Chapter Three
A/N: Thanks to guest reviewer Matt for the heads up!
Bubblette
Percy woke to his alarm like he does every morning. And, like every morning, he flips over and proceeds to half-suffocate in his, nice, warm, pillow...
"Ow!" Tikki pokes his cheek, prompting him to swat at her. "Let me sleep," he mumbles. She pulls his hair, making him sit up straight in all his bed-head glory. "I'm awake! What do you want?" he growls. Tikki giggles and flits around him.
"It's Annabeth's birthday!" she says excitedly. He raises an eyebrow.
"So?"
"So, you should give her something!" she squeals. Percy flops out of bed, and realizes in mid air that his bed is elevated. He lands on his floor with a thump, but shoots up and rummages through his desk. He comes up with a new sketchbook he meant to use for his designs, but he heard somewhere that Annabeth liked architecture, so he'll use it for her. He scribbles a quick card, signs it, and tapes it to the present. Then he wraps it with a nice blue wrapping and secures it with a grey ribbon the color of her eyes. Stuffing it into his bag, he takes off with a quick 'bye Mom! bye Dad!' and heads to school.
Annabeth isn't feeling it. Her birthday feels like all the other days of the year, excluding Christmas. Her dad is probably tinkering with planes, her step-mother is probably at Helen's, and Malcolm is just standing near the door watching her eat. She finishes quickly and then stands.
"Have you talked to Helen about my birthday party?" she asks. Malcolm nods slowly.
"She doesn't think it would be a good idea," he says. Annabeth snorts and storms past Malcolm.
"Of course not. Heaven forbid i actually have fun!" She slams the door shut behind her. Malcolm sighs.
"Happy birthday, Annabeth," he says softly.
"Like, actually?" Thalia says. She has one earbud in and the other out, and she's scrolling through her usual heavy metal/punk rock playlist. "Doesn't she remember what it is to be young and beautiful? Of course, maybe she's forgotten, being neither now." Annabeth snorts.
"Maybe. At least I tried," she says. Thalia wraps an arm around her.
"Insist! It's your birthday, girl!" Percy's been in conversation with Apollo, probably talking about his blog, and Annabeth's been sneaking looks at Percy since he showed up. Thalia notices and winks. "Plus, I bet Percy'd come to the party!" Annabeth's eyes widen and she hides a smile. She hopes if she did he would. He's been on her mind so much lately, and she doesn't know why. Maybe it's because of the messy curls he's always sweeping with his fingers, or his beautiful sea-green eyes. He looks up and catches her staring at him. She quickly looks down, blushing. When she dares sneak another peak, he's coming towards her, closer and closer until- Luke steps in his path, shoving him out of the way.
"Happy birthday, Annie!" he says cheerfully. She smiles at him.
"Thanks!" she tells him. They stand awkwardly for a few seconds before Luke clears his throat and glares at Ethan briefly.
"I got you a gift, but apparently it's back-ordered. Delivery guys, slackers, am I right?" Annabeth nods with him, not agreeing but not wanting to argue. He hugs her and heads into the school, pulling her along with him. She glances at Percy over her shoulder, but he's not looking at her, just talking with Apollo. She sees the familiar black car pull up and rips her hand out of Luke's grasp, perhaps a tads roughly. She smiles apologetically and nods towards the car.
"Photo shoot," she explains. He smiles and nods. She catches Percy looking at them out of the corner of her eye and misses Luke's smirk morphing into a sugar-sweet smile. He tugs her closer and grasps her chin. Tilting her head up, he presses a kiss to her cheek, much too close to her mouth for her taste. Annabeth might have been happy with this at some point, but ever since meeting Percy, her feelings for Luke had been shoved to the back of her mind.
"Happy birthday, Annie," he says again, and she stumbles into the car. Percy stumbles, too, but mostly because Apollo gave him a friendly shove.
"Is that jealousy I see?" he teases. The fire in Percy's eyes dims and he shoves Apollo back.
"No! She's just a friend! I was upset because no girl should have to suffer Luke's lips," he says. Apollo raises an eyebrow.
"Sure, sure. But call it what you will, that was one heck of a present." Percy's eyes widen and he slaps his hand to his forehead.
"Present! I forgot to give Annabeth her present!" he groans. Apollo's grin widens.
"Oho! Presents now, eh?" he says. Percy gives him an unamused look.
"I'll give you one, too. Unless you keep talking like this." Apollo raises his hands in defense.
