Archive of Our Own

Chapter 1: I Have Questions

Inspired by: I Have Questions by Kawaii ComicUvU

To an outsider, everything was looking up in Paris for a while now. Hawkmoth's once dangerous alumas had pestered down to just Mr Ramier getting akumatized over and over again. Crime rates were at its lowest point, and fewer accidents were being reported. Nothing seemed to be going wrong. 

But for 15-year-old Adrien Agreste, everything was going downhill.

Adrien felt his hand clench and unclench repetitively as he stared blankly at the two photographs on his lap. One of the photos, which was actually on his phone, wracked him with the feeling of utter betrayal, while the other gave him a sense of misplaced happiness. The day was a good one, as the summer sun shone brightly through his tall crystal-clear windows. A cool, delicate breeze drifted through the room. The weather, it seemed, was a perfect mirror opposite of his mood. Regardless of the sun egging on a vast number of tourists and natives to explore the so-called ‘City of Love,’ Adrien wanted nothing but to dive underneath the covers and sleep. Until he forgot everything. Until he was numb. Until he was dead. 

Whichever came first. 

Some would welcome the newfound warmth as it invited the prospect of not having to cover up in thick layers of clothing, but for Adrien, he would have to model in attire which he hated and feel the sticky sweat clinging onto his chest. Even though all of the negatives of going outside would be balanced by having an excuse to see his friends, Adrien knew that being social with a bunch of traitors was the absolute last thing on his mind. Adrien closed his eyes. He tried counting, he tried hoping that this was all just a bad dream, but his efforts of trying to get rid of the image glued in his head were fruitless. He opened his eyes once again, only to once again see the image of his ex-girlfriend and someone he thought was a friend, kissing. Adrien punched his thigh and began to breathe heavily. 

How… How could she? 

How could the love of his life, his everyday Ladybug, leave him to… burn like this?!

A heavy stone tumbled throughout Adrien’s body as he shoved the two objects of his lap and watched them clatter to the floor. 

He was far too young to be this hurt.

Not caring to pick the frame and phone up, Adrien collapsed with a thud upon his sofa and heightened his gaze to stare at the ceiling. Once upon a time, Adrien had enjoyed having a huge room, but now that he reflected on it, Adrien realised that feeling was long gone. His room, along with the rest of the mansion, was cold and unwelcoming, and just being there even for a short period made him feel doomed. But luckily, Adrien thought ironically, when he and Marinette were still dating, only her presence in the mansion, however limited, gave Adrien happiness. Gabriel, his father, never really approved of Marinette, so in a fit to keep her away from him, Gabriel made Nathalie tighten his schedule with Mandarin lessons, photoshoots and fencing training. He had little to no time with his friends, or his father, and Adrien couldn't remember the last time he actually had a meal with his father. Even when they saw each other, Gabriel always gave short tempered answers to Adrien's questions. It also seemed like Gabriel was working on something else that fashion, but with the limited time Adrien actually spent with his sperm donor, he wasn't sure if that truly was the case. Anyway, even though Nathalie did make sure that Adtien had at least one hour every day to himself, he still didn’t feel grateful. If only he was given more time, maybe, just maybe, Mari would’ve been more open with him. They could’ve fixed their problems together, two parts of the same whole, just as they should have been...

No.

Adrien didn’t want to think about what could’ve been. The damage was done. Were they even perfect for each other like Adrien had always thought? They were forced to work together, they were forced to live each other by fate. Did they even have any choice in the matter? Ever since Adrien had found out the truth, he had remained in his house and had… returned to his old habit. He hadn’t done it in nearly three years. Adrien turned his head around to see the disassembled sharpener lying motionless on his opaque white table, then looked back at the red squeals on his arms, numbness bolted down his spine as he let sleep take over his body, leaving the tears begging to fall, dry. 

***

Moonlight cascaded into the room when a feeling of consciousness came back to him. Rubbing his weary eyes, Adrien stood up and stretched, only to see bandages wrapping around his arms. Plagg lay snoozing upon his bed, blissfully unaware of his holder's current plight. An odd feeling of happiness tinged with gratefulness warmed Adrien's blood as he stared at the kwami’s peaceful expression, the rare motherly action by Plagg tugging at his heartstrings. But when the reason why he needed those bandages came rushing back, the feeling faded away to an empty nothingness. Adrien glanced outside, through his window, into the pitch-black midnight sky. The Parisian landscape remained a calm serene on its own, but the shimmering, luminous glow of the stars and moon contrasted with it, creating a picturesque image, which definitely made Paris earn its name 'City of Light.' 

Adrien tore his eyes away from the scene. It just wasn't fair. It just wasn't fair. Why did Paris look so peaceful, so beautiful, so calm, while his life was falling apart into smithereens? Adrien chewed down on his lip while wiping at the corners of his eyes aggressively with the back of his hand. Adrien couldn't understand it. 

Why… Why the hell was he crying? 

Wasn't it obvious that he would destroy everything he touched? He didn't deserve to cry, not when he was the literal embodiment of destruction! He destroyed his relationship with Marinette, he was the reason why she left him. He managed to destroy the good things he had by literally doing nothing at all. It was his fault, his fault, his fault...

It was all his fault. 

Adrien glided across the floor to his bed and inhaled deeply. Without warning, he slumped down at the edge of the bed, burying his head in his knees. He wouldn't let his negative thoughts take over him. It was all his fault, but he didn't want to be akumatized. He was Chat Noir for crying out loud, one of Paris's saviours! And even though the press said he was basically useless as a hero, he couldn't let the darkness take over him. He couldn't lose control. He shouldn't lose control. There was too much at stake. He needed to calm down. Yet, he couldn't. 

Was there any good reason for why Marinette was such a hypocrite? She said that she would stay with him forever. She said that she would love him forever. So why, why, did everything fall apart at the seams the very millisecond their relationship was put to the test?

Didn't… didn't Marinette care anymore?

Did Marinette care?

Why didn't Ladybug care?

Images of him sacrificing his life for her over and over again while being Chat Noir flashed across his mind as his throat tightened. Snapshots of them sharing André's ice-cream, having their first kiss, confessing their feelings for one another and other happy memories overwhelmed Adrien's brain as he felt his eyes moisten. Snippets of him comforting her, sharing tears together, whirled around in his brain as the tears poured freely down his cheeks. 

They had gone through so much, but she didn't care. Why didn't she care?!

He was there for her when everyone was against her, he supported her when Lila was lying again, he was just there. 

But now, she was gone from his life, while he was here, crying his heart out. 

Defeated sobs rang out during the night in the Agreste Manor, but once Adrien realised what he needed to do, a grim smile covered his face for the first time in a while.

***

Adrien was never good with confrontation. That was evident when Adrien told Mari to take the high road. But the next day, a Saturday, was the day that Adrien knew that he would need to change. Noting that Marinette would be in the park, and the fact that he had a photoshoot in the same area, Adrien realised that it created the perfect scene to confront her. Therefore, Adrien dragged himself out of bed, forced himself to put on some clothes and clean up. He hadn't taken a shower in a couple of days, the faint pungent smell emitting from his clothes was evident. After a scalding hot shower, Adrien emerged from his far too big bathroom, the grease in his hair gone, body squeaky clean. As he looked at his reflection, he realised he looked relatively normal, (he couldn't have changed so much in the span of 5 days after all) but the dark bags under his eyes and outbreak would have to be covered up with make-up. 

His safe-guard.

His life support. 

His mask. 

The sharp knock of Nathalie awoke Adrien from his thoughts, and Adrien hardened his gaze. 

*** 

By mid-afternoon the sun was sweltering hot, its hot beams blasting onto his back. In spite of this discomfort, which should have occupied his mind more, Adrien’s mind kept on wandering back to her. Although he couldn’t bear to say her name anymore, she was all he could think about. Her rose-bud mouth. The freckles littering her cheeks. The way her black hair shone blue in the sun. He thought of the way she would laugh, all sparkly and sweet, and compared it to the cold cackles of her mocking Chloé. 

How could a girl so sweet and kind, be so dangerous?

Adrien had acted like a zombie throughout his photo shoot, replaying every bad moment, each memory becoming more and more aggressive. Her smiling mouth turned into malicious scowls, her gentle kisses into hard punches, her tears into anger. 

After a dozen photos or so were taken, Adrien and the team decided to take a break from the constant posing, make-up slathering. Although rage had been boiling within Adrien so much to the point he felt like exploding, soon enough he felt himself at a gentle calm. But when he was gulping down an icy glass of water, the sight of a familiar raven haired girl in amongst some trees sent queasy butterflies whirling around his stomach. His heart clenched, and he felt like he was about to throw up. 

Marinette was finally here, and he had some questions for her.

***

Nino turned his head away and looked at the array of trees as Marinette and Alya started to eagerly chow down some croissants that Marinette’s father had made. Marinette was grinning broadly while Alya was laughing hysterically at a joke Marinette just made. Nino looked down and frowned. He wasn’t entirely happy to be with Marinette and Alya at the moment. Sure, being with his girlfriend and friend was alright, but the fact that Marinette had cheated was nothing to be proud of…

Of course, Adrien never even knew that Ladybug was Marinette of all people and the only people who were exclusively in the hero team, (minus Queen Bee and Chat Noir) knew that fact. And anyway, Chat had already begun to date someone else around two months ago, so when Ladybug started dating Viperion two weeks ago, Chat Noir wasn’t at all jealous. In fact, Chat seemed pleased that Ladybug was happy, even if 'the one' wasn’t him. 

Nino found out that Ladybug was Marinette four months ago. 

After the untimely death of Master Fu, Marinette decided that she needed all the help she could get. In a fit, she gave the turtle miraculous to him, the fox to Alya, the snake to Viperion, the Dragon to Kagami, and surprisingly, the bee to Chloe. Even though Chloe was a bitch in recent years, the new-found friendship and peace between her and Ladybug paved the way to redemption. Of course, Chloe acquired her miraculous around two months after the rest of the team received theirs. Chloe would never have proved herself in such a short period of time. And so, the Miraculous team was created, with Chat Noir and Ladybug being the OG Leaders, while Viperion, Queen Bee, Rena Rouge and himself were ‘helpers’ as it were. Yes, it was a rather odd pick with Viperion, but since Nino later found out that he was Luka, Nino dismissed his slight uneasiness. Luka was trustworthy enough. Especially when he was the last to reveal his identity, when everyone else, excluding Chat Noir and Queen Bee who weren’t there at the time, had already revealed theirs. When asked why she didn’t want them to be involved, Ladybug just brushed it off, saying that she didn’t want them to know yet, which was somewhat understandable. 

Nino didn’t press on. He had no right to ask anyway. Was he really in any kind of position to talk to Marinette about her decisions? He still hurt her, because he trusted Lila instead of herself. He made friends with Lila, and yes, Marinette did eventually forgive Lila because she began to become a better person, how could Nino ever apologise for something like that? Marinette was one of his very first friends, yet trust wasn’t a given. While all these major developments were happening, another change happened too. Adrien started to date Kagami. Not long after them getting together however, Kagmai proceeded to have a mutual break up with Adrien, saying that she wanted to be ‘the best version of herself.’ Adrien, even though he was slightly heartbroken, realised that he didn’t mind very much that they had broken up. Why? Because Adrien realised he didn’t love Kagami. 

He loved Marinette.

How Adrien came to that conclusion was a mystery to Nino, but Nino would be lying if he wasn’t somewhat relieved, as now he and Alya could finally stop making fruitless attempts to bring them together. As soon as Adrien confessed to Marinette, she confessed too, and the rest was history. They dated faithfully until Marinette… Until Marinette ‘got bored.’ In short, Luka fell into the picture. As Mari had spent more time with him during numerous akuma fights and Kitty Section band practices, it was no wonder that the two soon fell for each other. Even though Luka tried to tell Marinette that Adrien and herself should have broken up before acting on their feelings, Mari couldn’t bring herself to tell the truth, even when they had eventually broken up.

'Aw Nino, don't be so glum!' 

Alya shuffled closer to Nino, her playful smile turning into an 'o' of confusion. Concern was in her big brown eyes and she laid a hand on Nino's lap and kissed his forehead gently. Marinette was oblivious to the couple as she began to sketch under a tree. She was totally absorbed. Alya groaned under her breath at the sight but then tilted her head to the side, more engrossed in her boyfriend than other distractions.

'I know you have something on your mind Nino. Wanna talk about it?'

Nino shook his head in denial at Alya's soft tone. 'No, it's fine. I guess I'm a bit out of it,' he replied, and ended off with a slightly nervous laugh. Nino wasn't sure why he was lying, but a strong gut feeling persuaded him to anyway. 

Alya rolled her eyes. Then, without hesitation, Alya leaned forward towards Nino, a suggestive smirk forming on her lips as she fluttered her eyelashes at him. 'Well…' Alya started in a seductive voice, 'Why don't I make you into it, hmm?' Then, she kissed him. Fireworks set off in Nino's brain and he left the world of love to take over his body as he let Alya encapture him in her arms in a romantic embrace. Soon enough, Nino forgot all about the warnibg bells ringing in his head. He forgot all about how they symbolised a looming danger. He didn't even notice a blond making his way towards them. Nino Lahiffe would never realise the extent of damage that one broken relationship would cause. Nor would he know about the irreversible changes it would bring. 

***

Adrien dashed towards the trio, his heart pounding, adrenaline pulsing through his veins. He had to do this, he just had to. God, he had never felt so… anger ridden before. How could she? How? ...Why? Adrien was lost for words at this point. Was this even real? Hopefully, this was just some badly written fanfiction and Adrien had the misfortune to be living through it, but Adrien needed answers. And only Marinette had them. As Adrien made it to the trees, he realised how picture-perfect his ex-friends looked together. Nino and Alya were in deep conversation while Marinette was drawing up a new design in her sketchbook, relishing underneath the shade of the overhanging tree. As he advanced towards the trees, he tried to keep his heart rate at an even level, but soon enough, he was at such a distance where he could talk to her. Adrien tapped on Marinette’s shoulder. Frightened by the sudden touch, Marinette's head jolted up straight, shock evident through her body language. When she realised it was him though, Marinette relaxed slightly, forcing on a smile. But the tension in her shoulders never left. 

‘Ah! Oh… it’s you. Hi Adrien!’

Unwavered by her obvious discomfort of him being there, Adrien crouched down to her level and stared into her piercing eyes. Varying emotions flashed across her eyes but the most prominent was fear. Pure fear. 

‘Marinette? We need to talk.’

The little colour left in Marinette’s face drained away as she began to fiddle with her loose hair. She shot a glance at Alya and Nino, who were now having a rather... intimate moment. Adrien narrowed his eyes at where her eyes had trailed to. ‘In private?’ he added sharply, then stood up, leaning against a tree. Marinette followed suit, but the cautious look wouldn't leave her eyes as she stood up and smoothed over her slightly wrinkled t-shirt. When she finally looked up, her confused blue eyes met his angered green. A tense silence overcame the two teenagers. 

'Why in private?' Marinette asked, breaking the awkward moment. 'Is it… about why I broke up with you over text?' Marinette looked at Adrien expectantly, waiting for an answer, but was met with a raised eyebrow and a glare. Marinette crossed her arms in annoyance. Was Adrien honestly going to play that game? Fine, if he wouldn't talk, she would. Indignation swarmed through her. ‘I thought we were cool about that, Adrien.' Marinette accused. 'Or are you such a drama queen that you just have to make a huge scene about all of this?' 

Adrien blinked rapidly at Marinette, her face innocent and questioning. Adrien did a double take. Him, a drama queen? Did Marinette honestly just say that? Did that bitch actually fucking dare to-

Calm down. It's not like you have anything to lose anyway. 

The little voice in his head grew louder. 

'No, Marinette, I don't have to make a huge scene about this. That's the whole reason why I want to talk in private. Aren't you more than capable of acting like a rational person?' Adrien asked coldly. Marinette looked straight into Adrien's face, about to retort. But upon seeing the seriousness on his face, she gritted her teeth. Sensing that she would have to do this, Mari shut her black sketchbook and threw it in her bag. 

‘Fine, let’s talk.’

***

While the Gorilla was searching to see where the boy had disappeared off to now, loud shouting entered his consciousness, and he let out a gruff groan. Running as fast as his legs could carry him, the Gorilla was met with a rather interesting sight. Two figures were in the dark corner of the park circling each other seeming to have some sort of stare down. Adrien had water glossing over his eyes while Marinette had her arms crossed, daring him to carry on. Neither of them realised that the Gorilla was there. Sighing, the Gorilla kept watch, not in the mood to deal with hormonal teenagers. 

***

‘-tell me, who the hell do you think you are by cheating on me with Luka?! You’ve got some nerve trying to tear my faith in you apart!’

Marinette opened and closed her mouth as she widened her eyes in shock. ‘What? I never ‘cheated’ on you with Luka!’ Marinette cried out adamantly in a squeaky voice as she wiggled two-finger peace signs into sarcastic air quotes, emphasising her point. Taking in Adrien’s face, she sighed and changed her tactic. ‘Look, Adrien,’ she groaned, words falling out in a rush, ‘I’m sorry everything happened the way it did but now you are just being ridiculous! I broke up with you before I did anything- I mean,’ Marinette stopped for a split second, her eyes darting about as she realised that she slipped up. Marinette grimaced, then smothered over her truth with a quick lie, words stammering. ‘I haven’t even done anything with him!’ she shouted at last, hoping it was enough, her pale hands flying out. 

‘I have no obligation to apologise!’

Adrien’s breath hitched as he watched her expand on her lie, and by the time she was finished, he found it hard to breathe. The thickness of trees around him began to close in on him, and the world started to spin. This all had to be a joke. What she was saying had to all be a sick joke. He knew she was lying. She knew that he knew that she was lying. But she still dared to lie so blatantly?! Hints of red sparked in his vision. Adrien walked up to Marinette, scowling, as he closed the gap between them and stuck his index finger in her face. His voice was dripping with sarcasm. 

‘Oh, really Marinette? I remember that you and Viperion looked exceptionally cosy on that rooftop, don’t you agree? Virtually everyone in Paris knows that the two of you are dating.’

Adrien glared at Marinette, who gave the impression of a puppy that had just been slapped.

‘Are you kidding me? You know..?’

Marinette’s strong, annoyed voice weakened to that of a whisper as she shook her head in denial and regret. Her hands dropped down to her sides in defeat. Her heart began to beat faster, and a bead of sweat grew at her forehead. She began to teeter backwards and forwards, eyes looking at anything, anything, but him. Adrien knew that she was Ladybug? Marinette couldn’t believe it. How did he find out? How?!

Judging by Marinette’s reaction, the confirmation of Adrien’s assumptions being proved sent daggers slicing savagely through his already shattered heart. The situation was audacious, yet hilariously ironic at the same time. Letting out a bitter chuckle, he retorted. ‘Yes, M’lady I do! Now tell me, why would you have played your own partner for a fool?! I should have never, ever ever trusted you!’

Marinette began to recoil as Adrien said his nickname for her, and by the time he was screaming, she was trembling, with tears forming at the edges of her eyes. Adrien was Chat Noir?! She looked down at the ground, not daring to look up. Her fingers intertwined together nervously and drips of water fell onto her hands. Marinette lost herself in thought. The words of truth stung her in agony, and her knees began to weaken. This was terribly ironic. Tikki was right, she should have just been honest from the start. What kind of superhero was she if she couldn't even be honest with her own boyfriend? What kind of superhero was she, if she let a crush come before her duties? She had to make this right, somehow, she was Ladybug after all. But how could she apologise for something like this? How could she apologise for the hurt he went through? Yes, maybe he was overreacting, but could she honestly keep a straight face and not blame him? 

‘I never meant to hurt you Adrien, I still care about you... this wasn’t supposed to happen...’

Despite the attempts at an apology whirling around in her head, the thoughts never reached her vocal cords, never formed on her lips, and as fear took over her, she whisked around, running away into oblivion. She couldn't face him, she was too cowardly. She couldn't do this. This was too much, far too much. Adrien stared at her in a confused moment of silence, then ran after her, screaming. Even though his heart was breaking, shattering, Adrien felt all his anger dissolve. 

