The bell rang, signalling that school was over for the day. The students hurriedly grabbed their things and headed out the door, eager to enjoy their hours of freedom (aside from homework).

The four were not fully over the events of what the press called 'the GothCorp debacle' and were looking forward to a hopefully, lower stakes few days.

"Hey Mari! Adrian, wait up!" Juleka waved, stopping the two as they waited for her. "Do you two have any plans?"

"Well, a little clean up at the bakery, but mom and dad said it could wait." Marinette mused.

"Nothing on my end." Adrian said.

This made Juleka smile, but not her usual smile. No, this was a sneaky smile.

"Really? No date?"

The two blushed at that, gazing at each other and suddenly not being able to look at each other. It was different when they were out costume, for some reason; fighting bad guys kept you focused and by the time fights ended, you were done and close to your timelimit.

"Well, if that's the case; how would you two like to come over for a bit?" Juleka suggested. "Luka's been wanting to catch up and meet Adrian."

The two more experienced heroes, having been going over an assignment, couldn't help but overhear

"Luka?" Bruce asked, surprised to hear this.

"Juleka's older brother" Peter smiled as he grabbed his backpack. "A real rockstar in the making, kind of like Hobie but with a brighter outlook once you get to know him."

Bruce raised an eyebrow at that.

"Luka communicates more through his music and actions then words." Peter explained, then slapped his forehead and then reach into his backpack. "Aw dang nabbit! Been meaning to return that CD Jules gave me!"

Juleka, seeming to hyave noticed this, motioned for Bruce and Peter to join her, Mari and Adrian.

"We could use a break." Peter mused to his friend, who smiled as the limo pulled up.

MIRACULOUS

Luka Couffaine was sitting in his room, meditating. He was trying to think of lyrics for a song he was writing. He was deep in thought, thinking about all the different notes and chords coming together in a beautiful song. That's when he heard someone outside his room.

"I don't know about this, Juleka."

"Come on, Adrien. My brother is really nice, trust me. You two are gonna be great friends."

"Well, you know how I get about first impressions..."

"Adrien, you need to learn to trust more than just me, Peter, and Marinette." An older boy's voice spoke up.

"Okay, Bruce..."

Luka thought about the names 'Adrien' and 'Marinette' in particular, recalling how Juleka had been talking to him about two people with those names. He also noticed the names 'Bruce' and 'Peter' being mentioned as well.

"Wait, didn't Juleka say she had been talking with THE Bruce Wayne at school? From what I've heard he's even older than me."

The door soon opened and Luka saw his younger sister enter the room, along with the man himself Bruce Wayne in the flesh. There was also a tall, lean young man with brown hair but what Luka's attention was on were the two other young teens who were the same age as his sister and couldn't help but smile.

"You guys must be Adrien and Marinette. Juleka's told me all about you guys."

"Wow, glad to see I've made such a good first impression..." Adrien said bashfully.

Luka then noticed the other two young men.

"Oh, and last but certainly not least…this is Peter Parker, genius comedian extraordinare.."

Peter gave a wave,

"And Bruce Wayne!"

Bruce gave Luka a handshake and handed him a business card.

"I couldn't help but notice the instruments and musical notes; I'm always on the lookout for local talent and can already think of a few events I think you'd do well at. And before you ask why I'm still in school, yes it comes up often enough I have practiced this….I can do good in business and in the field. I just struggle with classwork." Bruce said

Peter, Marinette and Adiran both coughed 'LIAR!' between their hands, making all smirk.

"So Adrien, do you sing at all?" Luka asked.

Adrien rubbed the back of his head. "Well, not in front of other people, no."

"That's a shame. I bet you have a great voice," said Luka, strumming his guitar. "Just try it. Sing a song. Anything."

"Anything?" Adrien asked.

"Anything. I like all kinds of music."

Adrien turned to Bruce and Peter, who both gave reassuring nods as he took a deep breath to calm himself before singing the chorus to the first song he could think of; 'Hearts on Fire' from Rocky IV.

Luka was blown away. Not only that, but so were Marinette, Juleka, Bruce, and Peter. Adrian's voice may have been younger than the original singer, but he seemed to vanish in the lyrics, passion flowing from the words.

"Whoa! Did I die and go to Heaven?!" Peter gawked.

Bruce blinked. Then pinched himself.

"…Nope. Dang, Adri. Where were you hiding those pipes?"

"Model, nice and a singer?" Juleka asked. "No wonder he's only just in school now, he'd never have been alone otherwise."

"Dude, I told you! You sounded great!" Luka beamed, slapping Adrien on the shoulder.

"W-Wow, really? Thanks..."

"Hey, if it ever works out, would you like to collab?" Luka asked. "I know your busy, so….Um, Jules? Is…Is Marinette okay?"

