My only suggestion would be adding more male Ladybug holders, more female Black Cat holders, and nonbinary holders for both :)
After a while, Miraculous holders can speak with the spirits of past holders of that Miraculous.
Marinette gets the sympathy and support she needs from past Ladybugs.
First there's Bọ Rùa, who had to deal with her own fair share of racist and racist-enabling Frenchmen who wanted to date Asian women but didn't want to respect them.
Then there's Tentomushi, who has zero tolerance for rudeness and people who abuse their positions of power to inflict their will on others and saw a lot of that among men of wealth in her era.
Finally, Mudekudeku's Black Cat Miraculous Holder was in love with her, but he stopped flirting when he realized she wasn't interested and even supported her at her wedding, so she's advocating for getting the Black Cat Miraculous to someone deserving, rather than letting Adrien keep it.
Adrien, meanwhile, is getting dragged by past Black Cat Miraculous holders.
First there's Huyền Con Mèo, a mixed race French-Vietnamese Black Cat Miraculous holder who considers Adrien an embarrassment to all Frenchmen and proof chivalry is dead and buried. "You are every stereotype of a horny Frenchmen in existence simultaneously! Stop it! For God's sake, man, get it together!"
Then there's Toraokuro, who is absolutely furious that someone is taking this amazing power that could be used to help others, help the people of the city and those suffering under unjust systems, and is instead using it to play around and harass others like an entitled ten year old.
And finally there's Pakamali, who, like Mudekudeku, lived to be old enough to be married and have kids, and subsequently has an adult's take on superheroism, power and responsibility, and is furious with how Adrien's been acting. "I was in love with my Ladybug too - and you know what I did when she fell in love with someone else? I moved on with my life. Do you know why? Because she was happier with someone else. If you actually love someone, you don't view yourself as the only option for them! This isn't about true love, it's about you being selfish!"
By the time they're down having talks with their respective predecessors, Ladybug is feeling completely validated in her feelings, confident and ready to punch Chat Noir in the face.
The question now is, what is he like, after a night of being berated by the ghosts of literal superheroes? Does this, finally, get through to him? If he doesn't change, does Ladybug act on the advice of Ladybugs past and take his Miraculous from him?
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I promise to only ask for one. Viperbug... you're not alone
Live With It - Part 2
Part 1
Huge thanks to @mintaka14 for talking me through the block I was suffering on this, and @livrever for editing. I always forget to thank Mal but she does a lot of beta reading for me so all credit for the reduction of backwards pronouns in my works goes to her. 😆
Viperion grit his teeth and reset the bracelet again.
“It’s not going well,” he said, speaking quickly, racing the barely audible ticks that sounded like thunder in his ears. “The crowd’s mood turns bad every time you try to explain.” He took a breath, preparing for another round of the same argument. “LB, you need to tell them the truth. If you want to keep their faith in you, and their sense of safety, you need to tell them that it was Chat that dropped the ball. You’ve tried it a dozen times now and you just can’t keep the blame off of him without making it sound like you’re the one who left Paris undefended. I know you don’t want to throw him under the bus,” he cut off her protests, “but I just don’t see what other options we have. You don’t have to tell them he quit, just tell them that he’s taking a break to—” He paused, searching for a phrase. “Re-evaluate his priorities?”
Ladybug’s face hardened and Viperion knew he’d lost. Again. With a sigh, and again without waiting for her to protest, he gave her a quick rundown of what she’d already tried, and watched her brow crease as she thought over ideas. His eyes flicked to his bracelet and its digital timer, the digits falling in time with the quiet snick, snick, of the snake’s head creeping forward. Everytime they did this, she had less time to actually deliver her speech as he had to recount more approaches that hadn’t worked. There was no way to abort and regroup, not with the crowd out there waiting for the press conference to begin.
Each time, Ladybug went out there and tried to reassure the crowd that they were still protected, that the circumstances that had left the cure uncast would not occur again, and that she hadn’t simply abandoned them to Hawkmoth to chase a lead in New York, or whatever. Since she refused to admit that Chat was responsible, the inevitable conclusion was that Ladybug had slipped up, that she had left the city that relied on her undefended to go to the aid of a place that was swarming with superheroes, and it was clear that no one found her explanation satisfactory.
Viperion had little hope that this time would end any differently, as Ladybug nodded her head decisively and swung out to confront the crowd yet again. Sure enough, a very few minutes later, Ladybug had turned pleading eyes up to him, and he reset the bracelet again.
There just wasn’t time. Ladybug blinked at him when he said nothing, and Viperion sighed. “Do you trust me?” he asked quietly, seriously, and that familiar forehead crease appeared again, though her answer was instant and decisive.
“Yes.”
“Let me come with you.”
Ladybug blinked in surprise, and then took a breath. “It’s going that badly?” Viperion nodded.
“There’s not enough time to explain. Just know that everything we’ve tried so hard hasn’t worked, and we need a change of tactics. If you don’t like the way it’s going, tell me and I’ll reset. Just know I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t think it was our best chance. Okay?”
