Hey everyone, I'm back with chapter 8.
I'm really sorry that I haven't updated in so long, a lot has happened in my life and I haven't been able to write. I still hope to finish this story and I will work on it at any opportunity I get.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Miraculous Ladybug
Marinette, Alya, Adrien, Nino & Zach all entered the Place Des Vosges, Adrien was happy to have a free day, since it meant he was able to spend time with his friends, but it also allowed him to keep an eye on Marinette and look for any signs of her being Ladybug. Meanwhile, Marinette was trying to get some ideas for her designs for the Gabriel Agreste Rookie Designer competition.
"You shouldn't worry, Marinette, you're going to do fine" said Zach
"He's right, you're the best designer in the school, isn't she, Adrien?" asked Alya
"Of course, you don't have to stress out so much, besides, you have plenty of time to come up with ideas, the competition isn't for another 2 months" said Adrien
The group failed to notice someone walk up to them.
"Um, excuse me, are you Marinette Dupain-Cheng?" asked someone
The friends looked to see a guy, about their age, he had dark orange hair combed to one side and green eyes. He was dressed in a black dress shirt underneath a white vest, white dress pants and black shoes. Marinette noticed the red ascot scarf around his neck.
"YOU!" said a bitter Marinette
"Ah, you remember me" said the guy
"Of course, I see you haven't grown up much" said Marinette
"And I see you have grown into quite the beautiful lady" said the guy
"Quit the compliments, Jacques, I know why you're here, you're after something, and I can tell you, you can go hug a landmine!" said Marinette, clearly very angry
"Whoa, Marinette, calm down" said Alya
"Please listen to your friend, cherie..." said Jacques
"Don't start calling me that!" said Marinette
"Marinette, you misunderstand my intentions, I am here to extend an olive branch, to put the past in the past, to hope to be friends" said Jacques
Jacques held out his hand for a handshake, Marinette looked at his hand before smacking it away, to the surprise of her friends.
"As if I would ever be friends with a snake like you, I can tell you're still a thief" said Marinette
Marinette stormed off and her friends followed her. Jacques just stood there, in shock.
==Marinette's House==
Marinette returned to her house when her friends caught up with her.
"Marinette, what was with you back there?" asked Alya
"That boy...his name is Jacques..." said Marinette
"We figured that, but why do you seem to hate him so much?" asked Adrien
"You saw that ascot scarf he was wearing?" asked Marinette
All her friends nodded.
"Well, it's mine" said Marinette
"Huh? What do you mean?" asked Adrien
"Well...I was 9 years old..." said Marinette
==Flashback==
Marinette was walking through the Place Des Vosges, a red ascot scarf sticking out of her shirt pocket. It was the first thing Marinette had successfully designed and made all by herself and she was really proud of it. She was with the Place Des Vosges with her mom and she went to find some kids to play with. She saw a 2 boys playing a game of Battleships, she approached the boys just as the game was ending.
"F7" said one of the boys
"You've sunk it" said the other boy
"Haha, I win, Lucas, pay up" said the first boy
"Aw, come on, Jacques" said Lucas
"Sorry, you agreed" said Jacques
Lucas handed Jacques an action figure and walked off with a sad look on his face.
"Hey, you can't just take his stuff" said Marinette
"He made the deal" said Jacques
"But that wasn't fair, you should give him his action figure back" said Marinette
"Alright, how about this, cherie, I'll give back his toy if you beat me, but first, you need to wager something" said Jacques
"Like what?" asked Marinette
Jacques looked at the ascot in Marinette's shirt pocket.
"How about the scarf?" asked Jacques
Marinette agreed and the two started their game. Jacques soon regretted his decision, Marinette was completely destroying him.
"B3" said Jacques
"Miss! G6" said Marinette
"You've sunk my battleship" said Jacques, in complete shock
"So it looks like I win, and you promised to give back his toy" said Marinette
Jacques smiled and put his game into his backpack.
"Of course, but, first things first, cherie..." said Jacques
"What?" asked Marinette
Quick as a flash, Jacques grabbed the scarf from Marinette's pocket and ran off.
