me against Lila.

            “He’s right. I may have called it reckless, but only because of her age. You’re all still children, and I prefer most children stay out of the fights. Unless they can handle it and are helping the adults,” Batman adds on. “Make sure you all stay alert, cause Riddler is not the worst that Gotham has to offer by far. Remember that and stay safe. Also, remember the emergency number, 911 and call if you are ever in real danger or you witness something illegal. Depending on the activity, either the police or one of the Gotham Vigilante’s will respond to the situation. Now, I should go. I’ve received word that one of the other vigilante’s have caught sight of Riddler.”

            With that, Batman took off. Lila gets to come off as the concerned classmate this time, but she was also told that she was wrong to admonish me. Another seed of doubt to be given to my classmates. If they aren’t choosing to be completely blind. Then they’ll start to see the truth soon.

~.~

            Marinette saved us, that was extremely obvious. But…why did Lila try to stop her and then basically say Marinette was selfish. Come to think of it, a lot hasn’t added up. We are literally in the same city as her supposed Damibear but none of us have met him. Also, the only confirmed Wayne’s we’ve met is Bruce Wayne himself and the Co-CEO Tim Drake, who Bruce Wayne introduced as his adopted son. No matter what, somethings just don’t add up, and Marinette is the dudette who’s been trying to point that out.

            I haven’t really been a big fan of Lila anyways. Not since she got my girlfriend completely wrapped around her finger. The dudette is always basking in Alya’s attention and telling her a new story for Alya to put on her blog. It’s not even a blog about Ladybug anymore, it’s just a shrine to Lila. Sure, sometimes she still chases the action to record it and see if she can get an exclusive with Ladybug, but Lila has been getting her to stop even doing that. I don’t even know when the last time my girlfriend spent time with me was anymore. It’s so uncool. Maybe, we’ve had Marinette all wrong. I have known her since grade school, I never really understood how she could suddenly become a liar and a bully. The Marinette I know is a super cool dudette who did everything she could to help others. Even if it meant spreading herself thin. She’s been like that since we were just little dudes. Adrien was right when he called her our everyday Ladybug, I wonder when we all stopped believing that.

@BlueKnight: OMG Sunshine just shone so bright today! Riddler came into Wayne Enterprises while her class was there, only she knew the answer to his first riddle and ended up saving everyone by keeping him busy with his riddles. Sunshine isn’t only sweet and kind and innocent, but she’s so incredibly brave! #sunshineofgotham #sunshineisbullied #geniussunshine #mustprotec #waynewatch

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|    @OGWayne: I heard about this incident today. It was certainly worrisome. Hopefully next time she’ll be able to rely on the adults around her rather than have to step up and protect her classmates herself. It may have been brave, but it was still reckless. #sunshineofgotham #geniussunshine #sunshineisbullied #bravegirl #innocent #mustprotec #waynewatch

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|          @JayBird: I wish I had been there! Not only to potentially see that, but also to potentially keep her out of it. @BlueKnight good job protecting the students. #dumbguard #dickisincapableofriddlesolving #sunshineofgotham #geniussunshine #mustprotec #sunshineisbullied #waynewatch

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|                  @IcePrince: At least she got to play the hero for the class. I’d love to have seen the look on Lie-la’s face when she gets thanked for saving her class. #damnshame #sunshineofgotham #geniussunshine #puttheliardown #sunshineisbullied #mustprotec #waynewatch

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|                            @BlueKnight: Oh no @IcePrince, I wish it had shut the liar up. But no, she berated Sunshine for recklessly endangering the class if she was wrong. Riddler pointed a gun at everyone else to prompt Sunshine’s cooperation. Can’t wait till that class see’s the liar for what she is though. #sunshineofgotham #liarstillholdsstrong #sunshineisbullied #geniussunshine #mustprotec #waynewatch

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|                                        @IcePrince: Damn idiots if you ask me. If I could, I’d send them all back and just keep sunshine, and maybe her friend. #sunshineofgotham #mustprotec #waynewatch

Chapter Text

            A couple weeks have passed, and I have been in both my assignments most of my time here. It has been intense, and I barely noticed the rogue attacks in the rest of the city. I spend my weekends designing and fulfilling orders and my weeks going to school and my internship. All on top of my near daily, sometimes multiple times a day, excursions to Paris to take care of Hawkmoth’s akumatized victims. Poor Mr. Ramier got Akumatized twice this week alone. Hawkmoth is either desperate or hopeful, but either way there has been a lot of activity in Paris this week. Today I had to excuse myself to the bathroom during class so I could go save Paris…again.

            It was a long fight. It’s always harder when they’re young too. Young children have strong and often uncontrollable emotions. Because of that they are easy targets for Hawkmoth’s akumatization.  Nothing and no one are safe from him, he only cares about himself and his goals. Once finally getting the little girl back to their mother I finally made it back to Gotham. Just in time to detransform. I take a moment to catch my breath and feed Tikki and Kaalki, before leaving the bathroom to meet up with Chloe. Class was over and lunch was starting now. Before I made it far however, I ran into Alya and Lila.

            “Oh look, it’s Mariklutz. You know, you really hurt Lila this morning,” Alya starts.

            “Here we go again,” I mutter.

            “Oh Alya, it’s fine. I-I’m sure she didn’t mean it. And she’s not the only one curious about my Damibear,” Lila pretends like she’s ready to cry but being strong. Gag me, she really needs new material.

            “No Lila, it’s not fine. Marinette had no right to attack you over your boyfriend not having a chance to come see you yet. Claiming that she’s lying for attention is really low Marinette, even for you,” Alya says, poking me in the chest. “Lila, you should go. There’s no reason for you to be here to listen to this.”

            That’s never a good sign.

            “If you insist Alya. You’re really such a good friend. Please, don’t go too far okay. I don’t want you to say things you’ll regret later,” Lila siffles and walks off to find the rest of her possi. I guess that explains a lot of the looks I’ve been getting today.

            “Don’t worry Lila, that won’t happen,” Alya waits for Lila to leave to continue. “We should take this elsewhere, so we don’t get disturbed, and so we don’t bother the others.”

            “No thanks, I’m good here. Even if I try to defend myself, you won’t believe me. So go ahead and yell at me here,” I try to diffuse the situation a bit. It doesn’t work I’m afraid.

            “I don’t think so. I don’t want to worry Lila any more than she already is,” Alya grabs me by my pigtail and starts to drag me to the bathroom I just came out of.

            “Ow! Alya! Stop! Wait, no, stop!” I try to get her to let me go but she pulls me in roughly and locks the door behind her.

            “Maybe if you can’t understand emotionally how you’ve hurt Lila, I’ll have to show you physically. Maybe then you’ll finally get it!” Alya shout’s and pushes me to the ground.

I can’t, no, won’t hurt my one-time best friend. She had so much good in her. This needs to stop…but I can’t stop it. Alya was once all I had, the best thing I had. But of course, she was corrupted by Lila. I can’t return her miraculous to her because of that. I can’t even get myself to yell at her or push her back lightly or defend myself. She betrayed me. And it still makes me cry. But at least when she hits me, she won’t claim I’m lying by way of tears. The tears become tears of pain. Tears she can’t deny and convince herself are fake.

As I’m on the ground, Alya begins kicking me. Right where the akumatized victim hit me. My back, my stomach, my sides, my arms, my legs. Nothing was safe. Alya kicked and kicked until she couldn’t kick anymore and then got a couple more in for good measure. When she was done, and I was working to keep myself from heaving, she grabbed me by the front of my shirt and slapped me once, with angry tears in her eyes as she huffed. She’s not satisfied. This won’t stop yet. I get yanked to her. If only it was for an embrace. Her body trembled as she wrapped her arms around my neck. I guess we’ll see if I die here.

“Remember, I will always protect Lila from you,” Alya whispers in my ear. “You have hurt her enough. I swear I will do so much worse if you ever think of hurting her again. She’s done nothing to you but make you jealous. That alone changed you into such a vapid, horrible person. I regret ever being friends with you. When we get back out there. You better apologize to Lila or we’ll be going at this again tonight.”

With that, Alya let me go. I coughed and collapsed back to the floor. Gasping for breath I look back up at Alya. She is truly no longer the girl I became friends with. And she may never be again. All I know is, she and I will never be able to mend this relationship.

After I catch my breath Alya drags me out to her table in front of Lila, who had clearly been crying about me to everyone else. Alya nudges me forward telling Lila that I have something to say. I was about to apologize just to get this all over with. But I caught Chloe’s eyes deeper into the cafeteria, with Damian and Jon by her, and I remembered something. I turn back to Lila and narrow my eye’s at her.

“Someone once told me that all it takes for evil to triumph, is that good people do nothing. I refuse to do nothing. So, cry your little stories, and sick your friends on me as much as you want. I won’t give in. Once everything is said and done, I won’t be the one in trouble or in want of friendship. Even throughout your incessant attempts to isolate me, I have found friendships stronger than you could ever hope to break. All you’ve done is show me who my true friends are. And it’s sad that they’re not the people that I spent so long doing anything I could and spreading myself so thin I would risk my health, my everything, for. It says a lot for your character that you can only make friends through these stories and feel loved through constant service by others. At least I made it my goal to help others. One day, you’ll wish that was your goal too. And one day, everyone who betrayed me, by trusting you over their long time friend, well, they’ll come to their senses and still not have me as a friend unless they seriously work hard to show change and make up for their mistakes.”

~.~

            On my way to school today, I had Alfred drop me off about a mile away, as per usual. I can get in a mini patrol this way and don’t have to deal with the entire school seeing my arrival and making a fuss. Photographers have just about given up since I took this approach as well. On the way, I saw a stray puppy. Its fur was a mess and it seemed to be out of strength. When I looked at the fence next to it I saw the hole it seemed to crawl out from. An abandoned property, not uncommon in Gotham. He certainly had no home and barely managed to claw his way out of the yard he was born in before he collapsed. I cannot leave him here to die. So, I picked him up and wrapped him in my jacket before gently placing him in my backpack. He’ll be safe here until I can get him home. Alfred will be cross but will accept it and get over it quickly. The real challenge will be keeping him safe in school till I can get Alfred to come pick me up and get this poor creature home.

            Upon entering school, I quickly hit the vending machines for some puppy safe options to keep in another pocket of my bag. In class I was relieved that he was still sleeping. Poor thing was really tuckered out from his escape in the morning. In class before lunch, all of Marinette’s classmate’s phones went off in sync. An akuma alert. They’ve been happening regularly lately. More than once a day in some cases. Paris must truly be worse off than Gotham in that respect. While we monitor nightly, there certainly isn’t daily activity anymore.

            Marinette excused herself, unable to face her classmates during the alert, and heads to the bathroom. All of the Paris kids nearby stop paying attention to any lectures and focus on the fight in their hometown. Ladybug, their primary hero, arrives on the scene and soon the tide of battle turns in the hero’s favor. A child turned out to be the culprit of this one. A little girl who couldn’t be any older than three. This villain of theirs sickens me. Most villains at least don’t intentionally involve children.

            Lunch had already begun by the time the girl was returned to her mother and the feed cut off. I expected to see Marinette return shortly after that but there was no sign of her. I looked to her friend Chloe who seemed only slightly worried. That was an intense one though, I would not be surprised if Marinette, with her sensitive heart, needed a couple minutes to compose herself back to her normal sunshiny state. However, this is not what happened.

            Marinette emerged after half of lunch was over and was with Alya, dragged to their table and nudged as if being prompted. I couldn’t hear much, but Chloe gasped at whatever Alya said and the look in Marinette’s eye’s I can only assume. She looks so defeated after all. But upon looking at us, Marinette’s eye’s gain a fierce and determined look instead. I have little idea what was truly going on, but her speech was magnificent. Alya tried to hold her in place after that to try and get Marinette to back pedal, but was shook off as Marinette came over to us.

            “What was that about?” I ask, wanting to get to the bottom of this quickly.

            “Oh nothing. Lila just claimed I said something about her lying about you just to hurt her. Alya didn’t take kindly to that. I suppose that explains the glares I’ve been getting today. It’s over for now though. Alya can only take so much risk here and at the company. So, I should be safe from anymore of her so called ‘heroics’ till we get back to the hotel,” Marinette waves it off and appears back to her usual sunshine.

            “If you say so,” I respond simply. I was dying to show her what I had in my bag but it didn’t feel appropriate yet.

            “This is ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous! You didn’t do anything wrong! Even if you had pointed out the Liar’s lie about Damian you wouldn’t have been in the wrong, she is lying. Heck, we have the proof right here,” Chloe rants and gestures to me. “Just introduce yourself properly. She’ll cling to you, and you can push her away and remind her she didn’t even recognize you all these weeks so how could she be YOUR girlfriend. Honestly, she needs a serious reality check.”

            “I’ll introduce myself when Marinette decides she’s ready. As the primary subject of the bullying, I think she should have a say to when things end that way,” I say plainly.

            “Ugh! She’s too nice. That’s her problem. If she wasn’t so nice, she’d have pulled her cards sooner and proven that Lila was a liar. I mean, she’s got Jagged Stone on speed dial, I’m pretty sure she has access to other numbers of other very influential people too. What with her secret side business and everything,” Chloe continues.

            “Enough Chloe. I appreciate the sentiment but I want to do things right. I’ve proven that she’s lying before, but she’s slipped right out of it. If I don’t wait till her lies have stacked up so high that even one failing will unravel everything and cause her to fall. As they say, the higher you are, the farther the fall,” Marinette tries to comfort her friend. And I have to say, she has a point. But is this revenge, or pursuit of justice. I think father would label this in the both category.

            Lunch soon ends and we go to class once more. English, this teacher is not my biggest fan…granted I don’t think any of them really are. We sit in the seats we’ve grown accustomed to since Marinette and her class came to Gotham. But of course, shortly after class started, the puppy woke up. There was a slight bark, muffled by the mostly closed bag, and I panicked. I kicked the leg of the person next to me to cover it up. It worked…but the person next to me is no longer Kent who is used to my animal rescuer ways and helping me cover it up. No, now it’s Marinette who I just kicked. And her groan that covered the small bark up after her foot slipped off the stool, sounded anything but fake.

~.~

            A small bark came from Damian’s bag after fifth period started, upon hearing it my foot was promptly, and with a good amount of force, kicked off of the stools bar. The sudden movement pulled the muscles on my side, abdomen, and back that were still healing from two beatings. The result…I groaned, and I groaned loud. The pain was immense. My muscles were screaming. I haven’t felt something this intense in a while. Granted, when was the last time a friend accidentally nudged me too hard after a double beating? Yeah…before Alya and Lila were friends.

            “Ms. Dupain-Cheng, is there something you want to share with the class?” the English professor chided.

            “Sorry professor, I just had some bad stomach pain,” I try to wave it off in a way that most males will shy away from.

            “If you need to go to the nurse you need only raise your hand. No need to yelp in my class,” he states rather matter of factly.

            “No professor, I’m sorry for my outburst,” I reply and give Damian a side eye and he gives me a look that’s part pleading and part concern. It’s not long before the pleading leaves his eyes though. Damian quickly raised his hand and called out.

            “Professor I don’t think Marinette is doing all that well. I’m going to take her to the nurse to get checked out. I think it’s for the best if I do. No need to have an exchange student in bad pain just cause she’s stubborn, you never know what will happen if that’s the case,” Damian sticks his nose into the groan I suppose. Much to my annoyance.

            “No! I’m fine, really. Nothing that bad,” I try to get the professor to not go through with sending me to the nurse.

            “No, Mr. Wayne is correct. Please take her to the Nurses office, Mr. Wayne. I’ll phone her so she knows you’re coming. Let her determine if it’s nothing or not,” The professor nods to Damian.

            “Yes professor,” Damian replies simply.

            “Oh, and Mr. Wayne,” Damian looks up at the professor after grabbing his bag, right before he started helping me up. “Do be more careful when kicking your classmates legs to cover for your animals. I do hope Ms. Dupain-Cheng didn’t tear anything from the rapid movement there. Or you could just bring the dog to me, I like dogs too you know.”

            Damian appears shocked but has the good sense to blush and nod before helping me down from the stool and grabbing my bag for me. That does explain how ginger he was being with his bag. Damian seems to be determined to deal with the matter at hand before dealing with what the professor said. Sadly, that means that way too much might be discovered.

            “I’m really fine Damian, you don’t need to bring me to the nurse. I can handle being in class,” I try to reassure him, apparently not that well cause he grunts and keeps guiding me to the infirmary.

            “Damian, is there something I can do for you?” the kind nurse asks when she see’s Damian. I’m struggling against going in. He’s really strong for someone who appears so scrawny.

            “You need to help her, she appears to be in a lot of pain,” Damian says as he finally drags me fully into the nurses office.

            “I’m fine, really. He’s making a big fuss out of nothing,” if she takes one look under my shirt I don’t know what will happen, but it won’t be good.

            “Well, if you’re in pain it’s probably not nothing. Why don’t you let me have a look where it hurts, and I’ll determine if it’s really nothing that bad,” the nurse try’s to reassure me.

            “You really don’t need to. I’m used to this kind of pain,” I try to play it off as if I’m on my period, hoping that will stop everything.

