****Just before the Akuma Attacks****
As his son left the room, Gabriel Agreste let out a ragged breath that he had been holding. He stood up and then tilted his head, oh so faintly, which was signal enough for Natalie to come follow him. Wordlessly they walked onto the tile on the floor. Once standing on the right spot, Gabriel pressed a different sequence of buttons that instead of heading towards the basement, sent the floor tile-- and them on it-- upward to the secret attic.
He had been too distracted by Adrien's blatant disrespect to continue with the Akuma attacks, even though it was obvious that Ladybug was vulnerable. He could sense Ladybug getting weaker every day, the fact that she hadn't used her miraculous ladybugs yet was clearly evidence of this. His plan to finally bring Ladybug and Chat Noir down was finally coming to fruition. The time to strike was now.
Now that his son was back to being his normal, manageable self, Gabriel was going to return his focus on finding his next Akuma minion. There in his lair, dozens of butterflies flew around. He took off his silk cravat and revealed his miraculous pin. "Dark wings rise," Gabriel said right before transforming into Hawk Moth. Beside him, Natalie got her miraculous out and summoned Dussu to transform her. He looked over to Mayura and finally spoke, "Perhaps I should find another minion like the last one. His emotions were so powerful. I know he could have brought them down. I could sense it."
"But didn't he offer up the most resistance?" Mayura said.
"Yes, that is true, Natalie. Perhaps we should just continue as we had before and exploit that loophole you found. You really are brilliant... Two minds, one heart. One Akuma. Remind me to give you a raise."
She nodded but didn't say anything. She lifted up a feather and it floated towards Hawk Moth. He, in turn, took two butterflies and merged it with the feather. Once the merged butterfly transformed into a dark Akuma, Hawk Moth smiled. Thanks to the Soulbreaker's havoc caused by the last Akuma attack, there were plenty of malcontent couples to choose from.
"I feel another couple with a strong bond but they are not on the same page when it comes to their relationship. One of them can't commit, and the other is too timid to speak up about what she truly wants. Today we shall put their ship to the test, and see if they can bring me what all the others have failed to do. Fly, my little akuma..." Hawk Moth said as it flew out the window.
The merged butterfly found a crying Penny, who stopped suddenly in the streets and then turned around. When she collided with Jagged Stone, who was running after her, they became two people dressed in rocker outfits fused at the hip.
"Jagged Penny." Hawk Moth used his augmented mask and called to them. "I give you the ability to send wicked rifts and I'll give you an even more powerful dragon than your first one. I will call him, Malfeasance."
"Hey, Fang is my most loyal and loveable pet. He made a great dragon last time," Jagged said in protest.
Hawkmoth ignored him. "In addition to having wicked rifts that can turn anyone into your fanatic fans and mindless servants, you will also have Troublemaker's ability to disappear and reappear as necessary. Penny, you were the closest to getting Ladybug's miraculous. With Jagged by your side, you can not fail me."
"Not without Fang," Jagged said.
Hawk Moth rolled his eyes. "Fine. You will have your Dragon, Fang. Mayura remind me never to get into the music business."
"I'll take care of it," Penny said.
"We won't fail you Hawk Moth," They both said simultaneously before jumping on the back of Fang, who was now a giant fire-breathing dragon.
Jagged Penny jumped onto the back of the Dragon Fang and rode out over the streets of Paris. They wasted no time sending rifts of music out to people, turning them into crazed Jagged Penny fans. "Bring us Ladybug and Chat Noir," Jagged Penny demanded.
The people ran into the streets in a desperate search, but after half an hour of waiting and recruiting more fans, they were still empty-handed.
A Hawk Moth mask appeared over Jagged Penny's faces and they asked, "There's no Chat Noir or Ladybug, Hawk Moth. What do we do?"
"Create as much destruction and mayhem as you can, and they will come," Hawk Moth said.
And so they started the greatest display of destruction that Paris had ever seen-- even from an Akuma attack. Concerned citizens cowered in their homes as they closed their blinds and hid in their closets and under their beds. Even Chloe Bourgeois, the snotty once-queen-bee hero, was hiding in her closet with her best friend Sabrina by her side, hiding between two designer dresses and a pile of unworn designer shoes still in their boxes. The one thing that was going through all of their minds was:
Where is Ladybug?
