Be Creative

Chapter 22: The Final Act

The next week seemed to fly by so fast yet time seemed to drag. Lila was practically torn apart in court. Along with Elena's parents, there were others from Italy, one being a student who was bullied by his ex-friends so badly, that he stepped out into traffic. He had survived but was now wheelchair bound. Another was a girl who was set up for plagiarism and had been banned from applying to universities, was attending to clear her name after years off her future had been taken. All these people were there to testify against Lila with statements and even by bullies who had realised their errors and set to make things right, even though they would have consequences themselves. In a way, Lila's lies brought everyone together to untie them...against her.

Of course, Lila had put on the tears, saying people had made it up to frame her, that Morgana had bribed them to say all these things. The judge saw right through that, especially when he saw Morgana's history as a model citizen. She didn't even need a lawyer, yet she had one and he tore Lila a new one. Marinette's lawyer had done the same. The akuma class had all given statements and all bar one had accepted their fates. Alya had tried to pin all of it on Lila, not taking any responsibility. In the end, everyone got their punishments.

Juleka, Rose, and Nathaniel had gotten 200 hours of community service along with paying fines which in turn paid for Marinette's lawyer and their debts that they owed the girl for baked goods and such. In all it wasn't too bad, and they weren't the worst, but it was still justice.

Alix, Mylene, Ivan, Nino, Kim, Max, and Sabrina had gotten 500 hours of community service with fines as well. Only difference with them was that they were served papers with verbal abuse, property damage and online abuse, which were added to their records. This would show up on any application they put in for education or work. Max was mortified about the napkin incident and thanks to the live stream, he had many messages about it. Most of the class had to delete their online media presence due to the comments. Kim had also gotten a physical abuse paper, so he had something extra to add to his record.

Alya was the worst off. She had her blog deleted by force since she refused too, obstructing the course of justice was an extra addition. Fines had to be paid while taking an anger management class along with 1,000 hours of community service. She also had a restraining order against Marinette and was also blacklisted from the media industry. Her career as a journalist was over. No one would ever hire her for it, especially for the lawsuits she got off celebrities. More fines came off them, it would take her forever to pay it back. Not even the lowest scum of the earth tabloids would go near her now.

The school board did a full investigation into the school and all the teachers. Most were clean but there was a minor few, including Miss Bustier and Damocles, who came under fire. They had their licences revoked, had been charged for mental abuse, neglect and even taking bribes from rich families. Well, that one only applied to Damocles. He would be going to prison for five years and would never teach again. Miss Bustier would never teach again and had fines to pay along with taking a course on bullying as well. Even though she didn't go to prison, not being able to teach practically broke her.

As for the little sunshine boy, he was getting a load thrown at him. He had to shut down his accounts online as while people were very sympathetic, he was criticized for not helping Marinette and enabling the lies. The fines were already paid, and he would be doing 500 hours of community service but thanks to Marinette, he faced no other charges. As well as moving to a private school on the other side of Paris, he was instructed by the court to speak to a therapist and go on a course to learn about bullying. 

Finally, Lila Rossi? She had no community service. Why was this? She was considered too dangerous to be out in public. She was diagnosed to be a psychopath, as her lack of empathy or conscience was staggering for someone her age. The doctor was astonished by it, even going into full detail in court and some people had to leave the room. In diagnosis terms, she had antisocial personality disorder. A restraining order was placed on her for Marinette, Adrien and all the celebrities and families she had damaged. Greta herself had been depressed ever since the trial. Some people pitied the woman and others didn't know what to say. She was not fired from her job as she was in the dark about all of this. Herself and her husband would be moving out into the country for a while where they would work remotely, at least until Lila was settled. Aside from the fines she faced and the charges, she would be sent to a juvenile centre until she was eighteen, and then transferred to a women's correctional centre, at least until she was fifty. Only then would she be allowed to appeal but even then, it was more than likely she would never step out into the world again.