-Adrien Agreste's POV-
"C'mon, where is it, where is it!?" I ask out loud, frantically rifling through my bag for the thousandth time before moving towards my desk.
"Adrien! Why are you so worried, just come over and smell some of my cheese. Cause I'm not letting ya eat it that's for sure." Plagg comments, slowly eating his way through the latest shipment of camembert.
I frown, glaring at Plagg. "Plagg, you don't understand, if my father finds out that I lost the book, Hawk Moth's going to be the least of my worries!"
"Have you considered giving your father delicious camembert instead?"
Sighing, I go back to searching my desk. Plagg doesn't say anything for about fifteen seconds before letting out another whine.
"Adrieeen!"
"What is it Plagg?" I turn around, exasperated.
"Why is it so cold in here! Can you increase the temperature or something?"
"Cold?" I stand up straight, now that I think about it, it is colder than usual. "I suppose that it's a little chilly."
"A little? It feels like I'm back at that stupid refrigerator!" Plagg complains, sliding another slice of cheese in his mouth and talking with his mouth full. "Did you turn up the air conditioning?"
I walk to where I installed the conditioner remote near the couch. "It doesn't look like it changed, maybe the thermostat is broken. I'll call Nathalie and-"
Someone suddenly knocks on my window as I drop the remote in surprise, Plagg immediately hiding behind me. Looking out, I see Faon Vert, smiling at me through the window.
"Hey Adrien!" He greets, waving enthusiastically. I walk up to the window, confused, unlocking it for the brunet to enter.
"Faon Vert? What are you doing here?" I ask, it's way past our patrol curfew, and Faon Vert rarely does social visits after midnight too.
The pleasant smile on the deer hero's face morphs into something more serious. "We need to get you out of here, an Akuma is attacking Paris."
" What? " I ask in shock. "But, Volpina just attacked!"
Faon shrugs. "Hawk Moth's been saving a special butterfly for this one, no one is safe." He says, reaching a hand out to me. "Come with me if you want to live."
I gulp, something about this doesn't feel right, I grab his hand anyways, just to make sure ( only to make sure, no other reason, shut up!). My palms fit perfectly against his, it doesn't look like he's an illusion at least.
"Where's the Akuma? What's it doing?" I ask, prodding for any sort of info. I have to sneak away to transform into Chat soon, but I can't make any excuses until I have the full story.
"Come outside, you'll see it."
"What?" I climb out the window, using Faon as a balance and looking around.
" Woah. "
Hanging above the city of Paris, blocking out the sky, a replica of the entire city, hanging upside down. The Eiffel Tower in the distance, and another Eiffel Tower from the fake city above meeting at the tips.
An Akuma… Is making this?
"I know, it's so cliché, right?" I jumped at Faon's dry comment. "But it's famous in a few cult classics, overall I'd say this Akuma's got taste.'' As I observe the corners of the fake city, I notice with growing horror that it seems to be growing, slowly encapsulating more and more of France.
"Wh-What's the Akuma planning to do?" I ask, turning to Faon.
He looks at me, eyes bright blue, but unfocused, as if he's looking right through me. He grips me tighter. "Make a better world." He whispers, before reaching down and picking me up bridal style.
"F-Faon!" I sputter, embarrassed. The boy in question just smirks.
"I can't have you slowing me down, love, let me just get you to safety, okay?"
"...Love?" I turn to him with wide eyes, Faon chuckles but doesn't say anything else, instead jumping away from my house.
Leaping from building to building, I can't help but marvel at the scenery above. Every building, every street, every sign or errant trees, all of them are perfectly replicated above us, the only difference is that it's upside down. There are even people there, going about their lives as if nothing weird is happening at all.
Speaking of people, the citizens of real Paris seem to marvel at the sight too, looking up at the fake city, phones out and capturing the entire thing.
"Faon, why are you saving me?" I ask, and for a second, Faon sends a glare my way.
"What do you mean why? Can't I worry about my fawns?" He asks, gripping me borderline possessively.
"Th-That's not what I meant!" I squeak, looking around. "I-I just mean, is that Akuma targeting me in some way?"
"Hmm." Faon thinks for a moment, stopping in place. "I guess you can say that."
"Don't mind him Adrien, my deer's just too protective over his little children." I hear another voice sound from beside us and- Wait a second.
That sounds like me.
"Took you a while Kitten." Faon smirks, looking at Chat Noir, who saunters up to the two of us.
What is this? Where is this Chat coming from?
"What can I say, some of your fawns are a handful." Fake Chat says, hands delicately placed on Faon's shoulders. "Say, after we're done putting the kids to bed. What say you and I get comfortable too, huh?"
Faon chuckles. "Not just yet Kitten, I still have some business to attend to."
Fake Chat pouts. "You're no fun, can I at least have a kiss, to last me through the wait?"
