Hi everyone!!  SylveonKwami here.

This chapter will have a lot of action in it, so be prepared!!  I also hope you're ready for a lot of feels. >v<

There will also be a lot of POV switching in this chapter... so sorry about that.

Anyway, I'm gonna start now.  I hope you enjoy this chapter!!

Marinette

Ladybug let out a battle cry as she swung her yo-yo towards Carapace and Rena Rouge's cell, the glass shattering under the force of its impact.  Freed, both of the heroes leaped into action, awaiting her orders.

"Rena Rouge, I need you with me.  Carapace, I need you to help Chat fight HawkMoth," she said, a serious look on her face.  Carapace nodded and ran over to help Chat with his combat; from where she was, Ladybug could see that he was extremely sharp, and doing okay for now.

"Well well well, Ladybug.  You really need the help of a fox to defeat me?  How lame," Shrinkinator said out of nowhere, walking up behind the two girls.  They jumped a little then turned around, with Rena getting into stance and Ladybug swinging her yo-yo.  "Let's go," he sneered, holding out his signature weapon and firing at them.

Perfectly in sync, Ladybug and Rena jumped, thus avoiding the attack.  Rena went up to throw some punches at his right side, whereas Ladybug leaped up and used her yo-yo to deflect any attacks that Shrinkinator launched at her friend.  I'm not about to have another person shrunk by you.  We're ending this, here and now!

Ladybug quickly tied Shrinkinator up with her yo-yo string, making sure it was tight.  "How do you like that?" she mocked.  

A sudden scream came from beside her, and she turned just in time to see Chat's body thrown into hers, almost causing her to topple over.  She was horrified to see he had a bruised cheek and blood oozing from out of his mouth.  "Ch-Chat!  You're-"

"Never better, M'lady," he said, quickly getting up and striking HawkMoth right in the face with his baton.  She saw the villain screech in agony, and she smiled, despite Chat's injuries-

"You never learn from your mistakes, huh?" Shrinkinator said slyly, aiming his gun at her yo-yo string.  "Silly Ladybug- augh!"

Rena Rouge punched Shrinkinator directly in his stomach, causing him to cease his fire and bend over in agony.  "You forgot that this time she has me," she said, offering a high five to Ladybug.  She took it, and it was then she was reminded why Alya was her best friend in the first place.  No matter what happens, we are always there for each other.  Always.

"Girl, we need a plan to distract him.  Do you know where the akuma is?" Rena Rouge asked intently while Shrinkinator cried out in pain.

Ladybug shook her head.  "No, but I have an idea where it could be."

She knew what she had to do, and called upon her Lucky Charm.  It turned out to be some sort of spinning-top toy.  She frantically looked around, but didn't see any way she could use it.  Damn it... oh well.  I'll find a use for it later, I'm sure of it.  

"Wait... distraction... of course!" without another word, she ran over to their classmates cell, and swung her yo-yo to break it.  Her classmates were standing in shock.

"I'm not Marinette," she said.  "I'm Ladybug.  And Ladybug trusts all of you to help her and Chat Noir finish this fight."

"You can count on us, Ladybug!" Chloe said, placing her right hand on her chest.  "You can count on me."

"Rena, keep it up with Shrinkinator for me!" she called to her friend, who proceeded to nod and do what she said.  I feel bad for not fighting right now, but I really don't have any other choice.

"We need you to distract Shrinkinator.  Listen closely, I have a plan..."

Adrien

Chat Noir felt satisfied after his baton hit HawkMoth's face, causing him to bleed.  

"You know, I almost feel sorry for him man," Carapace said suddenly.  "I mean, there must be some kind of good person in there, right?"

"Whatever sane personality he had before this is long gone," Chat said darkly.  "He is a threat to the world, and he must be finished."

"Then let's get him then!" Carapace responded by tossing his shield at HawkMoth, further pushing him backwards.  He didn't even attempt to dodge the attack, and even fell down because of it.  He fights like some wimpy old man...

"You know, for some super-villain, you don't really put up much of a fight," Chat taunted.  "Fighting a kitten would be easier than you."

"You should know, you are that kitten," HawkMoth fired back.  Casually, he picked up Carapace's shield.  "Stop wasting my time.  I only have time for you and Ladybug," he said, tossing it hard at his friend's head.  Carapace was so unprepared for the sudden move that he only dodged a little bit of the impact; he still got hit pretty badly, and there was even a little blood.

