Monday (4)

'Gabriel, why are you coming to Gotham?' Lila asked, calling Gabriel through her phone.

'Because Masquerade is Lizzie Hearts, your friend, you better convince her to be on your side, I need to get information on her,' Gabriel answered with a monotonous voice.

'But-' Lila said before Gabriel hung up on her.

'That damn... How am I supposed to convince Lizzie to be my friend?' Lila gritted her teeth as she bit her nails, trying to think of ways to change Lizzie's perception of her.

Lila cursed at her contract with Gabriel before getting ready to go to school to try and fulfil her mission.

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'Marinette, you're Ladybug, you must be Ladybug, if Lizzie is Masquerade, curse you for getting everything you want in life,' Lila cursed as she gnawed her finger nails. 

'Lila, are you okay?' Alya asked, looking concerned at Lila. 

'Of course Alya, I'm just tired, always scared that Marinette might hurt me,' Lila lied, putting on a fake smile. 

'It's always Marinette, isn't it? Don't worry, I collected all of the video and photo proof you got against her, we'll use it against her,' Alya smiled at Lila. 

'Oh, I have a favor, could you please help me find Max? I'd like to talk to him,' Lila requested with her fake smile as Alya nodded and ran away to find Max. 

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'Nathaniel!' Max called out to Nathaniel as he entered the school cafeteria. 

'What?' Nathaniel asked, looking annoyed because Max interrupted Nathaniel's time with Marc before school started. 

'Alya texted me asking me to meet with Lila,' Max explained, ignoring Nathaniel's expression. 

'Just go, and try to gain as much information as possible,' Nathaniel answered. 

'What happened to bros before bros plus benefits?' Max asked as he walked away. 

'Nathaniel, you really shouldn't cut down on spending time with Max for me,' Marc said with a sad expression. 

'I know, but how can I do that when you always look so cute?' Nathaniel asked as he squeezed Marc's cheeks. 

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'What do you need?' Max asked, putting on an act of being on Lila's side. 

'Can you help me find dirt on Marinette? She decided to threaten me today, and I was hoping that she wouldn't reveal it if I had something on her too,' Lila answered with tears streaming down her face. 

'Of course I can, but you might have to give me until tomorrow,' Max replied with a smile as he put a comforting hand on Lila. 

'Oh, thank you! You're the best!' Lila said, blowing a kiss towards Max as she left. 

'What an ass,' Max mumbled to himself as he rolled his eyes. 

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'Nathaniel! I need your help,' Max said as he met up with Nathaniel during their break time. 

'What is it?' Nathaniel asked as he sat next to Max. 

'Lila wants me to find dirt on Lizzie so that Lizzie won't blackmail Lila, what should I do?' Max asked. 

'I think you should tell Lizzie, she probably has a lot of fake dirt that she can use for this, the question is, why is Lila trying to blackmail Lizzie?' Nathaniel asked as Adrien and Juleka entered their class. 

'You managed to escape from Lila?' Max asked Adrien and Juleka. 

'Yeah, what are you guys talking about?' Juleka asked. 

'Lila and her suspicious request of finding dirt on Lizzie,' Max answered. 

'Look out, Alix is coming,' Adrien said as Alix entered the classroom. Alix was still on Lila's side, so they'd have to keep their cards hidden from her. 

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'Max requested for an emergency meeting, should we meet him after school?' Lizzie asked Marinette and Chloe. 

'Yeah, it'd be fine,' Marinette answered. 

'Can we go?' Marcus asked. 

'Sure, why not?' Chloe accepted as their classes continued. 

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Marinette was walking along the hall to her Fashion Designing class. As she opened the door, she noticed Lila already inside, something on her mind. Marinette didn't pay much attention, thinking it was just Lila scheming some other lie, oh how wrong she was. Instead, Lila was contemplating how to blackmail Lizzie to reveal that Marinette is Ladybug. 

Marinette sat at her usual seat near the front while Lila was sitting two rows behind Marinette. Lila silently glared at Marinette and Marinette could feel it, but she decided to ignore it. 

'Hello Marinette, be prepared,' Lila told Marinette as they were leaving with a smile. 

