A Miraculous Tale: Hawk Moth

Ch. 2

Cat Noir ducked; he felt a whoosh of air as Revealer's leg swung over his head. Revealer punched Cat Noir, and Cat Noir groaned.

"Come on, Kitty Cat. I thought you were tougher than that." Revealer taunted.

Cat Noir smirked. "Of course I am! You're not seriously falling for this act, are you?" He immediately swung his staff at Revealer, but the villain blocked it with a raised arm. He swung his leg at Cat Noir's feet, but the hero jumped up. Cat Noir planted his staff on the ground and swung around; his feet slammed into Revealer's side, making the villain stumble and fall. He recovered quickly and ran at Cat Noir with a yell. Cat Noir split his staff in two and used it to block Revealer's swinging fists. Revealer aimed for Cat Noir's throat but was blocked once again. At the last second Revealer dropped to the ground and swung his leg at Cat Noir's feet. Cat Noir fell with a surprised yelp, and Revealer pinned him down to the ground.

"Time to finally reveal who you really are." Revealer hissed as he reached for Cat Noir's ring. Cat Noir struggled away and almost won, but he felt a new weight on him and looked up to find Dark Owl on top of him as well. The villainous superhero laughed, and Cat Noir could hear a gasp come from Rena Rouge. He looked toward her to hopefully see that she'd escaped, but Rena Rouge was still tied up. He followed her shocked gaze and found Marinette huddled on the ground. Queen Bee and Miraculer were laughing, but Cat Noir couldn't believe his eyes. Chloe would never betray us! Sure, she's a little difficult at times, but she wouldn't. And Marinette, they all know her secret identity! Cat Noir felt his heart lodge in his throat. I need to save her. Marinette needs me! I can't let her down!

Cat Noir began to struggle furiously against his captors and felt a spark of satisfaction when he saw fear in their eyes. He managed to free his right hand, so he used it to push against Revealer. In the brief moment when the villain moved, he managed to free his left arm as well. He pushed Dark Owl off and jumped to his feet. He felt victorious until he landed back on the ground with a thud. Queen Bee was on top of him; Dark Owl pinned his left arm while Revealer pinned his right. He struggled to break away, but he didn't have much luck.

"Why are you doing this, Chloe?" Cat Noir grunted as he tried to move away. He felt Queen Bee's hand close around his throat a little too tightly. She laughed, but it wasn't a usual Chloe laugh. It was too sweet, almost mocking.

"You really have no clue, do you? You are more oblivious than I thought." She said. "After I kill your precious Ladybug, who also happens to be that dummy Marinette, I'll kill you. Or maybe I should kill you first, so I can watch her suffer. Oh, the sweet, sweet taste of revenge!" Queen Bee's hand tightened around Cat Noir's throat.

"Lila?" He choked. "You... you must be chameleon right now."

"Wow, what made you think that?" She mocked him. He felt his ring start to slide off, so he tried to jerk his hand away. It didn't budge at all, and Cat Noir felt his suit vanish once the ring left his finger. Queen Bee gasped and let go of Adrien's neck, and he gratefully took a giant gulp of air.

"Adrien!" She shrieked.

Adrien smirked. "You sound disappointed. I gotta admit, Cat Noir is a bit cooler, but still."

Suddenly a deep laugh rang throughout the area. Adrien shuddered. Dad. He felt suddenly lighter, then he was wrenched to his feet. Queen Bee forced his arms behind his back and held them tight.

"You're going to see all your father's hard work pay off. Kinda ironic, isn't it? Father versus son? You could still join him, you know."

"I'm not him." Adrien snarled. He glanced over to Marinette. She was still huddled on the ground, tears flowing down her face. The scene made the knot is his stomach tighten. Don't give up the fight, Marinette! Don't give up!

Hawk Moth detransformed. He didn't take any notice of Adrien or Marinette, but Adrien could see Mayura's shocked eyes land on him.

Gabriel began to slip on the cat miraculous, and Adrien cringed.

"That doesn't belong to you!" He yelled at his father. Gabriel, startled, looked down at Adrien. The cat miraculous was halfway on his finger.

"I'm glad you're here, Adrien. I suspected you were Cat Noir. No matter, I forgive you. Today, you'll get to see my goal achieved." He put the cat miraculous all the way on his finger, then put on the ladybug miraculous. The whole thing made Adrien feel a boiling anger within him. His dad didn't deserve the miraculouses, and he definitely didn't deserve Plagg.

At that moment both Plagg and Tikki appeared. Tikki's worried eyes fell on Marinette. Plagg took in the scene. When his eyes landed on Marinette, then Adrien, they filled with an expression Adrien had never seen on his face: anger. He opened his mouth and started to blow his cataclysm power over the Eiffel Tower, but Gabriel moved his hand.

"I'm your master now. Shut your mouth." Plagg's mouth disappeared, and Adrien yelled. "No!"

Gabriel ignored him and closed his eyes instead. He held out his arms and took a deep breath.

"Victory is finally in my grasp!" He laughed. "I wish..." Rays of red and black started to swirl around him. "I wish that Emilie would be well again."

A casket instantly appeared at the base of the Eiffel Tower. The black and red swirls engulfed it. Adrien gasped as he saw the swirls hurl toward him. He was instantly surrounded, and he felt Queen Bee's tight grip slacken before letting go. He was starting to feel light headed, but he ignored the feeling. He stumbled away from the swirls and over to Marinette. He needed to make sure she was okay.

He fell to the ground by her side. She gasped.

"Adrien! How'd you...?"

Adrien shook his head. He tried to sit up, but he didn't have the energy. "It's me, Marinette. I'm Cat Noir."

Marinette looked at him closely before her eyes filled with understanding. "We've lost, Kitty." She leaned her head on his chest and started to cry again.

"Marinette. Marinette, listen to me!"

Marinette sat up and looked at him.

"There has to be something we can do. We need to stop my father."

Marinette shook her head. "It's over. We've lost."

He held her shoulders. "Listen. There has to be a way. Marinette you always think of something to do. Think. I believe in you."

He could see her worried eyes searching his, and something inside her seemed to click.

"Okay." She nodded. "Let's call Master Fu. If anyone knows what to do, it'll be him." She pulled out her phone and put it on speaker as she dialed Master Fu.