Sat, Oct 17th, 2020
Alya hums to herself as she gets dressed for school... on a Saturday. Surprising that this is one of the more weirder things she's done since arriving in Paris last month. And that list of things includes, but is not limited to, chasing after magical creatures to obtain footage for her blog. Speaking of her blog, Alya rewatched the interview with Lady Luck and Karma every free moment she had yesterday. It was perfect. One of the best days of her life! She needs to provide a thank you gift basket for Chloé, Markov, and Max. Would Markov and Max share one gift basket or would they need separate ones? What do you get a robot as a thank you gift?
The orange-haired teen ties her hair in a pair of twintails like Karma. Juleka's band is having their first audition slash practice at the pier this afternoon where the purple-haired teen's houseboat, Liberty, is docked.
Alya has a pretty full day ahead of her.
She makes sure to pack extra snacks in her backpack, along with her phone charger. When she opens her bedroom door Nora is on the other side folding her arms over her chest clad in her kickboxing attire minus the headgear. "I thought I heard you bustling around in here. Going somewhere?"
"To school."
"On a Saturday? ...When you don't have detention? Who are you and what have you done with my sister?"
Alya rolls her eyes, "there's some kind of gaming tournament I was asked to come watch. Anyway, I gotta go so... what do you want?"
"I got a match tomorrow so I'm gonna hit the gym and the parentals have work; so you know what that means...?"
Alya sighs, "I gotta watch the twins." Beaming, Nora nods. "Fine. I'll just bring them with me." She brushes past Nora. Ella's bedroom door is wide open so Alya knocks on Etta's door. As excited as they were to get their own rooms, the twins sure do spend a lot of time in each other's rooms; mostly Etta's. After a few seconds, Etta opens the door.
"Why are you all dressed up?"
"I have to go to school and Nora just informed me—" She looks over her shoulder at Nora who is giving her a thumbs up, "—that I'm on babysitting duty."
The door opens wider revealing Ella, "we don't need babysitting."
"Great. Then you won't bother me when I'm with my friends. Get dressed." Ella closes the door, "and make sure you pack snacks!"
✍...
Lila enters the classroom and looks around. This classroom is a lot bigger than Professeur Bustier's. After a month here, she feels like she's slowly starting to get to know a few of her classmates. Still, she feels like she could be doing better. To start, she'll have to get all of their names. It won't be difficult, unlike her last school there is no overcrowding. No thirty plus students you need to pull yourself apart in every direction to meet.
Here she just had fifteen classmates to befriend. She has sixteen classmates but it seems highly unlikely Lila will ever be friends with Chloé. The blonde has been nothing but awful, to her, since Lila's arrival, and even though Chloé has shown signs she can be a somewhat decent human being if the payout is good enough, Lila isn't holding her breath. She won't jump through hoops for anyone. Mayor's daughter or not.
The gaming console is plugged into the blackboard plug. Kim and that nasally orange-haired girl with the glasses Chloé hangs around are in the left and right plastic chairs respectively, each have a controller in their hands; both teens are scowling at the projector screen that's pulled down displaying the game for all.
There is a large group of students from multiple classes, sitting in the beanbag chairs behind the two players cheering the players on.
Lila sees Ivan slumped down in his beanbag chair so she walks over to him then sits in the beanbag chair to his left. "Good morning, Ivan~"
"O-Oh! Good morning Lila."
"What's been going on?"
"I really don't understand this game, but it's interesting to watch. I guess?" Lila hears laughter to the right and Ivan turns in that direction with a sigh.
Lila follows his line of sight and sees that rainbow-haired girl and the curly twintailed blonde sitting behind Sabrina giggling to themselves. "Ah." Ivan turns to her tilting his head to the right, "you know, you should talk to her. In class, she looks at you every time you look away."
"R-Really?"
Lila nods, "really. I have a good vantage point at the front of Professeur Bustier's classroom." She taps her chin, "you know, I'm somewhat of a matchmaker. I set up the nicest and meanest professeurs in my old school by sending them secret admirer letters." Lila puts a hand on her chest, "I placed third overall in my grade's amateur poetry competition so I can help write you a love letter."
"L-Love!?" Ivan shakes his head, "n-no, no, no, no!" At his yelling, everyone turns to the black-haired teen. He slumps further in his beanbag then everyone returns their attention to the game. "I'm not in love." He whispers.
"Love, crush. Whichever. It's a feeling. I can help you convey those feelings in poetry form."
"I-I appreciate the thought, b-but R-Rose and I are already coming up with a song."
"How sweet!" Lila coos. "You have to let me help you!"
"Shhh! Okay, okay."
Lila pumps her fist in the air. "This'll be the best song ever." She gasps, "between you and me? I helped Carla McRyden-O'Lyar write 'Supervisor.'"
"Y-You're the Lilyana in that song?"
Lila nods, "that's my full name. With the y and everything."
Ivan sits up in his beanbag. "Wow. That's incredible. To think... I know someone who knows a famous musician."
"Hey everyone!" Lila flinches as Chloé yells, kicking the door open nearly hitting the kid trying to leave the classroom. "Look who I brought~" The blonde comes into the classroom happily holding onto that tall pink-haired girl's hand.
"Didn't you have a hair appointment or something today?" Huh. That explains why her hair is out flowing past her shoulders and not in a ponytail for once.
"My hair appointment was yesterday, not that my schedule is any of your business." She sticks her tongue out at Kim's back. But with him playing the game, he doesn't look back at her. "Kick his ass, Sabrina." The orange-haired teen nods. The two girls walk behind the group. The pink-haired teen sits in a beanbag chair but Chloé does not. "What are these... things?" The blonde shrieks.
"Beanbag chairs." Adrien replies, halfway sticking out of the beanbag. "You'll like them. They're squishy to sit in."
"Adrikins, get out of that before you catch something." Chloé instead goes to sit at the first joint desk.
Lila sees the shiny gold ladybug necklace around Chloé's neck as the blonde flips her hair. "Ah!" Ivan turns to her. "That's it! You know what'll go great with the ...you know what?" She holds out her right hand shaking the thick gold bangle on her wrist, "jewelry."
"Jewelry?"
"Yeah. Got this little number as a bridesmaid gift from my cousin for helping her find her wife."
"Jewelry." Ivan repeats for the second time, "you think I should get her jewelry?"
"What's wrong with that?"
"It's a great idea, theoretically... but I'd never be able to afford the type of jewelry she's used to."
Lila hums, "you could always get something costume or handmade." She shrugs, "it's something to think about at least." Ivan nods slowly furrowing his eyebrows.
Alya enters the classroom all sunshines and perfection curly dark orange hair, tied adorably in a pair of twintails, bouncing with every step. Lila sees two tiny identical orangish-brown-haired kids in front of Alya make their way up the staircase instead of joining the group in the front. Lila turns around fully and sees Alya nudging a pink messenger bag. Marinette's head pops up and she looks around in a daze. So the pink Lila must've seen was from the hat that matches the blue-haired teen's messenger bag. Right. Marinette won a design competition Audrey Bourgeois created to celebrate Lady Luck. The romper was already on Audrey's official website crediting the winner of her Lady Luck themed contest, and the website also had details of the upcoming Karma themed contest.
With a hum, Lila turns back around.
Etta and Ella place their belongings down on the bench in front of Marinette and Alya then join the crowd.
"This can't be more comfortable than sleeping in a bed." Alya says taking a seat next to Marinette.
"Support. Need." The blue-haired teen sleepily mumbles putting her head back down.
"Got it." She pats Marinette on the shoulder, "I'll make sure all your support gets out there." Alya takes out a notebook from her bag, unaware of the pair of green eyes watching her. Two minutes don't even pass before the twins, evidently, get bored of watching the game. They return to the bench taking out their coloring books. And they told Alya they'd be fine.
Alya taps her pencil to her left cheek. She still had so many questions for Lady Luck and Karma, she might as well jot them down in case she gets another chance to interview them or even just ask them a question. It's very unlikely akuma attacks are gonna stop anytime soon. When she glances up at the screen her head tilts to the left in confusion at the carnage unfolding on the projected screen, not understanding a blessed thing going on. Things are on fire, underwater, exploding, and being built simultaneously somehow all on the screen in one singular area.
(Alya really hopes this game comes with several seizure and sensory overload warnings.)
Nathaniel shuffles into the classroom dragging his feet and messenger bag. Rather than join the crowd, he slowly makes his way up the staircase yawning. Alya sees him do a double take before he notices her. Alya merely waves not wanting to draw unnecessary attention to the shy teen.
He returns the wave then takes the seat behind her and Marinette. "You look rough." Alya whispers.
Nathaniel yawns, "stayed up all night putting the finishing touches on my art contest project."
"For Clara Nightingale's thing?" Nathaniel nods, "uh... I take it you didn't hear the contest got postponed because all the judges caught food poisoning yesterday?"
Nathaniel's visible eye widens, "seriously?" Alya nods with a shrug. Nathaniel rubs at his face.
"It's not all bad. At least you have it done. No reason to stress over it anymore. I don't know if you're into this game or not, but this is a perfect opportunity to catch some shut-eye."
