Warning: Small trigger warning for the middle of the chapter. Just a mention, nothing in detail.
Hawkmoth gripped his staff in aggravation as he felt his connection with Miss Opprobrium cut off. Once again, Ladybug and her team had thwarted him… not to mention that not only had the Tiger, Fox, Turtle, Bee, and Rooster made rare reappearances but yet another hero had made an entrance. Ladybug seemed to have become more comfortable bringing the Miraculous out again. Either she was confident that he wouldn't obtain these ones, whether from the Miracle Box or otherwise, or she had some kind of endgame strategy that involved so many Miraculouses to be out.
And then there was the other issue…
It honestly amused Gabriel how much the police believed they were good at covering up scandals and the like. They may have slowed the media down, but the lips of children tended to be much less reserved than those of adults.
When his son mentioned those "Phantom Thieves" the first time, he had brushed it off. They were a group that until recently operated solely in Japan. It was highly unlikely that the same group had made its way to France. And to go after a young girl, of all the things? He had nearly laughed.
But then Lila had called him to inform him that she refused to do his bidding any longer, which resulted in the mass akumatization he and Nathalie had managed to pull days later, knowing that Lila likely planned to come clean to everyone. Yes, she had been useful (though he would admit that learning about the suicides she caused did make his stomach churn just slightly), but she seemed to believe she held a higher place on the metaphorical chessboard than other pieces. That poor brat had never realized that she was just a disposable pawn the entire time.
And her move - unintentional as it was - worked. At least at first. He was sure that Ladybug would be caught off guard by another mass attack. It wasn't happening on any special day in particular where she could keep her guard up. It was just the ambush he had hoped to launch.
But no… that hadn't been the case.
Barely even a minute into the mass attack, Ladybug had rallied her forces. There were new heroes - some he'd seen, others he hadn't. And they were good heroes. Although wielding a Miraculous already gave inside knowledge on its abilities via kwami, it took time for the wielder to adapt to their new form and weapon. These heroes though fought as if they had wielded those jewels for as long as Ladybug had.
Perhaps a stroke of luck, perhaps they had other fighting experience without a Miraculous… or perhaps Ladybug had been secretly training them?
As Gabriel detransformed, two sets of words suddenly connected in his head - Phantom Thieves and Miraculous. The Phantom Thieves have the ability to change the hearts of people, he reasoned, so perhaps I could find out how they did it and learn to manipulate it to my own ends?
With potential power like that of the Phantom Thieves, he could have Ladybug and Chat Noir literally handing over their Miraculouses, or perhaps turn the public against the heroes and make them suffer before eventually surrendering. If he could do such a thing, he'd personally prefer the latter.
But the question was, how? According to the media, no one knew how the Phantom Thieves achieved these feats, but it was becoming more and more believable that it was a supernatural occurrence rather than a medical or physical. Not to mention that there was always the danger of Ladybug learning to do the same thing to him. He would have to tread carefully if he pursued this route.
But he had a hunch that there had to be a connection between the Phantom Thieves' activities and the new set of heroes Ladybug had selected. Whether they were the Phantom Thieves themselves or confidants to them was yet to be known, but from the looks of their past targets, it was likely that someone like him was a potential one. This had to be addressed.
"Nathalie," Gabriel called as he lowered back down to his office.
"Sir?" she asked, attentive as ever.
"I want you to research and investigate any and all occurrences where the Phantom Thieves were involved in. Use any resource we have at our disposal to do this."
Nathalie blinked. "Sir, may I ask where this sudden interest comes from? You showed none when Lila Rossi was targeted by this group."
"I've simply noticed some overlapping events with the Phantom Thieves and Ladybug's new allies. I believe there is some sort of connection. And also, these individuals somehow have found the ability to change the hearts of people they target. I must know how they are doing it. Whether it's through a Miraculous or some other means, it could be trouble for us if they choose to target me at any point."
Nathalie's face contorted, "Sir… most of the dealings we have in the company are purely business. Unlike their other targets who took bribes or blackmail. And the Lila scandal could be seen as a personal matter, if explained properly. The Phantom Thieves have little reason to target Gabriel Agreste. They shouldn't know that you are Hawkmoth, so the only reason they'd target you is if they found out your identity."
"The Phantom Thieves knew about Lila and Adrien's former homeroom teacher," Gabriel pointed out, "and even we didn't know about Bustier's history. They seem to have ways of finding this information out. Furthermore, the question still stands about how they found out about Lila Rossi in the first place. While school suicides are rare but serious matters, I find it hard to believe that they singled Miss Rossi out on a whim."
"...I see your point, sir," Nathalie nodded. "I will learn what I can."
