And we're back! Not much to say here but there is a quick little non important note at the end.
Content warning: Greed, hospital visit, Charity manipulation.
Chapter 6
Face the Music
It had been just over a week since the red rocks came and went and the citizens of Paris were starting to get back on their feet. While some did leave the city like Kagami's family, a surprisingly large number decided to stay. Maybe since they had lived with a supervillain attacking them for so long they figured this too shall pass.
Fortunately after the brief appearance of the red terror rocks the black ones seemed to go quiet. The old ones were still here but there hadn't been any new ones popping up and wreaking havoc. People were learning to live with the giant eyesores but there were still a lot of people who lost their homes or could not safely return to them. It's in times like these where people's true character comes to the surface. While some were fighting over resources others were doing everything they could to help out.
The Dupain-Cheng's still ran their bakery but also baked a lot of extra food for those who were hungry. Gabriel Agreste ordered part of his manufacturing plant to make extra blankets, clothes, tents and whatever else he could think of for those in need. And to the surprise of just about everyone the Mayor himself had opened up several floors of his hotel as a shelter.
Everyone was extremely pleased by this kind act except for, you guessed it, his daughter Chloe. They had a pretty ugly public fight since Chloe didn't want 'poor people' living in the same building as her. And for once the mayor put his foot down saying these people needed help. After she kept protesting he sadly admitted that he had given her whatever she wanted way too many times and was now blaming himself for the type of person she turned out to be. Last they heard she was trying to get in touch with her mother so she could go live with her in New York again. Everyone was hoping she'd followed through this time.
Right now Varian, Max and Markov were ready to test the new formula they made. If it worked it would help tons of people get the water turned back on in their homes a lot quicker. A number of rocks had wrecked the sewer pipes beneath the city contaminating the water. The pipes could be fixed and rerouted but it would take time to clean everything up. Varian came up with a plan to make a formula that would separate the water from the contaminates. After a lot of calculations, trial and error, they were ready for the test.
"I hope we calculated everything correctly." Varian said nervously as Markov hovered over them.
"I ran the calculations myself and there is a 98.99% chance of success." This made Max happy but Varian was still hesitant. He had lost with better odds after all. Max and Markov already had a good reputation in the science industry, otherwise he doubted anyone would let a couple of teenagers fix the water. The city engineers and water specialists were standing by to see their progress or to fix anything that went wrong.
"We're all set Varian." Max said, looking at the data on his computer. "Go ahead and try it on the sample size." With a gulp and a prayer Varian poured the formula in the contaminated water. In an instant the contaminants rose to the surface where they could be easily cleaned up leaving the rest of the water clean. The city people tested the removal process as well as the water.
It was a success. There would still have to be more testing and of course the water would still have to be filtered but this would speed up the clean up process by a large margin.
"You kids did great work!" One of the engineers said, patting both of them on the back. "I know this is still going to take some time to fix but any chance this stuff can be modified for other things?" Varian thought for a moment.
"While this one is specifically made it wouldn't be that hard to tweak it for a different scenario depending on what it was." Max nodded.
"Harsher chemicals would have to be recalculated but I believe this should work for many contaminants." The man and his workers smiled.
"Looks like the future is in good hands." The two young geniuses had done all they could for the day so they left the city crew to start the clean-up process.
"I'm glad we were able to find a solution to the water problem." Max said, packing up his computer. "Your idea was well thought out as well as executed." Varian aloud himself a small smile.
"I'm just glad it didn't blow up in my face." Markov wired around.
"There was a very low probability of that happening."
"Yeah, thanks for running the calculations for us."
"You are most welcome." Markov beamed happy to help as well.
"Are you heading home Varian?" Max asked, having enjoyed spending time with the other boy.
"A little later. I have something I've been meaning to do and I think I'm finally ready."
"Alright then, just don't push yourself too hard. Ivan and Mylène have said you've been helping out with a lot of charity work this week." Varian shrugged.
"I'm just trying to do my part. Sometimes a little help can make a big difference."
