*picture isn't mine* Enjoy!

Ladybug grew annoyed as Queen Bee sat down next to her. The five heroes hadn't changed back since midnight, observing Paris and each movement until Gabriel appeared out of his hiding spot. He hadn't. Her eyelids grew heavy and her stomach grumbled, not to mention she still had to do that Chemistry assignment. She wasn't in the best circumstances and her body ached to fight. Ached to correct what was wrong. 

"He should've been here by now." Volpina acknowledge, her lips bending into a frown. The air plastered her face. She turned around to glare daggers at Chat Noir. "Where's your father?"

"It's not like he knows." Green Shell replied, sighing and dangling his feet from the roof the five of them were standing in. "We need to be patient and wait for Gabriel to move. He lost Lila and his miraculous-not to mention Theo's going to be weak from the dart I threw at him. He has some disadvantages."

"I haven't fought in a long while." Ladybug admitted, rubbing her arms up and down. Nobody seemed to listen to her as Volpina started talking about Juleka and Rose. Green Shell joined the conversation eagerly and Queen Bee too. She sighed and stared at Paris. Chat Noir sat next to her and wrapped his arm around her, pulling her close and her head nuzzling the curve of his neck. "What if we fail?"

"We've lost too much to fail." He replied, his voice calm and steady unlike her heart beat. "My father can't win much longer. I think he's loosing hope on himself too."

"Are you confident I'm the same Ladybug as before?" Ladybug asked, standing up straight and deeply gazing into his eyes. Chat Noir nodded quickly, then put his hands on her shoulders. "It's been months since I've been in this suit and-"

"You're overthinking too much." Chat Noir pointed out and traded smiles with her. "If you want my opinion, you're still the kick-ass Ladybug I've always loved. You haven't changed a thing."

"Yet everything else has." She replied, sighing.

Chat Noir laughed and kissed her temple. "Are you kitten me? This time we have three other amazing super heroes that will help us beat my father. There's no possible way we'd loose."

Master Fu paced around the room as Lila laughed in the center of it, her arms and legs shackled to the chair's arms and legs. Her eyes blared with madness, but she was harmless. Behind Master Fu, Kim slowly came to his senses. Master Fu recalled the phone call Queen Bee sent to him saying Kim and Theo had passed out in the alley thanks to Green Shell's darts. When he ran into the alley, Theo was already gone and Kim was left stranded.

"Lila!" Kim exclaimed. "I did what you asked me for."

"You utterly failed." Lila growled in response. 

Master Fu sighed and turned to look at Kim. He grabbed his notepad and scratched his name out of the list. Isabella had refused to take the job as the peacock miraculous holder, saying that as much as she loved Duusu, her job as a mother, designer and model took too much time away from her. Master Fu was looking for recruits ever since and it was good Kim had made his decision to which side join. He was no longer in his list. 

"This is boring." Kim admitted and flashed a look at Master Fu. "Who are you?"

"My name is Master Fu." He replied. "That's all you need to know for now, young boy. I would like to know what is your prime reason in joining Gabriel Agreste. You had so much to loose and decided to take it. Lila wouldn't love you either way."

Kim craned his head up and turned to look at Lila. She was nodding. "I don't know. Did I cause something to hurt Adrien and Marinette? If I did-oh, they would never forgive me."

"Thankfully, they are fine." Master Fu's lips turned into a smile. "Better than ever."

Master Fu turned around to face Lila. "What are you going to do now that you have your gang of super heroes?" She asked quietly. "Hawkmoth will succeed with his plan. 14 sacrifices, was that too much to ask?"

"One of them could've been Ladybug." beckoned Master Fu. "She might as well be like a grand-daughter to me. I wouldn't let anything happen to her."

Lila scoffed and didn't meet his eyes after that.

If only Ladybug could save the day again.

"You're cheating." Queen Bee replied as Ladybug gasped in complain and looked down at the board. "You can't move the peon twice in the first move!"

"Yes you can!" Ladybug said, looking down at the board then back at Queen Bee frantically.

"They just started the game and they're arguing." Green Shell said with a smile. "Oh, and Marinette's right."

