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Bug Noir swings down holding her boyfriend, Adrien, in her arms, the pair smiling as the wind blows on their faces. She places him down on the ground and they smile at each other. Marinette, having just defeated Chrysalis about a week ago, can finally relax and be with her friends, and more importantly, her boyfriend who now knows her identity. She thinks of the butterfly miraculous now safely tucked away in the miracle box, alongside its finally free kwami.
She can’t get Lila’s death out of her mind though, it feels like she’s missing something important. Lila shouldn’t have died, she only did because of her stupid illusions as Volpina, her akumatized ‘super heroine’ alter ego. She shouldn’t have taken that cataclysm to the chest and she shouldn’t have fallen from that height, sealing her fate. Marinette internally shudders at the memory of finding Lila lifeless on the ground, her eyes glassed over.
“That was so awesome,” Adrien breathes, beaming at his girlfriend, her braids brushing against her ankles.
“We’ll have to do it again sometime,” Marinette laughs, making Adrien’s smile soften, wondering how he could’ve gotten so lucky. “Unfortunately, I gotta go patrol now, even though Chrysalis is defeated who knows what other psychopaths live in this city,” Marinette says with a slight frown and eye roll, giving Adrien a peck on the lips and swinging up to a lamp post, looking back at Adrien one last time, giving him a wave goodbye.
About to swing away, she pauses at the sound of breaking news on the TVs displayed in a nearby shop window.
“We come to you now with revelations about last week’s attack on Paris. An anonymous source provided this video which shows Lila Rossi, aka Volpina,” Marinette internally scoffs at the alias, “moments before her death.”
Adrien stares at the screens. Where could they possibly be going with this? It’s probably just informing the world that ‘Volpina’ was Chrysalis the whole time… right?
“Warning you may find this video disturbing,” Nadja Chamack says before cutting to a video of a bloody, half-dead Lila, still akumatized as Volpina. You can see the black char of a cataclysm creeping up her body, nearing her heart.
“I managed to steal the butterfly miraculous back from Chrysalis but I don’t think I’m gonna make it out of her lair alive. Bug Noir attacked me for some reason. She has the butterfly miraculous, and she said she was going to wield all the miraculous, no one else.” Lila says, clearly holding on for dear life.
The video glitches to a clip of Bug Noir putting the butterfly miraculous on, Volpina visibly on the ground. “Tikki, Plagg, Nooroo, UNIFY!” In a flash you see part of Marinette’s unification with the butterfly miraculous, who’s only wearing said miraculous to keep it from Lila herself. “It’s over, Lila.” Lady Fly Noir says, though the statement is taken wildly out of context.
The broadcast cuts back to Chamack. “This shocking video was released earlier today, on the controversial news website, banananews.net.”
The video feed cuts to a video of Mr. Banana, ready to slander Bug Noir as always. “There you have it folks, conclusive proof that Bug Noir was responsible for the brutal murder of Volpina. A miraculous-wielding warrior who gave her life to protect our city, who will no doubt go down in history as the greatest superhero of all time.” Mr. Banana says, somehow managing to look smug through his costume.
Bug Noir narrows her eyes at the screen. They can’t actually believe this, can they?
“But that’s not all folks, here’s the real blockbuster. Brace yourselves you might wanna sit down.”
The TV cuts back to Volpina again, this time her looking more desperate and the video feed incredibly glitchy. “Bug Noir’s real na-” she looks back over her shoulder frantically, “Bug Noir’s real name is Ma-” the video feed glitches and cuts out, the screen going dark.
Adrien stares at the screen, eyes going wide. She won’t actually reveal Marinette’s identity, will she?
Marinette stares, her body unmoving as she watches the screen, muscles tense and her heart pounding out of her chest.
“Bug Noir’s name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng!” She says, the video cutting off to show Marinette’s school photo, smiling innocently at the camera.
Marinette’s eyes go wide as she stares into her own eyes, her mouth opening slightly.
“WHAT THE FU-”