The Zealot
Prologue: Les Chats Noir
Emissary: A person sent as a diplomatic representative on a secret mission
His father's tone already told Adrien how this meeting was going to go.
"Adrien," Gabriel's voice resounded in the parlour even as Adrien shut the door.
"Yes, father? Natalie said you wanted to see me," Adrien said, his voice cautious and refrained from its usual light-heart tone.
Gabriel's expression, like always, was narrowed into a frown and his shoes squeaked across the marble tiles, the only sound that made Adrien aware he was in the presence of his father. Adrien took a breath, preparing himself for the oncoming criticism, knowing fully well that his father must have been informed about his new mission...
"Natalie has informed me you have a new mission in the kingdom of Alserfang," his father said, his tone neither hard nor sympathetic, just questioning.
Adrien raised a brow, wondering what had possessed his father to suddenly take an interest in his missions regardless if they were outside Parisia or not. Since his mother had died in a field mission many years ago, Gabriel had taken it upon himself to initially refuse conversation about emissary work especially after Adrien was old enough to decide to join. It was the only thing he had rebelled against his father for, wishing to continue the lineage of his mother's work by helping those in need.
"Yes, they sent a request for protection against a violent gang of some sort," Adrien said slowly, making sure not to spill any details. He loved his father tremendously, but Adrien was hesitant giving exact details to his father in case he were to interfere with his missions. When Gabriel raised a brow, almost mimicking his son, Adrien sighed. "Bustier sent out scouting teams ahead to track them, and just wanted me to lead in standard guarding protocol, but I'm sure it's nothing."
His father took a step forward, his hand reaching out to grab his shoulder as his eyes were now narrowed in concern. Adrien couldn't help but feel surprised at the sudden gesture, used to having his father so distant. "Just be careful," he said slowly, staring down at Adrien with worry and a small hint of desperation in his tone which caused Adrien to smile a little.
He had hope that his father was still capable of love.
"I will, don't worry dad," he said, gripping his father's wrist in assurance. "I've been doing this since I was -"
"Fifteen, yes I know," his father interrupted, tightening his grip. "And for the past five years I've been worried something like this was going to happen..."
Adrien's smile faded. "Something like what?"
Gabriel let go of his shoulder and Adrien could sense the moment fading. "Just please don't be reckless. You know why I've been the way I have. I don't want to lose you too."
Adrien's stomach dropped in nervous anxiety. Something in his father's tone made him paranoid and fearful despite his five years of experience in missions where he had been injured many times. Of course, his father was angry every time, but never in a way where he was being vulnerable to Adrien and even Adrien knew his father was too overprotective for his own good, at times sending his scout - Gorilla - to look after him during his missions. So with Gabriel showing his fear for this particular mission, Adrien had to throw caution to the wind.
Something wasn't right.
"Yes, father," Adrien said rigidly as his father turned. "I'm leaving tonight, so I guess..." he hesitated, "...I'll see you when I'm done?"
His father just turned his head to him giving him a nod of acknowledgement before turning to the picture of his mother at the far end of the parlour.
Adrien sighed, a bit disappointed but unsurprised and turned to go, shutting the door behind him.
Gabriel turned to the closed door. "If only you knew...then you would understand."
"What I don't get is why your dad is concerned all of a sudden," Nino said as he hoisted their baggage into the jeep. "You've been an emissary for the past five years and not once has the dude even taken the time to acknowledge your safety. So why the hell now?"
Adrien sighed, checking the dashboard for anything out of place. "That's what I was wondering. I never saw him like that, even when I'd get injured during our missions and had to stay at home to recover - he was always still distant." He glanced around. "I wouldn't be surprised if he still sent in Gorilla, though..."
"Ugh, that huge buffoon?" Chloe remarked from the passenger seat, where she had been busy filing her nails since the start of their check-up. "What does it matter when we're just going to ditch him like all the other times? Your dad needs to get his head straight that not even his giant bodyguard can interfere with our missions. We're professionals."
From the rear view mirror, Adrien just made out Nino's eye roll as he loaded the last of the bags. "Not to mention Bustier has already told him off," Nino said, settling in the back seat. "I don't know how many times she's told him to stop interfering with our field work...even she's getting annoyed by your father, and you know how Bustier is."
Chloe stopped filing her nails and looked back at Nino with a scoff. "Of course we know how level-headed Bustier is, Lahiffe. She's been our teacher for the last five years. Geez, do you have a brain?"
"Yes and I happen to use it unlike you," Nino retorted, folding his arms.
"Excuse me?" Chloe's voice rose as she turned in her seat fully, looking ready to smack Nino.
