-Julian's POV-
"Kid?"
I groan into the floor.
"...Kiiiiiid."
"Whaaaaat?" I whine.
"Well, ya have been lying on the floor face down for the past couple minutes."
Letting out a huff, I turn to lie on my back, staring at Ossi floating on top of my face. "I just… I don't know what to do anymore Os."
The Kwami makes a confused face. "Whaddya talkin' about?"
"You know , about… Adrien ." I whisper to him, clenching my fists. "I feel like a hypocrite, I've been advocating talking out your emotions while I myself have been holding this in for like, months ."
Ossi sighs. "I don't understand humans sometimes."
I poke him on the forehead. "You shouldn't just use me to represent the entire human race Ossi."
"Oh it's not just you." Ossi fully lands on my face, he's lucky that I'm feeling way too lazy to remove him. "Every Holder I'm with. It's always 'Oh woe it's me.' 'Life without love is not life at all.' 'Listen to my heart's yearning with this song under the Moonlight's Sonata.'"
"Quit quoting famous historical figures! " I groan pathetically into his fur. "And stop making my life so cliché dammit!"
" What's so cliché?" A sudden new voice interrupts.
"AH!" I yelp, sitting up suddenly and launching Ossi all the way to the wall, he hits it without a sound, falling down motionless.
My dad is standing at the door, blinking owlishly at the scene before looking at Ossi at the base of the floor. "You're talking to a… plushie?"
"Plushie?" I ask, confused, looking at Ossi, who isn't moving at all.
Wait, OH!
"Y-Yeah! It's my favorite… plushie!" I lie, pretending to be embarrassed.
"Oh, makes sense." My dad nods knowingly before sitting down in front of me, staring at me blankly.
I frown, I can never read my father. "Did you... Did you need something?"
"Yeah, ummm." My dad scratched the back of his head and finally, a little bit of guilt made its way onto his face. "Son, I need to ask you for a favor."
I gulp, having a really bad feeling about this, waiting for him to continue.
"You see…" My dad hesitates. "The Mayor tried to get me to guest judge the upcoming 'World's Greatest Chef' competition at his hotel, and you know how I feel about the Mayor."
"You said the future of Paris is doomed and you would make him a character in your next movie to make fun of, which isn't a good idea by the way." I warn, stuff like that never goes well in the legal department.
"Yeah! You get it!" My dad smiles a little, before continuing. "At first, I wanted to tell him to take that offer, and shove it, but your mother called me and said that it would be an amazing opportunity to curry favor."
"Because his hotel is in the perfect location for your movie, right?" I guess, receiving a nod. "Okay, what do you need from me then?"
"Well." My dad scratches the back of his head, concerned. "The Mayor said that his daughter would be part of the jury to represent the 'younger generation', which is completely insane. She's just going to cause trouble, I can feel it, so I..." He trails off, and I finally put some of the pieces together.
A chill runs down my spine.
"Dad… Don't tell me…" I say in growing horror.
My dad winces. "I… volunteered you to be co-judges with her!"
" WHAT!?" I scream in terror, words completely failing me. "I can't even- W- What!?"
"I'm sorry!" My dad pleads. "But the Mayor made me so angry ! I couldn't think straight!"
"Yeah well I never think straight, but you don't see me acting on it!"
"I- Did you just come out to me?"
"That's not the point!" I throw my hands up in frustration before messing up my hair. "Can I even say no to this?" I ask, shooting him a glare, judging by his solemn expression, probably not.
My dad winces, rubbing the back of his neck guiltily. "Sorry…" He says instead, confirming my fears.
"Unbelievable." I grumble, flopping back onto the floor.
Taking a deep breath, I try my best to properly process the situation. So, my father needs me to co-judge a cooking competition with Chloé, a girl who had blackmailed me in the past (granted my father doesn't know this). The show will be broadcasted on national television, with probably over thousands of viewers, maybe more (oh gods). And to top it off, I can't even say no to this because it will reflect poorly upon my parents.
Gods know I've disappointed them enough already.
"Fine." I bite out, feeling like I've taken my first step in my grave.
My dad looks wary, giving me a kicked puppy look. "You're... going to do it…?"
"Well I can't just back out of this now can I?" I mutter, defeated.
My dad's guilt-ridden face grows guiltier. "Maybe you can! You can still fall down stairs right?"
I sigh. "Not this time, the timing would be too convenient, especially if the Mayor is aware that you don't like him…"
"Somehow I doubt that, he's very self-absorbed." My dad admits before continuing. "I really am sorry Julian, I don't know what came over me."
Frowning, I refuse to make eye contact with him, choosing to look at the ceiling instead.
It's weird to hear a parent apologize to you, for so long you grow up just trusting them and their judgement, believing that they can do nothing wrong. Then one day they do, and your whole world turns upside down.
However, when your parents make a huge mistake, and then promise to be better, and then make the same mistake again, but then feels really bad about it…
What am I supposed to do now?
