Wednesday (4)

The school hallways feel eery, a feeling like someone will jump out at you at any moment, a feeling like you are never safe, where you have to live in constant fear of the unknown. Marinette was trying to put on a smile and get through everything, but the memories kept coming back. Marinette needed to stay strong, she's Ladybug after all. 

'Is that really what happened?' Damian asked Lizzie and Chloe as they explained everything to the three boys. 

'Yes, everything that happened, we didn't think Marinette would still be traumatized, she needs a therapist, but she's also Ladybug, there'd be gaps in her story, so we became her temporary therapist,' Chloe whispered to Damian. 

'Call the police,' Marcus suggested. 

'We did, they said they'll review the evidence, but they can't get back to us yet. Plus, Lila was never involved in the assault, she just manipulated the others to do it, but we can't get anything on that. Thankfully, we reported this as a crime and asked the police to give us time to get evidence so we can record conversations' Lizzie explained as they head to their class. 

'Marinette!' Alya's voice rang behind them as they turned to look at her. 

'What do you need?' Marinette asked, regaining her confidence to put up a fight, she was not gonna let them make her feel scared. 

'You were bullying Lila again, right? You should really go to hell bitch, you think that you can do this just cause you're friends with some people in high places?' Damian, Jon and Marcus looked embarrassed that they were being used against Marinette, 'Well guess what? You can't just bully Lila. Plus, these people are only friends with you because they have never been friends with Lila before, they would be so obsessed with Lila if they knew how amazing she was. 

'How amazing she is at being disgusting,' Damian blurted out. 

'WHAT? You're supposed to be her childhood best friend, I can't believe you would do this to her,' Alya spat to the dismay of the others. 

'Alya, shut your trap up before I shut it up for you,' Lizzie said as she stood up, staring at Alya. 

'Go sit next to Lila and be a good little dog for her, won't you?' Marinette asked with a sickly-sweet smile. 

'Whatever, karma's coming for you, bitch,' Alya said, walking away. 

'Marinette,' Lila said, appearing at the door. 

'What is it?' 

'The game's not over, you will never win.' 

'Speak for yourself, you're the loser here.' 

'I will make your life a living hell. Hint: Ladybug's downfall,' Lila said, smiling as she walked away. 

'I'm glad I recorded all of that,' Lizzie said, pulling her phone out of her pocket to show the recording. 

'I'm still pissed off,' Marcus said and when the others looked at him confused, he added, 'Because Alya thinks that we'd like Lila if we became friends with her. I hate sausages and snakes.' Marcus makes a fake puking face as Jon and Damian nodded with Marinette's merry laughter joining in. 

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'And now, we'll move on to the next question. If we bring the 7 over the equation symbol, it'd turn into a-' A loud bang could be heard as the group's teacher got cut off. 

'Students, stay in the class, I'd check for the commotion,' their teacher peeked through the door to look outside. 

'Oh no,' Chloe says as she looks at her phone. 

'Nathaniel sent an Akuma alert,' Lizzie said, letting it sink in. 

'We have to transform,' Marinette whispered to the others. 

At that moment, the Akumatized villain appeared, blocking the front door.  She is a student with far too much homework and way too many cups of coffee, tired, sad, angry and hopeless. She had short brown hair that reached her ears and brown eyes, she looked like a normal student except her bright yellow hat that didn't match her black hoodie and short jeans.  

'We need to find a place to transform,' Chloe whispered as she tried to leave, but before she could, she got blocked by a flying table. 

'We'll keep her off your tail,' Rebecca said as she appeared behind the group. 

'Hey, Arabella!' Jay said, getting the Akumatized villain's attention as she came closer. 

'Jay! It's been a long time, how are you doing?' 

'Ah, it's all fine. Guess what? I got juicy gossip. You know our senior, Blade? Well, he cheated on Jess with Phoebe, insane, right?,' Jay answered, distracting the villain as the others made their way out the door. 