"Anyway," Adrien said loudly, hoping to change the conversation. "We're getting off topic. The mission is more important than my dad's sudden concern over my well-being." He ignored Nino's disagreeing eye roll and Chloe's exasperated scoff. "What's the brief, Nino?"
Nino reached down and pulled out his phone, pressing a few buttons before he pointed it at the dashboard which lit up and displayed a clear screen with the picture of a beautiful mountain landscape, a small castle situated in the distance below.
"Right, so like Bustier explained to us before, our mission is to check out a series of unusual stuff that's been going on in the kingdom of Alserfang - Parisia's neighbour dudes." He zoomed in on targeted locations that were highlighted in red. "According to the Vipères who scouted it out already, these incidences have been happening twice weekly - normally something to do with a level of destruction of some sort, but never any, you know, deaths or killing."
He placed an image of a train car dangling from the edge of a railway, people clearly in fear of their lives on the line. "People thought it was coincidence until they've been noticing these strange guys flying around." Nino zoomed in on another image - a dark butterfly of some kind flying away from the train car. "So, like, from what Max figured out is that there are these little butterfly things that'll attach themselves to a target and then someone," he pressed a few more buttons and it showed the same butterfly land on the arm of a figure dressed in dark purple, "like this dude, will control it. It's almost like our Kwamis but then again, Kwamis usually help us control our power instead, you know, use it for bad stuff."
Adrien rubbed his chin, glancing at his silver ring which his mother had given him before her fatal mission. "Do we know if this is just a few people doing this?"
"Uh, well," Nino started, zooming out and pressing a button to show a video image of about a dozen or so figures wearing the same dark purple cloak like the one in the previous image. "There's a gang hiding in the mountains surrounding Alserfang. Kim and Alix barely made it out without getting caught and they can't go back since they move constantly. From what they've heard the guys who are doing this are known as the 'Akumas' and follow the leadership of some dude who calls himself - get this - 'Hawkmoth.'"
"Oh God," Chloe commented when Nino brought up an image of just a single purple butterfly covering the face of a shadowed figure. None of them could even make out his eye shape or facial structure, his features cloaked in darkness albeit the purple mask. "If that's the nickname he came up with himself, by all means this mission is going to be o-v-e-r before Hawk-sloth even realises it. How dumb of a name is that?"
Nino grimaced. "For once, I actually agree with you. Not creative at all, which is just sad, dudes. At least come up with something original."
Adrien turned to look at Nino as he started the jeep. "Doesn't 'Akuma' mean the devil in Japanese?"
His best friend shrugged. "I don't know, man. I don't really read about that stuff...you're the anime guy."
The blonde boy rolled his eyes, backing the jeep out of the garage. "It's a part of Japanese folklore - in English it translates to 'demon' but they used the name to describe the devil in Japanese Christian stories." He glanced at Nino's blank stare in the rear view mirror. "There's probably an indication why they would use that name as well as why their leader would choose such a...er..."
"Lame name?" Chloe offered.
"Sure," Adrien said, gripping the steering wheel. "We probably shouldn't underestimate these guys. If they're not killing anyone then there has to be another reason..."
"Unless..." Nino started, but paused. Adrien took another glance at him and even Chloe turned to look at him with a raised brow to continue. "Unless they might be looking for something?"
Chloe scoffed again. "I think the only thing they should be looking for is a new leader that doesn't come up with dumb ass names."
Nino smirked. "Preach it to the choir, Bourgeois, I was actually talking about that Miraculous Stone Bustier mentioned once..."
"What about it?" Adrien queried.
"Well, like, since you mentioned the translation of akuma, it got me thinking about how Bustier said a group like that searched for the Miraculous Stone a few years ago because they wanted the infinite power it brought," Nino said, leaning back with his arms propping his head. "It might be coincidence, I don't know, man, just a thought."
"Thanks for the insight, Lahiffe," Chloe drawled. "You forgot about the part where the Stone is actually missing. I may not obsess over facts, but even I know that it's entirely unsearchable since no one knows where it actually is."
Adrien and Nino went silent, blinking in a type of quiet surprise that Chloe reminded them of a very important point they forgot. Chloe smirked in triumph, as both boys grumbled in their seats, discontinuing further theories as they drove on the dark road.
"Damn, the slow one of the litter actually used her brain," Nino said after a moment in the silence.
"Buzz off, Lahiffe!"