“Okay.” Ladybug took a deep breath. “Hang on to me.”
Viperion put his arms around her neck while she circled one arm around his waist, and then they were flying through the air. A dull roar went up from the crowd as they landed, and cameras clicked frantically as they approached the microphone podium.
“Shit,” Viperion muttered under his breath. “You face this all the time?”
Ladybug just gave him a wan smile before facing the crowd. Taking a deep breath, and telling himself this was just another performance, Viperion fixed a serious look on his face, and stood at her shoulder, just slightly behind her. Ladybug began her speech, apologizing first to the people of Paris for the damages she had been unable to prevent or restore. Gathering his nerve, Viperion touched her back lightly, and she glanced at him as he took the half step forward that put him beside her in front of the microphone.
“We must all remember that the person responsible for the damage done to Paris is no one but Hawkmoth. As much as we all rely on our superheroes, who volunteered—” Ladybug snorted softly beside him, “—to become the protectors of Paris and made themselves responsible for our safety, they shouldn’t be blamed for Hawkmoth’s choices. They’re only human, after all, and Ladybug’s commitment to protecting Paris is unquestionable.” He became aware his hands had fisted tightly at his side, and made an effort to unclench them. He’d give anything for his guitar just now. At the thought, one hand made a slight twitch towards the lyre on his back, and he had to stop himself from grabbing at it.
“Wait just a minute,” Nadija called from the group of reporters clustered at the front of the podium. “Who are you, exactly?”
The hero who had been Viperion lifted the corner of his lips in a smile that bared one canine. “You can call me Nemesis. I’ll be Ladybug’s partner for the foreseeable future.” That got a reaction from the crowd, murmurs and whispers merging into a sound surprisingly like an ocean wave.
“What about Chat Noir?” someone else in the press corps called.
“It was Chat Noir’s responsibility to protect Paris while Ladybug followed up a lead in New York. Obviously, he was unable to fulfill his commitment. He…” Nemesis hesitated for a brief instant as Ladybug gripped his bicep almost painfully. “His regret over letting—over being unable to prevent the harm that came to Paris has led him to take a—” He searched for the word he needed,”sabbatical from his duties. In the meantime, I will be standing in his place beside Ladybug, to assist in protecting the citizens of Paris.”
“How long will Chat Noir be gone?” asked Nadija.
“We don’t know,” Ladybug said, dropping her hand from Nemesis’ arm. “That’s something Chat will have to decide. I won’t push him to come back before he’s ready. What we do is not easy, and the emotional burden can sometimes be…overwhelming. I want to assure the people of Paris that our commitment—the commitment of the entire Miraculous team, not just myself and Chat Noir—is unwavering, and we will do what it takes to protect this city and its citizens. I made a mistake, and put too much on Chat’s shoulders. I promise you all, I will learn from this mistake, and do better in the future.”
Nemesis moved his hand behind the podium and tapped Ladybug’s hand lightly, to let her know the timer was running down. She took a deep breath, and looked up at him for a moment, and then faced the crowd again.
“Any questions?” she asked, and he hoped the shake in her voice was not as obvious to the crowd as it was to his trained ear. He put his hand quietly on her back, and focused on supporting her, and answering any questions directed at him as cryptically as possible.
At last it was over, and he once again put an arm around Ladybug’s shoulders as she wrapped one around her waist, and they were swinging away.
Nemesis collapsed to the ground against the edge of the rooftop as soon as they stopped.
“Jesus,” he muttered, pulling his knees up and propping his elbows on them. “I don’t know how you do that all the time.”
Ladybug laughed as she sat down next to him, folding her legs to the side. Like a mermaid, he thought idly. “Honestly, I don’t either. Sometimes I feel like I become a different person when I put the mask on. I guess I’m just sort of used to it now.” She paused, drawing in the dirt of the rooftop with one finger. “Was that…really necessary?” she sighed.
Nemesis sighed too. “I think it was. You tried so many other ways. I really just didn’t see any way around it, but I just knew if I tried to argue you into it—well, I did try to argue you into it. Several times.” He gave her a half-hearted smile.
Ladybug nodded, and sighed. “Well, it wasn’t what I wanted, but it did seem to work.”
Nemesis put his hand on her shoulder. “It was the truth, Ladybug. The softest possible version of the truth, in fact. I understand that he was your partner and you cared about him, but that doesn’t excuse what he did, and you shouldn’t have to suffer the blame for his actions.”
“But if I hadn’t—”
“Stop taking the blame for him!” Nemesis snapped, jerking his hand back and pushing himself to his feet. “He abandoned Paris to the mercy of Mayura and his excuse is peer pressure ?” Nemesis paced across the rooftop, clenched his fists at his side, and tried to breathe through his anger. “Whatever his reasoning or excuses, he made his choices and he has to stand behind that, especially since he didn’t even see fit to consult his partner on his decisions.” He folded his arms. “He just ran away and left you holding the bag.” And if there was anything Nemesis wasn’t willing to forgive him for, it was that. “He deserved a lot worse than anything we said up there. If he’s embarrassed by it, then…” Nemesis turned to face Ladybug, folded his arms, and shrugged. “He’s just going to have to live with it. If he was that concerned about his image, he should have been there with you telling the story his way.”
