Chapter 7: Mr. Pigeon
Ms. Bustier's students paid a lot of attention to the announcement that Gabriel Agreste was inviting them to enter a derby hat design contest. "I know exactly what I'll draw!" Chloé exclaimed as Ms. Bustier dismissed the class.
"What about you, Marinette?" Nino asked and his friend answered with a nervous rant about things she's good at but how derby hats weren't among them. "Come on." Nino pleaded. "You can't let Chloé win like that. Especially in a competition where the judge is someone too powerful to be afraid of her Dad."
"What a petty reason to enter the contest." Alya commented as she intruded herself into the conversation. "And honestly, I don't see where this hatred comes from. I doubt anyone who's as much of a jerk as you make Chloé out to be would be able to act as nice as she's showing herself to be through all this time I've seen her."
"True, something that happened between the last school year and this one must've changed her for the better." Marinette agreed. "But don't worry, Alya. I wouldn't enter a contest like that for such a petty reason. I'll do it for a chance to impress Gabriel Agreste."
"Alright but if you brag to Chloé about an eventual victory, I'll hold that as a reason you only entered the contest to make her lose." Alya commented and left.
Later on, Chloé and Sabrina were at the former's hotel room. "What're you making, Chloé?" Sabrina asked.
"I'm making a hat that'll homage Paris' superheroines, Sabrina." Chloé answered.
"Aren't you afraid it'd clue people, Chloé?" Tikki asked as her wielder kept writing the idea.
"Not at all, Tikki." Chloé answered. "Superbug and Catgirl are so loved by Paris I'd be seen as just another fan and it wouldn't surprise me if I'm not the only entrant honoring them."
'Not the only one honoring both of them instead of just Superbug, that is.' Sabrina sadly thought.
"What about you, Sabrina?" Plagg asked. "Do you have any ideas?"
"No, Plagg." Sabrina answered. "I'm not entering."
"Why not?" Plagg asked. "If it's because you have no idea, I have a suggestion. Camembert!"
"Wouldn't Hawkmoth find it suspicious?" Sabrina asked. "It's not widely known Catgirl's powers come from a camembert-loving creature."
"Plagg, it does sound like something Hawkmoth might know." Tikki said, making Plagg begrudgingly accept the fact the camembert theme would be a bad idea.
"Even a cookie-themed derby hat sounds too risky and cookies are a more popular edible item than camembert." Chloé added.
"No account for taste among humans, it seems." Plagg muttered.
Chloe then finished designing the hat. "Done. Now I'll just order a team of specialists to make a hat based on my designs."
"What?" Tikki asked. "Won't you make the hat yourself?"
"Me? Doing that myself?" Chloé asked. "Ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous! I cannot risk an akuma attack keeping me from having enough time and it's too much work anyway."
"Isn't that cheating, Chloé?" Tikki asked with a frown.
"It's a design contest, Tikki." Chloé explained. "For as long as it's a hat based on my design, there's no rule saying I have to make the hat and, considering the little time Mr. Agreste gave the contestants to work on our entries, he has no right to complain if all contestants without people to make the hats for them simply present their designs without having any actual hats." She then called for a crew and sent them the pictures of the hat she designed. After ending that call, she received another one. "Daddy?"
"Chloé, is Sabrina still with you?" The Mayor desperately asked.
"Yes, Dad." Chloé replied, worried because of how her father sounded.
"Don't freak out, but I received reports there's a pigeon-like akuma abducting cops and I can't reach Sabrina's Dad!" The Mayor said.
"What?" Chloé asked in shock. "Don't worry, Daddy. I know how to comfort my friend. Just make sure nobody disturbs us until she feels ready to leave and, if the hat I ordered arrives before then, just text me so I'll pick it up at the lobby."
"Okay, Chloé." Her Dad replied. "Bye."
"What happened, Chloé?" Tikki asked.
"My Dad just told me a pigeon-themed akuma is abducting cops all over Paris, Tikki." Chloé answered.
"Xavier Ramier!" Sabrina exclaimed.
"Who?" Chloé asked, having never heard of anyone by that name before.
"A crazy guy who insists on feeding pigeons at parks no matter how many times cops keep expelling him from them for it." Sabrina explained. "Oh, no! My Dad!"
"Don't worry, Sabrina." Chloé reassured her friend. "Superbug and Catgirl will rescue him!"
Later on, Superbug and Catgirl were at a park. "What do we do?" Catgirl asked. "Call for the Vulture Squadron?"
"Did you just make a Dastardly and Muttley reference?" Superbug asked in wonder.
"I'm stressed, okay?" Catgirl justified the allusion. "But seriously, what do we do? Dress ourselves as cops to lure the akuma?"
"That won't be necessary, Catgirl." Superbug replied. "Remember, we have something he must give Hawkmoth in exchange for his powers. We just need a way to make it clear to them they will have to come for us."
"But what about the captured cops?" Catgirl asked.
"They can wait until the Miraculous Cure brings everyone back, Catgirl." Superbug said. "The question is: can the villains wait? And how do we send them the message?"
"I can answer the last question, Superbug." Alya Césaire said as she revealed herself and her smartphone.
Seconds later, Hawkmoth was watching the superheroine's challenge from his lair. "Thinking you can outwait me, Superbug?" The villain asked. "Well, no matter where the battle happens for as long as you lose. Mr. Pigeon, after them."
"But I already made the parks safer for my pigeons." Mr. Pigeon protested.
"Uphold your end of our deal or I'll remove your powers." Hawkmoth threatened.
