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No one knows exactly when it started.
Ladybug and Chat Noir defended the city, ending the threat and repairing all the damage, like they always did.
Somewhere along the way, the Akumas became darker, Hawk Moth crueler.
So the heroes became a bit more vicious in return. They hit harder, injuring the victim becoming less and less of a concern in the face of ending the threat as fast as possible.
But they still saved people, everyone saw that much.
Even the new allies they brought in performed at the top of their game.
So how the hell did it all go so wrong?
How did Ladybug and Chat Noir become the villains?
~~~
Chat Noir was risking his life more and more as Hawk Moth’s Akumas continued to appear across the city.
These days, almost every Akuma managed to kill Chat Noir before Ladybug could stop them.
It pissed her off immensely. She held less and less sympathy for the Akumas as Chat Noir’s deaths haunted her more and more.
One day, Ladybug and Chat Noir were fighting yet another Akuma when his time began to run short. Realizing this, the Akuma began pressing him, chasing him down as he tried to find a safe spot to refuel, to no avail.
Chat Noir detransformed and was replaced by Adrien Agreste.
Ladybug ended the fight as quickly as she could, but the damage was done.
The next day, Ephemeral and Hawk Moth were seen at the base of the Eiffel Tower calling for Ladybug.
Ladybug waited for Chat, only for Plagg to appear with a horrible tale.
With the help of a Lucky Charm, Adrien was saved from the Akuma, but couldn’t help but obey Hawk Moth’s commands, attacking Ladybug despite her pleas. The Lucky Charm was smashed somewhere along the way.
Mayura appears out of nowhere, grabbing Hawk Moth’s hands and declaring that Adrien is free. Somehow, that makes all the difference, and Adrien turns on Hawk Moth when he once was helpless to disobey him.
Ladybug is starting to think there’s a story there, but all other concerns fall away as Hawk Moth throws Mayura away, kicks Ladybug back onto the floor, and grabs Adrien tight, wrenching his arm out of socket.
Ladybug isn’t the only one who screams, but Adrien calls upon his transformation, breaks out of Hawk Moth’s grip, and stabs him through the back with his own cane.
No one notices the green crackling covering the cane when it punches through a suit that should be almost invulnerable, nor do they notice the soft pink glow on Ladybug’s hands as she rubs Chat’s shoulder, thinking, stop hurting, make it stop, make it better, over and over.
When the earrings beep their warning for the third time, the three of them notice that Hawk Moth has vanished and make their own retreat.
The Lucky Charm lies forgotten, and any damage wreaked is left unrepaired.
~~~
After that, Adrien more or less vanishes off the face of the Earth, only appearing as Chat Noir whenever there’s an Akuma attack.
His shoulder droops, a constant reminder of what Hawk Moth has done.
Despite that, it’s still comfortable and painless, like tearing your entire arm out of its socket wasn’t something debilitating.
When they consider the Akumas getting more and more dangerous, Ladybug and Chat Noir both agree that it makes sense for Rena Rogue and Carapace to have their Miraculous permanently.
They’re still iffy on Chloe, but if things keep going the way they’re going, they might not have a choice.
Mayura’s also in the wind, a fact they should be less relieved about.
But they learned a lot of heavy information, so they’re content to leave her to her own devices.
One Akuma attack, Rena takes a hit, a bad one.
Carapace seals himself in with the Akuma, and the two duke it out.
The Akuma doesn’t stop, even when his object is broken.
Another recent change, with several victims of Hawk Moth’s power opposing the heroes even after they’ve been saved.
Carapace breaks his jaw before Ladybug calls upon her Miraculous Ladybugs to set things right.
The news catches the whole thing, and it’s the start of a bandwagon.
With Ephemeral followed by Ladybug forgetting the Lucky Charm for the first time in her whole career, and now Carapace, many reporters are starting to question Team Miraculous.
Of course, Hawk Moth is quick to capitalize, finding new and different ways to pressure any member into slipping up.
Chrismaster keeps Ladybug and Chat Noir occupied while Grobotek hunts Rena Rogue like a deer.
Animan pummels Carapace for some imagined slight.
Weredad duels with Chat Noir while tossing everyone else like bowling pins.