They arrived in the villa the Vipères had secured for them. It was on the edge of the kingdom, close to the boarder but far enough where it was inconspicuous to be mistaken for the rest of the small houses that resided in the outer area. They could just make out Kim's bike hidden underneath brambles and Alix's signature pink hair sticking through the doorway.
"Nothing says 'discreet' like tacky pink hair," Chloe mumbled as they got out of the car.
"Nothing says 'Queen Bee' like you Bourgeois," Nino responded. Chloe stuck her tongue out at him, but before she could retort back, the door widened showing a grinning Kim, Alix and calculating Max.
"'Bout time you 'cats' showed up," Alix said, air-quoting their team nickname. "We were afraid it'd take you longer with the amount of stuff Bourgeois would've had."
Chloe flipped her ponytail. "Ridiculous, Kubdel. I brought just enough, thank you."
Alix ignored her and gestured them inside. Unlike it's disgusting external appearance, inside was a single room filled with soft blankets, computer equipment stationed in a nearby corner, a sofa, some sleeping bags, and a nice fireplace warming the space up in a cozy atmosphere.
The mood was the complete opposite. Max sat at the computer monitors lines up next to the doorway, pushing his glasses up to stare at a screen display of a compass monitor. "Now that we have you here, we can continue with the plan. I'm assuming Bustier caught you up with what happened?"
"Oh about how you nearly got caught because you have the Pink Lady on your team?" Chloe commented, ignoring Alix's glare.
"Shut it, Bourgeois," Alix hissed, clenching her hand into a fist.
Nino held an arm out. "Ok, dudettes, let's chill out."
"God, Nino, since when do you handle cat fights?" Kim joked, chuckling a little at the scene before him.
"I listen to classical, those statistics are right, dude," Nino said with a shrug. "They do help with development."
Adrien gestured to Kim when he stopped laughing. "Bustier told us you and Alix barely made it out."
Kim let out a sigh. "Man, it was one of the hardest escapes we've had. I hate to admit it, but I was scare out of my mind that we wouldn't make it out alive, never mind getting caught."
"What happened, exactly?"
Alix calmed down enough to sit on the counter next to Max, who was still staring at his screen. "We figured out that they travel underground and they never stay in one spot. We managed to follow them down to the south side of the mountain before we had to leave after about twenty minutes trying to listen in. They collapsed the cave and the pathway we made it through, Kim and I barely made it out."
"Before that happened, we saw them standing in some weird ritual circle," Kim continued for her, reaching over Max's shoulder to grab a sketch they had drawn from memory. "It was in the shape of a butterfly and their head guy - Hawkmoth, like you know - stood at the head, telling them about the location of the Miraculous Stone."
"Holy Kwami, didn't I tell you?" Nino exclaimed, looking to Adrien and Chloe. At the looks Alix, Kim and Max were giving him, he explained. "I thought it had something to do with the Stone since I remembered Bustier mentioned something like this happening before..."
"Correct," Max said, adjusting his glasses and pulled up a news article on his screen. "We were looking into that as well. According to this article I found, seven years ago a temple at the north side of the kingdom was destroyed by a raid from a group that was trying to get inside. Something went wrong and the entire temple disintegrated, there hasn't been a single trace of evidence to track down what had happened." He turned to them. "My guess is that it had to do with the Stone. Somehow it must have been transported somewhere else since it's said that its power comes from different sources of magic."
Adrien raised a brow. "Is there more information about it?"
Max grimaced. "That's just it - there's hardly any information in my database that discusses the origins or exact powers of the Stone. It must be in a physical location somewhere, or perhaps there is a kind of guardian who has this information stored. By my calculations it has a connection with Kwamis since it's only logical that the Stone has the same energy source as they do."
"Then if it got lost, how do the Akuma dudes expect to find it?" Nino asked.
Alix smacked Kim's arm. "Tell him, Kim."
Kim looked distracted as he delayed his response by rubbing his arm. "Well, uh...From what Alix and I saw..."
Max rolled his eyes. "They're using soulmate bonds," he said in place of Kim, turning back to his computer. "Soulmates, as you already know, have additional power when their own magical energies combine. From what Kim and Alix saw, there are at least two known sets of soulmates in the Akumas who have abilities nearly unheard of - perhaps there are more."
Kim blushed and Adrien knew why. Kim had recently discovered his soulmate from water training as his friend, Ondine. Adrien shifted his feet, feeling that awkwardness creep up on him when the topic of soulmates came up especially when he was confronted with someone like Kim who reeled at the thought of his soulmate, he had trouble speaking sometimes. "Do we know what kind of abilities they have?"
"We only know of one," Kim said, glancing at his teammates who nodded. "One couple has the ability to transform things and the other we only saw, but didn't see what kind of powers they had, but they were definitely linked."
