Guys! So I have Disney+, right? And here I am thinking it's like Hulu whereas episodes of miraculous come out, it will be added to it. Wrong! So I hopped on YouTube and found the handful of episodes I was waiting on in season 4 and watched them there. A few things have got my attention.
Spoiler alert if you care!
1) Watched the episode where Juleka gets the Tiger Miraculous. Besides me having to work around the power she is supposed to have vs the one I gave at a guess, I now find out the Juleka and Luka are twins. I figured Luka was a year or so older since we never see him at school or in class with any of the other kids. Even after I figured he was homeschooled I still didn't think they were twins but here we are.
Regardless, my dudes, I went back and now remember I killed off Luka and Juleka's dad. (-_-) This is what I get for trying to add depth when the show hasn't ended. I also noticed I spelled Juleka, Julika in the past which is an error on my part that I am too lazy to fix but definitely is annoying. Thus, just now, I went back and edited that small detail about their father. Feel free to reread the "rock the boat" chapter if you desire. I only mention Luka and Juleka's hypothetical father very briefly in one paragraph so I doubt anyone even remembered I did that but if I did know, then it's important you are aware I changed it. I just took death and replaced it with left. That change doesn't affect any other part of the story currently but for season 4 chapters, mainly the first, it will be important.
2) 100 weeks. In the most recent episode, or at least what I believe is the most recent. Gabriel brings Adrien down and shows his son what he has been hiding from him this whole time. Adrien's mother and that he is ShadowMoth. In his little speech, he says it's been 100 weeks since Emilie had been gone. This just makes me curious about the timeline of the show. In "Felix" The episode we are about to cover, it is the 1 year anniversary of Emilie disappearing or dying...and by almost the same point in the next season, "Ephemeral" almost a whole other year has gone by with 100 weeks equaling around 23 months.
Normally that's fine. I actually discussed something like this in my comments a while back where they told me that although it doesn't seem like it, the episodes in Miraculous take place in shorter amounts of time, most of them within a few days and weeks. So instead of every season representing a year as most TV shows do, it's usually only a few months. Now, of course, most cartoons operate this way. Live-action TV shows make the seasons represent years pass, usually because characters in them age. You simply can't keep a show running 5 years and act like the characters aren't aging, especially child actors. With cartoons, obviously, aging isn't a huge factor. They age up when the writers say they do and that's it. Once again, that's fine. BUT I can't help but wonder why seasons 1-3 take place in roughly a 1-year time span, and yet 3 and 4 take place in the same time frame. Why so much longer? It's not really that important I guess, but Im the type that likes to be able to map out events in a time span and that's hard to do when the show runs this way.
Unrelated I was thinking about making a playlist for this story.
Anyway! Onward.
OoOoOoO
You never knew the last time you were seeing someone. You didn't know when the last argument happened, or the last time you had sex or the last time you looked into their eyes and thanked God they were in your life.
After they were gone?
That was all you thought about.
Day and night.
Far below his home, Gabriel wipes his left hand containing the two rings with a blue cloth as he stands in front of his beloved wife.
"Ladybug and Chat Noir's miraculous will soon be mine, I promise. Then, I will get the ultimate power, and we shall all be together again." He raises the 2 rings overlapping them before he slips them apart. Their silver plating shines in the light before he puts one ring on Emilie's left ring finger, and places her hands together again. "You and I." He says, putting the other ring on his finger. "Soon, Emilie."
When he returns to the surface, Gabriel finds Nathalie standing near the window overlooking Adrien. He sits outside in the garden in front of a statue of his mother. Nathalie smiled softly at her employer, a smile he did not return. Then again, she didn't expect him to. His eyes remained on his son and when Nathalie looked back, she found the boy smiling at them. She offers him a wave, which he returns. Bringing her attention back to Gabriel, Nathalie loses her smile.
"It's been one year. The longer you keep him in the dark about what you're doing, the harder it'll be on him when he finds out."
We really have to understand the person we want to love. If our love is only a will to possess, it is not love. If we only think of ourselves, if we know only our own needs and ignore the needs of the other person, we cannot love. We must look deeply in order to see and understand the needs, aspirations, and suffering of the people we love. This is the ground of real love.
From time to time, sit close to the one you love, hold his or her hand, and ask, 'Do I understand you enough? Or am I making you suffer? Please tell me so that I can learn to love you properly. I don't want to make you suffer, and if I do so because of my ignorance, please tell me so that I can love you better so that you can be happy." If you say this in a voice that communicates your real openness to understand, the other person may cry.
That is a good sign because it means the door of understanding is opening and everything will be possible again.
Maybe a father does not have time or is not brave enough to ask his son such a question. Then the love between them will not be as full as it could be. We need courage to ask these questions, but if we don't ask, the more we love, the more we may destroy the people we are trying to love.
Adrien was a bit surprised when his father knelt down beside him in the garden. He hardly saw the man as it was, today of all days well...Adrien couldn't help but suspect his father would be almost as much of a ghost as his mother was.
"There is something important I have to talk to you about. I think about telling you every day, but I don't know how to find the right words." Gabriel wasn't a fool. He knew that Adrien could react poorly to the secrets he had been harboring. It would only be natural to be confused and even angry after finding out your father was acting as a supervillain, even if it was to bring back your mother. Like his mother, Adrien had always been emotional and kind. Gabriel couldn't see his son refusing to see his perspective and desire to return Emilie to them, but that didn't mean he would like it. If he was honest, he didn't like it either.