"Be careful as you do," Gabriel warned, "I have no doubt that they targeted Mme. Bustier due to her connection with Lila and that school. She's also connected to us. We must be vigilant about what information we share with the public from now on… as well as put on a more positive public image. As you said, if the Phantom Thieves see no reason to target us, then they will not."
"...But why would Ladybug want to cooperate with a group like this?" Nathalie mused. "That is what you are implying, is it not, sir? It just seems out of character for her to work with a group quite literally known as thieves."
"That is another mystery to ponder, isn't it?" Gabriel murmured. "They must have done something to earn her trust at some point, even if their methods are… questionably moral."
"Perhaps she's familiar with them in her personal life?" Nathalie threw out.
"Yes, but how did she come across them?" Gabriel wondered. "From what knowledge I have, this group formed quite recently. And there have been no reports of Ladybug being spotted in Tokyo, or in the area around it."
"Well, the Ladybug Miraculous' power is based off of luck, sir," Nathalie reasoned. "Perhaps she found it was safer to recruit holders outside of Paris and found them by accident? I highly doubt that she would have sought them out intentionally. That would certainly explain the Fox, Turtle, Bee, and Monkey making fewer appearances..."
"...and make it more difficult for us to learn of their identities in the process," Gabriel hissed, adjusting his glasses, "Not to mention the Horse Miraculous makes it even harder to track them, as they don't need to use normal forms of transport to come to Paris."
"And the former Guardian's translations don't mention anything about the 'changes of heart' they perform?" Nathalie checked.
"No, unfortunately," Gabriel shook his head, pulling up said notes on his computer, "and if it is, it's in an area that has yet to be translated."
Nathalie nodded. While there most likely were Miraculous that had abilities similar to this 'change of heart,' she imagined most would only be temporary effects of the Miraculouses powers, and would usually wear off after a short amount of time.
It seemed they had a lot of work ahead of them…
The news of the night before had been all over Mme. Bustier's arrest. Some channels even managed to hunt down some of her old students to get statements on her treatment. Accounts from said victims ranged from her making excuses for the troubled students over actually getting them help to actively and directly discouraging the bullied students from taking action to protect themselves. One particularly victimized student, who was being sexually harassed by a couple of boys from another class, had even been told to stop dressing the way she had dressed to 'not encourage them'. Marinette had nearly thrown something at the television when she heard that (and she was quite sure that if her papa had been holding his rolling pin at the time that they would need to buy a new television, and her maman wouldn't have even scolded him). She was slowly getting over the pain that had made her have a panic attack in the Palace now.
Even Lionel Garçon had made an appearance in interviews, his account taking a fairly large role in the case. The look on his face was one of a free man, though by reading his expression carefully, Marinette and her friends realized he'd expected this to happen sooner or later, most likely since she and Luka had talked to him. It brought grins to their faces when they had realized that the Phantom Thieves had inspired hope in the man.
With the news of Bustier's arrest spreading, many people were questioning how the School Board hadn't known about this, especially after the scandal the previous month with one of Francoise-Dupont's own students. Many teachers had been looked at, and a few were under serious scrutiny.
None of the teachers Marinette had or knew all that well were on the list of teachers most under fire. Madame - er, Principal Mendeleiev, M. d'Argencourt, M. Haprèle and Vice Principal Buonarroti had passed inspection safely and would be returning to teach at the collège for the foreseeable future - of course, there would be stricter policies, and a board representative said that all classes would include an aide that would answer solely to them to keep an eye on the school body. It looked like there would never be anyone like Chloe, Lila, Damocles or Bustier in the collège for a long time.
Despite all Francoise-Dupont had done to her, Marinette was pleased about that. She hadn't been displeased with the school - just with certain people that attended or worked there. Similar to what she had said in the past, it would have been no good to just simply transfer. That would be running away from the problem instead of fixing it - something Marinette had vowed to never do again. After all, leaving a weed to grow would merely teach it what areas of the garden it could also infect.
The school itself was a buzz of gossip and discussion, people wondering if everything the news had said was true or not. She spotted several members of her own class looking sad or even still shocked like they were still processing that the teacher who taught them for most of the last few years of class was nothing like they'd thought her to be.
To be honest, Marinette didn't fault Alya and company for this - not like with Lila. They had all been victims of Mme. Bustier in the same way; plus, Nathaniel's birth-giver had even fooled her to a degree, and the effects were lasting on her far more permanently than with Lila. Lila had damaged her relationship with her classmates, true, but Bustier had left a severe mark on her psyche, if that panic attack in her Palace was anything to go by.
Fortunately, she had plenty of people - both in Paris, Tokyo and more places (if you counted her Nonna) - who were more than happy to lend a listening ear if she needed to talk about anything. Even so, she was still thinking about getting a therapist after Hawkmoth was defeated - well, she'd been planning that for a long time, but she didn't trust them to keep it with the Moth and Peafowl still out there.
