-Don't wait for Chat Noir, he won't come. I'm sorry, my Lady.
-Save me!
Ladybug froze instantly: No, no, no! Was that really what it seemed to be?
-Kitty, Ladybug breathed in a voice barely audible and muffled by a sob.
-Save me, he repeated, discreetly removing his ring from his finger, in an ultime gesture of protection of his Miraculous, placing it in his girlfriend's gloved hand.
At the same moment, in a car parked just a few meters away, a woman observed the scene and witnessed a gesture that might seem not important but which for her was the trigger for a terrible revelation.
Why the hell did Adrien care to take his ring off and give it to Ladybug at a moment like this?
Could this jewel be a Miraculous?
Was Adrien the holder of Miraculous ?
The dark blue Butterfly-shaped mask covered Adrien's face again. He was still kneeling on the ground, resisting with all his might and begging Hawkmoth, bearing the unified Miraculous of the Butterfly and the Peacock, to come out of his head.
Without thinking, in a final attempt to save her partner and boyfriend before he was fully akumatized, Ladybug cupped Adrien's face and placed her lips fervently on his in a kiss filled with love and hope.
There was no longer any doubt in Nathalie's mind when she saw Ladybug kiss Adrien.
Adrien's ring is indeed a Miraculous, and nothing less than the one of the black cat.
Adrien is Chat Noir.
That explained it all:
Adrien's sudden disappearance during the akuma attack that targeted him.
The black lightning she had next seen outside the window, which was none other than himself escaping from his room in pursuit of the akuma.
Adrien who was not as affected as she would have thought to have been taken out of school for two weeks, because the latter was running by night on the rooftops in a black feline costume and making up for the punishment of his father by its superhero freedom.
Adrien, who refused to go out with Miss Tsurugi's daughter… Obviously since Chat Noir already had someone in his life: Ladybug.
Chat Noir and Ladybug who had cleverly denied their relationship, to protect it from Hawkmoth.
Overwhelmed by the achievement, Nathalie now saw many pieces of the puzzle reveal themselves and fit together perfectly.
Gabriel had suspected Adrien of being Chat Noir and with good reason.
Gabriel, Hawkmoth, shouldn't get his hands on Chat Noir, on Adrien.
Nathalie now knew what to do. No matter what, she would protect Adrien from this father who was becoming unstable and too dangerous. Even though she loved Gabriel, even though she missed Emilie, she couldn't bring herself to have Adrien, Chat Noir, continue to be the target of their attacks. Attacks of which she finally measured the consequences and the dangerousness. Why had she let herself be drawn into this dark story? Why hadn't she tried to reason Gabriel from the start and dissuade him from using Miraculous magic.
Nathalie felt guilty for her actions as Hawkmoth's right-hand. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before opening the car door and getting out, firmly resolved to her lack of judgment and to right her mistakes.
Adrien felt warm, soft and familiar lips touch his. At that moment, a shock wave passed through his spine and shook him completely. In no time at all, the shaking gave way to a feeling of intense lightness.
An Akuma and an Amok flew instantly from the young man's back pocket, specifically from the tiny visible part of a lucky bracelet that was in the back pocket of his jeans.
When he finally responded to the kiss, Ladybug reluctantly broke contact and threw her yo-yo at the butterfly and the feather, which rose in the air, ready to slip from her at any time.
It was with great relief that she let them escape purified and harmless, under Adrien's grateful gaze. A look much more speaking and with much more meaning than the silence that had settled between them, a deep and sincere look that thanked and gratified her much more than words could have done, leaving the girl in front of him completely upset.
Tears shone in Ladybug's eyes, the realization of the revelation now clearly permeating her mind.
Adrien is Chat Noir.
The first boy who stole her heart is none other than the one who made his way there to steal it, against all odds, a second time.
-Can we talk about it? He asked in a low, trembling voice, gently pulling his partner out of her torpor at the same time.
-Adrien! Nathalie's voice interrupted Ladybug who was about to say something.
-Nooroo, Duusu, divide…
A small indigo kwami with pink purple eyes and a sumptuous peacock tail, now hovered at the level of Hawkmoth's stern gaze.
-Nooroo, dark wings fall…
Another small kwami, this time light mauve with purple eyes and provided with butterfly wings, placed himself beside Dusuu. Concern and fear grew in the eyes of the two little kwamis.
-How is it possible !? Gabriel got angry at the terrified looks of Nooroo and Duusu. - I don't feel any negative emotion anymore, and Adrien got rid of the Akuma and the Amok, I want to know how it is possible and you will tell me immediately!
-Master, that means that positive emotions just got the better of his negative ones, Nooroo replied.
-Yes, emotions strong and sincere enough to kick out the Akuma and Amok, Duusu added.
-No emotion can overcome frustration, anger and debasement.
