This chapter is dedicated to 0bs3ss3d-Idi0t and getira Thank you both! :DDD
"Yeah I did, doesn't mean I understood it." Chloe murmured. Adrien laughed in good humour, Chloe joined in. He would have finished nearly all of the croissants, if Chloe didn't steal the last one. But Adrien didn't really mind, he didn't get much time to spend with his friends nowadays, so he cherished every moment. Even if he did want that croissant.
————————————————————
Gabriel Agreste sat in his dining room, eating his late breakfast. Adrien had long been gone, already at school, so it left the man more or less alone in his house. He reached for his tie, stroking his fingers lightly over the brooch. A frustrated expression crawled onto his face. Gabriel already came to terms with the fact that he was temporarily unable to use his miraculous, but that didn't mean that he wasn't irritated. He still had no clue as to what Ladybug had used to give her the special ability to restrict him of his powers. Gabriel scowled at the memory, he as Hawkmoth falling onto his knees in a moment of pain and then paralysis. It didn't hurt tremendously, it was more in shock than in agony, but it was enough to make him fall.
Abruptly, he stood up, leaving the dining room and his plate of unfinished food. His footsteps echoed as he made his way into his office, closing the doors behind him. Gabriel stood in front of the painting of his wife, his fingers gliding across the artwork until they landed on the buttons he was so used to using. The floor opened up under him, bringing him to his lair. Once surrounded by butterflies, he decided to try again.
"Dark Wings, Rise!" The usual command did nothing, except ignite a bright spark from the middle of Gabriel's brooch, which quickly went away soon after. The man scowled and left his lair, soon making his way back into his office and in front of the painting of his wife. Gabriel opened it, revealing the safe hidden behind and used the code to open it. He then grabbed the book, the Grimoire, and brought it to his work surface, gently placing it on top of his tablet. Gabriel flicked through the pages, going faster with each passing page and no matter how long he looked, the lines and circles made no sense and spelled nothing out to him. There were no pages showing how to undo this odd spell, or how to heal any miraculous.
Wait. Gabriel slammed the book shut and put it back inside the safe, closing and locking it. Even if the quick read turned up fruitless, it gave him an idea, one that involved a different broken miraculous. "Nathalie." Gabriel called for his assistant. She arrived a few moments later, tablet in hand.
"Yes sir?" Nathalie asked, her voice as formal as ever.
"Ladybug found a new power, one that has temporarily restricted my use of my miraculous." He stated. Nathalie nodded as soon as he finished.
"Yes sir, you told me yesterday." She responded formally. Nathalie didn't come across as rude or sarcastic. Even if she did, Gabriel wouldn't reprimand her after all she's done much for him, as Gabriel and Hawkmoth.
"So until this ban is lifted, I would like to ask you tell help me as Mayura." The man didn't want her to do this against her own will, especially when the consequences would cause her to suffer. To the outside world, Nathalie was Gabriel's personal assistant, but it wasn't like that entirely. They had a friendship, a formal friendship for lack of a better term.
"You don't have to ask, sir. I will always be willing to help you." Nathalie told him. Gabriel frowned at her words.
"I don't want you to feel obligated to help, Nathalie. If you don't want to use your miraculous then it's completely fine, I understand. I don't want you to suffer." He placed his hands on her shoulders so that Nathalie would be forced to make eye contact. Gabriel figured that this would be the only way for her to see that he was being genuine.
Her serious expression didn't falter once. "I understand what you are saying but I do truly want to help you, sir. And I am not doing this simply because I feel required to."
"You do realise that use of a broken miraculous will cause damage to the user?" Gabriel wanted her to know all of the risks before she agreed.
"I appreciate your concern but I have experienced the symptoms in the past and I have managed to pull through them so I believe I can do so again, sir." Nathalie stood tall, confidence shimmering in her eyes.
"Alright." Gabriel sighed and dropped his hands from her shoulders. "Thank you, Nathalie."
She nodded. "Of course sir." Nathalie adjusted her glasses. "Shall I go to the lair now?"
Gabriel nodded a yes and Nathalie moved to walk to the painting, pressing the buttons he did earlier. He heard the familiar sound of the floor opening up and assumed Nathalie had gone to the lair. That assumption was proven to be right as he turned around and she was no longer there. The man walked towards his desk, moving his drawing tablet back into place. He picked up his pen and tried to think of ideas, but couldn't. It wasn't because his mind was blank, actually it was full of ideas, instead it was because he was hesitant.
