LXP: Apologies for the long wait. Without further ado, here is the climactic battle!

Also, all of Hawkmoth's speech is in caps because that's how he would sound to a tiny person in real life.

Enjoy! :)


CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT:

THE HEART OF THE MAELSTROM

Marinette broke through the churning surface, taking in her surroundings.

The sea was nothing but a gleaming mass of haunting purple. Clouds suffocated the sky. Thunder rumbled everywhere. The water rose and dipped in a threatening manner, as though agitated. It was slowly becoming the night of the shipwreck all over again, only Marinette knew it would be much, much worse this time.

Tikki and Plagg popped up beside their mermaid friend. Both kwamis looked like they wanted to curl up somewhere and wait for the growing storm to pass.

Marinette spun around in her spot frantically, glancing over the rising waves.

There he was – gripping the edge of the longboat while he treaded water. His green eyes scanned the sea until they found the little mermaid at last.

"Milady!" Adrien shouted with relief.

Marinette sighed with a smile and waded towards him.

At the same time, the prince let go of the boat and made his way over to her, ignoring Nino's urgent pleas to come back.

Nino glared up at the heavens with a groan of defeat. Then he swam after his best friend, leaving the boat to drift away on its own accord.

Marinette reached Adrien first, and he pulled her into a loving embrace. It was slightly awkward, given the fact that they were trying to stay afloat. Marinette didn't care. She would support them both if she had to, just like last time.

"I'm sorry," Adrien sighed against her, rubbing his hands along her back. "I tried to stop him..."

Marinette squeezed him gently before pushing off a bit to look up at him. As much as she wanted to hold her prince in her arms and never let go, now was not the time.

"Adrien, you've got to get away from here," the mermaid pleaded, her aquamarine eyes hard and frightened at the same time. "Hawkmoth's coming."

The prince's face scrunched up with courage, and he shook his head. "I'm not leaving you, Milady," he said staunchly. "I won't..."

"Adrien, please." Marinette grasped his shoulders, her determination faltering by the second.

Adrien stared at her for a few good seconds, focused and unblinking.

Marinette could tell from those unfazed orbs of green that his choice was already made. It made her chest throb with guilt and dread.

"What is this – couples therapy?!" Plagg blurted out hysterically. "In case you all haven't figured it out yet, we've got a problem! A big problem! I mean ginormous! Huge! Did I mention "ginormous"?"

Tikki splashed up to get everyone's attention. "I can guide us back to the boat, but we have to hurry!"

"Hey, uh... guys?" Nino asked with clear distress, staring and pointing at the water. "Is that normal?"

Marinette and Adrien, still holding onto each other, looked down... and they saw what was making the first mate nervous.

The area they were floating in was starting to bubble... and glow.

The bright, purplish concoction made Marinette stiffen, and she suddenly felt like a fish in a boiling stew.

Adrien pulled her closer, the light enhancing his widened eyes. "What's happening?"

His question was answered by miniature explosions of water that coated them all in wet mist.

Five giant, grey pillars poked through the surface, forming a circle around the group. But before anyone could react, something hard emerged from underneath the mermaid, the two humans, and the two kwamis.

Marinette screamed as she was lifted out of the water. She slipped out of Adrien's arms and fell onto her side. The prince and Nino cried out before they too plunked onto their backs or stomachs beside her. Tikki and Plagg latched themselves onto Marinette's and Adrien's shoulders, howling with fright.

As they rose higher, sloshes of seawater trickled like mini rivers along strange, long creases upon the stone surface.

No. Not stone – skin.

Another scream escaped Marinette, and Tikki joined her.

Adrien gasped and glanced up at the giant, pale fingers bending over their heads like claws.

"GAAAAH!" Plagg's fur stood on end like a blowfish's thorns.

"Oh my god!" Nino shrieked as he looked down, his voice going up a few octaves and his pupils nothing but tiny dots. "Oh my god! Oh my god!"

Marinette twisted up into a sitting position, grasping one of the fingers for dear life.

