Vesperia wondered briefly how it had all ended up this way. Here she was crunching through the forest for a clandestine super hero battle, she was flanked by Paris's two greatest heroes, and her opponent was her own sister. Less than a year ago she had just been another face in a New York boarding school.
"Are you sure about this Vesperia?" Ladybug prompted again,"You can't expect her to play by the rules."
Vesperia paused with her hand on a tree,"Yes. I'm sure. I have to try and reason with her first."
Ladybug shook her head,"We both did that before," she nodded to Cat Noir,"and look where it got us."
"But we did both have to try." Cat Noir chimed in.
Ladybug tilted her head,"Okay, just, don't be disappointed; and watch out for sucker punches."
The joke brought a laugh to Vesperia's lips, a small thing with her nerves running so taut. She put her hands together,"You'll stay back? You'll let me try?"
Cat Noir and Ladybug exchanged a look, then Ladybug answered,"We'll stay back until you give the word, or someone else interferes. Fair?"
Vesperia smiled, a little of the tension ebbing,"Fair."
Ladybug stepped behind Vesperia and put a hand on Cat Noir's shoulder to stop him,"It's just up ahead, we'll find good vantage points, and do a little scouting if we have time." She held out a hand to Vesperia,"Good luck, we're with you." Vesperia took the hand and squeezed, then turned and walked the final few dozen meters on her own.
The meeting spot wasn't a clearing really, the branches of trees closed in overhead cresting a thin canopy through which moonlight filtered. It was picked on purpose. A confined area, trees all around, less opportunity for either of the Bees to use their flight. Vesperia only held this in her head a moment before old more demanding thoughts intruded.
Vesperia stepped into the clear area, early autumn leaves dampening the sound of her step, her breathing seemed inordinately loud. She would get the answer she needed tonight. Why? Was it her fault? Was she the reason for all this? It had all gone wrong when she came to Paris. More nights than not she still fell asleep with the question rattling in her head.
Chloé stepped out of shadow into the clearing. Then she took a half step left while she took a half step right from behind herself; one became two and the two held hands.
It was Vesperia's first time seeing what her sister had become, and that the golden idol that had intimidated her so much had become this; she couldn't even sort her feelings, but there was an ache,"I thought it was one on one?" She asked.
The Chloés raised their clasped hands and separated. One revealed a silver coin that had been held between them then flipped it into the air. The other caught it and held it in her palm. They both looked, then the second smiled and the first shook her head. They turned to each other and the first gave the second a kiss on the cheek before turning back into the woods.
The Chloé that remained turned back to Vesperia,"There we go, just as promised." She smiled sweetly.
The ache grew as Vesperia watched the display,"So what happens next?"
"Now, wasp, I show you just how much better of a Bee I am than you." Chloé advanced, step after step, hands spreading out to her sides as if on a runway.
Vesperia didn't go on guard, instead she shook her head,"Is that what this is all about? Having the bee Miraculous? Is that why you've done this to yourself? You've hurt people. It's all for-" Vesperia couldn't finish. She couldn't believe it could be true.
"Of course." Chloé's voice was silky smooth, a sibilant whisper,"What else is there besides the Queen Bee?"
Vesperia felt sick; all this. She reached up,"Will you stop? Will it all end? You want this? I'll give it to you. Pollen, Buzz off!" The golden glow enveloped her and Zoé thrust the miraculous at her sister, her face a mask of desperation.
Chloé's expression went through so many emotions at once; shock, elation, anger, hope, greed, frustration. More flickered across her features that Zoé couldn't identify. She abandoned her posturing and the next few steps advanced like a child, hand outstretched for the rarest of treats.
It didn't last. Her fingers curled into a fist,"No." she whispered, then louder,"No. No. No!" She struck herself on the head with each louder pronouncement, knocking her hat askew then off completely,"You can't be Vesperia. Zoé is Zoé, Vesperia is Vesperia." she wasn't' even looking at Zoé now, talking to the air,"Zoé's further down on the list. You can't be here now. If you're the same I need to redo my numbers." she descended into muttering.
"I won't fight you sister." Zoé interrupted, approaching closer. She lowered the hand with the miraculous and raised her other one,"Come home with me? We can talk." She stood just out of arm's reach; hand open, palm up, hopeful.
Later Zoé would tell herself there was the briefest instant where the clouds parted; that she reached something and saw her sister looking back from that single blue eye. She could have been lying to herself. It helped with what followed.
"Zoé. Zoé is Vesperia." Chloé tilted her chin up, composing herself for a brief moment then immediately sinking into an angry hunch,"You. You took the Bee. My own sister. You stole it. You knew." She lunged.
Zoé dodged back, but she wasn't Vesperia. She was no trained fighter, and her sister had the speed of madness. A wild angry swing clipped her, sending her reeling. "Chloé, I won't fight you," she insisted, raising herself up into a proud but defenseless stance again.