But what Gabriel was doing wasn't about like or dislike, it was about what was necessary. No one just starts giggling and wearing black and signs up to become a villainous monster. How the hell do you think it happens? It happens to people. Just people. They make questionable choices, for what might be very good reasons. They make choice after choice, and none of them is slaughtering roomfuls of saints or murdering hundreds of baby seals, or rubber-room irrational. But it adds up. And then one day they look around and realized that they're so far over the line that they can't remember where it was. Most of the bad guys in the real world don't know that they are bad guys. You don't get a flashing warning sign that you're about to damn yourself. It sneaks up on you when you aren't looking.
"I think I already know, father," Adrien admits with a smile. Gabriel furrows his brows in confusion.
"But, how?"
"I've noticed how close you and Nathalie have become. If she can make you happy again, then... as far as I'm concerned, she's already part of our family."
Gabriel couldn't stop the anger he felt at his son's words. He couldn't understand how Adrien could assume he would ever dare to even think about another woman romantically. Emilie was everything to him. His heart, his soul, his being. Everything he did he did for her and Adrien. Even if he did not have the power of the miraculous and the hope that he would one day be able to bring her back to them, he would never love anyone the way he loved her. He couldn't. He wouldn't do that to Emilie.
"How could you possibly think such a thing?! Nobody could ever replace your mother," He says getting up from his knees. "as long as she is still in our hearts she lives on!" Adrien looks astonished as Gabriel starts walking away. Now wanting to know exactly what his father had almost confessed before hearing his assumption. "We're expecting guests. Be ready." Gabriel walked off, trying to regain his composure. Adrien didn't seem to understand the depth of his devotion to Emilie. He wasn't ready for the truth.
"Wow! Your father's like a piece of tomme cheese: where the rind's so thick it's almost impossible to get inside the center." Plagg said as he came out of hiding. Adrien sighed.
"Don't be so hard on him, Plagg. It's been a year today since Mom... went away forever."
Adrien often found himself looking at his mother. Whether it was the photos in his room, the paintings on the walls, or this stature in the garden. Sometimes, he would just sit in this very spot and talk to her about his day. No matter how much Adrien talked, she never answered him, but he knew she was still there. He knew it was like the soldiers he had read about. They would have an arm or a leg blown off, and for days, even weeks after it happened, they could still feel the arm itching, the leg itching, the mother calling. There was the boy Adrien was before his mom died and the one he was now, his old life sitting on the surface of him like a bruise.
OoOoOoO
Lucy, Marinette, Alya, Nino, Luka, Juleka, Rose, Max, and Kim were all hanging out at the houseboat. Marinette had called for a meeting with all her friends. Those who could show, arrived while the others face-timed through Alya's tablet, including Mylene, Ivan, Marc, Nathaniel, Kagami, Chloe, and even Lila. All of them knew what today was for Adrien, and they wanted to be there for their friend but that was easier said than done when a said friend can't leave his house.
"We can't leave Adrien all alone on a day like this!" Marinette declared.
"True that," Alya agreed. "but there's no way his old man's gonna let us see him."
"Okay, why don't we make him a video and tell him how much we all care about him?" Marinette suggested, making the others smile.
"Great idea, we can take turns recording our messages," Alya added.
"Then send it to him." Said Nino, making the others nod enthusiastically. Alya points her Tablet at Marinette.
"Okay, go Marinette!" Marinette panicked at the thought of being recorded in front of her friends.
"Ah-! Yee-! No, no, someone else go -" She says nervously. "I still need to go figure out what I'm going to say."
"Okay, girl. So Nino, ready?" Alya asks, earning a nod from her boyfriend. "Action!"
"Hey, my dude!"
OoOoOoOOoOo
In the foyer, Adrien stands next to his father. Nathalie opens the front door, revealing the silhouette of a figure. It's a woman and she has a great resemblance to Adrien's Mother. Her light blonde hair in a neat twist on her left shoulder, dark green eyes sparkling at him with excitement. Her outfit was even similar to his mother's with the sole difference being the color scheme. A gray blouse with a black stripe on both the edges underneath a dark gray long-sleeved jacket with a pearl-amberish white stripe on the edges of the jacket. She also wears dark gray business pants and black ankle-strap heels.
"Mom...?" Adrien can't help but ask.
The woman parades in and smiles. "My, my! Look at how much you've grown." She says giving Adrien a kiss on the cheek. "Gabriel, isn't he just the absolute cutest?"
"I'm sure Adrien is delighted to have such a timely visit from his aunt, today of all days," Gabriel said formally and it was then Adrien was brought back to reality.
"Aunt Amelie?"
"I'm soo happy to see you again! I thought it'd be better if we were all together on a day like this! Don't you agree, dear?" Adrien smiles wide, while Gabriel looks at her displeased. Adrien had not seen his aunt in some time but back when his mother was still around his aunt visited often. She and... Adrien's bodyguard rolls in some luggage, while Adrien's cousin Felix walks through the door. His mother and Aunt got pregnant at very similar points in time, only a few short months separating Adrien and Felix's birth. The two boys both inherited their mother's features makes them appear so similar that one would mistake them for identical twins. The main difference between the two boys in a physical sense was their style. Unlike Adrien's somewhat fluffy windblown hair, Felix wore his neatly combed back. Adrien also dressed significantly more causal with his T-shirt and Jeans while Felix preferred a more sophisticated look. Wearing a light gray, long-sleeved dress shirt with a black necktie underneath a dark gray vest, dark gray dress pants, and black dress shoes.
"Felix?" Felix puts out his hand for a handshake, but Adrien hugs him instead. "Good to see you again!" Though, Felix doesn't seem to share his enthusiasm.
