I woke up, startled by a noise. I turned and jumped slightly when I found Adrien's arm wrapped ahainst my waist while his face was in the crook of my neck. He seemed to be enjoying himself. I rolled my eyes and pushed him slightly to wake him up. His eyes slowly fluttered open and he looked at me, a gorgeous grin on his face. Really Marinette? Now?
"Hey m'lady..."
"Can you hear that?" The urgency in my voice made him stand up. He rose and looked out, his eyes widening. I cast a worried glance his way, switching on the old box television to knock him out of his trance.
"M... Marinette-"
"Adrien, come see this!" He rushed over to the television and sat next to me, his eyes as wide as mine. Hawmoth was out in the open, standing at the top of the Eiffel Tower. Nadia Chamack stood in front of the camera in the streets of Paris, spewing incoherent words out of her mouth while dodging various blasts from akumatised villains. There was chaos everywhere. The villains were all over the place, wreaking havoc across the city.
"Nadia Chamack here live and reporting the takeover of Paris by Hawkmoth who has come out of hiding for the first time. He seems to be unstoppable and is sending out akumas by the dozen to create villains for his sinister purposes. We are unsure of what- MANON!" Her eyes were glued to the little girl with frizzy brown hair and deep chocolate eyes. She was holding her wand, a purple mask outline on her face. Moments later, she was Puppeteer. Hawkmoth himself floated down from the top of the Tower and held out his hand to the TVi reporter who stared at him, her body quaking. "What... what did you do to her?"
"Not a fan of handshakes, Ms. Chamack? It's a pleasure to meet you in person. I was hoping I would get the pleasure before akumatising you, anyway. Audiotrix, was it?" She swallowed quietly, shutting her eyes when she heard the laughter of her daughter in the background. Gigantica's leg was sited for a moment, shaking the ground before the huge baby walked away.
"Well, you are all aware my name is Hawkmoth. As you can see Ladybug and Chat Noir, the city is in ruins and all I need is for you to hand over your miraculouses. Go on Nadia- may I call you Nadia?" She swallowed and nodded, shaking with fear. "You saw your daughter. Now you are about to suffer the same fate but it would give me great pleasure if you would tell your famed heroes and my beautiful daughter Ladybug who seems to have disappeared to give up. I don't want a war, I just want the miraculouses. Tell them, Nadia."
Nadia looked at him then at the camera, teary eyed. "L-Ladybug and Ch-Chat Noir," her voice broke as she spoke. "I know you have saved this beautiful city time and time again with your miraculouses but... for the sake of my child, me, and the rest of Paris..."
"Go on." His grip on her arm tightened. She swallowed and crushed his foot with her heel suddenly. He howled and dove to the floor. She stared squarely into the camera, looking confident and determined.
"NEVER GIVE THIS MAN YOUR MIRACULOUSES! HE IS EVIL AND A PSYCHOPATH AND DESERVED NOTHING LESS THAN A JAIL SENTENCE! WE BELIEVE IN YOU! Even you Ladybug. We don't know where you are and we know you are evil but if you are watching, please help Chat Noir. You are our only hope and Hawkmoth cannot be defeated alone." Hawmoth growled, about to akumatise her when someone threw something at him, Alya, yelling loudly in the background.
"You go Ms. Chamack! Ladybug and Chat Noir will never give in and give you their miraculouses! They fight to the end!" Hawmoth growled and an akuma fluttered towards her. Nino blocked it with his bubble wand and smiled at Alya before leaping off as The Bubbler. Alya screamed and lunged at Hawkmoth before she was akumatised too. He akumatised Ms. Chamack and chuckled, shaking his head.
"Pity. Bring me your miraculouses or watch your beloved city get destroyed. The camera man is about to be frozen by Lady Wifi so with that, farewell. Do not disappoint me daughter. You never have before." The screams of the camera man were heard as he tried to run before the camera dropped to the floor and the screen went static.
I placed my head in my hands and sighed. Adrien walked towards the door. I held out a hand to stop me and he gazed at me, irritated before lowering his gaze.
"Where do you think you're going?" He rolled his eyes.
"Where do you think? The city needs to be saved and you're not gonna do it so I might as well give it a shot alone." I chuckled, in spite of myself and the situation.
"Adrien, you can't do it alone. Not without me, anyway." His frown was replaced with a happy grin. "Yeah, yeah, I'm not gonna let you get killed on my watch blondie."
I ruffled his hair and he chuckled. "So, the plan?"
. . .
The plan was simple and straight to the point. Our main objective was to get to Master Fu but I insisted on getting Felix, first. Adrien reminded me that he was under Hawkmoth's control but I remembered that the akuma was in his heart. The only way to get that akuma was to break it. Then we would go to Master Fu. I sincerely hoped Chat Noir woild turn up soon because I knew I couldn't do it alone.
"I... I don't know if I can do this." I put one more thing into the bag and set it on the table before turning to Adrien. He looked scared and I didn't blame him. There were a lot of villains. I shut my eyes, thinking of what to say before I remembered something his father had told me.
