Work Text:
Up in an attic bedroom in a bakery within Paris, Marinette was working on something for one of her friends.
"He's going to love it, Marinette!" Tikki, her kwami, said as she looked over the work-in-progress that Marinette was working on.
"Thanks, Tikki," Marinette said as she kept working. "Once I'm done, I'll need to find the time to go and bring it to him."
"He's never turned you away when you've needed him, Marinette!" Tikki assured.
"I know," Marinette added. "And I'm so lucky to have him in my life."
Marinette's phone started going off, and she saw it was a video call from Alya. The other girls were connected, too.
"Hi, girls," Marinette said as she answered the call. "What's going on?"
"Hey, girl," Alya said. "Kitty Section's got a practice session at Montparnasse Tower today at noon! You in?"
Ever since the Silencer incident, Kitty Section had gotten a lot more exposure and gigs, including a few more live-on-air performances. As the costume designer, Marinette would attend practice sessions and be an automatic guest invited to their performances.
"Oh, I'm so in!" Marinette replied. "I just gotta finish something up on my end and I'll be there! I actually have something I'm making for Luka."
"You do? Knowing him, he'll love it! And I'm sure he'll be happy to see you, too!" Rose spoke.
"You two are so cute together!" Myléne agreed.
Marinette blushed with a smile.
"So, you said you're making something for Luka? Do tell." Alya asked, her curiosity piqued.
"Sorry, you'll just have to see when we get there!" Marinette giggled with a wink.
"Aw, no fair!" Alya faux-sobbed. Everyone laughed.
"Sorry, Alya, but I want this to be special, and you'll ruin it if I tell you because you're likely to tell Luka!" Marinette laughed.
"She's right about that, Alya," Alix confessed. "Juleka, don't you wanna see your brother's reaction to Marinette's present for him?"
Juleka gave a nod and quietly said, "Yeah, I do."
"But I'll be there today, no problem!" Marinette thought, praying Hawk Moth would give it a rest for the day.
"Great! See you there, girl." Alya said as the girls ended the call.
She all but swooned when she got off the phone. Ever since deciding to give up on Adrien and focus on her guardian duties, Marinette felt like a weight was off her chest. She could actually breathe. And her relationship with Luka was definitely helping.
"Wow, Marinette. I don't think I've ever seen you so laid-back about your love life before," Tikki commented. "I know it hurt, but I think you did the right thing, giving up on Adrien for Kagami's sake."
Marinette looked at Tikki and said, "Thanks, Tikki. The pain's still there, but it's slowly healing. And I have Luka to thank for that."
"You've really grown up since the whole Volpina incident. I'm so proud of you." Tikki giggled as she hugged Marinette's cheek.
"I'm glad you think so, Tikki," Marinette said as she went back to finishing up Luka's present. "Now to finish this so I can give Luka something to make music about."
Tikki laughed as Marinette took the string out to keep threading the beads onto it.
Out in the city, the Startrain was pulling into the station from London. The noise from the train quieted down as the train slowed to a complete stop. As people started pouring out of the train, one particular face popped up in the crowd. Wearing a suit with silver sleeves, a tie and shoes, blonde hair slicked back and green eyes, with a perpetual scowl on his face. He was standing next to his mother, a taller woman wearing a black women's suit and resembled her son quite a bit, including blonde hair in a side plait ponytail.
"Back in Paris, Félix," The woman giggled. "I'm sure your cousin will be happy to see you!"
The young man didn't reply, only looking ahead at another goal...
At the Agreste Mansion, Adrien was sitting at the piano bench in his room, practicing. He wanted to distract himself from the Hawk Moth madness and his crappy home life, and music was one of his escapes. His other one was being Cat Noir, but there wasn't a patrol scheduled until later that night, and no akuma alerts were active.
"Adrien, you've been playing that tune for hours on repeat," Plagg commented. "Can you hurry and play something else?"
"Sorry, Plagg," Adrien apologized. "But it's my father's orders."
"Kid, you've gotta learn to say "screw it, I'm doing what I want," and stand up to your old man for once. And if he doesn't yield, you shouldn't, either." Plagg advised.
"...Yeah, I know, I..." Adrien began, before taking a deep breath. "...No excuses for it."
"That's better." Plagg said, smiling.
Nathalie and Gabriel were in the latter's atelier, working on some new clothes for his company, but they were also pretty tense about something.
"They should be here soon..." Nathalie began. The phone went off, Nathalie picked up. "Hello?... Of course, we'll send the chauffeur over right away..."
She put the phone back on the receiver before nodding at the bodyguard, whom Adrien referred to as "the Gorilla." Said man left the room.
Nathalie turned back to Gabriel and gave him an uncomfortable look.
"They're here..." Nathalie reported.
"Go and get Adrien," Gabriel instructed. "Irregardless of the last time they were here, I'm sure his cousin will be a sight for sore eyes."
Nathalie left to get Adrien from his room. The aforementioned blonde was still playing his piano.
Plagg sensed someone coming and hid in Adrien's button-down. Nathalie came in and said, "Come along, Adrien. Your father needs you in the lobby."
"What, why?" Adrien asked.
"We have guests." Nathalie said simply.
Adrien resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Like the obedient son he was, he got out of his chair and followed Nathalie down the stairs to the lobby, where Gabriel was waiting for him.
Nathalie went to the door of the house, and she opened it. In came a woman who was the spitting image of Emilie Agreste, Adrien's mother.
"Uh, Aunt Amélie?" Adrien asked, his eyes widening.
