Here's chapter 2! I was working on the 3rd chapter, and I figured I might add a 4th chapter after all! The hurricane shouldn't hit until the morning or later than that, so if we still have power I'll definitely start that.
Until then, here's chapter 2 for you all to enjoy!
Samantha Kurtzberg was beginning to grow concerned.
After hearing that her son had been akumatized, she and her husband had made it a point to try to be there for him. He seemed to resist at every turn. Maybe they were going too fast. With their jobs at the Louvre, they couldn't be around much for a very long time. But once they heard the news, they had made it a point to use more of their days off to be home with their son.
Michael was asleep, so she was the only one who heard the sobs coming from her son's bedroom. She stood and made her way to his room when the sobs suddenly stopped. Strange. Something was off here.
"Nathanael?" Samantha knocked on the door softly. Perhaps her son was asleep? No response-not to her. She heard one word, as if he was talking to someone else.
"Gladly." she blanched, fear growing in her veins. That did not sound like her son. It sounded dark, vicious, bitter and angry. Like someone else,something else. Needless to say, she was concerned.
"Nathanael!" she knocked again. No response, yet again, but all she heard was a low… gurgling sound, and a weird black mist billowed under the door. She tried the handle. It wasn't locked. She whipped the door open and her heart stopped.
Could someone be akumatized twice?!
She wasn't looking at her son. Instead, she was face to face with a being the same height as her son, but she refused to believe it was him. He looked too… strong. His skin was purple, and a striped bodysuit faded to dark purple, then red. A black circle adorned his chest, with smaller circles of the primary colors inside. A tablet was strapped to his right arm, a pencil in his left. A dark purple beret sat atop his head, and his red hair was pushed to the side in large paintbrush-like locks. But behind his purple domino mask, were two familiar eyes that told her everything she needed to know, despite the unfamiliar hatred in them.
The Evillustrator stood before her. But most importantly, her son did. He was hurt, and he needed to be saved from the beast that had taken over him.
The only problem was he clearly didn't want help.
He narrowed his eyes and started drawing on his tablet, glaring at her the whole time. Before she could react, everything was tinted in blue and she found herself trapped in a box with no way out.
"Nathanael! Nathanael, please, stop this!" She begged, trying to find a way out of her trap.
"Nathanael is no more. Deal with it." His voice came through the box, muted as if she was hearing him from underwater. He smirked maliciously and banged a hand against the walls of the box before drawing a jetpack for himself and soaring out of their apartment.
Marinette's party was amazing!
All of her friends seemed to be having fun, dancing to the music or drinking the punch and eating the cookies she had prepared. Adrien was even there! Somehow, Marinette had managed to muster up the courage to ask him to come, and he was more than glad to! Granted, she had Alya with her when she asked, but still!
There he was, across the room, drinking punch and listening to Nino's jokes and Kim's boasts, a smile on his face. Ivan and Mylene were chatting with Max, Mylene perched upon her partner's shoulders. Alya came from the restroom and pulled Nino to the center of the living room, which Marinette had set up as the dance floor. Her parents were already there, dancing and laughing. Marinette grinned, seeing all of her friends enjoying themselves, until she noticed Rose, Juleka, and Alix standing in the corner looking at Rose's phone. They all looked… Worried. Was something wrong?
Marinette came over curiously. "Hey, guys! Is everything okay?"
"Nathanael's a bit sad that he didn't get invited to the party." Rose sighed.
"And he's not responding to any of our messages," Juleka added. Marinette's breath caught in her throat.
Oh god, she had forgotten someone!
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!"
"Why didn't you invite him?" Alix asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I… I must've forgotten somehow, it must've slipped my mind! Oh, gosh, I'm such a wreck! Um, t-tell him that if he wants to come over, he can!"
"I'll see if I can reach his number, but-" Rose was cut off by a shout. Everyone turned to see someone standing in the window, the glass being erased from existence as he made a motion on his tablet. Then he stepped into the room, blue eyes narrowed.
"What a wonderful party. And yet, I wasn't invited!" he hissed, his ice cold glare sweeping over the room.
