Last Champion Standing

7

She was a true fighter, you could see it in her eyes. She was not born strong, she was made strong.
She was sculpted to be her own hero when the world let her down, and she kept picking herself back up
~ Unknown

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The gears in Marinette's head began turning. Shit. Gabriel was HawkMoth.

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"Oww!" Lila cried. She'd fallen down the stairs.

At the top of the stairs stood two people from her class, laughing their heads off.

"Why does everyone hate me?" Lila asked.

"Gee, I wonder," Marinette put a finger to her chin and pretended to think. The blonde boy beside her raised a brow.

"Well if I was to take an educated guess I would say... perhaps it's to do with your association with HawkMoth," Adrien spoke.

"But everyone's been akumatised before!" She sputtered. Now she was crying, actually crying for the first time since she was a baby. These weren't crocodile tears. These were real.

When she got to class she noticed all the seats were taken minus the two at the front and two at the back.

She could spin a tale about having some sort of ear disease. Then she could sit at the front with Adrien and send Marinette to the back.

To her shock, Marinette and Adrien walked in and sat at the back. She growled watching them giggle and tease each other.

"Miss I think i should sit at the back. I'm long-sighted," Lila suggested.

"That's ridiculous Lila! You know you have tinnitus!" Miss Bustier replied.

As if on cue, there was a buzzing in her ears. Since when did she have tinnitus?

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"It all makes sense now," That's why Lila-who-has-no-modelling-experience was hired for Gabriel. That's why he became the collector when his book was lost - it was a cover to prove his innocence. That's why he even HAS the book.

Oh poor Adrien. He has no idea.

"What makes sense?" Adrien asked.

"Nothing!" Princess Justice exclaimed.

"Princess Justice," A deep voice sounded. The butterfly mask appeared on her face. "What are you doing? You've already dealt with Lila. Now get me- is that the miracle box?"

"Noooo?" She replied. Marinette was so bad at lying... how had she managed to keep her secret identity for so long?

"Why are you lying to me Princess Justice?" ScarletMoth asked. "Should I take your powers away?"

"Do what you want. I don't need you, YOU need ME. So do it, take my powers. At the end of the day I'm your best, only and LAST shot at getting the miraculous." Princess Justice said. Then she heard a shrill, whistling noise in her head. So this is what Nathanael meant by torture? "Gah!" She fell to the floor. Breathing heavily. She could fight this. She could fight him.

"I don't need you!" ScarletMoth yelled. "I don't need anybody!"

"Not even your son?" Princess Justice asked through clenched teeth. The excruciating pain halted suddenly.

"Son? I don't have a son-" ScarletMoth replied.

"Yeah and I'm Mayura. Don't kid me HawkDick." Princess Justice smirked, "You have a son. And he wouldn't want this,"

"I'm doing this for him! So our family can be whole again!"

So that was his plan.

Make his family WHOLE. He wanted to bring Adrien's mother back.

"If you make a wish with the miraculous there'll be a price to pay. Creation and destruction. Yin and yang. The universe will have to find a balance. Do you even know what that means?" Princess Justice claimed.

"How does she know so much about the miraculous?" Alix muttered.

Alya clamped her mouth shut.

"A life for a life, ScarletMoth! So far everyone you've endangered has been saved by the miraculous ladybugs. This is different! There's no saving. You will have killed someone. Do you want that blood on your hands?" Princess Justice asked.

"I will do anything to bring my precious Emelie back, no matter the cost,"

"That isn't what she'd want!" Princess Justice yelled desperately.

"Falsehood! What would you know about what she wants? You've never even met her!" ScarletMoth yelled back. "I'm done with you! If you won't do my bidding then I'll just control you."

"Not if I break off the psychological link. Not if I become a champion."

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Word Count: 717