Chapter 8: Queen Wasp
Chloe Bourgeois is out shopping with Sabrina Raincomprix and Butler Jean. She has daddy's credit card, so pretty much anything she wants, she gets. She baits Sabrina and insults her backhandedly, but Sabrina still sticks by her—even carrying her bags. As they're in the store, a lovely honeybee hair comb catches her eye. Chloe buys it, and it's again implied the seller is adult future Bunnyx. Chloe also implies she needs to look her best, and it's hinted she's genuinely worried about something.
The next time we see them, they're at school. Chloe is flirting with Adrien Agreste, trying to get him to compliment her on her new accessories, including the comb. However, Adrien is a bit distracted. As Cat Noir, he agreed to meet with Ladybug that evening to talk to Fumikage Tokoyami. He knows he shouldn't consider it a date, but he can't help but imagine it could be. He's wondering if he has time to shower and if he should wear a tie in addition to his Cat Noir transformation.
Chloe gets pouty that he's ignoring her. Adrien apologizes and says he just has a lot on his mind, like his busy schedule, and alludes to his afternoon fencing practice. Chloe gets a flash of jealousy, mistakenly thinking that he's thinking about Kagami Tsurugi. Of course, Marinette Dupin-Cheng is also nearby, internally melting down while Chloe flirts with Adrien. Alya Cesaire is verbally holding her back.
After school that day, Adrien is practicing fencing with Kagami and the rest of the team while Marinette meets with Aurore Beaureal for tutoring in the school library. Both are frequently watching the clock as they know they have to run off to meet Ladybug and Cat Noir respectively in order to talk to Fumikage together.
Meanwhile, Chloe and her dad are at the runway of an airport, along with a fair few members of the press. Chloe's mother disembarks, and the press all crowd around for an interview for the upcoming Fashion Week. Audrey Bourgeois ignores them and goes to her family, both of which she greets rather curtly. Andre Burgeois, despite being the mayor of Paris, is cowed by her. Chloe does her best to mimic her mother but is dismissed rather coldly. Audrey barks orders at everyone, a real prima donna. This leads to her telling Chloe, to her face, that she'll never be good enough. In front of all the news cameras. Live. So it's broadcasted all over Paris.
Chloe snaps in embarrassment, sadness, and anger. The nearby element is plants from all the flowers her mother received. Her new comb reacts, turning her into a bee-themed superheroine all over public television. Her transformation, appearance, powers, and weapon are all the same as canon—it's just, in this gecko-tail fic, the bee miraculous is one without a kwami and thus not in Master Fu's miraculous box. (Something else is there instead.)
Of course, this also catches Gabriel Agreste's eye, and he immediately goes into his den to keep an eye on the situation. Nathalie Sancoeur follows, and he says this might be the best thing that happened for his plans to get the miraculous. He tells Nathalie he has a good guess about what's going to happen (after all, he has known Chloe since she was a child), so he hands Nathalie a tablet and tells her to head out. It should be worth noting that Gabriel has not yet transformed into Hawk Moth.
Meanwhile, Cat Noir and Ladybug have just met up to go find Fumikage. Ladybug brings Fumikage's address. Cat Noir brings a bouquet of flowers for Ladybug. She lightly scolds him; it's impractical, she can't accept his feelings, she has no vase to put them in, he needs to focus on the matter at hand—finding out about the new miraculous that are appearing.
As if jinxed, they happen to see Chloe's transformation on a public broadcast skyscraper big screen. Both are jaw-dropping at the prospect of Chloe of all people having superpowers. They quickly discuss their options and decide to save Fumikage for another day and head off to deal with Chloe.
However, by the time they get to the airport, Chloe has already gone off on her own. Ladybug wonders where she went and worries about how much trouble she could have gotten into. Cat Noir says "it can't be that much, can it?" As if on cue, Nadja Chamack gets on the air with an emergency broadcast about a runaway train. (Which means Nadja was not one of the press who greeted Audrey at the runway).
Ladybug and Cat Noir hurry to the subway and find Chloe there (who is insisting she is now Queen Bee), trying to stop the train and failing. The three of them successfully bring the whole thing to a halt. Ladybug checks with the conductor, only to find out he's been paralyzed. By Queen Bee. Ladybug find Cat Noir and Queen Bee talking, interrupting them at the point Queen Bee insists she's a heroine too because she stopped the train. Ladybug chews her out, saying she's the one who almost caused the crash in the first place! Queen Bee insists, "so? I helped to stop it, didn't I?" This answer only angers Ladybug more, who insists Queen Bee hand over her miraculous because she's not using it responsibly. Ladybug is definitely forceful, and Cat Noir tells her to dial it back, but she does have a point.
Queen Bee refuses. They exchange a few blows, but Queen Bee uses the opportunity to escape. She loses Cat Noir and Ladybug amid the rooftops of the posh section of Paris.
Both of them ponder what to do next. Cat Noir proposes that Chloe would have headed to her home, so they go there. However, they don't find Chloe. Ladybug suspects Chloe is going to use her powers to cause more trouble. Cat Noir argues that Chloe isn't evil, but Ladybug counters that Chloe likes to show off and be the center of attention. Cat Noir can't argue with that. That gives Ladybug the eureka moment she needs to figure out where they can find Chloe as Queen Bee.
Ladybug leads Cat Noir to the auditorium (for lack of a better word) where Audrey Bourgeois is hosting her section of the runway show for Fashion Week. (Gabriel Agreste has a show later in the same location, random trivia/foreshadowing.) Queen Bee crashes it, strutting down the runway and declaring herself the newest, bestest superheroine in town. Ladybug is about to rush in, but Cat Noir stops her. He points out that Queen Bee, technically, isn't doing anything wrong at this moment and that embarrassing her now would only make the situation worse. Ladybug agrees. They hide in the rafters and watch.
