Chapter 13: Arkham Showdown
The fierce and bone chilling roar of the new Akuma rang throughout Arkham Asylum like the bells of Big Ben itself had been brought across the Atlantic. Almost everyone far away from the room of it's source paused in their steps, their eyes wide for they had never heard such a sound of fury for a long time. Even the roars of Killer Croc were merely a whisper compared to what they just heard.
The lips of Hawkmoth slid into a grin as he and Joker heard the roar from the kitchen of Arkham.
"And now it starts. The final night..." the silver-masked man purred sadistically.
"Ha, ha, ha, ha! Oh Batsy is in for the fight of his life!" The Joker cackled excitedly, "He could barely handle Bane when he was normal! An akumatized Bane will break more than just his back!"
"And Ladybug and Cat Noir will fall with him...and we'll FINALLY get those Miraculouses!" Hawk Moth declared triumphantly.
He had hated having to work with somebody as insane as The Joker but it seemed that putting up with him was worth it in the end. He finally had an akuma minion that truly looked unstoppable and was guaranteed to get him what he wanted. All those minions who failed him, all this waiting, all this planning! And it was about to finally pay off! Hawk Moth continued to watch through the eyes of his new minion, keen to see this fight to the end.
If Ladybug and Cat Noir hadn't been powered by magic, they would've been dead. Simple as that.
They had been sent flying as the huge arms of the akumatized Bane slammed into them like huge slaps of concrete. The punch felt more like being hit by a tank than a human being. The insect and cat-themed heroes were hurled through the air and sent crashing into the wall. Any normal person would've had his bones shattered like glass from such an impact. They were once again thankful to the Kwamis for their magical gifts for yet again, they had saved their lives.
The two teens were momentarily down as Bane swiped at the guards who had foolishly decided to open fire on him. The bullets bounced away uselessly, not even scratching his hardened skin. Smirking, Bane swatted them away like flies. His huge arm knocked the guards off their feet and onto the floor, sending them sprawling. Batman watched, keeping his distance as he knew getting in close would be suicide. Curse Hawk Moth for coming here to bring his terror to Gotham! Bane glowered up at him, roaring like a dragon.
"COME AND FACE ME BATMAN!" he bellowed, "YOU AND I HAVE SCORES TO SETTLE!"
Batman suppressed a gulp as he noticed Ladybug and Chat Noir staggering back to their feet. They were the experts in taking down Akumas, but he knew Bane better. He'd have to think faster on his feet than usual. He looked to his nemesis and stood tall, his left hand reaching behind his back for a pouch on his utility belt.
"Come and get me then, Bane. I'm not afraid of you" he said firmly. The red skinned brute chuckled as he began to calmly stride towards him.
"Still so stubborn until the end. You may as well accept your fate, dear friend. You won't survive this time!" he yelled as he leapt forward at a monstrous speed. Ladybug quickly reacted by swinging her yoyo out at Batman's leg, which was caught by the thin but strong string as it yanked him away from the incoming fists of Bane.
As he was yanked away, Batman dropped a grenade like device on the spot he was just standing on. Rolling onto his side at Ladybug's and Chat's feet, Batman watched as Bane's fists slammed down into the grenade, which exploded upon contact. Instead of destroying his hands, however, the grenade unleashed an icy prison upon Bane's massive hands, icing them to the floor and leaving him stuck there for the time being.
"That won't hold him for long! What's the plan?" Chat Noir asked Batman as he stood up.
"Do it how you both usually do it: find the source of his power and destroy it!" Batman replied as he pulled out his grappling gun upon noticing the ice beginning to crack around Bane's fists.
"This is gonna have to be a team effort. First we need to get the guards out of here, though." Ladybug noted as she glanced at those who gotten injured by Bane as shards of ice began to drop to the floor.
"You see to that. They might not've listened to you, so you'll have to force them out. Me and Chat will distract Bane to buy you time" Batman firmly replied.
"Got it. Do your best, guys!" Ladybug called as she darted over to the guards as the block of ice crumbled to pieces, with Bane tearing his hands into the air, his hideous yellow eyes landing on Batman and Chat Noir, who readied his staff.
"Ready to run again, pal?" the latter asked the vigilante, who merely nodded as he fired his grappling gun into the gantry above, zipping up it like a fly as Bane leapt at him and Chat, who dove to the side to avoid being reduced to a red squishy mess on the floor.