"It's alright." I say quietly. "Sorry for being so difficult about this…"
Tensing slightly, I feel a hand slowly comb through my hair, is my dad petting me?
"You're not difficult at all, it might come as a surprise but I'm actually the difficult one. As cliché as that sounds." My dad sighs.
I let out a snort. "It's alright, I can gather as much."
-The Next Day-
Sitting in the car to the venue of the cooking competition, I feel my heart beating wildly in my chest.
Why did I agree to this again?
Feeling a hand grip my shoulder, I hold in a scream as I slowly turn to see my father giving me his now patented kicked puppy look.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" He asks.
I gulp. "Not at all." I say honestly, fiddling with my coat. To try to curb down the anxiety a little, I'm dressed in a large, boring and inconspicuous coat. The plan is to try my best to look like a complete jerk so that no one would approach me.
Plus the media would have a field day with the whole "rebellious bad boy Julian" vibe I'm trying to go for, so it's a win-win.
"Can we stop the car a little further from the hotel at least? I-I don't want to…" My voice cracks and I take a deep breath. "Don't want to see any reporters."
"Of course, I'll even act as a distraction." My dad says, relaying my request to the chauffeur.
A couple minutes later I find myself standing by the sidewalk, looking at the car slowly driving to the entrance of the hotel, a crowd of people forming at the entrance, cameras at the ready.
"Julian?"
I jump at the sudden voice, looking down into my coat, I see Ossi smiling at me.
"You can do it kid, I believe in ya."
"Well that makes one of us…" I mutter, slowly sneaking to the back of the hotel. Using a key card provided by the Mayor, I enter the building with ease. The hotel truly is grand, rightfully earning its name as the best hotel in Paris. Since the competition would be on television, camera crews can be spotted left and right, all in the midst of preparing for the broadcast.
Making my way to the entrance, I see my dad effortlessly talking to the crowd, promoting his latest film with a perfect smile that sends the paparazzi crazy. Once we make eye contact, he sends me a small thumbs up, to which I hesitantly returned.
"Ew. What are you wearing?"
Letting out a quiet squeak, I turn to see the embodiment of my nightmares, Chloé, standing behind me, arms cross and face permanently etched in a frown.
"C-Clothes?" I answer back, brain completely offline at the moment.
The blonde looks me up and down before scoffing. "Puh-lease, you call that clothes? You're better off wearing a paper bag to the show, and while you're at it, why not wear one over your face too."
I bite my lip and look away, trying my best not to cry.
"Why are you so... mean ?" I whimper.
The girl gasps, looking affronted. " Me ? Mean? You're the one trying to make me look bad by sitting next to me with that outfit!" She yells, grabbing my hand and pulling me from the crowd and into a more quiet area.
"Take off your coat." She demands.
I look at her with wide eyes. "Wh-what?"
She crosses her arms, looking unimpressed. "I said take off your coat, surely you must be wearing something decent under that."
I gulp, looking around wildly for some help, but seeing none.
I can't go against what she wants, she still has the video.
Slowly, I start taking off the oversized coat. Revealing my usual jacket with a button up shirt and tie.
"Seriously? The exact same outfit?" Chloé scoffs, holding my coat with one hand as if it was something gross, before tossing it to the side.
Crossing my arms self-consciously, I look at the floor, ashamed. "Y-You're wearing your usual outfit too." I mumble.
"Whatever. Just make sure to sit far behind me during the contest." She glares at me. "Better yet, just don't show up. No one would pay attention to you when I'm there anyways."
I gulp before nodding, agreeing with her for once, I really don't want to show up. The girl looks satisfied before noticing something behind her.
"Well well. Looks like we have company. Come on Julian!"
I jump at her sudden demand again. "W-What?"
The blonde didn't bother to respond, instead walking straight to the entrance again. Looking around, I decided that there's really nothing I can do now before trailing behind her like a lost puppy.
Approaching the entrance, I notice Marinette and Adrien standing there! Thank gods ! Currently they're standing next to the TV show host Alec, who's introducing an Asian chef, chef's uniform and all.
"Only one will be awarded the title of "World's Greatest Chef." The winner's dish will become the new Mayor's Special on the Grand Paris's menu!" The host starts off before the cameras move to the chef. "Tell us Cheng Shifu, what dish will you be honoring our panel with today?"
To my surprise, Adrien actually translates the host's words into Mandarin for the chef.
"My dish is: Celestial soup." Cheng Shifu answers back in French.
"Wow! I've heard so much about your legendary Celestial Soup, but today we'll actually get to taste it!" The host rattles off before continuing to the next guest as Adrien talks with the Shifu before the latter walks away, presumably to the kitchen, leaving Marinette and Adrien to chat.
"Alright, listen up Julian!"
I jump at Chloé's sudden words. "Y-Yes?"
The blonde shakes her head. "I'm only going to say this once. If you want to stop being a wimp, you have to do what I do."
I frown, looking at her, confused. "W-What-"
"Shut up." She demands before looking forward to the duo. "Watch and learn."
