A/N - Hey guys! I know it's been a while, so thanks for sticking with the story!

GuardianAngel1234567 - Thank you! You always leave such awesome reviews, and it really inspires me to keep writing!


"Team, come in! We need backup! Hello?"

Tikki looked up sharply as a voice came in over the com system. All the other paladins did the same, freezing in the middle of their conversations with the Arusians to listen.

"Adrien?"

"Where is everyone?" Was his only reply.

"What's going on?" Chloe asked.

She got her answer as they all heard a loud rumbling. Looking up at the sky, the villagers gasped at the fiery object that was hurtling towards the planet.

"Oh no," Alya breathed. "We have to get to our mechas!"

The Arusians started to panic, all screaming and running in different directions.

"Everyone get inside and stay down!" Tikki called to them, and they hastily began to obey.

"I'm on it!" Nino replied, sprinting alongside the Arusians to get to cover… before Alya grabbed him by his collar and dragged him back out.

"Not you!"


Adrien and Marinette touched down outside of the Akuma ship, the girl still struggling to get free.

"We have to get out of here, Marinette!"

"No! Adrien, let me go! My parents!"

They both stopped their fighting as the rumbling sound suddenly became a lot louder. Looking up, they saw the object closer than it had ever been. It was definitely an Akuma ship... and it was about to crash right on top of them.

"Run!" Adrien yelled, and they both began to sprint as fast as they could as the Akuma ship smashed into the ground behind them. Explosions erupted behind them, and in that moment he knew they weren't going to make it. They couldn't outrun the debris, the flames that would follow.

Marinette seemed to realize the same thing, because she grabbed his hand, turning towards Adrien with tears in her eyes.

"I'm sorry, this is my fault, I-"

"Don't," He cut her off gently, with a hint. "It's okay. Just listen for a minute-"

"But I need to tell you so much and… there's no time."

The roar of the explosions became louder and louder, and they knew they were running out of time. Each of them felt the desperation build as they looked at the other, knowing they would die without getting to say what they needed too.

There was only one thing to do.

Adrien drew Marinette close to him, tightening his grip on her waist as she brought a hand to his face, thumb stroking his cheek gently.

If I'm going to die, each of them thought. I might as well do this first.

Adrien leaned his forehead against hers, working up his courage, knowing this was his last chance. He could feel her breath on his face, her chest heaving as she tried to remain calm.

Marinette could barely breathe, but wouldn't take her eyes off of the boy in front of her. She refused to look at the explosion, the wreckage surrounding them. The last thing she wanted to see was him - not what would kill them.

Hearts pounding out of their chests, they both leaned in, closer and closer and-

Suddenly, they were ripped apart as a final explosion tore through the ground…

Marinette opened her eyes to find herself safely nestled underneath the Ladybug, it's bulky body shielding her from harm.

Adrien opened his to see that he was curled in the paw of the Black Cat, which gripped him tight as the last of the flames died out. The cat released him, and Adrien rolled onto the ground. He immediately jumped to his feet, glancing to his right where the Ladybug mecha stood.

"Marinette, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," She called back, emerging from underneath her mecha. "Our… our mechas saved us!"

"I didn't know they could do that," Adrien said, awestruck. Until he glanced behind them. "Um… Marinette?"

The girl turned around to see where he was looking, and found that the former wreck had been completely obliterated… in its place was a large pod, with Akuma markings all over it.

As they watched, the pod began to unfold, gears creaking as it opened to reveal what could only be described as a giant robot, almost equivalent in size to Miraculous.

It had a triangular head with a singular green eye, the rest of its body pitch black and blocky, glowing with power. On its chest was inscribed the word "Gamer".

The robot seemed to come to life before them, its eye blinking before focusing onto the two paladins.

"Get into your mecha!" Marinette shouted, sprinting towards the Ladybug. Adrien did the same, quickly climbing into the cockpit of the Black Cat.

The Gamer raised its robotic fist, a green orb of electricity fizzling to life in its palm. It launched the orb at the paladins, who quickly dove out of the way as it crushed the ground where their mechas had just been perching.

But it didn't stop there. As the Gamer moved his arm, the orb followed, chasing Marinette and Adrien as they tried to dodge.

The orb came zooming towards Marinette, but she stayed where she was. Charging up the Ladybug's energy, she released a powerful beam of her own… which did nothing to slow down the orb. It crashed into her, sending the Ladybug tumbling into the ground.

The Gamer began to thunder towards the fallen mecha, clearly with the intention of finishing it off. Seeing this, Adrien landed the Black Cat on top of the Gamer's head, scratching at it with his claws in an attempt to make a dent.

The Gamer only reached up, grabbing him with its hands and tossing him down beside Marinette's mecha, where the Black Cat landed with a thud.

It raised the orb to finish them, but was suddenly overcome by lasers being fired from above as the rest of the paladins swooped in to help.

"Lay down some covering fire so they can get out of there!" Alya called.

"I'm on it!" Chloe replied, sending stinging rays of energy towards the Gamer with a fury.

"Check this out!" Nino whooped, the turtle lumbering up behind the Gamer. "Battle-turtle head-butt!" He rammed his mecha into the back of the robot, sending it crashing to its knees.

