Fri, Sept 4th, 2020
"Alya?!" Nora rubs her eyes fully opening her little sister's bedroom door. "It's..." She glances down at her watch, "five in the fucking morning! What the hell are you doing awake?"
"I needed to know the largest memory card size I could fit into my phone without frying it. The internet said my phone is compatible with 1tb of external memory. What's a tb?"
"Terabyte. That's a shit-ton of memory, Als. My PS4 has a terabyte external memory and with all the games I have it's only half full." Alya hums, "now this doesn't explain why you're looking up memory cards at five in the morning?"
Alya turns in her swivel chair toward her sister. "Superheroes."
"Excuse me?"
"The city has superheroes. I saw them." Then she turns back around.
"Oh no. You're not getting off that easily." Nora turns the chair back toward her, gripping the arms, "explain." Alya grabs her phone from her desk and unlocks it, scrolling through a few things in the gallery then turns her phone toward her sister and presses play.
Nora squints at the blue feathers that form a face that starts moving. "Wasn't close enough to get any audio." It looks like mid-rant, a yo-yo hits the face causing the features to explode and a pink light eclipsed the sky before that too exploded and all the people in armor return to normal through a blinding pink light.
The camera moves down and Nora sees the backs of two individuals – one wearing a black and green suit with a tail and the other wearing a red and black polkadotted suit with wings. The one in the black is significantly taller than the other but they hug briefly before waving to each other. The one in black heads left while the one in right heads right then the video cuts off.
Nora moves back from the chair. "This is what has you awake? Two minutes of audioless footage?"
"We're talking two superhero filled minutes of audioless footage thank you very much." Nora rolls her eyes. "I heard the feather face talking about something miraculous."
"Something what miraculous?" Alya shrugs. "Do me a favor and get some sleep before you do more research?"
"Why bother? I have to be up in about an hour for school."
Alya guzzles one of Nora's disgusting but effective energy drinks as she gets ready for school. There was a brief period in which she thought she could hear minutes passing by but other than that she was fine. Nora dropped her off at school and gave her another energy drink because school is nine hours long and she may need another boost of energy throughout the day.
That blonde who turned into the purple ooze walks into the building with half her hair in a low loose ponytail while the rest of it is out. She's wearing a pair of oversize black sunglasses over her eyes and is holding a paper bag in her hands. Her pantssuit is all black as is the jacket she's wearing over it, she's walking with a limp and Alya realizes its from her left broken heel. Her baby pink lipstick is smeared down the sides of her lips.
The students that are in the halls stop and stare at her as she walks by. Someone greets her and she hisses at them.
Alya snaps a quick picture of the girl before she disappears behind the classroom. Then she remembers she has to go in that same class so she hopes the girl didn't see her.
This... this is an interesting development. Perhaps it has something to do with what went on yesterday? Some kind of post-possession trauma. She needs more information. That'll require her getting close to the blonde. That... might prove difficult.
When Alya walks in the class, Professeur Bustier looks up from her desk and gasps in shock. "G-Good morning, Mlle. Bourgeois." The blonde scoffs then sits at her desk, upturning the paper bag in her hands allowing whatever falls out of the bag to fall into her open mouth. "Oh my! D-Do you need to see the principal?"
The blonde lifts her sunglasses revealing her bloodshot eyes then she slams the half-empty bag down. She swallows the food in her mouth then glares at the professeur, "why would I need to see the principal? Will he be able to explain why I feel cold even though it's 16°C and I'm wearing two jackets? Or why I can't comb my hair without screaming? Maybe he'll tell me why I keep hearing those voices calling out to me?" She rubs both hands on her face, smearing six vertical powdered sugar lines across her face. "I told my papa about how I felt and you know what he said?" The professeur gulps shaking her head, "he said, 'I'll book you the earliest therapist appointment available, Sugarplum!' I-I—" She sniffles, "I feel so helpless and..." She breaks down in tears, covering her face.
Alya doesn't even think as she walks over to the girl hugging her which makes her breakdown harder. No one else, aside from Alya and the professeur, is in the classroom to see the blonde in such a state.
"—lling ya, I can swim laps around that clown." The blonde freezes in Alya's arms at the sound of the voice in the doorway. Alya glances over and sees a brunet walking in the class backwards with his hands folded behind his head. "You gotta watch me embarrass him as I try out for the swim team."
"I'll be there." The blue-haired girl replies walking in the classroom behind the brunet – and her voice makes the blonde stiffen further, "but they say he's the youngest professional swimmer in the world, Kim."
"So he's a professional, doesn't automatically make him the best."
The tiny pink-haired girl walking beside the blue-haired girl snorts. "Also doesn't mean you're close to his level."
"You'll see after school."
More students start filing into the classroom. The blonde frantically starts loosening her hair out of its tangled ponytail then angrily swipes her hand through her hair. Alya lets go of her as she rubs at her face. The blue-haired girl – who, Alya notices is pretty tall; correction: she's pretty and tall – stops at the desk. She does a double take. "Chloé?"
She grabs the blue-haired girl by the collar, "you didn't see anything."
"You have powdered sugar all over your face." The girl deadpans. Chloé releases the girl then takes out her compact out of her purse and screams. Rolling her eyes, the blue-haired girl offers a packaged towelette at the blonde.
"No, no, no, no! Dupain-Cheng, you don't get to be nice to me. What the hell is wrong with you? Whatever the fuck I went through yesterday is not going to change things for us. Mercury is not in retrograde nor is it 'opposite day.' We. Hate. Each. Other. That is not supposed to change!"
"Chloé, there isn't a person in existence I dislike more than you. I thought I'd save you the embarrassment of looking worse than you usually do."
The blonde whimpers then takes the towelette from the blue-haired girl and tears it open angrily rubbing her face. Once her face is clean, she nods at the blue-haired girl who nods back before taking her seat.
Chloé looks up at Alya, "I... suppose I should thank you as well." She squints, "wait, you're the pretty new girl from yesterday. I'm inviting you to eat lunch with me at my parents hotel, Le Grand Paris."
"Yeah? Thanks."
"Yes, well... You're as beautiful as I am. You have no idea how refreshing that is in a class full of uggos and average people." For some reason, the way she said average people seemed like more of an insult than just straight-up calling someone an uggo.
"You actually look good with no makeup on, Chloé."
Her eyes narrow at the brunet, "what that fuck do you mean by 'actually?' I always look good, Lê Chiên."
"I just thought you wore all that makeup because you were ugly without it." The brunet says with a shrug as he walks to his seat with the pink-haired teen cackling behind him.
Chloé glares at the brunet who walks up the stairs to his desk. He sits down and she turns her attention to her bag rummaging through it. "I really was out of it. I don't have a single ounce of makeup in my bag. My maman's gonna be pissed." She glances at Alya, "you're pretty. Do you have any makeup I can use?"
"All I got is some chapstick."
Alya takes it out of her pocket and Chloé examines it, "it's better than nothing. Is it color or sheer?"
"It's color. Kinda a dark reddish brown color." Chloé rubs some on her finger then rubs her finger on her mouth then turns to Alya, "looks good."
Chloé rubs in some more chapstick on her lips then brings her lips together, then hands it back to Alya, "thank you."
"No prob." Alya heads to her desk.
✍ .
"Welcome to music class. I'm Professeur Blanchet. We're gonna see which musical instrument resonates with you." The class stares at her as she chuckles, "just a little sound humor to get class off on the right note."
"Professeur, will you teach us how to play the guitar like Jagged Stone?" A student asks and some other students murmur excitedly.
