Nino was nervous. And he had every right to be.
Chat's possessive nature was coming out again and deep down, he suspected they both knew what was going to happen.
"Dude..."
"Not again! Not again," he mumbled as he buried his face between Marinette and Manon.
Alya was confused, "What do you mean... not again?"
"They..."
Nino sighed and turned to Alya. "You see, once a kid is no longer scared, we have to shred their door."
Alya looked thoughtful. "I get it now. Well that sucks! I bet they can make an exception just this once!"
Nino looked at Alya with a raised brow. "Nathalie? Break the rules? What's next, we all become human? You're out of your mind."
Alya glared and pushed Nino's hat down to cover his eyes. "No need to be a smart ass. We can figure something out, I am sure!"
After about six minutes, Nathalie returned. Chat Noir could hear the squealing tires of the door shredder just outside the door. He tried to ignore the noise as he focused on Marinette and Manon and their interactions with everyone as they left.
Everyone was in front of the door as they said their goodbyes.
The Kwamis were the first to say goodbye. Tikki was the most affectionate, as she had the most interaction with the humans. She gave them cheek nuzzles and sweetly told them goodbye. Marinette had half a mind to keep Tikki. Plagg and Trixx said goodbye to them in their own unique, if not distant, ways.
Alya gave Marinette a big hug. "Hey, if you're ever here again, come find me. I'd like to hang out with you again. I am glad you were the first human I ever met."
Alya then picked up Manon and gave her a hug, "See ya later, fellow Unicorn Princess. May our reigns prosper!"
Manon giggled and cheered, "Yeah! Bye Bye!"
Nino gave Marinette a side hug, "Take care of yourself, dudette. I'll do my best to take care of Chat. He is the best bro who deserves the best."
As the girls were led away, Nino gave Manon a noogie. "See ya, little dudette."
Manon laughed and waved. "Bye Bye, Dude~"
Chat Noir led the girls back into Manon's familiar room, and Manon flopped onto the bed exhausted. She and Marinette looked like a filthy and exhausted mess. Chat Noir smiled sadly as Manon's breathing slowed.
Marinette looked sadly at Chat. "Is this goodbye again?"
Chat Noir's ears go flat to his head. He didn't need to answer, she already knew.
"We will see each other again...somehow. It happened once already, right?" Marinette said, hope evident in her tone.
"I hope so."
Marinette put on a confident face. "Hey, you will be the big boss... so maybe you can make something work! Who knows what could happen?"
Before Chat could say anything, Manon's floor boards squeaked. It sounded deafening in the quiet room.
"I need to go. How will you explain this to your family? You were gone for a while."
"I'll think of something."
Chat went over to Manon and gave her a hug. "Bye Bye, Kitty~ See ya... next time," Manon yawned.
Chat looked sad. "Yeah... I hope to see you again someday."
One of Manon's eyes opened tiredly, "Whatcha mean?"
"I..."
"Who's THERE?!" said an unfamiliar voice to Chat but familiar to the girls.
Chat jumped and quickly headed to the door. Marinette on the other hand, opened a window to pretend that someone got away, a story already forming in her head.
"Good Bye, Chat Noir." Marinette whispered as Chat Noir fled through his door.
"Bye Marinette... Bye Manon."
The door closed and Manon's main door opened to reveal a clearly sleep deprived Nadja.
"Mama!" Manon wails as she hugs her mom crying.
Nadja is stunned to see Marinette standing by the window, looking as if she were looking for someone who fled out the window.
"They...brought us back," she whispered as Nadja engulfed her in a hug, tears flowing down her face.
"Tell me what happened! Who are "they"? Oh gosh, are you hurt?!"
Marinette glanced sadly at the closet door, "I'll tell you downstairs."
Chat watched as Manon's door was shredded noisily. Bits of wood went flying all over the place, and he felt like a child again in the worst possible way. It was Marinette's door crushing all over again.
He had to keep it together, even if inside he was dying.
Nathalie said nothing as the door was crushed. She didn't spare even a glance. Even if her job was done and her job was to clean up the Scare factory, she had, unfortunately grown somewhat fond of the young Were. She also hated the fact she had to take almost everything from him. A childhood friend, his father, and who knows what else.
Still, she was determined to see her job to the end, no matter the cost.
She turned to the rest and noticed Nino sneaking some of the shredded door pieces. Even if the demon was technically breaking the rules, she would turn a blind eye, just this once. She pretended not notice when he awkwardly hid the pieces behind his back.
"I need to fill out some paperwork. I will return shortly. Stay here. I will also release the other employees. The factory will be closed for a bit until we get everything in order."
Chat and Nino nodded silently as Nathalie walked away.