"I'll stop! C'mon, I know where we can drop it off," he says. Apollo turns and starts jogging along the sidewalk. Percy hurries to join him.
"The damn mailbox isn't budging!" Percy growls. Apollo leans against a fence, looking extremely unconcerned.
"Ring the doorbell, idiot," he says, pointing to a shiny silver button. Percy stares at him, aghast.
"Ring the doorbell? Are you kidding? What if Helen herself answers?" he squawks. Apollo smirks and presses it.
"Oops."
"I'm so gonna-Hi!" Percy says cheerfully to the camera that extends seemingly out of nowhere.
"Yes?" says a bored male tone. Percy pulls out the gift and shows it to the camera.
"I'm in Annabeth's class! I have a present for her!" he says in overly bright, happy tones.
"Put it in the box," says the man, and the mailbox opens, just like that. Fancy.
"Thanks!" Percy says after depositing the gift. The camera disappears with out any further message and Percy is left glaring at Apollo, who pushes himself off the fence.
"You'll thank me later," he says, and then takes off running. Percy growls and runs after him.
"YOU'RE DEAD, CESAIRE!" he shouts.
"Who was that, Malcolm?" asks Helen, over intercom.
"A friend of Annabeth's," he tells her. "He was delivering a gift for her birthday." Helen snorts. A pause, them-
"Did you remember to buy her a present from Frederick and I?" she asks. Malcolm pales, but tries to keep his professional cool.
"You didn't ask me too," he says, already fearing the backlash.
"Of course I did! Take care of it!" Helen says angrily. Malcolm nods, even she can't see him.
"Yes, ma'am," he says. She disconnects abruptly and Malcolm is left wondering what to give her. Usually, he makes do with a pen but this year he should prably step up his game. He spots the gift Percy just sent in and rips off the sticky note labeling it as 'From Percy, To Annabeth'. He sighs in relief. The doorbell rings again and he peers into it. A girl with shocking eyes and short black hair dressed in all black is crossing her arms and glaring at the camera. He has a feeling it'll be a long day.
"She'll be here in a minute," Malcolm tells the girl. She huffs and taps her foot. Helen opens the big doors at the top of the staircase. Her flow-y dress swirls dramatically as she glides down the staircase to greet the peasant daring to speak to her, but the peasant in question is extremely unimpressed.
"Annabeth will be home in a few minutes," Helen says regally. Thalia uncrosses her arms and stands up straighter. She's no fool, and she knows that her best shot is showing respect.
"Actually, I was coming to see you," she says. Helen raises an eyebrow as if to say 'little ole me?' Thalia tries to cover her snort. It's just so, so extra. "Yes, that's right. Look, I know that you don't want Annabeth to have a party, but it's her sixteenth birthday. It's all she wants."
"No," says Helen. Thalia crosses her arms and puts on her best 'angry teenager' look on. It's time for Stubborn Thalia to have a try.
"That's messed up. She never screws up in class, she does whatever crap you tell her to do-photoshoots, fencing, Chinese, piano-"
"Thalia?" says Annabeth. Somehow she snuck in unnoticed towards the end of Thalia's mini-rant, and her heart warmed watching Thalia defend her.
"I said no," Helen raises her voice and her hand. Annabeth flinches, unnoticed by anyone. "And that's final." Thalia stomps her foot.
"Have a heart, you stone-cold bit-"
"OKAY!" Annabeth interrupts, just in the nick of time. Helen's face has already tightened, and Annabeth knows that means nothing good.
"Listen, young lady. I don't appreciate you coming in here and telling me how to raise my child. I don't appreciate you tracking your filthy boots over my floor. I decide what's best for my step-daughter. And I've decided that you are a bad influence. Get out of my house, and don't come back." The Gorilla appears out of nowhere and escorts a struggling Thalia out the door. Annabeth stares after her. When she turns around and opens her mouth, she's met with a blow to the face. Annabeth stares, holding her face, at Helen, who's up close in her face. "If I say no to you, I'm gonna say no to your friends. Don't bring the gutter trash in here, and remember our deal. Tell anyone, and I pull you out of school." A few tears pool in Annabeth's eyes.
"I hate you," she says softly, and then runs out to comfort her friend. "I'm sorry," she says when she catches up to Thalia, who's kicking rocks on the sidewalk. "She has my best interests in heart." Annabeth almost chokes on the words, but gets them out. Why is her life like this? Thalia looks her in the eye, cold fury edged by eyeliner.
"It's not fair. She's a witch and I don't really think she does." Thalia stalks off and Annabeth sighs, heading back to her room to find some concealer for the mark she's sure will bruise.
