Okay everyone, time to see what will happen next in this big battle! Will Sabrina and Astra prevail? Time to find out.
Chapter 7
"Uproar!" Sabrina yelled once she saw Vivica's new form. She tossed the second tool she'd gained from her transformation, a Ruyi Jingu Bang, up into the air, producing a small ball of yellow light next to it. When the light cleared away, a small star-shaped plushie appeared in its place before tumbling into Sabrina's hand.
Vivica laughed. "That's all your second Miraculous can do? Create useless toys? What are you trying to do, make me laugh so hard that I'll turn to the Star Dippers' side?" Then her stomach growled noisily, and the Starling moaned, clutching her stomach and wondering aloud why she was suddenly so hungry.
"Wait and see," replied Sabrina. She started to throw the plushie at Vivica, when suddenly she heard Rancora fire another beam of negatite at her opponent. Astra managed to dive out of the way, but then another beam came into the area she retreated into, and as she dodged that one, her chest accidentally brushed against the truss's left stand, knocking her Power Crystal to the floor once again. As her glow returned to normal, Astra tumbled onto the toppled green-screen, unharmed but a little dazed. Rancora smiled evilly upon seeing this, and as she raised her hand to deliver a final blast of negative energy, Sabrina screamed in fear, spun around, and threw the star plushie at Rancora instead of Vivica.
Instantly, Rancora gasped as she was overcome by a weird sensation within herself, while the Butterfly Miraculous suddenly turned into a useless rubber band and fell to the floor. Furious, she tried to use her powers to finish off Astra, but much to her surprise, nothing happened. She and her Miraculous had been rendered powerless.
"Yes!" Astra yelled, recovering from her daze and realizing what just happened. "Oh goodie!" Sabrina exclaimed simultaneously. However, their moment of victory was cut short, because as soon as she noticed what happened, Vivica was able to overcome her intense hunger long enough to lasso Sabrina along with the Miracle Box with her yoyo and pull them both towards her.
"No!" screamed Astra. Quickly she rushed forward, leapt past Rancora, and grabbed the Miracle Box before Vivica could steal it. She then retreated into a corner of the room and opened the box, trying to decide which Miraculous she should use to help Sabrina fight the villains. As she searched, Sabrina forced the Ruyi Jingu Bang between her waist and Vivica's yoyo string, freeing herself from its grasp, and then tried to take back the Ladybug Miraculous, only for Vivica to cartwheel away before she could touch her. Right after that, both of Sabrina's Miraculouses beeped, signalling that in four minutes, she would need to transform back into her civilian form.
Also hearing the beeping noise, Rancora smiled sinisterly and then bent down towards Cat Noir, reaching for his ring. Sabrina saw what she was doing and raced to stop her, but despite her growling stomach, Vivica was able to use wish energy manipulation to lift the Wishling up into the air just in time. This time unable to escape, Sabrina could only watch as Rancora removed Cat Noir's ring, causing him to transform back into…Adrien?! The most patient and easy-going boy in class was the most flirtatious and impulsive person in Paris? That was quite a surprise—but still, good thing Queen Bee (who was now transforming back into Chloe because her detransformation had timed out) was too distracted by the Pig Miraculous's power to see her lifelong crush was one of her idols-turned-enemies!
Rancora placed the Cat Miraculous on her ring finger, and instantly, its kwami (whom Sabrina remembered all too well from her mission as Mosaicat) appeared before her. Unfortunately he was in an even worse state than Tikki, because he was not only hungry from Adrien's transformation, but also unconscious because of the negative energy overdosage his owner had received. In fact, because of this, Rancora had to catch him as he fell and get the negatite out of him before forcing him to reveal his superpower name and transformation phrase. Which, unfortunately, wasn't as hard to do as it had been for Tikki, since the cat kwami had a personality more lethargic than hers. Either that, or he just had enough faith in Sabrina and Astra succeeding to take the risk of letting his new owner gain more power. It was hard to tell.
"Claws out," said Rancora, and Sabrina gasped in horror as she transformed into a creepy black-cat-themed version of herself. The lightning surrounding her became green and brighter than ever before, two razor-sharp cat ears manifested in her now-black sizzling hair, and a steel staff appeared in her right hand. A black jumpsuit replaced her dark purple top, and the sinister smile on her face grew even more sadistic.