Ladybug sighed, and stood up, dusting off her hands. “Maybe we should call it a night,” she said briskly, and Nemesis felt instantly guilty.
“Look,” he said, coming close to her again and putting his hand on her shoulder. “I’m not telling you how to feel about it. I know it’s more complicated than I can understand. I’m sorry I got angry. Just—what’s done is done, and now the press conference is over with.”
Ladybug nodded, not quite looking at him. “And now we have to find a way to move forward,” she murmured. “I get it.” She looked up into his face then and grinned. “You know Nemesis was female, right?”
He grinned and shrugged. “Most of the really badass gods were.” He winked. “Just adds to the mystery. The more confused they are, the better, really. Or they can just think I’m dumb and don’t know my classical history. There’s benefits to being underestimated too. Win-win, really. And nothing else really fit, since you vetoed Black Mamba.”
Ladybug laughed, and it sounded genuine. Nemesis’ smile widened. “Whatever, Megamind.”
“Presentation,” Nemesis reminded her, spreading his arms.
“Well, you’ve certainly got that down,” she said, still giggling, and then suddenly leaned forward and wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug. Startled, he quickly hugged her back, just as tightly. Pity twisted his heart again, for all she had been through and all she continued to bear. “Thanks,” she whispered. “Thanks for everything.”
“Hey,” he said, squeezing a little tighter. “I”m here for you, okay? Even if you just need to talk, or whatever.”
“Yeah, I know.” Ladybug pulled away, and took her yoyo from her waist. “I’m gonna head home. I figure Hawkmoth’s going to be mad that the ring is out of reach, as far as he knows. He’s probably going to send some nasty stuff after us trying to draw it out.”
“Fun,” Nemesis drawled. “I can’t wait.”
Ladybug snorted. “Welcome aboard,” she said dryly, and then swung away.
***
Being a superhero was hard.
Ladybug hadn’t been wrong. Hawky was pissed, and he and LB had been kept hopping trying to keep things under control by themselves. Luka had never believed he could argue with anyone as much as he argued with Ladybug. She was lovely, clever, and absolutely infuriating. They had had one full-on shouting match at the top of the Eiffel tower when Nemesis finally put his foot down.
“You’re supposed to hang back,” Ladybug insisted. “You’re my insurance!”
“I can’t watch you get hurt anymore!” he had finally yelled back at her, his voice actually cracking for the first time in ages. “LB, you’re just as essential as I am. You don’t have to keep taking all the punishment! You can’t keep taking all the punishment! Even with the resets or the cure, it’s got to be taking some kind of toll on you. Let me help!”
“I need you to be safe so that if I screw up—”
“And I need you to stop turning yourself into an akuma punching bag! Look, it’s not like I’m excited about getting knocked halfway across the city, but it shouldn’t all be on you, either! If I get hurt, you use the cure. If you get hurt, I reset. It doesn’t have to be so one-sided.” He sighed, and gritted his teeth. “Look, we’re both too pissed off to be reasonable right now. Meet me back here tomorrow night and let’s talk this over when we’re—calmer.”
Ladybug gave a very unladylike snort, but folded her arms and nodded.
“I’m worried about you,” he said, still stiff with anger, but more quietly.
“I know,” she muttered. “It’s just…” She trailed off as he held up his hand.
“Tomorrow,” he said, and then turned to slide down the tower rails.
The problem was, of course, that they were both planners and strategists more than fighters. Ladybug was clearly terrified of anything happening to him, and even more terrified of failing. Nemesis’ presence was a comfort to her, reassurance that one screwup on her part wouldn’t mean total disaster. She tried to keep him in the background, protecting him at the expense of herself.
Luka stopped by and grabbed some pastries and hot chocolate from the bakery. It was a bit of a challenge, scaling the tower with his hands so full, but he managed it. He was getting more comfortable in the suit and its enhanced powers by the day, which was a good thing.
Ladybug was already there, her shoulders hunched as she sat with her legs hanging over one of the girders. Nemesis sat down beside her and put down the box of pastries between them before offering her one of the hot chocolates.
She took it, blinking at him in surprise. “Thank you.”
“It was the least I could do after blowing up like that yesterday,” he said, wrapping his hands around his own cup. “I’m sorry. For losing my temper, I mean. I still think we need to talk about the other stuff.”
She just nodded, not meeting his gaze.
“I can’t watch you take all the risks, LB,” he continued, when she said nothing. “I just can’t. I’m here to help, not hang back and watch you suffer.” He sighed. “Maybe you need a different partner. Or,” he added, when her head whipped around to look at him. “Maybe I need a different power? Or we need a third person to balance us out? A heavy hitter, like the dragon or one of the other more front line types.”
Ladybug watched him, forehead creasing in that way he was becoming very familiar with. “Do you…want a different power?” she asked dubiously.
