[LB] Akuma! This one's at Notre-Dame. See you there! /(%)\
Outside the famous cathedral, a man calling himself "The Welder" was brandishing a welding stick. "I'm not good enough for my job, eh? Well, I will show all of Paris what it means to be a good welder! The bonds I am creating will never come apart!" And to demonstrate, he blasted two people who were huddling together for cover, causing them to stick together where they were touching!
Chat Noir peered down from the top of the building and softly whistled. "I don't think this one's going to give himself up anytime soon, My Lady."
Ladybug popped her head over his shoulder and frowned. "What's up with akumas sticking people together lately? Hawk Moth needs to get more creative."
"What do you think, Bug? Go for the wand?"
"Even if the akuma's not in there, it's his primary weapon so we should definitely get it away from him. Ready?"
"Let's go!"
Ten minutes into the battle, Ladybug and Chat Noir made their first mistake. Attempting a maneuver to cross behind each other, they were unable to dodge The Welder's blast and found Ladybug's left leg stuck to Chat's right. Rolling to the side, they were able to twist out of the way of the blasts that followed them and took shelter behind a large tree.
They attempted to pry themselves apart to no avail. Chat's eyes gleamed. "Looks like you're -"
"Save it, Kitty." Ladybug rolled her eyes, but smiled despite herself. "Let's put an end to this. Lucky charm!" A fishing net appeared in the air. "I guess… we trap the akuma? Once we do that, you can Cataclysm the wand. Sound good?"
Chat Noir hummed an affirmative and summoned Cataclysm.
"We'll use the Frightningale offense, except we'll have to be careful not to be hit by any more bolts this time."
"Sounds like a dodgy plan, My Lady," Chat grinned.
"You couldn't help yourself, could you? Come on!" They stood up in tandem and came out from their hiding place. They advanced on the akuma as a pair. With Chat's right leg being longer than Ladybug's left, running was difficult, and they stumbled every few steps.
"On my mark, Chat… now!"
The duo leaped up and prepared to snare the akuma in their trap. As they descended, net at the ready, Serket landed behind the akuma and cracked it over the head with her was sceptre! Chat attempted to roll out of the way mid-air, but the additional weight of Ladybug attached to his side threw him off-balance. The pair spun out of control like a crippled helicopter, landing in a heap about ten feet away from the stunned akuma. Chat's Cataclysm accidentally hit a lamppost, causing it to fall over and pin the heroes to the ground! The breath momentarily knocked out of them, the heroes could only watch as Serket snatched the akuma's stick and snapped it in two, freeing Hawk Moth's butterfly and causing the man to transform back to a civilian!
Ladybug scrabbled for her yo-yo, but couldn't reach it as fast as she needed to. Her hand scraped against Chat's leg in her attempt to retrieve the yo-yo pinned underneath them. Crap-crap-crap! She thought. The akuma's going to get away and multiply, and then our job is going to get 1,000 times worse!
"Scorpion's Sting!" called Serket, causing the end of her sceptre to glow.
She's not going to Sting that man, is she? He's just a victim of Hawk Moth, like everybody else! "Ugh, Kitty… get up!"
Chat Noir groaned and stirred, shaking his head to clear it.
Serket looked at the duo, held up the sceptre… and Stung the escaping butterfly.
The butterfly disappeared in a bright yellow flash of light.
"You're next, hero." A chirp from something on Serket - that's her Miraculous timer, Ladybug realized - and she leaped off in the air.
"Wait! Ugh! Shoot! Miraculous Ladybug!" Ladybug tossed the net into the air, unsticking Chat Noir from her and moving the lamppost back into place. She scrambled out from under her partner and tossed her yo-yo in an attempt to follow Serket, but she lost sight of the villain and couldn't catch up. Her earrings insistently chirping, she settled on a rooftop and de-transformed. Pulling out her flip phone, she sent a quick text and gave a cookie to her kwami, the events of the past twenty minutes racing through her mind.
Deep in his lair underneath the mansion, Hawk Moth screamed.
The pain was so bad that he collapsed on the floor and vomited. Writhing in agony, his designer sensibilities didn't have time to care that he was soiling his costume. He didn't have the capacity to care about anything other than the psychic explosion that had just detonated inside his head.
