Chapter Text
At the Gotham Tower Hotel, Stephanie stood in the hotel lobby, her arms crossed and her foot tapping in annoyance.
She called Mlle. Bustier at 6 a.m. and told her to get the class packed and to the lobby as quickly as possible. The French teacher sputtered in confusion at the sudden request. Stephanie simply told her to do it before hanging up.
It wasn’t until almost seven when the elevator doors opened, letting the French class into the lobby.
“Finally,” Stephanie muttered.
She approached the French class and asked, “This everybody?”
“Everyone except Marinette. I tried going to her floor, but the elevator wouldn’t stop there for some reason. So, I tried calling her, but she hadn’t answered her phone,” Mlle. Bustier replied.
“What’s going on? Why did we suddenly have to get our bags packed? Does it have something to do with Marinette?” Alya asked immediately after her teacher finished speaking.
“I’m sure you all know about the article claiming Marinette is Bruce Wayne’s secret love child, which is why we canceled all the activities yesterday. However, things have continued to escalate and have gotten to a point where we no longer think it’s safe for you to stay in Gotham, so we are sending you back to Paris,” Stephanie explained.
“WHAT!?” The French class exclaimed.
“You can’t do that.”
“That’s totally unfair.”
“Why do we have to go back when it’s all Marinette’s fault?”
“We didn’t do anything.”
“ENOUGH!” Stephanie shouted, cutting off the French class’s complaints and making them take a step back.
She sighed exhaustedly. She took a deep breath before continuing in a calm tone.
“I don’t care if you did anything or not or if you think it’s fair or unfair. You all are getting on a plane and going back to Paris. That’s it. End of story.”
“What about Marinette? How come she isn’t here with us? Why does she get to stay in Gotham?” Alya asked.
Stephanie scowled at the wannabe reporter. The secret vigilante had to remind herself that the French class didn’t know Marinette had been attacked by Joker yet.
The French class was all eating dinner in the restaurant at the time of the attack. The restaurant was about a dozen floors below Marinette’s penthouse suite; combine that with the amazing soundproofing Gotham Tower’s rooms, especially the penthouse suites, there was no way they could have heard the gunfire, much less the struggle itself. In both his civilian and vigilante identities, Bruce got Commissioner Gordan to give the case to Detectives Montoya and Bullock. They were told to keep the attack under wraps for now and were happy to do so. That included not telling Mlle. Bustier about the attack since it was apparent the pictures in the article were from one or more of the students in the class, and the French teacher didn’t seem like the type of person who could keep such a secret.
“Because of the article, Marinette has a target on her back. Every Rogue and criminal in Gotham will want to kidnap her or worse. So, we are arranging alternate transportation for her. But for now, the sooner we get you out of Gotham, the better,” Stephanie replied.
Some of the students gasped at the revelation of Marinette being targeted by the rogues of Gotham.
“As her teacher, I’m not sure how I feel about leaving Marinette behind in such a dangerous city, especially with everything going on,” Mlle. Bustier said.
“Now you care about her?” Stephanie thought to herself, barely able to keep a scowl that would rival Batman’s scowl off her face. However, she couldn’t keep her eyes from narrowing at her.
“We have already cleared it with her parents. Plus, what could you possibly do in this situation? You’re a teacher from France. You don’t know anything about Gotham or its Rogues. You have no sway or power over anything that happens in Gotham like Bruce Wayne does. You have a teacher’s salary, which I don’t know what France’s going rate for a high school teacher is, but if it’s anything like ours, you have no money. You also can’t fight or use guns. There is nothing you can do to protect Marinette. So, let us handle protecting her, and you make our job easier by going back to Paris.” Stephanie replied.
Mlle. Bustier and the rest of the French class were stunned silent.
Stephanie waited several seconds for someone to challenge her before continuing. “Good. Now that that’s settled, there is a bus out back to take you to the airport. There is a flight leaving in about an hour and a half. It’ll be close, but we should be able to get you on it. Let’s go.”
She gestured for the class to follow her as she headed for a door marked “Employee’s only.” The French class scrambled after the blonde. She guided them through the backrooms of the hotel and out a door leading to the street on the opposite side of the entrance to the hotel.
The same bus that had picked them up from the airport was parked outside the door. The bus doors opened the moment Stephanie exited the building. She stepped off to the side and ushered the French class onto the bus.
“Alright, on the bus. No dragging your feet. We’re on a tight schedule here.”
The French class swiftly boarded the bus.
Stephanie boarded the bus after them and sat in the seat closest to the door. The bus driver didn’t wait for her to say anything. He closed the door and got the bus moving.
Stephanie took out her phone and sent a text.
On the bus. Heading to airport
“Got it. I have a visual on the bus,” Signal said through the earpiece in Stephanie’s ear.
He crouched on the ledge of a building across the street. As the bus drove away, he grabbed his grappling hook and followed it.
Inside the bus, Lila, Alya, Nino, Sabrina, Alix, Kim, and Max sat in the back two rows of the bus.
“I can’t believe we have to go back to Paris early because of Marinette,” Alix said.
“Yeah, it sucks,” Kim added, then asked, “You don’t think that Marinette is actually Bruce Wayne’s daughter, do you?”
The question got him odd looks from everyone except Max, who simply adjusted his glasses and said, “While I can’t say for one hundred percent certainty, it’s doubtful that Marinette is Bruce Wayne’s daughter. Based on her parent’s eye colors, she actually has a twenty-five to fifty percent chance that her eyes would be blue. Also, I don’t know if M. Wayne was actually in Paris when the articles say he was Mme. Cheng doesn’t seem like the type of person to cheat. Plus, I doubt she would have attended any events that would put her in contact with M. Wayne at the time. The idea that she is M. Wayne’s daughter is likely made up to spark interest and get more readers.”
“Seriously, don’t they have any journalist integrity?” Alya replied.
“Well, at least everyone knows about Marinette bullying Lila. Now, the school will have to do something about her, right? Maybe they’ll finally expel her,” Alix said cheerfully.
“Yeah, but aren’t you guys worried about Marinette?” Nino asked, “What if she actually gets attacked by a villain? She could wind up seriously hurt or worse. And Ladybug isn’t around to use her Miraculous Cure. She couldn’t even use it since an akuma wouldn’t be involved.”
“Come on, you heard what Max said. Marinette being Bruce Wayne’s daughter was made up to get more readers. It’s not like one of the villains of Gotham would actually believe it. You’re worrying too much, babe,” Alya replied.
“Besides, she would deserve it anyway for everything she did to Lila,” Alix added.
“That’s a bit harsh, Alix,” Lila spoke up for the first time since they boarded the bus. “Despite all the awful things that Marinette has done to me, I think wishing her severely injured or dead is a bit much.”
