A hand broke through the rubble, and Chat Noir gasped for a desperate breath of air as he climbed over it. His suit had been slightly torn in a few areas, revealing a bit of skin underneath. His entire body felt like it was on fire, and he was sure a few bruises were already forming across his skin. His limbs ached, and his middle was screaming in pain, but he forced himself to stand to his feet. Then, his ring beeped, reminding him that he had called out his cataclysm and was pressed for time.

He was panting heavily as he surveyed the damage. A part of the ceiling had caved in from a bomb that Hawkmoth had placed. Somehow, his entire childhood home above was untouched by the massive explosion. However, part of his father's underground labyrinth sat right below his mother's gardens. Because of that, the last bit of his mother's touch had been destroyed when the ground caved in. Now, in its stead was a giant gaping hole, allowing sunlight in.

Chat Noir felt his blood boiling in a matter of seconds. His hands clenched into fists at his sides. This only proved that his father had no interest in saving his mother, and if he had at one point in the past, it was no longer a priority. His father had just destroyed one of the most precious gifts his mother had left behind—and for what? Power? God-like power?

Was that really more important to him than his own family?

Perhaps he couldn't be the judge of that. He once thought building a music school was more important than the love of his life—his family. The situations were entirely different, but the motives behind them were the same. They were both selfish.

Adrien was going to kill his father. There was no doubt in his mind now that his father would never change. His father would never become the dad he always wanted, and his father would never become the grandfather Emma deserved. Instead, his father chose power over love, and for that, Chat Noir hated him.

A series of coughs suddenly sounded, forcing him to snap out of his reverie of revenge. His worried eyes scanned the debris, finding Alya and Nino. Alya was coughing into her hands and Nino was patting her back, worriedly trying to search her eyes. It was then when Adrien realized that although Alya was still dawned in her magical suit, Nino was not.

Chat Noir instantly rushed towards them. He skidded on his knees, halting at their level. "Are you guys okay?" He placed a hand on each of their shoulders, his eyes specifically fixed on Nino as he then asked, "Why aren't you transformed?"

Wordlessly, Nino slowly pulled out something from his pocket. Chat Noir gasped when he realized what it was.

In the center of his palm laid the broken turtle miraculous.

"Oh no..." Chat Noir wasn't sure what else to say. A miraculous had never been completely broken before and he wasn't sure if it could be fixed. And what did that mean for the kwami? The only one who could have those answers would be the guardian—

Chat Noir suddenly lifted his head with a gasp. Where was Ladybug?

"Ladybug?!" Desperately, Chat Noir called out her name as he stood to his feet and rushed towards the untouched rubble. He couldn't even see his father's life machines anymore, which held his mother and daughter. He could only hope the machines had protected them like his father said they would.

But nothing had been there to protect his lady when that ceiling fell.

Clawing at the debris, he started flinging stone and concrete. Somewhere underneath all of this mess, Ladybug was trapped.

His ring beeped again, but he ignored it.

He was panting heavily as he dug. His back ached and his hands felt like they were on fire despite the protection his suit granted him. He felt tears slowly cascade down his cheeks as he remained relentless, his teary eyes even blinding him slightly.

This couldn't be happening. Not now. Not when he and Marinette were finally starting to turn a new leaf.

He squeezed his eyes shut and cried out, "LADYBUG!"

His pained and desperate voice carried on like an echo, vibrating off the walls. Ladybug did not respond to her name. Her absence, along with her silence, only worried him further.

He should have protected her. That was his job. He was her partner—the person who was supposed to have her back. It seemed that no matter how much he tried, he always failed at that. He abandoned her here to take on Hawkmoth alone, and even when he was back, willing to fight alongside her, he still couldn't seem to protect her.

What kind of partner did that make him?

As he kept on digging, he openly sobbed. His tears fell and dripped on the concrete, but he didn't stop digging. He would dig until his suit ripped. He would dig until his fingers bled—

A flash of red caught his eye. His eyes widened when he realized it was her foot.

