The next week, Gabriel Agreste decided to celebrate the superheroes by launching a fashion line inspired by the heroes. There were Ladybug, Cat Noir, Rena Rouge, and Carapace inspired designs, even a few for Queen Bee. The school was abuzz about Chloé, although not all of it was good. Many people still were not willing to give Chloé a chance, believing that her apology to the superheroes was self-serving and a total lie.
When Chloé waved at a few of the boys, such as Nathaniel, Ivan and Kim, they ignored her. Chloé knew that she used to bully Nathaniel over his drawings, she used to make fun of Ivan's looks, and she rejected Kim's last Valentine's Day in the meanest way possible. Chloé cringed over the fact that she did that to him. She had a right to not return his feelings, but she rejected him harshly. She wondered if Marinette could help her make it up to them. After all, she now had a whole group of friends.
When Chloé made it to class, she noticed Sabrina was absent and not sitting in her seat or anywhere so she sat down. She looked back and could see Kim whispering to Max while looking at her harshly. She looked down at her thighs embarrassed. Redemption wasn't going to be as easy as it seemed with Marinette.
It was strange how much Chloé had changed after she rejected her mother. She thought to be accepted by Mom she had to be exactly like her. She saw her mom treat people like they were utter garbage, like they didn't deserve to breathe the same air as her, and Chloé modeled her own behavior after that with the other students. She never did it to Adrien of course because she was crushing on him at the time, but that was because her mother had a close relationship with Gabriel Agreste, so Chloé would try to do the same with him. Now that she wasn't copying Audrey, she didn't really feel anything but platonic feelings for Adrien. He felt more like a brother to her.
Speaking of which, Adrien entered the room and smiled at her. "Hey Chloé! I saw what you did on the news last week. It was so good of you to give Ladybug the Miraculous back."
"Thanks Adrikins!" Chloé said. "I knew I messed up with that bus incident, then I got akumatized and I don't even remember what happened. I felt I had to do it."
Chloé heard one of the boys scoff and chose to ignore it, even though it did bother her.
Marinette walked by and joined. "Yeah, and who knows? Maybe Ladybug will choose you again to help her."
"I hope so," Chloé smiled.
Soon class was starting and Mrs. Bustier entered the class. "Hello class, I have an announcement to make. Lila Rossi is back from her family's business trip and will be joining us in class today."
Lila walked into the class. She had long, dark red hair, bangs, and pretty olive green eyes.
"Hello everyone! I'm so excited to be back in class with you all!" Lila smiled and then sat in the back next to Nathaniel.
"Alright class, today we will be starting our quarterly presentation projects. You will do, in groups, an in-depth presentation on one of the writers and their works we have studied so far in class. There will be 5 groups of three people since we are a class of 15. You guys can choose your groups and start using your class time to work on your presentations now!"
The class went around, finding people to group with. Marinette, Alya, and Adrien were in one group. Then Nino, Ivan, and Nathaniel grouped up. Juleka, Rose, and Mylene formed a group, and lastly, Alix, Kim, and Max were the last group. Chloé figured whenever Sabrina shows up, she can group up with her.
Before she realized it, Lila was approaching her. "Hey, I noticed there are no more available groups left, can I be a part of your group?"
"Oh, well, I was planning on working with Sabrina, but she's not here today." Chloé mentioned.
"I see, and she's your best friend, right?" Lila pouted. "Of course, Chloé Bourgeois only associates with a select few. Especially after she became a famous superhero. I should have known she wouldn't want to be partnered up with a loser like me. I'll just do my own project then."
"Hold on, Lila, of course you can be in my group! We need a third person, and you're the only one left. And I don't think you're a loser."
"Oh, really?" Lila tilted her head. "I just was sitting next to Nathaniel, and he was saying that you were mean to everyone who wasn't as rich and popular as you. He said you mocked his amazing superhero comics before."
"I'm… I'm trying to be a better person," Chloé responded.
"Oh, I see! Well, I suppose it makes sense that you would have to be a truly benevolent person to be a superhero. And I would know!"
"What do you mean?" Chloé asked.
Lila looked sheepishly at the ground and sighed. "I should be telling you this, but you're a superhero, so you deserve to know. Ladybug saved my life before, and we're practically besties. Because of that…" She whispered to Chloé. "She entrusted me with a Miraculous. I'll tell you all about it during lunch break if you're interested."
Chloé blinked. "O-oh… okay."
