Disclaimer: I don’t own ML.
Chat Noir’s puns are so horrible pls save me
And I didn’t expect this chapter to get so long, especially after I lost the first draft to the digital aether, so there’ll be a shorter fourth part to just wrap things up nicely and give the Adrinette I’m compelled to write. Hell, I might even write timestamps because I grew way too attached to what was supposed to just be a oneshot.
The fic idea came from @gale-of-the-nomads and Little Devil from @zoe-oneesama (in case you want a picture reference).
Part 2 | Part 4 | AO3 link here
No one even likes you. They only respect you because you’re Queen Bee
Everyone celebrated when you left
“I am Queen Bee!” Chloé argues, huddled in a ball with her hands over her ears. Nearby, Chat Noir is curled up, practically pulling his hair out. “If people respect Queen Bee, they respect me!”
But fighting the voices just seems to make them stronger. The little devils on Chloé’s shoulders cackle, completely bypassing the hands covering her ears, while Chat Noir’s groans sound distorted and far away, as though Chloé is underwater. The exposed skin on her thighs is starting to turn a splotchy red, like blood is beginning to pool and spread, and Chloé would probably be more concerned if she wasn’t dealing with nasty voices in her head.
You make messes everywhere
“Stop! I can’t take it anymore!” Chloé cries. “I know I make messes!”
“You can fix your own messes, if that’s what you want.” Ladybug’s voice echoes through Chloé’s head. But she can’t. She can’t fix her messes. She’s a bitch, a nasty person, everyone knows that –
Little Devil’s power turns those who succumb to their dark thoughts. Alya probably hadn’t even thought that she had that dark side. But Chloé knows she’s a bitch, so why do these words hurt so much? Maybe it’s not positive thoughts that fights off these devils. Maybe it’s owning these thoughts.
“Yes, I have been horrible!” Chloé announces. “I know I’m a bitch and no one likes me! But I’m not going to let that be me anymore! I’m a hero and I’m going to prove it!”
For a moment, there’s silence. It feels like the world’s collectively holding its breath, like time itself has stopped…or maybe Chloé’s just being a drama queen. Either way, the devils on her shoulders let out tiny, inhuman shrieks and explode in poofs of red smoke, replaced by little pink angels that look so much like Tikki that Hawkmoth has to be denser than bricks at this point to not realise. The angels hover around Chloé’s face for a few seconds, flapping their little white wings, before zipping back towards Little Devil like she’s yanking them on strings. She waves her pitchfork and the angels mutate back into devils with little screams and another puff of red smoke.
“Chat Noir!” Chloé crawls over to Chat, who’s moaning pathetically with a face that’s already half red. Aware that she’s running against the clock, she gently slaps his face, her stomach lurching when his eyes crack open and the bright green is yellower than it should be. “Don’t fight the voices! Own them!”
“Can’t,” Chat Noir mumbles. A shiver wracks his body and the red creeps over his skin even more. “Useless…no one likes the real me…”
“Oh my god,” Chloé says. She shoots a look at Little Devil, who’s sitting on the railing again and surveying her chaotic domain with her black lips curved in a wicked little smile. Whether the akuma’s listening or not, Chloé has no idea, but now she has to choose her words carefully so that she doesn’t give away anything about Chat Noir being Adrien Agreste. “Okay. Listen up, you mangy cat, because I so didn’t sign up to play therapist. Tell me what they’re saying and then repeat what I say.”
For a moment, Chat Noir doesn’t say anything. But then he draws in a shaky breath and croaks, “I always mess up. Ladybug has to do all the work and I keep getting caught because…because Chat Noir is freedom.”
“Easy fix,” Chloé says. “You’ll just take Chat Noir more seriously when you’re in a fight. Come on, say it.”
“I’ll – I’ll take Chat Noir more seriously when I’m in a fight.” Chat Noir shudders again.
“My – my father doesn’t love me.”
“That’s on him, not you. Come on.”
“Ladybug doesn’t need me – she has other allies –”
“What did I tell you earlier? Say it. You. Are. Irreplaceable. To. Ladybug.”
Chat just shakes his head and curls in on himself, so Chloé gently slaps him again. “I’m not here to coddle you, fur ball! Say it!”
“I – I’m irreplaceable to Ladybug.”
“I’m irreplaceable to Ladybug.”
“I’m irreplaceable to Ladybug!” The red spreading across Chat Noir’s face immediately starts to recede, and he slumps on the ground with a gasp.
