That is it, Gabriel, I'm calling the cops! The gang is skipping school? Someone rebels.
Brandi Carlile - Before It Breaks
"From: unknown; to: Nino; Carapace, meet me on the usual spot after school, there's something important we need to discuss, Ladybug." Nino stared at his phone thinking about what Ladybug might have wanted from him. She had never texted to his personal phone before, it was too risky, and how did she get his number?
He shrugged those thoughts away, the DJ needed to get ready for school, since Adrien was back to homeschooling, his willingness to stay in that damn building for hours had dropped like a brick, although he got to see Alya, who right now, was the only person who could lift his spirits, even if it was only slightly.
"Wayzz, Wayzz!" He called. The green kwami appeared immediately, as if he had always been there, right in front of him the whole time, maybe he was, but Nino had been so detached from the outside world, that maybe he hadn't noticed.
"Yes, Nino?" The kwami asked.
"We need to get ready for school…" He paused, "Dude… Where were you yesterday afternoon? I couldn't find you anywhere for hours"
"Oh, you noticed..." The kwami grinned like he had been busted.
"Of course, I did, why wouldn't I?"
"Well, I went to visit a friend."
"A friend?" Nino quirked an eyebrow in suspicion.
"Yes, a former chosen, you will find out everything today, now hurry up dude, we need to leave." Wayzz evaded the question.
However, instead of dropping the subject, the DJ's curiosity only spiked after Wayzz' last words, "Hey! Do you know why Ladybug wants to talk to me?"
"I do, but it's better for you to listen from her. Rena Rouge and Queen Bee will also be there."
"Right… I hate when you get all professional and full of secrets." Nino huffed.
"Well, you better get used to it, keeping secrets is like 80 per cent of my job, now, chop, chop! We don't want to be late for school."
The Dj could only groan in frustration.
Marinette's heart was ready to jump from her body and run, or at least that was what the teenager was feeling. It was bumping against her chest madly, and honestly, she felt like she was going to get sick. Maybe that was for the better, if she got sick she wouldn't have to do what Master Fu asked. She had never imagined that this was how she was going to reveal her identity.
She had always imagined Chat and her sitting on a rooftop, watching the Parisian lights, The Eiffel Tower fully illuminated with those blue blinking lights that made everyone stop in their tracks just to admire the beauty of it. She and Chat would be gazing upon the people below celebrating the end of Hawkmoth's terror, shouting their name's in unison, despite not seeing them, because they, they would be too lost in their own world, on a secluded rooftop, far from prying eyes. They would say their transformations words at the same time. Chat Noir would transform back to Adrien, and she would return to her own civilian identity. He would probably freak out for a bit, but he would never leave her, not him, not that sweet, amazing boy, who could crash her entire existence with just a smile and a wave. They could finally be together, free from secret personas, free from manipulative villains, the future would be a simple blank page in which she hoped they could fill it together.
But that was just a distant dream, impossible to come true now that Hawkmoth had so viciously attacked her kitten, stripped him from his only source of freedom, from his true self. Now, she would have to reveal her identity to the other heroes first, secretly betraying the promise she had made to him. Don't get her wrong, she adored her other teammates, two of them were her best friends, and Chloé, despite everything that happened between them, was changing for the better. But none of them was Chat, none of them had lived so many adventures, had gone through so much drama together like she and her Chaton. Hell, he was the reason why she was still Ladybug! If it wasn't for him, she had given up her miraculous on her first day.
It was too late to go back now, she had already sent the messages to everyone, she had to go through with it.
A loud crash resonated from the distance, a cloud of smoke formed from the origin of the terrifying sound.
"I only hope we can end this soon…" She whispered and transformed.
When Ladybug arrived at the scene, her jaw dropped, contemplating the destruction that was taking place. Cars were completely burnt, the trees were on fire, just as some buildings from where people were running in all directions, the firemen and the police were already there trying to restore some order, and to aid the injured. Ash was falling from the sky, it was perhaps the only thing that was moving slowly, in a daunting calmness in the middle of all the commotion.
Queen Bee, Rena Rouge and Carapace were already there, guiding people towards the ambulances.
"What happened?" Ladybug asked.
"Well, I was already at school when I got this notification that an Akuma attack was taking place here. When Carapace and I arrived, there was this lunatic with his hair on fire, throwing fireballs at everything." Rena explained.