"HEY! GIVE THAT BACK!" said Marinette
Marinette tried to chase after Jacques, but she tripped, when she looked up, Jacques was gone.
==End of Flashback==
"Whoa, I'm sorry to hear that, Marinette" said Zach
"So am I, but I still think you were a little hard on him" said Alya
"Yeah, maybe you're right" said Marinette
==Meanwhile==
Jacques walked through the streets of Paris thinking about Marinette's words. He was expecting her to call him a thief, but when she called him a snake, that hurt.
==Hawkmoth's Lair==
"I feel sorry for those that are just trying to make friends, only to be rejected and treated like filth, well, he's certainly got a friend in my akumas" said Hawkmoth
A white butterfly flew into Hawkmoth's hand, he covered it with his other hand as it was engulfed in a dark energy, turning it black and purple.
"Fly away, my little akuma, and evilize him" said Hawkmoth
==Canal Saint-Martin==
Jacques walked along the Canal Saint-Martin when the akuma flew into the ascot around his neck. A purple outline started shining infront of his eyes.
"Gambler, I am Hawkmoth, they call you a thief and turned their backs to you when you only wished to be nice, but now, why bother with nice? They think you're bad, and I can help you show them how bad you can really be, but if I do this, you have to do a little favour for me" said Hawkmoth
"You can bet on it, Hawkmoth" said Jacques
A dark aura enveloped Jacques. His height increased by a full foot. He now wore white gloves, purple shoes and purple tailcoat, he was also wearing a lavander waistcoat and dark purple trousers. His skin turned pale white and a spade formed on his face.
Gambler walked through the streets of Paris, scaring away civillians, but Gambler pulled out a deck of cards and threw them at several civillians. Their eyes faded as they were put under a spell. A black spade symbol formed on their right eyes.
==Meanwhile==
Marinette and the others were heading back to the Place Des Vosges, Marinette's friends had convinced her to find Jacques to apologize. When the group returned, the Place Des Vosges was empty.
"Where did everyone go?" asked Alya
"Oh well, looks like Jacques isn't here anymore, let's go home" said Marinette
"MARINETTE DUPAIN-CHENG" said someone
The gang looked atop the carousel and saw Gambler standing on top.
"Jacques?" asked Marinette
"There's no Jacques anymore, only Gambler, and his followers" said Gambler
"Followers?" asked Zach
Gambler snapped his fingers and his mind controlled minions came out of hiding and stood infront of the carousel.
"Get Marinette!" said Gambler
When the minions started running towards Marinette, Adrien grabbed her and the group ran off.
"Maybe we should split up" said Marinette
"Marinette, they're after you specifically" said Alya
"Just trust me, I have an idea" said Marinette
"Well...alright" said Alya
The group split up.
==Gambler==
Gambler smiled as his minions chased Marinette and her friends.
"Don't forget Gambler, you still have to hold up your end of the deal and bring me Ladybug and Cat Noir's Miraculous" said Hawkmoth
"I know, Hawkmoth, but what about their newer friend, Nightwolf?" asked Gambler
"Take his Miraculous too, it's not completely needed for my endgame, but it can definitely come in handy" said Hawkmoth
"No problem, Hawkmoth, I'll bring you your jewels, but first..." said Gambler
Gambler took out his deck of cards.
"...a little something to lure out the heroes" said Gambler
==Marinette==
Marinette ran to hide and released Tikki from her purse.
"I messed up, Tikki, I shouldn't have said those things to Jacques" said Marinette
"For now, all we can do is work on purifying the akuma" said Tikki
"Right..."
"TIKKI! SPOTS ON!"
Marinette brushed her hair out of the way as Tikki flew into Marinette's earring. Both of Marinette's earrings turned red and 5 black spots donned the surface of the earrings.
Marinette covered her eyes before moving her hands away to afix her mask.
Marinette stretched out one arm as a bright pink light pasted Marinette's suit onto her.
Marinette's Yo-Yo materialized around Marinette's waist.