‘Marinette! Don’t go, don’t go, please, I beg you! Not like this!’ 

He ran after her, desperate to cling onto the sight of her head bobbing up and down through the crowds. He screamed, hoping that she would turn around, hoping that she would come running back to him, hoping that she would envelop her arms around him as they both sobbed. All he wanted was an apology. An apology. Because despite everything, he still loved her. He loved her so much that it hurt. 

‘Marinette!’

Yet she didn’t turn around. She didn’t even glance back once. She was gone. 

***

Ice shot through Adrien as his knees buckled in the broad daylight. Tears trickled down his cheeks thick and fast onto the ground, creating a spotty surface. He clenched his hands hard against it, wishing that the ground would just swallow him up and take him away. Crowds started to form around him as soon he could distinctly hear the rather loud, sneering voices of ‘That’s Adrien Agreste!’ circling around him. Yet, for once, Adrien found himself not caring about his obsessive crowds. Adrien didn’t care about the papers. The news, the people, they were all irrelevant. It was just him and Marinette, his Ladybug, his lucky charm, his love. But she was gone. Adrien bit his lips hard as he hugged his arms around himself. It just didn’t make any sense. What happened to her and him against the world? Why wasn’t Marinette the person that she swore that she would be? Adrien had questions, and the questions were haunting him. 

‘Get away from him everyone! Just leave him alone!’

Footsteps thundered towards Adrien, and as the crowds disappeared, he was soon met with none other than the confused, slightly angered eyes of Nino. 

Nino. 

Nino, his best friend. Nino, who had cared. Nino, who didn't even bother to tell him that Marinette cheated on him. Nino, who trusted Alya to know his identity as Carapace. Nino, who didn't even trust Adrien, his supposed best friend. 

‘Adrien what happened? I saw Marinette run away, is she ok? Are you-’

Nino's words washed over Adrien's ears. Thoughts whirled like a broken train in Adrien’s head as Nino knelt down next to him, trying to hug him while he simultaneously tried to pull him up from the ground. But Adrien’s hands hung limply at his sides. How dare Nino try to comfort him? Adrien glared at him, watching his friend's face crumple slightly. But Adrien didn’t care. Bubbles fizzed around in the inside of his chest as his happiness at seeing Nino turned into pure anger. The realisation of betrayal clouded over his better judgement. All he could see was red. Nino never told him about Marinette. He never stayed by his side. Weren’t they best friends? Nino had always been there for Adrien, yet now he wasn’t. Nino had kept such a big secret from him, but didn’t even bother to tell him? Adrien didn’t care that Nino was here now. Nino wasn’t there when he needed him the most. Adrien closed his eyes as he became conflicted. Nino was here for him now though, right? Nino was trying to help him. Nino cared, didn’t he? So what if Adrien was angry with him? Nino was trying. Adrien forced himself to stay calm. But quiet. 

'Adrien, talk to me.' 

Nino sat down next to Adrien on the warm ground, frowned, then took off his cap. Adrien turned to stare down at the floor, not wanting to reply. How could he begin to speak? He still wasn't sure if he even wanted Nino there, and he still felt somewhat angry. He wasn't OK, wasn't that obvious? He wasn't ok, and he didn't think that he would be. Maybe in the future, but not now.

‘Look dude, I’m sorry, I just didn’t know what to do…’

The blue of sadness turned to red. Pure, dark, angry red. It fogged his thoughts into an incoherent mess, muddled, broken, completely blurred. Adrien jerked up his head in a flash. Without a moment's hesitation, he slapped Nino. A hard, head-turning slap right across the face which created a faint red blotch instead of the usual brown skin that Nino had. His skin wasHis arm was raised, stricken. He dropped it to his side and opened his mouth to yell at Nino. Nino looked back at Adrien in complete shock. Screaming with rage, Adrien yelled into Nino’s face.

‘Didn’t know what to do my ass! Just go!’

Hurt spreading all across his face, Nino touched his now throbbing cheek and stood up, slumping his shoulders, staring glumly at the floor. Adrien blinked twice, and a small gasp left his lips. The fog cleared, and Adrien realised his mistake. He hurt his friend. Adrien scrambled up from the floor. Mon dieu, he hurt Nino, when he was trying to help him. Adrien couldn’t believe it. He used violence against his best friend. Adrien’s hands went to cover his mouth in horror. ‘Oh god Nino, I’m so sorry…’

Nino’s face cleared into a dull nothingness. Only his eyes held an emotion. The emotion of feeling betrayal. They stood there for sometime, standing still, Adrien’s hand now outstretched towards Nino, begging for Nino to take it. Seconds passed. Then, Nino pushed Adrien’s hand away, his face having the same blank look. As Nino spoke, his voice was empty of any warmth. ‘You’re a hypocrite Agreste,’ Nino finally said, staring at the confused, hurt eyes of Adrien. 

‘You're just like your father.’

With that, Nino walked away. A deafening silence met Adrien. He froze solid, his legs buckling to the ground. He dug his nails into the thighs of his trousered legs. It was over. His… his first real friendship was over. He ruined it. He fucked up, he fucked up so badly. He was his father. He was his father. This was all his fault, all his fault. Nino didn’t have to say it, but Nino hated Adrien now. The guy who loved everyone, the guy who was so chill and calm, hated Adrien. His tone, his eyes… Adrien stood up and ran to the nearest trees and slumped down. This was too much, too much, far too much. He couldn’t stand it anymore. He hated being his person, so vulnerable, and so angry all the goddamn time. Tears poured out of his eyes and rolled onto his hands. 

She was a liar. He betrayed him. He was alone. 

Adrien didn’t see the black butterfly advancing towards him until it was too late.  

Notes: Thanks to @GachaStar for helping me add to this chapter, and for being an amazing friend and alpha!

Chapter 2: King (Queen) of Mean

Notes:

I may have been inspired by Doki Doki Precure to write the beginning of this chapter, but we don’t talk about that! 

Dark.

Everywhere was dark. No matter how hard Adrien tried to focus his eyes and see anything else and the hazy glowing outlines of his body floating in a chasm of nightmares, nothing else appeared. Only him and his body were suspended in some weird place. Jolts of unbearable pain whizzed around in his chest, and as Adrien looked down at his body, he tried to suppress his screams. A black, skin tight, shimmering jumpsuit seemed to act as a second layer of skin, as it covered his body from the tips of his fingers all the way to the toes on his feet. All that was irrelevant though. Dark, pulsing indigo veins traveled all across his jumpsuit, forcing themselves to one location only, the akuma shaped hole of where his heart should have resided. Luminescent mist seemed to trace the edges of said hole, and Adrien’s hand went to cover his mouth in disgust and shock. 

‘What the hell?’

The creepiest thing about this whole situation was that even when he had questioned his very existence in this place in his head, his voice echoed all around the infinite darkness that was overwhelming him. 

‘Ah, Adrien, or should I say Chat Noir . So lovely of you to join me.’

The dim light in the distance soon grew bright as a blurry individual advanced towards Adrien. As the figure neared, the mask shrouding his face clearly defined the person that he truly was.

Adrien felt bile rise to his throat as he stared down at the man he grew to hate. 

‘Hawk Moth,’ Adrien spat out with disgust. 

‘So it wasn’t enough to send akumas out at ungodly hours of the night and terrorise the whole of Paris, but you also had to go after one of us personally.’ Adrien readied his body in a fight or flight stance. ‘Well, good luck trying to akumatize me , I’m not going to do any of your sick bidding, no matter what reason you give me! I’ll always be there to save Paris!’

Adrien tried to walk away, just like Hawk Moth had done, but this time, he couldn’t move at all. 

‘Putain de merde?!’

Hawk Moth tittered disapprovingly, and with a click of his fingers, ropes bound Adrien’s legs and arms, trapping him in a cocoon, which gave him the impression of a certain yellow Shōta Aizawa.

A malevolent smirk outlined the features of Hawk Moth’s face as Adrien began to struggle, trying to break free. But it was no good, the silvery strands bounding him seemed to have been made of an unbreakable substance.

Beads of sweat trickled down the sides of Adrien’s forehead as Hawk Moth strided forward, and lifted up Adrien’s chin. The cool fabric of his gloves sent chills down Adrien’s spine, but the emotions trapped inside the voidless eyes of Hawk Moth confused him. Why did Hawk Moth seem sad?

‘Now son, what did I say about swearing?’

Adrien’s blood ran cold as his eyes widened trying to comprehend what Hawk Moth was implying.

Gone were the emotions of sympathy. Only betrayal rang through his ears.

Adrien opened his mouth but no sound came out, not even a squeak or a whimper. Adrien shook his head at the utter audacity of it all.

Luke Skywalker anyone?

Adrien didn’t know what to feel. How could his father end up being the one who he was destined to fight? How could his father be the cause of so many deaths? Sure, ‘miraculous ladybug’ was a thing, but still! How could he?! And trapping him like this? Akumatizing him by the heart…?

Hawk Moth sighed as he clicked his tongue, releasing Adrien, moving him to a sitting position. Hawk Moth slumped down in front of him and looked deeply into his son’s emerald orbs. An unreadable emotion painted them, and Adrien felt himself holding back his anger.

Hawk Moth opened his mouth to speak.

‘This place is your mind Adrien. The very place where we can retrieve the power we need to bring back your mother. Just say, ‘Yes Hawk Moth’, then all this pain will finally be over.’

Adrien looked at his father incredulously. His mother? What kind of sick mind game was this? 

‘I know this is hard Adrien. But you miss her. I miss her. I know the both of us need her back. We both love her so much. Can’t you do this for her?’

The volcano bubbling inside Adrien erupted as he pushed Hawk Moth’s outstretched hand away. With much difficulty, Adrien stood up, and his heart burned again. The darkness was spreading, and Adrien was beginning to lose control. 

‘Don’t you dare bring mother into this Father! She’s dead! She’s gone! Don’t you understand? You can’t bring back people from the dead with the miraculous wish!’

Hawk Moth’s expression became unreadable, which only further aggravated the teen.

‘How can you say this is all for her, huh? How can you drag her name into your own mess? The mess that killed so many people, including your own son?!’

Adrien began to breathe heavily, and with all the force he could muster, he screamed,

‘Would mother even want to come home to a monster like you?!’

It became so silent that you could hear a pin drop.

Anger contorted Hawk Moth’s face as he grew rigid, but then an overwhelming sadness and regret replaced it as Gabriel uttered ‘Dark Wings Fall.’ 

Sitting on his knees, Gabriel gestured to Adrien to do the same, and Adrien reluctantly sat down, crossed his legs and arms, and dared the man to open his mouth.

‘Speak.’

Truth be told, Adrien was quite baffled at this sudden change in attitude and atmosphere, but considering that Gabriel was now defenceless, and was actually cooperating, Adrien had no problem with hearing him out. 

‘I’m sorry Adrien, my dear son,’ Gabriel started hesitantly, his voice soft. Adrien raised his eyebrows. Dear son? Ha, like his past behaviour could count as loving his ‘dear son.’ Did he honestly forget why they were in this mess in the first place? But if Gabriel wanted to believe that, Adrien would just let him.

He was just tired at this point. 

‘I know it’s my mess. But you have to understand, that’s why I’m doing this for her. I want to fix it.’

The angered teen in front of Gabriel faltered slightly. Gabriel took a deep breath. He knew that he had fractured the relationship with his son to the point that glue wouldn’t do anything, but if he could get Adrien to just listen, maybe they could use cement to fix and bring them together. 

Maybe. 

‘I have to live with the guilt that I pushed my wife over the edge every day. I have to live with the fact, every day, that I pushed her to use the peacock miraculous-’

Adrien looked up sharply. 

‘What do you mean? What does the peacock have anything to do with this? Father, what did you do?! ’

Gabriel looked at Adrien, taken aback by the harsh, accusing tones of his son. Running his hand through his freshly coiffed hair, Gabriel shuddered, water glittering over his eyes. Recalling everything, all the words he had been holding back all these years came out in a rush. 

‘We heard of the miraculi in Tibet. We heard of a spell that could be unlocked by the use of the peacock and butterfly, which would grant us the power to have a child.’

Adrien’s lip trembled slightly.

‘A child?’

Gabriel rested his hand upon Adrien’s shoulder, the pain in Adrien’s voice taking him aback. Attempting to assure Adrien, Gabriel said,

‘Yes Adrien, a child. But dear god, don’t think that this is your fault. It’s not.’

Adrien let go a breath he didn’t realise he was holding as Gabriel continued.

‘Emélie and her sister, Ámelie, were both infertile. But this power… it could heal them. It could grant them the power to have children, something that they both desperately wanted.’

`We found the miraculi. We found the book. Emélie, bless her soul, wanted us to try the power on her first.’

‘And..?’

‘And it worked. It took us a year, but we were blessed with two beautiful sons.’

Adrien froze. 

‘...Two?’

Gabriel nodded in affirmation.

‘Two,’ he responded. ‘One of the twins was called Félix, while the other…’

Gabriel softly smiled at Adrien. 

‘Was you.’

Gabriel looked shocked as Adrien began to grin widely, then started to laugh hysterically. 

‘Oh my god!’ Adrien wheezed. 

‘Felix, is my twin? My brother!? We’re the pea-tterfly twins! That explains so much…’

Adrien held his stomach and laughed and laughed and laughed. Gabriel frowned, but as his lip started to curl and he realised how funny the situation was, he joined in the melodic harmony. The laughter soon came to a screeching halt as Adrien calmed down first and asked,

‘But Father, what happened next?’

Gabriel calmed down as well, and looked down. 

‘When Ámelie found out that we suddenly had twins, she was elated, yet downtrodden. How could her infertile sister suddenly have one child, let alone twins?’

‘Emélie’s heart broke for Ámelie. She decided that the older of the twins, Félix, could be adopted in her sister’s family. Originally I was against it, but Ámelie has her way around these things.’

Gabriel let out a hollow chuckle. 

‘Félix Agreste was now Félix Graham De Vanily. We now had one son through legal means. They went off to England, while we stayed here in Paris. Years went by. Emélie started to tinker with the miraculous, testing out what she could do with each of them, and her health started to decline. She was bent on having more children.’

Gabriel took a deep, long suffering breath. 

‘So was I.’

‘When Emélie found out that she would likely be cursed through the means of artificially creating a child again, she wanted to stop. But I pushed her. She began to cough up blood, and dizzy spells overwhelmed her. You might remember this Adrien.’

Adrien nodded grimly. 

‘I didn’t care. That was my mistake. We had never realised that the Peacock was damaged, but when we did, it was far too late.’

‘Emélie fell into a deep coma.’

‘I was so scared and ashamed of myself. Had I not pushed her to the limit, then Emélie would still be here, living her best life. But she’s stuck at the bottom of a cold chamber, hovering between life and death.’

‘You know where she is, Father?’

Gabriel gave a slight nod.

‘After long hours into the night, I finally realised that I could use the Ladybug and Cat miraculous to bring her back. After a couple of months, I opened up the miraculous, the butterfly, that I had hidden away, and confirmed my suspicions with my kwami, Nooroo.’

‘You know the rest.’

Adrien was rendered speechless. 

Gabriel straightened his posture and determination crossed his face. ‘I want to fix the mistake I made. I want you and Emélie to be happy. Even if it means I’m not there with the both of you, I want to give you, the people I dearly love, to live. That’s why I need your help Adrien. Will you do it? I’ll do anything to bring her back.’

Adrien looked at Gabriel, then looked down at his hands. The burning had finally stopped. It was as if he was embracing the darkness. 

‘I-I need some time to process.’ Adrien said with an air of finality. ‘I can’t really trust you Father, not after what you did to hurt me. And Mother. And it’s not like I already got my heart stomped all over. I mean, that’s pretty much why I got akumatized. But if it will bring ma mére back, if it means that she’ll be happy, then… I’ll do it. It’s not like I have anything to really live for anymore. I still don’t really know what to think.’

Gabriel reached out to Adrien and buried his head on his son’s shoulder. 

‘I’m sorry for the pain I caused you. I’m sorry that it had to turn out like this. But son, thank you so, so much. I love you Adrien Agreste, don’t you ever forget that.’

Adrien lifted his hands to hug Gabriel back, tears pouring down his face. The words that he had always wanted to hear were finally said. He couldn’t forgive his Father, but he finally understood him. And that was worth all the while. They stayed like that for seconds that seemed like days, unsaid words being spoken between them. 

‘Thank you Adrien. I love you,’ Gabriel said, his voice thick.

‘I love you too Father…’

Gabriel pulled back, his eyes teary, but his face smiling. 

‘Make me proud, Chat Blanc.’

And with a soft pop, Gabriel vanished.

***

Adrien stared at the empty space where his Father had stood just mere seconds before, recalling the events that had taken place, feeling colder than ever before. 

Mon Dieu, how long were they even speaking for? Adrien got serious 'Harry Potter Et les Reliques de la Mort' vibes from just being here, as it seemed like days that he was in this weird limbo place. Adrien looked down upon the ground at his feet, then dragged them towards his chest, hugging them tightly.

Was that overwhelming guilt really the only reason responsible for Adrien not getting his chance at having a father? Was that honestly why Gabriel pushed Adrien so far away, not wanting for him to get hurt anymore?

If that truly was the case, then that would explain everything that Gabriel did to Adrien in the last few years. God, that was messed up on so, so many levels, which was even messier than the remains of Adrien's sanity after all the things that had happened to him in the past couple of hours. 

The confession of Marinette’s betrayal rang fresh through his ears. The tears of his father brought some kind of misplaced sense of warmth to Adrien’s heart. The hurt on Nino’s face flashed across his mind. Adrien closed his eyes and breathed deeply, burying his head in his knees.

‘I'm... I'm so tired of pretending, ’ Adrien softly whispered to the void empty space. 'Where's my happy ending? I followed all the rules, I drew inside the lines, I never asked for anything that wasn't mine...’

Adrien had done so much. He knew that he was never capable of retrieving his happily ever after, but now that he was about to risk his whole life for the sake of his mother's, this was getting too much to bear. What about him? Adrien knew that he should be grateful for his mother's sake, but was throwing his chance away to be a normal teenager really a sacrifice that he should have been forced to make?

It sounded narcissistic, sure, but wasn't Adrien Paris' golden boy? Wasn't he the person so many people looked up to and admired? If so, then why wasn't he allowed a chance at happiness? He never asked to be famous, he never asked to be rich, but he certainly played this part in his games. Were all of Adrien's sacrifices just made in vain? 

I waited patiently for my time, but when it finally came, she called his name

Adrien grimaced, energy beginning to crackle around him as he stretched out his body posture and stood up. Resentment and bitterness boiled in Adrien's nervous system as he kicked at an imaginary rock.

It just wasn't fair! It wasn't fair at all! Adrien was notorious for truly knowing the fact that life wasn’t fair, but it certainly did not help tame his anger.

Ladybug and Marinette, the two girls who made so, so many mistakes were forgiven so goddamn easily, just because they were only ‘teenagers’ who didn't have the brain of a rational adult. 

Guess Paris didn’t know but their sweet saviour was a dirty little cheater, liar and stalker did they?

They couldn't even talk it out like normal people could they? Just, 'Hey Adrien, we have to break-up because my mental wellbeing is shite.’ 

And when Adrien confronted her, she just had to make a big scene, running off crying with crocodile tears. Adrien just wanted to vomit and yell obscenities whenever he had the mere thought of his bugaboo. 

Dieu, what kind of name was that anyway? What the hell was Adrien thinking? 

Disgusting.

He had waited so patiently and bended so far for Marinette, but as soon as the whole debacle with his father happened, he felt as though he was snapping beyond repair. 

Of course the time when Adrien didn’t have to wait for his father to say ‘I love you' to his son was when he was unmasked to be a fucking supervillain. 

