I have been working hard the past couple of years on a completely original book that I wanted to try and get published. World-building, character creation, plot development, and everything else needed to make a good book. I have been working harder on it than I have worked on anything else in my life.
The magical world has always been vast. Even with all of the world's fairy tales and myths, they do not know everything about the mystical realm. Such as the first line of defense. Guardians are mystical beings who use powerful artifacts to defend the magical world from any threats against it. Be it mortal or magical. Leo Frost is one such guardian, even though he is only a teenager. But threats against his world are not going to wait for him to grow up. When the call comes, the young guardian answers along with a few others. Leo may be new to working with others, but he will learn it is best to work with others when fighting against a threat to their world.
This is the cover and description of my book! It is available as an e-book/online book only. You can find it on Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and many other online book sites. To anyone who buys and enjoys it, thank you! Spread the word!
This is a completely original one-shot that I wrote, inspired by the movies and TV for The Librarians. It's one of my favorite magical shows, so I wanted to do my own original take on the concept of there being a secret organization that was all about keeping magic out of the hands of mortals. This also serves as a taste of the kind of writing that I plan to do for my Patreon! Thank you to all who choose to read!
The Society of Mystic Secretism
It was the kind of night that would be considered peaceful, even for a museum after hours. Most people would consider a museum at night to be one of the creepiest places they could ever be. Mostly because the darkness and quietness, combined with the statues and paintings, could easily lead to paranoia. There have likely been more than a few late-night security guards who believed they were being watched, only to turn around and have their flashlight land on a statue or painting. Probably why it’s become such a cliche for cartoons with mystery or horror elements to include a moment where the main characters pass a painting and the painting’s eyes follow them.
But, for once, the night felt normal. The stars and moon shone brightly through the windows and skylights of the museum, bringing much-needed light into each room. Even as the security guards made their rounds, checking every space, they felt no sense of wariness or dread. Usually, they’d feel more on high alert because there was usually someone trying to sneak their way in. Either because they were potential thieves or because they were dumb college kids trying to push their luck. And if the guards were being honest with themselves, that second one happened a lot more often than the first.
One guard made his rounds past one of their newest exhibits, “The Secrets of Delphi.” It was an exhibit all about artifacts recently recovered from the ruins of Delphi, the city in Greece that was said to be where the famous Oracle of Delphi lived. Many artifacts were now housed in the museum, traveling to a new location every month before eventually finding their final home at the well-known British Museum.
Tall vases, polished pieces of pottery, some small statues, and even pieces of jewelry with real gems like sapphires, emeralds, and rubies. The entire collection was one of the most valuable finds in recent years. There had been a few attempts at theft during the first couple of months, but they all failed. Other potential thieves seemed to take the message about how well protected the artifacts were, so they stayed away. Another reason for the almost unnatural calm of this night.
Or, that was what the security guards believed the night to be, anyway.
One guard walked under a skylight, checking around him with his flashlight before moving on to the next room. A minute after he left, a shadow appeared on the floor. Someone was on the roof and looking down through the skylight. They were dressed in all black, with the only color shown being from some metal they had on their steel-toe boots and on the buckle of the over-the-shoulder bag they had.
They reached into their bag and pulled out a scalpel-like tool they immediately used to trace along the edges of the skylight window they were looking through. With the delicate hands of a jeweler, they managed to pick up the cut glass without accidentally allowing it to fall and shatter on the floor. Once the glass was quietly placed onto the ground, they exchanged the scalep-like tool for a coil of rope that they wrapped around their waist. Tying one end to the coil around a nearby air conditioning unit and the other around their waist, they climbed through the window and started lowering themselves down into the museum.
But they didn’t lower themselves to the floor. Instead, they placed themselves purposely onto one of the rafters near the ceiling. They carefully walked across the beams of the rafters as they made their way to the exact place they needed to be. They took off the rope from around their waist to wrap it around the beam he was standing on. They then re-wrapped the rope around their waist. They started lowering themselves down once again.
“Knock it off, Taylor,” a female voice said in their ear.
“I’m not even doing anything,” the newly identified Taylor replied, keeping their voice down.
“I can practically hear the spy music that’s playing in your head,” the girl said.
“Bianca, you need to learn not to take things so seriously all the time,” the potential thief tells her.
“Well, since my brother is trying to turn this into Mission Impossible, someone has to be the serious one,” the newly identified Bianca says.
“This is more Indiana Jones,” Taylor smirked.
“Just get the artifact before I set off the alarm just to get rid of you,” Bianca glared, even though her brother couldn’t see it. “The cameras are still on a loop, but that’s only going to last another seven minutes. So, get it done!”
“You love me and you know it, sis,” Taylor smirked.
“Just get the job done so that we can go home and sleep,” Bianca snapped at him.
“Touchy,” Taylor rolled his eyes.
“You know how serious this is,” Bianca reminded him. “This is not the time to make jokes or make light of the situation.”
“I’m aware of how serious this is,” Taylor said. “Just because I don’t act like a stone-cold FBI agent doesn’t mean I don’t take things seriously. I’m just not going to let that seriousness rule my entire being.”
Bianca didn’t have any response to that. So, Taylor returned to what he was doing without his sister in his ear. Which was a relief to him since he needed to concentrate.
He lowered himself on his rope, coming to a stop in front of a display case while making sure he wasn’t touching the floor. Inside the case was a sealed urn. It was similar to the type of urn-like jars that were used in ancient Egypt for the organs of pharaohs before mummifying their late ruler. The urn was made of porcelain, making it pure white, other than the blue and gold designs that looked to represent Apollo, the Greek god of the sun.
He reached into his bag and pulled out a small stone-like object and placed it onto the side of the case’s base, just under the glass. He heard a slight “CLICK,” and that told him the security alarm on the case had been disabled. That was when he took out the scalpel-like pen again to cut another hole in the case’s glass. Using the same gentle approach from when he removed the window glass, Taylor removed the cut portion of the case glass, setting it on top of the case.
Reaching into his bag once more, he pulled out an identical urn to the one inside the case. He took in a deep breath as he kept the replica in one hand while reaching into the case with the other. The alarm on the case might have been disabled, but he wasn’t going to relax until the switch was done. He pulled the real urn out of the case before placing the fake in its place. He made extra sure that the replica was in the same position the original had been, since even the slightest hint of a disturbance could bring their entire plan down.
After getting the replica in the correct position, Taylor placed the original into his bag before taking out a tube similar to what toothpaste would be inside. He took the piece of glass he had cut from the case and placed it back into the hole he created. He then opened the tube he had taken out, squirting a thin layer of its contents across where he had cut. A transparent gel came out of the tube to cover the cut. After Taylor was finished, the gel dried, and it was like the cut never happened.
“I got it,” Taylor said as he pressed the device in his ear to communicate with his sister. “I’m coming back up.”
“Get up quickly,” Bianca says. “Less than two minutes before the camera feeds return to normal.”
Taylor placed the tube back into his bag, making sure his bag was secure enough that nothing fell out as he went back up to the ceiling. Placing his hand back onto the rope around his waist, it almost seemed to wind up on its own to get him back up to the ceiling.
After getting back up to the rafters, Taylor unwrapped the rope from around the beam and then walked back to where the rest of the rope was coming down from the skylight. Putting his hand onto the rope around his waist again, he rose and climbed out the window. His bag nearly hit the side of it, but he luckily caught it before it collided.
After that, he brought out the tube he used to seal the hole in the glass case. He placed the piece of the window back into its place before squeezing the gel around to seal it just as he did to the glass case. The gel dried and once again left no sign of any break-in. He breathed a sigh of relief as he went down the side of the museum using his rope. Once he was back on the ground, he tucked the rope into his bag before walking over to a black van that was parked in a parking lot a few blocks from the museum.
He opened the passenger door and climbed in. Sitting in the driver’s seat was his sister.
“One urn from the ruins of Delphi, ready for delivery,” Taylor smirked as he patted his bag.
“At least this time you didn’t make us late,” Bianca rolled her eyes as she started the van.
“That was only one time,” Taylor glared at her.
“Which nearly got us caught when breaking into that rich guy’s mansion in Los Angeles,” Bianca threw back.
“We still got the artifact and remained undetected,” Taylor replied. “You’ve got to get over that.”
“You really are insufferable,” Bianca stated before starting to drive.
The drive took over an hour, but they made it back to their house, which was outside the city. It was a relatively nice house that had some Victorian style to it while being painted a more muted brick-red color. The porch railings, windows, and even the roof were all an equally muted shade of tan. It was like even with the beautiful design of the house, they did their best to make sure it wouldn’t stand out. Something that was amplified by the abundance of plant life around the property, which gave the grand house a “hidden in the woods” feel.
Bianca parked the van in their garage, and the two got out. Their father, Jackson, stood in the doorway connecting the garage to the rest of the house.
“Job well done, Dad,” Taylor smiled.
He went into his bag and pulled out the urn, handing it to his father.
“Job well done, indeed, you two,” he smiled proudly at them.
He placed the urn onto a work table in the garage with a wall of tools behind it. Jackson then took a hammer… and smashed the urn!
“At least this time he didn’t smash the retrieved artifact on the floor,” Bianca muttered.
From the broken remains of the urn, Jackson picked up a large gemstone. A lapis lazuli stone, to be exact. It was rougher than other gemstones and about the size of a baseball. Its blue and gold colors sparkled, but not in a “shiny” kind of way. It felt like it was more than a simple precious stone. And it was more than that.
“The Oracle Stone is now safe and sound,” Jackson sighed in relief.
“We should put that with the others, Dad,” Bianca said. “I suggest one of the vaults with higher security because a lot of people would want to use the stone for its power.”
“Granting the power to see the future is both terrifying and amazing at the same time,” Taylor agreed. “A power like that needs to remain hidden. Otherwise, there’d be too many people winning the lottery.”
That remark earned him a slap to the back of his head from his sister.
“While he could have taken things a little more seriously, the idea is roughly related to that,” Bianca says. “Put magic into the hands of mortals and they will destroy each other.”
“That is the duty of the Society,” Jackson reminds them. “We must…”
“Keep magic out of the hands of mortals by any means necessary,” Taylor and Bianca both finished for him.
“We know, Dad,” Taylor rolled his eyes. “We were born into this legacy. You don’t need to remind us every time we bring home another artifact.”
“It does become quite boring after a while,” Bianca agreed. “Even I can say that, and I’m usually the more serious sibling.”
“I’m just trying to make sure you two don’t take your duties lightly,” Jackson said as he placed his hands on their shoulders. “I’ve always believed in you two. I couldn’t ask for two better kids to continue our legacy.”
Taylor and Bianca both nodded and hugged their father. They knew their father wasn’t trying to put too much pressure on them. He may remind them about how important their duty was, but he made sure they kept their lives open to other things. Bianca was the academic sibling. She loved reading and research, which did come in handy whenever they needed to do some quick searching through their private library when something weird happened that could have magical origins. Outside of their home and family duties, she was a freshman at the local state school with a major in History and Historical Literature with a minor in International Mythology.
Taylor, on the other hand, was drawn more toward athletics and creativity. He was a senior in a private high school, with his top classes being every single art class they had. He was taking courses in pottery, drawing, painting, sculpture, stained glass, and even creative writing. On top of that, he was the captain of their school’s fencing team. He wasn’t as serious as his sister, but he took things seriously. He was a firm believer that how a person acts doesn’t translate to who they are on the inside. He may make jokes and make light of certain situations, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t take things seriously.
Jackson couldn’t be prouder of his kids. They made him proud every single day, not just when they were collecting artifacts.
“We should get this to the vault, Dad,” Bianca tells him.
He nodded in agreement. “We should.”
The three of them walked to the back of the house, passing by all their antique furniture, a fully stocked kitchen, and numerous pictures on the wall that showed the many places from all over the world they had visited. There were pictures of Taylor in Italy doing the classic “holding up the Leaning Tower of Pisa” pose. There were pictures of Bianca in Paris, exploring the creepy and historical catacombs underneath the city. And there were pictures of a younger Jackson standing with a woman who looked like an older Bianca, and they were standing in front of the Sphinx of Giza.
Soon, the three made it to the door that most houses would have led to the basement. Or, at least, that’s what it usually was. But Jackson reached his hand forward toward the end of a nail that was poking out of the side of the doorway. He pricked his finger, drawing a drop of blood. The reaction was immediate. The little space between the door and doorway glowed for a second. None of the three reacted, used to seeing it. They simply opened the door, revealing an elevator. They stepped inside and immediately started going down, the door closing as they did.
“Anything go wrong during the mission,” Jackson asked his kid.
“Taylor cut it a little close when it came to when the security cameras were about to go back to normal,” Biance sent a little glare at her brother.
“I was completely out of sight of the cameras by the time they returned to their live feed,” Taylor rolled his eyes. “The mission went flawlessly. Bianca’s just being picky since she’s too strict about her plans needing to go exactly how she pictures them in her head.”
“We would have been caught a million times over if not for my plans,” Biance threw back.
“Life doesn’t always go according to plans,” Taylor argued. “All it would take is one security guard deciding to double-check a room rather than simply moving on, and all your precious plans go right out the window.”
“I have plans going from ‘A’ to ‘Z,” Bianca crossed her arms. “I have back-up plans for my back-up plans!”
“And each one is more complicated than the last,” Taylor also refused to budge. “Plans are good, but you need to learn to adapt on the fly. Go with the flow. Take chances, make mistakes, get…”
“If you finish that quote, I’m gonna slap you,” Bianca warned.
“Hey, I can’t help it if she’s an icon,” Taylor smirked.
“Behave, you two,” Jackson tells them, though he was looking at his kids with a fond look in his eyes.
He really wouldn’t have his kids any other way. It was common for those in their “line of work” to become overly serious and sometimes even emotionless because of how they let their duties take over their lives. He had been a victim of that himself, before meeting his wife and having Taylor and Bianca. Becoming a husband and father helped him find a balance between the serious nature of their legacy and their natural need for human emotions and connections.
“Yes, Dad,” both young adults responded.
The elevator continued to go down, far lower than anyone would think a house like theirs would need. Not that anyone would think a Victorian house would even have an elevator in the first place, unless one was added if the person living there couldn’t use the stairs. But given that the elevator appeared where a basement should have been spoke to how far from normal the house was.
