Chapter Text
Ladybug stared out bitterly at the lights of the city, fighting the tears in her eyes.
It had been a few weeks since Chat Noir had been akumatized, and even though she wasn’t entirely sure what was the reason behind it, he had been slippery enough to evade her almost the entire time.
Not to mention, Adrien’s father pulled him out of school. He said it was to keep him safe during the chaos that followed, but she never got to see him, and she had no idea how was he doing.
Ugh. That man.
Chat was an odd akuma, not purposely trying to cause havoc or destruction (despite his superpower), but seemed to mostly be fond of targeting anything and everything related to Adrien Agreste. Billboards, posters, advertisements on poles and subways, and anything bearing his likeness were subjected to Chat Noir’s destructive power. But he would always flee the scene, almost without a trace.
That was when Hawkmoth approached her, in the flesh.
It was a day or two after Chat was akumatized and subsequently went into hiding, and she had just gotten through an awkward game of cat and mouse with the compromised hero. Marinette had been walking home from the fabric store when she heard a commotion. Instinctively, she ducked into the nearest alley, transformed, and arrived just in time to catch a very white-looking Chat Noir dissolving a newsstand that was selling copies of Adrien’s most recent modelling spread.
When he caught sight of her, his eyes widened in panic before he tried to escape. But she pursued him, begging him to stop, and eventually managed to cut him off on a rooftop after he overestimated a jump and stumbled upon landing.
“Chat. Please,” she panted, half out of exhaustion and half out of desperation. “Let me fix this. Let me fix you.”
He was completely facing her then, expression a frightening cross between a sneer and a grimace.
“No! You can’t fix me, bug. I don’t want you to.”
Then he scrambled up to his feet and pulled out his baton to vault away.
“Goddammit Chat!”
Ladybug cast out her yo-yo, wrapping the fleeing hero-turned-villain in its lines.
“What happened, Chat? What do you want? How did he get to you?”
When he turned his head to face her, she unconsciously took a step back. The outright hatred in his eyes send a cold shiver down her spine.
“Adrien Agreste ruined my life. I want to destroy every evidence that he ever existed.”
She gaped, stunned, for a moment, before her protectiveness took over.
“What has Adrien ever done to you, huh?!” she shouted angrily. “Adrien is one of the nicest people I’ve ever met! Let me heal you, Chat, and everything will go back to the way it was!”
Her eyes flickered all over the figure in front of her, the image so wrong it made her feel sick. Chat simply glared at her, knowing she would never find the object, much less be able to break it.
Frustrated, she grunted and stepped closer as though to search him physically, but stopped when she heard him growl. With wide eyes, she looked up to find him practically snarling at her.
“Don’t push me, Ladybug.”
She knew what she had to do, but this behavior coming from her partner and friend made her hesitate.
“Calamity.”
Something bubbled up in his hand- something white. It was almost deceptive how pure and clear the color was, though she knew it must have an incredibly destructive power. Raising up her hands, yo-yo in her grasp, she began to back away, all the while doing her best to come up with a plan.
“Let me go,” he ordered.
Still focusing on his hand, she stopped when she felt she was far enough to be safe from his reach, should he suddenly strike.
“I can’t do that, Chat. Please, I want to help you.”
There was a tense few seconds of silence, and she raised her eyes to search his expression, hoping there might be some sign of what he was going to do next.
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
He curled a wrist and touched the wire of her yo-yo with his Calamity. As though infected, the white essence spread along the cord, dissolving it like acid and leaving behind a pungent, sulfuric smell. Just before it reached her hand, Ladybug dropped the spool and watched in horror as it, too, dissolved into a bubbling liquid, and then into nothing.
“I’m sorry, Ladybug.”
The sound of his voice brought her out of her trance, but just as she looked up, he was bounding away over the rooftops. Once he was out of sight, she collapsed, the beeping of her earrings the only sound in the heavy quiet.
After the second or third beep, the spotted hero rose to her feet and walked to the door leading to the stairs. Once inside, she leaned against the wall and dropped her transformation, catching her little red kwami in her palms.
“Marinette-” Tikki curled up in her hands, voice weak.
