Chapter Text
Chloé walked into class with a weird feeling. Like everything was either going to go either great, or comically wrong. At least it was comically wrong and not horrifically wrong.
Perhaps it was the seating arrangements. Everyone seemed to have shuffled a bit since the day before. Okay, fine. Whatever. She just went to her own seat.
“Hey, uh, Chloé?” Alya asked. “Would you… we’re rearranging seats so if you want…”
“I’m fine here,” Chloé shrugged. “I’m not gonna throw a fit about it like before. It’s… I don’t care as much about who I’m sat next to anymore.”
Alya nodded and went back to the other classmates. Chloé just drank her coffee and watched the last few stragglers filter in.
Marinette was last, as usual. Something Chloé never understood until she had fallen asleep at the girl’s home. It was so warm and cozy and smells from the bakery managed to make their way up to even her room. Of course it was hard to wake up from that.
“Alya,” Marinette sighed, looking around the room. “Please tell me you didn’t make everyone swap seats so I could sit next to my boyfriend.”
“I did not, actually,” Alya gave a nervous chuckle. “Didn’t you read the text?”
“What text?” she asked.
“Well,” she said. “Miss Bustier was going to ask you to help with rearranging the class but you were late. Again. So she asked me to do it while she went to the office. And I kinda just mostly let everyone sit where they wanted except for saving a front seat. Which….”
“Is the empty one next to Adrien?” she deadpanned.
“Yes, but accidentally,” she said. “Because that seat was saved and everyone else already picked and the only seat left is… the back row so….”
“Wait, what?!” she exclaimed. “Why am I tossed to the back?”
“Sorry, dude,” Nino cringed. “But someone has to sit in the back and you were the last in.”
“But why?” she asked. “Who in the hell-”
As if on cue, Miss Bustier walked in and behind her…. Was Lila Rossi.
Ah. It was going to be this sort of day, wasn’t it?
“Oh, a seat in the front row!” Lila exclaimed. “You all remembered my hearing issue! You’re such sweethearts, all of you!”
“You…. have a hearing problem, Lila?” Marinette asked.
“Yes, I suffer from tinnitus,” she said. “A constant ringing in my ear. I’ve had it ever since the sound of an airplane engine burst my eardrum on the runway when I was saving Jagged Stone’s kitten.”
“Jagged has a crocodile,” Sabrina said.
“Would sitting up front even help with tinnitus?” Chloé wondered, unable to stop herself from asking.
“Ask Juleka,” Adrien shrugged.
“Why me?” Juleka wondered.
“Because your family’s name theme is a pun,” he said.
Everyone cringed upon connecting the pun. Juleka muttered something about how she really should’ve thought her name choices though before settling.
“So,” Marinette said. “Jagged having a crocodile, not a cat?”
“He had the cat for a short while,” Lila said. “It was a little thing he had found while sneaking away from paparazzi. Fang is one of the reasons he didn’t end up taking it with him in the long run, but I helped him find a good home for the little guy!”
“Right,” she deadpanned. “Miss Bustier, I don’t actually have to sit in the back, do I?”
“If no one else gives up their seat,” Miss Bustier said. “I know it’s a big change, but Lila has priority due to her issues.”
“If she isn’t lying about that too,” she muttered.
Oh did that get quite a few looks from, well, most of the class. Yeah no matter how many literal brownie points you have earned, questioning someone’s disability is not a good look.
“Lying?” Lila asked innocently. “You still think I’m lying? I would have thought… after Volpina… I thought Lady Luck would have cleared that up with you.”
“She didn’t because you lied about knowing her,” Marinette glared. “Probably for the same reason you lied about saving Jagged’s cat. Or being in Achu!”
“I didn’t lie about those either,” she insisted.
“But I saw-” Mylene began.
She stopped short as everyone looked at her. Nerves getting the best of her and making her be quiet again.
“What did you see?” Adrien asked, trying to coax her out.
“Um, during Heroes’ Day,” Mylene said, staring down to avoid everyone looking at her. “I saw Volpina in the Akumas. And I saw her after Lady Luck fought Hawkmoth and everyone was detransformed.”
Once again, that got the class’s attention. And Chloé was… admittedly a bit entertained. She knew this would fall apart eventually, but she wondered what Lila would make up on the spot.
“It was both,” Lila said, her voice wavering, eyes looking away as they teared up. “I… Lady Luck called me when she saw all those Akumas. She knows some teleportation spells- I always ask her to teach me but she never does but- she wanted me to help. But I just- I got so overwhelmed. And I was so scared after the first time as Volpina. Kind of ironic, getting Akumatized because I was scared of being Akumatized. I know I can ‘be a hero’ to her, but I guess not all of us are as strong when faced with that much.”
Oh that was good. Great even. Kinda fantastic. Chloé really wanted to give the most sarcastic applause.
However, she realized that Marinette was about to go absolutely feral. The girl had a sense of justice and quite the temper when it came to it.
“I’m sorry,” Lila said. “My return is causing so much trouble. Maybe I should have just stayed on the other side of the world. It’s fine. I’ll sit in the back.”
Oh boy. This was going to go downhill fast. And sitting back and watching this trainwreck felt a bit too mean.
“You have a doctors’ note, right?”Chloé asked.
Everyone paused. The question even diffusing Marinette’s anger for a moment.
“She does,” Miss Bustier said. “Though I would attempt to give her accommodations without it, Lila did bring in a few notes. We were late getting back because I had to make sure Damocles filed them correctly.”
“Works for me,” Chloé shrugged, getting up. “Skeptical or not, I’m not going to fight that. So I’ll go to the back, and you can have my seat. Then Nette can sit with Adrien and-”
“No!” Lila exclaimed.
Chloé paused at that, a sly smile on her face. She only had to raise an eyebrow to make Lila realize her slip up.