"I'm so happy to be here!" She said in a saccharine tone as she approached. "We thought that it'd be nice to pop in for a visit! Just for the fun of it!"
Gabriel kept his hands behind his back.
"I... Is...?" Adrien began to ask when in walked in Félix. "Félix. It's nice to see you again."
Adrien came over to hug his cousin, but his face was uncomfortable. Truth is, Adrien was happy to see Félix, but he was on his guard, the memory of his last visit rushing back into his mind like gallons of reservoir water that broke out of its dam.
Félix didn't react, his face still bored and somewhat angry as always. Gabriel was resisting the urge to snap at Félix, demanding he return his wedding ring.
"Adrien, why don't you take Félix to your room?" Gabriel suggested, turning his face away.
"...Okay." Adrien said before leading Félix up to his bedroom.
Once they were inside, Félix took a calculating look around the room.
"Adrien, I need to use the bathroom. Do you mind?" Félix asked as he made his way to the ensuite bathroom door.
"Sure." Adrien said as Félix went into the bathroom and shut the door.
"Adrien, are you sure giving your cousin the benefit of the doubt is a good idea?" Plagg asked as he came out of hiding. "I wouldn't trust him around you, let alone your friends! Remember what happened last time?"
"Yeah, that's why even if I'm giving him another chance, I'm trying to be careful," Adrien told his kwami as he started going down the stairs from the bookcase. "I don't want a repeat performance. The girls were one thing, but what if it were someone else who got akumatized? Nino, for example?"
"Nino, maybe..." Plagg began, trailing off. He was more concerned about Marinette.
They heard the bathroom door open, and Plagg hid.
"I see nothing much has changed since I was last here," Félix said as he came out of the bathroom. "A few new trophies and medals, but nothing other than that."
Adrien decided to change the subject.
"So, have things been good in school?"' Adrien questioned while walking around the room to sit Félix down for a video game session or something to try and keep his cousin occupied.
"Boring as always," Félix replied. "I'm ahead of all of my peers and I've got what it takes to skip up to university-level classes. Why did you convince your dad to let you attend?"
"...I was sick of being trapped in the house," Adrien explained. "I wanted more friends, too. Don't you want to have friends?"
Félix was silent at that answer, his eyes never moving a bit. Robotic, no different than Gabriel.
Realizing that he wasn't going to get anywhere with Félix with this approach, another idea came up in Adrien's head.
"Um, wanna spar?" Adrien asked as he got into a karate pose.
"Okay." Félix replied as the two of them started sparring.
They were blocking, punching, kicking, etc. Adrien threw a roundhouse kick, only for Félix to block it with crossed fists. Félix threw a punch to Adrien's gut, but he ducked by doing a doing a low sweep kick. Félix got back up and tried doing a back kick, but Adrien tried to grab him by the ankle to throw him on the mat. Unfortunately, Félix slammed his foot into Adrien's chest. A bracelet was knocked out of Adrien's jeans pocket and it fell on the ground a fair distance away. He stepped back a bit before continuing. The two of them were getting into close contact with each other as their match kept going on. Adrien was keeping a close eye on his cousin, not just for the fight, but because he knew his cousin was good at slight-of-hand.
After about twenty minutes of sparring, Adrien stood up and looked down at his cousin, who was sitting on the mat, exhausted. They were both breathing heavily.
"Nice match," Félix wheezed. "You're good."
"Thanks," Adrien replied. "You've gotten better, too."
"Whew, I'm beat," Félix said, wiping his brow as he stood up. "Think I can shower?"
"...Go ahead." Adrien reluctantly allowed.
Félix once again came over and gave Adrien a hug.
"Thanks, Adrien." Félix said before pulling away and going into the bathroom. He shut the door.
Once he was alone, he turned on the water for the shower. He smirked and pulled out Adrien's phone, which he once again swiped from him during his hug.
But, that wasn't the only thing Félix had gotten his hands on.
Adrien was so preoccupied with trying to keep pace with Félix during their sparring that he hadn't realized that his lucky charm bracelet had fallen out of his pocket and Félix had swiped it while he wasn't looking.
As Adrien started walking around the room to see if he could find a few things to do with his cousin, like some playing cards, the chess board, etc.,
"Adrien, you might wanna check yourself, just in case Félix took something again." Plagg reminded.
Adrien gave a nod and started patting himself down and searching his clothes. He immediately noticed something was off. Empty pants pockets.
"Uh-oh, the bracelet." Adrien spoke as he reached his hand out of his front pocket.
"The one you got from Marinette?" Plagg asked.
"Yeah," Adrien said. "...Don't tell me..."
"I wouldn't put it past him." Plagg said.
"Hey Félix?" Adrien shouted to the bathroom. "Have you seen my lucky charm bracelet?"
"No, I haven't," Félix lied as he was examining the bracelet with the stink eye clearly on his face. "What does it look like?"
"It's a red string with a lot of different colored beads on it," Adrien said as he was rummaging around. "Pink, light blue, green..."
"Never expected you to have a bracelet like that," Félix stated as he examined said bracelet in his hand. "Where'd you get it?"
"Marinette gave it to me," Adrien began as he kept looking in cabinets, under furniture, etc. "She and I were practicing for a school UMSIII tournament and she gave it to me for luck. I've had it ever since."
"Marinette?" Félix asked, as he held the bracelet in one hand and was using his other hand to scroll through Adrien's contacts to see if he could identify her.
He saw the name come up on the contacts list, and the picture that came with it. Félix gave a disgusted scowl when he remembered the video Marinette sent Adrien, confessing her feelings.