Chloé slowly stalks towards them, before facing them with a sneer. "Well look who it is! My favorite person, Marinette Dupain-Cheng. I mean, seriously? Does your great-uncle really expect to win the contest with a SOUP!? It's not even a main dish! Please! Doesn't he know how to make sushi like everyone else?"
I stare at the three of them, still confused, Chloé wants me to act like a jerk too? The fact that I was also planning to be one during the ride here unsettles me a little.
"Japanese people make sushi, Chloé. Cheng Shifu is Chinese!" Adrien corrects with a small amount of frustration in his tone. I internally cheer for him, even if I still have no idea what's going on.
Marinette joins in. "Besides, he's not like 'everyone else'. My Great Uncle is the best chef in the world. His soup is legendary!" She claims, and I feel my stomach growl a little, can't wait to eat it.
"Well, I despise soup." Chloé retorts, uncaring.
The bluenette looks confused. "So what?"
The Mayor's daughter scoffs. "Didn't you know? Julian and I are on the jury. Your uncle won't be getting our vote, for sure."
Suddenly put on the spot, I settle for waving at them awkwardly. Only Adrien waved back, because he's nice like that.
"Oh yeah? Well, he doesn't need your vote to win! There are other judges with much better taste than yours." Marinette taunts, enraging the other girl.
"Huh, silly me, you don't have any taste! I mean, look at what you're wearing." The bluenette continues her slaughter.
The blonde's face grows so red with rage I can almost see the steam pouring out of her ears. " You ! Don't talk to me like that. Get out of my way." Chloé says, shoving me to the side as she continues up the stairs, turning back to Marinette furiously. "You've made a big mistake." She spits out before walking away.
I frown, rubbing the side of my shoulder she shoved. Well, that certainly backfired for Chloé. If anything it's making me feel like I shouldn't copy what she's doing.
Still, what Marinette said in response was a little harsh.
"Marinette-" I try to say what I was thinking, but as soon as both her and Adrien look at me I clam up. "N-Nevermind…" I mutter. Gods, Marinette, Adrien and I all by ourselves in the same room? Way too awkward!
Adrien sends me a worried look before changing the topic, looking back at bluenette. "Wow, you really stood up for Cheng Shifu. He would've appreciated that."
The diversion was successful as Marinette rubs the back of her head sheepishly. "I'm not sure. I don't think he likes me." She laments.
"Oh no, you're wrong." The blond counters.
Marinette doesn't look convinced. "No, I swear! He even ripped up the bouquet I gave him."
I frown, slowly slipping away, should I even be here right now?
"Cheng Shifu isn't just a chef, Marinette - he's an artist! He told me he was gonna put flowers in his Celestial Soup. He said he improvises on faithful things that come his way. The flowers he mentioned must be the ones you gave him!" I hear Adrien explain.
"So… you think he actually likes me?" Marinette replies, and the hopeful look she sends to Adrien sends a quiet pang to my chest. Looking at the two of them standing side by side, it wouldn't be surprising if people were to think they are a couple. Hell, I probably would've shipped it, if it wasn't brutally crushing my heart in the moment.
I want that.
I balk at the sudden thought, before deciding to finally walk away from the situation, returning to the secluded area Chloé brought me too and finally taking a deep breath. If there's one thing good about the whole interaction with Chloé, it's that I found a good place to hide during the process.
"You alright kid?" I hear Ossi ask from my pocket.
I shake my head. "This was a bad idea Os. I shouldn't be here. I'm literally seconds away from puking on the carpet."
"Hey it's alright, your parents can afford the cleanin'."
"Be serious please." I whimper, hugging myself and in proxy Ossi closer to my chest, trying to regulate my breathing.
I hate this. Jealousy is such an ugly emotion, not to mention that it's completely unwarranted. How's Marinette supposed to know that everything she does with Adrien physically eviscerates me? She doesn't know I like him.
And even if she did know, it's not like she has to stop talking to Adrien for my sake anyways. No. This is entirely my fault.
"Kid. You're spiraling." I blink, focusing on Ossi who's now floating in front of me.
"Julian?"
Covering my mouth to hide the squeak, I squeeze further into the corner of the room away from the familiar voice. Adrien is… somewhere out there, apparently looking for me.
"I don't see him, do you?" I hear Marinette ask from somewhere as well.
I hold my breath. No, I won't be able to see them right now. Not like this.
I hear the blond sigh. "Maybe he's in the bathroom, I'll go check." He says before the sound of footsteps slowly softens until silence falls once again.
Letting out a sigh of relief, I feel my phone vibrate in my pocket. Oh gods, is it Adrien?
Clicking it open, I realize that it's not Adrien, but my dad.
"Son, I know that you don't want to do this, don't worry! I just thought of a plan." The text says, followed by a link to his social media page.
Giving Ossi, who was reading the text beside me, a strange look, I clicked on the link. My dad had apparently made a new post recently.
"Attention Heroes of Paris! We would be performing a cooking competition at Le Grand Paris in just a few hours! It would be an honor if you could join us!" The post says, followed with a link to the competition.
