The next chapter is here and we finally get to meet the villain. Enjoy the reading.
Chapter 2: Grow, plants, grow!
„All that hard work and what does he have from it? Absolutely nothing. His negative feelings are absolutely understandable. And that's also what makes him a perfect prey for my akuma." Hawk Moth was smiling. Today he'll create a strong villain. One that won't be so easily defeated by that damn bug and her cat companion. He took a butterfly into his hand and injected it with his evil powers. „Fly my little akuma. Darken the heart of this ambitious but underrated youth and make his potential grow."
The black butterfly left through the big window to find it's victim. By the time it reached Luc, he was already tired of walking and was just sitting on a bench in a park. Unnoticed by anyone, the butterfly approached him and merged into a small bag he was always carrying around and where he stored samples they were supposed to present at today's conference.
„Gardener, I'm Hawk Moth, I understand your anger and I can say that you don't deserve such treatment. I can also give you the power to show them your potential. That way, no one will ever doubt who really did the hard work. I'll only want a small favor in return, and that is Ladybug and Chat Noir's miraculous. What do you say? Want to join my team?"
„Gladly, Hawk Moth. I won't fail you. I'll make them all regret how they treated me."
„Aaaand that was the last one. I'm done. Phew, how come maths can always tire me so much" Marinette put down her pen.
„But you did it much faster today than usually." Tikki was floating around.
„Well, I had a motivation. Alya's coming with me to the botanic garden to find some inspiration for my accessories design. I had to finish it now before going there since I have no idea how long I'll stay there. Speaking of that, what time is it?" Marinette looked at her clock and screamed. „02:50 p.m.! We were supposed to meet there at three. I'll never make it in time..." she paused and looked at her kwami. „That's unless..."
„Marinette I've told you many times already. You shouldn't be using your Ladybug powers for things like this."
„I know, I know. But came late the last five times I was supposed to meet Alya and I feel really bad for always making her wait."
„Sigh. OK. But I want some special treat for that." Tikki giggled.
„Thank you Tikki. I'll get you anything you want afterwards but now I have to hurry up. Spots on!"
„Wow. Am I dreaming? You actually came in time." Alya greeted her best friend when she arrived.
„Ah, you know...I though it might be a good change." Marinette giggled nervously and in her mind she thanked Tikki once again for not letting her down.
„So, what do you want to see first?"
„The new exposition hasn't been opened yet right?"
„Nope. The ceremony starts in an hour."
„If that's so, we might look at the other parts first. They could be just as inspiring and educational as the new ones."
„Then it's decided. Let's find something really good, so we'll have the best project in the class."
„C'mon, we don't have to be the best."
„Of course we do...at lest better than Chloé and Sabrina."
„OK. I'll agree to that." Marinette laughed and Alya joined to.
„And now I shall pass the word to Professor Victor Arbet, who is here to day to present his discovery of a new plant species." Mr. Cuvier introduced the botanist.
„I'm really glad I can be here today. In fact, this has been my dream ever since I dedicated my life to the study of nature but this isn't only my accomplishment. I would never have gone this far without the help of my teammates who unfortunately couldn't come." At this point Mr. Arbet made a pause. Luc never came for the conference, even though – as Mr. Cuvier said – he knew the place had been changed, and he was worried about him. However, he had to continue now. „And now let me tell you more about that discovery. It wasn't until we ventured deep inside the Amazonian rainforest into a swamp area that we were able to spot this rare beauty. This – until now unknown – carnivorous plant has several distinctive features which include..." He couldn't finish the sentence, because someone suddenly slammed the door open end entered the room.
„The conference ends here for you, professor Arbet!" Said the uninvited guest. He was dressed in jade green suit with forest green in a grass-like pattern on his hands and legs, so it looked like boots and gloves. The same pattern was also on his turtle-neck and the bottom side of the T-shirt, and on his chest there was a dark green symbol which was probably supposed to be a flower. A bag of the same colour was hanging around his hips. His hair was orange with violet stripes and he had yellow eyes with a little bit of fuchsia towards the edge of the iris and most of his face was covered with a black mask that resembled a butterfly.
„Who are you and how dare you disturb us during this important conference?!" Mr. Cuvier jumped out of his seat.
„Good question. I'm the one who should be getting the credit for this discovery! It was my hard work! How dare you present it as your own, Victor Arbet?!"
„Luc? Is that you, Luc?" Professor Arbet was looking at him, and he couldn't believe his own eyes. Could this be his quiet, nature-loving assistant?
„No, I'm not Luc. I'm no longer the fool who did all the hard work for you! I'm the Gardener and I'm about to show you something really interesting! Something that will prove to you that I'm the greatest botanist of all the times. Watch carefully because it's the last thing you are going to see." He put his hand into the bag that was hanging around his waist and took something really small out of it. „Grow my seed, grow! Show your true beauty." He threw the seed down and once it touched the ground, it quickly grew out into a monstrously big carnivorous plant that moved on its own, using its leaves or roots to catch the people around. The first one to be caught by it was Victor Arbet.
„How do you like my plant, professor? Looks almost like the one you've discovered doesn't it. There are only a few differences, like the size...the hunger...oh, and there's one more thing. It acts on my order, hahahahaha! Eat him my natural beauty!"
The other people who were attending the conference were watching the scene completely frozen with fear. Only when the plant ate Mr. Arbet in one gulp they regained their senses and tried to run away, screaming, and with horror in their eyes.
„There's no escaping my flower you fools. Eat them all!" In that moment Gardener threw around some more seeds, which quickly grew into more plants similar to the first one and they started catching everyone that tried to escape, and only a few actually made it past the door.
„Idiots. Thy think that running away from this room will save them. Well, it doesn't really mater, whether they ran or not. I wanted to show my little flower to the whole Paris anyway."
„That's the spirit, Gardener." Hawk Moth telepathically talked to him. „Go out! Cause an uproar! That is sure to bring that troublesome duo right to you."
„Don't worry, Hawk Moth. I'll get rid of both, Ladybug and Chat Noir. After all, carnivorous plants are perfect for luring pesky insects. Hahaha!"
And that's all for today. I know I'm terrible in creating chapter titles so please bear with me...
Writing this chapter was really interesting, because I had planed everything beforehand and I only forgot about one "unimportant" thing - Gardener's look :D. So when I came to the part where I had to describe him it was like: he looked at the person dressed in... green... And I just skipped a few lines to work on it later, once I got home, because I was writing it on a train while traveling and therefore I didn't even have any paper to try to work on his look.
Anyway, if you want to see how this story's villain and his flower look, you can find it here: h t t p: slash slash sta dot sh slash 01qj889ctgd1 (sorry for this "code" but it wouldn't let me put it in otherwise :P)
It's really sketchy, because I didn't want to work on the details when I was drawing it for my personal purpose and reference, but maybe one day I'll draw a proper version.
So I hope you liked it, expect the next chapter in a week and if it's not too much trouble for you, I would appreciate some reviews.
Arrivederci ;)