A/N: Hey Readers!

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR 5K!!! ❤️💕❤️💕🥰

I do not intend to spoil things for you but just so you know that whatever I wrote about certain places in France or near Paris are not true... You will soon find out what I mean. Just keep reading ;)

A chapter of Hawkmoth's and Mayura's POV (kinda) and a dash of angst...
»And I am going to use masculine pronoun for Markov (Max's robot).«

•°•°•°•°•°•°•

We are the children of the Almighty, we are bound to no one else.
We have turned to face the rays of hope,
Our intentions are steely, every step on our way is courageous.
Today we march forward to write our fate with our own hands,
Because the best way to predict the future is by creating it yourself...

Hawkmoth never thought that this would actually happen. Of course, this had been the plan since the very beginning, but luck had always been on his enemies' side, courtesy Ladybug. That was the reason why he had always failed. Fighting the Lady of Fortune wasn't an easy task. He remembered all the times his akumas were nearly successful in getting the Miraculouses, but the Lucky Charm had always beaten them.

He was surprised. It didn't feel real at all.
But he was pleased- very pleased. After all these plans, schemes and all those attempts to get his desired wish, he was finally going to get it. And it was all because Ladybug wasn't transformed right then. She was currently using the Mouse Miraculous, she also did not have a partner to protect her this time.

She was at his mercy, lying on the ground near his feet. She was panting, tired after their long fight. He looked at the unmistakable black studs she wore. At first, it had just been guess work, his stubborn reasoning was what steered it all. Earlier he wasn't even sure if his plan was going to work at all or if he had the right person, but now he was sure that Multimouse and Ladybug were the same. Her fighting style screamed it. Also, Ladybug would never sacrifice another Miraculous holder. He looked over his shoulder to see Mayura nodding.

"Great fight, little mouse or should I say Ladybug..." He squatted down near her. "It turns out your stubbornness was all it took to defeat you. I will be taking these. . ." He reached for her earrings- the Ladybug Miraculous was finally within his reach. The earrings were finally his.

⏪⏪⏪⏪

(50 minutes earlier...)

Cat Noir jumped down cautiously, trying to make as little noise as possible. He remembered Max's warnings. His princess needed his help and he wasn't going to mess things up for either of them. He breathed in the musty air of the mine, it was still better than the stuffy tunnel that he had just exited.

For what might be the thousandth time, he thanked God that he had a black suit for it was easier for him to blend in the shadows. Walking down the narrow passage, he recalled what Max and Markov had told him.

~~Flashback~~

"You see, Cat Noir," Max sat down and turned on his computer, gesturing him to sit, "Finding his location wasn't easy. I can normally decipher any type of binary codes within fourteen hours, with Markov's help, of course."

A familiar robot joined them. The propeller above his rounded head was rotating at an incredible speed as he flew towards them.

"Hello, Cat Noir!" He greeted, his robotic voice was cheerful. "It's been a while since we last met. It sure was fun to help you defeat Startrain."

"Nice to see you too, Markov." The hero smiled at him.

Once the computer was fully booted, Max opened an application, several codes and corresponding numbers could be seen on the screen. He faced the older boy, his expression getting serious. "When Ladybug first approached me and told me that I needed to decode the binary digits, I thought that it would be a child's play, considering everything. But, Hawkmoth had everything pre-planned... He made it difficult to solve by disturbing the normal sequence. His code did not have had a pattern."

"Max and I had to look into every detail to decode the message. But when we did, we realised that we just ended up with some bunch of random coordinates of French cities." Markov said as Max handed a paper to Cat Noir

He looked at it. Some random cities and places had been marked along with their coordinates on the map of France. "Laval, Vichy, Sens, Tours..." Cat read out aloud. "Why did he do this? Surely, one of these is Hawkmoth's current location, but how did you know which one was his real location?"

"We were confused too at first..." Max slid his glasses up his nose. "Actually, I had pretty much given up, but Markov right here," he gestured to his robot friend who beamed at him proudly, "Solved the case. It was all an accident. You see, he loves that game where you join some dots in their assigned order to get a particular figure or a drawing. He just randomly decided to join the dots, it wasn't until I noticed the drawing that I realised that he was onto something."

"What was it?" Cat asked.

"Look for yourself." Markov handed him another sheet. It had similar co-ordinates on the map except they were all joined by lines. Cat gaped at the drawing on the sheet. It was a sketch of Hawkmoth.

"Um... Okay wow, but I still don't get it." The feline scratched the back of his head. He couldn't help but feel like a dumb person.

"It, indeed, is hard to figure out initially. It was for us too, but I knew that this," Max consoled him, pointing to the drawing, "Was not a mere coincidence."

