Gabriel barely made it to the chair before his miraculous gave out, and he de-transformed. He sank weakly onto the cold metal frame, suppressing the pain as Nooroo tumbled out onto the table. It seemed the man was not accustomed to feeding his kwami, because the purple butterfly, already exhausted, staggered off on its own to find food, not even expecting any help.

Adrien sat cross-legged on the cold floor, staring at his chains. He knew Ladybug could cross the entire city in roughly thirty minutes. If she took any longer than that, it would be stopping to help people along the way. If he was going to help her, he had only that long to figure something out. But what could he do, with his ring missing and these strong chains tethering him to the floor?

"Do you want anything?" Gabriel asked softly, from the other side of the observatory. "Food? Or maybe a blanket?"

Adrien didn't look up.

"…You'll forgive me in time," Gabriel said, eyeing the butterflies ahead. For the moment, at least, the black butterflies were done assaulting him. "You feel betrayed for now, I suppose. But once I am finished, you will see that it was all necessary, and thank me."

"You've hurt so many people," Adrien said, still horrified. "It's been a miracle that no one has died yet. That could never be worth it."

"No one has died, as far as I know," Gabriel said. "But someone has disappeared."

Reluctantly, Adrien looked at him.

The man had opened what looked like a hidden locket on his miraculous, and was looking at something inside. "Do you remember that day, Adrien? You didn't see what I saw, but when you came home from school and she wasn't there… That look on your face has haunted me ever since. I failed you on that day. I failed you both."

"What does Mom have to do with this?" Adrien said, at a loss. It was a painful memory. Adding it onto the pain of what was currently happening wasn't pleasant.

Gabriel glanced at him. "You are beyond clever, my son. Haven't you already figured it out? Or are you in denial? Whoever holds both miraculouses, of creation and destruction, is unto a god."

"Creation and destruction?" He hadn't heard this before. Plagg had never said anything. "Mine and Ladybug's? What do you…" Wait. "You're trying to bring back Mom."

Gabriel smiled.

Adrien shook his head. Cataclysm could destroy anything. And Lucky Charm could create, it was true, although Ladybug didn't seem to have control over what was created. But they were powers with limits, and powers that had come dangerously close to being defeated before. Where had his father heard about godlike powers? Had he just not figured out the limits involved?

"You see," Gabriel said, when Adrien didn't respond right away, "It doesn't matter if people get hurt, or things get destroyed. Once I have both miraculouses, I can undo it all, anyways. No matter how monstrous I must become, it won't matter in the end. I'll be able to put everything back to how it should have been, or even better! A perfect world, where no one loses the people they cherish. You'll have your mother again, and we can all go back—"

"We can't come back from this," Adrien said, voice hollow. "Mom… Mom wouldn't have wanted this. She would be horrified."

It was as though he had slapped his father. Gabriel stared at Adrien for a long moment, not saying anything. Then, without a word, he silently got up, limped to the door, and left.

That left Adrien alone, save for the spider akuma working on the shadowy back wall. He tugged on his chains for what must have been the hundredth time, and tried not to give in to despair.

.:|:.

Nooroo looked up from the croissant he had found, as Gabriel stormed into the private study, straight toward the portrait and the safe hidden behind it. "Master, I'm going to need at least a few more minutes before I can—"

"I know, I know," Gabriel said, distracted. "Don't talk to me."

"Master, are you crying?"

"Shut up," the man said, flinging back the portrait and hastily inputting the code. He looked at the items inside, at a loss. The book, what he really needed, was long gone. The other things inside, mostly mere trinkets, were as good as useless to him. But underneath the strange peacock pin an elderly woman had sold him in Tibet, a simple formula was written down on parchment in strange script. The elderly woman in the crowded market had smiled enigmatically and pressed it into his hand, saying something in her native language. The translator had shrugged and said it was something about an elixir, a combination of herbs and minerals that, when mixed together and taken daily, could extend one's life energy. Why the old woman had thought someone buying a decorative pin would want such a thing… He was beginning to understand.

