Meltdown, Bat Fam meeting, and a trip to the Gardens

Marinette finished her room service dinner. She had collapsed into her bed as soon as she got back from Gotham Enterprises and slept through dinner with the class in the restaurant. No one from the French class bothered to check on her when she missed dinner, and the Kwamis let her sleep, believing she needed sleep more than she needed food. So, Marinette wound up ordering room service for dinner.

She briefly wondered if she could also have a room service breakfast since no one came to check on her missing dinner. She dismissed the thought to focus on what she had to do next. She still needed to send what she thought of the fight against Ape Fighter to Dick.

Marinette grimaced at the thought of watching the video. She really wasn't looking forward to watching herself run away in fear. However, she had already said told Dick that she would do it, so she had to do it. She took out her laptop and sat down on one of the couches of the penthouse. The Kwamis flew over and sat on Marinette's shoulders as she went to miraculousnews.com. Tikki and Plagg sat on her right, while Kaalki and Mullo sat on her left. She smiled when she saw the article title that held the video of her fight against Ape Fighter.

"Ladybug and Lady Noire smack down Ape Fighter," Marinette read aloud.

With Marinette changing her superhero name every time she used a new miraculous or combined them, Aurora always wondered which name to use. Marinette, as Ladybug, made the joke that she should list each one. However, Aurora took the joke and ran with it. Ever since each of her transformations always got put in the title of the article Aurora posted.

Marinette started the video.

The video began with showing Ape Fighter smashing cars with a light post. Aurora must have cut out the time before Ladybug showed up since a red flash could be seen in the corner of the screen only a few seconds later. The camera zoomed out to include Ladybug in the shoot.

The scene played out as Marinette remembered. She dodged the light post being thrown at her along with a couple of Ape Fighter's punches before one connected, sending her flying off-screen. The video stayed on Ape Fighter for a few seconds before switching to the view of another drone that showed Ladybug lying on a crushed car.

Though the Miraculous Cure healed her ribs, the image of herself on top of the car made her ribs ache. A pit started to form in her stomach as she remained motionless. The pit grew bigger with each passing second of the video showing her unmoving form.

"How long can I keep being Ladybug without a Cat?" Marinette asked herself inside her head.

After what seemed like an eternity but was actually only about ten seconds, Ladybug started to cough and pull herself off the car. A few seconds later, she transformed into Chat Noir and jumped off to face Ape Fighter.

The video switched back to the drone following Ape Fighter, and she came into the frame a few seconds later.

Marinette had to force herself not to close out the window and shut her laptop. Her hands white-knuckled the edge of the couch as she got ready to watch herself freeze and run away in fear. She had hoped that her fear wasn't all that apparent. The video swiftly dashed her hopes.

It was clear as day that she was afraid, even terrified, in the video. There was no possibility of someone writing it off as her making a tactical retreat. She ran away in fear. It was plain as day.

Marinette felt the Kwamis hug her neck, and she subconsciously reached up to start petting them.

After the video showed Lady Noire running away, it followed Ape Fighter as he continued to go on a rampage. A couple of minutes passed before Lady Noire jumped back into the frame with a look of confidence.

The rest of the fight played out as Marinette remembered. She parried Ape Fighter's attacks before tripping him and destroying his belt buckle with Cataclysm. The video ended shortly after the man deakumatized.

After the video ended, the top comments on the video appeared on the screen. Of the top ten comments on the screen, only one was positive. Marinette barely began reading the comments before Tikki rushed off her shoulder and closed the video and the comments.

"You do not need to read those comments," Tikki said, putting her tiny arms up in an 'X'.

"Tikki," Marinette groaned.

"No, I know you. You'll start reading the comments, focusing only on the negative comments and completely ignoring the positive ones. You'll get depressed, stressed out, and talk about doing something crazy, like giving up being Ladybug and our Guardian. I won't let that happen, nor do you need that right now. So, you'll write a quick report on the video to send to M. Dick, then go to bed. You still haven't fully recovered from the akuma attack yet." Tikki said firmly.

"She's right, kid," Plagg said, "You need your rest now more than ever. The imbalance in the miraculous energy is causing the miraculouses to drain you a lot more than before, and it'll only get worse until you can find a new wielder for the cat miraculous."

 "If you don't take the time to look after yourself. How can you look after others?" Mullo added.

"Yes, and those fools don't know what they are talking about, to begin with," Kaalki added.

Marinette sighed but gave a small smile.

"Fine, fine, I'll write the report instead of looking at comments."

She pulled up her email, typed a short report about her thoughts on the video, and sent it to Dick.

"I'm going to take a shower before going to bed."

Marinette closed her laptop and stood up. The Kwami's flew off of her shoulders, hovering eye-level.

She started to head towards the bathroom but was stopped by Plagg saying, "Leave your phone."

"What?" Marinette asked with a bewildered look.

"Don't what me? I lived with Adrien and his control freak father for two and a half years. I know you are just using the shower as an excuse to read those comments," Plagg said, "So, leave your phone."

"Come on, I wouldn't do that."

All the Kwamis raised an eyebrow.

"Fine," Marinette rolled her eyes. She took her personal phone from her pocket and placed it on the coffee table. "Happy?"

"Very," Plagg replied with a smirk.

Marinette rolled her eyes and went into the bathroom. She turned on the shower. She pulled out her cheap phone.

She wasn't surprised that the Kwamis had forgotten about her cheap phone. She didn't use it for anything outside of school. Most of the time, it sat untouched on the edge of her desk.

She typed in miraculousnews.com into the search bar. Her finger hovered over the Enter key. She thought about what the Kwamis said about her not reading the comments. She knew they were right, too. She could barely read the negative comments on a more favorable video without freaking out.

The video of her least favorable fight to date? Just the thought of what kind of comments would be on that video made her heart rate rise and her breathing quicken.

She shouldn't press the Enter key. It would only lead to her reading the comments, getting depressed, stressed out, and thinking about quitting being Ladybug and the Guardian. There was no reason to read them other than to hurt herself.

So, why did she hit the Enter key? And why did she scroll down to the comments section?

They were just as awful as she had expected.

LadyChat345: Ladybug ran away like a B****. She needs her Chat Noir. She shouldn't have taken the miraculous away from him. They were so good together.

xXxPrivateHardyxXx: She got WRECKED by that big ape. She should give up her miraculous to someone more competent.

