Adrien Chapter 26

Nothing was going right. His lady had been captured by Hawk Moth, he broke things off with Marinette, and after the fight with Hawk Moth, Marinette was nowhere to be found. At first, Adrien thought she might've gotten hurt in the fight, but he searched for hours and couldn't find any trace of her except for the red scarf she had been wearing right before the attack happened. Not even Alya managed to capture her disappearance on her phone.

Adrien's grip on Marinette's scarf tightened as he picked up his phone and called Marinette's parents for what felt like the tenth time that day.

"Hello?" Sabine asked, a worried note in her voice.

"Hey, it's Adrien again. I take it Marinette hasn't come home yet?"

Sabine didn't answer right away. Instead, she let out a loud sniff before finally saying, "No, she hasn't. This isn't like her. She wouldn't stay away. Marinette would at least call to let us know she's okay."

A stab of guilt shot into Adrien's heart as he wondered if this was his fault. Did he hurt her by saying what he said? Could that be what drove her away?

"Thanks, Mrs. Dupain-Cheng. I'll call you if she turns up."

Adrien hung up the phone and hung his head. Two people he cared about were missing and he didn't know what to do. Ladybug would know. She always knew what to do. But this time, he was all alone and had to do this without Ladybug's help. After all, he only had one more day to free her, otherwise she'd die, and he couldn't let that happen.

His eyebrows furrowed with determination as he grabbed his jacket and headed out of his apartment. If he wasn't mistaken, Alyssa should be done with a photoshoot by now.

On his way to the Le Grand Paris, owned by André Bourgeois, Chloe's father, where Alyssa was staying, he purchased a bouquet of roses and did his best to still his wildly beating heart. Sure, Alyssa might be the new Hawk Moth, but she didn't know that he knew. He had to use this to his advantage.

"Adrikins!" Chloe squealed as Adrien entered the hotel, throwing her arms around his neck and nearly choking him with her strong grip. "I had no idea you were coming! Are these for me? You shouldn't have!"

She reached for the flowers but Adrien held them just out of reach. "Sorry, Chloe. These are for Alyssa."

Chloe's mouth turned down into a pout. "Of course I knew that! Who else would you be coming to see?"

The elevator dinged and all color drained from Adrien's face as Alyssa stepped out, looking equally surprised to see him as he was to see her. She lifted her sunglasses and placed them on top of her head, a smile pulling up on her lips.

"Adrien. I was just about to go see you," Alyssa said with a smile as she gave him a kiss. It took all of Adrien's self-control not to gag. "What are you doing here?"

Taking a deep breath, Adrien forced his fear down and gave her an easy smile. "I came to see my beautiful girlfriend, of course." He handed her the flowers and her eyes immediately lit up as she accepted them.

"Come up to my room so I can put these in water."

In no world did Adrien ever want to be alone with this moth witch, but for Ladybug's sake, he had to.

They climbed into the elevator, and when Alyssa led him to her hotel room, he had to take another deep breath. He had no idea what he'd have to do in order to catch Alyssa off guard, but Ladybug meant the world to him—he'd do whatever it took.

Giving him a warm smile while placing the flowers in a vase, Alyssa asked, "So does this mean you're finally over trying to get together with Miss Dupain-Cheng? I know she's the reason you broke up with me in the first place."

Adrien rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Yeah. I made a mistake, Alyssa."

Her fingers stroked the silky petals of the flowers, her eyes raking over him as if she owned him. The motion made him uncomfortable. "No harm done. I never really considered us broken up anyway. That designer nobody had no chance against me, after all. I knew you'd come crawling back when you discovered that for yourself, so it was only a matter of time."

It was all Adrien could do to hold his tongue. He'd one hundred times over rather be with Marinette than Alyssa, but for this plan to work, he needed to keep the peace. He needed to keep her happy.

"I guess you're right," Adrien lied, approaching her slowly and sliding his hands around her waist. "After all, it's not every day that you get to date a hot model like yourself."

"Oh, stop it," Alyssa giggled, visibly putting her guard down while she coyly looked up at him from beneath her lashes. "I can't lie. I really missed this."

Adrien forced a smile to his face while his mind ran in frantic circles, trying to find the best way to lower her guard completely. Although she lowered it considerably since he got here, he still had a ways to go. And despite being back together with Alyssa, he didn't want to be around her longer than he had to.