Humming, Nathaniel glances at the bits of blue poking out of that pink messenger bag on Alya's right. Oh. That must be Marinette. Asleep. The redhead is pretty certain he's caught Marinette asleep more times than he's seen her awake. "Sleep..." He yawns, "sounds like a good idea. Thanks Alya."
"I'll wake you up if anything explodes, off-screen."
"I appreciate that." Nathaniel puts his arms on the desk and his head on his arms. Before he can close his eyes he hears a scream. His head snaps up and he looks at the front of the classroom where Sabrina is standing in outrage with a controller hanging limply in her hands.
"T-That's impossible!" She yells.
"Told ya~" Kim sing-songs with a wink. Sabrina glares down at him, "who's next?"
Sabrina clutches the controller moving it out of reach from the kid who tried grabbing it. "This isn't over. I'll be back. Make my way through the... through the..."
"Loser's bracket~" Kim waves as she angrily drops the controller into the kid's waiting hands.
"Just keep that warm for me." She grumbles. Chloé pulls her along putting them both at the front desk with Ondine. The seats aren't made for three people, especially with how tall Ondine is, but Chloé will make it work; she'll be damned if she lets Dupain-Cheng or Kubdel (neither of who she's seen yet) grab up Ondine like they're trying to do with Alya. And Alya has famous relatives, she's far too interesting and important to be around those two!
"You'll get him next time." Chloé sticks her tongue out at Kim for good measure and he blows her a kiss in response. "I have hand warmers so your fingers don't cramp up while you wait." Chloé hands Sabrina the hand warmer packets and the orange-haired teen sticks her hands inside them.
"Ooh! I like these. You're the best, Chloé."
The blonde flips her hair over her left shoulder. "Naturally, though it does need to be said out loud more." She gasps, "you know, you can watch him play and get a feel for his strategy then figure out the best counters for it."
"It's a good idea but he isn't using a strategy."
"Of course he is! Even not using a strategy is a strategy in itself, Sabrina. There has to be a pattern to what he's doing. What's that phrase again, 'a method to one's madness?'"
Adrien turns around eyeing Chloé suspiciously, "and just how did you get so good at a game you've never even heard of until a few days ago?"
"Adrikins, I am nothing if not resourceful. Maman's still a bit..." Chloé clears her throat, "...pissed I couldn't design my own creation so she's having me ...study study guides."
"You're studying... study guides?" Adrien repeats.
"That's right. She said it's time for her to take a more reactive stance on... something." Chloé shrugs. "I don't remember. Anyway, I'm studying from five guides: Fashion 101, Stratus' Strategy Guide For Playing Video Games, Quick Fix – How To Put In Bathroom Fixtures Without A Professional, Languages Of Asia, and lastly The Style Queen's Beginner's Style Guide."
"If one of the guides is hers, why can't she just guide you herself?"
"My maman is a very busy woman, Adrikins, I can't go bothering her with every question. She's not gonna just give me her empire, I have to earn it." Chloé scowls, "and I'll be damned if it gets out of my family."
"Why are you learning about bathroom fixtures?" Sabrina asks.
Chloé sighs, "my faucet started leaking. Jean-Whositwhatever was off the clock and papa and maman were... cuddling." Chloé shudders, "that is not something I can unsee."
"Awww. Cuddling is cute—" Chloé gives Sabrina a deadpan stare, "I-I mean ...ewww."
"At least you didn't catch them having sex." Adrien says, unhelpfully, then his eyes widen. "U-Unless they were—?"
"Adrikins, please! I haven't eaten breakfast yet. I do not need to think about my parents being unclothed."
"Next!" Kim calls. Gasping, Sabrina looks up at the screen. The student she handed the controller to, the kid who just got so thoroughly defeated, hangs his head in shame as he slumps into a beanbag chair against the wall with a heavy sigh.
"The hell...?"
Chloé takes her phone out of her red and black polkadotted purse. "I'm ordering breakfast, what do you three want?"
"Next~" Kim sing-songs.
"What?" Sabrina sees a different kid sadly plop down into a beanbag chair as they hand off the controller. The match didn't even last a minute! "Max!" She gaps then gets up and looks around. "Where is Max!? If anyone can stop Kim, it'll be Max."
Chloé pulls Sabrina back down without looking. "Or someone else could just get lucky?" Adrien says with a shrug.
"...No, no. You can order both."
"But it says it'll charge extra substitutions."
Chloé pats Ondine on the shoulder, "don't worry about that. My friends deserve nothing but the best. Uh, hello? Your orders?" Chloé holds out her phone in Sabrina's direction.
"Huh? Oh. Right." Sabrina takes the phone.
"Next!" Kim shouts.
"Again?! Somebody stop him!" Sabrina screams clutching her head, dropping Chloé's phone in the process. Fortunately, the blonde catches it before it hits the desk.
As if on cue, the door opens. Standing in the doorway are two girls: the one on the left wearing a black and white striped off-the-shoulder sweater and a pair of black jeans has shoulder-length dark blue hair styled in a bob, the one on the right wearing a grey and white starry henley t-shirt with and a pair of light blue jeans holding a brown binder against her chest has dark brown hair plaited into a pair of shoulder-length braided twintails over her shoulders. "Are we too late? Is this the Cycle Slaughter prelims?"
Everyone stares at the duo. "N-No." Adrien is the first to speak then he shakes his head, "I mean yes." The brunette tilts her head to the left.
"What he's trying to say..." Chloé begins, "is no you're not too late, and yes this is that... thing you just said. Cute top. I'm Chloé."
The brunette smiles, "thanks. I'm Jess and this is Kagami." The blue-haired girl inclines her head. Chloé's eyes widen. She's so... beautiful! Chloé has to get to her before anyone else!
Before the blonde can get up Lila does and skips over to the newcomers. "Hello again Kagami—" Chloé actually growls, "I'm Lila." She tells Jess. Everyone shakes out of their stupor then resumes focusing on the game. "Right now my classmate Kim is on a hot streak. But that's to be expected sine he's the fourth or fifth best player in the country at this game."
"Really?" Jess asks and Lila nods.
"I'm twentieth which isn't as impressive compared to Kim."
There's a groan from the boy hanging his head in defeat as he hands off the controller. Kim gives a frustrated sigh, "you people aren't even competition!" He yells, "c'mon! Give me a good game!"
The door opens and Alix steps in the classroom cracking her knuckles. "Do you have any idea how many of the bathrooms this school locks on a Saturday?" With a huff, she walks toward the back of the classroom. Everyone looks at the pink-haired teen who sits down in front of Ella and Etta. "Why are you all staring at me?"
Adrien gestures to the screen, "a-aren't you gonna play?"
Alix laughs, "hell no. I'm not into that game."
"B-But the timing...!" The blond argues.
"What 'timing?' I was only gone so long because the closest open bathroom is like ten minute away."
"Who's next~?" Kim asks then everyone in the beanbag chairs looks back at the screen. Another kid picks up the controller before sitting down.
"There's plenty of space if you two want a closer look at the action—"
"Kagami!" The teen in question turns to Alix waving.
"I believe I will sit with Alix," Kagami inclines her head, "but thank you."
"Yeah, thanks." Jess follows after Kagami. With a shrug, Lila sits back in her beanbag chair.
"...These are my younger sisters Ella and Etta." Alya introduces as she gesture to each twin.
Kim cups his hands around his mouth, "next." He says with a sigh.
"I think it's my turn." Lila gets up then takes the controller from the boy with unshed tears in his eyes. "Uh, are you..."
"I'm fine." He says with a sniffle then takes a seat on the right in the middle.
Lila sits down. "Not gonna go easy on you because you're cute."
Lila bats her eyelashes, "you think I'm cute?"
"C'mon Lola, you can take him!" Chloé cheers.
Lila's eyebrows furrow, "'Lola?'"
She turns to the left where Rose is sitting, sort of in the middle of the two competitor seats. "I think she means you. I mean..." The blonde shrugs, "it's close enough." Lila shakes her head then turns back around. The tiny blonde turns to Chloé, "her name is Lila, Chloé."
"Same thing. She should be lucky I'm rooting for her at all."
Lila mutters under her breath gripping her controller.
Alix sits on the desk Kagami and Jess are sitting at, "never ever order anything in the cafeteria with the word stew or beef in it! Matter of fact, don't eat anything from the cafeteria except the juices! At least those are packaged. The 'fresh' fruits are all plastic. Found that one out the hard way. Aurore's family runs the butcher shop two blocks from here. If you go there then go another block in the opposite direction to Sabine & Tom Boulangerie Pâtissèrie you could get all the stuff to make yourself a great sandwich."
"This is so informative. Thank you Alix."
"Hey, I've been here most my life. And I like to have every meal be an experience."
"Psst. Alix!" Alix cranes her head to the left and sees someone wearing a red hood and a pair of oversize red and black sunglasses beckoning her over.
"Uh... excuse me for a bit?" She turns around then slides off the desk and walks to the doorway. The kid in the hood grabs her pulling her out of the classroom.
"Ooh." Lila snaps her fingers in disappointment, "so close."
"That was the best game I had all day!" Kim yells.