"Nathanael?!" Marinette's eyes widened as she recognized the Evillustrator. It was simply unmistakable, it was definitely him, but how-?!
"Nathanael? Nathanael?!" he let out a wicked laugh. "All this time, and now you care about Nathanael?! Too late! Nathanael has been erased! And now… So will all of you!"
Before anyone could react, the floor below most of everyone disappeared with a sweep of the akuma's hands, sending everyone plummeting into the bakery below them. The only one who remained was Marinette, standing upon a single tile that somehow remained floating. The Evillustrator made a line of panels bridging the gap between them as he walked over.
"And you. Let's make the wicked witch suffer, shall we?!" he growled, the pure hatred in his eyes sending Marinete backing up-off the tile. She fell with a scream, only to be caught by her father.
"We won't let you hurt our daughter!" he shouted up at him.
"Do you really think you can stop me? That's almost funny enough to make me laugh! But not quite." with a fluid motion of his hand, the Evillustrator drew spinning blades that were aimed right for the small family. They wouldn't be able to dodge in time! Marinete felt her father's grip on her tighten.
Suddenly a broom and a mop struck the center of them, knocking them to the ground. The blades disappeared afterwards. The Evillustrator grit his teeth before turning to see who would dare interrupt, only to find the one and only Adrien Agreste holding more tools from the supply closet.
"Hey! Leave her alone!" he shouted, throwing a bottle of glass cleaner at the villain. He simply bat it away before drawing on his tablet. A giant weight appeared over Adrien's head before it began to fall. The classmates could only watch in horror as it crashed down in a cloud of dust.
"Adrien!" Nino screamed, about to run over only to be stopped by Alya. When the dust settled, they found that Adrien had somehow managed to roll out from under it before it fell, and was okay.
"Who says we should run?!" Kim asked panickedly, to the point where it was more of a shout.
"Bet I can beat you there!" Alix shouted back before they ran out of the bakery, the rest of the partygoers following and scattering in all directions. Her parents and Adrien ran as well, Marinette's father still carrying her.. The Evillustrator just laughed and flew after them, tailing after the family.
"Dad! Dad, put me down! He's after me!" Marinette begged.
"We need to find Ladybug so she can protect you!" her mother said. If only they knew they were holding Ladybug!
"Mom! I can run faster than you guys, I'll just go hide and you guys can find Ladybug!" she managed to squirm her way out of her father's arms and began running as if her life depended on it, because it did.
"Marinette!" her mother screamed. Tom grabbed her and ducked around a corner just as Marinette sprinted around another. Almost an instant later, the Evillustrator rounded the bend and found the two.
"Where is she?!" he shouted.
"She-She's gone! You can't get to her anymore!" Tom said, trying to stay firm even as his voice shook.
"Tell me where she is or you'll suffer in her place!"
"We don't know! Leave us alone!" Sabine demanded. He narrowed his eyes before a nasty smirk stretched across his face.
"Sounds like you've made your choice!"
Marinette ran around a corner, putting even more distance between herself and her parents. Her lungs were burning, but she didn't let herself stop running until she rounded another bend and ducked into an alleyway. She opened her purse and Tikki flew out, eyes already wide with worry.
"Tikki, this is all my fault, this wouldn't have happened if I had remembered to invite Nathanael!" she sighed, trying to catch her breath. Her mind was frazzling at the ends, panic surging through her veins. With his abilities, the Evillustrator was arguably one of the hardest villains she'd ever had to face, and he seemed even more pissed than last time.
"We can fix the problem between you and Nathanael later! Right now, we have to stop the Evillustrator before he finds you again!" Tikki squeaked.
"Right! Tikki, Spots On!" Marinette felt the magic flowing through her, and with it came a calming sense of security. She could fix this. She had defeated him before, she could do it again.
She was Ladybug. And she hadn't failed yet.
She cast out her yo-yo until it latched onto a precipice in the distance, and she used that to take off swinging towards where she figured the Evillustrator thought she would be. Then she heard her parents scream and twisted until she soared in that direction instead.