"So... Marinette's a friend, huh?" Félix asked.
"Yeah, a good one at that," Adrien said while running around the room, trying to find the bracelet, but his smile fell a little bit. "But... She and Luka have been getting pretty cozy lately."
Félix once again scrolled through the contacts to find Luka, and once he saw the picture, he scoffed.
"Who does this guy think he is, Jagged Stone?" Félix scoffed.
"What was that?" Adrien asked out loud. "I didn't hear you."
"Nothing!" Félix shouted back as he started looking through the bathroom closet...
Marinette was at Montparnasse Tower with Alya, the girls, and Kitty Section. Marinette was providing beverages and snacks to the band members while chatting with Luka.
"You're sounding so great, Luka," Marinette praised as he was strumming on the guitar. "I don't think Kitty Section's sound would be what it is without you."
"Thanks," Luka spoke. "And the costumes wouldn't be what they are without you, Marinette."
After strumming a few notes on his guitar, Marinette blushed and laughed as the two of them were focused on each other.
"I don't think I've ever seen Marinette look so at ease," Alix commented. "Ever since she decided to give up on Adrien, she's been so much calmer."
"Luka has that affect on people," Myléne said. "And she's able to talk to him like a normal person."
"As much as I wanted the Adrienette ship to sail, I'm proud of Marinette for stepping back for Kagami's sake. Adrien's too dense to take a hint anyway." Alya commented.
"Anyway, Luka, I have something for you," Marinette said as she dug something out of her purse. "I made this before getting here."
She clasped a new bracelet around his wrist that had all the wristbands. The bracelet was similar to the one she got from Adrien for her birthday, but this one was in Luka's signature colors, the string being black and the beads in different shades of blue and teal shimmer paint.
He looked it over, smiled, and said, "Thank you! I love it, Marinette."
"You're so welcome, Luka." Marinette said.
He put his guitar down, gave Marinette a hug, and kissed her on her forehead. Marinette giggled and leaned into his embrace.
Everyone in the room gave a big "Aww!"
"I always thought Adrienette was adorable, but Lukanette is so touching!" Myléne quietly squealed.
"Not to mention more healthy and natural." Alix added.
*BRRIIINGGGG~!*
Marinette pulled away from Luka. The girls groaned, and Marinette picked her phone out of her pocket.
She looked at the caller ID. Her mouth pulled down into a frown, and she lifted an eyebrow in confusion.
"Adrien? Why's he calling me?" Marinette asked as she picked up. "Hi, Adrien. What's up?"
"Hey Marinette," Félix said from the other end. "Where are you right now?"
"Um, Montparnasse Tower with Kitty Section and the girls," Marinette informed. "Why? Is something wrong?"
"Nah, I just need to talk to you," Félix spoke. "Montparnasse Tower, right?"
"Yeah, the tenth floor," Marinette stated. "But are you even free?"
"Oh, I've got time," Félix said. "Just sit tight. I'll be there."
He hung up the phone, and Marinette put the phone back in her pocket.
Instinctually, she knew his father would've kept him cooped up in the house or had something planned for Adrien. She still remembered small bits and pieces of his schedule, even though she'd long gotten rid of it, all the presents she made for his upcoming birthdays, and all of the pictures of him that weren't group photos.
"What did Adrien want?" Alya asked.
"He said something about talking to me, but... I don't know." Marinette sighed.
"Maybe he's planning on confessing love to you?!" Rose suggested with enthusiasm.
"That doesn't make any sense," Alix pointed out. "If that were the case, why choose to do it now? What about him and Kagami?"
"Alix has a point," Alya agreed. "Not only that, but even if things between him and Kagami didn't work out, treating Marinette like a rebound isn't fair!"
"Don't you think we're jumping to conclusions here?" Myléne asked. "We're only assuming that Adrien wants to confess love to Marinette. How do we know that's actually the case?"
"Myléne's right," Luka agreed. "It could be something else altogether. Maybe he's going to tell Marinette about another fashion contest."
"Also a possibility." Alix replied.
Marinette gave a nod, but her face was suggesting a bit of hurt.
"...Listen, if you need me to back you up, I'm here." Luka offered as he put his hand on her shoulder.
Marinette gave Luka a smile before nodding.
Once Félix was out of the bathroom, Adrien turned around and was about to all but demand his cousin return the phone.
But he told Adrien, "Hey Adrien, I'm going to go do some sightseeing in the city."
"Really? Now? Would Aunt Amélie and father actually be okay with that?" Adrien asked.
"If I go with your bodyguard, it shouldn't be a problem." Félix stated.
Adrien felt something was off, but he said, "I... I guess it's okay. Mind if I go with?"
"Actually, I do," Félix said, leveling a glare on Adrien. "Besides, doesn't your father have something scheduled for you, anyway?"
Adrien was about to protest, but he realized that Félix had a point.
"I guess so... I'll just wait in here for Nathalie's cue, then..." Adrien conceded.
Félix gave his cousin a nod before walking out of the room.
Félix had gotten the bodyguard and he was in the back seat of the car, on the way to Montparnasse Tower. Once there, he went inside and made his way to the men's room.
He went into a stall, and took out the clothes he stole from Adrien's closet and changed into them, and he also changed his hairstyle to match Adrien. He looked at himself in the mirror, gave himself an evil smirk, and he said, "Perfect."
He walked out of the bathroom, and he found the elevator to get to the tenth floor.
