Chapter 8: Destruction

Gabriel stood in the secret room in front of his wife's coffin. The stolen kwamis were floating in a spherical huddle next to him.

"Ex-Ladybug, once I get the other Miraculous from your hero team, and especially the Cat Miraculous, you will disappear forever. I'll find you first, because without your leadership the so-called Paris Protectors will fall apart."

He pointed at the kwamis. "And you! You are all going to help me!"

He opened the grimoire and paged through it. "If I only had Orikko, I would get the power of time travel again and win easily ."

Ziggy said, "It's not that simple."

"Never mind that, I have you! Tell me the name of your Guardian."

The kwamis were forced to obey but only bubbles came out of their mouths. Tikki shuddered in the air.

"Kwamis cannot expose the identity of their holder," said Sass.

"And since Ladybug has never renounced us, she's still our holder!" said Daizzi.

"You, Tikki," said Gabriel. "You must know her address. I order you to tell me!"

Tikki's eyes rolled up in her head, and she fell to the ground.

Gabriel reached down, grabbed the kwami, and shook her. Tikki's eyes fluttered open.

"No!" said Kaalki. "She cannot tell you."

"Tikki, I order you to lead me to the Guardian."

Tikki convulsed and went unconscious.

Sass said, "The consequences get worse with repetition. If you ever want to get a wish out of Tikki you had better stop it."

"Why?" asked Gabriel. "I order you to tell me."

"There are ssecurity features built into the Guardian transfer sseremony. For instance, the former Guardian losess their memory."

"I know that. What does that have to do with anything?"

'In the disstant passt a Guardian was always also a Miraculouss holder. A magical compulsion was built into the sseremony that preventss the kwami of the Miraculous the new Guardian was wearing from ever betraying anything about the Guardian to an enemy. Later, the Order decided that it could be rissky in case of rogue Guardian, so they made a rule that a Guardian could not also be a holder."

"Ridiculous. I think you're lying to protect the former Ladybug."

"Consider the effect the ceremony had on you. The magic built into the ceremony considerss that all wearerss of a Miraculous in the vicinity are there as potential rivalss to be appointed the new Guardian. The sspell takess all the fight out of them temporarily, so that the old Guardian's choice will be honored. That's why you and Mayura left without a fight, and why that girl who tried to usse all the other Miraculous gave up so eassily."

"I see. I was kicking myself later for that decision."

"So don't press Tikki anymore. As it is, she'll be out of action for a couple of weeks to rest and recover."

"Grrrr!"

"Don't shoot the messenger," said Kaalki.

"You specifically said 'the kwami of the miraculous the new Guardian was wearing' couldn't reveal information... but that rule doesn't apply to the rest of you, does it?"

The kwamis gasped.

"How do I find the home of the ex-Ladybug? Take me to her!"

Ziggy stammered out, "Just follow... the smell... of croissants."

"Nooroo, Kaalki, dual metamorphosis! It's time to capture that tricky Guardian!"

Marinette was waiting in her room for Alya to come back with fruit for their tea. She was on her bed, looking through the postings on the Ladyblog.

She heard a noise in the room below. "Alya?"

She gasped as she saw who it was.

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng?"

"Monarch!"

Monarch turned to the kwamis That had come with him. "Are you sure?"

Marinetteith held her breath for a moment. Were they going to say what she had told them? It took a strong command from the Guardian to override their normal instinct to tell the whole truth.

"Yes," said Ziggy, "And now you have to ask her for the gift."

"What do you mean the 'gift'?"

'You have to ask Marinette Dupain-Cheng for the gift that Ladybug gave her," said Ziggy.

"A gift is—" Zuppu said, thinking he was being asked to define the term.

"Enough!" said Monarch. He looked at Marinette. "You have uh, a gift for me?"

"Uh— Oh, yes. Yes, the— the gift Ladybug gave me. Right."

Marinette came down from her bed loft.

"Don't make any sudden moves," said Monarch, menacing her with a horseshoe he could throw at her.

Marinette stumbled a little in the room, but eventually came up with a key that was attached to a chain with a ladybug design.

"I didn't ask for a key," said Monarch. "I asked to be taken to the Guardian."