“Not really,” he admitted. “Sass is a sarcastic little shit sometimes but I love him. I think I’m good with these powers.” He glanced at LB, and she nodded agreement. “But I also think you need—” He shook his head, looking away. She needed a cat. The subject of the cat’s ring hung between them, always untouched. “I get why you’re not comfortable, replacing him,” he said finally, very quietly. “But I can’t keep watching you take all the hits, every time. Either we have to work out a compromise, or we have to bring in a new team, or…” Nemesis hesitated. “Just so you know, this is not an ultimatum,” he said, reaching out to touch her hand. “I’m not going to quit, and I’m not going to leave you. But we both know this isn’t working right now. Something’s got to give, and I don’t want it to be you. You’re not alone, so let’s figure this out together.”
Ladybug looked down at her hands. “I don’t want another partner,” she said softly. “There’s just not that many people I trust anymore. Even if our combination isn’t ideal…you’re right, you’re good with the snake, and I have a hard time seeing you with anything else. Combining miraculous is possible but it’s draining, and I don’t think that’s a good long term solution. It would be exhausting for either of us and I don’t have to tell you that this is already a lot to handle without any added strain.”
Nemesis nodded emphatically.
“Adding another teammate…I guess we could.” She hesitated, chewing on her lip. “Is there anyone who you would trust?”
“Yes,” he said, looking at her with a tilt of his head. “But is there anyone you would trust?”
She looked down.
“So that’s out then,” he sighed through his nose, trying not to show his frustration.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “It’s dangerous to have too many out of the box—”
Nemesis nudged the pastry box closer to her. “You don’t have to be sorry. I get it. You’re dealing with a lot more than even I understand. So we’re back to the two of us, then. What can I do to help you be okay with me taking my share? I’ve got Second Chance, and you’ve got the Miraculous Cure. Between the two of us, we ought to be able to pull each other out of the fire, right? So why can’t we take turns on the front line? I trust you and Sass to fix me up if I get knocked around. I’m not going to do anything stupid if I can possibly help it. And sometimes you need the distance and space to think before you can find the solution, I’ve seen it a hundred times.” He snorted softly. “Or at least that’s what it feels like.” He winked, and she couldn’t help a small smile.
“Well…” Ladybug said consideringly, and sighed. “Maybe we could…ease into it? And see how it goes?”
“I’m okay with that,” Nemesis agreed, relieved. “You let me step up once in a while, and we’ll meet up after and talk about how it went? With the goal that eventually we’ll trade off?”
Ladybug nodded slowly, and then more confidently. “Okay. Okay, we can try that.”
“Good,” Nemesis sighed, shoulders slumping in relief. “I’ll hold you to it.”
She smiled, and opened the pastry box. “You better.”
He did have to hold her to it, and remind her of their agreement, the first couple of akumas. The longer they went without any irrevocable disasters, the more Ladybug relaxed, and while their partnership dynamic was certainly different than what she’d had with Chat, it was working, and that's what mattered. Public opinion, mixed in the early days of their partnership, was warming to the new duo, as well, and Luka began to feel like he could breathe again.
***
“This one’s going to be nasty,” Ladybug sighed, watching the akuma bounce over the rooftops like a giant beach ball.
“Aren’t they all?” Nemesis asked wryly, and she grinned at him.
“Do you play video games?” she asked, looking back to the akuma.
“Not really,” he admitted.
“There’s this thing called kiting, where you run in circles to keep away from a powerful monster while you figure out their weakness and chip away at them as much as you can.”
Nemesis saw her point immediately, nodding. “Okay. So we keep him rolling in the same area to limit the damage while we figure out where the akuma is?”
Ladybug nodded. “Yep. If he starts getting too close then we trade off. Deal?”
“Sounds like a plan to me.” He held out his fist, and Ladybug held out hers.
“One, two, three, shoot,” they counted together, and Nemesis’ rock beat Ladybug’s scissors.
“All right,” he said, stepping up on the ledge of the roof. “I’m up first.”
Ladybug set a timer on her bugphone. “I’ll swing in if you get close to recharge time. Tell Sass to eat fast.”
Nemesis rolled his eyes. “Have you seen him eat?”
Ladybug laughed. “Yes.”
Nemesis pulled back the head of the snake. “Go.” Ladybug started her timer, and Nemesis was off.
Ladybug was right. The bouncing, rubbery akuma was tough. Every once in a while, Nemesis got enough distance to turn and hurl his lyre, but it just bounced off the akuma’s elastic hide. He’d already had to reset once because it turned out the damn thing also had a scream weapon that had caught him off guard on his first attempt. This time when the thing screamed, Nemesis dodged. The sound wave clipped his shoulder and he crashed to the ground, rolling to his feet only to stagger, dizzy and disoriented. He held himself still for a moment as the world stopped spinning, and he caught his breath. He wasn’t hurt, though, and the battle was still going. He could hear the thing bounce and it sounded like Ladybug had leapt in and was still leading the akuma in circles like they planned. No need to reset, he decided. He had a moment to get himself together before they came back around this way and then he would take on the chase role, looking for the akumatized object.
“So she really found somebody else, huh?”
