Chapter 35: Berserker
Nadja Chamack is on the news, announcing that at the end of the month, Gabriel Agreste is going to break his hermit-like behavior and host a massive, high-end, elegant fashion show at the Paris stadium. The most elite will get invitations, and it promises to be a pivotal point in the Paris fashion scene even outside of Fashion Week. The news station will cover more as the event approaches.
Nathalie Sancoeur turns off the broadcast from her tablet. Both she and Gabriel are standing over Emilie Agreste's life support coffin. Gabriel is paying more attention to his wife than the broadcast. Nathalie asks him "What will you do if this plan fails?" In her heart, she wants him to give up—to realize his wife is gone. Then maybe, just maybe, she, Nathalie, will stand a chance. But Nathalie also doesn't want that. She loves Gabriel's devotion to his family. She wants him to be happy. If Emilie wakes up, that would make Gabriel most happy. Isn't that the best outcome? Outside, her face betrays no emotions.
It takes Gabriel a moment to reply. He says it has to work—for Emilie's sake. And if it doesn't…he can't give up. He has to keep trying until she's in his arms again. Nathalie says she understands as her heart breaks.
However, she'll help him regardless. She says that things are coming together and preparations at the stadium are underway. This includes cleaning out the random junk left in the lower rooms as well as wiring the dressing rooms for sound. There's one thing they need to work on now—they need to begin pruning Ladybug and Cat Noir's allies, starting with the B Team. Gabriel agrees. They've gotten comfortable; they think they've escaped Hawk Moth. Now is the time to prove his power over them.
Nathalie says she also has an idea for who to target first—that way Gabriel can begin to break up the B Team without revealing his full hand. She shows Gabriel a picture of "Crow-man" on her tablet (as Tsukuyomi is still called "Crow-man" by everyone in Paris except the B Team.) "He's quite possibly the strongest member on their team; however, he's the most emotionally unstable. He can be easily manipulated." "Great job, Nathalie. Once I force him to reveal his identity, he'll be my key into uncovering everyone's identity."
It's morning, and the students are making their way to school. Fumikage Tokoyami is among them. However, as he's walking, he thinks he hears a voice whisper to him. He turns around, looking for the speaker, but he sees no one. Fumikage shrugs it off; it's not as if he was able to make out specific words.
He meets up with Tsuyu Asui, and they head to the lockers. As he reaches for his textbooks, Fumikage hears a whisper again; it sounds like it's saying "Crow-man." He looks around; students are talking everywhere. He asks Tsuyu if she said anything, but she didn't. He shrugs it off again, assuming he overheard someone else's conversation. (Once again, Tsuyu and Fumikage are borrowed from My Hero Academia.)
Elsewhere in the school, Marie Chauveau and Suzette Rault are harassing Cameran Tyler and Guy Nigels, not taking "we're not gay" for an answer. Nicolette Lacroix is talking to Monique Imhof about how she can catch Etienne Fontaine's attention, but Monique says that's a lost cause. Jean Duparc is performing a magic trick for Rose Lavillant and Juleka Couffaine. He produces a flower (likely grown by Gilles Chastain) and gives it to Rose. He's over the moon when she accepts. However, Rose doesn't realize there's romantic intentions behind it. Giselle Winters-Blanchet hangs up her ice skates in her locker just how Alix Kubdel always hangs up her roller blades. Yvonne Garnier notices and asks if she can do an article for the school newspaper on the ice rink, which Giselle agrees to. Kagami Tsurugi wants to make friends; she checks her phone app for advice. Then she approaches Rachel Beauchene and Meg Delphinus to strike up a conversation, but her awkward ways fall flat. Le Chien Kim and Nathaniel Kurtzberg are sending texts to Marc Anciel, who is still on vacation. They ironically don't realize they work together on a regular basis as Dauphin and Firefly. (All character images can be found at (( photos . app . goo . gl / cgLSrNi71rxfep9e8 ))(remove the spaces).)
Marinette Dupin-Cheng has an "I'm sorry we didn't get to finish the scavenger hunt" batch of cookies gift for Adrien Agreste to make it up to him (not realizing he flaked on her as badly as she did on him). Tikki giggles in her purse since Nino Lahiffe and Alya Cesaire didn't get cookies. Marinette sweats. She knows why Nino and Alya didn't finish the scavenger hunt, and she does feel bad that that means they all left Adrien alone. She goes to give the cookies to him and trips all over her words. She winds up claiming the cookies are for Miss Bustier. Adrien says that's nice since Miss Bustier is a great teacher. He walks away. Marinette initially melts over the compliment that Adrien called her nice. Then she scolds herself as now she blabbed that she has to give the cookies to Miss Bustier instead of Adrien. Tikki just shakes her head.
