Sage ignored Hawk Moth. It was hard to do. Every time he called to her, her attention drifted. She wasn't interested in what he had to offer her. The akuma's power was hers to wield. She didn't care about the miraculouses. She didn't care about what Hawk Moth thought was true. She didn't even really want her son back. She just wanted to hurt those who had made her life miserable. First, her ex-boss. Rage coiled in her bones, batteries for her telekinesis. If she knew one thing, it was that her cold hearted employer needed a taste of his own medicine. She smiled to herself, anger nestling in her gut like an old friend.

Any oncoming traffic was hurled out of her way. It didn't take much effort to reroute the direction of already moving objects. She found her old office building and twitched her fingers. The glass entryway shattered. Tempered glass crumbled into small chunks and coated the granite floors with a fine coating of dust and shrapnel. Her brain worked colly despite the heat in her heart and the pressure behind her eyes.

"Where are you, Jaques? I know you're still here. And I know your daughter is here as well." She made sure that her voice could be heard by every person in the building. Some screamed as they left, thoughts muddled with panic and disbelief. She let them go.

She scanned the building for her boss, who was trying to make it to the ground floor from his office on the third floor. She walked calmly towards the elevator, ripped the door open with barely a blink of her eyes, and rose through the elevator shaft until she found the correct floor. He had made it down one flight of stairs, his seven year old child clutched in his arms. She slammed the door to the elevator open and flew down the hall to the stairwell. Alarms were going off throughout the building. Her boss huddled halfway down the stairs, little girl clutched close. She was crying. Sage's heart fluttered with doubt.

"Supermarket Single!" Hawk Moth shouted in her mind. She closed her eyes and raised a hand.

"What do you want, you miserable piece of trash?"

"I will deakumatize you if you don't do as I say!"

Her chance was slipping away. Ladybug and Chat Noir would be there soon to stop her, as well. She knew she only had one chance.

"Very well, Hawk Moth. But on one condition."

She could feel his disapproval ripple through her head. "What is the condition?"

She grinned and raised a hand. "Allow me to finish this business first."

Marinette was running out of breath from running and parkouring so much. She had been more than halfway across the city when she saw the news. After making some kind of excuse to Alya as to why she needed to head home early, she had transformed and called Chat.

The trail of destruction was minimal this time, with the main issue being flung cars. She couldn't help everyone, especially not when her Lucky Charm could save the day. She missed her next target, a flagpole attached to a bank, and tumbled to the ground. A few seconds later, Chat Noir's hand was there to help her up.

"Do you know what could have caused this, Chat?" She asked as she took his hand.

His mouth was set in a grim line. "She was fired. I tried to help her, but…" He stared at the building and frowned. Something felt wrong. "Sage isn't a bad person. I'm sure we can talk to her about it."

Marinette nodded. "Let's get in there."

"There's no need to enter that building, my dears." Adrien froze. Marinette stared at Supermarket Single. The woman's costume was almost the same as before, except that her hair and blazer now mimicked the branches and bark of a tree. And she was carrying… A child. Marinette felt her hand fly to her face.

"No…"

Adrien gripped her other hand so tight that it hurt. She didn't want him to let go. The child was covered in blood. Her hair was turning into more branches.

"Sage, how could you?" Adrien whispered. Marinette looked around, not sure what for, but hoping that something in range would make a difference. Nothing looked promising. Supermarket Single dropped the child. She hit the ground with a dusty thud. Adrien flinched away.

Marinette took a step towards their foe. "You've gone too far, this time. We will stop you, Hawk Moth!" She shouted so that everyone could hear.

Sage laughed, tone deaf and lost. "Hawk Moth didn't want me to kill her."

Adrien started shaking. Marinette held his hand close to her hip.

"I wanted to!" She laughed again, short and cold. "I wanted my colleagues to understand what I went through. To know what it's like, losing the light of your life!" Her voice caught. Was she crying? Marinette couldn't tell if Adrien was shaking from crying, anger, or fear. She couldn't let go of his hand.

"You could have tried poetry instead of murder." Marinette offered, equally as cold. "We can't have patience for villains who don't value the lives of others."

Supermarket Single smiled. "Ah, so verbose. I'm afraid poetry just isn't my thing. Now, if you'll both excuse me, I have to take your miraculouses." She reached a hand out. Marinette felt an earring begin to come loose. She clapped her hands over them, finally releasing Adrien from her hold. The boy lunged forward, staff whistling through the air as he ran forward.

"Nobody needs to understand!" He swung hard at her from the right, form loose and face twisted with hurt and anger. His voice was pretty rough, too. Marinette felt her earrings go still. She grabbed her yo-yo and prayed for a good Lucky Charm.

Chat flew past her right as she got a mirror in return. She stumbled out of his way, clutching the shiny surface to her chest. Supermarket Single was slowly walking towards her, makeup twisted into a cruel smile.

"No, I'm pretty sure they do. Business this, and numbers that. All they care about is productivity. And themselves. Selfishness all around. I'm not wrong! I've lived in this world long enough to know!"

Marinette heard Adrien struggle to his feet. There was broken glass everywhere. But what item held the akuma?

"Thirty years isn't enough time to pass judgement on a world that's billions of years old!" Adrien countered. "Just because you lost your son doesn't give you the right to take another person's kid from them!"

Something clicked. Marinette gripped the mirror. The new part of this villain's outfit had to be the clue. "Adrien, the tree!"

He turned slightly. "What?"

She tapped her thigh with the mirror. What had he said the tree was? "A dogwood! Where is it?"

He blanched. Marinette was starting to worry about the health of his heart. Surely being that pale that often wasn't a good sign.

"It's her son's burial marker."

Marinette closed her eyes. "Why does everything have to be difficult."

"My Lady, I can't-"

Marinette raised a hand to his lips, silencing his protest. "I wouldn't make you. I think what we have to do is find Hawk Moth and stop him directly. This is too much, Adrien."

Adrien closed his eyes, which were watery. Marinette wanted so badly to comfort him. There was nothing she could do.

"We need her to lead us to Hawk Moth. And I think I have a plan."

Adrien opened his brilliant green eyes. "What do we need to do?"