WARNING: MINOR HARASSMENT HERE. IT IS BRIEF BUT I WANT TO LET YOU KNOW.
Boy was Lila mad. No, she was worse than mad. She was positively fuming! She was currently sat in her room after that disaster of a show. She was looking on her laptop at all the comments being made about the show. There were barely any! MDC was trending so much, that her performance was being overshadowed immensely. She gritted her teeth in frustration at all the positivity. She had no idea where Hawkmoth was, but she needed an akuma right now! If it had come at the right time, then she could have knocked the designer right out of that stupid bird cage. Any comments she did find about Gabriel was that it was going back to the basic hashtag and comments about how unflattering she looked! How dare they! This had to be stopped!
"Stupid MDC, I'll beat you, just wait!" Lila sneered.
She had to be smart about this. She couldn't just attack MDC online. No that would lead a trail to her. She already had the class believing that the designer was a bully. How to convince everyone else about that was a challenge. She was no hacker so she couldn't make a tweet from MDC about her. The amount of people claiming they inspired her or made designs for her were too obvious. Talking to Gabriel wouldn't work either. He was doing damage control because of Adrien and trying to get a meeting with MDC. Wait... Adrien! Of course! All she needed to do was back MDC into a corner. And Adrien was the perfect tool to do that with.
Meanwhile...
Gabriel was currently sitting in his own office with a scowl on his face. That couldn't have gone worse. MDC was the talk of Twitter, no one was talking about his brand and now he was trending as basic! Nathalie watched him stew in his seat.
"Sir... don't you think that with tonight's event's an akuma might be in order?" she asked.
"I want to...but with everything I have been presented...it's not the right time. Lila would have been ideal for it. But after what we know now..." Gabriel murmured.
"All the more reason to use her. If anything, this will make things more interesting. And if you happen to get the miraculous out of it," Nathalie stated.
"Maybe not an akuma... but perhaps something else?" Gabriel said as he turned his head slightly. Nathalie gave a knowing nod.
"When?" she asked.
"Tomorrow," Gabriel said.
.....
As for the main player herself, Morgana was enjoying the thrill of the game as she watched the tweets roll in. Marinette was now safely at home with her parents and Luka, enjoying a celebratory dinner. Kagami was invited, as was she but they were busy. Well Morgana was and due to Kagami's strict mother, she was most likely busy.
"Ah, I do love lists and folders," Morgana said as she patted them, which were stacked neatly on her desk.
Friday was going to be amazing. Thanks to Chloé, she now had new pawns coming into Paris to join the game. So, this would be a complete shock to Lila. Her Gabriel folder was now finished, thanks to some evidence, and if he kept his word and brought his own information to her, then it would be perfect. The lies folder was still open on the desk in case Lila had some new tales to tell. The class folder was also still open. It was Wednesday tomorrow, so she had three days left if the class decided to text, harass and so on. But then she frowned as she felt her eye twitch. Something wasn't right. No. that wasn't it. Something didn't feel right. She blinked and, in an instant, her chess board appeared. Everyone was in their position on the board but then her eyes fell upon an empty square on the opposing square. It was empty. Something was missing.
Morgana didn't like the look of this. Not one little bit.
.....
Lila was still seething as she sat in her seat at lunch the next day. Alya was currently raving about getting an MDC interview somehow. Lila didn't know how she was going to sling that but since her clever ploy about not knowing the designer paid off, she felt it was best to stay away from the conversation. Unless the incident with her disastrous show was brought up. Her eyes then looked up to see a happy looking Marinette skipping through the lunch hall. She was wearing a light blue dress and seemed to be wearing an oversized coat. Presumably from her boyfriend. Ugh. She needed to do something about him. But she needed to be careful. Juleka seemed to agree with Marinette about Luka so it was something to be concerned about. Destroying that jacket would be good... but she wasn't sure who else would be that Marinette would destroy Luka's jacket. She needed something else. She watched Adrien excuse himself to the toilet and grinned. Now was her time.
"Hey Alya, sorry to interrupt, but is it okay if I pop to the loo quickly? I think my tinnitus is acting up, so I need to clear my head," Lila said with a smile.
"Sure girl! Want me to go with you?" Alya offered.
