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He woke up slowly, like he always did after staying up late. His senses slowly came back to him as he struggled to return to the world of the living. He groaned as he stretched luxuriously on his king sized bed. The last dredges of winter had finally begun clearing up, leaving the ugly rainy days. But he really didn’t mind those all that much. Sure he didn’t like getting wet, but sitting on the bench by his window curled up around Marinette was always nice. She knew days like this always got him sleepy, and she’d sneak over and they’d just curl up and nap.
She’d bring over some cheese to get Plagg to leave them alone and then she’d run her fingers through his hair until he’d drop off into a purring haze. Of course that was only allowed to happen when his schedule was empty (which it usually was when it was raining) and when there was no school. Unfortunately for him, today was a Wednesday, so there was still classes. At least it was a half day though. Even if there was still the rest of the week to get through. He yawned loudly as he cracked his back and many other joints.
He rubbed his eyes blearily, feeling dried tear tracks on his face. There was crusty sleep in the corners of his eyes, but he wiped them away. Maybe he’d had another night more. It’d been a while since he’d last cried himself to sleep. He never could figure out what triggered those.
He’d had a long night and day yesterday. An akuma had attacked the school forcing Adrien to run around the city in panic. Ladybug had shown up briefly, but himself and Marinette had been separated when another akuma or 5 appeared. They’d quickly been overwhelmed but as Chat Noir had known that they’d be able to handle it.
He stood up slowly, not bothering to do anything with the covers as he sleepily walked over to his desk chair. He almost carelessly pulled the light blue handknit scarf from the chair and pressed it to his face, inhaling deeply as he stumbled over to his precious window alcove. Two months into dating his lovely Ladybug he’d found out that it actually hadn’t been a gift from his father, and instead an original by Marinette.
He can’t say that he was all that disappointed by the fact that it wasn’t his dad. It wasn’t like they were particularly close anyways. However, Marinette had let him continue believing that just because it made him happy. She was so selfless and amazing. It was incredible. Honestly, his father having given it to him would have been more suspicious and he’d suspected something was up for a while. Marinette telling him just confirmed his suspicious.
He sat glaring at the rain for a moment, just appreciating the drizzle sound of the rain as it pelted the earth. He got up and gently touched the bar like… well bars that separated the glass panes before turning around and wandering back over to his desk. He kept some small snacks and a kettle there just for days like this when he was extra lethargic. During moments when his cat side was more dominant he just liked to curl up around a warm mug and sit under a blanket.
Or maybe in a box. He liked boxes.
Instead of making his usual coffee, he chose to make a cup of hot cocoa. He didn’t know exactly what drove him to make Marinette’s favourite drink – she always hated coffee no matter what Adrien did to try and convince her that coffee was a gift from the gods – but maybe it had something to do with the fact that he missed her. He’d seen her just yesterday, but she was his everything. Any time spent away from her was too much.
He grinned softly as he sipped his beverage. Maybe he’d walk to school today, just to enjoy the weather a bit more. Nathalie hadn’t come in to wake him up yet, but a quickl look at the clock confirmed that his internal clock was right. He had just enough time to get ready and walk to school. He’d leave a note for his father’s personal assistant. If she hadn’t woken him yet, she was probably too busy. That was fine.
In seemingly no time at all, he was ready and out the door. Plagg had watched him oddly for a bit, but reluctantly he flew into his backpack without giving his usual demand for cheese. He was clutching something small in his little paws and silent, staring at him with wide eyes. He found that a bit odd, but he didn’t think too much about it. If he was tired after yesterday, then Plagg must be exhausted It only made sense that he was quiet. He would be sure to sneak the kwami some camembert later.
Before leaving the silent house he grabbed his special umbrella from where he’d hidden it in one of his boots. Marinette had gifted it to him for his birthday last year. It was small and red with black polka dots. It was from a line of Ladybug and Chat Noir themed merchandise. He’d thought it had been funny to buy her a Chat Noir sweater for her birthday that year, and she’d responded with her own touching gift. An umbrella because of that one time he had lender her his.
He loved it to pieces, just like everything else that she gave him. Because unlike his father’s yearly pen, her gifts actually had significance. He kept a box under his bed full of things that either she’d given him or that reminded him of her. She called him a dork and really, he couldn’t even deny it. He was a massive dork.
