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Just follow the smell of croissants.
That's what Mullo had told him to do to find where Ladybug lives.
Monarch wouldn't have guessed that doing so would lead him to the Dupain-Cheng bakery.
There he stood on the roof of a building overlooking the front of the small Boulangerie Patisserie where he could definitely pick up the delicious aroma of freshly baked croissants.
"What is this? I ordered you to take me to the Guardian!" he yelled at the remaining kwamis floating around behind him.
Upon his angry outburst, they all flew behind Sass to hide from him.
"That's what we're doing, Monarch!" the snake kwami reassured him.
"Ladybug is always careful. We don't know her address," Roaar told him.
"So, encase we get lost, she came up with a little scavenger hunt to help us find where she lives," Barkk explained.
"And the first clue was to follow the smell of croissants," Daizzi repeated.
"Isn't this so much fun!" Xuppu laughed, making Monarch groan in frustration.
The wicked man turned back to stare at the building again. "So, there's a clue to Ladybug's address in there?" he puzzled, looking back down at the bakery. It didn't make sense to him. "Why?" he asked the kwamis.
Mullo flew up closer to him and explained further. "It was for the baker's daughter. The Guardian used to give us croissants and pastries from there all the time." All the kwamis sighed, remembering the delicious baked goods and missing them terribly. "She has a gift from Ladybug that was supposed to help me find her home after loaning her my miraculous encase she couldn't meet up to return it."
"Baker's daughter?" Monarch thought out loud. "Marinette Dupain-Cheng."
She was one of Adrien's classmates. Talented in fashion, kind to her friends, but annoyingly often in his way when it came to akumatizing people or getting Adrien to behave.
He didn't recall her being on his list of Ladybug's temporary miraculous holders. But if she wielded the miraculous of the mouse, then she was chosen after most of the other heroes were exposed to him by Miracle Queen.
Okay. Monarch knew he had to get that clue. He didn't know how many clues there were to this little scavenger hunt, but this was where the start was. He just needed that gift.
He doubted he could just go into her room and look for it himself. He didn't even know what this gift was supposed to be. It could literally be anything. And she would have hidden it well so the kwamis couldn't possibly know where it was. Her parents most likely wouldn't know either.
He needed Marinette.
It was the middle of the day. She wouldn't be at home.
Monarch smirked as his eyes shifted a bit further to the right to the school just next door.
Luckily, he knew just where to find her.
~*Miraculous*~
At last, after a long and boring morning of classes, it was finally lunch time.
A group of friends—also members of the resistance against Monarch—were walking across the courtyard, on their way to the cafeteria.
"So comrades, I propose another lunch meeting today," Nino said to the group as he lead the way. Since he started the resistance, he was pretty much the leader.
"Cool. About what?" Ivan asked.
Nino paused and thought for a moment. He and the whole group stopped walking too, standing right in the middle of the courtyard. "Uhh…I'm not sure." He hadn't even considered why they needed to have a meeting. He just thought it was a good idea to have one. "I guess I'd open the floor to see if anyone has any ideas to helping Ladybug and Chat Noir defeat Monarch," he suggested. If he wasn't sure what they should talk about, maybe one of his other comrades did.
From the other side of the group, Marinette raised her hand. "I might have one or two," she said, making everyone look at her. "Or should I wait until the official meeting in the cafeteria?" she asked a bit timid.
Nino smiled and approached her. "Probably safer to wait until we're in the safety of the cafeteria, Comrade Béchamel, but thanks for the heads up. And just for that, I'll allow you to run today's meeting," he proclaimed proudly, placing a hand on her shoulder.
Marinette smiled and jokingly saluted him. "I won't let you down, Comrade Ketchup."
The others laughed before continuing to walk toward the stairs closest to the cafeteria entrance. All except Adrien. He lingered back with Marinette.
"So, Comrade Béchamel, you have some big ideas for the resistance?" he asked her, intrigued.
Marinette's face was panicked for a moment but she recollected herself enough to respond. As much as she tried to tell herself that she shouldn't be in love with him anymore, she still got nervous around him a bit. "Oh…um, yeah. I've been thinking of a few things we could try. Like how to help people not become akumatized by promoting kindness and making people feel better if they are sad or angry, or-"
Adrien couldn't keep the lovesick smile off his face as he listened to Marinette rant about helping people. She was so caring and strong. And pretty too. Why hadn't he noticed just how pretty she was before?
Whatever crazy ideas she had to help the resistance, he'd follow her to ends of the Earth.
The only thing that snapped him out of his goo-goo eyed stare was the familiar light blue glow that suddenly appeared right behind her.