"No thanks, but you're so kind," Lila said, the lying venom rolling of her tongue.
As she excused herself, she followed Adrien in the direction of the toilets. On her way, her eyes fell on Morgana. The girl was keeping to herself per usual, carrying a lunch tray. She could not figure that girl out! Oh well, she wasn't calling her out or doing anything to her. Nor was she hanging out with Maritrash. An insignificant nobody, Lila concluded. On the way, a small wooden piece fell out of her bag. Morgana didn't seem to notice so swiftly and quickly, Lila swiped it up. It was revealed to be a queen piece, most likely form her chess set. Maybe she could use it to her advantage. How good would it be if it made its way into Maritrash's bag? A thief would be great to add to her list. Lila's head turned to follow Adrien as her eyes darkened.
.....
Lila waited outside of the toilets patiently. Sure, she wanted to corner Adrien but even she didn't want to step into the toilets. She heard a flush and Adrien stepped out. His eyes met hers and his expression turned grim.
"Lila," he said stiffly.
"Oh, come on now Adrien, is that anyway to treat me," Lila said as she batted her eyelids. She latched onto him, her nails digging into him slightly. As other people passed them, Adrien couldn't even push her off.
"What do you want? I'm in no mood," he said tiredly.
"Oh yes, after that event yesterday, you're not in anyone's good books, are you?" Lila said sweetly.
"You really want to talk about disasters that happened yesterday?" Adrien said with slight irritation. Lila scowled at him and dug her nails in further. He winced as he felt her pull on him.
"I want a word," she snapped, dragging him off to the locker rooms. As soon as they were in there, the masks were dropped. She let go of him and he rubbed his arm fondly. Lila put her hands on her hips and glared him.
"What?" he asked.
"Don't take that tone with me. I need your account," Lila asked.
"What? Why?" Adrien asked in bewilderment. Out of all the things she could demand, that wasn't one of the things he was expecting.
"I want to back MDC into a corner. They had no right to do that to the brand yesterday," Lila said. Adrien rolled his eyes.
"They had no idea about the brand promotion, it was just poor timing," Adrien answered honestly. He had found it quite funny when his father came back pouting. Of course, he didn't say this.
"That is not the point!" Lila shouted, slamming her hand on a locker, making him flinch slightly.
"You can't use my handle to discredit her. It will damage the brand name, it will come across as petty," Adrien said.
"I can do what I want. I'm the brand's top model, I have diplomatic immunity, I have everyone under my thumb and since it is from your account...well, I am not the one who will get blamed," Lila sneered.
"Lila... this has to stop!" Adrien pleaded.
"I don't think it does. Now give me the phone. Or else I go out there crying and throw out a few accusations. Heck I might even bring Maritrash into this again. I don't think she could not stay expelled a second time," Lila said innocently.
"You wouldn't..." Adrien said in shock.
He was then answered when she had pushed him up against a wall and had an arm pressed across his chest. He felt Plagg twitch with anger beneath his shirt but all he felt was fear. He was a hero, why was he frozen like this?
"Try me," she snarled.
Adrien said nothing but gave her his phone with a shaky hand. Lila snatched it off of him and logged onto Twitter. Opening a fresh page, she began her tweet.
@Offical_AdrienAgreste
MDC, your appearance was amazing. I bet a collaboration between Gabriel and you would be amazing. We could even model together.
What do you say?
"There. If that doesn't make them look petty, nothing will," Lila said as she tossed the phone back to the blond. He caught it and looked at the tweet, sighing as the notifications came pouring in.
"Is this necessary?" he asked.
"Yes. Now I suggest you leave or else something unfortunate might happen," Lila said with a dark look.
"Fine," Adrien said quietly as he quickly left the room.
Lila stood there by herself, thinking to herself. Now that the tweet was out, MDC had no choice but to respond. If they collaborated with the brand, she could find out their identity and blackmail them. If not, it would make them look petty and reclusive and then the internet would take it from there. She let out a contented sigh. Everything was going perfectly. Her attention then turned to the chess piece in her pocket. She pulled it out and rolled it over in her hand. Oh, if only she was queen. She could make people tell her all their secrets. She thrived on that power. She needed it. She felt a breeze on her cheek and turned her attention to the blue feather in the room.