Gulping in fear, Sabrina glanced over at Astra, who was now pulling a Miraculous out of the Miracle Box. She could tell by the appearance of the kwami who then manifested in front of her that she'd chosen the Dragon Miraculous, which actually suited Astra very well—her favourite colour was red, one of this Miraculous's signature colours, and its power to make whoever used it shapeshift into different elements complimented the athletic Starling's talents, along with her strong and bold personality. It was perfect for her, but she'd still need help stopping the villains. Which meant Sabrina needed to come up with another escape plan—and fast. Thankfully Vivica's stomach growled again at that moment, and upon hearing the noise, Sabrina had an idea. Smiling, she said the first food-related sentence she could think of: "Banana, Vivica?"
Instantly the mean Starling got much hungrier, causing her to lose her focus on Sabrina and drop her. Now able to move once again, the Wishling started to sneak behind Vivica and grab her earrings, but then froze as she heard Rancora angrily yell, "Cataclysm!"
Luckily, Astra was now finished learning what she needed to know about the Dragon Miraculous, and seeing what was going on in front of her, she said her transformation phrase and then charged forward with the Miracle Box in hand, still transforming into her dragon-themed form. Seeing this, Rancora yelled, "Vivica, deactivate your Miraculous! It's only slowing you down, which we don't have time for!" Her own stomach then growled, and she grimaced in pain.
"But it's the only one I have!" Vivica retorted.
"Then help me steal back the guardian's box! You can use Mayura's Miraculous instead of that one. It'll make things much easier!"
Sabrina gasped in fear as her Miraculouses beeped again, having reached their 3-minute mark. "Astra, I'll take the Miracle Box for now. You have to use your powers, and mine need recharging! I don't have any food for the kwamis though, so I'll have to borrow a new Miraculous."
"Or you can look in Ladybug and Cat Noir's pockets," said Astra. "Remember? Cat had Camembert cheese in his pocket when we fought Star Perfectionist!" Then, seeing the villains smiling with realization at her comment, she suddenly got very nervous.
"Thanks for letting us know, Astra," Rancora said with a smirk. And before anyone knew it, she and Vivica had detransformed and were rushing towards Marinette, Adrien, and the unconscious Star Darlings.
"Wind Dragon!" Astra yelled, startling the villains before they got too far. She then threw the Miracle Box into Sabrina's hands, struck a pose, and shapeshifted into a golden gust of wind, which blew the duo and their kwamis away from her immobile allies, trapping them against a wall. After glancing behind her to make sure Chloe was still distracted (which she was), Sabrina rushed toward Adrien and rummaged through his pockets, searching for food. Thankfully, she didn't have to look for even a second before (not surprisingly) finding three slices of Camembert cheese stored in his sweater together. Perfect—she just hoped her kwamis would be able to tolerate this kind of snack, despite its unflattering smell.
Sabrina quickly deactivated the Monkey Miraculous and, once he reappeared, thrust one of the cheese slices into Xuppu's arms. "Eat up," she instructed, "fast!" She would have also deactivated the Pig Miraculous so she could feed Daizzi, but that would have meant freeing Chloe from that Miraculous's influence as a result—something she had to hold off for as long as possible.
Xuppu nodded and began eating the cheese slice. As he did, Sabrina glanced back at Astra's wind form, which was still holding off the evil Starlings. She already had a plan—to use Uproar on Vivica like she originally intended—but she hoped she could put it into action before the villains formulated a plan of their own. Which, unfortunately, seemed to already be happening according to Vivica's newfound crafty smile.
"Hurry," Sabrina urged her kwami. "Something bad's about to happen, I can tell…"
"Be patient!" Xuppu retorted in annoyance. "Not all of us are fast eaters, you know!"
"I know, but—" Then Sabrina gasped in horror as Marinette was suddenly lifted into the air by an invisible (at least to Wishlings) force and sent floating towards Vivica, who now had her arm out in front of her and was wearing a very focused expression. She was using wish energy manipulation, which could only mean one thing: she was going to try and steal food from the Miraculous superheroes so she could refuel their kwamis! And maybe Chloe's kwami too!
