Wow! Here I am once again, delivering a one-shot with concepts I have been toying around with. I'm not sure what you guys will think of it, however I do hope that you will enjoy it, or at least appreciate the writing.

Marinette's Point of View

The whole thing was an unfortunate accident. In any other case, the irony might have been rather amusing. After all, I was the one who had advocated against it in such a fierce manner. Sadly, this was not any other case. The consequences were much more severe here.

Once again, I take in the sight before me, trying to accept it yet not positive that I can. It just didn't match up. How could they be the same?

One of them was angel sent down from Heaven. He was perfect in practically every way. He was kind, sweet, smart, charming, and everything else that you would expect an angel to be. He was famous but he didn't let it go to his head. He cared about the people around them, even when they were awkward and clumsy and clueless, stuttering every time they tried to talk to him.

The other was a partner, yes, and even a good one. But he was constantly distracted and flirting and trying to be charming with his horrendously annoying - yet slightly amusing - puns. And yet, even then the similarities were flashing before my eyes. He was gentle with those that were akumatized once they were back to normal. He was clever, coming up with plans that I could not think of. He was protective of those close to him and cared for them.

I want to scream. I want to kick something, or more particularly, someone. I want to go shouting to the rooftops. I want to do anything but be standing here, looking into the eyes of a person I thought I knew. I keep my face clear of these emotions, but they claw at my insides, desperately trying to get out. They claw at my heart, ripping into shreds as it breaks into pieces. They claw at my stomach, destroying the butterflies there and replacing them with the feeling that I'm going to be sick. They claw at my throat, destroying my ability to speak. What am I even supposed to say to this? How am I even supposed to react? I feel like I'm being destroyed inside. Apparently my destructive partner doesn't need to touch someone to ruin them.

The smirk that looks so darn wrong on his face slides off in exchange for a concerned frown. "My lady? Please, say something." He sounds so desperate for me to give him something, but I don't want to give him anything. If I didn't know any better, I'd say he's searching for a pun to use, but apparently he's come up dry.

Good. I don't think I could stand hearing a pun come from his mouth right now, especially since he is not even in his costume as my partner.

"What do you want me to say?" I snap back, grabbing at my pigtails and tugging at them out of frustration, staring up at the sky as if that will make this all not really be true. Is Volpina around? Is this a prank? Is there any way to say that this is not true?

"Anything!" He looks visibly distressed by my reaction to this when I turn my attention back to him, as if he expected something different. Why would he expect something different?

I take a deep breath, forcing myself to look the blonde model in the eyes. Those green eyes that I used to adore, yet now feel like I have never seen through clear eyes. How did I never notice it before? How blind and oblivious was I to not see that my partner was sitting right in front of me this whole time? How could I have failed to realize that I didn't know either of my friends like I thought?

I can feel my distress building up all over again, and I force myself to try and breath in and out, yet all that does is make me take panicked, short, quick breathes. "You're Adrien Agreste."

He takes a step towards me, looking concerned. "Yes."

As he reaches a hand towards me - how he intends to comfort me like that, I don't know - and I flinch away like a panicked animal, practically screaming as I say, "Don't touch me!"

"Bugaboo, please." The nickname sounds so wrong coming from his mouth, and I wish that I could have done something, anything to rid my mind of this knowledge. To go back to that ignorant bliss of thinking Chat Noir and Adrien were two different people.

Sadly, that illusion seems to be permanently shattered, and I can't help but feel so stupid and betrayed. I thought I knew who I was friends with. How can I believe anything he says now?

I sink to the ground, feeling as if I might cry. "I thought I knew you." The words come out as a choked whisper.

"You do!" He sounds like he's in so much pain, but I don't care about his pain. What about the pain he has caused me? "My civilian form isn't me. It's had the life choked out of it. It's fake. It's what people want to see. Chat Noir is who I really am! Free. Confident. A hero. Able to make stupid puns." I think he was attempting to make a joke with the last one, but it isn't funny. This is not a funny situation at all. "Don't you see? I've never lied to you. Why would I lie to you?"

He doesn't understand. Not at all. He thinks he is helping matters, but he doesn't realize that he has only made things worse. So what if he has not lied to me as Chat. He still has lied to me as Adrien, but he can't know that. The boy I loved was a lie, a facade this whole time. No matter what way you look at it, Adrien lied to me. How am I ever supposed to believe him again?

How did I ever love this boy?

This effect has only been made worse by the horrible realization that Adrien, the boy I've loved for what feels like forever, has fallen in love with someone who doesn't exist. He loves Ladybug, and I should be ecstatic, because I am Ladybug. Yet I only feel hollow inside. Just like how he fooled me with a mask, he has fallen for a mask. Despite wearing the earrings, I am not Ladybug. She is confident, graceful, clever, and loved, as if all of my flaws are wiped away. A part of me hates it. Despite the luck that comes with Ladybug, it's more of a curse as I constantly compare myself. I am clumsy, awkward, flustered, idiotic Marinette. And Adrien and Chat Noir love Ladybug. They can't see the girl behind the mask because she pales in comparison. This just makes me want to scream even more, but I contain it. The cases are different. Adrien acts in both of his forms. Everything I've ever known about him is fake. I, on the other hand, try to be as real as I can. My mask is not intentional. I hate it. He, on the other hand, loves it. He uses it as the real him, or so he says.

