Dear Reader,
As a writer there are many ways a story could potentially go and a lot of material that never makes it to the final product. In writing "A Piece of my Heart" I had a much darker version of the akuma fight with Revenger that I ended up switching out. However, I felt the story suffered some for not having this level of angst. For those of you who craved that angst, here's my original draft of the akuma fight.
If you haven't read the story, let me get you up to speed on the situation before we dive in. Essentially Ladybug and Chat Noir are barely on speaking terms (I won't go into the details), and they have completed a late night interview with Alya. Hawkmoth has noticed the rift between the pair and takes the opportunity to strike. Ladybug is unaware of the attack as it's well after midnight. Unable to sleep, Chat Noir sees the news and goes out to fight solo…
Akuma attacks generally didn't happen this late at night. Normally they were within the day or evening. To be after midnight was almost unheard of. This was probably due to the fact that Ladybug and Chat Noir, along with Hawkmoth himself, were usually asleep. What point was there in Hawkmoth causing problems if he couldn't draw out his prey?
This unusual situation meant that Chat Noir was fighting alone. Clearly Ladybug had gone home and to bed. And while he now knew who she was, there was no way in hell he was going to Marinette's place to get her for this fight. Revenger was far too focussed on his demise for that.
But he was getting tired and sloppy. Chat Noir swiped his staff at the next wave of dark hooded figures that Revenger surged his way. The akuma victim herself was a levitating monstrosity in a matching grey hood and robe. In all honesty Revenger reminded him of a ring wraith from Lord of the Rings.
Being fully cloaked meant that he had no idea where the akumatised object was even located. Heck, he was having difficulty in even getting close. Chat Noir needed his partner. The faint light of dawn was beginning to illuminate the sky, which meant he'd been at this for a ridiculous amount of time.
Grabbing the top of his staff, the black clad hero shot himself up into the sky towards Revenger. He was almost upon her as he prepared to call for his power, "Cata-"
Suddenly Revenger's hands were around his throat, closing his windpipe and hindering his ability to speak. "Hello there, kitty cat," she boomed as she eyed him with lingering madness. "Hawkmoth wants your ring." Her spindly long fingers reached for his miraculous.
Chat Noir fisted his right hand around his staff, activating it in attempt to smash the extending end into her face. Revenger anticipated his move and plucked the weapon from his hand, tossing it over her shoulder, leaving him defenceless. Chat Noir dangled from her single hand, his claws pried at her fingers and he was beginning to loosen her hold when she returned her second hand, compressing his throat.
The silhouette of Hawkmoth's emblem flashed over her features. "Don't kill him, just take his miraculous."
"Why? It'll be easier to remove it from his corpse." Revenger smirked with murky glee.
"I don't want him dead!" Hawkmoth vehemently insisted.
Chat Noir's lungs felt like they were burning and his face was growing cold. His strength was leaving him as he continued to struggle, desperately needing air. Revenger's eyes watched on as Chat Noir's vision swam. Darkness engulfed him as Hawkmoth pulled his power from Revenger, but the black clad hero was already unconscious, falling limply from the sky as the now released akuma victim shouted for Chat Noir's help. The pair tumbled in the air, the girl reached out to the limp black figure but the tainted butterfly took hold of her again, reverting her to Revenger so she wouldn't fall to her doom. However, there was no one there to save Chat Noir.
Increasing in speed the further he fell, Chat Noir's lithe figure smacked so hard into a building roof that he crashed straight through the tiles and down into the brickwork, his body came to a stop two storeys down. His head and shoulders dangled in mid-air, while the lower half of his body remained wedged within the partly destroyed building. His suit had taken most of the impact, but a faint stream of blood dripped from the corner of his mouth.
"Oh my God!" Tom shouted so loud from the bakery kitchen that it immediately woke Marinette and Sabine.
"What is it?" Sabine asked as she dashed to her husband, closely followed by their daughter.
Tom's eyes were wide and his face white. "It's Chat Noir, they think he's dead."
"What!" Marinette screeched. "That's got to be a mistake."
"I've been listening to the radio. He was fighting an akuma on his own, he fell. It doesn't sound good."
Marinette scrambled for her phone and within seconds reviewed the chilling footage of Chat Noir's battle. "No, no, no!" she screamed as she raced to her room.
"Sweetheart, I'm sure he'll be okay." Sabine started but Marinette was already racing up to her bed. "Tikki, spots on!"
On her balcony she immediately switched to her tracker. Chat Noir's beacon was there but the icon was dull, like it was ready to go out. Wasting no time, Ladybug raced across the skyline with an urgency and speed she'd never had before. Chat Noir had to be okay, he couldn't die. He was her partner, their suits protected them from the worst of hits. It couldn't end like this.
Emergency services and media were swarming the area as Ladybug spotted her partner's supine form, wedged in the wounded side of a building. She could tell the structure was unstable but there was no way she was leaving him.
"Ladybug!" Someone shouted. She ignored them as she tried to work out how to save her partner. "Is Chat Noir alive?"
Hell, she didn't know. He wasn't moving and his eyes were closed. Panic was starting to close up her throat. She looked at her yoyo and tossed it in the air, "Lucky charm!" A ring identical to Chat Noir's landed in her hands. This did nothing to calm her down. As she looked at it again her right hand flashed. She needed to put the ring on, she looked at Chat Noir and the wall around him flashed, she knew what to do.
Crossing the divide, Ladybug swung to Chat Noir. Dried blood left a trail from the corner of his lips and down his jaw and his face was pale but he was breathing. Awkwardly, she looped an arm around his hips on the opposite side of the wall. Then she cried, "Cataclysm!" and smacked her palm against the brick wall.
The whole building turned to ash and disintegrated around them. Ladybug tightened her hold on her partner and swung them free. As they landed on the ground she threw the ring into the air, "Miraculous Ladybug!" But she didn't wait to see the results, instead she clung to her battered partner and waited as the magic ladybugs swarmed around him. As they dissipated to move on to restore the building, Ladybug cupped her partner's cheek. "Chat?" she whispered as her thumb caressed his cheek. "Chat Noir!" she said more urgently.
People were beginning to encroach on them. Her earrings chirped. Scooping him up, Ladybug sprung from the ground to race away with her partner in her arms. Chat Noir let out a groan as she landed hard on one of the buildings. She couldn't take him to her home, or his, that left the apartment he had shown her. Swiftly, Ladybug made her way there without being followed.
Racing inside she considered draping him on the sofa but he was too tall. With a quick glance she saw an open bedroom door and gently laid him down on the bed. "Chat," she whispered urgently as she stroked his cheek. "Chat Noir, wake up!"
Black masked eyebrows crinkled together low over his closed lids. "I'm tired," he croaked, and his gloved hand reached for his neck. "My throat's sore."
Ladybug threw her arms around him and squeezed.
"Geez, alright, I'm awake." He grumbled as his eyelids opened intermitted. Then he seemed to realise where he was and shot up. "Why are we in a bedroom together? Weren't you mad at me?"
But Ladybug's hands were sliding over his body as she checked for damage. Yet at no point did he wince. He simply cocked a masked eyebrow in interest. "I'm not complaining, but why are you feeling me up?"
"You don't have any other injuries?" She asked as she worked her way down his legs.
"Injuries? What are you talking about? Oh, wait… Revenger."
From here we revert back roughly to the storyline of chapter 37 in 'A Piece of my Heart' I hope you enjoyed this insight into how the story could have gone. Thanks for reading!