“Though it would solve my problems with her if she were dead,” Lila added mentally.
“I agree with Lila. As much as I don’t hate Marinette for bullying, I don’t want her dead or anything,” Kim added.
“I guess you’re right,” Alix sighed.
“Thank you for caring about me, though,” Lila smiled and touched Alix’s shoulder.
“Still, I wonder who told the news about Marinette bullying us and gave them the pictures of her with the Waynes. Those pictures definitely came from our trip here,” Lila continued.
“You’re right. I think the picture of her eating at lunch with Mme. Wayne, Dick, and Cassandra. And before you accuse me of anything. No, I didn’t have anything to do with the article. I have the Ladyblog if I want to post an article like that, and Lila told me not to post an article about Marinette’s bullying when I thought about doing it a year ago. Plus, I already uploaded all my photos to the photosharing app Lila set up for us,” Alya said.
“Then who gave the news the picture?” Kim asked.
“It could have been anyone. I gave the link to the app and our album to everyone in our class,” Lila answered.
“Max, is there any way you could track who downloaded the images used in the article?” Alya asked.
“I don’t know,” Max shrugged, “It would depend on if the app tracks who downloads what image. But I would have to hack the servers of the company that made the app to check.”
“Yes, but can you do it?” Alya asked.
“I believe I have the skills to do so, but it’s illegal, so no,” Max answered.
“Fine,” Alya frowned and crossed her arms.
Nino pulled her in close with a one-armed hug. He rubbed her shoulder calmingly.
“Do you have any idea who might have done it, though? I would like to punch whoever did for making us go home early,” Alix punched her palm.
No one noticed Lila flinch ever so slightly.
Max put a finger on his chin as he thought about a culprit. After about 30 seconds, he shook his head.
“No, sorry, I can’t think of anyone in class who would do something like this.”
No one noticed the small sigh of relief from Lila either.
“Well, if you can’t think of anyone, then we may never know who did it,” Alix sighed, resting her chin in her palm.
“Look, it really doesn’t matter who did it because we could do nothing about it. So, why don’t we focus on the positives of the trip? Alya, you and Nino seemed to enjoy the Morocco section of the garden, right?” Lila said.
“Yeah, we did. They had some French Lavender that was in bloom there. They were gorgeous,” Alya beamed.
Lila smiled, having successfully diverted the conversation.
The topic of who wrote the article remained untouched for the remainder of the bus ride to the airport.
When the bus arrived at the airport, Stephanie quickly ushered everyone off the bus and handed them their tickets.
“Your gate is C7, and I’ve already checked you all in. All you have to do is go through security and take a left. It should be the third or fourth gate on the right. So, thank you for visiting Gotham, and I hope you have a safe trip back to Paris. Now, goodbye,” Stephanie said, gesturing toward the airport entrance.
“Yes, well, thank you for having us. Shame it was cut short,” Mlle. Bustier smiled.
“Yes, such a shame,” Stephanie said with a strained smile, “Now, please get going. Your plane will leave soon.”
“Right. Come along, class. We need to move quickly.”
Mlle. Bustier guided her class toward the airport entrance.
Once the French class was inside the airport and out of sight from the glass doors, Stephanie let out a heavy sigh. She looked to where she knew Signal was hiding on a rooftop. Signal gave her a weak smile and a double thumbs-up. She returned a thumbs-up before getting back on the bus to go back to Wayne Enterprises.
Dick walked away from the Tsurugi residence in annoyance. He tried to talk to Kagami Tsurugi about Marinette, but the matriarch of the Tsurugi family didn’t even open the door for him.
Tomoe Tsurugi spoke to him using the intercom system and only said three sentences.
“Marinette Dupain-Cheng has caused my daughter and me enough trouble. I don’t wish to besmirch my family by getting involved in whatever new trouble that girl has caused. Now leave.”
Dick had tried the doorbell on the intercom a few more times before a new voice, likely an employee, told him to leave or else they called the cops.
So, he left, having gained nothing other than the fact that Kagami’s mother doesn’t like Marinette for some unknown reason.
Dick did talk with Luka before going to visit the Tsurugi residence, and while Luka was more than willing to talk to him, he couldn’t provide anything helpful.
Despite having a sister in the same class as Marinette, Luka was unaware of her reputation at school. He did notice that his sister hadn’t talked about Marinette in a while, but he thought that was because everyone was busy, similar to what Marinette’s parents thought. Luka’s own career as a musician was really picking up and keeping him occupied as he got ready to go on tour with his father, Jagged Stone, in a couple of months.
While Dick was surprised to find out that Luka and Juleka were Jagged Stone’s kids, he managed to keep from fangirling about it, despite being a hugged Jagged fan. He also found out that Luka and Marinette dated in the past for a brief period of time before calling it quits when it became evident that she liked someone else at the time. However, they remained friends and tried to hang out whenever their schedules allowed.
Nevertheless, Luka couldn’t provide any new information for the investigation. He did give Dick Penny’s, Jagged’s manager, number for him to contact if they wanted help in the legal department or wanted Jagged to make a statement in support of his honorary niece.
Dick was pulled from his annoyance by the ringing of his cell phone. Dick answered the phone.
“Hey, Babs, please tell me you have some good news.”
“Investigation not going well?” Barbara asked.
“More like I’ve hit a brick wall. No one seems to know what is actually going on in Marinette’s life. Even the other Kwamis don’t seem to know much about her bullying. They said she never shared much of the details, and Tikki and Plagg wouldn’t tell them about it, likely due to an order from Marinette. They did suggest speaking to Tikki and Plagg about it, and given the situation, they may be willing to do so.”
“Right, I’ll pass the message along.”
“Sounds good,” Dick replied, “So, why did you call?”
“Well, I have good news and bad news. Which would you like to hear first?” Barabara replied.
“Bad news. Let’s end on a good note.”
“Fair enough. The bad news is that I have good news.”
“What? How can the bad news be that you have good news?”
“Because the good news is that I found something,” Barbara replied.
Dick sighed.
“What did you find?”
“You’re right about the principal embezzling money from the school—a little over 250,000 euros in the past few years.”
“250,000? That’s a lot of money for a school of that size. How did no one notice?”
“It looks like the school has been getting extra funding for the past few years. I’m guessing that’s when the mayor’s daughter started attending the school.”
“I guess that would explain why no one noticed that much money going missing. Did you manage to find out what he spent the money on?” Dick asked.
“Yeah, I did. It was extremely easy, almost like he didn’t even try to hide his embezzlement. Anyway, it looks like most of the money was spent on a Knight Owl costume and gadgets, along with some Knight Owl memorabilia.