Now I feel this overwhelming pain, I mean it's in my veins, I mean it's in my brain

Adrien gripped his hair in agony, knives slicing through his skin as his eyes glimmered into a fiery gold, before flashing back to it's usual green. The pain Adrien had felt throughout all the years kicked him in one go, and he was barely left standing. 

The tears. 

The verbal berating. 

The betrayal.

Everything that he had ever been through flushed across his eyes, and Adrier felt as though Death was approaching by the way his veins froze up, maximising all his hurt, chucking it into his brain.

My thoughts are running in a circle like a toy train

Adrien hated this feeling of weakness. He hated it so freaking much. Adrien couldn’t even think coherently anymore, dark clouds obscuring his better judgement .

Betrayal.

Anger. 

Loneliness. 

BetrayalAngerLonelinesBetrayaAngerLoneliness-

BETRAYALANGERLONELINESS-

I'm kinda like a picture with a broken frame

Suddenly, the pain subsided, and everything became clear. 

Crystal Clear. 

While Adrien had been a hypocrite before by bad mouthing his father even after agreeing to the dark side, he realised that his father was right about one thing. 

This was for his mother.

No matter how confused his thoughts were in an incoherent mess, that single fact rang clear throughout the sea of stormy voices. He needed to save his mother, no matter how broken or shattered his once perfect facade was, he wanted to save her. She deserved to live, to breathe, to be happy!

Adrien would do everything to bring her back. 

I know exactly who to blame

Adrien felt his skin prickle as its mystical glow slowly lifted him into the blue air, power whirling through his hair. A nasty smirk lifted his frowning lips as he realised what the only thing was standing in his way. The goddamn stupid miraculous. The mere thing which had the power to tear his family apart. He didn't care that the only reason why he was still living on the planet was because of them- he couldn't have cared less about that. His mother would never have fallen into a deep coma, his father would never have stained his soul by creating akumas, and Marinette, the girl who he still fucking cared about even though he wanted to see her bleed, wouldn't of had a way to break his heart. Those stupid, stupid miraculous!

I never thought of myself as mean

Adrien never thought that he was mean. He wasn't perfect, but at least he thought he was doing something right. Unfortunately, he was mistaken.

I always thought that I'd be the King

Adrien didn't care that he had just turned his back on countless civilians. Adrien didn't care that he was accepting to be evil. If the world, which wasn't as black and white as he originally thought, shunned and belittled him just for being himself, then what better way was there to receive what he deserved then by changing? Everyone deserved what they deserved , right?

Then Adrien deserved to be happy and have a complete family

And there's no inbetween

And the truth was, well, there was no middle ground between having a shitty life and one built on happiness. Hardship was a common factor in all healthy lives, but couldn’t anyone give him the break he deserved? 

'Cause if I can't have that

If Adrien couldn't be happy, if he couldn't have a normal family, if he couldn't have love...

Then I would be the Leader of the dark and the bad 

Then Adrien would take matters into his own hands and take what he deserved.

Now there's a devil on my shoulder where the angels used to be

Was this the raw, powerful unger that people faced once controlled by the akuma? Was this the overwhelming urge to to get merciless revenge coursing through his veins? Was this the feeling of embracing the devils which replaced the angles on his shoulders ?

And he's calling me the king

If so, Adrien relished it. 

***

A blinding light shook Adrien to the core, and he was lifted higher and higher until everything faded to black. His eyes flickered back to consciousness as he stood up, purple crackling energy illuminating the silvery white leather of his costume and as power soared through his once weak body. Cackles entered the air as Chat Blanc took off into the stormy grey sky, his dark magenta eyes glaring fiercely.

***

Taking advantage of the thick amount of trees camouflaging his vast size, a large figure loomed over the black and green ring glowing faintly in the array of grass. Picking it up with care, he eyed it carefully, then looked up to the heavens and mumbled a silent prayer.

‘God, if you really do exist, please save the world from the powerful beings that are known as hormonal teenagers.’

***

Being nice was my pastime, but I've been hurt for the last time

Chat Blanc was merciless. The desperate, frightened screams of Parisians succumbing to his deadly cataclysm did not crack Chat Blanc's clouded judgement, and he felt no sympathy to those whose lives were cut short due to it. His sole goal was to cause mayhem, which would lure the so-called ‘Héroes de Paris’ to their impending doom. 

That is of course, if Ladybug didn’t have the guts to take him on herself. Chat Blanc moved along to hop across the rooftops, feeling slightly bored. The crumbling of buildings and alarmed cries were so underwhelming and Chat Blanc was desperate for the taste of blood. How could he have ever been one of them? A total fake?

‘But no longer,’ Chat Blanc thought as he settled upon the Bridge Seine, flicking a small destructive ball at André’s retreating ice cream van dazedly. He watched as it exploded. André sent a look at Chat Blanc which was reminiscent of a kick puppy’s face. Chat Blance glared back. 

No longer would he be the saviour of Paris. No longer would he be the teenage sunshine, allowing insults, berating and betrayal poison his life with a smile upon his face. No longer would he need to feel pain, anger, anguish and the need to drag a blade over his fragile skin. No longer would he allow his father to send out akumas, no, Chat Blanc would be the very last akuma sent by him, and he would get the job done, no matter the personal cost. 

And I won't ever let another person take advantage of me. 

The rushing wind stung Chat Blanc's face as he began to inspect his long, knife like claws, having destroyed half the bridge already. Chat Blanc began to pace along the railing, muttering darkly, his masked face contorting in anger. 

So it wasn't enough that the ‘Lady of Luck’ herself hadn’t shown her face yet, but the Parisians kept on crying for her, begging to be rescued by their ‘only’ saviour. Tch. Did Chat Noir honestly mean nothing to them? Obviously not! They were relying on Ladybug, the same person who used her ex-boyfriend like a goddamn toy. 

Honestly, didn’t their love for one another mean nothing to Marinette? Was he just another pawn in her games? 

Oh, and while Chat Blanc was thinking about girls who him, what about Chloe? The blonde haired brat? Sucking up to Ladybug as if she was the only hero that she could look up to? Chat Blanc scrunched up his nose in disgust. How could his so-called best friend abandon him like that? Spending more time with Sabrina than him? They were childhood best friends, attached at the hip! Yet she didn't even notice that his world was slowly crumbling down. And the thing that pissed him off the most? 

How the hell did she become the hero while he became the villain?

And Lila. Chat Blanc had no vocabulary in his extensive dictionary to describe the boiling disdain he had for the sausage haired Italian freak. She lied, she manipulated, she threatened, and she hurt so many people, but as soon as her lies were exposed and she quote on quote ‘apologised’, she automatically received redemption? Chat Blanc rolled his eyes so hard and threw another ball at the water in anger, and watched the mini tsunami. What the hell was his life, ‘My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic?’

So fucking what if she received redemption? Did it change the past just because she got therapy now? No, it fucking did not. Chat Blanc certainly did not give a shit that she was going to a shrink to crocodile cry over her misfortune. Chat Blanc clenched his fists. He was not going to let anyone, including that snake, to take advantage of him. 

No one would ever hurt him ever again .

The anger burns my skin, third-degree

Red. Magenta. Garnet. Whatever you called it. All of them were her colours. The colour of love. The colour of anger. The colour of danger. 

‘Ah Milady! So lovely of you to join me!’ 

Chat Blanc spat out the words in disgust, his rage oozing out of his body in morbid anticipation. Oh how he wanted to see her bleed, the girl who broke his heart. If she did have any blood that is. 

Ladybug carefully walked through the debris and flames, her mouth slightly agape in horror. Chat Blance mirrored her actions, destructive energy flickering boldly at the edges of his clawed finger tips. His hands were thrown out as he sashayed towards her, his mind calculating his next plan. Did Ladybug honestly not come with any back-up? Chat Blanc internally fumed at the fact. This wasn't going to be any fun, he was so looking forward to spilling some blood! 

‘Chat Noir?... Is that really you?!'

Dirt caked the cheeks on his Lady's face, tears forming at the edges of her piercing bluebell eyes. Fuck it, why the hell was she crying? How dare she look so pitiful, the strands of her midnight black hair wetting, her lip quivering, her whole body language the epitome of shaking? Chat Bkanc’s malevolent smirk changed into a vile snarl.

‘Yes, it is my lady. Now give me your miraculous!’ 

Ladybug took an unstable step back, her eyes widening. 

'Chat I know you don't mean that . . . this isn't you! What has Hawkmoth done to you?!’ 

Chat narrowed his eyes into slits, his destructive energy maximising in blind rage. He glanced at Ladybug, his hands shaking in fury. 

'How DARE you!’ Chat Blanc yelled out, taking them both by surprise at his outburst. Chat breathed deeply. Ladybug flinched as Chat stared at her, locking eyes, not dropping eye contact for a single second. Ladybug stood still while Chat Blanc advanced forward until he was a mere one metre away from her. He lowered his voice. 

'How dare you,’ he whispered with more menace. 

Now my blood's boiling hotter than a fiery sea

Chat Blanc pointed a sharp claw into Ladybug’s face. 

‘You are the reason I am like this,’ Chat Blanc stated in an even tone. ‘You are the reason why Hawkmoth made me like this.’

Chat Blanc bared his teeth.

‘And you are the one I will destroy!’

Chat Blanc lunged at Ladybug, only for a yoyo to latch onto him from behind. The vision of Ladybug vanished, as he gritted his teeth. He slashed the yo-yo bouding his leg with a considerable force, and watched in fascination as it crumbled into dust. Chat Blanc whipped around, meeting the faces of a shocked Rena Rouge and an equally scared Ladybug, who was looking at her now empty hands in panic.

‘So ...’ Chat Blanc began , rage erupting from his mouth. ‘You think it's goddamn funny to watch me fail over and over again, right?!’ Chat Blanc stepped closer to Rena Rouge and Ladybug, who were around 10 metres away. Chat Blanc screamed. ‘I'm just goddamn toy you can fuck around with whenever the hell you want to, aren't I?!’

Ladybug started to run towards Chat. 'Chat, you know it's not like that!' Ladybug's voice broke. ‘Please, just tell me where the akuma is!’ she cried, desperation evident in her voice. Rena Rouge grabbed Ladybug's arm pulling her away as Chat threw back his head. A hollow laugh wracked fear into bodies of Ladybug and Rena, making them freeze in their tracks. Chat smirked, playfulness dripping in his tone. ‘Good Luck with that M'lady! You know I can't tell you that!’

There’s nobody getting close to me

'Blanc, it doesn't even matter if you can't tell us, as we already know where it is! Ladybug gave us a rundown of a future she saw, and the akuma is so obviously in your bell!’ 

A thud entered Chat Blanc's ears as he was met with a smiling Queen Bee, her venom ready to be administered. This did not daunt him however, because unlike Queen Bee, Chat had a plan.

Chat Blanc kicked at Queen Bee’s stomach, sending her flying while simultaneously landing a fist across Rena Rouge's face, making her fall. Her necklace began to beep at two minutes. Chat Blanc jumped elegantly back onto the railing wracking in silent laughter. 

They're gonna bow to the evil King

‘Are you guys really that stupid? Do you think that my akuma, which I graciously accepted, would be hiding its sorry ass in my bell? Really?’

Chat Blanc paced along the railing, watching as Rena Rouge and Queen Bee stood up with great difficulty. Chat crossed his arms, noticing how their faces paled, yet they still gripped their weapons forcefully. Neither showed any signs of faltering as Chat Blanc cocked his head over to the side. ‘Good Luck with that I suppose.’

Chat Noir laid a questioning claw onto his chin, realisation dawning. ‘You guys were always pawns in Ladybug’s games after all. I'm not surprised that she led you to believe such a lie. But I digress,’ Chat’s hand began to glow. ‘Pawn's were made to be destroyed , hmm? So, why don't I just… kill you?’

Your nightmare's my dream

‘I'm pretty sure that we're not chess pieces, Chat Blanc. And why are you so bent on killing us? I don't blame you for missing your cat nap, but sheesh dude.’ 

A cocky tone filled the air as a flash of green enveloped the heroes into a tight ball, and Carapace looked at Chat Blanc smugly.

The self-satisfaction wiped clean of his face as Chat destroyed the bubble with ease.

‘Carapace,’ Chat said, grinning in glee. Chat looked at Carapace, then began to twirl his tail in boredom. ‘Oh, I didn't miss out on my catnap. But I am sure of winning. You know why?'

Just wait until they fall to my wicked schemes

‘Because if you want to get the akuma, you'll have to stab me in the heart!’

Chat Blanc giggled madly as he watched the heroes faces, fall, colour draining away. Priceless, absolutely priceless!

‘Meet me at the Eiffel Tower~!’

I never thought of myself as mean

Chat Blanc dashed away at an inhuman speed, an unhinged, manic smile curling his lips. Who knew being a villain was this much fun ?

I always thought that I'd be the king

The gaping expressions that his former teammates gave Chat Blanc a sense of joy he hadn't felt in years. Damn, it felt great! Though ... he did always think that he'd be fighting alongside the heroes when they were eventually faced with Hawkmoth, not against them. Chat Blanc felt sour as he neared the Eiffel Tower. 

And there's no in between!

On the other hand, he never did know about his mother. 

‘Cause if I can't have that

If Adrien had known about Emelie beforehand, then he would've helped, but in a non-violent way. Morals always stood in the way of Adrien Agreste. 

Then I will be the leader of the dark and the bad

But Chat Blanc was the moral-free Advien Agreste, fueled by anger and revenge. He would do anything to bring his mother back, even if it meant that someone had to die. 

Now there's a devil on my shoulder where the angles used to be

Chat Blanc's spirits lifted up as he saw a figure brandishing a staff. The silver linings of his mask stood out against the vibrant colour of the Eiffel Tower, as he leaned on one of the metal bars. Chat Blanc blinked at him as they made eye contact. 

And he's calling the King of Mean

They shook hands.

‘Ready Chat Blanc?’

The King of Mean

Chat Blanc grinned at Hawkmoth.

‘As I'll ever be.’

The King of Mean

‘Chat Noir. Hawkmoth.’ 

Chat Blanc readied his baton as Hawkmoth straightened his staff, glaring at the 4 figures in front of them. 

It was time to fight.

***

The fight was long.Even though Hawkmoth and Chat were both experienced fighters, they were fighting 4 against 2, which was admittedly annoying. Chat Blanc had long since been separated from his father. The damn bug had hidden herself, as she had to detransform . Despite this minor setback, Chat Blanc was hot on her trail.

Something's pulling me, it's so magnetic, my body is moving, unsure where I'm headed

Suddenly he saw her.

Ladybug.

And her earrings were still beeping. This was easier than he thought! Chat pounced on the unaware Ladybug.

All of my senses have left me defenceless

'Ladybug,’ Chat Blanc whispered, licking his lips in morbid anticipation as he realised how dese he was to retrieve what he wanted from the girl below him.

This darkness around me is promising vengeance

‘Chat Noir, please, I'm begging you, don't do this!’ 

The alarm in Ladybug's voice made Chat Blanc pause, but only for a split second. Dammit, why was she so...

Ladybug reached down to grab her yo-yo, only to be met with a hand clawing her neck, and her yo-yo being thrown away, forgotten. 

The price that I'm willing to pay is expensive

‘Now… be a good little bug as I just take these off, hmm?’

Chat Blanc tilted his head and hummed, moving his claws away from her neck while he reached towards her ears. 

The price that I'm willing to pay is expensive, there’s nothing to lose when your lonely and friendless 

Ladybug let out a defeated whimper as she stopped struggling under his grasp, seeming to give up. She looked at Chat, her eyes dead of all emotion. Chat blinked in surprise.

‘Huh,’ Chat muttered under his breath. ‘Guess breaking someone’s heart goes two ways…’

So my only interest is showing this princess

Chat hardened his gaze as he began to pull carefully at the butterfly of Ladybug's right earning. Pink light glowed faintly at the edges of her costume as Chat Blanc felt a pang of joy. Triumph whizzed in his body. 

That I am the king and my reign will be endless!

He was so close! Just one more ...

Without warning, an odd, heavy weight shook Chat Blanc to the core as he was thrown back, dropping the earring in the process. He rubbed his slightly throbbing head , and he sat up. And there, helping Ladybug up, (well Marinette) was a tall figure, yet she was still slightly smaller than himself. An intricate lilac mask was placed upon her frowning face, and her brunette hair was swept into a flowing plait. A long trench-like coat covered her lean body, and pearly white gloves decorated her hands. As her shiny boots glittered in the light of the sunset, Chat Blanc widened his eyes in terror.

I want what I deserve

Chat Blanc stumbled up and ran before whoever that person was, could catch him. Where was his father?! No, no, no, no, NO!

I want to rule the world

That person , whoever the hell she was, had the miraculous. The butterfly miraculous! Chat raced across the Eiffel Tower, sensing fear in his foggy consciousness for the first time in hours. His father could be anywhere!

Chat couldn't do this without him! Pain shot through Chat’s chest as his heart constricted. This couldn't be happening!

Sit back and watch them learn, it's finally my turn

Chat Blanc yelled out for his father. ‘Père! Père! Where are you?!’

How dare they steal his father away! How dare she, whoever the hell that person was, take his father's miraculous? He was so close to his happy ending, but they just had to take the opportunity away from him, when it was finally his turn, didn't they?! Was he not allowed to be happy for once? Once?

If they want a villain for a king

Chat Blanc ran on one of the massive metal beams and then saw the person who he was looking for. Sitting dangerously close to the edge was his father, tied up in a rope. Chat Blanc let out a choked sob as he ran towards his father. 

‘Mon Dieu, Père!'

Chub Blanc untied the rope with a swift grace, and once they were a safe distance away from the ledge, he flung his arms around his father in a tight embrace. How could they have left Gabriel up there, all alone?

‘Don't worry son, I'm still here…’

The sound of his father's broken voice made Chat cry harder. He was going to make that knock off pay, mark his words. 

I'm gonna be like one they’ve never seen

Down below, Chat Blame saw a blue figure attacking three smaller figures, and Chat Blanc couldn't help but laugh. Mayura was smart, creating a sentimonster of herself to fight the rest of the team. Gabriel shared a small, contented smile with his son. 

‘You've seen her too, right?’

Chat gave a watery replica of a smile back at his father. They pulled apart, only to be met with Ladybug and Purple Girl, who pulled a sword out of her staff. 

What?

Chat and Gabriel stepped forward. 

I’ll show them what it means

‘So, I guess you found me out, Miss Bug,’ Gabriel sneered, glaring at the girl using his miraculous. Ladybug looked uneasy around Purple, but Purple shot a reassuring smile at Ladybug, indicating to at least trust each other. Ladybug smiled a bit, then turned her attention to Gabriel. Ladybug sneered back, bitterness laced in her voice. 

'Indeed, Gabriel. I’m honestly surprised that I ever looked up to scum like you!’

Gabriel and Chat Blanc looked at each other, then back at the two heroines. They charged, the final fight starting. 

Now that I am that

Fighting alongside his father without the latter having weapons was proving to be a feat, but being known as the father of a champion fencer did include its quirks, such as knowing how to fight. With a broomstick. Why there was a broom on the Eiffel Tower was a mystery, but Chat and Gabriel weren’t daunted by that fact. 

I’ll be the leader of the dark and the bad

Until Chat Blanc saw his father gripping onto the railing, red liquid oozing out of his shoulder. Purple Girl inspected her sword, which was glistening with the same ruby red substance. Chat Blanc's blood froze as it truly sunk in that his father needed a hospital now. Ladybug had been chasing after Chat Blanc, dodging all the flying debris he had been sending her way, but she too slammed a hand over her mouth in gaping horror at the sight. But of course, she wasn't the one to make the first move. 

Now that there's a devil on my shoulder where the angels used to be 

Chat Blanc sprinted towards his father, his chest heaving in and out. His footsteps barely made any sound as he changed from one foot to another in an orderly quick fashion, desperate to reach his father on time. He had to reach him on time. Chat Blanc sighed heavily in relief as he landed next to his father, much to the surprise of Purple.