With a little dance and a high kick, Marinette posed as her transformation into Ladybug was complete.
==Adrien==
Adrien hid inside a nearby building, when he saw there was no one to see him, he let Plagg out of his shirt.
"PLAGG! CLAWS OUT!"
Adrien's ring changed from silver to black before Plagg flew into the ring as a green pawprint appeared on the ring. Adrien shot his hand above his head.
Adrien waved his hand infront of his face as his mask materialized, before running his hands over his hair, forming his cat ears.
Adrien spread his arms as his catsuit manifested from the center of his chest to his hands and feet. Adrien's belt and Bo Staff also materialized around his waist.
After performing 2 scratch taunts, Adrien posed as his transformation into Cat Noir was complete.
==Zach==
When Zach found a place to transform, he released Howll before removing his bracer to reveal his miraculous.
"HOWLL! FULL MOON RISE!"
Howll flew into Zach's bracelet. His Gauntlet formed on his other arm.
Zach snapped his fingers infront of his face as his mask materialized.
Zach ran his fingers through his hair, causing his black, spiked hair to develop purple highlights and a set of wolf ears to form on his head.
Zach raised his right arm above his head and extened the retractable claws in his Gauntlet, before driving the blades into the ground as his suit formed on his body.
Zach waved his arms infront of his waist as his belt materialized.
Zach posed as his transformation into Nightwolf was complete.
==Ladybug==
Ladybug ran across the rooftops to make her way back to Gambler. When she reached her destination, she jumped down but saw Gambler had vanished.
"Where did he go?" asked Ladybug
Ladybug noticed the screens on the fences turn on and Gambler appeared on screen to give a speech.
"Heroes of Paris, my name is Gambler, and I have a message for you. My minions are easily too much for you to handle, and only I can release them, and I only will on one condition, come to the Hotel de Ville and bring me Marinette Dupain-Cheng, do this and I shall release everyone" said Gambler
"This may be hard" said someone
Ladybug turned around and saw Cat Noir.
"Hey Kitty, you noticed the civillians being chased too?" asked Ladybug
"Yeah, they're safe though, bugaboo, any sign of our canine companion?" asked Cat Noir
"Up here" said Nightwolf, from one of the rooftops. "And you two might wanna see this"
The two heroes hopped onto the roof and Nightwolf showed them the army of henchmen that Gambler had recruited.
"That's a lot of minions" said Cat Noir
"We might need some backup" said Ladybug
"Backup?" asked Nightwolf
"I'll be back" said Ladybug
With that, Ladybug swung away on her yo-yo.
"Where's she going?" asked Nightwolf
==Master Fu's Massage Parlor==
"Marinette Dupain-Cheng, you must pick an ally you can trust to fight alongside you on this mission, once the mission is complete, you will get the Miraculous back from them and return it to me" said Master Fu
Marinette nodded and took the necessary Miraculous.
==Streets of Paris==
While Ladybug retrieved the Miraculous, Nightwolf and Cat Noir worked on fighting off Gambler's minions.
"Good to see you two have been keeping busy" said Ladybug
"Ladybug, where have you been?" asked Nightwolf
"I had to pick up some stuff, Nightwolf, I need you to take this to Chloe Bourgeois" said Ladybug, handing a small box to Nightwolf
"Chloe Bourgeois? You're crazy, right?" asked Nightwolf
"No, I'm serious, Gambler has too many minions for just the 3 of us, we need all the help we can get" said Ladybug
"Ugh, alright" said Nightwolf, before leaving to the Le Grand Paris.
"What about us?" asked Cat Noir
"Cat Noir, you stay here and try to hold off more of Gambler's minions, I need to find a couple more allies" said Ladybug, before swinging off
Ladybug swung to a nearby area where she found Alya and Nino hiding.
"Ladybug?" asked Alya
"Always nice to see you, Alya Cesaire, you too, Nino Lahiffe" said Ladybug
"Let me guess, you need some help" said Nino
"Yes, Gambler has too many minions, so me, Cat Noir and Nightwolf are going to need some backup" said Ladybug, handing the boxes to Alya and Nino.
