MIRACULOUS

Chapter 7

Looking Glass

"I have known it was you for a while…" Cat then pointed at him. "Gabriel Agreste!"

"So, you figured it out…" Hawk Moth conceded but then dashed to Cat Noir and uppercut him in the jaw, causing him to fly out. "No matter," He muttered as he grabbed Meloe by the neck. Now conscious, Meloe tries to break free from Hawk Moth's grip, gasping for air. He proceeds in removing her earrings.

Cat Noir was stunned by the earlier attack and struggled to open his eyes and get on his feet. But now he could only stand in shock of the scene before him. Hawk Moth did not mess around. He had removed the earrings thus she was already turning back. Cat was paralyzed as he finally saw who was behind the mask he wanted to take off for so long…

"Marinette…" Cat couldn't believe it. "All this time…"

"You actually turned out to be a disappointment Dupain-Cheng," Hawk Moth seethed as he relished his victory as he held the Ladybug earring in his hand while he still grabbed Marinette by the neck. He then dropped her as she moaned painfully as she succumbed back to unconsciousness. "No matter, I only have the lesser threat to deal with," Hawk Moth grinned as he turned his attention back to Cat.

"Lesser?" Cat spouted. "I'll show you!" he threatened as he made a feral fighting stance. Haw Moth then whipped out a light dagger from his staff as he slowly closed in. "You're really gonna use dangerous weapons, huh?"

"Give me your miraculous and I might let you live," Hawk Moth proposed.

"Sorry, but you're about to see that this kitty's got claws," Cat countered.

"I thought you might say that, fine. Have at you!" Hawk Moth shouted as the two began their brawl.

Hawk Moth charged first and went directly for the hand. Most likely to amputate, he wasted no time on targeting his miraculous. Cat dodged skillfully though narrowly as Hawk Moth proved to be quite a skilled fighter. But he knew these moves all too well. Cat could not forget how he fought, even if he wanted to. This was very reminiscent to fencing, something Adrien had been doing his entire life. Of course, he knew Gabriel was trained in fencing himself but also added the necessary modifications to adapt to this shorter but deadly frame. With Cat unarmed, he could not return the stance, all he could do is remembering his time with the classes he took to predict Hawk Moth's movements and counter. And he did…

Cat predicted a hacking attack, he grabbed him by the wrist then the upper arm and flipped him to the ground. Hawk Moth grunted but recovered quickly, and stood right back up and was in the same stance as before.

"Getting a little tricky, huh?" Hawk Moth taunted. He throws up the blade and grabs with a reverse grip and quickly attacked with a different strategy. He charged in, only to be grabbed by the wrist again. But this time he anticipated his opponent's counter. He quickly switched his blade to his other hand and slashed at Cat. Cat managed to back away, narrowly dodging the blade but leaving a scar on his cheek, right below his eye. Cat rolled away, wiping his cheek with the back of his hand. Hawk Moth readied himself as the two stared at each other.

"Tell me," Cat started. "Why are you doing this?"

"Why?" Hawk Moth repeated, Cat looked down for a second, only to immediately focus back on his opponent.

"Didn't you have someone? Any family? What would they say if they saw you?" Cat asked, hoping to get some answers.

"I wish I could've told them… Tell him, what happened and what I'm trying to rectify, I'm sure he would've agreed." Hawk Moth stated. Cat's eyes widened with a gasp, wondering, how he would agree to what he's doing. "Tell me, was there someone you lost?" Cat thought for a moment before answering.

"Actually yes, I have…" he replied.

"Then you must understand why I would do this? Do you really comprehend the power that you two possess? What do you really think your cataclysm was all there was to it?"

"I'm sure there is, but what are you getting at?" Cat asked as they began to circle each other.

