Notes

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“I can’t believe it.”
“Can’t believe what ruddy part of it?”
“Chat Noir is that dude Adrien Agreste.”
“I can’t ruddy believe he’s dead.”
“I would cry but the dude Ladybug is here and she deserves to cry so much more than us.”
Ladybug could tell what they were saying out of her fuzzy state but she couldn’t respond or see anything when she tried.
“Yeah, poor Ladybug. She’s always been our dudette hero and now her boyfriend is dead. And we still don’t ruddy know why.”
“Rumor has it he was dropped off the ruddy Eiffel Tower.”
“No way! That’s like, totally the most dangerous thing to do!”
All of a sudden, Ladybug’s efforts succeeded and her eyes flew open. The first thing she saw was two quite fat security officers a few meters away from her trying to act cool and impress each other.
The funny image was quickly replaced by the hazy memory of Adrien’s dead body. She looked outside and noticed the time—two a.m. in the morning only. She’d only been out for half an hour.
After blacking out and coming back, Ladybug was able to control her emotions a little more. However, that didn’t stop her brain from freezing every time she thought of what had happened.
The night seemed to go on longer than ever. She woke up not feeling like she blacked out at all—her only hint was the exhaustion still instilled in her body.
Then one part of his death swam back to her eyes. The fact that Chat Noir is Adrien Agreste. She never really considered the possibility—but it was the only positive thing about all this. She now knew her entire heart belonged to him, Chat Noir and Adrien. She had gotten to know and develop a crush on both sides of him.
And then he died.
No, no, stop. That can’t be true. She immediately looked to her right and there was Adrien, still in the exact position as she had found him. His kwami was nowhere to be found either. Maybe his Miraculous stopped working. The reality had sunk in and there was no point denying it; Adrien Agreste was dead.
She just sat up and stared at him, which was when the officers acknowledged her presence.
“Oh howdy, Ladybug, how you doodle doin’?”
“Uh, hi.” She replied, trying her best to stay polite but not containing it. “Why are you here…?”
“We were waiting for your dudeness to wake up so you can say goodbye to the boy.”
Excuse me?
“Uhm, thank you for your kindness, but may I ask of one favour?”
“Of course, dude!”
“Can you keep Adrien here for a few more hours? Maybe until sunrise?”
The officers looked at each other and shrugged.
“Sure.”
“Thanks.” Ladybug smiled in gratefulness.
“No problem! I think our job in this ruddy place is done. Les’go, Chuck!”
And with that, they waddled out of the room.
Ladybug couldn’t bring herself to laugh at them, and after a few minutes she couldn’t bring herself to continue staring at Adrien’s corpse. She slid out of her generously provided bed and paced around the room for a few moments, thinking maybe a bout of fresh air would help her calm down.
She jogged out of the room, giving Adrien a peck on the cheek on the way out and pretending he was just asleep. It felt good. She continued to the door and didn’t give a second look to anyone on the way out. She just kept running wherever her legs would take her. Her legs seemed to know where to go, because she ran straight in the direction of the Eiffel Tower and absentmindedly began climbing up. When the thrill of the air rush faded, she just sat at the top of the tower and looked around at the now restored Paris. Did saving all these people really require Chat Noir—Adrien’s death?
Her thoughts just continued spinning for minutes until a loud stomp caused her to look up abruptly and her insides shattered again. It couldn’t be…
Volpina was standing on top of the tower, swaying her hips and looking at the spotted hero comically.
“Oh, hi, Maribrat! Didn’t see you there, hehe.”
Ladybug’s face turned milk white and she could only manage to stutter, “Wha—how?”
“It wasn’t that hard for Hawkmoth to akumatize me again, you know.”
Hawkmoth can still akumatize people?
“You can’t do the same thing as before because the butterfly is still in your stupid de-evilizer.” She snickered for what must have been the millionth time that night. “So you wanna keep fighting from where we left off, or are you going to give up?”
Without any warning, Ladybug was filled with all the anger she had been holding against Volpina and she stood up abruptly, keeping the anger in her eyes.
“Lila!” She snapped sharply. “Don’t you dare talk to me. It’s your fault for everything, that Paris is gone, that protection from Hawkmoth is gone, that your school and home and friends are gone—”
Volpina raised an eyebrow. “Speaking of friends, where’s that dumb cat friend of yours? Did he finally decide to bail?”
The spotted hero was now seeing red. The anger boiled up to her mouth where she violently delivered it to Volpina.
“It’s your fault that Chat Noir is gone, too!” She screamed, her fist giving a blow to Volpina, who wasn’t prepared, and sending her flying over the Eiffel Tower.
As Volpina was falling in slow-motion, Ladybug remembered the same thing that happened with Chat Noir and how scared he was, how he sparked sadness all around him. And then she decided she didn’t want to be the cause of the same depression that she was handed so gracefully.
She pointed her arm downwards and her yo-yo dropped out of her hands at lightning speed, capturing Volpina by the waist and leaving her dangling ten meters above the floor. Volpina looked up at Ladybug in an uncommon mix of confusion, relief, and mischievousness.
All of a sudden, a voice came down from somewhere in the sky.
“Great catch, Ladybug.”
The spotted hero’s fears and doubts were all confirmed as, for the third time that day, she lost all the hope that was ever given to her.
The figure dominating the sky maliciously was none other than Hawkmoth.