He took her hand and gave her a smile. "There's a benefit dinner tonight. Are you interested in going with me and my dad? I don't usually like to go to them but with you there, I think I might actually enjoy it."

"I would love to, Adrien," she replied with a soft, silky voice, reaching on her tiptoes to kiss him. However, he caught sight of the necklace around her neck and his eyes widened as she kissed him. If he could only snap the necklace off her neck…

Very slowly, Adrien reached for the necklace, but before he could even touch the chain that fastened it to Alyssa, her phone started ringing, snapping them both back to reality. Darn it! He was so close! If he just had a couple more seconds, he could have evened the playing field, even if that ended up exposing the fact that Adrien was Chat Noir.

Alyssa picked up her phone and gave him an apologetic look as she glanced down at the caller ID.

"This will only take a few minutes. I'll be right back."

The moment Alyssa left the room to take the call, Adrien leapt into action and began rummaging hastily through each of Alyssa's drawers. If he couldn't get the necklace, he could try and find the next best thing—her Miraculous brooch. However, he found nothing of interest, not even when he rummaged through her jewelry box. If he were a Miraculous, where would he hide…?

He spotted Alyssa's purse slung carelessly over the back of a chair and grinned from ear to ear. She'd never leave her Miraculous alone, would she? The purse was his best bet.

Adrien threw open the purse and recoiled with shock. For some reason, he had expected to find a Miraculous, not a kwami with a tear-stricken face, fear shining brightly in its expression. The purple kwami stared straight back at him with wide, terrified eyes. The poor thing...

"Don't hurt me, please!" the kwami begged as she flinched away, cowering as far into Alyssa's purse as possible. "Please don't hurt me, Chat."

"That's the silliest thing I've ever heard," Adrien frowned, carefully picking the kwami up in his hands and trapping it inside his fingers as it tried to escape. However, Adrien completely froze as he heard Alyssa's voice once again out in the hallway. He didn't have enough time to find the Miraculous, but he couldn't let this poor creature suffer any longer. So without further ado, Adrien tucked the kwami in his jacket alongside Plagg and before Alyssa could come back in, he rushed outside into the hallway just as she finished her phone call. She jumped at his sudden presence.

"Don't scare me like that!" she gasped, holding her hand to her heart.

Adrien grimaced and shrugged. "Sorry, I thought you saw me. So I just had a great idea. Why don't we head over to my dad's place before the dinner? I haven't seen him since the last time the three of us got together. What do you say?"

Alyssa smiled and nodded. "That sounds wonderful. Why don't I just grab my purse—"

He immediately stepped in her way. "You don't need your purse. We won't be gone that long, I promise. After all, you'll have to come back here to change for the dinner."

She pursed her lips together but finally nodded and took his hand. "Let's go then."

With a foreign kwami hiding in his jacket, Adrien found it to be excruciatingly painful to be patient enough to wait out the moment until he could return to his apartment and be alone to figure this out. But he had to protect his identity, and if Alyssa found out he had her kwami, nothing would stop her from destroying everything he loved in his life.

Thankfully, Alyssa seemed to be impatient as well, which meant that their visit with his dad had been brief. Adrien tried to ignore the blatant approval shining in his father's eyes when he found out that Adrien and Alyssa were dating again. Adrien only felt like a disappointment in his father's eyes. He could never be good enough…

Not seconds after her dropped Alyssa back off at the hotel, Adrien transformed into Chat Noir and scaled the building until he came to Alyssa's window, easily unlocking the window from the outside with his sharp claw and stepping inside—he wanted to get caught.

"You!" Alyssa gasped as she entered her room and stared back at Adrien with a disgruntled expression. "Why are you here?"

Adrien grinned wide enough for his pointy incisors to show. "Just wanted to make the playing field fair. Can't let you have the upper hand now, can I? You have something I want, Hawk Moth. Now we're playing by my rules. Same time, same place. You know what I want."

Before Alyssa could respond, Adrien climbed back out the window and disappeared into the night, and he didn't let his guard down until he made it safely back to his apartment. Only then did he let out a breath of relief and pull both kwami's out of his jacket. The poor purple kwami still appeared terrified and darted into the corner of the room as soon as she was free of Adrien's jacket.

"I beg you, Chat," the kwami cried. "I never meant to almost kill you. I didn't have a choice."

"Hey…" Adrien said soothingly as he slowly approached the kwami. "You did nothing other than what your master forced you to do. You're safe here. I promise."