Thalia sits in the park, half-heartedly blowing bubbles with her black bubble wand. A mom in front of her is pulling her kid, who's begging to go on the carousel.
"You have chores to do," she tells the child. Thalia blows bubbles angrily.
"Adults alway ruin everything," Thalia mutters. An akuma flits up to her and perches on her bubble wand. Thalia's cheeks turn an angry red and the purple symbol covers her face.
"Hello, Bubblette. I am Kronas, and I can help you rid the world of adult former! All I want in return is Luckybug and Lady Jinx's Miraculous," whispers Kronas in her mind. The evil guiding her actions, Thalia grins.
"Yes, Kronas," she says clearly. Dark bubbles fly up her form and her clothing is replaced by a bright primary colored suit. The only dark thing in it is the combat boots Helen insults, which now spew bubbles, allowing her to fly above Paris and send bubbles of her own out to find adults and capture them.
"Perfect," smiles Kronas.
Percy sits at his desk, absentmindedly sketching a suit patterned with vines.
"Annabeth must have gotten her gift by now," he says to himself absent-mindly. Tikki flies from her perch on the widow to giggle at him.
"Why does that matter, Percy?" she squeaks. Percy groans.
"I dunno! It was just a thought, okay?" Tikki smirks, a weird expression on such a sweet kwami's face.
"Sure, Percy," she says. Percy looks up from his design to mock-glare at him, but as soon as he opens hi mouth Sally starts screaming. He runs downstairs to see her and Poseidon trapped in seperate bubbles that are floating out the open window.
"Mom? Dad!" he shouts. They say something back, but the noise is blocked by the bubble and soon they float away. Tikki gasps, floating beside him.
"Kronas must have released another akuma!" she says worriedly.
"I've got to find this villain ASAP. No one hurts my parents. Tikki, spots on!" he shouts. The familiar red glow surrounds him and Luckybug jumos out the window, swinging across Paris under a sky of eerie black bubbles containing adults of all ages. He scans everywhere for a villain, but no luck.
A bubble floats through Kronas' window in her lair and she starts cursing.
"Bubblette! I didn't mean me! Bubblette-" her communication is cut off as the bubble envelops her. Sighing, Kronas detransforms into Helen Chase, soon joined by her idiot husband. She really should have thought of this.
Luckybug has located the villain. It's a brightly colored girl standing on a rooftop looking down on kids crying for their parents. He swings to a stop and walks up to the kids. The girl- Bubblette by the sound of it- is spewing something about partying and no adults, which he's sure most 17 year olds are happy about, but he ignores that and kneels down so he's eyelevel with the smallest one.
"Your parents will come back, I'll make sure of it," he says to the child, who nods and wipes his tears. Straightening up, he turns to a younger teen. "Watch them," he tells her. She nods and he swings away, following Bubblette. "Go Luckybug!" the girl calls after him.
Annabeth gets up after her lunch.
"Wow. That was a birthday lunch to remember," she says sarcastically. Walking into the foyer where Helen struck her not an hour ago, she calls out, "Malcolm? Dad? Helen?" No one answers, and she shrugs, walking out where she almost jumps out of her skin. All her classmates are gathered in the front lawn, with a very oddly dressed girl manning the DJ booth. Would that be womanning? Annabeth ignores her pesky thoughts and braces herself against her door.
"Happy birthday, Annabeth!" they shout.
"Hey hey hey birthday girl! Ding dong, the witch is gone, and while the cat's away the mice will play, am I right Annie?" says the girl in the booth. Annabeth stares at her with a weird expression before she figures out who she is.
"Thalia?!" she says in shock. Thalia grins and winks.
"It's the Bubblette now, and she's brought everyone together for one purpose: to ce-le-brate! Let's get this party started!" she shouts.
"YEAH!" yell the teenagers, and as party music comes on they all starts dancing. Annabeth slips back into her house and Plagg flies out of her pocket. In the distance, Bubblette is threatening the class to make them have fun, but Annabeth doesn't hear as she looks at Plagg, torn.
"What's your problem? Relax! Have fun, it's the party you wanted!" he says, floating in the air as if it was a pool.
"But Thalia's been akumatized! I need to help her! And Luckybug will be looking for me, I thought I was his defense!" Plagg shrugs.
"You may never get this chance again! C'mon, just do it for a little while, and then you can go save the day and that crap." Annabeth brightens up slightly.
