The Salt Files (MLB)

It Was A Joke

Adrien and Kagami quickly grabbed the fox and reporter to prevent them from escaping. But it seemed like they were both in too much shock to even move.

Teachers gathered and called an ambulance. Marinette was loaded on with her friends by her side. Aurore stayed behind, who had something to do before she would join them.

Sabrina's dad was questioning anyone who might have seen what happened. They all were saying similar things, but it wasn't enough to form a story behind the incident.

"Marinette fell!"

"She was shoved!"

"Is she going to be ok?"

"I have evidence of what happened!" Aurore exclaimed, showing the officer the video. Officer Raincomprix was red once it was over.

"So you," He glared at Alya. "Did this on purpose?"

"I-It was a joke! I didn't think she would actually fall! She's really jumpy and would usually catch herself before she falls!" Alya was trying to defend herself, but she knew how bad this could be. She's seen court cases and reasons behind them. She was starting to wonder why she thought this was a good idea to begin with.

"Some jokes aren't funny. You could go to jail for attempted murder, and let's not forget it was premeditated. Don't think just because you're a minor that you can't be punished."

Aurore, satisfied with the aftermath, left to go to the hospital. She didn't even need to hear the rest of the conversation to know that it wouldn't end well for the reporter. Well, ex-reporter.

~A few hours later~

Marinette woke up a few hours later, Luckily for her, the only damage was a mild concussion, and she had to rest for a few days. Besides that, Marinette could be on her daily routine. She made sure to thank Tikki for healing her later.

"Mari, you need to see this." Kagami said, turning on the tv.

It turns out that the incident caught the attention of the school board and it was trending worldwide about how to handle bullying in school. Francis Dupont was closing for awhile until they get the entire story of what went down between Lila, Alya, and Marinette.

On top of that, everyone was shaming Mrs. Bustier and Damocles for how they handled the case, especially with checking Lila's medical claims without parental notes.

"We all hope and pray that Miss Dupain-Cheng will be ok." Nadja concluded her statement.

"Wow." Marinette said.

"The teachers are finally getting what they deserve." Aurore said smugly.

"Does that mean we have no school?" Nino smiled.

"I hope so, I don't want to go there for a while." Juleka replied.

"It's a toxic environment." Nathaniel agreed, Marc humming in agreement as well. They suddenly were getting their phones spammed.

"Anyone else getting apologies?" Adrien asked.

"Yep.

"Alya wants to see Marinette." Nino scrolled through his phone.

"NO!" Marinette exclaimed. "I-I mean, I don't want to talk to her or see her. Please." Luckily, the understood and didn't push her.

They were going to sit back and watch the backlash.

✨✨✨

The aftermath was a major impact. Lila was taken into custody for being an accomplice, removed of her diplomatic immunity, expelled, faced several charges and sued by everyone she lied about.

Alya was grounded, forced to take her blog down, write several apologies to everyone she wronged, suspended, and also faced charges and was sued.

Mrs. Bustier and Damocles were fired for how the handled the Lila situation and other bullies. All teachers were now required to teach a bullying segment and had checks on students to make sure they were ok.

The school was closed for a month and everyone was tense when it was time to go back. The MPS came together and didn't let anyone she didn't talk to her for at least a week. They didn't want her to start getting stressed again.

Marinette also avoided Alya, which made her feel worse. She was hardly seen without anyone by her side, especially Adrien. He felt like it was his fault because they both knew something was going to happen, and he didn't catch her. Marinette kept trying to tell him it wasn't his fault but he still blames himself anyways.

Alya was sent to juvie after causing another disturbance trying to talk to Marinette. She also got hours of community service and a restraining order against her from the family. Alya's family just decided to move out of France since her stunt ruined the family's lives. Alya was never able to live it down and wished she listened to Marinette to begin with. Maybe her life could've turned out different if she had.

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