Sorry for the delay, I admit I watched the new season of Queer Eye and forgot about getting on my lap for a full day.
So! akuma Adrien am I right?
Of silver tongues and do-overs
Chapter 12: L'obscurité
Marinette had felt emotional rollercoasters before. Nearly daily since the arrival of the miraculous into her life and her secret role as Ladybug, protector of Paris. Had been on quite a lot thanks to her crush on Adrien Agreste. Still, the past four days had been way more intense than any other day, almost reaching the same level of wild as the day she met Tikki.
She looked at Mauro's expression and knew it was very similar to the first time she put the earrings on. Hesitance and fear, nervousness and disbelief. Her hand didn't waver, however, as she stepped closer to him, urging him to grab the ring.
"Mauro,"
"No, this is a terrible idea" Mauro shook his head "I can't even dance what makes you think I can wear a leather outfight and fight?"
"I could list all the reasons but we don't have much time," she said, knowing in her heart Mauro was going to accept that as an answer. She reached for him again, the ring a small weight on her palm.
The boy in question groaned and ran his hands through his hair, messing it even more, but when he reached out and grabbed the ring, Ladybug couldn't help the smirk of satisfaction forming on her face.
"Alright…right yeah" he muttered as he switched the ring to his right hand, soon joined by Plagg, who looked instantly to Mauro.
"A warning next time would have been nice" he grumbled, but he wasn't fooling the other two on the staircase "so you are going to be a substitute now?"
"Let's hope so," Mauro sighed "but Hawkmoth is not that stupid, he'll know I'm not the regular Chat Noir."
"Why do you say that?" Ladybug arched an eyebrow.
"Uh, I'm not blond?" Mauro pointed at his hair "and we don't have much time for me to go to a hair salon and fix it."
"That won't be necessary" Plagg crossed his paws "while I am no master of deception like a certain fox," Ladybug frowned "Hawkmoth won't be able to tell in this case."
"Why not?" Ladybug glanced at him "doesn't he see through the eyes of the akumas?"
"Usually yes," Plagg frowned "but only if the Akuma's eyes work like regular eyes not if they are-"
"Covered by a mask" Mauro added, "so he won't tell it is not blond cat boy."
"Exactly-hey!" Plagg puffed at him, earning a grin from Mauro "I was NOT the one who designed that outfit."
"Right, right" he took a deep breath "so we go in and fight him like a regular victim?"
"Akuma-"
"Still not used to saying that," Mauro frowned "so I just…"
"You know what to say" Plagg was grinning at him, Mauro squinting at the little creature "come on!"
"I thought you hated getting in it,"
"Worth the embarrassment you will go through."
Mauro squinted at the little kwami but looked back at Ladybug who nodded encouragingly.
"Plagg," Mauro raised the hand with the ring "claws out!"
The staircase was engulfed in bright green light as Plagg disappeared into the ring, and when Ladybug opened her eyes again, there stood a new Chat Noir.
Sort of.
The mask was there, same as the cat ears, even if now they were on top of a mess of black and silver hair. The outfit was almost exactly the same if it weren't for the lack of a bell and the silver lines that were all over the hems and edges of the outfit. It didn't look too tight even, just fit.
"Come on, say it" Mauro sighed "I look dumb."
"I think it looks appropriate," Ladybug opened the door of the rooftop so they could finally head out "ready?"
"As ready as I'll ever be" Chat Mauro grabbed the baton that was on his belt and followed after Ladybug "you will say nice words at my funeral, all I'm saying."
"You'll be fine," Ladybug smiled back at him as she threw her yo-yo to swing towards the next building, scanning the area for Adrien's akumatized form. She knew she could save him, she had to after all, but she still was allowing herself to worry over him, wondering what was going on in his mind and how they would defeat the Akuma without hurting him.
"Boy that's work out" Mauro panted as they landed on a different rooftop "so! Don't akumas have objectives to do? Like we spoil that and voilá?"
