Chapter Text
When Chloé Bourgeois accepted the task to be the owner of the Bee Miraculous at the tender age of 13, the blonde initially wanted to flaunt it around or tell her beloved childhood friend Adrien... If it weren't for the fact her father begged her to keep it a secret from everyone but him and this cheeky fogey. It took a year to get used to her powers, finding an inner balance between her studies, job and reputation as the leader of Team Miraculous-
"No one said you were the leader dude." The green superhero broke the blonde's narrative, already using his special skill to block the onslaught of debris being thrown at their direction. There are around five stone creatures attacking the duo. All they need to do is get the perpetrator and everything comes tumbling down.
"I'm pretty sure I'm the leader here!" Gritting her teeth, Chloé (better known as Queen Bee at this moment) looked at the original Akuma acting like KingKong to her beloved Eiffel tower. The creature was holding their classmate, Mylène Haprèle, making incoherent noises like giving up their miraculous or where the cheeky fogey is. She has a bad feeling this akumatized person is in her class because who else would care for this scaredy-cat?
Ignoring green meat shield beside her, she's the Leader of Team Miraculous because she's clearly the most qualified among the five. She is the only government licensed Miraculous holder who can detoxify the purple butterflies. She's also the only female in the team. Back to the situation at hand, the green turtle calls himself Carapace. She has three more allies, but they're all busy with a stray cat and a slutty fox. To be honest, the only person she can rely on is Viperion and he's the guy carrying a lyre. Urgh. Good help is so hard to get by these days.
"Hurry up dude!" Carapace looked at the side to see several buildings toppled down by something. It's definitely the work of Chat Noir. That black cat destroys everything! "We gotta help our bros!"
"Be quiet! I'm thinking here!" Queen Bee demanded, trying to contain her panic as she fiddled with her trompo. Once she uses venom, she has five minutes to snatch the akuma item and suck the toxin from the akuma. She won't fail again. Paris is depending on her. Hawkmoth is watching her. 'What a creep!'
"Ivan! Please stop!" The girl with horrid taste- Mylène yelled, looking at the duo with panicked eyes. "I'm scared!"
"Distract him. I'm going to fly up there." Queen Bee requests, unable to find any item on that brute. She'll just have to trust her gut instinct. She activates her weapon, readying her wings. "Don't let me down amphibian!"
Carapace is the defender, Viperion is mister-know-it-all, Pegasus is a teleporting nerd and King Monkey is well... a party monkey. Each of them have their own way to containing akuma. Carapace contains them with his... hat shield whatever and waits for her to detoxify the cretin at night. Viperion uses his lyre to temporarily calm down the individual back to his/her human form, either to release the akuma or have the government contain the akumatized human. She isn't sure what Pegasus and King Monkey does, but those dorks have synergy.
"Turtles are reptiles, you know?!" Carapace called out, deactivating the shield as Queen Bee rushed up to face off with the original. The hero summoned two flat shields, twirling them rapidly as he ran towards the closest stone creature. He threw one of them at the foot of one, sliding down to avoid the fall of one golem that accidentally toppled down two others.
"Queen Bee!" Mylène called out as the yellow superhero used her special skill. "Don't hurt him!"
"Shut up already!" Queen Bee has enough of these Stockholm syndrome victims. It's because of this guy she skipped lunch! She avoided the dumb flails of the oaf, holding her weapon to hit directly at the golem's chest as she cried. "Venom!"
'There!' Queen Bee noticed something purple fall alongside her classmate, moving away from the paralyzed akuma that's wailing for utterly no reason. She dived down, reaching for the screamer. "Carapace! Catch the akumatized item!"
"Huh?" Carapace looked up, out of breath since he had to topple down five golems on his own. He stared at the purple item, summoning a shield under his foot and used it like a skateboard, summoning another shield to contain the item. "Got it!"
"You better!" Queen Bee threatened, not wanting another Akuma spread, as she winced at the tight grip Myléne had on her neck.
Unfortunately, there are more Miraculous Holders outside France. It's just that her country is home to three psychopaths that own the miraculous. A creep who uses weak people as his minions, a punny and sadistic bastard who no one wants to mess with and a slut who is awfully good with her illusions. Chloé knows her daddy is working hard to track down those three, but she has a bad feeling they're closer to her than she thinks. Grabbing the akumatized item, Queen Bee rips the paper and pinched the wings of the purple butterfly with her fingertips, placing it in her mouth as she suck the toxin.