“I just…” Lila said, holding up her right arm with a wristbrace on it. “I sprained my wrist yesterday. Nasty fall, very clumsy of me. So I’ll need help with taking notes. And Adrien did offer a study group a while back so…”
“He isn’t the only person who can help you,” Marinette said. “Sabrina is… well. Are you okay with that?”
“Given the history I feel uncomfortable,” Sabrina said. “I mean, I do want to help but…”
Chloé flinched at that. Damn it.
“I understand,” Miss Bustier said. “Would anyone else like to help?”
“I can do it,” Max said. “I am very efficient at notetaking and have very neat handwriting.”
“And if he misses something,” Markov piped up. “I have permission to record all lectures! I can send you specific parts if you need it!”
Though Lila didn’t look quite as excited, she couldn’t really say anything now could she?
As Chloé walked to the back, Max went to the front. That had Adrien get up so he could sit elsewhere. Sabrina stood so that he could sit with Marinette, and then Alix got up, and well.
“Why couldn’t we have done this this fast in the first place?” Alya groaned.
“Next time, we make sure everyone’s here,” Marinette said. “That way we can all talk it over and make sure everyone is where they want to be.”
“In hindsight, that tracks,” she said. “I just wanted it done before class.”
“Speaking of,” Miss Bustier said. “Open your books to page 23.”
Chloé did, but kept an eye on Marinette. The girl was frustrated. And to an extent, Chloé understood. A while ago she would have scoffed at the ‘goody two-shoes’ thing. But she’d come to understand that the girl had a sense of justice.
A very strong sense of justice. It could be good or bad, depending on how she used it. Chloé had been burned by that before. And it could be turned around on her as well.
Speaking of, she looked over to Lila. The girl was hard to get a read on. Considering her own experiences, she did understand lying to make yourself feel better. Usually that lying was done to herself rather than others. But she could get it.
On the other hand. Chloé was also aware of how far that could go. She had hurt people. A lot of people. And was just barely making up for it the past few months.
She had to wonder. How far would Lila go to maintain that lie?
Chloé had to admit this was getting…. Hard to watch. Marinette had dragged Alya and Nino over to explain to them.
“Look,” Marinette said. “Lila is lying about the whole ‘knowing Lady Luck’ thing.”
“Okay, I’ll hear you out,” Alya said. “How do you figure?”
“Lady Luck told me and Adrien the first day Lila showed up,” she said.
The pair looked to Adrien to confirm.
“Yeah,” Adrien admitted. “Lady Luck was looking for her. She didn’t like that Lila was lying about them being friends.”
“See!” Marinette said. “You’re not going to doubt Lady Luck, are you?”
“I don’t want to,” Nino said. “But there might be more to it. Like, why was Lady Luck looking for Lila?”
“Because she lied about being best friends,” she said. “Keep up, Nino!”
“But how’d she know?” Nino said. “Lila only told the class. Maybe the word got out eventually, but that was the same day.”
“Alya’s interview-” she began.
“I didn’t post the interview,” Alya said. “That never made it to the Luckyblog. I got caught up in ‘Lady Luck’s best friend’, but I realized posting that would make Lila a target. Lady Luck didn’t find out from me.”
“Considering how up for the interview she was, that makes sense,” Nino said. “Lila said she trusted Lady Luck and her own ability to protect herself. That might’ve changed after Volpina, but if Lady Luck knew her friend was going to do something stupid, she would probably hunt her down.”
Chloé was mentally kicking herself for all of this. Though she didn’t regret reminding Alya about the danger, it would be easier to explain. Because yes, Lady Luck wouldn’t have known about Lila until after Volpina unless they were friends. Or unless Lady Luck was secretly one of the classmates but what were the odds of that?
Oh right.
“What about her being in Achu?” Marinette countered.
“She explained that with the teleportation thing,” Nino said.
“I don’t think Lady Luck can teleport,” Sabrina said, looking at Chloé with a raised eyebrow.
“It’s… not out of the realm of possibility,” Chloé said.
Note to self: try not to bring out the Horse Miraculous until after this nonsense is dealt with.
“Mari, think about it,” Alya sighed. “Lila was out of school for months, only doing occasional video calls in and emailing Miss Bustier about homework. Do you really think her parents would let her skip class for months if it wasn’t something important?”
“Well, no but-” Marinette began.
“Wait,” Nino said. “You didn’t happen to bring that same ‘you’re a total liar’ energy when Lady Luck was looking for her, did you?”
“Well yeah but only after she tried to trick Adrien-” she began.
“Mari, you’re my friend and I love you,” Alya sighed, grabbing the girl’s shoulders. “But this is getting out of hand. The closest thing to shaky her word has been is that I haven’t found anything about Jagged’s cat, but that’s something that might have gotten buried or didn’t get much attention. Especially if it was a private runway rather than a regular airport. Plus, most countries have laws about giving out minors’ faces and names in the news without parental permission. But everything else has seemed to ad up.”
“Because any of this adds up,” she snapped.
“I don’t get it,” she sighed. “You’re getting hung up on stuff that looked bad but she explained. Just give her a chance, okay? It’ll be like Adrien and the gum incident! You thought he was being a dick and now you’re-”
She paused. As if something clicked in her head. A confused and somewhat weary expression on her face.
“Are you jealous?” Alya asked.
“What in the world would I have to be jealous about?” Marinette demanded.
“The fact that she likes Adrien,” she said. “It’s the only thing she’s done that could possibly piss you off to the point of not listening to her explain what happened before. And I think if you talk about it… I mean, last time she was here, you and Adrien were ‘just friends’ so she probably hasn’t realized he’s taken now. So if you just-”
“I’m not jealous!” she snapped. “Lila lies with every breath and I’ll prove it!”
Chloé was right about the day being either great or comically wrong.
