''So this is how things are'' Said the impeccably dressed man, who Alya, like most of her friends, referred to in her mind as 'government man #1'.
While the city went through a silent, wintery chaos as news from the attack on the bakery reached everyone, the team met with the same people that were, just mere days ago, offering a deal along with Gabriel Agreste. The ex villain was not present, just like Nathalie Sancoeur and the hero Viperion. Currently both groups were cooperating somewhat, informing each other of how they lost three important people that had delicate information to Gianna Rossi, now officially known as Lady Vendetta, much to Alya's disappointment.
The purpose of using code names was to hide identities, thought the reporter, and in some cases to show respect for someone's hard work; Like how the soldiers that were currently guarding the door of the room they were all in called Adrien 'Chat Noir'. Gianna Rossi didn't deserve any respect, and calling her Lady Vendetta was like giving her power, in a way. Alya, transformed into Rena Rouge, looked at her left side where Ladybug was standing. She felt incredibly frustrated on behalf of her best friend, who had to just pretend right now that her parents weren't in a hospital just to appear strong and confident in front of these people. She hadn't had the time to talk to her and support her, only hoping that at least Adrien did, while bearing the guilt of having safe, unknowing parents back home.
''Yes, Viperion wasn't just one of our strongest allies… he wa- is our friend'' Said Ladybug, correcting herself when she saw Chloe flinching at the mention of her boyfriend.
Alya was extremely surprised to see that Chloe was taking the loss of Luka a lot worse than Marinette seemed to take her parent's hospitalization. All she knew is that if something like that happened to Nino OR any member of her family, she wouldn't even be there, so her admiration for both girls just grew. Or maybe she wasn't giving herself enough credit and being self deprecating was her way of dealing with her own survivor's guilt…
There were two government men in the room, who just stared at each other with what seemed to be soft expressions for the first time since they started the meeting. Apparently Alya wasn't the only one having a hard time maintaining a cold, professional demeanor, because the pity in their eyes was now very apparent. Man #1 then coughed, ashamed of his sudden bout of humanity, and continued:
''We can now assume that this terrorist now knows who all of you are, then?'' He asked, his voice reflecting the fact that he knew perfectly well how delicate that question was.
''Better to assume the worst…'' Commented Carapace in a low volume, but since the room was silent it didn't go unnoticed.
''Yes'' Said Ladybug, loud and firm. Alya noticed a quick glance exchange between her and Chat Noir, and his black-gloved hand moved onto the heroine's shoulder right before a flash of soft pink filled the room.
It happened as quickly as they were used to, which made it even more shocking to see. If it wasn't for how surprised Alya herself felt at the sudden de-transformation, the expressions on the two men would have been really funny.
''She already knows who I am, so it's pointless to keep that a secret from my own allies'' Marinette said, still sounding as confident as Ladybug usually presented herself.
Alya saw in what felt like slow motion how the new information dawned on the two men. Their faces went from shock and awe to pity again as they took in who the girl standing in front of them was.
''You're the baker's daughter… the ones who got attacked'' Said man #1, not bothering to hide his emotions anymore.
''How is that possible!? It's so-''
''Obvious?'' Provided Chat Noir, with a cheeky smile. ''Like my own father being a villain, while I, his hero son, never knew and vice versa?''
''How-''
''Magic, dude'' Nino said, interrupting man#1 again.
After the shock wore off a bit more and they briefly explained the two men how the glamour worked, Alya started to wonder if she should reveal herself too. But what would be the point? When all of this was over, she didn't want these guys, no matter how helpful or well intentioned they were, to know who she was. To be able to knock on her door and bother her family. That didn't mean she was a bad hero, did it? .But she had been the number one person on Paris trying to discover who Ladybug was, back in the day… she felt like a hypocrite, and her guilt grew as the conversation went on without her.
''So how come we all learned who this new villain is immediately?'' Asked Man#1.
''The glamour doesn't work with her, it's one of the few prices she paid for that corrupt power she has'' Explained Chloe, probably quoting Luka.