Tom and Sabine were curled up to each other, clinging to each other for dear life as a giant dragon with purple, white, and black stripes stood before them, the Evillustrator on its back, laughing madly as its mouth sparked with flames it seemed ready to blow out. Quickly, Marinette lassoed her yo-yo around the beast's jaws and pulled tight, snapping them closed. The Evillustrator turned her way.
"Ladybug!" he spat out her name like venom, scribbling something on his tablet even as the dragon burst into blue sparks, and then nothingness. The distraction provided her parents a chance to run to safety, which Ladybug was grateful for even as she flipped back to avoid a spinning blade. She popped back up from her acrobatic stunt only to see a giant punching glove aimed right for her head, with no time to dodge it. Luckily, a silver baton pierced through it, reducing it to blue sparks as well. She looked up to see her partner, Chat Noir, leaping down to stand beside her. The team was together, and surely unstoppable now.
The Evillustrator grit his teeth when suddenly a purple butterfly-shaped mirage overtook his eyes. He quirked an eyebrow before smirking.
"You two have something I want. Hand it over, and we can get this over with the easy way!" he demanded, holding his hand out as if expecting them to fork over their Miraculouses right then and there.
"No way! You'll have to catch us first!" Ladybug taunted.
"So be it!" he touched his stylus to the yellow circle on his chest before drawing straight lines on his tablet. Almost immediately, yelow jolts of electricity arced out of his tablet and towards them, forcing them to dive away or risk electrocution. A flash of red from the Evillustrator's direction prompted them to look up, just in time to see a dozen flying monkeys shooting red arrows at them that exploded on contact. How did he draw that fast?!
Chat tackled Ladybug away from the impending attack before using his baton to swing at one of the monkeys, knocking it into a wall and reducing it to fleeting red sparks.
"Well, he definitely isn't monkeying around this time!" Chat quipped, prompting a groan from his lady.
"Now is not the time!" she sighed. Last time, the akuma was in his stylus, surely it would be in there again, right? At least, it was their best bet. But he seemed stronger than he had been before. At least, this whole colored dots thing was new. They'd always been on his costume, but she didn't recall them ever affecting his abilities. Everything was becoming so complicated now. Maybe they could end this quickly.
Ladybug swung back before casting her yo-yo at his drawing hand. If she could stop him from drawing, all they had to do was get rid of those annoying monkeys he kept drawing. She glanced over and punched one that had made its way over to her, only to realize they had her face. Well, Marinette's face, but still. God, she hated this.
The Evillustrator had seen it coming. He touched the blue circle on his chest before drawing a spiraling line on his tablet. Immediately, the yo-yo changed course and tangled itself around Ladybug. She couldn't react in time and accidentally tightened the yoyo-string, tripping herself up and sending her crashing to the floor. With Chat Noir distracted by the flying monkeys he had created, now was the perfect time for the Evillustrator to take her Miraculous.
Even as he walked over, he heard the dark purr of his Master beckoning him on, a purple haze overtaking his vision.
"Yes, yes! Seize her miraculous!" he crooned. Ladybug's eyes widened when she seemed to realize what he was up to.
"Chat Noir! Help!" she called out, but the Evillustrator clamped a hand over her mouth while his other hand went to her earrings. Even as his fingers drew near, he could feel the incredible power they contained tingling through his veins.
"I'll be taking these," he said with a smirk. Just as he was about to take the first one off, he was forced to jump back as a silvery baton nearly hit him in the head. He grit his teeth when he saw that Ladybug's stupid sidekick had come over to distract him, giving time for the spotted superheroine to (rather pathetically) roll away. Chat Noir held the baton threateningly to his neck, an eyebrow quirked as the Evillustrator was forced to step backwards.
"What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?" he quipped, smirking. The purple-skinned villain grit his teeth as he looked for an escape, only to find dozens of civilians snapping photos of and recording what was happening. Which gave him a vague idea.
His short stature gave him somewhat of an advantage, as he ducked under the baton and charged at the leather-clad hero. Before he could react or defend himself, he kneed him in the groin before flipping away, relishing seeing the cat in pain. Then he turned and began drawing boxes of different heights, which dropped down from the sky and trapped the citizens inside, but offering a sort of staircase for him to bound up and plot his next move. He almost tripped as the purple haze took over his vision yet again, making it hard to see the blue boxes and prompting him to stop.
