#I think Marinette was crawling up the elevator walls or something

[makaira-art]

Found this in my ibis paint drafts. I don’t remember the context here. I don’t remember which episode this is from, even. Pretty sure this is a screenshot from a trailer, meaning I made this before whatever episode released. All I know is that I’m incredibly funny and I missed the opportunity to post this when whatever episode this was first aired, so I’ll do it now.

#miraculous lb #I think Marinette was crawling up the elevator walls or something #too much has happened I don’t even know #mlb #miraculous ladybug #not art #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste #kagami tsurugi #luka couffaine #max kante

[quickspinner]

Fear Itself

this is not any of the things I intended to write today but I’m just getting carried along by the tide at this point. This is part of my collection All in the Family.

Adrien sighed, looking at the blue-haired man slumped on the bar. 

“Marinette is going to kill you,” Adrien observed, leaning on the bar beside his friend. “And I don’t want to be anywhere near the blast radius.” 

“S’not a crime to get drunk,” Luka mumbled.

“Yeah, you can let me know how that argument works out for you.” Adrien rolled his eyes. “Can you walk or am I going to have to drag your ass all the way home?”

Luka’s response was worthy of Juleka as he  buried his face further in his arms, but Adrien assumed it was some version of “Fuck off, Agreste.” 

“No can do,” Adrien sighed, grabbing his arm and hauling him bodily off the stool. “You knew you were stuck with me when you married my favorite person.”

“I hate you so much,” Luka muttered as Adrien ducked under his arm. Adrien staggered as Luka let him take most of his weight, probably just to be petty. Adrien rolled his eyes, but steered them toward the door. It was both fortunate and unfortunate that he was using the limo that day. It was more conspicuous than was ideal, though at least it wasn’t the stretch, but it did mean Adrien didn’t have to drive. He dumped Luka in the backseat and made him buckle up before getting in the other side and signaling the driver to go.

“So you want to tell me why you felt the need to go get shitfaced in the middle of the week?” Adrien asked conversationally, only half expecting an answer. Luka could be awfully closed-mouthed when something was bothering him, even more so if the reason had something to do with Marinette. They both knew Adrien would be on Marinette’s side anyway.

Luka sighed, leaning his head to stare at the roof of the car. “M’nette’s pregnant.”

“Really?” Adrien lit up, and then frowned. “Wait, that’s a good thing right? You guys have been trying for a while.” 

“Eight months,” Luka agreed, closing his eyes. “We were ssssssso happy, and then M’nette went to work and it hit me that I’s gonna be a sad—dad—and I lost my fuckin’ mind.” His breath hitched. “Wha was I thinkin’, I can’t be a dad. My dad sucked, ‘drien.”

Adrien snorted. “Yeah, join the club,” he muttered bitterly.

“Been a member longer’n you, asshole.”

“I think supervillain trumps seniority,” Adrien snorted. Luka rolled his head to give Adrien a stare through red-rimmed eyes.

“Yeah, so how qualified d’you feel to be a dad, hmm? Not, like, theoretically, but if you knew it would happen ‘zactly thirty-four fuckin’ weeks from now.”

Adrien pondered that for a moment. “Shit,” he said, finally. 

Luka groaned and put his hands over his face. “Tell me there’s some scotch in this godawful monstrosity.” 

“Sorry,” Adrien said. “You’re cut off. Marinette will kill me if I let you die of alcohol poisoning.” He reached into the cooler set into the seat and pulled out a bottle of water. “Bottoms up,” he said, handing it to Luka. 

Luks snorted, fumbling with the cap. “Could drink you under the table, pretty boy.”

“Don’t be so sure,” Adrien retorted. “You know how easy it is to get wasted on champagne if you don’t work up a tolerance. Either way, I’m not giving you more booze.” He took the water back from Luka, twisted the cap off, and handed it back.

“Some friend,” Luka muttered, and then he drained half the bottle. He sighed. “How mad is she?”

“She was more worried than mad,” Adrien told him. 

“Shit.” Luka sighed. “That jus’ means she’ll be madder when she knows ‘m safe.”

“Probably,” Adrien agreed. “So you better sober up as much as you can before you get there.”

“Fuck, ‘m such a loser,” Luka groaned. “She’s gonna think I was lyin’ about bein’ happy.”

“You never lie to her,” Adrien said, feeling a bit more sympathy now that he knew what was going on. “And you weren’t, were you.”

“No,” Luka sighed, throwing his arm across his eyes. “No, I was happy, just…” he sighed, and Adrien suspected he was crying beneath his arm. “Jus’ don’t wanna screw up. Don’ wanna lose everything jus’ cause I got shit genes and a crappy example.”

“Well,” Adrien said, putting his hand on Luka’s shoulder. “Your dad was never there and my dad wouldn’t leave me alone, so hopefully between the two of us we can figure out the right thing to do. You’re not in this alone, man, you’ve got Marinette and me, and Tom.”

“Fuck, Tom’s gonna kill me if he finds out,” Luka breathed. 

“He won’t. It’s not like you make a habit of this kind of thing, and you’ve got good reason to be scared. Maybe find a better way to deal next time, though. If you run off on Marinette every time you get scared—”

“I do not run off on Marinette,” Luka said, lifting his face, moving his arm, and speaking much too crisply for as drunk as he was. “Never. All in until the end, I swore.” He leaned his head back again. “How do you think she knew where to tell you to find me?”  

Adrien smiled. “I really don’t think you have anything to worry about, Luka. Except, you know, what Marinette’s going to do to you.”

Adrien declined his driver’s offer to help get Luka in the building with some regret, but he knew both Luka and Marinette would be happier if he did it himself. Luka was steadier when they walked in the building, and he wasn’t slurring quite so much, but Adrien still had to duck under his arm to keep him walking mostly straight.

“Wuss,” Luka muttered as they waited for the elevator.

Adrien rolled his eyes. “I’m not hauling your drunk ass up four flights of stairs.” He sighed. “Hey, Plagg, head on up and tell Marinette we’re on our way.” 

“No,” Luka moaned. “Sass, stop him, he’ll make it sound worse than it is.” There was no response from his pocket. Luka rolled his eyes. “He’s not speaking to me,” he grumbled. “Spilled beer on him.”

Adrien gave him a look. “You weren’t drinking beer, Luka.”

“The first one was a beer,” Luka sighed blearily. “Was just trying to relax a bit at first. Then I got scared and...and I didn’t want to be, so…” he shrugged. 

Adrien sighed. “You know beer makes you introspective. You should have expected that.”

“Yep.” Luka popped the p. “I’ve known I was gonna be a dad for less than twelve hours and I’ve already screwed up.”

“Dude,” Adrien sighed. “I’m making you an appointment with my therapist.”

Luka snorted. “Like I can afford your therapist. And don’t say dude, you sound ridiculous. You can barely pull off bro.”

“You won’t let me call you bro,” Adrien pointed out. “And shut up. I’m going to make you an appointment, and I’m going to pay for it, and you’re not going to give me any shit about it because this is too important to blow off. For the sake of Marinette and your baby.”

Luka drew in a sharp breath. “Yeah. Yeah, okay.” 

“Okay,” Adrien repeated grimly, muscling him into the elevator.

“Fuck, what am I going to say to her,” Luka muttered, breath hitching again. 

“The truth. You’re scared and you screwed up and you’re going to get help. She may take her pound of flesh first but you know she’ll forgive you.” He paused. “Didn’t you guys talk about any of this before you decided to have kids?”

“Course we did,” Luka muttered. “I was worried but I wanted Marinette to be happy. Thought I could handle it.” He sighed heavily. “God I love her so much.”

“Yeah, we all know that,” Adrien said. The elevator dinged.

Luka tried to straighten himself, pulling away from Adrien. He’d face his wife on his own two feet. He did let Adrien take his keys and unlock the door, swaying slightly as the hall tilted to the left. 

Marinette opened the door with the keys still in it. “You’re home,” she sighed, with all the fervency of a prayer. God, he was the worst.

“Hi, babe,” Luka sighed. “Sorry.” He walked into the room and collapsed face-first on the couch. He hated this stage of drunk, where he was sober enough to know what an idiot he was and not sober enough to stop the room from randomly spinning or to be entirely sure his head was connected to his body.

“Ugh, you reek,” Marinette covered her mouth, turning green. “Oh my—” She retreated across the room, and Luka understood but it still made him feel a little bit abandoned. She looked at Adrien and they had one of those conversations without words that he hated. 

“Sorry, Mari, I draw the line at helping him shower.” Adrien raised his hands. That was a lie, Luka knew. Adrien would do literally anything if Marinette asked him to. 

“It’s fine, I can manage him,” Marinette sighed.

“No,” Luka called, unsmushing his face from the couch enough to be heard. “I can handle it myself. You’re not supposed to be lifting.” To stall any further argument, he got to his feet and staggered towards the bedroom, weaving but staying on his feet. His head was starting to feel connected to his body again.

While he got undressed, he filled the sink with water and set a small sliver of soap next to it. Sass finally emerged from hiding and immediately plunged into the water and began scrubbing himself vigorously. Luka turned on the shower and stepped in before it got warm. The cold water helped steady him a bit, though he still had to lean on the wall. “You okay, Sass?” he called. 

“I am fine,” the kwami answered, curtly but at least he was speaking.

“I’m really sorry,” Luka sighed, sticking his head under the spray.

“I know,” Sass replied from outside the curtain, a little more gently.

Luka managed to scrub the alcohol and bar smell off himself. 

“Brush your teeth,” Sass advised. “Her sense of smell will be very sensitive for the next few months.” 

Luka grunted an acknowledgement and did as instructed. He managed to pick up his dirty clothes without falling over and drop them into the hamper, making a mental note to do the laundry himself tomorrow. Sass phased back out into the living room, where he could still hear Adrien and Marinette talking, but the thought of getting dressed and going out there was just too much. He crawled into bed, too exhausted both physically and emotionally to do anything else, and wriggled under the covers. 

Eventually he heard the front door close, and Marinette came in, approaching tentatively. She sniffed the air as she got close, and then relaxed, coming to sit on the bed next to him. Luka rolled to his back and prepared to face the music. 

“You could have talked to me,” Marinette said, stroking her fingertips lightly across her forehead.

Luka sighed. “I know. I’m sorry. I’m happy, I swear I am, just...it’s a lot.” 

Marinette nodded. “Believe me, I know.” 

“I’m afraid I’ll be a terrible dad. I had kind of a horrible example.” 

“True, but,” Marinette shrugged. “We’re a progressive family. We can both be moms if you want. You had a good enough example for that.”

Luka chuckled weakly, reaching up to caress her cheek with his thumb.

“You’re so beautiful,” he mumbled. “I hope she has your eyes.”

Marinette smiled. “Or he.”

Luka shook his head and immediately regretted it as the room spun. “Gonna be a girl. That’s my lot in life. Constantly surrounded by strong, beautiful women who can kick my ass.” 

Marinette giggled. “At least you have Adrien.”

