The Choice is Obvious

Chat Blanc climbed up to the top of the Eiffel Tower, a single focus in mind. He had to find his mom; he couldn't lose her again.

"Okay, now take a deep breath and close your eyes." His father's voice could only be heard in the back of his mind, the source completely out of sight. Hawkmoth sounded cool, calm, nurturing even. Chat Blanc was starting to understand why so many people agreed to help him. "Adrien, focus." Right.

Chat Blanc closed his eyes and took in a long, slow breath. Find Mom, he told himself. When he opened his eyes again, the world was in black and white, save the image of a bright blue van driving down the street superimposed over an empty road. "I see the van," he said. "Or at least, where the van was. It's not there anymore."

Again, Hawkmoth's voice came through his mind. "Good," he said. "Now I don't want you to follow it yourself; just let your mind-"

Whatever he was going to say next was cut off, and Chat Blanc realized he was falling. He hit the top deck of the Tower, and he looked up to see Ladybug standing over him, a sad, scared look on her face.

"You went too far, Hawkmoth," she growled. Then, her voice softened. "Chat, if you're in there, I'm going to save you."

Oh shit.

Chat wasn't sure if that was his own thought or his father's words coming through, and quite frankly, he didn't have time to care. "Ladybug, you don't understand," he said. "Hawkmoth isn't evil, and I need his help for this!"

Ladybug shook her head. "I'm sorry, kitty. I know our identities are supposed to remain a secret, but-" As she reached for his ring, Chat realized he didn't have a choice in the matter. He kicked out, throwing Ladybug off him long enough to scramble up and jump down the side of the Eiffel Tower he'd seen the van on.

He slowed his descent with his baton, but he couldn't afford to waste a second. The second she recovered, Ladybug would be on him which, in a different scenario, might have been welcome, but he had a job to do now, and in her mind, it was her job to stop him.

Chat Blanc landed in a roll then took off running. No time to lose.

"Do you think you can shake her, or do you need help?"

"I'm fine," Chat grit out, already growing frustrated when he heard footsteps behind him. "Just give me a minute and I'll lose her."

A yo-yo string wrapped around his midsection and arms, and he realized a minute would be too late. Okay. He could talk his way out of this. He hadn't exactly ever talked his way out of worse situations, but he did convince Nathalie to let him eat three pieces of cake on his twelfth birthday, and that was no easy feat either.

He closed his right hand into a fist, hoping to prevent Ladybug from just snatching the ring right off his finger. She dropped down in front of him, pulling the string taught and revealing tears in her eyes.

"My Lady, you don't understand," Chat Blanc said, praying the desperation in his voice made it through to her. "Hawkmoth, he's not evil; I don't even want your miraculous right now."

Ladybug shook her head. "Chat, whatever he's telling you is a lie," she declared. "Him saying he doesn't want the miraculous now is just to lure you into a false sense of security."

"No, it's not," Chat insisted. "At least not this time. And never again. You don't understand what's happening; you have to let me go!"

"Not a chance, kitty."

Chat let out a frustrated huff, and it became apparent where this was going. "Cataclysm!"

Ladybug gasped and jumped back, trying to get out of his reach. Chat Blanc just twisted his hand, catching the lowest piece of string around him. Instantly, it dissolved into ash, and he took off running again, Ladybug following after. She wasn't about to give up, and they both knew it. Hell, it felt like the only way to stop her would be to drop a building on her!

Chat Blanc froze as he came upon a church, the idea repeating in his head. He looked up at the building, spotting a rose window. 1239, his mind offered, repeating the information from the dream he had a week ago, the same day he first met Helena. It was a sign, or perhaps a premonition. It wouldn't be the first one he'd followed through on.

He turned his head to see Ladybug was almost on him again. "Cataclysm!" He slammed his hand against one of the columns, and it disintegrated. Without that support, the rest of the building tilted and began to fall- right on top of Ladybug. He watched, awe and horror in his eyes.

"She'll be okay, right?"

"Yes," Hawkmoth promised him. "Her kwami's magic will protect her; she's just going to have a hard time getting out."