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The darkness subsided to reveal a very brightly lit room, so that he had to shut his eyes in order not to get hurt.
It wasn’t only well lit, it was huge. So big that he couldn’t see the end of it.
He looked at his hands, which were ghostly white. He looked at his radiating body, but there were no clothes on it. He wondered why he was naked; until the clothes he imagined himself wearing materialized on the floor.
He walked to them and picked them up in surprise, noticing that they looked real and felt real.
Where am I?
On queue, a man with an excessively long beard and a big, ancient-looking robe walked into the room from practically nowhere.
“Why hello, Adrien.”
What? How does he know my name?
“How do I know your name?!” The man chuckled. “Of course I know your name! You’re half of the duet that works to save Paris, and a model on the other side! The real question is, how can I not know your name?”
Adrien’s eyes widened as he registered the fact that this man could read his thoughts.
The man seemed to suddenly remember his purpose here as he stalked over to the fluffy new couch and plopped down on it, grunting in pleasure. He looked up at Adrien and patted the spot next to him. The blond boy hesitated for a moment before stiffly walking to his destination and sitting down.
“H-hi.” He cautiously tested out his voice.
The man smiled in amusement. “Why, hello!”
Adrien suddenly grew comfortable with the man and blurted, “You have a lot of explaining to do.”
The man nodded in understanding. “Let’s start with my name. I’m Wang Li. I am one of the very few people that is aware of the presence of the Miraculouses. In fact, I know the most about these Miraculouses.”
Wang threw his long beard over one shoulder. “You are very lucky, Adrien, very very lucky.”
“But why?”
“You are in the room that is yet to determine where you should continue. It is the stage between complete life and complete death. Though you’re nearing towards death.”
“So I’m dead?”
“Yes and no.” He stated simply.
Adrien’s heart sank to his stomach as he remembered hearing Ladybug cry out to him for help, and how he couldn’t do anything about it. He remembered how Plagg told him that when he died, he detransformed and now Ladybug knew who he was. And right after he heard what had sounded like the end of that strange battle. He imagined Marinette in such heartbreak—and suddenly he wanted to go back to her more than anything.
“How do I go back to my life?” He stated abruptly.
“Oh, ho ho, it’s not so simple.” Wang raised his eyebrows. “Now let me tell you why you are so lucky. For one, I am the mage who created the Miraculouses for good, but that is an entirely different story for the next time we meet again.”
Adrien raised an eyebrow but motioned for him to continue.
“Every Miraculous has its own power. The ladybug kwami, for example, has the ability to trespass walls. The butterfly kwami has the ability to levitate objects. The fox kwami can lie so convincingly that anyone will certainly believe it—even its own holder.”
“And the cat kwami?”
“Ah, young Adrien, the cat kwami is different. In fact, the power is not in the kwami at all, but rather in the Miraculous itself. And it is a greater power than all the other Miraculouses combined.”
“But—”
“Yes, you may have thought that the ladybug Miraculous should be the one with the most power since Ladybug, in the end, is the one that de-evilizes the akuma and finishes the job, meaning she has slightly more power than the cat.”
“Yeah, so what does the cat Miraculous do that’s so powerful?”
“It’s something big, so brace yourself.”
“Okay…”
“The cat Miraculous has the power to restore the life of one, and only one holder in the entire history of Miraculouses.”
Adrien’s eyes grew to twice their original size. “What—how? Why not the other Miraculouses.”
“Well, you see, every animal has a theme. The ladybug’s is good luck, the fox is cunning, the butterfly is free, but the cat is not bad luck at all. The theme I was able to find was the nine lives the cat has. Since I can only give power to the Miraculouses based on their theme, the cat Miraculous was the only one that involved lives and therefore the only one I could give a life to its holder.”
“And you haven’t used it on anyone else yet?”
“No. And I don’t plan to. You have way too much to waste; you’re young, you’re useful to the world, and you have a love life worth saving.” He winked, making Adrien smile at the thought of Marinette.
“And most of all, there’s a huge need for you—coming from Paris. Paris needs you more than anything now. So go, you must save Paris. I’ll be cheering you on the entire time.”
Adrien paused before nodding firmly. “How do I get back to my life?”
“Well, you just have to walk on until the end of the room and stand on the beam you’ll find at the end, but let the old man give you some advice. When you go back, Hawkmoth will be there.
You must use the power given to you by the Miraculouses combined with your relationship with Marinette to defeat him, as he is ten times more powerful than you and will destroy you whole if you don’t fight back. I don’t mean to scare you, Adrien, but this is a crucial time and I’m counting on you. However, there is one side effect that I haven’t been able to get rid of.” He whispered in Adrien’s ear for a while, making his heart drop but keeping his courage steady. “That’s why I wrote you a quick note to take back with you so that you can understand what to do when you get back. You can do this, boy.”
The blond boy nodded again and stood up to leave. “Thank you so much. I can’t thank you enough.”
Wang shook his head. “You don’t have to. I know.”
“Of course you do.” He laughed nervously.
“Now go, Adrien, and save the world.” The old man stood up to see him off. “I can’t guide you further because I am already dead, but I believe in you.” He smiled before adding, “Have fun!”
Adrien walked forwards, waving back to Wang. When he was out of sight he walked for several minutes, then found a beam that emitted a twist of black and green light. He stepped into the pod and let the light consume him.