Chapter 20: Mr. Laughter
Chapter 20 takes place on a half-day of school. (IIRC, in France, students have half days on Wednesdays and Saturdays. It's worth looking into to see if either is still true.) In addition to classes ending early and all, the entire school is encouraged to head to the Paris Triathlon and cheer on the competitors. Perhaps extra credit is even being offered in exchange for attendance.
The main characters' school has a couple of teams in various age divisions. Marinette as well as Mylene, Rose, Juleka, and Alya form a rather dedicated cheer section for their school and grade's girl's team. They're also pretty excited about the boy's team too. There's teams for all ages and even adult teams competing as well.
For College Francios-Dupont, in Marinette and Adrien's grade, the girl's team has Stella Tenebrae as a runner, Tsuyu Asui as a swimmer, and Alix Kubdel as the cyclist. The boy's team for their grade level consists of Adrien Agreste as the runner, Le Chien Kim as the swimmer, and Cameran Tyler (an American exchange student who loves baseball) as the cyclist. Other characters are also participating. Kagami Tsurugi is the runner for a girl's team that draws members from her old school's fencing club. Mathieu Anciel (Marc's older brother and Monique's boyfriend from Lockheart) is the cyclist for the next grade level up. Ondine is the swimmer for her school's team. And there's one co-ed team that consists of Pierre Lefevre as the runner, Marie Chauveau as the swimmer, and Jakeel Aristide as the cyclist.
Now this will be the first time really getting to see Pierre Lefevre and Jakeel Aristide. Marie has popped in and out before with her over-zealous and downright creepy yaoi obsession. Pierre is Jean Duparc (the magician)'s best friend. Jakeel was seen briefly in other chapters; he's the resident prankster. Jakeel is also good friends with Jean. However, despite both Pierre and Jakeel being good friends with Jean, they don't get along well with each other. (Since Jean, Pierre, and Jakeel are all in Ms. Mendeleiev's class, see (( photos . app . goo . gl / cgLSrNi71rxfep9e8 ))(remove the spaces) for their appearances.)
Before things really get going, all of the characterization needs to be laid out. Namely, Jakeel's status as resident prankster needs to be emphasized—as does the fact that not everyone appreciates his tricks. This could reference other pranks he has pulled recently and who he pulled them all; this would be new information, pranks the readers haven't seen before.
Other groups are arriving to cheer on the competitors. Monique Imhof is there to cheer on Mathieu; her best friend Nicolette Lacroix is with her. Kagami gives some friendly but competitive banter with Adrien. Kim and Ondine are flirting, and Cameran reminds Kim that Ondine is currently their competition. Fumikage Tokoyami is there watching Tsuyu Asui, and Viktor is with him. Viktor Vasiliev is awkward about sports and crowds in general. Perhaps Fumikage flusters when Tsuyu waves at him. Giselle Winters-Blanchet is pondering athletics and remembers how much she loved skating as Snow Leopard. She's sitting with her best friends, Meera Pugliese and Raissa Deschamps. Lila Rossi is telling lies about famous athletes she allegedly knows. One odd point that needs some moderate but not obvious attention drawn to it is that Suzette Rault is not around to cheer on Marie. Chloe Bourgeois gets special seating thanks to her dad with Sabrina Raincomprix standing behind her like a valet. Max Kante is teaching Markov how to cheer for Kim in particular and their classmates in general. Even Wayhem is in the crowd, screaming for Adrien's success (he might be the type to go full on shirtless body paint with Adrien's name across his chest). Perhaps Gilles Chastain gets name-dropped as a classmate who is present. Nathaniel Kurtzberg and Marc Anciel have likely skipped out to work on the comic; they do mistakenly believe Lila is getting them a contract, so they're trying to perfect it. Etienne Fontaine also bows out; since it's not about him, he doesn't care. Aurore Beaureal and Mireille Caquet have to work, so they're not present. Perhaps Genevieve and Yvonne are also leading up a cheer team; they're best friends in Ms. Mendeleiev's class who love dressing in twin fashion and who work for the school newspaper.