"The Guardian has been foolishly withholding information from you! Think about it, why does Ladybug have to be the only one to prevent the Akuma from multiplying? After all these millennia, has anyone ever thought if Ladybug would be unable to do it? Why upholding information from you or the other miraculous holders?" Hawk Moth growled as he grew angrier as he spoke. Cat was speechless, completely caught off guard by Hawk Moth's observation. Of course, he tried his damnedest to hide it as he tried to maintain his composure.

"I'm sure the guardian has his reasons," Cat suggested while wincing.

"Does he now?" Hawk Moth asked, tingling with the tip of his cane.

"I have faith that the guardian knows what he's doing," Cat was surer now.

"I used to believe that from the person I lost, now because of her, I lost the little I had left. But it's too late for that now… He is gone as well!" His eyes glared at Cat with a look of unhinged evil like an insane teenager locked up in a mental institution.

"And what if I told you if your son would've spat you in the face and leave?"

"WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT MY SON!?" Hawk Moth screamed, completely losing his composure.

"Apparently, more than you!" Cat Noir retorted.

"Give me your miraculous, final warning!" But Cat had just made a brawler fist pose.

"I can do this all night," Cat replied.

"As you wish," Hawk Moth seethed. He extended his blade with his other hand, making into a sword with purple flames coming out of it. "Then DIE!" he shouted as he charged at Cat.

He dodged the blade but Hawk Moth sliced the wall behind him, revealing a set of spiraling stairs going down.

"Wha…?" Cat muttered before being attacked again.

"You've seen too much. Now I really can't allow you two to live!" Hawk Moth Said as he readied his sword. He slashed his sword skillfully until he suddenly kicked Cat on both of his ribs. Cat grunted and lowered down on his knees. "This ends now!" Hawk Moth raised his sword and gets ready for the kill with a vertical slash.

"Cataclysm!" Cat shouted as he grabbed the sword at the right time, causing it to disintegrate.

Cat then tackled Hawk Moth, causing them to fall uncontrollably downstairs, landing the occasional punch here and there. The two then landed on what appeared to be an altar during a funeral. They got on their feet and they punched each other on the cheek. They stumbled but quickly recovered, then kicked each other on the ribs, also at the same time. Hawk Moth then threw a punch but Cat dodged it, and then threw one himself, landing the side of Hawk Moth's head. The gracefulness that they had displayed before was gone and quickly became a completely raw fist fight.

When his ring gave the final warning beep when he blocked a punch, he gave a barrage of punches square in the chest. Hawk Moth stumbled and collapsed on his knees. He panted as he tried to get up.

"No…I can't lose," he wheezed in such a vulnerable manner that made Cat winced, finding it difficult to see his father this weak. He began to crawl towards the incubator. "Emilie! Forgive me, my beloved! I failed you!"

Cat approached his fallen opponent and grabbed him by the shoulder and forced him to turn face up, he grabbed his brooch and tore it out of him.

"You don't deserve this…" he growled. With that, Hawk Moth became Gabriel Agreste. He moaned in anguish as he loses his alter ego. "Pound it…" Cat said solemnly, observing the butterfly miraculous in his hand. Then and there, Cat's ring gave out its final beep and Cat became Adrien. Gabriel couldn't believe it.

"Adrien… is… is it really you…?" Gabriel muttered. Without a word, Adrien grabbed Gabriel by his chest collar yet again, then he hit him square in the face with an uppercut, knocking him out.

3 months earlier… Adrien's room…

"So Adrien, you said you finally wanted to talk about your dad?" Rigby asked in one of his therapeutic sessions with Adrien.

"Actually, I haven't called him 'dad' since the… you know…" Adrien admitted.

"Right, is there some reason for that?" Rigby asked. Adrien stroked his face and rolled his eyes up.

"It's complicated," he answered. "But from the very beginning, I could tell how much father suffered. I know he tries his damnedest to hide it but he's probably the most transparent person in the world," Adrien said with a chuckle.

"Has he done anything for you since then? Spent time with you or did anything together?" Rigby continued. Adrien rolled to his side, not losing his sad smile.