Later on, Superbug and Catgirl were waiting for Mr. Pigeon's arrival. It wasn't a long wait. Mr. Pigeon played his whistle and several pigeons flew towards Superbug and Catgirl, the former of whom spun her yoyo to keep them away. "Catgirl, I think the akuma is in the whistle." Superbug said. "Be ready to reach it with your baton as soon as I distract the pigeons." Catgirl nodded. "Lucky Charm!" Superbug shouted and got a popcorn bag. The bag was red with black dots but the popcorn had the same color she's used to seeing in regular salted popcorn. She threw the popcorn (but not the bag) to the side, distracting the pigeons while Catgirl stretched her baton, knocking Mr. Pigeon and grabbing his whistle, bringing it to her. "Cataclysm!" Catgirl shouted and destroyed the whistle, releasing the akuma for Superbug to purify. Superbug then tossed the now empty bag to the air "Miraculous Ladybug!" and all abducted cops were taken back to wherever Mr. Pigeon abducted them from.
"What happened?" Xavier Ramier asked as the two superheroines hid somewhere to recharge and then returned.
"You were so upset over not being allowed to feed pigeons at parks Hawkmoth akumatized you, Mr. Ramier." Superbug explained.
"How do you know my name?" Ramier asked.
"It doesn't matter but here's an advice." Superbug replied. "Install a pigeon coop at your property. I don't see why cops would care then."
"Unless you…" Catgirl tried to say but Superbug interrupted her. "I'd say more but Catgirl and I must go. Bye!"
Superbug and Catgirl soon returned to the hotel and changed back to Chloé and Sabrina. The Mayor's daughter then called him. "Daddy, we already feel ready to leave." Chloé said. "Is it safe?"
"Yes, Chloé." Mayor Bourgeois answered. "Superbug and Catgirl defeated the akuma."
"Good." Chloé replied. "Please have my limo ready so I can go to the contest."
"Okay, Princess." Her father said, pleasantly surprised she said 'please'.
Chloé and Sabrina picked up a box and went down to the lobby. "Has my order arrived?" The former asked the receptionist.
"Not yet, Ms. Bourgeois." The receptionist answered, fearing Chloé would have him fired for it.
"I suppose I must just take the designs then." Chloé said in conformity and then turned her attention to Sabrina. "Sabrina, if my hat arrives before I return, please have it delivered to me at school." Chloé said and went to the limousine.
"Is it just me or is Chloé more mature than usual?" The receptionist asked.
"It's certainly not just you." Sabrina answered.
As Chloé arrived at her destination, Marinette Dupain-Cheng was showing a hat with pigeon feathers to Gabriel Agreste or, better saying, to the tablet Gabriel Agreste's assistant Nathalie Sancoeur was holding so he could look at the contestants' entries without leaving his manor. 'I really shouldn't be surprised.' Chloé sadly thought but then shook her thoughts aside and picked up her designs. She was actually feeling ashamed as she looked around and noticed all her opponents had actual hats to display.
"Chloé, that's not even a hat." Kim commented.
"It's my design, Kim." Chloé argued without showing any of her insecurities. "Showing it on paper instead of an actual hat doesn't make my entry any less valid than anyone else's."
"You're correct, Ms. Bourgeois." Gabriel Agreste replied. "Show me your design."
"With pleasure, Mr. Agreste." Chloé eagerly replied and showed her superheroine-themed project. "I made the left side red with black polka dots to represent Superbug and the right side black with green claws to represent Catgirl; and I also added a red sash with black dots with green claws in them."
"Interesting idea, Ms. Bourgeois; and I appreciate the double theme." Gabriel Agreste stated. "Unfortunately, I don't want to risk a lawsuit by using the images of people who exist without having their approval. Even if it had just been one of them and I felt safe that simply using a ladybug or a cat theme, I still prefer Ms. Dupain-Cheng's idea. Look at how she sewed her name into her hat."
Chloé did as asked by Gabriel Agreste and was amazed. "Okay, that was impressive." She conceded.
"I'm glad you're being a graceful loser." Gabriel Agreste commented while being secretly surprised. "I hereby declare Marinette Dupain-Cheng the winner of the derby hat contest. To the other contestants, better luck next time."
"Wait!" Sabrina shouted as she came out of a cab. "I've brought the finished hat!"
"Chloé, did you make Sabrina make the hat for you?" Marinette accusingly asked.
"Ridiculous!" Chloé answered. "Utterly ridiculous! She just brought it here after I paid professionals to make it and deliver it to the hotel."
"So, you admit to having cheated?" Marinette asked in triumph.
"There's no rule saying we had to build the hats ourselves, only to design them, Dupain-Cheng." Chloé argued. "Mr. Agreste didn't even penalize me for showing a design on paper instead of a finished hat."
"Correct." Gabriel agreed. "In fact, given the little time the contestants had to work on their entries, I wouldn't be surprised had most if not all of you presented designs instead of finished hats. And, Ms. Dupain-Cheng, there's no need to challenge the fairness of Ms. Bourgeois' actions since you still won regardless of that."
"Honestly, it sounds like you only entered the contest to make Chloé lose." Alya commented.
"It doesn't change the fact she won fair and square." Chloé replied. "I only hope Mr. Agreste remembers to use artificial feathers for the mass-produced hats since Adrien is allergic to real feathers." She then approached Sabrina. "I'll pay the fare."
After payment was made, Chloé and Sabrina took the former's limousine back to the hotel. "Sorry I didn't bring the hat on time, Chloé." Sabrina said.
"Don't blame yourself, Sabrina." Chloé replied. "I would have lost either way. My only concern is Adrien's allergies. If not for them, there's a chance I'd consider using peacock feathers to honor his mother and her brooch."
Unbeknownst to Chloé and Sabrina, their kwamis felt the former's comment sounded too familiar.
Meanwhile, Alya was thinking about Chloé's actions. 'The only one who wouldn't find the time to make a hat herself during an Akuma attack. Could she be Superbug?'
End chapter.