Chapter 17: Game Changer

"Chloé, why are we watching this competition again?" Sabrina asked her best friend.

"To check if someone among those who don't get into the national competition will be upset enough for an akumatization, Sabrina." Chloé answered.

"Don't you think you're exaggerating?" Plagg asked Tikki's wielder.

"Considering how many akumatized came from here, no." Chloé answered.

"You must be glad to have such a worrywart for a wielder, sugarcube." Plagg accused Tikki.

"Quiet, Plagg." Tikki replied.

Like Chloé predicted, Adrien bested Max and got first place. "Congratulations, Adrien." Max humbly said. "I guess I'll have to settle for second place."

"Assuming nobody else beats you." Adrien replied while glancing at Marinette.

"In five minutes?" Max scoffed. "Who'd have a chance?"

"I would!" Marinette declared while approaching a game controller.

"Not so fast!" Alya said while blocking Marinette's path. "Girl, this is serious, not a game for amateurs who just want an excuse to be near Adrien."

Adrien decided to intervene. "Alya, Marinette has as much right to enter this as any other student and she's no amateur."

"Let her try, Alya." Max arrogantly said. "What can a noob like her do?"

Five minutes later, practically everyone was shocked at the results. Marinette not only defeated Max but also got a better score than Adrien. "I told you she's no amateur, Alya." Adrien proudly said, clearly accepting his 'defeat'.

"Are you okay, Max?" Kim asked his friend.

"Yes." Max lied. "Marinette defeated me fair and square." He said and left. Not feeling convinced, Chloé left the area as well and transformed into Superbug.

Moments later, a butterfly was about to touch Max's glasses when he suddenly heard someone shouting "Look out!" and saw Superbug's yo-yo grabbing the butterfly.

"No evil ever for you, little akuma." Superbug said as she purified the butterfly.

"Thank you, Superbug, but how did you come here so fast?" Max asked.

"Considering how often Hawkmoth akumatizes people from your school, I already suspect he'd try it with somebody who failed to get a spot representing it at that gaming competition I heard about." Superbug explained.

"That's logical thinking." Max complimented Superbug. "And I'm glad you stopped me before I did anything to Marinette."

"Marinette?" Superbug asked in confusion.

"Yes, she's the one who took my spot." Max explained.

"But I thought there were two spots." Superbug replied. "Shouldn't that leave two people for you to be angry at?"

"I've known Marinette for years and I've never seen her show any interest on games while I've only known Adrien since the beginning of this school year and Nino told me he has several games inside his bedroom." Max explained.

"Okay." Superbug replied. "Goodbye." Unbeknownst to her, Alya filmed that conversation.

Back at Agreste Manor, Gabriel Agreste was fuming. "How could Superbug even know I planned to turn that kid into an akuma?" He asked.

"Sir, I think Alya Césaire's blog can explain it." Gabriel's assistant Nathalie Sancoeur replied.

Later on, at Chloé's room, Tikki was worried. "What's wrong, Tikki?" Chloé asked.

"Don't misunderstand me, Chloé." Tikki replied. "You did a good thing by preventing Max's akumatization but I'm afraid announcing how you deduced Hawkmoth would try might bring consequences on the long run."

"What kind of consequences?" Chloé asked.

"Chloé, while being concerned Mr. D'Argencourt would be akumatized over losing the election for Mayor could have happened to anyone living anywhere in Paris, the town's main superhero calling attention to how often Hawkmoth akumatizes students at your school might attract attention." Tikki explained.

A butler then entered the room and Tikki hid herself. "Miss Chloé, your father requests your presence at his office." The butler said.

The next day, the Mayor was meeting the Principal. "Chloé, do you know why your father is here?" Adrien asked her.

"Blame it on your girlfriend, Adrien." Alya said. "Had she not entered the tournament just to be near you, Superbug wouldn't have announced her concerns and we wouldn't be forced to whatever Principal Damocles and Mayor Bourgeois have in mind."

"Don't blame her, Alya." Chloé replied. "It's not Dupain-Cheng's fault Max is a sore loser. As he tried to convince himself, she won fair and square."

"I thought you didn't like Marinette, Chloé." Alya commented.

"Regardless of how I feel, I understand it's not her fault." Chloé stated.

Later on, Ms. Bustier made an announcement to her students. "Children, in order to prevent more akumatizations among us, Principal Damocles and Mayor Bourgeois decided to have mandatory meditation sessions for all of you." She said and most of them moaned in frustration.

"What do we do if Hawkmoth attacks during those sessions?" Sabrina whispered to Chloé while some of the other students asked questions.

"Don't worry, Sabrina." Chloé replied. "I already thought about it."

"The Mayor and the Principal also decided that, should an akuma attack during one of those sessions, you will be allowed to leave the session earlier." Miss Bustier said while wondering the reason behind it.

"Bingo." Chloé whispered back to Sabrina.

"Now that's been announced, I'd like to congratulate Marinette Dupain-Cheng and Adrien Agreste for making our school the tournament winner." Ms. Bustier said and most students applauded. "What's wrong, Alya?" The teacher asked.

"She only entered the tournament to be near Adrien, Ms. Bustier." Alya protested.

