Chapter 5 Defeated

"Marinette, you can't!"

"Yes, I can. I'm going to tell Cat Noir who I am."

"It's against the rules!" Tikki persisted.

Marinette added, "Which were put in place by the same idiots who put Master Fu in a room alone and starved him until he destroyed the entire order. What was it that Master Fu said? Something about ancient traditions doing him no good."

"It was also Master Fu who told you not to tell Cat Noir your identity."

Marinette finally dropped her smile and said insistently, "Master Fu wasn't without his mistakes. He destroyed the order and took our miraculouses because he was scared of a monster we needed our miraculouses to defeat. You want to know the real reason I did as Master Fu said and didn't tell Cat Noir my secret. It was the same reason I went so long without telling Adrien how I felt. And the same reason I almost quit being Ladybug on my first day. It was because I was a coward."

"If you do this, you'll be . . ."

"Enough! Master Fu chose me to be the one to make these decisions! I am the guardian of the Miracle Box now, so I will make the rules! And rule number one is that Cat Noir and I trust each other."

Tikki gave up. She dropped her arms in defeat, knowing she couldn't stop her, knowing it wasn't her place to defy her owner; much less the guardian. She decided that she might as well support her and help her do this correctly. Tikki said, "I'll respect your decision. Just promise me you won't start telling every single miraculous holder."

Marinette considered Tikki's council. "For now, he'll be the only one. You know this isn't something I'd tell just anyone."

"Alright."

Marinette said, "Let's get some rest. It's been a long day and we have big things to do. After I share my secret with Cat Noir, we'll figure out how to defeat Hawk Moth."

It didn't happen so quickly. Of course, Gabriel Agreste wanted to press charges against Luka. The trial kept Gabriel busy and since, as has been established, he's Hawk Moth, there weren't any akama attacks during that time. And because there were no super villains to fight, there wasn't anything to get Cat Noir to show up.

Marinette testified at Luka's trial, which nearly gave her a panic attack since she knew she was in close proximity to Hawk Moth, but she couldn't show it. However, when compared to other cases, this one didn't last very long. Alya's video which had gone viral by then was damming. Luka never had a chance. The best Luka's lawyer could come up with was just pointing out how Officer Roger didn't properly bring Adrien, or really anyone, in for questioning soon enough. Roger may have been a bit too single minded, but that wasn't nearly enough to keep Luka out of juvy.

Adrien finally had a day that seemed normal. The trial was over and he was more excited to go to school than he had been in a long time. He walked into his classroom and was greeted with, "There he is!"

Almost all of his classmates gathered around, excited to see him. Nino put his arm around the back of Adrien's neck and said, "We've got the heavyweight champion of Paris right here!"

Alex said, "Yeah, where did you learn to fight like that?"

"Uh. Just a natural, I guess," Adrien said awkwardly.

Alya said, "First you beat him in a fight, then you beat him in the court room. How long did he get put away for?"

Juleka and Rose stayed sitting with the lowest spirits in the room. Juleka did her best to hold back her tears. She knew deep down that they were right to lock up her brother, but it still hurt. As Adrien answered Alya's question, Rose rubbed her hand on Juleka's back to comfort her.

Adrien told Alya, "I wanted to thank you for recording the whole thing. That footage won the trial for us."

"I should be thanking you. Nice to have a news story that's different from yet another akuma attack. Especially since it's been a while since we had one," Alya said with something that couldn't be disappointment, could it?

When class was dismissed, most of the students exited the classroom. Adrien, however, had a task which he had to complete despite his nervousness. Adrien approached Marinette and, given what happened the last time they spoke alone, he chose his first words tactically. "My father wanted me to ask you if you wanted to come to a fashion show with us."

Marinette asked, "He did?"

"Yes. He wanted to thank you for your testimony. I'm also inviting Alya."

Marinette was hesitant. She had figured out that Gabriel was Hawk Moth and being invited anywhere by him was unsettling. But if there was anything to worry about, then Alya and Adrien would be in the middle of it, so she would have to be there, too. Marinette tried to look excited. "Sure. I'd love to come. Can't wait to see you on the runway."

"Oh, I'm not going to be on the runway this time. This fashion show is just for women's wear, so I'm just going to be in the audience with you. And Father and Alya!"

Marinette notice a blaring omission for that short list of names. "Wait, is Kagami not coming?"

Adrien looked uncomfortable. He rubbed the back of his neck and said, "Actually . . ." and the rest of the words refused to come out of his mouth.

Marinette could guess from his telling signs what might have happened. And the concept made her heart jump. Her wide-open eyes stared at Adrien with shaking pupils as she whispered, "Actually, What?"

"I'd better get going."

"Actually, what?!" Marinette asked desperately.

"I'll see you at the fashion show! Thanks for coming!"

