Seeing red

Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at http://archiveofourown.org/works/55197043.

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Archive Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Category: F/M
Fandoms: Miraculous Ladybug, DCU (Comics)
Relationships: Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Tikki, Marinette Dupain-Cheng |
Ladybug & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug's Parents
Characters: Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Marinette Dupain-Cheng |
Ladybug's Parents, Tikki (Miraculous Ladybug), Adrien Agreste | Chat
Noir, Alya Césaire, Lila Rossi, Caline Bustier's Class, Caline Bustier
Additional Tags: Sad Ending, Angst, red lantern Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Swearing, Pre-
Episode: s03 Miracle Queen (The Battle of the Miraculous Part 2, Other
Additional Tags to Be Added, class salt, Bad Teacher Caline Bustier
Language: English
Stats: Published: 2024-04-14 Updated: 2024-04-29 Words: 5,674 Chapters:
3/12
 Seeing red
by morde_uno

Summary

Being Ladybug, Marinette had to learn to control her emotions so that Hawkmoth can't get to
her. However everyone has their limits, and when she hit hers Marinette attracts something
much worse.

TRIGGER WARNING : Blood, major character death and sad ending.

Notes

Hello everyone and welcome to my new fic. Here's a bit of information that you might want
to know.

First off, Major character death and sad ending ahead.

The fic is mainly about miraculous Ladybug characters and its setting. It's set in mid season
3.

DC universe-wise, you will get to see some characters and other mentioned. This fic is not
tied to one specific universe/continuity/show.

As for red lanterns powers, I took the liberty to change some stuff here and there but not too
much, just enough for the story to make sense I guess.

I will try to keep weekly updates.

Anyway, enjoy!
 Pushing my limits
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes

She was gone for just half an hour, she left to deal with the akuma leaving her schoolbag in
class. She returned to find her classmates surrounding her seat. She looked at what was going
on, her sketchbook was destroyed, shredded pages, paint all over them.

“Who did it?” she asked in a cold voice.

“We don’t know. we just got back.”

“I said who did it!” Everyone stared at her, surprised by the way she raised her voice.

Chloe being Chloe didn’t read the room as usual and replied. “Will you shut up already? I’m
trying to polish my nails.”

Marinette turned furiously to her. “Was it you? Did you do it?!”

“Don’t be ridiculous, if I would destroy it I might as well have stolen anything valuable, if
there was any.”

Marinette ran toward her to hit her but was stopped by Alya grabbing her behind. “Come on
girl, she’s not worth it.”

Marinette looked around the room when she saw it, Lila smirked at her, her face full of
satisfaction, no one saw her since all their eyes were on Marinette. The girl felt something
snap in her. “It was you! I should have known!”
She charged toward her but was stopped by Kim in front of her. “Out of my way! She has to
pay!” She struggled to get out of his grasp, even accidentally elbowing him in the ribs.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about Marinette,” Said Lila as she put her hands on her
chest and stepped backward as if afraid by the other girl. “I didn't touch your bag, I swear!”
She continued with tears forming in her eyes.

“Liar!”

Alya came in and put a hand on her friend’s shoulder. “Come on girl, you can’t just accuse
anyone you don’t like to be the culprit.”

The girl stopped for a moment and took a look at her situation: Her stuff was ruined, the
culprit right in front of her playing victim and her friends standing in front of her like she was
at fault here.

Feeling betrayed, Marinette grabbed her sketchbook and bag and ran home, tears in her eyes.
She went to her room and started to sob. “I left to save Paris and this is how they repay me? I
bust my ass to help them and this is thanks I get? All of this because of Hawkmoth and his
stupid akumas.”

Tikki, her kwami, showed up from her purse and flew near her. “Calm down Marinette,
you’re gonna attract-”

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng of earth,” A voice said and both the girl and kwami turned around
to see an object glowing red floating slightly above them. “You have great rage in your heart,
you belong to the red lantern corps.”

