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Chapter 10: Worthy of a Miraculous

"And then, Jalil goes-" Alix stopped walking mid story, eyes narrowing across the school courtyard. "What is she up to now?"

Behind her, Lacy, Kim, and Max all stopped walking. Lacy followed Alix's gaze to where Chloe was talking down to some kids from another class.

"That girl looks close to tears," Lacy commented.

"Come on," Alix said, beginning to walk over the Chloe.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea," Max said. "I estimate we have a 79% chance of ma - and she's gone."

Lacy sprinted to catch up with Alix, surprised that the boys weren't following her. A few seconds later, the two came up upon the scene.

"Chloe," Lacy warned.

Chloe scoffed. "Don't Chloe me. I'm just helping these two girls look a little more approachable."

Lacy glanced at the two girls. One had acne, the other glasses, but other than that they looked fine (they look fine with those things, the back of Lacy's mind scolded). But both looked close to tears.

"Ignore her," Alix advised. "Life is much better when you do."

"You're just jealous because I look better than you," Chloe scoffed.

"I really don't care," Alix replied. "Come on, let's get you somewhere with more pleasant company."

"It's fine," one of the girls said with a sniffle. "I promise."

Lacy sat down next to her. "No, it's not. You shouldn't have to take whatever she was saying."

"Since when did you grow a backbone, Hatzi?" Chloe asked.

Lacy sighed. "Honestly, Chloe, go bug someone whose paid enough to deal with you."

Chloe scoffed and walked off, and Lacy and Alix exchanged exasperated looks.

"She's in a bad mood today," Max commented as he and Kim joined the girls.

"Doesn't give her the right to take it out on others," Lacy said. She turned to the two girls. "Are you two alright?"

One of the girls nodded - she seemed a little shell shocked, but whatever Chloe had said had finally rolled off. The other girl still looked near tears.

"Listen," Alix said. "Whatever Chloe said, ignore it. Your appearance doesn't matter that much anyways - its who you are inside that does, and in that case, she's much more uglier than you."

"She's uglier than you on the outside to," Lacy commented. "I mean, have you seen her makeup?"

Both girls chuckled.

"Thank you," the second girl said.

"You're welcome," Alix said with a smile. "Me and Lace need to get to art class, but I'm sure Kim here will cheer you up if you need it."

"Did you know I could put my toe in my ear?" Kim questioned. The girls chuckled again.

"See you guys later," Lacy said, waving at them as she and Alix made their way to the art room.

"Uh oh," Alix said, gesturing to where Chloe had stopped, and was arguing with the art teacher. Nathaniel and Marc stood to the side, watching with tense expressions.

"Now what?" Alix asked as she and Lacy joined them.

Nathaniel shrugged.

"This again?" Marinette asked as she walked up behind them. "I just calmed Mylene down from something Chloe said."

"We caught her harassing some poor kids in the courtyard," Alix added.

"It's like she's going around insulting everyone she sees," Nathaniel commented.

Marc sighed. "I don't know how you stand being in class with her."

"We need to get her to stop," Marinette said. "Or someone's going to end up akumatized."

"Ignoring her seems to work," Alix suggested.

"The whole school can't ignore her," Marinette said. "She'll set someone off."

Lacy frowned and watched Chloe. She was definitely on the defensive - if they could figure out why, maybe - maybe - they could talk her down.

"Hey, where's Sabrina?" Lacy asked.

"She's been following Lila around all day," Nathaniel said. "Apparently, Lila knows someone who can help Sabrina with her dream of being a police off-"

Nathaniel trailed off, realization settling in on his face.

"Oh."

"So she's upset because Sabrina replaces her with a different mean girl," Marinette summarized.

Nathaniel frowned at the mean girl comment, but didn't say anything.

"It's a bad day for it," Lacy said. "That akuma last night kept us all up, and everyone's a little cranky."

"Yeah," Marinette agreed. "Especially me." She took a deep breath, and before anyone could say this is a bad idea, she called out to Chloe.

"What, Dupain-Cheng?" Chloe asked, putting her arm on her hip and glaring at Marinette.

"Shut up," Marinette said. "We're all irritated over the akuma last night, and you're not helping."

Chloe scoffed. "I'm sorry if you had problems sleeping. Perhaps you need a nicer bed - not that you could afford one."