Gabriel Agreste was not known as a man who second guessed himself, yet that was what he was doing now. He knew for a fact that he didn't want Nathalie to be injured simply because he couldn't do the the job himself. Gabriel debated on using the peacock miraculous instead of Nathalie but he knew that she was a loyal and persistent ally, she wouldn't let him use it when she is perfectly capable of doing so. He also knew that Nathalie wasn't doing this just because she wants to help, she's also doing this for Emily and Adrien.
Emily used to use the broken peacock miraculous, it was caused her to go into the state she was in now. Nathalie didn't know this, but Gabriel overheard Emily and her talking. His wife knew that she wasn't getting better and she confided this with Nathalie. Gabriel remembered how Emily asked, begged, for Nathalie to look after Adrien in her place if anything were to happen. Nathalie had agreed, but Gabriel knew that she always found it difficult to do so. Because she knew, she'd never be able to replace Emily, and Nathalie never wanted to. Gabriel was grateful for that, and for all that his assistant has done. He sighed.
'If only we didn't go to Tibet that day...' Gabriel thought. 'None of this would have happened.' The words repeated in his mind before he composed himself. 'It's too late to turn back now, I must finish what I have started. For Emily's sake'
'For Adrien's sake'
~~
Another long day of school passed and Marinette was exhausted to say the least. She couldn't wait to get home and into her bed, planning to sleep until dinner. Marinette didn't even finish planning her after school activities in her head before the sound of Alya's voice caught her attention, completely destroying the plans that she didn't know her best friend had created.
"Hey Marinette!" Alya called out, running out of the school gates to reach her best friend.
"Hey Alya, what is it?" The bluenette turned to her best friend, a smile on her face. Alya, however, had her hands on her knees as she tried to get her energy back. The girl put a finger up, signally for Marinette to wait a moment. Marinette stifled a giggle using her palm and waited patiently.
"Girl there's something I need to talk to you about." Alya told her was she had gotten her breath back.
Marinette blinked. "...okay, what exactly do you want to talk about?" She asked, tilting her head to one side.
"It's about... you know." Her best friend made a weird gesture, thoroughly confusion the poor bluenette. Just when Alya thought all hope was lost, Marinette's eyes widened in realisation.
"Oh! Okay we can talk in my room." Marinette said after she understood what Alya was referring to; their hero personas. The two best friends then walked side by side to the bakery.
"Girl, how'd you get in the lead so quickly? I swear we finished class at the same time." Alya questioned after a few moments of silence. Marinette chuckled.
"A magician never reveals their secrets" She winked at Alya, causing both of them to laugh. It didn't take much longer to reach the bakery, considering it was only across the street. Marinette let herself and Alya in.
"Hi Maman! Hi Papa!" The bluenette greeted her parents as she walked in. They waved from where they were in the bakery.
"Hello M. Dupain, Mme. Chen-" Alya stopped mid sentence after seeing the look Marinette's mother was giving her. "Sabine" Alya corrected herself.
Sabine smiled. "Hello girls"
"Maman, Alya and I have a project to work on so we need peace and quiet, ok?" Marinette asked as she slowly began to push her best friend up the stairs.
"Of course, your Papa and I are very busy anyway. Enjoy you two!" Sabine told them as she turned to go back into the bakery.
"Bye Maman!" Marinette called out.
"Bye Mme. Ch- Sabine" Alya waved as Marinette succeeded in getting her up the stairs. Once out of earshot, she spoke again. "Your mother is scary."
Marinette chuckled while opening the trap door, letting Alya get up first. When they were both comfortable, and when she shut the door, Marinette sat on the chaise. "So, what did you want to talk about?"
As Alya sat next to her best friend, Tikki and Plagg appeared from Marinette's purse and sat on both of her shoulders. Trixx also appeared, sitting on one of the pillows. The girl took a breath. "So you know how Nino and I tell each other everything, right?"
The bluenette slowly nodded. "Yeah, you've told me before."
"Well I was wondering if I could tell him... about being a permanent hero." Alya worded softly. Marinette opened her mouth to answer but Alya didn't notice this, causing her to, unknowingly, interrupt. She stood up and began to pace. "I just feel so guilty about not telling him because we tell each other everything-"
"You can tell him." Alya paused at her best friend's words, a baffled expression on her face as she whipped her head around. She found an encouraging smile on Marinette's face.
"What?" Alya asked.
Marinette giggled. "I said you can tell him." She stood up to be in front of her best friend. "As long as the information stays between you two, I don't see any problem in letting Nino know."
A wide smile appeared on her face. "Thank you, Marinette!" Alya gave Marinette a hug, which the bluenette returned. After she pulled away, Alya took her phone out of her pocket. "I'll text Nino to meet up at his place, then I'll tell him."