The object, a ring now that they got a closer look, flew to Marinette’s right hand and slid in
her finger. A moment later the girl felt her finger pierced by a thousand needles from the ring,
soon after Marinette felt a burning sensation emanating from the ring and cursing through her
blood. The pain so intense the girl fell on the ground, her body moved erratically, her brain
overloaded with pain. She thought she would die right now. Tikki besides kept calling her
name, crying, not knowing what was happening to her but Marinette could not hear her over
what was happening with herself.

Marinette felt like she passed out and woke up the next moment, most of her pain was gone,
replaced immediately by fear and confusion. “What just happened?!”

Tikki, crying rivers by now, replied. “I don’t know! One moment it looks like you died and
the next you’re up and well. Take the ring off, I sense some dark magic in it.”

Marinette tried just that, except she couldn’t, she could still feel the ‘needles’ hooked into her
skin. “It's stuck! I can’t take off, dammit!”

A voice then came that startled both of them. “Warning, the red power ring is linked to your
body and acts as your heart, taking off the ring will lead to an inevitable death.”

“What! No no no, this can’t be happening. How do I safely take it off?”

“Impossible.”

Marinette despaired as she let the information sink. “No, what am I going to do?” She put her
hands in her face and started sobbing.

“It’s okay Marinette, we will get through this.” Said Tikki.

“How am I supposed to do that?! I’m stuck with this cursed ring for life!” Snapped Marinette
back at the small creature, startling her before she realized her actions. “Oh, I’m sorry Tikki,
I’m taking out my anger on you because of this stupid ring.”

“It’s okay, how about we see ways to calm yourself?”

Marinette narrowed her eyes at the kwami. “Are you saying I’m not calm?” She then had a
hand on her mouth. “Oh my god what am I saying? Yeah I need to calm down, I can’t deal
with people right now.”

Her parents heard a bit of the commotion and knocked on her trapdoor. “Marinette? Is
everything okay?”

Marinette panicked and quickly thought of a reply. “I’m okay, I… I’m going to need to not be
disrupted for the rest of the day. Stressful project I need to finish. Tell my friends I’m busy.”

Her parents seemed to accept her answer. “Okay, if you need a snack or anything just call
us.”

“Okthankyoubye!” Replied the girl in quick succession, not letting her parents say anything
and risk her snapping at them over the smallest thing.

After locking her room Marinette took more breath and said. “Alright, we’re alone.” Let’s
reduce the risk of being angry as much as possible.

“How are you feeling?”

Marinette was about to tear her pigtails when she replied. “My brain is on fire, I’m about to
explode!”

“Try meditation.”

“Okay, meditation sounds good.” Marinette began to sit down in a relaxed position and
started with breathing exercises. Tikki watched her for a few minutes not saying a word to
disrupt her from reaching her peace of mind. Everything seemed fine until the beeping of a
phone call was heard. “Damn it! What is it now?!” Marinette looked to see Alya calling her,
she denied the call and messaged her she was busy and turned off her phone for good
measure.
“Did it help before the call?” Asked the kwami.

“Barely, if a simple phone call makes him this angry I will not be able to live in today’s
society. Okay, let’s try a different angle, if I can’t be calm down I need to release my anger
and not let it build up inside. I need a sandbag or something to hit.”

“Where are you going to find that?”

“I know a place. Tikki, spots on.”

Ladybug roamed through the city and was now in an abandoned construction site, she was
pretty sure no one lived here but checked nonetheless. ”Hello! Anyone live here?” No
response, she checked for any signs of life, food, tents, trash and still nothing. “Alright let’s
see how this goes.” She punched the wall destroying it in one go. “Right. Super strength.
Tikki, spots off.”

“Marinette, how is it going?”

“Well the good news is punching that wall helps, the somewhat bad news is if I’m ladybug
my super strength might cause a lot more damage than intended. I’ll see if hitting the walls as
Marinette will be as good.” Tikki simply nodded and watched.