"Aw, they look just like twins!" Amelie cooed. "Don't they, Gabriel? Do you remember when they used to have so much fun pretending to be each other? Once they had you and Emilie fooled for a whole weekend! We laughed so hard!" She reminisces with a laugh.
"I won't be fooled a second time," Gabriel states in annoyance. Felix looks at his uncle and holds out his hand while greeting him but Gabriel doesn't move.
"Felix, you know your uncle's never been the physical sort," Ameile says frowning, then looks behind his back. "Oh! How sweet! You're still wearing your wedding band! You must have Emilie's too, I imagine? You never replied to my message about that. I'd still like to get the rings back, you know." The audacity of this woman.
"These rings are obviously very special to me," Gabriel informs her but Amelie is sympathetic.
"And they're very dear to me too, Gabriel. Those jewels have always been in the Graham de Vanily family, not the Agreste's."
"We'll discuss it later. It's been a long journey from London, you may want to rest a bit. Nathalie?" Gabriel replied dismissively and it seems the woman felt she could drop the topic for now, as she followed Gabriel's assistant.
Gabriel eyes Adrien. "Take Félix to your bedroom." Adrien smiles and happily agrees.
"Yes, father. C'mon, Felix!" He dashes ahead. Felix follows, frowning while sending a glance back at Gabriel as he enters his atelier, before bringing his eyes back to Adrien as he heads up the stairs.
OoOoO
"Okay, Lucy! Your turn!" Alya says handing her the tablet. Lucy takes the tablet and points it at herself, thinking about what to say. In-person, Lucy felt she was a pretty solid shoulder to lean on, but a video message? Suddenly it was as if she had not a single life experience that could help her relate in a way that she could put into words. Glancing up from the tablet, she notices the others staring at her eagerly making Lucy raise an eyebrow.
"Why are you all just watching me? Don't make this weirder." She said with a chuckle.
"But you give such good pep-talks Lucy!" Rose chimes in delight. "How could we not want to hear what you have to say!?"
The others nod and murmur in agreement and Lucy sighs.
"You guys are putting me on a bit of a pedestal here."
"Then go somewhere else and film if you really want," Alya suggested. "But we make no promises not to watch it before it's sent off." Lucy rolled her eyes and smiled before getting up and walking below deck to Luka's room and taking a seat on his bed. With one last deep breath, she hit the record button.
"Hey, Princess."
OoOoOoOoOOo
In his room, Adrien grabs a basketball and shows it to his cousin. "Do you remember our shooting contests?" He passes the ball to Felix, who, unenthusiastically, catches it with one hand and throws it into the hoop behind him. Adrien looks at him mildly impressed before frowning slightly. Noticing his somewhat standoffish demeanor. "I'm really sorry I didn't come to your dad's funeral. My father thought it would be too hard on me, considering... everything that's happened this year. You've every right to be mad at me."
"You always do everything your father tells you to do?" Felix asks, earning a sheepish smile from Adrien.
"He's very...protective of me." Felix smiles and surprisingly hugs him. Adrien returns the hug unaware of the devious expression that soon morphs on Felix's face as he steals Adrien's cellphone from his back pocket. Plagg notices the theft and makes a note to keep tabs on the boy that so closely resembles his owner.
"Oh! Do you have that chessboard we used to play all the time?" Felix asks with false enthusiasm.
"Of course! Let me go upstairs and get it for us!" Adrien jogs up to the second level of his room and heads to one of his selves in search of the board. From below Felix smirks.
"Well, I challenge you, so let the best man win!" While Adrien searches upstairs, Felix starts going through his cabinets, at first not finding anything noteworthy.
"Found it!" Adrien calls out from above as Felix stumbles upon Plaggs cheese cabinet.
"Grab a deck of cards, too, while you're up there!" He sniffs the cheese and frowns at the scent.
"You still doing magic?"
"Now more than ever, you'll see!" Felix takes the hunk of cheese and stuffs it into Adrien's pillow. Abra Ka-fuck you.
OoOoOoOoO
Marinette gulps as she holds the tablet in her hands. She wanted her message to be heartfelt and helpful, but what does one say to another who lost their mom? When Lucy had informed them all about her father, they shared a hug, a few condolences, and for a few days the four of them had kept an eye on Lucy. She hadn't shared the information with the rest of the class till a day later, apologizing for letting her grief get the best of her. Of course, no one pressed blame upon her in the first place but now having known what triggered such a reaction out of Lucy a sense of understanding washed over them all. With that being said, Lucy didn't talk about it much. It never seemed to be something she dwelled on and Marinette didn't know what to make of that. Death was something Marinette had very little experience with in general. She supposed she was fortunate in that sense. Unfortunately, it also made it an unrelatable topic for her.
"What am I gonna say to him? Help me, Tikki! What would you tell a kwami friend who's lost their mom?"
"The thing is, we kwamis live forever, Marinette. Just let your heart do the talking, and as long as it is filled with love, you can't go wrong!"
"You think?" Tikki pulls the tablet up in front of Marinette. After receiving a reassuring nod from her, Marinette starts recording.
"Adrien... I love you. I'll always be there if you need me." Marinette panics after the words leave her mouth. "Ah! What was I thinking!? Oh, this is the worst day I could possibly choose to tell him! We gotta start over!" She says as she goes to delete the message but Tikki flys in front of the screen and blocks it.
"There'll never be a right day to tell him!"
"Marinette, you done in there?" Alya shouts from a distance. "We're all waiting for you!"
