Author's Notes:

Hello, dear readers! For those of you awaiting updates to my other Miraculous Ladybug stories, they're coming...eventually...I promise! This is just how my creative process works; if I have a new idea, I have to run with it even though I've got like, way too many unfinished stories going...

Anyway, this is just an idea I had recently that wouldn't let go, and it's been simmering in my mind until I had a flash of inspiration and added enough details to actually sit down and make a go of it. Hope you enjoy!

There are a few spoilers for already-aired season 2 episodes, as well as some vague speculations and presumptions.

Oh, and if you're wondering about that Green Lantern...thing...I posted a few days ago, that's not going to be continued. It's a terrible idea and I'm washing my hands of it.

"Huh, so this is how it all works?" a soft, low voice asked, glancing at a piece of jewelry cupped delicately in pale hands.

"That's right," a high-pitched voice said. "Now, why don't we have a little fun?"

The person holding the delicate little butterfly brooch looked up, eyes full of doubt. "What do you mean by 'fun'?"

The tiny lavender creature floating in the air gave a wicked smile. "You remember how it was before, right?" it said. "Every few days, someone would be Akumatized, go crazy, cause a lot of chaos in Paris. Then Ladybug and Chat Noir would come along and stop them."

"Well, yeah," the person holding the Butterfly Miraculous said, frowning. "It caused a lot of problems for everyone, and..."

Tiny eyes narrowed. "But it sure was a lot of fun to watch, right? All those crazy supervillains, and the superheroes fighting them..." The smile turned brighter. "And they always win, and Ladybug always fixes all the damage, so it doesn't really hurt anything, right?"

"Umm..."

The smile turned dark again. "You know, a certain girl who's bullied and harassed a lot of people usually caused most of the Akumas. In fact, it got to a point where he paid a lot of attention to her, because he KNEW he'd be able to work with whatever she gave him. And every time one of her victims was Akumatized, they terrorized her...and doesn't she deserve it most of all?"

"W-well..."

"Come on. Think about it. You can scare that spoiled little brat, cause some havoc, sit back and enjoy the show...and Ladybug and Chat Noir always win, so there's no real harm, right?"

"I...I don't know..."

"Come on," the little lavender creature wheedled. "Try it. Just once. I think you'll like it."

The person holding the Miraculous swallowed heavily. "W-well...maybe just once? Just to see how this all works?"

"That's the spirit!"

"So, uhh...what do I do?"

An evil smile. "Pin it to your shirt, then say..."

NOOROO: DARK WINGS RISE

Five months had passed since the defeat of Hawk Moth.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng and Adrien Agreste were now in their first year of lycée, and in a committed relationship. There'd been hurdles along the way—the revelation of their secret identities to one another had been shocking, traumatic, and tumultuous, and the presence of Kagami and Lukas as romantic distractions during collège had not helped matters when the time came—but as Ladybug and Chat Noir, they had put an end to the machinations of Hawk Moth, recovered the Butterfly Miraculous, and returned it to Master Fu.

When certain truths had come to light in the final confrontation, a veritable maelstrom of changes had followed. Adrien had been shocked, outraged, and confused when they had finally unmasked their arch enemy, and had very nearly killed him in a blind rage. Thanks to Ladybug's intervention, they were able to sit Gabriel Agreste down and get the whole story out of him. After he confessed everything, Adrien was still furious with him, upset over the revelation, and hurt at the betrayal, but Marinette's compassion and soothing presence tempered his anger into a quiet, sullen disgust.

And really, he couldn't bring himself to hate what his father wanted to do—just the incredibly insane, dangerous, amoral way he went about it.

After the fact, Gabriel Agreste had gone to the mayor directly and confessed everything, with Ladybug and Chat Noir at his side. He made a personal request of the mayor: whatever happened to him and to his company, Adrien should not bear any of his punishment. Mayor Bourgeois had agreed, and used his clout to prevent Adrien from suffering the fallout of being a supervillain's son.

Of course, the Gabriel brand was no more, the mansion had been seized, and Adrien was left with a rather sizeable trust fund that would put him through university and give him a comfortable enough life after. Nathalie Sancoeur had fled the country before her role in Hawk Moth's reign of terror could come under scrutiny, and Adrien couldn't bring himself to do anything about it except wish her well. Gorilla had been hired by Mayor Bourgeois, as he had no part in any of Hawk Moth's criminal mischief.

As for Adrien, he'd been taken in by Marinette's family, and their love and support had carried him through hard days. With the love of his life by his side and his friends around him, he'd achieved a state of contentment, even happiness, he hadn't felt since before his mother's disappearance.

And then a week ago, their world had been thrown out of balance again.

Master Fu had passed away. By the time Wayzz was able to make his way to Marinette to tell her, someone had burglarized his home. The Miraculous had been stolen—all of them except for the Turtle, which Ladybug had managed to recover at the morgue. On their off hours, Ladybug, Chat Noir, and the few friends who were in the know scoured the city, searching for any hint as to what had become of the lost Miraculous.