Alix cracked her neck. "Apparently, they transformed the cave from just the mountainside and it looks like they don't have much control over it, otherwise they wouldn't have been easy to follow. Unless they did that on purpose..."
Kim leaned against Max. "Our other guess is that the other set of soulmates we saw have the ability to track down this Stone or something to do with it. Hawkmoth spoke directly to them about how the progress of finding it was going and they said something about a gateway."
"So, if we manage to deflect their power, then the least likely they're able to track down the Stone and use it," Adrien spoke with certainty, refusing to think about soulmate bonds at his own demand.
"It's not as easy as that, I'm afraid," Max said turning to him with an apologetic look. "This 'gateway' concerns me. If they have a way to manifest their power to track it and use a portal to obtain it, then I'm afraid this is more serious than a standard emissary mission. This could lead to an all out war."
Alix scoffed. "That's a bit dramatic, don't you think? The Akumas don't have as many members as we do."
Kim turned to her. "Yeah, but they have a weird energy about them - especially Hawkmoth. He didn't act like a typical leader yearning for power. I think he's got a personal agenda on his list."
Max nodded. "You might be right. The Stone has the ability to harness different sources of energy, not just powers. It can probably do anything the bearer of it wishes it to."
Nino folded his arms. "That's not cool. Then Hawkmoth could basically re-create the whole world he sees fit..."
Chloe sniffed. "That's only if we let him get away with finding the Stone, which isn't going to happen."
"I'm still not used to see you this way, Bourgeois," Alix commented, sliding down to her feet. "You're still the stuck-up princess from school in my eyes, but I'm impressed."
The blonde girl blinked at her looking ready for a retort until she seemed to understand. "Thanks, Kubdel."
"Right," Adrien said, forming a plan. "We'll rest up tonight and scope it out in the morning. Who's on lookout?"
Kim raised his hand. "Don't worry, I'm on guard duty tonight. You guys have nothing to fear."
Alix rolled her eyes. "Yeah because it's so relieving to know you'll be protecting us after thinking about Miss Siren."
Kim blushed, a picture of embarrassment as he grumbled on his way outside. Alix chuckled before leaping into the small couch situated in the corner, the perfect size for her small frame as Max settled in the sleeping bag close to his monitors. Adrien gestured to Chloe and Nino to choose and ended up sleeping on the floor as Chloe took the couch and Nino the futon. No one talked as they all tried falling asleep and moments later, their eyes closed and their breathes evened out, succumbing to their dreams.
Or, in Adrien's case, his nightmare.
It was morning when they heard the screams before they saw purple smoke rise in the central of the kingdom. Everyone leapt to their feet, gazing around confusedly before Adrien ran towards the window and saw the smoke from the central square. Kim slammed open the door, looking a bit out of breath.
"There's another attack!"
"Nino! Chloe! Let's move!" Adrien shouted, as the three of them raced outside to their car.
"Be careful," Max called after them. "They have different abilities, but they look the same so you can't tell who has which power!"
Adrien nodded. "Got it."
"Kim and I will follow you on the opposite side," Alix said as she retracted her skates from her boots just as Kim hopped on his bike and revved it to life.
Max typed something on his laptop. "The radar I set up in the central square tells me there's only three of them, but there could be more so keep an eye out."
"Right," said Adrien already backing out and speeding towards the site.
When they arrived in the central street, firetrucks lined the perimeter of the square and police officers were trying to ward off oncoming bystanders curious to see the scene. People were gathered around, looking up at the burning building and the smoke accumulating in the perimeter, some were screaming as those who had been in the building were running out. Adrien turned to Nino and Chloe.
"Nino – protect those trying to leave the building and help any who need it; Chloe – you're with me."
"Right!" They said simultaneously, and Nino darted off, activating his shield from his Kwami, Wayzz and disappeared into the smoke.
Chloe followed Adrien as he made his way towards the center of the square. "Chloe, you might have to activate venom…"
"Why? I can't see anyone…"
Adrien glanced up and spotted what he had saw from their arrival – a cloaked figure standing on a closer building, Chloe didn't look, but she already had her Kwami, Pollen, out ready as she looked at Adrien for further direction. He nodded and walked her towards a shadowed wall, climbing up the fire escape. "You know what to do," he said down to Chloe who smirked and ran off towards the opposite way as Adrien continued climbing.