Then, when they were over ten feet above the water, something else rose out of the sea behind the group:

An island of gleaming silver. A pair of piercing, blue eyes as cold and dark as an abyss, each one as large as boulders. Finally, a monstrous mouth emerged, curling up into a sneer as a chilling, thunderous laugh escaped it.

Marinette felt her bones turn to ice, but she fought back the urge to scream again.

She didn't have enough time to observe this horrifying change.

Because at that moment, Adrien grasped her hand and yanked her back into reality.

"Jump!" the prince cried, rising to his knees.

Despite the height – despite the terror gnawing through the little mermaid and leaving a hollow hole in its wake – Marinette tightened her grip on Adrien's hand.

Together, they dove out of Hawkmoth's palm, taking Tikki and Plagg with them.

In the corner of her eye, Marinette saw Nino dive on the prince's other side.

The wind whistled past Marinette's ears, and she swore she lost her stomach back up there somewhere.

They all fell vertically – arms pointing down, straight as a volley of arrows.

Hitting the water was like getting slapped in the face, and then everywhere else. But the cold water lessened the sting.

Marinette quickly hoisted Adrien and Nino up to the surface. Tikki and Plagg did the same.

As soon as they all came up, Hawkmoth's deepening laughter made all three of them freeze and look up.

Plagg hadn't been kidding when he said the problem was "ginormous".

The Sea Wizard was as big as Adrien's castle now, and still growing. He stared down his nose at Marinette and her companions, his teeth bared like a hungry shark hovering over a school of minnows. The hand from which the three friends had fallen now lowered to Hawkmoth's side. One by one, the ends of his black tentacles ascended out of the water, swinging from side to side like pendulums from a human horror story. The Miraculous radiated off his chest like a purple moon, and the magic pulsing from it could be felt by both human and mermaid.

Marinette and Adrien wrapped their arms around each other, as though that would protect them. Nino clasped Adrien's shoulder, sounding like he was hyperventilating. Tikki and Plagg shrank behind the first mate, shivering and staring up at the Sea Wizard with bloodless faces.

Hawkmoth finally stopped rising, and his laugh reverberated off the sky one last time. Behind the giant sorcerer, a patch of lightning lit up the roiling clouds.

Marinette could feel Adrien's frantic heartbeat pounding against her own.

"Heh... Talk about a big fish," the prince said meekly.

"FOOLS," Hawkmoth spoke in an earth-shuddering voice that made everyone cringe. "PITIFUL, INSIGNIFICANT FOOLS! YOU THOUGHT YOU COULD ESCAPE ME? THIS IS MY DOMAIN!"

One of his tentacles rose up higher before falling towards the sorcerer's prey.

"Look out!" Nino bellowed, instinctively shoving Adrien away while he lurched to the right.

Marinette dove left, dragging Adrien alongside her just as he took a quick gulp of air and submerged.

The water behind them erupted with a pounding force unlike anything Marinette had felt before. The resulting wave sent her and Adrien sprawling and spiralling underwater. But they never once let go of each other's hands.

Marinette tugged on Adrien again, jerking him awake. The prince kicked straight up for the surface, coughing and shaking water out of his hair once he and Marinette came up.

Only then did the lovers realize there was no one else with them.

Adrien snapped his head around. "Nino! Plagg!"

"Tikki!" Marinette yelled at the same time.

Their only responses were the swishing of the rising waves and the clapping of thunder.

Until a mass of dark hair popped out of the water several feet away, gasping for air.

Tikki and Plagg, being able to breath underwater, clung to the first mate's shoulders, unharmed but no less spooked.

Marinette almost sagged with relief, but then Hawkmoth's booming voice silenced her hopeful thoughts.

"I AM THE TRUE MASTER OF LAND AND SEA!" the monstrous beast declared, raising a hand to the sky and conjuring a swirling tempest of wind and rain. "THE SKY ROILS WITH MY FURY! THE EARTH TREMBLES BEFORE MY MIGHT! THE WAVES OBEY MY EVERY WHIM!" Hawkmoth lifted both hands now; the gesture of a king summoning the wrath of the gods.

