Peter and Marinette meet

Too Far

Later that week, Lila got akumatized again. She blamed it on me. She said I threatened her and said that I would turn everyone here against her. After I saved her, I listened to her story and immediately started defending myself.

"I know Marinette. She would never do something like that." I said.

"But she did and it scared me! It also made me so sad to think that she might not like me after I didn't do anything to her! I was scared she would actually take away all of my friends!" She fake cried.

This made me so upset! Why would she keep lying about me after I didn't do anything to her?! I'm so glad Alya knows I'm Ladybug, otherwise, she might have actually believed Lila.

Only five people in my class are on my side now. Alya, Nino, Alix, and Juleka and Peter. Adrien is on Lila's side, of course.

"You should have taken the high road Mari. Then no one would be against you. This is your fault, no matter what you say, or how much you try to blame it on Lila. This is your fault." He says.

This makes me so angry! I can't believe I ever actually liked him!

"Girl, don't listen to them. They're all just too trusting to notice that Lila's lying. I'm not saying that what they're doing is right, it's far from right, but you shouldn't let it bother you. At least now you know that you can't rely on them." Alya told me. I nodded. She was right.

"I'm sorry that you have to go through this. I was bullied once too. No one deserves to have lies spread about them." Peter tells me as I walk into school the day after Lila turned everyone against me.

"It's fine. I guess I should have known that people would leave me for someone else, I just didn't know how many people it would be." I sigh.

Peter gives me a hug and walks with me to all my classes, distracting me from the people glaring at me. We talk and laugh. I talk about how cool it is for Spider-Man to show up in France, and how amazingly kind Peter is. Peter talks about how cool the French superheroes are, and how he's happy to help me.

On my way home that day, I see Plagg hiding in an alleyway! What is he doing there?! He could be seen!

I quickly run down the alleyway and hide there before telling Tikki to come out as I start asking Plagg questions.

"Plagg! What are you doing here?! You could be seen, or captured! Where's Chat Noir?!" I ask, looking around frantically.

"Marinette." Plagg says, making me look at him, "Adrien is no longer fit to wield the Black Cat miraculous. He was planning on getting you akumatized so that you look even more like a villain. He was even planning on stopping Ladybug from finding out about it, you know, because he doesn't know you're Ladybug. He wanted to find out who Ladybug was too, to turn her against you. He had a whole plan. He wanted to meet with you, then he would take your miraculous, somehow wipe your memory, and tell you that Marinette, you, stole your miraculous for a few minutes." Plagg tells me.

I cover my mouth and take a few steps back. That's when I notice the black ring that Plagg is holding.

"Wait... Adrien was Chat?!" I ask, the pieces finally clicking together. Of course he was Chat, that's how Chat knew Adrien, and they both knew that Lila was lying! It all makes so much sense now!

"Yes. He was. But he's not anymore, don't worry. We do need to worry about getting a knew Chat though." Plagg tells me, frowning and looking away.

I gently take the ring and look at it for a moment. Who do I trust that doesn't already have a miraculous? Peter.

I shake my head. I can't drag him into this. Not yet. He's too knew to Paris.

I let out a long, tired sigh as I put my back against the wall. This is going to take a while.

Maybe he'll understand. Maybe he'll be all for it. Maybe he'll be super excited. Or maybe he'll get mad at me for dragging him into this. Maybe he'll end up like Chat. Maybe he'll find out who I am and get mad at me for keeping secrets from him.

I shake my head again. I need sleep. I'll figure this out while I'm well rested.

I complete the walk to my house and immediately go up to my room. As soon as I close the door, I go to my bed and collapse on it, letting myself sink into the mattress as the world around me goes dark, leaving me with nothing except for my own thoughts, dreams, and nightmares.

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