6Author's Notes:
This chapter took me quite a while to finish, but I think it was worth it. Thank you all for your patience! I hope you enjoy the continuation of this story :)
Once again credit to the amazing Norelica who beta read the heck out of this one. (I'm not kidding. I think I sent 5 or 6 different versions over the course of the past month. Norelica, you're a hero!)
Content Warnings:
This chapter contains some swearing and name-calling. (Reminder that characters are aged up to 17.)
This chapter contains mild violence (comparable to what you'd see on the show).
Recap:
In the last chapter, Marinette discovered that Adrien has been akumatized and is now Revelator, a villain who strangely wants to fight for her, rather than against her. Despite this fact and her personal feelings for Adrien, she feels obliged to stop him. Revelator, somehow, doesn't seem at all concerned that she might succeed.
o o o
Determinedly, Revelator enters the house and cuts straight through the living room to where he knows Lila's bedroom is. He can hear Ladybug's hurried footsteps following him from behind.
"I'm sorry, Adrien," he hears her say. Her voice is barely more than a whisper, and if it wasn't for his enhanced hearing he wouldn't have been able to make out her words. As it is, with the magic of the black cat miraculous still stubbornly clinging onto him just beneath his skin, he can understand her perfectly.
And it's not just her words he understands.
Without even needing to look over his shoulder, his arm shoots up and effortlessly snags the incoming yoyo straight out of the air. He turns, holding onto the yoyo and expertly catching the string behind the corner of his elbow to pull her closer. The unexpected tug catches her off-balance. It's obvious she hadn't been anticipating that he would be able to predict her attack. Now he's caught her with her guard, and she doesn't know where to put it back up to properly defend herself.
He smiles almost fondly. Clearly, his lady doesn't yet realise just how well he knows her.
She takes a hurried step back, escaping his reach, but he still has her yoyo firmly in his grip and the string isn't giving her much leeway. The expression on her face is grim, but determined.
He moves closer, tugging at the thread that's still binding them together. She's strong, as strong as he is, but all she has to defend herself with is one end of a string, while he has her only weapon.
Her eyes widen as he closes in on her, reeling in the yoyo string until she has no other way out but to surrender the weapon altogether. Her eyes are wide as she inches backwards, her arms up in a defensive stance. She has nowhere to go, though. Her back is mere centimetres away from the living room wall.
Revelator raises his free hand, his palm facing towards her, and calls upon Hawkmoth's powers. Purple sparks crackle down the surface of his arm.
"I'm sorry, Bugaboo," he says with an apologetic smile. "I know you have no choice but to fight me. I don't want to hurt you, though, so I'm just going to make sure you won't get in the way."
"Adrien?" she asks, and for the first time there is a hint of fear in her voice. "What are you—?" She yelps when she is suddenly pushed back, her feet scrabbling for purchase on the floor. Her struggle is useless, however, as he ever so gently pins her against the wall.
He closes his outstretched hand into a fist, and with a flash of purple light, Ladybug's body is sealed flush against the wallpaper. She gasps. Her eyes move around wildly and her fingers twitch as she tries to break free.
"Ssh." He softly lays a finger to her lips. Purple light sparks where he touches her, and then her lips are sealed. "Don't worry, my Lady, I'll release you when I'm done," Revelator promises. He carefully sets her yoyo down onto the coffee table in front of her. "I just need a couple of minutes with Lila, and I can't have you interfering."
He turns away from Ladybug's wide-eyed expression and crosses the living room into the hallway, where he finds the door to Lila's room.
He's not sure what to expect inside, but he also doesn't really care.
Either way. Any way. Today, Lila is going down.
Revelator pushes the door open. Inside, he finds her sitting on her bed, staring at her laptop screen with a bowl of popcorn in hand. She's wearing a bulky pair of headphones and seems to be entranced by something on the screen, as she doesn't immediately notice him enter.
When she does, she screams. Startled, she jumps and scrambles away from him, backing up into the corner of her bed. In her haste, she kicks her laptop to the floor and spills popcorn all over the sheets.
Revelator moves fully into the room and pointedly closes the door behind him.
"A– A– Adrien? Is that you?" she asks as she shakily pulls her headphones away from her ears.
He looks at her in silence, taking in her trembling hands, her wide eyes, her face, which is getting paler by the second. The pathetic glimmer of desperate yearning in her eyes that tells him she still has hope that she can somehow talk herself out of this.
He wonders if she realises why he's here.
He wonders if she knows just how damn tired he is of seeing her meddle with his friends' lives.
"Adrien?" she asks again, her voice so soft it's almost a whisper. "You're– you're not going to hurt me, are you?"
The thought makes him smile, but he shakes his head. "Adrien isn't here right now."
Revelator can see Lila's throat work as she attempts to swallow away her fear. "What do you want from me?" she asks, slightly lifting up her chin in a hilariously transparent attempt at appearing brave.