Adrien raced down the stairs, but by the time he got to the bottom, Marinette was somehow already there, waiting for him. "Actually, what?!" she growled insistently.

Adrien sighed, accepting the fact that she was going to find out eventually. "Actually, Kagami and I broke up."

The galaxy revealed itself in Marinette's mind! The stars shined brighter than ever, illuminating the truth! Hopelessness is an illusion and happiness will never become unattainable! There are mountains and those mountains can be climbed! Life has endless valleys of magnificent paths to choose from! Her path of choosing was coming closer and would lead her to the dream she had longed for!

All Adrien saw was Marinette screaming a continuous, high-pitched scream with the most joyous face he'd ever seen.

"Marinette! Marinette, calm down."

Marinette gasped her breath. "I'm never going to calm down again!"

"I didn't break up with her so I could be with you."

"Still."

Adrien explained, "Marinette, that other girl I told you about; I shouldn't have dated Kagami because I didn't love her as much as I loved the other girl. And I can't do the same to . . ."

"If you don't love me that much yet, give me time. I used to be too scared to talk to you. Now, I'll try harder. If this girl is the reason you won't date me, than tell me who she is and I'll be better than her."

Her plea stroke a cord with him. He started to wonder if Marinette really could make him feel the way Ladybug did. Adrien couldn't help himself from saying, "I'll tell you when we're alone; really alone." And then he walked out of the classroom.

Marinette wondered if she was coming on too strong or if she was making him uncomfortable. But then, she realized something. He didn't tell her to stop.

Two days after Adrien's invitation, Marinette showed up to the fashion show. Hundreds of people sat around a white runway. It was enough for her to go to any fashion show, but this room was far bigger and grander than the last one she had watched a fashion show in. An usher escorted her to a seat right next to Gabriel. Marinette expected him to have a front row seat, but their seats were the closest to a hallway that led to a set of bathrooms. Gabriel shook her hand while saying, "Ah, Ms. Dupain-Cheng. I'm pleased you could make it."

"Thank you, Mr. Agreste. Uh, where are Adrien and Alya?"

"Unfortunately, the rest of our party is running late."

"You mean I'm going to be sitting with you alone?" she accidentally said out loud.

"For the time being, at least. I hope that isn't a problem for you?"

"Uh, no! It's an honor to sit next to a fashion expert like you!"

Marinette finally sat down and tried not to show her fear. Careful not to let Gabriel notice, she pulled out her phone and texted Alya, "The show is going to start in seven minutes. Where are you?" She sent the message and nearly jumped out of her seat when her phone made a noise that Gabriel could hear. Her mind was screaming, "WHY DIDN'T I SILENCE MY PHONE?!" Marinette said to Gabriel, "That must be my parents. I'd better check on that."

Marinette open the text from Alya which said, "Adrien's body guard was supposed to pick me up an hour ago. I've been standing outside this whole time."

"Don't freak out!" Marinette thought as she began breathing heavily. "That's pretty ominous, but it could just be that Gorilla forgot." Marinette was unconvinced. "Okay, fine; it couldn't be. I need to stay calm. Can't let HIM know that I know something's up."

"Ms. Dupain-Cheng."

"Yes?" Marinette squeaked.

"I'm sure it must have been hard for you to see Luka attacking your friend."

"It was. For a minute anyway. I was definitely worried about Adrien's safety. But when it was over and Luka was arrested, I just felt . . . free."

"You must not have loved him very much," Gabriel said.

"I didn't."

"Then you were lucky. Losing someone you love is one of the hardest things that can happen to you. Let's say, what if you did love him; what would you have done? Would you have lied in court? Tried to bring him back to you?"

"I think . . . I think I would have done the right thing by telling the truth."

Gabriel looked at her coldly. He said with the same tone he'd been using, not letting his hostility into his voice, "Sometimes, the right thing to do is putting love before everything else; even the law."

Marinette was convinced more than ever that he was Hawk Moth. But somehow, she was less afraid in that moment. She replied, "If you really love someone, you shouldn't expect them to break the law for you. And if they do, you should feel guilty about what you've turned them into."

Marinette and Gabriel looked into the other person's hard eyes. Neither of them flinched. Neither of them said a word for a time that felt far longer than it actually was. It lasted until Gabriel spontaneously stood from his chair and said, "Excuse me for a moment. There is something I need to attend to."

Marinette had one guess what that something was. She had a feeling that she was in a trap. She had to think fast, but she couldn't because her phone just had to ring at this of all times. She checked the caller ID. It was Adrien. "Hello?"

"Hi, Marinette. I thought I'd never get anyone to pick up their phone. I tried Gorilla, Natalie, and Father, but no one answered." Yet another red flag.

"Oh, too bad. I guess you'll never make it in time. Maybe you should just stay home."