After that, Lila changed the topic to who they were going to do their project on. They decided on Madame d'Aulnoy, the French woman who coined the term "fairy tales" and wrote some of the first French fairy tales. After a few other classes, Chloé joined Lila to leave the school and eat at a cafe.
Chloé was nervous but also excited to meet another Miraculous holder.
The cafe was not a popular one, and hardly anyone was inside at the moment, which was perfect as nobody could hear them. They ordered some coffee and sandwiches and then sat down in a corner near the bathroom.
"So Chloé," she said, covering her necklace. "I'm the holder of the fox Miraculous," She held out an orange necklace, which looked exactly like the necklace that Rena Rouge held.
"Wait, really? Why are you telling me this?" Chloé asked.
"I know my identity should remain a secret, but it's just so much pressure to keep a secret. I thought if I told another hero, it would be okay." Lila sighed. "Hawk Moth doesn't want my Miraculous, he wants Ladybug and Cat Noir's."
Chloé remained silent, thinking about what Lila just said. "But, I thought you were Volpina?"
"That was me akumatized, remember?" Lila sighed, and looked very sad. "You don't believe me, do you? I can prove it. Let me transform." Lila walked into the bathroom.
Gabriel's Butterfly Miraculous sensed the emotions coming from Lila Rossi, and so, he went down to his liar, transformed into Hawk Moth. "I knew if I made that collection celebrating the superheroes, Lila's jealousy would eventually get the better of her. Whenever she is akumatized, she brings out the worst of herself, and it's perfect."
In the bathroom, she locked the door but left the small window open a crack. She thought about how much she despised Chloé and her jealousy over how she got a miraculous and Lila didn't. Soon, the purple butterfly made its way through the window. "Come here little Akuma," she grabbed it, and put it inside of her necklace.
"Volpina, I am Hawk Moth. I'm giving you the power of illusion, from now on, your lies will come to life. Gain Ladybug and Cat Noir's trust and convince them you're a real superhero, then betray them and bring me their Miraculous." Hawk Moth said.
"It would be my pleasure, Hawk Moth. But we're doing it for the long haul. The plan I have may take a while." Lila said.
"You were always so cunning Volpina. Very well," Hawk Moth said.
Lila let the purple clouds overtake her and suddenly she was Volpina. She used her flute to create a model of Rena Rouge, that when untransformed, would turn into Lila.
'Rena Rouge' exited the bathroom, and thanks to the mirage, Chloé didn't see Volpina behind her.
"Ta da!" Rena Rouge did a little pose. "I told you Chloé."
"Whoa…" Chloé was shocked. "This is so cool!"
"Trixx, let's rest," Rena Rouge said, transforming back into a fake Lila. An orange Fox Kwami appeared, then flew back into Lila's jacket. "Chloé you can't tell anyone. I'm already risking a lot by telling you this."
"I promise I won't, Lila," Chloé said.
"Thank you! You're a true friend." Lila said. "Say, wanna skip school and have a sleepover at my place?"
"Sure, girl!" Chloé said. The illusion Lila and Chloé finished their lunch (of course, Lila's lunch was actually still there, it just looked like she was eating it) and they ran off to Lila's apartment.
Volpina smirked at Chloé's foolishness. Meanwhile, she created another illusion of Chloé, which appeared at the school hallway outside the cafeteria.
The fake Chloé approached Marinette's table where she sat with most of the class.
"Oh, hey Chloé, where have you been?" Marinette waved.
"Ha! As if I'd ever sit with you poor losers!" the illusion Chloé. "I'm a rich superhero, I'm on another level compared to you all. I only hang out with Ladybug and Cat Noir, my besties!"
"What?" Marinette didn't understand why she had gone back to being the way she was. "I don't get it, I thought you were turning over a new leaf and you'd stop treating people poorly!"
"Puh-lease, you actually thought I would befriend you losers? Haha!" the fake Chloé laughed. "You'll never compare to me Dupain-Cheng! You're ugly as hell with your dumb-ass pigtails. You'll probably bake some sort of weird Chinese bread in your stupid bakery the rest of your life. Alya's a nerdy four-eyes who dresses in that ugly ass flannel! Nino, you give off major creep vibes and you probably stay up all night on your incel forums."
"Chloé, what the heck?" Surprisingly, Mylène spoke up. "I thought we were cool with each other."
"Shut up you fat ass!" the fake Chloé sneered. "Go back to devouring your huge lunch. If you're lucky, Ladybug might give you the pig Miraculous! Hahaha!"
Mylène gasped and then ran off crying.