"Like hell it was!" Sabrina screams back.
"Do me a favor and beat her so we can have a rematch?"
Lila smiles, "I'll try my hardest." Sabrina and Chloé both glare at her as she returns to the beanbag chair next to Ivan.
"I think you kicked our queen bee's beehive." Ivan whispers to her.
Lila flips her hair, "this school's in dire need of a new 'queen bee' if Chloé Bourgeois is the best it has to offer." Ivan whistles holding his fist for a fist-bump and Lila obliges.
"Good luck."
Lila pulls out her necklace showing it to Ivan. "Thank you, but I have all the luck I need."
"What is that?"
"A cornicello, it's a symbol of good luck in Italy. I've had it since I was a baby."
"It kinda looks like a pepper."
Lila laughs tucking the necklace back under her shirt. "Kinda does, doesn't it? Cornicello means 'little horn,' that's as best I can translate it in French."
"Good luck... French..." Ivan gasps then Lila raises an eyebrow at him. "Nothing. It's a cool necklace." Ivan suddenly gets up then looks around. "Be right back!" Lila watches him leave the classroom then shrugs.
Kim has beaten another student and he yawns. "Anyone else?"
Adrien gets up, "ooh! I think it's my turn."
"Destroy him Adrikins!" Chloé and Sabrina cheer.
Adrien happily takes the vacated seat. "Good luck, Kim."
Kim winks at him. "You too, Sunbeam." Adrien blushes.
✍...
"Marc, what's with the getup?" As Ivan charges out of the classroom, Marc pulls Alix aside near a closed classroom door. With a sigh, Marc slowly pulls their sunglasses off. Alix sees red as she sees the bruise and cuts near Marc's left eye. Fluff has to pull her hair from inside her hat to keep her from screaming, and possibly getting possessed by an akuma. "Who did this to you?" She grits out.
Marc puts the sunglasses back on, "right. I tell you, then you and Kim go storming over beating up a slew of kids. Next, your papa—"
Alix holds up a hand, "that jackass is no longer in the equation as far as I'm concerned."
"What happened?"
"You first."
Marc sighs, "nǎinai enrolled me into this new school, Mercy Valley? Ironic name, all things considered. Though it would be good for me? It was an all-boys school. Very writing focused. Or so the catalogue said. I don't think it was super religious or anything but it was uncomfortably heteronormative, and to no surprise incredibly homophobic. Not the type of place that would be thrilled to have a gender fluid classmate who likes boys. She pulled me out immediately, and since I never really transferred out she brought me back here. Guess I was in the school for like two hours tops? Consider this—" They point at their face, "—a going away present. Now your turn."
"The old man tried to poison me, I'm staying with Marinette and her family."
Marc gasps, putting their hands to their mouth. "Why?"
"I can't tell you. For your own safety. Who knows what he might try and do with Marinette's parents." Marc nods moving their hands.
"Alix, I'm so sorry. I know your papa wasn't the kindest man in the world but he is still blood."
"All blood is is the stuff that keeps your body warm. Who the fuck cares who you biologically or genetically share it with?"
"I get that better than most." They sigh, "it's why I live with nǎinai. Sadder thing is, I was already feeling crappy because I lost my idea book the day before."
"You lost it here? I'll help you look for it. Hell, we'll get a search party going."
"Thanks Alix but I really don't want people looking into what's in the book."
"Then I'll only get my most trusted, privacy protecting friends to be on the look out." She winks at Marc, "we'll find your book so you can fill it with more ideas!" Alix puts an arm around Marc, "let me introduce you to a couple of new people."
✍...
When Alix and Marc enter the classroom, Kim is standing up and applauding Adrien – along with the rest of the class. Ivan enters the classroom behind them, nearly knocking both Alix and Marc over. "You lost?!"
"What? No. But Damn did Sunbeam play his nonexistent ass off."
"Adrikins has plenty of ass!"
"'Sunbeam?'" Alix raises an eyebrow.
"You know...! Because he's all sunny and smiling all the time!"
"I like it. I've never had a nickname before." He pauses. "A-Aside from Adrikins."
Kim claps Adrien on the back. "You vs Lila should be a good one." He spots the blue-haired teen adjusting their sunglasses. "M!" Kim hugs them. "You came to cheer me on!"
"Y-Yeah."
Kim holds them back at arm's length, "or are you here to compete?"
"Just cheer. I stopped playing Cycle Slaughter, remember?"
Kim sighs, "shame too. We would've had ourselves one hell of a game." He lets go of Marc. "Alright, who's next?"
"There is no one else." Rose says, "you beat everyone."
"Did I? Damn. I'm better than I thought. I'm just gonna relax until the loser's bracket ends."
"No!" Sabrina gets up, "where's Max? He signed up for this!"
Everyone in the classroom begins looking around. "Hey, that's right!" Kim brings his hands together. "Where is he?"
"I can call him and ask?" Alya suggests taking out her phone.
"You have Max's phone number?" Kim asks.
"Luckyblog." Alya replies dialing a single number on her phone.
Half the class jumps when they hear ringing coming from the classroom. Marinette's head snaps up, "buzzing!" Kagami's eyes widen as she looks at the blue-haired teen lifting a pink messenger bag off the desk. That's the beautiful girl Alya mentioned to h—Lady Luck during the interview. She's even more beautiful in person, and her hat is so stylish.
There are multiple gasps as there's a vibrating cellphone playing some unfamiliar ominous tone with the word Luckyblogger above Alya's picture on the screen.
"If that's Max's phone... where's Max?" Alya grabs the phone before Marinette puts her bag back down. The taller teen yawns and rubs the back of her neck.
"Wait a second!" Everyone turns to Chloé. "The tiny floating thing that the little nerd boy always has with him? Let's look for that. If we find that, we'll find the nerd attached to it." Chloé gets up, putting both hands on the desk, "this is of dire importance! If we can't find that kid we won't get anymore really good footage of the next akuma attack and I need a new wallpaper of Lady Luck for my new phone case!" The majority of the students in the beanbag chairs get up as well. "This is for Lady Luck!"
"We can't fail Lady Luck!" They cheer.
Lila gets up, "I say we split up." Chloé glares at the brunette. "We'll cover more ground. All you... hyper excited people should check the two upstairs floors." They all nod then cheer Lady Luck's name as they leave. "The rest of us will stay downstairs and look."
"Who the hell elected you in charge?"
Lila scoffs, "I elected myself. You're just trying to do this for yourself. I'm trying to find a fellow classmate. If you have nothing else to contribute, you should just stay here until we get back. Come on everyone. We have lots of ground to cover."
"Nobody! Move!" Chloé holds both her arms out in front of her. When everyone stares at her she stomps over to Lila. "Just who the fuck do you think you are?"
"I know I'm Lilyana Victorya Rossi! I also know your reign of terror is coming to an end, Chloé Bourgeois. Consider yourself warned. Let's go people."
"You don't want to dance with me, Green-Eyes."
"Oh but I do, Blondie, and you should know that I'm an excellent dancer. Let's go, everyone." She flips her hair before walking out of the classroom.
Chloé runs after Lila but Sabrina runs after Chloé grabbing the blonde by the waist, holding her at the doorway "Chloé, Chloé? Think about this!"
"The only thing I'm thinking about is knocking that smug smile off her ugly face!" Chloé screams. "No one talks to me like that!"
"I believe we should prepare ourselves." Chloé's head snaps up and she turns around. Kagami's sitting on the desk, "your level of anger is likely going to attract an akuma, and soon." Sabrina pries Chloé from the doorway.
"Everyone run!" She yells. The classroom empties quickly and without complaint. "Chloé, you need to calm down. You don't want to fight Lady Luck."
"All I want is to get that bitch then Lady Luck can take the akuma from me!"
"You're not making any sense, Chloé! How do you know Mite and Méfait don't get stronger with every akuma attack?"
Chloé grabs Sabrina by the shoulders, "of course I'm not making any sense! That's how pissed I am! I will ruin that girl's life for even thinking she can talk to me at all, let alone like that!"
Alya peers out from the doorway with her phone watching Chloé and Sabrina pace around the classroom, "huh. No akuma. Weird. How long as it been?"
Kim, Ivan, and Adrien all poke their heads into the classroom looking around. "About five minutes now. I don't get it." Adrien says, "akumas are fast. One would've been here by now. Especially with how many have come from the school. Maybe someone can't be infected twice?"
Mylène's head pops under Adrien's, "it's possible. I mean Chloé was just furious a few weeks back when she..." She pauses, "something happened and Chloé was furious yet no akuma came."
"Must've realized Chloé with superpowers is a dangerous combination yet not really an effective one." Everyone looks at Kim. "Come on, I can't be the only one who realized that? Do you have any idea the damage Chloé—sorry, 'Queen Idol's'—knights could've done to the school? To the city? They were just patrolling for Marinette. And none of them found her! Hell, they even captured Marinette's parents and did nothing to them! I know Mite and Méfait are dumbasses squared but even they had to realize hitting Chloé again will give them more of the same."
"Kim, I don't think we want competent bad guys." Ivan mutters, "and we definitely don't wanna give them any pointers." He nudges the other boy with a knowing look and Kim rolls his eyes.
