Cat Noir, like an elegant and deadly black panther lurking in the darkness, half-crouched atop an ancient stone gargoyle.
His cat-like eyes, glowing with an eerie green light in the dark, vigilantly scanned the colorful flower sea below, which had been completely dyed with a romantic aura of death.
The sickeningly sweet scent in the air, even through a high-tech, specially designed breathing mask, stubbornly tried to invade his olfactory nerves.
Ladybug hadn't arrived yet.
His communicator remained in a deathly silence.
He was a little puzzled. Logically, given his partner's personality, always full of absolute justice and responsibility, she should have been the first to rush to the scene after such a large-scale, malicious Akumatization incident.
He hesitated for a moment, then still extended his finger, clad in a black leather glove, and rapidly tapped on the screen of his retractable, multi-functional metal staff.
A message, full of his unique lighthearted and cynical style, was sent out.
However, the message had only been sent for a few seconds!
"Swish—!"
A faint, poetic, and almost imperceptible rustling sound suddenly appeared behind him!
Cat Noir's battle-hardened, beast-like keen senses instantly tensed up!
He suddenly turned around, only to see an elegant and magnificent figure, silently formed from countless deep purple and black rose petals, standing behind him at some unknown point!
"...Good evening," Cat Noir said, looking at the oppressive and mysterious enemy before him. Although his heart was on high alert, his mouth still wore his signature lighthearted and cynical smile, "...I say, buddy, how did you know I was here? Did you put a bug on me?"
"...Technology, advances," the magnificent "Prince" slowly began, in a gentle and calm tone, as if reciting an ancient philosophical poem, "...And you, you are regressing, Cat Noir."
"...Alright, alright..." Cat Noir raised his hands helplessly, making a gesture of surrender.
"...I really can't stand you guys who always like to 'monitor' people."
He, of course, knew he was being monitored again, after all, this wasn't the first time.
But that didn't stop him from teasing the other party in his unique way, attempting to buy more time for his absent partner.
"...So, what should I call you?" He tilted his head, his green cat-like eyes flashing with cunning, probing light, "...'Prince of flowers'?
Or... 'Million Roses'? Tsk tsk... Your taste is truly unique."
"..."
Jaden didn't answer his provocative question. He was too lazy to waste more words, only slowly raised his slender right hand, adorned with a deep purple velvet glove, and gently waved it at the black figure still trying to stall for time with words!
"Swish—!!!"
In an instant! Countless sharp-edged deep purple rose petals, like a beautiful rainstorm infused with the aura of death, or a frenzied school of piranhas that had caught the scent of blood, surged overwhelmingly towards the black figure!
Cat Noir's face, always carrying a hint of a lighthearted smile, suddenly changed drastically!
He didn't even have time to utter another witty remark. The metal staff in his hand rotated like a high-speed black propeller, creating an impenetrable absolute defense in front of him!
"Clang! Clang clang clang—!!!"
A series of crisp, dense metallic clashes, like a downpour striking banana leaves, echoed in the silent, fragrant night sky!
Cat Noir only felt his tiger's mouth go numb from the impact of the petals, which seemed gentle but actually contained terrifying force!
He dared not slacken in the slightest, only able to dodge and dodge frantically!
And that elegant and magnificent "Prince," like the most supreme and ruthless conductor, with every wave of his hand, would unleash a beautiful storm of petals infused with the aura of death;
With every glance, countless poisonous, sharp thorny vines would grow on the hard, cold rooftops!
Cat Noir felt like he was going crazy!
He not only had to guard against those petals, which were like shurikens penetrating every crevice, but also constantly watch out for the thorny vines under his feet, which were like insidious venomous snakes that could entangle his ankles at any moment. More importantly, he had to exert all his strength to protect the seemingly insignificant black mask on his face, which was, in fact, his only life-saving charm at the moment!
He knew very well! Once this object, which could block the scent, was even slightly nicked by a sharp petal.
