Veiled (Akumatized Marinette Reveal!AU OneShot)

Fandom: Miraculous Ladybug

Words: 3,942

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Summary: Marinette is akumatized after she finds out that Chloe has been spreading humiliating and false rumors about her. Turning into Veiled, she is granted to power to force her enemies to spill their deepest secrets when touched. Chat Noir, wondering where Ladybug is, is faced with the reality of the situation when Tikki shows up asking for help.

or in short

Reveal! AU where Marinette is akumatized and Chat Noir high-key struggles

---

The first day of school was as normal as any other day for Marinette. She’s five minutes late for Ms. Bustier’s class but since she’s such a nice teacher simply continues with her lesson. Graciously waving at Ms. Bustier, Marinette makes her way to her seat. She notices that Chloe’s on her phone, and her eyes flick up to the raven haired girl in a sly grin. As usual. Marinette sits down next to Alya.

Marinette turns over and gasps softly. Her friend looked miserable. She leans over and whispers, “Alya, what’s wrong?”

She sighs heavily, “I lost my phone, girl.” Alya wipes a fake tear from her eye and Marinette snickers.

The next day of school is completely different. When Marinette walks into class, thankfully on time today, the teacher isn’t in but the class falls silent. She slowly scopes out the room to see Kim and Max chuckling down at something beneath the desk top. Kim looks up and stops laughing when they make eye contact. How strange, Marinette thinks to herself.

Alya still hasn’t found her phone, but she’s determined to find it by this afternoon.

“I swear i left it at the pool when we went out this past weekend. It has to be there.” She says.

“I’m sure you’ll find it.” Marinette smiles. Nino turns around and rests a hand on Alya’s. Marinette watches them and her cheeks flush. She wants what they have.

Marinette doesn’t think too much about the class’s odd behavior since it’s not uncommon for their lot. What was different was how quiet Chloe sat in the front row. She hasn’t commented on Marinette whatsoever since she walked in. Marinette doesn’t say anything about it, afraid she’ll ruin the tranquil nature of the classroom.

As the day passes, Marinette begins to notice the eyes constantly staring at her, and laughing. Something was up, and she had no clue what it was.

When Marinette gets into class the next morning, fully aware that something fishy was going on behind the scenes, she notices that Alya has her phone. Chloe and Sabrina weren’t in class yet and walking past their seats and into her own felt so at ease.

That was until Alya turned around with the most heartbreaking expression across her face.

Marinette frowns, “Are you okay?” Alya shakes her head and gently slides her phone over to her friend. Confused, Marinette studies the phone.

Alya says quietly, “I would’ve known sooner if I had my phone.”

And then she saw it. A collective group of tweets sent out by Chloe about her. They were rumors and so absurd. But as she continued scrolling down through the comments, her breath hitched. People believed her lies. Her humiliating, hurtful lies.

Marinette feels her eyes begin to water and her cheeks flush with embarrassment. How long have these rumors been spreading throughout the school? In front of her, Nino and Adrien are both watching guiltily. Even though they both only just learned about the rumors last night, neither of them notified Alya or Marinette about it.

Marinette takes a shaky breath in, “T-These are horrible..” Her lips quiver and her vision becomes blurred. Beside her, Alya wraps an arm around her shoulders.

“Its okay Marinette. We’ll get to the bottom of this.” she says.

As if on cue, Chloe and Sabrina walk into the classroom. She looks at the flushed Marinette and smirks.

Frowning, Marinette’s mind goes blank and she stands up hastily. “Do you think these are funny?” Everyone’s attention is now focused on the two girls.

Chloe stops in the middle of the classroom and peers down at her nails, “What’s funny?”

Acting on impulse and the shattering of her dignity, Marinette walks down to the blonde. Sabrina kneels behind Chloe, knowing full well what is about to happen.

“Your stupid, fake rumors! Do you know how many people have seen those? How many people believe that I only live in Paris because ‘i was banished from China’?” Marinette can feel her chin dripping with tears. Her clenched fists shake and she wills herself to keep her composure. “That is so offensive!”

Chloe shrugs, “Might as well be true.”