“Tikki! Are you ok?” Marinette reached into her purse and pulled out a cookie, then held it up to her kwami’s lips, but the tiny sprite wasn’t strong enough to react. Instead, she lay there with eyes closed, shivering. Marinette put the cookie away and carefully tucked her into the safety of her bag. “It’s ok, Tikki. Everything is going to be ok.”
The walk to Master Fu’s felt longer than usual. As she stepped through his screen doors, unannounced, he looked up in surprise. The expression of distress on her face must have been a clue that something was truly wrong, and he dismissed the client he was with without further explanation, welcoming the girl further into the parlor. Marinette waited while the old man began to prepare tea, Tikki resting in her hands.
Once he returned to the mat, she placed the small, red being down in front of him. He examined her slowly, carefully, as Marinette began, hesitantly, to describe what happened. Nodding and humming intermittently, Master Fu listened while she explained about Chat Noir’s mysterious akumatization, as well as the slightly different destructive power he was wielding in his new form, and what it did to her yo-yo. When she was done, he sat there for a few minutes, thoughtfully stroking his goatee.
Finally, he spoke.
“My dear Ladybug, it seems that Chat Noir’s power has been corrupted by the akuma, perhaps even mutated. Normally, Tikki’s powers would protect you against the Cataclysm, but this ‘Calamity’ is not natural- not even for magic. It is almost an abomination, the merging of two powers that should never combine. With Chat Noir’s corruption, the balance between your powers has been disrupted. Your yo-yo is a part of Tikki’s power. Destroying it, without purifying the akuma and reversing the damage it caused, has harmed her, as well.”
Then he closed his eyes and began chanting lowly in a language Marinette didn’t understand. It lasted for several minutes before finally he stopped. Eyes still shut, he reached down and lifted up a small gong from the space beside him, lightly tapping it with a soft-tipped mallet. Anxious, she chewed her fingernails and waited for him to open his eyes again. When he finally did, she breathed a sigh of relief.
“Is she going to be ok?”
Just then, Tikki groaned a little and turned over, her large, blue eyes blinking open blearily.
“Ohh, Tikki,” the raven-haired girl breathed. With two cupped hands she reached down to scoop the kwami up and bring her close.
“Tikki will be fine,” Master Fu answered, causing Marinette to glance up. “But make sure to avoid such a thing happening again. Chat Noir must be purified as soon as possible, but be extra careful when dealing with him. Akumas are already unpredictable, but neither of your are what you should be at this moment in time. Should his akumatization continue for too long, it could have dire consequences.”
Marinette swallowed but nodded, determined.
“Thank you, Master Fu.”
She stood and placed Tikki carefully in her purse, then bowed before exiting the parlor. In no real hurry to get home, she walked slowly down the street, eyes darting about as she considered Fu’s words. What would happen in Chat Noir wasn’t purified soon enough? He was surely the most difficult akuma she had ever faced, and for reasons she didn’t quite understand. She had no idea what was his motivation, and had no clue as to his goal, other than wiping out every sign of Adrien’s existence. Frowning, she paused. Perhaps she should start there. Surely Adrien did nothing wrong, but it was possible he knew what Chat’s hatred of him was about.
Idea in mind, Marinette ducked into an alley.
“Tikki, do you feel up to transforming?”
The giant bug peeked out from her purse, eyed round and shoving the rest of a cookie in her mouth.
“Ready when you are, Marinette,” she said around a mouthful.
From the street, there was barely a flash of pink, and seconds later, Ladybug launched up and over the rooftops, headed for Agreste manor.
Her welcome, however, was less than warm.
Foregoing the security gate, she landed directly in front of the mansion’s main doors, knocking loudly so as to be heard. When the doors opened, a thin woman with glasses stood in the way, the doors held back by a burly, giant man. Both stared at her with unreadable expressions. Finally, the woman spoke.
“Miss Ladybug, to what do we owe the pleasure of your visit?”
From the way she said the words, the spotted hero was pretty sure she didn’t mean them.
“I need to see Monsieur Agreste. It’s about an important matter which I prefer not to discuss with anyone else.”
The woman looked at her, unblinking, before turning around.
