A reveals story. (Part 10)
<From a rooftop overlooking Eiffel Tower>
The team beholds as the giant shield forms in the distance all around and closes over them high in the sky.
Queen B: Wow. Some boyfriend you’ve got Rena!
Rena Rouge smiles sadly.
Ladybug: It’s time. Viperion.
Viperion: Second chance!
Ladybug: Ok everyone. We each know our part. Let’s-
Viperion: Wait!
And he de-transforms. The power of his miraculous has ran out.
Queen B: What?!
Pegasus: That bad it was?
Luka: *starts feeding his kwami* He’s untouchable.
Ladybug: What do you mean?
Luka: We couldn’t use our powers to stop him. The Cataclysm, he wasn’t concentrating it in his hands but in his whole body. Queen B wasn’t able to paralyze him, it destroyed her spinning top. Same for King Monkey’s power.
Ryuko: Maybe if i-
Luka: Lightning dragon?
Ryuko nods.
Luka: You tried that the third loop. Didn’t work. Sorry.
Rena Rouge: Did i try-
Luka: Yes.
Rena Rouge: Did it-
Luka: Nope.
Pegasus: But if we take him by surprise? If i open a portal right behind him and immediately-
Luka: Queen B uses her power on him? We tried that too. He already has it on him.
Adrien: How about making him touch something? Queen B could paralyze him right before he calls a new cataclysm.
Luka: Eleventh time loop. Didn’t work. It was like the way Caparace kept fixing his shield. It was as if he didn’t run out of power.
Ryuko: Mmm… We need to act the instant he deactivates his Cataclysm.
Queen B: Oh, that’s all?! And how do you suggest we do that??
Ryuko: By giving him something he doesn’t want destroyed.
Ladybug: You don’t mean…
Ryuko: Yes.
Ladybug: No way. Too risky.
Queen B: What are you talking about?
Luka: There’s something else.
Bunnix: I don’t like the sound of that.
Luka: There’s no easy way to say it. Marinette,…. he’s got your parents.
Ladybug: What?!
Luka: Mayura is keeping watch of them. But they’re right there with him. He could attack them.
Ladybug: *to Ryuko* We’ll do it.
Adrien: I’m not going to like the new plan, right?
.:five minutes later:.
Viperion: Mmm… It may actually work this time. But it do is very risky.
Adrien: I don’t like it.
Ladybug: There’s no other way. We’ve already tried many other plans.
Adrien sighs and looks away.
Ladybug: Don’t worry. It will work.
Adrien nods sadly.
Ladybug: *to everyone* Ready?
Viperion: Second chance!
<below Eiffel Tower>
Mayura: Gabriel,… Over there.
Hawkmoth looks the way Mayura nodded and see Ladybug approaching.
Hawkmoth: *chuckles* You certainly like taking your time. *scans around with his eyes* Forget about any tricks you and your friends have planned. I don’t have time to play around with you kids. Hand over your miraculous or they die. *pointing towards her parents*
Ladybug: Hard to believe you’re Adrien’s father when you talk like that. No tricks. I surrender. Tikki, spots off.
Tom, Sabine: Marinette?!
Sabine: Sweetheart, run! Get away from here!
Marinette: Sorry i couldn’t protect you from this.
She walks some steps and leaves the earrings on the floor.
Tikki: Marinette…
Marinette: *whispering* Cross your fingers.
And walks back where she was.
Marinette: Now, let my parents go.
Tom: Don’t worry about us! Go! Run!
Hawkmoth laughs. Mayura attempts to, but she immediately starts coughing.
He starts walking towards the earrings.
Hawkmoth: First things first young lady. *says without taking his eyes from her*
Just as he is bending to pick them up Marinette sees the Cataclysm leaving his body. That is the moment she had been waiting for. She nods. Action that doesn’t go unnoticed.
Mayura: Gab-riEEEL!
A white portal had opened behind her leaving her exposed for King Monkey’s power. All the sentimonsters at sight started acting erratically. Taking advantage of Hawkmoth’s distraction and before he could react a green portal opened behind him. Queen bee’s spinning top appeared through it. Hawkmoth reacted just in time and dropped himself to the floor to avoid the sting.
