Hi y'all. Ended up reworking this one, too. This one has a lot more action, also a little more Hawk Moth focus. Enjoy!
Chapter 1
Vindicator
"So anyways, that's why I like Ladybug anymore," Chloé finished her tirade, as her class tried incredibly hard not to roll their eyes at the arduous rant. It was Friday, after classes for the day had ended, and Chloé had gathered everyone in the courtyard, snapping at anyone who tried to leave. From what the rest of the class could gather, someone had made a comment about how Ladybug seemed to dislike certain people, which Chloé overheard, thinking it was about her.
"Your point?" The newest student asked, his dark brown eyes narrowed and exasperation in his voice. Andrew was still considered the new kid, even after the first five or six weeks. As such, people were always happy to preach Paris's gratitude for Ladybug right in his face. While he found Chloé's point of view interesting, it was incredibly bratty and selfish, and he didn't like or tolerate that. He was, admittedly, a bit of a brat when he was a kid, but some lessons in manners from his parents and Clover - as well as a few threats to take his games away - mellowed him out over the years. Chloé certainly never had that. Inside, he was seething. Not only was she a brat, she was also constantly shooting him stinkeyes. Like it was his fault she lost her Miraculous.
"No one asked you, Hendrol," Chloé retorted. Andrew took this as an invitation to continue.
"You say she never gave you the Bee because she had a 'falling-out' with you. While I could certainly see that point," he paused, allowing for a few snickers, "I also talked to some people. They said things about how you transformed in front of everyone, hijacked a train, and conquered the city for Hawk Moth. Not to mention, you caused," Andrew held out a hand, as if counting his fingers, "nearly half this city's akumatizations. So maybe that's the reason why she hated you."
Marinette was standing nearby. She was one of the people Andrew had talked to, as well as the rest of the class, the principal, and had found traffic camera footage detailing this. She was wondering why Andrew was even challenging Chloé during one of her rants. If Marinette was in his place, she would have just kept her mouth shut.
Chloé looked like she tried to swallow a frog. "How would you know? Last I checked, you Americans had it out for the French. Maybe that's old jealousy mixing in," she said, trying to keep her composure.
In 1760, maybe. Andrew thought. "A certain blogger said something about how you were akumatized into a false Ladybug. Old jealousy maybe?" His voice still sounded calm, but there was an icy edge to it that seemed to cancel his accent.
Everyone looked surprised at the tone change. Marinette realized that Andrew had quite the temper; she could tell by the way he said it and the way he had tensed. She noticed his fists were clenched tightly, like he wanted to swing but couldn't.
"I also talked to a certain weather girl the other day. She told me that you had used a phrase referring to her, which fits quite well here," Andrew said as he walked over to Chloé, his boots accentuating his steps. "Once a villain, always a villain," he whispered, with all the venom in the world in his voice. "Now, if y'all would excuse me, I'm late for a movie viewing with my dad. Thanks a lot, Chloé." With that, he started his walk home, leaving the high school behind.
Chloé looked shellshocked. Everyone else walked off to where they had intended to go before being interrupted by the rant.
"Well, that wasn't pretty," Alya said as she slid next to Marientte.
"You think she'll be okay?" Marinette asked.
"Probably," a new voice entered the conversation.
"Hi, Adrien," the two girls said, Marinette meekly.
"That was the first time I've heard her get told off. She might be a little scared, but she'll be back to normal within a day," Adrien said, sounding unsure. "That was the first time I heard Andrew get mad, though. Let's hope he doesn't get akumatized. Well, I gotta run. Piano practice and all that. See you later," he said, then jogged off to his car.
"Bye, Adrien," Alya said. Marinette was still smiling like an idiot.
"Girl, wake up. I want to show you something," Alya said, snapping Marinette out of her trance.
"Yeah, what? Some new evidence about Ladybug?" Marinette asked.
