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It was a free period and the class had somehow decided to theorize about what the heros would look like if they were akumatized.
They had settled on a look similar to Anti-bug but had called her Miss-fortune. Adrien thought that was close but giving Anti-bug more credit than she deserved.
Chat Noir they decided would become Chat Blanc. They had Nathaniel draw their hero/villains. He had given Chat Blanc red eyes like the spot of Miss-fortune. After putting up his drawing of Chat Blanc, Marinette spoke up. It was so soft even Adrien with his enhanced hearing almost missed it but they heard.
“His eyes aren't red.” The class turned to Marinette confused. Why would Marinette say that? It's not like she had seen him before. A few of them noticed Marinette drawing something.
“What are you talking about girl?” Alya asked. “How would you know what his eyes look like?”
Marinette gave Alya a look. “I just do okay.”
This is where Kim, who had given Nathaniel the idea for the red eyes got defensive of his choice. “If they aren't red what are they?”
“Blue.” she responded resolutely, “They're Blue.” This is when Marinette turned around what she had been drawing. Nathaniel’s drawings were rushed and a little sloppy and missed several details from the hero’s outfits. Marinette’s however was a full scene of Chat Blanc standing on a tower facing her. In the background they could see Paris in ruins and flooded. The Eiffel tower had fallen over, the moon was broken. Chat Blanc’s hand was raised in a flicking position before his middle finger was a small ball like Chat Noir's Cataclysm but this one was pure white. His eyes were sky blue and his face was both impassive and disappointed at the same time. It was haunting, and based on Marinette’s face it was even worse to her. Like she was trapped in a memory of this moment. Stuck facing off against this tainted version of their beloved hero.
Adrien was the first to speak. “When did this happen?” being Chat Noir himself he thought he would remember at least the aftermath of himself being akumatized. “and how do you know about it?”
“I'm the one who had to stop him.” Marinette responded, her voice shaking. “everyone had died. I saw the bodies of both hawkmoth and Ladybug turned to statues of dust under the water. So Bunnyx came and got me from before it all happened. I wasn’t allowed to see what caused it but the effects were terrible.”
Adrien wanted to question why Marinette was gotten and not ladybug or him, but the more he thought about it the more sense it made. Out of everyone in Paris there is only one person he could think of that could most likely beat Ladybug without magic powers and that was Marinette. If he had to choose someone to defeat an enemy even Ladybug lost to he would have also chosen Marinette. He was still upset however because it was obvious that Marinette had some trauma from what had happened.
Before anyone could speak up or ask questions about it Marinette walked to the front of the room to put her drawing next to Nathaniel's then turned and ran from the room. The class sat in silence for a while longer.
Adrien and Alya stood up at the same time turning to face their classmates. “No one will say anything about this.” Alya spoke first.
“She obviously has trauma about it.” Adrien continued, “and if this news leaves this room I will not hesitate to destroy whoever let it slip.” The look on Adrien's face terrified them all and showed how serious he was about this. “Not one word. To anyone, ever. Not to Ladybug, not to Chat Noir. No one.”
“Can we at least discuss it now?” Alix was the one who asked. “because I would like to know you thoughts on why Marinette was chosen and not Ladybug.”
“It’s simple Alix,” Adrien said. “If I had to pick any one person to do what even Ladybug couldn't. I would choose Marinette. Bunnyx seems to agree.'' Most of the class seemed to also agree.
After that Alya left to see what she could do to help Marinette. The rest of the day was spent pretending they didn't know what they now knew and Marinette returned the next day. She seemed content with pretending yesterday didn't happen so that's what they all did.
It wasn't until months later that Adrien learned the real reason Marinette was chosen to fight against his akumatized self was because she was Ladybug, and it made him all the more protective about her and that secret.