He didn't know if his usual plan would work but he was going to try it. Chloe and Nino took turns being the decoy while Adrien came in as a surprise, but considering they had barely any data of their opponent, he felt like he was going in blind. When he reached the roof of the building, he spotted another robed figure on the other side of the square and he crouched low, watching them. He knew Chloe was already scaling the building to poison the first one he saw which only left this next one and the third who was no where to be found.
Adrien took out his silver staff, activating its scope mod and held it up to his eye to look through the lenses. The robed figure ahead held up a hand, as a black butterfly flew into their outstretched palm and landed there. Soon, they crushed it in their hands, disintegrating it and what was left of the insect was nothing but ashes which they blew into the wind. Almost by its own accord, it seemed to trail downwards towards a small park.
He glanced down further and saw Kim and Alix make their way through the crowd, looking up. Adrien caught Kim's eye and signaled towards the park, directing them to the central spot. He saw him grin and nudge Alix as he relayed the message – Alix skated off in a flash.
"Well, well, what do we have here? A stray cat?" A sultry voice called out from behind him and Adrien turned with his staff at the ready.
She would have been beautiful had it not been for the strange butterfly tattoo on her face and deranged expression she wore. She grinned, and Adrien retracted back in surprise at the long and sharp incisors that were her teeth. "Who are you?"
"The name's Volpina," she replied easily, which surprised Adrien. It was a strange name, but looking at her, Adrien could understand why. "And you, handsome, seem to be on the wrong side of the fight."
"I think I'm on the right one, thank," Adrien said, taking a tentative step closer. "I don't exactly set buildings on fire for the fun of it."
She gave a huff and shrugged. "Who said anything about setting things on fire? I'm sure your friend who went in has figured it out by now that it's not real."
Adrien's eyes widened. "What?" He turned and found the fire slowly melt away into a normal state, the people watching from below calling out in shock as they stared dumbfounded. He turned back to Volpina, growling out, "you're playing psychology tricks on people who can become severely impacted. You're the worst kind of illusionist."
"Oh, is there a good kind?" Volpina drawled out, checking her nails. "It's not like you emissaries are any different…." She started to slowly stalk towards him. "You would kill if it was for the protection of your loved ones…"
Adrien took a step back. "That's not true. We strive for peace and order – killing is the last thing we would do."
Volpina shrugged, continuing towards him. "Still, then, you try to meddle in other people's businesses where it's not needed."
"No, we do it to protect people from those like you," he said, extending his staff so that it was against Volpina's throat. She stopped. "My real question is why should we fight when you won't be able to search for the Stone?"
"Ah, so you know," Volpina said with a sigh. "Figured you would after we decided to let your friends go. We should have caught them – it would have made today so much easier without you interrupting our plan."
Adrien glared at her, pushing his staff against her, causing her to take a step back. "My bad, I guess we should have scheduled it for some other time."
Volpina grinned maliciously. "Oh, it still won't be a problem – we have you right where we want you anyway."
"Adrien!"
He turned and saw Chloe flying towards him, decked out in her yellow battle armor, trying to swing off a man that was holding onto her leg. He looked strange – having the same black butterfly tattoo as Volpina but he also had some sort of feathery, leather armor wrapped around his torso. He turned back only to see that Volpina had jumped back a few meters and had missals aimed at him, where a big target had appeared before him.
"I wouldn't move if I were you," Volpina said with a giggle. "You take one step towards her and you're going to have a problem."
Adrien exhaled through his nose. "This is just another one of your illusions. Those missals aren't real."
Volpina raised a small brow. "Are you sure about that?" She gestured behind him. "I caused the cave to collapse on your friends – that sure wasn't an illusion." She pointed a missal towards Chloe who shouted and ducked the other way. "You're friend has enough problems dealing with my friend, Pigeon – you wouldn't want her to have a rocket to deal with either, do you?"
"Alright, I won't take my chances," Adrien said, thinking of something. "But there can't be any way to track down the Stone. It's impossible to find."
"That's where you're wrong," Volpina said with a scoff, folding her arms. "Might as well tell you, since you're not going to be able to stop us no matter how powerful you lot are…There's a soulmate pair who are connected to the Stone because they possess the first Kwamis it was created alongside of."
"And where did you find this soulmate pair?" Adrien asked, despite his intense refusal to mention soulmates, but he had no choice.
"Oh, we haven't found them yet," Volpina said with a grunt, inching the missals forward a little towards Adrien. "But we have another soulmate pair who can sense Kwamis nearby and they've gotten a spike on their radars that one of the Kwamis we're looking for is nearby." She paused before looking up, surprised. "Huh, your friend's doing better than I thought she would."
