Miraculous Ladybug: Season Six | Part One

Chapted Thirty-Two: Parisian Purge

  Everyone had left the sewer, leaving Ladybug and Chat Noir to sit silently behind. They were both sitting beside each other in a crisscross position, looking at the sewage water flow. "You don't have to forgive me; I did try to kill you... even if it was an illusion, I still thought it was you." He whispers, breaking the silence at the same time. Ladybug looked at him; he was looking down at his lap. She reaches over to his shoulder, "That's why the illusion was crucial to the plan," She smiles in an attempt to comfort him. He looks up, frowning, "What if you didn't plan that far ahead? You would've been-" He stammers as tears filled his eyes. He immediately wiped them away, "I'm getting sick of crying in front of people," He mutters, looking away from her in embarrassment. She sighs and lays her head on his shoulder, "It makes you human, Chat."
  He pulls away from her to stand up and reaches down to help her stand as well. She grabs his hand gently before he pulls her up. "We need to go; we can't stay down here forever." He sniffled, walking over to the latter and looking back at her. Ladybug nods, watching him leave swiftly.

  Marinette sits on her bed, alone with Tikki by her side. "It can't be that bad; you saved all of Paris many times!" Tikki exclaims from in front of Marinette. She shakes her head in response, "No, they're going to make a hero out of the actual villain because they suspect they wouldn't get the truth without her assistance," she mutters, lying down with the blankets under her. Tikki frowns, "Maybe, but maybe Paris will remember all of the times you and Chat Noir risked your lives to protect them... and maybe they'll see that was to protect them as well!" She suggests landing next to Marinette's head. Marinette stares at the ceiling, "I wish it were that simple, Tikki." She mumbles, turning away and drifting to sleep.

The next day, it was Wednesday morning, and Marinette woke up bright and early to a loud commotion coming from outside on the streets of Paris. She groans, sitting up in her bed, and looks out the small window to peer over the street. There's a group of people marching down the streets demanding a change with picket signs in each of their hands. The sun hadn't even come out over the horizon, and Parisians had already begun a protest against something.
Marinette swallows hard once one of the protestors' signs faces her with a giant red X going through a drawing of Ladybug. They're already... She ran her fingers through her hair as her eyes grew wider. She dashes over to her computer and pulls up the latest article posted on the news.

Ladybug and Allies: Secret Meeting?
Plotting against the new villain? Or Paris?
Some may speculate both.

Marinette groans loudly, closing out of the tab, facepalming at her negligence in finding a decent spot for their meeting. Of course, there would be people seeing brightly colored superheroes fall into a utility hole in broad daylight, even though it was later in the day. She looked at herself in the mirror; her hair was a wreck, and her mascara was chipping off her eyelashes from forgetting to take it off the night prior. She sighs, taking out her phone to check the time. "5:30; of course, I was woken up before my alarm even had the chance to go off," she mutters to herself as she walks over to her trapdoor to head downstairs to freshen up in the bathroom.
Marinette's parents were glued to the news station as she walked by to the bathroom. "Marinette has-" "Yes, I'd love to hear your thoughts, but I really need to shower," She mutters groggily, opening the bathroom door slowly. She closes the door behind her and looks into the mirror. Am I a villain? Is Chrysalis just trying to say no? She turns away from the mirror and turns to the shower to turn on the water.
Marinette walks out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her hair and a robe draping down her body. "Marinette, they've already started a protest- are you sure you want to go to school today?" Sabine questions, standing away from the couch to face her. Marinette bit her cheek, "I don't see why I couldn't go to school because of a protest... don't those happen all the time?" She inquires, walking over to her father, who is still watching the news. Sabine sighs, looking at Tom, "Those protests are usually peaceful, especially considering they were always based around the planet's health. These are based on Paris's security and safety." She explained, watching Marinette take a seat next to her father.
Marinette looks at the television, which shows Chat Noir entering the utility hole and everyone following him afterward. "Could this be a meeting based around the night before? A discussion based on Chat Noir's outburst?" Nadja speculates as the scene turns back to her and her cohost. Marinette sighs, "Do you guys really believe they are the bad guys?" She asks, looking at her father for confirmation. He shakes his head slowly, "I don't know what to believe, but what I do know is Ladybug did lie to all of Paris and that we can't trust her," He whispers, looking back at Marinette before placing his hand on her shoulder. She looks back at her mom, "I'm not sure; they protected us for a year from Monarch. I just don't see why the identity was confidential." She adds, shrugging as she reaches for the remote to turn off the station. Marinette nodded in agreement, "Yeah, I don't know why she would lie either," She whispered, standing from the soft cushioning couch. "I'm still going to school. I'm running for class representative, and I can't miss out on campaigning," She stated sternly as she walked back over to the trapdoor entrance. Her parents both nod in acceptance, "Just be safe; we don't know how violent these can get," Tom pleaded, walking over to the bakery's entrance.
Marinette puts on her usual blazer and looks back at Tikki, "It's already begun; we must be extra careful. Even as civilians." She whispered, grabbing her pink shoes. Tikki nods, "I was hoping this wouldn't happen again," She mumbles, peaking out the window and viewing the even larger crowd than before marching the empty streets of Paris. Marinette puts on her shoes and takes out her phone.

