Chapter Text
Exhausted
"Tikki? "
The kwami comes out of her hiding place, Marinette's small purse, while the girl closes the hatch. The room, usually large and painted in shades of pink, suddenly seems dark and small.
"What's going on, Marinette?" Instead of answering she lets herself fall on the sofa, starting to stammer, "I ...Ti-Tikki I.. can’t... " the Kwami is visibly worried and flies closer to her, "I can't do it!" she finally says, bursting into tears. "Everything that happened, it was all my fault!" The girl looks at the sofa where she has hidden the Miracle Box. "Master Fu ... Adrien...". Marinette takes from her pocket the lucky charm that her friend had given her, "And then Luka! It's too much! I'm tired, Tikki! I can’t be Ladybug anymore!" she continues between sobs, covering her face with both hands.
"Oh, Marinette! Look at me, please." Tikki does her best but Marinette keeps crying between the hands, "It was Hawkmoth, it's not your fault, don’t say it!"
"Yes! It was my fault!" Now Marinette is almost shouting, "It all happened because of my indecision! And because I had too many things on my mind!" She fell on the sofa, "and it will only get worse, Tikki!" she sobs, hiding her face in the pillows.
A rose window opens, showing the profile of a man in a purple suit: Hawkmoth. "What is this? Oh, I am familiar with ... Anguish? Abandonment? FEAR? And ... something else … No, I have never felt anything like it, it is a perfect opportunity! I can’t fail!”
Hawkmoth closes his hands, cupped around one of the white butterflies that were flying around. It becomes surrounded by a purplish light and changes color. "Fly to her, my little Akuma, and darken her heart!" he says, while the butterfly leaves the room through the rose window and flies out into the sky of Paris.
Marinette keeps thinking that if only she had been more careful, Hawkmoth would never have found Master Fu, guardian of the Miraculous and now the old Chinese man had erased his memory by passing her the role of Guardian. And destining her to lose the memories of the Miraculous ones in turn, when, in the future, she would give up the role of Guardian.
But the little girl might not have thought of this yet. Beyond that, too much had happened to her that day. Things that hurt. She had managed to pretend that everything was fine, she had enjoyed listening to Luka's song and being with the others, until she returned to her room, the room covered with photos of Adrien.
Still crying, always hidden in the cushions, she vented to Tikki, "I’m the worst Ladybug ever! All my friends are in danger now, and it's all my fault! And I can not ask anyone for help, because... you know why. The secret."
"Marinette, I'm so sorry about Master Fu, but he is still with us. He met his beloved, and they will stay together and ..." the little Kwami was trying to comfort her holder and friend by flying close to her face and trying to hug her, even though her size would not allow it. A purple butterfly entered through the trap door from the mezzanine, and went up to the terrace.
Tikki saw it coming in and shouted, "MARINETTE! An Akuma!" to warn her friend, who raises her head from the pillows and opens her eyes wide, already swollen with tears, at the sight of the butterfly.
Marinette stands up and tries to get away from the magic butterfly, which is about to reach her.
"No! Help!" She shouts.
"Don't panic! Hold on!" cries Tikki, but poor Marinette can not look away from the akuma that’s getting closer to his face, - The Miraculous! - can barely think as terror and desperation begin to take over everything else "Tikki! Run away, before ..." she tries to say, before the Akuma touches one of her earrings and everything around her becomes dark. In front her, Marinette sees the face of Hawkmoth, surrounded by the purple silhouette of a butterfly.
"Hi, I'm Hawkmoth."
Tikki witnesses the whole thing and remains petrified looking at the girl's face contracting into a grimace, a reddish shadow surrounding her blue eyes - I have to ask for help! I have to find Plagg! - she thinks, flying towards the open hatch on the outside.
A voice in Marinette's head says, "Princess Solitude... everyone abandoned you? I’ll give you the power to make those who hurt you lose their beloved ones, so you can take revenge," while the darkness turns purple.
"No," speaking it costs an enormous effort to Marinette, "I don't ... I don't ... want... to cause more ... suffering. Go away, monster," are the only things she can say, but the voice in her head was mellifluous.
"Come on, don't you want to take revenge on the one who broke your heart? Really?"
"Go away ... I'm stronger ... than ... you," tried Marinette, shaking her head, but she can’t resist that voice, she had been through too much.
