Miraculous Hunters Rewritten: Book 2

Chapter 2: The Collector Part 2

Unaware of The Collector watching them, Ladybug and Chat Noir had arrived at the Agreste Mansion and entered Gabriel's atelier through a conveniently open window. But they were surprised by the many broken pieces of furniture and statues littering the trashed area that greeted them on arrival.

"Whoa, what happened here? Looks like somebody had a little tantrum." Ladybug exclaimed, shocked by the state of the room while Chat Noir started walking around in seeming aimlessness. His unusual state only seemed to worsen when he spotted the painting of him and his family lying on the floor just inches away from his feet, causing Chat Noir to sigh at the sight with heartache.

"Chat..." the spotted heroine began when she saw Chat Noir's melancholy, placing a comforting hand on her partner's shoulder and causing him to turn and face her in response. "Are you sure you're okay, kitty?" Ladybug asked, hoping that he was going to be in the right mindset for why they had come to the mansion in the first place.

"Yeah. Let's keep going." Chat Noir replied, looking back at the floor before Ladybug gasped in realization and took her hand off of his shoulder.

"He's got a son! Let's go check his room; make sure nothing's happened to him." Ladybug quickly decided, followed by her running out of the room with Chat Noir tailing behind her. But when she and Chat Noir entered the front hall, they were greeted by the sight of The Collector at the top of the main stairs.

"What the..." Chat Noir muttered to himself in shock after he and Ladybug skidded to a stop at the foot of the stairs simultaneously. "Who are you?! Where's Gabriel Agreste?" the hero in black growled at the intruder, pulling out his staff and triggering both heroes to stand at the ready for an attack.

"There is no more Gabriel Agreste. There is only...the Collector!" The Collector proclaimed from his perch before he threw his sketchbook at the heroes, trying to trap either one inside of it.

Thankfully for them, they jumped back and managed to dodge the hit, which led the sketchbook to trap the mansion's front door instead. After the door had vanished, the book boomeranged back the way it came and hurtled towards Ladybug and Chat Noir once more. Thinking fast, Ladybug knocked Chat Noir to the floor just before the sketchbook came at them and returned to The Collector.

"You won't be able to escape!" the akumatized fashion designer yelled at the heroes as they got up from the floor and leapt towards the open doorway, throwing his book at them once more.

While the flying book continued to chase Ladybug and Chat Noir around the room, The Collector had tried to attack them on his own as well, making Chat Noir fling him to the side before his book came back to him. Seeing the turn of events, both heroes vaulted up and away from it using their weapons and landed on the upper level of the house, soon running along the balcony area to avoid being captured by the book. About halfway across the balcony, Ladybug and Chat Noir jumped back down into the foyer and were met with The Collector once again before he caught his book again. After the akuma had his weapon again, the two heroes tried to get away and soon found themselves entering the large dining room next to the foyer, only to be quickly cornered by their foe. With limited options left, Chat Noir decided to take the offensive approach and got ready to throw his staff at The Collector as he stood on the other side of the room.

"Wait!" Ladybug shouted to Chat Noir, hoping to stop him from doing something stupid. But she was too late and Chat Noir threw his staff towards The Collector anyway, only for the akuma to use his book as a shield and trap the weapon inside his sketchbook, leaving the superheroes in shock.

"Nice piece, wouldn't you agree?" The Collector taunted the heroes as Chat Noir's staff appeared on the open book's pages, followed by him throwing the book at them again.