So Hawk Moth screamed.
Agonizing seconds turned into minutes as the pressure built in Hawk Moth's brain. Tears leaked involuntarily from his eyes.
After ten minutes, the pain had died down enough for him to attempt de-transforming.
After twelve minutes, he was finally able to pronounce the words "Dark wings, fall."
That was a mistake.
Without the additional protection of the Miraculous, Gabriel's mind exploded again, as if someone had set off a strobe light in the center of his brain. Unable to focus on anything except the searing pain, he instinctively crawled slowly toward where he knew the passage to his office was located.
He curled up on the platform and let it whisk him away, hoping with all the mental energy that he could spare that Nathalie was on the other side.
[LB] Timed out, give me a few minutes and we'll meet up /(%)\
Adrien read the message and waited for the sound of chewing on his shoulder to stop. "You ready, Plagg?" Hearing his kwami hum in agreement, he replied to his partner's text.
[CN] Me too. Good now? =^.^=
[LB] Yeah - meet me on the Tower in 5?
[CN] Pont des Arts is closer ;-)
[LB] -_-
[LB] see you at the Tower, Kitty
She never changes, Adrien chuckled to himself. Double-checking that nobody was looking, he transformed and sped toward the top of the Eiffel Tower. She said five… I bet I can get there in three.
The hidden platform in front of the painting opened, causing Nathalie to jump a bit. What startled her more was the sight that greeted her. Gabriel Agreste, fashion icon, demanding boss, and supervillain… laying on the ground, shaking. She ran over to him and moved to sit him up. Recoiling at the blood and vomit stains on his otherwise impeccable suit, she gingerly placed her hands on his back and moved him to an upright position. "Sir… what happened?"
Gabriel could only look at his assistant with pleading eyes and slowly shake his head.
A slightly winded Chat Noir was waiting for Ladybug when she made her way to the top of the Tower. Before he could say anything, she smacked him on the shoulder and said, "It wasn't a race, dork."
They sat down next to each other and Chat started the conversation: "So… Serket. I think we knew she wasn't exactly on the side of truth and justice from the first time she showed up… but this is next level. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad for the assist today, but that poor butterfly."
Ladybug shuddered. "I wonder if that affected Hawk Moth in any way. He does have a psychic connection with his akumas… does that carry over to the butterflies? I'll have to ask Master Fu if he knows."
"Good Guardian information," Chat confirmed. "But back to Serket… what do we do? I have no idea how good a combatant she is… she just shows up and leaves. Or shows up, Stings somebody or something, then leaves. We haven't got a chance to interact much with her."
"I have no idea, Kitty. I just don't want to be unprepared the next time she shows up. Let's go over what we do know about Serket. Do you have time?"
"I always have time for you, My Lady. Let's start with the basics: her first visit, right down below."
"Serket," Gabriel whispered.
"I don't understand, sir. Was she here? Did she attack you somehow?"
Gabriel nodded. "Psychic… connection… akuma. Stung… it."
"Do you need me to help you to your bed, sir? Or get you a doctor?"
He slowly shook his head. "Need… Guardian."
"Sir, you haven't found the Guardian yet. I don't know how you plan on doing that."
"Get… me… Ladybug. Chat… Noir. They… help me."
Nathalie stood up and cleared her throat. "As you wish, sir." She assisted Gabriel to his feet and sat him in a comfortable chair. After double-checking to make sure he was relatively okay, she hurried out of the room, her phone in her hand. Before she made her phone call, she sent the Gorilla in to the office to help get Gabriel cleaned up and presentable.
After a solid hour of hashing and re-hashing everything she and Chat Noir knew or guessed about Serket, Ladybug returned to her room and de-transformed. Ladybug showed up twice today, Marinette thought to herself. I'm exhausted… I'd rather not make it a hat trick. And speaking of hats… I've gotta keep working on the outfits for the Battle of the Bands, otherwise, they're never going to get done! I already got the easy stuff out of the way with the scarves… should I do the shirts or the pants next? She pulled out her sketchpad and studied it thoughtfully. The shirts… no, the pants! Ugh, Marinette… just pick something and start, and the rest will come!