Then the ominous figure that stepped out of it.
Upon seeing the terrified look on Adrien's face, Marinette stopped speaking. "What's wrong?" she asked. She turned around to see what he was looking at, only to gasp so loudly that the rest of the friends—who had made it to the other side of the courtyard at the bottom of the stairs—turned and looked back at them.
Everyone in the resistance all gasped and/or screamed at the sight of Monarch standing in their school's courtyard. Wearing every miraculous he had stolen.
The frightened kwamis all floated around him, all giving Marinette longing looks.
"Marinette Dupain-Cheng," the villain spoke, looking down at the bluenette girl. Then he grabbed her wrist. "You have something that I need."
Watching his archenemy touch his princess had Adrien seeing red.
"Let go of her!" he shouted, ready to attack him if he didn't—transformed or not.
"Marinette!" Alya shouted as she and the others started running over.
"It's Monarch!" exclaimed Nino.
"I wouldn't come any closer," Monarch said, pointing a purple bee stringer in his opposite hand at them. The group stopped in their tracks just a few yards away, fearful of getting paralyzed. Then he turned back to his son. "Any of you," he said, pointing the stringer at him. Adrien just stared at the man with so much rage, he felt like he might burst into flames. The look almost had Gabriel concerned. He didn't expect Adrien to be this angry. "Remember, I have every miraculous power at my disposal," he reminded them all. He was currently only transformed with Nooroo, Pollen, Wayzz, and Kaalki. But he could unify any of the others with himself in just moments.
"Well…not every single one," Adrien smugly reminded him. Even if he wasn't transformed, he could still be sassy in the face of a villain.
Monarch grunted. He'd never heard Adrien talk like that before. And to him no less. But then again, he didn't know that it was his father behind the mask. And for the time being, he wanted to keep it that way.
Ignoring his son's rude remark, Monarch turned his attention back to the girl in his grasp. "Where is the gift from Ladybug?" he demanded to her.
"The-the gift?" Marinette stuttered, still in a bit of stock that Monarch was right in front of her.
"The kwami Mullo said that Ladybug gave you a gift to help her find her way back to her if you couldn't return the miraculous of the mouse to her directly," Monarch explained impatiently.
Realization came over Marinette's face. "Oh! Right! That," she uttered. Clearly Monarch was trying to get the kwamis to show him where Ladybug lived since they couldn't speak her name. Luckily, she had prepared for this exact situation ahead of time. "It-it's back in my room. At home."
Monarch ginned. "I'm sure it is. So we're going to go there and you're going to find it for me. Then I'll be on my way," he told her simply.
"Don't do it, Marinette!" Max yelled over.
"He can't have a clue to find Ladybug!" Rose exclaimed fearfully.
Monarch turned back to the resistance sharply. "Quiet, you brats!" he yelled at them, holding the stinger up toward them again.
Marinette looked at her friends worriedly. She knew the stinger wasn't harmful to its victim, but still. In Monarch's hands, he could do some serious damage with any of the miraculous powers.
She couldn't let that happen.
"Monarch," Marinette said, drawing the older man's attention back on her. "I'll give you the gift. But only if you leave my friends alone," she said calmly.
Monarch just grinned, almost amused by her bravery and desire to protect her friends. "Of course. I don't want to hurt anyone. Not them, and not you," he reassured her. "Just give me the gift and no one has to get hurt." And with that, Marinette nodded, silently agreeing to the deal. "Voyage!" he exclaimed, opening another portal.
As Monarch walked in with the kwamis around him, Marinette exchanged worried glances with Adrien and her other friends before being pulled into the portal.
"Marinette! No!" Adrien yelled. He dashed toward the portal but it closed before he could even get his hand through.
The others rushed over, all with panicked looks on their faces.
Except for Adrien. He was both panicked and furious.
Monarch had just came in out of nowhere and kidnapped his sweet Marinette!
The blonde former model didn't know that it was even possible to be this angry. His stomach felt like it was full of lava, his heart was beating so hard that it felt like there was a hammer inside of his chest pounding away at his ribs, he could barely catch his breath, and his limbs felt cold and rigid like his blood had frozen over.
His mind was racing back and forth between being afraid of what Monarch was going to do to her and what he was going to do to him if he hurt her.
Most of those thoughts consisting of cataclysming him.
He almost didn't hear his best friend speaking loudly to the others.
"Resistance!" Nino called all of their attention. "Comrade Béchamel has been taken by the enemy! Fortunately, we know where he has taken her." Nino turned around and pointed to the school's main entrance. "To the bakery!" He shouted before starting to make a run for it, but stopped after only making it three steps as Mylene spoke up.