"Well, it's about Ladybug, but not directly. Take a look at this," Alya took her phone out and scrolled to some pictures of a battle scene. In the background, in the sky, was a blob of gold. Another picture showed the same. One more was zoomed in, revealing that the blob looked humanoid, but it had more limbs than it should have. She counted seven limbs.
"My theory is that another Miraculous holder is around, and they're watching Ladybug and Cat Noir to see if they're worthy of their Miraculous," Alya explained. "Or, it's a new enemy scouting the city to take them. The blob appeared about six weeks ago, at the start of the school year. So maybe, it's a new citizen, or a student. If there's no gold in the air, then the person has either left, been akumatized or they're sick."
Marinette looked stunned. Every battle, some golden thing was watching, but for what purpose?
"Well, that's certainly interesting," Marinette said. "Let's think positive and hope it's an ally, instead of an enemy."
Andrew ducked into an alleyway not too far from the school. His story about being late for a movie was just that. A story. He pulled out his phone from his hoodie pocket and dialed his father's number. The message tone beeped.
"Hey, Dad. Just wanted to tell you I'm studying in the library for a project. I'll be home in a couple of hours. See you then." He turned his phone off, then sighed darkly, allowing his emotions to come free.
A dark room. Shutters irised open, filling the room with afternoon light.
"So, contempt and hatred have awakened again. I must thank Chloé Bourgeois sometime soon," Hawk Moth said to himself. A snow white butterfly flew into his palm, which he covered. Motes of darkness gathered, and a black and purple butterfly flew from his palm and out the window. "Evilize this young man!"
Andrew was glad he was in that alley. He didn't want anyone to see what would happen. The akuma sank into his phone, and the purple butterfly outline appeared.
"Greetings, Rich Breaker. I am Hawk-"
"That is not my name," Andrew growled.
Hawk Moth was perplexed, but he continued. "I will grant you the power to make everyone feel the same way you do about-"
"I don't need you for that," Andrew interrupted again, as his anger grew.
Again, Hawk Moth wondered how this one boy resisted him so well, when so many others fell, but he continued. "In return, bring me Ladybug and Cat Noir's-"
"No," Andrew snarled, and closed his eyes.
Hawk Moth felt a pain in his head, like he had been looking at screens for hours on end. He closed his eyes…
And opened them to see a new world. He was standing in water. Cold, black water churned around his ankles. He could only see water ahead of him, so he turned his head. A black sand beach was about two yards behind him. He looked up. The sky was covered with dark storm clouds. He turned back around, and Andrew stood on top of the water, looking at the man.
"What is the meaning of this!?" Hawk Moth roared.
Andrew waved the question aside. "You don't seem to understand the word no," he said.
"I am offering you power! Strength! Everything any man could want! Why did you deny it?" Hawk Moth asked. He noticed little waves rippling around his ankles.
Andrew simply shrugged. "I am no one's servant."
"But you could be causing your class to hate Chloé Bourgeois," Hawk Moth persisted. The waves grew up to his knees.
The boy seemed to not be affected by the waves. "I would still be doing your dirty work," Andrew replied, with an icy edge on his voice. An edge as cold and black as the water around his feet.
Hawk Moth was growing fearful. No one had resisted him like this before. He was fairly sure this was all in his head, but the water certainly felt real.
"But you would get-" he attempted to continue, but one look into Andrew's eyes scared him into stopping. The pupils were a burning reddish-orange. The waves grew to about Hawk Moth's waist, and started to push him over. It took everything he had to stay upright.
"I'm certain you're familiar with negative emotions, yes?" Andrew asked. Hawk Moth nodded slightly.
"And you know how they get stronger?" Again, Hawk Moth nodded.
"How do they get stronger?"
Hawk Moth swallowed; his throat was dry. He didn't respond as he realized what this boy was insinuating.
Andrew walked on the water, over to the man, his orange pupils at level with the villain's gray ones. "You know all too well." The boy gave him an evil smirk, then vanished. Hawk Moth looked up, and his jaw fell open.
