Miraculous Ladybug:
The Path of Rage
Chapter 1: The Unexpected Hero
Paris was calm, as calm as the sea during the eye of a storm. No wind, no foul smells, but pure peace. Well, as much peace as can be expected in the capital city of France. Today was almost the perfect day for Ladybug. Hawkmoth hasn't released an Akuma in nearly a week, something that has become extraordinarily rare in later days.
Ladybug swung from building to building, with the only excitement of the day was having recently saved a balloon from escaping into the stratosphere for a young toddler. Today was about as amusing as sitting through a slide show presentation at school. With so little action for today, she calmly sat against a brick ledge and admired the time she had to gaze upon the calm city for which she's always defended, at least until Cat Noir leapt behind her.
"Enjoying the view m'lady?" he spoke.
The sudden outburst from Cat Noir caused a jump in Ladybug.
She sighed, "I was until you startled me."
Cat Noir sensed the unpleasantness in her voice.
"Something wrong? You look like something's got you down, like way down."
She shook her head, "No, it's not anything personal if that's what you mean. It's just that I haven't seen Paris this peaceful since we've gotten our superpowers. It just makes me feel-"
"On edge?" he finished.
"Well, yeah. It just makes me wonder how long we can even enjoy this kind of peace for. How long until Hawkmoth releases another Akuma to another innocent bystander?"
Cat Noir nervously stepped beside his begrudged companion and placed a hand on her shoulder, which granted him a smile from his spotted mistress. After a few seconds, he sat on the ledge beside her, with his legs crossed.
"Well, whenever Hawkmoth decides to release another bad butterfly, we'll be ready for him! We've always been able to protect Paris before and with us around I'm sure we'll continue to do so."
At long last, Ladybug had felt a small glow of hope that she had been longing for and she gave yet another smile towards her feline counterpart.
"Thanks Cat Noir, I think I needed to hear that."
"And besides", he continued, "We've got Queen Bee, Rene Rouge, and Carapace with us."
"And Hawkmoth has Mayura", she said sporadically.
Cat Noir saved himself with a confident comeback, "Well, it just means we'll be evenly matched."
Ladybug gave in to a creeping chuckle, "You always are trying to brighten things up at the right moment."
Cat Noir merely nodded his head, "Better than a lightbulb, bugaboo!"
Ladybug firmly rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.
"How many times do I have to tell you to stop calling me bugaboo?!"
Somewhere, on the other side of the city, a young man approached the river Seine. Today was not the best day for him.
"I can't believe they fired me! What kind of person wants to discriminate against someone else's religion and then plays victim to deny it?!" he shouted.
The man wiped his black collared button-up shirt amongst his brow as sweat beaded down and as he speed walked toward the river, he brushed his matted Norse braid behind his head, whilst he kicked a small stone with his combat boots. He grumbled even more when stone dust began to stain his bloused black cargo pants.
As this event progressed, a circular shudder opened in a dark lair. Glowing moths flew around the room gracefully. Suddenly, the deep ominous voice of a man filled the space.
"Shunned by a boss who doesn't believe his own employee for discrimination against an old warrior religion. Sounds like a bargain waiting for my Akuma!"
Hawkmoth extended his hand and waited for a butterfly to land, before he proceeded to cup his opposite hand over the fragile insect. Instantly, the butterfly became a mixture of black and purple, as if filled with negative energy. He again extended his hand to release the now darkened butterfly.
"Fly away, my little Akuma, and evilize him!"
As the dark butterfly made its way towards the young man, whom now sat on a dock beside the river, he peered into the water and gazed at his furious reflection.
"What I wouldn't give to be able to take down these corrupt characters here!"
Suddenly, he noticed something sparkle in his own reflection. Something within his gut kept telling him that as stupid an idea it sounded to try and retrieve a sparkling piece of trash out of a deep river, he should still dive in and trust his instincts. For all he knew, maybe he found a piece of jewelry that someone lost and could be valuable. With his feet alrighty dangled by the water, he dove in feet first. The Akuma flew after him but stopped short of the water's edge.
Hawkmoth shouted, "What happened?! The Akuma lost its target!"
