Maribug Split

Chapter 28: Decisive actions

The silence filled the room with only the faint sound of flapping of small wings competing with the slow beating of a cold heart. The covers of the circular window opened, letting shafts of light penetrate the dim room and bounce off the wings of hundreds of white butterflies swarming around a tall man in a dark purple shirt and black pants. He stood without moving, barely breathing, icy blue calculating eyes peering through his silver mask.

Hawkmoth watched the destruction of Paris.

It has been over 24 hours since he sent out his latest akuma. The Protestor impressed him with his ability to take down Chat Noir, but Ladybug’s absence disturbed him. She was late in joining the fight against the Mailman and only arrived yesterday to save Chat Noir. Since then, neither has come out. If the so-called heroes do not come and fight his akuma, how was he going to capture their Miraculous?

The Protestor has been rampaging through the city throughout the day with no one to stop him. Not the outcome Hawkmoth was looking for. He saw no benefit in meaningless destruction. Paris was his city, too. Some damage to the city was acceptable to get his heart’s desire, but anything beyond that was a wanton waste.

Time for decisive actions.

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The mansion had a multitude of rooms, bedrooms, studies, guest suites, and entertainment areas. Every room had its own private television or computer screen. There was even a private movie theater linked to local networks and the internet. With multimedia options all around, why had Natalie insisted on placing herself in front of Adrien’s television? 

Shortly after Adrien changed, Natalie came to check on him. Satisfied he followed his father’s orders, she sat herself in front of his television to follow the news. Natalie was a busy woman, and sitting in Adrien’s room did not stop her from spending most of her time fiddling with her tablet while giving the television some courtesy glances. It was very obvious to Adrien that his jailor would not let her prisoner escape.

They had Lunch in his room, eaten with only a few casual comments. He felt better, as Plagg explained earlier:

“Being a Miraculous holder enhances your normal healing abilities. Not as instant as ‘Miraculous Ladybug’, but your cuts and bruises should feel better by tonight and disappear within a few days. A broken rib, well, that takes about two weeks.” Adrien prayed he hadn’t broken a rib.

Adrien failed miserably at doing school work, received the lowest scores ever on his handheld game console, and spent most of the time staring through the television into the bleakness of nothingness. Someone at the news station must have pressed the ‘loop’ button since all they spoke about was the akuma rampaging through the city. The Protestor caused an immense amount of property damage, the hospitals were overflowing with the injured. Five people died. 

Ladybug and Chat Noir were nowhere to be found. Speculation abounded as to what happened to them. They had footage of Chat’s fight with The Protestor, showing Chat’s embarrassing defeat. It ended with Chat flying above the city, then abruptly pulled to earth and out of sight. The consensus was that Ladybug saved Chat and the two of them were regrouping.  

The police attempted to stop the akuma themselves and suffered an ignominious defeat. Many were critically wounded but, fortunately, no more fatalities. They needed to hold on for Ladybug’s magic.

Natalie was not the only reason Adrien didn’t transform. He knew his next step would be to go to Master Fu and tell him what happened, how Ladybug had somehow taken over Marinette’s body. He did not understand how that happened. For himself, he was Chat Noir and Chat Noir was him. At first, he thought Marinette was Ladybug. It blew his mind that his partner was near him all this time. He could see Marinette as Ladybug. She had all the right qualities. At least the old Ladybug. This new Ladybug was something else completely, and she was not Marinette.