Flashback Cutscene: Autograph

9 years and 9 months ago...

As the orchestra settled down on their chairs, the cello took centre stage and the delicate, yet perfect, notes of a soft love song began to play. Ladybug looked down at her ballgown and felt like Cinderella; any moment now the clock would strike midnight and she would be turned back into her normal, chaotic self. She swayed side to side, allowing the fabric of her dress to swish and spiral around her legs as she moved fluidly to the tune. It was just a shame she wasn't as fluid when someone was beside her.

She looked up at the clock on the wall and sighed happily when she realised she had at least 3 hours until she had to worry about completing her riches to rags story. Tikki had done a wonderful job transforming her usual plain suit into one a Princess would be proud of, and as she stood here twirling around, she couldn't help but giggle.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng was at a ball, and so was Adrien Agreste — standing over the other side of the room and smiling at her. Unsure what to do, Ladybug quickly attempted to make herself look busy, not like a young teenager let out of the house for the first time. Looking side to side, she spotted a waiter with a tray of drinks. She was 17 years old, she'd had alcohol before, her mother and father always let her try a little on holidays. Without too much thought, she grabbed a wine glass and took a swig, at the same time as she noticed Adrien moving towards her – only to start coughing. Violently.

Her eyes began to water, the coughing not stopping and turning her from the Princess at the ball to the wicked witch.

"Hey, Ladybug, are you okay?" The warmth of Adrien's hand soaked through the back of her dress, his fingers imprinting on her body and she knew she would never get rid of the feeling ever again. She didn't want to.

"Yeah," she sputtered out, bending over once more before standing up straight and looking at her boyfriend all wrapped up in the most perfect tuxedo. The bowtie was positioned in the middle of his shirt collar – a suit tailored to perfection.

"Wow!" he said, looking her over.

Trying to gain some confidence, she slowly turned around to give him a good view. "That dress is beautiful! Did Marinette design it for you?"

Her eyes widened and her mouth opened to speak. Instead of words though, a weird noise escaped her lips. "Marinette?" she wasn't sure if that's how it sounded as it escaped her lips, but she was certain that was what she was trying to say.

"Oh," he reached up and rubbed the nape of his neck, the sleeves of his jacket pulling against his biceps and almost had her choking once again. "I'm guessing it was meant to be a secret. Sorry. I just saw that dress in her sketchbook and well –"

Before he could say anything else, or her squeak at him again, the orchestra finished playing the current song, the crowd breaking out into applause. "Yes," Ladybug said. "Yes, Marinette helped me. I told her what kind of thing I liked and she designed it."

Suddenly, the band struck up again, this time with one of her favourite songs. She began to humm and sway again.

"Care to dance?" Adrien asked, offering a hand out to Ladybug.

She looked between his hand and face, a playful grin coating her lips. "And what would your girlfriend think about this?"

"She'd be glad I was saved by Paris' superhero. There are too many people staring at me at the moment, and I know I'm either going to get girls coming over to flirt, or people quiz me about the disappearance of my father. I can't deal with that at the moment. So, please, give this guy a break."

"I suppose it would be my duty then, Monsieur Agreste." She lifted her hand and placed it delicately into his.

"Thank you, Mademoiselle Ladybug."

Adrien led her out onto the dancefloor, dropping her hand and looking at her questionably as he stroked his chin. "Now, do you want to lead or shall I?"

Rolling her eyes, Ladybug pulled him towards her by the back of the neck and held a hand up ready for him to join. Reluctantly, Adrien raised his hand and they began to sway. He looked away unimpressed.

"What's wrong, Adrien?" she was sure she hadn't trod on his feet, not yet anyway. He'd given her dance lessons after all, she was well trained now.

"I thought you were going to let me dance on your feet."

Her eyes widened, unable to speak, until he turned to face her with the most devilish, handsome smile she'd ever seen. Oh, Adrien!

They continued to move to the music, both of them getting caught up in the exciting atmosphere, smiling and laughing, only breaking apart to show appreciation to the band before starting up again.

Dancing solidly for three or four songs (who was counting), the couple were rudely interrupted by a crash at the side of the dance floor. The band halted their set, everyone on the dance floor also stopping and looking to where the noise had derived from, only to find Officer Raincomprix stumbling towards them with a look of pure hatred on his face. He was dishevelled, untidy and unclean.