"Well that's over and done with." Queen Bee landed on the ground,a dropping her classmate. She ignored the complaints of Carapace as he had to catch the akumatized citizen which was Ivan? She removed the butterfly from her mouth, releasing the white butterfly. "We gotta go. I'm sure those three can handle him."
"We're talking about Chat Noir." Carapace glared at her who rolled her eyes. The police were coming over to escort the shaken duo.
"Fine. If you want, you can recharge and come to their rescue. I'm out of here." The yellow superhero flew up in the air, rushing away from the crime scene. She decides to scan the situation, seeing the police force aiding the citizens that turned into Hawkmoth's temporary puppets oveehead. She checks her home frowning when she saw several families crying and the fire trucks trying to put the fires out. She felt a pang of remorse. Just a little bit. She's gotten used to it by the years.
"It wasn't your fault, My queen." Her Kwami, Pollen, whispered in the back of her mind. "Don't let it get to you."
"As if I didn't know that." Chloé scoffed, landing on an alleyway and rushing behind a dumpster before the transformation ran out. She dusted her clothes, checking the time through her phone as she strode out from the back alley and return to class. 'I'll have to ask Daddy to refill the jar of honey again.'
"Sabrina?" Chloé called but no response. She clenched her phone, pissed at a certain bitchy liar. If she didn't know any better, she'd think Lila Rossi is Volpina herself! Chloé took a deep breath, refraining from attracting an akuma. Their taste wasn't as sweet as nectar, but she managed to detoxify those insects and that's fine with her. "Good help is so hard to find these days. I should have Sabrina's father fired...."
'What does Adrikins see in Lila anyways?' Chloé cursed to herself, unable to believe her BFF (both best friend and boyfriend) to flat out reject her in favor of that bitch. She hears whispers from her classmates, but she shrugs them off. Lila can say whatever she wants but one wrong move and she's a goner. She is the daughter of the mayor of France. If she so wish, this school would get closed down. They should be grateful she cares for Adrien or they'd be sorry. 'Lila must have bribed him or maybe used her connection to the embassy to influence Gabriel? Men are so weak-'
"A-ack!" Someone yelped, avoiding a collision between her and Chloé. The blonde blinked, staring at a bluenette who tripped in midair. The girl sat up, rubbing her face. Chloé tried to not smirk at this clumsy female. She remembers Miss Bustier saying about a new transfer student. 'This must be the klutz.'
Chloé remembers the fogey, Wang Fu(?), talking about the arrival of a new Miraculous Holder. Someone with the ability to uplift the spirit of France. Her daddy was overjoyed, but Wang Fu warned him not to do anything rash. Miraculous Holders are not bound to anyone nor are they obliged to do anything. Wang Fu then talked about the harmony between Kwami and owner, saying something about affecting the psyche or whatever. Of course she wouldn't pay attention. She was cramming her math assignment! Do you know how hard Advance Algebra is?! Not helpful how the dumb cat and fox are having a love quarrel, involving the citizens of France.
"Who are you supposed to be?" Chloé raised an eyebrow, watching the bluenette stand up to stare at her.
"Sorry about that." The female laughed weakly, scratching her elbow as she looked at Chloé with bluebell eyes. "I woke up late and I rushed as fast as I can to school and please don't tell me the school ended already."
"Uh-huh." Chloé nodded, scanning the newbie. The blue-haired female wore her hair in a ponytail, wearing a dark gray blazer with rolled-up sleeves (and the fashionista didn't ignore the tiny details such as the pink polka dots on the white linings). The blonde scans the inner shirt, seeing a plain shirt with a flower design below the collar. Chloé stares down, seeing more pink underneath. Overall, the newbie was tacky but not in a bad way. "You know who I am?"
"Uhh...." The transfer student blinked a couple of times, confused. Chloé face palmed. If she were Queen bee, she has to show restraint and show compassion which is a load of bull. Compassion isn't the answer to everything. Sometimes, the akumatized victims need to get hurt before they get better. She should scare the student but a part of her tells her not to.
"I'm Chloé Bourgeois, the daughter of our dear Mayor of France." She glanced at the side, staring at a familiar annoying crowd. "You?"
"I'm Marinette Dupain-Cheng. My family are the owners of a well-known bakery? I think... hehe..." The klutz and very dense female held her hand forward, smiling at her as if she has no idea who she's talking to. "Let's be friends, Chloé."
