"Take wing."

Never, in his life, had Adrien been more terrified of two words. He had not realized how quick a transformation was either. How long were they? Ten seconds? Fifteen? That was so little when you were suspended to your partner's arm as she was twirling in the air, as you tried to pry her hand open to grab a Miraculous. Her gloves appeared first, of course. Black, smooth, and more importantly "quantically armored".

He tore them apart with his claws, but still did not manage to open Marinette's clenched fist.

She stopped twirling, the transformation over. Her clothes had been replaced by a violet suit and a black cowl, more feminine than Hawk Moth's original costume, but still unmistakable. Thankfully, the cane had not reappeared.

Adrien's father jumped and grabbed her leg, trying to pull her down, but she kicked him away effortlessly. Chat Noir watched Gabriel crash against the wall on the other side of the room, and collapse on the floor. He prayed for his father not to be hurt. He didn't have the luxury to worry, however. He needed to get the Miraculous.

Marinette landed. Chat Noir stumbled as his feet hit the ground, and she spun on herself to trip him, freeing her arm as she did so.

"Youth," she commented, sliding away and hopping into place twice to test her new body. "Wonderful."

Then, Adrien heard the most reassuring noise he had ever heard coming from her hand: a beep. Hawk Moth had been about to untransform even before Marinette had taken the butterfly pin from him.

Of course, Chat Noir could never be allowed a stroke of good luck.

His ring beeped.

Marinette clicked her tongue.

"Spots on."

Tikki was nowhere in sight. For a second or so, Adrien hoped that she had managed to flee, that she was too far away for Hawk Moth to force her to add Ladybug's transformation to the Butterfly's. Unfortunately, the red Kwami was sucked through the window and straight into Marinette's earrings, through the cowl.

Chat breathed in and attacked. That transformation was the only opening he would have: Hawk Moth would never, ever use Lucky Charm.

He threw her to the floor, hoping it would slow the metamorphosis, hoping it would have some effect, but red and black sparkles kept spreading over her, materializing Ladybug's costume. It was violet with black spots instead of vivid red. She grew pale pink wings. The hood remained in place, with its butterfly outline around the eyes. Adrien slipped his claws through the cowl's opening, between the cloth and Marinette's cheek, and cut through the cloth.

It left one earring exposed, but too late: the transformation was over. Hawk Moth shoved Chat Noir away and jumped to her feet, wings fluttering behind her. She brushed her hair over her ear, to cover the Miraculous where her hood had been torn.

Chat Noir's ring beeped.

"Look at that, the kitten is out of lives," Marinette's voice said, with her mouth, with her body, but it did not sound like her at all.

He peeked down. He had less than three minutes.

Hawk Moth reached for her yoyo and threw it at Chat Noir, the string shining silver as it stretched across the room. Marinette whirled, sending the yoyo spiraling, and Adrien had to jump to avoid being sliced in two by the string. It cut straight through the reception booth - metallic, wooden, and plastic parts alike - before the yoyo spun back to Hawk Moth's hand.

Now that Chat Noir thought about it, his father being Hawk Moth's host had been much better. Namely, Gabriel had been less willing to murder him.

Maybe Marinette would manage to fight the possession too? He had seen her resist a swarm of Akumas. It did not look like it was among the immediate options, however. You just had to see the look on her face to understand that.

He dodged another attack, jumping above the yoyo string when it nearly severed his legs at knee level, then paled. He was not alone in the room. His father was probably injured. As if that was not bad enough, he had Aurore and Nathalie to worry about. He raced to his father's assistant, carrying her to the window and dropping her into the street. He did not wait to watch her land, just prayed for the fall not to injure her. She was paralyzed by Alya's magic. He hoped it worked by entirely stopping her, down to the cellular level. If it didn't… It was a very short fall.

Of course, Hawk Moth was not about to let him rescue people.

In the time it had taken Adrien to get Nathalie out, Marinette had crouched and sent her yoyo spinning around her. Aurore was still lying on the floor, unconscious, and Chat Noir ran to her, getting her out of the string's way before she could get hurt. He saw Gabriel roll to a corner and flatten himself as close to the wall as possible, to stay out of the yoyo's range.

Hawk Moth jumped to the ceiling, wings flickering, and ran to the window. She dropped to the floor, yoyo spinning, blocking the way out.

Chat's ring beeped again.

Two minutes.

He threw Aurore over his shoulder and started running 'at random', just as Ladybug's yoyo soared towards him again. He had a goal: his staff was still on the floor, at the other end of the room, and there was a chance he could get it if Hawk Moth forgot about it. Jumping and dodging was harder with a passed out girl over one's shoulders, and landing in the proper spot proved difficult without looking towards it, but he managed.

Hawk Moth realized what Chat Noir was doing right as the young hero grabbed his weapon. The metallic yoyo string hit a spinning staff and wrapped itself around it. Chat let Aurore slip to the floor, pulling on his staff to keep the string taut. The possessed Ladybug pulled back. She changed strategy when Chat Noir neither stumbled nor moved closer. Instead of yanking the yoyo to her, she let the string unreel. It slipped down Chat's stick.

