I've Got a Plan for Chat Noir Too
Upon arriving at the Agreste Manor, Luka compares it to a whitewashed tomb; seemingly pristine on the outside while filled with decay. When Adrien finally responds to the intercom, his voice is practically unrecognizable, the only sign of emotion a faint tremor as he cuts Marinette off and declares they probably shouldn't see each other. Much to her surprise; despite her trepidation, she still doesn't know why she has such a bad feeling about seeing him again.
Still, Luka convinces Adrien to let them in. Though he offers Marinette the chance to stay outside and let him handle this by himself, she insists that she's sticking with him "No matter what happens or how creepy Adrien gets."
Though only three months have passed since Gabriel's passing, the manor yawns around them like a dusty tomb. Aside from Adrien, the sole other occupant is his bodyguard, who points them towards his charge's bedroom while silently thanking them for the visit. Adrien's apparently been keeping busy with some extreme renovations: his piano, books, and video games have all been traded for exercise machines and training equipment, with only a single bed to mark the room's original function.
He shrugs off Marinette's offer of condolences over his loss; according to his new sensei, it's vital to set aside all emotions, especially the negative ones. Besides, he frankly doesn't see much to grieve. While Luka had heard Gabriel and Adrien had grown closer, it was all a lie: the only reason Gabriel had started spending more time with his son was because he was secretly dying. What's more, Adrien casually reveals that Nathalie passed away just a week before his father. Last he saw of her, she was being carried out of her bedroom, ranting about how Gabriel was nothing more than a monster who'd completely ruined her life.
Felix isn't an option, either. Though Adrien idly remarks that "At least I'm not responsible for his death." When pressed, he sneers that Marinette can explain what he means by that, prodding her to tell her new boyfriend just what happened the last time they kissed. Marinette has no idea what he's talking about; as Luka subtly moves to shield her from her former crush, Adrien relents, revealing that he used to be Chat Noir.
As he explains, both he and Ladybug suspected that Felix helped ensure that the Miracle Box wound up in Hawkmoth's hands. Unable to track him down themselves, they turned to Interpol for help... but when the police stormed his home, they only discovered his body. Or a body, anyway. Noting how Hawkmoth stopped using the Peacock Pin after the theft, Adrien theorizes that his cousin got the Peacock, created a sentimonster doppelganger, and faked his own death so he could lie low for the time being.
Yet Adrien insists once more that he's not bothered by any of this. The past can't be changed, after all; all they can do is move forward—
Marinette snaps at him to drop the act. When he offers to help her deal with her lingering frustration over her old crush, Luka hastily changes the subject back to why he thought she knew what he'd done to Felix. And why did he say he used to be Chat Noir, when Chat Noir's still the same?
But he's not. Adrien insists he never would have stood idly by and let others flirt with "his Lady", much less allowed her to run around smooching other guys. Marinette wonders if Adrien was replaced as Chat Noir by Felix, but Luka vetoes the idea: would Felix risk being exposed, thus resulting in the police learning he was alive and trying to hunt him down again, and would Ladybug risk the PR nightmare that would result if she were revealed to be working with an alleged partner of Hawkmoth's? For his part, Adrien is certain Ladybug just hired an actor, because she needed a Chat Noir... and, well, Marinette knows why he wasn't available.
...Only she doesn't. And she points out that he clearly wants to confront her about whatever happened; why else would he have let them stay here for so long? But if he doesn't quit playing games, then they'll walk out, and he won't get the chance.
So he explains: Remember how he'd been so attracted to Ladybug? How he'd constantly flirted with her, even when she begged him to stop? Well, he'd finally decided to move on: to Marinette. He was going to make her his new Lady. Never mind how his partner seemed to be giving in at last; he'd already gotten over her. Luka points out how manipulative this seems, like he was only pursuing her for the 'challenge', but Adrien blows that off as purely coincidental. And anyway, she should have just accepted it and moved on, as "that's the mature thing to do."