            “Honey, pain is not normal. Let me do a small examination and then I’ll be able to give you some over the counter pain medication if it’s nothing serious,” the nurse starts gently pulling me to a curtained off area and I have no choice but to agree. This is gonna suck.

            I get behind the curtain and she has me lay down so she can do a mild examination of me. It hurts every time I move, changing positions is even harder. But I manage it. I just hope she doesn’t move my shirt to look under it. She takes my vitals and does those normal screenings before she starts.

            “Alright, I’m just going to move your shirt a bit so I can see what I’m doing,” before I could stop her my shirt is lifted just enough to show my stomach. That’s all she needs before she gasps. “Sweetheart! Who did this to you?!” She exclaims.

            “What happened?” Damian calls from the other side of the curtain, wary of coming inside lest he see something he shouldn’t.

            “Damian, please step outside,” The nurse states firmly.

            “As she is my families esteemed guest, I can’t do that. Do I need to call my father for her? Chaperone from her school or no, ultimately my father is responsible for her and her classmates. Should there be a reason for her to seek further care or go home early, my father needs to be notified,” Damian uses his status to stay and the nurse sighs.

            “She probably should go to the hospital to be checked out. So yes, please call your father. He’ll answer you far faster than he’d answer anyone from the school,” the nurse replies to Damian.

            “To be fair, he’s a busy man. But he makes time for his family,” Damian gives what is probably a true but rehearsed reply.

~.~

            I step out of the room to call my father while the nurse tries to calm down Marinette and get her to relax. I don’t know the details of why she needs to go to the hospital, but my father will either find out, send Alfred, or make me proxy to know what’s happening before he decides on what to do.

            “Damian, you should be in class,” comes my father’s reply upon answering the phone.

            “I had to leave. I’m not calling about me. I had to take Marinette to the nurses office today during 5^th period. She cried out in pain when her foot slipped. The nurse is refusing to give me details currently but states that Marinette probably needs to be checked out at the hospital. How do you with to proceed father?” I ask him.

            “I can’t get away right now, so I’ll send Alfred. He’ll withdraw you, Marinette, John, and Chloe for the day. You take care of her and get her to the hospital. I’ll meet you there as soon as I can. I look forward to knowing what is causing this and if there’s anyone I can hold responsible,” father responds.

            “Understood. I’ll have the nurse help get things ready. See you at the hospital,” I walk into the infirmary again and look over at the nurse. “My father is sending our butler to withdraw me, Ms. Dupain-Cheng, Mr. Kent, and Ms. Bourgeois. If you could have someone call them down from class that would be appreciated. Any information you can give us will be helpful for us getting her the proper care she needs.”

            “I’ll go call for them. No point in arguing with your father or your butler. But I don’t have the information that would help. All you need to know right now is that she is very hurt. Hopefully the hospital can give her some pain relief until she heals. I don’t know how she was waking around, let alone fighting you in coming here,” the nurse tells me as she heads for her office phone.

            It doesn’t take long for Chloe and John to arrive from class and for Alfred to arrive shortly after that. I hand Alfred my bag, telling him to be careful with its contents, and go pick up Marinette.

            “Ah! Damian I can walk! Really it’s fine!” Marinette cries out, startled.

            “No, you’re not. You shouldn’t be walking till a doctor medically clears you,” I reply and get her to the limo quickly. Once seated inside she stopped fussing and simply looked embarrassed. “Are you going to tell us how you got hurt?”

            “It’s nothing. I’ll be fine. You’re all making a bigger deal out of it than it needs to be,” Marinette deflects. We ride quietly for a bit, Chloe making a fuss next to Marinette about Marinette being hurt.

            “Can we please open the sunroof or something? For some air?” Marinette requests. I can’t say no to something so simple.

            “Of course.” My terse reply as I open the sunroof.

            Marinette seemed to be taking in the sights and smells of nature through that one small opening. While she’s soaking up the mild sunrays coming in, another alert like the one from earlier goes off. Chloe looks more worried than usual this time as she starts to share the feed.

~.~

            Another Akuma alert at the worst of times. There is no where for me to hide so I have to rely on Trixx to create a perfect illusion and hide me exiting on the roof of the limo. I merged Kaalki and Tikki and quickly got to Paris. There was a lot going on. It seemed to be an Akuma with a sentimonster this time.

            I got to work, with two foes, there’s twice the amount of damage and it’s not easy to fight when you’re injured. I make it work though. It takes not too much time before I realize it’s another kid. He’s been using them a lot lately. Bright side is that kids don’t know much yet so they’re relatively easy to trick. But they’re strong little buggers sometimes. It takes about 15 minutes to use Miraculous Ladybug before I could rush to make a portal land on the roof of the limo.

            With some mild acrobatics and some wonderful illusions from Trixx I’m able to slip back in without anyone knowing that I was ever gone. Sadly, we were approaching the hospital at the same time and my bones and bruises are now worse than they were before.

            Gently, Damian carries me inside and tells a nurse at the front desk of the emergency room to give me the Wayne treatment. At first, I thought it was some sort of VIP status he was giving me but they took me back calmly and began running some tests. Eventually I passed out from the pain for a few hours.

            I woke up in a hospital room with all the Wayne’s, John, and Chloe waiting around. It was clearly a VIP room. Once they saw I woke up they all moved almost at once.

            “Mari!” Chloe cried as she hugged me. When I winced she lightened up. “Sorry. I was so worried. Don’t you ever do that to me again!”

            “What happened? Why am I in such a nice room?” I asked them.

            “We brought you to the hospital at the school nurses behest. After getting in back for the tests you fell asleep. They quickly admitted you upon so much as looking at your injuries and we had you brought to our family floor here in the hospital. We don’t like the small rooms,” Mr. Wayne responded or everyone.

            “Oh, are the tests back yet?” I ask

            “I just got them in. And I have a question for you. How have you been walking young lady? These say you broke bones and more weeks ago,” a doctor says as they walk in. Concern written all over their face.

            “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I try to brush it off. The Wayne’s narrow their eyes at me.

            “Ms. Dupain-Cheng, your x-rays, CT scans, and MRI’s all agree, the damage to your bones and tissues don’t start today or yesterday. Some of the injuries appear to be weeks old. And some healed injuries indicate abuse for months if not years. I need you to know that this is a safe environment. Please tell us who has been doing this to you,” the doctor states and the worry shines clearly from them. From the wrinkle in their brow to the way they hold the clipboard in front of them.

            “I really haven’t been abused by anyone. It’s no big deal, I’m just the biggest klutz …” I try once again to brush it off.

            “Alya started getting violent again didn’t she?” Chloe interrupts me. “You told me it stopped Mari. You can’t keep letting her hurt you just because you used to be friends. You-you said it stopped.” Chloe was well and truly crying now. “You promised me and Luka and Kagami. You promised all of us that it stopped! That she-that she wasn’t beating you on Lila’s behalf anymore.”

            “Clo,” I started but Mr. Wayne interrupted me.

            “Is that true? Is Ms. Cesaire abusing you? If so, we have ways to make such things end. She could be deported or even arrested here for assault. But if you don’t tell us, we can’t help,” Mr. Wayne states. He sounds protective, as if I were one of his own.

            “I promise, this isn’t common anymore. And I don’t want her deported or any charges pressed. She’s brainwashed by Lila and thinks she’s standing up to evil. It’s her philosophy. Is she wrong? Yes, but I won’t fight back and when she finds out that this whole time she’s been defending a liar, she will regret all her actions. But the damage will be done and she’ll have to live with that for the rest of her life. I think that’s punishment enough,” I explain.

            “We don’t agree with that. Marinette she crossed a line. It’s no longer some petty bullying, this is straight up assault. She needs to be punished for it,” Dick speaks up this time.

            “I know Alya, even if she has changed. She was a proud journalist who strove for the truth and for the pursuit of knowledge. If she finds out she’s been posting a ton of lies as if they’re true, she’ll feel very punished. She’s practically a gossip columnist, and she won’t be able to stand that. Enduring for a while longer is the least that I can do for such a punishment,” I reply with my signature smile. “Don’t worry so much, I’m resilient!”

            “Resilient or not, I don’t feel comfortable sending you back to the Hotel with her. I’ll be having your things moved to Wayne manor. This will allow us to ensure that you are taken care of during your recovery and that you can’t be further abused,” Mr. Wayne speaks up.

            “In regard to her recovery, it as always varies depending on the person’s healing speed but she’ll need to be mostly bed ridden for at least a week. Both legs have fractures and that’s not to even start on the ribs. We’re lucky she doesn’t have internal bleeding. Though I will be having you all keep an eye out for it. She has a long road ahead of her, but considering the Wayne’s will be caring for her, it should go relatively well. I’ll start working on the paperwork, but I believe that she should at least stay overnight,” the doctor explained everything finally.

            “Thank you doctor. As always, the Wayne family will happily take care of the tab and give a small donation for such outstanding care,” Mr. Wayne shakes the doctors hand before turning towards everyone else in the room. “We best allow Marinette to rest. Come on everyone, lets go move her things. Damian, I’ll leave her in your care. Call us if something comes up.”

            “Yes father,” Damian states easily.

            “Wait, can’t I stay? She’s my best friend,” Chloe asks.

            “That’s precisely why we need you. You’ll know what she needs and where she’d like it. You’re gonna be designing her new area in Wayne manor,” Tim responds.

            “I’ll come too, to help carry,” John volunteers. “Better than going home if I don’t have to. Dad’s out again.”

@IcePrince: Sunshine is in the hospital tonight. I swear if I ever get my hands on that liar and her right hand, I’ll feed them to the rouges! #sunshineisbullies #sunshinestrong #sunshineabused #prayersforsunshine #sunshineofgotham #waynewatch #mustprotec

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|       @IvyGotPlants: I would happily feed them to my babies if you need to hide the evidence. Not that I’m condoning violence or anything. #sunshineisbullied #sunshineofgotham #sunshineabused #mustprotec

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|               @HarleyHarHar: F*ck that! I’ll kill em! Point me in the right direction and I’ll bring the bat. Batsy will have to stay home though ;) #precioussunshine #sunshineofgotham #sunshineisbullied #sunshineabused #mustprotec

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|                      @OGWayne: @IvyGotPlants and @HarleyHarHar don’t encourage him. She doesn’t want them punished yet. She wants just desserts. And besides that point you’re not supposed to kill anymore.

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|                             @RiddlesRock: I don’t care if they’re reformed, even I would kill for her. And I only kill for my self-amusement. I don’t think there’s stopping this one. #sunshineofgotham #bestriddlegirl #riddlersfavorite

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|                                      @OGWayne: Riddler get off my sons thread.

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|                                                    @IvyGotPlants: I mean I didn’t want to see him on here either but he’s not wrong. I can and will kill for this girl. My plants are doing better with her here. She brings light to Gotham, so Gotham will protect that light no matter the cost. #sunshineofgotham #mustprotec

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|                                                            @Blue Knight: Ives no killing…but yeah we’ll protect that damn smile no matter the cost. Now, to snuff out all that dims it…without killing. #sunshineofgotham #sunshineisbullied #sunshineabused #hospitalized #brokenbones #theliarsfault #waynewatch #mustprotec

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|                                                                      @HarleyHarHar: While I appreciate your no killing sentiment I think I’ll have to pass and respectfully kill the bastards responsible for breaking my Lapis! #sunshineabused #brokenbones #gettingmybat #sunshineofgotham #sunshineisbullied #mustprotec

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|                                                                               @IcePrince: @HarleyHarHar get a few swings in for me too. I’m currently keeping an eye on and taking care of her in the hospital, or I’d join you with me blades. I’m sure Ivy’s plants can clean up the mess. #sunshineofgotham #liarneedsdeath #sunshineabused #sunshineisbullied #brokenribs #brokenlegs #brokenbones #waynewatch #mustprotec

Chapter Text

Perspectives and Next Steps

            Me and Chloe got called out of class and told to head to the nurses office to be picked up for the day. I’m not entirely unaccustomed to this as sometimes Damian will hide injuries from patrol that will lead to us leaving early. But that wouldn’t get Chloe called with me and Damian just took Marinette to the nurse. That grunt seemed to be paired with some real pain, which worries me.

            We get to the office and I grab Damian and pull him to the side. “How bad is it?” I ask him. Damian shrugs and gestures Chloe over.

            “I don’t know all the details right now, but what I do know is that the nurse immediately asked who did it to her when she lifted her shirt. It must be bad since she gasped. She’s seen plenty so that’s pretty serious. She told me to call my father and that we should take her to the hospital. It was my dad who said we should have you two join us. Alfred is on his way now,” Damian told us what the situation was. Before we could go in Alfred arrived.

            “I am here to collect the Young Master Damian and his friends,” Alfred told the desk and he didn’t even wait to be pointed to the Nurses Office before he started walking over.

            “Hey Alfie, thanks for coming to get us,” I smile and wave at Alfred.

            “Master Jon, a pleasure as always. Let us get the young lady the help she needs,” Alfred nods at me and we head into the Nurses Office.

            Damian hands Alfred his bag, telling him to be careful with the contents and Alfred nods and takes Marinette’s bag as well. Damian lifts Marinette which she attempts to get him to let her down and walk. He of course refused. I was about ready to step in but I forgot how strong he can be sometimes. That assassin training really does something for your strength.

            We get to the limo and all pile in the back with Damian setting Marinette down gently by Chloe. Alfred starts driving and we head towards Gotham City Hospital.

            “Can we please open the sunroof or something? For some air?” Marinette requests.

            “Of course.” Damian’s terse reply as the sunroof opens.

            Marinette sits there, eyes closed, face towards the open sun roof, and just breathes. Then the sound of their Akuma Alerts goes off. Chloe looks over at Marinette with concern before scooting over to us and sharing the feed with us. Marinette pulls out her own phone and sits away from everyone else, something that we’re used to but it’s kinda nice to actually see her during one of these instead of her hiding.

            Not long after Marinette’s phone is out I hear what sounds like foot steps on the roof of the car, but they’re more muffled than usual if it was actually happening. The dull sounds of someone shouting, and then everything is like normal…I think it is anyway. Something seems off with Marinette though. I see her breathing, and I hear it too, but it’s more faint than I feel it usually is. She makes small expressions as the fight plays on. Hope when their Ladybug hero shows up, sadness or sympathy when real damage occurs, surprise at who the victim is. After the fight I hear those faint noises from outside again and then some rustling by Marinette, but everything seems normal. Though it might just be me or it could be what she just watched, but Marinette does seem a little paler than before. It doesn’t matter anyway, as we’re approaching the hospital and soon we’ll know what she needs.

            We hurry into the hospital, Damian carrying Marinette who protests as she did earlier, and Damian tells the nurse at the station to give her the Wayne treatment. Sadly that just goes to show how often this family gets hurt. They take her back and we’re told to wait in the waiting room until they are done with the tests and can get her to a room.

            The wait was excruciatingly long and the rest of the Wayne’s showed up during it, but we didn’t get brought up to her room for at least an hour, and she was out like a light for a couple more. Apparently while they were running their tests, she passed out from the pain. Now we await results and for her to grace us with her consciousness.

            It’s an excruciating two hours hoping she’d wake up and hoping to learn just how bad the damage is for her to have been out this long without medical intervention. Looking at her now, with my x-ray vision, I can see just how broken she is. I have no idea how she was walking earlier, let alone the fight to get to the nurses office that she put up. Finally she stirs and opens her eyes to the room filled with people concerned for her. Chloe is one of the first to notice she’s awake.

            “Mari!” Chloe cried as she hugged Marinette. I winced when they made contact, sure that it hurt, and she lightened up as Marinette also winced from her own pain. “Sorry. I was so worried. Don’t you ever do that to me again!”

            “What happened? Why am I in such a nice room?” Marinette asked the room as a whole, though I’m sure it was mostly aimed at Chloe.

            “We brought you to the hospital at the school nurses behest. After getting in back for the tests you fell asleep. They quickly admitted you upon so much as looking at your injuries and we had you brought to our family floor here in the hospital. We don’t like the small rooms,” Mr. Wayne responded for everyone.

            “Oh, are the tests back yet?” she asks.

            “I just got them in. And I have a question for you. How have you been walking young lady? These say you broke bones and more weeks ago,” a doctor says as they walk in. Concern written all over their face. I honestly have the same question considering what I saw.

            “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Marinette tries to brush it off. The Wayne’s narrow their eyes at her. Wayne Watch is serious and she is trying to avoid their protection by avoiding that question.

            “Ms. Dupain-Cheng, your x-rays, CT scans, and MRI’s all agree, the damage to your bones and tissues don’t start today or yesterday. Some of the injuries appear to be weeks old. And some healed injuries indicate abuse for months if not years. I need you to know that this is a safe environment. Please tell us who has been doing this to you,” the doctor states and the worry shines clearly from them. From the wrinkle in their brow to the way they hold the clipboard in front of them. I don’t think she noticed the mirroring looks on all of the Waynes and even myself.

            “I really haven’t been abused by anyone. It’s no big deal, I’m just the biggest klutz …” she tries once again to brush it off.