"Seriously, Chloe," Marinette said. "This is a bad day, and someone is going to get akumatized."

"And how is that my problem?" Chloe questioned.

Lacy noticed that the art teacher had excused himself, and felt a bit of dread in her stomach.

"I'm sure he's fine," Alix whispered in her ear. "He's got thick skin."

Lacy nodded. "You're right. I just worry."

Alix scowled. "This whole akuma situation is messed up. Hawkmoth sucks."

"Agreed."

Chloe and Marinette continued arguing.

"And if that's not enough, you're just going around-"

"Please, you're just mad because Cesaire isn't talking -"

"Alya has nothing to do with-"

"Girls!" Miss Bustier inserted herself into the argument, forcing the two apart. "Calm yourselves down, please!"

"I'm not doing anything-"

"She started it-"

"Now, or you'll both go down to the principles office."

Marinette stomped her foot in frustration. "I was just trying-"

"Marinette, principles office, now."

"Ha ha," Chloe said.

"You too, Chloe."

"What! You can't-"

Lacy turned her head, noticing a growing cacophony behind her. She tapped Alix's shoulder, bring her attention to the large amounts of students climbing the stairs.

"Akuma?" Lacy asked.

The two girls ran to the handrail, looking down at a crowd of students.

"Whoever it is is probably after Chloe," Lacy guessed.

"Look, it looks like some kind of paint," Alix said. "You know what, I bet it was an art project Chloe ruined."

"Alix!" Max raced up to them. "Those two girls got stuck in the locker room. Kim needs help getting them out."

"Marinette went that way - to grab her!" Alix said. "Let's get down there."

While Max chased after Marinette, Lacy and Alix pushed against the flow of students escaping to find Kim.

He saw them first and waved them over.

"The paints blocking the door," Kim said. "They has just closed it when it started but now it's almost impossible to get open."

"We need a chainsaw," Alix decided.

"We don't have a chainsaw," Lacy said.

"Don't you have a multi tool?" Alix said. "If we can take the door off of its hinges, we can lift it straight up. Surely that's easier than pushing it."

Lacy nodded, grabbing her bag and swinging it off her shoulder. She dug around before grabbing the tool.

Alix did the first two hinges, but Kim was the only one who could reach the third. By the time they were done, the paint was up to their knees.

Getting the door to go up was a challenge. Kim lifted from one side and Alix and Lacy from the other. Once everyone else was out, they just dropped the door back to where it was.

"Right," Alix said. "Let's get back up stairs."


The Akuma called herself Canvas, and wherever she went, paint dripped off of her arms. She could also blast people with paint, which hurt.

Chat Noir ended up being blown back all the way to the bakery, and a few moments later, Ladybug skidded next to him, also covered in paint.

"Ow," Ladybug complained. She took Chat Noirs hand and he helped her back onto her feet.

"Hawkmoth can really weaponize everything," she muttered.

"And Chloe can akumatize anyone," Chat Noir added, huffing in annoyance. Ladybug gave him a quizzical look, and he looked away to hide his emotions.

Because, yeah, he was a little disappointed.

"Chloe's having a bad day," Ladybug said. "I know you want her to change, but change isn't a linear progression. And I'm starting to think that it has to be people in her civilian life that help her, not us."

Like me, Chat Noir said. I must be doing something wrong as her friend.

"Besides, I know what it's like to have a fight with your best friend like she had," Ladybug continued. "I think we can cut her some slack."

Chat Noir turned back to Ladybug, surprised to hear sympathy from her, towards Chloe of all people.

"Did something happen?" He questioned.

"I visited Rena and kinda blew it," Ladybug admitted. "I haven't been able to look at her all day, and we're really close as civilians, so."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Chat Noir replied. "But Rena's pretty impulsive. I'm sure she's just as much to blame as you are."

"Oh, she is. And don't get me started on the arguments we're having on the civilian side. I just hope I didn't make it worse." Ladybug sighed, and Chat Noir could see her getting into hero mode. "But we don't have time for that. We have an akuma to beat."

"Do you have a plan?" Chat Noir asked.

Ladybug hesitated. "We need some way to mess up her aim. If every time she hits us we go flying, we'll never get anywhere."

"Sounds like you'll need to move like lightning," Chat Noir said. "Should be quit a show, don't you think?"

