Broken
The two heroes hid in an alley for Ladybug to detransform and feed Tikki. Chat Noir observed the garbage dumpster carefully. The curious cat in him wanted to peek inside, just the smell was biting his nostrils.
"Can you tell me what you and Plagg were up to just before Bunnix came to collect us." Marinette asked her kwami. She had experiences when their kwami were gone, one was Kwamibuster, another was Sandboy when they willingly went to the miracle box.
"Well, you are both guardians now and I have to tell you." Tikki munched on her cookie. It was clear she wanted to postpone that conversation. "We wanted to enter the miracle box." She admitted and bowed her head in shame.
"But if you go into your magical world like that, nobody can take you out. That is what sou did during Sandman and what Master Fu told me." Marinette frowned. They had this conversation before, Plagg and Tikki promised not to do that again, or was the promise just for Fu.
"Yes, that is true." Tikki sighed and continued to munch on the cookie. She obviously wanted to avoid the subject, the tiny godess was willing to take extra blame only to hide something.
"So why would you go there? Were you throwing a party with all the kwami for defeating Hawk Moth? Because we could throw a party for you kwami if you promise to behave." Chat Noir spoke quickly. "Well not you, but some of you .." He trailed off.
"I understand." Tikki actually smiled and munched on a cookie some more. "But it was not about a party." She knew she had to tell them before they returned. "The energy of Nooroo was completely distorted when he was used negatively." The tiny red bug took another piece of the cookie.
"Okay, we learned about that in the temple." Marinette nodded. They were rather seriously lectured about that, it was the energy of the temple, the magic that it held that prevented Hawk Moth and Mayura from using their full power inside.
"And Duusu inhabited a broken miraculous for almost two centuries, she even used energy from her wielders to be able to give her powers … " Tikki continued and made a tired face. "And both of them were almost destroyed by keeping their wielders transformed in the temple."
"Okay, yes, that is why we did that experiment in the temple when Marinette fainted." Chat nodded. "And they both touched that stone that made them weak." He wanted to hurry up the explanation. "That was why we were able to fight them while we were civilians."
Tikki continued to eat in silence. There was not much more to tell, not much that she wanted to tell anyway.
"So you wanted to go into the miracle box to check up on their recovery?" Marinette inquired, she was not letting go of the subject. Because Bunnix had to go back further in time to pick them up for this fight.
"Um yes?" Tikki chirped. What if that was sufficient explanation. She did not want her chosen to take the pin and the brooch out and wear them to give the two kwami the energy to recover, especially since they were currently very low and it would take a long time.
"And you were just in the box when Bunnix came to pick us up earlier … I mean later?" Chat Noir concluded. If that was a conclusion. How was one able to answer a question like that? Did anyone know? Was anyone going to know? Chat wanted to slap himself out of it.
"Probably?" Tikki chirped sheepishly. It was close enough to truth, not that she knew what happened in the future, she was not Fluff. She finished her cookie and it was time for Marinette to transform again into Ladybug.
They sneaked around the rooftops in broad daylight and still kept low and tried not to be seen, people often cheered at them when they saw through window, but this time there was no reaction. The Agreste mansion stood before them and they sneaked around the rooftops and observed.
"It looks as empty as it was when I lived there." Chat muttered.
Ladybug held his hand.
Chat smiled sadly.
"Are you able to go inside? Because if you're not … " She trailed off.
"I'm not letting you go in there alone." Chat smirked.
They went straight for the office window.
Chat had to use cataclysm on the lock to be able to enter.
"My father's office has surveillance cameras." Chat warned.
"Well, there is another couple now that could be blamed for breaking and entering." Ladybug smirked. There was one flaw in their plan and that was the possibility that the other two wielders lived in the mansion and actually saw the video from the office.
They both entered the office and approached the paining.
Ladybug passed over the paining with her fingers she felt more than she saw the small indents in the canvas, then she narrowed her eyes and observed carefully, there, just beyond her reach was another set of buttons to push.
"I can find the spots, but I can reach only these here, could you press the upper spots for me?" She asked. She held her hand on the lower set of spots and looked at the second set.
"Of course. But, which spots?" He asked while he watched the painting, he ignored the fact that that was the painting of his mother, he was searching for buttons.
Ladybug explained to Chat where to put his fingers and they both pressed.
Soon they disappeared in the hole in the floor.
Chat Noir's ring was beeping and they found a corner they estimated was sufficiently safe for Chat Noir to detransform and feed Plagg.
"So Plagg, how was the party in the miracle box?" Adrien teased his kwami.
"Couldn't tell, you made me go to this future before I had a chance to see." Plagg retorted.