            “Alya started getting violent again didn’t she?” Chloe interrupts her. “You told me it stopped Mari. You can’t keep letting her hurt you just because you used to be friends. You-you said it stopped.” Chloe was well and truly crying now. “You promised me and Luka and Kagami. You promised all of us that it stopped! That she-that she wasn’t beating you on Lila’s behalf anymore.”

            “Clo,” Marinette started but Mr. Wayne interrupted her.

            “Is that true? Is Ms. Cesaire abusing you? If so, we have ways to make such things end. She could be deported or even arrested here for assault. But if you don’t tell us, we can’t help,” Mr. Wayne states. He is protective of those he see’s as his own.

            “I promise, this isn’t common anymore. And I don’t want her deported or any charges pressed. She’s brainwashed by Lila and thinks she’s standing up to evil. It’s her philosophy. Is she wrong? Yes, but I won’t fight back and when she finds out that this whole time she’s been defending a liar, she will regret all her actions. But the damage will be done and she’ll have to live with that for the rest of her life. I think that’s punishment enough,” Marinette attempts to explain.

            “We don’t agree with that. Marinette she crossed a line. It’s no longer some petty bullying, this is straight up assault. She needs to be punished for it,” Dick speaks up this time.

            “I know Alya, even if she has changed. She was a proud journalist who strove for the truth and for the pursuit of knowledge. If she finds out she’s been posting a ton of lies as if they’re true, she’ll feel very punished. She’s practically a gossip columnist, and she won’t be able to stand that. Enduring for a while longer is the least that I can do for such a punishment,” she replies trying to deflect with her signature smile. “Don’t worry so much, I’m resilient!”

            “Resilient or not, I don’t feel comfortable sending you back to the Hotel with her. I’ll be having your things moved to Wayne manor. This will allow us to ensure that you are taken care of during your recovery and that you can’t be further abused,” Mr. Wayne speaks up.

            “In regard to her recovery, it as always varies depending on the person’s healing speed but she’ll need to be mostly bed ridden for at least a week. Both legs have fractures and that’s not to even start on the ribs. We’re lucky she doesn’t have internal bleeding. Though I will be having you all keep an eye out for it. She has a long road ahead of her, but considering the Wayne’s will be caring for her, it should go relatively well. I’ll start working on the paperwork, but I believe that she should at least stay overnight,” the doctor explained everything finally.

            “Thank you doctor. As always, the Wayne family will happily take care of the tab and give a small donation for such outstanding care,” Mr. Wayne shakes the doctors hand dismissing them before turning towards everyone else in the room. “We best allow Marinette to rest. Come on everyone, lets go move her things. Damian, I’ll leave her in your care. Call us if something comes up.”

            “Yes father,” Damian states easily.

            “Wait, can’t I stay? She’s my best friend,” Chloe asks.

            “That’s precisely why we need you. You’ll know what she needs and where she’d like it. You’re gonna be designing her new area in Wayne manor,” Tim responds.

            “I’ll come too, to help carry,” I volunteer. “Better than going home if I don’t have to. Dad’s out again.” Even with my mom, the house gets kinda lonely when missions are going on.

            I follow the group out of the room, glancing back at Damian on my way out. He gives a determined look to me conveying his feelings on today’s situation. I just nod my head reassuring him I know what he needs from me. I’ll give him a full report on the injuries I could see with my x-ray vision during those two hours we waited for her to wake up. I’ll also ask Chloe questions to get more information on the level of assault she’s been made aware of in the past and see what she thinks could have happened. I’ll do my part for the current mission. Mission code named: Protect Gotham’s Sunshine…okay it’s not much of a code name but the point of it stands.

            I catch up to Chloe who was walking quietly between Dick and Tim, Jason pulling up the rear ready to shoot any threats. “Hey. Chloe, you know she’s in the absolute best hands possible right?”

            “I know the Wayne’s wouldn’t leave her care to just anyone. If they were worried I’m sure they could fly in the world’s most renowned Doctor. And I know that they care about her enough to do just that. But I’m scared, and worried, and I’m pissed. Pissed cause I didn’t see the signs, and pissed because Marinette hid this from me, and pissed cause Alya took a liar at her word over her best friend and dared to do all this to Marinette in the first place!” She barely holds herself back from yelling. “I just want to be there for her. You know, if it weren’t for Marinette, I’d be as bad as Lila. I was pretty horrible from being spoiled by my dad but never good enough for my mom. But Marinette saw the good in me and ended up pushing me to be better. Challenging me to show more of my true self. I’m ashamed to say I was once the one tripping her and calling her names. But despite that, she held her hand out to me and gave me the chance to take it. Eventually I did and opened up about why I was always such a bully. And why Marinette was my primary target. Just like Lila, I was jealous. Jealous of how magnetic Marinette just naturally is. How easy it is for her to make friends. How open emotionally she always got to be up until Hawkmoth became a threat. What I didn’t know was that even before Hawkmoth, she would hide her pain. If she was hurt, physically or emotionally, she always hid it. She always would do anything to avoid inconveniencing others. She would give up her whole world if it would help others. So when I finally gave up my pride and stopped bullying others to make myself feel better and owned up to my misdeeds, when I finally won her trust I vowed to give up my whole world if it meant helping her. She deserves nothing less for everything she’s always done.”

            I look down and we walk in companionable silence for a bit while I think on her words. “I think what she needs most from you is just support. It sounds dumb I know, but hear me out. She knew you had good in you and she wants you to live your life to the fullest and be happy. That’s why she pushed for you to enter the light. But she doesn’t think she belongs in the same place in the light. I think she’s kinda like the sun. A source of life and light that just draws people in. But what does anyone do but orbit around her? She needs to be reminded on occasion that it’s okay to step into the light sometimes instead of being the source. I think you do that for her. But I think you put so much pressure on yourself to be the one who pulls her out of her own light and into letting herself be happy that it just makes her worry again. Maybe taking this step back and just showing you care by helping make her space in Wayne Manor will be good for her…and for you. After all, she can’t be your only source of light. One day you’ll have to make your own light.” I smile at her, a gentle but bright smile. I hope it conveys exactly what she needs.

            “Thanks Jon. I needed that. I haven’t really told anyone of my bullying past, everyone who I would have thought to already know about it. It was really nice to get that off my chest,” She smiles back at me, a little hesitantly but it’s there.

            “Now that he was able to reassure you there I have a little more reassurance for you. You do know that we care about you too right?” Tim asks Chloe. Her mouth pops open into an ‘O’ shape like she hadn’t thought of that before.

            “Yeah! You don’t have to be Gotham’s Sunshine to get some love and care from Gotham’s most affluent family. You have grown on all of us just as much as Marinette has. You won’t just be making a space for her in Wayne Manor, you’ll also be coming to stay with us. So you’ll have to make a space for yourself too. You’re allowed to have an identity outside of Marinette. I’m sure she’d love to see you enjoying your time without her too,” Dick adds in.

            “My son’s are right. There’s space enough for the both of you and your hobbies to join us at my manor. So please consider it your home for the duration of your stay here in Gotham,” Bruce smiles at Chloe, all dad at that moment.

            Chloe looks at all of us with some tears and shock in her eyes, covering her mouth with her hands. “Thank you, all of you. Really, I mean it. You don’t know what that means to me.”

            “Come on! Let’s go make a show of getting you and Marinette’s things so the Liar and her hounds can be jealous over you two getting to stay with the Wayne’s instead of the Hotel. That’ll really piss them off!” I laugh and guide her towards the Town Car that is really a Limo and is the preferred Wayne transportation when this many of them are in one place.

~.~

            I take my children to go and collect Marinette’s things with Chloe so we can set her up in the Manor to stay with us for the duration of the trip. I have already emailed both girls parents to inform them of the change and to assure them that we will do anything in our power to keep their girls safe. I even tell them how my children seem to have bonded with the girls and want to help in any way they can. Damian and Jon in particular have gotten close to the two young girls now joining us at the manor.

            Both sets of parents were relatively quick to respond. Chloe’s dad thanked me for the update and told me to let him know if I need anything and thanked me for taking such good care of his daughter. He assured me there would always be a place for me and my family should we ever visit Paris. Marinette’s parents ask to arrange a call with me for further information on what happened and updates on her condition. Understandably they are quite concerned for their daughter after hearing she had been in the hospital. I tell them I’d be happy to arrange a call with them as soon as I finish moving their daughter’s things to my manor with my son’s, Cloe, and our family friend Jon. I hope I can assuage some of their fears for the time being, at least under my roof Marinette will be less exposed to those bullies and harassers.

            We pull up to the hotel and all get out of the town car. Jon keeps his arm around Chloe and we begin to head inside. Surprisingly the Paris student’s appear to be in the lobby at the time of our arrival. I suppose it is evening but I didn’t think the internships were done for the day, yet not one seems to be missing. I had personally excused Chloe and Marinette for the day but I don’t believe anyone else had been excused for a break today. Sadly, it seems their teacher caught sight of our group rather quickly. Or rather caught sight of Chloe.

            “Chloe! Where on earth have you been? I’ve been worried sick, no one knew where you were. You can’t just take off like that on your own. It’s not safe, especially here in Gotham,” their teacher, Madam Bustier starts reprimanding Chloe right in front of me.

            “Ahem. Sorry to interrupt Miss…” I pretend that I don’t know this woman’s name.

            “It’s Madam Bustier. Sir please stay out of this, I’m having a conversation with my student. You can continue on with what you were doing,” the teacher clearly doesn’t recognize me from the tour at the start of their trip or any of the media.

            “Ma’am I’m Bruce Wayne. Normally I’d stay out of it but in this instance I have to interject as Choe has been with my family this entire time. As you were informed via your email. And I believe Daisy also informed you of that when she picked up your class earlier. Now, normally I would agree with your lecture but considering I’m not even positive that Ms. Bourgois even has a single missed call from you and that you were informed of her whereabouts I believe this conversation to be a bit of a moot point. On top of that I have to ask, were you planning to ask after your other missing student Marinette? Or were you just assuming she’s fine?” I pin her with a hard stare. Normally I’d keep to the Brucie Wayne persona but since becoming a well known father in Gotham, I’ve been able to show my protective side for children.

            “Oh! My apologies for not recognizing you Mr. Wayne. I apologize you had to hear that but I don’t know of any emails today. As for Ms. Daisy I’m afraid we didn’t see her today. Lila called me before school ended and told me that Damian had gotten them all the day off since everyone had been working so hard. She also said she’d prefer to walk today since the bus has been giving her motion sickness. So as a class we gathered together to walk back to the hotel for some much deserved down time. As for Marinette I’m sure she’s simply enjoying herself out in Gotham. She is a bit of an artist and tends to enjoy some sight seeing. She’s a little flighty but has a good head on her shoulders and has probably done more research than any of us on the city so I’m sure she’ll be fine. Thank you for bringing Chloe back to us, though in the future I’d prefer a phone call. It’s a more immediate form of communication and tends to work better,” This damned teacher says the most audacious of things. It’s like she has no regards for anyone but this Lila girl. Though she did seem a bit worried about Chloe.

            “Puh-lease! You were only concerned about me because my daddy is the Mayor of Paris! This is ridiculous, utterly ridiculous! You’ve become less and less concerned about your students well beings and more concerned about whether or not we all get along while in your presence! You just showed that with your utter lack of concern for Marinette!” Chloe shouts at her teacher. I reach over and place a hand on her shoulder to calm her down.

            “Madam, your student Marinette is in Gotham City Hospital with some serious injuries. As the email you were sent shortly after lunch informed you. Please do make sure to check your email often as you may be sent important information in regards to the students in your care. As for your statement about my son getting your students the day off, I’m afraid you’ve been lied to. Damian has been in the hospital waiting for Marinette to finish her tests and wake up for most of the day. The majority of that time I’ve been by his side. And I would have to be the one to approve their time off for such a thing to happen so I know for a fact that the only two students given the day off were in fact Marinette Dupain-Cheng and Chloe Bourgois. As of now, the rest of your students that were expected today are considered no-call no-shows for their internships. I’ll consider this a warning for all of them. If this happens again they will lose their internship and therefore no longer qualify for their spot on this trip and be sent back home to Paris. Finally, you will no longer be needing to concern yourself with Marinette Dupain-Cheng and Chloe Bourgois. As of now I will be housing the both of them in my Manor for their individual safety as well as their comfort. I no longer believe them to be safe among their classmates after today’s events. Considering how badly beaten Ms. Dupain-Cheng was, it was no accident how she ended up in the hospital today. I suggest you look into how this happened Madam Bustier, as I will be informing Gotham Academy of what has happened and I promise you they will get to the bottom of this. Whoever is responsible for these injuries committed a crime. This isn’t just bullying, it was straightforward assault as far as I’m concerned. If any of your students are found to be the culprit, I will not hesitate to have them charged with aggravated assault and placed into one of our prison’s here. Now, if you’ll excuse us, we are here to collect Marinette and Chloe’s belongings from their room and set them up in my Manor. And before you ask, yes, both of their parents have been informed and are agreeable to this arrangement. If any of your students are concerned about favoritism, perhaps they should assess whether or not there would be a reason for such a situation and also they should keep in mind that Marinette is the contest winner and therefore my priority for this trip. Have a good rest of your day,” I use my best no nonsense tone and hope it put an end to the conversation. Sadly this teacher is persistent.

            “Excuse me?! You can’t just take two of my students to stay with you at your Manor Mr. Wayne. On top of that you can’t accuse the rest of my students of such serious crimes!” Bustier tries to argue with me.

            “Dick, take Chloe, Jon, and your brothers up to the room and start packing the girls things. I’ll handle things from here,” I tell my oldest who nods and does as I ask before I turn around. “Madam Bustier, I’m trying to be cordial here. To start, I am capable of taking over guardianship of any minor in this country at anytime if I so needed to, let alone my own contest winner who is here with my scholarship and my internship so that she can even be in this country during a time that I understand is incredibly difficult for your students to be in Paris. Second of all, I already have informed you that I have permission from both the girls parents and therefore you can do nothing to stop this as it’s also in writing. And finally, I did not accuse anyone of anything. I simply laid bare the facts. Your student was so thoroughly abused that the doctor at the hospital was appalled by the x-rays and other diagnostic tests and begged her to tell us who hurt her so justice could be done. She is the one who refused to name anyone specific and tried to brush it off as all being an accident.” The teacher goes to argue with me. Probably to insist that it probably was an accident then. I simply put my hand up and take a deep breath.

            “Before you say anything, we know for a fact it wasn’t some accident. Not only are the injuries not consistent with any kind of accident that could cause this level of damage, but also we here in Gotham know a scared victim of abuse when we see one. It is unfortunately a relatively common thing. She said the culprit will get punished by karma and we should let it be. Normally I’d stay out of it but even my son Damian has grown a soft spot for her. And if I’m being honest, I can’t simply turn a blind eye to someone hurting a girl who is practically the embodiment of sunshine walking around Gotham. There is nothing you can do or say to change my mind about this. At this point the only thing you can do is to investigate the situation and punish the guilty party or parties. That is, if you don’t want to end up with your own criminal charges before the end this trip. Now, have a good rest of your day Madam Bustier. I am going to go help my sons with gathering the girls things and setting up their space in my manor. After which I’ll be having a chat with the Dupain-Cheng’s to give them what information I have that may or may not calm their anxieties with their daughter hurt and in a hospital bed in another country.”

~.~

            Damian watches his family leave before turning around and glancing at me on his way to sit in the nearby chair. If I hadn’t been getting to know him I would think he looked annoyed at having to stay behind with me in the hospital. But looking in his eyes he seems more worried about me and angry for me than anything. I wish it hadn’t come to this, the Miraculous Cure is supposed to heal everything and everyone. And it does. But it’s a bit harder for the Ladybug holder, at least when there isn’t a true cat or any cat at all. Since the cat is destruction, healing destruction requires destructions help. Until then, the burden of healing takes a toll on the Ladybug of creation. That combined with Alya is ultimately what led to this. I only wish I had hidden the pain better so I didn’t burden the Wayne’s and my friends.

            “I’m sorry that you had to deal with this, I was hoping to handle these things myself,” I tell Damian looking down at my lap.

            “You have nothing to apologize for. There is nothing wrong with asking for help when you need it. If anything, I’d rather you ask for help more, especially with those lying plebians,” Damian responds simply.

            “I can handle it,” I shrug.

            “But you shouldn’t have to. At least not alone. Especially when you get injured like this. It’s unforgivable that they would take it to this extreme. Here in America, we’d call them Villains or Rouges, not just bullies or misguided,” he looks at me intensely as he speaks before he pulls out a book and shrugs. “But as the victim you should have the most say in their justice.”

            “I appreciate you being willing to let me drive this instead of acting on it,” I smile at him.

