Last time on V&D: Chloe kidnaps Keana for a hangout. Both Sabrina and Adrien get jealous. Sabrina gets akumatized into an invisible girl, but is pretty easily beaten up once Ghost figures out what's going on.

"Chloe? Can we... talk?"

Sabrina didn't mean to sound so hesitant, but it was a true reflection of how she was feeling. She was scared of how to proceed, how Chloe was going to react, what might change.

Chloe looked up from where she was furiously typing on her phone. "Sabrina! Where have you been?"

Sabrina closed her eyes and breathed out through her nose. Chloe could be terribly obtuse sometimes. She didn't even realize that Sabrina had been the akuma.

"That's not important, right now," Sabrina deflected. "I just want to have a talk. A... serious talk."

Chloe raised an eyebrow, concealing her confusion. "Ok-ay?" She gestured lazily. "Talk then."

Sabrina breathed in and steeled herself.

"When you told me I wasn't needed anymore, I felt like you were saying you didn't want to be my friend anymore."

Chloe crossed her arms. "Well, I obviously didn't mean it like that, you should know that."

Sabrina ignored the bit of rising frustration, chewed on the inside of her lip and tried again. "It felt like you were replacing me with Keana."

"Don't be ridiculous," Chloe rolled her eyes. "I'm allowed to have more than one friend."

Sabrina exhaled, cautiously controlling it so she didn't sound irritated. "What I'm trying to say is that the way you dismissed me hurt my feelings and it made me realize that I need to set some boundaries."

Chloe frowned. "What do you mean? I've done that before and you've never complained."

"It doesn't matter if I haven't complained before," Sabrina said, "I'm speaking up about it now."

"Sabrina, you know I didn't mean anything like that, so why is it a problem?" Chloe raised an eyebrow.

"Maybe you should just say what you mean instead of putting it in the bitchiest way possible?" Sabrina bit out.

"Sabrina! What-?" Chloe's eyes widened and her mouth was left agape. Then she snapped her jaw shut and glared. "Take your own advice and tell me exactly what you're being all sensitive about!"

"Fine!" Sabrina's eye twitched. "The past three years I've been your friend, you've been treating me like I'm just some butler . I do your homework, your schoolwork, I follow you around like your own personal cheerleader but you don't ever seem to think of me as your friend!"

"I didn't make you do any of that!" Chloe snapped back. "And I do think-"

"Yeah," Sabrina interrupted the blonde, "I do all of that because I care about you!"

Chloe's mouth shut.

"And I thought that it would - impress you or something." The ginger admitted, a bit softer. "But, I'm starting to think that you don't feel the same way."

"Sabrina-"

"If you won't listen to me, it might be better for us if we just go our separate ways."

Unable to look Chloe in the eyes, Sabrina quickly turned around and fled the scene, leaving Chloe alone on the roof.

. . .

...I didn't manage to slip away unnoticed.

As soon as I left the room, er stairwell, I thought I was home free. Until Chat Noir grabbed my wrist from the shadows like a demon from hell.

' I can explain-' I signed frantically, trying my best even with my wrist seized.

"Yeah, you're going to explain why you're ditching us again? Without even telling us what happened?" Chat Noir's expression made me feel like dirt. Icky, icky dirt. The type of dirt that's more of a slimy mud in a bog, covered in scum and a mosquito breeding ground.

' I have places to be.' That one's a lot more halfhearted. Did I actually want to be around Chloe and Sabrina in the fallout of this akuma attack? No. But I also didn't want to be interrogated over why I didn't let them know I was alive after disappearing for hours. ' Can we do this later?'

"What, so you can ghost us again?" Chat's face was twisted now in a strange grimace, as though he wanted to be proud of the pun but the situational context had completely soured the humor for him. "Why didn't you get back to us?"

I bit my lip.

To be honest, I completely forgotten that I needed to do that. Kind of sucky of me, but in my defense it was a busy evening and I was dead tired by the end of it. And I had seen them again, it just so happened that it was in my civilian form. And I was the idiot who figured if I saw them, then they saw me and everything was fine. Which obviously wasn't true since Chat was over here like he was shaking me down for lunch money

But I couldn't exactly fess up that I left them in the dark, for a full twenty four hours straight, because it slipped my mind to let them know I was alive.

I really wished I could slap past me for leaving me with this horrible situation.

...Chat Noir was still staring at me.

Fine.

