Some scenes require flashbacks performed by shadow silhouettes. Use your imagination. Be creative. Feel the love... and betrayal.
With one punch from her Venom-ized fist, Queen Bee immobilizes the villain-of-the-day. Just in time for Chat Noir to use Cataclysm on the akumatized object.
"And once again, Team Miraculous saves the day!" Nadja announced as the two heroes fist-bumped, "Is there nothing these brave heroes can't do?"
Chloe groaned. It was Saturday and she wanted to go shopping, but Gabriel decided that the Team should have a study group session to keep their grades up. He didn't want their hero duties to distract them from their school work.
The only bright side to this? They're have the study session at Adrien's mansion.
"Your order has arrived." Nathalie announced, opening the double doors of the mansion.
The delivery person who was waiting outside and holding a big box of baked goods from the Dupain-Cheng bakery was someone Adrien never expected to see.
Then he slammed the door in front of her.
Realizing what he had just done, Adrien opened the doors.
Then slammed them shut again.
"I invited her here so that she can help you with your studies." Gabriel explained as he approaches his nervous son, "Also, I read sweets stimulates activeness in brain activity."
The older Agreste opens the doors, "I apologize Mademoiselle Marinette. I've been meaning to get those rusty hinges fixed."
Marinette didn't look a bit bothered that the doors were slammed on her face, twice, "That's okay. That happens a lot at ours, but we always fix them up as good as new."
Adrien was glad his heart wasn't near a microphone attached to loudspeakers. Sure he has good grades and his feelings for Marinette never affected his studies, but if she starts asking questions and he suddenly stammers, she's gonna think he's an idiot.
Lila wishes Gabriel didn't invite Lil' Miss Show-Off. Team Miraculous didn't need help saving the day. And they certainly don't need an ordinary civilian's help to study.
Why did Alya have to bring that whiteboard with her? Why did she have a whiteboard in the first place?
Lila clenches her teeth as Nino marked another point on the board for Sabrina. The study group turned the session into a game show and the ladybug holder was put last! Right after Chloe!
Meanwhile, Sabrina was currently second. To Adrien!
While reading his notes, Adrien reaches out for a spinach quiche. He looks up when he realized he wasn't touching a quiche, but a hand.
Marinette's hand...!
"I'llgogetussomedrinks!" He zips out of the room and into the kitchen faster than Plagg could zip after his cheese.
"If this is your way of solving my romance problems then you have a problem old man!" Adrien snaps as he went to get some drinks for his friends.
"I guess I deserve that." Gabriel responded, standing behind his son as he rummaged the fridge, "I just don't want you to get distracted at work."
"What?" Adrien looks at his father in surprise.
"Don't get the wrong idea." Gabriel helps pick out a drink for him, "Marinette is a very talented young lady, and very considerate of others' safety. It's clear why you wanted her to win so badly at the bowler hat making contest."
Adrien wishes his father didn't remind him.
"At work, the feeling is visible in your face." The tone on the older Agreste's voice turned somber, "And one day... your enemies could turn that against you."
This froze the younger Agreste on his tracks, "That...can't happen...I-"
"It will happen." Gabriel emphasized, "Just like before."
"'Before'?" The younger Agreste echoed. That's when he recalled the discussion he, his teammates and their kwamis had a long time ago: The Team Miraculous before them.
The kwamis have told them stories of their previous holders from different times. How they fought as a team... How they were trained by the Guardians of the Miraculous...
A thought crossed Adrien, "Hey Dad...? How did you come across the Miraculouses in the first place? And what happened to the previous Team Miraculous and their Guardian?"
Those questions... brought back haunting memories from Gabriel's past. He could've helped him, but he couldn't accept them.
It was never him. Her heart belonged to another. Hewas too attached to his own beliefs that he refused to listen to the words of his teammates.
And because of that... he...
Gabriel snapped out of it and replies firmly, "Those are stories for another time. When you're all ready."
Adrien didn't like that response, "Dad, it's been months. What more do we have to prove?"