Even though she didn't want Tikki and the cat kwami to starve, Sabrina quickly grabbed Marinette with one hand and tried to hold her in place while using her other hand to carry the Miracle Box, only to be dragged along with her classmate. She then tried wrapping her legs around Scarlet's waist to stop them from being pulled any further, but Vivica just strained harder, and soon Scarlet was sliding towards her as well. Xuppu grew worried upon seeing this and actually did start trying to eat faster, until the cat kwami yelled, "For goodness' sake, just throw it into your mouth and swallow it whole! Manners don't matter when your holder's in danger!"
"You could have said that a lot sooner, Plagg," grunted Xuppu. But he obeyed him nonetheless and then flew towards Sabrina, who declared, "Xuppu, Daizzi, unify!"
Once Sabrina transformed back into her monkey/pig-themed form, Marinette's purse opened all of a sudden, and three macarons floated out of it, one of them making a beeline for Chloe's kwami and the other two heading straight towards Tikki and Plagg. Astra must have noticed this while in her wind form, because bits of her rough air seemed to curve towards the macarons once they came near her, in an obvious attempt to blow them away from the villains. Yet Vivica just pulled harder once again, in the process releasing Marinette from her grasp, causing her to limply fall to the floor. Sabrina collapsed as well (though more or less in her case, since she was also holding on to Scarlet) as a result, and then the Pig Miraculous beeped again, which meant only two minutes were left before it would time out.
Vivica suddenly grunted and pulled on the macarons even more, until the two that were intended for Tikki and Plagg broke in half from the tug-of-war against Astra. Crumbs were sent flying into the gust of wind, which then began to drift away from the villains, shocking Sabrina at first. But then she understood. Regular gusts of wind didn't usually retreat when food crumbs got into it—but when it was a person who had turned into a gust of wind, there was probably still a chance that they could get their vision clouded somehow, since they could still see where they were going even as wind as long as nothing interfered with their vision the way stuff as tiny as crumbs could. At least, Sabrina thought it worked like that. She didn't know much about the Dragon Miraculous's functions, but she was pretty good at making theories with her strong knowledge about school-related subjects.
Anyways, thanks to the crumb problem Astra was now dealing with, Vivica was able to win the tug-of-war, allowing her to place the third macaron into the arms of Chloe's kwami (who thankfully didn't eat it). The wind storm backed up even further, and she and Rancora were then able to stand upright again, making it easier for Vivica to use her wish energy manipulation to try and force-feed the other two kwamis.
"UPROAR!" Sabrina frantically screamed. This time a moon-shaped plushie was produced by the Ruyi Jingu Bang, and she let go of Scarlet and Marinette so she could leap up and catch it with her free hand. She then threw the plushie forward, where it hit Vivica in the face, causing her to lose her grip on the macarons. However, by then it was too late; Tikki and Plagg had already consumed their macarons against their will thanks to the cruel Starling. As soon as the Monkey Miraculous's power took affect, Vivica and Rancora both recited the transformation phrases of the Ladybug and Cat Miraculouses, allowing them to transform without experiencing sudden hunger as a result this time.
"Give us that box, Monkey-Pig!" Vivica angrily yelled. She rushed forward and tried to take the Miracle Box, but Sabrina cartwheeled cartwheeled out of the way just in time. As she leapt over the still-unconscious Marinette and Scarlet, she saw Astra morphing back into her Starling form, frantically rubbing her eyes to get rid of the macaron crumbs. "What did I miss?" the red Starling asked.
"Chloe's still distracted," Sabrina told her, "but she won't be anymore once the Pig Miraculous times out. I was able to disrupt each of the other two's Starling powers and the Butterfly Miraculous's powers, so they can't use those anymore, but now they're both using the heroes' Miraculouses with refuelled kwamis!"
Astra finished dealing with the last of the crumbs and bravely pulled out the sword that her dragon-themed transformation had generated. "I'll take Rancora. Vivica's all yours."
Sabrina nodded and brandished her Ruyi Jingu Bang. "Then let's make this a quick fight."
