lila's revenge

Chapter 22

adrien's pov:

"Or what?" I ask again, louder and she jumps at the harsh tone. Marinette backs away from her and towards me, but I keep my eyes trained on Lila. I knew something bad would happen. Lila opens her mouth to speak but before any words come out the doors to the library open and Chloe bursts in. She stops and observes the scene, before grabbing Marinette by the arm and leaving me with Lila.

I can hear Marinette's protests as she gets pulled away, and smile slightly despite the situation. 

When Chloe and I finished PE we were waiting for Marinette outside the classroom of our last lesson. It was almost about to begin when I ran towards the locker room to transform, with Chloe calling out to me before realising my plan. Once I transformed, I headed straight for the library and watched the conversation between the two girls. I guess Chloe knew where I would be.

"I keep warning you Lila, so one of these times you'll get what you deserve. Stay away from Marinette." I growled, looking at the girl stepping slowly away from me.

"Yes Chat Noir I will. It was just a stupid joke I promise. You should go now." She assures me, smiling in an apologetic way.

"Right well, don't go back on that promise Lila, or else." I say, pointing my baton at her. She nods frantically, ushering me away.

She leads me to a window and I jump out and away, before turning and coming straight back when she isn't looking. Something is off there, she switched personalities immediately. And where are Chloe and Marinette? Chloe would have messaged me to say she's safe if she was. Actually come to think of it, I never even heard the library doors close after them. Yep, something is definitely off.

Jumping back through the window quietly, I can hear Lila speaking.

"I warned you Marinette, and now that Chat isn't there to defend you." she chuckles, as I make my way towards the voice.

Peering over the ledge of the upper floor I watch as Lila walks towards Marinette and Chloe, tied up and gagged with a look of pure malice on her face. Around the trio are a few figures in black clothing who must have been waiting for Marinette at the door. I guess Lila really wasn't using an empty threat to scare Marinette. I can feel myself getting angry and hear Plagg in my head telling me to calm down and think. 

Clenching my fists, I look around for some sort of distraction. If Lila thinks a student is listening in on their conversation she'll drop her defense. I spot a book trolley over on the other side of the library and aim my baton at it. The books topple over and as expected, Lila looks around in confusion.

She motions some of her minions to investigate, leaving only herself and a couple others to guard the girls. At that moment Marinette looks up and her eyes meet mine. They soften and I can see the relief in them. She looks away again immediately, careful not to give away my position.

I make my way towards Lila and the guards, careful to avoid anything loud. Finally I'm standing directly behind them, arms crossed as they whisper to each other. Lila looks bored as she waits for her investigating team to return. I cough loudly and they turn in fear. 

Lila's face turns white and she backs away towards Chloe and Marinette.

"Hi again." I wave, walking towards the girls. The guards aren't putting up any sort of fight, most of them turning and running towards the doors, a few frozen in spot. 

"Chat..." Lila acknowledges me nervously.

"It's Chat Noir to you Lila." I correct her, as she still edges away nervously.

She glances over her shoulder and decides to make a run for it, confident I'll save the girls first. She's right, they're my first priority. But what she didn't count on was Marinette sticking her leg out and tripping her over.

I grin to myself, and run to Lila, quickly untying Marinette and using the rope on Lila instead. Turning to Chloe i do the same before picking both girls up and leaving. As we depart I can hear Lila moaning to her minions to untie her, sounding increasingly frustrated each time she asks. I guess my entrance really did leave them all shocked.

As I jump into the locker room I put both girls down and hug Marinette tightly. She hugs back before turning to Chloe and checking she's okay. I make my excuses and jump back out of the window, detransforming and returning to class.

A few minutes later, Chloe and Marinette enter and a look of relief passes over Chloe's face as she realises I'm fine. About 20 minutes later the lesson finishes and everyone makes their way towards the door. Before any of us can open it, our teacher stops us.

"One last thing before you guys head off. We have a few new students starting tomorrow, they just transferred from England. Some of them will be in this class. Please show them around and treat them how you would want to be treated if you were in their position." She smiles before pulling the door open and allowing us all to leave.

"One thing is for sure." Chloe says on our way towards the bakery. "None of them can be as bad as Lila."

Marinette chuckles and replies, "I'm sure they'll be lovely Chloe, have some faith." 

I smile at the girls as we reach the bakery and come face to face with 2 girls we've never seen before. They're chatting quite amicably to Sabine, laughing as they wait by the door, but stop immediately when they see us.

"Hi, I haven't seen you around here before?" Marinette says politely, walking forwards to greet the two.

"You're Marinette Dupain-Cheng!" the blonde responds in joy, pulling her in for a hug.

Marinette glances at me and Chloe and we shrug, confused but entertained.

"Flora!" the brunette chided, pulling Flora off Marinette. "Sorry, she's very into clothes and so knows about your fashion designing." she explains, and Chloe starts to smile when she hears the word 'clothes'. 
"I'm Elizabeth, we just moved from England a few days ago." she finishes, glancing at me, Chloe and Marinette warily.

Flora seems much less concerned, still gawking at Marinette.

"Well hi." I reply, raising my hand. They both wave back, glancing at Elizabeths watch. 

"She's been ages." Flora grumbles, earning a laugh and a muffled "hypocrite" from her friend. I'm about to ask who 'she' is when my question is answered. 

Another girl walks into the bakery thanking Sabine gratefully as she walks towards the group. She seems startled to see us, as she stops beside Elizabeth and Flora.

"Um hi?" she asks curiously.

"Luce, this is Marinette and her friends." Flora explains with a smile. The girl smiles back and takes more time to look at us.

"Hey Marinette." She comments, before looking at me and Chloe. "You're a fashion model aren't you?" she asks me and I nod nervously. "Cool." she comments before smiling and waving at Chloe.

"You must be Chloe! Your father was really kind to us regarding housing." she explains and Chloe relaxes slightly. 

"Yeah that's me." she confirms with an awkward laugh.

"Well it's nice to meet you all, I'm Lucy." the girl tells us with a smile, before Elizabeth taps her on the shoulder and tells her they need to leave.

"Good to meet you." Lucy waves, leaving with Elizabeth and Flora. "Bye Marinette!" Flora calls happily, before closing the bakery door behind the trio.

Marinette runs towards the window and watches the three English girls smiling and joking amongst themselves happily.

"I like them." She decides finally, turning to Chloe and me.

Chloe and I nod in return, before we all head upstairs to Marinette's room with a pile of croissants.