This chapter includes the events leading up to the akuma battle, so there is a bit of backtracking. A lot of this is setup for the battle to come, so it is a large change of pace for the story as it has mostly centered around Adrien and Marinette up until now.
I've been very busy, sorry for the long wait!
Following Adrien and Marinette's departure...
Alya watched as Marinette walked away with Adrien, hoping that her nervous friend might work up the gumption to ask him out. The brunette giddily smiled. "Cross your fingers for them Nino! This could be Marinette's big chance."
Nino sighed with a smirk. "That's what you always say when those two are alone…"
Alya pouted at her boyfriend's doubt. "Marinette just has to work up the nerve to tell him. I'm telling you, she's come really close to doing it before. The girl just needs that last little push to do it!"
Nino frowned at his girlfriend. "That doesn't mean my man Adrien is going to accept her feelings though. I swear, the dude acts like girls don't even exist most of the time. He's never even told me that he's interested in anyone, not even once."
Nino and Alya began making their way to the cafeteria. "Maybe he just can't tell others who he likes. Imagine if a news outlet got hold of information like that! They already stalk Adrien, I'm sure he wouldn't want that for the person he's crushing on." Alya paused her rant briefly as the two sat down at a lunch table. Her thoughts quickly detracted from her pigtailed friend however, as she watched Nino pull lunch from his bag.
Her hungry eyes narrowed in on the bag. "I didn't bring any money because I thought I'd be heading over to Marinette's for lunch." She admitted, shyly rubbing the back of her head. "Do you think I could have some of yours?" She added very sweetly.
"Babe, you're lucky my mom packs me extra food."
"Even if she didn't, I know you would still share with me! Not that I would expect it, of course." Alya said cheekily.
Nino rolled his eyes playfully at his girlfriend as he began unpacking his lunch. "You might not have many expectations, but you definitely have other ways of getting what you want…"
Alya, raising an eye brow to Nino's comment. "What do you mean...?"
Nino grinned and laughed at his girlfriend's dumbfounded expression. "It's kind of unrelated, but you're like super good at getting what you want babe. You would be public enemy number one if you were as mean, rich, or influential as Chloe."
"I guess a reporter has to be crafty, right?" she giggled.
The certain blond girl in question was sitting across the cafeteria from them. The two were abruptly startled at the sound of the girl's obnoxious laugh ringing in the distance as she stood intimidatingly in front of another student. Chloe's face was absolutely smitten with glee at the cowering girl, who quickly gathered her things and ran out of the cafeteria with tears in her eyes.
Alya grimaced as she clicked her tongue in frustration. "Typical Chloe. I couldn't even hope to touch that level of nasty."
"You said it dude" Nino scowled as his eyes were still fixed on the door that the girl left through.
"I hope that girl's alright though. Definite akuma bait."
"You think we should go talk to her?"
"That's what Ladybug would probably do."
"Well when you put it that way…"
Alya quickly sprung up from her seat and grabbed Nino's hand. She pulled him along with her as she went for the direction that the girl ran in. Nino looked longingly at the abandoned lunch as he was pulled away and sighed. Food would have to wait.
It didn't take long for the reporter to locate the girl, as she was audibly crying in a nearby broom closet.
Alya hesitantly lifted her hand up to knock on the closet door, but froze before she made contact. The small black butterfly in her view was unmistakable, and it was coming right in the direction of the closet.
"Hey, there's an akuma coming after you! You need to get out right now!" Alya yelled. She tried to open the door, but only found that it was locked.
"W-what?" the girl muttered out as her sobs momentarily stopped. "Are you trying to play some sort of prank on me? It's not funny, leave me alone!"
"No, I'm not!" Alya said frantically. The akuma was only a few feet from the closet now. "I saw that Chloe was being a jerk to you. The akuma is literally right here! if you don't move now, you're going to get akumatized!"