"Ladybug!" Frightened but also relieved, he dug even more frantically, pulling off pieces of concrete that had fallen on top of her. With all his might he lifted up the largest piece, which had her right leg pinned underneath.

Her entire leg from the knee down was crushed. It was clearly broken.

He winched, his hand hovering over her leg in hesitance. He didn't know what to do. What could he do?

He quickly moved to uncover the rest of her body. When he reached her face, he had to hold back even more tears. There was blood and dirt everywhere, embedded into her pale skin. Right above her left brow was a deep cut that would certainly need stitching. Blood was slowly oozing out of it, trickling down her freckled cheek.

His panicked eyes darted to her chest... only to realize that it wasn't rising or falling.

She wasn't breathing.

"Oh god..." He rushed to place his hands over her chest, relying on his instincts (and what they had been taught in high school in their health class), and began performing CPR. His teary eyes remained transfixed on her face as he pumped her chest once... twice... three times...

She simply lay there limp and unresponsive. His heart began to speed up once more.

"C'mon Ladybug," he leaned forward to press his lips to hers, passing air to her lungs. He sat upright and continued to pump her chest. "C'mon, this is not where you go out. I won't let you die here."

He kept pumping and pumping and pumping. He leaned down and breathed into her mouth once again, begging her to open her eyes. Somewhere from behind him, he heard Alya whimper. He didn't have to turn his head to know that she had her face buried into Nino's chest.

But the minutes passed, and she laid completely still. His efforts didn't seem to be working.

"FUCK!" Chat Noir shouted, his anger revibrating off the walls as he continued pumping her chest. She wasn't responding, but he wouldn't give up. He would keep trying until she opened her eyes again, until she took in a nice deep breath of air—

"Dude, stop! You're going to hurt her!" Nino shouted and roughly grabbed his shoulders, yanking him back and causing Chat Noir to lose his balance on his haunches. But Adrien was quick to regain his stance. He stood on his feet, and with fury in his eyes, advanced towards Nino and punched him right in the nose.

"Adrien!" Alya screamed in horror.

Nino stumbled to the ground as he clutched his bleeding nose. With red gritted teeth, he glared up at the blonde. "What the hell!"

"Don't fucking touch me!" Adrien shouted down at him. It wasn't the right thing to say—in fact, Nino didn't deserve that... but Adrien didn't know how to channel his anger. Right now, he could hardly think clearly. He wanted someone to blame.

Nino supported himself on his elbows. "I'm just trying to help!"

He knew Nino wasn't the right person to blame. This was all his father's fault—

"If you wanted to help, you should've used your shelter to protect you all from the crumbling ceiling!" Adrien practically screamed down at him. "Why didn't you call out your superpower?!"

"I-I..." Nino hesitated, his face crumbling ever-so-slightly. "I didn't think about it. I freaked."

"Yeah?" Adrien couldn't help but let out a bitter chuckle at that. He collapsed to his knees again in front of Ladybug. "This is why you guys shouldn't have come. You guys weren't ready for this, and I shouldn't have let her give you guys a miraculous."

"'Let her?'" Alya advanced then, seeming furious. "What makes you think you have that kind of authority—?"

"Alya stop." Nino tried to pull her back by her forearm, but she yanked it out of his hold.

"No!" Her furious eyes remained fixed on the blonde. "What makes you think that you have the right to say that? Marinette has always made the best and right decisions—"

"Well clearly she made the wrong decision!" Chat Noir raised his voice. His hands were shaking as he gently reached to brush away some of the ash that was covering his lady's face. "And now, she's not breathing... so..." He let out a broken, watery chuckle, the tears slowly cascading down his cheeks and dripping from his chin. "...what the hell am I supposed to do now?"

"You defeat your father." Nino answered sternly, "You make him pay for what he's done. You take back his miraculous. You rescue your mom and your daughter. You don't let him win."

