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“Ladybug,” Viperion says. “I can’t do this anymore. I can’t do this endless fight, these constant wars.”
“What are you going to do?” she asks.
“I’m leaving,” he says.
“Then…give me back your Miraculous, if you’re not going to be at my side anymore.” Her voice is trembling, but she doesn’t know what else to do. She can’t give Viperion what he wants, she can’t let the two of them get any closer.
And he’s proving her right, in a way — he’s leaving, just like Ryuuko. But when she left, she took some of the Miraculous with her, and then there were three teams fighting each other.
Ladybug, Guardian of the Miracle Box. Hawk Moth, public enemy number one. And Ryuuko, her ex.
And now Viperion was leaving her, too.
“No,” he says. “I’ve been thinking about what Ryuuko said during the last attack.”
“Are you joining her?”
Am I going to have to deal with two of my exes working together? And just what did Ryuuko say to him?
“I think I’m going to strike out on my own.” He smiles. “I grabbed a few Miraculous for some friends I trust. We’ll be forming our own team. You go on about partnership, but trust is a two-way street, and you never talk about Ryuuko, or whatever is going on with Chat Noir.”
“I guess this is goodbye, then,” she says, a hand on her yo-yo.
“It is,” Viperion says.
Ladybug almost reaches out with her yo-yo to catch him when he leaps away from her, but she doesn’t have the strength to catch him.
“So I take it you listened,” Ryuuko says to him. “And that Ladybug hasn’t changed with regards to how she treats her partners.” Her sword is on her back. She is not here for a fight, but he is still wary — he’s given the Miraculous to his bandmates (Tiger for his sister who needs to come out of her shell, Pig for Rose who has just as much emotional awareness and sensitivity as him but is more upbeat about it, and Ox for Ivan), but he told them not to come onto the field at the next attack.
It seems that Ryuuko hasn’t brought her teammates, either. But Ladybug’s partner today is Rena Rouge — huh, Rena was her first partner, before Ryuuko. It has been a very long time since Rena was last on the field. There’s probably some reason behind it, even if it’s Ladybug’s twisted logic.
“I did,” he responds, “and she did.” The lyre stays at his waist. No weapons. This seems to be a peaceful parley. “She didn’t fight back. She compared me to you.”
Ryuuko draws a sharp breath in. “I know we have fought each other for a long time.”
“I told her that I was not leaving to join you,” he responds. “I know what you would like from me. You’d like Ladybug to give you everything that you gave her. I don’t know everything that happened between you two, but…I know what was public.” That the two of them were together. That there was a fight. “You and I aren’t…really the same. I get the feeling that she was using me as a rebound. Then again, we never put anything in words. Our relationship wasn’t serious in the least.”
“I am sorry you had to deal with her insincerity,” Ryuuko says. “You will always have a place on my team, Viperion.”
“And you as well,” he responds. They’ve come to an understanding, for once. It feels good to talk to someone who really gets it. Who knows Ladybug as intimately as he has, and came out the other side against her.
Kagami dreams about Ladybug sometimes, even though it’s been almost a year since she broke up with her.
Most of the time, the dreams are when she relives the breakup, but…some of the dreams are reminiscing of better times, at the peak of their relationship.
The setting is familiar.
“I need you to trust me,” Kagami whispers, brushing Ladybug’s hair out of her face. “What’s your name?”
“Ask me any other question, Kagami,” Ladybug whispers in return. Her expression is pleading, but Kagami knows it’s just a facade. “That’s the one thing I can’t tell you.”
“Then why? Why don’t you trust me enough?” Kagami asks.
“There’s someone in charge of me, and…if I ever let anyone else know my identity, he takes this away from me. It’s too late now for me to give this up to someone else. You…know, right?”
“...that isn’t the only question I have,” Kagami says, and all she’s doing is watching a memory, she can’t do anything, she’s made her choice, she left.
She can’t bring herself to regret it most of the time, but her dreams allow her to bask in all the things she regrets doing.
“What else?” Ladybug says, looking up.
“What exactly do you think of Chat Noir?”
It isn’t in her nature to be jealous — not anymore. She probably would’ve been fine if Chat Noir wasn’t their worst enemy, and yet Ladybug spent time during each fight begging him to join her as if he would ever come.