"But, what can we do there?" she asked, very afraid as Ivan put a comforting arm around her.
"It's not like we can fight him," Kim added.
Nino turned back to them, a determined look on his face. "No. But Marinette's parents are there. We can at least get them out of the building. Then we'll stand outside so we'll be right there if Marinette needs us," he explained. Everyone shared agreeing looks and nods. That was something they could do. Nino then turned to his girlfriend. "Comrade Beurre Maître d'Hôtel, I need you to do a live stream on the Ladyblog to get the word out that Monarch has shown himself so Ladybug and Chat Noir can know. They could come to help," he told her.
Alya grinned. "Great idea, Comrade Ketchup," she agreed, pulling out her phone. "To the bakery!" she cried.
Everyone else joined in the battle cry as Nino lead the charge out the front doors of the school.
~*Miraculous*~
When Marinette was dragged through the portal, Monarch finally released her arm. Marinette stumbled forward, into her room.
"Now, find the gift. Don't keep me waiting," he told her impatiently.
When Marinette got her footing back, she faced him again. "Right. I'll get you the gift," she replied but before she could move another step, Monarch pointed the stinger at her again.
"And don't try anything, or I'll paralyze you instantly," he warned her.
Marinette put her hands up and slowly started walking over to her desk. She had to seem frightened and timid like any normal citizen would be in the presence of such a villain, to make sure he didn't suspect anything. But the weird thing was; it wasn't all an act.
Marinette had faced down Monarch without fear the few times he had dared show himself in person. But she had been transformed all of those few times. She had had her powers and the mask to protect her.
Now he had come after her without the mask and was standing in her room. She had a lot of secrets stashed away in there; the empty miracle box, her diary where she wrote about her double life, her notes for when she planned out this whole scavenger hunt set up so the kwamis wouldn't expose where she lived if Monarch ordered them to—which he had.
If he suddenly decided to ransack her room for more clues, she was as good as exposed.
All she had to do was keep her cool, act clueless and innocent, and draw suspicion away from herself as much as possible so hopefully he'll never come back after this.
Standing in front of her desk, Marinette opened one of her little drawers and took out the 'gift' he was looking for.
She slowly walked back over to Monarch. "Okay. Here it is," she said, holding the gift—which was a metal key with a ladybug charm attached—out in her hand to him.
"Divid." Pollen, Wayzz, and Kaalki all flew out of their miraculouses, making the stinger in Monarch's hand disappear, but he stayed transformed with Nooroo. "A keychain?" Monarch said, confused and a bit annoyed. How was this supposed to lead him to Ladybug? "What does this go to?" he asked.
"I-I don't know. Ladybug just told me to give it to Mullo to help her find her way back to her. I don't know anything else," Marinette insisted, still holding it out for him.
Monarch stared at her for a moment, studying her a bit, then he smirked. "And why don't I believe you?" he said before starting to walk around her, circling her like a shark circles its prey. He was trying to intimidate her further. "I remember every person I've even akumatized. Your little friends back at school, I've akumatized them all at least once." He suddenly stopped right behind her. "But you…I've come close but it never quite stuck," he wondered out loud. Marinette did her best not to flinch when he spoke closer to her ear. "I wonder why that is." He had always thought she'd make a very powerful akuma but somehow, she's managed to avoid letting herself be consumed by her negative emotions.
"I…I guess I'm just…good at controlling my emotions," she struggled to respond.
Monarch huffed a laugh. "Perhaps," he mused as he started pacing around her again. "In addition to being akumatized, most of those friends of yours, Ladybug has also chosen to be a temporary holder of a miraculous. And yet, out of all of them, she trusted you with this little trinket that could be used to find where she lives." Monarch stopped in front of her again and stared down at the keychain then back up at her face. Why her indeed? Was it because he hadn't known that she was once a temporary holder? Were she and Ladybug friends? "How do I know you haven't already used it yourself and found Ladybug's home? How do I know you don't already know who she is?" Monarch leaned down a bit, making Marinette flinch back a bit. "What makes you so special?" he sneered at her.
As he leaned back up right again, Marinette needed a moment or two to gather her thoughts. She had already planned out what to say encase this happened beforehand, but now she was having a little trouble remembering everything.
Whoever this man was underneath the mask, he must be very intimidating too.
