The Other Side of the Mirror -- genderbend

19: The Mistake

Marin heard a loud thump from behind him. He passed it off as nothing important, but it was soon followed by an ear-piercing scream. Despite Alyo's warning look, he whipped around and dashed back into the butterfly room.

"Oh no," he gasped.

Adrienne was on the ground, unconscious. Chat Noir was kneeling beside her, checking her pulse frantically.

And in the center of the room, a pair of Hawk Moths were battling fiercely, each using vicious staff swings and swift parries. The one he knew to be Gabriella was on the offensive, and it occurred to him that the scream he'd heard had sounded a lot like her.

All at once he realized what had happened.

"Chat!" Marin shouted.

Chat looked up at him, green eyes wide with panic.

"Ladybeetle!" he said. "Noire was hit!"

Marin, completely disregarding the battle in the middle of the room, skirted the edges of the lair as quick as he could and tumbled to a stop beside his wounded partner. Her eyes were shut, and she was barely breathing.

"She took my father's hit for me," Chat said, sobbing. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

"Noire," Marin said breathlessly, and he was dimly aware that his eyes were watering as well. "This wasn't the plan. Noire...."

There was another thump, this time from the hallway Marin had just left. Suddenly, across the room, Alyo burst in, holding in his left hand the pieces of his broken flute and in his right hand Ladybug's yo-yo. He held the two halves of the flute together tightly and played a somewhat raspy tune; several illusions of Gabriella formed around the room and began attacking Hawk Moth. Dropping the flute, Alyo swung the yo-yo at Hawk Moth and pulled it tight, managing to temporarily contain him.

"Ladybeetle! You have to stop him!" Alyo shouted. "You're the only one who can defeat Hawk Moth now. Let Chat take care of Noire. Get the miraculous!"

His best friend was right. Marin stood and walked over to the contained Hawk Moth.

"We tried to be peaceful," Marin said, fury coursing through his veins. "We tried to be civil. We offered you a simple way out of this. But instead, you caused physical harm to the love of my life, and emotional harm to your own son. You fight, and you hurt, and you break. But that's over. I could hurt you, right here, right now, and take revenge for everything you've done."

Hawk Moth's eyes narrowed.

"Or," Marin continued, "I can just take your miraculous, and you will be rendered powerless. Then you'll be turned in for your crimes and likely sent to prison. That's what a true wielder of a miraculous would do. It's something you'll never do, and it's a choice the rest of us will make every time."

"I must bring Emilie back," Hawk Moth said.

"You idiot!" Gabriella said. "You can't just force someone to come back. Trust me, I know. The power of the butterfly miraculous is a gift and a curse. We can achieve great things--but we also rob a sentient being of its right to free will. It's a power we've both abused, and it needs to stop. Dark wings, fall."

She released her transformation and set her own miraculous into her palm, Nooroo perched atop it silently. Hawk Moth gasped as he realized who he'd been fighting.

"See?" Marin said. "I believe that you can change. But you have to make that choice, to become a better person...and a better father. Despite everything you've done, your son needs you. But that miraculous you're using? It was never yours. It's meant to be used for good, not for personal gain. And I think it's clouding your judgment. Without it, you'll be free...and that's something that everyone deserves."