“Knight Owl?” Dick asked, raising an eyebrow not that Barbara could see it.
“What? Never heard of him?” Barbara replied.
“No, I’ve heard of him. Read a few of his comics before B adopted me. I just didn’t think he would be that obsessed with a fictional superhero when there are real superheroes,” Dick said.
“Like Superman?” Barbara asked sarcastically.
“Nah, I was thinking Black Canary,” Dick replied.
They both chuckled.
“Anyway, for the rest of the embezzled money, some of it went to a home improvement contractor and a programmer, but I haven’t been able to find out for what exactly. Though I know it wasn’t for his apartment, another chunk was used for a vacation to Spain, and the rest is still in his bank account.”
“I can look around his office later tonight after he leaves. It should be easy enough. I didn’t see any security cameras at the school, and the locks were cheap. I didn’t even need the combination to Marinette’s locker to open it; I just hit it next to the lock, and it opened.”
“That’s concerning.”
“Tell me about it,” Dick scoffed, “Got anything else for me?”
“The French class is already on a plane to Paris. They should arrive back in Paris between 8 and 9 p.m. So, you will have to wait until tomorrow to talk to them.” Barbara replied.
“If they’ll be willing to talk,” Dick replied.
“Always worth a shot.”
“True,” Dick replied.
Dick then suddenly remembered something.
“Hey, did you finish hacking into their phones?” He asked.
Barbara groaned.
“I had a program working on it in the background, but then the article dropped, and I forgot all about it. The program should be done by now, so I’ll look at the data and send you anything relevant.”
“Thanks, and don’t worry about forgetting the hacked phones. The last couple of days have been… eventfully. I bet you haven’t gotten much sleep the past few days because of it.”
Barbara chuckled dryly.
“Yeah, I might have even drank more coffee than Tim the past few days.”
“Please, I doubt anyone can drink more coffee than Timmy. I’m pretty sure his blood has turned to coffee by this point,” Dick laughed.
“Probably,” Barbara giggled, “I’ll get you the data soon.”
“Yeah, thanks again, Babs.”
“No problem, it’s my job.”
Barbara ended the call.
Dick went back to his hotel room to review all the information he had gathered and wait for Babs to send him the data.
When night fell on Paris, Dick got dressed in a blacked-out version of his Nightwing suit and a black mask. He had packed the outfit in case he needed to perform some vigilante activities, and he didn’t want people to wonder why Nightwing appeared in Paris at the same time as he was there. After donning the outfit, he jumped out of his hotel room window. He used his grappling hook to transverse the city of Paris’s rooftops on his way to Marinette’s school.
Sometime later, Dick landed silently at the front entrance to Dupont.
Most of the news vans had cleared out because the staff didn’t see much point in staying overnight or had given up getting anything out of the Dupain-Chengs. The remaining news vans also seemed to be vacant.
Dick practically walked into the school. The skilled vigilante took seconds to get through the front door’s cheap lock. He went to the principal’s office, finding the office door unlocked.
“This school’s security is awful,” Dick muttered as he entered the principal’s office.
He sat down at M. Damocles’ computer and turned it on. A login prompt appeared on the screen a few seconds later, which he easily bypassed. Dick may not be as skilled a hacker as Barbara or Tim, but his skills were more than enough for the school’s simple security.
He began looking through the files on the computer.
It didn’t take him long to find students’ records. He went directly to Marinette’s record. He couldn’t say he was surprised that her record matched everything he knew. Her record was spotless, with her teachers praising her until three years ago when she started to have some tardiness issues. Still, her tardiness was basically ignored as her teachers continued to praise her. However, things started changing about a year and a half ago. Her teachers started to complain about the sudden and unexplainable shift in attitude towards her classmates, specifically towards Lila. She was no longer the kind and sweet girl they were used to but turned cold and mean towards her classmates. She seemed to have little interest in class despite making good grades in class. The record mentioned her expulsion but not the reason it was reversed. Even her breaking Chloé’s jaw was mentioned despite it not happening on school grounds, and no charges were pressed.
Dick closed the file and clicked on Lila’s record. Her record was similar to the beginning of Marinette’s record. The teachers had nothing but praise for her. The record mentioned Lila's kindness and generosity, including her extracurricular activities. A few specific charities were listed, and he took a moment to write them down.
However, Dick found it odd that her record only went back to when she first arrived at Dupont, while Marinette’s went back to her elementary school. Dick quickly checked a few other of their classmates to see how far back their records went. Most went back to elementary school, and the couple that didn’t still went back to the beginning of middle/secondary school.
He made another note to investigate Lila’s school record before she arrived at Dupont.
He continued his investigation of the computer’s files. He found the records of donations to the school and the embezzlement. He also came across an application called Albert with a circular, blue, pixelized face with round eyes and a handlebar mustache as its icon.
When he clicked on the application, the screen went black, and the blue icon filled most of the screen.
“Hello, I’m at your service, sir. Password, please,” Albert said.
Dick stared at the screen silently. He wasn’t expecting to see an AI assistant on the computer.
“I cannot assist you without the password, sir,” Albert said.
Dick took a moment to think about what password M. Damocles would use. It was likely something related to Knightowl, given that Albert was the name of Knightowl’s butler.
“Knightowl,” Dick tried.
“I’m sorry, that is the wrong password,” Albert replied.
“Uh, hoo-hoo?”
“Access granted.”
The framed map of Paris on the wall slid up to reveal a hidden compartment containing a Knightowl outfit, a couple of Knightowl gadgets, a few Knightowl comic books, and a Knightowl figurine.
He got up from the desk and walked over to the hidden compartment for a better look.
While he doubted the Knightowl outfit’s ability actually to protect the wearer, the gadgets seemed like they would function. The comics were in protective plastic sleeves, and the figurine was high-quality.
Dick took several pictures of the hidden compartment before coming back to the computer.
“Thank you, Albert. You can close it now.”
“Certainly, sir,” Albert replied, and the wall map closed back over the compartment.
Dick closed Albert’s program and then downloaded all the files from the computer onto a thumb drive.
After he erased all electronic evidence of his presence, he left the room and school and returned to his hotel to prepare for tomorrow’s interviews with the returning students.
The following day, Dick called the M. Damocles to check if Mlle. Bustier’s class will be attending school that day. M. Damocles told him no. The principal had decided to give them a day to adjust to jetlag and more time for the news crews to leave the school alone.
Dick sighed and ended the call. He hoped he could talk to the students at school, where they would be more willing to talk. He at least already got their home addresses for his late-night school visit.
While he was gathering his things to leave, he received a message from Barbara.
Security at Gotham Tower sent me this. It’s from the class’s first morning in Gotham. Should come in handy.
Attached to the message was a video. He pressed play.