-Except love, Duusu whispered in a low voice, while Nooroo glared at him.
Gabriel Agreste was about to ask the Kwami of emotion to repeat what he had just revealed when his private phone rang and made him jump in surprise. He pulled the item out of his pants pocket and hastened to take the incoming call.
* Miss Rossi, the shooting is already over? Is there any problem ? *
* Several problems Mr. Agreste! *
* Please expand, Miss Rossi *
* Adrien no longer wishes to work with me. He got angry and was akumatized, well almost since that Ladybug came to get me away from him and save him. *
* Akumatized? Ladybug? Adrien? *
* Oh, he's perfectly fine Mr. Agreste, believe me. This situation allowed me to collect valuable information for you. *
* I am all ear, Miss Rossi. *
* First of all, I would like you to promise to do what is necessary for me to still worked with Adrien. *
* I can fix it, now tell me everything. *
* Adrien is infatuated with the disgusting bug. She saved him with a kiss and Adrien didn't seem surprised, it probably wasn't the first time for them. *
Gabriel froze, in shock to hear this surprising and disconcerting revelation.
* This will be the last time, get ready and stay reachable. *
He didn't give Lila time to answer and ended their conversation by hanging up and turning immediately towards the two kwamis still present at his side.
-Love, then, said Gabriel, thinking seriously.
The gears in his brain began to spin at full speed and a promising new plan took shape in his head.
Ladybug and Chat Noir had publicly denied their relationship: Obviously since his own son was dating the superheroine.
This relationship brought him, and much to his joy, the Ladybug's Miraculous very close.
Because if Adrien was dating Ladybug it could only mean one thing: he knew her civilian identity and was certainly his boyfriend in everyday life.
Gabriel realized at that moment that he didn't know his son was dating anyone. There might still be a lot of things he didn't know about him. But after all, he was in control of Adrien and his schedule. Finding his girlfriend wouldn't be a complicated affair since his only outdoor activities were reduced to attending school and going to fencing practice.
If he could unmask Adrien's girlfriend, he could easily go after her and grab her earrings. Then he would blackmail Chat Noir: The Life of his Lady, against the Black cat's Miraculous.
Adrien wouldn't know, once Gabriel's wish would be made, once he wished the Miraculous had never existed: Emilie would be back and their son would not remember Ladybug at all.
It was a perfect plan.
- Talk to us? Both ? Yes of course Nathalie, Adrien replied, rubbing the back of his neck nervously and turning to Ladybug to confirm his answer as well.
-I.. I have time, I haven't used my Lucky charm.
-Well, follow me in the car.
Ladybug and Adrien exchanged a puzzled and utterly confused look.
Nathalie opened the back door and motioned for the two teenagers to enter. She then slipped into the car right next to Adrien, who was sitting in the middle seat between Ladybug and herself, and closed the door, gesturing at the same time for the bodyguard to roll up the window between the front and the rear of the vehicle.
Once the window was raised, Nathalie got down behind the driver's seat and grabbed a cable underneath, a cable on which she pulled brutally and so disconnected from the usb port in which it was inserted at the front of the car.
-What are you doing Nathalie? Asked Adrien, totally confused.
-I'm unplugging the microphone, she replied seriously.
Ladybug and Adrien exchanged a confused and somewhat worried look again.
Nathalie straightened up and Adrien asked her the question that burned her lips: - Why the hell did Father have a microphone installed in the car?
-There are many things your Father does that you don't know about. This is why I want to speak with you. She paused and added: - That's why I want to talk to both of you, Ladybug and Chat Noir."
Adrien jumped in his seat, suddenly catching his breath: He was unmasked. How could he have been unmasked by Nathalie?
Aware of the growing anguish in her partner, it was Ladybug who spoke:
- Why do you want to talk to us, Chat Noir and me?
Well done, my Lady, you hear Nathalie's request, without denying or confirming that I am Chat Noir, as long as you don't know what it is all about.
-I know who is hiding under Hawkmoth's mask, she replied, not looking at Ladybug who had asked her the question, but turning her gaze to Adrien, who caught a look he had never seen on the face of his father's secretary.
What was that ? Sadness? Disappointment? Empathy ?
-I know you are Chat Noir, Adrien, I promise you that I will not tell your Father. Because… he… it's… Nathalie took a last breath to give herself consistency before turning the life of the boy she loves so much upside down: - I'm sorry Adrien, your Father is Hawkmoth.
Adrien's eyes widened in amazement, making them blink several times as the information permeated his brain. It was as if he were frantically spinning a rubix cube in his head, trying to solve the puzzle and the colors gradually lining up with each other.
-Mayura, he growled, looking at Nathalie, causing Ladybug to jump up, who with a quick gesture wrapped her yo-yo around the two hands of the woman next to her to immobilize them.
-If what you say is true, then give me your miraculous! Exclaimed the young heroine.