“He’s so pretty he might as well be one of you,” Luka sighed. “C’mere?” He flopped an arm out, and Marinette sighed, and then laid down and scooted over until she could lay her head on his chest. He curled his arm around her and kissed her forehead. “I love you,” he said. “Sorry for being so stupid.”

“Yeah, well, if being surrounded by strong women is your lot in life, apparently being surrounded by stupid men is mine,” Marinette sighed. “You’re going to go to Adrien’s therapist?”

“Yeah,” Luka sighed, closing his eyes. “I guess I better.”

“Then it’s okay. You’re allowed this one.” She was silent for a moment. “Thanks for letting me know where you were. I would have been scared if you just hadn’t come home.”

“I would never do that to you,” Luka promised. “Never. I’m not going anywhere. I may be the worst dad in the history of dads but I can at least be better than mine. I can at least be here.” 

Marinette leaned up and kissed him, and he closed his eyes, savoring the familiar feel of her soft lips caressing his. “You’re not going to be anywhere near the worst dad in history. You have too much love in your heart to be anything less than mostly adequate.” 

Luka laughed. “Thanks, babe. You always know the right thing to say.” 

Marinette tucked the blankets around him. “I still have to go feed the kwamis and do a couple of other things. You sleep it off. Just remember, I have dibs on puking in the toilet in the morning. If you have to hurl, use the trash can.” 

“Yes’m,” Luka muttered, already drifting off. Marinette leaned forward and kissed his forehead.

“I love you, stupid man.” 

“Love you too, strong woman. Women.” 

“It could still be a boy!”

“Keep telling yourself that, babe.”

#quickspins #all in the family #lukanette #i am lukanette trash i admit it #dad!luka #luka couffaine #adrien agreste is our emotional support chat #marinette dupain-cheng #lukadrien brotp #miraculous ladybug #miraculousladybug #ml fics

[maxdark158]

CHAPTER FIVE IS HERE! ALERT THE GUARDS! The fic is almost done and I can’t even believe it... Luckily I’ll have more to write after this due to the partner fic and the sequel that I am planning.

Please check out @ozmav they started this whole au and are still an inspiration to me ^^

tw for panic attacks and violence

Characters are probably OOC because MLB is a kids show and there’s SO MUCH Batman just too much

Angel in Gotham: Part 1 ~ Part 2 ~ Part 3 ~ Part 4 ~ Part 5 ~ Part 6 ~ Ao3

Demon in Gotham: Part 1 ~ Part 2 ~ Part 3 ~ Part 4 ~ Ao3

Fanart for AiG: Riddler ~ Joker thank you @thegreysman

Please tag me in any fanart you draw for this guys ^^

oooOOOooo

As soon as Joker said those words, Marinette threw her chocolate bar at his face.

It wasn’t much, obviously. It was just a chocolate bar. But it still hit him across the eyes and distracted him long enough for her to grab the vending machine and throw that too.

Well, throw is the wrong word. She wasn’t able to pick it up and hurl it like Superman would a building, but she was able to quickly move it and sent it falling in the Joker’s direction. She saw it land but didn’t want to stick around to see him get out from under it.

“Run!” she yelled at Lila. She didn’t move right away so Marinette grabbed her wrist and pulled.

Lila began to run with her. Then she changed their course toward the elevator. Marinette didn’t like that – having to wait was bad enough, but the doors wouldn’t shut the Joker out if they sensed his limb in the way. She tried to lead Lila toward the front doors so they could get some help.

“What the hell are you doing?” Lila hissed.

“We can’t lead him to the others, and I don’t want to be trapped in an elevator with the Joker,” Marinette let go of Lila’s wrist. “Besides, the vending machine won’t hold him for long-”

Lila growled and grabbed her wrist. “I am tired of your superiority complex, Marinette-”

She ripped her wrist from Lila’s grip. “Look who’s talking! Besides, I’m only being rational. We can’t win, we need help, and our teachers and classmates won’t be able to do sh-”

The vending machine’s glass shattered when it crashed to the floor. Joker staggered up, clearly injured. Even in the dying light of the vending machine, Marinette could see his wide grin. It made her bones shiver.

“You certainly are a challenge, Parisian brat!”

She reached for her purse. She had two stale cookies, her key card, and the purse itself. She could maybe use the cookies as-

A playing card, razor-sharp, whizzed by her hand. Her purse fell to the ground, clearly cut by it.

He had projectiles. He had a deadly chemical. She had to assume that nobody was coming for her, that Joker somehow distracted them or they just didn’t care. She had nothing. She was nothing she wouldn’t ever be anything she was useless, unworthy, unlov-

Marinette ducked automatically to avoid another round of the sharp cards, the movement jarring her mind. She had to focus! She didn’t have time to panic now!

Deep Brea-

“I’m going to take great joy,” The Joker laughed, “In watching you laugh and seeing you smile, girlie. Maybe I’ll even see what you look like under that spotted skin of yours.”

Marinette tried to keep the imagery of him peeling her freckled skin off her face out of her head. It didn’t work.

His gait was slow. He was bleeding through his suit. He had to rely on the cards more. These were all good things.

Her earlier maneuver caused her to end up next to the front desk, where she was entirely visible in the only remaining light source. She could still hear the Joker’s steps and see his shadow in the dim light, but it wasn’t much. Her purse was on the ground, a few feet away, the strap cut off. These were all bad things.

She couldn’t breathe. The walls were closing in, she was drowning, her lungs screamed.

But she had to do something.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Lila continuing toward the elevator. When it opened, a new light source from the inside of it illuminated her and her position.

The Joker noticed – of course he did he wasn’t as stupid as Hawkmoth – and threw several sharp cards at her. Marinette yelled a warning and Lila screeched, dodging barely.

Well, mostly dodging. Several chunks of her hair were cut by the cards, but right now Marinette couldn’t care less. The elevator closed when Lila didn’t enter it.

The Joker was heading toward Lila still – No! Marinette reached up onto the desk and grabbed the first thing she could and hurled it at him.

She saw it flying – a landline phone – and heard it made contact. It was only after she threw it that she realized she should have maybe used it to call the police.

Oops.

The Joker growled. “Ed failed to mention how annoying you are. I can’t blame him. He prefers rules, regulations, patterns. He doesn’t understand anarchy. He doesn’t understand that chaos is-”

Marinette cut him off by throwing the battery-powered lamp from the desk at him. The lightbulb shattered on his jaw and plunged the entire hotel hobby into pitch-black darkness.

Marinette was now heavily disadvantaged, but so was her adversary. And hopefully, her experience in swinging around rooftops at night, and fighting akuma in pitch black rooms would help her come out on top.

Two sets of footsteps. One pair heavier, gait slow and uneven due to injury. The other lighter, along the walls across the room.

Marinette tuned the other out, focusing on the footsteps that were trying to end her life right now. She could feel the carpet underneath her bare feet, the slight sting of rugburn. It grounded her, kept her from spiraling.

“Where are you, girlie?”

She silently rolled over to her purse. The clasp would make a click when she opened it, so she didn’t. She picked up the card used to cut it, carefully, and cut it open.

Two stale cookies, her key card, and the strap that was removed from the purse earlier.

She heard his footsteps move past her and put a hand to her mouth to muffle her breathing. She heard the sound of wood being sliced – he must have thrown a bunch of cards at the desk where she once was.

Marinette, as silent as a cat, crawled along the carpeted floor toward the front doors. She still remembered the layout of the room, luckily.

“Do you know the power of laughter?” The Joker sounded further away, but not by much. His footsteps were walking away from her, toward the elevator.

It was only after Marinette had been blinded by a light that she realized she should have paid more attention to where Lila was. The girl has walked along the wall behind the desk and turned on the lights by the front door.

The Joker whirled around to see her, grabbing some cards-

No.

No, Marinette couldn’t let him do that, no no n-

“No,” she screamed, throwing a crumbling and stale cookie at the eye she could see from the side angle. It hit, and the Joker let out some strong obscenities as it did so.

Marinette noticed him trying to regain his balance and slid her room’s key card under where his feet landed. Luckily, her plan worked and he slipped cartoon-banana style onto his back while still rubbing cookie crumbs out of his eye. His fall aggravated some of the still bleeding cuts on his body if his angry scream had anything to say about it.

Lila had begun to run to the elevator. As stupid as her classmate was, Marinette was glad. The Joker was fully focused on her, and wouldn’t care that the elevator was being used so long as he was occupied with Marinette. She wouldn’t have to worry about Lila’s life.

The Joker turned to face her, eye still red from the cookie. His pant leg seemed to be more blood-soaked now and he had a few newer cuts on his jaw and neck from the lamp. And he was furious.

Very furious.

Marinette couldn’t count on any help. There was a chance that Lila would leave her to die to the Joker, hoping he would go away after she was finished. She didn’t want to assume any of the heroes were coming, she didn’t want to think of them right now.

There was no way she’d beat the Joker.

But she had to stay alive long enough to call for help herself.

“If you weren’t so resistant and,” The Joker lolled his head and grinned, “Dull, I’d consider allowing you to become my new Harley-girl.”

“I’d rather die,” Marinette said without thinking, slowly standing from the floor. She clutched her purse strap tight. Her last cookie was too crushed to use.

“And so you will,” The Joker raised his cards.

Marinette wouldn’t be able to dodge fully, but if she could avoid dying instantly she can still fight while injured – she’s done it before.

But then a vine grabbed his arm from behind her.

No, not a vine. A whip. A whip made of a vine.

“I suggest leaving the girl alone,” Marinette glanced behind her to see a woman with bright red hair and an outfit made of plants.

Poison Ivy.

She looked back to Joker, who’s grin was now a snarl.

You see, Joker was the A++ of the villains because he’s the one that got all the normal questions and all the bonus questions right. Everybody in the world knows about him. Ivy, in terms of ferocity and general evilness, she scored lower than Joker.

But the Joker is injured. He had a limp and he’s bleeding and Ivy isn’t. Plus, for all Marinette knows, the Joker has been cheating on all his tests.

Though right now who was the better villain didn’t really matter because one was trying to kill her and one was trying to save her.

Marinette rolled out of the way of the two villains and stood. Joker wasn’t focused on her; his angry eyes were trained on Ivy.

“You stole my Harley,” he growled. Marinette couldn’t find it within herself to feel an ounce of sympathy for him.

“She wasn’t ever yours,” Poison Ivy spat the name ‘yours’ like a curse.

Marinette felt like they were two nuclear bombs about to go off and she was just waiting to see who would blow up first.

It was Joker.

He grabbed onto the vine wrapped around his arm and pulled. Ivy lost her balance but let go of the vine so it hit Joker in the face as he yanked it. The vine landed near his eye that still leaked cookie crumbs and Joker howled.

Marinette tried to remember something about Ivy’s powers. She was immune to all poisons and toxins. She could make other people immune too. And…

Marinette’s eyes went to the plants by the hotel lobby’s windows. She knew they were real, she could smell it when she first walked in. Fake plants didn’t emit the same scent that she started picking up on the longer she was Ladybug.