"Adrien, I have something to tell you but we didn't really have time before and we don't now but it's important so... your father, our father- I- uh- he told me something before we left. He told me to stay strong. We need to stay strong. Weakness is intolerable and unacceptable. You don't know your true strength till a situation cones Adrien and this is the moment. We can do this and hopefully, Chat will join us. If he's still alive, anyway." Adrien chuckled anxiously and looked away.
"I'm sure he is. Do we really have to save that Felix guy though?" He clenched his fists. I placed a hand on his shoulder and he put his hand on mine, looking at me. "I hate him."
I swallowed slightly, thinking of the best way to explain that they were related. I pushed it to the back of my mind and smiled before transforming. We needed to get Felix as fast as possible before going to Master Fu. It had been a while since I talked to him. I wondered why he chose me of all people to be Ladybug. I was afraid of what he would say to me. That I was a disappointment, a mistake.
"Marinette, are you okay?" I nodded.
"We need to find Felix. He's probably off somewhere as Loup Gris, wreaking havoc. Once we find him, we'll... I'll... do it." I didn't want to say it. Sure Felix was evil but the thought of hurting him in any way made me uneasy. I grabbed Adrien and used my yoyo to take us across the city, trying fruitlessly to ignore all the damage being done. I saw him behind a building, talking to himself and entered quietly. The place was deserted. It was time to dress for my role.
I left Adrien and entered a room before locking it. I changed into what I expected Bridgette to have worn. He said she loved white and he did call her an angel so I wore a white sun dress with white flats and a white sun hat. I stared at the mirror in the room and laughed to myself. I looked like an idiot.
I exited the room and turned to Adrien. He stared at me, unblinking. "So, do I look angelic enough to pass for Bridgette?"
"Angelic isn't enough to describe how you look princess." I went slightly red and frowned at the thought of Chat Noir. I hadn't seen him in a while. I opened the back door and stared at Felix, swallowing down my fear and anxiety before I walked up to hin and tapped him on the shoulder. He turned to me, his eyes glazing over.
"Bridgette... angel... I thought I lost you." He picked me up and spun me aroynd before holding me in his arms. "With all the bad things father is doing... all the chaos... you're here, you're alive... after all this we can finally be together."
"No Felix." I swallowed and took a step back. He took a step towards me but I held out my hand to stop him. He stared at me, tears already welling up in his eyes and I felt tears in mine. "We can't. It's... it's over between us."
He stared at me for a moment before laughing. "You're joking, right?"
"No Felix. I'm just... I can't-"
"CAN'T WHAT?!" He grabbed my throat and pressed me against the wall. I struggled to breath, clawing at his hands. He dropped me suddenly and I coughed. He took a step back and sat on the floor in front of me, legs crossed, waiting for me to steady my breathing. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry... it can't be over Bridgette. It can't. After everything... I disobeyed my father for you. You left and he... did something to me... I can't remember. This has to be my father. He's brainwashed you- h-he's controlling you."
"Felix-" he grabbed my shoulders and started to shake me roughly.
"SNAP OUT OF IT ANGEL! WAKE UP! CAN'T YOU SEE HE'S USING YOU?! OPEN YOUR EYES DAMMIT..." He pulled away from me, crying freely this time. It hurt me to hurt him but it had to be done. I needed my best friend back. I needed Felix back.
"You're the one who needs to wake up." I straightened up and stared at him hard. He winced and retreated into a corner of the alleyway. "It's over Felix. We're done. Goodbye."
"Angel... please..." I walked away from him, hearing his sobs. I walked back into the building from the front and walked over to the window Adrien was watching from to see his reaction. It had to work. It just had to. I watched him yell and scream for the next few minutes, throwing anything he could get his hands on, smashing bottles. Then he broke down, knees on the pavement and completely stripped of hope. He curled himself inti a ball and cried like he had never cried before. I transformed into Ladybug and watched the akuma fly out from his chest. I walked out and de-evilised it.
I walked over to him and knelt down. He loomed up at me, his eyes wide. "Angel?" I slapped him across the face. He blinked before grinning. He wiped his tear streaked face and cracked his knuckles.
"Felix is back, who's ready to bust some heads? Oh hey Marinette, what's u- woah. The city is going crazy-" I hugged him, too overwhelmed with shock to speak. I held in my tears and pulled away, punching him in the shoulder. "Hey!"
"You've... you've been gone for so long..."
"I don't remember anything. How long have I been out?" He remembered nothing? Not even all the times he tried to rape me. I pushed it away and smiled instead.
"Not long. Come on. I'll tell you about the plan on the way. If only Chat were here-"
"Who's 'Chat'?"
"I'll tell you on the way you idiot! Move!" He sulked and walked out of the alleyway, amazed at the amount of destruction. "Come on Adrien, are you coming?"
He sucked in a breath and walked up to me. "You... you did say you wanted Chat to come, right?"
I nodded, confused at the question. "We don't have time to look for him though, we need to get to Master Fu. He's our only hope right now. Father's gone crazy."
"Well... your wish is my command." I watched in shock as he yelled out Plagg, claws out and transformed into my partner. I blinked before swaying to the side, on the verge of blacking out. He grabbed my shoulders, smiling nervously. "Not right now purrincess. We need to get going."
Adrien Agreste is Chat Noir?