Happy Mardi Gras everyone!
You might not know about it if you don't live in Louisiana, because Louisiana's the only state where it's officially a holiday, but don't worry, I'm here to enlighten you on it!
Not gonna lie, kinda nervous about this because this is my first Miraculous World chapter. I literally tugged my collar a few times while making this.
Yet, I have three reasons to feel excited for this.
One: One of the lost Elemental Miraculous will be no longer lost.
Two: Like I said, this is my first Miraculous world chapter, and I have a huge helping of hope in my hands. Try saying that five times fast.
Three: I get to share one of my favorite holidays with you guys! Yay!
No joke, there's 12,276 words in this chapter. Get a drink and/or a snack; you might be here a while.
Anyway, let's get to it!
Enjoy!
Some time at night...
Man, Paris at night. What I would give to get a good view of a Paris landmark with the night sky.
On a building before the Eiffel Tower, we see Ladybug, Cat Noir, and Twilight sitting on it.
What are they doing? Well, remember that Aaron said that he'd be heading to his home state to get back the Metal Miraculous? That's what's going on here.
Twilight had his book and was showing them about the riddles and about the Lost Miraculous he had to find. He just finished telling them that he's off to Louisiana to get the first one.
"Are you sure about this Twilight?" Ladybug asked, "We could come with you."
"Hey, I was still here while you two were in New York and Shanghai. I can handle myself. Besides, what can go wrong? Shadow Moth doesn't know about this. We're in the clear."
...He must not be paying attention to the pair of eyes on the side of the next building.
"I'll be fine, you two. I gotta get ready to go. I'll see you guys in a few days." Twilight then parkoured across the rooftops on his way home.
"Ladybug, do you really think Twilight can find all four lost Miraculous on his own?"
"He knows more about them than us, Cat. I have faith in him, but I'm worried that Shadow Moth might find out about this. If he gets a hold of any of the Elemental Miraculous, he might get an advantage against us.
We might have to help Twilight with this one."
"As much as I don't like dissing your plans, M'lady, you and I have private lives that might stop us from helping him. How're we gonna get to the U.S. without anyone asking any questions."
Cat did make a good point.
If Ladybug's parents found out she was gone for a while and was on the other side of the planet, she'd be in so much trouble.
They needed a valid excuse, but they didn't have one right now.
"We'll find a way. Until then, let's head in for the night." "I bid you adieu, Ladybug."
When the two left, the eyes that were on the side of the next building took the form of an origami butterfly-like and flew off.
Meanwhile, in Nathalie's bedroom...
Looking down at a tablet was Nathalie from her bed, and Gabriel who was standing to the side. What was on the screen was what the butterfly was looking at.
That butterfly from earlier was a sentimonster she created called Optigami. She made it after the Miracle Queen incident, when Chloé exposed the identities of the Miraculous wearers other than Ladybug and Cat Noir.
It was meant to be a spy for any Miraculous wearers, and luck was on their side tonight.
Thanks to Optigami, they found out that Twilight was on the search for four Elemental Miraculous.
However, Nathalie pointed out, "Optigami's position was too low for us to see which one he's going after, but we now know there's one in Baton Rouge, Louisiana."
"The Metal Miraculous." Gabriel said, "Sounds like just the edge I need to get the upper hand against Ladybug and Cat Noir. All we need to do is have the Twilight Fighter show us where it is."
This is all taking place in the middle of another break from school.
In Aaron's room, he's having a video chat with all his friends on his laptop on his desk.
Suddenly, his Mom came in and gave Aaron an envelope and he said, "Thanks Mom." as she left.
"What's that, Aaron?" Kim asked.
"My plane ticket."
"Where're you going?" Alya said.
"My mom told me while we were making the movie. My grandmother said there was a change of plans for the family reunion and we're celebrating it on Mardi Gras instead of next month.
So yeah, I won't be here for the next few days." Aaron said.
Everyone individually said something that meant they understood.
Yet, Cyrus, Nilak, Cody, and Zoé didn't. Mardi wha?
"What's Mardi Gras?" Zoé asked.
Aaron then explained, "Mardi Gras, sometimes called Fat Tuesday, is a holiday people celebrate to dedicate the close of the pre-Lenten season.
The pre-Lenten season, A.K.A. Shrovetide or Forelent, is the Christian period of preparation before the beginning of the liturgical season of Lent, the season of the church year that follows the Epiphany Season.
My family's gonna celebrate at my Momo's place while we have our reunion. We're gonna see the parade in downtown Baton Rouge, and afterwards at night, we're all gonna eat out in the backyard."
That's why no one's at school even though it's a weekday. It's Mardi Gras Break.
Make sense how they don't know about it. They're all from the U.S., and Louisiana, Aaron's home state, is the only state where it's an official holiday.
Mardi Gras is actually celebrated Italy, Germany, Russia, Brazil, Trinidad and Tobago, Louisiana, Poland, the U.K., and a lot of other places. Even here in Paris.
I'm surprised Nilak doesn't know about it. She's from England!
Everyone started talking about it. It sounded like a lot of fun.
Aaron said back, "Anyway, I'm looking forward to tomorrow. We need to catch the next flight to Baton Rouge."
Aaron opened his envelope and looked inside and groaned before saying loudly so his mom could hear, "Mom! How on Earth do you buy six extra tickets?!"
"Oh- Sorry, Aaron! Should I send them back?"
"*sigh* Hold on! (to his friends) Sorry about that, guys. My mom somehow bought six extra tickets for the flight. And she says I'm careless. Now I know where I got it from."
Hearing that he had extra tickets, Marinette said, "Aaron, wait!"
"Yeah?"
"...What if you brought Cyrus, Nilak, Cody, and Zoé with you to Louisiana to celebrate Mardi Gras? You could use this as an opportunity to tell them all about it and show them the customs."
"...I'll admit, it's tempting...But, I don't know Mari."
"C'mon. It'll be fun. I'll even come along."
"...Well, I mean, I guess it's not a bad idea. If you guys can get permission from your parents, I guess it'll be okay. That just leaves me with one ticket."
It was Alya's turn to have an idea.
"Why don't you get Adrien to come with you guys?"
Aaron and Mari immediately saw what she was doing. Before Marinette could protest, Aaron muted her for a second, and said to Adrien, "You don't mind, right Adrien?"
"Well, I'd have to get my father's permission first, so-"
"Actually,"
They all heard a voice on Adrien's screen and they saw Gabriel from the doorway.
He just walking by his room, when he heard, 'Louisiana' from Aaron.
"I couldn't help but overhear your conversation. I personally think it's a great idea to bring my son along on this trip. It could be a perfect learning experience."
Actually, it was a part of his plan. Being from Louisiana, Aaron had some knowledge of the place. The Metal Miraculous might be at one of Louisiana's landmarks and/or important places.
"You have my permission, Adrien." he said before leaving.
"...Well, that settles that then." Aaron said before saying so his mom could hear, "Mom! Good news! We can keep the tickets!"
Tomorrow...
At the airport, we see Adrien's limo pull up and the young actor came out of it with a suitcase.
"Hope y'all are ready for an eleven hour trip." Aaron said.