"But there's still time," Adrien said.

With each sentence, Marinette lost more control over the panic in her voice. "The show starts in just a few minutes."

"A few minutes? I was told that it wasn't for another . . . Never mind. I'll be there."

"NO! You'll never make it!"

"Trust me. I can be fast when I want to be."

"Adrien, listen; don't come! I can't explain it, but there's something going on and it's too . . ."

"I'm back."

Marinette screamed at the sound of Gabriel's voice. Gabriel sat next to Marinette and asked, "Did I miss anything."

Marinette looked at him with confusion. Adrien asked over the phone, "What's going on?!"

Marinette said over the phone, "I'm going to have to call you back." She then hung up the phone and asked Gabriel, "So, what was it you needed to do?"

"Oh, you know. Fashion things. Stuff you wouldn't understand." Gabriel didn't sound right. His words and his delivery felt out of place coming from him and Marinette noticed immediately.

Her head was spinning. She was sure that he left to send out an akuma, but how could he do that and get back so fa . . .

Crash.

Something big exploded into the building through a hole it created on its way in. The strange thing was, there was no loud noise. The monster that crashed its way into the room without making a sound was a giant snake. Half its scales were gold and half its scales were made of purple diamond. On its neck was a saddle and seated upon it was Silencer. Luka's presence as Silencer came as a shock to Marinette. Why would Gabriel break him out of jail after Luka tried to kill his son.

The crowd started screaming immediately. People wasted no time in jumping from their seats, but had trouble making it to the exit through all the traffic. Gabriel shouted, "Marinette, get to the exit! I'll help with crowd control!" He said that too heroically to be believable coming from him. Marinette would have been glad that she was so close to the hallway, if it wasn't Gabriel's plan for her to be there; especially because he told her to run. She had no choice but to take advantage of the proximity, but her nerves were fried by the fact that she was doing exactly what Hawk Moth wanted. She just barely beat the stampeding crowd to the hallway and rammed her way through the bathroom door. She looked around franticly, making sure there wasn't any cameras or deadly traps planted there by Hawk Moth. She was only forty percent sure it was safe, but that had to be enough. People needed her help. She said, "Tikki, spots on," and as soon as she was transformed, she ran out the door and back into the hallway. There were still stampeding people, but as Ladybug, she could jump over them and run on the walls to go back where they were running from. She was relieved to see that the giant snake hadn't been attacking people until she was frightened by the sight of Queen Bee holding Adrien hostage with a knife to his throat. Marinette thought, "WHAT?! How did she get the Bee Miraculous?! Last time I saw it, it was in my secret hiding place!"

"Give us your miraculous or I'll feed Adrien's bloodless corpse to Silence," Queen Bee threatened. Apparently, the snakes name was Silence. At the sound of its name, Silence turned invisible for only a second.

"Ladybug! Don't let them hurt my son!" Gabriel shouted.

Ladybug was panicking so much, she actually considered giving up her miraculous. She thought, "Nothing makes any sense! Why is Gabriel still here!? Why would Gabriel akumatise Luka?! How did he akumatise someone so fast?! How did Adrien get here so fast?! How did they get the Bee Miraculous?! How did – waaaaait." All of her questions had one answer and it made her furious. "You," she growled venomously. Ladybug picked up a chair and threw it at Queen Bee and Adrien.

Adrien shouted, "What are you doing?" and when the chair hit them, they evaporated into white mist.

Silencer mouthed with his hand to say, "I hope you were very sure they were just illusions."

"As sure as I am that you are, too. The real Luka is still in a juvenile detention center." Ladybug looked around the room and screamed aggressively, "Volpina! Show yourself, you slimy sack of . . ." She had a few choice words she would've liked to use, but then she remembered that she was supposed to be a good role model. She shouted in frustration, "Slimy sack of used toilet paper! You roach infested gutter rat! You rusted dumpster fire!"

"As much as I like the sound of 'rusted dumpster fire', I prefer that you call me Kitsune." Using her voice to find her, Ladybug looked in Kitsune's direction. Lila, once known as Volpina, had a new costume to go with her new name. She was dressed in white. She had white fox-ears and a white tail. She had a total of eight tail-shaped blades extending from her fists, elbows, heels, and knees. "I nearly gave you a heart attack with that stunt, didn't I? You were right, by the way; Luka is still in juvy; where you'll never get to his amuk in time."

"Then I'll just destroy this sentimonster."

"Still think you can pull this off, huh? Wait until you get to the BIG surprises."

CRACK! Ladybug felt a sharp pain in her head. As she flew to the side, she looked at who or what ever hit her. The shock was harder to handle than the pain. Hawk Moth was there in person. She scrambled to her feet, but standing was apparently too much to ask. She was struck down by yet another enemy. Mayura was there too. For a second, Ladybug laid on the floor and put her hand on her aching head.