"I'm-I'm not. Ladybug doesn't trust me that much at all. In fact, that's why she gave me this," she finally said. Innocent and clueless. "I'm such a klutz. So Ladybug gave me this keychain when she gave me the miraculous of the mouse to give to Mullo if she couldn't pick it up, or if I got lost on the way, or if I was late. She thought that I might mess up in getting it back to her, so she wanted to make sure that Mullo could find her way back with the miraculous so she didn't have to rely on clumsy me," she told him as timidly as possible. Monarch stared at her attentively the whole time, seeming to buy her story. "Anyway, here. Just take it. I don't know who Ladybug is or where she lives!" she said a bit quicker and louder, holding the keychain further out to him while closing her eyes and lowering her head a bit.
She just wanted him to take it and leave.
Gabriel remembered Adrien mentioning Marinette's clumsiness and strange mannerisms. As much as he wanted to believe that she knew more than what she was letting on, her reasonings were sound enough.
Why she was the only temporary holder to be left a clue like this. Why she was only called on once to help her and Chat Noir.
This girl was still a nuisance in his eyes, but she posed no real threat.
Finally, Monarch grabbed the keychain from Marinette's open palm. He studied the little thing for a moment. On a hunch, he crushed the ladybug charm hard between his fingers, revealing a tiny piece of paper with a number on it inside.
"42," he read out loud. Then he turned back to the kwamis. "What is this supposed to mean?" he asked, showing them the paper.
"It's a number. A number is a series of funny little symbols that are generally useless, except for noting how many bananas you want for your afternoon snack," Xuppu over explained, making Monarch groan while pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration again.
"And what is this?" he asked Mullo directly, holding the key up to her. "If she was meant to give this to you to find your way back to Ladybug, then you must know what it's for."
"I do. It's a key that opens a locker at this place where you can slide around like crazy on top of a frozen pool," Mullo replied, a bit excited just thinking about the amazing place.
"Oh, yes. The guardian would tell us about it all the time. She loves going there," Daizzi added, just as gleeful.
Then they both realized that they just gave away another secret to Monarch. "Uh-oh," Mullo and Daizzi both said, using their stubby hands to cover their mouths.
"The ice rink," Monarch smirked. That's where he'll find the next clue. But before the villain could make his next move, he started to hear something that sounded like a bunch of muffled voices chanting.
"We're the resistance! We remain insistent!"
"What is that?" he asked, looking around.
It sounded like it was coming from outside.
Curiosity getting the better of him, Monarch stepped back a bit to glance out the little round window in Marinette's room. There, he could see all of Marinette's friends from back in the school's courtyard, including Adrien, as well as Marinette's parents all standing together at the front of the building.
"We're the resistance! We remain insistent! We're the resistance! We remain insistent!" he could hear them yelling over and over again up to them.
Monarch couldn't decide if he wanted to roll his eyes or laugh at the absurdity.
A resistance against him? Consisting of school children? How cute.
Even without their superpowers, they were still trying to be heroes.
Marinette could hear the chanting too. At first, she was just touched that her friends came to back her up, even if they couldn't do anything at the moment. Then she noticed how Monarch was looking out the window at them and not at her.
And there was the butterfly broach. Right there at his throat.
She might not be transformed, but he didn't have any other miraculous powers activated. The stinger was no longer being pointed at her, and he was distracted. The kwamis could see her but they were on her side. They weren't going to alert their 'master' to anything.
He didn't think she was a threat so he thought it was okay to turn his back on her.
She could do this. If she could just grab the broach, he'll transform back. Even if he used another miraculous against her to get it back, she would at least see his face. Finally. Then she'd be that much closer to defeating him.
She had to take this chance. The chance to fix her big mistake.
Marinette lunged forward, reaching for the broach. Unfortunately, Monarch saw her coming in his peripheral vision and blocked her just in time, raising his arm and turning his body so she couldn't get it.
But Marinette still reached for it. She refused to give up yet. She tried moving around more, reaching her arm around him as far as she could to grab it, but it was hard with how much taller he was than her.
The girl's sudden attack on him was surprising but nothing Monarch couldn't handle. Even after he blocked her, she just kept trying. And that irked him. She was trying to take his miraculous. He said she was an annoying pest at worst and he was right.
His anger and annoyance toward this girl festered. He just wanted her away from him in every sense of the word.
He raised his other arm to push her away, but in doing so, his opposite hand struck her in the face.
Marinette's body flew back from the force. She landed hard onto her bedroom floor. With a whimper, she sat up, some tears stinging her eyes. The area of her face where he struck her hurt. Using her hand, she felt around until her finger made contact with the far right corner of her lower lip. There stung the most. And when she pulled her finger back to look at it, she saw blood.
Marinette's eyes widened.
Monarch's eyes widened too.
Had he really just done that? He had hit a child and now her lip was bleeding.