Chat dodged an incoming fist and fiercely jabbed his staff into Bane's forearm and then into his chest, only to be grabbed by his tail.
"You're foolish to fight me, boy!" Bane sneered as he pulled Chat towards his face. Chat managed to smirk despite his predicament.
"Tell yourself that everyday when you fight Batman, huh?" he retorted as he slammed his staff into Bane's masked face, stunning the brute unhand him and drop Chat to the floor.
The black clad hero landed on his feet, mentally making the old "cats always land on their feet" remark in his head before running off quickly to avoid a huge slam from Bane as he swung his fist down. While he hadn't hit Cat Noir, he had caused the ground to crack. Huge cracks spread out from the impact of his fist and began to spread as if they were trying to catch Cat Noir and snag him. Batman felt the shuddering under his feet, amazed he was still standing. It was like an earthquake had hit the Asylum. If Bane kept this up, the entire building would come down on their heads!
Batman fixed his steel gaze on Bane, mentally challenging him to come at him and leave the teen boy alone. He hadn't promised rest and recuperation for Adrien just to see him get crushed. Bane took the bait and lowered his head. Laughing, he charged, his powerful legs springing him into action. Every footstep he took made the floor shudder. Batman stayed where he was, the Gotham vigilante not even looking as if he was ready to move.
But just as the red-skinned akuma villain was about to charge into him, he threw himself backwards onto the floor. As soon as he was lying down on it, he waited until Bane sailed over him before slapping against his ankle with his right hand. To his opponent, it seemed he had just feebly attempted to hurt him with a pathetic slap. But Bane knew that Batman was never a light hitter. He stopped his charge and instinctively looked down at his ankle. As he suspected, his bat-themed nemesis had had the gall to attach a bomb onto him. He pulled it off and threw it...but not quick enough.
The fuse had been very small, only a few seconds, and the time it had taken Bane to notice it and take it off wasn't fast enough to beat the clock. The bomb went off just inches in front of Bane, the force of the blast knocking him off his feet. The bomb had been small but the explosion had been surprisingly loud and powerful. Cat Noir whistled, impressed at how such a small bomb had momentarily incapacitated the hulking giant they were fighting.
"How do you get such big explosions out of such small bombs?!" he exclaimed.
"It's not easy but it pays off at least." Batman replied bluntly, "Search him and find the akuma before he gets up again!"
Curtly nodding, Chat darted towards the stunned form of Bane's body, his emerald eyes scanning up and down to see if his vision would give off any clue as to where the Akuma was. Though his vision was grey, Chat was thankful to get the clue whenever there was a flash of green to highlight the location of the Akuma.
His eyes scanned over Bane's head, and from his perspective, it flashed green, making the cat themed superhero frown "His head? That can't be right...no, hang on! It's his mask! We have to remove his mask!" he called to Batman and Ladybug, the latter of whom took the remaining guards out of the room.
"His mask, got it!" Ladybug called back, "We have to get it off and then it's bye-bye akuma!"
"He's still down for the moment. We might be able to remove it before he..."
That was as far as Batman got before what looked like a simple, quick end to the nightmare was dashed away. Cat Noir leapt back like a frightened kitten as he saw Bane beginning to move. The huge muscles bulged and flexed as the akumatized mercenary climbed back to his feet, dust and bits of rubble falling away. Thinking fast, the feline jokester bared his claws. Maybe he could destroy the mask before Bane had any idea what was happening.
"CATACLYSM!" he cried out.
The destructive power of his Miraculous danced around his hand, ready to destroy whatever he put it on. He cried out as he swatted at Bane's head, praying against all odds he'd be able to touch the mask and make it fall to pieces. But the over-muscled monster reacted just a fraction too quickly for him. He raised his arm, his elbow swinging up into the French teen's face. Cat Noir's head snapped backwards, the slam so hard that he began to wonder if he was about to loose any teeth. Ladybug watched with horror as her love sailed through the air and hit the wall, his Cataclysm attack merely taking out a section of it as his hand touched it.
Cat Noir landed back down on the floor, groaning in pain as the decayed section of wall became nothing more than a pile of broken stone, crumbling down like a sandcastle on the beach. He was more angry than hurt, angry that his plan had failed. He couldn't use another Cataclysm so he had wasted his only shot and very soon, he'd be forced to flee as his power ran out and look for some food to give to Plagg so he could become Cat Noir again. Provided Bane didn't tear the place apart trying to crush he, Batman and Ladybug first. The spotty heroine ran over to Cat Noir and helped him up, concern flashing through her masked features.
