Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Once again, Lila was sure her mother was an idiot.

Which was shocking because Lila herself wasn’t a dumbass. 

Lila was smart enough to create her amazing plans and lies, spinning invisible gifts that only she possessed and befriending people that everyone assumed were as far away as their dreams.

Yet of course perfect Lila could be with those people. 

Lila was amazing, Lila was ethereal, Lila was God’s little angel.

Right now, Lila was pissed. 

Her mother had apparently managed to find out about the school not being closed or the city on the verge of being destroyed because of a bunch of teenage superheroes.

While it had not been fun to wake up to a screaming woman in the morning, she at least let Lila go to school to ‘apologize’ to the principal and explain why she was unable to meet with him all this time.

Lila was supposed to be the person to ‘apologize’!?

That didn’t click in her head, she tried to think of how her mother thought that would be fine but no matter how much she thought about it, it didn’t make any sense.

Until Lila came to the perfect solution.

Her mother was an idiot.

Lila’s heels clinked against the floor as she walked steadily towards class, huffing as she felt gazes of awe on her. 

More idiots.

The whispers were floating into her ears.

What if they knew?

What if they knew she lied?

What if they were giggling at her like the idiots they were?

Lila’s pace became quicker and quicker, her eyes glaring at nothing as she stomped through crowds of eyes.

Just nothing but idiots.

Why the hell do they keep staring,

Don’t they know that her life isn’t a fucking show for them to laugh at? 

So what if she’s supposed to be in the principal’s office right now,

And her mother could be on the verge of discovering her lies,

Lila grabbed the handle in front of her, anger at boiling point as before anyone could say anything, she leaned forward and screamed,

“EVERYONE IS NOTHING BUT A STUPID IDIOTA!”

The silence made her freeze as everyone stared back at her shocked.

She had just screamed at her own classmates. 

“Lila?” Rose piped up, standing near the door as Lila turned towards her. “Is everything okay?”

Lila blinked at her then stared at the rest of the class.

Even Marinette was there and she was confused.

“You’re all messing with me aren’t you?” Lila spoke slowly.

“Why would we mess with you? You already do that enough to the rest of them,” Marinette frowned and crossed her arms, ignoring the glares of her classmates. 

Lila though stared numb for a second before it hit her.

No one greeted her when she walked in. 

No one had rushed to her side.

They knew, didn't they?

And they thought they could pretend like they didn’t know shit when she walked in and mess with her?

Lila’s mouth curled into a smirk as she slowly clapped,

“I wonder what you’re all thinking, anger? Misery? Betrayal?” She sighed her heart on the verge of breaking, however. “It’s true, I lied about everything. You don’t have to act like you’re clueless, you know, you’re all idiots but you must really be stupid if you think I would fall for this.”

Everyone glanced at each other, confused faces Lila didn’t see growing before the annoyance set in.

Marinette was slowly smiling though.  

Before she shoved it down and just watched. 

“What do you mean we’re idiots?” Alya asked in annoyance as her eyes squinted.

“It took you this long to realize I was lying to you, of course, you’re idiots.” Lila shrugged, as she leaned against the wall.

“Wait, what?” Everyone turned towards Nathaniel who looked shocked. “Lying about what?”

Lila’s eyes twitched as she finally spelled out the truth that for some reason everyone was avoiding,

“Everything! The cat saving! Being friends with famous people! Traveling around! Hell, I even had Max, the supposed ‘genius’ do my homework for free! So now we can drop the act, how did you guys find out!?” Lila spun toward Chloè who was also staring at her.

“Was it your stupid Daddy? Or maybe even Sabrina’s dad! So tell me how was I able to get caught!? Because Marinette sure wasn’t enough to get you guys to see fake.” Lila exclaimed, and then she waited.

Shocked looks just kept looking at her though.

Then something in Lila’s brain clicked.

They never actually knew.

D-Did she just, expose herself?

The anger was slowly growing.

In all of them and Lila herself.

How could she let this happen?

How could she do this to herself?

She wished someone had just arrived when she came in and taped her mouth shut.

Lila spun around and ran, tears streaming down her eyes in pain and fury.

She wanted to get far from her, run away to someplace where no one would find her but she couldn’t think of anything.

The screaming coming from the classroom made her jolt, 

Fear.

No doubt, someone was an Akuma now. 

But even when Lila’s head was telling her to run faster toward her temporary freedom, she slid on her heels and rushed back to the classroom.

She wasn’t trying to check on her classmates though, she remembered there were windows in there so she could quickly break one and jump out.

Her eyes widened as she leaned into the room, freezing at the sight that waited for her.

Her classmates were in the same places as before.

But some were missing heads, bodies, and eyes.

“Lila,” Someone called slowly with a hissing tone.

Lila spun around to see Rose on the wall near the door, arms stretched out to reach out for her, dress in ruins as more arms kept growing out of her and her eyes had dropped to the ground, leaving holes of blood and flesh mixing with veins.

Lila screamed as she ran back out, fuck the window!

“LILA!” She could hear Rose’s voice crying for her as she crashed into the hallway behind Lila. “HELP ME!” 

Lila didn’t turn around this time, her feet becoming faster as she felt something chasing her and heard Rose’s screams.

The heels dug into Lila’s feet, making her fall forward just as long arms dashed above her and hit nothing.

Lila screeched as they suddenly turned back, ready to grab her when bombs were thrown at them and exploded on impact, causing spurts of blood to pour out of the open arms.

A new set of footsteps along with maniacal laughter made Lila twist her head around to see Juleka walking steadily towards her with a manic smile on her face and bombs tied all around her.

“You’re mine, Lila Rossi!” She cried as she took off a bomb and threw it at Lila. 

Two more arms appeared out of nowhere and grabbed the bomb before it could hit Lila.

“Mine!” Rose screamed from her new spot on the ceiling, more arms growing to attack Juleka as the normally quiet girl took off more bombs and threw them at the other monster.

Lila, meanwhile, got back up and took off her heels. She dashed down the stairs and started toward the door.

More monsters were coming out of the classrooms. Screams were bouncing off the walls but Lila was so close to freedom.

But when she got close, she saw the door was covered with vines, blood, wood, and debris.

“Lila,” Someone said slowly behind her

“No,” Lila took slow deep breaths before she started screeching and hitting the door with her fists, “No! Let me out! Let me out of here!”

“Welcome to the hell you put us all through Lila,” 

A shadow leaped and pounced on her with no mercy.

Chapter Text

“Marilie? Is the coast clear?”

The small girl leaned her body out of the dark classroom, squeaking as her demon tail lightly flicked the air.

“Well!?” Lila snapped from her corner of the classroom, munching on some erasers that weren’t dirty.

“Why haven’t I killed you yet?” Marilie, Marinette’s new monster form, asked innocently before she closed the door.

Marinette had gone through multiple forms in the last three months that Lila had been trapped at school, making mistakes and mistakes that got her killed and turned her into something else until finally, she was Marilie.

Lila’s new ally.

They weren’t friends though, Lila knew she could never say it out loud even though they sort of were without creating more trouble for herself. 

So now Lila was barely surviving in this place with Marilie sometimes helping her.

“Coast isn’t clear. Kim is out there again, he’s got skulls dropping out of him.” 

Lila scoffed, “At least now he’s got more brains. How many times has he died?”

