Miraculous Ladybug: The New Holders

Queen Bee: Part Twenty

This week had been a bad one.

It had been 9 days, and no matter where Volpina searched, no matter how many times she went back to Sacré-Cœur, she hadn't seen Hawkmoth or Steel Peacock. And there hadn't been any Akumas, either. At least with no danger, it was easier to avoid Ladybug and Chat Noir. Volpina was avoiding them because she was dreading telling them the bad news with Steel Peacock, and she was afraid they'd just accused her of coming up with the whole thing because of the drugs in her system at the time.

But that wasn't even the worst part.

Chloè was losing her mind. She had already ran away from her home twice, and when Volpina had finally found her both times, she had been in tears, screaming about how she had to find Sabrina. At school, she overworked herself as a distraction from Sabrina. Volpina had visited her several times to cheer her up, and it seemed like it was working. But the next day, she'd be reminded of Sabrina and it'd be all for naught.

Finding a host for the Bee Miraculous was the least of her problems.

Alya had just arrived at school, only to see Nino running up to her.

"Alya!" He hissed urgently. "Sabrina's back!"

Alya blinked, and for just a moment she couldn't even process what Nino had just said. Sabrina was back? No, that wasn't possible. Was it?

"What? Sabrina... As in the Sabrina in our class? Sabrina Roger?"

Nino rolled his eyes and let out an exasperated sigh. "Yes, that Sabrina. Who do you think I was talking about?"

"I don't know-" Alya began, but then cut herself off. "Wait, is Chloè here yet? Does she know?"

"I don't think so." Nino admitted. "But if you just got here, Chloè won't be far behind. Isn't that how it's been since she started walking to school, instead of taking a limo?"

"Yeah." Alya looked behind herself quickly. "She'll be here soon."

Nino shivered with dread and anticipation. "This is gonna be interesting."

Alya had dragged Nino over to a bench. And sure enough, Sabrina was present at the school, standing off to one side of the courtyard. Alya noticed she was wearing a blue windbreaker, but that was the only physical change to her. She looked the same, but different. It wasn't just her clothes that changed, it was Sabrina herself. She stood with a certain pride and her eyes held a certain depth to them that was almost sinister.

Alya turned her head anxiously and saw Chloè sauntering into the courtyard. Alya bit her lip, dreading what was to come.

Chloe looked up and her eyes widened. "Sabrina!!" She ran towards Sabrina, whose face, for just a second, contorted into one of pure rage. But the enraged expression morphed into one of cold detestation.

"I'm so glad you're okay!" Chloè looked like she wanted to hug her friend.

Sabrina stepped back from Chloè with a cold look on her face. "Yeah, I'm okay. No thanks to you."

Chloè's face fell. "What- I tried looking for you, I ran away from the hotel twice looking for you..."

"Of course you'd say that." Sabrina sneered. "I suppose you want to make up with me now that I'm suddenly all interesting?" She glared harder at her former friend. "Would it have given you a sweet disposition in the press? Did you just want to make the front page?"

Chloè looked devastated. "No! I'd never do that to you!"

"Wouldn't you?" She screamed. "It's not like you've never used me before, why would this be any different?!"