Vlog For Me

by ghirahim

Alya Césaire's lived a normal life, until she came to Paris and got introduced to its superheroes... and supervillains. Now, this budding journalist is gonna become the city's leading expert on the supernatural – I mean she might as well; not only is she a hardcore superhero fan, but she's developed the uncanny/unlucky ability to always find herself in the middle of magical brawls.

5. kitty section

A/N: baby rabbits/bunnies are called kits/kittens too

I haven't seen the special but I changed the bit in the last chapter where I originally mentioned Sparrow to mention Kid Mime instead. I doubt anyone would notice, even with a reread.

---

Mon, Oct 12th, 2020

Luka opens his eyes and finds himself looking into Karma's. Huh. He never knew there were bits of blue in her cat eyes. He might have to tell that to the luckyblog. Karma's mouth, the same vibrant green predominantly in her eyes, is moving but he can't hear anything she's saying. The only thing he hears is the persistent ringing in his ears and the throbbing of his head.

Wait a second...? What the hell happened? Luka tries moving but he finds himself unable. Karma is speaking again but he still can't hear her. Which she must realize the way her eyes keep darting around, examining his face. She puts a hand on Luka's arm, squeezing gently. Reassuringly. Right. An akuma attack is what "happened." He's been pretty good with avoiding them so far but everyone's luck runs out eventually. (Well, except for maybe Lady Luck.)

He didn't see or hear Lady Luck or Karma arrive, not really. The last thing Luka remembers is hearing Lady Luck call out for her Lucky Charm and seeing Karma's baton hurtling toward him at impressive speed. The akuma, "Heartache," grabbed Luka with his heart-patterned whip right out of bed (which, rude!), then tossed him in the air proclaiming he'll make Luka as bruised as his heart after the rejection. Even if there wasn't a nine year age difference between them (which was a giant blaring red flag; and honestly, the age gap could've been more given the multiple degrees the man showed off during his houseboat unveiling), the man was giving off an iffy vibe Luka's gut couldn't ignore – and damn was he ever right about the vibe.

He lost sight of Lady Luck as Karma's baton grabbed him in mid-air by the back collar of his shirt abruptly stopping his descent into either the port or the river. He could've gotten whiplash from being jerked around by "Heartache" or the baton "catching" him. He's not sure but it was painful as all hell and he currently couldn't move his head. Juleka is in his peripheral with her hands covering her face as her body shakes. She's crying. Karma is both consoling Juleka and checking him over.

Karma's hand is now brushing his hair out of his face. Her hand is soft, almost like an actual cat's paw. Damn she's... she's really, really beautiful. One of her twintails is loose so half her long green hair is flowing past her left shoulder. She's practically illuminated by the pier mount lights. The artist in him wants to draw a portrait of her or compose a song.

The sudden blaring of a foghorn would've made him bolt upright in surprise had Karma's hands not moved to his shoulders keeping him down. (He doesn't know why he's surprised she's strong enough to hold him down without applying pressure.) "Luka?" Juleka questions. At least he can hear now.

His sister is fully in his line of sight now. "Jules..." Juleka gives him a watery smile.

"Take it easy." Karma and Juleka help him sit up then Karma runs off to where Lady Luck is. "Lady Luck took care of that asshole. The Miraculous Cure or Miracle Cure or whatever it's called should fix you right up."

Out the corner of his eye, over Juleka's shoulder, Luka sees "Heartache" fall out of the sky. Luka would feel sympathetic but he brought it on himself (plus, he's the reason Luka is in all this pain). Luka does, however, cringe when Lady Luck drops out of the sky, not two seconds later, on top of "Heartache's" head.

"Where's the akuma?" Lady Luck demands, taking one foot off the akuma's head.

"Heartache" laughs, "why should—" He hisses in pain as Lady Luck takes her other foot off him then hauls him up by his golden-brown flowing hair.

"Listen to me, very carefully, 'Heartache.' You either tell me where the akuma is hidden or I will personally bruise your heart looking for it."

"Heartache" looks into Lady Luck's piercing, ethereal blue eyes and whimpers, "it's in my necklace!" He sobs.

Luka watches Lady Luck rip the necklace from "Heartache's" neck and the foghorn in Karma's hands transforms back into Lady Luck's yo-yo. "Jules, is it me or is Lady Luck a bit aggro today?"

"It's five in the morning, Lu." Juleka responds, "suffice to say, we're all just a tad 'aggro.'"

Luka watches Lady Luck scoop up the akuma with her yo-yo's net then subsequently release it after its purified. "You're purified now, little butterfly." After "Heartache" reverts back into Jacob LaCroix, Lady Luck grabs him by the collar. Luka can't hear what she's saying given their distance but the way Jacob's eyes widen considerably and the way his entire face flushes dark red, he can guess the gist of what she's telling him.

The second she releases him he runs off screaming.

Lady Luck sighs heavily then tosses the yo-yo in the air. "Miraculous cure!"

Luka holds his breath as the magical ladybugs fly around his body. Last time he got caught in the Miraculous cure, it was a strange feeling he wasn't eager to feel again. Odd. This time he doesn't feel anything. He peers one eye open after he hears Karma say, "they're not doing anything."

Opening both eyes, Luka sees the magical glowing ladybugs flying away from him. Lady Luck is staring at him, arms folded over her chest, with an unreadable expression. Damn, for such a tiny hero she's hella intimidating. No wonder LaCroix ran off at warp speed.

Karma drops down directly in his line of sight startling him. "Nothing happened." She looks over her shoulder at her partner, "has nothing ever happened before?"

"I think it's possible—" Lady Luck begins, "his injuries weren't directly caused by the akuma."

"But if it wasn't the aku—oh no." Karma's eyes widen, "it was me. I-I did it. I injured... a civilian. I'm the world's worst superhero!" Karma grips him by both shoulders, "I'll personally carry you to the hospital!" Gasping, she lets go. "U-Unless you don't trust me not to injure you further, which I completely understand! I can't believe I hurt you trying to keep you from getting hurt! I'm so so sorry!"

"Karma, it's okay." He hears Juleka beside him sniffling and Karma's ears twitch and her face becomes even more disheartened. It's actually fucking heartbreaking. Karma should never have such a sad look on her face. "These things happen. It's not your fault."

He tries to reach for her but she jerks back out of his reach. "How could you say that? It is my fault! I'm the dumbass that chucked a weapon at a civilian!" She gets up and Lady Luck immediately steps on her right boot. "Sonuva—" She hisses hopping on one foot, "what was that for?"

"Stop putting yourself down. He doesn't blame you, so stop blaming yourself." Lady Luck pulls Karma down to her eye level by the bell on her collar before Karma can open her mouth, "one mistake isn't the be all end all. You're a damn good superhero and I wouldn't want anyone else as my partner. I won't allow anyone to badmouth you. Yourself included. Are we clear?" Wide eyed, Karma wordlessly nods. "Good." Releasing her hold, Lady Luck's antennas begin flashing at the same time Karma's left hand does.

"Shit." Karma and Lady Luck mutter simultaneously.

"What's happening?" Juleka asks.

"Don't worry about it." Lady Luck nudges Karma then whispers something that has the cat frown as she nods. "Let's get you two to the hospital."

"Can Karma carry me?" Juleka asks then flushes slightly when everyone stares at her.

✍ .

Plagg is forcibly ejected from the ring and Marinette free falls onto her balcony. (At least she made it home.) Odd. Her balcony doesn't feel like anything. Marinette looks down, noticing she's hovering in mid-air right above one of Alix's folding chairs.

Underneath her, Alix his holding her arms in the air above her head. "Alix?" The pink-haired teen slowly lowers her hands and Marinette gently lands on the balcony on her feet. Alix sighs in relief then slumps to the ground. "Alix!" Marinette gets up then rushes over to her best friend. "W-Why—? Matter of fact, how?"

"You looked really out of it, and I wasn't about to let you hit the balcony pavement full-speed." Marinette gasps as Alix's nose starts bleeding.

"Oh no! What do I do? What do I do?!"

"Stop panicking!" Fluff and Plagg yell, each putting a paw on the bridge of Alix's nose, tilting her head downward.

Marinette hovers behind Alix. "Is she okay?"

"She will be." Fluff replies, "what about you?"

"Me? I'm not the one with the bleeding nose! How did she do that?"

"Fluff's Kit can use her powers without transforming, remember? Perk of being the Avatar of Time. She stopped time around you to keep you from falling."

"That's amazing. Though if it gives her a nosebleed, maybe she should hold off on doing it again?"

"I need practice." Alix mutters.

"Not at the cost of your health!"

"Oh. So it's okay that you get to endanger yourself all the time but I don't?"

"I—" Marinette's jaw drops, "I'm—I'm not..."

"Like hell you're not. You look about ready to collapse. Those assholes are coming out of the woodwork more and more. I'm practicing so I can help you out against whatever. Watch your back."

"Alix..."

"Don't try to talk me out of it, Marinette."

"I-I'm not. I appreciate you looking out for me. So you know I'm just looking out for you. Your Miraculous is dangerous. It killed you multiple times. Or at the very least caused you to die repeatedly. It's giving you nosebleeds. Who knows what else it can do to you? I know you're strong. Hell, you're the strongest person I know. That's why I-I can't lose you, Alix."

"This is really touching..." Plagg cuts in, "but there's some horrid beeping coming from inside the room."

Marinette gasps, "my alarm! Son of a bitch." Alix and Marinette help each other inside the room through the balcony then Marinette takes her alarm off. "I'm sorry, Alix. It's just... I'm super worried because I-I... I injured a civilian during the akuma attack."

"Things happen. What'd you do?"

"I threw my baton at him." Alix blinks at her. "I mean, I didn't hit him with the baton... directly. I sorta javelin threw it and it snatched him up mid-air to prevent him from falling into the port." Alix snickers. "Are you—You are! It's not funny!"

"You're right. It's hilarious!" The pink-haired teen cackles, "aww man. That's one for the books."

"This is serious, Alix, the Miracle Cure didn't heal his injuries. Lady Luck said it might be because I caused his injuries and not the akuma. Well, she didn't really say that but that was kind of the conclusion I drew. We had to book it to the hospital before our timers ran out. This damn exhaustion timer is killing me." She yawns. "My transformation broke while I was climbing out of the hospital room. Then Plagg and I transformed again and, as you saw, it didn't last very long before it canceled. But at least I made it back semi-safely. Thanks to you."

"You know..." Marinette and Alix turn to Plagg, "you and Lady Luck are both wrong, sort of. About that kid's injuries? It's not your fault. It's neither of your faults. Your Girl wasn't firing on all cylinders and the Miraculous Cure doesn't have a 100% success rate. It's more like 92% on a regular day and 50% during fatigue or stress."

"What? Why haven't you mentioned this sooner?!"

"Would it have changed anything?"

"I—well, no." Marinette folds her arms over her chest. With a heavy sigh, she collapses face first onto her chaise. "So tired..."

"Don't go to school today. Fake a fever or something. I can have Fluff shock you?"

"And I promise you won't get a heart attack because of it!" The rabbit kwami chirps.

"Whoa! No! You're not shocking my Kit!" Plagg hits Fluff on the head, "why didn't you pulse your Miraculous instead of pulsing your Kit?"

