The Miraculous Spiderman Series

May led Adrien into the apartment, and Adrien could feel her taking in his wrecked appearance. He felt more drained than he’d ever felt in a living memory, like the weight of the world had been plopped on his shoulders with no warning and he was now struggling to lift it.

“I’ll make you some tea.” She hurried into the kitchen, leaving him on the couch. Adrien was glad how she didn’t start asking him questions right off the bat or fussing over him, instead allowing him to sit for a moment and get his bearings. It was late, and the view out the apartment window was dark and had been for quite some time now. Really, all things considered, it was a miracle he hadn’t been mugged on his way there.

“Do you have any other bags?” May returned a few minutes later with the tea she handed him, nodding towards his backpack. Adrien shook his head as she sat down beside him, wrapping an arm across his shoulders. He leaned into her.

“I didn’t know where else to go,” he whispered. The confession felt stupid. There were definitely other places he could’ve gone, but he’d just wanted to run. Somehow, inadvertently, he’d let Ladybug down. Adrien couldn’t control who his father was, or what his father did, but he’d been tainted by association. Now he could see why Master Fu hadn’t trusted him. The son of their greatest enemy.

Peter had run too, when he’d found out, though his desire to protect Adrien had prevented him from going far. He’d always wanted to tell Adrien the truth, Adrien could see now. But he’d kept it to himself until the last possible moment and until he had no choice but to tell Adrien and break his heart. Adrien could forgive him for keeping it from him. He’d understood why he’d done it. Adrien would’ve done the same, had he been in Peter’s shoes.

“My father,” Adrien began, ever so slowly. “Is the Papillon who’s been terrorizing Paris. And I don’t know what to do.”

May watched him, brow drawn and eyes worried. “I’m sorry.” It was all she could’ve said. How did one react to that sort of admission? It definitely wasn’t something someone could offer their help with, nor something they could give advice for. Gabriel Agreste being the Papillon was a statement of fact, and with that, May’s condolences were all she could offer.

“And it turns out my mother isn’t dead, he’s just keeping her hidden away because he thinks he can heal her, but Peter says he can’t and it’s all just too much for me. She’s going to die again. We already buried her empty casket. They never said she was dead, it was just she’d been sick for one day and then she went missing. To me, missing was always synonymous with dead. But now, to find out my dad’s been keeping her alive in the hopes that, by attacking citizens, he can bring her back? I always knew my dad wasn’t the best, but I didn’t think he was evil.”

“Is he evil?” May asked. “Or is he just severely misguided and morally corrupt? To say that he’s evil suggests that he is beyond redemption. One can commit evil acts without evil intent.”

“I don’t know. I don’t even know if he’s forgivable.”

“Then it’s a good thing forgiveness pays no mind to whether one is forgivable or not.” She gave him a small smile. “I know Peter intends to do what he can to save him, and I cannot picture him doing anything else. He’ll do his best to bring your father back to the light, Adrien.”

“But what if he can’t?” Adrien felt hollow to admit it, to even fathom that his own father was beyond help, despite the fact it was a very real possibility. “What if this is all he’ll ever be? I don’t know him anymore. And to think he told me that Tony Stark was not a man fit of idolization.” His hand clenched instinctively and Adrien had to focus on relaxing it. “He’s tried to kill me. Multiple times. It was all his fault all along. He’s already beyond saving in my eyes.”

“I want to say I’m sorry, but I don’t think sorry is enough.” May captured his gaze, eyes swimming with tears. “You never deserved this, Adrien. But unfortunately life doesn’t seem to care about whether one deserves things or not when it deals you your hand. All I can say is to be strong.”

“Quite honestly, I’m not sure how much strength I have left.”

“You have enough to get through this.”

“How can you be so sure?” Adrien raised his teacup to his lips with trembling hands, taking a delicate sip.

“You remind me of someone I once knew.” She said earnestly. “You’re exceptional, Adrien. Don’t forget it.”

They sat in silence for a few moments, before May braved conversation again. “Are you going to tell him, when you face him?”

“What?” Adrien sat up straight to look at her properly.

“I can recognize the signs of people living a double life now easily, I know you’re Chat Noir, given that Peter is such good friends with you. And I assume you’ll have to return to Paris at some point.”

“You Parkers are just really good at figuring things out,” Adrien shook his head and ran a hand through his hair. “But I don’t know if I can face him. It’s unfair of me to expect Ladybug and Spiderman to fight him themselves but that’s my dad. And as much as I hate him right now….”

“I understand. No one ever wants to fight the ones they loved and admired.”

He bowed his head, ruminating silently. What were his next steps? He’d come all the way to New York, far out of reach of Ladybug and Spiderman, but Peter would find him eventually. He was not so deluded as to think he could hide forever.

“I can’t do it,” he decided, reaching for his ring. “I can’t fight my dad. I can’t be Chat Noir.” He slipped it off his finger. “It’s over.” He didn’t give May a chance to respond.

Turning towards the open window, Adrien threw the ring. There was too much riding on his shoulders, too much expectation for him to live up to. He simply couldn’t do it. He couldn’t be trusted either, to do the right thing and keep a handle on his emotions when he faced his father and mother. The world expected far too much of him; a child.

A column of fire erupted in front of the window just as Adrien’s ring was about to sail out and it disappeared into the heart of the flame. May leapt to her feet, looking wildly around in search of a fire extinguisher or something, but she needn’t have bothered.

“You dropped something.” Helios, toting Ladybug, stepped into the room, trailing ash on the carpet and held up his hand that had caught Adrien’s ring.

“You came,” Adrien whispered as Peter dropped his disguise, his eyes catching Ladybug’s.

“I’d follow you anywhere, you stupid cat,” Ladybug said, running towards Adrien and grabbing him in a tight hug. “And don’t you dare quit being Chat Noir on me just because your dad sucks.” She shoved his ring back onto his finger, holding it up so he could see it. “This belongs to you and you only. Stop trying to get rid of it.”