“About 5.” Lila heard Marilie crawl on the walls and the ceiling, running around as she hopped around.

Lila hissed and jolted when she saw light briefly lit up the inside of the classroom and dived under the windows that showed the hallway, 

“Mari! Get over here!” She hissed as soon she felt Marilie obediently sitting next to her as they hid.

Technically though the only person that should have been hiding would be Lila, but Marilie hadn’t developed her brain that much.

Gurgling floated through the windows as multiple voices whispered for Lila.

Yet after a few moments, wet footsteps were heard moving back down the hallway.

Lila looked down at her wrist, a watch she had stolen from a corpse showing the time with no fear.

“It’s only noon,” She grumbled. “They’re all going to be near the door.”

“Then stop trying to escape then?” Marilie tilted her head. 

“The moment I do that I’m dead and I join the hierarchy.” 

“So? I’m part of it and you’re still alive.” Marilie squeaked somehow, a demonic sound that sounded like laughter. “We’re not doing a great job trying to kill you huh?”

“I’m actually thankful for that,” Lila mumbled as she stood up and moved to the door. 

She pulled it quickly and peeked her head out, seeing no one she motioned with her hands and both monster and human monster started to move. 

The smell of rotting flesh floated around them but they were nose blind at this point as Lila followed Marilie down the hallways. 

As they were walking, Lila glanced at Marinette’s earrings. 

They never changed, no matter how many times she died and came back they were always there. 

It was only natural Lila came to the most logical conclusion once she started thinking. 

Marinette was Ladybug. 

And Chat Noir was somewhere in the school as well, they had both been students Lila was sure. 

It had been 3 months since the Akuma had been born and Lila had been trapped. 

No matter how much Lila hated those stupid superheroes and they were annoyed at her antics, they couldn’t just leave an Akuma on the loose for that long. 

So now it was Lila’s fault that Paris’ beloved heroes were gone for now.

But it was also thanks to Lila because now Hawkmoth couldn’t send out another Akuma.

Or at least she hoped so. 

She needed him to get her out of here but she had no way of contacting him or receiving any news from the outside. 

But maybe Mayura? She worked for Hawkmoth so-

Lila took several steps forward but Marilie held out her hand to stop her. 

Lila didn’t even have to ask what her ally was doing before she saw that the hallway ahead of them was occupied.

By one person. 

Nino was leaning against the wall, blinking as he stared at his headphones lying on the ground. They had stopped playing music a long time ago. 

At first, Lila would use them to distract him but now there was no point.

Marilie and Lila slowly started taking steps back as Nino’s three eyes slowly started to stare at them. 

Lila’s breath pushed out of her body when she tripped backward, adrenaline filling her bones instantly as they started to run. 

Nino cried out what used to be Lila’s name but was now a static mess of frequencies and beeps. 

Then his voice began to multiply. 

Lila didn’t dare look back but Marilie did, 

“SO MANY HEADS!” She cried out, shocked and amazed as she jumped and one head slid under her, blood sliding out as they made a quick turn down another hallway. 

The screaming was alerting the others. The bottom of the hierarchy. 

The weak ones that perked up at the sign of food. 

Before long there were gunshots, heads, arms, and limbs that were chasing them that Lila was somehow able to dodge every time. 

Then in front of them were the stairs that led downstairs, 

“DO WE TRY!?” Marilie shouted for orders as she kicked a hungry floating head away from her. 

Lila didn’t answer,

She stared steadily at the door, seeing only a few monsters guarding it.

But in the middle of the rotting wood was a small hole.

Something she could use to break herself out. 

Lila reached her hand into her pocket and gripped the butterknife she possessed, 

“YEAH!” She screamed before she was shot in the shoulder. 

Her next screams were ones of pain. 

“LILA!” Lila couldn’t tell who was calling for her, Marilie’s voice seemed to mix with all the other monsters, reminding Lila that Marilie was nothing but a monster herself. 

Lila landed harshly on the shoulder she had been shot at, clouds of dust clearing to show she was completely surrounded by monsters and her knife had been thrown into the crowd.

Great, goodbye to the life she hated. 

Yet when the dust fully cleared, it became clear why Lila hadn’t been attacked the moment she fell. 

Marilie was standing in between her and the crowd, claws stretched out as she hissed in warning. 

“Mari!” The crowd yelled at her, “Don’t bother! You’ll die!” 

Marilie shrugged calmly, glaring at her fellow monsters even though Lila could see her tail already starting to melt off.

“MARI!” Lila screamed, “JUST LEAVE ME! YOU’LL DIE IF YOU KEEP PROTECTING ME!”

Three months ago Lila would have been shocked at her own words but now Lila was crying tears of misery and fear. 

Marilie was still not moving, jumping from side to side as her tail and feet were slowly melting off.

The Akuma was a strange one.

Every time a monster showed an act of kindness, they would die and come back completely different.

Lila knew that if Marilie died, she wouldn’t survive for long.

Marilie glanced backward at Lila who was still sitting on the floor, clutching her limp arm in pain as she spun around to find a way out.

Before Lila could even feel it, she was in Marilie’s arms, charging toward the front door as the monsters chased them.

Marilie began to change rapidly, her skin bloating and eyes becoming puffy as blood trickled down her nose.

But she kept running to the door anyway, ignoring everyone’s pleas as she reached the entrance.

She raised her claws and slashed the monsters guarding it into half, not caring to watch them as they would just regenerate.

Her claws had cut through the wood, trying to move more but the claws abruptly stopped.

She was stuck, the door wouldn’t budge.

The flesh trapped inside the door grew more to shield itself from the claws and attached the claws to the mess as well, making them stuck.

The crowd was getting closer and closer, the monsters nearby were almost done regenerating.

But Marilie smiled at Lila.

“I hope the outside is fine.” was all she said.

Her skin was bulging more and forming rapidly like a bubble ready to burst as she reached back and pulled her hand forcefully.

The claws ripped off her hand, sending blood and ink everywhere as her fingernails cracked to the roots.

Marilie ignored the pain.

When the monsters were close enough, Marilie reached into her pocket and pulled out a small creature.

“It’s time.” She whispered and kissed the little red and black creature’s head.

The little thing sobbed and put her hands together, pink light shining to create a glowing bomb that lit up the darkness.

Lila’s eyes widened as a second later she was thrown up into the air, only having a moment to look down and see Marilie’s giggling face and her body explode along with the bomb.

The force sent Lila up the wall and high into the air, seeing her home greet her again before she passed out.

Chapter Text

Pain was never going to be something Lila got used to.

Physical pain, emotional pain, whatever pain.

Pain was pain.

But never had Lila suffered multiple amounts of pain.

Physical for her arm, emotional for her head pounding and heart aching, a deep pain that hit her like a train when she stumbled through the streets of Paris. Sobbing as everything looked exactly the same as three months ago.

There were people, there were sweet smells, and there was life all around her.

Her pain grew more and more as she made her way to the police station near the school, limping and holding her broken arm while tears streamed down her face.

This was the only time she would be fine with looking like a mess.

Her wobbly steps heroically took her to the police station, the faces all around turning and gasping at the sight of her as Lila collapsed to the ground.

“Lila!?” An adult voice called out as she glanced up to see Sabrina’s dad running to her. “What’s wrong!? What happened!? Where’s Sabrina!? What happened to the whole class!?” 