Alya would be damned if she let that door remained crushed. While Nino comforted a grieving Chat Noir, she snuck away and followed the monsters that had the bin with the pieces of Manon's door. She hid when they headed to wherever they needed to go, and Alya stealthily peered into the trash. She sighed in relief. It wasn't as bad as she thought, there only seemed to be some easily shifted trash and Manon's door fragments in the mix.
Trixx snuck out from their hiding place and rested on her head. "Whatcha gonna do?"
Alya made her wand materialize. "I am gonna put this door back together at my house, and when the time is right..."
Trixx grinned, "You sly little Kit. I knew I made a good choice in picking you."
Alya grinned back as she softly said an incarnation that picked up only wooden pieces from the trash. Once they were all hovering in the air, she deposited them into a bag that looked much too tiny to fit them all. It was enhanced by her magic to store anything she could need and not get any bigger.
She then made some dummy wooden pieces for the trash that would vanish in a few days, just in case anyone decided to peek in. She did not want the CDA after any of them... more than they already were. She heard some voices and quickly escaped, no one being the wiser of her theft.
She rejoined Chat and Nino, and Nino gave her an odd look, "Where were you, exactly?"
"Nowhere important," Alya said nonchalantly, as Trixx giggled in her bag.
Plagg pouted. "And I didn't go. Sounds like you did something chaotic, and that's my thing."
Alya looked affronted. "Me? Chaotic? Oh no, not me. I have the best of intentions with everything I do~"
Before anyone can say anything else Nathalie returned.
"Chat Noir. You are heir to the factory. I will help you get a replacement for me and then you can do as you please with it.
"I... need a few days," he said in a defeated tone.
"Understood." she replied, and her look softened. "I am sorry things had to end this way."
It was the first real emotion anyone in the factory had seen from her.
"Yeah, me too... Me too..."
A year had passed since Hawkmoth and Copycat had been arrested and tried for unethical business practices. The case was a media circus and even a year in, it was still ongoing in the case of Hawkmoth. Copycat, took a plea bargain and would probably testify against Hawkmoth, but it was still yet to be seen.
In the meantime, Chat Noir took over the factory. Despite the population doubting him and his new methods, he proved them wrong.
Nino, Alya, and Chat Noir bonded over the many months of the conversion of The Agreste Factory from scare energy to laugh energy. It was a lengthy and expensive conversion, but the benefits were instant when everything was said and done.
In one year, the laugh energy had saved the monster world. The energy crisis was but a memory at this point. Despite all the bad luck and hiccups along the way, morale was higher and the world seemed to be progressing.
Chat Noir was proud of his work. He, along with Alya, figured out the potential of laugh energy and Alya helped champion the new method.
Still, he was not fully happy. He still missed his human friends immensely. He sighed as he looked at the last remaining piece he still had of Manon's door. Oddly, throughout the year, the bits he managed to save had gone missing and so he kept the one remaining piece on his person at all times.
Adrien had suspected Plagg, who along with the other Kwamis, would visit multiple times in various disguises. Plagg, of course, denied any involvement claiming that if he couldn't eat it, he didn't want it. Adrien had no proof, so he let it go, but the feeling never went away.
Alya groaned as she inspected the wooden piece from the pile on her floor. "I swear, all these darn pieces of door look the same. It didn't look so bad when I salvaged the pieces from the trash. I thought it was just her door and maybe a few left over ones from other doors that were stuck. "
Nino grinned, "Most doors look about the same. Good thing it is automated at the factory, or I'd have been screwed long ago."
Alya groaned, "Chat BETTER appreciate this or I will skin him and use him in my potions!"
Nino smiled and gave her a soft look. "He will, trust me. If he doesn't ...well... I'll help ya skin him." He said with a joking tone.
Alya grinned and plopped his hat on her head. "Good to know I have another partner in crime."
Nino grinned as he bumped shoulders with her. "I am everyone's partner in crime... because I care~"
A few more hours later, the door looked nearly complete and Alya grinned triumphantly.
"Finally, after a year of sorting, dumpster diving and a little bit of petty theft...it's done!"
Nino grinned as Trixx, who was visiting, leaned in and looked confused. "Call me blind, but... I think you are short a piece."
Trixx tapped a place right in the middle of the door that was sprawled along the floor of Alya's flat.
Nino smiled. "No... We know exactly where it is."
Plagg gagged. "Oh gosh, I can SMELL the kid's sappiness from here. Disgusting."
Tikki giggled, "He isn't even here!"
"I can still SMELL it Tikki!"
Alya waved her wand and the door stood upright. She smiled as Tikki cheered.
"So far so good!" Alya said as she placed a protective charm to keep it from breaking and put it in her infinity bag.
"Time to celebrate an anniversary."
"There better be food!"