Revelator moves forward and casually reaches out with his hand to spin her empty desk chair around until the back is facing towards her. He sits down with his legs on either side, his arms resting lightly on the backrest, as though he hasn't a care in the world.
He regards her in silence for a while, just to revel in the sight of her squirming under the weight of his gaze. Only when the silence appears to become too much for her and her lips part to speak, he says, "I told you to stop lying, Lila."
Her mouth snaps shit with a sharp click of teeth. She averts her eyes. Her desperation to appear innocent nauseates him. "I don't know what you're talking about," she says, and it almost sounds like she believes it. "I left your bakery stalker girl alone, didn't I?"
"But you did hurt my Ladybug," Adrien responds without mercy, sitting up straighter to stare her down. She glances up, briefly meeting his eyes before looking away again. "You probably thought you were being clever, too, hiding behind an alias. But, like always, you underestimate how loved your victims are, and how far those who love them will go to set things right." He grins, baring his teeth at her. "Nothing would hold me back from finding out the face behind such heinous lies. Though I can't say it was a surprise to find out it is you behind the cracked mask of Lillian Rousseau."
All at once, Lila drops the innocent act and openly glares at him. "Why do you care so much about Ladybug anyway?" she sneers. "She's just some dumb slut in a polkadotted unitard."
Her words are like a punch to the stomach. For a moment he feels breathless and dizzy with rage. Then, in the blink of an eye, he is off the desk chair and on Lila, pinning her to the wall above her bed with his hand clasped tightly around her throat.
"Ladybug is the love of my life," he snarls, his voice laced with venom. "The best person I have ever met. The most loving, brave and selfless human being I know." He squeezes her throat, ignoring how her hands are desperately trying to pry his fingers off her. He is stronger now than he ever was even as Chat Noir. She has no chance against him. "Don't. You. Dare. Speak of her like that. You have no right to even dream of touching her name with that repulsive lying tongue of yours."
Lila's eyes are wide. Desperate. Afraid. And this time it's not an act. Her fingers continue to claw at his hand around her throat, even though she must realise by now just how powerless she is to stop him.
"No… please…" she rasps.
Revelator grins. Finally, it seems like she's starting to understand her actions have consequences. And one of those consequences is him. "You can't stop me," he says, and it's a promise. "I could kill you right now. I could make you suffer like nobody has ever suffered before. You deserve it, too…" He pauses, drinking in the fear in her eyes. Then, with a sigh, he loosens his grip, finally allowing her to breathe freely again. "Unfortunately for me… I don't think Ladybug would approve of that. No matter how vile you are." He moves back, letting her fall down. She rolls off the bed onto the floor, where she lays gasping for air. "So instead," he says as he looks down at her, taking his phone out of his pocket as he speaks, "I think I will make the rest of your repulsive existence a living hell."
He points his flashlight at Lila's laptop, which is still lying on the floor. Before, at the Paris Post, he'd only used it to access the files he needed. This time, however, he takes advantage of the full extent of Hawkmoth's gift and sets the device to access and upload everything on Lila's computer to the internet, revealing it for all the world to see.
Instantly, information begins to flood the screen. He turns the rapidly flickering display towards Lila, smirking with unrestrained menace as she looks up at him, puzzlement in her eyes. She doesn't know what he's done just yet. Doesn't know that her life as she knows it is officially over.
"See that?" he asks. "That's what it looks like to have every dirty secret – every filthy lie you have ever tried to hide – exposed to the world."
Lila gasps, a look of horrified understanding on her face as the realisation of what he's doing dawns on her. "You can't do this," she protests weakly as she shakily tries to get to her feet. "You're an akuma. Ladybug and Chat Noir will stop you. Ladybug will undo what you've done, and you won't even remember what happened."
She must be absolutely delusional if she thinks he will let that happen. He knows Ladybug feels obliged to stop him, but in no universe will he allow his Lady to undo what he's done to save her. Not to mention the thought of Chat Noir stopping him. If only she knew just how unlikely that is.
Calmly smiling, he shakes his head. "Nobody is coming to save you, Lila. I already stopped Ladybug, and I'm afraid Chat Noir no longer has his miraculous." Somewhere in the back of his mind he knows that thought should hurt, but he finds himself uncaring for that particular loss. It's a small price to pay to save his Lady.
Lila's eyes widen fractionally, and for a moment he thinks he catches a glimpse of glee in the darkest depths of them, then her gaze closes off and she looks away. He decides he must have been mistaken. She's been terrified thus far; it makes no sense for her to be happy all of a sudden.
"Now, let's have a look at all those secrets you've been keeping." Revelator raises his phone and starts with a simple search for files that mention Ladybug. Several iterations of the Lillian Rousseau article instantly pop up, followed by e-mail conversations between 'Lillian' and editors of the Paris Post.
He flips through the different files. The e-mails themselves aren't very incriminating, but one of the earlier versions of the article seems promising. In the margins of the document are several comments by a person labelled as 'HM'.
