Chapter Text
As the car left the driveway, Gabriel smiled. His plan was already set in motion.
He stood by the open doors of the mansion, watching it turn onto the road. Gorilla was to drive Amelie and Felix out for a day of shopping. Their first location would be the Gabriel showroom, of course. He had generously offered them anything they wanted from his brand.
Little did they know what they’d actually be paying in return.
Nathalie put a hand on his shoulder. A quick, unspoken agreement passed between them and they went back inside. The car should take about half an hour to reach the showroom, by which time he’d create a new akuma. He tapped the car tracker app open on his tablet and called the secret elevator to his lair.
Today, he would finally get his ring back.
Finding a victim was easy.
Shravya, a young tourist with a strong fear of heights, had been tricked by her friends into going to the top floor of the Eiffel tower. They told her that they’d only be going to the first floor. She should have known something was off when they started giggling among themselves as they made their way to the monument, though. It didn’t help that most of the group was behind her. Her closest friend, Tara, linked arms with her and the two jogged ahead of the others.
They made it to the elevators.
And then stood in the wrong line.
“Uh, guys, we’re supposed to be going in that elevator,” Shravya pointed out.
They exchanged a look amongst themselves. Then John stepped forward.
“Actually… The view is so much better from the top, Shrav.”
“And..?”
“And who knows when we’ll come to Paris together again, all of us!” Tara added earnestly. “We gotta make the best memories we can. So we bought tickets to the top.”
“What?! But you know I’m-”
“Scared of heights, yes. And we’ll be with you. Nothing’s going to happen, alright?” Gwen, who had been silent all this time, said, taking Shravya’s arm. “You will love it. I promise.”
Shravya slumped in defeat. Her friends had a good point. She didn’t want to be a spoilsport, so she had to woman up and go have a good time with them.
Who knew, maybe she’d even get over this stupid fear.
—
Unfortunately, neither of those things turned out to be true.
The tourist stayed as far away from the edge as she could. Whatever little she could see made her dizzy. Her friends had no problem enjoying the view, or trying to herd her with them. She refused, but it didn’t stop them from pulling her over to the railing anyway. It was far too crowded for her to pull away and move back to her safer position.
The time it took for them all to finally go back down felt like an eternity.
Even with both feet back on solid ground, Shravya was trembling like a leaf.
Hawkmoth waited until she was alone. She was still clutching onto the ticket, a perfect latching point. He sent out his trusty akuma and made his offer.
“Veracity, I am Hawkmoth. You trusted your friends but they lied to you, knowing fully well that you were afraid of heights. They forced you to go with them to the top of the Eiffel tower. And you could do nothing about it then.
“I will give you the power to see through deception. And you may punish anyone who tries as you see fit. In return, I ask you to bring me La- I mean, a boy. Felix Graham de Vanily. He looks like this-” Hawkmoth sent her a projection of his nephew. “And will be at the Gabriel showroom very soon. Do you accept?”
“Yes, Hawkmoth.” The girl lifted her head up, revealing a glowing butterfly outline framing her face. She had turned bright red around the eyes. “No one will ever deceive me again.”
Black, bubbling energy surrounded the young woman. In a second, she was transformed.
—
According to the GPS on the dashboard, they were just over halfway to the Gabriel showroom. Felix was bored out of his mind. Mother was on a business call. He vaguely remembered her mentioning she had taken a few days off work for this visit, and yet her team couldn’t manage a day without her.
They reminded him of children sometimes… and not in a good way.
The car came to a stop at a red light. Felix turned back to his phone, where he had opened the Gabriel website, and resumed looking through their catalogue. It was the same thing you’d see in any big fashion house. Same run-of-the-mill suits and formal wear, same casual collections (ugh), same shoes. The only minor difference was in women’s wear, and even that fell under the current trends. Just with slightly better quality material and stitching.
And of course, all items (apart from formal wear) had the Gabriel logo on them. Three horizontal stripes of bright yellow, green and purple on casual items, and a ‘G’ inside a circle on formal ones.
How atrocious.
Could Marinette have designed any one of these?
It looked unlikely. All the items had a sort of ‘sameness’ about them that he just couldn’t associate with a teenage girl. They looked like they were designed by people at least in their mid forties. Or mid twenties, going by the casual collection.
Maybe he should have checked her phone gallery for her designs. They were bound to be better than this drivel. But then again, he would probably end up seeing a lot of Adrien. And he saw his cousin more than enough in person, thank you very much.
Speaking of, Adrien must have returned Marinette’s phone to her by now. He half-wished he could be there to see it. She wouldn’t be able to get two words out straight, and her face would have turned into a tomato.
Love was hilarious.
Felix locked his own phone screen and looked out of the window, relieved he had never fallen into that trap. Being an idiot in front of one specific person every single day for months sounded like an ordeal. He was just fine where he was.
Well, not exactly. He was even more bored than before, which was saying something. He loved shopping. He knew what places sold good clothes in most of the cities he’d been to. The owners of those stores typically knew what he liked and had their recommendations ready. Sometimes, he’d find new boutiques tucked away in side-streets. And if they were any good, well, his fairly small list of shopping destinations grew a little.
Paris was no exception.
Come to think of it… wasn’t there a Felix-approved vintage shop right by this road?
