Here I am everyone, with the seventh chapter! What's in store for everyone now? We're about to learn what…;)

Chapter 7

All the present students in Miss Bustier's class were deep in conversation on Tuesday morning. Now it was clear that it hadn't really been Sabrina sitting with them for the past few days—it was a girl no one had ever seen before who had magical powers.

Once Vega's true identity had been revealed to the class, many things had happened between them. Alya had sensed Vega had good intentions and was initially reluctant about posting her video of the reveal online, but when Vega wouldn't tell anyone where the real Sabrina was, Miss Bustier got worried and asked Alya to spread the word. As for Marinette and Adrien, they had been missing ever since Reflekta came, which hadn't made things any better. As far as the other students knew, both of them were still absent today.

While Chloe had shown no interest in searching for the real Sabrina, Roger had vowed to do whatever it took to find his daughter and bring her home. He hadn't found her yet, but he promised to call Miss Bustier when he did. Ladybug and Cat Noir had promised to look for Sabrina too, but they hadn't been successful yet either. Kim was considering going out to search for Sabrina too, but his best friend Max had advised him not to because three students were absent already. The teachers could be very strict about that kind of thing.

Miss Bustier entered the classroom and began taking attendance. She wasn't surprised to see Adrien was still missing, but she seemed a little worried when she noticed Chloe wasn't in class either. "Has anyone seen Chloe today?"

No one said anything, so Miss Bustier began calling out the next few names. Ivan, Alya, Juleka, Marinette (who was absent), Mylène. She was about to call out Max's name, when suddenly pencils, pens, and even Chloe and Sabrina's bench began to float around the classroom. It would have seemed like the work of Vanisher, Sabrina's akumatized form, but everyone could see blue auras surrounding each levitating objects; not something a villain who preferred to remain invisible would normally do. Still, something weird was going on, and the students instinctively ducked for cover. Juleka and Rose clutched each other in fear, Ivan went to shield Mylène from any floating objects, and Miss Bustier went to protect the whole class.

Suddenly a blue ray came in through the window Ivan broke (which the school's janitor hadn't yet found a time to repair), flew across the room, and went towards Alya just as she was turning on her phone to record everything. Nino saw this and leapt in front of her, and he was hit by the ray instead. He yelped and then turned into a pile of blue stardust, which landed on the floor like sand. Alya and some of the other students yelped too, but that was only because one of their friends was hit by the ray and they were worried about him. More blue rays began flying into the classroom, and Miss Bustier ordered everyone to evacuate. Alya, Mylène, Alix, Max, and Kim, who sat at the front, managed to get out in time with Ivan following, but Rose, Juleka, Nathaniel, and Lila were hit by some of the rays before they got too far.

As the remainder of the class ran down the hall, Alya began filming with her phone. "Yo peeps, Alya here. I'm in Collège Françoise Dupont with what's left of my class, and it looks like a new villain's after us! We don't know who it is yet, but he or she can make things float and turn people into stardust!"

The class made it into the library, and Miss Bustier turned on the TV there to check for any news regarding what was going on. The news channel came on, and its anchorwoman, Nadja Chamack, appeared at her table. "This just in: while no information regarding Sabrina Raincomprix has been brought to our attention, there have been reports of a new akumatized villain on the loose. Many civilians throughout Paris including Mayor André Bourgeois, his daughter Chloe Bourgeois, and police officer Roger Raincomprix have mysteriously fallen into coma-like trances, while others claim to have seen mysterious blue rays turn—"

Suddenly the screen shifted to the roof of the news studio, where reporter Clara Contard was fearfully speaking into a camera. "Nadja, this is Clara Contard! I'm about to experience the villain's reign up clo—AAAAH!"

The class gasped. Clara was suddenly hit by a blue ray, and she was turned into stardust. The camera she'd been holding fell on top of the stardust pile, and the class saw a pair of dark blue legs place themselves on the roof in front of it. The legs walked over, and a pair of dark blue arms (one of which had a cyan wrist brace on it) picked up the camera. As the camera was raised upward, Miss Bustier's class could see the rest of the person's features. She was wearing an ocean blue dress over her dark blue spandex suit. The dress had the kind of sleeves that looked more like small and short circles at the shoulders, and the skirt was shaped like a star. There was a big cyan star on her chest, with a picture of a pen in the middle of the star. Her skin was sky blue, and her ocean blue hair was in the same style as Sabrina's, except with ends that were less even and that looked like stars. But what really stood out about this akumatized victim was the fact that she was covered in sparkles. As for her face, even though there was a dark blue star-shaped mask around her eyes, everyone still recognized it.

