Ciel's desk began to vibrate, causing the sleepy inventor to stir from his late night inventing. Looking around in a tired daze, he tried to find the source of all this movement. When he turned to see his phone beeping, he picked it up and answered it.
"Hello." Ciel began.
"C-Ciel! Something bad's happening!" the caller said urgently, the voice in a whisper.
"Nath? What's up?" Ciel asked as he rearranged his desk.
"There's a villain called The Bubbler and he's kidnapped all the adults by trapping them with bubbles!" Nathanaël answered, though quietly as possible.
Ciel blinked. That is a problem. "When you say 'all the adults', you meant-"
"Yes. I mean all the adults in the whole of Paris!" the artist finished.
The lazy inventor almost dropped his phone. 'Darn. That means Uncle Gaultier's also kidnapped.' thought Ciel.
"Where are you?" he asked as he prepared a towel.
"The Bubbler's taken us to the Agreste Mansion to force us to celebrate Adrien's birthday." Nathan answered.
"Agreste Mansion?" Ciel wondered as to who would do something like this. "I'll be on my way."
"H-hurry! The others are calling for me." Nathan pleaded. They can't know about Jetboy.
"Right." With that, Ciel hung up the phone. As he went into the shower, he wondered who could be The Bubbler.
'It could be Adrien. He's the birthday boy.' Ciel thought as he scrubbed the shampoo on his head. 'But wait, he seemed so resigned when he said that he tried to convince his father.'
He took the soap and scrubbed his body. 'The Bubbler. A villain who uses bubbles...'
Then the realization dawned upon him.
'Nino!' He exclaimed mentally. 'Of course! His party animal personality, his desire to cheer his best friend, his love for bubbles! It at least makes some sense!'
As he finished bathing, he dried himself with the towel and changed into his usual attire. This time, with the addition of a black jacket. He needed to get there soon.
As he sped through the streets of Paris on his moped, he had noticed many children crying. There were also teenagers there as well. They seemed to be coping better, but still have the sorrow on their looks as they also had parents. Narrowing his eyes right behind his visor, he accelerated even further to get there in time.
He needed to protect their smiles.
Finally, Ciel had stopped right in front of the Agreste Mansion. It was a brilliant place to live in. He wondered if the Agrestes were richer than the Bourgeois family.
Parking right outside, he took a closer look pass the front gate and saw that many of his classmates were there as well. However, they look really tense.
'It doesn't look like a fun party, that's for sure.' Ciel thought as he walked up to the gate and rang the doorbell.
Everyone turned to see Ciel standing outside.
"Uh, is the party in here?" the inventor asks.
His classmates looked very frantic as one of their shreds of hope was for naught. Alix and Rose were the first to run up to the gate.
"Ciel! What are you doing here?!" Alix hissed.
"You're going to be stuck here with us!" Rose whispered.
"Stuck at a party? Isn't that a dream?" Ciel asked in fake bemusement.
"It'll be a nightmare if you don't get outta here!" Alix replied frantically.
"Why? What's happening?" he asked, feigning ignorance.
Before Rose could answer, a voice called out.
"Dude, you made it on time!"
Ciel looked up to see who said that. He looked baffled as to what Nino had become.
Nino, or now known as The Bubbler, had light blue skin, reddish-brown eyes, and black circles around his eyes, along with a black spot above his left eye and a black spot below his right eye. He wore a bright red, blue and yellow body suit, with many parts of the suit being rounded like attached bubbles. Around his head, he wore a red helmet that features a red antenna on top with a sphere. Also, he wore black boots, elbow-length gloves with pink knuckles, and black pants. On his chest is an eye-like black and white circle with two dark gray tubes attached. The tubes connected to Bubbler's container, where his bubble wand is. The bubble wand had a blue handle and a yellow head with a long, oval hole.
The akuma really had weird tastes in villainous outfits.
"Yeeeeah..." Ciel trailed off before he shook his head. "I'm here for the party."
"Come on in, bro!" The Bubbler said as he used his bubble wand to create a blue bubble to float Ciel up in the mid-air. The boy was sitting on a bubble, trying to regain balance. When it landed on the front lawn of the mansion, Ciel got off and looked around. Everyone just looked at him as if he grew two heads.
"All we gotta do is wait for Adrien to come out so that we can surprise him." Bubbler said. "So all of you better be happy! Or else."
The finishing sentence had a threat to it. Ciel tensed. He needed to do something soon, but not with everyone distracted.
Alix stormed up from behind to him and pulled his ear, albeit discreetly.
"Ow!" Ciel cried.
"Are you crazy?!" she growled into his ear. "You're now a prisoner! Just like us!"
"Relax! I have a plan!" Ciel whispered back, pulling away from her. "I'm gonna find a way to signal Jetboy."
She narrowed her eyes in suspicion, before letting a growl. Rose walked up to them, looking worried.
"Do you think he'll come and save us?" she asked. "All the adults are taken up into the sky."