Lightning cracked. Thunder roared. Rain fell in a hard, pelting curtain. Water buckled.

Then... large dagger-like rocks jutted out of the sea, bowing towards their master like pointed claws. They came in many sizes – some as short as boats and others as large as buildings – but all of them were plastered with seaweed, barnacles, moss, and mud.

Marinette gasped. Hawkmoth had brought parts of the ocean floor up to the surface!

All the while, the sea churned, swerved, and crested in all directions.

Nino and the kwamis kept appearing and disappearing as the waves rose up and down violently, pulling them further away from their two friends even while Nino kept on swimming.

Marinette tried to cut her way through the angry surface, but the water whacked her and thrashed her about. The rain blinded her eyes.

Adrien was having a worse time. He kept spitting out seawater while the water kept trying to thrust him under. He held desperately onto Marinette as he was yanked back by some sentient current.

Suddenly, a great surge swept between the pair...

... and Marinette felt her prince's hand slip through her soaked fingers.

"Adrien!" she cried, reaching out to him with all her might.

He reached for her too, his green eyes locked onto her even as he was dragged far away by the massive force of water.

Then, the sea dipped severely low, and Adrien went flying backwards with a great cry before being swallowed by a crashing wave of sea-foam.

"NO!" Marinette's scream could not be heard over the furious roar of the ocean; over the hyperactive pounding inside her chest that was making it difficult to breathe. I can't lose him again! I can't!

She dove under, clawing through the stormy tides, searching desperately for Adrien...

THWACK! A monstrous rock jerked up and slammed into her, knocking the little mermaid sideways.

She went limp with pain and shock for a moment before she looked down to see more rocks – sharper ones – shooting towards her. Marinette shrieked and dodged out of the way, sweeping back up to the surface.

Her breathing came in hitched, uneven rasps as she beheld a cackling Hawkmoth before her.

The Sea Wizard's silvery lips scrunched into a childish pout. "POOR LITTLE MERMAID... YOU'RE ALL ALONE," he cooed. That shark-like smirk stretched back across his face. "BUT FRET NOT. IF YOUR PRINCE IS STILL ALIVE, IT WILL MAKE THIS GAME ALL THE MORE FUN. I'M DYING TO SEE JUST HOW FAR YOU'RE BOTH WILLING TO GO TO SAVE EACH OTHER."

Those words only made Marinette mad. She bore her own teeth and pointed a condemning finger at him. "You'll never get away with this!" she yelled with all the hate and grief in her heart.

"HAVEN'T I ALREADY? PERHAPS YOU DIDN'T HEAR ME THE FIRST TIME." Hawkmoth lifted his own finger. But instead of pointing it at Marinette, he pointed it down at the empty patch of sea in front of him.

Then he announced with the might of the storm: "THE EARTH, THE SEA, AND ALL THEIR SPOILS BOW TO MY POWER!"

That last word echoed like death sentence through the air: POWER... POWer... Power...

Marinette could only watch as the Sea Wizard drew a broad circle in the water.

The circle glowed with bright, luminous purple – Why is it always purple? Marinette whimpered – and the inside began swirling around. Faster and faster. Deeper and deeper, funnelling towards the seafloor.

Marinette felt a great tremor vibrate through the water as the spinning funnel touched rock bottom. It made her scales rattle.

It was a maelstrom!

But instead of drawing water in, the glowing, whirling mass was pulling water up from the bottom and pushing it out at the top.

As Marinette gawked at the scene, more dark shapes appeared in the light of the maelstrom. Shapes rising up from the depths of the purple sea.

Marinette saw one of the shadows growing beside her, and she scrambled out of the way just in time before something huge emerged of the water.

The little mermaid gasped.