Gasping, Marinette struggles to take a breath in and before the entire class sees her break down she sprints out towards the bathrooms.

Alya stands up to go find Marinette. She runs past Chloe but stops and turns around, “You’ve gone too far this time, Chloe Bourgeois.”

…

Marinette clutches a sink and cries. She is so humiliated and now the entire school believes Chloe’s false rumors. Not only that, Chloe probably sent them outside of school and anyone could believe her lies.

Tikki flies out of her purse and wipes a tear with her little hand, “Marinette, it’s going to be alright.”

Marinette frowns and looks at herself in the mirror. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes were puffy from crying. Unsure how her pigtails got loose, Marinette frustratingly pulls them and her hair falls gently against her shoulders.

“It’s not going to be alright.” Marinette finally says. “So many people have read her rumors and knowing Chloe, she’s not going to remove them.” Removing her hands from their grip on the sink, she watches the blurry image of her white knuckles return pink again.

“You have friends who will help you! Please don’t be upset, there is a way to get past this.” Her kwamii reassures frantically. Marinette was very upset and if she didn’t calm her down soon she might be overtaken by Hawkmoth. “You can go inform the principle about Chloe’s tweets and he will take care of it!”

Marinette feels her chest tighten and she shakes her head, “That won’t work, Tikki. You’ve seen what happens with him and her father. I’m never going to escape her lies.”

Tikki is about to say more when an akuma squeezes itself though the entryway of the bathroom. Her eyes widen and in a panic she flies up in front of Marinette. “Please calm down Marinette! Your negative emotions will cause you to get akumatized! How will Paris save you if there is no Ladybug-!”

The butterfly pushes past Tikki and infects the necklace Marinette wore that day. Tikki lowers herself, shocked, and watches her friend’s face darken and Hawkmoth’s symbol appear.

“Veiled… I grant you the power to possess the deepest most hidden secrets from your enemies who’ve laughed at lies. With a single touch they will cry your tears and open their mouths to spill their secrets for all of Paris to hear. In return, you must give me Ladybug and Chat Noir’s miraculous.”

Marinette smirks wickedly, “We’ll see who’s laughing now.”

Dark clouds of black and purple consume Marinette’s figure. Taking a step, Veiled walks out past the transformation to reveal her akumatized self.

A mask to cover the pain struck against her face, decorated with pink petals and pink smears down the eyes to represent the tears shed because of lies. The mask is mesmerizing; spirals paralyzing her victims so she can get close enough to fetch her prey.

Veiled is dressed with a grey cheongsam shirt that is decorated with the same pink petals along the top and bottom seams of the blouse. Her pants are a soft pink, and her flats grey to match her top.

Marinette’s hair, pushed back from the mask, flows effortlessly around her face, an allusion of beauty and peace; everything she currently was not.

Tikki hides behind a soap dispenser so Hawkmoth does not see her and potentially learn the identity of Ladybug.

Marinette begins to walk out the bathroom, her steps light as if she were walking on a whole new surface. Opening the doors, Veiled makes her way to the streets of Paris.

…

“No sight of Marinette?” Nino asks at the end of class, walking beside Adrien. Alya sighs.

“Not one bit. I feel so bad for her. Chloe had no right to go around spreading such distasteful rumors about Marinette.”

“I hope she’s okay.” Adrien says, twisting the ring on his finger anxiously. He’s read the tweets. He saw them the day Chloe first posted them and he immediately went over to her hotel and confronted her. Of course, he should’ve known Chloe wasn’t going to delete them.

He’s felt terrible the past two days, and wanted to tell Marinette about the rumors but was too afraid to see her reaction.

“Guys, there’s an Akuma going around Paris right now!” Alya says, “Check this out.” She extends her hand to show the two boys her phone. The news was covering the masked figure called “Veiled” who was causing pedestrians to cry.

“She’s pretty badass.” Nino says, gawking at Alya’s iphone screen.

“Yeah she is! I’ve got to get this for the Ladyblog.” Snatching her hand back, Alya runs out of the school.

“Always walking into trouble, right Adrie-” Turning over, Nino stops talking when he notices Adrien has left him as well. Shrugging, he pulls his headset over his ears and makes his way back home.
Adrien stops behind the school and faces his Kwamii. “Plagg, transform me!”

