ML: Are They Worthy? Chapter 5: It’s Not Living (If It’s Not With You)!/Gargoyle
Judgement Wolf was standing over Adrien. He drew his sword.”Ladybug seems to put a lot of trust in you. Let’s see if that trust is correctly placed” he said. “Wolf Mist!” he called out. He threw the mist at Adrien.
Plagg woke up and saw what was happening. “ADRIEN!” He called out. He saw Judgement Wolf. “Why you!” he said, charging at him.
Judgement Wolf caught Plagg. “Hello there. Are you ready to see if Adrien passes or fails?” he asked. He then jumped into the mist.
Adrien woke up in the middle of the Champ-Elysees. “What happened?” he said. He looked, and saw Ladybug fighting a villain. “I gotta transform” he said. He then looked down and saw that his ring wasn’t there. He then remembered that earlier in the fight, he was knocked down. Hawk Moth then approached him and took his ring. Soon after, he passed out. “Oh no.”
“WAAHHHHH!” said Ladybug, being knocked over.
Adrien rushed to her side. “Are you OK, M’Lady?” he asked.
“Cat Noir” said Ladybug. “Take this” she slipped a note to him. She started to take off her earrings.
“What are you doing?” Adrien asked.
“Hawk Moth can’t have both of these” said Ladybug, who was now a figure bathed in light. “Take them and run.”
“But Ladybug” said Adrien.
“GO!” said Ladybug, and without thinking, Adrien took off.
Hawkmoth, and the Akumatized Villain approached Ladybug. The Akumatized villain looked like a stone goblin with a flag attached to its back. “Good job Gargoyle” said Hawk Moth. Hawk Moth saw that Ladybug didn’t have her earrings. “Where are they?!” he demanded.
“Gee, I forget” said Ladybug.
“You’ll be sorry you did” said Hawk Moth.
Adrien kept running. He heard a loud noise. He had hoped that everything was alright. But the next day proved him wrong.
Nadja Chamock was reporting. “I am sad to report that yesterday Paris lost one of its heroes. Ladybug, real name,” Adrien heard a guttural noise, “fell at the hands of Gargoyle and Hawk Moth. Needless to say, all of Paris is shook. Countless vigils are being held all over town for the fallen hero. The funeral will be held in three days.”
Adrien turned off the screen. He laid back down on his bed. He then felt the letter Ladybug had given him, and decided to read it. “Cat Noir, I know who Hawk Moth is. It’s,” the name was blurred. “Please take the Ladybug Miraculous and give it to someone you can trust so they can take him on.”
Adrien looked determined. This is Ladybug’s last request. He doesn’t want to let her down. He grabbed the earrings and left.
At the Dupain-Cheng bakery, Tom and Sabine were working on a cake for Ladybug’s funeral. Adrien walked in. “Hi” he said. “Is Marinette here?”
They nodded. “She’s upstairs in her room Adrien” Sabine told him. “Just try to be gentle. She’s been taking what happened hard.”
“We all are” said Adrien. He walked up stairs.
Marinette heard a knock on her door. “Come in,” she said in a sad tone.
“Marinette?” Adrien said, coming in.
“Adrien?” Marinette said surprised. “What are you doing here?”
Adrien sighed. He had to be honest with her. “Marinette, there’s something I have to tell you.”
“Wait” said Plagg in a box, watching what’s going on in an empty white area with Judgement Wolf. “If you’ve tested Ladybug already, then shouldn’t you know who she is?”
“So, you know as well?” said Judgement Wolf. “But Adrien doesn’t. This dream is the product of Adrien's imagination. I just begin with a thought. Adrien does the rest.”
Back in the dream, Adrien continued “The truth is, I am Cat Noir. Ladybug entrusted me with her miraculous. She also told me who Hawk Moth is. She asked me to find someone I can trust and give them to her. Marinette, do you want to be the next Ladybug and take down Hawk Moth?”
Marinette was stunned. She realized the gravity of the situation. Still, she nodded.