"I—" Fluff blinks, "I had to do both! Time loops take a lot of magic to get through." Plagg hits Fluff on the head again.

A knock on the trap door has Fluff and Plagg hide behind Alix. Tom opens the trap door, "what are you girls in the mood for?"

"Breakfast... pizza..." Marinette sleep mumbles.

"Ooh! That sounds like a great idea, Sweet Roll!" He closes the trap door.

"Whoa, did she fall asleep?" Plagg floats over to Marinette and checks her over then flies back to Alix nodding. "That was... quick, even for Marinette. Guess I'll go and shower. Let Marinette get a little bit of sleep. You two keep an eye on her." Fluff and Plagg salute her.

✍ .

Kagami tucked herself into a roll before her transformation wore off and she managed to land awkwardly on her right shoulder and wrist. Plus, she got some bruising and cuts from hitting the rooftop. She shakily gets to her feet then climbs down the fire escape to her hotel room.

Her mother was asleep when she slipped out but there was no guarantee she was still sleeping. When Kagami slips back into the room, her mother is still laying in bed sleeping soundly. Either that or she's one damn good actress.

The door opens and Kagami makes a dive for the bed, further aggravating her shoulder. "I have found the perfect school for Kagami!" Her grandmother proclaims closing the door behind her. "Wake up, Tomoe." Azami puts the bags down on the table, then shakes her daughter. "Wake up."

It's only when Tomoe stirs with a groan that Azami stops shaking her, "what is it, mother?"

"I have found the perfect school for my granddaughter." She repeats, approaching Kagami's bed and shaking her leg. "Time to get up, Jewel." Kagami sits up slowly and yawns. Kagami can't recall the last time her grandmother called her Jewel, but she knows it was definitely before she lost her hearing. Or maybe she only calls her that when she knows she can't be heard? Speaking of hearing, she pretends to grab the hearing aids, she's already wearing because of the akuma attack, from the nightstand and makes a showing of subtly putting them in her ears. Her grandmother always looks away while she does it anyway.

Grumbling, Tomoe holds onto the wall as she trudges into the bathroom.

"You're going to love this school, Kagami." Azami sits on the bed, "and it is all-inclusive. Comes with room and board and everything! You no longer have to stay in this subpar hotel."

"That's wonderful news, baasan."

"I bought clothing for you to change into. Whenever your mother is finished wallowing I want you to make yourself presentable. This is a very prestigious school." Patting Kagami on the head, she walks over to the bathroom door knocking on it. "Hurry up, Tomoe, there is only one bathroom."

"Then take Kagami to your room!"

"I—That's not a bad idea. Kagami, grab the bags and follow me."

With a sigh, Kagami complies. Tikki pats her on the shoulder. Kagami follows her grandmother to the elevator taking them to the penthouse suite because it's only natural Azami Tsurugi would stay in the best hotel suite and leave her daughter and granddaughter in a regular suite.

Azami all but shoves her granddaughter in the bathroom then closes the door behind her. Inside the bathroom, Kagami and Tikki exchange a glance at the peafowl face basin filler. "That... is terrifying." Tikki mutters. Kagami nods as she drags a finger along the bathtub feeling the material. Tikki mimics the motion. "It's cast iron. Haven't seen one of these in over two centuries!"

Kagami pulls one of the feathers to pour hot water into the tub. "We can take a nice relaxing bath in here."

"Just so long as we don't drown."

Once the bathtub is filled, Kagami and Tikki get inside and relax. Tikki chases some of the bubbles and Kagami washes her hair, submerging herself fully into the tub. It's just about as hot as she can take without boiling herself alive. Her whole body aches, her shoulder especially. It could be one part getting up early and transforming and one part the bruises she got when the transformation canceled due to her exhaustion.

The downside to relaxing in the bathtub was she couldn't hear anything. But when Tikki dove under the water, Kagami knew her grandmother entered the bathroom. She has to wonder what kind of school her grandmother would give such high praise to?

Kagami slowly lifts her head above the water to see the woman approaching holding a navy sailor dress. Kagami sinks back down so the bubbles can mask her swears.

✍ .

Sabrina rushes up the stairs and enters the school building. She wanted to get to school a bit later than usual to talk to Alix about this new skating trick she saw on television last night, but couldn't risk Chloé seeing her and Alix... talking, without being hostile toward each other. Chloé would bitch about it until the end of time, and then some. She still complains about the time Alix punched her in the face, and that happened two years ago! Fortunately, Sabrina has managed to keep her budding secret friendship with Alix a, well, secret because they only hung out during roller derby practice or matches.

Over the course of the past two years, Sabrina generally avoided Alix due to Chloé's (somewhat irrational) hatred of the girl. Yes, getting punched in the face by a kid nearly about fifteen centimetres shorter than you would be quite embarrassing (Sabrina's grateful for being short), but who hasn't Alix Kubdel hit? Sabrina was only saved from the same fate as Chloé because she wasn't in striking distance (having taken a huge step back after watching Chloé's head hilariously jerk back, in seemingly slow motion, due to the impact). Though Alix did bite Sabrina when she tried pulling the girl off Chloé.

It was risky approaching Alix in school where there might be witnesses to report back to Chloé, but she really wanted to practice the techniques safely during lunch today so she can have it down for Friday's match.

The orange-haired teen looks around the halls trying not to look too obvious.

Alix and Marinette always walk in the school together (late) with Kim.

When Sabrina sees Kim jog into the building her eyes light up, then they immediately narrow when she doesn't see Alix or even Marinette around him. (She should've suspected he was alone when he jogged in quietly.) Frowning, Sabrina heads to her locker.

"Hey, Sabrina!"

"Oh. Hey, Aurore."

"Check it out." The blonde hands Sabrina a flier, "art competition. The winner gets to meet Clara Nightingale~"

"What? I love Clara Nightingale... but why would she be meeting the winner of some art competition?"

"Have you been living under a rock the past week? She has this big piece unveiling at the Louvre! The winner of the art competition gets to see the unveiling live. I have to win!"

Sabrina snorts, "yeah. Okay. What 'art' do you do, Aurore?"

"I..." The blonde grimaces, "I gotta partner up with someone artsy." She sighs, "but this school is full of talentless hacks." She sighs again, "I'll see you in class." Grumbling to herself, the blonde shuffles off to her locker.

Sabrina chuckles then squints at the flier on her locker. "No way!" She gasps picking up the flier and holding it at arm's length to make sure she's reading it correctly, "a-a Cycle Slaughter tournament... coming soon? I may not be artsy but this I definitely can win."

"Sabrina? Thought you'd be in class already." The bespectacled teen turns around and sees Chloé approaching with a drink in each hand. "You're almost never late." The blonde eyes her suspiciously, "are you still having problems with Jan or Jen or whatever your papa's fiancée is named?"

Sabrina sighs heavily, "yeah..."

"Here, brought you a latte. That should cheer you up."

Chloé gives the orange-haired teen the cup in her left hand. "Ooh! Thanks Chloé."

"Anytime. I rack up more points with each purchase. Your favorite is still the dizzy triple chip, right?" Sabrina nods eagerly taking a sip. "I don't know how you could damage your body ingesting that sugary nonsense. It's barely even coffee anymore with all the extra stuff they pack in it."

"I don't care, it's delicious." Sabrina moans appreciatively.

Fondly shaking her head, Chloé moves to go to her locker then pauses, "what's in your hand?" Before Sabrina can reply, Chloé takes the fliers out of her hand. "An art contest and a gaming tournament?" With a hum and shrug, she puts the fliers back in Sabrina's hands then walks to her locker.

Sabrina subtly checks the door as she gets her stuff she needs from her locker. She scowls at the door when the first bell rings and she doesn't see Alix. With a defeated sigh, she shuffles into professeur Bustier's classroom sipping her drink.

Sabrina heads to her seat and miserably plops down. She eyes the door watching her classmates file in, until the second bell and furrows her eyebrows as she doesn't see any pink or blue hair.

Professeur Bustier claps her hands together, "I hope everyone had a productive weekend." The class lowly collectively murmur their response. "Before we have our class representative tell us the announcements of the day—" The blonde smiles smugly then looks at the empty seat beside her and instantly drops her smile, "—I'm pleased to report a new student is joining our class." The class perks up. "Please join me in welcoming Ondine Douglas."

The door opens and the class gasps. A tall, pink-haired girl with an asymmetrical choppy pixie cut. She's wearing a plain navy shirt and a pair of jeans. "Hi." She greets. The class continues to gape.

"Why don't you tell the class about yourself?"

"Oh! Um... okay. Hi everyone." She waves. "I'm from Nice but I've been all over France. I'm interested in swimming so I hope there's a swim team." The entire class turns to Kim who does a double-take.

"Thank you, Mlle. Douglas." The class turns back to the pink-haired girl. "Please... wait." The redhead quickly does a headcount, "a few students are missing. Why don't you take a seat—" Chloé frantically waves her arms, "uh... why don't you take a seat beside Mlle. Bourgeois today?"

The pink-haired teen nods then walks over to the seat where Chloé is. Both Adrien and Sabrina sigh heavily when Chloé bats her eyelashes at the new girl. Another pretty friend for Chloé to make slash hoard. "Hi!" Chloé gushes.

"Can our class representative be so kind as to give us a moment of her time to tell us today's announcements?" When professeur Bustier sees Chloé chatting with Ondine she clears her throat, "Mlle. Bourgeois? Mlle. Bourgeois, today's announcements?"

"Hm? Oh. Right. Sure." The blonde stands, "so... uh, I think I saw a flier or something for a gaming tournament?" Kim takes a loud deep breath bracing his hands against his desk. His deskmate is also absent. Chloé turns to him, "what the hell is your problem?"

"What? Game...?" He whispers.

"What...? Oh. That." The blonde rolls her eyes. "Something slaughter?"

"'Slaughter?'" Adrien questions, perking up. "Like Cycle Slaughter?"

"I don't know, Adrikins, I wasn't paying attention." The blonde rolls her eyes again, "that's not the only news and its hardly as important as our upcoming Halloween dance?" The class begins murmuring. "It's two weeks away and some people haven't paid class dues yet." She glares at each student as she looks around the classroom. "It's only 30 € and we're already two months into the school year!" The blonde pauses briefly. "Almost two months!" She amends. "Also, we're gonna have a school paper or something?" Alya loudly inhales. Chloé turns to the orange-haired teen fanning herself off with both hands. "Uh... sign up at the art room if you're interested?" Alya nods enthusiastically. "Oh right. There was also an art contest, which I guess is also in the art room? Is that all?"

"Uh, yes. Thank you, Mlle. Bourgeois." Chloé curtsies then takes a seat. "Now does anyone know where Mlle. Dupain-Cheng, Mlle. Kubdel, Mlle. Haprèle, and Mlle. Couffaine are?" The class look among one another and everyone shakes their heads. "I see. I'll contact their families at lunch. Let's begin with today's lesson."

✍ .

When class ends, the students start filing out of the classroom. "Oh yeah! My papa's the mayor. He can do anything." Chloé tells Ondine as they exit the classroom together.

Kim leaves the classroom, then backtracks and walks backwards back into the class. There's a piece of paper on the wall by the door. "It is a Cycle Slaughter tournament!" He exhales deeply pumping his fist in the air, "and there's a cash prize?" He rubs his hands together, "I could use a new pair of swim goggles." He happily signs his name on the sign-in sheet.