"Oh, look at you, coming up with the plan this time. Stay here, I'll only need a second to grab the miraculous. Then you can find Ryuko and I'll get Roi Singe."

"Sounds like a plan."

While Ladybug went to find her miraculous, Chat Noir snuck into the bakery and bought himself a few macaroons. Thankfully, he managed to eat them all before Ladybug reappeared, or else she would probably be mad at him. But what else was he supposed to do - wait outside the best bakery in Paris and not get something to eat? That almost sounded rude.

Ladybug reappeared, gave Chat Noir a look like she knew he had eat macaroons while she was gone, and handed him the dragon miraculous.

"Last I saw Kagami, she was in the park practicing her fencing," Ladybug said. "Meet me at the entrance to the school once you've found her."

"Got it."


Ladybug landed on the roof of the school, watching for Kim. She spotted him near the lockers with Alix and Lacy, helping some students out of the locker room. Ladybug caught Kim's eye, and once everyone was safely out of the room, he dropped the door (why he was holding a door Ladybug had no clue) and parted from the crowd to a deserted, unpainted part of the school close to her.

She dropped down next to him. "We need your help. Canvas has magically induced aim that means its impossible for her to miss."

"Sounds like a job for Roi Singe," Kim said, flexing his arms.

Ladybug rolled her eyes. "You remember the rules?"

"Yes," Kim replied. "As soon as I'm done, the miraculous goes right back to you."

"Good," Ladybug confirmed. She handed the box to him, and Kim snatched it from her hand.

Excited, are we? Ladybug mentally teased.

Xuppu appeared in a flash of brown light and immediately blew a raspberry. Kim replied in kind.

"Let's go!" Xuppu said.

Kim placed the headband on his head and said his transformation, and a second later Roi Singe stood in front of her.

"Alright, Chat Noir should be here in a moment," Ladybug said. "Once he gets here, we go up against Canvas. Ryuko will distract while you use your powers to throw Canvas's aim off."

"Ryuko's joining us?" Roi Singe asked. "Sweet! I'm a big fan of her. It was so cool when you were fighting Mayhem, and she was all like -" he struck a pose that sorta kinda looked like Ryuko yesterday.

"I hope I didn't actually look like that."

Ryuko and Chat Noir had arrived, and they quickly joined Ladybug and Roi Singe.

"No, you were much cooler," Chat Noir replied.

Ladybug agreed, but she didn't say so. "So the plan is this. Ryuko, you need to distract Canvas - be careful, she's really fast and her aim is true."

"So is mine," Ryuko replied.

"Roi Singe will sneak up on her while you're distracting, and use Uproar to throw off her aim. Then Chat Noir and I will swing in and defeat the akuma."

"A good plan," Ryuko said. "I will not let you down."

"Me neither!" Kim added.

"Let's do this."


They found Canvas screaming at the art teacher and demanding to know where Chloe was.

"Chloe was responsible for another akuma?" Ryuko asked.

Roi Singe made a face. "She's been really unreasonable all day. It was only a matter of time."

"Alright, you two," Ladybug said. "You're up."

Ryuko nodded, jumping off of the roof and landing behind Canvas. Canvas turned to her, snarling, and lifted a hand to blast her with paint.

Ladybug could definitely see the paint curve to try to hit Ryuko, but she was still too fast. She dodged out of the way, and rolled under the blast. Canvas shot another blast, but Ryuko dodged again.

"I'm thinking we can use the Puddler trick to untie her belt," Ladybug said. "I bet that's where the akuma is."

It was a good bet. Canvas had an off-white sleeveless dress that came down to her knees, stained with black paint around her hips. Her hair was dripping with brown paint, and her feet were bare. The only thing different was a belt made out of canvas, that wrapped around the black spots.

"Lucky charm!" Ladybug called quietly, a deck of cards falling into her hands.

"I think the cards are stacked against Hawkmoth this time," Chat Noir commented.

Roi Singe landed silenced behind Canvas, a glittery top hat in his hand. He crept forward, doing his best not to draw attention to himself.

Ryuko dodged another throw, and Roi Singe lightly frisbee-d the hat at Canvas. It hit her in the shoulder blades, and she turned around with a snarl.

She blasted paint at Roi Singe, but the paint curved and hit the wall next to him.

Ladybug and Chat Noir dropped behind her.

"Time's up," Ladybug said.