"Cat Noir! Are you OK?!" she cried.
"I've still got eight lives left milady..." Cat Noir replied, his remark more bitter than humorous, "I was hoping to destroy the mask with my Cataclysm but Bane hit before before I could touch it."
"I'm sure we can still get it! We just have to keep trying or else Gotham's gonna be at the grip of a nightmare not even Batman can handle!" Ladybug squealed frantically.
Bane smirked as he strode towards them, keeping his eyes on Batman as Chat began to whisper in Ladybug's ear.
"It would be a crippling blow to the people of Paris if I were to kill them now. You should never underestimate your enemies, my dear old friend. Bringing anyone to Gotham is sending them to death" he chuckled as he began to scrape up a section of the wall like a snowball, only to frown as Ladybug sprung to her feet and tossed her yoyo out.
"LUCKY CHARM!" she yelled fiercely.
Her yoyo glowed a light pink and flung out a huge shield styled like the shell of a normal ladybug. Bane just grinned as he dropped the rubble on top of the two Miraculous heroes, causing Batman to briefly flinch...only to duck as the rubble came flying towards his way, thanks to Ladybug protecting herself and Chat with the shield, greatly stunning Bane, whom Ladybug smirked at.
"Just fighting fire with fire, big guy!" She taunted as she then tossed it out at him like a frisbee, sending the red skinned mercenary flying backwards like a wooden stick, leaving a big imprint of his body in the wall opposite.
Batman ran over to Ladybug and Chat Noir as the latter regained his footing.
"That's good. We might still be able to win this" the bat themed vigilante noted as he saw Bane stagger to his feet.
"Great work, M'Lady, but your Lucky Vision better be quick." Chat whispered as he firmly gripped her shoulder.
Reminded of this, Ladybug's blue eyes scanned the whole room, trying to catch anything that flashed pink or red. It was then her eyes were drawn to Chat's staff, then towards Bane's ankles, then to Batman's utility belt and then to the gantries above their heads. A hopeful glimmer sparked in her eyes as she took both dark costumes heroes by their wrists and whispered her plan of action to them both.
Bane grumbled as he regained his footing, his bones letting out a few hideous cracks as he turned his neck a few times to get rid of the cramps he suffered. Crunching his fingers together, his yellow eyes bore into the trio of superheroes as they finished whispering their plan. His eyes landed onto Ladybug's shield, then he let out a cold chuckle.
"Very brave of you to put up a good fight, Madame Ladybug. But your weapons are nothing compared to the godlike weaponry of the Amazons." he taunted as he scraped up a chunk of the floor with both of his hands, gripping them like the ends of a rug. Baring his teeth into a malicious grin, Bane ripped the floor upwards as if it really was a rug, trying to throw them off their feet.
Instead, Batman took flight towards the gantries via his grappling gun once again, while Chat extended his staff into a pole and shot himself towards Bane, slashing him across the shoulder with his claws, letting out a stream of purple magic like blood. Though he was out of Cataclysms, Chat's claws were still magically powered by his Kwami, so he followed what Ladybug just said: Fight fire with fire!
Landing on his feet, Chat split his staff into batons, both of which were connected by a long piece of string.
"OK Incredible Hulk, come at me!" Cat Noir dared.
Bane laughed, sounding almost amused by the feline hero's taunts.
"These children are almost as stubborn as you are Batman. I can see why you dragged them into your war..." he crooned, attempting to twist the knife in his nemesis.
"I didn't drag them into my war Bane. They only got caught up unintentionally." Batman retorted, glaring down at the powerful akuma villain from up in the gantries.
"Well maybe they'll serve as an important lesson to you Batman." Bane sneered, drawing his arms back and preparing to throw the chunk of floor, "Never let anyone get involved in your affairs, accident or no accident! They'll just end up like you, broken and in agony!"
He threw the floor piece, his arm shooting forward and sending the chunk flying as if it weighed nothing despite its size. Batman was pleased. Bane had just wasted his weapon and had allowed himself to be distracted just so he could take a shot at him. That was always his biggest downfall after all, his fanatical focus on breaking him made him easily distracted. The Dark Knight was already moving before the chunk even reached halfway, abandoning the gantry he was on as the piece of floor smashed into it, bending the metal and tearing it out of its sockets before bringing it crashing down onto the floor with a hideous smash. Bane growled his disapproval but didn't notice as Cat Noir came at him.
