Disclaimer: I don't own ML.
Hopefully I can update tomorrow but considering we're preparing to get the fuck out because the bushfires are that close, I can't really promise anything, so forgive any mistakes in this chapter XD
Thanks to The Dimensional Reader, Evander1435, Shiranai Atsune, acosta perez jose ramiro, The Keeper of Worlds, catsinblack and yellow 14 for your reviews :)
"This is a disaster!" Ladybug cries. "Chat Noir! Carapace!"
"Hey. Ladybug." Rena Rouge grabs Ladybug by the shoulders, not painfully but firmly enough to stop her in her tracks. "You and I can take down Malediktator, yeah?"
"It's not Malediktator I'm worried about." Ladybug takes a deep breath and rattles the abacus Lucky Charm rhythmically, the repetitive stim helping her calm down and think clearly. Now is not the time for panic. "It's Chat and Carapace. They think they're a cat and a turtle! Malediktator could take their Miraculouses!"
"Hey, you're not allowed to lose your shit right now," Rena Rouge says. "You'll figure it out. You're Ladybug."
"Oh, my darling, where's Chloé?" Audrey Bourgeois simpers on the ground, stroking Chat Noir's hair while Carapace curls in a ball next to her. Ladybug bites down the furious rush of wrong that curdles her gut at the sight of a bad guy petting Chat Noir like that. Even if Audrey's been brainwashed, she sure as hell isn't a good guy in her normal mind. "She's always wanted a turtle!"
"I'll find our princess just as soon as Ladybug and Rena Rouge are under my control!" Malediktator says.
"Huh, I would've thought Chloé would be all over this," Rena Rouge says. "After the way she stormed out and said she was leaving with her mother. You know, it probably wasn't such a great idea for Marinette to get them to bond over being nasty…"
"I know," Ladybug winces. Okay, so that hadn't been her finest hour, especially after all the effort she's put into helping Chloé find the right track…but hey, desperation to help someone can be a nasty thing. "But the fact that Chloé's hiding…maybe that shows that she's realising this isn't right."
"Okay, so, like, what are you gonna use that for?" Rena Rouge points at the abacus.
"We need the Bee and I know what to do," Ladybug says. "I need you to keep an eye on Malediktator till I get back, so I can take you to help me with Chloé. I need your Mirage."
"Chloé?" Rena Rouge splutters. "But everyone knows she's Queen Bee!"
"I know. She won't be Queen Bee, trust me. I just need you to make sure we can trust her."
"Okay, okay," Rena Rouge says. "Just call me when you need me. Now, go!"
Ladybug salutes and takes off through the city to Master Fu's place. She lands in a nearby alleyway just as her transformation wears off, then tucks Tikki into her purse to refuel and walks the rest of the way as Marinette.
"Master!" she cries as she barrels into the room. "Malediktator has turned Chat Noir and Carapace into a cat and a turtle!"
Master Fu's eyes widen. "Maybe you shouldn't have left them, then?"
"I've got Rena Rouge keeping an eye on them," Marinette says. "And the Lucky Charm led me here. I need the Bee, but…there's also another Miraculous I want to hand out after the battle. Then I'll be happy with our team for now."
Master Fu nods and goes to retrieve the Miracle Box. As soon as it's flipped open, Marinette grabs the Bee comb and the Dragon choker, and Master Fu fetches little boxes for her to slip them into.
"Good luck, Marinette," Master Fu says. "To you and your team."
"Thank you, Master," Marinette says. "Tikki, spots on!"
Once she's outside and on a rooftop, she swipes open her yo-yo and calls Rena Rouge. Thankfully, it only takes a few seconds for her teammate to answer.
"You got what you need?" Rena Rouge says.
"Yeah," Ladybug says. "Where's Malediktator?"
"Back at the hotel, looking for Chloé. I think she's hiding on the roof, 'cause he hasn't found her yet."
"Perfect. Stay right there, out of sight. And when I say the words, "You can come out now," I need you to make an illusion of Marinette."
"Huh? Marinette? Why?"
"Just trust me!" Ladybug says. "If you're listening, you'll know what to make her say. But I need to make sure that my instincts are right."
Chloé's not on the rooftop when Ladybug finally makes it to Le Grand Paris. However, she does make out Rena Rouge's distinctive orange behind a bush, thankfully out of sight unless approaching from the angle that Ladybug had, and just as Ladybug is about to head over and make sure that she remembers the plan, the door to the rooftop bursts open. A flash of yellow streaks out, and Chloé Bourgeois ends up firmly on her royal rear when trying to skid to a halt in time to avoid a collision with Ladybug.