Once he got there, he started walking down the halls to track Marinette down. He heard guitar music, and followed it.
He came to the door where it was coming from, which was open, and he saw Marinette and Luka together. Marinette was giving Luka an affectionate, serene smile, while he was mirroring the expression to her. He gave her a wink and clicked his tongue, causing her to blush and giggle.
Félix silently gagged, sticking out his tongue. He knocked on the door.
The group turned around and Marinette said, "Oh, Adrien..."
"Hi, Marinette," Félix said, giving her a wave. He was playing his role perfectly. "Hey, everyone."
"Hi, Adrien!" Everyone greeted.
Luka and Marinette were feeling a little strange about Adrien just showing up randomly the way he did. Luka's eyes narrowed the faintest amount towards the blonde.
"So, Marinette..." Félix began, using his head to gesture outside the door. "Can we talk?"
"Adrien, whatever you have to say, you can say it in front of the rest of us," Alya said, waving the situation off with a smile. "You know we don't bite."
Something flashed in Félix's eyes for a split-second, and only Luka could see it.
"That's very sweet, Alya, but... I think this is something Marinette and I need to discuss alone," Félix said, gesturing out the door again. "If you wouldn't mind?"
Marinette looked around at her group before giving Adrien a smile and saying, "I... Yes."
Marinette followed "Adrien" out the door. Though subtle, Félix's mouth turned up into a smirk and his eyes narrowed a little bit. Luka's eyes popped open for a little bit.
"Hm..." Luka began as he put his guitar down.
"I have so gotta record this!" Alya said as she took out her phone and went to go after them. "If it is what I hope it is, then I gotta get this on video so Marinette can-"
"Hold it, Alya," Luka said, blocking her from the door with his arm. "I don't think that's such a good idea."
"What? Why?" Alya asked.
"I can't put my finger on it, but something's not right," Luka began. "Call it intuition. Let me handle this, Alya."
"Are you sure?" Juleka asked.
"I'm sure," Luka assured with a nod. "Just keep practicing without me, okay?"
Luka walked out the door, leaving the rest of the group.
He slowly walked the halls, and caught sight of Marinette and "Adrien" standing in the hallway in the next corridor. Everything seemed copacetic, but Luka's gut was raising red flags. So, he hid around the corner to observe.
"So... What did you want to talk about, Adrien?" Marinette asked.
"Oh, I actually have something for you." Félix said as he put his hand in his pocket. He held up the bracelet to show Marinette.
"That lucky bracelet..." Marinette said, the memory of when she gave it to Adrien flashing through.
Luka also recognized it.
"Here, I don't need it anymore," Félix replied as he dropped it into Marinette's open hands. His "Adrien smile" melted into a cruel smirk, reminiscent to Chloé. "After all, why would I need a luck charm as tacky as this?"
Marinette looked up at Félix with wide eyes. Luka balked in shock.
"Do you really think that you've got what it takes to be a fashion designer? I'm thinking that my father and Audrey Bourgeois need their heads examined." Félix spoke.
Marinette's heart seemed to stop, her mind went blank, and her breath caught. Tears were pricking at her eyes.
Luka was looking on, and he started growling with rage, no different to when Bob Roth and XY ripped off Kitty Section. The bracelet on his hand that Marinette made for him (almost identical to the one she made Adrien, only in his color scheme) was shaking in response to Luka's anger.
"Anyway, keep that stupid bracelet," Félix chuckled before walking past Marinette. "I have better people to spend my time with."
'That bastard!' Luka thought, infuriated. 'Does he have any inkling how hard Marinette worked on that just to boost her own confidence in gaming?! And she GAVE it to him to help him! And for him to insult her fashion talents when multiple high-profile people have praised her?! How dare he?!'
Luka was very close to losing his cool and going to confront "Adrien" for hurting Marinette...
Marinette gripped the bracelet, and with her back still turned, she looked up and scowled before saying, "Nice try, Félix, but Adrien would never say anything like that to me. Or anyone."
Luka's eyes widened a little, thinking, 'Wait, that's Félix?'
Félix paused in his step, turned around, and looked at Marinette in shock. He said, "What? How did you...?"
"I know Adrien better than you think," Marinette said as she turned on her heel and glared at Félix. "I wasn't fooled by your little video last time. Did you really think you could pull the same trick twice?"
Félix's eyes narrowed at her as Marinette held up the bracelet.
"And this bracelet, he'd never get rid of it unless someone else needed it more. He's the kind of guy who'd give the shirt off his back for someone." Marinette stated.
Félix smirked, and he said, "You're good, I'll give you that. Still doesn't change the fact that your feelings for him are pathetic."
Marinette's face fell, and she said, "Yeah, but at least I know when to let go of something unhealthy. I've moved on."
"Even if you have," Félix said before pushing Marinette up against the wall, he gripped her chin, and forced her to look up at him. "What do you think your stupid guitarist boyfriend would think if he saw this?"
Luka gasped and growled while gripping the wall. He was shaking.
"Hey, stop it!" Marinette barked as Félix kept leaning in.
'And now he's forcing himself on her?! That's it! He's going down!' Luka thought, finally snapping.
In Hawk Moth's lair, said villain was detecting Luka's fury.
"Hm... This tune is familiar. The rage of a young man who's beloved is suffering at the hands of an imposter!" Hawk Moth said as he had a butterfly land on his hand. He charged it with magic before releasing it. "Fly away, my little akuma, and evilize this musician's heart!"
The akuma flew out of the window and went to find Luka.
