Heartbreaker 💔 (A Miraculous Ladybug Fanfic)

3- Heartbreaker

"Are you okay to go back to class?" Marinette asks Adrien, standing up with a hand extended to him. He hesitates to grab it. "Ignore what everyone's saying. Don't let it get to you."

Adrien smiles and takes her hand. "Thanks, Marinette. I can always count on you."

"Sure, what are friends for?" She asks with a smile.

The word stings his heart, but he's not sure why. He shakes the feeling away and they walk back to class.

Miss Bustier looks over as the teens walk in. "Marinette, you're needed in the principal's office."

"What for?" She asks.

"I don't know. He didn't say, but hurry up and get back so you don't miss the lesson."

Marinette waves to her friends and leaves.

As Adrien walks back to his set, he sees a paper taped to the chair. He notices everyone is holding the same paper. Confused, he grabs it and takes a closer look. His heart sinks. It's a poster with a picture of Adrien with the word 'LOSER' written above his head, with a second picture of Ladybug making a gagging face. Angry, he crumbles the paper in his hand and looks around his classmates. "Who did this?"

"Did what, Agreste?" Kim asks as he breaks out in a laugh. "Oh, you mean that masterpiece? Well, that would be me, of course."

"This isn't funny, Kim," Adrien snaps, glaring at him.

Kim gestures around the room. "Everyone else thinks it's funny."

"Well," Rose intervenes, standing up. "I think you're taking it too far, Kim."

"No one asked you, Pinkie Pie."

Juleka throws a pencil at Kim. "Don't talk to her like that."

"Oh, you guys just don't have a sense of humor!" Kim snatches a poster from Max's hand and shows it to Adrien. "We're just digging on you, Adrien. It's just a joke. That's what friends do."

"I told you it wasn't funny," Adrien reminds him. "Friends don't embarrass each other."

"You're right. They embarrass themselves." Kim laughs. "Like you thinking you have a shot with someone as cool as Ladybug. Listen, Blondie." He pats Adrien's shoulder. "In your dreams. Never gonna happen. Just let it go."

Adrien shoves Kim's arm away. "Buzz off, Kim." He runs out of the classroom, angry, and gathers his things from his locker.

Plagg peeks his head out of the jacket. "You okay, kid?"

"That Kim... who does he think he is?" Adrien shouts, punching the locker. It leaves a dent and he sits on the bench, crying. "So what if I have a crush on Ladybug? So what if I don't have a chance with her? That doesn't mean he has the right to embarrass me."

"I'm sorry," His kwami whispers, nuzzling against his holder's cheek.

In his lair, Hawkmoth feels a powerful, negative emotion emitting from the school. "That hurt... that pain... it's beautiful. It's just what I need." He releases an akuma. "Go, akuma. Find this broken soul and—" He pauses with wide eyes. "Adrien?"

All that negativity is coming from his son?

"Wait, my akuma." He hesitates for a second. Would it be right to akumatize him? To use him? He ignores the concern. "Go ahead, my akuma. Akumatize my son. If things get too dangerous, I'll drop the control and he'll be safe."

Plagg peeks an eye open and spots the akuma flying in. "Adrien! Watch out!"

It's too late. The akuma lands on the crumbled paper in his hand. Adrien looks up, eyes red from crying, and he struggles to break the control. "No... no!"

"Heartbreaker..." Hawkmoth's voice echoes through his ears. "I am Hawkmoth. You're being mocked for your love and true feelings in your fragile heart? I give you the power to break others' hearts and make them hurt like you do."

Adrien shakes his head. "No, I can't. I won't."

"You have to fight it, Adrien," His kwami begs, terrified. "Please. Fight it."

"You can and you will, Heartbreaker."

"Plagg..." Adrien slips the ring off and hands it to his kwami. "Go find Ladybug and give this to her."

"But—"

Adrien pushes him away. "Go!" The transformation completes. His once blonde hair turns long and red, tied back in a low bun. His skin turns pale white. A dark pink suit covers him head-to-toe. A red light shines from his hands—his power—and he shoots a beam at the door, destroying it. "They'll pay for what they did to me."

Hawkmoth snickers. "I'd knew you wouldn't be able to resist, Heartbreaker. All I ask in return is Ladybug and Cat Noir's miraculous."

"Of course, Hawkmoth."

***

"Why do you have to be so cruel?" Rose asks Kim with a sad smile. "Adrien asked you to stop teasing him!"

Kim rolls his eyes. "It's not that big a deal. Not my fault he can't take a joke."

"Still, it wasn't cool, dude," Nino says. "You hurt my best bud and—"

The classroom door breaks open and flies across the room. Heartbreaker steps through and looks over his classmates. They stay quiet. "What? You all have nothing to say now? No teasing? No jokes? Well, that's pathetic, just like the lot of you."

They all scream and run, but not fast enough. He raises his hand as a red glow bursts through the room, turning everyone and everything it touches to stone. Kim ducks in time and hides under a table as his classmates begin to turn to statues. He glances over at the door. He jumps up, making his escape, and trips. "Crap," He mutters.

Heartbreaker's head snaps over and he smiles. "You're not getting away that easy." He shoots a beam and Kim dodges and run. "We're playing Cat and Mouse now? Okay, I'll play."

"Leave me alone!" Kim shouts as he rushes to the art room, piling chairs against the door. He steps back, panting, and smiles. "Cool. I'm safe."

Heartbreaker blasts through the walls and aims an armed hand at Kim. "Spoken too soon." He hits Kim with his power, who freezes in place and starts to change.

"You're adjusting to your powers," Hawkmoth congratulates. "Now go find Ladybug and Cat Noir."

"I need to find Marinette first."

Hawkmoth digs his cane into the floor. He didn't know his son could be so stubborn. "No! I don't have time for you to turn Marinette to stone! I need Ladybug and Cat Noir's miraculous!"

"You've mistaken me, Hawkmoth," Heartbreaker explains as he leaves the art room. "I don't wish to harm Marinette. I want to keep her safe. I have plans for this city. Don't worry, I'll get Ladybug's earrings for you. I just need to find Marinette."

"Fine," Hawkmoth sighs. "Go ahead."

Heartbreaker shoots a beam near the roof of the school and closes the entrance with debris. No one can escape now.

"Where are you, Marinette Dupain-Cheng?!"