"No, of course not!" Chloé lunged again, Zoé tried to evade her but Chloé snatched a handful of her hair and yanked her back,"You won't even let me have that much!" Chloé howled and landed another wild swing across Zoé's shoulders. Zoé staggered and twisted, trying to free herself, but Chloé advanced, yanking with a surprising strength for her frail appearance.
Chloé pulled her close and screamed in her ear,"You ruined everything!" another blow,"You took my miraculous." another, they didn't hurt,"You took my home." Another. Zoé had to get away, she needed room,"You took my school." Another. Her sister shoved her against a tree, how had they moved that far?,"You took my family!" Chloé slewed Zoé around by the grip on her hair but this time her hold slipped and Zoé fell free, staggering to the leaf-strewn ground.
Zoé felt pain, not from the punches, but in her hand. She looked down, the tines of the comb had dug into her skin. All this, over this. Chloé had done so much. Chloé had- Chloé. Zoé clenched the comb again and brought it up,"Pollen, Buzz on!"
Vesperia sprang from a seated position. Her body was so light like this. As clumsy as she had been before her sister's attacks, now she snatched a handful of Chloé's hair with unerring accuracy,"ME?" she yanked Chloé close and stared into her sister's eye,"YOU!" Vesperia shoved Chloé away and advanced as her sister staggered,"You attacked Paris!" Her fists were clenched,"You destroyed our home!"
She lunged just as her sister got a guard up. Vesperia's first punch went wide,"You made mom go back to America!" her second didn't, catching Chloé in the chest,"You almost had dad thrown in jail!" Chloé was gasping, winded,"He cries himself to sleep almost every night!" Zoé caught Chloé on the cheek, spinning her around,"You did that to him!" Zoé caught a handful of her sister's jacket, lifted, and slammed her into the ground,"YOU!"
A plume of leaves surrounded them both from the impact. Vesperia staggered back, not from injury, simply emotion. Her sister lay on the ground, gasping for breath. Guilt rose, but died as the gasps turned to laughter. Chloé pushed herself to her feet,"I knew you were a wasp." She rubbed her rapidly bruising cheek and smiled smugly,"Now let's see who's better." Impossible. Nothing had gotten through. Frustration burned itself into anger in Vesperia's veins, and when Chloé attacked they met in the middle.
It wasn't one sided, and that made it worse. Chloé could not match a miraculous wielder for speed or strength, but she had picked up skill somewhere in her absence. She stung.
Vesperia landed a shot on her blind side and Chloé countered with a glancing stiff hand to the throat that made her gag. Vesperia doubled her up with a blow to the stomach and Chloé rolled, catching the side of Vesperia's knee with the heel of her boot, bringing her down too. It was pointless, but it hurt. Another blow exchanged for nails raking exposed skin. She wouldn't go down, why wouldn't she go down? An off-target kick earned Vesperia a headbutt in return. Anger slipped in. Her sister was grinning, still grinning. She was losing and grinning.
The next few exchanges blurred together. Vesperia struck, and Choe stung. They circled faster, closer. She would NOT go down. A red haze colored Vesperia's vision. Her control slipped in a sudden flurry. A combination of unrestrained punches followed by a kick that sent Chloé sprawling halfway across the clearing. She stayed down.
Vesperia was panting, shaking from the adrenal feedback. She crossed to her prone sister. Then laughter sent a chill up her spine.
Chloé was laughing, after all of it. Through a broken visage she was bubbling with joy. She weakly punched a fist into the air,"I knew it." she slurred,"I'm the better bee."
Vesperia stopped in her tracks. Anger fled before sheer disbelief. Words failed her, and she simply blurted out,"How?" Not so much in response, but for the entirety of the situation.
Chloé's hand fell, but she brought both back up, clenched into wobbly fists. "Hands never looked like that. Red is Ladybug's."
Vesperia looked down at her own hands and her bile rose. The anger came back, but turned itself inward, stabbing her through the chest and twisting. Reflexively she rubbed at her suit, scrubbing the streaks already fading to brown against the black and yellow. The brief moment of victory turned to ash. Vesperia sank to her knees.
Chloé coughed, still prone. Her hands fell. "The Real Queen Bee."
Vesperia whispered softly,"You're right."
Her sister's head swiveled towards her. It was the blind eye but Vesperia could still read confusion on the battered expression. Vesperia raised her gaze from the ground,"I'm Vesperia. You were always the only Queen Bee, no one else was ever going to be that." Vesperia looked back down, a long forgotten burden sliding off her shoulders,"I shouldn't have taunted you with that, of all things." Vesperia took in a long shakey breath,"I'm sorry."