Floating beside her now, as grand as it was before it had sunk, was a shipwreck. It was practically a skeleton of its former self; a hulk of jagged, wooden boards rotted over from years of being submerged in salt water. The two masts were nothing but broken crosses. The hull was missing a huge chunk in its side and had some extra holes, yet the Sea Wizard's magic kept it afloat.

Marinette looked around, appalled by what she was seeing.

More shipwrecks rose up from their watery graves to join the chaos. A couple slammed into some rocks jutting out of the water. The stone pillars broke off or crumbled away, and the sail-less vessels sailed on without a hitch. Some of the wooden debris that had broken off just bobbed around.

Marinette found refuge on a small boulder, grabbing onto it as she scanned the dancing shipwrecks for any signs of life; any trace of her friends or her beloved prince. Every second she didn't see them slowly deflated her reserve of courage.

Poseidon have mercy... Where are they?


Adrien flew through water and darkness.

His head rang as the crushing pressure forced him down, preventing him from getting air. He kicked and waded as much as he could, but he had no idea which direction was up anymore.

Then, he was lifted up by a stray current... and he felt wind and rain splatter him as he was launched into open air.

Adrien could hardly scream as he went flying, sucking in a sharp breath. Then, he saw something dark coming towards him.

A flash of lightning revealed it to be a talon-like pillar of rock.

Bracing himself, Adrien collided against the arch of the thing with a hard cry of pain. As he slid down, he dug his fingers and nails into the rock, wincing from the gritty surface threatening to tear his skin open.

Finally, he stopped, dangling from nothing but his hands over the thrashing sea before him.

Adrien coughed to clear up his lungs, and then he hoisted himself up onto the jagged pillar.

There were a couple of scratches along his arms. His hands felt raw and they stung something fierce, but the prince ignored it all.

He looked up only to see more rocks sticking out of the sea. And... was that a maelstrom?! And those were shipwrecks orbiting around the glowing, purple vortex!

Adrien wondered if he had swallowed too much seawater.

A small scream yanked him out of his stupor, and he snapped around.

Where's Marinette?! Where's Nino?!

The prince gasped when he saw his lady clinging to one of the smaller rocks for dear life, avoiding any debris that swept past her while the sea constantly tried to pull her away.

Adrien stood up carefully and cupped his hands over his mouth. "Marinette!"

She looked up, her terror shifting to joy at the sight of him alive and still standing.

A purplish glow in Adrien's peripheral vision made him turn towards the maelstrom.

Hawkmoth grinned menacingly at the prince, his pendant flaring with power. "BACK FOR MORE, BOY?" he bellowed with the tone of a whale hunter toying with his lucky catch.

Adrien glared at him and drew his sword. It was a futile gesture, and he knew it, but he wanted to show that he wasn't in the mood for games. "I won't let you hurt her!" he shouted over the billowing wind.

"HA!" the Sea Wizard barked harshly. "IT SEEMS YOU BOTH NEVER LEARN!" A ball of lightning erupted in his giant hand, and he threw it directly at Adrien.

The prince swore and dove away, submerging just as he heard the blast. Tiny rocks pelted him from behind.

What part of me thought that was a good idea? Adrien thought as he came up for air.

He grabbed onto a rotten plank floating beside him, and rested against it before looking over at Marinette.

The pushing current from the maelstrom was taking Adrien right to her, but that monster was watching them both.

Sure enough, Hawkmoth cast a teasing smirk at the little mermaid... and fired another lightning bolt.

Marinette launched off the boulder right before it exploded onto cinders. When she came back up, the current carried her further away from Adrien.

The prince gritted his teeth.

Hawkmoth was playing around with them; wearing them out until they would have no strength left to escape him.

There's got to another way! Adrien thought.


Somewhere amidst all the chaos, Nino swam blindly through the roundabout of ships and rocks.

His glasses had slipped off when that huge tentacle had come crashing down. Even when the light of the maelstrom appeared, all Nino could make out where blurry, black hulks amongst a field of purple.