The teen hero had his batons in hand and he threw one of them at Bane's ankles. The red-skinned strongman watched, wondering what his opponent was up to. Did he seriously think that little stick could stop him? But then the baton hit his ankles and began to wrap around his ankles. The wire was strong and tightly wound around him, keeping his feet together. Still holding the other baton, Cat Noir pulled on it. This caused the masked man to cry out as his legs were yanked out from underneath him. He came crashing down, causing the floor to shudder and more cracks to start spreading, reaching out as far as they could. Bane tried to pick himself up but he was too late to do anything as Batman threw another ice canister at him. The gadget hit the strongman's legs, freezing them to the floor and pinning him down. It wouldn't hold him forever but it would hold him down long enough for he and his accomplices to finish the fight. Bane pulled on his legs, trying to free them.
"PENDEJO! IMPOSSIBLE! I AM BETTER THAN YOU BATMAN! I AM YOUR SUPERIOR!" Bane exploded, rage flowing through him.
"You're nothing Bane." Batman retorted, his voice colder than a winter's night in Gotham.
He grabbed Bane's mask and tore it off, exposing the hideous red face and the pulsing yellow veins underneath. Without hesitating, Batman proceeded to tear the mask in half, forcing the akuma to leave the mask and flutter around like the lost little butterfly it was. That was when Ladybug came in, sending her yoyo outwards at the Akuma and snagging it inside her special weapon. Letting out her battle cry, Ladybug swung her yoyo around the room, de-evilising the butterfly inside her weapon. Her fingers glowing pink as she released the creature, the bluenette heroine swiped Bane's mask from the floor and tossed it into the air, watching on as it exploded into a bright pink sparkles, which dashed around the room, undoing the damage that was done to it during the fight...up including Bane's cage, which reappeared around the brutal mastermind, trapping him back inside as he returned to his normal state of appearance.
Letting out a groan of defeat, Bane's head fell forward as he went deeply unconscious, allowing the trio of heroes to let out a big sigh of relief.
"My gosh was that close or what?!" Cat Noir exclaimed.
"Hawk Moth, The Joker, The Riddler, even your bodyguard...they've all been tough opponents." Ladybug agreed, wiping her forehead, "But Bane...whew, even I thought we were doomed there!"
"I was convinced we were in for the fight of our lives." Batman muttered, brushing dust off his cape, "Bane was the worst inmate that Hawk Moth could've akumatized. He quite literally chose the worst of the worst."
The two teens nodded grimly. Anyone of these inmates could've been akumatized but one would've been as bad as Bane. Not even the Scarecrow.
"But despite Bane being contained for now, that doesn't mean this is over." Batman continued, his scowl deepening, "Hawk Moth akumatized him, meaning he is in the building somewhere. And The Joker will be with him too."
"It would explain how he knows your biggest enemies are here and who to akumatize." Cat Noir noted.
"We've gotta search this place up and down until we find those two before they turn another inmate into an akuma minion!" Ladybug declared, "Believe me when I say I DON'T wanna know what an akumatized Penguin will be like!"
In any normal situation, the joke would've been considered funny. But in this case, it wasn't even a joke. More like a statement of fact that the two black-clad heroes couldn't argue with. The two villains were still at large, meaning anybody could still be akumatized at this moment. They had to stop them before it was too late. Switching his cowl to detective mode, Batman glanced up at the ceiling and took notice of the air vent. Thanks to the tech built into the cowl, he pretty much gained an x-ray vision of the room and saw where the air vent went up to. His lips going deeper downwards, Batman clenched his fists as the realisation hit him.
"It came from the kitchen. It's just upstairs, a few levels above ground." he informed them as he fired his grappling gun to the air vent. Clinging to the wall, Batman tore off the vent door, getting ready to do the task of climbing and crawling.
"That means Joker and Hawk Moth could be there too! We'll meet you there, Batman!" Ladybug called as she and Chat headed towards the door.
It was a good thing they'd be going to the kitchen, given they could quickly feed their Kwamis while they were at it. That's if Joker and Hawk Moth weren't there.
Coming outside, they found several more guards that had partially recovered from their injuries.
"The beefcake is all yours" Ladybug briefly said as she and Chat went past them, going back towards the stairway that would take them up to the higher levels of the asylum.