*****Present time*****
Adrien had just finished packing his new suitcase when the Akuma alarms went off. He looked to Plagg, with a shocked look on his face. "Marinette! She's probably heading towards the guardian's house right now."
"Good thing you followed her over there like a stalker and you already know how to get to his supposedly secret location," Plagg said sarcastically.
"Lecture me later. Plagg, claws out." Adrien said, right before transforming into Chat Noir and heading to the location of Master Fu's hideout.
*****Meanwhile*****
When the alarms went off, Kagami and Luka exchanged glances, "We need to help Ladybug," Luka said.
Kagami nodded and then grabbed his hand. "I think I know where to find her, follow me." Before they headed out the door. All around them, people were being zapped into being Jagged Penny's fans, and they were all looking for Ladybug and Chat Noir.
Nearby, Alya and Nino were having the sweethearts special at their favorite pizzeria when the alarms went off. They exchanged a worried glance. "Ladybug is still missing!" Alya exclaimed. "I had been too preoccupied with my own problems, that I didn't help her when she needed me."
Nino put his hand over hers. "That's okay. We can't always be perfect, and we can't change the past. But we can be there for her now. Let's go find her."
They ran into the streets where they saw Kagami and Luka heading in the opposite direction from where the fighting was taking place. It's not like Kagami to run from a fight. Alya's eyes narrowed. "Have you ever noticed that Kagami's hair color is the same as Ladybug's?"
"So? Marinette has the same exact hair color," Nino said.
Alya sighed in frustration. "For the thousandth time, Nino, Marinette is way too clumsy to be Ladybug!"
"And her eye color?"
"Kwami's can mask their holder's eye colors. Come on, Nino. I am her best friend. I would be the first to know if Marinette Dupain-Cheng was a superhero. Now, let's go follow Kagami."
Nino shrugged and followed Alya's lead.
Kagami and Luka stopped in front of the Dupain-Cheng bakery. "She's not here," Kagami said as she looked up at the building. "Luka, could you see if you could sense her emotions..."
Luka looked confused. "What? What do you need with Marinette?"
Kagami didn't answer that. "Just trust me. Focus, close your eyes and see if you could sense her emotions. You've got a stronger connection to her than I do."
Luka sighed and did as she asked. There were thousands of emotions out there. Some people were screaming in terror in the streets as they ran away from the fire-breathing dragon and from Jagged Penny. Some of the crowd had been converted into fans with feelings of excitement and desperation. He tried to hone in on Marinette's unique set of emotions. He could sense that she was in her normal state of high-strung anxiety. He opened his eyes. "She's that way." He pointed off to the outskirts of Paris, towards an industrial section.
They ran off in that direction, while Alya and Nino followed.
*****Also Meanwhile****
Marinette's eyes started to go cross-eyed as she was watching the Guardian so closely, as he was showing her the movements for the twentieth time. She shook her head and then tried to mimic his movements, but failed with flailing arms.
"You have to relax and breathe in slowly," Master Fu said.
"Relax? How can I possibly relax when there's an Akuma attack going on?"
"You can do it," Tikki said. "You are Ladybug. And we are all relying on you."
Mari gave her little red kwami a smile. "Thanks."
She tried to follow Master Fu's instructions to a 'T'. This time, her movements were too stiff.
"You're too worried, Marinette. Relax and let the energy flow through you." He showed her the move again.
Yeah. Right. Relax. The whole world was falling apart around her and everything was resting on her shoulders. Yeah, she was going to relax alright. But then she took another look at Tikki, who gave her a reassuring smile. Mari had to do this for Tikki, for Paris. This was bigger than her own self-doubt. She was Ladybug. She could do this! She squared her shoulders, closed her eyes, took a deep breath, then repeated the movements that Master Fu had taught her.
"You did it, Marinette!" Tikki said. Mari opened her eyes in time to see Tikki airborne as she flapped her wings for the first time in days. "I knew you could do it!"
"No time to celebrate, Tikki spots on..." Marinette transformed into Ladybug.
Just as her transformation was complete, Chat Noir showed up. "Ladybug!"
"What are you doing here, Chat? Jagged Penny are clear across town. You should be trying to slow them down," Ladybug said with her hands on her hips. In fact, if he had been there a minute before, he would have discovered her true identity. That was too close.