Adrien watched Chloe duck as the man let go and wings sprouted from his back as he chased Chloe down, letting out a disturbing coo like that of a pigeon. His robes torn to shreds revealing that the feathers were attached to a silver armor breastplate, like the rest of his gear, apart from his wings which were as large as an eagle's, making him look ten-times larger than the figure Adrien had seen. Chloe was struggling, despite her bee-like speed and agility, dodging and twisting in complex patterns to shake the large shadow on her back. She still had Pollen tucked to her side, ready to use it should Pigeon launch himself in a close range.
Adrien turned to her. "There are Kwamis everywhere, how do you know the ones you're looking for are near?"
Volpina rolled her eyes. "Our leader, Hawkmoth, knows more information about the Stone than your sorry lot." She flicked the metal piece of one of the rocket launchers and the metal clang resounded loudly. "I'm sure you've never heard of these Kwamis anyway so I'm going to tell you if you keep it a secret."
"Or else…?"
"You know…" Volpina gestured to the number of missals surrounding him. Adrien said nothing but stared at her through narrowed eyes. "I don't suppose you've heard of the Kwamis of creation and destruction, have you?"
Adrien sucked in his surprise, pocketing his right hand in his trousers, keeping Plagg out of sight. "No, I haven't. Do they have something to do with the soulmate pair?" He tried to keep his voice light but Volpina seemed to notice.
"Sensitive about soulmates, are we?" She said, sliding up next to him where he could feel her breath on his neck. He glared. "Oh, you don't have one, do you?"
"No," he hissed out, clenching his left hand into a fist. "I don't think I do."
Volpina gave a mocking coo. "Aw, a handsome fellow like you should, but then again, that means you're free to take." She was close now that Adrien could see all of her teeth were small incisors, her red lips making her mouth too big, as if she were ready to take a bite. He slid away from her. "Don't worry, I don't have a soulmate either, at least not one that I'm aware of."
"I don't believe in soulmates," Adrien said defiantly. "I believe in love but spinning it further to the belief that there is such a thing as soulmates seems to take that value away. They're nothing but a mechanism that can destroy people." Like my father.
"Such a shame you have that mindset," she said with a sigh, backing away from him. "You can't be the holder of the Kwami, Plagg, then."
Adrien sucked in another breath to hide his clenched gut. Plagg. They're after Plagg. "Oh, is that the name of one of the Kwamis you're after then?"
"Supposedly," Volpina scoffed. "There's its Kwami partner called Tikki, but Hawkmoth said she's with the Stone, so our only chance is the holder who has the Kwami of destruction. Having at least one of the Kwamis helps us to locate the other and once we have both, we'll be able to locate the Stone."
"And then what?"
"Ah, ah," Volpina said holding up a finger. "I can't tell you that much."
A loud squawk shrieked above them and they looked up to find Pigeon had made the fatal mistake of wrapping himself around Chloe with his large wings, which gave her the chance to unleash her venom sting. Pigeon was now falling, and Chloe rammed into him, flying towards Volpina and Adrien.
"Stop!" Volpina shouted. "You come any closer and your leader gets it!" She moved the missals closer, but Chloe was still speeding towards them.
"Like hell I will!" Chloe screamed and Volpina stared at her in disbelief, as if she really couldn't believe she would risk Adrien's life.
Adrien smirked, recognizing Chloe's usual strategy and seeing the familiar green armor over Volpina's shoulder. "Heads up."
"Wha –" Volpina said, turning one of the missals towards Chloe as if it would be enough to stop her.
At the last minute, Chloe swerved and slammed Pigeon on the opposite side of the roof, the sound of metal cracking against concrete. Right when she deflected her aim towards Volpina, Nino launched up from his place and threw his shield, hitting Volpina square on the jaw and knocking her to the ground. She didn't get up and her missals faded away, which allowed Adrien to move towards Nino.
They high-fived. "Thanks for that bro, and nice bluff, Chloe!"
Chloe growled as she wiped off feathers and dirt from her torso. "Ugh, you're lucky I saw you, Lahiffe. Otherwise, I would've smashed tacky pigeon man right into her ugly fox face."
"Kind of wish you did," Nino said, rolling his eyes. "If she has Trixx as her Kwami, I'm out."
Adrien looked down at her to search for any signs of a Kwami artefact and shook his head. "Nope, only a butterfly."
Nino sighed in relief. "Thank Kwami. I would not want her as my soulmate."
Chloe scoffed. "Believe me, Lahiffe, I wouldn't want you to have her as your soulmate."
"Aw, Chloe you do care," Nino replied mockingly, but he had a grin regardless.
