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While Carapace left to find somewhere to detransform and feed Wayzz, the rest looked up at the roof. Hawkmoth was still fighting; Temoli had been knocked back, but Ocelotl was going at it hammer and tongs with the supervillain.

"Ready?" Ladybug asked. The others nodded, and then they jumped.

Hawkmoth turned around at the noise of impact, and even under his mask his eyes widened, as he continued blocking Chimalli.

"It's over," Rena Rouge told him. "Your discount Timetagger has been defeated."

Hawkmoth just laughed.

"Hello, Alya," he said unpleasantly. Rena shivered.

"Where's your friend?" Hawkmoth asked.

"He'll be here," Rena replied.

"I count on it."

"You're alone!" Chat pointed out. "And hugely outnumbered."

Hawkmoth did not reply for a moment, only continued fighting Ocelotl. Chat decided not to wait for an answer. He looked at Ladybug, and together they shouted and charged, the others at their heels.

Hawkmoth pushed Ocelotl back and turned to receive them. A colossal battle ensued.

Against so many opponents, Hawkmoth was having to work extremely hard, but he managed to knock Rena Rouge aside with his staff, then parry Chat Noir, cause his baton to knock Ladybug over the head (prompting an indignant 'hey!') and then skittered backwards to avoid the yo-yos of Ladybird and Temoli.

However, Hawkmoth knew that the odds were against him; any attempt to fight against such overwhelming numbers would end badly even for him, and so it was far better to retreat and live to fight another day.

So, kicking Ocelotl out of the way, he turned and ran. The others all shouted and piled after him, except Rena Rouge who for some reason dived off the roof and headed for a side street. He smirked, and continued to run, leaping over an alley and on to another roof, putting a little bit of distance between himself and the pursuing superheroes.

Hawkmoth considered his options. His best hope was to try to lose them, even for thirty seconds, dive up an alley or into a building, and transform. It would have to be the right place, because Gabriel Agreste was not exactly an unknown face, but this was, he thought, his best course of action. With that in mind, he spurred himself to run faster.

He glanced over his shoulder, and saw his pursuers, charging after him with triumphant and determined expressions on their faces. He recognised a new figure among them, wearing yellow and black. Was Queen Bee here? That shouldn't be possible, Chloe Bourgeois had been one of his Timetagger's first victims. Ladybug and Chat Noir were at the forefront. He watched as Ladybug spoke quickly to her partner, and then got her yo-yo out. She threw it up into the air, and Chat Noir smashed it with his baton and sent it screaming towards him. His eyes widened in alarm, and he only just managed to roll under it and come up still running. Ladybug recalled the Yo-yo, frustrated. Hawkmoth grinned in victory, but looked forward again and his elation vanished.

Carapace was standing in front of him, his shield braced to absorb the impact, and a grim smirk on his face. Hawkmoth had no choice; he continued running, quickly closing the distance and daring the hero to stay in his way. He saw Carapace's eyes widen, and suddenly the hero was stepping to the side, letting him past-

"Shellter!"

The forcefield burst to life right in front of Hawkmoth, and with a grunt he collided with it and was thrown heavily to one side. The impact knocked him off his feet and he rolled off the rooftop, landing with a crash on the street below.

He didn't even have time to grunt before the heroes were upon him, surrounding him and drawing their weapons. The woman in yellow landed right in front of him, and spoke one word, in Italian:

"Venom!"

There was a burst of yellow light, and Hawkmoth's movements became sluggish. He tried to fight against it, but his arms moved too slowly. The woman in yellow flipped backwards, and the rest of the heroes were upon him; Temoli's yo-yo wrapped around his left arm, and Ladybird's around his right; Chimalli grabbed one leg, and the Black Cat the other. Carapace jumped down and wrapped his arms around his torso, and Chat Noir's Baton appeared in front of his throat. Hawkmoth was forced to his knees.

"I wouldn't try moving, if I were you," Chat told him malevolently, as the Butterfly appeared in front of him.

"What do you want?" Hawkmoth demanded, trying to move. But the venom was still coursing through him.

The Butterfly hesitated for a second.

"Nooroo, Bright Wings fall," he said eventually. There was a purple flash, and suddenly an old man wearing bright robes was standing in front of him. Nooroo- A Nooroo, anyway- appeared beside him, and eyed him with some disdain. Ladybug stood beside him, and off to the side Hawkmoth spotted Alya Cesaire, her camera out and ready.

"My name is Giovanni Rossi," the man began, starting towards him. "I have wielded the Butterfly Miraculous for twenty years. I have defended my city against whatever evil has been thrown at it. And we did it together."

"Why are you telling me this?" Hawkmoth asked, confused.

"I'm not," Giovanni Rossi replied, scowling at him. "I am not talking to you."

"Then what-"

Hawkmoth stopped as a strange warm feeling began to spread through him.

"Do you remember the day I found you?" Rossi continued. "I do, as clear as day."

Hawkmoth's mind was suddenly flooded with a memory that was not his own, of a Kwami standing on a man's shoulder as they both balanced on the prow of a ship, looking over a brilliant azure sea. And he realized what this past wielder of his miraculous was trying to do.

"No!" He managed. "Nooroo is mine to command!" He tried to struggle, but Chat Noir's baton dug into his throat.

"Nooroo is a conscious being!" Rossi snapped. "And you are far from the only man to have that brooch."

His tone softened again.

"I know that you don't want this," he said. "This man forces you to use your powers for evil. But he does not have to be your master any more."

"Yes I am! Nooroo, you will obey me!"

"Be quiet!" Rossi shouted angrily. "Like I said, I'm not talking to you!"

The warm feeling continued to spread through Hawkmoth's body, and more memories began to flood him; sitting in front of a fire, helping himself to food out of Rossi's hand, standing on a rooftop, watching the sun set over Saint Mark's Campanile.

"This man thinks he can command you," Rossi was saying, "so I will not do that. For the adventures we shared, and the bond we had, I am instead asking you to come back to me."

The warm feeling was now engulfing him, blazing with a brilliant intensity throughout his entire being, and Rossi reached forward and rested an old hand on the brooch. But he made no attempt to forcibly remove it. Instead, the old man took a deep breath, and in a voice full of love and hope and warmth, spoke.

"Nooroo," he said. "Dark wings, fall."

And Hawkmoth felt his power over Nooroo break.


Ladybug had to shield her eyes as a huge flash of purple light engulfed the scene. The brooch dropped off Hawkmoth's chest, and hit the floor with a clank. Nooroo, the present Nooroo, burst out and rushed towards Giovanni, throwing himself at his chest and muttering wildly as he hugged him. Giovanni patted him on the head and muttered encouragement to him. Ladybug allowed herself a small smile at the sight, but any ideas of a job well done vanished when she looked at where Hawkmoth had fallen.

Kneeling in the road, surrounded by speechless heroes, was Gabriel Agreste. Ladybug felt a pang of sorrow.

Poor Adrien...

But it was then that her eyes travelled past the vanquished hero, to where her partner was standing. Chat Noir's eyes were wide, and he looked like his world had just collapsed.

"You..." He stammered out.

And then Chat Noir turned on his heels and ran, just as the first police sirens began to sound behind them.