"Yeah, Chat. And I don't recall telling you my location." The Guardian looked at him suspiciously.
Chat looked sheepishly at them and rubbed the back of his neck, but before he could offer an explanation, Kagami, Luka, Alya, and Nino arrived-- not even bothering to knock on the door before they entered. When he saw them, Master Fu then threw his hands up in the air. "So much for my secret hideout. It seems like all of you guys have found me out, and we're having a party."
Luka looked over at Ladybug, the look on his face full of pure shock, as though he were realizing something for the first time. Kagami knew exactly what he was feeling since he must have realized that the feelings they were tracking were coming from Ladybug, but she ignored Luka and addressed Master Fu. "I'm sorry. I don't think you know me. Luka and I are Empaths and we used our powers to find you. We're here to help Ladybug, but it looks like you have the situation handled."
"And we followed them," Alya said.
"See I told you Kagami wasn't Ladybug," Nino whispered to his girlfriend.
"Not now," Alya whispered back.
Master Fu sighed as he looked from Ladybug to Chat Noir. "Well, I think we're going to need some additional help this time. Hawk Moth has conjured up another double whammy. I think he has discovered some kind of a loophole because it doesn't seem to drain him or Mayura to do it this way." Fu got out a few miraculous boxes and hesitated. "I guess the cat's out of the bag for you four." He handed Alya the fox miraculous and Nino the turtle miraculous. He got out the snake miraculous for Viperion, then hesitated.
"You are truly an Empath?" Master Fu asked Luka.
Kagami's lips thinned out into a straight line. Her strategy wouldn't work if the old man doubted her or Luka. "He is. And so am I. I will stay right by his side and watch over Viperion. Hawk Moth already knows that I am the Dragon Miraculous, so I should probably go without a miraculous."
Master Fu frowned as he looked at her. "Are you sure?"
Kagami nodded. She needed his trust more than she needed the power of the miraculous. "Yes. And I'm sure I will be more useful that way, and less of a target to Hawk Moth."
He nodded. "Okay then, what are you waiting for? Go get Jagged Penny!" Master Fu motioned for all the superheroes to get out like he was shooing troublesome children from his yard.
***********************************
By the time they all got back to downtown Paris, Jagged Penny and their fans had destroyed half the city looking for Ladybug and Chat Noir. Quickly Ladybug and Kagami worked together to formulate a plan and the group of six split up into three small groups of two.
For a little while, everything was working. Chat and Ladybug fought off crazed fans side by side in perfect synchronization-- enough to make even DJ-Wifi envious. Rena Rouge and Carapace covered the two main superheroes as they made their way through the now destroyed streets of Paris. Viperion followed closely behind, with Kagami hiding in the shadows like it was the role she was born to do.
But even with all of their team focused in every direction, Jagged Penny was still able to get past them when they used Penny's ability to disappear and then reappear. Jagged Penny appeared right behind Ladybug, and this time succeeded in stealing the miraculous. When her earrings were taken, Ladybug transformed into Marinette, and she fell to the ground.
"No! Marinette," Viperion and Chat Noir both shouted as they ran to her side. Marinette's eyes were rolled up into her head, and she appeared to be sleeping. Viperion looked over at Chat, shocked. Did he know who she was this whole time? He looked back at Marinette, who didn't seem to be moving. Luka would make Hawk Moth pay for this. Several cars behind him blew up in the distance. Kagami got a hold of Viperion and shook him. "Get a hold of your emotions. You can still fix this. Use your powers!"
That's what Luka needed to shake him out of his shock. Seeing Marinette like that had made him completely forget that he even had even activated his power in the first place. He turned the dial back on his miraculous and he time jumped into the past. Suddenly he was standing next to Kagami.
"Did you just time jump?" Kagami asked when she noted Luka's altered emotional state.
He nodded. "Jagged Penny is going to go after Ladybug. We must protect her."
Chat Nodded and went to her side. Rena Rouge and Carapace went on her other side. "Shelter!" The green-clad hero called out and a giant dome shield surrounded them.
Unfortunately, Jagged Penny turned invisible and was still able to get through Carapace/Nino's defense. They went after Chat Noir this time because he was left exposed. They took his ring off as soon as they materialized, and Chat Noir de-transformed into Adrien as he fell to the ground.
