Chapter 23: Pire Noel(Part 3)(Keith's POV)

Keith carries Adrien to his bed. The poor boy cried himself to sleep within a few minutes. Granted a lot had happened and it's been a long day. Looking at Adrien's alarm clock it is now 1:03am.

Walking back he sits on the couch, unsure of how to move forward.

Gabriel plans to kick him out, and he can't let that happen. Adrien obviously needs him, just like how he needed Shiro(he didn't realise it at first though) as his support and brother. They weren't bonded by blood, but bonded by a strong sense of trust in each other.

Suddenly a sleigh appears in the room. Tethered to it are four reindeer, however instead of plain brown they are now red and black with a green muzzle and they have gigantic black bat wings with dark red on the inside(because that's more cool then plain reindeer). A man with a pointy white beard has green skin. He wears a dark red Santa outfit on, although still having pure white highlights and his belt now has a christmas tree buckle.

The man laughs, "Behold I am Pire Noel! And I will give everyone a bad christmas by giving them terrible presents since no one except you, and Adrien have the spirit of christmas. Especially Gabriel Agreste."

Then he blips out of the room.

Roar floats up to him, "Busy night huh?"

"Yeah you said it. Roar, paint my stripes!"

After the transformation is complete, he runs out of the room and into the street. No snow is falling anymore and the night sky is crystal clear. Well at least the weather is perfect to chase Pire Noel.

So begins the chase.

Chloe's POV

Chloe rips open another present. It's a new hair dryer, yeaaaaaaaa. Honestly she had expected this. All her and her half-sisters' presents are all expensive items, but she honestly wishes she is Raven(Keith) right now.

They had promised each other a lunch date today to exchange gifts, which she can't wait for. She uses this thought to fool her parents into thinking she likes the expensive clothing and tech she's gotten. Because she is so done with material things, she has spent her whole life, up until the last few months, focused on those things.

"Chloe, honey, you like it right?" her father asks.

"Of course I…"

"Hello. I am Pire Noel and I have come to give you all a gift." a strange man with four flying reindeer with bat wings says. She bets all her presents that it's an akuma. Thank you, Hawkmoth. Which is a thought she never thought she would think, but it does provide an excellent distraction to leave getting material things(as her parents think that's what Christmas is all about, not about family or what religions celebrate Christmas for).

"Aieeeee!" Both she and Zoe scream, running. Chloe pretends to be scared so she can transform into Honeybee. Running to her room she shuts the door(her half-sister has her own room in the Hotel since Father apparently thought mother might come back with Zoe for some reason).

Pollen comes into view, "Did an akuma show up my Queen?"

"Yep, apparently Hawkmoth just can't resist to akumatize people on Christmas. He must really want our miraculous."

"Of course he is my Queen. The miraculous are powerful and having them in the wrong hands can prove disastrous. That's why the Order of the Guardians was created and why your friend Adrien is being trained. To make sure what happened to Noroo doesn't happen to the rest of us."

Chloe nods, "Alright then let's beat him. Pollen Buzz On!"

Now in her Honeybee costume, Chloe opens her window and swings her spinning top and swings forward to a nearby building's roof. Once on the roof, she turns around and sees Pire Noel leaving the hotel.

Time to follow him and beat him before he can cause anymore trouble.

Adrien's POV

"Kid! Kid! Wake up! An akuma just appeared and Keith…."

"Keith what?" Adrien mumbles, still asleep.

"Well…..he umm, went to notify Marmora yeah."

Opening his eyes, he got up groggily. "Keith knows Marm…"

"Uh huh."

Rubbing his eyes, to try and get the heaviness out of them. That's when his brain fully processes what Plagg said.

"An akuma appeared!? And Keith went to get Marm?!"

Plagg nods.

"Uhhh. I am too tired to deal with this. Physically and emotionally."

"I know, kid. But without you Marmora and the rest of the team can't beat the akuma."

"Fine…." Adrien drawls. Ughhh. He does want to fight an akuma on top of what he just went through. But he has to. He is the hero of Paris and the only one that can fix things in Ladybugs place.

"Plagg Claws Out."

Before he leaves he places some extra pillows underneath his blanket to make it look like he's sleeping if his father comes in again. Then he turns off all the lights, to actually make it seem that way. Extending his staff through the already opened window he closes it, so as to not have his father think he ran away, because this time he isn't.

He is protecting Paris. Despite being unwell and very sleepy. Because that is his duty, it is no longer fun and games, sadly. Because Hawkmoth is taking advantage of people's negative emotions and using them to get their miraculous. Which is just awful.