Marinette grabbed a napkin, furiously balling it up a bit too long to get her frustrations out. Then she wound up like a baseball pitcher and launched it across to the other table. Chloé was kind of impressed that she managed that much speed and distance with such a pathetic material.
Unsurprisingly, Lila brought her hand up to catch the projectile. There was a half second pause before she flinched and dropped the napkin, pulling back to soothe her wrist with the non-injured hand. Once again, the classmates all stopped to stare at Marinette.
“See that!” Marinette exclaimed. “It’s obvious she doesn’t have a sprained wrist!”
“Because I caught a napkin?” Lila asked. “I did that-”
“What?” she scoffed. “Are you going to tell me how ‘one time in India you saw someone getting their eye gouged out by a thrown napkin and you were sacrificing yourself to save Max?”
“What? No,” she stared. “What the fuck?”
“Though I would thank you if that were the case,” Max said. “This doesn’t actually prove anything.”
“She caught the napkin!” Marinette exclaimed, her bodylanguage becoming more animated as her frustration went through the roof. “How does that not prove anything?!”
“Reflexes,” Juleka said.
“Exactly,” Max said. ”Lila’s wrist is sprained, but her arm isn’t paralyzed. She can move it, even if it’s difficult and painful. And even then, the automatic reflex to catch something heading toward your face overpowers the initial pain of the injury, allowing her to easily catch it. This can cause further injury however.”
“Oh dear,” Rose said, leaning over to check Lila’s arm. “Should we take you to the nurse?”
“Ah, no,” Lila said. “It wasn’t too bad! Not the first time I moved on reflex without thinking! I tried to catch a mug I dropped at breakfast and that hurt worse. It should go away soon.”
“You are letting her play you like a fiddle!” Marinette said.
"Mari, we're not morons," Nathaniel said, looking up from his sketches. "We don't just believe random people. But a classamate saying something believable versus you acting crazy about a napkin?"
“Honestly that’s what hurts more,” Lila said. “I know you don’t like me, for whatever reason. You think I’m lying. But do you really think I’d be so bad at it to make something up about ‘napkins gouging out eyes’? Do you really think so little of your friends that they’d be duped by such a ridiculous lie?”
Marinette looked once again ready to snap. And as fascinating as this was to watch, this was going to spill over if no one did anything.
“You know,” Chloé said getting up. “How about I take Lila up to the nurse? Better safe than sorry, plus I’m not sure you ever got a proper tour of the school.”
Before anyone could protest, she was pulling Lila out. A quick glance back to see everyone looking entirely bewildered. Which was fair. The Team knew she was up to something, and the rest thought that was a bit too out of character.
The halls were pretty empty, considering it was lunchtime. A few stragglers running errands, but most people had already settled into the cafeteria or the courtyard or the library.
“Thanks for getting me out of there,” Lila said. “I just don’t know why she doesn’t like me!”
“I think you can figure it out,” Chloé said.
“But I haven’t done any-” she paused. “Oh no, is this because of Adrien? It's not really worth fighting over a boy."
"There's no fighting," she replied. "They've been together for a while now, and I really can’t see them breaking up. Even if they do, you're not exactly Adrien's type either."
"Oh," Lila said. "What is his type then?"
"Honest."
Before Lila could process, Chloé took a hard turn. Empty bathrooms were so convenient. Locking the door, she dropped the chipper and sweet demeanor.
"You think I'm lying too?" Lila asked, already tearing up. "I'm sure I can-"
"Save it," Chloé said. "I know you're lying. I'll admit, it's hard to see what are half-truths and what are blatant lies. But I know enough. The tinnitus might be real, but you didn't get it saving Jagged's cat. You were out for months, but you were in Paris for at least part of it. However, the one I know isn't true at all is you being Lady Luck's 'best friend'. She's only talked to you during Akumas, just like every Civillian."
For a moment, Lila debated. Seemed genuinely distraught at how little trust she was given. Chloé didn’t fall for it, keeping her own expression fixed on her.
Then the facade dropped. Quite an actress she was, to have the switch from teary-eyed innocence to a calculating opponent.
"I only tell people what they want to hear,” Lila said, walking over to the sink. “People can’t resist that.”
“They can, eventually,” Chloé said, leaning against the stall dividers. “Eventually, something comes up that they can’t ignore. It might hurt, it might smack them in the face, but they’ll see it. And some don’t even need to fall for it in the first place.”
“Like Marinette?” she rolled her eyes. “There’s always someone a bit too smart to fall for it, yet still too dumb to know better. If she learns, well, nothing will happen. But I don’t even have to do a thing to make everyone turn against her. She’ll just keep being ‘oh so mean’ to ‘poor innocent Lila’, and everyone will get fed up with her. Even if she does manage to find something, who would believe her then?”
“You underestimate her,” she laughed. “Nette is a lot of things. She’ll find some way to take you down, I’m sure. But I do admit, her current method is… pretty flawed. She’s very black and white. Learning, of course. But it’s hard to see the gray. She just knows that you’re doing something wrong, and she has the power to stop you, so she will.”
“I doubt that,” she said. “But what about you? So far, you seem less dumb than she is. You know how to keep quiet.”
Chloé wanted to laugh. But she didn’t. Instead she gave a grin, wide enough to show off those Magic fangs she got. She pushed off the wall, standing in Lila’s personal space. Drawing herself up to her full height. Which, granted, was only five centimeters taller than Lila.
But she took advantage of those five centimeters. Leaning forward, making the girl back up into the sink. Chloé took that to trap her, hands on the sink as well. Technically losing the height, but fully leaning over her now.
And, for her final trick. She did something she had ironically learned from her fight with Volpina and Hawkmoth. A flare of Magic. Energy radiating. Not nearly as much as it did on the Eiffel Tower, but just enough.