 ChatNoirForLife43: This is what happens when you get rid of the black cat. You lose to a D-list akuma. Pathetic. 

EnterNameHere: I was surprised when the poll on the ladyblog showed 86.3% of people wanted Ladybug to give up her miraculous, but after watching this. I agree with them.

ShadowBug729: She should just hand over the miraculouses to Shadow Moth and save everyone some time.

LadybugIsMiraculous58: I'm going to have to change my name after this.

EdgeLord23423: Shadow Moth is about to win. So, if you have anything on your bucket list you haven't done yet, now would be an excellent time to cross it off.

On and on the comments went.

Despite the video being only recently posted, it had become the most-watched video on miraculousnews.com. Which meant there were plenty of comments for her to read.

After 30 minutes of listening to the shower running, Tikki said, "She's been in there for a while. I'm starting to get a little worried."

"Yeah, she usually doesn't take this long in the shower," Mullo said.

"You don't think she might be…" Tikki wasn't able to finish the sentence.

The rest of the Kwamis' eyes went wide at the implication of what Tikki was suggesting.

"Come on, that's a bit extreme, don't you think?" Plagg asked.

"Well, what if she is?" Tikki asked.

"She's never shown any signs of it before. You've been reading too much stuff on the internet," Plagg replied.

"But things have never been this bad before," Tikki replied, "She already feels like she doesn't deserve to be Ladybug or our Guardian, and with today's fight and her powers messing up. I'm sure she's feeling even worse."

"You're starting to sound like Marinette, jumping to the worst-case scenario like that," Plagg replied, "Besides, her power messing up is just the imbalance in power between our energies. Once she finds a wielder for me, everything will be fine." 

Tikki paused momentarily before saying, "I don't think she's looking for a new wielder for you."

"What!?" The other Kwamis exclaimed.

"What makes you say that?" Plagg continued.

"Well, we've been asking her to find a new wielder for you for months now. In that time, have you ever seen her actually go looking for a new cat wielder or heard her talk about it other than just saying she'll do it when we ask her about it?" Tikki asked.

The other Kwamis' brief moment of silence was enough for Tikki to continue.

"Exactly. I don't think she wants to find a new wielder for the cat miraculous. After everything that happened with Adrien, she's scared to trust someone with a permanent miraculous. She gave Adrien the chance to use the cat miraculous temporarily while he worked to get better, but he just threw it away and then started dating that liar. Which I think affected Marinette more than she likes to admit, even to herself. That, combined with all her friends leaving her for Lila, destroyed her trust in people. I don't think she can trust anyone with a miraculous permanently. Do you remember the akuma attack that made her give Aurore the dragon miraculous?"

They all remembered the akuma attack that led to Aurore getting to wield the dragon miraculous, and shuttered. Marinette still had nightmares about it.

"I think she plans on defeating Shadow Moth by herself," Tikki continued.

"She can't do that!" Kaalki exclaimed. "He's too strong. And didn't she say that she wanted Batman's help finding out who Shadow Moth actually is?"

"Exactly. She just wants his help in figuring out who Shadow Moth is. Not help in actually taking him down. I think she sees defeating Shadow Moth as her responsibility and hers alone since she is both Ladybug and the Guardian, and Adrein no longer wanting to be Chat Noir. And since she used to be the leader of Team Miraculous, back when there was a team, she believes that it's her fault that everything went wrong and she has to fix it herself, and the only way to do that is to defeat Shadow Moth. Alone."

"But she still has a Team Miraculous," Mullo replied, "Sure, it's not as big as it used to be, but that isn't her fault. It's all that Lila's fault."

"That may be the case, but Marinette doesn't think that, and that's what is important. She doesn't call on the others unless she knows she has to. I don't think it will be any different with Batman and his companions."

"What do we then?" Kaalki asked.

"I don't know. At least not yet," Tikki replied, "But right now, I'm going to check on my Ladybug."

Tikki turned around and flew to the bathroom. She fazed through the door to find Marinette on the floor, sitting with her knees up to her chest and her head buried in her knees, and crying softly. She was still fully clothed, but her right side was soaked from the shower splashing as she had neglected to close the sliding glass doors of the shower stall.

Tikki also noticed Marinette's cheap phone on the floor beside the girl's feet. The Kwami cursed under her breath. She had forgotten entirely about her wielder's other phone.

Tikki flew over and turned off the shower before flying down her wielder.

"Marinette," Tikki tentatively said.

She saw Marinette slightly stiffen and heard the crying abruptly stop. However, Marinette didn't lift her head, leaving it buried in her knees.

"Marinette," Tikki sat down on Marinette's knee, "Are you okay?"

It was a silly question to ask. Obviously, she wasn't okay, but it was still a question that needed to be asked.

When her wielder didn't answer, Tikki asked, "Did you look at the comments?"

Marinette pulled her knees closer to her chest, trying to make herself small like a child about to be scolded, but again remained silent.

"Why did you look at the comments?" Tikki asked.

The question wasn't accusatory but was made out of genuine concern for the girl.

"I'm sorry," Marinette muttered.

"There is nothing to be sorry for, Marinette. You didn't write the comments."

"I read them when you told me not to."

"Why?"

"I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?" Tikki asked, making sure to sound genuinely confused and not angry or disappointed.

Marinette raised her head to look at Tikki. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying. She saw Tikki looking at her with concern and was patiently waiting for a reply.

"I don't know how to explain it. I know that reading the comments would be bad, and I would get like this, but it's like I had to know what they were saying."

"You know what they are saying isn't true, right? You beat Ape Fighter. How you beat him doesn't matter. You beat him and restored all the damage he did. The imbalance even weakened you, and you still won."

"Barely. What if I freeze up next time like I did this time and lose? The Shadow Moth gets the miraculous, and the world ends. I know I'm starting to slip, too. It's hard to keep everything together, especially now that I don't have a cat, and if I get akumatized, it's all over. It's just a lot."

"I know," Tikki looked down sadly, "I'm sorry the other Kwamis and I can't be more help to you. I just don't know what to do or how to help. I'm sorry."

Marinette gave Tikki a small, sad smile.

"Don't worry about it. I know you're doing your best, and there isn't much you can do, but thank you for always supporting me. Shadow Moth would have won long ago if it wasn't for you."

Marinette kissed the top of Tikki's head.

"Besides, it'll be over soon anyway."

