Morning was nine hours away.

A focused Chloé Bourgeois can do a lot in nine hours.

The next morning, Ashley grudgingly got out of bed, had her breakfast, listened to her family tell her to keep her chin up, and left for school just as her father's phone started to ring. She kept her head down and did her best to ignore the snickers and jeers from the other kids as she walked through the front doors of Kingsworth International.

Ashley did as she was told and went straight to her locker to clean it out. As usual, several notes addressed to her were stuck to the front. She tore them off and threw them to the side as she got to work. She had just finished putting the last of her things into a shopping bag when she heard a voice cut through the crowd behind her.

"Hey Flashy Ashley," a redhead called out from a group of girls. "Oh, sorry. Did we interrupt you taking out the trash? Feel like flashing anyone today? Wanna put it online?"

The girls behind the redhead giggled and jeered. Ashley just pulled her jacket closer to her and tried to ignore them.

'This was stupid,' Ashley told herself. 'Ladybug just didn't want me to jump. She can't fix this. She can't…'

"Ashley! Ashley Peintre? Oh, my God!" The voice was loud and shrill, and completely unfamiliar to Ashley.

She turned to see a bubbly blonde girl in a yellow jacket skipping towards her. The blonde wrapped her into a hug and actually spun her around before putting her down. Next to the blonde was a small, conservative-looking ginger girl. She was sporting a pair of thick glasses and holding an iPad. Her face was neutral in contrast to the ecstatic blonde.

"It is so good to meet you!" The blonde giggled out. "And you've already cleaned out your locker! You are on it, sister!"

"Um, do I know you?" Ashley asked, confused.

"Chloé Bourgeois. Charmed, I'm sure," Chloé said, grinning. She shook the bewildered girl's hand. "So, I believe you spoke with…"

"Hey," the redhead from before called out. "Who's your trampy little friend, Flashy Ashley? Is she a fan of your videos?"

Chloé turned and stared at the group. She saw Ashley tense up out of the corner of her eye and registered that this must have been the group she had mentioned the night before.

The girls in the group were hovering near the tall redhead, the obvious leader. She had a look of self-importance about her that was all-too familiar to Chloé.

"Hi there," Chloé said as she stepped between Ashley and the group. "Look, this feels a little weird to actually say, but what exactly is your problem with Ashley?"

The redhead snorted as the group behind her laughed. "Oh, snap! Look out, girls. Ashley got someone to stand up for her. Oh no!"

"I'm serious," Chloé said, her smile now gone. She crossed her arms. "I get it, you know. I used to be like you. Like, exactly like you. I used to hurt people for fun. It made me feel good to rip people apart and show them I was in charge. And I've spent years paying for it. I'm still paying for it, because I honestly didn't see how badly I was hurting people."

"Well, good for you," the redhead said in a mocking tone. "So, you turned into a little pussy and now you run around with your little pussy friend? Awww! That's so sweet!"

"She's probably another trailer-park whore trying to act like she's something special," the brunette of the group piped up.

"Oh, definitely," The redhead said, looking Chloé over.

Chloé, to her credit, did not punch anyone.

"Look, I don't know who hurt you," Chloé said, her voice struggling to stay level, "but you don't get to hurt others while you lash out. This girl did nothing to you."

"This is too cute!" The redhead said. "Look girls, it thinks it's a people! It wants to talk to us about feewings!"

"Dammit, you don't get it! I used to be you!" Chloé snapped. "And you have no idea how far the damage from your actions goes. You don't…"

Ashley watched as Chloé was about to go on a rant, but then stopped when the ginger girl put up her hand.

"Sabrina?" Chloé asked, slightly jarred from being thrown off her game.

"You tried," Sabrina said. "I figured I'd let you, but I could have told you this would happen. They don't care. Reasoning with them isn't working. That means I'm up."

Sabrina tilted her head up in such a way that light was shining off her glasses, completely hiding her eyes as she turned towards the redhead and her group of followers.

"Fine. You're up," Chloé said. She gestured to the group of girls. "Would you be so kind, dear?"

Ashley watched as the ginger glanced back at the blonde and grinned before she started marching towards the group.

"That was nice of you, whoever you are," Ashley mumbled to Chloé.

"I had to try," Chloé said as she watched Sabrina stroll forward. "But she's right. These girls are a bit too far gone. That's why I brought the scariest person I know as backup."

Ashley glanced at the diminutive bookworm as the group of girls towered over her. "Her?"

Chloé nodded. "Her."

"What can she do?"

"What can't she do?" Chloé mused. "See, I get what's happening here. I was a bully, Ashley. Some would probably argue I still am. The thought is ridiculous, I know, but it's true. I was loud and blunt and mean, but I was an amateur. Now, Sabrina over there? She is a Goddamn architect, and she's not nearly as forgiving as I am. Now, watch this," the grinning blonde whispered to Ashley. "You're about to see a master at work."

Sabrina marched right up to the group and got within a few inches of the redhead. She stared at her for a moment before quickly scrolling through her iPad.

"Uh, excuse you?" The redhead scoffed. "What do you think you're doing over here? The pervy losers belong over there, by the trash."

"Stephanie La'Shonn?" Sabrina asked, unphased.

The redhead, Stephanie, blinked in confusion and nodded. "Um, yeah?"

Sabrina looked up and turned the iPad around to show Stephanie her own picture, next to her school records.

"Hey," Stephanie asked. "How did you…?"

"Your father is a mid-level executive at TiHive Technologies, correct? Nice job. That's a top-tier government partner. Employed for," she checked her tablet. "Three years, two months?"

Stephanie stared. "How did you know that?"

Sabrina looked around the group. "I see a Melissa, a Courtney, and, oh dear, a Sabrina. Tch." Sabrina made a few quick swipes. "What a waste of a name. My, it looks like all your families work TiHive. That explains your little clique. That would be the same TiHive that holds 127 million in contracts with the city?"