Adrien happily signs his name on the sheet. "I've never played Cycle Slaughter with friends before!"

Sabrina and Kim watch the blond happily walk out the classroom then glare at each other. "Can't believe you're signing up, Kim. I'll stomp you into paste, like I always do." Sabrina says signing her name on the sheet.

"I flipped my strategy, Sabrina, you're going down."

The orange-haired teen laughs haughtily, "yeah, we'll see. Just remember which of us is ranked higher in the country." She flips her hair then walks out the classroom.

Sabrina walks in professeur Blumstein's classroom. She glances at Chloé gushing to Ondine and sits in the empty seat behind Chloé. The assistant professeur, M. Haprèle (Mylène's papa – weird because Mylène isn't here), is setting up the desk.

"U-Um... M. Haprèle, is Mylène alright?" Ivan asks, nervously rubbing his hands together.

The man looks up from the desk, "oh yes, she's..." His eyes quickly dart around the classroom, "she's alright. Just a little sick. She told me not to worry and I'm sure she'll be feeling better in no time." Ivan nods slowly then heads to his desk with a sigh.

"Professeur Bustier said I can bring the Cycle Slaughter tournament sign-in sheet to the next class so people can sign up!" Lila says entering the classroom. She gives the sign-in sheet to Alya who is sitting in the first desk on the left.

"Uh... thanks but no thanks. I don't know what this is." She passes it to Rose on her right who signs her name.

The paper goes through the whole classroom then Kim, who is seated in the last desk on the right, gets up and gives the paper back to Lila. "Thanks. I'll give this back to professeur Bustier once class is over."

"What is the deal with this game anyway?" Chloé asks. "Why are you all going nuts over it?"

"It's only the most fun ever." Kim drawls.

"I doubt that very much. Very few things in life are more fun than shopping."

"Chloé, it's a game of strategy." She turns to Adrien, on her left, with an eyebrow raised. "You get to create your own cyclatar then—"

"Basically beat the shit out of everyone however you want." Kim interrupts, "your cyclatar, depending on what mode your play, amasses friends who help with the beating."

"Uh-huh... what else?"

"There are twelve game modes. You'd think that would be way too much but it isn't! And the game is always adding new things. It's amazing. It also allows crossplay so you can play it on multiple game systems and your phone and all your progress is there."

"I'm the sixth top player in the country."

Chloé snorts, "bullshit, Lê Chiên, I'll believe that when I see it."

"Then feast your eyes on my crossplay data~" Kim merrily makes his way over to Chloé's desk and shows her his phone.

"'KLC' can be anyone—"

"The ava... uh 'cyclatar' looks just like him." Ondine pipes in, "and the phone is showing that's him."

"So, the tournament's in the bag for me." Sabrina scoffs and the class turns to her, "something you wanna say?"

The orange-haired teen exhales deeply without saying anything. Chloé narrows her eyes at Sabrina, "you play this game?"

"Yeah. I not only play, I'm the fifth ranked player in the country." She sticks her tongue out at Kim who returns the gesture.

Chloé grabs Sabrina's hands, "teach me to play." She whispers.

"Uh... sure?"

"I need the sign up sheet!" She lets go of Sabrina's hands then marches over to Lila's desk and signs her name on the sheet of paper.

Kim eyes Chloé as she returns to her seat. "Since when do you play video games?"

"Since my best friend is better ranked than you worldwide. I don't care about playing myself, I just wanna understand what's going on so I can personally see the look on your face when you get annihilated."

"Not gonna happen. I've been working on counter strategies. Sabrina always picks a swordsman talent and even though she's scary good at it, she's not unbeatable."

"You've ranked fifth in the country on one talent alone? That's impressive." Sabrina and Kim turn to Max, behind Alya, adjusting his glasses.

Sabrina stares at Max, "I saw your name on the sheet. What talent do you play?"

"It varies. I have no 'main' talent but I specialize in a few in case a specific talent is needed."

Kim nods with a hum, "smart strategy. I specialize in close range—"

"Which is why you always get defeated."

"Back in Naples, I was ranked in the top twenty in the country. Since I moved and switched servers I doubt my name is still there." Lila sighs putting a hand against her cheek.

Markov beeps beside Max. Markov was registered as Max's undisclosed classroom aide so he was allowed to remain active during class, "projecting top twenty ranked players in France." Markov floats over to the professeur's desk and projects an image on the blackboard with twenty three-letter names, their profilename, their cyclatars, and their chosen talent.

"Oh! I'm top twenty here!" Lila shouts. Everyone looks at the screen then at the brunette, "'LVR' is my initials. My middle name is Victorya with a y."

"The cyclatar does have the same ridiculous hairstyle..." Chloé mutters, "it has to be her." Lila lets out an offended gasp.

"Let's see..." Alya gets up and walked over to the blackboard. "So we know Kim is six and Sabrina is five and Lila is twenty. Let's see if anyone else in the class is on the list. It's cool you all are ranked so high among the entire country."

"We've been playing online together for about a year." Sabrina says, "we met up on accident—"

"At random." Kim interrupts. "We ended up grouped together."

"—Whatever. And we've been teaming up on and off or fighting against each other ever since."

"Sabrina, why didn't you tell me you played Cycle Slaughter?" Adrien asks.

Sabrina shrugs, "you never asked."

"Hey... the number three avatar looks a bit familiar." Kim squints at the screen, "and I definitely know that profilename. Hey little robot dude, can you enhance the picture?"

"Certainly. Enhancing." The image magnifies and the whole class is out of their seats staring at the third avatar with the initials "MMK."

The class stares at the avatar, then look among their classmates for about a minute.

Alya gasps, "I know who that looks like! It's Max!" The class turns to the bespectacled teen who looks up from his desk. "You're MMK: Max & Markov Kanté."

"Markov & Max Kanté." Markov corrects.

"I can sign up on my phone, right? I need to have the most utterly exceptional cyclatar available." Chloé turns around in her seat, giving Sabrina her phone.

"Dude..." Sabrina says, "I-I've played against you."

"You're ruthless." Kim finishes. He runs over to Max's desk and crouches beside it. "Wanna partner up for the two-stack?"

"No!" Sabrina gets up then stands on the other side of Max's desk, "you should partner up with me. I'm better than Kim!"

"I'm more adaptable than Sabrina. You don't want to go into every fight with a sword, no matter how cool the weapon is!"

The orange-haired teen huffs. Lila approaches the desk from the front, "I know I'm not in the top ten but I could use a two-stack partner I know will hold their own."

"Adrikins, where are you ranked?"

Adrien frowns taking out his phone, "as of this moment, 11,149th."

Chloé pats him on the shoulder. "That's respectable."

"I-I'm flattered you all want to partner with me but I must inform you that I already have a partner for the two-stack." Lila, Sabrina, and Kim all audibly gasp.

The professeur walks in the classroom. "Good—What's going on?" Sabrina, Kim, and Lila all stare at the professeur before sulkily heading to their seats. "Uh... okay then? Before we begin with today's lesson, Principal Damocles has implemented akuma drills to the list of safety drills." The professeur turns the pamphlet in their hands that says "Akuma Safety" on it. "The guidelines will be posted on the school's website and you'll get a copy in your parent's email. Let me just read off a bit of it. In the event of an akuma attack outside the school during school hours, students are to remain in their classrooms. If they are in the hallway, they are to enter the classroom closest to them. If they are in the restroom, they are to remain in there until the principal gives the okay; informing us the attack is over. In the event of an akuma attack inside the school during school hours, students are to remain in their classrooms unless the akuma is from their class... in which they are to exit in an orderly, calm fashion. If the akuma attack is in the hall, students are to find the closest classroom and enter it. If the akuma attack has destroyed a part of the school you are close to, students are to exit that area and find the safest classroom in the area." The professeur puts the pamphlet down. "Are there any questions?" Several hands go in the air.

✍ .

Alya checks the school's website on her phone, going over the akuma safety drills. Honestly, she's surprised Damocles came up with this. Her parents were among the many that complained to the principal about how nothing is done to protect the students during akuma attacks. She expected him to ignore it like he ignored the fire doors that aren't up to code. Or that one exit door that doesn't lead anywhere. Or the fact that all the quatrième classes have a free period because there is no foreign language teacher for them.

Info about the upcoming art contest is also on the school's website. Before Alya can take a look at it she hears Professeur Mendeleiev yelling, "—sn't the cafeteria!" Alya pokes her head in the doorway to see the professeur take the stammering student's takeaway container. "You'll get this back when class ends."

The student stands at their desk. "But class hasn't even begun yet!"

"That's no excuse. The school has designated eating areas for a reason! You can bring in ants having food in the science lab then cause an infestation." As professeur Mendeleiev walks back to her desk, the student angrily grip the edge of their desk.

Alya doesn't see the akuma enter the classroom but she hears a student gasp screaming and pointing at their classmate, "a-akuma!"

Professeur Mendeleiev turns around and the student gets enveloped in the signature—wait! The bubbling ooze is blue. Not purplish-black. That's not an akuma, it's an amok – just like Sabrina's carryaway container last month. "Out!" The professeur screams, "everyone out of the classroom!"

The students in the class don't think twice as they haul ass out of the classroom, tripping over one another. Alya sees the woman hit a button under her desk before the amok – a giant gelatin blob with random food stuck to and in their body – predictably eats her then busts through the wall slithering out of the classroom.

Alya takes a couple steps back and angles her phone so she can watch the blob make its way down the hall without getting in its way.

The loudspeakers crackle to life, "attention students, this is principal Damocles, an akuma is loose in the school! All students and staff are to hide in their classrooms until further notice, and please avoid Professeur Mendeleiev's classroom as the akuma originated from there." The loudspeakers cut off.

Alya watches some students too close or too slow to get out of the way get run over by the blob or have it pass through them but they don't get ingested. They just have remnants of blob goo on their persons. Professeur Mendeleiev is banging on the blob's body holding her breath.

Before Alya could follow after the blob, Ivan comes out of nowhere, picks her up and carries her over his shoulder. "Hey! The blob is that way!"

"Which is precisely why we're heading in the opposite direction! The akuma safety drills, remember?"

"What!? Who's gonna record Lady Luck and Karma if I'm not out there?!"

"Markov volunteered when he told me to come find you." Alya groans, running a hand down her face.

✍ .

"Tsurugi-san." Kagami's eyebrows furrow as the person begins in Japanese. "Welcome. Oh. Apologies. We have two Tsurugi-sans. My mistake. Welcome. I'm headmaster Alexander. I'd like to personally welcome you all to Visions: Paris' premiere special needs school."

"Paris'—" Tomoe gasps, "are you serious right now?" She hisses at her mother. "I should've known you were up to something like this! You actually actively taking an interest in Kagami's well-being? What a joke!"

"How dare you speak to me that way! I am your mother!"

"Unfortunately. This is just like when you throw me into that 'blindness rehabilitation center' when I was pregnant, claiming to be the best place for my 'trauma!' As if blindness can be cured liked like you'd treat your hangovers!"

"Anything can be cured with the right medicine, Tomoe, but you wouldn't know that. Seeing as how you'd never give anything a chance being so stubborn and refusing treatment!"

"It doesn't work that way!"

"How would you know that if you haven't tried!?"