Elsie then led everyone inside the airport, and the long process of going to the terminal, handing in tickets, and boarding the plane went by.
When the plane took off, everyone was seated.
Elsie was up front with the toddlers, Aarielle was on the other side along with Zoé, Aaron had Mari and Adrien on both his sides behind Elsie, and on the other side of the plane was Cyrus, Nilak, and Cody.
Mari was out the window to get her mind off Adrien, but he was video calling his dad on a tablet. He called to make sure he got onboard safely.
Gabriel's actually calling from the private plane he owns, but Adrien doesn't need to know that.
Aaron who was resting his eyes heard Zoé call him and he opened them and answered.
"Aaron, can you tell us more about Louisiana?"
"Sure thing."
Everyone then turned to pay attention as Aaron spoke. Gabriel too, because Adrien forgot to end the call.
"Louisiana, known for it's Cajun and Creole cuisine, Mardi Gras celebrations, diverse cultural heritage, bayous, jazz music, the birthplace of American blues and where where the motto is 'Union, Justice, and Confidence'.
People might always go for New Orleans, but my home's in the capitol: Baton Rouge. Baton Rouge is actually French for 'Red Stick'. It's called this because records of D'Iberville, a city in Mississippi, described large reddened poles were erected by Indians with fish and bear heads attached in sacrifice.
Yeah, Indians lived in Louisiana a long time ago.
Anyway,"
Aaron pulled out his phone and showed his friends some sites to see on his phone as he continued.
"There's some other things to see in Louisiana like the Tiger Stadium where Louisiana State University hosts football games, the walk down the Mississippi River, and the Arts & Science Museum but one of the biggest attractions is the Old State Capitol building."
"Whoa, it looks like a castle." Marinette said.
"It actually was a castle. It was a Gothic-Revival castle that was built in 1847, but it was burned down by the Union Army. And in 1882, it was repaired and served as the state capitol until 1932, when the new State Capitol building opened.
Now it's a museum of political history.
There's things to see there like the history of the Boggs family. They lived in that castle for more than forty years.
Andrew Boggs was the original owner of the place, but he was presumed dead from a plane crash in Alaska in 1972. They didn't find a body or the plane, all they found was his ring."
Okay, that last part with the ring isn't actually true or a part of the history. I added that into this fanfic to introduce the Metal Miraculous.
Hope you're liking the Louisiana lesson though.
The five of them looked at the ring. To Marinette and Adrien, it looked a lot like the Miraculous Twilight's going after. And sometime tomorrow, he's going after it.
Gabriel saw the ring two and smirked as he ended the call. That had to be what Twilight was going for. He'd have to get it, but he might need to find a helping hand with it first.
Just in case Twilight wouldn't make things easy.
After that lesson that Aaron gave out, everyone continued to sit back, relax, and enjoy the rest of the way to Louisiana.
That was until-
"Aaron, I'm bored, can you sing 'Stars in the Sky' or something?" Aarielle said, peaking her head over the seat to see Aaron.
"Aarielle, you have a phone, just listen to it." "Please?"
Aaron looked at her then at Nilak, who had the same look. She was a music fan after all.
Aaron sighed. "Fine. What've I got to lose?"
"Thanks, Aaron. *turns back around*"
Aaron used his phone to play the music to the song he was gonna sing.
Play 'Stars In The Sky' by Kid Cudi.
(Aaron) "The feelings runnin' deep
Ain't no time for sleep
A second to unwind
Head up in the sky.
I follow to the beat
It's just what my heart's demandin',
Friends and laughin'.
Hear me, dancin' in the flow
Yes, I feel it's my time
Watch me glow.
Livin' in the dream lights, in the zone
Yeah, this world is all mine
Come see what you'll find, right.
Goin' for it, I'm out, I'm rollin'
'Til the stars in the sky, babe, I'm home
In the city, I'm out, I'm rollin'
'Til the stars in the sky, babe, I'm home
Say I might and sail tonight, I'm home
Say right now, 'I'll get it', take my hand, come zone
Come on, catch a ride
And we take it to places that we only dream
I think I'm home
This is my heaven, baby, day and night, in my zone."
Later...
We see Aaron and his friends and family arrive in Baton Rouge Airport and as Aaron kept singing as the made their way to the exit, heads turned in their direction.
"The feeling flows through me
Heaven's where we meet
Happy we lovin', we lovin' our lives
Things I wish to see
Seem to come to be
I see the truth, I'm honest."
They made it outside where two cabs were waiting. After putting their luggage in, they made their way into downtown Baton Rouge to where they'd be staying for the time being.
"The moon is singin' our song
See we found what we're searchin' for
The love that we holdin'
Another adventure unfolds
I've been dreamin' about it
Dreamin' about it
Goin' for it, I'm out, I'm rollin'
'Til the stars in the sky, babe, I'm home
In the city, I'm out, I'm rollin'
'Til the stars in the sky, babe, I'm home
Say I might and sail tonight, I'm home
Say right now, "I'll get it", take my hand come zone
Come on, catch a ride
And we take it to places that we only dream
I think I'm home
This is my heaven, baby, day and night in my zone
We are free of worries
Just to the side, take me home
Free, no worries at all
Take me home."
After a while, the car came to a stop in front of an inn.
End song!
The eleven of them gathered their luggage and went into the inn for that they'd be staying in for the time they'd be in Louisiana.
They didn't want to stress Aaron's grandma out with having to take care of eleven extra people for the next few days.
They're staying on the floor below the top floor.
Speaking of which, we see them exit the elevator to the floor.
They went down the hall, which was decorated like the streets were.
"Aaron, why are there these three colors everywhere? That normal for Mardi Gras?" Cyrus asked.
"Yep. That's because the three colors of Mardi Gras are purple, green, and gold. Purple represents justice, green represents faith, and gold represents power."
Aaron explained as he led the two of them to the rooms they'd be staying in.
"Boys in one room, girls in the other." Elsie said before dragging Kelsey and D. Michael into a room with her.
She knew there'd be trouble if either of them stayed with the older kids.
The next day...
After the breakfast that the inn provided, the eleven of them got a ride in two more cabs.
They're on their way to a suburban area, to a one story, slightly teal house.
When they all got out, Aaron and his fam went to the door first.
Elsie unlocked it, they went inside and made it to the house's kitchen.
Aaron's friends looked around the place in curiosity when they stepped inside. It was a pretty nice place.
Zoé's eyes happened to land on a photo on the wall of a much younger Aaron with his grandparents. In the picture, Aaron was given a soccer ball on Christmas.
The woman in her sixties was Aaron's grandmother. Her skin's a little lighter than Aaron's and her hair tied behind her head. She had five moles on her face, two on one cheek, three on the other, and on her right cheek.
That was Patricia: Elsie's mother and Aaron's grandma. Or his Momo, take your pick.
The man in the photo had skin that was a little darker than Aaron's. He had some stubble, and a short haircut, and there was a pair of glasses in his hands.
That's Cedric: Elsie's stepdad, and Aaron's grandpa. Or his Papou, again, take your pick.
In case you were wondering, those two words aren't a different language, they're bayou slang.
