This chapter might come out as a little bit salty, but it's needed to begin to build up the rest of the story.
Chapter 8: Mayhem
"I'm just saying," Alix continued. "A time traveler would be great addition to the story!"
Nathaniel shook his head. "No one has a clear shot of Bunnyx. It would be hard to draw them accurately."
"Then use your imagination," Alix countered. "Creative license, right?"
Nathaniel turned to Marc for support, but he just shrugged.
"It's up to you," Marc said. He checked the time on his phone. "I've got to get to class. See you later."
"See you," Alix replied.
Lacy, Alix, and Nathaniel walked into their class, which was about half full. Marinette and Nino were sitting in their seats, whispering something between them. Chloe and Sabrina were ogling over something on Chloe's phone, and Ivan was in the back talking to Rose and Juleka.
Nathaniel headed to his seat in the back and Lacy and Alix took their seat behind Chloe. Both girls tried to peak at what she was watching on her phone, but Chloe moved her body so they couldn't see.
"Are you feeling better?" Marinette asked, pulling Lacy away from her nosiness.
"Yeah, I just needed to calm down," Lacy replied, giving Marinette a bright smile. "How about you?"
"I'm doing a little better," Marinette said. "Kagami still stayed the night, so that was fun."
She returned back to her seat, and continued talking to Nino.
Adrien walked in, talking to Mylene about something. He waved hi to Nino, but after a moments hesitation, sat down next to Marinette.
Marinette yelped in surprise and stuttered out a greeting.
Lacy gave Alix a conspiratorial grin, and Alix rolled her eyes, but by the quirk in the corner of her lips, she was happy with Adrien's decision too.
Ivan and Mylene took their seats, and after greeting each other, Ivan started talking with Adrien and Marinette. Nino tuned out of the conversation and put his headphones on.
Chloe muttered something under her breath.
"What do you think that's all about?" Lacy asked Alix.
Alix shrugged. "Maybe he finally got over his obliviousness."
"Who, Adrien?" Chloe asked. "He's just being kind. Everyone knows Dupain-Cheng and her friend got into a fight last night. Adrien must realize Marinette doesn't want to sit next to Cesaire."
Alix and Lacy exchanged dubious looks.
"That sounds way too... socially aware for Adrien," Lacy said.
Chloe hesitated. "Okay, yeah, fine. Maybe he's not that clued in. But he's just being nice - there's nothing between the two."
Lacy glanced over at the couple in question, and yeah, Adrien was definitely giving Marinette puppy dog eyes.
Kim and Max arrived, talking animatedly with each other. They sat down behind the girls.
"Okay, so I need your opinion about something," Kim said. "Would Squirrel Girl be able to defeat Thanos?"
Chloe rolled her eyes and turned back to her phone.
"Uh, who?" Lacy asked.
"Thanos," Kim repeated. "You know, the titan who-"
"I know who Thanos is," Lacy interrupted. "But who's Squirrel Girl?"
Kim opened his mouth to answer, but the class fell dead silent.
Lacy turned to see Alya and Lila had walked in.
Alya and Marinette stared at each other for a moment.
Alya broke the silence first. "Hey girl. Sorry about last night."
"You have nothing to apologize for-" Lila started.
Alya held up her hand, silencing Lila. "I was thinking about last night and while I still think you were being unfair to Lila-"
"Unfair?" Marinette echoed.
"It was your room and you have every right to keep others out." Alya sighed. "I'm sorry girl."
Marinette hesitated. "I appreciate it, Alya. I wish you could see that I'm not being unfair to Lila, but I guess we can just agree to disagree."
"I guess."
There was still tension in the air, but when Alya sat down next to Nino, she turned to give Marinette a smile. Marinette smiled back before returning to her conversation.
"That was tense," Lacy commented.
"This is why I don't do drama," Alix replied. "And yes, Squirrel Girl could totally beat Thanos."
Alya was trying, Marinette could tell.
Her apology earlier was genuine, and by lunch, Marinette was inclined to forgive her.
She never had a chance to talk with her, though, because an akuma attacked just as they were leaving for lunch.
Marinette excused herself to the bathroom, but she casted a forlorn look to the cafeteria.
"Couldn't the akuma wait until after I ate?" She said wistfully.
"Don't worry!" Tikki chimed in. "You have a full hour to eat! I'm sure the akuma attack won't last that long!"
"You're right," Marinette agreed.
She slipped into the bathroom, checking over her shoulder for anyone following her. She caught a glimpse of movement out of the corner of her eye.
Marinette frowned, a flutter of suspicion in her stomach.