A mask appeared around Jagged Penny, and Hawk Moth shouted at them. "What have you done?"
Viperion stared at Adrien, who was now barely able to stand back up. He was not as weak as Marinette had been, and so Viperion didn't hold back. "You! You were Adrien this whole time?"
By the shocked look on Ladybug's face, and by her internal cascading emotions, he could that she also had no idea. "Adrien?" Her voice was nearly a whisper.
Adrien looked over at her and reached out for her. "Ladybug, I wanted to tell you..."
Ladybug took a step towards him. In her distracted state, Jagged Penny grabbed Ladybug's earrings, and Marinette transformed and then fell to the ground.
Luka's heart stopped and everything around him slowed down. He looked to his left and saw Rena Rouge and Carapace cry out, to his right he saw Adrien as he ran to Marinette. Behind him, Jagged Penny had a mask and was now talking with Hawk Moth. He had failed again. Hawk Moth had won. Cars exploded again behind Luka, and windows from every building in his vantage point exploded, sending shards of glass everywhere.
It was all over now. And someone was going to burn. Viperion would make Hawk Moth pay for this...
Kagami took Luka by the shoulders and shook him hard. "Luka! Control your emotions! You only have five minutes. Do another time jump!"
Viperion turned back the dial and was back to standing next to Kagami. "Did you just time jump?" Kagami asked again.
He nodded. "Twice. Jagged Penny went after Ladybug first, then Chat Noir. I don't know how we can protect them both." Then he paused as he thought to Jagged Penny's strange reaction to Adrien's identity reveal. "There was something weird that I didn't think about before. You know, the other day when I was akumatized, Hawk Moth overreacted when I sent photos of Adrien up in smoke. And then again..."
"When Chat Noir de-transformed?" Kagami guessed.
"So, you know?"
She nodded. "He's actually quite careless sometimes. But that gives me an idea. Chat!" Kagami called him over, while the other superheroes fought to keep Jagged Penny from destroying the other half the city. Kagami whispered into his ear, "Chat, I need you to go somewhere, transform into Adrien and then come back here."
Chat stared at Kagami. "What?"
"I said go. We don't have time for this."
Chat ran off, and within a minute Adrien came running back. Alya, Nino and Mari were too busy fighting Jagged Penny to notice him. "What do I do now?" Adrien asked Kagami. He tried to ignore the stare from Viperion.
"Just step in front of Jagged Penny's path of destruction, and see what happens. We've got Viperion's power if anything goes wrong."
"Okay, hopefully it doesn't hurt too much," Adrien said right before he ran off directly into the path of fire. Like Kagami had predicted, Jagged Penny stopped suddenly.
"Get out of the way, Adrien!" Ladybug shouted. But he didn't hear her and kept heading straight into the path of Dragon Fang's fire. "Lucky charm!" Ladybug summoned her special power. When her yo-yo came down a rope, a hook, and some fish appeared. What was she supposed to do with this? Go fishing?
Jagged Penny was flying around strumming their guitar, no longer interested in Ladybug. They hit a bunch of spectators with some musical chords and they turned into fans, but this time they were calling out for Adrien and running to surround him. "Bring him to me, unharmed!" Jagged Penny yelled.
"Can't I get a break?" Adrien rolled his eyes.
Carapace ran up to Adrien and used his shell power to keep out the deranged fans. Rena Rouge was in the front, trying to keep them from overrunning the shell.
Kagami and Viperion stood on either side of Ladybug to protect her from Jagged Penny from randomly showing up. "Where's Chat Noir...?" Ladybug asked.
Viperion looked at Kagami who shook her head as if to signal not to tell Ladybug, "Um, he's doing something for me."
Kagami looked at Viperion's timer, "Are you maxed out?"
He nodded. "I'll have to de-transform and reset it before I can use it again."
"Okay, you go do that, in case we need a second chance," Ladybug said. Ladybug examined her lucky charm again, then looked around to use her lucky vision. She looked up to see the giant Fang Dragon covered in polka-dots. It was a two-part plan, the first would be to neutralize Fang. The next would involve some intricate planning.
"Okay, Kagami, here's the plan," Ladybug began to explain.
