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chronicallylatetotheparty · 4 years

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After the Fall Ch.19 Monsters and Men

LoganLight, AO3

This is a bad idea.

I don't care.

He'll akumatize you.

That's why I'm doing this while he's got an akuma already out.

It's reckless.

Yes. Yes, it is.

It's pretty convoluted.

Actually, it's pretty straightforward. And that describes every Ladybug plan ever.

You're not Ladybug.

No, I'm me.

Adrien emerged into a room full of butterflies wearing thick clothing and his arms crossed. The man in front of him stared in shock. Adrien felt too many emotions at seeing the suit he'd only laid eyes on once before to properly feel any of them.

"Adrien . . ." Papillon stood frozen.

"Le Papillon. I wonder who could be behind that mask?" Adrien asked sarcastically.

An explosion thundered from outside. The akumatized villain's laugh echoed unnaturally.

Papillon glanced from him to the window. "I . . . I don't . . ."

"Don't have time for me? I understand. You're work has always been more important. Why should now be any different?"

Papillon's eyes narrowed. "You will not speak to me this way."

"I'll talk to Le Papillon any way I want!" Adrien snapped.

". . . Very well." The hated butterfly mark appeared around Papillon's mask. "Box them in! Don't let up! I have some . . . urgent business I need to handle."

Papillon regarded Adrien for a moment. His too warm clothes, his arms held close to his chest, the accusation in his eyes.

"Nooroo, detransformez-moi."

A flash of light and Gabriel Agreste stood next to a purple kwami that looked at him with sad eyes. A mouth-less kwami. Adrien felt bile rise up his throat.

"Eat," Gabriel commanded dismissively and the kwami floated to a nearby stand to do just that.

I'll get you out of here, Nooroo. I swear.

"So," Gabriel began. "How did you find out?"

Adrien felt disappointment at the question. "Really? With the butterfly symbols you spammed everywhere, the Miraculous Grimoire you akumatized yourself over, the fact that you never once tried to kidnap me after you found out I was Chat Noir."

Gabriel flinched.

"Or how akuma stayed as far away from me as possible . . . until they didn't. Oh! Let's not forget the first thing you asked me immediately after dying! 'Where is your ring, son?' I'm disgusted I didn't figure it out sooner!" Adrien breathed heavily as he shifted his grip.

Gabriel's struggle was written plainly across his features. "It . . . It doesn't have to be this way."

Adrien scoffed. "Oh, no?"

"No, I . . ." Realization dawned on Gabriel's face "You told her . . . That's why there are so many heroes active. You know who Ladybug is!"

A shiver of fear shot through Adrien's body. He kept his face carefully neutral.

"How did you know it would be today, though? I could've done it at any time."

"After that business with Miraculer? The Bourgeois's anniversary was the only . . . possible . . ."

Gabriel grinned at Adrien's unintentional admission. "Tell me who she is! Help me defeat Ladybug! Together we can bring back Emilie! We can make it so none of this ever happened! We can be a family again!"

Adrien hated the small part of him that was tempted to accept Fa- Gabriel's outstretched arms. Hated the weakness inside him that would pretend all the pain he'd suffered at the hands of this man had never happened. Hated himself for even considering bringing Maman back by sacrificing someone else.

But the rest of him knew better.

"I don't want Maman back like this. She wouldn't want it either. Maman would be ashamed of what you've done."

Gabriel snarled and took a step towards Adrien. "How would you know what she would want? You think Emilie was some sort of saint!? You're just a child!"

". . . I was a child," Adrien admitted heavily. "You killed him."

"NO!"

Adrien was surprised at the remorse in his father's voi-

"Weredad did that! I tried to stop him!"

Disgust filled Adrien as even now Gabriel denied any responsibility for what he'd done. "You have the Power of Transmission! That means you empower people with your own emotions! All the rage, all the selfishness, all the apathy, that every one of your akumatized victims have inflicted on this city, all of that comes from you!"

"So, you'll turn your back on your family and go running back to Ladybug!?" Gabriel sneered. "You think she'll take you back!? She'll abandon you! Just like she did before!"

Marinette's not the one who abandoned me.

"And what have you been doing for the past four years?"

"DON'T TALK BACK TO ME YOU REBELLIOUS LITTLE INGRATE! I AM YOUR FATHER! I DON'T HAVE TO EXPLAIN MYSELF! IT'S YOUR JOB TO OBEY ME!"

Adrien's eyes burned, his heart ached, throat constricting. It did not come naturally to Adrien to confront his sire. His very being rebelled against it. All his life he'd tried his best to make Gabriel proud. To be the perfect son.

But Adrien's relationship with Gabriel had been antagonistic for a long time. Whether they understood that or not. He felt the familiar rhythm of the game.