Gabriel didn't reply. He just left the kitchen.
The truth is... It wasn't the students who need to do more to prove.
"It's no use kid." Plagg appeared on Adrien's shoulder, "You're just gonna have to keep waiting."
Adrien didn't want to wait. He wants to know more about the Miraculouses and their previous holders. He wants to master the power of his ring and become even stronger.
Stronger enough to find his mom.
Gabriel pinches the bridge of his nose as he tries to ignore that nagging voice in his head.
If he tells his son and his friends about the previous Team Miraculous, then he'll be forced to reveal what really happened to his mother on the Phantom Night.
What would his master advise him if he was still here? Would he say they were ready?
His thoughts were interrupted when he bumped into someone.
"Oh!" Marinette exclaims in embarrassment, her cheeks turning red, "I'm so sorry Monsieur Agreste!"
Gabriel waves a hand, "No, no. I just have a lot in my mind right now. About, work."
Marinette was alright with this, "I kinda got lost looking for the bathroom."
He directed her to her destination then went on his way. Once he could no longer see her or hear her footsteps, he activated the security app on his phone to check on her.
He completely trusts her, really. After the help she gave to his son and his friends. He just hopes she didn't accidentally entered his office and find anything that would link him to the Miraculous and their holders.
She did accidentally enter his office.
Fortunately for him, she was just staring at the family portrait of him, his son...
And his wife.
Just looking at her made him even more unsure to tell his son.
He zooms in on Marinette. The bracelet she was wearing... it's jewel... It bears quite a resemblance to...
"Atleast... you still have your dad."
Those words pierced through Gabriel's heart. Like knives.
He wasn't the only one who lost his wife on that Night. Many people suffered because of what he couldn't do. What he couldn't stop. What he couldn't protect.
A young girl lost her parents... all because he didn't have the courage to-?
The screen suddenly turned static and gray. Gabriel panics. He push a few buttons, but the screen wasn't clearing up.
He rushes to his office. When he got in, Marinette was nowhere to be found.
Instead, sitting on top of his desk, reading a book, was Mariposa...?!
"Nice place you got here." The younger Butterfly closes the book and tosses it to Gabriel, who manages to catch it with only one hand.
It was then he realized that Mariposa wasn't reading a book, but was actually looking at the sketches he drew in his sketchbook, the same sketchbook he sketches his ideas on.
On the first page of the book, was a crayon drawing of the Agreste family that Adrien drew when he was five.
He was alerted back to the corrupted villain in front of him, "How did you get in here?"
"Security wasn't that impressive." In a flash, Mariposa was hovering right in front of Gabriel, making him jump in surprise. Mariposa hovered around him like a... butterfly, "I sense... guilt... regret... self-hatred... You wish it was you. And not them..."
This wasn't the first time someone read Gabriel like an open book. The first time it happened, he was... embarrassed by how the previous Butterfly holder was suddenly exposing his innermost feelings after Gabriel himself questioned the extent of his powers.
But Mariposa... He kept firm. He threw away all the keys.
Yet, she still managed to open all the locks, all in the same time.
He has to remain strong. He can't show weakness.
He can't be... He mustn't be...
If he does... he'll have to fight Chat Noir.
He'll have to fight his own son...!
If only he remained strong... then the black butterfly wouldn't have...
Adrien didn't know why, but it felt like a the roof of his home was collapsing. But it didn't.
Marinette still hasn't come back. She couldn't have gotten lost. The mansion looks big but finding your way isn't so hard.
If you have the right guides with you.
They should check on her-?!
Adrien recognizes that familiar ear-piercing scream of terror anywhere. It was the same scream that would prompt him to transform, Akuma Attack or not.
In flashes of multi-colored lights, Team Miraculous appeared.
They found the screamer, Marinette, being chased by, as Queen Bee described, "A rejected monster from the future with poor fashion sense in all departments."
Nathalie and Gorilla appeared, having heard the commotion. Collector, as he called himself, threw the book he was holding at them. Once the book made contact with both adults, they disappeared, transformed into pencil sketches in the pages of the book.
