"I'm telling you kid, you might as well just sneak out," Plagg said, his seemingly tiny mouth stuffed with camembert. "Your dad won't let you go out, let's be realistic. I say, we bypass that all together, and you just go. Have some fun~"
"Plagg," Adrien pinched his nose. "I can't do that all the time. Besides, I want to get permission. Father will let me go this time, I know it."
"You sure?" Plagg asked, skepticism colouring his tone. "Your dad kinda sucks, kid. Though, your naivety is kind of endearing, if you're into that kind of thing."
"Plagg, be nice." Adrien sighed, as he ran his hands through his hair. "He funds your camembert addiction."
"No," Plagg replied. "You fund my camembert addiction. He makes your life difficult, and by extension, mine."
"It's his money, more or less." Adrien shrugged, his face scrunching up as he caught a whiff of Plagg's snack. "Why do you even like that stuff? It smells nasty, Plagg."
"Why do you like Ladybug?" Plagg countered. "She's a human, and those smell nasty."
Adrien opened his mouth, then closed it. "Milady smells wonderful."
"You're weird," Plagg responded, as he grabbed another slice of camembert. He stroked it once, twice, before slipping it into his mouth. Adrien winced. Plagg burned through camembert faster than Timebreaker could skate. Nathalie already found his excessive orders of the cheese weird, and now he'd have to request more. He just got this batch yesterday. "Besides, I'm sure Ladybug doesn't smell lovely after you guys fight akumas. All that body odor? Sweat? Yuck. You, for one, smell disgusting. You should try smelling like camembert. It'll do you wonders with the ladybugs."
"Thanks, Plagg." Adrien sighed, absolutely done with Plagg. Sometimes, he wondered why he seemed to be the unluckiest person ever, being stuck with the literal kwami of bad luck and destruction, who had an unhealthy obsession with cheese. Adrien would know. He's kind of an expert of unhealthy obsessions. "I'm flattered."
"You should be." Plagg flew towards Adrien, hovering in front of his face. "I'm awesome."
"It's now or never," Adrien said, catching sight of the clock. He had a roughly five minute interval before his dad's next meeting started, and he wasn't going to waste it by talking with Plagg.
"Have fun!" Plagg called out, as Adrien left the room. He touched the last of the camembert tenderly, like one might touch a lover. Adrien did not want to think about the connotations behind that. "I know I will!"
Adrien didn't even bother responding.
"Nathalie?" Adrien swooped past the assistant's desk, in a very auspicious manner.
"Adrien," She narrowed her eyes, as if she was trying to discern his motives. "Are you here to request more cheese?"
"Uh, no." Adrien frowned. Plagg was ruining his reputation. "I'm actually here to see Father."
"Your father is very busy, Adrien."
"It's important. I'll die if I can't speak to him!" Adrien threw his hands over his face. Nathalie sighed, as she pushed her glasses up her face.
"If it means that much to you…."
He flashed his most charming smile, the one he dubbed his model smile. Nathalie, unlike most people, wasn't utterly enamored with his teeth. He supposed that was a good thing, after all. He had enough fake people in his life. A picture of Lila Rossi briefly crossed his thoughts, but he just ate, and didn't want to end up barfing all over Nathalie, so he tucked that away. Far away.
"Yes, it's urgent." Adrien smiled, genuinely this time. Nathalie shook her head but didn't reply.
Adrien took that as permission, not waiting to hear any protests.
"Father," He barged into the room, sending the doors flying open. A dramatic entrance, one Plagg would be proud of. "Can I go to my friend's house after school on Friday? Nino wants to show a script he's been working on."
"Nino?" His dad looked up at him, his glasses flashing like he was an anime villain. "Isn't that the bad influence?"
"Uh...no?"
"Was that a question?"
"Do you want it to be?"
"Adrien, give me straight answers."
Adrien paused, and tried to think of the most stereotypical heterosexual answer he could. He didn't want to disappoint, after all. "Um, bro that's like totally not chill." Success.
"What did you just call me, Adrien?"