Fumikage Tokoyami is sitting in Mr. Haprele's class, listening to the lecture and taking notes, when he hears the whisper again. "Crow-man." He looks around, but it's clear no one is speaking besides the teacher. However, now Fumikage is certain he heard something. There, there it is again! "Crow-man." Mr. Haprele notices Fumikage looking around and asks him if anything is wrong. Fumikage denies it, so the lesson resumes.
After class, Fumikage and Tsuyu start talking. Tsuyu can tell he's distracted. Fumikage hears it again: "Crow-man." He asks her if she can hear it, but she says no. However, the voice continues. "Crow-man. Do you really think the others trust you?" Fumikage feels unnerved down to his spine. He asks aloud who's talking to him and what do they want? No answer. Tsuyu again insists that no one is talking to him. Fumikage huffs. Everyone else is gathering their stuff to go home or to go to practice. Kagami has her fencing equipment over her shoulder. Alix is lacing up her rollerblades while talking to Stella Tenebrae. Kim has his gym bag to head to the pool. Giselle and Yvonne head to the ice rink.
Outside of the school, on the steps, Fumikage once again hears the voice. "No one trusts you. They're terrified of you." He whips his head around. "Stop talking to me!" The voice doesn't stop. "Have you seen your face when you transform? You're a monster, Crow-man." "Enough!"
By now, Fumikage is starting to get weird looks. He hustles away, trying to get to a private area. Tsuyu is genuinely worried. When he runs off, she follows.
Fumikage finds himself in a narrow street; the tall buildings stretch high, casting shadows. He can't get the voice out of his head. "No one trusts you. You're the only hero to ever be akumatized (referring to chapter four)." He demands to be left alone, but the voice continues. "How can someone with the power of darkness be a hero?" Fumikage insists it's not true; he has friends who trust him. He's helped Paris. He clutches his head, trying to block out the sound. "Of course it's true." Insists the voice. "I'm you. I know the truth. You're not like the others; you're just barely keeping yourself in control."
The voice is, of course, Hawk Moth. Since the miraculous without kwamis are actually antique akumatized items, he can communicate with the wielders. (He just hasn't before because 1) he had no need to and 2) he didn't want to give this ability away.) Hawk Moth is using Nathalie's analysis of Crow-man's personality as well as his (Hawk Moth's) own natural charisma to guess at the best, manipulative things to say. In addition, he's using his ability to tweak the alignment of the antique akumatized items. Instead of flipping the crow buttons into full-on evil, he's instead using them as a gateway to influences Fumikage's emotions into rage, confusion, mistrust, and paranoia.
The lightbulbs begin to break around him again as his shadow warps. Fumikage does his best to rein in his powers; they haven't gone out of control since chapter 4. They've trained hard, haven't they? Why is he losing control? This is, of course, all Hawk Moth's doing. And thanks to Hawk Moth, Fumikage transforms into Tsukuyomi through no conscious effort of his own.
That's when Tsuyu shows up. She yells at him, telling him to call down. Breathe. Mediate. However, Hawk Moth has pulled Tsukuyomi too far away mentally. He also sends his akuma, which mutates Tsukuyomi into the akumatized victim Berserker. This maximizes Tsukuyomi's shadow abilities, speed, and attack at the expense of rational thought. Tsuyu realizes that this is a genuine akumatization this time around. She shouts at him to resist it, but it's clear he doesn't hear her.
Berserker charges, but Tsuyu ducks out of sight. Her hands are shaking as she struggles to think of what to do. She needs to help him; Fumikage is her friend. But how? That's right, the B Team has practiced and planned for this. She forces herself to calm down as Berserker takes to the streets of Paris. She contacts the B Team and sends the Akuma Alert on the app. Then she transforms into Froppy. She knows this is breaking the B Team's personal rules again (as she did in Glutton), but it's an emergency.
Hawk Moth is thrilled to have Berserker under his control. He orders Berserker to flush Ladybug and Cat Noir out and steal their miraculous. He also talks to Berserker. There's one thing Hawk Moth needs to know to hone in on the miraculous without kwamis at any time: an identity. So he asks Berserker who he is.
"Tell me, Crow-man, what's your real name?"
"I'm not Crow-man," Berserker insists through his mind-controlled haze.
"Who are you?"
"I am Tsukuyomi."
Hawk Moth is elated. He has a real name to work with. While he can sense where Berserker is right now due to the current akuma, even if Ladybug and Cat Noir win, Hawk Moth will have a compass needle on Berserker's civilian form. He'll be able to track all the other B Team members and then scare them into giving up their miraculous to Ladybug and Cat Noir—then he'll know their identities too!
