The staircase leading up was dark, aside from some soft light that was shimmering in the room above.
Chatte Noire decided to take the lead, as she had dark vision, Paon Bleu in the middle, and Volpina in the rear. The three remained quiet, trying to listen for anybody that was upstairs and whether they were staying up or coming down.
The silence that was present, however, made Chatte's heart hammer in her throat.
As they approached the final steps, Chatte twists her baton in her hands nervously. She slowly takes the last couple steps and peeks into the room.
Her eyes don't capture a lot, still adjusting to the small light that's provided by the moonlight seeping in through the window. Chatte starts to take cautious steps into the room, motioning the other girls to follow.
The room wasn't too large, a circular room with a small table at the far end, across the window. As she gets closer, she notices a map of Paris. And the map has pictures of Chat Noir tacked across the city. Sightings.
The school, the Dupain-Cheng bakery, his own home. Strings lead from a variety of locations, the black string stark against the white map.
As she drew away from the map, she nearly jumped out of her skin as thousands of white butterflies fluttered up in the air, the moonlight reflecting off them and giving them an effervescent glow.
"What... What is all this?" Chatte questioned.
"These are the butterflies he uses to akumatize someone." Plagg answered.
"They look so... Innocent. And pure."
"They are," Paon spoke up from the table. She was touching a picture frame that was perched in the corner of the table, a melancholic expression on her face. "It's not until Papillon infuses them with his evil energy that they become purple and nasty."
One of the white butterlies flutter up to the frame and came to a stop at Paon's gloved fingers. She looked at it, a weak laugh coming from her lips. "Hello, little one." She whispered, as she lifted the butterfly to her eye level.
The butterfly flitted up, around her face, making Paon giggle quietly. The butterfly danced around her momentarily, before it flew off to another corner of the room.
And into the hand of the most awaited guest.
"Everything I've done, I've done for you." Papillon steps out of the shadows, the white butterfly resting in his open palm.
"I never asked for your efforts, Gabriel." Paon set the portrait down, revealing a photograph of the original Agreste family.
"You abandoned us. You–"
"No." Paon interrupted. "I abandoned Adrien. I realize that my actions were rash, thoughtless and heartless. I believed that leaving Adrien behind would.... Would make you come back. I was a fool to believe such a thing would happen."
"I loved you, Emilie, with all my heart, and you–"
"Yes, Gabriel, you loved me." She sighed, exasperated. "But you got consumed by your work, and Adrien and I came last. I don't care about myself. But Adrien! Adrien! He..." Her breath stammers, and she brings a hand to her lips to choke back a sob, before resting her hand on her chest. "He didn't deserve that." She whispers.
Papillon remained quiet, turning his attention to some shuffling beside him. Out of the darkness, appeared Aranea and in her tow, was Adrien.
"Adrien!" Paon and Chatte called.
Adrien looked over at Chatte and he smiled softly, before looking over at Paon. There was a vague sense of familiarity that came with looking at the new heroine, until it struck. "M... Mama?"
Paon let out a choked sob, nodding. "Yes... It... It's mama." She whispered.
Adrien sucked in a sharp breath and he tried to go to his mother. To his mother, and his best friend, slash girlfriend, but he was held back.
"A-Adrien, what happened? You... You were supposed to stay with Master Fu!" Chatte spoke up, already getting ready to attack.
"W-Well, you see..." Adrien started.
"That old man, who is he? Why was Adrien left in his care?" Papillon demanded.
"Do you realize the extent of what you've done?" Volpina spoke up. "The boy lost is mother, he's been fighting akumas for years now. His world got taken, then he built a new one. And then, you took that world away too. Adrien has been the strongest boy I've known, and you broke him."
"I did it to bring back his mother–"
"And risking so many lives, Gabriel Agreste! You've sabotaged his friends, the only family the poor boy has!" Volpina shouted. "He was broken!"
"Master Fu was our safe house, to keep him safe. He was the one who knew what you had done with Ladybug's... my miraculous." Chatte said. "Where's Master Fu?"
"The old man wasn't to be found when we found Adrien. Adrien was standing in an outdoor garden on the outskirts of Paris, at a rundown massage parlor. We didn't bother searching the rest of the property, since Adrien was priority." Aranea supplied.
Chatte sighed in relief.
"How do you think I felt when I connected the dots that my own son was Chat Noir? I've done everything to protect him, give him everything, give him the world. I tried to get Ladybug and Chat Noir's miraculous to make a better world for him. A world where his mother was back, a world where we could all be happy!" Papillon hit the floor with his cane, sending the butterflies in the air again. "I'm turning the world into a better place for him, and he was the one that was taking it away from me."