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"OK, let's try this again." Marinette said slightly out of breath. She pulled out the Rooster Miraculous and slipped on the thumb ring releasing Orikko.
"Ready to try again?"
"That's right. Orikko, Sunrise!" She shouted inside a damaged and abandoned building near the Louvre Museum. She had been trying all sorts of Kwami combinations to try to get into the museum but so far no luck. She tried the Horse miraculous but the portals couldn't seem to penetrate through the rocky exterior.
She tried using the Rooster asking for the power to break through the rocks but turns out that power was held by another Kwami. She suspected it was Chat Noir's Cataclysm after the way it reduced that first rock to shrapnel but it could also be very dangerous. There was a large amount of shrapnel from that smaller rock. The one covering the Museum was much larger. She couldn't take such a risk like that without a plan.
Right now she had a different plan. Now transformed as Aviana she used her power of sublimation.
"I choose the power to walk through objects!" She shimmered for a brief moment and then tried to put her hand through the wall of the warehouse. Not meeting any resistance she walked through the wall and looked up at the looming building confident this was going to work. But the moment she touched the rock blocking the door she became solid again and was pushed back.
"AH, why won't anything work?" she marched back to the wear house and transformed back. "Sorry Orikko." Orikko looked sad.
"It was a good plan but whatever this stuff is it's resistant to just about everything except…"
"Chat Noir's Cataclysm." she said with a frown. "I didn't want to ask him this but maybe we can find a way for him to use his powers on the rocks without them exploding on us. Maybe we can start small. Maybe-" but then her alarm went off on her phone.
"Oh shoot! I have to get going." She left the warehouse but turned back to the Louvre. "Something's in there and I'll bet whatever it is is the key to stopping all this. I'm not giving up, I'll find a way in. Just watch me!"
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Varian nervously waited in the visiting area of the hospital ward waiting for his turn to go in. After a lot of mental preparations he felt he was ready to go and give Luka a proper visit. The good news was while he wasn't awake yet he had been taken off the ventilator and was now breathing on his own. Right now Juleka and her mother were visiting while he waited outside with his father Jagged Stone.
"You OK little man?" Varian jumped slightly not expecting him to say anything.
"Yeah, sorry. I kind of freaked out last time. I was just trying to mentally prepare but it's hard…"
"Seeing him like that?" Varian nodded. "Yeah it's hard for me too. I haven't been the best Dad even if their Mom didn't want me in the picture and then I almost lost my son…" he trailed off.
"After my Dad had his…accident." Varian started. "It was hard seeing him and waiting for him to get better. He still hasn't…woken up and I'm starting to think that…" he trailed off not wanting to finish that thought.
"You're staying with Gabriel right?" he nodded. "I can't say what will or won't happen but at least you have someone looking out for you. Luka likes to talk about his friends when we're hanging out. You and Adrien come up a lot." Varian smiled.
"Luka is the best of us." Jagged nodded with a smile on his face.
"After this I've got to head over to the park to rehearse for the charity concert."
"Oh right, Mylène and Ivan were telling me about how they were setting up a concert to help raise money for all the displaced people." Jagged glanced over at the door to Luka's room.
"Yeah when they approached me I thought this would be something Luka'd love."
"He would, wouldn't he. He's always helping people around him."
"Exactly, so I thought why not perform in his honor."
"I think he'd love that. I wonder if they need more help with the setup?" Just then Juleka and her mother came out.
"Hey Varian." Juleka said in a whisper. "Are you here to see Luka?" He nodded.
"Yeah I think I'm ready." Jagged Stone put a hand on his shoulder.
"Why don't you go on in for a private word, I wanted to have a quick chat with Juleka." He was grateful for it to be private. There were some things he needed to say that he couldn't say in front of others.
"Hey Luka." he said as he entered the room and closed the door. It was still hard seeing him like this but he looked a lot better than last time.
