Author's Note: I'm about to drop an unfamiliar word on you in this chapter: "caltrops." Caltrops are spiky four-pointed things that police sometimes toss in front of cars to take out a vehicles tires, and in older warfare, they were used to stop horses. Apologies if you already knew this; otherwise, you're welcome for the new lesson.
A splitting headache raged inside Adrien's head. Being in control of Hawk Moth was like a constant battle of wills, with each of them struggling to make their own autonomous decisions. He could feel the pain in his father's mind, too. It was like an endless loop of pain. But as long as they did everything together, and in sync, the pain lessened. They became symbiotic.
A true Father-and-Son team.
It was all Adrien had ever wanted, to be so precious to his father, to be such an integral part of his father's life. It made him feel special. Wanted.
It eased the hatred flowing inside him. It brought out feelings of love. And that was when Adrien heard Master Fu's voice in the back of your mind: you must love your enemy.
Love. It was the antidote to all of this control, all of this evil. And the words reminded him of something—despite their alliance, Hawk Moth was still Adrien's enemy. He had been all along.
The confusion of feelings made his headache scream all the louder. He almost couldn't hear Ladybug's words:
"Adrien, you have to fight it! You have to fight off this Akuma!"
As Adrien looked at her, hearing her voice and the pleading desperation, something occurred to him. Ring or no ring, he was Cat Noir. And both Adrien and Cat Noir loved nothing with more ardor than one person, and that person was Ladybug. His Ladybug needed him.
"No, Ladybug. It's you that has to fight now. Metamorphosis!" he shouted, focusing all of his thoughts on Ladybug's form. Instantly, he turned into her. His initial plan had been to use Ladybug's own powers to defeat her, now that she was out alone in the open. It would be, as he said, the ultimate irony. His father loved the idea. His father was proud of him.
But now, as he remembered the sound of Ladybug's pleading, he fought with all his might against the control his father imposed on him. He might not have the strength to fight his father off again, but in this moment, this one, crucial moment, his love for Ladybug and his love for his father—his real father, not this corrupted version of him—freed him just enough for rebellion.
He took the yo-yo from his waist. "Ladybug! Catch!" With all his might, he lobbed the yo-yo through the air, watching with satisfaction as Ladybug's whole face lit up with joy as she caught the yo-yo in her outstretched hands.
Unbelievable pain shot through Adrien, pain so horrible he nearly doubled over from it.
"Metamorphosis! What have you done?" Hawk Moth bellowed.
"What I had to do," Adrien gasped. "I did what I had to do."
Marinette watched in awe as Metamorphosis tossed his version of her yo-yo to him. She reached out and caught it, her whole heart burning with love for Adrien. He was so strong. To think he could do that, while Akumatized…he was amazing…simply amazing.
"Metamorphosis! What have you done?" Hawk Moth bellowed.
"What I had to do," Adrien gasped. "I did what I had to do."
"Then I'll strip you of your powers! That will make the yo-yo go away!"
"Strip me of my powers and you go back to having no Akumatized victims," Adrien countered. "It'll be just you and Ladybug."
Hawk Moth let out a snarl. "Everyone!" he shouted. "Attack Ladybug!"
All of the Akumatized victims charged in, including Adrien, who shouted Metamorphosis as he ran and changed into Cat Noir.
"Lucky Charm!" Marinette cried. Magic congealed in the air, and into her hands fell two red and black-spotted objects: a bag of huge metal jacks and a rubber bouncy ball. "Oh no, what am I going to do with these?" She looked at Adrien charging her as Cat Noir, and saw that he had charged his hand for Cataclysm.
She thought back to when her mother had been Akumatized, and how when Cat Noir's Cataclysm touched her Lucky Charm, there had been a massive explosion. It had hurt Cat Noir pretty seriously. Could she risk hurting Adrien the same way?
Dozens of Akumatized victims were running toward her. Did she have a choice?
"Sorry about this, Adrien!" Marinette called, and she spiked the ball on the ground at an angle. It bounced up just as she had calculated—right into Adrien's charged Cataclysm.
Like matter and anti-matter colliding, a deafening explosion went off. With a yell of pain, Adrien went flying back, transformed back into himself, and hit the pavement with a loud thud. The shock wave from the explosion sent several of the Akumatized villains around him flying as well. Marinette cast the jacks onto the ground like caltrops, wound her yo-yo around the nearest light post, and sailed away through the air as the rest of the villains shouted when the sharp jacks poked through their shoes.
She landed lightly on her feet beside Adrien. He looked pretty badly hurt, covered with bruises and scrapes. His face was filled with rage, but he must have been in too much pain to move.
"Get away from me," he snarled. "I won't let you stop us from bringing my mother back. Father! Help me!"
"Get away from my son!" Hawk Moth shouted, barreling toward Marinette with his sword drawn.
Marinette quickly snatched Adrien's shoe from his foot, held up the shoe, and leaned back as Hawk Moth charged.
