Level 21 Part 1: Holding Hands

"I don't know what the hell you're thinking, but you're not going out there! You're injured!" Sabine looked up at her daughter, jabbing her finger into the hero's chest.

"I can't leave Adrien to do this by himself."

"You don't always need to hold his hand, Ladybug, this is how you got into this mess in the first place."

She looked apologetically towards her mother before turning her full attention to her father-in-law and cousin-in-law, and collapsing down on the edge of the bed, still coated in her super suit.

"Call me if you need me, but right now I'm going searching." Sabrina said a couple of quick goodbyes before vacating the room and the atmosphere forming inside it.

Sabine made her way over and crouched in front of Ladybug. "Listen, sweetheart," she took Marinette's hands in hers. "I know you want to be there for him, that you think he needs you, but that's not true. He's strong, stronger than any of us are and as much as you want to be there for him all the time, when you've been stabbed and almost lost your child in the process, I'm certain Adrien would want you to sit this one out."

"If it is Luka, I'm the only one who could stop him. Talk him down."

"Ch-ch-child?! You're pregnant?!" If Marinette cared about her father-in-law she would have turned around at that moment and discussed this with him, but she really didn't give a shit.

"Marinette, you need to stay here! You can't go out there! You have a team for that." Ladybug knew her mother was speaking reasonably, but she didn't want to accept it. She knew there were many variations in place, having returned the snake Miraculous to Luka, but she didn't want to consider one of the options being her husband dying. Right now, everything was about him.

Félix moved forward, his face coated in worry as he came to sit alongside her. "Marinette," he said, his voice soft and gentle, taking her hand and holding it in his. There were times she would have right hooked Félix in the face for such an action, but over the years — and with Kagami's involvement — she'd been able to push past feelings aside to actually become, dare she say, friends with Félix.

"I know you all think I'm crazy, but without Adrien there will be no child because I refuse to live without him."

A deep, dark laugh sounded behind her, the hairs hidden under the supersuit standing up as she turned to look at Gabriel. Gabriel, who seemed to be beside himself in laughter.

"Is this amusing to you?" Ladybug grabbed her hand back from Félix's and marched her way over to where Gabriel was standing. "Do you think my pain is comical?"

"Calm down," Gabriel retorted. Alya stood, moving forward, Trixx appearing beside her as she approached the pair, intent on separating them.

"Don't you tell me to calm down when one of my best friends is out there obviously not happy, and maybe attempting to kill my husband! Adrien is my life, not that you would understand that!"

"Understand?!" Gabriel boomed, Dusuu and Trixx flying forward in protection. "Understand?!" he hissed again. "If anyone knows about the insanity of losing the one you love, Ladybug, it's me!"

Ladybug felt her eye twitch. He was right, she was reacting in a similar way to what he did.

"You get it now, don't you?" Gabriel said, his arm folding in a defensive blockade between two of them. "You understand the pain and the torment it can put you through. But don't do the same as I did; don't be the person I became! If you need to go and fight, Ladybug, not only do I support you, but I stand beside you! I will not allow someone else I love to be hurt, so if you want to fight Ladybug... I'm fighting too"

The room was silent, everyone's eyes on Gabriel. Could she trust him? Had he done anything to make her believe he'd changed? Since Gabriel had returned to their lives only a couple of weeks ago, it was fair to say he had been trying, and both Emilie and Nathalie seem to have welcomed him back with open arms. He'd also been a key to taking Lila down... not that they knew that at the time.

When he'd been freed from the Miraculous under the guise he'd reveal Ladybug's identity, he's the one who'd directed Lila's attention to Pigella's 'gift'. As she thought she was about to win — Ladybug and Chat Noir at her mercy — it was Gabriel who had ripped the Miraculous from her body. Game over.

"What's in it for you, Uncle?" Félix moved to her side, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her close. Dusuu made their way to be beside Félix, obviously waiting to see if they would be called into transformation.

"Nothing! I just want to make it up to Adrien, to be there for him."

"He doesn't need you to hold his hand," Ladybug bit back.

"He doesn't need you to, either!"

As the two stood face to face, Ladybug felt herself stumble, the world spinning around her as she attempted to keep herself steady. Could she do this? Could she go and save him by herself? She looked up again, catching Gabriel's eyes and seeing something she'd never seen there before. Remorse. Sorrow. Grief.

Taking the yo-yo from her hip, Gabriel stepped backwards – his hand rose in surrender. Swiping her finger over the top, the yo-yo emitted a bright light and separated its wings allowing her to reach in. She grabbed the brooch of the butterfly and held it out in front of her, only for Alya to step in and place her own hand over the top.

"Have you gone insane?!"

"He has what he wanted, now! He can't hurt Adrien, or me, anymore. Not without hurting himself."

