Roll out the red carpet and ready your cameras: Jagged Stone is in Paris, and absolutely nothing can go wrong!
"Today's the day, today's the day!" Adrien bounced up and down on his cousin's bed, a beaming smile practically splitting his face in half.
Felix grumbled into his pillows, tugging the blanket further over his head.
"C'mon, Felix, get up! We're gonna go see Jagged Stone after school!"
"Go away..." he answered irritably.
Slowly, Adrien's face lost its joy until he was staring deadfaced at the older boy.
"I can feel you looking," Felix said, voice muffled. "It's not gonna work on me."
Beat.
Peeking out of the blankets, Felix scowled. "Quit using the puppy eyes, they never work."
Adrien clasped his hands together, poking his bottom lip out and making his eyes go as wide as they could.
The two cousins stared at each other in complete silence. Felix's eye twitched. To his credit, he lasted a lot longer than he thought he would - and finally he heaved a sigh.
"Get off of me, we're gonna be late for school."
The resulting ray of sunshine that was his younger cousin's face made him cover his eyes in the crook of his arm. "Too bright! Adrien!"
"Oh, sorry!"
"Alright, everyone's here," Miss Bustier relayed as she did one last glance through her attendance sheet before giving a smile to her class. "We're very lucky that Mayor Bourgeois has been generous enough to allow us to have our class work day at The Grand Paris. Everyone will get the opportunity to have some real hands-on experience in- Alix, Ivan, please pay attention."
The two students paused in their play, turning to give a sheepish look to their teacher. Miss Bustier raised a brow, and slowly they set the pillows down. Chloe rolled her eyes and Felix's lips pressed into a line, unimpressed.
"I know it's boring standing around, but I need you to take this seriously. You will be graded on how well you do, and that factors into your term grade." She pleaded, propping a hand on her hip. "I can't afford for us to waste this chance given that Chloe herself volunteered to host our class at the hotel."
The blonde girl preened under her teacher's praise, and almost simultaneously an eye-roll went through the crowd. Marinette heaved a quiet sigh as Alya shook her head.
"Now." She flipped the attendance sheet over, squinting at the names there. "Uh, Mayor Bourgeois - I don't see a Dupain-Cheng or a Cesaire on this list."
"Hm?" Peeking over, the mayor frowned. "Oh, you're right. Well, that's no matter. Hand it here."
Wordlessly the redhead passed the clipboard, and Marinette muttered under her breath, "Five guesses as to where she put herself on that list."
"Oh you know that's not fair, she's too predictable. The bigger question is where she put Felix."
The blond turned his head slightly, glancing out of the corner of his eye.
"There we are." Mayor Bourgeois beamed, clearing his throat. "Sorting the trash in the main dumpster, we have Alya Cesaire."
The bespectacled girl cupped her fingers over her mouth, an offended gasp escaping her agape mouth. Marinette frowned, grip clenching on her friend's hand.
"And, ah, okay, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, you will be-"
The door to the hotel slammed open, startling the kids as a crocodile on a leash sauntered his way in, followed by a boldly-dressed man and a more subdued woman.
"Who- who are you? You can't just barge in like you own the place!" The mayor sputtered, face growing red at his carefree attitude. "I don't allow exotic animals here - you'd better drop him back off at the zoo where you found him!"
"Who is he?" Juleka piped up, annoyed, before Chloe jumped in. "Daddy, don't be so rude! That's Jagged Stone, international superstar! He's..." lowering her voice, she leaned in to whisper in his ear, "...very, very rich and very, very influential!"
The crocodile snarled at the mayor, making the man yelp, stepping back - and then the rockstar lowered his shades with an unimpressed glance.
"Oh? O- OH!" The middle-aged man quickly changed gears, smiling broadly at the musician and handing the clipboard back to Miss Bustier. "Welcome to Paris, Mr. Stone! What can I do for you today?"
"I need a place to crash at while I'm in France," he answered, looking around the lobby. "Gotta say, this place is seriously fancy."
"Mr. Stone would like your most luxurious suite, please," his assistant was a lot more polite, tapping away at a tablet. "Ah- and, of course, this is Fang, his pet crocodile."
"Me 'n Fang are a package deal! Only the best is gonna do it for my boy. I'm talkin' the biggest tub you've got. If you really don't want him in your hotel..."
"Oh, no, no no no, I'm sure we can accommodate!" Marinette had never heard the mayor speak this quickly before. It was honestly impressive. "Surely your... crocodile wouldn't mind a bubble bath...?"
Jagged stared at him for a second, offended. "You don't give crocs bubble baths! Do you want to dry out their scales? Fang's sensitive to scents, mate!"
The crocodile snuffled, beady eyes pinned on Rose. To her credit, the petite blonde didn't show as much fear as the rest of them thought she would, despite Juleka standing protectively in front of her and staring down the reptile.
"Of course not, sir, I just-" clearing his throat, the mayor smoothed down his front and gestured further in. "Why don't we get you settled in? I've got the perfect room in mind."
Adrien's gaze settled on something in the front of the lobby, and he nudged Felix, who shot him a look. Then he realized that Fang had changed sights and was now intently focused on a man who had snuck into the hotel, camera clutched tightly in his hands.
A loud growl followed by a sharp gasp of surprise made both Mayor Bourgeois and Penny turn, and immediately the woman scowled at the man sneaking through the lobby as he climbed into a potted plant to get away from the crocodile's jaws.
"Mr. Aza, how unfortunate to see you," she started dryly.
"Oh bloody hell," Jagged grumbled under his breath as he finally turned to face the photographer. "You again? You just don't give up, do you?"
