Genre (s): Fanfiction/Fantasy
Written When? Sophomore Year of College
Summary: Adrien breaks his arm when the supervillain, Krenitor, attacks him with a magic staff. At the same time, Marinette is dealing with a cold. Both conditions severely limit the two heroes' abilities. It looks like Hawk Moth may finally win. If Ladybug and Cat Noir are to take Krenitor down, they need to put their teamwork and friendship to the ultimate test.
Gabriel Agreste was not happy with his son, Adrien Agreste. He had not shown up for school in the past few days, leaving his bodyguard very confused. He asked Nathalie to go up to Adrien's room in the Agreste mansion and bring him to him.
Adrien just returned home after a long day of being a superhero. Hawk Moth had stepped up his game, akumatizing one person after the other.
Cat Noir had not been able to rest because Ladybug was a bit out of sorts. He had to do most of the fighting, while she did the purifying of the akumas–magic butterflies Hawk Moth used to evilize the citizens of Paris.
Cat Noir, Adrien's superhero form, faded away when he entered his room from his window. He glowed up and transformed back into his civilian attire.
His kwami, Plagg, fell onto his bed and complained, "My poor legs! I can't do it anymore!"
"I agree," said Adrien, who collapsed onto the bed with him. "Is it just me, or has being a superhero become a lot tougher?"
"If only Ladybug wasn't out of sorts," said Plagg. He started to get up, but he quickly hid in Adrien's jacket when the door to his room opened.
"Nathalie!" Adrien shouted.
Sure enough, Nathalie stood in the doorway. "Your father wishes to talk with you," she told the teenager.
"He does?" Adrien felt a pinch of excitement inside him. His father never had time to talk to him. Jumping off his bed, he joined Nathalie, and she took him to the mansion's gallery. However, the talk he got from Gabriel was not what he expected.
***
"You have missed school for three days in a row!" Gabriel shouted at Adrien after Nathalie dropped him off. "Gorilla can't find you anywhere, nor can your fencing instructor! Care to tell me what's going on, son?"
Adrien gulped and started to fidget with his ring, or the Cat Miraculous. He refused to make eye contact with Gabriel. "I can't tell you, Father."
"Why not?"
"I just can't."
"You're not going to keep secrets from me!" Gabriel placed his hands behind his back and approached the most striking picture in the gallery–a painting of Adrien's mom. "Until you clean up your act, son, you're grounded. You're not going back to school until you tell me what's going on."
"What?" Adrien asked in a shocked voice. "You can't keep me locked up forever!"
"Watch me," Gabriel threatened. "Nathalie!" He snapped his fingers.
Instantly, Nathalie was at Adrien's side.
"See that Adrien gets back to his room, and keep him there," ordered Gabriel.
Nodding, Nathalie placed her hand on Adrien's shoulder. She started to lead him out of the gallery.
"Father, please!" Adrien begged, but Gabriel said nothing more.
Nathalie took his son to his room. She locked him inside and told Gorilla, his bodyguard, to remain on a twenty-four-hour watch.
On the other side of the door, Adrien banged on it. "Don't do this, Father! Please!"
It was painful to listen to him, but Gorilla remained on duty, just as Nathalie and Gabriel expected from him.
In his room, Adrien gave up trying to free himself. Sure, he'd been grounded before, but his father never grounded him for life. He never locked him in his room. The fourteen-year-old boy fell to his knees.
Right when he did, Plagg flew out of his shirt, munching on some Camembert. He settled himself down on Adrien's shoulder and said, "Well, that went well."
Adrien sighed. Pulling out his phone, he texted Nino, his best friend, the bad news.
***
"Achoo!" Marinette Dupain-Cheng blew her nose into a tissue. She tossed it into a trash can next to her bed. "I hate this," she told Tikki, her own kwami. "Here I am, dying, and Cat Noir is doing all the work."
"That's not entirely true," said Tikki. "At least you're still purifying the akumas."
Marinette was the wielder of the Ladybug Miraculous. It was in the earrings she wore. "It's not just that!" Marinette told her kwami. "I haven't seen Adrien in three days!" She gasped. "What if he doesn't like me anymore? What if I scared him away from school?"