Stop it, just focus on the mission at hand, so that way I can sleep when all this is over and deal with it in the morning.

Meanwhile:

Natalie's POV

Natalie shakes. She had, a few moments ago recorded on the security footage what Gabriel had said to Adrien. And she was very right to be worried enough to record the conversation. This was a step above Gabriel's usual cruelty. After helping akumatized that poor man by giving him an amok was when the conversation happened.

Why was he so cruel to Adrien, and to think she loved him. This, this footage destroyed whatever love she had left for the man. But she can't quit now, she has a contract to fulfil. But she can make sure Adrien isn't in his care anymore.

She sends the footage to Child Services and to the Dupain-Chengs. Since she knows from Keith working there the couple have been great to him. So perhaps they would be great to Adrien as well. But she sends it on her personal account as an email, since Gabriel doesn't have access to it.

And it's the perfect time to do so, she gave the amok the instructions to listen to who he is supposed to serve so that only Gabriel could be the Moth Cave(which is what she calls it) so that she can do this(as after his conversation he retransformed into Hawkmoth to see how his akuma was progressing along with the amok he has control over).

Which sickens her.

But, again she is under contract to help him and she promised. And she has never been one to break her promises. And it would protect Keith and Adrien from getting caught up in Hawkmoth's schemes by him having one of them to wear the damaged peacock miraculous.

The file has been sent. Quickly she logs out of the screuity computer on her personal account and deletes it(because even though she has a password she figures Gabriel could somehow get access to it, although perhaps she's just being paranoid).

But hopefully Child Services responds quickly and Keith is a witness to what Gabriel has done so that should be enough.

Her head swamps and she gets a little dizzy leaning on the desk. Best go to bed before Gabriel suspects anything. Walking away, she's glad there are no security cameras right next to the security room and that the room is close to the room where she stays in the Mansion.

Chloe's POV

She swings her spinning top onto Santa's Sleigh, she quickly uses it to swing onto the sleight. As if she had waited only a few seconds the sleigh would've dragged her along, which is not something she wants to experience.

Pire Noel turns in surprise when she lands.

"Ah, Honeybee, so nice of you to join us."

"Us?"

Then something comes out of the big sack. A little elf appears. It has an elf costume, but the red and green are dark. It smiles wickedly, showing off its sharp white teeth. Its beady red eyes glow with delight.

"Yes he has been helping me choose which presents to give people for a horrible Christmas. But that doesn't matter, my loyal elf canyou keep her busy, as I must return to the Agreste Mansion to deal with someone who has a horrible Christmas Spirit."

"Not before I beat you."

Chloe turns to her left in shock. Standing beside her is Marmora. But he looks tense and his voice didn't sound too eager to deal with the akuma.

"Hah! I can tell that you've had a long night, Mamora. Your little bee has more of a chance to beat me, that is if she can."

She looks at Marmora, what does he mean by long night? Shouldn't Marm have a strong chance to beat him like her? What happened?

Worry incases her, maybe she shouldn't have let him go alone to the Agreste Mansion. But she hadn't thought anything would happen. After all, it's Christmas. But then again we are fighting an akuma along with his little helper.

"Go onto one of the reindeer, I'll take care of Pire Noel."

Chloe nods. But before she can that elf stops her, but because the elf is so short Chloe jumps over him and then jumps onto the back of one of the reindeer near the front of the sleigh.

The reindeer whinnys and tries to kick her off, but she only tightens her grip on the reindeers neck.

"Venom!" She yells stabbing the reindeer she's on in the neck.

It freezes causing the others to suddenly stop. Looking back she sees that Pire Noel has fallen off the sleigh because of the sudden stop. Marmora dives after him, which is surprising. Why save an akuma, they probably have superhuman abilities to withstand falling and other physical hurt.

As they only need to break the object that the person was akumatized with to save them.

Then she spots the elf on the reindeer beside her. It smiles at her again and then jumps onto her reindeer. Uh oh. Thinking fast she lets herself slide off the reindeer and then in midair she uses her spinning top to attach to one of the runners, saving herself from falling.

Looking down she sees Marmora and Pire Noel exchanging blows and a certain black hero and a certain fox heroine watching from the sidelines on the same roof.

Thank goodness, she almost thought Chat Noir and Rouge Renarde might not come, since most everyone in Paris is still celebrating Christmas.

Chloe then climbs up her spinning top and pulls herself back into the sleigh, and lays on its floor.

She hears beeping come from her hair clip and soon detransforms.

She sighs in relief, that was close. Too close.

Pollen floats above her. "Where are we, my Queen?"

"On a sleigh that is floating high above in the air."

"So I assume the akuma has not been dealt with."