Chat Noir, follows the path of crying pedestrians and eventually finds the recent Akuma. Perched on the roof of a building, he watched Veiled stealthily swing her arm and rest her fingers upon a young man’s shoulder. In an instance, his eyes begin to cry pink tears and his trembling voice reveals a secret. Veiled’s voice echoes behind the mask, “Tell me your deepest secrets.”

“I didn’t stop wetting my bed until i was 14 years old.” The man says, and Veiled easily walks past him. His eyes don’t stop crying, Chat has noticed as he was searching for the Akuma.

Chat watches closely and tries to figure out who’s behind the mask.

“Tell me your deepest secrets…” Veiled mutters, voice smooth and silky. Except, Chat can tell that it’s an allusion. The voice is broken and tainted by the hypnotic beauty of her mask. In an instant, his thoughts click together and his ears fall.

“Marinette.” He whispers, the feeling of guilt settles in the pit of his stomach. This was his fault. He should’ve told Alya and her the moment he saw the tweets. He trails his eyes around his surroundings and realizes that Veiled was heading towards Chloe’s hotel. Of course she would, considering Chloe’s the reason for this mess.

Not wanting to start anything just quite yet, Chat Noir remains on the roof and waits for Ladybug. She’s going to show up eventually and then they can tackle this Akuma head on.

The least he could do was observe and make sure Veiled doesn’t cause any more harm than she’s currently doing.

After a couple of minutes, Ladybug still hasn’t showed up and he has to move to a different pair of buildings in order to keep an eye on the Akuma. She was getting awfully close to Chloe and Chat Noir was beginning to worry Ladybug wouldn’t show up in time and he’d have to take things into his own hands.

He stands up, ready to stop Veiled from entering the front doors of the hotel when a red figure catches his attention. In front of him, a very worried red Kwamii with a black dot centered in the middle of her head stops before him.

His mouth hangs open in shock. That’s Ladybug’s Kwamii. Ladybug wasn’t even transformed and her Kwamii is floating right in front of him. Something must be wrong.

Chat swallows, “Y-You’re Ladybug’s Kwamii. Wait, is something wrong? Where is Ladybug?” He asks and he can physically see the little critter deflate as if in defeat.
“Chat Noir, I am Ladybug’s Kwamii. My name is Tikki and I need your help.” She says, voice small but determined. Chat nods in acknowledgement and continues listening. “Ladybug isn’t coming.”

“What?” Chat steps forward, unease sizzling beneath his suit. “What happened, why can’t she make it?”

Tikki puffs her cheeks out in exasperation, “She’s not coming because Veiled is Ladybug!”

The world around him comes to a complete stop. His eyes widen and his heart feels as if it could beat through and out his chest. His ears pulse and he gasps.

Marinette was Ladybug.

Chat Noir raises his hands to brace his head because he feels as if his would was spinning out of control. How could he not see it? They both were uncannily similar and yet he never tied the two people together. The love of his life was the most kind, sweet, and selfless girl he’s ever met. And he’s been friends with her the entire time.

His lips part as he stares off into the distance; thoughts running a thousand miles per hour. Tikki comes up to his wavering eyes and calls out his name.

“Chat Noir!” She cries, but he continues to be lost in revelation. “Chat Noir!” She squeaks and this breaks his trance.

He looks up, and sees the distressed expression across Tikki’s face. “We have to get the Akuma! It’s in her necklace. If you’re able to break it, I can de-evilize it and set everything back to normal.”

“Alright. Lets do it.” He says, pushing any panic or worry behind him in order to save Marinette.

He sprints past the buildings and glancing into Chloe’s bedroom windows can see Veiled standing before her. He hastily jumps through the window but is too late. Her hand rests on Chloe’s forehead and the blonde breaks.

“I’ve never had any true friends because i’ve always been abandoned by the people i love.” Chloe wails, her cheeks soaked pink. Veiled releases her touch and Chloe hunches over in humiliation and sobs into her arms.

“It’s not fun is it?” Veiled says quietly, but Chat Noir catches it. He hears the crack in her voice and can see her body tense.

