Chapter Text
When Alya asked her to join them in a game, Tikki convinced her to accept.
After Miracle Queen, Marinette is the new guardian of the miraculous. Obviously, she hasn't slept well, much less smile for quite some time. The incident is clearly her fault. How does she plan on fixing it? Simple. She has to get better, be what Master Fu expects her to be. The first step is to prevent history from repeating itself. Ergo, Marinette needs to stamp her emotions down. It's her heart that brought Mayura to Master Fu's area. She must let go of love itself.
She's working on it.
The second step to being a better Guardian is having a solid alibi. Hawkmoth must have noticed majority of the miraculous holders are from the same school. She will need more than her classmates to defend her. She can use Jagged, Clara, anyone she can sway to defend her innocence.
However, what will be her excuse for befriending such celebrities? Ah! Why not prepare for the future? A perfect excuse if she says so herself.
Marinette increased her projects, cancelling plans with her friends to secure her future as a civilian and a Guardian. Sometimes, Marinette doesn't have to do anything. Lila is pretty helpful now that she thought about it. Marinette doesn't mind if her friends hang around with the liar. They are safer with Lila.. A short-term safety.
Once she graduate, Marinette will need to move away from her parents. She will not let any of her loved ones get in harm's away. She needs to push them away, but not outright. She'll simply bury herself in 'work' until her friends choose to move away. No one wants to be around someone who has little time for them.
That didn't mean she wants to be alone. Marinette doesn't mind if everyone distances themselves from her except for maybe one. Someone she trusts so that would be..
Alya? Yeah. Alya may be vindictive at times, but she's amazing. Her best friend next to Chat Noir, maybe higher because Chat Noir keeps seeing her in a romantic sense. Marinette doesn't want to friendzone Chat Noir like how Adrien did to her. She'll just consider him her best partner-in-crime.
So here she was, playing a game with her best friend
And her other classmates.
"This game? With Lila? Really?" Marinette face palmed, leaning on her chair as she cursed her luck. She peeked at the screen, staring at the unfortunate characters in the lobby. "Oh kwami. Alya even brought Adrien into this mess!"
There is Alya, Nino, Kim, Max, Alix, Nathaniel, Mylène, Lila and Adrien - ten in total. She, Nino and Alya played this game before, but with strangers. Alya must be livestreaming this.
[A game about murder and deceit.]
"What's wrong, Marinette?" Tikki asked, chomping a cookie as Marinette grabbed for her headset.
"A game that questions my faith towards Humanity." Marinette sighed, plugging her headset to get ready for the usual chat. She connects to their chatroom, greeting everyone. "So you've decided to drag Sunshine, huh?"
"Au contraire, he and Nino has played this game~!" Alya sang and Marinette rolled her eyes. "Mind opening your cam? It would be so cute if I showed two POVs for my viewers."
"Whatever you say, Al." Marinette laughed, muting herself to tell the kwamis to stay low. Every time Alya wants to play a game with strangers, she always drag her along for the ride. That is until Nino comes, but Alya's habits die hard. 'Alya rubbed on me.'
"Thanks, love." Alya snickered and Marinette returned to her seat and opened her cam. She has her hair down, still having her bath towel resting on her shoulder.
"Guys. Lila is new to this game so-" Nino told everyone, but Kim interrupted him.
"Yes! Fresh blood." Kim cackled. "Welcome to the game of betrayal!"
"But I just want to play games with you guys." Lila whimpered. No one cared. Marinette assumes they misinterpreted it as a comedic frustration.
"I'm with Kim. I want blood spilled. This week-long suspension is getting to me." Alix yawned. "And maybe we can drag Nathaniel to the dark side?"
"Ha! Marc already did that." Nathaniel answered back, which both Kim and Alya gasped in surprise. "What I want to see is Mylène go feral. I have never seen her as the impostor ever."
"Is that even statistically possible?" Max idly wondered.
"I don't know about you guys, but I prefer not to be the impostor." Adrien admitted. "I dislike lying.."
"You can try being silent?" Marinette dragged the plate of croissants closer to her table, taking a bite. "When asked, omit the incriminating evidence. (Marinette bit on her croissant.) Not that hard."
...