"Wait," said Mylène, "that's Vega!"

"Ugh," groaned Alix, "Is Chloe ever gonna stop making people get akumatized? That's like what, the zillionth time she's been responsible for that?"

"Shh," said Ivan, wanting to see what the new akumatized villain would do next.

The villain was about to make an announcement to all of Paris, when suddenly Ladybug and Cat Noir landed behind her. "Vega," said Ladybug, "snap out of it! Trust me, you're not the only one Chloe's gotten to."

"I'm not Vega anymore! I'm Star Perfectionist! And I've already dealt with Chloe. You're next on my holo-agenda!" The villain charged towards Ladybug and Cat Noir. She started firing blue rays out of her wrist brace, but the heroes spun their respective weapons around and deflected each one. Star Perfectionist started doing flips and somersaults in an attempt to go around the weapons and hit the heroes from behind, but they quickly picked up on what she was doing and never took their eyes off of her.

It didn't take long for Ladybug to realize the akuma had to be in the wrist brace, but unfortunately Star Perfectionist wasn't only relying on the powers Hawk-Moth had given her. Just as Ladybug was about to activate her superpower, Lucky Charm, her opponent stared at her and Cat Noir, whispering, "Don't use your powers. Don't use your powers. Don't use your powers. Don't use your powers." And of course, as much as both of the superheroes tried, somehow the words "Lucky Charm" and "Cataclysm" just wouldn't come out of their mouths. Ladybug tried to jump away so she could have a moment to come up with a new plan, but Star Perfectionist began whispering for her not to. Suddenly the black-spotted heroine found there was nothing she or her partner could do other than unwillingly remaining in position.

"There," Star Perfectionist smiled mockingly, "Now you just have to give me your Miraculouses, and I'll leave you alone."

Ladybug and Cat Noir desperately tried to stop themselves from removing their magical accessories. Miss Bustier and her remaining students held their breath, waiting, until Kim broke the silence by asking, "Hey, where's Alya?"

"HEY STAR GIRL!" a voice suddenly yelled from the TV, seemingly outside the news studio from the ground. Alya's voice, everyone realized. "IF YOU WANNA TAKE DOWN LADYBUG, YOU'LL HAVE TO TAKE ME FIRST! I'M LADYBUG'S BIGGEST FOLLOWER, AND I'M NEVER GOING TO LET ANYTHING HAPPEN TO HER!"

Unfazed, Star Perfectionist snapped her fingers. Within seconds, Alya was floating inches above the roof, surrounded by a magical blue aura. Seeing one of their bravest classmates in danger, Mylène, Alix, and Kim cried out in fear. Ivan put his arm around Mylène, and Max said, "I see a 78% chance of all three of them being defeated by Star Perfectionist."

Star Perfectionist eyed each of her captives sinisterly and was about to speak, when suddenly something bright caught her eye. Peering over Cat Noir's shoulder, she was able to see what it was: a shooting star. There was a mixture of pink and cool rainbow colours inside of it, though the cool rainbow colours were quickly replaced by blue and black. As she watched the shooting star disappear from the atmosphere, Star Perfectionist glared at it intensely. She then used her wrist brace to turn Alya into another shooting star, which she attached herself to and used to soar up into the sky. As she did, she sent a stream of blue energy toward Ladybug and Cat Noir, tying them together and pulling them along.

"First we're going to pick up a very special guest," Star Perfectionist announced. She burst into laughter that sounded less like her real laugh and more like the evil cackle of Lady Rancora.

With Libby back in her Starling form and Sabrina disguised as Vega again, the two of them touched down on Starland. As they went inside and headed for the Wish House together, Sabrina asked what happened when Libby got her Power Crystal. "It was starmendous," replied Libby, "Once Sage and I got back, my Wish Orb bloomed into a Wish Blossom. It was a blushbelle, my favourite, and the Power Crystal was just waiting inside! Then Lady Stella told me to guard it with my life, and I still am now." Suddenly Libby came to a halt. "Starf…we'll have to do your Wish Orb presentation by ourselves."

"But we can still do it," said Sabrina, "right?"