I took out my stick of chalk mournfully and looked for an appropriate surface to write on. This wasn't a conversation I could have in sign, it would be a tad bit complex for what we as a group learned together - we had mostly focused on basics and making up words for all the different Hawkmoth stuff.

' Look,' I wrote in bold, hoping that if I used up all the chalk I could get out of this conversation.

"I'm looking," Ladybug says mildly from behind my shoulder. I jumped. When did she get here?

I underlined 'look' and continued. ' I didn't mean to leave you guys in the dark for a day. A lot came up and I got a little overwhelmed. Point is, I'm here now, so I can tell you both what happened now.'

Chat protested. "Don't just gloss over-"

"Chat," Ladybug interjected, much to my relief, "Ghost has a right to keep their secrets. We both have our fair share of them. It could be that the details are related to their civilian identity."

I inclined my head. She wasn't entirely wrong, it just mostly came down to the fact I was a terrible friend.

Chat wilted a bit and mumbled something under his breath. "Fine. Tell us all the juicy details of your meetup your attempted murderer. "

Ladybug sighed sharply, but didn't chide him. I took that both as her agreement with him and as permission to actually start.

I let out my own silent sigh of relief. Hard part over.

' So basically I met up with Hornet, the murder lady, in the same place as last time. She confronted me, started listing my alleged crimes like we were on Judge Judy or something',

- I hadn't ever actually watched Judge Judy, but they didn't need to know that. Wait, they're French, they probably hadn't watched Judge Judy either. -

' then she said I was innocent of those crimes-'

"Wait, what were the crimes?" Ladybug asked.

"Yeah, I wanna know what they were gonna kill my friend over!" Chat agreed vehemently.

Aww. I didn't know Chat considered me his friend.

I drew a tiny heart and gave a bit more detail. ' Something about "The purposeful mockery of the Pale King's Legacy and using dark magic to corrupt the Unity Charm" and also disrespecting the Tsurugi Clan. '

"They accused you of using dark magic like Hawkmoth?" Ladybug's brow furrowed. "Why?"

' What I got from it is that my charm,' I tapped my cloak clasp ', and my transformation in general is too similar to their old charm that was passed down through their family for generations. But I'm innocent because Hornet said the kwami for that charm was dead now and Knight is the new owner.'

Ladybug didn't comment on that, seemingly deep in thought.

"I didn't know kwami could die," Chat mumbled.

' Me neither.' I shrugged. ' I'm not entirely off the hook anyway. Apparently their Clan worships kwami as deities so even though their kwami is dead, it still holds claim over the charm or something. And their charm is supposed to stay in the clan, but I'm Knight's favorite so they wouldn't leave me so we kinda had to come up with a compromise.'

"And this compromise is?"

' I gotta become an honorary member of the Clan, which means I gotta prove myself worthy to become an honorary Clan member, which means I have weekly "tutoring sessions" with Hornet until the big test day .' I shrugged.

"Hmm. So she's training you." Ladybug seemed... displeased about something. "What is she teaching you?"

' She said we were gonna go over 'Nail' which is what my sword is called, Soul - I have no idea what that is- and History which is pretty self explanatory. Last time we only really did Nail lessons .'

"So she has an excuse to beat you up, now," Chat grumbled. " I can teach you how to fence, no need for murder lady ."

' Thanks, but she's pretty insistent that she's the one to teach me so I can learn the 'Tsurugi Way' or whatever.'

"Any chance we can sit in on these lessons?"

I shrugged and started erasing the chalk marks. The only way to find out was to ask next session which was... Monday, I believed. I could ask Kagami in class, but interacting with her was... intimidating .

" Oh Ladybug!"

Chloe's voice echoed through the stairwell along with the echoes of her steps running down to our level. I hurried to rub away the remainder of my message, because Chloe wouldn't ever let me live it down if she found out I was essentially graffitiing her house.

And I needed to ditch the heroes before she starts to think I ditched her.

I just finished cleaning up the mess when the door slammed open. I sighed in relief, because Chloe would be focused more on Ladybug than Ghost, so I could slip away-

Then I caught a glimpse of Chloe, and any relief I just earned was quickly flushed down the drain.

Sure enough, standing there was Chloe but she was wearing a near identical suit to Ladybug's, if you replaced the crimson red of Ladybug's suit with a shiny gold. Sabrina was nowhere to be seen.