Astra agreed, and the two of them charged forward. Vivica and Rancora brandished their own Miraculous-generated weapons and rushed forward as well, and soon two staff-swiping, yoyo-swinging battles began at once: Astra against Rancora, and Sabrina against Vivica. Both battles lasted for quite a while, since each of their combatants had at least one special advantage. Vivica hadn't used any of the Ladybug Miraculous's powers yet, so she could make some extra moves at any time, while Rancora could use the Cat Miraculous's power more than once at a time because adult holders never had to worry about recharging their kwamis in between power usages. On the other hand, Astra still hadn't used her water and lightning powers yet, and while Sabrina had already used all of her own powers, she did have two weapons instead of one because she'd unified two Miraculouses. She was also still carrying the Miracle Box, which she planned on using to access a third Miraculous sooner or later during the battle. But first she'd have to find a way to stop Vivica from interfering with her claiming that Miraculous.
While Astra and Rancora continued sword-fighting with the former's sword and the latter's staff, Sabrina dodged Vivica's attempts to lasso her and the Miracle Box with her yoyo, while simultaneously trying to figure out how she was going to take her down long enough to either take back the Ladybug Miraculous or activate a new one herself. She already knew which Miraculous she was going to use if necessary: the Rooster Miraculous. All she needed was time to get it out of the box without it being stolen. Speaking of time, both of her already-active Miraculouses were now beeping again, informing her that the Monkey would time out in four minutes, while the Pig would time out in just one. She had to get the Ladybug Miraculous off of Vivica, fast!
Sabrina leapt out of the way as Vivica tried to capture her with her yoyo again, thinking hard. She overheard Rancora shouting "Cataclysm," and then an idea flowed into her mind. Maybe if she tricked one of the villains into ambushing the other villain, she and Astra could recover the stolen Miraculouses more easily! She had to hurry though; she had less than 56 seconds to put her plan into action.
"Hey Vivica," teased Sabrina, "want the Miracle Box? Well, come and get it!"
"That's what I've been trying to do the whole time!" Vivica growled. "What did you think I was doing?"
"Trying to take my active Miraculouses instead," giggled Sabrina, darting away from Vivica and toward Rancora, hoping the creepy Starling was too busy focusing on Astra to pay much attention to her. Thankfully, at least for now, it looked like that was the case.
Vivica snarled at her opponent. "You really don't know who you're up against, do you?! Well I'll show you how powerful I am, even without my Starling powers! LUCKY CHARM!"
A swarm of glowing ladybugs flew out of Vivica's yoyo and up into the air. When they cleared away, an already-inflated red life preserver with black spots took their place, before falling into Vivica's outstretched arms. She then spun her yoyo around in circles while running after Sabrina as she dashed around the room, trying to get in the position she needed to be in so her plan would work. The problem was, Rancora was moving around just as much as they were because she was pursuing Astra with the intention of using her Cataclysm on her, making Sabrina's task very difficult.
Suddenly Astra tripped over Sage and fell backwards before she had a chance to catch herself. Rancora took advantage of the Starling's slip-up and started to Cataclysm her hip, when suddenly Sabrina saw what was happening and bravely dove right in between and past them. Vivica rushed after her without realizing her strategy, and startled, Rancora accidentally Cataclysmed her apprentice's yoyo instead. Her surprise at doing so gave Astra just enough time to get up and escape, which added to her chagrin.
"You won't get away with that!" Vivica yelled, still chasing Sabrina. "I may not have my yoyo anymore, but at least I had it long enough to create a new weapon!"
"Which you also won't have for much longer," replied Sabrina, angering her opponent even more.
Vivica's glare deepened once again, and she was about to yell something in retaliation when she suddenly seemed to realize something. A calculating expression slowly replaced her anger, and then she smiled viciously. "You know, you're right about that," she said. "Just not in the way you probably had in mind." And with that, she tossed her Lucky Charm item into the air and yelled, "MIRACULOUS, UM…NEGABUG!"
Instantly the life preserver disintegrated into another swarm of glowing ladybugs, and Sabrina froze, watching in horror as they swirled around the room, restoring the villains' Starling powers along with Vivica's yoyo and the abilities Rancora had gained from the Butterfly Miraculous. The vision produced by the Pig Miraculous was erased as well, snapping Chloe out of her trance. When the first thing she noticed was her exhausted kwami and the macaron in her arms, she bellowed, "Pollen! I order you to eat that snack so I can be powerful again! Utterly powerful!"
