ᴄʜᴀᴘɪᴛʀᴇ Qᴜᴀʀᴛᴇ - ᴄʜᴜᴛᴇ
Chapter Four - Downfall

Note: I do not own the following characters
Rey Lopez and her family [Iris Lopez/mentioned, Amy Lopez/mentioned, Shawn Lopez/mentioned and Reina Hunter-Lopez] - Sci-Briana14

Bernadette "Betty" Fontaine aka the masked girl, Celestia Lesbianne and Professor (Poppy) Bourgeois - GeekyCookie1

Language checkpoint
"Mija." - "Daughter."

Trigger Warnings
Explicit display of physical, emotional and verbal abuse (low to medium)

This chapter contains very graphic depictions of death and murder, so if you're uncomfortable with this topic, please consider approaching this chapter before reading.

Thank you so much in advance.

~~~~

In the late of night, a masked girl crept into the shadows, quietly observing the blonde woman throw her luggage into the limo.

"If I leave for the airport right now, I can still make it back to New York," she heard Audrey say as the girl quietly chuckled to herself.

"That's what you think," the girl quietly mumbled, grinning mischievously as she had her target on site. So as the girl threw a rock at the limousine, she grinned as the sound of glass cracking, to which she proceeded to hide back into the shadows.

"My limo! Ugh!" Audrey exclaimed in shock, before she held the rock in her hand. As she glanced back towards the dark alleyway near the hotel, she sighed. "You. Go check to see what's out there," Audrey sharply ordered the innocent driver, who meekly went to obey orders.

As the driver approached the alleyway, he quickly felt a knife pressed against his skin and the quiet humming of a girl, as if assessing him. "You don't look like trouble, so I got a offer for you," she said, lightly humming as she quickly grabbed onto the driver's mouth to prevent him from screaming.

"If you get Audrey over here and keep your mouth shut, I will spare your life and you'll never hear from me again," she began as the driver began to muffle, but the girl sharply nudged him into keeping quiet. "But if you tell your boss or anyone about me, then I'll hunt you down and tear you apart limb by limb until the only thing left is nothing more than a shell of your former self," she darkly whispered.

"Got it?"

As the girl saw the driver's frantic nods, she grinned.

"Good. Now, go."

Releasing the woman's driver, the girl quietly but patiently waited. After a few minutes, she began to hear footsteps. Upon looking up, the girl saw the driver had listened as she saw Audrey in the front of the alleyway, shirking from the sound of rats crawling on her foot.

"Ew, ew, ew! Get off me!" Audrey exclaimed in disgust, calming herself down as the rats now got off of her. "I can't believe that incompetent driver got me to come here to deal with a rat situation. Doesn't he know I'm a designer? I don't deal with rats," she said to herself, now brushing the side of her luscious blonde lockets.

"This is stupid. I'm heading back."

As Audrey began to make her way back to the front of the alleyway, the sound of shatter glass caught her attention and needless to say, her ears had perked up from the intense noise she had just momentarily heard. "W... Who's there?" Audrey forced herself to ask, before she actually heard the sound of her voice.

She sounded weak and Audrey Bourgeois was more than that.

Laughing at herself, Audrey merely shook her head. "Look at you, Rey. You're a mess, jumping and screaming at the sound of glass and rats. Ugh, that driver was an idiot for making me come out here. Well, I'll show him and make my driver see who's the real fool here," she told herself, her confidence now restored.

The woman began to walk again when Audrey felt a loud thump against the back of her own forehead, which she had just recently treated. Then as she felt a strange but cold liquid coursing into her veins, Audrey found she was briefly paralyzed from the attack.

As she lied on her back, Audrey found she was unable to move, which made her all the more nervous and (whether she had wanted to admit it or not) rather suspicious about what — or who — had done this to her.

"Show yourself, coward!" Audrey angrily called out, to which she heard a low but steady giggle. "Oh, Audrey, you really knew how to play the game, but it seems as though your time is up," she heard a voice tell her as Audrey began to laugh, not understanding any of what was being told to her as the voice came out like a static wave.

"Inadequate mother, a cheater — I wouldn't be surprised if you were perhaps, a fraud, yourself."

"I worked hard for what I got!" Audrey angrily protested, now being able to make out a few of the words she heard. "Hmm, I find this very hard to believe when you married into money and then proceeded to abuse that same money and power all for your own selfish intent," she heard a voice — a female — scowl her before Audrey felt the cold blade touch her skin.