Chloé caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. She looked… feral. Ethereal. Kinda fantastic, actually. She had to wonder if this is what others saw when Lady Luck was in battle.
“I am not like her,” Chloé said. “I am not ‘nice’. I am not ‘sweet’ or ‘kind’. I am certainly not ‘naïve’ or ‘innocent’. There are a lot of things that I’m not, but the others are. And sometimes, I can envy that."
“However,” she continued. “Despite everything, I am still ‘good’. I am still here to fight and protect. But I don’t have any issue playing this game exactly how you play it. I’ve seen the tricks and I know ones of my own. So, it’s your choice. If you quit the lies, if you try to genuinely be friends with them, everything will work out fine. But if you throw them under the bus to save your lies? If you try to do anything to Marinette and Adrien’s relationship because of your little crush? Then there’s a reason the phrase ‘fuck around and find out’ exists.”
Lila tried to keep her composure. But it was tricky, backed against a sink like that with someone practically growling over them. Despite her keeping her expression smug and glaring back, there was a flicker of fear in her eyes.
“What happens when I tell them you threatened me?” Lila asked. “You seem to be in their good graces now, but I’ve heard about you before. Selfish little mean girl. Scared that someone else might have just as much power as you, but they’re actually likable? Maybe jealous too. Everyone sees you all over Adrien. I won’t have to break them up if you sabotage them first.”
“Go ahead,” she said. “Not sure they’d be surprised at the relapse. But that’s what they’ll see. A relapse. They’re a little too ‘Power of Friendship’ to drop me unless they truly believe I’ve chosen the darkside for good. And you will never be able to convince them of that.”
“You’d be surprised,” she said. “Remember, I only tell them what they want to hear. They see you acting ‘good’ right now. But they’re waiting. Waiting for you to slip and show that you haven’t changed. You just wanted something, and played nice to get it. But as soon as they’re given one reason, one petty little thing they can use to justify their thoughts and point and say ‘there, that’s the proof this was all a lie. There’s the bad girl we all love to hate’.”
For just a second, Chloé faltered. Because she remembered what the school year has been like so far. Confusing missteps. Genuine defense or innocent questions being assumed as malice. If something goes wrong, it must be her. Lady Wifi, Evillustrator, Horrificator, Reflekta, Kung Food, Vansiher. Miss Fortune.
Things had gotten better. They know the truth.
“Go ahead,” Chloé said, backing up. “Try it out. See how it goes. I don’t know what kind of people you met before but they’re a lot more forgiving when they have the whole story.”
Lila straightened herself out. A glance in the mirror to check her hair, then headed to the door.
“I’ll give you one more chance,” Lila said. “You’re either with me, or against me. You don’t have to answer right away. I’ll give you until the end of class today to decide. Hope you make the right choice.”
The door slammed behind her, and Chloé let everything drop for a moment. That was more intense than she thought. Physically, mentally, and Magically.
“Are you alright?” Tikki asked.
“Yeah,” Chloé said. “Just. Just give me a minute.”
She took a deep breath. Despite her bravado, despite knowing that the class wouldn’t believe this. That even if they did, they’d take it as a relapse rather than assuming the past few months had been fake.
It still scared her to think about. Because while they were working on it, while they were closer and let her call them friends. She had to wonder how much rage and resentment was under the surface. She had done a lot to them over the years. It would make sense that, one day, they might snap at her for some old sleight that cut too deep.
She wouldn’t blame them if they did. Or if they still feared that things would go wrong. After all, what did she really do to deserve forgiveness? Show basic human decency?
The only thing that scared her more than them, was herself.
Because she had to wonder if she would relapse. If things got too difficult, too uncertain, would she go back into old habits? It was easier. It was safer. A pattern she was familiar with. Become aloof, push them away. If you don’t care about them, it won’t matter if you hurt them.
It reminded her of her mother. No one mattered to her. That’s what Chloé wanted to imitate so badly just a few months ago. Yet she had never done that right. A few months ago, that would have been failure. Now, it somehow felt like success.
She wondered what she would do. If Audrey came back with a sweet smile and an apology. Telling her she loved her, that they should go to New York together, be the mother-child duo she always wanted. It’ll all be okay. All she had to do was act just as she wanted. Would she take the chance?
Chloé knew she wouldn’t get the option. Audrey would never do that. But she’d like to think that, given the option, she’d tell the woman to go fuck herself.
Oh. She was still in the bathroom, wasn’t she? When had she started crying? Tikki was snuggled against her cheek, warm and comforting.
Okay. Just clean up a bit. Touch up the makeup. Lunch is pretty much over anyway just head back to class and see how this goes.
As she was fixing her eyeliner, her phone started ringing. Pausing to check, she saw Adrien’s contact. She really hoped this was good news.
“What’s up?” Chloé asked, holding the phone in one hand and continuing the makeup with the other.
“We may have a problem,” Adrien said. “Lila locked me in a broom closet.”
“I assume you’d be more panicked if you were in there together?” she said.
“Yeah, no, she left,” he said. “But I find it a bit odd that a girl with no little to know athletic ability was able to easily overpower and out maneuver a guy who parkours around Paris for a living.”
That had her pause. While they weren’t anywhere near the skill level they were when transformed, they were still quite strong and agile. After all yes they did ‘parkour around Paris’, that builds up skill.
Not to say they were above Civilians. They didn’t have a Magic boost when not transformed. But the stuff they did while boosted did carry over, putting them on the more athletic side of Human ability.
So for Lila to beat Adrien despite seeming to have little ability in the athletic department at all…
“You think she’s Akumatized?” Chloé asked, getting Tikki’s attention.
“Either that or she’s actually some Chaos Entity,” Adrien said. “I was coming to check that you didn’t commit a murder when I saw her and… well. No offense but what did you do?”
