A/N: Rather unexpectedly my first leap back into the fandom since All Because of Ice-cream is a request. I really have come full circle huh? First a rewrite of my first work for mlb and now a request. You really can't make this stuff up.
Anyway, this idea came from a fellow user on here. It's set in the movie's universe - so think more a mixture of movie and series lore with this one - and hopefully I didn't do too shabby of a job.
I hope you guys enjoy the piece that I managed to craft up. Till next time,
D.L.D
Chapter One: Chaos
Cold air whipping at her face, Ladybug launched her yo-yo south-bound, following the glittering trail of the Seine. Most nights she would have been farther west, circling the arrondissements around her own home, located quite close to la tour Eiffel. Rarely did she ever venture far from her own domain; after defeating Hawkmoth, calmness had settled over Paris. After serving her purpose, removing the world's only miraculous-powered super villain, there wasn't much for her to do these days.
Tonight, though, the trend had changed.
Pure midnight had settled over the city, a dark blanket of gloom and stars as the city lights below twinkled like tiny fires. Countless people - tourists and locals alike - were out in the streets, an ambient hum of chatter and music and clinking glasses. In all, everything had seemed peaceful. That evening, staring at the entire city laid before her eyes, Ladybug had believed that everything was quite fine - just as peaceful as the previous four years had been.
No-one had expected Notre-Dame to crumble. Combusting into flame, cracking brick and shattering stone, the entire structure had ended up falling in one fell swoop. Just a sudden gust of dusty debris and cacophonous racket. Hundreds of years of tradition, a sign of France and Paris' status as the world's centre of beautiful architecture and ideas, had been reduced to a hunk of rock. A pile of pebbled stone.
Most people dismissed the event as a natural fault. With the age of the building and how the world was constantly changing, people these days didn't have time to dwell on the ideas of villains and chaos. But Ladybug, someone who existed because of a super villain, just couldn't let it go. Neither could Chat Noir.
As soon as they had heard about the event, they'd set out - stationed in different areas of the city and yet still uniting as one - crossing paths as they followed the Seine. Beneath them a million lights shone like stars; a million homes were prepared to end the night, little windows of light that splashed out into the gloom.
Years back, when the akumas were still active, countless heads used to poke out of windows. Wide eyes, curious eyes, would peek from behind curtains and glass, hoping to catch a good glimpse of the superhero duo as they zipped through the city, fighting off Hawkmoth's latest creation. Four years later and Ladybug couldn't help but feel as if that time had been a distant past. Back then she used to have a purpose. Back then she had thought that everything would be fixed once Hawkmoth was defeated.
Contrary to her beliefs, finding out who Hawkmoth was didn't help. Knowing who Chat Noir was - none other than Adrien Agreste - didn't help much either. Maybe that was why, as Ladybug, she had always tried to bury herself within the little work she had left.
Bright scarlet against the dark backdrop of the night, Ladybug easily stuck out as she reached the surrounding area of Île de la Cité, a vast contrast from the mostly sleepy setting of the majority of Paris. Areas had began to be blocked off, a large maze of police vehicles and temporary signs posted along the roads. Traffic began to queue; questions began to grow; but, most importantly of all, chaos began to form. And chaos had never been good for anyone - even back when they had been fighting Hawkmoth.
"This definitely isn't a natural phenomenon," Ladybug frowned, not at all impressed with the present as she surveyed the scene about her.
Too many things were just too... chaotic. Flames still burned from the pile of rubble, despite the team of fire fighters attempting to put it out. Cracks ran across the paving stones, almost with a life of their own, as they branched out into smaller, finer splits that eventually became equally as large fissures. Something was wrong. Something wasn't natural. This wasn't natural. It couldn't be. Having seen the supernatural so many times over the years, having witnessed magic with her own two eyes, Ladybug knew that this couldn't be down to nature.
"Well it doesn't look like an akuma," Chat Noir also frowned, landing beside her as he collapsed his baton. "If it was we would have seen one by now."
"Yes but- "
Crackling, popping - almost like fireworks - the entire sky lit up as the ground rumbled, quaking with the force of a powerful shock wave. Eyes wide, both heroes pivoted towards the source of sound, met by a powerful gust of wind that blew across the sky. For a second there was silence. Immediately after came the screams, powerful, wailing screams that competed with the roaring flames, a familiar sound to both heroes' ears.
Within her chest, Ladybug felt her heart pick up speed. This was it. They were going to be true heroes once more. And now, once again, she was feeling downright petrified.
"That's our cue, Bugaboo," Chat Noir grinned, almost as if he were excited to be here again, living the life of a real hero once more. Between the pair of them he had always been the most enthusiastic - jazz hands and glittery mask and all.
But behind him, apprehensive as always, Ladybug could only sigh as she tossed her yo-yo ahead, looping it around a nearby lamppost. Hopefully, this was just a false alarm. Hopefully this was something minor - something minuscule in comparison to Hawkmoth and his previous threats. If not... well, they'd cross that bridge when they got there - literally.
