Trial IV: Lucky Charm

As the clock relentlessly ticked away, Sophie found herself pacing back and forth in growing anxiety. Twenty-one long minutes had passed, and there was still no sign of Marinette. Just as her worry was about to peak, a flash of red and black caught her eye. Relief washed over her as she spotted Marinette, still clad in the Ladybug outfit from the music video tryout that never came to fruition. Marinette looked winded, as if she had run a half marathon to retrieve the miraculous and return.

"Where's Scarabella?" Sophie inquired, her eyes scanning the area for Ladybug's substitute.

"Scarabella won't be joining us," Marinette replied, extending her hand to offer Sophie the miraculous of the ladybug. As Sophie accepted it, a radiant red glow emanated from the object, swirling around before transforming into Tikki, the kwami who could communicate through the red earrings adorned with black spots.

"Hello, Sophie. I'm Tikki," the kwami introduced themself. "My owner has chosen you to wield the lucky charm."

Sophie was taken aback. "M-me?" she stammered. "But why?"

Marinette was quick to explain, having anticipated this question. "Both Scarabella and I are bound by a five-minute timer. Once it runs out, we revert to our civilian forms, and the lucky charm disappears along with our hero identities."

"But adults aren't subject to such a limitation," Tikki added, concluding the explanation. "That's why you're the one who must take on this responsibility."

Sophie pondered over this revelation. "You know, I've always wondered what I'd look like in red with black spots."

"Excellent!" Tikki exclaimed. "Put on the earrings and say 'Tikki, spots on!'"

Sophie followed their instructions and she was now clad in a red suit with black spots and her tie was now much the same. Her hairstyle was in a ponytail now, and she wore a mask. Her hands were gloved now too.

"Wow!" Marinette added. "You look awesome!"

Sophie shook her head. "I don't feel any different. I have this yo-yo now." Sohie added as she took the signature weapon from where it was wrapped around her waist. "This is where the item that may make or break the case will come from, correct."

"We can only hope!" Marinette added in a serious tone. "I do not want to give up being a hero, I don't want to pass on my title of guardian and I especially do not want to lose my memories."

"Right." Sophie added. "The record shows that the grimore says that guardians lose all their 'guardian' memories when they pass on their duties to someone else."

"I don't know how Adrien— I mean Cat Noir, will take it if I lose my memory." Marinette added in sadness. It seemed she was not yet ready to deal with the revelation that Adrien was Cat Noir.

As for Sophie, she had forgotten that she was the one who revealed that the record connected Cat Noir to Adrien and deduced that they are one in the same.

A court official entered the lobby, his expression one of confusion. "Ah… where is Marinette's representative? The Cour D'assisses is about to reconvene."

"I'm right here," Sophie responded, raising her hand to draw his attention.

"Sophie Durand? What happened to you?" the official inquired, taken aback by her transformation.

"I transformed using the ladybug earrings," Sophie explained.

The official nodded in understanding. "That makes sense. Now, please hurry along. The trial will reconvene shortly."

Everyone was settled. François had neatened himself, it appeared that the sweat that came from his forehead throughout the trial prior had affected him somewhat.

The three judges took their seats.

Alain Dubois banged his gavel, silencing any ongoing chats from the gallery. "Citizens of Paris, and members of the jury as well as the defense and prosecution, it is time to resume the Cour D'assisses session. As you know, Ladybug is accused of murdering one Lila Rossi and we are here to determine wheter or not the record shows that Ladybug could be convicted or not. Our last discussion was that someone asked Monarch to akumatise them, and the only way to determine if that is indeed true is for a lucky charm to be summoned. Now, seeing as we have a new hero donned in the Ladybug colours over there, we can assume that she'd be the one to summon said lucky charm. Now, new ladybug hero, where's Sophie Durand? If she isn't here, we'd have to find in favour of the prosecution."

"I am Sophie Durand." Sophie announced.

The court gasped collectively.

"Madame Durand? My word, I would never have guessed." Alian added.

"Neither would I." Luc Boucher added.

"Its almost if part of the magic is to make us believe that no matter who wields the earrings is an entirely new entity." Isabelle Leroy remarked, her voice as sweet and kind as ever.

"Yes, even though it should've been obvious, it surprised even me." François Moreau added. "May I ask, as the prosecution, why you will be the one summoning the lucky charm?"

"I am also curious about what bug-themed alias you've come up with to reflect your magical wardrobe." Alain added with curiosity.