“Follow me,” she said, and stepped further into the interior. Light steadily decreased as the doors began to close behind them until they shut completely with a clang. The only sound after that was the click of the woman’s heels on the pristine, white marble floor tiles.
The two of them walked through labyrinthian halls and cavernous rooms. At one point, they passed by the portrait of Adrien and his father, and the coldness and sadness she saw in their figures sent a shiver through her. She shook her head and kept going.
At last, they came to Gabriel Agreste’s office. After a knock on the door, his monotone voice was heard from within.
“Come in.”
The doors parted, revealing another large room, deep and high enough to swallow her family’s entire apartment. She looked around briefly, despite having been there before, and realized nothing had changed in the room- not from the framed photos of Adrien hanging on the wall to the giant Gustav Klimt-style portrait of his wife behind the desk. At last, Ladybug’s eyes came to rest on the man in question. She startled when she realized he had been watching her the whole time.
“Miss Ladybug,” he greeted stoically, then looked to the side. “Thank you, Nathalie.”
Ladybug turned, noticing that the assistant who let her in was exiting the room and closing the doors behind her. Suddenly, she had the feeling of being a butterfly trapped in a very large jar.
“Would you like to have a seat?”
The question brought her back to reality. Doing her best to calm herself, she took a step forward.
“That will not be necessary, Monsieur Agreste. Truthfully, I am here to ask your permission to speak to Adrien.”
The man’s expression seemed to turn even colder.
“And why is that?”
Ladybug gulped, nervous under the intensity of his gaze.
“I’m sure you have noticed a pattern in Chat Noir’s activity since his akumatization.”
Gabriel gave no response. Ladybug continued on.
“It has been brought to my attention that Chat Noir may have a grudge against your son personally, and I would like to speak with Adrien to find out if there is anyone who he might have offended, even if it was unintentional. Please, Monsieur Agreste. There is a possibility that Adrien may know something to help me bring Chat Noir’s akumatization to an end sooner rather than later. I hope you understand. I have all of Paris’s safety resting on my shoulders.”
“That is not possible.”
The girl was visibly taken aback, stunned that he would refuse her request.
“Ah, Monsieur Agreste, I know you are trying to protect your son, but-”
“Yes,” he cut her off, coming out from behind his desk and crossing the distance between them. “I am protecting my son. Adrien knows nothing about Chat Noir’s feelings toward him. There is nothing he can say to help you. Now, why don’t you leave the safety of my son to me, and you can worry about the rest of Paris.”
Frustrated, she clenched her fists, but knew there was nothing else she could do.
Gabriel was standing quite close by that point, and without warning, he leaned in a little closer. Ladybug pulled back unconsciously, feeling very much like a specimen under the lens of a microscope.
His eyes zeroed in on her earrings, and one hand began to rise as though to touch them. She stumbled backward and out of reach.
“Your earrings are quite unique,” he said, hand slowly returning to his side. “I wonder, where did you find them?”
Ladybug took a tentative step back.
“They found me,” she said, and turned for the door. “I really must be going. Excuse me.”
Gabriel stood in place for several minutes after she was gone, barely even noticing when Nathalie returned.
“Sir? Any news of Adrien?”
Startling out of his trance, the aging man shook his head, then pivoted around to walk back toward his desk. But he stopped in front of the portrait of his wife, and touched it thoughtfully.
“No. She believes Adrien can help her to catch Chat Noir. She has no idea the two are the same person.”
Then he returned to his desk and took a seat.
“But, sir, do you not think it might be time to ask for her help? Adrien has already cut off your control of him when he destroyed the object and-”
“No!” his loud, stern voice echoed throughout the room, silencing the woman. When he spoke again, however, it was much more controlled. “There is still time to fix this,” he reasoned, habitually straightening his cravat and momentarily revealing a glimpse of the brooch behind it. “I am narrowing down his location more everyday, and when he appears, I will send akumas to subdue him and bring him to me. We will deal with his... situation when he’s safely at home.”
Nathalie nodded and, without a word, left the room.