Now, I knew Chloe had a Ladybug outfit that was picture perfect. I had seen it in her closet and also when Lady Wifi livestreamed Chloe's kidnapping. The only thing it lacked was the magic of the yo-yo and the protective measures.

Taking in her outfit now, I doubted it was inferior to Ladybug's in any way.

"Well, well, well, look who it is!" Not-actually-Chloe sneered and I realized with minor discomfort that her eyes had changed from their normal blue color to a crimson. "Ladybug and her two stooges!"

Ladybug was on guard at the sight of Chloe's new outfit and we all exchanged glances.

Another akuma, less than thirty minutes after the last. Coupled with the last akuma, this was the start of a disturbing trend.

"And who are you supposed to be?" Ladybug arched an eyebrow challengingly.

The akuma scoffed and flicked her ponytail. "I'm Goldenbug! I'm a better version of you and so you really should just give up and hand over your miraculous!"

Ladybug got into a fighting stance. "Yeah, not happening."

"No way you're better than M'Lady!" Chat declared and pointed his baton at the akuma. "I bet all that gold peels off like paint."

"Dumb stray," Goldenbug dropped into a fighting stance, mirroring Ladybug's own. She cast a glance towards me. "When I'm through with you, you'll be an actual ghost, instead of... whatever you are now."

I silently pulled out my nail and prepared for a brawl, hoping we could get this over with quickly.

Spoiler alert. That didn't happen.

Chat lunged at Goldenbug, intent on pinning her to the ground. The akuma jumped to the side, only to duck under Ladybug's yo-yo as it rocketed at her face. Goldenbug scowled and whipped out her own yo-yo, flinging it out and managing to snag Chat's wrist.

She yanked, hard, and Chat got sent flying down the hall. I ducked under my ballistic teammate and he twisted midair, managing to land on his feet in a crouch.

I narrowed my eyes as I realized what exactly we were facing. Ladybug did that to Chat in a spar once, so it was safe to a assume that this wasn't just a Ladybug lookalike and that Goldenbug had the same combat skills as LB. Like Copycat was for Chat Noir.

Except Ladybug was generally a better strategist than Chat Noir. But engaging in a three vs one wasn't very smart, so maybe-

"Y'know, while quantity doesn't exactly make up for quality ," Goldenbug flipped her hair, "A 3 on 1 isn't fair. Chat Argent!"

A window shattered as a figure dressed in silver vaulted feet first through it. They landed on Chat Noir along with a rain of broken glass. Chat was sent to the floor and the two immediately started wrestling for control. In the blur of black and silver, I realized that the person was Sabrina dressed as a Chat Noir copy, if you replaced the black with shining silver.

This just got a bit harder, but we still had the advantage.

...Goldenbug's face was too smug, I decided

Face twisting in irritation, I ran at her.

She threw her gold yo-yo in a wide arc towards me. I dived into a somersault and sprang back up in her guard. I swung my nail as she jumped back, but she didn't account for the extra reach my nail gave me and the edge of the weapon scratched and sparked against her suit, as though it were actual metal.

I slashed at her a few more times, but she managed to block them using a stretch of unbreakable wire from her yo-yo. Each strike vibrated up my arm, though I'm sure it was worse for Goldenbug since she was holding me back with just a wire-

Viper quick, she pushed my blade upwards, got through my reach and landed a jab in my stomach, nearly folding me over and sending spots in my vision.

While I was distracted, Ladybug managed to wrap her yo-yo around Goldenbug's wrist, stopping her from following up with an attack that would have certainly sent me sprawling.

If Hornet saw that, I thought blearily, she'd drill me on my guard for three hours straight.

It was a great reminder that while my offensive power was on par with LB and CN, my durability just didn't measure up.

I shook my head and backed up as Ladybug engaged with Goldenbug, matching her blow for blow. Behind me, Noir and Argent were still wrestling, similarly at a stalemate. There weren't any obvious openings where I could intervene.

C'mon, focus .

What were my advantages, how could I help? If I got hit badly like that a few more times, I wasn't sure how I'd hold up. I needed to play to my strengths.

What were my strengths?

. . .

Chat Noir growled in frustration. He was covered in scratches from his current rival's claws and his side was aching from having an entire person launch themself into it, but that wasn't what was really aggravating him.

Argent, or evil Sabrina, was slippery.

He kept trying to pin her down, but she always seemed to squirm out of his hold.

