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adrienaugust · 10 months

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Our Scars From The Past

Fire Opal here with the next entry in Adrien AUGreste and our 5th story in our Jekyll/Hype Series. This one's a doozy. Make sure you're in a good place before you start. Read the previous Jekyll Hyde stories as well. After the disaster that was the Gala, Catwalker meets up with Ladybug. She wants answers, and they're not leaving until she gets some. Ao3 link.

Catwalker checked his staff again as he waited for Ladybug. Yep, he was standing in the exact coordinates that Ladybug had sent him, and Ladybug was 10 minutes late. She’d arranged to have a meeting with him tonight before one of his patrols, and it wasn’t hard to understand why.

The Gala. Chat Noir’s break in and attack on Polymouse had been everywhere. Even if the Ladyblog had been mysteriously hacked into and Alya shut off, it was on every reputable news site and the source of gossip everywhere. It would’ve been impossible to have not heard about it.

Tonight was finally going to be the night that she took his Miraculous. Catwalker could feel both relief and dread flooding his body in equal measures. His every attempt to try to find someone to take the Miraculous, someone he could trust, hadn’t gone well.

The theft of Vesperia’s Miraculous had already made it difficult, seeing as there was no way he could trust that if he got another Wielder alone to make the hand off, Chat Noir wouldn’t attack them. He could’ve tried more than one person, but he knew each person he told only increased the chances of either Ladybug finding out about what he’d done -and possibly becoming upset by it- or Shadow Moth discovering him via akuma or a co-conspirator over-hearing the heroes having a conversation.

Perhaps Catwalker should’ve trusted a friend with it, but the Black Cat was a dangerous Miraculous. He had to make absolutely certain that whoever he trusted with it was either a perfect fit or would return it to Ladybug post-haste, but…it was a hard decision, and Chloe’s constant attempts to air his friends’ dirty laundry hadn’t exactly inspired confidence in anyone.

Yet, it was clear that Catwalker’s hands weren’t the ones that should be holding onto the Black Cat Ring either. His instability alone was proof of that. Every day he lived in fear that Chat Noir would finally do something terrible, something irreversible. He tried everything he could to stall him, to keep Chat Noir at bay, but that had gotten increasingly difficult ever since the Vesperia incident.

Staying human, staying Adrien was becoming increasingly uncomfortable every day. Nowadays, it seemed as if every moment he stayed untransformed, left an uncomfortable itch under his skin, one that only being Catwalker could fix. Yet every transformation risked becoming Chat Noir again.

Catwalker was sure that if he could just get it out of his hands, if he could go cold turkey, it would stop. That deep, aching need to be transformed, and if he didn’t…well Plagg had warned him that his spell on the Ring would have consequences. Catwalker needed to face them. Without hurting anyone else.

Yet, when Ladybug arrived, she did not demand the Ring as Catwalker had expected, as he’d so desperately wanted to.

Instead she’d asked, very quietly, “Are you Chat Noir?”

Catwalker felt a deep chill run through his body. How was he supposed to answer that? Because he wasn’t. Not anymore, but he used to be, or maybe he still was. This whole mess was so confusing. Chat Noir was the one who’d hurt Vesperia, who’d stolen the Bee and the Fox, who’d hurt Polymouse. Catwalker hadn’t done that. He’d never betray his team like that, but in a way he’d had.

Chat Noir was the ugly nasty parts of him that he didn’t want anymore, that no one wanted anymore, and Catwalker had created him, focused all of it into one thing and accidentally unleashed it upon the world. It hadn’t been Shadow Moth who’d done it, or Mayura, or some other baddie. It was just him. Him and his terrible decision.

Yet, if Ladybug knew, she’d be so disappointed. He’d tried so hard to be the perfect teammate. He’d done everything right, but would Ladybug think so? No. No, she wasn’t like him. She was likable. She was loved. She wouldn’t understand why he’d done it, and she was the Guardian. No matter what, it was a misuse of the Miraculous, and she’d never forgive that.

Catwalker couldn’t lie either. He was a good teammate. The perfect teammate, and Ladybug hated liars above all else. Either he told Ladybug the truth, and she’d be so hurt and angry she’d refuse to hear him out, or he could lie and she’d be upset if she found out the truth.

But…if he played his cards right, he could use her anger against her. Get her to demand the Ring back and no one would be the wiser. She’d find a new teammate, a better teammate, and he’d be rid of this nightmare of indecision for good.

Catwalker bowed to her, looking appropriately remorseful.

“I do apologize,” he told her. “I never meant for this to go as far as it did. I’m afraid I must admit that I have been withholding information from you, Ladybug. Please, understand that while I would never want to hurt my fellow teammates or allow them to come to any injury, it was my carelessness that has repeatedly allowed Chat Noir to roam free. I do not know if I can stop him from getting the Ring again. I am truly sorry.”

Ladybug stared at him with eyes as hard as stone. “That’s not what I asked,” she told him, her voice hard, uncompromising. “Are you Chat Noir?”

“My name is Catwalker, Ladybug,” he tried.

“You can change your costume if you try hard enough,” Ladybug insisted. “I’ve seen it before. So I’m going to ask again. Are you Chat Noir?”

“You know me, Ladybug,” Catwalker said, pleadingly, his tail curling around him and his ears flattening. “I’m the Black Cat who came after Chat Noir.”

“It’s a yes or no question, Catwalker,” Ladybug insisted. “Are you Chat Noir?”