While Joker and Ivy were fighting – Ivy just kicked him in his bad leg after he tried to use Joker Venom on her and failed – Marinette ran to the plants.

“Let’s see if I can help her,” she mumbled, picking up one of the larger pots. It had a rock about the size of papa’s fist in the pot, likely to keep it from falling over. It was still light compared to the vending machine.

“IVY!”

Poison Ivy glanced at her, then Marinette threw the pot, hoping she wasn’t skinned alive for throwing a plant. But she seemed to get the message and extended a hand out to the plant.

In midair, it expanded. Grew. The plant was well taken care of, so it grew enough that the pot burst, it’s roots hit the ground and its rapidly expanding stalk punched Joker in the throat.

It stopped growing once it hit about four and a half meters. The high ceiling of the hotel was about six meters, so nothing stopped it from falling.

She heard someone say something. It sounded like, “look out,” but Marinette was more focused on scrambling out of the way of this plant that chose to fall toward her instead of Joker.

It crashed through the window, spilling shattered glass onto the street. The sound was loud and Marinette flinched, her back against the wall adjacent to the window to avoid becoming smashed like a bug.

She barely had time to think before more playing cards were thrown at her. She hit the ground, using the huge plant as cover.

“You dirty rat,” he spat out. His voice was raw, and she couldn’t see the bruise forming on his neck. She could imagine it though.

Her lungs ached. Marinette covered her mouth and breathed in, trying not to make noise.

“You best leave her alone, Jester,” Ivy snarled. She sounded fine, slightly winded, but uninjured.

“I wanted to see the little Parisian smile,” he sounded wistful, sad. Marinette closed her eyes and remembered his face. She wouldn’t fall in his little trap. She hoped Poison Ivy wouldn’t either.

“You wanted to kill her.”

“Killing you would be a dream come true too.”

She heard more cards. She heard the vine whip being used. She heard something be sliced – the door? She heard Joker laugh.

She smelled blood.

“What?” Ivy’s breathing was labored. “You think a little flesh wound would bother me?”

“It’ll bother that brat you stole from me,” Joker sounded utterly delighted. “It’ll bother her more if she finds it on a lifeless body!”

Marinette’s heart lurched into her throat. No, no she couldn’t let this happen. She couldn’t expect Ivy to save her without risking Ivy.

She still had her purse strap. Silently, Marinette moved around the plant.

She heard Ivy lash out with her whip again. It sounded slower.

Marinette ducked and rolled under a stalk that was high enough off the ground to go under.

After a brief scuffle, she heard something else being sliced. It hit the ground, and for a moment Marinette panicked before realizing it was too light to be Poison Ivy.

While crawling, her hand landed on some far-reaching glass from the knocked over vending machine. The pain registered, but Marinette didn’t care about it for long.

“You bastard,” Ivy sounded winded. She had to help, please let her be able to help.

Her eyes landed on a rock, one about the size of papa’s fist. The one in the pot earlier. She picked it up carefully and began tying her purse strap around it. It wouldn’t have as much range as her yoyo, and it would be heavier, but it was better than nothing.

“Afraid you can’t beat me without your little plant?”

She turned, now past the plant and on the side with Joker and Poison Ivy. Her newly-made weapon in hand, she crawled slowly and silently behind Joker. She was still under a large leaf, so Ivy didn’t see her. She could see both their legs and the cut whip at the ground.

“I think you’re underestimating me.”

Marinette could see blood trickling down Ivy’s left leg. She was bleeding much faster than the Joker was. She pushed forward, ending up behind Joker. His legs were within arm’s reach.

“There’s not much to underesti-”

She swung her rock-and-purse-strap yoyo as hard and fast as she could at the Joker’s injured knee. She heard his leg crunch under the force, saw his leg beds an unnatural angle before he fell, heard his scream.

Marinette felt sick.

All she could cause is pain all she can do is hurt she’s useless she can’t save anyone-

“You,” Joker’s words are muffled against the carpet of the hotel lobby. He calls says a word in English she doesn’t know. It rhymed with the English word witch.

“Takes one to know one,” Poison Ivy huffs out.

Then the other window – the one that wasn’t shattered by the plant – shatters. A dark and cloaked figure looks odd standing under the lights of the hotel lobby.

“Poison Ivy,” he paused, just then noticing the Joker.

“I can see I’m not needed anymore,” she turned around, “I was just here to save the kid, no need to arrest me this time.”

The Joker laughed. “You call her a kid?” he asked. “She threw a vending machine at me! Broke my leg! This brat is not a kid, she’s a menace!”

Her breath left her. She’s a menace, a villain, a revolting person…

Marinette looked at her hands. They were bloody.

She barely heard him repeat menace a few times before his breathing evened, likely falling asleep. Poison Ivy made no further comment as she walked out of the miraculously still functioning door. Marinette didn’t hear it close until two pairs of footsteps walked in.

“Batman, why’d you let Ivy walk ou- oh,” a voice she didn’t hear at the manor, Damian’s older brother, spoke. Dick Grayson, his name was.

“Father,” Marinette froze at Damian’s voice. “What is Joker doing here?”

“It appears she was rescuing…” Batman paused, clearly still trying to asses the situation.

Marinette is an idiot. She must be, because she chose that moment to shakily stand up, revealing herself to Batman and Nightwing and Robin.

Robin’s breath hitched.

And that little sound is what made the dam break.

“I’m sorry,” she was spiraling, but she didn’t care anymore. “I’m a hor- horrible person and-”

“Hey now,” Nightwing took a step closer. “I’m sure you’re not-”

She held up her hands, showing the blood on them. Her blood, but that didn’t matter.

“I broke his leg,” she took a big gulp of air. It sounded like a sob. “With a rock. And I threw things at him. A chocolate bar, a cookie, a phone, a lamp, a vending machine-”

“A vending machine?” Batman sounded far away, muffled.

“Miss, please calm down,” Nightwing’s voice was grainy. She wasn’t hearing it fully, she wasn’t there she was away, far away.

“I’m terrible, horrible, I shouldn’t have done this,” all she could hear was her words – were they thoughts? She didn’t know anymore.

She wished she didn’t exist, then she couldn’t make mistakes.

Her vision began to grow spotty. She couldn’t tell what was up and what was down.

“Angel,” Damian’s voice seemed to whisper. “You need to breathe.”

Her lungs ached. She didn’t care though. She didn’t need to breathe. She didn’t matter that much.

The world went dark around her.

#daminette #marinette x damian #damian wayne #damian wayne au #Marinette #Marinette Dupain-Cheng #marinette dupain cheng #joker #tw joker #ivy #poison ivy #lila #anti-lila #lila rossi #anti lila rossi #batman #batman fic #miraculous #miraculous ladybug fanfiction #miraclous ladybug #miraculous ladybug #miraculousladybug #tw violence #tw panic attack #tw passing out #fanfiction #fanfic #fic #crossover fic

[flightfoot]

We’re the Same Ch. 6

AO3/FFN

The Hawkmoth confrontation at last!

Disclaimer:  This is a Lovesquare fic, with Identity Reveal, Hawkmoth Reveal, and Hawkmoth Defeat. It is NOT a salt fic.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“You remember the plan?” Damian asked.

Adrien, Marinette, and Ducard nodded. 

About an hour after he’d left Ducard, he’d seen reports that Ladybug and Chat Noir were running around Paris. Deciding that this probably meant they were done talking for now, he’d met up with them again. 

Ladybug had yelled at him about kidnapping them and stealing their Miraculous. He’d just stood there, bored. He’d had worse.

His mouth twitched as he suppressed a smile, thinking of when she asked about the position she and Adrien had found themselves in.

“And another thing!” she yelled, clearly trying to get out all her pent-up frustration and anger before they faced Hawkmoth, “you had no right putting us on top of each other like that!”

Chat looked hurt, eyes dropping to the ground, tail drooping.

Ladybug noticed immediately. Her voice softened. “I’m not complaining about the result, just that he put us in a somewhat intimate position like that without even knowing us, much less with consent.”

Chat perked up again, his tail doing a happy little twitch, and he nodded, agreeing with her.

Damian sniggered.

Ladybug scowled at him. “And what’s so funny?!”

“Ducard and I DIDN’T position you two on top of each other,” he said. “Both of you were a few feet away from each other, backs against the wall.”

Ladybug’s eyes furrowed. “Then how-”

She stopped.

And groaned.

“I crawled into his lap I’m guessing?” Ladybug said, resigned.

Damian nodded, still smirking.

She sighed. “I really shouldn’t be surprised. When I was little and stayed in Maman and Papa’s bed, I’d apparently end up sandwiched between them regardless of where I started out. Papa used to call me a heat-seeking missile.”

She glared at Damian again. “You’re still on the hook for everything else though.”

Damian leaned back, waiting for her to finish berating him. He’d survived Pennyworth’s lectures. This? This was nothing.

“What’re you smiling about?” Marinette asked him suspiciously.

Damian ignored her, checking the cameras instead. “Gabriel’s in the dining hall, so we should have a good window right now. I just started looping the cameras. We’re invisible starting… now!”

The four of them quietly snuck from Adrien’s room to Gabriel’s atelier, Damian quickly picking the lock. Child’s play for a former member of the League of Assassins, or a Robin for that matter.

Damian made his way over to the portrait of Emilie, pressing the sequence of buttons he’d captured Gabriel using to access the massive underground chamber.

He wanted to know where the second sequence he’d seen Gabriel enter on the cameras would lead, but now wasn’t the time. While he suspected that it had something to do with the other secret room, the one he’d been unable to gain access to, he couldn’t be sure. Even if it was, he didn’t know what to expect to find. He could handle anything Hawkmoth threw at him, he was sure. But his companions? Maybe not.

Plus…

He looked over at Adrien.

Truthfully, Damian didn’t need to visit that underground chamber again. He’d seen most of what he needed to for now.

But Adrien DID. 

He hadn’t asked, but… he needed to see his mother.

If Damian had a beloved family member he thought was dead, but turned out to be merely asleep, no force on heaven or earth would have been able to stop him from seeing them. Hell, when he’d discovered that Grayson had faked his death, had reunited with him - well, Damian didn’t initiate hugs often. 

But that day? He’d taken a page out of Grayson’s book and glomped him.

(Not that he’d tell anyone ELSE that, and if Grayson ever brought it up he’d just claim he must have memory loss in his old age)

When proposing entering the chamber, he’d justified it as having the kwamis take a closer look at Emilie, see whether they could glean more than he could. Which wasn’t a lie - they may be able to figure out what was going on with her even when he couldn’t - but it wasn’t the main reason. They could go back and examine Emilie after defeating Hawkmoth. 

He wasn’t going to make Adrien wait that long.

No one had questioned his proposal. Probably because everyone agreed - even if no one stated the true reason out loud.

The elevator activated. 

The four of them looked at the small hole in the floor that had opened up, then disappeared.

“...I thought maybe there was some sort of visual distortion with how small that hole looked,” Ducard said.

Damian grimaced. “Nope.”