Instead of transforming right away, Marinette took her time using the bathroom and washing her hands. The uneasy feeling hadn't gone away, and as two more students entered the bathroom, Marinette resigned herself to finding another hiding spot.
She exited the bathroom, catching once again a glimmer of movement, like someone stalking her.
Great. Only Lila or Chloe stalked her, and those were the last two people Marinette needed seeing her transform. She debated ignoring the stalker, and finding a more secure place to transform.
No. Better face this problem head on.
"You're not as good of a stalker as you think," Marinette called. She waited a beat, and then another.
"Okay, fine, you got me." Lila walked out, hands in the air and a grin on her face. "What are you going to do about it?"
"Is there a reason you're following me or are you just be annoying?" Marinette asked.
"Just seeing where you're about to run off to," Lila replied. "Alya gets so worried when you disappear, you know? A good friend would let her friends know where she was heading, after all."
Marinette scowled. "And a good stalker doesn't get caught."
Lila scowled. "Not like it matters. No one will believe you."
"Whatever you're planning, Alya will never believe," Marinette argued.
"How can you say that, after all she's fallen for already?" Lila taunted. "She trusts me, Marinette, more than she does you, anyway."
Marinette growled.
Lila flipped her hair and left.
"Well that was inconvenient," Marinette finally said. She took a deep breath, forcing herself to brush off the encounter.
"If you text Alya, you'll be able to warn her about you disappearing," Tikki suggested. "And she does trust you, Marinette."
"Good idea," Marinette agreed. She quickly texted Alya an excuse - she had a commission she just remembered, and had to rush home to use her lunch hour to work on it - before double checking the room for any more lurkers.
"Tikki, spots on!"
Ladybug landed on the rooftop, watching as Lila, Nino, and Alya sat down to enjoy their lunch outside. She lingered a moment on the roof, watching them talk.
Chat Noir had already messaged her, saying they needed back up, and Rena Rouge had been her immediate thought. But as Alya and Lila talked, Ladybug began to doubt her decision.
When Alya has apologized earlier, she had done it even against what Lila was saying. Alya wasn't completely caught up in Lila's lies, no matter what Lila said. In fact, that's probably what made Lila follow Marinette - the apology had made Lila nervous.
But Lila was so openly antagonistic to Ladybug, going anywhere near her - especially with the fox miraculous - was a risk.
Ladybug would have to find other allies.
She was disappointed to see Kim and Max had left for their lunch period - she had no idea where they were. She did know where Luka was - and Kagami, even if that was a risk.
But Kagami was a friend, someone Ladybug trusted, and also someone Ladybug could find.
Ladybug landed a little ways from Fu's apartment before detransforming.
She knocked on his door, and he immediately let her in.
"Chat Noir said this villain has ability to create mayhem and illusions," Marinette said, sitting down opposite of the Fu. "He believes we'll need back up."
Fu opened the box, giving his using spiel about trustworthy allies. Marinette grabbed the snake Miraculous and reached for the dragon.
"I thought you said Ryuko's identity was compromised?" Fu questioned.
"It is, but I don't have time to find anyone else," Marinette explained. She grabbed the second miraculous. "Besides, I trust Kagami."
Thankfully, Luka and Kagami were where they were supposed to be, and it wasn't long before the three of them were heading towards the fight.
They landed on a rooftop next to the battle, and Chat Noir joined them a second later.
"Viperion, Ryuko," he greeted. "It's great to see you again."
"Likewise," Viperion said.
Ryuko didn't bother with a greeting, focusing in on the villain instead.
Ladybug turned her attention to the villain has well. He was dressed in horribly garish colors, with a large orange top hat and a pink cane. He pointed his cane at various objects, either causing cars to explode violently, or causing cartoonish illusions to pop up around the street.
"What do we know?" Ladybug asked.
"He calls himself Mayhem," Chat Noir reported. "Like I said, he can create small illusions - nothing compared to our Rena Rouge, of course - and can magically cause things to explode into colorful powder. And he has a thing with firecrackers, too."
"Any weaknesses?" Ladybug asked.
"None that I know," Chat Noir answered. "And I don't have any idea where the akuma is. The canes look like they're disposable. He threw one at me and created another out of thin air."
Ladybug squinted at Mayhem. The bright, nonsensical patterns on the clothes made it hard to tell where one piece ended and another started - any kind of trinket would be impossible to spot.
"The hat would be the obvious choice," Ryuko said.
"The hat seems too obvious," Ladybug answered. "But it's the only thing I can make out."
"What's the plan?" Chat Noir asked.
Ladybug frowned in thought, the inklings of a plan already forming.
"Okay, here's what we're going to do-"
Chloe huffed. "I can't believe that Ladybug isn't letting me help her with this latest akuma."