‘Oh my god father, what happened? Quick, we need an ambulance! Or anything, anything!’

Gabriel held his shoulder in agony, but managed to press a reassuring hand onto his son's shoulder, who was clinging on to him again. Gabriel chuckled.

‘I'm fine Chat Blanc, I'm completely fine. This is the third time you’ve clung to me today, you know that right?’ 

Chat Blanc bit his lip. Gabriel hardened his gaze as determination crossed his face .

‘Now, we need to get miraculous, right?’

And he's calling me the king of mean

Chat Blanc tensed up, realisation dawning. The miraculous. The wish. Oh, how could he have forgotten? Chat Blanc slowly removed himself from Gabriel, and let out an animalistic cry, the tips of his white clad ears twitching, his bleached snowy hair glimmering in the light. Chat Blanc fangs bared in anticipation, and anger, pure anger, flashed across his eyes. 

Chat Blanc was back. 

‘I’ll fucking kill you bitch!' 

The King of Mean

The next few moments happened in a blur. Chat Blare lunged at the lilac-covered ‘hero’, while she blocked him, calculating his every move. They engaged in hand to hand combat for a short while before switching up to fighting with their respected weapons. Grunts, shouts and clanging filled the air as the fighting grew more intense and desperate. Neither of them truly knew what their goal was at this point, but they both had their eyes on one objective.

Destroy.

Chat Blanc stopped attacking for a few seconds, a feral grin spreading across his face. A low growl entered the cacophony of heavy breathing.

‘Let's make this more… interesting, shall we?’

Dark, crackling pulsing luminescent energy erupted from Chat’s glowing, deadly fingers and Purple gritted her teeth, her sword glimmering, reflecting the dangerous outlines of Chat’s face. Chat Blanc was not messing around and as Purple stiffened her body into a fighting stance she showed that she wasn’t messing around either. They charged at each other, rearing their deadly weapons ready to defeat the other at full force. Chat Blanc pulled his fist back. He was going to-

Everything stopped at Chat Blanc staggered back, blood pouring out from where his heart was. As a butterfly fluttered out of his body Adrien felt weak and faint as he gripped his chest in agony, falling to his knees. Blood, there was so much blood...

A cry could be heard as Adrien looked up just in time to see a tall figure stumble over the ledge. 

His father was falling down the Eiffel Tower. 

Adrien pulled himself up, pain staining him red just a slight inconvenience. Adrien jumped over the edge, desperate and hoping he could just grab onto anything, anything , before he lost consciousness The rushing air all around him stung Adrien's face as tears rolled down his cheek, unaware of his father’s desperate shouts of alarm and dismay. Adrien whispered to the deafening sound of wind. 

‘I’m sorry father.’

I want what I deserve!

Everything faded to black.

Chapter 3: Make You Proud (Reprise)

His head was pounding, his mind was racing. It was a battle against time and he was losing. Blood poured out of his chest but it was his father who was losing his life. He clamoured over the edge and fell, wishing that the Kwami of the Black Cat was there to help him, but the ring had been lost in the utter chaos. He was free falling, desperate to grab onto his father, who gave panicked shouts below him. Adrien couldn't breathe. He couldn't breathe. The pain was unbearable. Was Adrien going to die today? Correction, he was dying. Adrien watched as his life flashed before his eyes. Spots of black and white obscured his vision as his head lolled over to the side. He felt the last bits of life flowing out of his body. He had failed, everything hurt, everything hurt, this was too much, too, too much…

The beeping of a machine quickened, growing louder and louder at each passing second. Adrien woke up gasping for air, sweat trickling down his forehead. Everything was blurred together in a colourful mess. Adrien tried to focus his eyes to the blinding lights closing in on him. Blood roared in his ears and he shook his body trying to free himself from his suffocating prison. His body was heavy, stones replacing the soft muscles moving inside of him. It was nearly impossible to move. His head hurt, his neck hurt, everything hurt so much. Pins and needles sliced his skin open, lighting striking through his veins. He distinctly heard voices, but Adrien had bigger things to worry about. He was drowning, drowning, drowning…

'Adrien, I need you to breathe with me, ok?'

The soft feminine tones sounded so reassuring, so comforting, that Adrien did a double take. 

'Mother, mother is that you?'

It was his mother. His beautiful, sweet, kind mother. Yet she sounded so far away. Her smiling angelic face glittered in his mind and Adrien grew more and more anxious and he felt her angelic voice slipping away until it was nearly gone. Adrien cried out.

 'Mother, Mother, Mother!' 

'Don't worry Adrien, I'm here now.' 

Adrien whimpered softly as his heart rate began to slow down. It truly was his mother. Her hand clasped over his in a soothing manner, her silky smooth skin brushing over his scared, rough casing. Adrien squeezed his eyes tighter, focused on her hazy outlines. 

'Mother you're here… I missed you so much…' Adrien heaved his arms and tried to clasp the figure of his mother, his arms now light as a feather. Yet all he could feel was air. 

'Why can't I hold you mother?' 

A gasp from the latter's side dawned realisation upon him. Adrien turned his head away from the vision of his mother, truth too painful to be revealed. 

'You're not really here, are you Mother? Adrien accused, a single tear rolling down his cheek. Adrien prepared himself for the fake reassurance and lies but instead of that, Adrien was met with a guilty answer. 

'No, I'm not,' the stranger admitted, her easing touch now losing its comfort. 

Adrien tensed up. How dare this imposter have the nerve to be his mother? 

'But,' the stranger continued, warmth embracing her tone. 'She lives inside of you. Her golden locks of sunshine erupt from your head.' Coolness hugged Adrien's skull. 'Her blood runs through your veins keeping you alive. And your eyes… they're your mother's eyes.' Adrien smiled softly. 'You are a star Adrien, a force to be reckoned with. Your mother may not be here physically, but her spirit lives inside of you. Only you can bring her back.' 

A gentle kiss fluttered on Adrien's hot forehead and he opened his eyes slowly. A blurry feminine figure hovered in front of his eyes, and as they focused Adrien could see that her face was wrinkled with worry, her once thick cerulean hair now thin. Her eyes had dulled considerably, melancholy buried within the depths of them. 

'Nathalie..?'

'Adrien!' 

Taking him by surprise, Nathalie threw her hands around Adrien's lying figure, and started to sob. Adrien patted Nathalie awkwardly on the back, shocked by the reaction that the older female had given him. Nathalie acted as though he hadn't seen her in ages. A horrible sinking feeling came to Adrien as he looked around the room. What awful thing had happened that Adrien wound up in a hospital room? Different machinery that Adrien couldn’t name were cluttered next to his bed, some of which were connected to his arms. Strange blocks were placed all across his brain so even if Adrien tried to reel his mind back, all he could remember was Marinette running. But that memory fel so foreign, so blurry…

‘What happened Nathalie? Why can’t I remember anything?’ 

Nathalie jerked back into her plastic seat, eyes widening. ‘You-you don’t remember?’ Nathalie gaped her mouth in shock while her lip quivered slightly. Hurt, anger, but mainly concern flashed across her face, so much that she looked away. Adrien shook his head in denial, or as much as he could considering his current position on his bed. ‘No,’ Adrien whispered. ‘I can’t. Nathalie, please tell me, what happened? Where’s Father?’ Nathalie twisted her neck around to face Adrien. Her eyes stayed firmly drilled to the ground, while she stood up and straightened her baby blue shirt and askew glasses. Silence befell the small room. ‘It’s complicated Adrien,’ said Nathalie, giving an echo of a reassuring smile. ‘I’ll go get a nurse, okay? Then we’ll speak.’

Adrien pursed his mouth in disbelief. Adrien was about to retort, but thought better against it. ‘Alright Nathalie,’ Adrien spat out. ‘I’ll be patient. 

Nathalie sighed at Adrien’s tone, then turned her back on him as she walked out, leaving Adrien all alone. 

Adrien groaned as he gripped his hair angrily. He glared at the lights above him, then blinked repetitively as they began to burn. Adrien slowed his breathing and was at a calm. Until he began to freak out. Okay, what the hell happened? First things first, he wakes up in a hospital of all things, which was bad enough, but secondly, Nathalie, the woman who was immune to all emotion, cried! Oh, and let's not forget about how it was too complicated to explain what happened to his father! Adrien, despite his inner hysterics, wanted to cry. Suddenly, Adrien's eyes fell to a tiny table located next to his bed. The table wasn't really a table, rather a small wheeled contraption with a flat surface, but a table was good enough for him. Adrien lifted up the newspaper located next to a cup of something, most likely coffee. Nathalie must have been the source of all these, but Adrien wasn't concerned about that.

No, what Adrien was concerned about was the headlines dating to three weeks ago. Even though Adden couldn't remember anything beforehand, a date was something he definitely could remember. Curious, he began to read it, in hopes to realise what was going on. As Adrien’s eyes scanned over each passing line, his face darkened and he gritted his teeth in anger. Sweat trickled down his forehead by the middle of the article, so once he was at the final words Advien Agreste was fuming. Nathalie, along with a plump, motherly looking blonde walked into the room, only to be met with the sound of a newspaper slamming onto the floor. Adrien was shaking with anger, pointing an accusing finger at the two women. His voice was shaking too, yet his eyes contained the will to kill someone. If looks could kill, they'd both be skeletons by now.

'Nathalie, what the fuck.'

Gabriel Agreste, maintenant connu sous le nom de Hawkmoth, est mort. 

***

Adrien Agreste stood in the darkness of his hospital room, despite the pain searring from under his thin hospital gown. It had taken some difficulty to remove himself from under the blankets, but once he was free, he had never felt so alive before. Two small boxes were clenched in his hands, stolen from Nathalie's unsuspecting handbag. 

8 hours, 30 minutes since he found out that his father was killed. 

Adrien placed the two items onto the cold floor, then plopped down in front of them. He stared at them for a short while, contemplating. This was so fucking ironic.

***

'Yes, it's true Adrien,' the nurse he now knew as Allegra said, eyes darting at every point of the room except for him. 'Gabriel Agreste died 3 weeks ago. There's no point trying to deny it.'

Adrien looked up at her grim features then looked down at his hands, clenching them tightly. A calm fury bubbled inside of him. 'Who did it?' Adrien found himself asking, even though he had already read her godforsaken name black and white print.

Nathalie spoke up next. 'Her name is Libera. Here's a better picture of her. You have the right to know her face.' Adrien glanced over the picture and shock enhanced his fury. He recognised that face. Her lips were the same shade of pink which were forced upon his cheek. Her hands had once clung to him like a snake would've. Her eyes were the same as those which he hated. But how was it possible? People began to trust her after she came clean and Adrien was one to first hand witness it, but how was it possible that she became a hero? 

Nathalie noticed Adrien's change of posture. 'Adrien?' she asked with a hint of concern, much different from her cold façade. 'Are you alright?' 

'I recognise her, Nathalie. I know who she is.' 

Despite Adrien practically whispering, Nathalie understood instantly. 

'Oh Adrien…' 

Allegra took in the shared look between the two alleged villains and sighed. 'Do you want some time alone to discuss this thoroughly?' 

'Yes,' Adrien replied. Allegra moved away from the room, her blue uniform swishing. Adrien looked up. A smiling image of his parents flashed across his mind.

 'Don't worry Dad, I'll get to the bottom of this.' 

Nathalie sat at the edge of his bed, as tears began to prick at the edge of his eyes. 

'I promise.' 

***

Adrien opened the two boxes with considerable haste, smiling as the room was illuminated with a bright green and blue glow. The kwami of the peacock and black cat stared at Adrien’s misty eyes, hardly believing what was going on. A bright smile lifted up the dark atmosphere as Plagg blinked at him. 

‘Adrien..?’

‘Plagg!’

Despite the duo looking as happy as they could ever be, the peacock didn't look as happy as they watched the exchange silently. Duusu knew exactly what was going to happen. They didn't get enough credit for dealing with this Agreste family bullshit. 

***

‘I can't believe it…’ Adrien cried out at last, pulling his hair tightly. He needed pain. He wanted pain. He knew it couldn't be real, yet it was. Oh hell...

Nathalie had told him the whole truth...

And it was all Adrien's fault. 

If he hadn't been so selfish and took the akuma ...

If he tried harder to reason against his father...

If he wasn't so goddamn blind and a pushover...

Then none of this would have happened. He should've cataclysmed himself when he had the chance. He should've cut deeper, letting the blood flow out of his flesh like water would from a jug. He should never have been born. All the blame fell solely upon him, the person who was born through artificial means. Goddammit, he wasn’t even real. No wonder all his friends testified against him in the news. 

Ivan…

'So, we know that Adrien was a student at your school. Did you ever think that he would ever be a supervillain?’ Ivan’s face that was a blank slate as he said softly. ‘We all knew that Adrien was too kind for his own good. We were just waiting for him to finally snap.”

Rose…

‘I hate Adrien Agreste with my whole heart! How dare he, how dare he?’ Rose screamed 

No wonder everyone hailed his father as a villain and his murderer as a hero. No wonder everyone hated him. It was all his fault. 

***

Plagg stared at Adrien, his lively viridescent eyes growing as large as saucers, ears pricking up. He was horrified. Plagg started to shake his head in denial, trying to reason with his broken friend. ‘Adrien, no, that’s idiotic, I care about you but no-’

Adrien glared at Plagg, an evil glint shining within the cold depths of them. Sadness radiated from Adrien, but the sheer anger and the will to get revenge wiped all of that sappy nonsense out. Adrien chuckled darkly, his voice dripping with sarcasm. 

‘Oh, how nice of you to care about me Plagg, but I’m afraid that you’re the only one. I’m a murderer, remember? I don’t deserve to live.’ Spite was evident in Adrien’s tone as he bitterly smiled at the floor. 

‘I don’t care about what happens anymore.’

***

‘Adrien Agreste, this is not your fault! Do you understand me?’ Nathalie shook Adrien by the shoulders, then hugged the boy's thin, crying frame tightly.

‘But it is!’ Adrien cried out adamantly between choked sobs. Tears poured down his cheeks and he gripped onto Nathalie like life support. 

‘If I wasn’t born, if I just tried harder-’ 

The rest was muffled by Nathalie hushing him. ‘Adrien, it’s okay. It’s not your fault. Please, I can’t lose you too,’ Nathalie’s voice hardened as her eyes narrowed. ‘It’s the wretched miraculous that’s at fault, not you.’ The room was filled with silence.

‘You’re right Nathalie.’

Even though Nathalie couldn’t help but smile at the youngest boy’s murmur, an overwhelming sense of dread sent butterflies to her stomach. Adrien pulled away suddenly for once Nathalie’s motherly embrace, eyes glinting like stars. Realisation seemed to have hit Adrien like a truck. 

‘It is the miraculous which is at fault, so it’s both our faults-’

‘-I never said that Adrien-’

‘-so that means…huh...Hey Nathalie?’

Without warning, Adrien perked up and stared at Nathalie quizzically, as if trying to figure out a difficult puzzle, yet his voice was laced with a strange coolness and an easy smile plastered his lips. Nathalie shuddered as she replied. 

‘Yes Adrien?’

‘Where did you put the miraculous?’

***

‘I will make them proud, Plagg. I have to!’

‘But it’s incredibly stupid, perhaps the most idiotic thing you’ve ever done-’

‘Why don’t you understand Plagg?!’ Adrien hardly ever raised his voice against his kwami, so that when Adrien had begun to shout in the dead of night, the god of destruction was rendered speechless. Adrien snatched up the ring that was lying peacefully on the floor, then forced it upon his finger, watching it instantly morph back into the dull silver he knew so well. Adrien took a deep breath, and continued. 

‘I need to get the answers and set them free.’

Adrien’s desperation could be heard from a mega meter away. Plagg ears drooped in response. He had holders like Adrien before, but seeing this kid about to do something stupid broke his heart. Attempts to back a human out of a bad decision were always fruitless, and Plagg was out of ideas. Adrien was alone in this world now, except for Nathalie. Everyone hated his kitten. They hated his dorky, anime loving, cheesy kitten. Oh, how Plagg wanted to cataclysm their stupid, stupid faces… A reassuring paw was placed on Plagg's tiny shoulder, and he was met with the sad face of Duusu. Even they knew that nothing could stop it from happening.

‘I can’t stop you, can I?’ Plagg muttered at last. Adrien pinned the peacock brooch to the center of his chest in a quiet affirmation. Plagg looked down. Adrien needed this, the chance to rip apart the people who had abandoned him, but it still hurt. Adrien noted the mournful look on his kwami’s face and sighed. 

‘I’m sorry Plagg, but I have to do this,’ Adrien said softly, caressing the kwamis cheek. 

‘Doesn’t mean I have to like it.’

Adrien grimaced while he gently laid Plagg back down. Adrien flicked open a rather old leather book, fingering the yellowing pages with great care. He couldn’t see very well in the dark, but the natural glow of the moonlight gave him the power of sight. He paused upon a page illustrating a man floating in mid air with purple coating his ancient skin. Adrien’s thoughts immediately wandered.

‘Don’t you worry, whatever it might take, I’m finding a way.’

Adrien didn’t know who he was talking to in particular, but what he did know was that he was ready. He took a deep breath, and glided over to the window, and with great difficulty, forced it open, kwamis floating silently behind. Adrien took a deep inhale of the freezing night air.

‘Plagg, Duusu, Unify.’

***

The scene changed, and now Adrien was jumping over Parisian rooftops. The pain from his injuries were no hindrance to his abilities, and the rushing wind gave him life. A sinister smile lifted up his lips as he came to the place where he needed to be. Adrien hopped onto the rooftop, making a silent oath. 

‘And I swear right now Libera, that no matter what comes of me…’

Adrien dashed down her window, glaring at the image of the sleeping girl in her bed. 

‘...Anybody who stands or has stood in my path is going to pay!’

Adrien punched through the glass, shattering it. Glittering diamonds flew to the floor, startling the girl awake.’ Adrien jumped into her room, red eyes shining like blood.

‘You’re going to pay, Lila Rossi.’

Chapter 4: Ready As I’ll Ever Be

Notes 

Written with help from Rain2Bow2- who is amazing and is the best beta I could have ever asked for. 

I should hope so - coz I literally wrote several pages from your notebook (with your awful handwriting) onto a computer! Ridiculous - utterly Ridiculous. 

My handwriting is amazing, and much neater than yours.

Fuck you. I’m the real writer, guys. Look at me belly-dancing. 

I made the plot and wrote over 14000 words but whatever. 

I'M IN CHARGE. This is me when I found out about that you are being kicked out of the fic- https://youtu.be/KGCbqr66onk

Let’s just start lmao

It couldn’t be true. 

It shouldn’t have been true. 

Yet - it was. 

The black and white typed writing glared at her from the newspaper, and even though her sight was blurred with tears, the meaning stood out boldly - no matter what. 

Marinette Dupain - Cheng sat alone on the bed, motionless. How long has it been since everything fell downhill? How long had it been since everything was fine? How long had it been since she had ruined every goddamn thing?! 

Marinette dragged her knees to her chest, the first thing she had done in the past 10 minutes, and choked out a sob, mascara dripping down her cheeks. Hushed whispers turned into alarmed cries as the group in the far corner of the room turned their attention to her. 

‘Marinette, what’s wrong?’ 

Alya was the first person to reach Marinette, her strong arms embracing Marinette in a sister like-gesture. A gesture that she didn’t deserve. Marinette sobbed harder in reply. It was her fault, her fault, all her fault, yet she was sitting on the bed, doing absolutely nothing, while one of her own went missing, traces of blood the only remaining thing in their room. 

Lila…

Marinette never knew that she would grow to care about Lila so much. She was the one who hurt her, lied about her, and Marinette knew that she was stupid, maybe even idiotic for 

Chapter 5: Night Falls

Chapter 6: Other Friends

 Chapter 7: Dead Girl Walking (Reprise) 

Chapter 8: I Am Damaged

Chapter 9: It Took Me By Surprise 

Chapter 1: I Have Questions

Inspired by: I Have Questions by Kawaii ComicUvU

To an outsider, everything was looking up in Paris for a while now. Hawkmoth's once dangerous alumas had pestered down to just Mr Ramier getting akumatized over and over again. Crime rates were at its lowest point, and fewer accidents were being reported. Nothing seemed to be going wrong. 

