Chapter 5: Unified

"We can't leave the the prisoner before the punishment is complete," said Princess Justice.

"I'll tie her up with Owl-erangs," said Dark Owl.

He tied up not only Lila but the other students in the locker room.

"We'll be back to finish this," Princess Justice promised.

"Hurry and hunt down Chat Noir," sent Scarlet Moth. "He'll get away!"

Verity Queen said, "Princess Justice, the Ladybug Miraculous was given freely to Scarlet Moth and it is thus his property. Chat Noir has stolen it and assaulted those guarding it. I don't need to force a confession from him. You are empowered to use any punishment on him, including the death penalty."

"I could remove a foot with Yuè first to incapacitate him," said Princess Justice. "Or there's another part I could remove to cause him even greater suffering."

"Watch out. With both Miraculouses he is extremely dangerous," sent Scarlet Moth. "If he combines them... It could be all over. We need an edge."

"I know his secret identity," said Princess Justice.

"Splendid!" sent Scarlet Moth. "We can threaten his loved ones. Tell me."

"Chat Noir is Adrien Agreste," said Princess Justice.

"What? Adrien?" sent Scarlet Moth.

"We'll go to the Agreste Mansion and take the thief's father hostage to force him to surrender," said Verity Queen.

"No need for that," sent Scarlet Moth hastily. "I'll come and join you in the hunt. His Miraculous and the one he has stolen will soon be mine!"

Cat Bird landed on a rooftop. With a "Plagg, claws in," he released the flying transformation, but not his Chat Noir form.

Chat held up the earrings. "You can come out now, Ladybug kwami."

Nothing happened. He tried putting them on (Adrien had his ears pierced for jewelry modeling.)

Tikki appeared. "Thank you for saving me, Chat Noir! I'm Tikki, the kwami of Creation. When Ladybug's civilian identity took off her earrings with the intention of giving them to Scarlet Moth, she renounced me. I would have been enslaved by him once he got hold of my Miraculous."

"I know who Ladybug is now," said Chat Noir. "Marinette."

"You weren't supposed to find out, but we'll deal with that later. You need to free her from the akuma. It's in her purse, which became her judge's hat."

"If she gets the earrings back and does a Miraculous Cure, will it free everyone?"

"You will have release the magic that empowers Scarlet Moth first. It was in his cane last time. Or release the akuma he created that gave him the power boost."

"This isn't going to be easy, is it? An akuma villain with all the combat strategy of Ladybug, plus a bunch more against just me. And I have to find and defeat Scarlet Moth. It's like Heroes Day, but with no Ladybug."

"I have faith in you. You've done well so far," said Tikki.

"I'm going to need all the power I can get. Master Fu taught me how to combine two Miraculouses if I ever needed to."

"No! Don't do that, not Creation and Destruction together!"

"I have to. Tikki, Plagg, Unify!"

Chat Noir gestured with his left and right hands, bringing them together.

There was the sound of a thunderclap and brilliant flash of energy.

Scarlet Moth and his minions were leaping through the streets when they saw the flash.

"This way!" said Scarlet Moth, leading the charge.

"I see him on that roof," said Verity Queen.

The villains leaped up and surrounded the hero, whose Chat Noir costume had become red with black spots. He was glowing and his face looked flushed with the effort of holding so much power.

"Whoo whoo! Now you face the wrath of Dark Owl!"

"I will make you feel the love!" said Zombizou.

"I will make you tell the truth about what you did to Princess Fragrance and Reflekta!" said Verity Queen,

"Thief, I shall inflict your punishment!" said Princess Justice.

"Nobody touch him until I try to reason with him first," said Scarlet Moth. "Stay back."

Scarlet Moth moved closer to face the hero, saying, "Adrien! Listen to me!"

"I'm not Adrien. Call me... Jaguar."

"Jaguar, once you know who I am, and what I wish for, you'll want to make the wish yourself."

Jaguar's mind was buzzing with power and he couldn't think clearly. He blurted out, "I don't care who you are! I just wish you were gone!"

Scarlet Moth instantly vanished. All the villains he had akumatized with scarlet butterflies reverted to normal.

Jaguar reverted to Adrien as Tikki and Plagg came out of their jewels and tumbled to the ground exhausted.

Marinette scooped up Tikki and Plagg and put them in her purse to eat cookies and hopefully recover.

"Adrien, what happened?" Marinette asked.

"You were akumatized, Marinette. You gave up your earrings, almost sent them to Scarlet Moth, but I got them back."

He took the earrings off and handed them back to her. She took them but didn't put them on.

"I broke the rules, Adrien," said Marinette. "I found out who you were a few weeks ago, but I didn't tell Master Fu. I thought I was safe from being akumatized. I wasn't..."

"Anyone can have a bad day," said Adrien.

"But look where it got us. We nearly lost everything. All these people must have been villains, attacking you. Did I betray your secret to Hawk Moth?"

"You may have, but Hawk Moth's gone now. I wished for it using the combined power of the Ladybug and Cat Miraculouses."

"You wished him dead? Oh, Adrien..."

"I wished him gone," said Adrien.

"There's going to be a price to pay. The universe requires a balance for wishes," said Marinette.

"We'll face it together," said Adrien,

"We can't be heroes anymore. We broke the rules," said Marinette.

"We'll turn in our Miraculouses and let Master Fu pick new holders," said Adrien.

"Yes," said Marinette with a sigh.

"There's a bright side: you'll have more time to date that boy you like," said Adrien.

"Adrien, that boy is you."

"Me? You like me?"

"I've had a crush on you for ages, Adrien."

"I've had a crush on you for ages as Ladybug."

"That's just a part of me, but it's a start."

They embraced.

Everyone returned to the school and they untied the hostages in the locker room.

Marinette said, "I'm sorry, but I don't know how long it will be before the new Ladybug can do a Miraculous Cure. The wish took a lot of magic. Fortunately there was not much akuma damage."

"Not much akuma damage?" asked Lila in a rage. "What about my forehead?"

"You'll have to live with it," said Adrien.

"The akumas forced me to say things that weren't true," said Lila. "And then they branded my forehead with false accusations."

"We were watching and it all rang true," said Alya. "You've been lying to us and you tried to frame Marinette!"

"I'm innocent. Doesn't anyone believe me?" asked Lila, making a piteous face.

The others looked at her with grim faces.

Professor Damocles said, "In light of this new information, Marinette is no longer expelled. I will have to expel you instead, Miss. Rossi. I will call your parents to collect you."

There was a sound of approaching sirens.

Chloé said, "I think the police will want to speak to you first. You admitted to willingly collaborating with a terrorist. Anyone who does that deserves to go to prison for a long time."

Lila turned and ran from the room.

"She can run, but she can't hide," said Chloé. "Not with her face marked like that."

Emile Agreste stood in front of the life support coffin in the secret underground room. Gabriel Agreste was inside, comatose.

Emilie wasn't sure how it happened, but they had magically switched places and conditions.

"I'm going to get you back, darling," said Emilie. "All I need are the two Miraculous you were trying to get in order to save me."

She put on the pin she had taken from her fallen husband.

"Paris will soon learn to fear Madame Papillon."

The End