Shatter Point

By: EDelta88

Rated M for language, violence, adult situations and concepts, and graphic imagery

[Insert disclaimer here]


Prologue

"We should use Catalyst again," Natalie insisted. "We very nearly had them on Hero's Day. With the right timing, we could—"

"No," Gabriel interrupted, shaking his head. "Your use of the Peacock has already compromised your health enough as it is. Until we can be sure that akumatization will not exacerbate your condition we will make do with what we have."

"But sir—"

"I will not risk your life!" Gabriel barked, slicing his hand through the air as if to personally destroy the very idea of it. "Not like this. I promised myself—I promised Emilie—when I started this, that I would do no permanent damage. She would not want to be brought back that way, not at the expense of a friend!"

"I… Yes, sir," Natalie replied, subdued.

Gabriel sighed, massaging his brow to stave off a headache. "Magic has limits, Natalie," he explained, staring blankly at the wall. "It has costs. Especially when used incorrectly. Your condition is proof enough that the Miraculous Cure doesn't fix everything. The book speaks in riddles and half-truths. So, whether it is a limitation of the wielder of the Miraculous itself, I cannot be sure. I can afford to be patient. What I cannot afford to compromise what few principles I have left."

"Sir?"

"I was never a good man to begin with," Gabriel told her. "I have always been too cold, too detached from the needs of others. Now that I have already started down the slippery slope…" his voice trailed off as he tracked one of his butterflies through the air. "Despite all evidence to the contrary, I am a man of passion. I pursue my interests… doggedly. My ambitions can blind me, and I fear what I might become if I allow my ends to completely justify my means."

"I understand, sir," she told him.

"Quantity has a quality all its own," Gabriel quoted staring thoughtfully out the window. "But it is not a quality that we can depend on. We had the element of surprise on Hero's Day. They were not prepared to face so many akuma and most of their team was inexperienced. Miss Bourgeois will expect us to use her parents again. The Fox and the Turtle have become more cautious, more self-aware. Ladybug and Chat Noir…" He scowled at the thought of the two foils to his plan, turning expectantly to Natalie.

"Their timers after using Lucky Charm and Cataclysm appear to have extended again," Natalie explained, showing him a chart. "Additionally, they have shown three alternate forms and additional analysis suggests that they are becoming less dependent on their powers to defeat the more average Akuma."

"They are growing into their abilities," Gabriel sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. He'd said it himself, hadn't he? They were still green. Unfortunately, that meant they had more potential than he did. As an adult he could channel more power, but those who started using magic young could adapt to the power and would inevitably be able to use it more completely.

"It would appear so, sir," Natalie agreed. "Time is… not on our side," she murmured, more to herself than her employer.

"No, no it is not," Gabriel agreed. Especially if Ladybug began tapping into additional miraculous to create more allies now that he had shown he could produce an army. He certainly would if given the option.

At this rate, he would fail.

"If only I had thought to use the Scarlet Moth more tactically," he lamented. He was honest enough to admit that he'd been so excited that Catalyst had actually worked that he had acted rashly. "I am out of my element," he sighed as he began to pace. He was a fashion designer, not a military strategist. In hindsight, it would have been more effective to create a small team of villains with synchronous powers before luring Ladybug and Chat Noir into some kind of trap. Unfortunately, his talents lay in creating ideas, themes, and designs. "I need something… different," he mused as he drifted toward his oversized drawing tablet.

He needed something… special.

"Sir?" Natalie asked, noticing the creative gleam in his eye as he created a fresh document.

"Natalie, be my sounding board?" he requested as he started jabbing at the screen. Pulling up a fresh canvas he began to rapidly sketch the indistinct outline of a person.

"Of course, sir."

"There is a flaw somewhere in my approach," Gabriel explained as he continued to stab and slash at the screen. "What have been our closest successes?"

Natalie nodded, tapping away at her tablet. "Excluding Hero's Day?"

"Yes," he replied only to pause. "Also exclude Robustus. The robot was too alien to predict. Too much potential to get out of control."

Natalie nodded and began scrolling through her notes. "Objectively, Dark Owl was your most successful attempt," she answered.

Gabriel paused. "Really?" he demanded incredulously. The fat principal? That couldn't be right, could it?

Natalie simply shrugged. "Without the presence of the fake miraculous, you would have won that day."

