L.A.D.Y.B.U(d)G
Or: How to give a class a heart attack, take down Lila Rossi, reduce akuma populations, destroy a love hexagon, make Chloé a nice(r) girl, improve a Hero team, and make Gabriel Agreste spit out his drink in one fell swoop.
I do not own Miraculous TLCN. Once again, a warning for mentions of suicide attempt. This is Lukanette, Adrigami, Chlomarcthaniel, and Alix being awesome alone. Also note background JulekaXRose, which I do not know the name of, background Nilya, and the love square/hexagon being stomped on.
It's possibly the most ridiculous thing in the world, but Adrien, the goofball, insisted, which was how an unofficial group that could have been named something like the Waterfall of Truth or Paris's Chosen ended up instead calling themselves 'The Association of Blessed Eyes, Usurping Crickets'. L'association des yeux bénisses, usurpes des grillons. Marinette isn't even sure if it's grammatically correct, damn it. Adrien sure is a little LADYBU(d)G crazy.
Marinette can't quite remember exactly when she stopped tolerating Chloé and started liking her instead, but it definitely happened at some stage in the last month or so. Perhaps it's time to get her classmates some good old-fashioned psychological help, because the more people you pile on Chloé, the nicer she gets, just as the more (properly regulated) affection you pile on Adrien, the happier he gets, and it's got to have something to do with crappy parenting because Marinette doesn't have these problems, and she's under just about as much pressure at school, thank you very much. And that's disregarding the Akuma-Amok situation entirely.
Though the stepping-stones along the way are blurry, the point at which they stepped into the river is clear as day. Chloé was getting sick of losing her attention (and Sabrina), Adrien was a little too uncomfortable with Lila hanging off him, and Marinette was just plain done. With everything and everyone. Things were entirely coming to a head, the three building up heads of steam just from sitting in class, trying in vain to block out their surroundings – but honestly, Chloé was attuned to attention, Marinette was constantly being needled or worse, and it was really hard to concentrate on the board with a weight dragging your shoulder just about through the floor.
Marinette was sweet and passive, Chloé was – well – Chloé, and Adrien was halfway between a fluffy kitten and socially incompetent.
Ladybug, Queen Bee, and Chat Noir, on the other hand…
So when an obviously irate Chloé and a half-panicked half-resigned Adrien barged into the bakery demanding food, Marinette didn't see an enemy pulling around a crush, she saw , with the dizzying clarity that comes after saving your own life, an opportunity, just as one sees how to use a teapot to defeat a rampaging super-minion. Not that Marinette actually remembered how that worked out, but the point still stood. Marinette's arms were still stinging and like hell if she would let anyone else go her way.
"That girl!" Chloé snarled through a macaron. "She's a menace. She needs to get her mitts away from you – and her LIES! Ugh! It's ridiculous, ABSOLUTELY ridiculous, and – UGH! If I gain weight because of her…"
"Calm down, Chlo," Adrien said weakly, nibbling on a croissant.
"I will NOT, Adrikins! She's a pain, and I want her gone! And what the hell is your father thinking, using her as a model? She's not even that good looking! I'm much better looking."
"That's true," Adrien grumbled. "And marginally less likely to pull my arm out of its socket," he added under his breath.
"I can't stand being around her," Chloé continued viciously, cramming another macaron into her mouth – whole, to Marinette's astonishment. "She's a disgrace, an utter disgrace. And she says she's friends with Ladybug! Please! Ladybug won't even let me be Queen Bee, why would she be anywhere around that – UGH!"