“My Lady, you know anyone can wear the suit.”

“Only you can wear it well.” She looked up at him, lips tilting upwards into that small smile that Adrien loved.  

“What took you so long if you can just teleport?” May demanded of Peter, who held up his hands in mock surrender.

“Ladybug and I had some affairs to get in order. Mainly teaching her basic survival techniques. You know, what to do if you get stabbed, dismembered, all the necessities.”

“Anything one might need to know walking into battle,” Ladybug said, rolling her eyes. “No one’s getting stabbed today, though.”

“Tomorrow, when we actually return to Paris, that’s a different story altogether,” Peter said with a glint in his eye. “However, now is time.”

He directed this last comment at Ladybug, looking at her with a sort of unwavering confidence, like he was so sure of what he was doing. It was a look Adrien knew he would never master no matter how hard he tried. Ladybug’s eyes widened before her expression hardened into determination and she gave him a crisp nod.

“Chat, Adrien, minou,” Ladybug said, stepping back from him. “Peter’s right. It’s time for me to reveal myself on my own terms, before anything happens to either of us.”

Adrien gave her what he hoped was an encouraging smile, taking both her hands in his, attempting to ignore the erratic speeding up of his heart. “I’ve been waiting my whole life for this day, My Lady. If you’re ready, I am.”

“I’m sorry in advance,” she said. “I know today has been a day of big reveals for you and I don’t want to add to it, but I’ve already waited far too long for…selfish reasons. But I can’t hide any longer. I don’t want to.”

“Those reveals were bad ones. Finding out who you are could never be a bad experience,” Adrien said, and he meant it. No matter who his Lady turned out to be, he loved her. He loved her in a way that transcended who she was on the outside and instead focused on the soul.

“One more kiss,” she said, pulling him close and pressing the softest of kisses to his lips before stepping back away, still holding his hands. “For good luck.”

“Anything for you.”

And with that, Ladybug closed her eyes and whispered those words Adrien had always longed to see her utter.

“Detransform me.”

Detransform me.

A swirl of pink sparkles encircled her, and Adrien watched as the hands he held were no longer covered in red material, instead revealing a pair of soft, warm ones, ones he’d dreamed about. And as he slowly looked up, he realized just how stupid he’d been. Stupid in the best way possible.

Those blue eyes, the ones that had forever woven their way in and out of his dreams, those two ponytails, the ones he’d always thought of as his Lady’s signature hairstyle. Those sparse freckles dotted across the bridge of her nose he’d always wanted to count. They all belonged to Marinette.

Because it was Marinette who was looking at him, holding her breath as she waited for him to finish staring. It was Marinette who he’d fallen in love with and stayed in love with for all that time. It was Marinette who he could never love any less because Ladybug and Marinette were one and he loved her.

“Adrien?” She said softly, doing her best to bring him back to the present. Adrien couldn’t think of anything he could say, that could adequately describe just how much he loved her, so he settled for kissing her instead.

“I love you,” he said when they finally broke apart. “And I told you so.”

Marinette laughed, a giddy yet relieved sound as Adrien realized just how much she’d been worried about this moment. “Told me what?”

“I told you I’d love you no matter who you turned out to be.”

“A confession, chaton,” she thumbed his jawline thoughtfully. “All that time, when I was saying there was another guy…that guy was you.”

Adrien’s jaw dropped. “What?”

“I’ve been in love with Adrien Agreste ever since he gave me his umbrella,” Marinette said. “And you’ve been in love with Ladybug longer. Ironic, isn’t it?”

He groaned. “All those years wasted just because my civilian self was too gorgeous for his own good? Curse my good genes.” Adrien wasn’t mad, per say, just annoyed at himself for being so blind. So stupid.

“Don’t get cocky, now.” Marinette rolled her eyes at him, an expression Adrien wasn’t used to her giving him in her civilian clothes.

“You’re telling me that when we broke up, I literally went to your house and lamented to you about how I broke up with you?” Adrien suddenly remembered, face flushing with embarrassment the more he thought about it.

“I know you didn’t mean it to be a guilt trip, but it totally was.”

“It helped bring you around in the end, that’s all that matters,” Adrien grinned.

“Not to break up this cozy little reveal,” Peter interrupted. Adrien had completely forgot him and May were standing there. “But we should really go to sleep, given that tomorrow we have to go fight a motherfucker.”

“Peter Benjamin Parker!” May said sharply.

“Are you trying to tell me that Gabriel Agreste didn’t have sexy time with Adrien’s mom? Because the proof is right here,” Peter cackled gleefully, bounding forwards to pinch Adrien’s cheeks. “But our beds await.”

“Wait a minute!” Adrien said. “You knew right from the beginning that I was Chat Noir and Marinette was Ladybug and now you’re just going to blow right past it?”

“Oh Adrien.” Peter placed a hand on his shoulder. “I would never blow right past it. Trust me, I am going to be laughing at how stupid you two are for the rest of my life. You cannot make up this kind of comedy.” He shot a wink at Marinette before parading off to his bedroom, humming a tune that sounded suspiciously like ‘Zip-a-Dee-Do-Da’, leaving Adrien to stare after him, mouth hanging open in dumbfounded shock.

Adrien had packed extra clothes, given that he didn’t know how long he’d be staying in New York, so Marinette dressed in the pyjamas Peter had bought Adrien for his birthday once upon a time. She looked so cute, Adrien made sure to let her know four or five hundred times.

She called him annoying, rolling her eyes at his flirtatious statements, but her blush and unwavering smile deterred him from taking her seriously or doing something so dire as shutting up.

