Staring.

Staring.

Staring some more.

Oh look, something's moving - no wait, it was just his eye twitching, false alarm.

Fu let out a loud groan, then flinched. One of the monks would scold him for making noise and assign more chores–

Wait, no. No one was here. It was just him, by himself, with this STUPID "Miracle" box. The real miracle would be it, and all of the monks, disappearing so he could finally return home to his parents and siblings. Well, to his siblings, at least. His parents told him "what an honor" it was for him to be chosen to become a Guardian, ignored all of his protests, and shoved him out the door with less than a day's notice.

They claimed that they just didn't want him to jeopardize his future, but he suspected they just wanted to be rid of him. If they truly thought being a Guardian-in-training was so great, he'd be happy to give one of his parents his spot. See how they liked being called "Chicken Legs" and being forced to sweep and mop while the other monks read books and learned Mira-Kung Fu.

Bitterness roiled in his chest. Mother and father had chosen to abandon him here. They hadn't even come to visit him once in the past three months he'd been staying at the temple. He knew it was a couple of days' journey to it, but did they really not care enough to travel to him, even once?

Maybe he didn't want to see them after all. They'd left him here to rot. Why should he return to people who'd betrayed him like that?

His stomach rumbled, contracting with hunger.

Ugh. If he wasn't allowed to leave, they could at least allow him to eat.

But no. Apparently going without food for twenty-four hours was supposed to teach him "discipline". All it was teaching him right now was how loud bellies could growl.

His eyes fixed on the Miracle Box. If the Miraculous didn't exist, then he would never have been taken to the temple. He'd have been at home, warm and fed, tucked away in his bed. Maybe his parents would have kept him after all.

Impulsively, he used his staff to unlatch the lid. He wanted to see the objects that'd ruined his life.

They were pretty, though not dazzling. He'd seen them before, of course, but only in passing, and never the full box at once. Or well, the top of the box. He knew there were secret compartments on all sides of it, though he'd only seen inside one or two of them.

His eyes drifted to the Peacock. What was it his tutor had said? That it could create a sentimonster to do whatever you needed it to do?

Hm… he could create a little buddy to keep him company, even send it to the kitchen for a snack! Sure he'd have to dismiss it before the monks returned (or hide it, maybe? He'd always wanted a pet), but it'd make this experience far more bearable.

He reached out his staff, gently picking the Peacock up with the end of it… and paused. Sure, he could make this particular experience more bearable, but what about afterwards? There would be another test, and another, and another. He'd still be here, enduring the mockery of the monks, held captive away from anyone he cared about, without any friends or any prospect of things improving. The Peacock couldn't fix that.

The Peacock couldn't… but maybe a Wish could.

He lifted his staff slightly, sliding the brooch back into place. He didn't need it, not right now, at any rate. Right now, he needed a ring and a pair of earrings.

"You must never make a Wish. The universe has balance. Everything you wish to have for yourself will be taken away from someone else, and everything you wish to be expelled from yourself, will be forced onto another. There is always a price to pay." One of his teachers had told him that as they'd flipped through the Miraculous Grimoire, explaining what each Miraculous did.

Was he willing to do this? To force his problems on others, to take the good in their lives for himself?

"Hurry up, Chicken Legs!" Su Han barked, sneering at Fu as he stumbled towards the monk. It wasn't his fault that the temple hadn't had any robes in his size yet. Why couldn't they have taken someone older, someone who actually wanted to be here, someone who could fit into this too-large robe?

Fu scowled. "Coming," he said, forcing as much distaste and bitterness into the word as he could.

Su Han narrowed his eyes. "You should be grateful!" He admonished. "Few young boys are given such opportunities as these." He looked down his nose at him. "You'd do well not to squander it."

"Then maybe those young boys should be here instead!" he burst out. "I never asked for this!"

Su Han's lips set into a hard, thin line. "Perhaps you will learn to be grateful after you sweep every inch of the temple floor tonight."

"But–"

"Do you wish to do so tomorrow as well?"

"No," he forced out, his eyes burning.

"No, what?"

"No, SIR."

"Very good." Su Han turned around, clasping his hands behind his back, as if Fu wasn't even worth looking at anymore. "You know where the broom and dustpan are."

Fu walked away, wiping his stinging eyes on his too-long robe sleeves.

He blinked, breaking out of his reverie. A tear ran down his cheek, despite himself. He wiped it away.

After he did this, he'd never need to worry about being dismissed or looked down upon again.

Carefully sliding his staff underneath the ring and both earrings, he drew it back to himself, carefully scooping the jewelry up with his other hand. How could such small items be so powerful?

Then again, he was small, too. And he was about to be very powerful indeed.

Putting the earrings and ring on, he called out "Tikki, Plagg, reveal yourselves!"

The two kwamis didn't even get a chance to react before being forced into their large, monstrous forms. He blinked, gawking for a moment, before shaking himself and moving on with the Wish.

"Gimmi, reveal yourself!" he barked.

The two monstrous kwamis held hands, embracing each other. A bright light shone as they merged together into a new being – or rather, an old one. Gimmi.

"I am Gimmi, the Kwami of Reality," they intoned. "I am everything that was, is, and will be."

"I am Wang Fu," he declared. "And I wish to become the supreme authority around here. For everyone to listen to what I say or fear the consequences."

"Oh?" Gimmi asked, peering down at him. "What would you give in exchange? Such authority cannot come out of nowhere."

He smiled. "I would like you to take the authority the monks have, the ability to get people to listen to them and respect them. To compensate for how powerful my voice will be, for how people will listen to me when I speak, I need you to take all the kwamis' ability to speak. Seal off their voices. Only mine matters now."

Gimmi looked uncomfortable. As made sense, given what he was demanding. "Are you sure you do not want to reconsider?"

Did he want to go through with this? It wasn't too late. He could just take off the earrings and ring, put them back, and continue with the test. No one would be the wiser. It's not like anyone was listening to any of this. No one was watching.

But that was just it. The monks couldn't even be bothered to check in on him, to see how he was doing. They didn't care enough about him for that.

His resolve hardened. "I am sure."

Gimmi nodded reluctantly. "It is done."

A glowing symbol appeared over Gimmi's mouth, almost seeming like a gag, as they split back into Tikki and Plagg – this time, with each of them having a miniature version of the gag over their mouths. They stared at him mournfully.

Some part of him felt sympathy for the little creatures. He hadn't really wanted to hurt them, he just… didn't want them to interfere. That was all. They'd be fine.

He picked up his staff, striding towards the entrance. Was it his imagination, or did he feel more powerful, more confident? Like someone who knew they were in charge? The supreme authority of the temple.

Hm… good descriptor, but the name was a little long. How about… "The Supreme?" Yes, that had the right ring to it.

This was going to be the first day of a long, enjoyable life – one where he'd never be pushed around again.