Marinette's Story

The final bell of Françoise Dupont rang out, everyone was filing out in a gentle stream of humanity. There were murmurs throughout as the students made their way to either the exit or to a different area within the school where their extracurricular activities were waiting to be started. The main subject of the secret discussions between friends that made up the flood of noise in the main area of the school was Lila Rossi's murder. About which stories she stated were lies and which stories were true. About whether or not Ladybug did kill her or there was some sort of illusion.

Alya and Marinette were together, side by side, as usual. Alya was trying to keep Marinette calm, Alya was the only one in the school who knew Marinette was Ladybug. They could even hear, albeit it was hard to determine if what they were hearing was what they thought they were hearing, people speculating about Ladybug's true identity.

They best friends were surprised when they saw a familiar face over by the entry to the boiler room. Pierre Lefevre was there and he spotted the two. He gestured them over.

"Captain Lefevre, its odd to see you here, do you have a child at this school?" Alya noted.

"Even if that was true, Alya, shouldn't he be waiting outside to do a pick up?" Marinette interjected.

"I don't have a child here." Pierre remarked. "I would like a private chat with Marinette here, down in the boiler room."

"That sounds like a scene from a horror movie, how can we be sure you won't do anything bad down there when you are alone with her?" Alya asked.

"Wow, the journalist in you has really open your eyes to some of the darker areas of life. I'm a captain, do you think I could've gotten that far if I had a black mark on my record?" Pierre added.

Alya shrugged. "Police in other countries get away with it all the time, who's to say Paris is any different? I'm coming with regardless of what you say, someone needs to be there for Marinette, and since I'm her best friend, there is no better person to be there for her than me."

Pierre sighed. "Alright, I may as well take you along, it's not as if what I'm going to say down there isn't going to end up public knowledge anyway. The trial is still going through and the venue hasn't changed despite my interjection."

They went into the boiler room.

"Huh, did you guys see me coming in advance?" Pierre asked as he noticed the desk and other things Nino left down here.

"No, that was my boyfriend who set this all up." Alya added. "He thought I was emotionally cheating on him with Cat Noir, he has learnt better since then."

"Your boyfriend is quite the decorator." Pierre added and he picked up a bubble container. "He still into bubbles, isn't he."

"I don't judge, I think its cute." Alya added.

"Alya? I didn't know you could use such language as 'cute.'" Marinette added.

"Hey, a girl has to keep her bestie on her toes if she wants the friendship to last." Alya added.

"If you two wouldn't mind stopping I have something important to do." Pierre interjected.

"You do?" Alya noted. "And what has Marinette have to do with what you need to do?"

"I came here today to get Ladybug's side of the story." Pierre explained.

"L-Ladybug?" Marinette added. "B-but I don't know who Ladybug is."

"You know her better than anybody, Marinette, as you are her!" Pierre remarked.

"N-no, you're wrong, I'm just Marinette, an ordinary girl with an ordinary life." Marinette interjected.

"Are you aware of the cameras for the lobby of the Grand Paris hotel? Your uncle was summoned there for 'World's Greatest Chef' and we can see on the footage that you vanished and Ladybug appeared. Now why was that? Ladybug couldn't have just shown up on the ground floor just like that as the doors to the outside were sealed. Unless there was another girl who wasn't under Kung Food's control hiding somewhere in the hotel than the only conclusion is that you are Ladybug." Pierre explained his deduction.

"W-w-well... m-m-maybe there w-was another in the hotel and you didn't see her?" Marinette added, her nerves all over the place.

Pierre turned his head to the side. "Really, now how do you suppose she got in without the cameras noticing?"

"The rooster miraculous! She could have used it to be invisible and get into the hotel that way!" Marinette proclaimed.

"Yes, the Rooster Miraculous could indeed do that, and the grimoire confirms it, but did she really use that miraculous? Ladybug gifted out the first known miraculous later on, after the event when Wang Chen became Kung Food." Pierre noted.

"That's right, there is no way you could have known when she first contacted the guardian of the miracle box!" Marinette exclaimed. Alya face palmed.

"Got you!" Pierre exclaimed.

"W-what?" Marinette added in shock.

"I never mentioned the guardian, and the only ones who should be aware of him are ones connected to the miraculous and those with access to my record. You must be one of said parties. Since I know who has access to my information, and you are not one of those people, then I must conclude that you are the former." Pierre added.

"I-I—" Marinette added looking for some alternate explanation that would free her from having to admit the truth.

"Stop, Mari, he's got you cornered. May as well admit it." Alya added.

"Are... are you sure Alya?" Marinette asked.