Gabriel frowned, that was true. He had been holding the fakes. "And yet there was nothing at all remarkable about Dark Owl," he observed, almost absently picking a color at random and splashing it over the figure he was drawing. "Just an average akuma with gadgets and a… mindset," he murmured as a his canvas was marred by a deep burgundy… and paused.

The red color made him think of Ladybug. His nemesis who thwarted him at every turn. Despite overwhelming odds and the sheer power he had brought to bear against her and her partner, she always managed to escape. She always found some clever way to outmaneuver his akuma.

Something clicked then. 'Could it really be that simple?' he wondered, dazedly.

Dark Owl had been clever.

"What characteristics stand out to you among the other akuma that came close?" Gabriel asked as he selected a charcoal black from his pallet, scribbling streaming lines around the figure in red.

"Most of the more successful akuma have relied on some form of deception or coercion," Natalie supplied as she cross-checked the times that a miraculous had been somehow compromised with the akuma's tactics.

"Yes," Gabriel agreed as he started experimenting with details. How might this one attack? A sword perhaps? No, no, swords were obvious. Exactly the opposite of what he wanted. "The more direct akuma always fail. The successful ones come at the problem… sideways." Everyone wanted a sword. This called for something different. His eyes drifted to the black lines. Threads? Streamers? He hadn't decided.

What if he didn't?

He had always pushed for certain elements when he created an akuma, but art was meant to be viewed through the lens of the ones consuming it. What if he left pieces of his design open to the same kind of interpretation? Perhaps with the right host, the magic would give him something… exceptional.

"Perhaps it is because they were more independent?" Natalie suggested.

Gabriel paused, absently reaching for a screen pen as he considered Natalie's suggestion. Dark Owl did not defeat Ladybug and Chat Noir, not really. He had planned around their weaknesses, baited them, outmaneuvered them, and finally trapped them. He had used tactics that Gabriel never would have thought of.

Could that be the solution to his problem?

But it had been more than that, hadn't it? Adrien's principal was an imbecile who couldn't think beyond his nose. Dark Owl had been more in every way. Why? What set him apart from the others? What had he wanted when he had been transformed?

Gabriel added flecks of gold to accent his otherwise drab design as he thought back. The old man had been upset, humiliated. He had wanted…

He had wanted to be more than he was.

He had wanted to do good. He had wanted to be stronger. He had wanted to be like the heroes he idolized. Heroes that overcame the odds. Heroes that were… adaptive. The kinds of heroes that would rise to the occasion and be better than themselves.

That was what Gabriel needed.

He needed someone clever. He needed a host that he could trust to think for themselves, someone adaptive. Then he would need to wait, bide his time for the right moment. He would need a certain state of mind. Not the pain or the heartache. Not the rage or petty wants. He needed that burning desire. He needed that moment where their negativity turned inward and their dissatisfaction gave way to that drive for someone to be more than they were, to rise above themselves. Then he needed to combine that with something… deeper. Not embarrassment. Not the retaliatory angst of perceived injustice but—

Gabriel froze, halfway through finishing the layering on a set of fanciful armor pieces as a moment of inspiration struck him like a thunderbolt.

Injustice…

Images of a young woman flickered in his memory. A glare as she stood up to her idols for the sake of her peers. A victorious smirk as she revealed a clever contingency to thwart a cheating rival.

Outrage at the presence of a malicious liar…

"Yes, that might do," Gabriel whispered, reaching out as if in a trance as the figure on his canvas morphed from a mannequin to a person in his mind's eye. He moved like a man possessed, his fingers flying as he added lines and texture, pouring his ideas onto the screen as fast as his fingers would allow. He added layers upon layers. He disposed of a hundred ideas. He slimmed down the model, adjusting the proportions to fit his new direction. He traced highlights and added accent pieces. He adjusted the hair and makeup and changed the pose a thousand times until finally…

"That doesn't look like a villain, sir," Natalie observed when he stepped away, finally finished.

"A villain is just a hero whose story has yet to be told, Natalie," Gabriel quoted as he considered the image on his screen, inspecting his work.

He had posed her with her hands behind her back as she leaned boldly, invitingly forward with her head canted ever so slightly in open curiosity to show off the pins and combs that pulled her hair into an elegant lattice behind her head. She wore a black bodysuit lined with lines of glowing arcane script that disappeared under an elegantly embroidered cheongsam the color of dried blood and decorated in delicate pieces of jewel-encrusted gold. She could easily be mistaken for a warrior princess.