"Come on, Marinette. I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation for why he hasn't attended. Maybe he's sick, like you."
Marinette's phone buzzed. She picked it up and saw she just got a text from her best friend, Alya.
Did you hear the news? Adrien's been grounded for life.
"What?" Marinette shrieked.
***
"Dude, are you crazy? You know what happened last time we tried to have a boy's hangout day with Adrien," Ivan said to Nino that morning at school.
"Oh, come on," Nino laughed. "That was then. This is now. Adrien needs some boy time with us."
"But, dude, his father will kill him," said Ivan.
"Then we'll keep it a secret. Poof. Simple as that," Nino explained in a proud voice. With that, he pulled out his phone and called Adrien.
***
He gloomily sat at his piano when he received the text. Adrien checked his collar ID. "It's Nino," he told Plagg, who sat on top of the piano. Bringing his phone to his ear, he answered it. "Nino?"
"What's up, dude?" Nino asked on the other line. "You know, a new movie just came out. The boys and I are going to see it after school. Why don't you come with us?"
"Ugh, thank you, Nino, but I can't," Adrien explained.
"But, dude, it's a hit!" argued Nino. "In fact, it's the Number 1 movie in all of Paris. Nobody has to know. We'll keep it a top secret. Please, Adrien. At least let us hang out one more time before you become Rapunzel."
Adrien hated being bribed. He always made sure to obey his father. He started having an internal conflict with himself. He glanced at Plagg for advice.
The kwami shrugged. "This is your choice. I'm going to have a nice date with my Camembert. Come here, baby." He chomped into the cheese, much to Adrien's frustration.
While he didn't want to disobey his father, at the same time, he hated being locked up. His only source of comfort came from his friends and his longtime love for Ladybug. He had to admit, he wanted a break from superhero work. Finally, after a little more thinking, he made up his mind. Sighing, he told Nino, "Okay, I'll come to the movie with you, Nino. But just this once."
He heard Nino cheering. "Awesome, dude! But how are you going to get past Gorilla?"
"Don't worry. I have my ways. See you soon." Adrien lowered his phone and ended the call.
"What do you think you're doing?" Plagg asked him. "I know you, Adrien. You would never disobey your father. Why don't we just stay here and have a movie night with a big bowl of Camembert?"
Adrien glanced at him with his big, green eyes. "Nino's right, Plagg. I need to spend some time with my friends before Father does turn me into Rapunzel."
"But how are you going to get out?"
Chuckling, Adrien gave his kwami a wink. "Like I said, I have my ways. Plagg, claws out!"
"But I haven't finished my cheese!" Plagg shouted.
Too late. Adrien sucked him into his Miraculous, the ring he wore on his right hand, and transformed into Cat Noir. Now all decked out in his black cat suit, he opened the window he came in from earlier and hopped onto the windowsill. Momentarily, Cat Noir paused and peered over his shoulder into his room. He used his stick to leap outside and hop from building to building to the busy streets of Paris.
***
There was something else Gabriel Agreste wanted to tell his son. He wanted to apologize to him. He believed he maybe went a little too far with his punishment. Something was going around in Paris. What if Adrien was feeling under the weather, and that was why he missed school? He wanted to ask him in person.
Gorilla unlocked Adrien's bedroom door and let Gabriel in.
He thanked him, but his eyes widened when he saw his son's room was empty. Instantly, he returned to his mean self. "Gorilla! Where has my son gone? You were supposed to watch him!"
Gorilla looked beyond confused. He could've sworn that Adrien never came out of his room. He never left his post. How could he sneak out?
Even Nathalie was confused.
Gabriel was furious. How dare his son sneak out! He didn't know how he did it, but he did. Gabriel was going to give him a punishment he would never forget. After that, he would forever lock him inside.
