Chapter 14: Prelude to destruction
Chat Noir dodged a swipe with a roll and smiled, "Come on Tigress! You can do better than that!"
The older hero scowled at the rookie and lunged at him once more, sending swipes at the blonde's face and chest.
Chat Noir attempted to sidestep one of the swipes but was kicked in the stomach by the older hero.
"Come on Chat Noir," Tigress smiled, "You can do better than that."
It had been several days since the reveal and revival of Ladybug and Chat Noir. Since then there have been no Akuma attacks and Gabriel had locked down the mansion tighter than a cork on a bottle. Meanwhile, Adrien stayed with Master Fu and skipped school to prepare for the fight.
Marinette in the meantime had thought about the training that Master Fu had mentioned and made sure they had access to the stadium. This was the second time they had come to train, however, this was also an opportunity to gain more information onto the plan.
"So the plan is that we'll split up, Adrien and I take Hawkmoth while you two take on whatever Akuma he creates with Lila Rossi?" Marinette raised an eyebrow as she watched the two heroes continue to spar, "Sounds pretty risky to me."
Master Fu spared a glance at the young girl, "It is not that the plan is risky, it is what we have to accomplish to even the odds against Hawkmoth and this girl who seems to be such a powerful Akuma for him."
The two watched Chat Noir knock Tigress to the ground, only to be knocked down himself.
"And what is it we need to accomplish to even the odds?" Marinette asked, "All due respect Master, but how do we not have the odds, look around, four against two?"
"We may have the numbers, but he is the one setting the pace of battle." Fu reminded the girl, "We are also bound by the rules of engagement, that he is not."
"What rule is that?" Marinette asked the older man, taking a sip of her tea.
"That we need to unmask him to the public, we need him to be Hawkmoth before we can finish it." Master Fu answered, "We cannot just break into the Agreste mansion, he will undoubtedly have contingencies for that."
"So then we're stuck, waiting for him to move." Marinette sighed in frustration.
"Do not worry, young one," The old man spoke, "Bringing Ladybug and Chat Noir into this game of cat and mouse was a move all on its own."
Marinette sighed and took a drink of her tea, "Sorry, it's just… it's just everything that has been happening so fast." She sighed, "First the Eiffel tower, then the bakery, now this? I can't stand that everything is starting to slow down now!"
"Then let's get some of that frustration out of you," The old man smiled, "It seems like Adrien has had enough."
Marinette's gaze found Chat Noir's, who was underneath Tigress' boot.
"Fine." The girl answered, making her way over to the older hero, allowing Chat Noir to take a break.
"Tikki, Spots on!" In a bright flash of pink light Ladybug replaced Marinette, a small smile arriving on the hero's face, "Let's get this over with."
She unclipped her yo-yo and swung it several times at her opponents, who used her agility to dodge each swing. The tiger pounced down onto the Ladybug, who jumped away and attempted another few swings at her opponent.
Tigress dodged under a swing, but grabbed the end of the yo-yo and pulled ladybug toward her, and kicked her in the stomach, getting rid of her opponent's weapon and tossing it aside.
The older hero raised her fists and smiled at Ladybug, "Come on, let's settle this with hand to hand."
Ladybug obliged.
The two raced toward each other and ladybug slid underneath Tigress, dodging a swing from the tiger. By the time Tigress turned back around a firm punch sent the older hero to the ground.
"That's enough for tonight," Master Fu interrupted, "It's time to expand on the plan, and what our main goals will be."
The group walked into the stands of the stadium and went silent, waiting for what Master Fu had planned.
"As we know Hawkmoth is preparing a massive attack on Paris in hopes of drawing us out," He began, "However, thanks to Tikki, we know that it should begin tomorrow morning."
"What are our objectives?" Tigress asked, crossing her arms over her chest.
"First off we need to distract Hawkmoth long enough so that Ladybug and Chat Noir can infiltrate the mansion and free Mrs. Agreste." Fu took a breath before he continued, "Tigress and I will fight against whatever Akuma he has on the ground while Ladybug takes Chat Noir and infiltrates the mansion."
"How will we be able to get my mother out of there if we are discovered," Chat Noir asked, "we'll be completely stuck!"
Fu smiled, "That's why you'll combine two Miraculous."
"You can do that?!" Tigress exclaimed.
"Yes, it is possible," Master Fu confirmed, "Not only can it give you an advantage but after you unmerge you can give a Miraculous to Mrs. Agreste to help escape."
"What Miraculous should we take?" Chat Noir asked, "And how do we use their abilities?"
Master Fu looked at both of them for a moment before smiling, "Ladybug, you will merge the Ladybug and Dragon Miraculous," He turned his gaze toward Chat Noir, "You will merge the Snake and Cat miraculous."
"Shouldn't I have the Dragon Miraculous?" Chat Noir asked, "After all, I was the one with it beforehand."
Master Fu nodded after a moment, "As long as Ladybug agrees."
She nodded, "It makes sense to me, he got a good feeling for it when he arrived at your place the other night."
Master Fu smiled, "That is true," He held out the two Miraculous and smiled, "Take them, and begin to train some more."
The slight hum of the elevator marked the arrival of Gabriel to his two captives, only one of whom had enough strength to look up at their captor. Emilie's gaze found nothing but disgust in her husband's approach, however, the black eye was an exception.