"Suddenly, I don't feel safe." Lila admitted.
"You shouldn't." Marinette continued munching, listening to her friends as Alya changed the setting. "Ten players equals two impostors. You have a twenty percent chance of getting murdered."
"Alya. Increase the Kill countdown. If Kim and Alix become the impostors, we're going to regret it." Nathaniel warned. "15 seconds are the usual, but 10 seconds is fine too."
"No hard feelings after this, okay?" Kim asked. "Lila? Don't hold a grudge. You too Alix."
"I do not!" Alix retorted, changing her icon to a pink character. "Maybe a little."
"I promise." Lila agreed. Marinette finished her croissant, now choosing what customization to use. She stared at the colors they chose. What an interesting selection.
Alya (dark green), Nino (green), Kim (cyan), Max (brown), Alix (pink), Nathaniel (red), Mylène (yellow), Lila (orange) and Adrien (black).
"If I'm alive, there's a high chance Marinette is the impostor." Alya concluded. "Hence, to save my boyfriend, I'm choosing his color."
"I'll take note of that." Max said.
"We all know what color you're choosing Marinette." Kim snickered and Marinette continued to stare at the color. The remaining colors in the tables are: white, blue and purple. She choose white then she's the opposite of Adrien and very recognizable to anyone who sees her color. She choose blue then they expect Nathaniel is going to be her game partner. Marinette is currently purple.
"You are absolutely right." Marinette agreed, adding a chef hat on her character. She walked out of the computer, declaring. "I've done it guys."
"If I become the impostor, you're first in my list." Kim laughed despite threatening her.
"Please do." Marinette licked her lips, watching Alya start the game. She's a crewmate. Marinette mute herself, talking to whoever is watching Alya's dual livestream. She'll need to stay close to Alya or Adrien in case Kim is the killer. "It's time for the strat guys. Alya and I can do this."
...
...
It's the tenth game and Alya finally gave her the ability to read the chat.
First off, these guys think she's a detective. All Marinette did was keep track of everyone's activities. It's not her fault these guys are so bad at lying. As a crew mate, Marinette latched onto either Alya or Adrien. What are the odds of having both of them as killers right?
Secondly, the viewers think she's an Adrien simp. Marinette denies this in livestream, correcting them she's Alya's simp. Alya always asks for her trust whenever people are accusing her falsely. Nino's the second Alya simp, which everyone else learned when Max laughed hysterically. Apparently, Max also has a channel and most probably livestreaming this.
Third, the viewers find it cute Adrien always follows her around or asks her to follow him. Marinette doesn't know how to say to that. She just knows he wants a friend. It's the way he moves his character around and how frantic he rushes to hide behind her avatar when the lights are out. Marinette shrugged it off, too tired and in her element to blush about Adrien's actions. There is no romance in this game. 'Only betrayal!'
...
"This is it guys." Marinette hummed, finally becoming the impostor for the second time in the game. She's even paired with Alix. The last time she was paired with Alya and she killed Adrien. Everyone knows Marinette wouldn't kill Adrien. "Let's see how this'll go."
She already killed Lila right off the bat, the woman was a fool for standing close to a hole. Feeling bold, Marinette turned off the lights and walked up to medbay with Adrien, leaving him behind and locking the doors to kill Nathaniel near the hole.
Hopping into the hole, she popped out to walk towards the lights with Mylène. She saw Nino's dead body at the rocket so Alix hovering over Max is a sure sign he's the next dead guy. Already inside lights, Marinette saw Alix and Max about to go to lights. They were hesitantly going in and before the lights opened up, Marinette decided to screw it and kill of Mylène. Alix should have taken that as a hint to do a-
(Adrien slammed the emergency button)
"Son of a!" Marinette cursed, but she took a deep breath, un-muting herself. "What's up?"
"Holy Fu-Fandom! What happened?!" Alya gasped, staring at the death count. "One more kill and it's over?! Who is this savage?!"
"It couldn't be Max, Marinette and I. We were heading to lights." Alix defended immediately. She must be cursing a storm for the missed double-kill opportunity. Alix asked, "And the last time Max and I saw Mylène was in admin. She must have died in there."
"But what if- Wait! We don't even know where the bodies are!" Alya gasped. "Adrien?! Did you see the body?"