Chat Noir couldn't help but feel his stomach tightening as he realised the possibility of fighting his father, what seemed to be, to the death was getting nearer, and certainly left a thoughtful hard look upon his masked face. Part of Chat would never forgive his father for everything he had done in his activities as Hawk Moth, even desiring to pound him to a pulp for being every uncaring, neglectful bit he was when he wasn't Hawk Moth. But another part of him still felt that tapping, secondly thoughtful thinking as he couldn't sink to the low depths Hawk Moth himself he sunken to.
He maybe an evil scumbag...but he's still my dad. the young boy thought, I suppose he deserves that little bit of mercy.
He pushed the thought out of his mind as he raced upstairs after Ladybug to find the stairs to the kitchen.
Up in said kitchen, Hawk Moth was throwing the biggest tantrum he had ever thrown in his life. He had been flailing around, smashing this and that with his cane and sending whatever was in his way flying across the room. The Joker just watched, casually stuffing his face with packets upon packets of crisps. He'd already scoffed two packets and was eating through a third one. It was like he watching one big show rather than a man in a fit of rage, and one he was enjoying very much. He watched as Hawk Moth whacked one of the ovens again with his cane, denting it heavily.
"Whoo, hoo! Yeah! Take that oven! That'll teach you to have a fire worse than Hawk Moth's!" The Joker cried excitedly, spraying crumbs out of his mouth.
"You think this is funny you white-faced lunatic?!" Hawk Moth snarled, picking up a huge put and throwing it at The Joker with all his might, "YOU DARE RELISH IN MY ANGER?!"
The Clown Prince of Crime only just had time to duck as the huge pot came close to hitting him in the head. He watched as it sailed past and crashed into a cupboard, knocking the door off and causing jars of herbs, spices and salt and peppers to spill out, falling onto the floor with a heavy crash. The contents littered the floor. The Joker just laughed as if this was just another funny moment in a comedy show for him.
"Wow, you totally took out that poor innocent cupboard my moth-obsessed friend!" The Joker taunted, "And here I thought for one crazy moment you was trying to HIT me!"
He clutched his sides as he broke into another fit of insane laughter. Hawk Moth was only just about able to restrain himself from throttling The Joker to death here and now. He could feel his veins standing up as if about to burst. His face was redder than sunburn underneath his mask. Instead of beating his clown accomplice, he just took a moment to scream at the ceiling and slam his cane onto the floor.
"How could this happen?! I practically had the best akuma villain I ever created! I ALMOST HAD THOSE MIRACULOUSES IN MY HANDS!" he ranted, "Ooooohhhh, I'd give my entire right arm if I could get my hands on those gems once and for all!"
"Well I happen to have a meat cleaver on me right now, would that be sufficient?" The Joker snickered, picking up said kitchen utensil. With The Joker, you could never tell if he was being funny or serious.
"What is the matter with you?!" Hawk Moth snapped viciously, "Batman will be up on his way towards us, as will Ladybug and Cat Noir, and all you can do is make bad jokes?! Does anything ever bother you in life?!"
The Joker tossed the meat cleaver over his shoulder casually.
"Hawky, Hawky, Hawky...my dear, ill-humoured friend..." he purred, "I see no point in being mad all the time. All that anger, all that rage, all that fury! How can anybody live with themselves with such tempers?! It takes the fun out of life! That is why I'm always one to make jokes. Life is one big punchline to me! And how can anybody enjoy it when they waste all that energy they could have having a good laugh away on anger and temper tantrums?"
He put an arm around Hawk Moth and leaned in close. For one sickening moment, the akuma master thought his accomplice was about to kiss him.
"That is why I make the jokes Hawk Moth. It's pretty much my idea of finding light in the tunnel." the clown criminal went on, "And I don't like it when my sense of humour is considered "bad"..."
The smile went away and was replaced with a down turned red line drawn across the crazed man's face. Hawk Moth shuddered. Had he just pushed the wrong buttons on his accomplice? But the frown didn't last very long. The Joker quickly smiled again and slapped the purple-suited man on the back.
"So where were we? Ah yes, thinking of a new plan to get those Mirauclouses!" the clown-themed serial killer cried jovially, "Given the terrible trio are coming our way, they're practically delivering those Miraculouses right into our hands! Now we have to think of how to get them off of them..." he winked.
"Well what's the plan then?" Hawk Moth asked, coming to accept that the Joker had a formed idea in whatever mad box of a mind he had.
Chuckling lightly, he headed over to the light switches.