Gabriel sat at his desk for long moments, unable to truly see anything in front of him, before moving back to the painting and inserting his fingers into a series of hidden buttons. The floor immediately opened in an outward spiral, revealing a platform underneath. Gabriel stepped onto its surface and disappeared as it descended, the floor closing over it once again.
Across the city, Ladybug was landing on her roof with a pronounced thud of vexation. She had never met anyone as single-minded as Gabriel Agreste, and, professional idolization aside, considered him one of the most incompetent parents of all time. The way he managed to simultaneously hold Adrien too close and keep him at arm’s length was both impressive and appalling. At her wit’s end, Ladybug shook her head and dropped her transformation.
Once back in her room, she plopped angrily into her desk chair and rolled with more force than necessary toward her computer. There had to be some news about Chat Noir that she hadn’t read yet, and she was determined to find it. Any clue would be helpful in healing her partner and bringing him home where he belonged.
She wasn’t engaged in her task for more than half an hour when the akuma alert sounded on her phone. It was less than convenient, especially considering she was working without her partner, and from what Master Fu had told her, her powers were out of balance. Marinette and Tikki shared a concerned look.
“Are you ready for this, Marinette?”
The girl set her jaw and slung her purse over her shoulder.
“We don’t really have a choice. Tikki, spots on.”
Marinette disappeared in a flash of pink, and Ladybug emerged out onto the roof, then swung away in the blink of an eye.
The akuma wasn’t anything extraordinary, but the fight was unusual nonetheless.
Ladybug was well in her comfort zone battling the villain. It called itself Huntress, and had the power to track down any target it wished. It was not giant by any means, but significantly taller than an average human, with long, flowing hair pulled back at the ears, and eyes that burned red when it caught the scent of its prey. There was what appeared to be a whip in one hand, though the other was empty.
She wasn’t entirely sure why this person had been akumatized, or where the infected object was yet, but she was quickly narrowing down the possibilities when something peculiar happened.
As the fight continued, she began to realize that the akuma wasn’t actively targeting her. If anything, she was pursuing the akuma, and the akuma was only fighting back in an effort to keep her at bay. Frustrated and confused, she cast out her yo-yo in an attempt to wrangle the villain, only for it to turn around, catch her string on its arm, and pull on it hard. She was caught off guard and lurched forward. From her spot on the floor, she could see a necklace around its neck- something small and difficult to see from far away- and knew she found her item.
“Stop pestering me, you little flea,” it sneered. “Your time will come, but I have other tasks to complete first.”
Then, with a jerk of the arm, the line went slack for a second before Ladybug flicked her wrist and retracted it.
The akuma already had its back to her, and was walking off in the opposite direction. Curious, she followed behind more discreetly, remaining on the ground and hiding behind various objects.
“Heeere, kitty, kitty,” it called out in a taunting voice. “Come out, come out, wherever you are.”
Ladybug frowned, but kept following and out of sight. What did the akuma want with just Chat Noir- and an akuma Chat Noir? Perhaps Hawkmoth was looking to turn the villainized hero against his former partner?
The akuma kept on talking.
“Someone’s been very naughty. It’s time to come home to daddy~”
Then she heard a hiss, and a flash of white appeared out of nowhere.
It tackled the akuma, snarling and biting at the poor victim, and wrestled it to the ground.
“Stay away from my lady,” Chat growled in an almost animal voice, “If you touch one hair on her head, I’ll destroy you until there’s nothing left to find. Leave me alone! Calamity!”
Terrified of what he was about to do, she burst out from behind a car, shouting, “Chat, no!”
Stunned, the white feline turned to face her, eyes practically glowing a radioactive green even from a distance. There was white bubbling in his right hand, which was upraised and poised to slash the akuma pinned below him. He looked back down at the akuma’s face, growled one last time, and yanked at the necklace. The victim screamed in anguish as the necklace dissolved like molten lava, releasing a particularly weak-looking purple butterfly. It dropped as it struggled to fly away, and Ladybug was almost too stunned by the sight to move. The person below Chat Noir morphed back into her normal form, but the transformation was much slower than it should have been, and the woman left behind appeared more than disoriented- she seemed as though she was on the brink of passing out.
As Ladybug watched the scene, she came back to her senses, then lifted up her yo-yo to catch and cleanse the butterfly.