Lila opened her mouth slightly, feeling a cough but not caring when only air drifted out. Guess, she was just that tired.

“Monsters. Akuma. Months. Help, me.” She wheezed out, feeling her body stiffening but managing to speak before she blacked out again.

They better wake her up on the other side.

“Are you sure that’s all?” The police officer asks once again as Lila’s sobbing mother pulls her deeper into her chest.

Lila was very tempted to snap at the guy that yes, she was trapped by an Akuma for three months. Her classmates became monsters. Her teachers became rotting corpses that the monsters she saw fed on. She was basically in the Hunger Games but everyone decided that to get out Lila had to die.

There were even three other officers in the room, if the guy needed confirmation, ask the others stupid.

But Lila was back to being an Angel.

Her mother had forgotten all about the principal situation and had been suffering from guilt along with the other parents. 

While there had been no Akuma attacks for the last three months, all the children that went to Francois Dupont went to the school that fateful day three months ago and never came back.

No matter how much the adults tried, they couldn’t get in contact with the school and couldn’t break in because the door wouldn’t budge no matter what they did. 

But now Lila was their savior, holding the precious information to get their babies back.

But who could blame her for the silent glee she felt telling all the parents in her private hospital room that their children were far gone?

In exchange for their misery, Lila was finally getting the help she deserved. 

“Please, everyone. My baby has been through so much.” Lila’s mother sniffed as she hugged Lila tightly, a shaky smile on her lips as Lila happily hugged her back.

“You did so well.” She whispered into Lila’s hair, “My little survivor.” Her hands weaved through Lila’s brown smooth locks, dragging her fingers through the parts where she had those weird ponytail things. 

Lila’s hair was drastically shorter than before, cut to shoulder length when she escaped from the school, and now barely touching her neck to stop any infections. 

“My poor baby. And those poor children, damn these Akumas.”

Poor children!? 

Lila glanced up with a disgusted look for a single moment before smartly looking down and letting her mother tuck her into bed. 

She was slightly embarrassed when her mother kissed her forehead in front of the other adults in the room but afterward, everyone started to leave.

Lila’s mother reached into her purse and pulled out her phone, now and then glancing at Lila who slowly went to sleep.

Sleep well, Lila.

“Sleep well, tell me later if the outside is good okay?”

Lila instantly shot up, eyes wide as plates as her neck spun around to see who whispered in her ear.

“Lila?” Her mother frowned and looked around as well. 

There was no one else in the room, the lights flickered for a single moment before going back to static.

But why does Lila have to be scared, the akuma’s trapped in the school, even Marilie couldn’t get out.

Right?

Chapter Text

Alix was sitting in the middle of the courtyard, staring upwards at the sky with no thoughts coming to mind.

Except for how pretty the sun was.

Her one eye blinked in awe at the light shining down on her. The worms in the other one kept falling out, however, making her sightseeing uncomfortable.

Alix grumbled as she stood up and dusted the dirt off of her, her suit had to be pristine and perfect to blend in with the darkness she loved so any dirt was unacceptable.

Speaking of dirt, Alix moved her gaze to the front door, frowning over how dirty it was.

But maybe that was why barely anyone tried to run away from home, why be near what could be a dirty place when their home was beautiful and clean?

Or at least the courtyard was, Alix vowed not to go deeper into the school.

It was Alix’s territory, she belonged in the middle of the hierarchy. The ones who guarded the door had enough thoughts in their heads to not go brainlessly kill all their friends around them(except Lila) and think properly.

She made friends, she laughed at the ones at the bottom that ate the skin of their fellow friends to feed themselves. 

Only the best got the teachers to eat. 

The biggest piece she ever got was a leg though. The best of the best got the heart and all the juicy stuff.

So Alix was merely doing her job, 

She walked over to the door, making her hands bleed into ink-black shadows, and wiped the dirt off the door.

Usually, the shadows never made it far, only able to touch the surface and help her with cleaning.

But now, they suddenly could go deeper. She could even remove the live flesh inside the door that protected it from the monsters themselves and the intruders on the outside.

But did Alix really want to do that? 

All she wanted to do was clean and show everyone what a clean life does to help you.

The sun was warming her though, telling her to just do it, she didn't have anything to worry about because technically she wasn’t helping anyone.

So she couldn’t die from this.

No death? Clean door? Sun as a friend?

The shadows crept deeper as Alix nodded to herself, feeling every dirty thing slowly disappear as she suddenly felt murmurs talking behind her.

Alix smirked to herself as she pulled her hands away, showing everyone with a big grin that she was safe and sound, even doing a small bow.

A large gush of cold wind made her shudder as she spun around and realized what she had done.

The door was completely gone.

But the sun was still smiling down on her.

Alix leaned her head upwards and smiled back, not noticing the rush of monsters running out the door and into the new territory as Alix knew she had made a new friend.

And she was determined to keep the sun to herself.

Her hands reached up into the air, black shadows rooting from her tips and lifting to heights she never could reach before.

Then she had the sun in her hands, cackling wildly as she plucked it and cradled it gently, 

It was a warm thing that kept her nice and soft from the cold harsh winds hitting her for some reason.

Alix didn’t bother leaving the school, not yet as she curled on herself and her new friend and fell asleep.

The news reports were doing nothing to help Lila recover.

She got out of that hell hole, now they’re saying they managed to not only escape but steal the sun as well!?

Lila Rossi? More like Clown Rossi.

Can’t have anything good in Paris huh?

Lila grumbled to herself as she pouted, ignoring the numerous adults in her room discussing amongst themselves and occasionally asking Lila a few questions.

If Lila had to repeat herself one more time, she was going to run to the monsters, at least all they did was try to eat her and not make her angry with stupid questions.

“Lila Rossi?” 

Lila twisted her head towards a detective whose eyes narrowed at the way her head moved, like she was a pet. 

Against her deep desires though, Lila didn’t growl back. 

“I’m sorry for not letting you be able to rest but now Paris is in a crisis and you’re the only one that has been near your classmates all this time so you must know their patterns of behavior.”

The way he said that seemed like a question but sounded like a statement.

So, Lila simply nodded.

“Were there any other survivors other than you? Any children that haven’t been turned?”

Lila shook her head, absolutely certain.

Finally, the detective glared.

“Then why were you the only one that wasn’t turned?”

Lila paused, thinking for a bit as everyone suddenly stared at her.

They weren’t looking at her with suspicious looks like the detective but they were worried. 

Some of the monsters had immediately rushed into traffic once they were out, the police were forced to shoot them down but quickly learned that gunshots were basically useless against the children who kept regenerating.

But they did manage to capture a few and identify them. 

When those unfortunate parents got the news their kids had been shot at, all the other parents jolted into action, making sure the police wouldn’t get a single night of rest until this attack was over.

And now Lila was up on a podium.

And for the first time, she wished she was off it.

Lila shrugged at the detective’s question.

Instantly everyone’s faces dropped. 

The officers watched the school steadily. 

Nothing moved as they kept their guns trained on the school and weapons ready to protect themselves,

Just in case. 

But the open doorway remained clear of monsters. 

“Time to go.” Someone commanded as the officers heard the signal and moved into the school. 

The smell made them grab their mouths. 

Rotting flesh made their eyes water and their hearts run to the fresh air just behind them. But Lila couldn’t have been the only survivor. 