The video showed Marinette and Lila in an elevator. The sausage-haired girl made a thinly veiled threat before grabbing Marinette’s injured wrist. The bluenette raised her free hand into a fist, looking ready to punch the other girl, but stopped short. Lila pouted as she stopped short and let go of her wrist. She gave one final warning before leaving the elevator.
Dick was frowning by the end of the video, but Babs was correct in it being useful to him. He finished gathering his things before leaving to interview the first person on his list.
A short time later, he arrived at Max Kanté’s home. He pressed the doorbell, and a voice answered through a speaker.
“Hello, who is at the door?”
“I’m Richard Grayson, though you can call me Dick. I’m from Wayne Enterprises. I’m looking for Max Kanté. I was told this is his address.”
“That is correct, but Max recently returned from a trip to Gotham and is currently sleeping. However, I must ask why someone from Wayne Enterprises is here as the company sponsored the trip.”
“I would be happy to answer if you wouldn’t mind telling me who you are,” Dick replied.
“I am Markov. I’m an AI created by Max.”
“Nice to meet you, Markov,” Dick replied. He was already aware of Markov from his background research on Mlle. Bustier’s class.
“Now, to answer your question about why I need to talk to Max. You know the article about Marinette and her bullying, correct?” He continued.
There was a brief pause before Markov said, “I am now, and I can see why that might cause Wayne Enterprises quite a bit of trouble. Is that why you sent him and his classmates back home early?”
“More or less. I was sent over here to investigate the allegation when the article was first published, and we didn’t have plans to send the class back to Paris yet, but as the situation got worse, we decided to send them back. I would interview them in Paris, where it’s safer.”
“Ah, got it.”
“Good. Now, do you think you can wake Max up so that I can talk to him?” Dick asked politely.
“Of course! Give me a few minutes, and I’ll have Max up. He’ll let you in,” Markov said cheerfully.
“Thank you, Markov.”
Dick waited patiently for a few minutes until the front door opened, revealing a sleepy Max.
“Hello, Max, I’m Dick. I was your tour guide when you visited Wayne Enterprises.”
“Yes, I remember you. Please come on in,” Max stepped aside and gestured for him to come in.
“Thank you.”
Dick stepped into Max’s home, and Markov guided him to the coffee table in the living room.
“Can I get you a drink?” Max asked.
“I’m fine. Thank you for the offer,” Dick replied, sitting down on the couch while Max took a seat in the chair to his right.
“Are your parents home?” Dick asked.
“No, it’s just Markov and I at the moment. Why?”
“Sorry, I’m actually a detective—the tour guide thing for a favor for my family. It’s just a question I’m used to asking minors.” Dick explained.
“Doesn’t that mean that I need my parents here for you to ask me questions.,” Max said.
“This isn’t an official police interrogation or anything, and I’m far outside my jurisdiction. So, I don’t actually need your parents here to ask you questions, nor do you have to answer any questions. You can simply ask me to leave, and I’ll leave.”
“Okay?” Max raised an eyebrow, “But now that you’ve told me that, what makes you think I’ll answer your questions?”
“Because I think it would be in your best interest to answer my questions,” Dick replied.
“How so?”
“A while ago, Marinette’s information was used to make fake accounts on several websites for old men seeking younger women. You won’t happen to know anything about that?” Dick asked.
He watched as Max stiffened in his seat and broke eye contact.
“N-no. I-I don’t know what you are talking about,” Max stuttered.
“Well, Marinette seems to think that you do. She admits to threatening you to get you to remove her profile from those websites after the police failed to do anything about it. So, I find it hard to believe you don’t know anything about it,” Dick replied.
“Um… I vaguely remember Marinette threatening me about something. I can’t remember exactly what,” Max rubbed the back of his neck, “But doesn’t that prove Marinette is a bully.”
“That depends on if you did create the accounts on those websites,” Dick replied, “Which I believe you did.”
“You have no proof that I made those accounts,” Max said.
“It’s true; I have no solid evidence, but do I really need it?” Dick replied. “I bet you’ve seen how the media reacted to the article about Marinette. How do you think the media will react to an article about a man posting an underage girl’s information on sugar daddy websites hoping to get the underage girl sexually harassed?”
“WHAT!? I didn’t do that?” Max exclaimed.
Dick shrugged.
“It really doesn’t matter if you did or not. Marinette supposedly bullied Lila Rossi, and as Lila’s friend, you decided to get back at Marinette by posting her information on adult websites. It might seem a little extreme but still plausible, especially for someone with your computer skills.”
“But I only did it because Lila told me it would be a harmless joke.”
“So, you admit you made the accounts on those websites?” Dick asked.
“Yes, but it was only supposed to be a joke. I would never want Marinette to be sexually harassed, and I know neither would Lila. She might not like Marinette, but she would never wish any harm to her.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“What?”
“Are you sure Lila wouldn’t want to cause Marinette any harm?” Dick asked.
“Yes.”
Dick took out his phone and pulled up the video of Marinette and Lila in the elevator in Gotham Towers.
“Watch this.”
He handed Max his phone and waited.
“This is a fake,” Max said after watching the video.
“I analyzed the video as it was played, and there were no indications that it was a fake or altered,” Markov said from over Max’s shoulder, where he had been hovering silently during the conversation.
“But why would Lila threaten Marinette, and what did she mean when she said she turned all of Marinette’s friends against her?” Max asked.
“I think you know what it means,” Dick replied, “Lila has a history of lying. She even claims to have a compulsive lying disorder. That’s why Marinette wasn’t expelled when she was accused of cheating and stealing, right? You forgave Lila and gave her your trust. Trust that she used and abused to turn you against Marinette with lies. Lies that you believed despite knowing about her compulsive lying.”
“But why would Lila target Marinette in the first place if Marinette never bullied her?” Max asked.
“Marinette said it was because she would call her out on her lies. So, Lila started to claim that Marinette was jealous of her and would bully her. By destroying her reputation, she made all of Marinette’s claims against her worthless.”
“And I helped her do it,” Max deflated.
Dick nodded.
Max suddenly stood up and said, “I need to fix this and apologize to Marinette. I’m sure she’ll forgive me if I explain myself.”
“Hold your horses there,” Dick held up a hand, “I can understand your enthusiasm for wanting to make things right, but Marinette has enough on her plate at the moment. She doesn’t need the added emotional stress you or your classmates’ apologies would give her now.”
“Then what should I do?”
Dick took out his notepad and pen.
“You can start by helping yourself by telling me everything you or your classmates did to Marinette and if Lila herself prompted any of it. The more you tell me, the better, but please don’t make anything up. While I may be out of my jurisdiction in Paris, I will work with the local police to get charges pressed, including charges against you. So, the more useable information you give me, the lighter your punishment. Wayne Enterprises may be an American-based company, but make no make when I say its power is far-reaching.”
