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"If you ask me, the reason she didn't change back is because Ladybug knew that she wasn't worth fixing," Chloé said loudly, giving Alya a disparaging look. "Obviously someone with taste."
Alya balled her fists and angrily glared at Chloé. She knew that Chloé would say something when she got up this morning. It was practically a given really, given the circumstances.
It still hurt a lot more than she expected.
She looked around at the rest of the class. Unfortunately their reactions were also exactly as expected. Fear in their eyes and a slightly leaning back posture. Mylene actually turned away and Ivan hugged her protectively.
Adrien was the only person who was looking at her normally. Which made sense, she supposed. There was a reason why he had the nickname Sunshine after all.
"Everyone, please be nice to Alya. I know that she might look different, but she's still the same person underneath," Ms Bustier said with a smile. (Although Alya noticed that she was definitely keeping her distance.)
There was a smattering of movement as her classmates tried to look more relaxed and welcoming. (With the exception of Chloé and Sabrina of course. But then again, they weren't exactly friends before her akumatisation anyway. Their hostility was almost comfortingly normal.)
With a snort of anger, she stomped towards her desk and sat down. She looked sideways at the empty seat beside her. Marinette was late. Again. Ordinarily it would amuse her. Right now, it was just another thing to annoy her.
She was definitely feeling more irritable than usual. Whether that was a side effect of being inexplicably trapped in her akumatised body or just stress over the fact that she was inexplicably trapped in her akumatised body she didn't know. She just knew that she was irritable.
"I'mhere!"
Alya smile as Marinette ran-fell through the classroom door. At least she could count on Marinette to be…well Marinette.
Marinette stood up and smiled at Alya. No fear or empty sympathies. Just Marinette being her normal self. Suddenly she felt tears in her eyes. It was just so normal and nice and…
Okay, she was being ridiculously emotional. But she was trapped in her Lady WiFi form and virtually everyone else was treating her like a walking, talking bomb…well being treated normally by her best friend was exactly what she needed.
She wiped her eyes. She didn't want to start bawling here. Or shouting angrily at everyone. Or any of the various other things she could do.
Marinette walked up to their shared desk and sat down in her usual position.
"Hey Alya," she said and a sudden wave of emotion overcame Alya. She took a moment to compose herself before replying.
"Hey Marinette," she said and Marinette sat down next to her.
Alya let her gaze linger briefly on Marinette, before looking away. Her friend was treating her normally and she didn't want to make it weird.
God knows the situation was weird enough. Everyone else was changed back after being deakumatised. Alya was the only one who hadn't and not even Ladybug knew why.
As if reading Alya's mind, Marinette smiled at her. Alya smiled back. It was going to be okay.
Still wished she could be returned to her normal body though.
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"Don't be bemused, it's just the news! We're here at Collège Françoise DuPont, the school where the student who became Lady WiFi attends." Nadja Chamack paused and looked at the camera with a serious expression. "Is this the beginning of a disturbing new trend in Paris? And should we be concerned about the safety of our children around Lady WiFi?"
Alya and Marinette were walking out of their classroom and failed to see this. They did however notice when Nadja Chamack and her camera crew stepped in front of them. And they certainly noticed when she started aggressively interviewing her.
"Lady WiFi, is there any reason why you haven't been changed back? Do you blame Ladybug for your current situation or do you believe that this is an escalation by Hawkmoth?"
"Errr…"
"Lady WiFi, is it true that you are, in fact, still working for Hawkmoth?" a second reporter asked as his camera crew shoved their way to Alya. Nadja glared at them and muttered something about the France 24 network. Alya grimaced
"Lady WiFi, Paul Vinatier of Le Monde. Do you support Hawkmoth? Why do you think he left you transformed? Is there any truth in the rumours that you are in fact, allied to Hawkmoth?"
"STOOOOOPPPPPP!"
Everyone stopped to look at Marinette, who was angrily glaring at them all and breathing heavily.
"Just stop. She's not some kind of monster and whoever believes that she's working for Hawkmoth is an idiot." She paused and glared at Paul Vinatier, before turning her attention to Nadja Chamack.
"Mme Chamack, I would have expected better from you than acting like a tabloid hack. Bombarding someone with questions about something beyond their control faster than they can answer. Is this the kind of example that you want to show Manon?"
Nadja looked embarrassed. Alya found herself smiling. She put a hand on Marinette's shoulder and stepped forward. Marinette was such a good friend and she was lucky to have her.
