When Gabriel got a request from Nathalie for a video call, he accepted.
"Did you find it?"
"No, sir, but I thought you would want to see this."
Another tab opened up on his screen.
"...began their examination of the Yucatan Albino, tragedy struck. It's speculated that an akuma attacked the group and stole the body!..."
He frowned. He hadn't released an akuma yet.
"So, the bat miraculous wielder awoke. Seems they weren't dead after all."
His hands balled into fists at his sides. So a Miraculous could keep a person alive indefinitely, yet it was also a Miraculous that weakened his wife to the point of a coma, and that same miraculous that is currently weakening his assistant.. It was hardly fair. But Mr. Agreste was highly familiar with life being as such.
Now was not the time lament. He had to find the bat (he assumed) miraculous before those pesky heroes did. He would need to send out an akuma. He focused to see if he could feel any negative emotions...
Nothing...
There!
Claude-François could not believe what he had been through. How could they kick him off the team?! If it weren't for him, then the cave wouldn't have been found! None of the discoveries over the past months would have been brought to light! It was all him! His dream! His destiny!
But, no! Napiare shoved him aside.
"We need professionals on this," he had said. "We need someone with more experience. You're still very green. This was your first find."
"It was my first expedition, yet I found the cave! I found the body!" Claude had refuted. "You can't just drop me! I want to see this through!"
"It's out of my hands. The Board and Government have decided. They want Haull and her team to take over."
His hands balled into fists as he fumed, pacing the park. He had been flown back to France that day, and needed to vent some aggression out. The park had always calmed him down before, and he didn't want to risk ruining any of his stuff at home.
Honestly, how was he supposed to feel? All his hard work, all his research and classes, his life's dream ripped from him! Another person's name would be stamped onto Claude's accomplishment! He spent so long in the forest, being eaten alive by bugs at all times, sleeping in uncomfortable conditions; albeit it was his own fault due to wanting to have the 'older traditions' to exploring.
Garnier reached up and clutched his pendant, a gift from his parents once he had entered into collage for his preferred profession. He almost never took it off, somehow thinking it would bring him luck in all his adventures. Apparently not, if this was how fate was treating him.
Unaware to the faintest of flapping noises, Claude only saw the akuma as it touched his necklace. Purple light appeared around his face in a shape not unlike the butterfly that he had just witnessed.
"Sangsue, I am Hawk Moth. I'm giving you the power to teach those who wronged you a lesson they'll never forget. All I ask for in return is your help finding the missing body you originally discovered."
"None will escape my sonar."
Purple enveloped his body, his malice transforming.
The once lithe and average height-ed male became at least six foot two and muscled. His clothes became cotton robes a stark white with blue and brown undertones. Armor covered his head and shoulders, with little horns near his nose area. His feet were bare, and intricate jewelry lavished him. His fingernails were elongated like claws, his eyes dim. Bur what he lost in sight, he gained in echolocation and flight. Two large, leather wings protruded from his back. All in all, he appeared to be like a Mayan god.
Stretching his new appendages, the now dubbed Sangsue gave several strong flaps as he took off into the night sky. He fired round after round of clicking bursts, searching for the prize he would bring Hawk Moth.
Ladybug and Chat Noir searched high and low for anything out of the norm, but all was well in Paris save for the chaos at the Louvre. With the sun completely gone, it was getting harder for the female hero to see details while swinging at high speeds from her yoyo.
She had to stop, landing on the roof of an unassuming building. Chat noticed his partner lagging and vaulted back to stand beside her.
"Something wrong, Bugaboo?"
"I'm fine. I just need to- Over there!"
She pointed to the alley that was between their building and the next. A man lay slumped against the wall, red staining his neck and shirt. The female and her companion jumped down, Ladybug running over and checking his wound.
"It's just like the others. Two puncture marks, what seems to be saliva, and unconscious. Chat, call an ambulance."
Nodding, the male took out his rod, pressing a button to turn it into a communicator. He called emergency line, giving them the address, and telling them about the hurt pedestrian. As he hung up, his green eyes caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye.
"Where are you going?"
"I'm going to look around the block for the akuma. You stay here until help comes for him."
She propelled her yoyo and tugged, the tool flinging her back over the buildings. Chat didn't feel like it was a good idea for her to go off alone. But he couldn't exactly leave the guy there by himself in that condition.
"Just be careful!" he called out, hoping she could hear him.
Ladybug ran from rooftop to rooftop, jumping small gaps or using the yoyo when the gap was too big. She still had no idea what she was searching for, but that didn't stop her.
Just as she was finishing up checking the street, screams reached her ears. Quickly, the heroine ran toward the source. People were running from something in the middle of the road. A man, taller than most, wearing weird, ancient looking clothes, and some sort of metal armor that covered his head and shoulders with tusks. Around their neck was an gold amulet on a brown cord. It roared loudly, knocking loose items over with power.
Blue bell eyes went wide as a woman pushed a stroller with August in it, trying to get out of the way, struggling to get over a curb fast enough. With a flick of her wrist, the black string wrapped around the lady's waist and pulled her toward the spotted hero. Gently, she set her down.
"Get out of here and take shelter!"
"Thank you, Ladybug!"
As the woman ran, she faced the akumatized person.
"So you're the one causing all the trouble!"
"Out of my way, peasant," the echoing voice demanded.
"Peasant?"
"You are irrelevant. Step aside."
The creature stretched out large wings, flapping to gain altitude. Ladybug threw her yoyo, wrapping it around his ankle. She attempted to yank him down, only to get swept off her feet, dangling in the air.
"Waaaaaaa aaah!"
Marinette attempted to gaze around for something to help her out, anything to grab onto to stop this joyride. The villain did barrel rolls and aerial maneuvers to shake his tail, for lack of better word. Twists and turns, flying low so that she may hit signs or architecture, weaving between intersections and the park. But Ladybug remained unshaken.
Chat Noir heard a familiar voice yelling somewhere above him. He looked up while the EMTs loaded up the man his lady had found. He saw what was most likely an akumatized person soaring with weird veiny wings, with his partner dragging behind comically.
"I see you have things under control!" he shouted, grinning slightly.
"Shut up and help me!"
He bowed. "Anything, for m'lady!" He extended his pole, grabbing onto her ankle. "Going up?"
"More like going crazy!"
"You know you love my, Bugaboo."
"Just help me ground him!"
Sangsue let out an echolocation burst and then suddenly pitched downward.
"Looks like that won't be a problem!"
Both teens yelled in terror, the street rushing up at them rapidly. Ladybug let her yoyo unwrap from his leg, Chat using his staff to help lessen their fall. Once settled, they looked up to see what the villain was doing.
He seemed to have cornered someone between a parked car and wall just up the street, his landing causing the concrete to crack.
"You will come with me," he demanded.
A voice responded back in a language Marinette had never heard before. The person sounded feminine, however, and young.
BAM!
The akumatized male was thrown back by a powerful force, crashing into the side of a brick building. This allowed the heroes to get a look at who he was speaking to.
She had pale white skin and matching hair. Her eyes were somewhere between red and pink. Her outfit was similar to Sangsue's, just with gold and red accents instead of blue and brown. A golden armband and earrings completed the look.
It was the body, the miraculous wielder, awake, and she didn't appear happy.