Chapter Text
The searches continued throughout the week.
But as the time went by, they began to lose hope of finding Nooroo in time.
The day had come.
Paon stood in his lair. Was he really going to do this? Nathalie had begged him not to, had pleaded to think what Emilie would want.
Emilie…
He thought about letting her go… of moving on. He truly did.
But he couldn’t.
He pressed the arming button of one of the detonators.
Due to the immense threat, people had either evacuated out of Paris or taken shelter.
Another message was sent.
YOU HAVE STILL NOT SURRENDERED YOURSELF TO ME. SO IN FIVE MINUTES, ANOTHER BOMB WILL GO OFF.
THIS IS YOUR LAST WARNING.
Everyone held their breath as the minutes counted down.
One minute remained.
Paon stood in silence; this was his last chance to back down. If he did this, he would go from being one kind of man to another.
5
And this time he wouldn’t be able to hide behind the spectacle of superpowers.
4
He reached out for the detonator.
3
He hesitated.
2
He picked up the detonator.
1
He pressed the button.
And nothing happened.
Paon frowned. He pressed the button again.
Still nothing.
What was going on? He had personally made sure that the bomb had been placed.
He reached for the second detonator and pressed.
Still no explosion.
He tried his three remaining detonators, but like the others, nothing.
“You really did it. I can’t believe you.”
He spun round to see Ladybug and Chat Noir standing behind him.
“What? How did you…?”
“Get in here? Find and disarm the bombs?” Ladybug said, “Well…”
“Why listen to her when we have the high-def version?” Bunny asked and rewound.
One day earlier…
Alya walked into a church. They were running out of time, and this was one of the few places left to search.
“Can I help you?” a vicar asked.
“I’m looking for someone who’s in trouble.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. Do you have a description?”
“Not exactly,” she said, “but I’m told he’s pretty notable.”
The vicar shook his head, “We haven’t had anyone out of the ordinary.”
“I figured. Thanks anyway.”
She turned around to leave.
Just as she walked out the door, something flew into her pocket.
“What?”
She looked down to see a small purple face pocking out of her pocket.
“I believe you were looking for me.”
Alya took Nooroo home and called Ladybug and Chat Noir, who quickly arrived.
“Okay, so we have Nooroo,” Ladybug said, “but how do we stop Hawk Moth?”
“Couldn’t Nooroo just tell us who he is?” Alya asked.
“No, I can’t,” Nooroo said, “if I try to say his name.”
He spoke, and bubbles came out.
“That happens. It’s supposed to protect our holders’ identities.”
“But in this case, he is your holder.” Alya rubbed her head.
“Since he never renounced my Miraculous, yes.”
“So no one else can use your Miraculous?”
“No, there is nothing to stop me having multiple current holders, kind of like how your computers can have multiple logins.”
“How did he lose your Miraculous anyway?” Chat asked.
“He made a mistake during the last akuma.”
“Simon Says?” Alya asks.
“Indeed.”
“But I checked that; Simon is nothing out of the ordinary.”
“He’s not the one you should have been looking at,” Nooroo said.
They looked at him.
“What do you mean?” Ladybug asked.
Nooroo was silent.
“Oh, you can’t say anymore?” Alya guessed.
Nooroo nodded.
“Okay, was it someone else directly involved?”
Nooroo nodded.
Chat spoke up, “But the only other people involved were us, the people who were at TVi and…”
The answer came to them all at once.
“Nooroo,” Alya said slowly, “is Gabriel Hawk Moth?”
Bubbles came out of his mouth.
Chat Noir collapsed.
“Are you ready?” Master Fu asked.
Alya nodded, “Nooroo, Light Wings Rise!”
Alya transformed.
“Call me Oracle.”
She opened her cane and a butterfly came out.
She empowered it and sent it to Master Fu.
Once Kamikotized into Master Booster, he empowered Oracle.
She sent out more Kamikos.
“Wouldn’t it be simpler to give them Miraculous?” Mega-Oracle asked.
“Giving them out to allow the Kwamis to search was one thing,” Master Booster replied, “but I’m not telling the transformation phrases to that many kids I barely know all at once.”
The Kamikos found the classmates.
“Let’s do this!” Alix said.
Max, now Bomb Detector, used his powers to detect the bombs’ locations. He then gave the locations to the rest of the Bomb Squad, as the group were called.
At TVi studios.
“Clear!” Nino called out as he disarmed the first bomb.
The Startrain.
“Clear!” Juleka said.
The Louvre.
“Clear!” Alix said.
The Arc de Triomphe.
“Clear!” Ivan said.
And of course, the Eiffel Tower.
“Clear!” Rose said.
“And now we’re all caught up.”
Paon stood stunned.
“Why wouldn’t you come straight for me?”
“We decided to give you a chance to back down,” Chat Noir said.
“Why?”
Chat shook his head, “You lost the right to know that.”
Ladybug put a hand on his shoulder.
“No! It won’t end like this! Activate defence–”
Chat knocked him out.
“Sometimes, the villain is defeated not with a bang, but a whimper.”
After Gabriel’s arrest, things quietened down.
Adrien moved in with his aunt and cousin, who moved to Paris.
Marinette gave Adrien space before they eventually started dating.
People moved on with their lives.
Until, inevitably, a new supervillain showed up.
And Ladybug, Chat Noir and their new partner Oracle were there to fight them.