Flashback Cutscene: Bad Luck

9 years and 5 months ago...

Ladybug was having a lucky day, only it was all bad.

The skies over Paris darkened as Lila took on her final attack. This had been harder than anything Gabriel had ever thrown at them and Ladybug could feel her energy draining. They'd been fighting for hours and even though they didn't need to recharge anymore, the constant Lucky Charms and Cataclysm's were draining their energy, quickly.

"LB," Chat Noir said, "we need to take a break. She's killing us out there."

She didn't want to agree, to admit that they were losing, but it was the truth. They were at a stalemate. Closing her eyes, she bit down on her bottom lip and shook her head.

"We can't, what if something happens to Adrien? What if, whilst we're unsuited, she finds him?"

Reaching out, Chat Noir placed his hands on the upper arms of his partner and lowered himself down to her eye level. Her eyes were misty, her lip quivering as her eyes darted around the scene.

"Adrien will be fine," he said. "I promise! Trust me!"

She nodded in response, bringing a fist up to wipe her eyes and rub under her nose. "Okay," she said softly. "I trust you."

"Good," he smiled. "Let's get this done and get back out there. We'll save Adrien and everything will be back to normal."

Moving behind the chimney of their current hide out, Ladybug dropped her transformation and collapsed down onto the rooftop. This was unbelievably difficult. More than she'd ever encountered before and every single muscle in her body was screaming for some sort of release.

"Are you hurting as much as I am?" Chat Noir's voice was weak and all she wanted to do was crawl around to the other side of the chimney and take him into her arms.

"I feel like someone's dropped a truck on me!"

His laughter drifted through the progressive boom's and reached her ears. "I'm with you there. How's Tikki holding up?"

Marinette looked down to where Tikki was laying on her leg. She was munching on a cookie, but, in all, she seemed fine. "Okay, I think. Plagg?"

"Absolutely fine."

"Good! Listen, we need to find her weakness and take the opportunity when she's surprised, taking her down."

"What are you thinking? Just let me know and I'll be there. We're a team, we do this together."

Marinette took a deep breath before talking. "We use Adrien to lure her out. Maybe I can contact Rena and she can draw up an illusion of him."

"It won't work," Chat Noir replied. "She's too smart. She was Volpina once, remember, she'll figure it out."

"What do you suggest then? That we actually use Adrien as bait?"

Silence. That was never a good sign.

"No!" she said stubbornly.

"It's the only option, and you're right, it will work."

"I can't believe you're volunteering a civilian to become sacrificial bait!"

"You came up with the idea, plus I know he'd want to help."

Silence again, this time on her part.

"I'll find him and speak to him," she eventually said.

"As you wish," Chat Noir replied. "Claws out."

"I'll go and distract her. He's at the Dupain-Cheng boulangerie. He was worried about Marinette."

Of course he was!

Sighing, Marinette sat patiently waiting for Tikki to finish her macaron, the kwami enjoying the treat as though they weren't in the middle of a make or break battle.

Finally finishing, Marinette called on her transformation and headed off in the direction of her home hoping Adrien would refuse the offer when she got there.

Sailing through the sky and onto the balcony of her room, she contemplated transforming back to Marinette; the moment taken from her as she saw Adrein step up and out onto her balcony. He looked manic, almost as if he was looking for her, which truth be told, he probably was.

He looked around, checking behind the smallest plant pot as though this might be her chosen place to hide. She would have laughed if the moment wasn't so consequential.

"Adrien," she yelled from where she stood. He didn't look her way, instead continued to move around the balcony, now looking over the side as if she had launched herself down there in means of escape. "Adrien!" she shouted once more, this time catching the blond's attention and having his focus purely on her. The look in his eyes burned into her. He obviously still wasn't happy about their conversation earlier.

She swung down, landing just in front of him, panic on her face as crashes sounded out behind her followed by many soul destroying screams.

"We need to get you to safety." She was begging. Adrien had to stay safe, everything she was doing and what she was about to do were all for his safety.

"I'm not going anywhere without Marinette," Adrien responded, his feet securely placed on the ground with no desire to budge.

"Marinette's fine, I took her somewhere earlier."

"I don't believe you," he said, crossing his arms tightly over his chest and challenging her to keep talking.

"Believe what you want, Adrien. But you're in danger. I need to get you somewhere safe."