"T-That means an akuma is already here... looking for someone else!" Mylène squeaks. The group gasps looking around.
"Look!" Alya screams. "Chloé! Sabrina!" Both girls stop walking and look over at the doorway then toward the window and huddle together screaming as an akuma flies through the opened window and into Chloé's pendant.
"Guess they hadn't realized it?" Mylène whispers.
"Maybe Mme. Mite took a bathroom break?" Ivan shrugs.
Instead of the signature butterfly mask of Mite appearing around Chloé's face one appears over both of their faces.
"W-What's happening?!" Adrien gasps.
"There was only one butterfly, right!? How did it get both of them!?" Ivan screams. He grabs Kim, "they must've been listening to you!" He shakes the other boy.
"They were holding onto each other!" Alya yells. "The akuma went into Chloé's chain and since she and Sabrina were holding onto each other... it spread to both of them!" The others gasp.
"No big, Mme. Mite. But first thing's first." Chloé and Sabrina chorus as the ooze overtakes both of their bodies at the same time.
"Bad news luckies, Mite can possess multiple people... if they are all holding onto the same afflicted object." Alya whispers. "Uh... more details to come."
When the ooze dissipates, two identically dressed figure skaters with red skin and black hair tied in buns, wearing red and black polkadotted leotards with all red skirts, a red tail, and red cat ears with black insides are left standing. The skater on the right spins the skater on the left causing the ground below them to turn to ice, then the right skater dips the left. "In harmony." The right skater proclaims.
"As always." The left skater finishes.
When they're both standing up straight, the butterfly mask appears over both of their faces. "Lila Rossi is done for!"
"We're fucked." Kim dusts his hands off pushing himself off the doorway.
The skaters skate out of the classroom leaving a trail of ice in their wake.
Everyone in the doorway moved back as they saw the skaters approaching. Adrien kneels down and taps the ice. Kim takes a step on the ice and immediately slips falling on his ass. "It's real, alright."
Mylène gasps, "Alya's gone!"
"Of course she is." Kim and Ivan mutter. The latter helps the former up.
✍...
"Max?" Lila calls out. "Max, where are you?"
Alix puts her hands behind her head, "you're awfully calm for someone who's gonna be an akuma target." She points out.
"Please." The brunette scoffs, "me be in danger from Chloé? We all saw 'Queen Idol.' She was utterly useless." She says imitating Chloé and Alix laughs. "How did you guys just... let Chloé get away with all that shit she's gotten away with?"
"We didn't really let her do anything." Rose replies with a sigh, "it was more like the staff stopped us from stopping her. It was like the staff were all under this spell of doing whatever Chloé said because her papa is the mayor and if we disagreed we were sent to Principal Damocles' office." The blonde frowns, "I also had this... philosophy. I figured people act bratty when they want attention. Chloé has two famous, super busy parents. Like I said, her papa is mayor. Her maman is The Queen of Fashion; an internationally famous fashion columnist or something. I don't know. I just know it involves fashion and writing. Anyway, maybe because her parents weren't around much she didn't get enough attention from them? So she had to get attention from where she could?" Rose's frown deepens, "only... giving Chloé attention didn't stop her from acting bratty and ignoring her didn't work either! Like Majestia, I believed there is good in everyone! Deep, deep down." The blonde balls up her fists, "but Majestia was wrong! Not everyone has good in them. There truly is no good in that selfish... brat! The only reason she even mentioned trying to find Markov – not Max – was for her to get better pictures of Lady Luck! Everything 'nice' Chloé has ever done was for her own benefit! She has ridiculed and mocked us for two straight years and I'm sick of it! I'm sick of her! Her and her stupid ponytail!"
Lila rubs at Rose's shoulders, "doesn't it feel better getting that all out?" Taking a deep breath, Rose nods, "wonder how long you had that all pent up? And this isn't all on you, you know. Optimism like yours is hard to come by nowadays. But you're right when you say there is no good in a piece of work like Chloé. There's always one at every school."
Rose sighs heavily, "I feel for Mylène though..."
"Hey everyone!" Marinette calls out. Everyone runs over to the tall, blue-haired teen who is standing in front of the open supply closet. The group gasps as they see Max on the floor unconscious.
"We're in the shit now." Alix proclaims as she helps Marinette carry Max out of the supply closet and into the hallway. The ten of them hover over the unconscious boy. "Once the smart kid is offed, the rest of us morons will get picked off one-by-one."
Rose screams, "oh no!"
"Please tell me we're not involved in some Scooby Doo type of mystery...?" Kagami asks with a frown, folding her arms over her chest.
"Oh no!" Rose screams again, grabbing her face.
"Get a hold of yourself." Jess grabs the blonde by the shoulders, "the last thing we need is to lose our composure. That's when the cartoonish shenanigans begin." She lets go of Rose who immediately latches onto Alix. "Does anyone have any perfume bottles or anything of the like on them? We can make smelling salts to wake him up."
"That's a weirdly specific request and skillset..." Nathaniel mutters looking at Jess who looks back at him.
The brunette raises an eyebrow, "and just what is so weirdly specific about it...?"
Marinette is the only one in the group with a bag on her. She looks through the messenger bag around her shoulder then shakes her head. "I have this rose salve but it's not very perfumy." Marinette takes the red tube out of her bag then hands it to Jess. The brunette takes a tentative sniff of the tube then hands it back to Jess shaking her head.
"No, it isn't... perfumy enough. We'll have to try other ways of waking your friend up."
"Ooh!" Alya's little sisters raise their hand. "We can do that!" The one on the left, wearing the black hoodie, says. "I'm good at waking people up."
"It's true. Etta's the best." Says the one wearing the green hoodie. Etta cracks her knuckles then kneels on the floor next to Max. She gently takes off his glasses and hands them to her twin. "You all might wanna take a step back."
After exchanging glances, everyone looks down at Ella before taking one huge step backward. Etta gets up then falls on Max's body knocking the wind out of him.
"Effective..." Kagami says with a hum.
When Max wakes up coughing, Ella hands him his glasses. "H-Huh? What happened?"
"We were hoping you could tell us that. I'm Etta by the way. Alya's my big sister. I love the Luckyblog. I wanna be like Karma some day."
Alix clasps her hands together, "awww."
"I wanna be like Karma too! I'm Ella!" They both help Max up.
"You both...? But what about Lady Luck?" Jess asks.
The twins scoff, "cats are better than ladybugs." They reply simultaneously.
"I like these two." Alix beams, putting an arm around both of them.
"We're the club presidents of the Karma club in our school." Ella says nodding. "We have more members than the Lady Luck club."
"I like how you two think. We gotta get a Karma club doing here."
"Max, do you know what happened to you?" Lila asks, "how you ended up in a supply closet?"
"A supply closet?" He rubs his head, "Markov and I were in the classroom computing any last-minute possibilities in the Cycle Slaughter tournament. I arrived at 7:15am, fifteen minutes earlier than the leaflet instructed."
"Fifteen...? Max, the Cycle Slaughter tournament started at nine!" Rose says finally releasing her grip on Alix.
"What? The leaflet I have said 7:30. I must've been given false information deliberately to throw me off my rhythm." Adjusting his glasses, Max hums. "The last thing I remember was opening my locker. Markov was glitching and—" He gasps, "Markov!" Max looks around, "where is Markov? He was right beside me."
"Didn't see him in the supply closet but I'll look again." Alix and Marc both head into the supply closet.
"You must've been rendered unconscious when your back was turned at your locker." Kagami deduces, "such a cowardly tactic."
"Then Markov was taken." Max agrees. "With him glitching there would be no way of forewarning."
There's rattling then a large clattering noise before both Alix and Marc jump out of the closet, with mops and brooms falling behind them. "No Markov." They both say.
"There are a lot of cleaning supplies in there." Marc says dusting themself off.
"Chloé got the janitor fired, remember? Not that anyone was cleaning this school before." Alix locks her hands behind her head, "anywhere else you went to before you lost Markov?"
Max shakes his head, "I entered the building at 7:15am, then I entered the classroom the tournament was being held at 7:16am. As I was comparing strategies, Markov began to glitch. I went to my locker at approximately 7:22am... and then—" He looks at the watch on his hand, "several minutes before 10:43am."
"Needless to say, someone wanted you out of the tournament." Jess says, "let's head to your locker. We might find more clues."
When the group gets to Max's locker they gasp as they see the locker is open and all of its contents are on the floor in disarray. "W-Who could've done this?" Marinette asks as everyone begins helping Max pick up his stuff.
"The art contest!" Nathaniel gasps, "the art contest where the winner gets to spend a day with Clara Nightingale? That's enough motivation for someone to—" His eyes widen, "my art project! I-I left everything in the classroom!"
Kagami gets up, "come. We will see if anything of yours is missing." Nathaniel nods then gets up.
"Be careful you two." Lila says. They both nod before running off toward the classroom. "You know... I overheard that blonde girl – the finalist for the weather contest earlier in the month? and another girl... the one always with Chloé? I heard the two of them mentioning how they needed to find a way to see Clara Nightingale. What if they're responsible for all this?"