"H- hey, uh, Jagged!" Vincent let out wild, shaky laughter, eyeing down Fang before glancing up at his idol. "It's me! I'm glad you remembered - hey, uh, could you call off your croc? I don't feel like getting my feet snipped off today..."
"Stop stalking me and I'll think about it." Jagged turned his back to the younger man.
"B- but wait! I just want one thing! Just one and I'll stop!"
"That's never where it ends with you people, though, is it?" The kids turned to stare openly at the abject bitterness in his voice. "You always pull your favorite idols in, begging 'oh, just one more picture!' or 'oh, just one more autograph!' Nothing is ever enough! The next thing you know, you've got a wave of self-proclaimed 'fans' demanding to know where you live, or what your personal email is, or where you're going to be tomorrow because they think they deserve it. 'We're the ones that gave you all of that fame. You owe us for making you who you are.'"
Then he finally turned, and the glare he pinned Mr. Aza with froze him in his spot. Even Fang paused in his attempts to get a nip at his shoe. "Well you're not. I'm sick and tired of playing nice with you because you never learn. Going to thirty-six shows in a row doesn't entitle you to keep harassing me. Calling yourself my friend doesn't mean you get to violate my privacy and put myself and my employees in danger. I'm only gonna say it once, mate: stop stalking me and get a life. I'm not your friend and you don't know me."
Mr. Aza gaped openly at his idol, even as phones suddenly began chiming all around the group.
"Wh- what the-?!" Penny's jaw dropped as notification after notification flooded in, punctuated by the children pulling out their own devices and checking. "What is the Ladyblog? Somebody's been filming Mr. Stone without express approval from the management team?!"
Marinette, Adrien, and Felix turned to give Alya a hard look, and slowly she tapped her screen to pause the livestream and put the phone back in her pocket.
"Wow, it's already going viral!" Rose gasped.
"Twitter's exploding. Holy crap." Juleka breathed, staring at her phone as the photographer's face slowly went white. "Hashtag...LeaveJaggedAlone?"
"Ugh, I need to notify the lawyers." Penny huffed, before taking a deep, stabilizing breath. Pointing a finger at Mr. Aza, she bellowed, "And you! If I have to throw you out one more time I'm filing for a stricter restraining order!"
The lithe assistant stormed over to the potted plant, and Fang stepped out of the way as she grabbed the man by the front of his shirt.
"And this time," she hissed into his ear, "I'm making triple-sure the lawyers can't find any loopholes."
Hawkmoth perked up, and one of his butterflies flew away from his finger at the sudden surge of despair he felt panging through the Miraculous. "Has my diversion worked? Am I about to create the most powerful akuma yet?"
He closed his eyes, searching through the Butterfly... and after a moment, he groaned. "Not Jagged Stone? Some... no-name photographer?"
"... Wait a minute, isn't that the guy I had to hire while Vincent undergoes therapy? Ah, who cares, I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth."
"And Felix, you and Alix will be changing bed linens."
"Uh, excuse me," the blond raised his hand with a hard stare. "I was meant to accompany my cousin on this trip, as I'm sure is noted by my uncle in the permission slip."
Both adults stared at him. At his side, Adrien covered his face with his hands.
"Um," Miss Bustier began, fumbling a little with her words, "I- uh, is- is that so?"
"Don't tell me you didn't read the permission slip."
"The principal did read it," she confirmed, face pinched. "Are- are you sure...?"
Felix deadpanned, "I literally wouldn't have told you if it was a lie. What do I have to gain - besides saving my cousin from a white-and-yellow harpy - by babysitting?"
"Excuse you?" Chloe indignantly squawked.
"Excused." He tilted his chin, looking down his nose at her. "Besides, Adrien doesn't-" he paused, expression souring for a moment before continuing, "he hasn't gotten a chance to speak up about this yet."
Adrien's face took on a red tinge under his hands as he felt eyes fall on him. Peeking between his fingers, he quietly chimed in, "I... I don't mind being with my cousin for the assignment..."
"If you're sure," Miss Bustier slowly answered. "Alright, Mr. Mayor, I suppose Adrien will be paired with Felix for this assignment."
"Very well," he blithely agreed.
The older blond turned slightly, feeling a heated stare - and he smirked at the fuming girl, shrugging in a carefree 'what can you do' motion.
"How did I get myself roped into a prop hunt?" Marinette huffed to herself, darting down a crosswalk with her purse clutched tightly in one hand.
"This is your chance, Marinette!" Tikki squeaked, offering her an encouraging smile. "You want to make an impression, don't you? Why don't you make Jagged some glasses instead of relying on cheap tourist traps?"
The girl hummed. Jagged had seemed sort of standoffish, but after that encounter with the paparazzo she didn't blame him. Still, a pair of sunglasses? He didn't have people to do that for him?
"You don't want to give him just any silly old sunglasses, do you?" The Kwami pressed, raising her brows at the human.
"No," she admitted with a sigh. "But I'm already wasting my time being a gopher. Making glasses takes time."
"In that case, I can help! Just say the word and you'll have some top-quality shades in no time!"
A woman and her daughter turned to stare at the teenager incredulously, the child mid-lick on an ice cream. Tikki ducked back in the purse, squeaking out a meow.
Marinette couldn't help but cup her hand over her mouth to stifle a giggle as she made it back to the bakery.
The second she ducked into the door, there was a flash and a scream.
The ice cream splattered on the pavement.
A/N: Happy Labor Day for my US/Canadian readers! I think this might be the second-to-last update to this book for a while (due to this cliffhanger) - some things are happening behind the scenes that are making it harder for me to write this. I'm really sorry!