But for 15-year-old Adrien Agreste, everything was going downhill.

Adrien felt his hand clench and unclench repetitively as he stared blankly at the two photographs on his lap. One of the photos, which was actually on his phone, wracked him with the feeling of utter betrayal, while the other gave him a sense of misplaced happiness. The day was a good one, as the summer sun shone brightly through his tall crystal-clear windows. A cool, delicate breeze drifted through the room. The weather, it seemed, was a perfect mirror opposite of his mood. Regardless of the sun egging on a vast number of tourists and natives to explore the so-called ‘City of Love,’ Adrien wanted nothing but to dive underneath the covers and sleep. Until he forgot everything. Until he was numb. Until he was dead. 

Whichever came first. 

Some would welcome the newfound warmth as it invited the prospect of not having to cover up in thick layers of clothing, but for Adrien, he would have to model in attire which he hated and feel the sticky sweat clinging onto his chest. Even though all of the negatives of going outside would be balanced by having an excuse to see his friends, Adrien knew that being social with a bunch of traitors was the absolute last thing on his mind. Adrien closed his eyes. He tried counting, he tried hoping that this was all just a bad dream, but his efforts of trying to get rid of the image glued in his head were fruitless.  He opened his eyes once again, only to once again see the image of his ex-girlfriend and someone he thought was a friend, kissing. Adrien punched his thigh and began to breathe heavily. 

How… How could she? 

How could the love of his life, his everyday Ladybug, leave him to… burn like this?!

A heavy stone tumbled throughout Adrien’s body as he shoved the two objects of his lap and watched them clatter to the floor. 

He was far too young to be this hurt.

Not caring to pick the frame and phone up, Adrien collapsed with a thud upon his sofa and heightened his gaze to stare at the ceiling. Once upon a time, Adrien had enjoyed having a huge room, but now that he reflected on it, Adrien realised that feeling was long gone. His room, along with the rest of the mansion, was cold and unwelcoming, and just being there even for a short period made him feel doomed . But luckily, Adrien thought ironically, when he and Marinette were still dating, only her presence in the mansion, however limited, gave Adrien happiness. Gabriel, his father, never really approved of Marinette, so in a fit to keep her away from him, Gabriel made Nathalie tighten his schedule with Mandarin lessons, photoshoots and fencing training. He had little to no time with his friends, or his father, and Adrien couldn't remember the last time he actually had a meal with his father. Even when they saw each other, Gabriel always gave short tempered answers to Adrien's questions. It also seemed like Gabriel was working on something else that fashion, but with the limited time Adrien actually spent with his sperm donor, he wasn't sure if that truly was the case. Anyway, even though Nathalie did make sure that Adtien had at least one hour every day to himself, he still didn’t feel grateful. If only he was given more time, maybe, just maybe , Mari would’ve been more open with him. They could’ve fixed their problems together, two parts of the same whole, just as they should have been...

No.

Adrien didn’t want to think about what could’ve been. The damage was done. Were they even perfect for each other like Adrien had always thought? They were forced to work together, they were forced to live each other by fate. Did they even have any choice in the matter? Ever since Adrien had found out the truth, he had remained in his house and had… returned to his old habit. He hadn’t done it in nearly three years.  Adrien turned his head around to see the disassembled sharpener lying motionless on his opaque white table, then looked back at the red squeals on his arms,  numbness bolted down his spine as he let sleep take over his body, leaving the tears begging to fall, dry. 

***

Moonlight cascaded into the room when a feeling of consciousness came back to him. Rubbing his weary eyes, Adrien stood up and stretched, only to see bandages wrapping around his arms. Plagg lay snoozing upon his bed, blissfully unaware of his holder's current plight. An odd feeling of happiness tinged with gratefulness warmed Adrien's blood as he stared at the kwami’s peaceful expression, the rare motherly action by Plagg tugging at his heartstrings. But when the reason why he needed those bandages came rushing back, the feeling faded away to an empty nothingness. Adrien glanced outside, through his window, into the pitch-black midnight sky. The Parisian landscape remained a calm serene on its own, but the shimmering, luminous glow of the stars and moon contrasted with it, creating a picturesque image, which definitely made Paris earn its name 'City of Light.' 

Adrien tore his eyes away from the scene. It just wasn't fair. It just wasn't fair. Why did Paris look so peaceful, so beautiful, so calm, while his life was falling apart into smithereens? Adrien chewed down on his lip while wiping at the corners of his eyes aggressively with the back of his hand. Adrien couldn't understand it. 

Why… Why the hell was he crying? 

Wasn't it obvious that he would destroy everything he touched? He didn't deserve to cry, not when he was the literal embodiment of destruction! He destroyed his relationship with Marinette, he was the reason why she left him. He managed to destroy the good things he had by literally doing nothing at all. It was his fault, his fault, his fault...

It was all his fault. 

Adrien glided across the floor to his bed and inhaled deeply. Without warning, he slumped down at the edge of the bed, burying his head in his knees. He wouldn't let his negative thoughts take over him. It was all his fault, but he didn't want to be akumatized. He was Chat Noir for crying out loud, one of Paris's saviours! And even though the press said he was basically useless as a hero, he couldn't let the darkness take over him. He couldn't lose control. He shouldn't lose control. There was too much at stake. He needed to calm down. Yet, he couldn't. 

Was there any good reason for why Marinette was such a hypocrite? She said that she would stay with him forever. She said that she would love him forever. So why , why , did everything fall apart at the seams the very millisecond their relationship was put to the test?

Didn't… didn't Marinette care anymore?

Did Marinette care?

Why didn't Ladybug care?

Images of him sacrificing his life for her over and over again while being Chat Noir flashed across his mind as his throat tightened. Snapshots of them sharing André's ice-cream, having their first kiss, confessing their feelings for one another and other happy memories overwhelmed Adrien's brain as he felt his eyes moisten. Snippets of him comforting her, sharing tears together, whirled around in his brain as the tears poured freely down his cheeks. 

They had gone through so much, but she didn't care. Why didn't she care?!

He was there for her when everyone was against her, he supported her when Lila was lying again, he was just there . 

But now, she was gone from his life, while he was here, crying his heart out. 

Defeated sobs rang out during the night in the Agreste Manor, but once Adrien realised what he needed to do, a grim smile covered his face for the first time in a while.

***

Adrien was never good with confrontation. That was evident when Adrien told Mari to take the high road. But the next day, a Saturday, was the day that Adrien knew that he would need to change. Noting that Marinette would be in the park, and the fact that he had a photoshoot in the same area, Adrien realised that it created the perfect scene to confront her. Therefore, Adrien dragged himself out of bed, forced himself to put on some clothes and clean up. He hadn't taken a shower in a couple of days, the faint pungent smell emitting from his clothes was evident. After a scalding hot shower, Adrien emerged from his far too big bathroom,  the grease in his hair gone, body squeaky clean. As he looked at his reflection, he realised he looked relatively normal, (he couldn't have changed so much in the span of 5 days after all) but the dark bags under his eyes and outbreak would have to be covered up with make-up. 

His safe-guard.

His life support. 

His mask. 

The sharp knock of Nathalie awoke Adrien from his thoughts, and Adrien hardened his gaze. 

*** 

By mid-afternoon the sun was sweltering hot, its hot beams blasting onto his back. In spite of this discomfort, which should have occupied his mind more, Adrien’s mind kept on wandering back to her. Although he couldn’t bear to say her name anymore, she was all he could think about. Her rose-bud mouth. The freckles littering her cheeks. The way her black hair shone blue in the sun. He thought of the way she would laugh, all sparkly and sweet, and compared it to the cold cackles of her mocking Chloé. 

How could a girl so sweet and kind, be so dangerous?

Adrien had acted like a zombie throughout his photo shoot, replaying every bad moment, each memory becoming more and more aggressive. Her smiling mouth turned into malicious scowls, her gentle kisses into hard punches, her tears into anger. 

After a dozen photos or so were taken, Adrien and the team decided to take a break from the constant posing, make-up slathering. Although  rage had been boiling  within Adrien so much to the point he felt like exploding, soon enough he felt himself at a gentle calm. But when he was gulping down an icy glass of water, the sight of a familiar raven haired girl in amongst some trees sent queasy butterflies whirling around his stomach. His heart clenched, and he felt like he was about to throw up. 

Marinette was finally here, and  he had some questions for her.

***

Nino turned his head away and looked at the array of trees as Marinette and Alya started to eagerly chow down some croissants that Marinette’s father had made. Marinette was grinning broadly while Alya was laughing hysterically at a joke Marinette just made. Nino looked down and frowned. He wasn’t entirely happy to be with Marinette and Alya at the moment. Sure, being with his girlfriend and friend was alright, but the fact that Marinette had cheated was nothing to be proud of…

Of course, Adrien never even knew that Ladybug was Marinette of all people and the only people who were exclusively in the hero team, (minus Queen Bee and Chat Noir) knew that fact. And anyway, Chat had already begun to date someone else around two months ago, so when Ladybug started dating Viperion two weeks ago, Chat Noir wasn’t at all jealous. In fact, Chat seemed pleased that Ladybug was happy, even if 'the one' wasn’t him. 

Nino found out that Ladybug was Marinette four months ago. 

After the untimely death of Master Fu, Marinette decided that she needed all the help she could get. In a fit, she gave the turtle miraculous to him, the fox to Alya, the snake to Viperion, the Dragon to Kagami, and surprisingly, the bee to Chloe. Even though Chloe was a bitch in recent years, the new-found friendship and peace between her and Ladybug paved the way to redemption. Of course, Chloe acquired her miraculous around two months after the rest of the team received theirs. Chloe would never have proved herself in such a short period of time. And so, the Miraculous team was created, with Chat Noir and Ladybug being the OG Leaders, while Viperion, Queen Bee, Rena Rouge and himself were ‘helpers’ as it were. Yes, it was a rather odd pick with Viperion, but since Nino later found out that he was Luka, Nino dismissed his slight uneasiness. Luka was trustworthy enough. Especially when he was the last to reveal his identity, when everyone else, excluding Chat Noir and Queen Bee who weren’t there at the time, had already revealed theirs. When asked why she didn’t want them to be involved, Ladybug just brushed it off, saying that she didn’t want them to know yet, which was somewhat understandable. 

Nino didn’t press on. He had no right to ask anyway. Was he really in any kind of position to talk to Marinette about her decisions? He still hurt her, because he  trusted Lila instead of herself. He made friends with Lila, and yes, Marinette did eventually forgive Lila because she began to become a better person, how could Nino ever apologise for something like that? Marinette was one of his very first friends, yet trust wasn’t a given. While all these major developments were happening, another change happened too. Adrien started to date Kagami. Not long after them getting together however, Kagmai proceeded to have a mutual break up with Adrien, saying that she wanted to be ‘the best version of herself.’ Adrien, even though he was slightly heartbroken, realised that he didn’t mind very much that they had broken up. Why? Because Adrien realised he didn’t love Kagami. 

He loved Marinette.

How Adrien came to that conclusion was a mystery to Nino, but Nino would be lying if he wasn’t somewhat relieved, as now he and Alya could finally stop making fruitless attempts to bring them together. As soon as Adrien confessed to Marinette, she confessed too, and the rest was history. They dated faithfully until Marinette… Until Marinette ‘got bored.’ In short, Luka fell into the picture. As Mari had spent more time with him during numerous akuma fights and Kitty Section band practices, it was no wonder that the two soon fell for each other. Even though Luka tried to tell Marinette that Adrien and herself should have broken up before acting on their feelings, Mari couldn’t bring herself to tell the truth, even when they had eventually broken up.

'Aw Nino, don't be so glum!'  

Alya shuffled closer to Nino, her playful smile turning into an 'o' of confusion. Concern was in her big brown eyes and she laid a hand on Nino's lap and kissed his forehead gently. Marinette was oblivious to the couple as she began to sketch under a tree. She was totally absorbed. Alya groaned under her breath at the sight but then tilted her head to the side, more engrossed in her boyfriend than other distractions.

'I know you have something on your mind Nino. Wanna talk about it?'

Nino shook his head in denial at Alya's soft tone. 'No, it's fine. I guess I'm a bit out of it,' he replied, and ended off with a slightly nervous laugh. Nino wasn't sure why he was lying, but a strong gut feeling persuaded him to anyway. 

Alya rolled her eyes. Then, without hesitation, Alya leaned forward towards Nino, a suggestive smirk forming on her lips as she fluttered her eyelashes at him. 'Well…' Alya started in a seductive voice, 'Why don't I make you into it, hmm?' Then, she kissed him. Fireworks set off in Nino's brain and he left the world of love to take over his body as he let Alya encapture him in her arms in a romantic embrace. Soon enough, Nino forgot all about the warnibg bells ringing in his head. He forgot all about how they symbolised a looming danger. He didn't even notice a blond making his way towards them. Nino Lahiffe would never realise the extent of damage that one broken relationship would cause. Nor would he know about the irreversible changes it would bring. 

***

Adrien dashed towards the trio, his heart pounding, adrenaline pulsing through his veins. He had to do this, he just had to. God, he had never felt so… anger ridden before. How could she? How? ...Why? Adrien was lost for words at this point. Was this even real? Hopefully, this was just some badly written fanfiction and Adrien had the misfortune to be living through it, but Adrien needed answers.  And only Marinette had them. As Adrien made it to the trees, he realised how picture-perfect his ex-friends looked together. Nino and Alya were in deep conversation while Marinette was drawing up a new design in her sketchbook, relishing underneath the shade of the overhanging tree. As he advanced towards the trees, he  tried to keep his heart rate at an even level, but soon enough, he was at such a distance where he could talk to her. Adrien tapped on Marinette’s shoulder. Frightened by the sudden touch, Marinette's head jolted up straight, shock evident through her body language. When she realised it was him though, Marinette relaxed slightly, forcing on a smile. But the tension in her shoulders never left. 

‘Ah! Oh… it’s you. Hi Adrien!’

Unwavered by her obvious discomfort of him being there, Adrien crouched down to her level and stared into her piercing eyes. Varying emotions flashed across her eyes but the most prominent was fear. Pure fear. 

‘Marinette? We need to talk.’

The little colour left in Marinette’s face drained away as she began to fiddle with her loose hair. She shot a glance at Alya and Nino, who were now having a rather... intimate moment. Adrien narrowed his eyes at where her eyes had trailed to. ‘In private?’   he added sharply, then stood up, leaning against a tree. Marinette followed suit, but the cautious look wouldn't leave her eyes as she stood up and smoothed over her slightly wrinkled t-shirt. When she finally looked up, her confused blue eyes met his angered green. A tense silence overcame the two teenagers. 

'Why in private?' Marinette asked, breaking the awkward moment. 'Is it… about why I broke up with you over text?' Marinette looked at Adrien expectantly, waiting for an answer, but was met with a raised eyebrow and a glare. Marinette crossed her arms in annoyance. Was Adrien honestly going to play that game? Fine, if he wouldn't talk, she would. Indignation swarmed through her. ‘I thought we were cool about that, Adrien.' Marinette accused. 'Or are you such a drama queen that you just have to make a huge scene about all of this?' 

Adrien blinked rapidly at Marinette, her face innocent and questioning. Adrien did a double take. Him, a drama queen? Did Marinette  honestly just say that? Did that bitch actually fucking dare to-

Calm down. It's not like you have anything to lose anyway. 

The little voice in his head grew louder. 

'No, Marinette, I don't have to make a huge scene about this. That's the whole reason why I want to talk in private. Aren't you more than capable of acting like a rational person?' Adrien asked coldly. Marinette looked straight into Adrien's face, about to retort. But upon seeing the seriousness on his face, she gritted her teeth. Sensing that she would have to do this, Mari shut her black sketchbook and threw it in her bag. 

‘Fine, let’s talk.’

***

While the Gorilla was searching to see where the boy had disappeared off to now, loud shouting entered his consciousness, and he let out a gruff groan.  Running as fast as his legs could carry him, the Gorilla was met with a rather interesting sight. Two figures were in the dark corner of the park circling each other seeming to have some sort of stare down. Adrien had water glossing over his eyes while Marinette had her arms crossed, daring him to carry on. Neither of them realised that the Gorilla was there. Sighing, the Gorilla kept watch, not in the mood to deal with hormonal teenagers. 

***

‘-tell me, who the hell do you think you are by cheating on me with Luka?! You’ve got some nerve trying to tear my faith in you apart! ’

Marinette opened and closed her mouth as she widened her eyes in shock. ‘What? I never ‘cheated’ on you with Luka!’ Marinette cried out adamantly in a squeaky voice as she wiggled two-finger peace signs into sarcastic air quotes, emphasising her point. Taking in Adrien’s face, she sighed and changed her tactic. ‘Look, Adrien,’ she groaned, words falling out in a rush, ‘I’m sorry everything happened the way it did but now you are just being ridiculous! I broke up with you before I did anything- I mean,’ Marinette stopped for a split second, her eyes darting about as she realised that she slipped up. Marinette grimaced, then smothered over her truth with a quick lie, words stammering. ‘I haven’t even done anything with him!’ she shouted at last, hoping it was enough, her pale hands flying out. 

‘I have no obligation to apologise!’

Adrien’s breath hitched as he watched her expand on her lie, and by the time she was finished, he found it hard to breathe. The thickness of trees around him began to close in on him, and the world started to spin. This all had to be a joke. What she was saying had to all be a sick joke. He knew she was lying. She knew that he knew that she was lying. But she still dared to lie so blatantly?! Hints of red sparked in his vision. Adrien walked up to Marinette, scowling, as he closed the gap between them and stuck his index finger in her face. His voice was dripping with sarcasm. 

‘Oh, really Marinette? I remember that you and Viperion looked exceptionally cosy on that rooftop, don’t you agree? Virtually everyone in Paris knows that the two of you are dating .’

Adrien glared at Marinette, who gave the impression of a puppy that had just been slapped.

‘Are you kidding me? You know..?’

Marinette’s strong, annoyed voice weakened to that of a whisper as she shook her head in denial and regret. Her hands dropped down to her sides in defeat. Her heart began to beat faster, and a bead of sweat grew at her forehead. She began to teeter backwards and forwards, eyes looking at anything, anything, but him. Adrien knew that she was Ladybug? Marinette couldn’t believe it. How did he find out? How?!

Judging by Marinette’s reaction, the confirmation of Adrien’s assumptions being proved sent daggers slicing savagely through his already shattered heart. The situation was audacious, yet hilariously ironic at the same time. Letting out a bitter chuckle, he retorted. ‘Yes, M’lady I do! Now tell me, why would you have played your own partner for a fool?! I should have never, ever ever trusted you!’

Marinette began to recoil as Adrien said his nickname for her, and by the time he was screaming, she was trembling, with tears forming at the edges of her eyes. Adrien was Chat Noir?! She looked down at the ground, not daring to look up. Her fingers intertwined together nervously and drips of water fell onto her hands. Marinette lost herself in thought. The words of truth stung her in agony, and her knees began to weaken. This was terribly ironic. Tikki was right, she should have just been honest from the start. What kind of superhero was she if she couldn't even be honest with her own boyfriend? What kind of superhero was she, if she let a crush come before her duties? She had to make this right, somehow, she was Ladybug after all. But how could she apologise for something like this? How could she apologise for the hurt he went through? Yes, maybe he was overreacting, but could she honestly keep a straight face and not blame him? 

‘I never meant to hurt you Adrien, I still care about you... this wasn’t supposed to happen...’

Despite the attempts at an apology whirling around in her head, the thoughts never reached her vocal cords, never formed on her lips, and as fear took over her, she whisked around, running away into oblivion. She couldn't face him, she was too cowardly. She couldn't do this . This was too much, far too much. Adrien stared at her in a confused moment of silence, then ran after her, screaming. Even though his heart was breaking, shattering, Adrien felt all his anger dissolve. 