"Tsurugi-san—" The headmaster pauses, "Tsurugi Tomoe-san, we treat all our students here at—"

"Don't you throw your sales-pitch at me! I know exactly how you treat your students! I've been in these types of schools before thanks to that woman no doubt smugly standing before you! On the surface, you look like you're doing the lord's work. Your 'inspirational' stories about how you sacrifice your 'normal' lives for those who aren't so fortunate to be in your shoes. So you bask in the praises of other 'normal' people who could never do what you do. In reality, you force your ways and ideals onto those who cannot fight back! Not even bothering to ask the children their wants or needs. I will not allow my daughter to solely be viewed as her disability or, worse, a burden! She is much more than that..." Tomoe frowns, "and I've failed to remember that. I've failed her." Shocked, Kagami blinks turning to her mother. "I told myself I would never turn into my mother and I have."

"You should be grateful to turn into me!"

"Like hell I should! You still blame me for otousan's death!" Azami gasps. Tomoe stands, "Kagami, we're leaving." Kagami stands and grabs her mother's arm. Tomoe pats Kagami's hand then they leave the office.

"Tomoe! Tomoe!" Azami shouts, muffled by the door closing.

"I truly am sorry, Kagami." Her mother switches back to French. "You are the most important person in my life and it's been a while that I've voiced that, let alone shown it."

"You're fine, kaasan."

"You're far too forgiving. You see the relationship I have with... that woman. I never wanted to be the heartless witch that imposed her way onto her child. I never should have let her back into my life. That's when everything started going downhill." Tomoe sighs heavily, "tell you what. Forget about my mother. You select the school you wish to enroll in, and I will support you. I have a lot of support ground to make up."

"Thank you, kaasan." Tikki taps Kagami on the shoulder. With all the free time she's had, they've learned morse code and dozens of other non verbal communications. Tikki taps out "a-k-u-m-a" and Kagami internally sighs. It figures when she and her mother are having a breakthrough – the first in over seven years, which, wouldn't you know it, is when Azami reappeared – there's be a fucking akuma to kill the moment. "I wish to enroll in François Düpont."

"That was quick and seriously? The entire vibe of that—" Tomoe abruptly stops talking and Kagami looks up at her. "I'm doing it again. I apologize. It is your decision, not mine to question. Although I do really want to question. Nevertheless, if that is what you want that is where you will be enrolled. But—purely out of curiosity: why?"

"I—" Think Kagami, quick. She can't exactly tell her mother a time traveler told her to enroll in that disaster of a school to always be on guard for akuma attacks, and to be closer to Karma. (Though the eyebrow waggle Bunnyx did when she mentioned being close to Karma made Kagami suspicious.) "I have become enamored with the superheroes."

"Oh?" Tomoe smirks, "I suppose you are to age to begin getting ...enamored with such things. I have heard of this superhero 'duo' but have not heard much. You'll have to describe them to me." Kagami yawns, "perhaps after we both get some sleep."

They took Azami's automated car back to the hotel. "Mme. Tsurugi—" The receptionist calls out. Tomoe sighs before they walk over to the counter. "Welcome back. A Mme. Brüel left a message for you."

"Brüel, you said? The real estate agent? She must've found a house for us."

"Sounds like this day is getting better for us."

"Only if that is her message. I may be down here a while. You should get some rest."

"Are you certain, kaasan? I have no problem waiting with you."

"I know. You're a great kid. Go do something mindless for a bit."

"We... do have an arcade."

"Perhaps I'll rest a bit then check out the arcade."

✍ .

"You look terrible!" Karma and Lady Luck exclaim pointing at each other as they land on François Düpont's roof.

"I—" Lady Luck yawns, "There is a saying that claims no rest for the wicked. I take it neither of us has gotten any rest since this morning's akuma attack?"

"Oh Double L, are you coherent? It's still morning."

"Is it!? My yo-yo doesn't have a clock feature."

"Let's hope we can take this damn akuma down before our kwamis are involuntarily ejected from our Miraculouses."

"That can happen?"

"Yup. Had the unfortunate pleasure of figuring that out, first-hand, after the last attack." Lady Luck takes out her yo-yo and pulls up the Luckyblog. "So... the yo-yo isn't a clock but has wi-fi?" Lady Luck shrugs then scrolls down to "livestream." They both squint at the screen watching a translucent gelatin blob climb onto the François Düpont building... that they're standing on. They both gasp then turn to the blob as it climbs onto the roof.

"Give me your Miraculouses!" The blob yells.

"Seriously?" The heroes deadpan.

The blob roars. "Let's get this over with. Lucky Charm!" Lady Luck throws her yo-yo in the air and the transformed item falls on her head then into her waiting arms. "I... don't follow." She holds the black, flat, circular object sideways up to the sunlight. "What is this?"

"Maybe it's my sleep deprivation, but I think it's a portal...?"

Lady Luck looks at Karma, "a portal? Why the hell—" Her eyes widen, "the Avatar of Space! But how do we—" Mid-sentence a portal appears underneath Lady Luck's feet and she falls in. Karma gasps, trying to grab her partner but fails as the portal shrinks.

"You know, tell him he's gotta stop doing that!" Karma yells into the portal before it completely dissolves.

✍ .

"I do apologize for the rather... abrupt entry, but Mme. Mite and M. Méfait do not know of our existence and we would prefer to keep it that way." Bovine greets.

Having fallen on her ass out of the portal, Lady Luck gets to her feet and dusts herself off. "How could they know of your existence with you two hiding in the comfort of your own dimension?"

"That is not what we are doing—"

Cosmic Colt, appearing out of nowhere, puts a hand on Bovine's shoulder. The ox squares her shoulders and Cosmic Colt approaches Lady Luck setting down the Miracle Box in front of her, "I have brought you here because you and Karma are unable to defeat the amok before you by yourselves."

Lady Luck folds her arms over her chest. "How do you know that? You haven't exactly given us a chance."

"I based this decision on the amok and your powers. Now, you must pick an ally you can trust to temporarily wield the power of a Miraculous."

"I don't trust anyone."

Bovine purses her lips and Cosmic Colt hums, "I see. It'll be a bit difficult working with someone you don't trust, but you still need to select someone to wield a Miraculous to assist you."

"Wouldn't that be your job? I mean, you have a box of Miraculouses right? Why aren't you out there finding someone to assist us?"

"Lady Luck—" Bovine warns.

"What? Don't like me asking the obvious? What have you two even done beside hide in the shadows from Mite and Méfait hoping not to be detected? Oh, that's right. Lecture Karma and I about how we're not good enough. Yet you do nothing to assist and teach us what we're doing wrong!" Lady Luck brackets her antennas as they begin beeping.

"That's enough!" Bovine shouts.

"No, I've had enough. If I'm doing such a terrible job, take the damn Miraculous back!" Lady Luck rips the earrings off her antennas immediately breaking her transformation. When Tikki shoots out of the right earring shaking her head, the blue-haired teen tosses the earrings at Bovine who catches them with ease. "Feel free to pass them off to the next not good enough thirteen-year-old you see."

"No, the earrings are yours." Cosmic Colt says. "You are the ladybug Miraculous wielder."

Before Bovine could interrupt, Tikki takes the earrings from her hand. "What the hell is wrong with you two? Do you not know how tired my Intended is?"

"We didn't expect Mme. Mite and M. Méfait to set out an akuma then an amok both on the same day—"

"I'm not fucking talking about the damn butterfly or peafowl Miraculous!" Bovine and Cosmic Colt both flinch. "I am talking about you two! And the exhaustion timer you placed on my and Plagg's Miraculouses!"

"Wait. They are the reason for the beeping?"

Tikki nods, "I mentioned the timer before. The exhaustion timer, as its name suggests, is a five-minute timer that cancels the transformation instantly during high detected levels of exhaustion, fatigue, or hunger... for either of us; or in certain scenarios the timer kicks off after the use of one's power, in your case, calling your Lucky Charm."

"Lady Luck and Karma are young. The timer prevents them from burning out or killing themselves due to overusage."

"It beats the olden days." Cosmic Colt adds, "you could only stay transformed for a half an hour a day before you needed recharging."

"This isn't the olden days! This is now! Do you have any idea how dangerous not to mention contradictory it is giving them these timers? You can't throw them headfirst into the fray then devise a shoddy way of 'keeping them safe!' How long do you think it'll take Mite and Méfait to stumble upon the realization they can attack and attack and attack with no resistance?"

"Magic occasionally causes physical and mental strain on the body. It could do serious, not to mention permanent damage if left unchecked. The timer stays."

"Are you lecturing me on the safety of magic!? Of all the smug—" The kwami's eyes glow white as she drops her earrings into The Miracle Box. "You have some raw nerve!" The Miracle Box on the floor begins glowing the same white of Tikki's eyes. "I have never allowed my Intended to go through more than they could bear—" Her voice echoes, "—and I have no intention of changing that! If you won't remove the timer, I'll remove you from the equation." In a brilliant red flash, The Miracle Box changes shape, transforming into a daruma doll that immediately flies into Kagami's hands.

"What's going on?"

"I'm giving you the box to watch over. That is... if you wish to continue being my chosen and wielding the ladybug Miraculous. And for the record, you're a good ladybug."

Kagami holds the daruma doll closer to her body, "thank you. I-yes. I will continue wielding your Miraculous, Tikki. As long as you'll allow me."

"What do you hope to accomplish changing ownership of The Miracle Box to Lady Luck?" Cosmic Colt asks. "She hardly has understanding of her Miraculous, let alone any others. You are making a mistake, Tikki."

Tikki's eyes stop glowing. "Hardly. The only mistake I'm making is allowing you two to keep your Miraculouses. Had you even thought to consider what would happen if the timer locks my Intended or Karma out of their transformation during the middle of a battle? What then?" Cosmic Colt and Bovine share am uneasy glance. "This is my only warning to you: the next time you do anything to jeopardize or even inconvenience my Chosen or Plagg's, you will understand first-hand why you were warned never to cross the kwami of creation."

Tikki flies over to Kagami affectionately nudging her left cheek as she apologizes. In Kagami's hands, the daruma doll opens and she looks inside. Tikki plucks the earrings from their spot and puts them back in Kagami's ears. The set-up is completely different, each Miraculous is hanging in rows, and the hooks they are suspended on are the colors of the squares of the old box. Also, the Miraculouses have all changed color. "How will we deactivate the timer on Karma's Miraculous?"

"The only way to do that is to have Plagg place his Miraculous in the Miracle Box."

Kagami nods, "I'll let her know. Was Cosmic Colt right about Karma and my powers not being enough for this amok?"

"Yes and no. Under normal circumstances you two could, but I wouldn't risk prolonging any fights in your current state. A temporary newcomer might help."

Kagami nods then picks up the bronze panjas bracelet on the maroon hook, "the power of earth could help subdue the... gelatinous monster?"

Tikki shrugs, "it's worth a shot." Eyes narrowing, she turns to Cosmic Colt and Bovine, "you will release us from your dimension if you still intend on keeping your Miraculouses."

Frowning, Cosmic Colt waves a hand and a portal appears. "Regardless of what you think, we only have their best interests at heart."

"Spare me." Tikki snaps. "Place your Miracle Box on the floor so it doesn't get swept up in the transformation. Once you transform, place it in your yo-yo."