Marinette punched another wall and winced at the pain. “Shit! That hurts.”

“Language.”

“Screw your language.” Marinette covered her mouth with her hand. “Oh, I’m sorry Tikki, I
didn't mean it.”
The kwami simply nodded. “I understand. Did hitting help?”

“A bit.” Marinette continued to hit the wall, she ignored the pain and it seemed like her anger
was toning down a bit. “I think It’s working.” Marinette hit the wall again, only this time she
made a slight slip up and ended up hurting herself more when she hit the wall. Marinette held
her hand holding her tears, her anger spiked and she shouted. “Stupid wall!” She punched the
wall again, this time at the impact of her fist a blast of red energy surged from the ring
pulverizing the wall in front of her.

“What was that!”

“I don’t know! Ring! what did you do now?”

“As a red lantern, one of your powers include unleashing energy based on the amount of rage
you possess.”

“I thought lanterns make objects from the ring.”

“Constructs are also part of the red power ring, however it’s not the most optimal way of a
red lantern, since the ring is fed off rage the best way to use it is to just aim it at the target and
release it. The green lanterns who use willpower as fuel are more proficient in creating
constructs.”

Aim it at the target. the thought instantly made her think of several ways this could get ugly.
“Oh my god! This is bad, this is really bad. How do I control the ring power?”

“Based on your control of rage, the more rage you have the more output you can unleash.
You do have to wait and recharge for a significant amount of time after depleting the power
ring.”

Depleting the power ring? That caught her attention. A few thoughts came to Marinette at the
mention of this. “First, does depleting the ring kill me? Since the ring acts as my heart.”
“No, but you will feel tired until you refill the ring with your rage.”

Marinette smiled, if this was true then there is a chance she might have a bit of control over
this situation. “Second, how do you deplete the power ring?”

“By using its powers like the energy blast from earlier.”

“Third, How do I use those energy blasts?”

“Marinette, what are you trying to do?”

“I’m testing something.”

“As mentioned earlier, you aim it and release it.”

Marinette recalled how green lanterns usually fight and tried to mimic their moves, she
closed her fist and aimed the ring in the direction of a brick on the ground. “Fire.” She said
calmly but nothing happened. “Fire.” She said with power and a small energy ray spurred out
but not strong enough to reach the target. Her blood started to boil from frustration and she
shouted. “Fire!” An energy blast came out and disintegrated the brick and made her fall on
her back from the recoil.

“Marinette, are you okay?”

Marinette slowly got up and brushed the dust from herself. “Yeah, I’m fine. I feel better even,
this may not be healthy but destroying stuff with the ring is calming me down. And if I keep
doing it the ring will be depleted, making me less angry and not having enough firepower to
kill someone by accident.” Marinette looked around her, a few more walls waiting to be taken
down. She hit the walls and tried to adjust her output at the same time, the latter seemed to
still need practice.
After a few more shots the ring alerted. “Ring level below 10 percent, refilling the ring is
recommended.”

Marinette looked at the ring and smiled confidently. “This was a good practice session. A few
more of these and I should be able to control it. What do you think, Tikki?”

“Yes, it seems good for now. Just be careful.”

“Thanks.” Marinette smiled at her and continued. “Hey, I didn’t even feel the need to snap
back at you for no reason. It's working.” she then yawned. “Right, I get tired with a depleted
ring. Alright let’s head home and sleep. Tikki spot on.”

Ladybug returned to her home and de-transformed. She went to the kitchen where her parents
kept the table and the food ready for her, she smiled to herself and enjoyed the dinner with
Tikki. When she went back to her room her eyes landed on the desk wall where all the Adrien
pictures were pinned. She felt a blush creeping up her face followed by severe pain in her
heart.

She fell on the ground and clutched her heart where she felt most pain. Tikki came to her face
and asked in panic. “Marinette? What’s happening to you?”