"I'm afraid it takes years of practice before that's possible. But who knows? Maybe one of you will become the next great music sensation! You should know that I personally taught Clara Nightingale to play the piano." Half the class gushes. "Everyone, please select an instrument you wish to learn more about on the pamphlet on your desk." Lila raises her hand, "yes?"
"Professeur, are there no castanets in this pamphlet?"
"I'm sorry, no. If you'd like, we can make some?"
"Could we? Oh that would be so wonderful. Thank you, Professeur!"
Chloé nudges Adrien, "Adrikins, what instrument are you gonna pick? You already play piano so there's no reason to pick that."
"I was thinking the violin."
Chloé leans over her desk to pat him on the head, "you poor thing."
Adrien frowns, "what's wrong with a violin?"
"I won't even address that. It can't possibly be a serious question."
Adrien sighs, "fine. What instrument were you thinking of?"
"A carillon."
"A what?"
"Carillon." Chloé shows him the picture on the pamphlet, "I looked it up and it's the loudest instrument in the world. You should pick a more exciting instrument, Adrikins. Like the drums!" She gasps, "ooh or the—" She brings her hands together one in front of the other that's in a fist and wiggles her fingers. "That one."
"Chloé, I don't know what you're talking about." Adrien looks around the classroom at the other students examining their pamphlets or talking amongst one another. Chloé's on his left and Sabrina is on his right. In every class yesterday, sans Professeur Bustier's, he was bracketed by both of them. At this rate, he was never gonna make a new friend. He turns around to see the bespectacled boy behind him with his left hand propping up his face and his right hand flipping through the pamphlet. He glances up at Adrien. The blond waves and the boy narrows his eyes and lowers his left hand.
"Adrikins, pay attention. I'm explaining the most expensive and exciting instruments this school can afford." She turns him around to her.
"What do you think of the Pretty Boy?" Kim asks, "an honest-to-goodness professional model is our classmate. He's cuter in person. The billboards don't capture just how green his eyes are."
"Don't care." Marinette mumbles, "trying to decide between a harmonica and a pan flute."
"Pick the pan flute, and what do you mean you don't care?" Alix asks, "I mean, he's objectively pretty – Kim's poetic waxing about his eyes aside, and he's not only Gabriel Agreste's top model but his son."
Marinette gives the pink-haired girl a flat look. "While I'm sure his portfolio is just oozing with all sorts of... fabulous accolades, he's latched onto Chloé and I want no part of that."
Alix sucks in a breath, "good point. He could be another Sabrina." The pink-haired girl shudders.
"Or another Mylène?" Kim points out. "He could very well be another prisoner of circumstance because their folks run in the same circle. I bet he could use some non Chloé friends?"
"Good luck with that then." Marinette says, "I think I wanna use an ocarina."
"Which instrument should I play, Ivan?" Rose asks. "I want something loud."
"What about those things you bang together?"
"The cymbals?" Rose rubs her hands together, "yes." Ivan chuckles shaking his head. "What are you gonna go with?"
"I..." He glances over at Mylène sitting next to Aurore, she chuckles and Ivan blushes turning back to Rose, "I think I wanna play drums. That way I can get free lessons here and play them in our band too."
The blonde gasps excitedly, "so you'll join?!" Ivan nods and Rose squeals. When everyone looks at her she rubs the back of her neck, "sorry. We were just... talking..." Ivan shrugs helplessly as everyone looks at him.
Everyone jots down their instrument of choice and hands it to Professeur Blanchet on the way out of the classroom. Lunch is next, so Chloé tells Adrien and Sabrina to meet her outside. They have nearly an hour and a half for lunch, so why bother spending it in the school?
Chloé finds Alya at her locker so she escorts the girl outside to her towncar, arm-in-arm, where Sabrina and Adrien are already waiting.
"I'm in the mood for something sweet." Adrien says, "how about some pâtissèries?"
"Fine. I'll have my butler grab us some. But not from Dupain-Cheng's. They don't need my money twice in the same day." She motions for Adrien to get in the towncar. He sighs as he gets in. Sabrina and Alya cheek kiss in greeting before they both get in the towncar. It's a fifteen-minute drive to Le Grand Paris without traffic. Chloé exits first reaching for Alya's hand, Alya takes her hand and they walk in the hotel.
Sabrina frowns walking behind them.
✍ .
Gabriel sighs leaning back in his chair. "Anger, jealousy..." He flexes his fingers, "emotions I can manipulate." Duusu's perched on his shoulder loudly munching on a biscuit.
"You should get Mme. Émilie." Duusu says popping the rest of the biscuit in her mouth.
"No. I don't want to bother her. Spread the feathers Duusu. We're taking care of this ourselves." With a shrug, Duusu flies into the brooch under Gabriel's tie.
Transformed, Gabriel plucks a feather from his fan. The feather pulses in his hand. "Go my precious amok. Go and embody those negative emotions and sentienate them!" He laughs as the feather flies out of his hand and phases through the office's door.
✍ .
Sabrina angrily shovels her food around her takeaway container. As it turns out, Alya's mother Marlena is the head chef here meaning the girl's probably gonna be around them more often than not.
What's the deal with the girl being so damn nosy and asking Chloé all sorts of questions?
Chloé's already decided the girl is pretty and important enough to devote time to – and because of that it was only natural she was gonna address the girl's concerns. Sabrina has to wonder if Chloé thinks of her as pretty? She knows she's important because her papa is the police chief but she's never heard the blonde speak about her appearance.
"...So what exactly happened? I mean, where did the ooze come from?"
"I don't even know. One minute I'm pissed about the utterly ridiculous seating arrangements. I mean putting me next to Dupain-Cheng of all people? A disaster waiting to happen. She's a disaster waiting to happen. She can't walk without tripping! Anyway, one minute there was that then the next... I'm hearing voices in my head telling me to get Dupain-Cheng. And the weird thing was she wasn't even what pissed me off." Chloé pauses, "this time." Nodding, Alya jots that down in her notepad. "You really think you can figure out what gave me that cute outfit and made me change all those people into knights?"
"I'm gonna try. I'm gonna see if I can get some key eyewitness takes on what went down. See if anyone remembers their time as a knight."
"Sabrina was right beside me the entire time." Both girls turn to Sabrina who flinches, "do you remember what happened yesterday when you were in the armor?"
Before Sabrina could open her mouth a blue feather falls into her takeaway container. She gasps and a feathery blue domino mask outline appears over her eyes.
Chloé screams, jumping to her feet. "I-It's happening again!" Alya takes out her phone and starts recording.
"You're supposed to be my best friend!" Sabrina's voice takes on a distorted echo-y lilt. "We pinky swore on our Pretty Princess Dolls!" She holds up her takeaway container and it doubles then triples then grows so large it busts through the roof of the suite. Then blue feathers surround the giant square changing it into a large doll. It picks up Sabrina with both hands then places her on their crown. Next, one of the arms shoot out and grab Chloé and the other grabs Alya.
Adrien dives out of the way as the doll takes a step forward, foot breaking through the floor and possibly all the floors underneath.
"Adrikins, get help!" Chloé screams as the doll walks through the hotel destroying it.
Adrien stares at the doll shaped hole in the hotel. The mayor runs into the suite then screams. "What happened?! I heard screaming! Where is my precious Chloé?" Adrien wordlessly points at the doll. The man squints then his eyes widen. "What on earth...?" He pulls his cellphone out of his suit pocket then starts dialing a number. Adrien hears yelling on both sides before the mayor screams into the receiver, "—find some way to get back my daughter or you're fired!" Then he angrily hits the end call button. He turns to Adrien, "tell me everything that happened!"
✍ .