"What if your message to Adrien could turn this worst day ever, into the best day ever?" Tikki asks. Marinette stiffly leaves the cabin and meets Alya who raises an eyebrow at her flushed and uncomfortable-looking face.
"What's goin' on, girl? Are you feeling sick or somethin'?"
Shoving the tablet in front of her, Marinette looks at Alya pleading. "Promise me you'll send the video without looking at it! No one can see my part!"
A lightbulb goes off in Alya's head. "No, don't tell me you... !" She grabs the tablet and tries to tug it away from Marinette, who doesn't budge.
"Promise."
"You have my word. " Marinette let's go and Alya smiles. "I can't believe it! Wow! We got all the messages, guys! I'm sending this to Adrien!" As Alya runs off to deliver the messages, Marinette can feel her knees start to buckle, and falls to the floor.
OoOooOoOoOo
"We need to talk, Adrien!" Plagg says as he comes out of hiding on the floor above Felix.
"What are you doing here? Hide!"
"Mind if I take a shower?" Felix shouts from below to which Adrien tells him to go ahead and make himself at home.
Plagg frowns at Adrien as they hear the bathroom door close. "What's up with that cousin of yours? First, he searches through your things, and then, the most unforgivable thing of all, he squashes my hunk of goat's cheese under your pillow! I'd been maturing that baby for two weeks! Do you realize? Two whole weeks!"
"Listen, Plagg. Felix lost his dad not so long ago, he's probably not himself." Adrien tried to explain but PLagg wasn't having it.
"I'm sorry, but there's just no excuse! You never touch my cheese, and yet, you just lost your mother not so long ago, right?" Adrien looks down, saddened, Plagg realizes he went too far." Please forgive me, Adrien, I didn't mean to."
"I know," Adrien tells him sincerely. "And I'm sorry about your cheese." He grabs the chessboard and cards, and heads back downstairs, though he is still visibly upset. Plagg droops, looking down in shame, feeling remorseful for hurting Adrien's feelings.
In the bathroom, Felix turns on the shower and leans against the wall away from it while still fully clothed, and pulls out Adrien's phone. Figuring out the passcode wasn't difficult. It's his mom's birthday, or should he say their mom's birthday. Clicking on is photo gallery Felix raises an eyebrow at the abundance of pictures Adrien has of one girl in particular. There were many of her alone but also several of them together and Felix couldn't tell if this was Adrien's girlfriend or just some chick he wanted to be.
"Tch, a girl that hot can only be after one thing." He said, rubbing his thumb and fingers together. Suddenly a message notification popped up and Felix opened it without hesitation.
A stream of video messages was downloaded, revealing faces that Felix was unfamiliar with.
Hey, my dude! I'm not quite sure what to tell you, except that, you're my man, dude! And bros are always there for their guys!
"Bros are always there- blah, blah, blah! Moron." Felix mocks in annoyance.
"Unicorns have a saying: even when there's nothing but gray skies and rain, all it takes is one little sunbeam for a rainbow to appear!"
"Loser."
"It's one hundred percent proven, you should feel fifty-two percent happier with a healthy dose of laughter. So Markov has uploaded a few jokes for you! Starting with-"
"Freak."
Chloe, now there was a familiar face. "When my mother left for New York, I felt so sad. It felt like she was... She came back, and I know how lucky I am. So, you can count on me, my Adrikins."
"Chloé. Just as annoying as usual."
"Hey, Princess." The girl from the photos appeared on screen making Felix raise an eyebrow at the nickname she had given his cousin. "Everybody is waiting on me to give you some kind of upliftment speech, though I feel like that's more Marinette's style you know? I mean, I'm good at the advice I guess, but I like to think of myself as more realistic than optimistic. Not to be confused with pessimism of course." The girl bites the inside of her cheek and breaths in deeply through her nose before continuing. "Losing somebody you love is such a profoundly lonely experience, something only you endure in your own particular way. Some people feel numb. Like they suddenly can't feel anything anymore. People often mistake numbness for nothingness, but numbness isn't the absence of feelings; it's a response to being overwhelmed by too many feelings." Felix squinted at the phone as he listened to her.
"Other people, feel anger. I felt anger. Anger is the go-to feeling for most people because it's outward-directed—angrily blaming others can feel deliciously sanctimonious. But often it's only the tip of the iceberg, and if you look beneath the surface, you'll glimpse submerged feelings you either weren't aware of or didn't want to show: fear, helplessness, envy, loneliness, insecurity. And if you can tolerate these deeper feelings long enough to understand them and listen to what they're telling you, you'll not only manage your anger in more productive ways, you also won't be so angry all the time." She laughs a little as her eyes momentarily drop from looking directly into the screen. "You might be thinking, but Lucy, I'm not angry."
The girl who Felix now knew as Lucy, shifted her eyes back to the screen. "But in all reality, it is very difficult to be sad and not also be angry. They tend to come hand in hand, one way or another. You go through these scenarios in your head as if you could have done literally anything that would have made the slightest difference to the outcome of events. What people don't like to think about is that you can do everything right in life and still get the short end of the stick." She rubbed her face as if trying to gather her thoughts.
"I guess, what I'm trying to say is that even though every message on here is going to be about cheering you up and trying to find ways to turn that frown upside down, something I learned in therapy is sometimes in their pain, people believe that the agony will last forever. But feelings are actually more like weather systems—they blow in and they blow out. Just because you feel sad this minute or this hour or this day doesn't mean you'll feel that way in ten minutes or this afternoon or next week. Everything you feel—anxiety, elation, anguish—blows in and out again. And that's okay. It's okay for you to feel sad, to feel angry, to feel confused. You don't need to question rather or not you should feel as bad as the next person. Optimism isn't always your friend. Well, I broke my arm, but at least I didn't break them both like Timmy! There's no hierarchy of pain. Suffering shouldn't be ranked, because pain is not a contest."