Canvas whirled around again, brown paint flying off of her hair. "Only if you can find my akuma."

Ladybug hefted her yo-yo, which now had several cards attached to it, and wrapped it around Canvas's torso. She felt the cards snag onto her belt, and she retracted the yo-yo. The cards slid just right, untying the belt.

Roi Singe darted for the belt, grabbing in mid-air and rolling up to Ladybug with it still in his hand.

"You know, I almost feel unneeded," Chat Noir commented, watching as Ladybug ripped the belt.

"Don't be silly," Ladybug said. "This was your plan after all."

She captured the akuma, and summoned her miraculous cure. The paint washed off of her suit, and she felt the bruises she had acquired disappear.

"Good job team," Ladybug said.

"Pound it!"


Kim was grinning when he returned to class, obviously proud of his heroics.

"What's he grinning about?" Alix muttered. "It was just one door."

Lacy shoved her playfully. "It was a heavy door. Let him be proud!"

Marinette came in a few seconds afterwards, and she sat down next to Adrien with a huff.

"Where's Alya?" She asked, noticing the seat in front of her was empty.

"She's uploading her latest video," Nino said. "The connection is better in the library than in here."

"The connection is better in the catacombs than in here," Chloe muttered.

"Did she get any cool moments with Ryuko?" Kim asked.

"Of course she did," Adrien replied. "Ryuko's amazing, after all. Almost as cool as Ladybug or Rena Rouge."

"You like Ladybug a lot, don't you?" Marinette said, blushing a little.

"I just - she's really cool, and confident, and she always has a plan, and honestly she reminds me of you."

Marinette blushed harder as the rest of the class rushed to agree with her.

"Ladybug must be pretty cool then, if she's like Marinette," Lacy commented.

Chloe rolled her eyes and scoffed. "As if. Dupain Cheng wishes she was comparable to Ladybug."

"You know what? I don't think you should be allowed to talk anymore," Alix snapped. "You caused this whole thing, after all."

"If that girl hadn't been so clumsy-"

"Then your coffee wouldn't have made it into her artwork?" Alix finished. "Right."

"Are you accusing me of something?" Chloe asked, her voice rising.

"Yep," Alix said. "Being a brat."

"Alix, she's not worth your time," Mylene said.

"No, someone needs to shut her up," Alix said. "Another person was akumatized because of her."

"You're right, Alix." Marinette stood up and walked up to Chloe's desk. "Listen, Chloe, I know you're having a bad day, we all have them sometimes. I just hope one day you learn other ways to deal with your problems instead of taking them out on others."

"Marinette's right, Chlo," Adrien added, stepping up behind ehr. "I'm disappointed in you."
"I - Adrikins, how could you? I-I didn't even do anything!"

"You poured coffee on someone's art project," Marinette said. "That's a big deal! People spend hours working on projects like that! Days, sometimes!"

"Well it's not my fault it took that long to make something ugly," Chloe snapped back.

"You know what? Whatever." Marinette turned and marched back to her seat, and Adrien followed.

Chloe slumped down farther into her seat, scowling. Then her face froze.

Lacy followed her eyes to where Alya stood in the doorway, steaming with anger.

"Don't talk to Marinette like that," Alya said, walking up to Chloe. "She's still trying to be nice to you, despite everything you've done."

"I don't want-"

"No Chloe, you don't get to speak." Alya scowled. "In fact, I never want to hear your voice again. That girl was one my friends from the school blog, and she spent a week working hard - something you'd never understand."

"Why is that a bad thing?"

Alya looked like she was going to scream. "Why do people insist on giving you chance upon chance upon chance? You're nothing but a brat."

"A brat? I am a superhero, unlike you," Chloe boasted.

Alya slammed her fist down on the table in front of her. "That. That is what I don't get. Ladybug - the Ladybug, the savior of Paris and both mine and your personal hero - gave you chance, Chloe. She gave you a chance, and you blew it." Alya slashed her hand through the air. "You were never worthy of a miraculous."

With that, Alya huffed and turned around. A second later, Nino followed her out of the classroom. Marinette also moved to follow her, but thought better of it and stayed in her seat.

Chloe stayed dead still for a moment, but then her shoulders started to shake. And then shake harder.

And then she was out of the classroom and running towards the bathroom.


Next chapter was one of my favorite to write, so stay tuned!