"I think so. It's just this is the first Lady Stella and all the other Star Darlings won't be there too."

Libby and Sabrina entered the Wish House and looked around for the magenta orb. To their surprise, however, it wasn't there. They looked as hard as they could, but the only Wish Orbs they could find were the many others that they'd seen the first time. Just as Sabrina was about to ask Libby where she thought the orb could be, both of their Star Zaps beeped. They had received the same holo-message: SD Wish Orb identified. Report to Lady Stella's office immediately.

"It must be my orb," gulped Sabrina, "You don't think they know its wish was already granted, do you?"

"Only one way to find out," said Libby. They made their way to the headmistress's office, where Lady Stella and all of the Star Darlings were waiting for them. Sure enough, the Wish Orb that Lady Stella let into the room was the one that had chosen Sabrina.

Lady Stella allowed the orb to float around, and all the girls except a nervous Cassie stared at it, hoping they would be chosen for a Wish Mission. Much to their starprise, it headed straight for Sabrina and turned into a tulip the moment it was in front of her. Everyone gasped as Sabrina gently placed the Wish Blossom into her hand, and it opened up, revealing a round, smooth pebble that sparkled purple, white, and blue, also giving off a lavender highlight. A Power Crystal.

"What?!" Gemma exclaimed, "It's already been granted? But how?"

Lady Stella stared at the Wish Blossom in confusion. Sabrina got nervous that someone was about to get in trouble with the headmistress, and she said, "Lady Stella, I um…I snuck into the Wish House, and this orb chose me. I went to Wishworld without anyone knowing, and I granted the wish. I…I hope you're not mad."

Lady Stella was amazingly calm. "It's alright, Vega. While I would appreciate it if you told me about this first, I accept your star apologies. The important thing is that you're back, you're okay, and the positive wish energy has been collected."

Sabrina smiled, and Lady Stella dismissed the meeting. As the Star Darlings parted ways, Sage gave Sabrina an impressed glance, obviously because breaking the rules and sneaking around wasn't something Vega usually did. Scarlet glanced at her with a smile too, and since the girl usually kept to herself, Sabrina took that as a really good sign.

Once everyone was out, Libby went to her dorm room with Sabrina, where they admired their respective Power Crystals. They both sparkled brightly, and as Sabrina held hers, she could feel a strong amount of energy within it. "Wait until you activate it," Libby said excitedly, "You'll shine so bright, it'll be like watching a supernova!"

Sabrina tried to picture what Libby meant. She couldn't remember the last time she'd seen a supernova, but if she had, it certainly wasn't in person or up close. Unless an akumatized villain came along and made one (not that it actually happened yet), supernovas only took place in outer space.

"Will I feel any different once I activate it?" Sabrina asked.

"Maybe a little," admitted Libby, "but in a good way. You might levitate once you activate your Power Crystal too. That's what we all did."

"Wow." Sabrina imagined all the good things she could do with her Power Crystal. If any akumatized villain came along, she could de-akumatize them long before Ladybug and Cat Noir could take action. Maybe she'd even stand a chance at finding Hawk-Moth so he could be defeated too! But then again, Starland was supposed to be a secret, and if Sabrina did all those things, then Libby, Vega, and the other Star Darlings would be hunted down like the Miraculous were now. She didn't want anything bad to happen to the Starlings—especially Libby. Who knew what would happen if Chloe or Hawk-Moth had access to Starland?

Sabrina stared at her Power Crystal, still trying to process the reality. "This is it. Just one more day, and I'm going back to Paris. And we'll be true BFFs forever."

Libby smiled. "Better make the most of it. It'll be a while before you go back to Starland."

"Any ideas on where we can hang out this time?"

Libby thought for a bit, but suddenly her Star Zap beeped and she had to answer it. It was a holo-text from Leona. Startastic news, it read, Vivica's got detention, so her band can't perform at tonight's concert!

Libby wrote back. Poor Vivica - how is that startastic news?

I talked to the faculty. Our band is gonna perform instead! :)

Can't it wait until tomorrow so Vega can play the bass?

No - schedule's tight. Sabrina's good though, they won't know the difference. See you at the band shell for rehearsals!

Libby put away her Star Zap. "Looks like we're going to check out the band shell first," she told Sabrina. The Wishling's eyes widened in excitement, and Libby delightfully led her out of the room.