            “Tch, don’t thank me. If it were up to me, that glasses bitch would be in cuffs by now and that sausage haired liar wouldn’t be far behind. I’d be going for assault and attempted murder as well as abuse for glasses. As for the Liar, I’m thinking conspiracy, abuse, defamation, and probably connection to attempted murder as well. But charges often rely on the victim being willing to participate and the victim deserves some say. So, I’m holding off, collecting evidence, but holding off. I will have them, one day, before this semester is up. But until then I’ll play your game.” Damian’s eyes return to looking at me. “With some new boundaries of course. But those will be gone over after you get to the Manor for your week of bedrest which Pennyworth will absolutely enforce.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

@BlueKnight: Collecting Sunshine and her friend’s belongings from the hotel. Wayne watch is taking it up a notch. Welcome to Wayne Manor ladies! #sunshineofgotham #sunshineisbullied #brucedestroyedthewannabeteacher #legalthreatsmade #waynewatch #mustprotec

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|       @DaisyDarlin: Give me a list of food items and anything else you think they might need and I’ll work on getting them for you. I’m sure @MasterButler has his hands full driving you, sorting the items, and likely getting rooms ready all at the same time. #sunshineofgotham #sunshineisbullied #bulliesbegone #karmaandrewards #waynewatch #watchupgrade #mustprotec

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|              @MasterButler: I thank you @DaisyDarlin. I will send over a list shortly. Please get something for yourself as well for all the hard work you’ve been doing. #sweetgirl

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|                      @OGWayne: Yes, thank you @DaisyDarlin. Please use the company card and get yourself something nice with everything else. Know you are appreciated. #bestemployee #southernwonder #sweetgirl #sunsineofgotham #waynewatchupgrade #mustprotec

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|                                @JayBird: In more fun news, Sunshine not only is being watched over by @IcePrince, but she has such wonderful talent! I feel like I just walked into a sacred place. I got to see where she does her best art. The little designer has me in awe and I know nothing of fashion. #sunshineofgotham #youngdesigner #brilliant #waynewatch #mustprotec

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|                                           @IcePrince: We’ve known from the start that she’s a brilliant designer and artist. You were just too dim to realize it till now. There’s a reason that Liar is jealous of her, it’s because she is so talented and also a wonderful person. It will be the Liar’s downfall. #sunshineofgoth #talentedsunshine #sunshineisbullied #waynewatch #waynewatchupgrade #mustprotect

Chapter Text

Recovery

            The next morning I woke up and Damian was still by my side. He looked peaceful snoozing in the nearby chair. I have never seen his face so relaxed before. He actually looks his age like this, normally there’s something about him that just feels wise beyond his years. For the first time, I decided to try and read his soul…and I didn’t expect what I saw at all. His soul is almost pitch black, like midnight on a new moon with an overcast sky, but in the very center is a pure white small glow illuminating it as if the full moon broke through the overcast despite everything to act as a beacon. But the soul itself seemed to glow green like Plagg’s power but when I look closer I can see the marbling of where it’s interwoven in the soul for the green power to burst through, but the green seems dull as if it’s waiting to be turned on.

            “If you keep staring at me that hard you’re going to give me the wrong impression,” Damian murmurs from his spot on the nearby chair.

            I blink a couple times as a realization dawns on me…he just might be the true holder of the cat miraculous. I finally process what he said to me and clear my throat as I look away. “Ahem, sorry about that. You looked so peaceful and innocent, I couldn’t help but stare.” I give as a way of excuse.

            “Don’t worry about it. Just don’t tell anyone you saw me so relaxed. It won’t look good on my reputation,” he winks at me, an action even I know to be rare for him.

            I giggle and wince as my laughter pulled at my ribs. “No problem, I promise not to tell anyone.”

            His smile drops a little before he stands up. “I’ll get your nurse, you need pain medication. Father will also be coming around to get you with Pennyworth for your discharge to the Manor so they need to start preparing you for your discharge.”

            “Thanks Damian,” I smile at him and his face softens a bit.

            “No problem. I’ll be right back,” Damian tells me and I lean back against my pillows.

            Both legs and several ribs, broken. Not to mention the healed stab wounds and other injuries that wouldn’t have shown up on their tests. And finally the cure blow back. Without a proper holder for the Cat Miraculous it’s getting harder to use my miraculous cure. I’m sure I have some internal damage from how many people I had to revive. Without the embodiment of destruction absorbing the damage for me, I have to feel every death condensed in a single instant…for every person I revive. I’ve coughed up blood when there’s enough people to revive. As the embodiment of destruction, the Cat Miraculous holder can absorb damaging side affects from my Miraculous without receiving damage themselves. Of course that’s only true for a true holder, if it’s not a true holder it will start damaging their soul and making them darker and more corrupted. Just like it did to Adrien. But a true holder is designed to take such damage and therefore it doesn’t hurt their soul, more adds power to it instead. As I create and heal, I get more powerful. As they destroy and absorb damage, they get more powerful. After they absorb enough damage they’ll earn their true holder markings indicating the growth of their power. And that true holder appears to be Damian if my hunch is correct.

            Damian returns with the nurse who gets me some pain meds and the paperwork to begin with my discharge. She takes my vitals and goes over my discharge instructions so I know what to expect with my recovery. It doesn’t take too long before Mr. Wayne and Mr. Pennyworth arrive to pick up me and Damian. They explain that Chloe is putting some finishing touches on my space in the manor or she would have come with them.

            “That’s fine. I’d rather she be keeping herself busy than have her decide to come here to get me,” I smile at them.

            “Yes, well let’s get you back to the Manor Ms. Dupain-Cheng. Ms. Bourgois told me a few of your favorite dishes and breakfast is waiting for your arrival,” Mr. Pennyworth smiles gently at me.

            I look at Mr. Pennyworth directly for the first time and get assaulted with vibrant shades of blue, purple, and emerald green. His soul glows brightly with these colors. The colors of Duusu, the Peacock Miraculous of Emotion. “Uh. Thanks. I look forward to it. Hopefully I can return the favor soon.”

            “No need Ms. Dupain-Cheng. The best way to thank me is to rest,” Mr. Pennyworth tells me with a gentle smile.

            “Right. I’ll try Mr. Pennyworth. And please, call me Marinette,” I smile back at him, easing out of my shock.

            “Only if you’ll call me Alfred,” Alfred winks at me.

            I giggle, hiding my wince better this time. “Deal!”

            “Alright, let’s get you to your home for the remainder of your stay here in Gotham,” Mr. Wayne says with a gentle smile.

            The nurse helps me into a wheelchair and reminds all those present with me that I’m not to bear weight on my legs for at least a week, preferably for two weeks and even when I do start bearing weight I’m supposed to take it slow and have help. If I weren’t such a fast healer they probably wouldn’t have let me out of the hospital for at least another week and then would’ve sent me to some rehab center to get use of my legs back. But luckily I’m fast and will be just fine. Will I still respond to Akuma alerts…yeah, yeah I will. But that’s my duty as Ladybug. Chloe might try to stop me but she knows what’s at stake if I fail to arrive and trigger my Lucky Charm before the end of the fight.

            We get out to the limo that the Wayne’s seem to travel in and Mr. Wayne personally picks me up and carries me into my seat. I can’t help but blush as I’m lifted by this multi-billionaire who not only paid for my entire class to come over from France to attend school with his son but also provided us all with internships which will look amazing on our resume’s in the future. Me and my classmate’s owe him so much, and yet he just lifted me into his arms like it was no big deal.

            Damian slides in beside me and messes with his phone as his father settles in a different area of the limo, also on his phone. He probably has a lot of work to do. I feel bad that he feels the need to take time out of his busy schedule to take care of things regarding me

            “The Robin Rescue Foundation is asking for some final detail confirmations for their upcoming fund raising event. Are you handling final approval or may I Father?” Damian asks Mr. Wayne without even looking up.

            “You can take care of it. They’re your passion project so I trust you’ll handle everything appropriately,” Mr. Wayne responds to his son in a business like manor.

            “Thank you Father,” Damian responds.

            I pull out my phone and look at all the notifications that have been filling my phone since the Akuma alert yesterday. Luckily no more Akuma Alerts occurred while I was unconscious either time. Chloe has sent me some meme’s and things though, likely to cheer me up. So have Luka and Kagami. And my parents sent something to check in and remind me that they love me and I can come home whenever I want. That was very dad. But the message that threw me the most off was from a number not saved in my phone.

            I had gotten a new phone and number at the end of the previous school year, tired of the regular bombardment from all of my classmates. But this unsaved number had been memorized by me for years. It belonged to someone I had considered my oldest friend until everything went down with Lila. It was from Nino.

            “Hey Marinette. I’m sorry to message you all of a sudden. I asked your mom for your number cause I wanted to apologize. I heard you were taken to the hospital yesterday from school. I confronted Alya when I heard and found out she’s the one who caused all the damage. I’m so sorry I let this go on as long as I did. I’m ashamed to even think of myself as your oldest friend anymore. I don’t expect you to forgive me, but I had to apologize. I promise I won’t just sit idly by anymore as the class abuses you and just follows Lila. I’ve been realizing something was off ever since the Riddler incident. You were right, Lila is a liar. She’s been lying to everyone this whole time and hurting you so much. She’s clouded Alya’s judgement and I was too scared of losing my first love to try and speak against Alya or her precious Lila. You don’t have to accept me as a friend anymore, but I’ll be defending you from now on. I’ve given up on Alya. If she can’t accept the truth then I can’t be with her anymore. Especially if she’s willing to resort to violence. She’s become the very evil she used to preach against. I hope to one day earn your forgiveness. You’re still my everyday Ladybug, and that won’t change. Not when you are the kindest person I have ever known. ~Nino”

            I was in shock. Nino broke up with Alya. I never wanted that…but I also am so glad he’s reached out and apologized for everything. Nino has never participated in the bullying, he was always a bystander. It doesn’t absolve him of everything that’s happened, but it does make it easier to forgive him. I tear up a little as I process what I just read. My friend since kindergarten has apologized and promised to defend me once again. I have my oldest friend back. I may not be able to trust him right away. But I have him back in my life for now. As long as his actions match his words, I can have my oldest friend back.

            I decide to respond to people as appropriate. My parents need a response and reassurance. It wasn’t as bad as it seems, they know how clumsy I am. I love them and will stay in touch as usual but I have no intention of returning to Paris yet, I want to see this trip through. Send a thank you meme back to all my friends, along with a see you soon to Chloe. Then I finally pull back up Nino’s message. He deserves a response.

            “I’ve already forgiven you. You were trying to maintain your life the best way you knew and you never were cruel to me yourself. I won’t be forgetting the ease at which you sided with Alya and Lila, but I understand why it happened. But actions speak louder than words. As you continue to show me that you mean what you said, we can build our friendship back to where it was. It might not be the same, especially for a while as you work towards regaining my trust, but we can at least look to that direction instead of the past. ~Marinette”

            It's true, I’ve forgiven most everyone in the class at this point. Their actions were wrong, and I won’t forget or trust them anytime soon, but I forgive them for not only following what they thought was right but also trying to maintain their lives as much as possible. They were tricked, they thought Lila was the innocent one and I was the liar. They were wrong, and they’ve done horrible things because of being wrong, but they were tricked and I can forgive them for that. But I can’t forget how quickly they were willing to turn on their friend and classmate who was always doing their best to go above and beyond for them. Their friend and classmate who they saw stretched herself so thin just to try and help every person she could. Their everyday Ladybug as they called me. How Lila tricked them so thoroughly and they fell for it. How they let that trick lead them to do terrible things to another person. How they let it blind them from the truth. But Nino is proof. They’re starting to see, and once they see the truth, Lila will lose her power. That’s all I can ask. She thinks she’s untouchable. But the higher she is, the harder she’ll fall.

            The car ride to Wayne Manor is a good 30 minutes from the hospital. I text back and forth with Chloe a bit. Assure Luka and Kagami that, no, they don’t need to come all the way to Gotham for me, reminding them that they’re the first defense in Paris right now and that without them, I won’t be able to get there in time to minimize damage. And I text a bit with my mom. I tell her that I already have recovered a good amount and will be back on my feet in no time. I told her to keep dad grounded so that neither of them will be easy victims of Hawkmoth since there’s nothing they could really do even if I was home. Everyone seemed to calm down a bit at least.

            Finally, we approach Wayne Manor. It was huge. They had their own gate that lead to grounds that were so large I felt they almost rivaled Versailles. There were gardens as far as the eye could see. Signs of buildings out back and a forest started before the fence line. A long driveway lead to a circle drive around a fountain that stood before a building that was so big it clearly had multiple wings. This is an estate that had room enough for a full live in staff. It’s clear the Wayne’s truly have a lot of money. Far more than Adrien and his father have. Probably a lot more than Chloe or Kagami too. This is rich on a whole other level. I’m comfortable with the money I’ve made as MDC, but clearly I will never know this level of comfort. We pulled up to the front door and Damian grabs me and carries me out of the car with the door held open by Alfred. I really hope he’s not the only butler…for his sake.

            “Mari! I’m so glad you’re out of that hospital. You should see the set up we made for you. It’s ridiculous, utterly ridiculous!” Chloe exclaims as she bursts out the front door to rush over to me.

            “I’ll carry her to her room father. I’m sure you’re busy with work. I’ll see you later,” Damian calls over his shoulder.

            “Thank you Damian, I’ll see you later. Enjoy your Saturday,” Mr. Wayne smiles at his son. “Please rest and enjoy your stay Marinette.”

            “Thank you Mr. W…I mean Bruce,” I give him a polite smile.

            “Okay, so they like totally set you up nice here. I helped of course, cause they wouldn’t know where you like things, but they gave me the space and followed directions really well too. You have two rooms set up for your use. The first is your bedroom, which is probably nicer than the one I have back home, and your design room. Apparently Bruce, he told me to call him Bruce by the way, how awesome is that? Anyways, apparently Bruce gives all the kids he lets live in the Manor a hobby room if they want one cause he has more than enough room for it. He also has a dojo and a home gym as well as a gymnastics gym. All of which we’ll have to check out when you’re all healed up. My room is near yours as well. I haven’t decided what I would need a hobby room for yet though cause my biggest hobbies are shopping, spending time with you, and recently martial arts. He already has a place for the last one, I can hang out with you anywhere, and shopping from here isn’t nearly as fun as in person. Oh and you totally missed Madam Bustier getting called out and verbally obliterated by Bruce. I mean, I missed part of it too cause he had Dick take the rest of us up to our room but otherwise I got to see a good part of it and all those dumb classmates saw the whole thing! My phone has been absolutely blowing up ever since,” Chloe goes on a rant as we walk through the Manor to where I’ll be spending the foreseeable future. I can’t help but giggle at my best friend seeing her so excited.

            “That explains Nino reaching out like he did,” I tell her and she instantly turns around with a fire in her eyes.

            “He reached out?! What did he want? Did he say something to you about not blaming Alya? Tell me what happened and if I need to go and break his neck,” Chloe let’s out her fierce protectiveness.

            “Woah! Slow down Chloe. He didn’t do anything bad. He apologized. Said he can’t be with Alya if she’s willing to do such a thing and that he’s sorry to have let Lila, Alya, and all their drama get between him and his oldest friend. He said he’d understand if I don’t forgive him but he still had to apologize. That’s why he got my number from my mom,” I tell Chloe and I can see her physically calm down.

            “Well it’s about time. He’s been Ridiculous, utterly Ridiculous! How could he stand by as long as he did and let them treat you so horribly? You didn’t forgive him right?” Chloe asks.

            “Chloe…” I look at my best friend with soft eyes as worry shines through hers. “You know I forgave them all except for Lila a long time ago. I won’t ever forget what they did, and they’ll have to work to earn back my trust, but I did forgive them. Though I don’t think forgiving Alya for this latest action will be quite as easy. But I can forgive her for getting tricked and lied to and for falling for it. I’ll forgive, but I’ll never forget. I mean, all this did was find me the real best friend that I never would have had without them all falling for it. And Luka and Kagami never did. So yeah Chloe, I told him I forgive him, but I told him it would be a long road to friends again.”

            “Mari, you’re too nice for your own good sometimes. Forever the bleeding heart I guess,” Chloe sighs.

            “You know me Chloe. I have to look at the world with optimism and hope. Just because I’ve gotten more realistic with how I view friendships and relationships, doesn’t mean I can’t see things as glass half full,” I giggle.

            “Yeah, I guess that’s what makes you the Mari we all know and love. Come on, let’s see you’re new set up,” Chloe gives me a gentle look before turning and showing the way.

            When we get upstairs, me still in Damian’s arms as if that’s not the most embarrassing thing in the world, Chloe points to two rooms saying they’re both for me. One was a beautifully made up bedroom that looked positively divine and like it belonged to royalty. The other was a design studio that just about made me drool. There was bolts of fabric of every kind. Dye’s for me to make custom colors, threads for both embroidery and sewing, ribbons of varying sizes and colors, beads and jewels and buttons, and even yarn for crochet or knitting depending on the design I want to make. I even saw lace and supplies for tatting so I can make my own lace. A work table with a sewing machine, counters for measuring and cutting, dress forms of varying sizes. Everything I ever dreamed of in a studio for myself. I just about cried when I saw the room I was so overwhelmed with joy. Finally, we go into my new room and I’m laid in the bed. We chat for a while before I start nodding off. The exhaustion of the past 24 hours catching up to me.