“OK” said Adrien, giving her the earrings. “Put them on and say ‘Tikki! Spots On!’”
Marinette put them on. “What’s a Tikki?” she asked.
“I am” said Tikki.
“AH!” said Marinette. “What is that?”
“It’s a kwami” said Adrien. “A magical being that gives people powers. My kwami’s name is Plagg.”
“It’s OK Marinette” said Tikki. “If Cat Noir trusts you, so do I.”
Marinette nodded. “Tikki! Spots On!” she called out. She transformed into Ladybug. “Great! Now it’s your turn.”
“Actually,” said Adrien, “I lost my miraculous in the fight. You’re going to have to do this alone.”
“WHAT?!” said Marinette. “I can’t do this by myself. Please can you come with me?”
Adrien looked at Marinette. He couldn’t say no. Marinette’s probably scared. He should be there to support his friend. “OK” he said. “But I need to keep my distance. I don’t have my powers anymore.”
“Thank you” she said hugging him. He gave her a hug back. “Now let’s go!” She picked up Adrien and lept through the window.
On their way to confront Hawkmoth, Adrien was explaining Marinette’s powers to her. “Do you think you understand?” he asked.
“I think so” she said.
“Good” said Adrien. “We’re here.” The two had approached the house of Hawk Moth. “Ready when you are” Adrien said.
Just then, Gargoyle appeared in front of them and roared. “Adrien! Run!” Marinette said.
Adrien began running, but then stopped for a brief moment. He turned around and said “The flag! The Akuma is in the flag!”
“Got it” said Marinette, keeping her distance from the monster. Adrien continued to run and hide. When Marinette decided she was far enough away, she called out “Lucky Charm!” She received a lighter. “This is odd” said Marinette. Gargoyle threw a punch at Marintte’s position, but she dodged it. Gargoyle’s fist got caught in the building Marinette was on. She noticed that Gargoyle was made out of stone. She approached Adrien. “Adrien, do you have anything I can set on fire?”
Adrien felt around in his pockets. He found the note Ladybug left him, but he didn’t want to set that on fire. “He took off his jacket. “Here” he said.
“Are you sure?” Marinette asked.
“It’s fine” said Adrien. “I have plenty.” Marinette nodded. She took the coat, set it on fire, and attached it to her yo-yo. Gargoyle broke free and then charged at the two. Marinette flung the on fire shirt at Gargoyle.
It landed in his mouth. Gargoyle wasn’t bothered by this and roared at the two of them, but then the smoke from the fire started to rise, blinding Gargoyle. Gargoyle flailed his arms around his eyes to dissipate the smoke. Marinette saw this, and took this opportunity to climb onto Gargoyle and take the flag out. She lept to solid ground and broke it.
An Akuma flew out. “No more evildoing for you, little Akuma” she said. “Time to de-evilize!” she captured the Akuma. She freed the butterfly and said “By By, little butterfly.” She threw up the lighter and said “MIraculous Ladybug!” The magic Ladybugs fixed the damage, caused by Gargoyle. Gargoyle turned back into a man, who was confused.
Hawk Moth walked out. “What’s going on?!” he asked. Marinette threw her yo-yo at him, knocking the miraculous off. She picked it up. “It looks like there’s no more evildoing for you either, Hawk Moth.”
“Ladybug?” said Hawk Moth, who was now a figure bathed in light.
Ladybug’s earrings started to beep. Adrien ran up to her. “That means you’re about to transform back. Run and find a safe place. I’ll catch up with you as soon as the police arrive.”
“Thank you, Cat Noir” she said. She left. Adren smiled.
“I know that wasn’t the actual Ladybug” Hawk Moth said.
“So?” said Adrien.
“Aren’t you mad?” said Hawk Moth. “I took your true love away from you. I’m the reason you’re so miserable. I am completely at your mercy right now. Don’t you want to punish me? Don’t you want me to feel as bad as you do right now? Don’t you want to take revenge?”
