Contents of this chapter may be unsuitable for some readers. Mentions of blood, death, abuse and trauma. Reader's discretion is advised.
"So what is it, dad? Are you going to hand over your Miraculous and give yourself up to the police?" Adrien asks after a few moments of silence, everyone in the lobby as stiff as a board watching the two interact.
I try my best to sneak closer to Hawkmoth without getting his attention.
"I didn't come this far to just give up now, Adrien. You understand I want to save your mother, right?"
"I do."
"And you are still standing in my way?" Hawkmoth asks, genuinely shocked that his son won't blindly agree.
"I am." Adrien doesn't shy away, for the first time in his life he's really putting his foot down against his father.
"Then you're no son of mine." Hawkmoth spits out, making Adrien laugh coolly.
"As if you could ever even call yourself my father. You neglected me, controlled every bit of my life and treated me like shit!" Adrien yells, making Hawkmoth scoff.
"I was trying to raise a good, smart and well rounded kid. Clearly I've failed."
"You had me kidnapped!" Adrien shoots back, exasperated.
"Oh come on, you were totally safe the whole time!"
"I didn't fucking know that!" Adrien yells, his face morphing into a look of disgust and disbelief, as if his own father's stupidity was lost on him.
"You're acting as though everything I have done isn't with your best interest in mind!" Hawkmoth yells back, his arms swinging out in exasperation. Viperion jumps back to avoid getting smacked by Hawkmoth.
"You can't say that when all you've done is neglect and hurt me. All I've ever wanted was to be loved, unconditionally, the way mom loved me. People die, dad! You can't change that fact! And you can't bring her back! I finally found love, someone who loves me for me, and you tried to kill her!"
"Okay, for starters, I can bring your mother back. And I never tried to kill Marinette! Nathalie and Lila worked on their own volition." Hawkmoth retorts, propping his hands up on his hip. If I could just sneak up a little closer, I can quickly yank his Miraculous off. We'll be one step closer to winning this.
"With the powers you gave them." Chat Noir deadpans, watching his father with a look that screams how-could-you-possibly-be-this-stupid.
"That's like saying the gun shop owner is responsible when someone fires a gun they bought." Hawkmoth chuckles humorously, making Chat Noir grit his teeth.
"You thick skulled moron, if you give someone the tools they need to hurt someone, especially when you know they are going to hurt someone, it is your fault!" I've never heard Adrien talk so aggressively to anyone, let alone his own father.
"You watch your tone when you speak to me young man!" Hawkmoth advances, getting further away from me. He goes to slap Chat Noir, and to my surprise my kind hearted partner just allows it to happen.
He stands there and takes the hit. The loud smack rings through the air, Chat Noir's head whipping to the side. When he turns back to Hawkmoth, his lip curled in disgust, he says the words that finalize everything.
"You're dead to me."
I jump into action, using my Yo-yo to tie Hawkmoth up quickly. Chat Noir rips the Miraculous off of him, but once he's returned back to Gabriel, he doesn't seem to react the way we expected him to.
He doesn't act as though he's been defeated, crying and screaming, trying to use some last ditch attempt to secure a victory or at least take one of us down with him.
He just smiles.
"The police are here!" Alya calls out, so I tug the string of my Yo-yo tighter to help ensure he can't escape.
We're so close to having this all be over with, but something feels wrong.
"Adrien." I say urgently, but within a few seconds I watch Gabriel pull out the small yet familiar brooch. Wiggling his arm loose and bending awkwardly to put it in place, I feel this stomach churning sense that I royally messed up.
Chat Noir dives for it, but it's too late.
"Duusu, spread my feathers!"
"Adrien!" I yell, leaping to put space between him and his father. Gabriel transforms into what looks like regular Hawkmoth, except his jacket becomes a lighter purple and his mask splits down the middle. One half silver, the other half dark purple.
I can't believe I didn't see this coming. I should have clarified that the police were able to confiscate the peacock Miraculous when they detained Nathalie. It wasn't something I thought of at all.
Can I even call myself a leader or a hero?
He must have stolen it from Nathalie back when he Akumatized her for the last time. Then, while we were distracted fighting her, he was grabbing his things and skipping town, buying himself some time.
Wait, if he needed to buy himself some time, he must not be confident in his abilities to win against us.
Come to think of it, his big plan that could destroy all of Paris that he warned me about. Nothing really came of that either. He kidnapped his own son, but that was about it so far.
So either he's about to unleash a world of hell on us, or he's completely bluffing.
If he was capable of doing something to secure his victory, he would have done it.
"Gabriel, I'm calling your bluff." I turn to face him, looking him directly in his eyes. He has completely freed himself from my Yo-yo, but I don't pay any mind to that. "You can unleash a Sentimonster, but we have a lot of hero's here. We'll take it out within seconds. You can keep doing that over and over. But you and I both know that you have no real plan."
"You really want to test that theory?" Suddenly, a Sentimonster appears beside Hawkmoth.
A Sentimonster of Emilie Agreste.