Unfortunately, his new romantic prospects didn't turn out the way he'd planned. While he revealed himself to Marinette, she told him that she'd stopped crushing on 'Adrien Agreste'; she only had feelings for Chat Noir now. Then one day, they met on a rooftop, as she claimed to have fallen in love with him, asking for a kiss... much like a certain sentimonster once had. Only this time, Ladybug didn't intervene, and he lost the Ring — ripped right off his finger, before the girl he thought had fallen for him glared at him contemptuously and ran off. Acting like he was the bad guy!
That's right, Marinette affirms. She did do all that. Because Ladybug asked her to. She knew somebody like him couldn't be trusted with the Black Cat Ring — somebody who'd withhold his aid at a moment's notice, letting people suffer and die from akuma attacks because he was sore over not getting his way. Someone who tried to kill Scarabella, and did kill Aeon, and who spent years harassing his 'partner', forcing her to put up with his constant tantrums... and when he'd finally worn her down to the point where she relented, convincing herself that maybe she actually liked him after all despite all his flaws, he promptly switched targets and moved on.
"It was all a game to you! Just like when you asked me out only after I lost my crush on you. You don't want to date girls and make them happy. You don't want girls who will give you their heart. You just want to steal hearts by hook or crook, notch another girl's name on your list of conquests, and run off. So yeah, Adrien, when Ladybug asked me, I tricked you, stole your ring, and gave it back to her. You deserved it."
Adrien tenses up, and Luka blocks him off. After a tense stare down, Adrien returns to a cracked version of his initial calm facade, declaring that none of this matters, anyway. He'll be getting a new Miraculous soon. Not from Hawkmoth, but from the Order of the Guardians: they aren't happy with the new Ladybug, and while they can't exactly storm Paris themselves, if a 'local' like him brought her down... Smiling cruelly, he notes that inheriting his father's fortune leaves him free to train day and night, and once he defeats the new heroes and takes back what his, then maybe, Marinette, he might just—
Cutting himself off, he reasserts that his teacher is helping him ignore the ways of the world, accept what he can't change and move on. Before his guests leave, Luka asks whether he's spreading any rumors about him; Adrien denies it: "Why would I tell people anything about you? I barely know you. You're just that musician Marinette likes."
Marinette then advises Adrien to drop the whole "fake zen thing"; after all, it's clear that he's just latched onto it as a way to avoid acknowledging his mistakes. Not only did his harassment help drive the old Ladybug into retirement, he refused to speak out against his father's abuses or warn anyone about Felix's manipulative nature. But rather than taking a good, hard look at himself, he's taken Su-Han's teachings and twisted them around to suit his selfishness. Why bother changing for the better when he can just ignore the lessons of the past?
Out of leads, the couple make their way through the manor, briefly distracted by a clamor in the kitchen. Then Marinette notices some rabbit prints in the dust, following them into Gabriel's old office. A surreal lapine trail lures them down into the space Emilie Agreste once occupied... but in her place rests an enormous rabbit. One from prehistoric times, signaling just what — and who — they're actually dealing with. Calling Manon on her cell, Marinette asks her directly just who was spreading that rumor about Luka, and learns that it was "a pink-haired girl in a bunny suit."
As personal as Alya's betrayal was, Chat Noir constantly and consistently proved to be a problem in his own right. In her letter, Marinette confessed that she'd recently had a nightmare about him turning on her once they'd beaten Hawkmoth, stealing the Earrings the second her guard was down so he could make a Wish of his own... and frankly, she couldn't put it past him. Not when he'd been willing to let Syren drown millions of innocents out of sheer spite.
But she reassured Luka that she had a plan to deal with him. One she knew he wouldn't like... but that didn't matter. He didn't matter anymore.
This chapter contains examples of:
- Accidental Murder: When reminded of what happened to Aeon, Adrien defends himself by declaring "That was an accident!" Marinette isn't impressed:Marinette: If you kill someone on accident, that person is still dead!