Faon smirks, leaning over me while pulling Chat closer and connecting their lips into a kiss while I stare in wide eyed shock.
This isn't Faon Vert! It's a copycat!
I start struggling in the deer boy's grasp, alerting the fake hero to me.
"Adrien, what's wrong?" He asks, mock concern.
"Y-You're not Faon Vert!" I shout, thrashing about but only resulting in Faon gripping me tighter. "Let me go! Help! "
"Someone tells me that blondie here is a little jealous~" Fake Chat coos.
"You think so?" Faon looks surprised at this, turning back to me with a gentle smile. "You don't have to be jealous, Kitten, I'm just showing you what you've always wanted."
I feel my heart stop in fear. "Wh-"
A loud yo-yo shoots out of nowhere and wraps around Fake Faon as he yelps, instinctually holding me tighter that I'm sure it's going to bruise now, he gets dragged all the way back to another building with me. The both of us crash on the roof but Faon tucks me into him, rolling and stopping me from taking any serious damage before standing up.
"Faon! Let him go!" I hear another voice shout, and I've never been so relieved.
"Ladybug!" I shout, genuinely scared. Faon stands up, fake Chat landing right next to him.
"Yes. Ladybug ." I hear him say, so much venom laced in his words that a chill runs down my spine by just hearing it.
I'm suddenly being moved as Faon places me into fake Chat Noir's hands.
"Take him to his house. I have a bug to squash." Faon orders, hands gripping around something as a bright light materializes something around it.
"A spear?" I ask, watching Faon twirl a bright red spear around in his hands, where's his blowgun?
He turns to me with a smile, eyes manic with bloodlust.
"A spear that never misses . You watch anime, right?" He corrects, turning to Ladybug.
"Faon! I don't want to fight you!" Ladybug shouts.
The deer hero laughs. "Funny, you did the exact opposite when you broke my damn ankle." He reels the spear back, the weapon glowing blood red. " Don't worry, I won't kill you, yet, but after I'm through, you're gonna wish I did." He declares, throwing the spear as it breaks the sound barrier, charging right at her.
Ladybug yelps, quickly diving away as the spear misses her by an inch, flying into the air before spinning around and locking onto her again.
"You're not gonna get away that easily! LADYBUG !" Faon shouts, both hands reaching down this time and grabbing two large great axes, leaping right at her right as the spear launches from behind.
"LADYBUG!" I scream, trying my best to break out of Fake Chat's grip.
The spotted superheroine gasps, spinning her yo-yo in the air, hovering in the air enough for Faon to miss her by an inch, swiping directly under her. With a shout, Ladybug then kicks Faon in the back, leaping off of it as the spear narrowly misses her again and hits the floor with a BANG. A large crater forming where it once stood before it dissolves into red dust.
"You dodged that better than the guy in the show did." Faon comments, turning around, floating in the middle of the air. "Guess it wasn't as strong as I imagined." He pouts before throwing his axes to the side and reaching down, pulling out a machine gun out of nowhere. "Let's see how you dodge this." He says, smirking as the weapon warms up. Ladybug could only gasp before quickly ducking under cover right as the gun fires, each bullet destroying the roads beneath us until it's engulfed by a large cloud of debris dust.
"LADYBUG!" I scream, but no one responds. Fake Chat carries me up higher.
"Alright, I'll be taking you away now." Chat says jovially before leaping off. I look at Evil Faon, flying around as flames start pouring down at the clouds now, seemingly from a flamethrower.
"Faon… Ladybug…" I choke out, devastated. How did it lead to this? What happened between the two for Faon to turn out like this? How is he suddenly so strong?
"He was always strong." I jumped at the voice, did I ask that out loud? Fake Chat gives me a smirk as he lands on the Eiffel Tower, slowly leading me up towards Fake Paris. "I guess you say he had a little bit of a power boost, everything you see right now is all thanks to his freaky amazing brain."
I gulp, digesting this information with growing dread. Power boost? Like, Akumatization? "You mean, all this… The weapons, the entire fake city, All of this is… From Faon's imagination?"
"Yep!" Fake Chat confirms joyfully.
"E-Even you?"
"Double yep! Now hold on, this can get a little disorientating." Chat warns before jumping, immediately the gravity shifts and we're flipped upside down, Chat landing on Fake Paris with a resounding thud. I nearly feel my dinner leave my stomach.
"It never gets easier." Fake Chat groans. "But at least you didn't puke on me. Nearly all of his fawns did."
I look up, wary and afraid. "A-All of his fawns are here too?"
"Yep! You're the last one!" The blond says, leaping from building to building again. I can't hear the sounds of Ladybug's and Faon's fight anymore. I pray to whoever is out there for Ladybug, please be alright...
"Alright, here we go." Chat says, lading at our location. Peeking away from him, I notice a familiar marble step.