~.~

            After laying Marinette in her bed and leaving her to rest I found my way to father’s office to discuss our plans for continuing this trip for Marinette. I left Bourgois with Marinette in case she ends up needing anything. She seems thoroughly content responding to her classmates blowing up her phone with snarky comments and dismissals. And knowing her, Marinette will be in good hands till one of us get back. Plus I told her how to get Alfred quickly should she need it. Our Manor has a sort of bell pull system in the rooms that pages Alfred. It’s mostly used when one of us is bed ridden and trying to avoid getting on his bad side

            Once I arrive at Father’s office I knock on the door. “Father it’s me. May I enter?” I ask. I have been told I don’t need to speak so formally with family but as I’ve heard some American’s say, old habits die hard, or whatever.

            “Come on in Damian,” Father calls and I enter his office and take a seat across from him. “I take it Marinette is all settled in?”

            “Yes Father, she’s currently taking a nap in her room. She did cry when she saw the sewing room but I’ve been informed they were happy tears. I believe it wore her out however so I left her with Bourgois and decided the better course of action would be to find out the current plan for allowing Marinette the chance to continue with her program safely,” I respond calmly. Father smiles.

            “I’ve contacted the school and informed them that Marinette will be out for at least the next week and that I will likely be sending her with a wheelchair next week. I’m sure she’ll be stir crazy by then but we have to try and keep her off her injuries as long as we can. I have asked that extra precautions around the bathroom areas be taken to avoid this problem occurring in the future. I understand they can’t film inside of a bathroom for privacy reasons but there’s no reason not to film the doors. As a Family we’re going to do our best to support Marinette during this time. I’m working on setting up her internship for remote access, at least for while she’s here in the Manor, and will discuss potentially commissioning her for the design departments first collaboration to launch in stores so that she can mostly focus on creative actions instead of admin. I can answer any questions and give any advice she needs regarding running a business and so can Tim. We’ll call her internship good if she can at least give us some design sketches for some everyday clothes to put in stores by the end of her internship. As for you Damian, I’m going to ask you stay by her side as much as possible,” Father indulges me with an answer.

            “Thank you, Father. I will gladly accept this assignment. As I remain by her side I will continue to gather evidence of what those cruel rogue wannabe’s actions,” I nod my head. “Is there anything else you need from me Father?”

            “Just to work with us on the patrol schedule. We can’t all be out on patrol every night. I’ll be calling in those who don’t live with us and asking if they can help out more throughout the semester. Since the girls are currently both in the house, if we’re all gone through most the night, it will be suspicious,” Father responds, getting to the real family business.

            “Understood. I think I should go out the least sadly. I’m the one around their age and have the least plausible explanation for being out all night. The rest of you can claim to have dates or other such business. Richard can even claim he is helping the Gotham PD as he consults with them on occasion and it’s believable, I on the other hand have the only excuse of if you’re taking me out for some father son bonding. I believe Friday’s and Saturday’s to be the most plausible, but even then we can’t realistically be having those bonding night’s every Friday and Saturday. I may be able to get away with claiming that Richard or one of my other siblings likes taking me out on Saturdays but I have the least excuses in the end. As much as I begrudge not being able to go on patrol,” I respond and look away. I’ll miss patrolling regularly.

            “Thank you, Damian. I appreciate you taking this one for the team. I’ll make it up to you later,” Father smiles at me and I nod.

            After discussing some other projects and gala’s I would need to attend, I managed to finish our conversation and leave to check on Marinette and Bourgois. They were both still sitting quietly in Marinette’s room with Marinette asleep. Satisfied, I go into my own room nearby. Bourgois should know where it is should she need me.

~.~

            I only manage to get one more day of rest before an akuma alert goes off. Chloe was in her room when it does and they were leaving me alone to rest. I tell Trixx to make an illusion of a sleeping me and transform heading to Paris.

            I got lucky. It was one of my more common Akuma’s. Mr. Pigeon once again got transformed due to the mistreatment of Pigeons in Paris. Me and my team were able to wrap this up without having to pull out the Cat Miraculous and I was able to undue damage with little sustained myself. But I know I might not be so lucky soon. I really need Plagg to wake up. Some of these have cut it close without the Cat Miraculous and I’m getting more and more damage every time. I have a strange feeling that this generation’s cat might be in Gotham, just based on the soul’s I’ve seen. But it’s hard to say until Plagg wakes up and can confirm his true holder.

            I head back to the manor and decide going to the bathroom would be easiest incase someone was there. It would be difficult to get back into bed if there’s someone in the room but if it’s just Chloe, all I’ll have to worry about is a lecture and not them finding out my secret. I’ll take the wins where I can get them thanks. Luckily it was just Chloe. And boy did I get a talking to about not letting them handle it since it was just Mr. Pigeon. I had to remind her I’m the only one who can Deevilize the Akuma’s and that it’ll just cause more havoc if I don’t. I remind her of the last time that happened, back when I just started and Ivan was Hawkmoth’s first victim. She relented after that and asked that I just be careful and try not to get more hurt. I told her that I’m already doing better since I heal faster than normal so she really didn’t need to worry. It didn’t help but she did stop nagging me.

            After about a week of pretending to be on bed rest, I finally managed to be allowed to go back to school but in a wheelchair this time. I asked Damian to bring along the x-ray images with my name and the date they were taken on them in case I get confronted for lying about being so injured for attention. Some will back down, other’s will claim they’re doctored, either way I’m giving everything I can to prove my truth without disparaging Alya.

            When I get to the school the headmaster met me out front. He wanted to speak with me about the incident and was hoping I would tell him who the culprit was so he could deal with it accordingly. I avoided saying who it was using a herd mentality of my classmates as the reason. I explained that if I told and the person got punished, not only would everyone else claim I was lying but they would be just as bad potentially because of it. They’re not used to consequences I’m afraid. I further explained stating that I was working on a plan to break down the hold of one of them over the others so that consequences can be meted out without me getting more harshly targeted. As he could not guarantee that he could keep me safe from everyone, he had to relent eventually. But my entire class was put on notice that bullying of any kind would not be tolerated. That they had suspicions of who the culprit was but without my confirmation they could not proceed. That being said, there is no statute of limitations for as long as we are here and the faculty would continue to encourage me to give up who hurt me so that they can remove that element from the school. Needless to say, they were not happy. But they did mostly leave me alone outside of some comments. And because so many adults were making such a big deal about what happened to me, they didn’t question my being in a wheelchair. Though I could tell some wanted to.

            The biggest difference was Nino. In any classes we shared, he did his best to interact with me or include me. And he began sitting with us at lunch. I’d still have to slip away for Akuma alerts, but luckily no really major ones have occurred lately. I’m lucky, if I have even one bad Akuma right now, I might struggle to get back. And my identity might get revealed. I just have to make it another week with small Akuma’s and resting as much as possible and I should be at my current baseline. Not completely healed, but okay for now. Kwamii I hope this lasts that long.

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@IcePrince: Gotham’s Sunshine is far more resilient than she should ever have to be. Her recovery is going well but she still insists that the guilty party get away with it for now. Evidence is being collected against the perpetrators. They will fall before Winter Break begins, this I swear. #sunshineofgotham #sunshinebullied #bulliesreallyhurther #brokenbones #resilient #mustprotec #waynewatch

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|        @BlueKnight: I’m with you Little D! Justice for Sunshine! #sunshineofgotham #sunshinebullied #mustprotec #waynewatch #littlesaint

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|                  @JayBird: May I suggest a more Vigilante style justice? Mayhaps more antihero? My vote is for the Sirens and Outlaws giving the justice sorely needed for Sunshine. That sweet girl shouldn’t need evidence to be gathered. #sunshineofgotham #sunshinebullied #justiceforsunshine #downwiththebullies #mustprotec #waynewatch

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|                        @OGWayne: @JayBird no. Justice will be given, but it should be on her terms. It’s Sunshine’s wish that they gather evidence and take this slow and with non-physical justice. As the victim she deserves to have a say in the justice given. Within reason of course. #sunshineofgotham #sweetgirl #precious #mustprotec #waynewatch

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|                                 @SpoiledBat: Guy’s!!!!!!!! I made Sunshine an account! We should totally give her the login and show her just how much support she has. Check out the @SunshineofGotham account here! #sunshineofgotham #justiceforsunshine #sunshineisbullied #mustprotec #waynewatch

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|                                          @HarleyHarHAr: Pst @IcePrince and @JayBird, me and the Siren’s are totally here for the justice. Let me know when to grab my bat. HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!! #sunshineofgotham #mylapis #sunshinebullied #downwiththebullies #mustprotec #precious #waynewatch

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|                                                    @OGWayne: @HarleyHarHAr I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again. Get off my son’s thread.

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|                                                             @HarleyHarHAr: @OGWayne I can’t take you seriously. You didn’t even use a # HAHAHA!!!! #whysoserious #sillywayne #dadbruce #justiceforsunshine #sunshineofgotham

Chapter Text

            After a couple more weeks of close eyes and blissfully minor Akuma attacks, I’m finally not only actually fully recovered but seemingly fully recovered. The Wayne’s have finally backed off and Chloe did so like, a week ago. Are they all still protective and stuck to me like glue especially around the class, yes. But it’s gotten better. I have a little more freedom now. And with the internship workload lightened since Bruce decided to let me do everything from the Manor and treat my MDC design collab with W.E. as my design internship, I finally have time to go into Gotham as Ladybug. Hopefully, with some easy swinging and Brie, I can coax Plagg into waking up. But also, I need to see if I can run into any of the Bats or Birds. While I don’t need Justice League heroes in Paris right now, I also could use some help in locating Hawkmoth so I can, in fact, end this soon. Paris can’t continue on like this.

            After most everyone is asleep in the Manor from what I can tell, I turn to Chloe who stayed in my room after the Wayne’s called it a night tonight. “You sure you want to come with me? I’m not opposed to it, but you have been getting the vacation between the two of us.”

            “Mari, I’m sure. I’m not letting you go out into GOTHAM alone even as a superhero. Honestly it makes me less inclined to send you since people in bright costumes get targeted here. I’m coming, together no one can hurt us!” Chloe responds with enthusiasm and I smile and shake my head. No turning back now.

            We transform and I use Kaalki to get us to the center of Gotham, on top of W.E. Hopefully with this we can patrol the city a little and run into it’s vigilante’s. I feel from here, we are bound to run into one of them. And my feelings are usually correct. Though there is one other factor to this plan that I didn’t tell Chloe. I had signed up for some news alerts for Gotham and they told me it’s a busy night for the vigilante’s as multiple inmate’s broke out from Arkham Asylum so I heard the GCPD was hoping that the vigilante’s would be out in full force tonight. Because of that and the bat signal above us, I’m pretty sure we will successfully find them. Down side, unlike the vigilante’s, we don’t blend in so well with the night. I’m okay now that I have more black on my suit than when I started, but Chloe has lots of bright yellow. I’m pretty sure people saw us on the street pretty quicky once we started our grid pattern from our own patrols of Paris.

            It didn’t take long before we heard the sounds of gunshots and headed in that direction. We’d stay out of it of course, unless it was clear that the Vigilante’s needed help, but we wanted to be nearby so we could catch them after. Batman is known for being a great detective, maybe if I can get his help we can find Hawkmoth and finally end this. When we get there, it was clear that there were a lot of people with guns and a lot less vigilante’s. It was like a trap was laid out for them. I see Nightwing and Red Robin below hiding behind a couple of dumpsters at the end of an alleyway. Their only way out is up and if they do that, they better hope they’re faster than bullets. I turn to Princess Honey and we both nod. Standing up we decided to make our presence known and get into the fray.

            “Looks like you two could use some help!” I call out as we jump from the top of the building. The gun shots stop at the new comers. Likely shocked at the bright suits. Princess Honey hasn’t changed much since she first got her miraculous back, but I look very different than I did when I first started. My suit now looks like I have a black under-suit that has a skin tight turtleneck and appears to go to my wrists and ankles. On top of the black cat suit is a red and black polka dot leotard, jacket, thigh high boots, and fingerless wrist gloves. I also still have my red and black spotted domino mask. The biggest difference with my hair is the length of the pig tails, they’re a little longer now than they used to be along with the ribbons. Still not as long as that dumb animated movie about me and Chat but longer. My yoyo has also upgraded as well. I can now split it in two and use it as a double yoyo to swing both sides, turn it into a Bo staff or sword, and make a smaller shield with energy just by holding it right. These were interesting to discover over time as it wasn’t included in the manual.

            Me and Princess Honey land in the alleyway facing the goons with guns ready to fight. They all began laughing. Princess Honey was thoroughly offended, I just rolled my eyes.

            “Get out of here! Being a vigilante or hero isn’t some game! You could get seriously hurt!” Red Robin calls out.

            “RR wait! One of them looks familiar,” Nightwing stops his comrade. “Wait, are you Ladybug?”

            “Surprised you know of me, but yup that’s me! This is Princess Honey. And it’s a little rude of you to assume we don’t know that being a hero isn’t a game. We’re not THAT young,” I shoot the last comment to Red Robin.

            “A couple of little girls! HA! At least the other girls you lot have included in the past get with the theme! These two look like a couple kids playing dress up!” The seemingly head good says while laughing.

            Princess Honey gives a low buzz that I’m sure they mistook for a growl or snarl or something cause they only laughed harder. “You really think there are bee’s nearby? In this city?” I ask her.

            “Oh, they’re here. Poison Ivy made sure of it,” Princess Honey smirks.

            “Well okay then,” I shrug just as the first swarm arrives and starts attacking the goons. One thing that Princess Honey developed as she’s been growing her abilities is the ability to call nearby hives for a little assistance. It can get annoying when she does it accidentally on instinct. Down sides to being a true and long term holder of a Miraculous. The yelps of pain start being heard from the crowd with the guns.

            “If you haven’t noticed, we don’t match the theme because we aren’t from here. We just decided to lend a hand when we saw this. I suggest you put your weapons down. We’re used to bigger threats than just guns,” I tell the goons who seem to get annoyed. “Honey, send the worker bees home now or they’re gonna get swat.” I warn her and she nods sending the signal and thanks for help.

            Guns are lifted again and we raise out weapons, which seems to amuse the goons likely due to their toy like appearances. We swing creating the biggest shields possible since we’re limited in space. They began firing again but our shields stop every shot. The vigilante’s have gone silent. I roll my eyes again.

            “You know, I’m pretty sure at least one of you has been at this longer than us. You got better cover now and are better at acrobatics than these guys, feel like jumping in and helping out or are two kids going to take care of them for you? Cause I can’t promise how well we’ll hold back against normal humans,” I ask, mostly to shake them out of it.

            Nightwing stands. “Right, sorry about that. We were mostly in shock that you were here. But you’re right. Bad guys now, questions and awe later.”

            Nightwing pulls his escrima sticks and jumps into action. With a proper shield he has time to set up a jump into the crowd. From there he didn’t need to worry about guns as much as trigger fingers are slower than him generally. Once Red Robin gets over the shock he joins Nightwing with his Bo staff. We continue with our swinging shields to draw fire and allow them to finish off the bad guys. Finally we stop swinging and turn to each other.

            “Pound it!” We say in unison and giggle a little at our long time tradition that started with Chat Noir and I. The one thing we all agreed to continue to keep the memory of the way he was originally alive.

            “So, what are two of Paris’s hero’s doing here in Gotham?” Nightwing asks with a charming smirk.

            “Seeking help to be honest,” I answer and take a deep breath. “We, Team Miraculous, seek out the help of the worlds greatest detective, Batman. Please, we ask that you connect us to him.” I bow my head in respect and Princess Honey sighs but does the same.

            “He lost that title but no worries. We’ll still connect you with him. The whole team would probably like to hear what’s going on and see how we all can help,” Red Robin responds after finishing securing the goons and walking over. “And sorry about earlier. I didn’t recognize you. Thought you were a couple of teenagers jumping in recklessly. Had I known you were Paris’s hero’s I just would’ve thanked you.”

            “No worries. I’m sure in the City of Crime, that’s something you have to worry about periodically,” I wave him off before Honey can respond. She’d use her catch phrase. Something I still work with her on to this day. But she’s gotten better.

            “I’ll call B and set up a rendezvous,” Nightwing adds on.

            “Thanks,” I respond.

~.~

            Holy crap Ladybug and Princess Honey just totally saved our asses! We were in the middle of calling for back up when those two jumped down. They must have started their own patrol and been nearby to pull that off. Damn goons luring us in here for a trap. Just cause they know we’re all out tonight for the Arkham breakout. This was way too organized not to be one of the big guy’s calling the shots.

            I tell Ladybug and Princess Honey that I’m going to contact B and step away so I can chat on the com link with everyone to set up the rendezvous as promised. “Nightwing to Oracle, we no longer need that backup.”

            “Nightwing! What happened?! You guys were in a blind spot so I couldn’t see. I’ll need to fix that. But what do you mean you no longer need backup?!” Oracle shouts into my ear.

            “I mean an unexpected backup arrived and we no longer need it from team Bat. Either way, can you patch me through to B? I need to ask him something,” I requested and try to placate my former girlfriend. I’m so glad we could still be like family.

            “Fine. Hold on,” Oracle sighs and patches me through. “Batman, I have Nightwing on the line for you. He says there’s something he needs to ask.”

