Akumatised

New chapter time! I spent essentially the whole day on this. The drama continues, I enjoyed writing this chapter but I won't lie it also hurt me quite a bit but nonetheless I hope you enjoy it.

Disclaimer: Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir doesn't belong to me.


Chapter 8: Multiple Truths Revealed

Adrien was sitting at his desk doing his homework when Plagg flew in front of him looking quite frazzled. He'd never seen his Kwami so distressed before.

"Plagg, is something wrong?" he put his pen down and watched Plagg, trying and failing to act natural.

"What? Wrong? No everything's just fine." He answered unconvincingly.

"Then where have you been for the past ten minutes?"

"Oh you know, around."

"You left the room didn't you?" Plagg looked away, giving Adrien his answer. "Plagg, you know you're not supposed to wander around the house, what if someone saw you?"

"I'm sorry but I smelled Camembert and I had to find it but don't worry its safe in the fridge."

"I'm not worried about the cheese, did anyone see you?" he asked getting worried.

"Absolutely not. I wasn't the one seen at all." The Kwami answered determinedly but the way he answered it made Adrien think for a second.

"Okay, then did you see someone or something weird?" Plagg really needed to work on his poker face because the look he gave Adrien after he'd posed his question sold him out. "What did you see?"

"I can't say and I don't think I should." He held his little hands together.

"That makes it sound worse, why can't you tell me?"

"Well for starters, I can't believe it myself and secondly," Adrien noted how Plagg's face fell and a seriousness took over. "It would end up hurting you if I did."

Adrien tried to make sense of his Kwami's words but he couldn't. What could he possibly have seen that would hurt him and make Plagg worry so much? Time for a different approach.

"If it's something that would hurt me, isn't it better if I find out sooner rather than later? Letting it escalate when it could be dealt with now is a smarter move."

"Adrien I don't want to see you get hurt. Can't we move on from this?"

"Plagg, you rarely ever get this serious and worried about something. Whatever this is involves me, I should know about it."

Adrien could see Plagg was still resistant to revealing the truth but saw him sigh in surrender.

"It's about your father," the black Kwami started and looked to be thinking of the best way to break it to him. "When I was on my way back from the kitchen, I heard him talking to someone, a voice I haven't heard in a long time. When I went to see if I was right, and I was, I flew back here as fast as I could."

"Okay so who did you see?"

Plagg was quiet for a few seconds, Adrien didn't press him, he knew he'd tell him when he was ready.

"I saw Nooroo," His voice almost came out in a tremble. "The Kwami of the Butterfly Miraculous."

Adrien sat up straighter in his chair, his eyes wide, it couldn't be, it just couldn't.

"As in the one that Hawk Moth has?" Plagg only nodded. "Are you telling me..." he could already feel his mind racing. "My father is Hawk Moth? That's...impossible. It can't be him." Adrien stood up and walked to the window.

"There has to be an explanation for this. What would he even need the Miraculous for? It's not him."

"Adrien—

"It can't be!" he yelled in a frustrated cry and before Plagg could say anything more, Adrien transformed and left the house.

He wasn't focused on where he was going, he just needed to get as far away as he could but, no matter how far he went his mind continued to scramble trying to understand everything.

And while he was so preoccupied with his thoughts he didn't notice the black butterfly catching up behind him or Ladybug trying to call out to him and warn him.


The Agreste mansion was in sight, Ladybug watched as Cat Noir lead the way with a determined focus about him. As they were about to go over the wall they, at the same time, noticed another Akuma fluttering away. Ladybug quickly captured and cleansed it in her yo-yo. She looked at her partner after the white butterfly flew away and looked back at her.

"It's now or never." he said and leapt over the wall first and Ladybug followed. Remembering how his father had done it, he and Ladybug were standing in front of the painting of his mother, he pressed the same parts of the painting he'd seen his father press and watched the platform open up. Ladybug gasped, it was hidden right in plain sight. He stepped on to the platform and held out his hand for her to join. Not too long after she stepped on they started descending, everything was dark at first but then light poured in once they were in the garden filled with butterflies.

