Thank you for waiting for this update! I'm not very good with writing battle scenes but I tried my best. I also cannot think of puns so they sound really forced out. Sorry! Let me know if you like it by leaving a review!
Marinette lived her days in a near constant state of bliss, not even the occasional Akuma could ruin her mood. Now that Felix was here and no longer missing, the two spent almost all their spare time together. Making up for the lost time when he had disappeared, as well as the time spent only communicating via the chatroom. Marinette had never realized it but she was very affectionate when it came to the grumpy blond.
She would brush her hands against his when they walked next to each other. Sit next to him, thighs almost touching but not quite when they were on the sofa while she absolutely demolished him in video games. She had even fallen asleep next to him, head resting on his bony shoulder while they made their way back on the subway. The rocking luring her to nap on her best friend's shoulder without realizing.
Alya had noticed and had wanted to voice her questions, but honestly. How could she possibly be the one to burst Marinette's bubble when her best friend had been a wreck of anxiety for two whole weeks.
Soon it became a common sight to see Felix joining his brother and Marinette for lunch. The three of them catching up on the past few years. Alya took the time to spend some quality time with her own boyfriend but always kept a watchful eye on her best friend from the other side of the cafeteria. Occasionally all 5 of them would have lunch together, but it was clear to see that Felix was not comfortable around large numbers of people.
Felix paid no mind to Marinette's excessive touching.
While he wasn't used to it, the constant presence of Marinette soothed him and kept him calm. The situation with his father was… tense to say the least. Upon his graduation, his father had arranged for Felix to immediately return to France where he would have begun to learn the ropes to take over the Agreste fashion empire.
Something that Felix had absolutely no interest in and clearly expressed his disinterest to do so. Felix refused to even be part of the Agreste company, refusing even a position on the Accounting team. Something that Gabriel knew his son would excel at. At 18, Felix should have entered college or start an internship doing something that he liked. His father, however, had already planned his entire future for him since the moment he was born.
Felix would like to carve his own future thank you very much.
The Agreste patriarch had turned almost red in anger at the rebellion that his eldest son was displaying. Felix had moved everything from his room in the Agreste Mansion (It wasn't much, Felix had already arranged for the majority of his belongings shipped from his dorm in London to the new apartment he had rented.
With a stiff nod and a soft "See you around, père."
That was the day he decided to find Marinette and apologize for his sudden disappearance. Stopping by a florist on his way to Collège Françoise Dupont. He had requested a bouquet that would show the recipient that he was sorry and that he missed them. The florist had blushed at his words and started to make an arrangement that Felix felt Marinette was sure to like.
The next day after the pair had reunited, the tabloids had entered an almost frenzied state when the scandal that the eldest Agreste son was disowned, had been leaked. Of course, it wasn't true, Gabriel Agreste had merely cut off Felix from the family fortune. Not that Felix actually needed it. He still had the trust fund that he would be able to access the moment he turned 21.
In the week after he had been "banned" by his father, Felix had established himself as an excellent stock trader. He had amassed enough funds to live comfortably without having to lift a finger. The allowance that his father had given him was a substantial amount, even though he had absolutely nowhere to spend the money while he was in school, other than the occasional gifts for his brother and Marinette.
His genius analytical mind allowing him to predict the rise and falls of shares in the most profitable manner. This gave him plenty of time to do absolutely nothing while having the capital to do anything he wanted.
Summer was approaching soon and Felix looked forward to spending even more time with Marinette and his younger brother. While the day was long and the temperature was rising, Felix had absolutely nothing to do while he waited on Marinette to reply to his texts. He had decided to drop by Marinette's family bakery for lunch, falling into easy conversation with the Dupain-Chengs when business was slow.
Felix would come over every other day for lunch while he sat in the kitchens, watching Tom do the daily baking and Sabine running the cash register.
That is until he accidentally found their accounting log books crammed in a drawer underneath the counter of their Kitchen, Tom had asked him to grab a whisk and Felix had opened the wrong drawer, he had taken out the book and set it aside to continue on his task. When he had finally found the whisk, he had wanted to return the book back to its original place when in a moment of Marinette-esque clumsiness, knocked it off the counter instead.
It fell open and he saw how the Dupain-Cheng's records were kept mostly well if only for the slight discrepancies in their accounts. He had pointed them out to Tom who had shook his head. The taller man then shooed Felix over to Sabine who had coincidentally came in to restock their display. Felix pointed out what he had found and Sabine laughed in embarrassment.
The two then spent the rest of the afternoon going through the bakery accounts to make sure everything was tally. Felix even offered some advice on how they could cut costs and increase in revenue. Sabine had been so impressed that when Marinette had come home, she announced that Felix was welcome to join the family anytime, with a playful wink.
Tom had sputtered in shock and shook a spoon threateningly at the confused blond teen. Marinette had turned bright red and pulled Felix along with her up to her room before thoroughly interrogating him. She didn't have time to say much before she noticed the gentle smile tugging at the corners of Felix's lips.
Family…He liked that.
