BAM!
Marinette was flung backwards three metres by the force of the impact and hit the ground with a thud. Pain shot through her as her body made contact with broken glass and debris.
"Who-who's there?!" she spluttered and gasped breathlessly, feeling her eyes and lungs sting with all of the dust flying around.
CRASH!
The walls yielded, and in front of Marinette was the unmistakeable figure.
"HAWK MOTH!?" Marinette yelled, staggering back. She mentally ran through her options. She couldn't transform or he'd know her identity. But… did he already?
Hawk moth walked forwards and grabbed Marinette with his cane by the neck. Marinette flailed around in midair. "Let me go!"
"WHERE IS LADYBUG!?" he yelled.
"I— I'm not Ladybug!" she said quickly.
"Well, obviously, but who is Ladybug!?"
"Why do you— why do you want to know?" Marinette screamed.
"It doesn't concern you. Mayura amokitised you and you got her Ladybug's miraculous. Whom did you get it from!"
"If you already have the Ladybug Miraculous, why do you want to do anything to Ladybug!?"
"Because I need to give it back!" he yelled.
A deathly silence followed these words.
"You… you need to give it back? To— to Ladybug!?" Marinette gasped.
"Yes. In case you don't know, terrible things are happening now. I left to help the heroes, but Mayura obviously thought I was still trying to get the Miraculous."
"So… Mayura's gone rogue? She's not on your side anymore?" Marinette said, still slightly hesitant to trust Hawk Moth.
"Well— no, not exactly. She thought it was what I wanted her to do. Neither of us are much use using the miraculouses we don't currently have, because we aren't very familiar with it. We have more of a chance with people who know how to use the Miraculouses they are using. However, unfortunately, now I have the ladybug miraculous, and in the vast city of Paris, we can't really single out the citizen who is Ladybug."
Marinette frowned. "Do you have the Miraculous on you? Right now?"
He withdrew from the glass sphere in his cane two earrings. "Tell me who Ladybug is, and I will leave you alone."
Marinette grimaced. "You need to fix that as well." She said, her pupils flickering towards the wall that had crashed in. "I don't remember what happened when I was amokitised, but I know who Ladybug is. If you just give me the earrings… I'll give it to her. She's a friend of mine, and she wouldn't want her secret identity revealed.
Hawk moth looked hesitant. "How do I know that you won't just take the Miraculous for yourself?"
"Because I, too, want to get rid of these aliens." Marinette said, but instantly regretted it.
"Aliens? You— you know?! How— what—" he gasped, and suddenly, his eyes narrowed. "You're one of the heroes, aren't you?"
Marinette groaned. "Well, yes".
"Which one?" he demanded, his pupils flickering towards Marinette's pendant that Tikki had given her on her birthday.
"Rena Rouge," she said quickly, fingering the pendant hesitantly.
Hawk Moth's expression was unreadable. He looked calculative.
"Rena Rouge is… the fox, am I correct? Blue eyes, bushy hair?"
"That's the one."
"You don't look much like the fox." He said suspiciously.
"In case you didn't know, you dumbo, your appearance can change when you transform," she said huffily.
Hawk Moth seemed convinced. "Well, in any case, you can take the Ladybug Miraculous to Ladybug." He sighed, and held out the Ladybug miraculous.
"That guy from the future is waiting. Go tell him we're coming." Marinette grinned. "I'll arrange with Ladybug, meet us at the top floor of the Eiffel tower, and I'll— Ladybug will make a burrow there."
Hawk moth nodded, and jumped out of the room. She heard screams following Hawk moth's departure. Well, obviously. Hawk Moth was the most wanted villain in the entire city, wasn't he?