Before Marinette had a chance to speak, a loud sound interrupted her.
"What was that?" Alya questioned, turning to face her best friend. Marinette, however, was already on her bed, climbing up to her balcony. Alya quickly followed. When she reached the balcony, she found Marinette looking down at the streets, clearly watching something. The bespectacled girl moved next to her best friend to see what was so interesting and was taken aback. There were many people running away from something in the distance. "Something's up." Alya finally said.
"Yeah that part is a bit obvious, we just need to find out what." Marinette closed her eyes and not even a second later, they snapped back open. "It's an amok, there's a sentimonster."
"A sentimonster? I thought you had a power up to stop them from appearing for a while?" Alya frantically asked.
"My power up only applied to Hawkmoth, not Mayura. I completely forgot about her!" Marinette exclaimed, clenching her fists in anger, and disappointment. Alya, noticing this, put her hand over hers.
"A simple mistake we all could've made. Now let's fight this sentimonster." Alya told the bluenette. Marinette smiled appreciatively and nodded. The two girls made their way back into Marinette's room where they were greeted by their kwamis. As they were about to transform, Plagg flew over.
"Hey Pigtails, it might be best if I tag along, since lover boy isn't here to help." The black-cat kwami told her.
Marinette hesitantly nodded. "Fine, but stay near me and don't cataclysm anything unless I say so, okay?" Plagg sighed but made a gesture that he agreed. "Alright. Tikki, Spots On!"
"Trixx, Let's Pounce!" The room was filled with bright, colourful light. The two heroes were revealed soon after it died down. Once their transformations were complete, Ladybug and Rena Rouge sneaked their way up to Marinette's balcony and, once they were sure that no one was watching, bounded over to where they believed the noise was coming from. There they found Chieneux and Ryuko duelling a sentimonster that had a vague human silhouette. Ladybug noticed Viperion observing from one of the nearby buildings and she went to him, Rena followed.
"What have you managed to find out, Viperion?" Ladybug asked the snake-themed hero once she reached him.
"A sentimonster, main fighting technique would be with a blade or something similar and every once in a while it-" Another loud boom cut Viperion off. They all turned back to where the sentimonster and their teammates were. Chien and Ryuko were, luckily, off to one side, probably expecting the sentimonster to attack in that way.
"It does that" Viperion finished.
Ladybug hummed. "Well since the sentimonster is here, Mayura can't be too far behind. Viperion, you survey the area, keep your eyes out for her. Rena, you and I will help Chieneux and Ryuko until Mayura is spotted." The spotted heroine commanded. Both heroes nodded and Ladybug jumped down from the building she was from. Rena Rouge wasn't far behind. The first thing she noticed was that the sentimonster was much bigger up close, it was practically three times her size.
"Hey you two, need a hand?" Rena called out once she reached the ground. The two fighting heroes turned for a split second to welcome their teammates.
"Hey Ladybug, Rena, we could sure use a helping paw right now." Chieneux greeted.
"It's a pleasure to be fighting along side you both." Ryuko told them as she dodged a hit from the sentimonster.
"So what do we know about this sentimonster, other than how it fights and explodes." The spotted heroine asked, using her yo-yo as a shield to block the oncoming attack. Ryuko answered.
"It has sharp swords for arms, and it can use them at incredibly fast speeds." The dragon themed hero replied.
"Not only that but for every hit, the blades on their arms get brighter. When it's at its brightest, it'll explode. It also gets larger after every explosion." Chieneux added on.
Ladybug made a puzzled face. "That's very complex, even for a sentimonster."
"Yeah, and so far no Mayura in sight." Rena told them as she batted away one of the sentimonster's blade-arms.
"I could always, you know, cataclysm the thing." Plagg suggested as he hovered over Ladybug's shoulder. Ladybug on the other hand, shook her head.
"It's best not to, for now. Right now we know how the sentimonster acts, using your cataclysm will make it's moves unpredictable." The spotted heroine told the kwami.
"Eh, fair." He responded.
As Ladybug watched her teammates fight off the powerful sentimonster, her blue eye landed on a civilian who was in front of a nearby building. They were directly in the middle of the crossfire. Wrapping her yo-yo around a nearby pole, Ladybug flung across towards the citizen. "Come with me." She told the young woman. The lady nodded and Ladybug used her yo-yo to fling them down a few streets to safety. Soon they reached the ground and Ladybug put the civilian down. "If you stay to watch the fight you'll only get hurt, it's best if you stay safe."
"Ladybug, wait." The civilian grabbed Ladybug's wrist as she was about to use her yo-yo. "There was something I saw that I think you should know."