“Colour me impressed,” Little Devil says, looking back over at them while toying with the prongs of her pitchfork. “I never would have thought that Chloé Bourgeois could ever fight off an akuma rather than cause it.”
“I know I’m horrible,” Chloé says. “I don’t need a devil to tell me that. Get up, alley cat! Think up a plan!”
“Yeah, chaton, think up a plan,” Little Devil says in amusement.
“Me?” Chat Noir groans, stumbling to his feet. “Ladybug makes the plans, not me!”
“You literally just swore you’d take your superhero stuff more seriously,” Chloé says. “Come on, you’ve done this for longer than me. Think of something!”
“Uh…” Chat Noir scratches the back of his neck in a very Adrien-like manner, while both Little Devil and Chloé stare at him. Chloé can’t help but feel like Little Devil’s getting major kicks out of their dysfunctional team, which makes sense considering that she’s the real Ladybug and probably would’ve already taken the akuma down by now. “Lucky Charm?”
“Ugh. Fine. Lucky Charm!” Chloé throws her yo-yo up into the air and receives a ladybug-patterned smartphone in return.
“Uh, I don’t think you’ve got Marinette’s phone number,” Chat Noir says. Chloé just glowers and presses the unlock button to make the screen light up. The background is a selfie of Adrien and Marinette, with Adrien beaming at the camera and Marinette looking like she’s died and gone to Heaven from being squished to his side. Whether this is a photo that’s been taken on one of their phones or something that Marinette wishes had happened, Chloé has no idea. All she knows is that there needs to be a reason for it being on a phone rather than just a physical photograph.
“I could think of at least two possible plans I’d do in your position,” Little Devil says rather patronisingly. “What’s your plan, Chloé?”
At a loss, Chloé does the only thing she can think of: she tucks the phone away, because of course she gave her suit proper pockets, and then charges at Little Devil to grab the cravat. However, not only does Little Devil possess incredible skills from her experience as Ladybug, but she’s also got the enhancement that akumas give their victims. Maybe if it had only been one of the two, Chloé might have stood a chance. Instead, Little Devil just giggles and easily parries every single punch and kick that Chloé throws as though she can predict exactly what Chloé’s going to do. Which might just have something to do with the fact that Little Devil is the real Ladybug.
Great. Just great. Why does Chloé always get the hard stuff?
“You’ll never be a real hero, Chloé Bourgeois.” Little Devil slams Chloé into the ground and keeps her down with one heeled boot on her chest and pitchfork aimed at her throat. “You’ll never even be half the real Ladybug. At least, that’s what my little devils tell me.”
“Meowch,” Chat Noir says from behind Little Devil. Chloé catches sight of a few black sparks over Little Devil’s shoulder and realises that he’s most likely activated his Cataclysm. She just has to avoid letting Little Devil catch on. “That was tailtally uncalled for.”
“Chat Noir!” Chloé growls, realising that they’re severely outmatched. And she still can’t think of a plan for that stupid phone. “Get us out of here and stop with your stupid puns before I grab her pitchfork and kill you myself!”
Little Devil just laughs. “Your puns are awful, chaton.” She kneels on Chloé’s chest to grab the Ladybug Miraculous, her knee digging into the collarbone just below Chloé’s throat. The akuma gets one earring off and then reaches for the other, the magic beginning to dissipate from Chloé. Chloé growls and tries to lash out at Little Devil, but she’s firmly held in place by Little Devil’s knee and calf.
“Don’t you mean clawful, princess?”
There’s a cracking sound above them. Little Devil looks up and only has a split second to dive away from Chloé before the walkway ceiling starts crashing down, and Chloé would have been utter toast if Chat Noir hadn’t swooped in to grab her before a large chunk of stone can turn her gorgeous head into a smear on the ground.
“Cutting it a bit – aiiieee!” Chloé’s snarky comment is cut off by Chat Noir hurling her down into the infested courtyard. Fuming, she makes a wobbly landing and starts viciously cutting her way through the little devils, wondering if she should thank Chat Noir for throwing her where Little Devil wouldn’t think to look for her or kick him in the shins for throwing her into the lion’s den. Honestly, how does Ladybug put up with his harebrained schemes?
His harebrained scheme saved you when you charged in like an idiot, says a small voice. Chloé just rolls her eyes, punches the last of the devils away, then ducks into a doorway to watch the fight between Little Devil and Chat Noir. They’re sparring on the walkway perpendicular to the destroyed one, pretty much evenly matched, and it strikes Chloé just how inexperienced she is in comparison to Ladybug and Chat Noir. How…unexceptional.