"Let me help, I can be bait for her." Ladybug reeled back in shock. How dare he, like Chat Noir, want to put himself up as a way to entice Lila.

"No, I won't let you put yourself in harm's way."

"Why should it matter to you, you won't remember any of this come morning anyway."

"This isn't about that now. This is about a threat not only to Paris, but to you personally. Do you really think Marinette would want you putting yourself in danger?"

He shrugged, looking away from her and over towards where the purple smog was taking over the Paris skyline. "She doesn't care anyway."

"That's not true!" As Ladybug shouted, thunder ricocheted over the rooftops, a loud booming voice over Paris telling her Lila was about to make her next groundbreaking move.

Without giving Adrien a chance to think, she wrapped an arm around his waist and launched them both up into the sky, heading in the direction of the Eiffel Tower.

With a gentle landing, Ladybug dropped them both down onto a rooftop opposite the Eiffel Tower. Why did it always come back to this one?

The swarm of dark moths circulating the tower was unnerving and nowhere near as eye-catching as the purple butterflies of her predecessor. Lila took the opportunity to cause chaos and terror; but that wasn't all.

Where the moth's parted and she could see through the dark haze, Lila wasn't alone. One hand was tightly gripping the neck of another... the neck of Gabriel Agreste, as his feet hung unsupported 300 metres from the ground.

Adrien stumbled beside her, looking up towards the top of the Eiffel Tower, his mouth working without making any sound.

"Ladies and gentleman." Her voice boomed out over Paris, the screaming becoming a backdrop for something far more menacing. "It's with great pleasure I introduce to you my mentor and the original holder of the butterfly Miraculous... Gabriel Agreste. Now, as much as I would love to drag out this momentous occasion, there are a couple of heroes I need to rendezvous with. Ladybug and Chat Noir, I know you're still around, watching me from the shadows, but hear me now. You have 15 minutes to get to the tower or I give Monarch here a choice: die for the pain he caused, or out Ladybug's identity. The clock is ticking."

The moths moved around, heading towards where Lila was standing, their wings opening and creating a blockade of defence.

"Did you know?" She felt Adrien's eyes on her, burning through her like she was the scum of the Earth.

She turned and looked at the hurt expression on his face. Ladybug couldn't speak, instead she felt frozen to the spot. "Is this what you were going to tell me, that night on the bridge?" he asked through clenched teeth.

Slowly, Ladybug nodded, a burning sensation pushing behind her eyes. "Yes," she whispered, knowing full well the one thing she didn't want to happen... the one thing which she was meant to have erased, sat there in full view. She felt bare. Naked.

His jaw clenched, holding tighter as he looked at her as if he didn't know her, as if everything they'd shared was nothing. Fake. Lies.

"Goodbye, Ladybug."

Adrien stood still, staring her down and her heart breaking into tiny pieces of hidden deceit. How did she get out of this? How could she make him understand?

With nothing more for her to say, or for Adrien to listen to, she took her yo-yo and swung towards the Eiffel Tower, her biggest regret remaining behind her.

Her luck today sucked!

*****

Level 15: Open Wounds

Present Day...

"I'm pregnant."

Chat Noir stared at her for a moment before bursting out laughing. "You actually expect me to believe that." He looked her up and down before snorting out a laugh again. "Yeah, right!"

"I'm not bullshitting you, Chat Noir! I'm pregnant!"

"Really, since when?" he asked sarcastically.

"About four weeks," she said, her voice and demeanour serious.

He stopped, the anger inside him disappearing a little as her eyes told him it was the truth. She was indeed pregnant. Shit!

With a sigh, Ladybug walked over to the edge of the roof and perched upon the surrounding wall, her hands gripping either side as she hung her head down. Unsure what to do, he noticed a bush on the rooftop, one covered in perfectly pruned pink roses, similar to those on his own balcony. He needed to get home, to his wife, to comfort himself in her love and warmth, to try to figure out how to move on... but something was stopping him from doing that – or should he say someone?

Walking to the rose bush, he found himself running a clawed finger over them, looking for the most developed rose, plucking it from the bush and bringing it over towards where she was sitting.

"For you," he whispered, unsure whether this was an offering in peace, or in unity.