"Your world." Paon spoke up. "You've done nothing but cause pain and suffering to his friends and family. And Nooroo. To abuse his power... You don't deserve a miraculous."
Papillon let out a dark laugh, cupping his hand around the only butterfly that remained still in his palm, purple energy emitting from his hand and being absorbed into the small creature. "And you think I'm going to hand it over willingly? You might be here now, Emilie, but I didn't want you here under these circumstances." He removes his hand from over the newly made akuma and raises his hand up in the air. The akuma flies out of his hand and up into the room. "Now that I have the Miraculous of Destruction within my grasp, I won't be giving up so easily."
The akuma went to Adrien and Paon ran to him, but Aranea stepped in front of him, blocking her path. "One step closer, and the boy gets hurt."
"Gabriel, don't you even dare." Paon spat.
The akuma fluttered across the room now, and Chatte and Volpina attempted to catch it, to crush it, but it manages to evade their efforts. The akuma continues to fly across the room until it lowers down on the picture Paon had been holding before. The family portrait tinted purple and Adrien was shrouded in a purple shadow.
"Adrien!"
More laughter rose from Papillon as Aranea released him. The purple shadow surrounding Adrien disappeared, leaving him in all white clothing, a sickly black crown sitting across his golden locks and a sabre in his hand.
"White Knight, aid me in gathering the last puzzle piece in making our world, your world, a reality." Papillon took steps back and White Knight looked at Paon, who was closest to him.
"Oh honey," she whispered. She jumped back and joined Chatte and Volpina. "I can't fight my baby."
"But I can." Chatte said, taking steps forward.
"Did the kitty come to play?" The White Knight questioned.
"You're a big ball of yarn waiting to be taken down."
The two started to spar, engaging in a strange form of a fencing match.
Papillon watched as the battle began, awaiting his moment to attack Chatte, but Paon saw through him and intervened. "I don't want to fight you, Emilie." He stated, taking a step back.
"You shouldn't have akumatized my son." She unclasps her fan from behind her back and she starts to attack.
Volpina was going to assist one of them in fighting, to make several clones of herself, but her flute was taken from her hands before she was able to make a tune.
"Sorry, Miss Fox, but that isn't allowed here." Aranea tossed the flute across the room and it echoed across the room as it clattered.
Volpina watched as the flute rolled further into the depths of the darkness and looked back to Aranea. "Fine." She flipped her hair behind her and she got into a defensive stance. "I'm always down for a good cat fight." She smirked.
Chatte, despite saying that she could fight Adrien, was struggling to do so. She kept playing the defensive and avoiding attacking all together, doing circles around him. She couldn't hurt Adrien, that's her best friend, her boyfriend.
"You have to tear up that photo!" Plagg called out to her. "If you break the akumatized item, it will bring the akuma out and he will lose his powers."
Chatte looked towards the desk, where the image stood in its frame, tinged purple. She nodded, and she turned to White Knight. "Bet you can't catch me." She sang, before bolting past him.
White Knight was surprised, but nonetheless, he turned and went after her. "Here, kitty kitty." He cooed.
"You think a simple cat call will get me to come? You're no Prince Charming." She called back, running around Papillon and Aranea."
"Oh, I beg to differ, purrincess." White Knight sang back.
"God, even akumatized, you can't stop him from making puns." Chatte muttered.
"Welcome to my life." Plagg commented. "The akuma is going to be right there, just grab it and keep going!"
Chatte nodded, and she swiped the frame off the table, continuing to run. She runs past Volpina's flute and picks that up as well. She makes another round around the room, being careful to avoid the White Knight and his coos, as well as dodging Papillon and Aranea.
With Volpina's flute in possession, she headed towards her and tossed the flute. Volpina caught it, smiling. "Thanks, kitten!" Volpina called, before turning to Aranea. "Too bad for you, my illusions hold now." She blew through, a golden pen identical to Aranea's appearing in her hand. With a quick flick of her wrist, a column of webbing sent Aranea across the room, latching her against the wall with heavy silk.
"Looks like you got caught up in your own web, spidey." Volpina laughed.
Chatte was across the room when Volpina laughed, and she looked over at her. "Volpina, batter up!" Chatte chucked the frame across the room and White Knight panicked.
"I got it!" Volpina called, taking a couple steps back and readying a bat made of silk webbing. The frame grew closer and gave a precision swing. "And it's out of the park!"
"No!" White Knight cried. He attempted to catch it, but his reflexes were much slower, and he faltered, falling to his hands and knees.
"Adrien!" Paon called. The distraction didn't come without consequence though.
Seizing the opportunity, Papillon swung his cane into Paon's chest, sending her flying back and breaking the table.