But just before she was able to cast it out, she was surprised to see Chat Noir lunge for it, catching it in his grasp, crushing it tight in his fist, and then stuffing it in his mouth. She looked on in horror as he chewed the insect and swallowed, leveling her with a glare before commanding, “Don’t follow me,” and taking off at a remarkable speed.
She couldn’t have been more than two seconds behind him, but when she turned the first corner she saw him disappear behind, there was nothing to be found- only a dead end.
Ladybug stood there for a moment, completely at a loss. She had never seen an akuma eaten before, never not been able to reverse the damage.
The hand holding her yo-yo lifted it up for view as she considered her next move. There wasn’t really any major damage anywhere. The most the akuma had done was search the city for Chat Noir. It didn’t even try to destroy anything, not really. Did she need to cast the miraculous cure?
Deciding it was best to be safe than sorry, she tossed the yo-yo in the air and uttered an unenthusiastic, “Lucky Charm.”
But nothing fell into her hands.
She tried again, a bit louder this time.
“Lucky Charm!”
But nothing happened.
Her Lucky Charm didn’t work?
What was she supposed to do now?
Ladybug walked slowly out of the alley, a trembling mess, and discovered the akuma victim was still lying on the ground, now unconscious. She hurried over to the woman’s side, checking her pulse and breathing to see if she was ok before lifting up the woman in her arms and casting out her yo-yo. She could have called for an ambulance, but it would have taken longer.
When the spotted hero landed in front of the Hôtel-Dieu de Paris, apparently exhausted with an unconscious woman in her arms, there was a moment of panic. Nurses rushed over to take the woman from her, a few others tried to convince her to let them examine her as well, but she refused.
Within an hour, the victim- a Marie Dubois- was resting in a hospital bed and connected to a series of monitors, an IV in one arm. Ladybug watched her from the hallway, doing her best to ignore the whispers of everyone around her. A nearby television seemed to be airing the latest news: in a shocking and disheartening event, Ladybug failed to purify an akuma for the first time since Stoneheart.
But she wasn’t ready to think about that yet, not when this woman’s well-being had been compromised. She knew deep down it wasn’t her fault, but then again, who else’s could it be? Certainly not the woman’s, and certainly not Chat Noir’s, who were both just victims. Her mind settled on the true culprit, and she clenched a fist.
Hawkmoth.
Just then someone sidled up beside her, and she found herself brought out of her introspective trance. The doctor attending to Marie Dubois held out a hand, which she shook, and introduced himself.
“Ladybug, I’m Dr. Moreau. Pleasure to meet you.”
She nodded but said nothing.
“Can we talk somewhere more private?”
The heroine nodded again, then followed as the man turned and led her to an empty exam room, closing the door behind them.
“Ms. Dubois seems to be in a coma, but how long it lasts or what exactly has caused it, we do not know. Is there anything you can tell us about what happened that will help us to treat her?”
It was a terrifying moment. The weight of her failure felt as though it would crush her. Her chest felt tight, and her vision swam, and it took several moments of deep, controlled breathing before she could respond.
“She fought with Chat Noir.”
The doctor said nothing, only raised his eyebrows.
“He’s an akuma right now, I’m sure you’ve heard. He fought with her, but he didn’t do anything that should have led to this.”
She shrugged helplessly, unsure what else to say.
The man in front of her nodded, eyeing her carefully.
“She doesn’t appear to have any other physical injuries other than bruising, not even a blow to the head. It doesn’t make any sense.”
Ladybug stood, staring silently at the ground.
“Is there... any reason why your usual cure didn’t work?”
Her head flew up, eyes wide with alarm as he watched her.
“I can’t tell you that,” she finally said. It was dangerous to disclose anything about the miraculous magic, even about Chat Noir’s akumatized power, not that he would understand, anyway, so she kept it to herself.
He didn’t seem convinced, but he nodded anyway, then grabbed the handle to the door and pulled.
“Thank you for your time, Ladybug.”
Once again, the spotted hero nodded, then took her leave.