"He's already won." Chat Noir crumbled on top of Ladybug. His forehead came to rest on her middle as he openly sobbed. "He already took the love of my life from me."

Nino shook his head. "You still have so much to fight for."

He knew that... and yet he felt like he couldn't fight anymore. Not without her.

There was still so much they had to solve together, so much that needed to be mended even after the apologies that had been shared. He still felt like he had things he needed to apologize for. There were things he still felt that he owed to her.

And now what was he supposed to do? Raise their daughter without her?

He couldn't become what his father was—a man who had lost his wife and because of it became cold and heartless towards his son. Adrien didn't want to be that way to his daughter, and a part of him feared that he might be—that his brokenness might hurt her.

Perhaps it would be best if he didn't raise her. Emma didn't know he was her father, so he couldn't possibly hurt her in the same way of a parent abandoning a child. Maybe it would be best if she stayed with Nino and Alya so he wouldn't ruin her life—

A sudden shrill of a miraculous beeping broke his concentration. But this time, it wasn't his own.

It was Ladybug's earrings.

His eyes widened at the sight of the flashing jewels. That meant she had called out her lucky charm sometime before the ceiling had collapsed.

If he could find it, it could fix all of this, including bringing her back to life.

As if on cue, his own miraculous beeped for the final time. His transformation fell in an electric stream of green static, revealing his civilian form. Plagg emerged into thin air grumbling, ready to complain about being starved to death.

But the little black cat held his tongue the moment he saw Ladybug.

Letting out a gasp, Plagg reeled back in absolute horror. "What happened?"

Adrien ignored his question. Instead, he said, "She called out her lucky charm... so help me find it before she transforms back."

For the first time ever, Plagg didn't have a snarky retort. He simply nodded, determined, and phased through part of the debris that still surrounded Ladybug's body. Somewhere underneath what Chat Noir hadn't dug up was Ladybug's lucky charm.

"What happens if she transforms back?" Alya asked cautiously.

Adrien was too busy trying to dig through debris to look at her, but he did answer. "The lucky charm will disappear, and I won't be able to use it to bring her back."

Alya didn't say anything else. Nothing else needed to be said. Instead, she instantly fell to her knees and started digging. Nino also quickly joined her side to help. In a matter of seconds, all three of them were digging through concrete searching for a red and black spotted object.

They did so in absolute silence with no one speaking a word to each other. It was so quiet that, after the explosion had occurred, water could be heard dripping from the metal railing into the water below them.

After what seemed like agonizing hours of hopelessness, Plagg finally emerged from the rubble looking excited. He was holding his little paw up in the air, and in it, was a red and black spotted coin. "I found it!"

Adrien quickly took it from him. Without another word, he opened Ladybug's limp hand and placed the coin in her palm. Then, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and searched up one of the numerous videos on social media captured of Ladybug fixing the city with one miraculous phrase.

He wordlessly handed the phone to Nino, who looked at him quizzically. Adrien simply hardened his gaze. "When the coin gets tossed up, I need you to play that video."

Nino didn't question Adrien's plan. Instead, he just nodded. With that, Adrien swallowed nervously and took ahold of Ladybug's wrist. Breathing in deeply, he jerked her arm upward, causing the coin to fly in the air. Shortly afterward, the sound of her voice echoing from the phone as she shouted, "miraculous ladybug!" filled the air.

Just as he had hoped, thousands of red ladybugs appeared in an instant and swarmed around them, cleansing and repairing everything that had been destroyed by his father. He watched in awe as the fallen pieces of concrete were lifted into the air and molded back into the building as if they had never broken off to begin with. He watched the life machines become visible again, revealing his mother and his daughter to be okay. From what he could see, Emma looked frightened, and he intended to rescue her as soon as possible...

But first.... his eyes quickly darted to Ladybug's face, brimming with hope.

The red ladybugs then came around his partner, encircling her leg before they traveled up her body. They were only there for a second before they dispersed in the air above them. Frantically, his eyes searched her face, looking for any signs of life. It only took seconds before Ladybug's eyes snapped open and she lurched forward, heaving.