Marinette stopped talking mid-sentence, reaching out to hold his hand in her much smaller ones.
"You'll always be a part of my family, Felix." she whispered, bright blue eyes staring into his blue-grey ones.
The sincerity of her words had left him breathless and the thought that he would have been accepted by this young woman he had met by chance in a chatroom, well the probability had been unbelievable. This was Marinette, she who embodied all that was good in this world and this wonderful person had taken surly, grumpy Felix Agreste in all his brooding glory and accepted him for who he is without a second thought.
Of course, she had known of what had really happened between Felix and his father. Felix had given her a blow by blow account once Nino and Alya had left for the night. Marinette had ranted angrily, pacing the floor of her room well into the night while Felix watched her with sharp yet tired eyes. It was amazing how she had gotten so riled up for his sake.
He wanted to kiss her.
Felix had instead grabbed her hand and pulled her down to his lap and offered her to marathon the entire season of Stranger Things on Netflix. Marinette had glared up at him and agreed sulkily. She had been trying to get Felix to watch one of her favorite shows for ages and he only agreed now as a bribe to keep her quiet.
Rude. But she accepted the compromise and the teens cuddled and marathoned the entire first season of Stranger Things. Neither of them getting a wink of sleep until the sun was high in the sky.
It had been a month since Felix had returned to France and Summer had begun. Marinette woke up at the thought of late mornings and long days spent with her best friends. The fact that she would have a substantial amount of free time to actually create some of the designs left her giddy with excitement. Having Felix over at her house was almost a common occurrence with how often the young man came over, so she wasn't surprised when she saw him sitting at her kitchen table helping himself to a bowl of cereal.
"Good morning Felix. What brings you here so early?" Marinette asked.
Felix raised a brow at her and glanced at the wall clock.
"Marinette its almost 11.30am. It's not early anymore." He smiled.
After an entire month being away from the stifling and oppressive environment that Felix had grown up in, Marinette was amazed at how open the older teen was now. Spending the time to finally take care of himself emotionally had done the blond wonders as his perpetually gloomy disposition made way for the snarky, quick-witted young man that Marinette had always known for him to be.
"So what are we going to do today? It's the first day of summer vacation!" Marinette gave a bright smile. Her infectious mood making even Felix smile into his cereal. Marinette got a bowl out for herself and took a seat opposite her friend. Felix honestly felt like part of the family, she continued to smile at her blond friend.
"I actually need to visit the library today."
Marinette perked up, out of the house, an air-conditioned room, no parents to coo over Felix every other hour. Sounds great. Felix laughed. Marinette blushed when she realized she had spoken her thought out loud. She hurriedly finished her cereal and went back upstairs to change. The two bid farewell to the Dupain-Cheng parents and made their way to the library.
Arms linked, the two walked in peaceful companionship, Felix carrying both their bags on his other shoulder. Felix guided Marinette and made sure to catch her every time she seemingly tripped on air. They spotted Adrien who had a photo shoot at the park close to Marinette's home. Marinette clutched onto Felix a little bit tighter while Felix called out to his younger brother, both waved to the younger blond who could only stare at their linked arms. Adrien realized he was taking too long to respond and half-heartedly waved back to the pair.
The two looked at each other in silent communication before deciding to ignore Adrien's weird behavior. They waved at him for one last time before turning away from the park and making their way to the library. They had just entered the library, the door closing behind them when the telltale screaming of civilians came from outside the library doors.
Marinette turned terrified eyes to Felix who stared at the closed doors with trepidation. He knew about the Akuma attacks. He knew that Marinette needed to be kept safe. But suddenly he heard "I need to help the people outside," and "Stay inside and get the others to a safe place!" and Marinette was gone.
Gone
She wasn't there anymore.
Where did she go?
"MARINETTE!" He yelled as he burst the doors open in a frantic need to look for his best friend.
He ran out to the pavement when he heard a loud but strangely familiar "Look out!" and felt the body of someone crashing into him. 2 seconds later a white blast of envelopes landed right where he had been standing. Felix groaned at the ache at his side and then felt the weight on his chest scramble to get up. "Need a hand?" Felix opened his bleary eyes and saw Chat Noir holding a hand to help him up.
Felix took the hand in a firm grip, surprised at how easy it was for Chat Noir to pull him up, as if Felix weighed nothing. Which was quite frustrating because he had been trying to gain some weight in the past month that he had been back in France. Felix looked at the leather-clad hero before him. There was just something so familiar about the messy sandy blond hair and the way he smiled. Like something, he had seen so long ago.
"Thank you." Felix nodded in thanks. Chat Noir gaped for a moment before an easy smile stretched across his face. A pang of nostalgia hit Felix straight in his lungs as he struggled to remember. He had seen that smile before. More screaming was heard and Chat Noir was about to run off when Felix caught his arm in a tight grip.
"Please, my friend, Marinette. She's out there somewhere." Felix gasped out. He watched Chat Noir's eyes widen. Alya had mentioned the time Marinette had helped Chat Noir with the Evillustrator incident, apparently Chat Noir and Marinette knew each other now.