Paon crashed into the table with a grunt and a deep groan, as she tried to pull herself up, but was struggling to do so. She had already been hurt from her right arm, now her whole body ached.
Papillon came closer and closer, panic beginning to run through Paon as he approached her. "Gabriel, stop it... this isn't you." She gasped lightly.
"Too late. I'll forge this world in my own way, now." Papillon smiled.
"Unfortunately, I have to stop you right there." Volpina took a swing with her silk web bat, making Papillon jump back. "The Agreste line is already at the top of the industry. The Rossi need a chance too." She rotated her wrist, threatening another swing.
"And don't you dare lay another finger on her." Chatte commented. "Volpina, get those two out of here."
Adrien was released from the akuma's grasp and he was pushing himself up, shaking his head. He looked over to Volpina, who was standing between his parents, then back at Chatte, who was staring right at Papillon.
"Adrien, go help mama." Chatte said, not looking away from Papillon.
Papillon turned to watch Adrien, watching him usher his mother's arm around his shoulder, then help her up. He then turned to Chatte Noire, a look of distaste on his features.
"You know, you have a high status, as an Agreste. When you go back to the real world, you're going to be nobody. You're going to go back to be the plain baker's daughter. You're going to go be nobody in the fashion industry. I won't allow it. I won't allow any of you." Papillon tries to coax her, but Chatte isn't having it.
"Adrien just got reunited with his mother, and you want to take that away from him. What kind of parent are you?" Chatte questioned. "I don't care if I'm the town's baker's daughter, at least I'll be happy with my real family."
Having heard enough, Chatte charges Papillon. Her baton against Papillon's cane.
Marinette was pissed. Mad for Adrien, mad for Emilie, mad for herself and all the akumatized victims of Paris. She didn't hesitate to fight the offensive this time, doing anything to take a hit on Papillon.
But it wasn't easy. Fencing wasn't just a hobby that Gabriel had simply placed Adrien in. He was an avid fencer himself, something Marinette never really got into. Marinette would always hear Adrien's coach say, "don't play too offensively, or else you will get taken advantage of". She didn't think that it would apply in this battle too.
Her baton was knocked out of her hands and across the room. Chatte watched as her baton rolled away and she turned to look back at Papillon, to be greeted with a rough blow to the chest.
Except it never came.
"No!"
Someone jumped into the battle and Chatte was pushed out of the way, before she felt the blow to the chest, without having received it herself. Her chest ached, her hand clutching at her chest as the oxygen escaped her. She looked towards Papillon, who had struck Adrien in the chest, having sent him across the room.
Adrien had ran back into the room and when he realized that Chatte Noire was going to be struck, he ran in, without thinking. He pushed her out of the way, and tried to attack Papillon, but he was empty-handed and defenseless.
"Adrien!" Chatte called, trying to push herself up, still weak from the blow.
"Love makes you weak and it distracts you." Papillon said, turning away from Chatte to look at Adrien. "Love makes you the prey." He started to approach Adrien.
Adrien tried to push himself back, one hand holding his chest and Chatte still couldn't push herself up. She feared that Papillon would hurt Adrien again.
"To think that my own son was against me the whole time." Papillon looked down at him in disdain.
"Father..." Adrien pushed himself up to sit, watching as his father rose his cane to strike him. He closed his eyes, trying to shield himself from the impact with arm, but...
The attack never hit.
Adrien opened his eyes and Papillon was looking down at himself. Soft purple light was traveling down his body as he was slowly detransforming.
"What?" Papillon questioned. "What's going on?" He turned to Chatte, who had barely pushed herself to stand. "What did you do?" He demanded.
"I didn't do anything." Chatte replied.
The two of them looked to Adrien, who brought his hand down from his chest. In his hand was the Miraculous of Champions.
Papillon looked down at his chest, where his Miraculous should be sitting, but was no longer. He looked to Adrien. "How dare you–"
Gabriel was about to lunge forward at Adrien, but Chatte zipped in between them, pushing Gabriel back.
"How dare you attack Adrien!" Chatte huffed as Gabriel stumbled back and fell to the floor.
Gabriel started to scramble back as Chatte approached him.
"How dare you hurt my friends and family!" Chatte extended her baton and pointed it to his chest. "You don't deserve your son's love. And neither your wife's."
In her right hand, cataclysm was already bubbling. "We've wondered what would happen when we use cataclysm on a person." Chatte rose her hand and knelt down, the distance of her hand to Gabriel's chest growing smaller and smaller.
"Marinette!"
Chatte paused, looking back at who called her.
Behind her was Adrien, who was with Volpina, but it didn't sound like either of their voices.
"Marinette." The voice called sweetly. "Don't do it. You're better than this."
