Miraculous: Tales of Ms. Ladybug and Tom Cat

Part 51: The Promise

Hawkmoth slammed his fist against the walls of the sewers, creating a large dent.

So close, he thought. I was so close.

If only he'd been there a few minutes earlier, then he would've finally gotten his hands on the Miraculous and completed his plan.

 He looked over to Marinette and Adrien, still encased in ice. Were these really the legendary Ladybug and Cat Noir? The heroes of Paris and the undoing of his predecessors? The saviors of not just Paris but the entire world?

He took a deep breath and collected his cool. He needed to seem like everything was going as planned. He walked over to them. "So, you're the legendary Ladybug and Chat Noir? Hmm?" He looked them over. "A couple of old geezers trapped in ice because they didn't know when to give up. Shame, I was expecting more."

"We may be getting on in age," Marinette said. "But trust me. Your day is coming. We'll take you down just like we took down the previous Hawk Moth."
"You can try. But first, you'll need your Miraculous won't you?" Hawk Moth said. "Do you happen to know where they are?"

Marinette was silent. "You do, don't you?" Hawk Moth said. "I would ask you where they are but you'd probably spit in my face first. So, let's up the ante, shall we?"

Timetagger appeared next to him, his time gun drawn and at the ready.

"Now you now have two options. Tell me where the Miraculous are or I'll have Timetagger send one of you so far back that you'll never see your loved ones ever again. I only need one of you to tell me where they are, so, which one should I send back?"

Adrien gave a loud and exaggerated yawn. "Are we done here?"

Hawk Moth was taken aback, "I'm sorry," he said. "Am I boring you?"

"Sorry, I would be more interested, but you're just recycling the other Hawk Moth's plans. It's incredibly lazy. Maybe try doing something original instead of being a huge copycat. Then you'll have my interest."

Hawk Moth growled in frustration. "You're all talk old man." the villain replied. "You have no cards left to play. You have no options left. Now, tell me where the Miraculous are!" he walked over to Marinette and grabbed her face. "Unless you want to see me send your lady to the end of time."

"Don't listen to him, Adrien!" Marinette said. "We can still," She was interrupted by a painful slap to her face, resulting in an ugly bruise. Adrien's face turned red with rage. "Get your filthy hands off her!"

"Don't give in, Kitty," Marinette said. She then looked at Hawk Moth. "Threaten us all you want. You'll never get our Miraculous. By now they're probably far away from here. So you *butter-fly away before heroes from all around the world come and stop you!"

Hawk Moth hated to admit it, but she was right. It was only a matter of time before heroes from all over the world would come to Paris, especially after hearing that the local heroes had been stopped. He'd originally planned to have the Miraculous within 24 hours of his initial attack. If only he had a way to travel back to before they were taken...

His face lit up with an idea.

"Timetagger," he said, "What's happening with Bunyx right now?"

"She's stuck in the past, around 1400 BCE if I remember correctly,"

That definitely threw a wrench into his plan, but thankfully he had a plan b. "In that case, I need you to send me back in time to about an hour ago. Back when they still have their Miraculous."

"You sure about that Hawk Moth?" Timetagger said. "If you fail you could change the past and wind up not existing. Plus, it's a one-way trip."
"It doesn't matter." He said. "We don't have the rabbit Miraculous or a lot of time before heroes from around the world get here. So, let's do this." he then held out his arms to get shot.

Timetagger gave in. "Alright then, you asked for it." He then aimed his gun at Hawk Moth, the destination set to an hour before the current time. "Fire away," he said.

What happened next happened so fast you would miss it if you blinked. In less than a second, the battle changed trajectory as Bunyx jumped from the right and landed a kick on the gun, thus changing the time from one hour to decades into the past, sending him back far longer than he was supposed to go. Before he could react, Hawk Moth was sucked into the green portal and teleported to oblivion. The kick also damaged the gun, breaking it and setting free the akuma trapped inside.

Bunyx took a moment to realize what she'd done, and what would come next. "Oh no," she said in despair.

"Wait, what," Marinette said, "Bunyx? What just happened, what's wrong?" Marinette said. "What happened to Hawk Moth? Did the kids escape ok?"

Bunyx simply looked at her and Adrien sadly. "I'm so sorry Marinette."

"Why? Has something happened to our kids? Are they ok?" She looked desperate. "Bunyx, what happened to our kids?!"

"Last I checked, they're ok," Bunyx said. "But by messing with Timetagger's gun I sent Hawk Moth back a lot further than he intended. So you and your kids, as well as everyone else in this time, are about to not exist." Bunyx said.

The Agreste's were speechless. Bunyx attempted to give them hope.

"But it's not over yet! I can go back and..." she then gave it a bit of thought. "Wait. I can't. I'll interfere with my own history."

She then gave another embarrassed look. "Look, we don't have much time. I need Ladybug and Cat Noir. Which right now means, I need your kids. Otherwise, we all disappear."

"What?!" Adrien said. "Our kids?! They're not ready to use the Miraculous! We sent them away with them to hide them away, not actually use them! You can't suggest we put our kids in danger like that..."
"Adrien!" Marinette said. "I don't like it either. But right now what choice do we have?"

Adrien was stunned. "You can't be serious Marinette! They've never used Miraculous before!"

"Thomas just did, and they're responsible and smart. If Bunyx says she needs them then I trust her." 

Adrien had no response. "Listen to me," Marinette said. "I love you. And I love our kids. I have full faith in them that they can do this."

Adrien gave a nod. "I guess you're right. I don't like it though."

Marinette gave a look of ferocity to Bunyx. "But if anything should happen to our kids, I'll hunt you down until the end of time and won't stop until I have your Miraculous. They will NOT be hurt.

Bunyx then walked over and hugged Marinette's ice block. "I promise Marinette. I'm gonna fix everything. I promise."
"And what about me?" Adrien said. "What? No hug for your favorite Cat?"

Bunyx just looked at him, a humorous smile on her face. She looked at Marinette. "He's never gonna change, is he?"

"Probably not," she said. "But that's why I love him."

Bunyx gave out a small laugh before opening another burrow. 

"I'll make sure your kids come back, I swear it."

She lept through her burrow to across town, where the kids were already in trouble...