Chat Noir searched Felix's eyes and just knew that Marinette had left his brother behind to help the other civilians get out of the range of the Akuma attack. It was such a Marinette thing to do. Distract the Akuma while waiting for his Lady to arrive. Working on it right now Look out for Marinette. Purify the Akuma. Have a serious talk with Marinette for running straight in to danger. Again. Plan in mind Chat Noir gave a comforting smile to his brother.
"I'll try to keep an eye out for her, monsieur." Chat shrugged out of the grip and leaped away back to where he knew the Akuma would be. He arrived at the scene to find Ladybug wrapping the Akumatized victim with the string of her yo-yo. Even in her frustration, his Lady looked beautiful. The look of unrivaled concentration as she tried to subdue the Akumatized victim.
"Chat, I need a little help here!" She yelled. Chat Noir leaped towards his lady.
The Akuma was a mailman who had one too many complaints on his late deliveries and had been fired that very day. The man had transformed into a larger than life version of a greymail deposit box with his head and limbs sticking out of the sides. With a roar, hundreds of envelopes shot out of the slots of his mailbox body in a horrific destructive blast. He had an angry scowl on his face with razor-sharp teeth. His skin was equally greyed and his eyes glowed a bright yellow. His mailman hat sat proudly on his head a polished metal version of his mailman hat.
"You try delivering to all of Paris while being constantly accosted by Akuma attacks! It's not fair!" He roared breaking free of Ladybug's yo-yo by using it against her and flinging her into the air with brute force alone. "I am Le Livreur and I'll make sure NOBODY WILL GET THEIR MAIL AGAIN"
With a blast of giant envelopes shooting towards him, Chat Noir leaped into the air and tried to stay out of the Le Livreur's range. All the while helping terrified civilians to escape the Akuma's wrath.
"Hey, Livreur! You might have been stamped out of work but that doesn't mean you should letter out your frustrations on the innocent!" Chat Noir called out. Hoping to distract the Akuma while buying time for Lady to think up of a plan.
"Lucky charm!" Ladybug cast on a nearby rooftop. The bright pink light signaled the use of her magic not only to Chat Noir but also to Le Livreur who made his way to Ladybug's general direction.
Chat couldn't see what the Ladybug magic had conjured but he heard his Lady order him to be prepared and destroy the Akuma's hat. With a giant roll of tape, Ladybug shot her yo-yo out to a nearby lamppost and swung from the rooftop with ease. She landed next to Chat Noir and ordered him to gather as many of the letters that were on the ground as he could.
Dodging the blasts of envelopes while simultaneously collecting the abandoned ones on the ground, both Ladybug and Chat Noir compiled enough, making a shoving motion with her hands while gesturing towards the mailman, Chat Noir understood what his Lady was trying to tell him.
Both of them ran straight towards Le Livreur with determination in their eyes. In sync, the duo jumped in opposite directions, "Your revenge plan is so amazing i can barely contain myself!" Chat Noir catching the Akuma's attention while Ladybug shot her yo-yo out, swinging around the Akuma and wrapping him with the giant roll of tape. When Le Livreur was adequately secured, they both ran to stuff the slots on the mailbox with the envelopes that they had collected.
"Cataclysm!" Chat Noir yelled out, arm straight in the air as the destructive magic gathered in his palm. Getting a running start he bounded across the road and leaping high into the air. Snatching the hat from Le Livreur's head. Watching in satisfaction as it immediately began to decay in his grasp. The dark butterfly fluttered out of the remains for only a moment before it was captured and contained in Ladybug's yo-yo and began its purification process.
When the purified Akuma was released back into the sky, Ladybug grabbed the remainder of her roll of tape and tossed it into the air with a loud "Miraculous Ladybug!"
The cleansing magic in the form millions of tiny ladybugs coarsed throughout the city. Righting the damages caused by the Akuma attack. The recently purified victim sat disoriented on the road with a groan. Paramedics were already arriving on the scene so Ladybug turned towards her partner with a smile.
"Bien joue" They shared a victory fist bump. Ladybug was giving Chat Noir one of her smiles. When suddenly the all too familiar 5-minute warning beep came from her earings. "I've gotta go Chat, I'll see you for patrol tonight!" She gave him a quick salute before she shot her yo-yo out and escaped from the scene.
Chat Noir sighed at the retreating figure of his Lady. Oh, I hate to see her leave but I love to watch her go. He admired her athletic wiry figure as she swung away into the distance before his own beeping from his ring forced him out of his daze. Chat Noir was free to go wherever he wanted but Adrien still had a photo shoot to complete.
Marinette landed and de-transformed in an alley nearby the library. Only she hadn't been watching when she had landed and failed to notice the figure of her best friend running towards the same alley in an attempt to catch Ladybug to ask about Marinette.
"M-Marinette?" Felix stuttered.
"Fuck."
Thank you for reading this chapter! If you have more ideas for Akumas do let me know because I'm terrible at this.