"Actually, yeah… we did… He once came to my room and offered me to see my mother's movie… She starred in it… Because of that, I want to believe that there is hope for us, to be friends again."

"Your mother's an actress?" Rigby asked, raising an eyebrow.

"She was a model before transferring to acting, she had a few supporting roles before her break as a lead, but… That was before I was even born," Adrien said, losing his smile and though Rigby couldn't see it, he could tell Adrien now has a more serious expression.

"Why would she give up on acting after her first lead role?"

"I had asked that many time but they never want to talk about. I know my parents love me and I spent a lot of time together but… I knew my mother was hiding something, I overheard them fighting more than once and father was always the one trying to talk mom out of doing something. I could tell she was obsessed about something. But the thing is since they bought me things, they played with me, we went to do thing together as parents should, I didn't think about it too much," Adrien went on.

"Do you think it was all related to her disappearance?" Rigby asked, earning him a wide-eyed look from his patient. "Aaah! I'm sorry, uh, my bad, I shouldn't have asked," Rigby rambled, trying to avoid tension. Adrien simply looked up with a sigh.

"I don't know…. I just wish… I wish… things would go back the way they were… I miss mom and I miss dad the way he was…"

Back to the present… In the altar-like containment room…

"Rise and shine," Adrien growled. Gabriel felt the stingingly cold water being splashed on his face. He coughed as he opened his eyes. He looked up and realized that his son's return was not a dream. In spite of everything, he was overjoyed that his son's alive. When he tried to move, he realized that he was tied back to a chair.

"What the…? What is the meaning of this?" Gabriel asked.

"I think we both know the answer to that," Adrien replied, dropping the bucket then showed the butterfly brooch in his hand. He grabbed the handle of the chair, not letting his father out of his sight. "Talk!"

"Adrien…"

"You were Hawk Moth and as you just saw, I'm Cat Noir. Guess fate's got a sense of humor all right," Adrien replied with a scoff.

"You're Cat Noir…. How could you!" Gabriel yelled.

"I should ask you the same…" Adrien said, keeping his cool.

"You don't realize what you've done," Gabriel asked, reality was finally sinking in.

"Don't I? It pretty clear to me what I just did. I just stop a criminal who took advantage of other people's pain for their own personal gain," Adrien retorted.

"I did it for you and your mother!" Gabriel growled back

"So it's true. Mom's disappearance is connected to this, huh?"

"How could you do this to me? Prancing around like some clown in a catsuit? I thought you knew better than tha…!" his rant was interrupted by a painful whack on the head by his own son with the bucket.

"Do you really think you have the right to judge me?"

"I'm your…!"

"'I'm your father'" Adrien mocked. "It sickens me when you use that as your 'get out of jail free' card," he concluded. "Did you even bother getting to know me? You're so predictable; you're reacting exactly how I thought you would if you had found out! That's why you never succeeded."

"Coming from the human shield who always had to rely on Ladybug to save his skin! Remember Timetagger?" Gabriel shot back.

"I had a role to play, Father, be glad I still call you that," Adrien replied, he turned his back on Gabriel before continuing. "You've seen us in action, you know Ladybug is the only one who can purify the akumas that you unleashed. Now you tell me… Why?"

"Adrien… You're mother… When you were born…" Gabriel hesitated. He looked away and winced before turning back to him. "Your mother was trying to harness the power of the miraculous, she had spent months researching them. She became obsessed, she craved for the ultimate power that I was now trying to harness as Hawk Moth. She fell ill and well… Look behind you," Gabriel prompted. Adrien looked behind him and saw that in the middle of the weird altar and finally noticed what appeared to be a container. But it was covered by some sort of black shade. Not taking any chances, he grabbed Gabriel's chair and dragged him towards the container where he could keep an eye on him.