It stopped moving after a few more minutes, and the three of them stepped out into what could only be described as “Fort Knox meets a crystal cave.” The room was a massive underground fortress with walls made from a gray onyx that led up to a ceiling that could have been mistaken for the night sky because of the black color of the ceiling, which was covered by a large array of crystal shards that sparkled as if they were stars. The crystals were mostly clear, but there were some blue, purple, and pink ones scattered around to add more to the night sky/galaxy look of the ceiling. Their shoes caused a small echo as they hit the marble floor under their feet.
If what the room was made of wasn’t impressive enough, the rest of the room would cause jaws to drop to the floor in a cliche cartoon fashion. There were rows and rows of elegant tree branches that somehow formed natural bookcases. The branches all stretched from a gigantic tree at the center of the room. A tree that almost seemed to glow with gentle yet strong power. There were even some smaller trees created from the main tree to help keep the branches sturdy. What added even more beauty to the room were the number of crystal stalagmites growing from the floor. They ranged from diamond and sapphire to tiger-eye and amethyst. Some smaller branches even swirled around them.
Of course, it wasn’t all for looks. Since the branches formed natural bookshelves, the shelves were far from empty. Along each bookshelf branch were an extremely large variety of artifacts similar to the one they just got from the museum. There were other jewels and crystals like the Oracle Stone, but there were many other types of artifacts as well. Helmets similar to those worn by gladiators from ancient Greece, golden arm bands with etchings with clear Indian designs, articles of clothing with Native American designs, tablets covered in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, armor with designs of those of ancient Spanish conquistadors, swords right out of King Arthur, and an almost endless amount of other artifacts. They came from all over the world, ranging from weapons and armor to jewelry and statues. All of them had the same powerful aura as the tree at the center of the room.
Having seen it many times, the family simply walked through the room without giving anything a second glance. The Oracle Stone shone in Jackson’s hand now that it was near artifacts similar to itself. They made their way through the branch bookshelves and soon found themselves in front of a boulder-shaped mini room with some vines all around it. Its round door had a stone handprint on it. As if it were a scanner made by a caveman.
“I can never tell if the person who designed this place just enjoyed nature or really hates metal,” Taylor couldn’t help but joke.
“I think it’s more that magic does as magic wants,” Bianca shrugged. “I’m pretty sure this place was created entirely by magic.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised if it was,” Taylor said. “Especially given the Tree of Knowledge at the very center. It’s the reason behind all of this.”
Jackson placed his hand into the stone handprint. There was a slight glow under his hand, showing that it was being scanned. After he took his hand odd, there was another glow around the outline of the circular door. It moved forward, making the three of them step back. It then rolled to the side, allowing them entrance.
“The best place to keep the Oracle Stone from falling into the wrong hands,” Jackson stated as they all stepped into the vault.
“Yeah, nothing safer than a magical stone safe hidden in a magical fortress that can only be accessed through a magically hidden elevator,” Taylor chuckled. “We have more protective layers than a lawyer’s diary.”
Inside the vault were some of the most dangerous artifacts they’ve collected. The ones outside the vault were dangerous in their own ways, but nowhere near the level of the ones inside. Each labeled artifact spoke to the dangers kept isolated from the rest of the magical fortress. Such as one box with Greek designs with the label “Pandora’s Box” under it. Or a sword with a blood-red handle and skull designs labeled “Sword of War of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.” Not to mention another weapon that looked to be a combination of a staff and a club labeled “Kaladanda- The Staff of Death. Held my Yama, the Hindu god of death, and can instantly kill anyone it hits.”
“Most would be confused why we’d add the Oracle Stone to all the other artifacts inside this vault,” Bianca commented. “Those are the same people who don’t know how dangerous seeing the future is.”
“I blame fortune tellers, psychic readers, and all the other fakes that make it seem that seeing the future will help them,” Taylor said. “They focus on telling people what they want to hear. How they’ll meet the love of their life, how their business will take off, how they will have kids soon, and many other things that will have people throwing away their money on what is basically a fantasy.”
“Those people need to learn that the future is never set in stone,” Bianca says. “Even if they did see real visions of the future, it’s not a guarantee that they would get that future because seeing the vision would make them believe they wouldn’t need to put in any work because the future is their ‘destiny.”
“That is always the danger when it comes to mortals,” Jackson tells his kids. “They treat magic as a joke because it’s presented as ‘all fun and games’ to them. Even when there are thousands of stories about the many demons, monsters, other ‘creatures of the night,’ they still choose to live completely ignorant about how truly dangerous magic can be.”
“I blame Hollywood,” Bianca stated. “They’ve turned almost every single creature into some type of ‘sexy’ version of them. Vampires, werewolves, witches, elves, and even goblins. It’s insulting.”
“Mortals really do not have any idea how the magical world actually works and looks,” Taylor shook his head.
Jackson placed the Oracle Stone onto one of the shelves of the vault. He set it in the back portion of the vault because it was best to make sure it was far enough away for no one to be tempted to use it. Not even when. After he placed it, a label for it was magically created. “The Oracle Stone: Said to be the source of power for the legendary Oracle of Delphi.”
“Safe and sound,” Jackson sighed in relief.
“Let’s hope this artifact is going to be one of the last ones to make a public appearance for a while,” Taylor commented.
“It won’t last for long,” Jackson says. “Magic always finds a way to make itself known. That is why we always have to keep our eyes peeled.”
“Yes, Dad,” both his kids responded.
The three of them walked out of the vault, sealing it shut behind them. Stone, vines, and other natural elements of the earth wouldn’t be most people’s choices when it comes to a fortress and vault. But when it comes to magic, the more connection to the natural world it has, the stronger it gets. It’s one of the reasons why magic and technology have never been able to get along. Whenever magic came into contact with technology or technology was brought into an overly magical household, it tended to explode.
“So, what would you two like for dinner tonight,” Jackson asked them. “After a long night, a good meal is exactly what you both need.”
“I could go for a really good taco,” Bianca said. “A spicy one.”
“Not me,” Taylor shook his head. “I’m in the mood for a classic cheeseburger. With extra cheese.”
“At least I can use ground beef for both of you,” Jackson says, chuckling.
He enjoyed how different his kids were. He always wanted them to express who they really were, rather than trying to place themselves into a mold others would think they’d fit into just because they did come from a pretty well-off family. But neither of them wanted anything to do with that type of high-society lifestyle.
Bianca, despite being the more serious sibling, had a love for spicy food. They were not Latin in any way, but Bianca could handle heat with any of them. She could eat a whole ghost pepper and barely even blink. Taylor, on the other hand, enjoyed classic American food. Burgers, hot dogs, lobster rolls, biscuits & gravy, and many other American classics. He wasn’t the most adventurous with his food, but he didn’t feel that he needed to be. Jackson wasn’t chef material, but he was good enough to be able to comfortably feed his kids. They never complained, other than when they were little kids and classically complaining about when he’d be forcing them to eat their vegetables.
“I will never understand how you can handle spicy food, sis,” Taylor shook his head.
“Some people are born with spice tolerance,” Bianca shrugged. “I’ve heard there are some Thai restaurants where the crew have to wear gas masks because of how spicy their food can get.”
“I get more and more thankful for our Italian and English blood when I hear about things like that,” Taylor shivered at that.
“That explains why you like Shepard’s Pie,” Bianca made a face. “Which I will never be able to understand. Mashed potatoes as a pie topping. Way too strange for my taste buds.”
“And yet you would barely even sweat if you ate a Carolina Reaper,” Taylor threw back. “And those are the spiciest peppers on the planet.”
“It’s called knowing good flavor,” Bianca smirked.
“It’s called killing your taste buds,” Taylor responded.
The two would have kept going if not for the sudden change in atmosphere. Brought by flashing red lights coming from a number of crystals on the walls, along with a blaring loud alarm that boomed throughout the entire fortress. It was loud enough that all three of the family members nearly had to cover their ears. But they didn’t, because they knew what the lights and alarm meant.
“Someone managed to get into the elevator, and they are on their way here,” Jackson said.
He ran to the nearest crystal stalagmite to them. He pressed his hand onto it, and a magical holographic screen appeared over the crystal. It was an added feature of the crystals that made sure every part of the fortress was functional and not just for looks, even if they still looked beautiful.
The screen showed the inside of the elevator, acting like a security camera. Inside the elevator was a large group of people dressed almost like they were the military. But given the large amount of black they were also wearing and how they also had on fabric to cover the lower halves of their faces, it was clear they weren’t there to make friends. Especially with the visible guns, knives, and swords they all had.
Standing at the front of all of them was the person who was clearly the leader. He was the biggest and strongest one of the entire group, while also strangely wearing sunglasses inside as if he were the villain of a cliche spy movie. He appeared like a general, since he was also in army-like clothes with his camouflage shirt, navy-green cargo vest, black cargo pants, heavy-looking combat boots, and even leather fingerless gloves.
“How did they even get in,” Taylor was the one who asked what they were all thinking. “The elevator only appears through the use of blood.”
“Wait a second…” Biance narrowed her eyes at the screen. “Give me a second.”
She tapped the holographic screen, causing the image to pause as if it were a regular video. Using two fingers, she made the image zoom in to get a closer look at something. One of the “soldiers” was holding something, and Bianca paused the feed just in time before he was about to put it into one of the pockets of the cargo vest he was wearing.
“A napkin,” Taylor realized.
“That steakhouse we went to a few weeks ago,” Biance remembered. “Dad hadn’t been paying attention while cutting his steak and accidentally cut his finger. He used a napkin to stop blood from getting onto his food, plate, or the table. And he simply threw it away before we left.”
“They must have been watching us,” Jackson suspected. “Waiting for an opportunity for them to get our blood to sneak in.”
“This is the one time I wish the elevator didn’t magically expand to include every person who enters it,” Taylor grumbled. “Because that’s a lot of people who are likely going to try and kill us.”
“We don’t know for sure they’re going to try and kill us,” Bianca tried to be optimistic. “Though the only other option isn’t exactly a good thing since the only other thing they’d want from us is to torture us for information about magic and the artifacts.”
“So, the options are death and torture,” Taylor said. “Is there a third option nobody’s brought up?”
“Oh, there definitely is, son,” Jackson said, getting an extremely serious look on his face. “We fight.”
The three of them shared a look of pure determination. This place wasn’t just their duty. It was the biggest part of their lives. They were proud to have given so much to protecting the magical world and keeping the artifacts out of the hands of mortals. Every time they brought in a new artifact, they only got prouder of themselves. Each artifact had its own story, its own journey, it’s own story, and they couldn’t be prouder to be a part of that story. Anyone who tried to take that away from them would pay dearly for it.
Jackson turned off the screen, and all three quickly started weaving themselves through the branch bookshelves. The fortress could be a maze even to those who have spent so much time in it. They always suspected that the fortress had a secondary layer of protection that caused people to become confused if they tried to map it out. It didn’t affect them as much as it would any intruders, but it could still be annoying.
“Protecting the vault should be our first priority,” Bianca says. “They’re the artifacts that can never fall into the wrong hands.”
“If we capture them all, we won’t have to worry about anything being stolen,” Taylor stated. “Once they’re all out of commission, the artifacts will be safe.”
“You two spread out and take care of those obviously hired guns,” Jackson orders his kids. “Use any artifacts you know you can handle. I’m going to take care of their leader.”
“They chose the wrong family to mess with,” Taylor cracked his neck as he got ready for the showdown.
“Let’s see what happens when they face real consequences for messing with magic,” Bianca rolled her shoulders to loosen herself up.
“Be careful, you two,” Jackson warns his kids. “Don’t fight anyone you are not a hundred percent confident you can handle.”
“Yes, Dad,” they responded.
They separated, going to different parts of the fortress. There may be only three of them, but they weren’t going to let their number disadvantage get to them. They were going to protect the fortress with everything they had. There was nothing they wouldn’t do to protect the fortress and the magical world.
Bianca and Taylor weren’t surprised that their father was allowing them to use any artifact that could help them. While they didn’t have any powers of their own, since they weren’t any type of magical being, they knew everything about the artifacts they collected. And even the ones that were there before they started to continue on their family legacy, they made sure to study up as much as they could so that they didn’t accidentally set off a dangerous effect through mishandling of the artifact.
Since he had been to the fortress many more times than his kids had, Jackson was the least affected by the secondary protection around the fortress. So, he moved around the shelves with practiced ease. He collected a few artifacts on the way that he knew would help him fight against any opponent he faced.
He quickly was able to make his way back to the entrance of the fortress. When he arrived, the leader of the group was still there, barking orders at the members of his group who were around him. Noting that there were not as many as there were in the elevator, Jackson knew they had spread out into the fortress. But he knew his kids could handle them.
Jackson kept his presence mostly hidden as he took out one of the artifacts he had grabbed on his way there and put it on. Taking another step into the area, he aimed his hands, and two thick thread-like things came out of the palms of his hands. It hit two of the fake soldiers, instantly wrapping them up into white cocoons.
The leader finally noticed Jackson.
“If you leave now, I might show you some mercy,” Jackson kept his hands aimed at the man.
“We won’t give up that easily,” the man responded, stubbornly.
“Who even are you and why are you here,” Jackson demanded to know.
He kept notice of the other two fake soldiers that were still in the area. The leader had only kept four with him since there were not many artifacts near the elevator entrance. He probably only kept them there for the other fake soldiers to hand artifacts to them to be placed into the elevator at a faster rate.
“You can just call me the General,” General stated. “Because that’s all you need to know. Especially since there won’t be anything between us once we clear this place out of all these dangerous objects.”
“You won’t be taking anything,” Jackson glared at him. “This place is meant to keep them safe. There isn’t anywhere safer for them.”
“You don’t have any choice in the matter,” General stated.
“And you don’t have any actual authority to do this,” Jackson threw back. “You may call yourself a general and have a bunch of fake soldiers with you, but we both know you’re not actually military.”