“You two disgusting lovebirds get to share a bunk,” Peter said when they both returned from brushing their teeth (May had an assortment of spare toothbrushes reserved for guests). “I’m not sleeping on the floor if I’ve got to be in tip-top shape tomorrow.”

“No complaints on my part,” Adrien said, climbing up to the top bunk and helping Marinette up.

They both settled down facing each other, and Adrien took the opportunity to study her facial features in the dark now that she was unmasked. It was an entirely new yet familiar scenario, and his gazing did not go unnoticed by the face’s owner.

“You’re staring,” Marinette whispered.

“I’m so glad it was you,” Adrien confessed.

“Because I’m pretty?”

“Because you’re smart, talented, passionate, determined, everything good a person can be.” He decided right then he very much liked making Marinette blush, especially since that blush wasn’t accompanied by her usual stammering, but rather with the assertive charm he’d always associated Ladybug. Ladybug’s mask often hid any redness in her cheeks, but Marinette’s face laid the truth bare. Best of both worlds.

“Shut up,” she muttered.

“Yeah, Adrien,” Peter’s voice floated up from down below. “Shut up! I’m trying to sleep with super-enhanced hearing, and you two are not making it easy by saying all those gushy things to one another. You know, Felix is actually a far better bunk mate than you two. And Felix tried to strangle me every morning as part of his routine since I was in between him and his coffee.”

“Sorry, Your Highness,” Adrien rolled his eyes, shooting Marinette a look. “We’ll be quiet now.”

“You better,” Peter grumbled. “Otherwise forget the Papillon, I’ll make your life hell.”

It was a true testament to Peter’s abilities that Adrien didn’t utter a single word for the rest of the night.

Peter padded into the kitchen in the early hours of the morning, immediately moving to make himself a cup of coffee. Suluu followed him, correctly assuming he’d make her cinnamon hot chocolate while he was at it.

“You’re up early,” May remarked, entering the kitchen. “Both of you are.”

“It’s practically noon in France right now,” Peter said, resting against the counter. “I’m surprised Marinette and Adrien are still asleep.”

He actually wasn’t surprised. The two of them were tired out from the previous day’s events, plus they were cuddled up together in a way that made his tooth ache from the sweetness of it all.

“Try and be safe, both of you,” May said to Peter and Suluu. “Suluu, I know you’re a god, but I can’t help but feel that you’re part of the family too.”

“I am,” Suluu winked before turning into her human form, this time her hair was perfectly curled, just to prove that she wasn’t affected by bed head like the rest of them. Stupid little bird sun god.

May just stared and Peter remembered she’d never seen Suluu as a human before and was obviously going through the same brain melting that all of them had once endured.

“So I may have bent a few laws and had Suluu registered as a French citizen for Christmas,” Peter said. “And once the Papillon is defeated, I promised her she could be human full time, just like she dreams, and if she so wants to, I guess that means she can be a part of the family too.”

Suluu gave a hesitant smile to May, her full lips parting just slightly to reveal a few of her pearly white teeth. May was still staring, her eyes slowly filling with tears that Peter didn’t know the reasoning behind.

Ever so slowly, like she was afraid of her, May crept closer to Suluu, carefully reaching out to place a hand on her shoulder. This was where Peter expected Suluu to make a sassy comment about human sentiment, but surprisingly Suluu seemed entirely uncertain of what to do. She just stared at May with the same kind of wonder as May wrapped her up in a hug.

“Welcome to the family,” he heard May whisper and then the dam seemed to break on both of them, and they were both crying.

“What’s going on?” Marinette stepped into the kitchen, Adrien close in tow. They were holding hands, Peter noted.

“Just a bit of an emotional moment between the two.” He whispered.

“Who is that?” Marinette peered at Suluu.

Suluu wiped her eyes, releasing May and turning her attention to Marinette. “Suluu Khepri. Pleasure to meet you.”

Peter, with no small amount of pride, watched Marinette’s cheeks colour as she looked up at Suluu. Suluu was the universally attractive sort, unchecked by fickle things such as sexuality.

“Suluu is Peter’s kwami,” Adrien explained in a low voice. “She’s taken a liking to being human.”

“Suluu?” Marinette said incredulously. “You can do that?”

“Naturally,” she tossed her hair over her shoulder. “Do you blame me? I mean, look how hot I am. Now eat up, we’ve got a butterfly man to wipe the fucking pavement with.”

Breakfast was a slightly rushed affair, and Peter made a quick detour to the corner store to get a bag of cinnamon candy.

“Here’s the plan,” he said. “We’ve got the element of surprise on our side. No doubt Nathalie and Gabriel are going crazy now that they’ve realized Adrien is missing, so we can easily catch them off guard. Also their little kidnapping heist thing is off.”

“About that,” Suluu said, sprinkling straight turmeric on her toast to Peter’s sheer disgust. “Have any of you checked the news yet today?”

“No?” Peter gave her a look, raising an eyebrow slowly. Suluu mirrored him, then tilted her head slightly. He wasn’t going to like it. “Karen, mask.”

The second his Spiderman mask covered his face, Peter pulled up the latest news feeds. The top headlines blared up at him, and he selected a video featuring a local reporter, Nadja.

“All of Paris is holding their breath after the Papillon released a video twenty minutes ago of his hostages, supermodel Adrien Agreste and American exchange student Peter Parker. So far there has been no statement from Gabriel Agreste on the matter, nor any sign of Paris’s usual superheroes who have-”

Peter sent it away and instead found a clip of the Papillon’s video.

“Ladybug, Chat Noir, Spiderman,” the Papillon said, his masked face filling all of Peter’s vision, “I gave you a chance to give me your miraculous, and you all refused. So now it’s time to face the consequences. I’ve captured Adrien Agreste and Peter Parker and if you refuse again….” He grinned slowly, showing a carefully doctored clip of an apparently beat-up Adrien and Peter tied by their hands to his bridge. It was some impressive editing, but Peter knew he could do better. Or rather, he knew someone who could.