"Yeah, dude was crazy, when he saw us he said that he wasn't interested in us, and then set the entire block on fire and ran, we stayed behind to take the civilians from the buildings."
"When I arrived, they were already here, I didn't see the Akuma, and I have burnt hair tips now! We need to find that bastard quickly!" Queen Bee whined, ever the dramatic.
"You did well by staying behind to save everyone you can." Ladybug congratulated.
"OHHHH! THE BUG IS BACK! NOW WE CAN FINALLY HAVE A REAL FIGHT!" A strong voice vibrated from one of the burning buildings. Just like Rena had said, the villain's hair was on fire, his hands were burnt, just like the right side of his face, it was completely disfigured. His suit was completely white, devoid of any detail.
"Sir, please, you're stronger than Hawkmoth, think about what you're doing to these innocent people!" Ladybug tried to reason with him.
"My name is Fireblaze, and you will all feel what it's like to be burnt alive!" He threw a fireball at them, making the heroes jump in different directions to deflect it.
The team tried to approach him, but not even Carapace's shield could protect them from the scorching temperatures emanating from him. And to top it all, he was incredibly fast, they could barely dodge his attacks. As a result, the heroes were getting tired pretty fast.
"Let's finish this," Hawkmoth smirked. He then turned to his son, who was already transformed, struggling to even stand. His body was killing him, the usual coldness he felt with the transformation had returned ten-fold in his weakened state, the pain had spread everywhere throughout his body. He still had trouble breathing, and his chest was killing him, despite the emptiness he felt inside. He felt like one giant bruise, and he probably looked like one too.
Despite all that, he couldn't cry, not anymore, not after he had seemingly wasted all his tears yesterday begging to his father not to lock him in that morbid cold place, not after he had watched his mother slowly fade way right in front of his eyes for hours. He had screamed at his father even long after he left. He had screamed at his mother to just wake up and end all this. But, like always, none of them listened, his pleas fell once again on deaf ears. He had used all his last forces to beg for something that would never happen.
So, when his father went to visit him, before the attack, he didn't utter a single word, he didn't touch the food that his father had brought. The universe had finally won in its personal vendetta against him, after years of cold detachment from his only relative alive, after taking the only person who had truly loved him, he was finally broken.
"It's your turn now, son! Do not disappoint me!" Hawkmoth warned.
Any other time, Adrien would sarcastically chuckle at his father, as I could ever meet your impossible expectations, but right now, he only closed his eyes and blew the corrupted feather away, his face devoid of any emotion, reflecting the void in his chest. He immediately felt his target; his strong feelings of triumph gave him away immediately. Adrien couldn't understand why his father needed him to help, the Akuma was doing fine on its own. Maybe this was just a sick game of trust, to see if the blonde would betray him or not.
The feather connected with its victim and Adrien established contact, "Fireblaze, you're doing so fine on your own. But these heroes are tricky, they can turn the game around if they want to. Let me aid you by releasing a guardian to protect you, let's end this once and for all. Do you accept my offer?"
"Yes."
"Hey, he stopped attacking us!" Rena said surprised.
"Good, now we can take the Akuma, I'm going to paralyze him while he's distracted." Queen Bee offered, already walking towards the villain, only to be yanked back by Ladybug.
"Wait! Something is wrong!" The scarlet heroine said. And just as she finished her sentence a giant beast appeared behind the akumatized.
"Not again!" Carapace groaned as a massive dragon took shape, releasing a fire blast at the team.
If they thought Fireblaze was hard to dodge, this beast was much worse, it attacked viciously, not giving the heroes time to stop at one spot. They were not going to be able to fight it. Not the two at the same time. The scorching breath of the dragon was so powerful that lifted cars into the air in a strong wind accompanied by terrifying flames.
The team eventually found a safe rooftop to hide and regroup. The three new heroes started to throw ideas to defeat the beast, all of them far too suicidal, they were shouting at each other, refuting all the proposes. Ladybug stood in silence, thinking on a solution. An idea lighted upon her head, a far too risky one, but she would be the only one at risk, the others could save themselves. "If we can't approach the dragon, maybe we can approach its master…" she muttered.
"You want to do what?" Rena asked in disbelief.
"I'm talking to the peacock holder, maybe I can convince him to give up." She suggested.
