Plagg was gone from my mind, his consciousness once again trapped within the confines of the black ring in my opponent's hand. Still, it was as if he were still present—I could hear the screaming urgency in the space he left behind. Anxiety filled me just by looking at the ring.

The ring in my father's hand.

"Ugh...argh...ugh!" I held my head in pain. It was as if Chaos was ricocheting around the inner walls of my skull.

Holy crap, what a plot twist! Your freaking dad is Hawkmoth!? I mean, I always knew he was a douche, but this...this just tops everything off!

"Adrien..." he spoke. "You're Chat Noir?"

Nah, he's the muffin man, Chaos mentally snorted, sarcasm dripping off his words. Jeez, talk about an idol of idiot worshippers.

The crippling shock of the entire situation was momentarily stalled by the fact that Chaos had just borrowed an insult from Shakespeare. Then comprehension hit home again, and the detached sobriety I had fallen into fell away instantly.

Heat pulsed through my veins. An inexplicable feeling washed over me, an ocean of emotion I could barely comprehend. It was only when I felt the pain of my broken hand clenching into a fist that I understood.

Months of preying on your insane anger and still... I've never felt this kind of rage from you. Chaos' words were incredulous. Almost disbelieving.

It sounded so far away.

Welp. I'd better make the most of it.

My vision cut to black and my body suddenly felt incredibly light. The darkness was welcome, providing peace to my catastrophic mess of thoughts.

A memory flashed through my brain. A memory from before. Before everything:

My first memory.

"Look at you, Adrien! You're getting taller by the day!"

"He's still too short for his age, Emilie—ouch!"

"Don't listen to him, amour. You're so tall! Soon you'll be taller than your father, I'm sure of it!"

"Heh. That'll be the day—UGH, STOP DOING THAT—alright, alright! I'm kidding! Ow..."

"Shush! Look."

"Look at what?"

"Look, he's—aww, look at that toothy grin!"

"Call it a toothless grin, if you want to be truthful—AGH!"

"Don't mind your father, amour. You're the cutest! And I'll always be here to tell you that, okay?"

"She means we, son."

"Of course. We'll always be there for you, no matter what, because we love you, amour."

"And we always will. That's a promise. Well, as long as you get taller—OUCH EMILIE WHAT THE FU—"

"Hmm?"

"..."

"Say it."

"...Fudge on chocolate ice-cream..."

"Yeah, that's what I thought."

The shooting pain in my arms snapped me out of my reverie. I was face to face with my father. He was bleeding. My arm hurt—everything hurt so much.

I'd always thought that heartbreak was just figurative. A tag tied to the pain. But the twisting hurt in my chest was proof that I was wrong. It was like a stone hand was wrapped around my heart like a vice, squishing it in its hold the longer I stared at my father's face.

My eyes swam, and despite the excruciating pain my hand found its way around Gabriel's throat.

"Do you know why this hurts so much?" I whispered to him. He punched me in the stomach, but Chaos' strength cushioned the shock. "Do you?"

His lips twisted into something between a grimace and a sneer. "Why?" he forced out.

"Because after—after everything you did—all the pain you caused, all—all the—scars—" my hand tightened with the force of Chaos' glee. "Even though I fantasise about murdering you in so many ways...I can't."

Eh?

I let him go. Watched as he collapsed. As he tried to recover, I put the earrings on, thanking Nathalie for forcing me to pierce my ears for some photo shoot.

Then my hand fell to the side, the last of my adrenaline petering out. It wasn't going to move again.

A mirthless chuckle forced its way out of my throat." I can't bring myself to kill you...isn't that the funniest shit you've ever heard?" I laughed harder. "I have the guts to try and take my own life...to risk everything to stop a villain...but you still have that hold over me."

"And why is that?" he coughed. "We both know I'm capable of killing you to get what I want. What's stopping you?"

The laughter ceased. I looked up at him, my eyes narrowed in disgust.

This jackass—

"Because you're my father," I spat at him. "Because I still have a conscience, and because I love you."

He froze. Chaos fell silent. For the first time in a long time, I finally had my mind to myself. It was almost relieving.

"What?"

"That's the only explanation for the pain in my chest. You're my father, and I care about you, no matter how shitty you are as a person." I sighed. "It—it is physically painful for me to try to kill you."

I was crying. The tears came in torrents; I couldn't stop them if I wanted to. I didn't want to.

But I didn't feel sad. I felt hollow, like all my insides and emotions had been scooped out. It helped to feel nothing. Like it always did.

"I love you...like I love Mom." I took a step backward. "She was a good person. She made you a better person, but you let that gift slip away when she died...why?"

"Because she was the only one who could keep that part of me alive," he said, and suddenly I understood.

"You want to bring her back, don't you?" I whispered. "That's why you did all of this, isn't it?"

"Yes."

I smiled, kneeling down in front of him. "You're more of a demon than I thought you were."

"Really?" he scoffed. "And why is that?"

"Even if you manage to bring her back, there's no way she'd accept you like this, the way you are now. Not my mother.

He scowled. "Your mother loves me," he hissed.

"Loved. She loved you. She's dead."

"Stop it."

"And she won't love you ever again."

"Stop. Shut your mouth."

"She'd hate the man you are now, and you know it."

"Adrien, so help me—"

"You're a monster."

He roared and lunged at me, knocking us both to the floor. Before I could react, I choked as his hands latched onto my neck. My body panicked; I flailed, but my body, weak and broken, was useless. Even Chaos couldn't help me.

But again, there was no fear or anger. Only emptiness.

"I'll be taller than you soon," I said, though under his weight my strained voice was little more than a murmur.

He faltered. "What?"

"Remember...when I was three...you and Mom—my height," I was fading. "You said—loved me...you'd be there—always..."

His grip was loosening. I could only just breathe. It still wasn't enough.

"You're my father, but...what—what happened to my dad?"

Suddenly a deafening crash sent him rolling to his feet. My gaze shifted to the sight of—

My heart stuttered at the sight of Ladybug. My body moved to stand up, to run to her, to hug her.

Then I saw her hair. At the length that was just a little too long. And then I knew.

"Bridgette," I breathed. She grinned.

"Hey, Adrien. You aren't looking so hot," she said with a wink.

A longer-haired Chat Noir appeared behind her, and then stood dumbfounded at the sight of Gabriel. Bridgette clicked her tongue.

"Guess we know who our Hawkmoth is now," she said. "Now wake the hell up, Chat. We gotta kick his butt now, alright?"

He blinked. "...Right. Certainly, m'lady."

You've got a doppelganger, too? Chaos said in awe, and then he groaned in disgust. Ew, two Adriens.

Bridgette walked over to, shaking her head. "I distinctly remember telling you to not be a fucking hero, man," she muttered to me.

"I have a thing for disobeying orders." I jerked my head in the direction of the giant window. "The glass was already broken. That was overkill, breaking it more."

She shrugged. "I have a thing for dramatic entrances," she said. I smiled. She grinned. "So...you look like shit."

"I feel like shit,"  I responded.

"You think you can still fight?"

"Hell no," I mumbled. My smile turned crooked. "But fuck yeah."

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Word Count: 1411.

Soz about the excessive cussing at the end. I'm venting my swearing after binge-watching Daybreak on Netflix, after watching Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker at the cinema.

That was the best way to spend the day after Christmas.

Speaking of Christmas, Merry Late Christmas, boisengirls! But it's a day late, so screw off. I'm a nightowl.

Also, it's 4:47 a.m., but let's just call this December 26th so I don't kick myself for being two days late instead of one.