- Bad Liar: Combined with Suspiciously Specific Denial. The more Adrien insists that he's okay now, has control over all his emotions and is leaving the past behind him, the clearer it becomes that he's blatantly lying to himself and everyone else.
- Beneath the Mask: The seemingly sweet 'sunshine boy' Adrien exploited the anonymity of being Chat Noir to exercise all his most selfish and self-serving impulses. His newfound resolve to 'control his emotions' and become Su-Han's perfect protege is shown to be nothing more than another facade.
- Condescending Compassion: When Marinette tells Adrien to drop the act, he asks whether she's still upset that he never returned her crush and offers to teach her some exercises to manage her anger.
- Deal with the Devil: When Adrien declares that he's going to be getting a new Miraculous soon, Marinette asks if he's striking one of these with Hawkmoth.
- Death Glare:
- According to Adrien, Marinette gave him one the day she took the Black Cat Ring away, in a way that "was like you thought I was the bad guy for some reason."
- Luka and Adrien stare each other down following the reveal, with Luka blocking him from lunging at Marinette.
- Dramatic Irony: Adrien is completely unaware that Marinette was Ladybug, just like how he was Chat Noir, or that he'd 'moved on' and tried to make the same girl his 'new Lady'.
- Dramatically Missing the Point:
- Luka painstakingly spells out for Adrien that even if it wasn't his intention, the timing of him 'moving on' from Ladybug right as she warmed up to his advances certainly looks like he was only chasing after her for the challenge. Adrien completely blows off the suggestion; after all, what does he care about her feelings?
- Even after Marinette lists off all of his worst transgressions as Chat Noir in order to explain why Ladybug didn't trust him with the Ring anymore, along with spelling out how he's about as far from 'boyfriend material' as you could possibly get, Adrien not only insists that he's going to 'fix everything', but heavily implies he still aims to make her his girlfriend.
- Driven to Suicide: Felix apparently decided that it was better to poison himself than be arrested and interrogated after his betrayal of Paris' heroes. However, Adrien insists that he must be Faking the Dead instead.
- Entitled to Have You: This attitude of Adrien's didn't change even after he shifted targets; he also implies that he hasn't given up on making Marinette his even after her 'betrayal'.
- Fatal Flaw: Adrien is so incredibly self-absorbed that he never spares a single thought to how anybody else might feel — least of all the objects of his affections. His arrogant presumption that everything would eventually fall into place for his 'happy ending' meant he didn't question the sentimonster Ladybug acting nothing like the real one, simply because she gave him what he wanted. Marinette exploited this by pretending to consent to a relationship; despite acting much like the sentimonster did, Adrien only cared about getting what he wanted from her.
- Foil:
- Adrien actually avoids the Holding Out for a Hero mentality that Alya and the majority of Parisians have fallen into, training day and night with the goal of confronting the new Ladybug and Chat Noir himself. However, he's motivated purely by his own selfishness, driven not by any desire to atone, but to ignore his mistakes and claim what he feels is rightly his.
- As Chat Noir, Adrien never took his heroic responsibilities seriously, forcing Ladybug to be The Reliable One while he used his masked persona as an outlet to exercise all his worst impulses. Being Chat Noir was freeing for him, even while Marinette felt increasingly trapped... so while she ultimately chose to retire, he had to be forced out of the role by being stripped of the Ring.
- Green-Eyed Monster:
- It's clear that Adrien resents how Luka is currently dating the girl he wanted to make into his new "Lady".
- He also cites this as evidence that he's no longer Chat Noir, declaring that he never would have permitted anyone to flirt with Ladybug, much less stood by and let her date others unchallenged. The fact that he doesn't see anything wrong with being such a Control Freak marks another trait he shares with his father.
- His Story Repeats Itself: Marinette and Adrien both compare the way she 'betrayed' him to the sentimonster Ladybug; once again, a girl who'd been resisting his advances abruptly acted weirdly receptive, and he was too happy about finally getting what he wanted from her to care about why.