"Oh, good, good, in return, you will give me the miraculous Ladybug and Chat Noir.”
But something still resisted, while Marinette, terrified, hears her own voice say, "Okay Hawkmoth. After I have my revenge, you will have them."
Everything in her sight is enveloped in a violet light and a violet mist surrounds her body.
Tikki is flying across the rooftops of Paris, trying to figure out where to go to find Plagg and Chat Noir, she thinks - Tikki, think ... Where is that cat today? - Suddenly the sky, from the golden light of the sunset, turns gray and somewhere behind him, like a wave in a pond, a ring shaped cloud expanding rapidly throughout Paris - no no no no no I have to go faster - she thinks, as she finally sees her destination: Agreste’s Mansion.
Adrien is at his desk, in front of the computer, the background of the monitor with the image of his mother, smiling. But the boy is not looking at her, he has his cell phone in hands and he’s looking at an Instagram pic of Marinette and Kagami at an ice cream shop table.
Plagg flutters over the sofa, a piece of cheese between the paws. "So, Casanova, you made a move, didn’t you?" winks the Kwami to his blond bearer.
"Do not be ridiculous, Plagg!" replies Adrien with a half smile "I like Kagam but …”
"Yes, sure, you love Ladybug," Plagg ends the sentence for him.
"Oh, it's useless, Plagg ... you 'll never understand," the blond shakes his head, slightly bored.
Plagg throws the piece of cheese in the air and swallows it on the fly, "This Camembert is a loooot better than girls!" he concludes, his mouth half full, coughing when the sunset suddenly turns gray. Adrien notices the change in light, and turns to the window while the cloud obscures the golden sky for a moment. When the boy looks again on the cell phone, ready to call someone, he sees that photo of his friends has changed: the girls have disappeared and the table is empty.
"What?" but he has no time, noticing that his mother's face has disappeared from the photo in the same way. Adrien snaps, eyes wide open, "Plagg! What's happening?" looking at the little magical creature, blurting out, "Oh no! Plagg! " watching the Kwami slowly become transparent.
Akuma
Tikki has finally reached Agreste Mansion, she is looking out of the large windows of Adrien's room, just as a flash of green light illuminates the room and a terrified Adrien is magically replaced by Chat Noir. With a leap, the masked hero reaches the window, a few meters from the Ladybug Kwami on the verge of panic, "Chat Noir! .... I need your help!"
The masked boy, taken by surprise, risks missing the edge of the opening.
"Tikki! What are you doing here? They might see you!"
A leap and Chat Noir is beyond the manor’s wall, followed by the red Kwami. Hidden behind a chimney, Chat Noir raises his hand, palm up, where the little red creature immediately sits. "But where's Ladybug? What’s happening? It's Hawkmoth, isn't it?" He asks, stunned and still scared. Tikki flies up, taking off in the direction from which she had come. "There is no time, Chat Noir. It's .... it doesn’t matter where Ladybug is now. Come with me, I'll explain along the way."
An uproar is breaking out in the streets: it seems that all Parisians are suddenly looking for someone who has disappeared. The news spreads quickly, thanks to the inevitable direct message from Nadia Chamak and it is now clear that this is Hawkmoth’s doing.
Alya is almost overwhelmed by some panicked passers-by as she exits the uncrowded Metro stairs near her house. She shakes her red curls leaning on the handrail and mutters.
The gray cloud has left no traces in the sky and Alya does not understand what caused that wave of panic, but the experience of the previous months told her that it must be an Akuma. She takes her cell phone and opens the phone book to call Marinette, "I knew it," mutters Alya listening to the Marinette's cheerful voice say, "It’s Marinette! I can't answer now, leave a message!"
"As usual, she has probably forgotten her cell phone somewhere."
The redhead continues to walk, increasing her pace, picking up again the phone to call Nino to make sure he is okay, but after the fifteenth ring there is still no answer. "Uff, not even him! Still with those headphones ... I hope." she mutters in a low voice.
