Chapter Text
Gabriel looked out of his window, lost in thought, thinking of his wife who lay in a glass coffin. He’s tried and failed so many times that he was losing hope in bringing her back. That’s when he noticed a man setting up a cart in front of his gate. From what he could tell, he looked to be the same guy he met years ago and now he’s a Wiccan selling his goods. He knew him, once in his younger days, he told him of a spell to cast for healing and protection. He got neither. What he got was his wife falling ill to a broken Miraculous. He would take his hatred out on this guy by turning him into one of his villains to fight Ladybug and Cat Noir. Gabriel smirked and then walked out of his house to confront the guy. Mario took one look at Gabriel and recognized him.
“Gabriel! It’s been a while, how’s the wife?” Mario said with a smile.
Gabriel yelled…“You killed my wife with your fake spells and stuff! You should be jailed for tricking people into buying this crap!”
Then Gabriel proceeded to upturn Mario’s entire cart, everything falling to the ground and breaking. Herbs, every precious thing and incense spoiled from the dirty wet ground they lay on.
“Ahhh!! What did you doooo?!!” Mario cried. “I didn’t trick you! My spells and herb powers are real! I didn’t kill your wife, Wicca is about healing, protection, fertility, or to banish negative influences!”
“You’re nothing but a liar! If you don’t leave now, I’ll have you arrested!”
Gabriel spat as he returned to the mansion. Mario was seething with rage and on the verge of tears. He was looking at his precious collection that took him years to gather and now it was ruined. A black butterfly flapped his wings and landed on Mario’s crystal that hung on a rope around his neck, turning the clear crystal black.
“Witchiccan, aren’t you tired of being seen as a fake? I can give you the power to use your spells and (cough) magic herbs to turn everyone into a believer. All I ask in return is Ladybug and Cat Noir’s Miraculous.”
“That’s fine with me, hawkmoth! Now everyone who ever doubts my power will tremble at my feet!”
Ladybug and Cat were sitting on a roof enjoying the weather when they heard screams.
“Looks like Hawk Moth found another victim, Milady.” Cat said as they looked at the Akumatized villain with interest. He looked like a cross between a warlock and scientist, dressed in a long purple hooded robe with various vials attached to a chain around his waist.
"Hey, did you screw up an experiment? There's no need to take it out on everyone." Cat Noir asked.
Witchiccan erupted in a rage and yelled. "My name is Witchiccan! I'm a very powerful Wiccan and you will respect me!" Witchiccan said as he mixed some things in a vial. As he the mixture blended together, the space around the vial seemed to warp like the waves of the ocean.
“Cat, I think we better be careful with this one, whatever he has in those vials can't be simple.” Ladybug said as she observed the villain putting together different formulas and attacking people with them.
Some people responded a little negatively and others responded in a way that Ladybug and Cat Noir didn’t understand. Paranoid, crying, scared, violent, dazed, and tranced.
Cat Noir went in full force with his baton, smashing the vials that were thrown at him. At the same time, Ladybug called on her lucky charm. Looking around to get clues on how to use her lucky charm scissors, she failed to pinpoint how to use them because the power from Witchiccan's magic was clashing with the magic power of the miraculous. Both Tikki and Plagg felt the effects after Cat Noir used his baton to block and smash vials that were thrown at them. What they didn't realize was that Witcher did it on purpose. His most powerful love and aphrodisiac exploded like an invisible gas. The dual only witnessed the broken vial, but not the gas.
“What is that smell?”
Cat Noir asked as he looked at Ladybug with dilated pupils. It was like he was on catnip and she looked at him like he was a delicious piece of king's day pie.
Satisfied with what he'd done to the superheroes, Witchiccan ran off. Uncomfortable with feeling the pressure that came from the Miraculous against his own magic.
Hawk Moth, obviously displeased that his villain stopped fighting and left without taking the Miraculous, he scolded.
“Where are you going! Ladybug and Cat Noir's Miraculous is at your reach, I want them or I will remove your powers!”
“Take them! The power of the Miraculous is causing issues with mine! I value my existence!” Witchiccan yelled then rejected the Akuma. The black butterfly was expelled and flew away, which infuriated Hawkmoth.