It was hours later, after the sun had gone down, that she sat atop the Eiffel tower, looking out over the city. After she returned home from the hospital, she found her parents sitting on the couch, watching the news about Ladybug and the latest akuma. Her appearance in the hospital sent off reports of its own, too, and it didn’t take long for people to piece together than the woman who was admitted was the akuma victim. Begging off of dinner, she stayed locked in her room until the sun went down and her parents went to sleep, then transformed again and swung aimlessly about the city. Before she was even aware she was heading there, the Eiffel tower was looming overhead.
Thoughts whirled through her mind, chasing each other in circles as she tried to figure out what had happened, what had gone wrong. She knew it had to be related to what Master Fu said about the imbalance of their powers from Chat Noir’s akumatization, but what she couldn’t understand was why he had eaten the akuma, and what kind of effect that would have on him. Even more important: how was she supposed to get it out of him to purify it? And what was the object that was originally infected?
So deep in her thoughts was she, that she didn’t even notice a dark figure approaching until there was a thud of boots behind her. Half expecting to find her partner, completely fine and back to his old self, she turned around. But the hopeful look on her face quickly fell when she saw who was joining her.
There was no mistaking the purple suit and silver mask.
“Hawkmoth.”
Her arch nemesis simply stood there, staring at her stoically and sending unnerving tingles down her spine.
“What are you doing here?” she asked warily, taking a step back and unconsciously reaching for the yo-yo on her hip.
He was silent for a moment, seeming to size her up.
“I come to propose... a temporary truce. An armistice, if you will.”
She stood there, shocked and gaping.
“I don’t understand. Why?” Her hand gripped the yo-yo tightly. This had to be some sort of trick.
But, contrary to what she was expecting, the villain sighed, moving as though to take a seat on the far side of the girder she was perched on, comfortably out of reach.
“You and I have a... common goal right now. You want to see Chat Noir purified, and so do I.”
What?
“You do?” Ladybug couldn’t help that her voice squeaked when she asked that question. That didn’t make any sense. “Why would you want that?”
Hawkmoth’s eyes flashed with irritation before he looked off into the distance.
“Chat Noir... is not currently under my control. I have no influence over him, and frankly, he is getting in my way. I want my akuma back.”
Ladybug considered these words, evaluating them for sincerity.
“And... how did he do that?”
The masked man leveled her with a glare.
“He broke the object holding the akuma and ate it. Now he has all of the ability and negative emotion and none of the control. He’s a menace.”
Something twisted painfully in Ladybug’s chest. He really did that? If she had not seen what he did earlier that day, she never would have believed it. Why would he do that?
“But... I can’t find him. He’s nowhere. Why did he get akumatized, can you tell me that? Maybe that will help us find him.”
Hawkmoth gave her another cold look.
“This is not something you need to know. Trust me when I say it will not lead you to him.”
Ladybug clenched her fists, taking a bold step forward.
“Then what do you propose we do? You’re the villain here. Hiding must be something you’re very good at.”
His eyes narrowed behind the mask, but she didn’t back down.
“You’re quite bold for someone so little, Ladybug.”
“And you’re quite ignorant for someone so arrogant, Hawkmoth.”
The two stared at each other, anger burning in both their gazes.
“You proposed this ‘truce,’” Ladybug argued, crossing her arms. “What are you expecting from me?”
It was quiet for a few seconds as he seemed to consider that question.
“I want you to let my akumas be-”
“What?!”
“-and in exchange,” he went on, ignoring her interruption, “I will guarantee there is no destruction to the city, as well as no play for your earrings. Though I am quite tempted to take them now, I am a man of patience, and without your help, I don’t believe I can purify Chat Noir and get his ring. Of course, once the goal is accomplished, all bets are off, and I will be back to pursuing you relentlessly. Do we have a deal, Ladybug?”
The man came to a standing position, dusting off his clothes as though it would make him more dignified. Ladybug narrowed her eyes and walked closer, studying him intently.
“And what makes you think I won’t just take your brooch right now?”
Hawkmoth sneered at her.
“Because not only do you need me to draw Chat Noir into the open, but quite frankly, my dear, I’d like to see you try.”
Then he took a couple of steps back.
“Think about it.”