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'Are you Ladybug? I was told by a creepy man to steal your miraculous? What the hell is that even?' the Akumatized villain, Homework-Your-Ass-Off or their short form HWYAO, said as she pointed at Ladybug. Jay's distraction must not have worked long enough.  

'You don't really have to listen to Hawkmoth, you know?' Ladybug shouted at HWYAO. 

'But he promised me that I won't need to study anymore, it's an offer to die for,' HWYAO replied as she descended down. 

'This is gonna suck, but her power is telekinesis and water blast, overworked students are super powerful,' Masquerade told Ladybug as she came back from scouting. 

'OP, much? Both her powers can be used for close-combat and ranged,' Ladybug said before shouting, 'Lucky Charm!' 

Nothing came out. 

'Is this supposed to happen?' Masquerade asked as she stared at Ladybug's empty hands. 

'No, it's not,' Ladybug said, shocked that her Lucky Charm didn't work. 

'Watch out!' 

A beam of water blasted in Ladybug's direction, but just before that, Robin saved her. 

'Thanks,' Ladybug said, blushing slightly below the mask before turning to Masquerade, 'Take the Horse Miraculous, find Ryu and Viper, bring them here to help.' 

Masquerade took the Horse Miraculous and ran away to find Ryu and Viper. 

'What to do? I can't use my power,' Ladybug said as she ran to escape HWYAO's energy blasts. 

'Why not?' Robin asked, as Superboy joined them and kept HWYAO at bay. 

'Just didn't work, I don't know why. I'm just gonna try again,' Ladybug said before saying, 'Lucky Charm.' 

A red water gun with black spots fell from the sky into Ladybug's hands, surprising Ladybug. 

'Maybe I needed you here to help me see what I need to do,' Ladybug muttered as she held the water gun. 

'What are we supposed to do with that?' Robin asked as the two of them ran away to hide. 

'A high powered water gun, I have an idea,' Ladybug said as she scanned the battlefield. 

'What do you need me to do?' Robin asked, ready to follow Ladybug's command. 

'Wait, we need to get the others here first,' Ladybug said as Masquerade appeared with Ryu and Viper. 

'We're here, Ladybug. What do you need now?' Ryu asked as she landed lightly on the roof. 

'Ryu, try and get as much water as you can for this water gun, we're gonna use it to conquer the villain's water power,' Ladybug explained before continuing, 'Masquerade will distract the villain while Superboy can use his powers to stop the telekinetic powers from causing too much damage and ruining the others. Robin will try and get Midnight close to the villain to use his powers, everyone else will assist.' 

'Aye, aye, captain,' Masquerade said, jumping closer to HWYAO to use her illusion powers. Robin found Midnight and told him the plan while Viper told Her Highness Honey and Superboy. 

Ryu used her powers to control water to supply the water gun as Ladybug used it to stop HWYAO's water blast. The plan was set in motion as the heroes all circled around the villain, each of them fulfilling their part. Midnight got close to HWYAO and almost hit her hat, but she dodged just in time. 

'Oh no,' Midnight said as he kept his hand held high so that his Cataclysm won't touch anything else.  

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'School is cancelled!' Arabella, the previously akumatized villain, celebrated. 

'Arabella, right?' Marinette asked as she sat next to Arabella. 

'Yep, that's me. I saw you text, here's everything I remember. The villain Hawkmoth was not rocking any hair, just a grey cap that covered most of his face. He was in a pretty fancy room, but everything was dark so I couldn't see much. Why'd you wanna know?' Arabella replied in two breaths. 

'Not much, it's just that it's been a problem occurring in Paris and I wanted to play detective,' Marinette explained, it was partially the truth.  

'Well, I hope you solve the mystery,' Arabella said as she opened a can of coffee and drank half of it in one whole gulp. 

'Is that healthy?' Jay asked, popping up behind Arabella. 

'I don't think so, but it sure feels nice.' 

'Good for you, but don't be a coffee addict.' 

'Already am.' 

'Well, sucks for you.' 

'Eh.' 