One of the fake soldiers tried to attack him with his knife. But Jackson suddenly sprouted four giant spider legs from his back. The legs helped Jackson launch himself up and onto the nearest wall. He fired another thick thread from his hand, wrapping up that fake soldier as well. The General looked furious, while the only remaining fake soldier looked worried and a little scared. He was likely scared of spiders.
“I shouldn’t be surprised that you’re one of those monsters that are secretly running around,” General sneered at Jackson.
The father tapped the belt he was wearing around his waist. It was a black leather belt with a silver lining and silver Japanese designs and spiders all over it.
“This belt belonged to Jorogumo,” Jackson says. “In Japanese folklore, she was a spider creature who would turn into a beautiful woman to lure in her victims. Seems that even after centuries of being dead, her power remains.”
“You have more tricks than we thought,” General glared at him. “But that doesn’t change anything!”
“I think it does,” Jackson jumped down from the ceiling. “After all, did you forget that I have kids? They won’t be as easy to defeat as you might think.”
“My soldiers can handle a few brats,” General sneered again.
“It’s their funeral,” Jackson smirked.
Meanwhile, the other fake soldiers were moving with purpose around the fortress. They each had duffel bags with them and were piling in artifacts like there was no tomorrow. And they were not careful about it, either. Even the artifacts that were clearly made of ceramics or glass were simply thrown into the bags without a care in the world. They were lucky that being magical made them stronger than regular glass and ceramics; otherwise, they would have quickly been destroyed.
Just the sight of them being so careless was enough to make Bianca’s blood boil. Her family has been protecting these artifacts for generations. The fortress was their pride and joy. They were not about to let some wannabe military men come in and destroy everything they worked so hard to build and protect. She wasn’t going to let them get away with it.
She took out the whip she had grabbed, smirking as she got to work. Whipping it out, she lashed it around the ankle of one of them, a female one, and yanked. The fake soldier fell to the ground with a shocked and scared yell of surprise.
“Who did that,” another of the fake soldiers called out.
“Maybe she just tripped,” a different fake soldier shrugged.
“I did not,” the fallen woman protested. “Something definitely wrapped around my ankle and pulled me down.”
“Maybe this place has more protections than suspected,” a fourth fake soldier suggested.
“Oh, it’s definitely protected,” Bianca said. “By more than just magic.”
“Who said that,” was demanded by multiple fake soldiers.
“Someone who doesn’t take it very well when wannabe thieves,” Bianca stated.
She lashed with her whip again. It cracked against the back of one of the fake soldiers. He yelped and dropped his bag of artifacts. He tried to rub his back to soothe the pain, but Bianca had hit him in a place only an extremely flexible person could reach. No normal person would be able to get to it on their own.
“How is she doing this,” a fake soldier yelled out in frustration.
“Guess you’re not as prepared as you thought you were,” Bianca smirked.
Two more fake soldiers were sent to the floor as Bianca tripped up another by wrapping their ankles in her whip, while the other was taken down by a whip slap to their thigh. Bianca wasn’t anywhere near as athletic as her brother, but she had her own strengths. She was never the type of person to resort to brute strength. She preferred to take her time to plan and come up with a sneakier way to deal with an opponent.
Lightweight weapons like her whip were also her preferred weapons. Taylor, as a fencer, preferred weapons like swords, spears, axes, and even maces. But she always found herself drawn to weapons like whips, staffs, bows & arrows, or war fans. They fit more into her sneaky and stealthy style of fighting. Plus, they were also easier to keep on hand since weapons like whips, staffs, and war fans could easily be concealed or disguised. Especially if they were the ones designed to be retractable.
She had the fake soldiers almost dancing for her as she continued using her whip on them. If they weren’t being slapped or lashed, they were being tripped or pulled down. Watching them get more and more frustrated as she basically played with them was very amusing to her.
“You can’t hide forever,” one of the fake soldiers yelled out.
“I’m not hiding,” Bianca smirked. “I’m fighting smarter, not harder. You should learn how to do that. Though that’s saying if you even make it out of here alive.”
“Is that a threat, freak,” another soldier glared around her, still trying to locate Bianca.
“I don’t make threats,” Bianca stated. “I make promises!”
She lashed out with her whip, wrapping it around the throat of one of the only remaining fake soldiers that was still standing. But she quickly fixed that by pulling him down while he made a choking sound since her whip had been around his neck.
“You can’t possibly even know the full story,” one of the fallen fake soldiers tried a different approach. “We could be here on direct orders from the government to collect these objects to be taken to a real safe place!”
“Yeah,” another of the fake soldiers tried to go along with the story. “These things would be better off in a place where they can be watched under the most secure lock and key in the country!”
“Don’t make me laugh,” Bianca scoffed. “Even if you were from the government, we still wouldn’t hand any of the artifacts over. We keep them safe from everyone! Including the government. No mortal is allowed near them. It’s the same for every nation in the world. No government is allowed to have access to the artifacts.”
“Sounds like you’re just trying to horde all of the objects for yourselves,” choked out the fake soldier she had pulled down by the throat.
“We don’t even use them unless threatened,” Bianca responded. “So, you really only have yourselves to thank for this butt-kicking.”
“I’ve just about had enough of this girl,” one of the fake soldiers stated.
He took out his gun, making Bianca’s eyes widen. The fake soldier started firing. But, since he couldn’t see her, he was firing blindly all over the place. He completely unloaded his magazine while firing at anything that even looked like it was moving. There were bullet holes on every branch bookshelf around them because of his wild gunfire. Even the other fake soldiers around him looked at him as if he were insane.
When his magazine finally emptied, one of the other fake soldiers quickly snatched the gun from his hands. The glare sent would have been enough to make anyone weak in the knees from how pissed the fake soldier was.
“Have you lost your goddamn mind,” he yelled at him. “What is wrong with you!?!? I’ve seen reckless behavior, but that was the stupidest thing I’ve ever seen!”
“Hey, I probably got her,” the scolded fake soldier simply shrugged, not caring for the danger he put them all in. “There’s no way that she would have been able to avoid all of- GACK!!!”
He was cut off by the sudden wrapping of his throat. Bianca’s whip lashed around his throat and pulled him toward her, not that she was visible to them. If she were, they would have seen the dangerous fire in her eyes. If the fake soldier’s glare was enough to make someone weak in the knees, her glare would have been enough to melt all of Antarctica.
“This place is sacred protected grounds,” her voice was so low and threatening that she could have frozen lava with how cold she sounded. “It is the duty of my family to protect every artifact here! You are NEVER going to get your hands on these artifacts! And since you’ve tried, it’s time to face the consequences!”
She undid her whip from around the fake soldier’s neck. But that was only so she could quickly use it to grab each of their duffel bags one at a time to quickly pull them away from the fake soldiers. Once each bag was safely away from them, Bianca let them have it.
She charged them with the strength of a bull and the skills of a ninja. It was a fury of lashes, screams, and grunts of pain. By the time Bianca was done with them, they were all groaning at her feet. Their faces were black and blue from the number of times she slapped them with her whip or straight-up punched or kicked them in the face. She completely unleashed her anger on them.
“Seriously…” one of the fake soldiers coughed out. “How are you even doing this?”
Bianca then finally became visible. When the fake soldiers could finally get a look at her, they immediately noticed she was holding a black helmet with clear origins from ancient Greece because of its design. It looked like it would be worn by any of the ancient warriors from Sparta. And while the Colosseum is located in Rome, the helmet could also have been worn by any of the gladiators who fought in the Colosseum.
“The Helm of Hades,” Bianca tells them, presenting the helmet. “Hades can’t exactly be seen when dealing with death outside of the Underworld. So, the helmet makes anyone wearing it invisible.”
She then reached into her pocket and pulled out a hand mirror. It was beautifully designed, looking like it could belong to a queen or princess. It had a handle made of silver that was also used to create an elegant and intricate wave-like design around the face of the mirror and also on the back of the mirror, as well.
“What are you going to do with that,” one of the fake soldiers managed to sneer at her. “Look at your reflection?”
“The Evil Queen isn’t the only one who knows how to use a magic mirror,” Bianca smirked.
She faced the mirror toward the fake soldiers. It glowed bright blue, and all of the fake soldiers screamed before things quickly got quiet.
“Well, that takes care of that,” Bianca thought to herself. “I wonder how Taylor’s doing with his group of wannabe thieves.”
Her question was answered as if by the Fates themselves. She heard another scream and looked up just in time to see a fake soldier flying through the air, and then he soon crashed back down to the ground. It didn’t take a genius to know who had thrown the fake soldier like that.
Taylor smirked as he fought the group of fake soldiers he encountered. As the captain of his school’s fencing team, he enjoyed fighting. But this was the first time he was able to let loose in a way that he couldn’t when fencing. After all, he didn’t want to hurt any of his teammates during practice, nor did he want to do any real damage to his opponents during his fencing tournaments. But against these fake soldiers who were trying to steal from the fortress his family was meant to protect, he wasn’t going to hold back.
“He’s a monster,” a fake soldier yelled, running away.
“No amount of money is worth this,” a female fake soldier screamed.
“What, the hell, even is he,” another cried out.
“I wouldn’t say that I am a ‘what,’ but I can still say that I’m an incredibly pissed off teenager,” Taylor glared at them.
He was holding swords very similar to what he would use for fencing, known as rapiers. They were thin and slender swords that most would associate with movies about the Three Musketeers. They were a double-edged sword with a sharp point that were mostly used for thrusting rather than cutting, which was why they were commonly considered ancient versions of modern fencing swords.
Taylor held his rapiers in each hand. All six of them! That was the reason why the fake soldiers were all terrified of him and saying he was a “what” rather than a “who.” Four of his arms were plain copies of each other, while his two arms at the top of each side of him had golden cuff bracelets the size of his entire forearms. The bracelets had clear Indian/Hindu designs on them and a few Indian words as well, not that Taylor could read any of them.
One of the fake soldiers tried to fire their gun at Taylor, but they didn’t expect him to be able to block the bullet with one of his swords.
“That’s not possible,” they said in denial. “That’s only something that happens in the movies!”
“You had to steal blood to enter a secret elevator and then come down an impossibly long elevator ride to enter a massive underground fortress that can not possibly have any realistic way of existing,” Taylor responded. “I think we’re way past what most people would believe to be possible.”
He charged toward them again. None of them had expected to come against someone with six arms, so none of the fake soldiers were mentally ready. In fact, they all looked terrified as Taylor fought them. They tried using their knives, swords, and guns, but Taylor was proving to be a master at multitasking. He wielded his multiple arms with an ease that almost seemed practiced. While they only used the artifacts for self-defense, it was clear that his years of fencing made it easier to hold multiple swords at once, even if it was a higher number than he’d usually be able to hold.
“Of all the scenarios the General said we’d might end up in, this was not one of them,” a fake soldier complained after being knocked to the ground by Taylor.
“I would have never agreed to do this if I knew we’d be fighting a multi-armed monster,” another soldier stated.
“See, this is why we are the ones who protect these artifacts,” Taylor glared at them.
He held off two fake soldiers trying to use swords on him with four of his arms while his last two arms continued to block bullets from other fake soldiers. His rapiers were a lot stronger than they looked. Most wouldn’t see such slender swords as them as strong ones. Most strong swords are typically presented as the typical swords used by knights, right out of King Arthur. But there are many ways to take the phrase “big things come in small packages.”
“Protect them,” one fake soldier rolled their eyes. “You mean keep them all to yourselves and use them to threaten people whom you don’t like!”
“Most of these things are basically weapons of mass destruction,” another fake soldier stated. “Some random freaks can’t be allowed to keep them when they need to be kept under lock and key!”
“You’re not fooling anyone, you know,” Taylor said. “None of you are real soldiers. You’re not from the government. You have no actual authority. You are all just hired guns being used to steal the artifacts for someone who IS going to use them to threaten people. Or, if they are embracing the cliche, they are going to try and use them to try and take over the world.”
He pushed back the fake soldiers whom he’d been sword-fighting with. With some quick japs of three of his rapiers, he stuck the ends of them into the barrels of the guns that had been firing at him. He flicked his wrists, sending the guns out of the fake soldiers’ hands, away from the fight. The looks on their faces from his swift movements were priceless.
“There’s no way someone’s that good,” a fake soldier denied.
“Sorry to burst your bubble, but I am that good,” Taylor smirked. “And this isn’t because of magic. This is because of skills you, clearly, don’t have.”
His six arms remained ready the entire time. Taylor kept his eyes on each of the fake soldiers, not lowering his guard for a second.
“That’s impossible,” another fake soldier denied.
“You have to be using something to enhance your skills,” denied another fake soldier. “Like what’s giving you those extra arms!”
“I still think those arms are because he’s a freak,” a third fake soldier sneered.
“None of you has a single clue what you’re talking about,” Taylor glared at all of them. “You all came here with your delusions about this place. You all simply saw this as a mission to take care of because you were paid to do so. There is nothing here that any of you could ever understand. That no mortal can ever understand! You can call us freaks and monsters all you want, but at least we’re not greedy mob boss wannabes like whoever hired you!”
The fake soldiers clearly did not like being called out multiple times. Especially since Taylor did have a point. They knew that they weren’t hired by anyone who actually worked for the government. If it had been a real government official who knew about the fortress, they would have used real soldiers rather than mercenaries and other hired guns.
It only angered them more that Taylor had a point. They wanted to be right. They wanted the fortress to be dangerous. They wanted Taylor and his family to be bad people. Because even as mercenaries and hired guns, they wanted to try and be on the right side for once. But everything Taylor was saying was showing that they were once again being used by corrupt rich people.
“That money wasn’t worth any of this,” one of the fake soldiers grumbled.
“We didn’t get paid nearly enough for this,” another one agreed.
“Too bad for all of you that this mistake will be your last,” Taylor smirked. “Whenever anyone tries breaking into the fortress, they never come back.”
The look on his face made the fake soldiers nervously gulp and back away from him. But Taylor was too fast. He moved with the speed of a flash flood and the power of a hurricane. He was a flurry of movements that no one could ever see coming. Six arms, six swords, and a single group of doomed mercenaries. By the time Taylor was done, they were all groaning on the floor while covered in bruises, cuts, and a few of them also had black eyes. He made sure not to hurt them too badly, but he wasn’t going to allow them to get away completely unscathed.