"Perfect timing," Lila said with a grin. She reached up and plucked the feather out of the air and placed it on the chess piece.
"Mayura, Hawkmoth, what took you soon long?" Lila asked with a smile as the blue mask appeared on her face.
"Time is ticking Lila. We want Ladybug and Chat Noir's miraculous."
"Ask and you shall receive. I am more than happy to bring down those two heroes. They don't deserve such power," Lila sneered.
"Very well. You know what to do."
"Thank you. The pleasure is all mine," Lila said as a blue coat covered the object in her hand. Soon enough a figure emerged from the piece.
.....
Marinette hummed happily to herself as she looked online at the incoming tweets from her latest performance. She was so happy about them all. Granted there were very few negative ones, but most were praising from the messages she had sent out. Her eyes then fell about the trending sections, and she was surprised to see the Gabriel brand was in the list. Curiously she clicked on it and was surprised to see that her name was linked to it. As she was about to look further, a scream came to her ears. She whirled around to see people running in fear as a tall figure was circling the yard. Marinette quickly hid behind a nearby pillar to get a better look.
The figure was tall and seemed to be made of pure white marble. It had a cape, long robes, a suit of armour and what appeared to be a crown like headpiece. The figure's face was all white marble too and even the eyes were white. The mouth was in a stoic expression and didn't even seem to move. The figure raised her hand and struck a nearby cowering Rose in the back. Instantly, she straightened up as her eyes glazed over in the same white as the figure as well as the rest of her body.
"My name is Rose Lavilliant!" Rose shouted. She instantly pulled Juleka in front of her, who was instantly struck and glazed over too.
"My name is Juleka Couffaine!" Juleka shouted. Instantly the pair started pushing more and more victims to the figure.
"Oh no!" Marinette whispered as she ran to the toilet. She slammed the door of a toilet and let Tikki out of her purse.
"A new villain! Do you recognise them?" Tikki asked.
"No, I don't!" I have a feeling this will be a tough one. Tikki, Spots On!"
.....
Adrien, who had seen the villain, was also now in a toilet stall. He had been incredibly annoyed, irritated, and slightly nervous about the recent encounter with Lila. Plagg was angry but for once, he chose to say nothing. He had continually warned Adrien about Lila but only now he seemed to realise there was no getting through to him. Maybe now he would realise it. If not... then Tikki would be so mad.
"Do you think I got Lila akumatised?" Adrien asked worriedly. Plagg could hardly believe his ears. That was what he was worried about?! He was just threatened!
"I don't know," Plagg simply responded.
"Plagg, Claws Out!"
.....
Ladybug sat upon the roof as she watched the villain blast people and turn them into her victims. Her blue eyes were narrowed. There was no weapon, no distinct piece of clothing, or anything peculiar.
"Problem M'lady?" a voice asked cheerily. She smiled slightly as she felt a familiar presence beside her. Chat followed her gaze as he watched the villain create havoc.
"Yeah... I can't seem to find the akuma or amok on this villain," Ladybug said thoughtfully. Chat nodded in thought as he looked at the destruction.
"Could we just cataclysm it?" he asked.
"I don't think that would help. Remember what happened with Reflekta? It went crazy when we tried it. Plus, we don't know if it's a person or not," Ladybug said.
"Well, I think all we can do is attack it until we find something," Chat said. Ladybug noted he didn't seem as cheery, nor flirty as he usually did. Granted she was glad about the flirting not being present and he was being a little more serious, but his entire mood seemed off.
"Okay, I'll take the left, you take the right. Give it a few minutes. If we can't find anything, we may have to call on someone," Ladybug said with a nod.
Taking a running leap, both heroes jumped down into the yard, throwing out the baton and yo-yo at the villain. It didn't even make a dent and the wire practically slid off the figure. The students began to turn towards the heroes, reaching out their arms in order to hold them still.
"Chat watch out!" Ladybug yelled, making the leather cladded hero jump up and knock people back with his staff.
"I don't really want to hit the students too hard!" Chat said as he knocked a few more back.
"What's weird is that this guy hasn't even said a word!" Ladybug said as she flipped out of the way. Her eyes darted over the figure but she couldn't find anything that stood out to her.