Zoé had to admit, Aaron looked cute as a kid.
"Momo!"
She was out of thought when she saw Aaron and Aarielle go into the living room where Patricia was sitting on the couch. They both gave her a hug.
Cedric was out at work today, and Patricia had the day off.
Kelsey and D. Mike didn't though. They only did it when someone brought it up.
"And hello to you two, too." she said to them.
Elsie gave those two a look, then they went to hug Patricia.
"There you go. *notices Aaron's friends* And who's this?"
"They're Aaron's friends." Aarielle said.
"These're Marinette, Adrien, Cyrus, Cody, Nilak, and Zoé."
They all individually said hi.
"Mom somehow bought extra tickets on accident."
"Oh really?" Aaron's Momo said, looking at Elsie who looked away, "We gon' talk in a minute.
(to Aaron's friends) Nice to meet y'all. I'm Aaron's Momo, Patricia, but you can call me Momo Pat.
(to Elsie) Now, Elsie, how 'bout we talk in the next room?"
Elsie sighed as she went into the next room with Momo Pat. The toddlers sat on the couch after Aaron put on something for the children to watch on the T.V. to drown out the sounds of Patricia lecturing Elsie.
We could still kind of hear them though. Patricia was a little louder than she meant to be.
"*clicks tongue* So, who wants to tour Baton Rouge?"
"Oh, please take me with you." Aarielle pleaded. Aaron rolled his eyes and let his sister come along.
As the eight went to the door, Adrien spoke up. He thought about this when he heard Momo Pat speaking.
"Aaron, I don't mean to be...rude, but I didn't think you'd be related to a family like this. I mean you talk differently, and-"
"Boy, make one more microaggression and we gon' start movin' some furniture up in here, got it?" Aaron said, talking in his native tongue for the first time in a while.
That made his friends step back, and Adrien say, "Ah-Sorry! I didn't mean-!"
"*laughs before playfully elbowing Adrien* Just kidding, man. I know you didn't mean it. I just stopped talking like that for a while. Singing has changed me. A lot. You guys coming or not?"
They made their way outside and to the nearest bus stop.
Later...
We see the seven of them get out of a bus and onto a sidewalk in front of a couple of shops.
After the last person, Nilak, got off, the bus closed its doors and drove off.
Then Aaron said, "Well guys, so much to see, and so only little time to make sure you guys get to see as much of Baton Rouge as you guys can before we head back to Paris. Everyone stick with me, and don't separate."
Cue montage!
In a restaurant, we see the seven of them are seated, and everyone each has something different.
For those who don't know of the dishes, I'll explain them.
Cyrus, Aarielle, Cody, and Marinette, each had a plate of jambalaya,
Jambalaya's an American Creole and Cajun rice dish with French, African, and Spanish influence, that mostly has meat and vegetables mixed with rice.
and Nilak, Zoé, Aaron, and Adrien all had a bowl of gumbo.
Gumbo's a popular soup in Louisiana that's made of a strongly-flavored stock, meat and/or shellfish, and rice. Gumbo's already a great dish, but add some Tabasco to it and it'll make your day.
For Aaron's friends' first time eating this kind of cuisine, it wasn't good.
It was great! This food did wonders to their taste buds.
The scene changed, and Aaron's now leading everyone down the street as everyone had a beignet in their hands covered in a napkin.
A beignet is a type of deep-fried pastry, usually made from yeast dough in France, but its kinda like a donut. In France, there's at least 20 different versions of them, but in Louisiana, the most common kind is rectangular shaped, glazed, and covered in powdered sugar.
Aaron was like a tour guide, pointing and providing information about everything that was important.
As they walked, some people from across the street noticed Aaron and excitedly took some pictures with their phones.
The Ace was in Baton Rouge, why would they do that?
We now see the seven of them by the Mississippi River taking pictures next to the U.S.S. KIDD Veterans Museum.
It's an old World War II flagship now-turned present day museum that was named after Rear Admiral Isaac C. Kidd who died on the bridge of the USS Arizona during the 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
Admiral Kidd was the first U.S. flag officer to die during World War II, and the first American admiral ever to be killed in action.
Now, the ship's both a national historic landmark on the Mississippi River in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and is the only surviving U.S. destroyer still in her World War II configuration.
We now see them all inside the Old State Capitol.
In a room, they're standing in front of a glass display that showed artifacts and pictures that were of the Boggs family.
Aaron then gestured everyone to turn around, and they all saw a display that had a picture of Andrew Boggs, and next to it was his ring.
A.K.A., the Metal Miraculous.
Marinette and Adrien each looked at the ring with a certain look before smiling.
Maybe Twilight did have this in the bag. But just in case, they'd be there to supervise to make sure nothing went wrong.
End montage!
We now see them walking around North Boulevard Town Square.
"Thanks for showing us around, Aaron." Marinette said.
"No, thank you guys." Aaron said, "It was nice to spend a day back in Baton Rouge."
When they all stopped at a crosswalk, but then an expensive looking car pulled up next to them, and the back seat window pulled down and a voice from it was heard.
"Hey, Aaron! Long time no see!"
Aaron and Aarielle knew that voice too well. They didn't answer and looked away as the crosswalk signal gave the 'walk' signal and they both walked on, leaving Aaron's friends perplexed.
As the car still followed them down the street, they got a look of the person who called out to Aaron in the car.
It was a girl around their age with fair skin. She's a redhead with an orange headband, and as her long hair went down the back of her hair, there's a single black streak in it. She has a silver designer jacket over her blue dress, and white shoes.
She said, "Aaron, I know you can hear me. You can't ignore your friend like this, y'know."
"You were the one who ended the friendship, Tracey."
Yep, this was Tracey. Remember? Aaron mentioned her and how much of a brat she was? Stomped on their friendship and only cared about winning?
"Come on, Aaron, don't you miss me a little?"
"You're bad at body language, you know that?" he said, obviously not wanting to talk to her, "I know you're upset that I'm the Ace."
"...I'm not upset at all."
"I got your account cancelled when you tried using Aaron for clout." Aarielle said.
Tracey's eye twitched, and I swear I heard glass starting to crack.
Yeah, about that: three days after Aaron's face reveal, Aarielle found out online that Tracey had a social account and on it, she was posting lies saying that she was best friends with the Ace.
Aarielle debunked that and got her cancelled saying that she was the Ace's sister, she showed proof to those who didn't believe her at first, and said that Aaron didn't even know anyone named Tracey.
Almost all of Tracey's followers left her, and the site blocked her account.
I really hope you guys don't do stuff like that.
"C'mon, Trace, I ain't stupid. The only reason you're talking to me is because I'm famous."
"That's not true. I just wanted to catch up with a friend. I saw you on a post and I just want to say hello."
A *ding* was heard and Tracey pulled out her phone, opened it, and replied to the text she got.
Aaron got suspicious and snatched the phone out of her hand and stopped walking.
"Hey!" Tracey tried reaching for her phone back, but she couldn't.
Aaron then read the text she got out loud.
"'When are you bringing him over? Everyone's waiting, Tracey.'"
He then read what Tracey responded with.
"'I'm working on it. Just wait a minute.' Tracey, what is this?"
