The Queen of China {Book 3 of The Princess Series}

The Queen and the heroes

Marinette closed her eyes and her clone did the same.
Make sure you do everything in your power to let that akuma live Papillon Malin.
As for you Ladybug.

Marinette opened her eyes and smirked for merely a second.
"I think it's that way!" she said, pointing to the opposite direction with an innocent voice.
"You think?" asked Rena Rouge.
"I don't know! How am I supposed to tell?" asked Marinette, slightly annoyed as Chat Noir began heading in the direction Marinette thought it was.
"Sorry girl. Just tired," said Rena Rouge, letting out a sigh as she followed after Chat Noir. Marinette did the same and eventually they caught up to him.
"The akuma has definitely been here," Chat Noir said loudly for the two heroines behind him to hear.
"Yes, but is it still here is the question?" asked Rena Rouge.
"What do we know about the akuma?" Ladybug asked.
"Not much. There are a bunch of angry and heartbroken adults.. maybe it's a love akuma?" suggested Rena Rouge.
"Maybe," Chat Noir said.

They came to a stop outside of a building with a massive hole in its wall, revealing several floors of apartments. There was one that stood out. A wife and her child were on the floor in tears as an akumatized villain hovered above them. Marinette gasped and quickly looked around, spotting Papillon Malin.

They closed their eyes slightly.
What are you doing here?
I was here first. I thought I told you to lead them away from the akuma.
I did! How did we end up here?
Chat Noir must've taken a turn and looped back around.. how can you be so stupid?
Remember, I am you. You're just the clone.
And you're a pretty bad Hawkmoth.
Says the one with the moth miraculous.

"Ladybug!" cried Chat Noir, his arms resting on her shoulders as he held her. She opened her eyes and gave him a confused expression.
"I've called your name at least six times. What happened m'lady?" he asked, concern showing in his voice.
"Sorry... flashbacks to previous battles," she answered sadly.
"It's understandable. This one won't die.. we can save them from the darkness," he said with a smile.
"I don't know if we can. I don't even know if I should be near an akuma," Marinette said with a whimper.
"Hey, bugaboo. Listen to me," he whispered, pressing his forehead against hers. "You're not a murderer. This one won't die."
"I-I'm not a murderer?" she repeated, tears welling in her eyes.

"I loved him!" Lila protested.
"But he was mine. And you took him away!" Marinette shouted. She dragged her and pushed her off the building. Lila screamed before a loud thud was heard.

"Marinette," mumbled Alya.
"I have no regrets about that," Marinette snapped. "No one is to be told of that. It looks like suicide so it will stay that way."

"Of course not princess," he said with a small smile.
"O-okay.. but what about Hawkmoth?" she whispered.
"What happened wasn't your fault and I don't blame you. I'll admit I was angry for a few months but nothing can come between our love," he explained. Marinette nodded.
"Come on lovebirds! We need to save them!" yelled Rena Rouge as she started running towards the akuma. Chat Noir winked at Marinette and ran after Rena Rouge.

Marinette wiped away the tears and grinned.
Don't mess this up.
And you.

Marinette followed after them.
"Stop this Maria please!" said the woman in tears.
"I am no longer Maria. My name is Heartbreaker and before you can leave me, I will break your heart!" yelled the akuma, pointing their wand at the woman.
"Mummy no!" said the child in tears. Rena Rouge dived for the child and pushed them out of the way before standing back up and running back towards the woman.
"Heartbreaker! You don't need to do this!" Chat Noir yelled.
"You. Papillon Malin requests your miraculous. Hand it over now or suffer the consequences!" snapped Heartbreaker, turning her attention towards the black kitty.
"Papillon Malin?" Rena Rouge repeated.
"Yes. Now hand it over," said Heartbreaker with a growl.
"Never!" snapped Chat Noir.

Ladybug arrived.
"Lucky charm!" she cried. Now all she needed was for Tikki to give her something completely useless. She watched as a fork landed and looked down at it in confusion.
"Now's not the time for a date m'lady. We'll have spaghetti next time," Chat Noir teased. Marinette rollled her eyes but blushed a little.  She began to look around and to her surprise, really found nothing to use it for.

"See anything?" asked Rena Rouge, dodging a shot of Heartbreaker's magic.
"No," answered Marinette, confusion in her voice.
"You'll get it eventually bugaboo!" cried Chat Noir, spinning his baton for a shield to divert Heartbreaker's magic.
"Any idea where the akuma could be hiding?" asked Marinette, swinging her yo-yo and wrapping it around Heartbreaker. She tugged on the string and started swinging Heartbreaker around and then released at the hole so she went flying. Heartbreaker crashed into another wall and fell to the floor. The heroes jumped out of the hole.
"Not a clue," answered Rena Rouge.
"Find anything for the lucky charm out here?" Chat Noir asked as Heartbreaker stood up. Ladybug looked around and shook her head.

A/N: This part of the chapter has been here for days and I really can't be asked to finish the battle scene so we're just gonna do a time skip.

Ladybug stomped on the ring.
"Time to deevilise!" she cried. She watched the yo-yo catch the butterfly. She quickly opened it and said her farewells to the butterfly.

She ran back to the other heroes.
They'll probably think I was useless.
Come up with an excuse.
Of course. Hide and let me know where you are so I can come and morph back into one.
Yep.

"I'm sorry I was so useless this time.. it's just been so overwhelming," she said, tears welling in her eyes. Chat Noir put his hand on her shoulder.
"It's fine. You've been through a lot," he said with an understanding smile.
"So have you. Your dad was Hawkmoth and you were almost killed by Lady Butterfly," added Rena Rouge.
"Hm, I s'pose that is true. I guess I'm better at dealing with my trauma," he said with a shrug, taking his hand off of Ladybug's shoulder.
"We do need to find that moth miraculous though," Rena Rouge said with a sigh.
"Any ideas who might've taken it?" asked Chat Noir.
"There are hundreds of thousands of people in Paris. Probably millions. Anyone could've taken it," Ladybug said sadly, wiping any tears from her eyes.
"That's true," Rena Rouge said in agreement.
"We can start patrolling tonight," Chat Noir said.
"I'm going to get a start in now," she said.

She began running and climbing, leaving the two heroes.
"Well, let's go reunite this family," said Rena Rouge, pointing over to the confused woman who was akumatized and now wasn't.
"I wonder if her wife will still go through with the divorce," Chat Noir mumbled.
"If they do, it's out of control. We can save them and help them, but we can't interfere," Rena Rouge whispered.

Meanwhile, Ladybug hopped down into an alleyway. She stared at her clone and was handed back the moth miraculous. The clone then ran at her and was morphed back into Ladybug. She uttered her detransformation words and let Mulo out of the mouse miraculous.
"I'll be needing you again," she said with a grin before taking the necklace off and watching Mulo get sucked into it.

Ladybug returned home and stuffed the miraculous into the box. She detransformed and handed Tikki a cookie.
"I'm home!" she cried, running out of her bedroom.