A massive black tidal wave was rushing towards him. It was then Hawk Moth realized he could not move. His target was on top of the wave, his eyes still glowing that same orange.
"Goodbye, Hawk Moth. I hope when they find your body, you haven't rotted too much," Andrew said sinisterly, which entered into an evil laugh that rivaled Hawk Moth's. It took all of his energy, but Hawk Moth broke the telepathic link, just before the wave crashed against the beach.
Hawk Moth woke up in his lair, then fell to his knees and started panting. He never felt such wrath before. He made a mental note to never attempt to akumatize that boy again. He directed his akuma to another soul, one who was already hurt, and one he had already turned.
Chloé was sitting on a bench in the school when the akuma found her. As she was mentally replaying the vicious dressing-down she received, the akuma sank into her necklace, and the link formed.
"Vindicator, I am Hawk Moth," the villain said, slightly out of breath. "You want to prove you're not as bad as they say? I'm giving you the power to make others worship you and say you are pure. In return, bring me Ladybug and Cat Noir's Miraculous."
"Of course, Hawk Moth," Chloé sneered, as the purple ooze overtook her. When the smoke cleared, Chloé was yellow skinned, purple eyed, and was wearing a black bodysuit with the symbol for justice in yellow. Her hair was black, still in her signature ponytail. A silver tiara was perched on her hair. She held a scepter in her right hand, and her necklace was rose gold.
Vindicator fired two purple bolts from her scepter. They struck a pair of students, who immediately began droning, "Chloé is pure, Chloé is perfect."
Once she heard the droning, Marinette sighed and slipped into the locker room, quickly and quietly transforming into Ladybug. She didn't notice Adrien sneaking into an empty classroom, nor the flash of green light as he transformed into Cat Noir.
"Well, that went well," Andrew said to himself.
"You could have made sure he wasn't able to leave," a rough voice grumbled.
"I wasn't trying to kill him, I wanted to scare him," Andrew replied.
"I wasn't trying to kill him, I wanted to scare him," the voice repeated in a bad falsetto.
"Shut up, you-" Andrew's insult was cut off by screams from the school.
"Guess I didn't scare him enough," Andrew muttered.
Vindicator already had several people singing her praises by the time the heroes dropped in on her party.
"Again, Chloé? I thought you changed, just not this way" Cat Noir quipped.
"There is no Chloé, only Vindicator, and I will be vindicated!" Vindicator screamed as she shot off bolts of purple energy.
"Chloé, if you want to be vindicated, give up your akuma!" Ladybug shouted, trying to keep her eyes on the villain and the sky.
"Give me your Miraculous!" Vindicator kept firing wildly, trying to hit the heroes.
The heroes kept dodging and spinning as the bolts flew past. Ladybug's constant checking of the sky made dodging harder than it should have been.
"You know m'lady, if you want to find a cloud that looks like me, wait till after the fight," Cat Noir said.
"I guess you're right," Ladybug relented. She would make contact with the person another day.
Hawk Moth opened a telepathic link to his warrior. "Use your servants as a shield! Ladybug and Cat Noir wouldn't dare go through them!"
He felt his servant agree. This time, he thought, I will win! Realizing he was still a little weak in the knees from his encounter with his intended victim, he opened the intercom portion of his cane to ask Nathalie for a water bottle.
His train of thought was interrupted when he noticed a… thing flying towards his window. It was too large to be a drone, but too small to be a low flying jet. What is that, he asked himself when the object crashed through his window, sending glass shards everywhere. He had just enough time to engage the security system, but a circle of… energy? Metal? It moved so fast he couldn't tell, but it destroyed all the rockets and missiles he had replaced since the Robostus incident. Quickly activating the lair's fluorescent lights, which he hated to use because they weren't very flattering, as he discovered from Nathalie after losing Dark Owl, he could see his opponent.
