Future Tales of the Miraculous

Chapter 11

The following day, Adrien and Marinette trekked back to the bakery shoppe.   These first few days of winter break brought in over a foot of snow and a solid base layer of black ice covering most of the terrain around Paris.  Although the walk was only a few blocks, the bitterly cold morning was mercilessly unkind on the bundled-up couple; they were both relieved to get inside the warm shelter.  Sabine and Tom had called their daughter that morning to tell her of their flight delay back home.  The snowstorm was turbulent enough to barr arriving planes from landing at the Charles de Gaulle airport.  

"I've never seen it get this cold before,". Adrien noted, furrowing his eyebrows when he read the weather from his smartphone. 
It read only 4 degrees Fahrenheit with a windchill of -15.  Marinette hummed an acknowledgement, heating up a kettle of black tea bags in water and pulling out two mugs.  The hot liquid was a much needed relief in thawing their chilled bodies.  When Marinette came about wIth the mugs of tea, the grateful blonde sipped as much he could, then pulled his princess into his warmed chest and kissed her still cold forehead.  Suddenly, what was once a whispering howl of intermittent gusts of wind erupted into a deafening roar outside. 

"That's probably not normal for Paris, right?"  Plagg asked, watching a twister composed of debris and chunks of ice emerge from the nearby distance, ascending the height of all the nearby buildings. 

While the teens rushed over to the glass windows to see the abnormal tornado slowly spin towards their neighborhood, the miniature black kitten quickly bit off a chunk from a cheese block in the glass display. 

"Do you think....?"
"Definitely an Akuma," Marinette confirmed.

—

"Funny meeting you here," Rena Rouge greeted the blonde bee as she arrived on the rooftop near the icy tornado. 
Queen Bee held her fingers to the side of her shaded visors, studying the eye of the storm.  She quickly gave the red fox an acknowledgment before returning to her scan.

"I see the Akuma right in the center.  I think I might have a sight on him if I can get right above it," the striped blonde noted. 

"Sounds like a plan," Ladybug said as she and Chat Noir landed alongside the fox and bee.  "Rena, do you think you can get the Akuma's attention?" 

The red fox nodded, dashing off towards ground zero.  As she neared the wall of gusting wind,  she pushed to sprint faster to stay grounded against it's whipping force.  Breaking into the storm's eye, she peered up at the silver and frosty blue clad boy, whose black eyes shot down at the red fox.  The bands of wind slowed, releasing their hold on the gigantic ice chunks and debris.  The leather clad feline quickly leaped onto the free falling pieces, making his way towards the levitating Akuma. 

Black Frost's attention was stolen by the nimble fox below, who was frantically dodging his icicle projectiles and giving the hovering bee the opening she needed.  Drawing back her bowstring, light quickly gathered into the shape of an arrow, then shot towards the villian's infected ribbon in a flurry of small light darts.  The ribbon was barely intact after Black Frost parried the attack, but the villain whipped around too late as Chat Noir pounced on him, sending them both falling towards the ground.

As the two tumbled downward, the blonde feline clawed the ribbon free, releasing the dark butterfly trapped inside. Chat then quickly deployed his staff, twirling it overhead to slow his descent. With the whirlwind cleared and the butterfly de-akumatized, Ladybug swung in and caught the now powerless villain before he met the ground.

Shortly after Queen Bee and Rena Rouge took their leave, the remaining couple was interrupted by a self ignited light a few yards away, drawing itself into a peacock feather. A large, organic eye slowly emerged through the crackling lines of light, and a slow, but distinct clapping could be heard echoing from inside. The eye faded as the clapping periwinkle skin toned figure traveled through it, standing a short distance from the two heroes. The woman's fuscia eyes scanned over the surroundings before resting on the alarmed Ladybug and cautious Chat Noir.

"So this is the infamous Coccinelle and Chaton. So young and green. Hardly imaginable that you two have bested my champion Papillon all this time," the strange woman spoke with a deep, eerily soothing voice that evoked goosebumps from the two miraculous holders.

Behind the woman, a kneeling figure donning a silver mask and black and eggplant hued suit could be made out from behind the protective veil of the eye.

"Hawk Moth," Ladybug seethed. "So you must be Le Paon."

Chat Noir growled, taking a protective stance ahead of Ladybug. They had never met the villainess in person; they only knew of Master Fu's murderer by name until now.

The purple lips twisted into a cruel smirk. "I did not come here to fight, my children. I came to present you with a peace offering; however this is the only one I will graciously share."

Gesturing with one arm reached out, open palmed, Le Paon announced, "Give me your miraculouses now, and I will spare your lives."

"Not a chance," the black cat snarled, pulling out his batons.

"Chat, No!" 

 Ladybug was too late; the brash feline charged at the woman, eyes focused on her glistening teal brooch.  Chat propelled himself with his staff, charging a Cataclysm in one hand. As he descended over her, La Paon ever so slightly extended her fan to block his attack and countered by summoning a large feather spear.  The sharp quill all too easily sliced into the feline's torso. 

Chat crashed into the ground violently, a pool of blood quickly forming underneath him. The peacock curiously stared down at the writhing blonde as he used his imbued hand to decimate the feathered spear impaling him. Her exuberant expression oddly turned into one of surprise as unexplained tears rolled down her face.

Time felt standstill to Ladybug. Deaf to her own words, she frantically screamed her Miraculous Ladybug invocation. The magic worked quickly to restore destruction from Black Frost's battle, but did nothing to undo the work of the deadly peacock. Chat Noir's surrendered in his struggle to regain his footing, his limp body dropping back down to the ground as the blonde's vivid green eyes rolled up into his head.

Despair shocked Ladybug into action; without regard for her own safety, she blindly ran towards her injured partner. Vision blurred by hot tears welling in her eyes, the heroine seized the unconscious boy and took off towards the buildings above. As she made the escape, she darted one last brave glance at Le Paon, who seemed uncharacteristically occupied with her own internal conflict.  Ladybug recklessly traversed across the cityscape's rooftops with the unconscious blonde, leaving a trail of his blood behind them. 

She finally reached the tall window, undoing its lock and hefting Chat Noir inside the loft apartment they had just left from that morning. Thankfully her shaky gloved hand felt for and found a weakening, but still rhythmic pulse on his neck. His black ring fully depleted of power, Chat Noir's transformation shimmered off soon after their arrival, leaving a profusely sweating blonde with clammy skin on Ladybug's lap. Adrien's breathing was shallow and labored, and his skin was sickly pale.  Her swollen, wet sapphire eyes quickly scanned his apartment's surroundings for a towel, but instead fell upon the figure standing frozen before them.

"Dude.... Adrien?" A shocked Nino bleated, dropping his bag of potato chips on the floor.

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