A Miraculous Story Book 3: Rivals Part 1: Queen Wasp 2

• Strategy •

Marinette was knelt on the floor in front of her Mari-themed Miracle Box, looking over the options and thinking of a strategy. Tikki peered over her shoulder.
"The only thing stopping Chloé from resisting her akuma now is the holder of the Panda Miraculous. If we can just get her to resist her folium, then we will win. We don't even have to fight her, especially because she has backup. But how does one resist foliumization?"

Marinette sighed and moved into a criss-cross position, closing her eyes to think. She remembered, the day after Miraculer's debut, at school, how Chloé was bragging to everyone about how she resisted akumatization. Everyone was pretty impressed by it, even though it was Chloé speaking, because she wasn't one to lie about her achievements. Plus, it was unheard of to fully block Hawk Moth out. It had never been done before!
Akumatization relies on emotions to work. But if someone has a strong will, like Chloé does, they're able to prevent being akumatized.
If having a strong will allows emotional control, then would it work the other way around? Would having strong emotions allow control over your own will?

Marinette remembered back to just a minute ago, when she cried out to Chloé after she was foliumized. Chloé's eye showed emotion for a second. It was brief, but still there.
Then would that mean, if there was a stronger emotion, she would be able to free herself from her folium?

"Tikki, I have a theory."

"What is it?"

"If strong willpower can resist akumatization, which draws power from emotion, then would strong emotion resist foliumization, which takes control of willpower?" she asked, gesturing with her hands.

Tikki paused to think for a moment. "I've never thought of it that way, Marinette. That sounds possible!"

"When I called out to her as Ladybug, I saw one of her eyes calling for help. She was fighting back, but the emotions just weren't strong enough. If we brought out the right emotions, I think Chloé will be able to fight her folium herself. But if Ladybug couldn't do it, then who can?"

"Well," Tikki pondered, "Queen Wasp earlier was only calling out to two people, saying that she loved them. You, and..."

"And Adrien! Of course!" Marinette grinned, throwing her hands up. "Adrien and Chloé have known each other since childhood, unlike Ladybug. I'm sure if Adrien was there, he could reach deep enough to get the right emotions to fight back. But... I really don't want to put Adrien in danger like that..." Marinette sighed, putting her head in her hands. They were getting somewhere, but they've hit a roadblock. She, as a hero, can't put defenseless civilians in danger. They have to have something to protect themselves, whether it be a Miraculous or another weapon. And I don't think Chloé would appreciate it if Adrien tried connecting with her while holding a baseball bat.

"Marinette, you've gotta make a choice. And fast! Queen Wasp is still out there!" Tikki said.

Suddenly her eyes brightened as she got the perfect idea. She reached into the box and grabbed a bracelet with red, blue, and yellow sections on it: the Parrot Miraculous. She showed it to Tikki. "The Parrot allows you to transform to look like someone else! We could give this to someone to look like Adrien!"

"Great idea, Marinette!"

"But who could I give it to...? It has to be someone who knows Adrien well and knows how he acts or what he'll say."

"Well, what about Nino?" suggested Tikki.

"That's who I thought, but he's at the movies with Alya. I don't know where the theatre is or what movie they're watching, it'll take way too long to find him." She glanced at her computer screen to see the time. It was 5:45; the movie wouldn't have ended in 45 minutes.
"Maybe Kagami?" Marinette looked at Tikki, and the tiny creature seemed to approve. "I've noticed they've been spending a lot of time together recently... so Kagami probably knows a lot about him. He probably tells her everything." She sighed and stared down at the ground. She still missed Adrien, but was slowly beginning to accept Luka.