He caught her with one arm, and with the other, started rubbing her back. Ladybug was breathing heavily and the look in her eyes resembled panic. Relieved and overjoyed, new tears started to cascade down his cheeks. His arms tightened around her as he gently pulled her into his chest, hugging her. His presence seemed to do the trick when she instantly shuddered and relaxed.

She looked up at him then, her beautiful blue-bell eyes searching his in confusion. "W-What happened?" She asked him, her voice hoarse.

Adrien swallowed nervously and struggled to keep himself from crying despite that his tears seemed to be relentless and uncontrollable. Without another word, she reached up to delicately wipe them away. He found himself leaning into her hand.

"You died." He whispered so low between them that it would've only been possible for her to hear. "The ceiling fell... and it crushed you... but-but I was able to bring you back with your lucky charm."

Ladybug shuddered and swallowed but she remained silent. She didn't need to say anything for him to know that she was frightened by this revelation.

His arms tightened around her, and he moved to bury his face into the crook of her neck. "I'm so sorry I couldn't protect you."

He felt her hand come up to stroke his hair. "Adrien—"

"I-I tried to get to you guys but I wasn't fast enough and-and I still can't get that image of the ceiling falling on top of you out of my head—"

"Shhhh." Ladybug's fingers were stroking his scalp. Her touch, along with her gentle whispers, seemed to ease his worries ever-so-slightly. "It's okay now. I'm here and I'm okay."

He lifted his head from her shoulder, his tear-stained eyes finding hers. "And what if you hadn't been? What if you would have never called your lucky charm? You would be dead right now, and I don't know what I would have done."

"The 'what ifs' don't matter, okay?" She tried to assure as her hand came up to his cheek, her thumb stroking his skin. "What matters is that I'm okay."

That should have calmed him down... but it didn't. He was still worried that this was all just a figment of his imagination, that he hadn't actually succeeded in bringing her back to life with the help of the miraculous' magic—

"I can hear you thinking." Marinette chastised him playfully. Despite her efforts, he did not smile. Smiling sadly, she patted his arm. "Help me stand?"

He wordlessly got to his feet and helped her stand as he tucked his hands underneath her armpits and lifted her. Marinette was wobbly on her feet and leaned against his chest, seeking his aid in standing upright, and he didn't mind helping her. He guided her towards the bridge so that she could lean against the railing. Nino and Alya quickly jogged towards them.

Excitedly, Nino extended his hand out towards Adrien. The blonde spared a glance at his palm, only to find that the turtle miraculous had been completely fixed.

His eyes darted up to Nino's wide in shock. Nino nodded as if reading his thoughts. "Ladybug's lucky charm must've also fixed the miraculous."

"It was broken?" Marinette asked, quizzically eyeing the bracelet in Nino's hand.

"Something like that..." Nino admitted somewhat shamefully, even though it wasn't necessarily his fault that it had been broken. His eyes fell to his feet, avoiding eye contact with Marinette. As if he had concluded he was no longer worthy of having it in his possession, he silently extended his hand out to her.

Marinette simply blinked down at the jewel. "What are you doing?"

"Giving it back to you," Nino answered as if it were obvious. "Adrien was right. Neither one of us is experienced enough to be a superhero. I only had this miraculous for an hour and it broke under my wing. It would have been broken forever had it not been for your lucky charm."

Marinette shook her head. "That's not true. I could have fixed it with the Grimoire—"

"That's not the point." Nino softly interrupted her. "The point is that I could have ruined something important. What if there wasn't a way to fix a miraculous? That would mean I would be responsible for breaking it. Besides, I was supposed to use my power to shelter everyone, and I didn't. I froze up and didn't react quickly enough. I shouldn't be out here fighting Hawkmoth if I can't make quick, rational decisions for the team."