As much as Chat enjoys collecting pictures of Marinette, he doesn't want his muse to turn into one!
Ladybug launches her yo-yo at Collector. Unfortunately for her, her weapon was absorbed into the sketchbook.
Since majority of the team uses their weapons to summon their superpowers, it's wise to not throw them at the magical book-armed super villain. They had to rely on hand-to-hand combat, while at the same time, had to be careful not to touch the book.
Chat was thankful his dad made him take those fencing and kung fu classes. They not only help him get the upper-hand on the villain, but they make him even more cool and heroic in front of the damsel-in-distress he's defending.
He managed to knock the book out of Collector's hand. He prepares to use his superpower on it, only to stop when he noticed a familiar drawing on a page.
It was a drawing of him and his family, which he drew when he was five.
"Dad...?"
His teammates' faces morphed into shock and/or surprise. Marinette didn't seem to hear him on account that she was more focused on how the Team was going to defeat this villain.
When she saw the crayon drawing, she realized who was akumatized.
Taking advantage of the distracted state of the Team, Collector grabbed his book and managed to knock down all the heroes, leaving Marinette unprotected and vulnerable. The poor girl backs away in fear, only for her to be trapped in a corner. Collector slowly approaches her, book open and ready to add a new drawing into its pages.
"Monsieur Agreste no!" Marinette braces herself for the worst, unaware that her bracelet briefly glowed.
Memories of Marinette's parents and the Agreste family briefly flashed before Collector's eyes, making him clutch his head in pain.
The next thing the heroes knew, Collector was carrying Marinette in his arms and dashed out of the building.
The villain didn't absorb her inside the book. Either he plans to absorb her without their interference, or he's using her as bait.
One thing's for certain: They have to save Marinette.
Marinette needed to think of an escape plan, quick, before she becomes a pencil drawing. She didn't know where Collector was taking her, but she wishes it wasn't far, away from the heroes.
The villain finally stops and puts her down, right beside Hôtel de Ville. He tosses his book like a boomerang. It absorbed the entire building before returning to its owner's hand.
"My office!" The Mayor exclaimed in horror, but didn't have time to dodge the book that was thrown at him.
Marinette tried to escape, but Collector grabbed her by the waist and carried her to his next target.
"Monsieur Agreste... I don't what happened, but you can't let the Butterflies take advantage of you like this!" Marinette tried to reason with the villain.
Her words seem to reach Collector, as memories of his wife and son flash before his eyes, making him clutch his head in pain.
The Gabriel inside him wants to break free. To fight the akuma that was making him hurt people.
So this was the power of the Butterfly miraculous... Back then, he wondered what it would be like to have super-powers. To be bestowed powers upon by a magical being. Back then, the past champions of the butterfly hero claimed that a blanket of warmth was draped over them, blessing them with good fortune and so on.
But that was all in the past. In the present, the current butterfly wielder was abusing his powers to corrupt people... to cause chaos... to hurt people... He made it clear to his victims that he and only he was in control. He, and his protege.
Collector regained control, and continued en route to his next target.
Chat and his teammates did their best to comfort Queen Bee. They were in the middle of tracking down Collector when they noticed Hôtel de Ville was nowhere to be seen.
It got worse when someone posted a video online showing Collector absorbing Mayor Bourgeois inside his book.
Azula suddenly felt a feeling of dread in her heart. Her fears were confirmed when they resumed their search and found out from the nearest pair of policemen that her father was captured by the villain-of-the-day.
The rest of the Team pray Collector wasn't after their parents. Then again, he is their mentor and the one who introduced them to the Miraculous in the first place.
It was just now that they realized what a big disaster it would be if their mentor reveal their civilian identities to the Butterflies...!
She couldn't stand to see another person absorbed in the book. Marinette pleaded to Collector to stop, but her words fell silent to his... if he still has them... ears.
The faster they move from target to target, the longer it takes for Team Miraculous to catch up to them. She needed to stall, but how?
Collector was admiring his newly-acquired drawing, Nino's mom. That gave Marinette an idea.