"I'm glad he had an epiphany, but Ladybug, giving him the butterfly? How much blood did you lose?" Alya looked deeply into Ladybug's eyes but she was standing strong.

"Félix will be there too." She turned her head to look at her husband's twin, his head shaking solemnly side to side.

"You've got to go!" she begged him. Félix closed his eyes and let out a sigh.

"I'm staying with you. Adrien would kill me if anything happened to you, and he found out I left you to save him. We need to be prepared in case someone comes back to finish the job."

She intensely studied Félix's face before shifting back to Gabriel.

After looking towards them both, Alya slowly removed her hand and stepped back, allowing Ladybug to step forward and address her ex-nemesis.

"Gabriel Agreste, this is the Miraculous of the butterfly which grants the power of transmission. You'll use it for the greater good. Once the mission is over, you'll return the Miraculous to me...." Everything stopped as Ladybug stared deep into Gabriel's eyes – into his very soul. "Can I trust you?"

Gabriel reached out before replacing his hand by his side. "Are you sure about this?"

"I'm only going to offer this once, Gabriel. Take it, or leave it."

Stretching up again, Gabriel took the butterfly and placed it on his lapel, Nooroo flew out and looked terrified at their holder.

"No!" Nooroo cried, "I can't, I won't!"

Dusuu flew to their friend comforting them. "It's okay. I promise!"

Nooroo looked around, noticing Ladybug and Alya in the room.

"Nooroo, we need your help," Gabriel began. "Adrien could be in trouble..."

As Gabriel continued explaining to the kwami what had happened, Ladybug felt her own transformation faltering, along with her legs. The whole situation dampened as her vision started to cloud... the added noise of a ringtone, fighting against the buzz in her ears and pounding in her heart.

As she heard the words, "it's Adrien", everything went black.

*****

Level 21 Part 2: Boss Fight

Unsure what to do, Chat Noir edged his way to the door. There were very few options, and even less time. He needed to move before...

"Sass, scales slither."

As Luka's transformation washed over him, the two men eyed each other. What was once a good friendship crumbled as they both knew exactly what this was. This was it. The end.

What had happened to them all? How had they not noticed this about Luka sooner, and maybe even helped him. Ladybug had mentioned the Guardians had tried to turn him, to make him into their tool. They only relented when they realised they had gone too far, had pushed him to the point of no return, almost breaking him... but it seemed like he'd made it there himself anyway. Had they all been that caught up in their own day to day lives that they'd failed to notice the downfall of their friend. The cries for help as the Guardian manipulated and groomed him.

Standing practically chest to chest, the tension mounted as each waited for the other to make their first move.

Then, as if on cue, they both acted. Viperion brought the blade up in a lightning fast slashing attack, aimed at Chat Noir's throat.

Moving even faster, Chat Noir danced out the way, reaching for his baton in preparation of the next attack. It seemed Viperion had upgraded his lyre.

Viperion went to attack again, his rage was evident in every swing of the dagger — a clear aim to cause injury to Chat Noir. Chat Noir ducked under the incoming blade, removing himself from harm's way before the slash could reach him, simultaneously sweeping his right foot through Viperion's ankles.

Unaware of the cunning moves of the cat, Viperion found himself tumbling forward as Chat Noir took his legs from underneath him, catching himself quickly before attempting to respond back. The stumble stole Viperion's concentration, giving Chat Noir another opportunity, slamming his left foot into Viperion's chest and sending him sailing backwards into the opposite wall; the exertion knocked Chat down, his eyes never leaving his ex-friend in front of him as he straightened and levelled off his balance.

The sickening echoes of metal versus metal rang through the cabin — each more pronounced than the last. One a fight to save, the other a fight to kill. They pushed back away from each other. The two men staring the other down, as they each recovered.

"Cataclysm," Chat Noir spoke softly, calling for the power of destruction for the first time in over a decade. A crackling energy took over his right hand and Chat Noir suddenly realising he'd missed this. The feel. The Power. What it stood for. Though destruction could be seen as an annihilation of all things good, in the hands of Adrien Agreste it was the obliteration of evil, of villains... he was good, and good always conquered over evil.

"Second chance." Viperion grabbed ahold of his wrist, flicking the snake head and activating the countdown. A smile formed on his lips, one dripping with malice. "I've got you this time," he declared.

Then they charged forward.

*****

Chat Noir was surprised. The fight with Viperion had been intense, but barely lasted a minute. For someone who'd been such a strategic murderer, for this to be over so soon just didn't make sense.

They'd gradually moved towards the staircase, finally arriving on the deck. They had exchanged several blows; Chat Noir deflecting the dagger with his staff, Viperion forcing him to expend his cataclysm on his lyre.

As they approached the open deck, Chat Noir surged forward with a spinning strike of his staff, following through with a body check to force Viperion off balance and create space between them.