"The green button in the right…" Gabriel explained. Adrien pressed in and the shade within the contained was wearing off, revealing what was inside. Adrien's world completely flipped upside down and everything he thought he knew suddenly shattered right before his eyes. It was his mother Emile, who was missing from his life for over a year. She lied very still, it was clear that she was like this for quite some time. Adrien covered his mouth and tears cascaded down his cheek and broke down on his knees.

"Mommy…" Adrien was unable to hold in the lovesick little boy he had been for a long time. "Is… is she even alive?"

"Yes, she is but the dangers of the miraculous' power has taken her from us!" He answered.

"What happened?"

"Listen to me Adrien," Gabriel began, leaning towards Adrien. "She loved you with all her heart but… she couldn't find happiness. Behind her warmest smile lied a deep sadness that she could not share. Whenever she had the time, she spent hours in isolation in researching the miraculous in her attempt to gain its power. She became obsessed, every time she thought she was getting close, it always turned out to be another dead end. Every time she gets so furious… I never wanted you to get involved. When she finally got her hands on the peacock miraculous, she abused that power, tormenting Duusu relentlessly… Until she eventually became so weak she ended up damaging the miraculous which from then on the more she used and abuse the peacock miraculous the frailer she became. It was too late when I finally realized that the damaged miraculous was draining her energies and it eventually drained her defenses and collapsed. She's near death Adrien… I had frozen her body to preserve it and heal her of her illness before it could take her life!" Gabriel concluded.

"But why…? What was she after?" Adrien asked in desperation as his anger had been subsiding without his noticing. Gabriel hesitated while he gritted his teeth.

"GRRRR…You weren't supposed to know about this. You weren't supposed to be involved at all!" Gabriel shouted with clear frustration, changing the subject. "You weren't supposed to be Cat Noir! I thought we raised you better than that! Why? Why didn't you appreciate what I gave you…?"

"And stay in your prison?" Adrien asked, cutting him off. "Did you even bother checking up on how I felt? Or why I became Cat Noir? It was to get away from being locked up and have my life in surveillance 24/7!" He concluded, his rant was much less out of anger and more out of hurt. Unable to hold back tears, he let them flow down his cheeks, not bothering to wipe them off. "I… I've suspected you to be Hawk Moth for a while. But I didn't want to believe it. I was in denial. I wanted to believe that father I knew was still in you, the one who gave me piggy rides and bought me ice cream whenever we went to the park. That loving caring man you were when mom was around," he ranted while his voice cracked. "I was hoping that… You would be back to that person if mom ever came back…"

"That was my goal the whole time!"

"Let me guess… That's why you wanted our miraculous, huh?" Adrien said wiping his tears and regaining some of his previous anger.

And then… Silence. The two stared at each other in silence for a full ten minutes. Every moment felt so surreal. Gabriel looked down and when he faced back up. All tension he had earlier was gone. Adrien noticed that look of sincerity that he once possessed…

"Adrien please… give me the miraculous… It's the only way to bring her back, we can be a family again. We can end this once and for all and we'll be happy again," Gabriel prompted.

Adrien was hesitant to look at his comatose mother again. It took all of him to look again and a void inside him only grew as he saw her like this. He walked up to the container to get a closer look, every step he too felt like he was approaching the grim reaper's door to the afterlife. Even though it's not him who going through… Adrien placed his hand on the glass, stroking the container as if he was stroking her cheek.

"Mother…"

"Adrien…" Gabriel prompted. "You want her back just as much as I do… I know you do, so you know what must be done," he prompted again. Adrien's tears were falling again before wiping them. He shut his eyes, looked down, and made a fist.

"Father… for so long I had longed for the chance to get mom back…" Adrien said in the verge of breaking down to tears. "Now I understand…"

"I know, son…" Gabriel added. Adrien then turned to him and approached him. He put his hand on his cheek and stroked it for a bit finally breaking down crying.

"Father… *sniff* I'm sorry…*sniff* I can't…" Adrien sobbed.

"What…?