"It's quite sickening, to be honest with you. You could have really done some good in your life, but you know, that's okay. I need to purify Paris from evil, despicable people like you, anyhow, so you're really doing me a favor here," she began, twirling the blade as Audrey winced from the droplets of blood escaping her body.

"Only then, will Paris truly experience peace," the girl continued as Audrey could barely make out the girl's own appearance. "W... Who are you?" Audrey slowly stammered, her vision now coming in and out as she heard a low and crackled chuckle.

"I am justice."

Then, Audrey only heard the sound of a sharp blade cut into her body, seeping out the blood within her system. She found herself coughing as she felt a wet, warm liquid now surrounding her. She continued to cough until Audrey found she had nothing left inside of herself.

With a smirk, the girl inflicted a few more blows to Audrey and after a pulse check, the girl now grinned. "Don't worry. That cheating, abusive scumbag lover of yours will join you next," she whispered to the now-deceased corpse, her grin growing brighter as she gave a kick to the woman's head for pure pleasure.

After days of going without a kill and enduring the struggle of finding a good target, the girl was relieved to know she hadn't lost her touch. Normally, she would dismember the body and dispose of the evidence, but she wanted people to see what happened to those who lived their life in greed.

She wanted people to know that there was a savior — a protector — in Paris, who would defend the peace that their heroes simply lacked to achieve. The girl was done waiting on others to help obtain her goal.

It was time for her to take matters into her own hands. So as she grinned in the midst of her bloodied body, she obtained a hair comb from Audrey's bag and using the few items the woman had packed, the girl scribbled a quick note.

Once she was satisfied, the girl left as she knew that (at least, for tonight), justice had been served.

——————————

"Breaking news! It is now confirmed that the world renowned fashion designer and iconic figure, Audrey Bourgeois, has just been found dead in an alleyway just outside of the Bourgeois Hotel. Audrey is survived by her husband, her sole daughter Chloé Bourgeois, and her sister-in-law, Poppy Bourgeois."

"What?"

"She had just been recently been revealed to having a private and steamy relationship with the prominent and bright Captain Lance Abbott, who was initially going to take over the head of his department...."

"Betty, are you seeing this?"

"Yeah, Max! I'm seeing this!"

As Max made room for his cousin on the couch, the two had stared at each other and back at the news.

"I'm getting word that one of our reporters were able to get a quick conversation with Lance Abbott himself. Elisa, please tell us about the new update," Nadja said before the screen had shifted to Elisa, who was now standing beside Lance.

"Thanks, Nadja! Yes, I am here with all of you this morning with Lance Abbott, who has decided to set the story straight. Captain, or rather, Mr. Abbott, can you please provide some insight into what you perceive to be as outlandish accusations against you?"

"Outlandish accusations?" Bernadette bitterly repeated, gripping onto the edge of the pillow, much to Max's surprise. He knew his cousin always had a bit (that alone was a understatement) of a temper but she had seemed really into his response.

"Yes. I believe that I was framed. People of Paris, I am a honest and trustworthy man. You all know me for my kind smiles, my tender heart. How could a family man with these attributes have an affair with Audrey Bourgeois, who was tragically murdered by someone who was selfish and sought revenge on a innocent woman?"

"Kind? Tender? Family man?" Bernadette found herself repeating, both in disbelief and in anger. She had snapped, however, when Lance called Audrey innocent, which had now struck a nerve in her. "Innocent? Audrey was not innocent!" Bernadette angrily exclaimed, now standing up as she sighed.

"Betty, calm down. I'm sure he's just talking as a way to preserve his life before it comes crumbling down for him," Max insisted as he saw his cousin relax — if only slightly.

"You know, maybe we're both stressed from the news. I should—"

"Well, Mr. Abbott, you seem to have a high regard for yourself. Tell me, were you aware of the note left directly for you?" Elisa asked as Max attempted to turn off the screen, to which Bernadette had stopped him.

"I'm sorry, the what now?" Lance repeated, though it was clear from those who knew him best, he was tensing up. "The note," Elisa repeated in an effort to avoid the tensed silence.

"Nadja, do we have access to the note?" she asked to which the camera panned onto the reporter, who was able to quickly pull up the note as one of the photographic evidence the police had allowed to be shown.