They end up giving Chloe the Bee Miraculous after all.
~~~
Even with the permanent addition of Queen Bee, they’re beginning to struggle.
Eventually Rena suggests they start bringing in other heroes.
People like Viperon and Ryuko help a lot, but Ladybug and Chat Noir are still cautious.
Hawk Moth knows who they are.
And, as the regular re-Akumatizations of people like the Sapotis or Style Queen will prove, he’s not shy about using this information.
On his way back from a mission, one where he hadn’t needed to use Second Chance, Viperon is set upon by a group of thugs. He calls out for the rest of the team, but hears no reply.
The team are out searching for Viperon when Hawk Moth’s butterflies gather into the shape of his head, declaring that he has Viperon hostage and will trade his freedom for Ladybug and Chat Noir’s Miraculous.
He expects that is the trick he needs, that he will finally win after over a year of battle.
He does not expect a plan from Ladybug, nor does he expect Purple Tigress and Pigella.
But Ladybug, on some level, is still naive. She expects her plan to go perfectly, as if Murphy will not look upon them from above and make the cosmic decision for things to go awry.
Viperon realizes they’re closing in, having somehow avoided being stripped of his Miraculous (or perhaps Hawk Moth simply doesn’t care), and activates Second Chance.
When the news outlets cover this event later, they think that Viperon only let time roll forward when Tigress and Pigella and Viperon himself each had a person’s blood on their hands. The truth is, Viperon had rewound thousands (he lost count, so it’s certainly closer to millions) of times, searching for the exact opposite outcome.
One where everyone made it out alive.
His spirit was strong, but a spirit can only be so strong.
So he settles for the outcome where his family and friends, the people closest to his heart, are not hurt.
He is vilified by the media, but Viperon doesn’t really care.
He saved the people who matter to him, but no one outside of his team gets that.
And the balance begins to tip.
~~~
Kagami and Tomoe have a falling out.
Tomoe somehow knows Kagami is Ryuko.
After Kagami darkens Alya’s doorstep, claiming Marinette told her where she could stay and that Tomoe won’t know where to look, Ikari Gozen starts her rampage across Paris. She’s strong, strong enough that Ladybug calls upon Ryuko and Viperon to defeat her.
Afterwards, much like Adrien, Kagami vanishes off the face of the Earth.
Those who know they’re residing on the Liberty have sworn themselves to secrecy.
Chloe and Adrien are in a weird place when it comes to their friendship.
On one hand, Chloe is morally bankrupt, having tormented her classmates for years and treated Sabrina like a slave.
On the other, Chloe proves herself more and more, remaining rock-solid no matter what tricks or traps Hawk Moth throws her way.
So they’re not fully sure where they stand with each other.
That changes when Mayura appears, professing her loyalty towards Hawk Moth.
During the ensuing fight, it’s practically impossible to even get close, much less touch Mayura.
Rena Rogue spots Volpina nearby and understands what is going on.
With this information, they end the fight, but the damage is done.
Somehow, Volpina stole Chloe away while the others were busy.
They’re down one, and the news pounces on this perceived weakness, questioning their ability to be heroes.
~~~
Hawk Moth gets to Chloe somehow, because Queen Wasp attacks the heroes again and again, always retreating before she can be defeated.
The news continues to vilify the heroes for their inadequacies.
One day, Queen Wasp stops coming and Chloe appears in the school, grasping the Butterfly Miraculous.
Unfortunately, the first person to get to her is Lila Rossi, who sneaks the Butterfly Miraculous off of her.
Gabriel Agreste dies, and Adrien shows up for the funeral along with Nathalie.
Both in disguise. As far as anyone knows, both of them vanished off the face of the Earth.
Hawk Moth continues to terrorize the city, though the Akumas are initially weak and slapdash.
It doesn’t last long.
Each Akuma is cleverer, fiercer, or more powerful than the last.
It’s not until a different face appears in the sky that everyone realizes Hawk Moth has been usurped.
The new Butterfly Wielder grows too clever for the heroes, and manages to kidnap Ladybug.
Team Miraculous adds to their numbers carefully, but without Akumas to test themselves against, none of them quite trust themselves on the field.
