Once the call ended Chat Noir couldn't help but feel the feeling in his gut grow. Something seemed really wrong. Was it just him or did Ladybug seem a little different?
She was a lot more brief and urgent than usual. And she didn't even address them personally. It was like she was only there to do her job, when usually she'd be a little more relaxed while also remaining serious.
But maybe it was all the stress. A lot had happened in the past weeks and she did seem to be under a lot of pressure...But then again someone would've noticed that. Chat sighed as his mind kept going over the possibilities. The blonde just couldn't put a finger on it.
"Hey Chat!" Carapace called snapping him out of his thoughts, "Ladybug's waiting for us! Come on!"
"Sorry, I was just thinking," The feline hero joined the others inside the burrow.
"About what?" Carapace raised a brow.
"How Ladybug seemed a little off," The blonde answered.
"She's probably under a lot of stress," Carapace shrugged, "You know how she gets. Plus the past few weeks have been tense."
"I know," Chat sighed, "But I just feel like it's something sinister."
"You're such a worry wart," Carapace laughed making the other heroes look at them, "She's fine."
Chat returned a smile to the laughing hero, but didn't say anything. He still had that weird feeling in his gut, and if it was right something was wrong.
Alya and Marinette sat side by side. Both females were now detransformed, and wore frowns their brows furrowing in frustration. They couldn't believe that they had fallen for such a simple trick. Alya clenched her fists while Marinette bit her bottom lip, both of them were beyond annoyed.
Peafowl had taken them to a unknown location before leaving them in the darkness of the room. Both females sat on a sofa and there was a coffee table in front of it. From what they could see there were other pieces of furniture scattered about and other stuff, but it was hard to make out in the dark room. Fortunately, the light of the moon was enough to illuminate the room so they weren't left in complete darkness.
The light reflected off Alya's glasses as she shifted. Marinette turned towards her.
"I can't believe we fell for that!" Alya clenched her fists breaking the silence, "That has to be the oldest trick in the book! You used it on Copycat, Chat Blanc, nearly every akuma that was in love with you!"
"I know," Marinette sighed both tired and frustrated, "But...Celeste isn't like other akumas. She can go either way. Remember? Plus she wasn't in love with me, or anyone else we could use to our advantage."
"So that was why she was freaking out," Alya grabbed her mini notepad from her handbag to jot down notes. It was then she noticed her phone. The brunette chuckled as she nearly face-palmed herself. They really lacked a lot of common sense. Sometimes she wondered if they overlooked these things on purpose.
"We're so stupid," The brunette chuckled, "Why didn't we check earlier?"
"What are you talking about?" Marinette raised a brow.
"We had our phones this whole time," Alya produced hers, making the bluenette giggle, "Ok, I'll try to call Nino. If that doesn't work then its the police."
"I'll try to call Adrien," Marinette sighed as she got out her phone, "Hopefully this works."
The room returned to silence as the females dialed their husbands' numbers and waited for them to answer.
A warm smile crossed Peafowl's lips as she spotted the warm environment inside the bakery. It reminded her of the life she had when she lived with her grandmother, being happy and innocent. The life she had before her mother took it away. A tear ebbed down her cheek.
It almost made her wish to go back to those simple times. The times when she too innocent to understand why no-one could get along in this world. When the only thing she had to worry about was not waking up to find grandma with her. Now she knew too much, she'd seen everything too early and now she was the mess she was. The broken, irreparable shell she was.
Shaking her head, Peafowl focused back on the scene inside. She could see a bubbly Emma running about with Percy, trying to avoid getting tickled by her grandfather. Mr Dupain had a warm smile on his face as he chased after the infants who squealed as he got close to them. The scene itself wiped away the teen's dark thoughts and made her smile.
Peafowl then turned towards the kitchen. Mrs Dupain-Cheng, Emma's grandmother, was in the kitchen preparing dinner a warm smile spread on her face as she watched her husband and infants. Everything was set.
It was then guilt came to the corrupted heroine. The guilt of stealing from these two people, people who had nothing to do with this situation, yet she had roped them in. All because of her own selfishness. Peafowl could vividly remember the day she stole the miracle box from the bakery, but oddly enough she didn't remember it if she was herself, only as Peafowl or whatever her akuma side was. It was probably because she did it as Peafowl.
She sighed. It didn't matter if she was Peafowl or not. Once again, she'd be deceiving these people. The innocent ones as well.
The corrupted heroine shook her head. Her actions were justified. She was doing this for a good deed, not for herself. Or so she thought. The teen gazed into the window again, this time scanning every minuet detail.
'How is it going?' Luna Moth's voice rang in her ears, 'Have you got what we need?'
'Not yet,' Peafowl replied startled, 'I'm just waiting for the perfect moment to strike.'
'I'm trusting you,' Her mother warned, 'One mistake and it's over. Don't disappoint me.'