"Tsuku Yomi, a pleasure to meet you." Hawk Moth grins widely to himself. "A strange name. Are you Japanese?"
"Yes," Tsukuyomi admits, mindlessly under Hawk Moth's control.
Having what he wanted, Hawk Moth lets go of Berserker's sanity and allows him to rampage. His shadows tear through the streets; they trap people in webs of darkness. In terms of raw power, there's little that can stand up to his might.
Froppy is the first one on the scene. She tries to slow Berserker down, but mostly she has her flippers full keeping civilians out of the way. Ladybug and Cat Noir show up shortly afterward and thank her for helping people until they could arrive. Froppy is relieved, but she's still filled with worry for Berserker. She wants to tell them it's Tsukuyomi, but she refrains out of fear of revealing either of their identities (although she knows Ladybug and Cat Noir already know about Fumikage, but Froppy is emotional and not thinking of that at the moment. Which says a lot about Tsuyu's feelings for Fumikage as she's not the type to get worked up—we saw it before in Party Crasher.)
The fight begins, and Berserker causes a lot of collateral damage. Nadja Chamack does her best to report it, but even she has to keep her distance.
Firefly is unable to arrive since Marc is still out of town. Ondine and Kim don't hear the news since they're practicing swimming, there's no television, and their phones are in their lockers (they also wonder why Tsuyu skipped practice; she was busy chasing Fumikage). That leaves only Alpha, who sends a message to Froppy to hang on; he'll get there as soon as he can, but he's nowhere near and needs to find his spotter. Froppy doesn't get the message as she's too busy dealing with Berserker to check her phone.
On a rooftop, adult Bunnyx watches as the commotion passes. This is the adult Bunnyx who retrieved the miraculous without kwamis from the crypt in the Prologue—the one who is older than the Cheshire chapter one. However, she just watches; she doesn't interfere. This is all necessary to bring the future.
Ladybug and Cat Noir do their best to confront Berserker, but he throws them around like dolls. Froppy is still trying to talk common sense into him without revealing too much. However, he doesn't appear to hear anyone at all. Anywhere Berserker goes, darkness spreads, and lightbulbs break. The clouds thicken overhead.
Internally, Fumikage is struggling. It feels as if he's just drowning in darkness. He can't win; why try? Despair. The power of the butterfly urges his mind and personality to sleep. Don't worry; don't struggle. The powers he now possesses will handle all his troubles. However, one voice breaks through the dark haze and hopelessness trance. A female voice. Froppy. No…not Froppy. Tsuyu. Fumikage's consciousness rouses itself.
The fight sprawls through the main streets of Paris and then spills into the side streets. Those are darker, causing Berserker's power to grow. Ladybug realizes that his power is connected to darkness and that light makes him weaker. That causes her to realize that Berserker is Crow-man. She asks Froppy to confirm this. Froppy hesitates, but she admits it is Tsukuyomi. However, Froppy insists that this time it is a real akuma as she saw it for herself. All of Ladybug's reservations about the B Team return. However, there's no time to focus on that now as they have to deal with the threat in front of them first. Ladybug says she and Froppy will talk later. Even Cat Noir has his doubts now—he was fairly certain that the B Team were independent of Hawk Moth. Froppy insists they are.
Ladybug uses her Lucky Charm and comes up with a plan to lure Berserker into the light. This also includes Cat Noir using his Cataclysm. However, the more they attack, the more enraged Berserker becomes. The light doesn't have as huge of an impact as Ladybug had hoped. Inside, Fumikage is struggling to fight the rage and uncertainty, the fear and the despair.
It's Froppy who uses her Camouflage ability and her fishing hook and wire to get close to Berserker who finally breaks the stalemate. (Her Camouflage does need more cameos.) She gets to his ear and tells him that she believes in him; she never doubted him once. He has always been a hero to her.
I am a hero. Fumikage insists.
Hawk Moth feels a shudder through his power. What's this? How can his victim be resisting now?!
In the midst of the battle, Ladybug and Cat Noir and Froppy notice Berserker slowing down. He recoils in on himself, clutching his head. Ladybug and Cat Noir exchange a look—neither of them did that, and they know Froppy didn't either.
"I am a hero!" Berserker bellows despite his akuma-induced insanity.
The akumatized item breaks from the strength of his will, setting the akuma free. Berserker reverts back into Tsukuyomi, who drops to his knees, breathing hard.
Ladybug, Cat Noir, and Hawk Moth are all beyond dumbfounded. Hawk Moth cannot believe someone was able to overthrow his powers—especially someone who had been using an item made by the butterfly miraculous for so long. The teenage heroes didn't even know it was possible to overthrown an akuma, not after possession. This reverts their doubts about the B Team—even stronger than before. Maybe the B Team really is free of Hawk Moth; maybe there really, really is nothing to worry about. Maybe the B Team are 100% heroes and great allies. Maybe they were wrong to be so paranoid and mistrusting.
