Chapter Text
For a few moments, the four stood in complete silence, then Alya signed and looked at Adrien.
“So, you were looking for these?” She asked she held out the bottles.
He took them, read the labels, and put them in his bag, “Yeah, thank you.”
“Do you want to know how I came into possession of them?”
“Not really, but if you have them, I can make an educated guess. I need to go talk to her, don’t I?”
“You really should. It’s time you two cleared the air completely.” She crossed her arms, “I think more honesty will do both of you good.”
“That’s what I’ve been saying!” Nino yelled, “For weeks!”
“You knew?” Alya looked at him then over at Luka, “Do you know?”
Luka nodded, “Yeah, but I just learned about Adrien’s other lives today so I am not a contributor.” He put his hands in his pockets, “And now that we’ve found the missing medication, I’m going home.”
“We should all go home.” Alya sighed glancing over at Adrien, “I know you and Mari need to talk, but it might be better to wait until morning. After a good night’s sleep.”
Adrien snorted and was about to say something he would regret when there was an explosion in the distance accompanied by manic laughter and a plume of glittery smoke.
“Well, I guess Shadow Moth’s back from summer vacation.” Luka said before transforming into Viprion, “You guys coming, or are we going to meet up after you make a lame excuse and run into a bush?”
Adrien blinked, “Some-some habits die hard. Tikki? You ready?”
The red Kwami stuck her head out of his bag, “Yes.”
.o.
When the explosion happened, it really did not register to Gabriel. His mind was on other things, the phone call with his sister-in-law, Adrien’s failing health despite seeing specialists, and his usual thoughts about Ladybug’s wear about. So he was completely clueless when Nathalie stumbled in and told him to turn on the television.
“Is this you?” She asked pointing to the screen at a circus-themed villain painting the town technicolor with paint bombs.
“If it was me, would I be sitting here in my pajamas?” He asked dryly.
“Then-if it’s not you, who?” She turned back to the television.
“There are, other villains in the world.” Gabriel leaned forward, “Now the question is who is going to show up to fight her?”
“Do you think Ladybug will reappear after her absence?”
Gabriel tented his fingers, “For the sake of our plans, she better.”
.o.
“Unbelievable!” The villainess threw another paint bomb, this one hitting the pyramid at the Louvre, “The guidebooks were right, they do close up shop in August. Even the heroes take a hike.”
“Hey! Stop redecorating the place we just got it how we like it.” Mister Bug yelled using a yo-yo to wrap her up.
“Oops sorry, I thought the city of lights needed a bit more color.” She laughed and looked at him, “Hey aren’t you supposed to be a brunette and a Lady? Not that I care, be who you want to be and all that.”
“Name’s Mr. Bug, I’m filling in for Ladybug while she’s away.” Mr. Bug moved to grab her hat, but she managed to trip him up and untangle herself.
“Of course, I’d get the understudy after such a long flight! I tell yah kid, life ain’t fair.”
“Don’t have to tell me twice.” Mr. Bug said swiping her hat and ripping it in two, “Huh no Akuma?”
“Hey, that’s a family heirloom Jerk!” The villainess yelled hitting him in the gut with a hammer and sending him flying.
Mr. Bug came to a skidding halt next to Rena Rouge who was looking at her staff. “Well, the Akuma was not in her hat.” He gasped.
“There’s not going to be an Akuma.” Said a voice from Rena’s staff.
“Who are you talking to?” Mr. Bug looked at the screen to see Marinette looking back, “Oh, hi.”
“Hi.” Marinette bit her lip, “The Palisades’ Prankster. She’s a real super villain from the United States, comes from a whole family of villains.”
“Got to love intergenerational villainy.” Carapace commented, before making a shield to protect the group from an onslaught of paint bombs. “Oh, hi Marinette, nice of you to help out with research.”
“So how do we stop her?” Mr. Bug asked.
Marinette shrugged, “Not sure, there’s no Akuma giving her powers. You’ll have to figure it out on your own, might I suggest using your lucky charm, that always helped Ladybug figure it out.”
“It’s worth a shot.” Mr. Bug frowned as the shelter started to crack from the stress. “LUCKY CHARM!”
.o.
Marinette watched the fight via her phone biting into her blanket. Mr. Bug’s lucky charm had turned out to be a bucket, which had clearly left the team baffled. She winced as Viprion was thrown into Mr. Bug sending them both into the river.