Kagami nods, "understood. Spots on, Tikki." After the transformation is complete, Lady Luck picks up the daruma doll then unlatches her yo-yo. In a flash of pink the daruma doll disappears.

"I meant what I said, Lady Luck. Our methods are ...unorthodox in your kwami's eyes but we are trying our damnedest to keep you and Karma safe."

Lady Luck spares Cosmic Colt a glance before walking into the portal.

✍ .

Lady Luck lands on her feet as the portal dematerializes behind her, near the school but not in front of it or on its roof. "Lady Luck!" She turns to a tiny pink-haired teen looking around as she approaches, "where did you just... appear from and where's Karma?"

Lady Luck looks around, the streets are empty except for the two of them. "I left Karma on the François Düpont roof but with that creature attempting to swallow the building I don't know where she is." She pulls the panjas bracelet out of her yo-yo holding it toward the pink-haired teen. "As you are the only individual I see before me I require your assistance. This is the Miraculous of the tiger, it grants control over the element of earth. Can I count on you to use this Miraculous to help me and Karma defeat this gelatin monster?"

"Y-You...? You want me to—Oh hell yes! Hell fucking yes! I'm all over it!" With a smile, Lady Luck gives the girl the bracelet.

"One more thing. Once the akuma is defeated, you must return the Miraculous to me."

"That sucks... but I get it. I do. Mite and Méfait are gonna want it too." The pink-haired teen nods. "Alright. I swear I'll give it back to you." She adjusts the black hat on her head. As she puts the bracelet on her left wrist and fingers, a maroon striped tiger swirls into existence. They blink then shake their entire body.

"Okay—" They yawn loudly cutting themselves off, "whew. Sorry. First time out of the box in a while always leaves us sleepy and a bit sore." The kwami clears their throat, "I—" They do a double-take at the teen in front of them then turn to Lady Luck before turning back to the teen. "Oh. I... hello there. I am Roaar, kwami of earth manipulation." They incline their head and the teen does the same. "If we are to be working together, you need to say 'Roaar, rock on' to transform and 'Roaar, roll out.'"

"Right. Roaar, rock on!" The tiger flies into the bottom part of the bracelet.

✍ .

Lady Luck dropped in the portal approximately five minutes ago. Karma spent that time dodging the blob's attacks. Thankfully it was slow. She had to figure out just how to free professeur Mendeleiev from the blob. Her baton got stuck in the goo twice. The woman didn't appear to be suffocating, just... massively uncomfortable in her gelatin prison.

She was standing on a building close enough to François Düpont so she could keep track of the akuma. It kept going to the school then circling the block. Thankfully, it hadn't found Garden Terrace.

Lady Luck gracefully lands on Karma's left and the feline hero feels another presence land on her right. Karma eyes the other cat – a maroon, striped one – inclining their head toward her. Unlike herself and Lady Luck, the tiger's mask is more like a half helmet or cowl covering the entire top half of their face with a pair of giant cat (or tiger) ears on their head. "A purr-easure." They greet. "Huge fan. You can call me Scourge." Karma tilts her head to the right and "Scourge" gestures to the thorned whip rolled up over their left shoulder.

"Ah." Karma nods slowly, "a pun. I'm not awake enough for this."

"Clever." Lady Luck muses, "though most may not get it."

"Uh... where did they come from anyhow? The Avatar of Space?"

Lady Luck scowls, "yes and no." Karma tilts her head to the right, "it's complicated. I will fill you in once the akuma is defeated and we're rested."

"Got it."

"Wait. 'Got it?' That's it? Just like that?"

"Yeah. Why not? I totally trust you." Lady Luck pauses then her left eye twitches as she nods slowly. "So what' the game plan anyhow, Double L? Because I got nothing."

"My plan is to solidify the akuma." Karma and Scourge stare at her. "What?"

"That's not a plan, Lady Luck. That's more of a goal." Scourge says.

"Uh... alright then. Allow me to rephrase. Our objective is to solidify the akuma." Scourge looks at Karma who shrugs. "Wait. Why did I say akuma? It's an amok."

"An a—oh." Karma rolls her eyes, "like that damn transforming blue thing we fought at Le Grand Paris?" Lady Luck nods, "...but the blob's not blue?"

"Perhaps, like akumas, amoks can change color as well?" Karma sighs heavily. "Scourge, you're the only one who can solidify the akuma. You control earth... dirt, grass—things like that. I'll get you close enough to the amok to do your thing. Karma, you stay on the ground."

Karma nods, "understood."

Lady Luck unlatches her yo-yo then begins spinning it, "hold on." Nodding, Scourge grabs onto Lady Luck's waist then they swing off.

"Don't worry about me. I'll catch up. Just gotta hoof it." Karma unlatches her baton using it to get off the roof.

"What are you even doing?" The blob turns to Lady Luck and Scourge as they land on the roof. "You're just... slithering here. Oh. Whoa. Uh, Lady Luck...? This thing's got no face."

"Right. Amoks are personifications of dispositions through inanimate objects. It wouldn't need to imitate a person's likeness."

"Yeah... I—" Scourge rubs the back of her neck, ears twitching with the motion, "uh... I only understood the last bit of all that. Could you maybe use shorter words?"

"O-Oh. Sorry. I'll try. You know how akumas fly into a thing on someones' person afflicting... the person?" Scourge nods, "amoks are indirect. They land in something someone is holding, similar to an akuma, however amoks possess the object rather than the person holding the object. Still with me?" Scourge nods again, "usually, akumas do not increase in size. At least none that we've faced. Ergo, this... creature is an amok."

"Which means we got someone nearby pulling the strings, right?"

"Right."

The peafowl mask outline appears over where your face typically is, but just the top part of the blob, "w-what are you?!"

"You're worst nightmare!" The panjas bracelet's activated form is a pink gauntlet that had no match. Lady Luck just realized neither Cosmic Colt nor Bovine told them how to use the other Miraculous' abilities; they merely told them what said abilities were. Now that she has the Miracle Box she can find out for herself. The color scheme of the gauntlet matches the pink stripes on Scourge's body.

The tiger Miraculous user jumps at the amok before Lady Luck can stop her. Unsurprisingly, she gets stuck on the amok on contact. Lady Luck facepalms.

"Don't worry Double L, I got this! All part of the plan. Let there be rock!" Scourge's whip straightens. The thorns harden turning into miniature rocks, "now whip it good." She stabs her whip into the akuma. There's a loud gurgling noise before the amok cries out in pain and some gelatin begins leaking out of it.

"Eww." Karma says after pole vaulting onto the roof. "I—what the?"

Lady Luck turns to the tiny robot hovering around them, "what the hell is that?"

"Greetings Lady Luck." The robot inclines its head, "greetings Karma. I am Markov. I'm recording you live for the Luckyblog in Alya Césaire's absence."

"What's wrong with her?"

"Nothing." Markov's screen—uh face—cuts out briefly and Alya has her arms folded over her chest glowering at the camera.

Upon seeing Lady Luck and Karma her face brightens significantly. "Hi!" She says waving. "I was trying to record when someone sent their goon after me."

"I will not apologize for thinking of your safety." Alya rolls her eyes.

"I'm always safe."

"You were grabbed by Proteus." Alya groans. "You got swept up in Monsieur Pigeon's attack. You were present during Mirror Image's attack. Then there was the very first amok attack in which you were targeted—"

"None of those were my fault! Geez, I swear you're as bad as my sister."

"Based on the akuma's abilities, I figured it impossible for you to safely get good footage without being inside the akuma."

"I would've found a way." Alya grumbles.

"Look. Maybe you two can hash out the details later? We have an amok to—" There's a loud drilling noise before the amok explodes.

"Holy shit!" Karma exclaims jumping off the roof.

Lady Luck almost immediately jumps after Karma and Markov follows.

Pieces of the amok are all over the school and city block. "That was awesome, right?" Scourge says doing a little dance.

Lady Luck looks around. The amok is obviously going to reconfigure around what possessed them. "Did you notice anything out of the ordinary?"

"Aside from that?" Scourge jerks a thumb backward. The burgundy-haired professeur gets to her feet and puts a hand on her head.

"Madame Professeur, is there anything you saw that could clue us in to what caused the amok in the first place?" Karma asks.

"I told a student of mine not to eat in class." The professeur groans out. "The akuma must've merged with the cutlery."

"Get to safety." Scourge giggles, "I've always wanted to say that. But seriously, go somewhere the blob can't fit. Oh and it's an amok, not an akuma." Nodding, the professeur hobbles along.

The robot beeps beside Karma. "This is an amok. Collecting data. Air quality has decreased by 17.2%."

"Wait, what?"

"The air quality decreases during akuma and amok attacks."

Karma hums, "good to know."

"Lucky Charm!" Lady Luck tosses her yo-yo in the air and after the signature transformation flash, a pair of chopsticks drop into her hands, "well..." Tikki told her the Lucky Charm was incredibly unpredictable. Even she didn't know how to fully control it. She claimed it was prophetic which was why it always seemed to give her stuff that made no sense at first (or second) glance.

"Analyzing. A pair of polkadotted chopsticks."

The only thing her "Miracle Vision" is lighting up is Karma. Or, to be more accurate, Karma's gloved hands. Lady Luck stares at the chopsticks. "Chopsticks? That's a weird one." Lady Luck wordlessly offers the chopsticks to her partner, "wait, you're giving these to me?"

"It's what my Miracle Vision is telling me to do."

Karma hums feeling along the chopsticks. "Can't doubt the 'Miracle Vision.' These are an exact, well... polkadotted replica of the Bbone series Chinese chopsticks." She expertly twirls them between her pointer and middle finger, "I can work with these."

"You held them for two seconds. How do you know what kind of chopsticks they are?"

"I have a pair of these at home. In slightly worse condition. I've been using chopsticks since I was old enough to hold things." As the amok begins reforming, Lady Luck's Miracle Vision activates. A pair of chopsticks in the amok's arm begin to glow.

"Karma, the amok is in the chopsticks along the left arm. Scourge, she's gonna need some cover."

"I'm all over it, Boss Lady!"

Karma tosses her baton to Lady Luck who nearly misses catching it, "you'll need to defend yourself too." Before Lady Luck can comment, Karma dashes off.

Scourge spins her whip along the ground as she walks, "earth style: terraforming~" Lady Luck gives her a confused stare, "what? Who says we can't have a little fun with this gig, huh?" That... was a very Bunnyx statement. Scourge's spinning rips up the concrete, the whips touch, then she grabs the concrete with her whip tossing them in front of her. Karma uses the distraction of the street hitting the amok, to get close enough to the amok's unguarded left arm grabbing the chopsticks from within the goo only using the chopsticks in her hand. The amok's severed gelatinous hand begins battling Karma for the chopsticks. No, no... not for the chopsticks. With the chopsticks. The chopsticks inside the amok and Karma's are quickly hand-fighting.

"Wow."

Scourge sighs lovingly, "she is such a badass." She gushes.

"She really is."

When Karma knocks one of the chopsticks out of the goo, the akuma's other hand grabs Karma.

"Hey!" Scourge yells, "that's cheating!"

The amok fully reforms with Karma now inside it. And to make matters worse, it grabs the other chopstick before Scourge or Lady Luck can. The peafowl mask outline appears over where the blob's face would be.

"Uh... Lady Luck? I really hope you have a plan?"

