The Finding

Chapter Seven

Adrien

The fact that he had gotten Marinette to agree to trying to take down HawkMoth still surprised Adrien. He hadn't been expecting her to agree, not with the state she had been in. But as soon as he said he would go looking for HawkMoth with or without her - which was true - he knew there was no way she could refuse. It wasn't in her nature to let someone put their life on the line and not try to help them. He had hardly given her a choice. He had basically pressured her into helping, he felt guilty about that, but there was no going back on it now.

The three of them ran our of the house, worried upon hearing the scream. Adrien knew that Alya's curiosity would not allow her to stay inside. For Adrien and Marinette, he knew that they couldn't help it as their hero instinct kicked in. Whether they had powers or not, helping others was a part of who they were. They couldn't sit around and do nothing.

Upon leaving the bakery, they couldn't help but notice the hoards of people running the opposite way. It was obvious which way the trouble was. Everyone was running away from it. They began to push through the crowd.

It was a difficult thing to do like swimming the opposite way of a current. Which is really what it was, a river of people, they were just a couple of fish trying to swim up the river. Alya was better as it than Adrien and Marinette were. She was used to it. Adrien and Marinette were used to travelling from rooftop to rooftop, since it was the fastest way to go. Or at least when they still had their miraculouses.

"Where'd Alya go?" Adrien could barely hear Marinette's voice over all the screams. But as soon as her question made it to his ears, he found himself looking around for the blogger. She was nowhere to be seen. Not even a head bobbing in front of them.

Instantly upon realizing that Alya was gone, Adrien grabbed the raven haired girl's arm and pulled her close. His linked his arm through hers, not wanting to loose her like they had lost Alya. But soon enough it was unnecessary, the wave of people was finally gone. Most of them had pushed past them, and were now behind them.

"You can run, but you can't hide." The voice was familiar. Purple Ivy. Her voice was sure to haunt them. They would probably never forgot the one that changed their lives.

They quickened their pace. They had to do something. They couldn't let the one that in a way ruined their lives ruin anyone else's. Especially since they could stop it. Or at least they hoped as much.

"Purple Ivy!" Marinette yelled upon spotting the akumatized villain. HawkMoth had never taken back the tainted butterfly. He may have made it leave her, but it was now back, and it had multiplied. She had vine covered minions running around, dangling innocent people in the air by their feet. What she wanted with them, Adrien and Marinette both didn't know. "Leave them be!"

Purple Ivy turned to them, a smirk plastered across her face. "Oh. Back for more are you? You already lost your Miraculouses, there is nothing else I need from you." And with that she turned away in a bit of disgust.

"We're not giving you a chance Ivy." Adrien said. "We're digging up the roots of this problem, starting with you." He couldn't help but throw in a pun. He felt as if he had to, even without the mask. Especially considering it was his way of distracting himself from the downfall that was possible of happening.

"Digging up the roots, eh? You know what, that's exactly what they told me when they fired me from my plant research. They told me I was the roots of the problem, even when it was them!" Purple Ivy yelled.

"So I guess you were right. She is an angry gardener." Marinette snickered from beside Adrien. Upon hearing the words, Adrien couldn't help but crack a smile. Here they were about to face someone who they had already lost so much to, and yet they were acting as if none of that happened. The way Marinette sounded, Adrien almost suspected to see the spotted mask covering her face. She was Ladybug, even if she didn't see it.

"A gardener is nothing compared to what I have become!" Purple Ivy's fully attention was on them now. It was exactly what they were hoping for. Her vines started to loosen, letting go of the innocent people that were in her clutches. "A gardener tends to plants when I command them!"

As she yelled the words, vines came at them. But this time they were ready. They jumped out of the way, the vines barely missing them. Marinette and Adrien glanced over at each other quickly, making sure the other was alright before turning back to Purple Ivy. If they could somehow figure out her fighting patterns, then they might be able to take her down without their Miraculouses. Cleansing the akuma was the furthest thing from their minds at that moment. They just needed to stop Purple Ivy from hurting anyone.

"Adrien, look out!" Marinette screamed. Adrien looked over to see a vine coming straight for him. But before it could get to him, a flash of green cut the vine in half. What looked to be the top half of a turtleshell was sticking out of the ground in front of Adrien.

"Aw man. This is so cool." Adrien heard a voice come from above before something, or more like someone dropped to the ground next to him. Adrien turned, only to find himself looking at a turtle themed hero. "Hey you alright Ad-" the hero cut himself off before correcting himself, "dude?"

"Yeah. Fine, thank you." That voice, Adrien felt as if he had heard it somewhere before, but he couldn't quite place it. He knew it would drive him crazy, but maybe something was keeping him from fully recognizing the voice. Just like something kept everyone from recognizing Marinette's hair.

Adrien couldn't believe it. "Another Miraculous holder," he muttered to himself. He was a bit amazed. He didn't know why, but he was shocked upon seeing this new Miraculous holder. Sure he had looked through his dad's book and had looked at all the different kinds of heroes that came from the Miraculouses, he was still surprised to see one that wasn't Ladybug or HawkMoth. For some reason Adrien had thought that the other Miraculouses had been lost. Maybe it was because they weren't making an appearance until now.

"Another one of you?" Purple Ivy just sounded annoyed. "You'll be easy, after all, these two were nothing to deal with."

"He won't be the only one you have to deal with." A fox like superhero came floating down from the sky, moving to stand in front of Marinette. Instantly Adrien feared that Lyla had been akumatized again, which was the last thing they needed in that moment. But no, there was something different about her. Darker skin, lighter hair, and the way she held herself was completely different. Who ever this person was, was the real fox themed superhero. Not a fake akumatized version.

Purple Ivy growled in frustration. She wasn't prepared for this. She hadn't taken in account that new heroes could make an appearance. It put Adrien in the same boat as her. But he doubted that she felt a small bit of hurt. In a way, him and Marinette had been replaced, but at the same time, that's what needed to be done if Paris was going to make it through this.

"This is not over." Purple Ivy said before vines came at them from every direction. There was no getting out of it, even for the heroes. They were caught as well. But instead of taking their Miraculouses, Purple Ivy fled. She was gone within seconds, leaving the old city heroes with the new ones.