The young man swam as deep as he could towards the sparkle. Both his ears had popped from the depth, but the pain meant nothing to him. Finally, he swam to the bottom of the river and sifted through the mud and rocks. As he began to run out of air, he grabbed a fistful of mud in the direction he saw the sparkling object and kicked off the bottom of the riverbed. Quickly, he broke the surface of the water and gasped for air, whilst he clutched the dirt in his fist for dear life until eventually, he managed to swim back and pull himself ashore.
The lone Akuma had found someone else to corrupt and engulf in negative emotions as the man could hear rumbling in the city behind him, however that wasn't what concerned him.
"Surely Ladybug and Cat Noir will handle any akumatized villains around."
He hurriedly turned his gaze back to his clenched fist and slowly spread his fingers until he found what had sparkled. His hunch was right, for indeed it was jewelry, but not the kind he had expected. He noticed that he had found a small silver cylinder, that was specifically familiar to him.
"A beard ring?" he asked himself.
The young man inspected the shining beard ring and noticed familiar symbols of his own faith. A triple horn, a Norse compass, and a Valknut. After he rubbed the mud and grime off the silvered jewel, he twisted the front of his beard into a thin braid and placed the ring amongst the rigid hair.
"Well, it's not doing anyone any favors by being in the river. Might as well wear it if my beard is long enough to hold it."
Suddenly, the jewel shimmered and out emerged a small, almost toy like, creature.
"Finally!" it spoke, "I never thought I would ever be out of that river!"
The young man hesitated as he extended a hand to the floating creature. He noticed that the creature seemed to resemble a polar bear.
He eventually collected himself enough to speak, "Who or what are you?"
"Well, that's easy! My name is Bjorn and I guess now that you found my jewel, I'm your Kwami."
He shook his head, enough to get the water still trapped in his ears, and replied, "What in the hell is a Kwami?"
"Think of me as your guardian angel, your conscious, your brother-in-arms to take down anyone who gets in our way!"
The young man raised a brow, "You're quite violent, aren't you?"
"As I am, I'm just violent as I was raised", the Kwami chuckled.
"I like it! Seems you were raised by the Northmen."
Bjorn gave a slight laugh, "Indeed I was, it even led to my downfall. The last one to use my Miraculous was a headstrong savage Berserkr named Harald Ice-Veins. He and his men were sacking Paris until a clean sword cut him through and the jewel fell in the river here."
The word brought a familiar sense to him, "Wait a minute, this jewel is a Miraculous?!"
"Yes indeed! Now I'm just wondering what you're going to do with it?! In case you hadn't noticed, I haven't fought in centuries and I'm dying for a fight!"
Bjorn lifted his ear toward the air as he caught the sound of citizens panicking in the background.
"And it looks like a fight is heading my way!", Bjorn laughed, "So, what say you?!"
The young man, still enraged from his personal dilemma earlier, was eager to be granted a once in a lifetime opportunity for superpowers.
"What better way for me to eliminate the corrupt and evil figures here in Paris than to just take up arms and do it myself? It's not like Ladybug and Cat Noir ever do anything physical towards finding or taking down Hawkmoth and his Akuma. They swoop in, save the day and then disappear! Never go and take the time to FIND him! I'm sure even if they did, they would probably just hand him to the law, for their corrupt bureaucrats! Not anymore!"
With his own bloodlust stewing inside him, the young man only asked one question, "How do I activate the Miraculous?"
The snowy white Kwami gave a fiendish grin and answered, "Xiong, let's growl!"
Ladybug and Cat Noir found themselves fighting a new villain, "Wild Child", an akumatized teen that appeared and acted like Tarzan.
"Cat Noir, we can't let him get into the zoo! If he yells, he'll call all those animals and then we're going to have a much harder time dealing with him!"
"Animals are some of the least of our worries, Ladybug. Did you see him throw that car at me? There's no telling how strong he might be!"
Ladybug, unable to find a current solution, used her special power.
"Lucky Charm!"
Suddenly, a teapot dropped into her hands.
"A teapot? It must be leading me back to Master Fu!"
She grimaced, which gained Cat Noir's attention.
"Something wrong, M'lady?"
"I don't know Cat Noir, honestly I just know that we can take Wild Child on our own. Something just doesn't feel right."