Catwalker flinched and refused to meet Ladybug’s eyes as he softly told her, “It's complicated.” To Ladybug, it was as good as an admission, and the two of them knew it.

“How is it complicated?” Ladybug demanded, hurt in her voice.

Catwalker felt his arms wrap around himself as he told her, “it just is, okay?”

“No,” Ladybug answered, her voice unyielding. “No, we’ve avoided talking about this long enough. Chat Noir has stolen two Miraculous already. He tried to steal a third. I need answers, Cat, and I need them now.”

“I don’t know where they are,” Cat admitted. “I’m sorry.”

“But you know about Chat Noir,” Ladybug said pointedly. Catwalker didn’t even try to deny it, still refusing to meet her eyes. He could feel the anxiety and the guilt bubbling up in his veins, and he struggled to shove them back into the ring.

There was a tense silence between them before Ladybug said, “Fine. If you won’t talk, then I will. At the Gala, Chat Noir said you imprisoned him in the ring. What did he mean by that?”

Catwalker shrugged helplessly. He knew what that tone meant. Ladybug already had an idea of what was going on, and if Catwalker contradicted whatever she was thinking, it’d only make her angrier and more disappointed in him. So he stayed quiet and made sure he looked as remorseful as possible. Maybe, if he did that and he agreed with whatever she said, it wouldn’t be so bad.

He could feel Ladybug’s glare as she silently dared him to contradict her, to lie to her, but he knew better, just as he knew better than to say anything when she said, “well, aren’t you going to say something?”

So he just meekly told her “I don’t know.” 'I don’t know' was always a good answer, a safe answer.

They sat there, as the silence seemed to start burning with the intensity of Ladybug’s rage as Catwalker’s tail curled tighter and tighter around him and his ears went down further and further. He dared not look at Ladybug, knowing that if he did, he’d be tempted to do something, say something, and only incur her wrath.

Finally, Ladybug sighed angrily, and Catwalker relaxed just a bit, knowing he hadn’t failed her test, before she angrily said, “I talked to Tikki. She thinks that you might be Chat Noir. That you might’ve sealed away parts of yourself to become Catwalker.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Catwalker answered, knowing the right answer to that one. It was always yes, and either ma’am or sir or their full name. Best not to repeat the same title too many times in a row though. That sounded like you were tuning them out. Maybe he’d get out this okay.

“Why?” Ladybug asked. Catwalker winced.

“I-I dunno,” he told her, finally facing her to show his best kitten eyes. “I’m sorry. I forgot.”

“You forgot?” Ladybug asked. “You can’t honestly tell me that you expect me to believe that you don’t know why you tore yourself in two?”

Catwalker held himself so tightly he felt like he was suffocating. “I-I’m sorry,” he repeatedly numbly, taking a step back from Ladybug, but Ladybug immediately took a step towards him, closing the distance.

“Why did you do it, Cat?” Ladybug asked again. “What could’ve made you do something like that?”

Catwalker shrugged, refusing to meet Ladybug’s eyes again. He rubbed his ring. The finger was starting to hurt, but it was nothing compared to the way he was feeling right now, like he was breathing in water.

“No, Cat, you can’t back out of this,” Ladybug said, the frustration taking over. “Two of the Miraculous are missing. Stolen by you.” No, no. That was Chat Noir. “You’ve attacked several of your teammates.” He…he hadn’t meant for that to happen. “You’ve done everything you can to hurt us, to destabilize us, and you’re refusing to give me an answer? No. No, we’re not doing this anymore. I can’t do this anymore. I can’t stand up for you. I can’t defend you if I don’t know why, Cat!”

With each word, Catwalker’s tail curled tighter and tighter around him, and his ears grew flatter and flatter. He held himself tightly, backing away more and more, but Ladybug didn’t let up. She kept coming closer and closer. She wouldn’t stop. Why wouldn’t she stop?

“Was it because I didn’t love you back?” Ladybug asked in disbelief. “Is that it? Is that what this was all about? Were you jealous? Did I not laugh at enough of your jokes? Tell me, Cat. Please. Why?”

Catwalker was shaking. He was shaking and he couldn’t stop. “Stop,” he begged. “Please, please, just…just back off! ” God, he felt awful. Like he was going to be sick.

“Not until I know the truth, Cat. Not until I know why."

Finally, the last threads of self-control that was Catwalker SNAPPED and Catwalker felt himself get dragged under as he felt Chat Noir’s feral grin grow. ~*~

Ladybug’s seen dozens of transformations from dozens of different heroes. She’s seen ones ranging from sassy to cute to bold, but she’d never seen Chat Noir’s. She’d always imagined it to be goody, over the top, dramatic, just like him, but none of that seemed to match Chat Noir’s transformation today.

Instead, Chat Noir’s transformation seemed torturous, painful even. The magical energy that transformed them spread from his ring like a disease, sending long thick cracks of neon green pulsing through his body. As it started, Catwalker fell, reduced to only a weak fetal position as he panted and whimpered, his whole body shaking from the strain. Ladybug rushed to comfort him, only to be greeted by claws slashing towards her face and the faintest of hisses sent her way.

Immediately, Ladybug was reminded of a warning her teacher had once given her when she was younger. “Be careful with hurt animals, even the ones you know. Sometimes they’ll lash out and try to hurt you if they’re in pain.” Looking at Catwalker/Chat Noir now, it wasn’t hard to tell that this was hurting them, that this wasn’t how a transformation should be, but even though Ladybug was a Guardian, she didn’t know what to do. She didn’t know how to stop it.

