#I want to squish them like my namesake; a bug

[purple-to-my-tangerine]

HartLife board of directors I want so badly to absolutely eviscerate you you pompous self important greedy insensitive corporate pricks. You’ve convinced yourselves you hold power equal to gods and I wish for your hubris to fell you sooner rather than later

So anyway I’ve decided to start listening to ofc again,

[galahadwilder]

The Agreste Letters, Ch. 11

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AO3

*

"This is mine?" Nooroo said, staring wide-eyed into the can of peanuts.

"All yours," Adrien said. He reached into the can, held up a nut. "You earned it, buddy."

Nooroo gasped, then dove into the can, spraying peanut bits over the sides of the can like a delighted woodchipper.

Plagg floated up to Adrien's shoulder, holding a slice of cheese between his paws. "He's feeling better," Plagg remarked, taking a chomp out of the slice. "It's good to see."

Adrien reached up with one finger, scratched under Plagg's chin, chuckling as the Kwami began to purr. "I think we all are," Adrien said. "Needed to get out of that house."

"Glad you finally admitted it," Plagg said, shoving the rest of the cheese into his mouth, barely managing to chew before his breath rotted it to gas. He chipmunked his cheeks before swallowing. "Been trying to get you to leave for ages."

Adrien smiled, sweeping the peanut crumbs off Fu's kitchen counter and gently sliding them back into the can. He heard a happy little trill from Nooroo as he dolphin-breached the surface of the peanuts, plunging face-first back into the nutty mass.

"Do you think Mari's okay?" Adrien said, absentmindedly stirring his pot of mac and cheese. "Today was kind of..." He sighed. "Overwhelming."

Plagg scoffed. "You should check yourself, Greyling," he said, flitting down to the brooch that Adrien had hooked onto his belt and smacking it gently. "Nooroo's got long-distance empathy for emergency situations."

"Really?" Adrien said. "Huh, that must be... how Father..." He trailed off. Even now, he didn't want to think about it.

Plagg grimaced. "Keeping it on all the time must've exhausted the poor bug."

"No wonder he's so ravenous," Adrien said. The timer on Fu's oven buzzed, and Adrien shut off the stove. "See? Didn't burn it!"

"I'm impressed," Plagg said, swooping down to sniff it. He stuck out his tongue. "That is not cheese!"

"It's good enough," Adrien said, spooning the macaroni into a bowl. It looked kind of gross, if he was being entirely honest, but he wasn't in any position to complain—he didn't want to wake up Fu just so he wouldn't have to eat Easy Mac, and besides, it smelled delicious to his hungry stomach. "Hey, Nooroo?"

Nooroo's head popped out of the can. "Yes, Master?"

Adrien laughed. "Just Adrien, remember?"

Nooroo frowned, his eyes downcast. "Right. Yes. Adrien."

Oh. Oh no. Adrien knew that look. He'd seen it in the mirror enough times.

"Hey," Adrien said, quiet. "It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you."

"I'm sorry," Nooroo murmured.

Adrien speared a piece of macaroni with his fork, offered it up to the Kwami. "You have nothing to be sorry for," he said. "Want some Easy Mac?"

Nooroo pounced on the fork, devouring the macaroni in one bite. Then he floated upward, wiping his mouth. "Did you need me for something?"

"Yeah," Adrien said, scooping his fork into his bowl. Ugh, that squishing sound was hell on his ears. "Can I borrow your empathy for a minute? I want to check on Marinette."

"Anything for Ladybug," Nooroo said with a soft smile... and Adrien's brain caught fire.

His consciousness flooding with emotions, sensations, little triumphs and frustrations from everyone in the building pouring into his scalp. He could feel Fu's guilt pressing down on him like a mountain, even through the Master's dreams; two floors up, he could feel two men sharing a first kiss, tentative and nervous and sweet. Three doors over, someone had burned their dinner, while one floor below that a mother was singing happy birthday while holding a cake—he could feel her fear at the flame, held so close to her face, in the sweat of his palms.

"Concentrate," Nooroo said. "Push through to find her."

"It's not that ea—" Adrien started to retort, but then suddenly, it was. Half an arrondissement away, he could feel her tugging at his soul like a bright spark at the end of a string-can telephone. He was at the center of a web, and everyone he cared about was connected to him, Nino and Alya and Chloé and Kagami all fluttering at the edge of his consciousness, but there, burning brightest with joy and love, was Marinette. He felt his heart expand in his chest. His Princess, his Lady, so happy, so bright, so... scared?

Something darker flitted across his awareness. Something angry and hateful. A toxic, uncontrolled torrent of emotions, a sickening hurricane no body should have been able to bear. And there, in the eye...

"Nathalie?" he breathed, his eyes widening. "What is she... what's wrong with her?"

Nooroo closed his eyes and shivered. "Duusu is dreaming," he said, "and she can't wake up. Every emotion Madameoiselle Sancouer is feeling is... amplified. Toxified. They're in a... Gabriel called it a 'feedback loop.'"

"Neither one of them is in control," Adrien said, horror in his voice. He turned, locked eyes with Plagg, who seemed just as shaken as he was. "She's..." He gasped, following the threads of Mayura's hate toward their source. "She's going for Marinette!"

"Quickly!" Nooroo said. "Speak the phrase!"

"Flutter on!" Adrien yelled, yanking Nooroo into the brooch.

*

Iron Maiden's fist drove into Mayura's stomach, powering through her ribs and smashing her across the bakery, the peacock crashing through the bakery wall into the kitchen beyond.

Nice punch, Greyling said in her mind.

"Thanks," Maiden replied. She raised her fist, twisted it, could see the cords of muscles shift beneath her iron skin. One thought could drive her epidermis outward, forming sharp spikes like her medieval namesake to puncture even Mayura's near-invulnerable skin—but she knew it wasn't going to be enough. "Get your furry butt over here," she said. "I can only keep her occupied for so long."

Yes ma'am.

"Bring Trixx and Wayzz, just in case." She spared a glance toward her mother, unconscious, her body twisted, and set her jaw. Her mind slipped into tactical mode, Ladybug mode; she couldn't worry about the injuries yet. She could take care of that later.

Master Fu is asleep...

"Then wake him up!" she yelled.

Alya flinched, and Iron Maiden blinked. Right, she thought. She thinks I'm an Akuma.

Nino dragged himself up the counter, wheezing through broken ribs, and tried to hold up his fists. "St-stay—stay a-away from us," he gasped.

Iron Maiden swallowed. That look of fear in his eyes—she could feel her heart squeezing. "Stay down, Nino," she murmured. "I'm not going to let her hurt you again."

Nino blinked, shaking, the pain of standing obvious in his hunched frame. "What?" he said.

Maiden rolled her neck, popping the vertebrae, as blades began to grow from her knuckles. "Get them out of here," she said. "I'll keep her occupied."

Mayura rolled onto her arms, began pushing herself upright. "Ladrona!" she screamed, her voice quaking with rage.

"Go," Maiden said, then dropped her shoulder and charged.

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