"It's nothing. Don't worry about it."
"Aaron, look at this."
He looked towards Aarielle who showed her phone. On it was a post at Tracey's place, and below it read,
Pool party at Tracey's! She's bring the Ace to it!
"(slowly turns to Tracey) Unbe-freaking-lieveable. You know I'm in town, and you tried to use me. You haven't changed."
Tracey said nothing.
After that, she finally spoke up.
"...I wasn't trying to use you, Aaron. I was just-"
"Don't touch me." Aaron said in a cold voice, swatting away Tracey's hand,
"'I can't believe I lasted this long with him.', 'I'm glad Four-eyes is gone'? I saw your posts, I'm not stupid."
"Um, can someone fill us in on...this?" Cyrus said.
Aaron and Aarielle finally remembered everyone else, and Aaron said, "Aarielle, tell them about Tracey."
"Alright." she said, going to Aaron's friends.
When Aaron turned back to Tracey, she said, "...Okay, I'll admit, I wasn't the best person to you."
"Understatement of the year, but continue."
"But, I want to make it up to you. So, why don't you come to the party? I know you'll make lots of friends now that you're famous."
"Well, if you put it that wa- Heck no! You can't say and do everything you did, and expect me to just go, 'Water under the bridge, lets hang out.'? Please tell me you're not insane."
Tracey was starting to lose her patience.
"*sigh* Okay, how much you want?"
"And, you're trying to bribe me. You are insane. News flash: I don't make friends based on status! Your money doesn't mean jack to me!"
Tracey, frustrated at this point, slammed her hand onto the car and said, "Listen, Four-eyes! Don't think you're better than me just because you can sing!"
Aaron was waiting for that outburst.
"Aaron, either you come to the party, or I bring down your whole career. All I need is one call to my dad, and everything you worked on goes up in flames."
"Not if I tell everyone your family's abusing authority."
"*scoffs* Oh yeah? It's my word against yours."
Aaron pulled his phone out and pressed play on the screen, showing that he discreetly recorded everything that was going on, like how he did with Lila.
When Tracey saw this, she went pale.
"Actually, it's your word against yours."
Tracey tried to snatch the phone from Aaron, but he pulled it back.
"Let me make this as clear as I can, Trace. Next time we meet, change your attitude. I, in no shape or form, want anything to do with you! EVER! Now take your car, your spoiled self, and get out of my face!"
Tracey looked at him with a blank face, before rolling up the window. Second later, she burst out screaming as the car drove off.
"She forgot her phone." Aarielle said, coming back over.
"Let her find out herself. I do not feel like calling her and dealing with all that again. I'm already getting flashbacks."
He suddenly felt a pair arms wrapped around him, and he realized that it was Zoé hugging him from behind when he heard her voice.
"Sorry you had to go through all of that, Aaron."
"It's alright, Zoé. Thanks."
The hug ended and everyone continued on.
Later at night...
In a hotel room, we see Gabriel who felt a tingling sensation from the Butterfly Miraculous as he was reading articles about Andrew Boggs' ring on his tablet.
He then smiled as he thought about something.
Twilight may be going after the Metal Miraculous tonight, so a little help wouldn't hurt in case he showed up.
"Duusu, Nooroo, dual metamorphosis!" He then turned into Shadow Moth.
"I sense a familiar feeling of anger, loathe, and envy. It's as if I never left Paris to begin with."
He released a butterfly from his cane and made it an akuma, and said as it left the room, "Fly away, my little akuma, and evillize the cause of this broken faux friendship."
Tracey's room...
Um, wow. This bedroom is trashed.
Makes sense though. The party ended early when everyone found out that Tracey couldn't get the Ace to come. This would put a huge dent in her social status.
Tracey yelled again before hitting the wall, which made something on a shelf fall off of it and hit her on the head before hitting the ground and breaking.
After she rubbed her head, she picked up a piece, and looked at it. It was a red octahedron that was meant to be part of a trophy, but the rest of pieces are lying on the floor.
It was for the song contest all that time ago. The very one that Tracey got Aaron kicked out of.
The very one that caused Aaron to be the Ace.
"I should've never been friends with that loser in the first place..."
She then threw it across the room. It hit the wall on the other side of the room before hitting the floor.
Cue in the akuma that flew into the room and into the trophy piece.
Tracey stood still, still mad, as Shadow Moth spoke to her telepathically.
"Crimson Runner, I am Shadow Moth. I've heard you've been having some trouble with a fake friend who has a higher status than you. Well, I can give you the power you need so that you'll stay at the top of the podium."
Tracey thought for a second and said, "What's the catch?"
"I all ask in return is a small favor that involves a rare piece of jewelry. I'll give you the details as soon as you accept my offer. Do we have a deal?"
Tracey thought again.
"*smirks* Deal."
Tracey then walked over to the trophy piece and picked it up before she transformed.
Later...
It's late at night and in the boys' room in the inn, we see Aaron getting up, and looking to make sure that everyone else is asleep.
After being sure that the guys were asleep, he put some blankets in his place so that everyone in the room thought that he was still there. then went to the window and opened it.
"(whisper tone) Glare, Shadow, Shine the Light."
He transformed before jumping out the window and falling towards the ground. "(normal tone)Light Speed!" He then sped down the building and ran down the street.
The speed made the air behind Aaron shut the window as he sped forward...or down? I don't know.
Yet, when he shouted 'Light Speed!' only two people managed to hear him.
From the both of their rooms, Marinette and Adrien, got up, went to the window and both saw a white blur run down the street.
They knew it was Twilight.
They each went towards their room's door, and each went down either direction down the hall. If anyone asked, they'd say they went to the bathroom.
Twilight came to a halt in front of the entrance to the Capitol.
Knowing he couldn't go through the front door, he ran up the side of the building and went to the top of the building towards another way in.
It was the stained glass dome on top of the capitol. He opened one of the panes, and dropped to the ground.
He then made his way to the Boggs' history room. This was going surprisingly smoothly.
When Aaron went into the room, he saw the ring in its case.
He smiled and went to it and opened it. Question: Who locked the place up, but somehow left a case that held an important part of history unlocked?
Twilight picked up the ring and put it on.
There was an orb of light that appeared and when it was gone, in its place was a kwami.
This kwami was a grayish silver with two lines on each side of his dark blue eyes. There was also five spikes in a row on top of his head.
"You must be Ty." Twilight said to the kwami.
He's right. This was Ty, kwami of metal, power of invulnerability. He's got a kind, no-quit attitude, and when there's a downside, he stays on the positive side and doesn't like to lose hope.
Unlike the Bull Miraculous with Ladybug's Miracle Box, this Miraculous protects you not just from magical affects, but anything harmful!
I'm talking explosions, lasers, bullets, the hardest of punches or kicks; when you activate this Miraculous' power, you'll never feel an ounce of pain no matter what.
So, you're pretty much invincible and immune to like, anything and everything when the power's activated.
Seeing how his job was done, Twi started walking to the front door of the place.
As Twilight made his way towards the Old State Capitol's entrance, he introduced himself to Ty.