And his Lady loved him for it.
He stumbled blearily all the way to school, mind still in a warm half asleep haze. He stood in front of the school as the rain continued to pour. No matter how tired she was, Marinette showed up to school. She took great pride in her education. Maybe something was wrong? This was when she usually arrived, but she wasn’t here today. Maybe she just slept in. The school was oddly silent as nobody arrived for a while. Occasionally the noise of a passing care broke through the heavy pitter patter of the rain.
Soon people began to trickled in, their black umbrellas making small spaces of safe havens where no rain could touch. There was no wind. They murmured quietly to each other, each umbrella turning and spinning as people stared at him. Their eyes shifted to his scarf as they passed, eyes widening as they whispered harshly to each other. Adrien knew it was a nice scarf, they must agree that Marinette was a good designer.
It was very soft. He liked soft things. Like Marinette’s hair.
He stood patiently, waiting on the steps with his bright red umbrella. Eyes watched him like a hawk as they walked past. He wasn’t bothered by it though, as a model and the son of Gabriel Agreste, he was used to it. He didn’t particularly like it, but it didn’t bother him as much anymore. Ladybug was the only one he ever needed to notice him.
He shifted nervously, Marinette was never usually this late but on a rainy day. She set alarms and left extra early because she walked. He looked around, shoving his hands in his pockets. Where was she?
About 15 minutes after people had stopped trickling in, Alya and Nino appeared. They were walking slowly, heads down and Nino’s left arm wrapped around Alya’s shoulders. Like all the others, their umbrella was black. It was like everyone was mourning. He doesn’t really remember all that much from yesterday, but that wasn’t unusual either.
When he used his powers for too long or was around an akuma for more than 5 hours, their negativity began to mess with his own, resulting in unfortunate side effects. Often times, his cat side would emerge more prominently, and his recollection of events was almost always fuzzy. Ladybug, being a symbol of good luck, had no such issue, but she had her own side effects.
She was clumsier as Marinette and often had a stuttering problem when flustered. Her Ladybug grace and confidence was particularly absent after a fight, leaving him to lie their way out of trouble. He didn’t mind though. It was cute.
Nino raised his head as they came closer his eyes enlarging almost comically at the sight of the model. “Adrien…” he whispered softly, him and Alya stopping at the base of the steps and looking up at him. “We uhh… didn’t think you’d show today. Yesterday was a pretty bad day for you.” Nino said slowly.
Adrien frowned. “What do you mean? Yesterday’s a little fuzzy. There was an akuma attack right? Chat Noir and Ladybug stopped them.” He says in confusion. Nino’s lips thinned as his suspicions were confirmed. “Where’s Marinette? She’s usually never this late anymore.” He says, trying to change the subject. Alya flinched and Nino stared wide eyed at him in horror.
“Dude, do you really not remember what happened?” he asked softly, his expression filled with pity. Adrien furrowed his eyebrows in confusion as he tried really hard to push past the fuzz in his mind. Something wasn’t right here.
Plagg shifted in his backpack, probably curling up into a little ball.
“I…” he started, “there was an akuma attack. And it was more than one. We- Ladybug and Chat Noir were overwhelmed.” His voice was slow as he carefully thought about the timeline’s events.
“Mari- Ladybug got… hurt and… I- Chat Noir lost it.” He concluded. If Ladybug was hurt, then that might explain why she wasn’t here and why he was so tired. She was probably just resting and healing right? And if Marinette was hurt, of course Chat Noir would lose it. Ladybug was his world. And if Marinette, his girlfriend and partner was down, then it would be reasonable to assume he’d be with her and not at school. That would certainly count as a rough day for him.
“Adrien… Ladybug didn’t just get hurt.” Alya whispered, looking up through her eyelashes at him, her eyes rimmed in red and droplets of water caught in the eyelashes. “She de-transformed because it was so serious. You… you freaked out and she died before any help could get there. Then you destroyed the akuma and collapsed.” Her voice shook and she couldn’t look him in the eye.
He froze.
Marinette…
Was dead?