He should be horrified with himself and he was, but in his head, he tried to justify it. She was trying to steal his miraculous. He defended himself and pushed her away. He did not mean to be that harsh but she shouldn't have jumped at him in the first place.
"I told you not to try anything," he told her coldly. He had warned her beforehand so it was her own fault. "Children need to learn to listen and obey."
Fighting through the shock and stinging pain, Marinette spoke up. "And you need to learn that good will always triumph over evil. As long as there are people like Ladybug, Chat Noir, and my friends around to fight it," she said as confidently as she could muster.
It was still imperative that she play the frightened civilian girl but that didn't mean she had to be totally helpless. If her words were her only weapon at the moment, she was going to use them.
Monarch looked down at her silently and sternly. Like what she just said had touched a nerve.
"Evil?" he repeated. "Is that what you think I am?" he asked. Monarch lowered himself down, closer to the frightened girl's face. Marinette did her best not to flinch this time and maintain eye contact. "You don't know the first thing about me," he sneered in her face. He already knew what the people of Paris thought of him. But this was the first time someone had said it to his face. And she had just tried to steal his miraculous; alone and powerless. This girl had more guts than he gave her credit for. Let them think what they wanted of him. He knew his true motives to justify them. Monarch leaned back up. "As for Ladybug, Chat Noir, and the rest of Paris…" he said, standing tall again and smirking. "With all of the other miraculouses at my disposal, it's only a matter of time before they all fall to me." Marinette's face fell again, looking around at all the other kwamis that were once under her care. Then at all the other miraculous jewels decorating her archnemesis's body. "Nooroo, Kaalki. Unify!" he shouted, making the horse kwami fuse with the glasses. Monarch's appearance didn't really change but he had the teleportation power now. "Voyage!" he cried, pointing his fist toward her chaise, opening another portal.
Monarch disappeared inside first, followed by the kwamis who all looked back at her with pleading and terrified looks before they too disappeared inside and the portal closed.
Marinette was left in her room alone, her lip bleeding and her hopelessness rekindled.
She had him right there. He was distracted and had his guard down. If she had been quick enough, she could have ended all of this.
She failed. Again.
The tears that stung her eyes from her aching lip were now tears of grief and sorrow. They fell down her cheeks as she sat on her knees, body curled in on itself.
~*Miraculous*~
When the resistance had arrived at the bakery, most of them stayed outside while Comrades Ketchup and Mayo—aka, Nino and Adrien—went inside to alert the owners. Meanwhile, Comrade Beurre Maître d'Hôtel—Alya—fired up her Ladyblog livestream and started explaining what was going on to her viewers. She knew that Ladybug wasn't going to see it because she was already with Paris's most wanted at the moment, but hopefully, Chat Noir would and come to save her—if need be.
Upon hearing that their beloved daughter was upstairs in her room with not just a supervillain but the supervillain, Tom and Sabine were both on the verge of heart attacks. Tom's first instinct was to run upstairs and face that monster himself and protect his daughter, but the comrades/best friends insisted that he not. It took more persuasion from his wife, but eventually, they were able to talk him into going outside with them where it was safer.
From outside the bakery, Tom and Sabine kept their eyes worriedly glued to the highest windows of their home while the resistance began to chant, letting the villain know of their presence.
A few minutes later, they finally saw something. A flash of blue light, just like the glow of the portals made by the power of the horse miraculous. To them, that could only mean that Monarch had opened another portal and most likely left the premises.
When this was voiced by the resistance leader, the Dupain-Chengs took this as the all clear to go up and see their daughter. Right behind them were Alya, followed closely by Adrien, then the rest of the resistance.
Tom and Sabine made it up to the trap door first. They flung it open, letting the door hit the floor with a bang that startled Marinette from her sobs.
"Marinette!" they both cried as they knelt beside her on the floor and hugged her.
As soon as she pulled away, Sabine's next instinct was to look her baby over for injuries. "Are you alright? Are you-?" before she could finish that sentence, she saw the blood coming from her daughter's lip and gasped.
Sabine placed a hand on her mouth in shock. When Tom pulled away from the hug, he too saw it and was just as mortified. And angry. Very angry indeed.
Alya came flying up through the trap door next. One look at her best friend's face and she was gasping too. Right behind her came Adrien. He panicked for a second when he heard the blogger gasp. Then he turned his head and saw too.
Marinette. His sweet, smart, beautiful, amazing, brave, and wonderful princess was on the floor, eyes red, cheeks wet with tears, and blood oozing from a split on her perfectly plump lip.
Adrien thought he was angry before. Ha! That was nothing compared to how angry he was now.