She reached for her sewing kit and started cutting fabric according to the measurements she had taken the last week. A pair of black pants with a single neon green stripe up the side of each leg began to take form, then another, and another.
Only three more to go… well, at least Ivan's going to be wearing shorts behind the drum kit. I could use a break, though. She picked up her phone and fired off a text message.
[Marinette] Hey you, what's up?
Pocketing her phone, she went downstairs to the kitchen and started looking for a snack. She passed on the bowl of peaches, instead opting for a banana. Heading back upstairs, she saw the new message notification on her phone and plopped down on her chaise to read it.
[Luka] Not much, how are you doing?
[Marinette] Oh you know, only recovering from one of the best days of my life yesterday. You? You're not on swab the deck duty, are you? :)
[Luka] Ha ha, no, thankfully… spent most of the day practicing for our next guitar lesson. You up for it?
[Marinette] We may have practiced G Major last time, but you gave me A Major thrill. When's the next lesson?
[Luka] uh… ok… how about tomorrow night?
[Marinette] Can't… I have some family stuff going on. Tuesday afternoon?
[Luka] It's a date! I'm glad you're liking the lessons so far. I'm enjoying them, too. Had a great time yesterday. I know I've said this before, but you're a special girl.
[Marinette] Stop it, you! You're making me blush.
[Luka] It's a good look for you.
[Marinette] If you're good, you'll see it again Tuesday. ;)
"Don't be bemused, it's just the news… fashion mogul Gabriel Agreste has put out an urgent call for Ladybug and Chat Noir to appear at his mansion as soon as possible! We don't know the reason behind this, but his assistant called us to ask that we put the word out. We're sending a van over to get to the bottom of this, but in the meantime: the Heroes of Paris are needed at the Agreste Mansion."
"Plagg, what do you think this is all about?"
"Who knows? Maybe he wants your blessing for some clothes or something. How long do we wait before you jump out the window?"
"Let me text Ladybug first. We should meet somewhere and arrive together."
Marinette was tapping out another reply to Luka when her phone buzzed. Crap… that's my *other* phone! What does that cat want now?
[CN] don't know if you saw… we're being summoned
[LB] where to this time? I've barely had my spots off all day!
[CN] tell me about it. I still haven't got that cat nap. :(
[CN] the Agreste mansion. Mr. Agreste is asking for us.
The AGRESTE mansion? With ADRIEN?! Wait, calm down, Marinette… you're not supposed to be crushing on him anymore! You can handle being around him. Besides… it's his father who wants to speak with you. With us. You can do this!
[LB] meet you there in ten minutes /(%)\
Ten minutes, huh? I bet I can make it in… less than one. Adrien chuckled to himself and tossed some cheese in Plagg's direction. "Eat up, buddy. This has been an interesting day. I can't see how it could get any more interesting…"
[Marinette] something came up, sorry. I have to go. Text later?
[Luka] I'll be waiting
[Marinette] :-*
[Luka] ;-)
She put away her phone and, for the third time that day, called for her transformation.
Chat Noir was waiting for Ladybug outside of the Agreste mansion. "Not a word, Kitty. I told you earlier that it wasn't a race," she teased, booping him on the nose. They walked to the front door and knocked. Nathalie Sancoeur answered and bade them entry.
"Mr. Agreste -" she coughed sharply "- is waiting in his office. Please, follow me."
Looking at each other and shrugging, they followed her into the large room. Gabriel was sitting in a high-backed chair near the abstract portrait of Emilie Agreste. His hands were lightly cupped and holding something in his lap. Instead of his normal blazer, tie, and slacks, he was wearing a white Gabriel track suit.
"Hello," he rasped. "I'm glad you could come."
Alarm bells went off in Chat Noir's mind. Father sounds weak and like he's barely keeping it together… what's going on?
"Mr. Agreste. We came as soon as we heard," Ladybug said. "How can we help you?"
"I have something to show you two," Gabriel responded quietly.
Ladybug and Chat Noir moved closer.
Gabriel raised his hands and extended them, revealing the purple object in his hands.
"NO!" shouted Chat Noir. He growled and grabbed for his staff.
"That's… that's..." stammered Ladybug, pointing vaguely at Gabriel's hands. Her eyes met his and she shook her head slowly, stunned.