The teen gulped. The whole reason she was doing this was to gain her mother's affection. The affection that she hadn't received in years. Something that fed the hole that had gradually been carved from her heart and soul. She needed it to fill her back up, to feel something. But was that really why? Was she really doing this for herself? Or was she doing this because the akuma was telling her to?
By now, Celeste was so tired that she'd given in to Peafowl. She just didn't know what side to choose anymore and now she was letting nature take it course.
But she knew her mother wouldn't want to hear that. She knew her mother wanted her to be obedient; and obedient she shall be. Or at least try to be.
Sweat beaded at her hairline as the teen opened her mouth to respond.
'I won't let you down,' Peafowl breathed, 'If I do, you can take my miraculous and the ones I stole. Along with Ladybug and Chat Noir's. Then you can grant your stupid wish.'
'I'll be waiting,' The telepathic link faded and the teen sighed in relief as her mother's presence left.
Peafowl smiled for a final time as she saw her reflection. This would probably be the last time she could look at herself. She didn't know if she could deal with seeing the face that was responsible for this mess. Everything that had happened was because of her, no-one else. She let things spiral out of control.
Peafowl glanced inside again, before spotting a young man yelling at his phone most probably at the person calling him. The corrupted heroine smirked as dark thoughts began to swirl around her mind. She could feel the amok brewing in her fingertips.
She jumped, landing gracefully in front of her target. Guess her perfect moment was here now. Right in front of her.
Chat Noir and the other heroes arrived on the scene to spot Ladybug, Rena Rouge and Queen Bee struggling against the sentimonsters.
Each heroine faced several sentimonsters: attacking, blocking and getting struck every so often. The heroes could see the tiredness forming on the female's faces. It was a good thing they'd gotten there so quickly, it looked as if the three were going to collapse.
Their gaze traveled to the villain stood away from the ruckus. They stared down at the scene, watching it as if it was some sort of sick entertainment. Her eyes then fixed onto the heroes.
Luna Moth stood in the same spot as before, a smirk on her lips as she spotted the heroes. She always knew that this day would come, the day she'd watch all the heroes crumbled beneath her but she'd never thought it would be today. Her eyes locked onto Chat Noir and they glinted in the light. She spotted him shiver as her gaze lingered and her smirk grew wider.
'Everything's going as planned,' Her green eyes then traveled to the other new arrivals, 'Now to feed them some false information.'
Luna Moth then made the violet butterfly outline appear and began to speak to Peafowl, or the heroes thought she was.
"Yes, I've got them here," Luna Moth stated, "...No, you need to stay there...No, we need her as leverage."
Immediately, the heroes gripped tightly onto their weapons. She could be planning anything, maybe even plotting to kidnap their children again. A shiver ran up the heroes' spines. They needed to be ready for any plans Luna Moth and Peafowl could have up their sleeves. It was bad enough that they managed to amokatise or akumatise majority of the fashion show attendees. The heroes didn't need more problems stacked against them, especially if it meant going through the pain of not knowing if their children were ok.
"Viperion and I, will go help Ladybug and Rena Rouge," Ryuko smiled at Carapace and Chat Noir breaking the silence, "If anything goes wrong, we'll be fine." The two heroes then rushed into the fray, immediately attacking the brutish sentimonsters the two heroines were against.
Ladybug smiled at Ryuko, who returned it as she attacked the sentimonsters, as did Rena Rouge to Viperion.
"Guess we're helping Queen Bee," Carapace sighed as he looked at Luna Moth, "You think one of us should deal with her?"
"She'll be occupied for the moment," Chat spoke as he spotted her frowning. He knew that she'd start ranting in any moment and it would buy the heroes time to even out the odds. However long that took.
"Ok, let's get to it, " Carapace nodded, "And don't worry, it'll be fine."
Chat smiled at his friend's remark, before the two headed to assist the bee themed heroine.
"Cat!" Emma squealed in delight as Peafowl climbed through a window.
She'd distracted the Dupain-Chengs by making a sentimonster that looked like a lost little boy. She'd given him instructions to keep them occupied for as long as possible until she sent the second one who was his 'mother'.
"Hi Emma. You must be Percy," The teen smiled at the two infants. One of them was bouncing with excitement, while the other had fear in their eyes.
"Don't worry," Peafowl offered a teary smile to the infants, "I'm not gonna hurt you. I want to take you to your mommies. Would you like that?"
Emma's smile grew, while Percy backed further away. The last time someone said that to him he was turned into an akuma, nearly hurting his mommy. He didn't want that happening again.
"Fun! Fun!" Emma continued to bounce, smiling widely.
"Great," The teen smiled before sighing as she spotted the reluctant Percy. She was running on limited time, and she needed to make sure she had both infants out of the bakery before the Dupain-Chengs returned. It was a good thing she could make amoks look and act like actual people or she would've been caught by now.