He looked at her with determination. "He'll come. I'm sure. Besides, we don't even know if he's an adult or not."
Alix crossed her arms. "I hope you can get him, 'cause if this plan fails, I'm gonna kick your sorry butt in all of Paris."
"It's a gamble, but it'll be worth it." Ciel said before he made his way to Nathanaël.
"Ciel? I thought you would come here as Jetboy." the artist whispered to him.
He shushed him before whispering back. "Not yet. The element of surprise is a useful one. For now, just wait. When the party gets underway, I'll get inside the mansion while you act natural. If anyone asks where I am, make up a valid excuse."
The artist gave a slight nod.
"What are you two talking about?"
Both of the boys jumped slightly as they turned to see Juleka looking at them.
"We're talking about how this party is going to be depressing." Ciel quickly said as Nathan nodded in agreement, albeit rather frantically.
Juleka narrowed her eyes in suspicion. Before she could say anything, the front doors had opened as Adrien had left his house. Quickly, everyone began cheering for him.
"Happy birthday!" They all shouted.
Adrien blinked before looking up in the sky to see Bubbler standing on a...well, bubble.
"Hey, hey, hey, birthday boy. Guess what? Daddy's gone. While the cat's away, the mice will play." Bubbler said with a grin.
The said birthday boy gave him a strange look before he takes a closer look of the bubble and Bubbler's rather distinctive nose. "Nino?!"
"The Bubbler's brought all yo homies together for one single-sole purpose, to ce-le-brate!" the akumatized Nino exclaimed with such enthusiasm.
"YEAH!" Everyone cheered, though it sounded really fake and forced due to the circumstances.
"Let's get this party started!" Bubbler declared as he jumped from his bubble and landed right behind a DJ booth. The music began to play as everyone started dancing to it. Adrien had a look of disbelief and went back inside the house.
"Come on, everybody, I brought you here to party!" Bubbler tries to rouse up the crowd, who have sad expressions on their faces. "So dance or you'll join the adults up in the sky!" With insane laughter, the fireworks are shot up to the sky.
'Wait. Why are there fireworks?!' the inventor thought as fireworks were ringing in his head. If any of those fireworks hits any of the adults...
Ciel blanched.
He needed to act now. "I'm going to use the bathroom." Ciel whispered to Nathan with a wink.
The artist nodded as the inventor snuck through the crowd and went inside the Agreste Mansion.
The mansion inside was amazing. Whoever did the interior deserved an award for best designer. Ciel looked up to see a portrait of Gabriel Agreste and his son, Adrien. Both of them wore black and both of them had different expression. Adrien had a forlorn look on his face while his father held the signature lack of emotion.
Ciel wondered if the Agreste family had always been like this.
"Ciel?"
The inventor turned around to see Adrien himself, looking confused.
"Hey, Adrien. I just need to find the bathroom." Ciel said.
"Sure, just go to the dining hall here and you'll see the door right in front of you." Adrien instructed, pointing the directions.
"Thanks." Ciel said as he walked towards the directions. He heard Adrien head out of the mansion. He headed into the bathroom and tried to close the curtains. Before he could, he noticed everyone waltzing outside. Ciel raised an eyebrow at this. It must be a slow dance. But wasn't it a bit too early? He took a closer look and noted the pairs.
Dance Pairs:
Alix x Max
Nathanaël x Mylène
Jean x Rose
Kim x Juleka
Adrien x Chloé
Ciel did the best thing to react to this.
Laugh.
He was laughing breathlessly as this was too good of an opportunity. Taking out his handphone, he took a quick snapshot of the scene outside him while banging hysterically on the window.
"I'm totally adding this to the OTP list!" Ciel exclaimed.
A few students seemed to notice Ciel by the window as they could hear the banging. Alya facepalmed at him, Nathanaël and Juleka hid their faces behind their bangs and Kim growled in annoyance. Max had a terrified look. Ciel wondered why...
...only to stop laughing and blanch as he noticed Alix's death glare directed right at him. If looks could kill, Alix would deliver disproportionate retribution with her's. Gulping, he raised his hands in surrender and closed the curtain. He was hoping that Bubbler didn't see him or else it might cause suspicion.
"Alright. Alfa, begin ignition." Ciel declared as the belt began to light up from the buckle. In an instant flash, Jetboy was standing in place. He took a peek from outside the curtain.
'The Bubbler. He has that bubble wand, yet it can function like a sword as well.' Jetboy thought.
Looking around, he needed to find something that can serve as a sword. He went outside the bathroom and went to the kitchen. Going through the cupboards, he spotted a spatula and picked it up.
In a flash, the spatula transformed into a longsword, stylized from the medieval times.
'However, I programmed the sword option to function as a stun baton.' Jetboy thought. It was better this way. What right did he have to play executioner?
When he went back to the curtain, he looked in horror.
Ivan was in a bubble. And he was floating up to the sky.