All Chat Noir could see was red.
The red of her suit, stark against the white marble that had once been a part of the columns of the building. The darker colour of her blood, splattered all over the once pristine stone.
All he could hear was the buzzing sound that lingered after the explosion. The explosion the akuma had not caused.
There were people fluttering around in a panic – paramedics, police officers, civilians, journalists. Chat felt like he was choking, drowning, his vision going blurry.
They knew the police force was getting more aggressive. It was bound to happen, after Hawkmoth's latest attack. The villain had akumatized a small four-year-old, who was unpredictable enough to frustrate the two superheroes for a lot longer than any of the former attempts to take their miraculous; in fact, Cry Baby – they assumed he'd been getting bullied in school – didn't even seem to be interested in the jewels at all. He didn't talk; the only time he opened his mouth was to give justice to his name, bringing entire buildings down with a single cry.
Monuments. Hospitals. Schools.
There had been more than a few casualties. They'd found out the limits of his lady's magic in the worst way possible. After more than a day of fighting and a miraculous ladybug, the physical damage Paris had sustained vanished in a second. The damage to the Parisians' minds, however, did not. And neither did the guilt he felt, the guilt that stared right back at him from his partner's eyes every night for their redoubled patrols.
It had been two weeks. This next akuma was relatively mild. A librarian who'd gotten frustrated and ran around turning everyone mute. They could handle that. The relief on his lady's face and the determination that laced through her every move told him all he needed to know – she too needed the peace of mind that a clean, easy win would provide. At least temporarily.
They'd only been at it for twenty minutes. The Silencer was quick on her feet, but so was Ladybug. And, well, there were two of them; so, while Ladybug chased the akuma victim, Chat Noir poised himself behind the nearest fence, ready to pounce on her as soon as she ran by with a little lady on her tail.
They never did.
The blast had been strong enough that he'd been thrown back, falling on his ass. There was an immediate commotion, and he could just sense that something was horribly wrong. There was debris everywhere, smoke and dust and oh god that was Ladybug under that enormous piece of building.
He watched numbly as they carried her limp form into an ambulance, registered only that she was not the one being shoved into a black bag; they'd killed her. They had killed the woman behind The Silencer, an innocent woman whose only crime had been a few ill-managed emotions.
And they had hurt her. Badly. Who knew if the damage wouldn't be enough to raise the dead count-
Chat flung his head to the side and heaved all his stomach contents out; he was shaking.
There was a hand on his right shoulder; he looked up and saw the blue of a uniform, the gold of a badge against the chest of an officer. They had hurt her. Not the akuma. Not Hawk Moth. This was on them. This was their fault.
"Chat Noir, sir…"
Chat growled, throwing his arm out and hitting the man square on the chest, sending him toppling across the ground.
This was all their fault.
He got up, fire in his eyes as he stared at all the equipment they had set up, all for one teeny tiny akuma they could've handled.
This was all their fault.
How could they have done this? Shoulders slumped, he fell to his knees once again, hands out in front of himself, just in time to see a little black butterfly flutter into his ring. And suddenly there was a voice in his ear, a smooth, calming voice that Adrien knew meant safety, and love, once. "Chat Blanc… my paladin of vengeance…"
Adrien shook his head from side to side slowly, because that was not his name, but his head was not his own anymore, and he couldn't think properly. "It hurts, I know… they wronged you terribly. They didn't trust their heroes…"
No. No, they had not trusted them. Ladybug had put herself out there for Paris more times than he could count, and they had made her bleed.
This was all their fault.
"I too know what it's like to have love taken away from you… No one should have to go through it. I offer you my most sincere condolences."
Someone… someone cared, at least. When was the last time someone had cared about him apart from his Lady? He thought the Parisians had cared for him as their hero, but this was all their fault. How could they care and have done this? Confusion, betrayal and anger swirled around in his distraught mind; he needed order. He needed a purpose again, because protecting Paris would not, could not be his anymore.
This was all their fault.
"Why stand up for a city that stabs you in the back at the first sign of trouble?"
He clung onto the soothing and understanding voice like it was his only refuge in a storm, even as the blinding white enveloped him from head to toe, even as he felt Plagg struggle inside of him, because he always knew she would be his undoing, and this was just further proof of how he loved, strong and foolish and so, so catastrophic. He couldn't have done anything when they took his mother from him, too young and too soon and much too sudden; he would certainly do something now.
"Go forth, and punish them for what they took from you."
Chat ignored the gasps from the crowd as he rose, staff twirling in his hand as he stared down the barricade of law enforcement; he allowed himself a smirk. Oh, they had made a mistake.
And how they would pay for it.
If his lady was creation, then he was destruction; and destruction he would bring down upon that city.
This was all their fault.