Explanation I: The Beginning

Every good story needs a strong backbone in order to make it complete, this tale is no different, the backbone of this story is what was happening in the shadows. How did things develop? How did Lila Rossi end up dead at the hands of Ladybug? Even if this information is never revealed in court to the characters within this tale, at least you will know what happened, how and why.

It was a week before Lila Rossi was murdered, and three days prior to Ikari Dozen being akumatized. A plane from England was descending and soon it was racing down the tarmac, slowing down smoothly with full thrust-reverse and with the speed brake active. The plane came to a stop after taking up 60% of the runway before coming to a stop. Most apluaded the pilot for such a textbook landing. None of this is important, what is important are the people who deplaned from the aircraft. As you already know, Vance Lindon had arrived in Paris sometime in the past before we began our backstory, well this was the flight he departed to arrive in our story.

Vance, dressed very much the same as he was introduced so many chapters ago, left the plane and someone was accompanying him. This man's name is Ryan Quarry, why is he being introduced when this backstory is supposed to have Vance as the star? Yes, I just read your thoughts, or maybe I didn't, but trust me, he will be important.

Here's Ryan's description: 164cm tall, blue eyes with light bags underneath, possibly from not sleeping over the journey, slicked-back black hair with enough gel in it to fill two tubs, a prussian blue suit and tie combo above a grease stained white shirt, light grey jeans with a black belt that was adorned with a gold-plated buckle.

"So, V, what would be my job here?" Ryan asked, his tone sleazy and with a bit of a squawk-like quality to it.

"You take care of the funds, and I'll submit my manuscript to Gabriel Agreste." Vance replied with his deep voice, it was cold and there was a hint of evil in it.

"Alright, V, but first I need to get my hands on a few Francs." Ryan added.

"Once you do that, I suggest you get a translator, your French is pretty bad, you think saying 'eau de toilette' is asking for the location of the nearest restroom." Vance relayed.

Ryan scoffed. "Yeah right, I know that's an odour, but, as you've said, I know diddly-squat about speaking Français. (he pronounces it incorrectly)"

"It's pronounced Français, not the way you just said it." Vance added, he pronounced it correctly.

"Alright, alright. If it'll getcha off my back, I'll get myself a translator." Ryan added.

"Futhermore, I suggest you try and stop using your brand of speech, it would be easier to translate what you're saying if you don't use slang." Vance informed.

"Fair enough." Ryan conceded. "But my language will never be able to hold a candle to your complex vocab."

"Language doesn't have hands to hold candles," Vance quipped dryly. "I believe there will be a few guides inside the airport lobby. Ask them about gambling spots or similar places and use your leftover money to establish a financial cushion for us."

"Don't worry, I can turn a penny into $100 in less than a day, I doubt I'll have any problems with a few French coins." Ryan confirmed with a high level of confidence.

"How can I doubt that when it was your cash that paid for both of our tickets?" Vance asked redudantly.

"Do you have any place in mind for us to meet back up?" Ryan inquired.

"Do you have your international cellular device?" Vance asked.

"Duh, V, can't speak to ya over distance without one." Ryan confirmed.

"I'll call you once I have the details myself." Vance informed.

"Alright, jetlag must have made me forget." Ryan laughed at his own inadequacy. "You did say that the convo you're having with that fashion man may land you some perks. Let's hope it's someplace deluxe and with decent room service if any."

"It would also be nice if Mr Agreste foots the bill. But that's only wishful thinking." Vance added.

"I'll be seeing you then, you know where that Agreste fellow lives, right?" Ryan asked.

"Of course I do." Vance added. "Thanks to Simon Says, there isn't a single person in the world who doesn't know the area where it is situated."

"It's a surprise that more people haven't visited his doorstep since that villain obtained him."

"Maybe they have, and he just doesn't let them in. Now get to earning some more cash for the both of us just in case this deal doesn't fall through."

Ryan nodded and they parted ways. Ryan found ways to get his hands on cash, but we'll circle back to that later.

Our star, Vance Lindon, examined the complex mapping system of the Paris subway, and shockingly, he was able to absorb all the info and correctly navigate it on the first try. It would take a local a month to understand the layout and know which trains go where, but Vance got it down to a science.

Vance was at the gates to the Agreste estate within an hour, he was surprised how effecient the Paris transport system was, but he would have to hold off from processing it for now.

Vance rang the doorbell, and the camera lowered and its aperture opened and a red LED turned on at the top of the lens. "Hello, can I help you?" Gabriel Agreste asked.