"Is this... my house?" I ask, turning to the blond in question.
"Yep! Welcome to your perfect world." Chat explains, kicking open the door. "If you want, think of it as the Other World, Faon loves that movie. Don't worry, you won't have to sew buttons in your eyes."
I whimper. "Please, I just want to go home." I plead, I just want to go home and turn into Chat before Faon and Ladybug do something they both regret.
Chat smiles, truly looking sad, yet his eyes remain soulless. "We are home. Adrien, this is the life that we've dreamed for."
That creeping dread settles in my stomach again, as a door opens behind me.
"Adrien?"
I freeze in place, turning around to see-
"Father?"
My father, Gabriel Agreste, stands at the top of the steps, the once bleak portrait of him and I back home are now replaced with me and him, smiling brightly in a field of flowers, along with-
"Adrien! Welcome home!"
I gasp, watching the door open again, revealing-
"M-Mom…?" I choke out, watching her walk down the steps one by one.
"Adrien, thank goodness you're home, your father and I have been worried sick." Mom says, and while I was too busy just stunned over seeing her again, I didn't miss how her voice sounds… different.
"Indeed, the traffic must've been horrible, but I'm relieved that it's just that." My dad says, walking down the steps along with mom.
Before I could say anything, a pair of hands reached out to me, and I was pulled into a tight hug with my parents. The door behind me closes, Fake Chat Noir nowhere to be seen.
"Adrien, welcome home." They both say, and I can't hold it in anymore, I start crying.
"M-Mom, dad…" I whimper, hugging them back as hard as I can.
Even if they're an illusion, even if they're a figment of Faon's imagination, let me have this.
"Alright, enough with the waterworks." Mom jokes, patting my head and heading towards the kitchen. "I've prepared a special dinner for the two most handsome men in the world."
"My, and who pray tell, would be the most handsome?" My dad teases, sending me a wink.
"Spoilers~" Mom chirps before walking into the kitchen.
"Well, we shouldn't keep her waiting any longer, right? Son?" My dad says, looking at me.
Son.
"You've never called me your son in so long…" I say, voice cracking.
My dad frowns, and for a second, the entire house almost seems to flicker in anger before he's smiling again. "Well, I should call you that more often then." He promises. "Now come on, you must be hungry."
Walking into the kitchen, I notice that compared to the drab soulless hallways of my old home, this one looks much more lively. Flowers blooming at the corners of the room and the sunlight hitting the area just right. The temperature is warm and filled with love as my mom places a large pot of boeuf bourguignon in front of me, one of my favorite dishes…
My stomach growls, I didn't realize how hungry I was.
"Honestly Gabe, must you watch the TV during dinner?" Mom chastises as I busy myself with filling my plate, there's so much food here. If they so much as taste like how mom made them…
My dad fumbles with the remote, smiling at my mom. "Only because the trailer for your new movie is coming soon my dear, I want Adrien to watch it."
"Y-You're in a movie?" I ask in surprise, can Faon make an entire movie?
"Of course, I am an actress." Mom subtly brags, before sighing. "Alright, one trailer, then the TV turns off."
Dad sends me another wink before switching the channel.
I look at the screen in anticipation, the trailers starts with a dark black and white opening, rain drops from the sky as my mom looks to be under an umbrella-
The TV suddenly changes, and the news channel pops up.
"Breaking news!" The reporter shouts, startling us. "Paris' savior, Faon Vert has finally captured the Akuma!" The screen suddenly changes to the front of City Hall, a large pyre has been built by the court and-
"Ladybug!" I gasp. The superheroine is unconscious, hair frazzled but still breathing, tied to the large stake in the center of the pyre, a crowd slowly forming around it.
"The supervillain known as Ladybug will hereby be burned at the stake in front of City Hall by the morning. Paris continues to be the safest place on earth, under the leadership of our heroes Faon Vert and Chat Noir."
"No!" I shout, looking wildly for help, but my parents are calmly eating their dinner.
"Adrien, would you pass the salt?" My dad asks.
"Pass the- Father ! Ladybug's going to be burned!" I frantically point to the TV.
"Yes, thank heavens she will." My mom says, grabbing the salt. "Here you go sweetheart."
"Thank you."
"Are you two actually okay with this?" I ask, eyes wide in shock.
My parents share a look, before turning to me. "Ladybug's nothing but a tyrant, she orders people around and doesn't care about the consequences of her actions." My mom says bluntly. "Why shouldn't she burn?"
"Y-You're not my mother!" I shout, kicking off my seat.
The woman gasps. " Adrien!"
"No! M-Mom wouldn't ever say such a thing. A-And, and you don't even sound like her, at all!"
"Man, what a bummer ."
I scream, grabbing a nearby knife and pointing it at the source of the new voice. Faon sits in a nearby chair, plate filled with food as he stares at the us in disappointment.