“Are you done with them yet,” Bianca asked as she suddenly appeared.
“I’m just about to take care of them, sis,” Taylor tells her, not jumping at her sudden appearance.
“Well, hurry up so that we can get back to dad,” Bianca says.
“Dad can handle himself,” Taylor reminds her.
He took out a golden lamp that looked like a combination of a gravy boat and a tea kettle. Another artifact with clear Indian designs and words on it. He rubbed the lamp, and purple smoke came out of it. The smoke surrounded the fake soldiers, making them scream before the smoke vanished back into the lamp, leaving nothing behind.
“So, you went with an artifact that gave you multiple arms,” Bianca casually asked her brother.
Taylor tapped the golden cuff bracelets on his two top arms together.
“These belonged to Shiva, the Hindu god of destruction,” Taylor tells her. “He is one of the Hindu gods with multiple arms, so the bands give anyone wearing them six arms. Comes in handy with my sword skills.”
“I chose the Helm of Hades,” Bianca says. “I figured invisibility would work well. And it did.”
The two of them turned their heads toward where they knew the entrance to the fortress was when they heard gunshots. They didn’t need to say anything before both took off toward the noise. This wasn’t about helping their father. They knew he was the best out of all of them when it came to fighting and protecting the fortress. He had been doing it for decades. But everyone needs backup now and again. So, they weren’t about to let their father fight alone after they’ve already finished with their opponents.
Jackson was easily dealing with the General by the time they got there. Every other fake soldier that had been near the entrance was wrapped up by Jackson’s spider silk. The General was the only one left standing, even if it was clear that it wouldn’t be for much longer.
Jackson’s spider legs provided him with the perfect amount of agility, even when the General was continuously firing from his gun at him. There were bullet holes on almost everything. Even some of the nearby crystal stalagmites had little chunks taken out of them because of flying bullets.
“Aren’t you getting bored with this, because I sure am,” Jackson said after he backfipped out of the way of more flying bullets.
“I’m not stopping until the job is done,” General yelled, quickly exchanging his empty magazine for a full one.
“You haven’t landed a single hit on me, you’re the only one of your entire group left standing, and you haven’t even successfully stolen one artifact,” Jackson says. “Sounds like you’ve already failed your ‘job.”
“I haven’t failed anything, yet,” General yelled at him again. “And I am not the last one left standing! Your brats could never have handled my men!”
“Are you sure about that,” Jackson smirked.
Taylor and Bianca ran into the area. Neither of them had any visible injuries, and they also weren’t worried at all.
“We took care of the others, Dad,” Bianca said.
“Other than this guy, everyone else has been captured,” Taylor added.
“Impossible,” General denied.
“Really,” Bianca smirked.
She took out the magic mirror she previously used and faced it toward the General. He nearly dropped his gun as he saw a bunch of his hired guns trapped inside the mirror. All the ones in front were banging on the glass from their side of the mirror. And despite how it was barely audible, they were also yelling and screaming inside the mirror.
“I’d say we did pretty good,” Taylor also smirked.
He brought out the lamp he had used before and opened the lid. It was louder than the sounds coming from the magic mirror. There was screaming and yelling coming from inside the lamp, with a little bit of an echo added to the sound because of whatever the space inside the lamp was like. He soon put the lid back on, annoyed by the shouting.
“You thought you could come in here and it would be easy,” Jackson crossed his arms. “But you underestimated us.”
“No one ever makes that mistake twice,” Taylor stated. “Mostly because they never live long enough to do so.”
“They paid the price for trying to mess with us and our legacy,” Bianca placed a hand on her hip.
For the first time that evening, the General was no longer confident. Between the knowledge that his mercenaries had all been captured, combined with the less-than-ordinary appearances of Jackson and Taylor, the color completely drained from his face. He nearly dropped his gun because of his drop in confidence.
“Why are you people,” he finally asked, having not cared at all about who they were until that moment.
Jackson was the one who answered. He was the head of their family for a reason. He stood tall with an aura of power that radiated off of him even without his added spider features. If anyone could speak in a way that would leave an entire room silent, it would be him. When he spoke, people listened.
“We are the Society of Mystic Secretism,” he stated. “For generations, it has been our duty to protect the magical world from the mortal world. We are here to prevent the world from meeting. We hide magical people when they’re about to be discovered. We hold mystical artifacts in our fortress to make sure they’re never used by a mortal. And we find all artifacts close to being publicly discovered and take them into our custody. We keep both worlds safe from corrupt and evil people who dream about nothing but power. People like you!”
“You… You can’t possibly do all of this on your own,” General denied.
“Who says we do,” Taylor smirked. “We’re a Society. This is more than just a family business.”
The General’s eyes widened as the realization came to him. A realization that also came with a price, as the last thing he saw was Jackson firing more spider silk at him.
“I’ll call Headquarters,” Jackson says. “They’ll need to send a cleanup crew.”
“At least this time there’s no blood to clean up,” Bianca giggled.
“Maybe next time,” Taylor smirked, earning another slap to the back of his head from Bianca.
Taylor and Bianca went to put away the helm and bracelets while Jackson went to call the head of the Society. They were ready to return upstairs and less violent activities.
Around the world, the Society continued to do its work in secret. In Japan, twin sisters batted away terrifying illusions as their older sister chanted while holding an enchanted box to seal away a kitsune. In the southern part of the United States, a married couple located clues and tracked horseshoe prints to find the Headless Horseman. In France, a mother and father jumped across rooftops with their grown-up daughter as they hunted down a pair of rogue gargoyles. In Egypt, a team of archaeologists sealed away a group of incredibly angry mummies.
The Society of Mystic Secretism was never going to give up its mission.
Original superheroes, original Pokemon, and original characters.
Years ago, the most famous hero team in the world fought their last battle. They finally faced enemies they couldn't beat. And then... nothing. No one knows what happened to the villains or even what happened to the heroes. All they knew was that a big battle had happened, the villains walked away, and the heroes were never seen again. That is... until now. Only... why do the heroes look a lot younger than they should be?
Heroes: First Generation
Sirius Lion: Winter Beast- An icy shapeshifter cold as a blizzard.
Perseus Aurora: Tritanus- A warrior of water.
Orpheus Ambrosia: Orchestra King- A magical musician.
Selena Breeze: Mermaid- The aquatic medic.
Melinda Bright: White Witch- Salem missed a witch.
Katara Steel: Warrior Heart- Top fighter of any kind.
Opal Light: Gem Master- Crystal mage brighter than the sun.
Diego Summers: Draco- A hothead in more than one way.
Erigor Rashka: Harpy Boy- From Greek myth to modern society.
Titos Webbs: Arachnid- Not a fly on the wall.
Leonardo Curse: Karma- Good luck when around him.
Jasper Tourmaline: Storm Mage- There’s a storm coming.
Next Generation:
Leo Heart: White Rose- A wild spirit with a heart of gold.
Gabriella “Gabby” Curse- A ball of energy who you don’t want to make angry.
Apollo Warren: White Witch- His chosen path became his destiny.
Mason Aurora: Triton- Being a hero wasn’t his first choice.
Leon Lion: Winter Wolf- Cool, calm, & collected, emphasis on ‘cool.’
Melody Garden: Orchestra- Music soothes the savage beast.
Hailey Tourmaline: Storm Harpy- The best of both worlds.
Legion of the Black Skulls:
Floyd Bell: The Shadow- Darkness lives inside his heart.
Sora Chimera: I Spy- You can’t hide anything from him.
Sebastian Miwa: Serpent King- There’s venom in his voice.
Harrison Jones: Dark Magician- He’s green with envy for more power.
Oroshi Squall: The Haze- Don’t breathe.
Tara Cross: Quake- Shaken, not stirred.
Chris Dawn: Blackwing- A man a little too into birds.
Dextra Chamberlin: The Duelist- She’s the best, or so she says.
Axel Rhodes: Fire Fist- If Rocky were a villain.
Keith Bandit: The Hive- Someone get the bug spray!
Unknown Side:
Sara Miwa: A queen bee with one mean sting.
Harry Jones: A geek with a showman side.
Vallia Bandit: A social butterfly.
Dexter Chamberlin: A top athlete and Sara’s boyfriend.
Hiro Squall: The bad boy of their school.
Bailey Chimera: Prefers technology to humans.
Power Origins: Much like DC and Marvel, powers come from all types of sources in this world. There are those who appear to have powers, but that only comes from years of training or because of special pieces of technology that they have. So, those would be similar to Batman, Iron Man, Dr.Midnight, and Daredevil. There are also those who gain powers or enhancements through being exposed to radiation, dangerous chemicals, or an experiment gone wrong. So, they would be like the Hulk, the Joker, Spiderman, and the Flash. Another way they get powers is through magic. Either they are born with magical powers, they gain them through a magical artifact, or they are granted magical abilities by an incredibly powerful being. Such as heroes like Zatanna, Dr.Fate, Dr.Strange, and Moon Knight. And then there are the powers gained through being born with a genetic difference. Those types of powers making them either a metahuman or a mutant. Those abilities are similar to heroes and villains such as the X-Men, the Brotherhood, Black Canary, and Static Shock. The one power origin that I am not using would be aliens/alien technology. Origins like that would be related to those like Superman, Blue Beetle, Captain Marvel, and Silver Surfer. With all the other stuff that I’m planning to do in this story, including aliens would just make things too complicated because it would just add in another element to my already complicated world.
Location: I am setting the location of my story in New Orleans, Louisiana. My dad once visited New Orleans when he was driving across the country to help with his in-laws. I’ve always been interested in the south and the many cultures that are a part of the community. And New Orleans has so many ethnicities, especially shown through the food, which in influenced by the cuisine of France, Mexico, Italy, Africa, and many other countries. It’s a city filled with culture and life that I think would be really good for a story’s location. Additionally, there are not many superheroes based in New Orleans. There are heroes from New Orleans, such as Gambit, Hawkman, and Hawkgirl, but the only examples of superheroes who are based in New Orleans rather than just being from there would be Swamp Thing and Cloak & Dagger. DC has mostly original cities and towns, such as Gotham and Central City, as being home to single heroes and hero teams. And with Marvel, most of their heroes are all based in New York, such as the Avengers, Spiderman, and Fantastic Four. So, I wanted to be able to have a story where there is an entire team of heroes in New Orleans. Plus, as the largest city in Louisiana, the city makes for a good city location that is bigger than a small town while not being as big as cities like New York and Los Angelus. Also, as someone who loves horror, I’ve always enjoyed the unique creepiness that comes from the swamp/bayou and the above-ground cemetaries that New Orleans is known for. Add in how Scooby Doo on Zombie Island took place in New Orleans, that only brings in another fun element of horror and fantasy to having my story take place in New Orleans. With how much original stuff I plan to include, I didn’t want to add in an original city as well. While I am pretty ambitious when it comes to my stories, I do try and keep myself from adding in too many elements.
Outside Heroes & Villains: While they will not be the focus, I am going to make mentions of heroes and villains that are outside of New Orleans. The one thing that bothered me about Stargirl, which had given me the inspiration for this story, was that superheroes and super villains are completely forgotten about in that world until the current Justice Society of America made themselves known while fighting against the Injustice Society. Even though it had been years since the Justice Society had died and the Injustice Society went underground, it’s hard to believe that a whole team of superheroes would just be completely forgotten by history. So, by having heroes and villains being around in a more general sense, it would help keep the world whole rather than just having the heroes and villains in New Orleans being the only ones in the entire world. Especially because of all the power origins that I have planned. With so many types of origins for powers, it would only make it even harder to believe that only one city on the planet would have heroes and villains. So, other heroes and villains will be mentioned as a way to expand on the world, but none will have any type of focus and won’t appear outside of news footage or internet searches.
Things I Won’t Include: While I am heavily inspired by Stargirl, I’m going to try my best to not reuse any of the plotlines of that show. There are going to be similarities, but it’s gonna be with elements that are in many superhero shows and movies, not just Stargirl. So, that helps to prevent my story from being a copy of Stargirl. I’m also going to do my best not to make any of my characters into “Mary-Sue” characters. I can’t stand it when a character is meant to be “perfect.” Each character is going to have flaws, even if some aren’t as big as others. Quirky type of characters are my favorite kind to create, so they’d naturally not be seen as “perfect” because they’re so unique and weird, but in a good way.
Additional Info: I am going to be pulling elements from other fandoms just to give myself a little more room when it comes to how much I have to build from scratch. The powers for White Witch, both generations, are going to be based on the powers of Gwen and Charmcaster from the Ben 10 franchise. The magic they used in the first series has always been some of my favorite in any fandom with magic, so I wanted to include the spells and magical items they had used. Especially since it would have been incredibly hard to create my own original spells that weren’t just words in another language. The powers of Karma are also based on the DC villain Jinx, from Teen Titans. But I am changing them to be able to work with both good and bad luck rather than just bad luck like Jinx’s powers.
Thank you to all future readers!
Original superheroes, original Pokemon, and original characters.
Hello, my loyal followers, readers, and anyone else who sees this! I've been on and off of Patreon for awhile, posting different things to try and find the right stuff to post. So, I've made some decisions to really start building what I really enjoy for my Patreon.
This time, my Patreon would be focusing on more original content with some fanfic content. These types of stories are stuff that I love doing. I will be doing a number of writing projects on Patreon while posting little previews on here to see if anyone would be interested in what I will be doing on my Patreon. All of them will be in writing/stories since I am not much of a drawer or painter or anything like that. Writing is my art.
I have lots of things planned that I will be doing and there will be different tiers that I will set up for each one. The prices won't be much, with the highest only being $5 a month.
Here are some of the stories and other writing projects that I plan to do:
1.) Original Superhero Series: I've made lots of original superheroes in the past with some of them being integrated into existing fandoms to have my own OCs being a part of that fandom. Such as Batman, The Flash, Justice League, X-Men Evolution, and other shows and movies for superheroes. This story is going to be heavily inspired by the CW show Stargirl where I've making all original heroes and villains to create my take on a "next generation of heroes" type of story. I will creating my own hero lore along with original myths, legends, species, and other types of things to add more to the world as a whole that I will be building. While it is inspired by Stargirl, it's not a fanfic. While I can never help but include many pop culture references in my writing, this will not be a fanfic.
