A/N Again thank you to everyone who has been supportive of this story! And again thanks to RoninReverie for all their help with this story! I hope that you guys like what I have in store! Xxxxxxxx
…...
Nathalie could feel the unmistakable localised quakes of someone akumatized nearby. Usually the sensation caused her a feeling of rejection or muted pride. But today it only brought her hope.
"What's that racket? It's worse than one of Jagged Stone's concerts." John said. He looked up the news using her iPad. Nathalie was briefly glad that she was restrained otherwise she wasn't sure what she would have done to keep his dirty fingers off it.
"Looks like Ladybrat and her pet are fighting another one of those freaks again."
Nathalie managed to keep the outside of her body void of emotion, but inside she felt her heartbreak. She had thought Gabriel was using his powers to rescue her. However, he was just trying to steal the Miraculous again. She didn't know why she was surprised. Of course, her being kidnapped wouldn't have stopped him from trying to achieve his goal. Of course, his dead wife's life was more important than hers. Of course, he didn't care enough about her to save her. Unlike her, who had risked everything to save him.
…
Ladybug and Chat Noir continued to fight Cœur l'fantôme, but it was no use. Every time they came near to a hit, he would just disappear back into the shadows.
"We need to keep him in the light somehow!" Ladybug shouted as they dodged another blow.
"Now would be the purr-fect time for your lucky charm to give us some ideas m'lady."
She nodded before throwing her yo-yo into the air.
"A disco ball?" Chat Noir asked as one appeared in amidst the hearts and sparkles. Ladybug looked as confused as he did until she stared at him and a building on the street causing her eyes to light up.
"Follow me and be ready." She told him.
He saluted her as he tailed her into the building. Like many of the others along the street, it was abandoned of people and belongings, with boarded up windows and walls that looked like they would fall if you so much as breathed on them. The ceiling of the next floor had caved in leaving only the roof above them
"When I give the signal, I need you to use your cataclysm on the roof and throw your pole so it's across the ceiling." Ladybug whispered into his ear as they crept to the corner of the room.
Before he could ask why, she signalled for him to be quiet. He followed her eyes to doorway as the door slowly opened and closed by itself.
"Now!" Ladybug yelled as she positioned herself in front of the door.
"Cataclysm!" he shouted as he used his abilities to jump up to the roof. As his claws scrapped the tile, it disintegrated into a thousand flakes of dust. When he started to fall back down he threw his staff so that it elongated to fit across the wall. While he did that, Ladybug threw the disco ball so that the chain caught on the stick and hung from it. The ball caught the sun and spread the light so that it illuminated every inch of the house. With no shadows to hide in, Cœur l'fantôme became visible again. And with all the windows boarded up and ladybug blocking the door, he was trapped.
Chat Noir landed on all fours next to his lady.
"It's over now, surrender!" He shouted. But Cœur l'fantôme's unnatural white face only snarled in response.
"I don't need powers to take care of you two pests!"
The man lunged a punch at him. Chat managed to block it, but the impact still hurt. Whoever this person was, they were naturally very strong. Cœur l'fantôme aimed another hit which he avoided. Chat used a punch of his own on his stomach but he barley reacted to it. Still he drove the fight away from where ladybug was blocking the door so that he didn't escape forcing them back to square one.
He heard his miraculous beep as he dodged anther kick. They needed to finish this fight soon so that their identities weren't revealed. And so they could save Nathalie. The thought spurred him on and in a burst of energy he was able to sweep the villain off his feet. Instinctively Ladybug raced over and tied him up in her yo-yo before he could recover. Cœur l'fantôme tried to escape, but even he wasn't strong enough to break its magical strength.
"Can you see his akuma?" Ladybug asked.
In the gleam of the sunlight Chat noticed something shining under his hat. He took it off to reveal a purple earpiece that didn't seem to fit the villain's overall aesthetic. he removed it and crushed it in his palm. An indigo butterfly emerged from the pieces. Now that the threat was over, ladybug untangled Cœur l'fantôme from her yo-yo and used it to cleanse the butterfly from Hawk Moth's evil. Hearts flew around the city, turning the world back into colour and fixing the buildings together.
"Pound it!" Ladybug and Chat Noir cried sharing a fist bump as Cœur l'fantôme's costume disappeared. They heard the man groan behind them. When they looked down, they saw a large man with greying hair staring at the deteriorating building surrounding them in confusion.