Ladybug took it all in, how could he have hidden all of this so well and for so long? The butterflies fluttering around at the end of the room made her uneasy, the exact same ones she'd seen on every mission.

There was no denying it now.

She felt Cat Noir tense slightly and she understood why, this was never going to be easy for him. Mr Agreste had always been stern and strict, never really leaving much room for Adrien to be himself and express himself. Add all that to the times his father hadn't been there for him and now finding out he was behind all the Akuma's in the city, it was a wonder he could keep going at all.

The elevator came to a stop and the door slid open, the air was cool as they walked across the bridge to the patch of green grass. They were silent, the only sounds heard were from their feet on the metallic bridge.

As soon as they made it across, Cat Noir went straight to the casket. He rested his trembling hand on it, his shoulders slouched, head lowered. Ladybug watched him with tears welling up in her eyes and walked over to him as he sank to his knees. She got down and put her arm around his and held his hand. He didn't voice it out loud but he was immensely grateful that she'd come along with him. If she weren't there with him at that moment, he wouldn't have had the strength to keep going. This was a stop on their actual destination, their job wasn't finished. He closed his eyes and held her hand tighter.

Ladybug turned her head to look at him and was about to say something when movement on her left side caught her attention. She acted quickly and dove them both out of the way just in time to avoid a slash from Hawk Moth's blade.

"What are you doing down here!" he demanded and readied his blade for another attack. "How did you find this place!" he ran at them. Ladybug was about to shield them but Cat ran in front of them and blocked the attack with his staff.

"We don't owe you any answers but you owe us some!" Cat Noir pushed back until Hawk Moth had to remove his blade and duck as Cat swung his staff right by his head.

"I have nothing to say to you," he said as he ran and jumped and brought down his blade but Cat Noir moved out of the way just in time. "Although I suppose I should thank you for bringing your Miraculous to me yourselves." he said confidently. Cat Noir was watching his every move, evading and blocking his attacks but he had to admit, Hawk Moth, no, his father, was good with a sword. If he hadn't been taking fencing, Cat Noir doubted he'd be keeping up with his father as well as he'd been.

Ladybug was trying to find an opening to remove his Miraculous but she was also watching Cat Noir, he was fighting with everything he had, in a way she'd never seen him fight before. And the longer the battle persisted, the more impatient she could see him becoming.

"Why are you doing this?" Cat finally asked. "What does a fashion designer need with our Miraculous?" he smirked when he saw the look of genuine shock on Hawk Moth's face. "How do you think we knew to come here? We know who you are behind that mask, Gabriel Agreste."

"Knowing my identity doesn't change anything. I'm still going to get your Miraculous, you were fools to challenge me directly." he said before swinging again and just missed Cat Noir's ear then spinning kicking him in the chest which sent him flying before he hit the ground. He was about to go in for the final attack but Ladybug jumped in and shielded them. Now it was her turn to engage their biggest enemy.

"Do you really think you can defeat me when you've never done so before." he tried slashing through her defenses to no avail but he was pushing her back.

"Right back at you, you've never defeated us either and you never will. You're not going to get our Miraculous." she stopped using her yo-yo as a shield and began swinging in offence. He blocked and deflected as much as he could but every time he hit away her yo-yo, it would bounce off a surface and back at him for another attack.

"Ladybug, let me handle this." Cat Noir spoke from behind her.

"But Cat—

She dodged another attack and back flipped over to Cat Noir. Hawk Moth stayed where he was and rested his sword over his shoulder.

"This is my fight, remember?"

"Are you sure you want to do this? You're angry and it's easier to make mistakes when fighting like that. He could use that against you." She understood that he wanted to do this but at the same time they couldn't afford to make mistakes, not when they were fighting Hawk Moth on his home ground. He had the territorial advantage of knowing this place a lot better than they did, even if Adrien had been here before.