Everything was going wrong. Shaking structures, buckling buildings and a swelling river were making it difficult for Ladybug to navigate the battlefield. A literal battlefield. Facing Hawkmoth had never been like fighting in a war. Sure, having superpowers and managing a super team had felt somewhat like being a soldier in a war - a child soldier in a war - however, back then, walking over landmines and inching across firing ranges had never been a true fear. Now it was.
Beneath the streets of Paris, the enemy had planted their bombs. Laid with the pipes and following the meandering roads, myriads of traps and cracks spiraled across the district, possibly crossing into multiple arrondissements. Everything could be a weapon. Any step could be the last she took and Ladybug took that possibility very seriously.
Charging ahead, Chat Noir had chosen to try and find out what had happened deeper into the damage zone. Silver baton in hand and promising to report back with an update as soon as possible, he had taken his own initiative and had decided to try and see what was going on. Up ahead he was now lost in the chaos, a black indiscriminate dot that jetted between a rainbow of blue and orange flame. A lost figure.
Itching to help as well, Ladybug herself had decided to set off in the opposite direction to Chat Noir. Following the cracks running along the roads, she traveled through the air - a much safer medium after nearly setting off a landmine. If that was what the traps were.
Civilians were littered everywhere: trapped within upturned cars or screaming from the mountains of rubble slowly growing the deeper into the disaster zone she got. More and more injured people were popping up, limping figures with bleeding skin or crying people huddled around piles of destruction and damage. Barely anyone turned to see her. Barely anyone cried out at the sight of Ladybug - the one who was meant to save them all. Instead it was all tears, all pain, all agony.
Along the way she spotted a pair of children. One second they were there, a flurry of tiny legs that tried to carry their bodies to safety; the next it was all red. So much red. Red on the pavement, red on the buildings and red on the ground. All your life you were taught that the human body was simply made of flesh and bone. But when it was exploded, blown apart at the seams, you wouldn't even know that. All you would see, painted before you in red lines, were splatters of tissue and organs.
Left on the road, in the middle of the blast, was the last sign of the children: a round, plastic ball. That was all. In that moment Ladybug wanted to scream. In that moment she wanted to cry, wanted to crumble to knees as she wondered just what on this earth was malevolent enough to cause so much damage. Alas, she didn't have that liberty. Ladybug had to be a hero.
Swallowing thickly, the heroine couldn't help but shiver as she journeyed deeper into the lion's den. Usually, by now, there would be some sign of the villain. Intent on spreading danger and destruction Hawkmoth's creations would always try to garner as much attention as possible. But this new villain, despite causing so much damage, was nowhere to be seen.
But then, as if summoned by thought, Ladybug saw her, a bright scarlet bob in the middle of a sea of darkened damage. Four years ago, at the beginning of her journey as Ladybug, they had first met. Magician - one of Hawkmoth's first creations. Dressed smartly in a black suit, sleek and stylish and definitely modern, she had always exuded the theme of magic and mystery. Top hat positioned on her vivid bob, long black gloves on her arms and white mask on: it was impossible for Ladybug to not remember her. Everything was the same - no, nearly everything.
Glittering beneath the lapels of her jacket, a dark onyx jewel, was a silver pin. Subtle. Very easy to miss. But in the light of the flames, dancing around her in an entrancing ring, Ladybug could easily spot it. Keeping an eye on details was always her best trait.
But, even so, that new detail did alarm her. Did it mean that Hawkmoth was back?
"Magician," Ladybug emerged from the shadows, stepping into the ring of flames with her yo-yo spinning. Filling the air with the familiar zipping sound of her weapon, she managed to calm herself down. To keep herself level and calm.
"Ladybug," The villain spat, the word a sour spell on her tongue. Tossing a hand over her shoulder, she launched a ball of floating debris toward the Seine, sending sprays of cold water into the air. Still cowering before her, a man on the ground remained paralyzed, wide eyes staring at the woman in a mixture of awe and terror. "Long time no see."
"I could say the same to you," Ladybug nodded toward Magician, tipping her head toward the scene of certain chaos she had crafted by herself. Last time, for sure, she had definitely not been so powerful. Last time she had been limited, restricted to the limitations of Hawkmoth's then barely developed powers. But now... it seemed she had flourished, grown a power so great that it could be formidable - even to Ladybug herself. "Why are you doing this? What are you doing here?"
"Spreading chaos, like most jinxes do," Magician answered, twisting her other hand into a cruel fist. In that moment the man's body crumpled up, scrunched and balled into an orb of flesh, popping bone and splattering blood exploding into the ring of flames. There wasn't a moment for pain. There wasn't even a scream. Turning back to Ladybug, the villain smiled, a sinister scarlet thing, "And isn't it beautiful?"