All in all, this part of the chapter is meant to give brief highlights to the whole, probably way too big, extend cast and give a small sampling of all their personalities and relationships. (All can be seen (( photos . app . goo . gl / cgLSrNi71rxfep9e8 ))(remove the spaces)). So it's okay to linger on this scene and give plenty of details. Also during this all, it gets noted that around half of everyone present are annoyed with Jakeel and his various tricks. There's comments going around about what he's done and how fed up everyone is with him. Jakeel, meanwhile, is unaware of this as he's at check in.
Time passes as the younger age brackets start their races (lower distances for younger competitors). The students at College Francios-Dupont all chit-chat and interact and have character development. But as time ticks by, Jakeel is still alone. Pierre Lefevre and Marie Chauveau still haven't arrived. Adrien's team is all there; Kagami's team is all there. Ondine's team is complete, as is Stella's. They're all doing warm-ups and stretches. The minutes tick down, and they're all given a final call. Jakeel Aristide insists they wait just a little longer. He's sure his companions will be there at any moment. The officials can't. They have other races to start, and the next age bracket (which includes Mathieu Anciel's team) has to begin on time. The seconds slip away, and Jakeel's team is disqualified. Jakeel is asked to leave the check-in area as the competitors are escorted to their start points. He heads to a quiet place beyond the sidelines, not wanting to face any of his classmates. Despite his playful demeanor and usual failure to take things serious, he really did want to participate in the triathlon. It also means that the school's co-ed team for his grade is completely out as well.
Jakeel's cell phone rings. He answers it, and it's Marie. Jakeel asks where she is, if she's running late, and if she can get there in the next few minutes—maybe they'll be allowed to compete. Marie's response is laughing. "Did you really think I was going to show up and get all sweaty?" She rubs it in that she lied to him because she was tired of his pranks, especially the gross slime one from the previous chapter. "Consider this me pranking you. It serves you right. Oh yeah, and smile for the camera" Marie hangs up, leaving Jakeel speechless. As he looks up, he sees Marie's best friend, Suzette, with her cell phone out. She's filmed the entire conversation and ends it with a photo of Jakeel's crushed face. "This'll look totally greet on Instagram" she says as she flounces away.
Pierre Lefevre calls a minute later. Jakeel sorta stammers a greeting and asks where Pierre is as he tries to pull his thoughts together. Pierre says he's a no show as well. He overheard about Marie's plan as Marie bragged about it to Suzette, and Pierre realized he agreed with Marie. Jakeel's tricks have gone too far, and Pierre is irritated that Jean Duparc, their mutual friend, almost got blamed for Jakeel's antics. "Bro, if you can't take a prank, then stop dishing them out." Plus Pierre wasn't about to be there when Marie stood both of them up; no way, that'd be embarrassing. Pierre hangs up as well.
You'd think by now the students at this school would learn not to antagonize each other. But they haven't. And Pierre and Marie's ghosting of Jakeel as well as Suzette's blackmail-like photo and threat opens him right up for akumatization. Hawk Moth turns him into Mr. Laughter. As it's a triathlon, Hawk Moth makes a point of giving Mr. Laughter three abilities. The first is the ability to change between land and water and air forms (as in, a form with wheels on his ankles, a swimming-based form, and a flying form). The second is the ability to make people laugh uncontrollably (like the Joker's laughing gas) when they're struck with his weapon, a frisbee that is designed to look like a discus. The third is a passive ability called "face in the crowd." Basically, it means Mr. Laughter can find any particular target in a crowd no matter how chaotic it is. This gives him an advantage due to the massive amount of people who showed up for the triathlon. Mr. Laughter cackles and then heads off to take on his primary targets—the team who ghosted him—then Ladybug and Cat Noir.
Since Suzette Rault was the closest, Mr. Laughter picks up on her trail right away, tracking her in his land/cycle form. This is the first showcase of his "face in the crowd" ability. Mr. Laughter shouts out her name. When Suzette turns, he shucks his frisbee at her and nails her. Suzette curls up on the ground, laughing hard. The frisbee flies back to Mr. Laughter like a boomerang.