Every time she puts the cell phone in the back pocket of her jeans, it vibrates: An akuma alert! In the images of the news, the house of her friend Marinette is shrouded in fog and the unmistakable black silhouette of Chat Noir who tries, with a series of somersaults, to avoid purple rays thrown by a gray figure. The aspiring journalist runs her hands through her tawny hair, adjusts her glasses and rushes towards Marinette's house, looking over the rooftops for the silhouette of Ladybug and totally forgetting to call Nino, as she starts running towards the Notre-Dame area.
Chat Noir and Tikki are now within sight of Notre-Dame, when Adrien stops suddenly, "Come on," he begins dryly, his green eyes fixed on Tikki as they land on a roof. "Explain: what are you doing here, where is Ladybug, why is she not there and what is happening?" raising a gloved finger at each question he asks. "No, she hasn't, given up, has she? No, she can't have done it without telling me anything." The hero puts his hand behind his neck and looks around bewildered, and Tikki looks at him, no less worried "Chat Noir, no ... she hasn't given up, calm down! "
Chat Noir, still staring at her says, "Tikki, please" with too much emphasis on please, "tell me where ladybug is or I'll turn back here and now," he spells out, reaching out his left hand with the Black Cat ring and then stopping in midair. The little kwami is visibly nervous, "Chat, please trust me. She's," Tikki looks around, "she's all right but .. but now she can't transform, and ... listen, only you can save Paris, now! Ladybug will explain everything!" The little creature lowers his eyes.
Chat Noir's gaze becomes more and more serious, he removes the baton from his belt and opens it in telephone mode, closes it, then looks at Tikki.
"Ok, Ladybug is not there. But I can't catch the akuma."
Tikki looks just as serious, "I know, but you can free them and Ladybug will do the rest when ... when she can transform again. Please, Chat Noir," joins the little paws in front of his chest, as if praying to the hero in black "let's hurry up, we don't have time to talk."
"Okay," the blond nods, "Ladybug will have a lot of explaining to do." he tells her, but is thinking - she says so not to scare me, but Ladybug must be in real danger and, worse, without powers, since Tikki is here. If something should happen to her … - as he feels a dark weight drop in the center of his chest.
The two turn to the church, still scarred by the fire and see a strange gray cloud, similar to a small thunderstorm mound forming where Marinette's parents' pastry shop is located. Chat Noir squints to see better, "But isn’t this Marinette's house?" He stretches out the baton to jump over the square that separates them from the Seine and the girl's house.
When they reach it, the whole upper part of the building is now surrounded by a gray fog. - Oh no! Not again! - Thinks the blond, "Marinette!" Chat Noir shouts, rushing towards the building after giving Tikki a stink eye. For her part, the Kwami hides inside a mailbox, observing the scene from the letter slot.
While Chat Noir is approaching, he see’s Marinette’s parents leaving from the shop, walking wobbly. They are calling to each other and shouting the name of their daughter, but it is as if they did not see each other. Chat Noir approaches Tom, "Mr. Dupain! Are you Ok? Where's Marinette?"
The man looks at him "Chat Noir! Marinette is ... she was in her room! I have to go!" Chat Noir stands in front of him, trying to stop him, "Have you seen my wife? I have to go ..." but the sentence dies in his throat when he looks up on the second floor of the house he came from.
"Your wife is here, behind you," says Chat Noir, making Tom turn towards the street. “Now is no time to joke!" the burly pastry chef scolds him, "There is no one!"
" But .. but ..." Chat Noir bites his lip, "All right. Mr. Dupain! Try to stay calm and go get safe. I'll take care of it. It's an Akuma, so let me handle it. I will save your daughter!"
At the last words, the black-clad hero has already rushed towards Marinette's mother, who is looking around with her hands clasped on her chest, calling for Tom and Marinette. He puts his arm on Sabine's shoulders and accompanies her across the street, "Don't worry, your husband is fine, it must be the effect of the Akuma if you can't see him. I swear to you, he is here, next to you. Mr. Dupain! Come over here, please. I'm going to save Marinette!"
Chat Noir turns and is about to leap, when a figure jumps from the cloud, landing with a somersault on one of the marble blocks of the river bank and causing the disorderly escape of those who had approached.
Marinette, of course, is no longer herself: pink jeans, shirt and jacket are now a gray tight suit, on her chest is the floral pattern that was on her shirt, in shades of gray. She wears high boots, darker than the suit.