Marinette simply watched him with an expression that couldn't be read. Adrien, on the other hand, was proud of Nino for being able to admit that. Even if he wasn't on the best terms with his best friend, he didn't want anything bad to happen to him or his wife.

Tikki, who was hovering above Marinette's shoulder, smiled, "That's a big thing to admit, Nino. You're doing the right thing."

Nino silently nodded to that. After some quiet consideration, Marinette wordlessly agreed to take back his miraculous. She stuffed it into her front pocket and then proceeded to pull out a macaroon, handing it to Tikki who eagerly began to devour the delicacy. Realizing he hadn't fed his kwami either, Adrien quickly reached into the inside pocket of his shirt to fetch a piece of Camembert for Plagg.

While the kwamis ate, Adrien impatiently tapped his foot. Across the room, he could make out his daughter and mother still inside the life machines. His mother hadn't moved an inch, but his daughter was no longer peering at them anxiously through the glass. She was curled up into a little ball.

"Hurry up, Plagg." Adrien huffed out. "I need cataclysm to get Emma out."

"I'm eating as fast as I can!" Plagg grumbled out behind a mouthful of stinky cheese.

"We need to find Hawkmoth," Marinette said as she tried to slowly pull away from the railing. However, coming back from the dead could do a number on someone—particularly in the sense that she still couldn't stand on her own and had no sense of balance. Adrien quickly stepped in to catch her when Marinette experienced another dizzy spell.

"You can't fight like this," Adrien said as he encased her in his arms and pulled her against his chest. Marinette leaned against him with her eyes squeezed shut, trying to ride out her dizziness. "You need to recover from what you've just experienced."

"I know but—" Marinette suddenly heaved as if she were experiencing nausea. "W-What about Ladybug?"

Nino and Rena Rouge exchanged a look. Neither of them would offer to be Ladybug, especially after the events that had occurred, and Adrien would not recommend that either of them wield one of the most important miraculouses of all time without hardly any experience.

And then... something clicked. Adrien's eyes widened when an idea came to mind.

What if he were to wield the Ladybug miraculous while also still wielding his own?

That way he could still access the lucky charm and repair anything that was destroyed if more disaster was to follow.

"Give it to me." Adrien insisted with determination. "I'll wield mine and yours at the same time and take Hawkmoth down once and for all."

Marinette's eyes widened... but not in excitement. Her blue-bell irises held fear. "You want to wield the ladybug and black cat miraculouses at the same time? That is extremely dangerous, Adrien."

He shrugged. At this point, he was willing to do anything to defeat his father and save his family.

"Maybe... but we really don't have much of a choice." He insisted with a tight frown. "I need the lucky charm in case things go south, and if I want the plan I have in mind to work, I'm also going to need my cataclysm."

Marinette shook her head at him, her irises bearing her worry. "You have no idea how dangerous it is for one person to wield both of those miraculouses—"

"How bad can it be? I already watched you die."

"It's worse than death, Adrien." Marinette's bottom lip was starting to tremble. "The ladybug and black cat miraculouses are like the yin and yang. They're two halves to a whole and they balance each other out. If one person is wielding both halves, the magic becomes unbalanced. It could curse and darken your soul."

Surprisingly, that didn't frighten him. Maybe it was because he was too blinded by trying to put her and their daughter first for a change.

"I'll do whatever it takes," Adrien stated firmly. "My father has to be stopped and we can't afford to wait until you're feeling better. Hawkmoth will take this opportunity to rebuild his plan. I can't let that happen."

"And I can't let you sacrifice your soul!" Marinette shouted at him. Her risen voice, along with her furrowed brows and clenched fists, shocked them all. Adrien reeled back in shock, not expecting such an outburst from her.

The entirety of the underground lair was eerily silent after that. No one said a word. Instead, Adrien stepped closer, attempting to bring her back into his chest, but Marinette stepped away from him by using the railing, keeping a bit of distance between them.

