The feather landed on a piece of rubble that had fallen on the ground and the Sentimonster took shape, growing taller and taller until its craggy head brushed the high, vaulted ceiling overhead. (Well, what was left of it.)

"Yes! Destroy Chat Noir and his accomplice!" Jacques laughed. "Crush them under your foot!"

"Chat! Look out!" Marinette cried, struggling to get free.

The Sentimonster turned toward her voice, shambling toward where she was lying, helpless. Chat leapt after it, whacking it on the head with his staff. It didn't even register the hit.

"Hey! Ugly!" Chat yelled, jumping in front of the rocky beast, waving his arms. "Come after me!" Chat dashed from Marinette, and the monster followed, stomping his feet.

"Yeow!" Chat yelped, as he was almost squashed, "now I know how a bug feels underfoot!'

"Finis, you fool!" Hawkmoth was furious. "I told you to leave Adrian alone!"

"Sorry, old man, plans change." Finis sneered. "Once the cat is out of the picture I can claim that ultimate wish for myself and become the music God of the century!"

Chat and Natalie were in trouble, they'd been backed into a corner; Chat's staff wasn't making a dent and he couldn't use his cataclysm to make an exit.

"Leave my son alone!" Hawkmoth lunged toward Finis, pulling the sword from his cane as he did so. Finis laughed, dodging easily out of the way, using the edge of his fan to deflect the blade away.

"Father! Help!" Chat screamed, as he and Natalie were crushed under the Sentimonster's foot.

"No!!" Hawkmoth howled, the sword dropping from his grip.

The combined exertion and grief was too much for him, and he collapsed on the ground, clutching his heart.

"Hahaha! I've won!" Finis celebrated, his feathered coat swirling as he danced around. "And now, with the ring, I'll be able to have the ultimate wish!"

The peacock villain strode past the Sentimonster.

"Lift up your foot, you idiot, so I can see his mangled corpse."

Obediently, the monster raised its foot, but...there was nothing there.

"What? What's going on?"

Jacques bent closer and looked around, baffled. There were no corpses. Not even a trace of blood. He whirled around. Marinette was gone too.

"Looking for someone?"

Chat Noir suddenly appeared out of nowhere, knocking Finis' legs out from under him with his staff. The amok slipped from the villain's grasp and was crushed under Chat's boot.

The Sentimonster evaporated and Ladybug stepped from the shadows, picking up the feather and purifying it with her yo-yo.

"What? How did this happen?" Finis yelped.

"We had a little help from our friend, Multimouse." Chat smiled, but the smile didn't quite reach his eyes. "Natalie, time for your big reveal!"

A small speck on the floor became full-sized, and a second later Natalie held out the Multi-mouse Miraculous to Ladybug, who stowed it away.

"No...I squashed her...and you!"

"You squashed an illusion." Chat corrected, "that was Natalie creating a diversion with a fake Chat and Natalie so I could release Ladybug while another of her clones stole back the earrings from Hawkmoth."

"Adrian...you're alive..." Hawkmoth lifted his head weakly and reached a hand toward his son.

"Father." Ladybug kept an eye on Finis as Chat hurried over to help his father into a nearby wheelchair.

Just then Chat's ring timed out and he was once again dressed in a rumpled shirt and slacks.

"I can't believe..." Hawkmoth started to say.

"I know." Chat answered.

"It's really you." Hawkmoth's costume dissolved, and Gabriel Agreste leaned back in his chair, looking exhausted. He dug into his pocket and retrieved a bottle of pills.

"No!" Finis stamped his foot. "I was winning! I was-" He doubled over coughing, then stared at the crimson drops of blood sprinkling his palm.

"I knew it." Natalie looked at Gabriel Agreste in disgust. "You allowed another person to be corrupted by the Miraculous."

"I needed an assistant...to complete my plan...and he was willing..." Gabriel swallowed his heart medication. "I didn't have much time left...this was supposed to be my swan song...my last attempt-"

"You selfish bastard!" Adrian glared at him. "Do you care about anyone at all?"

"There are two people in the world, I would do anything for..." Gabriel said tiredly. "The rest can just go to hell."

"Wait, does this mean I'm dying?" Finis sounded panicked.

"Your body is reacting to the impurities from the damaged peacock miraculous." Natalie explained. Finis collapsed.

"I don't want it then! Take it away! Fall my feathers!"

Finis' visage disappeared, and Jacques ripped the broach from his shirt. Natalie snatched it from his hands before he could toss it.

"We should still get you to the hospital." Natalie said, tucking the peacock miraculous in her pocket. She eyed Gabriel. "You too."

"You're...giving orders now?" Gabriel Agreste tried to sound arrogant.

"I don't work for you anymore." Natalie snapped. "I can give whatever orders I want."

With Ladybug's help she helped move Jacques over to the lift that would take them to the main part of the house. Adrian followed, pushing his father in the wheelchair.

"We can't leave yet..." Gabriel protested weakly..."Emilie...I promised." He struggled to stand, but Adrian pushed him back down.

Natalie looked at Gabriel Agreste distastefully.

"If I show you how she can be revived – without the wish - will you come quietly?"

"What do you mean, come quietly?" Adrian asked. Natalie put a hand on his shoulder.

"Adrian, you should be aware now that your father is responsible for all the terror and chaos Paris experienced from the akuma attacks." Adrian's fists clenched around the handles of the wheelchair. "Justice must be served."

"No! You can't-"

"Yes." Gabriel interrupted. "Return my wife to her full health and I'll do anything you ask."

"Father!"

Gabriel smiled at his son and patted his hand.

"Adrian. You know I'm not long for this world. But if today is my last day, my final wish would be to revive Emilie and make sure you two can be happy for the rest of your lives."

Natalie nodded briskly.

"We'll need to make a detour then."

With Adrian wheeling Gabriel behind, Ladybug and Natalie lugged Jacques down the hall to the elevator and pressed the door to open.

"Natalie? Doesn't this elevator only go down?"

Natalie shook her head and opened a secret panel, pressing a button within. The lift shuddered, then began to descend.

After a few minutes the doors opened, revealing a large, cathedral-like room, full of lush plants and fluttering white butterflies.

"Wow." Ladybug gasped, looking around at the vast secret area. She never could have imagined such an incredible place was hiding under Adrian's mansion. Adrian on the other hand, only had eyes for one thing. A wide path that led to a patch of sunlight in the middle of the room, surrounded by white flowers. And sleeping within what looked like a glass coffin, was Emilie Agreste.

"Mom." Adrian whispered.

Good Evening dear readers! It's your friendly authoress, Cantrella!

Apologies if this chapter was a little short, but I hope it was still fun and didn't leave too many questions. As a fan of the show I'm curious if there's more hardcore fans who will keep any eye on the choices I make and tell me if they like them or not. And while my story does take a few artistic liberties, it is still important to me to keep it as faithful to the story as possible...or at least what I believe the characters and storyline would be like ten years in the future :)

I'll be revealing how I think Emilie could be cured in the next chapter, but does anyone else have theories on how it could be achieved?

Sincerely,

Cantrella <3

P.S. Just wanted to give a big thank you to those who have read and voted on my story this week! You guys keep me going!

P.P.S. I'm thinking of a couple short epilogues, should I do something classic?

or modern?

ONCE AGAIN I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THIS ARTWORK, BUT IT DOES MAKE THE STORY MORE FUN!!