"I worked so hard to make it perfect too, you barely talked about your mom and all I had was that desktop wallpaper of yours, so I had to make some educated guesses. It was fucking difficult to imagine someone decades years older than seventeen, lemme tell ya." He complains.
"Faon…" I say with growing horror, before noticing. "Faon, you're… you're Rogue. "
The deer villain smirks, twirling the knife around his fingers. Instead of the calming forest green accompanying splashes of white on his costume, it's instead blood red, splotches of darker red along his sides, making it look as if he just went through a violent bloodbath.
"Like it? I look much better in red, dontcha think?" He snickers, stabbing the knife into the table and leaning back on the chair. "Yo, Gabe, can you get me some Panta?"
"Of course Mr. Rogue." My dad says almost robotically, standing up and all but rushing to the kitchen.
Faon sighs, looking at the news broadcast. "Sorry, I didn't mean for ya to see that. But when your brain's busy simulating an entire city's worth of lives, some processes are placed on autopilot. As much as I hate the media, they still deserve a place in the perfect world."
I gulp, Faon Rogue is just whistling to himself now, staring blankly at the TV, my mom's all but frozen in place, like someone hit the pause button on a living picture.
"Faon…" I start, and the whistling stops, the entire room eerily quiet. I felt a chill run down my spine, whatever I say, I need to be careful how I say it.
"What, what did the news channel mean? When it said that… That they're going to burn Ladybug." I whisper, knowing that he can hear me.
Faon doesn't move for a second, almost like he's processing my question. "It means what it's supposed to mean." He answers simply. "I'm burning Ladybug alive in the morning."
A horrible chill settles in my bones, the food I had eaten suddenly vying for a space back up my throat. "You… You can't seriously mean that." I find myself saying. "You can't- You can't just kill Ladybug!"
"Why? Will you think less of me if I do?" He asks, turning to me with dead, soulless eyes. "Even if I tell you that Ladybug's powers have gone to her head, that she's why I became the way I am?" He sighs. "Would it be wrong? To want her to suffer as much as I am suffering right now...?" He asks quietly.
"O-Of course it's wrong!" I can't help but shout. "Whatever problems you two have, it doesn't justify hurting one another! You- you can't just kill someone who disagrees with you, it's not what heroes do!"
The room gets ten times as tense. Faon blinks at me, I gulp. Did I go too far? Would I even be able to run away at this point? When Faon's so, so powerful ?
Instead of doing anything to harm me, Faon smiles instead. "You're too kind Adrien." He says wistfully. "So cute, and a strong moral compass to boot. I see why so many people fall for you." His face quickly scrunches up at the thought before he disappears.
Wh-
"I see why I fell for you." He suddenly whispers from behind me, arms wrapping around my waist as I scream. He winces. "Geez, you have some pipes. My ears can't take such high pitches."
"L-Let go of me!" I shout, struggling in his grip. He chuckles before letting go, watching me flail away, trying to regain my balance. My father appears again, a can of Panta in his hand as Faon snatches it away from him and cracks it open.
" Anyways! You may be cute and all, but Ladybug's still going to die." He says, so casual that it almost gave me whiplash, finishing his drink in a single gulp, he crushes the can in his hands. "It's my one wish for myself, my perfect ending. Ladybug is going to pay for what she did to me."
"But-!"
"You may hate me Adrien." He smiles, a little sad. "You may never want to see me again, maybe you'll even fall out of love with me, but-" A butterfly mask appears on his face as he gasps, taking a step back, cradling his head in pain. "I-I must- must have her Miraculous ." He says, sounding like a completely different person for a second before the mask on his face shatters as he lets out a huff. " Seriously ? Can't believe he's still fighting for control." He grumbles to himself, making his way to the door. "Like I could give a damn about getting him his Miraculouses, we'll see how he likes it when the earrings turn into nothing but ash."
I can't let him go! He'll burn Ladybug!
"Faon, wait!" I shout, running up to him. "Wh-What about the real Paris? What are you going to do to it!?" I ask, frantic, anything to get him to stay here long enough for Ladybug to wake up and think of a plan to escape.
"This is the real Paris now." Faon Rogue smirks before humming in thought. "Although, I guess I could use a place to dump trash into. General waste and shitty humans, they can stay in Old Paris I guess. It'll be a bit cliché, and would normally lead to an uprising plot, but..." He shrugs. "I could always just destroy it when I'm bored, so I'm not that worried."
"D-Destroy Paris?" I repeat, in shock, can Faon really do that? "Wait, shitty humans? What do you mean?"
He scoffs. "C'mon Adrien, do you think everyone deserves a perfect life?" He looks at my dad who's frozen in place. "Do you think the people who hurt their kids, or those who take advantage of their high status to bully the weak, deserve to have a spot in my perfect world? When so far, they're the ones who were perfect in the old one?"