He managed to flip her on her back and pressed his forearm against her neck and scrambled to try to restrain her. She didn't stay that way as she slashed him across his jaw. Then she brought her knees to her chest and landed a double kick to his stomach, launching him off of her.

Chat Noir landed on his back with the breath knocked out of him. He got back to his feet quickly and found her mirroring his position.

"You're like a silver mirror: quit tarnishing my reputation!" Chat taunted.

Argent just stared at him with her solid gold eyes, no reaction. Not even a lip curl of disgust!

Wrestling was no good, he decided and pulled out his baton with a flourish. He held the end like it was a fencing sword, and fully expected to see his silver mirror replicate it. "En Guard!"

He lunged forward in a classic position, quickly swiping his baton left and right to throw off-

And just about had his sword baton knocked out of his hands, vibrations running up his arm. Because Argent was holding her baton firmly in two hands, like it was a baseball bat. "You've gotta be kitten me!"

He jumped back and ducked her follow up swing aimed at his head. Almost reluctantly, he shifted his grip on his baton towards the center and held it in both hands, closer to more traditional bo staff forms. It wasn't something he was used to, but it was better than his fencing form.

Argent lunged with an overhead strike. He blocked it with the middle of his baton and the hit sent vibrations up his arms. He didn't let it distract him and pushed her back, dropped his block stance and swung his baton to smack her across her temple.

Argent stumbled back but recovered quickly and swung her baton at his left side. He went to block only for her to pivot and smash the baton into his right side. Chat Noir wheezed and did his best not to crumple. Argent followed up with more strikes, and his arms shook from every block.

"Ladybug, a plan would be great!" He called out and rolled out of the way from a swing.

"I'm working on it!" Ladybug said, voice strained as she struggled against Goldenbug, who cackled.

"Nothing you can think up will outshine my brilliance !" Goldenbug bragged. "Observe-"

And she flung her yo-yo up into the air, replicating Ladybug's Lucky Charm. "Golden Times!"

There was a flash of golden light and a ginormous double handed sword fell into her grip. It was nearly Goldenbug's height and wicked sharp, gleaming dangerously in the light. She propped it across her shoulders with a smug smirk.

"Golden Times lets me create or transform something into it's perfect state!" Goldenbug laughed. "Like how I turned Sabrina into the perfect teammate, Chat Argent!"

That sounded like a pretty broken ability in Chat Noir's opinion. He dodged another strike from the expressionless Argent. It was a little freaky, and she didn't have a mask like Ghost to excuse her blankness.

"You're seriously creeping meowt!" He said, ducking a swing.

. . .

Goldenbug had expected fighting her idol to be more difficult.

She swung her golden sword and watched as Ladybug scrambled away like a scared rat. Chat Argent was doing her duty of distracting Chat Noir, so the only one unaccounted for was the drab Ghost. Goldenbug was confident there wasn't anything the masked hero could do to defeat her, not after that pitiful showing earlier.

It was a shame, though.

Ladybug would meet her end today, after Goldenbug took her Miraculous and delivered it to Hawkmoth.

But Goldenbug was fit to rise up and replace her with Chat Argent at her side. Nothing would change.

"Lucky Charm!" Ladybug cried.

Goldenbug paused. The item that fell into her idol's hands was small and insignificant. Hardly something that could change the tide of battle.

"A bag of marbles...?" She heard Ladybug say.

Goldenbug scoffed. "How's a marble supposed to defeat moi?"

Ridiculous .

She felt the itch to finish this quickly. All she had to do was take their miraculous and deliver them to Hawkmoth, then everything would stay perfect forever .

WIth a cackle, Goldenbug attacked again, lunging forward and swinging her claymore wildly. It scraped against the walls with every miss as Ladybug retreated further, barely escaping her reach. She was so close to victory, she just needed to get closer -

"Switch!" Ladybug called out.

Like Goldenbug was just going to let her retreat -!

A black blur appeared in front of her. Her golden claymore clanged against something mid swing and deflected. Goldenbug stumbled and managed to take control of her blade just in time to stop Ghost's blade from sliding up and nicking her hands.

Goldenbug sneered. "Little ghostie came out to play, huh?"

Trying to use her large sword as leverage against them, she swung it again. Ghost easily disengaged and ducked. Another clang rang out and Goldenbug's sword was knocked off its course again. Goldenbug growled.

