Marinette looked back to the edge of the roof, and noticed Chloe's cardigan stuck on the railing.

It must've unravelled during our conversation... Marinette thought to herself. Because Chloe wore it around her waist, she didn't notice its absence.

She grabbed Chloe's cardigan and ran down the roof stairs, hoping to catch up to Chloe.

"Oof!" She said, bumping into someone. Looking up, she spotted Chloe staring back at her.

"Are you alright?" She asked, helping Marinette up.

"Uhh, yeah. I was trying to find you actually, I have-"

"Oh my jacket?" Chloe said, spotting it draped around Marinette's arm. "Yeah, you can have that. It looks... nice on you and I don't want to have it anymore. It'll remind me of today and what I almost did. Hopefully for you, it'll remind you of what you prevented, and give you a bit of hope."

Marinette teared up. "Oh, thank you Chloe! I'll just-" she paused, noticing how uncomfortable Chloe was feeling. "Do you maybe... want to join me to the locker room, so I can put your – my – cardigan safely in my locker?"

Chloe sighed gratefully and agreed. Together they headed off for the locker room.

While Marinette put her jacket away, she enjoyed a friendly chat with Chloe.

"Yeah, as you just heard, my bread recipe is pretty simple. Maybe you can come over and we can do some baking sometime?" Marinette said, shutting her locker, and turning towards Chloe.

"That would be gre-"

"What are YOU doing here?" Alya said, bursting through the door to the locker room.

"Alya, what are you doing here?" Marinette said.

"Looking for you, and a good thing I did too, since you're being harassed by Chloe! Come on girl, lets go."

Alya tightly gripped Marinette's arm and tried to yank her away from Chloe. With a huff Marinette pushed Alya away.

"I asked Chloe to come with me. She didn't remember anything – the akuma took over her!"

"I don't care – she did horrible things to me – to you – to everyone!"

"Just like you did as Lady Wifi?"

Alya paused. "We agreed not to talk about that."

"Well I think you need a reminder!" Marinette shouted back. "You were not in control – and neither was Chloe. You should be GLAD you only lost an evening of your life to it, because Chloe lost six months. She – she..." Marinette paused, looking back at Chloe, before taking a deep breath. "Chloe... tried to end her life."

"And why didn't she? She's just a FAKE." Alya shot back. Chloe looked toward the ground, tears in her eyes. Marinette felt intense rage course through her and couldn't help but vocally attack Alya.

"No, it's because I STOPPED HER! Now stop being a heartless bully. I forgave Chloe, and I was the one hurt the most. You were best friends with her! Oh, I feel SO SORRY FOR YOU." She took a deep breath and stared into Alya's eyes. "If you can't forgive Chloe, then I guess we can't be friends anymore."

Alya stared straight back. "Then I guess we're done then."

"W - What?" Marinette said. Alya said nothing else in return, and simply walked away. All Marinette could do is stare, as her now ex-best friend walked away from her, and shut the doors.

Marinette's heart filled with despair.

"Marinette, I'm so sorr-"

"IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!" Marinette shouted back at Chloe, tears streaming down her face. "YOU MADE ME LOSE MY BEST FRIEND, I HATE YOU!"

Chloe refused to let Marinette's words to get to her, and said: "I know this isn't you. You saved my life, Marinette. I may have lost six months of my life, but I'd happily give you another six for you to feel better. However, I can't talk to you while you're like this."

Chloe turned away from Marinette and walked to the locker door, opening it. "I'll be here when you're ready to talk. I'll see you soon."

She shut the door.

As soon as the door shut, Marinette fell to the floor, in tears, clutching her bag to her chest. Tikki tried to fly out, to comfort her, but Marinette unknowingly had a tight enough grip on her bag to make Tikki unable to fly out.

"First Chloe started bullying me, then the world turned against Ladybug, and now... I think Alya is gone forever. I'm hopeless..."

She didn't notice a purple butterfly flying towards her.

It was the moment Hawk Moth had been waiting for.

With a gasp, the bug attacked itself to Marinette's bag, turning it purple and blue. Marinette's face lifted up, but instead of her expression being clear, it was contorted in pain.

"No! No, not now!" Marinette shouted, stumbling back and banging her head on her locker. Adrien, outside, faintly heard the noise and looked around to investigate.

"Someone! Help me!"

"Pest." A deep voice called to her.

"No! I can't! I'm-"

"Ladybug? Yes, I already know. I was able to find who you really were six months ago. After that, all it took was an akumatized bully and a destroyed reputation. Who knew I could accomplish that with just one person – Chloe Bourgeois."

"I don't care about your stupid plan, let me go!"

"Are you sure you don't care?" Marinette paused. "You call yourself useless, a pathetic bug, worthless to everyone. People have tried to commit suicide because of you and your actions!"

"N – No! I... I saved them!"

"You hurt them! But now you can make it all better..."

"I – I can?"

"Yes, because now you're not a pathetic bug anymore. You're..."

"A Pest." Marinette agreed, finally relenting and letting Hawk Moth take control of her, purple bubbles slowly overtaking her body. Adrien had just enough time to see her head engulphed, before she revealed her new self. Black, sharp, dangerous. Her earrings fell to the floor, and as her grip on her bag loosened, Tikki flew out, both unnoticed.

"I'm Pest." Marinette said. "And you're all gonna pay! For abandoning me. You may have tried to leave me behind, but now I'm never going to leave you alone!"

"Marinette please! Think about this! You don't want to hurt me!" Adrien said, slowly edging away from her.

"I'm Pest! Your weak 'Marinette' has gone – not to mention Ladybug!" She laughed cruelly. "But for now, scamper away like the pathetic bug that you are, or I'll SQUASH YOU!"

And then, Marinette – now Pest – began her attack.

Hey guys, I'm back! Just gonna keep it short and sweet this time – I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and I'll see you next time!

But for now...

Peachy out! 😊