"Do I really need an alias?" Sophie relayed with some sweat on her forehead. "You all already know it's me beneath the mask."

"We all know Chloé Bourgeos was Queen Bee, and she used an alias." Isabelle pointed out.

"Fine, you can call me 'Justice Bug,'" Sophie conceded. "As for why I'm wielding the miraculous, it's because if either Ladybug or Scarabella used the lucky charm, they'd transform back to their civilian forms after five minutes. As an adult, such a constraint won't apply to me." Thus, Justice Bug made her debut.

François scoffed at the new alias. "Really? That would be like if Eagle had called herself 'Freedom Feathers.'"

"Your honor made the suggestion, shouldn't he get the final say?" Justice Bug countered.

Alain pondered over this. "In my opinion, I see no problem with Sophie's alias. After all, she'll only be using the miraculous for a limited time. So, even if you think 'Justice Bug' is a poor choice, it's not like you'll be forced to remember it."

The rest of the court seemed to agree with the head judge's declaration. Thus, François had no choice but to set aside his personal feelings and focus on prosecuting the case.

"The Cour D'assisses is still waiting," Luc announced, effectively calming the crowd. "Madame Bug, it's time, don't you agree?"

Justice Bug nodded in agreement. "Very well, Judge Boucher. Let's hope this wasn't for naught." She moved to an empty area of the courtroom and tossed the yo-yo into the air. "Lucky charm!" she declared. The bugs summoned from the yo-yo connected, and a hotel room keycard fell from the air, which Justice Bug caught. "Seriously? A Grand Paris room key? Of all the things I could've gotten!"

After expressing her frustration, she returned to her rightful spot at the defense bench.

"Well, your honors, members of the jury, don't you think it is time to end this ludcrusness? As I've stated from the beginning, or at least implied, this case has been a waste of time, there has never been a clearer case against anybody sans a confession. If Marinette had confessed, then none of us would be here. Why waste this court's time further? We should begin closing." François interjected.

"Objection!" Justice Bug relayed. "Shouldn't we at least discuss why the lucky charm was this?" She waved the key in question. She was also thinking. 'I feel like I've seen the details of this key somewhere.'

François scoffed. "Let me ask you, Justice Bug, what power do you have here? Just because your civilian form is a lawyer doesn't mean the same is true for your hero self."

"What do you mean?" Justice Bug inquired.

"Your civilian form, Sophie Durand, has been to America, has she not?" François asked.

"Yes, I have." Justice Bug confirmed.

"Over in the states, there is something known as 'the bar association' which is an establishment that has power over attorneys, and they also know who can and cannot battle in the courtroom."

"Prosecutor Moreau." Alain announced. "If I am to understand your implication, you believe that the French version of the American Bar Association wouldn't have acknowledged Justice Bug as a lawyer because she just debuted today and that it doesn't matter that a lawyer is beneath the mask?"

"That is correct, so allowing Justice Bug to defend is absurd, if not illegal." François added with a smirk.

"Even though my word may not carry much weight in the Conseil National des Barreaux," Alain began, "Sophie Durand has proven time and again that she is a competent French attorney. Therefore, for this case alone, I will allow Justice Bug to defend Marinette."

François frowned as the courtroom erupted in cheers. "Your honor!" he protested, "You're not a member of the CNB, you can't have your cake and eat it too!"

"Actually," Luc interjected, bringing his gavel down with a bang, "I agree with the head judge."

"It's just for this one trial anyway," Isabelle chimed in. "If we face backlash from the CNB, so be it. As long as an innocent person isn't imprisoned, I say anything goes."

"Your honors? You're all going to be in trouble!" François warned.

"Prosecutor Moreau, is this how you want to be remembered?" Alain retorted. "As a prosecutor who relentlessly attacks the defendant without leaving any room for a valid defense? Stop being a bully and let Justice Bug do her job."

"B-but—" François stammered.

"Do we need to request a new prosecutor?" Isabelle asked sweetly.

"No one else would take this case, it would be dismissed," François countered.

"Well, you know that your only recourse is to wait until after this trial day ends to complain to the CNB," Alain advised. "Until then, just focus on doing your job and treat Justice Bug as an attorney. After all, all three of us have agreed to give Justice Bug temporary power to defend, so you can't fight us unless you really want to be held in contempt of court."

François was left red-faced with frustration and sweating profusely.