The little squeak of a gasp that Chat Noir let's out notifies me that Hawkmoth's last ditch attempt to win has a deep impact on Adrien.
If this is his only plan, it's not going to work. Even if Chat Noir can't fight the likeness of his mother, I can. And so can everyone else here.
It's a pathetic attempt, meant only to emotionally sabotage Adrien. Probably make him switch sides, and fight against me.
One thing Gabriel doesn't know, is that his son is nothing like him. Adrien is too good of a person. Wholeheartedly, unconditionally and irrevocably good.
"That's seriously so messed up." I say, shaking my head disapprovingly at Hawkmoth. "You really are an awful father."
"Come on, my son. Fight your mother." He tries to egg Chat Noir on. I reach behind me to grab his hand, giving him a comforting squeeze. I look back at my mortal enemy, anger boiling up inside of me to the point I could probably take Hawkmoth down by myself.
"You need to stop this." I spit out, glaring at him with every ounce of my being. I want to convey how awful this all is. How could someone have such little love and respect for their own child?
"I need my wife-"
"Shut up about all of that nonsense!" The words rip from my throat before I have the chance to take some deep breaths and calm myself down. "You have a living, breathing son right in front of you and all you have done is hurt him! For years you have neglected him when you should have been there. You may have lost your wife but Adrien lost his mother, made even worse because he lost you too. You had the chance to step up, become a great father that took care of his son and did the right thing. But you chose to hurt your own child even more for your own selfish gain!"
"I did what anyone in my position would do! I can't raise a child on my own! Emilie was the better parent, she was the best of me! How could I ever be a good dad when all I wanted was to have my family whole again." Gabriel slowly calms down as he explains this, his voice cracking ever so slightly.
This is the key to our victory. He just exposed his deepest secret.
That he's human after all.
"You love her. And that's so admirable, Mr. Agreste. But she would be horrified to see the kind of man you've become, turning into a monster to get your own way. Terrorizing a whole city. Neglecting your child's emotional needs while simultaneously controlling every aspect about him. None of this would make her proud, don't you think?" Hawkmoth doesn't answer, he just stares at me with his shoulders slumped.
He's defeated.
I go in for the killing blow, taking in a deep breath.
"Even if everything did work out, and she came back to life, it will never be the same. Not after all these years and everything you had to do to bring her back, not just to the citizens of Paris but to her one and only child."
"If I fail now, there is no one to take care of Adrien." Hawkmoth says ever so quietly, his voice reflecting his realization.
"Adrien isn't a child anymore. You spent all these years wanting to bring back your wife so she can help raise him, that you missed out on raising him entirely. At the end of the day, I will always be here for Adrien. But more importantly, he can take care of himself." I squeeze Chat Noir's hand again, not taking my eyes off of Hawkmoth yet. This isn't over until he's in handcuffs.
"I can't. I can't lose. I'm sorry." When his eyes meet mine, Emilie springs into action.
I wave my hand at the Purple Tigress, who pounces into action and holds the Sentimonster back.
"Be gentle about it." I say softly, watching as Ryuko (Kagami) takes off the dainty necklace and breaks the chain in half. The Sentimonster dissipates into thin air, and I quickly go to cleanse the Amok.
Turning my head, I see Hawkmoth's movement a little too late. He charges at Chat Noir, something shiny in his grasp.
I step further in front of Chat Noir protectively, but his hands snake around my waist to shove me to the side. He won't let me take on his father, even if it puts himself in danger.
His father is actually going to hurt him.
Queen Bee flies past us within a split second, using her powers as she lands a punch to his chest, putting herself between Chat Noir and Hawkmoth to protect him.
I knew Chloe was the right choice.
The room erupts into cheers, the police that have been waiting outside the busted door finally swoop in to handcuff Hawkmoth.
"It's over, Gabriel." I remove the Peacock Miraculous, watching him transform back into his regular civilian self.
"No, no you don't understand, Marinette! I need to bring Emilie back, please, I promise I'll give you back your Miraculous once-"
"Enough." Chat Noir steps in front of me, looking at his dad as though he's grown horns and a spiky tail. "You want to know something, Gabriel?"
His father looks at his son with glossy eyes, and I notice the bag that an officer standing nearby is holding. She had confiscated a small pocket knife from Gabriel's grasp. That's what he was charging at his own son with.
"It's a good thing you didn't bring her back. Because if mom was alive, she'd hate the man you've become." Adrien says quietly, however his voice isn't full of malice. It's sad and disappointed.
He's not saying this to hurt his father, he's saying it because it's the truth.
When the police escort Gabriel away, he does nothing but walk out calmly. Chat Noir turns to face me, and I quickly wrap my arms around him.
I'll hold him until he doesn't hurt as much. Even if it takes forever, I'll love away every ache and pain he has. Every deep wound, both emotional and physical, I will tend to with such gentle care until he's whole again.
In every way that Chat Noir has loved and healed me, has let me cry and supported me through my loneliest of nights. I will do the same for him.
Everything will be okay.