"Nice... sketches." She started out nervously, but knew she has to be more convincing, "Although they could use a little color. Like the first one."
Collector actually stopped to think. For a while. Then he reaches out a hand to grab his captive again.
"Then again..." Marinette slowly backs away, "It is a kid's drawing..."
Collector stops, sounding insulted, "My son drew this for me. It's a reminder of why I work so hard for."
From behind the mask, Marinette could tell the villain looks sad and nostalgic. She can't help sympathizing with him, "It hurts, doesn't it? Losing someone you love?"
Collector sadly sighs, "I could've done something. But I didn't believe I had the power to do so. If I had... Then no one else had to suffer."
"Is that why you let yourself get akumatized?" Marinette asks, "So you could protect people by trapping them in your book?"
The Gabriel inside Collector wonder if that was the case too.
He didn't want his son to be the new Chat Noir. He didn't want him to risk his life saving people only to get hurt.
Like his mother... He didn't want his own son to end up like her.
The people who lost their love ones to the Phantom Night were suffering. He actually believed he was saving them from anymore pain by trapping them in the pages of his sketchbook.
In truth... he was making it worse.
"I know you don't want this, Monsieur Agreste." Marinette smiles reassuringly at the villain, "You're a good man. You're not alone in this. Let the heroes help you."
As if on cue, the heroes appeared, surrounding Collector in order to block any attempts of escaping. Rena Rouge manages to pull Marinette away from the villain and told her to get far away from the fight as far as she can.
It was when the blue-haired girl started running did Collector realize that she was stalling him to give the heroes more time to catch up to them.
Clever girl. He actually bought it.
Mariposa may have given him the power to trap anything and anyone in his sketchbook, but not unlimited pages to trap people and objects in.
The moment all the pages were completely filled with trash, rocks and safety cones, Team Miraculous have saved the day once more.
"I'm sorry for what I have put you through Mademoiselle Marinette." Gabriel apologized after he was purified.
"Team Miraculous always pulls through in the end." Marinette smiles.
As Nathalie escorts Marinette home, Gabriel replayed their earlier conversation, when he was Collector, in his head. That, and what she just said to him, made him realize...
"I should escort her too." Adrien suggests. But as he took a step forward, he was stopped by his father's hand.
"I need you here." Gabriel turns around to face the Team "All of you."
He led them to his office. He brought out one of his older sketchbooks and opened the page where he drew a pencil sketch of the previous Team Miraculous.
This was the first time the current Team saw their predecessors. Atleast... years ago. In pencil sketch.
Adrien took a closer look at the previous Peacock Miraculous Holder, "Mom... was a peacock?"
"And a feisty one as well." Gabriel gave a nostalgic smile, "And quite... 'expressive'."
Adrien couldn't believe his eyes. His mother was a Miraculous Holder. A hero.
"What happened?"
There it was. The question that has haunted Gabriel for months.
It was time to give the answers. The complete answers.
After a deep breath, he finally spoke, "We were your age when we found out that magical jewelries called Miraculouses exist. Me and a close friend of mine. Just a pair of ordinary men trying to navigate the maze called college. If people had the time, they would stop and take notice of a man riding on what seem to be a mix of a horse and an owl. They did. But then they didn't. Because of them. Back then, the Butterfly Miraculous was wielded by a hero, who grants powers to those who were worthy and to share his power with his teammates in times of need."
"So how did it end up with a villain like Hawk Moth?" Sabrina asks.
Gabriel continues to reminisce, "Other than the holders and the Guardian of the Miraculous, no one else was suppose to know the existence of the Miraculous and other forms of magic. Once every thing was settled, the people returned to their every day lives. Except for two. The more we learned about the Miraculouses, the more we wanted to be part of that world. That dedication, is what allowed the previous Guardian to accept us, as his apprentices."
As much as he was enjoying his dad's origin story, Adrien knew they had to get to the point, "Uh, Dad? Can we get to the part on how one of the most powerful jewelries in the world ended up in the hands of evil?"
