KEVIN WOULD YOU GET OUT OF HERE?!?! I JUST WANT TO WRITE MY FANFIC!! I DON'T MAKE MONEY FROM THIS I DON'T NEED NO CONTRACT NO TIMESHARE NO- what? We're on? Ah not again, gosh. Ahem. So, thanks for the positive reviews on my last few chapters... Ok maybe that last one wasn't necessarily "Positive" hehe. "NOOOOOO!!! NO!! NO!!" LOL!!! I'm sorry I really do get it it kinda was difficult to write it was a little depressing. But still, it made me think of Steve Carell when I read that lol. That aside, I realized I made a minor mistake. The phone number. If Brian moved to Paris, of course he is gonna have to change it. It ruins my whole story! I tried to think of a way it would make sense, but I soon realized it just wasn't worth it. I would basically just be trying to make sense out of a bunch of random machine parts out of a box. So we will just have to roll with what I got. It's a cartoon. And a fanfic. Everything shouldn't have to make sense. So my apologies. So finally, without any further interruptions, chapter 7. Now Kevin let me explain this one more time...
Meanwhile, Marinette is walking home from school. However, she is thinking a lot about what Brian had told her.
"The secret is, to just do it. It's that simple."
But it's impossible, she thought. He was to cute, handsome, perfect in every way imaginable. How could she just walk up to him and-
"We complicate things." He had said.
Hm... Maybe Brian had a point. Did he though? It was so hard to, but yet... What was actually stopping her?
But how would HE know? It's not like he walked up to someone and told his crush, right?
"Believe me, I know." He had said.
What did that mean? Was he in a position like she was in before? If so, what did he do?
Marinette shook her head. He wasn't going to tell him. It just... Wasn't a good time.
Ugh, she thought. Even I don't believe me.
Fine. I will tell him tomorrow, the day before the prom.
Then she noticed something. Was it just her, or was it getting dark?
She looked at the sky. Apparently, the answer was yes... And no. It wasn't dark, but it wasn't just her.
Dark, misty storm clouds were brewing in the sky like a witch stirring a pot. Occasionally a lightning bolt would strike across it, then thunder would boom. Then Marinette squinted. Barely visible in the middle of those clouds was...
A human form.
"Pain... Suffering..." His voice echoed. "Since when did this world know anything less? Yet you fail to recognize it where it matters!" A tall, stone pillar rose and met his feet, just halfway below the clouds, which somehow seemed to be getting angrier. "For so long, I have cried..." Stone pillars continued to rise, forming a staircase to the ground, leading to the ground as he walked. "I have cried, but no shoulder to lean on. I have fallen, with no one to pick me up. I have died, but no one buried me. And when someone did..." He stomped the ground, with large cracks appearing where he stepped, "HE STABBED ME IN THE BACK!!"
He was at a distance now where Marinette could see him better. He had gray skin, almost rotting, dirty white hair, literal fire in his eyes, and dirty, ripped gray clothes. Although, something about him seemed familiar. It seemed to Marinette, if she added some color to his clothes, it could quite possibly be...Flannel?
Wait... Is that...No...It couldn't...
"Brian?" She whispered.
"And now..." He continued, "You will know your own pain, and..." He burst into flames in anger, although he didn't burn up, and yelled, "SHARE IN MY MISERY!!!" He teleported to a passerby and grabbed him by the shirt. He looked him in the eyes. He saw fear.
"Your worst fear." The 'What Once Was Brian' hissed. "Ah... Yes... I see... Well, it's time for your nightmare...To begin!" He pressed him against a nearby building wall and placed two of his forefingers on his victims forehead. Where he was pressing seemed to appear a shade of purple. Then the man's eyes seem to lose light, somehow. His pupils just... Increased. After a few seconds, he just started crying. Balling his eyes out like... Like his worst nightmare had come true.
"Armageddon is here, and I am he." Brian said simply. He rushed at what seemed to be the speed of light and burst through a building. As soon as he came out the other side it crumbled beneath where he once was.