The way her wielder said that sent shivers down Tikki's spine. There was a deep sadness and a hint of relief in her voice, almost like she didn't care if she lost or won, just that it was over.

"W-what do you mean by that?" Tikki hesitant asked.

 "I mean, whether I defeat Shadow Moth or not, the fight against him will be over."

"Don't you mean when you beat Shadow Moth?" Tikki hopefully asked, "Which, with the help of Batman and his companions, should be easy."

"Yes, Tikki, when I beat him."

Marinette smiled softly.

However, Tikki felt no comfort from her smile. The smile was fake. It was only a smile to appease Tikki's worry. The smile might have worked if she had been any other Kwami, but not on her. The Kwami that had been her Kwami for three years and knew Marinette exceptionally well. She knew all of Marinette's tells.

Tikki was about to comment about it but stopped when Marinette shivered violently.

"Are you okay?" Tikki asked.

"Hey, just cold," Marinette replied, rubbing her arms.

"Your clothes got wet from the shower splashing since the door wasn't closed."

"Oh, yeah, guess I didn't notice I forgot to close it."

"Let's get you out of those clothes and into some dry and warm."

Marinette nodded and stood up with a groan. Her body had become stiff from sitting on the floor for so long. She started to stretch her stiff muscles but flinched away when the wet cold pressed against her body. She removed her shirt and pants, leaving her in her underwear, which was still dry. She laid her wet clothes out on the large bathroom counter to dry.

Afterward, she looked into the mirror that spanned the length of the counter, and what she saw didn't match reality.

Her black hair with blue reflection looked like a rat's nest with various strands sticking out in random directions. Her usual fair skin looked pale, highlighting the dark bag under her eyes. She was thin as bone, lacking any actual muscles. Her left wrist was bent at a slight angle despite being completely relaxed.

To herself, she looked like a train wreck, while in actuality, she didn't look nearly that bad.

Her hair, which looked like a rat's nest, was slightly messy. Her pale skin was the same fair color as usual, and the dark bags under her eyes were barely there. Her finally toned muscles were just as toned and prevalent as they always were with her 4% body fat. Her left wrist, while having a prominent scar, was just as straight as her right wrist.

Tikki noticed her slight pause as she looked in the mirror and asked, "Something wrong?"

"No, nothing is wrong," Marinette lied and left the bathroom.

She changed into her pajamas.

"Get some rest, Marinette. I'm sure you'll feel better after a good night's rest," Tikki said.

"Yeah, a good night's rest," Marinette muttered too softly for anyone else to hear.

She climbed into bed and pulled the covers up over her head. She had the feeling that she wasn't going to get much sleep that night.

After Marinette pulled the covers over her head, Tikki looked at the other Kwamis, who looked on with concern. Tikki gave them a sad and worried look before going over and laying down on the pillow next to Marinette. The other Kwamis followed her to the pillow.

The Bat Family had just finished watching the video of Ladybug fighting Ape Fighter. When Marinette sent in her thoughts on the fight, they also asked her to send a link to the video, which Tikki sent while Marinette was in the bathroom. They found that the link only worked when Cassandra, Dick, or Harley opened it, but if any others tried to open it, it became a broken link. They tested if links from other French students would work. They asked for links for the fight from Lila, Adrien, Rose, and Alya. All the links worked the same as with Marinette's link. They still didn't know the complete rules of whatever magic kept them from discovering everything about the Paris situation, but they did know what they thought of the fight against Ape Fighter. 

"We should go to Paris right now and take the miraculouses from that incompetent Ladybug!" Damian exclaimed, slamming his hands on the Batcave table.

"That's a bit extreme, don't you think?" Dick replied.

"She ran away from that ape in fear. Not a strategic retreat, but in fear. And when she did come back. She just charged in there recklessly," Damian countered.

"The students acted like something was wrong when Ape Fighter temporarily knocked out Ladybug. Marinette even mentioned it during her comments about the fight. She said Ladybug had never been knocked out by a hit before," Harley replied, "Something is going on. That is affecting Ladybug's abilities."

"Which is exactly why we should go to Paris and take the miraculous from her. We can keep them safe here, in the Watchtower, or anywhere but Paris, out of Shadow Moth's grasp," Damian continued.

"You want to take them from her? Do you hear yourself right now?" Stephanie asked.

Damian clicked his tongue.

"Fine, whatever. So, we don't take them from her. But ask her nicely to hand them over. Hopefully, she isn't so incompetent that she'll turn down our help."

"Doesn't exactly sound like you're offering to help her there, demon spawn," Jason chimed in.

"ENOUGH!" Bruce shouted, grabbing everyone's attention, "Nothing has changed. Yes, there is likely something wrong with Ladybug's powers. However, Zatanna will be here tomorrow night. Hopefully, we can use her magical expertise to understand the situation better, including what may be wrong with Ladybug. Marinette also said that it isn't likely that there will be another akuma attack for at least a couple of days, however, given the fact that Ladybug was shown to be weakened, possibly severely. It would be no surprise that Shadow Moth would take this opportunity to launch another akuma attack while she is in a weakened state. So, Dick and Stephanie, I want you two waiting in the Watchtower, ready to go to Paris to assist Ladybug should the situation arrive. Damian, Cass, and Harley, you'll be with the class when they go to the Gotham Gardens and Museum. Barbara and Tim, I want you to find everything you can about the class, and I mean everything. Something isn't adding up with the class, and I don't just mean magically speaking. And Duke, you got the day shift."

"How come everyone else gets to do the fun stuff?" Duke groaned.

"You can come visit the class when we are in the gardens or museum if you want? I'm sure the class would enjoy the visit," Harley suggested.

"Can I?" Duke looked at Bruce.

"I don't have a problem with it. Just don't stay for too long. We don't want to raise suspicion that we might be watching them," Bruce replied.

"Sweet."

"Do you know what time you'll be dropping by?" Harley asked.

"I'll surprise you," Duke smirked.

"Uh, huh, twenty says I'm prepared for you," Harley replied.

"Deal."

"Anything else you would like to discuss?" Bruce asked.

"When you say find out everything, does that mean you want us to hack their phones and other devices, too?" Barbara asked.

Bruce looked towards Harley, who nodded.

After Bruce had decided to have the French class come to Paris, Harley put a restriction on Bruce in that he and the rest of the Bat Family couldn't hack into the French class's personal devices, plant listening or video devices in their rooms, or on their bodies, which included tracking devices unless they were actively being kidnapped. However, Harley appeared to be lifting one of the restrictions for now.

