Words: 2268
Chapter Summary: The moment everyone's been waiting for.
Author's Note: I think this is one of the longest chapters of the story and I'm gonna cry. This is basically the last ~real~ chapter because I'm treating 50 as an epilogue. I love this story and I hope you do too!
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Adrien walked through the forest with Plagg flying nearby. He followed the directions Alya left on the table, a little scared of what he might find along the way.
As he walked towards the house, Adrien fiddled with his ring as he got closer, playing through what he was going to say in his head. He kept taking deep breaths as he took a step or heard a strange noise.
Finally, he approached the house. After knocking three times, Adrien was met with his father as Hawkmoth, looking down at him with a smile.
"What are you doing, Adrien?" Hawkmoth asked as he readied his staff.
Adrien tried to bring up his confidence. "I'm sorry I went against you, father," Adrien said. "I want to prove my loyalty to help you," He said.
Hawkmoth looked back at Nathalie, a little confused, but glad. "You know what I'm after."
"Right," Adrien said and pulled off his ring. "Sorry, Plagg," He apologized before he was sucked back into the ring. "I just want my friends to be safe."
Hawkmoth's smile grew sinister as he held the ring in his hand. "They will be; If they follow you. Everyone will be safe then," He promised.
Adrien nodded quickly. "Okay, I can help with that."
Hawkmoth welcomed Adrien into the secret home and gave him a place to sit in the main room. "I'm glad you came to me, Adrien," Hawkmoth said and began prepping things with Nathalie that Adrien didn't understand.
Instead of replying to his father, Adrien pulled out his phone and dialed Marinette's number.
"Adrien!" Marinette shrieked. "Where are you? We've been looking for you all morning!" She said.
"I'm at Hawkmoth's hideout. I went out for a walk, and he caught me and took my Miraculous. Marinette, I need you," He pleaded, and it was clear that Hawkmoth was satisfied with Adrien's cry.
"Oh...my gosh," Marinette sighed. "We'll be there as fast as we can, hang on, Adrien," She promised and hung up.
Adrien looked down at his phone after the call ended. "Perfect," Hawkmoth smirked. "Now, we just have to wait."
A few minutes passed as Adrien sat and fiddled with his thumbs while waiting for his friends. He. was nervous, nervous that they would be disappointed, but also nervous that Hawkmoth would hurt them. It seemed like hours passed while waiting for the heroes to show up, but it was only a matter of minutes.
The three jumped as Ladybug kicked down the door with Rena Rouge, Carapace, and Queen Bee behind her. "Adrien!" She said and ran over to him. Just before she could get to him, Hawkmoth put his staff in between them, blocking Adrien from her. "Adrien, what's going on?" She asked.
"I'm sorry, Mari," Adrien sighed and showed his hand.
"Adrien, what did you-"
"He's with me now," Hawkmoth interrupted. "And if we don't want anyone to get hurt, I suggest you all do the sensible thing like Adrien," Hawkmoth advised.
Ladybug shook her head and stepped back, not believing what was happening. "No, never!" She shouted and grabbed her yo-yo. "I will not give up!" She shouted. Adrien remained in his chair, worried about what could happen, while the rest of the team stood strong, ready to face Hawkmoth.
As Ladybug began spinning her yo-yo, the rest of her team backed down so she could try to get through to Hawkmoth. "Gabriel," She said. "Do you really want to do this? We can just stop here and go on with our lives," She tried her hardest to talk to him.
"Oh, sure, I'll stop if you hand over your Miraculous," He said. "But I assume you won't do that, so we have to do this the hard way," He sighed.
Ladybug shook her head in disappointment. "Guess so," She said. The four heroes immediately pushed forward at Hawkmoth, not backing down.
Ladybug and Chat Noir had only faced Hawkmoth a few times before, but this was completely different. Hawkmoth hit his staff a few times and knocked back Rena Rogue, Carapace, and Queen Bee. The staff's power was so strong it sent the three flying to the floor, and it was clear that Hawkmoth only wanted to deal with Ladybug.