On the other part of town, Ladybug and Cat Noir continued to stare at each other before stepping closer and closer toward each other. They circled each other five times and then Ladybug looked past the cat into the distance and threw her Yo-yo. Cat Noir followed and then they disappeared into an abandoned building. As before, they circled each other. From the outside looking in, one might think they were squaring up for a fight. This was no fight though, this was the dance of the yin and yang. The pull should have been normal, as it was every other time they suited up. This time however, external magic affected the balance, causing the Kwami's to overcompensate. To put it simply, the Kwami's were high off the foreign magic and desperately wanted each other. Using Marinette and Adrien's bodies, the Kwami's came together in a heated entanglement. When it was over, Marinette and Adrien woke up in their own beds, not knowing how they got there or why they couldn't remember anything. Yet both feeling a blissful uneasiness in their bodies. Both holders found their Kwami's asleep and hard to rouse, but they only contributed their sleepiness to exhaustion. Marinette still felt tired so she went back to sleep.
When Adrien turned on his computer, he was shocked to find the city in chaos and a video of Cat Noir and Ladybug circling each other on a roof before yo-yoing and vaulting off into the distance.
“What the heck happened?” Adrien said in a panic. “Plagg!” Adrien whisper-yelled, but the Kwami didn’t wake-up. He couldn’t even transform to call Ladybug.
Four hours later, Marinette was awakened from her sleep with a hard shake from Alya.
“Marinette! Wake up!!”
Marinette sat up with a start, ready to turn into Ladybug to battle the next villain.
“Tikki spots on!” Marinette yelled.
When nothing happened, she looked around and saw Alya holding Tikki in her hand; Tikki was fast asleep.
“Marinette, what’s going on with you? You didn’t fix the damage yesterday and you’re sleeping all day and Tikki won’t wake up!”
“What are you talking about? Isn’t it time for… wait, what time is it?” Marinette asked when she noticed it was getting dark.”
“It’s seven thirty, your mom called me and asked if you were out with me. Seriously, ever since you got your own apartment, I see less of you.”
Marinette took Tikki from Alya and replied, “I’m twenty three now, I can’t stay at home forever with my duties as Ladybug. Ladybug needs to be able to come and go without the fear of getting caught by her parents. Do you know how many lies I had to come up with when my parents showed up in my room during an Akuma and couldn’t find me?”
“I think you just moved out because Adrien lives in this building too.” Alya teased.
“No, I didn’t. Cat and I were talking and we both had concerns about our identities getting exposed. He told me he was moving out to find his own place and after careful consideration and talking to Tikki, we both thought about moving too. I only moved into this place because I could afford it. This building is so big, I’ve been here for two months and I haven’t even seen Adrien; he probably lives in the expensive apartments on the top floor.”
“Marinette, you moved into the smallest suite in this complex, this complex is owned by Gabriel, ask Adrien to let you move into a bigger apartment, this one is smaller than your room at the bakery.”
“I can’t do that! Adrien is a friend and that’s like taking advantage, it’s unfair to other people that need a bigger place to stay.” Marinette pouted.
“Is this about Cat Noir again? You know he’s in love with Ladybug.” Alya deadpanned.
“Of course… not, no… it’s, it’s…” Marinette fell back onto her pillow fast asleep. Tikki on her chest,
“Marinette!” Alya panicked and was about to call an ambulance.
Trixx came out of Alya’s pouch and looked at the guardian.
The Kwami's face paled and Alya quickly noticed.
“Trixx, what’s wrong with her?!”
“Well, she’s fine, but just to be certain, I think Wayzz can tell you better than I can.’’ Trixx moved back from Marinette, keeping a safe distance.
“You’re starting to scare me Trixx.” Alya scolded before going to the miracle box for Wayzz.
Alya opened the drawer to where the miracle box was hidden and saw all the Kwami's in the drawer looking lethargic. “What the heck is going on?” Alya questioned when she picked up Wayzz.
Wayzz looked at the guardian and then looked at Alya and tried his best to communicate. “Miss Alya, we have a problem.”