Devastating

Chapter 1

Marinette's P.O.V.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng was a lot of things: loyal, smart, strong, brave, kind- she was Ladybug! The one thing Marinette knew she was not, was a bully. The only reason anyone claimed that she could intentionally emotionally or physically harm anyone was because of Lila Rossi.

Lila was an Italian transfer student who first joined Ms. Bustier's class almost three years ago.

Lila first threatened Marinette when she was 14, the bluenette is now 17 and in her last year of Lyceé. In the time between Lila first threatening the class' 'everyday Ladybug' and now the Italian managed to convince the entire class with the exception of four students that Marinette was a lying bully.

Chloe Bourgeois, Le Chien Kim, Alix Kubdel, and Adrien Agreste were the only students in Ms. Bustier's class that believed Lila was the one bullying Marinette and not the other way around. The rest of the class, the people Marinette used to call her friends, all followed Lila like sheep to the slaughter taking everything the bully said at face value.

Adrien Agreste was the first to learn of the Italian's falsehoods, promising to help Marinette but that they should also 'take the high road'. The reasoning the model gave was that Lila would only be embarrassed and potentially akumatized if they revealed her lies to the class. At first, Marinette understood that Adrien wanted to prevent an akumatization but after a few days, she realized that his idea of 'taking the high road' was doing nothing and letting Lila get away with it.

By the end of the first month Marinette lost all regard for her former crush and by some strange turn of events ended up being best friends with Chloe. With help from her loyal confidantes, Marinette realized that none of the people that believed the liar over someone who they had known for years were ever truly their friends.

Together Marinette and her friends: Chloe, Alix, Kim, and Kagami (who was in another class) did their best to support each other. Lila was wrong- she would never win because Marinette's true friends would never betray her. These close friends had an important decision to make. Well, not them, but their alter egos did...

They were the heroes of Paris, with Chloe as Abeille and the bee miraculous, Kim as King Monkey with the monkey miraculous, Kagami as Ryujin with the dragon miraculous, Alix as Bunnix with the rabbit miraculous (a reserve hero- emergencies only), and Marinette as Ladybug with the ladybug miraculous. The badass superhero team protects Paris from the terrorist Hawkmoth and his partner Mayura who have been the plague of the city of love since the young heroes were pre-teens.

Chat Noir used to be "his Lady's" partner, but after he realized that Ladybug would never love him like he was convinced he loved her he stopped showing up to fight akumas. The group had an important situation to deal with.

Do they take Chat's miraculous?

This problem was not just, 'Chat Noir has been neglecting his duties. We need to take his miraculous before he becomes a more serious problem.', it raised the question of 'Who would become the new holder?' The balance between the black cat and ladybug had to be maintained.

//Flashback, 3 months ago//

After discussing the situation for a few hours Tiki, Marinette's kwamii decided to help the young heroes by telling them about true holders.

"What's a 'true holder', Tiki?" The small goddess saw her holder's gears turning and began to explain,

"A true holder is a person whose soul suits the miraculous they've been given who is also capable of demonstrating, understanding, and upholding what it represents. For example, you all are true holders for your respective miraculous but Chat is not. Chat Noir's soul does not fit with the black cat and its characteristics, while the ring represents bad luck and destruction it also embodies change and adaptability. Chat is unable to handle change and tries to control the world around him instead of readjusting. If you don't take the miraculous from him soon he will continue to suffer from prolonged exposure to the cat miraculous."

Tiki finished and it was put to a vote, the group (including kwamiis who their holders insisted on including) unanimously decided to take the cat miraculous from its current holder. That night the kwamii's spoke with Plagg, the kwamii of the black cat miraculous, and he agreed. Marinette woke up the next day, face to face with a small cat-like black god holding a silver ring the size of his torso.

//Flashback ends//

Since the cat miraculous was recovered Marinette had worn the ring around her neck with a small chain holding it there. She took it with her everywhere so that when she found a true black cat she would be ready.

Marinette was suddenly taken out of her thoughts by a flight attendant asking if she wanted anything to drink, the bluenette politely declined thinking back to how she ended up on a plane and on her way to Gotham of all places!

//Flashback, 1 month ago- early April//

"Oh yes, my Damiboo is so sweet and caring. He really hopes we win the competition and get a trip to Gotham. Of course, I was planning on visiting over the summer but now he's got his hopes up to see me sooner than expected!" That competition Lie-la was referring to was an essay their class representative had submitted to Wayne Enterprises for a trip to Gotham. Marinette, as the class representative, had worked hard on the essay listing everything her class had participated in and achieved, that could be verified.

"Wow, girl! I had no idea you were so up close and personal with a WAYNE!" Lila's most passionate follower, Alya, responded. All Marinette thought about at that moment was her former best friend and how quickly the aspiring journalist fell for the exchange students blatant lies, tossing Marinette aside in the process. While there was nothing the class' 'everyday ladybug' wanted to do more than challenge Lila's statement she knew it wouldn't be worth the bruises left in Lila and Alya's wake.

"Yeah, he is so kind and gentle- OH MY GOODNESS I wasn't supposed to tell anyone! Damian's family, you know Bruce Wayne and all his siblings, are really big on privacy. Oh! I can't believe I let it slip." Sausage hair then went on to cry her crocodile tears until she finally began to sniffle "-b-but I can trust you guys right? You promise not to tell anyone? Right? Cause they would be really upset if the press found out about us! We always had to be so careful about paparazzi seeing us, ever since we were 5(when we started hanging out at Wayne Manor) we always had to stay away from prying eyes."

As soon as Lie-la finished, the class, besides a select few that were aware of her lies, began to comfort the teary-eyed girl with promises of secrecy and statements of amazement. Marinette knew not to pay the bully any mind as she attempted to walk past the crowded rows toward the back of the class to her friends. The noirette quickly jumped over the many legs that attempted to trip her, she was no longer the clutz she once was and sat next to one of her best friends, Chloe.

To her left, Marinette heard the competitive argument taking place between two of her closest friends. All of the sudden, just as Marinette caught the gist of the conversation, Alix shouted out "NO WAY, I BEAT YOU BY A MILE! Don't believe me? Rematch. Tomorrow, same time and place as always. Don't be late!"

Marinette quietly smiled to herself while the argument between Alix and Kim continued and Chloe prattled about the bluenette's most recently debuted outfits and how much they suited 'uncle Jagged' and 'cousin Clara'.

//Flashback ends//

The bluenette found herself drifting off to sleep with the same smile... she was going to be ok.

Little did Marinette know that 5 rows ahead of her, someone was planning on following a former friend's advice and change targets... to his princess.

A/N

Hey Everyone!

I'm going to keep this short but, this is my first fic so I hope you all enjoy it! Constructive criticism and recommendations are always welcome!

I know my perspective is weird, it's in the third person but mainly follows the character listed at the beginning of the chapter(I hope that makes sense...).

There might be some inconsistencies with the characters(like birthdays or other small things) in the story, I'll let you guys know. The two big things are Jason and Bruce's relationship and Dick and Kor'i being married (plus Mar'i), and people getting along more than canon. I promise it will make more sense later on 😅.

I won't have many authors notes but they will most likely be potential fic ideas that I want to run by you guys.

Stay safe!