Nearly everyone was back in the classroom, except for Marinette, Adrien, and Miss Bustier. Without adult supervision to keep them on track, they were all talking animatedly about the current akuma.
Lacy scowled. "Why? Why would you want to go anywhere near that fashion disaster?"
Lacy's eyes were closed, but she could still feel Alix's confused and slightly judgmental look.
"It hurts my eyes," Lacy protested. "It's like Hawkmoth loses a little more fashion sense every time he akumatizes someone."
"Loses?" Chloe scoffed. "Did you see the Bubbler?"
"Who?" Lacy questioned, finally lifting her head up from her hands.
"Lahiffe," Chloe commented, which would have been more helpful if she remembered the last names of her classmates better.
"Nino," Alix translated. "He was akumatized because he thought Adrien's dad was being unfair to him-"
"Which he was," Chloe confirmed.
"Which he was," Alix agreed. "But yeah, his outfit was ugly."
Lacy debated asking for pictures, but after Mayhem, decided against it.
"Alright everyone," Miss Bustier said as she walked in the room. "I know we're all excited about the new akuma, but it's a safe distance away, so let's focus on our schoolwork."
Alya raised her hand. "Marinette and Adrien aren't back from lunch yet."
"Yes, well Adrien went home from lunch so we can assume he's waiting until it's safer," Miss Bustier said. "Same with Marinette."
"I hope she's okay," Lila commented. "I heard she was going that direction, something about an event this afternoon-"
"Don't worry girl," Alya replied. "She's just home working on a last minute commission. I'll text her, remind her that lunch is over and to keep safe from the akuma."
"Good idea," Miss Bustier said. "Nino, will you text Adrien?"
"Sure, Miss Bustier."
"Alright, now on to our lesson for today-"
"The akuma has been defeated," Alya reported. "Ryuko apparently-"
"Alya," Miss Bustier scolded.
"Sorry."
Alix pulled out her phone, shifting so that Lacy could see as well. She pulled up a video of the fight, and they watched the replay of the fight show Ryuko doing an insane stunt to help trap the akuma.
"She's super cool," Alix whispered to Lacy.
Lacy nodded eagerly in agreement.
Miss Bustier sighed loudly, alerting the two girls that they were caught.
"Perhaps it would be beneficial if we discussed the akuma quickly, so we could focus better?" Bustier suggested.
"I think that's a great idea!" Alya agreed. "Did you all see that stunt Ryuko pulled?"
"Yes!" Alix agreed. "I wish I could do something like that!"
"What stunt?" Kim asked. Alix showed him the video, and Kim's eyes widened in amazement.
"She's so cool!" Kim said.
"She must have athletic training," Max added.
"Even with a Miraculous, that had to be hard," Chloe admitted. "As the only one in the room who's used an miraculous, I would know."
"Did she just compliment someone?" Alix whispered to Lacy.
"Even Chloe can't insult a move like that," Lacy replied.
"She's a gymnast," Lila contributed. "Ladybug told me herself."
"That looks more like swordfighting technique," Lacy commented.
"Yeah it looks like some of the training Adrien does," Nino added. "Except ramped to like, a thousand. That's one cool dude!"
"Well, she picked up fencing when Ladybug gave her her miraculous," Lila continued.
Alix replayed the video on her phone again.
"That's just so cool," Lacy commented. "I wish I could do something like that."
"Me too!" Alix added.
"You know, I was the one who suggested using Ryuko to Ladybug," Lila lied.
"Really?" Alya perked up. "What about the other heroes, like Rena Rouge?"
"Babe..." Nino said.
"Oh, no, Ladybug choose most of the others on her own," Lila said. "But when she needed help with Ikari Gozen, she had run out of ideas, because she already trusted everyone else she knew with miraculous - except for me, but I couldn't at the time, because of a bad knee injury. And Ladybug liked her so much, she let Ryuko keep the miraculous right then!"
"Wait, Ryuko permanently has her miraculous?" Alya inquired.
"She's a good choice," Alix admitted. "I mean, look at her."
"Ladybug says she's the best hero she's worked with, besides Chat Noir," Lila added.
"Ugh, I bet Adrien's a big Ryuko fan now," Chloe muttered.
"I think everyone is," Lacy replied.
Chloe pouted. "No, you don't get it. He goes crazy over tough girls like that - when Ladybug first premiered, he wouldn't shut up about her!"
"Neither would you," Alix pointed out. "Or Alya."
"Still," Chloe complained.
"Don't worry Chloe!" Sabrina piped up. "Adrien's still a big Queen Bee fan!"
Adrien, with his great sense of timing, chose then to burst into class, shutting Chloe up.