“...This is gonna be cramped, won’t it?”

“Yep.”

And that’s how the four of them ended up crammed together within a circle maybe two feet in diameter, heading downwards.

While he had a feeling that Marinette and Adrien were enjoying being so close, he’d really rather not be shoved up against them.

Luckily, the elevator expanded slightly as they moved downwards. It was still cramped and small, but more “sardines in a can” and less “Grayson playing Twister”.

As they descended, the cavern opened up around them, the lights coming on.

A sharp intake of breath came from beside him.

Damian looked in the direction of the noise.

Adrien stared forwards, eyes fixed on the distant capsule.

When the doors opened he stumbled out, quickly regaining his balance, and dashed towards the pod where his mother lay.

Marinette ran after him, seeming to not want to let more than a few feet separate her from her partner.

He and Ducard hung back, as Adrien reached his mother.

SHE WAS HERE.

He ran his finger over the pod, fighting back tears. Just a few feet away, his mother lay, ALIVE.

Frantically he glanced around, searching for a button or switch or something to open it.

“I’ve got this, kid.”

He glanced up.

Plagg flew out, entering the pod’s control system. A few seconds later, it opened.

There she was.

Trembling, he stretched out a hand, fearful that she would dissolve into mist.

What if she was an illusion?

But - no.

He touched soft skin.

She was cool, but- she didn’t feel dead.

His head snapped up, and he opened his mouth to ask-

There was no need. 

Plagg flew around Emilie, Tikki joining him as Marinette caught up.

“She’s definitely in a magical coma,” Tikki announced after a few tense seconds. “Caused by using a broken Miraculous I’m guessing.”

“Can… can you wake her up?” Adrien asked hopefully.

Tikki shook her head. “If it was that simple, Nooroo could’ve done it.”

“Then… how can we heal her?” he asked.

He desperately wanted her to be okay. To have her RIGHT HERE and still lose her…

He bit back a sob. 

“I’m not sure yet,” Tikki replied. “The last time this happened, I wasn’t privy to the details on how the victim was woken up.”

“But they DID wake up?” Adrien asked.

She nodded. “Unfortunately, the people who held that knowledge aren’t around anymore.”

“Even…?”

She shook her head, cutting him off. “ALL the people.”

“So it’s hopeless after all?” Adrien asked, heart falling.

He KNEW it was too good to be true.

“No. It’s not.”

Adrien turned around.

Robin looked at him, eyes weirdly gentle. “I know some people, many of whom are skilled in magic. Maybe none of them know the method that was used to wake up the other victim, but I bet at least one of them can come up with a way to bring her back.”

“You sure?”

He knew he sounded plaintive, like a small child asking whether the family dog would be okay after being taken to the vet for a severe injury, but at that moment, he felt like a small child.

He just… he just wanted his mom back.

Robin shook his head. “Nothing’s for sure. But I can give it my best shot. She WILL be taken care of, whatever happens; THAT, I can promise you. And this time, she won’t be hidden away. You’ll be able to visit her while I try to find a cure.”

Adrien bit his lip, tears filling his eyes.

There was hope.

Not much, but more than he’d ever had before.

Marinette placed a hand on his back, giving him a soft, sad smile.

He leaned against her, melting into her touch.

Most of his world may have been upended. But his partner was still here. 

An alert sounded from a device Robin was holding, the same one that had displayed the feeds from the cameras Robin had installed. He checked it, eyes widening.

“Down below, NOW!” 

Wait, what?

He didn’t get a chance to ponder it further. 

“Tikki, Spots On!”

Ladybug grabbed him and jumped off the edge of the railing, hooking her yo-yo on one of the supports. Before they descended out of sight, he saw Robin hit a button on the capsule, sealing it once more.

Adrien blushed. They did this kind of thing all the time as Ladybug and Chat Noir, but up close like this untransformed? He felt vulnerable, but… kinda in a good way? He knew that she was more powerful - WAY more powerful than him like this, but also that she would never hurt him. That she’d care about any discomfort he showed. That she’d never take advantage of him, or try to get him to do something he didn’t want to do. That she’d protect him.

He didn’t need to put up barriers with her to protect himself, didn’t need to pretend to be okay when he wasn’t. Not now.

He buried his head against her shoulder. Ladybug adjusted her grip, pulling him closer so she could stroke his hair comfortingly.

He fought back a purr. They needed to be stealthy now, and a purr might be a giveaway.

But damn was it tempting.

He felt a soft tap on his shoulder.

He lifted his head reluctantly.

Robin had apparently had the same idea Ladybug did, having fired a grappling gun at one of the supports. His friend had done the same thing, though she’d actually managed to find a small ledge to stand on.

Robin activated the display on his device, zooming in on one particular screen - the one pointed at the elevator shaft.

Someone was descending.

Adrien’s stomach twisted.

Hewasn’treadyhewasn’treadyHEWASN’TREADY-

Gabriel Agreste, fashion mogul, magical terrorist, and his FATHER, stepped out.

Adrien stopped breathing.

Eyes locked onto the display, he stared as his father strode to the pod.

To his mother.

Footsteps sounded overhead.

Adrien flinched, convinced that somehow his father would hear them. Would charge down and-

And do what?

He shuddered. Before this, he thought the worst he could do was yell at his friends and bar him from seeing them.

Now? Now he was worried his father would flat-out MURDER them if he thought it might help with his goals. He’d never seemed overly concerned with how dangerous his akumas were before after all, and didn’t give a crap that they were kids.

Oh no, wait. He DID care, but only because it made it easier to sneer at them about how weak they are. 

He really didn’t give a damn about anything or anyone outside of his goals, did he?

*kaCHUNKwhirrr*

Adrien shuddered as he heard the pod’s door open. Right now, his father was looking at his mother. His mother, who he’d been able to see and visit all along. Could have taken HIM to see her.

But he hadn’t.

“There were some new superheroes today.”

Adrien gasped slightly, restarting his breathing. Hearing his father’s voice - hearing HAWKMOTH’S voice - down here? Made it seem more real to him.

“Robin, from Gotham City, and some new girl, both riding atop a massive beast. Any one of them would make good prey for my akumas, though one seemed more susceptible than the others. There was much turmoil in young Robin, a deep undercurrent of guilt. I just need to figure out how to bring it to the surface, and I’ll have my most powerful akuma yet.”

A deep undercurrent of guilt? Robin was just a kid - he wasn’t even certain he was old enough to be in collège, he was so small. Heck, he still had baby teeth! What could’ve happened to him that made him feel so guilty?

He looked over at Robin, gauging his reaction. Robin had gone stony-faced, holding himself rigidly.

Adrien had a sudden urge to give him a hug. He may not have been too happy about being kidnapped - though he’d never regret the sleepy cuddles that’d resulted from it - but right now, he just wanted to tell Robin that whatever he was feeling so guilty about, it was okay. 

“Oh, Emilie… I miss you so much. My last plan may have failed, but soon, soon I will succeed and bring you back to us. I will destroy Ladybug and Chat Noir and take their Miraculous!”

Destroy.

That sounded an awful lot like ‘kill’.

“Until then, I’ll look after our son. He’ll never truly be happy until you come back. Everything I do, I do so we can be a family again.”

He- he thought- and for that he threatened MURDER- for HIS SAKE?!

For his HAPPINESS?!

NO.

“Plagg, Claws out!”

“No!” he heard Robin hiss.

He knew he shouldn’t do this.

That he should just sit still and quiet.

But hearing him talk about destroying - about KILLING - him and Marinette?

And that it was all for his and his mother’s sake? As if they wanted this - As if it EXCUSED this?

He’d sat quietly and done what he was told his whole life.

Now that he could fight back? When his father was THREATENING the people he cared about, and claiming it was for his sake?

He couldn’t hide any longer.

“Wha-? Nooroo, Dark Wings Rise!”

As Chat propelled himself onto the walkway, a light flashed over his father.

Leaving Chat facing Hawkmoth.

“How did you find this place?!” Hawkmoth spat at him, tapping on Emilie’s pod, sealing it shut.

“Because you’re an idiot.”

Chat glanced back, seeing Ladybug and Robin swinging over the railing. Briefly he wondered where Ducard was, then dismissed the thought. She was Robin’s friend, anyone who could keep up with him could probably take care of themselves.

 Robin continued, “Honestly, did you really think NO ONE would notice that the floor plans didn’t match the actual Manor? You wouldn’t have lasted a week in Gotham.”

His father scoffed. “This will be your undoing. You think that mere CHILDREN can defeat me? Or did you return for another beating?”

“How. Dare. You.” Ladybug hissed, looking like she dearly wished she was Kryptonian so she could murder his father with eye lasers.

“...Why.”

His father frowned. “Excuse me?”

“WHY?!” Chat yelled, clenching his fist. “Why would you DO this?! HOW could you do this?!”

“To bring her back to me,” His father gestured at the pod behind him, “I would do ANYTHING.”

Chat gritted his teeth. “She would HATE what you’ve done. Hate YOU. Mom wouldn’t want this!”

He froze.

OH NO.

“...Adrien?”

He didn’t answer, just intensifying his glare in response.

“You would let your mother stay like this? How ashamed would she be of you, of her SON, who should love her above all else?”

Ashamed?

No…

NO.

She wouldn’t be… Mom wouldn’t be… she cared. She was a GOOD PERSON. There’s no way she’d go along with father’s plans! 

She- she wouldn’t be ashamed of him… right?

Guilt gnawed at his stomach. 

He glanced over at Ladybug, still glaring daggers at Hawkmoth.

Even if she was… he couldn’t betray his friends. Couldn’t endanger people.

He may be a bad son. 

But he just… couldn’t do that.

His father rushed forwards suddenly, driving his cane into Chat’s stomach.

All air left his lungs as he was flattened on the floor. 

Leaving him motionless, unable to scrape together the energy to do more than twitch.

His father loomed over him, glaring down, angry and disappointed.

“GET AWAY FROM HIM!”

Ladybug barreled into his father, sending him flying. 

Leaning down, she took Chat’s hand. “Don’t listen to a word he says. Don’t let him reverse the roles. HE’S the bad guy, NOT YOU. You hear me, Chat? NOT. YOU.”

He teared up, giving her a quick hug.

Wait.

Why wasn’t his father attacking?

“TOUCH HIM AGAIN AND I’LL KILL YOU!”

*sning* *sning*

Chat watched as Robin swiped at Hawkmoth with the long metal claws he’d just extended from his gloves.

Ok, how did ROBIN have retractable claws while he didn’t?!

Hawkmoth dodged most of the blows, though a few connected.

Mere metal couldn’t pierce a Miraculous-made suit.

But it didn’t need to.

Chat narrowed his eyes.

At first glance, it looked like Robin was simply swinging wildly in a rage, attempting to hurt Hawkmoth as much as possible. But looking closer, most of the blows were just below the neck area.

Right where the Butterfly Miraculous rested.

Unfortunately, his father realized it too.

He jumped back thirty feet, far out of range.

Cursing profusely, Robin attempted to follow him, firing off a zipline, swinging himself closer to Hawkmoth.