Hawkmoth: BLACK STORM!
A flow of dark energy emerged from his hand towards the portal which closed abruptly. Laughing eerily he sent a second stream of darkness towards the closing portal behind Mayura.
Marinette: NO!
Mayura barely moved in time to avoid the stream. Frantically Marinette looked for her parents who had seemed to disappear. She spotted them with Ryuko some distance away. Hawkmoth saw them too and laugh. He turned back towards Tikki and the earrings to find a team of Tikkis flying away in all directions.
Angry by this he growled, but that didn’t last. He saw Ryuko rapidly moving towards a Tikki in particular. If Ryuko hadn’t been so focused on getting to Tikki she would had seen the stream of dark energy directed at her.
Marinette: LOOK OUT!
Hawkmoth laughed as Ryuko fell hard on the floor.
Hawkmoth: YOU TOO!
Marinette saw him stretch his arm towards her. There was no way she could outrun that. Instinctively she closed her eyes. Between all the thundering of the dark energy she could make out her parents screaming her name in the distance. Tears rolled down her face as she thought of them, of her life and all the people she had came to know and love. The strength from the stream of energy was so intense she fell to the floor. She felt an intense coldness pass by her, but there was no pain. It hadn’t touch her. Then there was an eerie silence followed by the terrible sound of a body falling. The sound of her heartbeat in her ears was interrupted by Hawkmoth’s laugh. She opened her eyes. She was ok. She looked around and found Rena Rouge lying besides her.
Marinette: NO! RENA!! VIPERION, NOOOW!
But nothing happened. He had been on the other side of the portal.
-He must had been knocked out by the energy too!- Marinette thought. Desperately she tried to think of what they could do. Things had gotten so out of control and to make them even worse she noticed Caparace’s protective shield starting to weaken, parts of it flickering as if about to disappear.
Hawkmoth: *laughs* Seems like someone can’t keep up the pace. *looks at Tikki* KWAMI! Come here! Or your precious friend is next. And without being Ladybug she won’t be as lucky as her friends.
Without thinking twice she starts floating towards him.
Marinette: Tikki, no! He’ll win if he gets you!
Tikki: I wouldn’t be able to stand the rest of eternity with your death on my shoulders Marinette. You have been not only the best Ladybug, but also my best friend. Don’t worry. Trust. Remember Fluff’s words.
Marinette: Tikki…
She was almost in front of Hawkmoth when Marinette heard footsteps running behind her. She turned in time to see Adrien approaching.
Adrien: Father, no! Stop all this, please! Think of what you’re doing!
Hawkmoth: Adrien,… Adrien. Think of what you are doing! You think you’re playing hero?! Ungrateful! I’m only trying to bring your mother back to us!
Marinette: You could had told us that instead of-
Hawkmoth: SILENCE! This is a family matter!
Adrien: Ungrateful??! I have always done everything you ever told me! All I wanted was my father to be there with me! And Marinette is right! You could had told us! Instead of terrorizing all Paris! What do you think mom would say if she saw you like this?!
Hawkmoth: She would agree with ME!
“No.”
Hawkmoth’s eyes opened wide and slowly turned to look behind him, where the voice had came from.
“I don’t.”
Adrien: M-mom??
Hawkmoth couldn’t believe his eyes. For a moment he could only stare at the translucent form of his wife smiling to their son.
Emilie: Adrien, my son. I am so proud of you.
Then she looked towards Hawkmoth, her expression changed to a mix of pain, disappointment and anger.
Emilie: How could you?
Hawkmoth: I… All this… I did it for us. So we could be together again. I did it for love.
Emilie: A wrong thing, done for the right reasons is still a wrong thing Gabriel!
After a moment of silence where Hawkmoth had tried and failed to find the words to respond to her, she spoke again.
Emilie: You have changed. You have become too fond of the power the miraculous has granted you, allowed it to cloud your judgement. You have changed the power of love for the love of power. *she started moving towards Adrien* You should hand the girl those miraculous.
Now in front of Adrien, she stretched her hand towards his face. He tried to hold her hand but couldn’t.