The voice was familiar, and all Luka’s muscles tensed. Nemesis’ head turned toward the sound on reflex, but he caught himself and didn’t turn around to look into the shadows of the alley behind him. “You didn’t exactly leave her much choice,” he said. “What did you think she was going to do? Fight by herself? Give up being Ladybug and let Hawkmoth wreak havoc? Did you even know her at all?”
Silence.
“Or would you feel better if she had chosen another Ladybug and Black Cat and gone into retirement herself? Is that really what you wanted for her? For this city? And if they failed, who bears the burden of that choice?”
“I...I didn’t…”
“You didn’t think it through,” Nemesis hissed, fighting the urge to turn around and see the face of the boy who had once been Chat Noir. “You made a selfish, emotional decision in the heat of the moment, abandoned your kwami, and left Ladybug alone when she needed you.” He took a breath, steadying his temper. “Sometimes there’s no going back. Sometimes you have to live with the choices you made.” He paused, and then sighed, shoulders slumping slightly. “And sometimes, if you’re willing to face up to your mistakes, you can learn from them and move on. You still have Ladybug’s beacon. You can still make it right. Whatever Ladybug decides to do after that will be up to her.”
“How can I face her after what I’ve done?”
Nemesis snorted. “After what you’ve done? Facing her is the least you could do.”
There was a long pause. “I’ll think about it.”
“You do that,” Nemesis grunted. “If you call her, she’ll meet you on the roof of Francois-Dupont.”
He heard the shuffling of feet behind him, and then, more softly, “Take care of her.”
“Better than you did, at least.”
Nemesis took a running leap at the nearest building, pulling himself up the side in a series of parkour moves he couldn’t have dreamed of pulling off months ago. He just wanted to get away, before he said anything he might—well, not regret, but that might make things awkward later. He had no idea what LB would do if Chat returned, and his gut churned just thinking about it. Not that he would be sorry to get back to a normal life. Marinette had been popping up at the boat an awful lot lately, for one thing, and he really wanted to be able to ask her out without worrying about being interrupted with an akuma. She had iced him out for a while after her trip to New York and he hadn’t understood why, but lately it seemed like maybe she had figured out whatever was on her mind. She hadn’t even minded when he had fallen asleep on her shoulder during the movie night they’d had at the Liberty last week. He’d been exhausted from a late night/early morning akuma and he’d been horrified when he woke that he’d missed out on the time with her, but she had just smiled sweetly and told him she understood.
He supposed she probably did, she was so busy herself. It had been embarrassing though, and he had missed out on enjoying the movie with her. So it wouldn’t be so bad if LB decided she didn’t need him anymore. It’s not like he was jealous of Chat. He had no romantic designs on Ladybug, after all, even though she was a perfectly lovely person, inside and out. He just…liked being useful. It was in his nature to take care of people, and as rough as superheroing was, it fulfilled some deep desire down in his soul to be useful, to contribute, to give back. Maybe that was his own abandonment issues talking.
Ladybug and the akuma were heading straight for him. There was only about a minute left on his clock, and then he’d have to recharge. There wasn’t any more time for thinking or worrying. He had a job to do, after all. Whatever decision LB made…he’d just have to live with it.
***
Luka lost count of how many laps they ran and how many resets it took to deflate the beach ball akuma.
He just made it to the roof of a nearby building, and crumpled to the ground, laying on his back. A moment later, he felt the impact of Ladybug landing near him.
“Well,” she gasped, bending over to lean her hands on her thighs. “That one was fun.”
“Can we talk?” he asked, between panting breaths. “Not now. Later.” He grinned. “After we’ve had a rest.”
“Sure,” she responded shortly, just as winded as he was. “Usual?”
“Yeah.”
“See you there.” She straightened with clear effort.
“Leaving so soon?”
She grinned and tapped an earring.
“Right,” he panted. “I’m just going to…lay here…for a few more hours.” He lifted his fingers in a salute as she huffed “Bug out,” and swung away.
A shimmer of teal light enveloped him. “Poor girl,” he muttered when Sass appeared next to his head. “Never…gets a…break.”
Sass chuckled and patted Luka’s cheek fondly, before diving into Luka’s hoodie pocket.
***
That night, Nemesis was pacing on top of the Eiffel tower, waiting for Ladybug. He wasn’t really sure how this conversation was going to go, and he was…nervous.
“I talked to Chat,” he said, and told her what had happened during the battle.
“So…he might be thinking about coming back?” Ladybug said slowly, and for once, Nemesis couldn’t read her tone.
“Maybe,” he said gruffly. “He didn’t really commit, one way or the other.” He probably could have done more to convince Chat, he thought guiltily, if he hadn’t let his own festering anger get the best of him. He should have. If Chat chose to apologize and Ladybug chose to forgive him, how was it Nemesis’ place to stand in the way just because of his own resentment? His shoulders twitched uncomfortably and he shrugged them, rolling his neck a bit. His muscles were still exhausted from the chase around the city and his legs in particular felt like jelly. He wondered if she felt the same, and then brought his mind back to the conversation as Ladybug finally spoke.