Ladybug dodged the hits and power from the staff until she started to run out of energy. Hawkmoth was not holding back, just like she expected, but she kept defending as much as possible.
After defending the hits Hawkmoth threw at her, she was running out of steam. Ladybug hadn't used the Lucky Charm yet, but she could feel Tikki was getting tired along with Marinette.
With one last blow, Ladybug fell to the ground. She breathed heavily as Hawkmoth walked closer to her.
"Well," He started. "It seems we have come to an impasse," Hawkmoth said. "Your only choice is to give me your Miraculous," He said and held out his hand, waiting for Ladybug to do as he says.
Ladybug nodded. "Yes, that does seem like the only choice," She stood up. "But it's not," Ladybug said, and Hawkmoth's face immediately dropped with confusion. "Tikki, Duusu, unify!" Ladybug shouted, and with a red and blue flash, Ladybug transformed into Lady Peacock.
"W-what?" Hawkmoth stepped back. "That Miraculous was broken!"
"And we got it fixed," Lady Peacock shrugged while holding her yo-yo and reaching her hand over her shoulder while waiting for her team.
Hawkmoth calmed down and stood tall, not entirely sure what their plan was. He turned around to give them some distance while preparing to take down a bunch of naive teenagers who didn't understand what he was working towards.
Rena Rouge, Carapace, and Queen Bee got up and stood behind Lady Peacock. Out of the corner of his eye, Hawkmoth saw Adrien stand up from the chair. "Plagg!"
"Ah ah ah," Hawkmoth said. "Did you forget, Adrien? You already gave me your Miraculous," Hawkmoth smirked.
Adrien looked down and shook his head. "Look again, father," Adrien directed. Hawkmoth pulled the ring out of his pocket and heard the noise of a flute, and the ring in his hand disappeared. Adrien held up his hand, showing that his Miraculous never left his finger; it was all a mirage.
"Plagg! Claws out!" Adrien shouted and turned into Chat Noir, joining his team on the other side of the room. The plan had worked perfectly, and they were able to take Hawkmoth by surprise.
Lady Peacock stood in front, with Chat Noir and Queen Bee behind her, and Rena Rouge and Carapace behind them. They were stood in a V formation, making sure to let Hawkmoth knew they weren't here to play.
Hawkmoth was surprised at the mirage, but it also meant that Rena Rouge was weaker and would have to recharge soon. He shot his staff at her once to encourage her to get out of his way. He figured drawing out Carapace's and Queen Bee's special powers early on would make the fight against Ladybug- or Lady Peacock, and Chat Noir much easier. Hawkmoth sent one warning shot over to where Rena Rouge retreated to, causing Carapce to use his shell-ter to protect her while she recharged.
Queen Bee held up her spinning top, ready to sting Hawkmoth. "Miss Bourgeois, I wouldn't take another step if I were you," Hawkmoth warned, and Lady Peacock motioned that it was okay for her to back down. "You all have no idea how much I have been holding back. Quit now, and it will be much easier for everyone," He said.
Lady Peacock shook her head. "And you have no idea how much we've been holding back," She said and pulled a feather off her shoulder, blowing onto it to make it turn blue, then letting it fly out the door.
Hawkmoth knew what the peacock did, but he didn't have much hope for Marinette Dupain-Cheng to use it to their strongest advantage. Sure, she's strong as Ladybug, but can she really handle two Miraculouses at once?
Hawkmoth scoffed at her. "You're a child, I don't want to hurt you, but I will get everyone's Miraculous!" He shouted.
Lady Peacock, Chat Noir, and Queen Bee didn't think twice about what he said. They looked to each other, and all darted towards him. They followed Hawkmoth out the back of the house and into the woods, a much larger area for a fight that could end badly.
The amock flew through the air of the forest back into civilization. It flew over the Agreste Mansion, the school, and the bakery. It passed the Eiffel Tower and over baby's heads, but it had a set location.
It flew into the open window of Master Fu's shop and landed on a piece of rock next to where he hid the Miracle Box. Master Fu knew exactly what was going to happen, and was proud of the team for their plan working, as he was a little skeptical at first. He waited for the amock to transform the rock, and it burst through the roof fo his shop- but he wasn't worried; Ladybug would fix it later.