And they were getting paid for this, they could deal with a few smells and the possibility of getting killed to get more money in their pockets. 

There were no sounds as they moved forward. Their flashlights lit up the darkest corners and the area around them. 

Figures moved swiftly from the shadows, watching them, but not greeting them. 

The leader had a deep frown on his face as he stared something in the eye. A brief flash of light made a young girl’s melted face come into view before she dashed away.

Then he motioned to go deeper. 

Their heavy footsteps weren’t quiet as the group split up. 

Most went through the hallways on the ground floor. Few went to the second. 

Static was heard every few times in the leader’s earpiece, no screams yet. 

Maybe all the monsters left the school?

The leader and his group walked past many empty classrooms, flashing their flashlights inside to check fully if anyone was there. 

So far their search came up empty. 

The leader, Officer Raincomprix, came down a familiar hallway. 

If the Akuma had come from Lila’s class and Lila herself survived, 

Could Sabrina still be alive? 

Raincomprix shined his flashlight into the class, seeing nothing but blood, broken furniture, papers, and a corpse in the corner, 

Then he moved the flashlight toward the seats. 

There seated like nothing had happened in the last few months was a young boy sleeping with his head in his arms. 

He looked normal. 

Raincomprix gasped and rushed toward the boy, hearing the other officers gasp as he gently lifted the boy’s face. 

He didn’t wake up but he was breathing. 

“Call an ambulance. We have a survivor, Adrien Agreste. Call his father ASAP,”

Lila rushed through the hospital’s halls,

She was shocked, angry, and even more shocked but maybe even a little bit happy.

There was no way they found a survivor that wasn’t turned into an Akuma. Lila had been stuck there for so long and she had never found anyone that hadn’t been turned. 

Though she had no idea who the Akuma originally was, every kid in the whole school had been transformed.

Other than Lila of course. 

And all these officers are saying they actually found a friend of hers sleeping in their classroom like nothing happened. 

But maybe they were just good at hiding or the monsters were so focused on Lila. 

Even Marilie wasn’t by Lila’s side all the time. Sometimes she was gone, then back by Lila’s side without telling her where she went. 

During those times, a certain someone tormented Lila. 

But Lila had studied him and knew he would never leave the school. He was at the top of the hierarchy and never found a need to move like the lazy cat he became. 

A shaky smile was on Lila’s face to trick everyone as she got closer and closer to the survivor’s hospital room but now it was genuine as Lila grabbed the door and pulled it open. 

She leaned her head in and immediately screamed. 

This was no survivor. 

Adrien Agreste, her tormentor, the king of the hierarchy, the monster who played with Lila like a mouse was sleeping in a hospital bed. 

Though the sun was gone, time still moved even in the dark. 

It was ‘daytime’ so Adrien was asleep, he was always sleeping during the day. 

But nighttime was a different story. 

He took Marilie when Lila wasn’t looking she was sure, he killed countless of their friends and caused most of the destruction in the school. 

“YOU HAVE TO GET RID OF HIM!” The doctors and nurses looked shocked at her as she started sobbing and waving her arms around. 

“DON’T SEND HIM HOME!” She demanded as her head pounded painfully, “YOU HAVE TO GET RID OF HIM!” She cried some more as she rushed out, feeling the painful memories drown her and her head on the verge of exploding. 

No one believed her. Adrien was a sweet boy. He wasn’t a monster like the others. 

The only thing off about him was the fact his golden hair was now pitch black. 

Chapter Text

“Are you sure he hasn’t been turned?” Gabriel Agreste asked coldly, staring down at a sleeping Adrien whose face squinted momentarily before relaxing.

“We’re certain, sir. It’s been several days and nights and his vitals,” The lead doctor glanced down at his clipboard, filled with notes and results.

Lie to him, Something told him in his mind. He didn’t dare look around for the voice in his head, that was most likely the one the other staff were complaining about. 

Before he could even decide on his next move, his mouth twisted into a bright smile. His eyes were forced to show calmness.

“He’s completely fine. Just a bit of slow blood flow and simple bruises, he should wake after a few more days. It’s really a miracle.” His voice spoke without his permission. 

Gabriel Agreste merely nodded. His assistant, Nathalie, narrowed her eyes at the doctor and the smiling staff before she typed some things on her tablet.

Gabriel Agreste was not happy.

This akuma was his greatest failure, the biggest mistake he ever made in seeing just how far his powers could go.

A sleeping Adrien with smooth ebony hair sticking to his face gave him his silent answer.

Gabriel’s hands clenched behind his back as Nathalie pushed her glasses up her nose.

At least Adrien was fine. The black dye could simply be dyed back to perfect blond, if it couldn't then they could advertise a new Adrien.

One more quiet, meek, paranoid but a scared snow white who would light up a simple chair no matter how much he tried to hide the bright spotlight shining down on him.

But that would have to wait until Adrien awoke.

“Can Adrien be discharged immediately?”

The files on the screen seemed to blur into nothing, words that became processed in moments as Nathalie worked harder to put them into more simpler terms for her boss.

Her narrowed eyes glanced from reviews of Gabriel’s recent pieces to news about the akuma to comments on blogs and forums. Her hands typed responses, her brain thought of them, the music coming from some tab radiating within her being.

Work, work, work, work, work.

A loud thud made Nathalie shoot from her mindset, her mind hurting from the interruption, her stomach reminding her of something called hunger, her fingers suddenly aching and stinging.

Chaos.

Nathalie sighed, she reached for a black mug full of coffee nearby and took a small sip to settle her nerves.

It took her a few moments but she was calm again and focused.

Then she remembered the thud.

Nathalie put away her mug and stood up, leaving her things in the open as she made her way upstairs.

When she reached Adrien’s room door, she lifted her hand out of habit to knock.

Then stopped and just opened the door.

She gasped with a slight smile when she saw who was standing.

Yet she saw the rest of the strange scene.

Adrien was standing, his small trembles made his entire malnourished body shake with large force. He glanced everywhere around him with disorientation, his wide green eyes appeared scared at the light everywhere from the lightbulbs. No thanks to the sun being gone.

Nathalie thought that was understandable until she noticed the bed.

It was flipped upside down.

Adrien, who seemingly just woke up, managed to flip an entire queen bed that had been bolted to the floor?

His shelves were even still hanging to the wall, smashed but still intact as the bolts were scattered everywhere.

So he had been transformed along with everyone else at the school. Just like Nathalie suspected.

But he still seemed able to think.

“Adrien?” Adrien’s head twisted toward Nathalie, his mouth took in a deep shuddering breath as he watched her on alert.

“Your father would like to see you.” Nathalie moved forward and gripped his hand, not waiting for any response as she moved them to Gabriel’s office.

She wasn’t scared as Adrien never took his hand away yet he didn’t talk either. Nathalie glanced a few times over her shoulder to see him looking at their surroundings with child-like awe like he hadn’t lived here all of his life.

His mouth seemed to move like he was talking to himself, and he started to smile slowly.

Nathalie ignored his behavior. He was an akuma now, a small part of it. No doubt he was trying to either talk with his master or remember everything around him without his emotions clouding his judgment. 

Speaking of which, Gabriel never told Nathalie who he akumatized.

“Adrien’s awake, Sir,” Nathalie announced as she knocked on the office door before dragging Adrien inside.