2.) Chaotic Series: I've always been a big fan of the fantasy game cartoon Chaotic. While I never played the card game that was the focus of the show, the show itself was always interesting to me with such a great concept where the characters use their devices to sent a part of their subconscious into the world of Chaotic where they can battle other players by becoming the creatures in their decks. And they also could teleport to the home world of the creatures to scan them, locations, and weapons to build their decks even stronger. I plan to use the bones of the show while making things as original as possible. I would consider it to be half-original and half-fanfiction. I will be using locations and creatures from other fandoms such as Yugioh, Cardfight Vanguard, Pokemon, and Huntik, but changing them to fit into a Chaotic-like world. All of the human/mortal characters will be original, though.
3.) Yugioh Dueling One-Shots: I've always loved the Yugioh franchise. I've collected the cards, taught friends how to duel, and written stories for the anime. I've always liked to imagine what types of decks that characters from other fandoms would have. I've even been writing a Yugioh/Miraculous Ladybug fanfic on Archive of Our Own. So, this series of one-shots would be all about duels in other fandoms between characters. There might be crossover one-shots, but the duels will mostly take place between characters in the same fandom. Fandoms that I have plans for already would be My Hero Academia, Percy Jackson, Harry Potter, Miraculous Ladybug, and even Scooby Doo!
What was your opinion of Mister Agreste? What did you like and dislike about it? What would you change?
My answer includes spoilers. So, for anyone who has not watched the episode, do not read this answer!
I really enjoyed the episode. One thing I enjoy a lot about the season as a whole is that Adrien is being shown to be depressed about his father. In most cartoons, these types of things are usually gotten over with in only an episode or two. Like, Adrien would have usually been shown to be sad in an episode or two before he would then immediately go back to being happy, kind, and probably would never bring up his father at all. But the season is doing really well at showing how it's not that simple to deal with the reality of how difficult it is to deal with the loss of a parent. Adrien is sad and dealing with it in every way he can, while also trying to deal with how he is no longer under his father's control either.
This episode as a whole was amazing at showing that, despite Ladybug/Marinette's lies about Gabriel dying as a hero, Adrien still has his negative feelings toward his father for everything he previously did to him. Just because he is being told that Gabriel was a hero and everyone else is honoring him, he still was the one who suffered a lot because of Gabriel. The isolation, trying to force him and Kagami into an arranged relationship, keeping him basically a prisoner in London. He still had all of those pent-up negative emotions from all of that. Being told that Gabriel died a hero doesn't make any of those feelings go away.
I also enjoyed how the episode showed Marinette's own struggles with keeping the secret. As much as I hate her having the secret, since I REALLY hate how she's deciding what Adrien deserves to know and what he doesn't, it's still good to show her struggles with the secret. She talked with Luka, Natalie, and Tikki about it before deciding that the lies had simply gone on too long and there wouldn't be much of a point to tell him now. I don't like that choice, but it's also a realistic one that lots of people make when they tell a lie for an extended period of time.
One other thing I enjoyed was the use of the snake miraculous to allow both Luka and Marinette to have moments where they could get everything off their chests and then rewind so that there would be nothing caused by their confessions. It is a good form of therapy, even if it's only temporary.
Adrien's moment with Luka in the episode was also really good. It showed that it wasn't just Marinette who struggled with what Luka had to do to keep both himself and their secret identities safe. After seeing Luka's goodbye with his mom and Juleka, he didn't want Luka to leave since he didn't deserve to leave when his whole life was in Paris. He was in denial and it was another great Luka moment for him to comfort Adrien since he could tell how much Adrien hated that he had to leave.
But, with all that said, I can NOT stand Luka still being in love with Marinette. Marinette treated him terribly by trying to go out with him even though she was still interested in Adrien. Him literally having a fake girlfriend was just stupid. Luka deserves an ACTUAL girlfriend who treats him fairly, not how Marinette treated him.
One thing I would have also changed was the "after credits" clip. While it was nice to see a miraculous holder outside of Paris, and that hummingbird kwami was SO CUTE, I would have also liked for that clip to be used to have Luka and Sass have a moment where Luka would reveal why he wanted the ladybug miraculous and what he was going to use them for.
After months of fighting Hawkmoth, then Shadow Moth, and the Monarch, the four heroes didn't think there would ever be an end to the fight against him. But then, my sheer luck, they managed to find out who was behind the mask.
After that, they knew the Final Battle was upon them. And they were willing to do anything to finally bring an end to his reign of terror. And one hero was willing to take the ultimate chance.
I do not own Miraculous Ladybug. I own only my original characters, Lyon/White Wolf and Vallia/Beautifly.
Gabriel Salt. Takes place after Chloe/Queen Mayor is defeated, but before Adrien is sent to London. In this story, there would be a couple of days between the two events. The Wish is included in this, but I'm having it be able to be done without having to make Tikki and Plagg "reveal themselves," nor does Gimmi have to be called.
Ladybug, Cat Noir, White Wolf, and Beautifly had all pictured what it would be like when they would have their final battle against Monarch. After all, they had been dreaming of the day they could take him down. However, none of them would ever have believed that they would discover who Monarch was by sheer dumb luck.
And it had been because, much to their horror, of Adrien. They already did not like it when Gabriel Agreste was originally a suspect before he was akumatized into The Collector. Adrien did not deserve to have a supervillain for a father when he was easily one of the nicest guys in all of Paris.
But he was the one who discovered who his father was by pure luck.
Adrien had already been annoyed by his father's company's continued use of his image. He was already uncomfortable with his image being used as a hologram for the Alliance rings. However, he soon discovered that Kagami was also being used as an Alliance avatar. While he was glad they were using Kagami instead of Liar-Lila, he got even more upset when they used the Alliance avatars to make people think that he and Kagami were a couple.
The two of them broke up months ago. Both because Adrien couldn't tell her about him being Cat Noir and because he still had feelings for someone else. He knew it would be unfair to Kagami to continue dating her when he could not fully give his heart to her. Plus, he also knew that Kagami had started to develop feelings for his cousin, Felix. So, the lies of Alliance were hurting both of them.
So, when he learned about the lies that Alliance was making people believe, he stormed into his father's office to confront him. With Natalie still stuck in bed and the Gorilla outside by the car, neither could stop him. Gabriel had not been in his office when he barged in. That had actually been a surprise since he knew his father rarely ever left his office unless it was to eat or sleep. So, he stayed for a bit and looked around before noticing that his father had left his computer open.
Looking at the screen, Adrien was shocked. He saw copied pages of the Miraculous Grimoire along with the translations for each page. Something he knew was only possible through the use of Master Fu's stolen tablet. Which he knew had been taken by Hawkmoth and Mayura during the Miracle Queen incident.
He barely had time to process what he had just seen when the floor behind him opened up. He quickly ran away but left the door open a crack so that he could see what was going on. He was both shocked and heartbroken to see Monarch rising from the hole in the floor. It seemed to be a secret elevator, which he could only guess led to the villain's lair. It only got worse when he saw Monarch's de-transformation. And it was his father.
He ran out of there and out of the house so fast that one would think he had super speed. He had been running so fast that he nearly crashed into Lyon and Vallia. The two Greek teens were concerned for their friend since he was obviously distressed about something. So, they took him into their house and gave him a cup of hot chocolate to calm him down.
Once he had gone through about four cups of hot chocolate, he was calm enough to tell them what he had discovered. To say the twins were shocked would be the understatement of the century. They immediately told him that they were both sorry that it was his father who was terrorizing Paris, while also saying that he needed to tell the heroes.
Adrien had nodded and said that he would tell Cat Noir, and the black cat hero could pass the message to the other heroes. Given that the twins, as White Wolf and Beautifly, knew that Cat Noir talked to Adrien sometimes, they accepted it. They did make sure to continue comforting Adrien. They even let him take a small nap in one of their guest rooms to help calm him down even more. After all, it had been a very emotionally exhausting day for the blond boy.
So, that night, the twins transformed into their hero forms and went to meet their French partners. Ladybug and Cat Noir met them on top of the Eiffel Tower, which had become their go-to meeting place since the top was the most private place in Paris late at night, since no one went up there at that time. Cat Noir told them what Adrien had found out, which devastated the other three heroes. Adrien was probably the nicest guy in all of Paris. So, he didn't deserve to have a supervillain for a father.
The heroes were all standing on a rooftop that was right across from the Agreste Mansion. There was so much tension that not even a sword could cut through it.
"Please tell me that I am not the only one who hates this," Ladybug requested of her team members.
"When it comes to any supervillain that ends up being a parent, it only makes it even harder," White Wolf says.
"We know that it's the right thing to take them down, but it doesn't mean it's easy," Beautifly added. "Kids never make it easy."
"I will never understand villains that have kids," White Wolf says. "They have so much more to live for, and yet they still choose to be villains. From what I have seen, Adrien is a great kid. Gabriel should learn to appreciate what he still has rather than trying to get something he doesn't."
"Well, there is his wife," Ladybug said. "After she disappeared, Mr.Agreste went completely into isolation. Not to mention keeping his son locked up more than he already did."
"If there is one thing that probably would turn someone into a supervillain, it would be losing a loved one like that," Beautifly says.
"It doesn't make him any less horrible," Cat Noir growled. "After all, after everything that Monarch has done, there is no reason that can possibly justify his actions. Especially after akumas like Syren, Stormy Weather, and Miracle Queen. Not to mention everything that happened when he was Scarlet Moth."
White Wolf put his hand on Cat Noir's shoulder.
"We're not saying that his actions are excused," the wolf hero tells him. "We are simply trying to understand more about him. One of the best ways to know the enemy is to get in their head."
"Hopefully not literally because let me tell you how happy I am that he never considered making an akuma with telepathy powers," Beautifly crossed her arms.
"Even if he did, that akuma would have been scared off the moment they looked into my head," White Wolf smirked.
"Well, on that terrifying note," Ladybug decided not to ask what White Wolf was talking about. "We will at least need some type of plan."
"Can't we just go with the classic 'rush in and punch him in the face plan," Cat Noir looked a little too willing to do that. "He has to be weaker because of the wound caused by him forcing my Cataclysm onto his arm."
"As much as I have been wanting to do that for a while, now, we need to take a more stealthy approach," Ladybug says. "We need to catch him off guard so that we possibly catch him before he can transform."
"I could remain hidden," White Wolf suggested. "That way, I can act as a sniper. Like how he used Dark Cupid during Heroes Day."
"As good of an idea as that would be, we won't be out in the open," Ladybug says. "We will be confronting him at his house, so he will not be in front of the windows the entire time. Especially if we chase him into his lair."
"So, the best choice would be to confront him at the same time," Beautifly said. "With all four of us confronting him at once, it would basically be an ambush."
Ladybug nodded. "And when we do, White Wolf can have an arrow at the ready so that we can use that as a threat to keep Gabriel from transforming."
"I have been wanting to shoot him for a while, so I hope he goes for it," White Wolf smirked.
"You just keep adding to the reasons why I will never make you angry," Ladybug says.
That only made the icy wolf hero smirk even more.
The group of heroes planned a little more before they decided it was better to act as quickly as they could. After all, Gabriel did not know Adrien had discovered his secret. And while he was not the most attentive dad, aka he was a neglectful asshole, not even he would not be able to stay oblivious to the fact that Adrien was not in the mansion for very long. And once he knew that Adrien had left, he would want to know why. So, they needed to work fast before they lost the element of surprise.
It definitely helped that, because of their abilities and weapons, none of them had to use the gate to get onto the mansion grounds. Ladybug swung over the gate using her yo-yo while Cat Noir used his baton's extending function to get over. Beautifly easily used her wings to fly over the gate while White Wolf jumped over it with his enhanced physical abilities.
They stole a quick look into Gabriel's office through the windows. He was still in there, looking at his screens. So, he didn't notice them looking in. They did have to quickly duck out of sight when he looked up from his screens for a second. It was a moment they really wished they still had the fox miraculous. Illusions would have definitely helped them be more stealthy. They would simply do their best until they finally got the rest of the miraculous back. Which would, hopefully, happen that day.
They snuck into the mansion, hoping that whatever Gabriel was looking at on his screen was not the security cameras. Given that he was literally the same color as the house, other than the blue colors on his hero suit, White Wolf was the one who stuck his head into Gabriel's office to sneak a look at him. The fashion designer was so focused on his screens that he didn't notice the wolf hero at all.
White Wolf nodded at his fellow heroes. They took that as a signal to mean that they could enter without immediately being seen. The four of them slowly entered the room. They kept their distance so that they would remain out of Gabriel's line of light as much as they could. Following their plan, White Wolf notched an arrow and aimed it at Gabriel. The others all prepared their own weapons while slowly approaching the villain.
"Hello, Monarch," Ladybug was the one to break the silence.
Ladybug immediately got Gabriel's attention. While he was a man known for being quite stone-cold, he did look shocked to see the four heroes in his office. He tried to quickly hide it, but all the heroes noticed the look of worry in his eyes.
"Whatever could you possibly mean, Ladybug," Gabriel tried to fake confusion.
"I wouldn't lie right now, Monarch," Cat Noir tells him. "You should really learn to lock your doors. Your son saw you come out of your secret elevator while you were still transformed. He told us right away."
"I would say it was some of my ladybug luck working its magic, but I would never wish anything like that on Adrien," Ladybug said. "Or any teenager."
The heroes were not sure what to make of Gabriel's face. He looked to be feeling a wide range of emotions. They could see anger, confusion, denial, shock, and maybe even a little sadness.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Gabriel decided to continue denying the accusations.
"Villains never do want to come quietly," White Wolf shook his head. "They never make it easy."
He kept his arrow aimed at Gabriel, ready to fire the second he made any threatening move.
"If you have no idea what we're talking about, then let me ask you something real quick," Ladybug got an idea. "How about you take off your glove and show us your arm?"
"Pardon me," Gabriel looked both caught off guard and a little nervous.
Cat Noir immediately understood what his partner was doing.
"Monarch forced my hand against him after I activated Cataclysm," Cat Noir said. "He's been slowly getting worse since his suit could only protect him from so much of my power. If you're not Monarch, your arm wouldn't show any damage."
