**A/N: Again, I know this isn't the update you were expecting. Once more, I had to come at this last chapter from a different POV. Now that I have this sorted out, I just need a couple more ducklings to line up and I should be good to go. Thank you for being patient on the final chapter of "Peeping Tomcat."
NOTE: Minor spoiler for "Peeping Tomcat" chapter 14.**
Enzo Dubois walked onto the stage and looked out over Paris. The city was draped in green and black. Cat masks and paw prints were splattered everywhere. Vendors were already selling their wares even though the event technically hadn't started yet. The place was abuzz, and it was only going to get more electric. He made sure of that.
It was an exhausting forty-five hours since Ladybug called for Mayor Bourgeois to declare the upcoming Sunday "Chat Noir Appreciation Day," and only forty hours since the mayor complied to his daughter's plea to listen. Forty hours. That's it. Enzo had managed to pull a miracle together. As he stood on the stage outside city hall he wanted to cry out to the heavens. He wanted to scream to Ladybug that he should be the one revered as a hero and getting a day dedicated to him. He was the miraculous one that weekend.
"Right this way, Mr. Mayor. You'll give the commencement speech right on this stage."
Enzo turned to see Mayor Bourgeois escorted onto the stage by another staffer. He rushed over and extended his hand for the mayor to shake.
"Mayor Bourgeois. Welcome. I have the itinerary here, and the podium should be all set for your speech. I have these cue cards for your speech, and-"
"Yes, yes." The mayor brushed Enzo's hand away. "I know what I need to do, Ernest."
"It's Enzo." He tried to keep his cool while puffing up his chest in an attempt to showcase his Mayoral Aid nametag hanging off the lanyard draped around his neck.
"Go on now, off the stage so I can get this event started. Oh, and Ernest?"
"Enzo."
"Were you able to organize the speeches from Ladybug and Chat Noir?"
"Well, no. I have no way of getting a hold of them. I did put out the request for them, though, and Ladybug herself requested this day, so I'm sure she'll show up. Plus, I do have the day completely filled with-"
Mayor Bourgeois waved him off and shook his head. "The speeches from the superheroes themselves, especially Ladybug, were the crux of this day. Nevermind, we'll make it work. Go see if there's something else you can assist with, Ernest."
"Enzo!" Enzo threw his clipboard holding the itinerary of the day onto the stage as he stormed off of it.
This is ridiculous, he thought as he stormed back to his office inside city hall. I gave up my whole weekend to cater to the selfish whim of a superhero and the bratty demands of an entitled teenager. I slept probably four whole hours in the past forty-eight. And not only do I not get any thanks, but the mayor can't even be troubled to know my name?
He slammed his office door behind him and leaned on it. The office wasn't large, maybe only a few meters wide and across. It was barely larger than a cubicle, and there wasn't even a window anywhere. Enzo was pretty positive it was a storage closet at one point, but it was his office now. He had earned it.
He had worked for the mayor close to five years, climbing the political ladder one measly step at a time. Long nights. No weekends. Missed family parties and friend get-togethers. It was worth it though. Enzo had this office, and was one of the mayor's most trusted aids. Enzo was the one given the task to pull the whole "Chat Noir Appreciation Day" event together in less than two days. That was faith. He thought he had the mayor's faith.
Yet Mayor Bourgeois couldn't even be bothered to read a clearly visible nametag to know Enzo's name. The mayor didn't care enough to listen to Enzo when he corrected him. All of that struggling and fighting for position, and it was for nothing.
Enzo ripped the lanyard off his neck and just stared at his staffer badge.
"I should be the one getting the appreciation today; the thanks. People should know my name. Ladybug should be praising me for being able to put her stupid idea together without any sort of notice!"
The plastic lamination of his badge dented as he squeezed; crushing it. He was so focused on the sweet sensation of the hard plastic edges pressing into his skin that he barely registered the black butterfly flying to him. It landed on the center of the badge, and dissolved into black bubbles that soaked into the badge.
A calming rage pooled in Enzo's chest. The glowing mauve outline of a butterfly hovered a few centimeters from his face, encircling his eyes like a mask.
"Gremlin," said a charismatic voice. There was no one else in the room, but Enzo registered the voice perfectly, like it came from inside his own head. "I am Hawk Moth," the voice continued, "It is such a pity that no one acknowledged all of your hard work. If they won't recognize how much they need you to pull everything together, then perhaps the city will know you as the one that made it all fall apart. The mayor, and more importantly Ladybug, will never ignore you again. They will think about the trouble they cause you. All I want in return is Ladybug's and Chat Noir's Miraculouses."
"I would be happy to end those superheroes and put Mayor Bourgeois in his place." Enzo slid his badge's lanyard back on, and the black bubbling from the butterfly expanded to engulf him. He felt his body condense as he shrank. His arms and legs became long, thin, and spindly compared to his stumpy and rounded abdomen. Long, pointed, elvish ears stuck so far out the tips extended past the back of his now-bald head. His mouth and nose morphed into a snout with pointed lower teeth poking out of the side. His skin turned smoky-gray. His inner arms and thighs were striped with black. Down the front of his neck, across his chest and belly, and wrapping around to a little pointed stump of a tail, his skin also turned black. Tattered khaki shorts was his only clothing, and his name badge hung like a necklace; the laminate now a rich, deep purple nearly obscuring the picture and name he formally went by.
As the bubbles dispersed a few seconds later, Enzo was replaced by Gremlin, the mischievous destroyer of technology. He had three goals; only three things in his entire life.
One – to destroy everything he had put together for the celebration that day. Two – humiliate Mayor Bourgeois and Ladybug for forcing him to organize the event in the first place. Three – make sure there will never again be a Ladybug or Chat Noir to celebrate, by giving Hawk Moth their Miraculouses.
Gremlin was too short to reach the handle of his office door, but all he needed to do was touch the pins in the lower hinge of the door. They fell apart, and the door came crashing down. Paris was now his playground, and he thought he'd start with the speakers the mayor was going to use for his speech.
**A/N: I was trying to avoid it. I HAAAAATE creating akumas. But the final chapter of "Peeping Tomcat" covers close to 4 days. There is NO WAY Hawk Moth wouldn't send out an akuma. With the Chat Noir Appreciation day coming up, and Ladybug still not actually talking TO Chat Noir yet, I couldn't breeze over their first face-to-face, thanks to an akuma.
So, begrudgingly, I wrote one. This one isn't as crucial to the story, and I created it in just a day or so, so I apologize if it doesn't feel as canonical as my other two. He's only going to be a small scene in the last chapter.
Still, "every character is the hero of their own story" and writing at least a portion of said story is the easiest way for me to get into the character's headspace. So, just like with my other akumatized supervillains, I wanted to know what pushed poor Enzo over the edge. Gremlin is kind of part Sapotis, part Troublemaker, and part Robostus. We'll see how that comes together.
Be sure to check in for the final chapter of "Peeping Tomcat" coming soon, featuring Gremlin the akuma supervillain.
Side note: Poor Ladybug. She was just trying to do a nice thing for her partner. She didn't think how major of an undertaking this event would be. To be fair, she was just expecting the mayor to give a televised speech, and have the citizens wear CN merch. She wasn't expecting a festival in her partner's honor! 0_0**