Queen Bee rolled her eyes, looked down at the board and moved her peon twice. Ladybug eyed the pieces carefully. Chess wasn't her main game, but it was the only thing Alya could pick from her house without her parents noticing a fox like super hero had entered. Eventually, after lack of thought, Ladybug grabbed the peon at the corner of the board and moved it twice. Queen Bee opened her mouth to protest, then shut it with a shrug and did the same.

"So, your mother left the miraculous department." Volpina said, more in a tone of statement than question.

Chat Noir nodded. "I'm glad, though. I didn't want her to get hurt."

"Who's taking her place?" asked Queen Bee as she moved her horse to kill one of Ladybug's peons.

"Master Fu's at it." replied Chat Noir, his eyes spacing to another different world. Ladybug didn't even notice Queen Bee moving another peon. She focused back on the game and used her tower to kill Queen Bee's peon. "To be honest, I thought it'd always be my mother, but I guess holders can change."

Ladybug scoffed. "I'm not spending the rest of my life in this costume!"

The four other heroes flashed her a starling look. "I mean, once we all go to college, who would be the protectors of Paris? We can't all stay here and, once we've beaten Hawkmoth it's safe to say Paris doesn't need us anymore."

They don't need us anymore.

"What is that?" Volpina asked, pointing at the purple cloud that had started to form around the Eiffel Tower. Ladybug sighed in relief, glad she was finally able to fight and glad the game wouldn't continue-Queen Bee was obviously going to win. She squinted and realized the cloud wasn't made out of a substance or a fog-it was made out of akumas.

"Did he sacrifice people without us knowing it?" Green Shell asked, fear causing his voice to quiver.

"No." Queen Bee answered, pointing below to the Eiffel Tower where people had started running around and screaming their names. It took Ladybug a short moment to realize what she was pointing at. Theo was in the middle of crowd, his arms stretched wide as butterflies flew in his control. Queen Bee quickly raised her fingertips to touch her hair and a couple of bees swarmed at her side. "We should attack him first."

"My father should be around to witness Paris in chaos." Chat Noir thought and raised his eyes. "He should be in the Eiffel Tower in his layer, it's the only logic reason why he wouldn't be next to Theo."

"Does his layer strength him?" Ladybug asked to none in particular.

"Let's pray to God it doesn't." Volpina said and on cue, the team wrapped their arms around each other like foot ball players would to in games. "Ladybug, what do we do?"

Despite the fact that she hadn't worn the suit in months, the team trusted she was the best to lead them in their final attack. She sighed and was at the same time glad her team had that thought of her, not as the weak Marinette sometimes her own mind thought she was, but as the hero Ladybug. "We'd reach the two of them quicker if we separate."

"We're odd." Queen Bee replied. "Two would go with Hawkmoth or with Theo. Let's go two with Theo."

"I'll stick with Theo." Green Shell said and Volpina backed him up.

Once their plan was settled, they broke apart and pulled their fists in the middle, looking at each other's eyes for one last time. Ladybug was afraid someone might get hurt in this mission, a type of hurt she couldn't heal. Despite the fact that each was strong in their own way, this were her friends. Chloe, Nino, Alya, and Adrien. Loosing them wouldn't hurt like loosing a close friend, or even a family mate. It would hurt as if loosing a limb.

"Good luck." Ladybug whispered to her team. "For Paris."

"For Paris." They all echoed and divided into their respective terms.

Ladybug took out her yo-yo, the familiar weight making her lips turn into a smile and wrapped it around one of the holes into the Eiffel Tower. She tugged it slowly and started flying towards it. Chat Noir using his stick next to her and Queen Bee flying without concerns with her black wings. As they stepped into the Eiffel Tower. She saw Volpina and Green Shell viciously snicker at Theo as he turned around to meet them.

Oh, how she wished they won that battle.

"Do you remember where the layer was?" Queen Bee asked Ladybug. "From when you were Lady Misfortune."

"Oh, around here." Ladybug said, remembering the times when Hawkmoth's voice filled her head, her mind thinking his words were reasonable. She went through a couple of hallways to finally reach the layer and opened it quickly. From inside, darkness hugged them and greeted them as an old friend. She slipped her hand into Chat Noir and he replied by squeezing it. 

Whatever happened, she had him.