Marinette had remained spellbound the entire time, no only enraptured by her crush's singing voice, but suddenly imaging him doing the Rocky workout…A hue of red overtook her face as some red dripped from her nose…

And she collapsed to the floor. Or rather, would've, if Bruce hadn't caught her, and quickly wiped the blood from her leaking nose.

"OH, MON DIEU! I KILLED HER!" Adrien screamed in horror. "PETER! CALL 911! IS THERE A FIRST AID KIT IN THE HOUSE?!"

Juleka and Luka starting fanning Marinette as Peter tried to calm the younger teen down, eventually having to slap him to do so.

MIRACULOUS

The next day, Miss Bustier took her class on a field trip to Oscorp labs to see Dr. Curtis Connors at work. Peter, being Dr. Connor's assistant every other afternoon and Bruce, always interested in genuine, well-meaning scientists, had signed up as chaperones for the event.

They had a free morning, after all.

"In nature, everything is connected. As scientists, we explore and expand upon those connections to the benefit of society." Dr. Connors said as he put on a pair of rubber gloves before taking a hook and dipping it into a special vat full of genetically altered rays and electric eels to hold one of them. "Think of what it would mean if we could harness this bioelectricity and generate an alternate form of energy. A new, clean source of power."

"Ugh, why are we even here?" Alix groaned. "I'm not here for all this nerd stuff."

"Honestly, I think a little nerd stuff would be good for you, Alix," Max Kanté said. "I for one, happen to find this all quite fascinating."

"Yeah, this is cool and all but you might wanna clean the tank," Nino said, tapping the glass.

"Don't worry, it's clean. The fluids in this tank increase the eels' bio-electric signatures." Dr. Connors assured. "Unfortunately, those signatures have become so intent that we've been forced to upgrade the lab's bio-electrical filters."

The electrical engineer working on the filters couldn't help but chuckle with a roll of his eyes.

"'Um…We've' been forced?"

Dr. Connors chuckled. "I stand corrected. We're forcing Max here to upgrade it."

"All I'm saying."

"Wait, but Max is right here." Kim said, gesturing to Max Kanté.

"Hehehe." The other Max chuckled. "I'm Max Dillon, call me Maxxie if you need to separate me from the kid. That's what the kids back in school called me."

"Maxxie?"

"Caline?! Holy cow, it is you!"

The two embraced in a hug as they chuckled, surprising the students; not used to their teacher being so openly affectionate.

"Oh, pardon me, students." Miss Bustier smiled. "Mr. Dillion, or Maxxie, as I knew him, is an old friend from school."

Ah, that explained it.

"Maxxie, you never told me you got your electrical engineering degree!"

Max chuckled.

"It's really no big."

"I beg to differ." Dr. Connors mused. "Max here is a genius at what he does; no one else in the city could even come close to handling the wiring and systems needed to help the labs running smoothly."

That made Max smile a bit.

"…shame doc's praises doesn't carry over to the rest of the city…." He said. "And even he can't remember my birthday."

Peter could only give a sympathetic look to Max. The poor guy looked like he had a hard time making friends and even though Dr. Connors clearly respected his talents, he didn't seem particularly close with him.

"Maybe I can ask Mom and Dad to make something for his birthday," Marinette whispered to Peter, who smiled and nodded in approval before messing with her hair.

"You're an angel, Mari."

"Hey, you two! Keep up!" Miss Bustier called out, the students rushing forward…unaware Max had heard their conversation.

"Good kids." He smiled as he returned to his work, his day's spirits beimng risen. Seeing Caline had been the highlight of Max's week. Not only because it was great to see that she at least was going places and had missed him…but because he had missed her,

Max had held feelings for Caline ever since school; her beauty, drive, firmness…and the fact she remembered him. But, considering how hard it was for him to interact with people for the longest time and their own demanding further educations, he had never found the time…

No. There had been a few times he could've said. But he always chickened out.

Well, no more.

It would be a birthday gift for himself: Tell her how he felt, regardless of how it turned out. They'd still be friends, right?

MIRACULOUS

So, when the school called about some faulty wiring, he leapt at the chance; a little extra cash AND seeing Caline? Only an idiot or someone sick would deny that chance.

Meanwhile, the class was surprised to find that Miss Bustier was running late. Some of them were starting to get worried, even Chloe and Lila.

"Miss Bustier is never this late. What's going on?" Ivan asked.

"Yeah, this is kind of freaking me out. Normally one of the other teachers would substitute for her and tell us what's happening, like if she was sick or something." Alix noted.

Suddenly, their teacher finally arrived in the classroom and the kids were all surprised to see that she looked like she had been crying.

"Miss Bustier?!" Adrien asked worriedly.

"What's wrong, Auntie Cal…" Marinette caught herself, clearing her throat with a blush. "I mean… Mrs. Bustier… What happened?"

Bustier sniffled. "Oh, bonjur, mes enfants. Don't worry. I'm not upset. In fact, I have wonderful news."