“I may, perhaps, have had a hand in that,” she admitted. ‘And considering she gave nearly as good as she got, I’m not going to feel guilty about this one. You said it was still ‘Lila’ and not ‘Volpina’ though?”
“Yeah, I don’t know what’s up with that,” he said. “Maybe she's a stealth Akuma that can blend in with regular people to cause chaos? He hasn't tried that yet, but I wouldn't be surprised. Let's just hope she doesn't have more tricks."
Chloé hung up the phone. She didn’t even bother with the rest of her makeup. The mask would cover it and Miraculous Cure would fix it up afterward.
“Tikki, Spots On!”
Lady Luck went to open the door, only to find it stuck. She checked the lock, shoving against the door hard. But didn’t budge.
What the fuck? Something must’ve been blocking it on the other side or wedged in the way that made it stick.
As she was debating on continuing with this or going for the window, her yoyo beeped. Update from the Luckyblog. Might as well check that.
There was a video added. Alya was quick to record when shit started being ‘off’. Lady Luck didn’t bother hitting play, only seeing the thumbnail of an angry-looking Adrien.
Considering Adrien was in a closet right now…
Text underneath had more info. Akuma looks like Adrien, tried to stage a breakup with Marinette. No one believed them because he acted entirely off. Great. The real Adrien had to jinx them with 'hopefully she doesn't have other tricks'.
Lady Luck gave up on the door in favor of the window. It was pretty small and high up against the ceiling, but she managed to climb up and wriggle her way out. At least they actually opened because glass shards would’ve sucked to deal with.
She already found Chat on the roof. Though given that Lila’s thing so far seemed to be illusion and impersonation….
“I suppose this is a good time for more Fullmetal jokes,” Chat said.
"Or we could ask if she's had any blood lately," Lady Luck replied.
“Good point,” he mused. “Why is it that you always end up loving anime with shapeshifters?”
“Don’t psychoanalyze my tastes,” she glared. “Let’s just start looking for the fake.”
Lady Luck headed out, keeping an eye on the crowds below. Shouldn’t be hard to find a fake Adrien, right?
But… didn’t Chat say that ‘Lila’ locked him in the closet? And then she switched. Could she switch at random? How could they ever find her if she could turn into random people?
Well. Being a tad predictable in her theming might help. Because seeing Fennette heading toward them, alone, from the entirely opposite direction as the school…. Plus her energy was kinda off. Similarly mimicking the real one, but not quite right. Hard to see unless she looked for it.
Lady Luck gave a look to Chat. He seemed to think the same thing. Might as well play along for a moment.
“I don’t suppose you saw where the Akuma went?” Lady Luck asked.
“I did but I lost them in the crowd,” the fake replied. “You’d think it wouldn’t be hard to keep track of an Akuma that looks like a famous model, but he really disappears!”
“Did you catch their name?” Chat asked.
“It’s ‘Chameleon’, I think,” she said. “Hm. Maybe they can turn invisible like a chameleon?”
“Yeah, no,: Lady Luck said. “You don’t really think we’re falling for this, right?”
“A girl can dream,” Chameleon shrugged.
The Akuma swung her flute, which Lady Luck blocked. Chat went in with his baton, forcing the Akuma back.
As they fought, Lady Luck tried to see what the Akumatized object was. For all intents and purposes, the Akuma looked like Fennette. And while she hadn’t taken a good look, nothing about the Adrien disguise had seemed off either. Did the object change forms with her? That would be annoying.
When Lady Luck went in for another hit, Chameleon ducked. Dropping off the roof entirely. Lady Luck followed, but quickly lost her as she changed forms again and slipped into the crowd.
She jumped to the rooftops, attempting to spot the Akuma. But nothing stood out.
Damn it.
"Why did it look like you were fighting Fennette?"
Lady Luck jumped, expecting the fake to have circled around and tried a different Hero. But no, the other three showed up.
Ah. That was why she ran. Outnumbered.
"Shapeshifting Akuma," Chat answered. "Lila."
"And as usual she picked the Fox," Fennette sighed. "Why me?"
"She can just turn into anyone?" Turtledove asked.
"Hm," Lady Luck mused. "I think. I don't think I saw her do anything to anyone. But she's a good mimic. And hard to find."
"Hate to say it," Chat said. "But splitting up might be best here. If she can hide among us-"
"Don't you dare,” she glared.
“I saw Goody Proctor in the vents,” Abeille giggled.
Lady Luck groaned.
“Back on track you walking memes,” Lady Luck said. “Spread out and try to find her. If you run into another Hero, use the ‘he calls me Riza when we’re alone’ method.”
“Got it,” Chat and Abeille nodded.
“The what?” Fennette and Turtledove asked.
“Just,” Lady Luck sighed again. “Bluff something that the real version would call out, but the fake would go along with.”
“We’ll have a watch party later,” Chat said.
“Maybe don’t let Dove see that one,” Abeille said.
“I am being braver but I will trust your judgment!” Turtledove said.
Everyone picked a direction.
Lady Luck kept her eyes on the people below. How was she supposed to tell Chameleon apart from them though? She tried focusing more on Magic than visuals, but that got her nowhere. The Akuma was already decent at mimicking Fennette’s Magic anyway. But she was pretty sure she wasn’t here at all.
She realized the direction she had picked led her right back to the school. Hm. Would Chameleon go back there? She did seem to want to cause chaos for them. Other than getting away from the Heroes, going back to the school did seem like what she wanted to do.
Unless she was planning to impersonate and fool other people the class never met but were still important to Lila. Though given how these things usually go, it’s so rare to not have things interlinked already.
Lady Luck dropped back into the school.
School during an Akuma had become very weird. Though classes were on pause, no one really ran or hid anymore. Not unless there was active danger. Instead, they mostly hung around like they were on break. Though rarely in the main courtyard. Just in case things turned dangerous.