"I don't know why I haven't been changed back," she said, before feeling a surge of anger at the various reporters in front of her. She bit down her anger before continuing. "I am not allied to Hawkmoth and I'm not blaming Ladybug for this." For some reason Marinette seemed to relax slightly for some reason. Which was ridiculous because it wasn't her fault or anything she was able to do anything about it. "I don't look like my normal self, but I'm still me under this," she gestured to herself. "It is taking a little bit of getting used to and…" Alya paused and took a deep breath. She didn't want to mention the swinging emotions. God knows she didn't want her emotional states to be the subject of mindless speculation. She took another deep breath.
"What I do know is that Ladybug is going to solve this and I'll be back to normal soon! Ladybug is going to save us from Hawkmoth and take back Hawkmoth's Miraculous!"
The reporters stared, hoping for something more, before walking away.
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An uneasy peace had fallen over Paris. Tension hung in the air as Parisians waited for the inevitable resumption of hostilities.
It had been weeks since Hawkmoth had turned Alya into Lady WiFi. Weeks since she had actually been herself. Weeks of strong emotional swings that had made her tearful at the little, stupid things and teary at others. She had actually cried over her big sister eating her unlabelled food in the fridge. And then there was the time she shouted at Rose for giving her the wrong juice for a full five minutes. (She had apologised to Rose and Rose had been understanding and forgiving, but it didn't stop her from feeling guilty for the rest of the day.)
And weeks since anyone had seen any activity from Hawkmoth. Not a single akuma had appeared since Lady WiFi. Not one. There had been no akuma when Alix's valuable family watch was broken. No akuma when Chloé had outed Nathanael's crush on Marinette. Not a single one.
It was a complete mystery and one that left everyone in Paris slightly on edge.
It didn't help Alya's numbers on the Ladyblog either. There was only so much speculation that she could do before it became repetitive.
"It's not fair," Alya grumbled as they walked out of school one day. (Alya could technically have jumped through her phone to home, but she preferred doing it this way. Besides, people complained if she jumped out at the wrong time. "Not only did he permanently change me into this," she gestured to herself, "but he doesn't even give me any kind of extra material for the Ladyblog!"
"I don't think he does this for your benefit Alya," Marinette said with a hint of a smile on her face.
"Still quite inconsiderate of him," Alya said with a pretend pout, before both girls laughed. Several people gave them furtive looks, some hiding their fear better than others. Marinette and Alya pointedly ignored them.
"What do you think he's up to though? It's like he's just vanished off the face of the Earth in a puff of smoke. Did he just…give up?"
Marinette frowned.
"I don't know…he doesn't seem like the type to just give up," she said. "It's like he's biding his time…"
"Maybe…" Alya frowned. "I get the feeling that something went wrong when he turned me into Lady WiFi and that's why I haven't been changed back."
"Really?"
"It's something that I've been thinking about," she confessed. "I think he tried something different, or something went wrong with the akumatisation and…well that's why I've been trapped as Lady WiFi. And why there hasn't been any more akumas. He can't."
There was a moment of silence between the two girls and a wave of uncharacteristic shyness swept through Alya. It was ridiculous of course. Marinette was her best friend. Outside of her family, she was closer to her than anyone else.
Marinette hugged her best friend and Alya smiled. As long as she had Marinette and her family, she was going to be okay.
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The world swam in and out of focus. Her…well everything really, hurt like hell. Her phone lay nearby, a few centimetres out of reach, but it might as well have been a million.
Hawkmoth slowly walked towards her. He was saying…something. Probably something important or he was simply monologing like a cheesy villain. Something she would probably be geeking out about if she could actually hear anything other than ringing in her ears.
Being smacked into the Arc de Triomphe by a supervillain sucked. Being caught by surprise by a supervillain and smacked into the Arc de Triomphe really sucked. Being caught by surprise by the supervillain who was responsible for you being trapped in your akuma form and smacked into the Arc de Triomphe really, really sucked.
Hand shaking, she tried desperately to reach her phone. If she could only reach it, she could pause him or get away.
He hit her again, swinging his cane sword across her face. Oddly enough, her skin remained unbroken.
She coughed, spitting out blood and a few teeth. Dim thoughts about dental treatments crossed her mind in the most bizarre way as she tried desperately to assemble her thoughts.
The world began to fade, flickering in and out darkness. Alya desperately tried to stay conscious. She was instinctively aware that if she allowed herself to close her eyes, she would never open them again.
Hawkmoth raised his weapon once more. Alya tried to raise her arm in an attempt to do something, anything to stop him.
She was barely able to lift her hand off the ground, let alone into any kind of defensive position.
A staff slammed into Hawkmoth, sending him flying away.
The black shape of Chat Noir knelt down in front of her. He was saying something, but she couldn't hear him.
He turned and faced Hawkmoth and charged. Hawkmoth was still bringing himself to his feet when Chat Noir hit him again. This time however, Hawkmoth landed on his feet. When Chat Noir swung his staff again, Hawkmoth was ready.