He sent his mask away, not caring to finish the threatening video. “Good news,” he said to a bewildered looking breakfast party. “The Papillon didn’t manage to capture Adrien and me, obviously, but he’s claiming to have. He’s got some nicely edited video as proof. Also good news, we can make a video of our own before we head back to Paris.”

“How are we gonna do that?” Adrien asked, downing a glass of orange juice. “We don’t really have the luxury of time.”

“I’ve got a plan,” Peter said with a slow smile. “I’ve always got a plan.”

A few minutes later, the gang was knocking on Ned’s front door.

“I got your text,” Ned said, throwing the door open. “I set up the green screen and we’re ready to go.”

“Thanks man.” Peter did his usual handshake with Ned, not bothering to go through the effort of introductions. “This might get a little weird, but don’t worry about it.”

“Weird is fine. Hey Adrien!” Ned and Adrien had met before when Adrien had visited New York for the first time. Adrien waved, giving him a camera-ready smile.

“Suluu,” Peter said, pulling her back as the others went to get set up. “Would you be able to mirror me as Helios?”

“I mean, you’re not nearly as attractive as me, but yeah.” She waved a hand up her body and her image rippled, like a mirage before his eyes, changing into a perfect copy of Helios.

“So what are we doing here, Peter?” Marinette asked. “Are we filming a response to the Papillon’s video?”

“Something like that,” Peter said. “We’re going to show him Ladybug, Chat Noir, Spiderman, Helios, Adrien Agreste, and Peter Parker all in one video. Fight fire with fire.”

“Fight fire with fire and everyone gets burned,” Marinette sighed.

“Good thing I’m fireproof,” Peter said, giving her a dazzling smile.

It only took Ned fifteen minutes to edit their video appropriately before Peter was projecting it onto Parisian television, disrupting whatever broadcasts they had going on.

“Peter Parker and Adrien Agreste are perfectly safe with us. Your video to instil fear in the hearts of Parisians will not work, and we will not be swayed. But your tyranny has come to an end, Papillon.” Ladybug’s voice floated off Ned’s computer screen as they crowded around to watch it.

“Today is the last time you’ll ever inflict pain upon our world,” Chat Noir on the screen said, eyes burning. “Because we’re coming for you.”

“And this time we’re not giving up until you give us your miraculous,” Helios-Suluu said, swinging her rope.

“Welcome to judgement day, Papillon,” Adrien, who had been edited into the front row of the shot, held up a finger towards the camera. “See you soon.”

The video ended and Ned spun around in his chair. “That was badass.”

“I know, right?” Peter said, giving him a high-five. “I’ll let you know how it goes later. For now, we got a supervillain to take down.”

“Make sure you give him a good punch for me,” Ned said. “Best of luck, guys.”

“We’ll need all the luck we can get,” Adrien said, adjusting a stray lock of hair. “Also, not to be a killjoy, but how are we getting back to Paris?”

“Same way Marinette and I got here.” Peter flicked an arm in Suluu’s direction and she got the message, changing back into kwami form before transforming him into Helios. “You two suit up, I’m going to teleport us a little ways from Agreste mansion, then we’ll break in after I change back into Spiderman.”

Adrien and Marinette complied, transforming into the respective heroes. Peter motioned for them to stay back while he concentrated, picturing the precise spot he wanted them to be as he let out the phoenix song to the best of his abilities.

He barely heard it from how hard he was concentrating, flinging an arm up into the air as a column of fire erupted from it. Teleporting wasn’t a fun experience, based on his one other experience with it, and it felt like walking through a wall of flames after squirting jalapeño juice up your nostrils, but he sucked it up nonetheless, motioning for Ladybug and Chat Noir to grip onto him. Together they stepped through the portal.

They appeared just where he’d expected and he immediately collapsed, coughing as his transformation left him and his Spidey suit stretched over him.

“Are you okay?” Ladybug asked, worry creasing her mask.

“Not a fan,” Peter croaked, feeding Suluu a cinnamon candy before attaching the bag to his web fluid belt. “But who cares. We’ve got a bad guy to stop.”

He looked Chat in the eyes one last time, searching for any sign of hesitation. There was none. His features had hardened into solid resolve.

“Remember the plan and stick to it. No lucky charms, no cataclysms until I give the order,” Peter whispered as they snuck onto the property.

“Who made you boss?” Chat hissed, tail flicking.

“I’m least likely to get distracted by emotions,” Peter responded, creeping like a spider. “It’s just in my nature. Also try not to freeze when you see your mom.”

“I’ve got a plan for that,” Chat wouldn’t look at him or Ladybug as they reached the edge of the house. “You said she’s plugged in?”

“It’s being powered by something, yeah,” Peter frowned at him, doing his best to guess what Chat was thinking. But his face was just as much as a mask as the one that concealed his identity.

The trio carefully scaled the walls, slipping into Peter’s room. Peter immediately scowled.

“What the hell did they do to my computers?” The computers at the desk looked like they’d been beaten, various keys were missing from the keyboard, the mouse crushed in obvious frustration. All three screens blinked the same message.

Access denied. Hacking detected. Full system shutdown.

“Felix you genius,” Peter said, turning the mouse over in his hands, grateful for the first time ever that Mr. Stark had appointed that angsty Brit to be his coworker.

“Felix?” Ladybug said. “What did he have to do with this?”

“Felix is my manager. He most likely got the message that someone was trying to hack in, looked at the computer cameras, and determined it wasn’t me and locked down the system. He can be smart sometimes. I never even trained him to do that.”

“Moving on,” Chat prompted.

“One second,” Peter said, swallowing suddenly. “There’s something I still have to do.”

He pulled a folded paper out from where it had been tucked between a web fluid cartridge and his body, carefully placing it on the desk.