"We give them a bit of darkness, of course. It's Batman's greatest tool so why not use it against him? Fight fire with fire as they say" he giggled as he flicked the lights off in the kitchen, plunging them both into deep darkness.
After a moment or two, Ladybug and Chat Noir reached the floor the kitchen was located on, so they headed through the set of doors and small hallways to reach the kitchen, taking notice of how untidy everywhere was.
"Everyone sure left in a hurry. Can't say I blame them." Ladybug noted quietly.
"Once we get in there, we knock them out as hard as we can, handcuff them and get the Butterfly Miraculous off of Gabriel. This has gone on long enough." Chat grimly added as they came towards the kitchen.
Taking notice of how quiet it all suddenly became, with the lack of light coming from the kitchen, Ladybug cautiously drew her yoyo from her waist, getting ready to use it in the slightest of moments.
"If they think the dark's gonna scare us, they've got another thing coming." Ladybug retorted.
Stealing her nerves, she swung the door open and rushed inside. Cat Noir followed her, immediately taking notice of how dark the kitchen was. He had his staff at the ready.
"Hawk Moth, Joker, come out and face your arrest!" Ladybug cried out.
"There's no escape for you two now!" Cat Noir added.
The two teens noticed that they couldn't see a thing in this room. It was too dark. How could they even be sure that Hawk Moth or The Joker were even in here? With Ladybug keeping her eyes peeled, Cat Noir searched for a light switch. His eyes were as powerful as a cats in this form, meaning he could see in the dark just like a cat could. He saw the switch and he flicked it up, turning all the lights on.
The kitchen was brought back into light, although the sight that lay before them made the French heroes wonder if they would've been better off if the lights had stayed off. The kitchen was in a terrible mess with all sorts of utensils, food and cutlery spilled all over. Arkham Asylum clearly had one hell of a messy cook.
"Puh, if I was a prisoner here, I wouldn't wanna eat if this is the state of the kitchen." Cat Noir muttered.
"Whoever caused this mess is clearly a slob. Anyway, it doesn't look as if the two are in here." Ladybug noted, looking around and seeing no signs of the two villains.
Cat Noir noticed that they weren't in sight either. Where were they? Had they left moments ago? If so, they could be anywhere in the asylum. They had to find the villains and fast!
"Looks like they already left, unless of course they're hiding." Cat Noir noted.
"We'll get looking for them and if they're not here, we'll wait for Batman to arrive and then..."
Ladybug got no further before suddenly, she and Cat Noir began to glow for seemingly no reason. It was so sudden that they even doubted if that was what was happening. One minute they were fine, the next they were suddenly glowing. They realised with horror why that was. Their powers had run out. Their Kwamis couldn't keep them in their superhero guises anymore.
Ladybug and Cat Noir had disappeared. Marinette and Adrien stood in their places. The two teens looked over one another in shock, horrified that this had happened just now.
"Oh no, not now!" Adrien cried.
"This is bad, so very bad!" Marinette exclaimed, "We've gotta get our Kwamis fed before anybody sees us! Or worse...if Hawk Moth or The Joker see us!"
"Good thing we ended up in a kitchen then." Adrien said brightly.
Marinette nodded agreeably. The kitchen maybe a mess but they still had to give their Kwami something to eat. If they couldn't then they wouldn't be able to use their powers. They both started to look around for anything their Kwami would like.
And yet neither teenager was aware that the two villains they were looking for were closer than they thought...and they had seen everything. Once the lights had been switched off, The Joker and Hawk Moth had hidden themselves in a pantry and had waited for the heroes to arrive. They had planned to ambush the two teens from behind and get their Miraculouses. But having watched them transform back to normal through a crack in the door had changed everything. Now they were powerless, they could get the Miraculouses easily! Hawk Moth knew that he couldn't use them yet given the Kwami needed to eat so he willingly hung back, waiting for the two to refuel their precious Kwami.
"Those Miraculouses...I can practically feel them..." he whispered to himself.
Joker nodded in agreement "In this case, I prefer tasting the power. So the blonde is your son? Typical pretty boy, can't believe he can fight." he whispered in response, making Hawk Moth roll his eyes in annoyance.
He watched closely as Adrien and Marinette were joined by Plagg and Tikki as they began to search through the cupboards of the kitchen to find the appropriate food for them.
"I don't think there'll be any cookies here, Tikki. It is an asylum after all" Marinette noted as she looked through the higher set of cupboards.
"That's fine, Marinette. Anything will do at this point." her sweet little Kwami replied as she looked around as well.