But to no avail. His father simply jumped out of range again.

Chat staggered to his feet, Ladybug slinging her arm around his shoulders, propping him up. “I’m- I’m okay. We have to-” he sputtered out. 

He glanced behind Ladybug.

“MOVE!”

He threw himself and Ladybug to the side, rolling them out of the way of Hawkmoth’s attack.

But that didn’t save him from the follow-up hit.

His father slammed his cane into Chat’s back. “You’d go this far for HER, for some girl, but not for your own mother?!” he sneered. “These friends of yours… they only want to drag you down, use you.”

Ladybug extracted herself from Chat’s embrace and threw her yo-yo, attempting to lasso his father. He knocked the yo-yo aside. “If Ladybug cared for you, she’d use her Miraculous and yours to revive your mother!”

He kicked Ladybug to the floor, leaving both her and Chat groaning. Slowly he walked towards Chat, seeming to savor the moment. “Oh Adrien… I gave you everything you could need. I raised you to be perfect. I gave you tutors, let you build your brand and influence by allowing you to model for me, even allowed you to hang out with your so-called friends, so long as they weren’t proving harmful to your education or reputation. I see now that was a mistake. They’ve poisoned you. The son I knew would never have done anything to endanger his mother. Would have obeyed his father.”

Chat turned over, attempting to crawl away - both from his father, and from Ladybug. 

His father was targeting him. If he could lead him away, then maybe His Lady could flee, get away long enough to come up with some sort of plan. 

Besides his… his father couldn’t really- he knew he was awful, but he’s his own son! He’d- he’d-

“Stop,” he forced out, attempting to put as much distance as he could between him and his father. His father stared down at him with cold, hard eyes. Same as he always did.

He reached for Chat’s hand.

“CATACLYSM!”

The black, destructive energy surrounded his hand. His father cursed, grabbing Chat’s wrist tightly enough that it felt like it was leaving bruises, lifting him off the ground.

A light dawned in his father’s eyes. He grinned.

“You want to keep the ring? So be it.”

He pressed a button on his cane, opening the top.

Chat watched, horrified, as an akuma fluttered out.

“ADRIEN!” 

He looked to the side. Ladybug ran toward him, a polka-dotted bag in her hand.

She was too far away. She wouldn’t be able to get to him in time.

She didn’t have to.

A figure dropped from above.

The butterfly entered Robin’s left glove.

“Well, this is unexpected,” his father mused. 

Robin clutched his head. “GET. OUT.”

“You believe that no one will forgive you for your past actions, that you’re irrevocably tainted, incapable of washing the blood off of your hands.” his father crooned. 

“Shut up…” Robin gritted out.

Blood on his hands? The kid hadn’t even hit puberty yet. 

What the heck was Robin’s past like?

“Your mother had you killed, your father and brothers only tolerate you because they don’t know the true depths of your evil.”

“YOU. DON’T. KNOW. ME.” Robin screamed.

“But I understand. I can help you. With my help, you can erase everything wrong you did, undo all harm. You won’t have to worry about the rest of your family abandoning you anymore, and finally you can be free of the guilt.”

“I… I don’t…”

Robin sounded… lost. Confused. Like a small child, wandering around looking for something, anything familiar to cling to.

From what his father was describing, it was no wonder. Seriously, what the HELL had this kid been through?

“Just bring me Ladybug’s and Chat Noir’s Miraculous, and I can help you fix EVERYTHING.”

“I…”

*THWACK*

A red-and-black spotted bag rammed down on Hawkmoth’s head, using Chat’s staff as a handle. 

Which normally would probably be as effective as using a plastic bag on Robin had been earlier.

...Except that Ladybug had apparently learned from that and decided to do more than just temporarily blind Hawkmoth for two seconds. 

Namely, by using the make-shift butterfly net to scoop up several of the soon-to-be-akumas in it first.

And with his father already having his mouth open to continue monologuing…

He coughed and sputtered as several butterflies invaded his mouth.

Taking advantage of his father’s distraction, Chat quickly rolled to his feet, reaching out and touching Robin’s glove with his still-active cataclysm.

The glove disintegrated, freeing the akuma.

Ladybug quickly caught it in her yo-yo, before attempting to wrap it around his father again.

He stumbled back, spitting out butterfly wings - but still managed to just avoid the string.

The butterfly brooch pulled away, seemingly on its own.

His father froze, as Hawkmoth was replaced by Gabriel Agreste.

“Wha-” 

He tried to snatch the brooch out of midair where it floated, but it darted away.

The brooch zoomed off. His father tried to run after it, but Ladybug was having none of it. For the third time, she tried to lasso him.

This time, she succeeded.

He crashed to the floor, cursing.

The brooch floated towards Robin.

Ducard flickered into view, holding the Miraculous.

Oh.

So his memories of her appearing out of thin air weren’t delusions; she could turn invisible.

She must’ve been sneaking around the entire battle, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

Shakily he walked over to his father.

He glared up at him, sneering - but with a hint of fear in his eyes.

Only a couple minutes ago his father had loomed over him.

Now their situations were reversed.

Looking down at him like this, he didn’t seem like the powerful, terrifying figure he’d been moments before - had been for most of Adrien’s life if he was being honest with himself.

But now? He was just a guy.

He wasn’t some overwhelming force, overshadowing everything Adrien thought or did. 

Nor a looming threat over all of Paris, waiting to prey on any negative emotion, any moment of sadness, anger, or fear.

He was just a man.

He always had been.

“Well?” his father spat. “Are you really going to do this, my son? Leave your mother in a coma? Strike back against me?”

“Stop calling me that,” he hissed. “DON’T call me your son - not after this. You never cared about me as a person, as your son - just as your property. You didn’t ‘allow’ me to model for you - you mandated it. I didn’t want to ‘build my brand’ - just have friends, go outside - be a regular kid! But that wasn’t something you cared about so it didn’t matter to you. 

And you’ve been doing the same thing as Hawkmoth! I love Mom, I want her back - but the price would be to submit someone else to her fate. I can’t do that. Even if I didn’t know them, someone else would still pay the price. Whether they were close to me personally, they still matter.

But not to you. You only place value on those you consider to belong to you. And even then only when they do what you consider ‘acceptable’. Everyone else is just… just tools for you to get what you want, or obstacles to get in your way!”

He turned away. “I won’t be your tool. Not anymore. I’m not yours.” 

“How COULD you! I gave you everythi-”

*CRACK*

Chat whipped around.

Gabriel lay on the ground, unconscious. Robin standing beside him, fist still extended. 

“What? Did you really need to listen to him rant on anymore?” Robin asked.

Chat shook his head. “No, I- thank you.”

 His Miraculous beeped twice.

Three paw pads left.

“Claws in.”

Light flashed over him, Plagg leaving the ring.

Adrien pulled out some cheese for him from his inside jacket pocket. 

Watching Plagg devour the cheese wedge, his stomach seized as he thought of something. 

“I’m- I’m going to have to give you back,” he stammered, his face green.

Plagg paused his eating. “What nonsense are you talking about? I thought we settled this before. I’m not leaving. You’re stuck with me, kid.”

“But - I don’t have a choice now,” his eyes watered. He fought to keep them down. He had a feeling that if he started crying right now, he wouldn’t be able to stop. “He knows I’m Chat Noir. He might not be able to do anything himself, but what’s going to stop him from just telling everyone? Even if the media refused to air it, he’s bound to run into people in prison he can tell.”

“He won’t tell anyone, because he won’t remember.”

Adrien turned towards Robin, worried. “You knocked him out so hard you gave him amnesia?”

Robin scoffed. “No. If I tried, he’d probably end up in the hospital for brain damage. I know of an organization with a special tool that can erase memories like that.”

“...Should I ask whether this is legal?”

“No.”

“Is it safe at least?”

“For this? It shouldn’t cause him any harm. There’s not much to make him forget.”

He breathed out. He was still trepidatious, but… well, some part of him wanted to trust Robin. And if it came between Gabriel’s safety and Plagg’s safety? (And he wasn’t going to kid himself, Plagg would try to follow him even if he gave the Black Cat Miraculous back to Fu.) He would choose Plagg.

Ladybug put a hand on his shoulder. “Adrien? Are you- of course you’re not okay, who would be? But…”

He shot her a small smile. It felt false. “I’ll be fine.”

Her eyebrows creased. She looked even more worried, but didn’t press the subject.

Ducard walked over to Ladybug, handing over the brooch. “I’m guessing you know what to do with this?”

She nodded. “We’ll make sure the Miraculous goes where it belongs,” she said, taking the piece of jewelry and stowing it in her yo-yo.

Adrien wasn’t sure how he felt about that. It was so… final. He kept on believing that in a minute he might blink and be back where he was, with Hawkmoth leering over him, winding up to hit him.

But… the brooch was gone now. He couldn’t just… wake up and grab it. It was out of his reach, even if he did wake up unexpectedly.

It just seemed unreal.

Ladybug retrieved her Lucky Charm, throwing it into the air. “Miraculous Ladybug!”

The ladybugs swirled around them, repairing what little damage had been done.

The raw ache in Adrien’s body disappeared. He hadn’t even realized how much he was still feeling his father’s beating until it was gone.

A ringtone sounded from his father’s unconscious body. Adrien blinked.

Mechanically he walked over, looking at the caller ID.

Nathalie’s face greeted him.

He stared numbly. In the excitement, he’d forgotten about her.

Robin checked his monitoring device. “She’s in Gabriel’s office, heading over to the painting.”

Heading over to-

His stomach seized.

She definitely knew.

He’d assumed she did, but-

“Everyone, HIDE!” Robin hissed.

Ladybug’s earrings beeped. He glanced at them. Only one dot left now.

She cursed, dragging his father into the foliage before crouching down herself.

Adrien followed her lead, crouching down beneath a bush.

“Spots off,” she muttered, detransforming.

The yo-yo string that had been wrapped around his father disappeared, leaving him limp on the ground.

Adrien froze, staring at him.

Marinette was right there, within easy reach if he woke up. 

He wasn’t moving beyond the slow, soft rising and falling of his chest.

But- what if he was faking?

He shook his head. No, no. Robin had knocked him out himself. And while his way of making friends was… questionable, his skill was not.

So why couldn’t he stop seeing images of him waking up? Of him grabbing her by the neck while she was looking away? Ripping her earrings out, and-  

His train of thought ground to a halt, refusing to contemplate what his father might do if Marinette resisted.

“Breathe, kid, breathe,” Plagg’s voice whispered. 

He took a breath, letting it out slowly.

Still, he couldn’t help staring, looking for the slightest twitch of movement.

*whirreeee*

Until the noise started up, that is. 

He looked over to the elevator, tensing. He wanted to keep watching his father, but with danger on two fronts…

*clunk*

The elevator landed, its doors opening.

Nathalie - his father’s assistant, the woman who’d been mostly parenting him since his mother... disappeared, who he thought might even become his stepmother - stepped out.

Hawkmoth’s accomplice.

