Marinette was worried more than usual. Every time she heard a phone call she checked to see if it was Adrien, coming up with a plan. But no phone calls came and the day passed by. It was okay that he didn't come up with anything, but the lack of call had really been worrying her. That something bad happened to him, that he was found out and their entire mission had been compromised. She had to talk to him at school, but how would she? There would be no reason for Ladybug to show up at some random high school just to talk to Adrien. She couldn't stop herself from circling though.

The next morning Adrien's alarm clock rang and wasn't immediately turned off. It took him a second to try and turn it off, he still was upset about the night before. He sat up and took a deep breath, ready to act mildly happy for the rest of the day. As he walked into the building Marinette's eyes were glued on him, but in a different way than usual. He wasn't stupid enough not to notice her infatuation with him, but this day she looked at him different, and he couldn't understand why.

Marinette was staring at Adrien thinking about how she would approach asking him about his plans. He had also been acting a little strange lately, and she was worried about him in that respect. She felt so left out of the information, she really wanted to know what was going on. It was almost as if their roles switched, he knew more than her and couldn't tell her anything, just as she was with her Ladybug roles with Chat Noir. Nonetheless, she hated being in the dark. She knew it would be awkward at first, but she just had to go talk to him. Maybe he wouldn't be suspicious of her…

"Adrien! Wait up!" Marinette said, chasing after him.

"Marinette? What's up?" Adrien said, putting on a fake little grin.

"Uh… Is there anywhere we can be alone?" She said while looking around.

"How about under the stairs?" They walked over to the staircase and stood under it. The bell rang as they got close, so they had to be quick.
"What is it that you need to tell me, Marinette?"

"Well… I've been asked to ask you for information."

"From?"

"I know you're not going to believe me, but from Ladybug."

"Ladybug?" Adrien was confused. If it really was from Ladybug, wouldn't she have come to ask me in person? And why would she have contacted Marinette of all people? Then again, there really wasn't any harm in confiding in Marinette. Except that she could somehow have ties to my father, she is a fashion designer after all. She could've been one of the only classmates that he knew of and decided to contact her, and poor Marinette doesn't even know what game she's a pawn in. But that doesn't seem very likely either. Regardless, it might just be safer not to say anything. "What did she want you to ask?"

"She wanted me to ask you if you found anything out?"

"Um… I'm not sure if I want to say."

"Please Adrien, you can trust me."

"I-" He looked down. "I haven't come up with anything."

"What?! Then what were you doing all yesterday?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"What happened?" Marinette said, trying to get some sort of information out of him.

"I said I don't want to talk about it!" Adrien snapped. He paused and started again. "Look, you're not Ladybug and I don't think you're going to understand. I'm sorry Marinette, but I just can't tell you anything."

"Adrien, you can trust me!" She said, looking into his eyes.

"It's not that I don't trust you, it's that I don't want to talk about it."

"Well-"

"Fine!" Adrien snapped. "Last night I found out that my father cares more about my dead mother than me. I found out that if he had to, he'd probably sacrifice me in exchange to have her back, and he's mad at me for not feeling the same!" He walked closer to her, pain in his eyes, "Happy?"

"Adrien… I-" Marinette started.

"You two!" A hall monitor shouted, "Get to class!"

Adrien fell onto his bed right as he went inside his room. School was a blur. He felt bad about how he snapped at Marinette, but she just didn't understand what she was getting into. She wasn't Ladybug anyway, so what business did she have?

Hawkmoth entered his room, moths and butterflies enveloping him. He was preparing for his next akumatization… hopefully the final one. He looked out of the window and scanned Paris, he had to find the perfect target, someone who's been building something for a long time. A woman with several unruly children? Someone who's been bullied for years? None of these felt right. He knew who the perfect target would be, but he couldn't do that to his son. Especially if the miraculouses' wish came with a price. He stared out the open window. Finally he came across a public defender. Spending day in and day out defending likely innocent individuals just to be squandered by their rich opponents. This was a person who was angry at the world, and at specific people. A type of rage that isn't easily stopped.

Hawkmoth laughed and formed his akuma. He sent it off to fly towards his prey.

