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Seagulls stole my entire burger once š
(forgot the AO3 link)
Adrien desperately banged on the door of his padded cell. He needed to get out, but the nightmares were so intense, so surreal, so horrifying. Every couple of minutes, his mind would flash back to the desolate wasteland coated in the remains of Paris, holding the ashened corpse of Marinette and donning the unnerving white suit. He banged the door one last time before sliding to his knees and letting out a couple of tears. Plagg watched all of this from Adrienās shoulder, a mix of pity and anger coursing through his mind. This was ridiculous! How could Gabriel do this to his own son! He had half a mind to atomize this entire building, but the power of the unsuppressed Cataclysm could destroy Adrien and Kagami along with it.
Suddenly, one of the walls to the room started to crumble. Plagg quickly jets to find somewhere to hide and Adrien looks at the weakening wall with concern. A fist made of smooth black crystal crashes through the wall, completely destroying it. Two blue feather daggers flew out of the resulting cloud of smoke at the speed of bullets, one of them impaling the camera in the upper corner, and the other impaling the camera in the middle of the alliance robot.
Recognizing the daggers, Adrien stood up and called, āFelix?āĀ
The cloud of smoke cleared as if on cue, revealing Argos stepping in through the hole. Behind him stepped a 9 foot tall humanoid figure made of smooth black crystal with no hair and a singular white eye on the center of its face. It wore what Adrien recognized as a gi similar to that of Su-Hanās, but blue and white instead of red and black.Ā
āHello, cousin. Iām sure youāre happy to see me.ā Argos said.Ā
Adrien looked at Argos with wary eyes as he asked, āWhat are you doing here?ā As soon as the words left his mouth, the nightmare came back, bringing Adrien to his knees as he clutched his head. Argos rushed over to him and kneeled down next to him, putting an arm over his shoulder. āIām here to get you and Kagami out of here.ā Argos explained as he brought Adrien to his feet.Ā
Adrien began, āNo, no I canāt go. Father-ā
āAdrien, your father locked you here without a second thought. He took you away from your friends. Heās taken you away from your own true love. That man is despicable.ā Argos scolded.
āYou donāt know what heāll do.ā Adrien retorted.
Against all better judgment, Argos blurted out, āAdrien, your father is Monarch.ā
Adrienās eyes widened as he stuttered out, āW-what?ā
The nightmares began intensifying again. Argos explained everything thatās been going on behind Adrienās back, that his father has been the menace of Paris the entire time, that heās the reason Nathalie is on her deathbed, that heās been doing all of this to revive his mother, that an army of Miraclonized soldiers are attacking Ladybug at this very moment, and the one that shocked him the most, that he, Felix, and Kagami are sentimonsters. Thatās why he felt like he could never disobey his father. Thatās why heās felt like a slave his entire life.Ā
Adrienās eyes narrowed as he clenched his fist in anger. He tried to stand up but the nightmares intensified again. He looked at Argos and slid off his ring. He handed it to Argos and said, āTake thi-Take this to Ladybug.ā
Argos asked, āWhat, why?ā Before looking down at the ring and realizing what it was. Argosā eyes widened as Plagg floated down next to Adrien and asked, āKid?ā
āIām not strong enough to fight off these nightmares, but Ladybug is. I wonāt be of any use out there or anywhere. I might as well stay here.ā Adrien said.
Argos extended his hand to take the ring, but after a moment of hesitation, he changed his mind, instead closing Adrienās hand around the ring and pushing it into his chest. āThe world needs Chat Noir just as much as it needs Ladybug. Iām going to go get Kagami, but you need to fight the nightmares, you need to transform.ā Argos said before turning to the sentimonster standing in the corner.
āHelio, follow me.ā Argos said. The sentimonster nodded and the two began walking out of the room. Before the sentimonster left the room, it locked eyes with Adrien and gave him a supporting gaze with its singular eye.Ā
It then left the room, leaving Adrien and Plagg alone. Plagg said, āYou heard him, Adrien. Transform. Please.ā Adrien whimpered, āIām sorry, Plagg, I ca-AAAAAAAAAAGH!ā The nightmares got even more intense and surreal than they were before. Pain spread through the entirety of his head. He clutched his hair and closed his eyes, trying to bear the pain. Soon, it subsided and he opened his eyes to see that he was back in the wasteland, standing on the top of a building and looking down at the chaos. He saw himself kneeling down on the ground, holding the same ashened corpse. Confusion filled his mind as he looked to the right and saw a giant ripple of sea water making its way through Paris.Ā
Here comes a wave meant to wash me away, designed to start pulling me under.Ā
He watched the wave wash over the other him and coat the rest of the destroyed city.
Broken again, left with nothing to say, my voice drowned out in the thunder.
He blinked and found himself at the front steps of Francois Dupont. Adrien reeled back in shock as he watched himself running up the steps of the school. The other him stopped halfway and turned around to look atā¦Nathalie!? And then Adrien realized that this is one of his memories. As the familiar argument ensued, Adrien turned to see Master Fu laying on the ground. It felt good to see Fu again, heād never even heard any more of Fu after Miracle Queen.