Sensing the urgency in Alya's voice, the girl knew she better act now before anything bad happened. She scrambled to her feet just as the Akuma phased through the wall. Upon seeing it, the girl let out a shriek of terror that startled both Alya and Nino from outside the door.
"Did it get you?!" Nino concernedly asked, expecting for the worst.
The two stood still as a long silence settled.
"Yes Hawkmoth, I accept." The girl's voice rang from inside the closet.
The two looked to each other in fear, Nino grasping for Alya's hand as they booked it as fast as he could back to the cafeteria. They relayed the message of the akuma down the hallways of the school as they ran. Barreling through the cafeteria doors, they immediately spotted Chloe who was eating lunch with Sabrina.
"What is with all the ridiculous commotion?" She snarled.
"Everybody needs to run, someone's been akumatized!" Alya yelled to everybody in sight. She turned her attentions to Chloe once she saw everybody evacuating. "Chloe, that girl you made fun of became akumatized. This is all your fault!"
Chloe gave a nasally laugh. "I can't believe that loser went and got herself akumatized when I was just telling her the truth. She came to me looking for Adrien so she could confess her worthless feelings to him, and I put her in her place!"
Alya scowled at the horrid girl. Many girl's hearts held affection for the model blonde, including Marinette. She couldn't but imagine if this was Marinette instead of some girl she didn't know, and the mere thought enraged Alya even more.
Sabrina looked nervous and ready to bolt, but the blonde girl had a complete lack of urgency in her form. "A loser like her is probably not all that powerful anyways, it shouldn't even be a problem for Ladybug or Queen Bee to handle."
Alya's eye twitched at Chloe's inclusion of her superhero persona. Instead of responding to her, she roughly grabbed the insufferable girl up by her arms and pulled her to her feet.
"Hey!" Chloe hollered.
"It's beyond me why Ladybug would choose you to be a miraculous holder, but that's not important. That girl is probably on her way to attack you right now, and you are a sitting duck. You're no use to Ladybug as akuma bait, so let's get out of here!"
Chloe detested Alya, but she did have a point, although she wouldn't admit it. "Ok blah blah blah. I have to go signal Ladybug anyways, so I'm out of here!" She exclaimed, pushing past Nino and Alya towards the alternative exit of the cafeteria.
"Ungrateful little…" Alya mumbled as the two rushed out of the cafeteria not too far behind Chloe and Sabrina. Just as the doors slammed behind them, they could hear the entrance of the angry akuma as they left.
The akuma had gradually been backing the prissy blonde girl into a corner after she had managed to dodge some of her attacks. "You're seriously going to regret it if you don't tell me where Adrien Agreste is right now!" She growled.
With no-where else to run, Chloe aimlessly began backing up as the Akuma approached her, tripping over a nearby abandoned bag and landing on the hard floor with a thud. She hesitantly looked up at the girl with an expression of fear, mentally cursing at herself.
On the way out, Alya had opted to take a different route. There were only two hallways to go down. One that looped around back to the front of the building which happened to be the nearest exit, and one that was much further away. Alya insisted that the akuma would try and search the exits nearest to the cafeteria doors they left from, so it would be better to take an exit further away, but Chloe was intent on getting out via the closest exit she could. Ladybug was awaiting her signal, after all.
Chloe's plans for a quick escape were thwarted however, as the akuma lay in waiting for her just as Alya had said. The one kind thing she had done was buy some time for Sabrina to escape. If she just had gotten a chance to think about it a little more, Chloe was sure she would have come to the same conclusion…
A low chuckled emitted from the akuma's throat. She looked down at Chloe as if she were a bug about to be crushed without a second thought.
The akuma had long black hair that reached down to her mid back, much longer than her natural hair. Her bangs were straight cut and rested just above her eye brows. She wore a royal purple princess gown that stopped just above the knees, with shimmering black flats and matching colored lace that wrapped up and around her calves. Her weapon was a golden scepter that encased an orb at the end, which glowed a menacing purplish-black light.