"Don't sweat it girl, hopefully when this is all over everything will be forgotten." Alya added.

Marinette understood what Alya was implying, it was like they shared a brain for a brief moment.

Marinette faced Pierre and sighed. "You truly are an amazing captain, Mr Lefevre, I am Ladybug."

"Hey, if this was under any other circumstance, I wouldn't have dug around to find you out. I was really hoping nothing would show up." Pierre added, he then sighed. "Unfortunately, when I told Sophie Durand about the discovery, she tried to change the venue, but François Moreau made quite a convincing argument to have the hearing happen at cour d'assises."

"Huh?" Marinette noted. "You mean there was a potential to have me tried somewhere lower?"

"Not just potential, it should have been moved." Pierre slammed his open right hand on Nino's makeshift desk. "The Cour d'assises has a lower limit to the age of a defendant. That age is 16, anyone below that who commits a major crime, like murder, goes through a different court. François argued that this case can be an exception due to the overwhelming evidence and the clear conduct shown on the news footage."

"Sounds like bull to me." Alya added. "How could the judges agree with this Mr Moreau?"

"As Mr Moreau stated, the main piece of evidence, the footage, shows Ladybug committing the crime openly and in front of a lot of people, plus she should be treated as an adult because she has the intense responsibility of defeating villains empowered by Monarch. All other arguments fell on deaf ears. François showed his prowess as a prosecutor. He probably did it because he didn't want it moved to a lower court." Pierre added.

"What court should she be facing?" Alya asked.

"Juvenile court, where the focus is more about rehabilitation then putting the defendant behind bars. But precedence can change depending on the circumstances and the fact that Ladybug is a masked vigilante doesn't change a thing. As stated by François, 'the charges are first against Ladybug, until we knew she was Marinette Dupain-Cheng, she had no age, just gender, as such, we should consider her as an adult, seeing as defeating villains is work for the police and I haven't met a cadet younger than 18, and thus we shall consider Ladybug, regardless of the one behind the mask, should be treated as an 18-year-old. If she is found guilty, then Ladybug loses her miraculous and then we'll try Marinette in juvenile court, and I assure you that is as fair as anything.'" Pierre added.

"So I won't be going to jail regardless, just put into 'rehabilitation'?" Marinette added.

"Exactly, so since I'm still working on making a record due to François' stubbornness, I will need you to tell me your side of the whole thing, after all, the more info the better, and it's not like François would find it easy to dismiss anything I add from you, because the 3 judges and 6 jurors would all have to agree if it was important and only if they determine that it shouldn't be included will it be removed." Pierre explained. "By the way, Alya, I noted that you've been quite quiet about the revelation that Marinette is Ladybug."

"Oh? I've known since after Marinette dumped me and four others as her friends only to later renege on that. She told me after those other four left after our reconciliation she revealed who she was to me." Alya explained.

"That would make you Scarabella, won't it?" Pierre noted.

"Guilty as charged, just don't send me to juvenile court for it, okay?" Alya joked.

"You're oddly calm about it having it revealed, unlike your friend here." Pierre added.

"That's because you'd forget about it all anyway. Nino and I are going to be Oblivio again." Alya added.

"We'll circle back, so how about it, Marinette, will you tell us how you remember the events?" Pierre asked.

Marinette was in deep thought and awoke from her state of consideration. "Yes, I was trying to think where I was and what I was doing. I never transformed into Ladybug and nor did I agree with Cat to do any patrols for the period in which the crime took place. I don't know who the Ladybug you saw was, or if it was or wasn't some sort of illusion, but I will tell you one thing that I am absolutely certain of; that wasn't me!"

"It certainly looked like your hero form. Her costume even changed when she summoned that lucky charm." Pierre remarked.

"I was in my room doing costume designs." Marinette added.

"I would like to see them, was there anyone monitoring you?" Pierre asked.

"Just Tikki, that's my kwami." Marinette added.

"Where is she now?" Pierre asked.

Tikki popped out from the bag Alya was wearing by her waist. "I'm right here."

"Ah! So you are the kwami of creation!" Pierre noted. He bowed. "I am not worthy."

"Calm down, I may be a god of sorts, but I'm not mean or anything." Tikki remarked.

"So, that giant galette was just you being whimsical?" Pierre remarked.

Tikki turned around with her tiny arms folded. "I don't want to talk about it."

"You shouldn't judge her for that!" Marinette interjected. "Her sweet tooth was unsatiating her hunger, but with my help, she learnt from it, she overcame it. Someone shouldn't be judged by their past, but by the potential they hold to learn from it."

