Chapter Text
The heroes were struggling against the Sentimonsters.
I hope Alix gets back soon, Ladybug thought.
Rena landed next to her and Chat, “You need to see this!”
She showed a video that had been filmed in a dark crypt-like location and a familiar figure.
“This is Adrien Agreste.” He began.
Chat Noir tensed,
“I have discovered this place under my house, accessed by an elevator in my father’s office and what I have discovered here…” He paused, genuinely shaken, “It’s better just to show you.”
He turned the phone around.
Ladybug and Chat Noir gasped.
It was Emilie Agreste, being kept in a high-tech coffin.
“This is my mother, who disappeared over a year ago. This and a few other things I have seen lead me to one conclusion… my father is Shadow Moth.”
Chat Noir collapsed. He wanted to think that his cousin was playing a cruel prank, but he knew Félix loved his mother. He would never make something like this up about her.
He distantly heard Ladybug arguing with Rena about going to save Adrien.
“That’s not Adrien,” He said quietly.
“What?” Ladybug asked.
“It’s not Adrien, it’s his cousin Félix.”
“Him again?” Rena said, “How can you be so sure?”
“I can’t tell you how, but I know beyond any doubt that’s not Adrien, and I also know Félix is in Paris.”
The girls exchanged looks they couldn't exactly push Chat Noir for more when they had been keeping Rena’s continued involvement a secret from him.
“Okay, we believe you,” Ladybug said, “But what do we do about this?”
A portal opened, “You can start by de-akumatizing the Akuma,” Bunny Dog said, “Fetch!”
Her ball flew off, and a moment later a stuffed toy appeared in her hands.
Ladybug sighed in relief, “Good job, Bunny Dog.”
She ripped the toy and cast her Miraculous Ladybug while Bunny Dog took off the Dog Miraculous.
“The four of us will head to the mansion while the others keep the Sentimonsters occupied,” Ladybug decided.
She was relieved to have a clear head again.
Thanks to Risk’s power, a mob had formed soon after the video had been uploaded.
They paused briefly when the ladybugs washed over them before continuing as they were.
Shadow Moth and Nathalie had snuck out through a secret exit and were walking down an alleyway.
Shadow Moth had recognised his nephew instantly.“Félix will pay for this!” He vowed.
“You’re not going to get the chance,” Ladybug said as the four heroes landed in front of him.
“Lucky Charm!” Ladybug got a sword.
Shadow Moth glared at Rena Furtive, “I should have seen through you’re ruse, Alya Césaire.”
Bunnyx looked at Rena in surprise, but strangely, Chat Noir didn’t.
“As we should have seen through yours,” Ladybug replied, “You Akumatized yourself to throw us off the trail when we found your book.”
“I wasn’t certain you had found it, but it was best to be prepared. Now surrender your Miraculous!”
“Is that all you care about?” Chat asked.
“I need them to save my wife!”
“It would come at too high a price,” Ladybug told him.
“No price is too high!”
The heroes, Shadow Moth and his assistant battled while another player snuck up on Shadow Moth.
He snatched the Peacock Miraculous when Shadow Moth was knocked toward him.
“No!” The villain cried.
“Félix!” Chat Noir added.
“Duusu, spread my feathers!”
Félix transformed into a costume with a blue hood.
“Why did you do all this, Félix?” Chat asked.
“Please call me Argos, I did this to free myself and those I love from him!” He pointed at Hawk Moth, “No more will he control us! No more will he create living things only to destroy them when they are of no more use!”
“Oh, you mean like this?” Hawk Moth concentrated on his staff, and a feather came out.
“Nooooo!”
On the other side of Paris, the three Strikebacks disappeared.
“You killed them!” Argos lunged forward, but Hawk Moth grabbed Nathalie and jumped to the rooftops.
The other heroes joined them and searched for the Hawk Moth and Nathalie but found nothing.
“So, what do we do about him? Rena asked.
Argos was sitting by himself in a corner.
Ladybug sighed. That was a good question.
“I have ears,” Argos said, “And I’m not giving you this Miraculous.”
Chat Noir approached him.
“Why didn’t you tell us your suspicions about your uncle?”
“Why should I? Ladybug is no better than he is, controlling everything, deciding what’s right or wrong, who gets powers and who doesn’t.”
Ladybug wilted at the words.
“That’s not true. She and Hawk Moth are nothing alike,” Chat said.
“Aren’t I though?” Ladybug said, “I lied to you, kept you at a distance, and every time you offered a helping hand, I never took it.”
She looked at Argos, “So long as you don’t commit any crimes with it, you can keep the Miraculous.”
“What?!” Chat, Rena and Argos exclaimed.
“You care for the Sentimonsters in a way no one else does.”
“Don’t call them monsters,” Argos said, “I don’t like that word.
“You see what I mean? I’m taking a chance on you. Don’t make me regret it.”
Argos stared at her, “You really are different from him.”
After he left, Rena said, “I hope you know what you’re doing.”
“If I learnt anything today, it’s that I can’t control everything,” She looked at Chat, “And that sometimes you have to take a risk.”
“And so Félix is given a chance, and in time, he joins Ladybug’s team to fight against his uncle.”
Argos stood with the rest of the heroes as Hawk Moth’s latest Akuma rampaged through the streets of Paris.
He never imagined he would be here fighting alongside someone he had thought the same as Gabriel, but they had both been as good as their word. He never used the Peacock for crime, and she never tried to take it off him.
He had grown close to Chat Noir, who reminded him of his cousin and Ryuko, whom he had a lot in common with.
Life can surprise you sometimes.
“All right, let’s move out,” Ladybug said, and they jumped into action.