Chloe had overheard Marinette and Adrien's discussion about working out the details on their project during lunch, but she wasn't about to tell the akuma where her Adrikins was.
"I-I really don't know! He didn't tell me anything, he just disappeared right before lunch."
"Well…" the akuma thought. "I'll have to go looking for him myself. This doesn't mean I'm through with the likes of you though, not after how vile you were to me earlier!" The akuma slowly lowered her scepter towards Chloe as the girl visibly flinched at the subtle movement.
"Adrien's capacity to put up with you speaks volumes of his kindness for others, so much so that he can't see your true evil intentions! He's a true prince, a boy with a heart of gold, and I'm going to become his princess once I find him!" The dark-haired girl exclaimed, her face overtaken in reverie.
Her large hazel brown eyes narrowed back to the blonde in front of her in pure contempt.
"I've decided that only a witch could be as terrible and ugly as you, so that is what you are destined to be!" With a sinister smirk, a beam of light fired from the staff and hit Chloe. It left no physical sign of damage, but immediately Chloe could feel something strange occurring in her body.
"W-What did you do to me!" She shrieked, looking down at her changing hands. Her complexion was beginning to turn a sickly green, and warts and blemishes began to litter her fair skin. She could feel her body physically morphing into something that was not her own.
"I told you, you're a witch now!" She cackled.
In a puff of purple smoke, Chloe's normal clothing was replaced with a dark black robe, and she could feel a hat brimming the top of her head. Along with it, a dingy broomstick materialized next to her.
"That look is very becoming of you! But I'm not finished yet…" The akuma fired yet another shot from her scepter at Chloe, who expected the worse.
"W-What?" She mumbled, wrapping her fingers around her now aching head. "W-what… did you d-do!?" She could feel her mind beginning to swirl and her consciousness waning.
"Tell me, do you really know where my Adrien is?"
Chloe wanted to detest the girl, but her mind soon went completely empty and something else took over. Her previous fearful expression fell blank.
"I can only know as much as you know, your highness. This girl is just a puppet. I can help you in other ways, however. Just give me an order."
She frowned "That's a shame. At least you can follow orders though, so I'll keep this simple for you. Go capture citizens and bring them to me."
Without speaking a word, Chloe obeyed the demands of the akuma and picked up her broom.
Lila watched from the corner as Chloe, now transformed into a witch that held little resemblance to the girl she was in class with, flew off into the opposing hallway.
Throughout the conversations… or rather- interrogation, between Chloe and the akuma, Lila had gathered a lot of information and developed a plan. First, she knew her ability was to transform those around her into other types of beings at her will. Second, Lila knew the akuma took control with two shots from her scepter, as she had seen with Chloe.
The first shot changed the person, giving them abilities. The second shot made them into a puppet, as the akuma had said. Nothing of the person's conscious apparently remained.
Lila sighed, readying herself for the plan. She immediately exposed herself to the akuma that was about to take off, walking into her line of sight and catching her attention. "I'm here to help you, your highness!" Lila called out whilst bowing down to the dark-haired girl. A bead of sweat dripped down her neck.
"What sort of joke is this?" The akuma raised her staff towards Lila.
Lila clenched her teeth. She hated playing someone else's servant, but this was the perfect chance to further her own agenda and enact revenge. If this were to work, she would have a hand in eliminating Ladybug and Marinette without being under the direct mercy of Hawkmoth.
"This is no joke; my name is Lila and I have information about Adrien and another threat you should know about. All I ask is that you let me be your willing ally, not a slave."
"Really? Well I'd rather just turn you into a slave and have you lead the way from there!" the Akuma smirked.
"It would be wise not to lie to me, your highness. I heard what you said to Chloe… I'm fully aware those you shoot with your second shot become your puppets. They don't remember anything of who they are."
The akuma glared daggers at Lila. "You dare eaves-" she started, but was stopped when Hawkmoth's familiar purple outline appeared over her face. After a moment, the akuma nodded her head.