"Get. Out. Of. My. Way !" Each shouted word was punctuated by a wild slash from her sword. And each strike was deflected or evaded from the little pest in front of her. An overhead strike, sidestepped. A broad stroke, deflected.

Each attack grew more ferocious, more powerful, less controlled. Technique didn't matter to Goldenbug - she just needed to get to Ladybug .

"Now!"

The sound of Ladybug's voice incensed Goldenbug further.

Dashing forward wIth a shout, she put her whole body into a diagonal strike, insistent on cutting down the dead meat in front of her.

Ghost did not move to dodge. Their pathetic sword would surely not be strong enough to block a strike this powerful -

Ghost was gone, only black wisps were left behind.

Goldenbug couldn't stop her swing, but the ground beneath her was suddenly unsteady.

Something shoved her from behind and she completely lost her balance.

Marbles went flying.

Goldenbug tried to right herself, but it was too late. Ladybug had thrown her yo-yo and it quickly wrapped around the akuma.

"Let go of me!" Goldenbug shouted. "Chat Argent, get me out of here!"

But there was no trace of her loyal servant.

Chat Noir stood next a hole in the floor, grinning cheekily. "You'll find she's a bit down on her luck!"

When did that happen?! The two sidekicks were fighting just a few seconds ago!

Goldenbug struggled futilely against her binds. There had to be a way out of this situation!

Above her, Ghost and Ladybug were calmly discussing where her akuma would be. Ghost gestured to their ears and Ladybug nodded.

"You're right, she was wearing her Ladybug earrings today." And she started reaching towards the earrings-

Goldenbug tried her best to squirm away-

No no no no, this can't-

. . .

Hawkmoth gasped, panting. Every breath was ragged, as though his lungs were collapsing with each shuddering inhalation.

Four akumas in three days, each defeated by the heroes.

After he discovered he could create more than one akuma per day, if he expended his reserves, he had thought of several different strategies to catch the heroes off guard. He thought launching a weak akuma to drain their energy in preparation for a normal strength akuma would be the key to defeat them.

Clearly his minimum energy akuma was not enough to even cause any damage to the heroes. Goldenbug showed promise, but she would have been stronger had he not wasted energy on Invisigirl. It was a miracle she had been able to convert another into a servant.

Evening the number difference between his akumas and the heroes seemed to have a larger effect on tipping the scales. Perhaps he shouldn't even bother with having multiple akumas in a day. All it seemed to serve was drain himself.

It was a start, but Goldenbug failed, too, and her defeat felt like a sucker punch to his gut.

He leaned heavily on his cane, even as spots consumed his vision. Against his will, his transformation dropped, leaving him to collapse against the sleek floor of his lair. It was dark, after his window closed. He could hardly see, but it was soothing to his eyes which had been brewing a migraine for weeks, only compounded by his recent... failures.

He knew the darkness wouldn't last, but he relished in it for as long as he could.

But nothing good could last. Not for him.

The world around him seemed to glow bronze and his annoyance grew.

The spirit's energy coalesced into a near human shape. Their power had grown, slowly but noticeably. It was more of a bronze silhouette, as there were no discernable details, but it was a point to focus his anger nonetheless.

"Did you tear your own wings in an attempt to fly, Little Butterfly?," came the ringing choir of voices. " Pathetic ."

His arms shook to keep himself propped up and, despite the irritation flaring up at the spector's taunts, a portion of him agreed. Collapsed on the floor, soaked in his own sweat, and too weak to even clench a fist in rage - he was pathetic.

"You are nothing more than a weak imitation of a power far greater than your own."

"And yet," he rasped out, "you are nothing more than a shade clinging to me."

She flashed and the sudden brightness caused him to blink back tears.

"I suggest you hold your tongue." The spirit hissed, the choir underlying her voice a humming dissonance. "A frail butterfly hides behind the mask. No, a butterfly is still too generous a description for you. You are but a caterpillar, a meager worm ."

Gabriel Agreste did not know how to respond. This spirit, "Admirer" as they introduced themself, approached him with flattery and with claimed benign intentions. On the surface level a deal with them seemed to only benefit him, which was what ultimately made him suspicious.

As time passed, the spirit's patience shrank, slowly but steadily. The flattery had slipped into thinly veiled mockery in the past, but this was the first time the spirit had skipped the pretenses entirely and gone straight for insults. Was it finally showing it's true colors?