"But...Why? He was so happy..." Marinette wondered out loud. "There is no time to think about it! I have to go!" And with that she whipped around a building.
Tikki flew out of Marinette's purse and said quickly, "Just say the word, Marinette! He needs to be stopped!"
Marinette nodded.
"Tikki, SPOTS ON!"
Adrien was sitting in his room, flipping through the channels. He was so bored and... Confused. Why would Brian get up and leave like that? Even if he had a family emergency, you would think he'd say something. But if it was really bad then... Maybe.
Finally, Adrien found a really good show to watch. It was one of his favorites. The one about these two superheroes and, basically, as ordinary people, the girl is in love with the guy, but he is oblivious. But as superheroes, HE is in love with HER, but she is just plain annoyed. It always made him laugh.
But then the news interrupts his show. "We interrupt this program for breaking news." The news reporter exclaims, "A storm unlike any other is brewing right over Paris, and witnesses claim that they see someone inside of it!"
The camera turns to the human form inside of the dark, sinister storm that seems to get angrier the longer it sticks around. Stone pillars continue to rise as he walks, appearing to be saying something. Then Adrien recognizes the pattern on his dirty, gray button up shirt...
"Brian?!?!" Adrien shouts, jumping out of his couch.
"That weird guy that smelled like he crawled out of an attic from earlier?" Plagg asks, with his mouth full of camambert, "Why would he be Akumatized? I mean, he was a little off, but even I know a happy go lucky guy when I see one!"
"Only one way to find out Plagg..."
Adrien picks up the remote and turns off the TV. "HEY! You never know, they might have been about to cut back to Fantabulous!" Plagg says indignantly.
"Come on, Plagg! We have bigger things to worry about!" Adrien replied.
Plagg sighed. "Fine. Just say the word."
"Plagg, CLAWS OUT!"
Armageddon is hovering over Paris, pondering his next move. Then he sees a building, and at incredible speed, burst through its walls. Inside there was a blonde woman, standing in shock and fear, to scared to move.
"Pain...Suffering...Are you familiar with these emotions?" Armageddon asked.
The woman didn't answer. She just started backing up slowly.
"What is your greatest fear?" Armageddon asked, looking in her eyes.
The woman's jaw dropped in horror. Armageddon nodded.
"Yes, I see...It seems everyone has the same fear, just differing slightly. But now your nightmare... Is REALITY!" And with that he grabbed her by the arm and pressed his forefingers against her forehead. The same thing happened to her as the other man. Her pupils enlarged, and soon, she collapsed on the ground, shivering in fear, almost crying.
Armageddon flew off.
Meanwhile, Hawk Moth is watching all of this take place. Natalie is behind him, aghast at these events. Finally she says, "With all do respect, sir, isn't there a hint of doubt or regret about this? Is there a place where you might be going...Too far?"
Hawk Moth just sighs in response. "I will admit, I didn't expect him to be this...Powerful, this destructive, physically and mentally. But if it means my one wish, can-no-WILL, come true, then I will do whatever it takes. Nothing, no one, will stand in my way!"
Ladybug swung with her yo-yo as fast as she possibly can. She and her partner, Cat Noir, have faced villains before, but this seemed to be on a whole new level. This was going too far, even for Hawk Moth. Whatever it was that Brian did to that man, the results were just plain wrong.
As she was swinging, she saw Cat Noir, using his ever extending staff to swing from building to building. They both stopped to meet each other.
"Hey Bugaboo, how do you do? What's new on this fine afternoon?"
"Shut up Cat Noir! This isn't the time!" Ladybug shouted angrily.
Cat Noir, shocked by her sudden outburst, asked, "Woah, what cat got YOUR tongue this morning?"
"It's just..." Then she sighs, "I'm sorry, Cat, it's just, I've seen what this villain can do. And it's not pretty. I... I need you to take this a little more seriously. If we don't stop him, there might not be a Paris to save anymore. With or without Hawk Moth."