Plagg happily takes a large bite out of his grilled cheese. His Intended was deftly stitching together a purse for him to relax in while she was in school. He requested a special snack pouch she said she'd try to fit in.
She still had close to a half-hour to work on it and finish her lunch before she had to head back to François Düpont. The Avatars of Creation and Destruction were a strange duo, each of them possessed traits of the other but destruction weighed heavily in Marinette's favor over creation.
The boulangerie pâtissèrie shakes and Marinette stabs herself in the thumb, " oof. Motherf—" She pulls the needle out and immediately sucks the blood off her thumb.
Plagg takes another large bite out of his sandwich then flies toward the window. He swallows his bite with a gulp, "uh... Kit? We've got an issue."
Marinette gently puts the needle down on a visible spot before getting up and heading to the window, "I don't—" She screams and a large blue hand comes through her window. "Oh come on!" It took them hours to clean up the boulangerie pâtissèrie after Chloé stormed in it yesterday!
"My bestie wants pâtissèries!" A high-pitched voice cackles. The large hand feels around the floor before punching through it. Marinette gapes as the hand goes through the floors. She hears her mother scream then the hand retracts with the entire glass display case.
Then the hand disappears.
Marinette side-steps the large hole in her floor then runs to hole in her ceiling. The hand was attached to what looks like a giant woman walking away, carrying the display case. "Time to suit up, Kit."
Marinette nods moving from the broken wall, "claws out, Plagg." The transformation washes through her and she unclips one of her batons and squints noticing there's a small black button on the top. She presses it and an extra compartment pops out nearly hitting her in the face. "'Calling...?' W-Who is it calling!?" She tries to jam the compartment back into the baton but she hears this weird clicking noise then her partner's face pops up on the screen.
"Partner? We seriously need to come up with names if this is going to become a reoccurring thing."
Marinette moves the baton so she's on the screen and sees herself in the corner. "I agree. But later. If you're transformed then you saw the—"
"Giant doll stomping through the streets?" Her partner nods with a sigh, "yeah."
"Doll? Huh. Thought it was a giant person."
The ladybug shakes her head, "an eyewitness said it was a 'Pretty Princess' doll."
"Never heard of it."
"Neither have I."
"Wait, you spoke to an eyewitness?"
"A boy. He said his name was Adrien Agreste—" Marinette suppresses a groan, "and that one girl was holding a takeout container that expanded then shifted to the doll. But he says he doesn't know how it happened. He also said the doll is carrying two other girls, one in each hand. One is his best friend Chloé and the other is a girl named Alya."
"If the girl holding the takeout box didn't change form along with it I'm gonna go on a limb and say we're dealing with an amok today and not another akuma like yesterday."
Her partner nods, "likely. And the same rule applies in terms of the corruption."
"Got it. Destroy it or purify it, but don't touch it."
The ladybug looks up and sighs, "she's heading toward the Eiffel Tower."
"I can be there in... ten minutes? Gonna see if I can pole vault with my batons."
"Be careful. Can't do this by myself."
Marinette snorts a laugh, "copy that." That gets a smile out of her partner before the screen blacks out. "Ooh. That was so... cute." Marinette giggles to herself unlatching her other baton then pressing them both together.
There isn't another building close enough to the boulangerie pâtissèrie to test the baton's sturdiness in a tight-rope situation. She does manage to pole vault herself off her balcony although she does it with no destination in mind and soars through the air. Wait where did that building come from!?
She jams her baton into the building, narrowly avoiding slamming face first into it. Sighing in relief, she climbs the baton then jumps on it. Damn, that's sturdy. Magic is wild.
She jumps from the baton to the roof then pulls her baton out of the building and jumps from rooftop to rooftop before reaching the Eiffel Tower.
Reaching the Eiffel Tower is difficult with nothing to pole vault off of but her partner catches her in mid air and they swing to the top. "You've been practicing!"
"I took your advice and read a few Spiderman comics. Miles Morales is an inspiration."
"Damn right he is." They reach the top of the tower where Chloé is holding onto for dear life screaming. Marinette yowls ...which is new.
The blonde stops bawling when she sees the two of them. "Y-You came to save me!" She cries. "Sabrina's gone nuts! She said I was only allowed to have her as a best friend! She'll be lucky if I ever speak to her again putting me through this shit!"
"Tell us what happened."
"I don't know! I was talking to my new pretty friend Alya and we were asking Sabrina about the crap that happened yesterday but a feather dropped in her lunch then it turned into the very first Pretty Princess doll Sabrina's maman bought the two of us, just... you know blue. Sabrina's maman was sick a lot and she died from cancer when we were four. With her papa becoming the newly appointed police chief, my parents vowed they'd take care of Sabrina like their own daughter; which they did thank you very much. Then she pulls this shit the minute I speak to someone who isn't her! Her behavior is not only utterly ridiculous but completely unbecoming!"
"I think I liked her better when she was possessed." Her partner whispers and Marinette barks out a laugh then covers it up with a cough.
Chloé narrows her eyes at Marinette who waves her off. "Where did the doll and Sabrina go?"
"Back to Le Grand Paris. Alya's maman works there and she said she'll eliminate the threat to her friendship one family member at a time. I mean, I get why she's completely obsessed with me. I'm a catch. I know—" Marinette and her partner exchange a glance, each rolling their eyes, "—but possessive behavior is so archaic! She might as well have clubbed me over the head and dragged me off like the caveperson she's acting like!"
Her partner peels Chloé's fingers off her iron grip of the tower then holds her in the princess carry. The blonde shuts up mid-rant and blushes, gawking at the ladybug.
Somehow her partner manages to carry Chloé and swing to Le Grand Paris. Marinette follows close enough behind with her baton.
They land on the balcony of the penthouse suite. As her partner puts Chloé down, they hear screams. Nodding at each other, they dash to the staircase.
Marinette's never been inside Le Grand Paris Château prior to now, she generally tries to stay away from places Chloé's family is involved in. Thankfully, most of the places the Bourgeois family owns are places Marinette wouldn't go to anyway.
Marinette doesn't know how many stories this building has but they jump from the penthouse staircase all the way to the ground floor and manage to survive with their limbs intact. They burst through the stairwell door with their weapons bared and run through the lobby.
People stop and gawk at them as they run by.
When they burst into the kitchen an all blue woman is stalking toward the corner humming.
The ladybug thrusts her yo-yo forward tying up the woman. Her head turns around a full 360 degrees and she widens her eyes at them. "Do not interfere!" She booms.
"That's the same doll from earlier but shrunken." Marinette whispers to her partner, "guessing she couldn't fully convey her threat being twenty meters tall?"
"Wouldn't she be more threatening taller?"
"Maybe... but the backwards head is freaking me out." Her partner tightens her grip.
The doll's eyes glow blue then a whirlwind of feather surround it, changing its shape to a bear in a doll dress. And throughout it, all the head is still backwards. The bear is also small enough to fit into the kitchen without busting through the walls.
The ladybug releases her hold on the bear doll. "Annoying flies get squashed!" It screams poised ready to strike.
"Stop!" The bear-doll turns to Sabrina, "they— " A feathery blue mask outline materializes over the teen's eyes. "—er Miraculouses must remain undamaged when you kill them." The ladybug motions to the side and Marinette sees the girl holding onto her phone sitting on the counter. The bear-doll lifts both hands then slams them on the ground. Marinette and her partner manage to jump out of the fist's range, then they slip under the bear's legs. Marinette grabs the girl on her phone and her partner grabs an orange-haired woman who was sitting on the floor in the corner.
The bear-doll screams as they run out of the kitchen.