And with that, he stretched out his arms and dove over the side.
In a panic, Ladybug looked down to see which way he fell, only to catch a glimpse of something dark blue and winged swooped underneath the falling man’s form. Wings spread wide, then wrapped around him, and in a spiral, they glided out of view. Mayura.
Ladybug shook her head and cast out her yo-yo, almost unwilling to believe what she had just experienced.
The following day was thankfully less eventful. There were no akuma attacks, and she didn’t suit up to go out searching for Chat Noir. She needed time to think.
Hawkmoth’s proposal, at first reaction, was completely repulsive. Work with her enemy, the one responsible for this whole entire mess? Just thinking about her beloved partner made her heart ache. She had no idea what he had been through to become akumatized in the first place, much less what he had been through since it began.
Question after question raced through her mind, barely stopping long enough to be heard, but the same one kept reappearing over and over again. If Chat was self-aware enough to break his own akumatized object, then why would he choose to eat the akuma, instead of calling his partner and letting her cleanse it? Until he was in his right mind, there was no way she was ever going to get an answer to that question. Hawkmoth surely knew what made him so upset that he became vulnerable, and he wasn’t sharing. There wasn’t a doubt in her mind that, whatever that reason was, it would negatively affect the villain if she knew. Why else would he care enough to keep it a secret?
As the sky became darker, she wondered when Hawkmoth would appear in front of her again, and what would she say to him? The longer she thought about it, the more she hated the idea of being on any sort of same side with him, but the more she realized that it was a necessary evil. She would probably never find Chat Noir on her own, or it would take so long, that their powers would be dangerously altered. She already experienced a failed lucky charm. What was next? Would that happen every time? What if she couldn’t transform?
Darkness descended, and the lights of the city began to shine brighter. Finally resolved, she suited up and made her way about the streets, swinging from one to the next, wondering if she might catch Hawkmoth lurking about anywhere. Of course, he was nowhere to be found, so at long last she returned to the same spot she had been sitting the night before, and waited.
In less than an hour, there was the familiar thud of someone landing behind her. She wasn’t surprised this time, though, to turn and find the man she had spent half the day imagining stringing up and hanging upside down from the very same spot.
“Good evening, Ladybug,” he greeted.
“Cut the crap,” she spat, then took a step closer, and he eyed her suspiciously. “Let’s just get this over with. I don’t want to spend anymore time in your presence than I have to.”
The villain smirked contemptuously and held out a hand.
“So we have a deal?”
Ladybug’s lip curled at the sight.
“We have a deal, but I’m not shaking your hand. We are not on the same side, even if we have to work together.”
He pulled back his hand, but didn’t seem perturbed.
“Glad to know the feeling is mutual.”
It was difficult, but she resisted the urge to roll her eyes.
“Consider that the only thing we will ever agree on. Now, this plan that you have about akumas- I don’t like it. It puts the public too much at risk.”
This time, it was the older man who rolled his eyes.
“I have already told you there will be no targeting of civilians.”
“I don’t care,” she retorted bluntly. “I don’t trust you. And you can bet I know that as soon as Chat Noir is free, you’re going to try to use a moment of weakness against me to try to get my earrings.”
It was almost sickening watching Hawkmoth smile.
“You’re brighter than I give you credit for.”
Ladybug clenched her jaw, muscles in her cheeks ticking with the movement.
“I want you to create champions for me instead. Like the miraculous you’re wearing was intended to do.”
In response, he looked down at her from his height, contempt clear in his eyes. Ladybug kept talking.
“And when it’s all over, you will hand that miraculous over to me.”
As though amused, he chuckled lowly.
“I can promise you that will never happen. You do things your way, Ladybug, and I’ll do them mine.” Hawkmoth raised his cane and bowed at the waist. “Pleasure, my dear,” he said, then straightened and jumped off the side.
“Wait!” she called, but was too late. He had already been swept away by his ally.
Ladybug sighed in exhaustion and exasperation. Tomorrow. Tomorrow, she would keep looking for Chat Noir. If only she could get in to talk to Adrien....
If Gabriel was unwilling to let her see him, perhaps it was time to consider finding other ways to get into Agreste manor.