"What are you doing?!" Hawkmoth shouted. "You should have taken his miraculous when you had the chance!"
"Oh, I-fuck!" he was about to turn around and pin Chat Noir down and take his Miraculous or whatever, only to find the feline fucker swinging his baton at his head like a baseball bat. It hit his temple, and the pain was enough to send him toppling off the box he had been perched on and to the ground. Ow.
He looked to his left and saw Ladybug still desperately trying to free herself from her own tangled-up yoyo mess. A perfect opportunity to steal her Miraculous, had it not been for this stupid cat boy trying to hit his head again! He had no choice but to defend himself first, maybe get Shit Noir out of the way and take his Miraculous first before Spots could get free. With his new strength, he backflipped onto a box, and drew on his tablet before Chat Noir could reach him. His stylus became a sword, but the hilt still had the stylus tip that was so essential to his future attacks. Sure, it would probably be hard to draw with a sword, but at least he could-actually, what the hell was he thinking?! He'd just have to roll with it. Using a sword couldn't be that hard, could it?
Chat Noir came charging his way again, but the Evillustrator felt pretty prepared, given he had been winging it for the past ten minutes of his existence. When Chat Noir came to swing, he blocked the blow with his sword. Just like he had seen in Star Wars. He took a step backwards, until he was up on another box, and another. He had to keep the high ground to keep his current advantage, which was swinging wildly so that his opponent could barely make his way any closer. Hey, it had worked in Wii Sports.
Maybe he shouldn't rely on video games and movies for combat techniques.
Ladybug was still struggling with her current predicament when someone ran over and began helping her. She looked up to find Rose untangling the yoyo string for her until her arms were free. Ladybug grinned and stood up, brushing herself off.
"Thank you!" Rose smiled and waved. But before Ladybug could rush back into the battle, she stopped her.
"Wait! That's my friend, Nathanael! Please don't hurt him!" her hands clasped together at her chest, her eyes wide with concern.
"Don't worry, we'll save your friend! Just go to a safe spot, and we'll handle this!" Rose nodded before running off to where Juleka hid behind a tree, the two of them linking hands before running off down the street. Ladybug then turned to where Chat Noir and the Evillustrator were fighting atop the boxes he had caged people in earlier. This was the best time she could possibly get to use her Lucky charm. May as well before she lost the chance.
"Lucky Charm!" she exclaimed, tossing her yoyo up into the air as streaks of magic surrounded it. It coalesced into a shape before it fell into her hands. "Wha-a bag of marbles?"
The Evillustrator heard her and scoffed. "Do you really think you can stop me with those?! Fat chance, Lady Bitch!"
"Hey! Language!" she huffed, crossing her arms as she looked around for any indication on how to use the round stones in her hand. That's when an idea came to her.
Meanwhile, Chat Noir and the Evillustrator were still sparring atop the boxes, one trying to knock the other off to take advantage of the distraction to grab the item they needed from the other. They weren't really getting anywhere; Chat Noir couldn't get any closer, but the Evillustrator couldn't draw anything to retaliate, and whatever he did was small, hurried, and near-harmless.
"Chat Noir!" his leather ears twitched as he heard his lady call his name, but he couldn't turn to acknowledge her. "Use your cataclysm! Trust me!"
"Got it, Ladybug! Cataclysm!" he felt the dark energy gather around his hand, and knew he had to be careful in order to not hit the wrong thing. He had a gut feeling he knew what she wanted, and went with it, slamming his hand against the box the Evillustrator was standing upon, ducking under a swing of his sword. The box disappeared into sparks, sending the villain falling with a shout to the ground. The box was pretty high off the ground, leaving ample time for the previously-imprisoned civilian to run out of the way. The boy landed hard, but was almost immediately up again, glaring and running towards Ladybug until he suddenly slipped on something under his feet-the marbles!