She looked around. “Sir? You didn’t answer your phone, are you- AAAH!”

Tripping seemingly on thin air (though Adrien suspected it was rather more solid than that), she faceplanted onto the floor.

As she struggled to get back up, something seemed to be pinning her in place. 

“Wha- who-?”

Robin jumped down from where he’d been hanging, retracting his grappling gun’s line.

“This is assault!” Nathalie spat. “I don’t know how they do things in Gotham, but-”

“I don’t think anyone’s going to protest taking down Hawkmoth’s accomplice,” Robin sneered. 

Fear flashed across her face. Still, she did her best to maintain her composure. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Robin rolled his eyes. “Right. You just HAPPENED to wander down to Hawkmoth’s lair, filled with the butterflies he uses, Gabriel’s comatose supposedly-dead wife, while calling for Gabriel.”

She glared at him as best she could while face-down, pinned to the ground. “Our lawyers will hear about this.”

“You do that.” Robin put one of his gloved hands over her face. Within seconds she stopped struggling, going limp.

“You can come out now,” he called out.

Adrien emerged from the bush. He looked over at Marinette, making sure she was well out of Gabriel’s (potential) reach, before walking over to Nathalie’s prone form.

“What did you do to her?” he asked slowly. Intellectually he knew that Nathalie had helped his father, had helped Hawkmoth, but… right now, it was hard to see anything but the woman who’d taken care of him for the past several months. Even knowing what she’d done, he didn’t want to see her hurt.

“Same thing I did to you and Marinette. She’ll wake up in a few hours.”

“Wait, you had that stuff still on hand?”

“Of course I did. Why wouldn’t I?”

“Then why didn’t you use that to knock my father out?”

“I wanted to punch him,” Robin said simply.

Adrien opened his mouth… and then closed it. He couldn't really deny that sentiment.

“What now?” he asked instead.

Robin looked at him. “You two can head home. I can take it from here.”

Marinette stalked up, seeming like she was about to protest… and then glanced over at Adrien. Her face softened. She looked back over at Robin. “DON’T hurt Nathalie, and make sure to give Gabriel back after wiping his memory. They’ll need to stand trial. And if you find the Peacock Miraculous, give it STRAIGHT over. No tests, no funny business. Got that?”

He glared at her a moment, but nodded. Ducard cut in, “I’ll make sure you get the Peacock back, don’t worry.”

She stared at them both, as if searching for their intentions, then nodded. 

Turning towards Adrien, she gave him a small smile, putting her arm around his shoulders. “Come on kitty, let’s go home.”

Home…? Where…?

With her.

She meant going home WITH HER.

Shakily he drew in breath. “Yeah. Let’s go home.”

His father might be a monster.

His caretaker might be an accomplice.

His mother might be unconscious. 

But he still had people who loved him.

He still had places to call home.

#We're the same #ml fanfic #Hawkmoth defeat #Damian wayne #Adrien agreste #Maya ducard #marinette dupain cheng #miraculous ladybug

[royalfoxfics]

Art by Twin Doodles

Ao3

FF.net

In which the Volpina is optimistic, Queen Bee looks at the big picture, and sometimes you just gotta roll with it.

When it came to being rescued and swept off her feet, Chloe was an expert.  

 At the top of the list of course, was Ladybug.  Absolutely nobody rescued her like Ladybug did.  The strength, the safety, the certainty that everything was going to be all right the moment she was swept up in those strong red and black arms; Ladybug could rescue the world’s most rabid dog, and it would become completely docile the moment she picked it up.  

 Next on the list was Serge, though it had been years since he had actually carried Chloe anywhere.  When she was a kid, Serge was always the one to pick her up and carry her home when she stayed late at the Agreste mansion. Actually, Aunt Sophia was always the one who picked her up, but it was always to hug her goodnight and give her back to Serge.  She couldn’t count the number of times she had fallen asleep with her cheek on his shoulder.  

 Chat Noir had never been particularly high on the list.  Knowing who he was now elevated him a little bit, but when he carried her to safety, it was just to get her to safety; there was no charm or elegance to it.  If ladybug was a lavish limousine, and Serge was a long used family car, then Chat Noir was a taxi.  He got you where you needed to be, but the ride was a bit uncomfortable, and it smelled a little like old cheese.  

 Volpina however….

 “You know, I think that little midair flip at the end might have been a bit unnecessary,” Queen Bee commented as they landed on the rooftop garden of the bakery.  

 Volpina was a motorcycle. She was wild, exciting, a little scary, and (Queen Bee had to admit,) sexy.  There was a fire in her eyes as she ran that made Queen Bee cling to her for dear life.  Volpina was going somewhere, and Queen Bee was only along for the ride.  Every time they leapt over a gap, Volpina looked down. Not out of fear, but as if she were daring gravity to just try to pull them down to earth.  She seemed ready to take on the world if she had to, and have the time of her life doing it. Needless to say, the short trip had taken Queen Bee’s breath away in more ways than one.

 She might even have replaced Serge to the number two spot on the list, if Queen Bee wasn’t still a bit hurt and angry with her from earlier.  

 “Sorry,” Volpina said, smiling and looking only slightly ashamed.  “It’s just, moving like that feels so great!  Ladybug’s always telling me to take it slow and do things safely, but a superhero’s supposed to have flair, isn’t she?”

 Queen Bee rolled her eyes.

 “You and Plagg would get along great.”

 “Plagg?”

 “Chat Noir’s Kwami,” Queen Bee replied quickly, looking around at the roof.  “This is… quaint.”  

 “Yeah, it’s not bad,” Volpina said, missing the subtle sting in Queen Bee’s choice of words.  “Hard to imagine there’s an evil Akuma just three stories below.  Maybe we got it wrong?”

 Volpina looked at her optimistically.  Before Queen Bee could do more than raise an eyebrow, there was a loud clattering of bells as the door to the bakery below them was thrown open.  They both peeked over the edge and saw a line of gibbering macaroons run out of the bakery and head towards the park.  

 “So, is constantly putting your foot in your mouth another superpower, or does it just come naturally to you?” Queen Bee asked, watching the freshly baked minions go.  

 Volpina groaned and grabbed at her face again.  Queen Bee smirked in satisfaction before looking over at the park thoughtfully.  

 “Still, that explains why there always seems to be more of them.  The Akuma must be turning them out by the dozen.”  She turned back to Volpina.  “So, what’s the plan?”

 Volpina grumbled and walked over to the trapdoor leading inside.  

 “We get in, we get the Akuma, and get out,” she said sourly.  

 She was about to open the trapdoor when Queen Bee grabbed her wrist.

 “And we do it very carefully, remember?” she asked.

 Volpina looked up at her. Queen Bee looked nervous, but she was trying to hide it.  Volpina sighed and then smiled reassuringly, and put her hand over Queen Bee’s.  

 “Right.  Don’t worry, I’m sure this’ll be a piece of cake.”

 Queen Bee made a face.

 “That is not at all reassuring today.”

 Volpina gave her a helpless little shrug, and pulled open the trap door.

 As the two of them descended into Marinette’s room, Queen Bee felt her skin crawl.  She imagined most people would have the same reaction walking into her penthouse.  If there was one person in Paris she hated, and felt completely justified in hating, it was… well it was probably Hawkmoth now that she thought about it.  But if there was a second person in Paris she hated and felt completely justified in hating, it was Marinette Dupan-Chang.  

 Her hatred only grew as she got a good look at the bedroom they were sneaking into.  The room was comprised of mainly three things: sewing supplies, pictures of Marinette’s friends and family (several of them just of Adrien,) and the color pink.  It was everywhere.  The walls were pink, the sofa was pink, the carpet was pink, the air even smelled pink somehow, no doubt due to a flowery pink air freshener hidden in a pink corner somewhere.  Queen Bee had to pause on the stairs and spend a few seconds just scowling at the room.  

 It worked.  Though she would never admit it, the slightly varying shades of pink and other colors used sparingly about the room just made it work.   Marinette knew how to use a theme, and Queen Bee hated it.  It wasn’t right that someone like Marinette had legitimate talent.  But then again, her own father was one of the most successful men she knew, next to Uncle Gabriel maybe.  It seemed the blacker your heart the more likely you were to succeed in life.  

 Life sucked.

 “Are you okay?”

 She blinked and realized she had been lingering in her angry thoughts too long.  Volpina was already on the bottom floor of the three tiered room, and was looking up at her with her head slightly cocked to one side. Queen Bee shook her head and continued down too.  

 “Yeah, I just…  Pink’s not my color.”  

 Not her best lie, but Volpina just pursed her lips and looked around the room.  

 “Yeah… she’s sure got a thing for it, doesn’t she?  Never did get the appeal of it myself.  I was always more of a fall colors kind of girl.”  

 “Pity you shot me down earlier,” Queen Bee said, strolling past her.  “Else I’d say how much I’d love to see you in nothing but flesh tones.”

 Volpina focused her attention on a nearby sewing machine and bit her lower lip, fighting a smile and trying to keep down a light blush.  Queen Bee paused for a moment at the second trap door before turning around to look back at Volpina with a puzzled expression.  

 “Am I doing that right? Like, I know you’re not interested, but the flirting…  Am I doing that right?”

 Volpina looked at her blankly.  Queen Bee took it as a bad sign, while in reality Volpina’s mind had simply been completely overridden by a single word.  

 ‘Cute.’

 “It’s just, I never flirted with a girl before today,” Queen Bee explained, beginning to play with her fingers.  “I’ve never honestly flirted with anyone, really.  I mean, I know how to flirt of course!  But not with someone I actually like.  Not that I like you!  I mean, I do, but I know that you don’t like me, so I’m not going to, you know…  I just, you seem to know how to do it, so if you could give me some pointers or something, that would be… nice.”  

 She trailed off, still playing with her hands and looking at every part of the room that wasn’t occupied by her partner.  Volpina meanwhile was fighting a small war with herself as she resisted the urge to squeal and scoop the nervous girl up so she could start cuddling her again.  

 After a few deep breaths, and reminding herself that she had already messed up and hurt Queen Bee once already, she decided she could be trusted within arm’s reach of her partner again, and purposefully strode past Queen Bee and over to the second trap door leading down into the main house.  

 “You’d probably come on a little too strong with a line like that,” she said, pointedly not looking at Queen Bee.  

 “But, that was still pretty smooth.  For a rookie,” she added, looking over her shoulder and giving Queen Bee a small smirk.  

 Queen Bee beamed at the praise.  She did a little arm pump and whispered “yes!” to herself.  Volpina could feel her resolve slipping away by the nanosecond, so she quickly looked back down at the trap door and cleared her throat.

 “Okay, Dating for Lesbian’s 101 is over for now.  Time to focus on the mission.”  

 “Right,” Queen Bee agreed and gave her a quick salute.  

 Volpina said a quick prayer to beg the powers that be to give her strength, and the two headed down into the rest of the house.  