"Ladybug, are you sure you didn't hit your head? That is far too dangerous, we can't risk you!" Carapace advised.
"It's decided, if anything goes wrong, you activate your power to protect us both, and Rena and Queen Bee, you will both run, you're going to ask you kwamis to take you to the Guardian, he'll have a solution."
"Ladybug, please, reconsider! I won't leave you behind! I won't leave Carapace behind!" Rane shouted with tears flowing freely on her eyes. The implication of running away from Carapace, her love, too high of a gamble.
"We will be fine, Rena, we will meet you after, it's just to make sure the team isn't completely defeated." Ladybug argued.
"But it won't be! Chat isn't here again, but he'll come back, he's probably only ill!" Queen Bee reasoned.
"THERE'S NO MORE CHAT, BEE!" The spotted heroine snapped, "HE'S NOT COMING BACK! HAWKMOTH ALREADY HAS HIS MIRACULOUS! PLEASE, JUST DO WHAT I TELL YOU TO!" She cried.
They all stared at her gobsmacked, eventually, Rena put a hand on her shoulder to comfort her and nodded. She then approached Carapace, "Don't you dare die out there, understand? You're going to protect Ladybug and yourself! I love you!"
Carapace grabbed and kissed her passionately, "I love you too!"
"I knew you were a couple! Now, can you stop with the gross show of affection and hurry?" Queen Bee interrupted with a smirk.
"Good luck, Ladybug!" The fox and the bee said in unison.
Ladybug nodded and jumped right to the middle of the battle.
"PEACOCK, IM HERE TO TALK!" Adrien heard Ladybug, already commanding his guardian not to attack.
"Please, I don't know why you're helping Hawkmoth, but I promise you, whatever he had offered you can't truly mean more than the deaths of hundreds of innocent people!" She pleaded. Adrien's heart had seemed to have restarted. The mere sight of her, talking directly to him, her bluebell eyes shining, hypnotizing him in some kind of trance, one that he lost himself in every time she would even glance at him.
"What are you waiting for? Destroy her!" His father commanded. He, however, ignored his father's orders, so lost in her mesmerizing beauty.
"I, I don't know you, the fact that you're not attacking me right now tells me that you're a good person! One that the universe had played a twisted sick game against. I know that you probably feel like you have no one who cares, but trust me when I say that you have! No one is truly alone! Even if you lived on an island, all by yourself, you would have someone who would spend their entire lifetime looking for you." How did his lady know him so well… He stood there, frozen in place, not able to do anything.
"So, please! Do not let Hawkmoth fool you! Do not make him bend to his will! You are stronger than that! You need to believe in yourself, and even if you don't think that's possible, I believe in you! I believe you are capable of making decisions by yourself! I BELIEVE IN YOU!"
And, like a wave of fresh energy and determination, Adrien made a decision, he didn't know how his lady could pull him from the deepest chasms, but there she was, looking at him with her pretty bluebell eyes, with a determination so characteristically of her.
"Adrien! Do something! End this!" His father ordered.
As you wish. And with that, his guardian turned against his father's chosen and roared at him, a ball of fire hit him square on the chest, the force of the impact throwing the akumatized man into the Seine.
He heard his father gasp next to him, and his transformation dropped, with it all the life force that was left in him. He fell to the floor but didn't lose consciousness, only the pain had returned ten-fold and he was coughing madly, splattering blood on the floor, rivulets of blood were also flowing through his nose, and his chest was constricting so bad, making it hard to breathe. Nonetheless, it was all worth it, if this was what dying felt like, at least his last actions were something to be proud of.
I was certainly not expecting that! Ladybug thought, staring, mouth agape, at the unconscious villain that Carapace had just taken out of the river. The water had set his powers off. Queen Bee and Rena Rouge approached them "Well, you have to teach me how to make so convincing speeches, my father would have to run for his money if you ever decide to run for mayor." The bee heroine commented.
Carapace plucked the akumatized object from the man and handed it to Ladybug who was still frozen in shock.
"Uhh, Ladybug? Earth to Ladybug?" Rena waved a hand in front of her face. She slowly turned her gaze to the foxy heroine. "You need to purify the Akuma?"
"The Akuma… Right!" She seemed to have finally come out of her shock and with a flick of her wrist, she manoeuvred her yoyo, trapping the dark butterfly inside.