"Are you okay?" Ladybug says, helping Chloé to her feet.
"Ladybug!" Chloé throws her arms around Ladybug. "You're going to help me, right?"
"I'm fine with helping you, Chloé," Ladybug says. "But first, I need you to tell me what happened." She needs Chloé to pass this test. "Why is your father – I mean, Malediktator, so mad?"
"It's because of my super lame classmates," Chloé scoffs. "They all hate me. They humiliated me in class today and –"
"Maybe they're not entirely to blame?" Ladybug says.
"Ugh. Fine, it wasn't totally their fault," Chloé scoffs. "Sure, they're utterly mean to me sometimes, but Daddy got mad all by himself."
"All by himself?" Ladybug raises an eyebrow. Chloé gulps and fidgets.
"Yeah, because…there was something he couldn't do…"
Ladybug sighs and reaches out to rest a hand on Chloé's shoulder. "Chloé, it's me. Ladybug. You don't have to put on this tough act around me, remember? You can trust me. What really happened?"
"I – I –" Chloé swallows and takes a shaky breath. Ladybug smiles and nods in encouragement, and that's all Chloé needs to let the floodgates slam open. "It – It was me. I hurt my daddy's feelings. Because I want to leave Paris forever!"
"Because of what happened in school with the video?" Ladybug says, and Chloé blanches. "I'm sure your classmates didn't mean to be so harsh –"
"Oh, it's not them," Chloé sniffles. "Actually, I don't even care about any of them, except Sabrina. It's because I have no reason to be here – nobody likes me, my only friend is Sabrina and I know I treat her like shit, Adrien's still not my friend, I can't do anything – I'm…the only thing I am good at is screwing everything up. And I caused this mess, and I'm sorry, Ladybug, I'm sorry."
"That's not true," Ladybug says. Chloé snorts.
"It's easy for you to say that. You're Ladybug, a superhero."
"You think I've always been Ladybug?" Ladybug says. "You think all of my achievements have been behind this mask? I happened to be in the right place at the right time. The costumes don't make us anything; all they do is give us powers and enhance what's already there. We don't need our powers to be heroes. I've seen how hard you're trying and how far you've come."
"It's still not enough." A sob wracks Chloé's body, and she hunches over as though trying to contain it. "My classmates have given up on me. Even Marinette Dupain-Cheng told my mother how nasty I am. Was she just trying to sabotage me? Ugh, I bet she was –"
"I'm sure that's not true," Ladybug says. Then she raises her voice and calls, "You can come out now!"
Chloé frowns and wipes her eyes. A few seconds pass, then Marinette emerges from behind the bush where Rena Rouge is hiding. Huh. Rena Rouge is really getting the hang of this; the Marinette illusion looks totally realistic, with only a slight fuzz around the edges, although that's probably only because Ladybug knows what to look for.
"Dupain-Cheng?" Chloé exclaims.
"Ladybug brought me here," illusion Marinette says. "I heard everything. And I'm sorry for what I said to your mother."
"Why would you say that?" Chloé stomps her foot. "You say I have to be a good person, then you turn around and tell her what a bitch I am!"
Illusion Marinette's mouth droops. "I saw how much it meant to you, getting your mother's approval. I just…I guess I wanted to help, but I went about it entirely wrong. I'm sorry, Chloé, I shouldn't have done that."
"You don't need the approval of someone like that," Ladybug says. "Remember our talk months ago? You've got support if you want it, Chloé, but you have to make the effort to not slip back into those behaviours."
"I'm trying!" Chloé says.
"I know," Ladybug says. "Is there something you want to say to Marinette?"
"Do I have to?" Chloé whines.
"Yes," Ladybug says. "I'm grateful that you apologised to me, but I'm not the one who deserves that apology. It's easy to say sorry to someone you like. It's not so easy to say it to someone you dislike."
Chloé's mouth works silently for a few moments. Then, to Ladybug's delight, she squares her shoulders, turns to illusion Marinette stiffly, and says, "I'm…sorry, Dup – Marinette. For everything I've done. I'm s-sorry for accusing you of sabotage. And…thank you for helping me try and become a better person. I…accept your apology."
Illusion Marinette beams. "I accept yours too, Chloé," she says. "Ladybug's right, you know. You've been trying hard."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Chloé says. "Get off my roof." But there's no venom in her voice, so that's pretty much a declaration of gratitude from her.
