Wait, there's a third chapter? In one day??? TF?!

I must be high.

Edited.

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Adrien

"You..." Hawkmoth growled, breathing hard. "How did you...that was a complex fusion, you Philistine..."

For the smallest fraction of a second, his voice almost seemed familiar in a way that made my insides squirm, but I brushed it off.

"Philistine, huh?" I said with a mirthless laugh. "You drag an innocent citizen into your ludicrous obsession with me and Ladybug and you think that's something to be proud of? You're a sicko."

"I'd probably like you if I wasn't tethered to this dude," Chaos jerked his head in my direction. Hawkmoth stared at him.

"You must be that darkness I sensed earlier," he said, and then smiled, spitting blood on the floor. "Using a dark creature to separate me and the Banshee. An underhanded tactic, don't you think?"

"Don't think I don't know you stole that."

He chuckled. "Yes, Ladybug did say that, didn't she?" He suddenly paused, and then his gaze darted toward Marinette's body. I saw a flash of confused recognition in his eyes for a second. "Well, now that she's out of the way, we can finish this."

He knows her, Plagg said.

Yeah. But he doesn't know she gave me her miraculous. The earrings were tightly clenched in the fist of my broken hand; it wouldn't open, so they'd be safe there for now. We can use that.

"You talk like you've already won, Dragonfly," Chaos snorted.

"You're not touching either of our miraculous," I said. "I'll make sure of it. Whatever it is you want them for, I'll make sure you never get it."

Hawkmoth's face suddenly morphed into expression of pure rage. "I've come this far to obtain your miraculous, Chat Noir. I will not leave here empty-handed."

I sneered. "Neither will I."

I charged for him with a loud roar, fist raised. Chaos tore after me on all fours, grinning sardonically.

I swung my fist at Hawkmoth's head, but he deftly dodged it, ducked under Chao's incoming punch and sent a blow of his own towards my right side. Without thinking, I raised my right hand to block.

Pain shot up my arm, and I crumpled. Then there was blinding pain in my eyes as he kneed me in the face. I grunted, my head reeling.

"Huh," I forced out. "You're relentless."

"Already had enough?" He smirked.

"Course not." I dragged myself up, forcing myself to ignore the pain in my arm and head. "I wouldn't really want it any other way."

He swung his foot at me again, but Chaos darted in front of me at the last minute and pounced on his head, scratching at his chest ferociously. He recoiled and then shoved Chaos away. I took the opportunity to attack with a punch, but he dodged it deftly and backpedalled.

Chaos hissed and charged again, but he'd barely made it two steps before he went down. Hawk-moth had thrown a shard of glass at him.

Chaos was very good at close-range attacks. Hawkmoth must have realized that, so he was trying to keep him at a distance. He was getting cautious.

It's more than that, said Plagg. He's adapting to your forms of attack, so he can prepare a quicker and more effective plan of action to counter them. He's far more observant than he looks.

Then I'll have to fake it, I thought.

Huh?

I tensed my legs and used the leverage to sprint in Hawkmoth's direction. He watched me with apparent calmness as I lifted my right leg to knee him in the gut. When he dodged, I switched tactics, slamming my foot onto his and then sending a blow to his side with my good hand. He howled. I smirked.

Adrien, the ring!

My gaze darted down to my hand. Hawkmoth was very rapidly reaching for the ring on my finger. My eyes widened, and I staggered backward, causing him to faceplant into the floor. Chaos sniggered.

Anger flared through me at his slyness. In a burst of energy I brought my leg up and slammed it down on his back. He cried out, writhing. Chaos hooted with laughter, and reached out for his head.

He stopped Chaos' hands dead by catching his wrists. I blinked. Chaos gave a confused grunt. Hawkmoth only squeezed tighter, and then used Chaos' arms as a push-off point to propel himself upward again.

"You-" Chaos cut off with a hiss as Hawkmoth dealt him a vicious slap, sending him backwards.

"I have no time for you," he deadpanned. "My business is with Chat Noir alone."