Since there wasn't space in her room for everyone, the rest of their friends stayed down in the living room, but Nino stood on the stairs with half his body above floor level. He too gasped at the sight of Comrade Béchamel's state.
Alya quickly grabbed a tissue from a box on her vanity sink and offered it to her bestie. Marinette took it gratefully and used it to wipe away her tears, then she pressed it to her bleeding lip.
"He did that?" Adrien uttered, barely controlling the hate in his voice. His fists clenched at his sides, ready to punch something—preferably, Monarch's face.
Marinette's eyes darted from one face in her room to another, not sure what to do or say. Eventually, she decided to just be honest about how this happened. "I…" she stuttered. Everyone looked at her with patience and concern. She lowered the tissue and continued. "He was…looking out the window. We could hear all of you chanting. He wasn't focused on me," she said. Her friends each thought to themselves that it was a good thing that he could hear their defying chanting against him. "I thought I could-" she paused. "I tried to grab it. The-the broach." Everyone gasped again. That was a very crazy thing to do, but they weren't too surprised that she'd tried to do so if she had the chance—which she did. Unfortunately, she had been unsuccessful. Hence, her upset mood. "And he…pushed me away."
"So he hit you!?" Alya shouted. In response, Marinette just nodded.
Having the picture being painted in his head with Marinette's explanation only added to Adrien's rage.
"I'll kill him," he uttered under his breath. He thought no one would hear it but they all did. Including Marinette.
They all looked at the blonde former model in shock. It sort of startled them all. Adrien wasn't a violent person.
"No, you won't," Alya said.
"Adrien, I'm fine, really," Marinette tried to reassure him. This was small. It didn't warrant that kind of response.
"He hit you, Marinette!" Adrien shouted, making them all flinch back a bit. None of them had ever heard Adrien raise his voice like that, ever. There was so much anger. "No one does this to my-!" he cut himself off, trying to control his temper, but also to stop himself from saying 'princess.' That was his nickname for her when he was Chat Noir. He couldn't be caught calling her that as Adrien.
Nino walked the rest of the way up the stairs and placed a comforting hand on his best friend's shoulder. "Dude, breath," he said to him calmly. Adrien, taking his advice, took a few deep breaths through the nose and out through the mouth.
As he did that, Sabine turned back to her daughter. "Come on, honey. Lets go down to the kitchen and get you some ice," she said to her. Marinette nodded and allowed her parents to help her stand.
As Marinette walked down the stairs, the rest of her friends in the resistance all gasped at seeing her split lip. They all heard the exclamations from those upstairs that she had one but actually seeing it made it more real.
Sabine invited everyone to sit in the living room while Marinette sat at a stool at the counter, holding some ice wrapped in a towel to her mouth. Alya sat in the stool next to her while Tom and Sabine stood in the kitchen.
Adrien stood closely behind his bluenette princess while everyone else was sitting on the couch or on the rug.
"I can't believe Monarch hit Marinette," Nino mused out loud with his elbows resting on his knees.
"I can. He's a bigger monster than we could have imagined," Kim said sourly with his arms crossed.
"Poor Marinette," Juleka mumbled while glancing her way.
"If I even see that despicable creep face-to-face again, I'll split his lip open. Then his head!" Ivan hollered in anger, clinching his fists.
While Marinette was touched by her friend's protectiveness of her, this might be getting a little out of hand. Even if she was sure that Monarch was going to be busy with her little 'scavenger hunt' for a while, he could still stop to send out an akuma if he felt a strong enough negative emotion. And right now, there was a lot of that inside her house.
Marinette spun around in her stool and faced the group. She had to lower the towel to speak, which once again showed off her lip, which was very pink from the numbing effects of the ice but it had at least stopped bleeding. "Guys. Really, I'm fine," she insisted to them for the umpteenth time. "You all need to calm down. With all this negative energy, Monarch could still send in an akuma," she warned them.
Hearing this, everyone snapped to attention. None of them wanted to be akumatized ever again.
"Marinette's right. Lets all take a deep breath in…" Mylene instructed to everyone in the room. They all followed her lead and took deep inhales at the same time, then held it for a few seconds. "…and out." They all exhaled together, feeling a bit better.
Suddenly, an idea occurred to Mr. Dupain.
"I know. I've been baking croissants since before dawn for this very purpose," Tom said optimistically. "A freshly baked croissant will brighten everybody's mood in no time."
Marinette grinned. "That's the spirit, dad," she told him, making him smile.
She watched her dad dash out the front door and down to the bakery. When he came back upstairs, he had two baking sheets in both his hands filled with croissants.
Everyone took a warm croissant and ate them with smiles on their faces.