Around her neck is a thin silver chain with a triangular-shaped pendant. On her back, she wears a semi-transparent cloak, which flutters in the wind. Her face is half covered by a mask without features, red eyes, expressionless, except for the vertical lines running down her cheeks from below the mask, like black tears.
Her formerly blue hair, now colorless, loosens over her shoulders. The only other note of color, apart from the eyes, are the bright purple luminescent ear studs. In one hand she holds the lucky charm she had when she was akumatized, also in an anonymous gray. Around her wrists, two silver bracelets, joined by a large chain of the same material almost reaching the ground, the rings slightly luminescent.
"Ah, there you are!" shouts the strange figure, pointing red eyes towards Chat Noir, "Give me your Miraculous and let's finish it, I made a promise! And I keep the promises, unlike you!”
The masked hero stands in front of the figure, his throat dry - What happened to you? - he thinks, shaking his head to focus on the opponent.
"M-Marinette?" Chat Noir asks, incredulous "What is happening to you? You know I can help you!"
The boy didn't feel like making one of his usual puns, he knew he was facing his friend with pigtails and he had to save her.
The girl shouts angrily, "Don't call me Marinette, stray cat, I'm Princess Solitude now!" She moves the gaze of the mask to the road, from which a small crowd runs away.
“I want everyone to be alone, so no one will suffer anymore because those who love them have abandoned them!!" The gray shape raises a gloved hand, throwing a violet beam towards Chat Noir, who dodges it by throwing himself to the right, rolling and standing up, in a guard position. In addition to the weight of anxiety on his chest, the hero started feeling an increasing anger towards Hawkmoth growing into his chest.
"Come on, I won’t hurt you! You can just forget all those who have made you suffer! It's nice! Come on, cat! Then I'll fix two other things and bring the Miraculous to Hawkmoth! "
Chat Noir had to buy time to understand where the akuma was, thinking
- Maybe in the object she is holding, whatever it is. Or the pendant? The mask? The chains? Think, Adrien, think ... but where is Ladybug? She can figure out easily .
The masked hero moves to the center of the street, trying to get the girl dominated by Hawkmoth away from her parents. "What? No! I don't want to forget who is dear to me! Nobody wants it!" Chat Noir swallows hard, "What happened to you? Why are you doing this? I can hel-"
"Shut up! I don't want your help! I don't want anyone's help! I just want …” she stops, “NO!" Princess Solitude cries, then puts her hands on her face, her voice trembles, "I don't want anyone! Anymore!"
She shoots a series of purple rays towards Chat, who dodges them with a series of somersaults, ending up hiding behind a parked car, leaning far enough to see through the windows.
The gray figure looks around looking for his target, "don't hide k-kitten, don't do as everyone always does!" Marinette's voice is altered but trembles.
She shouts, "ALL OF YOU!", Princess of Solitude raises both arms in front of her, two purple rays depart from her hands and reach her petrified parents, while two rings of the chain that bound her wrists disappear.
Tom and Sabine, lowering the arms with which they had covered their faces, they look around in disorientation, then the pastry chef says to Sabine, extending his hand, "Come, miss, let's take cover."
Sabine looks at him from below up, "Ah yes, sure, who are you?" joining the fleeing passers-by who take refuge in an alley nearby.
Chat Noir, from his makeshift hiding place, watches the scene by covering his mouth with one hand, biting his lip to avoid panic - And why is Ladybug not here? What happened to her? She would know what to do … - he shakes the blonde head - concentrate, Adrien, concentrate, you can do it, and then Ladybug always comes, trust her .. as always! -
Near the Seine, Alya begins to meet people who had left the surroundings of Notre Dame. Moving with difficulty, in the opposite direction to the flood of people on the run, she finally arrives in sight of the well-known pastry shop. While she looks for Ladybug, she sees who she was trying to call: with his inevitable red cap: Nino, her boyfriend, as well as Adrien's best friend.
The masked hero flashes his green eyes down the street looking in vain for Tikki. He then focuses on his opponent, who is momentarily turning away from him. She is busy throwing more purple rays from her hands towards the few remaining fleeing passers-by, leaving them bewildered, but no chain ring disappears.
"Now," he says to himself and, with a fluid movement, levering with his silver baton, Chat Noir exits from behind the car and lands on the balustrade of the river bank, a few meters from Princess Solitude.