As the cracks spread throughout Catwalker’s body, they disintegrated all of the differences between him and Chat Noir, leaving them to flake off into little pieces of ash as Catwalker struggled to breathe. Angry little tangles of neon magic began sparking across his body, bringing back some of Chat’s accessories as Chat startled struggling to stand up.

Ladybug went to help him, but Chat Noir batted her hand away, giving her an almost offended look.

“I’m fine,” he insisted, as if he hadn’t been in excruciating pain just moments before. He smirked at her, “Or at least as fine as I can be given the circumstances. You know, the Guardian dragging me up here for some lame brain interrogation searching for answers that she doesn’t even want.”

“Yes, I do,” Ladybug insisted. How could Chat believe otherwise? It was the entire reason she came here, to hear him out! Why did he think she’d have gone through all this trouble, just to ask about something she didn’t want to know? That was ridiculous!

Chat Noir laughed scornfully. “Oh, really? Now you want answers? Suuuure you do. Okay, let’s start off with something easy. Why did we do this? Gee, Ladybug, I think the better question is ‘why wouldn’t we?’ It’s not like anyone liked us. We were too silly, too flirty, too loud, too messy, too unprofessional, just too much . Why settle for Chat Noir when you can have perfection?”

“What?” Ladybug asked, taken aback completely. “But I thought you liked being Chat Noir?”

Chat Noir rolled his eyes, “Yeah, I did, but nobody else did. Nobody but Plagg. I was just Chat Noir: the pet, the mascot, the sidekick, the teammate .”

That stupid cat was out of his mind. “I liked you!” Ladybug insisted. How could he not know that? “You were my friend! We’ve been through so much together, and yeah, I might not have been in love with you, but that doesn’t mean we weren’t close!”

They had to have been, after all those patrols they’d shared, all their jokes, all those private little moments in the middle of akuma fights where Chat had helped save her, both in body and spirit. Besides Alya, Chat was her best friend. They were close, closer than close.

“That’s not true!” Chat spat, tears pooling in his eyes. “You replaced me! You demoted me on live tv. Then, when someone better came along, you just went with it. You didn’t even question it. The little things made me doubt, but seeing you just let me go without question just proved it!”

“Excuse me?!” Ladybug asked, frustrated. “You’re the one who abandoned me ! You just left me like nothing ever happened! Like we hadn’t faced down all those akuma together. Like we haven’t spent hours and hours together. Like we weren’t friends.”

Chat Noir might not have seen it but she had mourned him. She had spent hours crying to Alya over her lost partner, mourning her loss and having to accept the deep empty hollow feeling in her gut that she’d truly meant so little to him that he’d left without so much as a voicemail goodbye. Every day, she’d fought with herself, wanting to have Tikki check in on him, ask him questions, and her need to respect his decision. She knew how stressful being a hero was, and if Chat couldn’t handle it, she didn’t need to remind him of it anymore than she should.

Chat didn’t see it that way.

“Ever since you became the Guardian, you’ve been the one acting like nothing ever happened between us!” Chat shouted. “You never showed up to patrol! You never wanted to talk to me or hang out with me. You told someone else your secret identity and ditched me to go to another country without so much as a note!”

Ladybug felt as though she’d been slapped. She’d tried. She’d tried so hard to get out of that trip, and she’d thought she’d had it. She’d managed to get out of going last year, but it wasn’t the way that everything worked out. She couldn’t have left Paris undefended, and it wasn’t like she would’ve been able to check her phone every 5 minutes for an akuma alert or dip out for no reason. Not with the way her mom had been eyeing her like a hawk. She’d done her best, and Chat Noir had said he’d forgiven her.

And then there were the missed patrols, which Chat had said that he was fine with. That he’d said he’d take care of. She’d been working on translating those weird riddles of the Grimoire and keeping the kwamis under control. She’d been trying to help them, and now Chat Noir was just going to throw it back in her face? Why because he was a little cranky?

“I was busy,” Ladybug reminded him, unable to keep the irritation out of her voice. “Being a Guardian is hard.”

“Oh, is it now?” Chat scoffed. Rolling his eyes, he mockingly said, “It’s not like silly little Chat Noir would ever know what it's like to be under so much pressure.”

Chat Noir narrowed his eyes at Ladybug, “Have you ever wondered what it’s like to live my life? I always have to be perfect every day in every way. I have to be a model and an actor. I have to be an Olympic level fencer, but I have to be careful too because I also have to be an amazing piano player, so I have to watch the hands.”

Chat laughed. “Course, that means I have to study, and practice so I can keep up. Memorize my lines, play the piano pieces without any mistakes, practice fencing till I’m the best in my class. But that’s not all. OH NO! I also have to be a model student and get amazing grades too, or I’ll get pulled out of school, and I won’t be able to see any of my friends ever again!”

“I have to be friendly, but not too friendly or it'll lead people on. I have to be interested in the fanciest stuff like classical music, so I can’t practice for my band at home, because that sort of thing is ‘unbecoming’. But hey, maybe if I’m really good, I can squeeze in a few practice sessions with my band as a reward, but not too much or I might fall behind on my oh so important schedule or maybe I got unlucky and an akuma might attack, wiping out the headstart that I always have to have on all of my homework just in case because I cannot. Risk. Turning in an assignment late! So, yeah, Ladybug, I have no idea what it's like to be under a lot of pressure!”

"You're Adrien," Ladybug realized, her horror hanging in the air between them alongside the words. Oh God, all the times that she had called Adrien flashed in her mind, along with how quiet he’d been lately, how reserved, despite everything.