‘Marinette! Don’t go, don’t go, please, I beg you! Not like this!’ 

He ran after her, desperate to cling onto the sight of her head bobbing up and down through the crowds. He screamed, hoping that she would turn around, hoping that she would come running back to him, hoping that she would envelop her arms around him as they both sobbed. All he wanted was an apology. An apology. Because despite everything, he still loved her. He loved her so much that it hurt. 

‘Marinette!’

Yet she didn’t turn around. She didn’t even glance back once.  She was gone. 

***

Ice shot through Adrien as his knees buckled in the broad daylight. Tears trickled down his cheeks thick and fast onto the ground, creating a spotty surface. He clenched his hands hard against it, wishing that the ground would just swallow him up and take him away. Crowds started to form around him as soon he could distinctly hear the rather loud, sneering voices of ‘That’s Adrien Agreste!’ circling around him. Yet, for once, Adrien found himself not caring about his obsessive crowds. Adrien didn’t care about the papers. The news, the people, they were all irrelevant. It was just him and Marinette, his Ladybug, his lucky charm, his love. But she was gone. Adrien bit his lips hard as he hugged his arms around himself. It just didn’t make any sense. What happened to her and him against the world? Why wasn’t Marinette the person that she swore that she would be? Adrien had questions, and the questions were haunting him. 

‘Get away from him everyone! Just leave him alone!’

Footsteps thundered towards Adrien, and as the crowds disappeared, he was soon met with none other than the confused,  slightly angered eyes of Nino. 

Nino . 

Nino, his best friend. Nino, who had cared. Nino, who didn't even bother to tell him that Marinette cheated on him. Nino, who trusted Alya to know his identity as Carapace. Nino, who didn't even trust Adrien, his supposed best friend. 

‘Adrien what happened? I saw Marinette run away, is she ok? Are you-’

Nino's words washed over Adrien's ears. Thoughts whirled like a broken train in Adrien’s head as Nino knelt down next to him, trying to hug him while he simultaneously tried to pull him up from the ground. But Adrien’s hands hung limply at his sides. How dare Nino try to comfort him? Adrien glared at him, watching his friend's face crumple slightly. But Adrien didn’t care. Bubbles fizzed around in the inside of his chest as his happiness at seeing Nino turned into pure anger. The realisation of betrayal clouded over his better judgement. All he could see was red. Nino never told him about Marinette. He never stayed by his side. Weren’t they best friends? Nino had always been there for Adrien, yet now he wasn’t. Nino had kept such a big secret from him, but didn’t even bother to tell him? Adrien didn’t care that Nino was here now. Nino wasn’t there when he needed him the most. Adrien closed his eyes as he became conflicted. Nino was here for him now though, right? Nino was trying to help him. Nino cared, didn’t he? So what if Adrien was angry with him? Nino was trying . Adrien forced himself to stay calm. But quiet. 

'Adrien, talk to me.' 

Nino sat down next to Adrien on the warm ground, frowned, then took off his cap. Adrien turned to stare down at the floor, not wanting to reply. How could he begin to speak? He still wasn't sure if he even wanted Nino there, and he still felt somewhat angry. He wasn't OK, wasn't that obvious? He wasn't ok, and he didn't think that he would be. Maybe in the future, but not now.

‘Look dude, I’m sorry, I just didn’t know what to do…’

The blue of sadness turned to red. Pure, dark, angry red. It fogged his thoughts into an incoherent mess, muddled, broken, completely blurred. Adrien jerked up his head in a flash. Without a moment's hesitation, he slapped Nino. A hard, head-turning slap right across the face which created a faint red blotch instead of the usual brown skin that Nino had. His skin wasHis arm was raised, stricken. He dropped it to his side and opened his mouth to yell at Nino. Nino looked back at Adrien in complete shock. Screaming with rage, Adrien yelled into Nino’s face.

‘Didn’t know what to do my ass! Just go!’

Hurt spreading all across his face, Nino touched his now throbbing cheek and stood up, slumping his shoulders, staring glumly at the floor. Adrien blinked twice, and a small gasp left his lips. The fog cleared, and Adrien realised his mistake. He hurt his friend. Adrien scrambled up from the floor. Mon dieu, he hurt Nino, when he was trying to help him. Adrien couldn’t believe it. He used violence against his best friend. Adrien’s hands went to cover his mouth in horror. ‘Oh god Nino, I’m so sorry…’

Nino’s face cleared into a dull nothingness. Only his eyes held an emotion. The emotion of feeling betrayal. They stood there for sometime, standing still, Adrien’s hand now outstretched towards Nino, begging for Nino to take it. Seconds passed. Then,  Nino pushed Adrien’s hand away, his face having the same blank look. As Nino spoke, his voice was empty of any warmth. ‘You’re a hypocrite Agreste,’ Nino finally said, staring at the confused, hurt eyes of Adrien. 

‘You're just like your father.’

With that, Nino walked away. A deafening silence met Adrien. He froze solid, his legs buckling to the ground. He dug his nails into the thighs  of his trousered legs. It was over. His… his first real friendship was over. He ruined it. He fucked up, he fucked up so badly . He was his father. He was his father. This was all his fault, all his fault. Nino didn’t have to say it, but Nino hated Adrien now. The guy who loved everyone, the guy who was so chill and calm, hated Adrien. His tone, his eyes… Adrien stood up and ran to the nearest trees and slumped down. This was too much, too much, far too much. He couldn’t stand it anymore. He hated being his person, so vulnerable , and so angry all the goddamn time. Tears poured out of his eyes and rolled onto his hands. 

She was a liar. He betrayed him. He was alone. 

Adrien didn’t see the black butterfly advancing towards him until it was too late.  

Notes: Thanks to @GachaStar for helping me add to this chapter, and for being an amazing friend and alpha!

Chapter 2: King (Queen) of Mean

Notes:

I may have been inspired by Doki Doki Precure to write the beginning of this chapter, but we don’t talk about that! 

Dark.

Everywhere was dark. No matter how hard Adrien tried to focus his eyes and see anything else and the hazy glowing outlines of his body floating in a chasm of nightmares, nothing else appeared. Only him and his body were suspended in some weird place. Jolts of unbearable pain whizzed around in his chest, and as Adrien looked down at his body, he tried to suppress his screams. A black, skin tight, shimmering jumpsuit seemed to act as a second layer of skin, as it covered his body from the tips of his fingers all the way to the toes on his feet. All that was irrelevant though. Dark, pulsing indigo veins traveled all across his jumpsuit, forcing themselves to one location only, the akuma shaped hole of where his heart should have resided. Luminescent mist seemed to trace the edges of said hole, and Adrien’s hand went to cover his mouth in disgust and shock. 

‘What the hell?’

The creepiest thing about this whole situation was that even when he had questioned his very existence in this place in his head, his voice echoed all around the infinite darkness that was overwhelming him. 

‘Ah, Adrien, or should I say Chat Noir . So lovely of you to join me.’

The dim light in the distance soon grew bright as a blurry individual advanced towards Adrien. As the figure neared, the mask shrouding his face clearly defined the person that he truly was.

Adrien felt bile rise to his throat as he stared down at the man he grew to hate. 

‘Hawk Moth,’ Adrien spat out with disgust. 

‘So it wasn’t enough to send akumas out at ungodly hours of the night and terrorise the whole of Paris, but you also had to go after one of us personally.’ Adrien readied his body in a fight or flight stance. ‘Well, good luck trying to akumatize me , I’m not going to do any of your sick bidding, no matter what reason you give me! I’ll always be there to save Paris!’

Adrien tried to walk away, just like Hawk Moth had done, but this time, he couldn’t move at all. 

‘Putain de merde?!’

Hawk Moth tittered disapprovingly, and with a click of his fingers, ropes bound Adrien’s legs and arms, trapping him in a cocoon, which gave him the impression of a certain yellow Shōta Aizawa.

A malevolent smirk outlined the features of Hawk Moth’s face as Adrien began to struggle, trying to break free. But it was no good, the silvery strands bounding him seemed to have been made of an unbreakable substance.

Beads of sweat trickled down the sides of Adrien’s forehead as Hawk Moth strided forward, and lifted up Adrien’s chin. The cool fabric of his gloves sent chills down Adrien’s spine, but the emotions trapped inside the voidless eyes of Hawk Moth confused him. Why did Hawk Moth seem sad?

‘Now son, what did I say about swearing?’

Adrien’s blood ran cold as his eyes widened trying to comprehend what Hawk Moth was implying.

Gone were the emotions of sympathy. Only betrayal rang through his ears.

Adrien opened his mouth but no sound came out, not even a squeak or a whimper. Adrien shook his head at the utter audacity of it all.

Luke Skywalker anyone?

Adrien didn’t know what to feel. How could his father end up being the one who he was destined to fight? How could his father be the cause of so many deaths? Sure, ‘miraculous ladybug’ was a thing, but still! How could he?! And trapping him like this? Akumatizing him by the heart…?

Hawk Moth sighed as he clicked his tongue, releasing Adrien, moving him to a sitting position. Hawk Moth slumped down in front of him and looked deeply into his son’s emerald orbs. An unreadable emotion painted them, and Adrien felt himself holding back his anger.

Hawk Moth opened his mouth to speak.

‘This place is your mind Adrien. The very place where we can retrieve the power we need to bring back your mother. Just say, ‘Yes Hawk Moth’, then all this pain will finally be over.’

Adrien looked at his father incredulously. His mother? What kind of sick mind game was this? 

‘I know this is hard Adrien. But you miss her. I miss her. I know the both of us need her back. We both love her so much. Can’t you do this for her?’

The volcano bubbling inside Adrien erupted as he pushed Hawk Moth’s outstretched hand away. With much difficulty, Adrien stood up, and his heart burned again. The darkness was spreading, and Adrien was beginning to lose control. 

‘Don’t you dare bring mother into this Father! She’s dead! She’s gone! Don’t you understand? You can’t bring back people from the dead with the miraculous wish!’

Hawk Moth’s expression became unreadable, which only further aggravated the teen.

‘How can you say this is all for her, huh? How can you drag her name into your own mess? The mess that killed so many people, including your own son?!’

Adrien began to breathe heavily, and with all the force he could muster, he screamed,

‘Would mother even want to come home to a monster like you?!’

It became so silent that you could hear a pin drop.

Anger contorted Hawk Moth’s face as he grew rigid, but then an overwhelming sadness and regret replaced it as Gabriel uttered ‘Dark Wings Fall.’ 

Sitting on his knees, Gabriel gestured to Adrien to do the same, and Adrien reluctantly sat down, crossed his legs and arms, and dared the man to open his mouth.

‘Speak.’

Truth be told, Adrien was quite baffled at this sudden change in attitude and atmosphere, but considering that Gabriel was now defenceless, and was actually cooperating, Adrien had no problem with hearing him out. 

‘I’m sorry Adrien, my dear son,’ Gabriel started hesitantly, his voice soft. Adrien raised his eyebrows. Dear son? Ha, like his past behaviour could count as loving his ‘dear son.’ Did he honestly forget why they were in this mess in the first place? But if Gabriel wanted to believe that, Adrien would just let him.

He was just tired at this point. 

‘I know it’s my mess. But you have to understand, that’s why I’m doing this for her. I want to fix it.’

The angered teen in front of Gabriel faltered slightly. Gabriel took a deep breath. He knew that he had fractured the relationship with his son to the point that glue wouldn’t do anything, but if he could get Adrien to just listen, maybe they could use cement to fix and bring them together. 

Maybe . 

‘I have to live with the guilt that I pushed my wife over the edge every day. I have to live with the fact, every day, that I pushed her to use the peacock miraculous-’

Adrien looked up sharply. 

‘What do you mean? What does the peacock have anything to do with this? Father, what did you do?! ’

Gabriel looked at Adrien, taken aback by the harsh, accusing tones of his son. Running his hand through his freshly coiffed hair, Gabriel shuddered, water glittering over his eyes. Recalling everything, all the words he had been holding back all these years came out in a rush. 

‘We heard of the miraculi in Tibet. We heard of a spell that could be unlocked by the use of the peacock and butterfly, which would grant us the power to have a child.’

Adrien’s lip trembled slightly.

‘A child?’

Gabriel rested his hand upon Adrien’s shoulder, the pain in Adrien’s voice taking him aback. Attempting to assure Adrien, Gabriel said,

‘Yes Adrien, a child. But dear god, don’t think that this is your fault. It’s not.’

Adrien let go a breath he didn’t realise he was holding as Gabriel continued.

‘Emélie and her sister, Ámelie, were both infertile. But this power… it could heal them. It could grant them the power to have children, something that they both desperately wanted.’

`We found the miraculi. We found the book. Emélie, bless her soul, wanted us to try the power on her first.’

‘And..?’

‘And it worked. It took us a year, but we were blessed with two beautiful sons.’

Adrien froze. 

‘...Two?’

Gabriel nodded in affirmation.

‘Two,’ he responded. ‘One of the twins was called Félix, while the other…’

Gabriel softly smiled at Adrien. 

‘Was you.’

Gabriel looked shocked as Adrien began to grin widely, then started to laugh hysterically. 

‘Oh my god!’ Adrien wheezed. 

‘Felix, is my twin? My brother!? We’re the pea-tterfly twins! That explains so much…’

Adrien held his stomach and laughed and laughed and laughed. Gabriel frowned, but as his lip started to curl and he realised how funny the situation was, he joined in the melodic harmony. The laughter soon came to a screeching halt as Adrien calmed down first and asked,

‘But Father, what happened next?’

Gabriel calmed down as well, and looked down. 

‘When Ámelie found out that we suddenly had twins, she was elated, yet downtrodden. How could her infertile sister suddenly have one child, let alone twins?’

‘Emélie’s heart broke for Ámelie. She decided that the older of the twins, Félix, could be adopted in her sister’s family. Originally I was against it, but Ámelie has her way around these things.’

Gabriel let out a hollow chuckle. 

‘Félix Agreste was now Félix Graham De Vanily. We now had one son through legal means. They went off to England, while we stayed here in Paris. Years went by. Emélie started to tinker with the miraculous, testing out what she could do with each of them, and her health started to decline. She was bent on having more children.’

Gabriel took a deep, long suffering breath. 

‘So was I.’

‘When Emélie found out that she would likely be cursed through the means of artificially creating a child again, she wanted to stop. But I pushed her. She began to cough up blood, and dizzy spells overwhelmed her. You might remember  this Adrien.’

Adrien nodded grimly. 

‘I didn’t care. That was my mistake. We had never realised that the Peacock was damaged, but when we did, it was far too late.’

‘Emélie fell into a deep coma.’

‘I was so scared and ashamed of myself. Had I not pushed her to the limit, then Emélie would still be here, living her best life. But she’s stuck at the bottom of a cold chamber, hovering  between life and death.’

‘You know where she is, Father?’

Gabriel gave a slight nod.

‘After long hours into the night, I finally realised that I could use the Ladybug and Cat miraculous to bring her back. After a couple of months, I opened up the miraculous, the butterfly, that I had hidden away, and confirmed my suspicions with my kwami, Nooroo.’

‘You know the rest.’

Adrien was rendered speechless. 

Gabriel straightened his posture and determination crossed his face. ‘I want to fix the mistake I made. I want you and Emélie to be  happy. Even if it means I’m not there with the both of you, I want to give you, the people I dearly love, to live. That’s why I need your help Adrien. Will you do it? I’ll do anything to bring her back.’

Adrien looked at Gabriel, then looked down at his hands. The burning had finally stopped. It was as if he was embracing the darkness. 

‘I-I need some time to process.’ Adrien said with an air of finality. ‘I can’t really trust you Father, not after what you did to hurt me. And Mother. And it’s not like I already got my heart stomped all over. I mean, that’s pretty much why I got akumatized. But if it will bring ma mére back, if it means that she’ll be happy, then… I’ll do it. It’s not like I have anything to really live for anymore. I still don’t really know what to think.’

Gabriel reached out to Adrien and buried his head on his son’s shoulder. 

‘I’m sorry for the pain I caused you. I’m sorry that it had to turn out like this. But son, thank you so, so much. I love you Adrien Agreste, don’t you ever forget that.’

Adrien lifted his hands to hug Gabriel back, tears pouring down his face. The words that he had always wanted to hear were finally said. He couldn’t forgive his Father, but he finally understood him. And that was worth all the while. They stayed like that for seconds that seemed like days, unsaid words being spoken between them. 

‘Thank you Adrien. I love you,’ Gabriel said, his voice thick.

‘I love you too Father…’

Gabriel pulled back, his eyes teary, but his face smiling. 

‘Make me proud, Chat Blanc.’

And with a soft pop , Gabriel vanished.

***

Adrien stared at the empty space where his Father had stood just mere seconds before, recalling the events that had taken place, feeling colder than ever before. 

Mon Dieu, how long were they even speaking for? Adrien got serious 'Harry Potter Et les Reliques de la Mort' vibes from just being here, as it seemed like days that he was in this weird limbo place. Adrien looked down upon the ground at his feet, then dragged them towards his chest, hugging them tightly.

Was that overwhelming guilt really the only reason responsible for Adrien not getting his chance at having a father? Was that honestly why Gabriel pushed Adrien so far away, not wanting for him to get hurt anymore?

If that truly was the case, then that would explain everything that Gabriel did to Adrien in the last few years. God, that was messed up on so, so many levels, which was even messier than the remains of Adrien's sanity after all the things that had happened to him in the past couple of hours. 

The confession of Marinette’s betrayal rang fresh through his ears. The tears of his father brought some kind of misplaced sense of warmth to Adrien’s heart. The hurt on Nino’s face flashed across his mind. Adrien closed his eyes and breathed deeply, burying his head in his knees.

‘I'm... I'm so tired of pretending, ’ Adrien softly whispered to the void empty space. 'Where's my happy ending? I followed all the rules, I drew inside the lines, I never asked for anything that wasn't mine...’

Adrien had done so much. He knew that he was never capable of retrieving his happily ever after, but now that he was about to risk his whole life for the sake of his mother's, this was getting too much to bear. What about him? Adrien knew that he should be grateful for his mother's sake, but was throwing his chance away to be a normal teenager really a sacrifice that he should have been forced to make?

It sounded narcissistic, sure, but wasn't Adrien Paris' golden boy? Wasn't he the person so many people looked up to and admired? If so, then why wasn't he allowed a chance at happiness? He never asked to be famous, he never asked to be rich, but he certainly played this part in his games. Were all of Adrien's sacrifices just made in vain? 

I waited patiently for my time, but when it finally came, she called his name

Adrien grimaced, energy beginning to crackle around him as he stretched out his body posture and stood up. Resentment and bitterness boiled in Adrien's nervous system as he kicked at an imaginary rock.

It just wasn't fair! It wasn't fair at all! Adrien was notorious for truly knowing the fact that life wasn’t fair, but it certainly did not help tame his anger.

Ladybug and Marinette, the two girls who made so, so many mistakes were forgiven so goddamn easily, just because they were only ‘teenagers’ who didn't have the brain of a rational adult. 

Guess Paris didn’t know but their sweet saviour was a dirty little cheater, liar and stalker did they?

They couldn't even talk it out like normal people could they? Just, 'Hey Adrien, we have to break-up because my mental wellbeing is shite.’ 

And when Adrien confronted her, she just had to make a big scene, running off crying with crocodile tears. Adrien just wanted to vomit and yell obscenities whenever he had the mere thought of his bugaboo. 

Dieu, what kind of name was that anyway? What the hell was Adrien thinking? 

Disgusting.

He had waited so patiently and bended so far for Marinette, but as soon as the whole debacle with his father happened, he felt as though he was snapping beyond repair. 

Of course the time when Adrien didn’t have to wait for his father to say ‘I love you' to his son was when he was unmasked to be a fucking supervillain. 