“If he chose to come back, would you work with him?”
“What?” Nemesis blurted, and Ladybug blinked at him in surprise. “I mean,” Nemesis stammered, “Sure, if you still wanted me, I’d do whatever you needed.”
Ladybug tilted her head. “You thought I would kick you off the team if Chat came back.”
Nemesis spread his hands. “I figured I’d be back to part time, at the least. You’ve always been a two-person team, and I know you worry about having too many out of the box at the same time. I thought you’d want to go back to the way it used to be.”
Ladybug’s lips thinned, and her shoulders stiffened. “It can’t go back to the way it used to be. Even if you did step down, it just—it can’t.”
Nemesis nodded slowly. He supposed it really couldn’t, though he was surprised to hear her voice the thought. He stepped back automatically out of the way as she began to pace the narrow girder, her forehead wrinkle even more prominent than usual.
“What am I going to do? What if he wants to talk but he’s still mad? What if I’m still mad? Am I still mad?” She looked up at Nemesis, her eyes wide and vaguely panicked. “What if he still thinks it’s all my fault? What will I do? What will I say?”
“Do you still think it’s your fault?” Nemesis asked, watching her.
“I—” She brought one hand to her mouth and fisted it, as if she wanted to chew on her knuckles. “I don’t—I mean…” She put her hand down, and stood still. “No,” she said in a small voice.
Nemesis smiled, but kept what he wanted to say to himself.
She took a deep breath, and started walking again, but slower this time. “He shouldn’t have lied to me,” she said. “He should have called me and told me what was going on. He had options, but he just let me believe Paris was safe and—no matter how I reacted afterwards, that was…wrong. Quitting without even talking it over or making a plan, leaving me to handle everything by myself…that was…”
When she didn’t finish, Nemesis offered tentatively, “Selfish?”
She nodded, turning to face him. “It really was. It wasn’t fair. He caused all the problems and left me to take all the blame. Even if he thought he was doing the right thing…he wasn’t, and he didn’t even include me in his decisions. How can—” She paused, voice wavering. “How can I ever trust him again?”
Nemesis sighed, and went to her, putting his hands on her shoulders. “I don’t have any answers for you,” he said with a lopsided smile. “I can only tell you I support whatever you decide to do. If Chat’s willing to work with me, and you still want me on the team, then I promise I can put the past where it belongs and be professional. Whichever way it goes with Chat—if he actually decides to meet—I’ll be there for you however you need. No matter what happens, you’re not alone.”
She leaned into him and hugged him tightly. “Thank you. Really. You’ve put up with a lot from me. No matter what happens…I want you on my side. You’ve more than proven yourself.”
“I’m there,” he agreed, putting his arms around her and rubbing her back lightly. “Chat might not want to share you, though,” he teased after a moment.
Ladybug snorted. “Chat can live with it.”
Fiction Master Post
It was always my intention to leave this open-ended. Will LB take him back? Should she? How will the team dynamic change from here? I think those are interesting questions and intended to leave them to the reader to arrange according to preference. I've already gotten puppy dog eyes (or maybe threats) from those who got a sneak peek at this, so if anyone feels inspired to add on to this, just make sure to tag me and I'll reblog it and tag it, and add the link here.I don't currently intend to go any further because I just have too many other things that need attention, but never say never…some day I may feel like adding to it myself as well. In the meantime I welcome anyone else who wants to carry it on!
These fucking idiots have written themselves into a corner because there are literally only two options here:
Either Adrien knew that was Felix, and knew that Ladybug had probably tried to give Adrien a Miraculous again, and, since Felix was currently pretending to be Adrien to the point that he managed to convince both Adrien's own father and Nathalie and everyone else, Ladybug thinks she's given the Dog Miraculous to Adrien. And Adrien knows this, and he decides not to warn her that that's actually Felix pretending to be Adrien, the way he did "when they first met him".
Option one: Adrien knows Ladybug is being tricked, and decides not to warn her.
Or Adrien doesn't know that that's Felix, and is just treating him like shit because uh.......Adrien's default response to new heroes is to hate their guts and treat them like shit for literally no reason except jealously that anyone else gets to interact with Ladybug.
Option two: Adrien doesn't know that's Felix, and is just treating him like shit because he just treats everyone like shit.
So, either Adrien is willfully endangering everyone and standing by while Ladybug is lied to and manipulated...or Adrien is literally just a terrible person who treats everyone like shit because he's mad they get to interact with the object of his obsession.
Marinette was even going out of her way to try and fucking make the introduction go smoothly and be friendly without Adrien getting fucking pissy or throwing a tantrum. She should not have to fucking babysit Adrien's feelings in the middle of fucking battle, but that's what she has to fucking do, because Adrien's a jealous fucking asshole who decides to make his jealously everyone else's problem, even in the middle of battle.
So which is it gonna be? Which fucking idiotic path are these writers going to go with?
Either they admit that Adrien is allowing Marinette to be lied to, or they admit that he treats other people like shit just by fucking default.
Inspired by the prompt "The Unthinkable" by Walks-the-ages, and the nonsense that is the "ML Bible".