The photo of his wife was in there, too, smiling serenely down at him. He paused for a moment, trying to compose himself.

"It was the boy, wasn't it?"

Irritation flashed over his face. "Nooroo…"

Nooroo laughed, the sound humorless and harsh. "He gets to you. I can tell. You talk about how soft and full of feelings he is, but behind the façade, you're hardly any better, are you?"

"It's not a matter of better," Gabriel said, taking the piece of parchment and carrying it over to a table. He turned on a lamp, adjusting his glasses. "In a perfect world, everyone would be as kind and sensitive as my son. That is the best anyone can be. It falls to men like me to make the hard choices, to be tainted with pragmatism so others can go on being so soft."

"Geez. Are you a fashion designer, or a poet? I'm about to choke on all of the platitudes, Master." The kwami landed on the desk, inspecting the parchment. "I don't buy it, personally. Your soft side has held you back many, many times. It's doing it right now, isn't it?"

Gabriel stared at the parchment, but couldn't make himself focus. "I'm… losing him, Nooroo. He's beginning to hate me. Which I anticipated, and I thought I was ready for, but…" Gabriel swayed slightly, drained from all of the akumas, nearing exhaustion. "My resolve can't waiver. I've come too far for it to. And yet, here it is… If I am this conflicted now, what will happen later, when I have both miraculouses?"

Nooroo rolled his eyes. "Nothing will change, that's for sure. That's how it is with you humans. Your emotions change faster than the weather! It's too bad kwamis can't work with machines, or we'd be so much more efficient!"

Gabriel frowned. "You have a point."

"I… I do?"

"Something cold, unfeeling, that focuses on a mission and nothing else but getting it accomplished," Gabriel said, his words almost a whisper. "Something with added strength, that feels no remorse, that doesn't get tired. That will just go on and on, relentlessly, until its goals are met or it is destroyed, whichever comes first…" He smiled, but it was pained, and full of struggle. "I've always thought it must be easier that way, a kind of blessing. To not be saddled with such autonomy and free thought, to never feel conflicted. It's a sacrifice, but it's like you said, about sacrifices…"

Nooroo took another bite of his pastry, not following.

Gabriel crossed the room, and opened a window. He stood there for a moment, with a look of utter concentration on his face, until a butterfly, summoned from the observatory, fluttered in and landed on his palm.

The kwami began to understand as he felt his powers being tugged at, accessed by his host. Such a move, when not transformed into Papillon, especially took a large surplus of life energy. For this to be necessary, it must be a situation where Gabriel had to be completely human, unprotected. There was only one situation the kwami could think of where that might be the case.

He hesitated, then decided not to stop the man. Soon, this would all be over, and his own suffering would cease.

"Grand Papillon," Gabriel said quietly, focusing in on the butterfly. Dark energy began to coat its wings, agitating it, filling it with energy. "Your mission is to attain both miraculouses, and use them to see Gabriel Agreste's grandest creation to fruition. Use that power, and create that world…" He paused, looking up. A picture of Adrien in his wife's arms, both of them smiling down at him, completely at peace. It would do well, for a last image, to take with him. "…No matter you must do."

Quickly, before he could rethink, he plunged the butterfly down, toward his own chest. His own heart would do for an object to possess, to require breaking to undo the spell. He cried out in agony as the akuma overtook him, frantically focused on the picture, on the place he so desperately wanted to return to.

Nooroo calmly finished off his croissant as the transformation happened, as pained gasps changed slowly to evil laughter. The man before him straightened, no longer seeming to feel the pain, even though his life energy was being drained just as quickly as before. "Nooroo," he said, in a vicious voice, with no feeling, and no remorse. "Transform me!"

Nooroo actually smiled for once as he was pulled toward the butterfly pin. At this rate, he was sure of it. One way or another, his torment would be over soon. Freedom was coming!