Lady Luck walked through, popping her head into classrooms just to see if anything was off. Maybe inciting the Akuma to attack her. Mostly it was just waving at students and telling them she can’t stop to do autographs right now she’s on the job.
She headed toward the gym. That’s probably where most of the class was anyway. Her biggest shot.
“Lady Luck!” Alya exclaimed, already pulling her phone out to record. “Great to see you again!”
“Love to talk, but I'm trying to find the Akuma,” Lady Luck said. “She’s called Chameleon and she’s a shapeshifter wanting to fuck up people’s relationships apparently. And the first one to say ‘sus’ is getting strung up by the yoyo!”
Surprisingly, no one did. Odd. She was sure at least one person would ignore that.
“Where’s Kim?” Lady Luck wondered.
“He… had an idea,” Nino sighed.
“Alix went with him,” Max said.
“Good. Keep him from doing something fucking stupid.”
That last voice sounded strange. And as Lady Luck turned, she had to pause to process what she was seeing. After processing, she started giggling. The giggles turned to cackles, then to full on wheezing. Likely concerning everyone in the room.
But she couldn’t help it! Out of all things! Out of all possibilities! Somehow, some way. Chameleon had taken the form of Chloé Bourgeois.
“Are you okay?” Juleka asked.
Lady Luck nodded, but was still wheezing..
“Are you okay too?” Rose said, turning to the fake. “You’ve been snapping at everyone lately.”
“Oh, gee really?” Chameleon said in Chloé’s voice. “I wonder what I could possibly have to be bitchy about!”
“I can think of a few things,” Lady Luck said, managing to pull herself together.
She threw her yoyo at the fake, only for Chameleon to react just as quickly, pulling Nathaniel into her place.
“Hey!” Nathaniel protested.
“Whoops,” Lady Luck said, retracting the yoyo and aiming again.
“What are you doing!” Chameleon demanded, hiding behind Ivan this time.
“Catching the fake,” Lady Luck replied.
"Maybe you're the fake!" She retorted.
"I'm not going to let you quote Sonic at me again," she deadpanned. "Ivan, get out of the way."
"But…." Rose said. "If the Akuma can turn into anyone…"
Goddamn it. Now they were suspicious of her too.
"For what possible reason-," Lady Luck sighed. "Why the fuck would Chameleon turn into me and attack "Chloé"?"
"I'm not going to pretend I follow your utterly ridiculous logic!" She scoffed. "But what's more believable? That the real 'me' didn't come back to class and was replaced, or that you decided to throw your little trantrum and get the 'authority' to attack me by impersonating a Hero?"
"Actually," Alya frowned. "Chloé usually isn't around for Akumas."
It wasn't proof, exactly. But it did throw the Akuma off. No one was sure now.
Lady Luck did have to wonder. How was Chameleon so sure that the real Chloé wouldn't show up?
"Well," Lady Luck said.”There’s one thing I can do that the fake can’t.”
“And what’s that?” Chameleon asked.
“Lucky Charm!”
A squirt bottle dropped into her hands. With little more than half a second of thought, she aimed it at Chameleon and sprayed her in the face. It didn’t do much, which felt a bit self defeating, but it made her laugh so that’s a win.
“What the fuck was that for?” Chameleon asked, sputtering out water.
“I’m gonna be entirely honest,” Lady Luck shrugged. “I kinda thought you were going to melt.”
“Yeah that’s,” Juleka sighed. “That’s definitely Lady Luck.”
The fake, realizing she was caught, sprinted out the door. Lady Luck was in quick pursuit. There weren’t enough people wandering the halls for her to hide, even if she did change forms.
She had to catch her before they made it outside. There the Akuma could disappear and they’d have to start looking all over.
But she was gaining. The Akuma might have just as much boosted ability at she did, but none of the experience. Where Chameleon had to slow and scramble on turns to make sure her momentum didn’t carry her straight into a wall, Lady Luck had learned how to slide and drift.
As they passed the art room, Chameleon crashed into someone coming out. And because of course the universe had to conspire coincidences, the person she crashed into had very familiar pink hair.
A flash of light, and it was two Alixes getting up. Great. Kim came out the door next, looking bewildered for a moment before seeing Lady Luck and connecting the dots. He quickly ran past them to the other side of the hall, blocking them both in. Nowhere to run now.
“Round two, bitch,” Lady Luck said. “How do you want to do this?”
“Look at her leg,” Kim suggested.
Lady Luck raised an eyebrow at him, but did glance at each Alix. Both had a streak of paint on their right leg. Just above her sock.
“Damn it I thought that would work,” Kim groaned.
“What would work?” Lady Luck asked.
“He thought we could subtly tag each other with paint,” the Alix on the right said. “That way we can’t get replaced.”
“Too bad she can copy that too,” the Alix on the left glared. “Shouldn’t underestimate Magic.”
“Why paint?” Lady Luck asked. “Why not just use a pen or something?”
All three gave a synchronized groan and facepalm.
“So what’s the plan?” Kim asked.
“Isn’t she your friend?” Lady Luck asked. “Can’t you just ask a question that only the real Alix would know?”
“Well yeah,” he replied. “But I’m not the brightest and can be easily tricked, so I’d rather trust you since I’m not enough of a moron to let them trick me into thinking you’re the fake since there’s two Alixes.”
He had a point on that. Though that part of her that sounded suspiciously like the class saying ‘Chloé be nice!’ wanted to say he was probably smarter than people give him credit for even if he’s the sharpest tool in the chandelier. But she also knew that he could miss some things and if you kept talking you could confuse or convince him.
That said, Lady Luck wasn’t quite sure what to ask.