After many rehearsals and a visit to the Crystal Caverns with Scarlet, Sabrina was ready to perform with the Star Darlings' band. She felt bad that Vega had to miss out on the concert—that kind of thing wasn't an opportunity that came every day! But they weren't supposed to switch back until tomorrow, so they would just have to make the best of the situation. After all, experiencing a concert close up was just as lucky for Sabrina as going to Earth was for the Star Darlings. There was so much to do in Paris, and she didn't want to interrupt whatever fun things Vega was probably doing now.

With Sage, Libby, Scarlet, and Leona by her side, Sabrina easily got ready for the concert. Peeking through the curtains, she could see the band's humongous audience. With the obvious exception of Vivica, everyone from campus was here. Lady Stella and the professors who worked at Starling Academy were seated at the back, and Sabrina recognized Cassie, Gemma, Tessa, Adora, Astra, Clover, and Piper at the front. MO-J4, a bot-bot that spent a lot of time with Sage, was sitting on Cassie's lap with a dreamy smile on his face. Sabrina saw digital hearts flash on his eyes, and she finally began to realize what he saw in Sage. I'm surprised the other girls didn't notice yet, Sabrina thought as she walked away from the curtains.

Scarlet tapped her drumsticks together, and Leona examined her microphone to make sure it was ready for their performance. "Is everyone ready?" Sage asked, and everyone said yes.

The lights changed colours, and the curtains opened. Sabrina stood behind Vega's bass guitar, Scarlet raised her drumsticks, and Sage and Libby got ready to apply some music on their instruments. Leona lifted her microphone to her mouth, paused to look at the audience before her, and began to make her announcement. "Faculty, students, and bot-bots," she winked at MO-J4 as she said this, "welcome to the Star Darlings' concert! How about we start off with Starlight?"

Everyone clapped and cheered, and the concert began. Leona smiled and started to sing.

Star Perfectionist landed her shooting star in Place Des Vosges, the area where she and Hawk-Moth had arranged to meet up. With the still-tied-up Ladybug and Cat Noir landing face-first on the ground behind her, she landed on her feet and allowed the shooting star to turn into stardust. She was pleased to see Hawk-Moth standing in front of the merry-go-round, but she hadn't expected to see a woman standing next to him. The woman had blue skin, short blue hair with a paler blue fan-like accessory in it, dark blue boots, and a blue dress with puffy sleeves and a feathery skirt. A glowing peacock brooch the colour of Adora's hair was pinned to her chest. She had a sinister smile and had obviously been expecting Star Perfectionist's arrival.

"This is Mayura," Hawk-Moth said, gesturing to the blue woman, "Since this is clearly an adventure unlike any other, I decided to include her in it."

Mayura held out her hand. "Pleased to meet you, Star Perfectionist."

Star Perfectionist shook hands with Mayura. She heard Ladybug and Cat Noir struggling to break free from the immobilization spell she'd placed on them, but she didn't bother to pay much attention to them. Her spell was too powerful for them to resist it anyway.

"Now would you mind telling us where you got your original powers from?" Mayura asked.

"You have to promise you won't tell anyone else in Paris," Star Perfectionist warned her, crossing her arms. When Hawk-Moth and Mayura agreed to keep the information a secret, Star Perfectionist told them all about how she was secretly from another planet, and how everyone on that planet—Starlings and animals alike—was born with magical powers. "You can't take these powers for yourselves though," she concluded.

"Oh, we don't plan to do that," said Hawk-Moth. He began cackling evilly.

After another failed attempt to break free from Star Perfectionist's spell, Ladybug groaned. "Let's hope someone from Vega's planet has powers that can help us break out of here."

"Good plan," said Cat Noir. He tried to give her a charming smile. "At least this time I'm tied to you instead of a pole, m'lady."

Ladybug rolled her eyes. "Cat…"

"Gonna rise up! Yeah, I'm gonna light up! Never gonna give up! My sun is coming up! Turn the music up, up! Never gonna give up!"

The music came to a stop, and the crowd cheered. Sabrina had her eyes closed and a beautiful smile was on her face. Now she understood why Juleka and Rose liked music so much—listening to it was one thing, but when you were part of actually playing the music, it was a lot easier to lose yourself in it. So far she and the band had sung Starlight, I'm More, When We Shine, and Up, and now they were going to sing Wish Now. Auras were shining bright, smiles were everywhere, and Sabrina could feel positive wish energy forming around them, even though she couldn't see it like the Starlings could.