"Sorry I ran off last time, it was just…hard. But I wanted to see you so bear with me if I'm a bit of a mess. I'm sorry I hurt you when I pulled you out but…I'm glad you're still here. I've started working with the local charities and it feels really good knowing I'm helping people even if I'm just behind the scenes. Adrien's been helping out too and I think he's really getting into it. Being a little sheltered he hasn't had a chance to work with his hands that much but he's eager to learn and seems to be enjoying it.
School's still out but there's talk about opening it back up soon now that a lot of repairs have been made. The rocks have been quiet and things are starting to get back to normal." He frowned at that last part.
"And that's what I'm afraid of. Ladybug and Shadow Moth have a truce at the moment due to the rock situation but if things remain quiet…I don't know if I want to do this anymore." he wiped a stubborn tear from his eyes.
"Ladybug's power has no effect on the rock. What if the miracle can't help my Dad after all? I…I don't want to keep fighting and pretend no one is getting hurt but I don't know if I'm ready to let him go, let everything go." He looked back at the sleeping boy almost expecting an answer. "Maybe that's what I need." he sighed and sank into the chair beside his bed.
"The morning the rocks came I was terrified that you saw who I really was. After a long debate I decided I was going to tell you everything. I wanted you to know on my terms and not have you guess why I teamed up with Shadow Moth. Your guesses were most likely correct though, you have a way of just understanding people." He stood up hearing raised voices from the other side of the door, figuring Jagged or someone else was here to see Luka as well.
"I should get going but I'll be back. Hopefully I can talk to you about this when you're awake. Get well soon!" He opened the door and was shocked to hear shouting coming from the waiting area. He saw Jagged Stone in a heated argument with his manager Bob Roth. Luka's mother was shaking her fist looking like she was ready to jump in and hit someone. Juleka meanwhile was standing to the side wringing her hands nervously.
"What's going on?" He asked as her mother shouted in response.
"This bottom feeding barnacle of a man is trying to sabotage the charity concert!"
"Wait what!?" The manager held up his hands but still had a smug grin on his face.
"Hey I'm just enforcing the contract that you signed Jagged."
"You know I'm on family leave and that's in the contract as well!" The man was still smirking.
"And according to that contract you leave is officially canceled once you decide to return to work. By accepting that charity concert gig it means you're back on the clock and we get back on tour."
"My kid's in a coma and you're using a legal loophole to force me away from him!" The shouting continued and Varian was afraid security might have to be called in.
"Say, would you mind if I saw that contract?" He asked in a polite manner as the manager scoffed.
"Sure kid, read it and weep." he tossed the bound papers to Varian who quickly began speed reading. "In the meantime, I'm not completely heartless. I'm putting on a charity concert myself which you and XY will be headlining. It'll make a small fortune!" At that Anarka needed to be held back by an orderly.
"A fortune for yourself no doubt! How much will actually go to people who need it?"
"The legal amount. Keep in mind I have expenses and I'll have to hire a lot of workers and we'll of course need to promote." This time Jagged was the one being held back.
"You slimy little worm!"
"Piss and moan all you want Jagged but the contract is legally binding so there's no getting out of it."
"Actually there is." The fighting stopped instantly as all eyes turned to Varian. "Jagged hasn't actually broken his family leave terms, so no, he doesn't have to go back to work for you just yet." Bob actually laughed.
"So you've seen a few episodes of Law and Order. I helped write that contract myself, there's no way out of it."
"Then you'll know that it says the family leave will end after no longer than two months, Jagged declares it over or he takes on a job in a professional capacity."
"Which is exactly what he just did." Bob said, still laughing, thinking this kid didn't know what he was talking about.
"But according to page 10 subsection D it defines a job in a professional capacity as a paid performance. Are you getting paid Mr. Stone?" Jagged broke into a grin a mile wide.
"As a matter of fact, no, I signed on pro bono and I have the paperwork to prove it." Bob froze for a moment and took another look at the kid he thought didn't know anything.