A man of honor should bleed pure, but your heart is corrupt and dark. You are a disgrace to humanity and for that, your time has come to an end. Watch yourself, Abbott. I'm coming for you and when I'm done, I'll go for your wife.

Though Nadja and her team attempted to publicly conceal the reveal of the cop's name, it was clear that whoever was lurking in the shadows had their eyes set on Lance Abbott himself.

"I'm not scared! I am pure! I'll speak at City Hall tonight to defend myself and then, Paris, we'll see if this coward comes out from the shadows."

As Bernadette concealed her anger against the false cop in this last moment, Max chose to pause the screen, having enough. "Betty, are you sure you're okay?" Max gently ask as the girl took a deep breath and smiled.

"You know, I've never been better," Bernadette cheekily answered, turning her attention back to Lance, who was all smiles, in spite of the threat. "Hey, Maxie, did you have any plans tonight?" she asked as Max shook his head.

"No... Why?"

"You know, I've just been inspired," she began as Max raised an eyebrow. "I say, let's go to City Hall tonight and witness his speech for ourselves," she continued, to which, Max had initially wanted to go against his cousin's decision before realizing that as a friend of Cleo, the girl was going to need support.

"Sure," Max said as he began to stand up. "Just let me know when you need me to get dressed," he added as Bernadette simply nodded. "Of course," she said as Max began to yawn before adjusting his glasses. "I'm going back to sleep, but if you see Cleo, send her my regards. I'll see you later, Betta," he concluded, waving to his cousin as he began to head to his room.

"Night, Max."

Turning back to the screen, Bernadette found her eyes glued on Lance and that smug grin of his. No matter, she made her mind. Lance Abbott had to go tonight and when she was done with him, Jolene was next.

Some time had passed and as the Bourgeois family handled countless interviews with the press, the three were tired of hearing the people's grievances towards Audrey, who singlehandedly would have torn their own family apart had Poppy not been there to keep everyone together.

Now as the three were alone and out of the press's view, Poppy found herself replaying the latest updates on the case surrounding Lance Abbott, who had the audacity to smile in front of the cameras and make himself look like the victim. She was more than ready for someone to make him look like a fool at his speech tonight.

"Daddy, I'm so sorry for recommending him. If I had—"

"Chloé, my lovely honeybee, there's nothing to apologize for," André sincerely told her as he hugged his daughter. "Besides, I'm the one who made the mistake of thinking he had my best interests at heart. Some friend he was," he said, to which André saw his sister's smug face.

"I believe someone told you that Lance was a mistake," Poppy cheekily began, much to André's annoyance. "Oh and that dating Audrey was going to end in a disaster and—" she began in a cocky, prideful tone only to stop when she saw his face fall as she never wanted to directly hurt her brother.

"Hey, I'm sure you'll find the right people in time," she softly said, giving her brother a small but deeply sincere grin. "Thanks," he softly said, returning the grin before the two siblings turned to face the blonde girl.

"Chloé, I know this is terrible, considering the circumstances surrounding around your late mother but did you still want to accompany me and your father to attend Lance's speech at city hall?" Poppy gently asked, to which Chloé stared at the bracelet her aunt repaired.

"If Rey and Adrien are going, then yes. Lance doesn't deserve to have the world see him as some kind of hero. He's a fraud and I think people should know the truth about who he really is," Chloé insisted as Poppy and André nodded.

"Then, let's show this upshot that he messed with the wrong family," Poppy promptly stated, holding out her hand as André and Chloé stared at each other before a mutual understanding was established.

Once the connection was made, the two nodded at each other, now looking at Poppy as they also linked their hands with hers. "Yeah!" the two exclaimed as she grinned at the responses of her family.

"Then, what are we waiting for? His speech will start soon. Let's go!"

————————————

"Good luck trying to leave now, brat."

As Lance witnessed his stepdaughter stare at the brace on her left foot, he smirked at the sight of her external struggle. "You're officially on house arrest. Now, you can't go anywhere and if you leave this building, much less this room, I will know," he smugly told the girl, who merely glared at him.

"Don't give me that look. You wouldn't be in this position had you not decided to go and ruin the life, me and your precious mother created," Lance sharply stated at her as his tone was stern and cold.

"You mean everything you ruined."