Lady Luck smirks, "we do."

Scourge takes a step back as the gelatin turns black then disintegrates. From the broken chopsticks on the floor, the blue feather floats out. Karma catches the kid that appears out of nowhere, then tosses the now yo-yo to Lady Luck who uses its net form to scoop up the feather.

Scourge sighs, "this is exhausting. I don't know how you two do it. Also... where did that kid come from?"

"They were in the blob. In a container!"

"My stomach..." The kid groans, "I'm so sorry. Professeur Mendeleiev was right about eating in class." They hold up a hand, "I'll be okay. Just... gotta get some antacid. I think being in that gelatin gave me indigestion."

"That's a cruel irony." The kid nods as they walk away groaning.

"Did we just do a totally amazing good job? Because it sure feels like we did!" Scourge pulls Lady Luck and Karma in for a group hug.

"Karma, can we meet up at the Tour Montparnasse tonight, if possible?"

"Not a problem. Eight sound good?" Lady Luck nods, "I'll bring the snacks."

"Ooh. Snacks and a Tour Montparnasse picnic? I'm there."

Lady Luck puts both hands on Scourge's shoulders, "sorry, that invitation wasn't for you." Scourge blows a raspberry. "Let's go. See you tonight, Karma."

"I'm a huge fan!" Scourge shouts, "Scourge out." Lady Luck looks at her. "I'm thinking of catchphrases?" Lady Luck shakes her head as she escorts the tiger away.

✍ .

Karma blinks, dumbfounded, at Lady Luck as the two of them sit on the roof of Tour Montparnasse, "you're kwami just snapped and snatched the Miracle Box from Cosmic Colt and Bovine?" Lady Luck nods taking a bite of her cherry danish. The daruma doll Miracle Box is nestled between them, beside Karma's bag of pâtissèries. "Wish I would've seen it."

"She was fed up with their passiveness." Lady Luck states around her mouthful, "I apologize." She says swallowing her food, "I was raised better than this but this... this is one of the best things I've ever eaten." She takes another large bite.

"Get out. Seriously? Wow." Karma rubs the back of her neck, "thanks. Plagg and I made it." Lady Luck turns to her partner mid-chew, "Plagg wanted a 2:30am snack and I couldn't sleep so we got to the kitchen. Had I known there'd be a damn 5am akuma attack I would've tried sleeping."

"This is—You're incredible!" Lady Luck says in-between bites.

"Nah. It's nothing special. I was raised around pâtissèries, it'd be shameful if I couldn't make my own." Lady Luck nods finishing off the rest of her pâtissèrie. "So... if you have the Miracle Box now, does that mean you get to choose who we work with? Did you choose Scourge?"

"Scourge was the only person in the area when I came out of Cosmic Colt's portal." Karma nods with a hum, "and I suppose it'll be the two of us that do the selecting. Just because the box is in my possession doesn't mean your input isn't as important. Oh! Speaking of which, your kwami will need to place your Miraculous into the Miracle Box so Tikki can cancel the exhaustion timer."

"Plagg—"

"Wait! Don't just drop your transformation on one of the tallest buildings in the city!"

"Not like anyone can see us."

"We may think that then Mite and Méfait strike."

"If they were that smart they'd have akumas or amoks hiding in the shadows following us around so they could take our Miraculouses when we're unaware." Lady Luck pauses then turns to Karma who shrugs with one shoulder.

"Be that as it may, we can't take chances. Cosmic Colt and Bovine weren't much help before and I doubt that'll change with them no longer having the Miracle Box to lord over us."

"What did your kwami do to them?"

"Nothing. They still have their Miraculouses."

"Okay. What if we need a power-up or something? We never got the ones we were supposed to get from Bovine."

Lady Luck puts a hand on Karma's shoulder, "it'll be alright. Although I'd strongly advise against it, given Tikki's warning, with their abilities they probably still could 'portal in' and give us power-ups should we need them." Karma nods, "not that I know what Bovine does. Anyway, doesn't matter, we'll figure this out together." Karma nods again, "have your kwami meet us at Hyatt Regency Paris Étoile at dawn."

"Is that sun up or sun down?"

"Sun up."

"Got it. About the other Miraculouses...? Should we start compiling a list of prospects? We need people who can keep this a secret, right? Though if I'm being completely honest I'm not even sure how I managed to keep this a secret as long as I have. As you've probably realized, I happen to be quite the chatterbox."

Lady Luck smiles at her, "I'd say you're more of a conversationalist, which isn't a bad thing, and I find your rambling quite endearing."

Karma's eyes widen, "y-you do?!" She fans herself off with her other hand, "whew. The weather channel said something about a heat wave, right? And heat rises. And we are pretty high up. Should've brought water or something." Lady Luck chuckles leaning against Karma. Her partner freezes momentarily before relaxing against her... then she begins to purr. It's a quiet vibration she's certain her partner doesn't even realize she's doing.

Okay, she definitely needs to look up ladybug behavior patterns if the side effects are already ...in effect. The last thing she needs is to be ...doing whatever ladybugs do, out in public. Though this little detail only adds to how adorable Karma already is. Lady Luck feels the breeze Karma's tail is creating by thumping against the building.

✍ .

Wed, Oct 14th, 2020

"Hey, hey my lovely luckies! It is I, your lovable local luckyblogger, Alya Césaire, here with an exclusive live inter-vlog. Before I get into it, however, I have to address all the questions about just what that tiny purplish blip Markov managed to catch on camera during Monday's amok attack. Unfortunately, and I'm disappointed in myself too, I have no information at this time about whatever that was. Friendly? Enemy? There wasn't a clear shot. But—! Fear not luckies, you know that when Alya gets the scoop the luckyblog gets the scoop. Now, back to today—" The orange-haired teen pans the camera out, "who am I inter-vlogging, you may be wondering? It's this guy! Amateur sculpture-r—"

"Sculptor." The man interrupts.

"—Théo Barbero—"

"That's Barbeau." The brunet corrects as the camera pans out showing his face.

"Look dude, I'm sorry I'm getting this stuff wrong but if you keep interrupting me we won't get to the reason why I'm interviewing you." The brunet frowns, "anyway this is... this guy and well, what do you have for the viewers out there?"

The man clears his throat, "a-as a sculptor and die-hard fan, I figured I'd share my talents with my fellow Parisians to show appreciation for our heroes." He beckons Alya to follow to a large brown sheet. Taking in some of his other sculptures along the way. "Behold!" He makes his own drum roll noise then pulls the sheet off the item on top of a desk. "Ta-dah!"

Alya focuses her camera on the hardened clay sculpture of a catgirl standing, poised to attack, brandishing a pair of sticks. The orange-haired teen goes around twice, examining the sculpture from head to toe using the stepping stool Théo provided to get a closer look. Once she's finished, Alya steps back with a neutral expression. "What is this?"

"W-What?! 'What is this?' This is Karma. I made a sculpture of Karma!"

"Truly? Are you serious?"

"W-What!? What kind of question is that? Of course I'm serious!"

Alya laughs, "oh no. Man." She shakes her head. "I asked because there's no way you're serious! As the city's number one source of Lady Luck and Karma content—something this 'Karmic' blog that's been floating around is gonna find out soon enough—" Théo's left eye twitches but it goes unnoticed by Alya, "—I know almost all about the duo that's worth sharing to the public without risking anyone figuring out their identities. I gotta say flat out..." She clicks her tongue, gesturing at the sculpture, "my dude, this ain't Karma."

"What!? Are you kidding!? I've been working on this for three weeks! Who do you think it's supposed to be then?!"

"That's a good question."

"I—"

Théo flinches as Alya holds up her left pointer finger close to his face, "you don't get to speak. You listen. To begin with, you put way too much emphasis on the bust."

"I sculpted it from memory!"

"You..." Alya pauses, "...sculpted Karma's bust, from memory?" She deadpans.

Théo sputters, "I sculpted the hero from memory!"

"Dude! Like f-fuh—ell you did! I've been around Lady Luck and Karma, and I know bra cup sizes. Sports and regular. You deliberately made the bust of 'Karma' at least three full sizes bigger than it really is!"

"N—"

"And another thing! Why did you make her so short? Karma is at least 170 centimetres tall! Your statue is even shorter than Lady Luck! I-I—I just—!" Alya growls, jostling the camera in her hands. "This—This—! I swear I don't have accurate words to describe this! You didn't sculpt sh—crap from memory, man! Her ears aren't even in the right spot! Her tail is bushy not all straight and curly like you made it! Her nails are supposed to be elongated but also curl inward, like her incisors! But you didn't even give her fangs. Her batons also have a subtle grid dot pattern in them. Why is her catsuit zipper so low down? And where's her bell? This—What you've created is a fantasy fanservice sculpture of how you want Karma to look! I can't believe I wasted my damn time and phone memory on this garbage! This 'exclusive' inter-vlog is done!" Alya grumbles shaking her head.

"Hey! Now, wait just a damn minute—" Théo grabs one of Alya's arms.

"You're gonna let go of my sister if you favor keeping your limbs intact." The brunet instantly complies as Nora Césaire aka Anansi stares Théo down from the doorway of the studio (and how did he not notice a professional kickboxer just casually standing in his studio!?). The kickboxer continues to stare—glare—at him until she and her sister leave the studio.

Théo slumps to the floor balling up his fists, "t-that brat!' He snarls, "first she mocks my Karma blog then she... she embarrasses me live and ruins my one chance to meet Karma in the flesh with the sculpture I made in her likeness!" With his eyes closed as he sighs heavily, Théo doesn't notice the akuma fly into his sculpting tool.

"Monsieur Misery," The butterfly mask outline appears over Théo's face, "that pesky 'lucky'blogger thinks she knows everything there is to know about Lady Luck and Karma? Why don't you prove her wrong?"

"She's nowhere near as devoted to Karma as I am! No one is as devoted to Karma as I am! This city doesn't deserve Karma and I'm going to show them why!" Théo's eyes snap open and he lifts his head as the purple ooze overtakes his body.

✍ .

François Düpont didn't have classes on Wednesday, and Kagami didn't wake up early if she had no reason to so she and Tikki were enjoying some much needed sleep when the building shakes throwing them both out of bed. "What the hell!?" Tikki exclaims flying over to the window.

As of yesterday, Kagami Tsurugi has officially enrolled in collège François Düpont. Principal Damocles, all the while shooting terrified glances at her mother, gave them the tour of the school.

Her mother didn't seem pleased about Kagami's choice of schooling but like she said she would, she didn't comment on it.

Mme. Brüel happened to find them an apartment in the twenty-first arrondissement, making Kagami's commute to school in the ten minutes or less category. There was also a park and the boulangerie pâtissèrie where she and Karma took on their first akuma, nearby.

"Wait, what the hell?!" Tikki flies back over to Kagami, tugging her arm in the window's direction. With a yawn, Kagami gets off the floor and approaches the window right as Lady Luck swings past.

Wait, what?!

"What the hell?" Kagami puts in her hearing aids Tikki hands her, "am I hallucinating or did I just see me go by?"

"Not unless we're both hallucinating. That was definitely Lady Luck that swung by. Gotta be an akuma but... why? Why would anyone wanna be an akuma of you?"

"I don't know. I haven't done anything to anyone recently."