"I'm the Twilight Fighter. Newest guardian of the Elemental Miraculous." "Newest guardian? So you're the destined one!" "Still kinda getting used to being called that." "This is gonna be great. I was reawakened, and I find out we have a new guardian! I can't wait to be able to use my power again."
"Well, you might have to wait a bit longer, Ty. I can only actually allow you get into action when I get you back to my Miracle Box where the others are."
Yeah, about that. You see, the four Elemental lost Miraculous are in a different state than the ones that Aaron has. Until Aaron can get them into the Miracle Box, they're like ordinary Miraculous; you won't lose your mind when you touch it.
"Well, at least I'm going to see everyone again." Ty said.
Right when they were about to go through the door, Twilight's super sense went off.
"I jinxed it. I freaking jinxed it."
He turned around and saw Shadow Moth a distance away. He smiled when he saw the ring on Twilight's finger and Ty.
Twilight wasn't smiling though.
"Welcome to Louisiana, Butterfly. Enjoying the gumbo?" he said.
"Who's that?" Ty asked.
"Just some nutjob who keeps trying to get his hands on the Miraculous (to Shadow Moth) *loudly* unsuccessfully."
"I think you know what I'm here for, Twilight Fighter." Shadow Moth said, "Hand over the ring, and this will end quickly and painless."
"Really? You think I'm scared of you? I've fought dozens of villains before, and I bet you've seen me in action. I can do to you what I did to them."
"I tried to be fair, but it seems I'll have to take that ring from you."
"*scoffs* Good luck. We both know you won't catch me." Twilight turned around to leave.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you."
"Oh yeah? Who's gonna stop me?"
Twilight's super sense suddenly went off as he opened the door.
He moved back just in time to avoid a kick in the face.
When he looked at who it was, there wasn't an ounce of surprise on his face because he knew that person anywhere. No matter who they looked like.
It was Tracey, but her skin was a dark pink, and on her face was printed on the shape of a red, pointy domino mask. Her hair was in a ponytail, the band that kept it that way had the octahedron and she had on a bodysuit that was like Twilight's, but the colors weren't black and white. Her suit was red with darker red streaks, but it still had the black belt like Twilight's. She didn't have katanas, though she did have some gold knuckles that had rubies in them.
"You're looking at her." Tracey answered.
The two then fought, with Shadow moth looking from where he was standing.
Twilight was fast enough to dodge every attack, but he knew that the Crimson Runner only had to hit him once.
In case you were wondering, Shadow Moth didn't give her super speed. You'll see why he called her the Crimson Runner.
Suddenly, Twilight swept her legs making her fall to the floor.
Yet, just when he was about to spin around and kick her into the wall, his super sense went off at the last minute.
Right when his foot made contact with her torso, the streaks on Crimson's suit peeled off of her suit and grabbed his ankle like tentacles.
They slammed him into the wall before placing themselves back onto Crimson's suit.
Right when Twilight got back up, he was met with a hit in the face by Crimson with her knuckles.
That made him stumble back.
When he came to, he saw Crimson's knuckle's rubies glow as well as the octahedron on her hairband.
"So this is what it feels like." she said, looking back at him.
That's when Twilight felt something was off. Everything that he was looking at wasn't incredibly slow like it was a second ago.
His thoughts were confirmed when a red blur ran straight by and around him before running towards and standing next to Shadow Moth.
When he saw that the blur was Tracey, it was at that moment that it was one of those few times he hated being correct.
Tracey took his super speed.
And when he saw Ty held captive in her hand, he looked down and saw that she took the Metal Miraculous, and saw that it was in her other hand when he looked back at her.
That wasn't all. Twilight saw that his Miraculous was a little closer to his hand after Crimson ran around him. It might've been a breeze, but he also felt a light tap against it.
That only meant one more thing: she didn't go mad when she accidentally tapped against the Miraculous when she ran. She didn't have the Metal Miraculous activated either.
He took his immunity too.
Shadow Moth happened to notice this too.
He then said to Crimson, "Very good, Crimson Runner. Now there's just one more piece of jewelry I need you to take."
"Say no more. I got it."
She handed Shadow Moth the Miraculous and Ty.
Right after, Tracey ran right for Twilight. Luckily, he wasn't completely powerless.
Only people who rely on their power and abilities too much would freak out in a situation like this.
He closed his eyes, and took a breath.
He felt his super sense go off. "Phantasm."
When he went invisible, he moved to one side as Tracey went by, then slugged her in the back of her head making her stumble forward and almost fall.
She looked back, but then she remembered that he was invisible and she couldn't see him.
She heard a noise, and saw the doors to the capitol were open.
She ran to them and looked around outside. He was gone.
...
...
...
J.K., he just swept her legs again.
She immediately got defensive as she got up and put a hand over where her akuma was.
"Don't you dare get any ideas, Twilight! You can't get my akuma without me taking your bracelet!"
She waited for his response.
"To be continued then."
She still couldn't see it, but Twilight got out of there.
She was about to run around and see if she could find him, but she stopped when Shadow Moth came over.
"Stand down, Crimson Runner. We got what we came for. Now that all he can do is hide, we have the upper hand."
Ty would say something, but he's still held by Shadow Moth.
Crimson rolled her eyes and sighed. "Whatever."
From the top of the Capitol, Twilight saw them leave the scene.
"Luminosity." He became visible and went in a different direction across the rooftops.
Yet he didn't see the Bug and Cat duo watch from afar.
They decided to follow him.
At a secure area on top of a building, we see Twilight taking a breather against a wall.
"Glare, Shadow, Dim the Lights." Twilight then detransformed and took a look at his kwamis.
Shadow looked fine, but Glare didn't look too good. She looked weak and unwell. So unwell that she stopped floating, leaving Aaron to catch her in his hands.
Worried he said, "Glare! You okay?! Speak to me!"
"Aaron...I don't feel so good..." she weakly said.
"I'm not surprised." Shadow said, "(to Aaron) Your worst friend forever was akumatized and now she's going around with Glare's Light Speed and immunity. Now she can take your Miraculous without going insane.
Not only that, but Shadow Moth found out about your trip and knows that your on the hunt for the lost Miraculous.
If were not careful, she might be able to take the others too. I'll just say it now. We. Are. Finished."
"We're finished 'til I say we're finished." Aaron said, feeling determined, "We still have your Phantasm and super sense. We're gonna beat that akuma, and we're getting back that Miraculous or we're going out trying."
However, behind the corner, Ladybug and Cat Noir were listening in on this conversation. And yes, they weren't looking behind the corner on the fact that they needed to keep Twilight's identity a secret.
They kept listening.
Aaron sighed. "Look, I know things look bad, you two, but I'm not just gonna sit back and let the worst happen. Shadow Moth's gonna do anything to get my attention and get his hands on the Elemental Miraculous. I didn't ask to become the guardian, sure, but as the guardian, I need to protect you guys and use you all for the greater good. I promised to get back the lost Miraculous, and I'm gonna get them all."
Ladybug and Cat Noir looked at each other before going back to listening.
"For now, let's head in for the night. Glare, you won't weaken me or anything if I retransform, will you?"
"No...You won't be able to use my powers though..."