"They better have Camembert cheese, my stomach calls for it!" Plagg whined dramatically as he plopped down onto the side next to the pantry, making Adrien roll his eyes.
"You'll have to take what's here, Plagg. Quicker you get something down your throat, the quicker we can beat Joker and Hawk Moth!" he said bitterly as he grabbed a nearby plain cheese block, beginning to pull a bit of the food apart for the dark Kwami.
Marinette glanced at Adrien nervously as she fed Tikki some plain tea biscuits, which the red little creature began to take apart with her mouth chunk after chunk.
"Adrien...you need to take it easy. I know he was your...d-dad, but you can't be so obsessed or so angry right now. He can use that against you when he wants." she warned him in a firm tone.
She understood that getting so close to defeating someone who you personally knew was a big thing in the coming time, but letting it play upon one's mind was a rather ill thing to do. Plus, it would make him vulnerable to an akuma. Adrien had to stay positive.
"I just want this to be over with, Marinette. The sooner he's behind bars, the better. I don't want him to be a part of my life anymore" Adrian said grimly as he fed Plagg a few chunks of cheese.
"Oh man! Normal cheese sucks!" Plagg groaned after a few swallows.
That was when the table was flung upside down, as the door to the pantry flung open and out sprang Hawk Moth, who swatted Adrian across the face with his cane and sent his son dropping to the floor like a stone. Marinette gasped in shock at this, then the next thing she knew, Joker leapt out of the pantry giggling loudly as he tossed a big rag cloth over her face, allowing Hawk Moth to whack her in the legs, causing her to lose balance and dropped to the floor in pain.
"To think that Ladybug is nothing more than a mere child." Hawk Moth gloated, grinning with delight as he watched his nemesis crumple, "No wonder I've had such a hard time tracking down those Miraculous...I never would've expected you would be the one with the earrings!"
"Speaking of which, we'll be taking those if you don't mind!" The Joker sneered, removing the cloth from Marinette's face and grabbing her earrings.
"Get your hands off me you freak!" Marinette screamed, grabbing The Joker's hands and trying to wrench them away from her ears.
But the schoolgirl was fighting a losing battle. The Joker was much too strong for her. He held tight to the earrings and Marinette ended up howling in anguish as the clown criminal proceeded to rip them straight out of her lobes. Blood streaked down the sides of her neck and she was fighting back tears of pain as she clutched her ears. Adrien winced. He had never seen Marinette look so hurt before. It felt like a stab in the heart to see his love in so much pain. What sickened him more was how The Joker didn't even care he'd just wounded an innocent teenager. He just laughed as if the whole thing was hilarious to him.
"You sick, sadistic little bastard!" he screamed, standing up and throwing himself at The Joker.
His life didn't matter now, he would willingly let himself be gunned down if it meant he could make The Joker pay for hurting Marinette. But Hawk Moth had seized hold of his shirt and hauled him back. Adrien fought against his father, trying to get free but Hawk Moth wrapped an arm around him and held him tight against his body.
"Don't you try to resist me you wretched child!" Hawk Moth snarled, "As your father, I command you to relinquish your ring!"
"Go to hell Hawk Moth!" Adrien retorted.
"I'm not quite ready to go there yet." the moth-themed villain retorted, "And if you want give me your ring, I'll have to take it from you."
With that said, he tucked his cane under one arm and grabbed Adrien's hand with the ring on. The blonde boy fought back against his captor, trying to keep his hand tightly closed but Hawk Moth was too strong. Without his Miraculous power, he was too weak against the evil Miraculous wielder. Adrien cried out as Hawk Moth violently forced the boy's fingers open and slid the ring off. He threw Adrien onto the floor just before Marinette, the girl still clutching her bleeding lobes. She gasped as she saw the boy cradling his injured hand and put her own hands on him. They were stained with blood but Adrien didn't seem to mind that.
"I'm sorry milady..." he said weakly, looking as if he was too ashamed to even look at his love anymore.
"We couldn't have known..." Marinette replied, shedding a few tears over their failures. They had lost their Miraculouses. Gotham was going to be doomed unless Batman got here soon enough.
Hawk Moth was hysterical, laughing triumphantly at the very fact he now had the Cat Miraculous in his hands at last. This was the best day of his life and he wanted to savour it.
"Finally...the Miraculous are finally MINE!" he cried gleefully.
"Sorry Hawky, I think you got that wrong. The Miraculous are actually MINE!"