He got up and walked over to his bed and picked up a bunch of papers lying there and returned to his seat. "When Hawkmoth aired his demands, he clearly mentioned that deciphering the codes was the first test. Clearly, he did not want to give away his location that easily. Finding out which place in the drawing is his true hideout was the second test. So after doing some research, I figured it out."

"Get to the point already." Cat Noir snapped, impatience was finally getting to him.

"Fine! His butterfly pin, his Miraculous. The area enclosed by it in the map is where he is, where Ladybug currently is headed to."

Cat looked at the map and searched for the area enclosed by the Hawkmoth's Miraculous. "Fontainebleau forest..." He muttered under his breath.

"Here is something that might help you." Max offered him one of the papers from his hands.

"The forest of Fontainebleau is a mixed deciduous forest lying sixty kilometres southeast of Paris, France. It is located primarily in the arrondissement of Fontainebleau in the southwestern part of the department of Seine-et-Marne Most of it also lies in the canton of Fontainebleau, although parts of it extend into adjoining cantons, and even as far west as the town of Milly-la-Forêt in the neighbouring department, Essonne. Several communes lie within the forest, notably the towns of Fontainebleau and Avon. The forest has an area of 250 square kilometres." Cat read. "The place is also known for peculiar rock shapes which resemble elephant, tortoise, crocodile which are believed to be a natural formation." He grimaced at the paper.

"Fine, but the forest is, like, really big." Cat waved his hands in the air to emphasize his point, "How do I know where he exactly is?"

"The gem, Cat Noir, the gem of his Miraculous." Markov provided helpfully.

Cat formed an 'o' with his lips. He looked at its co-ordinates. 48.4193° N, 2.6330° E. He contemplated for a few minutes, biting his lower lip, "When is she going to target him?" He finally asked.

Max looked at his watch, "Tomorrow morning at one." He replied. "The place is super busy during the day time, but when the night falls, it gets deserted."

"And spooky," Markov added.

"And spooky." Max agreed. "Though it's the perfect time for doing anything illegal."

"What exactly is this place, the one where he is possibly hiding the kidnapped people?" Cat Noir asked.

"An old, deserted mine," Markov answered. "Very deep, 2,000 feet, to be exact." He added.

Max handed Cat another paper. "Although the mine has been closed for more than a decade and its entrance is guarded, it's pretty easy to sneak in if you are a supervillain or something."

"Hmm... So, am I supposed to enter the mineshaft through this opening then? Wouldn't he be, like, already waiting for me or precisely Ladybug to arrive?" He pointed out.

"Very true, Cat Noir, but you are not going to enter the mine using that shaft," Max said.

"Then what?" Cat titled his head. "Am I going to magically teleport there or something?"

"No, Ladybug is already using the Horse Miraculous for that one, but there is another way." Max picked up an old-looking book from his desk. "I originally suggested it to her, but she said that she had it figured out but thanked me anyway..." He flipped through the pages.

"You see, these mines usually have more than one entrance and what you are looking for here is the one that Hawkmoth does not know about." He reached the desired page. "Aha!" He showed the hero an illustration in the book, an old diary, to be exact. It was a drawing of the elephant boulder in the forest.

Cat looked at his friend weirdly, "And how is this going to help me?"

"When you lift the boulder, you will find a well, a well that is very very old and is considered to be dried out. The forest department just moved the boulder and placed it on the entrance to make a makeshift, I don't know, a lid? Whatever it was, it's totally working. Nobody bothers about the well anymore. But, there is more to it than that." Max's eyes gleamed in excitement.

"The well, known by very few, is very deep, deeper than the mine itself. This mine was closed because of smuggling. Climbing down the well, you will find a hole in its wall that would be located around 1280 feet into the well. The hole is the entrance of a tunnel that leads to the mine, smugglers used to sneak into it through this passage. Not many people know this fact. The path will lead you to an exit, which is well concealed, right into one of the passages in the mine. And due to your superhuman abilities because of your Miraculous armour, you won't get tired after all that work."

"No offence or something, but if a school going boy knows about the secret passage then don't you think that Hawkmoth knows too?" Cat reasoned.

Max shook his head, "Cat Noir, the only reason why I know this stuff is because my grandfather used to work in the mine. He wrote about it in his diary." He pointed to the book he was holding. "No one, not even the workers knew of this passage, let alone the outsiders. My grandfather knew only because he was the head of the project."

"And we have even calculated the chances of Hawkmoth knowing about it. It's only 0.097% possible." Markov said.