A few seconds later, Lance harshly threw Cleo to the back of their basement wall, now aggressively holding onto her face.

"You think you can just talk back to me thanks to those friends of yours, but guess what, brat? At the end of the day, you are nothing. You're just worthless and that's all you'll ever be, my dear rose," Lance sharply continued, angrily pushing her face back against the wall as Cleo rubbed her face.

"I am not nothing, I am not worthless and I am not your little rose!" Cleo exclaimed, now angrily snapping at him. As she stood in front of her stepfather as Lance found himself laughing, not taking her seriously.

"Laugh all you want, but you're the one who has no worth."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me."

"Cleo—"

"You're the one who is worthless, not me. You're nothing more than a joke and despite everything you did to me, I pity you because you're so full of yourself to the point where you can't see you're the cause of your own downfall," she sharply began, refusing to get cut off.

"Your ego has been so bruised that you are so desperate to try anything, but this speech of yours won't change what the people already know. You may have stood for something then, but now?" Cleo briefly paused, chuckling at her own stepfather. "Now, you stand for nothing," she confidently concluded.

Lance momentarily chuckled and a few seconds later, his eyes grew dark as he quickly tasered the girl, causing her to fall onto the ground from the electric shock. "You know, that pretty mouth of yours is going to get you killed someday, little rose. Heh, maybe, I can arrange that," he darkly whispered, before chuckling.

"When I come back from my successful speech, you'll learn just what happens when people cross me and don't think about calling for help. There's no one here to hear you and as for your own mother, well, I'm sure she'll be thrilled to know one aspect of her life will get better. She might even love me again."

Once he saw his stepdaughter was unconscious, Lance gripped onto the keys to the door and smirked as he locked the basement from behind him. Adjusting his bow tie, he then proceeded to fix his hair, only to get ambushed by a miniature robot, which caused him to growl.

"I thought I had killed that stupid robot of hers two years ago!"

With his brown loafer, Lance smacked the robot using his efficient strength. As he took a deep breath, he then proceeded to leave and lock the front door with only one mission at hand: come out successful.

Meanwhile as guests began to trickle into the city hall, Rey and her family were among the first to arrive as the Lopez family were known for being punctual. Yet when Reina saw her youngest's clothes, she began to sigh in despair.

"Mija, you have better clothing."

"W... What's wrong with my outfit?" Rey meekly asked her mother, now fumbling with her authentic white pearl necklace as she shyly held onto her long-sleeved grey shirt. As she flatten her pair of black leggings and glanced down at her black boots, she could feel her mother's overwhelming sense of disapproval.

"Aye, why can't you dress like your sisters? Iris always wears her wealth with pride and Amy, well, she's there too, I suppose," her mother said as Rey's smile faltered with each word her mother spoke.

"You're a Lopez, and it's about time you started acting like one. I'm tired of having these pointless conversations with you. Just once, I wish you could just make me proud and be the Little Miss Perfect I know you can be, instead of the constant disappointment in our household."

"I... I'm sorry, mother."

"Don't apologize, Mija. A Lopez never apologizes," her mother sharply snapped before she began to sigh. "I'm going to go look for your sisters and try to forget about the ever-growing disappointment that you are," she continued as Rey watched her mother walk away.

With a heavy sigh, Rey gripped her sharp nails onto the palms of her hands, seeing how this was the only way to relieve her frustrations with her family and society at large. She was sick of constantly being perfect and being someone that she wasn't.

But Rey was a Lopez through and through... which meant she had to continue playing the role of being the literal embodiment of perfection.

"Rey-kins!"

Upon hearing Chloé's voice in the distance, Rey glanced down at her hands, which were now covered in scars from the constant exposure. Placing her hands down, Rey quickly adjusted her frown to a smile and by the time, Chloé had reached her, she was already hugging onto the girl.

"Chloé!"

As the two girls hugged, Rey and Chloé were greeted by Adrien and not wanting to lose one another in the crowd, the three decided to stick together when the trio had bump into Celestia and Kagami, who were both looking around.

"Hey, have any of you seen Cleo since you got here?" the girls curiously asked, to which the three all shook their heads. "No, but I know her parents are here," Rey chimed in, gesturing to Jolene's (now) failed efforts of trying to get the girl's parents, Shawn and Reina, to get her into their next movie.