Plus, now that they were using the Metaverse more often, there was also the threat of the Black Mask possibly making his way to the City of Love. That would make things much more complicated and potentially more dangerous.
The Tokies said they wanted to focus on some targets in Japan for a little while. Maybe not any huge ones, but enough that the Black Mask, and those who worked with him, would be less inclined to expand their territory into France for now. Akira had mentioned they already had a rather large list of Mementos targets lined up for discussion.
"What's up?" Nathaniel asked after sidling next to her. "Your thinking bitch face is showing again," he teased.
"Just thinking about what's been happening and what could happen," Marinette shrugged vaguely, shooting him an appreciative smile.
"You mean you-know-who?" Nathaniel asked, lowering his voice to a whisper. He had been filled in about the Black Mask shortly after Bustier's arrest.
"Yeah…" Marinette bit her lip, "if we're not careful and those mental shutdowns start happening in France, it could potentially start a war since Paris would see it as an attack from a foreign country."
"But isn't that the reason why they haven't done anything yet?" Nathaniel asked. "These people have clearly been doing this stuff longer than the PTs, so they could have easily spread to other countries by now if they wanted to, right?"
"Let's just hope it stays that way…"
"Attention, students!" a woman from the School Board walked in, immediately quieting the class, "As you're all aware, your previous teacher, Caline Bustier, had to be let go for reasons you're likely aware of by now. So, I'd like to introduce to you all your new homeroom teacher."
Marinette's jaw nearly hit the floor when a familiar face walked in.
"Please give a warm welcome to Monsieur Lionel Garçon!"
The younger man smiled pleasantly at the class.
"And I'm looking forward to getting to know every one of you. Do you have any questions you'd like to ask me?"
Alya's hand shot up first. She'd been the most angry about Mme. Bustier's deeds out of everyone in her class (other than the Phantom Thieves, anyway). "How do we know we can trust you to do better? Miss Bustier seemed so sweet, and… well…"
The School Board woman opened her mouth - most likely to reprimand Alya for being snappy or reassure her to trust M. Garçon - but the teacher stopped her with a shake of his head. "I don't fault you for not trusting me. The ruler with a ruler, as I think of her, was a teacher of mine in the past too. Like Miss Dupain-Cheng, I was Class President, and she manipulated me into doing a lot of her work for her. I have also done wrong by previous students at another school; partially as a result of her, but it was still my own doing."
Gasps rang out through the classroom, but Garçon continued. "It's okay now," he shrugged sadly, "I'm getting therapy for everything, and I know far better now than to do what I had done in the past."
"Let me promise something," he said determinedly, "not only to each and every one of you but also every future student I have. Until my dying day, I refuse to become another Caline Bustier."
The class seemed to be placated by this. Marinette shot Alya an approving look - it was good to see her checking things over this time.
"While we're on the topic of Mme. Bustier's actions," the School Board member said, "note that M. Garçon will only be teaching you history and mathematics. Your French-related classes will be taught by another victim of hers - Mme. Klara Reuter."
Marinette's eyes widened again. With Futaba's help, they'd learned Klara Reuter was the teacher Bustier had framed for 'being too strict' or something like that.
"Now, I have to go and address the other classes on these changes. I expect all of you to treat Monsieur Garçon with the same respect you expect to receive."
Garçon turned to the class as the woman made her exit. "Well, shall we get started with the roll call, then? When I call your name, just say the name you'd prefer to be called, your preferred pronouns, your favorite subject, and something interesting about you. Agreste, Adrien?"
"Adrien," the blond raised his hand, "he/him. My favorite subject is Physics. Something about me…?" he thought for a second, trying to think of something the class probably didn't know about him, "...I like anime?"
"Some of us already knew that, dude," Nino teased, garnering chuckles from the class. Adrien blushed sheepishly, but smiled nonetheless; he knew Nino was teasing him.
Garçon smiled regardless and continued, "Bruel, Ivan?"
"Ivan, he/him, Music, and my original hair is blond like the streak in the front," Ivan said awkwardly, "It's the rest of it that's dyed."
Garçon chuckled as he checked Ivan's name off as present. "Good to know. Césaire, Alya?"
"Alya's fine. She/her, Journalism, and I'm thinking of dyeing my tips some other color this summer if Mom and Dad will let me."
This received several remarks of approval or asking what color it would be, only to stop after M. Garçon cleared his throat. "Couffaine, Juleka…"
Roll call went on without a hitch. Marinette smiled to herself after she'd been checked off. Things were going to be alright.
AN: So, this is officially the last chapter in Bustier's arc. I hope you all enjoyed it. I think we're planning to do one more official Palace in Paris before returning to Japan. It won't be the last one, but we have to head back to Tokyo somehow.
R&R, update the TVTropes page, and see you next time!
