Chapter Twenty-Eight: Their Own Hands

"Gabriel? May I speak with you for a moment?" asked Nathalie. She had specifically waited until Emilie was out of the house to approach him about what was on her mind.

He looked up from his desk, having been reading the ancient tome of the Miraculous. "Of course, Nathalie." He could tell that she was conflicted about something. "How can I help?"

After taking a moment to find the right words, Nathalie spoke. "You see, Sir, I…I was talking with Emilie the other day, and the conversation turned to you. Both yous. As hesitant as I am to speak behind your back, I thought it was only fair you knew what it was we were discussing."

Gabriel was already fairly sure he had an inkling of what they had spoken of. "Very well. Go on," he said with a nod.

"Emilie is quite glad, as I'm sure you are as well, that you are here. She had been missing you for quite some time, and I had started to fear what she might do if she did not seize the Miraculous soon."

"Nothing good, if she were to turn out anything like me," Gabriel said sadly. "But surely this is better for all of us, yes? Each of us lost the other, and now we can finally be reunited, without wrenching anything away from another. Can this truly have a downside?"

Once again, Nathalie hesitated. "Perhaps this is not the best for all of us. After all…you aren't the Gabriel of this dimension. What is to become of him? Surely we can't leave him floating in a jar for the rest of our lives! And pulling his plug…I can't imagine that either."

Indeed, neither option appealed to Gabriel, especially considering it could have been him in that tube. Doubly so when he imagined it was Emilie. "And what if we were able to restore him, somehow?" he asked. "That option wouldn't be much better. Imagine you woke up, and your exact double had taken over your entire life. Even if you were able to resolve the situation peacefully, nothing would be the same. You would forever share your existence with a copy, forced to live half of your own life. It would not be fair to him."

"Then what might your suggestion be?" asked Nathalie. Her tone was a touch accusatory, though she had tried to tamp most of it down. "We have been given three options, none of them fair to him. Do we pick one of them without his input? Or let fate decide?"

"If only we could let him decide his own fate," Gabriel said. "In my search to cure Emilie's condition, I came across nothing that would allow me to rouse her from her slumber, even temporarily. Did you have better luck in this reality?"

Nathalie shook her head. "I'm afraid not. Without the twin Miraculous, I'm afraid there's nothing we can do. But now that we know Adrien has one…perhaps acquiring it will be that much easier."

Worried where this train of thought would lead her, Gabriel got up from his seat. He hoped it wasn't seen as too aggressive of a movement. "Nathalie, take it from me, it would be better for us all if Adrien was left as far away from this as possible. My own obsession with the Miraculous led me to do terrible things to that boy and the people he loved. If I survive the recreation of my home dimension, I have no doubt he will want nothing to do with me."

For a moment, Nathalie was silent. "What…what do you mean 'if you survive,' sir?" she asked. "Are you not expecting to?"

Mentally kicking himself for bringing it up, Gabriel figured there was no reason to lie to her. "In truth…no, I am not. As I'm sure you are aware, when a wish is made using Gimmi's power, something must be given in return. In my timeline, you became deathly ill from overuse of the damaged peacock Miraculous, just as Emilie had. I was forced to make a choice: save her, or save you. I chose you…and gave up my own life in exchange."

Nathalie stared at him with a look of pity. "Then, the only reason you survived is because of Death's Head," she deduced. "When he destroyed your universe, you were spared."

"Indeed. As for why, I'll never know. Perhaps he made a mistake, or assumed I would agree with his plan. But in either case, everything has led me to believe that once my reality is restored, I will return to my rightful place within it: dead." Though not exactly fearful of his fate, he definitely looked rather melancholy to consider it. Perhaps he was more worried for Adrien's sake than his own.

"Then perhaps…that is all the more reason to stay here," she replied. He looked up, but she had already turned away. "For all the chaos and havoc he leaves in his wake, it seems that Death's Head has our family's best interests in mind. Maybe the multiverse he creates will not be so bad." Gabriel was about to give a rebuttal, but she was already out the door.

While he could have followed her to argue, he knew it wasn't worth it. She was just stressed, as anyone in her position would be. After taking a deep breath, he placed himself back down at the desk, returning to the ancient tome. The answers had to be in there. He just needed to keep looking.

Meanwhile, Nathalie made her way down the stairs, her hand moving into her pocket to touch the peacock Miraculous. She had thought of using it to get Tikki and Plagg into one place, but maybe there was a better way to use it. After all, why fix one timeline when she could fix them all?

Perhaps there was some way she could aid Death's Head…

"Awaken."