"No.." Chloé burbled, then more strongly,"No…" She managed to roll herself onto her belly. She reached out and clawed the ground, pulling herself towards Vesperia,"You don't" Gone was the victory. "You don't GET to apologize!" In its place anger and desperation,"You can't!" She pulled herself arm over arm closer. "You're just a wasp!" The desperation was winning, and was joined by fear,"Me at my worst, that's you at your best!"
Vesperia stood just as her sister got to her, and took a step back.
Chloé howled up at her through a mat of hair and leaves,"SAY SOMETHING!"
Vesperia closed her eyes, shaking away the burning in them,"I'm sorry, my sister."
The next howl was incoherent, and devolved into sobs, Chloé's head fell back to the leaves. Vesperia swallowed, reached out, hesitated, then caught sight of the other approaching.
Chloé stepped into the clearing, immaculate and composed. She could have been on a Sunday stroll for all the concern she seemed to show. She approached the scene under Vesperia's wary gaze and stopped beside herself, crouching down. Chloé reached down to pet Chloé's hair and mrmrred soft words to herself.
Vesperia eyed the new arrival. She had been so fixed on fighting her sister, that she had become the *only* Chloé for a moment. Now, she was forced to wonder which she had been fighting, though she wasn't sure it even mattered. "So, what happens now?"
Chloé looked up from her crouch, "What now? You won. The fight is over. I hope you're happy. I'm going to take myself and go home." The face-down Chloé shifted a hand, reaching out and clutching the hem of her other self's skirts.
Vesperia shook her head,"She's not going anywhere. Like you said I won. My sister stays with me." She backed up a couple more steps to give herself room. One hand went to her top. Why hadn't she used that before? Chloé had come at her with bare hands. She had followed suit. If only she hadn't.
Chloé smiled, and it was a horrible thing,"I was hoping you'd say that." One more pet to her defeated self and Chloé stood. She unzipped her jacket and shucked it in a smooth motion. Underneath her black turtleneck was joined by a sleek harness and techno wristguards. She stepped into a fighting stance.
Vesperia brought her guard up, and held her top in one hand,"the fight was supposed to be one on one."
"The fight's over. This is the afterfight." Chloé Flexed her fingers. The wristguards twisted and opened like blossoms, Yellow and black striped darts made themselves visible. "Sweet Bee isn't meant for serious combat, but it'll be more than enough for you."
From behind Vesperia Cat Noir's staff telescoped out striking Chloé square in the chest. A hexacomb of energy shielding flared around her, but the blow still knocked her back off her feet into a tree.
Cat Noir's quippy tone seemed to bring a level of light with it,"Well, if it's an afterfight, can anyone show up?" He and Ladybug strode into the clearing. Him with his staff over his shoulders and her with something held in her hands. Curled up papers in red and black?
Chloé staggered to her feet, back against the tree trunk. She reached for her wrist, and grinned,"Sure, let me start it off right though."
"With these?" Ladybug uncurled the papers, a booklet, and from inside fell a dozen small devices. If Vesperia were to guess, bombs. Ladybug waved the papers with a smirk,"This time, I made sure to read it first."
Chloé's eye scanned the disarmed bombs, but quick calculations brought her grin back,"You got the ones on the trees. What about in the ground?" Her fingers flicked against the inside of the wrist guard, a yellow and black grid popped up, a single touch made one of the intersections glow.
The ground beneath Ladybug and Cat Noir opened up in a burst of earth and fire. Vesperia flinched then reached for them, but they were gone. Not blown away, simply gone. So were the bombs. She blinked, and so did Chloé. From the side Ladybug's yo-yo darted in, wrapping Chloé's wrist, then yanking her off her feet. Ladybug jumped in from one side of the clearing wrapping Her yo-yo string several more times around Chloé, and grabbing hold of the restraints,"That's quite enough of that."
Cat Noir sauntered in from the direction his original staff strike had come and rested the tip on the back of the still-prone Chloé who had begun shifting,"We're starting to catch on to your tricks Chloé. Always one more right?"
The prone Chloé reached weaky for Cat Noir's boot, the trapped one stared daggers at Ladybug,"A fox in the woods too? Did everyone come to this little party?"
Vesperia was still in shock. Suddenly everything had expanded again; heroes, villains, sides. She recovered enough to look Ladybug,"Ladybug. I'm sorry."
A brief pained expression crossed Ladybug's face,"We'll talk about it later. For now, let's get these two to the authorities." Ladybug hauled her Chloé to her feet as she spoke.
"Always one more."
Both Ladybug and Vesperia glanced at Cat Noir, but he blinked in momentary confusion at the sound of his own voice too. The answer revealed itself as colors shifted and an outline took shape. The outline filled in and a second Cat Noir walked into the clearing. Not Quite, a full face mask and subtle differences in the outfit.