"Beautiful?" Ladybug echoed, somewhat jarred by the sheer ferocity she had seen in that second. Not even Hawkmoth had been that calloused. That... ruthless. Subconsciously stepping back, closer to the wall of flames, Ladybug shook her head, "You're destroying the city!"
"Oh Ladybug," Magician - no, someone else entirely - walked toward her, spiraling energy crackling in the air like electricity as she smirked. Staring the hero in the eye, hand poised to take action, she hummed, "It's part of my job. I'm no longer a simple magician, now I'm Jinx - an agent of chaos."
Snapping her fingers, she summoned a beam of lightning. Straight on, like an arrow homed in on a bullseye, it struck the city, spreading across the pavement in branches of tiny volts. Cries of agony filled the air, electricity lighting up the air as the fires continued to burn. Out of the corner of her eye, Ladybug could spot a group of students, huddled in a half-collapsed doorway, lit up like a light on a porch. As they screamed, the stench of burning flesh carried in the air. Ladybug didn't need to see anything to know what it was. At all. Part of her wished she hadn't.
Doubling over, the heroine emptied the contents of her stomach onto the ground. Wet, it splashed onto the ruined paving stones - now more dirt than stone - and Ladybug grimaced as she spat the remainders onto the ground. Pitiful. Who would have thought that this was all it took to reduce her to a pitiful mess?
Peeling flesh, melting off the bone like tender meat off a rib, was not something she had ever seen in a battle. Even against Hawkmoth, that fateful day where she had first learned of Chat Noir's identity, things had not been so brutal. Real damage had never been done. Real death, real torture, had never been served. But tonight...
Cackling into the night, like a witch on a broomstick, Jinx reveled in the chaos flourishing around her. Almost as if she were proud of what she were doing, gaining something euphoric from burning Paris' citizens alive.
"This world is one I can meld with my own hands," Jinx continued, turning on her heel as she set to work, meticulous gestures controlling the magic pouring from her fingertips. Brick by brick, beam by beam, the surrounding buildings were falling apart, feeding the growing flames fanning around their doorways and back entrances. "A place of flight and fancy. Wonder and whimsy."
Trying to regather herself, to calm down, Ladybug shook her head. Yo-yo still in hand, she flung the weapon, wrapping it around one of the deadly hands. Noticing the extra weight, Jinx grabbed onto the wire, dragging Ladybug toward her, the growing embers forming with each calculated step.
"But like all dreams, there's always an element of nightmares," Jinx warned, a dark expression passing over her sharp blue eyes as she reeled Ladybug toward her. Trying to fight back, tugging on the wire as firmly as possible, Ladybug dug her heels into the dirt, applying pressure to her ankles as she leaned back toward the flames. "And sometimes they don't have good endings."
Of course there wouldn't be a good ending. If Ladybug could not get a grip, could not shake off the lingering shock and fear in her system, then she would end up being fed to the flames. Alive. If that happened then there would be no hope left. There would be no-one to stop Jinx, clearly taken over by a fit of insanity, from wreaking havoc on the rest of the city; if that happened then the world would be her limit.
Twisting a hand in the air, performing more intricate motions, Jinx summoned more energy. Crackling like static once more, a warm current in the air, Ladybug knew what it meant. Already she had seen it once and didn't need a second up-close demo to know that it could kill her.
Snap! Letting go of her weapon, her only true advantage, Ladybug ducked and rolled away - just in the nick of time. White-hot, a strange tingle in her spine, the warmth that rolled off that concentrated beam of lightning definitely chilled Ladybug's nerves.
Blood pulsing in her ears, something ringing in her ears, Ladybug could definitely say that she feared for her life this time round. Unlike with Mr Pigeon - unlike with almost every akuma - Jinx was something with an element of permanent danger. There was no resting around her. There was no moment of peace. Instead it was all danger, one step away from accidentally sealing her own fate, and that fact was daunting.
"Ladybug," Chat Noir. Landing beside her, a gentle hand on her hunched shoulder blade, concern dipped into his green eyes as he glanced at her. "You alright?"
No. Not at all. But there was no time for that; Ladybug had to be strong.
"I'm fine," She responded, a lackluster smile that didn't reach her eyes as she stood on her wobbly legs. In that moment she realised that she had lost her yo-yo, the weapon now firmly in the enemy's clutches. The first time she had ever really lost it. "I lost my yo-yo..."
"You lost it?" Eyes wide, Chat Noir glanced at Jinx, now grinning even more. Playing with the yo-yo, still gesturing about, she was continuing to spread her destruction. Her pure, unbridled chaos. "That's a first."
"I know," Ladybug sighed, pressing her lips into a thin line. Now she would have to be extra careful, her own body being the only true thing she could rely on to get her out of a particularly nasty pickle. Nothing else. No-one else. Chat Noir himself would have to focus on keeping himself whole.
"Have you located the akuma?" Chat Noir eventually asked, his eyes still fixed to the villain, now more focused on her task at hand than actually fighting the heroes. Perched on top of a large building, hands in the air as if she were speaking to some form of god, she continued to summon arcs of bright beams from the sky. Occasionally they would land with a shattering rumble. Other times they would be silent, bright beams of light that shocked everything within its range.