"You guys okay down there?" Alya called to Marinette and Adrien, whose mechas were now back on their feet.

"Still alive for now." Came Marinette's reply as the two launched their mechas off the ground to join the others in the air. The Gamer began to struggle to its feet.

"Are the Akuma behind this?" Nino asked.

"I think so, but I've never seen anything like it," Marinette replied, trying to size up the situation.

"So, what's the plan?" Chloe interjected. "Shoot at it with everything we've got? Take out its weapon? Call it names?"

"If we want to take this monster down, there's only one way to do it," Marinette told them, voice determined and free from her earlier fear. "Form Miraculous!"

"Yeah!"

The mechas took off, flying higher and higher into the sky until they felt themselves being pulled together, merged by the unmistakable bond of magic that let them become… Miraculous.

They returned to the ground in their newly unified state, ready for battle. Adrien's Black Cat drew its sword as the Gamer became aware of their presence.

"Remember, we are one unit, fighting with one goal." Marinette reminded them.

The Gamer's orb once again fizzled into existence, and the fight began.

Miraculous made the first move, launching itself towards the Gamer, who immediately swung its arm to release the orb. They dodged, and Adrien curled the Black Cat into a fist, driving it into the other robot… only to find that the Gamer had caught his arm, preventing him from landing the punch.

Realizing what had happened, Nino used the Turtle to deliver a swift uppercut the the Gamer's head, sending him reeling from the hit. Launching themselves into the air, Miraculous raised its fists to deliver what they thought would be the final blow… only for the Gamer to block the hit with his arm. They continued to push, sure that the robot would give in… unaware that the Gamer was still controlling the orb from afar, bringing it back towards them.

The Gamer leaped away as the orb slammed into the back of Miraculous, crushing them into the ground. As the orb lifted again, Miraculous scrambled away from where it had crashed as the Gamer sent it flying towards them again.

"I thought Miraculous was the most powerful weapon in the universe!" Nino yelled.

They dodged another attack from the orb.

"Yeah, so how is this monster kicking our butts?" Chloe complained.

They turned to look at the orb that had zoomed past them. The Gamer took advantage, coming up from behind and delivering a powerful punch to their core.

Miraculous was sent flying, crashing down onto a mountain. Raising their head, they could see the Arusian village down below them.

"Oh, no!" Alya groaned. "The village! We have to protect those people!"


Tikki and Plagg continued to usure the Arusians into a cave, praying that it would be safe enough as they heard the battle rage on, getting closer and closer. After getting everyone inside, the two stood together at the mouth of the cave. They weren't sure that they had any chance of fighting the beast off if it made it to the cave… but they were going to try.


The orb zoomed once more towards Miraculous, but this time they stood their ground. It slammed into their chest, but they held their stance. They couldn't fall backwards, lest they crush the village beneath them. Finally, they managed to push it away from them, flying out of reach and away from the Arusian homes.

"That was close," Nino mumbled.

"We got him away from the Arusians, but we can't take him down!" Adrien yelled, desperate.

"I got it!" Chloe called. "I'm going to power-kick that orb thing!"

"No!" Alya replied frantically. "The last time you did a kick, we fell!"

"Stop living in the past!" As they launched themselves towards the orb, Chloe extended the bee for a kick… only to miss completely and have the orb hit Miraculous in the face. "Oh, no."

They went crashing to the ground, struggling to get back up as the Gamer charged towards them.

"Nino," Marinette yelled. "Fire lasers, now!"

"Got it!" He replied, slamming his hand on a button. "Fire!" Instead of firing lasers, the turtle formed into a shield. "Oops…"

"No!" Marinette groaned. "Lasers! Lasers!"

They were sent tumbling down again as the Gamer punched Miraculous… and hit again by the orb as the Gamer brought it back to its hand.

"Every time we focus on that orb, we're blindsided by the monster," Alya noted. "And every time we focus on the monster, the orb hits us!"

"Then what do we do, genius?" Chloe yelled as they dodged a blow.

Marinette stared at the robot. There was something awfully familiar about this monster… like she had seen it before.

"Marinette, we gotta move," Adrien called to her. "Marinette, are you there?"

But she couldn't hear him, couldn't hear anything as she was launched into a flashback.


A large arena, with a crowd of thousands rooting against her…

The Gamer, with his powerful orb, standing opposite her as she dodged blows…

The buzzing sound of the orb as it returned to his hand to-


"Marinette!"

Adrien's voice snapped her out of her trance-like state.

"That sound... I recognize this monster from my time in Hawkmoth's prison," She told the team. "I know how to beat it!"

They flew out of the way as the Gamer charged them again.

"Listen," Marinette continued, "There's a loud sound when the orb returns to the base of the weapon, and every third time, that orb needs to charge up. That's this monster's weakest point. That's when we strike."

"Okay," Nino replied, "So what do we do in the meantime?"

"Defense!"


A/N - Hope you enjoyed this chapter!

As always, please leave a review with your thoughts, suggestions, and predictions, and I'll see you in the next chapter!

~ Elizabeth (FanOfDeliciousFlavour)