Please enjoy!
"I just want to be clear, I think this is a horrible idea!"
Pollen rolled her eyes before all the two of them turned to look at the Miracle Box in front of them.
"Listen, My Queen," Pollen said, "we have no different means of tracking this akuma. It left no trace. You and I both know that she can help us. I know in your hands, this will be fine"
Chloé sighed dejectedly, she seemed to still have some doubts.
"Hawkmoth won't be able to track us if we open the box, right? He can't sense it or anything can he," Chloé asked.
"No."
"But still. If something were to happen to the miraculous-"
"It's just as dangerous for you to be walking around with the bee miraculous in your hair and Ladybug's earrings in your pocket," Pollen pointed out. Chloé had to admit she was right. And...Pollen's idea wasn't exactly a bad one.
"Fine," Chloé admitted defeat. She decided to push all thoughts of failure aside in favor of some more optimistic ones."
"Awesome! Now I always forget which button it is."
Pollen floated down to the box and pressed one of the black circles. The circle came open like a drawer and revealed a brown choker with orange bands. Chloé put it on and watched as a small dog kwami came floating out.
"Pollen. Where's the Guardian," the dog thing asked.
"Hawkmoth has made her and Chat Noir disappear," Pollen answered. "She entrusted the Miracle Box to Chloé, my holder. We're attempting to hunt down the akuma that is responsible for their disappearance, but we need your assistance."
The kwami turned her big blue eyes over to Chloé. She smiled before floating up to the blonde's face.
"I'm Barkk! It's nice to meet you! I have the power of tracking! To use me just say: Barkk! Tail Wag!"
Chloé called upon the kwami to transform her feeling a completely different type of energy than she was used to. She had only ever used one miraculous before so this was completely new to her. As soon as the orange light faded, she looked down at herself. She wore a tan suit with a large white triangle going from her shoulders down to a point where it met a large white band around her waist. The band tapered to what looked like a brown dog leash that acted as a tail. Chloé glanced in the mirror to see she had brown fur around her neck, wrists, and around the tops of white boots. Her blonde hair was held back by a white headband. Across her back, she could see a long wooden bo staff. She assumed that was her weapon. It just looked like a big stick.
"Well...this is a look."
"You look amazing, My Queen," Pollen squealed.
"Sure. Anyway, how do I use this special power? The power of tracking."
"It's been a while since I last saw the dog miraculous in use. Almost a few hundred years now, I think." Pollen ignored Chloé's look of shock. "I think the last user said...venery," Pollen offered. Chloé's jaw dropped at that. Pollen quickly shook her little mitts in the air, trying to get rid of Chloé's initial thoughts.
"No, no, no! The word has multiple meanings! It also means to hunt!"
"Really? Venery?"
Without another word, a visor came down from the headband she was wearing and covered her eyes, casting a strange orange hue over the world.
"Whoa! This is so cool!"
Out of instinct, Chloé stepped right up to the grey spot where Chat Noir had disappeared from. She didn't hesitate until after she had touched the ground and then sniffed and licked her hand.
"Ugh! So gross! What the heck was that...for..."
Chloé trailed off when she looked up and saw a bright yellow trail forming in front of her. It picked up off the ground and into the air, heading in the direction the akuma had run off in.
"Pollen, it worked!"
Chloé quickly shoved the Miracle Box back into her backpack and took off with it, following the trail. She wasn't sure how much time she had left.
"This was brilliant, Pollen," Chloé called to her kwami.
"Thank you, My Queen!"
Chloé was jumping across rooftops now. Since this akuma could fly, it was easier to track it when higher up. She made her way towards a more populated part of town. She stopped for a second to catch her breath after a good long amount of running.
"Ugh this is taking forever! By the time I get there, I won't even be transformed anymore! This might have been hopeless!"
Just as she finished griping to the other kwami, she heard a loud "click".
She looked down to see a group of people with their phones and cameras out, taking pictures of her. Chloé's gut twisted into a knot and she immediately started running again.
"Why are they taking pictures," Chloé worried aloud to herself.
"As far as they are aware, you are a new hero, My Queen! I'm surprised that a flurry of reporters haven't show up yet."
Chloé skid to a stop, Pollen's words triggering an idea.
"I can use Alya! I won't be transformed forever. If I can convince her to put a message up on her stupid blog to keep an eye out for this akuma, then all of Paris could help! If one of those people give me just an area to search through, then I can use the dog miraculous to go through that!"
"Alya is very intuitive," Pollen countered. "She might figure out why it's you searching for an akuma and not Ladybug."