A new figure stood in front of him, the dark of the surrounding area didn't do much to dull the shine of his vibrant golden, scaly leatherlike bodysuit. Slightly darker gold shoulder and chest armor bulked up his frame. His golden gloves and boots ended in short, sharp, silvery claws. A pair of golden batlike wings were folded along his back, and a golden dragon-like tail curled behind him, a small spiky ridge running down his back to the tip. A golden helmet with a black visor and silver mouthplate covered his head and face, with five spikes sticking off the back of his helmet. A golden ring rested on his right hand, stamped with the mark of a dragon's head divided into fifteen parts. A golden double ended sword was slung across his back, the two blades connected by a shiny black handle.
"Hawk Moth," the warrior said. His voice was certainly male, with a strange, yet vaguely familiar accent not native to France.
"Who are you?" Hawk Moth demanded. The cost to replace the window would be steep, if Ladybug's superpower didn't fix it.
"No one of consequence," the dragon-man stated. Hawk Moth did some mental calculations, assessing his opponent. This newcomer was either a shorter man or a taller boy, maybe a little more than a head taller than Adrien.
Hawk Moth drew his swordstick from his cane. "Whoever you are, you are clearly against me," he growled as he assumed the fencing position he'd been taught since he was a boy. "And I will not let another opponent manifest himself in my city."
The dragon-man drew his own sword in his left hand. About one third of each blade had a torch holder-like structure at the hilt end, with a small back blade. The holders had two half bands on one side, and one on the other. From the holders, shafts of red energy hissed and spat along the blades.
"I doubt it," the dragon-man said calmly. His sneer deepening, Hawk Moth attacked, but the warrior caught the swordstick blade and pushed it back. Whoever was behind the mask was a master swordsman, but Hawk Moth prided himself as one of the best fighters in Paris. The two blades met again.
The fight with Vindicator had since escalated, since she was using her servants as shields. Ladybug had left and returned with Ryuko as an extra set of hands in the fight.
"Cat Noir! Did you figure out where the akuma is?" Ladybug asked.
"Best guess is her necklace. She keeps one hand on it when we get close!" her partner replied. "Good to see you again, Ryuko!"
Ryuko nodded. "Circumstances required it."
"Guess we're not changing the heroes up after all?" Cat Noir asked.
"None except Chloé. I've learned my lesson from her…" Ladybug didn't finish her sentence since she had to dodge a bolt of energy. "Ryuko, get in her shield!"
"On it!" The draconic heroine replied. "Wind Dragon!" The wind not only got in Vindicator's human shield, it also blew away her scepter. Her servants were freed, and ran away screaming.
The fight between Hawk Moth and the dragon-man had been raging for a few minutes. Hawk Moth was still weak, but he managed to get a glancing hit on the dragon-man's sword, which nearly knocked it from his grip. And now the warrior was being pushed back, barely deflecting fast strikes from the swordstick. Hawk Moth knew the fight would be over soon. He took his blade and swept the dragon-man's feet out, but the unexpected happened.
The warrior flew behind Hawk Moth. Apparently his wings weren't for show. But the warrior seemed out of breath. Hawk Moth was about to finish him, but the warrior spoke.
"Before you take me out, I wish to tell you my final secret," the dragon-man said.
"What, then?" Hawk Moth growled out. The dragon-man seemed to smirk behind his mask.
"I am not left-handed."
At that moment, quick as lightning, his sword switched hands, smacked the swordstick away and, using the energy part of his top blade, cut Hawk Moth's sword in two, sending small metallic shards everywhere.
The dragon-man was definitely smiling behind his mask now. "I was toying with you the whole time. I can't believe you bought the 'I'm-out-of-breath-don't-kill-me' trick. And here I thought you were smart." He sheathed his blade across his back.
"What do you want? My Miraculous?" Hawk Moth raised his fists. If he was going to lose, he would knock out a few of the warrior's teeth.
"No, no, no," the dragon-man said. "What I want," he paused, then lunged, "is your POWERS!"