Cat Noir looked between the pair and then beamed, "Thanks a lot of guys, for everything."

Max and Markov nodded.

"Cat Noir?"

"Yes, Max?"

"Jus-Just be careful, Paris needs its heroes, both you and Ladybug.

"I will keep that in mind." The hero did his signature two-finger salute and left.

~~Flashback ends~~

The passage Cat Noir was walking in opened into a big, wider place. He quickly hid behind a wall as his night vision made out the silhouette of an adult in the chamber in front of him. He recognised him immediately.

Hawkmoth.

Before he could make a move or even think of doing anything, a gloved hand covered his mouth. Surprised, he tried to break free, but whoever it was kept their stronghold on him. They grabbed his one arm and twisted it firmly behind his back.

He tried his best to yell out Cataclysm, but he failed. He was dragged back into the shadows.

I should have known that there was a trap here. I failed. What am I supposed to do now? How am I to help Marinette now?

The black cat was dragged into the darkness as he continued to question his skills and curse himself for being so careless.

Am I even cut out to be a superhero?

I am sorry, Princess...

⏪⏪⏪⏪
(35 minutes earlier...)

A woman in a blue outfit joined Hawkmoth.

"The captives are well and good, sir." She brought her fan to her face. "I have ensured that all of them are well-fed and healthy."

"Good job, Mayura," Hawkmoth said. "Ladybug will be here any second, I can feel it. The time has finally come when we end Ladybug once and for all."

"Yes, Hawkmoth," Mayura answered. The beginning of the end was finally approaching. Energy and Adrenaline coursed through her blood vessels. She felt powerful. It was a good thing that Gabriel had fixed the Peacock Miraculous completely. Now, she could help her boss without causing any hindrance.

⏪⏪⏪⏪
(15 minutes earlier...)

"The time has come, Hawkmoth. I am here, as Multimouse, just like you wished for. Now set those innocent people free." Multimouse appeared from the shadows.

"Ah! If it isn't my favourite person," Hawkmoth had his back facing her, he didn't even flinch at her sudden appearance. "Multimouse! It's a pleasure to finally meet you."

The said person scoffed. "Seriously? Is this how you address your guest? Don't you have manners or something? Having your back facing me all this time..."

At this, Hawkmoth turned around and she shuddered, he looked even more evil in the dimly lit chamber that the room had been converted into from the galleries in the mine.

"W-well, you heard me, let the captives go. They are innocent." Multimouse repeated.

Hawkmoth simply tsked, "I believe that we have more important things to take care of first."

"Like what?"

"Oh, like how today will be your last day as a Miraculous holder." Mayura appeared out of nowhere.

"Mayura! I have heard a lot about you, though none of it was good." The heroine taunted.

"Nice to meet you too." She replied sarcastically.

"I don't have time for this, you made a bargain, you already got what you asked for, now set the innocents free."

"Patience, my dear mouse. We really need to talk about a few things and stop addressing Ladybug as a different person. You are not fooling anyone, I know the truth." Hawkmoth said, stepping closer and stood right next to Mayura.

"I am not fooling you." Multimouse spat. "I am not Ladybug. I am a different hero, part of her allies."

"Really? Then I must put the new hero's skills to a test. I wouldn't be a good villain if I didn't do that, would I?"

Hawkmoth and Multimouse started going around in slow circles, their eye-contact never breaking, like two lions prowling in a forest- about to attack each other. Their body language was alert.

"I don't know what you will achieve from this Hawkmoth. What did you even get when you dropped hints about your suspicions on me and Ladybug being the same person?"

"Well, first, a few people lost their trust in their hero." He shrugged nonchalantly. "A very few, but they did. Wouldn't they be disappointed that their own idol lied to them? The seed of doubt that I implanted in their heads will grow in time and more people will get affected. They will question their heroes." His ear-to-ear grin was evil.

"Second, I targetted Multimouse and not Ladybug. You see, people see the other you as a goddess and this you," He pointed to her. "Is famous but it can't beat the beloved spotted heroine. A lot of people would have tried to butt-in if I targetted her, so I just manipulated the situation and hit two birds with one stone..." He laughed maniacally, "I got Ladybug to fall into my trap and no one ever got to know."

"Why are you so adamant about me being Ladybug?" The mouse-themed heroine rolled her eyes.

"I don't know. How about we find out?" Hawkmoth halted and so did she. "I can see that you don't have any weapons... Let's make it fair." He tossed his cane to Mayura, who caught it expertly. "Do you have a death wish, dear mouse?"

"Do you fight with your mouth?" She retorted while the villain seemed agitated.