Felix's frown deepens as he notes the brim of Lucy's eyes gaining redness.
"Anyway! I was thinking we could start a club. Now you're probably thinking, Lucy, you have enough clubs, but you're wrong. You can never have enough clubs. We'll call it the unalived parents club." She said making a rainbow motion with her hands. "I know, not very catchy, but less morbid than dead parents club right? The almost orphans maybe? No, too specific. I don't know. I'll work on it but hey, sometimes it's fun to feel alone together."
She shook her head. "I'll stop rambling. I hope this shitty day gets less shitty for you. P.s. We love you.
Felix paused the video and glared at the girl on the phone. Pain is not a contest. That was what she had said. Felix tisked. She was wrong. Everything in life is a contest.
"You don't know what pain is."
Another video played, this time a pigtailed girl with big bluebell eyes appeared.
"Adrien... I love you. I'll always be there if you need me." A fangirl it would seem.
"Pathetic." Felix hisses before hitting delete on all the video messages. "Adrien! Could you lend me some clean clothes? I left my suitcase downstairs."
"Sure!" Adrien shouts from outside the bathroom "Take whatever you want in the closet!"
Félix smiles and opens the closet finding a matching outfit to the one Adrien is wearing. "Thanks!" He restyles his hair and looks in the mirror with satisfaction. "Perfect. "
Lifting the phone, Felix clears his throat and gives his best Adrien impression, and hits the record button. "First of all, thanks so much for all your messages, guys..."
OoOoOoo
Back on the boat, Lucy sits with Luka on his bed while he strums out some notes on his guitar. She leans her head against the wall and closes her eyes, enjoying the melody when Luka's voice grabs her attention.
"So, can I ask what you said?" He asked and Lucy raised an eyebrow.
"You didn't listen?"
Luka shook his head no. "The others did, but I figured that if you needed privacy to say it, that it might have been for a reason."
"How considerate of you," Lucy said with a smirk. "But, no, it wasn't anything I didn't want other people to hear. It's just hard to make a heart-to-heart video when you have a crowd of people watching you. I told him that it's okay to be sad and suggested we start a dead parents club."
Luka stop strumming his guitar and looked at her. "A what?"
Lucy rolled her eyes. "Well, we wouldn't call it that of course." Luka shook his head and chuckled.
"You are something else, Lucy."
"You can join if you want." She suggested.
"Afraid I don't really qualify. Dad's gone, not dead."
"Gone where?"
"Not sure."
"Could be dead then."
Luka choked on his own saliva as Lucy tried to hold in her own laugh.
"I'm sorry." She apologized though still laughing. "Was that too much?"
Luka wiped the corner of his mouth with his thumb and nodded. "I mean you're not wrong." His laughter slowed. "But I don't think he's dead." His eye cast downwards as he absently picked at his guitar. "Then again... what's the difference?" And really, what was it? His father was there one moment and gone the next. It was sudden and unexplained. When Luka and Juleka tried to ask about their father to their mother they got nowhere. She would always just dismiss them while muttering angrily to herself as she walked off. Eventually, the two siblings simply decided to stop asking.
Their conversation was put to a pause as their phones dings simultaneously. Looking at the screen, a video message notification appeared from Adrien. However, before either of them could hit play, Marinette ran into the room. She didn't seem to notice either of them as she spoke to herself aloud.
"What if he tells me that he loves me? Or that he doesn't love me? Or that he likes me, but not in that way because of the way he feels about - ah!" Luka? Lucy!? Please don't tell me you heard me..." She moans in embarrassment. Lucy and Luka smile at one another before shaking their heads. Luka gets up from his seat beside Lucy and walks over to join Marinette who sat on Juleka's bed.
"You know, I'll be really happy for you and Adrien if it works out," Luka tells Marinette as he strums a few jubilant chords, ending on a sad note. " And if it doesn't..." He adds playing a triumphant tune. "I'll be here for you." As Marinette smiles and thanks Luka, Lucy can't help but watch the pair with a small frown. She genuinely wanted things to work out for the two, thinking they would make a great couple. However, Lucy couldn't help but be upset with Luka's words. He was so comfortable with the idea of being Marinette's backup plan.
Maybe that wasn't fair of her to judge on. Surely he isn't the first, nor would he be the last person to think, if the person I like doesn't work out with the person they like, maybe then they will start to like me. Still, it felt wrong. Maybe it was because he had openly admitted his feelings to Marinette. Lucy didn't blame either of them for having the feelings they had. Marinette couldn't help that she liked Adrien, and Luka couldn't help that he had feelings for Marinette.
Luka is a good person. Anyone could see that. He wanted Marinette to know his feelings for her had not changed, and wouldn't anytime soon while also explaining that even if she didn't return them, he would support her as any good friend should. It was a little heartbreaking to Lucy. The whole point of love is to trust someone with your heart and pray they don't break it. It's about faith in each other. Luka gave Marinette his heart when he told her his feelings which meant he gave her power over him. Somehow, Marinette didn't even seem to realize it. Lucy opened her phone while Luka shared his screen with Marinette and they both hit play on the video response they had received from Adrien.
"First of all, thanks so much for all your messages, guys, really. Sending me messages on today of all days..." 'Adrien' spoke, only for his smile to turn to a look of aggravation. "to remind me how sad I'm supposed to be feeling? Why that's great! Really! Thanks a lot!"