Soon, the layer opened. The oddly  shaped window in the left side opened, revealing Paris and it's finest in the dim of the light, but nobody was around. Ladybug walked over it and was glad the whole room was lighten up. Gabriel was nowhere to be seen and if he was somewhere, it wouldn't be here.

"Can Gabriel enter even though he doesn't have his miraculous?" Queen Bee suddenly asked.

"If he's not here, where else would it be?" Chat Noir asked, perplexed.

"I don't like this..." Ladybug stared, her voice trailing off as a figure entered the layer. It was Gabriel. His hair looked like a bird's nest, his clothes where ripped and shredded with thousands of holes it made him look like a homeless person. His face looked tired like he didn't know the meaning of sleep. His arms were limp at his side and we walked oddly like he needed a cane to do so. 

Ladybug put her guard up, raising her fists. Queen and Chat Noir doing the same once he entered and the light shone his face. "You're not fighting against us?"

"Why would I?" Gabriel asked, his voice seeming dead. No pitch or playing with his voice at all the way Ladybug remembered he used to talk. "You've clearly defeated me. I don't have my miraculous, Lila and Kim aren't with me, and Theo is being crushed by your two other super heroes. There is no hope."

"Well, you brought this down on yourself." Chat Noir grumbled, walking towards his father. Ladybug grabbed his arm and pulled him backwards, shaking her head. They still couldn't trust him. 

"I tried and I failed." Gabriel said, giving Queen Bee's sword a sideways look. "You could easily stab me with that and you're hesitating. Why?"

"Our code stops us from killing you." Queen Bee barked back.

Gabriel's eyebrows reached the sky. "I don't remember my son actually following it."

"You're not dead-thank the god you're not dead now." Chat Noir mumbled through gritted teeth. 

Gabriel snickered, his lips twitching in the most awful way. He took out his cane, a cane with purple coloring like the one he had as Hawkmoth. But it couldn't be. He didn't have his miraculous. He touched the orb at the top of the cane, a pure akuma shot out. Ladybug eyed it carefully as the white butterfly perched itself on Gabriel's shoulder. "This is made out of your energy, Ladybug. Do you recall me taking it?"

The way the pain still snapped back into her body even though she had no injures at all told her so. "What are you doing with it?"

Gabriel didn't answer her. Instead, he slammed his cane to the ground, the orb breaking in thousand little pieces, an echoing sound taking hold of the cave. A cloud of clear air came out of the broken shards creating a little tornado. Ladybug gasped at the sight of it as Theo popped into view, his hands blaring with the dark sorcery Gabriel had placed on him. His smiles twitched into a smile as he shot a blast at the two of them. Queen Bee asked quickly and used a flock of bees to stop the blast.

The bees flinched and fell into the ground individually. Fear finally leaked into Queen Bee's face as she dodged a blast from Theo, landing in the ground instead on her feet. Theo started walking towards her, but Ladybug took out her yo-yo and grabbed his arm. She jerked the string back and Theo landed on the ground with his back. 

Chat Noir rushed to Queen Bee and helped her stand up.

"I always have a trick up my sleeve, young heroes." Gabriel said, his laughter making Ladybug shiver. He exited the layer as Theo smiled wickedly as he clasped his hands together, creating a rush of air that blew them away, their backs colliding with the wall. Ladybug collapsed to her knees as Chat Noir took out his stick and Queen Bee drew her thin and elegant sword.

Theo had fire dancing of his palms as he threw one at Ladybug. She dodged it and stood on her feet as the fire collided with the wall. Theo started throwing numerous fire blasts at her and she tried her best to avoid them, but eventually one caught her ankle and made her flesh burn underneath her suit. She cried in pain and stared at her ankle as Theo walked towards her. 

He raised his hand, a black sort of dark magical color coming out of his fingertips, but the blast never came. Chat Noir had slammed the tip of his stick into Theo's head, making him whirl around in pure agony. Ladybug took his moment of distraction and grabbed her yo-yo. She tied the string around Theo's legs and pulled it, making him fall to the ground before he could strike at Chat Noir. Queen Bee walked over and threatened him with the tip of her sword aimed at his throat if he moved. 

