"Knowing won't cut it, kitty cat."
Chat Noir, pinned down by Volpina, could see himself swarmed by all sorts of missiles.
"Try to move, cat. We'll see how that ends for you." She smirked.
Crap.
He thought.
Well, if he can't move himself, then why not make crazy traffic cone lady move?
"Alright, foxy, I'll give you three seconds."
"For what?" She smirked.
"Before I disintegrate you—One."
"What?"
"Two."
"You don't have enough-"
"Three. Cataclys-"
With a jerk, Volpina jumped off of Chat Noir, who called off his incomplete cataclysm.
"I knew you wouldn't have enough guts to actually do it." She snapped.
Chat smirked, this was the smuggest he had felt in a while.
"Knowing won't cut it, traffic cone."
Volpina let out a frustrated grunt.
"You still can't mo-"
A plot-convenient pigeon passed by, phasing through the missiles and disintegrating them in thin air. Volpina's eyes went wide in realization as Chat used his baton to smugly dissipate all the rest of the missiles.
"An illusion? And a pigeon phasing through the illusions to prove that it was an illusion? Try harder, author." Chat smirked.
He tapped the lower end of his stick, signalling Lady Iris, who received it in her own cane. Soon enough, Techna arrived at the scene, ready to utilize her powers.
"THIS WASN'T SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN!" Volpina shrieked in a fit of burning rage and flew in the air, disappearing from both the heroes, neither of them being able to follow her flight.
"Let's let her go for now." Chat said, followed by a nod on Techna's side.
"She'll cause some havoc and draw us towards her. I am so sorry, Chat. I shouldn't have doubted you. I can not believe I fell for her trick." Iris looked down in shame.
"It's alright, M'lady." Chat looked, tensely, vaguely realizing in which direction Volpina was heading.
"She's heading towards The Tom & Sabine Boulangerie Patisserie."
Marinette had lived out of her parents' house and now lived in an apartment, working at the bakery until she gets a job and was staying over at her parents'. She had spent Christmas at her parents' and decided to stay with them a few days more.
How did Lila know where she was living, anyway!?
Must have known it from Darkbug.
"WHAT!?" Iris exclaimed.
"Oh—I said that out loud. Well, she's heading in that direction." Chat said.
Crap crap crap crap.
Was all Marinette could think.
"Chat, hear me out. I need to go, like, right now—"
"Why?"
"Uh, nature's call? I'm outta tampons? My mother is calling me? My cat ate my homework? My fingers got stuck in a bowling bowl? I tripped on my toothbrush so I need to go to the museum-"
"Nothing you say makes sense-"
"POINT IS, I NEED TO GO! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE AT LEAST TAKE TECHNA DOWN THE ROOF, SHE'LL GO FROM THERE BUT I REALLY NEED TO GO-"
"Ok...?"
'Women are weird- I can't seem to understand them-' Plagg spoke telepathically.
'Me too, buddy.' Adrien sighed.
But for now, he HAD to save Marinette.
Lila liked Marinette, so it's improbable that she would harm her, so he could escort Techna to a safer place and rush to her house.
But then again, Marinette was the indirect cause of her humiliation.
He had to get there. And he had to get there quick.
*
"NOOROO, DARK WINGS FALL-"
"That was a close one, Marinette." Nooroo sighed.
"Tell me about it. I can't believe I just blurted out all the excuses I had in store for when I'd be late for school to Chat." Marinette groaned.
"Out of tampons? Really, Marinette?"
"Don't make me feel even worse about this situation than I already am." Marinette face-flopped on her chaise for comfort, waiting for Volpina to show up.
It had to be Lila. She thought. Considering the time of arrival of Lila, her lies, the slap and Volpina's lies as well, the illusions, it had to be Lila.
And if she were Lila, she would come, sooner or later, towards the cause of her being akumatized.
"I'm sure she's going to come here." Mari sighed.
"And what on earth compelled you to think that you'd have a better chance as Marinette and not as Iris?" Nooroo deadpanned.
"Instinct. Also, that's what Chat does in the episode, remember? Not that I remember his identity."
"I sometimes really don't know what you're talking about, Marinette. But I am telling you, this is not a good idea. You should leave so that Marinette is nowhere to be found and fight as Iris." Nooroo adviced.
"Ok, Nooroo. If things get out of hand, I'll transform."
"...Bathroom breaks?"
"What other excuse do I have? Everyone needs to take a shit sometime?" Marinette sheepishly smiled.
