AN: Shout-out to everyone who guessed Killer Bee's identity before now! There have been hints as far back as "Chloe's Jagged Ride," but they especially ramped up in "The Battle for the Seine." As an aside, Lila's head is messed up. I just thought I'd throw that out there.
Spring Break
Lila lounged on her bed, idly skimming through Instagram on her new phone. She stopped flicking and glared at the picture in front of her. She had almost deleted her social media accounts three days ago when Pretty Boy Agreste announced to the world that the Vindictive Bitch was his girlfriend. She'd already known they were close from school, but she'd still held out hope that he might drop the prissy little whore when push came to shove. Of course the moment he had said that, Instagram and Twitter had been flooded with comments from the fangirls about "what a cute couple" and "tots adorable!" #Adrienette had been trending for close to a full day afterward. A few people had complained about losing Adrien to a nobody, but the Bitch's posse had come out in force to defend her. Gullible had started posting "cute" pictures of them together from the last three years almost immediately. The fangirls had cooed. Lila had gagged.
The only satisfaction Lila could find in this was that at least the Queen Bitch had been quiet on the social media lately.
She scrolled past yet another picture from Gullible of #Adrienette #cuddling at the #zoo – she made a face, her knuckles turning white as the phone trembled in her hand – and finally found something that didn't make her want to castrate a homeless man with a rusty grapefruit spoon.
"Nadine," she scoffed, clucking her tongue disappointedly. "That bikini does not flatter your stomach." And yet, the smile in the picture was quite telling: she was at the beach with her family, one arm around her little brother's shoulders –he was almost as tall as Nadine – and she was leaning back into her boyfriend Philippe's chest. Philippe's hands were on her hips, his chin resting on top of her short blonde hair, and it looked like all three of them were having the time of their lives. Even if Nadine was wearing a bikini apparently designed by the Vindictive Bitch. Lila's nostrils flared.
Lila swiped through some more pictures and sighed, rubbing her eyes. Break it might be, but it was still getting late. She was just about to turn off the light and go to bed when movement at the balcony door drew her attention. She turned, curious, and her blood immediately went cold.
The man standing next to her balcony wore a black suit and cape over a grey dress shirt. A red ruby set in a gold star pendant glinted in the reflected light leaking out of her room. A midnight-black sword hung from his waist. He appeared to be hovering in midair. But the predatory look in his eyes as he examined her… The fear and horror plastered on her face as he stepped onto her balcony from the column of air that had been supporting him was not feigned.
The man flicked his wrist, and her balcony door flew open and bounced off the wall with a crash. He stepped inside with little more than a dismissive glance around the room to make sure she was alone. He stopped at the foot of her bed and stared at her down the length of his nose as one would stare at a fly. Lila pulled her legs up and hugged them to her chest, wishing she had worn something more concealing than a spaghetti-strap pajama top, staring up into the terrifying face. Wordlessly he withdrew a black box from a pocket of his cape and tossed it on the bed at her feet. She flinched away from the box and made no move to touch it. The man rested a hand on the pommel of his sword and raised an eyebrow at her. Slowly, hesitantly, she picked up the box.
It felt heavier than she would have expected. It was simple, made of a material similar to wood, though far too smooth. The hinges resisted as she opened it to find a golden hair comb in the shape of a bee. She recognized it instantly from the pictures on the Ladyblog. She looked up at the man in confusion.
"Lila Rossi," the man finally announced, staring down at her in contempt. "You may address me as 'Night Bat.' This is the Bee Miraculous, which grants the power of Subjection. You will use it when and how I tell you to use it. If you do otherwise, or if you should attempt to betray me, there will be… consequences." Faster than Lila could blink, the sword jumped from his sheath into his hand, pointed straight at her neck. "Any minor infractions will be met with the flat of my blade." He swung the sword and sliced through her desk cleanly. "Major infractions, and I will be less forgiving. And if at any time you should displease me…"
Lila scoffed. "You'll what, kill me?" she asked, arching an eyebrow in a show of confidence.
Night Bat's eyes flashed black and the lights in the room dimmed measurably. Lila swallowed hard. "No." Her eyes widened in fear. "There are fates far worse than mere death, child," he told her ominously. "See that you do not displease me, lest you discover just what such a fate might be. Or else… your mother…" He produced a disposable flip-phone from another pocket. "You are to keep this on you at all times. If you do not, I will not give you a choice. When I have need of you, I will call you."
Lila's eyes shifted between Night Bat and the miraculous nervously. Even with the power of a miraculous of her own, what could she do against this monster?
Night Bat turned on his heel and strode to the balcony door. Before leaving, however, he called over his shoulder, "If you even think about going to the so-called 'Heroes of Paris,' I will show you exactly why the Ottomans feared me." The door slammed shut behind him and he disappeared into the night, leaving dead silence in his wake.
Lila stared out the balcony door after him for several long minutes, waiting for him to return. When the balcony remained empty, she finally let out a shaky breath and withdrew the hair comb from the box. The moment her fingers brushed against the comb, a yellow light shot out of the comb, which lost the bee shape on the top and turned to burnt orange. The light formed together into a yellow-and-black Kwami who flew around in a tight loop-the-loop. "Greetings, my–" She froze on catching sight of Lila, her mouth hanging open in surprise. "You're not my Queen!" she squeaked, staring wide-eyed.
Lila scoffed. "As if I would want to be that prissy Queen Bitch!" She stuck out her tongue in disgust. "Why would I want to be Chloe Bourgeois?" The Kwami's antennae drooped, and Lila schooled her expression to be more sympathetic. "I'm sorry," she told her. "I suppose you actually liked Chloe. I imagine it must be hard for you to be separated from a holder."