I feel chills run down my spine again. "Th-Then, my real father."
Faon stops, turning to me with a glare. "A word of advice, I wouldn't ever think of your real dad again. He doesn't deserve a son like you, and honestly, if I didn't love you so much, he would probably be dead." He says it again so casually that I barely processed what he said.
"Where is my dad?" I ask again, pretending to be brave.
Faon Rogue stares at me, can he hear how fast my heart's beating?
He sighs. "Let's just say I'm letting him cool off for a bit, he and I are kind of on thin ice right now." He smirks before reaching up and patting my head. "You're really cute, you know that? Thinking you can stall me like this."
Crap . "Y-You knew?"
He winks. "I have good insight." He says before standing up and walking to the front door. "I'll humor you, I won't immediately teleport to Ladybug, I'll leisurely make my way to City Hall instead." He yawns. "I have no problem beating up Ladybug again anyways, don't tell her, but I tied her up very loosely, I do like a game of cat and mouse after all."
I want to throw up. This is how Faon Vert feels? The kindest hero? The one who plays make-believe with children whenever he can, who carries treats on his person to feed the stray animals, but doesn't want to give children candy because of 'Stranger Danger'? This is what Faon Vert is like when he's Akumatized…?
"Wh-What happened to you Faon…?" I ask, voice broken.
He stops, hand gripping the door handle.
"I woke up." He answered, opening the door and walking past it. "Stay here, okay? No matter what happens, I'll keep you safe, I promise." He says again before closing the door behind him.
I let out a cry. Even when he's Akumatized, he still wants to keep me safe? He brought up all his fawns here to live their ideal life, but is somehow messed up enough to want to kill Ladybug, getting close to killing my father if it weren't for me.
"Son…" I hear my fake father say awkwardly, but it doesn't feel right anymore. Like removing the face of a robot and all I'm staring at is just a bunch of codes. My mom isn't real, the love they have for me right now isn't real.
But it was created by someone who cares for me, someone who still has good in him. Even if he wants to kill, even if he says he's the villain, there's still good in him.
I need to remind him of how good that part of him is, before he does something he'll regret for the rest of his life.
Standing up, I look at my fake parents in determination. "I need to leave."
They share a look before turning to me. "I'm afraid we can't let you son, it's way past your curfew."
"I don't care." I bite out, walking past them and trying to the front door, but it doesn't budge. Locked, of course.
"Adrien-"
" Shut up ." I hiss, glaring at fake mom who promptly does so, the hurt on her face is so real that it sends me reeling, but I can't, I'm on a mission right now.
I try to open the windows, but it doesn't move. The backdoor kitchen refuses to open either. A few minutes later I'm trying to smash the window open with an umbrella, but the stupid thing won't even scratch it.
I sigh in frustration, tossing the umbrella to the side and glaring at my fake parents, who look so worried for me that my heart breaks a little anyways.
They're not real, the real people you care about are in danger.
"I'm going to my room." I say, brushing past them and leaving without another word. Thankfully the door to my room opens perfectly, and I'm left alone with my thoughts yet again.
"Geez, this Faon Rogue guy is scary." I jump at the familiar voice. Plagg flies out of my pocket, looking serious for once. "How much hate can a human even have for one person?"
I sigh. "Faon Vert and Ladybug have been arguing for a while now, I wouldn't put it past Hawk Moth to be waiting for the perfect moment to strike." I theorize. It's true, with every argument, Faon gets more and more agitated, something really bad must've happened recently to have gotten such a bad reaction out of him.
"No time to think about that now." I nod to myself, okay, I can do this. I show the ring to Plagg. "Plagg, Claws Out!"
"Cataclysm!" I shout immediately after transforming, destroying my room's large window wall in one go and climbing out of it. Going all the way to the top of my house, I look for the quickest way to City Hall, even if it looks like a perfect replica of Paris, it doesn't hurt to be extra sure.
"Huh?" I ask out loud as my gaze lands on the area next to my house. In the original Paris, this should be where Julian's house is, but instead…
I land on the patches of foliage, looking around the land of the supposed Le Beau estate. Instead of the rather large mansion, there's absolutely nothing here but overgrown weeds and unkept wildlife.
Frowning, I can't help but feel incredibly confused, where's Julian?
"Me- ow , is that how I look from behind?"
Fighting instincts kicking in, I wildly spin my staff around, pointing it at imposter Chat, who smirks at me.
"Hey there handsome, you finally made it."
"We both know that you're the fake one." I fire back. "What are you doing here?"
Imposter Chat shrugs. "Well, Faon wanted to show up himself, but he made a promise to the other adorable blond in that house over there that he'll walk. City Hall's pretty far if you do that." He sighs, a creepy smile still plastered on his face.