“What’s that?” Ladybug reached for it, but he slid it out of her reach.

“My last will and testament,” he said shortly. “Just in case.”

He felt their questioning gazes on him as he turned away, determined not to let them see his fear. Today was the all or nothing phase, and he would die if he must. Anything to let Adrien and Marinette live, anything to stop the Papillon. Today was not the day to hold back. Plus, something that would kill Mari or Adri was less likely to kill Peter outright. Still, he liked to err on the side of caution.

“Peter, I’m not going to let you die,” Chat said, grabbing his wrist. “I promise.”

“I won’t die,” Peter said. “I just like to be prepared, okay? Besides, I don’t fear it.” He cast one last look at the paper. “At least, not like I used to. At the end of the day, I’m just going to keep you two alive, no matter what. Also, I made a promise to Suluu. One I intend to keep, regardless of whether I survive.”

He couldn’t say what was really on his mind. The two of them together, reminded him of a sort of love he’d seen once upon a time. They reminded him of his parents.

All the more reason to keep them alive.

“Let’s go. I think the Papillon has had enough time to prepare, don’t you?”

Marinette’s heart was beating erratically in her chest as they slipped through the abandoned halls of the Agreste mansion, Peter leading them to M. Agreste’s study. The whole house was dark and empty. Evening was upon them, the brilliant sunset promising a clear night.

Spiderman propelled himself off the ground, sticking to the wall above the door to the study, pressing a careful finger to his general mouth area. Marinette leapt to one side of the door; Chat to the other, both carefully readying their respective yoyo and baton in preparation for a fight. But the study, when Spiderman pushed open the door, was empty.

“He’ll be below the building,” Spidey said, dropping to the ground nimbly and walking over to a large portrait of Adrien’s mother. “You all have to stand on this circle here, it’s an elevator.”

“What are we going to do when we get down there?” Marinette asked. “Should we engage right away or try to talk to him or…?”

“Chat, it’s your call.”

“If Nathalie is down there, I think it would be…wise to try and take her down first,” Chat said, like he was reciting from a book, one he hadn’t enjoyed. “Maybe then my father will see reason.”

“We’re going to try to avoid letting him know who you are, right?” Spiderman asked. “At least to begin with.”

“Of course,” Chat said, like it was obvious. “We’re wasting time, let’s go.” Spidey pressed something on the portrait, and before Marinette knew it they were sinking downwards into the ground, down further and further than she’d ever been before. Not even the water canals and sewer systems were this far down. It was a few moments before they were in a glass tube and she could get a good look out at the room they were entering.

It was dimly lit, with a long, narrow catwalk stretching from the elevator landing to a platform at the other end, of the room, where she could see two figures standing. The ceiling was high and arched, with not much to attach her yoyo too. There would be no swinging like she usually did down here. It was the complete opposite of the rest of the city, like a dirty secret that Paris had done its best to hide.

The elevator doors slid open, but Spiderman thrust out an arm before she could step out. He shot a web at a spot in the ground and a net descended from the roof, folding up on the spot where the web had hit before retracting back upwards slightly. If Marinette had been the one stepping there, she would’ve been caught in the net with no way out.

“How’d you see that?” She asked, turning to look at him.

“Not so much as saw as…felt,” he said. “I can sense danger, the difference between reality and illusion, all that.” Spidey gave her a curt nod before leading the group off the elevator. So that was how he’d known her identity. Illusions, magical or not, were all lost on him. The thought was somehow comforting.

“You come at last,” the Papillon’s voice carried through the room as the trio made their way to the catwalk, slinking along.

“I hope you weren’t expecting a friendly reunion,” Spiderman said, nimbly leaping over a certain section on the bridge. Chat and Marinette followed in suit.

She also took a second to glance over the edge and really wished she hadn’t. Water emptied from the sides of the wall down into a pit so deep she couldn’t see the bottom, only hear the sound of the water as it met a pool deep down. It was enough to make her dizzy.

But Marinette didn’t have time to dwell on it as they reached the Papillon and Nathalie and, set up behind them, Adrien’s mother. She sucked in a breath, eyes landing on Émilie Agreste’s folded hands, warm skin, and crisp pantsuit. If she hadn’t known better, she’d have assumed she was just asleep.

She turned to see Chat’s reaction and instantly regretted it. His eyes were filled with longing as he looked at his mother’s face, an insurmountable amount of pain displayed on his own. Marinette wanted nothing more than to take away that pain, or at least share the burden, but there was nothing she could do. Nothing except make sure the Papillon didn’t clue in that Chat was his son.

“You knew we didn’t have Adrien and Peter. So why come at all?” The Papillon challenged, apparently having decided that Spiderman was the ringleader as he directed his comment at him.

“I’m so sick and tired of you. I couldn’t just sit around and wait for you to actually get your hands on someone, now could I? We’re here to put an end to this. Now.” Spiderman spoke with a conviction that filled Marinette up an emboldened sense of hope. Things ended here. Today.

“Very well.” The Papillon twirled what appeared to be a crudely made staff in his hands. Marinette didn’t know what had happened to his old one, but Spidey didn’t seem surprised. Perhaps he’d had something to do with it.

The Papillon swung at Spidey and he dodged it, retaliating with an attack of his own. And so the fight began, the time for pleasantries over. Marinette followed Chat’s advice and went for Nathalie, wrapping her up in her yoyo before the assistant could so much as move. Giving Chat the time he needed with his mom to do whatever it was he needed to do.

She watched him approach the glass container, pressing a hand up against it and leaning forwards so that his forehead touched it. It seemed like a private moment, something she shouldn’t have been witnessing, but she couldn’t look away. Adrien was the eye of the hurricane of the fight between the Papillon and Spiderman, her straining to contain Nathalie, and while everything was quiet for him in that moment she had a feeling it wouldn’t be for long.