"Oh no, my lady," Chat answered, flashing her a feral grin with empty eyes. "Adrien is dead. He's just a puppet left to dance to whatever anyone around him asks of him. I'm all the little pieces of him that were too inconvenient to exist for you and the others. The anger, the bitterness, the snark, the playfulness, the willfulness, the pride."

“What are you even trying to do, Chat?” Ladybug asked, desperate to do anything to fix this. Help the boy she loved, help her partner before he destroyed himself, before he did something he could never come back from. “All these complicated schemes, all these thefts and the attacks. What do you want ?”

“I want to live ,” Chat Noir said, unable to keep the desperate plea from his voice. Ladybug’s heart nearly broke at that. “I want to make sure that Catwalker can’t get rid of me. That I have people who will help me. Who will protect me, even when you heroes won’t.”

“Of course, I’ll protect you, Chat, “Ladybug reassured him as she reached to brush some of the tears off his face. “You’re my partner, Chat. I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”

Chat Noir pulled away from her, baring his teeth. “The partner you replaced ,” Chat Noir hissed, but Ladybug forced herself not to react. This was Chat Noir. This was Adrien. He wouldn’t hurt her. She had to trust that.

“You’re mad,” Ladybug said, making sure to meet Chat Noir’s eyes so that he’d know, that he’d see that she saw him, that she understood , no matter how uncomfortable it made her feel. “I get it. You’ve been through…a lot, and I wasn’t there when I should have. We’re partners, okay? We’re going to get through this. Together.”

Then she hugged Chat.

For a moment, Chat was stiff, but then he relaxed into her arms. Then he began crying. Just a few stray tears at first, but then deep ugly sobs. The kind she never would’ve expected from Adrien, but the kind that Chat desperately needed, now more than ever.

“I just want everything to go back to the way they were,” Chat admitted, tearfully. “I want to be Adrien again.”

“I…I…don’t know if we can do that,” Ladybug told him honestly. “There’s too much that’s different. There’s too much that’s changed.”

Chat Noir wilted, and Ladybug reached over to grab his shoulders, making sure to be gentle enough that he could get out of her grip if he really wanted.

“I will free you though,” Ladybug vowed. “I’ll make sure that whatever happens, you will be okay. I’m going to save you. I’m going to stop this.”

Chat Noir sniffled, drying up his tears. “You don’t honestly believe that.”

“Yeah, Chat,” Ladybug said, “I do.”

Chat Noir looked away from her, looking so exhausted and beaten down, Ladybug wondered if she should try to offer him a place to sleep in her room, before he pushed her hands away from him, running off to disappear into the night.

#miraculous ladybug #ml #miraculous #adrienaugust #adrienaugreste #adrien agreste

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adrienaugust · 10 months

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Wish come true - Adrien AUGrest Day 23, 24 & 25

I know this is technically a day late but I thought it wouldn’t be right to build up the idea of Kitty Section’s biggest gig and not write it for you. Which turned out to be harder than I thought when you’ve only actually gone to one concert that has an opening act and you can’t for the life of you remember how it went. So EtherealGenie, who once again betaed this chapter, had to give me advice on how it should work.

Keep reading

#ml #miraculous #miraculous ladybug #adrienaugust #adrienaugreste #adrien agreste

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adrienaugust · 10 months

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For @adrienaugust

Day 1: Feather

#adrienaugust #adrienaugreste #adrienagreste #ml #miraculous #miraculousladybug

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adrienaugust · 10 months

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Wish come true - Adrien AUGreste Day 20, 21 & 22

Another major thank you to @etherealxgenie, who betaed while sick mind you. Please go get some rest. To be honest, this chapter was basically making the characters do some of the things I did while in London for 2 weeks. Also, I didn’t actually know it took basically 2 hours to get to London from France. I just gave Felix a random number to say and the realized I should probably check that. Anyway, enjoy! London

“Here you go.” Juleka handed a box with the Fox Miraculous to Master Fu. She and Luka had been switching dropping the boxes off.

“Paris will rest easy knowing they’re safe. Was your brother busy?”

“I’m sure you’d like to know.” Juleka replied. Fu was better but still preferred speaking any Miraculous business to Luka. He shut him down, insisting she’d be involved. “I’m sure he’ll come by. He’s going to have to unify with a Miraculous if anything happens tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?”

“We have a school trip to London to go see Big Ben. It’s reopened for visits. Luka was supposed to go with us, his school works with in person schools to allow their students to join in person classes or even field trips so they can still get a semi-true experience. It was also going to fulfill a history paper for him but with Hawkmoth using every excuse to attack us, not to mention all of our rehearsals for Jagged Stone’s concert. He’s not going anywhere.”

“That doesn’t seem fair.”

Unable to help herself she asked, “would you think the same if we were switched? If I was homeschooled?”

Keep reading

#adrienaugust #adrienaugreste #adrienagreste #ml #miraculous #miraculousladybug

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adrienaugust · 10 months

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Worth Your Time

Entry for Adrien AUGreste 2023: Rings

Due to an unusual format, I am unable to provide this story in full on Tumblr. Full story on Ao3. Except below:

RING RING RING This is Felix. If you're going to leave a message, it’d better be worth my time Beep

Hey, Felix, it's now officially been 48 hours since anyone’s last seen you. No one's heard from you, and we can't find any trace of you anywhere. Everyone's getting really scared. Especially since the last we know, you were with Shadow Moth.

There's a working theory that you might’ve figured out his secret identity, and he might’ve....