Wild Child climbed atop a light post and began to yell for any animals in the vicinity. Both Ladybug and Cat Noir covered their ears.
"Now we really need to do something before he wounds up calling a whole army of animals!" Cat Noir shouted.
Unexpected to the heroes, the villain's heinous screaming had ceased. It took them both by surprise for how abrupt the sudden silence had come, as if something had forced it. When the costumed heroes finally glanced toward the akumatized villain, he laid prone on the pavement unconscious. They noticed that an axe was near his head, as if it had been thrown.
"Sorry about that!" a commanding ominous voice spoke.
As Ladybug and Cat Noir searched for the unfamiliar voice, a white costumed man leapt from a nearby rooftop and landed near the villain. His attire was similar to their own costumes, but unlike theirs, his did not have a mask and was replaced with eye paint around the sockets. The top half of his costume was nothing but a polar bear pelt, with the head covering his own.
"Sorry! Had to grab my axe back!" the man said as he retrieved his axe from the ground.
Cat Noir studied over the mysterious man's weapons. His gloves had long sharp claws, but separate placements for fingers that allowed him to hold items in his hand. His belt contained two bearded axes and what appeared to be a drinking horn on his left hip.
"Where did you get a Miraculous?!" Ladybug shouted.
Cat Noir retorted, "That better not have come from the guardian!"
The man huffed and stepped on the villain's wrist watch, which released the trapped Akuma.
Ladybug brushed the mysterious man aside and began to spin her yo-yo.
"No more evil doing for you, little Akuma! Time to de-evilize!"
Before Ladybug could swing her yo-yo toward the Akuma, the man flipped his axe to hold it backhanded and swung it forward. To the normally cheerful heroes' surprise, they nearly fainted when they watched the Akuma split in half down the middle.
"WHAT?! WHERE DID THE AKUMA GO?! NO!" shouted Hawkmoth in rage.
"The name is Berserker and I think it's time someone actually DID something about the villains around here! Since you've both been so incompetent at finding Hawkmoth, I'll just find him myself!"
Suddenly, the negative energy from the butterfly began to shimmer in the air and race toward an unknown direction.
"Don't get in my way!", Berserker powerfully shouted.
He swung one of his axes with a long loosely attached leather strap and threw it toward a rooftop. Within mere moments, the mysterious new Miraculous user was gone. Ladybug returned her gaze toward the teapot that remained in her right hand and looked upon Cat Noir's shocked pale face.
"Now I know why the Lucky Charm was pointing us toward Master Fu!"
Cat Noir slammed his fist into his palm, "You need to get there ASAP if we want to be able to stop that guy! I'll go after Berserker."
Ladybug's earrings began to blink, beep and glow.
"Normally I would agree with you Cat Noir, but if he was able to do that to an Akumatized person so easily, I wouldn't try to take him on alone. I think our best chances of trying to stop him would be to go see if Master Fu has any information to take him down. Give me ten minutes and I'll meet you there!"
The trail of the Akuma was just ahead of Berserker, who followed it in hot pursuit. Suddenly, he stopped when the energy trailed off and flew through the front wall of the Agreste Manor.
"Well how about them apples. Everyone knew he was lucrative, but to THIS degree?! I wonder if he even knows what's coming for him!"
Berserker took in a deep breath and released it. He felt the sudden stillness in the air around him, as he admired the calm peacefulness that surrounded his figure shortly before he decided to attack. With a hardened gust of wind in his lungs, he leapt off the sturdy rooftop and over the fence.
Meanwhile, Master Fu poured jasmine tea for Cat Noir and, a now restored, Ladybug. As he handed them the small cups, Wayzz glanced over at the digital copies of the sacred spell book nervously.
"This is very strange", Master Fu said, "for there is nothing in the sacred spell book nor the Miraculous box that mentions anything about a white bear. What exactly did he look like?"
Cat Noir spoke first, "Like an angry Viking wearing a bear themed version of our costumes."
As he spoke, he also mimicked a bear by standing awkwardly and flailing his hands. Ladybug, in response to his antics, gave a meager push to his shoulder to deter him from his horseplay.
"He looked like a fierce Norse warrior", Ladybug answered, "as if he was from another time. He wore a polar bear pelt over his head and back. The remainder of his costume was like ours, but white in color and he carried several weapons."
