To Be a Hero | MLB

23: The Doubt

I rush over to him and lift his parrot off his shoulder with an arm. Free of my power, he grunts, clutching his head.

"What... what happened?" he asks me.

"I... well, I—"

He steps toward me, his green eyes narrowing. "It was you. You were the one in my head. You were... controlling me, somehow."

"Antoine, I'm sorry—"

"How were you doing it?" he barks, and I feel my face crumple. Hearing Antoine upset with me hurts a lot more than I want to admit. "And how do you know my name?"

I'm technically still Pinion under my Reverb makeover, I realize. The magic of my Miraculous hides my identity, so it must be the only thing keeping Antoine from recognizing me.

He steps forward again, and I shrink back. Then he seems to notice all the soldiers frozen around us, waiting for my next command. "You are doing this? Controlling all these people?"

Tears well in my eyes as I take in the fury in Antoine's gaze. "I... I just—"

"What you're doing is wrong. You need to let them go."

I shake my head, wiping away my tears. "I can't," I whisper. "I have to do this."

He opens his mouth to say more, but I set his parrot back on his shoulder, and his eyes revert to their glossy, violet state. I can't stand by and listen to him criticize my actions any longer, and this is... a tiny bit better.

I tell his parrot to keep him in place, and it whispers into his ear. Antoine stiffens slightly, and I bring a hand to his cheek.

"You'll be safe here," I murmur to him. But then his words drift back to me, and my throat tightens. Maybe... maybe he has a point. It's not right for me to take over others' free will... and besides, this isn't what I meant when I said I want to be a leader, rather than a follower. I want people to follow me by choice, not out of obligation—

"Hey, Pinion. You called us?" an irritating, familiar voice rings out from behind me. I turn and see Chat Noir standing on the bridge leading across the Seine. Instantly, all my feelings of resentment toward him and Ladybug come rushing back. Even if mind control wasn't what I initially wanted, now it's what I need. It's the only

"There is no more Pinion, only Reverb," I call back.

"Where is Ladybug?" Hawk Moth asks, and I search around for her.

When I don't find her, I hold my racket up in the air. "My army?" The eyes of my soldiers around me begin glowing as I command, "To the river!"

Then hundreds of Parisians immediately start swarming toward the Seine, and Chat Noir's eyes widen. "I thought we had a deal!"

"I wanted your and Ladybug's Miraculous, and I only see one of you here now."

The first few people begin sloshing into the water, and Chat Noir yells, "Milady, now!" Then Ladybug's yo-yo winds itself around my stomach for the second time today, and I'm yanked backward. My back crashes against the wall of a building behind me, and I struggle to free my arms.

Ladybug lands on the ground in front of me and retracts her yo-yo. I point my racket at her, and Chat Noir launches himself to stand beside her.

"Reverb, no one has to come to any harm. Just give me your Miraculous back, and we can all go our separate ways," Ladybug says calmly.

"Never," I growl, then leap to take off and hover in the air above them. "These powers bring me everything I want, and you won't take those from me without a fight."

Chat Noir readies his stick. "Let's fight, then."