Of course, this draws all the attention of everyone nearby as they realize there's an akuma victim. Some try to flee; others try to get pictures and update the Akuma Alert app. Mr. Laughter takes the latter personally as it was Suzette's photograph that contributed to his akumatization. He launches his frisbee into the crowd, where it collides with numerous people before returning to him. They all collapse in laughter, prompting more people to flee. The scene quickly become chaotic. Roger Raincomprix the cop does his best to lead a calm evacuation, but he's overwhelmed.
The chaos is good for one thing—it notifies Marinette and Adrien that there's an akuma. As the race dissolves, both of them run off to transform. They return only moments later to find Mr. Laughter has forced dozens, if not hundreds, of people into endless laughing. He's also on the prowl for Marie and Pierre, the latter of which he has cornered by the swimming section of the triathlon.
Cat Noir and Ladybug order Mr. Laughter to stand down. However, the akumatized victim pops a very corny joke and laughs at it, then throws his frisbee at them. Cat Noir bats it aside with his baton, but that's what Mr. Laughter wanted as it hits Pierre on the rebound, sending him into throws of unstoppable laughing. (Such aiming is probably an extended part of the "face in the crowd" ability combined with the frisbee's natural ricochet powers.) Ladybug shoots Cat Noir a look, and he gives a guilty shrug. They then focus back on Mr. Laughter and charge him.
However, Mr. Laughter uses his remaining ability and leaps into the sky, trading in his ankle wheels for wings. This leaves both heroes momentarily flummoxed. Then they're forced on the defensive as Mr. Laughter pelts them from above with his frisbee and lame jokes. Neither Ladybug nor Cat Noir can accurately reach him. (Their weapons will reach that far. Cat Noir has had a VERY long baton in canon. However, at such a length, it's unwieldy for precision hitting a moving target.)
To the side, Tsuyu finds Fumikage. They both imply they want to help. However, they remember their agreement with Alpha and the rest of the B Team. Are they absolutely sure Hawk Moth won't control them in this situation? No. Is it an absolute emergency? No. Ladybug and Cat Noir still have a rough handle on the situation. However, sitting on their hands is one of the hardest things Tsuyu and Fumikage have ever done in this fic. A similar conversation occurs as Kim checks to make sure Ondine is safe.
With Mr. Laughter constantly evading and tossing corny joke after corny joke, Ladybug has had enough and activates her Lucky Charm. The item, whatever it is, is something she has no idea how to use at the moment. Mr. Laughter chortles at whatever ridiculously random thing she conjures. Cat Noir tells him off for "mocking My Lady." Ladybug then gets an idea and tells Cat Noir that while they both can't reach Mr. Laughter, at least he can. Cat Noir doesn't know what she means, but he's not too thrilled about the look in her eye.
Ladybug quickly strings her yo-yo string across two lampposts with the help of her item. She then launches Cat Noir at Mr. Laughter using her construct as a make-shift slingshot. Cat Noir collides with Mr. Laughter, and they both fall towards the pool. However, right before they hit, Mr. Laughter switches from his flight form to his swimming form. He and Cat Noir make a big splash. Mr. Laughter then surfaces, swimming easily. He waves, telling them he has one more target, and dives, escaping by removing the grate. Without their aquatic transformations, Ladybug and Cat Noir can't keep up. Cat Noir hauls himself out of water, making a comment about being a "soaking wet kitty" as he and Ladybug, exasperated, wonder how they're going to stop such an annoying akuma victim with multiple powers.
Cat Noir says "it might be stating the obvious, but first we have to find him." He suggests following the trail of laughter and Akuma Alert reports. Ladybug, however, is on her countdown. She points out that she has to go feed Tikki first. That gives her an idea, and she whispers the plan to Cat Noir (Unspoken Plan Guarantee). Cat Noir agrees. They both run off in different directions.
The scene changes to Mr. Laughter (now back in cycle form), who has been able to use his "face in the crowd" ability to find Marie despite her best attempts at hiding. She uses Gilles Chastain as a shield to avoid the first blow of the frisbee. Mr. Laughter goes to throw it again when Ladybug catches his wrist with her yo-yo before he can launch it. Everyone looks up. Ladybug has activated her flight-based transformation (which I am pretty sure will be canon in season 4. In which case, the episode that made it canon will appear in fic form prior to this chapter.)
