Miraculous x Arachno: The Web of Lies

Chapter 5: Lila's Deception and Volpina Strikes

Lila POV

For the last couple of weeks, I noticed that The Akuma Class stopped harassing Marinette because of me. Ever since the fight, they've kept their distance from Marinette and her group, much to my chagrin. I decided to form a plan to manipulate Troy to join my team.

During break, I put on some eye drops, applied some make up in the form of bruises and made a fake sob as I ran into Troy, who was about to head to the library.

""Whoa! What happened to you?" He asked.

"Marinette and her friends beat me up and threatened to hurt me if I came near Adrien again." I sobbed, putting a lot of emphasis in my voice.  

"Yeah. I'm not falling for that trick. I may be young, but I'm not stupid." He said as he pushed me away.

"W-what!? But, they really did it. I swear, they did!" I pleaded.

"Lila, stop. I know you hate Marinette's guts. But, that doesn't give you the right to start making up these lies and cause almost the whole of Paris to hate Marinette. Cut it out." Troy said.

"I know Marinette is using you to make Adrien jealous. She said it herself after she beat me up. She said she'll ditch you when Adrien is with her." I replied, hoping that he would fall for it.

Troy shook his head and sighed.

"Marinette isn't the type of person to use people for her gain. And compared to you, she's an angel." He said and walked away.

If you think I'm going to let that go, you have no idea what I'm capable of. I thought to myself.

I went to the girls room and called Hawkmoth on my phone. Telling him to akumatize me so that I can take out Marinette and Troy.

Troy POV

"Hawkmoth, I need your power once again." Lila said.

"For what purpose, Lila?" Hawkmoth asked.

"So I can get my revenge on Marinette and Troy. And their little gang." She replied, not hiding the smile in her voice.

"Very well, Voplina." Hawkmoth replied.

I turned off my recorder and took in what I heard. Lila is working for this Hawkmoth guy. Meaning that all the times that she and The Akuma Class have been akumatized before I came to Paris is her doing.

I thought about exposing her, but if I do that, she would think of a way to counter it. And it's not enough proof that Lila is lying. Not to mention, no one knows who Hawkmoth is under the mask since he rarely shows up.

"I better dig deeper before someone gets hurt." I muttered.

Suddenly, a scream rang  from outside. Cursing, I raced to the back of the school, changed into my suit and went to go and see who it was. There, I saw Chloe, Marinette, Luka, Alya, Kagami and Juleka tied up at the top of The Eiffel Tower. I was about to go and help until I sensed an attack from behind me. I quickly dodged it and saw Lila dressed as a fox.

"Is it Halloween already, Lila? Or are they your PJs whenever you and Adrien start making out?" I taunted.

"The name is Volpina, Arachno. Now stand aside as I look for Troy Riley. He and I have a few words to exchange." She replied as she swung her staff at me while I stepped back to dodge it.

I fired my webbing at her and threw her towards a car. She managed to flip back onto her feet and darted towards me, sending a wave of punches and kicks at me until she struck her foot onto my chest, forcing me back. As I recovered, she summoned a rocket from her flute and sent it flying towards me. I ducked out of the way and saw the rocket turn to orange dust.

"They're fake." I muttered.

I looked back at Voplina, only to find myself surrounded by multiple clones of her. As they charged towards me, I punched, kicked and dodged my way through the clones, using my webbing and my Spider Senses to counter their attacks.

Damn. No matter how many I take down, they just keep coming! I thought as I kicked one of the clones in the jaw, turning it into dust.

As I took down the last clone, I saw the real Volpina holding up her hostages. One hand holding Marinette, the other holding her friends.

"A little birdy told me that you rescued Marinette last night from a group of rapists. So, I'll give you a choice. Will you save your girlfriend or her friends?" She called.

"Let them go!" I called.

"The needs of the many or the need of the few? Who lives and who dies?" She replied.

"Here's my answer!" I replied and web zipped towards her.

As she dropped them, I formed a web net to catch Marinette's friends while I caught Marinette in my arms and led her to the ground. My Spider Senses acted up and I saw Voplina about to attack me, only to get knocked out by Chat Noir.

"And Chat Noir saves the day again." He said as he broke the necklace and destroyed the akuma with his power.

"You came at the last moment, you ass!" I roared.

"Still counts. Though, I'd let Marinette fall if it were me." He said.

I looked to my left and saw Tom ready to beat up Chat Noir, only to be held back by his wife. Marinette was shocked by what he said while I tried resist the urge to throw a punch at the black clad hero.

"Whatever. I'll let the police handle this." I said and left.

As I landed on the roof, I looked down at my PDA, showing the location of Lila's apartment. Once again, I'll wait until it is dark and head to Lila's place to get some evidence and expose her deception.

Somehow, I have a feeling that it won't be the last time we'll see an akuma.