"You only have two dots left," Kagami pointed out when she was finished with her explanation. "I think you're the only one left that is under 18." Which meant that Ladybug still needed to transform after her special move. The others didn't have to unless they wanted to recharge. Except for Chat. For some reason, he had unlimited chances to use Cataclysm.
Ladybug nodded, her birthday was quickly coming up soon, but not soon enough. "I should de-transform anyway. The plan wouldn't work if we had two Ladybugs."
"I've got you covered, Marinette," Kagami whispered as Ladybug ran into a building.
Kagami whispered to Rena. "When I give you the signal could you conjure up a fake Ladybug and Chat Noir?"
"On it." Rena Rouge nodded. "But where's Ladybug?"
Kagami and Viperion exchanged a glance. "She'll be back. She's setting up a gator trap."
They all got into position. Adrien tried to see the fighting from his vantage point. Carapace was still standing there, holding up the shell. "I never imagined I'd be helping you literally fight off your fans, bro."
Adrien looked over at Carapace, Nino, his best friend. "You have no idea."
Just at that moment the Dragon Fang flew over them and headed towards a building. From his vantage point, he could barely see a bluenette standing braced on the rooftop. Kagami, or Marinette? There was no time to tell because whoever it was managed to lure the Dragon Gator and then tie him up with a gator tie.
Then suddenly Ladybug and Chat Noir came running down the streets.
Jagged Penny turned their attention away from Adrien since it seemed like they were at an impasse and then focused on the two new figures. Jagged Penny disappeared, then suddenly reappeared next to Chat Noir. But when they removed his ring, the fake Chat Noir went up in smoke.
"Drop the shield," Adrien said quickly. "Trust me, they won't hurt me."
Carapace seemed nervous, but he nodded and then dropped the shell. As the smoke got thicker, too thick to see through, Adrien transformed then headed towards Jagged Penny.
The real Ladybug reappeared and used her yo-yo to get the guitar pen from the villain. Chat Noir arrived just in time to use Cataclysm on it. "I'm glad to see you decided to join us again, Chat." Ladybug said.
"You know how I like to make an entrance, my lady," Chat said dramatically.
"You fool! Jagged Penny! Don't let them get your Akuma!" Hawk Moth called from his layer.
But it was too late. The Akuma was released, caught, then purified it by Ladybug.
Jagged Penny then turned into Jagged Stone and Penny. Their firey dragon turned into a whimpering Fang. Jagged went wide-eyed as he looked at all the superheroes, then turned to Penny and saw that she was holding his hand. He leaned in and gave her a kiss. "Oh Penny, I'll let everyone in the whole world know that I love you. I just thought you wanted to take it slow!"
Penny rolled her eyes. "It's been 4 years. I didn't mean that slow!"
Ladybug and her teammates all laughed at Jagged. "Okay, can you do your Miraculous ladybugs now?" Carapace asked.
Ladybug looked worried. "I don't think I can."
"What do you mean, you can't do it?" Rena Rouge looked over Paris, the path of destruction and fire was worse than any other Akuma attack that she had ever seen. She then stared Ladybug down. "If there was ever a time we needed those ladybugs, it's now."
"And, we could have used it a few days ago," Carapace added, making Ladybug feel even guiltier than before.
Ladybug, Mari was trying to think of a way to explain what had been going on, when the Eiffel tower started to fall in the distance. Fang's fiery breath had bent the metal and now the iconic building was falling down, right onto a crowd of onlookers.
Without a second more of hesitation, Ladybug released her miraculous ladybugs. Over a million little bugs scattered through the air, working their magic over the city. As everyone watched the cloud of ladybugs fly overhead, Ladybug wavered on her feet. A stream of blood came out of her nose and she fell over. Chat caught her before she fell to the ground.
"M... Ladybug?" Chat stared at her form. She seemed lifeless and for a moment fear struck him as he held her close. But he could feel her soft breath on her cheek, so he knew that she wasn't dead.
"Is... is she alright?" Viperion asked.
"She'll be okay with rest. Chat, take her to the guardian," Kagami said.
Chat looked over to Kagami, reminding himself that he would have to get her to explain herself some time, but now was not that time. He held Ladybug tightly to his chest and left towards the Guardian. Rena Rouge crossed her arms and stared at Kagami. "Who died and made you boss?"
"Don't say that," Carapace said, as he worriedly watched Chat Noir take Ladybug away.