The warrior swept out Hawk Moth's feet, and the villain crashed to the ground. The dragon-man loosely grabbed his left fist with his right, and with a cry of "SIPHON!" he dragged his hands along the bottoms of his forearms, and slapped them onto Hawk Moth's shoulders.
Hawk Moth could only scream in total agony as the warrior began to drain part of his powers, while listing them off.
"Akumatization, telepathy, empathy, bodily control, ability to stay transformed after power usage, ability to use powers more than once a charge… Wait, what? I can absorb that? Cool!"
"Please… no more," Hawk Moth managed to choke through the pain, but to no avail, as the dragon-man began rifling through Hawk Moth's memories of the past years. Emilie using the Peacock Miraculous. Emilie falling ill. Having to tell Adrien about her disappearance. His first transformation. His first akumatization. Every villain. Every failure. The guilt. The shame. The loss, all brought to the front of his brain, and the dragon-man uttered two words.
"Gabriel Agreste." He stopped his mental onslaught and was about to leave when Mayura came into Hawk Moth's lair, fury in her eyes and determination in her posture.
"Step. Away. From. Him." Cold rage laced every word, as the dragon and butterfly men reacted to it from beeps on their Miraculouses.
"Good. Another test run," the dragon-man snarled. He threw his sword, and Mayura deflected it with her fan. The perfect diversion for the dragon-man to rush out, yell Siphon again, and absorb her powers, listing them off.
"Amokization, control of sentimonsters, destruction of sentimonsters, ability to stay transformed after power usage, ability to use powers more than once a charge… my, my, my! You certainly are helping me become stronger…" he paused, then began reading memories, emotions and her identity. "Miss Nathalie Sancouer, is it?" He released her, and Hawk Moth caught her before she could fall. The dragon-man retrieved his sword, and flew up to the broken window, which he had opened with the codes stolen from Hawk Moth's mind.
"Hawk Moth, Mayura, you two are the first to feel the wrath of Dragonus! Wielder of the Dark Miraculous of the Western Dragon, and the newest High Regent of Darkness!" Dragonus declared as he flew out the broken window, leaving his defeated opponents behind.
"Miraculous Ladybug!" The cry of victory led to all damages in Paris to be repaired, all citizens returned to safety, and the dark purple smoke of akumatization to fall away from Vindicator, returning her to Chloé.
"Pound it!" The three heroes do their celebratory fist bump as Chloé stomped over and was about to let Ladybug have it, but one glare from Ryuko led to her leaving.
"I assume I must give you my Miraculous back," Ryuko said.
"Sure, just give me a minute with Cat, okay?" Ladybug asked.
The dragon heroine nodded and hid in an alleyway.
"Something on your mind, m'lady? You seemed distracted," Cat Noir inquired.
"I had gotten some information from Alya and I was keeping watch. She said every battle there was a flying golden humanoid in the air watching us. I wanted to see where it was," Ladybug replied.
"Well, I didn't see anything. I will let you know if I do, Bugaboo," Cat Noir said as his Miraculous gave another beep. "Gotta run." He vaulted away.
Ladybug jogged over to where Kagami was just as the Japanese girl was taking off the choker and retrieved the Dragon Miraculous.
"Thanks for your help," Ladybug said.
"Not a problem. I will always be here if you need me."
"Thanks." Ladybug spun her yoyo and jumped off. "Bug out!"
Gabriel Agreste watched as the magic ladybugs repaired his lair's window. After checking himself for injuries - which were nothing major, just a few nicks that were healing quickly - he moved quickly to Nathalie, who was in another coughing fit from the ordeal. Duusu had quickly said that Nathalie was healed for the most part, she just needed rest and no overexertion for a few hours. Gabriel looked at the blue and purple kwamis in front of him.
"Do you two know anything about another Dragon Miraculous, or any Dark Miraculous, or High Regent of something or other at all?" Gabriel asked. Duusu muttered something about a Wyvern or Basilisk Miraculous in Tibet, but Nooroo stayed quiet for much longer before saying a soft no.