“Shut up,” she mutters. “The last thing you need is for a devil to get you again.”
Chat Noir punches Little Devil in the face, sending her crashing into the wall. It occurs to Chloé that he could easily have thrown her across the courtyard if he chose, and she sighs and resists the urge to thump her head against the door. That fur ball is holding back to avoid hurting Marinette – Ladybug – even though she clearly doesn’t have a fraction of the same courtesy to extend to him.
The beeping of her earrings jolts Chloé back to earth, and she darts down the hall and into the first classroom she comes across, which is thankfully empty. She pulls the phone out and turns it all over, like this’ll somehow reveal some miraculous secret that she can use to take down Little Devil. Nothing. She brings up the lock screen photo of Adrien and Marinette. Nothing. How could Little Devil have formulated two plans when she hadn’t even seen the photo? Chloé silently curses Marinette for going and getting herself akumatised and leaving Chloé and Adrien to deal with the aftermath as a dysfunctional team. The more she works with Chat Noir, the more Chloé realises that she and Adrien just aren’t compatible as A Thing.
“Great,” Chloé grumbles, hoisting herself on a desk so she can sprawl dramatically. “I’ll just get Adrikins to call her and spin a whole sob story to distract her so I can grab the akuma. That’ll work. Great plan, Chloé.”
She pauses and frowns. Call her…what had Little Devil said in that bathroom? “Everyone has a little devil on their shoulder. I just need to make them listen.”
“Of course!” Chloé says to herself. Now she knows why she was given that phone and that picture of Adrien and Marinette, as fake as it might be. The picture itself doesn’t have to be real for her to realise what she needs to do. With one last beep, her transformation washes away, taking the phone with it, and Tikki lurches out of the earrings and wobbles in mid-air, panting.
“I hope you have a plan,” Tikki gasps. “And some cookies. I need to recharge.”
“Marinette’s probably got some in her purse,” Chloé says. “Come on, let’s go wandering around the dangerous school so you can get your sugar fix.”
Tikki shoots her probably the closest thing to a bitchface that the sweet kwami can muster, but Chloé’s not here to coddle. Instead, she gestures at Tikki to hide, which the kwami does by burrowing into her ponytail.
“Great, my hair is ruined,” Chloé whines as she slips out of the classroom and heads for the bathroom.
“Your hair is the least of our problems, Chloé,” Tikki says. “Do you have a plan?”
“I do. I just need Adrien to make it work.”
“I’m sure Chat Noir is recovering somewhere else –”
“No, not Chat Noir. Adrien. He’s the only one who’s got a chance of getting near her without her zapping us. Marinette wanted someone to listen, so she’s going to get someone to listen.”
Although Chloé can’t see the kwami’s face, she just knows that Tikki is beaming. She can literally feel the happy energy radiating off the damn thing. But she refuses to admit that she actually likes the feeling, instead banging the bathroom door open louder than necessary and making a beeline for Marinette’s dropped purse. Luckily, there are two cookies stashed in there, no doubt for Tikki, and the kwami chows down on them faster than humanly possible for something her size as compared to the cookies. Honestly Chloé kind of admires her determination to save Marinette. It kind of makes her miss Pollen, to be honest.
“I bet you’ll be glad to have Marinette back,” Chloé says, well aware that she’s displaying envy like some commoner. “I have to be the worst Ladybug you’ve ever had, right?”
“You’re not bad!” Tikki insists straight away. “You’re just inexperienced! In fact, you’ve got an advantage because you already know how Ladybug works!”
“You don’t have to lie to make me feel better,” Chloé says thickly, crossing her arms as though this can fight off the stinging in her eyes. “I already know that Marinette Dupain-Cheng is way more exceptional than I’ll ever be. Everyone likes her, she caught the attention of Gabriel Agreste and my maman, she’s got Adrikins crushing on her because she’s Ladybug, an amazing superhero…she even gets her own little kidney bean best friend. Me? I’m always second best. I don’t even get to keep my kwami.”
The look on Tikki’s little face makes it very clear that she noticed Chloé’s choice of words in saying kwami rather than Miraculous. But she doesn’t say anything, so Chloé concludes her rant.
“And now I have to step up and fill in for her and I can’t even do that properly. Marinette would’ve taken the akuma down ages ago.”