He peered out of the window.
Yes, there it was, and it was open.
Mother was still on her call and the driver was looking straight ahead.
Time for a disappearing act.
—
It was absolutely the right decision. Felix’s spirits lifted at the sight that greeted him as he walked into the store- racks upon racks of beautiful, color-coordinated, real clothes, and mannequins displaying outfits that weren’t an eyesore. None of the shoddy stuff that got out of shape after a few uses.
It smelled nice in here. Soft music played in the background. There weren’t many people around. One of the assistants recognized him and brought him the things the owner had curated for his taste, and he leaned back against the comfortable loveseat with a sigh.
Now this was shopping.
—
A few minutes later, his phone rang. Felix smiled lazily when he saw who it was.
“Hello, Mother.”
“Your uncle booked the entire showroom for us,” Amelie said. “And you couldn’t stop by for even half an hour?”
“It’s not worth it.” Felix said, catching the sarcasm in her tone. “Also you’ll never guess what I found.”
Amelie chuckled. “Alright, what did you find?”
“A 50s two-toned knit. Near perfect condition. And it’s only been what, ten minutes, since I entered this store?”
“Five since I got your text, but yes. Good job on letting me know where you went this time.”
“I learn fast. And… if you want company, I’ll come by once I’m done here.” It almost physically hurt Felix to offer this, but he meant it.
Amelie laughed. “No need, kiddo. You have your fun. I’ll finish up here and head out for my regular shopping soon anyway.”
“Okay.”
—
Finding her so-called friends was a piece of cake. Veracity activated her laser beam. John came running to her, asking her where she went- until he noticed her full outfit.
The green-and-red hair and her visor mask was enough to make them halt in their tracks.
While they gaped, she took aim and fired.
“Shravya…? Is that you?” Mark asked.
“I’m not Shravya. I’m Veracity. Now tell me, were you guys planning any more stunts like the Eiffel Tower one?”
“N-no!” Tara squeaked.
A glowing red rectangle popped up above her head, indicating the lie.
Enraged, Veracity changed the setting on her beam and shot Tara again.
Tara blinked, and then fell to her knees screaming. Gwen, John and Mark tried to run to her, but their feet were stuck to the ground they stood on.
“What did you do to her?” Mark yelled.
“Stop being a baby, she’s fine.” Veracity said coolly. “Just facing her worst fear in her head. She can’t tell the difference, but it’s not real. Unlike what you did to me.”
Tara had her arms over her head now, as if shielding herself from something. Her screams subsided into choking gasps.
“So you thought it would be funny, huh? To trick me like that? To drag me onto the top of the Eiffel Tower even though you knew how I’d react?” Veracity asked.
“We just wanted to help you!” Gwen said softly, her eyes huge. “Please Shravya… we didn’t mean anything by it.”
“Shut up!”
A red rectangle popped over Gwen’s head too, and Veracity didn’t hesitate in sending a second beam her way.
Apparently, Gwen went into freeze mode when faced with her worst fear.
“I saw the way you laughed among yourselves after you got the tickets. You knew what you were doing.” Veracity said, powering up her beam for Mark and John.
“We just-”
“Good, your powers are working wonderfully.” Hawkmoth interjected. “But Veracity… if you want to keep them, and give these backstabbers what they deserve, bring me the boy now. You know where he is.”
Veracity growled in displeasure. She was not going to bother listening to their weak excuses. They deserved exactly what was coming for them, and she wanted to stay and watch.
But she had a promise to deliver.
So she shot a second beam at John and Mark, then flew away before the effects kicked in.
—
Veracity strode into the showroom. The security who’d tried to stop her were now rooted in their places. It was empty of any customers other than her target and his mother. She spotted the woman right off the bat, but the boy was nowhere to be seen. All the dressing rooms were open and empty. So were the restrooms and the entire men’s section.
“You said he’d be here,” she hissed to Hawkmoth.
“He should be. Stay put.”
He signalled Nathalie to bring his phone and call Amelie.
She picked up on the fifth ring. “Hello?”
“Amelie. How’s the shopping going?”
“Oh, it’s going great! You have quite the collection this season.”
“Wonderful. I hope Felix found something he likes?”
“I picked a vest for him. He isn’t here to see it, but I think he’ll like it.”
Hawkmoth’s hand clenched. “What? Where is he?”
“Out doing his own shopping, of course! He has… how do I put it… a very specific taste in clothes. He wouldn’t like most of the stuff here.”
“I see. You don’t happen to know where he is, do you?”
“Aw, Gabriel! Are you concerned about him?” Amelie cooed.
Hawkmoth scowled.
“That’s sweet, but I’m afraid not.’ Amelie continued. “He finds his own way around. Goes to shops all over the place. Don’t worry, he’ll be fine.”
“Do you know at least one of the shops he could be at?”
“A few, but they’re quite far apart.” She mused. “Like I said, he’ll be fine. Live and let live and everything. In fact, you should let Adrien off the leash sometimes. Let him go out and have fun without a bodyguard two feet away. Oh! He can show Felix around his favourite spots in Paris this weekend! What do you say?”
“No.”
Amelie sighs. “Worth a shot. Well, if there’s anything else…”
Hawkmoth clicked off the call.