Now I feel this overwhelming pain, I mean it's in my veins, I mean it's in my brain

Adrien gripped his hair in agony, knives slicing through his skin as his eyes glimmered into a fiery gold, before flashing back to it's usual green. The pain Adrien had felt throughout all the years kicked him in one go, and he was barely left standing. 

The tears. 

The verbal berating. 

The betrayal.

Everything that he had ever been through flushed across his eyes, and Adrier felt as though Death was approaching by the way his veins froze up, maximising all his hurt, chucking it into his brain.

My thoughts are running in a circle like a toy train

Adrien hated this feeling of weakness. He hated it so freaking much. Adrien couldn’t even think coherently anymore, dark clouds obscuring his better judgement .

Betrayal.

Anger. 

Loneliness. 

BetrayalAngerLonelinesBetrayaAngerLoneliness-

BETRAYALANGERLONELINESS-

I'm kinda like a picture with a broken frame

Suddenly, the pain subsided, and everything became clear. 

Crystal Clear. 

While Adrien had been a hypocrite before by bad mouthing his father even after agreeing to the dark side, he realised that his father was right about one thing. 

This was for his mother.

No matter how confused his thoughts were in an incoherent mess, that single fact rang clear throughout the sea of stormy voices. He needed to save his mother, no matter how broken or shattered his once perfect facade was, he wanted to save her. She deserved to live, to breathe, to be happy!

Adrien would do everything to bring her back. 

I know exactly who to blame

Adrien felt his skin prickle as its mystical glow slowly lifted him into the blue air, power whirling through his hair. A nasty smirk lifted his frowning lips as he realised what the only thing was standing in his way. The goddamn stupid miraculous. The mere thing which had the power to tear his family apart. He didn't care that the only reason why he was still living on the planet was because of them- he couldn't have cared less about that. His mother would never have fallen into a deep coma, his father would never have stained his soul by creating akumas, and Marinette, the girl who he still fucking cared about even though he wanted to see her bleed, wouldn't of had a way to break his heart. Those stupid, stupid miraculous!

I never thought of myself as mean

Adrien never thought that he was mean. He wasn't perfect, but at least he thought he was doing something right. Unfortunately, he was mistaken.

I always thought that I'd be the King

Adrien didn't care that he had just turned his back on countless civilians. Adrien didn't care that he was accepting to be evil. If the world, which wasn't as black and white as he originally thought, shunned and belittled him just for being himself, then what better way was there to receive what he deserved then by changing? Everyone deserved what they deserved , right?

Then Adrien deserved to be happy and have a complete family

And there's no inbetween

And the truth was, well, there was no middle ground between having a shitty life and one built on happiness. Hardship was a common factor in all healthy lives, but couldn’t anyone give him the break he deserved? 

'Cause if I can't have that

If Adrien couldn't be happy, if he couldn't have a normal family, if he couldn't have love...

Then I would be the Leader of the dark and the bad 

Then Adrien would take matters into his own hands and take what he deserved.

Now there's a devil on my shoulder where the angels used to be

Was this the raw, powerful unger that people faced once controlled by the akuma? Was this the overwhelming urge to to get merciless revenge coursing through his veins? Was this the feeling of embracing the devils which replaced the angles on his shoulders ?

And he's calling me the king

If so, Adrien relished it. 

***

A blinding light shook Adrien to the core, and he was lifted higher and higher until everything faded to black. His eyes flickered back to consciousness as he stood up, purple crackling energy illuminating the silvery white leather of his costume and as power soared through his once weak body. Cackles entered the air as Chat Blanc took off into the stormy grey sky, his dark magenta eyes glaring fiercely.

***

Taking advantage of the thick amount of trees camouflaging his vast size, a large figure loomed over the black and green ring glowing faintly in the array of grass. Picking it up with care, he eyed it carefully, then looked up to the heavens and mumbled a silent prayer.

‘God, if you really do exist, please save the world from the powerful beings that are known as hormonal teenagers.’

***

Being nice was my pastime, but I've been hurt for the last time

Chat Blanc was merciless. The desperate, frightened screams of Parisians succumbing to his deadly cataclysm did not crack Chat Blanc's clouded judgement, and he felt no sympathy to those whose lives were cut short due to it. His sole goal was to cause mayhem, which would lure the so-called ‘Héroes de Paris’ to their impending doom. 

That is of course, if Ladybug didn’t have the guts to take him on herself. Chat Blanc moved along to hop across the rooftops, feeling slightly bored. The crumbling of buildings and alarmed cries were so underwhelming and Chat Blanc was desperate for the taste of blood. How could he have ever been one of them?  A total fake?

‘But no longer,’ Chat Blanc thought as he settled upon the Bridge Seine, flicking a small destructive ball at André’s retreating ice cream van dazedly. He watched as it exploded. André sent a look at Chat Blanc which was reminiscent of a kick puppy’s face. Chat Blance glared back. 

No longer would he be the saviour of Paris. No longer would he be the teenage sunshine, allowing insults, berating and betrayal poison his life with a smile upon his face. No longer would he need to feel pain, anger, anguish and the need to drag a blade over his fragile skin. No longer would he allow his father to send out akumas, no, Chat Blanc would be the very last akuma sent by him, and he would get the job done, no matter the personal cost. 

And I won't ever let another person take advantage of me. 

The rushing wind stung Chat Blanc's face as he began to inspect his long, knife like claws, having destroyed half the bridge already. Chat Blanc began to pace along the railing, muttering darkly, his masked face contorting in anger. 

So it wasn't enough that the ‘Lady of Luck’ herself hadn’t shown her face yet, but the Parisians kept on crying for her, begging to be rescued by their ‘only’ saviour. Tch. Did Chat Noir honestly mean nothing to them? Obviously not! They were relying on Ladybug, the same person who used her ex-boyfriend like a goddamn toy. 

Honestly, didn’t their love for one another mean nothing to Marinette? Was he just another pawn in her games? 

Oh, and while Chat Blanc was thinking about girls who him, what about Chloe? The blonde haired brat? Sucking up to Ladybug as if she was the only hero that she could look up to? Chat Blanc scrunched up his nose in disgust. How could his so-called best friend abandon him like that? Spending more time with Sabrina than him? They were childhood best friends, attached at the hip! Yet she didn't even notice that his world was slowly crumbling down. And the thing that pissed him off the most? 

How the hell did she become the hero while he became the villain?

And Lila. Chat Blanc had no vocabulary in his extensive dictionary to describe the boiling disdain he had for the sausage haired Italian freak. She lied, she manipulated, she threatened, and she hurt so many people, but as soon as her lies were exposed and she quote on quote ‘apologised’, she automatically received redemption? Chat Blanc rolled his eyes so hard and threw another ball at the water in anger, and watched the mini tsunami. What the hell was his life, ‘My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic?’

So fucking what if she received redemption? Did it change the past just because she got therapy now? No, it fucking did not. Chat Blanc certainly did not give a shit that she was going to a shrink to crocodile cry over her misfortune. Chat Blanc clenched his fists. He was not going to let anyone, including that snake, to take advantage of him. 

No one would ever hurt him ever again .

The anger burns my skin, third-degree

Red. Magenta. Garnet. Whatever you called it. All of them were her colours. The colour of love. The colour of anger. The colour of danger. 

‘Ah Milady! So lovely of you to join me!’ 

Chat Blanc spat out the words in disgust, his rage oozing out of his body in morbid anticipation. Oh how he wanted to see her bleed, the girl who broke his heart. If she did have any blood that is. 

Ladybug carefully walked through the debris and flames, her mouth slightly agape in horror. Chat Blance mirrored her actions, destructive energy flickering boldly at the edges of his clawed finger tips. His hands were thrown out as he sashayed towards her, his mind calculating his next plan. Did Ladybug honestly not come with any back-up? Chat Blanc internally fumed at the fact. This wasn't going to be any fun, he was so looking forward to spilling some blood! 

‘Chat Noir?... Is that really you?!'

Dirt caked the cheeks on his Lady's face, tears forming at the edges of her piercing bluebell eyes. Fuck it, why the hell was she crying? How dare she look so pitiful, the strands of her midnight black hair wetting, her lip quivering, her whole body language the epitome of shaking? Chat Bkanc’s malevolent smirk changed into a vile snarl.

‘Yes, it is my lady. Now give me your miraculous!’ 

Ladybug took an unstable step back, her eyes widening. 

'Chat I know you don't mean that . . . this isn't you! What has Hawkmoth done to you?!’ 

Chat narrowed his eyes into slits, his destructive energy maximising in blind rage. He glanced at Ladybug, his hands shaking in fury. 

'How DARE you!’ Chat Blanc yelled out, taking them both by surprise at his outburst. Chat breathed deeply. Ladybug flinched as Chat stared at her, locking eyes, not dropping eye contact for a single second. Ladybug stood still while Chat Blanc advanced forward until he was a mere one metre away from her. He lowered his voice. 

'How dare you,’ he whispered with more menace. 

Now my blood's boiling hotter than a fiery sea

Chat Blanc pointed a sharp claw into Ladybug’s face. 

‘You are the reason I am like this,’ Chat Blanc stated in an even tone. ‘You are the reason why Hawkmoth made me like this.’

Chat Blanc bared his teeth.

‘And you are the one I will destroy!’

Chat Blanc lunged at Ladybug, only for a yoyo to latch onto him from behind. The vision of Ladybug vanished, as he gritted his teeth. He slashed the yo-yo bouding his leg with a considerable force, and watched in fascination as it crumbled into dust. Chat Blanc whipped around, meeting the faces of a shocked Rena Rouge and an equally scared Ladybug, who was looking at her now empty hands in panic.

‘So ...’ Chat Blanc began , rage erupting from his mouth. ‘You think it's goddamn funny to watch me fail over and over again, right?!’ Chat Blanc stepped closer to Rena Rouge and Ladybug, who were around 10 metres away.  Chat Blanc screamed. ‘I'm just goddamn toy you can fuck around with whenever the hell you want to, aren't I?!’

Ladybug started to run towards Chat. 'Chat, you know it's not like that!' Ladybug's voice broke. ‘Please, just tell me where the akuma is!’ she cried, desperation evident in her voice. Rena Rouge grabbed Ladybug's arm pulling her away as Chat threw back his head. A hollow laugh wracked fear into bodies of Ladybug and Rena, making them freeze in their tracks. Chat smirked, playfulness dripping in his tone. ‘Good Luck with that M'lady! You know I can't tell you that!’

There’s nobody getting close to me

'Blanc, it doesn't even matter if you can't tell us, as we already know where it is! Ladybug gave us a rundown of a future she saw, and the akuma is so obviously in your bell!’ 

A thud entered Chat Blanc's ears as he was met with a smiling Queen Bee, her venom ready to be administered. This did not daunt him however, because unlike Queen Bee, Chat had a plan.

Chat Blanc kicked at Queen Bee’s stomach, sending her flying while simultaneously landing a fist across Rena Rouge's face, making her fall. Her necklace began to beep at two minutes. Chat Blanc jumped elegantly back onto the railing wracking in silent laughter. 

They're gonna bow to the evil King

‘Are you guys really that stupid? Do you think that my akuma, which I graciously accepted, would be hiding its sorry ass in my bell? Really?’

Chat Blanc paced along the railing, watching as Rena Rouge and Queen Bee stood up with great difficulty. Chat crossed his arms, noticing how their faces paled, yet they still gripped their weapons forcefully. Neither showed any signs of faltering as Chat Blanc cocked his head over to the side. ‘Good Luck with that I suppose.’

Chat Noir laid a questioning claw onto his chin, realisation dawning. ‘You guys were always pawns in Ladybug’s games after all. I'm not surprised that she led you to believe such a lie. But I digress,’ Chat’s hand began to glow. ‘Pawn's were made to be destroyed , hmm? So, why don't I just… kill you?’

Your nightmare's my dream

‘I'm pretty sure that we're not chess pieces, Chat Blanc. And why are you so bent on killing us? I don't blame you for missing your cat nap, but sheesh dude.’ 

A cocky tone filled the air as a flash of green enveloped the heroes into a tight ball, and Carapace looked at Chat Blanc smugly.

The self-satisfaction wiped clean of his face as Chat destroyed the bubble with ease.

‘Carapace,’ Chat said, grinning in glee. Chat looked at Carapace, then began to twirl his tail in boredom. ‘Oh, I didn't miss out on my catnap. But I am sure of winning. You know why?'

Just wait until they fall to my wicked schemes

‘Because if you want to get the akuma, you'll have to stab me in the heart!’

Chat Blanc giggled madly as he watched the heroes faces, fall, colour draining away. Priceless, absolutely priceless!

‘Meet me at the Eiffel Tower~!’

I never thought of myself as mean

Chat Blanc dashed away at an inhuman speed, an unhinged, manic smile curling his lips. Who knew being a villain was this much fun ?

I always thought that I'd be the king

The gaping expressions that his former teammates gave Chat Blanc a sense of joy he hadn't felt in years. Damn, it felt great! Though ... he did always think that he'd be fighting alongside the heroes when they were eventually faced with Hawkmoth, not against them. Chat Blanc felt sour as he neared the Eiffel Tower. 

And there's no in between!

On the other hand, he never did know about his mother. 

‘Cause if I can't have that

If Adrien had known about Emelie beforehand, then he would've helped, but in a non-violent way. Morals always stood in the way of Adrien Agreste. 

Then I will be the leader of the dark and the bad

But Chat Blanc was the moral-free Advien Agreste, fueled by anger and revenge. He would do anything to bring his mother back, even if it meant that someone had to die. 

Now there's a devil on my shoulder where the angles used to be

Chat Blanc's spirits lifted up as he saw a figure brandishing a staff. The silver linings of his mask stood out against the vibrant colour of the Eiffel Tower, as he leaned on one of the metal bars. Chat Blanc blinked at him as they made eye contact. 

And he's calling the King of Mean

They shook hands.

‘Ready Chat Blanc?’

The King of Mean

Chat Blanc grinned at Hawkmoth.

‘As I'll ever be.’

The King of Mean

‘Chat Noir. Hawkmoth.’ 

Chat Blanc readied his baton as Hawkmoth straightened his staff, glaring at the 4 figures in front of them. 

It was time to fight.

***

The fight was long.Even though Hawkmoth and Chat were both experienced fighters, they were fighting 4 against 2, which was admittedly annoying. Chat Blanc had long since been separated from his father. The damn bug had hidden herself, as she had to detransform . Despite this minor setback, Chat Blanc was hot on her trail.

Something's pulling me, it's so magnetic, my body is moving, unsure where I'm headed

Suddenly he saw her.

Ladybug.

And her earrings were still beeping. This was easier than he thought! Chat pounced on the unaware Ladybug.

All of my senses have left me defenceless

'Ladybug,’ Chat Blanc whispered, licking his lips in morbid anticipation as he realised how dese he was to retrieve what he wanted from the girl below him.

This darkness around me is promising vengeance

‘Chat Noir, please, I'm begging you, don't do this!’ 

The alarm in Ladybug's voice made Chat Blanc pause, but only for a split second. Dammit, why was she so...

Ladybug reached down to grab her yo-yo, only to be met with a hand clawing her neck, and her yo-yo being thrown away, forgotten. 

The price that I'm willing to pay is expensive

‘Now… be a good little bug as I just take these off, hmm?’

Chat Blanc tilted his head and hummed, moving his claws away from her neck while he reached towards her ears. 

The price that I'm willing to pay is expensive, there’s nothing to lose when your lonely and friendless 

Ladybug let out a defeated whimper as she stopped struggling under his grasp, seeming to give up. She looked at Chat, her eyes dead of all emotion. Chat blinked in surprise.

‘Huh,’ Chat muttered under his breath. ‘Guess breaking someone’s heart goes two ways…’

So my only interest is showing this princess

Chat hardened his gaze as he began to pull carefully at the butterfly of Ladybug's right earning. Pink light glowed faintly at the edges of her costume as Chat Blanc felt a pang of joy. Triumph whizzed in his body. 

That I am the king and my reign will be endless!

He was so close! Just one more ...

Without warning, an odd, heavy weight shook Chat Blanc to the core as he was thrown back, dropping the earring in the process. He rubbed his slightly throbbing head , and he sat up. And there, helping Ladybug up, (well Marinette) was a tall figure, yet she was still slightly smaller than himself. An intricate lilac mask was placed upon her frowning face, and her brunette hair was swept into a flowing plait. A long trench-like coat covered her lean body, and pearly white gloves decorated her hands. As her shiny boots glittered in the light of the sunset, Chat Blanc widened his eyes in terror.

I want what I deserve

Chat Blanc stumbled up and ran before whoever that person was, could catch him. Where was his father?! No, no, no, no, NO!

I want to rule the world

That person , whoever the hell she was, had the miraculous. The butterfly miraculous! Chat raced across the Eiffel Tower, sensing fear in his foggy consciousness for the first time in hours. His father could be anywhere!

Chat couldn't do this without him! Pain shot through Chat’s chest as his heart constricted. This couldn't be happening!

Sit back and watch them learn, it's finally my turn

Chat Blanc yelled out for his father. ‘Père! Père! Where are you?!’

How dare they steal his father away! How dare she, whoever the hell that person was, take his father's miraculous? He was so close to his happy ending, but they just had to take the opportunity away from him, when it was finally his turn, didn't they?! Was he not allowed to be happy for once? Once?

If they want a villain for a king

Chat Blanc ran on one of the massive metal beams and then saw the person who he was looking for. Sitting dangerously close to the edge was his father, tied up in a rope. Chat Blanc let out a choked sob as he ran towards his father. 

‘Mon Dieu, Père!'

Chub Blanc untied the rope with a swift grace, and once they were a safe distance away from the ledge, he flung his arms around his father in a tight embrace. How could they have left Gabriel up there, all alone?

‘Don't worry son, I'm still here…’

The sound of his father's broken voice made Chat cry harder. He was going to make that knock off pay, mark his words. 

I'm gonna be like one they’ve never seen

Down below, Chat Blame saw a blue figure attacking three smaller figures, and Chat Blanc couldn't help but laugh. Mayura was smart, creating a sentimonster of herself to fight the rest of the team. Gabriel shared a small, contented smile with his son. 

‘You've seen her too, right?’

Chat gave a watery replica of a smile back at his father. They pulled apart, only to be met with Ladybug and Purple Girl, who pulled a sword out of her staff. 

What?

Chat and Gabriel stepped forward. 

I’ll show them what it means

‘So, I guess you found me out, Miss Bug,’ Gabriel sneered, glaring at the girl using his miraculous. Ladybug looked uneasy around Purple, but Purple shot a reassuring smile at Ladybug, indicating to at least trust each other. Ladybug smiled a bit, then turned her attention to Gabriel. Ladybug sneered back, bitterness laced in her voice. 

'Indeed, Gabriel. I’m honestly surprised that I ever looked up to scum like you!’

Gabriel and Chat Blanc looked at each other, then back at the two heroines. They charged, the final fight starting. 

Now that I am that

Fighting alongside his father without the latter having weapons was proving to be a feat, but being known as the father of a champion fencer did include its quirks, such as knowing  how to fight. With a broomstick. Why there was a broom on the Eiffel Tower was a mystery, but Chat and Gabriel weren’t daunted by that fact. 

I’ll be the leader of the dark and the bad

Until Chat Blanc saw his father gripping onto the railing, red liquid oozing out of his shoulder. Purple Girl inspected her sword, which was glistening with the same ruby red substance. Chat Blanc's blood froze as it truly sunk in that his father needed a hospital now. Ladybug had been chasing after Chat Blanc, dodging all the flying debris he had been sending her way, but she too slammed a hand over her mouth in gaping horror at the sight. But of course, she wasn't the one to make the first move. 

Now that there's a devil on my shoulder where the angels used to be 

Chat Blanc sprinted towards his father, his chest heaving in and out. His footsteps barely made any sound as he changed from one foot to another in an orderly quick fashion, desperate to reach his father on time. He had to reach him on time. Chat Blanc sighed heavily in relief as he landed next to his father, much to the surprise of Purple.