They both look at each other, "the luckyblog!" They exclaim pointing at each other. Tikki grabs the phone then flies back over to Kagami opening the luckyblog app. Yesterday a "magical disruption" alert was added to the app. Despite her issue with the blog's namesake, the blogger's heart is genuine and in the right place. The blog has become a trusted source of information when it came to pinpointing akumas and amoks, and even just petty crimes she and Karma could stop. If it wasn't the blogger on the job her robot partner-in-detecting-crime was right there. It's like having another two teammates to rely on.

Tikki presses play on the most recent video. "Hey hey my lovely luckies!" Alya begins, cheerfully enough but soon after from watching the whole broadcast her disposition becomes less and less cheerful.

"Her bust was all wrong." Tikki stares at her and Kagami clears her throat with a cough into her fist, "not my fault they're sort of near my eye level." Tikki hums, unconvinced no doubt. "And... just everything about that sculpture was—" Kagami shakes her head, "off."

"But wait a minute... if he got akumatized into you—" They gasp staring at each other.

"He wants to replace Lady Luck and work with Karma!" They exclaim. Huh. Reading one another's thoughts was not one of the "side effects" Tikki mentioned being a possibility. Nevertheless, they need to do something about this creep.

"C'mon Tikki, we need to put a stop to this." Tikki nods, "I just hope I don't have to end up fighting Karma proving I'm the real Lady Luck."

"Trust in your partner, I'm sure she'll be able to spot the differences."

"We'll see. Spots on, Tikki."

✍ .

Alya's in the library with her hands behind her head, leaning back in the chair when the door suddenly flies open sending her flailing backwards. Nora catches the chair with ease before Alya can hit the ground. "Good catch. Thanks."

"It's what I'm here for."

People squealing and whipping out their phones has Alya leaning forward in her chair to see Lady Luck enter the library. Alya's eyes narrow as Lady Luck looks around.

"Everyone evacuate the premises, there's an akuma after the luckyblogger." The people in the library quickly begin gathering their stuff with hushed whispers.

"I told you not to go around calling yourself that." Nora growls picking Alya up and hauling her over her shoulder. "Let's go."

Alya flails, "wait, wait! I have to tell you something important!"

Nora exhales deeply then turns Alya around, faces her frontward and puts her on her other shoulder, "it better be good."

"That's not Lady Luck." Alya whispers. Nora stares at her strangely, "trust me on this one. I have footage as proof. Lady Luck has never called me 'luckyblogger,' she—"

"—Always calls you Mlle. Blogger." Nora whispers back, "she ripped you a new one for naming the blog only after her." Nora's eyes narrow, "we can't let the fake know we know she's a fake. Get your camera ready."

Alya takes her phone out of her pocket; fortunately, she was able to reach it. "What are we gonna do?"

Nora cracks her knuckles, "relax. I got this." Alya angles her phone slightly as they make their way over to the Lady Luck copy, "thanks for the heads up, Lady Luck!" The impostor nods, "what should we be on the lookout for?"

Before the copy could reply Alya and Nora hear the all-too familiar whir of Lady Luck's yo-yo and the cord wraps itself around the copy's waist. The copy screams and is yanked toward the real Lady Luck near the library's entrance.

"It's the akuma!" The copy yells trying to wriggle free.

"The akuma... is Lady Luck?" A spectator asks.

"But which is which?" Asks another.

"What should we do!?"

"Mlle. Luckyblogger, which is the real Lady Luck?"

"I am!" Both Lady Luck's shout.

The Lady Luck by the exit pulls the copy toward her by the yo-yo string. When the copy somehow manages to unravel themselves, the two Lady Lucks grapple each other's shoulders. Unbeknownst to everyone, the butterfly mask outline shines on the akuma as they scramble to find purchase on each other. "You don't deserve Karma!" They hiss lowly so only the other Lady Luck can hear then the outline disappears.

They both jump back and start spinning their yo-yos.

"You're pathetic." The Lady Luck further into the library says.

"Talk is cheap."

It's no surprise, the two Lady Lucks are evenly matched. Trading blow for blow and block for block. Alya can't tell which is which like this. But maybe... she doesn't need to. "Lady Luck, the akuma is that sculptor from my inter-vlog!"

One of the Lady Luck's stop and deflect the yo-yo from hitting their face, "you're certain?" Alya nods, "that confirms my suspicion. After all, he had to be so thoroughly embarrassed claiming that sculpture was Karma."

Alya gasps. "You saw the inter-vlog?"

Nora groans. "Now isn't the time to gush, Als."

"Why would the sculptor be embarrassed? Considering how proudly he defended his 'sculpture?' If there was any embarrassment, it was at being called out."

Alya points at the Lady Luck further in the library, "that's the real Lady Luck!" The crowd gasps.

"Lucky Charm!" Both Lady Lucks call out simultaneously and even Alya scratches her head in confusion when they both get a polkadotted laser pointer. A cat toy. Wait, where is Karma? Before Alya can question it further, the Lady Lucks run at each other, chucking their laser pointers aside and fist fighting.

There's no way Alya can tell them apart like this.

The library door bursts open and Karma barrel rolls inside chucking her baton into the floor causing the Lady Lucks to separate before it can hit them. "Time out!" Karma clutches her other baton in her hands. "Two Lady Lucks and not one of you communicated with me?"

"I didn't want you getting involved." The Lady Luck on the left says. Alya zooms in her camera in time to see Karma's pupils thin as she bares her fangs.

"I was on my way to call you when the impostor grabbed me."

"Really? And just how were you planning on 'communicating' with Karma?"

The impostor falters briefly before regaining their composure, "with our communicators, of course." The other real Lady Luck rolls her eyes.

Karma's grip on her baton tightens, "Karma, the akuma has to be the sculptor I inter-vlogged earlier! He made a sculpture of 'you' that was all wrong."

"Inter-vlog? Sculpture? I-I didn't check the luckyblog today." Karma shakes her head, "all I saw was the akuma alert, but I guess that's not important. What is important is figuring out which of you is masquerading as my partner and which of you is the real deal."

"I believe in you Karma, I know you'll figure it out." Both Lady Lucks exclaim.

Karma looks between the two Lady Lucks. On the surface, everything looks identical. But Karma knows her partner, at least she hopes she knows her partner. "Quiz time!" Both Lady Lucks blink at her, "pooling all my duplicate hero scenarios from television, the only way to figure this out is to ask both of you a series of questions only the real Lady Luck will know."

The Lady Lucks look at each other. "You can't believe that would work, do you?" The one on the right asks. "If you ask anything too personal it'll give Mme. Mite and M. Méfait information they don't already have and if you ask anything vague, the copy would know the answer."

Karma nods to herself, "true, true. So I have a grey area to operate from."

"I have a more proactive idea." One of the Lady Lucks picks up her laser pointer and points the light on the floor in front of Karma then moves it upward toward Karma. Karma's eyes widen and her ears start twitching.

The other Lady Luck tackles the first one, "no! What are you doing? How could you attack your own partner!?"

"'Attack?' With a laser pointer?" The Lady Luck on top gasps before they're picked up by their waist and tossed off the other Lady Luck. Karma sighs helping Lady Luck up, "thanks."

"Any time."

"Wait!" Alya yells, "h-how did you know that was the real Lady Luck?"

"Because the duplicate would be trying too hard to act like the real thing, I knew the real Lady Luck would act in a way that would throw the copy off."

Alya whistles, "wow. That's genius!"

Both laser pointers return to yo-yo form. "also, Lady Luck doesn't add the titles to Méfait and Mite's names. Was not expecting the laser pointer though."

"I-I'll tell you about it later."

The akuma gets up, swinging their yo-yo – the butterfly mask outline appearing over their mask. "I would've been the perfect partner for you, Karma!"

"Dream on, Dude. I got my perfect partner."

"Lucky Charm!" The akuma screams. Karma and Lady Luck's jaws drop when a scythe lands in the akuma's hands. "All I have to do is eliminate the opposition to be the only Lady Luck Paris needs!"

"With that deluded attitude?" The partners exchange a glance, "do you even think Mite would let you keep this form?"

"If I give her your Miraculous, naturally."

Lady Luck chuckles, "right. Give her my Miraculous but not Karma's? Allow me to show you why you'll fail, M. Sculptor. Lucky Charm!" Lady Luck tosses her yo-yo in the air and it transforms then falls into her hands, "wait... what?" Lady Luck stares at boxing gloves in her hands. She quickly looks around before putting the boxing gloves on. No rigmarole this time around? The Lucky Charm must be fed up with this impostor too. Lady Luck rushes at the akuma and a chain shoots out from the bottom of the scythe wrapping Karma.

"What the hell? Hey, what are you doing?"

"Keeping you safe. Unlike your so called 'perfect' partner, I have no interest in harming Karma." The akuma clutches their scythe, "you on the other hand, 'Lady Luck.' You I'll take great pleasure in harming!" They bring the scythe down vertically and Lady Luck narrowly dodges but before she can swing, the akuma brings the scythe's stick up to block the punch.

Karma falls on her butt and starts to wriggle around in her bindings, "this is just craptacular..." She groans. Her claws aren't near the chains so she can't break free with her nails. Karma gasps as she looks at the baton that's still wedged in the floor. With the akuma having their hands full, trying not to get hit by Lady Luck, Karma slowly inches over to her discarded baton. She dropped her other baton when the chains wrapped around her body.

Karma wiggles her way to the baton then presses the button to join them together, the other baton levitates off the ground and flies right into Karma, hitting her in the stomach.

When the akuma turns in Karma's direction just a bit, Lady Luck uppercuts them. Before they can recover, she grabs the akuma by the collar. "N-Not the face!" Lady Luck draws her left arm back as far as she can before punching the akuma in the face. Repeatedly.

When the Lady Luck copy loses consciousness, the akuma flies out of their right arm. The transformed object being a sculpting tool.

The boxing gloves revert back into the yo-yo just as Lady Luck drops the sculptor.

The chains disappear and Karma springs to her feet. Karma makes her way over to Lady Luck. "Feel better?"

"Hm?"

"Getting knocking the hell out of that guy out of your system, I mean."

"I was trying to get the akuma out."

"Right." Karma elbows her partner with a laugh.

"I—thank you, Karma."

"What did I do?"

"I was skeptical about the entire ordeal. I felt like alerting you beforehand would do the opposite effect, and the fact that you immediately clued into what I was planning... I didn't think you would so quickly." Lady Luck sighs, "I... what I'm trying to say is I'm sorry for not trusting you."

"Don't worry about—"

Lady Luck shakes her head, "you trusted me, implicitly, even when you had no reason to. Knew what I was planning without getting a heads up. Meanwhile, I was waffling, hoping I didn't have to fight you hand-to-hand to prove myself. I'm sorry it's taken me so long to trust you."

"Don't sweat it, Double L. If anything, I trust too easily, you were right to be wary."

"Such a beautiful partnership!" Alya cries, now standing next to Nora instead of on her shoulder.

"Guess I should clean up this mess. Miraculous cure!"

✍ .

Thurs, Oct 15th, 2020

Alya enters the classroom and is met with applause. She anticipated something along the lines of this.

"I can't believe you scored the first ever live interview with Lady Luck and Karma!" Rose squeals as Alya takes her seat, "I can't wait to watch!"

"If you need a location you should do it at Le Grand Paris. My suite. I'll provide refreshments."