"Is this the household of the esteemed fashion designer Gabriel Agreste?" Vance inquired in French and using his child voice.

"Are you another fan? I don't do autographs I'm afraid, and my son will not be doing any photoshoots either." Gabriel added with slight anger.

"Look, I know how busy you must be, what with you never leaving your house, and you must do all your work inside, but I'm looking for someone to make a deal with." Vance added.

Gabriel mused about it for a few moments. "Are you trying to get into the fashion world? I only appear at certain events and accept new talent there."

"Actually, I'm a writer, I've been trying to publish this new project that would revolutionize the writing world as we know it. I'm talking demands for sequels and movie deals cascading down like confetti at a celebration." Vance added with all the charm he could muster.

"Oh? Sorry, I'm not interested." Gabriel added, but Vance grabbed a hold of the camera as Gabriel pressed the button to retract it.

"The evildoer within claims victory over heroes." Vance announced before letting the camera go.

Suddenly the gates clicked open and the camera came back out of its hole. "Come in, don't draw any attention."

Vance made his way calmly up to the door of the Agreste mansion. Some robots opened the doors and Nathalie Sancoeur was waiting, she led Vance to Gabriel's workroom. The Gorilla was waiting inside.

"Why don't you make sure Adrien doesn't disturb us," Gabriel relayed to his subordinate. The Gorilla nodded and departed. Nathalie scowled and then left.

"What's with her?" Vance asked, noting Nathalie's disposition.

"Don't mind her, she resents me for a mistake I made." Gabriel relayed. "She stays to protect Adrien as he is all that is important to her nowadays."

"Were you once important to her aswell?" Vance inquired.

"I was, then I made that mistake."

"You must have done something completely unbelievable."

"She put her life on the line to see me become happy, and when I had the chance to make that dream come true and I didn't take it, she never forgave me for it."

"You seem to have a lot of heaviness on your chest, and it seems you want to safeguard said heaviness from your own son. What could you be hiding that is so deep and dark that you can't tell him?"

Gabriel stared at the painting of his wife. "I'm not sure if you are one who could be trusted with that secret, I'm yet to determine who you truly are and wheter or not I can accept you as an ally. I only had one, but now I'm all alone."

"You have nobody else who is close enough to be an ally?"

"Nobody who is also an adult, not even Placide knows my secret, only Nathalie and for some reason my nephew Felix knows the truth about me."

"I'm quite intrigued about this secret myself."

"I can't say, so, tell me more about this book you wrote."

"The villain within, the King of Chaos finds an artifact that allows him meta-view, he realises that he is inside a book and when he reads the end of his story, he sees he will fail, but he also sees that he could gain control over the narrative. He obtains a second artifact, a pen that gives him the power to rewrite the story so that he can win, and at the end he does. Of course, this story happens over more than one-hundred pages, but I put it in simple terms so you could understand it."

"Interesting."

"Heros always win because that's just what is expected of them, but reality is different. What happens in reality is dictated by those who are defined as the good guys. We think Vladamir Putin is bad because the free world makes us think that, but the Russians would regard him as god almighty. It is all a matter of perspective. My perspective is to believe that if you fight against chaos, it will come back to bite you. Love may win over hate, but chaos will destroy order. Harmony can only exist if chaos and good are in balance, and the more the heroes upset that by piling on more on their side of the scale, the more likely something will come alone to put the scales back in balance."

"Do you think Monarch can win?"

"He will eventually win, he has to in order to maintain balance. Of course, this eventuality can be expressed with proper assistance."

"You wish to offer it?"

"I do, but I have no clue of his civilian identity. I just want to make my story known, to have it published, but nobody in England would even give it a cursory glance. 'Villians don't win, and they never do win.' They'd say. How much I wanted to point out 911 or Pearl Harbour, both of which are events where the bad guys caused change for the 'good' people. Good comes from bad, but the opposite is also true, there are people out there who would take advantage of your generosity. If there weren't we wouldn't have the saying 'give them an inch and they'll take a mile.'"

Gabriel thought about this for a bit. "If you knew who Monarch was, would there be any chance that you'd reveal him?"

"I'd protect his identity even after my bitter death."

"Will you be willing to assist him?"

"It is about time that he takes his place as a villain who succeeds, to hell with convention."

"Very well then. Nooroo, dark wings rise." Gabriel transformed into Monarch. "You've found me, let's go to my office to discuss this further."

"I had a feeling that there was something malevolent hiding within you." Vance added.

They proceeded to the room where Monarch would go to summon an akuma for his next villain.