"Carapace!" Chat yelled out, wiping the blood off of his mouth.  

"Man... I'm totally fine," he said, trying to stand up.  He fist-punched Chat, and looked at him determinedly.  "I'm not the one you should be worrying about."

You're right, he thought, then subsequently extended his baton to strike HawkMoth.  However, this time the villain easily dodged the attack.  "You wouldn't want that to happen," HawkMoth smiled.

Chat was put off by his smile.  "Um, I'm trying to hit you?  Finish you off?  That's kind of the point?"

Carapace stood beside him.  "Stop spitting riddles!"

HawkMoth let out an evil chuckle.  "I'll do no such thing.  All I know is that Chat Noir here would be heartbroken if he hit me."

Chat's angered peaked.  "I already hit you!  I don't feel heartbroken- in fact, I feel satisfied."

"Are you sure?" HawkMoth asked.  "Nothing is more important to me than you, so why wouldn't it be the other way around?"

Chat's heart stopped.  I've heard those words before...

And it wasn't HawkMoth who said them...

"Wh-What did you say?"

Marinette

Quickly, after dispelling her plan, Ladybug ran back to aid her friend in stopping Shrinkinator.  "Good timing," Rena Rouge commented as soon as she arrived.

"Y-Yeah, sorry about that," she apologized.  "Took a little longer than I thought."

Rena shook it off.  "No big deal, Girl."

"Ah, I see Ladybug joined the party again," Shrinkinator said happily.  "It was getting kind of boring without you."

"Cut the chit chat," she said curtly.  Under her breath, she whispered something to Rena Rouge.  "I need you to use your Mirage, but only when I tell you to, okay?"

Confused but ready, Rena Rouge nodded.  She was about to open her mouth and ask a question, but Chloe's voice broke in from behind.

"Oh, I'm terribly lost," she said in a fake said voice.  "Could you tell me some directions?"

"Don't you live here?  You're the mayor's-" Shrinkinator gasped, looking back at the shattered cells.  "Hey, you're not supposed to be free!"

The rest of their classmates showed up, all with taunting smiles.  "So what?" Alix asked, standing beside Chloe.  The rest of them followed in a similar fashion, all surrounding Shrinkinator in a giant circle.

"Now," Ladybug whispered to Rena Rouge.

When her time came, Ladybug silently filled the last space in the circle.  Shrinkinator turned to her and laughed.  "You make this all too easy," he said, shrinking Ladybug.  Their classmates gasped, but said nothing.  One by one, the akumatized villain shrank all of the students.  Ladybug silently waited on the outside, and took her place behind Chloe.  He certainly won't expect this.

"Thanks for trusting me, Ladybug," Chloe whispered.

"Thank you for trusting me," she whispered back as Shrinkinator turned toward Chloe, the last person left.  He laughed as he shrank her, revealing Ladybug standing full and tall behind him.  

"B-But-" he stuttered.

"You shrank me?  Oh please, that was only a mirage," Ladybug said, hands on her hips.  She winked at Rena Rouge and continued.  "Say goodbye," she said, using all of her might to swing her yo-yo at his gun.  Because he was off-guard, the gun shattered, and the troublesome akuma flew out of the pieces.

"No more evil-doing for you, little akuma," Ladybug said, swinging her yo-yo at it.  "Gotcha!  Bye bye, little butterfly," she said, watching the little white insect fly up into the sky.  Next, she pulled out her unused Lucky Charm, and threw it into the air.  "Miraculous Ladybug!"

The swarms of ladybugs flew around, and reversed everyone back to their normal sizes.  Her earrings started beeping, and Rena Rouge's necklace flashed too.  "We need to refuel," Ladybug said.  "But first... Carapace!" she called.

"What are you doing?  Chat Noir needs him!" Chloe said, enraged.

Ladybug ignored her for now, watching the turtle-themed hero come running.  "What is it, LB?" he asked.

She gestured to their classmates.  "Get them all out of here.  And- Master!" Ladybug shouted, rapidly getting to the spot where Master Fu was rubbing his head north of where they were originally.  "Master, are you okay?"

He nodded, then shakily stood up.  "You need me, don't you?" he asked, avoiding her question.

She nodded.  "Come with me," she said, leading them to their group.  Along the way she spotted Adrien fighting HawkMoth alone, and her heart hurt for him.  I'm coming Chaton, I promise you.