Cat Noir looked her in the eyes. He could see she was dead serious. He didn't stick around to watch the news, so he didn't see what happened to the man. But he could see the look in her eyes. They showed...Fear. True fear of what this man can do. And an undying motivation to stop him if it killed her.
And something told Cat Noir, it might be a possibility.
He nodded solemnly. "Let's go find him then."
Armageddon is walking down the street, casually whistling, while behind him is a trail of people, quaking in fear, several of them crying. It's...To horrific to describe.
He then jumps onto the wall of a building so quick, you would have thought he teleported. He pulls a man out from a window and says, "Your worst fear? What is it, I wonder?"
"One of life's great mysteries I suppose!" Cat Noir said casually. He was on top of the same building Armageddon was hanging from.
"But you won't get to solve this one, Brian!" Ladybug continued. She was on the ground, swinging her yo-yo, ready to attack.
Armageddon started steaming, literally. "Brian doesn't exist anymore! It's Armageddon!!" And with that he threw the man he was holding back inside and jumped off the building. As he fell, he threw a fireball at Cat Noir, but he jumped and flipped to avoid it.
Armageddon landed with his fist to the ground, letting it crack and crumble beneath him. Ladybug then swung her yo-yo at him, but he grabbed and pulled it from her.
"Hey, wh-what?" She said, shocked at what he was doing. It wasn't the fact that he took it. Anyone could do that. What he was doing with it surprised her.
He was swinging it around, too. And, using his flame, he let it trail across the yo-yo, setting it on fire, although it doesn't burn. He had his own make-shift fire weapon. He swung his own fire yo-yo at her, but she jumped and dodged.
Then Cat Noir joined in the fight. He jumped off the building and landed softly and delicately on the ground. Then he charged at Armageddon with his staff.
But Armageddon merely glanced at him, and the very next second, he was gone. Cat Noir hit nothing but air. Then, Armageddon appeared behind him and punched him hard in the back, with Cat Noir groaning and falling on his knees. Then he grabbed Cat Noir by the neck of his collar and lifted him off the ground.
But he wasn't paying attention. He heard Ladybug say, "Hey Armageddon, you ever feel like you got a KICK IN THE FACE?!?!" And the next thing he knew, he got a...Well, a kick in the face.
He stumbled backward, letting go of the yo-yo and Cat Noir. He wiped his nose, snarling and saying, "To answer your question, yes. Figuratively...And now quite literally. Now let me ask you a question..." He calmly burst into red flames. His eyes looked like they were actually burning with an internal rage.
"Why won't you quit?" He asked, sounding like his larynx was filled with a kind of heat. "There isn't any point in fighting. The world is much better this way. With me, I can tell the lies from the truth, the good from the evil."
Ladybug simply replies, "If that is true, then why aren't you?"
The flames surrounding Armageddon's body grows larger as his anger intensifies. "I AM!!!!" He yells as thunder roars. It's the first time the heroes notice that, the angrier Armageddon gets, the worse the storm becomes.
So with that logic, the storm is literally getting angrier.
"No you're not, and you know it!" Ladybug replies, "Grabbing random people from the street and stealing there joy, people that never bothered you, is not justice!"
"ENOUGH!!!!!" Armageddon practically explodes with rage, fire spreading from all sides of him and he charges towards the heroes, but Ladybug immediately swings her yo-yo at him and it wraps around him so that he falls on his side, with flame still bursting out of him, from all parts of his body.
They wait for him to calm down. Eventually, he gets exhausted and slowly the fire dies.
"Ok, Cat Noir, check and see if you can find where his Akuma might be." Ladybug instructs.
"I don't know. He probably won't let me touch him."
"He has a point!" Armageddon shouts. "But believe me, you won't find it. So I won't burn you...This time."
"I don't trust you!" Cat Noir says to him.
"You have a better plan?" Ladybug inquires.
Cat Noir falls silent. Then he slowly approaches Armageddon with his hand outstretched. Finally he gets close enough to touch. But when his fingers is a little less than an inch away...
"RAAAGGH!!!"
"AAAGHHH!!!"