"Too bad, because he's staying here," I said.

"I've never thought of you as a particularly brave person. You've always hidden in the shadow of your dearest Ladybug." I bristled at his words. "However, fighting you up close like this truly shows me how much of a coward you truly are."

I twitched. My limbs tensed, burning with rage. Then there was that feeling again. That eerie nostalgia I couldn't understand.

Thud.

Don't listen to him, Adrien. He's trying to get you to respond.

"I'm here, with no more minions. The Banshee lies comatose on the other side of the room. I couldn't be more alone, so I want to see exactly what you can do when you are by yourself. Or are you going to hide behind your helpers forever?"

Thud.

He was winding me up. He wanted me to respond. I knew exactly what he was doing, and that I was supposed to ignore it. It was better to fight him with Chaos. Besides, he'd done the same thing just a couple of minutes before.

But he was also right. I was hiding behind my helpers. Plagg. Chaos. Marinette. They all worked with me, worked for me, and I barely ever did anything alone, by myself.

Adrien, if you do this, so help me-

Shut up, Plagg. You're just a blob of essence, you know you can't do anything to stop me.

"Pshh," Chaos snorted. "You really think he's gonna take the bait you are so unceremoniously throwing at him? He may be stupid, but he's not an errant idiot."

"Chaos," I said. "Get back in my head."

"... Are you legitimately screwing with me right now?"

"Nope."

He sighed. "Jinxed it." And with that, he dissipated.

You truly are the worst kind of person, Adrien, his mental voice continued.

I didn't send you back in here so you could bitch at me. So shut the fuck up and control my limbs.

Shutting up in... Wait, what?

Move. My. Limbs. I need to not feel most of the pain so I can fight him. Also, you know simple attack terms, right?

The hell? Uh, I mean... Yeah, you took kickboxing classes.

Good. You're in charge now. You say a term, I execute it. But other than that, you do nothing.

Simon Says with a twist. I like it already. He suddenly snorted. So you're still using me, just not outside, huh?

Hawkmoth doesn't know that.

Okay, I commend your reasoning.

I smirked.

"I know it is still in there. Inside you," Hawkmoth said with a sneer. "I am not a fool, Chat Noir."

"Can you prove it?" I taunted, and he seethed. With a cry of frustration, he charged for me. I stood my ground, clenching my good hand into a fist. The earrings bounced in my broken hand.

For Marinette, I told myself.

Hawkmoth reached for me.

Jab, Chaos said instantly. I punched him in the neck. He choked. Hook. Jab.

He staggered backward and I followed.

Side kick. Front kick. Jab.

He ducked under my attack and dealt a blow to my stomach. I wheezed, and he attacked with a barrage of blows. I blocked the first two, dodged the third, and ducked under the fourth.

Front kick.

My foot collided with his solar plexus. He recoiled.

Hook. Hook. Elbow strike. Cross.

My limbs are a blur against Hawkmoth's. I didn't even know I could remember all this, even with the fights I got into with akumas.

Duck!

What? That's not-

Stars darted across my vision and I backpedalled, shaking off the aftershock from his punch. My nose hurt. Badly.

I meant duck, you idiot.

Lesson for next time, I thought, skirting around a kick from Hawkmoth, only to get my face bashed in with his fist once again. I felt blood run down my nose, but I didn't even have time to move. Blows rained down on me, bearing me down with relentless ferocity. The punches beat down on my broken arm, and I cried out in pain.

He's not giving me any time to think...! I growled mentally.

We're too fast for him, so he's not giving us any chances to strike. Chaos hissed. We have to find an opening.

The punches slammed against my arms, and I blinked back tears as I tried to power through the agony.

"You're already losing your strength," Hawkmoth simpered. "Pathetic."

My father's face flashed in my mind. Pathetic. He'd called me that so many times, but I refused to let that bring me down. To let any of his horrid words weaken me.

But now, under the brunt of Hawkmoth's endless attack, with my entire right side pulsing with agony, with my partner's lifeless body on the other side of the room-

I suddenly felt heavy. The single, seemingly miniscule word consuming my resolve with a crushing force that had me retreating the harder the punches hit.