Gabriel could tell when his kwami was lying. "Nooroo, I can feel you are not telling the truth. Speak, or forever hold your tongue."
Nooroo sighed. "I swore a solemn oath to the High Guardian at the temple that I would never speak of the Dark Miraculous, as did the rest of the kwamis, in all of the boxes. Only a Guardian can release a kwami from the oath."
Gabriel hung his head in silence, shaking with silent fury and fear. Not only did he nearly die that day, his warrior failed, and he was attacked in his own lair. He felt a hand on his shoulder. Nathalie.
"He did not kill us. We should be grateful for that. He may have our powers, but we are still two. He is the only one. I can still feel my powers. He didn't take them totally."
"Like he made copies, and took them. He said he was toying with me. Like I was a training dummy, a plaything. Had he been serious from the start, I would have fallen," Gabriel said, sure Dragonus would return to his lair to finish the job.
Nathalie inclined her head. "Maybe we should stop the akumatizations for the weekend, yes?"
Gabriel was about to say no, but one pleading look from Nooroo sold him. "Yes, let's."
Dragonus flew into an alley. A backpack was waiting for him. He could still feel Hawk Moth's and Mayura's powers within his Dark Miraculous, and as he landed in a kneeling position, he said three words softly.
"Vorath, Dragon Down." Gold energy flowed down his body, erasing the costume and sword. The resulting boy stood up, picked up his backpack, opened his hoodie for his kwami to fly into, and walked out of the alley, towards his home.
Andrew Hendrol walked up to the gates, opened them, and walked directly to the front door. Clover let him in.
"Did you have a good study period?" she asked cheerfully.
Andrew flashed her a smile. "Yeah, I did. We actually managed to finish the project. Guaranteed A+."
Clover looked pleased. "Your dad called. He said that he was going to be back for dinner soon."
Andrew nodded. "Thanks. Now, if you will excuse me, I need to lie down a bit. You know, study headache." Clover understood. Andrew jogged up the stairs to his bedroom. He put his backpack by the desk and took off his hoodie. He sat at his desk chair, and swiveled around to his monitors.
"Ahem," a rough voice said. The speaker flew over to the desk. A golden kwami with deep orange eyes, a bulbous head with five small spikes, dragon wings and a crocodilian tail floated in front of Andrew. "Where is my jerky?"
Andrew sighed, opened his desk, and gave the kwami his piece of dried meat, while he took the other half. "I was about to offer you some, Vorath."
The kwami scoffed. "Before or after you opened a victory playlist?"
Andrew gave a small glare at his partner. "We have a lot going on now, Vorath. I didn't expect to be fighting Hawk Moth so soon."
"If you got your revenge complex under control, maybe," Vorath said, pointing his fingerless hand accusingly at the boy.
"That was entirely necessary. I needed that akuma so we could smell the trail to his lair. Besides, Chloé had it coming," Andrew said defensively. "Now that we possess his and his lady friend's powers, we can move to phase two of the plan."
"Why not just attack now? I can smell Tikki and Plagg's stench everywhere in Paris, along with faint traces of other kwamis," Vorath said impatiently.
"I promise you, you will have your revenge on Tikki. But we agreed that we would work towards my goal first. Besides, it was that time's Ladybug who defeated my ancestor and you. It would make more sense to defeat the hero instead of the power source for your revenge," Andrew persuaded.
"Fine," the kwami sighed. "But before you end up tearing them all down, I want to at least have a word with my wayward sister."
"Now, phase two. Let's proceed tomorrow. Using our new… assets," Andrew said, a dark chuckle escaping his lips. Vorath rolled his eyes. "You don't need to laugh about it, you big drama queen."
Initially, this chapter took way longer to write than it should have. So much revealed. I was on the edge of my seat writing this. Any way, expect the next chapter next week. Either way, tell me what you think, and stay safe, healthy, and I'll catch you all later!