            “Go ahead Nightwing,” Batman reply’s and I smirk.

            “You got time for a rendezvous? Me and RR got pinned down in a trap by a group of goons. Someone is definitely behind it. GCPD is on their way for the goons but we had some unexpected back up show up and help us get them. They’d like to meet the Bat,” I report in to my father figure.

            “Hn,” he hums thinking. “Where?” It’s a yes!

            “How about on top of W.E. There’s 360 degree views of the city from up there and it’s home turf without taking them to base.

            “ETA 15,” Batman responds and turns off his coms. As uncommunicative as ever in the Bat I see.

            I turn to the Parisian heroes and smile. “Batman agreed to a meet in 15 minutes at the top of W.E. We can take you there.”

            “No need. We’ll take you,” the girls smirk and I quirk an eyebrow as Ladybug pulls out  a pair of sunglasses and puts them on. “Kaalki, Tikki, combine!” She calls and her outfit takes on more browns and some horse like aspects. “Voyage!” She shouts and a portal opens in front of us.

            “After you!” Princess Honey smirks and I decide it takes giving some trust to earn trust so I walk through. Upon walking through I’m met with the top of a building I know very well. It’s W.E.

            “Cool huh? We’ll explain better later. I’m afraid it’s easier to explain once,” Ladybug states after all of us have entered the portal.

            “I can’t believe you just did that!” RR hisses at me as he walks up to me.

            “Hey, sometimes you need to give trust to earn trust. And it worked out. This is why we work so well together Little Bird. I’m glass half full and you’re glass half empty. I take the leaps of faith and you hold on to me so I don’t fall. It works well,” I grin at my little brother who scoffs a lot like our youngest.

            “I guess we’ll wait here for Batman since we long since beat him,” RR states to the Parisian’s.

            “Works for us! I’m technically on vacation! Having a break in the middle of this is just what I need,” she pulls a phone out of her…stinger? Dreidel? Spinning Top? Out of her weapon and starts scrolling and typing away as we wait.

            “Forgive her. She get’s bored easily,” Ladybug requests.

            “No need. Totally get it. She’s not the only one who can get bored on a patrol or steak out,” I shrug.

            We end up sitting in silence for the next while as we waited for B. Ladybug was using her…yoyo? Weapon to check on the status of things in Paris quietly and me and RR stood vigilant in case anything came up. After a few moments both girls look up and put away what they were doing. Princess Honey stood up and came next to Ladybug like a silent brightly colored guard. Then Batman arrived on the roof.

            “How’d you two do that?” I ask in awe and Ladybug, honest to god, giggles.

            “It’s a trick of the trade. You’ll learn more later. For now, Batman, it’s an honor to meet a founding member of the Justice League and the worlds greatest detective,” Ladybug switches from sweet young girl to serious hero in seconds.

            “Hn. The feeling is mutual Ladybug. Has I known it was you I would have worked harder to find neutral ground,” Batman responds.

            “No need. There isn’t really neutral ground inside of Gotham from my understanding. Besides, I’ve come to ask your help so it’s the least I can do to come to you,” Ladybug gives a cordial smile. She is clearly wise beyond her years. It feels almost as if she is looking at us so closely she can see what we’re made of. She has the eyes of someone very old. She has the eyes of Alfred.

            “I’m curious what the Heroes of Paris could want with some vigilante’s from America,” Robin steps out from behind B. Very classic gremlin of him. That’s when things take a turn. Ladybug looks at him shocked for a second.

            “Damian?!” She calls out before quickly covering her mouth with her hand.

            “Now who’s giving away identities. You might as well have told them our names,” Princess Honey rolls her eyes. It’s interesting how you can still see their eyes.

            Robin pulls his sword and points it at the girls. “How do you know my name?” He growls.

            “Sorry. Oh, wow, if you’re Damian then…Oh I’m so dumb. That’s where everyone goes at night. That makes so much sense now. Oh gosh I’m saying all this out loud. Oh, I’m such a dummy sometimes…” I can’t understand the rest as she switches to French and Robin seems very shocked as he slowly lowers his sword. Well that was fast for him.

            “Marinette?” He asks and she pauses. I think we all fell into shock then.

            Ladybug sighs, turns to Princess Honey who shrugs, and says three words to leave us all in shock. “Tikki, Spots Off.” There, after a traveling flash of red tinged white light clears the way, stands Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Gotham’s Sunshine herself.

            “Oh shit,” I swear without thinking.

            “Pollen, Buzz Off,” Princess Honey calls out and left after a golden glow, is Chloe Bourgois.

            The only two good ones from the Paris class. The girl hurt beyond all reason and her worried friend. They’re two of Paris’s heroes.

            “Explain,” Batman growls. He’s really worried now.

~.~

            Now I’ve done it. For the first time ever, I gave up my identity without even transforming. Where’s Bunnix when you need her? I look to the vigilante’s, who I now know to be the Wayne’s, and try to hold on to my Ladybug persona even as regular old Marinette.

            “I did win the contest by honest means, and I did so without any ulterior motives. But when I realized I was actually coming here, I figured I could kill two birds with one stone. I could get out of Paris and it’s emotional terrorism, and I could ask for help from someone who is better and more experienced with detective work than I am,” I start the explanations.

            “I’ve been helping to cover for her when she needs to portal back to Paris to stop an akuma attack since there’s never been a great moment for us both to go,” Chloe shrugs and adds her two cents.

            “So, when you were already beaten and battered enough to cause concern for the nurse, you somehow slipped out of the Limo, in front of me and Kent, and went and fought another Akuma getting even more injured. Only to secretly find your way back in and be so utterly broken and battered that you passed out from the pain during testing at the hospital,” Damian, or Robin I guess right now, states more than asks.

            “Um, yeah,” I blush at the way he put it. It sounds bad when you word it like that.

            “I’m passed whelmed and straight into overwhelmed now,” Dick, or Nightwing I suppose, says with a seemingly exasperated look on his face.

            “It’s not that bad. The Miraculous cure heals any real damage from my fights,” I shrug trying to calm down everyone.

            “Except you don’t have a black cat right now to send the damage to the void and therefore you take it all on internally,” Chloe sasses at me.

            “Chloe!” I shriek quietly at that. “That wasn’t something you had to disclose right now.”

            Batman sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose through his cowl. “Let’s head back to the cave. I don’t think any of us can really focus on patrol right now and it’s mostly goons trying to trap us anyway. Oracle, keep us updated if anything is spotted on the camera’s.”

            “Oh, um, I might be able to help with that. I don’t exactly know where the cave you’re referring to is, but if you either give me coordinates or something I should be able to make a portal so we can all go at once and not have to split up and it’ll be faster,” I suggested.

            “I was unaware that portals was a power of Ladybug’s,’’ Damian states.

            “It’s not, but I have the Horse Miraculous with me so I can get back to Paris when needed. Either give me a person to focus on or coordinates and we can get there quickly as soon as I merge the miraculous. Tikki, Spots On!” I call out and turn into Ladybug again. Putting on the sunglasses another time I merge the miraculous and turn to Batman.

            “You will know where it is if you make the portal?” He asks.

            “Only if you give me coordinates. If there’s a person to focus on, I’ll have no clue where the portal opened up to,” I explain hoping to ease his mind.

            “Focus on Alfred. He should be in the cave right now,” Damian suggests and shrugs when Batman looks at him. “If we bring them the normal way. They’ll just figure out where it is. This way, if you don’t want them to know, you can have them portal back up here after.”

            “Fine, that logic is sound. Lets go,” Batman huffs and I focus on Alfred for a moment.

            “Voyage!” I call and a portal opens with the Bat cave on the other side.

            “Welcome back Sir’s, and welcome to the Bat Cave Miss Marinette and Miss Chloe,” Alfred greets us upon our entrance.

            “This seems to be quite the effective mode of travel,” Batman says before gesturing to a couple chairs and turning to me and Chloe. “Please sit. I have a feeling there will be a lot to cover. Since you’ve figured out our identities I suppose there’s no reason to keep up masks and formalities.” Bruce removes his Cowl and the rest remove their Domino masks.

            “Tikki Spots off,” I call and allow myself to be just plain Marinette. “If it makes you feel any better it wasn’t anything any of you did that allowed me to figure out who you are. I can explain more as we go into detail about the situation.”

            “I’d appreciate that,” Bruce and the rest of the bats sit at the table with me and Chloe. Damian sits on my other side, with Dick and Tim sitting by Bruce.

            “Tea anyone?” Alfred offers with a rolling cart that has tea and treats to go with it. We all nod and I take that opportunity to collect myself.

            “I know all of you are at least some what aware of the situation going on in Paris from your interactions with my class. But how about I start at the beginning. The cause of all of this is the power of the Miraculous. Magical Jewels that are inhabited by what are known as Kwamii, who are basically tiny gods. This is Tikki, she is the Kwamii of Creation. One of the most powerful Kwamii to exist as she was formed by the concept of creation. However you cannot have creation without destruction. I’d introduce you to Plagg but he’s fallen into a deep slumber after I had to remove him from his holder. He knew it was the right thing to do, but he did really care about Chat Noir,” I look down and Chloe places her hand on my shoulder.

            “The problem with being a strong Miraculous like creation or destruction is being an imperfect holder can come with dire consequences after long enough. You’ve seen them first hand. The way he becomes a little obsessive and possessive. Adrien used to be the best person I knew, well aside from Mari, but the Miraculous of destruction corrupted him after years of use. He only lasted as long as he did because he was a higher compatibility. Most would only last a year before reaching that corruption level. Any longer and he might have switched sides,” Chloe looks down as well. Missing her oldest friend. My turn to support her.

            “Hey, give it time. The corruption should fade,” I tuck a lock of hair behind her ear and we share weak smiles.

            “Wait that creep of a kid was your original partner?!” Dick exclaims.

            “Like Chloe said, he wasn’t always that way. There was a time he put others first and really wanted to be a hero but the Cat Miraculous has a way of corrupting you, as many dark things do. He fell in love with Ladybug when we first got our Miraculous, that love became the source of his corruption over time. Eventually flirting with me took priority over saving Paris, or even helping me in a fight. Team Miraculous grew because of that. Back when we first got our Miraculous, the Guardian of the Miraculous found the best partners for the Miraculous that he could. People with strong hearts, a sense of justice, and a desire for good, but also who were compatible with the Miraculous he was granting. I was a perfect match for Ladybug, but Adrien was the closest he had for the Cat Miraculous of Destruction. One cannot be in circulation without the other. Not only will there be consequences for the Miraculous holder, but it can also cause an imbalance in the world. Sadly, we lost the Master a few years ago and I became the new Guardian of the Miraculous. As such, I have been looking for the right match for Plagg while waiting as long as I could to remove him from Adrien’s possession. Sadly, I ran out of time and now have no choice but to have Ladybug without a Chat Noir,” I continue our explanation.

            “How old were you when you became the Guardian of the Miraculous?” Bruce asked me. I can’t be sure, but he almost seems pained.

            “I was 14 when, ahem, Master Fu gave me Guardianship over the Miraculous. Though the Order of the Guardians were less than pleased by my appointment upon their restoration from an incident prior to my installment as Ladybug. They believed me incapable of being a good guardian for a long time until I proved myself. Now they basically leave me alone. Took a while though,” I shrug. “Old men and their old ideals. What can you do?”

            “They shouldn’t have left you alone. I’m aware you are competent, don’t get me wrong, but you are still young. The fact that you’ve been fighting, practically unguided as a child up until now is abhorrent to me. You’ve done amazing, but no child should take on the weight of the world. Especially not as young as you were when you took up this Mantle. How long did you have this Master Fu guiding you?” Bruce asks and I have to blink at the concern. Outside of Maman and Papa I’m not used to adults showing this much worry about me. And even then, they believe me capable enough to travel Paris on my own with an emotional terrorist on the rampage for the last 4 years.

            “Uhm, well I didn’t know about him for like the first 3 months of being active and then the Miracle Queen incident happened about a year after I first got my Miraculous so…like 7 months?” I respond. “And I was the only one that worked directly with him to hide the identity of the Guardian as best as we could. Sadly that was no longer and option when Miracle Queen happened and to save the Miraculous, I was named Guardian. Master Fu then lost all his memories and could no longer help me. He’s happy now though and we’re doing okay. Our biggest struggle is finding Hawkmoth so we can finally end this. We keep managing to avoid worst case scenario thanks to Bunnix’s ability to come and warn us to change something so the timeline will adjust and avoid the cause and effect of said worse case scenario.”

            “Let’s get back on track. I feel we ended up on a bit of a tangent. You said the Miraculous are jewels housing these tiny gods, and that you are now their guardian but we still don’t know much else about these jewels nor why they have anything to do with this other than you use them,” Tim pulls our focus.

            “Right. To be frank I am the Guardian of one box of the Miraculous. There are countless others with their own guardians that luckily aren’t currently in play. But back to the beginning. Tim is right. Each of the Miraculous hold a Kwamii of some base concept. Tikki the Kwamii of Creation, Plagg the Kwamii of Destruction, Trixx the Kwamii of Illusion, Wayzz the Kwamii of Protection, Pollen the Kwamii of Subjugation, Duusu the Kwamii of Emotion, Nooroo the Kwamii of Transmission, Sazz the Kwamii of Intuition, Kaalki the Kwamii of Migration, Longg the Kwamii of Perfection, Xuppu the Kwamii of Derision, Mullo the Kwamii of Multiplication, Daizzi the Kwamii of Jubilation, Roaar the Kwamii of Elation, Barkk the Kwamii of Adoration, Orikko the Kwamii of Pretension, Ziggy the Kwamii of Passion, Stompp the Kwamii of Determination, and Fluff the Kwamii of Evolution. These Kwamii’s hold dominion over their respective concept with a power to show case it that can be passed on to their Miraculous holders. In my case I can create what I need with my Lucky Charm, for Chloe she can paralyze her opponents, and it goes on from there. Two of these Miraculous have been stuck in the hands of Hawkmoth for a long time. Duusu the Kwamii of Emotion and Nooroo the Kwamii of Transmission. Nooroo is Hawkmoth’s primary Miraculous that he uses and grants him the ability to transmit powers to those with strong negative emotions to do his bidding, he does get a small amount of control over those akumatized victims. Duusu was originally the Miraculous of Mayura, Hawkmoth’s partner, however up until recently it was damaged so I believe Mayura had to retire due to this. Duusu grants it’s holder the ability to imbue an object with their emotion granting it some semblance of sentience and power and the holder control over the sentimonster. Through these powers Paris has been terrorized for the last four years. I have the Chinese Zodiac box which is ruled by Creation and Destruction. They balance each other and due to their level of power, when brought together and used by the same person, can grant the user any wish they desire but at a great cost. This wish is what Hawkmoth is after. Sadly, no matter what his wish is, I cannot allow him to get his hands on the Miraculous as it would end the world as we know it. The world would literally be destroyed and rebuilt to reflect his wish, and even after that there would still be a cost as everything must be balanced. Should he wish to revive a loved one, someone else would have to die. Should he wish for eternal youth, there would be something put in place to balance that out such as affecting ones sanity or making it conditional upon access to the source it created. No matter what the wish is, there is an equal cost after the world is lost. The last person to successfully make a wish went by the name of Ra’s Al Ghul,” I pause to collect myself just as everyone exclaimed.

            “My grandfather made a wish?! When?!” Damian exclaimed.

            “Of course the sick bastard was the last one to end the world as we know it!” Tim shouts and throws his hands up.

            “Seriously, Ra’s?!” Dick questions.

            Bruce just made a surprised noise. I decided to focus on Damian. “Your Grandfather?!” I ask him and he huffs.

            “On my mother’s side. He leads a shadow organization to this day that I was raised in until I was 10,” Damian leans back in his chair and crosses his arms.

            “Well that makes sense. His wish was for the ability to cure all ills, even death. It created something called the Lazarus Pits. Through creation magic it heals anything, even death, but for balance the destruction magic creates a toll. Some lose sanity, some become dependent on the water, some lose pieces of their souls. It does make sense that he is still around if he kept near his pools of Lazarus water. That wish was made around 500 years ago,” I inform them.

            “Finally, a more accurate estimate of his age!” Tim takes down a note and grins before turning back to me. “Please do continue. You were at why it’s bad for a wish to be made.”

            “Uh…right,” I was about to continue before Chloe jumped in.

            “Hold on, are we going to seriously gloss over the fact that the last sicko to end the world as we know it, is directly related to dark and broody over here?” She asks.

            “Is there something more to comment on? He is the father of my mother. He raised me to be a killer and eventually take over for him should he ever not make it to the Lazarus Pits for healing or revival. I ended up here in Gotham when I was 10 and Father taught me the correct path ever since. That’s all there is to it,” Damian states plainly, almost completely without emotion.

            Bruce sighs. “Damian’s mother and her family tend to be sensitive topics in this house. Most of our family has been hurt by them in some way or another.”

            “I finally got us into therapy to help with all the trauma this family has gone through and continues to go through. It was like pulling teeth to get everyone to agree,” Dick adds on.