"Why do you insist on... helping me, then?" He grit out. "If my power is pathetic?"

"Caterpillars are creatures of great potential." They replied. "You are squandering that. Accept my help, and you shall grow far beyond anything you could achieve on your lonesome."

Hawkmoth growled. She still avoided his question. "But what do you seek to gain from me!?"

He could not afford to have a deal with a spirit whose motivations were unknown. It could compromise his plan, his purpose for stooping low enough to launch attacks against his own home, for estranging himself from his son. It could compromise his only chance at saving Emile!

Then all he had given up would be for nothing. He couldn't let that happen; just for a chance to win the battle, he couldn't lose the war.

Admirer hummed, considering. "The Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculous, while powerful, are not what I desire."

"Then what could you possibly want!?" Hawkmoth demanded.

"Hungry little caterpillar..." They tsked. The percussive noise sounded like a vipers pit. "Is it not enough reassurance to know that I will not steal your prize? I have no use for The Wish."

Gabriel stiffened. She knows about the Wish?!

"It has never been a well kept secret. True secrets are never written."

"You are just a spirit, why wouldn't you need the wish to restore your form?" Gabriel didn't want to give them ideas, but this perplexed him.

Admirer huffed in amusement and their glow expanded as if they were stretching. "My power grows day by day. Why would I wish for something that will inevitably occur on it's own?"

Before Hawkmoth had time to formulate a reply, the glowing faded away, leaving him alone. His shaking arms finally gave out in his newly discovered solitude.

. . .

Chloe blinked. Ladybug(!) and Chat Noir were standing over her. It didn't make sense.

She brought her palm up to her forehead. She never did this, normally too worried about ruining her foundation, but she knew she only put on her normal eyeshadow and mascara today. She had been planning on doing a deep face cleanse with Keana and...

Sabrina!

A wave of thoughts flooded her mind-

- There was no way she was in the wrong-

-Nothing needed to change-

-Everything had to stay the same-

-because it was perfect-

Because if it wasn't already fine then that meant Chloe had been awful to her best friend for the past three years.

Chloe shook her head wildly and squeezed her eyes shut.

She couldn't believe she thought that! Everything somehow made so much more sense now. How could she possibly make this up to Sabrina, now? There was no way Sabrina would forgive her after ruining -

"Hey," a gentle hand was on her shoulder. "Are you okay?"

Chloe sniffed and looked up to see her second least favorite superhero, Chat Noir, crouching on her level with a soft expression. It didn't matter at the moment that he wasn't Ladybug, because he was a kind face and in that moment he reminded her of-of a time when Adrien was actually friends with her.

"No," she said miserably. "I fought with Sabrina and now she's never gonna be friends with me ever again!"

"Hey, hey, hey-" he soothed. "What makes you say that?"

"She wanted to talk with me and she said she wanted me to change my behavior," Chloe hiccupped. "But I totally dismissed her opinion and she got mad and stormed out. I was being such a-a jerk and now she's never gonna want to see my face again ."

There was a finality to those words and it brought a wave of tears to her eyes. For once, Chloe didn't care about ruining her mascara. Chat opened his arms and Chloe took the opportunity. She lunged in for a hug and buried her head in his chest. He hugged her even as something beeped.

"Chat-" came a voice in warning. One of the arms around her disappeared, as Chat Noir dismissed whatever was said.

"Hey, you regret it, right?" She could feel the vibration of his voice in his chest.

Chloe pulled away with a hiccup. "Of course I do!"

Calm green eyes stared at her. They might've been familiar, if not for the slit pupil. "Then apologize."

"But- how ?" Chloe's lip trembled. She hardly ever apologized. She remembered Daddy forcing one out of her when she was mean to the staff or the butler, but they were normally insincere.

Chat Noir's lip curled. "I'd start with 'sorry.' Just sorry."

"But-" how is she going to know why I was a jerk if I don't explain myself?

Chat Noir could somehow read her thoughts. "What you intended doesn't matter in an apology, it just sounds like an excuse. I recommend explaining yourself if she asks you to." He smiled and patted her shoulder as his ring beeped again. "I have to go now. Good luck."

He stood up and left alongside his partner, Ladybug.

Chloe hiccuped and got to her feet, intent on hunting down Sabrina.

She guessed she could upgrade Chat Noir from the second worst hero, to the second best hero.

. . .