"Mostly two axes and bear claws on his gloves", Cat Noir butted in.
Wayzz glanced over at Master Fu and the duo, then returned to the spell book. He repeated this motion until Master Fu finally caught him.
"Wayzz, have you discovered something?"
Wayzz gave a slight shake of his head and quickly zipped toward the teapot.
"Nope, I haven't found anything Master. Would anybody else like some more tea?"
Master Fu and the costumed duo were no imbeciles and quickly thwarted their attention toward the now nervous and shaking Kwami.
"Wayzz! What is it that you know about this Berserker?"
The stern, but fair voice of his master let the Kwami lips loosen.
"Alright, yes I know about him, Master!" said Wayzz defeated.
Everyone gasped at the sudden answer.
"Why did you not say something before?" Master Fu sternly asked.
Wayzz sighed, "Because all us Kwami's made a promise to never speak, sing, or write of him ever again!"
Ladybug was appalled, but finally opened to ask her question.
"Why would all of you do something like that towards one of your own? I mean, all of you even tried to help Nooroo when it was his birthday even when he was being controlled by Hawkmoth!"
Wayzz closed his eyes and took a deep breath before he began to tell his story.
"Long ago there was a Kwami named Xiong whose power was derived from rage. He got along with all of us just fine, however, and he really wasn't that different from any of us. One day during what you humans call the "Golden Age of Vikings", a raid by a group of Norse warriors sacked the Order of the Guardians. They were repelled, but one of them was able to steal one of the Miraculous Jewels, the ring of the bear."
Everyone in the room was as silent as the stars. Wayzz cleared his tiny green throat and continued his story.
"Once Xiong was kidnapped, he had apparently adopted to the ways of his captors. His jewel was changed by a Norse Gothi and reshaped into a beard ring for a savage warrior named Harald Ice-Veins. He adapted to them so much that he even changed his name from Xiong to Bjorn."
"Well, that explains a lot!", Cat Noir remarked.
"The last time we ever saw Xio-", Wayzz stopped and corrected himself, "Bjorn, he was under Harald's control during the Viking's Siege of Paris in the year 845. Harald was cut down by a lucky strike of a blade and the jewel fell into the Seine. We tried to search for it, but none of us could find it. We Kwami's had felt such shame from his actions that in response, we made a vow to never hear of him again and to make sure his Miraculous didn't fall into the wrong hands, we erased him from the sacred spell book."
Master Fu grasped the bridge between his nose in heavy thought. This was a secret that not even the Order of the Guardians had known about. This was going to complicate things quite extensively! The radio blared and snapped Master Fu out of his daze.
"Don't be bemused, it's just the news! I'm Nadja Chamack and right now there's a new Akumatized villain in the downtown subway station that appears to be shouting for our superheroes, Ladybug and Cat Noir! What's disturbing is that he doesn't appear to be doing anything else! What possible deed could Hawkmoth be planning this time, stick around to find out!"
Master Fu nodded to the costumed duo and they headed out. They traversed the city at a steady pace and finally reached the downtown subway terminal that was surrounded by police, armed with shields.
"We'll take it from here, Officers!" Ladybug commanded.
As Ladybug and Cat Noir grazed past the lined policeman, they caught their first glimpse of the new Akumatized villain. Much to their chagrin, the villain appeared no different than a normal person, aside from the glowing purple butterfly mask around their eyes.
"Not here!" the Akumatized man exclaimed, "On the train!"
The "villain" proceeded to walk aboard the subway, with a hesitant costumed duo shortly behind him. Suddenly the subway doors shut, as the train took motion.
"Now we can talk! Obviously, you're not going to trust anything I say from this point forward due to my pervious actions, but right now that doesn't matter!"
"Hawkmoth?! What're you playing at?" the black costumed hero shouted with menace.
"Just keep quiet and listen to me! Ow! Dang, that axe cut hard!"
Ladybug's eyes widened and she let out a small gasp. She then walked forward and placed her hand on the shoulder of the Akumatized man.
"Hawkmoth, you ran into Berserker?"