Tikki says nothing, simply frowning at Chloé while finishing off her snack. Chloé wants to look away but there’s something about the kwami’s piercing gaze that just won’t let her.
“Then maybe you shouldn’t compare yourself to Marinette,” Tikki says, floating closer to Chloé. “You’re Chloé Bourgeois, not Marinette Dupain-Cheng. You stepped up to be Ladybug when you could have accepted Little Devil’s offer to not interfere so that she’d leave you alone. You took responsibility for your father’s akumatisation and for ruining Marinette’s present for Mlle Bustier. You took on the mantle of Queen Bee to help fight Hawkmoth’s army.”
“Those are all things that Chloé Bourgeois has done!” Tikki pokes Chloé in the nose. “Not Marinette! I love Marinette so much, and she’s done so many amazing things, but you’re doing great things too! You don’t have to be Marinette, Chloé.”
“Okay, okay, whatever,” Chloé says, if only to get Tikki to shut up. She can handle the social game of careful compliments or flattery to align oneself in certain circles or to gain an advantage. But having the embodiment of good luck and creation genuinely listing all her virtues is too much to handle, even if her soul does feel ten times lighter between that and overcoming the little devils earlier. “Let’s go save Marinette so you can get her back.”
As they leave, Chloé decides to be gracious and let Tikki rest a bit more, so she traverses the super dangerous halls as herself rather than Ladybug. She idly wonders if Tikki’s Ladybug good luck power rubs off on people when untransformed, because it only takes two tries to find the classroom that Adrien’s hiding out in. A tiny black cat floats near his head, stuffing an enormous wedge of Camembert cheese down his throat.
“Gross!” Chloé wrinkles her nose, while Tikki wriggles out of her hair to go and greet the black cat kwami. “Now I know why you always stink.”
“Plagg loves the stuff,” Adrien says with a sheepish laugh. “So, do you have a plan?”
“As a matter of fact, I do,” Chloé says rather smugly. “You really should work on your planning skills, Chat Noir.”
Adrien glowers at her but says nothing about that. Instead, he says, “Plagg, are you nearly done? We can’t let Marinette cause more damage than we can help.”
“Actually, I need Adrien Agreste for this plan to work,” Chloé says. “Marinette promised to spare Adrien, not Chat Noir. And really, what were you thinking, forgetting that she doesn’t know who Chat Noir is? She was ready to put you in the ground, Adrien.”
“I – I forgot.” Adrien looks down. “I just saw Marinette – my lady – hurting, and I –”
“– had to rush in to save her. This is exactly why Ladybug didn’t want you to tell each other who you are. That’s why Hawkmoth used my family against me on Heroes’ Day to distract me enough that Despair Bear and Dark Cupid got me. When you’re behind the mask, you’re not Adrien anymore!”
“What, like you’re not Chloé anymore when you’re Queen Bee?” Adrien retorts. Chloé smirks at Adrien finally biting back.
“And just how do you think I know what a bad idea it is?” she says. “But it’s not such a big deal if Hawkmoth knows who Queen Bee is. If he finds out who Chat Noir is, though?”
“Look, I appreciate that you care about me,” Adrien says. “But can we just go? What could you need me for that you can’t use Chat Noir for? You think Marinette will really just let me get close to her?”
“She told me to my face that she’d spare you,” Chloé says. “And I finally realised what that phone and picture meant.”
“I’ve never taken that picture with Marinette before in my life,” Adrien protests.
“That doesn’t matter. The picture was telling me that you’re the only one who can get close to her. Even though she spared me, there’s no way she’d trust me like she trusts you.”
“Marinette just wants someone to listen to her.” Chloé’s hands land on her hips so that she can look extra smug because she totally deserves it after coming up with this plan. “That’s why she was akumatised, right? None of our classmates would listen to her because of Liar Rossi.”
“Oh, hush,” Chloé says. “She deserves it and you know it. I might be an utter bitch, but I never made Marinette cry and got her akumatised. Anyway, she told me when she got akumatised that everyone has a little devil on their shoulder and she’s just going to make them listen.”
“Of course!” Adrien’s face lights up. “I have to listen to her and let her talk. And you’ll grab the akuma, right?”
“No, I’ll just stand there and look pretty,” Chloé says snarkily.
“Sarcasm doesn’t work if it’s something you’d actually do,” Adrien says. Chloé rolls her eyes.