With a swing of his blade, Hawkmoth hit Chat Noir. With that single sweeping blow, Chat Noir was thrown aside.
Hawkmoth stepped towards Alya once more, only for a yo-yo string to swing across his path. He swung himself backwards, narrowly avoiding a flying kick from Ladybug.
As Ladybug retracted her yo-yo, Chat Noir swept in and attacked Hawkmoth from behind. Hawkmoth parried and stepped back to face both heroes.
Alya's thoughts began to clear.
The first thing she noticed was just how much she really, really hurt. A lot. In just about every place she could think of and places she'd never thought of.
The second thing she noticed was that her phone had somehow been knocked over to her. It was almost next to her in fact. With some effort, she picked up her phone.
The third thing she noticed was that Hawkmoth was winning against Ladybug and Chat Noir.
The fourth thing she noticed was that she had a clear shot at Hawkmoth. And in the past few weeks, Alya had become a very good shot.
She threw a pause symbol at him.
She didn't miss.
Emergency vehicles arrived shortly afterwards, sirens blaring in red and blue. Two ambulances and several police vehicles rushed to the scene, ready to take Hawkmoth into custody.
As Alya was wheeled into an ambulance, she saw Ladybug give her a smile and a wave.
Then she removed Hawkmoth's Miraculous. And in an instant, the world knew who Hawkmoth was under the mask.
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Alya hated hospitals.
She hated the lights that seemed far too bright. She hated the sounds. She hated the sterile environment.
Most of all, she hated being in one.
It was maddening. The biggest story in the history of the Ladyblog and she was trapped in a hospital bed for observation.
Well yes, she had been hurt very badly by Hawkmoth and yes she was still in her Lady WiFi form, but she was fine. The wave of healing Ladybugs had washed over the city and she was cured. Even the doctors couldn't find anything wrong. (The fact that her Lady WiFi form didn't allow her to be x-rayed might also have been a small factor.)
Ladybug walked into the room. Or rather, a different version of Ladybug. One with purple arms and purple front her feet to her knees. And…were those purple shoulder pads?
The rest of her body was the original red and black spotted.
It was…an unexpected surprise.
"Ladybug?"
"Ladyfly," she said with a smile. "Thank you for your help. We couldn't have defeated Hawkmoth without you."
"I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you," Alya said and Ladyfly suddenly looked guilty.
"I'm sorry."
"Wait, no that's what I meant," Alya said quickly. "I meant that I wouldn't be alive if you and Chat Noir hadn't stepped in. I'd be in the morgue instead of the hospital."
Ladyfly smiled and Alya smiled back, before pulling out her phone and started filming.
"So, Ladyfly, is this the new look for Ladybug? What is the reason for this change? Is this going to be permanent? Is-"
Ladyfly held up her hand with an amused smile.
"No, this isn't the new look for Ladybug. I look different because I'm using the Miraculous of the Butterfly at the same time as my own. And no, this is a one time event, specially for you."
"Me?"
"Yes, you," Ladyfly said with a nod. "Hawkmoth tried to do something different with your akumatisation and it caused you to remain in your Lady WiFi body. And, ironically, stopped him from being able to akumatise anyone else."
"Oh wow! That's really interesting! What did he do?"
"I can't tell you," Ladyfly said with an amused smile. "There are some secrets that I can't reveal. But now I can completely remove your akumatised form."
Ladyfly held out her hand and a purple-black butterfly emerged from Alya's chest. Then in a swift, familiar movement, Ladyfly's yo-yo shot out and captured it.
Ladyfly opened her yo-yo, releasing the now purified butterfly. Alya stared as disappointed rose inside her.
She was still Lady WiFi. Or at least, in her Lady WiFi form. She opened her mouth to say something, although what she didn't know. Ladyfly abruptly cut her off.
Throwing her yo-yo into the air, she yelled "Miraculous Ladyfly!"
A wave of healing ladybugs swept over Alya, wrapping her in a cocoon, before bursting apart in a million different directions.
"Bug out!" Ladyfly said quickly, before quickly leaving.
Alya stared at her hands. Her HUMAN hands. Her oh so very wonderful dark skinned human hands and not the white gloves of Lady WiFi.
Feeling a surreal sense of disbelief, she touched her glasses and wiggled them. She could feel the arms moving on the side of her head.
She looked at the rest of her body. Gone was the black and white bodysuit of Lady WiFi and in its place was the comforting, familiar look of her flannel shirt. Her black legs were replaced with her familiar blue jeans.
She let out a whoop of joy as Marinette burst into the room.
"Marinette, I'm back!" she exclaimed, jumping out of her bed and twirling on the spot.
"That's amazing Alya!" Marinette said and the two girls hugged.