"I twisted my ankle running away. It's such a cliché." The woman groans with a wince. "I don't wanna slow you two down."
"We'll find some safe place to hide you..."
Marinette takes a quick glance at the phone pointed at her, "what are you doing?"
"Making a video about my rescue. Wasn't close enough yesterday to really capture the two of you on screen. By the way, what's your superhero name? And your partner's? Did you get scratched by a super-powered cat? What are you powers? What are her powers? Do either of you have a familiar? What are Miraculouses?"
"I'd be more than happy to answer any reasonable questions once we're not being chased."
"Yeah..." The girl looks over her shoulder, as Marinette was carrying her piggyback style. "That's probably for the best."
The mayor runs out of a room and into the lobby screaming. "Chloé? My darling Chloé, where are you? Your maman will kill me if I can't find you!"
"André Bourgeois!" The bear-doll is holding Sabrina in its arms, approaching the mayor. "You're responsible for this!"
"S-Sabrina? Where is Chloé?"
"On top of the Eiffel Tower. She might've fallen by now." The mayor pales, " You hired that woman so it's your fault that girl is taking all of Chloé's attention!"
"What woman? What are you talking about?"
"Don't play dumb with me!" The bear-doll swipes at the man. He screams at the near-miss then runs off. "Get back here!" As the bear-doll still carrying Sabrina starts chasing the man around the lobby. The ladybug hands the woman off to the doorman who nods carrying her out of the hotel.
Marinette puts the girl down, "if you're gonna record be smart about it. Don't get yourself killed over a blurry shot."
The girl nods, gripping her phone. "R-Right."
Once she makes sure her mother is safe outside the hotel, Alya peers out from behind the lobby desk and resumes recording. The mayor is on the ground by the elevator unconscious. The ladybug is twirling a polkadotted baseball bat while the cat is brandishing two green batons. How could she have missed so much in the span of a few seconds?!
"Time to crack open this piñata~" The cat says. The two of them march toward the blue bear in a dress.
"You think your fancy sticks will help you defeat me?" It snarls.
"Why don't we find out?" The ladybug replies.
A whirlwind of feathers surround the bear and it grows twice its previous size when the feathers no longer surround it. As the bear laughs, the ladybug and the cat each hit their weapons against the bear's feet.
The bear yelps in pain throwing Sabrina in the air to rub its aching feet. Sabrina screams and the cat jumps in the air to catch her.
The spectators in the lobby cheer. The bear changes shape again back into a doll but keeps its size. "You can't beat me!" The doll taunts, "as long as Sabrina is feeling hurt by the selfish actions of that girl, I'll be around forever!"
"You know you just told us how to defeat you, right?" The cat and ladybug exclaim simultaneously.
"Hey." Sabrina flinches in the cat's arms. "Don't you know it's unhealthy to keep your feelings bottled up?" Her partner gives her an odd look before shaking her head. "You gotta help us take out this personification of your pain."
"Y-You want my help?" Sabrina blushes, "n-no one asks me to help them with anything." There's this loud shattering noise and the doll's face begins to crack.
Alya angles her phone so she can get as much into the screen as possible.
The blue from the doll starts fading into grey.
When the ladybug puts a hand on Sabrina's shoulder, the crack on the doll's face spreads. "How can we help?"
Sabrina shakes her head, "it..." She looks down with a frown, "you can't. I overreacted. Badly. I don't own Chloé. She's free to make new friends other than me. It won't stop us from being friends."
"Personally, I don't get why you'd want to be friends with her anyway..." The cat blinks as her partner frowns at her. "U-Uh... but I mean, to each their own?"
Sabrina gasps, "oh my gosh! I-I really left Chloé hanging from The Eiffel Tower?! I'm the worst!"
"We saved her. She should be in her suite."
Sabrina sighs in relief. "Thank goodness." The cat sets her down. The doll wails loudly and the three of them turn to it.
"These feelings won't just go away because you spoke of them now for two measly minutes! I'll always be part of you, Sabrina Raincomprix. Jealousy is a fickle bitch that always gets what it wants. You have not seen the last of me!" Sabrina whimpers as the crack splits the whole doll in two then it explodes into a plume of dust.
When the dust settles there's a bright blue feather, the same color as the doll, sitting on top of a takeaway container.
The baseball bat turns into a net then the ladybug catches the feather in it. Then the net morphs into a yo-yo and the ladybug opens the yo-yo to release the now pink feather into the air. "You are free from your corruption, little feather." It floats away. She tosses her yo-yo in the air, "miraculous cure!"
The yo-yo flashes brilliantly and everyone shields their eyes.
As the light dissipates, the hotel begins restoring itself.
The two heroes fist-bump.
Alya runs over to them nearly knocking Sabrina over. "I gotta know your names!"
They exchange a glance. The ladybug brackets her antennas with her hands as she starts beeping. "Just my luck." She blinks, " luck..."
A large purple butterfly flutters into the hotel lobby. A few people scream. "People of Paris, sorry for the late introduction. I can't be there in person so my akuma will have to do. I am Madame Mite! The pleasure is all yours. Do you really want to put your trust in the hands of a pair of incompetent brats?"
"A pair of 'incompetent brats' that just kicked you and your partner's asses two days in a row."
The butterfly laughs, "beginner's luck. What you witnessed was merely a fraction of what myself and my partner, Monsieur Méfait with his amoks, are capable of. The worst is yet to come. However, I'd be willing to forego all this drama and prevent a multitude of suffering if you two were simply to relinquish your Miraculouses to us."
The cat laughs loudly, "I think your nectar got laced. If anyone's gonna be relinquishing Miraculouses, it's gonna be you two."
"You think you can threaten me? How foolish. "
"She wasn't making a threat. She was stating a fact." The ladybug swings her yo-yo then jumps in the air as it turns into a large net. She catches the butterfly, "and we're done listening to your bullshit cliché monologue."
The butterfly screams as it crumbles into pink dust.
The ladybug lands on her feet sighing.
Alya lowers her phone as she gapes. They are so badass! She'd be kicking herself if she hadn't caught this. "Luck." Alya lets out a surprised gasp, blushing slightly as the ladybug turns to her. Alya stares at the blue eyes staring back at her. "I'm called Lady Luck." She jerks her head back toward the entrance.
"Guess that's my cue." The cat jumps over several people with the aid of her baton and lands next to her partner, expertly flipping her baton and separating it in two smaller batons she puts on her belt, "you can call me Karma." She blows the crowd a kiss. "We gotta book it."
Everyone is rightly speechless as they watch the duo run out of the hotel.
Alya happily cradles her phone against her chest.
Sabrina shakes out of her stupor running over to the mayor. "I am so, so sorry Oncle André. Chloé's safe. Lady Luck and Karma made sure of it."
The mayor slowly gets to his feet. "Who? O-Oh, yes. As long as Chloé's safe." He sighs. "And you too."
"I should apologize to Chloé. But first I have to get back to school."
"If Chloé is here we'll grab her then go." The mayor heads over to the elevator.
Sabrina approaches Alya, "I'm sorry about all this. My insecurity caused this disaster. I don't have many friends and—"
Alya puts a hand on her shoulder, "it's all good. I'd never make light of your feelings or what you went through but this did help us learn the names of the two heroes."
"True. Huh. Silver lining."
✍ .
It's like the entire mood of the school shifted between lunch.
Chloé changed her outfit into something less monochromatic. She's wearing a pink, yellow, and white sheath dress with a color-block diamond pattern and a pair of white ankle boots. She even swapped out her all black sunglasses for a white pair with yellow lenses. The only thing she kept the same was her hair, though she did run a comb through it. "Dupain-Cheng." Alya watches the pretty blue-haired girl roll her eyes before turning to Chloé.