No, his latest creation didn't look like a villain at all.

The only things that betrayed the image's sinister purpose were the black and red ribbons of color hovering ominously behind her and the alien tint of her unnaturally bright violet eyes.

Gabriel nodded, satisfied. "Natalie? Contact Miss Rossi…"

Marinette Dupain-Cheng stared back at him from his canvas.

"She has work to do."


Chapter 1: Hero's Fall

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng, you are expelled from this school!" Principal Damocles shouted, a severe glare on his face.

Marinette goggled at him. "But I didn't-"

"Marinette! Look out!" someone cried a moment too late.

Marinette gasped, very nearly overwhelmed by the rush of dark magic that inexorably pulled all the emotions she had been fighting to control bubbling to the surface as the corrupted butterfly sank into one of her earrings.

"Hello… Ladybug?"

Marinette froze, her eyes going wide as her pupils shrank to pinpricks as the riot of emotion was drowned under soul-deep panic.

Across the room, Adrien tensed. Something was wrong. Every akuma victim he'd seen transform turned angry, but Marinette… Marinette looked terrified.

"Well, this is a pleasant surprise," Hawkmoth chuckled darkly.

"No…" Marinette murmured, grasping desperately at her skull as she felt waves of negative energy sweeping through her, latching onto her anger, her despair… her terror. "No. Nononono!" she cried, shaking herself like she might be able to throw him off.

"Marinette, what are you-Marinette!" Miss Bustier cried as Marinette tripped over one of the locker room benches in her panic.

She hardly seemed to notice as she crashed into the lockers on the opposite side with enough force to dent the sheet metal.

"We meet at last my dear," Hawkmoth cooed, pouring power into every negative emotion he could find. "To think you were so close all this time…"

"Get out! Getoutgetoutgetout!" Marinette chanted, her nails digging into her scalp as she thrashed on the floor, her knee knocking into someone as she desperately fought against Hawkmoth's influence.

"Oh, do calm down. I promise we are going to be the best of friends," Hawkmoth chuckled.

Marinette reached up, grasping at her earrings.

"Now now. None of that," Hawkmoth chided, somehow directing his magic to anchor the jewels to her ears.

Marinette released an inarticulate wail of despair, arching off the floor as wisps of black energy began to waft off her skin like black fire. Then she arched again, desperately slamming her head into the cold tiles against her back. What she was hoping to accomplish, she didn't know. Maybe he would share her pain and break the connection. Or perhaps she was hoping to break the connection by knocking herself unconscious.

"Marinette?!"

"What the hell!?"

"Oh shit!"

"What? Damnit, girl! Stop that! You're going to hurt yourself!" Hawkmoth cried, his eyes going wide behind his mask. "Stop!" he demanded, realizing what she was trying to do as he screwed his eyes shut, pouring all his focus into forcing the transformation as he tried to crush her resistance, flooding her with negative energy.

Marinette screamed in defiance, rolling down the stairs as she desperately fought against the dark magic dug inside her, seeking and searching even as she refused to be cowed.

"No!" Adrien cried, diving forward as Marinette continued to thrash. "Alya! Alya, help me!" he screamed as Marinette slammed her head against the hard tile floor again and coiled to do it again.

Startled from a haze of disbelief, Alya rushed forward, throwing people out of her way as she went.

"Marinette! Stop!" Adrien pleaded, grabbing for her friend's arms as she arched again.

Marinette shrieked, twisting away from the contact and cracking her temple against a nearby bank of lockers as she kicked blindly.

Adrien grunted as she caught him in the shoulder and quickly wrapped his arms around her calves. He tugged at her, pulling her toward him along the floor as he tried to give Alya room to get around behind her, but she just kept kicking.

He needed to get a better hold on her.

Dropping her legs, Adrien dove on top of his friend, hooking his ankles under her thighs as he wrestled her down.

"Nononono!" She was trapped. She couldn't get away. The earrings! She needed to-

"Marinette? Marinette, stop!" Adrien cried, trying and failing to pin her arms as she clawed at the skin below her ears. He settled for working his arms behind her neck so that she couldn't crack her head against the tiles again. "Alya, her hands!"