I grip my staff tighter, he doesn't look like he wants to fight, but I'm sure that if I do anything to start one, he'll respond in kind.
"What happened to the boy that lived here?" I ask instead, eyeing for a way to escape.
Fake Chat's eyes widen by a fraction as he looks around. "Oh, you mean Julian?" He asks before shrugging. "In this world, he doesn't exist."
That caught me off guard, I feel myself falter. "Wh-What?"
Imposter smirks. "Julian's life right now doesn't matter, so he gave it up for his parents to live happily ever after. They should be in Fake Los Angeles right now working full time instead of wasting time flying back and forth. Did you know Paris was just supposed to be their summer home?"
"I don't want you telling me that!" I shout. "Why would Julian even do that? He just wanted him and his parents to get along!"
"Don't ask me, I'm just a figment of Faon's imagination. Why would I know what Julian wants?" Fake Chat snickers.
Screw this. I spin my staff around without warning, scoping a clump of dirt and sand before flinging it directly at the imposter, hitting him right in the eyes.
" Ow- Mother of-" He yelps, standing back and trying to clear it out.
Now's my chance!
I immediately bounce on my staff, the extension flinging me to a nearby rooftop.
My cat senses tingle and I immediately duck. Another staff slams into the tiles above me, looking down, I see Fake Chat glaring in my direction, eyes still closed.
"Where do you think you're going!?" He yells.
"Away from you!" I shout back, leaping from rooftop to rooftop. Dodging fake Chat's suspiciously accurate swings with his weapon.
How can he know where I am!? I think frantically, sliding down right as Fake Chat approaches.
"Cataclysm!" He shouts, missing me by inches and touching the building as it immediately crumbles to dust. "Aw shoot!" Fake Chat says immediately afterwards, grabbing a bunch of rubble. "How am I going to explain this to Faon after!?"
Taking advantage of his sudden panic, I slid into an alleyway and out of sight. Jumping up another building before hurriedly making my way towards City Hall.
There were no decorations, no evil banners or flowers or even an angry mob, only Ladybug hanging on the wooden pyre at the center, surrounded by onlookers. Despite being broadcasted as a public execution, there is nowhere near the level of hype than how the olden times used to organize. It just looks like something that just has to be done, a regular routine in our lives.
Not wanting to stall any longer, I immediately duck behind her. The crowd, despite being able to see me, does not react at all. It's almost like the place is a level that hasn't finished loading yet, Faon Rogue's focus is probably on other matters right now.
"Ladybug!" I whisper-shout, slapping her face lightly.
Thankfully ( Thankfully!) Ladybug's eyes open slightly, as she lets out a groan. "Ch...Chat…? Is that… the real you…?" She mutters.
I almost let out a cry of relief. " Yes , yes it's the real me." I reach towards her bindings and slash it loose with my claws, catching Ladybug as she falls forward. "Woah there! Can you walk?"
"Y-Yeah, I just need some time…" Ladybug takes a deep breath before moving away from my arms and steadying herself.
I frown. This is bad, Ladybug's probably too hurt to fight, and I don't have much time left before I detransform as well.
"We need to get out of here." I conclude, grabbing one of her arms and wrapping it over my shoulders. "Faon's too powerful, we can't take him on right now."
"Hey, what're you doing!?" The two of us jump, looking at one of the civilians. The man glares at me. "Why are you saving Ladybug, she needs to burn for what she did!"
"Yeah! Down with the witch!" Another civilian shouted.
I gulp, looking at the suddenly agitated crowd with slow growing dread. The area finished loading, and that could only mean one thing.
"Looks like I missed quite the reunion."
A familiar voice sends chills down Ladybug and mine's spines. The crowd in front of us erupts into cheers as Faon Rogue walks steadily forward with fake Chat Noir following timidly beside him..
"I was wondering when you'll show up, Chat Noir." Faon smirks, glaring at fake Chat. "Guess I don't need you anymore, especially since you let Chat get away the first time." Faon smirks at me, and Fake Chat simply dissolves into red dust. He sighs in relief. "Geez, that was a load off, full fledged personalities can be hard to imagine, I feel like I've just lost my training weights!"
"Chat, let go of me." I jump, looking at Ladybug in shock.
"What? You can't be serious? We can't fight him right now!" I whisper-shout, even though I'm sure that Faon can hear us.
Ladybug shudders in my grip. "W-We can't run either, this is Faon Rogue's domain, he… he can appear anywhere he wants."
"She's right." Faon Rogue says while checking his nails. "Honestly, I can just dump a bunch of sharp and pointy things right at cha right now. It'll be so anime, but I don't really like that character, so I won't." He says with a shrug.
"Ladybug…" I try to argue, but the bluenette ignores me, having realized that whatever we plan would probably be overheard by Faon anyways.