She didn't know who the voice belonged to, but she looked back down to Gabriel, who looked a justified amount of terror.
With a huff, Chatte stood up and turned to Adrien and Volpina.
"Hey, think fast." With a kick, Volpina managed to get a piece of rubble to fly up to Chatte, who caught it with her cataclysm.
The rubble crumbled in her hand and she turned to Gabriel, letting the dust fall onto his chest. "And stay down." She muttered, before going to Adrien.
Once she got to him, the transformation dropped and she was back in her masquerade attire, removing her mask. Plagg flew right up to Adrien's chest before going up to his face.
"Adrien! Kid, are you okay?" He questioned.
"What have I told you about putting yourself in danger because of me, dummy?" Marinette chided, lightly punching Adrien in the leg.
"Ow," he chuckled, rubbing his thigh. "I can't ever have my princess getting hurt." He replied.
"God, I can't stand you." Marinette groaned as she grabbed Adrien by the lapels of his blazer and pulled him into a kiss.
"First of all, ew. Secondly, ew." Volpina said.
Marinette rolled her eyes and looked over at her, noticing the Miraculous of Champions in her hand, accompanied by a small purple kwami.
"Marinette, I am Nooroo." The kwami flew before her and bows his head. "Thank you for saving me."
Marinette rose a hand and shook her head. "It's okay, Nooroo. I'm sorry you had to put up with that for so long."
Before Nooroo could even say anything, there was a fuzz of black that knocked Nooroo to the ground. Nooroo rolled for a bit, before they were able to see clearly what happened.
Plagg had tackled Nooroo.
"Plagg!" Adrien calls.
"Nooroo!" The cat rubs his head against Nooroo's and the kwami laughs lightly. "I'm glad you're okay now, but I've got a very important question."
"I'm glad to see you too, Plagg." Nooroo patted his head.
Plagg pulled away and put his paws to Nooroo's cheeks. "Where is Tikki?"
Nooroo's gaze widened and he flew up off the ground. "I'll lead the way. Come, quickly." Nooroo zipped up the stairs and Plagg followed.
Marinette helped Adrien up, and with the help of Volpina, they made it back to the atrium. Once there, Emilie was sitting in a chair, Nooroo nuzzling into her cheek.
"Hello, my little Nooroo. We can catch up later, okay?" She patted the kwami on the head before turning to Adrien. She stood up and she opened her arms for him. "My baby boy."
"Mama." Adrien went to Emilie, the two of them embracing tightly. Emilie whispered so many sweet words to him, kissing his hair between sniffles and giggles.
Meanwhile, Nooroo went up to Gabriel's tablet and fluttered around the screen, when they heard something unlock from the next room.
"Follow me." Nooroo lead them out of the atrium and to the foyer, laying their eyes on the destruction that they had left behind.
"Nooroo?" Plagg questioned.
"Up there." Nooroo points to the painting at the top of the staircase.
It was a portrait of the Agrestes, Gabriel, Adrien, and Marinette. They were all wearing black, Gabriel lacking an expression, while Marinette and Adrien were smiling. The more they looked at the portrait, the more surreal it seemed.
"Behind the portrait." Nooroo flew towards it and Plagg followed.
Marinette looked back at everyone. Volpina shooed for her to go, Emilie nodded. Adrien stepped forward and gave Marinette a hug.
"I'll miss you being across the hall." He murmured.
"You can always spend the night." Marinette suggested.
"Excuse me, I think not." Emilie cleared her throat.
"Gross." Volpina sighed.
Marinette laughed softly and she let go of Adrien. She looked back to the portrait and started to climb the safer parts of the staircase.
She made it to the frame and she noticed that it was a little off of the wall. She curled her fingers around the edge of the frame and pulled, the frame opening up to her as if on a hinge. She continued to pull, revealing a small opening in the wall. Plagg zipped in, getting the earrings that were resting in the opening.
Marinette took the earrings and she took off the ones she was wearing, putting on the ladybug spotted ones.
Once she did, a pink sparkling light went around her in circles. It went around her several times before it went down to Adrien and Emilie, before going back to Plagg. It went around Plagg many times and he chuckled softly, before the light came to stop in front of Marinette again.
"Hey! Ready to go, Ladybug?" Tikki smiled.
Marinette gasped softly, before smiling at the little creature. This was the voice she had been hearing all along. She looked back at everyone.
Emilie had an arm around Adrien's shoulder, and she was smiling. Adrien nodded, while Volpina was leaning against her flute and she motioned to Tikki.
Marinette gave a nod and she looked to Tikki. Plagg had come up beside her and was nuzzling the dots off Tikki.
"I'm ready."
"Say the words."
"Tikki, Plagg... Transform me."