It had been 9 years. 9 years of hurt from a betrayal to his superhero form. Adrien had come to terms with it, but for some reason he just couldn't let the secrecy that tore apart their partnership go. The hurt was still there every time he transformed, but was it as strong and as raw as it had been all those years ago?

He stretched his hand out, the rose offering to his partner waiting for her to accept this olive branch. Maybe it was time to open the wounds a little and see if they would finally begin to heal.

She looked up to him, her eyes wide and glassy; a slow tentative movement as she reached for his hand to take the rose. He held his position firm, fighting against the urge to turn around and run away. This was a big step, and if they were going to make it through this, they needed to do it together.

"Thank you," she whispered, taking the delicate offering from his hand and into her own. "My husband doesn't even know yet," she said, twirling the rose in between her fingers.

"Is there a reason you haven't told him?"

She shrugged before sighing and wiping a hand over her forehead. "I haven't found a way to bring it up in conversation."

Chat Noir snorted. "It's quite easy actually, you just say 'Hi handsome, there's something we need to talk about... I'm pregnant'."

She laughed, but it wasn't full of humour, it was a sorrowful noise. One of disbelief and annoyance. "Have you thought about what all this might mean?"

"This, as in..."

"The murders. Have you thought that maybe we're the ones being targeted, that we are the ones who will ultimately be the end to this? We don't know what will happen if we get hurt, if this psychopath decides that he's had enough of playing games and is finally going to take us out instead. There are too many variants, too many possibilities for this to go completely wrong. What if I tell him that I'm pregnant, then right after I-" choked by emotions, she swallowed hard to clear her throat. "I can't do that to him. He doesn't deserve it."

They sat in silence as the words sunk into his head. She was right, he knew that. He felt the same way with his wife, that this could be the end... if they don't find the murderer first. And at this moment they had no clues and no real suspects.

He thought about Ladybug's situation. The new information that she was pregnant, his return, her situation with her husband. Then he considered how her husband could feel. If this went wrong, he would end up losing both his wife and his child — there was no way Chat Noir was going to let that happen.

"I don't want you to continue with this. Stay on the sidelines LB, you can't put your unborn child's life on the line. It's not fair on you, or your husband."

She turned sharply, almost dropping her rose in the swift movement. "No! We're a team. I've spoken to Tikki about it, and as long as I remain focused she can help me sort out my balance and dizziness. The issue is instead of just protecting me when I transform, she has to spread to the baby as well. I'm just not quite as strong as usual."

"That settles it, then. If Tikki is working overtime to protect you both, then you're sitting this out.. Get some of the other heroes back in the game and take yourself out. You'd never forgive yourself if something happened and I'd never forgive myself if I let it."

"You're not sacrificing yourself for me again. You have a wife too. You have a life."

He smiled at her. She was still the same girl and in that moment he realised he was still the same boy. They were a team, they could do this as always together. "You could just be the guy in the chair?" Chat Noir said. "You could be our eyes and ears."

Nodding once more, Ladybug looked closer at her flower. He knew she wasn't onboard with this at all, but he'd work on it. Hopefully, they had time.

"Thank you for my rose."

"You're welcome."

The silence surrounded them again, both just taking time to think in that comfortable silence they used to bask in so often. It was now, being close to her, and finally feeling the chains loosen around his heart, that he could really feel what he'd missed out on, and he'd missed out on a lot.

"I always thought," he started, "that we would have revealed by now, maybe even gone to each other's weddings and that I'd be first in line for the prestigious 'Godfather' title, but I suppose we're past all that now."

"Chat –"

"Is there anything else, Ladybug? I know you didn't tell me because you'd sworn you'd never tell Adrien, and I get that. I feel it's admirable that you'd held that promise. But I still feel like you haven't told me everything."

She sighed, letting out a raspy breath and he knew she was struggling with this – just as he was too.

"Like I told you the other night, if I couldn't tell Adrien, I had no right in telling you."

He nodded. "Go on."

He watched her fight with herself, that face she pulled when she wasn't sure about something, one he always craved to see in battle as it gave him the clarification that she was actually human and not some kind of super being.

"You already know how the battle started. Gabriel fought hard. I was finding it hard to stay on my feet, but I won... well, I thought I had. We seemed to have made an agreement. He was giving in — surrendering — until it was all a ploy and he hit me with venom. I just stood there as he made the wish. Leaving me to promise one thing — Adrien never found out about all the awful things he'd done."