Marinette thought that it's about more lies because that's all that Lila can do. So, she ignored it, leaving the pot boiling for a bit too long. 

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'What's the issue with Lila?' Lizzie asked Max as Lizzie, Marcus, Marinette and Chloe sat in a cafe. Damian was back at the Wayne Manor for something he had to do and Jon couldn't go.  

'She wants dirt on you to blackmail you, specifically you,' Max explained as he drank his drink. 

'Me? What could she want from me? Why me? Why not Marinette?' Lizzie asked, confused at the target of Lila's blackmail. 

'I asked her and she came up with a lie, whatever the reason, it's a secret, the question is, what to give her?' Max asked, needing an answer. 

'Make up a lie that can be proven false just in case she actually uses the blackmail, but what?' Marinette suggested as they started brainstorming some ideas. 

'Maybe something that could ruin my career?' Lizzie suggested. 

'Like you stole the lyrics from someone?' Chloe added as the others nodded. 

'But it's not good enough, it needs to be blackmail worthy...' Marinette said. 

'I have an idea...' Marcus said, unsure of whether he should say it or not. 

'What?' Lizzie asked, hesitating to hear the answer because of Marcus' uncertainty. 

'Hit-and-run, there's this case of a hit-and-run where the police already found the culprit has already been arrested, but we can photoshop a picture of my car instead of the previous one, if she leaks it, we can say it was photoshopped,' Marcus explained as he pulled up an article of the hit-and-run. 

'But I don't even have a driving license, let alone a car, she won't believe it,' Lizzie replied. 

'Which is what is so scandalous about it, let's say you stole my car and drove, drunk, it'd be the worst thing ever if it was true,' Marcus added. 

'I can photoshop it and send it to her,' Max said as he took his laptop out to find the pictures. 

'Oh, I'm gonna send a picture, it's me in the driver's seat of Marcus' car cause he went to buy a few drinks and he said I should sit there to lock the door easier,' Lizzie said as she sent a pic to Max. 

'Anything else that could help prove the hit-and-run case?' Max asked as he downloaded the files on his computer. 

'I think that's all that I have,' Lizzie answered as she scrolled through her photos. 

'Okay, using the hit-and-run security camera photos and you sitting in the driver's seat photos, plus photoshop, I think I can create it,' Max replied as he started downloading the files. 

'Can we help?' Marinette asked, wanting to be useful. 

'Yeah, I'll send you guys some photos where the background needs to have a night background,' Max said as he sent some pictures to the others. They all went home and helped to create this hit-and-run scenario. 

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'What could Lila need to blackmail me for? I should record our conversation, as evidence against her,' Lizzie said as she finished the last picture. 

'Yeah, but it probably won't be too bad, right? I mean, what can she get her hands on?' Marinette asked, she was scared about what Lila might've uncovered. 

'Let's hope it's not much, also, did you hear? Gabriel Agreste is coming to Gotham,' Chloe said, changing the topic. 

'Why? Does he have work here or is he visiting Adrien?' Marinette asked. 

'He doesn't seem like he would visit Adrien, and there aren't any Agreste fashion shows here,' Chloe answered. 

'Wait... Could he have seen my face? When the mask broke?' Lizzie said, the sudden realization hitting her in the head. 

'If he does, then he must know it's you, could he have linked us inside, that's why he came here?' Chloe added. The case was unwrapping itself for the three girls. 

'We have to act fast, what if he kills you?' Marinette asked Lizzie with a scared look flashing in her eyes. 

'I think I can fight against him, I'm scared that he wants to get the answer of who Ladybug and Midnight are.' Lizzie started thinking about a plan of action. 

'Why don't we rest for today, let's just think more tomorrow, after your meeting with Lila,' Marinette suggested as they decided to go to bed since it was getting late. 

Though, the thoughts of their future invaded their sleep, giving them fruitful nightmares that might hold some truth. 

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I know this chapter is shorter than my usual chapters, but I don't wanna fill it up with useless things. Plus, I'm a bit tired from writing long chapters. Thank you for supporting and reading up until now!!! 

Also a big thanks to Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint for getting rid of my Writer's Block. Thank you to the readers, I hope you guys have a great day/night/evening/morning/dawn/twilight/sunset/sunrise.