The Last Stand: A Miraculous Story

Chapter 1: Conclusion

Ladybug and Cat Noir hardly broke a sweat.  They had just defeated another akuma.  It' sbeen about a year since they've began their career as Paris' Dynamic Duo.  Ladybug purified the akuma with her yo-yo.

"Bye bye, little butterfly" said Ladybug.

"That was great, Ladybug!" said Cat Noir.

They did their "pound it" and started to head home.  

...

Hawk Moth screamed in absolute hate and anger. Frsutration bounced off the walls of his lair as it echoed throughout the room. He threw his cane down onto the ground and stomped it furiously before his transformation released itself. Nooroo fell to the ground in exhuastion. 

 "Another failure!" Garbiel spat out in disgust, "Another akuma has been defeated by two children! How?! How does this keep happening?!" 

 "I-I don't know, Master," Nooroo whimpered, "The Ladybug and Cat Muraculouses hold great power. They've hardly ever been defeated." 

Gabriel snarled. He didn't care. All he wanted was the two kids' Miraculous Jewels. He had wanted them about a year ago when it all started. He didn't want to know about their annoying winning streak. His patience was waning. 

Nooroo let out another pathedic whimper, causing Gabierl to roll his eyes in revulsion. He yanked off the Butterfly Miraculous and sent Nooroo back to whatever limbo plane he and the other Kwamis came from. With another aggravated growl, Gabriel stormed out of his lair and back into his office. 

His arm shot out and swiped off the many papers, files, and picture frames off. The loud, clattering, noise and terrible mess wasn't brightening Gabriel's mood. 

 "I take it that the akuma wasn't successful?" asked Nathalie dryly. 

Gabriel gave her a look, giving her a clear answer. They were so close this time. The akuma was just inches from taking Ladybug's earrings, but that "blasted" Lucky Charm worked its magic. 

 "The akumas have taken arguin back with you," Nathalie explained, "they've even tried to turn your entire lair against you in order to kill you." 

"What is your point, Nathalie?" asked Gabriel. 

"My point, sir, is that perhaps you should approach the problem differently. The akumas hardly make any progress. Using the same tactic over and over again won't help."

Gabriel thought about Nathalie's advice really hard. It would make senes. At this point, Ladybug and Cat Noir would be ready for any kind of akuma, knowing that he'd be sending anothe rakuma the next day or so. He'd need to figure out something the two could never think of. This caused him to relax a bit.

"Your point is valid," Gabriel admitted, "but just how exactly could I change this 'approach'? No room of evolution can exsist if I can't expose myself to capture or revealed." 

"You could use someone close to Ladybug to manipulate her into giving you her Miraculous out of her free will?" Nathalie suggested.

Gabriel went into deep thought once again. This couldn't work. Ladybug was so good at keeping her identity secret that there's no way of telling who might be so close to her to make her get into position. Nathalie suggested Alya, the reporter-like girl for the Ladyblog. There were many times when she went out of her way to rescue. 

No, many of Ladybug's better successes happened when MIss Cesaire was in great peril. 

 "To place her in any more would only lead to more humiliating defeats." Gabriel disagreed, "I need to crush her spirit to go on, not motivate her to become a bigger nusiance."

"The Bourgeois girl?" asked Nathalie.

"No. Ladybug made her disbain of Miss Bourgeois quite clear in the past. We need someone Ladybug is blatantly smitten with. Someone she'd abandon all responsibility to rescue. Someone she can't thinking about. Someone per-"

Adrien smile finally came into Gabriel's view.

his perfect son that Ladybug clearly infatuated with. He remembered the incident with Jackady, the one time he really put himself at risk and how Ladybug spent a great deal of her time "protecting him" by staring at the pictures of Adrien he had up on his walls with a deep blush and loving eyes. 

 Gabriel's light questioning and bragging about his son and sent the girl into a stammering, blushing, mess. He could recall Nathalie reporting how Ladybug had stammered around his son as well, and how Adrien was just as nervous. 

And then he remembered the Volpina incident, and how Ladybug actually reach up to take off her Miraculous in order to save the illusion of his son. And most recently, with the swords-woman he could clearly see that Ladybug was flushed and flustered by having Adrien in her arms as she rescued him. She was also clearly distracted the entire fight, worrying about Gabriel's son. 

Gabriel had his perfect bait. He had Adrien. 

 "No..." he murmred to himself, "...I won't do it..." 

 He couldn't just put his own son in such danger like that. One of his akumas will be successful. Luck always ran out in the end and then Ladybug will finally get her desserts. 

And with that, Gabriel dropped the matter and returned instantly wot fabric options for his latest design. He could then continue as always: Make akumas, lose, raging at the loss, and return to his ordianary life, again. But then again, it would just repeat. 

 Gabrield didn't have to endanger Adrien. He could use his son to lure Ladybug into his lair. Trick her into letting her guard down and pluck those earrings off of her. No one had to get hurt. All he could do was invite her to dinner and then drug her to sleep. It had to work it just had too.

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