"She'll be fine," Kagami said to both Carapace and Viperion. She looked at Luka, sighed and then ran away.
Viperion ran after her. She was incredibly fast, but with Viperion's additional superhero powers, he was able to catch up to her. "Kagami, how did you know...?"
She sighed as she looked up at the teal-covered superhero. She did her best to conceal her inner conflict. "I know who Hawk Moth is. I've been trying to bring him down, but I need your help."
"You know who he is? Why haven't you told Ladybug or Chat Noir? We could have taken care of this before..."
Kagami looked away, and he could sense conflicted emotions. Again? Why? Was she scared? Considering Kagami's personality, that wasn't likely the answer. "I'll help too. We'll bring him down together." He reached out and held her hand.
She looked at his hand, then back into Luka's eyes and nodded. "Okay. I think with your help we can do it. I'll meet up with you tomorrow..."
"You mean tonight? The party?" Viperion reminded her. It wasn't exactly flattering to have her forget about the date, but it was understandable with all the commotion.
She paused and looked... vulnerable. Fire and ice had a weakness? "I know that you still love Mari. You don't have to go with me..."
He sighed. Hanging out with an Empath is going to be difficult, isn't it? But he was just flirting with her, and it wasn't like they were serious or anything, so it shouldn't be that complicated. Besides, Fire and Ice looked cute when she pouted. "I want to go with you. You know Mari doesn't like me that way... I need to move on. You do too. Can't we just hang out and see where things go?" He squeezed her hand. She looked up, surprised.
She then looked away, and for a moment he thought she was going to reject him. "Of course. I'll see you tonight. But I have to go home right now. My mother will be worried."
Actually my mother will be thrilled. Kagami thought. I still need to see if I can find the other formula, the purple one, and then maybe she'd finally tell me the next part of her plan. But underneath it, all Kagami couldn't shake this feeling of guilt.
***********************************
"Where are we, Kitty?" Ladybug said when she stirred, realizing that she was in Chat Noir's strong arms and that he was taking her somewhere.
"The Guardian," he said as he ran quickly through the streets. "What's wrong with you?"
For a moment, she had forgotten that she was still transformed as Ladybug. She had worried for a moment that Chat had discovered her secret, but it seemed for the moment it was still safe. She looked away, "I'm fine."
"How can we be partners if you lie to me?" Chat asked.
Ladybug sighed. "Just trust me, Chat. Everything is going the way it is supposed to."
He was quiet as they arrive at the Guardian's. He motions for Chat to set her down and leave her on a chair.
The guardian walked him out the door and Chat paused. "I'm going out of town again. What are we going to do about Ladybug and the three miraculouses that are still out there?"
Master Fu stroked his goatee. "I'll call each of them. Perhaps we should have them hold on to them until Ladybug is back to her normal fighting form, and until you are back in town." Chat nodded then left.
When he left, the Guardian started to chant and perform the Dragon's breath stance for Earth, and called upon the healing power. Ladybug transformed into Marinette and she slowly stood to her feet. She rotated her shoulders and neck and then winced. "It hurts, but I think I'm better."
Tikki looked over her, then felt her forehead as if looking for a fever. "You seem fine."
Master Fu got out some tea. He then retrieved a packet of powdered ingredients from his secret guardian chest and stirred it into her drink. "Drink this, you will feel better."
Marinette took a drink and then grimaced at the taste. "Is this some kind of magical concoction?"
"Of sorts. It's aspirin."
She frowned. "Don't you have anything... you know miraculous?"
He shook his head. "Not for this. If the Tikki or the ladybugs can't fix it, neither can I."
She winced as she got up. "I think I might need to take a break today from training until I feel a bit better."
Master Fu nodded in agreement. "And I will have to find a new hideout."
She stood to her feet, and then everything hit her and her memories came running back as a result of the miraculous ladybugs. Adrien's laugh, his smile, his sweet gestures as a friend... the umbrella in the rain. She had acted like she barely knew him, yet he had been kind and patient and super sweet to her. Wait. He had even asked me out and I said no! And now... now she was with Chat Noir, but she still loved Adrien. She checked her phone and her wallpaper had changed back to Adrien, but the messages to Chat Noir were still there.
This was such a mess. An epic, Marinette Dupain-Cheng-sized mess.
What was she going to do now?