"It's alright." Ladybug said gently, kneeling down besides the man. "You were akumatized. But you're free now."
"I can't believe we missed it!"
Ladybug quickly spun round to find Alya and Nino standing in the doorway. The pair came hurrying over to them. But Chat was oblivious to their presence. All he could do was to stare frozen in shock at the man in front of him.
"Are you alright?" Ladybug asked, noticing his unusual behaviour.
"I know him." He said, amazed at how steady his voice sounded. "That's Adrien's bodyguard Gorilla. He must have been akumatized because he was worried about Nathalie. Hawk Moth then promised him he'd give him the power to find her which is why he embodied a noir detective and he tracked her to somewhere near here."
"Nathalie? Wait, you don't mean Nathalie Sancœur do you?" Nino asked.
Chat nodded, trying to appear professional whilst his head spun with all the dangerous possibilities that could have happened to her whilst they'd been fighting.
"Yes. She's been missing all day."
Nino's fists clenched in determination.
"That woman's the closest thing my best bud has to a mum. I'll do anything I can to help you find her."
"Me too." Alya said, slipping her hand around is wrist.
Chat smiled gratefully, wishing that he could tell them how much their words meant to him.
He was distracted from his thoughts as his and Ladybug's Miraculous beeped once again. The pair looked at each other, silently agreeing on a plan.
"You two head over to Nathalie's apartment and see what you can find." Ladybug said to Nino and Alya. "Me and Chat Noir will re-charge then search around here for her."
"You can count on us Ladybug!" Alya cried as Nino saluted. Chat told them the address before they off in the direction of Nathalie's apartment.
Ladybug then turned towards him.
"My Miraculous is more charged than yours so I'll take this gentleman someplace safe. And once were ready we can meet up back here."
"A brilliant plan as usual m'lady."
With a nod the pair went their separate ways.
….
Hawk Moth had never hated those superheroes more until this very moment.
Their little escapades had become more than annoying distractions towards his goal. Now they could be responsible for Nathalie's death. And if the worst happened, he wouldn't be able to use his wish to bring both women back.
He threw his cane against the window, smashing the already cracked pane to create a larger hole. He wasn't used to these emotions. He hadn't felt them in a long time. Since Emilie's death, he hadn't been able to focus on anything except doing whatever it took to bring her back. Including being too busy to notice his assistant whom he only now had begun to realise meant so much more than that to him.
He walked over to pick up his cane where it lay beneath what remained of the window. It was obvious now that he couldn't put Nathalie's life in the hands of his minions. No, this was something he had to do himself.
…
Chat Noir was on his lowest bar of energy as he dropped down behind one of the nearby buildings. He'd seen Ladybug head in the opposite direction with Gorilla whilst Nino dragged Alya away, so she couldn't try to discover their secret identities. He was about to transform back when he felt his phone ring. He opened it up to see that his father was calling. He stared at the phone in shock. He couldn't remember the last time his father had called him directly. Whatever the call was about it must be serious. Maybe he found Nathalie? He hoped as he answered it.
"Adrien." His Father spoke, avoiding pleasantries as usual. "There has still been no sign of Nathalie and Gorilla is not responding to my calls."
He neglected to tell his Father the reason for Gorilla's lack of response.
"I'm going out to search for her myself. Stay in your room. I don't want anything to happen to you to."
"I will Father." He said, his heart soaring at the rare display of affection directed at him and Nathalie. "Good luck."
As his Father hung up, he felt his costume and powers fade away. He looked up to see Plagg floating in front of him, the kwami's face full of concern that he usually tried to hide.
"Come on, the quicker we recharge the quicker we can find Nathalie. Before Father gets himself in danger looking for her." Adrien said, refusing to look Plagg in the eye. The kwami knew that without his Father or Nathalie he would have no one. Not that there would be any shortage people willing to take in the famous, rich, child model who now own a multi-million-euro company. Plagg ate up the slice of cheese, willing to do anything to help his partner.
….
To Finch Swoop: Thank you! Although it was RoninReverie who came up with the idea of the villain so all credit for that goes to her! Xxxxxxxxx
To Rose Tiger: Thanks for your comment! At least now they've managed to deal with the akuma! xxxxxxxx
To Guest: I completely forgot about that and now that you've said it yeah that would have made sense. Xxxxxxxxx