“That may be how you work, Hawk Moth, but I’m not like you” said Adrien. “Of course I’m upset. And angry. And yes, there’s nothing I want more right now than to Cataclysm you out of existence. But that’s not what she would have wanted. She would have wanted you to pay for your crimes the correct way.”
“She’s not here anymore. You don’t have to worry about what she thinks” said Hawk Moth.
“But if she was, she’d be disappointed in me if I acted on my negative emotions right now. I don’t want to let her down, even if she’s no longer here” said Adrien. Police sirens start heading this way. Adiren closed his eyes in a smug way. “Anything else you want to say as a free man? You only have a couple of minutes left.” When Adrien opened his eyes, he was in an empty white area, and surprised.
“Well done, Cat Noir” said Judgement Wolf. “You might want this back.” He threw Plagg.
“ADRIEN!” Plagg called out.
“It’s OK Plagg, I’m right here” said Adrien, giving him a hug. They broke the hug and Adrien stared down Judgement Wolf. “I assume that you’re Judgement Wolf.”
“So you’ve heard of me?” Judgement Wolf said.
“So, this was all just a test?!” Adrien said.
“Yes, and you passed with flying colors” said Judgement Wolf. “Aren’t you happy?” Adrien was staring him down. “For the record, the prompt I gave you was ‘What if Ladybug Wasn’t Around?’ You filled in all of the other blanks.”
Adrien gasped. “I killed Ladybug?”
“Relax. She’s fine” said Judgement Wolf. “And had I known you would have jumped to that, I would have done something different. I don’t mean to upset anyone. I just need to figure out what lies behind the mask.”
“Well, you could have done this easier” said Adrien.
“The wolf miraculous is the miraculous of doubt” said Judgement Wolf. “If I were to trust people easily, I wouldn’t have this power to begin with.”
“Fine” said Adrien. “But know this. If you hurt anyone for real, I will not hesitate to fight you.”
“Trust me. If that happens, I’ll wait for you” said Judgement Wolf. He left, and Adrien and Plagg fell back asleep.
“Sleep tight, Cat Noir” said Judgement Wolf, leaving Adrien’s room.
The next day during the free period, Adrien approached Marinette and asked “Hey Marinette, do you want to work on the project now?”
“Of course” said Marinette, blushing. She then spotted Beyyo. “Uh...you go on ahead, I’ll meet you there.”
“Alright” Adrien said. He left, and looked sad when he was alone.
Marinette approached Beyyo and made sure no one else was around. “What’s up?” Marinette asked.
“We tested Cat Noir last night” Beyyo told them “Things got intense. You should talk to him soon.”
“Will do” Marinette said as she nodded. Beyyo flew off. Marinette sped to meet Adrien to work on the project.
After school, Marinette transformed into Ladybug and swung to the rooftops of Paris. Adrien saw Ladybug swinging up. He hid and transformed into Cat Noir. Ladybug landed and Cat Noir was not far behind. “Ladybug?” said Cat Noir. Ladybug turned around. Cat Noir ran up and gave her a hug.
“Cat Noir, what happened?” she asked.
Cat Noir broke the hug. “Well, that Judgement Wolf character that Wayzz told me about appeared and tested me. In my dream, you had died. I was incredibly sad. I didn’t know what to do. I just kept following your lead.”
“It’s OK, Cat Noir” Ladybug said, hugging him. “I’m here.”
Cat Noir started to cry. “It’s just, I don’t know what I would do without you,” he said.
“I think you do” said Ladybug, comforting her partner.
Vlad and Beyyo were watching from the ground. “Looks like everything’s going to be fine,” said Vlad, walking away.
As Ladybug and Cat Noir were hugging, an explosion could be heard. “What was that?” Cat Noir asked.
“Sounds like another Akuma” said Ladybug. “Are you fine Cat Noir, or do you want to sit this one out?”
Cat Noir smiled. “And miss talking to you, buggaboo? Not a chance.”
Ladybug smiled. “Then let’s go!” Ladybug and Cat Noir raced to the action.