"Gimmie that!" he snatched the contract back from Varian who had already memorized the whole thing. He quickly found the clause which Varian mentioned and his face turned from red to purple as he flipped through trying and failing to find a loophole in his own document.
"Am I wrong?" Varian said with a shit eating grin on his face. Bob looked like he was ready to strangle the kid but the two large orderlies made him rethink that.
"You think you're so smart, just wait until I get my real lawyers in on this." He stormed off grumbling the entire time.
Varian felt a hand slap his back, almost making him fall over in surprise.
"That was bloody brilliant V!" Jagged Stone declared as Anarka pumped her fist in the air.
"You hoysted him by his own petard!" He blushed under all the praise but he had to admit it felt pretty good.
"Thank you Varian." Juleka said so softly he almost missed it. "He's our main headliner; we wouldn't get nearly as much publicity without him." Varian smiled.
"It's what Luka would want." She smiled back and Varian finally felt like things were going well for a change.
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In the House of Yesterday's Tomorrow, while the others gushed at all the toys and wonders of the playroom Eugene smiled sadly. It reminded him of growing up in the orphanage. They also had a room full of toys that were shared by every kid in the place. Most were old donations and many were broken but for a kid with nothing they were the greatest treasures. But none of them were his, and any kid who tried to claim one for themselves were punished or reprimanded as being selfish.
Young Eugene grew tired of never getting anything of his own. Stealing some of the smaller toys were his first steps into becoming the infamous thief known as Flynn Rider.
Lost in thought his eyes drifted to one of the top shelves of the bookcase and saw a familiar toy sword with a wire wrapped around it. He was confused how something like this had gotten here since Varian was the only kid he knew had something like this. It wasn't exactly something you could buy in a store either, it was something the kid had made himself. Something he had made more dangerous if he recalled.
Just like everything Varian touched. Behind that bucked tooth grin and childlike excitement he was dangerous. Dangerous and reckless and…still just a kid. Which in Eugene's opinion only made him more dangerous. With the water heater explosion and the science expo fiasco the leap to criminal didn't seem like much of a stretch. And then he con Rapunzel into stealing the Sundrop flower. After that he attacked the castle and nearly won. The kid had outsmarted them all. Hell, he even used a music box against them.
If he wasn't so terrified for Rapunzel it would have been impressive. A terrorist at 14. Impressive didn't seem like the right word for that. But then he thought back and remembered why. He wasn't there when the kid had braved his way through a blizzard; he was busy trying to find the King and Queen. But he heard later he had come begging for help and Rapunzel was grief stricken having to turn him away in favor of saving her kingdom instead of a friend. She made the right call he knew she did but that didn't erase the guilt.
He supposed he didn't really help the situation. He was the one who convinced Rapunzel to just forget about him and move on. Maybe he felt guilty about that too. He looked back at the toy because while it was a dangerous toy, it was still a toy. Held by a kid who's eyes lit up when he recognized him as Flynn Rider. Who's eyes would look at him with hatred as the prison cart drove away.
Maybe he could have done something different, maybe he could have-His train of thought was disrupted as lights lit up the other side of the room. Suddenly there were two kids in place of Cassandra and Lance. This whole new set of worries halted his previous train of thought as he and Rapunzel rushed over.
The toy sword, like Varian, once again forgotten.
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"What do you mean Bob is hosting his charity concert the same day as us?!" Varian practically shouted into his phone. Max cringed at the sudden change of volume.
"It would seem his lawyers couldn't find a way to get Jagged Stone back to work while on leave so in retaliation he's set his show for tomorrow." Varian paused to take a deep breath pushing his anger down. No need to take it out on Max for just relaying a message.
"It's fine. We've still been advertising longer and Jagged Stone will still draw in a big crowd. Do you need any more help with the equipment for the streaming setup?"
"No, Markov and I have everything under control. We'll just need a few extra hands tomorrow."
"I'll be there along with Adrien. He's still another headliner that will bring in the views, especially since he retired." Max was quiet for a moment.
"Are you sure he's OK with doing a public appearance?"