Lucy and the other's eyebrows shoot up in surprise at his tone, none of the used to seeing Adrien angry in general, let alone at them.
"There is something wrong," Mariette said aloud, trying to understand what she was watching. On the screen, 'Adrien' went on.
"My father was right. What could I possibly get from going to school? Hanging out with you people is a total waste of time! And Chloe, you're still the same spoiled brat you ever were, you know that?"
"That's not him," Marinette shouts standing up. "Impossible! There's no way that's Adrien!" She runs out of the room and heads upstairs leaving Luka to look at Lucy who is still fixated on the phone.
"Do you think she's right?" Luka asks. "Do you think it's some kind of imposter?"
Lucy didn't get to answer as the sound of commotion up top grabbed both teens' attention. Running to the steps and peeking up top, Luka and Lucy see Alya, Juleka, and Rose have been reakumatized into LadyWifi, Reflekta, and Princess Fragrance. Lucy frowns and heads back down below with Luka close behind and grabs her keys off his nightstand.
"What are you doing? Do you think Adrien is in trouble?"
Lucy slips her phone into her back pocket and huffs in annoyance. "Either he is, or he's going to be."
OoOoOOoOo
At Adrien's home, Felix gets ready to leave the bathroom when Adrien's phone buzzes in his hand.
"I'm on my way, we need to chat, be ready." The message read. It was from that Lucy girl. Felix smirks. This day just keeps getting better. As he exits the bathroom, Adrien turns to see him and asks if he would like to join him. Before Felix could even ask what his cousin was trying to invite him to, his phone went off again. Pulling it out a bright light broke through, making Felix drop the phone. Three very strange-looking girls came out of it and smiled.
"It's time for your punishment, you naughty - Oh" The three look at the two now identical boys in confusion. "Boys?"
"It all makes sense now! There were two Adrien's." LadyWifi says.
Princess Fragrance glares at the boys. "That explains why our super nice video was answered by the super mean one!" Adrien glances over at Felix and frowns.
"Which one of you is a cruel and inferior copy of the original?" Refekta asks.
"What video is she talking about?" Adrien asks his cousin who responds in his normal voice.
"Hey, I have no idea what they're going on about."
LadyWifi growls at the two. "One of you two guys tried to make Adrien look like a monster."
"It was him! He's Felix! My cousin!" Felix can't help but feel a little surprised at his cousin. In the past, he had never been so quick to rat him out before when they got into mischief together. He was impressed but also disappointed.
Princess Fragrance points her gun at Adrien, "Only a real meanie would tell on his cousin! You must be Felix." Nathalie quickly takes a protective stance in front of Adrien.
"What are you doing, Adrien?" She asks, not taking her eyes off the threats in front of her.
"Adrien?" LadyWifi blinks. "Is that Felix or not?"
"What do you think?!" Adrien shouts while laughing evilly before running out of the room. Felix forces down his smile. That was the cousin he knew. The goody-two-shoes. Even when rating him out, Adrien had every intention to try and save him. Guilt and Jealously clawed at Felix's insides. Guilt for disappointing the cousin who constantly looked for the best in him and jealousy over the fact that he would never be that person. He didn't have the privilege of kindness. His father made sure of that.
"That's him!" Reflekta shouted, pointing her mirror after Adrien. "He's the real Felix!"
"Don't touch him!" Nathalie shouted, jumping to Adrien's aid. Boss bitch Nathalie mode activated. Swiftly, Nathalie takes defense against the three villains, buying Adrien time to get away before she is eventually overpowered, being turned into Reflekta while also being paused by LadyWifi.
"You're being tricked, you fools! Adrien has sacrificed himself for his cousin!" HawkMoth's voice rang in their heads. But when the three looked to where they had last seen the other boy, he was gone. Felix smirked as he ran down the steps to the foyer. As much as he wanted to stick around, he had a date with a pretty blonde girl that he simply couldn't miss.
OoOoOo
When Lucy pulled up to the Agreste mansion everything seemed quiet. She was about to call Adrien when he suddenly came running out of his home towards her. She started up her moped again and 'Adrien' hopped on the back.
"Running from something?" She smirked, passing him a helmet.
"You're timing couldn't be more perfect. Turns out this princess needs a rescue after all." 'Adrien joked back, griping Lucy's waist as she pulled off into the street. It didn't take long before Ladybug was swinging beside her, avoiding oncoming traffic as she did.
"Lucy! Is that Adrien with you!?" The heroin shouts.
"Yeah!"
"Grand Paris Hotel!"
Lucy shoots Ladybug a thumbs up and revs her bike to speed up, heading for the hotel to meet up with Ladybug and most likely Chat Noir. When they arrive, Lucy parks and takes her helmet off, 'Adrien' following suit. They begin making their way towards the hotel entrance when 'Adrien' takes Lucy by the hand.
"Hey, wait," He says, making her stop. His eyelids droop as he smiles at her. "I never got to thank you for the save."
Lucy smiles back and holds up a finger. "That reminds me!" Her pointed finger shoots down and turns into a fist as she then quickly punches 'Adrien' in the arm. The boy pulls away from Lucy in pain.
"Ow! Hey!"
"You got our friends akumatized you ass hat!" Lucy scolds. "I get you might be having a rough day today but that doesn't mean you get to take your emotions out on the people who care about you. Excuse us for giving a shit. Now," She says, snapping her fingers towards the door. "Let's go." Lucy takes the lead while Felix eyes her figure while rubbing his arm. He would have never pinned his cousin to be into the aggressive type.