As the kwami, Pollen, reluctantly obeyed her wielder's request, Sabrina's Miraculouses each beeped again, and while the Monkey signalled that it only had three minutes left, the Pig timed out altogether, leaving its owner in a third superhero suit, this one only being monkey-themed.
Vivica cackled in triumph, and before Sabrina had a chance to react, she was once again immobilized and lifted upward by the Starling's wish energy manipulation skills. She heard Astra call out her name in worry and barely glimpsed her starting to run to her aid, but just as she was about to summon the Dragon Miraculous's water power, she was also lifted into the air, but via a huge cloud of black and cyan negatite created by Rancora.
"Astra! No!" Sabrina screamed. She did her best to fight Vivica's clutches and move, but no matter how hard she strained, her body remained as stiff and still as a statue. All she could do was watch helplessly as Rancora sent more and more negative energy towards Astra, until the poor Starling lost consciousness and collapsed. Then, while Rancora scooped up the Dragon Miraculous and then its kwami, Vivica walked over and took the Miracle Box out of Sabrina's frozen grasp. She then took the Monkey and Pig Miraculouses and put them back in their respective drawers, causing her Wishling rival to transform back into her civilian form.
"Pollen, buzz on!" Chloe yelled, and Sabrina gulped as she heard her ex-BFF transforming once again. In a few seconds, she would activate her superpower, and it would be all over. The remaining nine Star Darlings would have to deal with the villains on their own, and Sabrina would be in no position to lend a hand. Were Earth and Starland doomed? She'd only know for sure when the paralysis she was about to undergo wore off…if it would.
Rancora came towards Vivica and removed the Cat Miraculous from her finger, while her apprentice used her free hand to take off the Ladybug Miraculous. The silver-haired Starling then placed both Miraculouses into the Miracle Box, then stepped aside as the freshly transformed Queen Bee walked into view.
Vivica smirked. "Still wanna be the one to give her the payback she deserves?"
"With pleasure," smiled Queen Bee. She then spun her spinning top around the palm of her hand, causing it to glow bright yellow. "Venom!"
Sabrina swallowed hard. Libby, I hope you'll be able to stop these three, she desperately thought. I'm so sorry I couldn't! Please please promise me that at least you'll be okay…
The last thing she remembered was seeing Queen Bee's spinning top gently touching her chest, and a cruelly satisfied smile appearing on its owner's face.
Libby sadly flipped open her Star Zap and sighed as she observed the holo-pic of herself and Sabrina hanging out in the glorange tree forest. Her Star Zap had chimed to let her know it was time for dinner a starhour ago, but she hadn't dared to even get out of bed. She didn't want to see her former friends, and she definitely didn't want to risk literally spreading negative energy around Starling Academy. That sort of thing would have attracted Rancora's attention for sure, and if she found out that one of the Star Darlings had gotten so angry at her teammates that she'd quit their group, she would have tried to blackmail her into joining her side for sure—something Libby wanted to prevent. She might still be upset with her ex-friends, but not enough to side with their greatest enemy.
As she gazed at the image of her Wishling BFF, who was now definitely the only friend she had left, a glittery pink tear ran down Libby's cheek. She felt very bad about not coming to visit her tonight, and not just because she knew those visits meant a lot to Sabrina. They meant a lot to Libby too—in fact, after her falling-out with Gemma and the others, a visit with Sabrina was what she needed more than anything. Yet she knew she couldn't go see her, in case the brief negatite trail incident earlier happened again. So, this time, she'd have to write a letter saying she had star-pox, a common Starland illness, and was very sorry she couldn't make it this time. She'd include other things in the letter too of course, since Sabrina had undoubtedly encountered Vivica by now and was itching to tell her what she'd found out regarding her presence in Wishworld. She was also probably wondering how things had turned out with the Star Darlings and their negative thoughts about her constant boys/pink/parties/shoes chatter…
Libby quickly shook off that thought, not wanting the negatite trail to return and go up her arms again, and then she softly began to cry even more. It felt awful to be trapped like this—stuck in a place where no one truly appreciated her for who she was, and unable to visit the one person who did because her frustration with her former friends was putting her at risk for something terrible. What that terrible thing was exactly, she was still trying to understand. But still, how she felt about this whole situation was clear.
The pink Starling heard footsteps just outside her door, along with a conversation, and she lifted the covers of her bed a little so she could hear what was going on. She quickly recognized the first voice as Gemma's.