            “Chloe, let’s leave it for now. They can tell us more later if we need to know or if they want to. Now, allow me to continue. I still have dress patterns to make,” I turn back to the entire table. “Luckily, I’ve been able to keep both Miraculous out of Hawkmoths hands. Though it’s dangerous that I have to hold onto the Cat Miraculous right now instead of it’s rightful holder. I’ve lost Miraculous before from the Mircale Box being connected to my Yoyo. That being said, after some time we got them back and I learned a valuable lesson. Be extra careful who you grant a Miraculous to. Now I try to only grant them to people I can absolutely trust and know 100% who they are at the time. Also, preferably only true holders. I grant permanent holder status to the people I can continue to trust and are true holders like me and Chloe. A Kwamii knows their true holder of each generation, they can sense it. And with time, so can the guardian. Guardians gain the ability to see souls and see if they are compatible with any Miraculous. Speaking of, Alfed, when did you hold Duusu?” I ask the older Butler who turns to me with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.

            “I was wondering if I had been caught. It was during the last world war. Duusu was my partner. Sadly we lost him somewhere in Paris at the end of the war. That must be how your Hawkmoth got his hands on him. Most detestable making such a pure soul commit such evil. And I can only imagine poor Nooroo being his partner. Neither were designed for such things,” Alfred answers. Bruce and his sons all looked shocked. “You should know by now that there’s always more that you don’t know as of yet boys. Pick up your jaws and let Miss Marinette continue. I’m sure there’s more.”

            I giggle and then continue. “That is also how I recognized Damian. After spending so much time with him I’ve kinda memorized the look of his soul. I have my own theories regarding it that I look forward to confirming by the way. But that wasn’t a Ladybug power, it was a Guardian power. That being said, Damain didn’t exactly act that differently from usual either. But that wouldn’t be all it takes to give away an identity usually.” I shrug. “Any questions yet?”

            “Plenty. Mostly this is all overwhelming but it’s also better to get it all at once. Is there any way for us normal people to identify a true miraculous holder? That way maybe we can help you find the new Cat holder,” Tim starts.

            “Kinda. Not before they’re a holder though. After enough time, a true holder will develop marks on their body, kinda like tattoos. These tattoos will glow with power at times. Here, I’m wearing a sports bra so I’ll show you what I can,” I turn around and take my shirt off. The marks softly glowing to make them more obvious. It was a bitch when I first got them and was learning how to control the glow. The marks resemble a mandala a bit with certain shapes but the biggest and most noticeable shapes are the wings across my shoulders. Everything else almost resemble pieces of the yin-yang symbol with lots of dots representing a ladybug. “Each mark is individual to the Miraculous and it’s holder, but they’ll all be similar in regards to each Miraculous. I have wings and dots for Ladybug, as will any True Ladybug holder, but the actual design is unique to me.” I put my shirt back on and sit down.

            “That was beautiful Marinette,” Damian comments with awe in his voice.

            “Thank you Damian. Chloe has one too. Sadly this is the only way to find a True holder without the Kwamii or the ability to see souls. I appreciate the thought though,” I smile at Tim.

            “Right. Then how can we help?” Tim asks, blushing a little.

            “I’m not enough of a detective to figure out who Hawkmoth is so I can finally put an end to this. I know he’s in Paris because there’s a distance limit on his power, especially for controlling his akumatized victims. We discovered that a few years ago due to a train themed akuma that took off for space and got outside of the range. It took off on it’s own when it had no tether to Hawkmoth anymore,” I explain. “I feel like I’ve checked all the likely candidates and must be missing something. Until we find him, Hawkmoth has the upper hand. As such he has become rather dangerous and confident that he can wear us down. Sadly, he was partly correct. Without a Cat holder I can’t hold on much longer.” I sigh. “Chloe wasn’t exaggerating earlier. Without the Cat to take the damage from my Miraculous cure, I take on everything. The more deaths, the worse it is. The Cat Miraculous absorbs distruction, almost like it powers him up instead of harming him. A true holder can turn this into power upgrades and getting better with his Miraculous, or redirect it to the void for safe keeping until he can make use of it. A regular holder however just holds onto it until it begins to damage him too. A true holder’s suit upgrades as they improve and become one with their Miraculous and grow as a person, without the holder thinking about it. A regular holder has to put in hours of effort to change his appearance through grueling mental exercises and focus. A true holder can start to use their power more than once and have longer before detransforming. A regular holder can only use it once and gets five minutes before their Miraculous detransforms them, fifteen minutes for adults unless it’s being used for evil purposes. Sadly, using your Miraculous for evil, negates the safety features of power use limits and time limits. It’s one of the things that makes it harder to find Hawkmoth and puts us at a greater risk.”

            “Wow, I can see the benefits of being a true holder then,” Dick comments, appearing stunned. “Any ideas on who your partner might be? I don’t like you continuing to fight at such a disadvantage. As great as your team is, it sounds like you NEED a Cat Miraculous holder.”

            “Yeah, I…I have an idea but I’m still new and need Plagg to wake up to confirm for me. Speaking of, do you have any camembert? It’s his preference. Honestly any cheese, the stinkier the better,” I giggle at the end. “Hopefully it can wake him up a bit.”

            “That can be arranged,” Alfred smiles and walks off.

            “While he’s working on that. How about we discuss how to help you find your Hawkmoth?” Bruce suggests.

            “That would be great, thank you,” I smile at him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

@GothamZone: Anyone else see the new brightly colored teenagers jumping on rooftops in Gotham tonight? I swear, they don’t look like any Bats or Birds I know. #newvigilantes #maybe #polkadots #yellowandstriped #nobatinsight

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|              @GCNative: OH! I knew I wasn’t crazy! Yeah I saw them! I swear they almost looked bug themed. #brightlycolored #newvigilantes #redwithpolkadots #yellowandstriped #notabatinsight

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|                           @GothamGoon: Can confirm. And yes they are bug themed. Ouch. They saved Nightwing and Red Robin when we cornered them. They have shields of some kind and might be metas. Honestly hope Bats doesn’t let them stay. One managed to sick bees on us. #literalbees #reallybrightcolors #redwithpolkadots #yellowandstriped

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|                                       @SunshineFan26: Okay, but I’ve been deep diving into our Sunshine and therefore Paris where she comes from and these two brightly colored heroes over there match the description you guys are giving. Are these them? *Picture of Team Miraculous* #Parisgotsomeshithappening #Parisheroes #Ladybug #PrincessHoney #sunshineofgotham #justiceforsunshine

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|                                                    @Lovelylock58: Ugh, look I love our Sunshine of Gotham as much as the next Gothamite but her fandom is becoming worse than the Supernatural fandom with their memes. At least one person always jumps on an unrelated thread and throws her in there. Like, not everything is about her. Can we not tie the scary or bad to our lovely Sunshine unless it happened to her? #sunshinefandom #gothamisgotham #vigilanteornot #thatinfoaboutsunshineiscoolthough #justiceforsunshine #gothambats

Chapter Text

            “One thing I’ve considered is bringing one of you to Paris with us next time we’re under attack and see if you notice something or can start to build an idea as to what’s going on where. Find patterns and things that may be suspicious,” I suggest to the group as we start to discuss where the Bats might be able to help.

            “Hn,” Bruce starts with a grunt, he seems to do that a lot. Everyone else turns to him and await something further to indicate what he’s thinking.

            “B, the grunt needs more. Most of us may be able to decipher your near monotone grunting but all we could gather from that one is that you both agree and disagree. Also Marinette and Chloe had no idea what the grunt meant,” Dick announces, making Bruce look up at him. “You need to use your words B.”

            Bruce clears his throat before speaking. “Right, sorry, force of habit. I do think having some new and outside eyes may help but I also believe we should have more than one of us there and we should go when the city isn’t in danger to allow for some recon before hand. If we know what it’s like when everyone is calm and safe, then we’ll spot differences easier than we would otherwise when an attack is occurring. And with more of us we can not only cover more ground but also more eyes can be helpful.”

            “That makes sense, but it would have to be people who don’t give in to negative emotions easily. I don’t think the whole group of Bats is a good idea. As it is, I was hesitant to reach out for help at all. Paris hasn’t reached out to the Justice League for a reason, no one wants to see an akumatized Superman or Green Lantern. To be honest, we don’t want to see an akumatized bat either but I figure you not only had the best control over your emotions in the Justice League but also your expertise in being a detective is exactly what we are in need of,” I attempt to explain why I feel less is more.

            “Hn. Me, Tim, Damian, and Cass are probably the best ones for this then. I can see your reasoning. While the likelihood of one of the members of the Justice League falling victim to Hawkmoth is low, they can be emotional,” Bruce agrees with me and continues his suggestions.

            “I’m more surprised you think tall dark and brooding is more in control than his robot colleague Red Tornado. Don’t get me wrong, he’s very in control of his emotions but still,” Dick smirks finding it funny.

            “Well considering a robot with AI has been akumatized, let’s just say I don’t trust it. If a new emotion crops up it tends to spin out of control for a bit. Markov has been an issue more than once,” I clarify and then everyone stares at me dumbfounded. “What?”

            “You know a robot with it’s own AI?” Tim asks in astonishment.

            “Well yeah, Max made him. Markov is around a lot. Wouldn’t be surprised if Max is hiding him in his hotel room and his bag. He’s done it before. The two are inseparable,” I shrug and they all seem more shocked.

            “That Max kid made an AI robot?!” Tim exclaimed.

            “Yeah, Max is kinda a genius. I wasn’t kidding when I said they all have things that make them special. It’s not just platitudes. But Lila has sunk her claws in deep and they all can be a bit naïve despite dealing with so much back home. I mean, crime practically stopped back home while we were all in middle school after all this began. No one wants to be or cause the next Akuma victim,” I explain how it was so easy for them to fall for Lila.

            “Trust me, it sucks on both counts. I would know,” Chloe says while looking down. I place my hand on her arm and give her a gentle smile.

            “This is why despite becoming teenagers, they’re all still incredibly naïve. The crime most people need to look for is all but gone. They weren’t taught to be afraid of people who could hurt them or good liars who might trick them because they only had to worry about Akuma’s. It’s not an excuse but it is a reason,” I finish my explanation.

            “I still don’t like them,” Damian grumbles.

            “Hey, I’m with you. Full forgiveness might be outside my wheelhouse in the end. Especially with some of them who take it too far. They are still old enough to know right from wrong. Kids and teenagers are sadly some of the most frequent victims though because they have less restraint and stronger emotions since they’re still developing and growing up,” I sooth Damian’s grumble about my classmates, hoping that sword stays safely in this cave when not on patrol.

            “The Camembert you asked for Miss Marinette,” Alfred announces as he steps up to me with a literal silver plater with a dome over it. When he takes it off, we’re all hit by the terrible smell of Camembert cheese.

            “Thanks Alfred. Hopefully this will do the trick,” I smile at him and reach for my purse where you can find a sleeping Plagg. I gently pulled him out, Tikki placing her forehead against his gently and affectionately. She’s missed her partner. And they didn’t get to see each other much to begin with. I hold Plagg in one hand and grab a wedge of cheese with the other to start waving it near his face. “Plagg, it’s time you wake up and eat something. Look, we even got your favorite! Stinky Camembert. I know you miss him, I do too, but we all need you Plagg.”

            “I need you,” Tikki emphasizes the ‘I’ in her statement. Emotion filling her voice for her partner.

            Plagg stirs. “Ugh, can’t a cat get some beauty sleep around here. Quit your yapping, I’m up.” He sniffs. “Ooo, Camembert. I don’t mind if I do.”

            “PLAGG!” me, Tikki, Chloe, and Pollen all shout and smile, seeing him finally up and about.

            “It’s about time you jerk,” Tikki announces.

            “Yeah, besides no amount of beauty sleep will help with that mug of yours,” Chloe smirks with a tear in her eyes as Pollen simply smiles at him.

            “Glad to have you back Plagg. Please, go ahead and eat. We can talk when you’re done,” I smile at him and he gives me one back.

            He moves to eat before pausing and quickly rushing up and hugging my cheek. “Thanks for saving him Ladybug.”

            “Anytime Plagg. Anytime,” I smile and he rushes to eat his fill of cheese.

            “Jeez, how can something that small eat so much?” Tim asks in amazement.

            “Heh, Plagg has a stomach that’s bigger than he is I swear. But most Kwamii can eat a lot at times. They are magical beings so laws of physics don’t really apply to them,” I explain but Plagg pauses noticing his surroundings for the first time.

            “Uh…Marinette…who are all these people and where are we?” Plagg asks.

            “These are the Bats and Birds of Gotham and we’re in their Bat Cave,” I smile at him a bit and he gasps.

            “AH! No way! Oh Adrien would be so jealous! Ever since he learned about heroes from Alya he’s been mildly obsessed. I gotta…oh wait,” Plagg loses the spark he just had and seems to deflate. Tikki hurries to his side.

            “I know Plagg. I miss him too. You’ve not been out too long, a while but not too long. So, he’s still not back to the Adrien you know. Hopefully you’ll get to see his bright soul again someday. Speaking of, Plagg, I know you just woke up, but…” I trail off. Hesitating to bring it up.

            “But you think you might have found my true holder. I get it Marinette. I want to find them too. Ladybug needs her partner. A true partner. I’ll let you know if I sense them nearby. But right now I, I just want to wait a little bit longer. I’ll focus soon. Before we leave this cave, promise, but…to me, I just lost him,” Plagg announces.

            “I know Plagg. Take your time. I won’t grant your miraculous to anyone but the true holder,” I tell him and he looks up at me in shock.

            “No! Even if it’s just a high compatibility you have to give me to someone! You can’t keep absorbing damage on your own!” Plagg looks worried about me and I give him a smile.

            “Plagg, I wouldn’t be a good Guardian if I was willing to give you to just anyone. I can wait till we find your true holder. I’m strong, I can handle it a bit longer,” I reassure him and he sighs.

            “Fine, I’ll focus just give me a minute. I can’t let you go and sacrifice yourself like this. You’re one of Sugarcube’s favorite holders yet,” Plagg winks at me and takes on his playful persona. He pauses and takes a deep breath, closing his eyes. He’s clearly focused on something. After about a minute Plagg’s eyes fly open. “I sense him! I sense him! Marinette he’s close! He’s really close! He’s! He’s right there!”

                                                                                                                      ~.~

            He’s pointing at me. The little cat themed mini god is pointing at me. My eyes widen in shock. Marinette just seems to smile. Like she expected this or is even pleased by this turn of events. But how can that be? Not only am I apparently the grandson of the last person to successfully use the miraculous to make a wish that ended up ending the world only for it to be reformed to fit the wish, but I’m also a killer. I have killed many people growing up, under the direction of my grandfather but still. I have much to atone for, there is no way I am a true holder of such a strong power that is meant to help fight against this evil bastard who is terrorizing Paris. There must be a mistake. I look around and I even move, but the pointing at me remains. There is no question who this Kwamii is talking about. I am Robin though. A vigilante that works alongside THE Batman. I have been learning from him for years now. Doing my best to remove the red from my ledger the best I can. But this little cat Kwamii wants me to wear it’s miraculous and be a powered hero. Something I was taught is almost taking a shortcut when it comes to strength. I have trained my whole life to be able to confidently say I could fight anyone in the Justice League and have a fair shot at beating them. I can’t be this Kwamii’s holder. From what I can tell, they are pure spirits, and I am anything but.

            “I thought so. Thank you for confirming for me Plagg,” Marinette pulls him gently to her cheek before stepping over to me. “I could see the connection you had to destruction in your soul. While this is the easiest power to be corrupted by, it’s harder to corrupt someone who is already corrupted. You have what it takes to be my partner. The new Chat Noir. Of course you can choose a different name, that’s just what the last ring holder chose.”

            Marinette explains it to me but I still can’t believe it. I shake my head. “There must be a mistake. I can’t be. I-I’m not a good enough person.” Marinette looks at me in shock when I say that.

            “Dames, do you really believe that? I thought we got passed that a while ago. You’re not a bad person. You did bad things cause you were not only taught that they were the right thing to do but also that you had to. And now you’re doing what you can to make it right,” Richard comes up to me and places a hand on my shoulder from behind.

            “You have made a lot of progress Damian. And you know that you don’t want to kill again. That makes you just as good a person as any of us Son,” Father chimes in from the other side.

            “Damian, I may not know everything that’s happened in your past. But I do know one thing, you have been a good person the entire time I’ve known you. You may be bristly and a little stand offish at times. But that doesn’t mean you’re not a good person. From the first day we met you were getting mad on my behalf. Not just anyone would be angry for another person. I know you’re right for the role. And your experience only means we don’t need to train you as much. Please be my partner and join Team Miraculous,” Marinette asks me and I look into her bluebell eyes and start to crack. This girl has truly become a weakness for me. One I don’t want to lose.

            “Fine, but I expect it to be taken the moment I even put a speck of doubt in your mind. And I don’t intend to give up Robin completely. But I will accept this mantle, at least for now,” I cross my arms and look away. I give in to her far too easily.

            “Damian, the same rules apply. If you’re hurt, you’re benched, understand?” Father demands.