"You!" he shouted, catching her staring at him. "You!" he shouted again, tripping over a couple of chairs as he stumbled out onto the dance floor.

Adrien stepped in front of her, his arm coming out and blocking her from him.

"Don't come any closer!" Adrien said, stopping him from moving and glaring intensely at him.

"What are you going to do, pretty boy? Smile at me?"

Roger went to step around Adrien, his eyes burning into Ladybug with an intense and crazy heat.

"I think you should leave," Adrien tried again and Ladybug couldn't help but fear for his life. She was the superhero, she should be the one going face to face with a drunk ex-police officer.

"Me? Me?" Roger started laughing, uncontrollably at both of them before stepping forwards once more. Scared he was going to hurt Adrien, Ladybug made a quick movement and swapped them around.

"Go home, Roger."

"Don't you dare use my name! Ladybug! You're nothing but a nuisance, a vigilante, a public menace. I lost my job because of you!"

He was breathing quickly, and Ladybug was worried he was about to collapse in front of her on the floor. This wasn't going to be good.

"Please, Officer Raincomprix, go home before you embarrass yourself."

"Embarrass myself? What's worse than being fired thanks to the goody-two shoes attitude of Ladybug? Where's your egotistical partner? Seriously, next time that guy disappears he may as well stay there, it's not like he helps out anyway."

Suddenly seeing red, Ladybug felt the anger boil inside her and was unable to stop it from exploding.

"Don't you dare insult my partner, you lowlife piece of sh–"

"I think you need to leave." Suddenly, Adrien was in front of her once again, stopping her from saying anything she would regret. There were far too many cameras around.

"I don't know how you can defend her, not after everything that happened with your father. She could have saved him, but instead, she let him die."

"I suggest you leave, before you get thrown out," Adrien responded, through gritted teeth.

"Father!" The exasperated tones of Sabrina's voice were followed by her body rapidly moving through the crowds towards them, her face full of emotion.

"Stay out of this, sweety! I'm trying to make Paris a better place for us all!"

"Father, you need to leave, now! You're embarrassing yourself, and you're embarrassing me!" Roger turned to look at his daughter, finally moving into action.

"Go home!" She said again. Ladybug was impressed by the sudden authority Sabrina possessed, she'd come a long way since her days of following Chloé in school, and she couldn't help but feel proud of her friend.

"Sorry about that," Sabrina said, turning to Ladybug with a slight red tinge on her cheeks. "He's going through a hard time at the moment, I just hope he can sort himself out. Please don't take this personally though, he's just... he's been drinking a lot."

Ladybug nodded. "Of course."

She smiled at Sabrina, though the words he'd spoken about her partner still stung. It was one thing to say it to her, but to insult Chat Noir... well... she couldn't explain how defensive that made her.

"Listen, I know after all that you probably don't want to, but could I have your autograph please? It's just I'm such a big fan, and you inspire me to want to be better." She held out a small Ladybug and Chat Noir notepad to Ladybug followed by a pen. As Ladybug began to sign, she couldn't help but grow curious at Sabrina's next statement.

"I'm going to save the city one day too."

*****

Ready Player 3

Present Day...

The crowds were building on the streets, the noise decibels higher than a usual Paris day as people gathered and celebrated Bastille day. Children walked with balloons, four or five seen floating into the sky and away from their holder, dogs were barking, street acts were performing; each person experiencing the joyful festivities. But not Sabrina.

Ducking and diving through the crowds, she raced along the street and in the direction of the Seine. There was no point in her trying to catch an Uber or even a helicopter... Paris was in celebratory chaos and her feet were the fastest mode of transport— at the moment anyway.

Fumbling through her pockets, Sabrina tried to find her phone, patting around until the solid object hit her hand and she could pull it from the pocket.

"Excuse me," she apologised, pushing through a young couple as they strolled hand in hand down the street, turning around she flashed them her badge and carried on.

Sabrina tapped her finger against her phone, narrowly avoiding a lamppost coming into her line of travel as she called dispatch for backup.

"This is Detective Raincomprix. I need all units to the Seine. The Hero taskforce, Air Patrol, everything! Just get it there now!"

Ending the call, she shoved the phone back into her pocket and continued on the way to the dock, hoping to see The Liberty in its normal place. Looking left and right, she forwent pressing the button and crossed the street, disobeying the don't walk sign. There was too much at risk.