"You know you can always rely on me to lend a helping hand" said Alya, opening the box to release Trixx
"Lovely seeing you again, Alya" said Trixx
"Same to you..." said Alya, putting on the necklace
"TRIXX! LET'S POUNCE!"
Alya crossed her arms before pulling them apart to reveal her fox mask.
Alya raised one hand above her head as her suit manifested from her hand to her toes, with her Flute appearing on her back. Her hair also got longer, had developed white tips and was now tied into a ponytail.
Alya materialized her fox ears and the tailcoat of her suit.
Alya posed as her transformation into Rena Rouge was complete.
With Alya transformed, Nino took the other box and released Wayzz, before he put on the bracelet.
"WAYZZ! SHELL ON!"
Wayzz flew into Nino's bracelet.
Nino stretched out one arm as his suit started materializing.
While the suit formed around his body, Nino started breakdancing as his Shield formed on his back.
When Nino got back to his feet, he turned away and pulled up a hood, before turning back around, with his goggles now replacing his glasses.
Nino posed as his transformation into Carapace was complete.
==Le Grand Paris==
Chloe was on the roof of her daddy's hotel watching the chaos caused by the newest akuma when she heard something behind her, she turned to see Paris' new purple clad hero.
"Oh, you're that new wannabe hero, Fightwolf, or something?" asked Chloe
"It's Nightwolf, and if you're going to be like that, I might as well just leave and take this with me" said Nightwolf, holding out the box
"My Miraculous!" said Chloe
Chloe reached for the box when Nightwolf pulled his hand away.
"Uh uh, first, say you're sorry for the attitude" said Chloe
"Excuse me?" asked Chloe
"Say it" said Nightwolf
"Ugh, fine, I'm sorry for being rude" said Chloe
"There, was that so hard?" asked Nightwolf, handing Chloe the box.
"Ugh, you remind me of my classmate, Zach" said Chloe, opening the box and releasing Pollen
"Greetings, my queen" said Pollen
Chloe smiled and put the clip in her hair.
"POLLEN! BUZZ ON!"
Pollen flew into Chloe's hair comb and added colours of black and yellow to the silver miraculous.
Chloe flipped her hair as a black ribbon tied back her ponytail.
Chloe tapped her toes onto the ground as her yellow and black bodysuit formed around her body.
Chloe waved her hand infront of her face to form her domino mask before adding details to the sleeves of her bodysuit.
Chloe posed as her transformation into Queen Bee was complete.
Ladybug, Cat Noir, Rena Rouge and Carapace all waited for Nightwolf and Queen Bee across from the Hotel De Ville. Eventually, the heroes were joined by their allies.
"Glad you two could make it" said Ladybug
"Of course, Paris needs saving" said Queen Bee
"So, Ladybug, what's the plan?" asked Rena Rouge
==Inside==
Cat Noir, Nightwolf and Marinette Dupain-Cheng entered the Hotel de Ville and noticed the drastic redesign that had been done.
"What happened to the Hotel de Ville?" asked Cat Noir
"Looks like Gambler's turned the place into a casino" said Nightwolf
"Ah, you've arrived" said Gambler
The heroes looked to see Gambler approaching them.
"Okay Gambler, I'm right here, just like you wanted, now let the rest of Paris go" said Marinette
"Of course, I am a man of my word" said Gambler
Gambler pulled out the deck of cards that he used to enslave the people of Paris, the deck of cards burst into flames in his hands and the heroes noticed Gambler's hostages turning back to normal.
"Anyone else, Nightwolf?" asked Cat Noir
"INSTINCT!"
Nightwolf's wolf ears perked up, as his eyes started to focus and his senses increased.
Nightwolf used his Instinct to check for any other hostages. But found no one.
"All clear" said Nightwolf
At that moment, a beeping sound could be heard and Gambler looked up to see Carapace, Queen Bee, Rena Rouge and Ladybug on the ceiling.