"Oh. We'll keep looking then, thanks!"

As Celestia and Kagami took off, the three best friends had briefly looked at each other but before either of them could voice their thoughts, everyone was starting to gesture to their seats. So, the trio quickly began to take their seats and could only see just how far Lance was going to go before he drove himself to the ground.

"Do you really think he's going to actually win everyone over?" Chloé asked the two as Rey and Adrien looked at each other and shook their heads. "Not a chance. People like him get caught eventually. His luck just ran out," Adrien briefly states as Rey promptly nodded.

"Exactly. Besides, if he does get away with this, then Abbott has another thing coming."

————————

"... Miss Monroe?"

"Ow..."

"Miss Monroe, are you alright?"

As Cleo held her head to block out the ringing in her ears, her vision came back into full focus as she stared at the small robot that is mostly blue and gray.

On top of his head, she noticed his propeller with a blue blade and a black shaft with white stripes. Moreover, she saw the robot had a transparent blue tactile sensor, a gray face with a button that has a blue heart engraved on it, a brilliant opal/luminous vivid cyan screen that has two pupil-less black dots which resemble his eyes, and two blue ear-like round sections on his sides that have a white outline and a musical symbol on the center of each ear.

At first, Cleo was confused on how — or even why — there was a small robot with her until she noticed his blue and gray mechanical arm that has a gray claw and black palm as there was only one person in town who created him.

"Max," she mumbled as the robot blinked. "Actually, Miss Monroe, my name is—" he began, to which Cleo dismissively waved him off. "No, I know your name is Markov," she explained before staring at her foot brace. "I just didn't expect Max to send you here..." she mumbled before shaking her head.

"Well, it's not like Max sent me here alone," Markov insisted as Cleo raised her eyebrow.

"Oh, good. You're awake."

Looking up, Cleo saw Bernadette leaning against the basement door, swinging the set of keys belonging to Lance as she blew a piece of bubblegum. "I... I don't understand. H... How...?" Cleo stammered, trying to gather her thoughts when Bernadette merely shook her head.

"I have my way of knowing things, but that's beside the point," Bernadette insisted, now removing herself from the door as she made her way to Cleo. "Look, we need to go if we want to make Lance's decision backfire on him," she immediately followed up, only to stop when Bernadette saw Cleo's foot brace.

"That coward."

"Unless you got a way to deactivate a foot brace for house arrest, I can't go anywhere," Cleo pointed out with a heavy sigh. "Just go on without me. I'm only holding you and Max back," she continued, to which Bernadette gently turned the girl's face to look at her.

"Cleo, we started this together. I'm not leaving without you. Okay? We'll figure out the foot brace thing."

As Cleo found herself looking at Bernadette, she felt her heart skip a beat, which had confused her. Regardless, she had brushed the feeling aside, deciding that it was not important.

"Bernadette..."

"Like I said, we started this together," Bernadette gently told her, a sincere smile on her face as she stared at the girl. "I intend to see us finish the whole way through," she softly added, standing up as she held her hand out to the girl. "Partners?" Bernadette followed up as Cleo softly blinked before she smiled.

"Partners."

As Cleo held Bernadette's hand, she was gently but firmly pulled up by the spider before the girl accidentally tripped over her foot brace. She would have fallen, had Bernadette not been there to catch her.

"Easy, I got you."

"Thanks."

"I believe I may have a solution," Markov chimed in as a smile formed on his screen with a green screwdriver in his arm. "May I?" the robot curiously asked as the two stared at each other before looking back at Max's robot.

With a nod from Cleo, the robot then set out to dismantle the alarm on the foot brace and after a few minutes of vigorous work, Markov grinned as he proudly spun himself to the girls.

"Try it now," he urged the girl, to which Cleo attempted to remove the foot brace, only to find it was still physically attached to her.

"I appreciate the help, but it looks like the foot brace is coming along for the ride," Cleo softly said as Markov's smile turned to a frown. "Don't worry, Mark. You still did great work," Cleo and Bernadette sincerely told him. As Markov grinned, Bernadette glanced at her watch and gasped.

"Lance's speech! We got no time for this!"

As Bernadette grabbed Cleo's arm and Markov followed the two, the trio ran out of the room and upon reaching the front entrance of the apartment, Cleo gasped as the brace didn't make a sound.