"…I'm just really worried, Cassie. Our wish energy levels ran low on Wishworld before, but they've never suddenly gone empty! You don't think Rancora could have gone to Wishworld with Vivica, do you? Or that something happened that restored her powers? I mean, why else would Lady Stella have to send Adora there for backup?"
"I don't know," replied Cassie. "I thought Rancora was on Starland this whole time, trying to think of new places to plant those negatite seeds, and I guess Lady Stella thought so too. But you're right. Empty wish energy levels…that just doesn't happen, at least not that fast!"
"All I know is that whatever Vivica's up to, Sage, Scarlet, and Astra can't handle it on their own. Why did Lady Stella decide to send Adora to Wishworld just to spy on what's going on there, and then come back and tell us why their wish energy levels suddenly went empty? She could have sent all of us there at once, so Vivica and Rancora, if she's even with her, definitely won't stand a chance! I mean, what if Adora gets caught and then her wish energy levels suddenly go empty?"
Libby heard Cassie sigh. "I don't know what will happen, Gemma. I guess all we can do is hope Adora makes it back safely, and that whatever's happening on Wishworld, we can put a stop to it."
So that was why those three Star Darlings hadn't taken part in the group's apology to her. Libby had assumed it was just because of the trio's stronger personalities; Sage's impatience and quick temper, Scarlet's obvious struggles with tolerating things that angered her, and Astra's boldness and inability to ever give up on making others understand her perspective. Those were all characteristics that could easily prevent them from having the stamina to admit that disliking Libby's qualities was wrong. But nope—apparently they were on Wishworld, considering her suggestion that Vivica could be there. And according to Gemma and Cassie, whatever Vivica was up to sounded a lot worse than even Sabrina may have thought. For a starsec, Libby was tempted to leave her room and see what she could do to help her former teammates, but several unpleasant flashbacks to how they'd treated her made her stop in her tracks.
"We think you have a problem, Libby."
"You do. And you have to face it."
"But don't you see that you have a problem?"
"Is this about…pink?" "Or boys?" "Or parties?"
"You have a serious problem, and we're trying to fix it!"
"Because you have even more serious problems than the rest of us."
"Which is another problem. You try way too hard to impress."
"Yeah, your star is totally strobing."
"Libby, face it. Your constant chatter about boys, pink, and etcetera is harshing all of our stars! You have to put a stop to it! No one wants to hear about that stuff all the time!"
Libby clenched her fists and her teeth. She once again began to feel that strange, angry sensation making its way up her arms, but this time she barely paid attention to it. She almost just let the negatite trail make another attempt to creep up her arms…if Piper hadn't happened to join Cassie and Gemma and unknowingly snap her out of it by saying, "Girls, Vivica did go to Wishworld. And Rancora did join her. Vega and I just passed by the corrupted hedge maze, and we overheard them returning from Wishworld and discussing their intentions!"
Instantly the trail of negatite disappeared again as Libby perked up, startled to hear Piper's announcement. What had she and Vega overheard? Did they have any information about the missing three Star Darlings' whereabouts?
"You did?" Gemma exclaimed in starprise.
"What did they say?" asked Cassie.
"Rancora has regained the power we took away from her," explained Piper. "She and Vivica stole a box from one of Ladybug and Cat Noir's friends, and it contains several Miraculouses, including the ones confiscated from Hawk-Moth and his accomplice. They have used the box to access the Butterfly Miraculous, which allowed Rancora to overpower the Wishling superheroes and steal their Miraculouses as well. They've even drawn Chloe Bourgeois to their side and brought her to Starland as Queen Bee!"
Cassie gasped in horror. "Chloe Bourgeois? That selfish Wishling who kept bossing Sabrina around? She's on Starland?!"
"Yes. Apparently she witnessed Ladybug and Cat Noir's true identities being revealed, and she was unhappy to know that one of their civilian forms is among many Wishlings she despises."
"No starprise there," said Gemma.
"Did they say anything about Sage, Scarlet, and Astra?" Cassie inquired.
"They did not," admitted Piper, "nor did I see them return as well. But I have a terrible feeling that they are in great danger." She sighed and started to say something else, when suddenly Gemma interrupted her by letting out a loud scream. Libby didn't know what had scared her, but whatever it was, Cassie and Piper must have seen it too, because they screamed a starsec later. Then Libby heard the trio moving around frantically, although she couldn't tell what exactly they were doing.
