Bloom watches as Marinette fidgets and fiddles with her hat for a bit, then says "Mari, this is the hat that was chosen in that contest all that time ago. This is the hat that Adrien's going to model tonight." For better or worse, it's far too late to back out now, or change anything.
Marinette mutters "I just feel like it's the ugliest hat in the world..."
Bloom waves a hand, like she's literally waving Marinette's worries away, and says "That's just nerves talking. You were the same way back when we first started working together, remember?" And two weeks later, she was swinging from rooftop to rooftop with her yo-yo, and coming up with plans to beat the Akumas.
Seeing Marinette's still doubting herself, Bloom says "Alright, I didn't want to do this...but you do remember who picked your hat, right?"
"Yeah, of course I do! Gab... oh." It's a little too easy to forget, sometimes, that Gabriel Agreste was Hawk Moth even back then - that she wanted his fricking approval back then, Hawk Moth's approval. It makes her want to be sick for a moment. She has to forcefully remind herself that she didn't know he's Hawk Moth back then, that he's still a fashion mogul, that there was absolutely no indication of the detail that the guy abuses a tiny god every single day to terrorize a city.
And then she spares a moment to acknowledge the detail that her life has gotten very strange since the day Bloom entered her life, she was chosen as the next Ladybug, and Hawk Moth started his reign of utter terror.
Bloom nods, and says "If you can impress Hawk Moth with your work, which you did, then this should be a piece of cake."
Marinette nods, saying "Right. You're right! C'mon, before we're late!"
Chloe tries to keep her expression under control, tries not to show any of her shock in front of her mother - but that's not particularly easy when you suddenly have a twin sister you never knew about!
A near-perfect replica of her face is staring back at her, a mildly-curious expression in place. Far better than her own undoubtedly frozen one, at any rate.
They get out of Adrien's limo, driven by his bodyguard, and Audrey says "Antony- I mean, Andre, do fire him, I can't believe Gabriel allows his staff to drive that way." The limo promptly speeds off, taking a very angry bodyguard with it - before he can throttle her, most likely.
And then she 'fires' Officer Roger because the carpet is fabric and not marble.
And then blatantly insults Nadja on live tv before deigning to answer her question. ...and then 'fires' Chloe, because she considers the wrapping paper on the gift she got the woman ridiculous.
Chloe quickly pastes a 'she's joking, everyone!' smile on her face, even as Zoe quickly takes the gift from sight, and Andre says "Audrey, you can't fire Chloe, she's your daughter!"
Bloom watches the news feed with Marinette on the dark-haired girl's phone, then deadpans "This explains everything about Chloe. She's been mimicking her all this time." Now, everything makes absolute sense, every little detail she's noticed ever since Chloe's party at the hotel.
Marinette says "No kidding…she's Chloe on steroids!"
Bloom runs after a furious Audrey Bourgeois, yelling "Mrs. Bourgeois, hold up! There's something you gotta know!" And that's when she sees the purple butterfly disappear around the woman's hat.
Shiiit…
Thinking quickly, Bloom grabs Chloe and Zoe and hides the three of them away in a semi-covered alcove - one hand over each of their mouths so they can't scream, at that. "Shshsh," she half-whispers, half hisses, "Akumas usually go straight for their target at first, so let's stay out of sight for a moment. Chloe, send a text to the class chat telling them to run."
Chloe nods - even she isn't about to argue about this. Her mother's just been Akumatized, after all.
At Zoe's confused look, Chloe quickly types onto her phone 'Paris has a supervillain that makes supervillains. And superheroes that fight them.'
Zoe's eyes widen, and Bloom has to tighten her grip over her mouth to keep the American-raised blonde from snapping her head over towards the gold-glitter woman that just disappeared.
And then Bloom gasps when they cautiously peek out, hearing the sounds of screaming…and they see Adrien having been turned to a golden statue, about to leap off the stage. Luckily, Chloe gasps as well, murmuring "Oh no, Adrikins…"
Zoe's pacing the Eiffel Tower, trying not to have a complete mental breakdown after the things Chloe's told her - their Mother's been…Akumatized, turned into a Supervillain, Chloe's childhood friend is currently a golden statue by her hand…er, scepter, and they're at a very real risk of getting 'fired' as well.
All because Audrey Bourgeois is proud to the point of narcissism, and refuses to sit at a fashion show in the second row.
Chloe, meanwhile, is pounding on the glowing yellow barrier around him, begging Adrien to wake up. And to please stop crumbling, he's already lost his ankles. And then something yanks on Chloe's arm, getting her attention and making her turn to look at what's pulling her, she sees Ladybug and Dragon Fyre perched on a beam.
Ladybug immediately puts a finger to her lips, signaling for them to be quiet, and Chloe nods and motions for Zoe to do the same. And Ladybug looks frantic, while Dragon Fyre looks a cross between murderous and despairing - like she wants to get mad like usual, but just can't.