"Bro?" Adrien messed up this time, he could tell. He just had that power. Well, part of it was his father's darkened expression. Briefly, Adrien wondered whether or not his Father was a muse for any anime writers.
Adrien blinked rapidly. Now, he could only imagine his father sitting still for hours, being drawn by some random artist, while wearing a ridiculous costume. Unfortunately, it was more likely than it seemed. "I mean, uh, sir."
"Adrien, you seem to have forgotten your Chinese lessons. You won't become fluent if you keep slacking." His father muttered, his eyes turning dark. Plagg was right, the dude was scary. And really old, but that wasn't important.
"I know, Father. That's why I checked ahead with my tutor, who said I'm already at an advanced level for someone my age. So, you have no valid excuse."
"Your fencing. You have to keep your skills sharp."
"I don't have practice this Friday." Adrien planned this out weeks in advance. His Father wouldn't find a loophole so easily. "You know that; I emailed you about this three weeks ago."
"Right…." His father trailed off. "Adrien, some classmates of yours have brought some unflattering information to my attention."
Who, in their right mind, would seek out a conversation with his father from his class? The only person he could think of in his class who might have some motivation would be Marinette, whom he could already cross off the suspect list, Chloé, who literally doesn't care enough to, or Nino, due to that one time, but that resulted in an akumatization, and as far as Adrien knew, no Bubbles™ were kidnapping any parents currently. None of the others...oh, wait. He forgot about the snake.
"Who? Lila Rossi?" Adrien had to keep himself from snarling on the first syllable of her name. Honestly, Adrien wasn't a cruel person, not by any means, but he wanted to rip her hair out. Who was he kidding? That was probably fake too. "She's obviously the most trustworthy person in the world. What's next in things that will never be true? Hawk Moth living in our basement?"
"I will not divulge any information, Adrien. Anyways, I have decided. You're going to practice….your piano on Friday, because...I said so. Now, leave. I have work to do."
Adrien frowned. There was no point in arguing. "Yes, Father."
"Woah, your dad sucks, dude." Nino pat Adrien's shoulder awkwardly on the front steps of the school. "If there was an award for worst father, your pops would have it in the bag. No offense, or anything."
"Thanks, Nino." Adrien answered, his smile only semi-forced. "He'd probably throw the trophy away, anyways. He's not one for material proof of victory." That was a big lie. The man was a fashion designer, his whole shtick was material possessions.
"He's a bit of a downer." Nino agreed. "So, you can't come this Friday? I'm going to guess the same about next Friday too."
"Well...you never know…." Adrien said, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Dude, we both know he's going to say no. He'll probably make up anything. From 'Adrien, you've got to help me resurrect some woman from the dead' to Adrien 'I want you to become a terrorist like Hawk Moth,'."
"Hawk Moth, huh? Well, my father is better than Hawk Moth for sure. Way better."
"How much you wanna bet on that, rich boy?" Alya, and by extension, Marinette, walked up to the duo.
"Uh," Adrien paused, trying to think of a random amount. "Five hundred dollars."
"Deal, pretty boy." She stuck her hand out, waiting for him to shake it. "In about a week, you have to collect proof that your dad isn't worse than Hawk Moth. If you fail, you'll be taking us all out for pizza, and a movie."
"If I'm able to. My father might not let me…" Adrien grumbled, before realizing his mistake.
"Well, your case isn't looking very convincing, Sunshine." Alya snorted. Marinette just stood there, and mumbled something to herself. Adrien never really got why she never seemed to like him, but there was no point in dwelling on it. One day, he'd make her like him, so he could see a smile, just for him.
"Okay, so what if I win?" Adrien challenged. So far, it seemed like he got the short end of the stick.
"You and Marinette can hang together, except all expenses will be covered by me." Alya said, hands on her hips. Beside her, Marinette spluttered before turning a weird shade of pink. "Deal?"
