~No more taking the highway | Marichat/Adrienette fanfiction~

Chapter 9

The remainder of the school day went seemingly smoothly, well, as could be with Lila around. The compulsive liar had tried getting Marinette in trouble for 'Distracting her while she worked.' Mme Mendeleive simply scolded Lila for not ignoring whatever Marinette was doing as she saw no reason to punish one of her best students without any proof.

Lila hadn't pulled anything for the rest of the day after that, which was pleasant, but slightly concerning, so Alya insisted on walking Marinette back home after school, worried about what could happen if she was seen alone.

Later that day, there was an akuma. Marinette popped a bit of plain ham in her pocket which had Tikki puzzled before she called out her transformation phrase. After the suit formed with the mask she hopped out her balcony before swinging over to Le Grande Paris where an akuma representing a guard was.

Chloe, as usual, was the cause of this akuma. Apparently he'd been on the first day of the job and hadn't recognized her when she was entering the private section of the hotel. She'd berated him over this and nearly made him lose his job. Luckily, after he was deakumatized, Ladybug and Chat Noir convinced the mayor to let him off with a warning. After trading farewells, the heroes separated to detransform. 

Marinette dropped into an Alleyway instead of onto her balcony when she let out the transformation, giving Tikki a macaroon. She walked for a little bit till she reached the area that she saw the black kitten in the morning. Very quickly, a mew could be heard as the kitten rushed over to Marinette. Sniffing the air, the kitten caught a whiff of the ham. Marinette took it out of her pocket, feeding the kitten.

"You obviously seem quite attached to that cat, Marinette. Why don't you take him home?" Tikki questioned.

"I probably wouldn't be allowed to keep him, since I live in a bakery." Marinette replied, sighing with a hint of longing. "I asked for a dog when I was younger but my parents refused."

Tikki nodded in understanding while the bluenette scratched the kitten behind the ears. They spent a few more minutes with the cat before Marinette headed back to her home. She saw a note on the fridge that they where out catering at an event that they'd had an emergency order for. Apparently there was food for her in the fridge but Marinette decided that she shouldn't look for food so she went up to her room.

Marinette climbed up to her room and looked at the time. It was a lot later than she had expected; 6:30 pm. Some of the akumas had become harder to defeat. It was concerning. Maybe she'd draft up a plan about that later...

Marinette put on some music before starting with her maths homework. Working on it, she didn't think that anything would be going wrong in that moment. Apart from the morning, she'd had a good day. Little did she know something was going on that would cause trouble for her soon...

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Lila stepped into the shed. It still was a rather undignified meeting spot, maybe she'd talk to Gabriel about changing it up. Speaking of the devil himself, he walked into the shed just in that moment.

"So, any new plans?" Lila asked, showing a sinister grin, imagining how some plan would bring about the downfall of the beloved superheroine of Paris. (Not that she deserved the title, but that's what the headlines would proclaim. 'Beloved superheroine falls at last.)

Gabriel simply nodded. "I have. Take a seat and I'll explain it to you." He gestured towards two old wooden chairs. After they got seated, he began to relay his new master plan. Instead of there being no brain behind it, it was scarily well thought out. At some parts, Lila frowned, but overall, it was a great plan.

Lila's eyes contorted into a malicious, snake-like gaze as she listened to the plan with a wide smirk that only resembled one that lucifer may have. "Sounds great. I'll begin my side of the preparations tomorrow. Just keep an eye out."

The two got up, now ready to part ways. On her way out, Lila added in, "Perhaps you could  come up with a more... dignified meeting place for next time? I hardly think the great designer should be seen in a shed like this." Gabriel simply nodded before dispersing into the evening.

"Watch out, Ladybug... You shall crumble into dust soon. You as well, Marinette. You haven't been forgotten."

753 words!