"Usually yes," Ladybug crossed her arms "but in this case, he just mentions to protect…" she sighed "protect me."
"Right, which will be a problem if you show as LB because he knows who you are."
Marinette frowned. This fight was beginning to look more and more difficult to strategize. She didn't regret knowing their identities, but now that they had that out of the bag, it was more difficult to form a plan of action. She didn't know how much Adrien would be able to tell while akumatized, or if he would be able to fight it off to keep his memories as far from Hawkmoth's reach.
"Not to mention Hawkmoth wants your skills, he knows about you."
"Which is why you made me be a furry for a day," he added "and like I said, if I'm not reading it, I'm pretty much powerless on that side of the field."
"So, what would he be looking for then?"
"Well," Mauro rubbed the back of his neck "he could also go after the one that wants to hurt you the most right now."
"Lila," Ladybug scoffed "as much as I want her to pay, this is not how I intended it to be."
She didn't notice behind them, on the park nearby, how L'Obscur made his way across the people, some clever enough to run away, find shelter from the supervillain, while others tried to hide and get a glance of the upcoming action.
L'Obscur paid no attention to any of them, instead of walking ahead until he heard some very familiar voices.
Lila Rossi was sobbing, dropping big fat tears in the arms of a very confused Rose, with Juleka on the other side looking uneasy between her and the Italian girl.
"It was awful" Lila sobbed, "she yelled so many things, calling me names and- and" she wiped her tears with a handkerchief "and poor Adrien, the Akuma got him when Marinette pushed him towards it."
"Oh no!" Rose kept consoling her "but, but Ladybug will save him, you'll see."
"If it wasn't for my sprained ankle, I would have been able to save him."
"Lies," L'Obscur called out "Lila Rossi, you are lying."
The girls stepped back, Lila hiding behind Juleka as Rose held her close.
"A-Adrien" she tried "Adrien it's us, we-"
"Stop," L'Obscur waved his sword as purple weaves trapped Juleka and Rose, binding them to the ground as well "I may be blind for justice now, but you are all blind to the truth."
Lila took a few steps back, looking around in hopes of finding another place to hide, but she soon got caught in the weaves of purple magic, leaving her to hang from a tree branch.
"Put me down!"
"No," L'Obscur kept throwing weaves at her "you will fall victim to all the tangled webs you created from your lying, and if you truly wish to be free, then you should try to tell the truth."
Lila struggled but the weaves turned tighter around her, mummifying her until only her nose and fingertips were visible, a purple cocoon hanging from the tree.
"Oh sh-" L'Obscur heard someone say, another of his fellow classmates, but as he turned around to find them, someone threw an acorn at him.
"Hey! Zorro mask!" Mauro called out at him "over here!"
L'Obscur turned around and faced them, giving Marinette an uneasy feeling all over again. He was holding himself with elegance before them, but his arms were stiff, his shoulders too squared up, his face a blank slate of emotions. What unnerved her the most was the lack of eyes, just a white cloth covering them, keeping them away from Marinette to try and figure out, it hurt her chest.
She assessed the place, with now too many purple cocoons around, she wondered who were the ones trapped under the Akuma's magic.
The purple silhouette appeared on the mask, both heroes knowing what that meant. L'Obscur, however, remained silent, ignoring them as he listened to whatever Hawkmoth was saying.
"Ladybug, Chat Noir" he finally spoke, "I believe we can reach an agreement."
Ladybug eyed Mauro for a split second, who shrugged as he was also confused to what was going on. At least it all seemed to point out Hawkmoth hadn't seen it was a different Chat Noir.
"I will set this boy free from my control if you hand me the miraculous," he said, and hearing it from Adrien's mouth made it so much worse "or, you can give me something else."
"And what would that be?" play dumb, she thought, her yo-yo spinning already as a shield between them and L'Obscur.
"I believe there is different magic in Paris," he said, "bring it to me, and I will not mess with you anymore."