Justice Bug smiled, expressing her gratitude. "Thank you for this, your honors."

"You could have just transformed back and willed your lucky charm to stay, but whatever," François conceded.

Justice Bug nodded in agreement. 'He has a point. The grimoire does suggest I could have done what he suggested, but at least I get to fight while wearing this magical suit,' she thought to herself.

"If I may, your honors, I would like to pass the lucky charm around to you, the jury, and the prosecution for closer observation," Justice Bug proposed.

"No problem," Luc responded. "I'm the closest, so I'll be the first."

Justice Bug handed the key to Luc. "This item… it's familiar," he commented before passing it to Alain.

"I had the same feeling, Judge Boucher," Justice Bug confirmed. Luc, ever concise, simply nodded, feeling no need to verbally respond to Justice Bug's comment.

"These numbers… I think I've seen them somewhere before," Alain mused as he passed the card to Isabelle.

Isabelle examined the card from every angle before opening the record. "I know! Something about this is in the record somewhere," she exclaimed, handing the card to the first juror. Once her hands were free, she began to skim the record.

"That's preposterous!" François interjected as he watched the jury pass around the lucky charm. "How could something Sophie— I mean Justice Bug, summoned already been inside the record?"

Justice Bug scanned her copy of the record. If Isabelle believed it to be in the record, then it must be there somewhere.

The third juror, who was closest to François, summoned him over and handed him the lucky charm.

François analyzed the item when he returned to his seat. His face turned white. "No way! It can't be!"

"Do you have something to add, Prosecutor Moreau?" Alain inquired.

"This card… it belongs to the room Vance Lindon is staying in at the Grand Paris hotel," François revealed.

"May I have my lucky charm back?" Justice Bug requested.

François complied, his arms shaking. It was as if he was piecing together a puzzle that was not in his favor.

"François is correct." Justice Bug intoned. "The card number on this keycard is the same as the card number detailed for the room Vance Lindon is using at the Grand Paris. Who added this, was it you or Pierre?"

"It was Pierre Lefevre, he's quite the amazing police captain to add a detail that I wouldn't have added as it was too trivial, and the odds of it being brought up were too low that most would have skipped over it." François expounded.

"Thus why we all thought it familiar without realising that it was mentioned in the record." Alain concluded.

"I picked up on it, and François confirmed my suspicions." Isabelle added.

"I didn't mean to imply that you're stupid, judge Leroy, just that François' point is valid. We had a sense that we've seen it, and you were the first to point out where." Alain clarified.

"I do have to wonder why Vance's room card was copied by the magic of the ladybug jewels." Isabelle thought aloud.

"Remember our discussion pre-recess." Justice Bug asked.

"Ah yes." Alain relayed before Isabelle could gain her berrings. "It was about how the lucky charm could point us to the truth and how the truth may be that someone smarter than Monarch is akumatised and is working with the arch-villian."

"My belief about this lucky charm is thus: not only does it point to Vance Lindon's involvement, it shows that he is an akumatised villain even now. I think that this charm is telling us to go to his room to investigate an object containing an akuma, or something that would explain everything." Justice Bug explained.

"I must concede that Vance has the brains, but both Pierre and I have had a good deal of time conversing with him, and he looks human, most villains look like they're wearing elaborate costumes, or they look like something inhuman, examples are Gorizilla or Horrificator for inhuman villains." François rebutted.

"If we are to understand your stance," Alain added. "You are implying that Vance doesn't have an akuma because he doesn't have the tell-tale villain outfit that other akumas have had?"

"Precisely, even now, as he sits in the gallery, he still locks as human as you and I, he isn't wearing any outfit that would give away that he is akumatized." François added, and indicated to the area where Mr Lindon was sitting.

"Your Honor, I believe we should proceed with the investigation. The lucky charm suggests so," Justice Bug asserted.

"Objection!" François interjected. "How can we interpret unofficial evidence? It hasn't been added to the record, and there's no precedent for accepting evidence that literally materialized out of thin air."

"Are you suggesting that because magic was used to procure the evidence, the evidence should therefore be deemed inadmissible?" Alain queried.

"That's correct, Your Honor," François affirmed with a smirk. "It was conjured by magic; it didn't exist until Justice Bug utilized the power bestowed by those earrings."

Alain shook his head. "Prosecutor Moreau, do you recall our decision before the recess was officially commenced?"