Adrien's arms fell to his sides, and he sighed in defeat. He had gone along with her plan despite his doubts, and it hadn't worked. Now, it was time to try it his way.

And his way only had one ending. He was going to kill his father.

By then, Plagg had finished his cheese. The silence was broken when Adrien suddenly called out his transformation phrase.

Everyone watched with wide eyes as green electricity illuminated the darkness. In a matter of seconds, Chat Noir once again stood in Adrien's place. Filled with determination, he turned back around to face his partner and extended his hand. "Give me your miraculous."

Marinette's eyes narrowed ever-so-slightly. "No."

"Marinette—"

"I said no. I'm not going to let you do this!"

"Why not?!"

"Because I'm not about to lose you again!"

Chat Noir fixed his jaw. Those words would have been music to his ears had the situation been different. Right now, though, he couldn't be thinking about himself or about the life he wanted to have with them. Maybe it was just his fatherly instincts kicking in, but his only priority was making sure they were safe.

After almost losing Marinette permanently, he knew he had to protect her at all costs.

"I have to do this." He insisted pleadingly. "I don't think I've ever been more certain about something in my life."

"Stop trying to prove something." That was her retort. It felt like an arrow piercing right through his heart. "I don't need you to protect me!"

"This isn't just about you. This is about protecting Emma too and making sure that my father can't cause any more harm to anyone in this city!"

"By sacrificing yourself?!"

"If it comes down to it... yeah!"

"Just give him your miraculous, Marinette." Surprisingly, it was Alya who had sternly insisted that. Her eyes held her plead as they bore into Marinette's. "You're in no condition to fight, and he's the only other one here who knows what he's doing."

Marinette shook her head and extended her hands right in front of her, as if that was all she needed in order to keep him from getting to her earrings. It would have worked too, except Tikki seemed to not agree with her holder's resistance. Before Marinette could even think to react, the little kwami quickly made her move and snatched the miraculous. Marinette gasped in absolute horror when she realized what had happened, but before she could react, Tikki had already zoomed over towards Chat Noir and was placing the earrings into his open palm.

Her hands were hovering over her bare ears as she gaped at her kwami. "Tikki... how could you—?!"

"I had no other choice!" Tikki shouted at the top of her lungs. "Adrien is right—we don't have any other choice! I know you're worried, but this plan is what's best for everyone!"

"It's not best for everyone if someone is risking their everything!"

"That's my decision." Chat Noir interjected sternly. His eyes remained narrowly fixed on hers, even as she worriedly watched him re-poke his old holes with her earrings. A little bit of blood trickled down his ear, but it didn't perturb him. Even the stinging sensation felt numb.

Marinette opened her mouth to argue, but he cut her off when he once again called out his cataclysm. With a raging black ball of magic in his leather hand, Chat Noir sprinted towards his daughter's life machine. With just a single touch, the machine fell apart like paper amid the flames. He quickly caught his daughter in his arms before the whole thing crumbled to ash on the ground.

Keeping her pressed against his chest, he called out his de-transformation. Plagg remerged and was given another piece of cheese.

Emma looked up at him with bleary eyes, and yet somehow, even despite all that she had been through, she still smiled up at him.

He smiled back. "You okay, kid?"

She silently nodded, but her verbal response was something unexpected. "I knew you were Chat Noir." His daughter said softly, and he almost didn't hear it.

But he did... and his eyes went wide in astonishment. How had she known?

Instead of asking her how she'd figured out his identity, he decided now was not the time. They could discuss all of this after his father was defeated. Right now, his main focus was making sure he got her, Marinette, and his friends out of here as quickly as possible.

"Take Emma." Adrien handed his daughter over to Alya, who readily took the little girl into her arms. Marinette weakly stood beside her with Nino's support and was running a hand over her daughter's cheek, looking for any injuries.

Plagg was already recharged and ready to go again. So, Adrien called for the two most powerful miraculouses in all of existence to be unified.