Beautifly and White Wolf smirked as they knew they backed Gabriel into a corner. If he refused to show them, that was proof enough for them.
"I'd do what they said, if I were you," White Wolf says. "If not, I'd be more than happy to let this arrow fly to make it easier to take back all the miraculous you stole. It's always easy to steal from an ice statue."
"No more moths for you, Gabriel," Beautifly stated.
Caught between a rock and a frozen arrow, Gabriel didn't see anything else to do.
"Nooroo," he started saying.
"Not so fast," White Wolf fired his arrow.
Unfortunately, Gabriel was a lot quicker than they thought he'd be. He was able to duck under the arrow, causing it to hit a mannequin and freeze it.
"Dark Wings Rise," Gabriel finished.
Monarch soon took the place of Gabriel. All four of the heroes took battle stances. They were ready to fight. Seeing him transform, Ladybug was the first to notice his hands.
"The Alliance Rings," she realized. "I should have realized it after seeing that he changed the other miraculous into rings. That's how he's been giving the powers of the other miraculous to his akumas."
"That must have also been how he figured out who Scarabella and Kitty Noir were," Cat Noir's eyes widened. "They both must have had Alliance Rings, which allowed him to track their movements, which only would have been possible if they were superheroes. I don't wear one."
"I don't have one," Ladybug admitted.
"Neither do I," White Wolf says.
"I don't, either," Beautifly said.
"Explains why none of us have been found out when Scarabella and Kitty Noir were found out so quickly," Ladybug says.
"You always ruin everything, Ladybug," Monarch glared at the spotted heroine.
"You're the villain, Gabriel," Ladybug glares back. "It's an unwritten law of the universe that villains always lose."
"Let's see how the universe feels when the 'villain' has nothing left to lose," Monarch said, getting ready to fight.
"Nothing left to lose," Cat Noir was practically growling.
"Venom," Monarch activated the power of the bee miraculous.
His hand lit up with the giant glowing bee stinger that always appeared whenever "Venom" was used. He chose to charge at Ladybug, seeing her as the biggest threat. But he underestimated Cat Noir, as most tend to do. So, rather than getting near Ladybug, he wound up with a staff to the face.
"I don't think so, Monarch-Hawkmoth-Shadowmoth-whatever your name is," he glared at the villain.
Beautifly threw her razor flower at Monarch. He was barely able to get out of the way before it cut his arm off. Normally, none of the heroes would go for such a drastic move, but this was hopefully their final fight against Monarch. They couldn't take any chances. So, they needed to be harsher with their attack methods or they'd risk him escaping.
"I thought heroes didn't go for the kill," Monarch tried to hide the fact that he was nervous because of Beautifly's harsh attack.
"You should have thought of that before akumatizing a baby," Beautifly glared at the villain. "You're a sad piece of work, Gabriel!"
"I would say he's more pathetic," White Wolf said, firing more arrows that Monarch had to dodge. "After all, how stupid can a person be to akumatize Mr.Pigeon over seventy times?"
Monarch had to continue dodging the Greek heroes' attacks, which left him nearly vulnerable to the close-range attacks from Ladybug and Cat Noir. The four of them worked incredibly well together. Despite White Wolf and Beautifly only appearing when Gabriel akumatized himself into The Collector, they were able to quickly find a way to work well as a team.
He decided that the long-range attacks were more dangerous. White Wolf's arrows and Beautifly's razor flower could do major damage if they managed to hit him. Given the freezing ability of his arrows, Monarch charged toward White Wolf with Venom still activated.
"Not so fast," Cat Noir was quick to throw his staff at the villain's feet and make him trip.
"Voyage," Monarch called out before he hit the floor.
He fell through a portal rather than landing on his stomach. Another portal opened up on the other side of the room, letting the villain land away from the heroes.
"How typical," Ladybug said. "Running away rather than fighting us head-on. I said it back on Heroes Day. You are such a coward!"
"I thought that was pretty obvious," White Wolf stated. "After all, only a coward would stay in his lair while only sending out akumas to fight us. The only time he ever went out was on Heroes Day. And that was, clearly, because he believed he was going to win."
"Only showing up when he believes he has the upper hand," Beautifly glared at the villain. "If that is not a coward's move, I don't know what is."
Monarch snarled at the four heroes.
"You don't know the first thing about me or why I am doing this," Monarch says.
"And we don't care, either," White Wolf said. "Because there is no possible reason that would excuse your actions."
"You've tormented Paris for over a year," Ladybug glared at the villain. "You've akumatized babies, bullied children, an innocent kid who had a nightmare, and adults who've lost their jobs. You've used and abused the citizens of Paris for your selfish gains with no regard at all for them. All you've ever cared about is what you've wanted. So, it doesn't matter why you've been doing this because nothing is a good enough reason to do the things you've done."
"I bet that it's not even really a reason," Cat Noir growled. "He was probably just using his 'reason' as an excuse to become a villain. I'm willing to bet he was always a horrible person. So, when he got the chance to become a villain, he grabbed onto that opportunity with both hands. He clearly doesn't care about anyone but himself, so he's likely only doing this for another selfish reason."
The other three herpes gave each other subtle glances. All of them noticed the difference in Cat Noir's attitude ever since "Adrien" told him Monarch's identity. It was like the black cat hero was halfway between bawling his eyes out and going feral with rage. He was deeply affected by discovering Monarch's identity in a way the other three were not. If they had to guess, it was because of something in his civilian life. Hopefully, they could have a nice, long talk once the battle was over.
Monarch made the "Venom" attack vanish, choosing to try and use a different strategy.
"Subimation," he activated the power of the rooster miraculous.
Soon after, he disappeared.
"That must have been another way he got to Scarabella and Kitty Noir," Ladybug looked around, trying to find any sign of movement. "He used the power of the rooster to make himself invisible."
"Anyone else think that miraculous is way overpowered," Beautifly couldn't help but comment.
"Sounds like when a fanfiction writer purposely creates something overpowered in their story," White Wolf said.
With no way to see Monarch, the four heroes quickly got together and stood back-to-back-to-back-to-back. They wanted to give as little chance for Monarch to target them one at a time as possible. Cat Noir's and White Wolf's ears both twitched and moved on top of their heads. Given their heightened hearing from having cat and wolf-based miraculous, they could more easily hear things that Ladybug and Beautifly couldn't. Which included footsteps.
White Wolf's eyes shot in one direction.
"Jump," he commanded.
All the heroes jumped at the same time. They all heard a THUD, and another mannequin was knocked over.
"How about you make this a little more... slick," Cat Noir smirked as he looked at the wolf hero.
"I like the way you think, Kitty," White Wolf also smirked. "Winter's Touch!"
He activated his power, which was to freeze the first thing he touched in a manner similar to Cat Noir's Cataclysm. He touched the floor, and it instantly got covered in a sheet of ice. But the wolf hero had incredible control of his powers, and he managed to freeze only the floor. He even managed to freeze the floor under their feet without freezing them to it. Something that immediately became a problem for Monarch.
Within seconds of White Wolf using his power, they heard another THUD, and then the sound of someone sliding across the ice. After a third THUD and a CRASH against a wall, Monarch reappeared. He was on his back and groaning because of his collision against the wall that White Wolf's ice caused.
"Didn't anyone ever tell you how risky it is to skate on thin ice," Ladybug remarked.
"In more ways than one," Beautifly added.
The two female heroes threw their weapons at him. But, just as he had previously done, he used Voyage to dodge. When he landed on the other side of the room, he was panting hard. It was clear Monarch was pushing his limits.
"You're not going to last much longer, Gabriel," Ladybug tells him. "The wound from Cataclysm has only gotten worse because you took my Lucky Charm when you escaped. I wasn't able to heal you."
"It will get better once I take your miraculous and make my wish," Monarch slowly got back onto his feet.
"Only for someone else to die because of it," Cat Noir glared at the villain.
"That is the price of the wish," Ladybug informs the villain. "The ladybug and black cat are all about balance. It's why they need to be active at the same time. Using the wish always comes at a price."
"It's a price I'm more than willing to pay," Monarch charged at them again after activating Venom.
"You won't be the one paying it," Cat Noir yelled as they all used White Wolf's ice to slide out of his way. "An innocent person will be infected with the wound in exchange for healing you!"
"It would be for a good cause," Monarch glared at the heroes.
"I doubt their family would see it that way," White Wolf fired more arrows.
Despite the ice on the floor, Monarch had become somewhat of an expert when using the power of the horse miraculous. Voyage allowed him to avoid their attacks over and over again while simultaneously giving him the chance to try and sneak attack them. That was when White Wolf and Beautifly truly shone. Ladybug and Cat Noir needed their ice power-ups to gain skates. But White Wolf's main powers were already about ice. So, he was easily able to move around on the icy floor without worrying about slipping. Beautifly also had wings. So, an icy floor was nothing to her. She flew around the room the best she could. While it wasn't perfect because flying was better in open spaces, she was still able to avoid Monarch easier than most.
"You should have stayed in your own country," Monarch insulted the two Greek heroes.
"You're the one who made this global when you attacked New York and Shanghai," Beautifly reminded him. "It was only a matter of time before you got the attention of other heroes."
"Especially after nearly starting World War III when he took over the weapon systems of the United States," White Wolf said. "It was luck alone that no other countries tried to fire any of their weapons back."
"And you clearly didn't learn your lesson, given what you did in Shanghai," Ladybug says. "You almost destroyed all of Shanghai when you akumatized Mei Shi. If it wasn't for me, it would have been destroyed since you were killed by your own akuma."
"Not his smartest decision, but it's not like he's been all that smart from the start," Beautifly says.
"Not much else can be said about someone who's akumatized Mr.Pigeon over seventy times," Cat Noir said. "I guess Einstein was right. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again while expecting different results."
Monarch growled at the heroes again before jumping into another Voyage portal.
"This is getting annoying," Ladybug looked around with her yo-yo spinning.
"It got annoying the first time," White Wolf stated.
Monarch soon appeared out of another portal. He was holding a stuffed animal.
"He used the power of the monkey," Ladybug immediately realized.
He threw the toy at White Wolf, hoping that messing with his powers would remove the ice from the floor. But, Cat Noir was faster by using the ice to his advantage.
"Cataclysm," he raised his hand as it bubbled with black energy.
He destroyed the toy before it could reach the wolf hero. Because he used his power to destroy it, he was not affected by the Uproar.
"Lucky Charm," Ladybug called out.
Throwing her yo-yo into the air, a red piano with black spots was created. It crashed onto Monarch's head. He recovered enough to portal to the other side of the room once again. Ladybug called her power again, getting a staff that fell into her hands. She stood ready to fight with it.
The heroes were glad to have unlocked their adult capabilities. Being able to use their powers more than once could have helped them in many past situations. So, being able to do so now was a massive help. While it was a hard pill to swallow that Chloe once again willingly teaming up with a supervillain was the reason behind their growth, it gave them more of a fighting chance against Monarch. Not that any of them would be thanking Chloe any time soon, given that she took being a spoiled brat to a level that should never be reached by anyone ever again.
Given that they were all hoping that this would be the final battle against Monarch, their adult powers would be the biggest aid they could have. Especially if they got another piano for Ladybug's Lucky Charm, which had been hilarious to see land on Monarch's head.
They all got ready when Monarch exited another portal.
"Nice try, coward," White Wolf said.
"We shouldn't be surprised that he's being a coward," Cat Noir growled. "He's always been one. Why else would he remain in his lair at all times while sending out his akumas to fight for him? Because he's a coward who only takes 'risks' if he believes he will win."
Monarch clearly did not like what Cat Noir said about him. He charged toward him.
"Clout," the villain called out the power of the tiger miraculous.
"Cataclysm," Cat Noir countered.
"Cat Noir," Ladybug tried to warn.
She had no idea what would happen if Clout and Cataclysm collided. The tiger and black cat were the two most offensive miraculous in the entire miracle box, along with the dragon. All the other miraculous had powers meant for defense, support, or had to be specifically used in a way that makes them offensive, like the rooster and peacock.
She got her answer. And in a very explosive way.
"Winter's Touch," White Wolf quickly activated again.
He pulled Beautifly and Ladybug close to him and waved his hand in front of them. Summoning his icy touch, he "froze" the air in front of them. An ice wall formed in front of them. He was protecting them.
Cat Noir and Monarch's attacks collided. Cataclysm and Clout caused an explosion to happen. The collision of the magical attacks erupted into a massive bomb of magical energy. It was almost as bad as when Plagg used his power while not transformed, and he took down the Eiffel Tower while also causing lots more destruction all around Paris. The power was so intense and destructive that White Wolf's ice wall was barely able to keep them alive. Almost immediately, once the power stopped sending waves out, the ice wall crumbled since it couldn't hold up any longer.
The three stepped over the last of the nice to get a look at the damage done.
"Woah," Ladybug gasped.
"By the gods," White Wolf and Beautifly swore.
Right where Cat Noir and Monarch's collision had been was a giant hole. A hole that went far below what was supposed to be the ground floor of the mansion.
"Why am I not surprised he has a secret underground lair," Beautifly sighed.
"When it comes to most villains, they always go for the most cliche option," White Wolf says. "So, it's always either a basement lair or an attic lair."
"We need to get down there and make sure Cat Noir is okay," Ladybug stated.
That was the only signal that the universe needed, apparently. Seconds after Ladybug finished talking, the ground cracked under their feet. The three barely had time to look at each other before the ground gave way.
Ladybug and White Wolf were too caught off guard to do anything other than fall. Beautifly was able to catch herself with her wings. She dived down as quickly as she could, but wasn't able to grab hold of either of the two other heroes.
"Oh crud," the butterfly girl swore.
She dived down even deeper. She might not have been able to catch her friends, but she needed to get down there since that was still where Monarch was. When she got down, the first thing she did was look for the other heroes. Hearing groans, she flew toward them. The first one she found was White Wolf.
"That was unpleasant," he said, rubbing his head.
"Lucky for us that our suits protect us from anything too damaging," Beautifly says.
Hearing another groan, Ladybug rose from where she had landed.
"Where's Cat Noir," she immediately started looking around.
