Hey, Miraculous fans, here's chapter 2 of Enter the Ghost Cat. This chapter will show Adrien's revival. Here it is.
"You're… Death? The Grim Reaper?" Adrien asked cautiously.
"That's right. And you're Adrien Agreste, famous French model, son of Gabriel and Emilie Agreste" Death said, "Not to mention the superhero… Cat Noir" he gave him a knowing gaze.
"You know my secret identity?" Adrien asked, a bit shocked.
"Of course, I do. I have infinite knowledge of every mortal on earth, especially when their time's up" Death told him.
Adrien's eyes widened in horror. If he was talking to Death himself then he knew what that meant. If he was dead, how was he going to help Ladybug save people from being akumatized? How were they supposed to take down Hawk Moth? She couldn't do all that alone… at least, not for very long.
"Death, I—"
"Save it, kid. I know what you're going to say" Death held up a hand, "You want another chance, am I right?" he asked.
Adrien replied with a quick nod of his head. With a sigh, Death spread his arms which caused the two of them to vanish in a quick flash of light.
The Hospital…
The light quickly dissipated. Taking in his surroundings, Adrien saw medical equipment and heard voices over an intercom.
"A hospital?" Adrien questioned.
"Yeah. Where'd you think your body would've been taken to, jackass?" Death asked rhetorically, "Now come on," he said, leading the teen down the hall.
Adrien was led to a pair of double doors. Since they were spirits, they were able to just phase through the door. On the other side, they saw Adrien's body lying on a bed as several doctors surrounded it, performing emergency surgery. They had arrived just in time to watch the doctors remove the bullet, placing it into a nearby tray.
"Wait, I thought I was dead?" Adrien asked the grim reaper.
"Technically, you're not dead yet. Your life is hanging by a thread though; you will be dead within a few minutes, depending on the choice you make" Death told him.
"Choice?" Adrien repeated.
"Are you willing to do what it takes to get a second chance?" Death asked.
"Anything. Ladybug needs me in order to take down Hawk Moth!" Adrien replied.
"Very well. I'll restore you to life on three conditions. One, you don't tell anyone about what's happened while you were with me. You can tell Plagg if you want though" Death began.
"Sure. It's not like anyone would believe me anyway" Adrien said with a small shrug.
"Two, you track down and kill the bastards that orchestrated your potential murder. Their death dates have been due for a while" Death continued.
"That might be a little tricky. I don't think I could ever kill anyone" Adrien told him.
"Don't worry, that little issue will be taken care of… in a way" Death reassured him.
"Ok… and what's the third condition?" Adrien asked.
"When you're Cat Noir, stop trying to kiss Ladybug all the time. It's degrading" Death said with narrowed eyes.
"But I love her, you know that" Adrien countered.
"Yeah, but when you pull that crap as Cat Noir, it's super creepy. You can still flirt with her, just stop trying to kiss her all the time, damn!" Death said with a small hint of irritation.
Adrien sighed, "Fine…" he said with defeat.
"Good!" Death said. He then raised a hand, making the wound on Adrien's body briefly glow with a lime green light, though this was only noticeable by Death and Adrien himself, "I stopped the bleeding" Death told him.
"So, now I can go back into my body?" Adrien asked.
"Not yet. I want to give you something first" Death said, placing his scythe on his back.
With his left hand, the reaper created an orb of green energy. Cloaking his other hand in shadow, Death waved it around the energy orb which cloaked it in shadow as well. With more hand gestures, Death changed the shape of the shadow-cloaked energy from an orb into a mouthless black cat with glowing green eyes. Death generated small four small balls of energy on the tips of the fingers of his right hand: one silver, one gold, one cyan, and one purple. He then sent the energy orbs into the cat's chest.
"Alright, it's done" Death said, the cat leaping from his hand and into Adrien's body's chest.
"What was that thing?" Adrien asked him.
"Let's just say a few new windows have been opened up to you" Death said vaguely, "Now, get back into your body before I change my mind" he told the teen.
Adrien nodded and approached his body, but not before stopping and looking back at the reaper.
"Before I go back, can I ask you something?" Adrien asked.
"Yes, I know Ladybug and Hawk Moth's identities and no, I'm not going tell you who they are. You'll just have to find that out on your own" Death quickly replied.
"No, not that. I was just wondering… What's the status of my mother? Is she alive? Is she dead?" Adrien asked, concern in his voice.
"Let's just she's closer than you think" Death told him, again, vaguely.
"That's good… I think" Adrien said, partly unsure yet partly relieved.
"Any other questions? Because your time's about to run out soon" Death asked.
"Yeah, when am I going to die this time?" Adrien asked.
"Not for another 90 years. That should be more than enough time to take down Hawk Moth" Death replied, "And if not then you two are pathetic" he added.
"Uhh… thanks. See you around, Death" Adrien said before getting onto the bed leaning back, returning to his body.
"Hmph. Emphasis on see" Death said with a small chuckle.
A Few Hours Later…
There was the sound of a heart monitor nearby. The smell of bleach and other cleaning supplies filled the air. Adrien stirred a bit before slowly opening his eyes. His vision coming to him, he saw he was in a hospital bed. Across from his bed were several bouquets of flowers on top of a dresser, along with balloons that read "Get well soon".