"Huh? What's going on?" asked Gambler
"Well, guess since you've released the rest of Paris, there's no need to keep this up..." said Queen Bee
"REALITY!" said Rena Rouge
With a wave of Rena's hand, Marinette disappeared.
"An illusion?" asked Gambler
"NO! They've tricked you" said Hawkmoth
"Fine, if you won't bring me Marinette the easy way, I guess I'll have you bring her to me the hard way" said Gambler
Gambler pulled out a second deck of cards and threw the cards towards the heroes.
"SHELL-TER!"
Carapace's shield formed a force field.
Carapace's Shell-Ter blocked the cards.
"Thanks, Carapace" said Ladybug
"No problem" said Carapace
"We need to get rid of his arsenal" said Nightwolf
"I'm on it..." said Cat Noir
"CATACLYSM!"
Cat Noir raised his hand above his head as his hand was infused with negative energy.
Cat Noir ran towards Gambler. When Gambler tried to pull out another card to throw, Cat Noir quickly grabbed the deck and all the cards disintegrated.
"Now we can take Gambler down..." said Ladybug
"LUCKY CHARM!"
Ladybug flung her Yo-Yo high into the air. Energy shot out from the yo-yo before creating a rag.
"A rag?" asked Ladybug
Ladybug looked around, seeing the rag in her hands, Gambler, Nightwolf and the scarf.
"I think I've got it, Nightwolf, when I give the signal, grab the scarf" said Ladybug
"On it" said Nightwolf
While the other heroes fought Gambler, Ladybug siezed her chance, flipped over Gambler and covered his face with the rag to distract him.
"Now, Nightwolf" said Ladybug
Nightwolf quickly grabbed the scarf and threw it at Ladybug.
"Got it!" said Ladybug
"Nice try" said Gambler, who went to grab back the scarf
"I don't think so..." said Queen Bee
"VENOM!"
Queen Bee spun her Spinning Top before grabbing it with the other hand, her hand was surrounded by energy before taking the form of a bee stinger.
With a prick from Queen Bee's spin top, Gambler was completely paralyzed. Ladybug held the ascot in her hands, prepared to rip it, but she stopped herself, this was her ascot, the first thing she ever designed and made herself. She knew it would get fixed with the Miraculous Ladybug, but she still couldn't bring herself to rip it.
"Uh, Ladybug, you alright?" asked Nightwolf
"Uh, I'm fine" said Ladybug
Ladybug looked at the scarf again, she knew she had to free the akuma to stop Gambler. Scrunching her eyes, she ripped the scarf in half.
"No more evil doing for you, little akuma" said Ladybug as she opened her yo-yo
"Time to de-evilize!"
Ladybug captured the purple akuma in her yo-yo.
"Gotcha!"
Ladybug released the akuma, now pruified into a white butterfly.
"Bye-bye, little butterfly" said Ladybug, before throwing the Lucky Charm into the air.
"MIRACULOUS LADYBUG!"
An explosion of pink energy dispersed into a swarm of ladybugs that flew around the Hotel de Ville, repairing all the damage caused by Gambler, and reverting him back to normal.
"Huh? How'd I get here?" asked Jacques
"Pound It!" said the heroes, fist bumping over a job well done
==The Next Day==
Marinette returned to the Place des Vosges when she saw Jacques again, sitting on his own, the ascot in his hands. Marinette walked up to him and sat next to him.
"Hey, Jacques" said Marinette
"M-Marinette?" asked Jacques
"Yeah, um, look, I'm sorry about what I said yesterday" said Marinette
"It's alright, I understand, you were right, the last time we had seen eachother, I was hustling kids for their favourite toys, and when you beat me, I stole this from you, I really am sorry for doing that" said Jacques
"It's in the past, I'll admit, you do seem like you want to change" said Marinette
"I do, I actually had to find all the people I hustled and I returned their stuff, I'll tell you, that was not easy" said Jacques
"Good for you...huh?" asked Marinette, as Jacques held the ascot out to her
"Take it, Marinette, after all, it is yours" said Jacques
Marinette smiled and took the ascot.
Thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed.
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