"And is that the truth?"

Taking both his hands in hers, he couldn't help but look down at how tightly she was grasping on.

"I swear, on my unborn child, I told no one that Gabriel Agreste was Monarch. No one. Adrien's important to me in so many ways. I couldn't do that to him."

"Why is Gabriel back now? I thought he'd sacrificed himself?"

Ladybug rubbed her eyes fiercely before speaking again. "It must have been some kind of magic, like the Genie in the lamp. He wished for these cosmic powers and ended up trapped in the Miraculous. How he was released is anyone's guess."

There was one last piece of information she hadn't told Chat Noir. A piece of information which she'd told Adrien. He wanted her to tell him – right here, right now. If she did, he knew they could continue on, they could start to bandage the deeply cut wounds and create a new relationship — it wouldn't be the same, but that's the power of second chances, they could make it better.

"Someone else was there, though. That night. Someone else knows."

And there it was... the first bandage on the wound, stopping it getting any more infected. She'd told Adrien it wasn't just her... the question was: would the stories match?

"Who was it?" He prayed this answer hadn't changed, that she was open and honest with him in both forms, only doing what she thought was right. "Who else was there?"

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng."

And there it was... the name he knew and the name she had told Adrien all those years ago. The truth was out and a welcomed ease washed over him.

"I understand. If there was ever anyone trustworthy it would be Marinette." He didn't know what else to say. He hadn't completely forgiven Ladybug for leaving Chat Noir in the dark once again, but he understood now that there was more to it. That it wasn't just about their partnership, but about their friendship, too.

"So, what do we do now?" Ladybug asked, pushing to her feet and placing the rose in her hair.

A smile twitched at his lips, turning the corners up and making his eyes twinkle. "Kiss and make up?"

She snorted, the sound welcoming to both their ears as the atmosphere suddenly became relaxed around them. He stood still as she stepped forwards and wrapped her arms around his waist pulling him tightly into a hug which he fully accepted.

"I'm so sorry."

Letting go, he stepped backwards and tried to hide the emotion building up. "I'm not saying this is all said and done, once this is all over we need to sit and talk properly – there's still more to talk about. But I'm sorry for not listening all those years ago. It was a grave mistake on my part for holding this grudge. I'm just so sick of lies."

She nodded in agreement. "And you can tell me why you didn't give me any chance to explain."

Wincing at the words, he gave her a small gentle smile. "Touché."

They both wiped under their eyes, unsure what this meant moving forward but understanding their wrecked relationship was on the edge of reconciliation.

"I'm also sorry for the way I spoke to you the other night, you didn't deserve that."

"Ditto!"

"Let's go," Chat Noir said. "We need to go and speak to Max."

They both launched out onto the rooftops, the doors were beginning to close on daylight hours and Chat Noir couldn't help but wonder how long he'd be out and transformed. Was his wife wondering where he was? Was she in the hospital, still with her parents, or at the apartment?

This moment, right now, was exactly why he'd stopped being a hero. The way it pulled him from where he should be and needed to be, into chaos, mess and danger. He couldn't help thinking that whoever was doing this had chosen to do so when she was in the building, that this act of violence was personal and made to harm him. Even more so knowing he wouldn't be with her now. Instead, stuck in his super form trying to save Paris.

The more he thought about it, the more everything seemed to be linking to him and the thought terrified him, even more now he was determined not to have his partner get in harm's way. There was no way he could allow her to put herself and her child in danger, he had to stand up and embrace the role he was selected for – even if it meant death.

As they landed on Max's balcony, Chat Noir didn't wait to be invited in. Instead, he pushed open the door with excessive force and made his way into the room, his body language and stride that of a prowling cat. Intimidating and consuming.

Standing in the middle of the room, he looked around for the game master, yet all he could see was a half eaten meal backed by the whirling sound of the open refrigerator.

Chat Noir watched as Ladybug made her way over to close the door and check out the dinner. Her face winced and he was almost certain she was about to heave or throw up. Moving down the hallway, the sound of retching caught his attention, but it wasn't coming from his partner.

Slowly opening the door, he found the origin of the noise; Max sitting by the toilet looking pale and broken. His head lifted to meet Chat Noir's piercing eyes, his eyes bare and bland.

"It's my fault," Max said. "It's the game."