"That'ss what we're doing, Monarch," said Sass. "Ladybug is alwayss careful. We don't know her addresss!"

Daizzi said, 'So, in case we got lost, she came up with a little scavenger hunt to help us find where she lives. And the first clue was to follow the smell of croissants."

"Isn't this so much fun?" said Xuppu with a giggle.

"If the former Ladybug trusted you with a clue to her address, then you must be an active member of the Paris Protectors. They assembled very quickly when the school was attacked by Ikari Gozen. I suspect all the members now hold their own miraculous instead of having them handed out. Therefore, you must hold a Miraculous. Give it to me!"

Marinetteith cowered back, and pushed over a chair so that it landed on the trapdoor. She didn't want Alya blundering into the room.

"N-no, I used to hold the Mouse Miraculous, but Ladybug took it away. I transformed too quickly after Kwamibuster was defeated. Ms. Mendeleiev saw me. The team is being careful and not letting people use a Miraculous if their identity was ever exposed."

"Then why do you still have a clue to her location? This is a highly suspicious story. I'm in a hurry to chase down this trail of clues, but afterwards I'm going to come back here and search the room thoroughly for a hidden Miraculous."

Marinette thought, "My fake sewing box might fool him for a little bit, but not if he really tears the room apart. Once he leaves..."

Monarch broke the key chain fob with his thumb, and found the number "42" hidden inside.

"'42'? What is this supposed to mean, and why is there a key?"

"Well, numbers are funny symbols that can tell you how many bananas you have. And that is a key that opens a locker at this place where you can slide around like crazy on top of a frozen pool," said Xuppu.

"Oh, yes," said Daizzi. "The Guardian told us she loves going there!'

The kwamis gasped over this "slip."

"The ice rink! That's where I need to go next."

Monarch grabbed Marinette, and used duct tape from her workbench to secure her wrists behind her back.

"I'm taking you with me, so you don't have a chance to move a Miraculous from its hiding place or alert other members of the team."

"No!" yelped Marinette. "I'm off the team! I really don't know anything!"

"Too noisy," said Monarch.

He grabbed a wad of fabric scraps from her wastebasket, and shoved them into her mouth. Then he wrapped duct tape around her mouth to hold them in.

"Voyage!"

Monarch opened a portal and pulled Marinette through along with him. The kwamis followed.

As soon as they reached the ice rink, Monarch ordered, "Kaalki, divide!"

Marinette thought that he must be getting tired using two Miraculous for so long (and wearing several more deactivated in order to speak to the kwamis).

The manager of the ice rink, Philippe, took them to the lockers. Inside locker 42, they found the picture of a wax statue of Chat Noir and another key ring. Inside the key ring ornament there was another scrap of paper with the word 'St" on it.

"Aha," said Monarch. "this spells out an address! All I need now is the street name. I know where to find the next clue."

As Monarch was looking over the clues, Philippe took selfies with him, which he said would help him pack in the crowds.

Marinette was just hoping that Alya would have enough time to set everything up.

"Nooroo, Kaalki, Unify! Voyage!"

At the Musée Grévin, Véronique was locking up the front door when Monarch appeared through a portal behind her.

"Kaalki, Divide."

"Take me to the statue of Chat Noir," he demanded.

Véronique escorted them to the statue, and then asked, "Will there be anything else?"

"No," said Monarch.

"Enjoy your stay!" said Véronique, running away.

Monarch looked over the statue, and soon discovered a little piece of paper poking out of the bell on the Chat Noir figure. Holding Marinette with his left hand he reached out with his right and pulled out the paper

"Aah, 'Half... wit? Forty-two Halfwit Street?"

The statue of Chat Noir suddenly revealed itself to be the real thing, and grabbed his right wrist.

"Isn't that your address?" asked Chat Noir.

A bolas flew from the sidelines, tying their right arms together at the wrists.

Before it tightened too much, Chat Noir flipped his right hand over so his fingers were pointing up, away from Monarch's arm. "Cataclysm!"

Purple Tigress came out from behind a sheet-covered wax figure on one side, and another hero in yellow and black came out on the other side.

"Careful with that Cataclysm, Chat Noir," said the Bee hero. "He has a hostage."