His sword sliced clean through the shoe and a little black butterfly flew out.
"Hah!" Marinette shouted triumphantly. Instantly, Adrien's anger vanished, and he passed out. But his anger wasn't the only thing that vanished. All of the Akumatized victims reverted back to their normal form at once. A wave of black magic swept over Hawk Moth, and his costume went from being black and silver to purple and silver.
Unfortunately, Ladybug's yo-yo vanished too.
Hadn't thought of that, she thought, swallowing back panic. She dodged as Hawk Moth struck another blow of his sword at her.
"That was foolish of you, Ladybug," Hawk Moth said.
Marinette glanced around, desperate for ideas. Then something occurred to her. The buildings Metamorphosis had destroyed were still destroyed. So even if the yo-yo had vanished, the Lucky Charm it produced should not have…
Like a beacon of hope, she spotted one of the jacks lying on the ground, sparkling in the sunlight. She made a dive for it, grabbed it in her hand, and tossed it in the air with a triumphant shout of "Miraculous Ladybug!"
"No!" Hawk Moth roared.
As the magic swirled around them, repairing all the damage, Marinette's yo-yo reappeared in her hand. "Now try and stop me, Hawk Moth!"
"Stop you? You hurt my son. I'm going to end you."
Marinette backflipped out of the way as Hawk Moth lunged at her again. She turned and ran for the alley where she knew her allies waited, silently praying that five minutes hadn't passed already. It felt like centuries had gone by. Who knew if Chloe and Alya were still there?
As she rounded the corner, she saw nothing. But she glimpsed up at the roof of the nearest building and saw a flash of orange. She grinned. It wasn't too late.
Hawk Moth charged after her, clearly blind with rage.
"Queen Bee!" Marinette shouted. "Now!"
The illusion of Queen Bee's invisibility broke and she lunged at Hawk Moth with her charged hand. He let out a yell of shock as her stinger went into him, and he went completely frozen, the look of shock still etched into his face. Marinette unpinned the Moth Miraculous from Hawk Moth's shirt and watched with satisfaction as he reverted to Gabriel Agreste, the same look of shock still on his face.
"What?" Queen Bee said. "Hawk Moth is Gabriel Agreste? But there's no way Adrien's father could be so…evil."
"That's what I thought once, too," Marinette said. "But anyone can be evil, if they allow themselves to be corrupted."
"Sorry, Ladybug, but we have to go," Rena Rouge said. "We'll meet up with you later."
"Yeah, I'm about to transform back into my fabulous self," Queen Bee said.
Marinette tried not to roll her eyes. "Then hurry and go!"
Both Queen Bee and Rena Rouge took off running in opposite directions.
"Well now, Mr. Agreste," Marinette said. "I think you've caused enough trouble for several lifetimes, don't you? Several lifetimes in prison, I imagine."
Gabriel broke free from Queen Bee's paralysis. Marinette imagined that somewhere, Chloe's Miraculous had deactivated. With a snarl, he lunged at her, swinging his fists. Marinette easily dodged the blows.
"You're going to regret this, Ladybug," he said.
"No, you're going to regret everything you've done to Paris!" Ladybug swung her yo-yo and lassoed Gabriel to the nearby lamp post. "I'll be calling the police to handle you from here."
"Ladybug, wait!"
Marinette looked up at the sound of the voice. Adrien was running toward them.
"Please don't call the police," he said. His face was full of pleading. "I know he has done terrible things, but none of the damage he has done hasn't been reversed. Please. I've already lost my mother. Please don't take my father away from me, too."
Marinette's heart melted at Adrien's expression. He was so caring, even about a father who had put him at risk dozens of times. But it couldn't be helped. "It's too late for that, Adrien," Marinette said. "When all of these people wake up and see who it is, they'll all want justice."
"Then let him go before they wake up. Please. I'm begging you. Besides, your earrings are flashing. Doesn't that mean you're about to transform back? Let me take him back home."
"You think I'll let you?" Gabriel snarled. "You've undermined me every step of the way, and all I ever wanted was to bring your mother back!"
Adrien looked down at his father with pity on his face. "Do you want to go to prison? Because I can leave you here and let Ladybug take you to prison."
Gabriel let out a low, feral sounding growl.
Marinette hesitated.
"Trust me," Adrien said, offering Marinette a smile. "Let me worry about my father."
"You know, I couldn't have done any of this without you today," Marinette said. "I owe you everything."
Adrien blushed. "Well, if that mangy Cat Noir wasn't going to show up and help you…"
Marinette giggled. "Well, in a way, I suppose he did. It was your Akumatized version of him who helped me win, after all." Her earring beeped loudly, signaling the final countdown before she changed back. "Good luck with your father, Adrien." She released Gabriel from her yo-yo and quickly leapt up to the nearest rooftop and ran away to find a safe place to detransform.