But his ears still worked, well enough to hear Hawkmoth bellowing at Adrien before a large clap of thunder sounded.

Another clap made Tikki gasp from behind Nino's right shoulder. "Marinette and the prince are in trouble!" the little red kwami cried.

"I think we all fit into that category, Sugarcube," Plagg moaned from the opposite shoulder.

Nino paused and treaded water, listening for any other voices. His friends were out there somewhere, and here he was floating uselessly out in the open. The cold laughter from the giant squid only made Nino more desperate.

He had failed to save Adrien last time. Over his dead body would the first mate let the same mistake happen twice.

"Just tell me where they are!" he called to Tikki, wiping rain droplets from his eyes. "I can make out just enough to –"

"Dude! Behind you!" Plagg yelped.

Nino spun around in his spot just as a great shadow fell over him.

He didn't need to see clearly to know that was a ship's hull plowing towards him. He could hear the groaning and creaking of the wood panels. He could feel the water pushing against him in hard ripples.

Tikki and Plagg shrieked and clung to each other.

"Hang on!" Nino shouted, swimming for all three of their lives away from the looming vessel.

But he was still too late.

The ship tipped upward as it hit a hard break. Then it came crashing back down, swallowing up everything in its path.

Including the first mate and the two kwamis.

Nino inhaled before water filled his ears and mouth. He clawed and kicked out, but then his back slammed against the front of the ship's keel. The force knocked Nino senseless, and most of the air he held in blew out in a great gush of bubbles.

He was spinning over and under, and his body grew numb and cold, too weak to do anything to save himself.

Until...

ZAP!

Nino almost choked on water as he became fully alert. Whatever just shocked him, it worked.

Even as his lungs burned, the first mate shot both hands out towards the ship, reaching for something, anything...

A rough, thin coil scraped along his hand. A rope!

Nino grasped it firmly, holding tight as the rope jerked him back the other way. Then, he shimmied his way along the rope.

His head breached the surface, but water sliced past him as the ship continued its course along the maelstrom. Nino took in several deep breaths before climbing up the rope.

He could feel Tikki and Plagg slumping against his shoulders. They regrew arms and legs and flew up to the railing to help heave Nino onboard.

The first mate collapsed onto the deck, panting.

Above him, he saw a single, large sail hanging from the main mast. It was torn at the sides with only a few holes in the middle... yet still in manageable shape. This really is a lucky ship, Nino thought with a soft chuckle.

Tikki and Plagg hovered over him, the former glancing at the latter with a smile. "Good thinking using an electric jolt to wake him up."

The black-cat kwami shrugged smugly. "I try."

Nino suddenly remembered, and he sat up. "Adrien... Marinette...!" he rasped.

Before the kwamis could respond, Nino heard another dark cackle.

He growled bitterly. This dude is REALLY getting on my nerves!

The first mate got to his feet, wobbly as he was, and stumbled over to the port side railing. Tikki and Plagg helped steady him.

Nino squinted at the Sea Wizard's blurry form standing on the other side of the maelstrom.

The monster raised one of his hands, and a purple star glowed upon his chest.

Nino gulped. That can't be good...


Marinette fought the pulling current, thrashing her tail about like a fish caught in a net.

I am the daughter of the Sea King, she told herself valiantly. I am no one's slave, no one's pawn, and no one's toy!

Harnessing her reserve of strength, Marinette dove under and swam against the hard flow of the maelstrom, kicking her tail out furiously.

Up ahead, she spotted Adrien clinging to that small piece of flotsam. His legs carved through the water weakly as he held on.

Marinette gritted her teeth and came back up to the surface just a few feet in front of the prince. "Adrien!"

He turned at the sound of her voice. "Milady!" Grinning broadly, he let go of the debris and swam towards her.

Marinette, though drained like a rung-out towel, stretched her fingers towards her prince.

He did the same.

The last thing the little mermaid saw was Adrien's smile...

... before a gush of hard water exploded underneath her and sent her up into the howling sky.