His hand instinctively reached out beneath him to save his fall, but this action accidentally caused him to let go of his stylus and send it right to Ladybug's waiting hands. She grinned and broke it, and the resounding snap sent a shudder through his body. Whether it was the flash of pain that caused it, or the haunting frustrated screams of Hawkmoth echoing in his brain, he wasn't sure. His blood seemed on fire and cold as ice at once.
"No more evil doing for you, little akuma! Time to de-evilize!" Ladybug swung her glowing yoyo around before catching it inside and closing it, only setting it free once it had been purified to a delicate snowy white. "Bye bye, little butterfly…" she took a marble from the ground and tossed it into the air with a triumphant shout. "Miraculous Ladybug!"
The Evillustrator could only watch as glowing red ladybugs swarmed through the city, erasing any damage that had been caused and leaving no evidence. Leaving no evidence that he had ever existed besides fleeting, impermanent memories. He felt himself receding, but at the same time felt something else-someone else, taking its place. A blurry shape at first, but it began to push him out, push him away, as Nathanael finally returned from the land of the asleep, the dead, the world of the nonexisting he was being forced into now. He tried to cling on to something, anything, so that he wouldn't have to disappear, but…
Nathanael blinked, vision blurry for a moment until he rubbed his eyes and looked around. He was in the middle of the street, in a park somewhere, with the two heroes of Paris exchanging a celebratory fist-bump between them-ugh, he'd done it again, hadn't he?!
The memory of why threatened to bring fresh tears to his face once again, as he curled his knees to his chest and tried to block out the world. He had to get a hold on his emotions! Hell, he had just been akumatized a second time already, and he didn't want it to happen again! He bit his lip in an effort to stop the tears, but it didn't really work.
Then he felt a comforting hand on his shoulder. He looked up to see Ladybug there, eyes kind but worried. Dear God, there he was, crying and runny-nosed in front of the Heroes of Paris, how humiliating.
"Hey, Nathanael? Are you alright?" she asked, kneeling down to his level. Honestly, anyone else probably would've said yes. It was proper etiquette to not lay your feelings bare on someone who was asking a question that usually didn't mean more than a social nicety. But he had already gotten in trouble for bottling up his emotions. So, he wiped his eyes and told her.
"Not really… My crush, Marinette, she, ah… she didn't invite me to her birthday. I think it was because I tried to drown her last time? And, I feel like some crappy creep, and I guess Hawkmoth found me again and… yeah…" he sighed. He felt like a bit of the heavy weight on his heart had been lifted. The break wasn't healed, but it wasn't as festering and chaotic either, now that he had gotten his emotions in order.
Ladybug let out a sympathetic sigh. "I see… well, I've met Marinette once or twice before, and I doubt she intentionally didn't invite you. There must've been a mixup or something. I'm sure she wouldn't mind if you dropped by her party to hang out."
Nathanael felt his skin go cold. "Oh, gosh, I totally ruined her party, she must totally hate me now…"
"I doubt it. Whatever you did is fixed already, I'm sure the party will be back up and running before you know it." her earrings beeped and her hand instinctively went to her ears. "I need to go. But try going to that party. I'm sure it'll go great!"
"Alright. Thanks Ladybug." he smiled, a burst of confidence coursing its way through his veins. He stood the same moment she did, and realized that they were about the same height. Some sense of familiarity burned at the back of his mind, but there was some sort of disconnect that kept him from acknowledging it. His mind wandered. Should he go pick up his present? Or just give it to Marinette another day? Another day would be fine. Perhaps Monday, at school. Or he could swing by Sunday afternoon. Would that be weird?
"No problem, Nathanael. Good luck!" Ladybug waved as she cast out her yoyo, before tugging it tight and launching off into the blue afternoon sky. Chat Noir offered a quick salute before heading off himself. Nathanael couldn't help but grin as he made his way to Marinette's house.
I also have another fanficiton idea that I figured I would tell you about, in case you're interested and I get around to doing it.
As you may have heard, the United States has a sort of clown problem at the moment. So, imagine if Paris had one...?
Might start a new series I do. Who knows, maybe a certain someone will get a Miraculous.
Feel free to follow me here or on any other accounts I have for updates on me and what's going on and my current status and also if you want to see some art! All other profiles are on my profile!
I hope you have a wonderful day!
