Blamed for Murder | finished

Ch. 3: Falling From Grace

It was nearly 6 in the morning. Alya called me on my phone, so I woke up after just a few hours after I went to bed. She was my best friend, but why couldn't she just give me a few more hours of well-deserved sleep? I answered her call, grumbling and tired: "Morning Alya, what is it? Do you even...". She immediately cut me off: "Girl, they say Ladybug killed mayor Bourgeois! Put on the news! NOW!"

I was awake immediately and put on the TV as instructed. "This is Nadja Chamack with the 6 A.M. news: A tragedy has happened in today's early hours, as the police received a distress call from Le Hotel Grand Paris, stating that Ladybug broke into the building at 2 o'clock in the morning, as screams were heard. Police units arrived shortly after. With us is Lieutenant Roger Raincomprix, telling us what has happened."

Roger had a very serious look on his face, as he spoke to the camera. "We were witnessing how Ladybug, Paris' once beloved super-heroine, strangled mayor Bourgeois to death with the string of her yo-yo via a live feed of the hotels' security cameras. Ladybug was still met at the crime scene by police first responders. She managed to escape by disarming a police officer. I have to be specific about this: We have met her on scene. Whatever has happened to Ladybug, she isn't the heroine we once knew anymore. She is armed, extremely dangerous and on the run. Please do not get near her. Contact the police immediately if you see Ladybug, or have any hint about her real identity."

I dropped my phone as Roger spoke. All of this felt so unreal, like a bad dream. How did they manage to get video evidence of Ladybug killing the mayor, while I wasn't even in the same room as it happened? Who was that other person who snuck out and closed the window behind me?

"Hello? Marinette I can hear that you dropped me", said Alyas muffled voice through my phone that was conveniently lying on my floor. I picked it up. "I'm sorry, I dropped it in shock. Do you really think Ladybug would do something like that? I mean, she is always so nice and helpful to other people. I just can't believe she would be doing that."

Alya just had a dry reply: "Are you nuts? Of course not! I don't know what happened, but Ladybug would never do something like this! Why would she? She doesn't even have a motive. And it's not like Chat Noir wasn't in trouble, because Copy Cat stole the Mona Lisa. Do you remember the whole fuzz with Rogercop? I trust her 100%. There will be a press conference at city hall at noon. I need to be there to see the presented evidence. I will keep the Ladyblog updated on everything."

I was relieved that at least my best friend and probably Ladybugs biggest fan was on my side. But something concerned me: "Please be careful. I don't believe Ladybug is behind this either, but we don't know who did it. And this person is at least skilled enough to frame Ladybug." She told me not to worry and hang up. Alya really is a great and trustworthy friend, but right now I am glad that neither she nor Chat knew that I am Ladybug.

Thinking of Chat, I had to prepare the macarons for him. I was sure that he wasn't joking about coming back. I just dind't know why the stray cat was interested in me. And this camembert thing really made him weird. He smelled like it and even explicitly asked for camembert macarons.

I wouldn't be able to sleep now anyway, so I started making Chat's macarons. Tikki was supporting me like she always did, but I still wasn't feeling that good. I was thinking about attending the press conference as Ladybug, but the police would probably just try to arrest me.

All I could do was waiting for the press conference. Alya sure will find a way to get in, this girl was full of dedication. To be honest, I imagined her turning back into Lady Wifi just because someone denied her entry. It took me a few seconds, but then I realized something rather important. "Oh my god, Tikki what do I do if someone gets akumatized? This is the perfect opportunity for Hawk Moth to strike!"

Tikki, casually floating beside me, gave me a concerned look. "I am afraid that you're right about this. But you have to show that you still fight evil. Maybe this will change the people's minds in your favour. You're not the first Ladybug that is in trouble, but you will find a way. You are smart, quick thinking, creative, thoughtful and gathered a lot of experience. You also have Chat Noir to support you." I loved how Tikki was able to build me up again. "You're right Tikki. Hey, I just got an idea. I can ask him about what he is thinking when he comes to fetch his macarons."

Making Chat's pastry helped me to calm down. I also kept my mind busy with working on some designs and playing video games. Baking, designing fashion and playing video games were my greatest hobbies, so I wanted to do them as long as I was a free girl. I waited for the press conference to end and checked the Ladyblog and other social media to see how the public's opinion turned out.

Alya somehow managed to get acknowledged as a news representative. She filmed the hotels' security camera footage, that was shown as evidence against Ladybug. The solution wasn't the best as she filmed the whole thing from a back row, but they captured every moment. It wasn't pleasant to look at. Even I would mistake the person killing the mayor for Ladybug. As the lights turned out on the crime scene, everything was pitch black and the cameras were unable to provide useful footage, but they kept everything on tape from the second the lights turned on again.

That was how the cameras must have missed me entering through the window, how the real killer disappeared into a closet, waiting for me to show up and then making her escape.

The next thing the cameras caught on tape was me, the real Ladybug, being next to the dead mayor, police rushing the room shortly after. I wasn't able to tell a difference between the fake Ladybug that killed the mayor and me. Now it made sense why Roger wasn't listening to any word I said. He has seen "Ladybug" doing everything. He probably sat in his car, only able to watch as a man got killed right before his eyes. Knowing Roger and his strong sense for justice, he wouldn't stop hunting me, until I was behind bars.

I checked on social media, to see what people wrote about all this and it didn't look good for me. Some well-renowned psychologist had already written an article about how Ladybug was probably a teenager with too much power. He theorized that this power must have overcome her and Chat Noir could be joining Ladybug into a life of crime and terror. The article concluded that Ladybug became a public threat and needs to be stopped before she can kill again. It was shared more than a thousand times in less than 30 minutes. I knew there always were some people who didn't like me, but this was a serious problem.

A lot of people turned against Ladybug, after seeing the video from the press conference. Only a few tried to defend her. The vast majority expressed how disappointed they were because they had believed in me. How could this happen? How did I lose trust and reputation so quickly? I thought the people of Paris trusted me after everything I did to protect them. On the other hand, murder was a serious crime and it looked like everything was caught on tape.

The latest newspaper headline was: Ladybug, the angel that has fallen from grace.