Adrien didn't know what just happened.

One second, his lady was within his grasp.

The next second, she was flying unconscious through the air and into the maelstrom.

The great, glowing mouth swallowed Marinette long after Adrien's scream of denial tore through the stormy air.

No! No, no, no, no! Please, NO!

But no matter how hard the prince prayed, Marinette didn't emerge.

His shock kindled his anger, and Adrien glared up at the enormous monster responsible.

Hawkmoth, surprisingly, did not laugh. He only smirked at the helpless human prince before him. "CRY NOT FOR YOUR PRECIOUS PRINCESS, BOY," he stated. "I SHALL SEE THAT YOU ARE BOTH REUNITED... IN THE AFTERLIFE!"

Adrien stiffened when one of those mighty black tentacles rose up and stretched out towards him.

He tried to swim away, but the coil of massive blubber encased him and lifted him out of the water.

Adrien wriggled as best as he could, pounding the tentacle with his fist and kicking it with his feet. But the sucker-like walls shrank closer and closer, sticking to him.

That's when the prince realized he was still holding his sword.

Gripping it with both hands, Adrien let out a cry and drove the blade into the mound of slimy flesh, all the way down to the hilt.

Hawkmoth's painful shout nearly deafened him.

Suddenly, the tentacle uncoiled.

Adrien saw what he was dangling over, and his stomach rose up to his throat. Oops...

He screamed as he fell through the air into the circling eye of the maelstrom.


Nino gasped as he watched his best friend vanish into the whirlpool, just as quickly as Marinette had.

No... They can't be gone!

Tikki covered her mouth with her tiny red hands, looking away with sorrow. Plagg just stared out at the maelstrom in disbelief.

Meanwhile, the Sea Wizard was caressing the tentacle he had dropped Adrien from. Then he gazed down into the maelstrom with something that looked like icy annoyance, his other tentacles curling like closed fists.

Nino's eyes narrowed. No laughter? No gloating? No declaration of victory?

A hopeful thought struck the first mate like one of Plagg's jolts. "They're still alive," he said aloud. "I'm sure of it!"

Tikki perked up at those words.

"Maybe, but..." Plagg shivered. "How are we going to help them? Mothball's got the power of the earth, wind and tides on his side! Even our magic can't stand against that of the Miraculous!"

Nino glanced around the ship, searching through the wreckage for some kind of weapon he could use. A spare cannon, an oar, a barrel of gunpowder...

Lightning flashed, and a sharp shadow at the front of the ship caught his eye.

Nino squinted again.

The bowsprit – once long and mighty like its adjoined vessel – was cracked at the middle, revealing a jagged tip that reminded Nino of a giant spear.

A whisper of an idea came to Nino, and he looked up at the dead sail above him. He pointed and said out loud, "Could that still catch in the wind?"

Tikki responded with a suspicious, "Perhaps. I mean, if I used my magic..."

"Wait. Reel it in a bit," Plagg said. "What exactly is your plan, mate?"

A sly grin found its way up onto Nino's mouth. "You said Baldy's got all that power on his side?" he declared. "Well... we're going to use that against him."


Every muscle, bone, hair, and scale on Marinette's body throbbed, and her vision was distorted as she opened her eyes.

She was lying on dry land. How did she get all the way to shore?

And what was that awful howling noise?

Marinette groaned as she pushed off the ground and looked up. The bright, purple curtain of water made her adrenaline spike, and the higher she looked, the more she realized where she was.

The sea howled as it swirled around the long, hollow pit. The sound was open and ominous, like putting a shell to your ear.

Marinette quickly checked herself for injuries. Thank Poseidon, she was still in one piece. How did I survive that fall? she thought.

She was so shocked, she almost didn't hear a small groan coming from her left.

But when she pivoted around, the little mermaid gasped.

Adrien lay on his side. His face contorted with pain as he tried to move, but at least he was alive.

Marinette crawled over to her prince and shook him by the shoulders. "Adrien! Adrien, get up!" she pleaded.