"Lucky Charm!" She shouts, tossing her yo-yo in the air. A bell falls into her hands, it kind of looks like the one on my costume.
"A bell?" She asks, almost hysterical. I can feel myself growing worried too, what can she even do with this?
"Good move." Faon comments dryly before smirking at us. "My turn now." He pulls out two shotguns out of nowhere and fires.
"Ladybug!" I shout, diving in front of her and spinning my staff around, deflecting the bright red bullets.
Faon frowns, tossing the guns to the side before pulling out a katana, diving straight for Ladybug.
Not if I can help it! I grip my staff tighter and jump forward, clashing our two weapons together with a grunt. Faon glares at me as sparks fly from the friction.
"I don't want to fight you Chat, I only want Ladybug." He snarls.
"Not while… You're being… Akumatized!" I shout back, pushing forward. Faon gasps, taking a step back as my cat senses tingle again. Jumping over Faon, I see a bunch of baseball bats strike the ground where I was standing. Faon Rogue takes advantage of this and kicks me away as I let out a grunt, crashing into a nearby building. Or, well sort of, right before I crash, the walls of the structure turn to jello as I bounce harmlessly off of it before landing on the floor.
"Chat Noir!" I look up, watching Ladybug quickly deflecting Faon's relentless swings.
"You need to retreat! You're the only one who can save him!" Ladybug screams as she ducks. The katana slashes above her head, the concrete she's hiding against splits perfectly into two.
Feeling the pressure well up inside me, I take a step forward. "But Ladybug! It's too dangerous to fight alone!"
"Take this!" Faon shouts, slashing again as Ladybug somersaults backwards and landing in a crouch, panting heavily.
"I'll be fine! Your time is running out! Just-" She deflects the katana and disarms Faon, kicking the sword away and tripping Faon over. The deer villain lets out a gasp as Ladybug uses the opportunity to push in, but Faon feints the fall, landing on one hand and balancing on it, he pulls out another shotgun with the other hand and fires.
Ladybug deflects the shot just before it could hit anything vital, but the spread seems to have cut her up a little. "Just GO!" She screams.
Trying to stop myself from bursting into tears, I quickly find the nearest way to escape, trusting Ladybug to at least stay safe until then.
Landing in a somewhat secluded alley, I peek outside just in case. Everything seems to be frozen in here too, Faon must be too focused on Ladybug right now to pay attention to this area, perfect.
"Claws Out." I whisper as I detransform, Plagg flying out of my ring.
"Adrien…?" He starts, sounding worried.
I shove a box of camembert towards him. "Here, hurry please? I don't know how much longer Ladybug can last!"
Plagg for once doesn't complain, going to eat the cheese faster than normal as I feel like pulling my hair out in frustration.
"Faon Rogue can turn whatever he imagines into reality." I mumble to myself. "This entire city is from his mind ! He can make as many weapons as he wants! And they'll have the same properties as whatever show he's basing them on!"
"It's too bad he's not as arrogant as that anime guy." Plagg finallys says as I let out a groan.
"Plagg this is serious! Ladybug and Faon are… they're hurting, and I can't do anything about it! Again! " I shout, voice cracking. Plagg looks sympathetic at least.
" You can't… But maybe we can." The Kwami says, and I look at him in bewilderment.
"What do you mean?"
Plagg looks hesitant, but continues. "All we need is to remove Faon from his perfect world, right?"
I tilt my head. "I guess? It'll balance out the fight at least."
"And we all know that Faon probably won't leave the world unless he needs to pick up a fawn or two."
"Yeah, but he already did all that."
Plagg swallows the last of his cheese. "We'll just have to destroy Paris then."
A pause.
" What? " I ask incredulously, did I hear him right? "Did you just say we destroy… all of Paris?"
Plagg glares at me. "Not all of it, just the fake one. If Sugarcube finds out that I destroyed another civilization she wouldn't let me hear the end of it."
Sugarcube? I shake my head, not the right question at the moment. "How do we do that?"
Plagg looks shiftily to the side. "I… can lend you more of my power, I guess."
I look at him in confusion, he sighs.
"Kwamis can't just give all of their powers to their Holders okay? Sometimes we hold back a little until they're more trustworthy, or in your case, a little older." Plagg huffs. "Destroying everything you touch is a lot of responsibility for kittens like you right now, but I can make an exception."
I stare at him, processing all the information. "So you already think I'm trustworthy?" I ask instead.
"D-Don't let it get to your head! I trust anyone who feeds me delicious camembert!" Plagg retorts as I snort.
Now presented with that new piece of information, I run it through my head again. Judging by how Fake Paris is still growing, we can assume that Faon can't just make a new Paris out of nowhere. He can probably still make whatever weapon he wants in Real Paris, but he seems to be somewhat considerate to the lives of people that aren't Ladybug. Granted, this so far only applies to his fawns, but it's a good lead. If we manage to get him to real ground, he might be more sparing with his powers to prevent accidentally injuring real life civilians that have the potential to move into his perfect world.