"Like. Whatever." Chloé is going to test her loyalty first. See how dumb this girl is if Marinette will believe in Lila's lies. It's too obvious that the brat's lying and everyone is sucking up to her because of their dumb ideals. Adrien's too nice to tell the liar off and Chloé made sure one wrong move of Lila to her reputation will be her downfall. No one gets away with harming a Bourgeois' reputation. "Get going, Baker girl."
"Uh... okay!" Marinette agreed, curious why a ton of people are gossiping about them. She leans close, whispering. "What are they talking about?"
"You can talk to them later." Chloé muttered as she dragged the teenager with her. Something about her felt familiar, like she remembers seeing this girl in TV. 'Must be my imagination. No one can be as famous as moi.'
"Can we sit together?" Marinette wondered, standing in front as everyone else took their respective seats. People are buzzing and this girl is so clueless! Chloé flipped her phone to search who this girl is. She asked Sabrina's father to search who this Marinette Dupain-Cheng is and instantly got her general background. Home-schooled by her relatives in China before finally returned to her real family- Chloé looked back at the innocent girl. 'Potential akuma victim?'
Chloé recalls her promise with daddy, to never tell anyone about her secret identity. She has to do everything she can so people won't identify her as Queen Bee. It was pretty easy, considering the Hero work can't be solved with money or threats. She has to move on her own, rely on other peasants and fashion disasters, and move as a team. She also has to thank Pollen for being so nice to her, always telling her what she can do better unlike her very ungrateful allies. Last night, Chloé listens to Pollen talking about bringing Ladybug over. Ladybug is a sensational Miraculous Holder, loved by every state she enters. She doesn't know when Ladybug will come out, but it better be soon. She's tired being the only girl in the team, needing to rush to every akuma area and suck the darkness imbued in every butterfly. She also can't forget the fact the team isn't doing well after Viperion got seriously injured by that stupid stray! What the hell is wrong with Chat Noir?!
What do those guys want?!
"Everyone. Please be nice to our new student." Miss Bustier looks at the bluenette with a smile. Chloé has an odd feeling these two met before. Private tutors? Bakery? Who knows? "Marinette. If you need any help, don't be afraid to ask all right? I will be in the faculty if you need any of the personnel."
"Thank you, but that won't be necessary." Marinette smiled, looking at Chloé with a smile. Chloé ignores the female, pulling out her tablet. This girl has no idea how bad I am in acads! Way to go Chloé!
"?" Marinette blinked as everyone else pulls out their device and Miss Bustier begins class. The female sighed, pulling out her items from her white purse.
"Oh my god! You're really friends with the Ladybug?!" Alya Césaire yelled, causing Chloé to wince. She glared at the crowd during break, sitting at the front and ignoring the pang of anger in her chest. They should be flaunting around her?! She can back up her words unlike Lila Rossi!
"Of course! She saved my life once and we became best friends ever since! Don't worry. I'll hook you up with her for an exclusive interview." The sly bitch smirked and Chloé knows it's directed at her area. It's not her fault Ladybug has so much... Life in her. Her ability is also premium quality, being able to restore the damages as if nothing ever happened. Who wouldn't love her? Chloé answers with a raised eyebrow before looking back at the newbie. 'Time to see if Baker girl is going to join the mob.'
"Y-you're the new classmate right?" Nino Lahiffe blushed, (Chloé fought the urge to barf), waving his hand at the strangely confused girl. Chloé is pretty sure that guy is an idiot to his feelings, seeing the film lover always hanging out with the wannabe journalist. "Wanna hang out with us?"
"Yeah! Lila has so much stories about her time away! It's amazing." Rose Lavillant, optimistic naive brat, smiles at Marinette.
"O-oh really?" Marinette eyes widen, taking a step closer. Chloé prepares to see another idiot fall. "What was that about Jagged Stone's kitten? I remember him having an alligator as a pet."
"Now it is, yes. But he had a kitten until he found out he was allergic to it." Lila brushed it so easily that Marinette took a step back. Chloé couldn't believe someone actually isn't falling for that shit. Even she fell for it until she had a personal chat with the rockstar himself in her Queen Bee form.
"I'm also curious how you're going to talk to Ladybug. She doesn't like interviews in general... (The bluenette fidgets) I mean since she's always busy right? Haha..." Marinette caused Lila to grimace. Chloé checked back her phone, reading her note attached underneath the female. 'Codependent personality disorder.'
