Pt1 Previous 

Adrien wasn’t sure how to feel. The same thought kept racing through his mind: Ladybug just relieved her civilian identity! But there was a lurking sense of uneasiness. His lady was essentially captured by their arch enemy, doing things without her consent and was FORCED into telling him one of her most treasured secrets. The reveal wasn’t supposed to go this way. 

And now Hawkmoth knows! Or at least he thought so. It made the most logical sense, right? But Ladybug did regain control so would that mean that the butterfly villain lost his outlet to her thoughts and vision? His partner wouldn’t reveal any information that would put her loved ones in danger but at the same time would do anything to keep Paris safe, even sacrificing herself in the process. The thought made the running hero shiver. 

Looking back he saw no trace of the once spotted heroine but wasn’t about to take any risk. Her new capabilities weren’t yet relieved and he wasn’t about to go in blind. Making random turns and hiding in the shadows he aimed to lose Silentblow from his track. 

--- 

Slamming the phone Adrien let out a whine of irrigation, “Those idiots don’t even pick up!”  

Plagg looked up to see his holder pacing around the abandoned apartment throwing his hands and making random remarks mocking the League. “We have more important problems. Don’t prank call kid. One more time and you will face a lawsuit. BLA BLA BLA!” 

“Whoever the guy is behind the phone cuts me off in the first second. In the first damn second Plagg! He stopped picking up and I have been calling from different phone numbers!”

Falling back onto the makeshift bed with a “Ugh what do I do now” he started pulling his hair. In a small whisper he continued “I won’t defeat Silentblow alone. I don’t even know where the rest of the miraculous are.”

Plagg felt guilty for how the situation turned out. If only he took Adrien concerns more seriously and actually tried to confront the problem at hand. The thing is that he really didn’t feel anything shift in the air.  I am getting old. 

“Plagg” 

The gentle voice pulled the god of destruction out of his thoughts. “Don’t start playing around with the what ifs. I was there, a few steps away from Ladybug and yet couldn’t stop the butterfly. We didn’t know, so no more blaming ourselves.” 

A small smile greeted the kwami’s face as he was scooped up by the teenager. His kitten really grew as a person and it was mainly thanks to Marinette’s influence both in and out of the mask, even if he didn’t know that yet.  

Looking out of the window both slumped as they were once again met with the visible destruction of Silentblow roaming the city freely. Darkness dominated the city of love. Fallen structures, missing people, shadows and the utter quietness had now became a norm. The city was empty, no one daring to leave their homes.   

Adrien was forced to find a hideout in the slums of the city. Hiding in big visible buildings like the Agreste manor was a big no and “moving out” wasn’t a problem. For the past week his father was out of the country on a business trip with Natalie, not even bothering to call and check up on him. Adrien was so used to his father’s disappearances that he doesn’t even bat an eye anymore.  Escaping Gorilla wasn’t hard either, a few white lies and he was secure. 

Other than that Adrien felt useless. He went out a few times, trying to help the city as much as possible but each time he barely escaped the akuma alive. Looking down he could already see dark purple bruises forming on his legs. Today’s encounter with Ladybug … no Silentblow was once again a close call. What he saw in her eyes, desperation and the willingness to fully submerge to Hawkmoth, broke him. But deep inside he knew she was still fighting, if her small distractions to let him escape didn’t tell him that much. And he will continue fighting as well, not for Paris but for her. For the person that helped him grow and find himself. For the person that stayed even when he made mistakes. For the person that filled in the gap his father neglected. For the person that he couldn’t imagine life without. For Marianne al Ghul.

With a small smile Adrien turned to face the tired kwami, “You ready for another run? We don’t have time to waste on the League anymore. Every minute counts.”

Calling out,“Wait Adrien” stopped the blond-haired teen in his tracks. “Magic keeps me silent but there is a way to bypass it.” Plagg noticed how Adrien’s small small dropped, changing into a serious “hero attitude” expression.   

“What do you mean?”

“So you know that the previous Guardian disappeared right?” A nod. “And you know that magic prevents me from outing out who the current Guardian is and any locations related with them.”  

That grabbed Adrien’s undivided attention. Plagg wasn’t the type to spill facts and rules on him. From what he observed, that was more of Tikki’s role in the dynamic duo of creation and destruction. “Yes but where are you taking this?”   

Flying up closer Plagg continued, “You are a true holder of my miraculous, some might even say a true destruction soul. That technically means that you aren’t susceptible to all the traps of the miraculous stones as “normal” users are.”

“In the years past I had only two true holders, both times they figured out loopholes to help them fight the problems of their time. A century ago Lev realized that concentration and deeply desiring a change allowed him to activate my miraculous’ power-ups, that for many of my past cats took their whole careers to develop.” Till this day, Plagg remembers Lev’s anguish and desperation when his counterpart fell in battle. He was new, barely a year into the hero business when chaos unleashed itself in his small town of southern Russia. Calling on power ups saved his life that day. However, his partner, Nayda didn’t make it. 

“In ancient times my other true kitten, Hehet, was able to transfer some of her miraculous magic into a different one and then use the modified one. She was pregnant at that time and couldn’t wear two of the jewelries at the same time without harming her child. Egypt was under an ambush and Hehet wasn’t about to back down from saving her people.” Hehet was always the one to put others before herself. She ended up finding a way to keep her baby protected and at the same time strengthen the miraculous.  

“What I am trying to say is that you can’t make a miraculous appear but instead might be able to call on its power” Plagg really hoped that Marinette was keeping the location of the miraculous away from Hawkmoth. But the world wasn’t yet in ruins, so she still must have some time of control over herself. Or maybe Hawkmoth is keeping that information hidden, nope you are not going down that path of thinking Plagg. Tikki and Marinette are a force to be reckoned with, they won’t go down without a fight. 

Stupid rules and magic. 

“You need another miraculous if you want to win this battle. If you choose wisely magic could aid us in getting into direct contact with the league.” 

“So what I am hearing is that I can call on any power.” Adrien excitedly thought out loud. Finally some positive information in the mist of all this darkness. 

“Don’t get ahead of yourself Adrien. It won’t be an easy progress and might not even work. It took out of lot from both Lev and Hehet, and they weren’t even trying to call on a different miraculous. We are taking a big risk by even thinking about doing such a thing.”

The hero straighten up, took a deep breath and looked straight at Plagg with such determination that could rattle any world on its path. 

“I am ready to try” For you bug I will always be.  

——- 

This seems like a good place to end this chapter. The Bat- family is coming next :)