Adrien sat in his room aimlessly looking out the window. Suddenly, he perked up and noticed the black and purple butterfly swoop past his window. He jumped onto his feet and called for Plagg.

In the other room, Nathalie noticed movement on Adrien's room's security feed. She watched him begin to transform and she gasped. She hit the lockdown button and frantically sprinted to Hawkmoth's lair.

"Sir!" She yelled, barging into the room. "It's Adrien!"

"What?" Hawkmoth said, spinning his head around.

"Adrien is Chat Noir!"

Chat Noir's heart sank as he watched the metal block the windows. Oh no, he knows. His cat ears twitched, he heard quick footsteps. Chat frantically opened his phone and dialed Ladybug.

"What, Chat? I got the akuma before it hit the person! We-"

"Ladybug! H-" Chat Noir turned his head around fast, his father swung open the door and charged towards him. "He's got me! Hawkmoth!" Hawkmoth grabbed Chat Noir's tail and started dragging him away. Chat extended his claws and latched onto the floor, his stick in his mouth. "M'lady, please!" His claws etched scratch marks on the ground. Chat Noir's voice became quieter on the other end. "I don't know what he's going to do to me." He blinked away tears as he was yanked out of the room, and he whispered, "save me." In the same voice Ladybug had heard quite a long time before, a time she didn't want to remember.

Ladybug was speechless. This was it, this was really it, they were really going to fight Hawkmoth, and Chat Noir was already in his clutches. She had to find everybody to help defeat him. (A/N: I originally started writing quite a long time ago so I'm only going to include the other heroes I had seen around the time I started writing this thing. Just to keep up with the theme and everything.) She ran as fast as she could to Alya's house, and then to Nino's, giving them both their miraculouses and the same instructions, "Get to the Agreste house, fast!" She even gave Chloe back the bee miraculous. She gathered everybody that she could and approached the gates of the Agreste's house. It was on lockdown, so they had to find a way to get in, a way without Chat Noir's cataclysm…

Meanwhile as Ladybug worked her leadership magic, Hawkmoth approached his lair, Chat Noir's tail still held strongly in his grasp. His suit prevented most of the rugburn, but being dragged through his whole house still stung.

"I cannot believe my own son would betray me like this! At least when you didn't know my identity you weren't actively disobeying my motives, but NOW, as you've KNOWN for WEEKS?! You disgust me."

"YOU are the one that disgusts ME!" Chat said through gritted teeth, trying to turn his head to face his father. They had finally returned to Hawkmoth's lair, in which Hawkmoth threw his son across the room. He flipped over and landed on his feet and slid backwards, right into his mother's glass coffin. He recoiled in horror, turning to check for cracks, which there were none. But he squandered his time to make an attack on his father, who was already quickly approaching behind him. He'd never fought Chat Noir, but he knew his fighting style by heart. After studying how Chat and Ladybug fought all of his akumatized villains, Hawkmoth knew exactly how they'd act. He didn't even have to do any of his own dirty work to be able to beat these children. It almost felt too easy to him, if he had enjoyed the thrill of fighting more, he probably would've waited until the heroes were older and more experienced before ever attempting to attack. But the chase wasn't why he was so fixated on these heroes, it was just another perk of the job.

Hawkmoth grabbed Chat Noir's shoulder, turning to face him. He flashed him an evil grin and said,

"You're not fit to touch her. Not now. Not until you redeem yourself." He gripped harder on Chat Noir's shoulder strongly enough to pick him up and toss him over to the other side of the room. He didn't land on his feet that time. Instead he crashed onto his back and smacked his head on the concrete.

"Hm… I thought cats always landed on their feet." Hawkmoth said condescendingly as he slowly walked towards Chat Noir.

Chat's head spun, he looked up at his father- of which he saw double. He leapt back up to his feet and drew his stick. He turned it and expanded it, pushing his father to slide backwards, without losing much balance. He drew back the weapon, judging to see what Hawkmoth would do next. The man just stood there, anticipating the next attack from his son. They locked eyes in their battle stances. As they stared at each other, they noticed the pain in their opposite's eyes. Chat saw the grief and pain in the deepness of his father's eyes, but he saw his insanity as well, it looked as if he was enjoying this. Even in the slightest. All that Hawkmoth saw was fear, something that he created, something that he could use to his advantage. He was getting restless.

