Ladybug's Darkside

Chapter 6

Marinette's POV

When we got back to the hotel Audrey ushered me into Chloe's room while handing Chloe a first aid kit

"You two can start to bond and build a friendship by helping Marinette with her split lip and the cut on cheek." Audrey said before she shut the door.

"This is going to become a very frequent thing, isn't it?" Chloe asked with a sigh.

"Yeah probably, I never use weapons, which means that I'm always at a disadvantage in fights." I answered, hearing Chloe sigh.

"Well then, I guess I'm going to be getting good at this." Chloe said, opening the first aid kit while I sat on the bench at her vanity like I did earlier today in my room, technically yesterday since it's three in the morning.

"You know you don't actually have to, right?" I asked her, staring her dead in the eyes.

"I know I don't have to, but my mother said we are to be partners, and that means taking care of each other." Chloe answered, making barely the very corners of my lips twitch upwards in what would've been a genuine smile if I let it show. "So, while I'm not much of a fighter, I can help out and do my part by patching you up."

"Alright then, I'll trust you to do your work doc." I said, a smirk forming on my face as she lightly chuckled.

Chloe disinfected the wounds and put a bandage over my cheek, though she had to be instructed how to do this by me. She didn't have a clue on how to do it, but she's never done it before so I don't blame her. After that I went to my room to get a couple hours of sleep before waking up and starting my morning routine.

Time Skip

Chloe found me in the gym, like she has every morning since I moved into the suite across from hers, but this time she actually looked at me. Her jaw dropped when she spotted my body, what did she expect from a fighter? I walked up to her and gently closed her mouth before I walked passed her and looked at the clock. I've got time for a quick shower before we need to leave.

When I got out of the shower and got dressed Chloe was still standing in the doorway of the gym, though her mouth is still shut thankfully. I gently grabbed hold of her wrist and lead her out to the limo just pulling up, the driver looking confused at Chloe's shocked state but didn't say a word.

"When the hell did your body look like that?" Chloe asked as soon as she snapped out of it.

"The activity your mother and I showed you last night, plus I've spent at least three hours a day in that gym for the past five months and like a week." I said to her, tilting my head in confusion to her question.

"Not your physique, the scars, there's tons of them." Chloe said, shocked beyond belief.

"Just because something is frowned upon doesn't mean people don't do it." I answered vaguely, since the driver is unaware of it.

"We are here miss Chloe and miss Marinette." The driver announced.

"Thank you." I said to him before getting out of the limo, Chloe following behind me.

Chloe and I were immediately ambushed by Sabrina as soon as we walked into the school.

"Are you replacing me with Marinette?" Sabrina asked, tears in her eyes.

"No Sabrina, I'm not replacing you with anybody." Chloe answered with a sigh. "I didn't call you last night because I got to spend time with my mother."

"I bet Marinette was there too!" Sabrina shouted.

"Yes, because her mother parades me around like I'm her favorite trophy." I answered. "I fight back too much for me to be a good replacement for you."

"True, she'd never do what you do for me." Chloe agreed with me. "Your spot in my life is safe Sabrina, it's just that I'll be a bit busy in the near future."

"Busy with what?" Sabrina asked curiously.

"Learning to take over for my mother." Chloe answered, starting to walk towards the class with both Sabrina and I walking beside her."

"By the way, what happened to your face Marinette?" Sabrina asked curiously.

"I got into a fight yesterday, a fist fight not the battle of wits between me and Lila." I answered. "I won by the way."

"True, some mugger tried to rob my mom and she kicked his hide till he tried to run away crying." Chloe backed me up.

"I'm going to be getting into a serious fight with my former father tomorrow, it'll probably be recorded and put on YouTube." I spoke up, thinking of how Tom would react to seeing me as his opponent. "So the day after tomorrow I might roll up to school completely trashed and bloody."

"If you know he's going to fight you, then why not avoid it?" Sabrina asked curiously.

"I owe him a good beatdown from five months ago." I answered honestly.

"Wait, he's the one that put that giant bruise on your face?" Sabrina asked alarmed.

"Yeah, and he didn't hold back in the slightest when he hit me." I answered before we paused in front of the classroom door. "Now it's time for the begging to start."

"What do you mean?" Chloe asked confused.

"Did you forget what happened here at school yesterday?" Sabrina asked her.

"I exposed Lila as the liar she is, the others are going to be begging for my forgiveness." I explained to Chloe. "And they're not gonna get it."

"Well then, I guess Ladybug and Chat Noir are gonna have their hands full for a while." Chloe said with a groan.

"Maybe, but I don't really care." I said before opening the door.

Just as I predicted, the moment we entered the class the others swarmed us terrifyingly fast. Alya literally got on her hands and knees and started sobbing out incoherent words. I just pushed past them, not giving any of them the time of day. When I took my seat it was then swarmed by everybody, all shouting out apologies, begging for forgiveness, telling me how wrong they were.

"If you don't back the hell off, I'll start breaking your bones." I said coldly, emotionlessly. "Five... Four... Three... Two." They were all in their seats when they realized I was serious. "You can beg and plead and sob all you want, but you will never get my forgiveness, bar the one who has already shown themself to be somewhat redeemable."

"And who is that?" Alya asked, a touch nervous, but more curious than anything.

"She knows who she is, after all she's smarter than most." I answered, causing a bunch of people to groan.