Once in the elevator, Lucy stands with her weight rested on one of her hips with her arms crossed, clearly annoyed with the boy beside her. Felix ponders what his next move should be, or better yet what Adrien's next move would be. He forced himself not to roll his eyes. Grovel. That was what his cousin would do. For a moment, Felix considered adding fuel to the fire. How entertaining it might be to make Adrien's lady love furious with him, but then he remembered that this little ruse was only temporary. He'd be found out eventually so he might as well try and have some fun with it.
"I'm so sorry Lucy," 'Adrien spoke remorsefully. "I don't know what's gotten into me today. You were right. I am angry, and I didn't know where to direct that anger, and so I took it out on everyone." He could see Lucy's shoulders drop as she closed her eyes and sighed. He smirked to himself momentarily before going back to his sorry expression and stepping closer to Lucy, taking her hands in his.
"You always manage to see me better than anyone." His hand finds her face as he cups her cheek, his eyes starting to close as he leans into her.
Lucy's eyes widen. What is he...?
DING!
"Gah!" Ladybug shouts in surprise. 'Adrien opens his eyes and pulls away from Lucy casually, sending Ladybug a smile. "Eh! Uh-you...was I..heh...interrupting...something...?" Ladybug spits out, her face going red as she turns away from them suddenly. 'Adrien' walks out of the elevator, bringing Lucy along with him by the hand.
"Of course not Ladybug." He assures her. "I was just apologizing to my girlfriend. I may have said some things that upset her, and my friends."
"GIRLFRIEND!?"
"Girlfriend?"
Felix closed his eyes ad sighed. "I sense I have made an error." His eyes then shoot open at a tense pain at his ear, as Lucy grips it between her fingers and twists.
"Who the hell are you!?"
"Whoever he is, he's definitely not Adrien!" Ladybug added.
"That's Felix! Adrien's cousin." Chat Noir said, announcing himself. "I just ran into the real Adrien and he told me everything. You made a lot of enemies in one day, bet you don't have a lot of friends, acting the way you do. Am I wrong?"
Felix frowns slightly before wincing from the pain in his ear. "Will you let go!" Lucy releases Felix and pushes him away, knocking him to the ground. Felix leans back on his palms and smirks up at Lucy. "I'm starting to see why my cousin is so obsessed with you. Given his living situation, it's no wonder he would be into a girl who can put him in his place if you get what I mean." He said winking.
Both Ladybug and Chat Noir seemed to flush at Felix's words while Lucy walked over and kicked the boy in the thigh.
"Ow! What was that for! It was a compliment!" Felix growled.
"What?" Lucy asked innocently. "You seem so keen on being exactly like your cousin, I can't help but assume you also like a girl who can put you in your place." She mocked. The grin on Felix's face returned.
"Afraid that's just one of the many ways we differ, but I'd be more than happy to teach you all about that another time maybe."
"Don't talk to her like that!" Chat shouted, gripping his staff as he shot a glare at Felix.
"Why?" Felix asks, glancing at Chat Noir. "Afraid she might like it?"
"You disgust me."
"You'd be surprised how often that isn't a deal-breaker." Felix shoots back.
"I'm so uncomfortable right now!" Ladybug shouts. "Lucky Charm!" In her hands appears an aerosol can.
"You really think covering us with whipped cream will save you from being punished, Ladybug?" Reflekta says, as she lands on the roof and points her mirror at Ladybug. Princess Fragrance lands beside Reflekta.
"Do you wanna smell like fish for the rest of your life, kitty?" She asks, pointing her gun at Chat Noir.
"Do anything and I'll pause you for good!" LadyWifi says from behind Chat and Ladybug, aiming her tablet at them.
"You spend way too much time on your phone, you know that?" Chat grumbles.
To most of their surprise, Felix is the first to act, getting up and kicking LadyWifi, knocking the tablet out of her hands and taking it for himself. Ladybug smiles at Felix.
"Felix, smash it in half, and this nightmare will be over!"
"What makes you think I want it to be over?" He asks deviously before shouting into the air. "HawkMoth! Can you hear me, HawkMoth? You want Ladybug and Chat Noir's Miraculous, don't you?" Ladybug, Lucy, and Chat Noir glare at Felix in shock, not understanding how he could so easily side with the villain. Hawk Moth's telepathic purple mask appears on LadyWifi's face, then Reflekta, then Princess Fragrance, as they speak for him.
Directly through Lady Wifi, he speaks. "And what do you want?"
"I'm after a piece of jewelry, too. How about we make a little exchange?"
"Get hold of the Miraculous first." He speaks through Reflekta before then going to Princess Fragrance.
" We'll discuss the rest later."
Felix grins. " You've got yourself a deal. Now I think it's high time Ladybug and Chat Noir were punished." He holds out the tablet to LadyWifi and Lucy isn't sure what is happening.
(You wanna know why Lucy doesn't know whats happening? Its because I fucking don't. When I first saw the episode, I thought Felix was trying to be akumatized as well but Felix cant get akumatized without the other three being deakumatized first, being that Hawkmoth can only send out one butterfly at a time. If he is simply giving back the tablet to LadyWifi, that's also kinda silly. What was the point in taking it in the first place? He could have yelled out and spoke to Hawkmoth without it lol. If you really look at it, Felix taking that tablet is probably the main reason Hawkmoth lost this episode. If he hadn't, Ladybug wouldn't have been able to use her lucky charm that way because LadyWifi would have never had to jump down to get it back in the first place. And if there was some other way to use it, it would have been hard with LadyWifi being able to pause them if they moved because of her still having said tablet. SMH, Plot holes happen but that one really question that entire little interaction with Felix. ANYWAY back to the story. )
Ladybug searches for a way to use her Lucky Charm. Her vision highlights the Trio and Felix. LadyWifi jumps down from the railing, and Ladybug throws the aerosol can down, causing her to trip into Reflekta, who shoots Princess Fragrance into the second Reflekta. Chat Noir extends his stick to block Princess Fragrance's perfume bullet and knocks Felix off the roof in the same move. Ladybug catches him with her yo-yo, and the tablet crashes onto the ground, releasing the Akuma. The girls are deakumatized, and Ladybug and Chat Noir look down at Felix as he hangs from the roof.