"I'm sure, I need answers, and I know you've got my back no matter what." he smiled at her before turning to Hawk Moth and charging at him. Cat Noir wanted answers and he wanted them now. He had a vague idea of what his father was trying to do but he didn't want to be right about it. No matter what his intentions were, he'd done terrible things and used the people of the city, it had to stop. He had to be stopped.

"You have a son don't you? How do you think Adrien will feel when he finds out what his father has been doing?" he pressed the attack.

"You understand nothing. I'm doing all of this for my son, for my family."

Adrien froze at his words, his eyes widened but there was no time to be shocked, Hawk Moth swung at his feet and he just managed to jump out of the way.

"Threatening the city, hurting and Akumatising innocent people and preying on their darkest moments! How could any of that possibly help you in any way! Adrien wouldn't want this!" His heart was racing, his anger and hurt pushing him to fight even harder.

"Of course he wouldn't, that's why he doesn't know and I'm not going to waste my time explaining my reasons to a child!" where did this child get off talking to him like that, speaking to him as if he knew him personally? He was a brat that he wouldn't let get in his way.

"Isn't Adrien a child, your child, you betrayed and keep lying to him!" he swung at him with all his strength and knocked the sword out of his hands.

"Why is that any concern of yours?" What was this damn cat trying to accomplish? Why was he so concerned about Adrien?

Ladybug and Hawk Moth were shocked to see Cat Noir call on his power, the black energy of the Cataclysm radiating from his hand.

Ladybug's heart skipped a beat. He couldn't really be thinking of…

"Cat Noir, don't do it!" she ran over to him but Cat already took off, headed straight to his father. All the hurt and anger, pain, betrayal, confusion, all of it rushing through him as he got closer and closer but he stopped right in front of him. His hand was just above his chest, trembling but waiting. His head was lowered. Hawk Moth didn't move an inch, something about the deadly seriousness that Cat Noir had come at him with had rooted him on the spot.

"Do you have any idea what that truth will do to him, will do to me?" he finally looked up, his desperate eyes meeting his father's.

"What are you talking about?"

"Adrien is, I am Cat Noir... father."

"What!"

"Whenever you were too busy to see me or spend time with me, I never imagined this was why. You really haven't been the same since we lost mom." he lowered his arm.

"Adrien? Is it really you?" so he'd been right back then when he suspected his son was Cat Noir. All this time he'd been…

"Were you ever going to tell me?"

A long pause followed by a deep sigh.

"Yes…I wanted to tell you for so long."

"But you never did, you just kept lying to me, trying to hurt me." he balled his hands in fists.

"I never wanted to hurt you." He turned away from his son. "It's complicated."

"You Akumatise people to try and get my and Ladybug's Miraculous, seems pretty simple to me." He turned to face his father "Claws In." and his transformation dropped and he was standing in front of his father as Adrien. "As Cat Noir I've jumped into danger plenty of times to protect people from you. As Adrien I've been in danger plenty of times because of you, because of the Akuma's you create."

"Adrien I—

"You let me get turned into a gold statue when Chloe's mother was Akumatised and you let me fall from the top of a building when you sent my Akumatised bodyguard after me! Remember those times! You never meant to hurt me, huh?" Tears were stinging the corners of his eyes.

"Adrien listen to me, I'm trying to make our family whole again. I'm trying to bring your mother back."

Both teens stopped at his words.

He's trying to what?

Dammit, I was right...


Whew and that's that chapter done, let me know what you think. I've been wanting to get to this part since I started writing this. It was actually one of the first moments I'd thought of when I created this story, Cat being Akumatised and then eventually facing off with his father were the two main plot points I'd come up with then I built the rest of this story around those two moments. Start with the Akuma that gets Cat Noir and work up to the reveals. And I'm happy I finally got here.

Well that's it from me-

Until the next chapter: Ketsui Tasogare:-)