“I understand,” Max swallowed nervously.
“Good. Why don’t you begin with when Lila first arrived at Dupont.”
Dick left Max’s home thirty minutes later with several pages of his notebook filled with notes of activities Lila had asked him to do. He also obtained more details on who Lila’s main accomplices were, moving them to the top of his interview list.
Kim was next on his updated interview list. He and Alix were Lila’s main muscles for any physical abuse.
His interview went similar to Max’s interview. He first denied that he or Lila did anything wrong, got shown the video of Marinette and Lila in the elevator, was threatened with legal action, and then told Dick everything he did.
Alix’s interviews followed the same pattern, as well as Sabrina’s interview.
Alya’s interview was more interesting for Dick. She was Marinette’s closest friend before Lila’s lies tore them apart and the author of the Ladyblog.
Before seeing the video of Marinette and Lila in the elevator, she defended her actions against Marinette more than the others did. Her main claim was that she wasn’t doing anything Marinette wasn’t doing to Lila. Even after she was shown the elevator video, she tried to ease her guilt by wondering why Marinette didn’t try harder to get her to believe Lila was lying. Dick didn’t comment on that thought though he had a feeling Marinette tried hard enough, but Alya wouldn’t listen.
By the end of the interview, Alya had promised to remove all the videos and articles of Lila on the Ladyblog and apologize to Marinette when she returned from Gotham.
Dick left the Césaire residence with enough evidence that he was confident he could bring Lila down. So, he decided the interviews with the other students could wait since they seemed to be bystanders in the conflict between Marinette and Lila. He went to Lila’s home to confront the liar.
Dick knocked on the door of the Rossi residence. It opened to reveal a surprised Lila.
“M. Grayson, what are you doing here?”
“Hello, Mlle. Rossi. I’m glad to see you remember me,” Dick smiled politely, “As for why I’m here. Well, I’m sure you’ve heard about the article claiming Marinette is my adoptive father’s secret love child as well as a bully at your school. While I can assure you that she is not my father’s secret love child. The issue is that if she is as big a bully as the article claims and managed to get through our screening process for the contest, it proves to be an issue for our screening process. I’m here to investigate the bullying claims to see if they are true and if we need to change the screening process. I’ve already talked to a few of your classmates, and they told me you were Marinette’s main target.”
“Um, that’s right,” Lila replied cautiously.
“Great. Do you mind if I come in and ask you some questions?”
“Sure.”
Lila let him inside and guided him to the living room. She sat down on the couch while Dick took a seat in a lazy chair.
“Now, I’ve already heard about some of your experience of Marinette bullying you from your classmates, but I would like to hear more about it from your own perspective. If you don’t mind talking about it, of course.”
Dick took out his notepad and pen.
“I don’t mind talking about it, but isn’t what my friends said enough?” Lila asked.
“It should be, but it’s still best to get what happened directly from the victim. Don’t you agree?”
“Yes, I do.”
Lila smiled slightly.
When Dick smiled back, her smile grew a little more. The sausage-haired girl didn’t realize the secret vigilante was smiling, not because he believed her about being the victim, but because she believed he thought that.
“Good. Now, how long after you arrived at Dupont did Marinette begin bullying you?” Dick asked.
“The first day I arrived at school.”
“So, from the beginning, then? Do you know why Marinette would target you?”
“I can say for certain, but I think it was because she was jealous I was taking everyone’s attention away from her, especially my boyfriend, Adrien. She has a massive crush on him. I heard she was extremely jealous when he was dating his ex.”
“His ex?”
“Yeah, Kagami something. I don’t think I ever asked for her last name.”
Dick wondered if the Kagami Lila mentioned was Kagami Tsurugi. It was likely. However, both Marinette’s parents and Luka confirmed that Kagami and Marinette were friends. What Lila said was possibly true, but the two became friends afterward.
“Okay, what about some of the acts of bullying that Marinette did?”
“Well, Marinette’s main thing was telling everyone I was telling a bunch of lies, but she stopped doing that. I mean, I know everyone knows I have a lying disorder, but I’ve had it under control for a while. She would refuse to work with me whenever we got assigned into groups and would also try to get me in trouble by messing with my work or blaming me for accidents. It never worked, however. The teachers always saw through her lies. She also sent me several awful texts. I only have a couple of screenshots of those. She also pushed me down the stairs a couple of times.”
“Is that it?” Dick asked, writing down what Lila was saying.
“Other than just being a general nuisance, that’s all I can think of off the top of my head,” Lila replied.
“Okay, can you be more specific about how she would mess with your work or blame you for accidents?” Dick asked.
“One time in Mlle. Bustier’s class, we had a class project. Marinette was supposed to research green energy, but she didn’t do it. She tried to blame it on me because she missed the class and claimed I didn’t tell her what she was supposed to research, even though I did tell her.”
“Do you remember why she missed the class?” Dick asked.
“No, but it was probably one of her usual excuses of oversleeping or getting caught on the other side of the city in an akuma attack.”
“Was it common for Marinette to be late to class?”
“I think so, but I didn’t keep track of Marinette’s attendance,” Lila replied.
“Okay. Let’s change topics a little bit. We talked to Marinette before coming here. Obviously, she has different claims about the bullying. She claims that you and your friends were the ones bullying her.”
“Of course she would.” Lila scoffed and rolled her eyes.
Dick ignored Lila’s comment and continued, “The most severe accusation she made against you is that you posted fake nude pictures of her around your school. Which is a very serious crime.”
“How serious?”
“It would be considered distribution of child p*rnography. While the body may be that of an adult, the fact that it has Marinette’s head on the body and she is a minor is what makes it such an issue.”
Dick saw Lila’s eyes slightly widen and her skin pale a little bit.
“Oh, well, I didn’t realize it was that bad. I know about the pictures you are talking about. It was the talk of the school for a while, but I had nothing to do with it. I don’t think I was even at school when they were posted.” Lila replied.
“Why wouldn’t you have been there that day?”
“I was probably sick or had a charity event to attend. I don’t remember. I just remember I missed a day of school around that time.” Lila replied.
“Okay. Do you know who might have posted the pictures around school?”
“I have no idea, sorry. I could have been anyone who didn’t like Marinette, which was pretty much the entire school by that point. Besides, there is a rumor that she was sleeping with several guys from school, even a few of the teachers.”
“I heard about that rumor. What do you think is the validity of that particular rumor?” Dick asked.
“I think it’s true.”
“What makes you believe that?”
“Well, I’ve seen her walking around with several guys from school, and they looked a little too close to just be friends.”