The red ring then announced. “Warning! Warning! Detection of love in the holder’s heart in
addition to low levels of rage. Love is fatal to all red lanterns. If the holder doesn’t get rid of
her emotions or refill her rage she risks dying.”

Marinette gripped her heart tighter. Are you kidding me right now? I need to manage my rage
and my crush? Marinette started to think how she could deal with this. “Tikki.” She said
weakly.

“Yes?”
“Insult me.”

“What?”

“Insult me, make me angry.”

“But you will not be able to control yourself.”

“Tikki if you don’t make me angry I will die!”

Tikki tried to think what to say. “You’re stupid. You’re ugly.”

“Come on, think of a stronger insult.”

Tikki started to panic and looked around the room. “Your hairstyle is stupid. Euh, your room
is too pink. You’re not good at your studies.”

“Keep up, I think it’s working.” Said Marinette in pain but Tikki was still unsure of how true
this was.

“I hate your food and your parents’.”

As Tikki said those words, Marinette's pain was replaced by a boiling sensation as she stood
up and grabbed the kwami, the latter started to fear for her life. Marinette breathed deeply.
“Thank you and I’m sorry.”

“Are you okay?”

 Marinette fell on the ground, hugged her knees. “No I’m not! I thought I could handle this
rage ring but now I also have to not love people. How do I even do that? What’s gonna
happen to me?”

Tikki went to her holder’s face and rubbed her cheeks. “I’m here with you, we will get
through this together.”

As the sobbing died down Marinette said weakly. “Tikki, do me a favor and take down the
pictures of Adrien.”

Tikki wanted to question the decision but there was no way around it, if just the sight of
Adrien put her in this situation then the pictures needed to go. “I’ll do that, you stay here and
maybe try to sleep.”

Chapter End Notes

Kudos and comments are appreciated.

I also welcome constructive criticism.

 Testing my limits
Chapter Notes

Marinette learns a few more things about her new powers.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

The next day Marinette woke up, the feeling of her brain on fire started as soon as she did.
“Tikki?”

“I’m here Marinette. Good morning. How are you feeling?”

“Good morning. I still feel like shit,” She paused for a moment. “Sorry for the word.”

“It’s okay, your parents made breakfast. How about you eat and see what we do for the day?”

Marinette felt nervous at the idea, she didn’t want to snap at her parents but she couldn't
avoid them indefinitely. “Alright, I can do it. Wait! I can’t take off the ring, how am I gonna
hide it?”

“Does it have camouflage maybe?” Asked Tikki.

Marinette turned to the ring. “Ring, do you have a camouflage mode? Or something similar
to hide yourself?”

“Yes, do you wish to do it?”

“Yes.” Marinette immediately regretted her request as the ring began to sink in her skin,
painfully so. Marinette clutched her hand and bit her lip to avoid screaming out loud. After
the ring finished Marinette found herself on the verge of crying. “I hate you.” The ring, now
in ‘camouflage mode’ didn’t respond to her.

After calming herself a bit, she went down the stairs and was greeted by her mother. “Good
morning, sweetheart. How are you doing?”

“Good morning, mom. I’m a bit tired actually.”

“Was the project that hard?”

Project? right, my excuse. “Yes, I made progress but it still needs a lot of work.”

“How about you eat your breakfast? You can’t work on an empty stomach.” Marinette
nodded and joined her parents at the table. Tom told her a story she missed yesterday when
she was in her room and Marinette kept smiling and forcing laughs, thankfully nothing made
her angry.

As the parents were cleaning the table Marinette asked them. “Mom, dad, can I take the day
off today? I feel too tired to be at school.”

Tom replied. “Sure sweetheart, make sure you rest well.”

“Thanks! love you both.”

Marinette went back to her room and Tikki came out. “Alright, we have the day to ourselves.
That and I noticed something else.”