Hawkmoth stood in his place as Multimouse lunged at him. She went for his left side but he parried the blow easily before jabbing at her side. She tried to attack him once again by kicking him, but he caught her foot mid-air.

A growl escaped her mouth and she tried to attack him again with a few punches- all of which he dodged expertly. He then aimed a blow at her neck which she barely managed to dodge.

Hawkmoth then continued to attack his opponent with a series of advanced blows. He aimed a punch at her nose and she wasn't able to dodge it.

Blow after blow, the battle got more intense. Multimouse was just defending while her enemy was attacking her with an array of well-practised offensive blows.

In the poorly lit room, it looked as if Hawkmoth had an upper hand and had managed to actually hit his foe a couple of times.

They continued going back and forth for what felt like hours. Their movements were efficient and concise, never slowing in pace The heroine didn't look necessarily injured (except for a bloody nose), just tired. He simply thought that it was a case of days of stress and lack of real sparring experience.

He aimed for her feet and managed to swipe her legs so that she fell with a thud. A groan of pain escaped her lips as she panted. He expected her to get up but the hero surely made no attempts to do so. It clearly looked like exhaustion had got her at last. She was doomed for sure. . .

▶️▶️▶️▶️

(Present...)

Fate is cruel.

It seemed as if the day of Ladybug's downfall had finally arrived. Hawkmoth and Mayura had succeeded! The Miraculous of Creation was in the villains' grasp. It wouldn't be long before he would blackmail her using her secret identity and use her as a pawn to get his hands on the Miraculous of the Black Cat and gain the Absolute Power. . .

The only thing that makes life unfair is the delusion that it should be fair.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•
A/N: *(innocent whistling)* Okay SORRY, I can tell you just one thing: It's not over till it's really over.

Anyway, I was planning on releasing an intro of the next book I've been working on for some time with the next chapter, but I couldn't be patient anymore so, here we go!

(This new book will be released only after I finish Love Marks My Heart. I might publish a few One-Shots in between to buy myself some time to finalize the chapters of the next book.)

* * *

BOOK PREVIEW

Title: The Game of Hearts

Rating: M (Because of the mention of abuse and murder)/ Non-Explicit

Genre: Fanfiction (No superheroes AU), Romance, Thriller

Aged-up characters
Playboy!Adrien Agreste

~

"You cannot understand people's love and affection," Sarah spoke harshly, grabbing Adrien's collar. "And then you dare to blame others for leaving you?! People are generally allergic to dust, milk, or peanuts, but you, Agreste, are allergic to LOVE!" She let go of him with a jerk that sent him lurching backwards.

The wrath in her gaze burnt holes in his skull. He was sure that if looks could kill, then he would have died right then and there.

"I hope you find someone who fixes you, Adrien," she spat angrily. "Someone who would show you your place, someone who would beat you at your own game." With that, she left.

The boy was privately grateful; her tears meant nothing to him, and it was always a pain trying to explain that.

.
.
.

Every time he had a painful recalling of the past, it felt like someone stuck a thousand pins into his body. It stung. A lot. It felt like he was soulless. As if he was walking amidst a sea of people, and he was the only alien. The one who dug his nails into his palms to numb the pain. One who clutched and tugged furiously at his hair, out of the exasperation. But the tears still won't flow, as if they had been frozen in their ducts.

.
.
.

"Marinette will not only confess to me," he said with a bravado he didn't feel to faces he had come to despise, "But will give me her first kiss. Within three weeks." In some distant part of himself, as they hooted and made bets in the background, Adrien recognized this was just a petty means of revenge. It wouldn't heal what had been hurt, wouldn't fix what was broken. Likely all it would do was make things worse. But Adrien shook his head clear of the thoughts before they could dissuade him from the challenge. It was just a game, it didn't mean anything.

.
.
.

He was the infamous 'Player Of Hearts'. Then why did he feel so guilty after breaking her heart? Feelings were not his cup of tea. After all, he was a true playboy at heart. Or was there more to him than anybody else knew?

When the teen heartthrob, Adrien Agreste, crosses paths with the quintessential girl, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, chaos ensues. After their lives get entangled due to a single bet, will he be able to protect his loved one from the dark figure of his past that still lurks in the shadows?

Or will the mind-numbing whispers never cease?

~

Coming soon!

Knowledge of the Miraculous universe is not required to read this book.

This book targets the delusional idea of 'Men can't be harassed'.

Prepare yourself for a wild ride and an emotional roller coaster packed up with tooth-rotting fluff and heartbreaking angst. 

* * *

I am really looking forward to publishing this story. Let's see how it goes...

That's all for today,

{Edited: May 24, 2020}

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