“Whatever, alley cat. You ready, Tikki?”
“Definitely!” Tikki says, a look of sheer determination on her tiny face.
Once she’s transformed, she scoops Adrien up so that he won’t fall behind, making sure that Plagg is safely hidden with him before she breaks into a sprint down the hall towards the courtyard. Little Devil is where Chat Noir had left her, perched on the undestroyed railing to watch the chaos with glee, and she smiles when Chloé uses her yo-yo to launch them up there and sets Adrien down.
“Welcome back, Ladybug,” Little Devil says. Chloé holds her yo-yo out like a shield in response, even though fighting is possibly the best way to totally ruin their plan. “I knew you’d be back after recharging. Ladybug just can’t leave the akuma alone, can she? It’s her job. I’m sure chaton will be along soon enough.” Her smile widens when she catches sight of Adrien and – wait, is that genuine joy? “Adrien!”
“Marinette.” Adrien’s mouth droops. “I’m so sorry I left you. I should have skipped class –”
“Oh, no, don’t be silly!” Little Devil giggles in a gross imitation of Marinette. “I don’t blame you at all. You came after me in the first place.”
“Because I care about you.” Adrien takes a cautious step towards Little Devil, hands up as unthreateningly as possible. “You’re one of my best friends, Marinette, and it’s totally uncool that everyone treated you like that. Especially Lila.”
“Lila? Pfft.” Little Devil smirks down at one of the devils in the courtyard, who’s in the centre and scratching at any other devils that come near it. Chloé wonders how she can even single out which devil the akuma is staring at before chalking it to enhanced senses. “Honestly, Lila was just an annoyance. She was never going to like me. You know what really hurt? Having everyone else turn on me like I was nothing to them!”
“Yeah, that was completely wrong,” Adrien agrees. He takes another careful step towards her, Chloé following ever so slowly behind so as not to alert her. “I’m on your side, Marinette. But this isn’t the way to fix things!”
“Isn’t it?” Little Devil tilts her head. “You know, maybe Ladybug and Chat Noir have been wrong all along. I felt so powerless…so unheard…but Hawkmoth fixed that! He let me make myself heard, let me make everyone hurt just like they made me!”
“Do you really think that hurting others is the way to fix it?” Adrien says. “Revenge, violence…it’s not the answer. You’re not the Marinette who smiles and brings pastries to class and cheers everyone up and goes out of her way to make me laugh when I’m having a bad day.”
“Being that Marinette got me hurt! Used!” Little Devil stomps the ground hard enough to leave a large crack, which Chloé eyes warily so that she can jump away with Adrien if it grows bigger. “Nobody listened to me! The girls ignored me when I insisted that they stop helping me get together with you because you liked Kagami and I respected your wishes, because who cares about Marinette’s voice? No, I’m just a shallow teenage girl who lets herself be defined by a boy! If that was the case then why wasn’t I mean to Kagami, huh? I respected Kagami because she respected you!”
Adrien looks like he’s going to faint on the spot. Chloé supposes that it’s one thing to hear that his friend is crushing on him from someone else and another thing entirely to hear it directly from his friend’s mouth. The fact that Marinette is the real Ladybug and he’s crushing hard on Ladybug probably isn’t helping either.
Little Devil puts on a simpering voice. “But Marinette Dupain-Cheng is boy-crazy and hates Chloé and Lila because she’s a jealous fangirl, not because they bullied me! I even stood up to Chloé for the class, but they conveniently forget that when Lila comes along with her lies that don’t even make sense – and that’s the worst part of it all, that they’re so ridiculous, like that napkin lie! Oh, unless I’m making a picnic where they get free food, then they’re so quick to jump and help out! Otherwise, it was Marinette this, Marinette help me, Marinette, Marinette, Marinette!”
Chloé and Adrien exchange startled looks as Little Devil screams, resulting in every single devil in the courtyard screaming in fresh pain as well. If Marinette’s been bottling all this up along with being Ladybug, it’s no wonder that when she snaps, she’s one of the most dangerous akumas that have been around. She’d downed both Ladybug and Chat Noir in one hit and if Marinette had been in Chloe’s place, it’s likely that she would have been blindsided by her dark side like Alya was.
Little Devil tilts her head as a purple outline appears over her face, and Adrien clenches his fists at the sight. Chloé, who’s edged even closer to Little Devil, glares at him to make sure he doesn’t stuff it all up.