"That's... sweet of you to offer, Chloé."

"I'd do anything for Lady Luck."

"I hope you're not just doing this just to get in Lady Luck's good graces."

The blonde turns around in her seat, glaring, "something you wanna say to me, Lê Chiên?"

"What I wanna say is throw in all the 'refreshments' and semi-private locations you can, there's no way Lady Luck is interested in you."

"Oh? And I suppose she'd be more into a neanderthal like you?"

"You can't even spell neanderthal!"

"Neither can you! Lady Luck is my future wife so back the hell off."

"If anyone is gonna marry Lady Luck, it's gonna be me."

"Is that right? I can buy her whatever her heart desires, and I'm prettier than you. Therefore I am obviously the better selection. Check and mate."

"Hey! I'm hella pretty! Aren't I, Alix?"

The pink-haired teen rolls her eyes, "oh yeah, a regular pageant queen."

"I know you're being sarcastic but it was still good to hear." Alix rolls her eyes again. "And back to you, Bourgeois, Lady Luck isn't some doll you can throw your money at. She's a badass and should be treated as such."

"Statistically speaking..." Max begins, "nuptials between superheroes and civilians rarely work out." He states.

"Less than 3% last more than three months!" Markov adds (oddly cheerful).

"Our love will defy the odds!" Kim and Chloé exclaim before glaring at each other.

"Lady Luck has held me in her wonderfully sculpted arms twice, how many times has she held you?" Kim's right eye twitches.

"What about Karma?" Alya gasps, "whoa! Déjà vu. I... I get why she was so pissed now! You guys are talking about marrying Lady Luck, what about marrying Karma?"

"Oh. I thought you were gonna say Lady Luck and Karma 'belong together' or something like that. Not that they do. They strictly have a 'work friends' vibe going on between them."

"What does that even mean?!" Kim exclaims.

"It means they only engage each other during akuma or amok attacks."

Chloé points to Max nodding, "that. Karma isn't good enough for Lady Luck and I'm too exceptional to marry someone like Karma. Someone second place to Lady Luck."

Alix growls, "like hell Karma is second place to anyone! She's an all-around badass! You think Lady Luck could've figured out a duplicate Karma as fast as Karma figured out the real Lady Luck?"

"She not only could, she'd do it faster! And besides, Alya figured it out faster than anyone!"

"We're not talking about how awesome Alya was, we're talking about Lady Luck and Karma! I want whatever you've been huffing to make you as damn delusional as you are, Blondie. You think you're too good for Karma? Ha! Karma's too good for you, as is Lady Luck! You got no chance with either of them – especially Lady Luck – even if you were a superhero your damn self."

"I have a better chance with Lady Luck than anyone in this class, especially you!"

Alix snorts, "I don't want Lady Luck."

"You don't—" Chloé laughs loudly, "how could you not? I want whatever you're huffing to make you so damn delusional. Everyone has a superhero crush—" She pauses, "maybe Karma's more your speed, not that even she'd be into you. Not that anyone would lower their standards to your level."

"Yet they'd lower theirs for you?"

"What's your beef with Karma, Chloé?" Alya asks.

"I can't stand her." The class collectively gasps. Meanwhile, Marinette – next to Chloé – starts coughing and Alix, behind the blue-haired teen, pats her on the back. "Do you mind, Dupain-Cheng? Sheesh!" She turns back to Alya, "so she did one thing okay. That's nothing compared to all the akumas and amoks Lady Luck took out! She's the cannon fodder."

"They're equal partners." Alya points out. "Lady Luck said she wouldn't be a superhero without Karma."

"Lady Luck only says that to be polite. She purifies the akumas and amoks. She has those incredible biceps she protectively curled around me. All that alley cat has ever done before yesterday was brandish a couple of shiny sticks!"

"Lady Luck wouldn't be into someone who badmouths her partner~" Kim sing-songs and Chloé glares at him. "I like Karma, so in your face!"

"If you 'like' Karma so much you should marry her instead!"

"Let's not get carried away, I don't like Karma enough to want to marry her."

"I wouldn't mind marrying Karma." Someone mutters lowly. Everyone pauses then looks around the room until their eyes fall on Juleka, wide-eyed. "What? I would. I... I like Karma more than Lady Luck."

The class gasps. "Are you serious?" Chloe rolls her eyes, "of course you are. Karma shares the whole goth vibe you got going on. Even so, it's utterly ridiculous you'd make a claim like that. 'Liking Karma more than Lady Luck.' It's ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous!"

"Karma saved my life, twice."

"Lady Luck was right beside her!"

"Karma helped me with my family's photo curse! Where was Lady Luck then?"

"Lady Luck has better things to do than do fix every curse that comes her way! Especially a curse doing you and the world a favor!" Juleka's jaw drops for several seconds before she closes her mouth and narrows her eyes. "Lady Luck may not be a superhero without Karma, but there's no way in hell Karma could do it all by herself either!"

"You don't know that." Juleka argues.

"Neither do you!"

"My brother and I are starting a band in honor of Karma, we're calling it Kitty Section."

"How cute!" Rose squeals, "ooh! Do you need a drummer? Ivan can play the drums!" Ivan blushes slinking down in his seat all-the-while glaring at Rose. "And I can sing!"

"You mean you can yell." Chloé says rolling her eyes. "And what did Karma even save you from the second time?"

"A-A guy who wanted to date my brother." The class falls silent. "He got possessed by an akuma when he was rejected and attacked us. It's why I wasn't in school on Monday. I was at the hospital."

'The hospital!?"

"Hey!" Alix gets up, "show of hands. How many of you have braincells and prefer Karma to Lady Luck?"

The class looks among themselves. Alix eagerly has her hand in the air, and Juleka raises hers just as eagerly. Surprisingly, Nathaniel's hand goes up as well. Along with Aurore and Sabrina, the latter blushes as she raises her hand. Chloé stares at the bespectacled, orange-haired teen with a look of betrayal on her face. "Sabrina!"

"I'm sorry! I-I know they both helped with the Pretty Princess Amok but... but Karma made me feel special." She mumbles that last bit slinking into her seat. When Mylène shyly raises her hand next, Chloé pinches the bridge of her nose.

"I have an inquiry?" Max asks, "what if you like Karma and Lady Luck equally?"

"Because of that 'equal partners' mess? How could you not like one more than the other?" Chloé asks.

Max shrugs, "I just do."

"That's impossible." Chloe argues.

"Quite the contrary." Max adjusts his glasses, "I've run multiple tests and each has stated I don't prefer one over the other. I can have Markov compile both results when responding to each stimuli—"

"You're using too many big words." Kim interrupts with a groan, holding his head. Chloé also holds her head; as do several other students. "We believe you but you might be on your own." With a shrug, Max leans back in his seat, "so that's it then? Just the—?"

Rose raises her hand, "wait! Sorry, I totally zoned out! You were asking who likes Karma more than Lady Luck, right? That's the last thing I remember before drifting off. I absolutely like Karma more than Lady Luck!"

"Wait... seriously?" Ivan asks.

"Really? Lavillant? I thought you'd be team Lady Luck all the way?"

"Are you kidding? How could I not love Karma? She's just so..." The blonde shivers, "...and gorgeous! And amazing! And cheery! Super personable, you know? Whereas Lady Luck is all stoic and mysterious." The students nod, murmuring in agreement. "Even after someone's been possessed by Mme. Mite, Karma makes them feel safe and cared for." The class stops murmuring, staring at the petite blonde. "None of you have seen the akuma victim testimonies and interviews from the Luckyblog?"

Several students take their phones out. Juleka rubs the back of her neck, "I saw 'em. I was... it was cool to know I wasn't the only one who felt that way."

"E-Exactly." Sabrina adds.

"Wait a second." Chloé turns to Alya, sitting behind her, "I was an akuma victim. I was like the first akuma victim! Where's my testimony?"

"You don't remember getting interviewed?" Sabrina asks, "it's what got me amoked."

Chloé glances over at Sabrina before turning back to Alya who nods. "Then why isn't it on the Luckyblog? I'm the reason we even have Lady Luck and Karma in the city!"

"That's not something you should be bragging about." Alix mutters.

"Maybe you'd think so, Kubdel."

"No, she's right." Max pipes in. "While we're all grateful they're here, it was because you threw a tantrum at not getting a macaron you verbally berated and by all accounts did not seem interested in getting in the first place, and had to share a seat with Marinette—"

Chloé gestures to the blue-haired teen with her head down, fast asleep, "you wanna blame someone for that? Blame this disaster! And just last week she humiliated me in front of my maman!"

"I recall you humiliating yourself because you entered a design competition and you can't design." A voice mutters.

The class falls deadly silent until Alix begins cackling. "Damn, Nathaniel!" She whoops. "That was brutal!"

Chloé glares at the redhead then turns back to Alya. "What about my testimony?"

"I didn't upload testimonies in order of akuma or amok attacks, and your testimony is likely on my phone's old memory. I've swapped it yesterday to 'interview' that pervy sculptor guy. When I find yours I'll upload it."

"Than—wait! How did I look in it? Never mind. We should redo the whole thing. A face-to-face interview after your interview with Lady Luck and Karma. We can do it Saturday. I have a hair appointment on Friday so I'll be camera ready this weekend."

"You—" Alya elbows Alix. "Fine!"

"You should come with Alya, I'll have my masseuse squeeze you in."

"I am not saying no to a free massage."

✍ .

"Greetings my lovely followers. It's Thursday, October 15th. Are you excited? Because I'm excited. Today is a very special day. A luckyblog exclusive sort of day. The first ever live interview with Lady Luck and Karma!" Alya screams then immediately regains her composure. Someone forcefully clears their throat. "Hm? Oh. Right. Sorry. The exact location for this interview was provided by Chloé Bourgeois." The camera pans out showing the blonde waving enthusiastically. "A private yet secluded place not many people have access to. Oh! Here they come now!" Alya points the camera up at Lady Luck swinging toward them holding onto Karma's waist. They both drop down on the ledge. Chloé squeals holding onto Alya's arm, moving the camera around. "Heroes of Paris, thank you for joining us this afternoon."

Lady Luck and Karma drop down from the ledge and take the empty seats in front of Alya.

"No sweat." Karma says taking a seat and eyeing the plate of pâtissèries on the table.

"Ditto." Lady Luck answers. "You were a huge help with that copy akuma yesterday. I remember you once asking for an interview and I could think of no other way to thank you for all your help." Another camera zooms in on Alya's delighted albeit frozen expression.

"Before we get down to the questionnaire... I have a question. The pâtissèries on the table? Where did you get them from?"

"Hawkforts." Chloé responds, "they're like the best pâtissèrie in the city! You two deserve nothing but the absolute best."

"Uh-huh. While I appreciate the offer..." Karma chuckles awkwardly, "I'm afraid I can't eat these."

One of the camera's zooms in on Chloé. "What?! Why!?"

"I'm gluten intolerant."

"Y-You are!?" The blonde shouts jumping to her feet, clearing everything from the table with one swift swipe of her right arm. "Don't worry. I'll fix this." The blonde tip-toes over the mess taking out her phone.

A technical difficulties warning screen pops up before the camera returns with everyone positioned differently in the room, now lacking a table and Chloé. "Sorry about that folks, let's start with the questions!"