“I know him,” Ladybug says. “I do not think he would have joined Hawk Moth unless there was something else going on behind the scenes, and I can’t figure out what that something else is. I still don’t know.”
“Ladybug,” Kagami says, “you have spent so long finding out. There comes a time where everyone just give up.”
“Aren’t you the one advocating that we must not give up?” Ladybug says.
“This is me saying goodbye,” Kagami says. “This is me…giving up.”
Ladybug pushes her away. This is where the physical fighting begins. Kagami closes her eyes — she can’t watch this fight again. Maybe sleep will take her somewhere else, away from this memory she can’t let go of.
Adrien doesn’t know what else he can do. Who is he if he is not Chat Noir? Who is he if not his father’s son?
Ladybug offers him a different path, every time. He wants to take her hand, he wants to accept the offer. But…what happens if he follows that path?
How can he make an enemy of his father?
Plagg wants him to leave. Adrien wants to leave more often than he doesn’t. But he doesn’t know what he can do, because Father will find some way or another to keep him in line. He would rather have his free will preserved than anything else.
But…he could help Ladybug. If she’s still interested in talking to him.
Viperion isn’t with Ryuuko or Chat Noir when she gets to the field, so it’s fine. He has someone using the Tiger Miraculous at his side — probably Juleka, she’s the only one close to him that she would’ve considered the Tiger Miraculous for. Ryuuko’s solo, but she usually is, and Chat Noir’s with Mayura today. Interesting. It’s typically an akumatized villain, but…there’s something going on.
With Ryuuko, she’s been able to take solace in the fact that Ryuuko would defeat Hawk Moth as well given the chance.
She’s not sure Viperion would, but she hopes so.
Rena taps her shoulder. “You good, Ladybug?”
She takes a deep breath. “I’m fine.” She has to do this.
It’d be easy to get Ryuuko back if she just…told her her name. But the only one who knows she is Ladybug is Su-Han, and his threats wave over her head — that she is replaceable, that she is just a pawn on the chessboard, even if she possesses more power than the rest. Sacrificial, just as much as every other holder. She might be the queen, but sometimes queens have to be sacrificed for the greater good.
The king must not fall, and the king is the Miracle Box. Considering its fracture, she’s not sure, but…she will continue to make advances on Hawk moth until it is checkmate and not a moment before.
Which means that she cannot give her name to someone else, even if it is someone she loves. That is the cardinal truth — that she still loves those who have left her, those who have betrayed her.
“What happened with Viperion?” Rena asks.
“I don’t know,” she answers. “Ryuuko said…something to him during a fight. I don’t know what she said, but…he left like she did. Without the fighting.”
“I don’t plan on leaving anytime soon,” Rena says.
“We’ve also never been in a relationship,” she responds.
“What an absolutely devastating shame that two hot women like us would never find each other,” Rena says, sarcastic.
“Sorry, you’re not my type,” she answers with a smile. “And I know I’m not yours, either, because you have super specific criteria for women. Enough talking. Let’s get into it.”
The fact that there’s no akuma means that this fight won’t end easily.
“Ladybug,” he says, once the two of them have gotten far enough away from the fighting to be alone. He drops his guard. She almost decks him before realizing what’s going on. “I…”
“Are you ready?” she asks, offering a hand to him.
“I can’t leave,” he answers. “It’s…not as easy as you seem to think. But I can give you something, and you can help me.”
“Just what do you seek to give?” she asks. She seems wary, and he’s not entirely sure why.
“My name is Adrien Agreste, and Hawk Moth is my father.”
She gasps, but then reverts back to her typical state of mind — Adrien recognizes the way she acts as something quintessential to her, some mindset that she always manages to dig into during the fights.
“Will you be with me, kitty?” she asks. “When I take the fight to him.”
“I will try,” he answers. “But defying my father directly is different from blowing the whistle. I want to. I want to be at your side, but I’m afraid of what he might do to me if I try.”
She sucks a breath in. “He needs to see that he no longer has control of you. That will be the key.” He can tell Ladybug is already forming a plan. “I’m going to need a little guidance, though. Lucky Charm!” A rectangle falls into her waiting hands — oh, it’s a portable chessboard. She opens it up. “A chessboard? I can’t believe my kwami read my mind.”