            “You don’t have to worry about that. At least not too much. As long as I cast my lucky charm during the battle, I can cast Miraculous Ladybug and cure all injuries and even death,” Marinette tells us casually.

            “Marinette, while I appreciate the reassurance you did just recently confirm that doing so can cause you immense damage as well,” Father reasons to try and get Marinette to not take all that upon herself.

            “But now that Damian is willing to be my partner I can perform Miraculous Ladybug without worrying about taking on any of that damage myself. Since he’s a true holder he can send it to the void so no one will get hurt by it,” Marinette smiles. “So please don’t worry too much about Damian, I’ll keep him as safe as I can and make sure any injuries he does get will be gone before he gets home.”

            “That’s a lot to take upon yourself Marinette,” I try to join father in encouraging her to lean upon others some.

            “We’ve been telling her that for a while now. She won’t listen to anyone. She’s always taken too much upon herself. If someone asks something of her she’ll always say yes, even if it stretches her thin. She’ll help with banners for friends, while needing to help with her parents bakery, planning a picnic, and still being Ladybug between it all. Now on top of everything she already does, she’s the guardian of the Miraculous, her box anyway, and dealing with Lila. She is not one who shares the burden with others,” Bourgois states, clearly annoyed with this recurring problem.

            “Chloe!” Marinette exclaims while her face and the tips of her ears take on a gentle rosy hue.

            “What? It’s the truth,” Bourgois tosses her hair over her shoulder at this.

            “Like Damian said, that’s a lot to take upon yourself. Marinette you came here to get some help. While I will defer to you and your team in your city as no one knows your city or it’s villain better, I will still do my best to take some of the burden from you,” Father tries to offer assistance for more.

            “Thank you. I admit I’m not used to having someone other than my friends trying to help me with this,” Marinette blushes at her admission.

            “Well if that teacher is anything to go off of, I’m not too surprised. But your parents haven’t tried to help either?” Richard asks, sympathy in his voice.

            “Oh, no! Nothing like that. Maman and Papa love me so very much, but I haven’t told them I’m Ladybug. They’d probably try to stop me and the less people who know, the better in the long run. If someone who knows gets akumatized then they can go straight after my civilian identity. I’m a bit less worried about all of you cause honestly most of you won’t be in Paris anyway and those who will have promised to keep their emotions under control,” Marinette hurries to tell us all that her parents are not at fault.

            “What about whoever gave you these magical jewels in the first place? Master Fu you called him. You said you didn’t even know who he was for the first 3 months of being active. And that ultimately you only had about 9 months of guidance. Why would he give you these jewels without any guidance on what to do? He never should have left this to children alone in the first place,” Father speaks up against this Master Fu once more.

            “He did his best. It was safer for us not to know who he is. And I was the true holder of this generation for the Ladybug miraculous. We didn’t start including other heroes until after I met him because Tikki got sick. But our Kwamii’s were able to give us crash courses on what to do. Of course Chat Noir didn’t take the time to listen to his but he wasn’t the true holder of the Cat Miraculous anyway,” Marinette defends.

            “Even though I’ve been at this since I was 8, Bruce was there with me every step of the way. The danger of an 8 year old knowing who he is was definitely a dangerous thing but it was more dangerous to let me be on my own. He knew if he didn’t train me and help me, that I would have gone off on my own and gotten myself killed. I know plenty of heroes who started young, but they all had someone older than them who taught them, guided them, and protected them as they went and learned what they were doing. No child should be expected to figure out how to be a hero on their own,” Richard spoke up.

            “Are we counting Captain Marvel?” Drake asks as a follow up to Richard.

            “He had a mentor that wasn’t involved in the hero work, but he also had the wisdom of Soloman to help guide him easier. Plus he does hero work as an adult,” Richard shrugs.

            “Yeah, but he keeps his kid mind. Getting better as he ages though and is definitely a powerhouse of the League these days. Arguably adults failed him too though,” Todd adds in.

            “None the less, no responsible adult would give a child a path to heroism without guidance and without helping to make sure they survive and avoid getting hurt as much as possible,” Father finishes off their discussion on responsible mentors. “I may not have powers, and I may not know much about these Miraculous, but I can learn quick and I have experience in major fights. I’d rather you share your burden with me than have you continue this on your own.”

            “I appreciate the concern, really, but there isn’t much you can do. You may know how to fight, but the miraculous cause incredible things to occur. And absolutely devastating things as well. You said you’ll take my lead in my city. That’s all I’m asking of you. Damian,” Marinette brokers no further argument with my father before turning to me, a small smile but a serious tone and expression. She holds out a small Chinese decorated jewelry box. “This is the Cat Miraculous of Destruction. Will you accept this mantle and wear the ring of the Cat Miraculous, choosing to join team Miraculous in its fight against Hawkmoth?”

            I take a deep breath and match the seriousness in her tone. “I accept the mantle of the Miraculous of Destruction.” I take the box from her and open in up.

            “Greeaaat! I’m Plaag, the Kwamii of Destruction. To use your Miraculous you’ll put on your ring and say ‘Plagg, Claws Out’ which will start the transformation into the hero identity you get to rock with me,” the small cat like Kwamii informs me as I place the ring on my finger.

            “Understood. What other information do I need to know?” I ask and the Kwamii looks up at me with mild shock.

            “I forgot what it’s like to have someone serious hold my Miraculous. I end up with a lot of impulsive ones,” the Kwamii tells me. “Right well there’s plenty. For example, you activate your special power with the activation phrase of ‘Cataclysm’ this will trigger the power of destruction in your dominant hand and anything you touch while it is active will crumble to dust. Destruction is the name of the game. You’re secondary power is ‘Miraculous Cat’, it pairs with the ‘Miraculous Ladybug’ that Ladybug gets access to. It allows you to absorb the destruction that Ladybug fixes with her powers. Technically this is a passive power as any holder of my miraculous automatically absorbs the destruction that Sugar cube fixes. However, as a true holder you can actively activate it and Ladybug will feel the burden less during and after her use of ‘Miraculous Ladybug’, this is because, unless activated intentionally, the absorption of the damage can take some time, even if the most destructive part is absorbed right away. The third power is to corrupt something, this one is inadvisable to use to say the least. But as I am Sugar cube’s equal opposite, since she can give her holder’s the ability to purify something, I give you the ability to corrupt something. As you grow with me, so will your powers. Only the yin and yang of the miraculous get so much more in the way of powers. But most holders gain connection with their associated animal or creature. There’s a manual in whatever weapon you end up with. You’ll find it in a hidden screen. Your weapon will act as a phone if needed as well. Your Miraculous will flash if you have a message. That’s the basics.”

            “I feel as though you explained everything and nothing at the same time,” I scowl.

            “Unfortunately, that’s Plagg for you. At least you tried to learn what you’re supposed to. When Chat Noir first got the Cat Miraculous he just immediately jumped in without learning anything first. But Plagg is right, there is a manual in your weapon when you have questions. You can also feel free to ask me anything as well. I’ve been at this the longest. While Arashi and Vipere appear to only have been on the scene for a couple years now, they’ve been around a while too, just like Chloe, but they’ve all only been full time for a year or two now. I also have used the Cat Miraculous before, so I have that insight as well. We’re partners now, so I’ll always be there if you need something,” Marinette offers up with a smile.

            “Mari really is the expert of all things Miraculous. Though, I have to say you got a lot more explanation than most of us get. Usually when one of us get a Miraculous for the first time, it’s during an active Akuma attack, so no time for explanations. Just gotta suit up and go,” Bourgois shrugs by way of explanation.

            “I see. Perhaps it would be best to suit up and train a bit with the Miraculous. Allow me to get used to it’s functions and learn any enhancements or limitations it may provide,” I think aloud. Father gives an approving hum before looking for the right place to practice. Not wanting to destroy our cave.

            “There is a quarry that Nightwing has used to train new heroes before. Perhaps that would be a good place to practice. I can also have debris brought in that would not be missed to practice on,” Father announces after bringing up an image on the screen.

            “Oh yeah, I remember that place. I did an ambush exercise our first day there and then we continued to practice there cause it could handle the magma based powers of one of them. Should be a good spot. And we know just the junkyard to fill it from. Bet the Titans would be happy to help if it means not getting slammed in training by me again,” Richard smirked.

            “Hn, let’s do that then. Damian, we will arrange for you to practice with the Cat Miraculous starting tomorrow. Hopefully there will be no Akuma attacks between now and then,” Father states.

            “Yeah…we can hope. And if you don’t feel up to it for the next attack, no worries. I’ve gone without a Cat for this long, I can hold out another week or so,” Marinette gives a reassuring smile.

            “Perhaps I should train tonight. I would rather not leave you without the partner that mitigates damage for you,” I state plainly. “I could go straight to a junkyard instead.”

            “I just received a message from Superman, one of his training rooms is available and stocked. None of his kids or him are planning to use it any time soon. That will work better than these other options. Damian, I will take you to the Watchtower for training. Tim I want you on information gathering. If anyone will get through the information blocks, it’s you and Barbara. Dick, I want you to prepare for the eventuality of needing to adjust patrol routes and coverage in the event Damian is not available or one or all of the Paris Team are incapacitated in crossfire. Cass, I want you to prepare anything you think we might need in Paris for our recon missions. Jason, you are too emotional for the Paris mission, as I’m sure you are aware, I want you to focus on Gotham. Assist Dick with finding coverage and the two of you let me know if something major comes up. Stephanie, I want you focused on the Paris students when we can’t. I know that they are well aware of the problems going on, I find it hard to believe none of them know anything,” Father gives out orders.

            “What should we do?” Marinette asks, her head tilted questioningly to the side.

            “I would appreciate it if one of you could help Tim and Cass with information gathering and preparing for our visits to Paris,” Father replies.

            “If it’s alright with you, I think Chloe would be a good fit for that. I would like to go with you and Damian for the training. At least for the beginning of it. Since I know what generally is enhanced and what generally isn’t and I know the abilities of the Cat a bit, I think I could be helpful. Plus, someone needs to be willing to hold onto camembert for Plagg. It’s his favorite,” Marinette puts forth the idea and I look to father to see his opinion.

            “Considering how long you have been at this, I wouldn’t mind bringing you to the Watchtower. If for nothing else but to register you and your team in the tower should you ever need assistance. I’d want to put you in as a priority Alpha for requests for help. But if you can help Damian get used to his new abilities, that should be helpful as well,” Father concedes and we all begin to disperse to the tasks we’ve been given.

~.~

            What city needs this strong of an information blackout? I get that they don’t want to affect tourism, but how have they avoided this information getting out despite the tourism that they are trying to maintain? It’s honestly a bit insane, and risky. Every tourist that doesn’t know about the danger of the emotional terrorist that Paris is dealing with is in danger from not knowing. The UN will have a field day with Paris. I wonder if the main government knows. They must right?!

            “Oracle, you heard B, time to crack those firewalls around Paris. No more questions, time for answers,” I smirk as I sit at the main computer.

            “I might be able to help with that. My daddy is the Mayor of Paris after all. He usually will give me anything I want since Mother dearest hardly spends time with me and he’s a busy politician and businessman,” Chloe pipes up from behind me and I turn to quirk an eyebrow at her. “Here’s my username and password for the Akuma Alert app, it should get you into the Paris mainframe easier. I have a special clearance so I can reach Daddy in an emergency situation.”

            “Thanks. Oracle, I take it you just saw the username and password through my mask?” I ask out loud to Babs.

            “Of course, who do you think you’re talking to RR? You’re biggest stalking competition has always been me,” I can hear her smirk.

            “It wasn’t stalking! When will you people let it go?” I grumble.

            “RR, you were following B and the Robins since you were a kid without their permission and figured out their identities by the time you were, what, 11? If that’s not stalking I don’t know what is. But it was cute and welcomed stalking in the end and that’s all that matters,” Babs laughs.

            “Well, well, well, I’m learning a lot tonight,” Chloe smirks and I groan.

            “Forget you heard anything. Siblings like to tease and exaggerate,” I tell her and focus back on the screen.

            “Oh sure, yeah, that’s all it is,” Chloe’s smirk remains. “Any progress Oracle or should I text my dad?”

            “No reaching out for full access. Not only does it take the fun out of it, but it gives away the game. It’s not exactly a welcomed thing, us snooping around behind firewalls this strong,” I respond before Babs can.

            “RR is right, it’s more fun breaking the firewall than being given access. Plus, I doubt your dad, or the federal government he works under, would appreciate you giving out access to us either,” Babs adds on.

            “Alright. You two can also feel free to ask any questions you may have,” Chloe says as she finds a place to perch on and focus on her nails.

            “Alright, how is Paris maintaining tourism without this getting out?” I ask her.

            “Oh, everything in Paris is on a closed network now. They asked Max to help set it up. Anything filmed or posted in Paris can’t leave Paris unless you have access to the network. It’s almost a little bug that infiltrates your phone when you first get signal in Paris. They might talk about it to their friends but they won’t have proof. Then at customs, a border agent is responsible for giving the spiel about any attacks witnessed should not be talked about outside of Paris and that they will go through all your photos and download the ones that can leave for you from the closed network. That’s best explanation I could give you, Max knows more details. I’m sure if one of you Bats go and ask he’ll happily nerd out all about it,” Chloe explains and I am in awe.

            “Now I kinda wanna recruit this kid. If he can set that up for an entire city, imagine what he could do for Wayne Tech,” I mutter as I continue my hacking.

            “Your friend sounds impressive,” Babs responds herself, clearly impressed which is not easy to do.

            “Not my friend. Used to be Mari-bugs though. No, I…I was his bully until a couple of years ago. I was Marinette’s worst bully back then. But Lila came into the picture and things changed. I learned the error of my ways, found out Mari was Ladybug, and the rest is history. Of course, everyone now thinks Marinette, sweetest girl in the class, most helpful person we’ve ever known, and our everyday Ladybug, is the bully and Lila is the poor victim. Hence everyone is now Mari’s bullies and I’m now somehow her best friend. I don’t deserve her, but she tells me otherwise,” Chloe looks down sadly, holding the perch she’s sitting on with her hand at her sides.

            “I’d say you’re more than worthy of being her friend. At least you are now. I’ve seen how ready you are to fight for your best friend. And how much you care. People can change, you just showed that,” I tell her honestly and she gives me a sad smile.

            “Thanks, but it’s the least I can do. I’ve been bullying her since grade-school just because my daddy makes more money than hers. And cause I was jealous of her. I actually used to wear pants all the time and my hair up to be more like her. But now, I feel comfortable being myself,” Chloe adds on.

            “You look great with your hair down and in skirts. I’m glad you feel more comfortable with yourself now. It seems like Marinette has that effect on people. She seems like a great friend,” Babs says over the computer.

            “Yeah, she really is. The best friend I could’ve asked for. That’s why I’m really glad Damian turned out to be the perfect cat holder. Marinette needs her equal partner. I was getting ready to wear the ring myself if I had to, just to make sure she didn’t end up more hurt. She’s too important to me to let her suffer alone in silence. But I know she’ll always try to lighten the load for everyone else,” Chloe gives a sad smile.

            “Well now she has the Bats, and I don’t know if you noticed, but B is a bit of a control freak and has a soft spot for kids. No way he’s letting her continue like she has been. She has help now whether she likes it or not,” I reassure her. We all like Marinette. None of us want to see her suffer.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

@RedRobinRobinOfficial: To those pointing out the bug themed hero’s from earlier in the night, yes they are from Paris. Yes, the yellow one sicked bee’s on some goons that cornered me and @NightwingOfficial. Yes, they have powers, however they’re not Meta’s. Please leave this to the Bats and Birds of Gotham as we have been asked for help by them and intend to give it.

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|           @NightwingOfficial: @RedRobinRobinOfficial is right. Please leave this to us. There are some serious things going on in Paris and we intend to help their heroes to the best of our ability. In other news, they are both very sweet girls that can and will kick your butts. I hope to have them on patrol with us sometimes so we can see what we’re working with.

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|                       @FirstBatGirlOfficial: Both me and @RedRobinRobinOfficial are working on more information on the situation. Please follow this thread for updates. Our official stance on the Paris situation is coming soon. Presently the official stance on the Paris Heroes are that they truly do want what’s best for everyone and are trustworthy. If they join the Bats and Birds on some patrols, please don’t be afraid to call out to them for help like you would to any of us.

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|                                   @RedHoodOfficial: ATTENTION CRIME ALLEY!! My official stance is these Paris Heroes are great and they are @SwordRobinOfficial age. DO NOT FUCK WITH THEM OR I’LL SHOOT YOUR HEADS OFF!!

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|                                               @BatmanOfficial: The official stance of taking of lives as vigilante’s has not changed, I will not allow Red Hood to kill anyone. That being said, our official stance on the Paris Heroes is that they will be good allies and I intend to invite them to work with the Justice League through either the Titans or Teen Titans. Our official stance on the Paris Situation is that I recommend all Gothamites to avoid travel to Paris, France at this time. There is an emotional terrorist present in the city and whether you yourself want to partake in his machinations or not, if you experience negative emotions you have a high risk of being forced to be involved or an even higher risk of getting caught up in an attack. For your safety, stay away until the situation can be resolved.