"Hawkmoth advised that I let you explain yourself, but be quick…"
"I know where Adrien is" Lila spoke frankly, peeking the interest of the akuma. Before she could respond, Lila continued. "but more importantly, I know of a girl that holds Adrien's affections. She is a far bigger threat than Chloe could ever be; her name is Marinette Dupain Cheng!"
Lila beamed in delight as the girls face twisted into an enraged expression at the mere mention she could have a genuine rival in love. "Tell me more…"
She took the akuma's emotionally charged reaction as a fulfilling sign to her plan, which caused her nerves to ease a bit. Akuma's already held little grasp over their emotional states, making it easy to manipulate them. This girl's infatuation over Adrien would only make it all the easier.
Lila produced a mock concerned expression, laying a hand over her heart as if the words she was about to speak were anything but a dubious lie. "This girl, you see, is the vilest witch you will ever meet! She is a true menace and bully to those around her, but she has poor Adrien head over heels in love with her. She's so good at hiding her true self, that Adrien is convinced she is a saint."
Lila paused briefly, letting the other girl process her words.
"And if this hasn't already convinced you, right now, Adrien is over at this girl's house. I can only imagine all the kisses she's stolen from his lips with her lies…"
The dark haired akuma was absolutely seething in anger by this point, hand tightly clenched and trembling around her scepter. "What should I do? This girl is clearly evil. She deserves to be punished for lying to him and playing with his affection… I need him to know the truth…" the girl spoke, to whom Lila presumed was Hawkmoth
There was a long pause, but Hawkmoth eventually responded to her pleas. His decision was quick, as it only took a moment of decision. She looked back to Lila.
"I've decided- you will become my ally and help me to stop this girl."
Lila grinned.
Chat Noir stopped to briefly scan over the details of the news report. He quickly realized that he didn't have to travel far however, as the akuma was spotted near the school.
As he neared the school, he could see Alya and Nino kneeling behind a bush in the distance.
"You're not doing a very good job at hiding, you know." He grinned as he startled the two, immediately gaining their attention.
Nino turned to Chat. "We didn't want you to miss us-"
"Because we have details on the akuma!" Alya said excitedly, finishing Nino's words.
Chat smiled playfully and casually leaned against his staff. "Always the helpful reporter. I'm all ears- cat ears that is."
"Well…" Alya started, feeling a bit more relaxed at seeing Chat's laid-back demeanor. so, the akuma is most likely going to target Chloe and Adrien Agreste. A girl came to Queen Brat wanting to know where Adrien was to confess her feelings to him, and Chloe… Well, I don't know what she said to her, but it wasn't nice... We tried to console the girl before she got akumatized, but she was convinced we were just trying to make fun of her…"
Adrien nodded in understanding. "Thanks for trying to prevent the akuma attack, I'll be sure to tell Ladybug about your efforts!"
Alya looked ecstatic at the hero's words. Praise from Ladybug was always a plus when doing anything good, but it was better knowing that she was fulfilling her role as a hero outside of the mask.
Chat wasn't at all phased to hear that someone had a crush on him. Two confessions in one day was not so uncommon for the teen model, but it was rare for someone to become akumatized over it, especially before he even had the chance to properly turn them down. Just as Alya said, Chloe must have said something terribly mean to elicit such a reaction…
"Where was the akuma last spotted?" Chat questioned.
"The last we've seen of her- or rather should I say 'heard of her', was in the cafeteria. Me and Alya heard her rush in as we were leaving. Sorry we couldn't be of more help" Nino said with slight disappointment in his voice and features.
Chat grinned. "Give yourselves more credit guys, you've given me great stuff! It's rare that I get any information before going into a fight." Chat's words earned a bright smile in return from the two. "Stay safe." Chat waved, as he vaulted off.
Without a second thought or plan, akin to Chat's typical style… he blindly propelled himself through the front doors of the school.
I hope you enjoyed! I appreciate and encourage all reviews, so feel free to leave them.