Gabriel's eyes suddenly narrowed, and he speaks bitterly, "The Black Cat Holder."
The Team flinched a bit, intimidated by how cold their teacher was talking.
Gabriel calmed down a bit and continued, "My teacher, the previous Guardian, told us that the Ladybug Miraculous and the Black Cat Miraculous were the first to come to existence. They were also the most powerful of the Miraculouses. Together with the other 5, they can bend the very fabric of reality, space and time. For centuries, the Ladybug and Black Cat holders were the leaders of the team who were chosen to maintain the balance between humans and magic. Some even claim, they were, equals to each other."
Lila smiled. She was the Ladybug. Adrien's the Black Cat. Truly they were meant to be-
"But that wasn't how the previous Ladybug saw it."
Lila frowns. What...?
Gabriel continues, "My friend Alvère... We were, tactical support for the Team. When they found themselves in danger, we aid them in their times of need. I was more of the strategist and researcher. Meanwhile, Alvère was the risk taker. Taking action. Even joining the fight if he had to. Discretely that is. Which is why Bridgette chose him over Felix. Felix... could not accept that."
By the dark look present in their mentor's eyes, somehow the current Team of heroes knew what happened next.
Gabriel took a deep breathe and continued, "Felix... he was the most reckless of the seven. And by agreement, the most ruthless. We all wondered why he was even chosen to be the Black Cat in the first place. But we never imagined he would go far just to win the love that was never meant to be his in the first place."
Everyone's eyes widened in realization and horror.
"He turned against his teammates." This time, the older Agreste spoke more darkly than he ever did before, "By combining the powers of all 7 Miraculouses, he would have created a world where he and Bridgette would rule together. Everyone else, powerless before them. Alas... blinded by his madness, he failed to perform the proper ritual to invoke the Ultimate Power. His former teammates still had possession of their Miraculouses. Meaning: They can put a stop to his twisted plans. But a clash of ideals should not be present when invoking the power to manipulate reality."
The events that happened on that day were still clear in his memory...
The previous Team were trapped in a glowing green force-field. Gabriel and Alvère rushed to their friends as fast as they can. Gabriel stops to catch his breathe while Alvère kept running. By the time he was about to resume his run, Gabriel witnessed the glowing force-field turn from green to grey, then exploded.
Gabriel attempted to find his friends and wife, but the lingering remains of the exploded force-field looked like thick fog to him, preventing him from seeing where he was going.
He could hear screaming, but it wasn't his friends' screams. He suddenly remembers that there were innocent civilians in the area. Many were calling, some crying, for their friends and families lost in the "fog".
A few moments later, the "fog" disappeared.
And his friends and wife were nowhere to be seen.
"So let me get this straight... I lost my mom... and everyone else lost someone they care about... all because a stupid cat can't get over the fact that the girl of his dreams chooses a normal, yet sweet guy over him?!" Chloe angrily asks, tears running down her cheeks.
Her teammates couldn't believe it either. The Phantom Night... the dreaded night where many lost their love ones... was caused by the jealousy of one man who wanted to use the power of 7 magical jewels to make his sick, twisted dreams come true.
Adrien was appalled by his predecessor's actions. Abusing ultimate power... just to make someone fall in love with you?!
He would never wish that on Marinette!
"Well can you blame him?"
Everyone looks at Lila with disbelief, "He wouldn't have to use the Ultimate Power if she hadn't rejected him for a normal man."
Gabriel scowled at the Italian girl, "That normal man was my friend."
"Exactly." Lila points out, "He was just a guy without a Miraculous. Felix does."
"And he should be the one Bridgette should've end up with?!" Adrien angrily asks.
"Isn't that how things have been?" Lila couldn't understand why her teammates and mentor were mad at her. She was just stating the facts, "Sounds like Felix is the victim of the story. Alvère shouldn't have gotten in the way."
"And what?!" Chloe snapped. Her tears have ruined her mascara, but she didn't care, "Leave the girl he loves to that... barbarian?!"