Try to resist, but Iām just isolated.
The other him ran down the stairs to go help Fu, and Adrien smiled. He was forever thankful for this moment. The moment that began the legacy of Chat Noir and granted him that small taste of freedom.
I canāt assist, so forget me and let me drown.
With another blink, he was taken to the front room of the mansion. His home.Ā
I wait in silence, hope on the horizon.
Adrien slowly trudged up the steps. He tried to feel the guard rail, but his hand just went right through it. He continued trudging as he looked at the picture of him and his father at the top of the steps.Ā
Let it be, donāt riot. Itās too late, just go lay there speechless.Ā
He walked towards his room door.
Itās paining, I feel my weak heart aching.
Adrien phases through his room door to spread his gaze across his wide and spacious bedroom. Many wouldāve called this place heaven, but especially now, it and the rest of the mansion felt like another prison.
I hear her screams, mālady. Itās my fate, so Iāll wait here speechless.
He blinked and found himself inside of the school. He saw another him walking to class with Nino, Marinette, and Alya walking with him.
Every order, arrangement, contract.Ā
Another blink and he was standing at the back of his full and lively classroom, watching the other his classmates talk excitedly.Ā
Said from the mouth of another.Ā
He slowly looked over the bright smiles of his classmates, and stopped when he saw the radiant shine of Marinetteās beautiful expression.Ā
Every scream from the selfishest quest.
He blinked and found himself in his fatherās work room, facing the portrait of his mother.
To fruitlessly bring back my mother.Ā
He ran his hand across the painting.
Would she be proud of what heās doing?
In the blink of an eye, he was taken to another memory, one of a much younger Adrien holding his motherās hand while she laid on the bed and stared at the ceiling.Ā
Would she believe that this was for the best?
He was then transported to the top of another building, staring down at an undestroyed Paris. He looked to his left and saw Ladybug standing next to him. He looked down at his hands and realized he was Chat Noir. A cloud of smoke erupted from the bottom of the Eiffel tower and Ladybug started swinging towards it. A smile spread across Chat Noirās face as he ran and leaped over the rooftops.
I canāt be silenced, canāt keep up this abiding.
He vaulted across the sky, feeling like he was walking on clouds.
Canāt tremble when he tries it. I will rise, no more crying speechless. Speechless!
He landed on the ground in the middle of a crowd of humanoid figures made of solid black energy. They rushed at him and started to battle them all.
So Iāll bleed, like those he came before me! Iām half of what the world needs!Ā
With one final attack, he knocked the last of the figures to the floor. The ground beneath him started to crumble.
Better late than to lay here speechless!
The ground crumbled, causing him to fall into a pitch black void. He twirled his staff above him to slow his descent.Ā
You canāt order me around, and I wonāt back down and comply!
He landed on some invisible platform.Ā
I will take these rusted claws and cut these frayed and wethered ties!
Suddenly, all sound cut out as Chat Noir turned around and eyed a levitating blue string. It ran for miles and seemed to be connected to nothing, but something inside him knew what it was. It was a physical manifestation of the magical bond that linked him to his father, or rather, his fatherās ring. His eyes narrowed as he held his hand up in the air and roared out, āCataclysm!āĀ
Instead of the normal black bubbles, a solid mass of black energy formed in his palm. It grew, and twisted, and changed shape around his hand until it formed sharp claws radiating with destructive black light. He stared down the line swinging his claws at the string.
Hear the echoes screaming out!
The claws impacted the string and severed it completely. The moment the string was cut, Adrien was blasted back to real life. It felt like a myriad of strings had been detached from his body. All except one.
Plagg looked at Adrien with concern and anticipation. The young Agreste stood up, raised his fist in the air, and roared, āPlagg, Claws Out!āĀ
I wonāt be silent!Ā
The kwami flew into the ring just as another Alliance robot rolled into the room. Green lightning crawled across his body, forming into his suit. Except itās different from his normal suit. There are sharp silver accents over it, as well as thick black and neon green boots and gloves with clawed tips. His normal belt was replaced by what looked like a utility belt with a gold catās head shaped buckle, and attached to the back of this belt was a wider black rectangular tail-like attachment with a golden circle and neon green tassels at the end of it.Ā
Out thereās a life without you, and Iāll find it! Itās my fate, I wonāt wait here speechless! Speechless!
Chat Noir raised his hand in the air and yelled, āMega Cataclysm!ā A pillar of black energy erupted from his hand, piercing through the ceiling. He lowered his hand, and the beam along with it. The beam acted as a sword as he pulled it in a circle and cut the building in half horizontally.Ā
Iām breaking, my freedom Iāll be taking, Iāll be there to help my lady!Ā
The top half of the building crumbled to debris. Chat Noir pulled out his staff and vaulted himself through the destroyed roof.
Cause I know that I wonāt go speechless! All I know is I wonāt go speechless! Speechless!
He vaulted into the skies as Argos and Kagami watched from the roof of a nearby building.