There she pulled her hand out of Adrien’s cold grasp, not noticing Adrien stare strangely at her as she walked to Gabriel’s side.

“Welcome home, Adrien. You must be scared from your ridiculous outing.” Adrien’s mouth opened but Gabriel continued, “Your school is now gone, your teachers are dead and your classmates,” He froze.

Everyone waited.

A clock ticked in the distance.

Emilie stared at the back of his head with judgment. The painting was also waiting.

“They,” Gabriel started but the lack of words became clear in a few seconds. Finally, he avoided the topic.

“It’s a miracle to be safe right now during these times, while I will give you some time to rest and reflect keep in mind you now have a tight schedule that will give you no time to waste on remembering. To assist in your health improving to favorable stats, what would you like?”

A simple loving question was a numb statement coming out of Gabriel’s mouth.

Adrien seemed to think though, he frowned as he glanced around the office.

So many things that were familiar to him and yet he could barely remember glimpses of them. He wasn’t Adrien anymore so that was fine. Lie was his name now.

And Lie had only one wish.

“Lila Rossi,” He whispered. He wanted her blood, her flesh, her skull, her mind, her very being. He wanted her squirming in front of him like a bloody steak, waiting to be stabbed with no remorse, meant only to be a disgusting meal he would spit out a second later.

“What?” Gabriel asked.

Lie gulped down a harsh ball in his throat then realized he had nothing to be scared of. He didn’t have to be scared of this old man in front of him and the emotionless witch beside him.

Because he knew their darkest secret.

“Lila Rossi,” Lie said louder and stumbled away, his cold legs regaining slow warmth as he opened the door and slammed it close. His mind had been jumbled a bit when he came to but now he was finally in control of this body again.

Gabriel and Nathalie said nothing for a bit.

Gabriel’s hair melted a bit, damped in sweat as the possibilities of his son’s words made him shake.

“Nathalie.”

She snapped to attendance.

“That akuma has poisoned him. I want, and I repeat, I need the most reliable expensive therapists to cure Adrien right this instant.” He spoke without blinking.

Nathalie looked at him shocked, she failed to see how that would work but proceeded to do her job.

As she scheduled the appointments, she remembered the warnings Lila had told the hospital staff, the staff correctly telling her afterward.

Don’t send Adrien home.

But then she started to think logically, either he was speaking because of the akuma or he really needed to talk to Lila.

Something Gabriel seemed very against.

Chapter Text

The darkness. 

It was welcoming now.

His multitude of keys jingled in his hands as he stood frigidly still while he walked stiffly. Any joy he once had on coming back home to a happy household disappeared on that horrible godforsaken day three months ago.

The day he lost his daughter, Alya.

“Why are you always doing this!?” Alya cried out as she stomped out of her room, ignoring the calm looks of her sisters as Otis and Marlena followed after her.

Otis frowned as he tried to reach Alya’s back, “Alya, this is an obsession. All these superheroes, running into the battles, almost dying, do you really not care about your life?” He asked shakily yet Marlena was done with the circling.

“Alya Cesaire! You are banned from running that website of yours, I don’t know who has been putting these ideas in your head but it stops now! Enough about Ladybug and her cat! Leave the life-saving and Hawkmoth finding to them!” Marlena grabbed Alya’s shoulder, forcing the headstrong girl to turn to face them.

“Your phone will only be used from here on to talk to your friends and we’ll be taking your computer, do you hear me?”

Alya’s wide eyes slowly narrowed and glared with immense fury while her fists clenched so hard that bright veins popped out.

“Fuck you.”

Otis’s boots slammed down on the floor, snapping him out of his thoughts and anger. His deep frown became a scowl before he remembered Alya with pity.

Maybe they should have been nicer? Maybe they should have talked to her differently or seen her view? 

Or, maybe, no matter what they did, the Akuma would have taken her from them anyway.

Sounds from the news blared from an open apartment door he passed by, a vibrant woman’s voice lighting up the dark hallway with flashes of purple, red, and then dim screams.

The cries of only deep sorrow echoed all around Otis as the gun strapped to his back, loaded and heavy, hit him every few seconds.

Otis barely looked up as he reached his door, a dark shadow blocking his way. The closer he got, the more his instincts calmed and the visions of pulling out the gun ceased.

Marlena’s tired back greeted him.

“Good evening, dear.” Otis coughed out a deep exhausted rumble before a gentle smile appeared on his face.

Marlena’s hands clenched harshly, she didn’t turn around for several seconds as they both remained at the door.

Otis glanced at Marlena’s hands and waist.

She didn’t have the key to their apartment or even the pistol he had gifted to her so that she could defend herself as she went to work.

She did have her lovely face though, she turned to give him a soft smile with a tight edge. “G-Good Evening,” She mumbled out, her eyes glancing all over the place before she finally stared at Otis.

Otis raised an eyebrow, “Something wrong?”

Marlena immediately frowned at him with an annoyed glare, “Why would anything be fine? Has something good happened to you?” She scowled and crossed her arms.

Otis narrowed his eyes back at her and played with his keys, searching for the right one. “No,” He simply said as he grabbed a familiar key. “Just the same, sorry dear.”

Marlena didn’t say anything yet the moment the door was gently pulled open, she rushed to their bedroom. Slamming the door with no warning as the twins came walking out of their room just as Otis turned the lights on

“Daddy?” They asked, “Is Mommy also back?”

Otis kneeled to their level with a slight smile, “Yeah, but she’s a bit tired. Want some of Daddy’s cooking tonight?” The girls cheered as Otis glanced around their home.

“Where’s Nora? She was supposed to watch you guys.”

Etta and Ella glanced at each other nervously, their glee gone instantly.

“Someone was knocking earlier, they kept banging on the door and Nora told us to go into our rooms and she turned off the lights.” The both of them looked down, “We heard the front door open and she hasn’t been back for 20 minutes now.” Ella whined while Etta gulped audibly.

Otis immediately stood back up, he gripped the girls’ shoulders and rushed to his and Marlena’s bedroom.

“Marlena?” He knocked on the door, ignoring the sound of water crashing coming from the bathroom, and pulled the door to push the girls inside.

“Stay near your mother, don’t even go near the door. I’ll turn the lights off and don’t answer any knocks, I’ll bring Nora back myself and open the door.”

Otis shot around before they could speak and shoved the light switch off, running through more darkness to the closed door, and ran out of the apartment.

He was pulling out his phone, scrolling past pictures of smiling faces to find a picture of little Nora fighting with wrestler figures.

His finger pressed the call button, the ringing sound filling up the entire elevator.

The first ring rang out as Otis stomped his feet several times.

Then a click.

“Nora! Are you okay!? Did you

“The person you’re calling is unavailable, please leave a message after the beep, or call again I guess. Not sure if I’ll pick up.” A calm pre-recorded Nora answered him.

Otis glared as he pulled the phone from his ear and cut off the call. He reached to call his other stubborn child again when he heard the ringtone before he saw the words.

Alya

Otis’s hand became cold, his breath snapped as his fingers trembled, one trembling so much that it pressed accept.

A picture of a cheerful Alya with a bright grin made his heart stab itself against his ribs again and again. There was no sound.

Then he heard the sobbing, the cries of a distressed child.

“Daddy!” Ella cried out in the background as something snapped, the more that thing seemed to crack and fracture the more Otis’s body shook.