He stormed back to the gallery and approached the picture of Emilie, his wife. Clenching his fist, he told himself, "It's time to akumatize this fire-breathing heart." When he said that, the picture of Emilie slid off to the side, revealing a secret elevator. Gabriel took it down to a secret chamber–Hawk Moth's chamber. It was a dark place filled full of fluttering, white butterflies. He called for Nooroo, another kwami, who changed him into Hawk Moth himself.
"Watch out, Adrien," he growled. "Daddy is coming for you." Catching one of the butterflies in the chamber, he gave it dark energy, which turned it into an akuma. "Fly, my little akuma, and evilize me!" Hawk Moth shouted at the butterfly.
At his command, the akuma flew to him.
Hawk Moth turned back into Gabriel Agreste. He gave the akuma an evil look and waited for his transformation to commence. A wave of purple and black washed over him. By the time it vanished, he was a new kind of supervillain. He was Krenitor.
***
Marinette tried to pass time in her bedroom by watching Adrien ads online, but she sneezed. That caused her rolling chair to slide back.
"Are you okay, Marinette?" Tikki asked her.
"Never better," Marinette answered with a feeble smile. However, she lost it when she heard a yell coming from downstairs. "What's that?" She quickly grabbed her bag and told Tikki, "Hide, Tikki."
Tikki nodded and flew into her bag.
Zipping it, Marinette put on her bedroom slippers and hurried downstairs to her parents' bakery. She gasped when she saw they were frozen in blocks of ice. "Mom! Dad!" Her eyes caught something else. It was a tall figure who looked like an evil wizard. He had glowing, blue eyes and wore a long, black robe. His fingers were long and skinny. In his left hand, he held a scepter that had a red orb at the tip of it.
"Where's Adrien?" the supervillain asked Marinette.
"Gabriel Agreste?" she said. "I don't know."
"Lier! He's always hanging out with you!"
"He is?" Marinette felt herself blushing. "I mean, sure, but today–yes, today–he's somewhere else."
"You better tell me the truth, or you will feel the wrath of Krenitor!" yelled the supervillain. He pointed his scepter at Marinette's chest, but he stopped before he could strike her down because he sensed Adrien. "Ah, there you are, my prey." He gave Marinette a bow before disappearing into a cloud of black smoke.
She wasted no time to transform into Ladybug. "Tikki, spots on! Yeah!"
Her kwami flew into her earrings.
Once Marinette had her mask, she pulled her yo-yo off her belt and took off, but she had another sneezing attack. Ladybug, though, did not give up. If Adrien was in danger, then it was her duty to protect him.
***
Adrien met up with Nino, Ivan, Marc, Nathaniel, and Max at the movie theater. He was back in his civilian outfit. At the sight of his friends, a smile stretched across his face.
"Hey, Adrien! What's up, dude?" Nino called.
"Hi. Great to see you." Adrien stopped in front of his friends and placed his hands on his hips. "So, what's this movie we're seeing?"
"It's called Dystopian Zombie World," Max excitedly cheered. "I've been waiting so long for it to come out!"
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go grab the best seats in the house," said Adrien.
"Yeah!" his friends cheered. Unfortunately, they celebrated too soon.
Suddenly, "Adrien, you've been a naughty boy!" was heard from the top of a building. A beam of light flew towards the group of friends.
They quickly jumped out of the way. The light ended up taking off a huge chunk of the movie theater's building.
Terrified people in the area took off running.
Adrien leaped to his feet and looked in the direction the light came from. At the sight of Krenitor, his face grayed.
The supervillain hopped off the building he rested on and landed in front of him. "I hope you're ready to scream because I am going to show you just how hard a parent's wrath can be!"
"Father?" Adrien asked in a frightened voice. Oh no! His father must have figured out he was missing. The fact that he was akumatized meant that he was furious with him.
His friends yelled at him: "Adrien, watch out!" They noticed that Krenitor had lifted his staff.
He aimed it towards Adrien, but just before he could launch another spell, a cable-like string appeared, and it wrapped around the weapon. Ladybug. She made it just in time for the party. "Hey, Ganondorf! Why don't you pick on someone your own size?" Ladybug pulled back on her yo-yo's string, but another sneeze messed up her plan. It caused the string to unwrap itself from Krenitor's staff and tossed her back towards a flower shop.