"Yes," Bruce answered.

"Are we sure we'll even find anything?" Tim asked, "The magic may have loosened around Cass, Dick, and Harley, but not Babs and I. So, if we find anything, it might be scrambled like everything about Ladybug and the situation in Paris."

"He's got a point. Just because we could show everyone the video doesn't necessarily mean everyone is now as unaffected by the magic as Cass, Harley, and I. How about I help Babs look into the French class while Cass takes my place in the Watchtower and Timmy gets some time out of the office with Damain, Harley, and Jason?" Dick suggested.

Bruce looked at Cassandra, who smiled back at him. He then looked to Tim, who said, "I got no complaints."

"Okay, let's go with your plan then, Dick," Bruce said, "Any other matters to discuss?"

Everyone looked at each other, but no one motioned to speak.

"Okay, Cass and Steph, go ahead and head to the Watchtower and keep your eye on Paris. If anything strange happens, no matter how small, contact me," Bruce continued.

Cassandra gave a thumbs-up, and Stephanie said, "You got it, Boss Man."

They left the table and headed towards the transporter pad.

Bruce dismissed the rest of the Bat Family. Dick and Barbara went to the Bat Computer to continue researching the French Class's background. Jason and Bruce got ready for night patrol, though they wouldn't patrol together, but in different areas simultaneously. Duke, Damian, Harley, and Tim headed to bed to get some rest for the next day.

When Tim went upstairs, he headed to the kitchen. However, he was stopped by Alfred, who stood at the doorway to the kitchen.

"No more coffee for you, Master Timothy. You need to go to bed. You need to be sharp while escorting the French class," Alfred said.

"Aw, come on, Alfred, just one cup," Tim whined.

"No, you've been up for over 48 hours. You need to rest," Alfred firmly replied.

"Harley put you up to this, didn't she?" Tim glared at Alfred.

"I'm not at liberty to say. Now off to bed with you. You can get your coffee fix in after a full eight hours of sleep."

Tim continued to glare at Alfred, who looked back at him with a neutral face. After a few seconds, Tim gave up with a groan. He stomped upstairs to his room, and Alfred smirked in triumph.

The next morning, Marinette turned off the alarm on her phone before it rang. She was right when she thought she wouldn't get much sleep.

After she fell asleep, she woke up thirty minutes later with a gasp.

"You okay?" Tikki asked, having not fallen asleep yet.

"Yeah, just a nightmare. Don't worry about it. Go back to sleep," Marinette replied, rolling over on her side, away from Tikki.

"Okay, sweet dreams," Tikki replied.

 Marinette struggled to go back to sleep, and when she did, nightmares plagued her. She

By the time it came for her phone alarm to go off, she had only managed to get two hours of nightmare-filled sleep. She felt more exhausted than when she went to bed.

Marinette rolled out of bed and onto the floor with a thud, startling the Kwamis awake.

"Marinette, are you okay?" Tikki asked.

"Coffee," Was her reply.

"I'll order room service," Plagg exclaimed, likely going to order some cheese for himself.

"Wait, don't you think it would seem weird if a guy orders room service from a room only Marinette is supposed to be in?" Kaalki asked.

"I guess you're right," Plagg deflated.

"I'll order the coffee," Kaalki said and flew over to the room phone.

"Triple expresso, please," Marinette called out from her spot on the floor.

"Should I order breakfast too, or are you going to go to the restaurant," Kaalki asked.

Marinette thought about it for a second before. Deciding she didn't want to risk another run-in with Lila at the elevator, she said, "Yeah, go ahead and get pancakes."

She pushed herself up off the ground to her feet. She headed to the bathroom to take the shower she hadn't taken yesterday.

"If you're not out in ten minutes, I'm coming in there," Tikki called out as Marinette entered the bathroom.

"Okay," Marinette replied, closing the bathroom door.

Eight minutes later, she walked out of the bathroom in her pajamas and freshly showered. Before she could start picking out her clothes, room service knocked on the door.

She answered the door, thanking the waitress for delivering the food. She placed the tray of food and coffee on the coffee table. She then grabbed the food she had brought for the Kwamis, setting them down on the coffee table so they could all eat together.

The Kwamis quickly finished their food while Marinette poured syrup on her pancakes, but they stayed at the coffee table as their Guardian ate.

"This is delicious," Marinette moaned in delight.

"I got you blackberry syrup for your pancakes," Kaalki said.

"Great choice," Marinette smiled.

"Can I get an extra sugar cube then?" Kaalki asked.

"No, I heard you guys raiding my food stash last night. I need to make sure I don't run out of food for you guys," Marinette replied.

"Hey, that was all Plagg and Mullo," Tikki said.

"Then why was I missing two extra cookies?" Marinette countered.

"Maybe you miscounted. You are quite tired."

"Uh huh, just be glad that I'm too tired to care at the moment."

Marinette grabbed her triple espresso and brought it to her mouth.

When she was about to take a sip of the liquid caffeine ambrosia, a thought flashed through her mind that made her stop with the mug at her lips. The thought stopped her from sipping: the coffee had been poisoned. Marinette knew it was a silly thought, especially in a five-star hotel like Gotham Towers, but it still didn't stop it from happening.

Several months ago, Marinette had left her drink unattended at school to do something for Mlle. Bustier. While she was away, someone, most likely on Lila's orders, spiked her drink with laxatives. She spent the rest of the day in the bathroom. Of course, no one got punished for spiking her drink since the school could prove that her drink had been poisoned with laxatives, couldn't find a culprit, nor did they think it was a big deal, simply writing it off as a harmless prank.

Not long after that, Marinette had gone to her favorite café for coffee to get out of the house and away from school. However, Lila had followed her there with Alix, Alya, and Sabrina. A few minutes after they had all gotten their drinks, Lila approached Marinette, who sat on the other side of the café, and said, "Enjoy the drink, Marinette."

Marinette didn't finish her drink after that. She left the café shortly after and rushed home, where she spent most of the afternoon in the bathroom. It wasn't as bad as before since she didn't drink all the coffee. She didn't know how Lila and the others managed to get the laxatives in her drink when she got her drink first, and no one else had reached her drink before her. The way she could think of was that Lila had manipulated the barista into putting the laxatives into her drink.