"Well, it's clear that your lady isn't coming to save you. Maybe my defenses are just that good, or maybe you're locked inside during your only chance to be valuable." Hawkmoth walked closer to his son, who still hadn't broken eye contact. "You know, to destroy." Hawkmoth turned around to face his dead wife all the way across the room. "I wonder what we'll do to you once she wakes up…"

Chat Noir was shaking, with rage and adrenaline. His head ached, but he ignored it. "I wonder what we'll do to you once Ladybug gets here!" He spat, a thin stream of blood trickled out of his nose.

"Please… The only thing Ladybug will be able to do when she gets here is to be a delivery service for my new miraculous."

"That's not true! I bet she's planning something important right now!" Chat Noir wanted to feel confident in his partner, but at this point he'd nearly lost hope.

And that she was. Ladybug and co. were determining the best way to sneak into the building.

"Considering that it's in lockdown, the doors and windows won't work. Maybe there's an exposed air vent that we could enter through…" Carapace spitballed.

"Would we even be able to fit inside?" Rena Rouge responded.

"I know what we have to do." Ladybug said, facing the mansion away from her team.

The team hid over the fence by the door, ready to sneak in. Rena Rouge quietly played her flute, creating an illusion in front of the gates. A wailing ambulance, speeding towards the mansion. It was as loud as she could make it, and the lights were extraordinarily bright. Nathalie ran out of the mansion in a panic, which left the team an opening to enter, they ran as fast as they could, and entered the main room.

"What is the meaning of all this?" Nathalie asked the ambulance. It must've been called when we activated the lockdown… a safety precaution that we must have overlooked. As she was met with no response, she approached closer and it vanished.

"NO!" It can't be! I just- I just let in the superheroes. Gabriel… please forgive me.

Even though the heroes were inside the mansion, they still couldn't access Hawkmoth's lair.

"I know Mr Agreste's study is to the left, but I don't think we'll be able to get in very easily." Carapace said, looking over to the boarded up room. Ladybug offered no response, she just stood there deep in thought.

"So Ladybug? What's our next move?" Queen Bee prodded.

"I can't think…"

"Can't think?! That's just ridiculous! This is your job, you should be able to come up with something!" Queen Bee snapped.

"Don't say something like that to Ladybug! I don't see you coming up with anything!" Rena Rouge said, pointing her finger to Queen Bee's chest.

"It's just… This is all my fault!" Ladybug said, pounding her fist against the steel coated door. "I should've been there for Chat! I should've protected him! I should've protected… Adrien! Where is he!?"

"Oh my god! We forgot about Adrien! Do you think the lockdown kept him safe?!"

The lockdown did, in fact, not keep Adrien safe… Quite the opposite actually, but you already know that.

"Let's hope he's safe for now. And if he's unsafe, it would still be more beneficial to stop Hawkmoth anyway."

"...Ok" Ladybug said, admitting that it was the best course of action, even if it wasn't what she wanted to do.

"So how do you expect us to get inside?!" Queen Bee said, redirecting the conversation.

"I-" Ladybug started, but she was pushed aside by Adrien's bodyguard. He said nothing, but pulled out a key and opened the door to Gabriel Agreste's study.

"Thank you!" The team said, and ran inside.

"Well… where the heck are they!?" Queen Bee said, fed up with all these obstacles.

"There must be something hidden somewhere…"

"Hey, the lady in the painting kind of looks like Adrien's mom!" Carapace said, causing Ladybug to walk over to the artwork. She analyzed it, noticing the strange paint pattern. She rested her fingers over the activation buttons and pushed down on them. She felt the floor move beneath her.

"Come over here, quick!" She shouted to her team, which answered her call by crowding on with her as they descended.

Our heroes found themselves in a large, dark room, teaming with butterflies.

"So this is where he does it." Ladybug remarked.

"They're not here either!?" Queen Bee complained, stamping her foot in aggravation.