Are you going to be there today? Everyone's saying Parisians are beginning to revolt, and it's not pretty.
- Alya.

Marinette inhales sharply before responding, "Yes, I wouldn't miss school just for external problems," She types before sending swiftly.

I'll be there today. Sorry for the lack of communication lately. Everything's been pretty odd lately.
-A.

Marinette sighs, "He shouldn't be apologizing to me... he did just find out why his father actually disappeared after all." She whispers, throwing her phone back into her pocket before grabbing her bag and turning back to Tikki, who is still watching outside of the window. Tikki looks back at her and floats over to her bag quickly. Marinette sighs, opening her trapdoor.
She walks over to the bakery as her father has already begun making dough. "Here," her mother hands her a bag of croissants, "Be extra careful today, okay?" Marinette takes the bag and smiles before hugging her mom and giving her a quick peck on the cheek. "I will, mom. I promise," she whispers before pulling away from the embrace. She walks out of the door, waving at them.
Once Marinette closes the door, she is greeted by loud chanting coming from the streets; it's even louder out here. She walks in the direction of her school, walking past multiple different protests with the same agenda in mind.

"BAN SUPERHEROES"
"WHAT ELSE ARE YOU KEEPING FROM US?"
"WERE YOU EVEN PROTECTING US IN THE FIRST PLACE?"
"WHY DID YOU PROTECT GABRIEL AGRESTE?"

She keeps her eyes fixated on the sidewalk ahead of her so as not to gain any unwanted attention from the protesters. She notices multiple business owners beginning to board up their walls in fear of robbery. She glances at the Musée Grévin from a distance, not without seeing a large group of people screaming from the outside. "TAKE DOWN THE SUPERHERO EXHIBIT!" They chanted from the stairs leading to the entrance. She winced, picking up the pace of her steps.
Marinette finally makes it to the school gates, almost out of breath. That was the longest 10-minute walk I have ever had. She thought before entering the schoolyard. It was oddly quiet, even for her getting to school so early. It was only a little after seven; usually, the school had some students out on the field throwing frisbees or playing with a soccer ball. She climbs up the stairs before forcing open the glass entrance door to see an absolutely silent lobby. She sighs as she walks over to the bench Nino and Alya usually sit at before she gets there.
  "Looks like someone got here even earlier than before!" Alya snickers, walking over with Nino not far behind. Marinette shrugs, "The protests woke me up." "Maybe we need more protests... or you need to invest in a new alarm clock." Nino chuckles as Marinette slowly stands from the bench. Alya rolls her eyes and elbows him to stop, "Do you have any big plans today?" She asks, adjusting her book bag. Marinette shakes her head, "No, I need help writing my speech for our campaigns next week," She mumbles, looking over toward the entrance. More students began flooding in; I guess the traffic was heavy due to the protests. "Huh? Say that again?" Alya teases, putting her hand to her ear. "Yeah, dude, maybe for starters, don't mumble during your speech that will determine your votes," Nino chimes in before Alya elbows him again, this time knocking the air out of him. Marinette looks back at them, "Very funny, ha-ha." She muttered deadpan. Nino shrugs, "Okay, sorry, jeez," He responds, putting his hands up above his head. "Anyways, have you heard from Adrien? The dude has been on a hiatus since the news broke out. Not to mention we have an exam in..." He shutters, "Chemistry..." he mumbles, turning pale. Alya rolls her eyes, "You forgot to study again, didn't you?" She facepalms, annoyed. He smiles awkwardly, "Listen, bro, I didn't take into consideration that my study buddy wouldn't be here!" He exclaims. Marinette giggles, "Yeah, and you have it earlier today! Right after Euro!" Nino inhales, "Yeah, gotta love block scheduling." He mutters, looking over at the entrance. "DUDE, where have you been?" He exclaims, turning around and giving Adrien a "brohug". Adrien stands there awkwardly, "H-home?" He stammers as Nino pulls away.
Marinette blinks at him; it looks like he's gotten absolutely no sleep whatsoever for a month. Before they could catch up, the bell dismissed them to their first classes. Marinette groans, "Design..." She kicks at the ground in agony. They all exchange laughter before disbursing into their own respective wings.