It had been two days since the fateful neo-akuma attack, and Emma and Darcy's discovery of the 'Bat-Cave' (Darcy had not let up on the name, much to Emma's frustration,)
Though they had not had a chance to go back to the cave, with sleepovers, schoolwork and other obligations.
Though, now it was the weekend. Emma's favourite part of the week.
Right now, though, she was listening to Darcy drone on about all the different features in Ultimate Mecha Strike 5, and what extra features it had compared to its more common counterpart.
They had asked Marinette and Adrien about it, (with no inkling to suggest that they actually had it,) and her father had it at one point. Though apparently, one day he put it in the wrong way in the console and it scratched it beyond repair. (Darcy looked to be silently mourning for the disc during his story,)
Though, all in all, they didn't get much, as there were only about 1,000 copies made, and how the school got it was anyone's guess.
"I can't believe you put it in the wrong way, Mr Agreste! A true collector's item destroyed by its owner, I truly mourn its passing," Darcy exclaimed,
Emma, Marinette and Adrien all laughed at his over-dramatic voice.
"Darcy, I've told you a million times. Adrien is fine, you don't need to call me Mr Agreste!"
"All right then, Mr Agreste," He smirked at Adrien,
Adrien chuckled slightly before looking at a nearby clock. "You better get going pal, it's going to get dark soon," he told Darcy,
"Aww, can't I stay again? I hate my stupid babysitters," Darcy replied, half-serious,
"Nah, you got school tomorrow. Though, tell you what. I'll call Nino and try to convince him that you're a pretty responsible kid that doesn't need a babysitter, all right?" Adrien offered,
Darcy ran to Adrien at the speed of light and gave him a big hug, "Thank you, thank you, thank you! I've tried to tell them that for years, but they won't listen to me!"
"It's all right pal," Adrien smiled, releasing the hug,
Darcy grabbed his backpack and waved them a goodbye, before leaving through the front door.
"Do you think I should've driven him back to his place?" Adrien asked his wife,
"They only live a couple of blocks away, It'll be fine Adrien." Marinette smiled,
"Oh all right, hey Emma, did you want to hop on Mecha Strike for a couple of rounds before bed?"
"Do I ever!" Emma replied enthusiastically,
"Since when do you know how to play a PRX Emma, or Mecha Strike for that matter?" Marinette asked curiously,
"Natural talent I suppose," She replied nonchalantly,
"Natural talent?! You're almost as good as me at this, you must've gotten some practice, I didn't think Darcy has a PRX, did Nino keep his?" He asked Marinette,
"Don't think so," she replied,
"I honestly don't know how I'm good at this though," Emma threw in,
"I verse the winner!" Marinette called out,
"Mum plays?" She asked her Dad,
"Oh yeah! She kicks my ass at this all the time!"
"Language!" She heard from the kitchen,
"Behind," Adrien drawled, rolling his eyes,
"I could practically hear that eye-roll Adrien, but you're forgiven," Marinette giggled,
It was a close game, but Adrien still had his skills and beat Emma. Though she then got to witness the Mecha Strike machine that was her mother.
"Gee Mum, you beat Dad again!"
"Still got it," Marinette stated smugly,
Emma looked at the clock, there was time for one more game.
"two on one, winner takes all," Emma challenged her mother,
"Accepted,"
They all picked up controllers, Adrien's style was a bit blunter than Darcy's but she could still work with it.
It was a very close game, and Marinette only won because the time limit completely depleted.
"That's a cheap win!" Emma screamed indignantly, "rematch!"
Adrien's eyes lit up before Marinette raised her hand and said, "maybe tomorrow afternoon, it's Emma's bedtime, isn't it Adrien?"
He quickly stood up, and said in a deep voice, "yes, young lady, it is time for bed,"
Emma and Marinette laughed at his antics.
Emma walked to her room, but not before wishing a goodbye to both her parents.
Sometime at night…
Emma woke up with a parched throat, walking down the corridor, she heard a quiet sobbing, she froze and slowly crept to the living room, where she saw her father openly crying.
"miss you, Mum… You'd be so… A family… Emma and Darcy… Be a grandmother, I love you, Mum,"
Emma didn't know much about her grandmother, from what she gathered though, her crazy maniac of a grandfather had something to do with her disappearance. Though now it wasn't the time to dwell on her grandmother, instead, she decided revealing herself would be more ideal than hiding.