"I suppose you're right. God knows it'll be the one day in my life that I get to do what I want for once," she says and heads out to face the music. Firworks explode as she steps out and she runs to join her friends.
Bubblette shook Luckybug for a little while, but the fireworks are a dead-giveaway. He lsings towards them and drops onto a roof, stealthily observing the party.
"It's just you and me, Bubblette," he says, notciing the lack of Lady Jinx. "Where is that cat?"
Annabeth mingles. Everyone is dancing and smiling and Annabeth's fears over Luckybug needing her decrease as the red superhero doesn't show. But slowly, everyone's smiles fade and Annabeth notices that she's the only one who looks like she's actually having fun.
Luke sneaks up to the booth, Ethan in tow. He shoeves Ethan forward and Ethan starts stammering.
"I have a request. Slow dance, please?" Bubblette makes a face.
"Those so aren't my style, and isn't it a little early for that?" Luke groans and shoves Ethan out of the way, putting on the charm.
"It's for Annabeth, her first slow dance." Bubblette sighs.
"Meh. I guess." She puts on the record that Luke wants and couples start to pair up. Annabeth looks in the crowd for Percy but doesn't see him. As Luke grabs her waist she snaps back to reality, running out of the square to transform. Meanwhile, Luckybug decides that he better get moving.
"Lucky charm!" he calls and a record disk falls into his hands. "A record? Finally straight forward, for once." He throws the record like a frisbee, and it's a good thing he's so lucky, because the record makes several improbable bounces before landing straight on the record player. The music changes and the miserable looking couples break up and start dancing again.
"Hey, who changed the music?" asks Bubblette, but know one pays her any attention. He detransforms and slips into the crowd, finding Apollo among the dancers.
"Where have you been, man?" he asks. Percy shrugs nervously.
"Oh, you know. Here and there. Hey, do you know where the bathrooms are?" he asks. Apollo points to the house.
"Probably somewhere in there. You're lucky Helen's floating up there, can you imagine running into her on the way to the bathrooms?" Percy shivers. He doesn't want to think about it.
"Yeah. See you!" Percy carefully sneaks into the house, and turns a corner only to run straight into Lady Jinx.
"Lady Jinx? What are you doing here?" he says. She smiles-she has a beautiful smile- and rubs the back of her neck.
"i was escorting the girl who lives here to safety. You?"
"I'm Percy," he says, feeling the need tov introduce himself, "and I'm looking for the bathroom." Jinx nods.
"Good. Stay safe, ok?" He smiles because she seems so- concerned about him-and takes off. Ducking behind a pillar he calls the familiar words.
"Tikki, spots on! Yeah!" Luckybug runs out of the house and into the party.
Lady Jinx is already out there battling with Bubblette, dodging various bubbles she throws at her.
"Nice of you to show up," she calls to him over her shoulder. He smirks at her and launchs into the fray.
"I could say the same to you, but I digress! My day got 100% better when I saw you, how's yours?" he asks. She snorts.
"I've been better," is all she says. Bubblette starts throwing more and more bubbles at them and they're forced to focus on the battle. The bubbles start to turn from black to sickly green, and the stick where they hit. Luckybug supposes that if he had enough time, he could get them off, but he doesn't, and so he can't. The bubbles start growing, and as soon as Jinx bumps into him, they're stuck together in one enormous bubble. Bubblette cackles in that way that supervillains do, but her voice sounds tinny and Luckybug recalls his parent's voices not reaching through. She says something about air, and he realizes that with every breath he and Jinx take, the bubble grows smaller. Luckybug gives her the finger, and she growls and kicks the bubble. Instead of popping, like he had hoped, it flies into the air, steadily gaining altitude. He realizes one very important thing: he's afraid of heights. He closes his eyes and breathes slowly.
"Did you have to do that?" sighs Jinx.
"Yep," he says, without opening his eyes. "What, you said? It's just you and me." She huffs.
"Just use your power, lucky boy." he smirks at her, although he supposes that the effect is probably lessened with his eyes closed.
"Why don't use yours? I'm perfectly happy here," he says.
"Cataclysm!" she calls. Luckybug realizes the flaw in his plan as the bubble pops: the only thing worse than heights is falling from them. He screams but stops as Jinx yells something.
"Use your yoyo!" she shouts. Luckybug opens his eyes, sees Jinx's staff stuck in between some bars on the Eiffel Tower-yes, they are that high- and throws it, praying for a good solid-wham! He barely has time to grab Jinx as the yoyo draws him in at top speed.