"Maybe he wasn't like that before Alvère came." Lila argued.
"He has always been like that. There was no reasoning with him." Gabriel countered. He managed to calm down a bit before continuing, "I did learn one thing from him though; You can never, force someone to love you. Not even through powerful magical means. After that night, I discovered the Miraculouses were scattered all over Paris. But their holders were nowhere to be seen. I managed to retrieve six of them."
"All except the Butterfly." Alya finished.
Gabriel nodded.
"So..." Nino figured, "If we all have 7 Miraculouses... then we can-"
"No."
All eyes turned to Gabriel, "It's true. But then... I'm not certain, we should."
"But if we use the Ultimate Power, then we can get everyone back." Chloe reasons, albeit desperate.
"True." Gabriel still wasn't sure, "Still..."
"How hard is it to use the same power that took people away only to bring them back?" Lila asks, "Felix used it."
Gabriel looks at her darkly, "We are not Felix. Nor will we ever be!"
Lila shrunk under the intense gaze of her mentor. Seriously. Mention Felix' name and she becomes the bad guy.
Gabriel calmed down a bit, "Listen carefully Mademoiselle Rossi. And that includes all of you: Make the same mistake Felix made, and Paris will lose more than a couple of people. Every wish, always has a price. Even the smallest of wishes can cause great catastrophes."
His scowl turns into worry, "I just don't want any of you to make that mistake and get hurt."
Adrien now understands why his dad was so reluctant to talk about the previous Team Miraculous; He couldn't save them. His teammates... his friends...
His wife...
His mom was the previous Peacock Holder. She disappeared saving everyone from her fallen teammate...
His predecessor... The previous Black Cat H-
After what he did, he was no longer one. He didn't deserve to be called one.
Adrien didn't want to end up like him. He didn't want to take away the lives of others just to get the girl he loves.
Marinette will hate him for that.
It was now clear to the Team as to why the Butterflies wanted all 7 Miraculouses in the first place: To manipulate reality to their will... To control all living beings... To rule over all...
Adrien looks at his ring, "We can't let them take the Miraculouses."
The others look and/touch their own Miraculouses in agreement.
He was reluctant at first, but Gabriel could see that his students have grown, and more determined to defeat the Butterflies in order to retrieve the last missing Miraculous.
His son was hiding the truth, but he could see right through him: Conflicted to either use the Ultimate Power to bring back his mom and other lost civilians, or spare the lives of those still living in Paris.
One more thing bothered him; How did Mariposa avoided his security and entered his office in the first place?
Sure she is granted powers by the Butterfly Miraculous... but for some reason, Gabriel felt that he has forgotten a very important detail. But what?
His niece is such a hard worker. She studied so hard she fell asleep on her desk.
Amshel drapes a blanket over her, strokes her hair, then gives her a gentle kiss on her forehead.
Just as he was about to leave, the light that reflected off the jewel Marinette always wore caught his eyes.
This was his chance... while she's asleep...
His niece can be a little bit scatterbrained when she's in a hurry to complete a task or homework. So... she'll probably think she misplaced her bracelet in the midst of her restless studying.
He doesn't want to take advantage of her teenage flaw, but this was for her own good.
For everyone's good.
He reaches a hand out, ready to take the Miraculous... ready to end it all... ready to right the wrong he made a long time ago...
The trapdoor to Marinette's room slam shut. Amshel wasn't worried that he had woken his niece up. He was too busy catching his breathe.
Two hands run across his face. Neither held his niece's bracelet.
Stupid Felix...!
Other than being forced to be a villain, the corrupted Miraculous curses him from taking the bracelet away from his niece. Which makes it difficult for him to remove the Miraculous on his own.
That's why he's putting his faith on the heroes. They're his only hope to end all this madness. His only hope to free his niece of such burden.
If only back then... he had learned to let go...
Season 4 so far: The last episode actually brought back a little spark to my life. I'm already predicting future episodes, but I sure can't wait to watch the next two upcoming episodes.
Please let the secrets finally be out in this season! To the team of heroes only!