Adrien thought it over. While he did seem to have the short end of the stick, yet again, the prize was pretty appealing. He'd get some alone time with Marinette, and maybe she'd start to like him. As a friend, of course. Marinette seemed rather opposed however, as she kept making random hand gestures to Alya, all of which Adrien could not decipher. Marinette was weird, he decided. Very weird.
"Yes. I accept your challenge, Alya Césaire."
"Good, Sunshine. Marinette, let's go girl."
As Marinette and Alya walked away, Adrien could've sworn he heard Marinette swear bloody vengeance upon Alya and her future descendants. Something about betrayal, and painting the streets red with blood. Honestly, Adrien couldn't care less. He was kind of occupied at the moment. His evil kwami was poking his side with his pocket-pen, and Adrien figured if he ignored Plagg, he'd go away.
He didn't.
"You know, you might as well just give the nosy reporter the money. There is no way you can pull this off." Plagg said, as he floated, nonchalantly.
"I can do this, Plagg. Just you watch."
"I am watching," Plagg laughed. "And it's a trainwreck! I should get some popcorn."
"I can feel the support, and it's overwhelming." Adrien muttered.
Evil demon kwamis aside, Adrien had a point to prove. First target, Chloé Bourgeois.
"Chloé?" Adrien called out to the blonde girl, who was sitting with Sabrina. "Can I ask a favour of you?"
"What is it Adrikins?" She sighed, looking up momentarily from her phone. "I'm very busy."
She was, in fact, not busy whatsoever, but Adrien decided that this was not the hill he wanted to die on. "I need your testimony."
"Did you do something illegal again, Adrikins?" Chloé asked. "Because you know Daddy will cover for you."
"Uh, no." Adrien clarified. "I need you to say on camera, that my dad is a nice, caring person."
"Sabrina?" Chloé snapped at the redhead, causing Sabrina to scurry over. "Your dad's a cop. Isn't a testimony supposed to be true?"
"Um, yes." Sabrina muttered.
"Adrikins," Chloé rubbed her forehead. "I can't do that for you. Sorry. I mean, I'd be willing to lie, but it's not like everyone would believe such a stupid lie. They're way too smart for that-oh, wait. No, they're not."
"Ugh. You were no help at all, no offense."
"None taken. Your dad is worse than mine, let's be real here. You have enough emotional constipation to clog up a toilet, Adrikins. Go see a doctor."
Well, that was a bust. Adrien could already hear Plagg's conceded laughter now.
"That was disappointing. I thought Chloé'd be down for sure." Adrien fumed in the safety of his room. He picked up a piece of paper, folded it, and threw it up in the air. "Who should I go to next?"
"How about the chronic liar?" Plagg suggested. "She'd do anything for you. It's kind of creepy, and more than a little disturbing."
"I don't want to talk to Lila," Adrien grimaced. "She's a bit too manipulative for me."
"The sausages don't turn you on?" Plagg asked. "Not even the compulsive lying? Dang, you're hard to impress. What's a girl to do?"
"Plagg, that's not even funny." Adrien face-palmed. "It's mortifying."
"No, it was funny. I'm hilarious." Plagg said, only narrowing the piece of paper Adrien threw at him. Sometimes, Adrien wished Plagg couldn't just become intangible on a moment's notice. It irritated him.
"On to my next source," Adrien squinted as he read the next name on his short list. "Huh. Weirdly enough, it is Lila Rossi. Probably because she's his muse, or whatever. Which is really, really creepy, actually. Ready to put that fox down?"
"Adrien." Plagg warned. "I don't think violence is the answer. It's the question, and the answer is yes."
"Did...did you just quote a meme?" Adrien gasped. "The world is a dark, dark place."
"No kidding," Plagg answered, flying into Adrien's pocket. "Time to play with foxes."
"I'd love to help you, Adrien." Lila purred at him, as she dug her fingernails into his arm. "I'd do anything for a friend."
"Uh, good. I need you to testify about my dad's amazing character." Adrien explained, as he picked her fingers off, one by one. "It's for something."
"Of course, Adrikins." Adrien shuddered. It was bad enough when Chloé used that awful nickname, he did not need this manipulative psychopath specific classmate using it too. "Are you recording?"