Hearing the snap of his fingers, Kagami's eyes shot open. The last thing she remembered before going unconscious was a fight against Adrien. He must have overpowered her somehow. Now she found herself sitting upon some manner of throne, in an open room where sunlight flowed in through massive windows. And before her stood Panoptes.

"Kagami. It's good to see you again," he said, sounding like he meant it, not that she was glad to hear this. "Now that we're finally alone, why don't we discuss this in a more civilized–"

Entirely unwilling to be civilized, she immediately sprang up from her seat, throwing herself at Panoptes with fury in her eyes. She had been deprived of her Miraculous, but she didn't care. She was going to make him pay, and if she had to do it with her bare hands, then so be it. But before she could get to him, Panoptes snapped his fingers once more, and she froze in place, her fist stopping inches from his face.

As she glared at his featureless face, she was sure that he was smiling. "I know, I know, I'm probably the last person you want to see right now. And for the record, I hate having to resort to such unpleasant tactics just so we can have a conversation. But I really think we should. It could be good for us."

"And what makes you possibly think there is still an 'us?'" she hissed, only able to move her mouth, and even then, just barely. "Why would I want to talk after everything you've done!?"

After a moment of hesitation, a wave of purple energy washed off of Panoptes, taking his many eyes with it. Before her stood Felix, in his natural form, with the Miraculous of the butterfly and peacock pinned to his lapel. Of course, this wasn't any better for Kagami. "There's still an 'us' because I still care about you, Kagami. I did this for you as much as I did for me and Adrien." He gave her a loving smile, his head tilted slightly to the side.

She glanced down at his hands, on which were placed three rings. Two of them definitely should not have been there. "Is that why you're holding our Amoks?" she asked accusingly. "How does that factor into your Sentimonster paradise? Or does freedom not matter to you, merely obedience?"

Felix looked like he was about to snap at her, but this quickly passed. "Don't you see? The reason I have to take these measures is because neither of you are willing to accept this paradise! You all suffered under the hands of loathsome creators, just as I did, and yet you weren't willing to break away from them. I was! I created my perfect world, the one we always deserved! You should be grateful!"

"You erased the entire planet," Kagami said, glaring at him. "I will never be grateful for someone who becomes worse than the ones he fights against."

At this, Felix merely laughed. "Worse? Oh, I think you're overreacting just a bit. Did Gabriel ever create instead of destroy? Did Colt ever offer mercy to his enemies? Did your mother do anything to make the world a better place? I didn't think so. Kagami, I know you're angry with me, but I really did do this for you. And as a show of my sincerity…I want you to have this. You deserve it." He removed one of the rings, holding it out to her.

Kagami found herself able to move again, but she didn't immediately take the ring. Was it some sort of a trick? She moved hesitantly, but Felix didn't show any signs of trying to trap her. But as she was reaching out for the Amok, the doors to the throne room suddenly burst open.

"Panoptes! Sir!" shouted Mayor Bourgois, or rather, a copy of him, rushing into the room. "One of your captives managed to escape! They're rampaging through the palace, towards the storage room! If they get their Miraculous back…"

Felix turned to glare at him. "And how are they getting past the guards now if they don't have a Miraculous!?" he said angrily. In his brief moment of distraction, Kagami put him in a headlock, before lifting him over her and slamming him into the floor. She then snatched up her ring, darting for the door.

The Senti-mayor tried to stop her, but she easily forced her way by him, running down the hall. "Hey! Someone go after her!" he ordered.

"No need to worry, Andre," said Felix, back in his Panoptes form. He floated out to the hall, raising a hand in Kagami's direction. "She won't get far."

Meanwhile, Marinette fought her way past a legion of police, swatting them aside with her staff. Leaping over any obstructions in her way with her feline agility, she made her way further into the sanctum. Her exact destination was unknown, but she figured if she kept going, she was bound to run into someone eventually.

And run into someone she did. Just as she rounded a corner, Kagami rounded the same corner, which led to the two colliding head on. "Kagami! I was looking for you!" said Marinette, getting to her feet and offering the other girl her hand. "Come on, we have to hurry if we want to find Adrien!"

Kagami took her hand, getting up as well. "How did you find me?" she asked. "And how did you acquire that ring?"

"Long story, but more importantly, here." Marinette handed her the choker of the dragon. "Put this on, and get ready to fight!"

Kagami donned the Miraculous, and not a moment too soon, as Felix's army of clones soon caught up with them. "Longg, bring the storm!" she declared, transforming into Ryuko. Sword in hand, she prepared to fight her way through the guards. "What is our plan?"

"Uh, right now, this is kinda as far as I got," Marinette admitted. "Best I can figure is we bust Adrien out, and go from there."