Hot. Yes, those beams were hot. Ladybug could remember it well, just a few mere inches away from being roasted alive.
"I'm working on it," Ladybug admitted, her lips still pressed and pinched. At the moment she felt naked and exposed - especially without her yo-yo. Just like she was fourteen again, cluleless and bumbling and trying her best to string it all together. "It must be somewhere in her costume."
So they were launched into battle once more. Trying to locate the akuma, a weird sense of deja vu for them, they attempted every possible method. Using up multiple cataclysms - as well as at least ten lucky charms - they were burning through every option they had, excluding calling in the others. But even then, Ladybug was hesitant. They didn't know what they were up against and suddenly it was like they were back to the beginning: launched into a battle with no clue on how to defeat the enemy.
All the while Jinx continued her rampage, reigning down terror from the skies with a vengeance that could definitely rival a god. Powerful beams of heat, climbing columns of fire were quickly replacing the once gorgeous streets that surrounded the Île de la Cité. People weren't a thing anymore; only empty husks, burned out piles of ash and bone or groaning piles of blood and sinew remained. Sirens had also died out. Once blaring and prominent, bright flashes of rouge and bleu, they were distant and echoing. More and more of Paris was inching away from the disaster zone.
And Ladybug and Chat Noir? They were struggling to contain it.
Heaving with every breath, muscles aching and joints stiff, both heroes were starting feel fatigued. Even their kwamis, worn down by the constant recharges and uses of their powers, were starting to warn of the consequences of over-use. They were being burned out and out-ran. Jinx, somehow more powerful than anything else they had ever seen, was easily running circles around them - all without feeling tired at all.
Pursing her lips, Ladybug glared at the villain as she spun her yo-yo. Luckily, it had reappeared with her latest transformation. Part of her didn't want to think about how dire things would be if it didn't. If she did... well, she would only spiral into further bad thoughts.
"Still looking for my akuma, Cat and Bug?" Jinx turned to face them, a figure of glory and triumph as an entire arrondissement burned before her cold, unfeeling gaze. "Unfortunately you won't find it."
They would. Somehow. Ladybug had to believe.
"Talk is cheap," Chat Noir rebutted. Whenever she failed to keep the spirits high, to preserve the hope, he always seemed to fill in her shoes. Tonight, though, it felt off. Strange. "Especially coming from you!"
Together they had planned to target another item - the top hat. Everything else had been trialed and tested and failed. Completely and utterly failed. But, once again, they hadn't thought about the possibility of the hat being too obvious. Going for the hat was too obvious. In one moment Ladybug found herself pitching her yo-yo, already preparing for the inevitable failure. Yet again.
"I wouldn't be so sure, Tomcat," Stepping out of the way, Jinx easily avoided Chat Noir's lunge for her hat. Poking him with a finger - a simple finger - she managed to send a small shock through his system, sending him down, pinned by the force of her grip on his arm.
Sparking in his palm, still aglow with power, was his unused cataclysm, and with coldness in her eyes - a blunt autonomy that could rival a killing machine - Jinx pulled out the hero's arm, bending it toward his chest. Immediately, Chat Noir's eyes widened. Countless times this had happened before, too many times before, but he'd never felt it like this. Pinned to the ground, arm terse and forced into a tight position, mere inches from his chest: yes, he'd never been in this situation before.
All the past self-cataclysms had been done in one swift moment. Tripping up on a bar, the enemy dodging by a mere inch: yes, those had been the past causes. But never before like this, a deliberate, drawn-out torture.
Panic coursing through his system, Chat Noir struggled against Jinx, but she held him fast. Firm. Destructive and potent, the power in his own hand was growing closer to its target. He had to do something. He had to deactivate it. He had to-
Part of his suit dissolved, that entire hand, and for a moment all Chat Noir felt was overwhelming relief. Then came the crunch. Another one. One thousand crunches in his arm, shattering bone and splintering tendons, reducing the limb to a bloody, disfigured noodle. All before the blow to send him back, a powerful kick to his side with the sharp heel of her boots.
"Chat Noir!" Yanking on her yo-yo, pulling the string taut, Ladybug managed to catch her partner. Just in the nick of perfect time. One of the few things that she hadn't failed at tonight; something Ladybug would always pride herself on. Saving Chat Noir would always be something she was good at.
Turning toward Jinx, unable to hold it in any further, Ladybug yelled out, "Are you really trying to kill us?!"
"I thought that was obvious," Jinx laughed, a sweet sound that contrasted jarringly with the wild winds whipping through the air. One hand rested on her hip as she glanced at the two heroes, danger sparking in her icy blue eyes. "For someone so smart, you sure are dull Ladybug. You can't even figure out that there isn't an akuma to destroy."
