Here is the short chapter of what happened during Mayura's meeting as well as the episode Collusion. I hope that my readers enjoy it.
Thanks to the shortcut spell, Peace Keeper and Master Fu were able to avoid being spotted from the ground. As long as people didn't look up to high, the meeting wouldn't be discovered.
Upon arriving at the meeting spot, a rooftop of a local store in Village Saint-Paul, Peace Keeper did a quick perimeter sweep. She had chosen this small area because it wasn't a very well-known tourist area.
The area consisted of a historic building complex tucked away in a quiet street behind the Church Saint Paul, in the heart of the Le Marais district of Paris. While it was located near other tourist spots, it often was overlooked.
It would be very easy to miss the nondescript entrances to this complex, if not for the colorful pink flags that dot the streets around it. Le Village Saint Paul was made up of a collection of buildings surrounding several interlinked courtyards.
Originally built by King Charles V in the 13th century, when he recognized the strategic importance of the Le Marais area. Over the centuries the area had been transformed into a haven for artisans, merchants, and small-scale food service.
With a minimal number of civilians and plenty of courtyards to offer escape routes, it was the perfect place to hold a secret meeting with a supervillainess without endangering too many lives.
Once she was satisfied, she contacted her father over her communicator. "The area is clear of any traps and threats. I've placed protective wards over the buildings to prevent damage to them."
"Good, hopefully, this will keep the damage to a minimum if a fight breaks out. Keep your eyes out for Mayura. We need to know the minute she's in the area."
Peace Keeper tapped her mask to zoom in on the ground below. Using the wireless connection to her wrist computer, she ran a facial recognition program. Just because they didn't know Mayura's true identity, didn't mean she couldn't figure it out if she spied someone, she knew who didn't frequent the area.
When she didn't get a hit, she turned her attention to the nearby rooftops. Mayura most likely would be coming from one of them. That is if she actually showed up.
Peace Keeper did not doubt that Mayura truly did want to be healed. Still, with hers and Monarch's magic becoming unstable, there was a chance she had already succumbed to her illness.
Don't think about that! There are still at least two to three weeks before their bodies will give out according to Father. That means there is still time to save Duusu and Nooroo as well.
Refocusing her attention, she spotted something blue coming their way from the south. Zooming in, she saw it was Mayura. The woman was moving very slowly towards the meeting spot.
"Father, Mayura is coming from the south. She's much slower than before. I don't know if she can make it to the meeting spot. Should I intercept her?"
"No, maintain your position. Mayura may simply be conserving her energy to avoid overexerting herself. Just keep her under your observation."
"Will do, Father. Be vigilant!"
Mayura struggled as she neared her destination. She had asked for the peacock miraculous to be returned to her for the day. She had told Gabriel that she wanted to go to the farmer's market to pick fresh berries for Duusu.
When he had asked why she wanted the Miraculous instead of just taking the kwami, she lied to him. She spoke about how if she spotted the heroes, she wanted it to transform. Duusu had even added she felt safer if her Miraculous was nearby when she was out in public.
The man had been suspicious of her intentions. He hadn't wanted to give it back, citing he needed it for his plans. Somehow, Nooroo had convinced him to let Nathalie take it with her.
Gabriel didn't expect her back for an hour. She had driven to a farmers' market and bought a few bunches of berries. Ten minutes later, she dropped her Alliance Ring into a crate of berries she had examined.
She then found a place to transform and hurried to the meeting place. She finally arrived on the right rooftop and looked around. She didn't see anyone, but she did sense someone was there.
"I'm here, as promised. I'm disarming myself right now." She laid her fan on the ground and then kicked it away. "I'm too weak to use my powers without the fan. I'm sure you can sense that."
Peace Keeper confirmed her statement after doing a quick scan with her magic filter. She also reported that Mayura's vitals weren't very good.
Upon receiving the information, the old man took a deep breath and came out from his hiding spot. He spoke in a firm tone, "You are the villainess who seeks the help of the Celestial Guardian?"
Mayura startled, turned around and saw the Celestial Guardian. He appeared a bit younger than she expected. The woman trembled slightly and whispered, "Are you the Celestial Guardian, Ladybug spoke of?"
"I am, and she told me you wish to surrender the peacock miraculous, in exchange for being healed. I hope you are sincere with your words." Fu tightened his grasp on the staff, the jewel glowing with power.
Mayura kept her hand raised as she placed the other over her miraculous. "I swear by my miraculous, that I will return it and help you defeat Monarch if you will heal me." The miraculous glowed indicating the oath had been accepted.
The Celestial Guardian moved a foot closer. He cast a spell over Mayura, who gasped in slight pain. The spell dispersed and the pain vanished.
"Apologize for the pain. I needed to be certain that your words were true and not coerced."
Mayura glared at him for a second before nodding. "How soon can I be healed?"
"Very soon. I have set up a spot for the ritual nearby. Once everything is in place, you will relinquish the Miraculous to me. Only then, can the healing ritual take place."
Mayura looked relieved to hear this. Tears of joy glimmered in her eyes. The Celestial Guardian signaled for her to follow him.
They were about to jump to the next roof when Mayura screamed for the man to duck. Fu followed her instructions and felt a strong wind passing over him.
He heard the distinct sound of his daughter's jetpack as she zoomed over him. He raised his head and saw that a battle was happening in midair.
Peace Keeper was dodging Monarch's aerial attacks as he tried to hit her with the power of the dragon. One of the blasts came dangerously close but was repelled by Honnara's defensive power, Honor Guard.
On the rooftop below, Mayura was frozen in disbelief. She looked at the Celestial Guardian with a pleading expression. "I swear I didn't set a trap! I told Monarch nothing of our meeting!"