''So she's not like you?''
''Yes and no… She has A miraculous, but it's a corrupted one… an abomination, of sorts. This is why we are being so cautious to confront her, instead of just facing her on like we did with Hawkmoth, sir.'' Said Marinette. Alya didn't miss how her friend omitted the fact that the power Gianna has was artificially made.
The government man #1 sighed loudly, running a hand through his greying hair in frustration.
''Sylvain'' He said.
''Huh?''
''My name. You gave us yours, and so much more, so I suppose it's my turn to give something back, even if it's just as a sign of trust''
''I...didn't even know your name was a secret'' Commented Marinette, a tiny smile on her face. ''We just never asked because…''
''Because we didn't expect to meet you again'' Barked Chloe, but she smiled too after showing her tongue.
''Haha I suppose we deserve that…'' Alya could almost read the man's mind, now that he wasn't acting like a rock. He was probably thinking about how young they were, now that he knew Ladybug, the team captain so to speak, was still a teenager. And he wasn't wrong. Master Fu no longer had a miraculous and Antoine, the only other adult on their little team, was not in the reunion today either.
''Don't get too excited about what you've learnt today, Mr. Sylvain'' Said Marinette, crossing her arms in front of her chest. ''My identity won't be a prized secret for longer, and this is why I came here today in the first place''
''Oh?''
''I need your help preparing a broadcast, with as much audience as possible, for me to announce who I am to the world''
...
Gabriel Agreste saw a bunny in the room.
No, he wasn't getting crazy… well, crazier. Yes, he was trapped in a literal villain's lair, pretending to be completely broken when he was only halfway there as he held Nathalie's body. Next to him, Luka couffaine lying on the floor in a similar state as his precious ex-secretary was. But he wasn't crazy. There was a woman with the bunny miraculous in the room, though her image glitched in and out of reality. She looked very frustrated.
Gabriel would have talked to her, but Gianna was never too far. The woman was human, still, and had to procure herself some food she likely stole from a poor soul, but she was back already. The man noticed how the woman almost never dropped the transformation, and a small part of his brain, the Hawkmoth part, kind of envied the power she displayed. Thankfully most of Gabriel these days was sane enough to ignore those thoughts, and to realize that yep, the bunny girl was real, and was also hand signing stuff to him from behind the woman.
He pretended to look at the villain when in reality, he was trying to decipher what the hero behind her was trying to tell him. His mind felt foggy still, the dread and loss bagging him down, but eventually he noticed the bunny was pointing at something. The box.
''You have the same problem as your daughter did'' Commented the man, slow and quietly, but loud enough for the woman to stop eating for a second and pay him attention. He looked up to her face and saw her creepy smile.
''Well well, you're not as broken as I thought you'd be, Mr. Agreste'' Said the woman, biting her food again right after.
''Lila didn't have anyone trust worthy enough to lend those jewels to, that's why she lost'' He kept going, nodding slightly at the bunny who stopped facepalming at his apparent stupidity and realized what he was doing. She started moving, still glitching, closer and closer to the box.
''She lost because she lacked power, and that is not a problem I have'' The woman answered, frowning. The topic of her daughter obviously angered her, but there was something weird about it all, that even Gabriel's half broken mind noticed. That woman wanted to be angry.
''They'll defeat you like they did to me, it's how these things go'' He kept going, and finally Gianan moved, stood up from her spot next to the box and walked towards him.
Gabriel spared a second to look at the bunny girl, and she was hand signing again to him, not making a sound. He frowned at her, wondering why wasn't she taking the box and running for it, but then he saw why: She wasn't able to. Bunny attempted to grab it and it was enough for Gabriel to see that she phased through it.
''What's your point, Agreste?'' Asked the villain, squatting in front of him. She let some of her red smoke come out of her eye, and it was slowly creeping on him. ''Hurry up and answer before you join them'' She smiled. Gabriel smiled back.
''Oh no point, just distracting you while the bunny takes the miracle box'' He said nonchalantly, smirking and pointing behind her.