"Hey, Purrincess!" it seems so strange to him to call that gray being "It's me you want, right? Come on, let's play catch the cat's tail!" he challenges her, placing his left hand on his hip and twirling the tail of the costume with his right. From that distance, he can look better at the figure of his opponent from his right hand hanging an object, which Chat Noir cannot recognize - what is that? - reflects.
"Oh, don't worry, your turn, k- kitten, will come later, when you give me your Miraculous!" Princess Solitude reaches out with her right arm, hurling another beam at Chat Noir, who readies himself by swinging the stick in front of him. She takes another leap, landing on top of a lamppost, away from Chat Noir. The girl in gray looks around, recognizing Alya's tawny hair "Ah, look who's there! My friend Alya!" she says, through gritted teeth, "And there is Nino too, two pigeons ..." she raises his arms, taking aim.
Anger
"I knew I should have gone home," Nino chides himself, trying not to be dragged to the ground by fleeing passers-by. "Ouch," someone stepped on his foot. Hopping on the other the boy manages to reach a less crowded point and looks around. "Alya must be here somewhere, when there is an Akuma she is there too, ready to get into trouble."
Not seeing her, he turns his back on the river and starts to walk in the opposite direction. He has to get away from where Chat Noir and his opponent are fighting and find a safe place.
Nino does not have time to take a step when something hits him and makes him fall to the ground, making his glasses fall from his nose, at the same time a purple flash blinds him for an instant. Now he is on the ground, next to a girl about his age, olive, red and curly hair, without glasses he confusedly sees that she has beautiful hazel eyes. Seeing her, Nino swallows hard. He realizes she is on top of him, and rolls next to him, sitting on the pavement, "Sorry but I didn't ... I didn't have time and ... she hit us too. Ah, these are yours," while she picks up Nino's glasses and he does the same with hers, "and these are yours ... er ..."
"Alya," the redhead introduces herself, turning towards Princess Solitude "but it's not the time for pleasantries, let's run away!" she ends, standing up and offering her hand to Nino to help him, but the boy is already on his feet. He adjusts his cap, grabs Alya by the shoulder and says, "I'm Nino! You're right, let's go!" They start running, quickly reaching the queue of the fleeing group of people.
Princess Solitude laughs, while four other links in the chain disappear "Done! Now at least you won't embarrass me anymore, you nosy girl."
Chat Noir, taking advantage of the moment, rushes along the embankment with the intention of immobilizing her, but before he is within reach, she turns and the hero stops on the spot in a guard position.
She stares at him for a moment with the empty red eyes of the mask streaked with black tears, "Later! I told you!" she growls, punctuating the words as she moves the chains like two whips between herself and the hero in black, making them rattle.
"First, I have a couple of things to say to that flirt Adrien Agreste!" a gesture of her hand and the cloud on the pastry turns into a gray puff that reaches her, wrapping her and carrying in the direction of Adrien's house.
Hearing his name, Adrien gasps for a moment, a whirlwind of confused thoughts in his head, his cheeks on fire. What ... did I do? "Marinette!" escapes his lips, a cry through clenched teeth. Undecided whether to check how his two friends are, or run in the direction of your own home. "Ladybug, where are you?" he mumbles, choosing to chase Princess Solitude.
Marinette confusedly hears her own voice mention Chat Noir and Adrien, everything is shrouded in a purple mist. She tries to call for help, to move, but she can't do it, it's like a nightmare. She feels a dark terror take hold of her, Papillon's voice in her head "What are you doing? Take the Miraculous from Chat Noir! Don't waste your time." then it goes dark again.
Is it my fault? Marinette was akumized because of me! - Adrien thinks, jumping between one a roof and the other. What did she call me? A flirt? Why?! It had to be that prank, at the museum ... the blond feels his cheeks getting hot and automatically starts to put his hand behind his neck, but the gesture causes him to lose coordination and ends up landing badly on a terrace, instinctively curls up and tumbles against a concrete vase. "Ouch!" it escapes him, more from surprise than from pain.
He kneels, panting to catch his breath, hands on his knees and elbows bent "No no! It can't be because of me and Kagami. Besides, she likes Luka!" Feeling the cool air on his cheeks, which he imagines fiery red, Chat Noir stands up. "Calm down, Adrien. Later. You'll think about it later." Looking around he tries to understand on which roof he fell ."Yes but, if so she could also go after Kagami! But where are you, Ladybug?"