“You can rest now,” she heard him whisper, and then he was reaching for a plug she hadn’t noticed at the bottom of the coffin. Perhaps all the water was creating hydro electricity to power to room, she didn’t know. All she knew now was that Adrien was about to willingly kill his mother. There would be no bringing her back once he did it. No amount of miraculous would repair it, no godlike power would ever bring her back.

Nathalie let out a yell as Chat’s hand closed around the plug and the Papillon spun on the spot, roaring and smacking Chat across the chest with his metal cane. “Get away from her!”

He moved to charge at Chat, but Spidey had other ideas, firing a web at the Papillon’s back that prevented him from going anywhere.

“You have to let her go,” Chat yelled, hand finding the plug once again. “You can’t bring her back!”

“What do you know of the miraculous, boy? What do you know about what you can and can’t do?”

“I know this isn’t what she would have wanted,” Chat said resolutely. “You need to let her move on.” And with that he pulled the plug.

The Papillon screamed, breaking free of Spidey’s bonds and charging at the other hero, his senseless words threatening murder. Chat didn’t seem to remember how to move as he stood, watching the life drain out of his mother’s face.

“You have no idea what you’ve done,” Nathalie said from her spot on the ground. “You kids have no idea what you’re doing.” Marinette almost had to agree with her.

Marinette barely saw what happened as Spiderman fired a web at Nathalie so fast, sending her reeling backwards against the yoyo. Spidey had smacked a gag over her mouth. And then he was in between the Papillon and Chat, stretching webbing between his hands.

“You want to get to Chat? You have to get through me.” And then he was dropping to the floor, using his momentum and body weight to drive the Papillon’s legs out from underneath him, wrapping a web around his ankles and shooting it up to the ceiling, leaving the Papillon to dangle there like a dead bird on a spit.

“Last chance,” Spidey said, standing in front of their enemy. “We’re giving you a chance to reconsider your stance on this whole thing. It’s not too late to apologize for everything you’ve done; to make amends.”

Chat still couldn’t seem to draw his eyes away from his now-dead mother. Marinette longed to run over there and throw her arms around him and make all his pain go away. But she couldn’t. She had to keep Nathalie at bay.

“You’re all murderers,” the Papillon spat. “But I will bring her back once I have your miraculous. This is your last chance before I stop at nothing to get them.”

“Don’t call us that!” That seemed to be the only thing to snap Chat out of his stupor, and he stormed towards his dad. “You have no idea what it’s been like fighting you all these years.” His eyes flashed. “She’s gone and I’m sorry you’re too devoted to whatever you call this-” he gestured wildly “-to see it.”

Suddenly his eyes slipped away from his dad’s face and towards Marinette, his eyebrows raising and mouth slowly opening as he moved to yell something to her. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as Marinette turned slightly to look down at Nathalie, just in time to see Nathalie slip a silver dagger right into Marinette’s side.

Her suit should’ve stopped it, but the knife glittered with a material Marinette had never seen before. She saw Spiderman release taser webs out of the corner of her vision and Nathalie’s hand release the dagger as she fell backwards, body writhing.

Instantly, the edges of Marinette’s eyesight fogged as she felt herself begin to fall backwards, Peter’s steady voice entering her head. Right, they’d been over that sort of thing, hadn’t they? In case of stabbing and dismemberment?

“I think it’s best we go over some simple first-aid just in case something goes down that we can’t control,” Peter had said before they went after Adrien. Marinette had been in too much emotional shock to contribute much, but she’d nodded, doing her best to file away that information in case she needed it again. And low and behold, she was able to recall it now.

“Being stabbed is literally so much worse than you think it is. Trust me, I speak from experience. But if you’re not stabbed in the heart or neck, it’s survivable. Now tell me, Marinette. If you’re stabbed, what’s your number one cause of concern?”

“Bleeding out, isn’t it?”

“Good. When blood loss reaches about thirty to forty percent of blood volume, you lose consciousness and then you won’t be able to stop bleeding out until you die.”

She shut her eyes and all of a sudden Peter was there in front of her, in her mind. They were standing on the top level of the Eiffel Tower, a slight breeze ruffling his hair. He inspected her, brow drawn. Such a short reprise from reality, as she could tell the scene was a byproduct of her own panicking mind, but a welcome one nonetheless.

“So, Marinette, are you going to bleed out right now?”  

She looked down at her side, almost surprised to see a knife sticking out of it. A slight trickle of blood ran down her side as she breathed, not a lot, but enough to cause a metallic smell to fill her nostrils.

“The knife is still there.”

“Good. Keep it there. Pulling it out could slice more blood vessels. If you’re ever stabbed and the object is removed, then put as much pressure on it as possible. But since this obviously isn’t the case here, what’s the next thing that’s going to kill you?”

She looked down at her hands, slowly lifting them in front of her. They were shaking and pale, like they were turning grey. Peter looked at them, then at her, inclining his head slightly.

“Shock,” she said.

“I’m glad to see you remembered my lesson. Shock will prevent your body from getting enough oxygen and blood. And right now, you need all the blood you can get. If you go into shock, you’ll pass out, and why do we want to keep you conscious?”

“If I pass out, there’s nothing to stop me from bleeding out.”

“If you pass out now, you can cause the knife to shift inside you and cause more damage. You need to stay conscious, and to do that you need to calm down. If you lose too much blood, your body will go into shock regardless. For now, you need to focus on keeping your breathing regular. Do everything you can to delay that survival instinct. I need you conscious. Adrien needs you conscious. If you die right now, that’ll screw everything up. Plus, the fact that you’re hallucinating me right now is actually kind of concerning.”

“Shut up.” She rolled her eyes at him. “It’s stopping me from dying.”