She heard a knock on her window.
'Is that Volpina?' Marinette thought.
'She was surprisingly calm for someone who is about to kill me. I mean, shouldn't she be breaking my walls?' Marinette shuddered as she woke up from her chaise and opened the window to reveal none other than Volpina.
"V-Volpina! I-I saw you on T.V.! What are you doing here?" Marinette put on her best fangirl façade and asked.
"Well, you see, I am actually Lila, Marinette." She closed in on her, yet again invading her personal space, holding her chin in her hands, "I told you Adrien was worthless. And I told you I wasn't lying."
Marinette gulped, she held back her arm which was about to slap her again in disgust. No, if there was any chance of defeating Volpina, it was now. At her most vulnerable. There were no superheroes around so Volpina had her guard down. Mari was going to take advantage of just that.
"R-Really!? I-I guess I should've believed you—" Marinette's eyes scanned Lila's attire, trying to find where the amok could be hidden. The necklace. Gotcha.
"You should've. But if you didn't, I couldn't be here anymore." She said.
"W-What do you mean?" God, she hadn't stuttered this much even around Adrien for a while.
"Nothing you should worry your pretty little head about. By the way, I've been meaning to do this for a while now—" Volpina held Mari's hands and looked her in the eye.
Nope. Mari thought. This was getting way too out of hand. Lila needs to control her emotions! Being this straightforward was NOT okay!
Marinette was about to withdraw her hand for another slap when—
"I'm sorry."
Huh?-
HUH?-
WHAT!?-
THAT WAS NOT WHAT SHE HAD EXPECTED-
"Sorry? For what?"
"F-For kissing you without your permission. That probably made you hate me, but I promise I am not a bad person!" She said, stifling back a tear.
Marinette's ice-cold gaze melted into a look of sympathy.
"I-I don't know what took over me- I d-didn't want to do that- I hated the fact that this move made you despise me and I couldn't control my body. I felt so attracted and I am so sorry I lied about being famous. I have never met anyone that famous besides Jagged Stone and even that at some convention. I-I swear I will never do anything of that sort again- I cried a lot after that, and I hated myself over and over again, banging my fists into the walls because I hated myself and I didn't want to lose the only person who had ever been kind to me because of my stupidity! BUT I DID! I couldn't stop cursing myself and I-" She clutched her necklace tightly, almost ripping it off, and broke down completely, crying into Marinette's oak floorboards and choking due to sobs.
"I—"
Marinette was at a loss for words. She didn't know what to say anymore. She thought what Lila did back there was cheap flirting that went too far. Somewhat like what a playgirl does.
She had no idea her feelings were genuine.
"I d-don't even care if you don't love me at this point, j-just—just forgive me, please." She cried, "Forgive me—I'll literally die from self loathe if you don't."
"..."
"Heck, I don't care if you don't reciprocate my feelings, just be my friend. At least give me that." Volpina, vulnerable, broken Volpina, choked on more sobs, coughing and crying.
Before either of them could talk more, though, Chat burst into the room, frantically screaming out Marinette's name.
Volpina wiped her tears, not letting Chat see any signs of her weakness, Marinette sharply turned to the sound of her name. Following the familiar voice to the handsome blond standing in front of her.
"CHAT!" Marinette cried out in terror. This was the absolute worst time for him to enter! She could've stopped Volpina by forgiving her and they wouldn't have to fight her anymore.
The cry she let out was wrongly understood by Chat. He thought Volpina scared her. That angered him more than anything. With an expression of solemnity Chat seldom wore, he told Marinette to get out of the place.
Marinette knew there was no turning back from this point. She saw Volpina smirk—what an actress! She changed her expression so suddenly even Mari wasn't able to tell she had been crying.
She nodded at Chat. Things were out of hand. Iris had to help.
She ran out of her room, staring at the fox super-villain on her way and occupied her mother's bathroom downstairs.
"So, was I right or was I right?"
"Haha very funny. Nooroo, Dark Wings Rise!"
*
"SHE TOOK MARINETTE!" Chat cried, yelling the facts at Iris as soon as she arrived.
She hadn't made an appearance in a while, and this Volpina had to be defeated. Besides, Nooroo didn't have enough energy to conjure up an akuma just yet—she had only given him a rose to eat for the time being.
"WHAT!?" Iris cried in disbelief.
'WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED WHILE I WAS GONE!?'