"Mark, you did it!" Cleo happily exclaimed, grinning softly as she hugged Markov, who was now bashful. "How are we supposed to make it to city hall on foot?" Cleo asked as she heard Bernadette laugh.

"Who said we were going on foot?"

As Bernadette revealed her bicycle to Markov and Cleo, she tossed a mini helmet at her cousin's robot before tossing a bigger helmet to Cleo. As the trio strapped their helmets on, Bernadette grinned.

"Hold on!"

——————————

Back at city hall, Lance found his footing with the large crowd, though it didn't take long for the potential ex-cop to get the people to like him again, even if some [i.e.: Rey Lopez, Adrien, Celestia and the entire Bourgeois family] could not be brought into believing his lies.

As Lance spun his way into shifting the narrative to paint himself as a victim, he felt his confidence growing back as well. He was convinced that things would work in his favor by the end of his speech, but as Lance spotted Cleo, Bernadette and Max, the man found himself gripping onto the podium.

"It seems our guests never got the memo," Lance cheekily stated, earning laughs from most of the crowd. "No matter," he said before smirking. "Security!" Lance called out, only to frown when he saw the overweight, redhead officer he had recognized as Roger Raincomprix appear on stage.

"Uh, I meant actual security."

"I am the security and you're under arrest," Roger firmly stated, causing the majority of the crowd to gasp. "For what?" Lance bluntly asked, mostly confused until he looked beside him to see Cleo, Bernadette and Max accessing his laptop. As his eyes widened, he ran to stop the trio.

While Max managed to give Cleo the USB flash, he saw Lance approaching the two and out of concern, he had pulled his cousin out of the way. Bernadette wanted to come to Cleo's aid, but Max insisted that this was their friend's battle.

So as Lance stared at Cleo, she looked back at the crowd, where she found her mother looking at her and back at the man in front of her. "Cleo, think about this," he told her as Cleo merely stared at him.

"Trust me, I thought about this very clearly," Cleo told him, now grinning. "You reap what you sow, sir," she continued as his face fell. That moment of despair was soon replace by anger and as Cleo plugged the USB into Lance's laptop, Lance saw all of his work come undone.

As his original presentation glitched, the crowd saw a series of documents detailing the plan on raising funds for the people — only for Lance and his friends to prosper as Cleo played a video clip of her stepfather addressing one of his members on the team [their face was cleverly hidden].

"The people of Paris are all idiots. All we have to do is keep scamming them, act like we care and then the fame is ours. As for the mayor? Well, he's nothing more then a pawn, just like everyone else... except Audrey. She's the love of my life. But that's not the point! Look. Trust in me and together, we'll rule Paris."

As the clip ended, Cleo sharply grabbed the microphone from her stepfather, who could do nothing more than watch.

"That, dear people of Paris, is your hero in his true form. He never cared for you," Cleo began as she looked at her stepfather in disgust. "He only cared about himself. He used all of you to get ahead and as you can see in the video, he never cared about your well-being to start," Bernadette and Max chimed in, now standing beside Cleo as she faced the crowd.

"He's nothing more than a selfish liar and a terrible con artist at best," Cleo concluded and as she heard the overwhelming waves of complaints and dismay from the most of the crowd, who were all disappointed and disgusted with Lance, who had attempted to back away, only to wince as he saw Roger take out a set of handcuffs.

"I think the proof speaks for itself, Abbott," Roger briefly said as Lance saw the crowd start chanting for his arrest. "Now hand over your badge and accept these handcuffs," Roger continued, stepping forward as Lance hastily gripped onto the last sign of power he had left.

"No!"

As Lance ran, things were being thrown in his direction and by the time, he made out of the main room, he gasped at the sight of his stepdaughter. Immediately, Lance gripped onto his badge.

"You! You and your friends ruined everything for me!" Lance angrily snapped as Cleo chuckled. "No. You ruined everything," Cleo boldly corrected, crossing her arms as she smirked. "Now, it's time for you to owe up to your own consequences and that starts by giving up your badge," she continued as Lance grabbed Cleo.

"You think you and those pathetic friends of yours won, but guess what? This was only the beginning," Lance began, now laughing as Cleo saw the man in front of her lose his sanity.

"You all have only just touched the surface of what I did," he continued, crackling as she tried to free herself. "But trust me. I will get my revenge and when I do, the first thing I'm going to do is take my time killing you," he threatened, now pulling Cleo closer as Lance stroked her face.