"I don't know. What about it?" Stephanie asked. "And who are you again, little Miss Nobody?"

Sabrina stared for slightly longer than she had to. It was just long enough to convey a feeling of dread through eye contact alone, provided they could see her eyes through the glare on her lenses.

"This is your last warning," Sabrina said in a cold voice. "You will apologize to Ashley, right here and now. She's done nothing to you, and all you're doing is torturing her. There's no reason for this, and you all know it. You're hurting people."

Stephanie snorted. "So what? Fuck her and her Podunk family. Trash like that doesn't belong here."

Sabrina let out a small sigh and nodded to herself. She looked Stephanie in the eye, her face betraying not even the slightest hint of emotion.

"Very well. Here's what's going to happen. In three hours, mayor André Bourgeois is going to hold an emergency review meeting with the heads of your parent's employer. Renegotiation talks will take place with a focus on how the behavioral practices of their employees, namely how the actions of your parents and their children, reflect on TiHive, and in turn, the city. Examples will be asked to be made to continue to hold city contracts. Those examples will be your parent's jobs."

Stephanie let out a laugh. She was quickly joined by the group. "Seriously? Is this some kind of joke?" She poked Sabrina in the chest. "I don't know who you think you are, you little shit, but we're…"

"One moment," Sabrina said as she took out her phone and scrolled through her contacts. She hit a number and put it on speaker.

"Mayor Bourgeois here," André said.

"Hello Sir," Sabrina said in a loud, chipper voice.

"Sabrina darling!" André said.

The group froze as Sabrina turned the phone to show that it was a video call, and that the man on the other end was indeed Mayor Bourgeois.

"Thank you for reaching out," The mayor continued. "Do you have that list of employees for me to review this afternoon? The CEO of TiHive in particular was most distressed at the news, but they've agreed to make resource concessions if necessary."

The group collectively went pale as Sabrina smiled. All of them had heard their parents talk about work enough to know that 'resource concessions' translated to 'layoffs'. Sabrina looked at the girls, one by one, and registered the dawning realization with each of them that this was 100% for real.

"I'm sending it over now. Thank you so much for agreeing to this, by the way."

"Of course, sweetheart. Anything for you and my little Chloékins. See you after school! Love you!"

"Love you, too!" Sabrina chirped before she hung up.

She stared at the group.

"In three hours, the mayor is going to personally destroy each of your lives, one by one. Your parents are going to lose everything, you will lose your place in this school, and the reason for all of it, namely your behavior towards Ashley, will be made very, very public. Your families are about to be disgraced, and TiHive will be forced to renegotiate with the mayor's new head of Environmental Services, Mr. Philip Peintre."

"Peintre?" Stephanie asked, her eyes flitting to Ashley, who was standing awkwardly with the arm of the chatty blonde still wrapped around her. "As in…"

Sabrina smiled.

"You… You can't do this!" Stephanie got out. "My family…"

"Your family is officially screwed. From this point forward, your family keeps what they have at my whim," Sabrina loudly cut her off. "That goes for all of you. Get this through your heads. You aren't in charge here. I am. I can still call mayor Bourgeois and tell him to stand down, but right now? I'd need a good reason. Maybe if someone deleted a certain collection of videos and posted an apology online. Maybe if a group of girls made a verbal apology in front of the school and admitted to their behavior in front of the principal and the student body, I might let your parents keep what pathetic positions they've managed to eek out. Otherwise, just keep standing there staring at me with your mouths open and watch as everything you know is destroyed. Oh, and I promise that when it's done? Your parents will know why. They'll know it was because of how you acted towards Ashley. In fact, since school started, I've already arranged for each of them to have received a lovely call from my father, the chief of police himself, concerning charges of assault and bullying, which Parisian law does not look kindly on. Now, do you want to have to explain yourselves when they lose everything and blame you? Because if so, that's fine. This is already happening. It only stops if I and the blonde over there say it does.

Sabrina pointed towards the aforementioned blonde, who was glancing in their direction and smirking.

"Just who the Hell do you two think you two are?" Stephanie sputtered.

Sabrina tucked her iPad under her arm. "She is Chloé Bourgeois, the superhero daughter of Mayor André Bourgeois and legendary fashion designer Audrey Bourgeois. She has more money than God and no soul whatsoever, and despite her attempt at reasoning with you, I assure you that she won't care in the slightest if your parents die in the street."

Stephanie stared at Chloé, who smiled and blew them a kiss. Her friends meanwhile stared at their phones, horrified at the panicked texts coming in from their parents demanding to know what was going on.

Sabrina leaned in a little towards Stephanie and glared. "And I'm the girl whose fucking her."

Sabrina turned towards Chloé, but slightly tilted her head back towards the now wilted group of girls. "You have one hour. If you haven't fixed this on your end by then, your families are done. Your call."

"But, but you said three!" Stephanie blurted out.

Sabrina glanced back. "The mayor is giving you three. I'm not as generous."

Sabrina strolled back to Chloé and kissed her on the cheek for good measure.

Chloé looked her up and down, and grinned. "That was unbelievably hot. I love you so fucking much."

"I know," Sabrina said smugly.


Notes:

And what is the takeaway? Why, don't fuck with Sabrina, of course! Things are only starting to get going as Ashley's two new fairy godmothers (if you can call them that) are far from done.

NEXT TIME!

Chloe finally cuts loose on someone!

A cameo appearance!

More dramatic confrontations!

ALL! NEXT! CHAPTER!

Be here tomorrow, same Bug Time...

GINA: They're doing it again. I need an adult!

Mayura: ...Anyone? Aaaaanyone else feel like tagging in?

...Same Bug Channel!