Explanation III: Tragedy Below the Eiffel Tower

You already know how the events unfolded from the view of an outsider, of one who had to watch others watch it, how it was recorded and the ramifications of it as it reverberated throughout Paris, you've seen the investigation, and you've witnessed the trial discussing it, now it is time that the truth be known.

If the tale's been too long, and you haven't read it, or perhaps you just need a refresher, since it has been ages since this event first happened and sparked intrigue into you to read this far, then allow me to put in the details again, but shortened.

Lila Rossi was walking under the Eiffel Tower, she was recognized by most around her as she was one of the faces of the avatars of the Alliance rings. Ladybug swung down and met with her and people trained their cameras on them and recorded on them was the ensuing argument which ended with bloodshed by a blade summoned via the power of creation. Lila's corpse now littered the area below the symbol of Paris and Ladybug departed. The blade left in the freshly dead. Someone felt the pulse and confirmed Paris' worst fears, the body was real and it appeared to the world that Ladybug was a killer through and through.

You've probably had your theories, trying to piece together how this could've all happened, how these events came to pass. Observant readers would have noticed an oddity early on with the introduction of a character who knew just a bit too much about the victim, an eerie amount in fact and that was coupled with another eerie fact that captain Lefevre noted quite quickly during his interview with said character.

If you've guessed Élise Martin is yet another creative disguise donned by Lila Rossi and inferred that her existence implies that Lila is still alive, then you've earned a cookie.

But how could that be? You are probably wondering.

Well, that is the reason this chapter exists, to reveal the dark secret behind the tragedy, to pull back the curtain and show the shadows and to show how they worked to make this happen.

The ordeal began the day before the murder, Vance noted multiple mentions of Lila Rossi in the book he was reading, remember, the book was telling him everything, the villains they battle and the things that happened within the show but in writing instead of visuals. Vance wanted to know a bit more, he hadn't even reached the season four finale when he used his power to change the subject of the book. "Oh tome of tales, show me the past, present and future of the character known as Lila Rossi."

The book's title shifted from 'The Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir' to 'Lila's story.' It didn't take him long for him to know about Lila's vandictiveness and her hatred toward both Marinette and Ladybug, but she didn't know that they were one in the same. He could also see that if her story kept playing out as is, Marinette would cause her downfall, and then she'd have to become someone else. This information was enough to help Storyteller come up with a devious plan.

It was evening and Storyteller used his powers to direct Lila to a secret location.

"What the?" Lila announced when she became lucid again and noticed that she wasn't where she was heading, she turned around and saw Storyteller. "Oh no! Not another akuma! Don't tell me you want me to give up on Adrien as well."

"Ah yes, you speak of when Kagami Tsurugi became a villain that hunted you down relentlessly." Storyteller recalled. "Don't worry, I'm not like that, but I'm afraid as long as Marinette is around then you'll never have Adrien as your boo."

"Wait… you want Adrien and I to be together?" Lila asked.

"It makes sense, doesn't it, sure you lied to get closer to him, but he didn't know that until Ladybug stepped in, but that doesn't make you toxic, just someone who goes for what they want and doesn't care about the consequences. But, you should be aware he despises liars, and Marinette is the worse in that camp than you are. Furthermore, you need not worry about Kagami swooping in to take him back, she got sick of his absences in the relationship, so if you can handle that, then you can have him, better he ends up with you then with a stalker or someone who has lost love with him already." Storyteller explained.

"Wait… Marinette is a bigger liar than I am? That makes no sense, she's so nice to all but me because she somehow saw through my deceptions." Lila noted.

"If you know anything about lying, which you should since you're supposed to be an expert on the subject, then you also know that lying isn't just about lying but also not telling the truth. Marinette has secrets and she hasn't even told Adrien that she had a crush on him or that she'd been stalking him trying to find everything out about him, at least you haven't done any of that, right?"

Lila nodded. "That's right, I don't need to, I already have a ticket into his home as his co-model."

"That may not last, you will lose it."

"How can you know for sure?"

"My name is Storyteller, I am Monarch's latest villain, I've seen how your tale unfolds, I can help you change the future. The future for you sees you failing and no longer being able to lie, and Gaberial will drop you."

"What are you doing, Storyteller?" Monarch asked via telepathy.

"You want the miraculous, don't you?" Storyteller retorted.

Monarch huffed and went back to observing.

"Gabriel is going to give me up? Why?" Lila asked.

"Your one task is to keep Adrien away from toxic influences like Marinette, but that has failed, and the more it fails, the more likely Gabriel will dismiss you, but with my plan, we'll have both Marinette and Ladybug crying in shame." Storyteller relayed.

"Can we get them both with one plan?" Lila asked.

"We can, for they are one." Storyteller informed.

"What?" Lila and Monarch both asked simultaneously.

"Should I have added a spoiler alert? Come on, Adrien called Marinette the everyday Ladybug, ironically he was right without even knowing it." Storyteller explained.

"How did you know that they are the same?" Lila asked.

"The same way I knew what would happen if I didn't intercept your story. My book." Storyteller shook his book. "I can change the subject of this book at will and make alterations of the stories. However, I'd like to keep my presence unnoted, which is why I allowed Monarch to create another Akuma even while my power is active. I will need your help."

"My help? Of course, I'd do anything to see them both suffer for what they did to me." Lila remarked with her voice heavy with venom. "Them being the same person is just a little bonus, just tell me how I can help."

"I see you have an Alliance."

"Of course, as Gabriel scanned me to make an internet dopplegänger of me, I was one of the first to get one, furthermore it was free for me. Talk about deluxe treatment."