Adrien nodded. He turned the camera towards her face.
"Gabriel Agreste, what a man. Where do I start? How about the time he gave me a job, because I nearly died saving him and his assistant? Or, maybe when he introduced me to his director friends, who asked me to be in their movies. Alas, I had to turn it down, because other talented actresses auditioned, and I couldn't let their attempts be for nothing. Another instance is when he asked me to design his Fall line, and I helped make the outfit his models wore. I've even met Audrey Bourgeois, who offered me an internship in New York, but I turned it down to help her heal her relationship with her daughter, Chloé."
Adrien frowned. Didn't Marinette do that last bit?
"Uh, that's enough Lila. Thanks." He couldn't use any of this. Everyone knew about the Chloé-Marinette thing. At least, he hoped they did. Honestly, it wouldn't be too far-fetched if everyone believed all this garbage. He didn't want to piss Marinette off, either. Their little hang-out wouldn't be fun if she was mad at him.
"Anytime Adrien~" She mewled. Adrien had to keep himself from gagging.
"Yeah…" Adrien sprinted out of there as fast as he could.
"So that was helpful." Adrien banged his head against the nearest wall. He was reviewing the video footage from Lila, and that's about all one needed to know.
"I don't think you can use any of this stuff," Plagg frowned. "It's pure garbage."
"Thanks, Plagg." Adrien retorted, clawing at his scalp. "This is awful."
"Hmm," Plagg paused. "What about your old man's assistant? She's got the hots for him, so compliments should be plentiful."
"True," Adrien agreed. "Gabenath is my OTP, well, besides Ladynoir, of course. Although, she deserves way better."
"Agreed." Plagg said. "Though, they're both super old."
"Why does that even matter?" Adrien's eyebrows pinched together. "Wait..you're way older than them! You're like...ancient."
"Rude," Plagg complained. "Don't call people old."
"You literally just did that," Adrien seethed. "Plagg, you're such a hypocrite."
"But you love me~"
"Ha, ha. No."
And that was that.
"Nathalie?" Adrien slammed his hands on her desk, startling the assistant. "I need to ask you some questions. It's about Father."
"Adrien, is this about what I think it is? I'm not trying to replace your mother-"
"Woah. That's...that's not what I'm hinting at. I just need a testimony on his character. How great of a father he is."
Nathalie frowned, her features creasing. "Adrien, did someone call child protective services on us?"
Now it was Adrien's turn to be confused. "Why would they call the-?"
"Uh...no reason." Nathalie laughed uncomfortably. "No reason at all."
"Okay.." Adrien shook his head, extremely mystified by his father's assistant. What went on in that woman's head? He didn't know, and didn't want to. "I'm going to record you now. Tell me how great of a person he is. Be truthful."
"Gabriel is very cold, and demanding. It may seem like he hates everyone and everything, including his own son, who he only sees once a month, but that's not true. Sure, the longest conversation either of them had with each other in a while was just Gabriel rejecting Adrien's request to go out with friends in his free time, but the cold atmosphere is nurturing. I swear."
Adrien's eyes twitched. Alya was not going to accept that as valid evidence. Nathalie either had a really weird kink centered around emotional distance, or she had no clue what she was saying. Nerves, maybe. Either way, another dead end.
"Thanks, Nathalie." Adrien cut her off. "I think I got everything I need."
"Your welcome, Adrien." Nathalie responded. "If you need anything else, I'll be here."
Adrien nodded, and made a beeline for his room. Maybe, he could fix it in post.
He couldn't fix it. This trainwreck was not salvageable. It's not that he was inherently worried about the five hundred dollars he'd end up owing Alya (he accepted his defeat), but it would've been nice to win. Besides, his father can't really be that bad.
"I don't know what I'm going to do." Adrien complained, as Plagg inhaled the new supply of cheese that had just arrived. "Oral reports aren't working. I need more solid proof; cold, hard facts."
"Why don't you go through his stuff? Maybe he'll have a photo of you or something." Plagg suggested, wiping the cheese bits off his mouth.
