GOTHAM: BEYOND EVIL || Damienette

32 - The Friday After 7th July

"The magic will keep us safe." I say, seriously. "I know Mari, but it can never hurt to be careful." she says, laying a hand on my shoulder. "Speaking of, when are you getting ready? It's almost time, Mari." Alya speaks.

"Huh?"

I look at the time in confusion. It was about 15 minutes before we had to leave, and I was still in my pajamas with messy hair, sitting and staring at my computer screen. "I... didn't see the time." I said, absentmindedly.

I look at my screen, where many tabs were open, organized quite messily. Most of them were about the Joker, some from the data I had stolen from Bruce. One was the chat messages I had sent to the Miraculous Temple, asking about identity protection magic.

Alya frowns.

"Marinette, are you okay?" the brunette asks me. I look at her in confusion. "Of course I am, Al." I reply with a smile. Alya's frown deepens as she detects my lie.

"Liar. You've been on your computer the whole day, to the point that you didn't notice the time passing. What's going on, Marinette?" she asks. Whether it was because I was overwhelmed with the fact that she noticed, or how concerned she looked, I told her.

"I'm scared, Alya."

"What?" Alya looked shocked, but then she smiled. "Of course you are, Mari. Everyone is." she says. "No, you don't get it." I say, shaking my head and looking away. "You'd think, after all the time in Paris, this fear would run out."

"But this is new, this is Gotham. This is so much more dangerous than Paris, and the fact that it is, scares me, Alya. I'm supposed to be brave, so you can be scared." I say, sighing at the end.

This was Gotham, the city of crime, where thieves and villains had no moral code. It wasn't like Paris, where you de-akumatize someone and the problem would be solved. There was no reset button for damages caused.

People here are out for blood, and there is practically nothing stopping them. I- no, we need to be careful out there. Because, once you're out there, you're on your own. By all means, a fight for your life.

You could get killed out there.

"The world is scary, Marinette." Alya started. "Of course you're going to be scared in a new place, chasing a new villain, fighting in a new way, but if that were to stop you, you wouldn't have chosen to be a hero, Marinette." she says.

I smiled at her. "Anyway, if we were to die, you can bring us back anyway." Alya says again, shrugging. I gasp in surprise. "Just because I can bring you back doesn't mean you can die in the first place!" I let out.

Alya laughs out loud in happiness.

"Of course not, Marinette. I'm just comforting you." Alya said. I grinned. "Thanks, Al." I say, making the brunette smile. "For you, always." she replies, smiling. As we grin at each other, we hear some hushed whispers.

"Can we go in yet?"

"I don't think so."

"They're having a deep conversation."

"But then, why are we hiding here again?"

I roll my eyes at the sound. Pressing a button on my desk, the doors of the changing room slide open, making the others fall onto the ground, as if they were leaning onto the door to eavesdrop.

"What were you doing?" I ask, annoyed. "Uh, you see Mari-" Nino starts, only to be rudely cut off by Chloe. "We were checking the quality of the door!" she piped up nervously.

"All together?" Alya asked. "Yep." Adrien chirped. "That makes sense." the brunette says, agreeing after sharing a glance with me. "Go on, then. Get ready." I say shooing them away.