"Get mad, become vulpina again and ask Monarch for the power of the rooster."

"May I ask why? I need to know the plan to do it."

"Yes. Of course, you'd ask. The big issue with Ladybug is that her luck will always overcome any odds that may come to find her. So if we attack that, we'd fail, so the only thing left to attack is her identity."

"You mean, in order for us to defeat Ladybug, we have to make a situation that will put her identity in jeopardy."

"The real plan is to make it impossible for the current weilder to use the miraculous further, since the Alliance's are picking up in sales and are relatively cheap for personal assistant devices, it will be highly likely that once Marinette is forced to reliquence her title and jewels to another, that person would likely have one of those devices, and Monarch most likely has trackers in those things and using them can discover who the replacement is without issue, giving him access to the ladybug miraculous, so even if the plan doesn't have Paris know Ladybug as Marinette, it is guaranteed to prevent her from using her miraculous from here-on-out."

"How will we force her to give up her jewels?"

"I know you've never thought of something as devious as what I've devised, you're only just a teenager after all. Now you have accused Marinette of stealing test answers to have her expelled, which you had to fix because of Adrien, but that's child play compared to what I've cooked up."

"Can you stop wasting time, and just come out with it?"

"Murder my dear Lila, we're going to make Ladybug a killer, and what better victim than the master of all lies?"

"M-me? But I don't want to die!"

"But that's why Vulpina is needed."

"Can't you just make it happen in that book?"

"No, any changes would reflect in reality, and as you said, you don't want to die, and I only feel that for me to kill, it has to be reasonable for me to do so, as in that it would be the only way to get out of a situation, and that would usually imply that it would be in self-defense or government mandated such as a war killing where it's kill or be killed."

"Okay, so I'll create an illusion of Ladybug killing me, but why would I need the power of the rooster to accompany my illusion powers?"

"Recall what happened to your illusions the first time when they got contacted?"

"They vanished!"

"With the power of the rooster, you can enhance the power so that the illusions aren't dismissed, and I'll take care of the rest with my power."

Lila nodded. "I think I can follow along with this devious plan."

"You hear that Monarch? Lila is ready for the next phase of the plan."

Cue a scene where we see the aperture of Monarch's hideout opens to let the light in. "Yes, I can feel her willingness to accept an akuma, and I can't believe I never thought of making Ladybug appear guilty of a crime. There is no amount of luck in the world that would protect her in such a situation." A white butterfly came to Monarch's gloves, and Monarch turned it into a megakuma. "Kaalki, your power is mine!" Kaalki's cage came over and Monarch absorbed their power into the horse ring. "Voyage, my megakuma, and help Lila Rossi put our fatal plan into action!" He summoned a portal and the megakuma flew through it and into the armband that Lila had on her.

"Vupina Maxima, I am Monarch, your illusions are required once again, with them, you can help me get the miraculous of Ladybug and Cat Noir, are you ready to help us?" Monarch asked.

"Of course I am!" Lila relayed, she turned into Vulpina, but this time, her costume had a neon glow to it.

"Orikko, your power is now mine!" Monarch relayed, and Orikko's cage came over and Monarch absorbed their power. "To make sure that this plan is a success, I am giving you the essence of the miraculous of pretension, this will allow your illusions to take on a new dimension. Transfer!" Monarch pressed down on the ring and the power went into Vulpina Maxima's Alliance.

"I won't abuse this new power, Monarch, you can count on me." Vulpina Maxima added.

Storyteller changed the subject of his book back to what it was before. Some of the blank pages were updated to reflect the changes that were just made in real time.

"I'll just add a few more rules to this book as necessary. The first I'll add is 'any illusion made by Vulpina Maxima will remain in place even long after she loses her abilities.' This ensures only the miraculous ladybugs can get rid of your creations after my defeat."

"But wouldn't the same be true if I'm defeated?"

"Don't worry, Monarch will call back your power long before anybody figures out you'd even been around. Now, make the illusion, get as much attention as possible."

Vulpina Maxima nodded. She summoned an illusion with her flute. "Sublimation, my illusions won't vanish on contact." Vulpina Maxima announced and a red glow went around the illusions of Ladybug and Lila Rossi she made. "Storyteller, would you do the honors?"

Storyteller checked the illusions, his hand going through them. "I'll make them solid for you, you can't have two powers with the rooster going on at the same time." He announced and he made a rule on the back of the book that made them solid. He touched one of the illusions and this time his hand didn't go through, it stopped and he could feel flesh, like the illusions were real.

"Now it's my turn, you can't make them move, but I can." Vulpina Maxima relayed.

The illusion played out in the same way it did in the first chapter of this tale, Lila showing up below the tower, having people pay attention to her. Ladybug swinging down to begin an argument, and so on and so forth.

After the fake Lila Rossi made it to the morgue, Vulpina Maxima made the illusion of the fake Ladybug vanish and the fake lucky charm that was summoned by the illusion go with her. After that, Monarch called back the akuma within Lila and he spoke to Storyteller once more. "I hope this plan of yours really does bring Ladybug… or should I say, Marinette Dupain-Cheng to her knees."

"Obtaining her miraculous or her kwami puts luck into your favor." Storyteller explained. "And that would be a leap closer to your end goal."

Monarch nodded and went back into the shadows, Storyteller activated his disguise and would remain as Vance Lindon until he revealed himself later in the courtroom.

Well, now you know the truth of the tragedy below the Eiffel tower, but there is yet one more piece of the puzzle still just out of frame to be introduced before the explanation is complete, but once it's put into place, we will return to court, right where we left off.