“Patience, Hawkmoth,” Little Devil snaps. “I want Adrien to hear me first. Then I’ll take Ladybug’s Miraculous and go find Chat Noir.” Another short pause. “I only lost them last time because I underestimated Chat Noir, but he’s not even here! And Chloé is inexperienced!”
“I do hear you, Marinette,” Adrien says as the purple mask fades. “And I’m sorry if I ever gave you the impression that I don’t. But…this isn’t you. You’re always so cute whenever I see you. You made me our friendship charm – see, I still have it!” He pulls a pink and green beaded charm out of his pocket. Super ugly, but whatever works, Chloé supposes. “I carry it around everywhere because it’s my good luck charm! You brighten up my day whenever I see you, because I know I can count on you to be sweet and amazing.”
“No one listens to me when I’m sweet and amazing!”
“Please, Marinette.” Adrien’s now so close to Little Devil that he could touch her with next to no effort if he wanted. “I’ll always listen to you. You know that, right? The problem is that you were expected to bottle up your feelings and smile for everyone else, because everybody saw you as untouchable Marinette. But that can change. We can find healthier ways to make people listen to you! But this?” Adrien gestures at the chaotic courtyard. “This isn’t healthy!”
Little Devil’s eyes bore into Adrien’s, the deep blue watery as she no doubt struggles to hold back the tide of emotions before they can overwhelm her. She lets out an otherworldly shriek, which every other little devil in the courtyard mirrors as though they’re feeling her pain, and she shoves Adrien into the wall, though not hard enough to hurt him since the gasp he lets out is more surprised than pained. Chloé tenses, ready to spring into action to save Adrien, but Little Devil just wails and clenches her fists on either side of Adrien’s head, her own head bowed. In response, Adrien carefully wraps his hands around her blood red upper arms, causing her to screech again and headbutt his chest with her forehead. He looks a little alarmed at how close her horns are to his throat, but thankfully he doesn’t move away and upset her even more.
Chloé seizes the opportunity to sneak up on the distressed akuma and slip the cravat from around her neck. With a swift tear, Chloé is holding two pieces of cloth, from which a glowing, purple-black butterfly emerges. Chloé’s lip curls at the sight. She’s very much familiar with these little things, as much as she wishes she wasn’t.
“Oooh, does that mean I get to say the thing?” she says, bouncing on the spot. “No more evildoing for you, little akuma! Time to de-evilise!” She uses her yo-yo to snatch the akuma out of the air so that it doesn’t fly off. “Gotcha!”
“Ladybug does it better,” Adrien says, his hands having moved from Little Demon’s arms to her back as he holds her in a hug. Chloé just pokes her tongue out, not that she’d do such a commoner thing around people who aren’t him, and she presses the yo-yo to release the purified akuma.
“Can I do the thing without a Lucky Charm?” Chloé says. Adrien shrugs.
“I’ve never seen it done without one.”
This time, Chloé is provided with a small hand mirror. Frowning, she turns it all around, trying to figure out what the power’s trying to tell her, but all she sees is her own reflection. Maybe it’s referencing what a vain bitch she is, although she prefers ‘confident’. Or maybe –
Oh. Little smart alec. It’s probably referencing that “be yourself!” speech that Tikki had given her, telling her that she’s good enough and right now, what the situation needs is her. Whatever. Okay, so it’s kind of poetic and sweet, but if she keeps staring at the mirror for much longer then Adrien’s going to grow suspicious. And now that she knows his Chat Noir side, she knows he’ll never stop pestering her.
“Miraculous Ladybug!” Chloé announces, tossing the mirror into the air gracefully. At least, she thinks it’s graceful. Which means it is. The mirror explodes in a swarm of ladybugs, which zoom around the school and fix all the damage that had been done while reverting all the devils back to their normal selves. Little Devil is encased in a purple-black aura and when it fades, Marinette is left in her place, blinking owlishly.
“I – what?” she says. “What am I – oh.” She droops. “I was akumatised. But how am I –?” She catches sight of Chloé and her eyes positively bulge out of their sockets. “Chloé?”
“Yes, yes, I saved your butt, I’m totally a hero,” Chloé says. “Come on, Adrikins, give her to me.”
“Adrien?” Marinette freezes, her brain only just realising whose arms she’s wrapped in, and her eyes follow the arms around her up to the face next to hers. She lets out an ear-piercing shriek and jumps away, stumbling over her own feet and nearly tripping if not for Chloé grabbing her. “I – oh no – I hurt did – I mean – did I Adrien – gah!”