"You're finally up" he heard a voice. He turned his head and saw his caretaker, Nathalie, sitting beside him in a chair, a small yet warm smile upon her face.
"Nathalie?" Adrien looked at her. He tried to sit up, only for the woman to place a gentle hand on his shoulder.
"Don't move, you just woke up" Nathalie told him. Adrien looked down and saw his chest wrapped in bandages, "That was quite the scare you gave us. It's a miracle you came out of this alive" Nathalie said.
"Where's my father?" Adrien asked.
"He was just here an hour ago. He told me to notify him if you woke up" Nathalie informed him.
"How long was I out?" Adrien asked.
"Several hours. The doctors said you need to stay in the hospital for a few days" Nathalie told him.
Adrien sighed, "I understand" he said.
A Few Days Later…
The Agreste limo pulled up in front of the high school. Honestly, he was surprised his father allowed him to go back to school after what happened. Adrien exited the limo and waved goodbye as it drove off.
"I'm glad you pulled through, Adrien. Not to mushy, but… I was really worried about you. I secretly watched them remove the bullet from your chest, I thought you were a goner for sure" Plagg said from the inside of Adrien's button-up shirt.
"You and me both, Plagg" Adrien whispered to the cat kwami.
Adrien proceeded to walk up the steps of the school before entering the building itself. No sooner than when he stepped through the doors though, he was immediately greeted by a crowd of students, his classmates in front. He looked up and noticed a sign welcoming him back.
"He's back!" a random student shouted. The other students followed up by cheering and applauding at his return.
"Adrien! It's good to have you with us again, buddy" Nino walked up to him with a side hug.
"It's good to be back" Adrien smiled.
"Adrikins!" Chloe shoved several students out of the way. She ran up to Adrien, shoving Nino out of the way in the process, "I'm so happy you're alive and came back to me!" she threw her arms around him in a hug.
"Ow!" Adrien yelped upon feel her head touch his bullet wound.
"Sorry…" Chloe apologized as she quickly broke the hug with a sheepish grin.
"I think we're all happy Adrien's back" Marinette whispered to Alya.
"You especially, Marinette" Alya teased, "You should go up there and talk to him" she suggested.
"I… I can't. I mean, he just got out of the hospital, he probably needs more time to recover" Marinette said nervously, rubbing the back of his head.
"Thanks for the warm welcome, guys. It's great to be back" Adrien smiled as he walked off.
Marinette sighed as Alya and the other girls patted her back. Looks like she missed her chance to talk to her crush again.
Adrien entered the locker room, placing his duffel bag in his locker. But not before taking out piece of cheese for Plagg.
"I'm surprised there weren't any akumatizations while I was in the hospital" Adrien said while the cat kwami flew out of his shirt, receiving the piece of cheese as Adrien took a seat on the bench.
"I know. I never thought we'd get a break from fighting Hawk Moth… even if it is only temporary" Plagg replied, tossing the whole piece of cheese into his mouth.
Adrien snickered at that. Speaking of temporary, did that stuff that happened after he got shot actually happen? Did he really talk to Death and receive kind of new power? Or was all of that just a dream? Then again, given all the stuff he's seen as Cat Noir, it probably wouldn't be too out of the realm of possibility.
"It's probably a good thing that there weren't any attacks in the past few days. I'm not sure I would've been able to sneak out and transform into Cat Noir with the security cameras and all" Adrien commented
"Probably not" Plagg shrugged in agreement. "So, I noticed you packed a whole bag full of cheese—"
"Go ahead" Adrien rolled his eyes in amusement, "But save a few for when you need to recharge after de-transforming" he told the kwami. Plagg then phased through Adrien's locked in search of his beloved cheese.
"Not going to lie, the past few days since the incident have been a blur. It's like some kind of crazy nightmare" Adrien admitted.
"A nightmare? What happened to you was anything but a nightmare…" he heard a voice say, which sounded edgy and distorted. If Adrien didn't know better, it almost sounded like the voice was coming from… inside of him?
Upon hearing that voice, shadows gathered in the center of Adrien's chest, right where his bullet wound was. The shadow elongated, transforming into the upper half of a cat with paws and blank, glowing green eyes and no mouth. The lower half of its body was like a shadowy, ghostly tail that was attached to Adrien's chest. This was the same cat that Death himself created.
"Hello, Adrien" the cat greeted him.
"So… that wasn't a dream. I really did talk to death…" Adrien muttered in a tone of shock and disbelief.
"Yes. You did" the cat replied with a nod.
"Who… What are you?" Adrien asked the creature.
"I am Hunter… and we are unstoppable," the cat said with a devious expression.
And that's the end of this chapter. Looks like our friend Adrien is back and (hopefully) better than ever. Any ideas for how he triggers his Ghost Cat form? Say it in a review or feel free to message me.
The voice of Hunter will be that of Jason Griffith, the voice of Sonic the Hedgehog and Shadow the Hedgehog from Sonic X, as well as the Sonic games from 2003 – 2010. So, imagine that he sounds like Shadow except with more of distortion to his voice.
Anyway, remember to Read, Review, and Favorite/Follow.