I wanna believe you're alive, that you're okay. You're too stubborn to die and you've always talked your way out of everything before, but everyone's luck runs out eventually...and well....you remember what happened with Mom. Please, Felix. If you're alive and you can hear this, stay alive. We're going to find you. I promise.

#adrienaugust #adrienaugreste #adrienagreste #ml #miraculous #miraculousladybug

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adrienaugust · 10 months

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Too Soon For Happily Ever After (London)

After Marinette returns from London, she comes home to find that Alya has made her debut as Scarabella, and a very nasty surprise.

My entry for Adrien AUGreste 2023: London

Ao3 fic

After Scarabella's debut -and Marinette's return from London- Alya had decided that Ladybug and Chat Noir needed to have a talk. Not just because Marinette’s poor planning had lead to Scarabella being near inches away from being Cataclysmed -which was terrifying- but because she and Chat clearly needed to talk about some of their issues, and maybe work out a plan to prevent the cataclysm to the face next time.

Of course, Alya was Marinette’s best friend, so she knew just how hard these sort of conversations were for her, so when it was done, Alya did the responsible thing and asked Marinette how it went the next time the two were alone in her bedroom.

"It went pretty good," Marinette told her, suspiciously upbeat for such a serious conversation.

"Pretty good?" Alya repeated in disbelief. She looked over Marinette, who was unusually relaxed. "Okay. So are you going to make a plan now or did you two work that out right then and there?"

Marinette blinked at her owlishly. "Make a plan for what?"

"To keep this whole thing from happening again?" Alya reminded her. Had Marinette seriously forgotten?

Marinette shrugged. "I mean it's not like it'll happen often. It was a last minute thing, and Chat Noir already apologized for getting so caught up in his feelings."

Alya gaped at her. Caught up in his feelings? "He Cataclysed me!" Alya reminded her. Marinette froze.

"He did what?" she asked quietly.

Oh. Marinette didn’t know. That’s why she’d forgotten. Alya could’ve sworn she’d told her, but looking back, Alya realized that she’d been avoiding saying it out loud. She’d been tiptoeing around it just as badly as Chat Noir had, and now she’d just put that on her friend with no warning. Oops.

"What-? Why would he-?" Marinette looked so lost and betrayed that Alya couldn't help but hold her close.

"I mean,” Alya said, trying to soften the blow, “think about it from Chat's perspective. Some random stranger showed up with the Ladybug Earrings, saying they were the new hero of Paris. What was he supposed to do?"

"Work with you!" Marinette cried. "He's worked with a ton of other heroes before."

"Marinette," Alya told her softly, "he thought that I'd attacked you and stole your Earrings. Why would he work with me?"

"But, that's not right," Marinette insisted. "I was just going to London!"

"Yeah, girl,” Alya said, resisting the urge to sigh at her best friend's expense. "You know that, and I know that, but Chat didn't. You didn't exactly leave any messages."

"I couldn't!" Marinette cried, the stress of this latest revelation obviously getting to her. "I thought I could get out of it, so when I couldn't, I basically had to cram everything in my suitcase and run! I'm lucky I managed to text you in time!"

"Marinette," Alya said flatly, cocking her hip to the side, "are you honestly trying to tell me that you didn't have any idea that you might be leaving soon?"

"I thought I could get out of it!" Marinette insisted stubbornly.

"How hard is it to text the guy, 'Hey, I might be leaving out of the country soon. I'll try to get out of it, but if I can't, I'll have a friend cover for me. She'll be in a Ladybug suit and she'll say something like 'the crow flies at midnight''?" Alya asked, exasperated.

"Yeah, but then what if nothing happened?" Marinette asked. "What if Paris was all safe and sound, but Chat Noir had to learn that I told someone for no good reason?"

"Wait," Alya held up her hand, "You mean to tell me that before he met Scarabella, he had no idea that you'd told someone?"

Marinette averted her eyes away from Alya, embarrassed. "Maaaybeee?"

"Girl, that's messed up."

"Honessssstly," Sass said, appearing from some forgotten part of the room where he’d been doodling, "it's not ssssurprising he reacted the way he did, essspecially with what happened with hisss mother."

"You know his secret identity?" Marinette asked at the same time Alya asked, "what happened to his mother?"

Sass flinched. "I've sssaid too much," he confessed apologetically. "You've made your wishhhesss asss the Guardian very clear."

"No, no, no!" Marinette backpedaled, "I'm okay with this. If this is something that might affect our fights, I need to know."

Sass hesitated.

"Please, Sass," Marinette begged. "I need to help my kitty."

"It shouldn't be too bad," Tikki reassured him, "as long as you're vague about it."

"She's missing," Sass told them. "She vanished without a trace."

"Oh," Marinette said, suddenly pale and quiet.

"No wonder Chat freaked out like that," Alya said, with a horrifying amount of clarity. "We must've reminded him of what it was like to lose his mom."

"I can fix this," Marinette said, that familiar look of determination that Alya so admired dawning across her with a new singular focus. "We just need a plan."

"No," Tikki said, gently but firmly. "You can't."

"If this is about you worrying about us misusing the Miraculous, we don't have to do that!" Alya told Tikki hotly. "We could use the Ladyblog! It has like a ton of views every day, I'm sure if we-"

"It's not that," Tikki informed them softly.

"No matter what you do," Sass explained sadly, "Thisss ssstory doesssn't have a happy ending. Chat Noir’sss made hisss peace with her misssssing by now. If you messsss with that, you could hurt him badly."