"Guys," Adrien started, looking across to where the third figure still stood but their focus was towards the park where Kim and Alix were hiding. "I found out they're tracking the Stone through two Kwamis that were the created alongside it."
"What? Which Kwamis? I thought they were all created together," Nino said in surprise. Chloe folded her arms and didn't say anything for once.
Adrien turned to them. "So did I, but apparently not. They were the first Kwamis created and if they find one, they can find the other and once they find both, they can track the Stone's location."
Chloe let out a puff of breath. "Which Kwamis then? Do we know how many?"
"Two – the Kwamis of creation and destruction." He saw his friends' eyes widen in shock as they glanced down to his ring,
"Crud," Nino breathed out, glancing up at Adrien. "So much for a simple guarding mission. What do you want to do?"
Adrien turned to them. "No choice – we have to use it to our advantage. If we can distract them enough then we'll have enough time –"
He got interrupted as Chloe took him and Nino by the collar, flying up. "Watch it!" She yelled, and Adrien saw the third figure flying towards them. Chloe clicked her teeth with distain. "These assholes are so weird – first a pigeon man now an owl…" They all saw that it was indeed a large owl-like man flying towards them with a severe look on his tattooed face. Unlike pigeon man, he was larger in a buff physique, his wings an attachment of his arms, as well as claws for his feet and his face covered not only in a black butterfly tattoo but feathers.
"Warn us a bit earlier, next time, could ya dudettes?" Nino shouted, hanging onto Chloe for dear life. She clicked her teeth again in annoyance.
"It's bad enough I'm carrying you let alone two of you," Chloe said through gritted teeth as she tried to land somewhere. "Where's Pinky and Speedo?"
"In the park, down there!" Adrien said, pointing down below, ignoring Chloe's nicknames for Alix and Kim. "They can help us."
"Kwami knows when those other two are going to wake up," Nino said as Chloe slowly brought them towards the park, the owl-man on their tails.
Chloe scoffed. "Oh, they're both knocked out with my venom, they won't be able to get up for hours."
Nino and Adrien exchanged impressed looks. "Huh, you really do use that brain of yours."
"Shut it!" She glared at him before a sudden force knocked them forward and they tumbled to the ground in a heap. Nino and Adrien groaned but got up quickly as soon as they heard Chloe cry in pain, holding her leg. They ran to her and saw a claw sticking out from the side of her thigh, a huge gash forming as a result from the hard landing they took
Alix skated over as Kim ran in front, holding out his bow and arrow towards the owl-man who paused meters away. "Kwami, are you guys alright? What happened?"
"Oh, I'm going to kill that rat," Chloe said angrily, wiping away her tears. "I'd rather deal with Pigeon-man again!"
Nino looked at the wound, shaking his head. "It looks bad. We'll have to contact Rose."
"By the time she gets here, my leg will have to be amputated," Chloe snarked out before sighing in defeat. "I'm sorry you guys, if I was a bit stronger I could've avoided this."
Adrien placed a hand on her shoulder in assurance. "Chloe, you've helped us enough, the last thing we want is for you to get hurt worst." He turned to Alix. "They're after the Kwami of destruction – we need to distract them."
The pink-haired skater took a glance at his hand, before grinning at him. "Man, Agreste, you're lucky we're friends otherwise you'd be sacrificed."
He stared at her, his heart jumping from surprise. "Uh…"
"It's a joke. We got your back!" Alix assured him, punching his arm before skating away to help Kim with the owl.
Nino shook his head after her. "No consideration from her, I swear."
Chloe grunted, trying to stand but it was futile. "I don't think I can move – what are we gonna do?"
Adrien exhaled. "I'm guessing you can't use Pollen?"
"Are you kidding? Of course, I can – if they come anywhere near my crippled ass, they're better off dead," Chloe responded. "Then again, they were better off dead in their tacky robes than taking them off."
Both boys snorted at her.
Nino glanced up and darted in front of them, holding out his shield as a flurry of talons came racing towards them. "Looks like owl guy is a lot stronger in close combat."
Adrien glanced behind them, noticing the leftover ashes from the black butterfly from earlier floating in the middle of a small patch of grass between the trees. He walked closer, Nino continuing to shield the rest of them from the onslaught of claws, and when he got closer he felt Plagg tighten around his finger.
"Ah," Adrien hissed out in pain, glancing down at his ring which was blinking between silver and black, a green claw mark blinking rapidly in the center.