"Miraculous Ladybug!" She shouted setting everything back to normal.
The four heroes stood in place, drained from all that had happened in the strangest and most frightening attack in their lives.
"Follow me! I need to show you something." Ladybug interrupted.
The other three nodded, jumping from rooftop to rooftop, trying to keep up with their team leader.
Eventually, they arrived at a massage parlour, which was conveniently closed. Ladybug knocked twice, and the door opened immediately like they were awaited. "Come, quickly!" The voice behind the door said.
They were all ushered inside, to the usual room where pupil and Master would often meet. "Let me present you the guardian of the Miraculous! He was the one who chose me and Chat Noir." Ladybug pointed at Master Fu.
"My name is Master Fu. And I wish we had met in better times. Unfortunately, I believe Chat Noir is in danger. We must not waste time. The water is already boiling. It's time for you to show each other who you really are."
The three new heroes looked between Ladybug and Master Fu in confusion. Before they could say anything, Ladybug started, "Right, we might as well be done with this, on the count of three we're going to detransform." She said a bit nervous.
"One…"
"Two…"
"Three!"
A mix of coloured lights filled the room, and when it subsided, the three new additions gasped in unison.
"Marinette?"
"Dupain-Cheng?"
Gabriel brutally dragged his almost unconscious son back next to the glass box that contained Émilie's body. He grabbed a fit of blonde hair, lifting his Adrien, so he was staring directly at his mother sleeping form. "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA OF WHAT YOU HAD DONE? DO YOU THINK I WAS JOKING WHEN I SAID I WOULD RUIN YOUR FRIENDS LIVES?" He handcuffed Adrien where he had previously trapped him, despite the boy being too weak to leave on his own. "I GIVE YOU EVERYTHING AND YOU CAN'T EVEN DO ONE SIMPLE TASK! THIS IS ALSO FOR YOU, WHY CAN'T YOU SEE IT?" he grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him madly, "I'M GOING TO START WITH THAT DEGENERATE YOU CALL BEST FRIEND! THAT BOY WILL NEVER HAVE A FUTURE BECAUSE OF YOU!"
Adrien didn't think he had more tears to spill, but here he was, sobbing as his father shook him, as his father yelled at him for betraying him, what was he thinking? Was he so blind by Ladybug, that he was willing to sacrifice his friends? "Pl-please, f-father… D-don't do anything to Nino!" He begged between gasps and sobs.
"You should have thought of that earlier! To think you're capable of betraying your mother for that girl!" Gabriel grabbed his already bruised neck, applying a choking pressure.
Adrien couldn't answer, not when his father was blocking his airway with his bare hands, not when he was already so past the point of exhaustion because of the damaged miraculous. Tears escaped from his empty emerald eyes, staring at his father's mad form, they drifted to his unconscious kwami, who, in reality, was never his, perhaps it had belonged to his mother once, but now… now it didn't belong to anyone, it was free, and at the same time, trapped in its own sickness.
Dark spots were already filling his vision, he would die at his father's hands, the man so lost in his own obsession, he couldn't even see that he was killing his own son. Perhaps he had already killed him when he started all this, and Adrien had only realized it now. By God! How he wanted for his father to finish him quickly, he could no longer endure all this suffering, if death meant he could finally rest and be in peace, once and for all, he would embrace it with all his lasting forces.
A shout was released from someone behind Gabriel. A hand strongly pulled the madman from Adrien's dying form. "NOOO! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"
It was Nathalie, apparently, his saviour came in the form of his father's assistant. Nathalie embraced the teenager, protecting him from his father with her own body. However, she seemed to have come late. All his surroundings faded to nothing as Adrien finally let himself drift to the unconsciousness realm.
The interruption was enough to send Gabriel out of his trance, as he dropped to his knees in horror, realizing what he had almost done. With a shaking hand, he tried to reach his son, "Don't!" Nathalie warned dangerously, pressing the teen against her chest protectively.
"Don't you dare touch him! What kind of monster tries to kill his own son?"
"Nathalie, please, I, I didn't mean to. I don't know what came over me!"
"Your selfishness came over you, Gabriel! You and no one else is to blame for what happened!" The assistant argued.
"I, I'm so sorry! I was just so angry, I was furious! Please, Nathalie, look at me!"