"Sorry I'm late," Adrien muttered.
"I understand," Miss Bustier said. "Your father is strict about akumas, isn't he?"
Adrien sighed in relief. "Yeah, he is."
"Hey, Adrien, what do you think about that stunt Ryuko pulled?" Alix called.
Adrien smiled. "I thought it was really cool! She must be a serious athlete outside of the suit!"
It wasn't his Marinette eyes, but Lacy could tell he did have a thing for Ryuko. Chloe knows him well.
Chloe huffed in annoyance, turning back to her school work.
Marinette arrived a few minutes later, blustering about getting caught up in a project and not seeing Alya's text.
"Alright, can we begin our lesson now?:
Marinette decided to drop by Alya's place. At the last second, she decided it was better for Ladybug to drop by.
Ladybug tapped on Alya's window, and Alya let her in.
"Is it true?" Alya asked. "That you let Ryuko keep her miraculous?"
"What?" Ladybug asked. "Who told you - never mind, I think I know who - but why would you believe that? Ryuko was benched until today, and only because you were occupied."
Alya looked taken aback. "Oh. Oh, I'm sorry - you can always interrupt what I'm doing, Ladybug." She sat down on her desk chair, and Ladybug sat down on the edge of her bed.
"It's not that." Ladybug sighed. She did not want to get into this with Alya right now. "It's the people you - just, I need you to be better."
"Be better? How?" Alya leaned forward in her chair.
Ladybug hesitated. "For one, you need to be more careful with what you post on the Ladyblog."
"Careful with what?"
"For one, check your sources."
Alya frowned. "But I do! To the best I can, at least - after all, there's so little we know about the miraculous and you and it's not like there's much I can double check. Thankfully, Lila-"
"Then don't post what you can't prove," Ladybug said.
"Is this about the whole guardian order thing?" Alya questioned. "I didn't know how to tell you otherwise-"
"No, I appreciate the thought, though I do wish you wouldn't post theories like that where Hawkmoth could find them. You probably know more than he does-"
"Than what's this about?" Alya asked, her voice starting to sound irritated.
"Your interviews, Alya," Ladybug snapped. "They're not all true."
"Well, how am I supposed to know?" Alya questioned. "I can't do a lie-detector test on all my sources. Everything right now is by word of mouth - you're the only one who can really say what happens at akuma attacks! If something's false, just tell me!"
"I can't!" Ladybug said. "I need you to be able to-"
"To what? Magically be able to read minds?"
"You're getting a little defensive right now-"
"You're attacking me for things that are beyond my control!" Alya took a shaky breath. "I want to help you Ladybug, but it feels like you're expecting things from me that I can't do!"
"I'm expecting thing from you because I trust you!" Ladybug said. "But you need to prove that I made the right choice."
"I thought I did." Alya's voice was a small whisper.
"Listen, I'm explaining things badly," Ladybug said. "I don't think this is going to work out."
"What isn't going to work out?" Alya asked. "You're not taking me off the team, are you?"
"No," Ladybug said. "But you're on probation."
"For what?"
"I'll explain when you're ready," Ladybug decided.
"And now you're talking to me like a child!"
Ladybug winced. That was how her statement came out.
"Listen, I've had a long day. I'll see you later, okay?"
"Fine."
Ladybug didn't look back as she swung away.
Alya sunk into her chair, barely breathing. Probation?
And for what?
Ladybug hadn't been saying anything clearly - except that about the blog, but what was Alya supposed to do? She did try to check her sources, but that was near impossible sometimes.
Whatever happened, Ladybug was mad at her, possibly considering taking her off the team.
She didn't hear her mom call out to her.
Alya choked out a sob.
She didn't see the butterfly.
"Lady WiFi," Hawkmoth's voice echoed in her head. "Your idol expects more of you than you can give. But with my powers, I can give the ability to see the truth behind any article - and your blog will be the best in Paris, and all will trust you again. All I need is-"
"No."
It was more of a sob than a word, but Alya forced it out.
"No, Hawkmoth. I refuse. Either I show her I'm worthy of her trust, or I don't, but that's on me. I won't do this again."
As quickly as it happened, it went away. Like a rush of energy falling away.
Alya pulled her knees up to her chest and sobbed.
Someone knocked on her door. "Alya?"
"Nino?" Alya asked. She glanced over her shoulder. "What are you doing here?"
"Just checking in with you."
Nino moved into her room, sitting down on her bed.
A second later, Alya found herself crying into his shoulder.
Okay, so Feast didn't happen in this story like it did in canon, but Alya still did find all of those hints towards the order of the guardians, which is what is referenced above.