That whole thing took up my entire afternoon and a chunk of my evening. I went home for a late dinner and did my homework - it was criminal to assign stuff this late in the year, but Mendeleiev was nothing if not a mean teacher.

Chase tried to weedle information out of me about the akuma attack, but I really wasn't feeling it. He settled with telling me to be careful, like I wasn't already. Honestly, the akumas weren't even that bad this time around. Other than my tiredness from running around so much and soreness from getting thrown across the room, I felt relatively fine, physically anyways.

Mentally, I was so done.

Monday - crazy mind controlling perfume villain.

Tuesday - two akumas and Hornet.

Wednesday - a much needed break, but it felt more like a day of the walking dead.

And today, Thursday - another double akuma.

Tomorrow better be better. It better be amazing to make up for these stupid back to back akumas. Either that, or I wanted to see proof, solid proof, that Hawkmoth was feeling just as burnt out as we were.

After a nice relaxing shower, I flopped onto my bed and snuggled under the covers. There was a bone deep exhaustion and I managed to pass out without rolling over once.

I even woke up in the same position Friday morning, to the sound of my alarm and to the view of Knight hovering inches away from my face.

I didn't jump at the sight, they did this far too often for it to have a bigger effect. The alarm was grating, just the standard ear splitting beep that came with the clock. It nearly automatically put me in a bad mood. I groaned and stretched my arm out to smack its off button.

I got ready quickly, had some time to unwind, and ate a piece of toast. Chase emerged from his room just in time to leave and then we headed out. Getting there was uneventful, thankfully. I was almost expecting Hawkmoth to akumatize another baby just to spite us.

I yawned and stumbled into Madam Bustier's class. Maybe today would be another crash-in-the-lounge day. I think I deserved it.

I collapsed into my chair and waited for the room to fill. Time slipped past me.

Chloe and Sabrina seemed less upset than yesterday, I noticed. There was a certain barrier between them, but they didn't look like they were fighting anymore either. Sabrina wasn't holding Chloe's stuff, but Chloe also wasn't complaining that Sabrina wasn't holding her stuff, which my ears thanked her for.

The noise of the room increased the moment more than five people came in. It became easier to ignore the uptick in noise when I had a couple of distractions to focus on. The distractions in question were Adrien and Nino, naturally.

"Sup, Keana," We exchanged fistbumps.

"How'd your afternoon with Chloe go?" Adrien asked.

"Oh it sucked," I shrugged. "An akuma attacked."

"Bro, I'm sorry." Nino patted my back.

"Eh, it wasn't all that great in the first place. There was some kinda drama going on between Sabrina and Chloe, but I wasn't really expecting much." And honestly, I was pretty sure that I was the reason they were fighting in the first place. The catalyst, anyways. "I kinda just hid, and then another akuma attacked, and I thought it would be best to just go straight home."

Adrien narrowed his eyes, then shook his head.

"Why'd you go then?" Adrien crossed his arms and stared intently at me. "You could've just hung out with us and avoided that mess."

I winced and looked away. Yeah, hindsight was 20/20, and all that, and even in the moment I knew it was the worse option. I was guaranteed to have a fun time crashing a photoshoot, but I took the riskier action just for the hope that maybe I would have a good time. Not a very Keana thing to do.

"It was a combination of not wanting to miss an opportunity. FOMO, I guess," I deduced. "And I was kinda flattered. People don't normally want to hang out with me-"

"We want to hang out with you!" Adrien interjected.

"-unless they already know me." I finished.

"I always wanted to hang out with you."

"You also flatter me. See this? I'm flattered." I shook my head with a smile. "So I felt I couldn't say no."

"Well, you can," Adrien firmly decided. "Nino, it's our duty to say no for Keana when she already has plans so she doesn't overbook and feel bad about it."

Nino saluted. "Sir, yessir!"

"You two are ridiculous," I chuckled.

Both of them looked at me with wide eyes then to each other.

"It's spreading," Nino whispered.

"She can't be anywhere near Chloe for the next twenty four hours!" Adrien exclaimed. "She still has time-"

I stared at them, unamused but secretly amused. "Utterly ridiculous ."

They reeled back. "It's too late," Adrien despaired.

Maybe I needed my own catchphrase.

Madam Bustier started class, then. She took attendance, everyone was present except Kim. My mood was slightly better because of my two goofball friends, but I was still feeling like I should just call this in as a mental health day. Then Madam Bustier announced that we were going to be working with a partner, specifically a partner, during class today and I thought about walking out right there. No groups of three because the class had an even number of students.