"Hah, that boyfriend will think you're cheating, and you'll be suffering even more than you are now." Félix chuckled as he kept leaning in.
"Knock it off!" Marinette demanded, about to knee Félix in his crotch.
Luka went to break up the scene and protect Marinette, but the akuma landed in his bracelet, and a familiar butterfly halo appeared over his face. Luka stopped in his tracks, and his scowl deepened.
"King Lyre, I am Hawk Moth," Hawk Moth said. "The one you love is being persecuted by the evil copy of her former beloved! I'm giving you the power to poison him and stop him in his tracks! All I want in return are Ladybug and Cat Noir's Miraculous! Do we have a deal, King Lyre?"
"I'm gonna teach this prick some respect! I won't let him mistreat her!" Luka declared in song as black energy overtook him.
Félix was trying to force a kiss on Marinette, but she kept shoving him away and shouting, "I said "no!" That's not an invitation to get pushy!"
Rock music that sounded like it was coming from a harp or lyre was playing out. Félix paused, and the two of them started looking around, curious.
"What's that music?" Félix asked, meanwhile Marinette was trying to take advantage of his distraction and escape. No luck. They started hearing footsteps.
"She's been mistreated..." Someone huskily crooned while the music kept playing. "She's been abused..."
They were still trying to find who was singing. Marinette recognized the voice, though.
"She's been trespassed and invaded... And I AM NOT AMUSED!" The same person sang.
Félix felt a sharp pain in the back of his shoulder, and he screamed. He fell to his knees.
Marinette looked behind him to see Luka.
He was wearing clothes reminiscent to that of Apollo, the Greek God of Music, only in Luka's signature colors with a punk twist to the clothes, including leather in a short, navy blue toga with black accents, a laurel wreath with thorny leaves on in his head, and his shoes were replaced with sandals. He was carrying a lyre with a sharp point at the bottom, and both it and the strings on the lyre were glowing. The bracelet had changed to match the design of the lyre.
"Luka?!" Marinette asked.
Félix was able to turn around to confront the akuma.
"She's been insulted, disrespected! She's been mistreated!" Luka, now King Lyre, crooned while strumming on his lyre.
Félix tried to do a roundhouse kick, but King Lyre blocked it with the instrument before throwing a punch. Félix evaded with superhuman agility, but he was hindered for some reason. Once his movements slowed down, King Lyre knocked him to the floor by kicking him in the stomach.
Félix held his throat in a choke-hold, and coughed out distorted, sickly-green music notes. They played their respective sounds before poofing into the air. His face was turning pale, he was beginning to shiver, and his stomach was churning, making him feel like he was going to throw up.
King Lyre turned to Marinette, who backed away and looked at him in fear.
He gave her a smile, saying, "You're safe, Marinette. I won't hurt you, I promise. I'm going to use this power that Hawk Moth gave me to teach this guy a lesson and get justice for hurting you and Adrien."
"Luka, I know you don't remember, but this is just like when you were Silencer! This isn't justice, this is revenge! Don't do this!" Marinette begged.
His smile grew more affectionate and he chuckled in response, before saying, "Marinette, you really are too good for this world. Always trying to do the right thing, no matter what. You're easily taken for granted. Your melody is a heavenly symphony, as clear as sincere as ever."
Marinette's heart skipped a beat and she blushed, lightly gasping at yet another heartfelt, poetic confession at the hands of her boyfriend.
"Ugh, yuck!" Félix spat as he tried to get up. He coughed out more notes. "That's so sweet, I could develop cavities, or Type II Diabetes!"
King Lyre held up his lyre, charged it with musical poison, and aimed at Félix.
"Anyway, let me take this crap out to the trash pile before-" King Lyre began. He was cut off when Félix managed to tackle King Lyre to the ground.
The two of them started in something of a wrestling match, but King Lyre managed to get up and flip Félix over. The two boys started getting into a fist fight, with kicks, punches, ducks and the like. Félix's superhuman agility and fighting skills made it easy for him to go toe-to-toe with King Lyre, including evading the super villain's poison-laced music blasts, which came in the form of the sickly-green sound waves that his instrument created. Unfortunately for Félix, the poison in his body was making it hard for him to keep up. There were several moments where he stumbled on his feet, coughed out more music notes, and he fell to his knees. His legs were wobbling as he tried standing again.
"She's been insulted! Disrespected! She's been mistreated!" King Lyre sang as he approached. "She's been insulted! Disrespected!"
Félix pounced, only for King Lyre to blast him with a poisoned hard riff, this time in the stomach, and Félix was shot to the ground, hitting the back of his head.
King Lyre glared at Adrien's lookalike and melodically spat, "She's been mistreated!"
While they were distracted, Marinette ran from the scene to head to the bathroom to transform. The Akuma Alert had been let out and the building was getting evacuated, but Ladybug was needed.
Marinette was running down the halls, but her phone started going off: Alya.
"Alya!" Marinette said as she picked up the phone.
"Marinette! We just got the Akuma Alert," Alya said over the phone. "The others are evacuating while I try to get some footage for the Ladyblog! And the report showed us some of the footage from inside the building, showing you! What's going on?"
"It's Luka! He's been akumatized again!" Marinette explained.
"I didn't think Adrien was capable of pissing anyone off, especially not someone as chill as Luka." Alya commented.
"That's just it! That's not Adrien!" Marinette informed her as she kept running. "It's Félix again!"
"Adrien's prick cousin?" Alya asked.
"Yep! I'm going to go find cover! Stay safe, Alya!" Marinette said as she hung up the phone, dashed into the bathroom, and ran for a stall.