"No but-" Adrien didn't finish when everyone pointed their fingers at him.
"I bet one of them is Adrien, but then I feel Alix is too." Kim theorized, recalling the last time Adrien was the impostor. "Why else did Adrien press the button? He wants to hide the evidence."
"Hold up! Didn't I say I was with Max right after Alya left me?" Alix argued. "Where were you, Alya?"
"I was with Kim." Alya confessed. "You know? Because he couldn't find Max and we had tasks at the bottom right."
"Before you speak. I am not the killer. Alix would report if I had murdered a body and I was with you in the first part of the game. The killer calculated the seconds before killing again. This is an expert." Max has spoken. Marinette knew Alix had the right idea tagging along with Max. "Alix also have a lot of opportunities to kill me, but she didn't."
"And if I were the impostor, I would kill Max with no hesitation." Alix lied. "He knows my game style too much."
"Alix is team player." Marinette told the audience, tapping her fingers on the desk. It was all going together. She can already hears the screams of anger from her past victims.
"Then we vote Adrien off. He just pressed the button without knowing where the dead body is. He must be one of them!" Alya realized, already voting. Alix voted afterwards. "Since we all saw Kim do his task and I'm with him most of the time."
"Yeah. Alya could have killed me so many times, but she didn't." Kim agreed, also voting. "For sure, Alya and I are safe. Not sure about you, guys. I'm choosing Alix."
"WHAT?!" Alix gasped, irritated the oaf would get his guess right. "You pointed fingers at Adrien then you vote me?!"
"These kills are so YOU." Kim argued back. "Like come on! How can we let her get away with this?!"
"I vote for Adrien. He prevented the discovery of the body." Max said, rather grim. "We have a forty percent chance of getting the impostor right. I hope I made the right deduction."
"Let me speak first!" Adrien panicked, and Marinette felt guilty that Adrien is going to be voted out. Marinette thought about voting Adrien off, but then she's curious why he pressed the button.
"Okay, Adrien. Let's talk. Convince me." Marinette decided, giving the guy a chance. Three voted Adrien out. One voted Alix. If she wants Adrien alive, she needs to vote Alix with Adrien (voting Alix) for no one to die. She glanced at chat to see so many emoticons. She grabbed another croissant, the last and bit on it. 'They're mad I'm prepping sunshine for space.'
"I pressed the button because I lost sight of Marinette." Adrien reasoned, and Marinette choked on air.
"W-woah there. You pressed the button to see Marinette?" Alix asked, half-amused and horrified. Marinette knew tailing Adrien would bite her in the butt one day. Adrien probably got used to seeing their two avatars being close when the lights are out. It's a strat she and Alya would do, but are failing to do because Alya wants to be with her hubby. Nino had to go.
"Yes. I was in medbay scanning myself when Marinette left me. I then went down to check admin where she was, but the lights went off. I didn't want to leave so checked vitals and saw Lila, Nino and Nathaniel dead." Adrien reasoned and Marinette pinched the bridge of her nose. Oh noooooo. Adrien concluded. "When I pressed the button Mylène died very recently."
"OHHHHHH" Kim gasped. Marinette winced, hands together and praying Alix saves her life. Kim yelled. "Adrien! Vote Alix! You gotta vote her off! She's the pro-killer! She was the last one to have seen Mylène! Marinette! You have to vote Alix too or Adrien's dead. Save Sunshine!"
"But what if Adrien is the killer?" Alya inquired. "We're still six left as a team, but a double kill would be enough for a win."
"I'm not the killer." Adrien argued. "I wouldn't throw my ally under the bus."
"What to do? What to do?" Marinette hummed, thinking hard. If she votes Alix, someone will press the button and there's also the chance of Max learning the truth. 'They need a double kill if Adrien doesn't die.'
"Marinette? Are you there?" Adrien asked. "I have a question for you. Your answer will solve this whole mess."
"Uf." Marinette can feel Alix cursing her if she gives way. Alix can be pretty competitive when it comes to games. Marinette un-mutes, "What is it?"
"Are you the impostor?" Adrien asked.
"Excuse me?" Marinette smiled, but she knows she sounds pretty offended.