"Why not?" Ladybug asked, raising a brow as she hefted Chat Noir back onto the roof. Before Jinx could do something else - like shoot fireballs in their direction or send meteorites to slam down into the already battered city district. "How do we know that you're not just lying to distract us?"
"Telling you why would help you to win," Was Jinx's only response, another light and cheery thing. Now her hands were moving, twisting around each other in elegant motions as she gathered different particles of debris together. Even though it was dangerous Ladybug couldn't deny that Jinx's power had a level of skill and grace to it. Dare she even say eloquence. "And I quite like being the victor."
Another blast was shot their way. This time they were caught in it, a blow of powerful, boiling air that felt like spilling scalding water on your arm. Screaming out in pain, Ladybug hissed as she pitched her yo-yo into the unknown, desperate to escape the scorching fumes. Chat Noir was following behind, a large gash exposed on his left side, a dark trail of blood dripping down his abdomen as his face pinched in agony and he pole vaulted away.
Sustaining that level of damage had never been part of their jobs - at least not in the beginning. Hawkmoth was the only person who could hurt them in such a way. In the past Hawkmoth was the only enemy who they had to fear with their lives. But now... it seemed to world had evolved and their times of relaxation in a period of peace had only made them easier targets. Being comfortable had made them weak.
Landing on a nearby rooftop, both messes of pain and stiffness and fatigue, the heroes decided to take a breather. Before launching themselves back into battle they needed another plan. Another Ladybug plan that had been formed with perfect thinking and perfect carefulness - even if that perfection had been tested by tonight's unique villain. If there wasn't a plan then they couldn't act. Both members of the Cat and Bug duo were used to that routine. Tonight was not a night to break that tried and tested formula.
Releasing a sigh, Ladybug shook her head as she stared at her hands, a mess of tattered spotted material and scraped palms, "There isn't an akuma."
"There has to be," Chat Noir insisted, face still scrunched with pain as he peered at his side. Slow yet steady, a stream of dark crimson was growing, smearing on his suit as he took a seat against a chimney. Thankfully, his suit was beginning to reappear where it had faded away, gradually patching up his broken arm along the way. A temporary fix - the most Plagg could do - but it would last for now. It had to. "There's always an akuma."
"But there can't be. Hawkmoth's gone and Jinx's doing too much damage," Ladybug responded, shaking her head once more. Letting her hands drop to their sides, she approached Chat Noir, lucky charm summoned in her hands in order to try and patch him up. Lucky for him it was a roll of first aid bandages - not enough for a permanent solution but enough to stem the blood loss. Pressing the roll of bandages onto his wound, Ladybug continued, "Maybe she's telling the truth."
"So," The hero hissed, a sharp exhale of pressured air as Ladybug applied the bandages. Already on her face, her apology was evident as she pressed a little harder, attempting to fix the bandages on more firmly. "What is it then?"
There wasn't an opportunity to answer. Instead another row of buildings was sent into a path of destruction, this time from the bottom up. Swirling like a sand pit, the pavement turned into a whirlpool of thick, viscous material, chunks of stone and solid metal cars being swallowed within the centre. Arms and heads sticking out of the surface, some victims screamed as they were sucked under the surface. Others coughed as they swallowed pounds of cement and soil, eyes white and bulging as their faces turned blue.
Not a moment was free to waste. Not a moment was available to take a break. This battle was constant.
"We have to act," Ladybug whispered, hastily finishing her job of patching Chat Noir back up. "Too many people are dying."
"I know," Chat Noir agreed, extending his staff. Shakily, he got to his feet, shoving down the slight wince that escaped his pinched face. "And we'll save them. Together."
There wasn't anything else to exchange between them. Heading toward the latest damage zone, one flash of bright red and another of deep black, the Cat and Bug duo launched themselves back into their work.
Scooping all the arms she could out of the sinkhole, Ladybug worked on saving those who were going to be buried alive. Meanwhile Chat Noir was helping those trapped in buildings, kicking out crumbling walls and helping people to get to the temporary safety of the roofs.
Really, there needed to be something permanent. Both Ladybug and Chat Noir knew as much. Continuing like this, depleting themselves and not even saving the people of Paris, was only going to result in them dying from exhaustion. This battle needed to end. These people needed to be saved. Jinx needed to be stopped.
But doing that was the true problem. There was no way to know where her powers came from - not when she hid their origins so well.
"Papa!"
Lone and shivering, clutching onto a blown open wall, a single child called out into the night. Messy brown hair, blue eyes filled with a shower of tears, they peered out into the sheer chaos before them. A pale, frightened mess, they scanned through the wreckage. Scrapes and bruises littered their skin. Rips and tears ruined the simple white dress they - she - wore. Yes, Ladybug couldn't see it clearly at first but the child was a girl. A young girl. Oh how she wished she didn't have see this...
"Papa where are you!" Falling into hysteria, the girl cried out once more, trembling hands covering her sobbing face as she quivered. One hand stretched out into nowhere, cutting open into a scarlet stream against a shattered window. "Please, I'm scared!"