"Okay! Let's do it, let's destroy fake Paris." I say with a determined nod.
"Wait! One more thing!" Plagg adds. "If I remove the limiter, you can stay transformed as Chat even after you use your Cataclysm for a little longer, but afterwards I need a little break before you can turn into Chat again."
I frown. "How long, exactly?"
"About a week or so." He answers, surprising me. "So don't mess it up okay? Or Ladybug might have to fight the Akuma alone afterwards!"
I take a deep breath. "It's okay, I got this." I repeat to myself, twisting my ring around my finger before punching my fist out at the Kwami. "Plagg, Claws Out!"
Plagg flies into my ring as I raise my hand into the sky, the Miraculous turning black with a paw print before I move my hand across my eyes, creating a black mask, turning my eyes bright green. Messing my hands through my hair as two rubber cat ears form on top of it, I stretch my hands out sideward as the suit forms around me. Standing up, a bright leather belt shoots out from my back as I claw forward, striking a pose.
Checking my locator, I see Ladybug moving (thankfully) backwards towards the Eiffel Tower, Faon Rogue hot in her trails.
Quickly free running towards the location, I run by a music stop before freezing in place, looking at the instruments through the window.
Hmmm…
It might not work... but there's always a chance that Faon's not going to notice until it's too late...
I run into the store with nervous anticipation.
-A While Later-
I see Ladybug slowly climbing up the Fake Eiffel Tower, the people of real Paris looking down at us in shock and awe. As of the moment, it seems like this is the only bridge that connects both cities, once you get past the tip of either towers, gravity shifts.
Faon Rogue glares at Ladybug, looking just the same as before. "You're pretty hard to kill, you sure you shouldn't be called Cockroach instead?" He snarls.
Ladybug, panting and exhausted, still manages the energy to smirk. "Should've finished me off when you had the chance, deer."
She screams suddenly as dozens of different weapons fly out of nowhere, slicing through Ladybug's original spot as she quickly climbs all around the Tower to avoid their onslaught, the damages to the tower quickly fixed in a red haze. Right as she takes a step to the top, Faon teleports right in front of her, grabbing her by the neck and lifting her off the floor as she lets out a choked gasp.
"Only Chat gets to call me that, not you. It's like you're trying to piss me off." Faon says darkly as Ladybug continues to struggle in his grasp.
She's not going to last much longer! I think frantically, good thing I brought this.
"Hey!"
Faon Rogue looks down at me standing by the base of the structure.
I give him a thumbs up, amping up all the stereos I bought and hooked up to the guitar in my hands before strumming down hard . The entire ground of fake Paris shook with the vibrations as the sound nearly burst my eardrums.
Faon Rogue lets out a pained gasp, form flickering for a second as Ladybug falls from his grip.
"Ladybug!" I shout, right as the bluenette snaps out of her daze, throwing her yo-yo out and hanging off the nearby bars, safe for now. I let out a sigh of relief.
Okay, now's the time!
I charge up the power in my ring, feeling the Kwami of Destruction's full power channel into me as my hands glow with large dark energy.
"MEGA. CATACLYSM!" I scream, punching the base of the Eiffel Tower.
Rust immediately spreads up the tower and down into the floors, spreading all over the grounds of Fake Paris, climbing up all buildings, all trees, all fake human beings too. All of them start dissolving into dust, dissipating in the wind.
Ladybug lets out a shout as the bars she was holding onto dissipates into nothing, free falling for a moment, she rights herself at the last second, landing on the slowly cracking floors with a resounding thump .
The ground cracks with a vengeance, pieces of debris flying out from all directions before dissolving into the wind. I feel my powers completely pump into Fake Paris, Plagg's energy rapidly draining as I check my ring. It's still on five paws, looks like I can stay as Chat for a while longer too, the week long cooldown is going to hurt, but as long as I manage to save Ladybug and Faon, it's-
And a lump of... something falls in front of me with a pained gasp.
The lump is humanoid, currently covered in black rust, it looks like-
L-looks like…
" FAON!" I shout in horror, watching the deer villain on the ground, dust slowly flying away from his body, leaving his form smaller and smaller.
"Ch-Chat." Faon gasps, trying to prop himself up. "I… I don't feel so good..."
"No. No no no no no!" I panic, quickly reaching towards him, but as soon as I touch his shoulder, it dissolves into dust as he loses the arm, crumpling back onto the floor in a heap.
" NO!" I scream again, did I go too far? Did…
Did I kill Faon Vert?
"S-sorry… I just… had to say it…" I turn towards Faon's slowly dissolving face, he smiles gently. "Don't worry, I'm not… I-I'm not…"
He dissolves into dust before he could finish.