"Weather contest...? You mean Aurore?" Rose shakes her head, "Sabrina can be as nasty as Chloé but Aurore wouldn't do something like this. No matter how much she loves Clara Nightingale." Rose frowns turning to Alix, "I thought you said having Sabrina on your roller derby team was making her sorta bearable?"
"I did. She's one hell of a teammate, but school is another matter entirely."
"Then let's check her locker." The twins suggest.
"I got a great lock-picking technique." Alix says tipping the top of her cap down.
The others watch Alix press her head against the locker as she jiggled the lock of Sabrina's locker then when she bangs her fist against the locker it pops open. "That was amazing!" Lila exclaims, "how did you do that?"
"Sorry. Can't give away my secrets." Markov drops out of Sabrina's locker and everyone gasps.
"Markov!" Max picks up the robot, cradling him in his arms, "he's been deactivated. The glitching must've worn out his battery. Does anyone have a hairpin?" Everyone takes a hairpin out from their hair and holds it toward Max. "Uh... wow. Thank you." He takes Rose's hairpin as its the closest to him. Max injects the hairpin into the top of Markov's head just above his face screen. The screen lights up blue and words and symbols rapidly appear on the screen.
Everyone watches as words and symbols keep appearing until the screen goes grey. The screen suddenly turns red. "Error 2404!" The robot exclaims then the screen blacksout.
"Error 2404...? What is that again?"
Marinette puts a hand on the bespectacled teen's shoulder, "don't worry, Max. We'll make this right."
"And we'll start off by trashing Sabrina's locker!" Alix suggests.
"On it!" The twins exclaim.
"Wait!" Max yells, "that won't make me feel better. And I don't think Sabrina is responsible for stealing Markov. Markov fell from the top of the locker. Sabrina is not tall enough to reach the top of her locker—"
"Oh." Alix's eyes widen as she points at Max. "You're right! Chloé always stashes her stuff at the top of Sabrina's locker so she can have more space in her locker."
"But who else has access to Sabrina's locker?"
"Someone's here." The group turns to Marinette. "I heard footsteps from around the corner."
Jess tosses one of Max's books at the corner and someone screams then falls so they're visible. "Aww nuts."
"François?" Alix exclaims.
The brunette picks herself up off the floor. "I just wanted to see what you losers were doing. Skulking around the halls and whatnot."
"You!" Alix storms over to the girl who stops in the middle of the hall, "what did you do to Markov?"
"I didn't do anything. Don't pin the blame on me for being model height when you're still as small as a gradeschool—" The brunette hisses in pain as Alix kicks her in the shin, "you puny little bitch!"
Alix grabs her by the hair when she doubled over in pain, "I'm losing my patience Double E Aimée."
"Alright! Alright! I stuffed the stupid thing in Raincomprix's locker! Now let go of my hair! It took me two hours to get it this wavy!" Alix yanks at her hair again before letting go.
"How'd you even get in Sabrina's locker?"
"It was open. Besides, with our parents dating we have to 'play nice.'" The brunette bats her eyelashes. "Anyway," She dusts herself off. "Lemon Uppercut is gonna destroy you losers next match. You'd better believe that." She runs a hand through her hair and growls, "my hair! You'll pay for this pipsqueak!"
Alix rolls her eyes. "Come up with new material, I've heard every short joke in the book."
"Well of course you have, there's such a small amount."
"Where did you find Markov?"
The brunette huffs, "since when did you speak loser, Keynes? Associating yourself with the freaks from the akuma summoning class? You think I'm a terror, I'm not even on the same level as the mayor's brat."
"That doesn't matter. Answer the question."
Aimée rolls her eyes, "fine. Whatever. The thing was just in the hall. I heard this loud bang and I saw—him—" She points at Max, "fall out of the closet and everything fall out on top of him. I didn't put him in there I only laughed when I saw him fall. When I realized he was out cold, I ran." The girl throws her arms in the air, "anyway, I'm bored. So I'm gonna go back to the tournament. Oh wait!" She mock gasps. "That's right, I can't! Chloé got possessed by an akuma again. And she took her toady with her this time."
"Wait, what did you say?"
"I guess I can't expect the hearing to be all that good down there."
"Your lanky limbs make your body extra easy to tip over on skates." Alix growls.
The brunette flinches, "I-I said Chloé and Chloé Orange are both possessed by an akuma. Don't you follow the luckyblog? She's posting live." Aimée squints at her phone, "oh shit! They're approaching this hallway!" She screams then runs down the opposite end of the hall a red and black blur passes by her and she freezes mid step.
Everyone gasps. "Jinkies!" Marinette whispers.
"Yoo-hoo~" A pair of identically dressed skaters skate over to the group then skate in a circle surrounding them in a ring of ice. "Hand over Rossi and no one gets iced." They speak in unison. One of the skaters is holding onto Alya who is encased in ice with the exception of her hands and head; the orange-haired teen shivers as she holds onto her phone.
"Alya!" Rose screams.
"Oh don't worry about her!" The skater holding Alya says flippantly, "we just wanted the luckyblogger—"
"—To record our momentous introduction!" The other finishes.
"It's like they share one brain. That's Chloé and Sabrina alright." Alix says snickering and behind her Marinette laughs.
"Oh great!" Lila rolls her eyes putting her hands on her hips, "we don't need this right now. What's the matter? Am I too much for Big Bad Chloé Bourgeois to handle on her own so she calls for backup from her toady and Mme. Mite? You're pathetic, Chloé!"
One of the skaters stops in front of Lila sneering, "you wanna say that again?"
"You're. Pathetic." Lila enunciates. "I don't need to stoop to Mme. Mite's level to take you down." The butterfly mask outline appears over both skaters' faces. "And whatever you do to me will be undone by the Miraculous Cure. So go ahead and do your worst. I'm right here!"
"You think yourself noble?" The skater screams, "you aren't worth turning into a sculpture, not without suffering first!" The other skater skates over to Lila and pokes her in the chest. The spot touched pulses blue then Lila breaks out into a full-body shiver and she clutches her chest and drops to her knees gasping for air.
"Oh no! I-I think she's freezing Lila's organs." Marc shrugs off their jacket and as they throw it over Lila's body, the skater touches the jacket freezing it and Marc.
"Oh no you don't!" The skater tsks, "how dumb are you trying to protect that pathetic wannabe? You think she'd do the same for you, Pretty Boy?"
"You know something?" The skaters skate over to each other leaning on each other, "I think they all need a lesson in messing with Perfect Pair."
"Couldn't've said it better myself."
"Run!" Jess grabs the twins' hands making a break for it.
"Good! Run, make it fun for us!" The skaters taunt, "we're on skates! You can't get away! You're just fodder until Lady Luck shows up!" Jess and the twins dive for the ground narrowly avoiding behind touched by the skates. They growl then turn around and charge toward them again. Before they can touch Jess, Rose slides in front of the skaters putting her arms out.
"Couldn't wait your turn, hm? Well we'll be happy to oblige."
The blonde beams then ducks, Alix jumps over Rose's body then tackles both skaters to the ground. Alix then somersaults off their bodies then manages to land on her rollerblades. She skates on the ice backwards, "come on chumps, you think you can outskate me!?"
"After her!" They get to their feet then skate after Alix.
"Go Alix!" Rose cheers. She runs over to the twins helping them both up.
"That was soooo cool! She's so cool!" The twins gush.
Rose giggles then helps Jess. "Was she rollerskating on ice?" Rose nods, "should we... can we even help her?"
"Alix can take care of herself." Rose waves Jess off, "twice when we were in cinquième last year she fought and won against some boys in their third year of lycèe." Jess' jaw drops. "Alix is pretty strong. And she's like almost unstoppable on skates." The blonde shrugs, "it wouldn't surprise me if she took out the akumas before Lady Luck and Karma arrived." Rose blinks. Huh. It wouldn't be surprising if Alix turned out to be Lady Luck either. They are about the same height and Rose has never seen the two in the same place. If there was anyone in the world that had inexplicable luck, it was Alix Kubdel. "Come on, Max and Marinette went in opposite directions. Let's see if we can catch up to them. Marinette is pretty good on skates too but I don't know how she is on ice."
✍...
Alix had elected to distract the akuma duo so Marinette could get away and transform. "You gotta love Hops, huh? Fearless one she is. I admire her bravery." Plagg claps his paws together. "You ready?"
"Ready. Claws out, Plagg." As Marinette transforms, one of Cosmic Colt's portals sucks her in.
Karma manages to land on her feet. Beside her is Lady Luck with her arms folded over her chest, "this better be good." She grits out.
Bovine holds out two boxes toward each of them then the damn blackout curtains drop themselves over their bodies after they accept the boxes. "It took longer than expected but these are the power-up treats for your kwamis. I also put the recipes inside the box lids. "You may not think we are on your side but we are, and we will continue to help you two fight against Mme. Mite and M. Méfait."
Cosmic Colt sighs, "the reason we cannot reveal ourselves is because our civilian forms losing the Miraculouses will put you two at a huge disadvantage."
"Claws in, Plagg."