"Good thing cats aren't afraid of heights," Jinx says as he lowers them to the ground. Luckybug subtly shudders.
"Yep."
"Let's party!" Bubblette shrieks. Somehow, not even the appearance of two superheroes can dampen her drive. Luckybug swings to a stop in front of her, Kady Jinx right behind him.
"Sorry to burst your bubble, but no one wants to party with you anymore," he says. Bubblette scoffs.
"Why do you have to be such haters?" she says. Whipping out her wand, she quickly captures all the teens in bubbles and send them flying.
"No!" Jinx and Luckybug scream at the same time.
"Space is the next stop for your precious partiers, and they're never coming back!" Bubblette cackles. Growling, Luckybug starts spinning his yoyo quickly while Jinx pulls out both staffs. Bubblette starts flying, headed towards the Eiffel Tower. Jinx and Luckybug go after her immediatly and sart scaling it.
"I'm gonna transform soon," Jinx yells to him. Luckybug nods and starts climbing faster.
"Lucky charm!" he shouts. A wrench falls into his hands. "A wrench?"
"What am I going to do with this?" mimics Jinx. He looks at her. "Just get on with it, bug boy." She jumps onto a beam as Bubblette sends explosive bubbles at her. "Nice to have some variety in your diet!" she calls to Bubblette. Luckybug scans the area, and a vent, the pipe connecting to it, and the screw holding them together appear in black and red polka dots. He runs towards the pipe and loosens the screw with his magical wrench. The pipe comes up and he tosses it to Lady Jinx.
"Cover me!" Jinx nods.
"Will do. Although, i hope you're not just screwing around." Bubblette raises her wand again and quick as a blink, his yoyo snatches it. He breaks it over his knee.
"Get out of there, nasty bug. No more evil doing for you," he says, catching the akuma with his yoyo. "Bye, bye, little bastard. Miraculous ladybug!" he shouts, throwing up the wrench. The ladybugs cover everything and put things back to normal. Thalia detransforms and falls to her knees, but Luckybug disregards her as Jinx taps him on the shoulder.
"Maybe you should stop saying 'bye bye little bastard'," she says. "I think we're gonna become icons, and kids will start copying us, so we gotta be careful, you know?" Luckybug considers this and nods.
"Yeah, okay. What should I say instead?" She smirks at him and he revels in it.
"How bout butterfly? Catch you later!" she says, vaulting off into the distance. Luckybug stares dreamily after her until Thalia coughs.
"You gonna help me down or what, lover boy?"
Kronas snarls and paces in her lair.
"You can't run forever, Luckybug and Lady Jinx! When I catch you, I will destroy you. I'll make you wish you never heard the word 'miraculous'," she promises. The window closes, leaving her smiling sinisterly in the dark.
"Did Annabeth like her gift?" Helen asks Malcolm over phone. Not that she cares, of course. But it does to carry up appearances.
"I was just about to check," Malcolm fibs. She nods and hangs up, leaving Malcolm to deliver the gift. He carries it into the dining room, where Annabeth is eating a lonely dinner.
"A birthday present, from your parents," he says, handing it to her. Even though it's been a sucky day, Annabeth's face brightens. Perhaps her father hasn't forgotten about her.
"Please say thank you to Dad and Helen," she asks. Malcolm nods and leaves the room.
Annabeth opens it in her room. As soon as the pretty blue wrapping and grey ribbon fall off, a card falls out before she can even see the gift. A gift that's not a pen and a card? What do you know, they do care. She opens it and it just says, in messy handwriting, 'Dear Annabeth, happy birthday. From, Percy' Even though Annabeth is very annoyed that Malcolm lied to her-probably on Helen's orders- she can't help but fall onto her bed, the part signed 'Percy' clutched close to her heart.
Apollo and Percy are chatting near the entrance of the school, when Annabeth comes up, sketchpad held carefully in her arms, and hugs Percy quite unexpectedly. He stands awkwardly until she pulls away.
"Thanks, Percy! That was the best gift I've ever been given," she says. Percy raises his eyebrows.
"Really? But your mom's a designer, shouldn't you get much nicer gifts?" She snorts.
"You'd think. Anyways, thanks again!" She runs into school, blushing slightly. Apollo opens his mouth, but Percy raises a hand, staring in her direction.
"Don't start," he says. Apollo shrugs.
"Okay, man. But just so you know, I'm getting myself a shirt that says 'Percabeth' for Christmas." He runs into school, laughing, with Percy right on his tail. no one sees Luke glaring at them from the shadows.
A/N: Thanks for reading!
