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Everyone watched as Chloe stormed out of the movie theater.
Mari sighed and jumped up to follow her out, knowing it was most likely going to end in an akuma. The rest of the room seemed to stand still in a silent disappointment after the failures due to Chloe.
The room however was broken out of its silence by Gabriel Agrest’s voice echoing out from the tablet the mayor was holding. “Nooru, Dussu, metamorphosis!”
The mayor lifted up the tablet to see what Mr. Agrest was doing that had managed to make him forget to hang up the video call, only to find it having gone black and the call disconnected from the other device no longer being able to be found.
Mari’s mind was running a mile a minute from information she had just received. Gabriel Agrest was Shadowmoth. No one else knew Nooru and Dussu’s names and the timing was just too perfect.
She sprinted out of the room. She needed to tell Chat Noir.
“Tikki! Spots on!” She called, continuing to run down the empty hallway. She pulled out her yo-yo to send the blond a message. “Chat, meet me at our regular rendezvous point. I know who Shadowmoth is.”
When she arrived on the rooftops, she found herself pacing, waiting for her partner to show up when an Akuma showed up.
“Drat. I was a bit too late.” A voice from behind her back surprised her.
She whipped around taking a defensive position before realizing it was just Chat Noir. “You’re good Kitty, let’s just deal with this Akuma, then we can talk.”
Chloe was akumatized into Queen Bannana, a quite stupid name and costume if you asked Mari… and Gabriel Agrest claimed to be a fashion designer. These were truly fashion disasters.
The Akuma was fairly easy to deal with, after Marinette ran to grab Zoe to help out. After Chloe had been dealt with and handed— forced to take— her protection amulet, the two heroes left to recharge.
“Vesperia!” Ladybug called out the hero as she leapt over the roofs.
“Pollen, Buzz off!” She called before taking off the hair clip and reaching out her hand. “Here’s your miraculous back ladybug, thankyou.”
“Actually, would you like to keep it a little longer?” Ladybug pushed her arm back towards the girl gently.
“What for? Are you expecting another akuma soon?” The worry leaked into her voice.
“Actually, I found out who Shadowmoth is and me and Chat were about to speak on the matter.”
“You know who Shadowmoth is? That’s amazing!”
“Would you like to join us? If we approach him, your powers might come in handy.”
“Of course! Anything for you Ladybug!” Zoe quickly called back on her transformation and got ready to follow the leader.
As the two approached the meeting point they could see Chat waiting, leaning against the railing at the very top of the Eiffel tower.
Ladybug swung up to the top of the tower and called out to her partner. “Chat! I brought Vesperia with me to help, I hope you don’t mind.”
She watched as a small frown made it’s way onto Chat’s face. It expertly hidden before the Bee
Arrived at the top of the tower. Ladybug was glad her partner at least was wise enough to hide his disdain with her from the temporary holders. She gave him a pointed look before turning to where Vesperia landed.
“Ok, I found out who Shadowmoth is.”
Chat Noir opened his mouth to interrupt. “Me too…” his voice was uncharacteristically quiet, and now that she thought about it he had been like that the whole fight too.
The pause in the conversation became a bit awkward before Ladybug began to speak again. “Gabriel Agrest is Shadowmoth.”
She turned to Chat for confirmation and he nodded his head. From the corner of her eye she could see Zoe nodding her head as if she agreed as well.
“How should we go about taking back the miraculous though?”
The group ended up brainstorming for an hour before deciding their final game plan.
“Zoe you hang out in the background, stay hidden and only come out if you need to. We don’t know how much of a fight he will put up, but if he tries to fight, jump out and freeze him. Me and Chat will enter through the front and see if we can find where he is.” Ladybug glanced over to Chat and locked eyes with him. “Chat says he knows where Gabriel will most likely be so follow his lead. Hopefully this will be a quick operation, he won’t know we’re coming so that should work to our advantage.”
The group took off across the roofs, traveling separately to try to avoid suspicion and worrying the citizens. As they neared the mansion, the other two heroes came back into sight, and Chat noir looked like he was about to puke. Ladybug eventually told him to stop right before they arrived.
“Are you feeling okay Chat? You haven’t been yourself today. We need you if we want to be able to take downShadowmoth.” Ladybug said softly.
“I- just…” he trailed off and ducked his head, looking to the side. “What is going to happen to Gabriel Agrest?”
“What do you mean? We’re going to remove his miraculous and make sure he is punished for his crimes.”
“Well yeah, but what about his son and his large business which supports many families?”
Ladybug paused. She hadn't thought about what would happen then. “I don’t know Chat, but we’ll figure something out. We can work with the police to make sure everyone not involved in the Shadowmoth business will be okay.”
Chart nodded and some color seemed to be returning to his face. “Let’s go and get this over with.”
The two jumped off over the last few roofs and landed next to Vesperia.
Chat then took the lead expertly moving around the security cameras as if he was very familiar with the place. He led them to a set of doors and paused for a moment. Ladybug and him locked eyes before nodding and opening the doors. As predicted Gabriel was in his office and looked shocked to see the two heroes standing in his doorway.
“Ladybug, Chat Noir, to what do I owe this pleasure of seeing you here?”
Chat Noir’s face turned icy. “You can drop the act Shadowmoth. We know it’s you.”
The shock danced across his face briefly before quickly evening out.
“Give us the miraculous of the Peacock and the Butterfly. We don’t want to fight if we don’t have to.” Ladybug spoke up. The surprise on his face was enough confirmation of identity for her.
“No! Nuroo, Dusuu, Metamorphosis!” He called. His voice loud enough to cover the whisper of Venom from behind the two heroes.
Before he could even summon an akuma he was paralyzed.
“Good work Vesperia.” Ladybug said before walking up and pulling the miraculous off his chest. “Your reign of terror is over Shadowmoth. The police are on their way here as we speak.”
As she turned back around she found Chat standing back awkwardly as if he didn’t belong. “Vesperia stay and watch Gabriel, I want to talk to Chat briefly. We’ll be back to talk to the police, just call if you need anything.”
She then proceeded to drag Chat out of the room. As she opened her mouth to speak, Chat shook his head and beckoned her to follow. He led her up a large staircase and into Adrien’s bedroom. She blinked in surprise.
“Is it okay for us to be here?”
Chat opened his mouth and closed it again. His head dropped down before he began to speak. “You’re probably wondering why I’ve been so off today haven’t you?”
She nodded but didn’t say anything.
“I-“ he sighed. “Plagg, Claws in.” He murmured.
Ladybug stared as Chat Noir looked up, revealing himself to be Adrien Agrest.
“Oh Adrien, I’m so sorry you have to go through this.” She moved forward to give him a hug and he collapsed into her arms. “You don’t need to come back if you don’t want to. I can deal with the police on my own. But I’ll make sure everything is okay. You won’t fall shut because your father messed up.”
Chat blinked back tears. “Thank you Ladybug, but I need to see this through. It’s my responsibility as Chat Noir.”
She nodded understanding the importance of his commitments. “If you need to leave at any point, I'm willing to cover for you.”
Adrien transformed back and the two went back to where Vesperia was waiting. The rest of the business with Shadowmoth went smoothly. After retrieving the miraculous from Zoe she went back to where Adrien was to offer comfort.
“Adrien!” She ran to him from across the roofs. “Are you okay?”
“No, but I will be.”
She nodded. “I think we still have some things to talk about, but if you want to save that for another day we can. You should take time to yourself to process the information unveiled today.”
“Thank you Ladybug.” He choked out.
The two hugged once more before Ladybug swung off and Adrien walked back into the cold mansion.