Hello. My name is Xanatos Stones, and after several years of relative inactivity, I have decided to pick up a new fanfic based on a couple of ideas I had when watching Ladybug Origins. Hope you enjoy.

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Prologue

Gabriel Agreste was a man of stature. He was known for never losing his cool, and always remaining in control. He always stood straight and confident, acting with a dignified grace that often gave off an aura of superiority. It didn't matter who you were, there was no man alive who was not cowed when faced with a displeased glance from this man. At the moment, however, his eyes were reflecting something that no living being had ever seen there, doubt and uncertainty.

It was a look that would never, no… could never allow anybody to see on his face. Not his employees, not his son, and certainly not the kwami that was already very displeased with his master. It wouldn't do for that bug to figure out that he actually had any weaknesses. But in his room alone, he allowed himself to come unraveled. He'd messed up. He'd messed up dreadfully. And now, for the first time in decades, he was at a loss as to how he should react.

He leaned against his closet door, head pressed into it as if to hide from the world for a moment. As if it gave him some privacy from the world that had been so suddenly, and violently, thrust out of his control… again. Everything had been going so well. He'd been convinced that his quest was finally nearing its close.

Sure, it may have looked to the outside world like he wasn't getting anywhere, like he was simply being foiled over and over again. What they didn't know was that he hadn't yet expected to win. Sure, he'd hoped he would each time. But he hadn't expected it. He had been carefully, slowly, steadily, closing a net around his opponents.

Each defeat had allowed him to learn specific details about his opponents, facts that would allow his endgame to be indomitable. Their teamwork, personalities, flaws, each hints that got him closer and closer to unmasking their true identities. He'd even been able to ascertain, through numerous experiments, that Ladybug was attending the same school as Adrian.

"Darn it!" He slammed his fist against the wall in exasperation. But Adrien was Cat Noir. All this time, he had been fighting his son! How exactly was he supposed to treat this new piece of information? How was he supposed to protect both his son and get the Cat Noir miraculous?! And make no mistake, if he was going to protect his son, he needed the ultimate power that came from getting his hands on both Miraculous. Because this was bigger than his son, or his partner in the red pajamas, knew.

He'd kept what happened to Adrian's mother a secret, had said she 'disappeared', but that was a downright lie. Adèle Agreste hadn't simple disappeared. She'd been murdered. It had killed him to hide the evidence, killed him to lie to the police, but of all killed him to lie to Adrian. He knew, no matter what Adrian said, that there was still that slimmer of hope his mother might return some day. Gabriel knew differently.

His wife had been a superhero, although one that stayed mostly in the shadows. That washow Kwami-based superheroes had always done their jobs. Being in the limelight like Adrian and this Ladybug were… that wasn't how they typically operated. Then again, from the way those two behaved, he was fairly certain nobody had taught them almost anything about the rules of being Kwami-based superheroes.

If the powerful being that had managed to murder his wife was still out there, and Gabriel was pretty certain he was, the Cat Noir and Ladybug team that could barely handle a Hawkmoth would be crushed in an instant. And Adrien was Cat Noir. Adrein was a target. Being Cat Noir didn't make him safer. It painted a giant bullseye on his back!

But what was he supposed to do about it? He was honestly at a loss. Was he supposed to keep beating down the very boy he wanted to protect until he had crushed him?! Adrian was too stubborn, too self-willed, too hungry for adventure. There was no way he would ever get that ring from Adrian without doing exactly that. For the first time in his life, Gabriel Agreste had no idea what choice to make.

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Whelp. There's the prologue. Hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. If you like, please leave a comment or reply because your words mean so much to me. Peace out.

~ Xanatos Stones