"It is a more effective idea though," Chloé argued. "We come up with some excuse! Ladybug and Chat Noir are taking a romantic trip out of the country and they needed someone else to do their work for them," Chloé suggested. Pollen had to admit that it did sound like something Alya would love to believe.
"Fine," she mumbled. "But you can't let anything slip."
"Should I use the dog or bee miraculous to talk to Alya?"
"The dog. It raises less suspicion."
"Thanks, Bug."
The bee kwami hid in the backpack while Chloé checked her collar. She still had plenty of time. She jumped down to the group of civilians that had been taking pictures of her.
"Whoa," they gasped.
"I'm looking for Al- I mean I'm looking for the author of the Ladyblog. Anyone know where I might be able to find her?"
The people all shook their heads until one young girl raised her hand.
"We could send a message to her. Maybe you guys could meet up somewhere?"
"Yes," Chloé encouraged. "That's a very good idea! Tell her that I'll meet her at the Eiffel Tower at sunset! It's very urgent."
Alya ran all the way to the Eiffel Tower, super hyped to get the latest scoop on Paris's new hero. She had her phone at the ready, looking around for the new hero.
A wooden staff came out of nowhere and lowered her phone camera to point at the ground. Alya looked up to see the new canine themed hero perched on a ledge above.
"Please, no pictures. This is top secret," the hero told the reporter as she jumped down.
"So...I'm not interviewing you," Alya asked, kind of disappointed.
"No. Something even more important than that."
Alya's jaw dropped, putting some pieces together instantly.
"Oh my gosh! Is this about that akuma that went missing but wasn't defeated?! Did something happen to Ladybug and Chat Noir?! Are they alright?! Does this have to do with Chloé Bour-"
"Alright, alright! Geez! You and your weird reporter sense! It's freaky."
Chloé gave a little shudder and stuck out her tongue before straightening up to turn back to Alya.
"Chat Noir and Ladybug are fine. They are heading out of the country for a day or two and they needed someone to take care of the akuma. I can track it down, but it looks like it moved further and faster than I thought. That's where you come in."
"Me? What can I do?"
"I need you to put out an alert on your blog. I need everyone in Paris looking for this thing. If I can narrow it down to one general spot, I can take it from there."
"What are you going to do about the akuma? Without Ladybug here, how can you de-evilize it?"
Chloé froze and she felt her eyes widen slightly. She could feel Pollen poking at her, alerting her not to raise suspicion.
"Oh, Ladybug has a plan for that." She let out a chuckle of relief, hoping Alya didn't see right through her. She had those nosy reporter skills and Chloé was not going to let herself be dragged down by a freelance reporter like Cesaire. She had come too far now.
"Does any of this have to do with Chloé Bourgeois and her sudden criminal record? Because she stole my boyfriend's backpack and he wants it back."
This girl was really something else. How in the world did Ladybug and Adrien put up with this? Chloé was two seconds away from making some sort of retort in her own defense but decided against it for obvious reasons. Instead, another thought popped into her head.
"I can't say much, but Chloé Bourgeois has nothing to do with the tracking of this particular akuma. She may have started it but her involvement in it is over. I am tracking her down as well and I have managed to get the bee miraculous back from her. Other than that, she is still on the loose. And that is all I can disclose."
"And one last thing!"
Chloé had to stop herself from groaning. What else did this girl want?!
"Why are Ladybug and Chat Noir out of the country?"
Chloé smirked. Well, they would find out about the identities as soon as they came back anyway, right? And Chloé knew all about their little crushes.
"They're off on some romantic getaway."
Alya squealed and then thanked Chloé for her time and began walking home, already typing up the article on her phone. Chloé jumped back onto the ledge she had been perched on before, grabbing Nino's backpack.
"That was pretty smart! Now you can use the bee miraculous without anyone suspecting Chloé," Pollen complemented. "My Queen comes up with some pretty good ideas when she sets her mind to it!"
"Let's just hope this works. For now, we need to find some place to sleep."
"We should head back to the Vider District. It will be pretty empty."
Chloé nodded and headed off in that direction, trying to hide as much as possible. The last thing she needed was a confrontation with Hawkmoth.
Meanwhile, Alya was almost home. She had finished her new project already and was about to post it when she realized she didn't have a title.
"Shoot! I should have gotten her hero name!"
Alay decided that, since she never got a name from the dog hero, she could just make up her own. It was fair game right.
New Hero "Canis" Calls Paris To Action