“What does it mean?” he asks.
“It means I’m going to have to be very careful about this,” she says. She opens up her yo-yo, but pauses before reaching inside. A piece gripped in her hand clatters to the ground. A crimson snake is wrapped around a red rook. “And I’ll have to choose my allies wisely.”
What is she talking about?
He picks up the piece that fell.
Did Viperion leave Ladybug? Rena was with Ladybug earlier, like she was just after Ryuuko and Ladybug’s breakup. That’s indicative of something else happening.
He takes a closer look at the details.
He wonders if all the pieces are like this, oddly representative of the situation they’re in.
“Viperion.” Ladybug’s voice is soft, but it’s not enough.
“You don’t get to come crawling back to me when you need something,” he says.
“You’re the one that left,” she says. She’s carrying something in her hands.
“Is that your latest charm?” he asks. “Did it ask you to come here?”
“Not just to you,” she says. “Chat Noir’s blown the whistle on Hawk Moth’s identity.”
“Convenient. How do I know you’re telling the truth?”
“Chat Noir is Hawk Moth’s son,” Ladybug tells him. “I wish I weren’t making it up. I can call Chat Noir right now — he’s probably fighting Ryuuko and Rena right now with Mayura. But I’m going to need everyone if we want to take the fight to Hawk Moth. I’m not going to dangle the carrot of my identity in front of you. I will not be able to guarantee that, once this is over, I will be allowed to tell you my identity.”
“I gathered that much,” he responds, finally gathering the words. “What am I getting out of this?”
“Hawk Moth will be gone,” she says. “Isn’t that good enough? Isn’t that what we wanted?”
He lowers his head. “Stop trying to guilt-trip me, Ladybug. I don’t know what you want from me.”
“What I want is simple,” she says, “and you may go your own way after. I trust you that much.” She takes a deep breath. “Join me in reclaiming Hawk Moth’s Miraculous. He cannot be allowed to continue terrorizing this city now that I know his identity. We will take the fight to him.” She stretches a hand out to him. “You in, or out?”
He looks down at her hand. “You’re sure this isn’t a trap?”
“I have always held faith that Chat Noir is not like those he works with, and what Chat Noir told me today would prove that,” she says. “After all this hope I’ve pinned on him, I can’t afford to lose it now.”
He shakes her hand. “I’m in. I will inform Ryuuko of this development. She’s more likely to agree to the plan if it’s me who proposes it.”
Ladybug looks away. “Tell her that I’m sorry. And that I cannot promise her my name, but if I were capable of it I would in a heartbeat.”
“I will.” He salutes and runs. He doesn’t know when he’ll be able to talk to her, but he’ll try and find her after the fight. Ladybug zooms back to the field on her yo-yo.
Sometimes he’s envious of the fact that she can transport herself with ease.
“I’m only in because I want Hawk Moth gone,” Kagami says. “Do not misunderstand my intentions.”
“Perfect,” Ladybug says. “Let’s move, team.” She’s got a pocketwatch tucked on her belt — which Miraculous is that? Kagami struggles to remember. Viperion is at her side with Purple Tigress. Kagami brought Vesperia with her, and Ladybug has Rena and Carapace working with her.
It’s a solid team. With Chat Noir, they’ll be practically unstoppable.
“What’s that watch?” Vesperia asks.
“Consider it my last resort,” Ladybug answers. “It’s the Rabbit Miraculous.”
Ah. Kagami understands now — if this goes wrong, Ladybug fully intends to time travel back and redo this night.
As they walk, Kagami recognizes this place — why are they approaching Gabriel Agreste’s mansion? Is Gabriel Agreste Hawk Moth?
“This is it,” Ladybug says. “Let’s review the plan one more time.” She unfolds the portable chessboard she’s been carrying. From the look of the chessboard, it came from Ladybug’s Lucky Charm.
She sets out the pieces on the board. There are three black pieces — a king, a queen, a knight. The knight is depicted in the image of a cat instead of a horse, and the queen is engraved with feathers. Instead of a cross atop the king, it’s a butterfly’s wings.
This is an incredibly customized chess set.