The next set of events went by extremely fast, and thankfully by then Gabriel's mind was already awake and working. They had only one chance at this, he couldn't mess up again.
Gianna turned around as soon as the words came out of his mouth, and she saw Bunny attempting to grab the box, or at least pretending that she was about to do it. The villain's immediate reaction was to screech and let out her smoke to follow after the bunny heroine, who just moved away from the box to the other side of the room. The fact that they were in one of the biggest living rooms on the mansion helped them, as there was too much space for the red miasma to quickly fill it up. Gabriel didn't know if it would affect the glitching bunny girl, but it would surely hurt him, so he had to move fast.
The moment Gianna got up and started ignoring him, the ex-villain darted away from his position and grabbed the box. Gabriel grabbed the first jewel on the box, ignored the tired Kwami that spawned as soon as he touched it and summoned a transformation, hoping it would be something useful for their situation. It was his lucky day.
The Ox nose ring was an odd choice, but he had no time to dwell on it as his new powers manifested. Honestly he had no idea what he was doing, and he realized a bit too late that he shouldn't have ignored the little god before he knew what the activation word was for this miraculous.
''Magnitude!'' Yelled the bunny girl as she ran from the miasma, but revealing their plan to Gianna in the process.
With no time to lose, Gabriel yelled ''MAGNITUDE!'' and he immediately noticed how the room started getting smaller, the floor farther away.
Realizing what his new power was, the man quickly grabbed the box between two growing fingers and with the other hand, he grabbed Luka and Nathalie as gently as he could.
''What the-'' Was all he heard from the villain, as she stared up at him from the floor, where she was getting tinier and tinier from his perspective.
He had no idea the extent of this power, how large could he get, but soon his head hit the roof of the mansion, which was a fear considering it was… well, a mansion. The pressure continued on until the structure of the place gave out, and Gabriel Agreste, protecting those in his hands as best he could, grew and grew into the night until he decided enough was enough when he realized he was reaching Eiffel tower dimensions. This would surely make the news, he thought with whatever humor was left in him, but then an intense pain coming from his legs prompted a growl out of his giant's mouth.
He couldn't hear or see what was going on below him on the shattered mansion, but he made an educated guess that Gianna was using her miasma on him, breaking his legs. The pain soon became unbearable, and before his enormous form crumbled, he called off his power. As he started shrinking again, he did one painful step away from the main hall and towards the street at the back of the house. The weight of the two people he previously could hold in one hand was quickly increasing as his size decreased, but he had an idea of what to do now. As soon as he was able to, he placed both Luka and Nathalie on the street floor and started searching on the miracle box for one of the miraculous he did know. Once he found the horse miraculous, deciding he had no time to detransform he simply put the glasses on and summoned its power on top of the Ox one. It was draining, but the sound of breaking windows was enough of a reminder that he had no time to lose.
Red miasma started pouring out of the mansions windows, an enormous quantity of it, and it blindly flooded the street, surrounding Gabriel. But he had already summoned a portal. He pushed as best he could with his broken legs the two unconscious people, hoping that whoever was on the other side would realize what was going on and help him. A couple of mysterious hands came out of the portal and pulled the bodies, and once both of them were out of the street Gabriel grabbed the box and took the offering hand, groaning in pain as he went through the portal.
As soon as the last of him was out, he closed it, right before the red miasma went through as well. He laid on the cold floor...no, grass, that he teleported to, catching his breath for a moment, but then the pain reminded him that he had to keep moving.
''C-call the heroes'' He said to the random teenagers that were on the part at night, then he called both transformations down before they drained all his remaining energy.
''L-Luka!'' Exclaimed one of the girls that helped him through the portal, a tall goth who completely ignored him in favor of the unconscious snake hero.
''Mister Agreste?'' Asked the other one, who was almost the complete opposite of the other girl in terms of looks.
Gabriel's vision started to fade to black on the edges, and he tried to crawl over to Nathalie's body and protect her from the cold as best he could.
He barely managed to grab one of her hands before finally passing out.