No-one was around the hear the girl. More thunder echoed and more sandpits formed, snaking and destructive forces that aimed to bring the entire city down. Millions of other screams filled the air, countless of potent stenches, trillions of tears... Everything was going wrong. Everything was chaos. There was no-one to help: not the police, not Chat Noir, not even Ladybug herself, struggling to save those choking on the very streets they had walked on mere seconds ago.
Is this what they had been reduced to? Is this really what Ladybug's purpose was, watching as others suffered, helpless to aid them?
"I've got you," Two gloved hands grabbed the child from the crumbling building, landing them both on top of another building - far away from the sandpits. Jinx. Impassive and cold, merciless in her actions, and yet stopping to help a child. Everything around her was falling apart - all by her own doing - and she was pausing her actions to help a child. Just what sort of person was she?
Kneeling before the child, still with a face as blank as a clean slate, Jinx asked, "Are you alright?"
Before the child could respond, Ladybug had yanked her toward her own building, safely wrapped up in her yo-yo's wire. Glaring at Jinx from across the leveled streets - once filled with buildings and now filled with remnants of destruction and death - the heroine clearly communicated her own disdain. Distrust sat openly within her own blue eyes.
"You should know better than to manipulate children," Ladybug frowned, shaking her head as she unwound her yo-yo. Luckily she kept a few spare plasters within her yo-yo, her accident-prone nature being a key factor in that decision. Turning to the child, she produced the plaster, "Do you want me to help you?"
Shaking their head, the child sniffed as they accepted the plaster, "No. It hurts... where is papa?"
In that moment the poor thing erupted into tears. Too much shock was in her system. Too much adrenaline. Now that the danger was over and she was safe, safe but in a strange environment, it was all settling in. Everything terrible, everything unfair, was now taking root within the child's mind. Never before had Ladybug wanted to harm an enemy so much; never before had she felt so angry at how their actions affected others.
"You- "
"Be careful, you don't want to make me angry," Jinx warned, still standing on her opposing roof. Fingers flexing, she looked as if she were itching to try out another incantation or spell. Nevertheless, nothing happened. For a while nothing happened.
Until it all ended. In one abrupt moment that pin, subtly glimmering away under its lapel, was in Chat Noir's hand. As soon as it was taken, no longer pinned to her, Jinx was reduced to a normal woman, trembling on jellied legs as she collapsed to her knees. Staring at nothing. Staring at everything. That woman was like a hollow, an empty shell as she just kept staring at Ladybug - at the child - with an unreadable face dominated by... pained eyes.
"This kind of looks like a miraculous," Chat Noir noted, landing beside Ladybug and the child with his prize. Twisting it within his hand, he examined the pin and the fine detailing to its onyx centre jewel. Glancing toward Ladybug, he asked, "You think it's from another box?"
For a long while, for too long, Ladybug found herself staring back at the woman. Red bob, blue eyes, scarlet lips: she was just like her akuma form, her villain persona. Staring at nothing. Staring at everything. What exactly went on within her mind? What drove her to this point?
"Maybe," Ladybug eventually responded. Releasing a sigh, she closed her eyes as she raised her hands into the air, ready to repair the enormous amount of damage dished out to the city. "But we'll discuss it later. Right now I need to do my job."
Tomorrow, she'd definitely feel the burn of this battle.
This battle wasn't over yet.
Somehow Ladybug and Chat Noir always thought that everything was over once they purified the cursed akumas. Destroy the item holding the akuma and everything goes back to normal; take away the magical item and your enemy is nothing more than a confused, muddled mess. Ladybug and Chat Noir always went by that overly simplistic formula, batch-tested and proved by countless battles started by none other than Hawkmoth himself.
When they had seized Jinx's miraculous - because that was what her pin was - they really thought that they had gained the upper hand. Stripping the enemy of their powers had always been the superheroes' main approach. Gaining the upper hand, that smug, self-righteous position of thinking that they always knew best was always what Ladybug and Chat Noir did.
Really, none of those heroes had a clue into how the world really worked. Outside of Paris, outside of the little bubbles of their bland, everyday lives, Ladybug and Chat Noir didn't know shit. Without a doubt, Jinx could vouch for that. Having seen what she had, having experienced everything that built up into this moment, felt the pure strings of fate tie together into pure, unbridled chaos, Jinx could say that she knew how the world worked.
Everything relied on chaos. More powerful than creation. Much more powerful than destruction. Chaos interwined with everything; everything emerged from a singular chaotic event.
Honestly, the mistake those heroes made was thinking that Jinx couldn't flip the situation right on their very heads. Unlike previous times, seizing the magical object wouldn't do much for them: Jinx didn't need to wear her miraculous to draw upon its gifts. Unlike Hawkmoth, Jinx simply wasn't a crippled, old man who couldn't get over his wife's death. Cold, hard reality was everything that she accepted; cold, hard reality was what had led her this far.