Now, they stood face to face, Chat Noir clutching the snake Miraculous in his hand, and Viperion no longer with the blade in his. The turquoise suit slowly faded from his body, leaving Luka once more in his jeans and hoodie.

Chat Noir looked from the bracelet to the stranger standing in front of him – the stranger whose mind had been shaped and moulded into a whole new person.

The lingering thought that this was too easy encroached on his thoughts. A thought that was interrupted by the searing pain in his side.

Luka's laugh was hard and demonic. Chat Noir's body began to react, to try and recover, to focus on the job at hand and, most of all, on Luka.

"Whoo! That was tough," Luka said, still laughing. "That took me 28 tries. I think you may have even killed me a couple of times, that damn cataclysm. Every time, you kept going for my Miraculous and I struggled to fight you off. Finally, I just let you take it. And let's just say, your fixation has cost you dearly."

Overcome with dizziness, Adrien looked down to see the blade, buried deep to the hilt in his stomach. As he tried to make sense of it, Luka raced forward and ripped the blade out, sending blood spraying everywhere and doubling Chat Noir over with the worst pain he had ever felt.

Luka began to clap. "Bravo, Kitty Cat! To still have those skills after not transforming in almost a decade. Your Lady would be proud! No wonder you were a favourite of the Guardians!"

Chat Noir looked up, hand still over his stomach as the anger swept over him at the mention of Marinette.

Marinette! He stumbled forward in an attempt to attack again, but fell short. The blood was oozing from him, his power becoming weakened by the second. He needed to stay alive. He needed to be with her and his baby.

"Apparently, even though I'm far more suited for the snake Miraculous, you didn't break down the way I did after 2, 000 attempts. Even when they were worried you'd go rogue, they still respected you. If only they could be here now to see how the mighty have fallen." Luka gleefully called out to him, as Chat Noir fought the pain to stand. He staggered to the railing, blood running through his fingers as he desperately pressed against the wound to his stomach. "Though, they had to fall first, the bastards!"

Leaning on the railing, he watched as Luka stalked forward, a maniacal smile on his face as he closed in.

"L-Luka?"

"The GREAT and POWERFUL Chat Noir, reduced to a cowering... little... kitten," Luka announced to the world, before leaning right into Chat Noir's face and sneering. "First, I'm going to kill you. Then I'm going to destroy you, monster. Then finally, I'm going to go to Marinette, and make certain that the demon spawn you put in her is destroyed as well," He stood back up and brandished the blade, wiping the blood off with his fingers and flicking it down to the ground. "Your mother and father abused the magic, and thanks to them, I've ended up like this. I didn't want to do this Adrien, but with you around I'd always be reminded of what they did to me! What they did to my world! You know what they say though, a life for a life! I'll have great pleasure replacing you."

As Luka pulled back to thrust the blade deep into Chat Noir's chest, a blur of purple and silver dropped to the deck, striking Luka's arm and causing him to drop the blade. Before Chat Noir could focus on the newcomer, the blur struck a heavy blow straight into Luka's chest, sending him flying backwards and into a built up pile of cardboard boxes.

As Luka recovered, he recognised his assailant instantly, calling a name Chat Noir never thought he would hear again. "MONARCH!?!

"Actually," Gabriel began, "The name is Papillon." Wielding his cane like a duelling sabre, Papillon advanced.

Chat Noir was quite sure he was dreaming. As he watched Papillon – his father – take the initiative in the fight, Adrien struggled to make sense of everything. What....why....HOW did his father know to turn up here, now? And how did he get a hold of the butterfly Miraculous? He couldn't make heads or tails of it, but then he remembered his phone.

A roar of thunder was heard in the distance, the impending downfall only miles away now and time was running short.

Despite the desperately violent combat happening mere metres from him, Adrien casually reached for his staff, wincing at the pain the movement caused, and looked at the screen. Félix's name flashing on the screen.

Thoughts ran through his head about how this could have happened. Had Félix been with his father, or is this just a coincidence? Furthermore, what the hell was Gabriel doing back as Papillon?

In what universe does that make sense? He thought. The logic behind it must be so convoluted, that only the most insanely creative person could mak- OH...oh.

Adrien laughed, or at least tried. Yet again, his brilliantly talented wife had made a plan that made no sense to anyone, until it did. Oh, how he loved her so much. Tears began to form in his eyes, he'd never said a proper goodbye to her. Instead, he was sure he was dying, slowly. Leaving her alone with their child who would never know their father, a child who would have to live with the stories of their father's disappearance – or worse, murder.

He began to cough, violently. A wave of dizziness washed over him, setting him swaying. He shook his head to clear it, but that just made things worse. Attempting to keep his eyes focused on the fight in front of him, he felt himself begin to sway, the world moving from beneath his feet as he fell backwards.