"Yep. But I think I have a chilli pepper so that way we can get back to the fight. Just let me find it," Chloe says as she sits up. Going through her sweater pockets she finds a piece of chilli pepper.

"Here you go," She says, holding the piece to her kwami.

Pollen takes the piece and eats it in one bite. "Alright, I'm ready to go my Queen,"

Keith's POV

He narrowly dodges the next punch that comes from Pire Noel. Curse his tiredness. "Marm!" Chat cries in alarm.

Again he narrowly dodges a punch from Pire Noel. And another and another until a hit connects. It sends him flying and he roughly lands into a big chimney. He hears the cement chimney crack and he winces.

Chat rushes over to him, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." His suit had protected him. Keith only wishes that he could protect Adrien like this suit could protect him. How dare Gabriel make Adrien go back into complete isolation! It really grinds his gears at how cruel Gabriel is to Adrien.

It's like Adrien is a machine to Gabriel when he is not! He's a human being who needs a social life just like any other human being!

Keith glares at Pire Noel, and how dare Hawkmoth send an akuma on Christmas when there's enough going on as it is. He does not need to deal with an akuma on the same day that his younger brother is having a hard time.

"You sure?"

He nods, "Now what can we do about that akuma. I'm not sure if I have the strength to keep attacking him."

"Well…..''

"I can make an illusion," Rogue replies, interrupting whatever Chat was going to say. The black cat hero looks relieved.

"Alright, what about?"

"Marm going back to fight while the real Marm finds the akumatized object and breaks it. Should be simple enough."

Keith nods, "Sounds good."

It honestly reminds him of the plan he made when he wore the snake miraculous, except it wasn't an illusion being the decoy. And he honestly is proud of himself for not needing to even use the Snake's power to defeat the akuma. Stop getting distracted. Focus.

"Alright I'll use it now." Rouge says. She begins to play her flute. A thick mist envelops them. Through it he can vaguely see the illusion of him going up to fight Pire Noel. Time to go figure out what the most likely spot the akuma is in.

Adrien's POV

Adrien sits on the roof, sighing. He hasn't helped much, even though he's supposed to be Team Miraculous's leader. But with all that's happened within a few hours, he can't bring himself to criticise his minimal help.

He looks at Rouge, her face is concentrated. Even though she has white gloves that go above her elbows on, the tune stays consistent. Closing his eyes, he listens to the flute playing, trying to relax and forget about everything for a moment.

It still hurts, his father saying those things. He had worked so hard to be the perfect child, yet one slip up and all his dad would do would criticise and punish him. But this time it was so extreme and the anger in his father's voice. It was more angry than ever.

So what did he do wrong? Obviously he had run away, but all the other times. What had he done to deserve such animosity for not being this perfect golden child his father thought he should be?

But thinking about that obviously wasn't helping. The verdict by his father was already delivered and there is nothing he can do to change his father's mind.

Opening his eyes, he looks at the battlefield. The battle is done, Marmora has Pire Noel pinned, while Honeybee(he had no idea how she came back), has that little elf pinned. Whelp, time to go and do what he does best. Cataclysming akumas.

Standing up so fast makes him a little woozy, but it quickly disappears as he steps forward.

"Well that was easy," He comments.

"Says the person who didn't help." Honeybee teases.

Adrien looks at her, but can't bring it on himself to be annoyed at the comment. So instead he shrugs, "Well it looked easy."

"Fair enough," Marmora replies.

"So where's the akuma?"

"In his hat I believe and then it seems like that elf also has something but I don't know what." Marmora tells them.

Despite being tired, Adrien's brain remembers something Master Fu said. Something about the peacock having the ability to create things based on the emotions the holder has at the time a thing is created. Oh, what's the word? It's on the tip of his tongue.

Oh forget it. It's more important to restore everything back to normal(or as normal as it can get, since he still has to deal with father when he gets home and the punishment that will ensue.).

"Alright, tear the hat apart and I'll cataclysm the akuma."

Marmora does and easily rips the hat in half. But instead of just an akuma a dark blue feather appears as well. Might as well cataclysm them both Adrien thinks.

Grabbing the feather and the akuma with both his hands, he says, "Cataclysm!" Both the akuma and the feather turn to ash and everything is returned to its normal state. Though the sleigh doesn't fall down, instead the reindeers stay up keeping the sleigh in the air. Weird.

"Tell me I'm not the only one who sees the sleigh still in the air," Adrien comments, thinking it might be a hallucination from the long night he has had.

"I see it too." Rouge and Honeybee speak at the same time while Marmora just nods.