How can he not see that when we don our hero masks, they are not just literal but figurative as well?

I shake my head, letting out a bitter laugh. "No, Adrien," I can't bear to refer to him as Chat, "I don't know you. I don't know either you."

"Why are you acting like this? I'm still the same person!" The desperation is still in his voice as he runs a hand through his hair, looking so confused as to why this is going the way it is.

"No, you're not!" I'm practically shouting again as I spin away, pressing my face into my hands. "This changes everything. Don't you get it? Everything I ever thought about you is wrong. A lie!"

"That's not true." He says, sounding so confident that it feels like my heart rips apart even more inside of my chest. How am I ever supposed to salvage it now? How is it going to recover from yet another liar?

I drop my hands away, jabbing a finger at his chest. "Yes, it is! You don't understand any of this!"

"Well then let's see your civilian identity! I doubt you're exactly the same!" He snaps the words as I drop my accusing finger, and it is almost frightening. I've never seen Adrien angry before, or Chat for that matter.

"You're right, I'm not. But at least I acknowledge that!" My hands bawl up into fists at my side. "I try to be as much of myself as I can in both forms."

He crosses his arms, still looking incredibly angry. "Well, you know who I am now. It's only fair that you show me your identity."

My eyes widen in shock as I gape at him. "Excuse me?"

"How is it fair for you to know mine when I don't know yours?" He's being absolutely ridiculous! How does that make any sense to him?

"You're acting like I was trying to find out your identity!" I snap, absolutely floored by his logic in this situation. "It was an accidental reveal, unless you did it on purpose." He opens his mouth to respond, but I decide to keep going, not wanting to know whether or not he caused this mess on purpose. "Why would I have to show you my identity when this was your idiotic mistake?"

"But we're partners. You should trust me!" Now he sounds a bit betrayed. Ha, as if he has any right to feel like that. I'm the one who's been betrayed in this!

"I don't know you anymore." I say, surprising myself with how cold I sound. "How can I trust someone who, in both forms, is just a liar and a fake? You wear masks no matter who you are. I can't trust someone who does that."

His anger seems to grow more intense again. "You're judging my civilian form without actually even knowing me!"

"I thought I loved you." I spit back. "Adrien Agreste? I used to think he was an angel sent down to light up the lonely world we live in. I thought he was the kindest person to ever walk the streets of Paris. All I used to want was one chance to have him notice me for me. But it turns out, that would never happen, because his eyes were always on my stupid mask." I practically spit the word. "No matter what I try, Ladybug will never be like me. You love someone who doesn't exist! She is flawed and imperfect, and just because she wears a mask, doesn't mean she's proud of it!"

"You fell in love with a model from a distance. How could you possibly know anything about me?" Now it's Adrien's turn to be confused.

I just laugh and shake my head. "Now who's so quick to judge and assume?"

His eyes widen and he frowns. "How could you possibly know me personally?"

I stare him dead in the eyes. "Apparently I don't." All this talking seems to be doing is angering me more and more, and we appear to just be going round and round in circles. It's time to end this. "This conversation is done."

I turn to go, but he calls out from behind me. "M'lady, please, forgive me. We're partners. Wouldn't a partner forgive the other? Isn't that what you would want me to do if the roles were reversed?"

I don't even bother to look at him, swinging my yoyo out before saying, "I don't want a partner anymore. From now on, Ladybug works solo." Then I swing off, leaving behind the one person I thought I could trust most.

Wow, okay. That was a short one-shot, but still a doozy to write none the less. My main goal with this one was for it to be short and attempt to make it contain a fair amount of raw emotion. I'm sure I exaggerated Ladybug's feelings on the subject, but honestly, I wanted to test out a new take on the reveals. While I've only actually written one, I really wanted to write one where the reaction was not happy. Where Ladybug was betrayed with what she found out. Because, despite my line of thinking that Adrien would be super happy if he found out Ladybug is Marinette, I think Ladybug could go one way or the other. It's a concept I was super happy to get to toy with.

Anyways, now that that is out of the way, what did you guys think? Was it good? Bad? Did I do a decent job capturing the emotions of Ladybug? What do you think about her reaction? Do you think she's more likely to respond well or poorly in an actual reveal? Is there anything I could have done better (I'm sure there is)? Let me know in a review!

I'll go update some of my stories now. I did this one because I wanted to finish up another one of my many unfinished one-shots in my Doc Manager before I continued onwards update wise. Hopefully you guys enjoyed another unhappy story from me!

Until next time.

~ Dagger