"How bad can it really be, though?" Alya asked as she, Adrien, and Marinette sat in the park, taking a break and comparing history notes. "I mean, Hawk Moth knew exactly what he had and what he was doing, but how many people are likely to just randomly activate and misuse a Miraculous?"

"After the whole Volpina thing, we can't be sure it won't happen," Adrien said. "Even though Lila was Akumatized, the whole thing with her was proof that you don't have to be an evil mastermind to have bad intentions, and people with bad intentions who get superpowers..." He shuddered.

"He's right," Marinette said. "We have to be—"

A cacophony of screams rang out, along with a series of explosions and a loud, maniacal cackle. The three teens tensed. Alya's eyes widened behind her glasses. "Okay, the timing on that is just spooky," she said.

Marinette and Adrien looked at each other, nodded once, and took off running. Forty seconds later, Ladybug and Chat Noir were speeding across the city in the direction of the screams.

"So what do you think we're gonna find today?" Chat Noir asked, trying to keep his tone light. "Annoyed postal worker? Angry giant baby? Terrorists?"

"Don't even joke about that last one," Ladybug said tersely.

"Right, my bad." They soon arrived on the scene of pure chaos. A man with pale purple skin and stiff dark red hair brushed into a forward-swept style that resembled a torch stood outside the TVi studio building. He wore a dark purple spandex bodysuit with a broad white stripe down the center and a large black star-shaped medallion hanging around his neck. A black headband was wrapped around his head, holding his flaming hair up. His eyes were framed by a dark purple mask that looked like a cross between the letter X and a butterfly. In one hand, he held a large golden microphone.

"Hello, Paris!" he yelled. "I'm SUPERSTAR! I don't care what those hacks in the media say, I'll ALWAYS be number one! BA-BAM!" With that last utterance, several windows in the TVi building exploded, raining busted glass on a crowd of bystanders who were screaming and running for cover.

Ladybug and Chat Noir ducked behind a hedge, staring at each other in shock and horror. "No," Chat Noir whispered.

"It...it can't be," Ladybug said.

Chat Noir clenched a fist, eyes narrowed. "Hawk Moth..."

"It's impossible!" Ladybug said. "He's in prison! There's no way he could've gotten the Miraculous back!"

"BRING ME JAGGED STONE!" Superstar bellowed. "I want all of Paris to watch as I blow him off the charts!" More windows exploded.

Ladybug's face settled into a determined, serious look. "Okay, that's definitely XY," she said.

Chat Noir took in his partner's change in demeanor and nodded, eyes sharp and serious. "Yeah, he didn't even change that much," he said. He peered over the hedge, then crouched back down. "The Akuma's either in the microphone or that huge piece of bling."

"Probably the bling," Ladybug said. "If...if this really is an Akuma..."

Chat Noir flexed his claws. "What else could it be?"

"Fair point." Ladybug nodded, then leapt over the hedge, spinning her yo-yo. Chat Noir was right behind her.

"Superstar!" Ladybug yelled. "You're about to become a no-hit wonder!"

Superstar grinned. "Ladybug! Chat Noir! So good of you to come! I know you both want my autograph, since I'm about to blow up!" A series of explosions rocked the ground; asphalt and debris sprayed into the air, peppering the two heroes as they landed. They covered their faces against the assault, then went on the attack.

The battle against Superstar raged across three city blocks. After one of Superstar's explosion attacks set an entire block on fire, Chat Noir used his Cataclysm to break open all the fire hydrants along the street. While he battled the blaze, Ladybug used her Lucky Charm, which gave her a ladybug-patterned microphone. She used the feedback from her microphone to cause Superstar's weapon to explode, after which she yanked the black star medallion off his chest and broke it.

Chat Noir landed beside her just as a purple-black butterfly flapped madly into the sky, trying to escape. Mouth set in a grim line, Ladybug wordlessly captured the Akuma and purified it, releasing a white butterfly. She then threw the microphone into the sky for her Miraculous Ladybug cure; once the damage from the battle was repaired, she stalked hurriedly away, her shoulders squared in anger, confusion, and dismay. Chat Noir followed her, his tail stiff and his claws curling in anger.

Two blocks away, Marinette leaned against an alley wall, pale and shaking. Her wide, terrified blue eyes searched Adrien's furious, haunted green ones. "It's him," she whispered. "It's really him. He's...he's back..."

"I can't believe it," Adrien snarled. "I can't believe it!"

Tikki and Plagg watched their partners sadly, sharing a look of confusion and worry.

The new owner of the Butterfly Miraculous chuckled softly. "Heh...that was cool." A smile curved a pair of pale lips. "Nooroo, dark wings fall."

In a pink flash and a flurry of glowing butterflies, the transformation fell away. Nooroo reappeared, smiling at his new master. "See? I told you you'd enjoy it."

"Yeah."

"So...wanna keep playing together?"

The new Hawk Moth grinned, brushing a strand of hair away from a rose-colored eye. "That'd be so awesome..."

À SUIVRE...

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