- Holier Than Thou:
- Part of Adrien's new persona is pretending that he's putting all the painful aspects of his past behind him and is no longer ruled by his emotions. Naturally, he uses this to talk down to his guests, much like how he used to lecture Marinette about how she should deal with bullies like Chloe and Lila.
- He also declares that Ladybug should have immediately accepted that his feelings for her were different from what she wanted and "maturely" moved on, something he'd utterly refused to do himself.
- Hypocrite: Adrien, several times over, thanks to his copious amounts of Moral Myopia.
- After spending the bulk of his career as Chat Noir constantly harassing his partner, trying to force her into a relationship she clearly didn't want, he finally gives up and switches targets right as she's broken down enough to give him a chance. Adrien dismisses this by declaring that she should have immediately accepted that he wasn't interested anymore and moved on, ignoring how he'd behaved for the last two years.
- He dismisses his father's apparent change of heart and desire to spend more time with his son as "fake" because he sees his motives as Secretly Selfish, given how Gabriel was Secretly Dying. Adrien himself is prone to being incredibly selfish, hiding it behind his Bitch in Sheep's Clothing facade, yet judges his father harshly for doing the same.
- Internal Reveal:
- Adrien tells Luka that he used to be Chat Noir. Furthermore, Marinette played a key role in that "used to be" aspect.
- He also explains how Felix was connected to the loss of the Miracle Box to Hawkmoth.
- Lack of Empathy:
- Adrien shows No Sympathy whatsoever for the notion that Gabriel started spending more time with him because he believed he was dying. As far as he's concerned, that just means that the attention "wasn't real" because it wasn't motivated by the kind of change of heart he wanted his father to have.
- He also blows off the notion that Ladybug might have been hurt by his suddenly losing interest right as she showed signs of being willing to reciprocate, declaring that she should have just maturely accepted it and moved on... in the way he'd long refused to do himself.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Adrien refused to take his duties as Chat Noir seriously, forcing Ladybug to cater to his ego while trying to force her into a "romance" she didn't want. This eventually led to him losing the Black Cat Ring once he decided to switch targets over to Marinette, who pretended to reciprocate his interest just long enough to lure him off guard.
- Like Father, Like Son: Much like his father, Adrien demonstrates that he's incredibly self-absorbed, not caring one whit about anyone aside from himself and what he wants. He also proves incapable of letting things go, despite claiming otherwise, as he drops several none-too-subtle hints that he still wants to pursue a relationship with Marinette after everything.
- Loophole Abuse: Lacking any jurisdiction in Paris (coupled with their questionable legal status as displaced members of an ancient secret organization), the Order can't go after the new Ladybug directly without facing severe consequences. However, as Adrien is Parisian himself, they can work through him as a proxy.
- Loves My Alter Ego: Played With;
- Adrien 'moved past' his crush on Ladybug by switching targets to Marinette, unaware that his 'new Lady' was the Secret Identity of his partner.
- Marinette claimed to care more about Chat Noir than she did 'Adrien Agreste'; in reality, she was luring him off his guard so she could strip him of the Ring.
- Loving a Shadow:
- While Adrien naturally denies it, it is still made quite clear that he never really cared about Ladybug or Marinette as anything beyond targets for him to pursue. It's also evident that he's still interested in pursuing Marinette even after she 'betrayed' him, still refusing to see why she acted against him in the first place.
- After they leave his room, Marinette berates herself for falling for Adrien's 'sunshine boy' act, angrily questioning how she could have ever seen anything good in such a self-centered Spoiled Brat.
- Moral Myopia: For the bulk of their 'partnership', Adrien/Chat Noir refused to accept that Ladybug didn't want any kind of Relationship Upgrade, grousing over how she disregarded his feelings. Yet he waves off any heartache she or Marinette suffered over their own unrequited feelings.
- Never My Fault: Played With; while Adrien refuses to admit that he was in any way responsible for getting himself stripped of the Ring or anything else that unfolded, Marinette suggests that on some level, he is fully aware that he's far from blameless, and that this is why he's thrown himself into his training. Not because he hopes to redeem himself, but because his instructor's insistence on emotional repression offers an excuse not to think about what he's done.