Hawk Moth only just had time to register the fact that The Joker had said those words before an ear-splitting bang echoed through the room. Marinette screamed and held tight to Adrien. They had just heard a gunshot...but surprisingly, it hadn't been aimed at them. They looked up to see an incredulous Hawk Moth standing there, his mouth open as if he couldn't believe what had happened.
A small, circular hole had appeared in his forehead. A small trickle of blood followed after. It seeped down over his nose and onto his chest. His hand fell open and The Joker quickly shot his out to grab the Cat Ring as it fell out to the floor. He grabbed it just as Hawk Moth crumpled, his eyes wide open and blood still seeping out of the small bullet wound. The light had faded from his eyes. Adrien cringed. Even though his father was a cruel, sadistic monster, he hadn't wanted him to die, not like this.
The Joker, who had already put the Ladybug earrings on, admired the ring for a moment whilst blowing smoke away from the gun he had used to kill Hawk Moth. He looked very pleased with himself.
"Well...looks like you truly went out with a bang there Hawk Moth." he sneered, "Now then, to see what happens when I put this ring on as well..."
Marinette reached out a desperate hand, not caring about the sharp stinging of her ears at this point. She needed to do all she could in preventing the clown from slipping the ring on.
"N-NO, DON'T!" she pleaded, only for Joker to kick her hand away, causing Adrian to catch hold of her before she could hit the floor.
Yet he himself tried to get through to the green haired nutcase in front of him and Marinette.
"DON'T PUT IT ON, JOKER!" He pleaded, only for Joker to rudely block his ears and dance a little.
"LA LA LA LA, CANT HEAR YOU, PRETTY BOY!"
Plagg and Tikki let out a loud scream as they vanished into their Miraculouses once the Joker slipped the ring on his finger. That was when the respective colours of the earrings and the ring began to swirl upwards and downwards, mixing in across the Joker's body upon making contact with each other. Blurring in to form a deep purple darker than the Joker's coat and a mustardy yellow, the colours began to swarm Joker's body, his grin still ever present as he felt a hot feeling shoot right through him like hundreds of matches were set off inside of him.
"OHHHH YES! NOW THATS A MAD FLAVOUR I CAN TAKE!" He laughed loudly as he hovered off his feet, his body almost unrecognisable due to the swarm of colours.
At this point, Batman reached the air vent door to the kitchen and he was in quite a rush, given he could hear everything from where he was. He could just about make out the glow of the colour's in the kitchen, but it didn't stop him from going on inside.
As Batman kicked the vent open, he let himself into the kitchen and found himself met with quite possibly the worst sight he could see. His eyes widened as he saw the mixture of red, black and purple swirl around The Joker. A terrified Marinette and Adrien watched, unable to take their eyes away from the monstrous transformation before them. Batman saw they were in their normal guises and immediately put together what had happened.
"Oh shit..." he murmured. It was all he could say as he held up an arm to protect his eyes from the light.
"We couldn't stop him Batman! We're so sorry!" Marinette wailed, closing her own eyes to protect them from the light too.
Closing their eyes made no difference though. It was still too bright for them. The moment they uncovered their eyes, they saw that the transformation had been completed. The Joker was no longer just a criminal with a clown theme. He was now a god, and a terrifying looking one at that. His green hair waved about as if he was underwater. His eyes were plain yellow and glowing, and his grin somehow seemed to have increased in size. He wore only black purple-striped trousers and a purple sash. His naked torso seemed to have tattoos on them with yellow lines curling around his arms and a purple five pointed star shape with curved points instead of straight ones on his chest. Even his bare feet had tattoos on too.
The Joker let out a cackle of glee as he admired himself over, clearly impressed with the transformation. His voice sounded amplified, a deep, godly echo backing every sound he made.
"Now this is fun..." he purred, "I can have all the fun I want with this power! HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA! FROM THIS DAY ONWARDS, CHAOS! REIGNS! SUPREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMEEEE!"
I...I...(gulps)...I've got nothing. Just...just tune in next time. Maybe The Joker will spare us long enough for that... 0_0
Also MAJOR apologies to all my readers for taking so damn long to continue with this. Me and my co-writer Reece ended up doing our own thing for a while and the story sorta got shelved for the time being. We're so sorry for the long wait readers. Please forgive us. ^^;
We're back on track though so be sure to tune in for the final two chapters that will be coming VERY, VERY soon! :D