He opened his eyes at her, and that seemed to help him recover faster. He got to his knees, running a hand on Marinette's shoulder as though to make sure she was real. "Are you... Are you okay, Milady?" he asked between a stiffening wince.

The blunette almost giggled, but she nodded all the same.

"AH, GOOD!" sang a startling voice.

Marinette reeled, and Adrien suddenly had his arms around her. They both looked up towards the open mouth of the maelstrom.

Hawkmoth sneered down at the little couple, tapping his fingers on the Miraculous. "NOW THE REAL FUN CAN BEGIN!" he declared, his eyes darkening with sadistic pleasure.

He pointed a finger at the prince and the mermaid.

Marinette was about to shove Adrien out of harm's way from the lightning shooting towards them, but Adrien was quicker.

He scooped Marinette into his arms, stood up, and raced to the other side of the pit.

The lightning bolt struck the ground, leaving behind a smoking, purple scorch mark.

Marinette cringed, clutching Adrien tight. The prince glared up at their attacker.

The Sea Wizard snickered and fired another bolt.

Adrien cried out as he dodged again, the bolt singeing his heels.

We can't evade him forever, Marinette thought with horror. She looked along the swirling wall of water for a way out. Maybe if she and Adrien could breach it somehow and swim away...

CRASH!

The next bolt exploded in front of them, sending Adrien onto his back. The momentum sent Marinette rolling off him, staring up at the opening.

Another flash, and the little mermaid swerved out of the way with a shriek just in time before the lightning struck.

Adrien scrambled to his feet only to get blown back by another bolt striking beside him. He collided hard with the wall of water and fell back onto the ground. His agonizing breaths were evidence of how much pain he was in.

Marinette could do nothing but watch, her eyes tearing up.

Her prince looked over at her, all the way across the pit. Even from this distance; even in the purple light, his eyes gleamed like the greenest emeralds.

She stared at him long and hard, exhaling the words she should have told him on the wedding ship: "I love you..."

She would never see Bridgette again. Or Tikki. Or Alya. Or Mom and Dad.

But at least the little mermaid would spend her final moments in the eyes of her one true love.

Courage and devotion filled the creases on Adrien's face... and he started crawling over to her.

Marinette did the same.

This time, when they reached each other, the prince lifted them both up into a sitting position. Then, he cupped Marinette's face with both hands. "I love you too, Milady," he sighed, his feline smile heartbreakingly warm. "Fins and all."

Tears skimmed down the blunette's cheeks as a tiny laugh escaped her.

Then Hawkmoth was laughing.

Marinette and Adrien shot him one last look of defiance.

"SO MUCH FOR TRUE LOVE!" the Sea Wizard roared into the sky, lifting his finger high above him while the Miraculous blazed below his collarbone.

An electric spark ignited at his fingertip.

Adrien turned his back to Hawkmoth, pulling Marinette against him like a knight shielding his princess.

At the same time, Marinette buried her face in the prince's chest. She ignored all the sounds of the storm, focusing instead on Adrien's heartbeat – a strong but tender drumming to lull her to sleep.

They both held their breaths, waiting.

Then...


"Now!" Nino commanded from the helm, spinning the wheel to the left.

Up above, the ruined sail – patched up by Tikki and Plagg – went taut and full. The kwamis yanked on the ropes tight as the leathery thing caught onto the stormy wind.

Hawkmoth looked up, but not in time to see the shipwreck suddenly shooting towards him at top speed... with the bowsprit pointed right at him.

Nino saw the monster's skull-like face go slack with horrified surprise, that ball of lightning still perched in his hand.

Then... the ship slammed into his exposed abdomen, the sudden stop forcing Nino hard against the wheel.

Hawkmoth's scream was one of pure, unholy agony.

The orb of lightning redirected, zapping the enormous crystal hanging around the squid-man's neck.

Nino shielded his eyes from the explosion of light, wind... and something that sounded like glass shattering.