“Are you certain that it was Marinette?”
“Fairly. She didn’t have her hair in her usual pigtails, so I guess it’s possible that I was mistaken and that it was just someone who looked like Marinette. But no one who goes to our school looks like Marinette.”
“What about that part of the rumor that she sleeps with the teachers?”
“I do think that’s just a rumor,” Lila replied, leaving out that she was the one who started to spread the rumor.
“Okay. Do you know anything about an incident where Marinette’s information was used to create profiles on sites for older men seeking younger women?”
“I don’t think so. I know she was a website for her fashion business, but I heard that she shut it down due to a lot of negative reviews. Maybe Max might know something about it. I overheard Marinette threaten him about a website, but I assumed it was about her fashion business. It’s possible she could have threatened him to help take down those accounts if someone else made them.”
“I’ve already spoken with Max. He was the first of your classmates that I interviewed, in fact.”
“Oh, well, I’m sure he mentioned that Marinette threatened him and what it was about,” Lila said.
“You’re right. He did mention it,” Dick replied, “However, while he did say that Marinette threatened him to remove her accounts from those websites, he did also mention that he created those accounts.”
Lila gasped.
“Why would he do that?”
Dick snapped his notebook close and leaned back in his chair. His cheerful demeanor switched out for a serious one.
“He said it was because you asked him to do it as a part of a prank.”
“W-what? W-why would he say that?” Lila stuttered, surprised by the sudden accusation and Dick’s change in demeanor.
“Because I showed him a video of you threatening Marinette in an elevator in Gotham Tower. This one, to be exact.”
Dick pulled out his phone and began to play the video of Lila threatening Marinette in the elevator.
Lila’s eyes widened. She immediately knew she had made a mistake. She remembered she had mentioned Dick’s name specifically—the man who was currently sitting across from her.
“I also showed this video to your classmates that I interviewed. After seeing it, they told me about several more acts of bullying against Marinette that you had a hand in. At the same time, you were smart enough never to get your hands dirty directly. Well, at least, not where any of your classmates could see. But you got a little sloppy, didn’t you?” Dick shook his phone, which was still playing the video.
“You would get your classmates angry at Marinette through lies and deceit, then watch as they unleashed that anger onto her. You would also subtlety give them ideas by telling them what Marinette did to you with the intent they would do the same to her. I’m honestly a little impressed you managed to deceive everyone for so long. Though, I don’t know if that says more about you or your classmates.”
By the time Dick was finished speaking, Lila’s expression had shifted from fear to a glare.
“You can’t prove anything. You said it yourself: I never got my hand dirty directly. That video is the only proof you have that I’ve done anything to Marinette. You can’t even see my face when I talked to Marinette. For all I know, that video could be fake or edited. Wayne Enterprises certainly has the wealth to pay someone to fabricate a convincing video. As for my friends, I’m sure you threatened them with some kind of charges unless they gave you evidence on me. So, how can you trust what they have to say? It wouldn’t be the first time a large corporation has threatened or bribed people into lying about evidence. I’m sure the media would love to report on how Wayne Enterprises is trying to throw an innocent girl under the bus to protect a girl's reputation. A girl who isn’t supposed to be Bruce Wayne’s secret affair love child.”
Lila was smirking triumphantly by the end of her little speech. However, the smirk was short-lived as Dick smiled back.
“You’re right. The media would love a story like that. But I think they may like this headline a little better: ‘Jealous Liar Tries to Destroy Rival’s Life.’ Marinette is surprisingly close with several celebrities and people in high places. Also, how many lies did you tell your classmates, thinking they’d never be able to check because they didn’t know the right people? How many of those will they tell reporters or post online? From what I hear, you talked about many celebrities and high-powered people in your lies. And after what is about to come, I’m sure they’ll want to make as much distance between you and them as possible. So, you didn’t just make an enemy out of Wayne Enterprises but out of many influential people. If I were you, I would start preparing for the worst.”
Dick stood up and put away his notebook and pen.
“Thank you for your time. I’ll see myself out.”
Dick walked away from a red-faced Lila and out the front door of the Rossi’s residence.
After he closed the door, Lila screamed and slammed her fists down on the glass coffee table, shattering it.
“Who does he think he is coming into my house and threatening me. Doesn’t he know how hard I worked to get this far? I won’t let him take it all away from me,” Lila seethed.
She looked out the window and saw a purple butterfly and a blue feather floating outside.
“At least he’s quick,” Lila muttered, opening the window.
The akuma and amok flew into the room and possessed the multicolor bracelet on her right wrist. The purple moth symbol appeared over her eyes.
“Yes,” She said before Shadow Moth could say anything.
“Eager as always. Just remember why I’m giving you these powers, Vexing Volpina,” Shadow Moth said.
“I’ll keep my end of the deal, don’t worry,” Lila said as she transformed into Vexing Volpina.
Her Vexing Volpina outfit was similar to her Volpina outfit, but the orange was replaced with violet and lavender replaced the white of the suit.
A lion-sized nine-tailed violet fox came out of the bracelet on Vexing Volpina’s wrist. The tips of the nine-tails tails were the same lavender color as Vexing Volpina, and ghostly violet flames floated over the tips of its tails.
Vexing Volpina climbed onto the back of the Nine-tails.
“After him, Vex.”
The Nine-tailed fox burst through the front door of the Rossi residence into the street. Vex took a moment to sniff the air before running in the direction Dick went. The sprinting fox only took a few seconds to catch up to the unaware and walking human.
Dick didn’t remain unaware for long. His years of experience as a vigilante gave him good situational awareness. He quickly noticed the change in expression in the people walking in the opposite direction. He turned around to see what would cause the change in expression, and his eyes widened at the sight of Vexing Volpina riding on the back of Vex.
Despite the color change, Dick immediately recognized who Vexing Volpina was from research he did when he got to Paris. After finding out Marinette was Ladybug, he tested the magic that prevented him from finding information about miraculous-related stuff and found it had stopped affecting him.
He instantly knew he was her target. He started running and took out his phone. He called Barbara.
“Babs, I need help. I have an akuma after me,” he said as soon as she answered the call.
“How did you manage that?”
“Antagonized Lila Rossi too much.”
Dick then heard a flute being played. The ground in front of him crumbled away to reveal a bottomless pit. He swiftly skid to a stop, stopping a few inches from the pit's edge. It allowed Vexing Volpina and Vex to catch up to him.
“There is nowhere for you to run now,” The supervillain said.
The ghostly flames on the Vex’s tails glowed brighter as the nine-tails growled. Dick took a small step back, looking for an escape route. Vex lunged at him, and he dove out of the way. The nine-tails fox landed on the bottomless pit, causing the illusion to vanish and reveal the road and sidewalk underneath. That didn’t go unnoticed as Dick rolled to his feet and ran down an alley.