Lady Luck turns to the left and can barely make out Karma's civilian silhouette. Damn curtains. Wait, why is she curious now? "Spots off, Tikki." Tikki floats out of Lady Luck's right antenna then floats down to the bento box. Kagami lifts the lid and looks at the eight colorful cookies in the box. She checks the lid and sees, written in kanji, are the instructions to create treats. The instructions also state there is a hidden compartment in the bento box that'll give her access to the tubes for the power-ups. "I take it, with skaters, we'll need the ice power-up." Tikki picks up the ice blue square cookie with the snowflake symbol on it from the bento box and takes a tentative sniff.
"The ice power-up always left a minty aftertaste, right Sugarcube?"
Tikki giggles, "I nearly forgot." Kagami briefly met with Plagg to take the exhaustion lock off Karma's Miraculous. During that time, Tikki and Plagg spent some time talking to each other. Plagg gushed about how amazing his Chosen was. Karma is amazing so it's good her kwami thinks so.
Tikki takes a bite of the cookie and then she blows out ice as she exhales. "Karma, I have a suggestion."
"I'm all ears."
Kagami stifles her laugh. "As I have the Miracle Box, I feel it's only fitting you be in possession of the power-ups."
"You sure?"
"So you told her?" Bovine asks.
"Told her and took the exhaustion lock off my Miraculous. By the way, thanks for that. I do so love being dead in the water."
"As I've said, you may recall, it was for your Intended's protection that we placed the lock on the Miraculouses. And remember, it wasn't just you two but the two of us and Mme. Mite and M. Méfait's Miraculouses as well."
"The exhaustion lock doesn't seem to be hindering Mite or Méfait or the two of you."
"We are just better at hiding it." Cosmic Colt sighs out. "There is more. There is a book of instructions for Miraculouses—"
"And let me guess... those winged pains in our asses are in possession of said book?" She hears Karma ask.
"It is possible." Bovine answers.
"Why are you only bringing this to our attention now?" Kagami hisses.
"Because the book has multiple copies." Cosmic Colt sighs again. "There is a lot about the Miraculouses you two do not know."
"Says the pot to the kettle." Kagami mutters. "Spots on Tikki. Power-up ice."
"Bye Plagg!"
"Later Sugarcube!"
"Claws out, Plagg. Power-up ice." When the curtains draw back instead of float above them like last time, Karma is admiring her... leg. Her ankles and feet are covered in bright green skates with black blades. There's a flowy bright green skirt over her waist. She's wearing mittens rather than her usual gloves. And she has earmuffs over her ears. It's... It's so... cute!
Lady Luck takes the opportunity to look at her ice-themed changes and is disappointed when she can't see any notable ones. Her skates are polkadotted, like the suit, and her blades are red. Some "Creativity" Avatar she turned out to be. Maybe Bunnyx got their Miraculouses wrong when she "reset" this world?
"Hold your arms out." Cosmic Colt instructs.
Lady Luck does so apprehensively and sees there is black cloth attached to her sleeves. "It's nice..." Karma says inspecting it, "but what do they do?"
"I am uncertain. They may just be there for the ice aesthetic."
Lady Luck shakes her head, "can you let us out now? We have two akumas to stop."
"Thanks for the power-ups." Karma nudges Lady Luck.
"Yes, we appreciate your assistance." She says through grit teeth.
With a nod, Cosmic Colt waves his hand aimlessly and a portal appears. Lady Luck and Karma walk out of the portal and land on the icy floors of François Düpont.
"I have a confession..." Lady Luck says.
"Can't skate? I can roller skate but never tried ice skating. Should be the same principal, right?"
"Theoretically?"
"Let's practice a bit before we take on those akumas and embarrass ourselves." Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on your perspective, the floors are frozen solid providing plenty of room to practice. "By the way..." Karma has a more mischievous than usual look on her grinning face, "I have a bit of an idea? Just a little something for fun. We are supposed to be having fun with this gig, right?"
"I trust you, remember?" Karma's grin widens.
✍...
"Great. We can't Kubdel, we can't find anyone! We're being recorded looking like jackasses!"
"You're not the one holding onto Alya, and why are you complaining? I'm following you!"
The lights cut out. Alya drops out of the akuma's hands with an audible thud. "What the—!?" They exclaim simultaneously.
"Prepare for trouble..." A voice calls out.
"...And make that double..." Says another voice.
"You can't be serious." The skaters deadpan.
"...To protect Paris from akuma possessions..."
"...To combine our powers against your transgressions..."
"...Denouncing the evils of the peafowl and butterfly..."
"...We gotta come up with some kind of battle cry..."
"...Lady Luck..."
"...Karma!"
"I am the ladybug with the powers of creation..."
"...And I'm the black cat empowered by devastation..."
"...We're on skates and don't mean to be crude..."
"...But with these ice outfits, you akumas are screwed."
"As impressive as that was, no duo is more in sync than Perfect Pair!" The skaters chorus.
"Is that..."
"...A fact?"
The lights turn on and Lady Luck and Karma skate in front of the akumas in harmony. They both point at the akumas, "we challenge you to a skate-off. Loser gives up their powers." They say in unison.
"What!?" Alya shrieks.
"You've got yourself a deal!" Perfect Pair say laughing. The butterfly mask outlines appear over their faces and they abruptly stop laughing, "we'll get the Miraculouses when we win!" Then the outlines disappear.
"A skate-off?" Alix skates over to the four of them on her rollerblades, "cool. I'll judge."
"You'll just cheat!"
Alix shrugs, "so? So will you."
"Hmm... true. We'll allow it. You'll need all the advantages you can get. Too bad Kubdel isn't skating for you." The akumas laugh.
"Rules are simple." Alix declares. "Two laps around the frozen school grounds. Where I'm standing is the start and stop line. Whichever pair of skaters – that means both of you – get back to me first wins. Simple as that. Oh! But you're gonna have to leave Alya. Or don't. I mean, the extra ice will only slow you down."
The akumas then Lady Luck and Karma all line up. "Guess that's that. Racers to your mark!" Alix looks around, "set? Skate!" She waves her hand then they all take off.
"Alix, are you sure this is a good idea?" Alya asks.
"Yup! A good old-fashioned skate-off. Who says we have to fight akumas all the time?"
"I agree fighting akumas is getting old..." Alya watches Alix skate over to her, "but what if Lady Luck and Karma lose?"
"I know Chloé is a lot of things but she's also a fan of Lady Luck. Like a super hardcore fan of Lady Luck. Even mindmelded with the bad guy, she's on Lady Luck's team." Alix lifts her leg then slams her rollerblade down onto the block of ice and it shatters, freeing Alya.
"Holy shit!" Alya holds onto Alix as she gets to her feet, "h-how—how!? I-I didn't even catch it all on tape!" Four blurs speed by. "W-Wha—?" Alya looks around.
"Final lap!" Alix calls out. "C'mon, we gotta be on the other side to call the winners." She hums to herself skating across the hall.
Alya takes off her sneakers then slides across the hall to Alix. When she sits on the ice, she puts her sneakers back on.
Meanwhile, Perfect Pair were skating backwards looking at Lady Luck and Karma gaining speed behind them. "Isn't this just so droll? Let's make this skate a bit more fun!" The akumas spread their arms out and the whole hallway begins freezing.
Lady Luck, who had been using the wall to help her turn, flails a bit before moving her hand before it gets turned to ice.
The akumas gasp, "Lady Luck!" When Lady Luck manages to secure her footing, the akumas sigh in relief.
"Cataclysm!" The skaters' eyes widen as Karma's glowing right hand slams into the floor behind them. The akumas gasp holding onto each other as the floor begins to crumble and the crumbling spreads in their direction. Screaming, they flail backward as they continue skating; trying to outskate the crumbling floor.
Karma expertly skates over the spreading cracks in the crumbling floor over to Lady Luck and picks her up, "sorry, Boss! Hope you know what the 'fastball special' is?"
"No, but I can guess!"
"Hug your knees against your chest!" Lady Luck curls into herself as Karma throws her forward.
Perfect Pair scream and Lady Luck lands on the one on the right causing her to fall backwards, then she trips the other skater. Laughing, Lady Luck crosses the finish line. Perfect Pair stop a millimetre in front of Alix's rollerblade then Karma skates past them. "Winner! Lady Luck and Karma!" Alya whistles making crowd cheering noises.
"That... was exhilarating!" Lady Luck skates back over to Perfect Pair still facedown on the ice, "we made a deal, Perfect Pair."
They both lift their heads, "can we have an autograph?"
Lady Luck loses her balance then falls on her butt, "..." The akumas stare at her and she stares back. "How about after we release the akuma from its corruption?"
"Oh hey. Sure thing. Right ...here." The akuma pulls the ladybug hairtie out of her hair and an akuma begins to climb out of it.
Lady Luck unlatches her yo-yo and it turns into a net, then she uses the net to scoop up the akuma. Once its purified, she releases it. "And that's... that. No more corrupting, little butterfly." She tosses the yo-yo in the air, "miraculous cure!" The magical ladybugs burst from the yo-yo. They cover the duo from head to toe reverting them both to Sabrina and Chloé who are sitting on the floor holding onto each other. Then the ladybugs begin unfreezing the hallway and everything else.