"So watch your back, Clementine. It's time for you to reap what you sow and when I'm done with you, I'm going after your pathetic friends and everyone who ever sided with you. It's time for you to learn what happens when people cross me," Lance lowly warned her, darkly smirking before shoving the girl onto the ground.

As Cleo stood up, she began to shake from her stepfather's words and matters were only made worse when Jolene slapped her.

"You disgust me. How could you hurt your poor father like that?" Jolene asked as Cleo rubbed her face. "He hurt you. He hurt us. He hurt me but now it's poor him? Why? Lance has never done anything for us!" Cleo sharply snapped, to which Jolene quickly grabbed her daughter's throat.

"You seem to have forgotten your place. Did you forget that you're nothing more than a mere screw-up? Your friends may have led you astray, but believe me, Cleo, you will never be nothing more than a disappointment. You are a failure, a disgrace to me and everyone who gets close to you," Jolene sharply began as she scoffed.

"It's no wonder why Joshua left me to deal with you. Even he couldn't stand how much of a burden you are," Jolene continued as she chuckled at the sight of her daughter's eyes flickering.

"Trust me, Cleo, this may be harsh but it's only tough love, my dearest. I'm only saying these things because your beloved mother loves you," she continued, but Cleo saw no warmth in her mother's eyes.

"Now go look for your father while I go deal with those so-called friends of yours," she finished, shoving her daughter onto the ground as Jolene began to walk away before stopping herself as she grabbed Cleo's arm.

"Oh and dearest, if you ever decide to pull the same stunt that you did on your poor father or decide to ever talk back to me again, I will show you what happens when you cross me. Got it?"

"Yes, mother."

"Good. Now get out of my sight."

———————————

On the other side of Paris, a window sill opened as a light purple glow could be seen in the distance. In the dark, shadowy part of the room, a secluded older male resembling an actual moth gripped onto his cane with a smirk.

"A man who wants vengeance against those who wronged him brings about all sorts of emotions for my newest akuma yet," the mystery man spoke as he touched a pure, white butterfly which was now corrupted with dark, purple energy as the butterfly mindlessly flapped its wings.

"Go to him, my little akuma and fester his dark heart!"

As the akuma began flapping away from its master toward the direction of the source of the negative energy, Lance finally managed to stop running as he found himself outside of the city hall.

"I'm ruined. Everyone thinks I'm nothing more than a joke now!" Lance exclaimed as he fell on his knees as tears began to fall. But then, his grief turned into pure anger as he thought about the way Cleo had ruined him. She did this to him and Lance deserved to get revenge on her.

"Cleo ruined me, but it's time I show 'em that they all made a mistake in turning against me!"

As Lance clutched onto his badge, he was so deep into thought that he hadn't heard the fluttering sound close in on him. As a result, he was caught off-guard when the akuma entered its way onto his badge, an akuma symbol now appearing on his face.

"Sharpshooter, my name is Hawkmoth and I can grant you the ability to have an exact target on your opponents, allowing you to never lose sight of getting revenge against all those who have wronged you. All I ask in return is that you get me the miraculouses of Miraculous Ladybug, Chat Noir and Snow Drift. Do we have a deal?"

Lance finally had the perfect opportunity! How could he let this go when he could have access to pinpoint his stepdaughter and her meddling friends? Besides, Cleo and that pesky spider said it best: you reap what you sow.

So, it was time for Lance to show just what happened when people crossed him and get the miraculouses, of course, but first, the ex-cop had some personal matters to address.

"We have a deal."

As a purple goo began to cover the badge and consume him, Lance began to laugh and once his transformation was complete, he felt empowered. This time, no one would take this power away from him.

Not now, not ever.

So as Lance — no, Sharpshooter — admired his new light bronze metallic design, he  grinned at the sight of spotting his stepdaughter outside of the city hall, presumably looking for him. With his target in sight, Sharpshooter smirked and began making his way to her.

"Sir! Sir! Si—" the akumatized villain heard Cleo begin, only to stop as she saw him — or rather his new form. "L... Lance?" she quietly whispered as Sharpshooter smirked. Now in control of the situation, he was determined to exact his revenge against the girl as he smirked.

"Hello, Clementine."