No, that couldn’t be right. He must have heard wrong. Alya wouldn’t say that. He stood there just sort of staring, trying to wrap his head around what Alya had said. It couldn’t be true.
Please let it not be true.
He closed his eyes, desperately searching through his scattered brain and fuzzy memories. Suddenly, the scene came back to him in full colour.
He ran across the rooftops batting attack after attack away with his baton, spinning it fast enough to protect himself. He needed to get closer to the action. He’d just finished dealing with the third akuma and was on his way to give Ladybug some back up. She’d been stalling the bigger ones while he took out as much as he could.
Just judging from what projectiles were being thrown his way, this particular one was a doozy. It looks like this was a weapons master (Adrien thinks he actually recognized him as one of the teachers at the dojo he goes to every now and then) and was straight up launching swords at him. He had no idea how Marinette was holding up with just her yo-yo. He was the one with weapons experience after all.
When he got there, he got his answer. Marinette was taking cover behind anything and everything as various metal projectiles were thrown her way Her suit was torn in some places but so far, nothing serious. Thank god! He looked around before taking cover himself. “My Lady!” he called, “Do you have a plan?” her head snapped up and starred at him. Her eyes were wild as they flitted around trying to find a solution.
She minutely shook her head at him and he resisted the urge to curse. This was not good. Not good at all. “I’ll distract him for now while you come up with a plan” he said. She nodded, although the panicked look in her eyes hadn’t left yet. He jumped out from behind the building and began taunting the akumatized weapons master as he tried to lead him away from the statue Ladybug was hiding behind.
Unfortunately, he seemed to catch onto that plan because he smiled sinisterly at that statue. “Oh? You’re trying to protect your precious little bug? Well, what you don’t know is that I was a soldier!” he announced rather out of the blue. Chat Noir had no idea where he was going with this. But he knew that it wasn’t good.
“I’m more than capable of fighting with more than traditional martial arts weaponry like those pathetic little brats seem to be obsessed with.” Then his grin turned absolutely poisonous as he conjured something small and black in his hand. It began beeping but Chat Noir was too far away to stop him in time as he launched it at the statue. It struck the horse and rider and it exploded on impact.
“No!” he screamed, forgetting about the akuma in favour of running towards the now destroyed statue. The rapier that the statue had been holding had fallen down and was noe sticking straight up from the ground.
At least he hoped it was in the ground. The alternative wasn’t something he could even comprehend at the moment.
He rushed over, falling to his knees as he rounded the half hidden by boulders and she’d ended up draped over another piece of the horse. And just like he’d teared, the stone rapier had not ended up being held up by the ground. Instead, it had gone right through Marinette’s chest, effectively impaling her and pinning her to the ground.
Like a bug.
Blood was everywhere and his beloved was barely conscious. She weakly groaned as she reached for him as he approached. He fell to his knees beside her, his hands fluttering around her as he frantically tried to figure out what he could possibly do to help her. The stone had gone right through her chest. It was a miracle that she was still alive, let alone conscious. “Ladybug,” he said softly, finally settling on caressing her cheek softly.
She was panting softly in pain, her gasps rattled in her chest as she struggled to pull in air. “C-Chat,” she stuttered out. Her voice weak and breathy. She seemed to struggle for another few precious seconds, but eventually she lost and her breathing began to slow. He panicked, gripping her hand tightly and pleading with her.
“No, no, no, don’t leave me, my Lady. I can’t do this without you!” he begged, but by then she was gone. In a bright pink flash, her suit disappeared leaving behind the corpse of Marinette Dupain-Cheng. There were gasps of shock from everyone around him as Ladybug’s identity was revealed, but he didn’t care.
His Lady was gone.
He let out a loud wail, like that of a cat in mourning. He collapsed on top of her just screaming and sobbing, fully content to just lay there next to his Marinette for the res of eternity. But then the akumatized man chose that moment to taunt him.
“Now that Ladybug no longer stands in my way, there’s nothing stopping me from getting both of your miraculous’. I’m unbeatable!” he grinned, pointing to the many news cameras. “And none of you can stop me either!” he cackled, pointing at the crowd of onlookers.
Adrien’s blood ran cold at the sound of the sinister laugh. He was… laughing. He’d just killed a civilian… and he was laughing? Now with Ladybug gone, there was no one to bring her back to life. This man was going to pay.