The superhero takes the stick from his belt and activates the phone mode, calling the heroine ladybug. No reply. "This... this is the terrace where we made the date and ..." a melancholy smile appears on Chat Noir's face, "No, not now!" he reproaches himself, looking around, "There is the cloud."
Just over three hundred meters separate Chat Noir from Agreste’s manor, so the boy looks for the quickest way to cover himself, when the ringing of a bike in the street attracts his attention.
Looking in the direction of the sound, Chat Noir recognizes a turquoise hair: a slender boy, tall and slightly older than Adrien's age, in black jeans and a blue jacket, bent over a yellow bicycle, pedaling at a great pace towards the Agreste house. "Speak of the devil ..." the blond comments, looking for the fastest way to get down from there and reach him.
A leap, a blow of the stick on the building opposite and Chat Noir is a few steps behind the cyclist. "Luka!" he calls him, his hands cupped to act as a megaphone. Luka almost loses his balance due to the sudden braking, but turns around: "Eh? Chat Noir?" he replies, eyes wide with surprise.
"Where are you going?" Chat Noir asks him, who in a couple of strides caught up with him, looking him in the eye, "Well I saw on the news that Mari ... and well I thought ...".
"Mari." notes Adrien, with a strange sense of annoyance for that diminutive, never heard of anyone using it, nickname for Marinette. "Ok, listen, Luka, there's no time to explain, I need your help, that is, no, Marinette needs it and you .." he stops, biting his tongue, then holds out his arm. "I'll give you a lift ", he says, then puts Luka's arm around his shoulders, surrounding him with the other just above his waist. "Hold on tight!" and throws itself back onto the roofs using the stick as a lift.
The two quickly reach the building in front of Agreste mansion and, crouched behind the chimneys, observe Princess Solitudine, a little less than fifty meters from them. The girl floats, balanced on a miniature storm cloud about ten meters above the ground, above the mansion’s garden.
Chat Noir looks seriously at Luka, "Listen, I need a diversion: go down that ladder and try to talk to her while I go around, okay?" The other nods to the blond, looking at the ladder, "and be careful, she fires some rays that ... erase the memory of the people you love."
Luka opens his eyes in disbelief, "What?"
Chat Noir nods gravely. "Yup. She has something against Adrien now. Ladybug will arrive soon, I ... meanwhile we try to buy time. Go down and try to distract her, you are ..." he says no more, as he goes towards the edge of the roof, bent down so as not to be seen. "I'll take care of the rest, I'll try .. I'll try not to hurt her, don't worry. And Miraculous Cure can fix everything." After a gesture with two fingers pointing to his forehead, the black-clad hero projects himself diagonally with his baton. He lands on the roof of the building, on the opposite side from Princess Solitude. Another jump and he is above his room, with a position advantage over his opponent. He crouches, flattening himself behind the eaves, waiting to hear Luka's voice.
"Adrieeeeeeeen," cries out Princess Loneliness defiantly, hands on hips "are you hiding somewhere or are you with that grumpy double-agent Kagami?" she continues, swaying on the cloud in front of the huge window of Adrien's empty room, lit by the cold glow of the TV screen. "Or are you with that Italian liar?" she chants, "Or did you run away hiding into Chloé’s hotel? Come ooooon, where are you, I just have to make you forget all the ones you care about and especially THAT grumpy one. And ..." a short sob cuts her off. Taking a breath she shouts, "Where are you, COWARD!"
Each word was like a slap in the face to Adrien, the weight in his chest growing bigger and bigger as the akuma who was Marinette spoke. "I didn't… I didn't understand…" she mutters to herself.
He begins to feel the salty taste of tears, his eyes burning. That yelled "coward" is the worst blow. Finally, a voice from below interrupts Princess Solitude's monologue and Adrien's troubled thoughts. "Marinette! Stop! Please! It’s Luka!" outside the boundary wall, the boy has slipped within fifteen meters of Princess Solitude and her floating cloud.
"What is it now," she says, looking down in surprise, "L-Luka? W-what are you doing here?" she mumbles and then shouts "Go away! And I'm not Marinette, I'm Princess Solitude!" She clenches her fists, "Stop calling me Marinette!"