However, Gabriel Agreste seizes the moment. He had Nathalie show up at the fashion show, simulcasting his face via the tablet. He tells Chloe off for being a "silly little girl" and ruining everyone's hard work. Then Audrey chips in with even more calloused words, again implying that Chloe is an embarrassment. This sets Queen Bee into a rage where she destroys the supports of the runway, starting the building to collapse, just to prove she can do something and she can save people from it. She's not thinking clearly at this point.
That's when Ladybug and Cat Noir spring into action, stopping her before she can do too much damage. They get people out, and even Queen Bee gets one or two out of harm's way. Queen Bee insists that they look at the good she's done, but Ladybug explains that it's not good if people get hurt in the process. Ladybug takes a new tone this scolding, one much less harsh.
However, Gabriel Agreste took the moment Queen Bee appeared to transform into Hawk Moth (needless to say, Nathalie Sancoeur killed the live stream). He uses his powers to send an akuma right at Queen Bee.
Meanwhile, Queen Bee refuses to hand over her miraculous to Ladybug or Cat Noir. She insists she has what it takes to be a superheroine. She's akumatized into Queen Wasp in mid-sentence. As Queen Wasp, she summons hundreds of bees that paralyze anyone who gets stung (anyone not smart enough to flee the scene earlier). Cat Noir and Ladybug barely dodge, and that gives Queen Wasp time to escape.
This time around, she's easier to follow as she leaves a path of paralyzed people in her wake. Ladybug and Cat Noir track her City Hall, where she's taken both her parents prisoner. The entire area is covered with wasps, and Ladybug and Cat Noir can't get close.
Ladybug summons her Lucky Charm, which points her to seeking Master Fu. She splits for his acupuncture clinic. Cat Noir withdrawals a safe distance to wait for her return. However, when Ladybug gets to the clinic, he has a "closed for the day" sign in the window. She panics, wondering what she's supposed to do.
By sheer luck, which Cat Noir never has, he happens to spot Master Fu leaving the theater. Cat Noir talks to him, and Fu says that he's allowed to have a day off (he was watching an old WW2 drama, a la Casablanca). Fortunately, Master Fu brought his miraculous case with him. So this time around, Cat Noir gets to pick an ally. He choose the preying mantis ring and takes off (as in this continuity, as said before, the bee miraculous has been altered to the miraculous without kwamis set while the mantis ring miraculous is now in the second level of the Chinese miraculous box instead). While en route, Cat Noir contacts Ladybug and tells her about the mishap. He says he'll bring an ally and meet at City Hall. Ladybug agrees.
Cat Noir seeks out Kagami Tsurugi and gives her the mantis miraculous. Kagami meets the mantis kwami, Tiia, and learns how to transform. Her outfit is a tight fitting leotard with a green and gold pattern. There's an emphasis to the joints so they look insectoid. Her mask is a green domino mask with golden cellophane over the eye holes which give her eyes a yellow tinge. Her head is adorned with two golden orbs that mimic a preying mantis's eyes. She also wears a golden belt with a double sheath in the back for her scythes. She had knee high boots that are a darker shade of green with gold trim.
Together, they head back to City Hall, where Kagami introduces herself to Ladybug as Kamaitachi, due to her twin sickles. She also says that Cat Noir explained what's going on, and that Ladybug needs help getting inside, rather bluntly. Ladybug admits this is true though is a bit put off by Kamaitachi's attitude.
Kamaitachi tells them to leave it to her, and using her ability of Speed Strike, bisects every single wasp guarding the building in a blur. The three of them race inside.
Meanwhile, Queen Wasp has holed up in her father's office with both her parents paralyzed. She's telling them off since they can't talk back, insulting her father's fashion sense and her mother's lack of loyalty to her family.
Cat Noir, Ladybug, and Kamaitachi bust in. They fight it out, and Ladybug is able to de-akumatize Queen Wasp and purify the akuma. She does her world-healing wave, fixing the auditorium so fashion week can continue and the paralysis wears off of everyone. They "Pound It" with Kamaitachi.
Chloe is still frustrated. Ladybug asks if she can have the miraculous, but Chloe refuses. Audrey Bourgeois is perturbed by everything that's been going on, and Cat Noir points out how similar she is to her daughter. This single remark begins to tear down the walls between them—though it is only the beginning. Ladybug again asks for the miraculous (she isn't about to steal it). Chloe refuses; she wants to be a superheroine. Ladybug points out the danger—everyone in Paris saw her transform. They know who Queen Bee is. That means Hawk Moth knows too—and he will target Chloe's family to get to her. Chloe hesitates, but she just can't give it up. It's her dream to be an ally to Ladybug.
Ladybug asks her very seriously to think about things. The three of them head off as their transformations are on their countdown. Cat Noir gets the mantis ring back from Kagami and then returns it to Master Fu. Cat Noir asks Master Fu if any of his research has pulled up anything about the new miraculous, but it hasn't. He's just worried and again repeats that they need to be careful.
Meanwhile, Nathalie talks to Hawk Moth, saying that his plan did go well as he was able to akumatize (what appears to be) a miraculous. Hawk Moth says that that wasn't the plan. He already knew he was able to akumatize/control those "miraculous." What he's frustrated about is that he needs to maneuver either Ladybug or Cat Noir into taking the bee miraculous outright or for Chloe to give it to them—because then he can "follow the bee right back to its hive."
To be continued in Chapter 9: Malediktator & Style Queen…