Mayura
The Descent
Deep into the night, when even owls slept in refuge, a great darkness fell over the city of Paris. Lights seemed to fade as the blackest of clouds loomed around the moon and choked out its light. Soon, an icy rain began to pour down from the bleak barrier that blocked out the heavens. Adrien finally managed to fall asleep around one o'clock, his tears and concerns for his beloved guardian keeping him wide-eyed and restless in his bed until his mind drifted off.
Slowly thrusting her legs out from under the blankets that now felt as heavy as stone, Nathalie forced her cold, lightly numb feet down onto the floor, and propped her body into a seated position with the aid of her thin, chilled arms. Her greasy, unkempt hair clinging to the back of her neck and her forehead, the woman began panting as her weak body attempted to push itself forward. Finally, she forced herself to lift up off the bed and stand on her own feet for the first time in what felt like an eternity. Upon leaving the warm, soft embrace that had kept her for days, Nathalie carefully took a step, only for both of her legs to give out and cause her to collapse on the floor.
Hearing the impact, Duusu stirred and quickly came to the aid of her partner. "Nathalie," she cooed with concern in her voice. Nudging her dearest friend with her head, the Kwami began to whimper. "Nathalie?"
"I-I'm okay, angel," the purple-haired woman coughed as she rose into a kneeling position. "My legs are still weak, but I'll be alright." Slowly, Nathalie adjusted her feet, grabbed onto a nearby shelf, and forced herself back onto her feet. "Don't worry about me," she declared in a stern, driven tone. "Gabriel needs us now."
Leaning against the hallway walls for support, the suffering woman quietly winced as she made her way to Hawk Moth's lair. The strain on her weakened body was great, but the objective was all that mattered. That dream would make everything right again. Stepping in front of Adrien's bedroom, Nathalie looked inside to see her beloved charge asleep in his unmade bed. Even through the darkness, she could see the tear-stains glistening on his cheeks. "I'm so sorry, Adrien," she whispered sorrowfully. "You poor, sweet little boy…" Closing her eyes for a second, Nathalie shed a single tear as she prayed for the chance to say goodbye. "…But you don't need to cry for me…I'll bring her back for you. I love you, Adrien."
As she continued on her fearful journey, Nathalie found herself a frightened child once again. Each step she took down the dark, foreboding hallway would bring her closer to her father, her goal, her destination. The same storm raged outside, but she no longer feared the thunder. Now, she did not cry for her father's help. This was her battle: This was something greater than her.
Locked in his office, Gabriel sat at his desk in the coldness and darkness, his fingers locked in their intersection, and pondered everything that had been laid out before him. The lure of death had been so tempting since Emilie was taken, but Adrien needed his family, even its most broken pieces. The butterfly Miraculous should have been their salvation, but Hawk Moth was not enough. What good could a broken old man in a costume possibly do? Despite his desperation, though, the thought never once crossed his mind of donning the peacock Miraculous: That most hated Miraculous that stole his beloved in the first place stood as a reminder of Emilie's pain and Gabriel's shame for years, though it was given the reverence of being maintained and left alone. Suddenly, he stood up, staggered toward his precious painting, reached out to touch the sweet face that was always just out of reach, and fell to his knees in hopeless defeat.
As the silver-haired man wept alone, Nathalie felt her heart begin to ache. The pain and horror of what she was doing nearly crushed her, but she would bear the pain for those she loved. Darkness slowly began to soothe over the terrible burning in the woman's gentle, compassionate, and loving heart. Though she shed regretful tears so hot they stung her eyes, Nathalie forced herself to endure. The sweet little girl who once believed in goodness and triumph through honesty and kindness cried out from the cold, dark place she now resided, only for her screams to remain within the broken monster she had become. Morality and truth no longer mattered: Honor and kindness would wither and die. Nathalie felt the corruptive veins crack and form around her bloodshot eyes, ushering in tears as black as night. Duusu closed her eyes and allowed her energy to envelop and swaddle her beloved partner, choking out the last of Nathalie's light and leaving only Mayura's darkness and horrible beauty.