- No Challenge Equals No Satisfaction: Discussed. Given how Chat Noir stopped pursuing Ladybug just as she grew willing to entertain the idea of a romantic relationship with him, and began chasing after Marinette right as she gave up her hopeless crush on Adrien, Marinette and Luka conclude that he's more interested in the challenge than actually having a girlfriend. Adrien dismisses the idea, but given all the hints that he still wants to make Marinette 'his new Lady' after their falling out and her calling him out...
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Marinette gives Adrien two over the course of their visit:
- First, she outlines all the reasons why Ladybug deemed it necessary to take the Ring from him in the first place: throughout their partnership, he consistently proved to be a self-serving brat whom she was constantly forced to placate, enduring years of harassment, hissy fits, jealousy and cruelty. She also reams him out for being the worst kind of 'boyfriend', utterly uninterested in having a real relationship with anyone and treating girls as nothing more as potential conquests to discard as he sees fit.
- Right before they leave, she tells him to drop the "fake zen thing", spelling out how he's clearly using it to avoid confronting his mistakes while listing them out one by one.
- Red Herring: Initially, Adrien's treatment of Marinette suggests that he knows she used to be his partner and is bitter about how she repeatedly rejected his unwanted advances. While he is holding a grudge related to his romantic woes, it's entirely because of what she did as Marinette — he remains blissfully unaware that his old crush and the new one were one and the same.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: Felix's parents, along with Gabriel, ensured that the public didn't learn about how he betrayed Ladybug, stole the Miracle Box, and passed it on to Hawkmoth. They weren't able to shield him from Interpol's interest, however... until his body turned up.
- Secretly Dying: Adrien tells his visitors that this is the only reason why his father had started spending more time with him, referring to it as Gabriel's "Plan B".Adrien: I'm sure if he learned he'd been misdiagnosed then he would have jumped back to his new fashion line or store or whatever he was doing in a heartbeat.
- Stepford Smiler:
- Gabriel raised his son with the mantra of "If there's something you don't want to do, smile and do it anyway."
- Su-Han subsequently taught Adrien that the smiling part is optional. Or at least, Adrien attributes his new attitude towards his teachings, while clearly twisting them to his own ends.
- Stockholm Syndrome: It's implied that Marinette was suffering a variation of this: after nearly two years of Chat Noir constantly harassing her and trampling over her agency, coupled with the stress of the Miracle Box being stolen and feeling like she had nowhere to turn, she started convincing herself that maybe she actually did like Chat Noir after all. Just in time for him to switch targets to her civilian identity.
- They Just Dont Get It: Even after everything — including Marinette extensively detailing why she helped strip him of the Ring — Adrien implies that he still wants to make her his girlfriend someday. Right in front of Luka, no less.
- Unrequited Love Switcheroo:
- Adrien/Chat Noir switched targets from Ladybug to Marinette right as the former had finally been worn down enough to warm up to his advances. Naturally, he dismisses the notion that this might have hurt his partner in any way, since those weren't his feelings being slighted.
- His interest in Marinette came right after she'd given up on her hopeless crush on who she thought he was.
- The Unsmile: When Luka points out that Adrien isn't smiling as part of his "Smile and do it anyway" routine anymore, he offers him a small, humorless grin in return. A similar expression graces his face whenever he tries reasserting that he's long since moved past his painful emotions.
- Verbal Backspace: Adrien refers to the new Ladybug's suitors as "rich idiots" before hastily correcting himself: "I mean, people."
- Wham Shot: Marinette and Luka discovering the secret area where Gabriel kept his wife on life support... with a Nuralugus Rex curled inside the pod instead.
- You Know What You Did: Adrien does this to Marinette, trying to goad her into being the one to explain what happened to Luka. Marinette eventually gets him to stop by pointing out that he wants to confront her, but if he keeps playing games, she'll walk out and he'll never get the chance.