Thankfully, Adrien takes pity on her and smiles, reaching out to slide an arm around her. Chloé doesn’t want to begin to imagine what’s going to happen when Marinette learns that Adrien knows about her crush.
“You didn’t hurt me at all, Marinette!” he says. “You actually refused to hurt me, so Chloé asked for my help because she wasn’t used to being Ladybug. You should go with Chloé so she can make sure you’re alright. I’ll save your seat up the back of the class so you don’t have to sit alone.”
Down in the courtyard, the commoners are looking up at them and gasps and whispers are flying around. Chloé sighs loudly. “Adrikins, please deal with them, would you? Tell them the story we agreed on. Also –” She holds out a fist. Grinning, Adrien fist-bumps her and they say, “Pound it!” together.
Chloé got to do it with both superheroes. And she knows who both of them are. She was one of them. Her life is now complete. She’s cooler than literally anyone else here, not that she wasn’t before.
With one last smile at Marinette, Adrien heads down the stairs to confront the masses, leaving Chloé free to drag Marinette down the hall.
“Official story to explain why there’s a different Ladybug when you got akumatised is that Ladybug got caught in her civilian form and gave the earrings to me, since she could trust me as Queen Bee,” Chloé says when they’re in yet another empty classroom. Story of her life today, honestly. “You’re welcome.”
“Thanks,” Marinette says faintly, no doubt still in shock from her evilised rampage. “But…I don’t understand why you’d help me, Chloé. Telling everyone off in the cafeteria is one thing but you – you hate me!”
“That was just to annoy Lila,” Chloé says. “And it’s more like I just didn’t even care about you after you stood up to Maman and threw that party. And now that I know you’re Ladybug –”
Marinette jumps and looks around wildly, as though expecting the entire student body to be huddled outside, ears pressed to the door and windows to eavesdrop. Chloé sighs loudly, then grimaces when the earrings beep.
“I’m literally wearing your earrings,” she says. “That I saw you throw away to keep from Hawkmoth. And Adrikins has the others under control, don’t worry. Spots off.”
As soon as the transformation falls and Tikki is free, she squeals Marinette’s name and darts over, nuzzling against her face. Marinette’s face lights up as she hugs Tikki back, and Chloé takes the opportunity to slip the earrings off and hold them out.
“Thank you, Chloé,” Marinette says sincerely, taking them back and reattaching them. “You were super brave to step up and be Ladybug.”
“Ugh, gag me,” Chloé says. “My outfit was way better than yours and I impressed Adrien, that’s all.”
But Marinette doesn’t look fooled for a second. Ugh, she’s actually being a decent person about this. But then her face falls and she looks down.
“I’m sorry you had to do that,” she says. “If I’d been able to control myself better –”
“Did I or did I not kick your butt about apologising for things that aren’t your fault?” Chloé snaps. “It’s Hawkmoth’s fault, not yours. You can’t help your emotions. Just like I made it easier for him to akumatise half the people he got to, but it’s his fault because he did the akumas. And you had every right to break, since you’re such a self-sacrificing idiot that you spend so much time putting everyone else before yourself.”
“I could have endangered everyone!” Marinette protests. “An akumatised Ladybug –”
“But you didn’t. You took the earrings off. Stop blaming yourself for feeling stuff, Dupain-Cheng, or I’ll have to take back my offer of friendship.”
“Friendship?” Marinette squints at Chloé. “Why would you want to be friends with me? Is it because I’m Ladybug? I know you’re one of her biggest fans.”
“Okay, one, I’m her biggest fan,” Chloé says. “No ‘one of’ about it. And two, I wouldn’t go making friends with Marinette Dupain-Cheng just because she’s Ladybug. In fact, it’s not even friendship. It’s an alliance and a truce because Lila’s a pain in both our butts. It’ll…” She scrambles for an excuse. “It’ll annoy Lila and everyone else, that’s all.”
Again, Marinette isn’t fooled. She just smiles and nuzzles Tikki again before freezing.
“Adrien!” Marinette shrieks.
“Oh please, if you’re going to go all lovestruck –”
“It’s not that!” Marinette tugs at her hair and tries to sit down on a seat, only to miss and crash to the floor. She jumps up, promptly banging her thigh on the desk, and gives up trying to be a functional human being. “You told him to tell everyone the story you’d agreed on!”