The next second, he would become a foolish "puppet" who could only loudly sing praises to that damned "Prince," just like those poor walking dead below who had long lost their self-awareness!
On the other side, Jaden was also getting a bit anxious with the fight.
The longer it dragged on, the more troublesome things would become when that girl, who could always create incredible "miracles," arrived—who knew what astonishing lucky item this "Goddess of Fortune" would conjure up this time!
His mission was clear: obtain Cat Noir's miraculous, and then go save his waiting "Princess."
He had no time to waste!
And in a slightly outer area, not enveloped by the sweet, fragrant mist, a group of dedicated and fearless television crew members were setting up cold, professional cameras, broadcasting the intense and fantastical battle scene in real-time.
"...Quick! Hurry up! Tikki!"
Outside the quiet massage parlor, filled with ancient oriental mystique, Marinette was anxiously watching the thrilling live broadcast of the battle on her phone, her heart pounding in her throat!
"Click."
Just then, the ancient wooden door, bearing the marks of time, slowly opened, and Master Fu's wise, aged figure appeared in the doorway.
Behind him, a vibrant, petite figure, like a warm lightning bolt bringing hope, burst out from behind the ancient wooden door!
"Marinette—!!!"
Tikki, with her restored lively and clear voice, called out loudly, plunging into the warm embrace of the anxiously waiting girl!
"That's great... Tikki! You're finally well!" Marinette hugged her recovered little companion tightly, crystalline, hot mist uncontrollably welling up in her big blue eyes!
Master Fu slowly walked out from the door, looking at the warm scene of reunion before him, a relieved and benevolent smile appearing on his time-worn face: "...Go, you have your own things to do."
Marinette nodded heavily, not even having time to say another word of thanks to the doctor, and, holding Tikki, she rushed out of the quiet massage parlor like a vibrant pink whirlwind of youthful energy.
She quickly found a hidden sewer entrance that would absolutely not be caught by surveillance cameras, and also took out a spare pink scarf from her backpack, wrapping it tightly around her mouth and nose several times—creating a crude but effective temporary "gas mask."
After all, it would be too embarrassing to appear on the scene only to turn into a foolish "puppet" singing hymns due to inhaling the damned sweet scent!
"Tikki! Spots on—!!!"
And above that flower sea, filled with a romantic aura of death, the overwhelming one-sided battle was already nearing its end.
"Clang—!!!"
Another crisp, piercing metallic clash!
Cat Noir only felt his arm violently shaken by an irresistible force. The metal staff in his hand could no longer be held, and it flew out with a "whoosh," tracing a despairing, powerless arc in the air before heavily embedding itself in the hard, cold rooftop far away!
Before he could react, countless poisonous, sharp thorny vines, like insidious venomous snakes that had been lying in wait, burst forth from the rooftop beneath his feet!
They instantly wrapped around his limbs, waist, and neck, binding him tightly in place like a pitiful sacrifice offered to an evil god, rendering him unable to move!
"...Game, over," Jaden slowly descended from mid-air, walking with the elegant and composed regal stride of a medieval nobleman, step by step, towards the completely subdued black figure.
"...Damn it..." Cat Noir struggled desperately with all his might, but those seemingly slender thorny vines were like chains forged from hard steel, not budging an inch!
"...I say... buddy..." He lifted his head, his green cat-like eyes still flashing with an untamed, unyielding light, "...Can't you be a little gentler?!"
Jaden ignored his last stubborn quip, only slowly crouching down.
His black eyes, hidden behind the silver, ornate mask, always carrying a faint, gentle smile, quietly gazed at the young man pinned beneath him, then extended his right hand and slowly grasped the black ring on the young man's ring finger, which was adorned with a black leather glove.
In that instant, Cat Noir's green cat-like eyes, which always sparkled with lighthearted cynicism, suddenly contracted into dangerous pinpricks! "...No... no way...!"
However, it was already too late.
Jaden only exerted a gentle force, and that powerful Cat Noir miraculous, symbolizing "destruction," was easily plucked from the young man's finger.