-------
Oh no!
Adrien's eyes widen, as the evidences that were literally in his own house show themselves to him, the revelation clear and obvious.
His father is Hawkmoth! His father is the villain that tormented the city, caused uncountable causalities, and is most likely planning to rule the world and make it into a hellish dystopia!
Adrien has to do something with this revelation!
He will!
------
And from here, depending on the many, many interpretations of Adrien's canonical behavior, and how one wishes his potential be explored, the paths diverg
1]
In one timeline, Adrien, horrified at the reveal, draws the line at having an abusive father who is also a supervillain, and he decides to finish the long battle with Hawkmoth right away.
He can't allow his father to have any more reign, he doesn't want to risk being controlled anymore than he is by his father, even more so when he can literally brainwash Adrien whenever he wants.
Adrien wants to be in control of his own actions, thank you very much. And if he acknowledges the many parallels of his father's attitude to those attitude he has himself, and genuinely understand how his father abuses him, and starts to hate the fact that he's done the same things to his friends and regretted that, then all the better. (basically, kinda like your usual Adrien Sugar prompt)
2]
In another timeline, Adrien also draws the line and kills Gabriel, but there is no relevation of how his actions look all too similar to Gabriel's, no self-reflection.
Adrien just kills his father, and life goes on.
Adrien doesn't touch the Butterfly and the Peacock Miraculouses. He might keep them there to collect dust, or give them to Ladybug.
The supervillain is assumed to have suddenly vanished as far as Paris is concerned.
Adrien stops his harassment of Ladybug, not because he grew a consciousness and morals, but because he knows that with Hawkmoth nowhere to be seen, she will take away his ring whether he wants her to or not, and he's hoping that playing nice might let him keep it a little bit longer.
3]
In a third timeline, Adrien realizes that his father is Hawkmoth... and he uses that knowledge to enjoy himself as much as he can.
He purposely insults Gabriel as Chat Noir, pissing the villain off so that an akuma will always be on the loose, and so he can enjoy tormenting "his lady" as much as he can.
Because he knows how to end the whole war against Hawkmoth, but he doesn't, because he simply doesn't care about anyone but himself. His only interest is how much fun he can get, even if said fun is at the expense of everyone else's mental and physical health.
4]
In a fourth timeline, Adrien kills Hawkmoth... only to take Nooroo's and Duusuu's Miraculous and use them for his own goals.
He akumatizes someone and/or makes an amok, and makes them the new Hawkmoth, completely under his control. He then uses them to enjoy himself, and to torment Marinette even further, by making her fight insanely difficult battles on her own, just so he gets to appear, mentally controlling the akumas and amoks to go easy, and look so much better, and making the city go wild with how "protective and strong" he is, and how "Ladybug should give him a chance", even better, if he started "grieving" as Adrien, because his father suddenly died, and how tragic his life is~! (basically something like the "Untamed Perfection" prompt)
5]
In a fifth timeline, the reveal goes both ways, Adrien finds out about Gabriel's supervillain identity, and Gabriel finds out about Adrien's secret identity... Then Gabriel wins because the writers decided to Make Adrien a freaking Amok that can easily be controlled by a freaking ring or whatever the amokized object is, because definitely NO ONE will see the Paris-sized plot holes of such plot twist.
Akuma that can show times when someone did something terrible/lied hits Lila and reveals her lies and that she threatened Marinette.
Conscience
Crush you with the weight of sins-Arcana Chronicles
Cally was a competitive girl with a strong sense of fairness, truth and justice.
So you can imagine her outrage at losing a debate contest to Chloé’s paltry speech
The principal was a corrupt coward.
Ms Bustier coddled the bully.
What kind of school is this?
Cally became a prime target for Hawkmoth. He turned her into Conscience. Basically she looks like an angel but with a sword. (I was inspired by Arcana Chronicles)
Whoever she points her sword at will be crushed to the floor by invisible weights. Everything they did wrong will be played out above their flattened bodies. The longer the list of sins, the more your body is being crushed.
The only way to escape is to feel genuine remorse and apologize. Not apologize just so you can get up again and stop the memory recap.
Damocles was down, and his face flushed with humiliation as his crimes of embezzling school funds is revealed. That kind of pales the other incidents where is unfairly biased and uncaring towards his students.
Caline is surprised her pampering Chloé is a sin. She wonders if the akuma’s powers of justice are biased because how can forgiving a bully be a sin?
Conscience: Because when they don’t get punished, they don’t learn from their mistakes, you idiot excuse for a teacher!
Chloé was a selfish brat who does have remarkable agility skills. So she quickly used Lila as a shield.
Conscience was kind of surprised that Lila was weighed down. “My powers excuse the minor sins like white lies or silent jealousy, but what could charitable Lila have done to be suffocating?”
Cue memory recap. Not just of her bullying Marinette and ripping off her classmates, but also working with Hawkmoth to kill Ladybug, sending forged hate letters to a former classmate who then committed suicide, and kicking intuitive growling puppies unconscious so she would look like she was cradling peaceful sleeping puppies to her old classmates.