"What?" Marinette asked furiously. "Are you saying he wouldn't like to see his mom?"

"He's saying," Tikki said, regret across her face, "in a world with Shadow Moth, we can't risk a Black Cat being akumatized."

Marinette froze, probably never having considered that possibilty, but Alya was well prepared. She'd read dozens of comics and she'd been a brainwashed hero once. So far Marinette, Alya could be the strong and inspiring one for once.

"Then, we'll make a vow, here and now," Alya declared. "As soon as we kick Shadow Moth’s stupid butt, we'll find Chat's mom, and whatever happens, we'll help him get through it. As a team."

"Yeah," Marinette said, straightening herself up as hope spread through her like a wildfire. "Yeah. Let's do it."

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adrienaugust · 10 months

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Wish come true - Adrien AUGreste Day 18+19

I imagined this one going slightly different but it ended the same, Adrien’s Italian anger coming out in defense of the people he loves. Another thank you to @etherealxgenie for betaing. Masks

Adrien was still reeling from what happened earlier. He’d immediately gone to the Liberty after they left and they had to video chat Ivan and Rose – who surprisingly was home – to tell them the news. If he thought they were excited, Anarka was even more so. She might not like Jagged Stone but she was more than willing to cause trouble for Bob Roth. Adrien just hoped Juleka and Luka recorded when the two finally met.

He was typing out an email to his dad, bursting with excitement when he heard the front door open. He dropped his laptop to the side and climbed down his bed, running to the front door.

“Mama, Mama, you’re never going to believe what just happened! I got to meet – oh. I didn’t know we had a guest coming over.” behind his mother was an older gentleman. Compared to his father’s own style of suits, this man looked like a stereotypical high-profile lawyer, with his pressed suit and squirmy looking face.

“Adrien, I don’t know if you remember Signor St Claire? You went to school with his daughter Elizabeth in New York?”

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adrienaugust · 10 months

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Little Less Classy (Piano)

Everyone thinks that Adrien Agreste's favorite genre is classical music, but he has a secret.

Ao3. Adrien AUGust series

If you asked any fan of Adrien Agreste what type of music he liked to play on the piano, they'd tell you that he liked to play Classical music. The superfans would spin you a tale about Adrien's father, Gabriel Agreste, using the piano to woo his mother, Émilie Graham de Vanily, when they were young, and Adrien memorizing those same songs by heart so that he would always remember their love for each other.

And why wouldn’t they think that? It was what he told all the magazines after all, and when he was called to demonstrate his skills, it was what he played. It was classy. It was sophisticated. It was the perfect music for Adrien Agreste™, the perfect boy with a perfect life, but he had a secret.

He loved ragtime more. He loved its whimsy. He loved its energy. He loved how it always seemed so happy and chipper, no matter how down he felt, but most of all, he loved playing it with his beloved kwami, Plagg.

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adrienaugust · 10 months

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Wish come true - Adrien AUGreste Day 14+15

A bit late, but I was smart in asking EtherealGenie for help betaing, so there shouldn’t be any spelling errors, at least not before the social media part, that I just added, so that was up to my spellcheck so fingers crossed. Also, it would actually take 6 hours for them to get to Saint Vincent Beach from Paris but for the sake of the story, we’re gonna say it takes less time. Anyway, enjoy! Passion

“No! Let me go, you can’t do this! I’m your daughter! I’m Lila Agreste!”

“Honestly Gabriel, you should have nipped this in the bud earlier. It’ll be difficult, but she’ll be disciplined and a different child by the time she comes home for break.” Tomoe said as they watched Gorilla carry the squirming girl to the red car. “My family will keep you updated. It’s laughable, how she doesn’t seem to realize how a name can’t get you far. You have to work for the respect you want.”

The designer could feel the judgment from the famed fencer. He still couldn’t understand how his daughter turned out like this. He thought back and realized times where she was caught, usually by her mother. Eventually she just got better at not getting caught and because he was so preoccupied with work or Emile’s health, he didn’t notice. Then she wanted to go to school and try her luck out there. She was quickly found out but it didn’t stop her. She kept trying to gain some attention, like something was supposed to change and nothing. And now it left her as this, a known bully who attacked a student with no motive. It took all his skills to keep the Rossi’s from suing, from having Lila removed to paying the hospital bills, and sending a check that was near 1 million euro. If he wanted any chance at saving his business, getting a new face for the company was critical. There were only so much his apologies could do. Honestly, after he got the Miraculous and got Emilie back, the business wouldn’t matter but until then, he had to focus on this, even if it meant turning his back on his daughter.

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adrienaugust · 10 months

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Wishe come true - Adrien AUGreste Day 11 + 12 + 13

This isn’t where I pictured this chapter going. I was expecting a full on physical fight between Adrien and Lila, maybe Marinette finally getting Akumatized (though I do have an idea or two for that) but instead, this happened. I don’t know if it was too sudden but it felt a bit right and a bit natural. Enjoy! Protection

“Come on, I’m gonna hurl.” Juleka mocked, pulling Adrien away from her brother who’d walked with her to school for the one purpose of seeing Adrien. The two had been giggling over each other, sharing kisses and being a rather in-love couple.

“I’ll remember that next time you and Rose can’t seem to be bothered to make it to your bed!” he called after her, sticking his tongue out when she turned to glare at him.

“Wow Juleka.”

“Shut up!”

“You know what they say, it’s always to quite ones.”

“Adrien, I swear, I will find a way to embarrass you and Luka when your mother eventually comes for dinner.” Juleka swore as their friends laughed at them.