Weeks pass without a peep from the new villain.
Somehow, they manage to track her down, and find Marinette in horrible condition.
The new Hawk Moth and Chat Noir clash, with the fight landing them in front of the Eiffel Tower.
Chat Noir tears someone to shreds on live television.
Exactly who is a question that cannot be answered, since the first thing to go once she lost her protection was her face.
Ladybug appears, and Chat Noir holds her tight as if shielding her from the world.
He probably is.
~~~
Hawk Moth is defeated, but the news is still firmly against heroes.
Andre has long since been booted from his post as Mayor of Paris, and is replaced by someone the public likes better.
Someone who shares their opinions.
Over the last few weeks, they’ve been making preparations, and now make their move.
Superheroes are declared illegal, and Team Miraculous is to be arrested on sight.
So even with the Miracle War ended, the heroes are tested.
Miss Hound is cornered by officer Roger, with her true face being the only thing stopping him from capturing her right then.
Even so, the fallout from that decision leaves the Raincomprix family broken.
Argos appears one day, boasting the same Miraculous that Mayura used to hold. Around the same time, Nathalie reappears, taking the reins of the Gabriel Brand. When Ladybug and Chat Noir talk to her, it becomes clear that she, like them, is trying her best to salvage the situation.
Argos proves himself an enemy to Team Miraculous, attacking its members at random and accusing Ladybug of controlling them like puppets.
Still recovering from weeks of torture, that accusation is enough to send Ladybug flying off the handle.
After the fight, after Argos manages to slip away as Ladybug destroys a shoddy and half-formed Sentimonster, The news continues their campaign with this new piece of “evidence”.
Argos continues to taunt them after that, sneering at Ladybug and Chat Noir in particular.
Seeing how precarious Ladybug’s mental state is, every team member follows Chat in closing ranks around her in any way they can.
After weeks of struggling against Argos and the media, something else happens.
Ladybug’s heart sinks at the headline on the TV.
Seeing the headline on the TV, Chat Noir makes a silent vow that his lady’s enemies will die.
“Akuma Attack: Has Hawk Moth returned?”
~~~
As it turns out, this new villain promises revenge for her daughter’s death.
If she has to destroy everything Team Miraculous has built, so be it.
So she does.
Their sanctuaries vanish as their names and faces are revealed, their families and friends either turning against them or unwilling to help.
Their members are double-teamed, Argos dropping in as they fend off attacks and declaring himself and Hawk Moth allied.
They are hunted on three fronts now, by supervillains, the law, and now their families.
A scant few people are still on their side, but they are scrutinized as well.
So they are more or less alone.
All they have are a series of safehouses secretly outfitted by Nathalie, stocked by the Dupain-Cheng bakery, and more than one standing offer of brief sanctuary from the law.
No one is willing or able to risk anything more.
Hawk Moth and Argos suddenly go silent for a few days.
Everyone is anticipating something massive.
They get it, with Akumas overwhelming the city and Team Miraculous stretched incredibly thin.
Somehow, Hawk Moth gets each member alone, offering them safety and a normal life, offering them what they lost.
Each of them refuses.
The wave of Akumas is beaten back, and Team Miraculous follows their leaders’ examples as they bludgeon and stab and crush.
Somehow, Ladybug and Chat Noir hold that much weight in their team’s hearts.
The city is restored to normal as it always was, but the city now quakes in fear.
Any standing offers of sanctuary are rescinded, and any discovered safehouses are torn down.
Team Miraculous is now well and truly on their own.
And everyone is realizing what they’ve done.
~~~
In the end, it doesn’t matter when it started.
Everyone realizes what they’ve done, all too late.
Team Miraculous is entirely alone, with no one to rely on but themselves.
They still serve the common good, somehow.
But they are no longer gentle with criminals.
Purple Tigress claws, Queen Bee strangles, Minotaurox bashes, and all of them have killed an Akuma at some point.
Almost always in defense of each other.
Paris’s criminal underground fears them. More than a few civilians pin their hopes on Hawk Moth and Argos to win.
And Paris will always wonder if they’ve only ended up creating their own destroyers.