Conscience: wow...you are seriously messed up....
The currently-being-crushed Lila did not respond. She was too busy gasping for air as her lungs gave out.
Conscience: is it really a crime to kill her? This girl is a menace. Oh well, where’s Chloé Bourgeois?!
Chat: hiding! Obviously.
While everyone was watching the Lila horror show, the heroes arrived and also watched the show.
Conscience growled. “Oh come on! You have no right to be heroes when you let Chloé continue being one! Seriously??? After she sabotaged a train, endangering lives to make herself look good, you still gave her a miraculous when she was going to leave for New York! You practically encouraged her to stay and continue ruining our lives. All you’ve done is boosted her ego. Let’s see how you handle the weight of your own sins!”
By luck, she managed to pin Chat. And while everyone watched him sulk at being rejected, lying about dating Ladybug to Theo, Ladybug cast her lucky charm, a mini disco ball, at Conscience.
Conscience swung her sword and the disco ball got stuck on the point.
The power reflected and Conscience was now pinned by her own sins of humiliating others and pretty much killing Lila.
Breaking the sword, Ladybug cast her cure, resurrecting Lila as well.
Cally woke up. “I’m guessing I was akumatized.”
Ladybug knelt down. “Yes, you were. And I’m sorry for the injustices you’ve had to face. Truly, I am. I myself admit I’ve made my fair share of mistakes, ones that have come back to haunt me. So I hope you believe me when I say I’m sorry if my mistakes have affected your life.”
Cally raised a brow. “Are you just saying that because Alya is currently live-streaming this?”
Ladybug turned and sure enough, Alya was recording. “Not really. But since she’s here. I will clarify something. Chloé was not my first choice to wield the bee miraculous. I gave her a second chance because I saw potential in her to improve herself and redeem herself. But Chloé was never meant to be a permanent bee heroine since Hawkmoth knows her identity. I had only hoped being trusted with the miraculous once would at least help Chloé grow. I’m sorry to see that I was wrong.”
While humiliating Chloé live was not exactly good, Ladybug could not continue to let Chloe’s ego inflate any further.
During this incident, Alya had been live-streaming everything. And it was enough to get the school board involved. Damocles had been sacked and fined. Caline was transferred to a different school and class where the students liked to bully the teacher instead of each other. Let’s see if Caline will stick to her stubborn belief after this.
Lila was sent to jail outside of Paris. In solitary confinement, Lila began to grow mad from her isolation.
As for Chloé, while her mother encouraged her nastiness and her father spoilt her rotten, the threat of exiling the Bourgeois family from Paris if it meant getting rid of the blond brat became apparent when mass strikes were held outside the hotel and bad reviews removed any star ratings. These riots encouraged akumas to fight the police.
At last, the mayor conceded to send his daughter away from this hostile city for her safety. Instead of choosing to leaving for New York, Chloé was now forced to leave Paris.
Chat apologized to Ladybug for his behavior and promised to be better. And Ladybug herself resolved to think more with her head and of possible consequences. After all, she partially gave Chloé a second chance because Adrien influenced her.
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“If people want to hate Marinette/Ladybug because “she’s a stalker”, then that’s fine, but I dislike it when people try to use “LOOK HOW SHE TREATS CHAT NOIR!” as an excuse to dislike her. Similar to what I’ve read from a post, the main problem that I (along with couple others) have with Chat Noir isn’t that he’s needy, clingy or bases his entire self worth on Ladybug, but it’s that he’s never satisfied with that fact that he’s friends with Ladybug and are JUST friends. It isn’t enough that they are friends and he constantly makes it HER problem instead. Ladybug DOES love him.
Maybe not romantically, but platonically and significantly, which can be just as great of love. He’s literally one of the most important people in Ladybug’s life. He’s the FIRST hero she worked with and it’s been shown sometimes that without him, Ladybug wouldn’t of gotten out of many battles as she did. Ladybug cares about Chat, but suddenly none of it will mean anything to him because she doesn’t love him the way that HE wants her to. If that’s not The Nice Guy act, then I don’t know what is!
If your going to hate Marinette for being a stalker, then dislike Adrien/Chat for being a Nice Guy, which is one of the WORST type of guys! Chat Noir is extremely selfish in that regard! UGH!!!”
I was going to say I kinda want a Guitar Villain 2 so we can have Chat yell at the akuma for being a crap father and abandoning his son, but sadly I realized it wouldn’t be canon compliant because Chat said in Truth that it was the most fun he’s had in a while and I- your friend Luka?? That you are in a band together apparently?? (I remember he played with them in one episode but he did again here so?? Is he???) Found out his dad was his idol but didn’t care about him?? Like I want to say that’s OOC for Adrien but, I’m really not sure canon wise...
I don't like Chat Noir, but I'm gonna sit in my happy little corner clutching the (it's sad that they have to be called fannon) fannon RESEPCTFUL Chat and the GOOD FRIEND Adrien while trying to ignore the monstrosity that the show has turned the cannon Adrien (Adrien is less bad but Chat ruins him) and Chat into.
