Chapter Text
“How could the plan fail?” Gabriel ran his hands through his graying hair uselessly, letting out a long-suffering sigh. “Ladybug had to have made a mistake somewhere! How did she defeat both Risk and Strikeback without blundering even once?”
“Perhaps she’s just too well-prepared,” Nathalie said over the phone.
“There’s no point in going on any longer,” he sighed. “Come back home with Adrien, the ad campaign we planned is far too risky.”
“Of course. But, sir, the thing is…”
A new voice dryly cut into the conversation, and Gabriel looked up to see the new Dog hero that Ladybug had selected sitting on his desk. “Ladybug did make a mistake… Uncle.”
The phone slipped through Gabriel’s fingers, landing with an indelicate crack against the tiles.
“I’ve lost Adrien, sir. He’s no longer on the train,” Nathalie finished. “Sir? Are you still there?”
Gabriel gaped at the Dog hero– no, at his nephew. “Félix?” he choked out.
“The one and only,” Félix replied with an almost menacing smirk.
Scooping the phone up from the floor, Gabriel winced at the cracked screen as he pressed the ‘end call’ button. “What do you want, Félix?” he asked warily.
“I want the real Peacock Miraculous. And you’re going to give it to me,” Félix said.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Gabriel told him stiffly.
Félix grinned. “Do you want me to tell Adrien about the hidden code on the painting? Or about your secret stint as a supervillain?” Gabriel stiffened in horror. “That’s what I thought,” his nephew continued. “Then give me what I ask for, and I’ll give you something better in exchange.”
“Ladybug and Chat Noir’s Miraculous?” Gabriel asked hopefully, dropping all pretense. Félix knew too much for him to be even remotely convincing, and he wasn’t a good actor anyway. That had been much more Émilie’s department.
Félix shook his head. “No,” he replied. “All the other Miraculous. And this.” He brandished a thin silver ring, the cool metal glinting in the light. Gabriel’s breath caught as he realized just what Félix was offering in return for the Peacock. Perhaps sensing the question in Gabriel’s eyes, he explained. “With the Peacock, I won’t be needing it anymore. And as long as Ladybug hasn’t detransformed, I only have to say one word, and her yo-yo, the magic portal to the Miraculous, will be yours. Make up your mind quickly, Uncle. Time is ticking.” He began to aimlessly spin the ball that came with his suit on the tip of his finger as he waited for Gabriel’s response.
“How do I know you won’t use the Peacock against us?” he asked, staring his nephew in the eyes warily.
Félix shrugged. “If I had wanted to hurt you, I would have done it a long time ago.” As if to show his good faith, he set the ring on the table, resting his finger on top to prevent Gabriel from snatching it.
Gabriel stared at the ring for a moment, then reached up to unfasten his ascot. Once the cloth was out of the way, his two brooches glinted in the light. Nooroo and Duusu materialized at his side, both blinking in confusion.
“Master, wait–” Nooroo said.
“Stop talking,” Gabriel said, and Nooroo’s mouth disappeared. Duusu flinched. “Duusu, I renounce you,” he finished, and Duusu spiralled back into the brooch without a word. Reaching up, Gabriel unfastened the Peacock brooch from his neck and set it on the table.
Félix and Gabriel both glared at one another, each obviously waiting for the other to make the first move. After a moment, Gabriel decided that enough was enough and reached for the ring, Félix lunging for the Peacock Miraculous at the exact same moment. Barely a second later, they were each hugging their new treasure close to their chest.
“Fetch,” Félix said, and the ball in his hand disappeared, moments later returning with a round, bright red object in tow. A very familiar red yo-yo with black spots.
Gabriel reached for it with all the eagerness of a child receiving a gift at Christmas. Holding it up in the air, he joyfully cried, “Yes! You’ve finally lost, Ladybug!”
He eagerly pulled it open, giddily reaching inside the glowing white portal. His hand groped around empty air before it finally closed around… a piece of paper?
In confusion, he pulled it out to show that it was a small slip about the size of a post-it note that read ‘half-wit’ on one side. Flipping it over, his eyes widened at a doodle of a winking Ladybug sticking her tongue out while flashing a peace sign. The words ‘Tricked ya!’ were scribbled on the side.
Gabriel slowly looked up to see Félix brandishing the desk chair as he stood in front of the bank of windows behind the desk. “Goodbye, Uncle,” his nephew said. Then, as though he were watching in slow-motion, Félix turned and slammed the desk chair into the window, shattering the glass with his superhero strength before leaping outside. Moments later, Ladybug’s yo-yo shimmered and disappeared, leaving him holding nothing but empty air.
He was forced to watch as Félix got away with the Peacock Miraculous, leaving Gabriel with nothing but the Butterfly.
Oh, he’d been played for a fool.