She slammed the door behind her and Tikki came out.
"Looks like that cousin of Adrien's is back, and he's at it again! Only this time he was trying to hurt you!" Tikki said.
"Yeah, but all it took was him saying something like that to give himself away," Marinette added. "But poor Luka, getting akumatized over me again... I can't help but feel happy that he got so upset on my behalf."
"You can talk to him about it later," Tikki pointed out with a giggle. "First off, we gotta get rid of that akuma!"
"Right! Tikki, spots on!" Marinette called, transforming.
Adrien was in his room, still looking around for his phone, but his computer lit up with an Akuma Alert.
"This just in: a supervillain is attacking on the tenth floor of Montparnasse Tower! To all in the surrounding area, please evacuate and take shelter immediately." Nadja said over the feed.
Adrien got a look at the video footage and saw his likeness fighting off King Lyre.
"Félix!" Adrien shouted. "You were right, Plagg, I should've been even more careful! Plagg, claws out!"
After transforming, Cat Noir leaped out the window of his room and started running across the rooftops to get to Montparnasse Tower.
At the tower, the two boys were brawling, including King Lyre being able to stab Félix another time and blast him with his music.
"Hyaahh!" Félix shouted as he did a low sweep to try knocking King Lyre down, but not only did Félix miss, but the poison was causing his body movements to be clumsy, sluggish, and weak.
Félix was now on his knees, breathing heavily and coughing out more music notes, and the green was slowly turning black, signifying the poison was getting stronger.
King Lyre took up his instrument again and aimed it at Félix. But Ladybug jumped in and used her yo-yo to snag Félix and pull him away.
She confronted King Lyre, saying, "Enough, King Lyre!"
King Lyre held his lyre back up, and it was pulsing with the poison. He charged at Ladybug, but she blocked with her yo-yo again. She managed to shove him off her, and once King Lyre wasn't standing, she heard Félix coughing.
Ladybug turned around to the Adrien doppelgänger, she snagged him by the yo-yo, and she dashed him over to a supply closet and tossed him in.
"Hey, Ladybug!" Félix hoarsely protested, trying to pretend to be Adrien again. Again, he coughed out more notes. "Please, let me out! I can help you!"
"No way, Félix," Ladybug said firmly as she held the door. "I ran into that girl you were picking on earlier, Marinette. She told me the whole story! I'm not gonna trust you after what happened last time with the Punishers Trio. You're staying in here! And to make sure you don't try anything..."
She found a spare rope and tied Félix up before locking him in the closet.
"Hey!" Félix shouted, kicking the door.
She went back to fight King Lyre, only to see Cat Noir had arrived and was fighting him.
"Cat Noir!" Ladybug shouted. "Be careful not to get stabbed by his lyre or get hit by a music blast! They're filled with poison!"
"Thanks for the warning, m'lady," Cat Noir said as he let King Lyre tackle him, only to spin him off and onto the floor. "I've heard of toxic songs, but this is ridiculous!"
Ladybug groaned as King Lyre stood up.
"Don't get in my way! Félix tried hurting Marinette's feelings and he was forcing himself on her! Do you really think that's appropriate?!" King Lyre asked as he held his lyre up.
"Of course not." Ladybug agreed.
"You've got every right to be angry over that," Cat Noir spoke, his eyes askance in sadness. "If I was in your shoes, I'd be feeling the same way. But this isn't the right way to go about it. And this isn't the first time Félix has caused trouble by posing as Adrien."
"Yeah, I know," King Lyre scoffed as he readied his weapon with more poison. "But just like Orpheus and Eurydice, Félix is gonna learn that there's no coming back from a snakebite!"
He charged, his poisoned lyre ready.
There was multiple instances of blocking, dodging, ducking, near-hits and several misses.
Cat Noir bent backwards to dodge the lyre, and was about to use his stick to knock King Lyre down, but he missed. King Lyre was about to strum the strings and fire more poison.
Ladybug used her yo-yo to trip King Lyre off his feet before throwing him into a wall.
"This way!" Ladybug shouted as she led Cat Noir to cover for a second, including running past the closet where Ladybug had trapped Félix.
Unknown to them, Félix had severed the ropes with a box cutter he found in the closet, and he slowly opened the door.
"So, we know that the akuma's in his bracelet, but it's on the same hand that he carries his lyre on." Ladybug summarized as she and Cat Noir had found cover for the time being.
"So, we need to get the lyre off him without getting poisoned before breaking the bracelet." Cat Noir concluded.
"Bingo." Ladybug said with a nod.
She took her yo-yo out.
"Lucky Charm!" Ladybug shouted as she called for her power. Out of a bunch of ladybugs and into her hands landed...
"A bag of jumbo marshmallows?" Cat Noir asked with a hoarse cough. "I could go for some s'mores! I've heard some meow-some things about those treats! Nice, gooey, sticky marshmallows over warm chocolate and a graham cracker? Sounds good!"
"That's it!" Ladybug said as she was looking around to try finding things to use.
She saw a blowtorch sitting outside the utility closet, Cat Noir's belt, and the marshmallow bag. They all light up in red and black spots.
She grabbed the torch and said, "Follow my lead!"
"You got it, m'lady!" Cat Noir said with a nod as they ran to find King Lyre.
King Lyre was strumming his lyre and walking the halls.
"What are you doing, King Lyre! Find Ladybug and Cat Noir and seize their Miraculous!" Hawk Moth demanded.