‘Oh my god father, what happened? Quick, we need an ambulance! Or anything, anything!’

Gabriel held his shoulder in agony, but managed to press a reassuring hand onto his son's shoulder, who was clinging on to him again. Gabriel chuckled.

‘I'm fine Chat Blanc, I'm completely fine. This is the third time you’ve clung to me today, you know that right?’ 

Chat Blanc bit his lip. Gabriel hardened his gaze as determination crossed his face .

‘Now, we need to get miraculous, right?’

And he's calling me the king of mean

Chat Blanc tensed up, realisation dawning. The miraculous. The wish. Oh, how could he have forgotten? Chat Blanc slowly removed himself from Gabriel, and let out an animalistic cry, the tips of his white clad ears twitching, his bleached snowy hair glimmering in the light. Chat Blanc fangs bared in anticipation, and anger, pure anger, flashed across his eyes. 

Chat Blanc was back. 

‘I’ll fucking kill you bitch!' 

The King of Mean

The next few moments happened in a blur. Chat Blare lunged at the lilac-covered ‘hero’, while she blocked him, calculating his every move. They engaged in hand to hand combat for a short while before switching up to fighting with their respected weapons. Grunts, shouts and clanging filled the air as the fighting grew more intense and desperate. Neither of them truly knew what their goal was at this point, but they both had their eyes on one objective.

Destroy.

Chat Blanc stopped attacking for a few seconds, a feral grin spreading across his face. A low growl entered the cacophony of heavy breathing.

‘Let's make this more… interesting, shall we?’

Dark, crackling pulsing luminescent energy erupted from Chat’s glowing, deadly fingers and Purple gritted her teeth, her sword glimmering, reflecting the dangerous outlines of  Chat’s face. Chat Blanc was not messing around and as Purple stiffened her body into a fighting stance she showed that she wasn’t messing around either. They charged at each other, rearing their deadly weapons ready to defeat the other at full force. Chat Blanc pulled his fist back. He was going to-

Everything stopped at Chat Blanc staggered back, blood pouring out from where his heart was. As a butterfly fluttered out of his body Adrien felt weak and faint as he gripped his chest in agony, falling to his knees. Blood, there was so much blood...

A cry could be heard as Adrien looked up just in time to see a tall figure stumble over the ledge. 

His father was falling down the Eiffel Tower. 

Adrien pulled himself up, pain staining him red just a slight inconvenience. Adrien jumped over the edge, desperate and hoping he could just grab onto anything, anything , before he lost consciousness The rushing air all around him stung Adrien's face as tears rolled down his cheek, unaware of his father’s desperate shouts of alarm and dismay. Adrien whispered to the deafening sound of wind. 

‘I’m sorry father.’

I want what I deserve!

Everything faded to black.

Chapter  3: Make You Proud (Reprise)

His head was pounding, his mind was racing. It was a battle against time and he was losing. Blood poured out of his chest but it was his father who was losing his life. He clamoured over the edge and fell, wishing that the Kwami of the Black Cat was there to help him, but the ring had been lost in the utter chaos. He was free falling, desperate to grab onto his father, who gave panicked shouts below him. Adrien couldn't breathe. He couldn't breathe. The pain was unbearable. Was Adrien going to die today? Correction, he was dying. Adrien watched as his life flashed before his eyes. Spots of black and white obscured his vision as his head lolled over to the side. He felt the last bits of life flowing out of his body. He had failed, everything hurt, everything hurt, this was too much, too, too much…

The beeping of a machine quickened, growing louder and louder at each passing second. Adrien woke up gasping for air, sweat trickling down his forehead. Everything was blurred together in a colourful mess. Adrien tried to focus his eyes  to the blinding lights closing in on him. Blood roared in his ears and he shook his body trying to free himself from his suffocating prison. His body was heavy, stones replacing the soft muscles moving inside of him. It was nearly impossible to move. His head hurt, his neck hurt, everything hurt so much. Pins and needles sliced his skin open, lighting striking through his veins. He distinctly heard voices, but Adrien had bigger things to worry about. He was drowning, drowning, drowning…

'Adrien, I need you to breathe with me, ok?'

The soft feminine tones sounded so reassuring, so comforting, that Adrien did a double take. 

'Mother, mother is that you?'

It was his mother. His beautiful, sweet, kind mother. Yet she sounded so far away. Her smiling angelic face glittered in his mind and Adrien grew more and more anxious and he felt her angelic voice slipping away until it was nearly gone. Adrien cried out.

 'Mother, Mother, Mother!' 

'Don't worry Adrien, I'm here now.' 

Adrien whimpered softly as his heart rate began to slow down. It truly was his mother. Her hand clasped over his in a soothing manner, her silky smooth skin brushing over his scared, rough casing. Adrien squeezed his eyes tighter, focused on her hazy outlines. 

'Mother you're here… I missed you so much…' Adrien heaved his arms and tried to clasp the figure of his mother, his arms now light as a feather. Yet all he could feel was air. 

'Why can't I hold you mother?' 

A gasp from the latter's side dawned realisation upon him. Adrien turned his head away from the vision of his mother, truth too painful to be revealed. 

'You're not really here, are you Mother? Adrien accused, a single tear rolling down his cheek. Adrien prepared himself for the fake reassurance and lies but instead of that, Adrien was met with a guilty answer. 

'No, I'm not,' the stranger admitted, her easing touch now losing its comfort. 

Adrien tensed up. How dare this imposter have the nerve to be his mother? 

'But,' the stranger continued, warmth embracing her tone. 'She lives inside of you. Her golden locks of sunshine erupt from your head.' Coolness hugged Adrien's skull. 'Her blood runs through your veins keeping you alive. And your eyes… they're your mother's eyes.' Adrien smiled softly. 'You are a star Adrien, a force to be reckoned with. Your mother may not be here physically, but her spirit lives inside of you. Only you can bring her back.'  

A gentle kiss fluttered on Adrien's hot forehead and he opened his eyes slowly. A blurry feminine figure hovered in front of his eyes, and as they focused Adrien could see that her face was wrinkled with worry, her once thick cerulean hair now thin. Her eyes had dulled considerably, melancholy buried within the depths of them. 

'Nathalie..?'

'Adrien!' 

Taking him by surprise, Nathalie threw her hands around Adrien's lying figure, and started to sob. Adrien patted Nathalie awkwardly on the back, shocked by the reaction that the older female had given him. Nathalie acted as though he hadn't seen her in ages. A horrible sinking feeling came to Adrien as he looked around the room. What awful thing had happened that Adrien wound up in a hospital room? Different machinery that Adrien couldn’t name were cluttered next to his bed, some of which were connected to his arms. Strange blocks were placed all across his brain so even if Adrien tried to reel his mind back, all he could remember was Marinette running. But that memory fel so foreign, so blurry…

‘What happened Nathalie? Why can’t I remember anything?’ 

Nathalie jerked back into her plastic seat, eyes widening. ‘You-you don’t remember?’ Nathalie gaped her mouth in shock while her lip quivered slightly. Hurt, anger, but mainly concern flashed across her face, so much that she looked away. Adrien shook his head in denial, or as much as he could considering his current position on his bed. ‘No,’ Adrien whispered. ‘I can’t. Nathalie, please tell me, what happened? Where’s Father?’ Nathalie twisted her neck around to face Adrien. Her eyes stayed firmly drilled to the ground, while she stood up and straightened her baby blue shirt and askew glasses. Silence befell the small room.  ‘It’s complicated Adrien,’ said Nathalie, giving an echo of a reassuring smile. ‘I’ll go get a nurse, okay? Then we’ll speak.’

Adrien pursed his mouth in disbelief. Adrien was about to retort, but thought better against it. ‘Alright Nathalie,’ Adrien spat out. ‘I’ll be patient. 

Nathalie sighed at Adrien’s tone, then turned her back on him as she walked out, leaving Adrien all alone. 

Adrien groaned as he gripped his hair angrily. He glared at the lights above him, then blinked repetitively as they began to burn. Adrien slowed his breathing and was at a calm. Until he began to freak out. Okay, what the hell happened? First things first, he wakes up in a hospital of all things, which was bad enough, but secondly, Nathalie, the woman who was immune to all emotion, cried! Oh, and let's not forget about how it was too complicated to explain what happened to his father! Adrien, despite his inner hysterics, wanted to cry. Suddenly, Adrien's eyes fell to a tiny table located next to his bed. The table wasn't really a table, rather a small wheeled contraption with a flat surface, but a table was good enough for him. Adrien lifted up the newspaper located next to a cup of something, most likely coffee. Nathalie must have been the source of all these, but Adrien wasn't concerned about that.

No, what Adrien was concerned about was the headlines dating to three weeks ago. Even though Adden couldn't remember anything beforehand, a date was something he definitely could remember. Curious, he began to read it, in hopes to realise what was going on. As Adrien’s eyes scanned over each passing line, his face darkened and he gritted his teeth in anger. Sweat trickled down his forehead by the middle of the article, so once he was at the final words Advien Agreste was fuming. Nathalie, along with a plump, motherly looking blonde walked into the room, only to be met with the sound of a newspaper slamming onto the floor. Adrien was shaking with anger, pointing an accusing finger at the two women. His voice was shaking too, yet his eyes contained the will to kill someone. If looks could kill, they'd both be skeletons by now.

'Nathalie, what the fuck .'

Gabriel Agreste, maintenant connu sous le nom de Hawkmoth, est mort. 

***

Adrien Agreste stood in the darkness of his hospital room, despite the pain searring from under his thin hospital gown. It had taken some difficulty to remove himself from under the blankets, but once he was free, he had never felt so alive before. Two small boxes were clenched in his hands, stolen from Nathalie's unsuspecting handbag. 

8 hours, 30 minutes since he found out that his father was killed . 

Adrien placed the two items onto the cold floor, then plopped down in front of them. He stared at them for a short while, contemplating. This was so fucking ironic.

***

'Yes, it's true Adrien,' the nurse he now knew as Allegra said, eyes darting at every point of the room except for him. 'Gabriel Agreste died 3 weeks ago. There's no point trying to deny it.'

Adrien looked up at her grim features then looked down at his hands, clenching them tightly. A calm fury bubbled inside of him. 'Who did it?' Adrien found himself asking, even though he had already read her godforsaken name black and white print.

Nathalie spoke up next. 'Her name is Libera. Here's a better picture of her. You have the right to know her face.' Adrien glanced over the picture and shock enhanced his fury. He recognised that face. Her lips were the same shade of pink which were forced upon his cheek. Her hands had once clung to him like a snake would've. Her eyes were the same as those which he hated. But how was it possible? People began to trust her after she came clean and Adrien was one to first hand witness it, but how was it possible that she became a hero? 

Nathalie noticed Adrien's change of posture. 'Adrien?' she asked with a hint of concern, much different from her cold façade. 'Are you alright?' 

'I recognise her, Nathalie. I know who she is.' 

Despite Adrien practically whispering, Nathalie understood instantly. 

'Oh Adrien…' 

Allegra took in the shared look between the two alleged villains and sighed. 'Do you want some time alone to discuss this thoroughly?' 

'Yes,' Adrien replied. Allegra moved away from the room, her blue uniform swishing. Adrien looked up. A smiling image of his parents flashed across his mind.

  'Don't worry Dad, I'll get to the bottom of this.' 

Nathalie sat at the edge of his bed, as tears began to prick at the edge of his eyes. 

'I promise.'  

***

Adrien opened the two boxes with considerable haste, smiling as the room was illuminated with a bright green and blue glow. The kwami of the peacock and black cat stared at Adrien’s misty eyes, hardly believing what was going on. A bright smile lifted up the dark atmosphere as Plagg blinked at him. 

‘Adrien..?’

‘ Plagg!’

Despite the duo looking as happy as they could ever be, the peacock didn't look as happy as they watched the exchange silently. Duusu knew exactly what was going to happen. They didn't get enough credit for dealing with this Agreste family bullshit. 

***

‘I can't believe it…’ Adrien cried out at last, pulling his hair tightly. He needed pain. He wanted pain. He knew it couldn't be real, yet it was. Oh hell...

Nathalie had told him the whole truth...

And it was all Adrien's fault. 

If he hadn't been so selfish and took the akuma ...

If he tried harder to reason against his father...

If he wasn't so goddamn blind and a pushover...

Then none of this would have happened. He should've cataclysmed himself when he had the chance. He should've cut deeper , letting the blood flow out of his flesh like water would from a jug. He should never have been born . All the blame fell solely upon him , the person who was born through artificial means. Goddammit, he wasn’t even real. No wonder all his friends testified against him in the news. 

Ivan…

'So, we know that Adrien was a student at your school. Did you ever think that he would ever be a supervillain?’ Ivan’s face that was a blank slate as he said softly. ‘We all knew that Adrien was too kind for his own good. We were just waiting for him to finally snap.”

Rose…

‘I hate Adrien Agreste with my whole heart! How dare he, how dare he?’ Rose screamed 

No wonder everyone hailed his father as a villain and his murderer as a hero. No wonder everyone hated him. It was all his fault. 

***

Plagg stared at Adrien, his lively viridescent eyes growing as large as saucers, ears pricking up. He was horrified. Plagg started to shake his head in denial, trying to reason with his broken friend. ‘Adrien, no, that’s idiotic, I care about you but no-’

Adrien glared at Plagg, an evil glint shining within the cold depths of them. Sadness radiated from Adrien, but the sheer anger and the will to get revenge wiped all of that sappy nonsense out. Adrien chuckled darkly, his voice dripping with sarcasm. 

‘Oh, how nice of you to care about me Plagg, but I’m afraid that you’re the only one. I’m a murderer, remember? I don’t deserve to live.’ Spite was evident in Adrien’s tone as he bitterly smiled at the floor. 

‘I don’t care about what happens anymore.’

***

‘Adrien Agreste, this is not your fault! Do you understand me?’ Nathalie shook Adrien by the shoulders, then hugged the boy's thin, crying frame tightly.

‘But it is!’ Adrien cried out adamantly between choked sobs. Tears poured down his cheeks and he gripped onto Nathalie like life support. 

‘If I wasn’t born , if I just tried harder-’ 

The rest was muffled by Nathalie hushing him. ‘Adrien, it’s okay. It’s not your fault. Please, I can’t lose you too,’ Nathalie’s voice hardened as her eyes narrowed. ‘It’s the wretched miraculous that’s at fault, not you.’ The room was filled with silence.

‘You’re right Nathalie.’

Even though Nathalie couldn’t help but smile at the youngest boy’s murmur, an overwhelming sense of dread sent butterflies to her stomach. Adrien pulled away suddenly for once Nathalie’s motherly embrace, eyes glinting like stars. Realisation seemed to have hit Adrien like a truck. 

‘It is the miraculous which is at fault, so it’s both our faults-’

‘-I never said that Adrien-’

‘-so that means…huh...Hey Nathalie?’

Without warning, Adrien perked up and stared at Nathalie quizzically, as if trying to figure out a difficult puzzle, yet his voice was laced with a strange coolness and an easy smile plastered his lips. Nathalie shuddered as she replied. 

‘Yes Adrien?’

‘Where did you put the miraculous?’

***

‘I will make them proud, Plagg. I have to!’

‘ But it’s incredibly stupid, perhaps the most idiotic thing you’ve ever done-’

‘Why don’t you understand Plagg?!’ Adrien hardly ever raised his voice against his kwami, so that when Adrien had begun to shout in the dead of night, the god of destruction was rendered speechless. Adrien snatched up the ring that was lying peacefully on the floor, then forced it upon his finger, watching it instantly morph back into the dull silver he knew so well. Adrien took a deep breath, and continued. 

‘I need to get the answers and set them free.’

Adrien’s desperation could be heard from a mega meter away. Plagg ears drooped in response. He had holders like Adrien before, but seeing this kid about to do something stupid broke his heart. Attempts to back a human out of a bad decision were always fruitless, and Plagg was out of ideas. Adrien was alone in this world now, except for Nathalie. Everyone hated his kitten. They hated his dorky, anime loving, cheesy kitten. Oh, how Plagg wanted to cataclysm their stupid, stupid faces… A reassuring paw was placed on Plagg's tiny shoulder, and he was met with the sad face of Duusu. Even they knew that nothing could stop it from happening.

‘I can’t stop you, can I?’ Plagg muttered at last. Adrien pinned the peacock brooch to the center of his chest in a quiet affirmation. Plagg looked down. Adrien needed this, the chance to rip apart the people who had abandoned him, but it still hurt. Adrien noted the mournful look on his kwami’s face and sighed. 

‘I’m sorry Plagg, but I have to do this,’ Adrien said softly, caressing the kwamis cheek. 

‘Doesn’t mean I have to like it.’

Adrien grimaced while he gently laid Plagg back down. Adrien flicked open a rather old leather book, fingering the yellowing pages with great care. He couldn’t see very well in the dark, but the natural glow of the moonlight gave him the power of sight. He paused upon a page illustrating a man floating in mid air with purple coating his ancient skin. Adrien’s thoughts immediately  wandered.

‘Don’t you worry, whatever it might take, I’m finding a way .’

Adrien didn’t know who he was talking to in particular, but what he did know was that he was ready. He took a deep breath, and glided over to the window, and with great difficulty, forced it open, kwamis floating silently behind. Adrien took a deep inhale of the freezing night air.

‘Plagg, Duusu, Unify.’

***

The scene changed, and now Adrien was jumping over Parisian rooftops. The pain from his injuries were no hindrance to his abilities, and the rushing wind gave him life. A sinister smile lifted up his lips as he came to the place where he needed to be. Adrien hopped onto the rooftop, making a silent oath. 

‘And I swear right now Libera, that no matter what comes of me…’

Adrien dashed down her window, glaring at the image of the sleeping girl in her bed. 

‘...Anybody who stands or has stood in my path is going to pay!’

Adrien punched through the glass, shattering it. Glittering diamonds flew to the floor, startling the girl awake.’ Adrien jumped into her room, red eyes shining like blood.

‘ You’re going to pay, Lila Rossi .’

Chapter 4: Ready As I’ll Ever Be

Notes  

Written  with help from Rain2Bow2- who is amazing and is the best beta I could have ever asked for. 

I should hope so - coz I literally wrote several pages from your notebook (with your awful handwriting) onto a computer! Ridiculous - utterly Ridiculous. 

My handwriting is amazing, and much neater than yours.

Fuck you.  I’m the real writer, guys. Look at me belly-dancing. 

I made the plot and wrote over 14000 words but whatever. 

I'M IN CHARGE.  This is me when I found out about that you are being kicked out of the fic- https://youtu.be/KGCbqr66onk

Let’s just start lmao

It couldn’t be true. 

It shouldn’t have been true. 

Yet - it was. 

The black and white typed writing glared at her from the newspaper, and even though her sight was blurred with tears, the meaning stood out boldly - no matter what. 

Marinette Dupain - Cheng sat alone on the bed, motionless. How long has it been since everything fell downhill? How long had it been since everything was fine? How long had it been since she had ruined every goddamn thing?! 

Marinette dragged her knees to her chest, the first thing she had done in the past 10 minutes, and choked out a sob, mascara dripping down her cheeks. Hushed whispers turned into alarmed cries as the group in the far corner of the room turned their attention to her. 

‘Marinette, what’s wrong?’ 

Alya was the first person to reach Marinette, her strong arms embracing Marinette  in a sister like-gesture. A gesture that she didn’t deserve. Marinette sobbed harder in reply. It was her fault, her fault, all her fault, yet she was sitting on the bed, doing absolutely nothing, while one of her own went missing, traces of blood the only remaining thing in their room. 

Lila…

Marinette never knew that she would grow to care about Lila so much. She was the one who hurt her, lied about her, and Marinette knew that she was stupid, maybe even idiotic for 

Chapter 5: Night Falls

Chapter 6: Other Friends

 Chapter 7: Dead Girl Walking (Reprise) 

Chapter 8: I Am Damaged

Chapter 9: It Took Me By Surprise