.....
Up in a stairwell, Lila watched the heroes suffer at the hands of her amok. She gripped the object in her hands as if it was a lifeline. There was no way they could defeat this villain. Nor was she a suspect. People would think she ran away with others, or she was hiding. It was perfect. There was no way she could lose.
"Your time is almost up!" Lila said in delight.
.....
It had been five minutes now, and the heroes were starting to lose energy as there were more people under control now. This was getting too hard. Thinking on their feet, Chat slammed his staff into the ground, causing a mini quake and creating a cloud of dust that blocked the view from its face. The pair quickly headed off to a nearby classroom and hid in the spare room.
"Wow...this is a tough one," Chat panted as he leaned back on a chair.
"We don't know anything about this one. No one seemed to be upset and even if they were, they may be under control of the villain now," Ladybug said as she wiped her brow.
"So, what do we do? We have to find out if it's an akuma, amok or both," Chat said.
"There's only one thing we can do. Lucky Charm!" Ladybug said, adoring the upgraded suit as the little bugs circled to form and release... a patterned board.
"A board? How does that help? I don't think we could hit the thing with it," Chat said as he scratched the side of his head. He was so tired and worn out today, he couldn't even think of a good pun.
"I wonder..." Marinette said, her eyes darting around the room. Nothing lit up to her in the room and she looked down at the board in her hand. This was beyond her. She needed another perspective. She smiled and Chat saw this.
"Ooh I see you have a plan. Care to share to the Kitty?" Chat teased.
"All in due time. I need you to divert the villain into the courtyard again. Make sure it doesn't go into any rooms," Ladybug instructed. "But remember, don't get hit. You might reveal your identity."
"You got it!" Chat said as the plan was set in motion.
.....
As Chat continued to divert and distract the villain, Ladybug searched the rooms of the school. She reassured the students she found hiding but continued to search. She pushed open the door to the library and scanned it. She was about to leave until she heard the scuffle of paper. She smiled. The lucky charm wouldn't have created this board if who she was looking for was under the figure's spell.
"Hello? It's Ladybug!" she called. There was a pause. That is until a shadowy figure emerged from the puzzle and games section category of the library. They held a book in their hand which they shut with a snap.
"Ladybug," Morgana said with a little nod.
"I need your help," Ladybug said as she came towards the girl. Knowing her outside the mask, she was curious to see what persona Morgana would take.
"W-What is it?" Morgana stuttered.
Interesting...so it seemed that Morgana didn't trust Ladybug. Marinette remembered that Morgana only used her true colours with people she felt comfortable with or trusted. If she approached her with any sort of request of trust, she was sure Morgana would figure her out. Morgana was far from stupid and to be honest, it was a surprise she hadn't figured out anyone's identity yet.
"My lucky charm seemed to bring me to you. Do you know what it is?" Ladybug asked as she held out the board. Morgana hesitated but then timidly took it and scanned it.
"It is... a c-chess board," Morgana answered.
"Well, that explains that...but it doesn't explain what it can do to help," Ladybug said thoughtfully.
"I-If I may?" Morgana shyly asked.
"Yes?" Ladybug asked kindly.
"I t-think this is my fault," Morgana said as tears filled her eyes.
"How?" Ladybug said in shock. If this girl didn't go into gaming, she would make a great actress.
"Look," Morgana said as she placed the board on the table.
She then pulled out a small box and placed it next to the board. She then started to pull out different chess pieces and placed them on the board. Standing back, the girls looked at all the pieces standing on the board.
"What?" Ladybug asked.
"Well... chess b-boards come with... thirty-two pieces in total. I o-only have thirty-one," Morgana said as she pointed to the absent chess piece.
"So, someone must have your missing chess piece. That must make it an amok," Ladybug said thoughtfully.
"Someone...must h-have my queen piece...I d-don't play with anyone..." Morgana said guiltily, and she cried into her hands.
"This isn't your fault. Someone who must have felt bad or upset must have found your piece by accident at the wrong time. We know what it is now thanks to you!" Ladybug said as she placed a hand on the girl's shoulder.