You think you're really clever, the boy thought.

He hit the floor with the staff and extended it to the ceiling, locking it into place with the yoyo still wrapped around it. He grabbed Ladybug's weapon and pushed it between its own string's loops, and watched the string get hopelessly tangled when Hawk Moth tried to pull.

"Don't you just love cat's craddle?" Adrien said, pouncing on his opponent.

She jumped up and met him with a kick followed by a salto, then ran along the room's walls. Chat Noir frowned, preparing to intercept her. She was looking around in confusion, searching for something, and Adrien realized with overwhelming relief that his father was gone.

His ring beeped. One minute.

He charged. That was not much of a timeframe, but he would still be Picture Perfect if his transformation wore off. And, even then, maybe the others were alright and would join in. He tried to land a scratch, but Hawk Moth dodged, whirling into the air, then crouching to try to trip him. He avoided the kick with a somersault, whirling back to her, only to be met by a foot to the face. He blocked that blow with both hands. His opponent used that makeshift support to propel herself away.

Her wings vanished.

She stumbled as her gravity center shifted, and Chat Noir used that opening to pounce again, grabbing her arm and trying to open her balled fist. Despite his weight on her, she managed to push both knees into his stomach and to shove him above her head. It twisted both of their arms, sending a wave of pain through Adrien, from his shoulder to his toes. He was forced to let go, though he saw her hand uncurl. The butterfly Miraculous was under her costume, but Ladybug's glove was torn and left the pin mostly exposed.

Good.

Hawk Moth rolled, jumping to her feet as he struggled to get back to his.

Then, she fled. She abandoned her yoyo and raced to the window, throwing pieces of wood and metal towards Chat Noir as she jumped over the destroyed reception booth. He dodged what he could and kicked the rest away, trying to catch Hawk Moth before she could get out of the building. She jumped through the window. He hoped over the windowsill. A second later, he collapsed with a yell as hands grabbed his belt and pulled him to the ground.

His father shoved him face down against the pavement, putting his whole weight into keeping him still.

"Don't. Give. Chase. She can control you," Gabriel hissed.

"I can't let her get away!" Chat snapped, shoving his father to the side.

There was no point: Hawk Moth was gone already, having turned at the closest corner to get out of sight. She could have gone anywhere. Adrien snarled, standing up and looking around just in case their enemy was spying on them from some vantage point.

Gabriel clicked his tongue.

"Let's get back in-"

There was a last beep. Chat Noir's transformation reverted, leaving Picture Perfect standing in front of the stylist, and a hissing Plagg hovering between them. The Kwami landed on the boy's shoulder. Gabriel ignored it.

Rage overwhelmed Adrien for a second or so. He swallowed it back. His father studied his face, jaw clenched, then got to his feet.

"Let's get back inside," he repeated, joining Schedule Conflict, who was lying on the floor right where Chat Noir had dropped her.

Gabriel tried to lift her up. He swayed under her weight, and Adrien went to help him in tense silence. They carried Nathalie inside, carefully setting her down on the floor. As soon as she was safe, Adrien's father walked away as if she did not matter at all. Instead, he followed the silvery string of Ladybug's yoyo to the weapon itself, and picked it up. Chat Noir's staff, of course, had vanished.

Adrien could feel Plagg's tail swatting his back. The Kwami was seething. Still, he was also exhausted. The teenager put a hand on his back to keep him quiet.

The yoyo disappeared as they watched.

"She untransformed?" Picture Perfect murmured.

"She found sweets," his father commented, wiping his hand on his pants. "Hawk Moth will force Makko to eat before getting back into the fight."

He sounded unconcerned.

"So she's going to come back twice as powerful!" Adrien exclaimed, horrified.

What were they supposed to do? How were they supposed to save Marinette when she would be fighting them with the powers of not just one, but two Kwamis?

"That's irrelevant," his father replied, looking around. "Hawk Moth will have the same weaknesses regardless of the power he gathers. Over and over again, the same monsters." - He sighed. - "You are so woefully uninformed about the nature of the enemy you are fighting."

Adrien clenched his fists, hurt to hear more criticism. It felt like a slap to the face. Gabriel noticed his expressions and grimaced.

"I was stating a fact, Adrien. I didn't mean to blame you for it."

He breathed in, eyes lost into the distance, then snapped out of it.

"Are you alright?" he asked, joining his son.

The teenager took a step back, darkness twisting inside his chest. His father sighed and hugged him. Adrien froze. He did not remember that sensation at all. He did not remember the last time his father had done such a thing, to be honest. The boy hesitated, raising his arms, holding them up, then closing them around Gabriel.

Picture Perfect felt his phone slide out of his pocket.

"W-"

It was a trick, he realized, only now sensing the underlying lie. He had wanted to believe in it. He had wanted to believe his father cared.

Gabriel, barely moving back, dropped the phone to the floor and stepped on it. It cracked, pieces flying in all directions.

"I am not doing this again, are we clear?" he said as the Akuma escaped the remains of its fetish.