A puzzled expression appeared on the spotted heroine's face as she reeled her yo-yo back in. "Okay, go on."
"In the building that I was in front of, you know when I was still near the sentimonster, there was someone inside." The citizen told her. "I'm pretty sure it was Mayura."
"Mayura?" Ladybug let the teen's words sink in. "You're certain that the person you saw was Mayura?"
"If Mayura has a whole peacock motif going on then yeah, it was her." The civilian answered confidently.
Ladybug slowly nodded. "Alright thank you- uh, what's your name?" The spotted heroine asked.
"Kally, my name's Kally." The teen now known as 'Kally' replied.
"Okay, thank you Kally. You've helped us a bunch." Kally smiled at Ladybug's words and waved as the spotted heroine used her yo-yo to return to the battle. Except, that wasn't where she was going. Instead he was looking for someone and to pass the time, she opened her yo-yo to contact one of her teammates.
"Ladybug?" Their voice rung through her yo-yo.
"Viperion." Ladybug addressed the snake themed hero. "I need you to observe all the buildings in the surrounding area. According to an witness, Mayura is located in one of them."
He hummed. "Will do Ladybug."
"Thank you, Viperion." She closed her yo-yo and continued with her transportation, keeping her eyes peeled for something, or someone, in particular.
"Who are you looking for?" Plagg asked, floating over her shoulder and easily keeping up with her fast pace. Ladybug was silent for a few moments until she suddenly stopped. Then, she pointed down to the street at a boy with a red cap.
"Our turtle."
~~~
"Sorry it took so long to get here." The sound of a newcomer's voice caught the superheroes' attention. Chieneux turned.
"Hey Honey Bee, welcome to the fight." He greeted the bee themed heroine, who smiled in return.
"So where's the bug?" Honey Bee asked, dodging a hit from the sentimonster.
"There was a civilian so she went to bring her to safety." Ryuko answered, blocking a strike. "Though that was quite a while ago."
The four heroes then fought the sentimonster until Rena noticed the light from the blades reach their peek. "Get out of the way!" She shouted. Once Chieneux and Ryuko noticed so they spaced themselves. Rena gestured for Honey Bee to do the same. Then, it exploded.
"Holy crap..." The bee themed heroine muttered. Once the cloud of dust had subsided, the sentimonster was visible again except this time, it was much larger. "Did it just-"
"Yep." Chieneux answered before Honey Bee finished asking. "We have to distract the sentimonster for as long as possible until Ladybug gets back."
Honey Bee nodded, using her spinning top to defend herself. Then it was the four of them, each blocking the sentimonster's attacks. The bee themed heroine wrapped her spinning top around one of the blades and quickly tied it around a pole, restricting the sentimonster's movements. This, however, angered it and the sentimonster began thrashing it's free arm around and moving erratically to get free. It was getting increasingly more difficult to keep the sentimonster in place, Chieneux bounded over to help secure the string but his movements cause the sentimonster to act out, striking at the closest superhero; Rena Rouge. Just as the fox heroine noticed, it was already too late to block the strike so she braved herself for the impact. But it never came. She opened one eye to see a familiar green shield.
"That was a close one." The green hero commented as he picked up his shield off the ground.
"Carapace!" Rena exclaimed, happy to see her teammate, and boyfriend. "You're here!"
"And I'm here to stay." He replied with a smile, grabbing his shield.
"Now that we're here, we have to figure out a plan." Ladybug's voice rang out. Then, in a similar fashion to Honey Bee, Ladybug used her yo-yo to bind the sentimonster's free arm to a pole, forcing it to a stop.
"Now that bird will have to show up." Chieneux commented.
"She's still in that building," Viperion told them as he jumped down from where he was observing. "She looks unwell."
"It'll be easier to attack her in her weakened state." Ryuko suggested, Honey Bee nodded in agreement.
"We already outnumber her, we can take the peacock miraculous!" The bee themed heroine exclaimed.
"As great as that would be." Ladybug brought all the attention onto herself. "We wouldn't be great heroes if attacked someone who's sick, it wouldn't make us better than them." Honey Bee sighed while Ryuko nodded in respect. "Carapace, I need you to cover us while I use my lucky charm."
The turtle hero nodded. "Shelter!" A green force field surrounded the heroes as Ladybug and Honey Bee reeled in their weapons.
"Lucky Charm!" Ladybug called. A spotted object fell into her hand. "A hair pin? What am I supposed to do with this?" She looked around but there was nothing in view that could help her. The fact that the sentimonster was pounding on Carapace's force field.