Taking in a deep breath, Jinx steeled herself. This was the moment where she would show Ladybug and Chat Noir that they had been lied to; this was the moment where she would show them, in plain sight, how nothing was ever as it seemed.
Calling upon her kwami from afar was never an easy feat. Partially transforming her took a toll on both herself and the chaos kwami, draining them in a similar way to Ladybug's lucky charms and Chat Noir's cataclysms. Using such a move would be a risky feat - even if they could recharge in a fraction of the time it took the Bug and Black Cat. But, with everything hinging on this battle going well, Jinx would have to seize that chance.
Clasping her hands together, linking her fingers in a zig-zagging pattern, Jinx prepared to summon her final, grand move. Doing this was usually a last resort - the satisfaction wasn't nearly as great as destroying the world with her own bare hands - but right now she had to focus on efficiency. Squishing Ladybug and destroying Chat Noir came before anything else. Once they were gone she could continue and nothing could ever get in her way.
Chilling her spine, Jinx felt the familiar current of her kwami linking to her. It was only a matter of time now.
"What's going on?" Ladybug. Definitely panicked if Jinx was to garner a guess, blue eyes wide behind her red mask, yo-yo spinning chaotically in the powerful winds.
Cracking her eyes open - she must have closed them to concentrate - the woman glanced toward the heroine. True to her suspicions, Ladybug was a panicked mess, yo-yo spinning and nerves on edge. Beside her Chat Noir was equally twitchy, the child sandwiched between their protective stances. Not like they could do much, one a panicked bug and the other a kitty with a crushed arm.
"I don't think an akuma's ever been this powerful," Chat Noir seemed to agree with his partner, his own alarm evident as the seconds ticked on by. "I don't think anything's ever been this powerful. I'm just as clueless as you on this, My Lady."
"Of course you are," Ladybug responded, a frustrated huff as her eyes darted about the place. Finding a solution was always the Bug's job; fixing messes was always the Bug's destiny. But, this time, there was no way to fix anything. "This isn't supposed to happen. Miraculous holders can't do this. She has to be an aku- "
"I'm not an akuma!" Jinx roared out, the wind picking up with her own agitation. Now she could stand, strength and power coursing through her veins as her kwami kept charging her up. "How many times do I have to repeat it? I'm an agent of chaos, something far beyond you two's tiny means of power."
"Tiny?" Chat Noir echoed, his offence not at all hidden. Even though Jinx herself held the upper hand - would always have the upper hand - against these two bumbling idiots.
"Minuscule," Jinx corrected, a venomous spit as she stalked toward them, still charging with her kwami's dormant power.
Instantly, both heroes sprung into their usual 'hero-mode'. Weapons at the ready and every nerve on edge, they were the perfect epitome of an army facing its defeat. Even when the odds were stacked against them, towering above them like a giant wall lined with armed watchmen, Ladybug and Chat Noir still remained stubborn. Giving up was never their forte; letting 'evil' prevail was never their agenda. They would always continue to fight.
"So you're going to keep destroying Paris to prove your point?" Ladybug called out, her brow slanted at a disapproving angle as she glowered at the enemy.
"It's not destruction," Jinx shook her head. No, not that simple. She wasn't Chat fucking Noir. Her power was different - much more different from that simple kitty's cataclysms. "It's..."
Again, that kid. Cowering behind those stupid heroes, shivering on trembling legs as she stared at the villain with wide, fearful eyes. Brown hair, blue eyes - like Jinx's own a lifetime ago. Cowering in the shadows, watching as the world continued on, punishing her and all in its way as it pushed for its cruel, continuous agenda. Life was never fair. Living in this world, continuing in this world, was never an easy feat.
Yet, Jinx understood what it was like to have temporary peace robbed from your very hands. Different figures, evil figures, would swoop into every child's life - didn't matter who you were - and would steal their innocence. That happened to Ladybug and Chat Noir. That had happened to Jinx herself. That same cruel reality will happen to this kid, reaching into her brain and forever changing and shaping her life. Her future.
But today wouldn't be that day.
"Well shit," Jinx sighed, cutting off the connection between herself and the chaos kwami. There were lines that people didn't cross; there were lines that she wouldn't cross. Harming children was on that line - ruining a child's life would forever lay on that line. Shaking her head, Jinx came to a halt, head in her hands as she stared at the ground. "I can't do this..."
When had she gotten to this point? One kid, shivering in the cold, blood soaking her thin plaster as she sniffled into the night was all it took for her to crumble. Children. Innocence. Complete naivety. They didn't deserve to be caught in the crossfire of a dangerous war between self-righteous heroes and a misunderstood beacon to the truth of this world. Children shouldn't be in the direct line of fire, exposed to be sacrificed like lambs led to a slaughterhouse. No. No child ever deserved that fate.