"Delicious, Mr. Dupain," Rose said after finishing her first croissant before reaching for another.
"Yeah. I'm feeling happier already," Kim said. The others all nodded and hummed in agreement.
Tom smiled smugly with his hands on his hips. "Yes! Take that, Monarch!" he cried proudly, pointing up into the air.
Tom wasn't a superhero. He was a baker. Fortunately, he decided to use his skills and noble intentions to keep baking his delicious pastries and bread, in the hopes that they will make people happy and unable to be akumatized.
The resistance appreciated Tom's attitude. "Take that, Monarch!" the all cried together.
It was a small victory for the resistance, but it felt good just the same. Even if Monarch had gotten the gift that could lead to Ladybug's address, they were confident that Ladybug had been warned with Alya's live streaming and would make sure he didn't find anything.
~*Miraculous*~
After packing all of the left-over croissants into to-go bags for everyone, the resistance started to leave. They needed to get back for afternoon classes after all.
Because of everything that had happened, Sabine and Tom insisted that Marinette not go back. Although she insistent that she was well enough to go back to school, she had a hard time saying no when her parents were in protective mode. So, reluctantly, she let them call Principal Damocles to excuse her for the rest of the day.
Marinette stood in the living room and waved goodbye as all her friends left the apartment with bags of croissants in hand. Alya and Nino were the last ones out the door with Tom and Sabine holding the door open from the outside but the teens lingered around as they noticed Adrien still rooted to his spot behind their friend.
Marinette turned, noticing that he wasn't even moving toward the door. "Adrien?" she asked, concerned by his stoic face as he stared at her.
"I just…" he uttered. A few seconds later, he had his arms around her in a tight hug. He was still furious and upset, that he could not deny. But feeling her close, heart beating, relatively safe and sound made him feel better. Still, he just wanted to hold her forever, to make sure she stayed safe. "I was so scared for you," he whispered to her.
Marinette hugged him back. "I was scared too," she told him. Not just for herself but for him and their other friends too. Monarch threatened them if they didn't stand aside and let him take her.
Adrien understood this too. She let him take her and gave him the gift to keep them safe. And then she tried to take his miraculous. He knew that the resistance was supposed to help defeat Monarch but that was too much for her to do alone. Even with the circumstances being what they were. He didn't blame her for trying. All the blame was on Monarch himself.
Adrien tightened his hug and caressed the back of her head with one hand. "Don't be scared anymore," he tried to reassure her. He didn't want her to worry about him possibly coming back, hoping to get more clues out of her. "If he ever comes back, I'll protect you." Adrien placed a kiss on her head, making her blush. "I promise."
"Th-Thanks, Adrien," she stuttered out, a bit caught off guard.
Back in the doorway, her parents, Alya, and Nino were covering their mouths to stifle their gasps and/or gleeful squeals.
~*Miraculous*~
The croissants and hugging Marinette had helped, but by the time Adrien was done with school for the day and in his bodyguard's car heading for home, he felt a bit less like he was going to explode but was still itching to make Monarch pay.
That coward had gotten a clue to where Ladybug lived. While he wasn't sure if Ladybug had gotten Alya's warning on the Ladyblog in time and prevented Monarch from finding her home, he was confident that she would be fine. She was Ladybug. She could take care of herself.
And just to be certain, he did plan on transforming to call her and perhaps meet up to talk about what all this was. Because frankly, he was a bit lost.
Since when did Ladybug give the temporary holders gifts to help the kwamis find where she lives? He thought that all the kwamis knew where she lived. Plagg could find his way to his house no problem.
And why Marinette? She was chosen back when they fought Kwami Buster. She did an amazing job and saved his butt, along with Ladybug's. Then she accidently revealed herself in front of him so Ladybug said that she could never be a holder again.
Marinette was a fighter—yet another thing he loved about her. She freakin' tried to snatch the butterfly miraculous from Monarch's suit all on her own and without superpowers. If that wasn't brave, then he didn't know what brave was.
And he hurt her.
She tried to take his miraculous and he just smacked her away.
Adrien's blood still boiled remembering the sight of the blood trickling down her chin from her lip. A lip he'd just recently become curious about kissing one day.
She didn't deserve that. Marinette was too kind and good to be treated like that.
When they arrived at the manor, Adrien went to the kitchen, bag of croissants in hand. He sat on a stool at the island counter. He took another flaky pastry out, pulled it apart and ate it slowly.
All he could think about was why? Why would Ladybug give Marinette that gift if it was just gonna put her in danger? Why didn't Ladybug just come and take it back after she knew she wasn't going to call on her again? Then Monarch wouldn't have gotten a clue to find Ladybug and Marinette wouldn't have gotten her lip split open on top of all the trauma this whole experience had just left her with.