Chat nodded. "Okay." He turned away, seeking out the speck of sapphire the van became when he used his powers. The world faded to black and white again, until that hint of blue raced past him. "It's going down the same street."

He took off after the phantom van, taking to the rooftops to better keep an eye on it. Eventually, the van stopped, the sapphire image superimposed over the real thing, and Chat Blanc let the world return to its normal hues. "17th arrondissement," he said. "I'm going in."

"No you are not!" Hawkmoth snapped inside his head. "You are waiting until I can get there, and we do this together. Do you understand me?"

Chat sighed but nodded all the same. "Yeah," he agreed. He sat down on the roof across the street, expecting his father to be no less than ten minutes; even at a superhero's speed, this was pretty far from home.

"You need to go home now."

Chat jerked and let out a yelp, spinning around the face Hawkmoth. "You… fast… how?"

"The butterfly miraculous allows me to teleport directly to my champions," Hawkmoth explained. "Now really, go. Home."

"What?" Chat asked, shocked by the demand. "You… you really think I'm just gonna go home and let you do this alone?" He scoffed and shook his head. "I don't care if I never get to be Chat Noir again after this; I'm going to save Mom."

Hawkmoth looked him over for a moment, sizing up his claim, then nodded reluctantly. "Fine," he agreed with a sigh. "But if it gets to be too much, I reserve the right to-"

"No. I'm doing this, and I'm seeing it through to the end." Chat Blanc straightened his back, resolute in his stance.

After a moment, Hawkmoth nodded again. "You're just like her, you know that?"

Chat Blanc smiled. "So I've heard." He turned back around to face the building they knew held Emilie. "So how do we do this? Have you ever… seen it happen before?"

"No," Hawkmoth replied solemnly. "Emilie kept me out of all that on purpose. Said it was behind us since the Guardians were gone… or at least that's what we thought." He took in and let out a heavy breath. "We're going in blind."

Briefly, Chat considered the options. "Unless I watch what I'm about to do." He blinked, a couple of times, letting the real world fade away in favor of a vision.

He watched as he dropped into the warehouse from above, landing on the ground in the center of a ring of Guardians. His glowing hand made contact with the floor, knocking them all off their feet and sending them to the uneven ground below. Before he could recover, another Guardian ran over and grabbed him by the hair, jerking him back. He saw a glint of metal pass in front of his face, then-

Chat Blanc gasped, a hand going to his throat. The real world snapped back into focus, especially his father standing in front of him, worry in his eyes.

"Adrien?" he whispered, like he needed to say his son's name but was afraid of anyone else noticing. "Adrien, what happened?"

"The roof," he declared. He swallowed and slowly lowered his hand, trying to remember everything else about the warehouse.

"Adrien, your neck," Hawkmoth breathed. He traced the angry red line Chat intuitively knew was there. "Please, son, go home."

Chat shook his head. "It's fine," he insisted. "Now I know what they're expecting and how to manipulate that. My vision won't come true."

Hawkmoth looked him over again with eyes that were distinctly Gabriel's before he finally nodded. "Alright. What do you remember?"

Chat Blanc took a deep breath, trying to recall the smaller details of his vision. "Mom would have been at the opposite end of the warehouse from the door. There's some kind of arc there with a portal inside it. It's swirling and green and- do you remember that show I used to watch? Danny Phantom?"

"You made your mother and I watch it with you all the time; yes, I remember."

"Well it's kind of like the ghost portal from that show, except there's someone in front of it chanting some spell. There are ten other people in there, too, most of them in the center of the building standing guard, but there's one by the door, too. That's the person who… uh…"

Hawkmoth nodded in understanding. "I'll take them out first."

Chat Blanc blinked a couple of times as he realized just what he meant. "Oh my god, Dad!"

"It's them or you; I think the choice is obvious." He took in a deep breath and put his hands on Chat's shoulders. "I don't want you to have blood on your hands, but if the Guardians don't die, they will try again. Just get your mother and get out as fast as you can. Do you understand me?"

"Yes, sir." He looked to the building and shuddered. No matter what happened in there, things would never be the same. "I'm going to try the roof anyway."

"And I'll go through the front door when you do."