Since then, she has had trouble drinking any drink she had left unattended, wasn't sealed, or drinks she didn't watch get made from start to finish. She knew Lila couldn't have convinced the waitress or the kitchen staff. She didn't have access to them, and she felt the Gotham Towers staff were too professional and well-paid to risk hurting a guest of the Waynes.

Marinette pushed the thought of the coffee being tainted and let her need for caffeine override her worry. She took a sip of the triple expresso. She let out a slight hum of delight. It was the best expresso she had ever had.

"I guess this is what five-star hotel coffee tastes like," Marinette said, taking another sip.

She finished her breakfast and espresso in a comfortable silence. She placed the tray and empty mug outside her room. She then got dressed for the day.

Her outfit included a red T-shirt, dark green jeans, and black boots. The T-shirt had a dark green stencil of a vine going from her left hip to her right shoulder. Branching from the vine were hydrangeas, hortensias, chrysanthemums, and zinnias.

Marinette then went into the bathroom and applied her makeup. She used concealer to hide the dark bags under her eyes, which had worsened after her restless sleep, and applied lipstick the same color as her pants and the stencil on her shirt.

Marinette also didn't feel like putting her hair up, so she left it down. She did brush it straight. Her hair reached down a little past the middle of her back.

"Maybe it's time for a haircut?" She thought, noticing how long her hair had gotten.

She left the bathroom and grabbed her personal phone to check the time.

Seeing that it was almost time for the bus to leave, she swiftly grabbed her new jacket, pocketing both her phones and the horse miraculous, her purse, and a sketch pad.

"Alright, guys, time to go," She called out as she checked that she had the cat, mouse, and ladybug miraculouses.

The Kwamis quickly flew into her purse, and Marinette headed downstairs to the lobby.

Most of her class were already in the lobby when she arrived. Her arrival didn't go unnoticed as Mlle. Bustier immediately called her over.

"Marinette, where were you today for breakfast? I don't want you complaining about being hungry because you didn't eat breakfast," Mlle. Bustier said once Marinette was close enough.

"I decided to have breakfast in my room today," Marinette replied.

"And who said that you could do that? You are supposed to come down to the restaurant for breakfast so that I can do a head count and make sure you all are safe," Mlle. Bustier said.

"Since when was that rule?" Marinette asked, knowing full well that it wasn't a rule.

"Well, it's not a rule per se, but it was implied after everyone came down to the breakfast at the restaurant yesterday," Mlle. Bustier replied.

"I didn't get that implication after breakfast yesterday," Marinette shrugged.

"Regardless of whether you got the implication or not, I expect you to show up for breakfast in the morning instead of hiding out in your room for now."

"Fine," Marinette replied. She had managed to keep from rolling her eyes at her teacher but couldn't keep the annoyance out of her voice.

Mlle. Bustier scowled at her student's tone but didn't say anything. It was too early in the morning for a scolding, especially when she was sure that Marinette would ignore her anyway. It baffled her how one of her best students, a sweet and caring girl, turned into one of the most problematic students she'd ever had, even if she kept her grades up.

A couple of minutes after the rest of the French class made their way to the lobby, the bus pulled up to Gotham Towers. The French class went outside and were greeted by Harley, Damian, and a young man they had yet to meet, but many of the class did recognize.

"Good morning, everyone," Harley smiled, "I hope you all had a good night's rest."

Everyone in the class, except Marinette, made some form of confirmation that they did sleep well. Marinette had to stifle a yawn, which didn't go unnoticed by the members of the Bat Family.

"Well, I'm sure you all remember the little ball of sunshine that is Damian," Harley said, earning some chuckles and a glare from Damian, "The coffee addict currently holding his coffee like Gollum with the one ring is Tim."

"I do not look like Gollum with the one ring," Tim countered.

"Then can I have the rest of your coffee?" Harley reached out for his coffee.

"No, my coffee," Tim turned away from Harley and pulled his coffee close to his chest.

Tim's reaction earned a round of laughter from everyone except Damian, who smirked.

After the laughter died down, Tim properly introduced himself.

"Hey, I'm Tim Drake. Co-CEO of Wayne Enterprises and coffee lover, not addict. I hope you have enjoyed your time in Gotham so far."

"Thank you, we have," Mlle. Bustier said.

"Glad to hear it," Tim smiled, "Shall we get going?"

In 20 minutes, everyone had boarded the bus, drove to the Gotham Gardens, and disembarked the bus.

The French class let out an exclamation of wonder at the Gotham Gardens. It was a massive square building with a large glass dome spanned almost the entire roof. They could see the tops of some of the trees through the glass dome and vines creeping up the sides of the dome.

Standing at the entrance of the Gotham Gardens was the infamous criminal turned caretaker of Gotham Gardens, Poison Ivy.

"Welcome to Gotham Gardens," Ivy said, taking everyone's attention away from the building to herself.

"Hey, Red, it's good to see you again," Harley said and walked over to Ivy, giving her a quick hug.

"Good to see you too, Harles," Ivy smiled, then looked at the French class. "Once again, Welcome to Gotham Gardens. I'm Poison Ivy, yes, that Poison Ivy, but I tend to just go by Ivy nowadays."

Ivy's smile dropped, and she glared at the French class.

"Unless someone hurts my plants, then I'm very much POISON Ivy. So, do not touch any of my plants in there. Understood?"

The French class shrank back from Ivy. They quickly nodded their hands in understanding.

Nino raised a shaky hand and asked, "Which plants are your plants?"

"All of them."

"Right, got it," Nino let out a nervous chuckle.

"Red, be nice," Harley chided lightly.

Ivy rolled her eyes with a small smile.

"Anyways, the rules are pretty simple. Don't touch my plants, and follow any signs you see posted. You will also see some small wildlife, insects, and arachnids there. And I know insects and spiders aren't everyone's favorite things in the world, but don't touch them. They help keep pests that are harmful to my plants away. Everyone understand?"

The French class gave some form of confirmation.

"Great, let's go inside. I'll give you a short tour before letting you roam around by yourselves."

Ivy turned around and gestured for them to follow her. Everyone followed her into the building. The French class was surprised by how hot it was inside the Gardens.

The Garden was a giant circle the same diameter as the dome. It was divided into various sections depending on the environment the plants were from. Three stone paths split the Garden into four layers, with a pond in the center. Eight paths connected the three stone pathways at the cardinal and intercardinal directions. At the cardinal directions, stone paths lead to shops, cafés, and restaurants. The French Class had entered at the South entrance.