Fu gave her a solemn look. "I know you are telling the truth. I'm sure you understand why we need to postpone the healing ritual."
"Postpone it? How long do I have if you don't perform the ritual today?!" the supervillainess demanded in a panicked voice.
"Two and half weeks. I will send a message on the ritual location through Ladybug. Now, I suggest you do the same as me and run!"
Without looking back, Master Fu took off running. His body may be old, but with his adrenaline, he was able to move faster than normal. He started chanting the spell to open a shortcut back to his home.
Monarch saw this and twisted around to go after the Celestial Guardian. He started to dive when he let out a cry as something tore into his wings.
Peace Keeper yanked hard on her rope dart, pulling the supervillain back towards her. "You're not going anywhere Monarch!" she snapped.
She started spinning around in midair. Monarch tried to free himself from the dart as he was swung in circles. He was trying to unsheathe the sword cane when he was abruptly flung across the sky as the dart was pulled out of his wings.
Monarch tumbled through the sky for about a mile before he righted himself. He growled at the situation, knowing that both the Celestial Guardian and Peace Keeper were most likely gone by now.
He was about to start ranting when he noticed a streak of blue beneath him. His eyes narrowed as he saw his partner running across the rooftop to escape. Pointing his cane at her he called out, "Chrysalis!"
Mayura was caught off guard as thick purple strands wrapped tightly around her legs and arms. She fell back onto the hard rooftop. She winced in pain as her magic suit failed to keep her back from being scraped raw.
She was struggling to break free when Monarch landed on the rooftop and snarled. "HOW DARE YOU BETRAY ME! I knew I was right to put that tracker on you when I gave you the miraculous!"
It was only now that Mayura realized there was an extra jewel on the miraculous. She cursed herself for not noticing it sooner. "I wasn't trying to betray you; I was trying to save the both of us!"
"We're dying, even if you can't admit it! I was attempting to get healed so you would see that being alive is more imperative than reviving your wife! A wife that told you to let her go!"
Monarch saw red and attacked with viciousness. He ripped the miraculous off Mayura and put it on. A weak Duusu was forced back into her Miraculous as he unified her and Nooroo together.
He then proceeded to beat Nathalie to near death. He broke both her right arm, and left leg, and cracked several ribs. Large bruises were forming over where her kidneys and spleen were located.
He had used his weapon, both the cane and then the sword part, to make her unrecognizable to anyone. She was bleeding from many wounds across her body. He had also smashed the pommel of his cane into her head three times, possibly giving her brain damage.
Monarch decided she deserved one last mercy. Picking her up, he flew over the city looking for an ambulance. He saw an empty one near the hospital and dumped her inside.
He flew back towards the manor. He ignored the pain in his body from exerting himself so much. He would have to come up with some plausible excuse for his son about why Nathalie wasn't around anymore.
By the time night fell, Nathalie was in the coma ward listed as a Jane Doe. After being found, she was hurried into emergency surgery. She had nearly died twice but had managed to pull through.
Nathalie hadn't brought her ID with her when she left the mansion. With all the swelling from the attack, it was impossible to know what her face really looked like. The hospital would need to talk to the police to find out if there were any missing person reports that matched her.
The next day, Andre Bourgeois was in his office contemplating canceling his meeting with Gabriel and Tomoe. Honestly, he didn't want to have a meeting to discuss replacing the police force with robots. Neither did his boss so he asked the secretary to inform the two that the meeting was canceled and rescheduled for a later date.
After that, he headed to the Deputy Mayor's office to discuss an important matter. He knocked on Ms. Hidalgo's door asking for permission to enter. She told him to come in.
The young woman looked up from her paperwork. "Is there something you need, Andre?"
"Not me exactly. I wanted to discuss with you the possibility of me stepping down sooner than was agreed on," he replied as he took a seat across from her.
Ms. Hidalgo blinked her eyes several times. Mr. Bourgeois still had five years left before his term was up. Five years until he would be officially arrested for his crimes of misuse of funds.
"I'm surprised you would want to do that. I thought you would only consider stepping down early if Monarch was captured."
Mr. Bourgeois sighed and looked down at the floor. Would Ms. Hidalgo understand his reasons for doing something like this?
"We both know that Monarch's days are numbered because of the heroes' interview on the LadyNoir blog. By next month, the situation with Monarch will be resolved."
"I feel it's only right that I step down as well for my own criminal actions. The city needs a new leader to help Paris recover after nearly two years of a terrorist taking advantage of people's emotions."
Ms. Hidalgo acknowledged his statement was correct. However, she asked him if had thought about the backlash that would happen when he explained why he was stepping down.
He replied yes, he understood. He believed his family could handle it. He had only brought it up today because it was the last day of the brevet, and he hadn't wanted to distract Chloe from her studies.
"I can see how serious you are about this. It will take some time to get things for a smooth transition. Also, a special election for a new Deputy Mayor will have to be held to replace me when I take over."
Mr. Bourgeois nodded in understanding. "Since the school year is nearly up, can we make the announcement the day after it's over? I don't want Chloe and Zoe to be too upset to not attend the end of year party."
Ms. Hidalgo was okay with that. It would also give him time to settle important matters with Audrey. She said they could start working on the process the next day.
"You should go home early. I do not doubt that you have plans to reward Chloe for making it through the brevet. Let me know if there's anything you need help with."
The man got up to leave when he remembered something. "Oh, I canceled the meeting between Mr. Agreste and Ms. Tsurugi for today. Do you think you could arrange to meet with them instead of me?"
"I would never pass up the chance to put those two in their place. Robotic officers should not be employed where human compassion is required."
They both said farewell to one another. Andre's heart felt a little lighter as he called for his limo to pick him up. Despite the turmoil ahead of him and his family, he knew everything would be fine.