Adrien: Mom, I’ve missed you so much.
Emilie: I know sweetheart, me too. I wish I could be here with you to see you grow up into the awesome person I know you’ll become, but… my time has come to move on. Remember always-
Hawkmoth: NO! Don’t start saying goodbye! This can’t be it!
Emilie: Gabriel, stop! You need to-
But before she could finish the sentence he reached for Tikki and the earrings.
Hawkmoth: Tikki! Plagg! Kwamis of creation and destruction, hear my words and grant my wish!
Marinette and Adrien had to cover their eyes from the big flash of light that came afterwards.
When they finally could, they saw that the light was coming in pulses from both of their miraculous. A bubble of light had formed around Gabriel and both kwamis, everything outside was moving as if in slow motion.
All sounds were gone too and they wished they could hear for both Tikki and Plagg looked troubled by whatever Gabriel was telling them.
Emilie, being a spirit, was unaffected by the power of the miraculous and was saying something to Hawkmoth but he was ignoring her. Tikki shook her head no. Plagg looked like he was trying to explain something. Hawkmoth looked towards Adrien, then back to the kwamis. He said something else. Tikki and Plagg seemed to have been taken by surprise. They exchanged a look. Plagg then looked towards Adrien, there was deep concern in Plagg’s face. Adrien saw his father looking back towards him and could make out in his lips the words “Please, forgive me”.
Hawkmoth looked back towards the kwamis. It looked like he screamed something. Both Tikki and Plagg looked down and nodded. Emilie seemed upset by whatever he had said. Then the light emerging from the bubble seemed to intensify and there was another big explosion of light.
Sounds returned. They could move normally again. After a minute their eyes finally adjusted after all the light. Marinette looked around everywhere, wanting to know the impact of whatever Hawkmoth had asked, but nothing seemed to have changed. Everything around them was still in ruins. No more, no less.
She turned to Adrien and was about to ask him if he noticed something different, but the expression on his face made her look towards where he was staring in disbelief. There was his mother Emilie, but no sign of Hawkmoth. Tikki and Plagg were looking intently at Adrien’s reaction. Plagg’s face in particular was a mix of happiness, sadness and guilt.
Marinette gasped loudly when she finally realized what had happened. Adrien snapped out of his shock and stood up in a hurry, almost falling down and ran towards his mother. He embraced her and Marinette could hear him crying and laughing at the same time. Emilie was still in disbelief, the emotions were too much. She hugged Adrien back, tears pouring out of her eyes as well.
Marinette felt happy for him, but she also worried of the moment he realized the full situation. She walked towards their miraculous and picked up both.
And finally the moment came. Adrien looked behind him, his face was pure happiness, but then there was concern. He looked the other way.
Adrien: Father?
Emilie: Adrien… he…
But she couldn’t finish the sentence. Plagg tried to say something but couldn’t.
Tikki: We’re very sorry Adrien. He wanted to use the wish to bring your mother back. If she had only been sick, that would not had been a problem. But since she was already a spirit, the only way we could grant that wish was by… exchanging a life for a life.
Marinette felt her heart sinking as she saw all the emotions Adrien was feeling pass through his face. He still looked happy about having his mother back, but he also looked troubled and sad. He hugged his mother again and even though he tried to hide it, she could hear him crying again. Marinette took a few steps back and signaled Tikki and Plagg to join her, give them some privacy. She couldn’t stand the sight of Adrien so heartbroken. The threat had ended, but there was so much pain left behind.
Marinette: Tikki,…. Plagg. *takes a deep breath* Kwamis of creation and destruction.
Plagg and Tikki’s eyes got wide open.
Adrien: Marinette?
Marinette: Hear my words!
Adrien: Wait! No!
Marinette: And grant my wish!
For the second time Adrien saw all the light. The world grew still and quiet.
Emilie and Adrien saw Marinette talking to Tikki and Plagg. Both kwamis looked happy about what Marinette was saying. But then she said something that took them by surprise. Tikki covered her mouth and looked like she wanted to join Adrien and Emilie in crying, Plagg shook his head no. Marinette said something else. Tikki still looked shocked. Plagg responded something to Marinette and Tikki nodded. Then Marinette looked towards Adrien and he could read in her lips the words “Please, forgive me”.