Then the phone clicked.

The elevator buttons were smashed into their bodies as Otis ran back to his home.

The apartment door was still open but the news anchorwoman with the vibrant tone was shouting,

“NEW DISCOVERY FOUND ABOUT THE NEWEST AKUMA! FOR ANYONE CLOSE OR RELATED TO THE VICTIMS STAY AWAY! THIS AKUMA IS KNOWN TO ATTACK ANYONE IT HATES!”

Otis forced the gun off his back, slamming his side into his door and pointing the gun into nothing.

Otis forced the gun off his back, slamming his side into his door and pointing the gun into nothing.

His and Marlena’s bedroom door was slammed off its hinges, lying bruised on the ground as a river of blood flowed from that room to the twins where crude sounds and sobs echoed.

Otis rushed to the room and shoved the door open, freezing at the sight of his wife’s back twitching as she shoved her head into the ground while Ella sobbed and shuddered in front of her, her wide eyes tearing up as snot fell from her nose.

Otis stared flabbergasted. Marlena simply froze, feeling his presence, and lifted her head to Ella. Never turning around.

Ella sobbed some more as Otis glanced down to see a pool of blood underneath Marlena while she slowly got up.

Her body gradually shifted into smoother arms with pointed orange nails. Her chef uniform transformed into a chic dark orange outfit fit for a young girl. A large black jacket formed from her skin to cover her shoulders and fiery hair.

“Daddy! Help!” Etta’s voice called from somewhere as a now young girl turned to face Otis with a blank stare.

A hand shoved from inside the girl’s stomach as Otis’s grip on the gun faltered slightly.

Etta tried to call out more but her cries turned to gurgles and vicious slimy pained screams as cracks called out.

The girl’s pale tongue reached out to wrap around a dark toe hanging on the edge of her mouth, never blinking as she brought it back into her cavernous mouth. A single hand reached up to remove the bright blood from her lips.

A single final crunch followed after with silence.

Then, Alya smiled.

“Hi, Daddy.” She breathed out.

Ella immediately screamed as Otis’s gun reached up to point directly into Alya’s forehead.

Alya barely flinched as Ella rushed to be in their dad’s arms but a second later Ella’s eyes were wider than before.

2 thin bloody lines were slashed across her head as her body fell to the floor with more blood splashing everywhere.

The moment she hit the ground, Otis fired the gun.

Alya stumbled back from the bullet hitting her head as Otis was pushed back also. Yet her head snapped back in place and a wide grin was on her face.

“You would shoot your own daughter Daddy? Your little girl?” Alya reached out to swipe her claw-like nails as Otis ran backward, his legs almost tripping over the pools of blood everywhere, and directed the gun again.

Alya smirked as a bullet hit her shoulder, blood gushing out before the wound was quickly replaced with healthy skin.

Otis glared as Alya smiled.

Otis ran out of the apartment, making things fall behind him as he barely heard anyone chasing him.

“Don’t go that fast! It would be boring if I caught up to you too soon!” Alya cried out as Otis rushed past the elevator.

In the dark hallways, he saw lights in the apartments around him go out one by one as he ran.

He dashed down the emergency staircase, sweat coating the gun as he tried to remember how many bullets he had left.

He reached the ground floor when a hand patted his shoulder.

“Pops?”

Otis shot around to see Nora looking at him with wide eyes.

Yet he immediately turned the gun on her.

“Alya,” He gritted out, “If you’re Alya, stop playing with me.” He backed away several steps with the barrel trained with precision.

Nora raised an eyebrow, and looked around, “Are you okay, Pops? Is this a drill? I’m sorry but my phone kinda broke when it dropped on the floor outside. Sorry for worrying you, dad.” Nora took a single step toward Otis but Otis never wavered.

Nora frowned and glared, “I said I was sorry.” She repeated with annoyance. “God, why do you always do this?”

Otis shook his head, “You don’t understand, show me your phone. Show me anything, any proof that you’re Nora and not Alya trying to kill me.”

“Maybe there’s a reason why Alya would kill you?”

Otis scowled, “And what is that?”

“The fact that if you had just been there for her, if you had helped her then you wouldn’t be here putting a gun at me.” Nora walked steadily forward, right into the gun. “Look at me, dad. Look at me and see that I’m Nora and not Alya. Come on, you can tell the difference can't you?”

Nora frowned and added, “Won’t you Daddy?”

With that, Otis made his decision.

Nora fell to the floor, her narrowed eyes wide as blood dripped from her cold lips. She stared up at Otis with shock then looked down at the bullet in her chest.

Her bloodied mouth opened just as someone else did.

“Wow, you really can’t tell the difference.”

Otis felt the cold barrel of a pistol press against the back of his head. He didn’t turn around.

“I hate you, always remember that Daddy.” Alya declared as she pressed down on the trigger.

In an instant, every Cèsaire was gone.

Alya stared down at the two dead bodies in front of her, calmly remembering how she stabbed her own mother and killed her family.

Her phone rang in her jacket pocket.

Alya’s pointed orange nails brought out the old memory and accepted the call.

“Glamour here, I’m ready.” Alya’s new form frowned at the way she still had to explain herself to anyone above in the hierarchy.

“Good evening,” A happy voice greeted back with a sweet sigh.

“Is she ready?” Glamour asked as something shifted on the other side.

Lie yawned and Glamour heard his bones crack. “Almost, she needs a bit more time to get used to the outside but soon she’ll be perfect to lead.” Lie cackled, the sound of something clicking and paper ripping echoed in the background. “I do want to mess with Gabriel a bit though.”

Glamour glared at nothing, “Stick to your role, cat. Make our queen happy and comfortable and don’t let her die before the big day.”

“Oi, stick to your role. You’re below me, number 4,” Lie warned before the phone disconnected.

Glamour huffed before she shifted, turning into a scared blonde teenage girl who rushed to the front lobby.

“HELP! THERE’S TWO DEAD BODIES NEAR THE STAIRS!”

Chapter Text

The door creaked open, saying hello as Nathalie simply glanced inside.

Lie was happily on the couch in front of her, scribbling something on a piece of paper and grinning happily with his now healthy legs crisscrossed.

Nathalie’s eyes moved down to the floor to see the fifth therapist they hired shaking and clutching his head. His face was shoved into his knees and his hands gripped the strands of his hair tightly.

Nathalie swiftly glanced over the rest of the room but there was no sign of the walls being smashed, a knife lying around, or even a limb missing.

Not a single drop of blood.

“Sir, your break will be in 3 minutes,” Nathalie announced her presence, already walking away so she didn’t see that the poor man didn’t look up or say anything. 

Lie glanced up at the words, smirked, and continued to write.

“1,” He whispered out loud, the man flinched and slowly looked up at the black-haired boy with wide eyes.

“2,” Lie breathed as the more he wrote, the more excited he seemed to get. One of his legs moved to fall off the couch, slightly drifting toward the therapist.

One simple bright-colored flag lit up in the man’s mind as he immediately rushed to the door.

Yet before he could even touch the knob and scream, Lie was done.

“3.”

Nathalie clicked the door open again, exactly 3 minutes later and paused.

The therapist was gone.

Nathalie swept the entire small room in under a few seconds: No broken walls, blood, or bodies in the corner.

Just Lie sitting in the same position as he quietly drew with an annoyed look.