Leona started them off. Sage and Libby soon began singing with her, but Scarlet preferred to just play her drums, and Sabrina simply played Vega's bass, letting the music and words flow through her head.

"Oh oh oh oh! Oh oh oh oh! Oh oh oh oh!"

"Take a deep breath. Gotta find your own light. Watch all the petals of a dandelion fly! Let a shooting star run across a midnight sky!"

"Throw a coin in a wishing well, let it fall down. Send a gold balloon up into the clouds. Make a wish now! Make a wish now!"

"Close our eyes, believe with all our might. Spark a dream, light it up! Til it burns bright!"

As the song progressed, Sabrina couldn't resist singing along. The song was just so…starmendous!

"Nothing in the universe can knock us down. We can have it all! We got each other now! Oh oh oh oh!"

"Anything is possible! Oh oh oh oh! Every wish is magical!"

"Shout it out loud to the brightest star!"

"No need to keep it quiet in your heart. No dream is out of reach, no wish too far!"

Leona began dancing to the beat of their song. Sabrina felt her feet tapping to the rhythm. It was so catchy and beautiful, she felt as though sooner or later, she'd be dancing around the stage.

"Choose your own way, blow a candle out! Chase the other side of a rainbow down! Make a wish now! Make a wish now!"

"Close our eyes. Believe with all our might."

"Spark a dream, light it up! Til it burns bright!"

"Nothing in the universe can knock us down! We can have it all! We got each other now! Oh oh oh oh!"

"Anything is possible!"

"Oh oh oh oh!"

"Every wish is magical!"

That was when Sabrina lost control over her movements. She began dancing around the stage like a little kid. Libby laughed, and she began dancing with her. "Oh oh oh oh," they sang together, "every wish is magical! Star light, star bright! First star I see tonight, ohhhh! I wish I may, I wish I might, have this wish I wish tonight! Ohhhh!"

Once Sabrina sang the magic words, she was bathed in bright light and changed back into her true form. But she was so caught up in the song, she didn't even notice.

"Star light, star bright! First star I see tonight! Ohhhh, ohhhh! I wish I may, I wish I might! Have this wish I wish tonight."

Scarlet became aware of Sabrina's transformation and slowly but surely stopped playing her drums. Sage also noticed it, and her guitar strumming became slower and slower. Leona, Libby, and Sabrina remained oblivious to this and just kept singing and dancing.

"Close our eyes. Believe with all our might. Spark a dream, light it up! Til it burns bright!"

Sabrina and Libby danced right into each other and snapped out of it, laughing. They went back to their places onstage and started to keep playing their instruments, when suddenly they realized Sage and Scarlet had stopped playing theirs and were now staring at them, eyes wide. Leona stopped singing to ask why no one was playing any music, and then her eyes went wide too. Sabrina glanced at the audience and noticed they looked shocked. The Star Darlings who weren't part of the band had the same wide-eyed expressions as Sage, Scarlet, and Leona did. They were all speechless; even the normally chatty Gemma, which definitely was a bad sign.

Sabrina was about to ask what was wrong, when suddenly Libby took one look at her and yelped. She clamped both hands over her mouth, looking a lot more wide-eyed than the other Star Darlings. Realizing all eyes were on her, Sabrina looked down at her arms and legs and was startled to see they were the way they'd started out. She'd been so caught up in the song, she'd forgotten what Leona had told her before the concert: when the magic words came up, she had to lip-sync them so she wouldn't turn back into her Wishling form!

Finally, someone spoke. It was a Starling from the audience's middle row. "Wishling! There's a Wishling here!" Instantly the girls who weren't Star Darlings began panicking and asking a dumbfounded Lady Stella what they should do.

Sabrina covered her face with her hands and ran off the stage as fast as she could. She heard Libby call for her to wait, but she didn't stop. The truth had been exposed, and she had to get out of here before the panicking Starlings went out looking for her or something.

As Sabrina took refuge in the glorange tree forest, hoping no one besides Libby would think to look for her there, she hoped Vega hadn't made the same mistake she just made. If only she knew…

Whoa—looks like both identities have been revealed! That's it for Chapter 7, but the next chapter's coming real soon. I hope you're enjoying everything so far! :)