"You're a sick man," they heard the distinct voice of their ally. "An incredibly sick man. And I don't mean because of your Cataclysm wound. I mean you're sick in the head!"
"Found him," White Wolf said.
The three quickly moved across the rubble to where they heard Cat Noir's voice. Soon, they came across him and Monarch. Seeing the two, they were shocked at where they saw them. The black cat hero and the moth/butterfly villain were standing on a bridge. The bridge connected an elevator on one side of the room to a small platform on the other side. On the platform looked to be a small garden with what looked to be a metal coffin-like machine in the middle of it.
"The fact that all of this was underneath Agreste Mansion is further proof that he is Monarch," Ladybug stated.
"The fact that he transformed in front of us wasn't proof enough," White Wolf raised an eyebrow.
"We might be superheroes, but we would need more than just our word," Ladybug says. "The police allow us to handle akumas, but we don't have any actual authority. So, to accuse anyone of being Monarch, even with the butterfly miraculous with us, we will need as much physical evidence as we can."
"I don't think we'll be doubted once they see this," Beautifly stated.
Cat Noir and Monarch were still fighting. Even with all of the damage done when their powers collided, they continued to fight. Cat Noir's staff continuously clashed with Monarch's cane sword. The other three could even see sparks flying as the weapons hit against each other. But it was clear that Cat Noir was getting tired. Despite unlocking their adult powers, they were still teenagers. Monarch had years of experience, even if he had not been openly using the butterfly miraculous until more recently.
"You say that you have nothing left to lose, but what about your son," Cat Noir growled at him.
"Adrien," Monarch looked shocked that he was brought up.
"Yes, Adrien," Cat Noir's teeth almost looked like he had fangs. "Your son. The member of your family you still have! Saying you have nothing left to lose when you still have a son who loves you is a heartless thing to say!"
"I'm already dying," Monarch coughed even as he continued to fight. "He's going to lose me no matter what unless I get your miraculous!"
"He lost you years ago," Cat Nour yelled back. "Are you really oblivious to the fact you've been neglecting him?"
Monarch had the gall to look shocked at the accusation.
"I only did this for my son," Monarch argued.
"How on Demeter's green earth could any of this be for Adrien," White Wolf glared at the villain as the other three heroes approached the two.
Since Monarch was the one close to the garden, he reached behind him and pressed a button on the metal coffin-like thing. It opened up, causing Cat Noir to freeze where he was standing. The other three heroes also froze with their jaws hitting the ground. It turned out that the machine was a coffin. And inside was a woman they were all familiar with because of how they knew Adrien.
It was Emilie Agreste. Adrien's mother was in the coffin, not looking a day older than the day she originally disappeared. A single year might not be long enough to make any major differences to how a person looks, but Emilie didn't even look like anything had happened to her. She appeared as if she were sleeping.
"My wife fell into a coma because she used the broken peacock miraculous," Monarch said. "She's not dead, but she can only be kept in stasis for so long before she does die."
"Our lives have suddenly become even more like a comic book," Beautifly muttered to herself.
"Even if you do bring her back, that's not all the wish does," Ladybug tries to warn the villain. "The ladybug and black cat need to both be active because they balance each other. Creation and destruction. Good luck and bad luck. If you wish for your wife to be healed, someone else will pay the price."
"I've been doing this all for her," Monarch says. "To give my son back his mother. I will make any sacrifice needed."
"You won't be the one making it," White Wolf said. "Since you're the one making the wish, it will be someone else who pays the price."
"Nooroo already tried telling me that," Monarch scoffed. "Nothing will stop me from making that wish."
"You know," Cat Noir's eyes widened. "You know there's a price, and you will want to use the wish!?!"
"I told you, I have nothing left to lose," Monarch stated.
"And I told you that you still have your son," Cat Noir yelled back. "What if making the wish puts him into a coma instead?"
"It won't," Monarch sounded so sure of himself.
"How do you know that," Cat Noir argued. "This type of magic is completely unpredictable. You can't possibly know if your son won't be the price you'd pay!"
"I will just say who I want to be sacrificed," Monarch acted as if what he said was not something a psycho would say.
"That's not how the wish works," Ladybug said. "You don't get to choose. Otherwise, the wish wouldn't be as dangerous as it is."
Monarch didn't seem phased by what they were saying.
"I will still get what I deserve," he insisted.
"You're willing to put your son in danger for your own selfish needs," Beautifly yelled at the villain.
"This is for my son," Monarch argued. "He needs his mother back."
"If any of this were for your son, you wouldn't have done anything you did outside of your activities as Monarch," Cat Noir was growling again. "You didn't need to neglect him. You didn't need to force him to be a model. You didn't need to continuously isolate him from kids his own age. You didn't need to try and force him to travel around the world for your company with Lila Rossi. You didn't need to try and force him into a relationship with Kagami Tsurugi by spreading those lies with your Alliance Rings. None of that was 'for Adrien.' That was all because of your psychotic need to control him in every way you can!"
"I did what was best for my son," Monarch yelled back.
"None of that was what was best for Adrien," Cat Noir was practically hissing like an angry cat. "What Adrien needed was a loving father! What he needed was a parent who didn't treat him like an employee rather than a member of their family! What he needed was to be allowed to live his own life! He most certainly did NOT need to have a supervillain father who was more obsessed with defeating us than spending time with him!"
"You also don't care as much about your family as you're trying to make yourself appear," White Wolf said.
"You don't know what you're talking about," Monarch shouted at the wolf hero.
"You had the perfect opportunity to save your wife when you had the rabbit miraculous," White Wolf continued. "You could have traveled back in time, left the instructions on how to fix the peacock before she got the chance to get infected by it, and that would have been it. Instead, you chose to come after us. Don't blame us for your choices!"
"Probably because we're the only people who have denied him anything," Cat Noir growled. "He's basically like a grown-up Chloe. A spoiled brat who couldn't handle being denied something."
"Venom," Monarch called out.
He probably just wanted to shut up at least one of them. Being the nearest to the villain, Cat Noir jumped back to get out of his reach.
"Nature's Heart," Beautifly called out her power.
She threw her up her razor flower. Out of the gem in the center of it came a flower. Catching her weapon and the flower, the butterfly hero looked at what she had gotten.
"Beautifly," White Wolf called out a warning to her.
She looked up in time to see Monarch charging at her. With barely any time to think, she pointed the flower she got at the villain and turned on its ability. Catching Monarch off guard, he was blasted back by a barrage of shooting star-like blasts of light.
"I remember that flower," Ladybug says with a grin.
Beautifly smiled as she held it up. "Amaryllis. When summoned, this flower can shoot off almost missile-like light attacks. Reminds me of the pin missile attack from Pokémon."
Monarch struggled to get back up after such a big attack. Beautifly's ability was arguably one of the strongest. Being able to summon flowers that have different effects based on which flower is summoned was a very hard power to fight. It was a mix of the luck of the ladybug miraculous, with the sheer strength of the dragon miraculous.
"You can't win, Gabriel," Ladybug tells the villain. "There won't be any wish for you."
"You haven't won yet, Ladybug," Monarch glared at her.
"We've beaten you at every turn," White Wolf says. "Style Queen, Heroes Day, Miracle Queen, Senti-bug. Every trick you've tried has failed."
"You've won battles, but that doesn't mean you win the war," Monarch stated.
He coughed again, actual black dust coming out of his mouth. The image made all of the heroes cringe as they saw it.
"You're dying," Ladybug says. "Using all of those miraculous powers has only made the process go even faster."
"If you surrender, maybe we can find a way to help you," Beautifly said. "White Wolf can freeze your wound to slow down its progress, and Ladybug might be able to summon a Lucky Charm to specifically use the Miracle Cure to heal you."
Monarch may be the villain they've been fighting all this time, but they didn't want him to die. It was the main difference between heroes and villains that they wanted to keep. Which was the willingness to let people die. Monarch was willing to let that happen, but they weren't. Also, they felt that death would be too much of an "easy out" for the villain. They weren't going to let him escape the consequences of his actions by taking the easy way out. Either through death or by using the wish.
Monarch coughed some more, even more black dust coming from his mouth. But he still glared at the heroes.
"The only way this ends is with me making my wish," he declared. "Water Dragon!"
Before the heroes could react, Monarch turned into water thanks to the power of the dragon miraculous. He turned into a mini tidal wave, washing the heroes back, toward where the elevator was. The heroes were now soaking wet as they lay scattered around the small area. Monarch had even managed to control the water attack enough to purposely have Ladybug and Cat Noir closer to him while sending the Greek heroes further away.
"Winter's..." White Wolf tried to activate his power to freeze Monarch before he could change forms.
"Lightning Dragon," Monarch activated before the wolf hero could.
Turning from water to lightning, the villain unleashed the strongest attack of the dragon miraculous. And because of the water they'd been soaked in, the attack was that much more powerful. The heroes all screamed as electricity coursed through their veins. Having been able to avoid the lightning attacks from Stormy Weather when she was akumatized, none of them had felt an attack like that before. Now they understood those cartoon moments where heroes are able to defeat large opponents by combining water and electricity. Such as several times that Bane from Batman had been defeated in cartoons.
Monarch had a smug look on his face as he approached Ladybug and Cat Noir. Both of the teen heroes were too weak to do anything. Neither could stop what Monarch was about to do.
"NO," both heroes cried out in their heads, unable to speak.
Monarch reached down and removed both of their miraculous. Two quick flashes of light appeared as their identities were exposed.
"Adrien," Monarch gasped.
Weakened, but trying to recover, the other heroes continued to try and move. Their eyes widened at the sight in front of them. Where Ladybug and Cat Noir had been were now Marinette Dupain-Cheng and Adrien Agreste. White Wolf and Beautifly looked at each other with shock evident on their faces. But, they couldn't focus on that right now. White Wolf nodded at his sister, who nodded back and slowly started to sneak behind a large pile so that she could disappear to hopefully lay a sneak attack on Monarch before he could make his wish.
"Gabriel," Adrien glared up at his father.
Considering he said his name rather than "father," it was telling how Adrien now felt about his father. Monarch also looked angry.
"You heard me say this was for your mother, and you still continued to fight me," he narrowed his eyes at his son.
"Mother would NEVER want you to do this," Adrien managed to sound strong, even with how weak he was. "She wouldn't want you to obsess over her! She'd want you to move on!"
"Clearly, I didn't raise you right," Monarch scoffed. "Abandoning your mother when you had the perfect opportunity to bring her back! You could have easily taken the ladybug earrings and wished for her to come back!"
"Because I knew she would be destroyed if she knew the price of bringing her back," Adrien threw back. "Mom would never want someone else to be put into a coma just so that she could be brought back."
"You don't know what your mother would want," Monarch yelled at his son.
"Adrien told me about his mother," Marinette spoke up. "He always said she was one of the kindest people he's ever known. She would read him stories to help him sleep, treat your employees like incredibly well, and loved Natalie like a sister. Sacrificing someone else to bring her back would be the last thing she'd want."
"You, shut your mouth," Monarch glared at her. "You don't know anything about my family!"
"What family," Adrien spat out. "We haven't been a family since Mom got sick. And even before that, she gave me all the love a parent should! You could barely remember to have dinner with us most of the time! You can't act like you care now when you've never cared before!"
"Let's hope you'll be a good son after I make my wish," Monarch moved his glare to his son.
"I am a good son," Adrien stated. "You are simply a TERRIBLE father!"
Not seeing much reason to continue arguing, Monarch went to put on the ring and earrings.
"Not so fast," Beautifly suddenly flew up behind him.
She threw her razor flower at him faster than he could react in any way. It hit his hand, sending the two miraculous he was holding flying. White Wolf was quick to zoom forward and snatch them off the ground.
"No wish for you, father-of-the-year," he sarcastically said.
"Get out of here," Marinette yelled at him.
"Would you really leave your fellow heroes behind," Monarch powered up Clout in his hand.
"One of those heroes in your son," Beautifly held her razor flower at the ready.
"Once I make my wish, nothing that has happened will matter," Monarch stated.
"Oh, I'm not surprised," Adrien growled. "Not only does he want to use the wish for himself and Mom, but he also wants to erase all of his actions as Hawkmoth, Shadow Moth, and Monarch. He wants to escape any and all consequences. Once again, he wants to control everything around him with no regard for anyone but himself."
Monarch looked like he wanted to use Clout on his son. White Wolf looked at the two miraculous in his hand. He had to think of something and he needed to think of it fast. Without their miraculous and no way to return them to the two, Adrien and Marinette were helpless. And without their protective magical suits, Clout could kill them. Beautifly was an incredible hero, but she wasn't fast enough to get to them even with her wings.
Looking at the ring and earrings, only one thing came to mind. He just needed to work fast and hope he got the wording right. Much to the shock of everyone, he put on the ring and earrings. Lucky for him that the earrings became clip-ons when he grabbed them, since he did not have pierced ears.
"Plagg, Tikki, Frostbite..." he started.
"Don't even think about it," Monarch warned.
"Wolf, it's too dangerous," Beautifly called out, concerned.
"Unify," White Wolf said.
In another flash of light, White Wolf changed as the three miraculous merged. His mask gained green and red layered outlines. His hooded cloak gained symbols for both the ladybug and the black cat miraculous. His boots gained the same steel toes that Cat Noir's had, while his pants got red stitching. His gloves got swirls of red, black, and green. And finally, the symbols for the wolf, black cat, and ladybug miraculous all appeared on his chest.
Opening his eyes, everyone could see that they were glowing with power. Though none of them knew how long White Wolf could hold it. The black cat and ladybug miraculous were from the Chinese miracle box, while his wolf miraculous came from the Greek box. Mixing the miraculous was something none of them had ever tried before, so the consequences of doing so were unknown and potentially extremely dangerous.
"I wish..." White Wolf started once again.
"NO," Monarch yelled, charging at the wolf hero with Clout at full power.
Before he could make an impact, there was a giant burst of light and power. Everyone had to hold onto something because of the sheer force of whatever had happened. None of them knew that White Wolf truly did, but they did know he used the wish. After all the talk about the damage the wish would do, the other three heroes couldn't understand why the wolf hero used it.