Hawk Moth said, "You fell perfectly into my trap, Marinette."

Ladybug couldn't even move. Did she really hear that right? She played back what she heard in her mind, trying to convince herself that it wasn't what it clearly was. But she couldn't accept that reality so easily. "What did you say?"

"I can see in your eyes that you heard exactly what I said, Marinette."

Her fears became real. This was the worst-case scenario.

Hawk Moth explained, "When I saw the identities of the other miraculous holders, I knew that most of them were students at Collège Françoise Dupont. Most of them, but not all. There was one wild card in the mix. Luka was the only exception to this rule. I wondered what the true common denominator between these individuals was. And then you two started dating and it became clear. They did all have something in common. It was you."

How ironic. For so long, she was afraid that Cat Noir might be a threat to her secret. In the end, he was the only miraculous holder who didn't let her secret slip. "I don't know what you're talking about!" Ladybug said. Hawk Moth laughed at her denial. It sounded pathetic and desperate and she knew it. She knew her secret was out, but she felt like she didn't have the option to admit it.

When he was done laughing, Hawk Moth said, "Take her miraculous."

Ladybug tried to prepare herself, but nothing could have prepared her for this four against one fight. Kitsune sped around behind Ladybug. She seemed to be faster as Kitsune than she was as Volpina. She swung one of her blades at Ladybug. Ladybug dodged away from Kitsune which brought her right to Mayura who grabbed her and threw her into the air. Silence's head hammered her back down. Hawk Moth struck down, trying to hit her, but only striking the floor after she rolled out of the way. As soon as she was on her feet, Kitsune came running and slashing. Ladybug blocked the attack, but was knocked off balance. Hawk Moth said, "Silence," and punched her in the face.

She looked around trying to see where Silence was, but not catching on to what was happening yet. Then, Silence became visible, his jaws closing in on each side of her. The only thing she could do was throw her yoyo into the rafters. Silence closed his mouth, trapping her inside. She pulled on the yoyo and ripped herself out. Ladybug swung around the room and ran along the walls, trying to avoid Silence's persistent attacks. She was so focused on him, she didn't notice Kitsune running up the wall to intercept. Kitsune slashed at her, cutting shallowly into her waist. After that, Kitsune jumped off the wall with Ladybug and body slammed her from that height.

Hawk Moth ran towards her, but Ladybug was ready. She punched him . . . and he evaporated, revealing himself to be an illusion. Right behind the fake Hawk Moth was Mayura; the real Mayura and she struck with her fan. The real Hawk Moth came from behind Ladybug and hit her as well. She needed to get away from them and she was tired of taking a beating. She kicked Mayura with both legs. Ladybug had angled the kick just right to spring off of Mayura, sending herself sliding under Hawk Moth between his legs.

She was out of arms reach of her enemies, but not out of danger. Kitsune ran at her and swung her blades. Ladybug dashed out of the way and wrapped her yoyo string around Kitsune's legs as she passed by. Ladybug used the yoyo to swing Kitsune around in a four-hundred-and-fifty-degree spin which crashed her into Hawk Moth. Mayura came at Ladybug, and she was happy for her to be next. Mayura kicked forward. Ladybug grabbed her leg and twisted it, forcing Mayura to the ground. Ladybug lifted her fist and . . . An invisible tail hit Ladybug, ending her short rampage. The impact sent her crashing into a wall, where her enemies were quick to join her. Kitsune, Mayura, and Hawk Moth beat Ladybug against the wall relentlessly. She kept her guard up, not to prevent physical harm, but to keep her miraculous as safe as she could. The pain was excruciating, but she couldn't let them take it.

She punched at them wildly, trying to free herself. And then they backed off . . . only for Silence to ram into her. When Silence withdrew, Ladybug fell to her hands and knees. She was defeated. And Hawk Moth was approaching, ready to claim his prize.

She needed a hero.

Author's Note: Before we go, I want to ask you to consider reading another up coming fanfiction I'm working on. The first chapter of Disney Princesses: Extermination will be posted March 22nd 2020. It will be written for teens and adults, but will still retain what we all love about Disney Princesses and YES there will be action in it like Miraculous Contempt.

Thank you for reading and I hope you come back for more of my work.

(This next part was added in later.)

I have a YouTube Channel now. I review fictional couples, talking about how well their written, how good their chemistry is and the story of how they get together. My first video is –

Spider Man and MJ (Homecoming and Far From Home) - Couple Reviews by MVPKnight

My second video is –

Cortana and Master Chief – Couple Reviews by MVPKnight

And my third video is –

Spider-Man and MJ (2002) – Couple Reviews by MVPKnight

I would provide a link, but that's actually against the terms of service here.

My channel title is the same as my penname here, so you might be able to find me by typing it into the search engine.