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adrienaugust · 10 months

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Bee in the Bonnet

Chat Noir has saved Paris countless time. He was a loyal teammate for Ladybug for numerous battles. He has fought and bled for Paris over and over. For that alone, Chat Noir thinks he deserves to live. He deserves to exist, but his team doesn't think so. If he wants to keep his former team from killing him, he's going to need allies, so he turns to the one person who could possibly understand what he's going through right now: Chloe Bourgeois.

Sequel to Sweet Walker. Part 3 of the Jekyll/Hyde Inspired series Entry for Adrien AUGreste 2023 Passion

Chat Noir pulled out the Bee Comb from his pocket and examined it, thinking as Pollen hoved next to him, trembling in fear. For a moment, Chat Noir felt the urge to pet her with a finger so as to comfort her, but he dismissed that thought as easily as it came. He was the reason she was afraid. Doing that would only freak her out more, and if he tried to say anything, she’d only see it as a lie.

Kwamis had been misused in the past, and now that he’d taken it from Vesperia, or rather Zoe Lee, he was sure that Pollen was having flashbacks to darker times, more menacing times. In a way, Chat Noir supposed that Pollen was right to be afraid. Chat Noir was taking her from everything, her friends, her guardian, her fellow kwamis and he was trading her away for a potential alliance.

Chat Noir hadn’t seen any other option though. Catwalker had wanted to give Zoe his Miraculous, and if he’d done that…Chat Noir didn’t know what would happen if that happened. Would he die? Would he just be trapped forever with no escape? Would he become a ghost? Would he possess the next person who wore the ring? Whatever happened, Chat Noir was sure that it’d be awful.

Chat Noir wanted to live. He wanted to survive. He just wanted to exist. He deserved to exist. Surely, after everything he’d done for Paris, he deserved that much? Well, apparently not.

So, Chat Noir had stolen the Bee. Mostly out of necessity. If Catwalker couldn’t find Vesperia, he couldn’t give her the Ring, now could he? Still, if Chat Noir was being honest with himself, he could admit that he’d also done it a little out of spite too.

He’d just been so angry. He knew that if Catwalker had managed to talk to Vesperia, she would’ve sided with him. She would’ve helped him get rid of Chat Noir permanently because she sympathized with Cat. She thought he was a good person. She would’ve eradicated Chat Noir the same way she was slowly erasing Chloe from her own life. Except, Chloe had her own body. Chloe couldn’t be wiped away without a trace, so if she was willing to do that to her own sister, where did that leave Chat Noir?

Chat Noir wasn’t stupid. He knew that he couldn’t keep control forever. Sooner or later, Catwalker was going to get their body back, and he’d try to get rid of him again. Chat Noir was going to have to do something about it, and soon. Even more than that though, if Chat wanted to survive, he’d need allies.

The first one was easy. Chloe Bourgeois. It wasn’t surprising that Chat Noir had thought of her, given how often she dominated his thoughts lately, but if there was anyone who might understand what was going on with Chat Noir, it was here. Or at the very least, she wouldn’t turn him in to the heroes. There was no love lost between them.

The Bee, of course, would be a starting gift, a bribe to get her to help him, but before he could give her that, he had to figure out what he wanted, what he needed to get himself free.

First things first, Chat Noir would need to buy himself time. Catwalker couldn’t hide the Ring from him on his own. At least, not without being very irresponsible about it and risking it getting into the wrong hands. He’d need someone to hold onto it. Someone who he could trust…Chat Noir grinned as the first part of his plan slid into place, and even better, it’d help Chat get even more time to scheme.

All he’d need was for Chloe to be Chloe. ~*~ Chloe laid on the couch examining her nails, looking for any flaws. There weren’t any of course. She was Chloe Bourgeois, but it helped to reassure herself that -if nothing else- her nails was still perfect.

A knock came from her balcony, and Chloe frowned as she tried to imagine who it could be? A hero? No, none of those goody two-shoes wanted anything to do with her anymore. An akuma? No, those losers didn’t have the patience to knock. They always just barged in like they only the place, screaming about how Chloe had ruined their pathetic lives. As if they didn’t ruin it themselves. Maybe it was Shadow Moth then. He was probably the only person who could even tolerate Chloe right now, but she was still smarting from the last time she’d dealt with him.

“Go away!” Chloe called out, not even bothering to get up. She had more important things to do, like getting someone to buy rockets to the next XY concert for her.

The door unlatched and Chloe sat up so you could glare at the intruder over the back of her couch. To her surprise though, it was Chat Noir of all people. The pathetic sidekick who’d probably been fired for being so useless ages ago.

“Aww,” Chat Noir said, a teasing lilt in his voice. “And here I was, coming to bring you a gift.” He pulled out the Bee Comb, and Chloe’s eyes immediately honed in on it, almost against her will. Was…was this another chance to be Queen Bee? Had that moron Ladybug actually decided to give her another chance?

“I can always come back later,” Chat Noir said, turning the comb so it shone even in the dim light of the storm raging outside. “If you’re busy.”

“I’m not busy!” Chloe cried out, then immediately, she recomposed herself. It was never good to look desperate in front of the enemy and make no mistake, Chat Noir was the enemy. Him and his precious Ladybug.

“Thankfully, I have some free time in my schedule,” Chloe said haughtily. “I suppose this means Ladybug is willing to talk?”

Chat Noir cackled. “Oh, no. Ladybug? That ship has sailed.” Chloe glared at the mangy stray. Then why had he come here, just to taunt her? She was Chloe Bourgeois, not some carnival attraction. “I’m here to make a deal.”