Theo didn't quite move. Instead, he vanished into a shadow and appeared in the roof, walking like Spider Man. Queen Bee gasped in surprise and cursed as Theo blasted her, a sticky substance growing from her feet to her chest, stopping her from moving. If Ladybug stared at it a couple more seconds, she would've amused it was honey.

"You can't beat me." Theo admitted, throwing the same type of blasts at Ladybug and Chat Noir. She avoided them by making various backwards chart wheels and still landing on her feet. Chat Noir didn't have much luck as his arm glued on the wall. He tried to peel the substance off with his stick while Queen Bee used her free arms to start cutting her little prison, some of her bees coming to her aid and starting to eat it.

Ladybug bit her lip and quickly thought of something. She looked at her yo-yo and yelled, "Lucky charm!" She expected a random object to fall from the sky and into her hands just like any other mission, but she grew terrified when no object fell.

Tikki hadn't send anything to her.

She cursed and hid behind a pillar, hearing as her miraculous started beeping. Summoning her lucky charm might've been the worst decision she could've asked for. Theo appeared next to her and without thinking, her palms turned into fists and the fist came flying into Theo's nose. He backed away, perplexed with the fact that she had hit him and ran over to the other side of the room, locking eyes with Queen Bee and almost pleading for her bees to hurry up.

"How much time do you have left?" Queen Bee asked nervously.

"Four minutes." replied Ladybug. "Where's Alya and Nino?"  

Volpina wondered how they could be two Theo's at a time.

She avoided most of his attacks, but it was impossible not to get some cuts and bruises. Suddenly, all around him where seven Volpina's and eight Green Shells, all leaning into him. Theo backed away for a short moment, but then spread his arms and blasted the illusions away, hurtling Volpina and Green Shell at the same time as they collided with the pavement.

Green Shell groaned as he stood up and took out his shield. Volpina nodded at him and advanced towards Theo, using her flute to create a cloud of Volpina's at least fifty of them around him. Theo did the same type of attack like before, but this time, Green Shell wasn't taken away and his shield hurtling towards Theo's face was a surprise. It was too late for Theo to react as the edge of the shield pressed against his forehead. 

Volpina winced for him as Green Shell helped her back up. Theo had struggle standing up as blood smeared down his forehead. Volpina raised her eyebrows and looked sideways at Green Shell. If he regretted causing Theo pain, his eyes certainly didn't show it. Even after that blow, Theo continued to fight strongly. His powers grew weaker, Volpina could note that at least. It was easier to reach to him but their attacks were still useless.

"Ok," Volpina breathed out. "I think I know how to beat him."

Green Shell nodded and as if they're eyes could communicate, he placed his hands together, one top of the other and Volpina ran towards him. She put her hand on his shoulder and jumped into his arms as Green Shell lifted her into the air. She grabbed her flute and made an illusion like she was going to strike Theo with Green Shell's hammer. Theo reacted and formed with his hands a sticky kind of substance that glued Volpina to the floor. As much as she wanted to get free from his grasp, she couldn't.

Theo smiled pleased to himself, but the moment was short as Green Shell advanced on him with his real hammer and knocked Theo out by hitting him in the face. Theo collapsed on the ground, howling in pain as he reached out to touch his face which was awfully bleeding. Volpina sighed in relief as Green Shell brought down his shoe to Theo's face, making him pass out. They created a little cell with random bits of the remains of the fight and cornered Theo in it.

Volpina reached her hand for a high-five but when Green Shell didn't respond it, she walked in front of him and glared him daggers. "You do not ignore your girlfriend's high-five."

"I never thought I'd-I'd enjoy hurting him." Green Shell said, tears gathering in his eyes as he looked sideways at Theo. "What if Gabriel only filled his mind with false exceptions of the future only for him to join?  What if it's not his fault?"

"Nino," Volpina said carefully, cupping his cheek with her hand and tried not to fall into a lovely stare by his golden eyes. "You're still the kindest person I know. You're saving Paris, aren't you? Not all people would rise up to a challenge like that."

Nino smiled at her quickly, before brushing his lips with hers.  "Your miraculous, it's beeping."

Volpina nodded and whirled him around to face the Eiffel Tower. "Go and join the others. I'll come back as soon as possible. In the meantime, I'll go talk with Master Fu."

Without another word, the two lovers said their goodbyes and Green Shell ran up towards the Eiffel Tower while Volpina ran towards the opposite direction.