Chat Noir was moments away from grabbing Max and yanking him out of the room, but the compassion inside him had him crouching down beside his friend.

"Who's next, Max?"

He shook his head and Adrien wasn't sure if he had chosen not to answer, or if he was just unable to.

"Max?" Chat Noir's voice was harsh as he pushed harder. "Who is it, Max?" Fear grew inside him at his friend's silence.

Moments passed as his anxiety rose higher and higher. If Max didn't answer the question soon he was quite sure his cataclysm would be activated without any need for the words.

"Max!" he shouted. Ladybug rushed into the room to join him, her close proximity the only thing to calm him down.

"I – I – I don't know!"

"What the hell? How can you not fucking know? It's your fucking game!" His anger boiled inside him, only being soothed once Ladybug's hand positioned itself on his shoulder. He looked at her, her eyes shimmering as she stroked down his arm and grabbed his hand, his own clutching it for moral support. He needed to calm down before he did something different.

"I — I sent out different variations to different betas. It could be anyone. I'm so, so sorry! I'm to blame. I'm killing people!"

"How many options are there?" Ladybug asked, squeezing Chat Noir's hand in hers.

Max shook his head again, before stuttering a short, shallow, "six!"

Before either hero could speak again, Max turned towards the toilet and released what was in his stomach. It seemed they wouldn't be getting any more information from him tonight.

Returning home, Chat Noir landed on his balcony and released his transformation.

His hand searched effortlessly as he noticed all the lights were off, finding his phone and lighting up the screen.

12 missed calls.

Five new messages.

Eyes trailing over it, he felt like scum as he noticed the first had been sent over an hour ago. Hitting the call button, he placed it to his ear and waited, his bottom lip tucking tightly under the top.

'Adrien? Where have you been? I've been worried sick! You didn't answer! I thought-'

"Shhh, it's okay, I'm here, I'm sorry."

'I — I —' He heard her openly sob down the phone line, the noise pulling on his heartstrings and causing a pain in his chest. She didn't need to complete that sentence. He knew exactly what the next words were: I thought you were dead!

"My love, please, calm down. I'm okay, I promise. I just needed to clear my head. First Nino, now Ivan..." He tilted his head back and looked up to the sky. He wasn't really religious, but right now praying to the Gods was the only thing he could do.

'I know. I understand. But Adrien, you can't just ghost me! I've been worried sick!'

"Please don't tell me you went searching for me!" Silence echoed through his ear as a reply didn't materialise. "You did, didn't you?"

'What was I meant to do? You told me you'd come to my parents and you never did. I've been going out of my mind! You can't just do that. You can't! What if something happened to you? I couldn't carry on without you, Adrien. I need you!"

Stepping through the doors and into the kitchen, he began to make his way to the lounge. She deserved so much more than someone who put her second all the time. She deserved to be loved wholeheartedly, not a part-time husband. It seemed his whole life — the new one he'd built — was slowly being ripped apart piece by piece.

Himself and Ladybug had called it a night after speaking to Max. There was no information that could help them, not at the moment anyway. All they knew was that they needed to speak to Nathaniel. He was the one responsible for finalising the games story, so he was the only one who might know who the next victim possibly is. They also needed to consider getting the team back together.

Once they could work out the next murder they could attempt to stop it, but as of now they were none the wiser. Whoever was doing this was smart and at least 5 steps ahead of them. They'd call a meeting and decide from there where they were going to go.

"I'm coming over!"

'I'm not there. I'm with the girls at Myléne's place.'

As Adrien walked into the lounge, his first thought was how his apartment was a lot cleaner than when he'd left earlier, and secondly, he wasn't alone.

"Good evening, Adrien. I think it's time we had a little chat. I can see you have been quite busy since my release."

Adrien stood still looking at his father's smug face. For someone who used to be so prim and perfect, Gabriel now looked dishevelled, sporting stubble and unkempt hair. He thought his mother would have at least made him hold up his own standards.

'What was that? I thought I heard a voice. Adrien, is someone there with you?' Adrien could hear the panic resurfacing in his wife's voice. Ignoring her for the moment, he addressed the man in front of him.

"How did you get into my home?"

Gabriel lifted his finger where a key sat and began to swing it around before catching it in his palm.

"Come, sit. Would you like some wine?"

"I'm fine," Adrien deadpanned.

"Please, I insist, Chat Noir."