Chloe laughed scornfully. “A deal? With Ladybug’s sidekick? That is ridiculous, utterly ridiculous. Come back when you have someone real to bargain with.”

“Ladybug’s former sidekick,” Chat Noir said, and Chloe rolled her eyes. As if that made anything better. “The one that she replaced with Catwalker.”

“Then how did you get the Black Cat?” Chloe snapped. She wasn’t an idiot. She knew that there was only one type of each Miraculous. There was no way that Ladybug would just hand over a Miraculous to someone she got rid of.

“With a lot of luck and skill,” Chat Noir answered, deftly avoiding actually answering Chloe’s question. The sly look on his face though made Chloe believe that maybe he’d actually managed to steal it somehow.

“That’s not why I’m here though,” Chat Noir told her hastily. “I’m here because I need your help, and I’m willing to trade you this,” he flashed the Bee Comb at her, “to get it.”

Skeptical after her last dumpster fire of a deal, Chloe asked, “And if I get the Bee, what do you get?”

“Two things,” Chat Noir said, holding up two fingers. “1. I need Adrien angry and alone. I’m going to need to be on him, spread as much as doubt as you can about as many of his friends as you can.”

“Fat chance,” Chloe said, rolling her eyes. “He won’t listen to me.”

“He listens more than you think,” Chat answered. “All you need to do is watch them and call them out anytime they do anything even slightly immoral. Stealing, hiding, sneaking, lying, keeping secrets, whatever. Then, whenever Adrien’s around, if there’s a chance to bring it up, do it. Don’t just stick with recent stuff either.” He gave Chloe a shark-like grin. “If you can remember times when they’ve messed up before, bring that up too. Don’t lie, but always cast them in the worst light possible.”

Chloe tapped her fingers against the sofa as she thought. That was doable, and really, was it so different than what she was already doing?

She already knew that some of her classmates had been made heroes, had been given a chance to be after she had, and even worse, their Miraculouses had been returned to them even after their identities had been exposed.

Which meant that the entire time, when Ladybug had told her that the reason she couldn’t be Queen Bee was because her identity had been exposed was a lie, and if that was a lie, what else had been a lie?

All those times that Ladybug had told Chloe that she could be a good hero, that she could be exceptional, was that just Ladybug’s way of using her? Of manipulating Chloe? Then, once she had better pawns, more useful pawns, she’d tossed Chloe away like trash.

Well, if Chloe was going to be treated like trash, then she’d find a way to make the others feel like garbage too. No, she’d make the entire class feel like trash for mocking her, for helping Ladybug play her like a fool, make her feel loved and wanted before ripping it away. So, she had. She’d made them pay…or at least, she’d tried as much as she could. Part of her was missing that spark, that talented bite that made the entire thing feel good.

Maybe Chat Noir’s plan would be a good thing. Maybe it’d serve as inspiration to finally help her get back in the game, finally restore her back to her rightful place as head of the class. It couldn’t hurt to try at least.

“Alright,” Chloe said, “and what’s condition #2?”

Chat gave Chloe a Cheshire grin as he pulled out a list and set it in front of Chloe. “Together, we’re going to get revenge on Ladybug by ruining the reputations of the heroes.” Chloe’s eyes widened as she realized what the list was: a list of each of the heroes’ weaknesses and mistakes.

“We’re going to write scathing articles about each of the heroes and publish them on the Ladyblog,” Chat Noir said. “Then we won’t let anyone forget about them.”

Chloe snorted. “Yeah, like that lame-o Ladyblogger is going to just let us do that.”

“Chloe, Chloe, Chloe,” Chat Noir said, shaking his head at her, “You’re thinking about this all wrong. We don’t need Alya’s permission. We just need her password to get her admin privileges. We publish this stuff, lock her out, and in the time it takes to get her site back, enough people will have seen this stuff that even if Alya deletes it, it’ll be impossible to get people to stop talking about it.”

Chloe’s eyes widened as she realized the plan. “You want Adrien to betray her. You want to make him so angry that he’ll turn against her, and so distrustful of her friends that he won’t listen to anything good they have to say about her.”

Chat beamed, “See, I knew you were exceptional. No one else would’ve gotten it. I mean, if we try to isolate Marinette, she’ll just get angry and stick to Alya like glue. Nino worships the ground that Ladyblogger walks on, but Adrien, Adrien’s close to her often enough that he’d be able to see it, and his father already does most of the work for us. So, why not take advantage of it?”

“Let me guess,” Chloe said, narrowing her eyes at the list, “you want me to write articles about all this stuff?”

“Whichever parts interest you. I just gave you as big of a list as I could. I’d do it myself, but,” Chat Noir shrugged, “everyone knows I was always the brawn to Ladybug’s brain.”

“What even happened to you two anyways,” Chloe asked.

“Ladybug decided that she didn’t want a plaything anymore. She found new friends, better friends, and so…” Chat Noir shrugged. “To Ladybug, everyone’s replaceable after awhile, I guess, even her so-called-partner.”

Chat Noir stretched, his feline instincts on full display, before placing the Bee Comb beside her.

“I’m feline like we’re running out of time. So I’m going to leave this to you. I trust you’ll make the right choice. I have faith in you, Chloe.”

Then he meandered to the balcony and launched himself into Paris’s skyline, leaving Chloe with the Bee, and a difficult choice.

#miraculous ladybug #ml #miraculous #adrienaugust #adrienaugreste

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