Karma helps Lady Luck up. "And we're still in the skates." Chloé jumps up.
"Lady Luck!" She gasps hugging the hero.
Lady Luck holds Chloé back at arm's length and narrows her eyes, "did you deliberately cause an akuma?"
"What?! Eww! No! Of course not! I would never do anything like that! Some idiotic jealous classmate of mine thought it was smart to mouth off at me. She'll be dealt with. Later. Let's deal with now~" Chloé lifts up her necklace and screams. "M-My necklace!" When Lady Luck lets go of Chloé, the blonde holds her necklace out toward Lady Luck. "I-I had this specially made to show you. I-It's all broken!"
"The necklace had to be broken so that the akuma would be released."
"I-I thought magic got the akumas out of whatever they were in!?"
"Nope. It's good old brute force." Karma replies with a toothy grin. Chloé glares at her. "Anyway, I'm gonna book. You can take care of this, right?" Karma doesn't wait for a reply before she uses her baton as a pole vault out the window of the classroom they were standing in front of.
"Karma!" Lady Luck blinks as Karma leaves. "Odd."
"Who cares about her? Alya get a picture of me and Lady Luck together!"
Alix slides her phone in Alya's pocket. "That's my phone. It's gonna cost you 1000 euros for each snap." She nudges Alya who nods.
Chloé groans, "fine whatever, just do it!"
"Wait! Wait!" As Chloé puts her hand around Lady Luck's shoulder, Sabrina squeezes in the photo and falls in the first picture.
"Sabrina!" Chloé gasps, she picks the orange-haired teen up. "Go stand on Lady Luck's other side." Nodding, Sabrina complies then they take more pictures.
"Enough!" Lady Luck ducks under Chloe's arm causing Chloé and Sabrina to fall against each other, "consider this your autograph." Her shoes are still skates so she carefully manages to walk out an exit.
✍...
Since the akuma attack happened before the loser's bracket was to begin, the bracket matches were postponed which also postponed the next round.
Kitty Section is having its first tryout slash practice at two.
The akuma attack managed to last until just a little after noon which gave Rose plenty of time to make the bus she needed to get downtown to the pier. And since Ivan is a gentleman who'd never allow Rose to take public transportation or join a band with a really cute guitarist by her lonesome, he tagged along.
Alix also showed an interest in joining the band, so she tagged along as well. As did Marinette, Max, Markov, Nathaniel, Marc, Kim, Jess, Kagami, Alya, Etta, Ella, and Lila. Oh! And Adrien was also with them. ...Oddly enough.
Rose runs up to the last boat docked on the pier. "We're here!" She yells out of breath.
"Arr! There be landlubbers afoot!" Rose skids to a stop then falls backward into Ivan as the grey-haired bespectacled woman in full-on pirate garb holding a pirate telescope walks onto the plankboard attached to the dock.
Ivan helps the blonde to her feet. "Um, hello?" Rose waves. "W-We're here for tryouts?"
Juleka climbs up from the netting onto the deck. When she sees the group, she walks over to the grey-haired woman. "Maman—I mean Captain, these are my friends." She says.
"Oh?" Juleka nods, "hope you mateys have your sealegs handy." The captain takes a bow. "Captain Anarka Couffaine and this be Liberty." She gestures to the boat, "ye know me boatswain and gunner." She jerks a thumb at Juleka. "Introduce yerselves." Everyone salutes the captain then states their name as they board the ship.
"Welcome aboard! Pirates need music as they need the sea! The instruments be in the lower deck."
"Adrikins!" Adrien pauses as he steps on the boat. Chloé's towncar stops close to the pier and the blonde runs out of the car. Adrien walks off the plank as Chloé runs over to him then puts her hands on her legs to catch her breath.
"Chloé, what are you doing here?"
The blonde takes a deep breath before standing up straight, "that would be my question. What are you doing here? Wasting a Saturday with a bunch of losers? You should come shopping with me, Sabrina, and Mylène! I need to replace the ladybug necklace the akuma broke."
"Well, have fun—"
Chloé grabs him by the arm, "'have fun?' That's it?"
"I want to tryout for Juleka's band."
"Who?" Chloé waves him off, "doesn't matter. If you want a music career I'll tell papa and he'll get Bob Roth to sponsor you! You don't even need to know how to sing!"
Adrien pulls his arm free from Chloé's grip. "I'm not trying to launch a music career. I just want to play music with friends. Like any other teen."
Chloé rolls her eyes, "I think Tante Émilie and Oncle Gabriel kept you cooped up in the manor a tad too long. I fear it's made you delusional." She taps him on the forehead, "hello? Is Adrien Agreste speaking? You don't want to be like 'any other teen.' You are Adrien Agreste! 'Every other teen' wants to be like you!"
Adrien scoffs, "right. If people knew just how 'Adrien Agreste' lived, I doubt they'd still want his life."
"The life of someone rich, famous, and popular? Oh gee." Chloé folds her arms over her chest and rolls her eyes, "who wouldn't want that?"
"I have the life of someone alone and fake. I have to put on a big smile for the camera despite how bad I feel inside. I can't even remember the last time I was in the same room as my parents! You don't get it. You could leave Le Grand Paris as you pleased. You were allowed to enter public school. I wasn't so lucky. You said it yourself. I'm cooped up in the manor. I'm no better than a glass doll in a cabinet who only gets dusted off and taken from the cabinet when they need to show it off. And I'm not popular. I don't have any friends."
"I'm your friend."
"I sometimes wonder about that. You won't let me even talk to the other kids in school."
"Why would you want to? I went to public school, Adrikins, I know how they operate. I'm saving you from dealing with phonies who only want to rub elbows among other bodyparts with a celebrity."
"I'm not just a celebrity!"
"Adrikins, your life will never be that of anything other than a mega-star. The 'friends' you want to make are the type of 'friends' that aren't at your standard. They're gonna just wanna be around you to make themselves look good. Stop trying to muck things up. We're classes and classes above the common folk. And fyi? I didn't want to attend public schooling. Our parents have different senses of humor."
"Whatever. I'm going on the boat."
"What if you catch something?"
"Don't be ridiculous."
"You're telling me not to be ridiculous? Me? What about you? You are being astronomically ridiculous!"
"Then leave. Go shopping with Sabrina and Mylène."
"And when your parents ask me where you are? What then?"
"I don't care! Come to think of it, I doubt they'd care!"
"Uh, what's going on here?" They both gasp as a (hot) blue-haired guy holding a bunch of trashbags walks off the boat.
They both continue to gape until realization hits Adrien. "Wait a minute! I've seen you before." The guy dumps the trashbags into the dumpster then turns back to the blonds. "You were at blackberry clobber's last match."
"I go to all the matches from every team. My younger sister is on the blackberry clobber roster."
Chloé steps in front of Adrien, "oh? My best friend Sabrina is on that team too." She holds her hand out, "I'm Chloé. Chloé Bourgeois. The pleasure's all yours."
"You got my sister possessed by an akuma during picture day." Adrien puts Chloé's arm down. The guy turns around then walks back on the boat.
Chloé huffs taking her arm back, "rude. Cute or not, I'm too good for him anyhow. He dresses like he shops in that dumpster. Come along, Adrikins."
"I told you I'm not going with you, Chloé."
Chloé raises an eyebrow, "is that so? Well, then by all means—" She gestures toward the boat, "go." Adrien stares at her skeptically, "they all know you in class as my friend. Seeing as how they never include me or Sabrina in these little... 'get-togethers' no one is gonna be all that willing to include you. So like I said. The friends you're trying to make? Don't want to be friends with you." Adrien frowns, "go, if you want. I'll be waiting right here when you get kicked out."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Chloé."
"Consider me your voice of reason. The sooner you wisen up, the better off you'll be."
Adrien takes a deep breath before walking over the plank and onto the boat. He didn't see where the guy disappeared to, so he knocks on the only door he sees. "Enter!" Someone booms. The blond gulps then opens the door sticking his head inside. He ducks when a dart goes sailing over his head. The gray-haired woman slams down her tankard, "who disturbs The Captain during a drinking break?"
"A-Adrien! Captain!"
"Aye. The Pretty Boy. What troubles ya, Lad?"
"The music? I—"
"Speak up, Adrien!"
"Music! W-Where is the music... practice? Captain?"
"The instruments are being brought from the lower decks. Don't just collect the sunlight Lad, go down there and lend those lanky limbs!"
Adrien salutes, "aye Captain! Thank you." The woman waves him off and Adrien bows his head then closes the door. True to her word, Chloé is now leaning on the pier. She taps her wrists. "You might as well go! Even if I do get kicked out, I'm not going shopping with you."
"Oh Adrien. Wonderful, naïve Adrien." Chloé shakes her head, "so full of foolish optimism." She casually walks over the plank and gets on the boat just as everyone else shows up carrying something.
"What's she doing here?" Alix asks.
Chloé curtsies, "I'm here for Adrien!" She puts her arm on his shoulder, "he wants to try out for the band! I'm his support! Go Adrien go!"