"That's..that's not a bad idea," Adrien paused. He could look through his dad's stuff, that was true. A little sneaky, more than a little nosy, and for sure to get him in serious trouble if caught. It was right up Plagg's ally. "I'll go tonight, when him and Nathalie are out. They said they had a meeting with some stuffy board directors."
"Huh, that's convenient." Plagg agreed. He rubbed his little paws together, like a stereotypical villain. "Just wait until they've left. Then we have free range."
"Yes." Adrien nodded. He really was losing all his morals, trying to defeat Alya. First, trying to enlist Lila Rossi, and now? Invading his dad's privacy. Oh, well. Sometimes, sacrifices needed to be made.
"Have they left yet?" Plagg floated beside Adrien, who gazed out a dark window, watching the cars. His father and Nathalie had already entered the vehicle, now they just needed to leave. Soon enough, the lights turned on, and the automobile left the driveway, leaving Adrien almost completely alone. "Let's go, kid. Operation: Polaroid is a go."
"Why polaroid?"
"Because it sounds better than Operation: Proof That Adrien's Father Isn't A Major Douchebag. "
"Fair enough." Adrien poked his head out of his door. The coast was clear. Carefully, he tip-toed down the stairs, trying to stay in the shadows. One with the darkness, and all that jazz.
He made his way to the door, the one that led into the belly of the beast.
"Here we go," Adrien muttered.
With one swift motion, the doors swung open. Adrien and Plagg split up, and looked for different items and keepsakes. His father must've had a picture of him, or a drawing from his younger years somewhere.
"Hey, isn't this where the weird book thing was?" Plagg pointed to the portrait of his mom.
"Yes. Let's not steal that again." Adrien warned. Last time was not a fun experience.
"Eh, you're no fun. Down with the oppressive owners!" Plagg ignored Adrien's sounds of protest, and dived into the picture.
"PLAGG." Adrien was this close to losing it. If Plagg was a real cat, Adrien would've gotten him neutered out of sheer annoyance. "I swear to any and everything holy in this world, if you take anything from that vault, I'm going to choke you."
"I'd like to see you try." Plagg's muffled voice came from behind the picture. Adrien huffed, as he tapped his foot impatiently. Plagg, the nuisance himself, flew through the art piece a moment later. "See? Nothing happened. Also, your old man doesn't have a picture of you, but as you can see, he has a whole portrait of his dead wife."
"Ouch." Adrien muttered, as he traced his fingers along the picture. The likeliness of the artwork was astounding. It was like she was really here. He trailed his hand along the frame, and her dress. "Wait...these three triangles have a different texture. Plagg, it looks like they've been pressed on, repeatedly."
"Huh. Weird." Plagg shrugged.
Adrien frowned. He positioned his fingers onto the shapes, and pushed on them, hard. The floor fell from under him. He vaguely recognized Plagg's shouting as he was pulled downwards.
His father had a secret elevator thing underneath his office, and it was going down. Plagg phased through the floor, and caught up with the platform Adrien was stuck on.
"Where is this going?" Adrien asked, heart rate elevated. "And why does my father have just...an elevator under his office?"
"I don't know, kid. This could lead to some weird conclusions. I will shield your eyes if it's a sex dungeon." Plagg declared.
Adrien blanched. He needed to find a way to shut Plagg up. He'd use tape, but Plagg always got it off. He wondered if Ladybug had the same problem. Probably not, if he thought about it. Tikki sounded nice enough. "Please, stop talking."
"Hmph. Fine." Plagg muttered under his breath.
The elevator came to a stop, and the doors opened slowly. Adrien didn't dare step outside the machine.
It wasn't a secret sex dungeon, ("Aw man." Plagg complained.) but there were a lot of random butterflies. Some random dude was speaking to them. A butterfly whisperer who lived in his house? Weirdly enough, not the strangest thing he's ever heard.
"GO! FLY AWAY MY EVIL AKUMA AND EVILIZE HIM!"