No matter how hard he tried or how many croissants he ate, Adrien couldn't calm the rage in his being.
"Adrien," the sound of his father's voice made the former model turn his head to see him walk into the kitchen. "Welcome home," he greeted him warmly as he approached the island.
Adrien forced a smile. "Hi dad," he greeted back before going back to staring at the half-eaten croissant on the napkin in front of him.
Gabriel frowned at his son's mood. "Is something wrong, son? You seem upset."
"I'm not upset, dad. I'm angry."
At those words, Gabriel started to feel some significant negative energy though the butterfly broach under his ascot, coming from his son. He did his best to ignore it and focus on their conversation.
"Angry? Why are you so angry? Who are you angry at?" Gabriel pulled up a stool and sat next to him.
"Monarch," he snarled. From there, Adrien told his father everything that had happened that day. From Monarch stepping through a portal into the courtyard at school, to finding his sweet Marinette on her bedroom floor in tears with a bloody lip.
The anger coming from his son intensified the more he explained. The butterfly miraculous was almost burning his throat it was so intense. He had seen how angry Adrien had been just from the look on his face back in the courtyard, but now that he had the time to feel his actual emotions through his miraculous, it astounded him even more. But he would not akumatize him. Mainly, because the anger was directed at himself. He couldn't have that.
He hadn't meant to make his son this mad, nor did he mean to hurt young Marinette.
"I'm so sorry, Adrien. Your friend didn't deserve that," he said sincerely. It was the closest thing he could do to actually apologizing.
"No, she didn't!" Adrien exclaimed a bit louder, his fists tightening on the counter top. "Marinette is the kindest, gentlest, most amazing girl I've ever met and Monarch is nothing but an evil monster to harm even one hair on her head!" The wave of rage coming off him nearly knocked Gabriel off of his stool. But he kept his composer and just looked surprised by his tone. However, hearing his own son call him 'evil' was a different kind of shock. Adrien closed his eyes with his face leaned down to the counter. "I wish I could just-"
If he had been Chat Noir at the time, he might have been tempted to cataclysm him on the spot for even touching his princess!
Gabriel leaned over and gently grasped both of his shoulders. "Adrien, please. Calm down. I hate to see you so upset," he tried to comfort him.
Adrien took a few breaths and started to relax his hands. "I was just so scared after he took her. And then when I saw the blood…" his voice was meek and sad. It terrified him just thinking about what could have happened to her. Worse things than a bloody lip.
"From what you told me, Marinette is alright. Focus on that."
After another deep breath, Adrien relaxed more. "You're right, dad," he said, turning his head and offering him a more genuine smile. Marinette was alright, that was what mattered. There was no point in fussing over what could've happened but didn't. And he was grateful for that. "Would you like a croissant? Marinette's dad sent us all home with a few. He thought they'd help cheer us up," he said, gesturing to the bag still full of pasties.
Gabriel stared at the bag intently for a moment before plastering on a smile.
"Don't mind if I do."
Adrien grabbed him a napkin and placed a croissant on it for him before going back to finish his own.
The croissants. Just follow the smell of croissants, they had said.
The smell of croissants had lead him to that bakery, to the baker's daughter. She gave him the key to a locker at the ice rick, along with the number '42' on a tiny piece of paper; one third of Ladybug's street address. Once at the ice rink, the owner lead him to the locker. Upon opening it, he found a picture of the Chat Noir statue at the Grevin Museum, with another piece of paper that had said 'Street.'
Just one more clue and he'd have Ladybug's full address.
Unfortunately, when he reached the wax statue and found the last strip of paper in the bell, all he got was the word 'Halfwit.'
42 Halfwit St.? That couldn't be a real address.
Monarch was angry and confused. Until the kwamis pointed to an envelope attached to the Ladybug statue's waist behind her back. Then he was just furious.
If you're reading this, then congratulations! You've completed my kwami's scavenger hunt. Unfortunately, there is no prize for you. I got to it first.
I was warned beforehand that you had found the first clue and came here to switch the papers before you arrived.
Better luck next time, LB.
P.S.—That was the only scavenger hunt I had set up with one of my temporary holders—ask the kwamis if you don't believe me.
After asking the little creatures who couldn't lie to him, it was confirmed. Seeking out Marinette again or any of the other temporary holders would do him no good.
A dead end.
Gabriel ripped the croissant in half and took a bite out of one of the halves.
It was very good. Almost good enough to help ease his own grief from the failure of that day.