'I'll just leave you two alone to catch up,' Marinette said, getting up as she walked away, leaving an empty space on the bench for Jay to fill. 

'Bye!' Jay said, waving to Marinette. 

'So, was the news about Blade true?' Arabella asked. 

'Course it was, Rebecca wouldn't let me spread fake gossip even to get your attention,' Jay answered as he took a can of soda and gulped it down. 

'Damn, that backstabbing ass. We should've listened to Lucy when she said he was bad news,' Arabella replied. 

'Unfortunately, she was right, there goes my twenty dollars,' Jay said as they continued their conversation. 

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'I can't believe that Hawkmoth attacked, again, we need to get rid of him,' Marinette told the others. 

'What's your plan?' Damian asked Marinette while rubbing the back of his neck. 

'I don't know. I have a feeling that he will attack at the gala, if Lila is working with him, we can catch her in the act. I just don't know if we can hold out until then, what if it causes a death?' Marinette answered, she wanted to get the most out of her revenge plan, but she didn't want to cause further distress. 

'Only a few days left, I think it's fine,' Damian said as he decided to place a reassuring hand on Marinette causing Marinette's face to turn bright red which she quickly hid from Damian's view. 

'Why don't we relax for now? We can go to a spa, maybe tomorrow?' Lizzie suggested as she pulled her phone out to show the place to her friends. 

'A spa would be nice to relax, wouldn't it?' Chloe said as they planned it for tomorrow. 

'I can't wait!' Marinette said. 

'Lizzie, we have to go now,' Marcus whispered to Lizzie, his breath caressing her ear. 

'Gotta go, bye!' Lizzie said, grabbing her tote bag and walking off with Marcus. 

'So what should we do?' Marinette asked, getting bored. 

'Board games?' Chloe asked, pulling out Monopoly from the cabinet at their house. 

'Yes, please!' 

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'Come on, come on!' Chloe said, shaking the dice in her hands. 

'Shh, she's asleep,' Damian whispered as he pointed to Marinette who was leaning on his shoulder, his face was painted multiple shades of red and pink. 

'Why don't you bring her to her bedroom, it's the one at the end of the hall,' Chloe suggested with a smirk. 

'Must I?' Damian asked, turning redder by the second. 

'Of course! It's been a tiring day, might as well help her for this,' Chloe answered as Damian princess-carried Marinette to her room. 

'Sorry for my intrusion,' Damian whispered as he fumbled with the door handle before entering. It was a neat room, the study desk was neatly organized and the bed was made. Damian laid Marinette on the bed gently to not wake her up as he pulled the covers over her. A small smile spread on Damian's face as he looked at her before he left the room quietly. 

'Where are Marcus and Lizzie?' Damian asked. 

'Pretty sure they had some work-related thing to do, they should be back soon,' Jon answered as they continued the round with them splitting Marinette's game money and property. 

'Let's just continue.' 

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'I thought you said you'll take care of them!' Lila fumed as she spoke to Gabriel on the phone. 

'Things just didn't go as planned,' came Gabriel's voice. 

'You said you will take care of them, get rid of them, they're a bother to me,' Lila said, anger spewing out with her words. 

'Just shut it, you are not helping with all this complaining,' Gabriel shouted from the other side. 

'You think you're in a good position? I can just tell them about your secret identity and act innocent, don't play with me,' Lila replied. 

'I can also ruin you, so don't play this game with me. I'll try to get rid of them as soon as possible, but my control over the Miraculous is weakening, I've been using it too much, the next attack must be after the gala,' Gabriel explained. 

'Fine, I'll try to keep them in check, but no promises, just like how you messed it up,' Lila replied, grinning from ear to ear. 

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This chapter is a bit short, but I didn't wanna overwork myself. Also, I've just been blowing through all my ideas, the whole Akuma attack was supposed to happen on Friday, not Wednesday, but I didn't have ideas. I've finally thought up some things, so yay! Either way, be prepared, the end is coming. 

I wonder what I'm gonna do after this is over... Any ideas?