.:|:.

Adrien was beginning to lose feeling in his legs and arms. The cold didn't help, and sitting on the floor in a chained position for so long was making it worse. He had shifted back to his knees again, and was trying to move as much as he could, to get the blood flowing again. Sitting in the dark feeling sorry for himself wasn't going to help anything. He had to warm up, and then he could think, hard, about how he was going to get himself out of this mess.

The door opened, and he stiffened. Instantly, the bad feelings were back. He looked toward Papillon, frowning, not sure of what to say.

Akumas flitted down from the ceiling like before, latching onto the man and zapping energy from him. But if he felt pain, this time, the man didn't show it. He smiled as he crossed toward the window, and opened it, looking at the city with a satisfied expression.

"…This will do," he said, resting his cane on the floor. "Ladybug is almost here, it seems. Longer than I would have expected, but she had difficulties along the way, of course."

Adrien drew himself up again, determined to try one last time. "Father, I—"

The man snapped around, noticing him. Adrien wasn't sure why, but he suddenly felt a sinking sensation in his chest, as though he had just made a terrible mistake.

Papillon turned, walking slowly toward him. "He didn't want you hurt. But it won't hurt you, of course. This is the very opposite of hurt! One could say it's even a form of protection."

"What are you talking about?" Adrien said, backing up as far as the chains would allow. "You're not making any sense."

"On the contrary. For the first time, everything makes perfect sense." Papillon crouched in front of him, taking one of his hands. From one of his pockets, the man produced a silver ring. Not the miraculous. Adrien could tell at a glance. But it was similar, and must have been the closest replica the man had been able to find. He slid the ring onto Adrien's finger, while the boy looked on, confused.

Then he stood, and held out a hand. A single white butterfly dutifully alighted on his palm. "I don't know why I felt resistance to doing this before," Papillon said, closing his other hand over it. "Logically speaking, it only makes sense. You'll make a much better distraction for Ladybug like this."

"F-father, don't!" Adrien scrambled back in a panic, pulling hard at the chains, even though he knew it was useless.

Laughing, Papillon released the akuma, watching it fly toward Adrien. Adrien struggled and thrashed, but barely even slowed the akuma down. It landed, despite all of his efforts, on the ring, where it sank inside and began to spread itself.

Instantly, Adrien's entire body went rigid. Was this what everyone else had felt, every time they had been possessed? Suddenly, everything seemed heavier, darker. The emotions he had been feeling, the rage and grief and desperation, suddenly felt amplified, so much more overwhelming and insurmountable than they had been just moments ago. They were drowning him, pulling him under! He could feel himself spiraling, tumbling into a dark pit—

Pink light, above him, shining with promises of relief from the sensations. He reached for it desperately, needing something to help him not feel this way anymore.

Bladenboro.

The words were spoken from inside his own mind.

Trap. He recoiled from it, remembering, slightly, where he was. He was being akumatized. The demon would feed off of any negative feelings, and use them to gain control. He had to try to stay positive, to fend it off! Even if it was smothering him with its sheer weight…

Such hurt you feel! Such grief and rage. If only you weren't so weak, so helpless! Fear not, I am here to help you. I will give you all of the strength and power you lack, so that nothing will ever dare to hurt you again! In return, all I ask is that you fetch a small trinket for me…

He couldn't shake off the pink light in front of his eyes. And he was swiftly beginning to forget things, even his own name. Adri… Ad… Blad…

Had to… stay positive… Think of things that made him happy. School. Friends.

The images assaulted him suddenly, of his friends, all akumatized, working together to burn the school. He watched from the sidelines, unable to do anything. Powerless, nothing without his miraculous.

No, he wouldn't think about that! Mom! Think about Mom!