Adrien felt his body’s temperature dropping, what was Marinette about to do? He wanted to run, to tell her to wait. He saw her putting on both of the miraculous and she transformed. Adrien expected to see Marinette in her Ladybug costume or the Lady Noir one or a mix between them, instead he saw her in a white flowing dress. Her hair was down and looked longer than usual. There was an ethereal look in her. Both her hair and dress moved as if dancing to the movement of air he couldn’t feel.
She stretched her arms in front of her and on her hands her yo-yo materialized, then said something and it opened up. He saw her smiling a sad smile towards him as thousands of tiny glowing ladybugs emerged, increasing the light around Marinette by the second till Adrien had to close his eyes and cover them with his hands.
He could feel the power irradiating from the ladybugs. It was overwhelming in a good way. They carried feelings of calmness and happiness, healing and wholeness.
Suddenly he heard the sound of people talking in the distance.
-Was that a car honking?- he thought.
He removed his hands from his face, there was no sign of the bright light anymore so he gingerly opened one eye. He gasped loudly. There, a few steps in front of him, lying on the floor was Marinette. He ran to her, got on his knees, took off his jacket and put it beneath her head. He took her hand in his hands.
Adrien: Marinette!? Oh no! Please no!
Adrien had rarely cried as much as he had done that day. Tikki and Plagg were besides her, lying on the floor too. They opened their eyes when they heard his voice.
Adrien: Plagg, Tikki! Is Marinette….?
Just then she moaned.
Marinette: Oh,… my head.
Adrien: Marinette!
He held up her hand and kissed it.
Adrien: Thanks goodness you’re alive! Should we call an ambulance?
Marinette: No, i think i’m ok. I just feel very tired.
Plagg: Little wonder after such wish. I feel like i could it 8 whole pieces of Cabernet.
Tikki: *gasps* Quick, hide!
Adrien heard footsteps running towards them.
Alya: Marinette!
Nino: Are you ok?
Marinette: Yeah. I- I tripped and fell. *attempted to chuckle* Ouch.
They helped Marinette get up. Adrien hugs his best friend, then Alya. Both of them looking surprised.
Adrien: I’m so glad to see you both so well!
Alya: Umm… Thank you?
Adrien: *to Nino* I was very worried when your shield started flickering and then *to Alya* when you received that blast of energy…
Both their friends were looking at each other with worry written on their faces.
Marinette: *fakes laughing* Adrien is talking about a dream he had earlier when he had a little nap.
Now it was Adrien’s turn in feeling surprised. Both Alya and Nino start laughing too.
Nino: Dude! You had me really worried for a second there!
Feeling a bit embarrassed Adrien doesn’t know where to look. It was then when he noticed how everything around them had been brought back to normal. But not only that, people around them were walking as if nothing had been so wrong just moments ago. He turned to where he had left his mother standing to find that no one was there now. He started looking around, looking for her, not being able to conceal his worry.
Alya: Adrien?
Nino: Something wrong?
Adrien: My mom. I- She- I mean, she was there.
Nino: Dude, it is Thursday.
Alya: Yeah, she must still be with her students.
Adrien: Students?
Alya: Acting school,… remember?
Nino is about to say something but Marinette interrupts.
Marinette: It’s just,… It’s been a very long day guys. We really just need a little rest.
Nino: You sure?
Marinette: Completely. *smiles*
Alya: All right girl, but give us a call if you need anything, ok?
Marinette: Yeah, thank you!
They walked in silence for some minutes and sat on a wooden bench.
Marinette: Ok. Here looks private enough. *sighs* Nobody remembers anything.
Adrien: Anything? At all?
Marinette: Part of the wish. We needed to restore the secret of the miraculous, the secret of our super hero identities, and… I just thought it would be better for everyone.
Adrien: Part of the wish? That must had been one awfully long wish. How did you manage to put so much change into it?