"Adrikat." Ladybug I. the newcomer, just raising more questions in Vesperia's mind.
"Guilty M'Lady." Adrikat raised his hands and his helmet retracted, leaving Adrien's grinning face looking back at them.
"It's over. Remember what I said before. You can be free."
Chloé squirmed in Ladybug's grip,"Adrikits! Help me. I can barely walk! You saw what they did to me!" She flailed and kicked, nodding down to her prone self. From the ground came the mumbled response,"I need to run… always make more… Adrikat, get me out of here."
Adrikat looked between the three, then took in Cat Noir and Vesperia as well. He drew his fingers across his lips and gestured, the only one in the clearing seemingly at complete ease,"Well, I was given rather specific instructions. I was told 'Just be yourself.' I suppose if we take that into account."
Ladybug smiled, The Chloé she held narrowed her eyes. Vesperia relaxed. Adrikat's grin returned. Cat Noir snapped his staff up to the ready just in time.
Adrikat dashed forward, too fast. His helm snapping back into position as afterimages blurred behind him. It wasn't a straight line, each step his image flickered and he covered too much ground. Energy arced and played out in his wake. Cat Noir swung into the charge, catching Adrikat square, but his staff played through nothingness. The energy flared and dissipated in a bright flash.
"Shhhh." Adrikat's voice whispered in Vesperia's ear as a hand closed around her throat from behind and another snaked around her waist. His cloaking faded once more,"Just be calm and we all get through this."
Vesperia tensed, but Arikat's claws against her skin stilled her. She could probably overpower him, but fast enough? It didn't seem like good odds. Instead she called out,"Ladybug!"
The others had been scanning the clearing, the shout drew their attention back. Cat Noir was the only one who didn't seem surprised. His face was a frowning mask of determination. Adrikat raised his voice,"Let's make this quick. You let her go Ladybug, I let Vesperia go. And since I know we've got at least one more player in the game-" Vesperia felt the prick of electricity against her neck. The miraculous shielded her from most of it, but it was still disconcerting and sent ticks out to her fingertips,"-if I go down to a sucker punch, well this is no cataclysm, but that just means it'll all be messier."
"You wouldn't." Ladybug overcame her surprise, replacing it with a disbelief.
"He would." Cat Noir countered in a flat tone,"M'Lady, let her go." Cat circled, keeping his staff on guard. His eyes held a focus more intent than Vesperia had ever seen in them.
Ladybug glanced at Cat Noir, back to Adrikat, then loosened her Yo-yo string, pushing Chloé away from her. Chloé crawled forward, pulling her other self to her feet, the two huddled, watching the exchange.
"Now you, let her go." Ladybug rewound her Yo-yo, disbelief having turned over into guarded hostility.
The sparks at Vesperia's neck faded,"My apologies." he murmured in her ear. Then his grip was gone. Out of the corner of her eyes there was a blur and afterimage. Adrikat had sidestepped into the clear, leaving her free.
The move probably saved him. A chagrined Rena Rouge stepped into the clearing from directly behind where he had held Vesperia. But now the four heroes all advanced into a semicircle. Vesperia pulled her mind back to the now. This wasn't her sister, this was a clear fight. As the others raised their weapons she called on Venom, holding the pulsing energy in her grip.
"He's almost as bad at coming up with a plan as you are Cat Noir." Ladybug quipped now that the odds were clear.
"Hey, I'm the one who saw the attack coming." he quipped back.
Adrikat spread his hands wide and said one word,"Kittens."
The non sequitur confused Vesperia, but there was motion behind them. The heroes had to split their attention. The Chloés rose to their feet, then both slumped limply, one more so than the other, still on their feet.
Hesitation; Ladybug recovered first,"No more tricks." She whipped her Yo-yo at Adrikat, just as his outline exploded in a frenzy of light and motion. A dozen Adrikats zig-zagged their way at the heroes. Vesperia stabbed through one, spun a kick through another, and a third passed by her.
Three made it through the line, but two faded only a couple steps past. The last still had his arms out, and plowed right into the Chloés, catching each around the waist and hauling them bodily up. The colors and outline of the trio faded just as cleanly as Adrikats had. Ladybug's Yo-yo passed through the space two heartbeats later, striking nothing.
A loud crunching, the sound of running feet, but nothing to see. Cat Noir collapsed his staff,"I can follow them M'Lady."
He had already taken two steps towards a run when Ladybug called out,"No! No separating!" her words brought him up short.
The quartet silently exchanged glances. Another confrontation and nothing to show for it. Vesperia felt somehow to blame. She let Venom go and clenched her hands in frustration, but then there was Ladybug, smiling at them all,"No one got hurt, and hopefully they won't come back. We had one more to deal with this time, and we did even better. I'm proud of all of you, now let's get home."