"I’m here to help you!" Luka said, raising his turquoise head, "what's happening to you, why are you doing all of this? Mari, you can tell me everything, you know, I ..." pauses to find the right words to say.
"Mari, you can tell me everything," resounds in the mind of Chat Noir, more and more confused. “Am I… jealous?" he shakes his head to clear it - Hurry up Ladybug, we need you - thinks as he tightens his grip on the baton to gain courage, getting ready to jump
Princess Solitude turns down, seeming to stare at Luka, "So help me find that .... Adrien! He must ... I have to ...." she stops, breathing heavily. Papillon's voice resounds in his head, "Get the Miraculous! Hurry!"
"I’m sorry, Mari, I can't do it, I don't know where he is! Come here, let's talk! What happened?" Luka said, in a calm voice, but too many questions crowded into his mind. - What did Adrien do to her? Did he trick her? Deluded? No, it must have been a misunderstanding. Or maybe... -
Marinette's voice, darkened by crying brings him out from his reflections, saying, "I don't want to talk, I don't need to talk. I don't need anyone! Go away! I do- don’t-want you either! " cries Princess Solitude, tearing the pendant from her neck with her right hand and throwing it at Luka's feet, pointing her other hand at him.
"Now!" he said, and with a single movement Chat Noir stands up and, with a powerful thrust of the legs, throws himself forward, over the edge of the roof. He raised the baton above his head, held with both hands like a bokken. Princess Solitude notices the movement, turns in that direction and raises her arms to protect her face, but is out of time: Chat Noir's stick falls on her head, hurling her to the ground in the garden, followed by Chat Noir himself.
"Mari! Chat Noir! Are you all right?" Luka yells from behind the wall that hides the view of the others.
Marinette feels the contact with the grass behind her back but, as before, she can't move. She seems to have fallen with her head turned to one side and as if shrouded in fog she glimpses the figure of Chat Noir, crouched on the ground, next to her. "Chat ... help me." she murmurs, with difficulty.
Chat Noir turns to Princess Solitude, motionless - oh no - is the only thing Adrien can think, worried.
The hero bends over the gray-cloaked girl, the blow of the stick has broken the mask, the pieces now on the ground. Next to the pieces of the mask, Adrien recognizes an object: the lucky charm he gave Marinette on her fourteenth birthday, completely gray.
Chat Noir approaches again to observe the face of the Akumatized girl, kneeled near her: Marinette's closed eyes are swollen, her face wet with tears, a reddish shadow surrounds her eyes and part of her forehead, her hair has become a shapeless gray. She seems to move his lips and murmur something, which the boy can't understand - thank goodness she’s alive - he thinks - but where is the Akuma... it wasn't in the mask -
Suddenly Princess Solitude opens her eyes, making Chat Noir jump back, rolling sideways and leaping to his feet.
Princess Solitude, already on guard, swings the two chains, "Nice move, cat. Nice move. You made him come here to distract me!" then she realizes she no longer has the mask, her expression frowning, "oh. Bad k-kitten, very bad boy."
"Marinette! Listen to me! I-He ... ehm Adrien didn't do it on purpose,” Chat Noir begins, trying to buy some time to find the akumatized object.
"Do not call me that!" the girl in gray shouts, "I'm not Marinette anymore!" still rotating the two chains.
"Okay," she looked him straight in the eye with an icy gaze.
"if you want to talk .. let's talk!" she growls, throwing a chain towards Chat Noir, who grabs it in his right hand and turns it around his wrist.
"Er ... Don’t worry Luka, it's okay!" shouts Chat Noir over his shoulder.
Looking at the chain Chat Noir thinks - one - then looks Princess Solitude in the eyes, saying it slowly "I don't want to hurt you. Please. Let us help you. There is always a solution, you always said that!" he continues, still looking at her.
"Stop it! I don't need you! I don't want anyone!" Princess Solitude throws the other chain, promptly neutralized by Chat Noir who grabs it, clutching it in her hand along with the one he has already. Then he looks at the girl with an oblique smile. "You know, Princess .. the ties are on both sides!" he plants the baton in the other hand on the ground and stretches it, projecting himself out of the garden and dragging Princess Solitude with him, tied by her own chains.