Looking at it confused, another ping alerted me to my dad's message.
"It's full-proof, if a superhero crashes the show, no one would even notice that you're missing! Let's just hope that it works, okay?"
Huh.
"Kid! Do you realize what this means!?" Ossi whisper-yells, his enthusiasm slowly affecting me too as I look back at him giddily.
"That I don't have to puke anymore! We can do this!"
"Hell yeah we can!" Ossi yells before noticing the time. "Looks like we have to get going if we want this to work.
"Right." I look at the clock too, the show starts in an hour, but I still need to show up by the door to provide adequate enough distraction for 'Julian' to sneak out. Looking back at my phone, I send a quick affirmation to my father, along with a short goodbye before taking out my pen.
"Let's do it." I smirk, pointing the pen at the Kwami. "Ossi, Horns Drawn!"
Ossi immediately dives into the tip of the pen, causing a deer head to appear in front of it. Swiping the pen across my eyes, the mask gets drawn and materializes onto my face, I drag the pen from my left hand back to my right as a brown suit slowly starts to appear from my arms towards the rest of my body. Twirling the pen around effortlessly as it slowly grows longer, I toss it upwards before reaching towards my back and pulling up a newly made hoodie, ears on its side and antlers on top as I catch the pen which has turned into blowgun as I lean against it with a lazy smile and a peace sign raised in the air.
Alright, first thing's first, get to the main entrance. Looking around, I notice a chandelier hanging right above the front door. Perfect. Leaping straight up to it, I stealthily land on the glorified light bulb. Looking down at the lobby.
The host from before, Alec, is back to interviewing my dad. Marinette and Adrien are there too, probably waiting for the former's uncle to return from cooking.
"So Mr. Le Beau. You've been waiting in the lobby for almost 30 minutes now! Who could you possibly be waiting for?"
My dad laughs. "I wouldn't say I'm waiting. More like, hoping." He checks his watch. "C'mon, any minute now." I hear him mumble as the host moves to interview the other guests, not so subtly, my dad's eyes land on Adrien.
"Adrien Agreste?" He says in surprise.
The blond looks up from his conversation with Marinette, confused. "Yes?"
In just three steps my father closes the distance, looking Adrien straight in the eyes before smirking. "My God. You've grown so much since I've last saw you!"
"E-Excuse me?" Adrien asks again, more confused than before.
"Right, you probably don't remember." My dad nods before standing back up. "My wife and I were close with your parents back in the day, well, no surprise since we're neighbors and all. We used to organize play dates with you and Julian all the time."
"You did?" The blond asks, probably not remembering it, same as me.
"Yeah! I'm glad that you two are rekindling that friendship."
Adrien looks taken aback. "O-Oh, thanks."
My dad smirks. "Yeah. Honestly Julian hasn't stopped talking about you recently, almost like-"
Welp, that's my cue.
I leap down from the chandelier in front of them like a superhero, trying my best to not blush from the narrowly avoided utter embarrassment.
"Faon Vert?" I hear Adrien and Marinette ask, surprised while my dad just sounds excited.
"Sup?" I smirk at them, immediately there's a loud sound of movement, the Host Alec and his TV crew battling their way through the crowd towards me.
"I can't believe it! It's one of Paris' superheroes Faon Vert, in the flesh! Tell me, why are you here?" The man asks, holding the microphone to me.
I shrug. "Mr. Le Beau here invited me, said that there would be a food contest here, and I'm kinda hungry so I thought, why not." The elevator doors open, revealing the Mayor, to which I give him a smile. "I hope that's alright Mr. Mayor."
The Mayor looks to the moon, charging to me and shaking my hands. "But of course! As Mayor and owner of this hotel, it would be my honor to have you participate." He says before looking around. "And what about Ladybug and Chat Noir, would they be arriving as well?"
Letting out a hum, I pretend to tap my chin in thought. "Who knows? Probably not, I would imagine Ladybug to be pretty mad at me for just showing up right now." I laugh, looking at Marinette standing next to my fawn, both having identical expressions of surprise. Winking at the two of them, I follow the Mayor up to the tasting area, listening to his grand spiel about the hotel with as much enthusiasm as I can.
This is much… much better.
After a few minutes of getting mic'd up and situation by the judges table, the show can finally get underway. Just like my dad said, me being here as Faon completely erased the idea that Julian would be here, although, I doubt anyone really cared in the first place now that I think about it.
"Let's introduce our judges shall we!" Alec says, finally getting the show under way. "Our panel of gourmets is made up of André Bourgeois, the mayor of Paris and owner of this luxury hotel, his daughter Chloé, representing the younger generation, hot rockstar Jagged Stone and his killer crocodile Fang, Andray Le Beau, famous director, actor and businessman, the divine head chef of this very hotel, Marlena Césaire, and finally, our surprise guest judge Faon Vert himself!"