A green light instantly burst forth from the young man's body!
But just as his true face and identity were about to be completely exposed, Jaden gently snapped his fingers again.
"Snap."
The next second! Countless vibrant, colorful flowers, full of vitality, surged from all directions like a gentle tide. They did not harm the weakened young man, but gently enveloped him, concealing him in a secret, safe corner where he would absolutely not be discovered by anyone, and then slowly formed a huge, beautiful flower cocoon, imbued with a romantic aura of death.
When Jaden pushed open the boutique door, filled with luxurious and cold design, the beautiful "Princess Fragrance," who had been anxiously waiting at the entrance, threw herself into his broad, warm embrace like a swallow or butterfly finally finding its home!
"Jaden!" Her voice was filled with an uncontrollable, trembling joy, like someone who had just survived a catastrophe!
"...I'm back," Jaden said, gently patting her back, which was trembling slightly from overexcitement, with a tender and doting tone, and slowly opened his left hand—
A cat-claw shaped ring, gleaming with cold silver light, lay quietly in his palm.
"...Well done... Prince of flowers..." Hawk Moth's voice, filled with suppressed excitement and the joy of victory, resonated in his mind on cue, "...Next...
...only that damned, miraculous remains..."
However, before he could finish his proud victor's declaration, Jaden interrupted him with an absolutely cold and rational voice: "Hawk Moth."
"...Tell me, Cat Noir's, transformation method."
"...What?" Hawk Moth was visibly stunned, completely unprepared for such a strange question from what should have been his most perfect and obedient pawn, "...What do you, want to do?" His voice took on a hint of cold wariness.
In the other room, Nathalie also keenly noticed the instantly dangerous aura emanating from the man beside her, her expression subtly changing!
"What do I, want to do?" Jaden slowly lowered his head, gazing with tender and pitying eyes at the girl nestled in his arms, oblivious to the mental conversation, "...I, of course, want to help my 'Princess'...
...completely, eliminate those damned 'viruses' from her."
"...No need to rush!" Hawk Moth's voice was filled with a feigned sense of reassurance, "...Once you get Ladybug's miraculous...
...I can also help your 'Princess' eliminate all her ailments!"
"...No," Jaden slowly shook his head, "...What I mean, is now."
"...Using Cat Noir's power..."
...to completely erase that damned 'cause of illness' from her."
Hawk Moth was completely stunned, even doubting if he had misheard: "...Do you know what you're saying?!"
His voice was filled with an incredulous sense of absurdity, "...Cat Noir's power is 'destruction'! It can only destroy everything! It cannot fix anything!"
...Yes,
Jaden's gentle smile carried a chilling, rational coldness. ,
...Since it can destroy everything...
,
...Then...
,
He gently caressed the pale, cold cheek of the girl in his arms:
,
...Let me completely 'destroy'...
,
...that damned 'cause' called 'leukemia'.
,
Wh-what?!
,
Gabriel's expression was a mixture of extreme absurdity and disbelief, horrified!
,
His blue eyes, which always sparkled with cold rationality and strategic planning, now contracted violently due to extreme shock, as if he had heard the most incredible, most world-subversioning fairy tale!
,
Mr. Information?
,
Nathalie, standing by, looked at his unprecedented loss of composure, and her usually cold, expressionless face also changed slightly!
,
It was the first time she had seen this man, who always kept everything firmly under his control, show such intense emotional fluctuations!
,
,
...He... he's crazy!
Gabriel's voice was filled with an uncontrollable, violent tremor. ,
He... he actually wants to use Cat Noir's power... to eliminate... the 'illness' for that girl?!
,
What?!
,
Nathalie also cried out in surprise! Her eyes, which always held a sharp, cold glint, were also filled with a sense of absurdity mixed with shock and disbelief!
,
In their understanding: creation is creation! Destruction is destruction!
,
Yet now, someone actually wanted to use the power that symbolized absolute
destruction
to accomplish something that should belong to the realm of
creation
!
,
For a moment, Nathalie's heart began to beat uncontrollably fast!