-I can't, Gabriel took it from me this morning, he's the one who has Duusu now.
The name of Kwami made the two teenagers shiver, so one thing was certain, Nathalie was telling the truth. She was, or had been, Mayura and Gabriel Agreste is Hawkmoth.
-ShadowMoth, breathed Adrien…
-What ?! Ladybug exclaimed questioningly
-When I was in his grip it wasn't Hawkmoth, he introduced himself as ShadowMoth. He unified the Butterfly and the Peacock.
-Miss Sancoeur, why did he confiscate the brooch from you? It doesn't make sense to send the Amok for you, it has nothing to gain by doing it itself.
-Of course there is something to be gained: power! Thanks to the translation we had on the old Guardian's tablet, we were able to learn that the Peacock Miraculous used in unification can strengthen the power of the other Miraculous. By sending an Amok, on an Akuma, Gabriel can now make the negative emotions of his target stronger, more destructive, more resilient and therefore more difficult to beat.
Adrien listened attentively to the explanations but again a question burned his lips, he could even tell that it was in the process of consuming him entirely. Unable to hold it any longer, he threw it like a bomb into the conversation between the two women: - Why is Father destroying the lives of Parisians ?! Why is he doing all this Nathalie ?!
The secretary looked Adrien straight in the eye, and once again he made out that unusual glint in Nathalie's eyes. The intensity of her gaze on him made him shiver, as he saw a tear beaded under her glasses and roll down her cheek.
Adrien's heart sank and a response crossed his mind: an answer he wanted to drive out of his thoughts very quickly. However, the more he wanted to erase this idea from his head, the more it seemed to imbibe it relentlessly. Returning his guts inside his abdomen painfully and unbearably.
His expression, so far confused, gradually transformed into a different expression in which mingled panic and pain.
-Adrien? Breathed Ladybug, whose anguish was growing at the sudden silence of her partner and his distress more than visible.
-Maman, he whispered back without looking at Ladybug, staring inexorably at Nathalie's face, who couldn't find a word and just nodded.
Ladybug felt helpless in front of this chain of revelations. She dared neither interrupt Miss Sancoeur's confessions, nor Adrien's path of thoughts, who gradually assimilated the information. Still, she knew that what was going on right now was crucial, so she broke the silence: - Why? She asked simply, knowing that the principal concerned would understand her question perfectly.
Against all expectations, it's the voice of her boyfriend who answered her question: - He wants to make the wish to bring Maman back, wherever she has never left us. That's why he wants to take over our Miraculous.
-Adri… the secretary was interrupted by the ringing of her phone. She took it out and saw the picture of Gabriel appear. She hesitated for a moment, but Ladybug invited her to answered and turn on the speaker, which she did.
*Yes sir ? *
* Nathalie! What happened !? You had to make sure that Miss Rossi behaves in an exuberant and alluring way with Adrien, she had my permission to undertake inappropriate gestures. *
Adrien nearly choked with a huge gasp of amazement. So that was why his Father forced him to work with Lila, despite his numerous protests to oppose it. Lila was Hawkmoth's pawn? Did she know? Did she think she was just acting for Gabriel? Getting the hand on a model contract? Or worse him?
Another realization struck him with horror: His father had tried to stir up extremely negative emotions in him and Akumatized him, while being perfectly aware of what he was doing!
On the other side of the bench, Ladybug grimaced in indignation and motioned for Nathalie to continue her conversation and tell the truth.
* Miss Rossi was perfect sir, excessive as usual. Ladybug however arrived and intervened quickly to neutralize the Akuma and the Amok *
* Yes, yes, I already know the details, Miss Rossi let me know. How could you let this insect fall in love with Adrien without intervening? *
* Ladybug ordered us to evacuate the place, me, just like Lila Rossi too, I couldn't see the situation except from outside the park, sir. *
* Where is Adrien now Nathalie? *
Nathalie was starting to lose her composure and panicked at the question when Ladybug pointed sharply at the window separating them from the driver of the vehicle.
* With his bodyguard, he… he gathers his stuffs. *
* Very well. Then go home immediately. We have to get our hands on the girlfriend that Adrien sees during the day behind our backs and so we can get our hands on Ladybug's Miraculous easily. I am waiting for you, Nathalie. *
The communication had been abruptly cut by Gabriel on these last demands.
Nathalie turned to Adrien, the latter stared at her with deep disappointment in his eyes. His father's bitter words repeated over and over in his head.
How could Nathalie have let him do that? How could she have been his right hand all the time and condone his actions? And why did she seem to now turn her jacket against her partner?
-Why did you decide to tell us everything, Nathalie? Why are you turning your back on Fa… Hawkmoth? he asked with firmness and suspicion.
-I do this for love, Nathalie whispered in front of the incredulous and amazed looks of the two teenagers.
to be continued...