I wave at the camera, smiling brightly. Honestly, I am a little bit guilty at the fact that I took the host's place in the tasting, but we're both equally unqualified to be judging food anyways so I guess it's fine.
The waitstaff of the hotel finally serves the first dish, a large bowl of soup with pretty flowers decorating it. It looks amazing, but-
I sit up straighter, trying my best not to gag. Deers have an extremely good sense of smell and right now this soup smells like…
Well. It doesn't smell like soup.
"It's time to determine the fate of Cheng Shifu's famous Celestial Soup. Let's get tasting!" The Host declares, and before I could do anything, the judges start scooping up the soup.
Damn it. I wince, but take the spoon anyways, maybe it'll taste better than it smells or something.
As soon as the soup enters my mouth, I swear I nearly saw the light.
The rest of the judges started gagging and spitting while I just couldn't move the spoon away, paralyzed in shock.
Would rather eat peanut butter squid. I think pitifully to myself.
"Uh, I don't think this soup would fare well with our guests! I'll give it a 3/10." I hear the Mayor say.
"Seeing as it's pretty unappetizing, maybe I'll pass on the tasting, but I'll still give it a zero!" Chloé joins in.
One by one the other judges gave their ratings. Jagged Stone gives it a negative zero. My dad gave it a 2, and Marlena Césaire gave it a 1.
When the camera moves to me, I try my best to smile, even if the aftertaste is still killing me.
"I-It's ah… It's a bold and interesting flavor that... doesn't mix well, I'll give it a 3." I raise the plate with a shaky hand. Honestly could we get a bathroom break? Or some water?
Marinette's great uncle looks devastated, walking to the soup before trying it, and spitting it out himself.
"I don't understand, I never put these ingredients in. It's a mistake. Someone sabotaged soup!" He says, but failing to garner any sympathy from anyone other than me, and I was too busy drinking from a nearby pitcher or water.
"I'm sorry, Cheng Shifu, but the points bring your score to 1.5/10 - the lowest so far. Celestial Soup will therefore not be on the hotel's menu this year, and you will not be named "World's Greatest Chef!" Alec declares, and the show goes for commercials.
Finally getting my taste buds back under control, I watch as the chef dejectedly talks to Marinette, Adrien standing sadly by the sidelines.
"I feel bad…" I say, walking next to the blond, who visibly tenses up for some reason, but I shrug it off. "I can only imagine how Cheng Sifu must feel."
Adrien looks dead ahead, avoiding eye contact. "Y-Yeah, in China, losing face like this is horrible."
"Maybe I could try to get the judges to have a revote." I think out loud.
The model shakes his head. "I don't think Cheng would like that, unless we can prove that Chloé's the one responsible for messing with his soup."
I look at him, surprised. "Wait, what? Chloé sabotaged him?"
"She definitely did." I hear Marinette say, as she walks up to us, her uncle nowhere to be seen right now. "We have to do something." She says, looking at me expectantly.
I rub my head sheepishly, Marinette can be kinda bossy when she needs to be. "I-I guess so." I say, feeling a strange sense of deja vu. "I'll try to see if I can talk to Chloé." I nod towards the mayor's daughter who's currently on the phone. "You two should talk to Cheng Sifu, make sure that he's alright."
Adrien nods. "Alright, but we should probably let him have some time alone first, Marinette and I will wait in the lobby."
I sigh, Adrien's too nice. In a normal world, that probably would've worked, but not here.
We live in a world of Akumas after all, can't afford to feel bad. I think bitterly to myself.
"I- Is that wrong…?" At the question, I look back at the blond, my displeasure probably too apparent as he looks pretty distressed. Dammit.
"Of course not!" Marinette sends me a short glare (I deserve that I guess) before grabbing the model's hand. "We'll wait downstairs for great uncle to come down, it should be fine!" She declares, outvoting me.
Whatever. I see them off to the elevator, preferring not to spread any pessimistic thoughts to more people. I'll just have to check on Cheng myself, Chloé can wait.
Walking to the kitchen door, my hand barely touches the handle before a sharp pain rips through my stomach.
"Wh-" I groan, legs giving way as I collapse onto the floor.
What's happening!? I think, taking deep breaths.
A loud laugh emanates from the room. "You have eaten my soup, you become my servants!" It declares.
Hell no! I clench my fists till they're white. No way this Akuma is getting the better of me! He's gonna need a lot more soup than that! I-I… And I…
I need more soup.
Standing up, the pain subsiding as I take a huge breath of relief, I look at the Akuma, waiting for my orders.
Kung Food points to Chloé. "Grab the girl."
I nod, easy enough. Leaping towards her, I grab her from behind and have her dangling above the ground in seconds.
"Hah! You are a magnificent servant!" Kung Food praises as I preen under the attention.
"Thank you Master."
"Let us quickly get to the roof! We have soup to prepare!" The Akuma says, leading us to the rooftop.
As we arrive at the roof, Kung Food uses his powers to heat up the swimming pool ahead of us, boiling the water before materializing large buckets of caramel and other ingredients.