“What is it?”
“The ring rejects romantic love, but parental love seems fine. Both today and yesterday I was
completely fine with my parents. Only when it came to Adrien.” As she said the word a weak
stinging pain hit her heart. “That my heart started to react.”

“That’s… awful, but hey, at least you still have your parents’ love, maybe also platonic love.”

Marinette nodded. “Now, I seem to be fine with my parents, that’s good but now I need to
know how to deal with other people like my classmates, including my biggest obstacles :
Chloe, Lila and Adrien.”

Tikki thought for a moment and said. “How about we-” She was cut off by Marinette’s
phone, specifically the akuma alert.

Color drained from Marinette as she just realized. “Oh no! I completely forgot about him!”

“You can do it Marinette.” Cheered Tikki to give her holder confidence.

“Ok, Tikki spots on.”

She could not do it, nothing was going her way in this akuma fight, not only was it a new
akuma and Ladybug did not know how to deal with it. Where is Mr. Pigeon when you need
him? It was another fashion disaster. Alya was hellbent on getting footage even if it meant
getting injured or worse and the jerk who triggered the akuma can’t shut up to save his life,
literally.

The girl’s anger and frustration was rising with each passing second and she could feel she
would not be able to take it much longer. And so she used her last resort. “Lucky Charm!” A
second later, a brick dropped on Ladybug’s hand and she realized. “Thanks Tikki. Chat!
Distract him.”

Ladybug left the scene slightly guilty to leave Chat Noir alone. She soon reached the
abandoned destruction site where no one was there yet again, she began to destroy rock after
rock, wall after wall until she was satisfied.

Now that her mind was clear… ish, she could think of a plan.

One akuma fight later, the heroes did their signature. “Pound it! So M’lady, what did you do
with the lucky charm? Usually when you leave the scene it’s to bring a new addition.”

“I- it didn’t work out like intended so I figured out another plan.”

Chat Noir shrugged. “As long as it worked. See you later, Bugaboo.”

“Wait.” Ordered Ladybug in a serious tone.

Chat Noir noticed it and started to feel nervous. “What is it?”

“I will tell you this and hopefully I will not have to repeat myself. I am very stressed and
angry these days. I would appreciate it if you didn’t add to this by calling me Bugaboo or
joking around mid-fight or flirting with me. It’s annoying.”

Chat Noir deflated. “Ok, sure. Can I help you with your problems?”

Ladybug shook her head. “Secret identity, but thank you. Bug out.”

Ladybug entered the balcony of her room. “Tikki, Spots off. Thanks for the tip, it helped me
out there.”

“You’re welcome. How is your rage?”

“It’s fine… for now. We have the rest of the day to figure out what to do with my classmates
and train a bit more with the ring.”

After a normal enough lunch with her parents, Marinette went back to her room and headed
out to her new training place. She de-transformed and ordered. “Ring, show yourself.” A few
painful seconds later Marinette asked. “Ring, how do I make constructs?”

“Use your anger to release your energy and model it however you see fit.”

“Is there any trick or tips to this?”

“Use your anger to release your energy and model it however you see fit.” Marinette rolled
her eyes at the response and mumbled something along the line of stupid cursed ring.

“Okay, let’s try it. Materialise.” As she said the words nothing happened. “Materialise!”
Nothing. “Materialise!” Still nothing. “Fire!” A beam came out and hit the ground near her.
“Well at least it’s still there. Alright, let’s try something else. Lucky Charm!” Nothing. “Ugh,
what was I expecting? I guess I’m not gonna learn all the red lantern moves today.”

“What are you going to do now?” Asked Tikki.

“Well I might as well continue working on adjusting my firepower.” Marinette spent the next
few minutes on her aim, fire output and stamina using the ring. She stopped when the ring
announced. “Ring power level below ten percent.”

“Alright time to try out one last thing.” Said Marinette as she pulled her phone.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m gonna look into the messages my classmates left me.”

“Are you crazy?! You will probably explode with rage.”