"I can't give you the miraculous. Father, haven't you seen what has happened. I had to use that power to prevent the Akuma's from spreading. Everything that did was within the possibilities within reason. Everything damaged was repaired, people sick and injured in hospitals suddenly recovered. But then the negative energy returned and caused all these disasters and look what happened. Thirty-three dead, including Marinette's parents. Can you imagine what would happen if we brought mom back? Using both our miraculous? I don't think she would agree to this," Adrien said. Gabriel's face fell.

"What are you saying?" Gabriel asked, not liking where this was going.

"I can't take that chance, father… Marinette's parents died because I failed… I can't risk it again…" Adrien explained. He then turned back at the incubator where his mother lied. "Not even for mom…" He then went to the computer and machinations that maintained the incubator. He then stroked his hands among the cords and abruptly started to pull off the cords and mess with the mechanisms.

"Adrien… WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" Gabriel yelled in a vulnerability that Adrien never expected from his father in a million years.

"Letting her rest…" Adrien choked among tears as he continued to shut down his mother's life support system.

"Adrien!"

"Please, father. Don't make this harder. We both know she would agree to this… This is right," Adrien countered carried on. The heart monitor was blaring out of control.

"Adrien, NO!" Gabriel yelled as his chair fell over as he struggled to break free. "STOP!" Gabriel yelled. Adrien was bawling as he kicked the monitor, thus eliminating al chance in stabilizing her again. He placed both hands at the glass as if he was grabbing his mother by the cheeks.

"Goodbye, mother…" Adrien bawled in the midst of sobbing as he put his forehead on the glass as he waited for his mother's body to succumb.

"STOP IT! STOP IT, ADRIEN! PLEASE, I BEG YOU!" Gabriel pleaded desperately as he tried to crawl his way towards them. But it was too late, the heart monitor went flatline… it was over.

Seconds to process and realize what just happened, Adrien sunk to his knees and screamed and bawled with his hands still on the glass.

After a good ten minutes of crying, Adrien turned to Gabriel, who was clearly devastated and heartbroken by the outcome.

"Father…" Adrien prompted, but Gabriel did not flinch. "Please, look at me…" Adrien prompted again. Gabriel finally did… "I understand if you hate me now. But know this, dad… I will always love you," he said, smiling through his tears.

Gabriel then noticed something was not right and saw something wrong with Emilie's body.

"Adrien…" Gabriel managed. Adrien turned and what happened next caught him off guard. The body was disintegrating into dust.

"Huh?" It was all Adrien could muster. The body crumbled until it was all dust. Black dust, not the kind of dust you would expect from human flesh. "What the?" he muttered as he punched the glass and grabbed some of the powder. "This is… burned wax?"

"What?" Gabriel asked. Adrien turned back to him and threw some in his face.

"What is this? A joke?" he shouted.

"I… I don't understand…"

"You actually resorted to that? To distract me? To set up a trap? To have Nathalie ambush me? Where is she, anyway?" Adrien grabbed him by his shirt and held him close to his own face. "Where is my mother?" Adrien interrogated. For once, Gabriel was at a loss for words.

"I… I don't… I…" Gabriel stammered. Then it finally hit Adrien how defeated his father was now. His face softened; he was not angry at him anymore. Now he's just sad about the situation.

"You really didn't know, did you?" Adrien asked. Gabriel shook his head, clearly confused.

"I don't understand…" Gabriel stammered.

"She was never here," Adrien growled, looking back at the broken container. "We were played, father. We were played, hard," Adrien replied, looking down with a sigh. "I'm sorry, father. I need time to wrap my head around this," he said, standing up.

"What?" Gabriel asked before he was abruptly knocked out cold yet again. Adrien closed his eyes and sighed again. He left his unconscious and tied up father behind and took the elevator back to Hawk Moth's observatory. Once he entered, he leaned back on the elevator wall and allowed the lift to take him. Plagg decided it was finally time to make his appearance.