Armageddon had just roared and Cat Noir had jumped back, screaming in alarm at his sudden jump scare. Then Armageddon starts laughing.
"I, hahaha, I couldn't resist. Seemed like a good moment. Continue." Armageddon says, chuckling to himself.
Ladybug sighs and almost grins. At least some part of Brian was still in there, she thought. She remembered when he did that whole 'Royally Fancy' routine. That was a riot. She liked his sense of humor.
Little did she know it, but Cat Noir was thinking the same thing.
Cat Noir reaches toward him again. He pats his pockets. Nothing. He checks his shirt pockets. Nothing. He looks in his ears, remembering that he has earbuds. Again, nothing.
"Where is your Akuma, Brian?"
He starts to burn again, and Cat Noir backs up a bit.
"It's Armageddon! Do you hear me?!? ARMAGE-"
"Yes yes, we heard you the first time! Fine! Armageddon!" Cat Noir says hastily.
"How did you know his name is-er, I mean, WAS, Brian?" Ladybug asks curiously.
"Oh, uh, I saw the news and an eye witness claimed that it was him!" Cat Noir says, thinking quickly. "But, now that I think about it, YOU said his name earlier too. How did YOU know?"
"Me? Oh, well, uh, I...I was there when he first arrived, and the same person told me! The one you saw on the news!" Ladybug replies.
Then Armageddon says, "You're both lying."
"No we're not!" They both say irritably.
"And besides, you're one to talk. You didn't even answer my question. Where is your Akuma?" Cat Noir says, crouching next to him.
"How many times has that worked?" Armageddon asks, grinning.
"Touché. But it was worth a shot." Then his eyes widen.
"What?" Ladybug asks, suddenly worried.
"It's not...in his CLOTHES, is it?" Cat noir asks slowly.
"What?! No, we are NOT going down that road." Ladybug says immediately.
"I can ASSURE YOU, it's not." Armageddon says, quite seriously. "I don't want to be lying around in my underwear, or worse, anymore than you want me to. So I'm saying this right now, and you can look me in the eyes when I say this, that is NOT where the Akuma is."
They both looked him in the eyes. A fire burned in them, but it seemed to speak to the soul, saying 'I am telling the truth'.
"But if it's not there, then where is it?" Ladybug wondered out loud. She turned around and started walking away. Cat Noir started to follow her to discuss this.
"Where on earth could it be? We have never been in this situation before!" Cat Noir said, starting to stress.
"I don't know, but...Wait. Where'd he go?!?!"
Armageddon was gone!
They immediately started to look around in different directions, while Ladybug picked up her yo-yo. Then they look up and see him flying up in the air. "Looking for someone?" He asked.
He burst into flames and charged at Ladybug, where as she dodged and behind her was Cat Noir, with his hand raised in the air. Armageddon screeched to a halt.
"What are you waiting for, an applause?" Armageddon asked mockingly.
"Nope, actually I'm waiting for a...
CATACLYSM!!!!"
He closed his hand and black particles seemed to surround his hand. Then he grabbed the fire hydrant that he was standing right above. Immediately it rusted and disintegrated, and he pulled off the lid.
Water shot out of it like a fire hose, and blew Armageddon back into a wall. His fire was put out.
"YES!!!" The two heroes shouted.
Then Armageddon opened his eyes. His fire started burning again, just as bright as before, and slowly turning brighter.
"NO!!!" The two heroes shouted.
Then he seemed to have disappeared. But then he reappeared behind Cat Noir.
"Boo." He sweep kicked Cat Noir and he fell hard on the asphalt. Then Armageddon picked him up by the neck and looked him in the eyes. "Your worst fear...What is it?" Armageddon asked.
"NO!!!" Ladybug shouted, only to be stopped by Armageddon raising a stone pillar right where she was standing.
He continued to stare into Cat Noir's eyes.
"I see...An uncommon fear, but understandable. But now your fear...Is REALITY!!!" He pressed his two forefingers against his forehead. Where he pressed it turned into a shade of purple, and Cat Noirs pupils enlarged.