"Hm, a sickly Ladybug," Krenitor told himself. "How interesting."
While he was distracted, Adrien headed toward his friends. He held his left hand out to Nino.
Before he could grab it, Krenitor yelled, "Not so fast!" Once again, he aimed his staff at Adrien. Another spell escaped the red orb at its end, and it smacked him right in the upper, left arm.
"No!" Ladybug shouted.
"Adrien!" Adrien's friends yelled.
Adrien cried out in pain. The spell was so powerful that it chucked him away from his friends. He landed in front of a running fountain that was right next to the theater.
Nino, Max, Marc, Ivan, and Nathaniel tried to go to him, but Ladybug said, "Stop! I'll take care of him. You guys need to find shelter."
"We'll see about that!" Krenitor yelled. He pointed his staff at the boys. Several different spells flew out of its orb. They had different effects on each boy when they hit them.
Nino was frozen solid, like Marinette's parents.
Max's age was reversed, so instead of a teenage boy, he was a baby.
Ivan turned into a plant, and Marc an overconfident playboy.
Finally, Nathaniel's arms and legs turned to stone, causing him to collapse on the sidewalk.
Krenitor admired his work. He laughed an evil laugh. "So many different decorations. What should I put in my house?"
Ladybug noticed his long, skinny fingers tapping the orb in his scepter. "That must be where the akuma is," she told herself. Before helping Adrien, she tried to call Cat Noir from her yo-yo. He didn't answer. "Come on, Cat Noir," Ladybug begged in a hoarse voice. "I need you."
***
Adrien was a hot mess. He couldn't even get to his knees without his injured arm crying out in pain. He knew it was broken. There was no way someone could escape an attack like that unscathed–not even a superhero. He felt like he had gotten Cataclysmed all over again. The pain was so great that his world even started to turn blurry. However, he did see Ladybug.
She moved her fastest towards him but struggled with her cold. She tired herself out easily and coughed as she tried to catch her breath. Even through the struggle, she managed to make it to Adrien.
He closed his eyes and tightly clutched his upper, left arm.
Ladybug kneeled to him and placed her hand on his shoulder. "Are you okay?"
Adrien decided to be honest. He shook his head and answered, "No."
Frightened, Ladybug glanced at his arm. "How bad is it?"
"I think it's broken. Ladybug, I learned something very important today. Never disobey your parents."
"Don't worry, Adrien. I'm going to get your father back. For now, I need to get you to safety." Ladybug used her remaining strength to pick up Adrien. She did her best to not let Marinette's obsession with him show, but she still blushed at the sight of his green eyes and long, blonde locks. Ladybug took him to an alleyway that was just beyond the movie theater. If someone cut through it, they would eventually reach Paris's Louvre Museum. She gently set him down.
Adrien groaned, as his back hit a wall. He did not take his hand away from his arm.
"Stay here. I'm going to lure Krenitor away from you," Ladybug said in a gentle voice.
Adrien opened one eye. He smiled feebly. "I trust you, Ladybug."
"You do?" Again, Ladybug blushed. No! She couldn't let Marinette take over Ladybug. Pulling her yo-yo off her belt, she launched its grappling hook up to a balcony that was above her and Adrien. Saluting at her crush, she jumped into the sky and landed on it, right in front of a flower box.
Adrien waited until she disappeared over the roof of the building before he used his good hand to open his jacket.
Plagg flew out of it. Worry flashed across his face when he saw Adrien. "Don't tell me you're thinking what I think you're thinking."
"Ladybug needs me," Adrien groaned. "She can't beat Krenitor alone. She needs Cat Noir. I got us in this mess in the first place."
"You are in no condition to fight," said Plagg, but that did not stop Adrien.
He weakly held his Miraculous out to his kwami and said, "Plagg, claws out." He put no energy into the transformation as he did when he left his house. His body merely glowed up for a split second, and then he was Cat Noir again. With each passing second, his vision grew blurrier, but he tried his best to fight the pain.