The Kwami nodded, her lower lip trembling, and blinked back tears.
Lila sighed and rooted around her nightstand to find the bag of chips she hadn't finished earlier that day. "You must be hungry," she told her, holding out the chips. The Kwami dug in with gusto. "What's your name?"
"My name is Pollen. I am the Kwami of Subjection, Mistress."
"Lila."
Pollen nodded, her face expressionless. "I know. My Queen spoke of you often."
"Bitch," Lila muttered under her breath. Pollen looked at her curiously, and Lila smiled brightly. "So tell me about yourself!"
Pollen spun around in excitement. "I love anything sweet – not salty things like these potato things, though I guess they're okay for now, but I'd really love a honey drop! Do you have any honey drops? My favorite thing in the world is to find a nice sunny spot to nap! I–"
"What other Kwamis do you interact with?" Lila asked curiously.
"Oh, all of them!" Pollen replied brightly. "There was this one time we were all out and flying around the building and it was just full of the prettiest colors!"
"What building was that?" she asked raising her eyebrows and trying not to sound too excited. "That must have been a spectacular site to behold!"
"The Taj Mahal." Lila gave her a confused look and Pollen giggled. "One of the Guardians visited there just before the British took India. They were going to intervene but couldn't determine the best way to do it. So instead we all just flew around the building to look at it. Did you know–"
"Wait!" Lila interrupted her, breathing deeply to force the irritation from her voice and smiling encouragingly at the Kwami. "This is all just so much to take in! But I'm so curious to know more! You must have so many stories about Ladybug and Cat Noir: I'd love to hear some!"
"Absolutely!" squealed Pollen, clapping excitedly. "There was one time that Ladybug and Cat Noir were fighting a whole army through the streets of Paris! It looked like all hope was lost, and they were forced to hide in the crypts under Notre-Dame Cathedral. Fortunately, they had my miraculous with them, so Cat Noir unified our miraculous to give himself an extra boost. They had to de-transform down there, though, and I think Cat Noir even lost his sword behind one of the statues."
"They had to de-transform?" Lila leaned forward eagerly. "So does that mean you know who they–wait, Cat Noir uses a sword!?"
"What else was he going to use against the English?" Pollen asked matter-of-factly. "They were outnumbered by at least a thousand to one that day, so he was using his regular sword in addition to his staff and my top."
Lila gave her a confused look. "When did you say this happened?"
Pollen giggled. "1429." She sighed wistfully. "That was one of Creation's absolute favorite holders… She still talks about her all the time, you know."
"But what about the current Ladybug and Cat Noir?" prompted Lila. "You must have some amazing stories about them!"
Pollen hummed thoughtfully to herself and put her paw to her chin. "There was that one time when all the Heroes had to fight Mayura to rescue my Queen," she replied slowly, furrowing her brows. "My Queen got knocked out, and it wasn't until after Ladybug had finally defeated Mayura and the Akuma that she woke up." Lila gave the Kwami a deadpan look. Pollen looked confused for a moment. "Oh… that Akuma was you, wasn't it? I'm sorry for bringing it up. I know how traumatizing that experience could be. My Queen was Akumatized several times, though once she even rejected Hawk Moth!"
"So what do you think about the new Butterfly hero?" Lila asked, latching onto that. "She hasn't really done all that much – not compared to you, at least!"
Pollen smiled. "Actually, the mark of a good Butterfly is that they can work from behind the scenes to help people without drawing attention to themselves. It's the Bee and Ladybug who go out and do the fighting; the best Butterflies know how and when to help us out!" she explained. "So Impératrice Pourpre has been doing an amazing job of that! She is one of Transmission's favorites!"
"Do you know who she is?"
"Of course!"
"And…" Lila prompted.
"She is kind and compassionate, always supporting others – just like any good Butterfly should do!"
Lila sighed. "But what's her name?"
"Her name is Impératrice Pourpre! 'The Purple Empress'! That's a kind of butterfly." Pollen flipped over to float upside-down, tapping her chin in contemplation. "You know, there was actually a Chinese prince who received the Butterfly Miraculous for a time and used a similar name, only his wasn't from a variety of butterfly," she mused. "He went by the name 'The Lotus Emperor' and used a butterfly with a lotus pattern on the wings as his symbol… He was not a bad person overall, though Transmission did seem rather unimpressed with him after the fact…"
Lila rubbed her forehead. "Your Queen was good friends with Ladybug, wasn't she?"
"Naturally." Pollen flipped back right side up and nodded.
"So did they hang out a lot?"
"Not all the time," Pollen answered.
"So who is Ladybug?"
"Ladybug is the leader of the Heroes of Paris!" replied Pollen, beaming widely. "And I cannot remember a braver or more fearless leader – at least not in the last 500 years! The best Ladybugs are always willing to help people! I'm sure she could help you!" The Kwami nodded earnestly, looking up at Lila expectantly.
Lila scoffed. "Not much chance of that," she told the Kwami sadly. "If I even think about going to the Heroes of Paris, Night Bat said he will do terrible things to my mother!" She gave Pollen an evaluating look. "So I guess you need to stay away from Chloe and the Heroes of Paris, too, just in case he finds out."
An undecipherable look passed through the Kwami's eyes before she nodded. "No matter what this 'Night Bat' threatened to do, the Heroes of Paris can protect you and your mother," she insisted.
Lila snorted. "You mean like they protected Chloe?" Pollen gave her a suspicious look. "I'm not an idiot: if you're here, it's not because Chloe gave you up willingly."
AN: There's a reason the Heroes haven't been overly concerned about Pollen divulging secrets to the bad guys, despite knowing every single (pre-Spring Break) hero's identity and the location of their headquarters…