"We're close friends. Of course she'll do it." Lila dismissed the female before looking at her passive boyfriend - Adrien Agreste. She held his arm, cooing and hoping to make the female jealous. "Oh Adrien~ you'll be able to help me catch up with all the schoolwork I missed while I was traveling with my parents right?"
"Sure, Lila." Adrien agreed but his emerald eyes were staring at his phone.
Codependent personality disorder? That reminds her of Sabrina before she went off to that vixen. The document says Marinette is cured of this so that was none of her concern. Chloé is also confident that in a couple of weeks, Lila will make sure everyone goes against the newbie. Marinette felt too pure and mysterious. A newbie who refuse to introduce herself (and walked in late) to class unlike freaking Lila. Lila doesn't like sharing the limelight. Poor Dupain-Cheng.
"Whatever Chloé told you about Lila is wrong." The class jock, Lê Chiến Kim, reassured. "In fact, Chloé isn't really the best company. You should just hang out with us."
"Based on her class record, there is a ninety-nine percent chance Chloé will ask you to do her work." Max Kanté warned and the class nerd isn't exactly wrong but Chloé can pay for Marinette's hard work! This girl did get a scholarship in this school which is, by the way, shocking.
"..." Marinette took a deep breath before she gave her answer. "Look. This isn't funny."
"W-what do you mean?" Lila blinked innocently. Those crocodile tears don't work on females, idiot.
"Lila. Your actions could cause harm and breed a butt load of akuma. I... No. We can't let that happen." If words could cut then Marinette managed to cut the dissent. The bluenette waved her hands, exasperated. "I mean! The news told us about that right? S-So can we just stay clean and don't get any of our hopes up on these false promises-"
"But Chloé is the reason most of us got akumatized!" Alix Kubdel, roller-skate tomboy, pointed at the somewhat insulted female. "It's not like Lila did anything bad."
"Whoever believes in Lila, please raise your hands." Marinette looks frustrated. Chloé fought back a snort as she heard the bluenette gasp at the enormous amount of support. Marinette rubbed her hands, looking around. "So it's just me, that guy (Chloé nearly choked on air. 'That guy?') and Chloe? That's fantastic."
"Oh Marinette. Adrien is just too busy to participate on your game, that's all." Lila smiled, clutching the model's arm. Adrien continued to use his phone, ignoring everyone. Lila changed tactic, noting that some of her classmates took the transfer student's words seriously. "Oh no.. Please don't tell me you're jealous, Marinette?"
"Why should I? We only met today." Marinette answered in confusion and Chloé noticed Pollen wiggling underneath her jacket. Marinette stated, "Besides, Hawkmoth feeds on negative emotions so it's best to think positive and stop believing in lies!"
"Not now..." Chloé muttered, petting her chest.
"My queen! Don't you find it suspicious of the girl's focus on Akuma?" The Kwami rambled, but the blonde was too busy listening to the conversation.
'Someone who doesn't know Adrien Agreste? Impossible! His face is everywhere!' Chloé knows. She too has a crush for her childhood friend. It's pretty hard letting it go when he chose that liar.
"Now that's a lie! (Lila laughed but those blue eyes didn't waver.) She's clearly lying." Lila's eyes narrowed when Adrien lowered his phone to look at the girl in a new light. Lila tugged Adrien closer to her side, telling Marinette to lay off with the stupidity. "You must be one of his stalkers! Acting all innocent when you aren't."
"Yeah... How could anyone not know Adrien?" Nathaniel pondered, looking at his comic book. He was one of those rare few who didn't give Marinette a dirty look.
Marinette Dupain-Cheng was unbelievable. Chloé Bourgeois knows this girl is a fan of Gabriel Agreste's designs. Surely she stumbled upon his perfect golden boy. Adrikins could do no wrong. He's the sweetest and dumbest guy she knows. He's also better off with her than Lila. Chloé wanted to bitch slap that silly girl but Adrien was too sweet and coaxed her to get along with the pathological liar. Well she didn't and now everyone is against her, even her supposed childhood friend!
"I-Of course I know him!" Marinette panics, confused of the norms. "He's popular and..."
"And..." Marinette searched for anything to help her, landing her gaze on a magazine on top of Alya's table. "He's a fashion model! A very popular fashion model catered to teenagers. What sort of teenager doesn't know him? Hahaha!"