“Yeah, well, real life Peter is undoubtedly having a panic attack. Not to mention Adrien. You gotta snap out of this and control your own life. And don’t die, although I think that goes without saying. I’ll be real disappointed if you kick the bucket on me with no warning.”

“I don’t think I really have too much of a choice.”

“Marinette, you always have a choice, regardless if you can tell what the options are.” Good to know even the Peter in her subconscious was as enigmatic as ever.

“How long has passed?”

“Two seconds. By the way, this is going to hurt. Like a lot if you can successfully not go into debilitating shock. Being stabbed is so much worse than getting shot and you’re going to feel everything.”

Her eyes snapped open and she drew in a shuddering breath, grabbing the rail before she could sink to the ground, her knees buckling beneath her. Pain was all she could feel; all that there was at this point. Marinette couldn’t even remember what it had been like two minutes ago when she hadn’t been stabbed and had been oblivious to the kind of pain a tiny blade could inflict. It had only been a few seconds and yet the pain felt like it was permanent. Had always been and always would be.

The hot blood against her skin, the feeling of the cold blade against her organs, she wasn’t even sure how she’d managed to be stabbed. But then again, Gabriel Agreste had been studying the spell book of the miraculous. Maybe he’d managed to translate it and create a blade that could cut through even their suits. After all, Helios’s rope had managed to burn through Mayura’s suit. Maybe it was the same principle.

She had so much to think about, and yet she couldn’t think of any of it as the pain overwhelmed her.

Marinette had been stabbed, and Peter had been powerless to stop it. He’d expected her to be paying attention, to block the strike, and he’d never expected the blade to actually meet its target. It had been half instinct on his part as he fired taser webs at Nathalie without remorse and watched her go down. She wasn’t actually unconscious, he knew that – despite what Hollywood had done so hard to make people believe – just in excruciating pain.

The Papillon was yelling again, calling him a murderer yet again, but Peter tuned him out as his gaze focused in on Marinette. She took a gasping breath, eyes meeting his in a silent plea.

He was halfway to her before he heard the telltale noises of someone landing on the ground.

Gabriel Agreste had gotten out of his bonds and was walking towards Chat, positively towering over him. “It’s what she deserves, you know,” he said.

And that seemed to be the last straw for Chat. His father was taking everything from him; his mother, his girlfriend, his chances at a normal life. Peter knew what was going to happen before it did, but he could do nothing but stare as emotions got the better of Chat.

“Cataclysm!” He yelled, running towards his father, hate beyond anything Peter had ever seen on his face burning in his eyes.

“Chat! No!” Marinette choked out and Chat’s gaze turned towards her for the briefest of moments, his step faltering. And that was all the invitation the Papillon needed.

Their enemy reached out, grabbing Chat’s hand that was bubbling with destructive magic, and pressed it against his forehead.

And Peter screamed, Adrien’s death hitting him like a slap to the face.

He wished the cataclysm had had a visible effect, something that would be visibly reversible, but nothing happened as Chat fell to the ground, his eyes fluttering shut. The Papillon knelt to reach for Chat’s ring, but before he could, Chat’s transformation fell around him, leaving Adrien Agreste lying there, unmoving against the ground.

“Adrien!” Everyone yelled in unison. Peter’s anklet was heating up underneath his suit, and burning against his skin. A reminder.

“You’ve taken everything from me.” Gabriel turned, giving Peter a horrified look and raising his staff. The expression on his enemy’s face promised he’d give Peter hell, but Peter couldn’t even bring himself to think about anything that wasn’t Adrien and bringing him back.

“I can heal him,” Peter practically sobbed, his ears ringing. “Let me heal him.”

“You can’t do anything. Give me the ladybug miraculous and I’ll heal him with the power of a god.”

“I can heal him with the power of a god too,” Peter said. He was counting down the seconds in his head. Adrien didn’t have long before there was nothing Peter could do. Only five short minutes before he was gone somewhere Peter couldn’t follow.

“How? You’re just a boy. The only one who can do that is Helios, and I don’t see him anywhere.” Despite the fact that his son was laying there, dead, Gabriel didn’t seem to be thinking about anything besides getting his miraculous, too blindsided to see that he’d already lost everything he’d been working to hold together.

“Suluu!” Peter yelled. “Transform me!”

The Papillon paused, eyes going wide as Peter welcomed the transformation that washed over him. The inferno started at his ankle, turning his suit to the same colour as molten lava, webbing designs as bright as a midday sun, his usual harness strapping itself across his chest and resting his lasso against his back. He felt his eyes ignite, burning with all the anger he possessed as heat rolled off him in waves. The suit usually burned as he donned it, but today, right now, he barely felt it.

“Impossible,” Nathalie croaked from her spot on the floor, having evidently spat out her gag.

“Surprise, bitch.” Peter had never felt so powerful as he stood there, looking in the Papillon’s eyes and seeing nothing but fear. “Ever heard the saying, ‘qui totum vult totum perdit’? He who wants everything loses everything. Sounds applicable, don’t it?”

“You will not lay one finger on my son.” Something about that word, son, coming from Gabriel’s mouth as his son lay dead behind him struck a nerve with Peter. Gabriel Agreste had never been a father to Adrien, that was for sure. And now he was denying his one chance at saving his son, hinging it all on something he had never been able to acquire.

Peter had always preached the importance of remaining level-headed, but that all snapped as he heard Ladybug’s strangled cry behind him. To hell with diplomacy, to hell with procedure and being cautious. Sometimes you couldn’t be cautious, not when everything was on the line. Sometimes you had to be dangerous and be bold and be everything you ever promised yourself not to be and just pray like hell that it paid off. And that was what Peter intended on doing.

“Adrien was my best friend,” Peter practically yelled, storming closer to the Papillon, whose gaze dropped back down to his son’s broken body, seemingly unable to look away. “All he ever wanted was to be as free as he was when he was Chat Noir. All he ever wanted was to be loved. But you, you treated him like a commodity.”