'You have to be more creative than that!'
'This weakens your argument, you have to make it look like I had no choice. You make it sound like we were working together. We want them to think she's the evil mastermind!'
'I need her ruined. I need her to give up all hope.'
'Remember, we want Paris to HATE her.'
Revelator's grip on his phone tightens until the device creaks warningly. He briefly closes his eyes and takes a measured breath. If he accidentally cracks the phone, he will lose his powers, and that's not part of the deal he made with Hawkmoth.
He opens his eyes again, forcing himself to think rather than feel.
What he's found should be proof enough to convince Paris that the article is a hoax. It's exactly what he needs, but that doesn't stop the white hot anger churning inside of him at the sight of HM's words.
Steeling himself, he lifts the phone again and delves deeper into Lila's files. Before long, he finds an email address attached to the 'HM' name.
Then he finds the emails.
From: 92e0f9oskdnf02n (a) anonmail fr
To: lila rossi 02 (a) gmail fr
Lila,
You say you want to hurt Ladybug. But how far are you willing to go for me? Are you willing to see her and Chat Noir destroyed?
Hawkmoth
From: lila rossi 02 (a) gmail fr
To: 92e0f9oskdnf02n (a) anonmail fr
Hawkmoth,
With pleasure. I want to bring her DOWN!
In return, I want you to make me Volpina again. Permanently!
I will be Paris' new hero. A hero that actually deserves to be worshipped.
Lila
From: 92e0f9oskdnf02n (a) anonmail fr
To: lila rossi 02 (a) gmail fr
Lila,
That can be arranged.
You want to bring Ladybug and Chat Noir down? What do you have in mind?
Hawkmoth
There are many, many more messages, but he doesn't need to read them. He knows enough.
He'd had his suspicions when he first saw the initials, but seeing it confirmed feels worse than he'd expected. He pockets his phone and takes a deep breath. Then, he looks down at Lila, pinning her to the floor with his gaze alone. Her legs tremble, but she doesn't slump down. Despite the weight of his gaze, her back is straight as she looks up at him from where she's kneeling on the floor.
"You're working with Hawkmoth?!" he asks, his voice as cold as ice.
Lila has the audacity to raise her chin in defiance. "Not to call you out or anything, but have you looked in any mirrors lately?" she asks, raising an eyebrow.
He glares at her, unamused by her sudden confidence. "This is different. This is a means to an end. I'm helping Ladybug."
Lila throws her head back and laughs. The sound is sharp. Cutting. Her eyes, filled with mirth, meet his. "Paris believes Ladybug is behind the akumas. How do you think they'll feel about an akuma trying to clear her name?" She flashes a sharp grin, all teeth. Her eyes have a manic glint to them. "All you've done is ruin her even further. And you've put an end to Chat Noir. I'm sure Hawkmoth will be very pleased with your work indeed."
Revelator grits his teeth. He can't listen to her, can't allow her to manipulate him. He has to stay focused on his task. "Shut up," he says, glaring. "I did this to save her. I… needed this power to save her."
It would be worth it. No matter the cost. Chat Noir can't exist without Ladybug, but she will be okay without him. The power of the black cat is a small price to pay for the future of his beloved.
"You're fucking pathetic, Adrien," Lila scoffs, and hearing her use that name makes him shudder. "I can't believe I once wanted to make you like me. You're nothing but a blind fool. Pining after Ladybug? Look at you now. You're a disgrace. She'll never want you after you're done with this. If she ever wanted you at all."
Listening to her speak those words is like being flayed alive. Each syllable pulling painfully at his skin until his heart is stripped bare for her to methodically tear apart, using each and every one of his insecurities.
The worst thing is that she's right. She's right and she knows it and it hurts. But it's nothing he hadn't known before, even if he hadn't wanted to think about it. He swallows thickly, briefly averting his eyes as he tries to piece himself back together.
The reason she's lashing out is because he's got her cornered. He's got all the power. All she can do is talk.
He takes a deep breath and turns his eyes back to her, glaring ferociously. "I told you," he whispers, "to shut up."
His arm sweeps through the air and an invisible force topples her over. One moment, she's kneeling on the floor, grinning up at him like she's got a cat's chance in hell to somehow exit this confrontation victoriously. The next, her body collides with the wall above her bed with a resounding crash.
For a moment, he holds his arm still, staring blankly at her motionless body. Then, he turns, dropping his arm to his side. As he exits the room, he can hear the muted thump of her body collapsing onto the bed like a limp bundle of noodles.
She's only been knocked out. He knows that Ladybug would disapprove of anything worse than that, so she'll wake up, eventually. Probably with a hell of a headache, too. One that will undoubtedly only get worse when she realises she will never get away with another lie again.
With a smile on his face, he shuts the door behind him. He's succeeded. With all of Lila's files on the internet, the truth has been revealed and Ladybug's name will certainly be cleared.
Now all that's left for him to do is to deliver the due payment to Hawkmoth.