He gently closed Marinette’s eyes before standing up. He gingerly picked up the yo-yo, Tikki falling out of Marinette’s earrings and landing on the ground. She flew up to land on his shoulder and gripped the raised accent son his suit tightly so that she wouldn’t fall. There was a dangerous look in his eyes as he stepped away from his Lady’s corpse. “You really think I’ll just let you get away with this?” he purred, green eyes glinting poisonously as he stared up at the akuma through his blond fringe.
He began slowly, then increasing in speed – swinging the yo-yo until it did the thing where it created a tangible glowing pink shield. However, slowly but surely, the pink began to fade as his own powers and fury bled down the yo-yo string. The healing creation glow disappeared and was replaced by a glow not unlike his own Cataclysm. “You killed her! Akuma or now, you’re not going to get away with murder!” he hissed, growling at the man before lunging forward with a deep roar of pure fury.
He slowly reached into his backpack pocket where Plagg was currently sitting. The small kwami pet his hand in a weak attempt to soothe, but he did do his part and placed the two small ladybug themed earrings. He pulled his hands out, just staring at the two dull earrings in the palm of his hand. They were still red with black polka dots, showing that that was where Tikki was hiding sleeping.
He stared almost numbly at the miraculous in his palm before looking back up at the grief filled faces of his friends. “I… I need to go.” He stuttered out before dropping his umbrella and his school bag and booking it down the steps. He didn’t know where he was going yet, but he knew he just needed to run. Plagg had somehow flown out of his backpack and was flying beside him. Plagg had blessed him with silence, and for that he was grateful. He was still trying to wrap his head around the fact that she was gone, to be able to handle the cat kwami now.
He was just numb. He both remembered and understood what happened and was trying to block it out and pretend it didn’t happen. He just didn’t know what was happening.
He still had the ladybug miraculous clutched in a death grip and he was just running over rooftops out of his suit. Adrenaline was the only thing keeping him going considering he skipped breakfast (hot chocolate didn’t count okay) and barely slept. He still had no idea where he was going, but it looks like his subconscious was taking him to where he met with Mar- her every night; the Eiffel Tower.
He quickly transformed with a quiet “Plagg… claws out.” And then he was scaling the tower until he could sit at the very top. He was completely soaked and shivering – although whether it was from the cold or from panic, he couldn’t really tell. He rubbed his glove covered thumbs over the stones in the earrings for a moment as he stared down at Paris.
It was raining, how fitting. It was like the entire world was mourning with him.
The world should be mourning.
Ladybug was gone.
Marinette was gone.
He felt the rain his face and mix with the tears that were slipping down his cheeks. He hadn’t even really been aware that he was crying again.
He sat there staring as the sky cried over the city. Then, he de-transformed, Plagg’s small form falling onto his lap. He cupped the cat in his hands, bringing him closer before whispering. “I know you want some chees, but I’m going to need you to do something important for me okay?” he rasped, his throat sore from all the sobbing he’d done in the past 24 hours.
Plagg stared at him with wide worried eyes but listened intently. He pushed the little ladybug earrings as well as his Chat Noir ring into the kwami’s small paws. “I need you to look after these until you guys find new chosens. You can do that for me, right Plagg? He asked, curling Plagg’s paws around his ring as well.
“No, no, no, kitten.” Plagg started flying up to get in Adrien’s face. ‘I’m not losing another one – not like this. “he said, shaking his head frantically. Adrien smiled sadly at him.
“I’m sorry, Plagg. Maybe the next one will be better. Watch out for him? For Me?
he said softly, knowing full well why Plagg was so against this. You see, with all of the bad luck and destructive powers came a heavy price. Plagg’s chosens always had a particular proclivity for negativity. Most came from broken homes and suffered from depression. All of them developed an unhealthy fixation on their Ladybug. She always accepted them unconditionally. Chat Noirs sought affection with an almost scary hunger.
Ladybug was always the offset to Chat Noir’s pain She made everything better. That was why all Chat Noirs throughout history fought to protect her with everything they had. She was often the only good thing in their lives. If not for being Chat noir, they’d be the ideal akuma victim.