“I know, and that’s why I need to do it. If I can’t control myself reading these messages, I
will not be able to control myself in front of my classmates. At least if I ‘explode’ here I will
not kill anyone in my vicinity.”

Tikki thought for a few seconds. “You’re… right, but be careful, read them one at a time and
take a break in between.”

Marinette nodded, took deep breaths and started to look at the messages. She decided to read
in order from who would hurt her the least to the most and see how the escalation will affect
her.

Max : “Your behavior these days have been very illogical and irrational.”

Marinette rolled her eyes and continued.

Rose : “Come on Marinette, I’m sure we could all be friends if we tried.”

No, we can’t, not after what she did.

Ivan : “I’m sorry your sketchbook was destroyed but you shouldn’t accuse everyone like
that.”

Marinette started to feel blood rush but nothing major. She thought this was her typical level
of annoyance. “Ring, current rage level.”

“Power level at 22%”

Marinette hummed. 20% seems manageable. “Alright, let’s try with someone who won’t hold
back their words.”

Kim : “Come on Nette, get over whatever you have with Lila and apologize to her. Also you
packed quite the punch there, I also want my apology.”

Chloe : “Tell your stupid friends to stop annoying me, I did not destroy your things and I
couldn't care less about them.”

Marinette felt the heat rising and asked. “Ring, current rage level.”

“Power level at 56%”

“Maybe you should stop, we don’t want to reach higher levels.” Offered Tikki.

“Tikki, I need to do it. I need to know what I can and cannot take.” Marinette looked at her
phone and her finger hovered over the icon of the one person whose words could hurt her the
most : Alya. “Here goes.”

Alya : “Honestly girl, I don’t get you. Lila is such a good girl if you just get to know her. I
understand your sketchbook was ruined but you should not accuse Lila like. The poor girl
was hurt and kept crying after you left.”

Marinette could feel her rage spiking, heat rising from her body, her insides boiling up. The
need to let it all out made her scream in the air. Her scream released red flames from her
mouth and after a couple of seconds she put a hand over mouth when she realized what she
did. “What the fuck was that?!”

“Marinette! look at you.” Said Tikki her eyes wide in shock.

Marinette, confused by what her kwami asked, looked at her hands, then her new attire.
“What is this?” She found herself in a some kind of suit, one similar to that of the green
lanterns, except hers was red where the green was supposed to be. “I guess even red lanterns
have uniforms.”

“Is the flaming hair part of the suit?” Tikki asked as she tilted her head.

“What?” Marinette then tried to find a reflective surface to see what the kwami was talking
about. She found a puddle of water by herself. “Unbelievable.” Just like the kwami said. Her
hair was now burning and flowing upwards. Not only that but now that could see herself, she
had a domino mask that covered her face partially and her eyes, eyes with the same shade of
red as the rest of her suit.

Marinette didn’t feel anything dangerous from her flaming hair. Holy shit! My hair is on fire!
She reached her hair with her hand. As she closed on it she didn’t feel particularly in danger.
She touched it a few times and it felt… Lukewarm? It’s probably safe to assume it’s not
lukewarm for the others.

“Are sure you’re okay?”

“Yes?”

“Okay, can you turn it off?”

“Okay, wait. Ring current power level.”

“Power level at 73%”

Marinette felt a chill down her spine. That’s still not 100%?! She didn’t want to know what
would happen if she increased it anymore. “Ring, how do I take off the suit?”
 “By will.”

“And how do I put it back on?”

“By will, or subconsciously in case of extreme rage.”

“Ok try to turn it off.” Suggested The kwami.

“Alright. De-transform.” Said Marinette hoping it would do the trick. The suit evaporated
leaving the girl in her casual clothes. “That one was easy to do. Transform.” The suit
immediately reappeared. “Thank god this is easy to use, if every power is as hard making a
construct I don’t know what I would do with my life. De-transform. Alright, Tikki, let's go
home.”