"Not polite to leave table without permission!" He declares to a dumpling camera before turning to us. "Cut off all exits!"
"Yes Master." We all say before grabbing a nearby pot of caramel, two people for each pot, while I carry one on my own, super strength and all.
Soon the entire building was covered in caramel, the sweet substance quickly hardens and dries, making it completely indestructible.
Returning to finish cooking the delicious soup, I notice that my Master is looking enraged at one of the dumpling cameras.
"Who are those two!?" The Akuma shouts, pointing at something on the screen. Looking at it, I realize that it's Ladybug and Chat Noir, of course they would be here.
Kung Food listens to Hawk Moth before thinking. "Surprise ingredients? Hah! Delicious!" He declares! Pointing at Jagged Stone. "You! Go capture them!"
"Yes, Master Kung Food." He says, getting some weapons from the Akuma before running off.
"Brat soup even more powerful with superhero flavor!" The Akuma decides.
"I will not eat your soup!" Chloé yells back, dangling from a rope hanging precariously on top of the boiling pool.
The Akuma laughs. "Foolish girl. You are not eating soup, you ARE soup!"
The blonde gasps, struggling harder in her bindings. "Someone help! Let me down!" She screams before looking at me. "Hey! Aren't you a superhero!? Help me!"
I shrug, smirking a little. "Sorry, can't blame a guy for wanting soup." I say to her, before turning to the Akuma. "Master, let me help with the capture of Ladybug and Chat Noir."
Kung Food glares at me before smirking. "Very well!" He looks at the Mayor. "You! Go with him!"
"Yes Master Kung Food." The Mayor says before joining me at the elevator.
Stopping at a floor above the heroes, I look to the Mayor, who's wielding a large string of smoked sausages. "I'll get them to stop here, be ready to ambush 'em." I instruct, receiving a nod before the elevator door closes again.
Kicking open the hatch of the machine, I climb up just as a dumpling camera flies to me. The screen displaying Jagged Stone locked inside a supply closet and I sigh, his defeat was expected, can't trust civilians to do a hero's job and all.
Waiting patiently for the elevators to come up, I expand my hearing a little, hoping that it could reach past the elevator's metal exterior.
"Got nothing to say anymore kitty?" I hear Ladybug's voice and I perk up, here we go.
"What do you mean?" I hear Chat's voice too, perfect.
"The two of us, alone in an elevator, I was kind of expecting some lame pick-up line." I continue to eavesdrop as the elevator slowly rises up, blowgun at the ready.
"O-Oh, umm, well, you see-"
Now! I think, spinning my weapon before jamming it into the elevator's conveyor belt, stopping the machine right on my desired stop.
"Alright, Mayor Bourgeois, you're up." I mutter, not feeling a bit sorry about using him as bait to stall the duo. Grabbing a nearby wire before jumping up to the next floor.
Listening carefully to the combat below me, I enter the room directly above them. Grabbing a couple cheese grenades I got from Kung Food, I start hiding them in any possible hidden location I could find.
"Master Kung Food says you need our help." I turn to see my dad and Marlena Césaire, both equipped with a cheese grenade launcher and candy bow respectively.
I nod. "Perfect. You guys act as diversions, I'll be providing support." I say, leaping up on another chandelier, hanging upside down with my blowgun at the ready.
Soon, a large hole cracks open beneath me, and I sigh again. The Mayor probably started to show off.
Chat and Ladybug rise from the hole with the former's extended staff, coming face to face with my dad and Marlena.
A dumpling camera flies down to meet them, revealing the Akuma. "Kung Food is generous. No need to choose between cheese and dessert, you get to have both!"
"Taste cold steel. Or in this case, cheese." My dad says as Marlena fires a couple arrows from her candy bow at the heroes. Immediately the duo springs into action, jumping around, avoiding and deflecting the shots.
Just a little closer. I think, watching their movements carefully.
Ladybug and Chat dodges the arrows with ease, and when my dad fires his own cheese grenades. They were quickly repelled, Chat made a mistake of trying to deflect one of the shots, which resulted in his eyes getting a little misty, but unless it's a direct explosion that catches him off guard, it wouldn't be enough to incapacitate him. I hum quietly, biding my time.
Ladybug quickly grabs Marlena's attention, running around, dodging arrows before arriving near my dad. Tapping him on the shoulder, he turns around just to be shot by one of the chef's arrows, knocking him to the side as his own crossbow fires at Marlena, the stench of the cheese knocking her out too.
Civilians . I think ruefully.
"I think it's about time we got to the second course." I hear Ladybug say, walking up to Chat and-
Now! I raise my blowgun and start firing at all the cheese grenades I have hidden, the detonation creates a large cloud of stink which completely engulfs the unsuspecting heroes.
"W-What on earth-" Chat starts to say before breaking out into coughs. "I-I can't see! This cheese is stinging my eyes!"
"Me too!" Ladybug says.
I laugh, leaping down from the chandelier. "Way too easy, you two should really look at your surroundings more."