"She took Marinette away! The one in the room was just an illusion! The real one swept her away to the Eiffel Tower! And to think I was the one who told her to run! She was so scared and now she must be even more scared and it's all my fault-"
"CALM DOWN, CHAT!" Iris shouted.
She knew the Volpina in her room was not an illusion—she could touch her hands—so that means the Volpina who whisked Mari away was an illusion because Marinette was right here—herself! So, she must have made it look like the real Volpina was an illusion and the illusionary Volpina was NOT. AND NOW THE REAL ONE IS GONE AS WELL! It's highly probable that the one carrying illusion-Marinette was the real Volpina.
This was bad.
She knew how guilty Chat could get at times and this was one of those times.
"Let's save her, Chat."
She dared not tell him the real story, for it would jeopardize her identity for sure.
Chat nodded.
She followed Chat's lead and both of them found Volpina at the top of the Eiffel Tower.
"Give me your miraculous, Chat Noir, before I drop her." She said, shouting from the top of the Eiffel Tower, holding a screaming, scared half to death Marinette in one hand.
"NEVER!" Iris cried, startled at the hesitation in Chat's reply.
"One." Volpina lifted one finger.
"Two. Three." Only one finger was left—
"STOP! I'LL GIVE IT TO YOU, JUST DON'T DROP HER!?"
Iris' eyes went wide open as Chat extended his staff, higher and higher up from where they were, she followed his movements, doing the same, looking at him in bewilderment.
"ARE YOU CRAZY!? WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!?" She scolded him. When she saw he didn't listen, she stopped her cane from extending, got a good footing on the walls of the Tower and threw her cane towards the illusionary Marinette, Chat screamed at this action, only to be silenced when the cane hit Marinette and the illusion broke.
"I-It was an illusion!?"
"YES, IT WAS! WHY WOULD YOU GIVE UP YOUR MIRACULOUS FOR HER!? YOU NEVER DID THIS WHEN THERE WERE OTHER HOSTAGES!?" Iris whisper-screamed so as to not make Lila and ultimately Darkbug aware of the fact.
"..."
"At this Tower, tonight, after the fight is over." She sternly ordered him.
"She threw her cane again at Volpina, the latter repelling it back with that flute of her own, conjuring more clones of herself."
"Use your stick to reflect sunlight, Chat. The one who blinks is the real deal." Iris said, not with a smile, but a stern, uptight face.
Chat obediently did as told, making the original Volpina blink as the reflected sunlight dazed her eyes.
"CATACLYSM!" He screamed, enclosing Lila in a cage formed of the cataclysmic extensions of the iron tower.
Iris took the evilized amok and broke it, enclosing it in her cane and purifying it, a new trick Nooroo taught her.
(34th Chapter of the story, 2050th word and now is the time I'm telling you how Iris purifies amoks-
Also, before you come at me with 'HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?' please remember that this is a fanfic. Also, name a better way to purify amoks without the LB miraculous. I'll wait.
Also, if it satisfies you, Mayura's amoks are filled with negative energy, Iris fills her butterflies with positive energy. So, she's not purifying it, per se, but more like neutralizing it.)
"W-What?" Lila grabbed her throbbing head as she detransformed.
"Hey, are you okay?" Iris smiled down on her, with Chat on her tail.
"Y-Yeah..."
"I'll take her down. Your transformation is almost up. You should go."
Chat nodded.
"Before that though, Chat—" Iris turned to look at him, away from Lila who was looking down at her necklace.
"This girl, Marinette Dupain-Cheng," she began.
Chat Noir gulped, knowing what was coming.
"Are you... In love with her?"
*
Marinette headed to the Rossi's.
"Hello, Mrs. Rossi, I am Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Lila's classmate. I came here to lend her the notes she missed out on." Marinette smiled at the Italian brunette standing in front of her.
"Oh, wonderful! Thank you, Marinette. Bella is upstairs. Let me call her."
*
"I am a terrible person, right? First, I kissed you without your consent, then, I get akumatized and attack you—"
"You didn't attack me." Marinette smiled.
"What?"
"You don't remember? Well, you didn't attack me. You asked me for forgiveness."
"...I didn't?"
"I forgive you." Marinette smiled.
"W-What...?" Lila looked up, not believing what her ears had just perceived.
"I was never mad, to begin with." Marinette smiled again, trying to make her feel better.
"R-Really...?" Lila's eyes went wide as she slowly processed what was happening.
"Really."
"...So can I be your... friend?"
"Of course you can!" Marinette grinned.
Friends.
That sounded good.