Y/N had finally reached the Eiffel Tower, where Ladybug asked to meet. She sat against the cold metal, catching her breath.
"Y/N! Are you hurt? Whats the problem?" Ladybug said while swooping in. The superhero quickly inspected Y/N for any wounds. Her hand rested on Y/N's shoulder after confirming that all was well. Physically, at least.
"Hold on," Y/N said, clutching her chest. "I just ran a marathon... in the cold.. at night.. to get here... Give me a minute."
Ladybug made a small attempt at a smile, but her eyes began to scan the area. Y/N finally stretched out an arm and Ladybug quickly helped her to her feet.
"That tiger miraculous could've been pretty useful right about now." Y/N said, only half joking. Ladybug chuckled and shook her head.
"You did pretty good getting here on your own." Ladybug replied.
"Hardly!" Y/N breathed out exhaustingly. Her hands trembled as she held onto the ring. It forced her to drop the small talk.
"There's this guy, my friend Adrien," Y/N began to say, "He's been akumatized for some odd reason. I was with him right before it happened."
"N-No.." Ladybug spoke softly. Y/N raised a brow at Ladybug's broken tone.
"I mean, no! Not another akumatized citizen, whohappenstobeareallygreatguythatdoesntdeservetobeevilizedbyHawkMoth. We must save him!" Ladybug said quickly.
Y/N tilted her head, trying to rehear each word carefully in her mind. Ladybug grabbed her arm and began to pull, but Y/N resisted.
"No, wait! There's more... Cat Noir... It's a major problem." Y/N said, holding out the miraculous to show Ladybug.
"Why do you have this?!" Ladybug asked, quickly grabbing the ring. Her eyes darted back and forth from Y/N to the ring.
"I can't explain why. If I do, his identity will be revealed to you. You know I can't let that happen." Y/N responded.
"Do you know who Cat Noir is?" Ladybug asked, finally setting her eyes on Y/N's scared (e/c) ones.
"I-I don't. His kwami found me before he took off the ring. Said I had to, uh, retrieve it from a secret location..? Anyways! Cat Noir had to leave Paris and trusted me to give you the ring. Don't blame me, I'm just the messenger." Y/N lied horribly. Her voice trembled, but she kept a straight face.
Ladybug nodded, unsure if she believed Y/N's story. She looked at the ring once more before closing a fist around it. Her eyes closed and lips pursed together as she pondered an extremely difficult thought.
"Y/N, this is the miraculous of the Cat, which grants the power of destruction. You'll use it for the greater good. Once the mission is over, you'll return the miraculous to me... Can I trust you?" Ladybug asked, holding out the ring to Y/N.
Her eyes were wider than the moon. Disbelief was written across her face. Ladybug shuffled uncomfortably, clearly not wanting to give up the miraculous, but also knowing it was her only chance to save Adrien.
"What an interesting Christmas present Ladybug." Y/N replied, the only words that could be mustered up at the moment. Ladybug pursed her lips, clearly perturbed by the situation.
"You can trust me." Y/N said finally, taking the miraculous from Ladybug's hand. She slipped on the ring and watched as a tiny black cat appeared.
"Ad- Y/N! This is not what I expected." Plagg said while scratching his head.
"No time for chitchat, small cat," Y/N said, "Plagg, claws out!"
***
Hawk Moth remained silent. Every attempt at speaking failed miserably. It was as if every single word in his dictionary was erased right off the pages.
The cane in his hand did no justice as the villain slowly fell to the ground. It slowly rolled away to the side. Butterflies fluttered around in fear from the disturbance.
'Father.'
Hawk Moth replayed the word in his head over and over. His son's voice was filled with a horrifying determination. Although he had control, he couldn't figure out what was driving his son to this point.
"Father, tell me what to do. You've done so all your life. Why choke now?" Dark Wings spoke, playful bitterness filled his once sweet voice.
Hawk Moth's disbelief grew. Never in his life had he heard his son speak in this manner. Evil had truly consumed Adrien. It was now clear to Hawk moth the power his miraculous held. It only took his son turning into a monster to make him see: THIS was the answer to all their problems.
To getting her back.