 Truth be told, both of them had half expected the downstairs to have become some impossibly large maze made out of gingerbread or something.  Instead, they found a perfectly normal house.  Queen Bee guarded the stairs while Volpina did a quick check of the second floor for any clue or hint of the Akuma.  She returned giving Queen Bee a disappointed shrug.  

 They continued down the stairs to the small hallway connecting the house to the bakery, as well as the small side door to the street.  From inside the store, they could hear the sounds of a man’s voice talking enthusiastically to himself.  Volpina put a hand on the doorknob and looked meaningfully at Queen Bee, putting a finger to her own lips.  Queen Bee nodded, and quietly as possible, they pushed open the door.  

 However, the door had been installed by a complete moron, (most likely the owners, Queen Bee guessed,) because it opened out into the bakery, and away from the interior.  Queen Bee was certain that violated at least two safety regulations, as well as plain common sense in design.  She cursed silently to herself for leaving her purse back in the nurse’s office, as her hand mirror would have been perfect for peeking around the stupidly designed door.  Instead, in order to get a look at anything other than a brick wall, they had to open the door conspicuously wide, and poke their heads around it.  They kept low to the ground, trying to preserve what little stealth they could, meaning Queen Bee had to practically lay across Volpina’s back to get a look.

 Which led Queen Bee to decide that maybe who ever put in the door wasn’t so stupid after all.

 Queen Bee was unable to truly enjoy herself however, partially because pressing her body into someone she knew wasn’t interested was still awkward, (even if they did smell fantastic,) but mostly because of the strange sight that awaited them on the other side of the door.  

 The store itself was just as it had always been.  Fresh bread and pastries lined the shelves, light poured in cheerily from the large windows, the smells of warm baguettes and light fluffy croissants filled the air. The actual baking area however had undergone quite a makeover.  Any electric lights inside had been turned off, and several black candles had been lit about the room.  The wooden table Tom used to roll out his dough had been converted into a cross between a 17th century alchemical laboratory, and the set of a cooking show.  

 A cloaked figure stood chanting at the table.  In one hand he held a plane looking wooden rolling pin, while in the other he held a large book wrought in a heavy iron frame and lock, making it look like the grimoire of some ancient wizard.  The figure himself was large and bulky, and stood behind the table in profile to them. The heavy hood of his dark robes hid his face in shadow, and fortunately also kept them from his peripheral vision.  He also wore a small white chefs hat on top of his hood, and a white cotton apron around his waist, which clashed almost comedically with the rest of his dark and mysterious appearance.  

 “I think we found our Akuma,” Volpina whispered in Queen Bee’s ear.  

 “Either that, or the Grim Reaper is getting ready for a bake sale,” she whispered back.  

 They continued to watch as the figure waved the rolling pin over a mixing bowl and chanted phrases like, “One and one fourth cups of dry active yeast, two teaspoons of sugar, a pinch of salt!” then bursting out into a maniacal cackle.  

 After about two or three of these laugh breaks, the figure finished reading his “incantation,” and the contents of the bowl glowed and swirled up into the air.  The bits of various baking components manifested into half a dozen giant croissant soldiers, which stood still and lifeless in front of the cloaked figure.  He pointed his rolling pin at them.  

 “Go my creations!  Go see that that detestable taster remains where he is!  And make sure Ladybug and Chat Noir are ready to taste my ultimate revenge as well!”

 The croissants flew into a frenzy and charged out the door.  Well, most of them did; one of the little monsters managed to trip and impale itself on its own spatula on its’ way out.  It lay on the ground, completely motionless with the spatula sticking through it as its fellows ran around it and out the door.  The last croissant paused next to its fallen comrade, and regarded the spatula for a moment before ripping it out.  It held its newly acquired weapon in the air and screamed with delight before following the rest of its troops out the door, wildly swinging both of its weapons in berserk joy as it went.  

 The girls watched as the hole punched in the fallen croissant began to mend, and a few seconds later the evil edible jerked back to life and leapt to its feet.  It looked around for its stolen weapon before running out the door, gibbering furiously and shaking its fist.  

 “Did you see that?” Volpina whispered again.  “That thing was down for the count!  They must be weak to their own weapons.”

 “Maybe,” Queen Bee whispered back uncertainly.  “But remember the ones in the park?  They didn’t get up until all of their pieces were in place, remember?  I think that the spatula kept it from healing all the way, and that’s why it couldn’t get up. Like those old Christmas lights, the ones where if one bulb died then the whole string went out?”  

 “This is magical warfare, not party decorations,” Volpina snapped back.  “I bet it’s the weapons.  It’s more poetic that way.”  

 “And I say it just has to impale them,” Queen Bee snapped back.

 Before they could begin to argue like an old married couple, and likely blow their cover, the front door to the bakery opened with a sad ringing of its abused bell.  

 “Honey, I’m back!  You would not believe the lines at the…”

 The door closed behind Sabine Cheng as she stood stalk still at the front of her bakery, holding several large grocery bags.  Before her was the recognizable bulk of her husband, standing behind a strange mess of beakers, tubes, and open containers of sugar, looking like he was ready to go to a Halloween party.  Off to her left, were the unrecognizable masked faces of two strange girls peeking out from behind the door to her house.  All three of them seemed just as surprised to see her as she was to see them.

 After blinking at the strange scene taking place in her bakery, Sabine simply gave a little shrug and carried on.  She walked around the table of culinary alchemy and handed the grocery bags to her Akumatized husband and began digging around in them.  

 “I got you another bottle of maraschino cherries since you said you were low.  Oh, and mixed berries were on sale so I got a few boxes of those. I figured even if you didn’t need them we could always have some with breakfast this week.”

 “Excellent,” her husband cackled as she set the ingredients down on the table for him.   “These are just what I needed!  Soon, my revenge will be complete!  That fool Dude Fury will rue the day he crossed THE NECROBA-Oh wait, um… you didn’t happen to pick up some more marshmallow fluff too, did you?”

 Sabine held up a jar of it.

 “Perfect!  Now my revenge will be complete!  And that fool Dude Fury will rue the day he crossed THE NECROBAKER!”  Tom through back his cloaked head and cackled evilly, still carrying his wife’s grocery bags.  

 “That’s nice dear,” Sabine said, taking the groceries back.  “I’m just going to go upstairs and put this away before the ice cream melts.  Have fun enacting your revenge.”

 “Thanks Honeybunch!”  

 The Nekrobaker kissed his wife on the cheek and went back to his evil work.  Sabine turned around just in time to see a pair of orange ears and black antennae disappear behind the door.  She walked over to it and pulled the door open the rest of the way with her foot.  She stepped inside to see the two masked strangers huddled up next to the stairs, looking awkwardly from her to each other.  

 “Hello girls,” Sabine said after closing the door behind her.  “Could one of you please tell me what is going on?”

  After introducing themselves as Paris’s newest superhero team, the two of them followed Sabine upstairs and Volpina recapped everything that had happened, as well as what she suspected had happened to turn Tom into and Akuma.  As she finished, Sabine went over to the window and looked over at the park swarming with her husband’s handy work.  

 “That no good scoundrel,” Sabine cursed.  “Who does he think he is?  Trying to bully money out of people like that; it’s just down right rotten!  I’ll tell you one thing for sure, I’m certainly never watching his show again.”

 “I doubt that cockroach will even have a show after this,” Volpina said, wickedly.  “Once it gets out that he’s been blackmailing the places he reviews, I doubt he’ll be able to get a job on an infomercial.”

 “Of course, that’ll also put bad press on anyone he did give a good review too,” Queen Bee interrupted.  “If those network affiliates have any brains at all, they’re going to try to twist this around to say that the restaurants offered the bribes to him, and try to sue.  Sure, you’ll save the little places like this that couldn’t pay, but what about the ones like Le Grand Paris?  If this gets out, Le Grand Paris will get sued for bribery, Chef Cesaire will be made into a scapegoat, and she’ll be fired and blacklisted from every restaurant in Europe, along with every other owner of an establishment that appeared on that show.”

 Volpina gaped at Queen Bee as she finished her grim “big picture” analyses of the situation.  

 “But… No!  No, My mo- I mean, Chef Cesaire doesn’t own Le Grand, the Mayor does!  He’s the one who will get burned when it comes out that he paid a bribe.  Oh, this is going to be perfect.”  

 Volpina smiled and rubbed her hands together while Queen Bee sighed.

 “You said the money to pay Dude Fury’s bribe came out of the Head Chef’s pay, remember?  The Mayor didn’t just do that to slight her, he did that so any paper trail for the bribe could be traced back to her.  His lawyer’s probably already have an iron clad case written up to peg her for any scandal that pops up.  They’re very good at shifting the blame like that.”  

 Volpina stared at her with her mouth agape, while Queen Bee looked pointedly out the window.

 “You girls certainly seem well informed,” Sabine said, looking from one to the other.  

 They both flinched.  

 “Uhm, well, er, gotta keep up on current events, you know,” Volpina said crossing her arms and trying to lean casually against the kitchen counter.  

 “A superhero has to look at the grand scheme of things,” Queen Bee said easily, pretending to admire her nails, despite the fact that she was wearing gloves.  

 Sabine smiled at them.

 “Well, don’t forget, you two have lady luck on your side.  Ladybug luck, in fact.  As long as you two do the right thing I’m sure it’ll all work out.  Although it certainly doesn’t hurt to be prepared…”  

 Sabine put a finger to her lips and thought for a moment before nodding to herself and heading for the bedroom.  

 “I’m going to make a few phone calls, could you girls go downstairs and take care of my wayward husband? That cookbook he was holding has been passed down for generations.  Just tear it apart and I’m sure you’ll find one of those butterfly things.  Oh, and don’t be afraid to be a little ruff with him if you need to,” she added with a mischievous twinkle in her eye.  “Tom used to be quite the rugby player in high school, and anyway he could use the exercise.  Have fun!”

 And with that, she closed the door to her bedroom and left the two new superheroes staring after her.

 “This family is weird, right?  It’s not just me?”  Queen Bee asked, turning to Volpina.

 Volpina just held up her hand and made a little “maybe” gesture.    

  Back at the bottom of the stairs, Volpina went over her plan with Queen Bee.  

 “Alright, I’m gonna rush in there and smash up his little laboratory so he can’t make any more of his minions.  Then, while he’s distracted with that, I’ll grab the book away from him and run back here. We beat feet upstairs, run back across the rooftops to Ladybug, I throw it down to her, she de-evilizes the Akuma, and mission accomplished!”

 “And then Dude Fury causes no end of problems for either the bakery, or La Grand Paris,” Queen Bee deadpanned.  “And that’s if your plan doesn’t go catastrophically wrong in any one of a thousand ways I can think of off the top of my head.”  

 Volpina groaned and ground her teeth.  

 “Well it’s not like I’m hearing any great plans from you!”

 “You didn’t ask.  You just started declaring you were going to go in and start smashing stuff and that that would somehow fix everything.”

 Volpina glared at her, while Queen Bee crossed her arms and stared back coolly.  Volpina’s glare began to falter, and she forced herself to look down at the floor instead, her hands squeezed into trembling fists. Queen Bee sighed and uncrossed her arms. Fighting with her partner wasn’t going to help the situation, and she knew it.  