"Lady Bee?" asked Monarch. "The Guardian."

"I'm not unified with the Ladybug Miraculous, but you have the right idea. Vesperia had her identity exposed, so I'm using the Bee temporarily. Call me... Belle Abiele."

"You're right about the hostage, I'll force this young woman onto his destructive hand if you don't release this binding."

As Monarch started to pull Marinette in that direction, Belle leaped forward desperately, invoking, "Venom!"

Belle intended to paralyze Monarch, but instead Monarch used Marinette as a human shield. Marinette froze, and her dead weight pulled Monarch off balance so that he had to release her.

A large hook on a chain (normally used for dipping wax figures in the hot wax room) flew out and wrapped itself around Monarch, pinning his arms to his side. He fell to the ground, but Chat Noir maintained his balance and kneeled, continuing to hold his hand so it threatened Monarch.

Rooster Gold stepped forward. "I granted myself the power to control that chain like a living thing."

Belle came closer. "So, Monarch, I hear you've been looking for me?"

"Nooroo, Kaalki–"

"Easy, Monarch, or I'll cataclysm you," said Chat.

"Checkmate, Monarch!" said Belle.

The kwamis flew around Belle, rejoicing that they were free.

"Where's Tikki? " asked Belle.

"Left back in his lair, exhausted from questioning," said Kaalki. "We'll get her back, and she'll be fine."

"Is this what you were looking for, Monarch?" asked Belle, showing a piece of paper. "My real address was written on this, but I replaced it just before you got here."

"How?" asked Monarch.

"How did I know you were looking for me?" asked Belle Abiele. She gave the explanation about monitoring the selfies that Philippe posted at the ice rink.

While that was going on Marinette recovered from the Venom; Purple Tigress and Rooster Gold freed her from her bonds.

Belle said, "Marinette, you were really brave. I'm sorry you had to go through all that. I needed a way for the kwamis to find their way home. Using an ex team member was better for the Paris Protectors. We had nothing to lose by Monarch capturing you."

"I'm glad I could help... I guess," said Marinette with a trace of annoyance.

"I should have known," said Monarch. "Such a foolish, clumsy girl could never have been important to Ladybug."

"The plan worked," said Belle, "I'm still the Guardian and I'm going to retrieve all the Miraculous you stole from me! And if you try to do anything else other than de-transform, Cat Noir will cataclysm you."

Monarch started to invoke Kaalki again.

"Don't make me do it!" said Chat Noir. "I don't know what this will do to you, and none of us wants to find out!"

Belle said, "What we want to find out is who you really are."

As Belle reached for the Butterfly pin, Monarch made a sudden move. He pulled Chat's black-glowing right hand onto his left arm, and screamed in pain.

Chat Noir recoiled, pulling the bolas loose.

"Nooroo, Kaalki, Unify! Voyage!" called Monarch.

A portal appeared beneath him in sucked him in, along with all the kwamis.

Marinette cried out, "We had him ! We almost had him! The kwamis were almost free. They were right here!"

Chat was in shock." I cataclysmed him... I don't believe this! I just cataclysmed someone! Granted it was Monarch, but there's a real person behind that mask and... it must have hurt him terribly."

"There's no way for him to fix it," said Belle. "He didn't invoke a Lucky Charm and use it against us. Even if he had thought of that, it sounds like he exhausted Tikki so much he can't use her at all."

Later, Marinette met with Alya in her room.

"Good work with the Bee," said Marinette. "How did you make yourself look so much like Ladybug?"

"Oh, I unified with Trixx. I masked my face with an illusion and I hid the fox theme in the costume."

"You did great," said Marinette. "Now nobody will suspect that I'm the Guardian."

In spite of the ache in his left arm, Gabriel was feeling satisfied. The Goat-made prototypes for Tsurugi Industries had been converted into permanent reality. He had gone through the process of converting all the old jewelry to rings, and hidden them under his white gloves . The kwamis were all safely stored in their new cages. Alliance rings were being sold everywhere. Things were going to be so much simpler.

"Ex-Ladybug, Cat Noir, you'll never get the chance to deceive me again! Because Monarch's reign is about to begin!"