"I will, Hawk Moth, just let me give Félix one last dose of poison," King Lyre insisted. "It's not like you don't understand how I feel: the one you love being disrespected just for somebody else's entertainment! It pisses you off and you just wanna do something to get even!"
Hawk Moth paused. That speech was familiar. It reminded him of incidents when he wanted to come to Emilie's defense, especially to her family.
"Spare me! The Miraculous are the goal! Get them for me!" Hawk Moth ordered.
"I'll find them and-" King Lyre began, only for a familiar silver stick to hit him in the chest and knock him back.
"No need to hunt us down!" Cat Noir chortled as he and Ladybug came upon the scene.
King Lyre took his lyre out and threw it like a boomerang. The duo ducked it before running forward. They were still more kicks, punches, and hits.
But they didn't realize that Félix broke out of the closet, and while severely weakened from the poison, he was walking and sneaking around.
"Hand over your Miraculous before you're-" King Lyre began, his bracelet hand up with intent to play.
Félix pounced on him from behind, grabbing at his bracelet before snatching it off his wrist. The sudden motion forced King Lyre to strum the strings and fire a poison blast, landing a direct hit on Cat Noir.
"Cat Noir!" Ladybug shouted as her feline partner fell on his back.
His face turned pale and he coughed out music notes. He managed to sit up and see Félix had backed off, holding up the bracelet. The face he was making was a cruel smirk with narrowed eyes and an upturned smile. He chuckled as he tossed the bracelet up and down in his hand.
"Hey! What are you doing, Félix?!" Ladybug demanded.
"I find a challenge very fun. And this was definitely a challenge." Félix chuckled, but not without coughing out a music note.
"What does that have to do with anything?!" Cat Noir choked as he stood up.
"It has to do with everything," Félix cackled. "I was enjoying messing with that girl's head, but she's smarter than I expected."
"There's no excuse for how you treated Marinette!" King Lyre shouted before once again firing a blast of music at Félix, who swiftly ducked. "I wouldn't be doing any fancy dodging if I were you. You've taken in enough poison to do you in within minutes."
Félix fell to his knees, holding back a few music notes that were coming up in his mouth. He coughed out the notes, but it sounded more like he was puking.
"Now be a good boy and stay there!" King Lyre ordered.
King Lyre lunged forward to stab Ladybug, but she held up the marshmallow bag, letting him pierce it. He pulled away only to see a marshmallow stuck to the tip of his lyre and there were other marshmallows around his feet, body, and hair.
Félix didn't let the poison get to him, and he ran at Ladybug, who used her yo-yo as a shield and she started fighting him off in hand-to-hand combat. There were drop-sweep kicks, punches, and more. Ladybug had the upper hand solely because the poison in Félix's system was wearing him down. Otherwise he would've been able to go toe-to-toe with her without breaking a sweat.
Meanwhile, Cat Noir used his belt to bind King Lyre's arms to the sides of his body before taking the torch and using it to melt the marshmallows. Cat Noir used his free hands to stretch the marshmallows around King Lyre, and render him immobile due to the sticky sugar-gelatin mix solidifying as it cooled down. It also bound the lyre strings so he couldn't fire any music blasts.
Using what little strength he had, Cat Noir shoved King Lyre down on his stomach, and lifted his ring hand up.
"Cataclysm!" Cat Noir shouted as he destroyed the lyre.
Ladybug took the bracelet away from Félix before snapping the string and releasing the akuma.
"No more evildoing for you, little akuma," Ladybug said as she used her yo-yo to catch the akuma. "Time to de-evilize!"
She caught it and then let the white winged insect go. "Bye-bye, little butterfly."
She took the marshmallow bag, and threw it up in the air, shouting, "MIRACULOUS LADYBUG!"
Magic butterflies flew everywhere, repairing all the damage and neutralizing all the poison that King Lyre had dosed out. Félix sat up, feeling better, and he looked at the scene neutrally.
Cat Noir stood up, feeling completely healed.
King Lyre changed back into Luka. He groaned, held his head, and sat up on his knees. He opened his eyes before looking around.
"Ugh... What happened to me?" Luka asked as Ladybug approached him.
"Don't worry. You were akumatized, but everything's okay." Ladybug gently assured the guitarist.
"As for you, Félix," Cat Noir began, stepping towards him. His arms were crossed and he was looking at Félix sternly. "What you tried pulling on this guy and his... Girlfriend... Bad enough you wanted to make a deal with Hawk Moth and the Punishers Trio! Didn't you learn your lesson last time you did this?"
Félix just looked away. Ladybug shook her head, annoyed, meanwhile Luka was glaring at Adrien's doppelgänger.
Ladybug's earrings beeped. She stood up before saying to Luka, "I'd better bug out! You should go and find that girl you were with. She's probably pretty worried about you!"
"Oh, crap! Marinette!" Luka said as he stood up to run and find her.
Ladybug ran for a place to hide so she could change back. Meanwhile, Cat Noir was just giving Félix a dirty, angry look.
Ladybug ran into the bathroom stall, and she said, "Spots off."
Changing back into Marinette, she took a macaron out of her purse and gave it to Tikki, who hid in the bag. Marinette dashed back out to find Luka.
"Marinette! Marinette, where are you?" Luka shouted.
Marinette turned around and she saw Luka on the other side.
"Luka, over here!" Marinette shouted.
Luka heard her voice, and ran over to her.
"Marinette!" Luka shouted as he scooped Marinette up into his arms. "I'm so glad you're safe!"