"What?" Chloé holds out a pink handkerchief toward the girl.
"A favor for a favor." The girl examines the handkerchief. "It's monogrammed."
"'CCABB?' How many names do you have?"
"Two first names and two middle names." The entire class is looking at the blonde. She rolls her eyes. "Like you don't have all those names MLDC?"
"How the hell do you know my middle initial?"
"It's on your student identification card. Speaking of which. As class rep—" The blue-haired girl scoffs, "it's my duty to inform you all of class pictures Monday. The theme is casual so dress for the occasion. Doesn't matter what you all wear because I'll outshine everyone."
"Chloé, what do all the initials stand for?"
Chloé frowns at the pink-haired girl. "I'll tell you. Never say I haven't done anything to help out a fellow classmate." The girl shakes her head. "Also, you should all cherish this moment. My full name is Charmainé Cloris. Abbyegael. That's A-b-b-y-e-g-a-e-l. Blayre. B-l-a-y-r-e. Bourgeois."
"I bet your whole name just shows up red when you type it out, huh?" The pink-haired girl asks.
Chloé sighs, "unfortunately. Not like yours doesn't A-L-I-X?" They just stare at each other, each with an eyebrow raised. "My name was a blessing from my maman. She wanted it to be as unique as I am. I just wish she didn't feel the need to make it so damn long. But I wouldn't dare question my maman's genius process." The class look among one another, "in any event, take the damn handkerchief. You gave me the towelette earlier so I'm returning it with something your wardrobe could use."
"I don't want your personalized handkerchief. It's weird. Just give me a pencil or something... unless that's personalized too."
"I hate you." Chloé opens her purse then digs in it. "I'll give you something—Ah-ha!" She pulls out a tiny red tube. "Here."
the blue-haired girl takes the tube questioningly, "rose salve?"
"It's good for everything. Given how clumsy you are, you get scraped up constantly. Just put the salve on and it'll reduce scarring. You could also use it as lip balm and a cuticle treatment."
"That's... surprisingly halfway decent of you Chloé." A tall brunet comments.
"Yeah, well... if Dupain-Cheng and I gonna be sitting next to one another I'd hate to rub up against her jagged elbows and bruise my delicate skin."
"And there it is." He sighs.
"Thanks, Chloé."
"Don't thank me. I'm returning your favor. A favor for a favor. Like I said. Nothing more. Nothing less. Now all of you scatter. I need to sit down."
The students clear out from the desk and Chloé sits down, placing her bag on her desk. The blue-haired girl leans back in her seat.
Alya goes to her seat and her deskmate is already sitting there. Alya would consider herself personable. She could make almost anyone feel at ease just with her presence. She's even been told so but her deskmate? The redhead replies to her inquiries monosyllabically. He looks as though the very notion of speaking in full sentences would cause him to combust.
After half a class period of mumbled responses, Alya stopped badgering the poor boy. He spent the class periods they had with Professeur Bustier doodling. Well, Alya wouldn't call them 'doodles' because when she thinks of doodles she thinks of random scritches. His drawings are artwork.
Okay. So she told herself she'd leave him alone yesterday but that was before this happened. Alya eyes the boy draw the kid in front of him. "Nathaniel." He flinches then turns to her wide-eyed. "I know I'm a pain and I talk a lot but I could use your help with something."
The redhead swallows thickly, "m-my help?" Alya nods, "w-with what?"
Alya slides her phone over to him and he leans into see. "See, I'm gonna make a blog about them—" She taps her screen on the picture she snapped of Lady Luck and Karma, "but I'm gonna need an artist's eye to make sure they're captured perfectly."
Nathaniel rubs the back of his neck. "A-And you want me to do it?" Alya nods. The redhead stares at the phone until the screen blacks out. "O-Okay." He nods. "I'll do it."
"Yeah?"
He nods again. "T-That butterfly was terrifying."
"Butterfly? You were at Le Grand Paris?"
"Hm? No. There were multiple large purple butterfly sightings showing up throughout the city projecting what was going on at Le Grand Paris." Alya nods with a hum. "I-If you want to create a blog, I can help with that too."
"Really?" He nods then slinks into himself. "Thank you so much." She whispers. He blinks at her then nods.
After school, Alya heads to the art room with Nathaniel. There's only a small handful of students inside and Alya immediately recognizes the tall blue-haired girl and the short pink-haired girl. Alya looks on in awe at the two girls spattering paint on a large canvas.
Her feet take her in that direction and she nearly bumping into a different blue-haired kid. "O-Oh! I'm so sorry. Wasn't looking where I was going."
"I-It's okay." The kid replies. "I-I'm Marc."
"Alya." Nathaniel takes her hand dragging her away. "See ya around!" Marc waves as Nathaniel sets his stuff down on a table then pulls Alya along. "What's the hurry?"
"I was hit by inspiration during math so I drew this."
Alya gapes at the picture of Lady Luck juggling oversized polkadotted number. "Holy fuck! This is incredible!"
"T-Thanks. I have more stuff I worked on."
Alix takes off her goggles and looks over at Nathaniel and that new girl hunkered over a desk. Humming, she skates over to them. She couldn't wear her skates to school, anymore, but there was no rule against shoes with the skates built-in. Alix made sure only to skate when there wasn't an authoritative figure around to bust her. The art professeur wasn't a big stickler for rules but they frowned upon making light of another student's art. "What'cha working on?"
Nathaniel startles then shyly spreads out all the papers on the desk. "Alya asked me to help her make a blog for Karma and Lady Luck."
"Oh yeah? That sounds dope. I'm here for badass girl superheroes. The world needs more of 'em." Nathaniel and the orange-haired girl nod in agreement, "by the way, I'm Alix. It's Alya?" The orange-haired girl nods. "Hey! I just got this idea." Alix skates off then returns with a short bespectacled boy. "Alya, this is Max. Max, this is Alya. How long would it take to create a website?"
The boy adjusts his glasses, "anywhere from fourteen days to four months. What's the purpose of the website?"
"To keep up with the new heroes."
Max taps his chin with a hum, "admirable. I can assist with that." The three of them gape at him, "it just so happens I have all the requirements for creating a website. Minus the actual website's creation. I was... debating the name but I'd be more than willing to give the website to you instead."
"Why?"
"Because this is more important. I found the new heroes fascinating and I would enjoy learning more about them. Endless nuggets of information about magic is waiting to be unearthed."
"Dude, why did you—"
Max waves Alix off, "the reason wasn't important. As it turns out, I need to do a bit more research anyhow." Alix gives him a skeptical look. "The website is yours to do with whatever you wish."
"I appreciate this. If you ever need help with anything just ask." Max nods with a smile, "but, um, I could use your help with... running the website?"
"I'd be more than happy to assist with that as well."
Nathaniel turns to Alya, "what are you calling the website?"
"Luckyblog." She takes out a doodle she drew that has luckyblog in bubble letters with the g as a yo-yo and the first l as a baton. "Behold, the luckyblog. You know, after Lady Luck?"
"Why not the karmicblog or something with both their names?" Alix asks.
"'Lucky' just spoke to me. Besides, Lady Luck was wearing red and thirteen years of comic book lore has taught me the one in red is in command."
"There's only two of them, one can't be in command. It wouldn't be fair. I got thirteen-and-a-half-years of comic book lore in my head too."
"Perhaps we could argue once we have the website up and running?" Max suggests. "Besides, one can't argue that Karma isn't involved as her signature weapon is also in the name."
"Can you Nathaniel the logo up for me?"