Letting out a sigh of unholy relief, the dark Miraculous approached Gabriel's office and closed her ruby eyes. The pale-blue creature slowly placed her icy hand upon the door her dear friend cried behind, and let herself feel his pain. "Gabriel," she whispered, releasing a cloud of steam from her chilled mouth. Upon making empathic contact, the dark Miraculous formed a dark-blue veil around her eyes, forming the outline of jagged feathers.
Gasping, Gabriel looked up in shock from the ground as his breath turned to icy steam as the sign of Mayura appeared around his eyes. As dark shadows surrounded the man's pupils, he felt something like Nathalie holding him in a realm beyond contact. "Gabriel, I am with you now," the woman's haunting voice declared within Gabriel's mind. "Give into your despair, your sorrow, your pain, and I shall turn them into an army: An army that will shatter the Miraculous Ones." Gabriel choked out several breaths as he attempted to take his assistant's place. "Don't fight it anymore, Gabriel…You have suffered long enough: I am here to save you. Give me the emotions and fears that bind and choke you, and you will carry them no more. Thrust your suffering onto me, and together, our dream will be realized."
"…Thank you," Gabriel exclaimed as a tremendous burden was lifted from his mind, body, and soul. The relief and reassurance soothed the man's bleeding and broken heart. "Nathalie…Thank god for you." As Mayura absorbed her beloved friend's negative feelings, the silver-haired man let out a sigh and laid down upon the floor.
Taking on the burden and sting of agony that was not her own, the dark Miraculous felt her body grow colder as an awful power welled up within her body. Placing her icy hand upon her throbbing, aching heart, Mayura accepted the pain, and made her way down the hallway. Upon reaching a window, the woman thrust its twin panes open, felt wings of dark feathers spread behind her back, and took to flight in the midst of what felt like an endless night.
Trembling and wincing silently, Gabriel muttered words of thanks and hope to the woman who would deliver him from the hell he had been trapped in for so long. As Mayura rose to the highest peak of the Agreste family house, she cast her wings aside and scattered their feathers around the city. Composed of rage, hopelessness, sadness, isolation, loss, and a lust for vengeance against the very world, deformed, hateful beasts were born. Each abomination let out roars and cries of sorrow and anger as they stormed the streets of Paris. As her creations rampaged, Mayura gazed down in awe as Nathalie wept tears of hopeful joy. Soon, her suffering would be over, and Gabriel's dream would be realized. "Take no lives," the dark Miraculous ordered her Avatars. Her voice echoed with darkness as its power and spite shined through. "Do no harm to any but the Miraculous. Then, before they die, bring them…to me." Smiling wickedly, Mayura rose into the air and away from her home. Soon, the nightmare would be over.
Within minutes, the Akumatized Alert began to resound around the city as all citizens cleared the streets and barricaded their homes. Roaring wildly, a heavily armored creature resembling a turtle filled and charged down a two-lane road, leaving cracks and deep holes in its wake. Any vehicles parked along the way were either smashed or rammed aside in the Avatar's furious wake. At the same time, a cloaked being standing roughly eight feet tall and completely concealed by a long, flowing, and ragged black cloak, shattered windows and fragile sidings as it slowly passed them by. Though its form was vaguely human, its snarl was that of a beast. A massive bird then flew over the suffering city, molting its black wings that splattered into immense puddles of dark, inky water upon hitting the ground. As the avian nightmare released a deafening caw, a gray and white wolf rivaling any car on the road, coated in flowing, grizzly fur, and glaring at the world with red eyes, let out a loud and lonely howl from atop a tall apartment roof. Its gaping mouth wide open, a frog-like Avatar dragged its round, bloated stomach though the sidewalk as fast as its small, finned legs would carry it, all the while consuming anything in its path. Finally, an ashen figure with a feminine structure and long, greasy, coarse hair as black as the night scanned the city as she walked toward an unseen target.