François paused for a moment, his face turning pale and beads of sweat forming on his brow. "I… I do."

"Then perhaps you'd enlighten the court, just in case they, like you, have forgotten," Alain suggested.

"Don't insult this court's intellect, Your Honor," François retorted, attempting to incite the jury against him or foster bad faith towards the head judge among the gallery members, but his efforts were met with silence.

"Understand this," Luc interjected. "New people may have entered, and they would need to know what transpired; they may not possess the knowledge others have."

"That's the most you've spoken today," François noted. "Should I assume you're coming out of your shell?"

Luc shook his head. "Don't expect it too often."

François paused for a beat, but it appeared that Luc was still maintaining his brevity and felt that no further response was necessary. "Fair enough, newcomers who have arrived post-recess, I will address you primarily, but loud enough for all others to hear," François announced, his voice echoing into the farthest and darkest corners of the Cour D'assisses. "Before we took our half-hour break, it was decided that if an akumatized villain was revealed, then the record would be considered to have been made in bad faith, demonstrating Ladybug's complete innocence."

"Well put," Luc commended. "I couldn't have made it any shorter."

François wanted to bow, but he already knew that his stance might be over. "However, an akumatized villain hasn't been revealed."

"What do you mean?" Justice Bug inquired.

"You've suggested the possibility of a villain's existence, but you haven't physically exposed them yet. As I've established, Mr. Lindon isn't in a villain costume, and anyone with a keen eye can see that," François pointed out.

"That's why I believe we should investigate Vance's room, and we must also take him into custody so he won't have a chance to interfere," Justice Bug proposed.

"I have to concur with Madame Bug," Isabelle interjected. "The lucky charm is a replica of something that exists and is mentioned in the record, so it can serve as evidence, even if it was obtained via magic."

François was frustrated, a judge was agreeing with Justice Bug's side. "Fine, you win, Justice Bug, I'll concede to an extra day."

"So, it appears a request for an extension has been requested. I agree with this, what say you, associate judges Luc Boucher and Isabelle Leroy?" Alain asked.

"I'll allow it." Luc remarked, banging his gavel.

"As will I." Isabelle lowered her gavel with a polite and almost quiet bang.

"It is agreed, if there is no further objections, then this court will allow an additional day of investigation to add more details to the record, and we'll also take custody of Vance Lindon to prevent him from interferring." Alain raised his gavel, he waited in anticipation for an objection.

"Objection!" Announced a dark, twisted voice that sent shivers down Justice Bug and François' spines.

"Who… who said that?" Alain asked.

Vance approached the centre of the room so he was in clear view of everyone. "Naturally, it could be no other than me." Vance announced with clarity, his tone dark and menacing.

"You? But you're not an attorney, and Cour D'assessis doesn't hear from witnesses." Alain noted.

"Would you hear from someone with a confession to get off their chest?" Vance asked.

"I suppose we can allow that." Alain remarked with a thoughtful look upon his face.

"Hold it!" Pierre Lefevre announced and he appeared alongside Mr Lindon. "Your honor! His tone! It's different!"

"Captian Lefevre is correct." Isabelle added. "The record notes you have a child-like voice."

"Tonal training, your honor, it's an actor's bread and butter." Vance explained.

"But, the record shows you're a writer." Isabelle interjected.

"A man can be more than one thing." Vance added.

"Is this your real voice?" Luc asked.

"It is, associate judge Boucher." Vance remarked.

"So, you've been lying, but your snake never moved!" Pierre interjected.

"I've told you that I've tested the waters, changing my voice is allowed as it's not like I'm using a synthasizer to change it. That tone was within the range I obtained through vocal training and that is nature, nature doesn't lie." Vance explained the contradiction.

Pierre was silent.

"So, Mr Lindon… are you really akumatized?" Justice Bug inquired.

"Oh book of stories, hear my declaration! Drop my disguise!" Vance announced. Suddenly, ink appeared all over Vance's body and as it leaked away, a villain outfit appeared around Vance's body.

He had a black mask with ink drops running down it and he was wearing a book themed suit and a tie that looked like a fountain pen. His hair, which previously had the natural parting in a spiral pattern was parted down the middle, it was beige and parts of it were black and squiggly, it was as if his hair turned into a book that was handwritten with illegible letters, his sleeves remained short and snake tattoo vanished. "Allow me to introduce myself properly. I am Storyteller, and I am in control." He laughed maniacally.