"N-Never heard my name used as a verb before but, sure, I'll try."
✍ .
Mon, Sept 7th, 2020
Alix yawns. Fucking class pictures. The students of Professeur Bustier's class were lined up as the photographer took their individual pictures. The photographer yelps shooing away the birds from his face. Alix perks up. Wait. Birds?! There are two black birds circling the photographer.
The purple-haired girl sighs, then steps out from under the backdrop.
"Oh my God! Did Count Tackula over there summon her crows to avoid having her picture taken?" Chloé snickers.
"Talk about overkill. A vampire wouldn't show up in a picture anyhow!" Sabrina cackles. The two girls laugh loudly.
"If that's the case, we're gonna see bats or whatever familiar witches use nowadays when it's you two's turn." Alix snarks. Chloé and Sabrina abruptly stop laughing to glare at her.
The birds fly away and the photographer sighs in relief, "w-wha—? Wait! Where did—?"
"Hurry up and take the next picture!" Chloé yells. "My papa's paying for this and he better get his money's worth or you're gonna be screwed!"
The photographer straightens up, "n-next—!" Ivan startles before approaching the backdrop.
"W-Wait a second!" Rose yells raising a hand, "what about—"
"I'll get her photo once I've gone through the rest of the class." Rose lowers her hand then frowns.
Chloé groans folding her arms over her chest, "why do I even have to stand on line anyway? I should've been first."
"Tell me about it." Sabrina mutters. "Professeur Bustier should've given you a heads up before telling everyone else to line up." The blonde nods in agreement.
"Um, Chloé?"
Chloé and Sabrina turn toward the brunette in the orange and white pinstripe t-shirt dress behind Sabrina shuffling her feet. "Uh... why are you addressing me?"
"I wanted to apologize."
The blonde raises an eyebrow, pursing her lips, "I'm listening."
"I'm new to the school so I don't know how things operate. Had I known, I wouldn't've tried to oppose you—"
"Back up. What the hell are you talking about? You wouldn't be standing there if you tried opposing me."
"She tried to run for class rep Thursday?" Sabrina mentions.
Chloé's eyes narrow, "did she?" The blonde hums. "It takes guts to admit when you were wholly wrong. I accept that you're now aware of your position in this school. I'm obviously the number one and below me is Sabrina and Adrikins, then Mylène—if she can get her act together." The rainbow-haired girl, standing in front of Chloé, shrinks in on herself. "After that is Alya, then there are the commoners and lastly is Kubdel and Dupain-Cheng."
The aforementioned pink-haired girl, two people in front of Mylène, flips Chloé the bird with a smile.
"Your position in the class depends on what you can bring to Chloé."
"Huh?"
"What do your parents do?" Sabrina clarifies.
"M-My mamma is a diplomat."
Sabrina and Chloé exchange a glance then the shorter girl tip-toes to whisper in the blonde's ear. "That does nothing for me, whatever your name is. What about your papa?"
"He died. He was an army doctor. Got killed in combat."
"Trying to milk sympathy points won't do anything for you."
"And how did a doctor get killed in combat? Aren't they usually left behind?"
The girl shakes her head, "he was a field medic."
Sabrina frowns and Chloé elbows her, "like that dumb game Adrikins plays where the 'healers' are fighting alongside you?" The shorter teen nods in understanding. "Look Pinstripe, if you want to be worth anything in this school up your fashion game. That's a spring Gabriel Agreste dress and it's autumn."
"It's still summer." Sabrina whispers.
"Really? Whatever. Point is, don't just approach me out of nowhere unless your outfits can be approved by my maman The Queen of Fashion. Sabrina will send you a link to her website to get you up to speed. We're done talking now." Chloé and Sabrina turn back around, missing the brunette's bewildered expression. Chloé groans, "Kim, if I have to stand in these heels any longer than necessary, I'm gonna have your own sister sue you!"
"Chloé, I told you to wear flats on line."
"No one will get the full glamour of my outfit without the heels, Sabrina. As my maman says—"
"'Beauty is pain.'" Sabrina recites. "I know. I'm just thinking it shouldn't have to be." As Chloé turns her head to the orange-haired teen, Sabrina frantically holds her hands out in front of her. "Not that I would ever question Tante Audrey in anything!"
As the line moves up, Sabrina sighs in relief.
Making his way toward the other students who got their pictures taken, Kim winks at Chloé who rolls her eyes in reply.
As the gymnasium double doors bursts open, Chloé watches Dupain-Cheng zip by. Just how the hell did she get so fucking tall in three months? Chloé opens her mouth to address the blue-haired girl when she sees Adrien approaching the line, behind Dupain-Cheng. "Son of a bitch." She grumbles.
Adrien catches his breath then winces as his back cracks when he stretches. He was hardly expecting his parents to have him resume acting and modeling while attending school. Not only that but they expect him to get damn near perfect marks in order to stay in school. He only hastily agreed because he thought they'd change their minds if he didn't.
Once he's done stretching he does a double take, taken aback at the person in front of him. It was that tall blue-haired girl Chloé seemed to hate and vice versa.
"U-Uh—"
The girl fully turns to him and Adrien begins choking on air. Okay, well, he was hardly expecting her to be so beautiful! Chloé loved immersing herself in all things beautiful: Jewelry. Clothing. People. Adrien's certain his "prettiness" is one of the reasons she openly considers him one of her best friends. It's also the reason she warmed up to Alya so quickly. (Well that and Alya's maman being the hotel's new head chef.) How could Chloé not want to be around this girl? Adrien needs to know and he has a feeling he's not gonna like the answer.
The girl pats him on the back for a few seconds and it allows him to begin breathing normally. "T-Thanks." He rasps.
"No prob." Then she turns back around.
"I-I like your outfit!"
She's wearing a red shirt with some kind of pink flower pattern on it and a pair of blue jeans. "Uh... thanks? I made it myself."
"Get out. Seriously? That's incredible!" Now the girl narrows her eyes at him and Adrien gulps.
"Adrikins!" Chloé waves beckoning him, "You don't have to stand all the way in the back. Come up here!"
"Chloé, I can't just cut the line."
"The hell you can't. Get your ass over here Adrien Agreste."
"No. I'm not moving." He takes a deep breath. "I'm gonna stay here."
Everyone on line in between Chloé and Adrien look between the two of them. Surprise briefly overtakes Chloé before she purses her lips. "Fine." She turns around. Everyone stares at Adrien several seconds longer then go back to looking ahead of themselves on the line.
Adrien runs a hand down his face. Great. He knows that expression all too well. She won't do anything to get him kicked out of the school but he's gonna spend the rest of the month trying to make this up to Chloé.
"Marinette, I love that purse." A tall brunet runs over to the blue-haired teen. Adrien glances down at the red circular purse hanging from the teen's arm.
"Just finished last night."
"Can I see—"
"No!" The boy looks taken aback, "...t now. Not now. Gotta make sure I got all my stuff ready for the picture. You know." The brunet shrugs then starts talking about birthdays.
Adrien looks down and the purse opens and something black pokes out of it.
Alya steps up to the backdrop. After that tragic picture from last year at her last school, she takes her glasses off. As soon as the camera shutters, the lights cut out. Alya puts her glasses back on then takes her phone out of her pocket opening the camera app.
A spotlight shines on the basketball hoop where someone in a garish swirled tie dye blue and purple puffy ruffled dress, blue and purple stripped socks, and blue and purple swirled tie dye thigh-high platform shoes; with their hair tied in two twisted twintails that match the dress. Their eyes are bright pink, as is their lipstick. "You can all see me now, can't you?" They drop down from the hoop and the spotlight follows them.
