Miracle Box - an MLB rewrite

Book 3 - The Fault and The Fall

A silent killer was taking over Paris, and there were no heroes to be found.

Rena Tigre encountered the akuma first. And the akuma handled her. Now she was missing. Carapace lost them very quickly and had to flee back to the sanctuary, intending to release Kaalki to get backup. The akuma was faster, and rendered Carapace useless too. Now, all Silencer had to do was wait for Ladybug or Chat Noir to come out and play.

It took much longer than expected. Silencer had to move through the streets, taking out innocents for days before finally, it was Ladybug who appeared. The city lost hope. Though named a killer, Silencer had actually done minimal harm. He stole the voices of many which caused a general chaos as communications were cut quite severely. And it was fun to watch how humans scrambled to get anything done when something so small yet so impactful robbed them of their daily lives. Perhaps that's why Ladybug took so long to appear. Or perhaps she'd just grown tired of akumas and chose to ignore him for as long as possible.

Ladybug was exhausted. For days now she'd been making a game plan to deal with Hawkmoth. She knew she'd have to kill him and she also knew that as soon as she returned to Paris there may be nothing to stop her from doing so. But Ladybug hated the idea of being a killer. It made her sick.

So there was a common likeness between she and Silencer. Silencer, unsurprisingly, didn't speak. She didn't know what upset him or what he wanted. And he was avoiding a fight with her. He wanted to rob her over her voice, likely to trap her powerless. Her power relied on her voice. She also knew that if he caught her after using her lucky charm, she would not be able to transform back if her powers wore off.

She had to fight with only her strength.

What is important about this fight is the aftermath. However, before that could happen, or any end could come close at all, Ladybug was robbed of her voice, right as she used her lucky charm. It was a gamble. A now devastating gamble.

She gained a whistle. Currently fighting by the Seine, Ladybug felt like she might fall, just leaping to catch her charm. Her voice was gone, and now Silencer, lunging just faster than she, got to the whistle before her. Ladybug plunged into the waters of the Seine, officially defeated.

Resurfacing, Silencer was nowhere to be seen. Now she had a time limit to find him, find his akuma, break it and save the city. But how was she meant to use her power now without a voice?

"I didn't know bugs could swim," said a voice–her voice. Ladybug looked above her, where in the rafters beneath the bridge overhead crouched Silencer, like a spider. With one hand, he mimed a puppet, and her voice flowed from it flawlessly, accurate even to her cadence. "I suppose that's why Chat Noir isn't here. Cats don't like water after all."

Ladybug tried to shout up at him with a retaliation but no sound managed to escape her lips. She crashed her fists through the water in frustration.

Silencer admired the whistle in his hand. With the other hand, he continued to speak. "Would this have called him? If you blew it hard enough, would he have heard and come to your rescue?"

Ladybug swam to the edge of the river and Silencer followed, creeping beneath the bridge over her. As Ladybug climbed up the wall, he stood above her, waiting.

"What happened to the heroes?" Silencer asked, still using Ladybug's voice. "Did you get tired and give up–"

In a flash, Ladybug's yoyo flew out, tangling itself around Silencer's wrist and tightening. She jerked suddenly and his arm was pulled harshly against the metal beam in front of him. With how strong and angry she was, Ladybug broke his wrist from the force. Pulling with it as tight as it was, some blood escaped his skin and seeped into his dark suit.