Hawkmoth responded through the possessed man, "I would be lying if I said no, but unfortunately he decided to leave me with quite a few wounds from those crude axes of his! Ow! Right now, I just know that I underestimated him when we fought, and I don't plan on it again! So, I'm calling a temporary truce!"
The last bit of his sentence made both Ladybug and Cat Noir shudder. The supervillain they've fought for so long calling for a truce, an almost unreal idea.
"The audacity of the idea is practically atrocious!" Cat Noir witted.
"Indeed, Cat Noir, but think about this", Hawkmoth explained, "If he came after me with such ferocity and the intent to try to kill me, what makes you think he will stop with me? How do you know that he doesn't want YOUR Miraculous or ALL of them?"
Ladybug and Cat Noir glanced at each other for what seemed like an eternity, but they both had the same look in their eye. If what he says IS true, then no one would be safe, not even the innocent citizens of Paris. Eventually they both nodded and turned back toward the Akumatized man.
"Alright Hawkmoth", Ladybug answered, "What did you have in mind?"
"It's simple really and to even help even the odds, I advise you to grab your team. I'll have the Peacock Miraculous with me as well, so you know that you have my cooperation."
"Got it, anything else?", she said.
"Meet me at the viewing deck in the Eiffel Tower in one hour and hopefully we may develop a plan to defeat this wild Berserker!"
One hour later and after a long, pleading explanation to Master Fu, the two heroes gathered up Rena Rouge, Carapace and Queen Bee atop the Eiffel Tower observation deck.
"Where is he?" Ladybug mumbled to herself.
Rena Rouge, curious, asked, "What're you talking about, girl?"
Out of the shadows, a battered Hawkmoth finally appeared. He appeared to be quite injured and held his gloved left hand over his right rib cage, whilst his other hand held him up with his cane.
"I should thank you for agreeing to meet up this way, Ladybug, albeit not in the best of circumstances!"
Rena Rouge, Carapace and Queen Bee stood in shock with their mouths agape.
"What?!" Rena shouted.
"No way, dudes!" Carapace cursed.
"There is NO WAY you decided this was a good idea Ladybug!" Queen Bee blathered.
Cat Noir stepped forward to grasp hold of the awkward situation, "Guys, we know this looks bad, but right now there's an even BIGGER THREAT than Hawkmoth! Heck even HE couldn't stop him! Uh, no offense."
"None taken", the injured villain replied.
Carapace spoke up, "So you're saying something even worse than Hawkmoth did THAT to him? Yikes!"
"What in Paris could be worse than Hawkmoth?" asked Rena Rouge.
Queen Bee emitted her famed monologue, "Ugh, this is ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous!"
"I KNEW it!" the group heard Berserker shout.
Everyone watched in horror as an axe grappled on the iron bars and pulled up the white costumed warrior.
"All I had to do was just follow the signs and then follow YOU!"
The heroes and villain gazed into the ravenous face of the new Miraculous user in front of them. Even the black war paint that surrounded his eerie steel blue eyes made his appearance that much more menacing. It was as though he had the hunger of a wolf, but the prowess of a bear.
"Berserker, I don't know what it is that drove you to believe the things that Bjorn had told you, but a TRUE hero does not slay their enemy!"
"Weak! You are all weak if you fail to eliminate the threat in front of you!"
The costumed group took their best defensive positions. In the distance, a news helicopter could be heard and seen with a camera pointing toward them all. Berserker took a quick glance at it before he returned his raging eyes towards his foes.
"Looks like this fight just got a lot more interesting!" he said as he pulled out his bearded axes, "Since you're not going to help me, then I suppose you've become just as corrupt as Hawkmoth!"
Ladybug huffed and gave a challenging glare, "If that's what you believe than I really DO feel sorry for you, Berserker."
The Norse warrior smiled and beat his chest, he tried his best to bare all his sharp and gnashing teeth. Then he shouted at the top of his lungs a long and loud rallying cry, "ODIN!"
A/N: Hey guys and gals, I'm sorry that I haven't been on in awhile. While I was at work however, I kept thinking to myself how my original chapter to my Miraculous Fanfic didn't seem to flow as smoothly as I had originally intended it to be. With this chapter, I was hoping to correct that issue. Please Rate & Review, it DOES help me immensely! The more feedback I get, the better I can try to make these stories!