"What was she like?" Emma came in, asking her father,
Adrien's red eyes widened in shock for a second, before he smiled slightly and patting the spot next to him. She sat down there,
"Your grandmother was the kindest, most empathetic person you could ever meet. She was an actor, and the only person who let me have fun, rather than just living the model life with my father, she lit up the life of whoever met her, she was a beautiful woman. You are actually named after her you know, you bring the same light into all our lives Emelie Agreste. I wish she was here to see the beautiful woman you grew up to be today," Adrien explained to her,
"Uh, you don't have to answer, but what happened?"
Adrien sighed before dropping his head into his hands,
"I suppose you'll discover the truth one day anyway, so listen to me now, I'm only telling you once, Emelie, when I was about your age, my mother disappeared without a trace, my father called private investigators, world-renowned detectives and other top-class people, but they all failed. My father wallowed in his misery for a few months before making the worst mistake in his life, he became Hawkmoth, he had a mission to see his wife again by stealing the Earrings of the Ladybug and the Ring of the Black Cat, he was stopped numerous times." Adrien explained,
He took a deep breath before he continued to talk, with Emma listening in on every word,
"Eventually, though, his luck ran out and Ladybug and Chat Noir found him. The media called it the 'Final Battle' and it was fought at my former home, the Agreste mansion. My father almost killed Ladybug and Chat Noir multiple times, but the heroes won, and he was captured and he reverted to his civilian form, he was detained by Ladybug as Chat Noir was too confused at Hawkmoth's identity to do anything, afterwards Ladybug comforted Chat Noir, though she was confused on why he was so distraught,"
He took a sip of water, before continuing,
"Gabriel took the heroes' misery to his advantage, he somehow escaped from Ladybug's yo-yo string, and disappeared, the next day Gabriel Agreste was confirmed to be Hawkmoth, however, I used my influence so only our family and high-ranking citizens of France knew that. From that day on, the Moth Miraculous was put back where it should be by Gabriel, and he disappeared for good. Gabriel and Emelie Agreste were never heard from again. The end," He finished,
"How do you know all that?" She asked in wonder,
He smiled slightly before putting a finger over his lips in a 'be quiet' gesture.
"That's a secret for another time. Now, off to bed Emelie, it's really late,"
"Can you tell me more stories of my grandmother in the future? I really liked them, Dad,"
His eyes brightened, "sure sweetheart, I'd love that,"
She walked to the door before turning around again,
"Will you be all right?"
"I'll be fine, and you made it better. Good night sweetheart,"
"Goodnight Dad,"
The next morning…
Emma felt something jump on her again, but this time she wasn't fooled.
"Morning Dad,"
"Aw darn, looks like I need to be less predictable, don't I?" He asked with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes,
"That you do, Dad,"
She walked out to find an extra person at the table,
"What the hell- What are you doing here Darcy?"
"I can't just surprise you, can I? Always questions," he chuckled,
"Fine then, I won't ask,"
"Well, you better not, that'll waste the last few minutes you have. Look at the time,"
She did just that and squealed.
"I'm gonna be late! Crap!"
She ran into her room and changed and ran out, hopping trying to put her socks on, she put her shoes on and bolted.
Darcy smiled, "well, I better make sure I'm not late, see you guys!"
Marinette and Adrien both said, "see you, Darcy!"
Once the door closed, Marinette turned to Adrien.
"So, how did it go?" She asked,
"How did what go?" He replied in fake confusion,
"You know what I'm talking about Adrien Agreste, you're walking like a zombie and there's noticeably less alcohol around here, yet you actually look better this year. I'm happy for you Adrien, I'm just curious on the sudden change,"
"It's alright Marinette, I just made peace with myself about her,"
"That's good Adrien, I'm happy for you,"
She pulled him into an embrace and kissed him.
At Francois Dupont…
"Science and Mathematics are intertwined in many different ways, formulas used in Science can apply to Maths and vice versa, can anyone tell me…" She explained, before getting cut off by the neo-akuma siren,
'Another attack?' Emma wondered alarmed,
"Lockdown procedure class! We've practised this!"
The students hid under their chars, waiting patiently for the alarm to cease.
Five minutes in, the door was kicked down and a purple figure with pink and blue highlights walked in.