Chat Blanc jumped across the street, landing on the roof of the warehouse. He walked to the center and held up his hand. "Cataclysm!" He slammed his hand down and fell through the roof, then immediately summoned his power again. The floor collapsed under him, but this time, no one came to slit his throat.

He jumped back up and looked over to see Hawkmoth removing his sword from the chest of his would-be killer. He turned the other way and saw the chanting Guardian walk through the portal. Chat ran over, not taking a second to think as he dove through the portal.

It took him a moment to collect himself and remember where he was. Everything felt fuzzy, like he was walking through gelatin.

"Kid? Kid, wake up!"

Adrien awoke with a start to see Plagg floating in front of him. The world shifted and became crystal clear, like he'd suddenly been given a knife to help him navigate. He looked around, seeing a temple of some sort, except everything was pure white. "Where are we? Is this heaven? Am I dead?"

"No. Not yet."

Adrien spun around to see the Guardian he'd chased through the portal. He swallowed hard and took a deep breath, trying to find his voice again. "I'm not going to let you take my mother."

The Guardian scoffed. "It's too late for that," he replied. "But since you're so determined, it appears we have two options. One: you can die here and now. Two: you commit to the cycle until you die."

"Like hell," Plagg spat out.

The Guardian tutted his tongue like he was scolding a child. "I'm disappointed, Plagg. You used to be the biggest supporter of the cycle. Said it kept you all in check."

"That was before you killed Tikki's daughter." He floated up to the Guardian, a scowl on his face. "We made the Order to protect humanity, not to punish innocents."

Adrien's jaw dropped, trying to process all the revelations he had just received. Tikki… that was Ladybug's kwami. She had a daughter? Who died? Because of the Guardians? And that didn't even touch on the fact that apparently the kwamis had formed the Order of the Guardians in the first place.

"She could have misused her power."

"She was ten!" Plagg pulled back and shook his head. "You know, we formed the Order when we were young and scared of our own abilities. Scared we'd turn out like our father. But time and time again, the only instance where any of us has intentionally done wrong was when we realized we were being manipulated and having our memories erased every time we started to remember we had powers!" He let out a breathy laugh. "The Order is doing more harm than good now. It has been for the past three thousand years."

He turned, looking to Adrien. "C'mon, kid. Let's find your mom."

"You're not getting away that easily-"

"Cataclysm!"

Adrien watched, awestruck, as Plagg turned around, laying a paw on the Guardian. He turned to ash before fading into nothing in the pristine temple. Instantly, the place shook, nearly throwing Adrien off his feet. "What's happening?" he asked.

"The portal is collapsing!" Plagg yelled, flying back over to Adrien. "C'mon! We don't have much time!"

Adrien ran after Plagg, following him through twists and turns he couldn't even see. Before he knew it, he was standing in front of Emilie as she stared at a small, blue stone in the palm of her hand. "Mom!" he called out to her, but she clearly couldn't hear. "Mom!"

When he got no response the second time, he grabbed her wrist and tugged, pulling her out of her reverie. Still in a fog, she followed him as Plagg led them both back through the portal.

Adrien fell to his hands and knees in the warehouse, back in his Chat Noir suit. Next to him lay Emilie, unconscious. He scrambled over, checking her for any wounds. Seeing none, he shook her gently. "Wake up," he begged, a whispered prayer. "Please, please, wake up."

The heavens must have heard him, because Emilie slowly opened her eyes, looking around at the world. "What… where am I?" she asked weakly.

Chat couldn't give a proper explanation, just crumbling into Emilie's embrace. "Mom," he choked out. "Mom, I was so scared! I thought we lost you again!" He slowly pulled away, only to see that Emilie's brows were furrowed together, her jaw hanging open slightly.

She shook her head slowly. "I'm sorry, kid. I'm not your mom. I'm not anyone's mom." Chat Noir deflated. No, his heart broke. Emilie- no, the woman who used to be Emilie- turned her head, noticing Hawkmoth standing a few feet away. She pointed to Chat, who was sure he looked like he was seconds from sobbing. "He yours?"

"Emilie…" Hawkmoth began slowly, taking a couple of steps towards her.

"My name's not Emilie," the blonde insisted, cool and level-headed. "My name is Madelaine."