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Marinette has begun referring to The Incident as The Damian Dilemma . She’s perfectly aware that it’s not a very creative name but cut her some slack – it’s been a rough couple of days. The week started off relatively normal. She woke up from her afternoon nap in time to begin her scheduled patrol that lasted well through the night and into early the next morning. She crossed paths with Tim on her way to her bedroom as he got ready for work and the two shared a brief greeting before she continued up the staircase. Everything was perfectly normal. Totally fine.
The deviation from the norm, and the beginning of her Very Bad Week, occurred when Marinette entered her room to find Bunnyx lounging on her bed. This wasn’t an unusual occurrence much to Marinette’s chagrin – it’s no secret that Ladybug and the timeline don’t exactly get along. Whenever Marinette’s feeling especially happy, the Universe likes to send the future version of one of her best friends to not-so-gracefully knock her off of her feet like she’s in some shitty episode of Wipeout while simultaneously flipping her the bird and yelling, “Fuck you!”
It’s been a rough couple of years.
A quick visit to a pocket dimension and a brief explanation later, Marinette finds herself facing her self-proclaimed Damian Dilemma. Her very own, real-life ethical dilemma with real-world consequences. Whoopee!!
Now Marinette’s a normal Gotham college student – she’s taken an ethics class before. She knows that moral dilemmas tend to fit into three categories: truth vs loyalty, individual vs community, and short term vs long term. And somehow the Damian Dilemma seems to fit into all three.
The Damian Dilemma is as follows: if Marinette does nothing and continues on the path that she is currently on, Damian will live . She will arrive at the scene of the battle in time to save her boyfriend, but because she will choose to spend her time saving him, she will not be able to defeat her opponent in time. Her opponent will accomplish their goal (what, exactly, their goal is Marinette was never made aware) and the villains will be victorious and their victory will lead to millions of innocent people’s deaths. And it will be Marinette’s fault.
However. If Marinette chooses to defeat her opponent instead of rescuing Damian, the heroes will win, all of the villains will be apprehended, and the millions of innocent civilians will live to see another day. But Damian will be left to bleed out in the middle of the woods. Alone. He will die alone and it will be Marinette’s fault.
These are the only two choices Marinette can make. If she tells anyone, if she sends someone else to rescue Damian or asks someone else to face the opponent, the exact outcome will become unpredictable but there is one thing that is certain: Damian will die, the villains will be victorious, and millions of innocent people will die. And it will be Marinette’s fault .
As Damian’s girlfriend – as Marinette Dupain-Cheng – she knows what to do. She has a responsibility to keep Damian safe. When they first started dating, she made a promise to his brothers – she would do anything to keep him safe.
But as a hero – as Ladybug – as someone who swore to protect the world from evil when she joined the Order of the Guardians? She knows what the right answer is. She has a duty . A duty that means that she must keep a secret from Damian – from her family. She must keep the secret. Because that’s what this is, isn’t it? The secret. The answer to the question that everyone has been too afraid to ask.
Damian will die. And it will be because of Marinette’s choices. But for now, she’ll enjoy these next few days with him. She’ll greet him when he arrives at the Manor after his afternoon classes. She’ll go on their Wednesday morning patrol together. She’ll pretend that nothing is wrong and that this is just a normal day.
And then will begin the series of Lasts. Within the next week, she will begin her final goodbyes and he will be none the wiser. She’ll patrol with him for the last time. She’ll eat dinner with him for the last time. She’ll sneak into his bed for the last time, chased away from her own room by nightmares of the past… and now of the future. The Wayne’s will have a final meeting together and Marinette will be the only one to know. This little rag-tag group of people who have somehow found family within each other will soon be missing a member. And it will be her fault.
But for now, Marinette climbs into bed, still in her street clothes – her makeup smeared from tears that she was unaware she had shed. Her curtains remain undrawn and the room begins to brighten as the sun rises. She spares a glance out the window – it really is a beautiful day. Tikki remains in the miracle box with the rest of the Kwami and the miracle box remains firmly closed. Even the gods are not allowed to be privy to the future. Her decision must remain purely her own. The future is set. The Damian Dilemma is solved and the world will be all the worse for it.
Maybe in another life, they would be given the chance to have a happy ending.