"Yikes, you are a terrible salesman," Chat-Mauro said, eyeing Ladybug who gave him a small, almost unnoticeable nod of the head for him to move around the Akuma.
"Oh but Ladybug," L'Obscur was still facing her, the lack of expression, the coldness of the voice just freezing her veins "don't you care about this boy? Don't you care about his wellbeing? This is only a simple request I have, otherwise, my Akuma will do it for me."
Mauro had to hide his wince from Ladybug. Just how low would that guy go? But that was not the time for him to say something about Hawkmoth. He kept sneaking his way around L'Obscur, expanding his baton long enough for what he was going to do.
"I don't know what magic you are talking about."
"I believe you do."
Ladybug didn't answer, instead of throwing her yo-yo towards L'Obscur's sword to grab it. L'Obscur dodged the yo-yo as the purple mask disappeared and prepared to swing his sword at her, but Chat's baton swung underneath his feet and caused him to fall backwards.
"Ouch, sorry about that, didn't mean to swipe you off your feet," Chat smiled as he retracted his baton.
Ladybug had to stop swinging her yo-yo to glare at him.
"Seriously?!"
"What?" Chat Mauro grinned at her "it was right there!"
L'Obscur got back on his feet and turned to face Chat, raising his sword and charging against him, but Chat managed to avoid it as he held the baton in front of him. L'Obscure was even refined in his posture as he parried, the purple magic evading Chat just by millimetres at that point.
"Uh, LB-" he jumped back to avoid another swing "please tell me you have a plan!"
Ladybug threw her yo-yo again, this time grabbing L'Obscur's wrist, but his grip was strong on the sword he didn't let go of it, instead of pulling her towards him. She managed to stand down her feet, the tug strong under her fingers as she tried again to make him drop the sword.
"Come on, Adrien please!" she shouted, "I know you can snap out of it!"
L'Obscur faltered a step but didn't relent as he tugged once more, this time pulling so hard it did send Ladybug flying. She let go of the string and held on to a branch of a tree to balance herself from the motion, just as L'Obscure resumed his attacks towards Chat.
She was not thinking this through. Ladybug gritted her teeth as she watched the two boys giving and dodging attacks, but L'Obscure had far more experience than Mauro and it was fairly obvious at that point.
"Lucky charm!" she called out, in her hands falling what seemed to be-
"Oh come on!" she wanted to laugh at what the universe thought was good luck in this situation, glaring at the umbrella that had fallen on her hands. Fine, if that's how it was going to be, she was going to make use of it.
She threw her yo-yo to stop one of his attacks at Chat, causing him to divert his attention back to her as she landed on her feet next to Chat, holding the umbrella like a blade. L'Obscur took the chance to swing at her, both heroes dodging the streak of purple magic as it collided with another tree.
"Symbolic," Mauro eyed the umbrella "but how are you going to-"
"When I say now I want you to cataclysm the sword" she stood up "counting on you."
"Ay, ay"
Ladybug moved towards L'Obscure, this time the umbrella clashing against the blade. Ladybug remembered the one lesson of fencing she had attended, she had watched Adrien way too many times, and she may have had an influence of a certain tv show time ago, but even she had to admit she would be no match for L'Obscure's skills.
It didn't matter, she thought as she avoided a thrust at her, because she just wanted to stall. L'Obscure lunged forwards again, sending another wave of purple magic but Ladybug was getting the hang of his skill to easily deflect it.
And when he moved to try another stab, that's when she smirked, opening the umbrella right on his face. L'Obscure lost balance from the sudden slap of red and black fabric smacking his nose, stumbling backwards until he tripped with Chat's baton again.
"Now Chat!" Ladybug exclaimed as Chat Mauro called for cataclysm, jumping on the blade to disintegrate it. The blade turned to dust before their eyes, the purple Akuma flying away, only to be snatched by Ladybug's yo-yo.