Dragon Fyre motions for the blonde twins to come over by them, and Ladybug pulls them up by her yo-yo. As soon as they're safely on the beam, Chloe frantically whispers "The Akuma's in the rose, she put it in Adrien's mouth, please you gotta break that barrier he's crumbling away!"
Ladybug nods, saying "We know. It's just the two of us right now, though, so we gotta play this smart."
Zoe asks "Cat Noir? Another of…you guys? He's...not coming?"
Dragon Fyre nods, and says "My brother. He…got fired." While she was saving these two, her brother was targeted by Style Queen and turned into a golden statue. If she hadn't saved the Bourgeois twins immediately, maybe she could've kept her brother from getting 'fired' by the woman.
Zoe sucks in a sharp breath, staring down at Adrien's body for confirmation, and Ladybug whispers "Yeah, like that. She made it personal…but she's too dangerous to charge in headfirst." Luckily, they do have a plan - one that isn't 'rip Style Queen limb from limb until the Akuma comes out' to. Besides, they don't think that would actually work, given that she's made of glitter.
Chloe asks "So…what are you going to do?"
Dragon Fyre asks "Remember the interview, Chloe? I'm going to make a mirage." Her eyes suddenly burn bright orange, and then a second copy of her appears down on the floor.
Mirage-Dragon Fyre puts a hand to her ear and says "I've found Hawk-butt's latest Akuma, she's up at the Eiffel Tower. Meet you back at the show."
Style Queen lands in an explosion of glitter, and immediately starts attacking - and gets angrier and angrier as, in a familiar tactic, 'Dragon Fyre' starts egging Style Queen on while dodging her attacks. Saying she hasn't got any style whatsoever, that a bunch of golden glittery powder doesn't count, and she's honestly pathetic. And then Dragon Fyre gives Style Queen a near-feral smile - more of a snarl, really - and yells "You want me? Come and get me! Lightning Dragon!" The mirage disappears in a bolt of lightning, leaping to a nearby powerline, and Style Queen screeches in rage before following as a cloud of yellow glitter and dust.
Everyone gets down from the beam, and Ladybug says "That isn't going to keep her busy forever. We gotta get that barrier down!"
Dragon Fyre nods, then says "Stand back, ladies. Spots, once I get a hole open, grab the rose. I don't know how long I'm going to be able to keep it open."
Ladybug nods, and both Chloe and Zoe back away nervously - Zoe jumping in fright and pulling Chloe away even more when the red-head catches fire. And then they see her…put her hands on the barrier, and pry it open. Digging her magic in and miming the gesture with her fingers, Dragon Fyre pulls the energy barrier apart - arms straining, sweat dripping down her face, it's clearly no easy feat. And yet, she's doing it.
Within a minute, there's a hole big enough for Ladybug to put her arm through and snatch the flower from. Dragon Fyre hits the floor as soon as the flower is out, the barrier snapping back shut instantly, and she breathes out "He really went all-out for this one…"
Ladybug nods, even as she breaks the flower and catches the Akuma, and says "If he put this much effort into every Akuma, we'd be in much hotter water."
One Cure later, and everything's back to normal…bar Dragon Fyre's obvious exhaustion.
Zoe looks around, wide-eyed with shock from the past hour, and asks "What happened? With the Ladybugs? They turned Adrien back to normal, why didn't they…?"
Dragon Fyre smirks tiredly, and asks "Fix me up to?" Zoe nods, and Dragon Fyre says "One of the little quirks about having magic of your own…the Ladybugs don't affect me. I get hurt, or drain myself dry stopping Hawk-Butt…it's up to me to patch myself up, cause the magic bugs won't go near me."
After a moment, Zoe says "I don't get it."
Ladybug deadpans "Neither do we, really. Magic does what it wants." And this is after around a year of fighting Akumas, to. Her best friend can bring paper flowers to life, turning them into real flowers, she can resist an Akuma's mind-controlling effects, but the Miraculous Cure won't affect her whatsoever. They can only hope she doesn't get impaled of some such.
Dragon Fyre waves off both Ladybug and Adrien as they help her to her feet, saying "Head on back, everyone, I'll be fine." Translation: head back to the fashion show, I'll meet you there.
Seeing as she still hasn't used her Wind Dragon, it's perfectly accurate.
That doesn't mean either of her partners likes it.
Still, Ladybug takes Adrien, Chloe, and Zoe back to the Fashion Show - and they get hit by a strong breeze along the way, a sure sign that a certain red-head just passed them by.
AN: Hey, everyone! Happy Father's Day, hope you like the chapter! I must've rewritten this one about five times, trying to figure out how I was going to do the scene at the Eiffel Tower - have DF show up, melt Style Queen into goo? Have her pry open the barrier and have Chloe and Zoe take the flower to Ladybug? This is the version I'm most satisfied with, though.
Anyway, enjoy! More updates coming soon!