Students get out of the line as they stride toward Chloé. The blonde's eyes widen as she's gripped by the chin. "I don't think this outfit is approved by Audrey Bourgeois." When they let go of Chloé, the blond screams then changes into a duplicate of the person in the blue and purple outfit. "Ah. Much better."
The former blonde looks down at herself in horror. "What did you do to me!?" She hisses.
They twirl, "I made you stand out more! I'm Mirror Image and everyone's gonna look like me~" Suddenly, Sabrina also changes into a copy. "Let's take the best class picture ever!" The students scream as they run out of line and out of the gym. "Come on! Don't be shy!"
"Wait! You don't have to do this!" Rose yells carefully approaching Mirror Image. "The photographer said he was going t—"
Mirror Image boops the blonde on the nose changing her. "I can't escape the Couffaine family photo curse but now I don't have to!" They cackle and their twintails change anyone they touch into a replica of her.
Alya drops her phone before she's changed, then picks it up and resumes recording.
✍ .
"What does François Düpont have to offer my daughter?"
Kagami leans to the side in her seat as the principal visibly cowers behind his desk. They say the number thirteen is unlucky in certain countries, but that shouldn't matter to the "Avatar of Good Luck" right? After all, the numbers seven and eight didn't provide any good luck for her so far. The three of them have been to twelve other schools today and if one met with either her mother or her grandmother's approval it didn't meet the other's.
The principal audibly gulps, "we have a wonderful music program." His eyes dart between Azami and Tomoe, he can't see the latter's expression due to her sunglasses and when he looks at the former's he quickly clears his throat.
"Music ." Azami spits. "Music!?" She nearly screams. "Are you mocking my granddaughter?"
"W-What!? N-No!"
"What good is music to her?" She all but yanks Kagami toward her, gesturing to her ears – or more accurately her clunky in-the-ear model hearing aids. The principal puts his hands over his mouth.
"I'm terribly sorry. I hadn't noticed. I-I hadn't realized. I'm so terribly—"
"What about baseball?" Kagami interrupts. She feels her mother glaring at her without looking at the woman.
"B-Baseball?" Kagami developed a bit of a baseball fixation – or rather a bat fixation. There was something about a baseball bat that fascinated her. At her last school she tried out for the team and made it, then got kicked off after fracturing a teammate's skull because he made fun of her disability.
Her mother was pissed when Kagami got herself expelled. (Mainly because her daughter picked up a hobby that wasn't pre-designated for her rather than her nearly murdering a classmate.)
"Do you have anything involving baseball in this school?"
Kagami could hardly contain her glee when her lucky charm gave her a baseball bat the other day. She hoped Bunnyx was right about her need to attend this school. Tikki scolded the Avatar of Time for "getting too involved" but Bunnyx claimed whether she got involved or not, Kagami would be attending this school. Thing was, Bunnyx never specified when.
The principal looks between the two women again before his eyes land on Kagami. "I'm afraid we don't have a baseball team. Though I am not certain if it is in physical education."
"What contact sports do you have?"
"Kagami." Tomoe snaps just as the principal opens his mouth. The man shuts his mouth with a gulp.
"Don't scold the girl for her curiosity." Azami says. Tomoe's head whips toward her mother so fast Kagami could swear she heard something crack. "I too am curious. The amount of clubs and 'electives' this school has is laughable. How are you in the top ten best schools in the country?"
"We have a small amount of clubs because these are the clubs the students themselves selected. By giving the students to select what electives and clubs they have, we cater to the students needs."
"I'll admit that is... impressive. But one good answer doesn't mean I'm sending my granddaughter here."
The door opens. "Principal Damocles~" Kagami turns toward the girl in the puffy blue and purple swirled tie dye dress. "I think we need to hire a new photographer." She hops over Tomoe and Azami landing on the principal's desk. The principal screams as he's picked up and changed to a copy of the girl in the girl's hands.
"What in the hell—?" Is all Azami is able to get out before she's changed.
Tomoe manages to parry the girl's kicks with her bokken.
Her grandmother told her stories about how she was the only female member of her school's jujitsu club and how she single-handedly allowed other girls to participate in the sport after she kicked the entire club's ass. Her grandmother taught her mother several fighting styles then doubled down after the... incident. It's why Tomoe Tsurugi was a household name and such a revered and feared self-defense instructor. And that's why she's going toe-to-toe with an akuma-possessed individual. Why her own mother hadn't bothered teaching her anything, Kagami didn't know – she had an inkling, but she needed solid proof.
"Ooh. I like you." The girl purrs.
Kagami slips out of the office then runs down the hall. That turns out to be a mistake because the hall is full of duplicates. She runs around the whole school pretty much until she finds a secluded area. Kagami runs into the all-gender bathroom, shutting and locking the door.
Tikki flies out of her jacket. "Um... I-I have no words for that." Kagami looks around. There's a window she can climb out of. As she was reading some comic books at her partner and Bunnyx's suggestion, she found all sorts of inaccuracies and plot holes. Like how the heroes never got caught when they not once ever covered their tracks? Or transforming in public places without getting found out?
Kagami opens the window and sticks her head out looking around. The coast is clear. She sticks her head back in. "Spots on, Tikki." After she's transformed, she unlocks the bathroom door with her yo-yo and crawls out the window.
As Lady Luck, she opens her yo-yo and calls Karma.
The connection is almost immediate. "What's up?" The cat replies out of breath.
"Good question. What's going on?"
Karma moves the camera over her shoulder where the akuma is running after her, gaining speed. What happened to her mother? "C'mon Kitty, I just wanna give you a makeover!"
"Lead her to the gymnasium and I'll meet you there."
"Aye aye." Then Karma cuts the connection.
Lady Luck looks around the gym upon arriving; "Miracle Vision" (as Bunnyx dubbed it) flaring up without the Lucky Charm. Camera equipment and a backdrop are lit up in a dull red.
"Hey." Karma greets weakly. Lady Luck turns around and stares at the blue and purple girl shrugging helplessly. "So... I wasn't fast enough to avoid getting caught. But in my defense, her fucking twintails tapped me and it altered me into this. I am feeling these boots though!" She lifts her leg showing off the thigh-high boot. "Didn't think I could walk in heels but I proved myself wrong." The girl struts back and forth perfectly with the heels.
"I take it you lost your batons due to the change?"
Karma nods, "but just get me any blunt instrument and I can achieve the same effect."
"We'll—"
"Lady Luck!" Someone squeals. Everyone in the gymnasium is a copy of the akuma-possessed girl but that voice is familiar. Gratingly (and annoyingly) familiar. The copy runs over to her grabbing her hands. "If only I had my phone to take a selfie of us... ugh—" She shudders, "on second thought maybe that's a good thing."
"What did you do now?" Karma asks, pulling the copy's hands off Lady Luck's.
The copy blinks, "me? I didn't do anything! In fact, I've never done anything wrong in my entire life!" There are murmurs of disagreement and the copy stomps her foot. "Is it my fault I was born beautiful and wealthy? No! So I should not be blamed for it! I can't control other people's jealousy." The copy beside her flinches. "Ooh. Oops. Sorry Sabrina." The talking copy's eyes narrow. "If... you are Sabrina." She huffs. "As for this annoyance, I don't even know who it is for it to be my fault."
"That's not true!" Another copy storms over to her pointing accusingly at her, "you didn't let that girl get her photo taken and you were making fun of her!"
"Her? Can't say this is much of an improvement." The copy rolls her eyes. "In any event, she was asking for it! Dressing like a goth fairy godmother for pictures? If she can't handle the truth she should transfer schools."