Her breathing was unstable. Ladybug frantically looked around, trying to find a way to defeat Theo or at least find a safe place to change back as her miraculous beeped again. That didn't ease her nerves. Her hands fidgeted with her yo-yo strings as she locked eyes with Chat Noir. Time slowed, actions around her slowed as well. It seemed the only thing existing in this world was his calm eyes and the sound of his heartbeat. M-O-V-E-T-O-W-A-R-D-S-M-E. He mouthed.

Ladybug did as he told, splinting from across the room as Theo started coming back to his senses.  She crashed into Chat Noir, tears gathering in her eyes as she started to hyperventilate or another of her sickening panic attacks was taking hold of her. She thought they had gone, but here they are again, supporting her in the time when she best needed them. Chat Noir, with his free arm, cupped her cheek and pulled her close-enough for their foreheads to touch, enough for them to share the same breath.

"Listen to my heart beat." He commanded, his voice gentle and soothing like the rockabye of waves. Ladybug moved herself closer, wrapping her arms around Chat, the tears spilling quickly in her eyes as her lungs started to shut. Her ear was pressed against his chest, his chin on top of her head due to their height difference. 

Ladybug closed her eyes and followed his advice. She tried to listen to his heartbeat. It was calm and steady, beating evenly like any average human being, but to know it was his....it changed the way Ladybug looked at heartbeats. It was like drums, or a melody of their own like the type she used to hear in the orchestra a few hours ago. It calmed her to know he wasn't scared-that he believed she could do something and defeat Theo.

Ladybug looked up to meet Chat Noir's eyes. "I love you. Thank you."

He smiled at her, brightly that would light a crescent moon. His eyes widen as Ladybug ducked Theo's blast. It grazed Chat Noir's cheek, leaving a scar of blood smear down his cheek. She looked up and almost cried out his name, but in that specific moment, her miraculous beeped again and the suit disappeared from her body revealing Marinette in her tight and now uncomfortable orchestra dress she didn't bother to change before turning into Ladybug.

Theo smiled bitterly as he raised his palm, fire blazing from his palm as he narrowed it down to Marinette. She cried out but before the blast hit her, a shield came out of nowhere that smacked Theo in the head and knocked him backwards. Marinette cried in relief as Green Shell grabbed her by the shoulders and yanked her away from Chat Noir. He covered both of them with his body as the shield returned to his hand, madness forming int he depth of his eyes.

"Alya de-transformed too." Nino informed her, flashing her a glance behind his shoulders. "Go with her before it's too late."

Tikki rested in Marinette's palms. Seeing her kwami again made every bad thing she had in her mind leak away. Tikki was in her palms. The fact that she could think that again excited Marinette. Made her want to run around the world no matter the cost or the tire. "I'm helping. Tikki can restore her energy. I'll go down to the Eiffel Tower and find cookies for her. I'm not leaving."

"Be careful." Chat Noir told her as Green Shell advanced into Theo who had started to bleed. Marinette walked over him and offered him a smile, her body starting to cool down from the horrible nerve that got into her. She grabbed Chat Noir by the collar of his suit and pulled him closer, their lips brushing quickly but the only kiss Marinette needed to keep going. He pulled away and smiled at her-a smile that would make her bones boil. "I love you."

"Me too." She replied, leaned in and whispered. "Use your cataclysm."

Without another word, she dived off into the Eiffel Tower, searching for cookies for Tikki. Chat Noir nodded and conjured his power. With his free hand he touched the gooey substance and it broke to little fragments. Queen Bee stabbed her little cell with her elegant, thin sword and it broke also into tiny pieces. She walked over with the two of them and touched her hairpin again, bees swarming around her.

Theo, before he could react, had thousands of Queen Bee's bees over him, prickling his skin until his throat couldn't summon any more piercing screams. He collapsed on the floor, his skin filled with bumps and holes where the bees holes punctuated. The bees circulated around Theo's body before falling next to him. 

"What do we do now?" Green Shell asked his friends, sheathing his shield behind him. 

Queen Bee sheathed her sword too. "We find Gabriel and destroy him even if Marinette is here or not."

They walked straight out of the layer, following Gabriel's footsteps.