Ladybug and Cat Noir are pretty much jaw dropped as Froppy jumps down to check on Tsukuyomi. Fortunately, Ladybug recovers fast enough to purify the akuma and do her world-healing wave.
She and Cat Noir then join Froppy in seeing how Tsukuyomi is doing. He's a bit dazed, but he is gradually catching his breath. Ladybug apologizes to both of them. She says she misjudged them; she says that she is impressed with their heroic resolve. She and Cat Noir offer Pound It with them. Tsukuyomi dryly remarks that they attacked him again, but is tone is far less accusatory than it was in chapter four. He staggers to his feet with Froppy by his side and stumbles towards them.
Meanwhile, Hawk Moth is smirking to himself. Sure, his akuma was purified. However, he now knows that Crow-man is really Tsuku Yomi. He can pinpoint every single other miraculous user with this identity as a springboard. Hawk Moth concentrates to hone in on his target. His smirk vanishes. He can't sense Tsukuyomi any more precisely than he could before. How can this be happening?! He was able to detected Chloe Bourgeois fine! Then, suddenly, Tsukuyomi's power vanishes from his sight. It isn't being blocked—he knows that from the bee item. It's as if his connect to the crow was suddenly severed. Hawk Moth grinds his teeth as he struggles to gather the remains of his failing plan.
Tsukuyomi stops. He feels his heart rate accelerate; it's a feeling of exhilaration. Froppy asks him what's wrong, but he can't answer. He just grips at his chest. Ladybug and Cat Noir take wary stances; their timers are counting down. However, for Tsukuyomi, it feels like a welcoming sensation.
His powers surge.
The other three are confused as to what's going on. Tsukuyomi isn't talking. But before they can decide if this is an enemy situation again, Tsukuyomi's dark elemental powers swirl around him. They wrap around him like a blanket, encasing him like a cocoon. Tsukuyomi feels himself falling into a deep but gentle sleep. Froppy cries out his name, but his powers have him completely surrounded, floating two feet off the ground, with him curled up inside. Everything goes still.
Cat Noir asks what just happened, but no one has any answers. Froppy places a hand on the egg shape shadow mass carefully. She can tell it's warm and senses power, but she can't communicate with Tsukuyomi at all. The cocoon doesn't respond. Ladybug raps it with her knuckles but also gets no response. They try a few other things with no results. Cat Noir suggests he could Cataclysm it after he recharges, but Froppy adamantly vetoes that idea as she doesn't want to see her friend hurt—and there's no telling how a Cataclysm would effect this. Cat Noir sees her point and agrees.
Ladybug thinks through their options and then suggest that they take Tsukuyomi to see "their master." He might know something that can help—but it's likely Froppy won't be able to come too. Froppy also considers her options. She knows how Tsukuyomi felt about Ladybug and Cat Noir before this day; she also knows how close the B Team is. (She also knows how she feels about Tsukuyomi?) She jumps onto the side of a building and uses her tongue to pull the cocoon close. Much to her surprise, it does move with her as lightly as a balloon. Froppy says she'll look after her friend, and that the B Team looks after its own. She thanks Ladybug and Cat Noir, but she knows Tsukuyomi would want it this way. If they learn anything, they'll discuss it in the group chat server. Froppy begins to hop off.
Ladybug and Cat Noir tell her to stop. This is huge and unprecedented. They need to work together to help Tsukuyomi. Froppy can't deny this, so instead she points out that their miraculous are blipping pretty low. Ladybug and Cat Noir have to leave before their identities are revealed. Cat Noir exits first. Ladybug takes just a second longer. "Please, just trust us on this."
"I do trust you," says Froppy. "But you also have to trust us."
They part ways.
Froppy lands in her home through her bedroom window. She then hauls Fumikage's cocoon in behind her. Her mother announces dinner will be ready in twenty minutes. Froppy shouts back that she'll be there; she's just doing homework. She then transforms back into Tsuyu. She looks at the cocoon. She has no idea what she's going to do. She realizes she was pretty impulsive and rash; maybe she should have listened to Cat Noir and Ladybug longer (again, this isn't like Tsuyu at all and is a major sign of her feelings). She shoves the cocoon in her closet for now as she has to hide it from her family. But how is she going to explain what's going on to Fumikage's family? How long can she make excuses? What'll they do if he doesn't come home tonight? How long will Fumikage be trapped? What the heck is going on?! The only thing she knows to do is to contact the B Team. She logs into the server and begins to tell them what happened…
To be continued in Chapter 36: Acid Rain…