"That's a relief, I guess. I'll look through the grimoire and see if there's anything I can find to help with this situation of ours. Glare, Shadow, Shine the Light."
Aaron transformed.
"*sigh* Gotta get used to not running with super speed for a while." Twilight said before leaping over the wall behind him.
That just left the Heroes from Paris.
They felt bad. Now things looked a lot worse, and it sounded like Twilight's blaming himself for this.
This was a big mess, and only time'll tell if they're able to clean it up.
Aaron was the only one awake, but he was reading the grimoire with the night vision glasses he had.
Both kwamis were on his sides, Glare was on his left shoulder, still looking unwell.
He didn't find anything yet, but he's not stopping 'til he does.
That's when he noticed something at the bottom of one of the pages.
"What the-? 'Reminder: this power will only occur in dire situations. If such an incident were to happen, then-'"
Aaron kept reading, and his eyes widened with every next word on the page.
After doing so, he took off his Miraculous for a second and said some kind of sentence in a foreign language, and after doing so, the white on it glowed.
After that, Glare shot up off of Aaron's shoulder and zipped around his head before stopping.
"Whoa. What did you do?" she asked.
"No idea. The book only says that there's a hidden power, but it doesn't say what it does or what it is. Whatever I did though, got you back to yourself though, right? Back in action?"
"Well, I feel better. Let's see. Light Speed!"
Glare then moved in the air. Yet, she was only at a kwami's speed. She's not moving super fast at all.
"I guess not."
"Well, at least you're feeling like yourself again." Aaron said.
"So, what do we do now?"
"...Go to sleep, I guess. It's getting late, and we can't risk Shadow Moth and Tracey taking my Miraculous."
Shadow and Glare looked at each other before going inside Aaron's suitcase to go to sleep.
Aaron laid down as Adrien came back in through the door.
He's having a hard time going to sleep though.
The next day...
Today's Mardi Gras, and the streets are packed.
After the pancake breakfast that the inn provided, the group of ten headed for the streets to get a good spot for the parade.
When they did, they waited around for it to start.
Aaron however was lost in thought.
He wondered and worried about the hidden power, and hoped that it would work, and if it didn't there would be huge trouble on his hands.
Crimson could catch him by surprise, and take his Miraculous. A lot could go wrong here.
"Are you okay?" Zoé said, snapping Aaron out of his thoughts.
"Yeah, just thinking about stuff." he said.
"Is it that Tracey girl again?"
"...You could say that. Wanna know someithing? I know she's upset about how high I've gotten, but it still grinds my gears how she lied to me for so long.
It's weird how I'm a little thankful for her, yet a lot remorseful about all of this."
Zoé thought back about something before smiling and saying.
"Well, a friend of mine told me there's two things you can do: you can either sit there and feel guilty, or you can get up on your feet knowing that everything will be alright, and be the opposite of what she says you are."
Aaron smiled. "Thanks Zoé."
"Aaron, here's your mask." Elsie said, giving her eldest son a green, purple, and gold mask.
It's actually called a Carnevale. They allowed wearers to escape society and class constraints. Meaning that they symbolize the wearers escaping society and being free to be who they want to.
As Aaron put his mask on, he heard Nilak ask, "Aaron, what's happening here again?"
"I had a feeling one of you would ask that.
You see, the way Louisiana celebrates Mardi Gras is with music, food, and parades. Especially the last part.
During Mardi Gras, there's a big parade where people throw things like toys, bead necklaces, and candy down at the crowd in big floats that sometimes have the colors for Mardi Gras.
If the people in the crowd want to, they wear things with the said colors, along with masks and other decorated accessories. Sometimes, they bring bags to hold all the stuff in from the floats.
Of course, they play music during it, with brass instruments like tubas, trombones, and trumpets as well as percussion instruments like marching snare and bass drums."
It's a lot of fun to watch it all happen. Take it from someone who knows and loves Mardi Gras.
Speaking of which, they heard the music coming this way.
The band was coming this way, with the parade floats coming right behind them.
When some floats went by them, the people on them threw some candy and toys down at the crowd.
Aarielle actually got bags for everyone to hold everything that the people on the floats would throw down.
As the people of the southern region of Louisiana would say, 'Laissez le bon temps rouler!'
Which is French for, 'Let the good times roll!'
This was all a blast.
...However, there would soon be rain on this parade.
Someone from the crowd pointed out, "Hey, look over there!"
Aaron was the only one who managed to hear that, and looked where the person was pointing while lifting up his mask.
He then lost the smile he had when the parade started the second he saw what it was. Well, who it was.
Standing atop one of the buildings was the Crimson Runner. She was looking down at the parade and the crowd.
Her eyes then landed on Aaron. She smiled. The fact that he was here to witness this was going to make this even better.
She pulled out the Metal Miraculous and put it on, making Ty appear.
"Ty, Fortify."
"You won't get away with this!" Ty said, as he was pulled into his ring.
There was a glow and when it was gone, Crimson had a slightly new look.
There were some silver streaks in her red hair, there was some silver spikes on her hairband, a silver mask in the shape of the imprint she had on her face, her knuckles were silver instead of gold, and the same was for her belt. Her suit wasn't too different, but there was a silver six-pointed star on the chest area, there were silver outlines on her suit's streaks, and there was silver trim along her arms and legs.
She smiled at her new look before running down the side of the building.
When she got to the ground, she ran straight for one of the parade floats.
Everyone on the street watched, thinking it was part of the parade, but Aaron, Marinette, and Adrien knew better.
Right when she was about to make contact with the float, she said, "Densify." and all the silver on her turned a lighter color.
Then with a big *CRASH!* she shoulder charged right into the float, making the people onboard hold onto the float as it flew and landed on its side!
With that much speed, and the fact that she was pretty much invincible, it made sense that she could ram straight into it and not get a scratch.
Seeing that happen, the crowd realized that this was not a part of the parade, and everyone scrambled to get to safety.
"Twilight should be here any second." Crimson said as she kept ruining the Mardi Gras things in the area.
"Excellent work, Crimson Runner." Shadow Moth said telepathically, from the safety of his hotel room, "The Twilight Fighter will have no choice but to come out unless he wants the people of Baton Rouge to suffer. And when he does, his Miraculous as well as the others will belong to me."
When Crimson rammed into another float the people onboard it went flying, but luckily two heroes appeared and caught them all and got them to the ground.
When they all got out of there, Cat Noir said, "You do know you're ruining Mardi Gras, right Red Runner?"
"First off, it's Crimson Runner. Second, does it look like I care?"
"You should." Ladybug said, "You're endangering lives, causing mass destruction! What did they ever do to you?!"
"All I care about is being better than those below me. I can prove it by taking your Miraculous."
The three of them then fought.
Aaron as Twilight came in a few seconds later, but a distance away.
He was so used to being far away enough that he could use his Light Speed to rush into battle. He hit himself in the head when he remembered that he didn't have his Light Speed right now.
If that spell he found in the book really was gonna work, he was hoping it would work any second now.
He then suddenly heard a cry for help.
He looked and saw his Mom with his friends and Aarielle, who were trying to lift a flipped over float off of Zoé who was trapped with his youngest siblings.