A flash of green and red mixed as one, illuminating the darkness of the room. Everyone lifted an arm to block out the light that almost seemed blinding. Adrien squeezed his eyes shut as well. In a matter of seconds, the light had vanished, and a hero wielding both the ladybug and black cat miraculous stood in Adrien's place.

In most instances, he would have concocted a name for this new hero.

But all he could think about right now was killing his father.

"You guys need to get out of here." Adrien instructed sternly, "Go back the same way we came, and promise me you'll stay far away from here until Hawkmoth is defeated."

Marinette looked up at him then. The worry in her eyes was unmistakable. "I don't like this plan." She told him again as if he required the reminder.

"I know." He smiled apologetically at her.

She didn't match his smile. "Try to get this over with as quickly as possible." That was her advice and warning to him before they parted. "The longer you wear both miraculouses, the worse your consequences will be."

He nodded once in confirmation. He didn't plan to waste any time regardless.

"And please be safe." She said with a sad smile. It was enough to have his heart ache in a whole new way.

They didn't part ways with a hug despite him wishing they could've. After all, he wasn't even sure if he would ever be able to hold her in his arms again after this. Marinette had urged him that wearing both miraculouses could corrupt his soul. He wasn't inclined to believe that she was exaggerating.

He believed her completely, which is why as soon as Marinette disappeared with their friends and their daughter into the sewers, Adrien rushed into the elevator which would take him back up into his father's office.

When it dinged and he exited, his father was nowhere to be seen. His office, however, was trashed, as if his father had had a tantrum while rummaging through his things, desperately searching for something that he didn't want any of them getting their hands on.

Adrien had a feeling his father was pressed for time. Pressing onward, Adrien carefully began to inspect the home.

His father, Nathalie, and even the man who had once been his bodyguard during his youth were nowhere to be seen. None of his father's maids or servants were present either. Adrien carefully made his way up the marble staircase. He passed his old bedroom, not even bothering to spare it a glance despite the door being wide open, and pressed onward to his mother's old office.

The door was also ajar, revealing his father still dawned in his superhero suit rummaging through his mother's things. Adrien leaned against the doorframe with his arms folded over his chest. "What are you doing, father?"

Hawkmoth visibly tensed. Then, he slowly looked over his shoulder. His eyes widened when he realized his son was wielding both his own and Ladybug's miraculous. "Have you come to finally hand over the miraculouses?"

"No."

"Then I'll give you a head start."

Adrien unraveled his yo-yo. The sound of it unlatching shrilled through the silence, cutting through it like a knife. "I'm not running away. I'm going to fight you right here, right now, and I'm going to defeat you once and for all."

Hawkmoth's laughter was bitter and chilling. "What makes you think that you're going to defeat me?"

Adrien spared a quick glance at what was in front of his father. Several different papers were scattered all across his mother's desk, but that wasn't what caught his eye. More importantly, an old, brown shoe box littered with stickers from Tibet sat unopened.

Adrien's eyes snapped back up to his father in rage. "Because I'm going to kill you."

To that, his father let out a bellowed laugh, as if he didn't think his son was capable of doing something so cruel. "I'd like to see you try."

The yo-yo was spinning on his finger now. Adrien's gaze hardened, and his eyes narrowed. "Let's dance, old man."

Hawkmoth was smirking when his eyes finally connected with his for the last time. Despite Adrien's threats, Gabriel didn't seem afraid in the slightest. It was almost as if his father had a secret weapon hidden up his sleeve, something that he believed would guarantee him victory today.

Adrien realized he was right when his father fastened something at his collar. His eyes widened when he realized it was another miraculous.

The peacock miraculous to be exact.

_______________________________

This book is finally getting close to the end. AHHHHH I can't believe it!!

Tune in for chapter 20 on (12/30/2022) where father and son finally throw hands. Meanwhile, the peacock miraculous is broken and the two most powerful miraculouses being wielded together are slowly corrupting Adrien's soul. A victory is certainly coming... but who will be victorious?

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