They all braced for the entire universe to come undone and then be redone in whatever way that fit White Wolf's wish. But when the energy and light eventually faded away, nothing felt different to them. They opened their eyes and looked around, but nothing seemed to be different.
They immediately looked over at White Wolf. He was still standing where he had been, but wasn't standing for long. His unified transformation dropped and he was left as his regular hero self again.
Unfortunately, Monarch was the first to make a move. He immediately ran over, snatching the earring from his ears and the ring from his finger. With an evil smug look on his face, he put them both on his ears and finger.
"Even after all of that, you still lose and I get what I des-AHHH," Monarch was cut off when he was suddenly zapped by something.
Both miraculous took themselves off the villain, clattering to the floor. Monarch had a shocked look on his face. He tried several times, but got zapped by some type of energy every time. The miraculous removed themselves from him after each zap.
"What in the world," Marinette swore.
"What happened," Adrien was just as confused.
Monarch was brought to his knees from the latest zap. The miraculous landed on the floor once again.
"I don't understand," Monarch sounded angry and tired. "Why can't I make my wish?!?!"
A low and weak chuckle reached his ears. White Wolf was awake.
"No wish for you," he weakly smiled, still able to look smug.
"You," Monarch glared at him, grabbing the hero by the collar of his hero outfit and lifting him off the ground. "What did you do? Tell me!"
"You might think my wish did nothing, but I did change one thing," White Wolf said. "I wished for the ladybug and black cat to lose their combined power. That was why the universe was rewritten and nothing appeared to change. Because with my wish, they no longer have that power. They can no longer grant wishes. So, no matter what, you will never get what you want! You've lost, Gabriel!"
"NOOOOOOOOOO," Monarch unleashed a yell of rage as he tried to punch White Wolf with a point-blank Clout.
CLANG!
With a metal crashing sound, Monarch collapsed to the floor. He was unconscious. Adrien was standing behind him with a piece of broken metal from the bridge. He somehow had on both a blank look and an angry look at the same time.
"Nino has been telling me to stand up to him more," Adrien said. "He'll be proud of me for doing that."
He dropped the piece of metal onto the ground, picked up his miraculous, and made his way to the elevator.
Once she got her miraculous back, Marinette did what Beautifly had suggested before. She called a Lucky Charm specifically for everything that happened during the "final battle." While it wasn't the Lucky Charm she had when Gabriel first got hit by Cataclysm, it worked. Gabriel's wound was healed. They did make sure to remove the butterfly miraculous and all of his rings as well, so that he couldn't use any power, before casting the cure. After that, they took Gabriel to the police, using the butterfly miraculous as proof they defeated Monarch. And once they showed the secret lair to the police, even Gabriel had to admit he was doomed.
What was your opinion of The Ruler in miraculous ladybug? What would you change? What did you like and dislike?
I think the episode is one of my favorites of the season, so far.
Spoilers for the episode beyond this point.
One of my biggest complaints about the show has always been that it focuses too much on the female characters, mostly Marinette, while giving almost no spotlight to the boys unless it's to put them in a bad light, such as Kim in Derision and Nino in Rocketear. So, while there were some scenes with Marinette in the episode, they were for the comedy rather than her being any kind of focus in the episode.
The episode almost entirely took place from Nathaniel's point of view as we see more of him and Marc's process of how they make issues of their comic, while we also meet both his and Marc's parents. It brings more depth to both their characters as we see why they are the way that they are. Like, even with how shy he is, Marc is still very open about who he is and never tries to hide any part of himself. That comes from how his parents clearly love him very much and how being hippies who also don't hide who they are makes them good role models for Marc also not wanting to hide who he really is. Nathaniel, on the other hand, is shown to have been shy and quiet because he comes from an overly strict household. His mom is clearly very opinionated and controlling, wanting things done her way and no other way. With Nathaniel's father being very easily controlled by her, despite how he does look like he wants to support his son, he doesn't do anything to smooth out her demands. It explains why Nathaniel was so shy, especially about his art at the start of the show, since it was clear his art wasn't appreciated at home, leading him to believe no one else would appreciate it.
I also enjoyed seeing the other members of their class showing the two so much support for their comic. It was definitely a big step-up from how in previous seasons, it always looked like most of the class only interacted with the two during their "Adrienette" planning sessions. Especially when they did make those comics to tell the "story" of their plans. So, seeing them supporting their original comic was good to see. Especially with how all of them were very clearly excited for the next issue.
It was also great to see Nathaniel/Caprikid taking charge when his mother was akumatized. He was the one who was able to craft the whole plan to defeat The Ruler. It was a nice change of pace from Ladybug always being the team "planner." Plus, it was also great to see the opening scene from "Revelator" come into play when Nathaniel was able to use "Genesis" multiple times without having to recharge. Especially when he showed his personality by making all of his "weapons" out of art supplies. Such as using markers as throwing knives, a painter's palette as a shield, and a giant pencil as a spear.
Also, the reveal at the end was pure perfection! It was wholesome, which was something we didn't get in any other reveal since usually a lot more stuff was going on at the time. Such as when Ladybug had to reveal Nino and Alya's identities to each other when she gave them their miraculous during Heroes Day or when Wishmaker caused both Ladybug and Cat Noir to be revealed to Luka/Viperion. So, having their reveal being done purely because they trusted each other to that level was so much better than any other reveal.
The one thing that I didn't like about it was not really specific for the episode. And that would be Marc's makeup. I don't like the colorful makeup on half of his face, especially the lightning bolt thing around his left eye. It's much like Juleka's bright lipstick and Rose's large amount of eyeshadow. It's just too much. I think Marc would look much better with plain cat eye wing eyeliner.
I wonder what Present, Adult, and Granny Alix’s opinions of Shirel and Aton Kurtzberg? I am sure Alix has met Nathaniel’s parents most likely through her father and she most likely doesn’t like them at all.
All versions of Alix would definitely not like Nathaniel's parents. And not just because she is Nathaniel's friend, but also because she is a fellow artist. Even if her art is spray paint/street art. So, she would get angry whenever she would have heard Nathaniel's mom hating any kind of creative art just because she doesn't view creativity as being worthy of anyone's time. She only thinks serious art should be done.
Present/Teen Alix would be the most vocal since she does not have the same kind of filter she would have when she is older. So, she would likely call them out immediately while also using her father's position at the Louve to her advantage by bringing up every historically famous artist who did make creative art.
Adult Alix would love nothing more than to mess with them by hinting at them not having any current relationship with their son because of things they did his entire life. But, she is very good at not messing with the timeline. So, she also would stick to not having a high opinion of them and always would be with Nathaniel whenever he would tell her he was going to be seeing his parents.
Granny Alix would probably have the most wise opinion since she was the oldest of the three. She would know about the good moments Nathaniel would have with his parents even if they were rare. She knows that Nathaniel does still love his parents despite his mom's harshness and his father's inability to stand up to her. So, at best, she's neutral toward his parents.
My third main character from my original book, Charmed & Dangerous: The Sword In The Song. Her name is Elena Avalon and she is based on another of my best friends from middle and high school. I met her at summer camp.
My book is available as an ebook/online book only. Available on Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon.
Yes, I am pissed that there is no improvement to be seen yet for the third season in a row in how Marinette takes advantage of Chat Noir and his trust. And, no, this episode pointing out Marinette's lies is not enough to give this a pass. Alya losses her memory in the end so Marinette goes back to being held to no standards by anyone around her. She will just continue doing it until hell breaks loose, like always.
Marinette is not the only flawed character, when the circumstances required, never has to face consequences for their bad behavior and never had to realize that they need to grow.
Adrien never deal with real consequences for not being able to take a no for an answer when he was pursuing Ladybug.
I don't think Alya apologized for trusting Lila lies like a fool, Nino never face consequences for compromising him and Rena roles of heroes on multiple occasions.
If we want to held Marinette accountable for her actions, we need to the the same for the rest of the cast.
In what reality did Adrien not face consequences for not taking the "no"?? She literally violently and publicly manhandled him into a trashcan, threw it on a roof and kicked him out like dirt.
And then the rest of s4 proceeded to also have Marinette and the whole plot blame everything under the sun on Chat Noir's love for her (especially Kuro Neko). Did you just not watch the show?
Alya was planned to apologise and basically desperately ask for forgiveness, they just cut the scene out of Confrontation. There are story board versions of the s5 episodes and there you can see it. I don't know why they cut it, but it was in fact there.
And do you mean Nino saving Alya's life in Risk because he didn't wanted to see his girlfriend be killed? Yeah, how awful of him. I hope he learned his lesson and will now let Alya and everyone else die brutally to be "professional". Screw that his powers literally is PROTECTION. But let me guess, it would have been totally fine if he had saved Marinette and not Alya.
And no, I don't need to first write an essay about the other characters to "earn" getting to voice valid criticism of Marinette. I can just do that.
Adrien has suffered so much more than Marinette and yet the fandom treats him like a monster and Marinette like an angel.
Adrien is constantly being demonized for his actions in Syren, Glaciator, Frozer, Cat Blanc, and Ephemris. But, that is only five episodes. And in most of those times, he has legit reasons to be upset.
In Syren, he was left completely in the dark by Master Fu and Ladybug for literally no reason. He was supposed to be Ladybug's partner and yet he was treated like a sidekick. In Glaciator, Ladybug did not actually say she wasn't going to show up to the date he planned. She had said "We'll see" after he said she could come if her plans with her friends ended early. He wasn't hurt by her simply not showing up, he was hurt because Ladybug disregarded his feelings and didn't think he really did love her. In Frozer, he was once again hurt by her disregarding his feelings, even if that time he did take things too far. In Cat Blanc, he is hated on for not telling Ladybug that he found out she is Marinette. But, he was only actually akumatized Hawkmoth caught him off guard when he discovered his mother's comatose body while also discovering that Hawkmoth is his father. His akumatization had very little to do with Ladybug. And in Ephemris, that was almost entirely Ladybug's fault since she was the one who abandoned her plan to use Viperion to keep her from remembering Cat Noir's identity. The events of that episode were entirely her fault.
Compared to all of that, Marinette has done many more bad things in many more episodes. She has stalked Adrien pretty much since day one. She had made presents for him up until his fiftieth birthday. She has his entire schedule despite how it is highly unlikely Adrien would have told her his whole schedule, meaning she either stalked him some more or she stole it from his things. She teamed up with Chloe, of all people, to sabotage Kagami at the movie premiere in a way that would have left her completely humiliated. The only reason she cared about Lila and her lies was because Lila used her lies to get close to Adrien, not because she really did care about anything else she was saying. Also, for someone who kept saying how much she hates liars, she never once went to Alya as Ladybug to expose Lila, which would have made things much easier for her. She fully expected her friends to simply take her word for it when she said that Lila was a liar. She goes on about them taking Lila's lies at face value, but yet expected them to do the same thing with her when she called Lila out. She has serious double-standard issues. Marinette is also a giant hypocrite. The reason she kept saying Chloe couldn't get the bee miraculous back was because her identity was known to both Paris and Hawkmoth. Yet, after Miracle Queen exposed Alya, Nino, Max, Kim, Luka, and Kagami, she continued to give them their miraculous even when their identities were also known to Hawkmoth.
And that brings me to the worst thing Marinette's ever done. Which was keeping the secret that Gabriel was Monarch. She hides behind the excuse of how it was "too cruel" to tell Adrien the truth. But, Adrien deserves to know the truth. Once again, she is leaving Adrien in the dark. And she is doing it in a way that is very similar to how Gabriel treated Adrien. She decided that she knew what was best for Adrien and treats him exactly like that rather than doing what is actually best for him, which is tell him the truth.
Another of my main characters in my original book, Charmed & Dangerous: The Sword In The Song. Her name is Ruby Grace. She's based on one of my best friends from high school.
My book is available as an ebook/online book only. Available on Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon.
Which Miraculous would you want to be the holder of?
Part 1
Black Cat
Ladybug
Butterfly
Peacock
Fox
Bee
Turtle
Dragon
Snake
Voting ended onMar 3, 2025
This is only poll part one because there are only so many options I can put into one poll. I will put the other miraculous into a second poll once this one is finished.
If you’ve seen the first episodes of MLB season 6, what’s your opinion on Lila’s villain ego?
I have seen the first episode, but only the first episode.
Right away, I am enjoying how different it is from how Gabriel was with the butterfly miraculous. Lila is choosing to be more mysterious than Gabriel ever was. After all, we saw from the "Origin" episodes that Gabriel made himself known to all of Paris by making that giant Hawkmoth head with a bunch of butterflies to announce his presence and make it known that he wanted the ladybug and black cat miraculous.
But with Lila, she is not even choosing to reveal her villain name. She wants to reveal as little information about herself as possible. But, she is also proving to be more persuasive than Gabriel. Gabriel preyed on negative emotions and took advantage of them. But with Lila, she is actively manipulating her victims similar to how she manipulated the class with her lies.
That shows that despite how Lila is known for always wanting all attention on her, she is willing to put that aside to not make the same mistakes that Gabriel did. Being more anonymous gives her less of a chance of getting caught.
Donatello Hamato from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
I've got several more but here's the mains! Tagging- @letsgetitblog @localcanadiancreature62 @yumedoca @endless-exhaustion @anyone else who wants to participate!!!
8. Toothless (How to Train Your Dragon, cartoon film)
9. Elsa (Frozen, cartoon film)
10. Broken Vessel (Hollow Knight, game)
Funny that half of this list straight up villains, almost all from the other half were antagonists at some point willingly or not, and also traumatized or went through some shit, or both, and the remaining one is just cute cat dragon
Wait, technically even Toothless was an antagonist... Like, first 7 minutes of the movie. And went through dome shit (according to the series (some old beefs with other dragons... And we'll never learn about that because Toothless can't talk...) and in films too). Damn.
Well also, Artificer is the protagonist and playable character but we're literally commiting genocide.... Over two dead pups... Yep. She's the bad guy.
TAG @artzychic27, @miraculousfan1232, @nerd-chocolate, @andromeda612, @thetwistedarchives, @marckurtzberg97, @imsparky2002, @msweebyness, @username8746489, and @eternalstarlitwonderland, you all are it!