“Marinette, aren’t you forgetting something?”

“What is it?”

“Roughly 63% of rage to blow off.”

“Oh right, thanks Tikki. You’re a lifesaver.”

Chapter End Notes

I added the 'camouflage mode' for the red ring because I can't have her walk wearing a
bright red ring without rising suspicions. Same for the suit, as far as I know all red
lanterns have their suits permenantly but I need my secret identity shenanigans.

Kudos and comment are appreciated.

 Knowing my limits
Chapter Notes

For those who asked if there was going to be salt : Here's the salt.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Marinette woke up the next, her brain still filled with rage but at a ‘reasonable’ level. She
doesn’t know what counts as reasonable for a red lantern but she could handle her level of
rage right now.

The first thing she did was to sigh and mentally prepare herself. She knew she could not
avoid her class indefinitely and so she decided today she was going back to school to test the
waters.

After having breakfast with her parents, Sabine checked the clock. “Marinette! you’re gonna
be late for school again.”

The girl, who was in her room at the moment, replied. “I can’t my socks!” She lied, but had a
valid reason for doing so. Marinette wanted to avoid any interactions first thing in the
morning, so she planned to be late on purpose so her classmates would be focused on the
lesson and the teacher.

A short walk to the school later, Marinete entered her classroom a good ten minutes late.
“Good morning.”

Her teacher, Mrs. Bustier nodded. “Good morning. Now take your seat.”

Marinette quietly moved to the back and ignored the stares directed at her. She sat down and
followed the lesson.
She noticed Adrien was absent for the first period and for once she was thankful about his
photoshoot schedule. She also noticed most of the girls stealing glances at her. She ignored
them for now, dreading what would happen when the lecture would end.

As Mrs. Bustier announced the end of the period, the girls, among them Alya, went to
Marinette’s seat and asked. “Good morning.”

Marinette didn't spare her a glance and kept picking up her things. “Good morning.”

Alya never saw Marinette act coldly toward her. she said hesitantly. “You…You were absent
yesterday.”

“I was tired.” Answered the pig-tailed girl matter-of-factly.

“And how are you today?”

“Still upset.”

“I can understand that but that doesn’t mean you had to make Lila cr-”

“Why is it always about Lila with you? I’m your best friend! You should not prioritize her
over me.”

“She is sensitive!”

“And what am I? An emotionless rock. You cared more about Lila’s crocodile tears than my
whole being. All my work was destroyed.”

“Of course we care about you, we-”

“Oh really? Because last I checked all of you sent me messages about how I should apologize
to Lila. None of you cared about my stuff or wellbeing.” This caused Several of her
classmates to flinch or look a bit ashamed.

Seeing the dispute escalating, the teacher shouted. “Alright everyone that’s enough! Move
along, you still have the next period to attend.” The students began to take their school bags
and exited the room. The teacher then added. “Marinette, can I see you for a minute?”

“Yes Ma’am.”

“What’s the matter Marinette?”

“Someone completely ruined my sketchbook and no one tried to help me.”

“I see.” The teacher paused for a moment. ”Remember what we talked about at my
birthday?”

Marinette looked shocked at her teacher, knowing where this conversation was going. “Yes
but that was your choice to forgive her not mine, and I still hate Chloe for ruining my gift on
top of everything else she does.”

“I’m sure you have in your heart to forgive this incident.”

“No I can’t, first it was Chloe, now Lila-”

“We don’t know that.”

“I know that, who else is gonna be? How many times does my belongings have to be ruined
or stolen before you decide to punish the culprit instead of telling me to shove it.”
The teacher narrowed her eyes and said in a stern tone. “I’m very disappointed in you,
Marinette.”

“No! I’m disappointed in you, instead of helping victims you’re standing with the bullies.”
Marinette turned around and headed for the door before rage would make her do something
irreversible.

“Marinette! I’m not done talking!”

“I’m done listening!”