“Which means – he knows you didn’t just stumble on Ladybug’s civilian form!”
“Uh huh.” Oh boy, this is just delicious to watch.
“And that means he’ll know that the real Ladybug was conveniently missing when I was akumatised!”
“That’s right.” Chloé starts examining her nails and she shoots a smirk at Tikki when Marinette’s not looking. Tikki tries to look disapproving but fails horribly, undoubtedly just as amused by Marinette’s freak-out as Chloé is.
“Adrien knows that I’m Ladybug!”
“That’s just scratching the surface,” Chloé says gleefully. “You should totally tell him that I told you to ask him about Camembert.”
“It is unfair if you don’t know,” Tikki says sagely.
“Camembert?” Marinette’s left eye twitches. “What does Camembert have to do with my secret identity? I’ll never be able to look him in the eye again! We’ll never get married and have a beautiful house and three children and a hamster named –”
“Kill me now,” Chloé complains loudly. “Honestly, I don’t think Adrien’s gonna hate you because you’re Ladybug. He loves Ladybug, remember?”
“But I got akumatised!” Marinette waves her hands in the air. “Even Ladybug’s not strong enough! He won’t respect me anymore and I won’t be able to face him and I don’t even remember what I said to him – please tell me I didn’t tell him I like him, oh my god –”
“Tikki, does Cataclysm work on a person or was Volpina just lying as usual?” Chloé sighs.
“Chloé, don’t be so mean,” Tikki scolds. “Marinette has a lot of feelings to work through. Speaking of which, you should probably get to class, Marinette. Adrien’s waiting for you!”
Chloé’s expecting Marinette to freak out even more at that, so it’s a surprise when she just takes deep gulps of air and lets out a squeak.
“Okay,” Marinette says in a high voice. “I can do this. It’s no big deal. He just…knows I’m Ladybug. Who got akumatised. And told him things I don’t remember.”
“Trust me, I don’t think he’ll be disappointed,” Chloé mutters, linking her arm with Marinette’s so she can tug the other girl out of the classroom. “And don’t get used to this touchy-feely stuff. This is just the best way to get back at everyone without being mean, since you’re so sickly sweet. Ugh.”
“Uh huh.” Marinette’s voice is still a little high.
Chloé’s naturally a little wary about walking into their classroom arm-in-arm with someone who’d been her sworn enemy just hours earlier, but it’s totally worth it to see the looks of utter shock on everyone’s face at seeing the two girls walk in together without trying to tear the other’s throat out.
“Marinette!” Mlle Bustier greets them at the door with a hand on Marinette’s shoulder and a warm smile for both of them. Honestly, Chloé’s got a real soft spot for their teacher, not that she’d dare admit it even under torture. “Are you feeling better? Will you be alright for class?”
Marinette looks around at their classmates, who are still staring at her. Up the back, Adrien’s waiting as promised, and he smiles and waves when she catches his eye. Chloé’s ready to gag at how Marinette will undoubtedly melt and die, but she’s pleasantly surprised to see Marinette just hold her head high and nod.
“I’ll be okay, Mlle Bustier,” Marinette says. “I’ve got Chloé and Adrien to support me now.”
Ugh, of course she’d still see Chloé as a friend even after Chloé insisted that this was a truce.
...Nah, who is Chloé kidding?
“Wonderful! Take your seats, girls. I won’t punish you for being late.”
“Yeah, for once it’s not Marinette’s fault that she’s late,” Chloé says as Marinette heads for the back of the room, determinedly not looking anyone in the eye. She wishes she could snap a picture of the look on Lila’s face at seeing Marinette sitting next to Adrien at the back. Honestly, the utter fury and outrage would be the finest piece of art at the Louvre if someone was to paint it. Hmm, maybe she should get on her daddy’s case about that.
“Chloé,” Mlle Bustier says quietly before Chloé can sit down. “You were very brave to step up and be Ladybug today when everyone needed you. You were exceptional.”
“Of course I couldn’t let everyone down when they relied on me,” Chloé scoffs, preening at the praise. But she still can’t help smiling as she takes her usual seat next to Sabrina, who tries to catch her eye but can’t quite do so. Honestly, Chloé’s going to officially forgive Sabrina that afternoon, because it hadn’t been Chloé who Sabrina had turned her back on by sucking up to Lila. But not just yet.
Just when everyone’s about to settle down and at least try to do their schoolwork –
“My tinnitus is gone! It’s a miracle!”