“How are they doing?” Pollen asked sitting on her neck.
“Not great, she’s too fast and I know Eric-I mean-Adrien is already too exhausted to think.” Marinette started typing in her phone to learn as much as she could about the Palisade’s Prankster. “Magic make-up from the 1920s?...That’s what the bucket’s for!” She quickly called Rena back.
“Hey, not the best time!” Rena said before the whole world spun for a second and the camera collided with a paint bomb that was knocked away and splattered a row of buildings.
“I know how to stop her! Tell Mr. Bug her powers come from her grease paint! He’s got to wash it off to stop her. The bucket is for the water needed to wash it off! You have to tell him!”
“Ok, I will!” Rena said hanging up.
Marinette turned back to the live feed and watched as Rena Rouge and Mr. Bug seemed to have a spirited debate ending with Rena slumping and Mr. Bug running off. He returned a few minutes later with a bucket full of something white and a towel. She then witnessed probably the most violent makeup removal ever caught on camera as Mr. Bug dunked the villains’ head in the bucket of the unknown white stuff and then wiped the whole thing off with a towel with such force, Marinette was surprised the Palisade’s prankster still had skin.
“We’re going to have to work on the use of force,” Marinette mumbled.
.o.
“What the heck did you just dunk all over me!?!” Palisades Prankster yelled as the police finally cuffed her.
“Cold cream, normal water won’t get grease paint off.” Mr. Bug grabbed the bucket, “Ok, show time. Miraculous Ladybug!”
Relief washed over him as the magic ladybugs fixed all the damage caused by the villain. Behind him, Mr. Bug heard a news truck stopping and the doors opening. He looked at the other heroes.
“We should meet tomorrow and debrief.” He said starting to swing the yo-yo, “But right now we need to get out of here.”
Mr. Bug pulled himself onto the roof and started running but even then, he could hear the journalists yelling questions.”
“Wait! Mr. Bug! We have questions!”
“Are you going to be Mr. Bug from now on?”
“What happened to Ladybug?”
“Does this mean Ladybug is really gone?”
“Who was Ladybug?”
“When are you finally going, to be honest with us?!”
Mr. Bug glanced back then turned and ran as far as he could.
.o.
Marinette was and was not expecting Mr. Bug to climb through her window. He looked miserable as he detransformed and looked up at Marinette. Tikki gently poked his cheek, and he gave her a cookie. The room was dead silent as the two looked at each other.
“Alya told me, that we probably really should talk.”
Marinette looked down, “She told you I knew?”
“She didn’t really have a choice, Nino kind of-yup, she told me you knew.” He gripped the strap of his bag, “Marinette, I-I’m – I didn’t want- but.”
“Please come up here,” Marinette gulped, “I don’t want to yell down at you.”
Adrien slowly made his way up to her bed platform. She patted the space next to her and he sat down. He opened his mouth to say something, but she pulled him into a hug. She held him close and refused to let go when he tried to pull back.
“I didn’t mean to find out.” She said at least, “It was an accident. I’m so sorry.”
Adrien pulled back, “You’re sorry? I’m the one that should be sorry! I lied by omission! I let you think I was someone else while you talked about me…You would have never said those things if you knew who I was.” He looked away, “I betrayed your trust.”
Marinette took a deep breath, “You didn’t betray anyone, or at least not me. I told you I didn’t want to know who you were, I put up those walls to keep our identities separate. You were just respecting my wishes.”
“Doesn’t seem very respectful from my perspective. You told me all those secrets, secrets you wouldn’t say in any other situation.” Adrien curled into a ball. “You were literally under the influence and just let you talk.”
“True,” Marinette leaned against him, “But, it also felt good to get that off my chest. I could finally be fully honest with someone, fully honest with you. Eric-Adrien, I’m not mad I know who you are. I’m mad at myself for not letting you tell me who you were yourself.”
Adrien looked up at her, “You really aren’t mad?”
Marinette shook her head, “No.”
“Not even a little bit?”
She shook her head and pulled him down so that she could cuddle against him, “Not even a little bit, Kitty.” She squeezed him, “Not even a little.”
.o.
Gabriel paused the television and looked over at Nathalie.
“So, Ladybug is really dead.”
“Whether she is dead or just unable to fulfill her role is irrelevant.” Gabriel stood up and gestured to Mr. Bug, “What is important is we now have one target, and I’ve already got two very big weaknesses I can exploit.”