Her mind racing, Peafowl began to look for a bribe. She needed to get Percy and Emma to their moms before her mother found out what she was doing. Her violet eyes danced around the room, until she spotted the plate of cookies on the table.
"Do you want a cookie?" She asked the now shaking Percy.
"Mhm," He hummed as he nodded.
"Well, I can give you one if you come with me," She spoke, her voice calm, "I pinky promise." She held out her little finger, waiting for the infant to comply before nearly face-palming.
He was an infant! How was he supposed to know what a pinky promise was? The teen groaned. Instead she offered him a warm smile before before assuring him.
"I promise that you'll be safe," Her violet eyes were warm and welcoming. Percy smiled before nodding at her.
Peafowl then scooped both children into her arms, taking two cookies from the plate on the table, and left the living room.
The cold winter air brushed against her skin as she jumped from building to building, gradually getting further away from the bakery. She blended in with the deep night sky, her irises standing out in the dark.
Both infants shivered in her arms and she tried to make sure they were as warm as possible. She didn't want them to get a cold or hypothermia. Her goal was to get them there swiftly and safely.
"Not far to go," She smiled at them both, "I promise."
Both infants remained silent, their slow breathing indicating that they were asleep. The teen smiled. At least she was doing one right in all this wrong.
"No signal," Alya growled, "Of course!"
"At least Emma and Percy are safe," Marinette smiled softly, "I'd rather it be us than them in danger."
"True," Alya nodded, "Well, what can we do? We're well and truly stuck."
At her words, the door opened and Peafowl walked in holding a sleeping Emma and Percy.
"Emma!" Marinette's face lit up.
"Percy!" Alya growled as she clenched her fists, "If you dare lay a finger on him, I'll personally beat you to a pulp!"
"Calm down, jeez," Peafowl's eyes widened, "So protective...I just thought they'd do better with their mothers than not knowing where they were. I'm not that bad you know."
Both women gave the teen a small smile, but were also weary of her. They couldn't trust her completely, not after the stunt she pulled earlier.
"I figured you guys wouldn't trust me," The teen flicked the light switch on illuminating the room, "I deserve it though."
Peafowl walked over to the closet and got out a bunch of blankets and pillows, before handing them to the women, along with the infants.
"You guys should get some sleep," She smiled, "I promise I won't hurt anyone too much. It's my mother you have to be weary of...But, I'll try my best to please her and get everything back on track."
Marinette and Alya's jaws nearly dropped. The change in the teen's behaviour was unmissable, she went from murderous to calm and gentle. There was even a sorrowful atmosphere around her, as if she had a lot of regret in her system. Peafowl sighed.
"Well..." She breathed, "I hope you guys have a nice night!"
With that the corrupted heroine was gone, leaving the two women speechless with their children.
Bunnix frowned as she watched the battle from her burrow. So far she'd found no information on Peafowl, apart from the fact that she was the half-akumatised version of Sapphire Paonne, which she already knew.
The heroine groaned. What was the point in being here! It was like Ladybug was trying to keep her occupied until the battle was over...That was it!
The female headed over to one of the images playing in her burrow and swiped to the left. It kept going backwards until the female paused it. She then played the moment.
...
"I've dropped Ladybug and Rena Rouge off," Peafowl spoke.
"Good," Luna Moth replied, "I need you to create two sentimonsters that are carbon copies of them."
"On it!" The teen then blew two amoks into the wind, each landing on a person's belonging.
The two people were soon left with two identical copies of Ladybug and Rena Rouge beside them. Nothing was different about the copies.
Ladybug had the same suit, her hair was in a side braid with a red ribbon, and her yo-yo sat on her hip. Rena Rouge was in her suit as well, her red, white-tipped hair in its shoulder length bob cut, and her flute on her back. There was no difference between the originals and the fakes.
"Hopefully their to your liking," Peafowl spoke.
"They're goo enough," Luna Moth grunted, "Meet me at the battle and tell them what they need to do."
With that the outline disappeared and Peafowl sighed. She then traveled into the distance, the sentimonsters following.
...
Bunnix's eyes widened as she replayed the moment. She had to get to the others and tell them that Ladybug and Rena Rouge were fakes. The heroine stopped the moment and headed to the right portal, before pausing at the one beside it. Something intriguing was happening in it and she had to see if it was to do with their cause.
Sighing, the rabbit themed heroine played the memory. Hopefully this could provide more information than previous attempts.
A/N: Ok, so I was checking on my stories this morning and I was pleasantly surprised. All Because of Ice-Cream has almost as many followers as War of the Miraculous! It's like each day more people read it! Wow... It was honestly my first miraculous fanfic and to see that so many people like it, I'm just speechless.
I also looked at my other stories, including this one, and even though they're not as popular as other ones, I'm glad to see so many people like them. So to show my appreciation for all my readers I'm going to try and update frequently this weekend. So look out for a double update!
Thank you so much! You guys don't know how much you've brightened my day!
D.L.D