"Hey!" Ivan approached Chloé. "You take that back and apologize to my girlfriend!"
"Ah! Oh, Ivan, your disgusting face frightened me! You should really get it fixed." Chloé shrieked.
Ivan growled at Chloé menacingly.
"What's going on here?" Mrs. Mendeleiev said, as she was on lunch duty today.
"Oh, Mrs. Mendeleiev, it's a tragedy!" Chloé responded, putting her hand to her head in distress. "Ivan was threatening me!"
"Ivan! How dare you! Go to detention, now!"
"B-but-"
"Now!"
Ivan growled and walked off to the principal's office.
The fake Chloé laughed and then walked off. Marinette looked back.
"I knew it was too good to be true, Chloé's never going to change." Kim said. "She's still a jerk and is going to be one forever."
The rest of the class began disparaging her but Marinette looked at Chloé as she left the cafeteria. She noticed something was off about this Chloé. She was wearing the Bee Miraculous in her hair. There's no way she could have gotten it back. She got up and tried to follow her. She saw Chloé enter the locker room which they weren't allowed to enter during lunch time.
"Reality." Volpina said. And the fake Chloé vanished.
When Marinette entered the locker room, she looked everywhere but couldn't find Chloé anywhere in the room. It was like she disappeared. When she left the locker room, she strangely enough saw Chloé entering the school with Lila. And this Chloé didn't have any Miraculous in her hair. "Hold on Lila, I forgot something in my locker before we have our sleepover!"
She saw Marinette and waved at her. "Hey Marinette, could you please move from the door, I need to pick something up from my locker."
"Chloé? I just saw you entering the locker room a second ago. That's weird."
"What do you mean? I was out having lunch with Lila since we are doing our presentation together." Chloé said. "She wants to-"
Chloé was interrupted by the sound of pigeons. They could see Mr. Pigeon fly by the school, dropping a bomb of pidgeons onto the ground.
"Not Mr. Pigeon again. Chloé, stay in the locker room where it's safe. Ladybug will take care of this! I'll go warn the others."
Marinette snuck off and transformed into Ladybug and she saw Cat Noir outside of the school.
"Looks like Mr. Pigeon is at it again, m'lady." Cat Noir said.
"I'm so tired of this!" Ladybug said. "Doesn't Hawk Moth have any originality?"
A flock of pigeons went to attack them but when Ladybug hit them with her yo-yo, they disappeared.
"That's odd."
They decided to go after the source, Mr. Pigeon himself who was flying around the park. When they found him, they continually had to keep fighting off pigeons, who continued to disappear every time they touched one. Ladybug thought it was very weird. Even every time she tried to touch Mr. Pigeon, he seemed even more agile, dodging every touch with ease. After a long time fighting with him, Ladybug called upon her lucky charm, which gave her a ladybug themed version of the Fox Miraculous.
"Wait, what?" Is this saying I need Rena Rouge?" Ladybug looked up and her vision highlighted Mr. Pigeon and all of the other Pigeons. "Wait a second, maybe this means Mr. Pigeon IS an illusion!"
Ladybug charged at Mr Pigeon and punched him, when he did, he disappeared.
"What happened to him?" Cat Noir asked.
"Cat Noir, it's not Mr. Pigeon who got akumatized. It's an illusion! Hawk Moth has created a superhero who can make illusions!"
"Then we gotta find her!" Cat Noir said, as the two started yo-yoing around Paris.
When lunch ended, everyone else entered the locker room, and everyone was staring daggers at Chloé, including her new friends. She didn't understand why.
"Hey Alya, what's up with everybody?" She asked, nervously.
"What's up? What do you mean what's up?" she yelled. You humiliated Mylène at lunch and insulted everyone there! We were wrong about you. There's no way a terrible person like you could EVER change."
"What? I wasn't even at school, I went out with Lila Rossi to a cafe so we could work on our project!" Chloé frowned, not knowing what they were talking about.
"And now you're trying to gaslight us?" Nino put his hands on Alya's shoulders defensively. "Nice try Chloé. We know what we saw! We were wrong to think you would ever change!"
The rest of the class heard and hated Chloé even more than they had before, for seemingly no reason. Chloé started questioning her sanity, or whether or not a prank was being pulled on her. She knew for a fact that she didn't do that, so it seemed weird that they were so vehement about it.
Then she realized. Chloé supposedly insulting everyone at lunch when she wasn't even there, somehow being in two places at the same time?
All on the same day she learned Lila had the power to create an illusion of anything she wanted. She must have had something to do with it.