 “Look I’m… I’m sorry. I can tell you’re really invested in this for some reason, but your letting your emotions do the thinking, and it’s going to get you or someone else hurt.   Or worse, caught and get your miraculous stolen!  I don’t want to lose my partner on my first day.  I mean, who’d help me find a girlfriend?”

 Queen Bee nudged her playfully and forced herself to let out a hollow laugh.  Volpina sighed and looked at her, her expression now more ashamed then angry.  She turned her head and looked back at the door, pursing her lips at it in thought. After a minute she turned back to Queen Bee.  

 “So, what do you think we should do?”

 Queen Bee frowned and gave the door a distasteful look.  

 “Personally, I think we should just get out of here and get Ladybug and Chat Noir.”

 Volpina shook her head.

 “I already told you, we can’t let Ladybug know.”

 “That’s if she hasn’t figured it out already,” Queen Bee lamented.  She sighed and continued.  “But, if you insist we have to do this by ourselves, then fine.  I think we should try your illusions again.  If we can get him out of there, and out in the open, I think we have a much better chance of snagging that book and getting away without him seeing us.”

 Volpina thought for a moment and nodded.

 “Alright, I think I might be able to make it look like the bakery caught on fire behind him.  That should flush him out.  But I’ll need to get another look at that room first.”

 Queen Bee gave her a thumbs up, and Volpina nodded with a smile.  She went over to the door again while Queen Bee hung back; less faces meant less chance of being seen.  Volpina cracked open the door and poked her head around.  From inside the room came the sound of rushing winds, and the voice of the Nekrobaker screaming over it.  

 “Rise my ultimate creation! Rise!  Rise my Antibug Devil!  Rise and crush my enemies like ground nutmeg beneath your-“

 Volpina withdrew her head quickly and snapped the door shut.  She stood perfectly still for several seconds before turning around to face Queen Bee.

 “…So plan C, right?”  

Authors Notes:  

Regarding the bakery: Yes the door really does open like that in the show.  I don’t know why, but it does.  It took me forever to work out what the floor plan of Marinette’s house looked like, but near as I can figure it goes bakery on the first floor, house on the second floor, then Marinette’s room, and Marinette’s garden on the roof.  I almost ignored the strange design of the door, but making them poke their heads around made it much easier for them to be caught by Sabine.  

 Originally, I did write it so the house became a giant medieval dungeon that Queen Bee and Volpina had to navigate through, but for reasons that will become clearer in the next chapter, that idea was just too problematic to use now.  I also originally wrote Sabine out of the story completely; either by having her locked in one of the dungeons of the transformed house, or just had her out getting groceries the entire time, but then I got the idea of her coming home to find everything gone nuts, and found the idea of her just rolling with it too funny to pass up.  

 Regarding the Nekrobaker: I had a devil of a time coming up with a suitable name and identity for this first Akuma.  The original name I had suggested was Doughmanator, but I just couldn’t make that name work with the concept and scene I had planned.  

 Regarding feedback: Thank you all so much for your continued comments, reviews, and kudos!  They really make this story so much more rewarding to right.  I’m doing my best to keep to the weekly upload schedule, and your feedback is what motivates me to stay as consistent as I have been.  

#Chlolya #chloe bourgeois #alya cesaire #Queen Bee #Rena Rouge #Volpina #RoyalFox #Fanfiction

[proseasmic]

Inarrêtable - XIX

As sour as Adrien was about having to be around Luka and Marinette, he knew he couldn’t let Nino down. Besides, seeing Luka obtain a swift defeat by his best friend’s mad DJ skills would sweeten the situation a little more, and he didn’t want to miss that. Even so, he felt like a third wheel hanging out with both Nina and Alya, who was of course there to support her boyfriend and to film it for her blog. The two rattled on about this, that and the other thing as Adrien led them through the TV studio to the stage. His heart squeezed in his chest a little harder when she saw Marinette adjusting the collar of Luka’s shirt as they had an easy conversation with each other.

Man, that was never not difficult…

The month after the dance had been the longest of Adrien’s life. He and Marinette hadn’t been on speaking terms at school, and despite his efforts to try and make up with her, she was conveniently busy every time he made a move to apologize. He visited her as Chat Noir once or twice, but since his behaviour the last time he saw her where he’d kissed her hand, he felt like he’d burned that bridge, too. The only solace he had, for the most part, was his patrols with Ladybug, but even those felt stilted as he knew he needed to give her respectful distance, and she seemed to be preoccupied with something anyway. Ladybug had even seemed a little off with his civilian self, as well; the one time she happened to be around during an Akuma attack before he had a chance to transform, she just told him to get to safety, not sparing him much more than a glance when he was used to so much more from her.

Nino had forgiven him right away for the events at the dance after he explained what happened, but Alya had taken a little longer. Once he was able to sit her down and explain exactly how everything happened, she was tentative but promised not to hold it against him. He supposed her reason for being so stern about it was because of Marinette. Adrien didn’t need telling twice; he knew that he’d hurt her, and he knew he’d be paying for it for a long time.

Adrien found his way to the elevator, pressing the button for the highest floor he could go to get to the roof and he stepped onto it, enjoy the silence surrounding him. He leaned against the cool steel wall, closing his eyes, but before the elevator could close all the way, he heard someone call, “Hold the door!”

He looked up and saw Marinette, managing to worm her way through the closing doors, and he froze for a second as she caught her breath before she baulked at the sight of him. It was the first time they were face to face since their fight at the dance.

“Oh,” she said awkwardly, glancing down at her feet. “Sorry… um, I’ll just—”

She turned around to walk through the doors, but they’d already closed. He heard her sigh.

“It’s okay,” he said softly. “I’ll leave you alone. I’m just going up to the roof to get some air.”

“Me, too,” Marinette said softly, leaning against the opposite wall from Adrien.

“I can get off at the next floor if you want,” Adrien said. “I don’t want to bother you or anything—”

“No, no, it’s fine,” Marinette said quickly. “Don’t let me stop you.”

The pair of them stood in silence as they made their (agonizingly) slow ascent. Adrien fiddled anxiously with the ring on his right hand and Marinette was doing the same with her earrings, nervously turning the studs in her ears. They glanced at each other and ceased their fiddling with an awkward start, suddenly realizing they were in such close quarters.

“So,” Adrien ventured slowly, not liking the way the silence was pressing in on them. “Uh… how’s Luka?”

“What?” Marinette said distractedly. “Oh. Um. Good! Yeah, he’s good.”

“That’s good,” Adrien supplied casually.

“How’s Kagami?” Marinette asked.

“Huh?”

“You two are dating, aren’t you?”

“What?” Adrien’s eyes went wide. “N-no, we’re not dating… where did you hear that?”

“You took her to the dance,” Marinette said pointedly.

“As a friend,” Adrien clarified.

Marinette nodded slowly. “Right; sorry, I’m sure you mentioned it that night, I just… assumed.”

The silence stretched on for a long time again. Adrien wanted to say something, anything at all, to let her know how sorry he was for the way he’d behaved at the dance, but he didn’t know what else he could say. Eventually, he sighed and opened his mouth to speak.

“Look, Marinette, about the dance—”

“Adrien, about that night—”

They both started talked at the same time, cutting each other off, and they chuckled a little awkwardly, not looking at each other.

“You go ahead,” Adrien said.

“No, no, please,” Marinette replied. “You go.”

“Okay,” He took a deep breath. “About the dance? I just wanted to say how so—“

A sudden lurch of the elevator car accompanied by a loud groan cut off Adrien’s words and effectively caused Marinette to tumble into him. He caught her before she face planted, Adrien shielding her head with his arms as they toppled to the ground. She was pressed against his chest as the elevator ground to a halt, ceasing its rocking movement and they both noticed with flushed faces how close they were. They only had a second to register this before the lights in the lift suddenly shut off, keeping them in complete darkness for a moment until the emergency lights along the bottom panels of the elevator turned on, giving them just enough lighting to see. As soon as it was still, Adrien quickly let go of Marinette and she pulled back, instantly running for the control panel and pressing a few buttons.

“It’s not working,” she said urgently.

“Dammit…” Adrien grumbled.

“Maybe we can try and pry the door open,” Marinette suggested, and Adrien moved to try and pull the doors apart with his fingers.

He managed to get it open just enough to wedge his shoulder in between, but saw there was only a sliver of the next floor up that was visible, and it was too small for them to crawl out. If only he could transform and use his staff, he’d be able to pry it up… but he couldn’t in front of Marinette.

“We’re stuck,” Adrien said, looking around for another way to get out.

“Do you think it’s an akuma?” Marinette asked.

“Most likely,” Adrien said. “That, or a really bad electrical failure. Don’t worry, I’m sure Ladybug and Chat Noir will be here soon.”

They heard a scraping sound on the next floor up and Adrien immediately pressed himself against the doors of the elevator, Marinette doing the same, so they couldn’t be seen. He looked up to see what it was, and he saw a man dressed in a very stylized firefighter uniform, dragging around a fire extinguisher.

“So, you like to have fun with too many people and too much electrical equipment, huh?” The Akuma said.

Without warning, the Akuma took its extinguisher and pointed it at the elevator, pulling the nozzle and letting a large blast of fire hit the wall and blasting off the top of the elevator car, causing burning debris to fall around them.

“Well… Fire Marshal will show you the detriment of not keeping things… up to code!”

‘I need to transform!’ Adrien thought frantically. But he couldn’t… not in front of Marinette. He weighed his options, looking from the girl huddled in the corner but glancing around with a determined look in her eyes to the now non-existent roof of the elevator. There was no way to get out of this without being Chat Noir… and the Akuma was already looking like it was gearing up for another attack.

‘I may not have a choice… Marinette will know who I am…’

He heard the Akuma cackle as it chose to a new spot to aim the Fire Non-extinguisher (right at the cables holding the car up along the sides) and his mind was made up, knowing there was going to be no going back from this.

‘No sense getting toasted…’ he thought. He took a deep breath, his face burning as he brought up his right hand.

“Plagg, claws out!” He called.

“Tikki, spots on!”

It all happened with a matter of seconds.

The words left her mouth the same time as his, and he whipped his head around to fix her with a look of shock and awe. Marinette was fixing him with the same look, their mouths hanging open as their transformations crackled down their bodies and it took his brain an extra minute to catch up with what was happening before everything clicked. Their transformations complete, they gaped at each other wordlessly before they could find their voices.

“IT’S YOU?” They yelled in unison, pointing at each other.

--------------

PREV ---- NEXT

Find me on A03

Buy me a KoFi?

#miraculous ladybug fan fiction #miraculous #miraculous lb #miraculers #fanfiction writer #adrienette #adrien agreste #marinate dupain-cheng #marichat #ladybug and chat noir #the tales of ladybug and cat noir #the tales of ladybug and chat noir #tales of ladybug and cat noir #luka couffaine #romance fic #ml ladybug #ladybug #cat noir #chat noir