AN: "Duchesse Bleue" is Sabrina with the Peacock Miraculous. Emilie and Amelie use La Paonne and La Paonne Deux, so this is a way to distinguish herself. "Impératrice Pourpre" is derived from the name of a common French butterfly; "Duchesse Bleue" continues that nobility theme but shows she's not as "high" as La Paonne.
To Butterfly: Nadine is something I haven't really played around with much: a dupe. She thinks she's doing the right thing, but she's working for the wrong people. That does make her a rather sympathetic character… and it's not always comfortable to sympathize with a "villain," especially since we've been conditioned to despise Lila.
Just after sunset, Chloe and Sabrina left Le Grand Paris together, Chloe already in her Sent-Bee uniform, and started making their way northwest. A couple blocks from the hotel, Sabrina ducked into an alley to transform. Sent-Bee gave her an approving nod: Duchesse Bleue's suit looked very similar to Impératrice Pourpre, though with a dress of navy blue instead of light purple and a peacock insignia replacing the butterfly. With that out of the way, they resumed their jog side by side toward the 17th Arrondissement. Sent-Bee set a brisk pace, though she could tell that Duchesse Bleue was holding back for her sake. She frowned: for all the gadgets Max had come up with to help her keep up with miraculous users, he still hadn't come up with something to help her actually keep up with them on patrol!
Still, it could be worse: she could have roller skates like Sk8r Girl.
"Do you think Pegasus could design a jetpack for me?" Sent-Bee asked, turning to Duchesse Bleue.
"He's thought about it," she responded, nodding, "but we haven't had much need for them before now. I think the Americans are trying to develop one already."
Sent-Bee hummed and unconsciously adjusted the straps on her carrying bag so it would sit better on her chest. In the bag, Bee-atrice yipped excitedly, her tongue hanging out and ears turning in either direction to take in the sounds of the city. "Okay, I can admit it," she observed, glancing down into the puppy's ecstatic face. "For as weird as it feels carrying Bee like an actual baby, Max knew what he was doing with this thing."
Duchesse Bleue smiled. "It's adorable that you bring Bee out with you for these patrols."
"As long as she doesn't get in the way or get hurt…" Sent-Bee agreed. She wagged a finger in the puppy's face, drawing her attention. "You remember our agreement, right?" Bee-atrice looked back up at her and barked eagerly before licking her finger. "You're ridiculous."
"Utterly ridiculous," Duchesse Bleue finished, giggling.
When the two heroes crossed the street into the 17th Arrondissement about 30 minutes later, Sent-Bee frowned. "Do you smell that?" she asked, sparing a glance for Duchesse Bleue. In her carrying bag Bee-atrice whined, her ears laying flat against her head.
Duchesse Bleue nodded. "Gunpowder. And ozone." She cocked her head before breaking into a sprint. "I hear something from over here! Come on!"
Sent-Bee raced after her, but soon fell behind as Duchesse Bleue took full advantage of her miraculous-enhanced speed. However, it was less than a block before Sent-Bee could finally hear the noise that had drawn her attention: rapid gunfire, intermingled with the screams of wounded men. She put on a burst of speed, pulling the quick-release on Bee-atrice's carrying bag to drop the puppy out the bottom. Bee landed on her paws as Sent-Bee jumped over her, and galloped after her as quickly as her tiny legs would carry her. The moment the bag was empty, it contracted back into the front of Sent-Bee's padded suit. The noises in front of her grew louder and louder, until she skidded to a stop, eyes wide, and took in the warzone spread out in front of her.
Along a residential street lined with apartment buildings, two groups of men seemed to be in the middle of a pitched battle, lit on both sides by the flickering flames coming from cars that had been set ablaze by errant shots. On one side were five or six men who had taken shelter behind a pair of parked cars, sticking their heads out intermittently to fire conventional handguns at their attackers. On the other side were no less than a dozen men in four SUVs who were pouring a continuous stream of energy beams into the cars behind which the other men hid. As Sent-Bee watched, an energy beam melted through the engine block of one of the cars the first group was hiding behind, spilling gasoline on the ground. The two men behind the car stumbled away, moments before another energy beam struck the gas and it caught fire. The car itself exploded, sending a plume of fire and debris into the air where it was picked up by the wind. The men themselves fell to the ground on their faces, covering the backs of their heads with their arms.
Duchesse Bleue stood with her eyes closed and forehead creased in concentration, a hair band in her hand. In front of her an enormous blue elephant was in the process of forming on the ground. The elephant reared back on its legs, raised its head, and let out a resounding trumpet, drawing all eyes to its presence. Duchesse Bleue opened her eyes. "If they're not careful, they're going to set those buildings on fire!"
"You take care of those guys," Sent-Bee ordered, eyes lighting up with exhilaration. "I've got Lynchpin's goons!"
As the senti-elephant lumbered into the street, trampling a burning car and extinguishing its flames before placing itself in front of the nearest apartment building, Sent-Bee raced down the street, aiming straight at the closest Lynchpin SUV. She pulled a yo-yo from her belt and threw it to loop around the barrels of the two energy rifles sticking out of the windows. She tugged on the string, pulling the barrels up and away from their target just as they discharged, sending energy bolts into the senti-elephant's flank and eliciting a bellow. With another pull she jerked the rifles out of the men's limp grip to clatter on the ground next to the SUV. Finally, as she ran past the vehicle, she pulled a synth-Venom grenade from a pouch on her belt and tossed it through one of the open windows. The grenade burst in the center of the vehicle, splashing synth-Venom on the men in the backseat. The startled driver slammed on the gas, and the SUV rear-ended the one in front of it, propelling it forward and starting a chain reaction through all four vehicles. The rear vehicle's tires whined as it pushed the others forward.