“How about we save the chit-chat for another day, Purr-incess?” He says, leaning against his baton. Veiled turns around, mask ominous to any expression but Chat finds himself staring into her eyes. The mask provides a hypnotic spiral that causes him to pause in his actions. But not long enough for Veiled to extend her fingers and touch him.

He jumps back, blinking a couple of times and remembers his mission. He has to get her necklace. His eyes flick down to the black choker resting gently along her neck above the seams of her cheongsam. That must be where Tikki said the akuma was.

“Feisty are we?” He teases, taking a few steps to gain ground. He looks around in hopes of finding something to help him get the necklace. He didn’t want to use Cataclysm in the chance he accidentally misses. Chat’s skin crawls remembering Volpina’s Hero’s Day allusion of himself being struck by Cataclysm.

“Tell me your deepest Secret…” Veiled says, walking closer to him. Chat knits his brows together. He didn’t have a plan but needed one quick.

Veiled advances and Chat swiftly sidesteps her attack. Her arm remains extended, fingers stretching outwards to touch her enemy. Hawkmoth’s symbol appears before her eyes and Chat watches her stand still.

“Seize this moment and give me Chat Noir’s miraculous!”

The symbol fades and she begins to walk again. Chat turns his head around and spots Tikki floating towards the ceiling, waiting for him to break the akuma.

Veiled swings her hand out to him, just barely missing the bell on his chest and he shrieks.

That was a close one, he thinks to himself. She’s fast when she wants to be. Acting quick, Chat Noir turns around and books it for Chloe’s bed. Maybe he could wrap her in the bed sheets and then break the necklace.

He reaches out and grabs a hold of the sheet, ready to face Veiled but when he turns around, she is already there.

Her outstretched fingers brush against his lips and all at once Chat Noir begins to feel overwhelmed and his eyes gush with bright pink tears. The whole in his stomach aches, and he resists with everything he has to not open his lips.

His mind grows hazy and his lips part beneath her touch.

“I’m afraid my father will never love me and that I will never make him proud.” His eyes widen, and he takes a shuddering breath in. Veiled’s body tenses, he notices after his lips spoke the words he feared most, and Chat Noir realizes the true purpose of her power.

To make everyone else feel bad so she wouldn’t hate herself as much.

Veiled lowers her arm and before she gets the chance to walk away Chat Noir blurts out the first words that come to mind.

“I’ve only ever had 4 friends in my entire life.” He says, voice cracking at the end of his confession. Veiled doesn’t move. Chat finds it difficult to see since his vision is obscured with pink tears that continue to rain down his cheeks, but he can still see clear enough that his words affected Veiled. So, he speaks up.

“I’m too afraid to confront my father about the burden it is being under his shadow.”

“I am scared that Ladybug will never love me as much as i love her.”

“I am terrified of the thought that one day, everyone will leave me alone just like when i was growing up.”

Chat Noir can sense the lift of weight off his shoulders confessing his deepest fears. He takes a step forward, testing the waters and Veiled moves back ever so slightly. He almost has her. Swallowing, he speaks his biggest secret of the day.

“I knew about Marinette’s rumors from the beginning and was too cowardly to tell her.” he says, and hurriedly runs up, hooking his finger behind Veiled’s necklace and pulling.

The string pops and as it falls to the floor; the akuma flutters out. Veiled is consumed by dark clouds once more and reveals a sad Marinette. She falls to her knees.

Chat Noir looks up at the akuma that flutters away, worried that Tikki might not arrive in time but sure enough the Kwamii swoops in and chomps down on the butterfly. Chat’s jaw drops. Tikki then spits the butterfly out, its wings now glowing white. She raises a small arm and squeaks, “Miraculous ladybug!”

Swarms of glowing ladybugs consume the streets of Paris and the city is set back to normal. No more pedestrians are crying, and in the room Chloe stands up and runs out her doors in embarrassment.

Chat kneels down before Marinette and she lifts her head. Blinking, she wipes her moist cheeks with a hand and looks around.

“Why am I in Chloe’s room..?” Marinette asks to no one. She finally notices Chat Noir and gasps, raising her hands to her lips. “I was akumatized?”