He grabbed it between two fingers and released it above his palm. The butterfly landed and stopped moving. Gabriel closed his hands on it and looked down at them. A second later, black magic started glimmering around his fingers and sank into his skin.

Adrien felt his mask vanish. Magic spread over him, erasing Picture Perfect's costume, draining the darkness out of him and purging it away. He soon found himself - himself - standing in his own clothes and his own mind in front of his father. The rage was gone (there was anger left, but it was his own). He no longer felt the lies around him, he no longer wanted to expose them (or just a little, but he knew it was not his right).

When Gabriel opened his hands again, the butterfly had turned snow white.

Plagg jumped off Adrien's shoulder and hovered around the creature. His chosen stared at it.

"It did not corrupt you," he murmured, horrified. What his father had just done could not be good. It should not have been possible. "How did it not corrupt you?"

"It wouldn't have corrupted you if you had been able to keep your emotions in check," Gabriel retorted, voice as cold as it had been for the last decade.

His son breathed in, swallowing hard. He had hoped for some kind of change.

His father shook his head and sighed.

"I suppose you were expecting me to turn into a different person now that the darkness has been purged away. Unfortunately, an 'absence of evil' does not equate 'goodness'."

Plagg twitched and returned to Adrien's shoulder.

"That magic is not vanishing," he whispered.

"How… How long have you been doing this?" the teenager asked. "How-"

His father raised his second hand, letting a second butterfly flutter out of his wrist, then bury itself back into his arm.

"That would be how. I have access to some of Makko's abilities. Not many of them, I'm afraid."

"It's not vanishing," Plagg repeated. "You would need all of her powers."

Gabriel clicked his tongue, staring at the Kwami, then ignoring him entirely to turn to his son.

"Do you want to know why Plagg cannot for the life of him perform an exorcism?" he asked. "That would be because it is not and will never be in his nature. What you need - the only power you need - is the ability to forgive. That would be why Tikki is the best at it, while Plagg" - He gave the spirit a side-look. - "has to grasp at straws to cleanse the butterflies. You have to take the anger in and let it go, a concept some just cannot comprehend."

He turned to Plagg and gave him a long, icy look, then shook his head. He brushed the butterfly he had just purified off and watched it fly to Aurore. The insect landed on her arm and sank into it.

Adrien ran to her, as leaving her crumpled on the floor was definitely not an option. He carried her to a chair instead. She mumbled in her sleep, but it looked like she would be out cold for a while.

"Do you think that magic affects him?" Adrien asked Plagg, his voice too low for his father to overhear.

He had forgotten his bruised feelings. They had been replaced by worry for his father, that merged with the terror he felt for Ladybug and his fears about his friends, who had not returned yet. The only reason he was not freaking out about them was that he knew Plagg would have told him about any serious danger Alya or Nino were in.

"I don't know," his Kwami murmured. "It's true I have to use tricks and spells to purge the Akumas, while Tikki does it easily for the exact reasons Argus explained. But…"

"But?"

"But he might be able to do it. It's just… You'd have to be… He… Nevermind. We'll get Tikki back. She will help him."

Adrien swallowed. That was not reassuring, at all. He looked up. His father was crouching next to Nathalie. The teenager frowned and joined them. He leaned closer and and watched Gabriel test the ropes she was tied up with.

"Can we help her?" Adrien asked, afraid to mention the whole 'cleansing an Akuma with one's bare hands' trick.

"I could free her but not make her forget," Gabriel replied. His face did not change expression, but one of his fists clenched. His voice remained even. "The removal of the memories is however necessary. The wisest course of action is to wait for Ladybug to be freed."

Would she ever be? Adrien wondered. Fighting her would be hard enough, but Hawk Moth was likely to return to hiding and to send possessed villains in their stead. It was a cowardly but sound strategy.

"It could take a long time," the boy mused, staring at the stranger that was Gabriel Agreste.

All the childhood drawings and half-erased memories in the world would not have been enough to make him and his father connect. Gabriel had been warmer before his mother's death. Scratched knees and ten step plans written down on bristol sheets. He had changed. The question was "was it irreversible?". Being turned into a monster left scars, and the absorption of dark magic straight out of evil spirits had to take more of a toll than Plagg would say out loud.

"I don't think so," Gabriel commented. "Makko was finally found out, hiding is no longer an option for Hawk Moth. I… tried to send warnings, by the way, but thinking about Hawk Moth at all brought him out."

Plagg's tail whipped Adrien's shoulder.

"How?" he said, sounding beyond exhausted. "Hawk Moth could not have corrupted the Miraculous without Makko letting him in. So how? How did he convince her to make a deal? She's not human, she's not supposed to-"

A phone started ringing. The sound was coming from Marinette's discarded purse. Adrien went to fetch it, carefully pointing the device towards the floor and away from him, just in case.

As soon as he picked up, Alya jumped out of the screen.

"Is everyone okay? The others are trapped in the staircase, the power is off and the doors are blocked shut in every direction."

She saw the look on Adrien's face and paled.

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