"Hello again Emilie, I wanted you to know something since this will be the last time we talk for a while." Gabriel informed her, "I plan to remake the timeline again, this time wiping out the guardian for good."
"And what else would that cost you, Gabriel?" Emilie responded, "What's left of your humanity? Your mind? Me? Or how about our son?"
"It doesn't matter." He responded, his gaze moved up to the stasis pod beside her.
"What happened to you? What happened to the man I called my husband?" Emilie cried out, "You were once distant but kind, but now? All I see is a man without a care for anyone who isn't himself!"
Gabriel looked down at her, "You happened."
Emilie fell silent.
"You had gotten sick, and the only way I could think to save you was to gain the Miraculous from Ladybug and Chat Noir, Marinette Dupain Cheng and our son." He sighed, wiping a hand down his face, "The three of us fought for years until I decided to up the scale of destruction suddenly in a final hail mary."
"Don't tell me.." Emilie shook her head in denial.
Gabriel sat down on one of the steps below him, his hands grabbed at his hair, "Paris burned, and Ms. Dupain-Cheng was left bleeding, Adrien… was defeated," A tear dropped to the metal below him, "Nonetheless I reset the timeline and cured the Peacock Miraculous."
"What do you mean you defeated Adrien!" Emilie asked her husband, tears building in her eyes, "Don't tell me you killed him!"
His silence was his answer.
"NO!" The woman punched the metal grating beneath her, "Gabriel, how could you!"
"It was him or me, Emilie, I reset it all he's back! And your safe again!"
"I WOULD RATHER HIM HAVE KILLED YOU AND BE IN STASIS FOR THE REST OF MY YEARS THAN SEE YOUR FACE AGAIN!" Emilie screamed, she rose to her feet and tried to attack Gabriel, the only thing stopping her was the chains trapping her to the walls.
Gabriel didn't move, he only stared at the ground beneath him. He moved his gaze up toward his wife and opened his mouth to speak before letting out a sigh instead.
With a grunt he stood up and left the room, ascending through the elevator and leaving the sobs behind him.
When he returned from the basement he found Nathalie standing nearby. He sighed and made his way to her, it was time to begin his hail mary.
"Is everything in place, Nathalie?" He asked, his frown didn't leave his face.
"Lila has been contacted and clued in, it seems like your magic worked." Nathalie informed, "As for Scarlett Hawkmoth, all we need to do is begin the akumatization process."
Gabriel smiled at Nathalie, "Let's begin."
"Emilie…" Felix groaned, "He's planned for the endgame."
The blonde stared at him, tears still in her eyes.
"I know him, he's made it his mission to save you at whatever cost," He paused, "From what I can gather he was willing to sacrifice the stability of the universe and his mind to do so."
She sighed, "I know."
The two looked up to the skylight above them. "Let's hope that Adrien brings him down."
"If he killed Adrien in the past, he'll do it again…" tears continued to spill from her eyes, "What if they fail?"
"Don't think like that!" Felix cursed, "Please!"
The sound of tiny wings echoed through the chamber when they turned to see the butterfly the two froze.
It was red.
It flew toward Emilie.
"EMILIE THINK GOOD THOUGHTS!" Felix shouted, "DON'T LET IT TAKE YOU!"
With a click from his chains, the locks gave way and Felix sprinted forward and grabbed the Akuma just before it took her over.
A dark red light surrounded him and Emilie watched in horror as an Akuma replaced Felix.
He was covered in black with red spots and had combat boots, armor around his chest, gauntlets, a hood and last but not least two short batons in his hands.
A dark red moth outline outlined his face.
"Darkbug, my name is Scarlett Hawkmoth, you wish for the powers to save your friends, I will give you this power. However, you need to do something for me… retrieve the Ladybug and Cat Miraculous for me and I will help you. Do we have a deal?"
The villain fixed a crooked smile on his face and looked up to the skylight, "Yes we do, Scarlett Hawkmoth!"
The two heroes caught their breath, they had been training all night. At this point even Tigress was looking tired, Chat Noir hoped that they could go to sleep soon.
"Good work you three," Master Fu smiled, "Tomorrow should be hectic and thanks to this training you will prove to be a threat to Hawkmoth and his Akuma."
"Are you sure about that?" A crazed voice spoke, causing the four to turn toward the source.
Further up on the stands, where repairs were still taking place from the Akuma assault had taken place several weeks ago, a laughing figure watched them.
"Who are you!?" Master Fu asked the man, who responded with a bone-chilling laugh.
"Call me, Darkbug, the one who will hunt down and take the Ladybug and Cat Miraculous!" Master Fu's eyes went wide as a Scarlett moth outline appeared in front of the villain's face.
With a flash of green Jade, the turtle turned toward the other three, "GO! I'll hold him off!"
The three heroes scrambled to get out of there as the villain laughed. The only thing that stopped him was Jade's shield smacking him in the face.
"You will not win, Hawkmoth!" Jade told the Akuma, waiting for his shield to return.
"Oh, but he will," The Akuma sneered, "He has moved to his endgame, you will lose!"
With a roar, Darkbug threw one of his batons to the old hero, who jumped to the right and dodged the weapon.
His shield landed back on his wrist just at Darkbug's foot landed on his chest and threw him down several rows of seats.
"For someone with words of steel, your defense is very lacking."
"I'm just rusty, Darkbug." The hero dipped off of the stands and landed into the field, silently staring down the villain.
The final battle had begun.