The doors on the lead SUV opened, and a quartet of men emerged, shaking their heads in discomfort and confusion. One raised his rifle and aimed at Sent-Bee, who planted her hand on the hood of the rear vehicle and slid over it to drop down on the opposite side from the gunmen. Checking the men in the next SUV, she found them dazed. A quick spray from her synth-Venom gun, and none of those men moved again.
An energy blast cut through the space between the next two SUVs just as Sent-Bee passed, forcing her to dive to the ground for cover. She scrambled forward, placing the body of the SUV between herself and the gunmen, and stole a glance under the SUV's body to see three pairs of feet. She tossed her yo-yo to loop around one man's ankle and pulled as hard as she could. The man cried out in surprise and crashed to the ground, his legs splayed in either direction. Sent-Bee quickly squirted him in the face with synth-Venom and he froze, his mouth open in an expression of pain. Another man crouched down and poked his rifle under the SUV without presenting any exposed skin for her to target, and Sent-Bee jumped off the ground just as he fired, grabbing onto the luggage rack to hold herself off the ground. The wild spray of energy cut a wide swath underneath her, bursting both tires on that side of the SUV and melting the edge of the sidewalk. Sent-Bee nearly lost her grip as the SUV settled.
"Duchesse… little help here?" Sent-Bee muttered into her communicator.
"Sorry," Duchesse Bleue grunted, sounding a little winded. "A couple of them escaped into the apartment building, and they're holding a family hostage!"
Sent-Bee grumbled to herself but planted her feet on the SUV's door and scrambled up the side to crouch on its roof. The one man still knelt and fired blindly under the SUV while the other stood facing the opposite direction, continuing to pour energy into the van behind which the last two Andretti men hid. The senti-elephant had positioned itself behind that van and was using its trunk to spray water from a destroyed fire hydrant onto the apartment building roof, where Sent-Bee could see small wisps of smoke from explosive residue. A shout near the front-most SUV drew her attention as the three men standing there turned their energy rifles on her. She spun around and sprang off the SUV feet-first, planting her feet in the standing man's back and riding him to the ground. He hit with a dull thud and she dropped to one knee on his back. A quick shot of synth-Venom froze the kneeling man, and she rushed forward, closing the distance to the last three men faster than they could react. The first man raised his gun like a club. Sent-Bee heard high-pitched barking near her feet, and Bee-atrice leapt at the thug, sinking her teeth into his shin through his jeans and knocking him off-balance. Sent-Bee threw out her arm and pushed him to the side, slamming his head into the SUV. He dropped to the ground whimpering in pain. Bee-atrice ran up his chest and growled in his face. He yelped in surprise and drew up his hands to protect himself.
Sent-Bee spun under a wild punch from the next gunman, catching him in the chest with a kick. He pinned her foot against his chest, and she allowed her momentum to bring her other foot up into his chin. He stumbled backward to the ground with Sent-Bee on top. Her back slammed into the ground, eliciting a pained groan from her. Bee-atrice padded over to her and licked her hand. She rubbed the puppy's head and pushed her head up, to find the last man aiming his energy rifle at her head. Her head dropped back to the ground. "You've got to be kidding me," she groaned.
"Don't move or you're toast, hero," the man ordered, glaring down at her furiously.
"Yeah, yeah, you jackasses all sing the same tune," she retorted, glaring back into his face defiantly. Bee growled, and Sent-Bee grabbed the puppy's collar, restraining her.
At that moment a blue fan whipped across, knocking the man's rifle away from her head. Still on the ground, Sent-Bee surged forward and kicked him in the side of the knee as hard as she could. It dislocated with an audible pop. The man screamed and fell to the ground, clutching his knee, just as Duchesse Bleue raced over and kicked him in the head.
"Sorry, Chlo," she wheezed, reaching down to help Sent-Bee to her feet. "I got here as fast as I could."
Sent-Bee nodded and took Duchesse Bleue's offered hand. "Perfect timing as always," she assured her.
"Police are on the way," Duchesse Bleue reported. She nodded over to where the senti-elephant stood over a small pile of semiconscious criminals.
An explosion lit up the night from the far north side of the arrondissement. Both heroes turned to stare, identical expressions of shock on their faces.
"Sorry," came Ryoku's voice over the communicators. "There was another shootout and I… might've gotten carried away with the lightning!"
Sent-Bee frowned. "We get rid of the last mole in the precinct, who happens to work for Andretti, not Lynchpin, and that same night all hell breaks loose between Lynchpin and the Andrettis? Please tell me that's a coincidence."
Duchesse Bleue gave her an unhappy look. "It sure doesn't feel very coincidental."
"You know the next logical place for Lynchpin to hit, right?"
Duchesse Bleue started jogging north, leaving the senti-elephant behind to guard the unconscious and semi-conscious prisoners. "Go after the henchmen as a distraction while he cuts off the head?"
"You read my mind," agreed Sent-Bee, scooping Bee up into her arms and running to keep up. The building where Lorenzo Andretti lived was only four blocks away, but she could already see there was a problem when they were only halfway there. The streetlight in front of the apartment building had been shattered, leaving the street in partial darkness, long shadows being cast down the street from the streetlights on opposite corners. One of those shadows flew up to an upper-story window as if pulled on a rope. Meanwhile another figure stood under the broken streetlight beside a pair of dark lumps.
They were less than a block away when Duchesse Bleue stopped. "I'd better recharge first, just in case."
Sent-Bee nodded firmly. "I'll go on ahead and see what's happening."