Because ‘Lady Luck’ didn’t know Alix. ‘Chloé’ might know her a bit better, but there’s nothing ‘Lady Luck’ could ask. All of the Hero’s interactions with Alix had been public, usually on the Luckyblog at some point. If Lila had done any research through that or if Hawkmoth gave her the answers, she would know.
“Really?” the Alix on the right said, laughing a little. “Not even a ‘hey what did we talk about when driving a bus through the zombie apocalypse’ question?”
“You know,” the Alix on the left said. “I prefer the last time I was covered in paint.”
Hands moving faster than thought, Lady Luck threw her yoyo at the one on the right. She looked shocked and offended, but it managed to snag her.
“Hey!” Chameleon snapped. “I’m the real Alix!”
“No, you’re not,” Lady Luck said.
The Akuma seemed to realize she wouldn’t be believed, and tried to tug out of the yoyo. When that didn’t work, she tried changing forms. Bigger people like Kim, then back down to the smaller Rose, neither being able to wriggle out.
Lady Luck wasn’t worried about her breaking the yoyo. The string was Magic and the only thing that would break it was probably something more aligned to destruction.
But it didn’t mean that Chameleon couldn’t turn into one of the stronger forms, like Ivan, and try to yank the cord out of her hands.
Thankfully Kim grabbed the cord before the Akuma could get loose, holding her just long enough for Lady Luck to get her hands on it again.
“What’s the item?” Alix asked.
“Don’t know,” Lady Luck admitted. “She keeps changing form and I haven’t seen anything.”
“Get the fuck off of me!” Chameleon snapped, trying to bite Alix’s hand..
Despite her protests, Alix carefully inspected the Akuma. Ignoring as Chameleon changed forms and heights. Eventually producing a pearl earring.
“Think it's this,” Alix said. “It wasn’t changing with her.”
“Smash away!” Kim exclaimed.
Alix slammed it into the ground, and once the Butterfly appeared, Kim let go of the yoyo. Lady Luck had to give one more tug and it reacted, unraveling itself from the Akuma and letting her catch the thing.
“See you around, little Butterfly.”
“Miraculous Ladybug!”
The Magic didn’t have much to fix honestly, but it would be a signal to the others that she finished the fight. Lila was returned to normal, and wasted no time on her act.
“Oh, Lady Luck!” Lila exclaimed, quickly going straight for a hug. “Thank you for saving me!”
“Saving random civilians is literally my job,” Lady Luck said, pulling out of the hug. “So you’re fine now. Go back to class or whatever.”
Lady Luck’s earring beeped, giving her a good excuse to walk off. She didn’t want to stick around and deal with Lila trying to pull her into the lie. Honestly, whether she played it aloof or tried to calmly explain they weren’t friends, it could be turned into ammunition for her to use. Walking away gave her little. Going all in and calling her a bitch ass motherfucker would do the job, in all technicality. But doing so was not something she felt like was necessary when other options were at play.
See? She was learning to not be a bitch. Why humiliate someone now when you can play the long game and let everyone slowly realize and see if she really digs herself into a corner? Whether it be getting trapped in her own lies, making new lies that others managed to see through, or even just revealing the original by eventually adding them to the Team, it would come out eventually.
Maybe it wasn’t the best choice. Especially after the threats. But Chloé couldn’t help but be reminded of herself. There was a chance things could turn out for the better, but she had to let it happen and give it help. Maybe Lila would change too, maybe she would double down. Who knows.
Lady Luck needed to find a spot to detransform. And, conveniently, she had come full circle to the bathroom she’d talked to Lila in. But she frowned as she approached.
There was something wedged under the door. A binder? Picking it up she didn’t find anything but blank paper in it. But that would explain why the door didn’t open.
It would also explain why Lila knew that the real ‘Chloé’ wouldn’t come back to class for a while. Clever but annoying little shit.
The class seemed quite split on Lila.
The five Heroes, knowing the truth, stayed to themselves. Not getting caught up in her regaling of how Lady Luck saved her.
Most of the rest of the class was by Lila. The two exceptions being Alix and Ivan.
Alix was… odd. Why did she not believe? Perhaps she was just skeptical, or she'd seen or heard something. Whatever it was, she wasn't sharing why.
Ivan… he trusted Mylene more than anyone. She couldn't explain why she had suddenly changed her mind about Lila, but he knew that she wouldn't make things up and had no bias for the missteps Lila took. So if she said something was wrong, it was best to be cautious.
"I just don't get it!" Marinette exclaimed. "How can they believe such- such- ridiculous stories!"
"Stop taking my lines," Chloé said. "Besides, her stories aren't quite that utterly ridiculous."
"Right," she said. "Being Lady Luck's best friend, and friends with Prince Ali, and saving Jagged Stone's kitten. That's all entirely believable."
"It kinda is when you think about it," Mylene said. "I mean... I did fall for it and if I didn't know..."
"Let's list off more ridiculous stories of our classmates," Chloé said. "There's myself, daughter of the mayor and, unfortunately, Audrey 'Style Queen' Barreau. Adrien, son of famed fashion designer Gabriel Agreste and Emilie Graham de Vanily of Graham films. Alix's father is curator at the Louvre. Rose actually did befriend Prince Ali. Juleka's mother is one of Jagged's former bandmates. Those two, Ivan, Luka and Adrien are trying to get their own band off the ground, which will probably work through nepotism alone but they're also genuinely good so they'll stick around anyway. Alya created the Luckyblog, a top source of Hero news in Paris. Max created an AI robot. Nathaniel and Marc's comic took off pretty quick thanks to Alya boosting it too. Speaking of Marc, their class has our two weathergirls on TV, Aurore and Mireille. And though she's not in our class directly, Kagami is of the Tsurugi family and a champion fencer in her own right."
"Okay when you put it that way but-" Marinette began.