"Faon!?" I hear Chat ask.
"Yep! And now since you can't see, I'll be taking your Miraculous!" I yell, running at them as soon as the stink cloud disappears.
The two heroes could barely open their eyes before I jumped on them. It still wasn't easy, the two heroes easily reading my moves and angling their Miraculous away from me right before I could grab onto it.
Letting out a frustrated growl, I give my weapon a flourish.
"Sticks can be used as Chat Noir's staff." I activate my Mind's Eye, spinning the new staff around, this will give me some offensive powers.
"Lucky Charm!" Ladybug yells, raising her yo-yo in the air and a large roll of tape falls in her hands.
"Seriously? I don't know if I should be insulted or not." I scoff, not giving her a chance to think before jumping in the air. "Get ready to meet your maker!" Using the staff, I launch a devastating jab from above, aiming directly at Ladybug's head. A loud CLANG rang through the room as it was deflected by Chat Noir's own weapon.
Balancing back on the extended staff, I glare at the blond. "How could you even see that." I growl at him.
The cat hero shrugs, smirking at me with his eyes still closed. "Why do I need sight when I could just hear your voice, deer?"
Dammit, I was monologuing wasn't I?
"Didn't know you like my voice that much." I snarled. "Whatever, if the kitten wants to protect his bugaboo that much, you'll give me your Miraculous first!" I fall directly on top of him, attempting a high jump kick.
"That's it!" Before I could react, Ladybug yanks Chat back, standing where he once stood, she pulls open the roll of tape.
Crap! I think before my feet come in contact with the sticky adhesive, twisting around uncomfortably, I rip my feet off the roll, diving off and landing silently behind them.
Not making another sound, I carefully observe them panicking and wondering where I am.
It won't be long before they regain full sight, if I want to defeat them, it has to be now. I start to tip toe-
A loud sticky rip rings through the room, looking down, I see a bundle of tape previously sticking me to the floor on my foot. Panicking slightly, I quickly step away, only to make more noise as the tape on my other foot lifts off the ground.
"He's over there! Get him!" I hear Ladybug scream before looking up, watching both a yo-yo and a staff flying towards my face.
Well, this sucks-
Getting smacked in the face by both weapons, I land in front of them in a heap, groaning as the two heroes finally get to wipe the stink out of their faces.
Should've known not to try outsmarting a Ladybug… I think before passing out.
-? Amount of Time Later-
Waking up with a gasp, I look down at the Ladybugs swarming my body before flying away.
I was- Looking around, I noticed that my blowgun had turned into Chat Noir's staff, indicating that I used my Mind's Eye, the deer symbol on it dangerously close to depleting. I sigh as the memories slowly come back to me.
I was mind controlled by soup, that's embarrassing.
Wasn't even good soup.
Fortunately, seeing as how the world hasn't fallen into ruin yet, it doesn't seem like Hawk Moth won this time.
Suddenly, my staff rings, letting out a groan, I move it to my ear, finding a place to detransform can wait.
"Hello?"
"Hey Faon. Are you feeling better?" Chat's voice rings through the speaker.
I can't help the small smile that forms on my face. "Nothing's broken, which is good. You and Ladybug could've tone down the force a little though, I'm much too delicate."
Chat laughs through the phone. "Yeah, well you didn't make it easy for us." The line went silent for a moment. "Speaking of Ladybug, she didn't seem too happy that you got controlled by the Akuma. Asked me to tell you to meet with her at the Tower tonight."
I sigh, my Miraculous beeping again, I don't have much time left. "Makes sense, I'll talk to her tonight after patrol. We've got some issues to sort out anyways."
"...Do you need me there?"
I snorted. "Sorry Kitten, I'm going to have to talk to your lady alone for now, but thanks for the support."
After wishing a quick goodbye, I quickly dive into the elevator, making sure the camera's properly blocked before detransforming back into Julian.
Ossi flies in front of me, looking worried. "Hey, you alright kid?"
I rub the back of my neck. "Kind of? A little sore, and it sucks to have foggy memories, but I'm alive." Trying my best to repeat the order of events in my head, I suddenly look back at my Kwami with a gasp.
"Wait! I used my Mind's Eye! Are you okay? How about your temp-"
"Kid! Julian! I'm fine!" Ossi reassures, smirking at me while doing a couple loops in the air (show off).
I let out a breath of relief. "Thank gods, I don't want any Akuma mishap to harm you ever again."
The deer Kwami looks away from me, embarrassed. "Aw, kid, that's- Ya way too kind."
Before I could say anything, the elevator dings and I'm back to the lobby, Ossi flying into my jacket to hide. A flash of blond nearly gives me a heart attack.
"A-Adrien?" I ask, staring at him with wide eyes, receiving an equally surprised one in return.
"Julian?" The model looks puzzled. "Your dad said that you went home."
"W-Well…" I stammer, taking a step back. "My dad lent me his wallet before I left, s-so I came back to return it to him…" I trail off, internally face palming. Whatever, the excuse works.