"Something tells me it was not a party at all." Ladybug smirked.
"No, it was not a party." Plagg admitted. "We wanted to see Nooroo and Duusu."
"Why? Is there something wrong with them?" Adrien asked cautiously.
"You mean aside being used to do mean and selfish things, residing in a broken miraculous and being active in the guardian's temple?" Plagg was incredulous. "You're good that the business class has such fine cheese, otherwise I would have been devastated for destroying the temple that one time."
Adrien snickered at the mention of cheese.
"But you were fine and they were … well not fine but recovering and ..." Ladybug stuttered. "Ugh, I'm a guardian, I'm supposed to know all these things." She groaned.
"We are guardians." Adrien reminded her.
She actually blushed.
Plagg snickered and then admitted he was ready to transform.
Chat Noir found it rather easy to observe his surroundings and see where they are. Ladybug on the other hand did not see a thing. Chat took her hand and lead the way.
"This is the lair, I think we were here before." He muttered, quiet not to be discovered as well as not to disturb any of the monsters that might reside there.
The only thing Ladybug was able to see was faint light in the distance.
"This is the lair, we were here, this is the place where we saw the sarcophagus." He whispered while they slowly walked over a metal construction towards that faint source of light.
Since the faint source of light was the only thing Ladybug was able to see, she focused on that.
"You know, this place really looks spooky." Chat smirked. "It is truly a lair of a villain." Then he continued to ramble about different cartoon characters.
Ladybug could not see and know for sure, but Chat avoided to look forward, to the place where they were going, which was probably the place where sarcophagus used to be, a place where it probably still was, just empty.
Chat went silent and stopped. Ladybug switched on the light from her yoyo. Yes it was the sarcophagus, all right. Chat just stood there as if bewildered by the scene in front of him. He was frozen in time and relived the moments when Hawk Moth made them retrieve and teleport the sarcophagus to the temple.
Ladybug held his hand tighter. He did not respond. He just stared. She gave him some time to recover, to process the information, to relive the experience, to mourn to do whatever he needed to do.
But it was taking so much time, and they were there to fight the new evil Ladybug and Chat Noir.
"Look, it is just an empty container." Ladybug finally muttered and walked over to the machine. Chat Noir followed.
"I know, but it used to hold my mother. It is so cold piece of machinery." He muttered.
Ladybug pressed a few buttons that she expected to open the top non transparent cover. And the cover split in two and the two halves retreated to the sides.
There was a body of a beautiful blonde and tall woman in an elegant and expensive designer suit.
"Mum?" Chat whispered.
They heard some noise from the other end of the hallway. Ladybug switched off the light and pressed a few buttons and after a few attempts the top not transparent lid was back on. It was difficult to find the right buttons in the dark and Chat helped.
He lead her to hide behind some bushes that were somehow growing in that lair. They just ducked behind when they heard a different noise. Someone had just descended down with an elevator.
"Why is my mum back here?" Chat muttered. "Who brought her here? Is Hawk Moth back? What is going on?" Ladybug had to keep him quiet.
"That does not have to be your mum." She managed to mutter before both of them had to keep completely quiet.
The lights were switched on. They were bright, especially to the two heroes who were trying to see anything in the darkness.
Then they both saw Adrien walk down the same metal construction to reach the sarcophagus. Him walking over metal produced some noise to disguise the other noise from the room.
"I thought we disappeared." Chat muttered. "What happened to me, what have I done." Ladybug squeezed Chat's hand again to make him calm down.
"Maybe it is not you?" She muttered. She hoped beyond hope that this was not some crazy version of Adrien who terrorized Paris to get his mother back.
Adrien, or someone who looked very much like him, or more likely, like Adrien who lost all his joy in life and faith in people, someone who was ready to manipulate people to get what he wanted, Adrien who completely changed the way he acted, approached the sarcophagus and pressed the buttons.
"Hi mum." Adrien greeted. Chat clenched his eyes shut. "I'm sorry to come down here dressed like this." The boy continued to talk with the sarcophagus. "She wants me to dress like him, to look like him." The boy was obviously not happy about that.
Ladybug was almost certain she knew exactly whom she was looking at. Chat held her hand with his eyes firmly shut, but his cat ears perked up. Those words gave him hope that it wasn't him who was talking to the sarcophagus, and that wasn't his mother.
"We did another scam today." The boy sighed. "It is just not fun any more." He whined a little. "But she insists in transforming into her and she wants me to transform into him and she wants us to play those acts for the public."
Chat would have moved and held onto Ladybug, but he did not want to make noise so he just held her hand tighter. He forced himself to take long, slow, deep breaths and not produce any noise. She squeezed his hand reassuringly. They both needed it, if this was not Adrien, the girl was probably not Marinette.