“Baaaaabs,” Dick groaned into the phone.
“I know. Just focus on not getting caught. We’ll figure something out,” Barbara replied.
She muted her end of the call with Dick and called Harley.
“Hey, Babs, what’s up?” Harley answered the call.
“Harley, there is an akuma, and it’s after Dick,” Barbara replied.
“What!? Why?”
“He antagonized Lila Rossi too much during his interview with her,” Barbara explained, “Has Marinette woken up yet?”
“No, not yet. The hand surgeon B flew in just got here, and they are prepping her for the surgery to fix her hand. So, it’ll still be a while before she wakes up,” Harley answered.
“Well, what do we do?” Barbara asked.
Harley looked down to her lap, where Tikki was sitting.
“Tikki, there’s an akuma. What can we do?” She asked.
“Someone needs to become Ladybug and use Kaalki’s portals to get to Paris quickly. Having someone as Chat Noir would also be useful too,” Tikki replied.
“Okay, but who could be Ladybug and Chat Noir? You mentioned that someone needs to be compatible with the miraculous to use them properly.”
“You can use the ladybug miraculous,” Tikki replied.
“Me?” Harley exclaimed.
“You don’t have as high a compatibility as Marinette, but you should be able to use the miraculous without issue for a while. So, you could pick up the mantle of Ladybug while Marinette recovers.”
“Are you sure? Will Marinette be okay with it?”
“Yes, I’m sure, and yes, Marinette will be okay with it. She trusts you and your family and would want the akuma defeated. Plus, we don’t have a lot of time or allies to choose from.”
“Alright, but who is going to be Chat Noir?”
“Jason will be Chat Noir. His energy is a perfect match for the cat miraculous. Marinette was considering giving it to him, but she wasn’t sure she could convince him to move to Paris until Shadow Moth was defeated.” Tikki answered.
“Really? Jaybird?”
“Yes, Marinette has been reluctantly looking for a new wielder for the cat miraculous, and he is a perfect match for it.”
“What do you mean reluctantly?” Harley raised an eyebrow.
“Long story short, Marinette doesn’t trust people. Now we have an akuma to defeat.” Tikki replied.
“Right. Babs, you get all that?” Harley asked into her phone.
“Yep, I’ll tell Jason, and he’ll meet you on the roof with a portal,” Barbara replied.
“Wait, who is going to look after Marinette?” Tikki asked.
“Right, we need someone to protect Marinette while I’m away,” Harley said.
“Spoiler is close by. She’ll be there in a few minutes,” Barbara said.
“Okay, let’s go, Tikki.”
Harley stood up, and the Kwami flew into her miraculous in her pocket. Harley swapped out her black diamond-shaped earrings with the ladybug miraculous. She then went to the hospital’s roof.
When Harley reached the hospital roof, she looked around to ensure a nurse or doctor hadn’t been using the roof for a smoke break. After not finding anybody, Harley said magic words to activate the Ladybug transformation.
“Tikki, spots on.”
A flash of light followed those words, and Haley transformed into Ladybug. Her Ladybug outfit consisted of a black boot on her right foot and a red boot on her left. From the bottom of her ribcage down to her black boot, the right half of her outfit was red with black polka dots, while the left half was black with red polka dots. The right half of her outfit, from the bottom of her ribcage up to her neck and down to her wrist, was black with red polka dots, while the left was red with black polka dots. She had a red glove on her right hand and a black glove on her left. Her mask was dual-colored, with the right side being red with black polka dots and the left being black with red polka dots. Also, her hair was a bit longer and pulled into pigtails, with the right tip dyed black and the left tip dyed red.
Ladybug didn’t have to wait long for a portal to open, and Jason transformed into the united outfit of the horse and the cat miraculouses. The outfit consisted of black boots with dark brown accents, a black body suit with brown strips running up the sides of the legs, a dark brown armored vest resting under a black leather jacket, and a long black belt wrapped around his waist with the excess wrapped around to his tailbone and hung down almost to the ground. He had a black mask with a brown trim, and his neon green eyes were hidden under sunglasses. He had a pair of black leather cat ears on his head. The white streak from his hair was gone, but the tips of his hair were white.
Ladybug smiled at Jason’s outfit.
“Not a word of this to Selina,” Jason said, pointing a finger at Harley before she could respond.
“Fine,” She groaned.
“Let me see your yo-yo real quick,” Jason said.
Ladybug handed him her yo-yo. He pressed a black dot on it, and a small earpiece popped out.
“We’ll need to use this since Babs didn’t have the time to connect our comms with the ones made by the miraculous. I already gave one to her.”
Jason handed her the earpiece and yo-yo. She put the earpiece in her ear.
“Hello?” She asked.
“I hear you, Ladybug,” Barbara said, “Let’s stick to our usual no names on comms rule from here on out just to be safe.”
“Got it. How is D doing?” Ladybug asked.
“He’s wondering what’s taking you all so long, but he’s hanging in there,” Oracle replied, “I’m sending his location to your baton, Chat Noir, and am letting him know you’re incoming.”
Chat Noir’s baton beeped a couple of seconds later. The baton opened to reveal a small screen that displayed Dick’s location.
“Got it,” Chat Noir said, then opened a portal to the location.
They jumped through the portal. They landed in the middle of the intersection. They looked around for a second and found Dick running towards them while dodging ghostly balls of fire being shot from the tips of Vex’s tails.
Ladybug threw her yo-yo at Dick. It wrapped around his waist, and she pulled him to them.
“You okay?” Ladybug asked.
“What took you so long?” Dick sighed in relief.
“It takes time to travel across an ocean,” Chat Noir replied.
“Go through the portal. You’ll be safe on the roof of her hospital,” Ladybug said.
“Right,” Dick said, “Be careful, she makes illusion, and the fox shoots fireballs. I think the akuma and amok are in the bracelet on her right wrist.”
“Thanks for the information,” Ladybug replied.
Dick stepped through the portal and onto the hospital roof in Gotham.
Chat Noir took off the horse miraculous and put it in a pocket in his jacket, causing the portal to close. He lost the white tips in his hair, the armored vest, and the brown accents of his outfit, truly becoming just Chat Noir.
Vex slid to a stop at the intersection.
“Who are you? Where is that prick?” Vexing Volpina said from the back of her nine-tails.
“He isn’t here at the moment, but we can take a message for you,” Ladybug said.
“That still doesn’t explain who you are,” Vexing Volpina growled.
“Come on, I know the guy before didn’t have as much style as me, but it’s pretty obvious I’m Chat Noir,” Chat Noir replied.