Ah. Not a butterfly whisperer. No, it was...a psychopath. That's much better.
Remember when Adrien said Hawk Moth lived in his basement? He didn't mean it literally, and yet, here Hawkie was. Adrien couldn't form any cohesive thoughts at that moment. His train of thought had no clear path.
"Holy shit! Hawk Moth lives in our basement!" Adrien slapped a hand over his mouth. The butterfly man turned towards him, with a sharp 180 turn. "How much is the rent?"
"Adrien? What are you doing down here?"
"I live here! What are you doing here, you freeloader?"
"Is that anyway to speak to your father Adrien?" Hawk Moth dropped his transformation, and there he was, his father, Gabriel Agreste. "I know this is a shock, but I assure you it's for you and your mother-"
"Holy shit!" Adrien pressed every single button on the elevator. The doors closed. It flew upwards. Adrien turned to his godly companion.
"Plagg, you know what this means?"
Plagg nodded. "That the fight is over because we found Hawk Moth."
"No. My dad isn't worse than Hawk Moth because he is Hawk Moth! This is perfect. Now, I'm going to call Ladybug because we should probably arrest him or something and I need proof."
"Probably a good idea, honestly." Plagg shrugged.
"Plagg," Adrien sprinted out of his Father's office and into the street. "Claws out."
"Ladybug, Ladybug…" Chat Noir kept calling his partner. He also kept spamming her with text messages. He really needed to get the point across. "I know who Hawk Moth is! It's urgent."
After around ten minutes, she picked up. Her tiny face showed up on the screen. "What is it, Chat?"
"I know who Hawk Moth is!" Chat Noir screamed. Her eyes widened by at least fifty percent.
"What? Wait, I'll be there in a second. Where are you?"
Chat Noir looked around. He was close to Marinette's, if he read that sign right. "I'm near the Dupain-Cheng bakery."
Ladybug gave him a weird look. "Don't move."
"I mean," He answered. "I wasn't planning on it."
She swung in less than 3 minutes after she hung up. "Chat? Who is he?"
Chat Noir took in a deep breath. Time to milk this for all it's worth. "He's my father."
Ladybug punched his arm. "Chat. I'm not in the mood for a prank."
"I'm not joking. It's actually my father. I went into his office, and found his weird butterfly room, which Plagg thought was a sex dungeon—no, I'm not going to elaborate—and boom. He was having some alone time with his butterflies. It was weird, Ladybug."
"Okay, so your father is Hawk Moth." Ladybug repeated, as if in a dazed state. "You know, I think it's pretty appropriate if you were to tell me your identity at this point, but let's deal with Hawk Moth first."
"Okay. To the Agreste Mansion!" Chat Noir pumped his fist into the air. Ladybug just gaped at him.
"Did you just Agreste Mansion? As in Gabriel Agreste?"
"Uh, yes."
"ADRIEN?"
"LADYBUG?"
"Holy shit, I rejected the love of my life for the love of my life."
"I'm not following." Chat Noir confessed.
"Adrien," Ladybug grabbed her hair, and pulled. A few strands fell out. "My life is a soap opera."
"Oof, that's rough buddy." Chat Noir winced. Sounded rough, he wasn't gonna lie.
"Chat, you're Adrien! Dear god, I knew you were oblivious, but this is insanity!" She face-palmed. "Does this Hawk Moth thing have to do with Alya's challenge?"
"How do you know about that?" Chat Noir gasped. Ladybug knew him in his personal life, and apparently had feelings for him. "Holy shit! Nino? Dude! I can't believe it."
"I'm not Nino, holy fuck." Ladybug sighed. "Tikki, spots off."
A pink light encased his partner, and out came Marinette.
"MARINETTE? Where'd Ladybug go?"
The girl stared at his face, as if trying to decipher his thoughts. She gave up halfway.
"Sometimes," She confessed. "I wonder if you're faking it, but I know you're actually just that dumb."
"Hey." he protested. "I'm very smart….wait? You're Ladybug? What a plot twist."
"You're sure Gabriel is Hawk Moth?" She asked. "He was akumatized."