"Oh." He says, finally stepping aside. Taking the opportunity, I all but dive past the doors and into the lobby. It's still pretty empty after the Akuma attack, which is great, I just need to get out of here.
"Are you staying for the competition?" Adrien asks.
I freeze in place, fidgeting slightly. "U-Umm-"
"Chloé got kicked out by the jury." Adrien adds, giving me a small smile.
Well, that's definitely a plus, but-
"Sorry… I'm still not feeling up to it…" I mutter, fiddling with my jacket, ashamed, Faon Vert or not, that last thing I want to do is get in front of a camera right now. Gods Julian. Why can't you just sit in front of people and eat food? Completely disgracef-
"Hey, it's alright." I jump at the feeling of a hand on my back, looking back up, Adrien is standing beside me now, a lot closer than before.
"You don't have to do it if you don't want to."
Feeling my face heat up, I look away. "Y-Yeah, I'll go home, sorry…"
The blond smiles brighter. "No need for apologies, do you want me to walk with you?"
I was startled at the sudden offer. "N-No thanks! It's really kind of you but-"
I just need to be completely alone. The words die at my throat, how can I make that sound less rude?
He nods, as if he understands. "Okay, walk safe, alright?"
I blush harder, dammit Julian keep it together. "Th-Thanks!" I say before quickly brushing past him (oh my gods !) and through the front door before anyone else could interrupt.
I'll get Adrien an apology present later, but right now, I need sleep. As soon as possible.
-Time Skip to Night-
"Thank you so much young man, now have a safe night okay?" The old lady wishes, standing in front of her porch.
I snicker. "I'll do my best ma'am, but you know us superheroes. Always getting hurt one way or another."
The lady tuts. "Nonsense, a growing boy such as yourself should be getting ready for bed right about now." She laughs before opening the door. "Alright, run along now, go find other people to rescue."
"Of course ma'am." I smirk, a little flustered by her comments. Watching her enter her home safely, I leap all the way to the Eiffel Tower.
Ladybug stands at the top, looking over the city while waiting for me. I took a deep breath, she definitely saw me busy helping the lady just now so I probably don't need to have an excuse prepared.
It's still a little intimidating though.
"Hey! Sorry I'm late!" I say, landing beside her, tripping over my feet a little by accident.
Ladybug smiles (okay, good sign). "It's alright." She brushes something off her shoulders. "Let's talk about what you did today."
"O-Oh." I say, caught a little off guard by the seriousness in her tone. I fiddle around with my coat. "I'm going to make a wild guess that it's about the whole mind control incident, right? Because I'm really sorry." I wince at that, trying to defuse the tense atmosphere a little.
"Yeah, about that." She stops, as if looking for the correct words to say. "Faon, I don't think it's a good idea to keep doing this."
"What?" I look at her, confused. "What are you talking about?"
"I mean , that you need to stop using your powers when there aren't any Akumas around."
Huh? I take a step back. "But, I don't always use my powers?"
"Faon, this isn't the first time it happened." She crosses her arms. "Remember Career Day? Rogercop attacked when you appeared out of nowhere too, just like today."
"I-It wasn't my fault though!" I try to defend myself, it wasn't! Was it?
"Even so. Innocent civilians got hurt, on top of that, the Akuma took over Paris, we almost lost."
Another bout of silence as I take in what she said.
Taking my silence as an affirmative, she continues. "Because of our powers, we have a responsibility to protect the people, and it's not easy to do that when we're walking around like sitting ducks for Hawk Moth."
I cross my arms too. "But we always win in the end, right?"
"What if we don't?"
I feel my blood run cold.
Ladybug continues. "We had to fight you today Faon, I had to risk it all on getting you to kick that tape, and I couldn't see! It was pure luck that we beat you!"
"S-Seriously?" I feel my knees run a little weak, we nearly lost... because of me?
Ladybug sighs. "I'm sorry Faon, but it had to be said, you can't keep using your powers to do everyday tasks."
I clench my fists. "So both you and Chat don't do that?"
The superheroine finally looks taken aback. "What?"
"I'm asking, have you never used your powers to do everyday tasks?" I repeat.
She avoids eye contact, posture going a little more tense. "No!"
For the first time in this conversation, I glare at her. "Okay. Why are you lying?"
"I-I'm not!"
"This isn't fair!" I spit out, taking a deep breath.
This isn't fair, they don't know, they'll never know.
Life as Julian freaking sucks .
" Fine ." I say, glaring at her again. "Fine. I don't want to cause trouble, so I won't. Just-" I breathe again. "Don't be so hypocritical next time."
Ladybug doesn't respond, still at a loss for words.
I grit my teeth. Why did she lie to me in the first place, just to get her point across?
"Faon, I didn't-"
"Don't." I interrupt. "I won't do it anymore. Just- don't bring it up, ever again." I jump over the railing, leaving Ladybug in the dust without waiting for a response.
It's not fair, I didn't do anything wrong.
I-I… I didn't do anything wrong, right…?