All he could see was darkness. He looked around and saw nothing.
"Where am I?" He wondered out loud. He started walking forward.
Iron bars fell where he was walking.
"Where do you think your going?" A voice said from everywhere.
"Wh-what?" Cat Noir said in fear. He turned to walk the other way, only to find more bars fell.
"You're such a disappointment..." a voice said. It sounded like...
His father.
"I tried, Father! I really tried to please you!" He turned in all directions, but he was in a cage now.
"I always felt you could do better...But I see now I was wrong." The voice said sadly.
"No, Father! That's not true!" Cat Noir shouted into the abyss, very close to tears.
The iron bars parted into a hallway, and Cat Noir started running. It was just an endless hallway of iron bars.
"If what you say is true, then why do you continue to disappoint me? You don't even deserve to be my son!" The voice started to sound angry.
"NO, NO FATHER! NOOO!!!"
Armageddon let go of Cat Noir. He was near tears, lost in his illusion.
A laser mask appeared in front of his face.
"Now, while he is vulnerable, retrieve the debt you owe me! His ring!"
Armageddon picked up his hand, and started to reach for his ring, when suddenly,
"YAGGHHH!!!" Ladybug jumped right on top of him from the stone pillar, while hitting him in the head with a rock. He lay there dazed for a few seconds. The he burst into flames again, flew up, and looked around.
They were gone.
"No!" Hawk Moth shouted, banging his staff against the ground. Then he told Armageddon, "You lost them! Go and find them!"
"Actually," He replied with an evil grin, "I have a better plan. I keep doing what I have been doing. If they really want to stop me, they will find me again. I will be ready. Hmm..." Then he thought a moment, then continued, "Well...One of them will, anyway."
"What about Cat Noir?" Hawk Moth asks, exasperated.
"I can see their SOULS, Hawk Moth." Armageddon replies patiently. "They can't hide anything from me. Even if she lies to me, I can see the truth. When I look in their eyes, all their secrets are revealed to me."
Then Hawk Moth looks hopeful. "I gave you these powers, and yet I forgot about this one! This means you can see their true identities!"
Then Armageddon sighs, and says, "This is actually the one thing I can't see for some reason. It is as if a sort of force or power is keeping me from seeing their identities."
Hawk Moth shakes his head. Of course their is. It's their miraculous. They will do whatever it takes to keep these things a secret, even from the likes of Armageddon.
"But, in spite of this," Armageddon continues, "Ladybug can't hide everything from me. I will still see where Cat Noir will be hiding. And I will have something set up for her as well."
"I'm listening."
Ladybug swings around, carrying Cat Noir over her shoulder. Then, when she thinks she has swung far enough away from Armageddon, she lands on top of a building and puts him down. She looks at him, observing what is happening.
He is shivering in fear, as if he had body chills. He was very close to tears, muttering things like "No, Father, No." and "Cages...Everywhere."
"No...Cat, what has he done to you?" She whispers.
Cat Noir doesn't answer. He just keeps shivering.
Then Ladybug gets up, looking determined. "I will fix this, Cat Noir. I promise, I will stop him." Then she looks at her yo-yo.
"I don't have a choice. If I'm going to stop him, I'm going to need a...
LUCKY CHARM!!!"
She throws her yo-yo in the air, and red particles come together to create...
A cup. Nothing special, just an ordinary cup...That's red with black polka dots.
"A cup? What am I supposed to do with...Wait, what's this?"
She looks inside the cup. It had no bottom.
It was a bottomless cup.
GOOD NIGHT!!! That is my longest chapter so far! And not only did it take me so long to write this, but a couple of times something would happen and I would lose a part of the chapter, so I would have to write it all over again. Fortunately though, it enabled me to make some positive changes to it, so it turned out for the better! I did have some trouble at some points though, such as how to have Ladybug escape from Brian/Armageddon, or how Brian/Armageddon couldn't see their identities. That's not the half of it. I have a few more points, but I'll save them for next time. Oh by the way, I don't have to bump the rating again because of this, do I? Anyway, PEACE!!!