"Carapace, get them all out of here with your shield.  I need you to go with Master Fu somewhere.  Master knows what I need, don't you?"

"I saw your Lucky Charm," he rasped.  "Of course I do."

"Then go!" she ordered, watching Carapace call on his power to put a shield around all of them, excluding herself and Rena Rouge.  Quickly, they both ran off, and left a somewhat quiet scene behind them.

They detransformed pretty quickly, and Marinette searched her bag for any sort of food item.  Tikki and Trixx were silent, and Marinette assumed they were both just extremely tense.  Alya of course couldn't find anything, and Marinette found only one macaroon.  

"Let your kwami have it," Alya said.  "She needs all the energy she can get."

"Thank you, Alya," Tikki said, flying towards the macaroon and eating it steadily.  Eat up, Tikki.  We have to help Adrien.

https://youtu.be/Pl8iVOfwBV0

Adrien

"You heard me," HawkMoth sneered.  "Do you want me to repeat myself?"

"SHUT UP!" Chat roared, launching his baton at the villain.  His head became so messed up that he didn't even realize when Carapace and everyone else left, leaving him alone with HawkMoth.  "JUST SHUT UP!"

"Temper, temper," HawkMoth drawled, smacking the hero in the face with his staff.  Chat took a couple of steps back, his face reeling in pain.  His mouth had mostly stopped bleeding, but he still spit out some blood on the ground to show HawkMoth that he wasn't done.

"Why do you care about me so much!?" Chat demanded, trying to hit HawkMoth with his baton.  

HawkMoth shrugged, dodging the hot-headed attack easily.  "You and Ladybug have been my focus for more than a year, does that count?"

"True, but you haven't said these things to Ladybug now, have you!?"

"Seems like someone's catching on," HawkMoth cheered.  "Trust me, I am doing it for a cause that you would support."

"You don't know me," Chat retorted.

"Quite the contrary," HawkMoth said slyly.  "I know you better than anyone else."

Chat scowled.  "Unless you're Ladybug, that isn't possible."

HawkMoth laughed.  "It's quite amusing, this infatuation you have with the girl.  Well, if she's supposed to care for you and always be there for you, where is she now?"

"Right here," Ladybug's voice came from behind him.  Relieved, Chat turned to see his lady come up swinging her yo-yo in the way she always did.  "Sorry, Chaton, I was getting prepped," she said with regret in her voice.

"It's no problem, M'lady," Chat said with a wink.  He wince, as his face hurt so much that even winking hurt.  "Let's finish this.  Together?"

"Together," she said with a determined look in her eyes.

"Oh please," HawkMoth said.  "When I'm finished with you, you'll both be begging for mercy!"

"Before we start 'begging for mercy'," Ladybug said, "Why don't you tell us who you really are?  We've come this far to deserve to know, don't we?"

"Not exactly," HawkMoth said seriously.  "Besides, I don't want to tell you my identity and cost you an ally."

"Chat Noir would never betray me, or any of them!" Ladybug roared.

"Funny.  How did you know I was talking about your kitten-friend?" HawkMoth said, clearly thinking he had the upper-hand.

Ladybug faltered a little.  "You were already talking about it, duh," she stated.  "Come at us!"

"FIGHT!" Chat roared, leaping up with his baton to strike the villain.  He swung hard, and he left a reeling impact on HawkMoth's skull.  He landed, satisfied.  "There's more where that came from," he said, extending his weapon again-

HawkMoth took hold of the end of it, pulling it away from Chat.  He tossed it to the side, then approached Chat to take his ring.

"Not so fast," the hero said.  "Cataclysm!"

Instantly, his black destructive power appeared in his right hand, and HawkMoth chuckled at him.  "Fool.  Do you think a simple Cataclysm will stop me!?"

"I can kill you," Chat deadpanned.  "I can kill you and I'd have no regrets.  You've caused so much injuries, to both me and Ladybug.  You've ruined both of our lives.  You've ruined the lives of everyone you've akumatized, as well as everyone in Paris.  You deserve to die."

"My dear Adrien, you'd regret that," HawkMoth said triumphantly- Chat was confused, did his threat mean nothing!?  HawkMoth leaned closer to him, reaching for his ring.

"Stop it!" Ladybug shouted, aiming her yo-yo for a strike.  HawkMoth easily dodged it, then sighed.  