"Oh yeah?" Juleka's brother steps up to the two of them with his arms folded over his chest. Adrien notices his nails are painted shimmery black. Adrien stares wide eyed at them and all the rings and bracelets adorning his hands, "and just what do you play, Adrien?" Even his ears are pierced.
"He plays piano!" Chloé replies for him, squeezing his shoulders with a smile. "He's really good! His parents rented out concert halls just for him to play!"
"No they haven't." He turns to Chloé, "I know what you're doing and it's not gonna work." He whispers.
"Keep telling yourself that." She whispers back. "He's also learning the bass guitar in music class!" She says to the group while nodding to herself, "plus... he's Adrien Agreste! Who wouldn't want him in their little homemade band? Think of all the exposure his name alone could bring you!"
He elbows Chloé, "look. All I want is a fair shot at trying out. Not because of my name. J-Just because I like music. I like playing music. I've always wanted to play music with other people. I-I only know how to play classical songs on the piano, b-but I'm a quick study."
The siblings share a glance.
Chloé sucks in a breath, "such a shame! I don't think they're interested. Adrikins is real sorry for wasting your time and interrupting this little get-together." She grabs Adrien by the arm, "the band has no openings. Time to go."
"Wait." Juleka says. Chloé's eyes widen then narrow at the taller teen, "he wants to tryout? We'll let him tryout."
"You sure, Jules?"
Juleka smiles and Chloé scowls, "yeah. I'm sure. We don't have a fancy classical grand piano or anything but we have a regular keyboard. We also have a keytar, if you're feeling particularly adventurous."
The blond gasps excitedly, "I've always wanted to try playing on a keytar." He whispers.
"Let's get these instruments set up!" Juleka's brother cheers making a circling gesture in the air.
"If you're here to 'support' Adrien, you'd might as well help out with getting the instruments set up." Juleka says to Chloé who glares at the purple-haired teen's retreating form. Especially as how Adrien slipped from her grip the second he heard the word keytar. Grumbling, Chloé walks over to the drumset and picks up a pair of drumsticks and holds it as far away from her body as she could without dropping them. The blonde makes a mental note to sanitize her entire arm then soak her whole body in a bubblebath when she gets home.
(Stupid cute music goth family.)
Once everything is set up, Chloé stands by the boat plank with her arms folded over her chest.
Goth girl and her hot brother are each holding a guitar. The big guy with the absurd and blatant crush on Mylène is on the drums. Someone made the mistake of giving Lavillant a microphone. Kubdel is holding some instrument Chloé is unfamiliar with. Lastly, Adrien is holding the "keytar" clumsily in his hands. Maybe if he breaks it, they'll kick him out?
Chloé rolls her eyes. This is utterly ridiculous! She's missing shopping for this shit? Subjecting her ears to listening to a couple of amateurs obnoxiously bang on their musical instruments and passing it off as real music?
Kim whistles loudly and Marinette elbows him. "What? I know they haven't started yet but I'm excited to hear some music!"
"Everyone know how to read a music sheet?" The blue-haired teen asks.
"Let's... just ...for the sake of—" Alix clears her throat, "—conversation say we don't?"
"That's cool. We'll learn as we go. We're just gonna play the opening chord to Happy Anniversary Away From You."
Chloé gasps coming closer to the "stage" they set up, "you're an XY fan?"
"What? Hell. No. I don't want XY's 'version;' I want the original." The now frowning blonde plops down next to that tall shifty-eyed redhead. He and the goth girl must visit the same tacky hairstylist.
"The one that goes boop-boop-high-boop?" Kim asks raising a hand.
"Yeah." The blue-haired guy points at Kim. "That's the one. Let's see if we know what we're doing. Wanna start us off, Keytar?"
Blushing slightly, Adrien nods then begins playing the beat on the keytar. Chloé isn't familiar with it at first but she soon recognizes it.
"Wow, he is good." Ivan whispers.
After a few seconds, he stops playing. Now full-on blushing. "S-Sorry. I-I've never tried playing that song before. Guess I got too into it."
"If you're not 'too' into it, why bother playing?" Adrien's whole face is red as he nods at Juleka's brother.
"YOU WERE AMAZING!" Everyone covers their ears as Rose screams into the microphone. "Oops! Sorry!"
"Rose, move from the mic!" Alix yells.
The blonde puts her hand over the microphone, "sorry! You were great, Adrien!"
There's a loud whistle then everyone turns to Alix, "yeah, that was great." The pink-haired teen slow claps. "Maybe a bit showy though. Think you can play without upstaging your bandmates, M. Solo Star? I mean, it'll only work if we're all harmonized." Alix grins at him.
"R-Right. Sorry."
"Okay. I'm Luka. I'm a bass guitarist. We're, hopefully, gonna be playing a song my sister Juleka and I wrote about Karma." Marinette's jaw drops, though it goes unnoticed. "We got the lyrics down. Just ...not the melody. I was hoping forming a band will help with that."
Sabrina stumbles nearly missing the plank completely but Mylène grabs her before she can fall, "thanks." Mylène smiles at her then the two of them sit down behind Chloe. "What the hell are you doing?" The blonde wordlessly points at Adrien holding the keytar, "what the hell is he doing?"
"We should start it off with some Alix Kubdel on the sax!" Alix starts playing masterfully on the saxophone and the crowd starts cheering.
Kim does a double take, "uh... did you know Alix could play the saxophone?" He whispers to Marinette who shakes her head.
"Alix has never even held a saxophone before!"
Nathaniel hums taking out his sketchbook.
"Hey! Can I record your first session? I promise not to post anything without every member's consent."
"That would be great if you could record us. Maybe help us with what we're missing." Alya gives Luka a thumbs up.
Sabrina sighs in content, "it's Juleka's hot older brother."
Chloé scoffs, "somebody told him I was responsible for his sister being an akuma. Can you believe that? Like that wallflower has any sort of presence I'd remember. He even turned his nose up at me. Me! I'm a catch and by the time he realizes that, I'll be swept away by Lady Luck."
"Speaking of that..." Sabrina rubs her arms up and down, "why didn't you tell me it felt like that? I thought being amoked out was horrifying."
"I... had a whole day to feel horrible about it. I'm just grateful you didn't see how horrible I looked before I could get cleaned up." Chloé shivers. She moves back a seat and wraps her arms around Sabrina. "We'll keep each other warm. And if you hear Mme. Mite calling out to you, try to ignore her. Okay?"
"I'm going to hear her?"
"Just echoes of what she was telling us earlier. It's why I wanted to go shopping. To distract us."
Adrien glances up at Chloé and Sabrina huddled together whispering to each other.
Once the music stops, the crowd chants Alix's name as she takes a bow. Marinette stands, "Alix, you rock!" She whistles. Alix blows a kiss at Marinette.
"If you're gonna work the crowd—" She glances at Adrien, "—you gotta make it worthwhile." Adrien gulps.
"Luka, you should be singing this song." Rose takes a step back from the microphone. "I wanna try the tambourine!" She runs over to the aforementioned instrument and picks it up, shaking it.
"Now or never, Lu. Think of Karma."
Luka takes a deep breath and strangely enough locking eyes with Marinette seems to calm him down. She smiles encouragingly at him. The blue-haired teen just has this calming presence. Her beautiful grey eyes. Her—Whoa! Wait a minute. He can only write a song about one beautiful girl at a time. He looks down at his guitar. "This is for you, Karma!" He taps the microphone before he strums his guitar.
"Wow." Marinette jumps slightly when someone takes the empty seat to her left. Kim has his phone's flashlight on and waves it from side to side on Marinette's right. "A song about Karma. For Karma? That's so wonderful."
"O-Oh? You think so?"
The girl looks up at Marinette with a smile. "I do. I check the luckyblog frequently. Karma doesn't get the recognition she deserves. People thinking she's Lady Luck's sidekick." The girl sneers, "everything she does for the city and they just overlook her because of a pair of polkadots."
"You must not like Lady Luck very much."
"I like Lady Luck just fine. I hate what people believe her to be. She isn't some perfect icon. An unmovable force that just puts up with Karma." The girl sighs, "in any event, I think starting a band in Karma's honor is incredible."
Marinette rubs the back of her neck, "so you think Lady Luck is getting hyped up too much and Karma not enough?" The girl nods. "Wow. That's not something you hear... ever."
"That's the problem, isn't it? It's not like Lady Luck showed up and started calling the shots. They both appeared together. Karma is one half of the team." The girl rubs the back of her neck, "sorry. I've been told I'm... passionate about Karma."
"I'll say." Marinette laughs, "I'm Marinette. My friend Alix is a huge Karma fan too."
"Alix Kubdel? Yes, I know. It's one of the many things we bonded over. My name is Kagami. I just begun attending François Düpont. Which class are you in?"
"Bustier, unfortunately. I hope you're luckier than me."
Kagami chuckles and Marinette gets this weird twinge in her gut, "I am. I'm in Professeur Mendeleiev's class. I've heard questionable things about Professeur Bustier. She isn't a professeur we have."
"Consider yourself twice as lucky for that."
"Alix has mentioned you quite a bit. I'm grateful to be meeting you for myself." Marinette smiles shyly then turns to Alix glaring at the pink-haired teen who winks at her.