She ignored him. Checking Adrien's vitals, she released a breath of relief as the boy was still alive, his pulse was weak, but he was alive nonetheless. Fingers grazed the back of her neck sending a shiver down her spine, "Nathalie, look at me, please…"
Tentatively, cobalt eyes drifted to the owner of said fingers, waiting for what he had to say. "I'm calm now, I don't know what possessed me to do that, but I promise you, I will never hurt him like that again." The designer then looked at the peaceful form of his wife, a stray tear flowing down his face, "I just love her so much that I went blind, I didn't realize that until now, I just want her back, is that too much to ask? To have the love of my life back? You surely understand that, don't you Nathalie? You must have someone who you love to the point of giving up your happiness for them." Nathalie flinched at those words, "Adrien could finally have a parent capable of making him happy, of fulfilling his wishes like I was never capable of. Nathalie, I promise you that when I get my wish, everything will be alright again, I'll make sure Adrien never remembers this, we will be together again, I will return the miraculous to its guardian."
Tears were streaming in a silent flow down the brunette's face hitting the limp boy on her lap while she looked at him lost in thought. She caressed his peaceful face while her mind had come to a decision. She sighed, turning to her boss with a small smile, "Ok… I trust you, Gabriel, but the next time I see you trying to hurt him, I will take him away, you will never see him again."
Gabriel smiled at her, rising to his feet, he stretched his hand inviting her to hold it. Nathalie looked one last time at the sleeping boy she had come to love as a son, I will finish this, Adrien, I promise you, and holding the designer's hand, she stood up. Gabriel also looked at the teen, sighing in relief as he watched the boy taking deep breaths.
"Girl, what the hell?" Alya asked perplexed, "You were Ladybug all this time?"
"Surprise?" Marinette smiled sheepishly.
"Surprise? SURPRISE? Girl, how are you Ladybug? Why haven't you told me anything?"
"I couldn't exactly do that. There were times when I really wanted to, but I couldn't!" The bluenette defended herself.
"Are you saying that I idolized you this entire time? The baker girl?" Chloé asked snobbishly.
"Hey, you Watch it! That's my best friend you're talking about." Alya threatened.
"And of course you two are Rena and Carapace, what another disgustingly sweet couple could be?"
"HEY!" Nino intervened, "Wait, was that a compliment?"
"guys…"
"Ewww, you think? Have you ever saw me compliment someone who wasn't Adrikins or myself?" Chloé retorted.
"guys…"
"Yeah, but you said we were sweet!"
"GUYS!" Everyone looked at Marinette astonished.
"Thank you!" She said. Master Fu was no help at all in controlling their reactions, he was just standing there with an amused expression, staring at the group antics.
"Now that I have your attention, there's something else we need to discuss."
"It's about Chat Noir, isn't it? What was that during the Akuma attack? What do you mean he lost his miraculous?" Alya started to shoot questions at her friend, faster than the other could keep up with.
"He was attacked by Hawkmoth." Master Fu explained, "that is why I told Ladybug to bring you here, we lost an important member of the team, so we must unite, now more than ever to defeat Hawkmoth. Chat Noir is defenceless now, trapped in his own house, and Hawkmoth is now in possession of one of the two most powerful miraculous to have ever existed."
Nino looked to the floor, "He's Adrien, isn't he?" He asked tentatively.
"Yes." Marinette confirmed, "I visited him the other night as Ladybug," she paused trying in vain to contain her own tears, "He was so sick, he had these marks on his neck, his ring was missing, when I asked him if Hawkmoth did that, he started to cry, it was so horrible!" She sobbed.
All of them just stood there, staring at each other in shock until they were interrupted by a phone, Alya's phone more precisely. She opened the text she had just received: "From: unknown; I know you can reach Ladybug, I need to speak to her urgently, I have important information." She read out loud.
Another text followed the first one, "Tell her to meet me on the location I sent you on the file attached at 5 pm today! The cat is in danger, I know both his and the butterfly's location. I want to help. I trust you not to follow us."
What a ride! I know this chapter was a bit more violent than the previous ones, but this part of the angst train is almost over; the story… not exactly.
Next chapter: "Ade, wake up, we're here, please don't let it be too late!" She sobbed.
Hope you liked it and see you next chapter.