"Those with a childhood of course! Not like I'm excluding kids without any ability to use a phone or a computer or the older generation who's into the younger trend! No sirree!" Marinette failed. Epic fail to the max. Oh god her lie was so obvious! Marinette even did the shifting of feet, looking away from everyone and babbling as if she knows what she's talking about. Chloé bets a hundred euros that this girl has never had a boyfriend. Ever. The diagnosis on her medical history is all a lie and that this girl is the most socially inept girl she's ever met.
"So.." It was Juleka who asked. "Why are you here?"
"I-it's uhh..." Marinette is an open book, looking down her hands and fumbling her fingers. She looks up, taking a deep breath before answering. "My parents finally got enough money to send me here..?"
"..." Chloé looked back at her phone, curious if anyone will fall for that. If those guys are dumb enough to fall for Lila then surely they'll believe Marinette-
"Didn't you apply for full scholarship?" Adrien. Sweet sweet Adrien poked a hole on a waterproof lie and Marinette blushed in embarrassment. The tables have turned.
"I-I did but the principal said I still needed to pay for stuff like miscellaneous fees and books and other stuff hahaha." Marinette still failed because full scholarship in this school has already been discussed in orientation. Due to the frequency of akuma and increased crime rate, the schools have to create incentives to persuade parents to bring their home-schooled children into the outside world.
"I remember visiting your parent's bakery and they're always filled with people." Adrien made Marinette even more uncomfortable. "Surely they have enough to send their only daughter with a decent amount of allowance?"
"Their croissants are to die for actually." Kim agreed and Marinette took another step back.
"T-that..." Marinette seemed frightened of her childhood friend. Chloé might as well intervene with this stupid conversation.
"You don't have to interrogate the baker girl." Chloé made her move, standing up and placing a hand on the female. "She's clearly plain unlike Lila. Who knows? Maybe the Dupain-Cheng are working their butts off to pay a debt? You can only go so far with a bakery. Go on. Listen to the sl-Lila while I straighten this liar."
"I'm not a liar." Marinette frowned. The aristocrat didn't care. Marinette is part of Lila's blacklist now, just like her. Chloé does feel amused how Lila's clutching at Adrien as if he's cheating on her. Chloé never understood Adrien's type of women. He likes them feisty and strong which Chloé IS. Marinette isn't. She's already proven herself few minutes ago. Marinette realized what the blonde is finally doing and sighed. "Does this always happen?"
"She's also our class rep, unfortunately." Chloé sat down on her chair as they ignore the chatter of their classmates.
"Thank god I'm here for a year." Marinette mumbled to herself as she sat beside her, resigned as she pulled out her sketch book.
"Decent work." Chloé hummed, glancing at her seatmate's sketch of Miss Bustier. If she wants to know more about Marinette, she has to do it slowly. "Mind drawing me?"
"Sure." Marinette giggled and it sounded light but not to the point of sounding shrill. It's a laugh that sounded done in movies, but less fake. "If you promise me you won't let me drag your grades."
"I'm working on it." Chloé really does want to be a better person. Why can't anyone see that?! She also has to make sure she's at her best when Ladybug arrives.
...
...
*Thunk.
"Hey Tikki? Have we met someone called Lila Rossi?" A female landed at the edge of the Eiffel tower, scanning the remnant of the latest destruction caused by what the police call 'Stoneheart.' She stares at her yoyo before looking back at the debris.
"Not really. We love all life without bias. We must not be partial ever again. Never ever ever. That's Chat Noir's job." A voice whispered back. "Do you plan on exposing her lies?"
"I should but..." The spotted celebrity looked at the full moon. Once she performs her ability, everyone will know where she is. The most wanted miraculous holder in the world... Her ability to restore everything to its former glory as well as uplifting the akumatized citizens are what the religious community calls miraculous. "I didn't come here for play. How was your chat with Wang Fu?"
"We have to take back the butterfly miraculous and knock some sense to Chat Noir! Oh and Volpina isn't a miraculous holder." Her kwami insisted and the female swung her yoyo as she pondered. The teen has no idea why a lot of people pair her with Chat Noir. The black cat miraculous holder is her enemy, ruining this once glorious city and the people within it. "I'm ready whenever you are."
"You always say that, Tikki." The superhero giggled, tossing her yoyo as she yelled. "Miraculous Ladybug!"