It was the end of the workday when Chat Noir made his way to his office. After taking over his father's position, he redecorated his office. It was now bright and cheery with warm neutral tones and photographs and knickknacks lining his desk and wall.
Despite how cheery it was, he still sighed sadly. He looked at the picture of him, Manon, and Marinette. It was one year to the day since they were separated, and he was feeling a bit lonely and nostalgic. He wondered how they were doing, or if they even remembered him.
Before he could reminisce anymore, Alya forcibly crashed through his door effectively giving a mini heart attack.
"What the- ALYA?! Can't you open the door like a normal being? I've seen giant chicken monsters who are less startling and loud!" He tried to get his heart rate to normal as Plagg snickered and Alya dramatically flopped onto a comfy couch.
"Awww~ Where's the fun in that?~ Besides, we got a surprise for ya!~ "
"A surprise?"
Alya nodded excitedly. "Yup~ Nino has it now! C'mon get off your furry butt and follow me!"
He raised an eyebrow but followed. As he grew to know Alya, he learned that she was full of devious surprises. They headed into the mostly dark and empty scare floor, when something caught his eye. One singular light was shining on a station with a door. Confused at why Alya was grinning like a cat who caught the canary, he let her lead him to it.
The door looked oddly familiar, despite how similar to other doors it was. It didn't click with him whose door it was until he saw all the cracks in it.
"Wait. Is this...?"
Nino nodded as he turned on the machine and gave him a soft smile. "Yeah, but I think...it's missing something..."
Chat Noir pulled out the tiny door shard from a pocket he had in his work blazer, and gingerly placed the piece in. The light over the door flared up and Chat Noir was speechless.
Nino smiled kindly, "Thank Alya, this was her idea."
"Yeah but demon boy here helped me keep from rage quitting," she said.
Chat Noir's eyes became misty. "Thanks, guys."
He gave them a tight hug, and Alya pushed Chat Noir to the door.
"Have fun. We'll visit with them later."
Chat Noir looked like he was about to cry, but he was happy as he gently opened the door.
He was greeted by the sight of a groggy Manon. When Manon spotted him however, she was instantly awake.
"KITTY!~" she shrieked. She leapt out of bed and promptly tackled him. Manon, despite how small she was, managed to knock Chat Noir down to the ground with a loud thud.
Chat Noir's voice was thick with emotion and he couldn't seem to say anything. He did, however, hug the child tightly. He, with superior hearing, registered the loud thuds attacking the stairs and before he could react, the door flew open. There stood Marinette, with a metal baseball pipe in her hands, ready to attack. As soon as she saw Chat, she dropped the bat with a muffled clink.
"Chat...?"
He gave a soft wave with the one arm that Manon wasn't pinning down.
"Hey, Didya miss me?"
Marinette smiled gently. "I missed you, Kitty."
Chat gave her a happy grin as Marinette joined into the hug.
After catching up, Marinette went to make some snacks when Manon leaned on him.
"We missed you a bunch, ya know? Why didn't you come back?" she asked.
"I wish I could have, but...I physically couldn't. It was like we lost a key to a locked door... and my friends found the key for me today."
"Ahh! I see..."
"Did... you two get in trouble for vanishing? " He asked nervously.
Manon shakes her head " No.. Marinette told my Mama that some bad people took us. We tried super hard to get back, but it was hard. We finally escaped and climbed back up a window because we thought no one was home and we recognized it was my house."
Chat Noir looked thoughtful. "Well, technically it was true... until the end. Still..."
Manon smiled "Yeah... we had to go on TV a lot, and they tried to find the "bad people" but... they never did."
"Obviously... unless there are monsters here, but that isn't possible."
Manon nodded as Marinette walked back in with some snacks.
"I missed your snacks, Mari~" Chat said in a hungry tone as he greedily grabbed a cookie.
"Oh, I see~ You didn't miss me at all... but my snacks! I feel so hurt! What a fickle kitty you are!" She said in a mock hurt tone.
Chat laughed at this. "Nah...I missed this. All of it…and last I checked, you were part of this."
Manon smiles widely as she grabs some snacks.
"I missed this too! Let's do this a lot more! You should bring Alya and Nino and everyone here too!"
Marinette grinned "Yeah... I missed them too. We should see them sometime."
Chat smiled "Good thing I see them all the time. I can bring them next time...but for now I just want us this time. Just like old times."
"Just like old times~" the girls happily agreed.
Happy Halloween Everyone! We are finally finished with Beyond The Closet Door... one year, today!
Thanks so much to everyone for your comments, favorites and watches! It means a lot to me!
I do plan on posting a Halloween AU for my Miraculous Alternate Realities collection so please be on the look out for that!
See ya guys later!