"Just take me in Ladybug," Each word a reluctant spit, the villain scowled as she held both her hands out. As if to burn her further, Ladybug's face seemed to light up with triumph as Jinx stepped toward them, "I'm not going to harm a child today."
For once, Ladybug was working on autopilot. Eyes closed in concentration, face pinched with thought, she clasped her hands together, summoning the powers of creation thrumming within her miraculous. Undoing the damage was one thing she never forgot how to do. Restoring what was broken, fixing what was damaged, had always been a second nature to Marinette ever since she became Ladybug. As long as she had the miraculous, as long as she kept good faith, she could fix whatever damage was done. Always.
So, like a thousand times before, Ladybug stood on a rooftop in central Paris, waving her arms about like a conductor directing an orchestra, and got to work on fixing the broken. Sewing together crumbled buildings, patching up fallen bridges and turning over up-turned cars and trees had always been an easy feat. Sealing the cracks in sidewalks and stacking chimneys back together had always been much easier. Patching up people had always been the hardest.
Nevertheless, stood on her rooftop, Ladybug tried her best. Magic thrumming in her veins, something pleasant carrying in the air, she continued her work until she could no longer sense anymore damage. Then she opened her eyes, facing the sight of Jinx - accompanied by a squad of armed police - being marched toward a heavily armoured van.
Throwing her yo-yo toward the scene, Ladybug landed right before the villain. Before she went prison, before this all ended, she wanted to share some final words with Jinx, Magician, whatever the hell her name was. People like her, when left unguided, could go great damage; maybe Ladybug could provide her with that guidance.
"You should know more than anyone else that using your powers for evil is wrong," Ladybug began with those words, cliche as it was to say such a thing. Brows pinched with disapproval and her eyes betraying the same kind of emotion, the heroine glanced at the woman before her - stripped of all her powers - and wondered if she felt any remorse. Just anything redeeming that could show if she really did care.
"Oh cut the bullshit, LB," Jinx spat, the words a rough snarl from her scarlet lips as she jerked slightly in her handcuffs. Thankfully, an officer held her back, another shoving their gun into the woman's abdomen - a warning to stay back.
"Bullshit?" Ladybug echoed. Trying to stay calm, she attempted to collect her racing thoughts, her gathering emotions, as she spoke to Jinx. "I'm trying to help you here, Jinx. What you did here tonight, razing almost half the city in a fit of temporary insanity, was an act of treachery against Paris - hell, the whole of France - and the people who live within it. What were you thinking? Terrorizing innocent people who didn't do anything to you? Innocent families, innocent children, who had nothing to do with whatever caused you to do this!"
"The miraculous are not there to commit evil deeds," Ladybug took in a deep breath, trying to reign in her growing anger, her frustration, at Jinx. "We are given our miraculous in order to help humanity. Saving people, saving the world, is at the forefront of the order of guardians. We all use the miraculous for the greater good. We all work together to restore peace and keep the world safe. We use it- "
Snorting, Jinx shook her head, "You don't keep anything safe," A real spit this time, curling her lip with disgust as she snarled. "There is so much you don't know about this world, Little Bug. You think that everything works like that. You believe that you are doing what's best for the greater good. Really, you're just perpetuating an ancient lie."
Nothing else was said. Time ticking on and the police growing antsy, the armed squad pressed ahead and Jinx was loaded into her van. Fading into the distance, the last glimpse of her was through the tiny window on the back, a short red bob distorted by thick glass and then blocked out the heavy metal door of the van. Then, off down the newly-repaired road, Jinx was on her way to some high security prison, far, far away from where she could do any damage.
"Ladybug," Almost jumping out of her skin, Ladybug was shocked to find her partner beside her. Looking worse for wear - definitely a lot more roughed up than when they'd fought Hawkmoth - Chat Noir glanced at her with an almost overwhelming concern. "I don't think you managed to fix everything."
"What?" Ladybug frowned, turning around to take in her surroundings. Everything appeared fixed, buildings and streets and cars all in order. "That can't be the case. I always fix everything."
"Yeah, but..." Pursing his lips, Chat Noir sighed as he trudged ahead. "Follow me."
More on edge than ever before, Ladybug silently followed her partner deeper into the area. No more than a few streets in and she realised what he meant: bodies, everywhere, slumped against doorways or burned to a crisp. There were groups of survivors, the lucky ones who did manage to get restored, screaming or sobbing as they came to terms with it all. Their broken brains, their damaged brains, struggled to come to terms with all the new information.
Yet, in the face of it all, Ladybug could only find herself frozen, speechless. This shouldn't be possible. Death - no matter how terrible - could always be fixed by the Ladybug miraculous. There was nothing that Ladybug couldn't fix; there was no-one that Ladybug couldn't heal. That was how it had to be; that was what Marinette had always been told, ever since she had first met Tikki, scared to death of the consequences that came with being the kwami of creation's holder. Ladybug was the one who could save the world; Ladybug could fix anything. But Ladybug couldn't fix this.
For once, Ladybug had failed her job.