"Their reign of terror shall come to an end!" Mayura cried out with rage and passion in her darkened voice. Standing proudly upon the Eiffel Tower, her ominous figure unflinching in the savage storm, the dark Miraculous outstretched her arms and looked up at the blackened sky. "And they will be exposed and disgraced before the world they deceived!" Lightning flashed across the entirety of Paris' sky, choking out all other light as darkness rose.
Her eyes flashing open and returning her mind from a dream, Marinette gasped at the dark aura flooding Paris. Tikki's fur furrowed, the little Kwami breathed heavily and fixed her focused pupils toward the source of the unnatural disturbance. At the same time, Adrien and Alya received messages on their communicators as their Kwami began to ruffle their fur and hiss at something out of sight. Whispering heartfelt goodbyes and prayers for safety to their family, the three Miraculous locked their doors and made their escape from their homes. Alya took an extra minute to tuck her baby sisters in and whisper a promise in their ears: "Everything is gonna be okay." Clenching her pounding heart as she awoke, as if summoned, Lila stared up at her ceiling with her mouth gaped open as she desperately tried to catch her breath. At the same time, Sabrina and Chloé were thrust from their dreams, their gentle embrace of one another broken.
As rain began to pour over their tormented city, Marinette, Adrien, and Alya slipped past the checkpoints and made their way to Master Fu's apartment as they had agreed on. The old master promptly checked and answered his door before ushering his students inside and locking the door behind them. Lightning flashed and thunder roared in the chaotic skies, but the Miraculous Ones remained calm on the outside. Following tradition, the three teenagers took a seat upon the floor while their Kwami continued to snarl and hiss.
"Master," Marinette spoke up, her voice heavy with concern. "I sense a terrible darkness. The Kwami haven't been able to calm down. What's happening?"
His elderly grimace sinking into a deeply troubled frown, his eyes closed, Master Fu slowly approached his window and stood perfectly still in front of it. "Deh day I have feared, has finally come," he gravely declared. "Deh dark Miraculous challenges the light."
"Hawk Moth?" Adrien asked as he rose to his feet and took a single step closer to his master.
"No," the old master answered plainly and without doubt. "It is one far more broken. A Miraculous dat fell to corruption: one dat escaped our grasp long ago, has revealed itself. Deh Peacock Miraculous has found a new holder, and has consumed deir mind and body."
"Don't blame yourself for this, Master," Alya spoke up as she approached her teacher.
"Now is not deh time for blame or innocence, Alya," Master Fu replied, turning away from the city. "Each of you must accept deh challenge of deh dark one. Be warned: You have all come to know Hawk Moth's assaults, but not his true power. Dis time, you face an opponent we have no insight to. We have only glimpsed at deir power, but know nothing of deir true power or cruelty. You must all work together, take no risk, and reclaim what has been lost. Dis will be deh night dat each of you proves who you are…and for what you stand."
Marinette, Adrien, Alya, Tikki, Plagg, and Trixx looked at one another, nodded their heads, made their peace as best they could, and linked their hands. Master Fu opened his window and stepped back to allow his finest students to charge forward, leap through, and each land on a distant neighboring rooftop.
"The battle for everything," Marinette declared. "Ready, everybody?"
"Ready!" Adrien, Alya, and the Kwami announced in harmony.
"In the name of love, Tikki, Spots On!"
"In the name of justice, Plagg, Claws Out!"
"In the name of dreams, Trixx, Let's Pounce!"
Master Fu watched in awe and pride as his students summoned the Miraculous Light and took on the form of the holy warriors of old. Ladybug, Chat Noir, and Volpina stood tall in the pouring rain and freezing wind, each ready and willing to give everything to protect the people of Paris. Despite their fears and troubles, they would fight and sacrifice to save the just and unjust from the maw of darkness. The very drops of rain seemed to split and fall away from the Miraculous Ones as they glanced into the city. "Go!" the old master ordered. "Shatter deh forces of evil, once and for all!"
The three Miraculous made their vow, gave their master one last look of reassurance, and charged into the heart of their suffering city. Once the three were out of sight, Master Fu turned in the direction of Le Grand Paris and studied it as the rain continued to pour.