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Adrien- or Aspik rather, slammed against a wall, his chest constricting as his lungs heaved in short fast breaths.
“SECOND CHANCE!”
Ladybug was here, talking again, but he wasn’t listening. His head was fuzzy, and her words felt like an echo underwater. He watched her mouth move, trying to get his mind to focus on parsing the words, shoving away the weight of his last failure. It didn’t matter- it was fine! He had…. He had endless chances. It was going to be fine, Ladybug was going to be okay, and he could do it.
“Adri- er, Aspik? Are you alright?” Adrien started and looked up, seeing her already on the ladder leading up to the surface. He stared at her for a few moments, then nodded. Yes. He was okay, he had to be okay, and he was going to do this. Ladybug asked him to. Ladybug, the love of his life, the leader of his team, and beloved red and black-spotted heroine of Paris. If she believed in him, then he could do it. She needed him, Adrien, to help her, and had trusted him with a miraculous.
He wouldn’t let her down.
“Let’s go. We should try going to the left and heading for that building this time,” He said, finding his voice as they climbed out of the sewers and began the dash for cover. “I have a feeling that-”
Ladybug, disappearing in a cloud of dust.
Ladybug, her bright blue eyes locking with his, before turning into tiny golden particles.
He threw himself to the ground, rolling under the nearest vehicle, and fumbled for his bracelet. Distantly, a small voice in his head wondered if this is what Ladybug felt like whenever he sacrificed himself. But no, this was different, he argued, and the thought was eventually forgotten, lost to the thousands of Second Chances, buried under the pile of golden dust that filled his vision with each failed attempt.
He grit his teeth, mentally adding to his tally. Second chance, third chance. One-hundredth chance. Two thousandth-chance. It didn’t matter. He would try twenty-thousand times if it took that many.
“SECOND CHANCE!”
Attempt two-thousand, three-hundred, twenty one.
‘Let’s do this.’