Another thing all Chat Noirs had in common was that they all died young. Whether it was from being killed in trying to save Ladybug, being killed by their home life (Adrien knew he was one of the more fortunate Chat Noirs), or from killing themselves after Ladybug was killed herself. Ladybug almost always outlived her Chat Noir, but there was always the exceptions. And when she was killed, Chat Noir lost it.
Much like Adrien had the day before.
They were burnt out without their Ladybugs, and were doomed to self destruct. Plagg had told him about how the longest one had ever lasted was a month before he offed himself – with cataclysm too. Adrien knew he was one of the worst for depending on his Ladybug, so it was really no surprise he was snapping now. He lived for his Lady, and now she was gone. He would soon be gone. He was just sorry he was doing this to Plagg. He knew that Plagg had hope he wouldn’t fall prey to the same fate as the others.
He smiled through his tears, nudging the cat kwami gently. Plagg stared at him with wide eyes but he knew better than anyone that nothing could possibly say could fix this. Adrien’s reason for continuing to live was simply gone.
It was inevitable really.
“I’ll stay with you.” The small creature said instead. Adrien smiled.
“Thank you,” he whispered softly, petting his partner one more time before standing up and looking over the edge of the tower. He’d done it so many times as Chat, but somehow, it was so much more daunting now. This was it.
“Goodbye, Plagg.” He said softly, mostly towards himself. “I’ll say ‘hi’ to the others for you.” And then he was falling. Tipping over the edge and tumbling towards the unforgiving ground; joining his beloved.
True to his word, Plagg flew down with him the entire way.
After the horrifying reveal earlier, yesterday, Paris was hit with yet another tragedy..
Late yesterday afternoon, Paris’ two resident superheroes went p against many akumatized citizens. Although the victory did not go to the mysterious villain known only as Hawkmoth, Paris’ dynamic duo did not escape unscathed.
In a surprise attack, a statue was blow up, killing our beloved Ladybug before anyone could get to her in time With her death came a horrifying and shocking reveal. Ladybug’s true identity is a teenage girl named Marinette Dupain-Cheng.
With one of Paris’ heroes permanently down, Chat noir went berserk on the akuma and turned him over to the authorities. As he had murdered the only person capable of truly reversing the akuma’s effects, Xavier Laporte will be facing murder charges of the first degree. It is still unknown if he will plead guilty.
As for the remaining vigilante, his own identity was revealed as he sobbed over the corpse of one of Paris’ youth. In a surprise turn of events, Adrien Agreste, Dupain-Cheng’s significant other, was revealed o be Chat Noir. Unfortunately, he fled the scene before emergency services could retrieve Ladybug’s body.
Witnesses say that this morning, Agreste was standing outside of the school he and his girlfriend had gone to but never did show up to class. Today’s evens certainly explain why.
At 4:03 pm, Adrien Agreste’s body was found at the base of the Eiffel Tower. He had been dead for approximately 6 hours by the time anyone found him, having jumped of the structure Chat Noir and Ladybug met at for patrol, not all that long after last being seen.
“I honestly can’t say that I’m surprised.” Said a shocked classmate – Nino Lahiffe, reportedly one of Agreste’s closest friends. “Even without knowing that he was behind the mask, it was easy to see that Marinette was his entire world. Everyone knew he wouldn’t be able to live without her.”
His other classmates were oddly subdued at the news that the famous crime fighting duo went to school with them, but many confessed that they should have seen it coming To our surprise, much like Lahiffe, no one was surprised by Agreste’s death. Saddened yes, but to them, it was only logical.
“My Adrikins always did wear his heart on his sleeve,” Chloe Bourgeoise claimed, “anyone could tell that Marinette was the one who held it.”
“without Marinette, Adrien simply didn’t exist,” Dupain-Cheng’s close friend Alya Césaire tells us. “I think he was planning on proposing before graduation.” She confesses quietly. “Adrien had said he’d found his mother’s ring in storage and was trying to work up the courage to ask her dad for permission.”
Gabriel Agreste, Sabine Cheng, and Tom Dupain, refused to give a statement.
For now it seems, this is the last we’ll see of chat Noir and Ladybug. Paris’ heart goes out to Agreste and Dupain-Cheng’s friends and family. The city mourns together.