"I think there's a door over here, opposite the closed up window." Rena Rouge called to the others. (A/N: I have no idea if or how the rooms are canonically connected so I'm sorry about this.)

The team ran over to the foxy hero, trying not to squash any butterflies on the way. They let Ladybug lead the way as she pushed open the door. They all ran into the large, plant filled room. The team was unseen at first, but they quickly noticed Chat Noir and Hawkmoth. They were battling each other, the heroes quickly saw who was losing. Chat Noir had just been flung onto the floor (again).

"Chat Noir!?" Ladybug called over. He turned his head to look at her as he lay on the ground.

"You came for me!" He said, eyes full of tears.

"Finally." Hawkmoth said, taking his time to walk over to the teens. They all stood with battle stances, ready to take him on. "I wasn't expecting all of you, what a nice surprise… More miraculouses for my collection."

"Shut your mouth! You'll never beat us!" Queen Bee said, charging towards him.

"Ch- Queen Bee, wait! We haven't come up with a plan yet!"

She didn't seem to hear that, and it was too late anyway. Hawkmoth gave her a swift wack with his staff, knocking her out cold. Hawkmoth cackled.

"Now that was too easy." Wasn't even much fun… He thought. But by the time that Bee enacted her reckless attack, Ladybug had taken Chat Noir over to the rest of the team.

"M'Lady… I'm sorry…"

"Sorry? For what?"

"For not being able to stop him."

"Chat Noir! Don't say that! There's no way that you could've been able to beat him on your own, I doubt I could do it by myself either!"

"Well… What are we going to do together?" Chat Noir asked.

"I think I need my Lucky Charm!" Ladybug shouted and performed her usual magical power. A fishing rod popped out of the air.

"What are you going to do with that? You gonna catch a snack for Chat Noir?" Rena Rouge said, smirking.

"I am pretty hungry…" Chat Noir said, playing along but not lying.

"Shut up! This is a serious situation guys! Hawkmoth is right THERE!" Ladybug said, gesturing towards the villain. Who was staring at the team menacingly, preparing to strike again. I almost feel bad, Hawkmoth thought. I mean, the entire team is made up of teenagers. You'd think that the miraculouses would be in the possession of a trusted adult… He started to run towards the heroes. The heroes were huddled up, planning their next move. Before he reached Ladybug or Chat Noir, he was blocked by Carapace's shield.

"I'm not letting you get to them, dude."

"Please, as if you could stop me!"

"Maybe I can't, but I can buy time…"

"What?!" Hawkmoth gasped, and turned around. Chat Noir had run across the room and was standing over Emilie. As Hawkmoth noticed him, he called out his cataclysm. Holding up his clawed hand, ready to strike.

"NO! YOU WOULDN'T!" Hawkmoth sprinted towards his wife and son, unaware of his surroundings. He held his staff up to strike, raising his arms as if he was holding a baseball bat. At the same time, Ladybug cast the lucky charm fishing rod, attaching it to the Butterfly Miraculous pulling it off the man. His superpowered suit evaporated off of him as Ladybug retrieved the stolen jewel. A little lilac kwami flew out of the brooch.

"Thank you, miss!" Nooroo said, finally free from Gabriel Agreste. Gabriel had fallen to his knees after Ladybug took his power.

"I-I can't believe this… And with the hands of my own son…" He said, angrily looking up at Chat Noir who, exhausted, had a look of terror. As his last act, Gabriel stood up, yelled "Now, as you see, I have no purpose." He pushed Chat Noir's hand onto his chest. Gabriel was petrified, and his body crumbled to ashes as if he was just any other object. Chat Noir watched with his eyes full of horror as he realized what his father had just done. He looked over at Ladybug (who was also in shock) as ashes fell through his fingers. Tears began to fill in his eyes, his head pounded. Chat Noir fell to the floor.

A/N: I am planning for one (maybe two) more chapter(s)! So this is not the end! I wonder if you could guess what show I started watching in between chapters 13 and 14 haha, I feel like the fight was vastly different because of it, and I apologize if it seems uncharacteristic. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Sorry everything has taken so long, I never expected to write such a long story and I really underestimated how difficult it would be to get consistently motivated.