"I was so worried about you!" Marinette said, half-lying.
"Marinette, did I say or do anything to hurt you?" Luka asked as he pulled away and looked Marinette in the eyes.
"Um... No-Nothing... Nothing important," Marinette stammered, blushing. "The akuma was controlling you..."
Luka sighed in relief and he said, "That's good."
Marinette and Luka were about to lean in and share a kiss with each other...
There was grunting noises and shouting coming from the other end. Marinette and Luka turned around and saw Cat Noir was dragging Félix over to Marinette and Luka (Cat Noir had somehow forced Félix to change back into his usual outfit).
"Isn't there something you want to tell them?" Cat Noir asked as he shoved Félix towards the pair.
Marinette hugged Luka while he held her by the shoulder. They both gave Félix glares, and Félix looked between Cat Noir, who was glowering at him, and the couple, who were still on their guard.
"I can't apologize enough to the two of you." Félix said, his eyes on the ground and his shoulders slouched a bit.
Luka and Marinette didn't respond, but merely turned and walked away.
Cat Noir's ring beeped and he said, "Listen, you, you should get back to Adrien's place. I think you have a few things you need to return."
Cat Noir glared Félix down.
The next day (Amélie insisted that they stay for the evening)...
"Are you sure we should be here?" Alya asked. "After what he did yesterday?"
"You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar, Alya," Marinette said as she held Luka's hand in her own. "It wouldn't hurt to try."
Marinette had gathered Luka and the girls to the train station to see Félix off.
"Come on, girl, this is a waste of time," Alya insisted. "He's already tried causing trouble for Adrien twice now."
"I know, and I haven't forgive him yet." Marinette stated as Luka squeezed her hand.
"Then why...?" Juleka murmured.
"Here he comes..." Alix stated, pointing out the Agreste limo.
The car pulled up to the station, Félix and his mother came out (along with Adrien), and when they saw the group, they were surprised.
"Hey, guys! What are you doing here?" Adrien asked, sweet as ever.
"Marinette insisted that we come to bid Félix goodbye." Alya said.
"Really?" Adrien asked, looking to Marinette.
"Yeah," Marinette said before stepping forward towards Félix. "I have something to say."
Félix didn't reply at all as Marinette took a deep breath.
"Look, I haven't forgiven you for yesterday, and you have a long way to go before I can even think of trusting you," Marinette stated before reaching for something in her bag. "That being said..."
She took out a small, silver box and handed it to Félix.
"What's this?" Félix asked.
"Just my way of extending a begrudging olive branch. Like I said, I don't plan on forgiving you for hurting Luka any time soon, but still..." Marinette began.
Félix opened the box and his eyes widened at what he saw. He took out a silver tie clip with the monogram FGdV on it, written in perfect cursive. It even had the Graham Films logo on it, too.
"Wow, nice work, Marinette!" Adrien praised.
"Thanks," Marinette thanked before facing Félix again. "This is just my way of saying that next time you come back to Paris, if you ever want friends, you need to clean up your act. Otherwise, you won't get things like this from me or anyone else in the future."
Félix just stared at the clip before looking back at Marinette in shock. He murmured out a strained, "Thank you."
Marinette gave him a nod before walking back to Luka. The guitarist put a protective arm around his girlfriend's shoulder before leveling a neutral glare at Félix.
"That was so sweet of you!" Amélie praised. "And that's so well-made. I can see why Audrey Bourgeois wanted to bring you to New York!"
"That's very kind of you, Mme. Graham de Vanily," Marinette said as she hugged Luka. "I hope you have a safe trip home."
"...Thank you." Félix said as he followed his mother on to the train.
He took his seat at the window of the car, he looked out to the group, but more specifically, Marinette, and he couldn't resist a smile and nod towards her. Marinette's neutral expression didn't change, though, instead letting Luka embrace her and she leaned her cheek against his chest.
Félix's smile faltered a bit when he saw this.
The train started going. Once Marinette was out of sight, Félix took out the tie clip, looked at it once more, and put it on his tie before looking out the train window.
'Look out, Marinette Dupain-Cheng... When I come back to Paris, you'll be swooning into MY arms instead.' Félix wickedly thought.
The group left the train station, with Luka walking with Marinette. They'd gotten ice cream at André's, and Marinette's cone matched Luka to a T. Luka's cone also matched Marinette.
"It was very sweet of you to give Félix a gift, even if he doesn't deserve it." Luka praised as they went to a nearby bench to eat.
"It's no problem. I guess... I guess I just thought doing him a kind thing would pay itself forward, so that way he won't do anything like this again in the future." Marinette admitted.
The two of them stopped, and Marinette turned to face Luka. He was giving her a sweet, caring smile.
"Marinette, you really are too good for this world. Always trying to do the right thing, no matter what. You're easily taken for granted. Your melody is a heavenly symphony, as clear as sincere as ever." Luka said to her.
Marinette's face was once again burning up. Like during the Silencer incident, he repeated his love confession to her word-for-word.
"...Thank you." Marinette admitted.
Luka gently took the ice cream from her and put both hers and his own down on the bench. He leaned in close to Marinette's face. Marinette smiled, puckered up, and the two of them shared a sweet kiss together. Luka wrapped his arms around her, and she placed her hands on his chest.
Once they finished their kiss, Marinette and Luka gave each other affectionate smiles before returning to their ice cream.
Marinette scooted next to Luka, and the guitarist chuckled before kissing Marinette's cheek again. The two of them continued to eat their ice cream while talking and laughing with each other for the rest of the day.