,
A ray of hope illuminated her heart, which had long since become numb from prolonged, hopeless waiting!
,
Perhaps... perhaps they didn't need to go to such lengths to seize the two powers that symbolized absolute
miraculous
!
,
Perhaps they only needed to use the power of the butterfly, like that boy, to bring back Emilie, who had been sleeping for so long?
,
Mr. Information...
Her voice was filled with a trembling mix of suppression and excitement that she herself hadn't even noticed!
,
But the man beside her, who had fallen into a brief, intense shock, suddenly began to murmur in a distraught, neurotic voice, as if talking to himself and desperately trying to convince himself:
,
,
...It's impossible... This is impossible...
,
Nathalie couldn't hear what he was saying, only saw that his back, which was always straight and proud like the most solitary king, was now slightly hunched—a fragile posture completely crushed by endless memories of desperate failure... Impossible... Gabriel's heart screamed frantically! ...This is absolutely impossible!
,
He tried! He tried everything! When his wife had just fallen into that ominous and fatal weakness from using that damned, broken peacock miraculous, he tried!
,
He used the power of the butterfly to grant himself countless powerful abilities, even going so far as to Akumatization himself, attempting to tear through time, reverse causality, using every method possible!
,
But it all failed!
,
No matter how many times he tried, no matter which past time point he returned to, he couldn't stop that damned curse, like a persistent disease, from continuing to spread on his wife!
,
And it was precisely because of these countless desperate failures that he finally understood: a single miraculous power could absolutely not contend with another miraculous curse of the same level!
,
He had to obtain the two most supreme, most fundamental powers representing
absolute creation
and
absolute destruction
, combine them, and then, at the cost of the entire universe's laws, make that one and final wish!
,
That boy, he was only going to
destroy
a mortal's illness;
,
While he, Gabriel, was fighting another
god's
curse!
,
These were two completely different things! They were merely two matters that were completely unequal in terms of power
level
!
,
That's right... it must be like this... The light in Gabriel's ice-blue eyes, which had just been somewhat scattered due to intense shock, once again gathered, returning to their usual coldness, obsession, and absolute rationality!
,
And Nathalie, looking at the man beside her who had just been in extreme disarray, now seemed as if nothing had happened, once again resuming the cold, strategic king's posture, and the heart that had just ignited a glimmer of hope slowly sank again.
,
...I can tell you...
His voice once again echoed in Jaden's mind through the mental link.
,
...However,
Hawk Moth's cold voice, full of unquestionable transactional meaning, continued,
,
...Afterward, you must give me both Cat Noir's and Ladybug's miraculous!
,
...This is our deal.
,
...I am certainly happy to accept.
Jaden's voice, full of a gentle smile, carried a hint of obvious playfulness.
,
The next second, the spell was in his mind!
,
...So that's how it is...
He murmured to himself in a tone of sudden realization, then slowly slipped the silver, coldly gleaming cat paw-shaped ring onto his ring finger.
,
Swoosh—!
,
Ah—! Where's my Camembert cheese—?! I haven't finished eating it yet!
,
Damn it! That stinky...
Plagg habitually complained while rubbing her little head, which was a bit groggy from the sudden forced summoning.
,
However, the next second, it froze!
,
Because it realized that it wasn't in the familiar room with the clean scent of a young man, but in a strange place with luxurious and cold design!
,
And standing in front of it wasn't the familiar, blond-haired, blue-eyed young man who always wore a warm, sunny smile, but a strange
Prince of flowers
wearing a deep purple, ornate gown and a cold silver mask!
,
However! Before its little cheese-scented head could even comprehend what was happening, the thin lips of the strange
Prince of flowers
, hidden beneath the ornate silver mask, slowly uttered the ancient incantation representing
destruction
:
,
Plagg! Cataclysm!
,
Eh—?!
,
No! Wait... wait—!!!
,
The poor little kwami's terrified and desperate protests were instantly drowned out by a dazzling green light filled with absolute destructive power!