“Yes. But don’t worry, I handled it.” Chat smiles softly, looking at Marinette in an entirely new perspective. He loved everything about her. Everything.

Marinette knits her brows together in confusion and rubs her hands against her knees, “But how did you cleanse the akuma?” Chat is silent, unsure if he should respond. He didn’t want her to hate him if she figured out he now knows her secret identity, but at the same time he doesn’t want to lie to Ladybug or Marinette.

Marinette looks at him for answers, and her eyes widen when she sees Tikki float down beside him.

“I got help.” Chat finally says. Looking down, he forms his words. “Listen, I want to be completely honest with you because that is the basis of our relationship.” Marinette’s stomach drops when she realizes what he’s about to tell her.

“I know your identity, Marinette, and i would’ve preferred any other situation where I find out but I’m unable to de-evilize the akuma and if I did nothing the situation would’ve become ten times worse and-”

“Chat.” Marinette says, voice stern. He looks up, and sees that Marinette isn’t furious. She smiles gently at him and nods. “So… you know i’m Ladybug?”

This time, Chat nods.

Relaxing her shoulders, Marinette takes a deep breath in and assesses the situation. “That’s alright. I guess it doesn’t change anything.”

“I feel you deserve to know my identity as well.” Chat blurts and Marinette flushes.

“No, Chat, please its alright its not your fault I got akumatized and started this mess-”

Chat doesn’t let her finish her sentence, “It sure feels like my fault.” He stares at Marinette, wondering what thoughts lie beneath the pools of blue in her eyes. Chat says, “Plagg, claws in.”

Green travels up his body and Plagg flies out to Tikki. Adrien looks at Marinette who’s cheeks have turned five shades darker and he sighs. “I knew about the rumors when Chloe first tweeted them but i was too scared to tell you. I didn’t want to hurt you.”

Marinette is speechless. Her cheeks burn ferociously and she can’t seem to form any words. Adrien Agreste, the Adrien Agreste was her Chat Noir. The entire time. More and more thoughts sink into her mind and Marinette feels as if she may implode on herself.

“Mari?” Adrien asks, and she looks up at him. She can see it now. Marinette swallows, too stunned to speak at the moment and continues to contemplate her past life decisions. Willing herself to focus, Marinette saves her panic for another time because Adrien is staring at her with the most concerned expression. She needs to say something.

“It-It’s okay. About the rumor thing. I understand why you didn’t tell me.” She musters, unable to break eye contact. Her world seemed to be shifting perspective by the second.

“I’m sorry.” He says. Marinette smiles, leaning forward she wraps her arms around him in a hug.

“Thank you.” she says. Adrien tilts his head into her neck and sinks into the hug. Maybe this was all Marinette needed. A hug. Maybe if Alya had found her before she was akumatized, this might’ve never happened.

…

Adrien, Alya, Nino, and Marinette went to the Principal’s office the following day and reported Chloe for spreading the rumors. As expected, she was persistent in denying her actions until Alya pulled up all the tweets she posted. The principle wasn’t pleased and notified Mayor Bourgeois.

The four of them were crossing each others fingers, hoping she’d get more than just a slap on the wrist. With their past experiences, she hasn’t even gotten a slap on the wrist.

Thankfully, her father was so disgusted by his daughters actions that she was grounded for a month and her actions caused her to be expelled from school for an entire week. He apologized to Marinette for his daughter’s behavior and even went a step further as to making Chloe apologize herself.

Walking out of the Principal’s office, the four of them wait for a fuming Chloe and her father to leave down the stairs before jumping up and cheering. They all hold out their arms for a group hug.

“Yes! The beast has been tamed!” Alya cries, going in for another hug with Marinette. She blushes, but agrees. The sinking dread that she felt before about the rumors is almost entirely gone and she’s so grateful to have such amazing friends.

“This calls for some ice cream.” Nino says, pumping his fist in excitement.

“I’m down for that.” Adrien says, slipping his hand into Marinette’s. She flushes, not used to the contact and their newly founded relationship. Alya and Nino make their way to the other sides of them and together they ditch classes and go get ice cream.