"Oh, no. I'm positive. I don't...I'll never unsee that."
"Okay," She retransformed. "I have a plan."
"Father! I have decided that I don't care that you have a butterfly fetish! I accept you for you!" Adrien said, stepping into his house. Plagg snickered in his pocket. There were several police officers outside, as well as Ladybug. She used the miraculous of the fox to fool their security cameras into thinking that there was no one there. Genius, as always. There was a recording device with Plagg, which Marinette instructed him to use.
"Adrien?" Nathalie exclaimed. Her and his father were both sitting down, bags under their eyes. "We were so worried."
"Worried I'd rat you out? Please, I don't think it's illegal to experiment sexually. Though, the whole butterfly aesthetic for your secret sex dungeon is a little weird, but I've learned to let it go. No kinkshaming."
"Adrien." The man of the hour himself sighed. "I do not have a secret sex dungeon."
"You don't? Then what was that? Oh, no. Let me guess, instead of being a regular old man, who also happens to be a furry, you're a supervillain who has tried to kill me multiple times?"
"Um…"
Nathalie whipped her head towards his father, a scandalized expression on her face. "You said it was one time, Gabriel! One time!"
"It was an accident, okay?"
"An accident that happened over three times?" Adrien slammed his hands down on Nathalie's desk, the resounding slap echoing through the hallway. He took a deep breath. He couldn't allow himself to get upset. "You tried to kill me!"
"I would never!"
"You would too!"
"You're just hallucinating. I'm not Hawk Moth." His father waved his hands around weirdly. Adrien's eyebrows extended past his hairline.
"Really? Cause I'd totally be okay with it." Adrien lied. He was going off script, and Marinette was probably losing her head, but he had a plan. "If you were to tell me. Otherwise, I'd never, ever model for you again."
That was a lie. He did, in fact, not know what he was doing.
"Okay...I admit." His father sighed. "I am Hawk Moth, but I was doing it to save your mother. A noble cause, Adrien. You must understand, I had no choice. Nathalie helped as Mayura."
Adrien laughed, a full on evil laugh. "Ha! That's it! We got the confession! BYE!"
"What?" Gabriel's eyes started twitching. He moved for his piece of jewelry, most likely getting ready to transform, when Roger, Sabrina's dad, burst in.
"You have the right to remain silent. Anything-"
"You don't have a warrant." Gabriel protested as he got cuffed. "Don't touch my property."
"Sir, a resident of this property allowed us in. Your son? You do know you have one of those, correct?"
"I'm being framed."
"You literally just admitted to being a terrorist."
"This is a set up. The feds are out to get me."
"Gabriel," Nathalie hissed. "Shut up."
His father stopped talking, a win for everyone.
"Where's your proof, Sunshine?" Alya asked. The four of them agreed to meet up on Saturday, to discuss the outcome of the bet. "And what's with the outfit?"
So far, the arrest had been on the down low, but he was given the heads up about a potential leak today.
Hence, he wore three layers of clothes, and a black coloured wig. He wanted to avoid the press, what better way than this? His Aunt, who he been crashing with until his mother was resurrected from whatever ailment caused her magical coma, even applied a fake beauty mark onto his cheek, which was the pinnacle of disguises everywhere.
Adrien sipped his drink, a bitter coffee, and shared a smile with Marinette, who blushed in return.
"Where's my proof?" Adrien smiled. "Search up my father's name."
Alya frowned, and opened her phone. Her jaw dropped when she read the title of the very first article.
'Gabriel Agreste: Paris' Resident Magical Terrorist.'
"W-what? Oh my god, I'm so sorry, Adrien." She winced. "This is awful."
"Eh, I'll live." He sighed. "Although, you need to pay up."
"What?" She repeated.
"I won the bet. He isn't worse than Hawk Moth; he is Hawk Moth. Now, Marinette and I are going to go on our date, but we need the money."
Alya made no noise as she handed him the money. He might've broken her, but he couldn't care less.
Marinette promised to babysit Plagg later.
