This was… bad.
Ladybug didn’t know how she got into these situations. Even for an Akuma this was weird.
An Akuma called ‘Lawsuit’, which was probably her reason for Akumatization, had both her and Chat Noir caught in a trial. Each Hero had their own defendant’s stand. If found guilty, they were supposed to give up their Miraculous(of course). If found innocent, they could go back to the fight.
Going back to the fight would probably mean the fight was over, as Lawsuit had no other powers outside of accusing people of their crimes and then doling out punishments. Which was good, because the faster Adrien gets home, the less chance of Gabriel getting home from the airport and finding an empty room.
The only problem? Somehow, Lawsuit had assigned Chloé as the Heroes’ lawyer.
Now, trusting Chloé was a complicated subject. Ladybug could trust her as Queen Bee. And while things were still a little rocky, she had decided that she could trust her in general. Trusting her to play a lawyer…. Was difficult to say. She did seem to have an idea on what to do and say.
That said, Chloé had been so busy helping with the Lila situation this afternoon, that she had yet to sleep. She was starting to get to something Adrien called ‘Science 2: Electric Boogaloo’ mode. And while Ladybug had no idea what that meant, she did not want to find out.
“I’ve got this,” Chloé assured her, sensing the unease. “I kinda know what I’m doing. I hope I don’t have to cross examine a parrot though.”
That was NOT HELPFUL.
“The first accusation,” Lawsuit began. “Accused of letting these Akumas run around.”
“Hawkmoth makes the Akumas!” Ladybug shouted, annoyance beginning to hit its peak. “We’re the ones trying to stop them!”
“He may make them,” she replied. “But you are not accused of that. You are accused of letting the problem keep going. Letting Akumas go on for days at a time, and giving up on saving them and letting groups overrun the city.”
Both Ladybug and Chat Noir gave each other a confused look, and went to respond. However, Chloé held up a hand to keep them quiet.
“Your accusations are false,” Chloé said. “Barring a ‘Scarlet Moth’ situation or an Akuma that can multiply, Hawkmoth only creates one at a time. The longest anyone has been Akumatized was Vanisher, who was under Hawkmoth’s spell for a little over twenty four hours.”
“And why is this?” Lawsuit asked.
“Vanisher was invisible,” she explained. “No one knew she was Akumatized until the next day. And as soon as Ladybug and Chat Noir did find out, they took care of the situation in about an hour.”
“I sense no dishonesty from your testimony,” she mused. “Next accusation!”
“Really?” Ladybug and Chat Noir groaned.
Lawsuit only hummed, shuffling the papers in front of her. That was likely where the Akuma was. And given the Akuma’s theme, it was either too-stressed lawyer, or someone who was being sued. Which made Ladybug a little worried, as Akumas that were in the wrong tended to lash out a bit more.
“The second accusation,” Lawsuit said. “Accused of not protecting civilians.”
“We’re only two people!” Ladybug growled.