Mr. Laughter revs his wheels and darts around, trying to shake off Ladybug so he can attack Marie. He does manage to catch Ladybug on a traffic light, forcing her to let him go. Before she can recover, he lets his frisbee fly and hits Marie, causing her to laugh and snort. Ladybug grinds her teeth at allowing more civilian victims, and then she circles in again to get Mr. Laughter.
However, Mr. Laughter has backed up against the canal. He tells Ladybug to "come down and play" and then dives in and changes form, knowing she'll have a hard time in the water. What Mr. Laughter didn't count on was the fact that Cat Noir was in the canal, waiting for him, in his aquatic transformation.
They exchange a few blows before Mr. Laughter has to jump out of the canal as he is unable to throw his weapon properly while submerged. When he does, Ladybug is waiting for him. He shifts again to his cycle form to confront both of them. Cat Noir also emerges from the canal. It progresses into a battle between land and sea and sky as all three try to maneuver with Ladybug and Cat Noir trying to find where the akumatized item is while Mr. Laughter tries to hit them with his frisbee to disable them with giggles. He may also take his flight form again, but between Ladybug and Cat Noir, they have him trapped.
They're able to release the akuma, and Ladybug purifies it. She does her world-healing wave, saving everyone from side-stitches due to uncontrollable laughter. "Pound It." Jakeel Aristide comes to his senses, not remembering what happened beyond the fact he was ghosted and then akumatized. Ladybug and Cat Noir escape into the crowd.
Jean Duparc hunts him down, bringing Pierre Lefevre with him. He tells them that they're both his friends, so cut it out and stop acting like children. Jakeel does apologize for his pranks, which prompts Pierre into apologizing for the false triathlon sign up. (Marie doesn't show up or apologize.) They go to shake hands, but Jakeel has a hand buzzer. Pierre notices it and raises his eyebrow. Jakeel shrugs and laughs, then they shake hands for real.
The festivities continue as do the races. The students cheer on their remaining teams, including Adrien's and Stella's. There's fun all around and cameos from the cast again—which, again, slow down this scene to capture a feel for everyone who is present, their relationships, and their personalities.
That evening, in the cemetery, the B Team meets again to practice. They have no new notes to compare, but Dauphin (who shows up instead of Dauphine) mentions that it's hard not to help people when they have the ability to do so. Froppy and Tsukuyomi agree. Alpha agrees but points out they can't let Hawk Moth control them.
Alpha also says he's been thinking a lot about ways they can be heroes yet still be accountable if something goes wrong. The idea he came up with is a "spotter." (The term "spotter" is just for the summary; a better term will be used for the fic itself.) Basically, a non-transformed ally who can intervene if it looks as if Hawk Moth would take them over. This is what Dauphin was able to do for Dauphine on Heroes' Day. He admits it's not a great idea. An ally without powers may not be able to react in time or stand up against a brain-controlled hero. But at least an ally could call one of the B Team or even Ladybug or Cat Noir if things really go south. Alpha, however, continues to say that maybe they won't be comfortable letting someone know their civilian identities to even have a spotter. Dauphin shrugs and says he trusts Dauphine. Froppy and Tsukuyomi exchange a look; the idea works for them. Firefly also admits he has someone he trusts. Alpha looks around—"Oh, the only person that leaves is me." He then begins to wonder if he should have an ally and who.
At one point, Froppy mentions aloud that maybe meditation would help keep their minds sharp and clear of Hawk Moth's influence. Dauphin thinks that's funny, but Tsukuyomi says it's not a bad idea (as it's one of the ways he's tried to keep from going berserk in addition to not being left in dark places where his powers grow uncontrollably.)
Then Alpha delegates out training practices. Some mimic maneuverability and rescue work through the cemetery. Others involve target practice or using their special abilities. They all work on upping their proficiency and "level" in hopes that it'll put them beyond Hawk Moth. They agree to continue to meet in secret and to share any helpful information they can gather with each other.
To be continued in Chapter 21: Mother Time…