“Monsieur? Geoffroy Arsenault?” Nathalie called with no response heard back.

So now she had to question the monster on the couch.

“Adrien?” The boy didn’t glance up. “Adrien? Where did Mr. Arsenault go?”

He didn’t look up though Nathalie could see the way he clutched the pen sharply.

“Lie,” Nathalie spat out, “Where. Did. He. Go.” She slowly spoke as she remained at the door.

Finally, the boy gently looked up. He then turned around slowly with a deadly glare.

“ Who ?” 

Nathalie gulped at the warning and quickly glanced around the room.

Still nothing, like the man was never there.

Her eyes glanced at the paper in Lie’s clenched hands. She could barely see the words, or rather word, written sporadically all over like a madman.

Death

Nathalie wished she had never decided to walk through the entrance lobby that day, she should have stayed in the kitchen, happily eating pancakes in the early morning in the time she had been unaware.

But she finished her food too soon, mentally listing that they needed more things as she got up to wash her single plate.

Too fast, every second counts before an event.

Then she left the kitchen and barely made it out of the door when she stopped to watch Gorilla and Adrien talk to each other.

Gorilla was gripping a happy figurine of a girl with dark blue hair and a cute dress to his chest while Adrien stood on his tiptoes to grab the foot of the figurine.

At first the scene appeared cute but Gorilla kept grunting and glaring at the young boy while taking several steps back, unaware of the Akuma influence Adrien had and just believing he was being a brat out of nowhere.

Adrien finally fell back on his ankles, annoyed and tired of being smaller than Gorilla.

“Death,” He said readily with a determined look at the Gorilla.

Gorilla had only raised one of his bushy gray eyebrows when his neck ripped off on its own accord. The large head went flying backward, raining red rain before it crashed and created a large puddle of skin and blood cells, and hopped before stopping at the door. The figurine fell with such cheerfulness. 

There was only silence as Lie reached to wipe the blood from his eyes, turning around to stare directly at Nathalie.

With blood dripping from his obsidian hair and a porcelain blank Prince Hans look, he vowed,

“You’re next.”

She tried to warn that stupid boss of hers but Gabriel insisted Adrien had made it out alive with nothing happening to him.

Yet when she told him of all that happened with Gorilla, Gabriel’s ice-cold face cracked slightly.

And now she was reporting what happened that afternoon to Gabriel at night.

“This was all a mistake, I’ll agree but I can’t Nathalie. How come there hasn’t been any sign of Ladybug or Chat Noir? This is the ultimate akuma. This akuma has confirmed to me that two of those students that were affected were Ladybug and Chat Noir, I just have to figure out who it is. Get the akuma to behave and everything will have been worth it.”

He turned his back on her and the Emilie painting behind him as he walked back to his podium and stared at the news that took up all of his screen.

Designing, when was the last time he designed anything?

“ A long time ago ” The akuma rasped in his head, a disarray of voices clouded his thoughts as he tried to talk to it.

“I’ve told you several times now, you have to stop this.” He glared at nothing, ignoring the slimy parasite worming through his head.

“ Too late. ” The voices squirmed and disappeared back to their roots.

What?

Gabriel quickly typed into his email, sending a message to Nathalie to check on Adrien.

“Dad! You’re back!” The young girl with bright orange hair giggled at the wall in front of her.

Officer Raincomprix moved to the reinforced glass wall as quietly as a mouse but she always heard him even before he was allowed to come inside the prison.

He tried to not hear the screams of the other parents, their sobs, and the cackles of their monster-confused children. It had been hard but they had managed to corner the ‘lower’ levels of the hierarchy into special cells so that their parents could come to identify them and the kids couldn’t escape.

But it had still been hard when his call came.

“We found Sabrina.” A co-worker hesitantly said the moment Officer Raincomprix had picked up the phone while eating his lunch.

Lunch was quickly forgotten as he ran to her location.

She was much thinner than before, they had found her laughing and trying to talk with trash bags as she played fetch with them. She hadn’t been easy to capture, anyone who touched her made her immediately agitated as she devoured with a beast mindset. Her hair was so long that it reached her ankles, her clothes were torn into a caveman-like dress but her back was bare. Her sharp canine eyes and ears perked as she shakily got up with the cement wall helping her. 

“What was it this time? Robbers? Terrorists? Hope you didn’t get hurt,” She said as she slowly stumbled to the glass wall then fell on her behind to open her hands.

“Can I at least have a present or something? I’ve been a good girl, haven’t fought anyone, made a few friends. Hell, I’m not a bad kid Dad, you know that.” She giggled to herself as Raincomprix nodded slowly.

“I know Sabrina but you know that I-”

“Oh!” Sabrina’s eyes went wide, “You forgot again, It’s not Sabrina Dad, It’s Canna now.” She shook her head with disappointment then she smiled,

“But Chloe doesn’t have a proper name yet, I’m trying to come up with one but wait!” Her smile became a wide grin and she hurriedly turned around, “Chloe can tell you how good I’ve been!”

Officer Raincomprix immediately started to protest, not wanting to see Chloe but Sabrina already grabbed the sides of her hair and pulled them apart.

Chloe’s tired dull eyes stared out of Canna’s back, they blinked and glanced everywhere with her mouth opening to swiftly breathe in anything that wasn’t hair.

Past the mouth were Canna’s lungs, ribs, and organs on full display every time Chloe opened her mouth. She seemed to mouth something that looked like help but Canna let go of her hair and Chloe was covered again.

”Tomorrow is going to be a good day,” Canna absently said as her dad once again dry heaved.

He frowned, “Why?”

Canna cheerfully hopped back to face her dad through the glass.

“I shouldn’t be saying this, I’m middle of the hierarchy anyway but since it's such a good thing I thought you should know Dad because you didn’t let your work friends shoot me.”

Before he could say anything more, Canna smirked.

“Our queen is ready. She’ll be ready tomorrow to take over the whole world and save us. She’s nothing like the rest of us, we can be kind but she’s pure evil.”

Lila Rossi was shivering in her bed when her mother found her, the covers were shaking so badly that her mother gently touched her forehead only to flinch back.

One moment the skin was burning hot and then it was freezing cold, Lila’s body felt like it was being drowned by an invisible force, like it had been shot multiple times over and she somehow managed to survive every shot but the pain kept repeating.

The horrendous sensation had started only a few days ago but it increasingly grew with each day as Lila’s new vivid nightmares of her being back in the school but standing alone in a crowd of dancing monsters tormented her in her waking hours.

Her skin was like a single strip of onion to her now, no longer a protective shield but a prison she wanted to rip herself out of.

She often berated others for choosing to leave their lives when Lila had stolen everything from them, cackling every time someone she declared her enemy was found dead in some way or another.

But she was now on that edge.

“Oh dear lord,” Her mother breathed from somewhere in the room and Lila heard the television broadcast the now most watched channel, the news.

“They, they’re going to kill us all.” Lila’s mother mumbled to herself as suddenly she was shoved to the ground. She gazed up to see Lila staring down at her from the bed with unfocused eyes.

Then she leaped out of her comforters yelling over her shoulder. “WE NEED TO GO!” As she dashed out.

Her confused mother got up after a few more angry calls and they ran to the car.

“The Eiffel Tower! We need to go there!” Lila demanded once her mother was in the car but the older woman froze.