"She makes me look like Adrien all the time, especially when in public, she wants me to take on the modelling and acting and Chinese." The boy continued to complain. "I mean, you know I did not mind piano and fencing or any other sport."
"The only thing I have taken on seriously so far is the Chinese, but you know why I'm doing that." The boy whispered the last part. He placed the palms of his hands on the transparent surface and let the tears drop from his eyes on them.
"I promise, I will bring you back mum, but we are going back to London after that." He sounded really serious. "And I can't wait to do it. But I still don't understand how am I going to do it. I know I need a sacrifice and I have a perfect person for that."
"No don't judge me, after everything she had done I will enjoy making her a sacrifice. I don't know how she managed to fool everyone into thinking that she is Ladybug, she doesn't look like her, she doesn't behave like her, not that I care about that, but I'm not blind."
"Actually, I'm lying, I know how she did that, she scared and threatened those few people who doubted her in the beginning, like that Alya, the Ladyblog writer, and now nobody dares to say anything against her." He shook his head.
"I just wish she did not heave me in her hands." He sighed. "But that will not last forever, I will decipher that book, I will understand how that magic works and then I will take the earrings from her and do it." The expression on his face showed he was definitely up to the task.
"I just have to make sure that she is the sacrifice." He added. Then he made a long pause, he just observed Amelie and started to sniff as tears rolled down his face. He allowed himself to break down there, where nobody was able to see or hear him, where he was allowed to be weak.
The period of prolonged silence was particularly hard as the two heroes had to keep quiet and control their breathing not to be heard in the large cavernous room. Besides, they both now held a sigh of relief that would be too loud.
"I know what happened mum." The boy sniffed. "I know what you and aunt Emilie did." He continued. "I read her diary." He made a pause. He shook his head again and closed his eyes shut, a few moments and a few breaths later he opened them again and looked at his mother.
"I know now why you wanted the rings and why you did all those things to find the brooch, I just wish that you told me. I would have believed you. I promise. And … I would have understood, maybe not at once, but eventually." He sniffed again.
Chat stiffened up at those words. Ladybug tightened her grip on his hand to keep him still and quiet. They were both updating their mental list of things to do once they return to their own time. The list was becoming longer rather quickly.
"And I am sorry about what I did to Adrien and that silly girlfriend of his. Well, they were both silly, they were made for each other, just like you said. I did not mean to be so harsh, I did not want it to be so definite." He took a shaky breath.
"Yes, we needed the jewels, but we had them already, but she insisted, she had that power over me … " The boy trailed off. He closed his eyes and his body was shaking from sobs he prevented himself to share.
"I wish Adrien was here, then she would not be making me to look like him. She thinks she is a designer now. She even threatened Chloe into wearing those horrible designs and Audrey to write a good piece about that." The boy chuckled.
"At least I warned the others, Kagami is back to Japan, I made her leave." His eyes glinted. "Alya was persistent, but I made her stop, fortunately she took the warning, I don't know how far she would push me."
"Can you imagine? I actually agreed with Chloe on something, the designs were ridiculous, utterly ridiculous." He impersonated Chloe for the last part. "Anyway, I have to go back up, I have to go with her to entertain out picture in the media again."
"I'm glad I have this chance to talk to you mum, it made me feel better." The boy concluded, turned around and walked away. His footsteps on the metal railing echoed off the walls and the water below him made threatening sounds, but the two heroes started to relax.
Most of the lights were switched off, save the one above the sarcophagus and the plants and only the transparent cover of the sarcophagus was on so the body was visible again. Ladybug waited for a long time to make sure the two of them were really alone again.
"That was Felix." Chat exhaled while he whispered his words. "And this is aunt Amelie." It wasn't him who went nuts. The situation was not pretty, but he felt much better, perhaps it was selfish, perhaps it was egocentric, but it put a huge weight off from his shoulders.
"He did something to us, or 'they' did." Ladybug whispered. The two of them remained hidden in the greenery and observed what they could see. She wondered what they could have done, perhaps this Felix Chat used his cataclysm, perhaps it was something else, but Adrien and Marinette were no more there.
"So, Felix is the new Chat Noir." Chat concluded. "And another girl is Ladybug." He looked at his ring and thought of Plagg. Feilx was able to afford a lot of expensive cheese, but was he willing to do that for a grumpy glutton.
"I do have an idea on who it might be." Ladybug rolled her eyes and then clenched her fists. The attitude, the slyness, the thirst for glory and fame, making Felix look like Adrien, everything pointed to one person. She knew she was right.