"No more evil for you little Akuma," she said as she purified it, sending away the white butterfly, looking back to see the dark energy dissipate from Adrien's side, leaving him as he had always looked like.
Chat Mauro didn't waste time to kneel down and grab a hold of his pen, sighing in relief when he saw it still in one piece.
"Ow," he held his head as he stood up, his eyes widening when he saw Ladybug standing before him "I… I am sorry I,"
"It's alright" Ladybug placed a hand on his shoulder, her expression relieved but trying really hard not to cry her heart out from how happy she was Adrien wasn't hurt "you took a hit for me…again."
"Always my lady," Adrien smiled at her, the tension he was feeling slowly leaving his shoulders as Ladybug pulled him into a quick hug since she had to throw the summoned object to fix the city.
"Miraculous Ladybug!" she exclaimed as the swarm of ladybugs invaded Paris, freeing the people trapped in purple magic and returning the city back to normal. Ladybug heard a thud behind them, noticing Lila was now also free, pulling leaves and twigs out of her hair. So Adrien had managed to find her as an Akuma.
A simultaneous beep called their attention as Ladybug, out of habit, placed a hand to cover one of her earrings, Chat glancing at the ring that now had two paws left.
"So, this is a time to skedaddle, am I right?"
"Wait," Adrien looked at him "Mauro?"
"Say it a little louder man," Mauro sighed "I don't think they heard you."
"You, h-"
"We'll explain when we come back," Ladybug swung her yo-yo "got to find Nino and Alya first, remember?"
"Right, yes, I will go do that."
Both superheroes jumped away from the park, a blur to the people that were getting out of the daze that had been the magic of L'Obscur. They jumped and dashed all the way to Marinette's balcony, with enough time for the de-transformation to occur, Mauro slumping himself on the floor, back against the railing as he caught Plagg in his hands.
"Food, now, cheese" Plagg grumbled, earning an eye roll from Mauro "feed me."
"Ask Adrien for that, I don't carry expensive cheese in my pockets," Mauro turned to Marinette, who had turned back to usual, already feeding her kwami a macaroon "you ok?"
"Adrien got akumatized," she slumped next to him, suddenly too exhausted "he is Chat Noir, a miraculous holder and even he…" she hugged her knees "and he looked so… terrifying."
Mauro remained silent, instead of giving her shoulders a squeeze, blinking when Marinette turned to hug him instead.
"Oh, ok" he returned the hug, giving her a few reassuring pats on her back "but you saved him, Hawkmoth has no chance when it's you who saves the day if anything you just proved to him he can't mess with you."
Marinette smiled, pulling away from the hug to look at him.
"Thank you, Mauro," she said, eyeing Tikki "I guess I'm just nervous of what could happen if it were me, Queen Bee, Caparace and Rena Rouge got akumatized while being superheroes and now Adrien, I can't let it happen to me."
"The sooner Hawkmoth is defeated the better you mean."
"I suppose so," she sighed "but outside of the one time I thought I had a lead, I'm drawing blanks of who he might be."
Mauro eyed Plagg and the ring still on his finger. He sighed and stood up, offering Marinette a hand for her to get up as well.
"Well, I am still your ally on this" he smiled "and while my initial plan was to help out with a… teenager situation" he shrugged "taking down a mastermind villain sounds also exciting."
"And how will you do that?" she crossed her arms just as Mauro pulled out his notebook and twisted the pen on his hand.
"How about you get your partner while I work my magic out?" he gave her the ring, "because if we are doing this, then he definitely has to be here."
Mauro came to this universe thinking he would only help out the Lila situation and look at him go. How will that unfold?
Thank you so much for reading, this is officially my LONGEST fanfic, taking over a wip I left 7 years ago that was over 24k words as well.
Also I don't know if ff allows me to leave urls but my friend Rocco made some adorable fanart of this fic and I love it.
You can find it at her tumblr RoccoLangg to give some love as well!