Glancing back at the floating dust before him, Adrien debated with himself over taking up his armor Kwami form but knew it would possibly put most of his friends in danger should he resort to using his powers. He had no choice, though, he saw more feathers from the distance – Volpina and Pigeon were up and running, well, flying, towards them and any moment they would have a serious fight on their hands. Then there were the leftover ashes from the butterfly – he could tell Plagg was going haywire with the strange energy radiating from the cloud circling in front of him. Looks like there was no choice.
"Plagg, I'm sorry," he whispered to his Kwami, uncertain if the soul that was attached to his ring could hear him or not. "Claws out!"
The rush of transforming into Kwami armor still excited him every time, regardless of the situation. The additional energy he felt that combined with his own magic made him feel in control and free at once, the total opposite of what he felt in his own home with his father regulating his whereabouts. As the holder of Plagg, Adrien felt the most like himself in the longest time since his mother's passing and there was a strange warmth that always came from his transformations, as if she were there with him.
He glanced back at Nino who stared at him in a mixture of dismay and confusion, which Adrien could understand why. "Trust me on this, this is the only way. Help the others!" He saw Nino debating with the situation before his best friend shook his head.
"No, I'm sticking with you. I'm not leaving my best friend behind," he said defiantly, and Adrien couldn't help but smile in gratefulness for his loyalty.
"Knew I couldn't persuade you even with that order," he taunted, clapping his friend's outstretched palm. "Ok then, watch my back."
Nino nodded his head, following behind him as Adrien moved closer to the circle of dust, his palm outstretched as the green claw marks on his ring glowed the brightest he had seen. He always thought it was a simple decoration that marked the use of his cataclysms, but clearly there was something else going on here that made it radiate with the floating ashes.
He tentatively stepped into the circle of black and felt a sudden pain in his hand, Plagg almost jumping from his finger. The black was now glowing green, twirling into a ring as the ground quaked under his feet, making Adrien stumble. A symbol in the exact formation of his claw marks on Plagg appeared on the ground, with five dots encircling it, making it look like a yin and yang drawing.
Before he could look further, an orange spear flew past his ear and landed on the ground in front of him. He turned back and saw Volpina fighting Nino as she screamed in rage – Alix, Kim and Chloe were battling the Pigeon and Owl, but two more robed figures made it past them and were quickly darting towards him. Adrien extended his silver staff and knocked the flute-like object Volpina had in her hands away, making her stumble back but one of the robed figures took the other end and grabbed on.
Adrien lifted his staff and flipped them over, but they maneuvered quick enough to flip over so that they were now standing in front of him. He retracted his staff back, preparing to fight hand-to-hand, but the robed figure – their hood covering their face – stood still for a moment. Adrien quickly glanced back at their other robed companion who was standing on his other side, behind them Nino was continuing to fight off Volpina with difficulty.
He was having difficulty standing as the glowing ring surrounding him seemed to open the ground, revealing a swirling void in the middle of the symbol beneath him. Adrien was trapped, and he didn't know what else to do to escape as the figures seemed to be doing a spell of some sort, their palms outstretched between them glowing a scarlet red. He looked below at what he could only assume was a portal leading towards the Stone for Plagg seemed to pull him towards it and he clenched his fist, finally knowing what his Kwami wanted regardless of the consequences.
"His Kwami is opening up the portal!" Volpina called out. "Take him before he's gone!"
"Cataclysm!" Adrien shouted, feeling the familiar wave of destructive energy cocoon his hand. He raised a fist and slammed it down in the center of the yin and yang underneath his feet, feeling the sudden sensation of his body dissolving and morphing, as if it were shrinking. He yelled as the invisible platform broke off from underneath him and with it, the connection Adrien had to the surface. Now he was falling as his body quaked and condensed, the distant sound of his name being screamed out to him, but he barely made out his friend's voices as he saw nothing but green.
"Adrien!" He heard Chloe.
"Adrien!" Nino next.
Then there was nothing, and he spiraled into sudden darkness, only Plagg's pulsing light around him a sign of comfort.
AN: Right, well, here's the first intro to my first Miraculous Ladybug story, only because I watched the Season 2 finale and it basically urged me to write something.
Apologies for the long prologue and any confusion you might have, but patience is a virtue after all and I hope to clear up some questions in later chapters. I put this down as a soulmate AU but it's obviously not just that and there won't be any actual Kwamis in this alternative story-line I'm afraid, just because I want to focus on all the characters to do them justice instead of leaving all of them out with basic background!
Next chapter is when we start getting into the plot with Marinette, so stay tune! I might be updating this twice a week depending on how productive I am (warning - I'm not and procrastinate on a lot of things unfortunately) but it might be once a week or every other week as well. Thanks! :)