"Ooh, what is it?! What is it?!" Rose asked excitedly, bouncing in her seat.

"Children…I'm going to have a baby!"

Naturally, this got the entire class excited, all of them happy for their teacher who was sort of like a second mom to all of them. Maxxie, who had just arrived when he noticed Caline running to her class, froze when he heard this.

"She's...she's already seeing someone?"

A sense of bitter defeat filled the poor man's soul. Now, he was a respectable man and he could only give his silent congratulations to whoever managed to make Caline happy as he skulked off, nobody even noticed him there.

"Guess I missed my chance..."

"CONGRATULATIONS!" Marinette squealed, running up and tackling Miss Bustier in a hug, Adrien joining her.

"I'M SO HAPPY FOR YOU!"

Both kids realized what they were doing and quickly broke the hug, backing away bashfully and bowing their heads apologetically. However, Caline just smiled and pulled them both back into the hug. The rest of the class all joined in but Chloe actually seemed to hesitate.

"Come on, Chloe. That means you too." Marinette smirked as she dragged the queen bee in as well.

MIRACULOUS

"Seems like another late night, Max." Dr. Connors noted as he looked at the clock later that night. "I'm going to get dinner. Do you want anything?"

"No, I'm good..." Maxxie sighed as he was just about finished with the upgrades to the bio-electric filters.

"Okay then..." As Dr. Connors left, he stopped and turned to give a smile. "And Max...Happy Birthday. I'm sorry if it hasn't been a particularly exciting one."

"Thanks, Doc..."

As Dr. Connors left to pick up food, Maxxie looked at the vat of electrical eels and smiled a little, admiring how carefree they were in their situation and envious that he couldn't do the same.

"At least somebody's partying..."

He then noticed that there was an unplugged cable, probably due to neglect from one of the other maintenance workers. Grumbling, Max climbed up, making sure to tighten his rubber gloves as he went to plug the cable back in. As he did, he could only somberly sing the Happy Birthday song to himself.

At that moment, he wished he could be just like the heroes he idolized; Spider-Man, Batman, and even those two young new heroes, Ladybug and Chat Noir. He wanted to be special, someone that people would look up to, a somebody, not a nobody.

"Happy Birthday to me..."

Just as he plugged the cable back into place, an electric discharge suddenly hit him, making him yell in pain as he let go. Unfortunately, this caused him to lose his balance and fall down into the vat of electric eels, pulling the cables with him as well.

Pain filled his body as the eels instinctively began attacking him in terror, their unique bio-electric signature being transferred to him, his body glowing brilliant colors of electric blue and yellow in the process.

Dr. Connors came back with takeout when he saw the situation Max was in. Gasping in horror, he moved to try and turn the power off, only for the vat to shatter and spill Max and the electric eels out onto the ground. Carefully wading through the mess, Connors could only gaze in horror at the state Max was in.

"MAX!" He quickly took out his phone, glad to know he had service as he called 9-1-1. "Help! We have an emergency! A man's life is in danger!"

MIRACULOUS

At the same time, Marinette and her parents are working together to make a birthday cake for Max.

"Wonderful work as always, sweetheart." Tom beamed as his daughter meticulously finished the icing flowers and lightning bolts.

"I just hope Max likes it." The teenager smiled sheepishly, which grew as her mother, Sabine, kissed her cheek.

"I'm sure he will. Here, take a break."

Sabine flicked on the TV, where the news came on.

"BREAKING NEWS! Accident at Oscorp scientist Dr. Connors' laboratory!"

The Dupain-Chang family stopped what they were doing and rushed to the TV, seeing Vicky Vale reporting on the scene.

"Details are still emerging, but a techican seems to have slipped into bioelectrical…"

"MAX!"

Miss Bustier and her partner, Gisles, where in the crowd, the teacher trying to fight through and see her friend. All she saw was a body bag.

MIRACULOUS

Unbeknownst to everyone, as Max was being hauled away, electricity was still flowing around him, his body twitching and writhing as it began to undergo a metamorphosis...

Knightmare Lord A/N:

We decided to do a mix of Electro's portrayal from Spectacular Spider-Man and Jamie Foxx's role in The Amazing Spider-Man 2. We also decided to make him old friends with Mrs. Bustier as well, which adds a unique wrinkle to his origin story and his descent into Supervillainy.

We also introduce Luka into the story as well. Hopefully, a certain aloof fencing prodigy from Japan will show up later down the line.

Anything you'd like to say, Mrotrax?

Mrotrax A/N:

Thus, we begin what I call 'The Elementals' arc; in which our heroes find themselves facing some of their most powerful foes.

A tragic beginning to one of the most enduring and consitant supervillains. OIt may not be quite as grandiose or Shakesperain as Mr. Freeze, but KML? You delivered as per usual.

And yeah, glad to see this depth, as comic Electro is kind of a dumb jerk.

We'll also be taking some of the MTV Animated Spiderman for this Electro.