"Okay, we are currently in the Gotham and New Jersey section," Ivy gestured to the flora behind her.

Behind Ivy was a thick growth of hazel alder, Indian hemp, New Jersey Tea, swamp pink, yellow asphodel, swamp azalea, smooth somac, and rose pink. A couple of marble columns allowed groundnut and trumpet creeper to grow up them.

Ivy briefly described the plants and trees before guiding the French group clockwise around the Gardens' stone path, moving to the middle path when they got to the North pathway. She guided the group clockwise along the middle path until they reached the East pathway, where she went to the inner path. They continued along the inner path until they reached the South pathway and returned the class to the South entrance.

"Well, that's a brief tour. I didn't show you everything since I figured you would want to look at plants yourself rather than listen to me. I'll still be walking around, so if there is anything you want to know, just find me and ask. Other than that, feel free to walk around and explore. Just don't touch my plants," Ivy said.

The French Class broke up into small groups: Rose, Juleka, Myléne, Ivan, and Mlle. Bustier explored the part of the Garden they had yet to see. Max, Kim, Sabrina, and Alix also explored the Garden, but they started with Ivy's path. Nathaniel by himself to draw in peace. Alya, Nino, Adrien, and Lila hung around for a minute as Lila approached Damian. At the same time, Marinette headed to the café to get some coffee before she started exploring.

"What can I get for you?" The Barista asked when Marinette reached the counter.

There was no line since WE had rented out the Garden for a few hours.

"Iced black coffee," Marinette answered, reaching into her purse for her wallet.

"You don't need to worry about paying," Marinette heard from behind her.

She spun around to see Tim standing behind her.

"What?"

"I said you don't need to worry about paying," Tim repeated, "WE is paying for everything but souvenirs while you're here."

"Oh, thank you."

"No problem, but I didn't think the French did iced coffees."

"Unfortunately, you're right. Iced coffee isn't that popular in Paris."

"Don't like hot drinks?"

"I do. It's just I'm quite clumsy. So, I often wind up spilling it on myself. I've lost a lot of outfits because of that and got quite a few burns because of my clumsiness." Marinette glanced toward Lila, who was chatting with a very unamused-looking Damian.

Tim caught her glance. He didn't have to turn around to know who she looked at. He knew Damian and Lila were the only two in that direction, and Marinette didn't have much reason to look at his brother.

"I wonder if that other girl has something to do with her 'clumsiness'?" Tim thought to himself.

"Sorry to hear that," Tim replied.

"It's okay. I'm fine. No scars or anything from it, but I did have to switch from coffee to energy drinks for my caffeine fix when I'm not home. GFuel is my drink of choice."

"Ew," Tim cringed, "It's coffee or nothing for me. Though Duke and Dick would drink it on occasion."

"Really?"

"Yeah, Alfred, our butler slash family grandfather, tried switching me over to tea once. Let's just say it ended with me biting Bruce and Alfred, and they never tried to do it again."

"Most of been pretty bad then," Marinette giggled.

"The worst," Tim chuckled.

"I have your orders," The Barista chimed in.

She put an iced black coffee and a hot black coffee on the counter.

"But I didn't give you my order," Tim asked.

"Mrs. Wayne called ahead and let all the cafés in the Garden know what you order and that you'll only allowed two cups while you are here. Also, I already messaged the other cafés in the Garden that you received one from me, so you'll only be able to get one more cup while you are here even if you go to another café."

"What!?" Tim exclaimed.

He wiped his head around to glare at Harley, who was chatting with Ivy. Harley noticed his glare. She smirked and waved at him. Marinette and the Barista giggled at him.

"You really are a coffee addict, aren't you?" Marinette teased.

"I admit to nothing," Tim replied, grabbing his coffee and drinking from it.

"Uh huh," Marinette smirked, "Well, thank you very much for the coffee. I needed it."

"No problem. If anyone understands the need for coffee, it's me."

"Again, thank you. I'm going to find a nice quiet place to look at the plants and do some drawing."

"Sounds like a good plan. I know Damian prefers to spend his time in the Arabian section whenever he visits. So, that could be a good spot to start."

"Thanks for the suggestion, but I don't want to intrude on your brother's favorite spot. I'm sure that I can find a spot," Marinette said.

"That's probably a good idea, actually," Tim replied.

"I would imagine so," Marinette turned to watch Damian storm away from a crying Lila.

"Oh, great," Tim sighed when he turned to see what she was looking okay.

"I had a feeling that would happen, but don't worry about it. She's fine. She just… cries easily," Marinette said.

"Cries easily?" Tim raised an eyebrow.

"Like I said, don't worry about it. She'll be fine in a couple of minutes."

Marinette clinked her plastic cup against Tim's paper one and walked away to find a spot for herself.

Tim watched as she disappeared down the same path Damian had gone down. He watched as Alya, Nino, and Adrien approached Lila to comfort her. Lila's tears stopped almost as soon as her friends started to console her.

"Interesting," Tim said to himself and sipped his coffee.

It didn't take long for Lila to be consoled and her group to make their way into the garden. Tim followed after Lila's group.

After Ivy and Harley alone.

"So, what do you think of the group?" Harley asked.

"Hmm, well, most of them are nothing special from what I can tell," Ivy replied.

"Most?" Harley raised a curious eyebrow.

"That girl with the long blue-black hair and amazing fashion sense. Marinette, right? The one you told me about?"

"Yeah, that's the one."

"There is something about the girl. I'm not quite sure what, but the plants seem to perk up slightly whenever she is around them. It's almost like she's—"

"Magic," Harley finished for Ivy.

"That would be a good way to put it, yes. Know what it is?"

"Something to do with miraculouses, kwamis, akuma, Ladybugs, and Shadow Moths. Don't really know much about them, though."

"I can't help you much there. Unless you're talking about actual ladybugs and moths?"

"Insect and animal-themed magical superheroes and villains."

"Then yeah, I got nothing," Ivy shrugged.

"Fair. Does anyone else stick out to you?" Harley asked.

"Nothing like Marinette. That girl who talked to Damian seemed to recover from his telling off awfully quick."

"I noticed that too. And from what we have been able to dig up, Marinette used to get along with her class, but that changed soon after that girl, Lila, appeared."