Despite the smack to the face Dark Wings delivered, Hawk Moth finally returned to his scornful state. He stood from the ground and dusted off his coat.
"My son, you are hurt, as am I. I can give you the power to set our world right once again. All you have to do is fetch me Ladybug and Cat Noir's miraculous!"
Dark Wings pondered at the thought. Would his world ever be right?
"We have work to do. We shall do this together. Do not disappoint, son."
"Never." Dark Wings smirked, the glowing akuma radiated off his face. Absolute trouble was to come.
***
"What do you mean you lost him?!" Ladybug yelled as she and Y/N jumped from building to building.
"I mean: He was there and now he's not! I don't know where he could be!" Y/N replied, jumping off the ledge of a building. She landed on the next roof over and stopped.
"Adrien would never get akumatized. What happened right before you left him? What did you do?!" Ladybug said while stopping beside Y/N. Her face was brighter than Rudolph the reindeer's nose. She was obviously furious at Y/N.
"What happened was someone was keeping secrets." A voice said said from behind the girls. They both whipped around to see a swarm of black akumas flying around a dark figure.
The problem wasn't the secret keeping itself; It was the secret spilling that sent Adrien over the edge. Ladybug sharply turned towards Y/N.
"What is he talking about?!" Ladybug asked, her voice breaking at the sight of the disaster that had come over Adrien.
Y/N shifted uncomfortably. How could she possibly tell Ladybug Hawk Moth was Gabriel Agreste? What would that do to Adrien's secret? Would she connect the dots and tie it all together?
"Hawk Moth.. we need to stop him!" Y/N said as confident in herself and Ladybug as she could, which.. wasn't very much.
The figure hovered over the two heroes and under the moonlight, Dark Wings' face was illuminated. Y/N's heart tightened. Honesty wasn't supposed to akumatize someone like this.
"You were right, Y/N. You've opened my eyes. I know exactly how to fix everything." Dark Wings gritted his teeth. He pointed the cane in his hand down at Y/N.
"Give me the miraculous!" Dark Wings demanded as a beam of light shot out from the cane. Y/N and Ladybug dodged sideways, narrowly missing the shot. Black and purple butterflies fluttered from the blast. It was almost a beautiful sight. Horrifyingly beautiful.
"What is he talking about?!" Ladybug yelled as she and Y/N were pushed back from one building to the next. The blasts from the cane had them struggling to avoid each one. Y/N leapt backwards, jumping from the edge of a building and onto a street light.
"Uh?! It's kinda personal!" Y/N shouted as Ladybug landed below her. Ladybug rolled her eyes, unsatisfied with the lack of clarity coming from Y/N.
Dark Wings followed closely, shooting a beam at Y/N. The street light vanished in a flurry of butterflies. Y/N landed on her butt and groaned.
"Thanks for the help!" Y/N said, pulling herself up off the ground.
"Cats are supposed to land on their feet!" Ladybug replied, her tone even more annoyed than ever. She jumped away from Dark Wings' relentless torment, jumping into Y/N's way.
Y/N cried in frustration. The lack of cohesion between the two was proving a major issue. Ladybug pulled Y/N by the waist with her yo-yo and jumped away from the fight. They landed behind a building, falling onto each other in a jumble.
"You're supposed to be helping me!" Ladybug cried, her breathe coming out in puffs from the cold air.
"I'm trying! You keep getting in my way!" Y/N said, pushing Ladybug away. The two stared at each other, only a few seconds passing.
"Look, we need to do this together.. for Adrien." Ladybug sighed. Y/N stayed quiet, agreeing in her head. Ladybug got up, holding out her hand for Y/N to grab.
"We're Ladybug and Cat Noir." Ladybug smiles softly as Y/N grabbed her hand.
"Ladybug and Ladycat." Y/N said. The pair stared at each other once more. Ladybug let out a giggle and covered her mouth.
"Yeah, no, let's- Let's go." Y/N laughed, leaping in unison with Ladybug. It wasn't much, but the newfound solidarity amped Y/N up.
'We'll end this. All of it.'
The fight was on.
***
**A/N: As Obi-Wan Kenobi once said, "Hello there." 👁👄👁