Marinette: Well, the wish was simple. I just wished for things to be good for everyone again. For my miraculous ladybugs to be able to do that. It were the details about what “good for everyone” included what was long. *chuckles*
Adrien: So, everyone’s forgotten, but not me. *smiles*
Marinette: Master Fu remembers too. And are you kidding me?! All those times kissing my pillow pretending it is you! And now that we’re finally together you are to forget? No way!
No sooner the words escaped her mouth she started blushing heavily.
Adrien: *chuckles* Kissing your pillow, huh?
Marinette: That you can forget. *he is smiling broadly* Oh, come on! You must have similar stories about Ladybug.
Adrien: No, I don’t.
He notices Marinette looking besides him, he turns to look to find Plagg giving him a look.
Adrien: Don’t you dare. *snickered*
Plagg: We’ll talk later Marinette.
Adrien smiled, but then sadness crossed his face.
Marinette: I’m sorry about you father.
Adrien: Thank you. You know, for a moment I feared you were going to try to bring him back.
The expression on her face and seeing how Tikki and Plagg exchanged looks told Adrien his suspicions weren’t wrong.
Adrien: Oh no. Please don’t tell me you tried.
Marinette tried to speak, tried to look into his eyes but couldn’t.
Plagg: She did. But a wish cannot be undone, his wish couldn’t be undone. Otherwise,…
Adrien: Bugaboo, thank you, but I’m really glad you couldn’t. I don’t imagine my life without you!
Marinette: I just want you to be happy.
Adrien: I will. We will.
Marinette smiled and they cuddled, finally being able to relax.
.:.: The next day at school :.:.
Adrien: Ready to go?
Marinette: Yeah, I just need to pick up my stuff and we can leave.
Adrien: Are you worried?
Marinette: About what Master Fu will tell us? *sigh* Yeah. Now that Paris is safe again, I fear…
Adrien: …that he’ll want us to hand our miraculous back?
Marinette nods. She looks into her purse and see the worried face of Tikki.
Adrien: Yeah, I fear that too. Things do are back to normal. *says patting Plagg through his jacket*
Chloé and Alya then enter the classroom arguing, Sabrina following close behind.
Alya: Chloé! I’m grateful for your help, I truly am! But really, I don’t need a make over!
Chloé: Nonsense, it’ll help you get that position at the news station. Trust me, I know what I’m doing.
Alya picks up her bag, groans, waves Marinette and Adrien goodbye and hurries out of the classroom, Chloé still behind her.
Alya: Nino! Please help me get this lunatic off of my hair!
Chloé: Oh, will you stay still? You are being more difficult than Jean… whatever his name. Brina, the scissors please.
Alya: SCISSORS?!
Adrien: *chuckles* Almost back to normal.
.:.: Fifteen minutes later :.:.
They are sitting at Master Fu’s living room. He’s served them tea and cookies but neither of them has been able to drink or eat. They can’t face being taken apart from their kwamis.
Master Fu: Is something wrong? You haven’t tried your cookies or tea?
Marinette: Master Fu… We know things got completely out of control…
Adrien: …and that now things are back to normal in Paris, but please…
Marinette: … couldn’t we just keep our miraculous?
Adrien: We just can’t bear not having our kwamis with us anymore,…
Marinette: They are our friends.
Adrien: Like family.
Master Fu: *laughs warmly* I didn’t call you here today to have your miraculous back.
Marinette and Adrien exhale, relieved about the news.
Master Fu: No. I’m sure Paris will continue to benefit from your help by remaining Ladybug and Chat Noir.
Marinette: Thank you!
Adrien: Thanks! You won’t regret it.
Master Fu: I know I won’t. And as a matter of fact I could use a little time off from being the guardian of the miraculous box. I would like to go and visit Marianne, spend some time with her. So, I would like you two to take care of it while I’m gone.
Marinette: You sure?
Master Fu: Completely.
Adrien: Yeah Marinette. What could go wrong?
Marinette: *chuckles* No, don’t say that!
The end.
___________________________
If you liked this story then I have news for you. There is a sequel! 😁 The mystery of the Curse.It will be uploaded on our website soon 🖤✨
©Luis Vargas – 2019