"Alright, alright, enough with the sap." Rena Rouge emerges from behind the bush. Ladybug's eyes bulge, and she's just about to ask Rena Rouge what the hell she's doing, but Rena Rouge grabs illusion Marinette around the waist before Ladybug can speak. "I'll get Marinette to safety, then meet back up to take down Malediktator."
How can Rena Rouge touch 'Marinette'? Unless…oh. Smart. No one else can know secret identities, so having 'Marinette' around to see Chloé transform…
"Thank you for apologising to Marinette," Ladybug says once illusion Rena Rouge has jumped off the roof with illusion Marinette. "And for thanking her. I know it can't have been easy."
"Whatever," Chloé scoffs. "Only 'cause you asked, Ladybug."
"I know it's a tough lesson to learn, but you have to learn it," Ladybug says. "The people you've bullied aren't obligated to forgive you. You should continue to grow whether they forgive you or not; to become a better person because it's the right thing to do."
"But I can't be nice. And I know you told me I just have to be good, but no one'll believe that I'm trying if I'm not sickly sweet! They'll just shake their heads and be like, "well, there she goes again"."
"And like I said before, you don't have to be nice," Ladybug says. "There are ways that you can make yourself a better person without sacrificing who you are. You can speak your mind without being mean, you know. Tell others what you think but also tell them what you'd do. Give them another perspective. Not everyone will appreciate or ask for it, but it's at least better than just outright saying mean things. You can turn a negative comment into a snarky comment. You can direct your negativity towards evil and doing the right thing while you figure out how to become genuinely good. You can use your attitude for good rather than evil."
"I mean…" Chloé takes a deep breath. "I guess if I can't be nice, I can at least be…good. But how? I don't exactly have a moral compass like Dupain-bloody-Cheng."
"Maybe you should see someone?" Ladybug says. "A professional? I know Marinette's been helping you, but she and I can't be solely responsible for guiding you. Look, do you promise to keep trying your best? To work each day to become a better person and to reach out for help if you need it, rather than pushing people away?"
"I –" Chloé swallows and nods. "Yeah, I guess. I mean, if I could apologise to Marinette Dupain-Cheng…"
"That's exactly what I wanted to hear." Ladybug swipes open her yo-yo to fish out the little box and holds it out to Chloé, whose eyes bulge at the sight. "Chloé Bourgeois, you've proven that you're willing to put in the effort to grow and change, even when you're knocked down. Although you can't be Queen Bee ever again since your identity is known, I entrust you with the Bee Miraculous so that you can choose a new name and costume, and this will push you to keep taking steps to improve yourself. You will use it for the greater good."
Chloé just blinks and stares. When Ladybug nods, she reaches out and takes the box almost reverently, then snaps it open. Blinding gold light bursts out, making Chloé gasp and shield her eyes, and when she's uncovered her face, she lights up at the sight of the little yellow kwami floating in front of her.
"Pollen!" she cries.
"Hello, my queen!" Pollen says.
"Once the mission's complete, you must return the Miraculous to me," Ladybug says. "Can I trust you, Chloé?"
"Of course!" A beaming Chloé snatches the comb to slide into her hair. "I won't let you down, Ladybug! I'll prove that I can be a better person!"
"On both sides of the mask?" Ladybug says. Chloé nods feverishly.
"Yes, yes, of course! Pollen, buzz on!"
Chloé's new Bee outfit turns out to be a short dress with a tight yellow torso in a sweetheart neckline, with translucent blue hexagons over her upper chest, outlined in black fuzz. On the back of each palm is a black bee head with yellow details, creating the illusion of her yellow fingers emerging from underneath the bee, and the black rises to her elbows to form gloves with yellow fuzzy trim. She also has black tights with a yellow line on the outside of her thighs, knee-high yellow-soled black boots with yellow fuzz around the tops, sharp black lines tapering down her stomach that are reminiscent of her old suit, matching yellow lines on her thighs, a floaty yellow skirt with black fuzzy trim and black lines around the hem, and her trompo slung around her hips. Topping off her outfit are black streaks through her blonde hair that's now loose around her shoulders, two small black antennae sticking out of her hair, and a black-outlined yellow mask with black over the bridge of her nose and little jagged black bee stingers under each eye.
"I've dreamed of doing this for so long!" Chloé bounces on the spot, her blue eyes shining behind her mask. "With you, Ladybug!"
"Focus," Ladybug chides gently. "You, Rena Rouge, and I have to work as a team if we're going to take down Malediktator."
"Yes, yes, don't worry!" Chloé says. "I swear I won't screw up this time! Call me…" She runs a hand over her new fuzz. "Honeybee!"
"Right. Stay focused, Honeybee."
"I will, I promise!"