“Why would we go there!? You heard the news! They’re all gathering there! Those monsters will kill us if they see us! We should be getting all of our things and getting the hell out of this crazy country!” Her mom yelled back as she moved to get out of the car.

“Sometimes you can really be a dumbass.” Lila simply muttered.

Her mother moved back to slap her daughter but she froze at the knife that was nearly digging into her neck. She slowly gazed from the sharp tip, trying to remember when this girl had the time to grab it, and saw Lila’s glare.

The famous Rossi glare of deep hatred.

“Drive. Don’t say anything. Don’t run. Get me there so I can save us all.” She warned as the knife dug just a bit deeper.

With that, the two culprits raced to the finish. 

Lila watched with horror as she saw cars crash into buildings, monsters run on the rooftops in the same direction as her, and smoke floating into the sky.

Sirens echoed everywhere as Lila glanced at the faces and tried to remember who they used to belong to.

She found among the crowd was an ecstatic Lie, running with bare feet on the tiled rooftops while holding something cloaked to his chest. He was surrounded by monsters bigger than him like a parade.

The thing in his arms seemed to be a body.

Gabriel was breaking all speed laws as he drove his car for the first time in a long time. He cursed all the cars that were flipped all over the roads from the Akuma, the destruction all around him was a nuisance to him finding out Ladybug’s identity.

He had checked through all the files the police had given him, the ones about the parts of the Akuma they had captured after lying that he had to check them for Adrien’s sake. He then compared them to the student list and crossed out everybody that seemed obvious to not be Ladybug and the ones that had been captured.

After much consideration, he knew for certain that this ‘Queen’ had to be Ladybug because the host would have done a lot of things completely different from what this queen was doing.

But Nathalie had found that Adrien had disappeared the night before, and he had to deal with this quickly.

This Akuma had to be killed today, today would be his ultimate win. He would grab Ladybug’s miraculous, cure the Akuma, save Adrien, get the cat miraculous somehow and happily ever after.

No one would be allowed to get in his way.

Gabriel glanced out of his window a bit and regretted cursing himself.

He and Lila stared at each other for a single moment through the windows of both cars, silently cursing as they knew they’d get in the middle of each other’s way.

The cars never left each other’s side as soon they drove haphazardly into Champ de Mars, almost crashing into the crowd of bystanders and police officers getting ready to shoot down into the army of monsters. Screams erupted from the adults who were sobbing as they were being held back by a line of officers who were yelling at them to go home.

The officers turned to stop the cars from going further when Gabriel Agreste stomped out of his, sending a furious glare before running towards the coronation. Lila stumbled out of hers a second afterward, she fell to the ground with several deep breaths. Ignore the pain, ignore the pain.

“HEY YOU! GET OUT OF H-”

Before anyone could stop her though, the pain ceased just a bit and Lila shot up at her opportunity and rushed after Gabriel.

“YOU MOTHERFUCKER! YOU CAUSED THIS!” She screamed at him as she caught up to be right beside him, forcing her mind to ignore the wide grins of the monsters that weren’t even chasing them. They stood there with smiles as the crowd began to get denser the more they ran into it.

No one reacted to their presence, instead they moved away from the two and made room toward the center.

Gabriel froze near the edge of the center, realizing the mistake he made by even running after Lila.

But Lila hadn’t even realized he had stopped running.

She came to the almost empty center, freezing at the three figures that awaited her.

Lie smirked at her.

Glamour rolled her eyes at her presence.

A familiar outfit didn’t say anything. The same outfit she had been wearing that day 3 months ago. Her favorite jacket, her tights, everything.

The only light in the area was Alix, whose melted body was still clutching the sun, crying out softly in pain and happiness as the sun kept slipping and falling into the large hole in her body.

The bright sun lit up the way Lila froze at the sight, then she fell to her knees.

“I’M SORRY OKAY!? EVERTHING’S MY FAULT! ALL OF YOU BEING MONSTERS IS MY FAULT AND I’M SORRY I LIED TO ALL OF YOU! I PROMISE I WON'T DO IT AGAIN! ARE YOU LADYBUG? LADYBUG I’M SORRY!” LIla sobbed as her head fell to the grass, the voices in her head silent but still so painful.

Through her loud sobs, she heard the queen’s words.

“I’m not Ladybug.”

Lila froze, the memories placed themselves together as she remembered who had the sweet but strong voice she vowed to break.

She slowly gazed up to see a monster and a queen.

On one side was Marinette, her pink jean shining brightly, and on the other side of the body was Lila. Both girls formed to create a being that should never exist.

The sweet and strong voice spoke confidently as she reached out a hand, “I’m Maricurse. I’m just number 2 of the hierarchy, my queen.”

Before Lila could even register the words, Maricurse grabbed her hand and their fingers squirmed and began to morph together.

Lila screamed as Maricurse smiled, “Akumas go after those they hate, don't they?” She was so calm as their flesh was breaking to be closer and closer. “In that moment you hated all of us, Lila. Your emotions were so strong that you were the ultimate Akuma without you even realizing it.”

The Lila part of Maricurse smirked, “After all, everyone who isn’t Lila is nothing but a stupid Idiota aren’t they?”

Lila screeched as she shot around to where Gabriel was being pummeled to the ground by Lie, the black-haired boy giggled as he threw punch after punch into the old man’s skull. The man fought back and punched his son back as the monsters celebrated and danced. Alix let out gurgled giggles and brought the sun closer to her ripped chest.

“GABRIEL!” Lila cried out as she felt her arm almost formed with Maricurse, “WHERES MY OBJECT!? YOU HAVE IT DON’T YOU!? GIVE IT PLEASE! JUST GIVE IT!” Lila sobbed and stood up, tripping back on her feet as she glanced back to see the transformation was now on her shoulder.

Gabriel shoved the sharp teeth of Lie off his shoulder, he kicked Canno away from his feet as he transformed to keep up with the monsters now hell-bent on giving him the end to his ever after.

“BRACELET!” He managed to scream out before a spear was stabbed into his chest and claws claimed the flesh, forcing the wound to become more and more painful. Lila glanced down at the bracelet attached tightly to Maricurse’s skin on Marinette’s side.

Lila was eye-level with Maricurse, able to breathe in the same air as the thing she created as fat tears cascaded in the ugliest way possible and with the cry of a fox trapped in its own game.

“I’m sorry,” She croaked out as Maricurse stared at her with wide hurt eyes and a glowing butterfly mask. Lila could feel the Akuma break as a simple white butterfly fluttered in between them before it drifted away.

Lila fell backward into the wet grass, her arm ripped away from the flabbergasted monster whose frown was slowly disappearing away.

Lila could hear all around her the sounds of monsters either being instantly turned back and teenagers screaming or the pain of those who had to endure the transformation slowly. The higher levels of the hierarchy suffered from this predicament as Glamour screeched then began to run away into the midnight around them.

Alix’s pained shouts echoed all over as Lila heard one single word,

“ Death ”

Lila shut her eyes, so many regrets as she gritted her teeth prepared for the pain and her snot flowed into the grass.

Yet she heard a thud.

She felt no pain.

She slowly moved her head.

Gabriel’s body was lying emotionless, damaged all over.

His head lay just a bit away, staring at Lila with dull eyes.

There was no Ladybug Miraculous to fix this.

There was no Cataclysm to destroy memories.

Only mistakes and regrets.