"Getoutgetoutgetout!" Marinette screamed, bucking and writhing in his hold.

"What is he doing to her?" Alya hissed as she grabbed her friend's wrists and all but sat on her hands to keep her from causing more damage.

"Marinette! It's okay! Stop hurting yourself!" Adrien begged, cradling her in his palms as she continued to struggle. "Ladybug!" he cried, giving Alya a significant look.

Alya's eyes went wide and not a second later she was typing furiously on her phone, sending out an Akuma alert.

Ladybug would come.

Adrien turned back to Marinette, whispering in her ear. "Marinette, it's okay. Remember? Ladybug and Chat Noir always fix it! Just let it happen and she'll be here! She'll save you!"

Marinette screwed her eyes shut, struggling feebly in his arms. "But who saves Ladybug?" she choked brokenly.

Adrien blinked, confused. She had said it so quietly that Adrien wasn't even sure if he had heard her correctly. Then his eyes focused on the black studs that were positively glowing with power… the earrings that Marinette never took off for anything. 'No…' he thought, liquid dread skating up his spine as a terrifying realization crept into his mind. 'It can't be. Please no.' That couldn't be true. He didn't want it to be true.

Then Marinette's eyes cracked open, shining with unshed tears as she stared up at him, pleadingly."Wh-who s-saves Ladybug?" she repeated, her voice warbling brokenly as tears streamed unchecked down her cheeks.

"Oh, merde," Alya breathed, her eyes wild with terror as she came to the same realization as Adrien. This was bad. This was beyond bad. This was end of the world, global ret-con, world boss, series finale kinds of bad. "Oh, fils de pute!"

Adrien swallowed painfully. This moment was supposed to be one of the happiest of his life. He'd always wanted to know his lady's identity. Must have dreamed about it a thousand times… but not like this.

Never like this…

Adrien gave Marinette a watery smile and leaned in so that only she could hear. "That's my job, M'lady," he whispered against the shell of her ear, offering her the only comfort he had to give.

Marinette's eyes flew wide open as she stared up at him. "Ch-chaton?" she stammered, treacherous hope shining through the haze of black magic.

"Let go, Princess," he whispered to her, staring into her beautiful bluebell eyes as black and purple leaked in around the edges. "I'll catch you, purromise."

Something changed.

For a split second, Marinette went unnaturally still… all except her eyes. Her eyes became sharp and focused, rapidly flickering seemingly at random.

It was a look that Chat Noir knew all too well.

'Lucky Charm?' Adrien wondered, confused. She wasn't transformed, what could she possibly be—

Marinette screwed her eyes shut, teeth clenched in a vicious snarl as she strained against the magic, concentrating as fresh lines of blood spilled freely from her nose…

For an instant, Hawkmoth's mask vanished.

Then Marinette surged forward, breaking Alya's hold on her as she grabbed Adrien's face, her blood-stained fingers digging into his temples as she pulled him close. "I, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, herby relinquish the Miracle Box and name Chat Noir the new Guardian of the Miraculous!" she whispered so quickly that Adrien didn't realize what she was doing until she had already finished the spell.

"No!" Adrien cried as Marinette's body flashed white.

"Whoa!"

"What in the world!"

Then, as quickly as the light had come, it was gone.

Marinette sagged, collapsing against Alya like a puppet cut from her strings.

Adrien stared down at his friend as she lay beneath him angry, miserable, and bleeding as information, images, and ideas flashed in his mind's eye at a dizzying pace… and he understood. In an instant, Adrien had scrambled to his feet and was sprinting out of the room, the door swinging.

Hawkmoth's glowing mask flickered back into existence.

Drip…Drip…Drip…

"What have you done?" Hawkmoth whispered, thrown by the sudden lack of resistance.

Drip…Drip…Drip…

"Who the hell are you?" Marinette croaked weakly as blood and tears streamed unchecked down her face to pool on the floor.


A/N

For anyone wondering, I have set this nebulously between Feast and Miracle Queen. So Marinette has started training to be a Guardian but Fu isn't actually gone yet. So, before you bite my head off about her transferring guardianship at this point in the timeline, keep in mind that it was done on purpose... on both her part and mine.

If I've planned this correctly, it's not going to go the way anyone is expecting.

Enjoy.