,
A green light, filled with destructive energy, instantly enveloped his body! When the light dissipated, the
Prince of flowers
who had been wearing a deep purple, ornate gown, had transformed into a handsome and gentle Cat Noir knight in a black, tight-fitting battle suit!
,
His short black hair, which always had a hint of lazy upward curl, became even more unrestrained, and he wore a cold black cat-shaped mask on his face. His black eyes, which always held a faint, gentle smile, had turned the color of the purest, most brilliant emeralds!
,
...Jaden?
The
Princess Fragrance
who was leaning happily in his arms, somewhat ignorantly raised her beautiful little face, which wore a black mask.
,
She was a bit confused about what had happened—in her memory, their plan was to get the miraculous and give it to Hawk Moth, and then the powerful villain would keep his promise to cure her leukemia, after which she could be with him forever.
,
But now, why was he using the miraculous's power himself?
,
...It feels... great...
Jaden slowly clenched his fist, an unprecedented, powerful destructive force coursing wildly through his limbs and bones! It was amazing!
,
He slowly lowered his head, gazing at the girl who was looking at him with a bewildered expression, with an inexpressibly gentle and doting look, then slowly extended his right hand:
,
...Cataclysm.
,
He whispered the name of the destructive spell in a voice so soft that almost only the two of them could hear it.
,
A mass of green-black energy, ominous and destructive, instantly condensed in his palm!
,
That energy was so violent, so filled with the desire to destroy everything, as if it could completely lose control at any moment, wiping this luxurious, coldly designed boutique and everyone and everything inside it completely from this world!
,
However, like the most ferocious and violent beast being soothed by the strongest and gentlest master, it trembled obediently in his palm, not leaking even a trace of excess energy, and not affecting any objects or people.
,
Then, he slowly placed his right hand, enveloped in destructive energy, gently on the girl's chest.
,
The power of destruction instantly surged into her body, silently and effortlessly resolving the damned
leukemia
that had been tormenting this poor girl like a persistent disease.
,
...Eh?
Rose blinked her beautiful big eyes in confusion, feeling as if nothing special had changed within her.
,
On the other side, Jaden felt something was wrong. He felt the powerful, violent energy he had just acquired was rapidly draining away at an alarming speed! The five cat paw prints on the black ring on his finger, representing energy, were rapidly extinguishing one by one!
,
So fast?!
He sighed helplessly, it seemed this powerful force indeed couldn't be abused casually.
,
He slowly removed the ring from his finger, once again returning to the elegant and magnificent
Prince of flowers
posture.
,
...Now...
He slowly extended both hands, and with an inexpressibly gentle and doting tone, gently cupped the girl's beautiful little face, which still held a hint of bewilderment and confusion,
...you will never have to feel sadness or pain for anything again.
,
Rose stared blankly at him, feeling the warmth radiating from his warm, reassuring hands, and listening to his gentle, doting words.
,
Her heart, which had become filled with possessiveness and obsession due to the Akumatization, began to beat wildly and uncontrollably!
,
Then, following the most primitive and true impulse deep within her heart, she stood on tiptoe and firmly pressed her cold lips, smeared with ominous purplish-red lipstick, onto the lips of the man who had created a miraculous for her!
,
Meanwhile, poor Sabrina, who was buried in her chemistry homework, dropped her pathetic ballpoint pen with a
clatter
onto her notebook when she saw the shocking, romantic, and sweet scene before her!
,
Her humble and insignificant heart was once again completely overwhelmed by emotions of envy, bitterness, and burning heat!
,
And the
queen
beside her, still sulking, bit her lower lip, which was painted with expensive rose-colored lipstick, her knuckles turning slightly white from the excessive force!
,
That time... that time when Jaden underwent his Akumatization into Mr. Information, he also had Cat Noir!
,
But that damned bastard said he wasn't going to use it! And now?!
,
For a sickly commoner girl who popped out of who-knows-where!
,
Not only did he use it! He... he even kissed her!!!