“And that would make me, Ladybug,” Ladybug added.
“What? Where is the usual Ladybug?” Vexing Volpina asked.
“Well, she’s busy at the moment,” Chat Noir replied, “She still would have come herself, but then she realized it was you and sent us instead.”
“Whatever,” Vexing Volpina asked, “As long as you have the ladybug and cat miraculouses, it doesn’t matter who you are. Just hand over the miraculouses so I can finish dealing that prick.”
“Yeah, no,” Ladybug replied.
“Fine then,” Vexing Volpina growled.
She raised her flute to her lips and began playing it. Eight copies of Vexing Volpina riding Vex appeared, four copies on each side of the original. The original plus four copies of the supervillains charged the superheroes while the remaining copies began shooting fireballs from their tails. The charging Vexing Volpinas and Vex jumped around and weaved around each other in an attempt to hide which was the real one.
The fireballs were the first things to reach Ladybug and Chat Noir. They dodge the first few before taking out their yo-yo and baton. She spun the yo-yo quickly to make a shield while he hit the fireball with his baton. The fireballs vanished on contact with their weapons, revealing them to illusions.
However, the fireballs did their job by distracting the heroes enough that they lost track of which of the charging Vexs was real. Ladybug backflipped out of the way of a pouncing Vex, not wanting to take the chance that it might not be an illusion. Chat Noir extended his baton into a staff and speared a Vex in the side. His staff went through it as the nine-tails and the Vexing Volpina riding it poofed out of existence.
“One down, eight to go.” Chat Noir stated.
He swung his staff out another Vexing Volpina and Vex duo, but they jumped back out of the way.
“Lucky Charm!” Ladybug exclaimed.
She summoned a large, two-handed, and red with black polka dots hammer.
“Oh, momma like.”
She used a spinning sidestep to avoid a leap Vex, then used the momentum of her spin to swing her hammer into the back of the Vexing Volpina riding it. Her hammer went effortlessly through the fake supervillain, and the illusion vanished.
“Make that two done,” Ladybug said.
The villain realized she needed to change tactics. The heroes had easily destroyed two of her illusions and began ignoring the fireballs her other illusions were firing. She played a quick tune on her flute to create a giant smoke screen, enveloping herself and the superheroes. She retreated down the street and sent her copies in random directions.
Ladybug and Chat Noir used their yo-yo and baton to get out of the smokescreen and onto a nearby rooftop. They saw several Vexs running off in different directions.
“Which one is the real one?” Chat Noir asked.
“Don’t know,” Ladybug replied, “Oracle, do you think you help us?”
“The first one I saw run off went north. I think she is most likely the real one,” Oracle answered, who was watching the battle from the security camera and the drones.
“We’ll start there, then,” Ladybug replied.
They bounded across the rooftops of Paris, with Oracle giving them directions to where the fox-themed villain was.
“Okay, I can confirm the one you are after is the real one. The other ones have vanished,” Oracle said after a bit.
“Great, thanks for the update,” Ladybug replied.
“Also, you should be coming up on her in a few seconds.”
A couple of rooftops later, the superhero duo came across Vexing Volpina riding Vex down a street. The akumatized villain hadn’t noticed them yet. Ladybug used her Lucky Charm to create a netgun.
“You’re the gun guy.”
She handed him the netgun.
“Alright, you distract her, and I’ll shoot her,” Chat Noir excitedly said.
Ladybug used her yo-yo to swing ahead of Vexing Volpina. She landed several feet in front of the villain.
“Where are you going, foxy? I thought you wanted to take my miraculous,” Ladybug said, resting her hammer on her shoulder.
“Uh, you’re even more annoying than the previous Ladybug,” Vexing Volpina groaned.
“Really? You don’t say?”
Ladybug slightly tilted her upper body to the right, which happened to be the direction the head of her hammer was in. She acted like the weight of the head of the hammer caused her to become unbalanced. She turned the unbalanced motion into a side somersault. She let go of the hammer and performed the side somersault flawlessly.
“Ta-da!” She cheered when she stuck the landing.
“Uh,” Vexing Volpina groaned, “Vex!”
The flames on the tip of the nine-tails’ tails glowed brighter, getting ready to shoot fireballs. However, that was when Chat Noir chose to shoot them with the netgun.
The villains couldn’t react fast enough, so the shot net knocked them to the ground and trapped them.
“Nice distraction,” Chat Noir said as he jumped down from his spot on the rooftops.
“Well, I do have some experience being one,” Ladybug replied.
They approached the struggling Vexing Volpina and Vex.
“Let me out of here!” Vexing Volpina shouted as she continued to struggle.
Chat Noir grabbed her right wrist and pulled the bracelet off.
“Cataclysm.”
The bracelet became black and ashen. He clenched his hand into a fist, turning it to dust. An akuma and amok came out of the small pile of dust. Ladybug used her yo-yo to catch and cleanse the akuma and amok.
“No more evil-doing to for you,” Ladybug said as she let them out.
Vexing Volpina transformed back into Lila.
Ladybug then used the Miraculous Cure. The swarm of ladybugs swept through Paris, fixing all the damage from the fight. The ladybugs also went to Gotham and wrapped around Dick, teleporting him back to where he went through the portal in Paris. The Miraculous Cure only took a few seconds to finish.
Once it was finished, Chat Noir reached out a hand to help Lila.
“I don’t need your help,” She slapped his hand away and stood up.
“Okay,” Chat Noir replied hesitantly, “Look, kid. I don’t know why you would want to go after that guy. I can understand why you might want to. He looks like a dick, but whatever the reason might be, accepting power from Shadow Moth to kill him isn’t the answer.”
“Yeah, whatever,” Lila rolled her eyes and walked away.
“That went well,” Ladybug said once Lila was out of earshot.
“Considering what Dickie probably has on her. I wouldn’t be surprised if we have to fight her again tomorrow,” Chat Noir replied.
“Speaking of him, we should probably open a portal for him to return to Paris,” Ladybug said.
“He is already back in Paris. The swarm of ladybugs brought him back,” Oracle said over comms.
“Oh, well, that’s convenient,” Ladybug said, “Mind dropping me off back at the hospital?”
“Sure, right after I go cataclysm the Marinette’s school,” Chat Noir said, starting to walk towards Dupont.
Ladybug grabbed his tail, stopping him.
“No, you can’t destroy her school.”
“Oh, come on, I never get to do anything fun,” Chat Noir whined.
“No, you’re supposed to be a hero not a vigilante as Chat Noir.”
“Fine,” He groaned.
He took out the horse miraculous and activated it.
“Kaalki, Unite.”
He then opened a portal to the hospital roof.
“Voyage.”
The two heroes stepped entered the portal.