The guards charged. Kagami transformed into a gust of wind, blowing them into the walls. "A fine plan, given our circumstances!" she said. More of the officers ran in from the other way, only for Marinette to take care of them. "We must be cautious. Panoptes is likely on his way–"

"Correction: already here." Flanked by a multitude of guards, Panoptes levitated down the hallway towards the duo. "Kagami, I'll assume you taking your ring was a gesture of goodwill. Could you kindly inform your friend of our truce? We were so close to a peaceful resolution, I'd hate for this to turn violent again."

Kagami responded to this by turning herself into lightning, surging through Panoptes and his minions. The copies fell to the ground after being shocked, while Panoptes himself was merely stunned. "You are a fool if you thought I would submit to your demands," she said, before dashing off further into the palace along with Marinette.

Growling, each of Panoptes' eyes glared. "Everyone, hunt them down!" he bellowed, pointing in their direction. Every copy, guards and civilians alike, stopped what they were doing to chase the pair. "Do not let them reach Adrien!"

As every Sentimonster converged as per Panoptes' orders, a low grumble seemed to emerge from the earth itself. He knelt down to place a hand on the floor.

"Don't worry, my friend. I won't let them ruin this perfect paradise. Not after everything we've been through…" Panoptes then set off after them as well, floating down the hall. This was not a battle he was willing to concede. They didn't want to negotiate? Then neither did he.

The Resistance once again found themselves cooped up in their hideout, waiting for Hawkmoth to make the next move. "Ugh! I dunno about you all, but I hate just waiting around!" said Alix, impatiently throwing her hands up. "We already know who her cronies are–can't we just go after them?"

"We've tried that already," Alya said. "One of our first acts as a team was to try and steal the bee Miraculous back from Chloe, but it's like she completely vanished."

"I looked everywhere, but I couldn't find her," said Zoe, clearly more than a little broken up by this. "Nobody knows where she went, not even Mom or Dad."

"It's the same thing with Felix and Kagami," continued Nino. "It's like they just vanished. Sabrina too, even. None of their families know what happened to them. Aside from the first two, it's not hard to imagine Hawkmoth kidnapped 'em." He glared off to the side.

Max cleared his throat. "I hate to interrupt, but I think you'll all enjoy this news. I've almost finished repairing Alix's Miraculous."

Indeed, this was good news. Everyone crowded around his workstation, where the pocketwatch had been placed in some manner of 3D printer. Both halves had almost been reunited. "Wow, how'd you manage that so fast?" asked Luka.

"Acquiring the necessary ingredients was a non-issue thanks to Kallki's abilities," he said, adjusting his glasses with a grin. "All that remains now is reconnecting the severed pieces."

"Indeed!" said Markov. "The process will be completed in approximately: twenty minutes. However, you may want to give it five more minutes to allow the molten stardust time to set."

"Hey, I've been waiting for a few days now, what's an extra five minutes?" Alix said. She thought for a moment, remembering her encounter with Gabriel. "Actually…I was talking with Luka the other day, and it got me thinking…maybe I shouldn't leave right as soon as this thing's ready. You all need me here, and it's the least I could do. With time on my side, Hawkmoth won't stand a chance!"

Socqueline hugged the girl upon hearing this news. "Alright! I knew you were in it to win it!" The others clustered around her as well, overjoyed at her decision. "With Bunnyx on our side, this long battle can finally be over!"

Unbeknownst to the Resistance, they were not the only ones hearing this news. Up on the ceiling of their secret base, a barely-visible ripple appeared in the concrete. Unseen by the others, Smogscreen had infiltrated their headquarters, relaying this information to its superiors.

Everything the Sentimonster saw and heard was projected onto Argos' fan, which he and the others watched intently–especially Hawkmoth. "The rabbit Miraculous…could this get any more perfect?" she asked, reclining in her seat.

"I can't believe they were hiding in that filthy basement this whole time!" Chloe hissed. "We were right above them so many times!"

Kagami's hand went to her blade's handle. "Shall we go and finish them once and for all, master?" she asked.

With a grin, Hawkmoth slowly got to her feet. "You know what? I believe we shall. An opportunity like this doesn't often fall into our laps. Go, and make sure to retrieve that watch before one of them hides it away again." She then began making her way out of their own hideout.

"Um, Lila?" asked Sabrina. "Where are you going? Aren't you coming with us?"

Hawkmoth turned back, wearing a smirk. "Oh, don't you worry. I'll be playing my own part of this little game. You all just focus on yours." With that, she vanished, leaving the four Dark Angels to move in on their own.

Closing his fan, Felix followed after Hawkmoth. "Well? You heard her! It's time we showed that meddling Resistance what happens when you mess with us!" His fellows rose up, exiting the base and making a beeline for the school. All the while, Alix and the others were completely unaware of what was heading their way.