“The three of them will all be together in the same household,” Ladybug says. She sets out red pieces in a clump on the board — a ladybug spotted queen and a knight with dragon horns stand out the most to Kagami. “Ryuuko, Purple Tigress, and Vesperia will take point on the break-in. Rena Rouge will use her Mirage to disguise their entrance. Ryuuko will go in through the vents using Wind Dragon, and then open a window for Purple Tigress and Vesperia. The three of them will engage first. Do not engage in combat unless they are transformed. Adrien will let us go without question, but Gabriel and Nathalie will be harder to convince. If you encounter them, tell them that you are merely investigating a lead. They should be the ones that engage first in aggression. When a fight starts, Vesperia will contact us. Then, Carapace and I will enter. Rena and Viperion will stay behind in case we need someone. Viperion will begin his Second Chance at this point. We’ll be keeping in touch throughout.”
“Got it,” the team says.
“Leave interacting with Chat Noir to me,” Ladybug commands. “I need to coax him out of his shell. Our goal is to make sure he ends the night on our side. I couldn’t care less about the fates of Mayura and Hawk Moth, but Chat Noir blew the whistle on all of their identities, so I owe it to him to make sure he is not arrested tonight.”
Everyone looks between each other.
“Swear it to me, or this does not go ahead,” Ladybug says.
Various vows echo in the air.
Kagami has a bad feeling about this.
After all, the last time she promised something to Ladybug, it didn’t go well.
“Ladybug,” Adrien breathes. “Thank goodness you’re here. Father and Nathalie are with those you sent—”
“I know,” she says. “I wanted to talk to you. One-on-one. Our actions here tonight are designed to make certain that the only people that come to harm are your father and Nathalie. I hold the firm belief that you are a victim, and everything you’ve done for me has been incredibly brave.”
“You’re the first person who’s ever said anything nice to me,” Adrien says. “Of course I’ll come. And I’ll try my best to stay.”
“I’ll be right by your side,” she says. “So…come on. Let’s go.”
“I don’t want to face him right now,” he says. “I can’t do it.”
“It’s okay,” she says. “I had a couple operatives stay behind in case we needed it.”
The sound of something either glass or porcelain shattering causes them both to flinch.
Adrien opens the window.
Ladybug smiles. “Hang on.” She swings out the window, arcing towards a rooftop. Viperion and Rena Rouge are both standing there, glaring at each other with one hand in their ears, probably monitoring earpieces. “Rena, Viperion, keep an eye on him. I’m going back in.”
“I’m really sorry,” Adrien says. “For everything I did as Chat Noir. Ladybug thinks I’m a victim, but I’ve always been in control. And I’m an adult. I should’ve been able to leave.”
“I still live with my parents,” Rena says. “So does my older sister.”
Viperion isn’t so sure about Adrien’s lack of agency, but…he should trust Ladybug. Then again, all of his trust in her is well past shattered. So…should he really?
He tunes back into the fight over earpiece. Rena and Adrien are chattering in the background, but that doesn’t matter.
…Oh no, Ryuuko is on the verge of getting akumatized. If she falls, Viperion will call for the chance. But hopefully, it won’t happen.
“Ryuuko,” Vesperia says. “You have to throw it off.”
“Why should you listen to your friends?” Hawk Moth says. Kagami grips her head. She does not want to be akumatized. She does not want this, she can’t do this, she cannot be akumatized.
She lets go of her sword, and rips off her choker.
“And what if the object no longer exists?” she spits. “I trust them enough to know you are even less trustworthy.”
“Kagami,” Ladybug breathes. She only just manages to pick up on it.
“Venom,” Vesperia declares, stinging Hawk Moth in his distraction. She picks off the Butterfly Miraculous, and tosses it to Ladybug.
“Checkmate,” Ladybug says with a smile as she catches it. Kagami notices that the smile doesn’t quite reach Ladybug’s eyes. She places it in her yo-yo. “Let’s go, team.”
Ladybug’s kept her word.
She has a decision to make.
She pulls Viperion and Kagami aside afterwards — Kagami, still not transformed anymore. It feels strange to see her without the mask now.
“My name is Marinette,” she says. “It’s not much, but it’s a start.” She holds the chessboard. “Miraculous Ladybug.”
Things will never be the same.