He got over there as quickly as he could, and helped turn the float over and got the three of them out of there.
"Is everyone okay?" Twilight said making sure everyone was okay after that happened.
They all each said yes.
"Good. Alright, everyone scatter and find a place to hide until we can fix this mess."
As Twilight kept going, he felt more and more guilty about all of this.
He then heard two thuds and looked towards the street up ahead.
Ladybug and Cat Noir tried fighting Crimson, but it was almost impossible to even land an attack on her. Even if they did, what would it do?
No matter what, Crimson had the upper hand.
And the result was her winning against the two of them.
Tracey looked at Ladybug and Cat Noir lying on the ground.
She smirked and went towards them. "Next time, try to go a little faster."
Twilight reached out for them. "GUYS NO!" But he wouldn't make it in time.
Then, through his eyes, it was as if time slowed down, and everything but Crimson, Ladybug and Cat Noir was white.
The white on his Miraculous glowed, then he closed his eyes. Right after, his body was covered in a white glow.
Not sure how, but Twilight ran towards Crimson, just when she was about to take one of Ladybug's earrings, but he ran quick. And I mean quick.
Right when Crimson was about to take it off, she was kneed in the face by Twilight, and flew right into a lamppost.
The two heroes got up and looked at Twilight who was standing in front of them, looking at Crimson Runner.
The glow went away, and it looks like his look changed a bit.
There's now a black cloak on him, had some fingerless gloves, and his katannas and the holders for them were replaced with one holder, and it was holding a dual bladed version of his katannas put together. Finally, his mask was changed also. The diagonal line separating the two colors on it was replaced with a zigzag line separating the black and white, and on the black side of the mask was four points with white at the edges of them, and the same went for the white side but on the four white points was black at the edges of the points.
Twilight looked at himself amazed. He felt...different. Like he was a little stronger, more agile, and a little faster.
He saw Trace get up and look at him with a scowl.
Shadow Moth had the same look.
That's impossible! Twilight shouldn't have his super speed! It was taken away!
"I took your Light Speed! How'd you even-"
Twilight looked at his akumatized ex-fake best friend and said, "Well, news flash: true power's never lost."
Tracey gritted her teeth and glared at Twilight before rushing in and trying to beat him.
But like Twilight thought, he was a little faster.
When Crimson tried to punch him, he ducked in time, and turned around and hit her from behind, which pushed her forward.
She stopped to a skid, and turned back around and tried to hit Twi, but he pulled out his katanas and blocked every one as she kept making him move back.
He could tell that she was livid, but from the sweat starting to form on her face, she was also starting to get tired.
Fun fact: it's scientifically proven that your body depletes more energy, attention, and focus when you're angry.
That gave Twilight an idea.
If he couldn't hurt her at all, and if she couldn't be affected by anything, then what if they could tire her out?
If she was less energetic, it could give them a chance to get back the Metal Miraculous, and get her akuma.
But first, he had to get his teammates on his feet.
He spun around and kicked Crimson in the side, sending her into a building side. It made it crack an opening in the wall, revealing a steam pipe.
He sped over to them and said, "You two alright?"
"Could be worse...are you?" "Yeah, what happened to you?" Ladybug asked.
"Long story short: stuff hit the fan, lost my speed and immunity, found something in my book, and now this is happening.
*pulls Ladybug up* I messed up bad, I'll admit, but I can fix it because I have an idea."
He reached for Cat Noir's hand, but when he touched said hand that had his ring on it, the ring flashed a blinding white light and the paw print on it was now white instead of green, taking the three of them by surprise.
"What the..."
Cat Noir quickly got up on his feet, and there was a white aura around him.
"Okay, now this is cool. Is this what it feels like to have your Light Speed?"
"I guess?"
"Twilight, do you know what this means?" Ladybug said, "You can give other Miraculous holders your speed!"
"Hey, this could help out with this plan I have. Get this: we can't do much to her, but we can tire her out. If we can all go as quick as her," he touched Ladybug's earrings, making the black spots turn white, and gave her the same aura that Cat had.
"We can tire her out just as fast!"
"And get the Metal Miraculous back and the capture the akuma!"
Twilight suddenly felt his super sense go off.
"Move!"
Just in time, the three of them moved to avoid Crimson Runner, who looked even more livid if that was even possible.
"You boys feel like going for a jog?"
The three of them then sped off.
Crimson was shocked, but only for a second. She ran right after them.
The four of them are now running around Baton Rouge.
"What did you do?!" she yelled as she was gaining up to them.
"Let's just say I brought them up to speed." Twilight said.
"Y'know, for someone named Crimson Runner, you're a surprisingly slow runner."
"When I get my hands on you..."
All three heroes: "What are you waiting for then?!"
She let out a yell out of anger.
"Split up!" Ladybug said.
The trio split up, and Crimson stayed on Cat Noir's tail.
Ladybug and Twilight had quickly made detours as they ran, and continued on track.
At certain points, Crimson would stop chasing one of the three and go and chase another. She was gradually tiring out because they were faster than she was.
They then came to a stop back where they started.
The three of them were standing in front of Crimson.
"Fight me if you want. The three of you can't do anything to me."
"What about four of them?" said a new voice.
Remember those detours I said that Ladybug and Twilight had to go on? They each went to go get backup.
Vesperia came in and landed next to the three of them. Twilight sped to her and tapped her hair comb. The black stripes turned white, and she had the same white aura.
"What about five?" "Six? "Seven?"
Next to them landed Shango, Blizard, and Guardian. Twilight touched their Miraculous as well, giving them the same effect.
The seven heroes then fought against Crimson.
She was quick, but like I said, they were just as quick and a little quicker.
The heroes were careful though. If she did manage to hit them with her knuckles, their super speed would be taken, along with their powers.
Yet, she wasn't letting up. All the hits she was taking, all the moving she was doing, as tired as she was, she was not giving up.
At one point, Ladybug used her Lucky Charm and it was-
"A funnel and hose? Right."
She then looked around.
Her eyes landed on her allies, then to the steam pipe in the wall from earlier, then back at the hose and funnel. She had an idea.
Let's see how heated up she can get.
Ladybug whistled, getting the heroes' attention. She nodded her head towards the pipe.
They all nodded, and Cat Noir and Twilight went to help Ladybug.
As the hits, dodges, counters, and movement kept coming, Tracey looked even more tired.
But when it stopped, she said, "I can take it...I can take anything you can throw at me...still want to keep going?"
"Sure."
She turned and saw Cat Noir and Ladybug next to the steam pipe.
She has it held with her yo-yo.
"But first, let's blow off some steam."
She yanked the pipe free from the wall, and right before the steam came out, the boys connected the hose and funnel and aimed at Crimson.
The steam flew out and at Crimson, and the intense heat from the steam made her lack of energy even worse.
She did not look like herself right now.
She was tuckered out.
Then,
"Think fast!"
She had her legs swept again by Twilight. And she was pinned to the ground by his foot.
"I'll be taking that." He reached for the ring and took it away.
"And I'll be taking that." Ladybug sped over and broke the hairband with her yo-yo.