"Ah, that's because I am the one and only Santa Claus child," states Santa from behind the heroes.

"You mean….."

"Yes, Santa Claus is real. Though I can't often deliver presents to Parisians because they are up so late celebrating all the time so I like to drive around the streets before they finally go to sleep."

"Makes sense," says Marmora and everyone looks at him strangely.

"What? We wear magical jewels inhabited by kwamis that each represent a different theme/concept. So we really shouldn't find it surprising that a big icon of joy, giving, family bonds and hope exists."

Santa chuckles, "Nicely said Marmora. By the way, your other friends are doing just fine so don't worry about them."

"Thank you."

"Your welcome, spreading hope and joy is my job. And thank you all for saving me from the depths of despair. I had forgotten in my sorrow that some people do understand the true meaning of Christmas and aren't just focused on the material side of the holiday. I think you all will find extra special Christmas presents in the morning," Santa says, winking at the last bit.

Then he whistles and the reindeer come down onto the roof after the heroes make way for them. Santa gets onto the sleigh and makes the reins move like waves causing the reindeer to get off the roof.

Santa hollers, "Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!"

Adrien's heart twinges in pain seeing Santa go. Who would've thought that he actually came across Santa Claus, once in his civilian form and once in his superhero form.

That and his heart twinges with a different pang at the thought of having to go home. Especially to his father but….Where else can he go? Master Fu's place probably, if he's awake. He just can't bear the thought of going home. Not right now at least(he knows Keith is probably there, wondering where the heck he is, but right now he just wants to stay away from the Agreste Mansion).

Turning back to his teammates he sees them all ready to exclaim a victory pound it. Smiling, he obliges them and puts his fist against the others.

"Pound it!" They all say and Rouge adds, "Merry Christmas you guys,"

They say, "Merry Christmas!" back to her.

At least he still has Team Miraculous and his other friends to fall back on. But against his better judgement, after he says goodbye to all of them, he heads to Master Fu's place. Not wanting to be in the same house as his father.

When he gets there, he knocks on the door. To his surprise Master Fu opens it.

"Chat Noir? What are you doing here?"

"Can I sleep here tonight? I just don't want to go back home after…."

"Of course you can."

Adrien sighs in relief and walks into Master Fu's place.

Master Fu's POV

Adrien is very clearly distraught. Fu wonder's what brought him over, but he doesn't question Adrien. As he doesn't think Adrien wants to talk about why he doesn't want to go back home.

He gets the couch ready while Adrien sits, having already detransformed. He puts a pillow on and a blanket, hoping it'll do.

"There. It isn't too comfortable but…"

"It's perfect." Adrien interrupts.

Fu smiles, he's glad. "Oh and Plagg there's some Camembert in the fridge."

The black cat kwami immediately heads to the Fridge while Adrien settles under the covers on the couch. Again Fu can't help but wonder at what brought the boy here. Especially on Christmas morning(well more like early, early morning since it is 2:30am).

But again he doesn't ask.

Walking to his own room, Fu says, "Merry Christmas Adrien. Good night,"

"Merry Christmas and Good night to you Master Fu,"

He smiles and opens the door to his room. He leaves it open in case Adrien may need something during the night. He hopes everything is going fine in Adrien's life. After all, because of his request Fu has delayed in giving the Guardianship. And he wouldn't want the boy to be hurt, since he has enjoyed Adrien's company. Since hanging around kwamis all day does tend to lead to wanting more human interaction.

And ever since Germany he hasn't hung out with a single person unless it be for the various jobs he has had over the years he has been in hiding.

But he is worried, because Adrien came here to sleep. Which means something must be not right in his home life. But he doesn't bother asking because Adrien might not be ready to talk.

Oh by the gods he prays everything will turn out alright and that his chosen(second choice but whatever) will eventually have a life full of strife. As it seems(from what he can remember) most miraculous holders have had a lot of strife in their life, same with some Guardians because of the strict rules the Guardianship has(example: him).

"Master, are you worried for the future?" Wayzz, his kwami, asks.

"Yes. Ladybug has switched places with Marmora and where I do not know. And now Adrien seems to be struggling with his life. It seems that the future is going to be full of hardships and it seems there isn't an end in sight. Hawkmoth, despite being seemingly incompetent, grows each day and perhaps learns to."

"But there will be a happy ending, right?"

"As long as Adrien and Team Miraculous work towards it, yes. But I predict more challenges await before it comes."

"Sounds sad."

"It is. But life is full of hardships, but if people work to overcome those hardships then everything will work out fine and perhaps even better than anyone can imagine. I have no doubt that Team Miraculous will overcome and beat Hawkmoth."