Marinette exited the classroom and ran toward the bathroom. She quickly reached her
destination. She made sure no one was there Tikki came out and said. “Are you okay? Do
you need to transform and let it out?”

Marinette headed for the window and made sure no one was nearby. “No, I just need to do
this.” Marinette pointed it out with her hand. “Fire!” She shot a laser beam in the sky where
no one would get hurt. She inhaled and sighed deeply. “Much better.”

“What if someone saw that?”

“I was careful, no was was there. Worst case scenario someone triggers a false akuma alert,
Now let’s-” Marinette was about to turn when she saw something else out there, a dark
butterfly fluttering in the sky coming her way. The sight of the creature made her angry again
and she pointed her ring toward it and blasted it to smithereens. “I am not turning into your
puppet on top of everything else.”

As she headed for the class, Marinette thought the worst was over now that she released some
of her rage and avoided being akumatized but the universe had other plans as she saw Adrien
heading toward her.
He waved and smiled at her. “Good morning, Marinette.”

“G-Good morning, Adrien.” The girl winced as replied.

“I heard what happened to you the other day. I’m sorry it happened to you.”

Marinette was trying to keep her posture straight. “Thanks.” She tried to sound as normal as
possible, hiding any signs of pain.

“I know that’s not much but I can buy you new materials if you want.”

The pain intensified. Shit! Did you really have to pick now to be a gentleman? “T-thanks,
that… means a lot.”

He nodded and continued. “But did you really have to hit Kim and accuse Chloe and Lila?”

Marinette stared at him wide eyed. “Are you serious right now?” The boy confirmed with a
nod. ”Kim aside, those two have it for me everyday! Chloe even admitted she would have
stolen my designs before ruining them and Lila smirked at me when that happened. Even if
that was not proof, she still enjoyed seeing me miserable.”

Adrien winced and rubbed his neck. “You’re exaggerating right? Surely they’re not that bad.”

Marinette kept staring at him, not believing what he just told her. Rage started to build up
inside and she noticed… The pain was gone. Shesneered at him and replied. “Whatever,
forget it.” She marched forward, leaving Adrien confused as to what happened.

While alone in the hallway, Tikki came out and whispered to her. “Are you okay?”
Marinette, still keeping her frown, replied. “I’m fine.”

“How are you feeling after talking with you-know-who?”

Marinette continued to walk with no hint of pain or fondness. “I’m okay, Adrien won’t be a
problem anymore.” Tikki understood from the look of it and nodded silently.

—--------------------------------------

After a tiring day at school, Marinette entered the bakery, her parents immediately frowned
when they saw her face. “Mom, Dad, I need to tell you something.”

Both parents stopped their task to listen to their daughter. “What is sweetheart? You sound
serious.”

“I want to change schools.”

“Change schools? Marinette, what happened?”

“The other day someone completely ruined my sketchbook and the rest of the stuff in my
school bag.”

The parents gasped, a look of horror in their face. Tom was the first to ask. “Who did it? Was
it Chloe?”

“It wasn’t Chloe, but she insulted me saying my sketches were not worth stealing. I’m pretty
sure it’s Lila-”

“The girl who got you expelled?”

 Marinette nodded. “And when I accused her she started crying and playing victim.” She
clutched her fist. “And then everyone started to comfort her before me because she is,”
Marinette made air quotes with her hands. “Sensitive.”

“Oh dear.”

“And if that was not enough, I even attracted an akuma.”

Her mother shouted. “An Akuma?! Are you okay? Did you get hurt?” She started to check on
her daughter to see if she was injured or bruised.

“I’m fine, I was able to calm down and avoid it but I… I can’t take it anymore! If I have to
spend another day in François-Dupont I will literally explode!” Marinette began to inhale and
exhale heavily.

They both went and hugged her. “I’m sorry Marinette, we will fix this immediately.”

Marinette let her tears fall. “Thank you.”

Chapter End Notes

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