As you know, the akuma was captured, Ladybug's "Miraculous Ladybug!" fixed everything, and the seven of them finished off with a seven-way, "Pound it!"
Suddenly, the white on Twilight's bracelet glowed again, getting everyone's attention, and in the next second the white on everyone else's Miraculous, and the white aura's that everyone had had gone away.
Twilight's body suddenly glowed white again, and he was back to his original look.
"Huh, well what do you know?" he said.
"Will you get off of me already?!"
With that happening, they forgot that Twilight had pinned Tracey down.
Let's head back to Shadow Moth for a brief second.
He was not happy right now.
"Don't think that the war is over yet, Twilight Fighter. Someday, I will get my hands on all the Miraculous. Elemental or otherwise."
But enough about that.
Later...
After that happened, all the Miraculous were returned. Ty's ring was put away in Aaron's suitcase back at the inn.
And said boy's in the backyard of his Momo's house with his friends and rest of his family which consists of his two aunts, their husbands, his uncle, his wife, and their three children, and one of his aunts' two children.
At the table, we see Aaron and his friends eating a plate of Crawfish Étouffée.
It's a thick, seasoned stew-type meal which is then served over white rice made of things like bell peppers, onion and crawfish, of course.
There's other things you can eat on Mardi Gras like dirty rice, special sandwiches called Po' Boys, jambalaya, and pancakes in the morning like they had for breakfast.
That's why some people call Mardi Gras, 'Pancake Tuesday'.
Sometimes people have a crawfish boil out in the yard and eat boiled crawfish in seasoned water along with boiled potatoes and corn. Some also have boiled eggs if they want.
Like Aaron had said earlier, food is a must during Mardi Gras.
Momo Pat came over with slices of King Cake for Aaron and his friends.
"Thank you, Momo Pat." Everyone said.
When Marinette took a bite of it, she said, "Yum! Who made this?"
"Aaron did." "Momo!" "Aaron, you can't be hidin' that you know how to bake."
King Cake is an absolute must on Mardi Gras.
It's a round cake covered with glaze and purple, green, and gold sugar. There's also a traditional thing with King Cake where there'd be a small plastic baby Jesus figurine inside. Whoever has the slice with the baby inside is told to have a stroke of good luck.
While eating, Aaron said, "Hey sorry that things took a wrong turn earlier today. I didn't think that Baton Rouge would have an akuma attack."
"No one knew that, Aaron." Mari said, "And everything turned out okay in the end."
"Yeah, and we had fun in Baton Rouge. Thanks for letting us come."
Those words from Zoé made Aaron smile again.
"Hey, is there anymore of this King Cake left?"
"I think it's all taken, Marinette. Here, you can have mine." Adrien offered.
This made Marinette start stammering, making everyone but the two laugh.
Ah, another great ending to the day.
Yet, we're not finished yet.
When the trip was over, and everyone was back home after the reunion, we see Aaron in his room.
He's sitting on his bed and has his Miracle Box. He's saying some kind of difficult sounding chant, and the kwamis are all watching in anticipation.
When he finished, he pulled out the Metal Miraculous and put it away inside one of the compartments on the side of the box, and said another chant.
When he said the final word, the box glowed and the compartment on the side glowed and gained a silver color, and Ty flew out.
To say that the kwamis were happy to see him was an understatement. He was happy to be back too.
He then saw his grimoire glow from the inside.
He grabbed it and looked in it, and when he got to where it was glowing, it was revealed that the pages that showed information on the Metal Miraculous had appeared in the book.
"Now there's something you don't see everyday." Aaron said, "One down, three to go."
Aaron would get to work on finding the next one, but he needed a break after these past few days.
He reached for his phone that was charging on the bedside dresser, called Zoé and said, "Hey, Zoé, wanna make a song?"
Back in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in Tracey's room...
It's official, she lost all of her followers and friends after the fiasco on Mardi Gras.
In fact she's looking online because she was sent a link that her ex-followers sent her before they left, just to mess with her.
Twas a music video that was made from vocals from the Ace and Zoé, and animations from his sister.
She did not want to click on it. She didn't and just shut off her laptop and threw it.
But that doesn't mean we can't see it.
Play 'Up 2 Speed' by Victor McKnight, Chi-Chi, Caleb Hyles, & BillyTheBard11th
The video starts off with shots of silhouettes/outlines of Twilight in his new form and Crimson facing each other at different angles.
(Zoé) "Win or lose;
It is not your place to choose
Or to prove
Who will make the final move.
Light the fuse,
You're the one who would accuse
A thing or two.
Words aren't good enough for you, 'cause"
The scene showed a shot of a split screen of the two's masked faces and the glares they were giving each other..
"You don't even get it, and I'll
Take my time to get it through to you."
Then it showed shots of the two of them fighting, like they had when Twilight showed up with his super form.
"'Cause I know
You're too slow,
Time to cease and let it go.
Wrong or right,
Show that might,
Cut your losses in this fight.
Won't back down,
Can't stop now,
Feel the lightning strike your ground.
Can't you see
What will be?
By the count of three I'll bring you up to speed!"
The scene then showed shots of silhouettes/outlines of Twilight, Ladybug, and Cat Noir speeding down the streets of Baton Rouge.
(Aaron) "Don't you lie,
I know how to set this right.
So tonight,
Time for you to say goodbye."
It then showed Crimson trying to catch up to them.
(Aaron and Zoé) "Do or die!
I would just take my advice
To new heights.
Take your limits past the sky!"
It now showed the heroes splitting up.
(Aaron) "Like you'd even know me, you see,
I can see right through you any day."
The screen now showed shots of Crimson trying to catch one of the heroes, but failing every time.
"To and fro,
I was shown,
Down the only road I know.
Wrong or right,
I just might
Get excessive in this fight.
Won't back down,
Full stop now,
Break the mold to end this round.
Can't you see
What will be?
By the count of three I'll bring you up to speed!"
The screen then showed silhouettes/outlines of Vesperia, Shango, Blizard, and Guardian appearing next to the heroes, facing Crimson.
It then showed the heroes scattering just as Crimson was about to attack them.
Finally came shots of the heroes landing hits on Crimson.
First was Twilight.
"To and fro,
I was shown
Down the only road I know."
Next was Shango and Blizard.
"Wrong or right,
I just might
Get excessive in this fight."
Then, Vesperia and Guardian.
(Zoé) "Won't back down,
Can't stop now,
Feel the lightning strike your ground."
Last in line was Ladybug and Cat Noir.
"And you'll see
Guaranteed,"
(Aaron and Zoé) "Head to head, I know I'll bring you up to speed!"
And the video ended with Crimson and Twilight charging against each other.
End song!
And that's that.
Man, this was a lot on me.
The Metal Miraculous is found, and Twilight's got a new super form when something dire happens.
We'll stick to calling him Twilight for now when that happens, because I can't think of name for said super form.
If you guys have any ideas for it, feel free to tell me.
Anyway, now that I've finished this, I can get to work on my other stories.
I'll take a break from this story for now, but I will get back to it.
With that being said, I hope you all enjoyed, and I will see you all later!
Have a happy Mardi Gras! Bye!