"Oh, I'm very sorry, but I shall not," HawkMoth said, striking his staff hard against Ladybug's leg.  Chat let out a small gasp as she screamed and stumbled backwards, clutching her leg in agony.

Chat leaped up to defend her, but HawkMoth easily pushed him aside.  Things seemed to go in slow motion as the villain reached for Ladybug's earings, her unable to defend herself-

"VENOM!"

Chat's eyes widened as Queen Bee appeared out of nowhere, her power of paralysis activated.  HawkMoth had no time to dodge, and Queen Bee got him right in his chest- he was paralyzed.

"You came just at the right time, Queen Bee," Ladybug said gratefully.  "I knew my Lucky Charm would be useful for something."

"It's the least I could do for you, Ladybug," Queen Bee replied kindly.  "Now, what are you waiting for!?  Take off his Miraculous!"

"I'll do it," Chat said, running over and ripping the Butterfly Miraculous off of HawkMoth's chest.  There was a flash of light and Ladybug rolled out of the way, as she knew that when his transformation wore off, his paralysis would wear off too.

The light subsided, and left was a man that looked very familiar...

Gabriel Agreste.

F-Father...!

It was YOU.

YOU were the one that ruined my life.

Why... why did it have to be you!?

Chat was silent, and he could feel Ladybug's and Queen Bee's gazes on him.  "Talk," he said simply.

"I was doing it to get your mother back, Adrien!" Gabriel pleaded, his villainous persona gone with his Miraculous.  "If I have both yours and Ladybug's Miraculouses, I can bring her back.  We can be happy again, just the three of us-"

"No." Chat's voice was firm.  "Not this way."

Slowly, he began to approach his father, a red haze filling his vision.

"You hurt thousands of people."

This man deserves to die.

"You hurt the five of us."

He ruined our lives.

B-But... he's my father-

"You're selfish.  You were never a good father to me."

His teeth clenched and he felt the blood roaring in his ears as he used both of his clawed hands to grip his father's face.

Die.  Die die DIE!

He dug his claws in deeper.

You deserve it!  You NEED to DIE!

Deeper still.  He saw blood.

W-Wait- father-

Stop it.  He deserves death, he needs to die. NOW.

More blood.

Stop it!  You're hurting him!

Good.  Destroy him.

The blood was everywhere.

This is too far- stop!

Stop it!

STOP IT!

N-No, he needs to d-

ADRIEN, STOP IT!

"ADRIEN, STOP IT!"

Ladybug's voice startled him out of his trance, and the red disappeared from his vision.  He quickly realized what he had done, and removed his hands away from his father's face, staring at them in horror.  

"Ch-Chat... your... your Cataclysm..." Ladybug's voice trailed away, and Chat realized that she was crying.  Wait... but I didn't use...

I... didn't... use...

I used both hands.

I USED BOTH HANDS.

Quickly, his eyes wide from shock, he turned toward his father, and saw a black, dusting spot on his cheek.  No.  No no no no no no.

"F-Father no!  P-Please, I d-didn't mean to-" Chat choked on a sob.  

"It's okay, Adrien.  It's for the best," he said, sighing.  "I'll finally get to see your mother again."

"F-Father-"

"I'm sorry for all the pain I caused you, son.  That's the last thing I ever wanted in life," Gabriel said, his face slowly starting to flake away like the rest of him was doing.

"P-Please-"

"Please forgive me," Gabriel whispered, and promptly turned into dust.  

Chat fell to his knees, hollow.

I killed him.

The last person I had left.

I killed him.

I killed him.

I KILLED HIM.

One single tear fell from his eye, and his blood was dripping on the ground.  He didn't see her limp over, but suddenly Ladybug was there, hugging him.  He knew she was saying things, but she couldn't hear what she was saying. 

Suddenly, something in him clicked.

He didn't want anyone near him.

Chat promptly stood up and grabbed his baton, extending it and leaving.

He knew that would be the last time he showed his face in a long, long time.

Wow, this chapter is extremely long.  And it was very... er, what's the word?  We'll go with emotional.  It caused me a lot of emotional stress >~<

But anyway, that was Chapter 21.  What do you think will happen in the next chapter?  Comment below!!  I'll try to upload the next chapter this weekend, but if not, it will come out next Wednesday.

Anyway, stay tuned!!  I hope you enjoyed it :D