Villain and hero.

Monster and knight.

Father and son.

Adrien pushed it up. Forced it out. Something he hadn't said to Gabriel in years.

"No."

". . . It appears I've been neglecting your discipline," Gabriel said through gritted teeth. "I'll correct that oversight as soon as Ladybug and Panthera's Miraculous are mine."

Gabriel turned his back to Adrien, dismissing him. Adrien shifted his grip on the weapon he'd concealed. Nooroo's eyes widened in surprise. Adrien aimed.

"Nooroo, transf-"

Gabriel jerked and spasmed as electricity coursed through him. Nooroo reentered his Miraculous in a flash. The taser clattered to the floor as Adrien's arms went limp.

He stared at Gabriel's immobile, drooling, blurry body. Not quite understanding. There laid Le Papillon, the terror of Paris, invader of minds, Ladybug's archenemy, France's first supervillain in decades . . . And he was beaten by a taser.

How mundane.

Explosions from outside snapped Adrien out of his trance. Wiping away his tears he turned Gabriel over and there it was. The source of so much sorrow. The Butterfly Miraculous. Adrien removed the brooch and held it in his hand.

Besides Ladybug this Miraculous was the only known way of stopping the akumatized victim.

I wonder what her powers are that she's giving so many holders this much trouble.

All he had to do was put it on and dispel the akuma . . .

The Power of Transmission gains its strength from the emotions of its wielder.

Adrien's emotions we're not stable.

I . . . I don't want this.

But this wasn't about him. Adrien put on the Miraculous. Nooroo materialized, with his mouth this time.

"Thank you, Master," The kwami said earnestly.

Adrien shook his head vigorously. "Adrien . . . please."

Nooroo smiled. "Thank you, Adrien."

He's so warm. How could anyone do this to him!?

Shoving the thoughts away before they overwhelmed him, Adrien focused. "How do I stop the akuma?"

"My Miraculous is more intuitive than most. Just transform and concentrate on what you want to do."

"R-right . . . Thank you . . ."

Adrien could feel it. Even without transforming, the emotions of so many people whispered in the back of his mind. The civilians' fear and hope, the heroes' determination even in the face of fallen comrades, the akumatized victim's single-minded devotion to her ideal. All of Paris in all it's imperfect glory . . . And he understood Gabriel even less.

Adrien took a deep breath.

"Nooroo, transformez-moi!"

Ch.1 Ch.2 Ch.3 Ch.4 Ch.5 Ch.6 Ch.7 Ch.8 Ch.9 Ch.10 Ch.11 Ch.12 Ch.13 Ch.14 Ch.15 Ch.16 Ch.17 Ch.18 Ch.20 Ch.21 Ch.22

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sassenach082 · 1 year

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ch 18 snippet (spoilers below you've been warned)

“So you went down a deck then,” Tom concluded. “Which means you used the phone. You were gone forty-one minutes, long enough for your phone call and the head excuse.”

Rubbing his nose, Slider sighed and leaned his head back against the couch. “Can you just be normal,” he addressed the ceiling, sounding exhausted, “For one minute, Ice? Just one. That’s all I ask.”

Tom silently counted to sixty in his head. “There,” he deadpanned. “I was normal for a whole minute. Now spit it the fuck out. Who did you call?”

“Wood and Wolf,” Slider grunted. “Can’t call my dad till next Wednesday, his last letter said he’d be in town then waiting by the payphone.”

Tom was many things but an idiot wasn’t one of them. He sure as hell hadn’t been talking to Wood and Wolf, or not just to Wood and Wolf. “You better not have yelled at him again, Ron,” he said seriously and in a low voice so only Ron could hear, putting his pen down hard enough it smacked against his clipboard. He didn’t give a shit. “He’s stressed enough and I need him operating at full capacity so he can pay attention to you-know-who.”

Slider grimaced. “I haven’t talked to Pete since I called him the day you got to the ship,” he swore, “At least… not directly.”

“What the hell does that mean?” Tom demanded, angry all of a sudden, because he didn’t need his stupid fucking friends fighting his battles for him. He and Pete would work it out and it would be fine. They just had some kinks to iron out, that was all. He didn’t need them all up in his goddamn business asking questions and sticking their noses in it. “Is something wrong with Bradley? With him?”

“He’s fine,” Slider said with a note of finality.

Tom didn’t miss how he didn’t specify which of them was fine, which meant one of them was not fine. Nor did he miss how Ron did his level best to avoid the shit out of him for the next two days, which was no mean feat, considering they shared their quarters and were stuck in a jet together for hours a day.

#i'll ride au #sassy writes #it's coming along guys here's a preview #ch 18: your pain is imperfect

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