"It was his idea." Varian had asked him the same thing when his brother had suggested the idea but Adien said it was a worthy cause and wanted to help out as best he could. "Gabriel is letting his latest collection debut at the show with Adrien as the lead model. He's also going to be performing a song as a farewell to his fans."
"As long as he's OK with it." Max still seemed hesitant and Varian couldn't help but think he might have a point.
"You know what, I'll check on him before I go to bed tonight and see if he needs anything."
"I think that will be for the best. I'll let you go before it gets too late. We both have to be there bright and early for the set up."
"No problem, we'll be there. Night."
"Good night." Varian made his way down the hall to Adrien's room where he could hear music.
"Adrien?" Varian knocked until he heard the music stop. "Can I come in?"
"Sure it's opened." Adrien called back as Varian let himself in.
"I just wanted to see how you were doing before-what the heck happened in here?" The room was a mess of music sheets, books and about a dozen empty mugs. A few still had some tea left in them.
"Sorry about the mess." Adrien said with a nervous laugh. "I'm just trying to get everything perfect for the show tomorrow." Varian looked confused.
"Are you nervous about modeling again?"
"No, it'll be a closed set with tons of security, Father insisted." He realized the music he had been hastily picking up was in the wrong order and threw in on his bed in frustration.
"It's the song I'm supposed to sing. I wanted to change it to one that was more fitting for a final farewell. I even worked in a few parts about finding love after losing it."
"What are you having trouble with?" Adrien sighed.
"I rewrote the song but I'm having trouble matching the music I was given and it's too late to have a professional fix it." He plopped down on his bed. "Maybe I should go back to the original song." Varian picked up the music sheets and the lyrics Adrien had rewritten.
"It could use some reworking." Suddenly Adrien sat up.
"Can you help? I know it's last minute but you're great with music." Varian looked unsure.
"I just play around with it, I'm not a professional." Adrien actually glared at him. "What?"
"Stop pretending to be modest, when you were singing that song from Death Note I thought you were streaming it in the shower." Varian blushed.
"Oh, you heard that?" He nodded.
"And when Rose was under the truth serum she couldn't stop singing your praise."
"Ah, well that's-"
"And you and Luka love to just jam out without sheet music or even a plan." Varian sighed.
"OK OK, yes I know a bit about music, it's a fun hobby. But my true love is and will always be science." Adrien was still giving him a look. "But yes I think I can help you with your song."
"Thank you." Adrien said with a relieved sigh.
"Just not for very long. I have to be there early to help with set up."
The next morning Varian grumbled as he slowly awoke to the alarm on his phone. The rewrite took a lot longer than expected and he got to bed…much later than he planned. He finally grabbed his phone to silence that infernal alarm and gasped when he saw the time.
"Shoot!" He shouted jumping out of bed, getting tangled in the sheets. "How the hell did I sleep through the alarm that long?" After fumbling, tripping and putting his pants on backward he finally grabbed his bag and ran out the door.
He paused, seeing Adrien's room down the hall. Adrien didn't have to go until later so he figured he'd let the other boy sleep.
He had no idea this was the beginning of his whole life about to be turned around.
To be continued…
Next time: After multiple hiccups with the concert Varian is asked to step in a sing but will all that exposure be a good thing?
Side note: Don't get me wrong, I love Marc and was happy he got a Miraculous at the end of Season 4 but for the love of little apples why is there such a powerful Miraculous in play? It makes it really hard to write conflict when the Rooster can do just about anything. And seeing what Gabriel did with it in the Shadybug movie made me want to bang my head on my desk.
Thank goodness I planned it so Marinette is keeping it as far away from Tanuki as possible since she doesn't trust him with it. Can you imagine what he could do with it? There wouldn't be any story. I had most of this planned before season 4 ended so I had other plans for the last 4 Miraculous, wasn't expecting Ladybug to be handing them out like candy. I still plan to use them just in a different way. That's it for my Rooster tangent. See you next time.