One copy lunges at the other, "you're a terrible person!" She screeches.
"Get off me you demented circus pixie!"
"Chloé! Uh... I think you're Chloé. Hey, get off of maybe-Chloé!" Several copies pull the screaming one off the other on the ground.
"This is confusing." Karma says tearing the sleeves off her dress. "Everyone shut up!" The copies gape at their sleeveless counterpart. "Did the akuma say anything that could give us a clue on how to beat her?"
"She said something about a family photo curse." One copy replies.
"And she kept talking about taking the best class picture ever." Says another copy.
"Karma." Lady Luck jerks her head back toward the camera equipment. "How good are your photography skills?"
"I'm sure they'll be enough." She rubs her hands together, "if they aren't, I can always improvise."
"What can we do to help?" A copy asks. "As good as this dress makes my legs look, I'm not doing too well walking in heels."
"I'm afraid there's nothing you can do. You all look like the akuma which means she could very well be hiding among you." The crowd gasps, looking among themselves.
"You did tell me to lead her here. I didn't know who was who... so I led all the Mirror Images here. I just hope she doesn't overhear our stupendous surefire plan to de-akuma her."
"Lucky Charm!" Lady Luck tosses her yo-yo in the air and it morphs into something small that she barely catches. "What the hell?" Copy-Karma leans over her shoulder as Lady Luck opens the polkadotted object in her hands.
"A tiny mirror?" Karma whispers.
Lady Luck closes the mirror then latches the straps around her left wrist. The "Miracle Vision" highlights all the copies, along with what the Lucky Charm gave her and the camera equipment now glows a brighter red.
Lady Luck looks up at her partner with a smirk. "Let's go over that stupendous surefire plan again."
"Simply put: We're gonna give the akuma what she wants. A good ol' class photo! Line up now." Karma picks up the camera from the tripod then walks over to the group. "Everyone smile for the camera!" The copies pose in the most ridiculous fashion and when Karma presses the shutter it's like a domino effect; one copy falls causing the rest of the copies to fall.
The duo exchange a glance side-stepping all the duplicates. Karma points her camera at several of them trying to find the original. When Karma points the camera at this copy their hand inadvertently covers their face while they try getting up before she can snap a picture. Guess she really is cursed. Well, if Miraculouses and magic exist there's no reason curses can't also exist.
"No!" She growls as Lady Luck hauls her up. "This was supposed to break my curse!"
"Where's the akuma?" Karma demands.
"I'll never tell you! This is the only way I can be seen!" Lady Luck pops open the wrist mirror and Mirror Image gasps in horror as she looks at her reflection. "My akuma's in my hair clip." She squeaks out.
Lady Luck tapped her wrist mirror against the swirled tie dye blue and purple hair clip. The clip cracks and a purple butterfly floats out of it.
The mirror morphs into a tiny net that Lady Luck catches the butterfly with. "That's the end of your corruption, little butterfly." With the butterfly fluttering away, the net turns back into the yo-yo. "Miraculous cure!" Lady Luck swings her yo-yo in the air and it turns the ceiling pink. Students slowly begin returning back to normal through a tie dye ooze.
The purple-haired girl is leaning against Karma panting.
"You are so very lucky this magic wasn't permanent!" Chloé yells as she stomps away flipping her ponytail. "Hey!" She snaps her fingers at the photographer. "Get up and take my picture already!"
"Are you okay?" The teen blushes slightly looking up at the cat's green-yellow eyes with a speck of blue in them. The purple-haired teen nods slowly. "I like your outfit. Plaid is a hard to pattern to work with. The fact that you are matching the pattern's innermost color with your plain shirt is genius. I'm gonna have to steal that idea. If I could make a suggestion, you should cuff your pants legs inward. Show off those kickass boots without the attention on your cuffed pant leg." Karma gently brushes some of the girl's hair out of her eye then puts the cracked clip over it. "There. Picture perfect." She looks around at everyone gaping at her. "Huh. Um... stay in school, kids!" She turns back to the girl, "ooh. Just had an idea! Where's your phone?"
"My phone?"
"We're gonna break your photo curse."
"You—" She gasps, "you can't! It's been like this my whole life."
"I'm the embodiment of bad luck. If anyone can hack a lifelong curse, even temporarily, it's me." Gulping, the purple-haired teen nods shyly taking her phone out of her pants pocket. "By the way, what's your name?"
"J-Juleka."
"Nice. I like that." She blushes as Karma wraps an arm around her. They're close enough to the same height. Karma holds the phone. "Ready?" Juleka nods then Karma takes the picture. Juleka was half expecting the class to photobomb but they've been standing stock-still since Karma told them to stay in school. Maybe even before that.
Juleka gasps at the photo on the phone. It's not blurry nor is there some random animal or object obstructing her face. Tears well up in her eyes but she blinks them back. "I-I can't believe it." She whispers.
Karma holds out her fist and Juleka gently fist bumps her. "Look me up next time you wanna take another pic, alright?" Juleka nods. "Later!" With a wave, Karma runs out the gymnasium.
✍ .
"That was sweet of you."
Karma jumps several centimeters in the air. "I'm still only human in this costume." Lady Luck is swinging her legs on the roof. Karma extends her baton then climbs it to join her partner. "When did you slip out?"
"During the purification process. I had to check on my family."
"Are you a student here?"
"No. Not yet. How many times have you interacted with Bunnyx?"
"Who? Oh. You mean the Avatar of Time? I... hm. I haven't. At least, I haven't in this timeline. Plagg says she came to me right before she had to hit the backspace button on the previous timeline where we weren't partnered up... or whatever he said she did. How many times have you interacted with her?"
"A few. My kwami doesn't think it's a good idea because it might interfere with the timeline but I think Bunnyx is lonely. She has to watch over time by herself. We're the only other two Avatars active in this timeline. I... we must have loneliness in common."
"Hey Double L, you're not alone. You got me. If you ever need to talk I'm just a magical call away." Lady Luck chuckles. "I'll talk to my kwami about Bunnyx. See if I can get some more information. Or if I can find some way to reach out to her. She's not alone anymore with us here."
"Keep up that optimism."
"I always do..." Karma frowns, "huh. Weird. Somebody told me to keep on smiling but I don't remember who. Maybe I dreamed it?"
"Or maybe it was in the previous timeline that got... backspaced. It could've been Bunnyx. She uses humor to mask things. When you think about it, we're stuck doing this—" She gestures between them, "until we either kill or capture Mite and Méfait."
"Yeah... that is a depressing thought. But what's even more depressing is not knowing if they're our only magical headache. I mean curses—" Karma gestures to the school. "multiple timelines? Our Miraculouses. I'm optimistic in nature but even I'm having trouble finding a silver lining in this."
"I suppose that would be that we're in this together."
Karma throws an arm around her partner drawing her near. "That is a reason to keep on smiling."
"And let's hope we aren't the only Avatars in the city aside from Bunnyx and the Guardian." Lady Luck hums, "although that does pose the question of whether or not Mite and Méfait are their respective power Avatars." Karma strokes her chin. "I also express concerns about how this whole 'Avatar' process even works."
"Believe me. You're not the only one." Karma sighs, "we need to find the Guardian without alerting the you know who duo. If I met Bunnyx in the last timeline, I might've met them too."
"Then let's agree to look for the Guardian this weekend."
"Ooh..." Karma rubs the back of her neck, "can it be Sunday? I have... civilian plans on Saturday."
Lady Luck nods standing up, "Sunday is fine. We'll meet at the Arc de Triomphe."
"Aye aye." They shake hands.
"Until then." Then Lady Luck swings away on her yo-yo.