"Adrien? You ok?" Plagg asked. Adrien hesitated for a moment before responding.

"I don't know what to make of this, Plagg," he said. "From what I can tell, father was somehow tricked into becoming Hawk Moth in the hopes of getting mom back." He stroked his forehead with a moan. "Talk about the tip of the iceberg!" Adrien shouted. "I would like to see if this only get more complicated."

The elevator door opened and what Adrien saw only confirmed his previous statement. What he saw left Adrien completely paralyzed and gapped. Right there was a feminine silhouette of a familiar figure, with the glass of the observatory window completely shattered behind her. Her arm was holding what appeared to be a flute and the other she was carrying a still unconscious Marinette. That figure was none other than…

"Volpina?"

"Hello, Adrien. Or should I say, Cat Noir!" Volpina shouted with a toothy grin that would haunt his memories. Despite her mask, Adrien could tell that she had bags under her eyes.

"What the… What are you doing? How did you get the miraculous?" Adrien asked, unable to think of anything else to say. "Unless…"

"You mean your precious miraculous box?" Volpina asked, still grinning. "That's right. I know everything, Adrien. Mari-goody-two-shoes here being Ladybug? You being Cat Noir? Your daddy being Hawk Moth? Yes, I knew everything for a while now. My hatred for Ladybug has led me to everything I know, where I am now. Or so I thought…"

"What do you mean?" Adrien asked, stepping forward.

"It was destiny, Adrien. When I thought I dug into what I wanted to know to get my revenge on Ladybug. But the truth was something bigger than I had ever imagined!" Volpina stated. She made a fist and raised it to her chest, savoring the moment.

"What are you saying? Lila, do you have the miraculouses? How did you steal them from the guardian?"

"The ones who stole that box, the ones who gave me this opportunity? I'm afraid I can't let you know anything. You'll be gone from this world by the end of tonight anyway. The miraculouses are at the top of the Eiffel Tower. But of course, I'll need my little hostage here, otherwise, you wouldn't be prompted to show, would you?" With that, Volpina played her flute. Creating a mist, which caused Adrien to lose sight of her.

"Wait, Lila!" Adrien shouted. The mist quickly cleared off and they were gone. Plagg emerged.

"You were saying about things getting more complicated?" he said. With a grunt, Adrien gave Plagg a piece of camembert and turned around. Before Plagg could take a bite, he noticed Adrien whipping his phone.

"What are you doing?"

"We're not going in yet, Plagg. I got an idea," Adrien replied as the phone rang.

"Hello?" A female voice answered.

"Is this Alya from the Lady blog?"

"Yeah?"

"This is Cat Noir."

A/N: I've recently caught up with the latest episode, "Timetagger." I have to say I was… DISAPPOINTED! I mean what was even the point of having characters coming from the future when thing don't appear to have changed much from what is going on in the present. I mean, future Alix keeps spouting that Ladybug would become this awesome leader and how great she's going to be, but here's the thing… she pretty much already is. Marinette barely made any mistakes throughout the show and when she does, they don't have any lasting consequences nor she's called out on them. Ironically, Marinette herself was once again responsible for the Akumatization that took place, which was far from the first time. Not to mention she was also targeted more than once to be akumatized. They gave me the impression that these instances were building up to something really bad to happen to Marinette. And that's one of the few gripes I have with this show; it's that while Marinette is likable enough, she lacks adversity.

One of the reasons Adrien is the more interesting of the duo is because he's had a more troubled path in life and constantly getting the short end of the stick and getting crapped on. And that makes me want to root for him because I want to see his moment to shine, I want to see him succeed. But the episode only doubles down on it and thing don't appear to have improved for him, which was beyond infuriating. Also, the dynamic between Ladybug and Cat Noir didn't change much either, according to future Alix. While it was pointed out several times throughout the episode that the future is not set in stone and that Alix's comments were only a cover story in order not to tell too much of their future, but that feels like a stretch right now.

Anyway, please review.