"I was just messing about. But do you think a jury is going to trust the word of a small god who can phase through anything?" Pierre asked.

"True, but Tikki isn't the type to lie, and when she does, she does so angerly and its easy to tell she is lying." Marinette added.

"As much as I don't like to admit it, my owner is right. Lying is just not something I'm comfortable with." Tikki relayed in agreement.

"But, you don't have any non-magical human witnesses. The only ones who know what you were doing were you, your kwami and your work." Pierre added.

Tikki chuckled. "Come on, my owner may be talented, but not even she could design talking clothes."

"What I mean is a professional in the field of design will look at the things you created during your alibi, if they say that the clothes or designs or whatever could only have been done with x amount of time minimum, and if that minimum could help clear your name, then it will be added to the record, no question." Pierre explained.

"So, clothes can talk through the proper interpreter?" Tikki added. "That sounds like a good language to learn, but alas, it's not a recognized language, so I shall never know it."

Pierre chuckled. "Well, there are plenty of fashion interpreter's here in France, the country of fashion and food."

"So, I can provide you with those designs and you think you can use them to help clear my name?" Marinette added for clarification.

"Yeah, also, to keep your identity a secret, I will not be processing an arrest for you, after all the initial charges are for Ladybug and not for the girl behind the mask." Pierre added. "I have already obtained something for you to wear on the day."

"A suit?" Marinette asked.

"I guess you can say that. Do you recall that outfit you wore during the tryouts for Clara Nightingale's music video?" Pierre asked.

"The one that almost outed my identity? How could I forget?" Marinette noted with an upset look upon her face."

"I got that in the car for you to wear during the hearing, after all, the miraculous must stay out of a criminal's hands until we prove you are innocent." Pierre explained.

"To keep me under a mask even though my identity might be revealed during the trial?" Marinette remarked for clarification.

"Oh, you bet your identity will be outed, you in your own right without the mask have motive to kill Lila." Pierre added.

Marinette's face reddened in frustration. "I can't believe this. Yes Lila's lies have been a negative for my life, but so has Chloé's bullying. Chloé isn't dead after all this time, so why should I have killed one but not the other? I haven't killed anyone before as that is not in my nature."

"Motive is motive, a person's own principals are always ignored in almost every court. There is just no room for sentimentality in Cour d'assisses. I know it upsets you, but this is just an imuttable fact you have to agree with." Pierre clarified.

Marinette sighed. "I see. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get flustered."

"Letting your emotions be known is human nature, I won't fault you for it. Well, you can get going any time, I got what I needed from you. Should I deliver the costume to your room, or..." Pierre looks at Alya. "Should I use superhero express?"

"Miraculous should never be used for personal use." Alya relayed as a reply, she picked up immediatly what Pierre was inferring.

"Alya, without the Scarabella costume, will take it to my room." Marinette added.

"I'll come pick it up from the station." Alya added. "We'll hide it inside one of the patisserie boxes from your parent's shop." Alya said as she faced Marinette.

"Oh! I think I understand. Pierre would purchase something from the patisserie, Alya delivers it and Pierre puts the costume in the box, and Alya takes it away under the guise of 'recycling the box.'" Marinette added.

"Sounds like a plan, and since Tom and Sabine make such good pastries, I won't mind spending a bit to help sell the illusion." Pierre added.

"I'll head home, and I may drop a hint that you are buying some product." Marinette added, she departed.

"Now Alya, how are you planning to Oblivo with Nino and not erase every memory of everyone?" Pierre asked.

"Don't worry, I've already got it covered. There is a universe different to ours where a good user of the butterfly miraculous resides, I am having friends doing what they can to get in contact with him. Hopefully he'll agree to come over to transform Nino and I back into Oblivio so that the only thing people will forget is this whole ordeal." Alya added.

"Forget the whole thing? Isn't that going a bit far?" Pierre asked.

"We can't leave anything, if we do, Monarch may use what is left behind to his advantage." Alya remarked.

"Ok, what about the physical evidence?" Pierre remarked.

Alya jumped back in shock. "I didn't think of that."

"Well, you have five days to figure it out. Once the record I've been building is shown at Cour d'assisses, that's it, its public knowledge for all of time." Pierre remarked.

"Well, then I will have to be like Marinette and be creative." Alya added.

"Good luck with that. See you later." Pierre added.

Alya and Pierre left. Now Pierre had testimony from Ladybug and a kwami who is uncomfortable with lying. The only challenge remaining would come when Cour d'assisses begins processing Ladybug's charge, and that challenge was having the court accept the testimony. Pierre was upset that Sophie Durand will be the one burdened with said challenge and not him.