Adrien, don't think about it! Don't think about him!

Chaos' words were drowned out by a cracking sound, and then blinding, burning agony wrapped around my head like a blanket, dulling my senses instantly. The world spun, and then the ground rose up to meet me. All I could taste was blood.

"Huh." I looked up at Hawkmoth with my blurry, doubling vision. His knee was bloody; I realized that he had kicked me in the nose. "I wonder why I haven't gotten your miraculous for all this time, given how weak the both of you are. Maybe all of those akumas were more incompetent than I thought."

Adrien! C'mon! On your feet! Chaos and Plagg chanted in my head, but their voices were too far away, and my limbs were numb, and I was so tired. I just needed to sleep for a little while.

"Well, speaking of the miraculous..." he trailed off, and I watched him walk past me. It took a full minute for me to register that he was walking towards Marinette.

I moved. It was as if a lumberjack was hacking at my skull with an axe over and over again, and my limbs were all but dead, but managed to balance myself unsteadily on my arms.

He was staring at her in disbelief.

"Where...where are they?!"

He couldn't find the earrings. My lips stretched into a pained simper.

And then he began searching her, ignoring the blood that coated his fingers as he felt in her hair, behind her back, inside her shoes.

Under her shirt.

Thud.

Where the energy came from was a mystery, but all of a sudden I was standing, and ire curled in my belly like a little flame.

What the hell.

I lunged, my legs gaining minds of their own and pushing me forward at a speed I couldn't even begin to fathom. The next thing I knew, my hand throbbed with pain, and Hawkmoth had backpedalled five feet, nursing his now-broken nose.

"You..." he hissed. "Where are they?! Where is Ladybug's miraculous?!"

"I told you. You're never getting whatever it is you want." My aching arms didn't matter anymore. All that mattered was stopping this man once and for all. "Evil people don't deserve to be satisfied."

His eyes widened in surprise for a moment, and then his face contorted with rage.

"You fool," he ground out. "You could never imagine what I've endured."

As long as you're here...I won't stop doing this. I won't stop hurting you.

I chuckled. He charged, aiming a punch at my chest. I dodged to his right.

Jab.

My fist collided with his neck. He crumpled, but tripped me with his foot. Before I had even hit the ground he was on top of me. I saw his crazed expression just before he attacked with a ceaseless barrage of blows to my face.

"You could never," he cried out in fury. "You could never understand what I've been through!!"

"Heh..." I whispered out through the pain in my head. I knew my nose was broken, and probably a bunch of other bones too. But I just kept right on chuckling.

"Why are you laughing?! What's so funny?!"

All of this...everything...it's all because of YOU!!

"Trust me, Dragonfly," I said softly. "I understand more than you could ever know."

Adrien isn't human trash, he's human gold!

"But I've been...saved, I guess..."

His teeth clenched, and with a roar he grabbed my left arm. Panic rushed through me, but the adrenaline in my body had petered out, and I couldn't move.

Hey, Plagg cried suddenly. He's gonna-

I could only watch as he yanked the ring off of my finger.

Bullshit, Chaos growled. I felt my broken right arm regain a modicum of strength, and in that moment, Chaos and I had exactly the same thought at the same time.

There's no way this bastard's getting the last laugh.

So I let go of Marinette's earrings, and just as Hawkmoth turned to look at them, I pulled off his mask with all of the might I could summon.

The world froze. The look of complete bewilderment on his face was no match for the confused turmoil in my head.

"...Adrien?" my father whispered.

And I had never hated him more than in that moment.

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Word Count: 2319.

So there it is, guys! The big reveal, and with it, the start of the official conclusion of At The End Of It All! There are approximately five or six chapters left.

I hope you enjoyed this one-time special of three chapters.

Seeya in a couple of weeks.

The now-sixteen-year-old dazed sphinx signs off to go enjoy her birthday, eat pizza, and get presents.