"Drama between the two?"

"Yeah, but we aren't sure what exactly. But it looks like the class sided with Lila over Marinette."

"Seems like you don't know a lot."

"I know," Harley groaned, "It's driving everyone crazy, especially Batsy. You know how he hates not knowing things."

"I can see how that would drive him crazy," Ivy chuckled.

"Yeah, I would find it amusing myself if the implication weren't so serious."

"Is it really that bad?"

"The Paris situation has been going on for three years, and JL didn't even hear a peep about it."

"Really?" Ivy gasped.

"Yep, apparently, there is magic that is helping conceal anything about it."

"That sucks."

"We have Zanny dropping by tomorrow to help us."

"Oh, planning to have a girl's night once it is all over?"

"You know it," Harley smiled.

"Alright, keep me posted on the magic situation and when we are having girl's night. I need to check on the students to make sure they are actually following the no touching rule."

"I will."

Ivy left down the path Rose and her group took while Harley went to the nearby café to enjoy some cake before exploring the garden.

Marinette sat on a stone bench in the China Section of the Garden. The China section had Chinese Wisteria, Tapa cloth trees, evergreen spindle, Chinese rosebud, Indian blanket, black locust, false spiraea, and China aster. The flora surrounded the inspiring fashion designer with violet, white, pink, and red.

She was sketching some cheongsam, experimenting with different colors and designs of plants on them. She looked up from her sketch to look at a China aster and noticed Damian walking down the path towards her out of the corner of her eye. He had a scowl as he walked quietly but firmly.

Marinette waited until Damian was in front of her before hesitantly asking, "H-hey, Damian, how are you doing?"

Without looking at her, Damian stopped and said, "I'm not in the mood to talk at the moment, Miss Dupain-Cheng."

"I'm assuming your talk with Lila is the cause of your mood. Also, you can call me Marinette," Marinette replied.

Damian turned to look at her. "Not a fan of hers? Also, I'll continue to call you Miss Dupain-Cheng."

"Nemesis, really. And isn't Miss Dupain-Cheng a mouthful? You can call me MDC or DC if you want to stick to my last name."

He raised an eyebrow.

"Nemesis, really? I refuse to call you MDC or DC."

"We don't get along. Can you at least drop the Miss? I'm pretty sure we're the same age."

"Being one's nemesis would imply more than simply not getting along. And very well, I'll drop the Miss."

"Okay, we really don't get along. And thank you."

"Is she the reason you hurt your wrist?" Damian gestured to her left wrist.

Marinette looked down at her left wrist as she felt a twinge of pain from it. She was wearing the compression sleeve they had given her. She gently rubbed her wrist.

After she didn't say anything for a few moments, Damian sighed. "I'm sorry. That must be a delicate subject."

"No, no, it's not that," Marinette said quickly, "It's just a bit complicated, is all. Et je doute que tu me croies de toute façon."

Marinette muttered the last sentence in French so softly that Damian would have missed it if he hadn't trained to catch even the quietest of sounds.

"What makes you think I won't believe you?" Damian scowled and crossed his arms over his chest.

Her eyes widened, and she stiffened, clearly not expecting him to have heard her or know French well enough to understand her muttering if he did.

"What makes you think I won't believe you?" Damian asked again, his tone more neutral.

Marinette opened her mouth to speak but closed it. She looked down into her lap with a sullen look.

"No one ever does," She softly said.

"Well, while I haven't spent much time with your classmates, if they are anything like my own classmates, then they are idiots. And since you managed to earn this trip for your class, that means you are somewhat competent."

"Thank you for the compliment," Marinette said.

"I'm surprised you took that as a compliment," Damian said, not expecting her to sound so genuine.

"You remind me of two of my friends," she replied, "Well, a friend and someone I would like to think of as my friend. But they compliment in the same way sometimes."

"I'll assume that is a compliment."

"It is."

"So, why don't you tell me about your wrist then?"

Marinette scooted over on the bench to make more room for Damian. He took the invitation and sat down on the bench as far away from her as possible while still wholly seated.

"I was pushed down some stairs," Marinette said once Damian seemed comfortable, "No, it wasn't Lila, at least not directly."

"So, you're saying she had someone push you down the stairs?"

"I can't say for sure about that either. I don't have any proof that she told him to push me down the stairs. It's also possible that he acted on his own. Either way, she had laid the groundwork for it."

"Who's him? The blonde pretty boy?"

"Adrien? No. He's only dating her because she somehow got into his father's good graces and can talk his over-controlling father into letting him hang out with his friends and go on dates. And she's just dating him to further her modeling career."

"So, they're just using each other," Damian scowled.

"And they're both perfectly aware of it. Though, Lila has almost all the power in the relationship. Adrien is a spineless coward who would throw his friends under the bus if it meant keeping the peace. But asking him to push me down the stairs is more than he is willing to do. He's more of a step back and not get involved at all kind of coward."

"Ts," Damian clicked his tongue, "I didn't like him to begin with, and my opinion of him is deteriorating even more."

"Yeah. Unfortunately, I used to have a massive crush on him and did a lot of embarrassing things that I'm not proud of because of it," Marinette blushed.

"What changed that?"

"Well, Lila did. When she first showed up, she made some pretty ridiculous lies. That I'm surprised my classmates believed to begin with. She has gotten far better at it now. Her lies are far less ridiculous and much harder to disprove, if not almost impossible, unless you were actually at the event. Anyway, while I knew Lila was lying from the beginning, so did Adrien. When he told me that he knew she was lying, I told him that I would expose her lies. He stopped me by talking about how exposing her would only hurt and humiliate her, not help her. He said it didn't matter only that she was lying so long as the two of us knew the truth."

"That's stupid," Damian scoffed.

"I know, I know. I should have gone ahead and exposed her, but I was still in love with him at the time. It wasn't until Lila basically destroyed my life that I realized how wrong he was. That's when I saw what he and his words truly were. A spinless people-pleaser that would do anything to keep the peace even if it meant hurting a friend."

"Have you tried to expose her lies since then?"

"Yeah, but she had already destroyed my reputation by then. When I exposed one of her lies, she just said I made up the evidence, and everyone believed her without question. Since then, her lies have gotten so hard to actually disapprove that it's just not worth the effort anymore."

"If they're so hard to disprove, then how do you know their lies?" Damian asked.