Mrs Bustier stepped forward, "You will not harm my students neo-akuma!"
He chuckled darkly before replying in a strange accent, "Unfortunately for you dear, I am not a neo-akuma, I am Neo-Hawkmoth, the Rightful Emperor of Paris, you are but dirt beneath my feet, but if you kneel now, you can become my servants,"
Emma spoke up, "the reason that you're so successful is that you follow Hawkmoth's tactics right? His flawless plans that have gotten you so far right?"
The supervillain glared at her, "Yes, Hawkmoth was a successful villain, and I aim to achieve his goals,"
Emma shot back, "Then you should know that Hawkmoth never willingly took hostages, he was above such a low move, he took the fight to the miraculous wielders and was almost triumphant over them,"
Everything was silent, Emma's move was risky, and she could very well get killed.
"That's the difference though, Hawkmoth's plans while great, had flaws. That was one flaw, pride doesn't matter in a game of war, that's why Hawkmoth lost," he smirked,
Emma's eyes widened in fear, "everybody run!"
There was a mad scramble for the door, and Neo-Hawkmoth growled before sending multiple butterflies out of his staff to possess people. They screamed in pain and fear as the malicious butterflies entered their bodies.
Emma was one of the lucky few to get out, she whipped out her phone while running.
'Thank god I don't have Darcy in Maths,'
He picked up and instantly asked,
"What's going on?"
"Neo-Hawkmoth himself is here, get to the cave as fast as you can, I'll meet you,"
"Holy shit, he's here himself. I'll be there,"
She stopped in front of the metal door before punching in the code she memorised off by heart.
It opened to reveal Darcy on one of the computers, with complex lines of code on them.
"What are you doing?"
He looked at her, "I have a plan, but I've hit a snag,"
"What's the snag?"
"I was planning to go on the PA system and pretend to be the original Hawkmoth telling Neo-Hawkmoth to surrender while watching him with CCTV, but I don't have enough of Hawkmoth's voice files to make a believable fake,"
'This might bust Hawkmoth's identity, but Darcy won't tell anyone, I'm sure of it,'
"Try Gabriel Agreste,"
He looked at her in confusion, "Why Gabriel Agreste?"
"Compare the two voices,"
He found Gabriel Agreste's files and Hawkmoth's and listened to both of them, and his eyes widened in shock,
"Gabriel Agreste is Hawkmoth?! Holy fucking shit, that's the last person I'd suspect! Wait, you knew?"
Emma sighed before replying, "family secret, but that's not the point, is there enough of Gabriel's voice files?"
"Of course, he used to be like one of the biggest celebrities of France, I've got enough and then some,"
He put on the headset and entered the line of code, which brought up a battlefield. He nodded at her, and she mouthed 'good luck'
Back at the school…
'Thank god I chose today to come back to Paris! Ladybug, Chat Noir and Neo-Hawkmoth duking it out is not something I want to miss!' Alya thought while recording the fight in the clearest quality possible,
Alya had changed quite noticeably over the years, her hair had turned more of an auburn colour, and she had grown in size in her late teenage years.
"Give up and give me your miraculous! I might choose not to kill you if you do," Neo-Hawkmoth offered,
The heroes were losing quite badly, unlike their predecessors, they hadn't been in the fighting supervillains game long and simply had not practised enough, Neo-Hawkmoth raised his staff before a booming voice erupted from around them.
"How dare you tarnish my name with your circus tricks! Neo-Hawkmoth, I am Hawkmoth and have come using my power to stop your childish antics. You think you can rule Paris? You are but a child to me, biting off much more than he can chew. Surrender your miraculous, you do not deserve to have it,"
Neo-Hawkmoth's eyes face morphed into shock, his childhood hero had just told him he was not worthy.
"Now!" The voice yelled at them,
Ladybug and Chat Noir blinked out of their shock before resuming fighting stances and capturing Neo-Hawkmoth easily, who still was unresponsive. The second terror of Paris had finally been dealt with, and it was all because of a tech-savvy kid and a compassionate and strong girl. Though nobody knew that of course…
Author's Note: Second chapter out of three done!
I might be going under a writing hiatus soon, so I'll try to finish this before the exams start popping up.
Thanks for all the support! Carry on!
MiraculouDuels out!