"Regardless of her motivation, she was a better player than Max and I'm not sure we'd have won with him in her place, Alya." Ms. Bustier argued.

"Rubbing salt on his wound?" Alya asked. "Do you want him to be akumatized after all?"

"If you don't, just stop bringing it up with your protests against Marinette." Ms. Bustier ordered. "Regardless of her motivations, she acted within her rights."

Alya frowned but said nothing.

Later on, Adrien returned home and found his father's assistant opening a vault hidden behind a family portrait much to Adrien's surprise considering he didn't even know about the vault until then. Unaware that Adrien was watching her, Nathalie Sancoeur grabbed a peacock themed brooch until Gabriel Agreste interrupted her. "Nathalie, what do you think you're doing?" Gabriel asked with a tone Adrien usually only heard when his father scolded him or some employees other than Nathalie.

"Gabriel, given the latest developments, I thought about using the Peacock..." Nathalie tried to explain but Gabriel interrupted her.

"Nathalie, you know this Miraculous is defective." Gabriel said with a worried tone. "Do you want to end up like Emilie?"

"It's worth the risk, Gabriel." Nathalie pleaded.

"I disagree, Nathalie." Gabriel firmly said. "Now put the brooch back into the vault and close it before Adrien finds out we have it. I don't want him having any ideas."

"Yes, Sir." Nathalie replied and did what her employer told her to. Afterwards, the two of them left.

'I don't believe it!' Adrien thought. 'My Mom had a Miraculous and it's responsible for whatever happened to her?'

A few minutes later, Chloé was doing homework when she heard an akuma alert. "Mr. Pigeon again?" The Mayor's daughter asked and frowned. "Ridiculous! Utterly Ridiculous!"

"Chloé, you know what to do." Tikki pointed out.

"Yes, Tikki!" Chloé replied. "I'm calling Sabrina!"

One battle later, Mr. Pigeon was once again defeated and turned back into Xavier Ramier. "What happened?" Ramier asked.

"You were akumatized again." Catgirl answered.

"Honestly, don't you have any private place where you can feed your pigeons?" Superbug asked and the two superheroines left before Xavier Ramier had a chance to answer.

After hiding and detransforming, Chloé and Sabrina went to the former's room. "I can't believe he was akumatized again." Chloé commented.

"I already told you that being akumatized once doesn't protect people from going through that other times, Chloé." Tikki replied.

"At least it wasn't anybody from school this time." Chloé said.

"And perhaps it won't be anybody from there anytime soon." Sabrina commented, getting Chloé's attention.

"What do you mean, Sabrina?" Chloé asked.

"My Dad says yo... Superbug really changed the game when she prevented Max from being akumatized." Sabrina explained.

"Did he really call it a game?" Chloé asked. "And I don't think the meditation sessions will be enough to stop Hawkmoth."

"I'm the one using the 'game' word." Sabrina answered. "And my Dad says that between those sessions and it becoming known Superbug already anticipates the usual strategy of akumatizing students, Hawkmoth is likely going to seek targets elsewhere from now on."

"I hope so." Chloé replied. "It's always a relief when the akuma isn't someone I know from my civilian life even when the akuma is a repeat like Mr. Pigeon."

"Chloé, is it true there's a new panther at the zoo Alya's Dad work at?" Sabrina asked.

"Yes, Sabrina." Chloé answered. "And I'm grateful for the change of subject."

"Who cares about some stupid panther when the greatest cat of the universe is right here?" Plagg arrogantly asked. "Sure, panthers might seem fearsome but they'd have no chance against a T-rex!"

"Not that again, Plagg." Tikki was frustrated at how Plagg bragged about extinguishing the dinosaurs. "Were they really mocking you?"

Meanwhile, at Fu's place, he and Wayzz were thinking things over. "Wayzz, what do you think about Superbug's initiative to intercept akumas before they corrupt people?" Master Fu asked his kwami.

"Master, we should be concerned that she might unwittingly clue Hawkmoth to the fact she attends the same school he usually akumatized students of." Wayzz replied.

"So far, she only did it in occasions that were well-known enough for it not to be a concern but I understand your worry, Wayzz." Master Fu commented.

"So, do we warn her, Master?" Wayzz asked.

"No, Wayzz. I trust Tikki must have already done that." Master Fu said and Wayzz nodded, having a similar opinion regarding the kwami of creation. "I'll just keep spying on them."

Meanwhile, at Agreste Manor, Nathalie kept trying to convince Gabriel Agreste to allow her to wield the Peacock Miraculous. "Nathalie, as much as I want Emilie back, I cannot risk losing you as well." He said.

"You already have no qualms about risking the whole fabric of reality." Nathalie argued.

"True." Nooroo added.

"Nooroo, nobody asked your opinion." Gabriel firmly told his kwami.

"Sorry, master." Nooroo timidly replied.

In another part of the mansion, Adrien Agreste was thinking about stuff he recently learned. "My Dad has a secret vault with stuff related with my Mom and one of them is a Miraculous. But why is my father reluctant about it being used to help the heroes? Why did he call Mom's Miraculous 'defective'?"

End chapter

Answer to Guest: Thanks for the info.