She didn't look up, but Ladybug didn't dare question it. Someone must be in the school controlling this as they couldn't be too far from it. The question was...how were they going to lure the person out? Or better yet, trap them? An idea then formed in her brain.
"Ladybug, I kinda need you out here!" Chat's voice called as a yell was soon followed. Looking back, Ladybug then opened her yo-yo and dialled a number.
"Hello! Chief of Police, I need a few officers and cars surrounding the school. Someone is controlling an amok and I need to make sure they don't leave the school!" Ladybug said into the yo-yo.
"You got it Ladybug!" came back the voice.
"I want you to stay here. I'll bring you back your piece when this is all over," Ladybug said as she then ran off to her partner, taking the chess board back as she went. Morgana lowered her hands and rubbed away her tears with a stoic look on her face. Her attention turned to her chess pieces.
"Queen takes Knight," she mumbled.
.....
Ladybug landed in the yard, next to an even more exhausted Chat Noir. The figure, now better known as the Queen, was not damaged, or exhausted in the slightest. Ladybug gripped the board with confidence as she cleared her throat.
"Students! Please remain calm! The amok object is a chess piece! Whoever has it, please make yourself known! The police are now surrounding the building! I promise you are not in trouble!" Ladybug called.
.....
Lila scowled as she almost broke the chess piece. How did she figure it out? It wasn't even that obvious! She was so close! She couldn't even go far, if she left the building, she would be caught. Playing the victim would be too suspicious too, especially Ladybug and Chat Noir weren't too fond of her, no matter how much they hid it. It didn't matter, she hated them too.
"Next time Ladybug," Lila growled, putting the piece down and running off to hide out of sight.
.....
As Ladybug and Chat prepared to fend off more of the Queen's victims, they all suddenly stopped and stood still. The Queen herself lowered herself to the ground and landed on her knees, apparently lifeless. Seizing this opportunity, Ladybug turned to her partner.
"Quick, we are looking for a queen chess piece!" she said as they quickly swung up to the top of the building to look for the chess piece. Officers also came in the building to help them look and to comfort the scared students.
.....
It didn't take long to find the piece in the stairway and with a quick cure, everyone was returned to normal as well as all the damage vanishing. Ladybug had given the piece back to Morgana in secret but was making a note to confirm to the officers that it wasn't her fault.
"Good work Ladybug! That seemed to be a tough one," Officer Raincomprix commented as he tipped his hat.
"Thanks. The chess piece belonged to someone who had lost the piece. They didn't wield it, someone else must have gotten their hands on it," Ladybug said.
"I understand," Roger said.
"What I don't get is why they left it like that," Chat said as he leaned on his staff.
"I don't know, and I am concerned. Mayura could have been in the building," Ladybug said.
"I don't know about that. We didn't see her leave," Roger said thoughtfully.
"Ladybug!" a familiar voice said. Ladybug hid the urge to roll her eyes as she saw Alya come up to her with her phone in hand. Alya was trying to get interview from people, but she was harassing people who were recovering from the event. She didn't seem to understand that they were upset or distressed. Frankly it was unprofessional.
"Please, we are having a conversation," Roger said.
"Just a few questions? Who was the amok controlled by? Why did it take you so long? Did you have..." Alya said as she held up her phone but was met with a stony glare from the heroine.
"Put the camera down," Ladybug said.
"Oh, come on, I'm just..." Alya said but then Ladybug took a step towards her.
"Put. It. Down," she demanded. Alya lowered the camera as she paled slightly.
"You okay?" Chat asked, sensing the tension.
"Alya, this is not the time or the place for silly questions. People are recovering from an attack, and you are harassing them. People's feelings are more important than views on your blog. If I catch you doing it again, I will not be so lenient. Do I make myself clear?" Ladybug said calmly but firmly with a dangerous glint in her eyes.
"Y-Yes..." Alya stammered, stepping back a little before running off.
"Well said. She does get too involved," Roger said.
"Yeah..." Chat said uncertainly.
"Anyway. We need to find out who was behind this. This is the first time we haven't found who did this. Be it on purpose or not..." Ladybug said thoughtfully. It felt good to talk to Alya like that but she couldn't shake this new feeling she had.
Something had changed now. Whether it was good or not, she didn't know yet.