"Some of her lies are built on her previous lies, and others I know for a fact are lies, but it basically comes down to she said she said. And with my reputation being nonexistent, no one would believe my word over hers."

Marinette clenched her hands in her lap in frustration. She felt her eyes start getting watery, but she quickly blinked away. She had cried enough tears over what Lila had done to her, and she really didn't want to start crying in front of a guy she barely knew.

Damian noticed all of it and said, "Since you don't have any evidence, I can't say I fully believe you."

He watched her shoulders slump slightly.

"But judging from my interactions with the two of you, I'm willing to say that I would place more value in your words than I would Lila's."

Her head snapped towards him. She looked shocked and soon shifted to a bright smile that reminded him of Kori's smile when Dick did something that greatly pleased her. He thought it was rather pretty.

"Thank you. I really appreciate it. Even if you don't fully believe me, which is fair without any evidence, it still means a lot to me."

He felt his face get a little warmer and his heart rate pick up slightly.

"Yes, well, you're welcome," Damian replied, not expecting to be thanked for simply believing her over the other girl.

"Sorry for interrupting your walk through the Gardens and making you listen to me."

"You didn't make me do anything," Damian said sternly, "And I've been here many times. There is nothing here that I haven't seen before."

"Yeah, but just because you've seen something before doesn't mean you wouldn't want to see it again. I think Tim said you liked the Arabian section."

"I do."

"Any particular reason?"

"I didn't meet my father until I was ten. Before then, I was raised by my mother in the region."

"Oh," Marinette replied, then paused briefly before continuing, "So, do you like it because it reminds you of home, or I guess remind you of another home might be a better way of putting it?"

"Another home?" Damian thought to himself.

Gotham was his home. It was where his father and the rest of his family were. It was where he had built his life after leaving the League of Assassins. Did he consider the Eth Alth'eban to be home? Not particularly. He may have spent the majority of his time there when he was with his mother, but he didn't have any strong feelings about the sacred city. He didn't feel negative about the city, nor did he feel positive about it. It was just the place he grew up. All of his feelings were connected to the people that were there, not the place itself. Most of the people who were there he had negative feelings about. He also generally preferred animals and plants over people, and he was more familiar with the plants in the Arabian section than any other section in the Gardens besides the Gotham and New Jersey section. Harley said that people tend to feel more comfortable with places and things they are familiar with.

"I don't believe it reminds me of another home," Damian said slowly, choosing his words carefully to ensure she understood him. "I believe I like the Arabian section because I am quite familiar with the flora there, and it is different from the flora around here. It's a nice change of scenery, as one might say."

"That makes sense," Marinette said, looking up at the sky through the tree tops and dome.

Her mind wandered to the view at the top of Paris from the Eiffel Tower. She liked going up there when she needed to get away from everything. She got to see her home from a different perspective. It was familiar but different as well. The view from the top of the famous tower made all her troubles seem so far away that she didn't have to worry about them. It was like she was away from home without being away from home.

"Good," Damian replied, satisfied with himself.

The two of them fell into a somewhat comfortable silence. Neither knew how to carry on the conversation from that point, but they didn't feel the need to either. The slight awkwardness in the air came from Damian's lack of social skills, especially around unfamiliar people, and Marinette's anxiety over interacting with the handsome son of one of the wealthiest men on the planet.

They continued to enjoy the scenery around them in silence. After a few minutes passed, Marinette grabbed her sketchbook and pencils. She picked up where she left off, adding some finishing touches to a sketch of a pale green cheongsam with Chinese rosebud flora decorations.

"That's a nice design," Damian said, making Marinette jolt in surprise.

"Oh, t-thank you," Marinette blushed.

"Do you design a lot of cheongsams?"

"Hm, I wouldn't say a lot. My mother wears them often, so I have designed them before for her. Though, I haven't been inspired to design them in a while."

"Inspiration does come and go. Do you take a lot of inspiration from Chinese culture?"

"Not particularly. I kind of get inspiration from all over the place. Something will catch my interest and inspire me for a bit, then something else will catch my attention, and that'll inspire me. Right now, gothic culture has been my main source of inspiration. Do you do any art?"

"Yes. Landscapes and portraits are my main styles, and pencils, paints, and watercolors are my preferred mediums."

"That's cool. I guess you can say fabric and pencils are my main medium, but I do dabble in other mediums from time to time. What kind of landscapes and portraits do you draw or paint?"

"Forests, mountains, and hillscapes mostly. The portraits are mainly of my family and pets."

"You have pets!?" Marinette asked excitedly.

"Yes," Damian replied.

"Oh, I always wanted a pet, but because we live above the bakery, we can't have any due to health regulations. I would love to have a pet hamster. What kind of pets do you have?" Marinette said, talking a mile a minute.

"A dog, a cat, and a cow."

"You have a pet cow!?" Marinette exclaimed.

"Yes, I acquired her after an adventure to a slaughterhouse. I am a vegetarian, by the way."

"Okay, setting aside the adventure to the slaughterhouse story for now. What is her name?"

"Her name isn't important, is it?" Damian asked.

"Well, I am coming over Thursday for dinner, so you can tell me now, or I can find out then."

Damian scowled. He had forgotten that Dick and Harley had invited her over so that Kori and Mar'i could see her.

"Fine," Damian sighed, "Her name is Bat-cow."

"Bat-cow?" Marinette raised an eyebrow.

"She has a pattern on her face similar to that of Batman's symbol, and I was ten when I named her," He defended.

"What are the names of your dog and cat? Bat-dog and Bat-cat," Marinette giggled.

"No, their names are Titus and Alfred," Damian crossed his arms.

"Wait, I thought that your butler was named Alfred?"

"The cat is named after Alfred. So, we call the cat Alfred the cat to avoid confusion."

"Aw, that's cute."

"And was Titus named after anybody?"

"Titus Andronicus from Shakespeare."

"I'm afraid I'm not familiar with that play or much of Shakespeare, really."

"Not much of a reader?"

"Didn't really get all that into Shakespeare. Plus, I've been busy."

"Too busy to read?"

"Too busy to read anything that I don't have a particular interest in."

"I suppose that's fair."

Damian's and Marinette's phones chimed. It was a message from Harley to the entire group.

Come to the southern entrance. We have a surprise guest!

"A surprise guest? I wonder who it is?" Marinette asked.

"I can take a guess," Damian answered.