Stopping just before the main staircase down to the lower promenade, Sabrina placed her hands on the stone wall and looked over to see if the boat was there. It didn't take long to notice the one ship with superheroes on it. She saw Chat Noir charge Viperion, spinning his baton.

As the two crashed together, Sabrina viewed Chat Noir ripping the bracelet from Viperion's wrist, but at the same time the snake-like hero struck at the cat, burying something deep into his stomach before stumbling backwards. Costume gone and identity verified.

Momentarily frozen in shock, she watched Luka rush forward and rip the 'something' out of Chat Noir.

Chat Noir moved his hands down to his stomach, letting out a wild, animalistic growl as a dagger appeared from the depths of his stomach.

Her training kicked in. Pulling her pistol from its place in her holster, she held it up and aimed directly at Luka. Her hands trembling and eyes blurring as they fluctuated between the perpetrator and her friend. She wanted to keep an eye on Chat Noir; with Marinette being in the hospital, the idea of Adrien dying was almost too much to bear.

Chat stumbled backwards and Sabrina released the safety on the gun. Leaning forward, she closed one eye, positioning the sights onto Luka's head. She just needed to steady her hands a little and she could fire... she just needed to...

Before she could squeeze the trigger, a purple blur came into her eye line, the figure of a nightmare from the past landing on the boat's deck. The figure, one-armed and disturbingly familiar, knocked the dagger from Luka's hand, then sent him crashing into a pile of boxes. The one-armed man - Gabriel - turned to look at Chat Noir, and without hesitation she changed the gun to point at Adrien's father.

"MONARCH!?!" Luka's cry recaptured Gabriel's attention. The two seemed to exchange words, before Monarch raised his cane and attacked the ex-hero. No, he's not Monarch now. That's Gabriel's original look, which means his name would be - "Papillon," she muttered to herself.

Taking the opportunity whilst both were distracted, Sabrina bent low and headed towards the landing and the dock. If she could just get on board, she could get to Chat Noir and lead him away, taking him out of danger and maybe even saving him — just the way she had always wanted to.

Reaching the main landing, Sabrina glanced up on the boat again, just as Chat Noir toppled backwards and into the water. Papillon stopped mid attack, turning and looking to where the splash had sounded from. Rushing, the old villain leaned over the boat, making himself vulnerable for the viper to strike.

...And he did!

As Luka moved forward, wiping the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand, he bent down to retrieve the dagger; Sabrina, once more, aimed her gun towards him.

She continued toward the boat...watching and waiting. Her breath held tightly in her chest as she feared breathing in case she was caught. Sabrina watched as Luka grabbed the sleeve of the hoodie he was wearing, and wiped it along the blade of the dagger, removing the blood and leaving a shine on the dark material.

He was going for Hawkmoth.

A couple of steps forward, gave her a better view of the scene. Luka holding the dagger to his chest and closing his eyes, a dazzling glow appearing around the blade, as Luka opened his eyes and they displayed pure black.

Raising his arm, he prepared to slam the knife into Papillon. She acted without thinking.

Squeezing the trigger, her eyes remained focused and her hands steady. Bullet after bullet firing, she was confident they were hitting the intended target. Three shots, the sound of a scream, followed by the clang of a metal object. Sabrina moved forwards again, keeping low but focused on the task at hand.

Quickly but steadily, she made her way up onto the boat and noticed Luka sprawled out on the ground, dagger away from his hand and Papillon glaring over him, cane at the ready and anger in his eyes.

"No!" Sabrina shouted, hands out in front of her as a line of defence. "No," she said again, this time softer. She walked forward, gun still in hand but trained down.

Thunder rumbled once more in the distance, the odd one or two droplets falling from the sky and coating her bare arms in small, circular wet patches. The sound of siren's in the distance suddenly eased her nerves, especially when it was accompanied by the distant sound of a helicopter.

Papillon looked at her, looked at Luka, then at the water. Sabrina didn't even have to think about her next decision, having no doubt about where Papillon needed to be.

She turned to face him, leaving Luka laying on the ground clutching his shoulder.

"I've got him. Go and save your son."

With a nod, Papillon nodded and dived from the boat. Sabrina applauded herself, satisfied she had made the right decision. Turning around, she proceeded to go through the process of handcuffing and arresting the wounded Luka.

She just hoped everything wasn't too little, too late.