Adrien, Nino and I played rock paper scissors over who would get excluded. Naturally, I lost, because I sucked at rock paper scissors, and Nino and Adrien unapologetically exploited that. So I was forced to scan the room for my remaining options.

Marinette and Alya were off the table. So were Alix, Max, Juleka, Rose, Ivan, Mylene. Naturally, Chloe and Sabrina were gonna pair off, so my eyes darted towards the back of the class where I found Lila and Kagami partnered up and Nathaniel and... Sabrina?

Huh?

A manicured finger poked my shoulder. I blinked and looked up to see Chloe standing over me.

"Do you want to be partners with me?" She asked in a surprisingly reasonable way.

"Uh, sure?" There weren't exactly any other options. "But don't you normally partner with Sabrina?"

"It's not any of your business," Chloe's nose wrinkled. "But since you were there for most of it, I suppose you should know so you don't get the wrong idea."

Yeah, like they were still fighting. I was getting flashbacks back to elementary school when two of my friends would randomly fight every other week for seemingly no reason and I'd either have to wait them out or mediate the silent treatments. It was very stressful and I didn't have the social awareness to know I could just break off the friendship with the one who was always instigating it.

"Sabrina and I had a talk to set new boundaries." Chloe started. "We decided it would be best to not work together on school things so we don't fall back into habits."

Meaning, Sabrina wouldn't do all of Chloe's work. "Good for you," I nodded.

Chloe flipped her hair and smirked, tried to anyway. The curl of her lips were a bit too pleased to be condescending like normal.

"I'm not going to do the work for you," I said.

Chloe scoffed. "Don't be ridiculous, I'm not incompetent. "

. . .

Knight enjoyed their crevice of dusty knowledge. It was a den away from their wielder's den and was hardly visited by any creature save for the one who managed the place, but they were weak and easily evaded. It was easy for their wisps sink into the place and let it become forgotten.

It was not often they could bear to separate with their chosen. Not for lack of ability, but for peace of soul. They knew, however, that in this place of learning that their holder was, not safe , but safe enough. They were unsure of it before, with the presence lurking in the back, but the Hornet revealed herself and was not an enemy. Unpleasant, but not an enemy.

Briefly, Knight focused on their Bond. Amusement, Exasperation, the undercurrent of Tired. Hmm. Safe, then.

They squirmed into their nook and settled, content. If they become unsafe, it would be simple to return. But for now, Essence spoke of no danger.

Essence did speak of the approach of Creation and Destruction.

Knight was aware of their infrequent visits to the den of dusty knowledge. It was difficult to ignore, with how they leaked essence and excited the air with promises of something new, of something removed. The two beings had not yet approached while Knight was there, which was irritating.

Knight had only met Creation once, but it was not in its mind. It had screamed, which offended Knight though the amusement they felt overcame that.

Knight wondered if Destruction would scream, too.

AN: This is what happens if you're in denial, Chloe.

Still the same basic powers as Antibug, but the trigger for this one isn't Ladybug offending Chloe, so a few things had to change. Sabrina is the focus, so it makes sense for akuma Chloe to use her power on her first, perpetuating the near servant/yes man role Sabrina has been doing for the past 3 years. If I'm remembering right, this is the first akuma pov. I hope it comes across appropriately tunnel vision-y.

Chat cataclysm-ed a little hole in the floor right under Chat Argent (meaning Silver Cat, and also sounds a little like agent). He's getting pretty good at destroying exactly what he wants. Coincidentally, both Adrien and Chat are annoyed at Keana/Ghost rn.

Ghost comes in clutch from the one(1) Nail lesson they've done with a few parries.

Anyway, hope y'all enjoyed. I'm pretty busy with school rn, so next month I'll post the first chapter of my pokemon spinoff (9 year old Keana in Alola what will she do-). It isn't exactly V&D related, since there isn't any Miraculous stuff going on, but it's still a Hollow Knight crossover, so that's fun. I don't know if I want to publish it on fanfic net, but y'all with for sure be able to find it on my ao3 account.

As for chapter 28, I'm mostly done, but I still have 2 scenes left and it's already really long lol. Might be another 10k chapter, not to mention it's a 2 parter.

Any questions? Comments? Concerns?

Have a good day!