"Haven't changed a bit," Master Fu remarked to the amock that resembled the first Akuma that Ladybug and Chat Noir fought. "You will return to Lady Peacock and aid her in battle. Go now," Master Fu commanded, and the Stoneheart amock made his way to the forest.
Lady Peacock, Chat Noir, and Queen Bee were in battle with Hawkmoth. Everything thrown at him, he threw back with the staff, and he had no issues. Carapace and Rena Rouge were still recharging, but the rest of the team was holding their own.
Out of nowhere, the ground shook, distracting both sides. The amock of Stoneheart jumped in front of Lady Peacock, but facing Hawkmoth. "What is this?" He grumbled.
"I'm sure you remember Stoneheart, yes? The first Akuma we ever took on and beat, well, this stone is just like him. But he is here to help us this time," Lady Peacock said. "It's all coming full circle," She said.
Hawkmoth didn't respond, but instead only aimed for Stoneheart, who wasn't reacting one bit from the hits. Stoneheart was just enough of a distraction that Lady Peacock could call for her Lucky Charm without having to worry, and also enough that Rena Rouge and Carapace could make it back to the battle.
"What's your Lucky Charm?" Chat Noir asked.
Ladybug sighed. "It's a jewelry box," She said. "We have to get his Miraculous. Let's go!"
The five of them ran around Stoneheart and used all the energy they could towards Hawkmoth. He tried to use his staff to fend them off, but it was getting more apparent that he was running out of steam. The heroes have grown up since their first fight, and have become much stronger. Stronger than Hawkmoth would have ever assumed.
Rena Rouge used her mirage to make duplicates of them, so Hawkmoth wouldn't know which way they were coming from. Hawkmoth shot where most of the duplicates were rounded up, and Carapace used his shell-ter to protect himself and Queen Bee. Hawkmoth was able to use the trees Stoneheart was throwing to his advantage and made a hideout, which left Chat Noir to cataclysm the trees around him.
Hawkmoth was running out of ideas, and he was cornered. The duplicates were confusing him, and Stoneheart was getting more dangerous. Hawkmoth was not going to give up, though, he was going to get the Miraculous.
Just as Hawkmoth was about to speak, he opened his mouth, and instead of words, a scream came out, and he fell to the ground. Hawkmoth was hit with Queen Bee's venom in the back, then kicked down by Lady Peacock. Hawkmoth was stuck up against a few trees that were thrown earlier. All of the heroes besides Chat Noir stepped back, while Chat Noir walked up to Hawkmoth straight on.
Chat Noir reached for Hawkmoth's Miraculous, but before he could grab it, Hawkmoth spoke. "Adrien!" He said as loud as he could. Granted, it wasn't very loud from the venom he just took, but it did catch Chat Noir's attention. "If you do this, your mother will be gone forever."
With a sigh, Chat Noir stepped back. "She was supposed to be gone, resting peacefully, years ago. You kept her from that peace," He said.
"Don't you want her back?" Hawkmoth said, stalling as much time as he could.
"Of course I do, but not like this. If you use our miraculous to get her back, I will be the one to die," Chat Noir said, and Hawkmoth's eyes widened, like he hadn't thought of that. "As much as I would love to trade my life for hers, it's not natural, and she's probably in more pain in that secret basement. It's been years father; we have to move on."
Hawkmoth tried to shake his head, but Chat Noir resumed reaching for the Miraculous. "Adrien-"
Chat Noir grabbed the Miraculous on Hawkmoth's chest. "This is for mom," He said and ripped the brooch off, and with a flash of purple, Hawkmoth turned back into Gabriel Agreste.
Lady Peacock walked up from behind him and opened the jewelry box, and Chat Noir set Hawkmoth's brooch in it. It would be in there until they could get it back to the Miracle Box, and everything could return to normal. Lady Peacock left Stoneheart to guard Gabriel as they saw red and blue lights in the distance.
"Let's get out of here," Chat Noir said and led the team out.