"I hope you've learned your lesson." Chat taunts earning a nod from Felix nods as Ladybug pulls him back up. Felix may have a lot of nerve, but nearly falling five stories to your death is enough to shake most.
Ladybug and Chat Noir fist bump. "Pound it!"
OoOoOooOooO
"That video you sent to my friends... Unforgivable, Felix." Adrien tells his cousin as he and his mother prepare to leave. Felix doesn't look him in the eye, only looks down, seeming upset and ashamed.
Amelie places and hand on her sons shoulder and frowns. "Now that his father isn't here to stop him from getting into mischief -"
"I don't deserve to be forgiven, mom." Felix interrupts. "I put my favorite cousin in danger. He's right. No apology can ever be enough." Felix brings his eyes upward and smiles at Adrien. "I just hope I can learn from this, and come back to see you as a better person someday." He holds out his hand, and Adrien is about to shake it, when Felix goes in for a hug. Adrien smiles and hugs back.
"I really am sorry. I'll do my best to make it up to you." He adds before turning to his uncle and holding out his hand. "And to you, too, uncle."
Gabriel though hesitant, brings his hand out to shake Felix's. "Goodbye, Félix."
Amelie blows them a kiss and the two head for the car. Before Felix gets inside, Adrien runs out after them calling out his cousins name despite his father protest. Felix stops and turns to his cousin.
"If you're feeling upset or out of control, just call before you do anything you might regret." Adrien tells him and Felix smiles and places a hand on Adrien's shoulder.
"I'm really lucky to have you." He steps into the car, and Adrien happily waves goodbye as they leave.
OoOoOoOoOOo
At home, Lucy lays in her bed while snuggling up with a good book. Her phone dings. She places the book she had been reading down and picks up her phone seeing a video message from Adrien that he had sent to the group chat.
"Hey guys. I never got your messages, but I'm really touched just knowing you were thinking of me today. You're the best friends anyone could ever dream of. I love you, all of you."
Lucy smiles at the message. "Love you too kid." She places the phone down and picks her book back up skimming over the page only to sigh and lean it back against her chest. "It's too bad. I really thought I outdone myself with that video." She shrugs, lifting the book once more. "Oh well, hopefully the other people that watched it got something out of it."
OoOoOoOooOoOo
Felix and his mother take their seats for their train ride back to London. Turning to his mother, Felix smiles.
"I've got a surprise for you, mom." He reaches behind her ear and pulls out Gabriel's ring. When his uncle had gone to shake his hand, Felix had made sure to snag it carefully. Magic was indeed something he had gotten quite good at.
"But Gabriel refused to hand it over to me!" Amelie said in surprise. "And after everything that happened -"She reaches out and cups his face. "My little magician. I can never understand how you always manage to get what you want." Closing her hand over his, she smiles. "Keep it. It's yours now." Felix looks at his mother confused. He knew the stories behind these rings, and he was well aware of how much his mother had wanted to get them back.
"But... you wanted it so much."
"Only to give it to you. You've always been so fascinated by them. How many times have you asked me to tell you the story of the Graham de Vanily twin rings, huh?" She kisses his forehead. "I'm glad it's back in the family where it truly belongs." She tells him with a wink and then rests her eyes. Felix smiles to himself out the window. If there was one thing his father taught him before he passed it was exactly how to get what he wanted, and now? He could think of a few other things that he felt would suit him just nicely.
Well there you have it folks!
I also wanted to thank RPGPersona on Fanfiction for their lengthy review. I am so glad you are enjoying the sotry and am glad that people are seeing that I am trying to keep more than just my OC important.
I'm trying to write Gabriel Agreste a little better because he has all the elements to being a great Villain but they keep making him do stuff that contradicts himself. My favorite kind of villain are the ones you can understand. Not agree with, not like, but understand. You're frightened by their actions in a really visceral way because you realize that in the wrong circumstances, you might become the monster too. The scariest kind of monsters are the kind that seem human and familiar.
If the person you loved the most (besides your child) dies, and you knew there was a way to bring them back, how far would you be willing to go to do that? In Gabriel's mind, everything bad he is doing, will eventually be undone anyway if he succeeds. And if he fails, well...with the damage done, he can't afford to.
I also like to try and keep the importance of Adrien/Chat and Marinette/Ladybugs friend and partnership. A lot of stories sometimes feel like they push it aside, usually because they don't care for Marinette's character. I'll still read those stories but I don't prefer them personally. Growth is important. Whether its Marinette growing to understand her own feelings, Chloe growing to make better choices, Lucy growing to learn its okay to be selfish sometimes, or even Gabriel, growing enough to realize he isn't them only one who lost Emilie.
I like the lightness of this show, but due to a large portion of their demographic being teens and young adults its too bad that it doesn't have more of a Teen Titans vibe. I feel like it would go really well if it did.
Anyway, I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. It was funny one to write but also had some sentimental points to it. I can't wait to read your comments and reviews! See you in the next chapter!