Plagg uncharacteristically flew over to meet the other kwami and held her hand, gently pulling her back to Adrien's desk. "Nooroo, Adrien won't hurt you. He wants to help you."

Nooroo… That must be the kwami's name.

"Please," Adrien whispered painfully. "All I want is to help my friend. Can you tell me where Ladybug is?"

The kwami shook her head, cowering with fear. "I can't. She'll be so angry! I can't do it!"

"Nooroo," Adrien said gently, wishing he could take all the kwami's heartache and fear away. "I won't let Alyssa control you again. You never have to see her again. I'll do everything in my power to keep you safe."

The kwami relaxed in the slightest, but she still looked afraid. "She still has the moth Miraculous. As long as she has that, I have no choice but to return to her. I am duty-bound."

"Does she know that?" Adrien asked, but the kwami shook her head.

"I don't think so. The Hawk Moth before her hasn't taught her that, yet."

Adrien grit his teeth at the thought. "So the original Hawk Moth is still alive? Why is Alyssa the new Hawk Moth if that's the case?"

Nooroo began to tremble as she placed her hands over her eyes as if that could make her invisible. "There are things I can't tell you, Chat Noir. It's against the rules. As much as I don't want to go back, I have to. I don't have a choice."

"Then I'll steal the Miraculous," Adrien replied defiantly.

"Ladybug doesn't have long," Nooroo said sadly. "And the Miraculous is well protected. Trade me for Ladybug, Chat Noir. That way you still get to keep your Miraculous."

He shook his head. "I can't. If it were Plagg… I'd never be able to forgive myself. Same goes for you. I can't do it."

"You have to!" Nooroo said as she placed a tiny hand on Adrien's cheek. "If you don't, Ladybug will die."

Adrien hung his head in defeat. No matter what, he'd lose something. And unfortunately, the least amount of loss would to do this Nooroo's way. They'd have to find some other way to defeat Hawk Moth, but right now, Adrien couldn't let Ladybug die. Not on his watch.

Finally, he nodded. "Let's go save Ladybug."

Midnight.

Nothing good ever happened at midnight, especially where Hawk Moth was involved. In fact, at midnight, fairytales dissolved into reality, curses were struck, and Hawk Moths had to be dealt with. If anything good came of tonight, it would be saving Ladybug from a horrible and painful death.

As expected, Hawk Moth waited for him at Notre Dame, except this time, she wasn't dressed up. Not that she probably didn't want to, but because she couldn't. Without her kwami, she was powerless.

"How did you know it was me?" Alyssa asked, the first thing that came out of her mouth even as her face melted into a scowl.

Adrien shrugged and hopped down from the building to be eye level with her, continuously checking behind him in case Alyssa pulled a fast one on him. Not to mention that he kept looking around for Ladybug, but found her nowhere.

"How did I not know?" he scoffed. "You're not exactly careful with your power. If I wasn't mistaken, you actually like being flamboyantly noticeable."

Alyssa smiled smugly. "I like to stand out, yes. It's a shame my mentor won't let me have that other Miraculous. I think being a peacock would suit me quite well, wouldn't you think?"

Peacock? She must have been speaking about the second Miraculous that she had available to her. Did Master Fu know who had it? If so, how come Adrien had never seen any peacock Miraculous holders?

"I didn't come here to talk," Adrien said, getting right back on track. "I have something you want and you have something I want. Where's Ladybug?"

"First, my kwami," Alyssa snarled.

"I don't trust you."

"And I you."

Reluctantly, Adrien pulled Nooroo out of his pocket and gave her a sad, apologetic look. "Please forgive me," Adrien whispered. "I swear I'll make this right."

When he handed the kwami over, Alyssa snatched the kwami faster than he could even follow. He held his breath, waiting for her to transform, but she didn't. Surprisingly, she held up her end of the bargain.

"I'm holding Ladybug captive at the Agreste manor on the north side. But good luck getting past my akumas." She laughed, her eyes lighting up evilly. "By the time you get past them, it just might be too late."

Without a second thought, Adrien leaped out of there and toward the home where he had grown up. How could Alyssa do this right under his father's nose? He knew she was evil, but the manor of all places? What reason could she possibly have to put her lair in the manor of a disabled man rather than somewhere else? However, he'd figure that out later. Right now, nothing mattered more than to save his love from a tragic death.