"Are you?" Adrien asked again. Marinette doesn't know what to say. Does he want to hear the truth? Is he making her paranoid? Is he trying to get under her nerve?
"I well wow?" Marinette isn't sure what to say. "What made you say?"
"A lot of things." Adrien reasoned. "You aren't the type to walk alone when the lights are off. You're also silent in the entire meeting when you usually ask where everyone was. Assuming Alix is right then Mylène, still alive and in admin, went up to fix the lights at the same time you were heading to lights. Alix and Max would have seen you, but then.. I don't know why you'd risk your identity to kill Mylène with two witnesses coming over. Why would you do something so reckless?"
"..." Marinette changed her mind. She should have killed Adrien first. He looked right through her. She could say she was eating, but Marinette still speaks with her mouth full. The viewers call her a hamster. She knows Adrien is testing her because no one has seen Mylène... But what if Adrien did see Mylène? Marinette bit her lower lip, thinking. 'It's time.'
"It's the inner Noir in me." Marinette answered, smiling because she remembered the answer Chat Noir gave when they both played this game in the past. If Ladybug is the ideal crewmate who does her tasks and identifies the impostor, then Chat Noir should be the best impostor who's just utterly chaotic. Chat Noir always knew if she was the impostor or not, using the emergency button just to toss her out. That cat is too smart. Now that she thought about it, she might have incorporated some of her partner's technique here. Marinette smiled, watching Adrien vote. "I did all the kills. My partner's playing safe, sticking to people.."
...
"I've calculated the time and Marinette does have the time and skill to kill four members." Max muttered. Marinette couldn't tell them she waited for a while, watching anyone who'd go near the body to kill them. However, no one came forth and she went on her way.
"NOOOOOO" Everyone (but Adrien and her) was screaming. Alix was pretending, but she is naturally surprised Marinette killed most of the people. Marinette now placed a seed of suspicion against everyone. Now Adrien looks like the most innocent person next to Kim. Alya's sudden accusation will get her tossed out. Alix will need to walk on a tight rope to keep Max alive or dead. Because right now, Max believes her innocence.
"Marinette had us played. I knew she was an impostor after she left us." Alya cried. Marinette took a sip, staring at the voting period. Few more seconds. "They're going to botch the comms and they're going to kill us."
"Wait. We might have a chance if Marinette... Ok. It might not work." Kim realized too late. "Marinette's obviously going to vote Adrien off because she's the impostor!"
"No wait. We still have few seconds." Alya insisted. "Adrien. Convince her to let you live! Praise Ladybug! That always works for me."
"What?! No, it doesn't!" Marinette shrieked, covering her cheeks. She remembered Alya singing compliments towards her to the point she was laughing. It cheered her up so Alya gets her way. It was worth it. 'But what if Adrien were to do it?'
"She's lying!" Alya yelled. Marinette should really vote, but another part of her wants to know how Adrien praises her superhero form. After miracle queen, a lot of people worry if she's capable of the additional duties. "Fine. Tell her a secret. Make her want to hear you speak on the next meeting. Adrien!"
"If you let me live, we won't vote you but we'll decipher who your partner is!" Adrien admitted, and Marinette blinked. What? Marinette has ten seconds. Why is time so slow? Adrien continued, "I'm going to do a Ladybug on this. I just need more time."
"Do a ladybug?" Marinette scrunched her nose. She knows only one dumb person to use her hero name in that manner so boldly. She has a bad feeling about this, but as the Guardian of the Miraculous, she should be smart enough to know a miraculous holder's identity right? She doesn't need an identity reveal if Chat Noir slipped right?
"Yes. It'll be amazing." Adrien agreed. Marinette will regret this, but she wants to hear his reasoning. She knows how Chat Noir rationalize so if she hears how Adrien thinks without staring at his face then maybe
[Marinette has voted.]
"I knew it! You are an Adrien simp!" Alix yelled as she saw Marinette vote Alix.
"We all saw this coming!" Kim cheered. "Nice one, Adrien."
"All is fair in love and war." Alya smiled. "How do you feel, M?"
"So-so.." Marinette smiled back, nodding to herself. "I'm going to kill you, Alya."
"Oh su-What?!" Alya yelled as they returned to the meeting room.