Being slightly younger, standing in the entry hall, his backpack slipping from his shoulders to the ground. His father was standing on the stairs, a haunted, unusually serious expression on his face. Instantly, he had known something was wrong. "Dad? Mom was supposed to pick me up from school. Is she okay?"

"Get out of my head," Adrien said through gritted teeth. Or thought he said it—his voice didn't sound completely like his own. And it was getting harder to separate the voice in his mind from his own thoughts. He leaned forward, struggling to focus on something, anything…

Ladybug. Standing on the top of a flagpole, looking down at him. She rolled her eyes at some bad pun he had made, but she was smiling, he could see it.

Ladybug looking at him with horror. His vision was hazy—he was possessed by something again—and he knew that he was being made to fight her. She backed away, fear in her eyes—

Ladybug jumping off of a building, not even looking down at him, trusting him to catch her according to plan, to throw her back up at the akumatized villain they were fighting.

Ladybug on the ground, broken, bleeding.

Ladybug smiling at him, pounding her fist against his.

Ladybug in trouble… Ladybug in his arms…

Ladybug…

…

Ladybug.

.:|:.

The yoyo circled, then snapped out, spitting out a pure white butterfly. "Bye bye, petit papillon," Ladybug called, smiling.

They were standing on the roof of the Agreste mansion, and she watched as the butterfly simply turned and fluttered in through one of the windows below them. Sure enough… Chat Noir seemed to be on to something. And he was still not answering his phone, for whatever reason.

Alya started awake where Ladybug had left her, on a flat section of tile where she wasn't likely to roll off. "Where am I? And what's with…" She looked down at herself, at the black and white clothes covering her body.

"Sorry, Alya," Ladybug said, turning toward her. "I can't use my Lucky Charm just yet, or I'll de-transform. But with the others, their disguises faded away on their own after a minute or two."

"Ladybug!" Alya said, instantly brightening. "Can you tell me what happened, for the Ladyblog? Hold on, let me just…" She looked around for her phone, then stopped when she found it, smashed where it had been thrown onto the roof tiles.

"Heh, sorry about that," Ladybug said awkwardly. "When I figure out how to put a stop to all of this, I'll do one big Lucky Charm at the end. That should fix everything in one go!" She leaned out over the edge of the roof, examining the window below. A round one, pretty-looking. It had been left completely open.

The spots on her earrings were still bright and full of energy. She could go for a while yet before Tikki needed another break. "Alya, I'll take you home in a minute, I swear. Can you just sit tight for a minute? I've got to look at something really quick."

"Don't worry about me," Alya said quickly. "Take your time! Just know I'll be waiting to interview you when you get back."

Ladybug smiled at her. "Thanks. You're the best!" She jumped, reaching out to grab onto the window's edge on the way down.

The room inside the window was dark, and it took her eyes a moment to adjust. But finally, she saw the creature chained to the middle of the floor. Large, shaped vaguely like some sort of lion or jaguar, it seemed made of black smoke, with long, sharp claws and glowing red eyes. The smoke shifted around over its surface, as though not quite able to settle. It growled and bristled, rocking back and forth, running its black claws over its muzzle and the gleaming teeth within. "Ladybug," it rasped. "Ladybug… Ladybug…"

Creepy. Ladybug hesitated. There was definitely an akuma involved, and the right thing to do would be to purify it. But if Papillon were somewhere close by, and she let herself get distracted, and waste a lot of time on this one…

The smoke churned, and drew back for a minute. The human inside sank to the floor, weak and shivering. He looked up at her feverishly, green eyes seeing right through her.

"Adrien," Ladybug whispered.

The boy seized up, crying out in pain, as the smoke suddenly surged forward and consumed him again. His voice shifted back to the low-pitched rasp from before, and he roared, rearing back in a fury. The chains instantly snapped, and the creature lifted its arms, clawing madly at the air. "LadyBUG!"

Her choice was made for her. "You'll pay for this, Papillon," she promised, before throwing herself through the aperture, and at the creature inside.