All of a sudden, something began to squeeze its way through her bedroom door. Curious, Libby pulled back the covers and sat up as it successfully made its way into her room. She then stared at it in confusion. It was a flutterfocus—although something wasn't right. Unlike most flutterfocuses, which were brightly coloured and traveled in swarms, this one had arrived alone and was more darkly coloured. In fact, it actually looked similar to…oh no. Oh no! Could Rancora have transformed this flutterfocus into a Starland version of an akuma? Had she somehow sensed the pink Starling's negativity and sent this creature to find and akumatize her?
The corrupted flutterfocus began to head straight towards her. Libby screamed, jumped out of bed, and rushed into her dorm's sparkle shower room to get away from it, but tripped on the step in the shower room's doorway and had to take a moment to steady herself. Her slight setback allowed the flutterfocus to not only catch up to her, but also absorb itself into her Star Zap, which she was still holding. Immediately, the device turned black, and a glowing purple flutterfocus-like symbol appeared in front of Libby's face. Before the pink Starling knew it, all of her surroundings had disappeared, and she found herself staring at Rancora, as if she were near the hedge maze with her. On either side of the villain, she could just make out two girls—a blue peacock-themed version of Vivica and a blonde Wishling with a bee-themed suit that could only be Chloe Bourgeois's alter ego, Queen Bee.
"Star greetings, Libby," said Rancora. "Listen…how would feel if, just between the two of us, we form a little truce?"
Libby narrowed her eyes. "I'm not teaming up with you, or your accomplices. Hurting others and making Starland go dark is just wrong!"
Rancora shrugged. "Maybe…but then again, isn't excluding you and trying to change your favourite interests wrong as well?"
Another peculiar angry sensation appeared within Libby, trying to corrupt her. It didn't start at her wrists though; it was a slightly different sensation that she could feel within her mind. Was this what happened when people were in danger of being akumatized? Well, if it was, she wasn't about to give in to the negativity she was feeling. Quickly, she held her head with both hands and, with great effort, shouted, "The other Star Darlings may have mistreated me, but that doesn't mean I'm going to get revenge on them by joining your team!"
"Admit it. Your greatest desire is for your interests to be truly respected. You just want the Star Darlings to stop telling you that your interests are a problem that must be solved. You want them to see that you and the things you like deserve to be valued."
The wave of malice in Libby's mind tried to expand even more upon hearing those words. It took all the willpower that the pink Starling had to resist it and reply, "I do, but not by hurting them or forcing them to like the things I like! Please, just leave me alone!"
Rancora shook her head. "They will never respect your true desires, Libby. No matter how many times you tell them how you feel, they will always either silence or exclude you."
At this, Libby's determination to resist the evil Starling's words seemed to slowly weaken. She didn't want to admit it, but her worst enemy was right. She'd done all she could to convince the Star Darlings that their refusal to fully accept her for who she was was hurting her feelings, and that it had to stop. But no matter how much she tried to explain this, she could never get through to them. Gemma had only tolerated her so-called flaws out of fear that she'd turn evil if she didn't, and everyone else simply couldn't stand her "problems" and did whatever it took to avoid having to put up with them. Even after she quit their team, which was the most drastic thing she'd ever done, they still hadn't understood! There was nothing she could do…and then all at once, the anger that had built up inside of her surged forward, blocking out her regard for the safety of others and any trace of positivity remaining within her. Her ex-friends weren't going to get away with treating her like garbage. She was going to fight back, with the help of some new special talents.
"But the starmendous power I am about to give you," continued Rancora, "will allow you to shine brighter than before. Maybe you can't change how your so-called friends feel about your favourite things, but you can make your favourite things play a bigger role in the entire universe's environment. Then, your enemies will have no choice but to live in a world that consists of nothing but pink, boys, and parties."
Libby smiled maliciously at that thought. "It'll be a world they can never escape from."
"Indeed. Now do me a favour and make us both proud…Optipinkstic."
Yikes! Six good ones defeated and one akumatized! Will the remaining Star Darlings be able to set things right before the villains strike? Stay tuned for the next chapter ;)