"And then there's you," she said. "Daughter of one of the best, if not the best, bakery in Paris. Designed an album cover for Jagged Stone, along with his favorite sunglasses he has yet to take off during his current tour. Designed things that had Gabriel Agreste let his son model them in a very important fashion show. The same design that had the Style Queen offer you an internship because she adored it so much. The only way the class could get more star-studded would be if one of us became a superhero, but what on earth are the chances of that?"
"Nette," Adrien said. "Please tell me you're not going to try again now."
"She literally just said that Lady Luck cured her sprain and tinnitus!" Marinette said. "That's not how the Miraculous Cure works! It fixes damage done during a battle Lady Luck was involved in, not random injuries!"
"Well yeah but…" Mylene began.
“You’re going to look insane again,” Sabrina said.
"Because how do we know?" Chloé deadpanned.
"I… what?" Marinette asked.
"How do we know?" She repeated, glancing at Alix and Ivan. "We are just civilians who have never had a long conversation with Lady Luck about the inner workings of her powers. Information she keeps somewhat secret, because no Hero in their right mind would tell the public every detail of how their powers work.”
“Sometimes Miraculous Cure does fix stuff only kinda related,” Alix said, pulling out her pocketwatch. “Lady Luck fixed this even though it broke before I was an Akuma.”
“But she didn’t fix the brooch from when I was Vanisher,” Sabrina said.
“Well what if we get Lady Luck to come in and say they’re not friends?” Marinette asked.
“How would we do that?” Ivan asked.
“Well,” Sabrina said. “There is uh. Chloé’s dad? Or she needs something from Miraculous Merchandising? It’s not like Lady Luck shows up to talk a lot there. But then again, Alya isn’t uploading stuff about Lila to the Luckyblog, so Lady Luck won’t hear about it. If she showed up out of nowhere, it would either make Lila’s claims look true, or reveal that Lady Luck can hear what’s happening in our class.”
“Even if we somehow found a way,” Chloé said, a bit amused by the irony. “The only way for Lady Luck to disprove Lila’s claims in a way that she can’t wriggle out of would be a giant humiliating spectacle. Which, if I remember correctly, humiliating someone even if they're an asshole is a dick move. In part because said asshole will take it as a personal sleight and retaliate rather than learn. Hate to say it, but ‘killing with kindness’ can sometimes help people too.”
“I….” Marinette shook her head.
“Look, Nette, I get it,” Adrien said. “I don’t like what Lila is doing either. But it’s… how do I put this?”
“Not exactly the biggest deal?” Chloé suggested.
“We can’t just say ‘we’re dealing with supervillains, so small things don’t matter’,” Mylene reminded. "Both things matter."
“Yeah and just,” Adrien said. “We don’t have proof that Lila is lying. At least not something that wouldn’t involve humiliating her. And each time she’s humiliated, she’s Akumatized. I think that, at least until we have a better idea of what to do, we can step back on this one. Especially since no one’s getting hurt.”
“You don’t count manipulating them as getting hurt?” Marinette asked.
“Again, it sucks,” he said. “But giving her a seat, helping her write notes, and just hanging out listening to her? It’s not an evil plan to destroy their lives. She just wants the attention. If it becomes more than that, then the unfortunately humiliating thing is still an option. But for right now, it feels a lot more like a kid who moves around a lot is trying to make fast friends.”
“Isn’t it better if we try to help?” Mylene said. “If she does want friends, couldn’t we show her she doesn’t have to lie for it?”
“I guess,” Marinette admitted. “And I… God I probably do look insane.”
“We were getting kinda concerned,” Ivan said.
“Sorry,” she said. “I just. I thought she was a jerk. And then I kinda… had a bit of a wakeup call thinking that maybe I jumped the gun and she wasn’t lying about everything. Then Heroes’ Day happened and proved that she was lying about some pretty big stuff and I…”
“Felt lied to?” Alix suggested.
“Yeah,” she said. “I don’t like this. And it fucking sucks that I can’t do anything about it.”
“How it goes, sometimes,” Chloé shrugged. “I think that’s the best way to deal with this right now. Step back. If things get worse, we make our own moves. But I think that there might be a way to change the situation. I mean, hell. I’m here not only caring about what she’s doing but suggesting the ‘nice’ solution rather than the big elaborate 'fuck you' takedown, right?”
“I hate that you have a point,” she replied. “I’m still worried though. What if we’re wrong? Just because things worked out with you, doesn’t mean it’ll work out with her. And even then, you hurt a lot of people on that ride.”
“We know the truth,” Adrien said, taking her hand. “That’s what matters. If things do go wrong, we deal with it. Just like we always do.”
Sitting in the back of the class was weird for Chloé. She could barely see the board back here. How did they do it? Especially Juleka with her whole ‘hiding half my face in my hair’ thing.
But hey, the day was over. Time to go home. Everyone began to file out, but Chloé waited. She knew what would happen.
Empty classrooms were just as convenient as empty bathrooms, weren’t they?
“Have you made your decision?” Lila asked.
“Hm, perhaps,” Chloé said. “I’ve never been good at playing along with what people want. Too stubborn.”
“You really think you could take me down?” She laughed.
“Yes,” she said. “But I also think that I don’t have to. You want attention, and you have it .But even if you told them tomorrow, you’ll still get that attention.”
“And you say you aren’t naïve,” she shook her head. “If you’ve made your choice, then fine. From now on, you and I are at war.”
Lila was still attempting to be intimidating. And Chloé knew that it might have worked on someone else. Someone more alone. Who couldn’t back up their confidence with people.
"War is a game of chess,” Chloé said. “Both sides make their moves, trying to outsmart the other. Neither knows where it will end, just that they want it to end in their favor. Chess isn’t the game we’re playing.”
“And what game are we playing then?” Lila wondered.
“One where I do know some of the ending,” she said. “Either way, I win. But the question is, do you?”