"Well in the mean time, let's fight off this sentimonster, shall we?" Chien told the group. They nodded.
"Chieneux, Carapace, Viperion, you keep the sentimonster distracted. Honey Bee, try to restrict it. Ryuko, you'll come with me to confront Mayura. Rena, in the meantime, you can create the illusion of Ryuko and I, that way Mayura won't suspect us coming. Once we surround her, Honey Bee will paralyse the sentimonster." Ladybug told her team. Ryuko replied with a nod.
"Got it Ladybug." Chieneux replied.
"Sure thing dudett- Ladybug." Carapace corrected himself.
"You can count on me." Honey Bee told her leader confidently.
Rena Rouge then played a tune on her flute. "Mirage!" An illusion of Ryuko and Ladybug appeared. Carapace lowered his magical shield and the team got to work. The superheroes and the illusions distracted the sentimonster, giving the chance for Ryuko and Ladybug to make their way to the building. Once they got there, the main door was locked.
"Huh." Ladybug muttered.
"What shall we do now?" Ryuko asked.
"I could just cataclysm the door." Plagg offered, hovering over Ladybug's shoulder.
"You've been quiet for a long time Plagg, I'm proud of you. Also, you might end up destroying the whole building so maybe cataclysm isn't the best way to go." Ladybug told the black kwami.
Plagg hummed. "Fair point."
"Instead I can use this." Ladybug held up her lucky charm and used it on the lock located on the bottom of the door. Then, it opened. Ladybug hummed in satisfaction before going inside, closely followed by Ryuko.
"She's on the second floor." The dragon themed heroine whispered. Ladybug nodded and they both went up the stairs to the second floor. Being as quiet as possible, they opened the stair door and walked on the first floor. They both kept low to the ground as they made their way down the hall, stealthily looking through the door frame once they've reached it. "Clear on my side."
"Same here." Ladybug murmured back before turning to face Ryuko. "This floor is designed like a circle, I'm going to check down this hallway and if I see Mayura, I'll give you a signal. Then, you'll go around the other side to corner her." Ryuko nodded and Ladybug stealthily made her way down, each step she took made no sound.
A loud explosion occurred. Through the window, she could see that Honey Bee had tied the sentimonster to a pole. Soon, she made her way to the next doorframe and peeked through. There she saw the peacock villain, standing in front of the window. Ladybug gave Ryuko the sign and turned back for a slight moment to see if she had gone, which she had. Turning back, Ladybug observed the villain. Mayura had her fan in one hand, the other empty but when she looked further, she could see a small necklace with a thin string. Ladybug looked at the hair pin in her hand and realised that she could use it to get that necklace, it must be where the amok is hiding. From the corner of her eye, she saw Ryuko and together, they both closed in on Mayura. Except after a few steps, Mayura had bolted.
Ladybug jumped out of position as Mayura headed Ryuko's way. The dragon themed heroine blocked her path, but it wasn't enough. The villain charged at Ryuko, aiming for her gut and then sweeping her off her feet. Despite Ladybug trying to use her yo-yo, Mayura was easily able to doge her hits. Mayura then stepped over Ryuko, running for the stairs. Ladybug then got to Ryuko's side and helped her up.
"Ladybug you have to chase after Mayura, you can leave me here." Ryuko told her leader, wincing as she put pressure in one foot. Ladybug shook her head.
"You're my teammate Ryuko, I can't leave you here." The spotted heroine picked Ryuko up and began running towards the stairs. "And besides, the sentimonster is outside so Mayura can't go that far."
She brought them both down the stairs and towards the front door. Ladybug kicked it open and ran outside, expecting to see all her teammates still surrounding the sentimonster. But that wasn't the case. The large sentimonster wasn't there at all.
"She purified it?" Ladybug questioned out loud. Carefully, she put Ryuko down onto the floor, one of Ryuko's arms on Ladybug's shoulder for her to lean on, and continued staring in disbelief.
"Isn't that good?" Ryuko asked. Ladybug didn't answer at first. As her team walked over, the dots began to connect in her head.
"No, it isn't good. It isn't good at all." Ladybug murmured.
"What is it, Ladybug?" Chieneux expressed worry in his voice. After a few moments, the spotted heroine opened her mouth.
"This... was just a test." Ladybug answered.
A/N
It's been a while, but I'm back with another chapter! Sorry for the wait but I had a massive case of writer's block so most of the writing here was written in the last couple of days so I guess this is a filler chapter but not really. Also, I'm afraid that you might have to wait a while for the next updates since school is starting again for me tomorrow. So yeah. Also, thank you so much for your wonderful comments! I love reading them.
As always, see you in the next chapter!