There was a brief moment of quiet. Even the rain stopped.

Suddenly, the sky erupted into thunder and lightning.

When Nino squinted through his fingers, he was actually horrified to see Hawkmoth convulsing like an electric eel, struck to the bone by his own storm.

The monster collapsed onto the ship, reaching up and around it with his massive hands and tentacles like it was a life-raft.

Only then did the ship start to sink.


The moment he heard Hawkmoth's scream, Adrien dared to look back up at the opening.

Marinette followed suit, her eyes going wide at the sight of something pointy sticking out of the Sea Wizard's back.

Adrien knew. He didn't know how he knew, but he did. "Nino..."

But before he could rejoice from the fact that he and his lady had just been spared from certain death, the glowy thing on Hawkmoth's chest exploded.

The two pieces – one red and the other green; each one sparkling like twin stars – vanished somewhere in the high water.

Then, Hawkmoth lit up like a storm cloud and fell – to Adrien's horror – right on top of the ship that had given him that mortal blow.

"Nino!" the prince cried.

Suddenly, he felt water splashing against his knees, and Adrien got the weird feeling that this pit was getting smaller.

Marinette was quickest to react, hooking her arms around Adrien's middle and linking her hands like a chain. "Hold your breath!"

Adrien didn't waste a second.

He swallowed every bit of air his lungs could take, and then he held onto Marinette.

The sea swept them both off the ground, and Adrien held tighter as he and his lady went flying through water.


Nino scrambled up to the stern as the ship dipped onto its front.

All around him, the curved rocks crumbled back into the sea with great splashes, and the shipwrecks slipped under the waves like heavy stones, as if they suddenly remembered they're supposed to be on the bottom of the ocean.

Nino pulled himself with great effort onto the back of the ship. Then, he peered back over the edge.

He could barely make out Hawkmoth's twisted face of pain, rage, and fear before it vanished into the bubbling, glowing water below.

The arms went next, but the tentacles still held on to the wreckage, each one webbed with tendrils of lightning.

Nino got to his feet hazily, nearly avoiding a tentacle trying to curl around him.

Then, he meandered to the other side and dove rather ungracefully into the sea.

The cold water was like a balm to his sore muscles, and he no longer had the strength to bring himself to the surface.

Instead, Nino watched calmly as the sunken ship and the Sea Wizard were engulfed in a silent burst of purple light. It still continued to pulse and bubble as it sank deeper and deeper.

Nino felt his consciousness slipping, but he decided he could accept that.

Adrien was safe now. Marinette was safe. Alya was safe.

Alya...

Nino finally closed his eyes, and he felt a gentle arm wrap around his chest.

When he came to, he was gliding on the smooth surface of the sea. It was still dark, but there was no rain to be felt, no lightning to be seen, and no distant thunder to be heard.

Nino tried to blink awake, but even that was a challenge.

"There," said a weak but familiar voice. "I can see the shore."

Adrien.

"Thank goodness," said the voice right beside Nino; the one coming from the girl holding onto him. "Help me get him up."

The next thing Nino knew, he was walking... well, more like staggering onto wet, squishy sand. He fell to his knees more than once, but Adrien was there to heave him back up.

"Come on, bro," the prince rasped, clearly out of breath by the sound of it. "Just a little more. That's it. Easy does it. Okay... you can rest now."

Nino collapsed unceremoniously onto his back, his head swimming and his legs as limp as deboned fish. He stared up at the sky, watching the dark violet clouds shrink away from the onslaught of deep midnight-blue.

Nino heard Adrien hit the sand next to him.

"Hey pal..." the first mate panted, too tired to look over at his best friend. "You good?"

A small snort. "Super. You?"

Nino groaned. "Never better."

They both chuckled for a second or two.

Then, Nino asked, "Marinette?"

"She's here," Adrien sighed. "Thanks for the save, by the way."

Nino shrugged. "Let's not do that again... At least for a while... Okay?"

"Deal."

Nino closed his eyes with a smile.