“Adrien was my son,” Gabriel said coldly. “Everything I did was for his protection. I loved him.”

“You don’t do that to people you love!” Peter cried out, voice breaking. “I know what you put him through and even then I still thought you were capable of love! I thought you were redeemable! But you never loved Adrien as a human being. You loved him as a prized possession. Those are two completely different things, Gabriel.”

“You know nothing about me, Spiderman.”

“My name is Peter Parker and Adrien Agreste was like a brother to me.” Peter was full on crying beneath the suit now. “And the first time I met you, you said I didn’t understand how the world works and maybe I don’t! Maybe I never will! But I do understand that Adrien was far too good for you. You didn’t deserve him. The world didn’t deserve Adrien Agreste. Because in the end, the only thing he needed protecting from was you. And I’m going to heal him even if I have to kill you to do it. ‘Cause Adrien deserves someone who’s going to fight for him. He deserves someone who loves him for all that he is and all that he can be and who would never ever put him in harm’s way for their personal gain!”

“Stop talking!” The Papillon threw his baton in Peter’s direction and he smacked it away with ease, backing him against a railing.

“Adrien was never good enough for you. And he tried so hard to make you happy. That’s not love. And it pains me to think that if he’d never become Chat Noir, he’d never have experienced love. When he was hurting, he came to me and Ladybug. When he was lost, he came to me and Ladybug. When he was scared and afraid and confused, not once did he seek you out! Because he knows he deserves better. And I know Adrien, and I know he would’ve been ready to forgive you. He would’ve forgiven you, even after all you’ve done to him. Even though we all know you deserve nothing.”

“Once I have my miraculous, I’ll make Adrien forget all this. I’ll give him a happy life where he has everything he’ll ever want. And that won’t include you, Peter Parker.”

“I once thought I was cruel for giving people who didn’t know better a chance to choose for themselves,” Peter said coldly. “That is nothing compared to the evil of never giving them a choice in the first place. You can’t just do-over any outcome you don’t like. And people don’t live forever and sometimes we lose them!” A tiny voice in the back of his head reminded him of something Suluu had said, what seemed like ages ago, when they’d found Émilie for the first time. “That’s why we love people. We love them because they don’t live forever. All that we live for and all that we love is because we know that nothing lasts forever and that the value of our humanity lies within the fact that we are mortal! And mortal things fade! Adrien has always known that.”

“What he won’t know won’t hurt him,” Gabriel smiled, a grotesque, sardonic smile.

Peter was tempted to keep fighting him, to make him see his side of the story, but he glanced at Adrien, and he could feel the death like Suluu had described it to him. Looking at Adrien’s limp body, he felt a chill sweep over him, despite the natural heat Helios provided. This wasn’t about proving things to the Papillon. This was about saving Adrien, because despite what he’d just said, this wasn’t Adrien’s time to die. And he was running out of time to save him.

He attached Gabriel’s hands to the rail with a web, maybe tasered, maybe not, running over and crouching besides Adrien’s body. It was like his friend was sleeping, his lips parted slightly though no breath escaped them, his golden hair spread out beneath him like a halo, a tear still glittering on his cheek.

“Adrien,” he whispered, sending his face masking away as Marinette stumbled over, landing hard on her knees beside him. “I’m so sorry.”

“Can you heal him?” Marinette whispered, brushing Adrien’s hair back.

“I can try,” Peter said, taking a shaking breath, doing his best to calm himself before he realized he needed to do the opposite. He needed to lose control, let himself feel all the hurt to produce the song as potently as he needed for the healing tears.

Flashes of him and Adrien coursed through his mind, building pressure behind his eyeballs until it spilled out as tears that evaporated as they touched his skin. This was his best friend, and he needed to heal him. Adrien was not a debt he could pay. He couldn’t live with that on his conscience.

He screamed again, burying his head in the crook of Adrien’s neck as the song washed over him. Peter was vaguely aware of a golden light bursting from him as thick tears made their way down his face. He caught a tear on one finger and reached out blindly, finding the hilt of the knife that was buried in Marinette’s side and pulling it out, ignoring her gasp of pain as he dropped the tear onto the wound. But it wasn’t her he was most worried about.

“Adrien,” he said, crying harder. “Come back.”

“Peter,” Marinette said weakly, tugging at his arm.

Peter pulled his head away from Adrien’s body, letting the molten gold tears that continued to flow drop onto various areas of his person, trying to find the magic spot that would bring his friend back to life.

“I can’t live without you,” he admitted, sobbing. “You’re the best friend I’ve ever had. We were supposed to be brothers forever. You can’t leave me here. I can’t lose you too.”

“Peter,” Marinette repeated. “Look.” He blinked through the golden tears, looking at their surroundings. Everything was glowing gold and it took Peter a moment to realize the light was coming from him. It was like he was the sun, giant white wings of light unfurling on either side of him, golden tendrils curling from his heart into the air. Suluu had never described anything like it when she’d done an in-depth walk through of his powers. Maybe she’d never seen it happen.

A chorus of voices, discordant yet beautiful, reached his ears.

“Do you hear the singing?” Marinette asked, her eyes wide in wonder.

“It’s not singing,” Peter realized. “They’re speaking to me.”

“You can understand them?”

“They’re saying….” He scrunched his face up in concentration. “It’s not really something I can say. They’re giving me hope, strength.” He looked down at Adrien’s face. “Life.” He didn’t know what the voices were, nor did he have the strength to care. His whole world was a house of cards, prepared to be knocked over by the faintest of breaths. Everything hinged on Adrien pulling through.

“Are they bringing him back?” She asked, her voice laced with desperate hope.

“We’ve all done what we can,” Peter said, eyes tracing every contour of Adrien’s face. “The rest is up to him now.”